I walked out of Agartha and into a long alleyway, I took a single step forward, and then immediately hit the ground as pain washed over me in waves. I was vaguely aware of Kali and Jaune following shortly afterward and the two stared at me as I sat on my knees, gritting my teeth as I fought the urge to scream.

"Qrow? Qrow?! What's wrong?!" I heard Kali ask her voice slightly panicked.

I didn't respond for a while, slamming my fist into the ground as the pain slowly went away, leaving me gasping for air.

"Qrow, are you alright?" I looked up to see her looking down at me, her eyes full of concern.

"I'm fin-" I began, when suddenly images began flashing before my eyes, the buildings that surrounded us were ablaze, Grimm prowled the streets, tearing people apart as they fled screaming. The sky turned red and an earth-shaking roar echoed in my ears.

I let out a cry as I clapped my hands to my ears, squeezing my eyes shut. I felt someone shaking me, and all at once my head cleared. I opened my eyes again to see Kali in front of me, her hands on my shoulders.

"Are you alright?" she asked warily.

I shook my head to clear it, "Yeah, I think so."

She helped me up and I was aware of the kid staring at me, I turned to him with a sour expression and he abruptly shifted his gaze away.

"So uh… this is Mountain Glenn, isn't it?" He asked.

"Nice kid, how can you tell?" As I shifted my gaze toward a giant memorial statue in the form of an armored knight that stood high above the city.

The city's establishment had been called foolish, even idiotic, far removed from natural barriers like those the city of Vale itself possessed. Many had claimed it would fall to Grimm within months. They had almost been right; the Vale military had at first been able to keep the city safe via an aggressive series of forts and patrols. Slowly however, as more and more Grimm began to come against the city, those forts fell and the patrols had to be drawn further in.

The city had grown desperate and there had even been talk of evacuating underground. Then in the city's most desperate hour, with Grimm biting at the walls, a knightly order called the Order of the Equinox arrived. With just under two hundred warriors to their name, no one had expected much. As one of the Hunters who had been called in, I had personally gone up to one of the knights and told him that he was going to die.

Most of them had, but against all odds, they had gone to a fort placed at the mouth of the valley leading to the mountain and held it for a week. Then suddenly the Grimm just… stopped coming, I led expeditions out to investigate and we found the signs of titanic struggle… but no Girmm.

I had come back with the news and the whole city had celebrated long into the night, welcoming back the warriors that had held the fort as heroes.

That night is when I found my sister chanting over a circle around a large stone object. It's geometry had all been wrong. To this day, I'm not sure where it was flat, where it was curved, whether it had holes or not. It's entire existence was like a hole in reality, where reason was a laughable concept and even the most basic of mortal concepts an uncertainty. I had stood there dumbly, staring at the unearthly object, a bottle of whiskey in my hand that I had totally been planning to share.

At some point I was aware that the incessant chanting had ceased and my gaze turned to my sister, who for her part was staring at me with chilling intensity. She turned her attention back to the center of the design, I followed her gaze and I took a step back as I saw that the object was starting to move. It writhed and twisted, and let out a low hum that made my head ache.

"It's magnificent, isn't it?" Raven whispered, her voice full of rapturous wonder.

"What the hell are you doing Raven?" I demanded.

She turned slowly to face me again, her eyes were dilated, their gaze unfocused, she smiled sadly and she let out a little sigh. "They told me that you wouldn't understand, they told me that you wouldn't see… but don't you?!"

I discreetly put my hand on the hilt of my sword, keeping it hidden with my cloak, "Don't I see what?" I asked her.

She threw up her hands, "They saved Mountain Glenn! They'll destroy the Grimm! All of them! All that they ask is that we let them in, you see that don't you?"

"Raven," I said, keeping my voice calm, "I know that it's been stressful, and I don't know what the hell you dug up in here, but you need to stop whatever you're doing right now."

Her face froze and then her grew slowly furious, "You… you're not listening to me… why aren't you listening to me?!" She flung back an arm to point at the twisting statue behind her. "They are here to save us!"

I saw the statue churn and suddenly a segment of the air above it just… vanished… like I was suddenly looking into a hole in reality. From that hole came spindly limbs that both resembled arms and tentacles they reached for Raven, grabbing her as she cackled madly and before I could react, yanked her back into the void.

"Raven!" I pulled out my blade and lunged for the statue, I swept my weapon in an arc the thing cut like butter, the top half fell clattering to the floor.

But that damned rift didn't close, it grew bigger, things emerged from it, awful things that defy description. In the end, we had been able to close it, but not before many people were dead or worse… including Summer.

I pulled the flask from my belt and took a huge swig… I frickin' hated this damn city. "Alright." I said, as I put the flask back into my belt. "I'm gonna head to the place where these guys got into contact with me. I think I've got a way to get their attention, in the meantime though, Jaune, I'm gonna be dropping you off with someone who I trust to keep an eye on you."

I turned to Kali, "As for you, you're off the hook now, you led me to the Chosen One, so your half of the deal is done." I pulled out my wallet and took out a couple of cards, "Here, this should be enough to get you back to Mistral."

Kali looked taken aback, she bit her lip and reached for the cards, then paused, "I never told you the whole story… of how my cult was wiped out, did I?"

I frowned, "Not really, you just said that it got into trouble with some Great Old One worshippers."

She nodded, "That's not really the full story though, I was the High Priestess of the cult."I

I shrugged, "Honestly kind of figured something like that, no normal priestess could've whipped up that wind storm back in the tavern like you did."

She looked me in the eyes, "Before the attack, I had communed with Kir'ala, and while most of the time he is… unfocused, his thoughts and whispers moving far too quickly for any mortal mind to comprehend. This time was different, it was… slowed, as though he was deliberately attempting to get a message across. He spoke of the Devoh'rahk, stressing its importance, but he was unclear on any of the details. I led an investigation, but in doing so…"

"You attracted the attention of that cult and they took exception to that." I finished. She nodded, "well that explains how you knew about it, but little else." I scratched my chin thoughtfully, "So, you're saying that you're sticking with us to the end then?" She shrugged, and I sighed, "Alright then, you'll be staying with Jaune while I go try and talk to glowing gold people."

"What makes you think that you'll be able to talk to them? If they wanted to speak to you, wouldn't they have done so when they selected Jaune?"

I grinned, "I think I've got a way to get their attention." I walked towards the opening of the alley, "C'mon, first I've got to go drop you guys off."

We walked out of the alley and into the hustle and bustle of what many had come to describe as Vale's sister city. It was newer, sleeker, if a little smaller; meaning it was more crowded. I naturally tensed up as we moved through the crowd, I always hated being crammed in with so many people.

Finally I stepped off to the side, "Here we are." I said and began walking up the stairs to the entrance.

"Uh… isn't this the police station?" Jaune asked as he paused on the steps.

I rolled my eyes, "Real observant, aren't you?"

He hesitantly joined me at the door, "But… what if more of those… things… show up? Won't normal people just get hurt?"

I laughed loudly at that, "Kid… especially in this line of work… never assume anyone is 'normal'." and I walked into the station.

"Hey Henderson," I greeted the corpulent man sitting behind the reception desk. He looked up from the newspaper he was reading and his eyes widened slightly as he saw me.

He set down the paper, "Oh Maidens, it's you." he breathed.

I smiled as I leaned casually on the desk, "Miss me?" I asked him.

"Something's blown up, something's blown up, hasn't it? Or has someone been mauled by a monster. Have someones been mauled by a monster?" the man asked, his eyes wide.

I sighed, "Look everything's fine, I just need to ask your boss a favor, so go get her for me, will ya?"

The man continued to eye me suspiciously as he got up from the reception desk and walked down the hall and out of sight.

"You have a bit of a history huh?" Kali asked.

I shrugged, "Hey, a lot happens in my line of work."

I turned just in time to see a fist rocket into my face, sending me stumbling backwards, I casually turned my head and spat out some blood onto the floor.

"Nice to see you too, Zorja." I remarked.

A tall, purple haired woman in a Vale police officer's uniform gave me a toothy smile, "Always a pleasure, Qrow." She replied.

I turned to Kali and Jaune, the first was smiling slightly, while Jaune looked mortified. "Where were you on that one?" I asked them.

Kali cocked her head, "Not gonna lie, I was too busy coming up with a punch line to warn you in time."

I rolled my eyes, "Glad to see that you're crowing over my misfortune."

Zorja groaned, "Cut that out, or I'm gonna punch you again." She opened her hand and as I had suspected, some brightly colored dust fell to the floor.

"So you managed to make more of that stuff huh?" I asked her.

She shrugged, "I think so, but I've not been able to test it yet."

I looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, "So you just made me the guinea pig then?"

She rolled her eyes, "Like you have room to talk."

I held up my hands in a placating gesture, "Fair enough, anyway, I wanted to ask you a favor, I need to take care of something so I need you to keep an eye on these two." I jerked my head to indicate Kali and Jaune, "While I do that."

Zorja crossed her arms, "Level with me Qrow, is this in any way related to what happened with your sister?"

I hesitated, "In a way, I think it might be the culmination of it." I answered her.

Her gaze narrowed and nodded, "Alright then, I'll do it, but promise me you'll tell me if anything is going to endanger my city."

I nodded, "You got it."

She turned toward Kali and Jaune, "What are your names?"

Kali nodded to her, "I'm Kali Aristeas."

Jaune stuck out his hand, "I'm Jaune Arc."

Zorja took his hand and I saw the kid grimace a little in pain and I winced in sympathy. Zorja was pretty strong, she had been holding back on that punch earlier or I would've probably gone through a wall or two.

"Pleased to meet you two." she replied. She turned, and began walking down the hall, "Follow me, we've got a safe room you can hang out in."

I waved as they followed her and once they were out of sight I walked back out of the building and made a beeline for the industrial district.

It was just how I remembered it, dark, dingy, and dirty; I stared at a burnt out wooden building. It was boarded up, still abandoned after all of these years. Just like most of this square mile or so of the city, never re-inhabited.

I passed by one such broken down dump after another. From what I understood, some attempts had been made to reclaim this portion of the city, but I could see that little progress had been made.

Just walking around, I could tell why, everything here felt… wrong… like humans shouldn't be there, lest they anger something terrible.

I looked over my shoulder just in time to catch a glimpse of something as it dash out of sight. I quickened my pace; in all likelihood that wasn't all imaginary, we hadn't killed everything that had come through that portal, and it was likely that since then, more had made this area their home.

I finally arrived at my destination, walking up the door, I shoved my way through the door and walked into the center of the room and took a deep breath.

The Bloodied Quill, a drinking establishment that had been the scene of a… different sort. Here, Hunters and Huntresses drank alongside Knights of the Order of the Equinox, in addition to other skilled warriors. Some were soldiers, assigned to what many thought would be their last post, or mercenaries that were going to keep their contract, even if it meant their lives.

After the portal had opened, it had been where we had begun to organize to make our stand. I looked at the long oak bar, I remembered standing on top of that bar, getting everyone organized, trying to explain what I had seen, what we were facing.

We had taken to the streets, trying to beat back the monsters, I had been split off and had screwed up, facing down a monster that was descending down upon me as I faced what I thought would be my last moments on Remnant.

Then time had stopped and some alien being had explained that I had been 'chosen', had handed me a bottle of golden liquid, and had popped out of existence.

I hadn't heard from any such being since, and until the day that Jaune had been chosen, I hadn't been entirely sure that I hadn't hallucinated the whole thing.

Now though, from everything that I knew, I was going to be taking a gigantic risk to find out for sure.

I took a deep breath, "Hastur." I said, my voice clear, "Hastur." The room remained obstinately empty, "Hast-."

Suddenly a large hand covered my mouth, "You complete and utter idiot." A deep voice said beside my ear. "Are you trying to end existence as you know it?"

Before I could respond or even turn my gaze, the world spiraled into nothingness.