Chapter Fourteen: Gods Help Us:

November 13th 1462 of the Vytali Calendar:

It was finally Monday, the start of a new week and Greta couldn't remember having a worse weekend. Her team had finally started talking to each other again but it was a strained and awkward experience. Now one was visibly passing blame but there was an undercurrent of tension between them all now. They had all been spending time with Team TEAL but it was always as separate groups. Aurora had thrown herself into her diminishing pile of homework, Peter subjected himself to strenuous training sessions that had already become the talk of the dorms and colosseum while Rapture just went on long walks, almost like she had back during the team's first fight.

Greta, meanwhile, had been forced to put up with all of that and the Red Fang plan that, despite her best efforts, she had been unable to forget. The paper sheet was still hidden in one of her textbooks and she had repeatedly failed to work up the nerve to get rid of it completely after recovering it from her pocket. Now she would just stare at it as it poked out of the pages the sheet was wedged between.

Their suspension had mattered very little as classes were essentially over. Team GRAP were still expected to finish their homework assignments though. Greta was currently at her desk in the dorm, trying her best to work through the last few pieces she had yet to complete. The events of the past week had been very distracting and she wasn't sure about the exact quality of the answers she was giving but they had to be done and she knew she was on thin enough ice with the school as it currently stood. If anything, she had hoped the homework would distract her from the paper sheet she had found. Unfortunately, it hadn't.

Classes weren't an option either. Greta had considered getting her team together to have a training session or maybe even track down Team TEAL and see if any of them would train with her instead. Nothing had come of these musings though and Greta had simply settled down to stew in her own thoughts. The Vytal Festival was coming up, preparations still had to be made, she and her entire team had to be careful with their behaviour, the rumours were still spreading and circulating faster and faster and the paper sheet was always there in the back of her mind. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so stressed and for the first time since she had started combat school, Greta wondered if she had made the right choice in wanting to become a Huntress.

'Ya sure you're alright?' Lach asked as he stepped up to her side. She had decided to go down into Vale with him and Tom to hang out and possibly distract herself but they hadn't actually thought about what they wanted to do and were currently wandering through the town.

'I'm fine,' Greta said, waving non-committally. 'Just… you know.'

'Yeah,' Lach said in response, nodding in understanding. He still had a frown on his face but he didn't look like he was going to press the issue any further.

'So?...' Tom then began, a look of concern on his face. 'What exactly are we doing here today?'

'I...' Greta began before stalling. 'I… I dunno.'

Both boys sighed in response but it was Tom who offered a solution. 'Would you like to get a drink?' He asked. 'Tea? Coffee? Soda?'

'Alright,' Greta said, not sounding sure of the decision but happy to have it out of her hands in some way.

Once Lach nodded an affirmative to the suggestion the three of them set off in search of a cafe or bar that could offer them what they wanted. Tom had immediately said they should avoid anything too strong, a decision that seemed to leave Lach a little disappointed but he kept quiet. Eventually they came across a small cafe that wasn't particularly full, found a booth they could all sit in separated from the few other customers and sat down to choose their drinks.

Greta bought a coffee and, when it arrived, added a fair amount of sugar and milk and then took several sips. She watched as Lach got his own coffee, which he kept much more bitter, and Tom ordered tea which he seemed to drink in an almost reverent manner that she had seen him do before.

'So?' Tom then said as he put the cup he had been drinking from down. 'How are you feeling Greta? Really?'

Greta narrowed her eyes at the smaller boy. 'I don't know what you're talki...'

'Don't give us that,' Lach immediately interrupted. 'I know that we couldn't fix your problems with just one talk but ya got even worse after Saturday. What's up with you?'

Greta grit her teeth as she saw both boys look at her. Tom was trying to be both apologetic and encouraging whilst Lach seemed more impatient than anything else. She was annoyed at the accusation, both for getting called out and because he was, in a way, correct.

'It's difficult, alright?' Greta admitted, not bothering to keep up any of the poor charade.

'We understand,' Tom replied in a sympathetic tone. 'We just want to help.'

'Yeah,' Lach added in a firmer voice. 'Ya look terrible right now and we can tell it's not cause of the stuff last week. We just want ta know if anythin's happened.'

Greta groaned and put her head in her hands. She wasn't sure if she should tell them or if she even could. What she had tucked away in her room was likely dangerous. Just owning it could get her in more trouble, or it could make things better but she just didn't know.

'I… I just don't know if I can tell you guys,' Greta ground it, barely keeping her voice above a whisper.

Both boys suddenly made the same look of surprise and concern, their eyes shifting to look at one another. Lach's hard expression was now completely gone as he turned back to her and looked her in the eyes.

'Is it really that bad?' he asked.

'Uh… um, yeah,' Greta said before looking away from them. 'Like, I really don't know what to do about it.'

'You know we are here to help?' Tom reminded her. 'That's what we said on Saturday.'

'I know, guys,' Greta snapped, losing patience. 'I know. It's just… so, uuuuhhhhhh.'

Her voice trailed off into a tired moan and then ended with a dejected grunt. She had tried so hard not to really think about the paper and what was written on it and whilst she had ultimately failed, the boys' insistence on talking with her had filled her head with all of the worries she had been trying to avoid.

'Sorry,' Tom said, the word sounding almost reflexive due to how quickly he said it.

'No problem,' Greta replied, waving her right hand at him. 'Just...' she began but then stopped with a sigh. 'This thing's been getting at me for days now.'

'How bad is it supposed ta be then?' Lach asked, once again sounding firm.

Greta glared up at him but answered anyway, keeping her voice low. 'I'll probably get expelled for it. Which isn't saying much since a lot of things could do that right now. But it's not just about that.'

'It's not?' Lach asked. 'What'dya mean?'

'I...' Greta began. 'I… don't want to talk about it.'

She saw both boys' faces fall as she let out another sigh and gave them a withered look. After everything she really didn't want to tell them what she had found or what it really could mean, for her anyway.

'Fine,' Tom eventually said. 'I understand. But you can't just keep bottling this up. It only makes it worse. Try to find someone. I'm sure there's someone you can tell this to.'

'Like I've said we're here for ya,' Lach added, no longer appearing as hard as before. 'If it's too much ta handle then just come find us. We've got ya back.'

'Thanks guys,' Greta sighed, tiredly. 'I appreciate it. I really do,' she continued, trying to sound sincere, 'but I'm just not in the mood to talk about this right now. I'd rather find something to do.'

'If ya say so,' Lach replied. 'Dya still wanna stay in town?'

'Um… yeah,' Greta said after a short pause. It would still be easier to find distractions in Vale itself rather than Beacon.

The three of them finished their drinks in an uneasy silence and then set off, Tom suggesting going to see a movie. Despite herself, Greta couldn't stop thinking about the paper again as well as what the boys had said to her. She had to tell someone, she felt like she was going to go mad now if she did nothing and so she made up her mind.

After many hours silently fretting over her decision and trying to hide it from Tom and Lach, Greta stood in front of her room. She had just said goodbye to the boys a second ago and watched them enter their room across the hallway. Now there was nothing to delay her. A small part of her hoped that even just one member of the team was away so that she couldn't properly tell them. With nothing else to hold her back, Greta stuck out her hand and opened the door.

"Well," Greta thought morosely. "Here goes nothing."

The rest of GRAP were in their room, every one of them doing something by themselves. Peter was listening to music and reading, Aurora had several books spread in front of her at the room's desk and Rapture seemed to be flicking through the interlink on her scroll. As they had been for the last couple of days, no-one was looking at one another and an awkward atmosphere filled the room. For a second they all looked up from their things and then went back to what they were doing.

Greta looked at them all for a second and then sighed, the inevitability of her task weighing down on her. 'Guys,' she began, pausing to see if she had their attention, 'we need to talk.'

'I'm sorry, what was that?' Peter asked as he took his earphones off.

'I said we need to talk,' Greta repeated, looking at Rapture and Aurora to see that she now had their attention as well.

'About what?' Rapture asked as she folded her legs on the bed she had been sitting on.

Greta paused for a moment and then rubbed her head, sighing in frustration as she tried to think of the best way to approach the topic. It was then that she decided the only way she could begin was by showing them the sheet of paper that had been messing with her thoughts all this time.

'Okay guys,' she began as she picked up the book she had hidden the paper in. 'Peter, do you remember I told you to pick up some paper from the Red Fang.'

'Yes,' Peter answered, looking a little uneasy at the mere mention of the unfortunate incident.

'Yeah, well, I found and read it,' Greta continued. 'It's some kind of plan they've been making and… it, um, kind of looks like they might be about to do it.'

'Wha… but, what are you talking about?' Aurora asked, shock and disbelief on her face as she spoke. 'What do you mean you found a plan of theirs?'

'Okay,' Greta sighed. 'This paper is some kind of plan they made. There isn't much on it but there's details of some kind of attack they might be doing.'

'Let me see it,' Aurora insisted, getting up from her seat and storming over to Greta, her hand outstretched to take the paper sheet.

'Wait, wait, wait, wait,' Rapture then said as she threw herself off of the bed. 'I want to see it too.'

'Hold on,' Peter interjected, also getting to his feet and striding over with a discomforted look on his face. 'Put it down on a desk or something. We'll all read it.'

Greta tried not to rub her face in frustration, though at what she wasn't sure. The entire situation was what she had largely expected it would be but she knew that she had to see everything through to the end. She had brought it up so she couldn't just back out now, as much as she wanted to. Giving in she walked over to the desk laid it down and then cringed a little as the others crowded around it, jostling her as they tried to get a look.

"Operation taking place on 11/15/1462," the paper read in short, terse sentences printed in a standard font. "Dust-hauler must be fully loaded and brought to the South Wall of the defensive lines in the Agricultural District. Target will be the remaining Basilikos Construction Company building site. Come armed and ready to move quickly."

Greta had read it before. The actual orders weren't very substantial but beneath them was a list that read like a veritable arsenal. Weaponry, Dust, vehicles and the details of where they would be buying them from or what would be delivering them lay beneath the short paragraph, displaying what the Red Fang expected to deploy. Despite the sparsity of details, it had been more than enough to tie Greta's stomach in knots and leave her fretting over what it said and what it could mean.

'You've had this since Saturday?' Aurora asked slowly, still sounding like she didn't really believe what she was seeing.

'Yes,' Greta replied. 'I, uh, told Peter to pick it up before they took us away. I kind of forgot about it after, well… um, everything.'

'Greta,' Aurora snapped, a furious expression on her face. 'This is… this is huge. This is an attack plan. The Red Fang are going to be doing something with a Dust-hauler and a war's worth of weapons at my family's site.' Aurora then paused and snatched the paper, scanning it quickly. 'And they're going to be doing it in two days. You had this since Saturday and you just sat on it?'

'I'm sorry, okay,' Greta immediately said in response. 'I just… I didn't want to think about it alright. After all that shit I just wanted to forget it ever happened but this,' she snatched the paper out of Aurora's hands, 'just made everything worse.'

'Then why didn't you hand it over to the headmaster?' Aurora shouted back.

'Are you crazy?' Greta asked. 'I'm in enough trouble already. I don't want him catching me with this.'

'She's right, y'know?' Rapture added, getting everyone to turn towards her. She looked unsettled just looking at the paper sheet. 'This is, I guess, evidence of a crime scene. We'd probably get expelled just for being seen with it.'

'Oh gods,' Peter hissed, loud enough to be heard as he glowered at the floor and brought his left hand up to his forehead. 'One day. We didn't even make it a day.'

'And why didn't you tell us about this?' Aurora demanded, turning on Peter. 'You picked up. You probably brought it back because there's no way you could have handed it over to Greta. So why did you keep quiet.'

'I forgot, funnily enough,' Peter growled, glaring at his teammate. 'I'm sorry if I had other things on my mind when we were getting arrested.'

'Guys, guys,' Greta interrupted, dreading what she was about to say. They all whirled around to face her, angry glares on all of their faces. Peter and Aurora seemed more annoyed at being interrupted whilst Rapture appeared strangely accusatory.

'What!?' they all snapped simultaneously.

'Okay, guys, listen' she began, trying to sound at least a little confident in her words. 'This has been eating up at me for days because I don't know what to do with this. This is, well, really important and we have to do something about it.'

'Why?' Peter suddenly asked, drawing confused looks from everyone. 'Why do we have to? This plan was made before the police invaded their headquarters. For all we know they gave up on this and are going to lie low.'

'They got out with a Dust-hauler,' Greta replied, after a short pause. 'Do you think they can hide that for long?'

'Alright,' Aurora snapped. 'Supposing you are right, what do you expect us to do about it? If we tell the teachers we get in trouble for holding evidence and get expelled. If we do something ourselves we get expelled. Also, what's to stop my own family's security forces from stopping them the moment they try to park their fully loaded Dust-hauler along the wall; assuming the police haven't already prepared to catch them anyway. Why do we have to do anything? Why should we do anything?'

Greta was stunned, unable to think of an answer. She opened her mouth to try to give an answer, anything that came to mind that could serve as rebuttal but nothing came out of her mouth. Blinking in surprise and confusion a few times, she quickly deflated, a depressed look taking over her face. Aurora, meanwhile, stared her down, either waiting for an answer or trying to completely cow her with mere disapproval.

'Greta,' Aurora said after a weighted pause, speaking in a calmer but no less aggressive tone. 'You know better than any of us what's going to happen if we do anything, anything, wrong. My parents told me they were going to pull me out of Beacon after what we did. Do you want us to throw away this one last chance we have to actually stay in this school?'

'No,' Greta admitted, feeling oddly defeated. She looked at Peter and Rapture, both of whom seemed uneasy but weren't looking to interrupt.

'I don't understand why you want to keep looking into this,' Aurora continued, still staring Greta down. 'We've already had enough trouble because of this whole thing and...'

'Aurora,' Rapture interrupted.'Lay off her. You've made your point.'

'I don't know if I have,' Aurora said in response. 'How many times have we done this? We've gone after the Red Fang three times and every time it's been worse and worse for us. What do you think will happen to us if we go out this time? Even if we find anything and the police aren't already dealing with it we'll just be alone.'

'I don't know about,' Peter then said, speaking for the first time. In an instant he flashed past everyone, appearing in front of the door.

Grasping the doorknob and unlocking it in a swift motion, Peter pulled the door open. With short cries of surprise, Tom and Elizabeth, who had both been pressed against the wood of the door, piled into the room, Tom hitting the floor and his partner landing on top of him. After a moment of shock, Greta looked up to see Adelheid and Lach nervously looking into the doorway, people she recognised as the second year team, JETT were just behind them.

'Um, hiya,' Lach said, his tone sounding uncertain.

'What are you doing here?' Peter asked before anyone else could speak.

'We, um, well,' Tom began. 'We were a bit worried about everyone and… um, Elizabeth could you please get off of me?'

'Do you think I liked being on the floor?' the red-headed girl responded in an annoyed tone as she pulled herself up. She got up to her feet and brushed herself off as Tom did the same.

'You were worried about us?' Aurora said, raising an eyebrow at the group as they all waited in the doorway.

'Well, yeah,' Jedd Nechten rumbled in a matter of fact tone. 'It didn't really take a detective to know that all of you have been, well, disturbed lately.'

'We really don't need you here right now,' Aurora then said imperiously, frowning in anger. 'I think the matter has been settled now.'

'I beg to differ,' Jedd replied, stepping forward. 'Isn't that right guys?'

The entire group gave their affirmatives though the other members of Team JETT didn't look as convinced. Tom and Lach had looks of conviction as they turned from Aurora to nod at Greta. Adelheid and Elizabeth, whilst appearing not as concerned were looking around, from one member of Team GRAP to the other. Still, despite the varying levels of interest, everyone had agreed with the masked boy.

'He's right,' Greta then said, getting everyone's attention. The entire group turned to Greta, staring at her with various expressions. Greta blinked as she realised she had actually spoken and floundered for a moment as she tried to figure what she had meant to say.

'I'm sorry?' Peter said, surprising Greta by being the first to speak instead of Aurora.

'I, um, I said he's right,' Greta replied after a moment to collect herself. She stood back up and looked at her team, trying to put as much steely determination on her face as she could muster. 'It's not settled. Aurora,' she turned to look the other girl in the eye,' you asked me why we should do this. Well… it's because I'm a Huntress.'

'Excuse me?' Aurora said, confusion on her face.

'It's because I'm a Huntress,' Greta replied with more surety. 'Doing things like this is the reason we came here, right? Huntresses are supposed to fight criminals and things… like them. I've been trying to think about what I was supposed to do with those plans since I found them. I can't give them to the school because we'll really get in trouble but I can't just ignore them either. If the Red Fang are going to do something to the wall then I need to do something about it because; well, what if the police don't know?'

She paused, now worried about how they would react. Aurora's frown was still there, on her face but Rapture and Peter definitely looked conflicted. The other two teams, still standing either on the edge of the room or outside of it, were looking back and forth between one another, unsure of what to do.

'If the police do know then we'll be fine, right?' Greta continued. 'If they don't then the wall's in danger and we could do something about it.'

'And what if something goes wrong or the police do something like, I don't know, ask what we were doing on the border?' Aurora shot back. 'All we'd be doing is setting ourselves up for expulsion.'

'You don't think I don't know that?!' Greta shouted, suddenly feeling furious at her teammate. She paused for a while to take a couple of breathes. 'What do you think'll happen to me if we get kicked out. You all have places to go back to. You,' she pointed at Aurora, 'have your rich family to go back to. You could do something, start over, whatever. Me, I go back to an orphanage for another year and then get kicked out onto the street, with a combat education that's not gonna get me a job. I'm not going to get adopted or anything by this point, especially if I get an expulsion on my record. If I get kicked out of here then I'm fucked.'

'Then why risk it?' Aurora replied, standing her ground.

'I...' she paused for a second, wondering why. 'It's because this is what I'm supposed to do, right? How exactly am I supposed to be a Huntress if I don't try to stop a threat to Vale? What am I supposed to do if I graduate, start working and only think about doing something if there's no chance I'll get into trouble doing it? What kind of Huntress just sits back and waits for the police to take care of everything?'

She could see Aurora was wavering, the look of annoyance had been replaced by an uncertain one. She could see TEAL and JETT supported her. All of JETT – except for Jedd who's mouth she couldn't see – were smirking in what she assumed was agreement and Tom and Lach were nodding in approval. Adelheid had an eyebrow raised but the edges of her mouth were raised up and the odd glare Elizabeth was levelling at Aurora looked almost challenging.

'She's right,' another voice interrupted. It took Greta a moment to realise it was Rapture who had spoken and she taken aback by the fact that she had actually forgotten about her other two teammates.

'Rapture,' Aurora said, looking surprised.

'Aurora, she's right,' Rapture repeated, looking at her partner. 'It kinda is what we're supposed to do. Hell, I was saying this stuff back when we were at the mall. If Greta's going to keep looking for the Red Fang then… I'm in.'

'Me too,' Peter added, walking up to Greta and standing beside her. 'If Greta is going to risk everything to do this then I've got to go with her. I'm not sure what kind of partner I would be if I didn't.'

Greta smiled gratefully at her two teammates as they showed their support, even if they both still had hesitant and conflicted expressions on their faces. She turned to Aurora, everyone in the room and out in the corridor looking expectantly at the dark-skinned girl. Aurora looked worried and her expression kept shifting between the prior determination and a discomforted grimace.

'Fine,' Aurora sighed in resignation. 'I'll help.'

'Thanks,' Greta said with genuine gratitude. A part of her had no idea how to feel now. She had finally been able to vent the absurd and uncomfortable feelings she had been enduring for so long but now that she had committed herself to a dangerous mission that could see her entire life ruined, she was finally stopping to think about what exactly that meant.

At the beginning of the semester, Greta had planned to follow the path of least resistance, find some clarity in her life and spend the next four years following the rules, staying out of trouble and forging an easy path through life. Now she was going to risk everything for a goal she didn't really understand that would probably cost her everything she had worked for and ruin the vague plan she had been keeping for her entire life since she had first seriously begun to think about her future. Trying not to let it show, Greta struggled to get her thoughts back in line and do what she did best, focus on her objective and find the best and easiest way to fulfil it.

'You're right,' Aurora suddenly said, snapping Greta out of her thoughts. 'This is what we're supposed to do, I guess. If this is what you say were going to do then I'll do my best to help.'

'So will we,' Tom, Lach and Jedd Nechten said simultaneously, the rest of the other two teams nodding in agreement and solidarity.

'Wait, you're really going to come with us?' Greta asked the other eight people.

'Yeah,' nearly all of them replied in the same matter of fact tone.

'We said we'd be there for you,' Tom clarified once again.

'I told Peter that we'd help you out if anything like this happened,' Jedd explained. 'Isn't that right team?'

'Yeah,' Team JETT replied in different tones, Egeria and Tobias sounding indifferent whilst Thaba rumbled a more committed and supportive reply.

'Thanks, guys,' Greta said with sincerity. The doubts that had bubbled up inside of her were forgotten for a moment as she looked over everyone. Letting out a sigh of relief, Greta fell back on her seat.

'Okay,' Peter said as he looked down at her with a sardonically questioning look. 'So now that we're definitely going to do this, what exactly are we doing?'

Iseabal Beathas smiled in satisfaction as she read over the reports. Things were going more or less as they were supposed to, despite a few minor issues. The war against crime in the massive Northern Residential District was finally beginning to wind down now that the Red Fang had been expelled from it. Public opinion was divided over the conflict now that a major victory had been made and political opinion was in a similar state.

Benedict had helped sow the seeds of conflict in the Council and once that was done and Laal had her marching orders, all they had to do was sit back and let everything fall into place, or apart, whichever benefited the Society. Now, however, they couldn't just sit back and watch anymore. The Red Fang had suffered a nasty defeat but they weren't defeated completely. Still, the organisation was on it's last legs and probably wasn't going to be a useful asset for much longer. Now that the stage was set, it was time to begin Phase Two of the plan.

Getting up, Iseabal knew now was the time to make a visit to Laal, not a proper one where she would have to endure backtalk from the jumped up terrorist, but a covert one where she could keep an eye on the ailing Red Fang. To that end she pushed herself away from the desk that held all of her reports and turned around.

Her apartment was a luxurious and well furnished room situated in a subterranean compound built underneath a rather average hotel in the Main Residential District. The compound, a maze of tunnels that burrowed deep beneath the surface of the streets, and the hotel were both owned by the Society though the latter didn't host many of their personnel. The staff were either members of their fraternity or had been subjected to intense brainwashing techniques that rendered them practically incapable of noticing out of place activities on the site. They still had to be careful during government inspections but bribes tended to keep civil servants at bay; and they were usually more than happy to just assume they were another simple racket. Lien was all that mattered and Iseabal had plenty of that.

Walking through her room she went over to a wide cabinet that had a full-body mirror set in it. It was a handmade item, carved of rare Vacuite hardwoods and covered in half-forgotten Vacuite filigree script that was only really known by scholars and professors of ancient linguistics. The panelling was almost black under the beautiful sheen of the Dust enhanced varnish and an attached desk circled around both sides, separated at the centre where it gave access to the door the mirror was set within. It had belonged to her mother and she had inherited it from them long ago, shortly after they had handed her to the Society and gone to fulfil their own sacred missions in the Wild Lands.

Opening up the cabinet, she found a series of coats inside. She was currently dressed in a long black shirt and equally dark trousers. They were somewhat noticeable and opulent but had been made to be durable enough for her to go outside in them. Pulling out a long, brown overcoat, she put it over her outfit and then reached down and lifted a pair of sturdy boots off of the floor of the cabinet and put them on. Almost done, she then grabbed a golden belt that had two holsters attached to it and looped it around her waist. Shutting the door, she then reached under the left-hand desk attached to the cabinet and pulled open a drawer under the surface of the desk.

Inside were a pair of handguns. They were long, with thick barrels and curved grips that were made of hardwoods from southern Sanus and decorated with carvings of forgotten Vytali script. Tucked under the body of the gun were the folded parts of curved metal blades attached to mecha-shift components, ready to be folded out when needed. Both the metal and wood of the weapons had been reinforced with special Dust mixtures that had cost her a fortune but it was worth it. These were her Kingmakers, the weapons she used to help fulfil her purpose.

Checking over herself, Iseabal took the right handgun and held it close. 'In the name of the Elders who will deliver us to perfection and purity, carry me between the shadows.'

Finishing the incantation, she unfolded the knife of her Kingmaker, mecha-shift parts extending the barrel and then allowing the parts of the blade to slide into place until they reached out, lengthening the weapon by another foot. Once it was in place, the blade glowed a deep, ruddy red colour. Holding the Kingmaker out, Iseabal smirked and slashed the air in front of her.

In an instant the space distorted, blossoming out like a gaping wound that pulsated with rings of off-colour light that flowed out from the area she had cut. Iseabal gazed into the tear for a moment, marvelling in it's beautifully unnatural appearance. She always studied the phenomena every time she summoned it and yet it always looked and felt different. Once she was finished looking into the glowing void, Iseabal walked forward and into the tear.

The transition was indescribable, over in an instant and yet revealing a short passageway of shimmering lights and empty, inky blackness that writhed around the colours. For a moment Iseabal looked through the gaps in the colours and swore she could see things moving in the darkness, swimming through it like fish, melding with it and becoming it only to separate again. Though there were no eyes, no lights or other signs of life in the blackness, Iseabal could feel various things watching her; the great, ancient and inhuman intelligences that she honoured and worshipped and, who in turn, had granted her the power to make wounds in the world and walk between them. Then, in a heartbeat, it was over, the tear in the world shut and Iseabal found herself in a dark alleyway.

Laal was supposed to keep her informed of where she and her wretched insurgents based themselves at all times. Iseabal had rarely cared as long as the location was secure but this time, after having seen the Red Fang lose so many of the resources the Society had generously loaned them, she wanted to make sure that what was left of the investment was being put to good use.

Retracting Kingmaker's blade and holstering the weapon, Iseabal closed up her overcoat and took a deep breath. After taking a moment to collect her bearings again, Iseabal blinked and looked around. Travelling through whatever void allowed her to step between shadows was always as disorienting as it was elating; still it had gotten her to the destination she wanted. The alleyway was short, with a dead-end on one side and an opening to a street at the other. The street was unlit and just as dark as the walled off side opposite from it.

Walking forward, she exited the alley and found herself on an unlit street. Iseabal closed her coat to avoid attention and set off in the direction of a large, nondescript warehouse that Laal had informed her was their current hideout. Despite the need to be inconspicuous, she knew the Red Fang needed space for their equipment. It was difficult to hide a small army's arsenal in anything less than the large storage building that loomed over her at the end of the street.

Iseabal knew it wasn't worth going inside. Laal and her pack were difficult enough to deal with when she arranged meetings with them; going in unannounced would start an argument she didn't want to fight. Instead, Iseabal walked up to the wall and then looked to see where the nearest windowsill or ledge was. When she finally spotted it she focused Aura into her legs and jumped. In an instant she had cleared several metres and tucked her legs up to touch the brick of the wall. The moment they did she kept running, momentum and her Aura against the wall allowing her to run up the vertical surface until she gracefully stepped onto a windowsill.

She tucked herself in to balance herself on the narrow surface, bracing herself with her hands on either side of the window. Taking in a deep breath to recover from the exertion and compose herself, Iseabal looked in through the window. It had been unlit when she had surveyed the building and she saw that, as she suspected, it led into an empty room.

Testing the window, she found it was locked. Another quick application of Aura allowed her to simply force the window up, the lock bending and breaking under the pressure. Whilst far from tiring her, the entire excursion had cost Iseabal more effort than she had initially been willing to give. Putting aside the matter but keeping the frown that had formed on her face at the realisation, Iseabal slunk inside, barely making a sound. For the sake of caution, she sent feelers of her Semblance out, planning to dull the faunus' awareness to avoid detection. It was a simple and passive trick that she regularly used and was very well practised in as a result.

Leaving the room, she found herself in a dark and abandoned hallway. The only signs that it had been recently used were the footprints in the thick layer of dust and the detritus that had been shoved to either side of the floor. Wrinkling her nose at the smell that dominated the building, Iseabal stalked down the hall until she found a door that led out to a gallery overlooking the main hanger of the warehouse.

'Get all that loaded up,' a familiar voice echoed from the floor beneath the gallery as Iseabal stealthily crept onto the edge of the balcony.

The hanger was full of Red Fang personnel and their equipment. The boxes of supplies didn't rise as far as they had when Iseabal had seen it shipped into their previous headquarters but there was still enough Dust and weaponry to fight a small war and it was all being loaded back onto a large collection of converted vehicles that were going to serve as a mobile arsenal for the final remnants of the Red Fang. Iseabal knew that this was likely to be the organisation's last gasp. She had convinced Laal to consolidate everything for this plan and their losses had reduced them to the just over a hundred members, all of them now present in the building.

'We're moving in a day,' Laal barked as shouldered her way through the press of faunus hurrying to prepare for their mission. 'I want everything checked and rechecked. If were missing so much as a speck of Dust then I'm chaining you to front of the hauler and leaving you with it. Am I understood?!'

Iseabal smirked as she saw the woman's subordinates work faster, several almost tripping over one another at their leader's threats. It was good to know that Laal was so committed to the schedule she had worked out though. It meant less work for her.

Satisfied that the Red Fang were still following the plan, Iseabal stepped away from the balcony and back into the dark hallway. Once she had shut the door she once again pulled out Kingmaker, deployed its blade and cut a hole in the air. After spending a few seconds staring into the pulsating hole in reality, Iseabal stepped through it and back into her apartment.

Taking off her coat, Iseabal let it fall onto one of her armchairs and then went over to her desk where a number of scrolls lay. She had several devices, most of which were untraceable, one that was a decoy for police investigation and a couple of duds that weren't connected to any network. Only one of them actually had any valuable information and it not only had a bio-coded lock but also had a program installed that destroyed the data inside it if anyone attempted to hack it.

Picking up one of her untraceable spares, she unlocked it and then opened up the call function. Typing in a number she had memorised long ago, she put the scroll to her ear and waited for a response.

'Yes?' the uneasy voice of Benedict Cache said over the receiver after only a few seconds.

'Hello Benny,' Iseabal began in a tone that was both friendly and superior at the same time, smiling in satisfaction as she pictured how mentally beaten down and obedient he would have looked the moment he first heard her voice.

'Iseabal,' Benedict replied, his voice sounding firmer but still subservient. 'What can I do for you now?'

'I have a new errand for you,' Iseabal continued, her tone turning more serious. 'But first, tell me, how is everything going with the Council.'

'Li still listens to me,' Benedict immediately replied, sounding worn out but not really remorseful about what he was doing. 'He also recommended me to his allies in the rest of the government. I tell them what I told him, follow their consciences. They have all already made up their minds about fighting in the north so all I really do is tell them what they want to hear.'

'That's very good to hear,' Iseabal said in response. 'Well since you are doing so well in keeping the Council's confidence I have a few new suggestions for the advice you give.'

'What is it?' Benedict asked.

'First, you should make a few judgements about Nox Skye.' Iseabal heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line though whether it was from fear, anger or trepidation, she couldn't tell. 'I think some comments about the godless Revanchists who taught Skye and the unstable militancy of his regime wouldn't go amiss.'

'I understand,' Benedict replied. 'And the other suggestions.'

'Oh lets not get ahead of ourselves, Benny,' Iseabal interrupted. 'I need you to be careful. Skye isn't our objective but his interference here is very unwelcome. Don't make it too obvious that we need him gone. The Council will probably want rid of him even more than we do so ease them into place. Distrust comes easily enough where Nox Skye is concerned so I just need you to nudge them a little.'

'Very well,' Benedict answered. 'I will do what I can.'

'Excellent,' Iseabal replied. 'Now the other suggestion is one I need you to make to as many officials as possible. I want you to start reminding the Council about the close bonds we share with Atlas. With any luck they'll be paying us a visit soon.'

'Atlas is going to be coming?' Benedict asked, his surprise evident.

'With the way things are going it should be obvious,' Iseabal said. 'They do like to keep an eye on us after all. We've only just stopped being what is, for all intents and purposes, their protectorate. They'll definitely come and I want you to make it a little easier for them to arrive in force. Better to keep the peace between peacekeeping forces, you understand.'

'I see?' Benedict replied, his confusion obvious in his voice. She didn't mind if he didn't understand her orders, just as long as he obeyed them.

'Now I just have another small request,' Iseabal added. 'There will be a new up and comer in the government I want to see installed in the Council. Li isn't going to last very long now and we need this man to be in place.'

'What is his name,' Benedict asked obediently, coaxing a new smile from Iseabal. She had him trained well.

'Duncan Raine,' Iseabal answered.

'Oh,' Benedict said, trying to suppress what sounded like distaste. 'Him.'

'Yes,' Iseabal said in response. 'The very same. He is especially important to us. I don't need you to do anything other than watch him though. Will you be able to handle that?'

'Of course,' Benedict replied immediately.

'Wonderful, Iseabal cooed for his benefit. 'I'll come round to see you some time soon. I hope you'll be looking forward to it. Goodbye Benny, dear.'

'Goodbye Iseabal,' Benedict sighed. She switched off the phone the instant he had finished his farewell and put the scroll down.

For a moment, Iseabal stretched, her arms high over her head and her back bending a little to loosen up. Once she was done she let out a satisfied sigh and then looked over her scroll collection. Hovering her hand over them, she picked up another device. It was another untraceable model, bearing nothing other than coded contact information that was also set to be destroyed if anyone other than her attempted to pick it up and use it. Opening up the call list, she flicked down until she had the number she wanted. Selecting it, she put the scroll to her and ear and waited for a response.

'This is Beathas,' she said in a clipped tone the moment the receiver was picked up. 'Phase Two is about to begin. Inform our brothers and sisters overseas.'

'I swear, it will be done,' a voice on the other end replied with conviction.

The moment she had confirmation she ended the call, folded the scroll back up and put it away. The call had been shorter but no less satisfying than the one she had with Benedict Cache. Everything was coming together and the Society had put their pieces in place. Now all they had to do was wait for their enemies to make their moves; the very ones that would let their world fall apart and usher in the rule of the true gods, the Elder Grimm.