August 14th
Outskirts
City Of Mantle
Atlas
6:17 PM

Ruby steadied Crescent Rose in her hands as the transport which had carried her and her teammates to the far west end of the City of Mantle began its descent. Glancing back at Yang who was all but glaring out the window at the decrypt, worn down landscape below them. Weiss had her arms crossed and Myrtenaster still attached to her side, while Blake paced with one hand on Gambol Shroud. Stepping forward a small bit towards the exit of the transport, Ruby Rose swallowed hard and watched the creeps, and the boarbatusks run while a few nevermores flew overhead - their caws filling the air with a perverse sound of triumph. Weiss tensed as the transport finally landed, placing both hands on the hilt of her sword, then hesitantly stepping over to where Ruby stood. Placing a hand on her teammate's shoulder, Ruby placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly as Yang and Blake joined them in front of the exit.

"You guys ready?" Ruby looked to all of her teammates, and then nodding. "It's not that big a deal. We'll be in and out, right?"

Weiss grimaced upon looking out at the grimm running wild. "I'm not so sure...you do remember Mountain Glenn, don't you?"

Ruby sighed. "Yeah, yeah. But this won't be like that."

Yang crossed her arms. "Someone sounds confident."

"Because everything's going to be fine!" Ruby insisted. "I know it will! And we're stronger now than we were when we dealt with Mountain Glenn!"

Blake took in a sharp breath as the door opened and they ran out. "Please don't let this go to hell…" She prayed to no one.

The second she was out in the open, Ruby opened Crescent Rose into its full form as a scythe. Swinging it quickly into several creeps, she then stepped aside from a brief moment to allow Weiss to stab Myrtenaster through them. Even as more creeps came to the scene in a seeming attempt to aid their kind against the huntresses, Weiss and Ruby continued to swing and stab in synchronicity. Further from where they fought, Yang and Blake took on the boarbatusks - shooting at the nevermores as they continued to fly above and caw menacingly. To the surprise of all four girls, their synchronicity quickly cleared the creeps and the boarbatusks. A premature sense of triumph filled them, although they could not by any means explain where the shots that they could not themselves have possibly fired come from. Looking around, they reasoned it off to their other two teammates who were on the other side of the field; Yang and Blake believing it had been Weiss and Ruby while Weiss and Ruby believed it had been Yang and Blake.

They were far from correct on that scale, however.

Knowing that the nevermores were still a serious threat, the four reconvened in the centre of the field from where they could see all five of the terrifying creatures circling above and the city lights of Mantle flickered in the distance. Steading themselves in a circular formation, the four young women set their weapons in their hands. Weiss shifted the Dust in Myrtenaster to fire. Yang punched her fists together and then prepped herself to shoot from Ember Celica. Blake shifted Gambol Shroud into its gun. Ruby knocked the Dust to gravity and then spun Crescent Rose over her head as she turned it into its setting as a sniper rifle.

Sharing a long look with each other, they began to fire at the grimm flying above. The monstrous creatures let out sharp cries of pain, followed by harsher caws that were akin to battle cries. The four girls strengthened themselves against the sounds which brought headaches pounding against their skulls. This was not entirely because of noise. The memories of the night Beacon fell came back in full force. Weiss swallowed hard and continued to fire glyphs and Dust at the grimm who were slowly becoming more and more unable to fight back against them. Thoughts swirled in the former heiress' head of the way the alarms had gone off, the way blood had been spilled, the way that it had felt as if everything they'd loved and had been training for was being ripped away from them all at once and tossed mercilessly into the flames of hell.

Ruby was in no better a state, even as she gritted her teeth. While her silver eyes narrowed and she continued to fire upon the grimm, her mind was racing and she couldn't help but remember the way Pyrrha had been helplessly stopped by Cinder upon the tower. Tears stang at the corners of her eyes as the memories torrented. The summoned sword of obsidian that Cinder had summoned with a smirk and a glint in her amber eyes, and the way that it pierced through Pyrrha's heart just before Cinder destroyed her completely were fresh once more. The last words spoken betwixt the innocent and the sadist returned as faint whispers in her mind. Nothing, it seemed, would be able to ever wash her clean of the horror of what she had seen, of the glaring reality of the world.

Do you believe in destiny? Pyrrha had asked just seconds before she died.

Yes. Cinder had replied as she had prepared herself for the kill.

Out of the corner of her eye, while Ruby and Weiss successfully brought down two of the weakened nevermores, everything that Blake could feel was damn near numb. Glancing over at Yang, whose eyes had turned red upon the activation of her semblance, Blake couldn't help but remember how they had both seen Adam that night, how Yang had saved her yet lost her arm. How Blake had saved her after, manipulating Adam with her semblance, and how she could have lost Yang that night. Continuing to fire upon the three remaining nevermores, Blake brought down one with Yang, Ruby, and Weiss' aid. With two more left, she blocked out her thoughts on the subject as she had trained herself to do from a young age.

Yang scowled upon the two remaining nevermores that still cawed in eerie triumph whilst the wind whipped about the area. Her blonde hair flung around her face even as she continued to shoot about towards the two creatures with her teammates, and she steeled herself against her thoughts. The memories of Adam, and the fight she had against him came back in full force. Her red eyes continued to narrow as she kept on fighting. Within a few minutes, she and her teammates brought down a nevermore leaving only one. Still, it was difficult to be brought down and fought back viciously and with a fear inspiring cackle. Even as their auras broke, they tried their damndest yet still were alone in the field with the nevermore.

Or so they thought.

In the moment, they thought that they were going to have to snap onto the transport and flee from the scene which could have threatened to destroy them. Yet, much to their surprise, the shots fired out of nowhere returned once more. This time, the four young women realised that none of them had been the ones who had fired the shot as they had previously thought. Staring at each other in shock as they watched the nevermore disintegrate, they all swallowed hard with their eyes wide. A sharp tension hung over them as the wind continued, the lights flickered for the city in the distance, and a silence rung out. Starting towards the transport, their mission seemingly complete, they still could not shake the uncanny feeling of something being off.

Their intuition, in this instance, did not fail them.

"Not even a thanks?" A haughty, male voice said, startling all four of the women who turned towards where he had spoken. "I suppose that my intentions preclude you from that, however."

Weiss' eyes went wide. "Arthur Watts?"

"Dr. Arthur Watts," He said, brushing off his gun. "You, Miss Schnee, like your teammates have been on my master's list for a long time."

"Let's go," Blake said, her voice shaking. "Weiss -"

Watts swiftly fired a shot towards Yang's foot, and, with her broken aura, it went through and her blood started to flow out of it. Yang let out a shriek of pain, causing her teammates to run to her aid. With Ruby's aid, Blake began to carry her towards the transport and Weiss quickly followed. However, Weiss didn't turn fast enough. Her thoughts having consumed her for long enough, Watts was able to quickly shift his target from the young woman he thought of as a common street rat and to the heiress with whom's father he'd worked without knowing he had been manipulated. As soon as she had realised what was happening, it was too late. Weiss' aura being just as broken as that of her teammates, the bullet went straight into one of the bones of her ribcage and she began to bleed with a dark stain starting to appear in the centre of her dress. Running the best she could in spite of the pain towards the transport, she barely made it before the doors closed and she collapsed in a heap on the cool, metal floor of the transport just as she lost consciousness and Watts smirked - his message made in blood.

"Emmy?" Emmett said, looking at his wife in concern as she bit her lip and continued to pace. "Sweetheart, are you alright?"

Emmeline paused for a moment but then shook her head. "Emmett, I don't particularly want to talk about it."

"Something's bothering you," He said, standing up and coming over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Emmy, please tell me what it is."

She was silent but then rested her head on his shoulder, letting him pull her close. "I got some shocking news right before I left work."

Emmett raised an eyebrow as he rubbed her back. "Can you tell me about it, or is it confidential?"

Emmeline sighed. "Technically, it's still confidential but it'll get out soon enough. What is crazy to me is that even Elizabeth didn't hear it officially yet. I can't imagine her knowing until tomorrow, though."

Emmett chewed at the inside of his cheek. "If Liz doesn't know yet…"

"What doesn't Liz know yet?" Cristal asked as she stepped into the room, adjusting her glasses. "I'm serious, Emmett, what doesn't Liz know yet?"

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Chrissy -"

"Fine," Emmeline said, shaking her head. "Watts is back in the kingdom, and he shot both Weiss and Yang on their training mission. James found out as soon as they -"

"Oh my god…" Cristal said, probing her forehead and stepping backwards in shock. "Is...Ashlynn isn't, is she?"

"She goes by Cinder now," Emmeline reminded her. "And, as far as we know, she's not."

"Thank god," Emmett said, pulling his wife closer. "I don't want her to be able to hurt us, especially since she'd been threatening you and Cas for years."

"Chrissy?" Emmeline said, looking at her in concern. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Cristal swallowed hard, her grey eyes wide, and a ringing in her ears that she could have sworn was from her psychitity even as she adjusted her glasses.

"Chrissy?" Emmeline repeated, still looking at her and sharing a glance with Emmett. "Chrissy?"

"What…" Cristal said, her voice shaking. "What did you say about Watts?"

Emmeline's brow furrowed in confusion but she repeated herself nonetheless. "Watts is back in the kingdom, and he's still just as dangerous."

Cristal's eyes went wider than before behind her glasses, and she could hear faint shrieks. Grasping onto the edge of the couch, she steadied herself and sat down against it. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm herself and block her psychitity. Biting her lip as she began to calm down, Cristal let herself break away from it and think rationally. Even as a throbbing headache beat against her skull, she forced herself to remain as calm as possible. However, she did not open her eyes until she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Looking up, Cristal stared at her husband who, like her brother and sister in law, was looking at her in immense concern.

"Chrissy?" Ozpin said, cupping her cheek. "Are you okay?"

She sighed heavily. "I'm sure I'm okay, it was just a...just a psychic moment."

Emmett and Emmeline shared a long look.

"You're joking," Emmett said, his voice shaking. "I thought -"

"You thought what?" She said, starting to feel sick once again. "Emmett -"

"I thought I was the only of us who still had those," He said, taking a moment to breathe before shaking his head. "I had one earlier today, but it was unclear except for the sound of gunshot."

"Which was probably not inaccurate," Emmeline said darkly. "Considering what happened."

"What are you talking about, Emmeline?" Ozpin asked her, wrapping an arm around Cristal's waist. "And does it have anything -"

"Yeah…" Cristal said, running a hand through her thick white curls. "It probably has something to do with what I think I heard, especially if Watts is really back in the kingdom."

Ozpin sighed and pushed up his glasses. "I can see why that would do it."

"Of course it would do it," Victoria said irritably, kicking her heels aside as she stepped into the room, then turning to her son and daughter in law. "I hope it's not too much of a problem that I came in uninvited."

Emmeline rolled her eyes. "Yes, Victoria, because any of your entrances to my house ever have been invited. Like the conversations you've had with my daughter."

Victoria scoffed. "Oh, please. The conversations I had with your daughter were invaluable in helping her develop her ability to pick up psychic imprints. I helped my own children -"

"You're the reason Ashlynn's so fucked up!" Cristal exclaimed, her voice almost shrill. "If you hadn't tried to make her better than the rest of us because of that one damn vision you had -"

"I never should have acted upon that vision," Victoria said, looking away in slight shame. "But I did and I can't change the past. I never...I never expected her to turn into that. I'm ashamed of her, and I'm ashamed of myself."

Cristal sighed heavily. "Still."

Victoria glared. "Cristal Annabelle Schnee -"

"You still -" She argued, matching her mother's glare.

"Cristal, you might be an expectant mother but you can't understand the difficult questions that a mother has to make," Victoria shook her head sadly. "Not until you have to make them yourself."

Cristal took in a sharp breath, pressing a hand to her visible curve. "I -"

"That baby inside you doesn't make you anything like me," Victoria snapped. "You have no reason to think that -"

"Shut up!" Cristal snapped, standing up quickly and scowling at her mother. "You think I'm not already worried about my baby? That I don't have enough things to worry about? My company hangs in the balance -"

"Oh, please," Victoria said, laughing. "You and I both know that you and your brother are going to get the SDC back."

Cristal sighed. "Well, of course -"

"Let me guess," Victoria said, her eyes narrowing at her daughter. "You think you're like me because you're pregnant."

Cristal crossed her arms. "I've never claimed to be like you."

Victoria smirked. "You sure about that?"

Ozpin stood up and wrapped an arm around his wife again as she began to shake. "Victoria, look, Chrissy and I know -"

Victoria snapped her fingers to cut him off. "Cristal is more like me than she'd care to admit."

Cristal scoffed. "I'm nothing like you."

Emmeline nodded, giving Victoria a sharp look. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Do you even know how difficult my life has been?" Victoria demanded, haughtily adjusting her coat. "Do you have any idea what I've been through? Do you have any idea what it was like, what it was like for me when I lost Cristal and Emmett only to have them -"

"You think Ozpin and I didn't have a hard time after what happened?" Emmeline stared at her in outrage as she let Emmett pull her closer. "I was devastated, not to mention terribly worried because at the time I was pregnant with my daughter!"

Victoria didn't back down. "It's not the same."

"So?" Emmett said, giving Emmeline a gentle squeeze. "This isn't all about you!"

"Yes it -" Victoria started before realising how she sounded. "You think you would have been anything without me? You think your father would have been much without me?"

"You and daddy hated each other," Cristal reminded her, forcing her breathing to remain steady. "Or at least acted like it half the time."

"We were to young when we married," Victoria snapped. "What would you know about that?"

Cristal stared at her, eyes wide. "Mommy -"

"And, for the record," Victoria said, a note of regret in her voice as she glanced at her daughter and the way Ozpin had rested a hand protectively over her curve. "I never wanted to be like this. All I can hope for is that your child ends up better off than the rest of this family. It'd be a damn shame if things went to hell for them too."

"I'm telling you," Elizabeth Morell said, giving Allison a sharp look as she leaned against the counter. "It's all going to be fine."

Allison shook her head. "Not when Blake finds out."

"And you thought that by telling me that he wouldn't?" Elizabeth countered, and Allison scowled. "I can't keep this from him, if only for professional reasons."

Allison was silent for a long moment, but then bit her lip. "Lizzie, he doesn't need to know. Can't you keep this quiet for me?"

"No, and let me explain," Elizabeth said, setting her scroll on the charging dock while Allison sighed. "The man loves you and your children more than anything. Of course he's going to be worried, but it's out of love. You and I both know that if you keep this from him that he's going to be -"

"I know," Allison said, not wanting to hear what she already knew yet again. "But I...I don't want him to be scared. He's already, literally, taken a bullet for my sake and I don't want him to feel the need to again."

"I get that," Elizabeth said, pouring herself a glass of wine. "I feel that way when it comes to Michael and his desire to protect me from Cinder."

"Of course he'd want to protect you from her!" Allison exclaimed, staring at her in surprise. "After what that...that bitch did to you -"

"Minus, of course, a few of the more gruesome things that Cinder did to me," Elizabeth said, pouring Allison a glass of wine and handing it to her. "How different is it to what Watts did to you? Slapped you, belittled you, did everything in his power to reduce you to the point where you felt as if fighting back could -"

"I don't want to…" Allison sighed as she began to sip her wine. "You're right, but -"

"Look," Elizabeth said gently. "You have to tell Blake. The man left you another threat...and, while I don't know how he got back into the kingdom, he's still dangerous. Not only should you not have to go through that alone, but at this point in your life it isn't just about him hurting you and Blake. You have four kids, the youngest two being nine years old. Do you really think he's above hurting your family just for his own gain?"

Allison brushed tears away from her eyes. "Lizzie, please don't make me think about that."

"Allie, you have to tell him," Elizabeth said, giving her a pointed look. "And -"

"Fine," She said, setting down her wine glass and storming into the other room where Blake, Michael, Glynda, and James were. "I'll -"

"Allie?" Blake said, looking at her in concern as she tore the door open. "You okay? James -"

"Blake, if you'd give me a minute to talk then I would explain what I found out just as I was leaving work," James said, sighing. "Especially since I'm sure -"

"Give me a minute," He said, stepping into the kitchen where Elizabeth was a bit too interested in the colour of her drink. "Liz, what are you doing?"

"Huh?" Elizabeth said, breaking out of her thoughts. "Oh, right. Allie has something she needs to tell you."

Blake raised an eyebrow but then smiled. "Let me guess: you're pregnant again and don't know how to tell Chrissy and Glynda."

Allison shook her head. "I wish it were that, but no. If that's all I was worried about, then our lives would be so much easier."

Blake's amusement melted quickly into deep concern. "Oh my god, Allie, what happened?"

She pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket. "This was on my desk at work this morning. I saw it just before a meeting with my board of directors."

Blake scanned over the note for a moment but quickly dropped it to pull his wife tightly into him, cursing a bit at the pain he felt in his left shoulder. "Oh, Allie...god, if he's really back in the kingdom -"

"As far as I know," Elizabeth said, giving him a pointed look. "That report isn't substantiated. He could have, for say, had an underling plant that note to scare her, to scare both of you."

Blake considered that for a moment. "Allie, what do you think?"

She hesitated. "I might sound paranoid, but I really think he is back in the kingdom."

Blake sighed as he gently released her. "I'm going to file an official report with the DFAMA's security council -"

"Under what circumstances," James said, finally coming into the room with Michael. "Would you of all people have to file an official report to the council that Elizabeth chairs?"

Elizabeth shrugged and then took another sip of her wine. "Could be anything. A grimm in town that could have been fake, the abominable snowman, or an abominable man who shot the shoulder of his son in law for no other reason than to freak out his daughter and spite her family."

"Watts is back in the kingdom, you know," Michael said, wrapping a gentle arm around her waist. "You really want to be making jokes?"

Elizabeth gave him a pointed look. "That was an allusion, not a joke. And how is it that you have that information before I do?"

"Outside of my civilian job," He said, kissing her cheek. "I am a military commander, and James told me this as we were leaving work. Apparently it's got Emmeline scared half to death or something like that. I imagine her father will react more, though. After all, Ciel has to protect and guide the entire kingdom and part of that is keeping men as dangerous and manipulative as Watts from gaining power."

Allison scoffed. "My father has a silver tongue. He can do any damn thing he likes, practically, and get away with it."

"Not true," James countered while Glynda crossed her arms with her crop in hand. "But he still is dangerous. We can all agree on that. Especially since he seriously wounded Weiss Schnee and perhaps crippled Yang Xiao Long. She might have to get her foot replaced, based on how bad the reports on the way he'd shot it were. Miss Schnee, on the other hand, is lucky to be alive."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"He shot her in the chest," James informed him, a hint of anger behind the clear sympathy for the young women. "It went into one of her ribs, not her heart."

"Does Winter know?" Glynda asked him, and James shook his head. "Qrow?"

"I haven't told them yet," James admitted. "I intend to tomorrow afternoon, as unpleasant as that will be."

Allison shrugged. "Depends on how drunk he is."

"Who's making jokes now?" Elizabeth sassed, glancing to her husband. "I'm not the only person in this room with a terrible -"

"I know," He said, softly kissing her. "But -"

"The point is," Blake said, giving both of the Morells a sharp look. "The two of them have even more of a right to know than we do. Qrow's Ruby's father, Weiss' brother in law...future brother in law...and Winter is Weiss' sister."

A tense silence passed.

"How long ago was this?" Elizabeth asked James sharply, setting down her wine. "Well?"

James sighed. "Earlier today, during their training mission."

"What the hell could he want to do with them?" Allison demanded, then calming herself the best she could. "Well?"

"I don't know," James admitted. "But, to be honest, we all have good reason to be worried. It appears that not even Atlas is truly safe anymore."

Elizabeth laughed humourlessly. "We've all grown up and live in this kingdom. We've all raised or, in you and Glynda's and Cristal and Ozpin's cases, will raise our children here. We know it's not safe, and that doesn't stop us from living. The question is now how much has really changed, and how much Salem knows. After all, it's not as if Watts would take a risk like this without a damn good reason, and for him that could easily be power."

"Power that we have," Glynda remarked dryly. "In case you hadn't noticed, Madame Morell."

Elizabeth scowled at her for a brief moment before sighing. "If only that weren't so true. These are indeed dark times, and even our children know it or will. No matter what we do, I think we may very well have lost all chances for true peace."

"You're a true cynic," Blake commented as he took Allison's hand with his right, ignoring the sharp pain in his left. "But you're not wrong."

"You know what I mean," She said, then glancing out the window at the glistening city lights. "And I really do think that this might be a pointless war. And, even more to the point, why are we all so lost? What is it we're really after? Stability?"

Glynda stared at her as she adjusted her glasses. "Don't the four major kingdoms, within themselves, technically have that? It's not really stability, it's protecting the world. Lizzie, I know where you're coming from but that's not really what we're after."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Reall? Because I think, at the end of the day, we're fighting the right fight but for all the wrong reasons. After all, we all hold positions of power and influence even if not the most bluntly major."

Allison sighed. "I know, Lizzie, but apart from my family and the Schnees, it's not as if any of us are well known, or famous. Political influence isn't the same as social influence."

Elizabeth shrugged. "So what? Of everyone, the members of the group and our families have the most to lose and that's what we're trying to preserve."

"Of course we are," Blake said, kissing Allison's cheek. "But that's not a bad thing."

Elizabeth sighed. "Not per se, yet we're not trying to do what's right, we're trying to preserve our lives. And, to be honest, we're not nice people."

"That's not entirely fair," James said, giving Glynda gentle squeeze. "We all try -"

"Trying isn't enough," Elizabeth snapped, then shaking her head. "Proving my point, and if we're being honest with ourselves, all of us - and our children - are so damn mean when it comes down to it. But do we care? No, because we're fair about it. We're so damn mean to the world, but we're even worse to ourselves. No wonder we're a mess."

A long silence passed amongst them, but it was nothing compared to the thoughts that every member of the group fell asleep within the back of their minds that night - thoughts that they tried their damndest to push away, thoughts of pain and doubt that were not just about the entire group but about themselves personally.