Ruby blinked and the tunnels beneath Beacon became red. The bugs were down there too, avoiding the Dust channels and Professor Oobleck's thermos. All of the normal looking ones were present along with one that was new. A big, grasshopper looking thing… with a white carapace… that had red lines along it… and glowing red eyes.

"Doctor Oobleck." Ruby watched the bugs fly through him. Over the past few days of using this ability she'd gotten used to watching this. "Are there any bug Grimm?"

"Insectoid Grimm." He stroked his chin. "There are quite a number, from the lowly Killermantis to the mighty Deathstalker. Overall they make up a small proportion of the Grimm species encountered when compared to the number of insects to other species of animal, but they're still numerous enough to have their own category."

"Uhh, both of those are pretty big, aren't they?"

"Quite so."

"What about really tiny ones? Like, the size of your fist at most?" Ruby held her hand up to compare and it was pretty close.

"No, the Grimm tend toward forms that are large and threatening to man. While a diminutive insect may be terrifying if it appears in the right place, it would be very easily killed by even a child with their Aura unlocked."

Ruby nodded. That made sense; if they'd be that fragile, then something like being unseen and able to pass through walls would be the only way that those type of Grimm could exist. Though, she didn't know why it was just sitting around and not doing anything else. And that was her biggest worry.

"What about stealthy ones? Like… ghost Grimm?"

"Well, there are the Geists, spectral Grimm that can possess objects and fight differently depending on what they enter."

"Can they become invisible?"

"Oh heavens no." He took a long drink from his thermos. "I've never heard of a Grimm with such a power. Though, if they were natively invisible, that would explain why none have been discovered."

"Gotcha." Ruby nodded at the same time the Grimm bug flapped its wings.

"Why the sudden interest? You've never asked about rare species before."

"Well, you know…" Ruby laughed awkwardly. "I just figured that it'd be good to know more about our biggest enemy."

Doctor Oobleck turned around and glanced at one of the other doors. "Well, if you wish to see the Grimm currently in captivity, this is the floor to do it. Professor Port brought back an incredible number from his last capture mission."

"Was it actually a mission this time?"

"Ruby…" He sighed. "It is incredibly uncommon for something like that-"

"I know!" Ruby shouted. "I know that's not how it's supposed to happen, but… But can we just, go to the lab and not talk about it?"

He took a deep breath. "Very well, let's be off to test the prototype!" He patted the new, finally finished, Dust furnace.

Ruby'd gotten it ready while she was taking breaks on Crescent Rose. Weiss kept interrupting by leaving for class, with a large number of dagger glares when Ruby didn't follow her, and Ruby didn't want to do too much more on the esoteric parts of construction without her. It wasn't just that Weiss was interested in weapons design, which was a first among Ruby's friends, but that she'd also caught a few errors which would've taken Ruby a long time to notice.

"Yeah, we can-" Ruby stopped talking when the Grimm bug suddenly twitched. It spun around in the air and buzzed off to the side, flying closer to the Dust channels in the walls than any of the others had ever done.

A swarm of the smaller invisible bugs, that just looked like big flies, followed it. Then even more of the large ones charged through the walls.

Doctor Oobleck gave her a confused look while she stared at the wall.

"Umm, is there anything happening in that lab right now?"

"That is one of the general labs which anyone can have access to. Let's go take a look, shall we!" Doctor Oobleck dashed over to the door. "It looks like Professor Goodwitch reserved it a few hours ago for Sorcery experiments."

Ruby's mind conjured up the image of those books she wrote on last week. A bunch of invisible bug Grimm didn't seem like they should be the direct cause of whatever was throwing the astrology math off, but they could be related to it.

"Is there any chance we could see how it's going?" Ruby gave him her widest smile as the pressure appeared.

Doctor Oobleck stroked his chin again as the pressure built. "Hmm."

Ruby considered what to do. She hadn't done this too much to him yet and it didn't seem like it would be too bad. It was also really important to know exactly what those Grimm bugs were doing.

She bit the bullet and shoved it to the side. They needed to see this.

"I see no reason why we shouldn't! It could be very educational." Doctor Oobleck shouted as he knocked on the door. After a moment, he opened it to a blood curdling scream. Both he and Ruby dashed in with their Semblances, skidding to a halt next to Professor Goodwitch.

She had her riding crop pointed at the human shaped swarm of Grimm bugs. Her eyes were locked on it, tracking it while it writhed, and her cheeks had a greenish tint. The Grimm tore at whatever was underneath, flying away with bits of flesh between their pincers.

Ruby blinked and saw what was actually there, a vaguely human creature being torn apart, eaten alive. It wasn't human, that much was obvious enough. Neither humans nor Faunus had yellow blood or a giant, misshapen head. But it screamed just like one of them.

She immediately flickered the red light back on so the swarm covered its body. Her hands clapped over her mouth while she clenched the muscles in her throat to keep her lunch down.

"Bartholomew, why do you have a student with you?" She shouted without taking her eyes off of it.

"I-I" He stammered, pulling his thermos out and expanding it into a fiery pole-mace. "I thought that she would benefit from observing your success. Obviously I was mistaken about some aspects of this plan. Please tell me that's not intentional."

"Of course it isn't." She snapped, flicking the body back when it tried to lunge away. "It is, however, the recorded result of the spell. Though, far more gruesome than I expected."

The screaming stopped when the head fell off, but the body kept twitching.

"The spell is obviously faulty in some manner. Now that I've confirmed this, I can begin working on fixing it." Professor Goodwitch continued watching the body until all of the Grimm bugs began flying away. The spell probably wasn't the problem, but Ruby couldn't just say that without inviting a lot of questions.

"Maam." Ruby said, rubbing her tongue against the top of her mouth to get rid of the taste. "Are you going to try my suggestion to the spell first?"

"Your suggestion? You haven't-" Professor Goodwitch narrowed her eyes and paused. "No, wait. I remember now. It was your suggestion."

"Yeah, the energy constant… Though…" Ruby paused and considered what to say, looking at the ways that this conversation could go. It was another very risky one, but she couldn't let something like that happen again if she could do anything about it. "There was something else I've thought about, especially after watching... that."

Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow.

"Well." Ruby rolled her head back and forth. "What about surrounding it with a circle of burning Dust?"

"Why do you think that would help?"

"Uhh, well…" Ruby gulped. "It seemed like that… thing… was trying to escape. This would keep it contained."

"Considering how quickly it disintegrated, I don't believe that would be a problem."

"What if it didn't? What if it was actually able to fight back, then the Dust might make it back down. Sort of like a big show of force in front of a dangerous animal."

She watched Ruby very carefully, but didn't respond.

"It also could help out with the overall energy in the air. If you keep that consistent, you'll be able to force the interior of the circle to assume a steady state and force any impurities out. "Ruby spun her lie with terms that were hopefully just technical enough.

"She has proven to be remarkably gifted regarding Dust patterns and making sure that they burn consistently," Doctor Oobleck chimed in, hefting the furnace. "Our most recent build is leagues ahead of any other in its class."

"I see." Professor Goodwitch adjusted her glasses and looked at Ruby. "I'll take your suggestion under consideration in that case. I won't be able to perform another test for several days, but when I can, do you wish to observe?"

"Umm…" On one hand, Ruby might be able to figure out something else going wrong and keep whatever was being summoned alive. On the other hand, if she had to pay that much attention to it, she would hurl. "I think I'm good."

"Understandable." She nodded. "In the meantime, I would suggest continuing with your own experiments."

"Very well." Doctor Oobleck stepped out the door. "Let's get this going then."

Ruby followed him, grimacing as a Grimm bug with a bit of flesh flew past her face.

"Ruby, is there anything that you want to tell me about this?" Doctor Oobleck said softly, gaze piercing her own. "You are a brilliant girl who may have revolutionized dust engines if your theories are correct, but as far as I knew sorcery was not among your talents."

"I- Well." Ruby wasn't sure what to say. On one hand, it would be important to let him know about a new species of Grimm. On the other hand, it didn't seem like anyone else was capable of seeing them. And on the third hand, he'd still taken part in the investigations. "Can I tell you later?"

"After you've had time to think about how to explain it?"

She nodded quickly.

"Acceptable," He said, tone normal again. "For now, let's focus on getting this armor working."

That she was all too happy to do.

Blake looked up from her book and watched her teammates while she digested the last lesson: the meditation on stillness. It was a method of emptying your mind and achieving perfect focus on your Aura. She'd need to thank Ren for the recommendation later, though she wasn't the one who needed it most right now.

Weiss was sitting on a chair in the center of the room, tapping her fingers on her knee, while Ruby elegantly gestured around her. Normally Blake wouldn't have used that word to describe Ruby, but her movements couldn't be anything else. They started almost three hours ago and as far as Blake could tell, nothing had happened.

Supposedly, Ruby was creating something special and attaching it to Weiss' Aura. Instead of activating her own, she continued to dance around the other girl with her eyes closed, softly humming to herself as she moved. She hadn't said a word since she started, while Weiss sat in place and watched her with barely concealed annoyance. She kept glancing a a pile of books on Ruby's desk, no doubt all of the class projects Ruby had been neglecting.

Something about both of them was off, but Blake couldn't put her finger on what it was. She supposed it could be stress caused by being cooped up in the workshop with each other for an entire day because she certainly wouldn't have been able to spend hours upon hours with a single person like that. Peace, focus, rest: all of them required a place to herself, without interruptions or important responsibilities. It was easier to find that at Beacon than at her home in Menagerie, though not as easy as when she was with the White Fang. Living in the woods had some advantages.

"Hello!" Yang called as she slammed the door open. She spun into the room with a big paper bag in her arms. "I brought-"

"Shh." Weiss held a finger up to her lips and hissed while Ruby suddenly moved. "She's trying to concentrate."

Yang blinked several times while she watched Ruby and ended by shaking her head. "Fine, no chocolates for you." She fished a piece out of her bag and tossed it into her mouth, smacking her lips incredibly loudly as they closed.

"Ohh, so good." Yang practically moaned as she walked to her bed. "Too bad Weiss can't have any."

Weiss rolled her eyes and went back to watching Ruby.

Yang tossed a piece onto Blake's bed and settled into her own, eating like a normal person.

Blake picked the ball up and bit into it. Smooth cream practically exploded from the chocolate shell. It was one of her favorite flavors and delicious, but not nearly as good as Yang had implied. She mmhed in appreciation.

A moment later, Yang's face crept over the side of the bed. "Hey, Blake."

"Yes?"

She had her mouth held in a tight smile, obviously trying not to laugh. "Do you like my cr-"

"Really?" Weiss snapped, cutting her off.

While she was thankful for the interruption, Blake still listened for Weiss' real meaning. 'Why would you say that in front of your sister?'

"Where do you get off telling me to stop when…" Yang cut herself off when she turned around. She locked eyes with Weiss and squinted. "Oh, I get it. It's on. I'll beat you at your own game, just you wait."

Blake groaned and buried her face in her book. They were going to be at it again. She had a few days of peace and quiet and not having to watch everything she said for phrases that could turn into unintentional innuendos.

Thankfully, both of them settled down into silence again. For another half an hour Blake had time to focus on herself, the way her body felt as she slowly inhaled, the way her muscles felt with each breath, the way her Aura moved in rhythm with the rest of her body. Then Ruby opened her eyes, one hand on Weiss' shoulder.

"Why doesn't it fit?!" She shouted, shaking both fists into the air.

Yang snickered.

"What do you mean?" Weiss stared at Ruby.

"The Quiver energy I wove for you. I'm trying to actually attach it, but it doesn't fit! Your Aura's too big." Ruby pointed at Weiss and drew a big circle around her head. "It just slips off whenever I try to make it work."

"Hey, sis." Yang called.

"What?!"

"Open up."

Ruby blinked at her twice before opening her mouth wide. A chocolate flew from Yang's bed, landing right on Ruby's tongue. She chomped down and nodded very quickly.

"Mmph, strwbrry my favrt. "Ruby mumbled with her mouth full. "Thanks, Yang. I needed that."

"No prob."

"Was that from the little chocolate shop on fourteenth?"

"You know it." Yang made an incredibly loud chewing noise.

"Ohhh," Ruby squealed. "I love that place. I need to get more next time we go downtown."

"Didn't you have class today? When did you have the time to go into Vale?" Weiss glared at Yang.

"I did have class today." Yang threw another chocolate into Ruby's mouth. "I just decided not to go."

"You can't just skip class whenever you feel like it." Weiss stood up from her chair so she could stare into Yang's eyes.

"Eh, it was just one of the martial arts classes. I've already got all of the techniques I need down and they won't let us do more than one-on-one sparring."

"It's still important to go to classes." Weiss cross her arms. "Right, Ruby?"

"Hmm…" Ruby paused to think, then lept into the air to catch another chocolate. "Nope, Yang's awesome and candy's better than homework."

Weiss took a deep breath and sat back down, turning away from both of them.

"Hey, Yang." Ruby walked over to the bed. "Can I try to do something to you?"

"What is it?"

"Give you the blessing I was trying to make for Weiss."

Yang waited a long time to respond. "Uhh, sure."

"Okay, here's goes!" Ruby clapped her hand onto her sister's shoulder, then pulled back a few seconds later. "Well… That didn't work either. Blake?"

"I doubt you'll do any better with me." Blake shook her head. Without knowing exactly what Ruby was doing, she didn't want to commit to anything.

"You're probably right." Ruby sighed and walked back to Weiss. "Did you get anything out of it?"

"Not particularly, but it also didn't work." Weiss shook her head. "It didn't take that long for you to do. Now that you know about this problem, maybe the next one will be better?"

"Yeah, but what'm I gonna do with this thing." Ruby held up her hand, there was nothing on it. No pulse of Aura or strange whirls in the air, nothing. Though, she was sure that Ruby could perceive something.

Blake had never thought of understanding Aura as a high priority before, but now it seemed like something that should be done sooner than later. If that was a common Anathema ability, then it shouldn't take all that long. Especially because she had been able to follow a lot during Professor Goodwitch's introductory lecture about sorcery.

"Give it to Jaune?" Yang said.

"Well… His Aura's pretty strong, but nowhere near where any of your's are." Ruby tapped her chin. "I guess it couldn't hurt, though I'm really not sure what he'd do with a blessing of wit."

"Pass a test?" Weiss said snidely.

Yang snorted. Blake coughed.

"Weiss," Ruby gaped. "Why are you being so mean all of a sudden?"

Weiss met Blake's eyes, then turned back to Ruby. "I've been dealing with a large number of frustrations."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. When she ntoiced Ruby's eyes flickering towards her, Blake covered her face with her book. Weiss was planning something and she wasn't about to ruin it.

"Okay, so… What can I do to help?"

"Start taking your, and Yang's, studies seriously for one."

"Hey!" Yang shouted and tossed something at Weiss, though it hit the floor instead.

Weiss ignored her, instead stepping towards where Ruby was. "You're supposed to be our leader and I'd bet you've skipped almost as many as she has."

"I have not skipped that many." Ruby lied.

Weiss tapped her foot very loudly.

"Okay so… Maybe I have. But none of our teachers are going to remember me being there anyway."

"That's no excuse. How many have you skipped this week? I know it's at least four because we're in them together."

Ruby mumbled under her breath.

"How many?"

"Seven."

"You've only had nine!"

"I was busy working on stuff!"

"You're supposed to be representing all of us as leader."

"No one can remember me so it doesn't matter."

For a long time all Blake could hear was heavy breathing.

"You're right. It doesn't matter if you attend class." Weiss' tone became icy.

"See."

"But it does matter that you aren't because you're missing out on important information."

"I'm pretty sure I could skip any test and still pass all of mine." Yang chimed in.

"We also have other responsibilities. We're the elite freshmen team right now and need to act like it." Weiss partially lied. Blake heard the implications behind her words that were surely also directed at Yang. 'If you skip all of your classes and still outperform students who don't, it'll be incredibly suspicious.'

"Really, other responsibilities?" Yang snapped. "How's finding that Anathema woman going?"

"I haven't started."

"What?" Yang jumped up from her bed. "Why not?!"

"Because the last time I got the information before we were ready, you two ignored the plan and charged off without either me or Ruby. Had you exhibited an ounce of restraint, we would have been able to stop their operation."

"But we-"

"Yang." Blake lowered her book. "She's not wrong."

Yang gave Blake a look, but backed down, leaning against the bed.

Weiss stepped over to the door. "I'm going to go to get myself coffee before we continue. Does anyone else want anything?"

After all three shook their heads, she left, closing the door behind her.

"So…" Yang crossed her arms. "What was up with that? Weiss was almost as bad at the last time the White Fang argument came up."

"I don't know." Ruby slumped over. "She's been like that all week and the closest that I've managed to get is 'family problems'."

Yang's eyes went wide. "Give me a sec."

She pulled out her scroll and furiously swiped at it. Her eyes darted back and forth as she scanned, evening with a wince. "Oh... That'd do it."

"What happened?" Blake leaned over to catch a glimpse of the screen. She froze at the sight of the headline.

"Worker and Investors criticize SDC leadership over most deadly White Fang raid yet." Yang said while slowly scrolling. "Twenty two dead, fourty injured."

Blake turned away from the image of a young woman with white hair, decapitated.

"The deceased included one Bianca Schnee, twenty seven, the Quality Assurance Manager whose head had been prominently displayed on the factory floor." Yang put her scroll down. "Damn."

Ruby glanced at Blake, then open and closed one hand.

"They shouldn't be like that." Blake whispered. "That's so far beyond anything that they've ever done before."

"Could it have been our fault?" Ruby asked very quietly.

"No." Yang shouted. "How could you even think that?"

"Well..." Ruby began counting on her fingers. "We recently attacked a White Fang warehouse that seems like it had a lot of Dust. We seriously embarrassed someone who was probably one of their leaders, which would leave room for someone more brutal else to step in and recoup their loses."

"This happened deep in South-Eastern Vale, there's no way it was the same group."

"So what if it wasn't Torchwick, maybe the leader of a different faction was weak enough for spillover to hit them. Or someone already vicious wants to take Torchwick's guys for themselves and prove they're the stronger ones."

Blake's blood ran colder with every word. That was exactly how Adam rose to his position so quickly. They went from peaceful protest to armed protest, and from there to organizing riots. Each step seemed like such a small change, but his passion was what pushed them over the line.

"That's…" Yang licked her lips. "How? Why would you think about that?"

"Crescent Rose is almost done so I dreamed about how to break groups again. It was the first thing that came to mind." Ruby said with a shrug. "I'll probably do Aura tomorrow so I won't be able to realize these things then."

Blake stated at her, waiting for a laugh or a "just kidding". Dreaming up knowledge and losing it the next day was the most ridiculous ability she'd ever heard of. Though, it did tie in with the memory loss effect.

"Hey, Blake." Yang picked up her bag. "I need some air too. Wanna go for a ride?"

"What, I-" Ruby cut herself off with a sigh. "Have fun I guess."

"Don't worry sis. I plan to." Yang's voice held an unexpected edge to it.

Yang turned towards the locker rooms after she closed the door, not the garage. At the end of the hall, she stopped. "I'm getting my weapons. This time we'll get them and stop this before it gets any worse, no need to worry about cutting loose."

Blake nodded. The last fight proven that she could use her strongest techniques without risking her enemy dying. "You're not going to give us away again, are you?"

Yang shook her head. "No, I don't need to taunt Weiss right now."

"Good."

"Though," Yang tapped her chin with a finger, drawing the word out. She stepped up and leaned on Blake's shoulder. "You never did answer my question."

"What que-" Blake cut herself off, heat rising to her cheeks. She looked away and muttered, "It was delicious."