On another world, Ruby stretched and sighed. "Mornin', Weiss." Beside her, Weiss stirred. The Repository, being much more hospitable and open than the Vault, even had rooms with beds. They were of a strange design—black slabs with soft red pulsating lines, but they had bed sheets and pillows. Once more, Team RWBY slept in the same room. It was an odd feeling, to be sure, but not a bad one.

"Mmm," Weiss hummed as Ruby kissed her neck. "Good morning, indeed."

"None of that," came a muffled voice from Blake.

"Please," echoed Yang.

"Ugh. Fine," Ruby sighed. The months she spent in the Repository were nothing compared to the Vault. These were almost relaxing. The pursuit of knowledge was something that sat well with every member of the team and they sifted through dozens of volumes a day. After a few weeks, they had found a way to call the Librarians and began receiving ancient documents as well as the digitally catalogued. Through an ingenious bit of software in the Repository's glass circuitry, the tomes translated themselves.

"Ruby?" Weiss asked, stretching. "How long do you think we've been here? Five months? Six?"

"About, yeah," Ruby replied. She was already standing and yawning, her large red hoodie, and only article of sleepwear, showed off her long legs as she stretched.

"And we've found nothing."

Ruby didn't reply. She simply made her way to the small cooking station they'd borrowed from the Legion and began to cook their usual breakfast of egg and cheese sandwiches.

"If they needed us, they'd call us," Blake pointed out. "The Legion is Remnant's largest standing military. They can handle the ground war."

"I know, but..." Weiss let her sentence drift off, unfinished. She stared out of the glass wall across the red desert.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Yang said. "I've got a good feeling about today!"

"You've said that for eight weeks now," Blake teased. Weiss giggled softly. Ruby just frowned at the eggs. Her Gauntlet felt cold.


"Let me come with you."

"Why? You know your Legion has excommunicated you, right?"

"I don't care. I just want to kill something and right now, you four are the only ones who seem to be focused on what's actually happening right now."

Zaafiel crossed his arms, his mask slung around his neck, revealing his slim, shaven cheeks and taught, thin lips. Red eyes glowed from beneath dark, delicate brows. "Oh just let her come with us, Zee," said Nox from the trunk where she sat, methodically cleaning her sniper rifle. Arachne sat near her, swirling a glass of bubbling violet liquid. Algen shrugged and went back to exfoliating his scaly skin.

"Fine," Zaafiel agreed. "But you take orders from me."

"Deal," Sienna agreed. She bound her thick, rust-colored hair back with a black band.


The Fears had spent their limited freedom performing hit-and-run attacks on the Prismgard troops that seemed to endlessly be streaming from the City of Ages. Janus had often wondered aloud where the Prism Lord seemed to get his troops, and Sienna hated to agree. The number was nearly impossibly high. How could so many people become so disenfranchised with the Kingdoms to the point of bloody revolt? Then Sienna looked around at the four assassins she now shared company with and remembered that they, too, were part of a group revolting against the Four Kingdoms. She wondered if, maybe, they had the right idea. What had the governments really done except partake in violent war and ignore the creatures of darkness that constantly threatened the world.

"On my mark," Zaafiel whispered into the throat-mic. He formed a fist with his hand then extended three fingers. Two. One. "Mark."

Ten small pops from Alexandria Nox's sniper followed and ten Prismgard soldiers went down in heaps of gleaming armor. With the tenth shot, Algen and Arachne swiftly crossed the distance of the field. The crops, withered, unharvested, and covered in snow, had all but been forgotten by the small village as the Prismgard detachment swept through the countryside, recruiting or razing everything. Empress Chang'e had tasked them with removing the Prismgard elite Arek Silvertongue, known also as The Recruiter. He had singlehandedly convinced a thousand Mistral civilians to join arms with the Prismgard.

High above, Zaafiel circled, his large, black wings holding him aloft. Algen and Arachne situated themselves behind two wooden houses, peeking around the corner to see the man himself emboldening his troops and swaying the few dozen inhabitants of the village.

"Sienna. Move," came the order and Sienna crossed the field as well before circling around the outskirts of the village. A few minutes later, she had taken her own cover behind a small pub, quiet and dark.

"Ready," she whispered.

"Go." It was all the command they needed. Sienna waited for a moment before Arachne and Algen burst from their cover. Under direct orders from the Empress, they stayed as 'human as possible' and Arachne leapt into the fray with twin staffswords. She twirled around and Prismgards leapt back as she wittled them down with stabs and cuts. Algen, to his credit, managed to look less like a shark as he twirled through Arachne's aftermath, slicing and cutting with his tooth-shaped dagger. Sienna waited until The Recruiter had turned his back before sprinting through the village and drawing her gladius. Almost as if he had eyes in the back of his head—and for a moment, Sienna thought she saw a ghostly face appear—he whirled around and faced her, grabbing her sword with a single armored hand. With a deft motion, Sienna drew a throwing dagger from her shoulder sheaths and buried it in the crook of his elbow. The man simply laughed and headbutted her. Her nose crunched and blood poured forth as she stumbled back.

Arek the Recruiter laughed and threw her sword aside before stepping towards her. Algen quickly dove between his legs and jabbed at him with his dagger, but once more, Arek seemed to be able to see it coming. Sienna must've blinked because Arek was no longer where he had been and was right behind Arachne.

"Look out!" came Nox's voice over the comms and a flurry of muffled shots sounded as Arachne whirled around. Impossibly, Arek dodged them all, his body almost seemed ghostly. Sienna and Algen brandished their daggers and rushed the man as the remaining Prismgard fell to Nox's bullets. There it was again! A ghostly face appeared in the back of Arek's head and right before their daggers fell, he was facing them and holding their arms. He threw them backwards like they were made of paper machete.

"Do you see?" he cried. "Your Empress sends assassins to kill a man of peace! This is the corruption in the world. This is not justice!"

"You're right," Sienna grunted. She and Algen rushed from either side of Arek. He planted his feet into the ground, shoulder's width apart, and brought his hands to his center, knuckles bent, one hand facing up and the other down. As Algen and Sienna closed the gap, his ghostly faces reappeared on either side of his head, sneering. With a mighty push, he shoved both opponents several meters back. Algen crashed through the legs of a wooden watchtower and the rickety stand crashed down on him. Arachne lay, crumpled on the ground. Sienna growled.

"Stand back, I'm landing," Zaafiel whispered.

"No," growled Sienna.

Arek held, in his arms, a small child. His hands were gently on the child's shoulders, but with the strength he'd just displayed, Sienna could tell that all it would take was one blow. The child was a hostage and the boy didn't even know it.

"Come now," said Arek. "All it takes is one little bow. Just kneel and pledge yourself to the Prism Lord. Accept him as the true god-king." Around her, civilians shuffled forward and began to kneel in front of the recruiter. "Does this not feel right? Is this not the natural order? And all it takes is a simple kneel." Arek smiled, his bright blue eyes and bald head gleamed in the torchlight.

"Not to men like you," Sienna said, standing from where she'd fallen. She stalked forward, her red Legion scarves trailing behind her. In her hand was the gladius she had dropped.

"There has never been a man like me," sneered Arek, his grip on the child tightening.

"There are always men like you." Sienna looked down at her sword arm and the blood that dripped down it, soaking the handle of her sword.

"Dodge this," Alexandria Nox said over the comms.

Time seemed to slow. The muffled pop of Nox's rifle seemed incredibly loud. The bullet flew straight towards Arek's head. Sienna began to run. The bullet neared its target. Sienna saw Arek's ghostly projection start to move.

Time moved forward once mroe. The bullet hit the earth in a shower of dirt and Arek knelt before Sienna, her sword buried to the hilt in his skull.

She pulled the blade from its rest and the body crumpled, blood and brains spilling into the snow. The kneeling people turned to her and whispering of the Legion formed on their lips. "The Legion is back?" "The Legion saved us?" "She's with the Legion."

"Hail the Legion!" one person cried out and the village people knelt once more. Sienna turned away, resisting the urge to vomit.


Ozpin knelt in front of the obsidian gateway. The monstrous structure dominated the sands, standing several hundred meters tall. Chained the ground, Ozpin stared up at the eight red eyes that peered at him through the dimensions. Behind him, Mahavira poured more and more of his aura into the single black pedestal that also rose from the sands. Every day, for six months, he had done this. Every one of his tribe had done it. And when they were done, they would hook a machine up to SSSN and Ozpin and do the same to them. The ring on his finger, warmed to the touch, and he focused on the steady heartbeat he felt through it. The enchanted rings had become his lifeline. He wondered if, wherever Glynda was, she could feel his suffering. He wondered what he desired more: for her to come rescue him or for her to stay as far away from the incoming end of the world.

Ozpin cried.


Author's Note: I'm considering creating a account. For those who can or want to support me. Rewards for supporters could include (but not be limited to) early access to chapters, specialized story requests (shorts/one-shots), shoutouts/features. With the new apartment, things are rather tight and time to write has been severely limited by the need to work overtime to make ends meet. If I could relieve even a little financial burden, I could focus more on writing. I've given it a lot of thought and making the story pay-to-read was unacceptable. So I decided on a . More details will follow on the Facebook and Twitter pages and in ANs of upcoming chapters.

Thank you to all of my followers for their support of this story. I hope that I can continue to entertain you until we reach the journey's end.