The cusp of dawn brought cooler air and clouds, dulling the dim light which entered Glynda's office to a muted gray defeated by the lamps on the shelves behind her. She was just finishing up a sleepless night spent in review of the trial and its costs. Thirty-seven of thirty-nine returned – a boy named Cardin Winchester and one of his teammates were the victims – which was a survival rate frankly much higher than she expected. Much of the past hour had been spent trying to figure out what to do with the remaining members of his team. "I'll just put them with some of the new arrivals on Mandag," she finally sighed, glasses on her desk and one hand over her green eyes. The influx of Haven students provided even more work for her to do, of course, but she lacked the gumption to sit here and try to tackle it while running on two hours of something which could barely be called sleep. A low groan slipped out from her mouth. The job never stopped, for anyone or anything.

Compounding matters was what she'd seen on Coco's unbelievable video footage. Disgusted with her paperwork, Glynda dropped her Scroll on the desktop and accessed the file to watch it again. The first half, featuring Ruby, Pyrrha, and their teams using the new, strange priming mechanism, was bad enough – she watched for the fifth time seemingly-dormant Dust explode at ranges of dozens of meters, far beyond the size of any Aura ever known, then ran back the video and watched again. "There's no way this is possible."

Glynda had already tested the concept herself, of course, with tears and fine Ash as a result, but she continued to struggle with its veracity regardless. None of it made sense against what she knew about the relationship between Aura and Dust. This wasn't the only problem with the video; she had seen Opher punch Coco's lights out when she was about to execute Indigo to end the attraction of her trauma for the Grimm. She'd watched monsters fly, blue fire consume other Grimm like matchsticks, and some of his ability to expel fire, to jump, to cause outbursts of ice so large that she wasn't sure she could regularly prime an equivalent amount of Dust to match it. If it was Dust. No amount of examination of Coco's admittedly not-so-great recording could tell her where his supply was.

She'd ask him, but there was another issue on that front too. Were they even alive? Nobody had seen them on campus. The scanners were yet to register either one's ID, entering or leaving, since their departure on the doomed shuttle. With the passage of several hours since their last sighting, she decided to finally try the Scroll number Indigo had on file as her business line. It rang endlessly before going to voicemail – not a good sign, but she maintained her usual professional demeanor. "Miss Stahl, it's Glynda Goodwitch. I'm… calling to see where you ended up after last night. Please get in touch with me as soon as you can. It's important. Goodbye."

That was all she could do for now. As she placed her Scroll back into position to continue dissecting Coco's video, the two-way device which alerted her of people trying to get to her office via elevator went off, scaring her almost out of her desk chair. "Who is it?" she asked while catching her breath.

"It's just me, ma'am." The camera girl herself, sounding every bit as exhausted as Glynda. "Saw your lights on from below. Couldn't sleep. Figured you'd wanna talk about what I recorded anyway, soooooo..."

"Hm. I didn't think Velvet would let you get away so soon. The doors are unlocked." She tapped a green button which both ended the conversation and activated the elevator door mechanism for her office.

Twenty seconds and a pleasant chime later, a decidedly less fashionable-than-usual Coco strode through those doors. While her hair was styled and arranged as normal, she was clad in a pair of black cargo pants much baggier than her preferred type, with a red, spaghetti-strapped tank top above them. Her gray sneakers squeaked on the hard tile as she walked over. "I'd take coffee or liquor right now. Check that; coffee with liquor," she joked while sitting down. The ragged scars on her exposed arms, including the new, redder set she'd earned the previous evening, shone a little more obviously in the yellowish light from Glynda's lamps.

"That makes two of us." The tall blonde glared at the frame of video she'd paused on, though nothing terribly interesting was contained therein. "I see the Grimm went after Schnee and Belladonna rather forcefully last night."

Bitter humor stained her chocolate eyes. "I wonder why."

Brow knitted, the blonde directed the conversation back onto a safer road. "Your assessment of their performance?"

"Oh, they're not bad. Even the – what's his name." She rolled her hand around a little, waving the memory back to her mind. "The Arc kid. He's not skilled at all, but he knows his limits. Didn't get in the way except that one time Nora hit him, which, I think, was mostly her fault." Based on the squint, more detail was wanted, so she added, "They work well together. All eight. I'd keep 'em as a unit. Hell, if they get outta here they're probably gonna work as one anyway."

"Noted." For what little that was worth. Glynda scrubbed ahead to a different part of the recording. "Explain this decision. I'm not angry with you, I just want to hear your perspective."

Coco leaned forward as the tall blonde called up a different projection screen with the same video file that she could more easily see. The frame it showed depicted her with her pistol against the back of Indigo's head as she knelt near the airship's flaming carcass. Instead of saying anything, she rewound it a few moments and let her past self do the talking. "I'm not dragging around an unconscious woman for however long it takes the teachers to get out here – if they come at all. You saw the shit going on over the campus."

"There you go," she concluded. "I wasn't gonna do it. You saw how beaten up we were already. The kids were my priority." The memory of what came next caused her to rub idly at her mostly-healed nose. "I really didn't want to, but, man, what other options did I have? Then… then it just didn't matter."

"That's about what I figured. Normally, I'd be quite angry at him for striking two of my students – and I am, don't misunderstand me. However, based on what I've seen of his fighting, he could have killed you both outright," she admitted while cleaning her glasses. "Add that to his intervention against the Grimm, plus what he seems to have taught the Rose and Nikos teams..." Finally, she made eye contact with Coco. "This new priming state could save dozens of students' lives at the very least. I just wish I knew where they were. I've got quite a few questions."

"Wait, they never showed up last night?" she asked, playing with the long lock of hair that hung down near her right eye. "Unless he ran out of Aura, there's no way the Grimm got them. Maybe he did. What we saw him do must come with a pretty high price."

"Perhaps so," she sighed. Staring daggers at the blue fire on Coco's video occupied her for the next few seconds. "I still can't figure out what sort of Dust this is. Lava crystals explode orange. Fire is always red, orange, or yellow. Yet this fire is the same color I saw engulf two Nevermores over campus just before Stahl left for the shuttle. I wonder if he was responsible for that too." Her brow creased deeply. "Look how it dissolves them… almost like it triggers a forced sublimation of Grimm while they're still alive, for lack of a better term. I've never seen anything even remotely similar."

"New kind of Dust? There's gotta be varieties we haven't discovered yet. Maybe that's the answer." In desperate search of comfort, she sat sideways in the chair with her long legs draped over one arm and slumped fully against the back. Her eyes closed. "Gods, I'm so tired."

"You're not the only one." Taps on the glass told both women that rain had arrived, though it was little more than drizzle. Glynda rose from her chair to stretch and walk some feeling back into her aching calves; she traced a long, lazy path to the windows which overlooked the side of the campus which faced the cliff. Barely visible through the fog was the still-glowing city of Vale, miles beyond. "Two more lost. Damn it all. I'd try to schedule another ceremony, but I'm not sure I can lean on the upperclassmen for protection again so soon. We wouldn't have Army support this time." Her face darkened. "And with the new students arriving, I fear our next trial might cost dozens of lives. Perhaps I should save my efforts until then."

"Yeah. Then again, maybe it won't be so bad with this remote priming thing up our sleeves." Coco's eyes snapped open when the tall blonde failed to respond. "We're gonna tell the rest of the students about this, aren't we?" she asked, looking over.

She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the chime of her elevator doors. Very few people would have the authority to just enter her office at will, and as they watched, one of those people stepped out, clacking his cane along the tile as he walked. "Pardon the interruption," Ozpin greeted politely. "But I could scarcely believe someone managed to beat me to work for once and I got curious." He smiled at Coco as she properly rearranged herself in the chair out of respect. The next thing he saw wasn't so amusing – the projection screens on Glynda's desk, whose images were still frozen on the blue fire. "Dissecting last night, are we?"

"Yes." She returned to her desk, sitting down about the same time Opzin took the free chair next to Coco. "I won't even say a word. Just watch this."

Ozpin did as asked, once Glynda scrubbed back through the footage to a few seconds before Coco and Ciel arrived at the crash site. The expression on his face remained thoughtful and stony even as he watched Indigo kneeling, seconds away from her end at the muzzle of a pistol. It didn't change when Opher punched Coco, nor when a bolt of lightning knocked out Ciel. The act of terrestrial Grimm going for an unscheduled flight failed to alter his visage, as did the generation of the blue fire which had his deputy so captivated. He said nothing, even after the final display of ice disgorged by Remnant's soil and Opher's fist which instantly dispatched the dozens of Creeps in the camera's view.

This silence left Glynda awkwardly staring across the desk at him. "Ah, sir?" she finally asked, head tilted.

"This is somewhat more combat capability than I would expect from a Dust courier," he noted, brows raised with partially-real surprise. "And I'm not sure I appreciate what he did to Miss Adel."

"Not sure? Gee, thanks," she replied mockingly. "Don't forget Ciel, too."

He cracked a tiny grin which lasted only an instant before a more serious expression arrived. "I'd quite like to have a chat with him..."

It was Glynda's frown that caused him to trail off. "They never came back here. I've left a message on Miss Stahl's Scroll number, but I've no idea where they are or if they're even—alive."

"Unfortunate." Some thoughtful chin stroking was in order. "And no further sightings of Miss Rose's flash of light, I presume?"

"Nope," a sleepy Coco confirmed. Her eyes snapped open again when she realized another problem. "What caused the crash in the first place, by the way?" she asked, scrambling upright in her chair. "I heard that Indigo woman say… but, I mean, I don't wanna assume anything."

Ozpin chose to deliver the bad news himself, quite gently relative to his usual tone. "Miss Wright admitted her mistake to us not long after it happened, I'm afraid."

The weight of his words bent the tall student forward in her chair until she was staring at her own shoes. "I knew I should have talked to her when I got back-" Her head jerked up. "Wait. Is she… is she still here?"

"We haven't come to a decision yet, so, yes." Glynda dismissed the screens above her desk and inhaled deeply. "Although she apparently did kill the pilot. It's something Professor Ozpin and I will discuss later."

"Right." A change of subject was in order to melt the icy knot in Coco's stomach. With Ozpin present, she decided to pressure Glynda again about spreading the knowledge they'd gained overnight. "When are you going to start teaching the rest of the students about the new Dust priming mechanism?"

He blinked at her with partially-genuine surprise. "New priming mechanism? Goodness, I missed a lot."

"Sorry, sir, but I wanted to review the video overnight before I mentioned it this morning. And, to be fair, what I've seen is the kind of thing that demands a physical demonstration regardless." From one of her desk drawers she produced a red Dust crystal, then, with a flick of her hand – and some careful application of her Semblance, which cast a brief purple glow across the office – she skipped it along the floor until it came to rest on the other end of the room. "How far do you think it is from us to that crystal?"

"Uhh… fifteen meters?" Coco guessed after some silent calculation.

"I believe it's around eighteen and a half." Both women looked at Ozpin, who regarded them with a smile. "I was here when the structure was built, you know. I had to approve blueprints until my eyes crossed."

The blonde nodded at this and got back to her point. "At any rate, either number is much larger than the radii of our Auras. Now… watch this." Hands clasped, she closed her eyes to issue a silent plea. Sure enough, the crystal glowed, then emitted a gentle crackle as its contained flame leaked out. All three watched it burn until it had no more left to give and expired into a pile of powdery gray Ash. "Look at the remains. They're so fine. This isn't just a new trigger for Dust, it seems to alter how efficiently it burns as well."

Ozpin, despite being more than familiar with the concept and its results, did as Glynda wanted. He moved over to stand by the pile, even poking it with the tip of his cane to complete the illusion of curiosity. "How odd. This is the sort of Ash I would expect from powdered Dust, not a crystal."

"I know, right? Isn't it fucking weird?" A nettled gaze from Glynda only served to make Coco smirk. "Well, I'll let you guys do teacher stuff or whatever. I'm gonna go talk to Argent and get back to Velvet before she loses her-" Tones from her pocket cut her off – she didn't even need to look at her Scroll to know who it was. "Too late."

They watched her rise and shuffle tiredly toward the elevator. Ozpin even waved as she walked by him. "Do tell Velvet I said hello," he said with a smile. All he got was a wave in reply before she entered the elevator, after which he walked back toward the desk. "I would very much like to know how our new friend Mister Riese learned of this… whatever we're going to call it for now."

"The students refer to it as 'remote priming'," she explained, rubbing slowly at her aching head. "And I agree. I just wish I knew what happened to them. I'll keep calling for now."

"No, no, I'll take up the search. You should get some sleep while you can." When his advice went ignored, Ozpin pointed his cane at the elevator until Glynda finally looked up at him. "Good night, Miss Goodwitch. Or good morning as the case may be."

"But..." He maintained his pose until she ceased working with a sigh and finally stood up. "If you insist. However, Miss Adel has a point. Do we add this to the curriculum? It could be quite helpful, especially to students like Jaune Arc who lack combat experience when they arrive here."

"I'd rather know more about it from the source before we make that call," he replied while walking her to the elevator. "If there is still a source left to speak to. I can't imagine where they've ended up, if they're alive."

"Yes." With a few taps on her Scroll, Glynda shut off her desk computer and the lights on her shelves. "I'll be back to deal with arrangements for the new students later. Let me know if you hear anything before then. I've left a copy of the video on internal network storage for you to watch again, if you'd like."

"Thank you, and should I get in touch with them, you'll be among the first to know." A smiling Opzin tapped the button for her and sent her on her way – but the moment the doors closed between them, all traces of that smile left his face. He turned away, glaring out the windows at the rain. "Blue fire."

Much like Salem, he had access to generations of experience and knowledge, but unlike the Aspect of Shadow, his perspective on that history was the exact opposite in some key places. He already knew the blue fire was no Dust, but the true art – an expression of which he hadn't seen for many thousands of years. His knee-jerk reaction was to immediately deploy his Maidens to scour the Emerald Forest again, searching for either more clues or corpses, but vast patience stayed his hand. After all, he had no idea how many loose ends were currently fluttering in the breeze. A stern reprimand of Qrow for speaking with Opher after he'd been strongly urged not to do so could also wait for now. His first innocuous Scroll message went to Amber, whom he instructed to meet him in his office. Olivine did not get a similar message – he'd have enough trouble dealing with her little sister alone, and it was his impression that the mountainous warrior wanted her space. After seeing the video evidence, he had suspicions about why.

Not ten minutes later, the Maiden came stumbling into that space, clad in her usual ensemble – cloak included. She stood with her hands on her knees as breath dove into, then launched itself, from her lungs. Only when the doors were securely closed behind her did she walk toward Ozpin's desk. "Gods help us!" were the first words she gasped. "What in the hell happened in the Emerald Forest?! That crash site has magic I've never felt before in my life! What do we do?! Do we call Raven? Do we call Miss-"

"Lady Grace!" he said, voice raised just enough to startle her into silence. "Deep breaths. Sit down."

She obeyed at length on unsteady steps, nearly falling into one of the chairs arranged in front of his workspace. "Ozpin, what's happening?" she asked again.

"Watch."

Amber leaned forward to get the best view possible of the video he brought up. Her uneasiness only increased the longer she stared at it. "Gods above… they can talk to the planet..." she whispered, watching Ruby and her friends leverage that power in the early part of their trial. Ozpin went farther ahead until Coco's arrival at the crash site, where Opher's appearance forced her to her feet. "It's him!" Then the blue fire dropped her right back down, lightheaded and wide-eyed with horror. "That's – gods – that's how holy magic used to work."

"But it most certainly never looked like this. He's the one that taught them how to speak to Remnant as well. This problem just won't stop getting more complicated." Ozpin watched a trembling Amber pluck a cigarette, wrapped in tan paper, from one of her belt pouches, then light it with a wobbly flame from her fingertip and place it in her mouth. "You may have that one, but no more. I want you lucid."

"I know, I know," she confirmed between hasty puffs. "I just need to take the edge off. What do we do now?"

"Let's keep it simple." Ozpin waved his Scroll at her, then allowed his fingers to dance on the screen as he set up a call. Amber knew the recipient not long afterward. "Yes, Miss Stahl, this is Professor Ozpin. I do hope you and Mister Riese are well. We need to speak about last night – and trust me when I say that neither of you are in trouble. I just want to talk. Please call the campus at your earliest convenience and ask for me. Thank you."

"Are you serious? Playing Scroll tag is our best strategy at the moment?" she asked as he hung up, cigarette hanging limply from her lips.

"Glynda already tried, but perhaps a message from me will get things moving along – assuming they can still be put into motion." For once, there existed real anger on the usually-placid Headmaster's face. "I can't send out Qrow to look for him because the fool was around Riese last night. If I didn't need his magic to balance Lady Branwen, I'd let Olivine work him over for a while." With a sigh, he went back to calming Amber. "I have to assume he is compromised for now. The fact that I have no idea whatsoever where those two may have gone, after they parted ways with Glynda, means I can't just send you into the forest at random either. I want you both here in case they call back. If they never do… one problem solved, for the moment. We'll have to find other ways to answer the questions, but at least the immediate concern is dealt with."

"And if they aren't dead?"

Ozpin's face again grew dour. "An interrogation will be in order. When we know all we need to know, I will have the trash taken out."

"Of course." Amber drew long puffs off the burning tube of leaves, exhaling them in foggy clouds with uncomfortable sighs. "Raven is better suited for this than either of us, don't you think? I don't… I'm not sure I have the stomach for it, and Olivine is so strong she'd accidentally kill them in the process of trying to get anything."

"I would not spend a Maiden on such work, especially without knowing his full capability. And... kill him. I am reluctant to involve Miss Stahl immediately if I can avoid it."

She looked up with surprise. "Why not?"

"The Army seems to hold some interest in her whose details I have yet to determine. I have no desire to juggle an investigation from Central Command along with whatever else is going on here," he explained, settling back in his chair. "I may need to pull a few strings with our friend in the Staff Office to find out the problem. Then I'll know how best to deal with her."

Another puff as Amber mopped sweat from her brow – the contents of that cigarette were finally taking effect, if the deliberate nature of her breaths was any indication. She fiddled with something on her Scroll for a moment. "Why not just have the Queen sign a warrant? She's commander-in-chief of Vale's Army, right? Get the woman kicked out if she's going to get in the way."

"I am not going to directly instruct Her Majesty on a matter so specific without a very good reason." Still, he decided, it wasn't completely without merit, so he filed it away for later with a gentle smile in order to keep reassuring his antsy Maiden. "I will if I must, but the agenda for our end-of-year meeting is crowded enough as it is. Hopefully the matter will be concluded by then."

"You're the boss. I'm sorry. I wish I wasn't so high-strung, I just want..." The gentle smile on his wizened face calmed Amber into silence; after she accepted it with her own, she stared at the picture of Opher she still had on her Scroll. It was the same image she'd shown to Raven and Salem. "I let Miss Salem take a look at this. She couldn't pick out anything familiar about him."

"Asking one of us to remember a particular face, or even similarities to the same? You'd have better luck catching a particular fish from the ocean," an amused Ozpin replied. "This is why I want to know if there are others. If so, then we need to figure out how to find them." He paused to contemplate Opher's passport file photo again, where nothing peculiar stood out. "At least the Laochra Airgid have a physical mark which is somewhat easy to spot."

"She did say it'd be a hassle to kill every green-eyed person on the planet." Amber shrugged at him when he looked over. "That would be… who knows what percentage of the population, anyway. I'm not sure we could do it if we wanted to."

"On that, I agree." He closed the file, frowning lightly. "I doubt such measures will be even remotely necessary."

"What do we do about what he showed them in the meantime?"

"Unless I determine otherwise, it would appear to be a relatively isolated problem; not unlike the unfortunate incident with Lady Tanager, rest her soul. It isn't a difficult fire to put out. We can handle it." Harder rainfall against the windows behind him caused to look over his shoulder. "Glynda's natural cautiousness is helping us as we speak. She's told the students to keep quiet. Pressuring the students to remain so won't be hard until they can be dispatched quietly."

Amber cocked her head at this assessment. "Hold on a second. Didn't Miss Salem have to wipe out a continent the last time this-"

Ozpin raised his hand. "Don't spend your vigor on jumping to conclusions, Lady Grace, you look tired enough. I know this is your generation's first encounter with a potential crisis like this, but trust me when I say Salem and I know what to do." After a breath, plus a sip of coffee, he added, "If Stahl and Riese are dead, this will be even easier to handle." His eyes went back to the unsteady Maiden. "There's no need to lose your cool. Have you seen your sister at all this morning?"

"Uh, no, but..." Amber pointed at her Scroll. "I just sent her a message about it being him. If that doesn't get a rise out of her, I'll go see her myself." Moments after this promise, however, her device emitted a chime. She read the new message, face blank with thought until the moment it was fully processed. "I… I think I need to go."

He rose as she did, face tight with worry. "Is something the matter?"

"Ah, you know. The wisdom of Maidens." One wave later, Amber was on her way to the elevator. "Are you going to send anyone out at all to look for them? Here or in Vale?"

"Here, yes, but I doubt they made it back to-" He fell silent, recalling the video, and discarded that notion. Expectations no longer applied; better to cover all his bases. "Perhaps you have a point. I'll ask the police in Vale to look for them there, if by some miracle they made it back. I don't see how they could have gotten in without anyone noticing, though."

"Might be that I was right before and Riese is covering for people who can help him in that way." She tapped the button to open the doors. "Gods. What a way to start the weekend. I'll be in touch if Olivine has anything you need to know – I mean, if she doesn't tell you herself."

With it still so dark, the cloaked Maiden had little concern about anyone else being present in the mist and fog once she got outside. Raising her hood and wrapping herself in the dark green fabric defeated the light rain. She bounced along the stone walkways on hasty, almost skipped steps, making a beeline toward the north side of Beacon where the teachers and other staff who stayed on the campus lived – which included herself and Olivine in their professed roles as Huntresses attached to the Academy. Their dorm wasn't unlike the ones for the students, though its exterior was covered in a curious bluish-gray flagstone cladding. She darted through the carpeted lobby and right up the nearest set of stairs to the top floor, then down the hallway to reach the western corner of the building where their rooms were located.

The red door she cared about was closed. "Ah… Olivine?" she called, knocking thrice.

Seconds later, the weary giant appeared, opening it and looking down at her diminutive counterpart with bleary chrome eyes. Her green hair was a rat's nest of uncontrolled locks. "I should have known you'd come see me in person."

"Yes, well." Amber invited herself in as Olivine gave way. The warrior's pale, topless frame earned a brief glance before her eyes went elsewhere – most of that split-second was spent on the giant old gash that tore across her chiseled lower torso. "I wanted to put a face to what we felt. I didn't know it would be his."

While she closed the door, Amber used wind magic to launch her cloak onto a nearby coat hook, as well as to flick on the overhead lights. To call Olivine's room austere would have been generous; while she had the same furniture, blue carpet, and white walls as her little sister's room, as well as plentiful shelving, there was nothing on those shelves to betray the identity or tastes of the occupant – despite this being the only place she stayed whenever she lingered near Vale for any period of time. While her eyes narrowed against the glare, Amber plopped down on the red sofa, but she refused to make eye contact. "What? Like you haven't seen these things before."

"Or maybe you're just showing off. Again." She crossed her arms and stared into space until Olivine retreated into a different room for a moment. When she returned, she wore a simple white tank top to pacify her shy sister. "Thank you."

"I wanna talk to him."

The hand-wringing began. "We don't know where they are. Even if we did… I don't think it's a good idea until we figure out whether or not he can see our power." The whole couch moved slightly as Olivine sat next to her, hunched over and staring at the carpet. Amber had never seen her carry herself like this before. "You don't look well."

"The Maiden knows his magic. She's been screaming at me all night." Her hands went to the sides of her head. "Still is. Lots of words I don't understand, but some I do."

Amber scooted over to rub her broad shoulder. "What can you make out?"

"Endless loop. The magic is too old to be this strong. The magic is too strong to be this old. Maybe that's why I thought he looked familiar. She must know one of his ancestors." Olivine looked over, tapping her breastbone with a weak smile. "A whole new bloodline of magicians. We're gonna be busy."

"Yes, no, maybe so." Seized by a motherly streak, Amber tried to smooth down those green strands of hair which flew off the most dramatically. "Mine hasn't said a word about it… I'm not sure if that's good or bad."

A grumpy Olivine swatted her hand away. Just how worried she was about this new problem came out in her next statement. "You might be right about Ruby Rose. Her mom made Salem unhappy enough, and now we've got this? Nah. Let's pull the bush up before it blooms. I… don't think we should wait."

That she was willing to give up the chance to fight a fully-trained Ruby startled Amber a bit. She looked away and frowned at the carpet. "We can get rid of her any time." After a gentle, thoughtful sigh, she added, "Then again, now that she knows how to speak to the planet, perhaps you're right. I don't know. Maybe we just leave her alone for now, we know where she's going to be." The couch moved again, indicating some surprise from the larger Maiden. "Oh, yeah. It seems he taught them to do that, too. No wonder he can burn Dust so-"

Her failure to complete the thought drew Olivine's curious eye. "What?"

"No..." she finally breathed. "That can't be all. Not even Remnant's retort would leave Ash as fine as we felt that day." A hilarious nose scrunch from her big sister caused Amber's lips to curl up with amusement. "Hmm?"

"You've been smoking that shit again, haven't you?" She frowned when Amber confirmed this with a nod. "Do you..."

So unusual was the request that it wouldn't leave her mouth, but it was understood all the same. Amber reached into her pouch and produced one of the cigarettes. "Here. Just one, though. Especially since you're not used to them."

"Amber, look at me. I'm gonna need at least two." Like her sister, she lit it with a fingertip flame and placed it carefully between her puffy lips. "Maybe this'll help shut her up so I can get some sleep."

Trees. Everywhere. Ruby was in the silent embrace of the Emerald Forest yet again, shuffling through the tall grass and darkness alike – alone. Entirely alone. No team around her. No Pyrrha either. No teachers. Nobody. Just one antsy young girl and all the Grimm Sanus had to offer, prowling somewhere unseen in the thick woods which surrounded her. Their sound was the only proof they existed, growled uncertainties as they played a game of hot and cold to home in on her anxiety. Crescent Rose sat in her trembling hands, unfurled into its full scythe form. Breath left her mouth in foggy clouds despite the sweltering, humid air.

If you wanna kill me, then kill me!

Why she couldn't say this out loud wasn't important. All that mattered were the monsters, waiting, always in the corner of her eye whenever she snapped her head to look but no more distinct than shadow. With time, they became the trees, impossible to tell apart from the scenery until Ruby found herself in a writhing timberland made of the beasts. Varieties existed which she knew – Beowolves, Creeps, and the like – plus others like the towering, elephantine Goliaths whose pictures she'd only seen in books. There were others too, though, types she'd never seen before. Armored centipedes twisting like vines around the legs of Geists which had seized icebergs as bodies. Ape-like monsters four times her height, whose forelimbs ended in heavy fists that sank into the soil whenever they moved. One species of creatures that sped across the forest floor resembled meter-long weasels, though their white back fur was made of razor-sharp edges and not hair. Upon looking up, she saw a night sky devoid of stars and Moon, filled instead with Nevermores, giant wasps, and leathery-winged nightmares whose flight membranes added crimson to the black and white typhoon. Counting the monsters was as impossible as formulating a way to get out of the maelstrom alive.

Except they never came.

A hundred million years slid past with monsters of all descriptions staring Ruby right in her silver eyes, but none of them approached. Piles of them existed now, squirming over each other in black masses of death, forming a sharp ring about ten meters distant in every direction. She turned around to bolt, only to see a humanoid figure whose coloration matched the Grimm thanks to its white cloak and the indistinct, feminine shape it covered. The hood of the cloak was up, though where a face should have been there was only a gaping black hole, violated by a pair of silvery rings which were spaced to resemble eyes. Despite the searing terror which boiled her blood, Ruby couldn't make herself attack this being even though it was barely a meter away. In fact, the longer she looked at the void under its hood, the less fear she felt.

They will revile you.

Four rocket-propelled words right to the brain, whose origin was beyond Ruby's ability to guess. "What…?" finally departed her lungs as a gasp just before molten pain embraced her skull and dripped down into her eye sockets. It became so fierce that she had to scream. No sound would come out. She shot up in her bed, sweating, gasping for air, whole head throbbing with agony. Her eyes felt like they'd dislodged themselves and were hanging by their nerves before the pain subsided, quickly, into something more akin to a migraine. With one hand pressed over her face, she emitted a quiet stream of "Ow!" for over a minute before regaining enough gumption to open the unhappy organs and look around.

Processing the experience was impossible while she felt so awful, so her focus went to breathing and waiting for the misery to retreat instead. In this room, as in her dream, Ruby was alone. The rest of her team occupied infirmary beds to mend their beaten-up bodies. It was the first night Ruby had spent in an empty room since… well, she literally couldn't remember a previous instance thanks to sisterly inseparability. Hatred of the circumstances leaked out in a single word. "Frick." She bitterly regretted not staying, but the clinic was so packed with patients that there wasn't much choice, nor a bed to spare. A look at her Scroll caused, at first, more pain thanks to the bright light, then a frown. Not even six o'clock yet. The campus was still waiting for dawn. She used the mirror function to check her eyes and found nothing of concern – no burst blood vessels, only tears. Now capable of thinking past the pain, she began to contemplate her nightmare. "Who was that?"

No amount of reasoning or grimacing got her any closer to an answer, so she decided to breathe instead. One breath, two breaths, on the road back toward steadiness, if not tranquility. Sleep fluttered beyond her weary clutches now; in its absence, Ruby needed to move around. She threw on comfortable clothes – not her usual ensemble, but a t-shirt and short pants in the same color motif instead – crammed her feet into a pair of silver-and-red sneakers, then departed the empty room for parts unknown. Rain pelted her gently when she made it outside. "Aw..."

Ruby's first thought was to go to the infirmary, but there was no way any of them were awake – no point in sending a Scroll message either. Both of those options would only wake everyone up, which was the last thing she wanted to do. Her next thought was Uncle Qrow, but she didn't want to wander all the way to the staff residence and wake him up either, given how late most of the teachers and their charges had come back thanks to the military closure of the airspace. Instead, she cast her silver eyes around the dorm complex before braving the drizzle in search of some kind of company. Easier said than done – no lights were on in any of the buildings as she walked past, except for the lobby of building eleven on the other end toward Beacon Tower. Through the windows, she saw a pink pajama-clad Velvet Scarlatina fussing with a vending machine and came to a stop to watch. When their eyes met, the rabbit Faunus startled so badly that her legs tangled up – she fell out of sight with a barely-audible squeak. "Oh!" she gasped sympathetically, running toward the door and peeking inside. She found Velvet in a groaning heap. "I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"You just…" A shaky breath. "...scared me." With some effort, she hauled herself to her feet, ears still erect with terror. "Um..."

The Faunus' makeup job wasn't quite up to snuff – as such, Ruby could see faint shadows of the scars on her face, a sight which tugged viciously at her heartstrings. Velvet's nervousness fueled that fire, and she, recalling something Blake said, realized her company was probably unwanted. "Oh, right, I'll leave," she said, already withdrawing back out through the doorway. "Sorry again-"

This quick perception earned Velvet's gratitude, plus a little bravery. Ruby was a friend of Blake – and, importantly, not Weiss – so she was probably safe. Besides, she'd decided she better at least try to interact with people, since so many new faces would be on campus in a few days. "No, it's okay. You're B-Blake's team leader, right?" she asked, brushing the dirt from her pants legs.

"Oh, yeah!" Tired of being rained on, she stepped into the lobby, consciously keeping a lot of distance between herself and Velvet in case the Faunus decided she wanted to go. She studied her expression curiously. "What's up?"

One rabbit ear became halfway floppy, a sign that her anxiety was in retreat for the moment. "How is she? I didn't see her after the trial last night," she explained while picking up a ring full of keys which laid near her bare feet.

"She's fine. We all got pretty beat up, but, you know. We're still kicking!" Ruby shuffled one foot awkwardly. "Um…" Before she could collect her thoughts, Velvet stepped back over to the vending machine, bent down, and used her key to unlock it. The glass front swung open. "Whoa?! You can open those?"

Ruby's expression of her amazement, all wide-eyed with arms splayed up, put a smile on Velvet's face. "Well, sure, I work here. Part of my job is to help keep track of inventory so we can keep them stocked. Want something? I was getting a snack for Coco."

"Please." Her dash over to the machine startled the Faunus again, though not badly enough to tip her over. One hand on Velvet's shoulder ensured this. "Oh, whoops. My bad. I'm really hungry. You won't… like, you won't get into trouble for this, will you?"

"Nah. I just write down what I get and then the administration takes the money out of my pay. No worries."

"Okay." Ruby piled three bags of various chips into the crook of one arm. "What do I owe you?"

"I'll take care of it." They looked up to see Coco, still dressed the same way as she'd been for her visit with Glynda, though minus the shoes, walk down the stairs. "Oh, so you're too busy making new friends to bring me candy bars, okay. I see how it is."

"Ah..." Velvet, blushing, waved this off before grabbing a few items out of the machine herself and closing it back up. "She's not – she just wanted to apologize for scaring me, that's all."

"Girl, everyone scares you." Snickering ensued as Velvet moved over and smacked her gently on the arm – which she lifted so the Faunus could hug her side. "Thought you'd be in the infirmary with your team," she said to Ruby.

"There wasn't enough room." Pondering about last night's experience produced a question Ruby could no longer avoid with small talk. "Look, uh, I know you talked to Blake..." Instant tension from both Coco and Velvet caused her to raise a hand. "I'm not asking what you said! Just, well, is it really, really bad? The Grimm went after them hard last night, and, um..."

"Yes," Coco said. "It's that bad. But there's nothing any of you can do about it, so… I'd just try to move on."

"Gotcha. We'll figure it out. I won't pry. I don't think I'm even allowed to." A nervous, smiling Ruby made for the door. "Thanks for the food! Sorry for the scare, Velvet! You seem really nice! No wonder Blake likes you!" She was gone before either girl could raise their voice to stop her.

Where she'd head next, exactly, was another issue. Back to the empty dorm? No thanks. Being by herself until she could be sure her sister and friends were awake would drive Ruby insane, especially with the amount of uncomfortable thoughts rattling around in her skull. Raindrops gently thumped her hair as she crammed chips into her mouth and considered her options. An idea struck: Beacon's chapel. Even if it was empty, she'd have the gods as company. A couple of minutes of running – and eating, since she didn't dare risk dropping crumbs in the gods' house – got her to the structure's front doors, where she dumped the empty packages in a trash can and scrubbed her feet hard on the mat to avoid tracking water inside. As for the wetness that stuck to her clothes, one good Semblance dash back and forth under the protection of the chapel's awning got her dry enough to feel good about going in. Toward the front, in a pew to her left about ten rows back from the illuminated icon, she saw two unexpected heads. One sported a blue beret, the other a crooked pink bow. Careful not to be a bother, she quietly sneaked toward the other row of pews.

Penny, thanks to her 360-degree sensor suite, detected her anyway and turned to wave. "Ah! Ruby! Hello!" When she hesitated, the android stood up and waved her over with both hands. "Come sit with us!"

"Penny," her seated partner sighed between her fingers. "If she doesn't want to-" She went silent and looked over as Ruby started to approach. "Never mind."

On the way, she stopped in the center of the aisle and executed a brief prayer before the icon, bowing her head, before taking a seat beside Ciel. While Penny was dressed as usual, Ciel had swapped her battle outfit for a gorgeous, deep blue strapless dress that fell to her knees. A pair of black, heavy boots with thick tread were on her feet. The black, fingerless elbow gloves she often wore were missing. Out of respect for the quiet atmosphere, Ruby kept her voice low. "Hey! I hope Uncle Qrow wasn't too much of a pain to work with last night."

"Oh, no, not at all," Penny assured her with an unyielding smile. "He's quite a fighter, although for some reason he refused to use his Semblance."

"And he carries a flask," Ciel added. "Which I thought was curious."

Some extremely awkward neck-rubbing ensued. "Ooooo… yeah, um, his Semblance is… well, see, when he activates it, it causes bad luck. For everybody. Including himself. It can be little stuff, like tripping over your own feet, or bigger stuff like your weapon jamming. He never uses it when he's fighting in a group. As for the flask..." Ruby needed to breathe a moment before answering that inquiry. "Please don't judge him too much. He's had it rough. He didn't drink from it while you were there, did he?" Both of them shook their heads, putting a smile on her face. "I knew it. He wouldn't do that. He's a total pro."

Penny flicked her a salute and a smile of her own. "If you trust him, I will too." She gently jostled Ciel until the girl nodded her own affirmation. "It's unanimous!"

Ruby couldn't help but laugh at the look on Ciel's face before adding, "Come to thank the gods for keeping you out of the infirmary? Seriously. You made us look kinda bad."

"Ciel should have gone herself, thanks to… hmph! I'm mad." The puffy-cheeked, abruptly grumpy android turned her bright eyes to her partner, who refused to acknowledge it for several seconds. "You should tell her."

"She already knows." Both of them were looking at her now – Ruby's puzzled expression caused those aquamarine orbs to widen with surprise. "Wait, don't you? Didn't Coco tell you what happened when we found the crashed airship?"

"No? She never said anything about it, not even after you guys left with Uncle Qrow." Silence brought worry, which tightened her face until it resulted in a frown. "What happened?"

Ciel slumped forward, arms on her knees, with a sigh. "That guy happened. Coco was about to, erm, neutralize the Stahl woman so her emotions wouldn't attract the Grimm and… he didn't like that." When she looked up again, a horrified Ruby had both hands on her head. "I'm fine."

"Crap, I had no idea she was gonna… yeah. Forget it. I guess that would tick him off pretty bad." Some calming breaths were in order as she mentally debated whether or not to ask Pyrrha for Opher's Scroll number, since she was still the only one of them who had it. This internal argument rendered her quiet for a moment. "I guess it could have been worse. What did he do to you guys?"

"Pretty sure he punched Coco. He struck me with some kind of lightning." Glances went over to Penny next, whose agitation was gone in favor of her default light smile. "If he was using Dust, it was even stranger than that stuff you all were doing last night. What gives?"

"Oh! Now that we don't have about a billion Grimm up our butts, I'll show you! I mean, at least what we were doing. Just, uh, don't tell Miss Goodwitch about it and don't tell anyone else, either, okay? She wants to make sure it's safe for everyone to do first, which means she's gotta talk to Opher, so, you know." Ruby got to her feet, more than prepared to demonstrate, save one issue: she had none of the precious material on her person. "But we should be okay for a test run... wait. I'm not packing any Dust. Crap." Cheeks red with embarrassment, she sat back down. "I'm so used to wearing my combat kit, I just… never mind."

"I've got some!" Penny shook one of the wide beige sleeves of her blouse, then pulled out the cuff which held it snugly around her wrist. Sure enough, a gleaming blue crystal came out and landed securely in her palm. "What should I do?"

"Follow me." Ruby led them out back into the aisle and about halfway between the entrance and the icon, sneakers squeaking. "Set it down on the floor, back all the way up toward the icon, just to make sure, then – and look, I know this is gonna sound weird – ask it to go off. Like a prayer. Out loud or in your head is fine. Anybody can do it." She expected the perplexed disbelief on Ciel's face and shrugged. "We don't get it either."

Penny, having just placed the stone on the gleaming floor, chirped a happy "I'll try first!" which sent all three moving backward toward the shining icon as Ruby instructed. Once a good distance had been reached, she clasped her hands in front of herself, eyed the crystal, and said, "Please explode?" Nothing happened. She looked at Ciel for advice, got only a shrug, then toward a completely baffled Ruby before staring at the blue Dust several meters away.

"So, uh..." the bronze-skinned girl mumbled. "Is this supposed to happen?"

"I'll try again?" The android even cleared her throat – that she could do this was a testament to the thoroughness of her design and construction – before repeating the question. "Please… explode?" Her face screwed up adorably when the stone failed to heed her request. "Perhaps I'm asking the wrong way. Please do things? Please-"

It remained dormant. "Okay, Penny, I don't think it's going to work." Ciel, hands on her hips, frowned briefly. "What gives? I thought you said anyone could do it."

"I dunno!" Ruby shrugged apologetically at both girls. "You wanna try, Ciel?"

After sneaking a glance at her wristwatch, she nodded her agreement, then crossed her arms over her chest in prayer – after all, Ruby did say it was supposed to be like an entreaty to the she could even get the words out of her mouth, the crystal began to glow. "What?!" she gasped, retreating one step in surprise. Instead of erupting in a spray of liquid, as expected, the stone gently burbled out its water content into a puddle on the floor, clear liquid mixed with the fine Ash of its expiration. "How did-"

Another helpless shrug from Ruby. "We're still trying to figure it out."

"Oh… was I supposed to do the cross?" Penny asked. An answer would have to wait as Ciel suddenly burst into tears. The android tugged her partner into a tight hug. "Ciel?"

"I'm fine-" Or she was, until Penny's powerful grip began to cause her more than a little discomfort. "Air, Penny, I need air!" she chided firmly, squirming in her arms.

"She hugs Yang-style, huh?" A cackling Ruby gently cut in to save the girl from being reassured so hard by tapping the android on the shoulder. "Ciel's fine, we all cried when we first did this. Before you ask, no, we don't know why that happens either. We don't know a lot about it yet." Out came her Scroll, fingers dancing on the screen as she added another note to her already abundant collection on the matter. "I thought it was something anyone could do. Hrm…"

"I'm sure it was my mistake." Penny blinked when Ruby's Scroll emitted a series of happy chimes and she stopped typing. "Oh? Did something happen?"

She needed a second to process the newly-arrived message before responding. "Yang and Pyrrha are getting released from the infirmary!" she cheered, spinning on her heels with glee – too fast, as she experienced a dizzy stumble right after and needed Ciel to steady her. "W-whoops. I'd better go meet 'em. See you guys later!" She was off, sprinting down the aisle, although she did take a moment to grab one of the yellow signs near the entrance which warned about slippery floors and place it near the puddle in the aisle first.

The android waited until she'd left completely before guiding Ciel to a nearby pew to sit her down. Continued sniffling caused Penny to issue another hug. "Maybe you should go to the meditation hall."

"I'm not sad." Despite this assurance, a whole forearm was necessary for her to fully dry her tears. "It's… I don't know. Feels kind of cathartic."

"Cathartic?" Penny stared at the icon with eyes that were a little more dead than before – much of her processing power was directed toward other matters at the moment. "If everyone else can do this and I can't, it might turn into a tell."

"You have a point." Calm returned to her at last; she sat up straight and doffed her beret for a second to pat at her deep blue, precisely-trimmed hair. "Did you let the Colonel know?"

"I will, yes, but I'm still trying to detect what's happening here. I know Weiss mentioned an unusual Aura charge state in their chat with Riese, but I didn't detect anything strange at all. Hmm. I'll send the data in a few minutes if I can't figure something out." Her eye twitched as the collected information conflicted with what her programming expected to see, but she was able to write it to a log after a second of stiff, unnatural standing. More life returned to her form as she finished crunching something else in her false skull – testing which had been the reason both girls were in here in the first place. "Send-receive functionality seems to be better thanks to the metal reflectivity factor, but scanning? Not so much. Maybe I'll sneak in to transmit from now on." One bit of news in this particular incoming backlog caused her face to go blank. "You have a new Scroll number in your contacts list."

"What?" She plucked the device from a subtle hip pocket, snapped it open, and found Penny spoke the truth – at the top of the list was a number without an associated picture she'd never seen before. "Vale POC… point of contact? Did the Colonel send someone down here? Your dad, maybe?"

"Father would, he's such a worry-wart… oh. Hm." Additional information caused her to shake her head. "No, it wasn't either of them. I think it's the man upstairs."

Why was there a guy in her bed?

The next instant killed whatever sleepy worry Indigo felt – it was just Opher, of course. Hopeful that her surprised jerk hadn't woken him up, she froze stiff, watching what of him wasn't underneath the mauve-colored blanket. There was no change to his rhythmic breathing, nor his splayed out posture across her bed, so she released a quiet sigh of relief, carefully slipped out from under his tattooed appendage, and out of the bed to try and get her morning started. Her first act was to fetch her collapsed Scroll from the pocket of her very short navy blue shorts to check for missed calls. Two voicemails were present, so she walked out into the hall, propelled by sticky-sounding bare footsteps on the hard floor as she made for the living room. Immense dread prevented her from checking who had left those messages.

Upon one of the glorious black couches sat her best friend. Schwarze was in much the same sort of outfit as Indigo; her own tank top was red with a gold polka dot pattern unlike the swarthy woman's solid white top, and a pair of gray sweatpants clung to her hips – the same clothes she had been wearing when Indigo and Opher got back to her apartment. Her long black hair, while not tied up, was still rested in its preferred position, draped over her right shoulder and down over her breast. She said nothing even after acknowledging Indigo's presence with a brief glance. Though the sun had long since risen – unfortunately on the other side of the building – the gray pall coming in through her windows was beaten down by the light from the giant projection TV in the corner, which currently showed one of Vale's many late morning news shows.

"Did… did you ever leave last night?" Indigo asked after a pregnant pause.

"I went back to my unit and tried to sleep, but I couldn't." Schwarze's vision remained on the screen.

Rubbing firmly at her ochre eyes, she took a seat on the taller woman's right, unable to figure out when or how to bring up the Goliath in the room. "Schwarze..." That pale face of hers was solid rock, blank as a sheet of paper. Even her lips occupied a perfectly neutral line. She couldn't figure out what to say, so she uttered nothing.

"I see the Schnees are sending another excursion to Menagerie soon. I wonder if they'll ask my father to go." With time, Schwarze's lips grew wavy. Her icy eyes collected a few tears. "Why did you do it?"

"Why did I do-" The rest of the sentence derailed in her throat and got stuck – she knew exactly what her friend meant. "Why do you think?" was her answer, one that came only after a few awkward seconds of staring at the black barbed-wire pattern tattoos on her thighs.

An unusual emotion darkened Schwarze's face: anger. Her bitter gaze went down toward Indigo, and, teeth bared, she spat, "How many gods damned times does Doctor Acker have to tell you that you cannot fill that hole, no matter what you do? You could have died. You would have died if not for him!" She pointed toward the bedroom for emphasis and kept on trucking. "I know it hurts you. It hurts me too, but jumping on an airship so you can throw your life away is not the answer!" Overwhelmed, she burst into tears, hunched over and hiding her face with both hands.

Indigo gently wrapped an arm around her sobbing friend and fought the urge to weep herself. "I just wanted to be on the other side for once," she whispered sadly. "I couldn't… I couldn't pass up a chance like that."

Schwarze snorted up an obnoxious-sounding breath, which exited as continued scolding. "You absolute fool. You're my only friend! What am I supposed to do if you get exiled or die?"

"I dunno, go back to one of your family's fancy mansions?" Indigo not only expected the shove she got in reply, but completely accepted it and fell limp across the arm of the sofa where she came to rest a moment later. She languished there, stayed by the weight of regret. "I really shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

"Yes, perhaps you should just shut up for a while." At least it had gotten Schwarze to stop crying – instead, she glared at the TV, arms crossed tightly. "And you seem to have forgotten that I am perfectly capable of kicking your cute little butt all over this apartment."

"As hilarious as that would be to watch, I'm gonna have to register my disapproval." The two startled women looked up as Opher shuffled from the mouth of the hallway to the other couch and sat down. He was clad in equally comfy clothing – a black short-sleeved t-shirt with a chest pocket contained his Scroll, and red boxer shorts – plus a brand new hat on his head, emblazoned with red, black, white, and gray woodland-style camouflage. "Then again, if you wanna keep arguing, I guess I can just go back to bed."

"Oh, no!" Schwarze chirped, content to drop her anger for now in hopes that he hadn't heard too much of their little spat. The full sleeve of dark symbols on his left arm caught her eye, but just for a moment. She chuckled anxiously. "Ah… how long have you been spying on us?"

"I saw the whole thing." He raised a hand to quell their shock, before either could speak. "Look, I don't care right now. That's between you two. Well..." A smile appeared as he stroked his chin teasingly. "Except the fancy mansion part. What else are you hiding from me, Miss Voss?"

"I'm-!" Schwarze crossed her arms again, this time with a loud huff. "Tease me, will you? I heard some noises last night I could tease you about for weeks. Both of you!"

"I mean… I'm not gonna say I didn't enjoy myself," a fiercely blushing Indigo mumbled.

Opher, however, was unmoved by the jab and only smirked. "First, it was her idea to try and relax. Second, you could have joined in. I'm sure you know how big her bed is." Satisfied that they were flustered enough to defuse any further strife between them for the moment, he moved back toward more serious topics. "Seriously. Don't fight. It doesn't look good on you two."

"We only fight when she is being foolish," she insisted, pointing briefly at Indigo. "And I suppose we're on edge because we aren't really sure what happens next."

"Except for you, Mister I-Never-Give-A-Shit," Indigo added, jealous of the leisurely way he was draped across the other sofa. "Bastard. Are you smoking piper behind our backs? You better watch it, you know how tightly that shit is regulated."

Opher flicked his hand dismissively. "Excuse you, my calm is all natural." All three stewed quietly for a while, watching but not watching the TV, until he added, "So, you've had a little while to think about what I showed you last night."

After exchanging a glance with Indigo, Schwarze straightened up, hands clasped in her lap, and related her experience. "I tried it on three ice crystals for my climate control. They're still discharging. My apartment's never stayed so cool for so long." Her usually-cheerful face hardened with passion. "Do you realize what this means? If people could use a little Dust for hours instead of popping crystals constantly, we'd be able to move away from fuel oil for constant propulsion. It wouldn't be necessary to send people out to hunt down deposits and open mines so often. Prices would go down – why, it could solve so much of the gravity Dust bottleneck that every Kingdom could expand their air forces and drive the Grimm even farther back! Just imagine it… maybe we could even build whole new Kingdoms." Driven to her feet by that fervor, she looked down at Opher – whose idle expression remained mostly unchanged – and placed her hands on her hips. "Why on Remnant have you been sitting on such a thing? Your name should be just as famous as ours or the Schnees."

All he really cared about at the moment was the unbelievable canyon between his understanding of the world and the modern version. Worse still was the apparent lack of knowledge among the two groups he thought would have maintained its passage the best: soldiers and Grimm slayers. It gave him a headache – or it would have were his Aura not so good at deleting the sensation of pain whenever it could. "Are you seriously telling me I'm the only one that knows about this?" he asked, swinging around to face her.

Indigo straightened up as well, slicking back her blue hair with both hands to get it out of her eyes. "You might not be the only one, but you're sure as hell the first person I've ever met that can do it. It never came up in training for us. And if anyone would know about a new priming state, it'd be her and her fucking family."

One thing Opher had learned while determining just how much information had been lost – a task he'd started after speaking with Pyrrha in Beacon's chapel – was the connotations attached to the Voss name, Remnant's so-called first family of Dust. He peered up at the Atlesian from underneath his hat. "Hold on, are you actually a..."

Schwarze tossed her obsidian locks and assumed an air which would have been familiar coming from Weiss Schnee. "Many have claimed our name since the discovery of Dust, but, no, I am part of the real Voss family tree." Then she relaxed back into her usual demeanor. "Which doesn't matter right now, cutie! You've got to tell everyone about what you know!"

"What I've got to do right now is make sure we're not about to get exiled." His green eyes went to Indigo. "Has anyone called looking for us?"

"Er..." She plucked her Scroll out of her pocket and flicked it open, staring at the two notifications. "Twice. I haven't listened to the voicemails yet. May as well get it over with now." So they did, hearing Glynda's voice first, then Ozpin's. Since neither message carried anything beyond a desire to get back in touch – and Ozpin's tone sounded nearly apologetic – Indigo lost some of her tension and slumped forward a bit. "They don't seem pissed, I guess? I'm… gonna wait, though. I think we need a good cover story first."

"Yeah, and I suspect they're probably mad about what I did to those kids." Opher regarded Schwarze's frown with a shrug. "We've been over this. I would have killed them both to save Indigo. Would have. Knocking them out was me ensuring it never got that far." Indigo's renewed blushing across the way caused him to crack a tiny grin.

"Yes, but assaulting two people, then breaking into a Kingdom… how in the world are we going to explain how you two got back?" She began to pace around the living room. "People aren't capable of sustained flight for such distances, even if they have the right Semblance." Another thought stopped her and made her stare at him until he looked back. "If we're going to build a nice story together, then you need to tell us how you used Dust to fly back here."

"Uh..." He chose to duck his head, forcing them to look at the wide brim of his hat and not his uncertain face. If nothing else, it was another chance to gauge the relationship of the current population to Dust, although he dreaded the answers he'd get. "What do you know about Dust efficiency?"

"That it gets better the stronger your Aura becomes," Indigo replied. "Like Schwarze can make a crystal go off with more power 'cause her Aura is more intense than mine."

"You're right—wait, what? Hers is stronger?" Opher blinked as she posed with a grin. "Huh. Books and their covers."

"I may not have quite as much muscle as Indy does, but I'm no slouch." She waved at him to proceed. "Keep going!"

"Right, anyway, that's not what I mean. Manually primed Dust is the least efficient, but wearing it in clothes or as jewelry increases that efficiency by quite a bit." The amount of confusion which screwed up their faces made him go quiet before he could introduce the next concept. Fuck me, it's worse than I thought.

Indigo crossed her arms, brow furrowed in contemplation. "Why the hell would you wear Dust? Just carrying it in pouches is kinda risky. We weren't allowed to carry it full time until halfway through our BCT."

"Because if you accidentally prime it, you take the full force of the detonation," Schwarze added. "We had to go through two solid months of reflection training to get our Auras stabilized before we were even issued pouches."

He scratched his head at this – most of the kids at Beacon seemed to carry pouches already, but then again, based on what he knew, they also started their training at a much earlier age. The quality of that training was something he had yet to ascertain. "It's a lot safer than you think. I used to wear Dust bracelets all the time and I'm still here." Opher stood up to deliver his next revelation. "What I showed you is slightly more efficient still, but… if you stab Dust crystals into your flesh, though, it's ten times as efficient at least."

Confusion twisted into horror on their faces. "That's insanity! Dust poisoning would kill you within hours!" Schwarze blurted out. "Don't tell me you've ever-"

When Opher nodded at this, Indigo jumped from her seat, propelled by a realization. "Gods help me… your Semblance makes you invincible. You could stab Dust into your body and absorb the damage until it turns to Ash! You crushed that gravity crystal in your hand, let the shards stab you, and used your Semblance to stop the poison!"

"Did he?" Schwarze's blue eyes darted between them for a moment. "Cutie?"

"You caught me," he lied with a shrug.

The Atlesian lost herself in thought. "I suppose Ash is inert, but I can't recall any testing for its effects on humans or Faunus… then again, you're okay, so maybe… hmm," she mumbled, rubbing her chin.

"Son of a bitch." Indigo tugged her hair back yet again and started to pace. "Okay, I guess that covers one part—hold on, you said it only lasts for a few seconds. How did you-" Knocking at the door shut her up. She darted over to the small screen next to it, attached to a camera in the hallway, to see who it was, and found Nila Ward standing there with her hands clasped behind her back. A holstered pistol was in clear view. "I think this is a cop," she mumbled anxiously.

Upon seeing exactly who it was, Opher emitted a sigh. "Talk to her," he said, nodding at Indigo.

"Uh..." She obliged him, poking her upper body around it to say hello. "What's up? Can I help you?"

Nila donned a much warmer expression than the one she'd greeted Opher with days earlier. "Good morning." She flashed her badge for identification purposes. "Detective Nila Ward, Vale Police. I'm just here for a wellness check. May I come in?"

Indigo looked to Opher for advice, got a nod, then yielded so Nila could walk inside. "Sure, I guess. They're sending detectives to do that now?" she asked while closing the door.

Schwarze also got a smile from the golden-eyed cop. "I was in the area for something else and my shift's about to end anyway, figured I'd pick up the call so a patrol officer wouldn't have..." Then she saw Opher and lost all of her calm for a second. "...to… uh… to come all the way here. Excuse me a second." Her next words went into the microphone on the lapel of her white blazer. "Dispatch, D1C Ward."

"Go ahead."

Beads of sweat appeared on her bronze forehead – thank the gods the damn thing actually worked this time. "The subject of that failed check on Verusa Avenue is at my call. I'll take it from here."

"10-4, will advise patrol."

"Have you two met?" a curious Indigo asked, instinctively standing next to Schwarze for comfort.

"She's the detective that thought my passport was fake," he replied with a wry smile. Shortly afterward, he returned to his seat on the couch, which prompted his two friends to do the same. "Don't be shy," he said, motioning for Nila to sit down on the other end of his sofa; she only obliged after a long moment.

Schwarze took it upon herself to vacate the area so they could talk a little more freely. "Oh! I should go make some coffee for everyone!" After whispering something to Indigo, she rose and pranced away into the kitchen to get started. "Be right back!"

Nila tugged at the collar of her purple blouse. "Uh, thank you. I could use the pep." Out came her Scroll so she could eyeball a few details about the situation. "Why did we get this call from Beacon, exactly?"

After a shared glance, Indigo decided to take charge and spoke up first. "We were up there for a merchant meeting when the Grimm attacked. I volunteered to help fight them from an airship. He went with me, and-"

"Hold on," the detective cut in, "aren't you two civilians? Why would you volunteer for that?"

Indigo shifted uncomfortably on the couch, trying her best to smile. "I'm a ready reservist in the Valesian Army. A marksman. Figured they could use my help. He wasn't going to let me go by himself, so..."

This impressed her visibly; she straightened up a little and nodded. "I see. Thank you for your service, then. Please continue."

"Anyway, our airship took friendly fire from someone on campus and… we..." The weight of last night crumpled Indigo forward with anxiety. "We crashed into the Emerald Forest," she mumbled, hands on her head.

While she tried to calm herself back down, a relatively mellow Opher continued the story. "After that, we worked our way out of the forest and flew back to Vale. Simple." He spread out his arms. "As you can see, we're both fine."

"Okay." Nila stared at her Scroll. "Beacon let you leave immediately, then? I kinda thought they would want to check you for Grimm exposure before they sent you back."

While the detective's eyes were busy, a desperate Indigo mouthed I don't want us to lie to the police when Opher looked toward her. He nodded once, but before he could speak, Schwarze returned with the promised coffee. "Here we are!" she sang, displaying the cheerfulness usually reserved for customers in her pub as she set down a tray with four matching mugs, a bowl of sugar cubes, and a bottle of creamer. "I don't know how you two take it, so knock yourselves out with the cream and sugar. Indy, I already gave you a couple of cubes."

Thankful for the distraction, Nila and Indigo instantly fussed with sugar cubes for her coffee, or started sipping, respectively. While Opher took his mug, he didn't drink from it just yet. "We never made it to Beacon. There was a student trial going on at the time, so, you can imagine how many monsters were around. I just wanted to get Indigo back here as quickly as possible."

"I understand. Um… I'll have to check your exposure, then. Sit tight while I get the scanner." Nila set her mug down, got up, and walked out the door without another word, leaving at least two of them in unbridled panic after she closed the door.

"Gods! Fuck! There were dozens of Grimm!" Indigo gasped. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, we're so fucked, we're fucked, gods, no..."

"What do we do?!" Schwarze whined loudly. They clung to each other, shaking with terror.

If only he had any idea what Grimm exposure was, he'd reassure them, but in the absence of such information, Opher prepared to delete Nila from existence in case things went south and stood up with his mug in his hand. Little flicks of wind Dust launched cubes of sugar into the coffee, startling both women. "Sorry," he said, trying his best to find some fear of his own. After watching them suffer in silence for a few seconds, he set the mug down, walked over, and dropped to one knee, pulling them both into a hug. "We will get through this," he whispered.

"How?!"

Even he had to wince – Indigo yelled that almost right into his ear. "I haven't figured it out yet, but..." Knocking at the door forced him to break away. "Breathe. Both of you."

When he opened it, Nila walked through with a curious-looking device in one hand. It looked something like a pistol, but lacked a muzzle; instead, a large rectangular object was stuck to the front. A small screen was placed where the hammer of a handgun would be located. She waited patiently for him to close the door, staring at the backs of Indigo's and Schwarze's heads. Their unease was apparent even from this angle. "I know. This is never easy for us, either, trust me."

"Do you need to check me?" Schwarze asked over her shoulder. One arm was busy hugging her best friend.

"No, ma'am. I'll do Miss Stahl first." Again, she waited patiently as Indigo rose, stiff as a board, and walked over to face her. By some miracle, she had avoided crying, though her face was incredibly red. "Stand there for me."

Opher came over to watch her wave the device around Indigo in seemingly random patterns, starting at her head, then proceeding toward her waist, and finally moving to about the level of her knees. For two minutes, Nila performed this odd dance until the device abruptly emitted a cheerful series of tones. On the screen was a stylized, smiling face. "Is that…?"

"That's a pass, Miss Stahl. All done. No problem." Nila gave her a few solid pats on the shoulder. "Take it easy. I know. I hate getting scanned too. Always scares the hell out of me."

"I..." Exhausted from maintaining her tension, she rested her butt on the back of the sofa and covered her eyes. Schwarze awkwardly rubbed her lower back.

The detective turned away to scan Opher next, performing the same ritual, although it took a bit longer thanks to his taller height. He smiled at a wide-eyed Indigo while she watched. "This doesn't seem so bad."

"Don't jinx it, you idiot," she fired back weakly.

The weird little machine emitted the same happy tones a moment later; Nila stepped back and fiddled with it to turn it completely off. "Green across the board." She recorded this in her Scroll. "Phew! Okay. I think we can all breathe again." Indigo toppled over the back of the couch, ending up with her legs in Schwarze's lap, while Opher stretched and walked back toward his previous seat. "Before I go, though, I would like to know how you two made it back to Vale if you never went back to Beacon."

Her words brought him to a halt, just after he'd gotten his coffee. A tense Indigo sat straight up again. "I'll explain it," he said, walking toward the door and disregarding the unsure outbursts of his two friends. "Shush. You just sit here for a second. I won't be long."

A highly reluctant Nila followed him, eventually, her strides glacial. "Fine." The moment they were alone in the hallway, that hesitance yielded to full-blown nerves. "Now what?" she asked, hands on her hips. "I really don't want to be by myself with you."

"I won't be quite so dramatic this time," he assured her after a sip of coffee. "When I said we flew back here, that's exactly what I meant."

"You didn't re-enter through any airship terminal, because if we had seen those scans I wouldn't be out here right now!"

Another sip of coffee. "Nila… do you think I need an airship to fly?"

Her blood ran cold. Memories and training forced her to rest her hand on her holster, even if she had no hope of actually harming him with a bullet. "Say you have a flight Semblance. You wouldn't have nearly enough Aura to get from Beacon to Vale."

"Did you forget that I have enough Aura to completely defeat a bullet to the skull? Imagine how long my Semblance would last."

Point to Opher. Nila stared off in thought before a grimace appeared as she realized what he was probably going to ask of her next. "Please, man, I can't—if my superiors find out what I'm doing, I'll lose my badge… even worse, if someone figures out I failed to report a false passport, I'll get exiled. My family might too. You can't ask me to keep all of these damn secrets."

The miserable look on her face increased Opher's disgust with the current arrangement of humanity. She and Indigo were desperate not to leave; almost as desperate as refugees seemed to be to get in. The former were saddled with some level of constant fear, but at least they were spared the bullets. Safety was now an exclusive idea, not a universal right – and this fact revolted him. The addition of Grimm exposure to this fetid collection of ideas, something about which he could find no information, nor had ever heard about in his too-expansive lifespan, made him question whether or not this was really the natural equilibrium of Grimm and the sentient species. His face darkened with anger the longer he thought. "This isn't how it used to work," he finally sighed.

Nila – who had taken a few steps back as she watched him grow more upset – muttered a confused "What?"

"Forget it." A reassuring hand came to rest on her shoulder. "Listen, I know I've put you in a tough spot, and I probably shouldn't have, uh, demonstrated my ability so violently, but you kind of backed me into a corner. If everyone knew what I could do… I don't know what the reaction would be. I could tell certain people, but I don't know who to talk to. Do you?"

"Anyone you spoke with would want you ejected from Vale the moment they find out about your passport situation," she replied, brushing his hand away. "It's not a guideline, it's a law. We need records of who's in our Kingdom to keep out the unstable, the criminals. It's about survival, you know that."

Were any of the people he watched die that night criminals? Certainly not the young girl whose head he saw get blown to pieces. One hard breath kept him from getting mad again, barely. He looked on as a nervous Nila played with a silver ring on her right ring finger. While showing off to the kids at Beacon was one thing – it was a far away campus full of individuals that could ostensibly defend themselves – her fear, plus Indigo's and Schwarze's, strengthened his reservations about what sort of panic his power might cause for people in Vale. "You want to keep the Grimm away. I get it. I don't want to attract them either, which is why I prefer to remain quiet." He produced his Scroll. "You gave me your number, here's mine. Two-way street, right?"

While she recorded it, her mind remained on more urgent matters. "What am I supposed to tell the Inspector when or if he asks questions?"

"Scanners break, don't they? Think about a terminal where they have trouble a lot and there we go. Some out of the way little freight complex where the damn things just never function. I'm sure you've got one around here somewhere."

Nila fell still as she looked up, lips parted with disbelief. "Really. That's your grand plan," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "And it still doesn't cover how you got back."

"If you think telling them I flew all the way to Vale without an airship is the best idea, I'd love to see their faces when you try it. Otherwise, we'll figure something out." Another sip of coffee came and went before he explained himself further. "And trust me, I want this to be anything but grand. The more mundane it is, the less anyone else is going to think about it. Both Indigo and I already exist in your system anyway. So we missed an entry scan. It's not like we're unknown quantities."

"Like hell you aren't."

"Point taken, I guess. If anyone gives you pressure, well, you have my number." Opher pointed toward the nearby corner. "I'll be moving into this building sometime over the weekend, so you can come yell at me in person or try to arrest me, if you like."

She glanced over, frowning, and shook her head. "I swear to both gods, if you get me and/or my family exiled, I will come kill you before they throw me in the van."

"You have no idea how happily I would embrace that outcome." He motioned toward Indigo's door. "Come on, they're probably wondering if you took me to jail by now." The moment he opened it and poked his head around, he added, "Sorry about the wait," before ushering Nila in ahead of him. "She had some questions-"

The rest of that statement was lost to the ears of the woman spying on them as he closed the door. Winter Schnee, camped out behind the corner at which Opher had pointed seconds before, walked away from it and back toward her own apartment. The moment she got inside, she grabbed her Scroll from a pocket and flicked it open. An encrypted message was already waiting from Caroline Cordovin, one she chose to respond to with an equally-secure call. "Ma'am."

"Report. He's losing his mind about what we've seen in her latest dataset and wants to know when you'll be able to make contact."

Winter tugged at the collar of her simple white button-up blouse. "Shortly, ma'am. He's moving in this weekend, but I just overheard a very interesting conversation between him and a Vale Police detective. I'll rely the full details in a second, but there may be something we can do to earn his trust in the meantime."

"Get on with it, Captain, I need information and ideas to present when I meet him again."

While she collected her thoughts, she walked over to look out at the Prisma River flowing by through one of the cozy living room's windows. "Perhaps we might solve his little passport problem, ma'am. Then he'd owe us."