January 2nd

Beacon CCTS Tower

Beacon Academy

City Of Vale

Vale

1:45 PM

"Glynda, seriously, how many other psychotic, power hungry bitches do we know?" Emmett asked with a smirk as he leaned against Ozpin's desk. "I mean, Ash has always been power-hungry. Apart from her personal views of the world and of Jacques, her desire for control of the Schnee Dust Company was part of what caused them to not get along very well. She wanted control and he had it. I mean, now that I'm thinking about it, that's probably part of why he cut her loose from her job. Aside from her motions to protect the faunus, she was a threat."

"Yes, but do you honestly believe she was connected to Kahn?" Cristal snorted. "That's ridiculous."

Not knowing what to think about the situation, Glynda tried to keep herself neutral for the time being.

"And," She started slowly. "To answer your question, we know of plenty 'psychotic, power hungry bitches'. With that logic, you might as well be saying that Salem orchestrated the attacks."

"She has a point," Ozpin said as he shifted his weight to the other side while still holding his cane. "It could have been anybody."

"Ozpin, really," Emmeline looked at him irritably and with slight exasperation. "If anyone could have been involved in killing my father -"

"Emmeline," Ozpin said as gently as he could. "Are you sure you're not looking for more people to blame -"

She glared at him as she tried to keep her tone even. "I am not grief-stricken. Say whatever you want about me, but I'm more than capable of -"

"I wasn't saying that you are," He responded calmly as he worked to be the voice of reason. "But this has been a terrible ordeal for everyone that I'm sure -"

"If you say one thing about how -" She started angrily.

"Emmeline," Ozpin looked at her sharply and she stopped talking, instead opting to cross her arms. "I understand full well that your life has not been an easy one. You lost your father in a way that no one should have to, and, in recent years, you and your siblings have been quickly shoved into positions of power that you have little idea what to do with."

"Oz, I swear to god, if you are implying that you think I'm incompetent…" Trailing off as she groaned in anger, she glanced at Emmett, Cristal, and Glynda before turning back to Ozpin. "I get snide comments like that often enough as it is from various members on the defense council, not to mention -"

"Emily, please, calm down." Cristal said, eyeing her worriedly.

Tensing further even when Emmett laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, she continued to glare at Ozpin. "Listen, I may trust you and your judgement in quite the variety of things and have even pushed for things within the council through my colleagues based on information from within our group's informants. However," Emmeline narrowed her eyes. "I will not be accused of incompetence or stand for any implications that I -"

"Emmeline!" Ozpin said sharper than anyone had expected. "I did not say that you are incompetent. I think you are perfectly capable of handling the affairs expected of you. But, at the same time, my original point still stands!"

"But what happened is viewed as a strengthening reason for as to why the council finally authorized a full investigation into the Ashlynn Schnee case after months of doing nothing. The woman in the footage from a few weeks back looks suspiciously like her and it sounded enough like her to be suspect." Emmett reminded them pacing a little.

Emmeline sighed. "You can't blame Elizabeth or the council for the reaction to your sister's -"

"I know, I know," Emmett said as he wrapped his arms around her for a minute before holding her at arms-length. "I know that, and I'm not saying that I was being entirely rational. I lashed out and -"

"Lashed out is an understatement," Glynda commented, looking at Emmett with a critical eye. "You snapped at everyone in the room to act on then unconfirmed information."

"I made a mistake." Emmett conceded as he glanced over at Ozpin who sighed before continuing.

"This matter needs to be handled delicately," With a sharp look to Emmeline, Ozpin added. "Emmeline, please do not ask to take military action unless absolutely necessary."

"I wasn't planning on it," She informed him with a slightly haughty note to her voice.

Projecting some of the new information across the room with his scroll, Ozpin observed the most recent images that had been taken by people claiming that they saw a woman who matched Ashlynn's description. "If she really has been taken by and is working for Salem as you and Emmett suggested, then we must tread lightly. After all, if the Queen moves one of her pawns and we don't catch it soon enough...there could be a serious risk for disaster."

"And honestly, there's no guarantee that she's not actually dead," Cristal noted bitterly. "I've said it before, but I'll say it again: even if she is alive, she's not the same person. We aren't going to get our sister back either way."

"There's still consolation in knowing what happened to her." Emmett sighed, feeling irrational. "She's probably become something between a rotten psychopath who is only after power and a vengeful shrew, but I just want to know what happened to her. The family's a mess as it is and, as stupid as it sounds, I'm not going to just accept that she's dead without full confirmation -"

"Emmett, sweetheart, please," Emmeline took his hand and looked at him with sympathy but also annoyance. "I know what you're feeling, but you've got to focus. There is way too much going on right now both in your personal life and in the world."

Resignation seeping through him, Emmett nodded. "I'm sorry, I...I don't even know what I'm doing anymore."

January 8th

Schnee Family Manor

City Of Atlas

United Kingdom Of Atlas

6:31 AM

It was around six thirty in the morning. Unusually early for her, she knew, but even though she kept tossing and turning she couldn't fall back asleep. Eventually giving up when she realized that she couldn't win, the eleven-year-old Winter Schnee looked at her schedule on her scroll. She wasn't slated for lessons today with her tutors, but she did have training with Emmett. Despite the fact that her father had, for years, insisted that she not call him by his first name, she knew that he had found that too weird given how close in age they were when one considered it holistically. It was a little strange to think that she was closer in age to her uncle than she would ever be to any siblings, assuming that she didn't remain an only child forever. Pulling on her jeans and her sweater, Winter decided to roam the corridors for a while before breakfast at nine.

Breakfast at nine, training with Emmett from eleven to three, etc, etc. Winter thought as she relayed her schedule in her mind.

A part of her wished that she had friends to spend some of her copious free time with, but people were afraid of her. She tried to reason it away to being that she was always needed for something but saying that was a lie and she knew it. The closest thing she had to a friend was Emmett and he was family which, for most people, negated the possibility of that even when the ten years that set them apart was pushed aside. She wanted to be strong like he was. Seeing her mother less and less for as long as that shift had been happening made her want to fight. That was especially true because of how held back she felt by her father and his rules. One misstep at a company event could get her slapped or yelled at, and the same went for pretty much everything else too.

I wonder if that was what Emmett meant when he said this family is 'fucked up'? She questioned as she continued her wandering.

She had asked her parents what the words 'fucked up' meant and she hadn't even gotten an explanation. Simply, both of them had sharply told her that such language is unbecoming of a woman of her status. Winter admitted, secretly, though that she was probably lucky not have gotten slapped. This was especially true because she overheard a little bit of a conversation that her father was having with Emmett about a week and a half or so later while mother was in the gardens. Her father wouldn't tell her why, but he didn't need to. She hated not being able to have anyone except Emmett to talk to about her feelings, because she didn't understand why her mother was always so distant. Just a few weeks ago she overheard her parents and Emmett arguing. Winter couldn't quite make out most of what was being said, but as she listened through the door outside her father's study she could hear Emmett angrily yelling at her father. They were both yelling, actually. She knew it had something to do with her mother but the part that stuck out sorely in her mind was that she had been dragged into the argument on Emmett's side.

"You think that Winter isn't suffering? Do you even give a damn about your -"

"Emmett!" Willow yelled, scandalized.

"Well, it's not as if I'm wrong -"

"You are more than wrong, Emmett!" Jacques snapped.

"Well it's your job to raise her just as much as it is Willow's! You're her father, but sure as hell don't act like it!"

"That's enough -" Willow interjected.

"I am doing what I can to keep this family where it is –" Jacques went on.

"Is that so?"

"You act as if -" Willow started.

"I don't need to listen to a damn thing you say!" Jacques snarled at Emmett.

"Well someone needs to show you that you aren't in charge of everything, that there is more to -"

"Are you really trying to lecture me? Of all people, you? You're a huntsman and a shadow of what you could have been. Where are you going, for real, Emmett?"

Winter paused and glanced out the window. She shook herself out but couldn't stop her uncle's words from coming back to her mind.

If you stand for nothing, like your father, then I can't even begin to imagine what you might fall for.

January 12th

Location: Unknown

12:34 AM

Pace after pace. Piece after piece. She felt more powerful than ever. The last few days of her training had been going well. Salem had not lost her temper and she had actually been pleased a few times. Things were looking up, at least for her. Her Dust manipulation was going very well and her powers from her semblance were looking to be better. She was slowly becoming a powerful woman with a powerful lineage; of course, her lineage didn't matter that much now. She was a Fall, the first and likely the only one in her 'dynasty' as Jacques would put it. That man was a piece of shit, in her opinion. Her reasoning for this was simple.

The man not only took the company that, as she was older than Willow by half an hour, was rightfully hers but he cut her loose from her high-profile job there because she was defending her beliefs. The faunus were not any different than humans except for the fact that they genetically have animal traits and it was absurd that Jacques was one of the few people still unable to see that. What pissed her off about Willow's relationship with her husband was that it meant that her sister was falling further and further down the rabbit hole. Reminding herself that Willow was weak, she shook that off and focused on her anger towards Jacques. She had deserved to be the one to inherit the Schnee Dust Company. It was her birthright, after all.

The Schnee name meant a lot of things and one of them entailed influence amongst the kingdoms and, of course, the Atlesian council. Having lost her birthright to a man who had just happened to waltz right in at the right time and snap up her sister was not something she took lightly, and she would kill him herself if it wouldn't anger the Queen. In short, it was all ridiculous. She was lucky that she wasn't at high risk right now even in spite of her encounter with Emmeline and Emmett. Though she knew that her reasoning to suggest that the council wouldn't listen to a fearless military leader was sound, she also knew that Ciel's word carried weight no matter what she was saying. If it was convincing enough, there might be suspicions especially in light of the investigation into the disappearance of Ashlynn Schnee.

Like it or not, though, Ashlynn Schnee was dead in every sense except for biological. Cinder knew that she was clever and an excellent manipulator. Her newfound strength in fighting just happened to be an added bonus. Though she knew that she hadn't taken some things into account when she made her attack on Edward Ciel alongside Kahn and those White Fang goons, she was still talented enough to not get caught or found guilty for it. The only problem that struck her hard when it occurred to her was the fact that if she had been found on the crime scene, injured badly, or arrested that she would be DNA tested. The problem with that was simple but carried a dangerous weight. Her DNA would declare her to be Ashlynn Cinder Schnee. That was, possibly, going to be her only long-term problem. After all, the chances of someone remembering her appearance or voice in between ten or twenty years from now were astronomically slim.

"Cinder!" Salem stood in the doorway with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "We must discuss something that has recently been brought to my attention that concerns you."

"What is it?" Cinder asked as she turned around to face the Queen, no fear in her face or voice this time around. Only confidence, for the time being anyway.

Salem pursed her lips and paused before narrowing her gaze. "Ozpin and his allies are…bringing you back around to their...conversations."

"What?" She said, slight fear rising in her voice.

"Are you clueless!" Salem snapped, slapping Cinder hard across her face. "The Ciels and Emmett Schnee are convinced that you are alive!"

"Haven't they always thought that?" Cinder reminded her, hoping not to evoke further anger.

"Yes," Salem stated, drawing out the simple answer. "But they have told Ozpin and…well whatever that blonde one's name is."

"Glynda?" Cinder remembered her all too well and tried to keep the cap on her emotions, this time succeeding.

"I suppose, not that it really matters to me right now," Salem sighed. "Listen to me: I am sending you back to Mistral. It is just for a few days, and you are going to meet with our puppet, Lionheart. If all goes well, he'll convince the other members of the group to back down."

"I can do that," Cinder nodded as she moved to pack her bags.

"Oh, and Cinder," Salem said as she began to leave. "Do make sure to keep yourself in check. After all, we can't afford any...slip ups."

Before Cinder could respond, the Queen had left, and she needed to finish packing in a hurry. No one, no matter who they were or thought they were, messed with the Queen or defied her orders. Not if they wanted to live. And especially not if the Queen was the reason they were becoming steadily more powerful.