February 9th

Haven Academy

City Of Mistral

Mistral

8:45 PM

Continuing to walk around the grounds of Haven Academy after another talk with Leonardo, Cinder tried to appreciate her surroundings. It was the little things, she told herself, such as the way the mountains disappeared into the clouds, or how perfectly laid the stone stairs that lined the cobbled streets of the city that were beautiful. Mistral was slowly becoming her new favorite kingdom. She had not really thought about it much before, but now she saw things differently. For her, there was something that Mistral had that Atlas lacked. Part of it, she acknowledged, had to do with the fact that she was born and raised in Atlas, and taught how to be the highest of the highest by her mother. The other part had to do with the way she saw things now. Everything about Remnant seemed different, especially now that she believed herself to have her priorities and views in order. The enemies were mankind and Ozpin, while her priority was gaining power. And she was succeeding, strengthening every time she developed a new control or manipulation within her semblance or outside of it.

Culturally speaking, Atlas had only shifted towards an affinity towards individualism and the arts in recent years. It was a change that had started during the Great War, but it hadn't really come into prominence until about the last fifty some odd years. However, some things hadn't necessarily changed in the kingdom. The wealthiest families in Atlas, such as the Schnee and Adel families, were generally reclusive and viewed by everyone except for the council as virtual invincible. The most politically involved families, the primary example being the Ciel family, were seen as well-versed but that there was an obvious point where paranoia set in. Neither Emmeline or her father had bent to the Schnee or Adel families for any reason, and that was a common topic of discussion from her early twenties and Emmett's childhood. A simple conversation about profits could turn into a debate into the council. Although, this had different origins than the current reasons.

Nicholas had often liked to complain about the way the council went about handling situations and its reluctance. When Jansen had originally began her time on the council, Edward Ciel was a prominently rising leader. Nicholas hated him, likely for the fact that Ciel was, like his daughter who followed, was overly cautious. The council took that caution seriously, and it meant that several decisions regarding businesses, such as the Schnee Dust Company's growing influence or Merlot Industries attempts to move into the kingdom. That didn't mean that Atlas wasn't reasonably progressive, however. Atlas was the second kingdom after the Great War to legally make faunus and humans equal under the law, following just after Vale. Vacuo was the third, and Mistral was the last. Politics aside, Nicholas didn't live long enough to see what Jacques ended up doing to the company. He died shortly after Emmett turned fifteen and that was when it went to hell.

As for the Adel family, Corinne Adel was known for many things. At nineteen, she had started her fashion line and now, ten years later, she had been married, divorced, and had a one-year old daughter: Colette Corinne Adel, known by the media as Coco. Corinne was vastly successful, and it certainly helped the sympathy for her, publicly, that her parents had not supported her and now she was on top. Economically, Corinne was second in her personal wealth only to Schnee's. It was a constant pressure point of conflict. For example, Corinne's tendency to describe her rival in a less than positive light while ignoring her own flaws. Her promiscuity was the prime target that people shot at. Surprisingly, she used it to her advantage and called herself a 'fuckable bitch' who just so happened to not care about anyone but her daughter.

At least she was open. Still, the primary point came back down to the fact that Atlas was Atlas and that most Atlesians couldn't care less about what people thought of them or their kingdom unless they were of the highest status in the society. Mistral was different. Things in Mistral centered around the two classes: the wealthy and everybody else. The classes were different in culture though both were vibrant. Class was even seen in the layout of the capital city. The higher up the mountain a building was situated, the wealthier the person who owned it was. This was in contrast to the other kingdoms; classism existed in all of them, yes, but in different forms. Atlas and Vale were on about the same level in that regard and it wasn't surprising that in those kingdoms there were more blurry divisions. Vacuo had royalty and provinces still even though it was, technically, fully united but most people took class to be based off tribal circumstances or the unspoken rule of 'if you can survive here, you can live here.'

Besides, some of the most acknowledged names in Remnant were losing their luster. Schnee, for instance, she thought bitterly although some happiness stemmed from the lessening of the family name. The greyer the deals that Jacques was making that spun more and more profits were bringing not only scrutiny by the media but by the Atlesian council as well. The minute the lines were crossed too far would be the same in which Atlesian council would begin to investigate even further and, not only that, potentially restrict the company further than preventing it from being a full monopoly. Of course, ethics were the primary concern.

The Atlesian news media had taken to, rightfully in the minds of most, beginning its crucifixion of the company's treatment of the faunus and of course the way the company handled the White Fang. Things were igniting, changes arising and that went for all of the kingdoms. Atlas, Vale, Mistral, and Vacuo were all aligning themselves to the new tensions that were slowly rising. For the leaders, new enemies were arising while discord continued internationally. Questions were being asked and some of them had no answer. Others had the answers that no one wanted to hear. But most of all, there was her: an amber eyed woman who was going after power. Power that she believed to be her birthright. In some ways, that was even more of a threat than the creatures of grimm.

March 5th

Beacon CCTS Tower

Beacon Academy

City Of Vale

Vale

5:12 PM

Ozpin sighed as he watched the chaos unfold in the room. Leonardo had made the suggestion that the investigation into Ashlynn Schnee be closed and both Ciel and Emmett had gotten incredibly irritated at the request. It wasn't all that surprising given the obvious differences between them but, this time, it was worse. He was sure that the Leo knew that the things he was throwing at her and Cristal were all things they had heard before from the council or at work, but he could imagine that wouldn't make this any better. It could have been very bad if things hadn't been reasonably monitored by Glynda, though her blasting Emmett away from Leo with her semblance was dangerously close to causing a brawl. Ciel was first, telling him that it was not in his place to question an investigation being done by the Atlesian council.

This was followed by Leo insisting that the footage could have been faked and that, more importantly, Ciel was losing her grip as a result of persisting trauma from both the attempt and what happened to her father. Emmett then restrained her from punching him before telling Leo that there was no point in arguing about something that he wasn't going to get to change. After that, Leo declared that the Atlesian council was wasting its time on a wild goose chase for a dead woman. Glynda was glaring at all of them in irritation as she tightened her handle on her crop. Her arms were crossed while, every time she started pacing, her cape fluttered behind her quickly. Though he was still observing the situation to deal with it in case the discord grew into a full-on brawl, Ozpin allowed his thoughts to wander. The unfortunate thing was that it wasn't too long before he was drawn out of his mind and back to reality.

"Emmeline…" Leonardo said slowly. "I don't mean to...to imply that you are mad -"

"Leo, you aren't implying anything," Ciel was clenching her fists while Emmett retained a light grasp on her wrists to keep her from hurting him. "You just said that I'm a paranoid and delusional woman who shouldn't be in her position."

He bit his lip. "But…"

"She's right," Emmett told him, anger written all throughout his tone. "And that's not to mention the completely sexist comment you said about why Atlas would allow a woman like her to be a high-ranking military leader."

"I didn't...I didn't mean that in that way." Leo said. That was, more or less, the truth but what he said had been one of the things that the Queen had insisted he say.

"That's exactly how you meant it!" Glynda snapped at him, swinging her crop in annoyance. "It's completely ridiculous, not to mention out of place!"

Lionheart shrunk back a little bit in fear as Ozpin stood up. "They're right, Leo." In spite of everything, Ozpin was calm. "Now...the maidens."

Cristal, out of nervous habit, began to adjust her glasses although she swore upon icing one of the lenses over.

"That's resolved, I'll say –" Emmeline started.

"Emmy, not now." Emmett said, trying to restrain himself from finishing her thought. "Please?"

"Let's get back on track," Ozpin suggested, wrapping an arm protectively around his wife. "I know that we certain sure where the Fall, Spring, or Summer maidens are but that doesn't mean that we don't have a basic idea. The last reports of a woman using powers akin to that of the Summer Maiden was in the Mountain Glenn site a few weeks back to save a huntsman who had been there. As for Fall, we know that Salem has wanted to get a fall maiden on her side for years. I would not be surprised if Salem has her, though we don't know that for sure. And in regard to the Spring Maiden...I believe the last we heard she was in Mistral."

March 20th

Government Offices Of The Atlesian Council

Atlas Senate

City Of Atlas

United Kingdom Of Atlas

Security Level: High

Necessary Security Clearance: Senate Security Clearance

2:51 PM

"The chair of this defense committee now recognizes Senator Ciel of the intelligence committee."

Murmurs began to hum throughout the room, as they often did. Ronnie Ciel could feel all of his colleagues eyeing him closely and he was more than a little uncomfortable to see, fully, Admiral Winchester sitting in the front row of the senate with Elizabeth Morell and her assistant, Karissa Mar, who was still dutifully taking notes of everything going on around them. Since both the attacks from the year prior and some of the concerns raised in the last few months following the Dean Carson incident, both the lower and upper chambers of the Atlesian legislature had been trying to force through legislation that would increase security and defense spending. Those two things Ronnie believed to be necessary.

What he did not want was for the bill being debated on the senate floor at that very moment to pass.

In short, it was designed to allow the Department of Justice and/or the Department of Foreign Affairs and Military Action to scrutinize senators and representatives for corruption. That meant anything from taking money from leaders of other nations to outright conspiracy. With the work he was doing in Vacuo, he could not allow that to happen. He would be forced out of his position so fast that his head would spin and he knew that, afterwards, he would likely end up behind bars. Admiral Winchester may have come to the senate that day to plead the case for the bill and Ronnie knew he had convinced some of his colleagues whom had been unsure. It drove him mad that the admiral had chosen Elizabeth Morell to present the case with him, but he knew it was strategical. Morell was a woman, amongst other things, and she was quick on her feet.

Ronnie Ciel, however, believed himself to be quicker.

He stepped forward.

"Thank you, Mister Morghan," Ronnie said, inclining his head briefly towards the man before turning to his fellow senators and the admiral and Morell. "My fellow senators," He began calmly. "I have done everything in my power to stop this bill from passing. I have begged, I have pleaded, and even bribed."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth Morell stared at him, but it seemed the others had not heard him or believed he had misspoken.

She knew better. She had heard him right the first time and she now believed he was just as bad as Rebecca Neale.

"But, as that has been wildly ineffective," Ronnie went on. "I have been left with no choice. Please prepare yourselves for a filibuster."

"Senator Ciel, do you not understand the gravity of the situation?" Winchester asked, annoyed by his apparent lack of understanding. "Senator Ciel?"

Ronnie did not respond but met his outraged gaze and the plain, irritable look of Elizabeth Morell and the shock of Karissa Mar. He looked on at his colleagues steely and waited for the chair of the committee to speak.

"Senator Ciel," Morghan said calmly. "In order to filibuster you cannot eat, sleep, drink, use the facilities, or stop talking. Are you prepared to do so?"

Ronnie nodded and lugged a rather large dictionary off of a nearby table.

"I am prepared," He informed him. "As are my colleagues."

Seven other senators stood up and joined Ronnie on the senate floor, much to the chagrin of Winchester and the committee.

C-SPAN was going to have a field day filming and commentating on this.

"A," Ronnie started, opening to the very first definition page of the dictionary. "A superscript one. Noun. Plural: A parentheses s or A apostrophe s. First definition: the first letter of the alphabet. Denoting the first in a set of items, categories, sizes, etc. Denoting the first of two or more hypothetical people or things: example, A had killed B. The highest class of academic mark. In Vale: denoting the most important category of road, other than a motorway: example, the A34 or the busy A-Roads. Denoting the highest-earning socio-economic category for marketing purposes, including the top management and senior professional personnel."

It was not fallacious to say this went on for some time. It was not until he reached the start of the C category that he allowed one of his colleagues to continue reading. The entire room seemed exasperated, many of the other senators looked exhausted or even half-asleep, and Elizabeth Morell had ordered her assistant to stop recording and taking notes. This would not be a valuable transcript, it seemed. Admiral Winchester looked as if he were ready to begin tearing out the hair that he still had left, and Morghan had taken on the appearance of a rather disgruntled bear. They could not believe what was really happening and it was dreadfully painful for everyone in the room. Hours passed and blurred into each other until, finally, Morghan stood up and smacked his desk to draw the attention away from the filibuster. The unfortunate truth was that it lasted twenty-five hours before that happened and, by that point, several senators had fallen asleep and the eight running the filibuster were on their seventh round of switching through who was reading.

"Will the Senators please yield the floor?" He said, holding his head in exhaustion. "So that we might take a recess from this situation?"

"And perhaps bring forth something more substantial?" Another senator stood up, sounding almost pleading. "Things are getting more dangerous, and we know not yet what the end might be."

Ronnie shared a look with his colleagues and then nodded shortly. "This filibuster is now closed."

Morghan beat his gavel against the desk. "The Senate will now take its three-week summer recess. This bill will be returned to upon return in September."

Sighs of relief were heard throughout the chamber and a few senators groaned while they stood up to leave the chamber.

"Was that really necessary?" Elizabeth hissed in Ronnie's ear as he passed by them with a smirk. "You just set a new filibuster record and you've wasted all of our time and –"

"Never mind, Elizabeth," He said shortly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should like to go home and sleep so I can enjoy my holidays. Good day to you, Miss Morell."

He ignored the glares everyone in the room were giving him while he sauntered off of the senate floor.