July 2nd
Location: Unknown
9:52 PM

Cinder shrieked out in pain as the seer pierced her ankles once more. Following immediately after, the tubular portions of it coiled tighter and tighter around them until she was crying from the pain. Blood was then drawn by the seer from her legs. The sharp ends of it cut up her thighs in the way that a knife would. The floor was splattered with the fluids flowing out of her, the fluids that showed her humanity despite her desire to not be viewed as human. She wanted to be viewed as above human and not as one. Privately, he had come to the conclusion that she did so to remove herself a step from the morals that defined the humans and the faunus, but he knew better than to say so. He had figured out very quickly after observing her being tortured the first time that, unless someone spoke to him around here, keeping his mouth shut would be the best course of action. He didn't veer his eyes away from her despite wanting to. This desire, however, only increased upon the seer reopening scars on her back and on her arms that he knew she was going to hide. Salem did not relent until the woman fainted and that was when she used her magic to close all of the wounds and force her awake.

"Get off the floor," She demanded. "Now."

Cinder nodded although she was noticeably weak, and she moved over towards the Queen who was beckoning her. "I'm sorry."

"You are a failure more often than you are not, Cinder, and that is unacceptable. How many times will I have to torture weakness and failure out of you?" Salem clicked her tongue in annoyance at not receiving a response before she turned to Dean and shoved him towards the mirror. "You are going to have to learn to distance yourself from the singular tie that binds you and makes you weak. Family." The Queen ordered her seer, the same that had tortured Cinder, into the mirror and waved the image into the state of Lisa and Viola. "Do not fail."

"...Mama?" Viola was holding her blanket close and was looking at her mother with wide eyes.

"...Oh, baby, come here." Lisa picked up the little girl and booped her nose before setting her down on the counter beside her while she continued to cook. "I'm almost done, and then we can eat"

Viola nodded before sucking on her thumb while Lisa added spices to what appeared to be soup. The place they were in, as far as he could tell, was a shanty in, likely, Argus. The walls appeared to be made of a compacted stone but looked a little weak in places while the ceiling appeared to be made of aluminum. He supposed that that was also the roof. It was a shock to see his sister in such a terrible condition. He had assumed that leaving the defunct kingdom of Mantle would make things better for her and her daughter rather than worse. Things had gotten better for him even if they hadn't gotten better for her. He had had a temporary fling with a Mistrali woman just before he had joined them and he was now going to be able to get revenge, power, and, of course, he'd be able to survive. He had been raised to lie and cheat and steal and though he had stopped that during his time at Atlas Academy, he had decided that now it didn't matter. The image slow dissipated as he found himself caring less and less about the woman who had been his sister and the child of hers that was, technically, his niece. Salem seemed pleased for once and she didn't even protest when he pulled out a cigar – a habit he had taken up a few weeks prior.

"Of course, this...was unexpected but it was a good thing." A faint approving smile grace the face of the Queen as she observed his appearance. "But now that we know that you are with us, you need a new name. Cinder needed to choose one, and now so do you."

"Oh...well that's easy," He said, leaning against the wall. "Roman Torchwick. Sounds better than 'Dean Carson' at any rate."

Salem nodded shortly. "You do understand that I... froze your aging so that you and Cinder would be more adept in the future, yes?"

He shrugged. "As long as I get out of this alive, I don't care."

Cinder smirked and touched his arm briefly. "Well, I must say that it's unfortunate that you need a new weapon as well."

Roman looked at her in abject horror at the idea. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I destroyed your bow staff on the way here...you know, in case you tried to hurt me. I figure you'll want something to go with that dashing hat and jacket of yours, Roman."

"Bitch." He said, flicking cigar ash off to the side. "What the -"

"Come up with something soon… otherwise there might be trouble." Haughtily, Cinder walked off and left him with Salem who narrowed her gaze. Pacing, the Queen looked at him as he continued to shift from side to side as he finished his cigar.

"Roman…" She shook her head in irritation though that feeling was not directed towards him. "I need you to get your weapon made quickly and I need you to master its usage quickly because, by December, I need you to cause an 'accident' for one of the group. Naturally, to send a message to Ozpin and his...associates. Don't kill them but get them hospitalized because if they aren't in enough trouble to need serious medical attention then it won't be enough of a message. You're going to have to train hard for this...after all her skills are intense but if you can strain their aura enough to knock them unconscious, I imagine that that will be sufficient."

"Yeah, sure, okay." Roman began to leave though her gaze followed him.

"And…listen to Cinder," Salem laughed for a moment. "After all, she's the one in charge of you."

July 3rd
City Of Mistral
Mistral
Uptown
5:12 PM

Tossing her spear halfway across the room, Aphrodite Nikos screamed out in anguish, rage, and despair. She should have known that it was a mistake to get involved with that Dean Carson bastard, but he had been so charming and so kind. Her pity for him had been almost boundless when she met him at the end of April, and they had had no qualms with moving right into a romantic and, admittedly, sexual relationship. But then he had left back at the end of May - they had been together a month - and that was the end of it. Except for the fact that it wasn't, at least in an indirect sense. Looking into the mirror, Aphrodite took in her vivid green eyes, her red hair, and her pale complexion. Calming herself, she sighed heavily and wiped away the tears that were threatening to overtake her. She was alone now - no one was going to give half a damn about her. She knew nothing of her parents except for in, presumably, her surname. She hit a wall every time she tried to learn anything about them, and at this point she presumed they were dead.

She was an only child, she was beautiful, and she was a gifted huntress but that was all anyone saw in her. Now she knew that that included Dean too. Not that she was at all surprised, but after years of being put on a pedestal it was nice to be involved with someone who had had an entirely different life and saw the flaws in the life she had lived that she did. Despite her emotions, she forced her gaze down at the positive pregnancy test on the counter. A part of her wanted to just get rid of the pregnancy and move on with her life, that part being the logical one, but she was hesitant. She began with the reasons why she should terminate it: timing was horrible, she was only twenty-five, it would set her career back as a huntress, financial concerns, and of course the fact that it reminded her of her mistake. There was one reason that held her back: the allure of the idea of having someone she could love unconditionally who would love her back. If she did have it, then she could be loved by someone who saw her as much more than just a talent with beauty.

Dropping the test in the rubbish bin, she went into her room and laid down on her bed with her eyes closed though she was not sleeping. Everything logical was telling her not to set her life back but her emotions would not shut up and kept bringing her down. She wanted and needed someone in her life to care about her for who she was a person and not for superficial reasons. It all kept coming back around to her questioning how sure she was about what her logic was telling her and, in the end in spite of all of her valid reasons not to, she decided to keep it. It made her angry that her emotional desire for real human contact was so dominant, but it also made her realize that it wasn't worth it to live her life filled with pain and fear.

Rolling over with a groan, she reached over to take her scroll in hand to call one of the few people she didn't feel was a backstabber or a future backstabber. That person was Sam Winston - one of the youngest Mistrali women to ever win the Vytal festival. She had been on the same team as Aphrodite and they had been first years during the one just four years, or one cycle, prior to the most recent competition where some Atlesian chick had won. Pulling up to information on her computer about the results of the last Vytal festival tournament, she sighed in irritation when she realized that the chick who had won had been on the same team as her child's father and, to top it off, a Schnee. Emmett Schnee, to be exact. Groaning as she looked to her scroll which was still trying to call Sam, she almost hung up but heard her voice over the line.

"Aphrodite?" She asked.

"Hey," She said, sighing heavily. "Sam, I need your help."

"With what?" Sam replied, almost amused.

"You need a place to stay, right?" Aphrodite bit her lip. "After you got evicted from your apartment in Kuroyuri?"

"Yeah…" Sam said slowly. "Why?"

"If I let you move in with me," Aphrodite said. "Can we split the rent on my place fifty-fifty?"

"I can make that work..." Sam paused. "But what's the catch?"

"There isn't one," Aphrodite told her. "I just need to be able to spend more on other things."

Sam laughed a little. "Since when?"

"Since I got pregnant," Aphrodite snapped. "That's when."

"Of all people?" Sam said incredulously. "You're keeping it?"

Aphrodite blew on her hair irritably. "Unless you are willing to marry me and love me until the -"

"Gods no!" Sam exclaimed in horror. "That'd be disgusting. I'm just -"

"Surprised?" Aphrodite suggested. "Yeah, well, I'm not exactly thrilled but my need for unconditional love is so -"

"You don't have to explain," Sam said gently. "It's your choice."

Aphrodite sighed again, this time out of relief. "Thank you."

"So, who's the father?" She questioned. "Please don't -"

"He left." Aphrodite said shortly.

"Oh..." Sam said awkwardly. "What was -"

"Dean Carson," Aphrodite said, the faintest bit of bitterness clear in her voice. "And he was a member of -"

"Didn't the only girl on that team win the tournament for Atlas or something at the last -" Sam started.

"Yes." Aphrodite finished.

"Damn…" Sam said almost sassily.

"I'm not going to dwell on it," Aphrodite said with finality. "Besides, it's not her fault or the fault of any of her other teammates that one is a bastard."

"Well, I promise I'll be there with my things soon enough," Sam promised. "I'll talk to you again soon."

"Okay," Aphrodite said with a small smile. "Bye."

"Later." Sam said happily.

Hanging up, Aphrodite placed her scroll back down on the dock before she wandered into the kitchen and climbed up onto the counter. Resting her chin in the palms of her hands, she let a resigned sigh escape her lips. What she was doing defied everything she knew about making decisions, but she knew that she might feel worse if she didn't take a risk, if she didn't this chance. She believed that she had this all figured out but at the same time she also doubted that she did. Her thoughts were a juxtaposition, and she was confused. It made her angry. She was angry that she wasn't totally sure, and she was angry at her child's father for leaving her. She sighed again and tried to let go of it. After all, she had other things to think about.

July 10th
Location: Unknown
11:37 PM

Looking at the slowly healing wounds inflicted upon her ankles and on her arms, Cinder forced herself to, despite the rampant pain that was going through her, work with her glass heels. She felt a little bit like that character from that fairytale Willow loved - Cinderella - in part because of her youth but more because of the glass heels. That was the main thing she remembered from that story, and primarily because she had always thought that it would be dangerous as hell and uncomfortable to boot. Uncomfortable, yes, and she had to admit that it was probably dangerous to wear heels made from glass. She was stronger than most people, though, so she subjected herself to such extremes to gain even further strength. It was a personal battle - one that she fought for the sole purpose of fighting. Levitating Dust crystals on the other side of them, Cinder shot them at the mirror to shatter it, but the pieces flew at her and she shielded herself with her semblance. Shoving her the pieces back into place in anger she moved over to look at her work, but her eyes went wide, and tears began to form as she noticed the gash on her cheek that was bleeding. It reminded her of her childhood, and it made her feel sick.

A hard blow went against her cheek as her mother slapped her. She had tried not to cry but tears were already streaming down her face from the pain. It continued over and over until she was numb, and blood was trailing out of her face and onto the otherwise pristine floor. Nicholas was away for work and that left his wife to care for their four children. The self-proclaimed psychic had always justified her abuse of her eldest with the notion that the girl was going to turn out evil - so evil that she would be able to kill and feel nothing. So much so that she'd be one of the most dangerous women in the world. The woman felt that the best way to handle this was to beat it out of her - to subject her to so much pain that she would learn to survive but would rather die than see anyone in the world suffer. This time, she was beating her for reasoning that a villain could be just the perception, that a villain could be a hero in their own way.

"Do you understand, my dear?" The young girl watched her mother wipe the blood off of her hand and adjust her wedding ring that had caused so much damage to the young girl. "Do you understand how stupid you are? Do you understand how much of a disappointment you are?"

"I -" She began weakly.

Another slap went sharply across her cheek. "I did not ask you to speak."

"But -" She protested.

"Shut up! Why can't you be more like Willow?" Her mother scoffed as she straightened herself out. "She is so much more than you will ever be, but you could at least act like you know who you are."

"I do know who I am!" The young girl protested. "I am -"

"An ignorant girl who just happens to have a multimillion lien trust fund," Her mother started angrily. "You have everything in this world except for brains and are nothing short of an ungrateful brat."

"Why do you hate me more than Willow, Cristal, and Emmett?" She whimpered.

The woman took her daughter sharply by her arm, twisted it hard, and then slapped the young girl multiple times across both cheeks - including the bleeding one. "You dare to speak out of turn? You are not going to get a husband like that."

"I don't want to get married!" She shrieked.

"In ten years," Her mother snapped. "You will whether or not you like it!"

"I hate you!" The girl shouted.

Another slap. "I wish I had been able to produce a better daughter, but I'm stuck with you. You are no better than a common maid."

Cinder gripped the dresser tightly and her knuckles turned sharply white as she forced the memory away. She tried to remind herself that that girl was dead, but it didn't stop. Every time that Salem punished her, she was reminded of the abuse that she suffered at the hand of the woman who claimed to be her mother. Her mother who had been wrong. She wasn't some great evil - she wasn't ever going to become some great evil. She was fighting for the greater good, she was fighting the fight that was right in front of her. The real fight that was against Ozpin and his colleagues that claimed that they were the protectors of Remnant when, in reality, they were simply arrogant enough to think that they were able to defeat Salem. Salem might be evil, but Cinder didn't think that that made herself evil. She was a powerful sorceress who was going to save people and fight the real fight against Ozpin. She was going to bring people to her side that were going fight alongside with her.

She was going to save them not only from themselves, but from others. She decided that she was going to save the ones who were cast aside by society, those who were orphans, those who were victims of abuse like she had once been, those who were disabled, and of course attractive men with sadistic streaks. She decided that, while Torchwick might be cute, he wasn't her type. He was too kind underneath his facade of anger and desire for revenge though she supposed that he probably did have some righteous anger in him - otherwise he wouldn't have betrayed Schnee, Ironwood, and Goodwitch. A smirk graced her face and she continued with her glass heels as she practiced fighting. She was growing stronger every day and she knew that she was going to become a formidable enemy. If she had to kill a few people or step on a few of the little people to get to the top, then so be it. She didn't think that qualified her as evil and she also believed that her ends justify the means.

After all… She told herself. You are above any...human moral code.

July 27th
City Of Atlas
Atlas
Downtown
10:14 PM

The last few months had been turbulent at the very best. Perhaps the only consolation for them had been that their baby girl had been doing well. Yet, even while Natalie slept peacefully, chewing on her thumb, Karissa could not relax. Since the armed assault against him back at the end of April, Spencer had only gotten marginally better. He had been kept in the hospital until mid-May because the stitches broke when they were supposed to be being removed and he had also needed a transfusion. His memory of the events themselves were hazy and he could not say exactly who had shot him. Regardless, whomever had did so with skill. It had been a nasty process to remove the bullets lodged in his side and one of the ones in his chest had been dangerously close to his heart. It made her sick just to think about what had happened.

Spencer was now sound asleep beside her, his head resting on her chest. The lights in their room were dim but it seemed just a little brighter with the moon light streaming in through the blinds. Natalie was in her room just across the hall and it seemed to be peaceful. Karissa was relieved he was alright, and her fingers were gently brushing through his shaggy, shoulder-length dark hair. Her other hand was periodically fidgeting with her glasses and her scroll and computer were in her lap. She had been going through transcripts she had written down or recorded and she had been beginning to type them up. She knew she was distracted but she could not help it. Elizabeth would likely be sharp with her if the transcripts were late, she knew, and yet she also knew she was almost done and that it wouldn't help to keep trying to push through. She was tired enough as it was.

Just as she put her scroll and computer down on the nightstand, she heard Natalie start to cry. It startled her and woke up Spencer, who nearly hurt himself trying to get out of bed quickly. Karissa steadied him and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek before going to their daughter. Natalie calmed down almost as soon as she saw her mother and was immediately soothed by her cradling her in her arms. She curled into her tightly and Karissa gently patted her back. She must have been lonely or had a nightmare. Tiredly, Karissa sat down on the floor against the wall with her little girl sleeping lightly in her arms. It felt much longer than it had been, but she was exhausted nonetheless. Spencer eventually, however weakly, took Natalie and laid her back down before taking another dose of the OxyContin the doctor had prescribed a month ago – just after he was released from the hospital.

That was another thing that worried her. She had always been nervous about newer medications and, while it was their best option, it was pricey amongst other things.

"You doing okay?" He murmured and she nodded.

She all but collapsed into their bed in exhaustion, rubbing her eyes. She all but ripped her glasses off her face and folded them up before putting them on top of her things.

"'Rissa…" He said, sighing heavily and laying down beside her. "I know things can be hard to handle, and I know –"

"Not right now," She said, letting him pull her in close and rub her back. "I just need to sleep."

"Okay," He said, still tired himself. "Night, honey."

"Night…" She mumbled, already half-asleep.

There was something in the haze, although what it was remained unclear. A faint sound, almost like music, seemed to be coming from down a hallway. And then there was nothing. It was a freefall for the longest time – for too long – and when he finally regained his footing there was still darkness but this time there was an eerie, pale green glow. He saw the faint light from machines at the end of the hall, but he dared not go towards them. He could have sworn, for a moment, that he could make out the figure of a girl in one of them. Then the haze took over once more and the last thing he could see was haunting.

The ensigna of Beacon Academy.

Slowly, Emmett Schnee saw his vision clear although this was not particularly comforting.

"Damn it…" He muttered, probing his forehead.

Emmeline sighed and she stood up, came over to him, and placed a gentle hand to his shoulder. "Emmett," She said tiredly. "What's wrong?"

"I have no idea who that was," He said slowly. "I'm just ill at ease. That's all. I promise."

Emmeline stared at him for a moment and then shook her head. "Oh, for the love of…"

"Emmy, please don't push it," Anxiety was slowly spreading through him and his thoughts were swirling: never mind what he may or may not have seen. He knew what he wanted to say but the lingering fear of going too fast hung over him, no matter that they had been together for a year and no matter that they had known each other for much longer. "Please."

"Fine," She said, rubbing his arms in an attempt to calm him. "But I'm worried about you. What's going on and why -"

"Emmy -" Emmett began tiredly.

"This I'm not going to let go," She told him. "What is it?"

He chose not to dwell on the vision. It made no sense to him and would make no sense to anyone. In that spirit, he decided it was meaningless and pushed himself up off the floor.

"I'm probably just stressed," He finally said, and she loosely embraced him for a moment although it was clear in her face that she did not fully believe him. "Work's…well…I'm sure Spencer could give you an idea of what it's usually like, especially this time of year."

Emmeline considered that. "Fair."

"And, honestly, I just have a lot on my mind," He added, and she sighed, although she did not press the matter. "Hell, I still can't believe I have another niece."

She smirked. "How can you not?"

"Probably because I'm only ten years older than my first niece," Emmett chuckled. "Little Courtney's only a few days old and I'm pretty sure I'm in my twenties."

Emmeline rolled her eyes. "We're too young to be forgetting our age."

"I know, I know," He said in mock defeat.

Emmeline was about to respond but paused upon her scroll buzzing. While she glanced through the new messages she was getting from both Ronnie and other members of the military and, of course, the security council as necessary, Emmett was fiddling with the emerald ring in his pocket. The three minutes that passed felt more like an hour and he was more nervous than ever when she finally set her scroll down.

"Sorry about that," She said, running a hand through her hair. "It was urgent."

He managed a weak smile. "Isn't everything with the Council?"

"It honestly depends," She told him.

Emmett nodded, rubbing his neck and fidgeting with his glasses. Even his hair seemed unruly with his shoulder length white waves feeling tangled beyond belief.

"Emmy, I want to…" Emmett found himself struggling with words and she raised an eyebrow. "I want to…with…you?"

"With me what?" She replied, half amused.

He quickly took her left hand and slipped the ring onto it. Her eyes widened in surprise but she smiled.

"Say it," She said, her eyes sparkling.

"Emmy, I want to marry you," He forced out, stunned for a moment by his own coherence. "I know we've only been together just over a year, but I –"

"Yes," She said unflinchingly.

Emmett fell silent and began, once more, to struggle with his words.

"Oh God, I love you so much," He embraced her tightly and began to stroke her hair. "So much, Emmy…"

She smiled. "I love you too…" She murmured.

Perhaps things were truly looking up, for even a short time.