Luna eyed the doorway of Team SSSN dorm room from inside, thinking that Sun the money grabber would finally get what's coming to'em.
Giddy at the thought, Luna shook her head to refocus on the task at hand.
"Hey… this okay?" Cardin grunted out as he stood at the side of the door, holding out a clear film that stretched from the other side of the frame.
"No. You need to pull on it from the top." Luna pointed out.
Cardin sighed as he followed her order, tugging a little from his hand stretched at the corner of the doorframe. "How 'bout now?"
Luna critically eyed the sheet, searching for any sight of a stretch or shine before nodding in approval.
"Looks good!" She claimed with a small grin. She reached into her bag to pull out a roll of tape and began applying the adhesive on the clear sheet to stick to the door frame. After taping the top section, she carefully placed a "warning" note with a angry face drawing on it, to ensure its' fall after the sheet was run into, it read give me my 50 lien or else.
She nodded in approval.
Sun deserved this.
And even if he didn't run into this, there was still a good chance that Neptune or Scarlet would and hopefully they'd pass on the message without any questions.
Luna shook her head again, refusing to think about it.
Cardin sighed in relief when she stopped leaning on him, allowing him to stand at his full height stretching his back to get the kinks out.
"Alright, the only one left is the teachers lounge!" Luna stated, exiting straight out of the room purposely messing up Sun's bed.
Scrambling to gather the few materials, Cardin had to duck through the doorway, to ensure he didn't run into the carefully set prank (again), and quickly trailed after his boss after gently closing the door behind him.
For nearly the entire duration of small lunch, the two had been setting up pranks for those Luna had some sort of grudge with, were away on missions, and who, according to Luna, are fine being on the receiving end of said pranks. Cardin had no idea as to how Luna was able to remember the schedule of so many people nor the idea of knowing those who were easygoing to take part of her endeavors, but they were humorous enough that he didn't mind helping her set them up.
Regardless of her mischievous undertaking, agreeing to run errands for her has been significantly smoother with each passing one. It… helped that Luna had been lessening her threats against Cardin and his team.
Besides, it was… nice when they accomplished something to her liking. She would always smile, or hum in appreciation. And it even seemed like she was enjoying their company as of recent seeing as she would slow her pace to walk alongside them.
But when she got annoyed wether it be a small scowl or baring her fangs, it was the most terrifying thing he had ever witnessed and he fights Grimm on a regular basis.
She sighed slightly upon catching sight of Jaune exiting his dorm room and making his way over to her team's with a guitar strapped to his shoulder.
Out of reflex, Cardin tensed upon noticing his boss's mood change, gripping onto the materials just a little tighter as he slowed his pace.
She quickly schooled her features though, forcing the corners of her mouth to turn up as she bounded over toward Jaune, causing Cardin to wince.
Being exposed to so many of her expressions for nearly half of a school year allowed him to identify and place just about every single one of hers. And while her scowls were terrifying, there was just… something horrific about her fake expressions.
It was just, unsettling, like she was all to used to faking it.
"Jaune! What are you doing?" Luna asked
"Oh! Hey Luna," Jaune smiled brightly, causing Cardin to give him a piteous look. "I just- Well. The dance is coming up!"
"O… kay." Luna nodded.
"And I just thought that I should ask Weiss to it by song!" Jaune beamed, "L-Like in the movies! What do you think?"
Luna stared at him, her fake smile stuck on her face as she just stood before him in silence. She could already feel the areas under her eyes begin to grow even heavier than they already were. "I think… No."
"Wha- N-No?" Jaune asked, flabbergasted. "B-But why?"
She continued staring at him, the corners of her mouth falling giving Jaune a look of 'are you fucking kidding me, it's so obvious'.
"Look Jaune." Luna started, mentally sighing to herself in annoyance as she wondered why she even had to explain this. "Weiss already expressed that she's not interested in you and she was pretty firm with it"
"W-Well, I-I mean," He stuttered out, his cheeks turning red in slight embarrassment. "She's amazing, and pretty. And a great singer. And-"
"Ok Jaune a question for you." Luna said with a blank look, causing him to go a little wide eyed in surprise at her seriousness.
"What's the question?" Jaune asked more than a little nervous since Cardin was standing right behind Luna.
"Do you know Ruby Rose?"
"Wha.. of course I know Ruby we're friends after all"
"Then you should know about her feelings" Luna stated crossing her arms giving Jaune a look matching one only an older sister could give.
"What are you talking about?"
At that Cardin stepped in "dude it's super obvious the squirts got the hots for the ice queen"
"See even a dummy like Cardin can figure it out" She allowed a sigh to escape, "Listen Jaune, there's really no good way to tell you this, but what you're doing… it can actually be kind of annoying and kind of creepy."
"I-I… What?"
"Look at it from another perspective." Luna continued, "Imagine…" She thought for a moment, before her eyes caught Cardin shuffling in place, and she smiled. "Cardin kept following you around."
She said, causing Jaune to pale as he glanced over to Cardin, whimpering a little.
Luna was quite aware of the bullying stunts Cardin pulled over Jaune during the first few weeks of school, the most memorable one where Cardin stuffed Jaune into a locker and sent him off flying. Which is why using him was a perfect example.
"And, he kept watching you. But you don't like it. But he likes you. So you tell him to stop. But he still keeps doing it. Because he has a crush on you." Luna said, exaggerating each pause by a fraction of a second to show her point.
"I-I get it." Jaune nervously stated, eyeing Cardin in fear and taking a step back.
"Beside as Cardin so directly pointed out Weiss is reserved for Ruby so I'm glad we could have this talk to clear things up." Luna nodded in approval.
Jaune bit his lip in thought, "I guess I should say sorry to her if I'm being…" he glanced back over to Cardin before quickly averting his gaze, "... Creepy."
Luna nodded once again, this time with a satisfied smile.
It was probably hard for him to imagine someone mean like Cardin going around and hanging out with someone as nice and fun-loving as Luna.
Apparently, the three caused a bit of a commotion as the door to JNPR's dorm room opened once again, and Pyrrha's head peaked out to check on everything that was going on.
"Jaune? Is everything-" She began, concern on her face as she looked for her team leader before her eyes took notice of Luna. Her expression changed to inquiry as the rest of her body emerged from the doorway. "Hello again Luna. What a pleasant surprise! And-" She took notice of the third person, her eyes suddenly becoming guarded, her eyebrows narrowed as she walked up to him, blocking his path from Luna and Jaune as best she could. "Cardin. What are you doing here?"
Jaune seemed to relax at the presence of Pyrrha, happy to have someone standing in between him and Cardin.
Meanwhile, Cardin spluttered, intimidated by Pyrrha's presence as he slowly stepped back, frantically glancing toward Luna, who genuinely seemed entertained (though a little confused) by the situation, for help.
Noticing his silent cries, Luna figured that she should put a stop on the situation before it escalated as she sort of stepped in between Cardin and Pyrrha. "He's just helping me out Pyrrha."
The answer didn't seem to ease Pyrrha's concern as she frowned. "Helping? With what if you don't mind me asking?"
Recognizing that Pyrrha would not calm unless she obtained the truth, Luna figured that it just might be easier for her and Cardin to get away and continue on with what they were doing if she just told Pyrrha.
"He's helping me set up some pranks" She said her ears tucking down in defeat.
Cardin slightly relaxed in relief as he realized that he would no longer in danger. Though decided to keep his eyes on the situation.
"... Pranks?" Pyrrha asked in tone that implied she wasn't certain as to whatever was being spoken of.
"Yeah…?" Luna answered uncertainly.
Upon the blank, questioning look she received, Luna found that she had to fix this travesty that was Pyrrha's ignorance to the unbelievable fun of mischief.
"So you set up... traps-" Luna began, gesturing to the supplys Cardin held to help show her explanation. "-for someone. And the point is that you try to fool them into falling for the trap so you can laugh."
"That sounds terrible." Pyrrha exclaimed in concern, her hands pressed together in a silent prayer as she held it against her mouth. "Why would you hurt someone for a laugh?"
"No. No one is supposed to get hurt by the prank." Luna frantically waved, as though to erase her previous words. "The trap is harmless. It's just a silly little thing that people fall for."
"But… Why would you set up a trap that is harmless?" Pyrrha asked, her hands falling back into place as she thought about the strategic implications for a battle.
"It's just supposed to be funny." Luna said with a small smile. "Like that time when Ren's body had pink coloring? It was because he fell for the prank."
"Ohhh." Pyrrha sounded with a slow nod as she finally understood. "It is all for jest!"
"Yes!" Luna confirmed with a wider smile, thinking who even says jest anymore.
"So what is it that Cardin is helping you do?" Pyrrha asked in curiousity.
"Oh, well." Luna glanced back over to him, who had an eyebrow that was pulled up in interest toward her, before glancing back up to Pyrrha. "He's helping me go around and setting up clear sheets at people's doors for them to run into. We were just about to set one up at the teachers lounge so professor Goodwitch could-"
"Luna?! What are you doing?"
The sound of Weiss shrilling her demand down the hallway made Luna freeze tail straightining as she turned around, seeing her teammates walking toward her. Blake, Ruby and Yang were walking slightly slower than Weiss, who was marching up to Luna with a sense of purpose.
"Nothing!" Luna squeaked, before she hurriedly gestured to Cardin to put the items behind his back.
"Hide them!" She hissed.
Weiss's eyes narrowed up at her, coming to a halt a few feet away as she pointed an accusatory finger toward her teammate. "Don't lie to me. You were going to set something up to cause more trouble?"
"No I wasn't!" Luna claimed, causing Pyrrha to look questioningly down at her.
"But you just said-" Pyrrha began.
Luna frantically waved her hands about, holding a single finger to her lips as she attempted to hush Pyrrha with a "ShshShhhhh." Only to elicit an amused, but confused expression to cross from Pyrrha.
"Ah ha! So you were planning something." Weiss glared.
It was too late, Luna knew that her prank mission failed. The only hopes she had to salvage this situation and for redemption was to pretend it was going to help Weiss in some way.
"Not everything I do is mischievous Weiss!" Luna exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.
"When it comes to you I'll have to 'respectfully' disagree." Weiss enunciated with air quotes before crossing her arms in indignation.
"You're just all huffy because you fall for all of them." Luna sassed
A sigh broke the bickering between the two, "Why can't the two of you just… get along for once?" Blake asked wearily.
"Blake! Please! If it were not for her… shenanigans, then we would not have problems in the first place!" Weiss protested
Blake could only give a small nod of agreement.
Luna stuck her tongue out in defiance.
"Luna. Please." Blake sighed smirking at Luna childish nature
Luna merely huffed, crossing her arms as a frown worked it's way up on her face, causing Blake to smile knowing Luna was faking.
Pyrrha nervously glanced back in between Weiss and Luna, unsure of what to do to help calm the situation, before she can voice anything out, Luna beat her to it.
"Wait a second… You guys are back early by a few minutes." Luna stated with slight confusion. "Are you going out somewhere?"
"Hm. The way you manage to keep track of so many schedules and correctly use deductive reason to guess one's current train of action never ceases to amaze me, I swear your lightning powers effect your brain." Weiss hummed in praise.
"Yeah. We have some important stuff to do in town." Said Ruby
"You should come with us." Yang grinned, "It'll be fuuun." She sang.
Ruby nodded, "with your super strength we'll be able to carry all the stuff and maybe Blake will finally agree to come along." she reasoned.
Weiss was inclined to agree.
"Oh. Gee. Uh." Luna began and already, Cardin could tell that his boss did not have any desire to join them, "I'd love to! But I kind of already have plans to meet with Glynda."
Everyone (besides Cardin) looked at her with astonishment. Unsure of whether or not to be astonished at the fact that Luna had been able to make plans with the professor, or the fact that the professor had willingly made plans with Luna.
"Did you finally get in trouble?" Weiss voiced out.
"No. Glynda is helping me with weapon maintenance and upgrading!" She stated with a large, excited smile on her face. "You see, I've wanted to combine my gun with my sword to help improve my flexibility, but I never knew how and I was too scared to do it myself. So I asked Glynda and she said that she would be more than willing to help me!"
Her teammates couldn't help but share her excitement, knowing fully well that Luna had no other choice but to settle with her current build of her weapons due to her inaccessibility to a proper education growing up.
"Awww! That's great! I'm happy for you!" Yang encouraged, clapping Luna on the back to emphasize her statement.
Blake also smiled, "I'm glad that you'll be able to upgrade your weapons to how you want now, maybe I'll come join you."
"It's certainly worth leaving us, it'll give Blake something to do." Weiss nodded
Luna merely grinned, beaming under all the positivity heading toward her way. "We'll try not to have too much fun without you guys." She stated, causing Yang to laugh.
"Don't worry, we're not too jealous." Yang said, covering Ruby's mouth before she could have her tantrum.
"Well, try not to do anything that I would." Luna cheekily stated
"We won't." Weiss deadpanned, causing Blake to shake her head with an amused smile as the other three went into the dorm room to change and leaving Pyrrha, Jaune, Luna, Blake, and Cardin out in the hallway.
"Well that was…" Jaune began, though was left unsure how to finish his sentence.
"... Interesting." Pyrrha finished for him.
Even Cardin was a little stupefied at the team's rather odd dynamic, though he was mostly surprised at how Luna seemed almost... relaxed, even silly, with her team, her seriousness seeemed to melt away.
Though just barely. The moments they weren't there, Luna seemed to be on her guard and her eyes seemed to dull.
"Are you five always like that?" Pyrrha asked Luna who half shrugged.
"Pretty much." Luna answered, glancing on over to the door of her dorm room with a sigh. "I guess we're finished with our pranks then, don't want to lie to the rest a my team." She concluded, causing Cardin to mentally thank Remnant.
"Let's go return that stuff to ." Luna said to him, eyeballing the materials in his hands.
"We'll see you later then Luna, Blake." Jaune waved.
Pyrrha waved good-bye to Luna and Blake as well.
Luna continued waving to them cheerfully until the two disappeared back into their room, and within a split second, her eyes seemed to shift to a genuine shine as she slung an arm over Blake's shoulder
It was as though she had been faking her feelings toward her so called friends, but Cardin liked the look in her eyes will she was with Blake it was way better then her fake expressions.
With her girlfriend, Luna seemed to actually be present and not in her mind with constant thinking, constant planning.
With Blake… Luna didn't seem to actually think much about her actions.
It made Cardin feel… happy that his boss had someone to open up to. Even if it was just a little.
"What à sec is that?"
Cardin snapped his head up in confusion upon hearing Luna speak, looking up to find who it was that Luna was talking about to and seeing three students from Haven walking down the hallway toward them.
"Hello Luna!" The one in the center, leading the other two smiled.
"Oh my gosh! You're here!" Luna exclaimed, running up to her mother with a wide, excited smile that was even wider than when Luna was with Blake, and gave her a crushing hug while instantly setting up a camera disabling field.
Cardin's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets at the display of affection. He had thought that Luna was incapable of such things.
"Mercury! Emerald! When did you guys get here? I thought you weren't coming for days!" Luna rushed out, glancing between the three as she leaned away from Cinder, but not out of their hug.
"We just got here this morning." Mercury chuckled, ruffling Luna's hair and ears receiving a small purr. "Along with the rest of Haven students."
"Which, if you had paid attention to when Haven was arriving, you would have known that we would be here too." Emerald haughtily stated while poking at Luna's forehead.
"I knew I forgot to remind you of something" Blake said tapping her chin
Cinder gave a small frown upon noticing something, bringing a hand up to Luna's face and lightly pulling under her eye with a thumb. "Luna… Why have you not been sleeping enough?" She softly, but sternly demanded, causing Luna to nervously chuckle as she tried to pull away from the hold. Only for Cinder to tug her head back into place as both Mercury and Emerald leaned closer with concern, noticing the slightly darker lines under her eyes.
"I have been!" Luna Yelled, "Honest! It's just… Well there were a few tests recently and uh… I guess I've been sacrificing sleep to keep up my exercise routine so it's been tiring me out."
Her tiredness also probably had something to do with that she had to constantly show her… pleasantries to people even when she doesn't want to. The constant motion of studying for her classes, analyzing other students, trying to hold back in sparring class (now, with Pyrrha), and ensuring her well-likeness around campus, along with trying to complete her actual mission then of course it would eventually take a toll on Luna.
But… she refused to acknowledge the fact.
"That's not good," Cinder sighed, letting her hand drop from Luna's face. "You need to ensure that you stay well rested. Have you at least been eating properly?" She asked.
Luna pouted, puffing her cheeks out at the question. "Of course I have." She huffed. "I've eaten all the things!"
Cinder smiled in amusement, pinching Luna's cheek, "Hm. Considering the sudden appearance of the pudge on your cheeks, then I suppose it must be true." She teased before squeezing them together to force the air out hearing a loud pop. Cinder grinned a little wider before pulling on them again. An easy feat considering how elastic Luna's cheeks looked.
Witnessing Luna's completely relaxed childish nature aswell as hearing Luna whine "Mom!", Cardin assumed this must have been the family Luna had talked about "Wait!, MOM!!" Cardin screamed in his mind
Mercury seemed to have caught him staring, looking up from his source of entertainment after sensing someone watching, and his eyes hardened.
Cardin froze, like a deer caught in headlights as his knees began to tremble.
"And who are you?" Mercury asked with a slight growl.
"Uh… I-I…" Cardin swallowed hard, not sure why he was so frightened by a mere question when Mercury hadn't even done anything yet. He tried glancing over to Luna in vain as she wasn't even paying attention to him. Instead, he caught sight of a fierce glare Emerald was throwing his way.
"That's Cardin!" Blake stated, smiling seeing Cardin close to shiting himself. "He's sort of like a Luna henchmen."
"So he's like Luna's Roman." Emerald summarized.
"Yeah. But if Roman couldn't steal and was dumber."
"Then Mercury." Emerald mocked, throwing a side smirk over to her affiliate.
"Oh how you wound me." Mercury drolled, placing his hand over his chest.
"Less drama, more huffy." Luna said, still focusing on trying to stop Cinder messing with her.
"Then basically Emerald." Mercury snarked.
"She said no stealing." Emerald growled.
Cardin could only watch in complete confusion as the 5 continued talking amongst themselves, completely engrossed in one another. It… felt like he didn't belong there at all. Like he shouldn't even be watching this moment despite the fact that he was the subject.
"Now now," Cinder began in a quiet tone, making Emerald, Mercury and Blake immediately silence themselves while Luna continued whining and grunting as Cinder kept amusing herself with her daughters cheeks. "Whoever he's most like, I'm sure that he's still a diligent worker who would, with no doubt, continue serving and being loyal to Luna even if he dies. Am I right?" Cinder asked Cardin with a silent glare.
The look caused a harsh shiver to run down Cardin's back, his legs trembling even more than before as he nodded harshly, realizing where Luna got her terrifying side. "Y-Yes Ma'm."
Apparently the confirmation wasn't enough for Cinder as she narrowed her eyes which began to glow down at him, "Swear it."
"I-I swear that I will r-risk my l-life for Luna a-and serve her unt-til I die." He stuttered out.
Cinder hummed in amusement, returning her gaze back to Luna's face. "I"m happy that you were able to find someone so useful and compliant dearest daughter."
"Can you let go now?" Luna whined, her eyes slightly tearing up from all the prolonged pinching and stretching, already giving up trying to get her mother to stop.
Cinder smirked, letting go of Luna's cheeks and ending the embrace.
Luna rubbed her deeply red cheeks with a pout, tearfully grumbling at her mother for putting her through all that pain before glaring away.
Cinder cooed down at her, "Awww, don't be so mad Luna."
"I will get my revenge." Luna vowed, refusing to even look at her mother as Mercury snickered at her words and misfortune.
"You say that all the time." Emerald stated, rolling her eyes.
"That's because I will!" Luna declared, dramatically shaking her fist in the air. "With the help of Neo, we will get revenge on all of you- where's Neo?" She asked, looking around as she just noticed her absence.
"Helping Torchwick." Emerald said
"He's in charge of the faction meeting tonight," Mercury explained before allowing a small crooked smirk to tug on one side of his cheek. "And the new recruits."
"It's to show off the new military weapons." Emerald finished, causing Luna to gasp. Emerald donned a look of arrogance at the reaction, lifting her chin up as she taunted, "We got them while you were away."
"You stole new weapons without me there to test?" Luna asked in an accusatory tone toward an amused Cinder.
"We couldn't exactly pull you out of school when it happened." Mercury said.
Luna pouted. "But! I wanna see them! I'm are weapons tester how do you know if there tough enough"
"If you want," Cinder began. "You can go take a look at them tonight. It would do the recruits some good to know who you two are."
Luna allowed another gasp, this time of excitement, to sound. "Really?"
"I would be good for everyone to know who not to attack just in case" Blake stated
Cinder nodded with an affectionate smile. "You can pick Neo up before returning. Just promise not to get into any trouble."
"I'll try my best not to!" Luna jumped for joy, right when her scroll began beeping. "Oh. That's my alarm, I need to go." Luna frowned ears dropping.
Emerald seemed confused, furrowing her brows in slight annoyance. "What's so important?"
"Well, I have this meeting with a teacher to help me combine my weapons." Luna stated sheepishly. "Send me the info about the meeting?"
Cinder nodded, "Maybe we'll see you around." she teased, opening her arms for Luna to enter.
Luna giggled, wrapping her arms around Cinder in a hug and giving her a quick squeeze before the two separated.
"Definitely! C'mon Cardin, Blake, let's go!" She called before they departed from one another.
Blake obliged quickly running after Luna, waving her goodbyes to Cinders group.
Cardin nodded, silently following after his boss and ducking his head to avert his gaze from the other three.
When they were far enough and he felt safe, he finally allowed himself to relax.
"Don't tell anyone who they are." Luna said heating up the space around her, causing Cardin to tense again.
"I-I had no plans to." He reassured.
"Good." Blake nodded with a smirk, allowing him to relax as he smiled, albeit nervously, back.
"Now, I really gotta go before I'm late. So, after you take these back to Sergeant, you can take some time off until I call you again." Luna said quickly hoisting Blake onto her back.
"Thanks." Cardin smiled before Luna zipped off to meet with Glynda, Blake gripping her back tightly so she wouldn't fall off.
"What do you mean he bailed on me?!" Yang yelled, slamming her hands down on the bar countertop harshly.
Ruby and Weiss glanced to each other nervously, standing a few feet away from behind Yang as they watched her interrogate some shady owner of a nightclub that she had taken them to while being surrounded by what they can assume to be guards.
"I mean he quit! Gone! Started workin for someone else!" The owner of the nightclub, Junior (as Ruby and Weiss found out to the latter's disdain) repeated as he massaged his forehead from the obvious stress in front of him.
"Well figure out who hired him or help me get more information for my investigation otherwise you're going to wish you were gone!" Yang gritted out with a clenched fist.
"Hey! Sit your ass down and cool it." Junior pointed down to emphasize his demand.
Yang gave a weary sigh, wilting as she slumped over on her stool and leaned onto the bar with her hand rubbing her scalp. "Look, I'm sorry okay? I'm just frustrated. He was really close with his investigation and all of a sudden he stops sendin reports."
Junior sighed himself. "Alright, look Blondie. If it's information from the guy you need, I can get it." He tried to placate with his palms out. "I can track his scroll and download everything he last updated or input onto it, to easily make a duplicate." He explained.
Yang suddenly straightened up with renewed interest, "Then what are you waiting for? Do it!" She demanded, emphasizing each word with a clap onto the countertop to encourage his haste.
"I'm going! I'm going." Junior relented, stalking away from the counter to go into a backroom.
"That was most impressive." Weiss stated, eyeing the door Junior exited through.
"How do you know him again?" Ruby asked confused. It wasn't everyday that your sister had connections with some real shady people.
Yang gave a low chuckle, "I got a tip that he knew about all the dealings in Vale and had men to lend. So I came in and asked for his best investigator. I couldn't afford the initial price and he didn't want to bargain."
"You didn't start a fight did you?" Weiss asked aghast.
"What? No!" Yang denied, "Before I could leave, Junior stopped me so he could talk to his buddy and hashed out a discount."
"That's rather... generous of him." Weiss said with a bit of skepticism.
"Yeah, I thought so too. I asked him about it and he told me that it's kind of a family thing to help out kids that come to their place" Yang shrugged.
"Alright, here you are blondie." Junior's voice came as a scroll slid down to Yang while he walked back to his spot behind the bar.
Yang checked the scroll, going through a bit of the information before nodding in approval. "Thanks Junior." She said before getting up and walking toward the door with Weiss and Ruby.
"Anytime." Junior grumbled, as he picked up a glass to clean.
By the time the three got out, they quickly slid into a cab that they had hailed earlier (asking the driver to wait for them). Weiss tried to peek over Yang's shoulder to see what was on the scroll, but was nudged sharply in the side by Ruby to stop.
She had no choice but to settle for asking, "So? What did your investigator find out?"
Yang glared down at the scroll, a deep frown on her face as she violently shoved it into her pocket.
"Apparently, the investigator last saw my mom trail here in vale. Robbing a dust shop." She grunted out in agitation.
"I mean… We already knew that she was here? But why is she robbing dust shops? Is she poor? Does she need help? " Yang continued asking herself, growing more and more anxious with each passing one.
"Yang. Please." Weiss interrupted, placing her hand on Yang's shoulder to help draw her attention. "I'm sure your mother is… relatively fine. Besides, chances are unlikely that she is dire financial need as one simply just does not rob a dust shop for money."
Ruby nodded in agreement, "Maybe she just might needs dust to help her stay safe."
Yang's eyes widened in fear while Weiss shot Ruby a look of disapproval for increasing Yangs fears.
"Listen, I'm sure she is in better condition than what you think." Weiss tried to console.
"You don't know that!" Yang woefully stated, "And I don't know that! And I can't find out because my investigator bailed on me!"
"Which is why I will gather some files from that dust shop at the CCT." Weiss reasoned, "It'll be easy for me to access the records in that area."
Yang sighed in relief, "Thanks Weiss."
Weiss hummed as the car stopped, quickly paying the driver as Ruby got out and opened the door for her. "You're welcome." She said as she and Yang exited as well.
"That was nice of you." Ruby whispered to Weiss as she closed the door after.
Weiss preened at the compliment, throwing her hair back behind her shoulder. "It was only natural seeing that I am the one who called the cab."
Ruby smirked, her eyes sparkle in amusement. "I meant what you're doing for Yang."
"Oh!" This time Weiss glanced down nervously, "It's nothing. Just a simple feat for someone like myself."
"Doesn't matter, it was nice." Ruby side hugged, eliciting a small smile from Weiss as they entered the CCT.
Yang stood near the center of the lobby area, staring up at the high ceiling, numerous balconies, and the crystal clear windowed elevators overlooking them with awe. "It looks a lot bigger on the inside." She whispered.
"This is nothing compared to the one in Atlas." Weiss informed as the three made their way to an elevator. "While yes, this is rather impressive, it seems to be a major part of the city and out of the Vale Council's way, but instead - close to Beacon Academy. The CCT in Atlas is at the center of the kingdom due to the fact that the government, military, and education system are integrated. Everything in Atlas is built around the tower to accommodate it. It was also the first one to be built. I suppose due to that reason, they wished for it to be the most imposing before gifting the other three communication towers to the other kingdoms after the Great war."
"But, I must say. The one here seems," Weiss looked around, as if searching for the correct word to place. "More welcoming." She smiled as they entered a lift and pushed a button for one of the higher floors.
"Isn't the one in Atlas known to be guarded really heavily." Ruby half questioned.
"It's so they know who is in the tower and why they're in the tower at all times. I believe it's more of a formality then it is for security though." Weiss nodded, stepping out of the elevator once it stopped.
"They simply wish to show the public the exact importance of the tower. After all, without it the kingdoms would no longer be able to contact each other and their people to each other. All information that could easily obtained from servers would be lost as well. Being able to provide such an important item to the world is one of Atlas's most proud achievements. So they wish to showcase it to their people."
"Atlas kind of sounds like they're full of themselves." Yang muttered, though was sharply nudged by Blake who nodded over to Weiss. Realizing her mistake, Yang tried to backtrack and began stuttering. "Uh. Not that… All Atlesians… Well… I mean, Weiss is kind of- But not as bad."
Weiss hummed as she sat down on one of the free computers, "I have to be inclined to agree. I have met one a many of politicians, CEOs, and military commanders due to being the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, so yes. We do have a tendency to be… self-centered. I suppose." She confessed before connecting a call.
Yang and Ruby glanced to each other, and before either one of them could even try to tell Weiss differently, the call was answered.
"Thank you for calling- Oh! Miss Schnee, good afternoon!" An employer greeted, their face coming into view with the Schnee Dust Company logo behind them. "Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I believe your sister, Winter, is also here."
"Good afternoon." Weiss greeted with an amiable smile, "And as pleasant as that may sound, I'm actually calling in hopes of obtaining some data for my friend and a school project. I've already compiled a short list." She stated, already inserting her scroll into the designated station
"Friends you say?" The employer asked with an arched brow, looking behind Weiss and a much too wide smile.
"... Yes." Weiss nodded.
The employer seemed to bounce a little in giddy, glancing over to the side to take a look at the information. "Right away ma'- Um. I'm sorry ma'm, but there are some really sensitive documents that you're requesting."
"I understand. Please do not worry, my friends and I will be sure to treat them with the utmost care." Weiss promised. "But some of that is incredibly vital to some… personal interests."
The employer pursed their lip in thought, glancing between the three before nodding. "Very well then."
They stated before sending the requested information. "The data is being transferred to your scroll now."
"Thank you very much. That will be all then." Weiss smiled, attempting to disconnect the call.
"Are you sure you don't wish for me to patch you through to your family before you?" The employer hurriedly asked, "I'm certain that they'll be happy to see that you've made new friends."
"Yes." Weiss hesitantly answered with a shaky smile. "I'm sure."
"Alright then. Have a nice day." The employer stated before disconnecting the call and allowing Weiss to sigh in relief.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, noticing the wry look on Weiss's face.
"I'm fine." Weiss nodded, swiveling around in the seat and standing up to face Yang. "Here, I'll send you the information on that dust shop your mother was last seen." She said, holding her scroll out as the three began walking back to the ground floor.
"Thanks Weiss. You're the best." Yang smiled, "But I'll check it out when we get back to the dorm.
(Meanwhile back at beacon)
"I think that does it Luna." Glynda announced. "You should take some time to get used to how your weapon preforms."
Luna happily cheered as she gathered her books and dozens of notes. "Thank you so much for helping me out!"
Glynda gave a small smile, "I'm more than happy to help. Now, just remember to go over your notes before our next session and to put some thought into what upgrades you wish to include for your weapons, that are realistic. I understand the excitement you hold for your fanciful wishes, but you must understand that there is no practical reason to incorporate… rocket launchers into your weapons and fighting style. Then, we'll go over the applications, draw out the plans, and build a few trial cases for you."
Luna nodded along, "Alright! Again, thank you so much! You're the best professor ever!" Luna announced.
At the proclamation, Glynda indulged herself to a self-satisfied look. "You're very welcome Luna, but please do be sure to tell the rest of your teachers that, miss Belladonna please be sure to remind her"
"I will." Blake nodded,
"Have a good night professor!" Luna waved before rushing out of the room Blake in tow.
Luna and Blake continued running through the halls, the former smiling at herself in pure happiness, will the other smirked at seeing her girlfriends happiness.
Everything seemed to be going right for her today; she was learning how to upgrade her weapons, her mother and everyone had arrived to school, and she was going to see Roman and the arsenal he had at his disposal.
She did a quick, giddy jump into the air just thinking about seeing the new weapons.
Then after, she, Blake and Neo will hang out for a while, getting into some mischief while Roman tags along or amuses himself. After a while, she, Blake and Neo will return back home (or… the dorms in this case) and she'll be able to wind down and relax with her mother, sister, girlfriend, …………oh Mercury and Emerald too.
"Hey Blake we got awhile before we gotta meet up with the others ya wanna head to the library"
"Hmm sure we haven't really made much progress on our mission, it would be good to start that"
"Agreement" Luna said changing course toward the library
(20 minutes)
"So where have you looked exactly"
"Uhhh... honestly, everywhere at this point." Luna, slouching over the book again. "I'm starting ta think the lab doesn't even exist I'm mean the info wasent even from one of our top guys!"
"Really?" Blake rubbed her chin as she glossed over the many details. It just took her a few seconds to come to a conclusion. "Well, why not think back to the movies?"
"Movies?"
"Yeah, remember? Back when we were kids, we watched so many spy movies and adventure movies with people trying to find secret, buried, treasure, remember?" She reminded. "And where did those treasures usually tend to be?"
"Well," Luna looked over the pages closely, "usually they would either be at the top of a castle or the bottom of a temple. But I've looked everywhere around here, and the lowest part of the school is just some janitorial and plumbing facility."
"Well just think deeper then." She suggested with a smile. For some reason those words actually brought her mind to focus.
"Think... deeper?"
"Yeah. Remember back in those spy movies and stuff? There was always a secret area inside of those places that weren't placed on the maps. And the secret access to enter those places always came from..." She trailed off, slowly tracing her finger to one particular portion of the picture.
"The elevator."
It was as if the universe just smacked Luna in the face.
Of course!
How did she not see it sooner!
She knew it wasn't going to be labeled on the map, that was just a given for a facility. What she hadn't accounted for was the possibility of a secret entrance, one so simple yet complex that she wouldn't have even given it a second thought!
Elevators could easily be programmed to do any number of things, which includes secretly accessing hidden parts of a security building, as well as hiding accessible panels and buttons from the public. Just because there wasn't a simple button saying "Lab Floor" or anything didn't mean there wasn't a floor in which it existed!
"Oh my dust Blake I could kiss you right now, in fact that just what I'm gonna do" Luna said cupping Blake's face bringing her in for a passionate kiss.
The two separated both smiling "hmm happy to help now get going, you still have time before you have to meet everyone"
"Yeah, Yeah gotta go fast" said Luna zipping away toward the elevator and within minutes she was there a small amount of dust trailing past her as she stopped.
Boom!*
Fuck keeping a low profile. This was it. This was the moment Luna had waited for. With the hallways cleared, nothing stopped her from punching the Elevator's flooring to pieces. It was a bit risky, especially if she ended up punching the wrong elevator to begin with, yet fate seemed to be in her favor tonight. There it was, nearly thousands of feet below her, was that one bottomless void which would lead her to the lab.
It had to be there, it just had to!. There was no going back from here on in, and every second she waited or delayed would bring her closer to getting caught. She wished she could say goodbye to her friends one more time, as she stepped into the hole of the elevator shaft. There wasn't anything else to do at this point except wait till she got near the bottom, one that would bring her to the fruition of her grand scheme, the one that would allow her to leave this accursed academy forever, getting it closed down and removing potential obstacles for granny Salem!
All she needed to do now was wait. Wait until she neared the bottom of the shaft's clearing, and pray that she'd find another entrance. With it being as deep as it was, it was almost impossible that there wasn't going to be an entrance waiting for her at the bottom.
It was during this brief descent that some things floated through her mind. All the people she's met, all the friends she came to know. All in all, they weren't all as evil as she expected them to be. She supposed that was a given considering how big this place was, how big the world was. If one out of every one thousand new hunters were actually the good ones compared to the rest like Cardin, then she surmised that she drew the lucky end of the straw and found all of those that were.
The eight friends she came to know of, they were possibly the only good ones within this entire academy full of evil. That much she could agree with.
Or maybe this place was starting to play tricks on her mind? She never would've thought this several months ago, so who's to say these thoughts were entirely hers? What if it was Ozpin's brainwashing that started to make her think this way? What if his evil brainwashing tried to turn her against her own family?!
No. That was out of the question, beyond a doubt. She was coming to the bottom of the large elevator shaft, and she was going to find the lab. Then she was going to get all the valuable info, all for her family's sake and that of the rest of the world.
Luna was coming close to the bottom and using her powers she shot fire from her hands and feet to slow her decent, standing in front of a metal door which she could pry open with her fingertips, was the last thing standing between her and the ultimate prize.
There it was.
A huge hallway filled with rooms about four in total, a big room on the right two smaller rooms on the left and one medium sized room at the end, taking it all in she started with the large room in the right reading the plack on the door 'combat testing'
"Course they'd want to make super soilders this really is like the movies" heading inside Luna saw a not so preety sight mixtures of dried Grimm and human blood all over the floor and walls the strong smell torturing her enhanced senses but she indured pulling out her scroll snapping a few pics.
Next was the room at the end
Reading the place above the door 'Maiden' "wait this was were the maiden disappeared to, were they trying to make more?" going in she saw two tubes the one on the right was empty, will the one on the left had an unconsciousness women inside, she looked tired as if her body went through a horrific experience that would plague it until it died, pulling out her scroll she snapped some more picks not bothering to free the women "sorry lady I got a schedule to keep"
Leaving the maidens cell Luna checked on the final room, the joined smaller rooms, reading the plack Luna felt her skin go cold 'Mia Drake LDQ, Shade Drake D1, Luna….Drake D2!, her name why was her name here, why was Shade's name here why, Mia was that their mother, D2 what was that all out.
"What are you doing down here?"
"..."
No. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. No. Scratch that. It could but why.
Luna found herself frozen for the first time since coming here in absolute fear. Yet, for some reason, she turned around. Every fiber of her being was telling her not to, but she did it anyway. She turned around. And that's when she saw him staring back.
Professor Ozpin.
