There she laid, the soft warm bed's springs creaked at her movements. She held a hand to her face and shook her head awake — she sat upright.

"..."

For a time, she'd yet to collect her thoughts. Blank eyes glanced around the interior of a nondescript bedroom. The only sound was the wall clock's ticking. The curtain parted to let the soft breeze in through the only window of the room. The desk had a small plastic basin with a damp towel on it.

"..."

She looked down on herself and found that, underneath the blanket, she wore a simple white tank top — mildly drenched in her sweat at the back — paired with orange shorts.

"..."

She brushed her fringes up when she felt sweat built up uncomfortably on her forehead, revealing the diagonal scar going from her forehead down across her left eyebrow. Parched, she tried to stand from the bed but the moment her feet touched the floor and pushed herself to stand, she fell forward. She tried to grab across the room but the desk was a little too out of her reach. So, with a loud thud, she hit the floor with her elbow and forearm to save her face from abruptly meeting it instead.

The loud thud was momentarily followed by a rush of footsteps heard just outside the room, and in seconds, the door swung open, revealing a tall girl, physique well-built yet still quite voluptuous hidden under a white long sleeve turtleneck sweater under an apron. She had long black hair — styled in full bangs that framed her gorgeous face beautifully — and purple eyes, her face chock full of worry and surprise.

"Tielle! You're up!" The girl quickly ran to her aid. She reached a hand to pull Tiella by the shoulders. "Here, let me help yo-"

But it was swiftly slapped away. "Don't touch me. I don't need your help."

Surprised, she held her hand close to her chest as she eyed Tiella anxiously. "O-Okay."

Tiella grabbed the wooden chair from the desk and used it to help herself. Just as she did, she caught an image of herself in a full-body mirror to her left. Her eyes squinted at the sight of herself, greatly bewildered but she managed to hide her shock well enough.

Or so she believed.

Lilly walked up to Tiella with an easy smile. "Tielle? Would you like a glass of water?"

Tiella's immediate reaction was to turn and face the girl to meet her easy smile with a hostile glare looking down her upturned nose. Her fists clenched but she quickly relaxed them when she saw the girl looking back at her scared and confused.

"..."

She tilted her head as she gazed back at Tiella's piercing glare. She paused for a moment, wondering in her mind what had made the girl so infuriated, but a quick look at her face through dimly lit eyes told her all that she needed to know. And what she found was one of the few things she dreaded the most.

"Do you..." She licked and bit her lips anxiously before asking in her weakest, quivering smile. "Tielle-..." Pausing, she pursed her lips and corrected herself. "Tiella? Do you know who I am?"


"'Do you know who I am?' she says..." Tiella scoffed in her mind. "Fuck no. I don't remember ever befriending an overly familiar girl like you."

Tiella looked down her nose at her. She'd been wondering who the girl was since she came into the room. If she was her prisoner, she reckoned that she should've been tied up at least. It was also a possibility that the girl was delusional, and so the likelihood of her being kidnapped by some insane woman that believed they're the bestest of friends or family or some close relation bullshit like that wasn't that far off.

However, she'd have to consider the kind of girl she might be if she was skilled enough to imprison her in the first place.

"But..." She cast her gaze to the side, eyeing her arms, and legs. "I feel different — I feel wrong. Something's not right. I don't remember how I got here nor do I remember ever meeting this girl. Last I checked, I just finished training with Karen and Granny Roberta."

She was taken away from her thoughts when she saw the girl shift from the corner of her eyes. Meeting the smaller girl's gaze, she felt uncomfortable.

"What? Is she gonna cry any second now? God, who is this bitch and where the fuck am I?"

Recalling that she hadn't answered the overly familiar girl's question, she squinted her eyes at her and spoke with thinly veiled distrust and wariness.

"Should I?"

The girl's eyes widened almost imperceptibly and her smile wavered just a tiny bit that it was barely noticeable, but it was there, and Tiella saw it. She smiled a little wider while letting out a short sigh before turning around with her hands on her waist.

An opening, Tiella thought, which could very well be a trap too.

"Yes, actually. I'm very important to you and you're very important to me. I'm sure you're feeling quite unsettled right now, so why don't we take a seat at the table. You woke up just in time for lunch so let's talk over something to eat, okay? Knowing you, you're positively famished right now."

Right on cue, Tiella's stomach grumbled loudly. The sound caught her off guard and so was embarrassed for herself while the smaller girl simply chuckled before stepping out of the room while holding the door ajar.

"I'll fetch you something to drink, in the meantime, your clothes are in the closet over there, so you can get out of that sweaty tank top and into something a bit cleaner. You can wipe yourself down with that damp towel over there to freshen up too."

When the strange girl finally shut the door, Tiella stood her place for a moment to process her circumstances.

"She knows who I am. She could be dangerous. Do I have to kill someone again? Shit."

She looked down on her clothes and remembered that she was still damp with sweat and so was a little sticky and itchy in certain areas.

"Maybe I'll hear her out first. She looks like she knows how to take care of herself but we'll see how well when push comes to shove."

She stripped and left her clothes on the floor.

"What the fuck...!?"

She eyed her naked body dubiously. Particularly the unfamiliar set of scars that adorned her entire body. A long scrape that ran down her shoulder, two bullet holes on the lower left side of her stomach, cuts of varying lengths all over her forearms and flanks. The bullet holes were fairly recent as far as she could remember, but last she looked, it didn't look that old.

She turned around and let out a sigh of relief when the only scar that was there was the burn scar on her back that she got as a present when her uncle pressed a hot iron on her a long time ago. She sent her eyes a little lower and her mood quickly fell when she saw the same two bullet holes on her lower back.

"Jesus fucking Christ, what the fuck happened to me? These don't look recent — I'm pretty fucking sure these are months old at least. What the fucking hell happened?"

She, with unnerved hands, wiped herself down with the damp towel from the basin. She felt slightly refreshed from the cool water — though that did nothing to improve her mood. After that, she checked the closet not expecting anything other than her mercenary gear so she was greatly surprised when she couldn't find them anywhere.

She half-expected to see some flimsy articles of clothing that she'd be forced to wear thanks to some pervert. But after searching for a short while, she found a familiar white dress shirt, cargo pants that fit her to a T, fingerless tactical gloves, and studded metal combat boots that reached mid-calf. She was happy to find her clothes but she still felt naked when she couldn't find any of her weapons. She cautiously looked back at the door for a second before searching the rest of the room.

She checked under the clothes, the drawer at the bottom of the closet, and under the bed but she had no luck. She went to the desk and checked the drawers expecting nothing to come up but again, she was greatly surprised when she found her pistols in one of them. Checking the other drawers, she eventually found her knives.

"Why not take them away? Why leave them here for me? Does she underestimate me? Just what the hell happened to me? Did I go for a drink and got smashed so hard I got taken home by this little princess and now she thinks she's my girlfriend or something? Is that why she said I'm important to her and she's important to me? Fuck, I need answers."

Confused, anxious, angry, and hungry, she glanced around the room once more and found her underarm holsters hanging by the clothes rack on the door. Baffled once again, she shook her head and wore them.

"She's gonna regret leaving my babies in the same room as me if she's some retarded kidnapper looking to get some ransom."

For one last time, she searched the room for anything else that was hers and was, for the nth time in the short time since the moment she woke up, greatly puzzled when she found her smartphone just charging behind the small night lamp next to the bed. She grabbed it, utterly confused as to how and why a kidnapper would leave her victim's phone just next to her as she slept.

"Maybe she just thinks I'm her girlfriend after all?" She sighed, annoyed that she could gather nothing in her mind to remember how, why, and when she ended up in such a place with such a girl. "No, I have a feeling this is much worse than I think it is. And usually, my gut feeling is right."

She was taken away from her thoughts when her stomach grumbled again and the door opened soon after.

"Tiell-..a," Lilly paused awkwardly while calling her name. Tiella expected her to look surprised when she saw Lilly looking at her in full combat attire but all she got was an easy smile. "Tiella? Here's a pitcher and a glass, I'll leave it here on the desk for you. I'm sure you're quite thirsty. Once you're ready, I'll be out here with your favorites — sweet milk, coffee, and a special sandwich." The strange girl winked before leaving the room and shutting the door.

Tiella, unable to process anything that was happening to her, simply stood in place staring at the door, half-convinced she was in a mental ward.


"She has amnesia."

Lilly set the table for lunch as a way to distract herself from the turmoil in her heart. It was Tuesday, 18th of the 6th-month Remnant AD.

It had been a little over a week since the Grimm gathered in Vale. She remembered passing out not long after they'd driven the malevolent god out and she was only briefed about what happened after a day of sleeping by Ozpin.

She recalled waking up blind with a massive headache, a sore body, and an empty stomach that day.

Well... "driven out" wasn't exactly the right way she would describe what happened. She trusted Ozpin not to lie about the events she missed but he was simply reading a collated report. Well collated and quite detailed, but unless he added her statements, most of it was mere speculation — even including the statements of Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Team CFVY, and Glynda Goodwitch.

Moving back to over a week ago, to the time she entered the astral plane.

When she grabbed the god's soul and attempted to violently rip it out of Tiella's body, it clung strongly. So much so that she'd inadvertently carried Tiella along with her attack. It struggled, roughing it out until eventually, she lifted the soul by the neck into the air. He struggled a bit more and as he did, the smile on his face grew wider and wider.

"He was fighting back less because he wanted to get out of my hold but more because he disliked being dragged around so roughly."

And in his last moments, he said something to her.

Something she couldn't quite make out.

Since then, she'd been trying to remember, but she always failed. And that was a huge problem — every time she forgot something, it was almost always because something made her forget. It could be blunt trauma to the head, hypnotism (which only happened once), or some other form of amnesia. Something was stopping her from remembering.

It wasn't as convoluted as having her memory altered. She recognized the black spots in her memory so vividly that she was convinced that something was blocking her from seeing them.

What she did remember after he'd said his piece was that he willingly disappeared.

He didn't go away because he was weakened.

He didn't leave because she fought her back.

She never managed to drive it out. And even if circumstances were different, she wouldn't doubt that she couldn't.

Throughout the entire fight, he was playing them all like a damned fiddle. And that made her very, very, very worried. As a person blessed with an untold number of talents — talents that she could and would nurture to extremes — she was used to having certain levels of control over a variety of things, even things she had yet to try. Because she was an extremely fast learner and was naturally talented, she'd grown accustomed to having leeway.

The leeway to do as she pleased.

It was dangerous to give one person that much power, but Lillianne was never the type to use her skills with bad intentions. Multiple times, she'd used her skills for personal gain but it was never out of spite. She did things because she liked them while keeping in mind never to use her talents for evil. Her parents taught her that those in power have a responsibility to do good for those who don't. That the reason she was privileged was in large thanks to those who were not, so it was her responsibility to act with generosity and nobility to such people.

Simply put, noblesse oblige.

But because something astronomically troubling and out of her capabilities to do anything against arrived, she'd been wrought with worry should it ever decide to return.

Would she be ready?

Will she ever be?

Even if she stood with her friends, would they have a chance?

Shaking her head, she dispelled such thoughts from her mind in favor of sitting down and waiting for Tiella to come out.

The possibility of Tiella climbing out the window to escape was there but given the situation, she strongly believed that Tiella would talk with her.

And so, while waiting, Lilly took out her scroll and tapped a few keys to send a message to a few people.

[Big problem.

Tielle has awoken but she has amnesia. She has no memory of who I am.

I don't know how much of her memory she can't remember yet but I'm trying to find out right now. We're having lunch. Do not approach her unless I deem it safe, depending on how far back her memory went, she could consider all of us as enemies. Big numbers would make her feel threatened and confused as well.

We don't want to agitate Tielle.

Except for you, Karen, you're basically her only family. Please come here ASAP.

To everyone else, I'm sorry. I know that we all want to speak with her, but now is not a good time. I hope you understand.]

"And... send."

Just in time to see Tiella come out of her bedroom and place her scroll on the table.

The girl was still eyeing her warily but unlike before, she wasn't looking at her as if she was a nuisance. It was worse.

"Oh, dear..."

She was looking to kill her given the chance.

"I hope it doesn't lead to that but..." She smiled at the cautious girl slowly walking to the table. "Lunch comes first. I'm sure she's hungry."

"Have a seat." Lilly gestured to a vacant one. "If you'd like more, I can cook more, though I might have to ask permission from Glynda before I could. Wouldn't want her to be surprised when she comes home without much to cook with left."

What greeted her unflinching easy smile was a pistol aimed right in the middle of her eyebrows.

"Eat it," Tiella spoke, no, commanded coldly.

"Worried about poison? That's so like you."

In a beat with a smile that rarely went away, she obliged. She took a moderate sip of the milk and coffee, then she took a bite out of her homemade Sloppy Tiella. As she chewed her sandwich, she gestured for Tiella to sit again to which, thankfully, the girl did. Though the pistol wasn't put away.

Warily, Tiella took double-takes between her and the food on the table without ever letting go of her finger on the trigger. The strange girl in a perpetual smile didn't seem to mind having a gun in her face if the way she relaxed with her chin on her palm was anything to go by.

"Or maybe she's a great actress."

She sipped at the milk and was caught off guard when it was just perfect for her. It was warm, which she loved despite feeling quite hot and sweaty just moments ago. And it was sweet, just like mother used to make. Next was the coffee, which was, again, just the way she liked — strong but sweet. It had hints of sweet milk too. Then came the monster bread mishmash that looked so damned appetizing.

Perhaps it was due to hunger, but the sandwich looked absolutely delicious. So much so that she couldn't help but salivate from the smell wafting to her nostrils.

Catching the look, Lilly smiled wider and went back to eating leisurely despite the pistol in her face.

"I know that one sandwich isn't enough for you, so would you like for me to prepare more?"

She glared at her again, grabbing the sandwich and taking a modest bite out of it.

"...!"

Her eyes widened when the strong flavors of the sandwich spread through her mouth. It was everything she ever wanted to eat all at once and the spiciness was just right.

And it was gone within seconds.

While she was licking her fingers clean, she heard a gleeful giggle across the table. So she sent the girl another glare, embarrassed that she was seen enjoying something a potential enemy prepared for her. She even considered that it was poisoned after all and that the antidote was hidden in one of the drinks or at least, somewhere in the room.

But she was dumbfounded when she saw the girl wiping a tear away with her finger as she sniffled.

"O-Oh!" Lilly bashfully ducked her head while looking back at Tiella, her lip quivering. "I-I'm sorry, I know that already find me a strange girl but..." She sniffled. "B-But... I-..." A tear left a streak down the girl's rosy and fair cheek. She wiped it away with a napkin and composed herself with a breath. "Again, my apologies. But nevermind that, why don't I answer your questions?"

Tiella eyed the girl strangely for a while before reluctantly lowering her pistol down. She didn't holster it and simply placed it on the table.

"Fine." She took a sip from her glass of milk. "I really don't give a shit who you are, so fuck that. Just tell me where I am and how I ended up here before I leave. If you try and stop me... well, you're free to find out."

Lilly smiled widely though she was a little pained that her dear friend was speaking to her like so.

"Okay."

So she took out her smartphone out of her pocket and placed it in front of Tiella along with her scroll. Though, when she reached for her pocket, she heard a gun click and saw it aimed at her head again. Nonetheless, she carried on.

"Now, as I explain, I'll be showing you some photos here." Lilly clasped her hands as she sat upright. "But before we begin, do you mind if I asked you a question?"

Tiella thought over it for a second before placing her gun on the table. "Go ahead."

Lilly smiled gratefully. "Do you know anyone called Carol Stephanie Maxwell?"


At the Grand Clocktower...

The Headmaster's scroll pinged from a notification. Ozpin fetched it out of his pocket and checked the message he received while sitting on his very comfy headmaster chair. It didn't take him long to react in surprise when he did.

"Tiella is awake."

He stood and looked out the window, casting his gaze down.

"It's been quite hectic since then."

Hectic indeed.

Media outlets from all over the kingdom visited Beacon Academy to get a statement from the key players involved in saving Vale from the massive horde of Grimm, especially Lilly.

People were already calling her the Warrior Angel.

But that wasn't what they were looking for.

They wanted names, ages, affiliations, all sorts of information public and private alike. The only media outlet that managed to even come out with anything concerning her was the one responsible for reporting about the Grimm horde first.

About how they primarily worked outside the kingdoms' borders, aiding outlier villages and the like. How they were used to dealing with City-level Grimm by themselves.

The public thirsted for information about them, so they looked everywhere. On the internet, in public forums, newspapers, some even went as far as going out in the outlier villages (even the frontiers) for at least a single rumor about them.

A day after the Grimm were eradicated and the forest was cleansed, people found out that the one that led the operation was a girl named Lillianne Vernillion, that she belonged to a team of three with the red-haired huntress, Celestiella Margory, who held the Grimm back by herself until reinforcements arrived, and a boy, Bardel Armas, who was reported to have gone toe to toe with the fabled Wyvern by himself.

Along with the legendary Glynda Goodwitch, they quickly turned the tides and held the Grimm in check. Reports said that when the guild and the military arrived, just over a quarter of the estimated 10,000 Grimm was left, and it was all thanks to the quick response of Beacon Academy's professors and students in partnership with the dark horse of the day's events.

"Even now, reporters are still trying to get into the academy."

Since that day, Ozpin closed Beacon Academy's doors to the public. Anyone who wasn't a student or a staff member was not allowed to get in without a pass or permit. It was an attempt to both protect the peace within the school grounds and to keep the trio from the public for a little while longer.

Ozpin understood that he can't keep the world from finding out about Avatāra, but at the very least, he hoped to prepare them for when the time came to formally introduce them to the public.

He was already being constantly asked about them by the council. So much so that he could feel them breathing down his neck right that moment.

"Is something the matter?" A voice called, taking him out of his mullings.

He turned and sat back on his chair. "Yes, it concerns Tiella."

"The mercenary girl?"

"Yes," He nodded. "Lilly just notified me of her finally regaining consciousness."

"That's great news!"

Ozpin looked at his good friend curiously. "That happy to finally reconnect old friends?"

"That," James sighed, "and that Ms. Maxwell can finally stop pestering me about meeting her friend. She was being quite unreasonable with me. She wanted to find her friend but she wouldn't give out any information about her until the day she saw the live broadcast of Lilly's performance."

Ozpin chuckled lightheartedly. "Where is she, anyway?"

"She said she wanted to visit Vale and go book shopping to keep herself entertained."

"Does she not like the selection in the library?"

"I believe that she's more of a fantasy and science fiction fan. She isn't into reading academically, though she has read some of Atlas Academy's medical studies and textbooks."

Ozpin sipped at his mug and nodded. "I see."


At the City of Vale...

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun."

A blonde-haired woman in a lab coat perused the books at a certain bookstore. She tied her hair in a low ponytail that reached the middle of her back and she wore black, thin, oval-rimmed glasses that gave her an intellectual look.

It was close to midday and she just finished eating a light snack on the way to the bookstore.

"Vale's a lot warmer than Atlas... but not enough that I need to get rid of my coat."

As soon as she entered, she spent the next 20 minutes just looking at every single book that caught her eye. She checked out genres, titles, authors, prices — if a book piqued her interest and curiosity, she would take it out and read through the synopsis.

She took one off the shelves, "The Progenitor... by...? Emma Nonn?" She read through the synopsis. "Let's see... Four Kingdoms... Headmasters... truth hidden behind the darkness shed by the light... okay, this is VERY cryptic. I understood NONE of that." and she quickly shook her head and placed it back on the shelf. "I like fantasy but this is too high fantasy for me. I'm betting this Nonn-girl is a huge fantasy nerd. Like the kind that'll cosplay as an elf or a magic knight at Comiket. She sounds like the kind of person to get along with Lilly though, but eh, everyone gets along with Lilly. It's just impossible to really hate the girl no matter what anyone says."

She perused the shelves again, glancing from one title to another.

"Let's see... Paradigm of the Rose by A Man With A Box? Strange name. Oh, interesting — a story based on a girl meeting alternate universe versions of herself."

She shelved it took another out, doing the same as she did with The Progenitor.

"Through Her Eyes by Peroth. Interesting. A girl born with the dangerous power to control Grimm, oooohhh, spooky. Imagine that being a reality in Remnant, it'd be all kinds of issues just from her existence being public knowledge. And she wants nothing more than to be a huntress! Good luck, girl."

And again.

"Remnant's Reclaimer by Hysterical Clerical Hijinks. Huntress goes back in time to meet a younger version of herself — cliche as cliche gets but it's a best-seller. Maybe the execution is good? I'll check it out next time." She thought while shelving the book. "These are some really weird pseudonyms for authors — makes that Emma-something person look pretty normal with her name choice. Probably her real name. But these others though... maybe it's a Remnant thing and Emma is just the odd one out?"

And again.

"A Silent Connection by Arthur S.G." She read. "A normal-sounding author's name."

She opened it up and went through the synopsis,

"Boy tries to find closure over his dead girlfriend and meets a mute girl going through something similar. Wow, cheesy. Oh, and the girl wants revenge but the boy just wants closure, interesting."

and shut the book close before heading straight for the cashier.

"This one please." She smiled before the cashier who was a burly, bearded man.

He eyed the book and went on to silently do his job. While waiting, the woman felt a vibration on her left inner coat pocket — a notification on her scroll. While the cashier quietly packaged her purchase in a paper bag, she read the message and her eyes quickly widened. Her breathing hastened as her heart raced and she looked back at the cashier, who was almost finished, and her scroll back and forth.

After a second, she ran to the door. "I-I'm sorry, it's an emergency. I'm really sorry but my friend just woke up from a coma. I-" She held the door ajar to look back at the confused man. "I-I'll try to come back for the book later, I'm sorry but I have to go!" And ran out of the store.

Leaving the man to process her words slowly while placing the woman's purchase in the storage room at the back, hoping for the girl to return for it as she said.


The blonde-haired woman ran past passersby, almost bumping into them multiple times. She once jumped over a car as it skidded to a stop while she crossed the road on a green light.

She ran as fast as she could towards the docks going for Beacon Academy. Even when she could feel her pencil skirt stretch and her heels clacking noisily, she dared not slow down. When she arrived at the airship docks, a small crowd of reporters blocked her path. She halted before them, adjusting her glasses and fixed her hair before yelling in a commanding tone.

"OUT OF THE WAY! I'M A DOCTOR AND I NEED TO GET TO BEACON!"

Her voice cut through the noise of the crowd. Some tried to voice their complaints against her but a fierce look from her shut them down before they could even begin. A line opened up for her as the people backed away. She strode through the crowd and just as she reached the very troubled security guards, a man grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but how does that give you permission to get into Beacon Academy?"

She slapped the hand away and took her ID out of her breast pocket, nearly shoving it in front of the man's face. "See that? Carol Stephanie Maxwell, M.D., happy? Now fuck off, I have a patient that needs my attention." She glared at the shrinking man despite her being about half a head smaller. "Or are you saying you want to be my patient as well?" She cracked her knuckles loudly as she clenched her teeth. "I can make arrangements for that easily."

The man was about to speak up again but another reporter held him back with a hand on his shoulder. "For your sake, just stop."

The man turned to look at the other person holding him off for a second and when he turned to give Carol another defiant look, he only saw her figure turning a corner for the airship docks headed for Beacon. Angrily, he shrugged the other man's hand off his shoulder.

"Why is she so important?"

"You don't recognize the name?"

"No."

"I'm not surprised." He shook his head and shrugged noncommittally. "Carol Stephanie Maxwell, she's the doctor that came with General Ironwood last week. She isn't affiliated with Atlas Military or Atlas Academy but she has close connections with them. Rumors say that the soldiers there call her the Berserk Healer after she put a small platoon's worth of soldiers to sleep with her bare fists in a training exercise before personally tending to them."

The man gulped, remembering how the woman cracked her knuckles loudly. If the other reporter hadn't stepped in...

"And there's an even more exaggerated rumor saying she fought the General in a fistfight and knocked him out cold for days. I don't know how true those rumors are, but it's better to be safe than sorry." The other man sighed, brushing his hair up in exasperation. "But something is going on at Beacon and the fact that they've been radio silent for over a week since then means they have something they don't want the public to know. And with how the General is here, it could be for reasons of state."


Within the Professor's room at Beacon Academy during lunch break...

"..."

Glynda Goodwitch stared at her scroll.

"..."

She'd been staring at it since lunch started and hadn't done much else. And it's been around 25 minutes since then.

"..."

She was conflicted — very much so.

It had been at least a month since she last had a proper conversation with Tiella, because the last time they spoke, it turned into a shouting match. Granted, every person involved was under immense stress — emotionally, mentally, and physically — but she felt that she could have handled it better had she stayed calm and tried to understand Tiella's point.

She still blamed herself for Tiella running off that day, so a part of her wanted to keep avoiding Tiella for as long as possible. To stall for as much time as she could to prepare herself. But more than that, to see her again. She wanted so much to apologize, to kiss her and hold her hand again, to feel her hand on her hair, to finally go on that date.

But the second she found out that Tiella had woken up? She was told that she had amnesia, that she could be dangerous, and that she shouldn't approach her until Lilly said so.

Her blood boiled within as she held her scroll in a death grip, glaring at it with a very real possibility of it breaking. And as she sat there trying to look composed despite her feelings in great turmoil, Peach audibly let out a gasp after sipping orange juice from a glass. Her attention taken away from the pitiable communications device, she raised her younger colleague a quizzical brow.

"I don't know what that message is about, Professor, but if I had to guess, it's about Tiella, ain't it?" Peach smiled wryly.

Glynda felt a small lump in her throat as she consciously tried not to look at her scroll by pocketing it away. She tried to swallow the lump but a voice from across the room surprised her.

"I say, love problems, Professor?" Port chimed in. "We're always here to listen should you ever need an ear or two!"

"I-" Glynda fixed her clothing and adjusted her glasses. "I shouldn't trouble you with my personal problems."

"Heavens, Glynda!" Port quickly cut in. "Are we not friends?"

"F-Friends?"

"Yes, friends! Are we not friends? Did we not just go through hell as comrades in arms just over a week ago?"

Glynda blinked at the man a few. "Of course, we are. Even before that."

"Then it should be fine to trouble us with your personal problems! That's what having friends is all about!"

"He's got a point, Professor." Peach easily agreed with a nod. "What do you think, Doctor? Shouldn't she be telling us about her problems when she's so troubled if she considers us her friends?"

"I do agree, of course." Oobleck nodded. "But forgive me for not speaking earlier, I simply do not have much experience concerning romance. So I don't believe I'd be much use. Though I am always prepared to lend an ear!"

"Never gone on a date before?" Peach queried.

"I have, of course! It's just that I find that time spent worrying about romance is time spent away from my research."

"Oh, leave him, Mags." Port dismissed Oobleck with a hand. "He's married to his work!"

"That is true." Peach chuckled.

"And I don't believe there's anything wrong with that." Oobleck defended with arms crossed.

Glynda spent a moment just observing her colleagues, her comrades — her friends. She pressed her lips in a thin line, anxiously playing with her fingers while remembering the contents of the message she just received. She sighed hanging her head to the side. The act caught the others by surprise — they'd never seen her act so bothered, so troubled before.

She straightened her posture but cast her gaze to the floor.

"I just..."

She spent the next scant seconds letting her eyes wander about while the others patiently waited in silence for her to continue.

"I just wish to see her again — to speak with her again."

All three nodded without a word, though Glynda didn't quite see.

"On the day she..." She paused and shook her head. "The night before... I visited Tiella in the infirmary."


"Man, I wonder when Celeste is gonna wake up."

"No idea."

Yang sat next to Blake in the cafeteria. They were eating lunch together with the other half of their team, Ruby and Weiss.

The Xiao Long-Rose sisters planned to return to Patch a day after the semester started originally but since that happened and because of all the hullabaloo outside of Beacon's walls — media outlets waiting in ambush of unsuspecting students and/or staff members the moment they set one toe outside of Beacon grounds — they didn't have the time nor the chance.

Even Weiss had to cancel her 4-day, 3-night vacation to Vale's only 5-star hotel called the Gingerbread Castle. She loved doing everything she did in Beacon, even the parts where she had to take care of her team being irresponsible students and trying to bring out their full potential. But even a perfectionist like her understood that she needed a break from everything.

And as someone who did not have much in the way of financial stability, Blake aimed to stay in their dorm, relying on the liberties provided by the school. And since she just finished going through a kingdom-wide threat, her more personal issues took priorities once more.

Yang balanced a pencil on her lips, Blake read a book to her left, Weiss read a travel magazine to Blake's left, and Ruby munched on cookies while reading a comic book beside Weiss. Across the table in front of Ruby sat Ren listening (and correcting) Nora about another dream. Pyrrha sat next to Nora simply eating her lunch, and finally, Jaune ate an apple while reading a comic book.

It was pretty obvious to anyone that they were all bored out of their wits, save for Nora, and perhaps Ren. They worried for Tiella, as all good friends were wont to do, but knowing Lilly and Glynda was there for her, they felt that that was all they could do — worry.

"Oh, yeah!" Yang started while pen spinning, calling the attention of her friends. "Didn't Dr. Maxwell say she was going to watch over our training today?"

There was also the doctor that came with General Ironwood who seemed to be a close friend to the mercenary trio, which could only mean one thing.

"Ugh, training again? I need a break, Yang." Weiss plopped her head on the lunch table. "Badly."

Ruby ran her hand in circles on Weiss' back in commiseration. Yang grinned in response, leaning on the table to give Weiss a better view of her shit-eating grin. "Sounds to me like you want another date with Dr. Maxwell in the sparring arena."

"Stop." Weiss cut in. "Please, don't remind me." She rested her chin on the table and looked at Yang in tired frustration. "I only asked whether I could get a specified workout regime that would let me get stronger without getting too bulky because I feared that too much muscle would hinder my flexibility and agility." She sighed and hid her face on the table again. "Which, thankfully she did deliver, but... ugh!" She slammed her hands as she sat upright, her face filled with rage. "She's stricter than Tiella! And I didn't think it was possible to be stricter than Tiella!"

Ruby and Yang looked at her wryly while the rest of Team JNPR was surprised by the outburst from their normally so prim and proper friend.

"Do your sit-ups like this, your push-ups like that. Clench your glutes better, don't do this, don't do that. Eat this, eat that, don't eat this, avoid too much of that." She listed off on her fingers while shaking her head in exasperation. "It's really very educational and I would highly recommend that you follow it as well but when it's presented to me all at once, it's just information overload and it becomes very stressful! Very stressful!"

"There, there." Ruby comforted with a few commiserating pats on her shoulder.

"She's even teaching me actual techniques from Flickering Arts that translate well into my fencing!" Weiss hid her face in her hands as she leaned on the table with her elbows. "She wasn't lying when she said that she knew far better than Tiella. Far better."

"Oh, woman up, Weiss," Yang spoke. "You'll be fine!"

"I know!" Weiss whined as she looked back at Yang. "I know I will!" She sighed, looking down on the table after feeling her exhaustion set in once again after her tirade. "I'm just complaining for the sake of complaining, I guess. I don't condone it as I truly believe it is highly unproductive but I have no other way to relieve my stress. My trip had to be canceled because I can't set foot out of Beacon without being swarmed by the media! It's worse than the times I was on tour for concerts because they want answers now more than ever!"

Ruby worried for her greatly distressed classmate, partner, and best friend. But after a few seconds of thinking, the proverbial light bulb lit her face up in a wide smile. "Sister," She got up slamming her hands on the table with a big grin on her face. "Friends," She gestured to Team JNPR. "Weiss!"

"Hey!"

"You know what we need?"

Weiss and Yang looked up to Ruby. Yang knew that look all too well and there was a 50/50 chance she would either enjoy what her sister was about to suggest or dread it. Weiss, meanwhile, simply looked up at her with a blank look.

"We need a vacation!"

Yang just looked at Ruby, urging her to continue and Weiss' inaudible groan was somehow the loudest thing they heard that day. Even Nora had to stop telling her story to Ren to give Weiss a sympathetic look.

Whether Ruby was oblivious or she simply chose to ignore it, her friends didn't know but she continued nonetheless. "Let's go to Patch!"

"To wha-"

"Where?"

Yang quickly rose up and slammed her hands on the table as well. "Ruby, you're a genius!"

"Hear that?" Ruby tilted her head up, hands on her waist, and looked down her nose on them. "I'm a genius!"

Weiss, on the contrary, didn't share the sentiment. "We're not allowed to leave the school because we might get hounded by the media, genius."

And that quickly deflated the half-sisters. Nora slammed her hands pushing herself up the same way which got all her friends' attention. They waited a time for Nora to speak but she simply smiled at them.

"Uh... Nora?" Ruby prodded. "Got anything to say?"

"No, not really," Nora smiled, the picture of innocence. "You were all doing it and I wanted to slam my hands on the table too!"

And the rest of them groaned while planting their faces on the table.

All except one.

Yang tilted her head sideways to give her partner, who had been busily reading her book, a look.

"Hey, Blake."

"Hm."

Yang got up and looked over Blake's shoulder to peek at her book. "What'chu doin'?"

"Just reading."

"Smut again?"

"Mhm."

"Which part are you at?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Blake."

"Hm."

"Blaaaake?"

"Hm?"

Yang poked Blake's cheek a few times. "Remnant to Blake?"

Blake sighed, putting her book down with her thumb sandwiched within as a makeshift bookmark. "Yes," She grabbed Yang's hand and gave her a look. "Yang?"

Yang grinned widely. "Do you like what you're reading right now?"

Blake stared back at Yang as if she just grew a second head. "Yes."

"Can you tell me about the part you're reading right now?"

"Tell you where I'm at?"

"Yes."

Blake continued staring at Yang as if she just grew a third head.

"Fine." She reluctantly relented.

She opened her book and skimmed through the words, silently reading a few before she blinked her eyes widely and looked back between Yang and her book. She swiftly shut her book and slammed it down the table, garnering attention from her dear friends — face red up to her ears.

Silently, she glared at Yang as if willing her to turn to smoke with the power of her psyche while the offending blonde herself was simply grinning back at her smugly. Their stare-off lasted a few seconds more but alas, Blake Belladonna, unfortunately, did not have the ability to change another person from one phase of matter to another with a look.

She reckoned that she'd have to be a bit more creative and physically involved in the process if she wished to turn her partner into vapor.

With that in mind, she dismissed her future plans for revenge and scoffed through her nose with a pout, cheeks still a vibrant red. "What do you need?"

Yang chuckled, winking at her cheekily. "It's just that you've been quiet the entire time. Did you even hear Weiss rant about her new training routine from Dr. Maxwell?"

Blake paused in thought for a bit before nodding vaguely. "Yes."

Yang gave her a raised brow and a knowing half-smile.

Blake fought with a stare but eventually wilted, shyly hiding her face from Yang as she looked away. "No."

"That's totally cute, Blakey." Yang pointed with a wink. "So, what were you thinking abo-"

And a ring interrupted. Searching the source, they all found that it was Ruby's scroll going off. The girl quickly fetched and answered the call with a hurried, "H-Hello?"

[Ruby! Are you and Yang free right now?]

"Uh..." Ruby looked around before answering. "Yes, I mean, we just finished lunch and we're mostly done with homework since we're still stuck here."

[Good, good. There's a bit of a situation concerning Tielle.]

"Celeste!?"

Her yell alerted the rest of her friends and some were quick to fire off questions.

"Celeste!? Is she awake!?"

"What about Tiella?"

"Is she doing well?"

Ruby quickly shushed them down before returning to her call. "S-Sorry about that, could you say that again?"

[I said she's awake but she has retrograde amnesia. I'm the only person she knows right here, right now.]

"Retro what?"

[Just bring Yang with you and meet me in Room 201 in the East Wing Dormitory. I'll tell you more when you get here. Bring Yang and only Yang, understood?]

The call dropped and Ruby was left dumbfounded while the others bombarded her with questions. Yang grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a light shake.

"Ruby!" Earnest lilacs bore into confused silvers. "Who was it and what was the call about?"

Ruby shook her head lightly and reciprocated her sister's gaze with an earnest look of her own. "It was Dr. Maxwell. She told me that Celeste has amnesia and that she wants you and me to go there."

"Amnesia!?" Nora repeated incredulously with both hands on her cheeks in shock.

Weiss quickly stood from her seat. "We're coming too."

Ruby, in a rare moment of authority, "Only me and Yang." shot Weiss down with a look that made the girl pause. "I'm sorry, team — friends." Her eyes softened apologetically. "I want to bring you with me but..."

"It's fine," Blake spoke. "We," She placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder, "understand. If Tiella has amnesia, being crowded around by people she doesn't recognize will only make her feel cornered and stressed out."


Ruby and Yang were quick to run down the corridors, uncaring about the common school rules that they broke and the people they bumped into. The others wanted to join — and Ruby honestly wished she could bring them — but the urgency in Maxwell's voice made her relent.

"'Just promise to tell us all about it when you're done, okay?'" Ruby remembered Weiss' words before they left. "Don't worry, partner. I won't forget!"

So they rushed as hastily as they could. And within a minute, they were standing in front of the specified apartment with their professor, Glynda Goodwitch.

"Ms. Rose? Ms. Xiao Long? What are you doing here?" Glynda asked, pausing from opening the door.

"Uh..." Ruby stammered.

"We were asked to come here by Dr. Maxwell." But Yang was there to save her.

Glynda gave them a curiously raised brow. She looked down at the knob for a moment and clicked her tongue with a bite of her lower lip before eventually opening the door with a resigned nod.

"Very well. Come in."

"O-Okay."

"Didn't I tell you to calm down?" All three heard a voice say from within the apartment.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't sure I could trust her even with your word in it. How the fuck was I supposed to make sure you weren't being forced to say what she wants you to say?" A familiar voice replied.

Ruby and Yang followed while Glynda led the way into the apartment. They didn't know what to expect but they certainly weren't expecting Tiella getting hit in the head by Dr. Maxwell while Lilly stood the furthest from Tiella in the room.

"Do I look like I can't take care of myself? Does she look like she would do something like that? Jesus Christ, Tielle, I know how you had practically zero fucking trust in anyone but I thought you'd at least trust me, your fucking partner!"

"Tsk." Tiella looked away with an eye roll. "How the fuck was I s'pposed to make sure you weren't compromised!? You're not invincible, Karen! I've had to save your fatass a few times before in case you for-fucking-got!"

"Oh, I'm the one forgetting now?" Karen dramatically reeled her head back in disbelief before leaning up Tiella's face again. "Am I the one with the fucking amnesia here? Can you fucking remember her name then?"

"Damn it!" Tiella loomed over Karen. "I said I was sorry, didn't I!? I can't say what I don't know!"

"Well, your apology sucks ass!"

"WHAT THE FUCK MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?"

"A PROPER ONE!"

"Stop! Please!" Lilly's cry tore through their argument. She looked to be on the verge of tears but not a single drop dared to spill. "Karen, I'm happy that you're getting angry for my sake but please, this isn't her fault. I don't wish to see you fight, especially when it's the first time you've spoken to each other in a long time. No one here's at fault. Okay?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Tiella glared in naked indignation. "I don't need help from a fucking princess like yo-"

"Karen, don-!" Lilly yelled with a hand outstretched, appearing just steps away from the two after crossing the room in a blink.

And almost instantly, the tall woman's head flew back as she fell to the floor with a thud. Her nose bled and Karen's fist was raised. The punch took all by surprise, even Lilly who saw the fist coming.

"Amnesia or not, I won't tolerate her speaking to anyone like that." Karen gnashed her teeth while crossing her arms, her eyes glaring down on the unconscious form of Tiella. She turned and gave Lilly a stern look. "Especially when she's speaking to you. I don't mind the usual banter being thrown around because that's just us, it's normal. But I know that you know when she's looking at someone she really hates.

I'm sure she'll thank me when she remembers everything, Lilly. You're all very close friends with each other so I'm sure she'll deeply regret how she's being hostile to you right now — better stop her before she says even more things she'll later regret."

Karen picked Tiella up by the arm with a hand and threw her onto the sofa almost effortlessly. Lilly sighed and approached the sofa, placing a gentle hand over Tiella's forehead with a pained expression. "Thank you, Karen."

"Don't mention it." Karen shrugged. "I know you won't but you better tell me when she starts speaking to you like that again. I'll knock her out."

Lilly looked back at her with a weak smile, a clear message that she appreciated the offer but nonetheless won't take it up just as Karen guessed. She was a good girl like that, always making sure not to trouble others if she could handle it. Karen knew full well how hurtful the way Tiella spoke and acted towards Lilly — she considered Tiella as her closest friend, after all.

"Please don't. You're a doctor, Karen. You should know how harmful it is for an amnesiac to be constantly suffering blunt head traumas."

"She's suffered worse head injuries and she has her Aura, she can take it."

"Karen, please."

"You know, Lilly." Karen took a seat by the dining table. "You dote on her so much that if it wasn't for me, you'd have spoiled her rotten already."

"I just know that there's a better way of handling this, okay?"

"Like what? Letting yourself get showered by verbal abuse?" Karen glared. "And if I had come in a second later, I just fucking know you'd have let her break your arm when I saw you caught in her hold." She scoffed hard. "Can you imagine? You? At your level now? Caught in that fucker's hold with your face on the table like that?"

"Karen, your language is returning." Lilly attempted to change the subject.

"You can beat her sorry ass to a pulp with your hands and legs tied together!" But Karen didn't care and simply carried on. "Worse, you almost let your arm break just so she could feel better about her situation! I know you said you didn't want to agitate Tielle but come fucking on, girl! I thought you were smarter than that!"

"I can heal it in 15 minutes depending on the severity of the damage," Lilly muttered, understanding how weak her argument was. "A-And," She continued before Karen could speak again. "you were wrong about one thing." She raised her index finger.

"Really?" Karen gave her a disbelieving brow raised.

Lilly nodded seriously. "She doesn't have Aura right now." The smile on her face all but disappeared.

""What?""

The surprised voices came from two different blondes in the room. One who'd been speaking with Lilly the entire time and a much taller one who'd been standing stock still in the hallway trying to grasp the situation without butting in.

Glynda rushed to Tiella's side while Karen swiftly stood from her chair and did the same. Tiella's nose still bled — it wasn't broken, but the damage was worse than Karen thought. She clicked her tongue and took her white cloth glove off, placing her warm, callused hand directly where she dealt her strike.

"That explains why she was knocked out so easily."

And almost as soon as she'd touched Tiella's nose, she removed her hand and wore her glove once more. She took a napkin out of her inner breast pocket and wiped down Tiella's nose, revealing to all that her wound had healed as if she was never injured.

No bleeding, no swelling, no bruising.

"Had she had her Aura up, she'd have simply reeled her head back, yes." Glynda agreed, though her mind wandered to the elephant in the room.

With Tiella's face all cleaned up, all expected her to wake up sooner rather than later. With that, all eyes turned to Lilly.

"How does she not have her Aura up?" Karen asked.

Lilly was to answer but one look at Glynda made her keep silent, allowing the professor to speak for her.

"Her amnesia may be the reason." Glynda began softly, half sure of her speculation. "Her soul is at odds with her mind."

Karen could not help a loud sigh escape her as she hung her head low before promptly standing up to acknowledge the sisters by the hallway. She gave them a look and another smaller, weaker sigh.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," She said while urging them to come in with a beckoning hand.

Ruby remained unmoving until Yang gave her a light push from behind with her hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"It's..." Yang peeked past Karen to look at Tiella before returning her gaze. "It's no problem." She gave her sister a quick look, noticing that she still looked a little confused over the situation. "So... this looks serious."

Karen a little sideways nod as she pursed her lips but otherwise said nothing.

Coughing, Ruby urged herself to speak. "Doctor, what did you need us for?"

"Right..." Karen looked down at Glynda who knelt by Tiella. "I was hoping to take Tielle out of Beacon, somewhere rural. Lilly told me that you're from an island just like that."

"Yeah," Yang answered. "Patch is a little island just an hour and a half's ride from here via airship."

"Great," Karen nodded. "I wanted to ask you a pretty big favor. Maybe let us know where in Patch we could stay until her memory returns. Because from what I got here, her memory only goes as far up to around... a little over a year from now and that was a really, really bad time for her — but that's just a guess."

"Okay," Ruby nodded. "But why look for somewhere rural?"

"More often than not, we lived outside of big cities." Karen took a seat once more. "We're mercenaries, as I'm sure you've been told." Earning nods from the sisters. "So we avoided places where security is higher. That isn't to say we never entered big cities, it's just that with how notorious we became over time, militaries and politicians tend to sniff us out faster the longer we lingered. Especially after the incident with the Vatican."

"The Vatican?" Yang repeated.

Karen waved it off. "A holy place where we're from. We took a job there and when all hell broke loose, our employers pinned the blame on us, using us as scapegoats — especially Tielle. The public learned about it, riots were everywhere demanding Tielle's head. We had to lay low for a long time because of it. It was actually our last big job until Lilly hired us." Karen's cold, sharp gaze, sent down the floor was chilling even when it wasn't directed at the young girls. "We got duped back then. We were meant to be scapegoats. I knew something was wrong about the job way before we started but we still took it even after we talked it out."

All stayed silent save for Tiella's soft breathing and the clock's ticking.

Karen leaned forward with her elbow on her crossed knees, observing her partner's sleeping visage with a solemn look. "We were young and wanted a reputation of our own — just us two."

The silence was nerve-wracking to the sisters. Ruby stood fidgeting with her fingers while Yang couldn't take her eyes off of Tiella as she ran a hand through her blonde mane.

"Anyway," Karen perked up. "That's a story for another time." She stood and walked up to Yang and Ruby. She placed a hand on her waist and smiled at them apologetically. "So, can I count on you for that favor? I'll be sure to pay you both back."

"Of course!" Came the sisters' instant reply. "If it's to help Celeste, then we'll do anything we can!" Ruby eagerly offered.

"Yeah! And, actually, you could just stay with us too."

"Really, they could!?" Ruby looked up at Yang with a wide expectant smile.

"Yeah! Didn't I already ask dad if we could bring our friends over for the break?"

"Oh, you're right."

"But," Yang held her chin in thought, "I guess I'll have to call him again since the reason will be different this time."

"Please do," Karen pleaded. "If your father declines, we'll understand. It's one thing to invite a friend over to have fun and relax and another for this kind of reason."

Lilly, who'd remained silent watched with a smile while her hand gently caressed Tiella's forehead. She felt the sleeping girl shift in her touch and when she looked down, she quickly removed her hand when she saw the girl looking at her. Glynda, who'd squatted beside Tiella while watching the sisters' talk with Karen, felt Tiella sit upright.

They expected her to scorn at them, but instead, the girl simply sagged her shoulders in her seat while avoiding everyone's gaze.

"So, amnesia."

"Yes," Karen answered.

"Where am I?"

"Before we answer that, tell me, what was the last thing you remember before waking up?"

"Your fist on my nose."

"Before that." Karen smiled threateningly with a throbbing vein up her forehead. "Sounds to me like you want it to happen again." She sighed, dismissing her partner's flippancy. It was good, much better than open hostility. It was an indication that she'd managed to calm down enough that she wasn't thinking of murdering everyone in the room save for her. "What's the date that you last remember?"

Tiella shifted on the couch, placing her feet on the floor. "July 8th, 2017."

Karen was caught frozen in shock. Her immediate reaction was to sit by Tiella and pull her head close to her chest in an embrace. At any other moment, Tiella'd have cracked a comment about Karen's ample bosom, but she didn't quite feel it appropriate after the mess she did.

The act caught all but Lilly by surprise as they'd never seen anyone but Lilly act so intimately with the tall girl. Even Glynda felt a tiny pinprick of jealousy — one that she very much desperately pushed down and out of her mind lest there be consequences of the unsavory kind.

"Karen, can you stop?" Tiella fought weakly. "I don't need you patronizing me, didn't I tell you already?"

"Shush, stupid." Karen rested her chin atop Tiella's head. "I'm sorry."

"For punching me?"

"Yes."

"What about those times you made me tap dance with your pistols because you thought it would be good footwork training?"

"I already apologized to you for that." Karen sighed. "And, to be fair, you did become good with your footwork."

"Well, I don't remember."

"Har, har."

"What about that time you stole my bottles of milk? Particularly the last ones from every time I buy a pack?"

"...I already apologized to you for that."

Tiella looked up and met Karen's nervous eyes with a dubious gaze. "You're lying."

"...Am not."

Tiella squinted her eyes at her partner. "We'll see once my memory returns."

Karen started sweating bullets while avoiding Tiella's gaze, though she didn't let go of the hug. Tiella sighed in resignation while breaking away. She gave everyone else in the room a cursory glance.

"Is everyone here an ally then?" She asked with still a hint of doubt.

"Nope." Karen popped the 'p' with a tiny half-grin, earning surprised looks from the rest and a hostile gaze from Tiella once again. But before the tall redhead managed to stand and enter a combat stance, Karen spoke again. "They're your friends." And it broke all of Tiella's tension.

Tiella looked at Karen as if she'd just spurted the stupidest thing she'd heard all year. "Yeah, and you really need those glasses, I'm sure."

Karen threw a pillow at Tiella's face and stuck her tongue out at her. "It's true, stupid." She gave Glynda, who just stood from the floor, a quick look and grinned back at Tiella. "Well, except one, I guess."

"What?" Dumbfounded, Tiella couldn't help but eye each person in the room with wary eyes. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"Language, Tielle." Karen lightly chided. "I'm saying that one of the people in this room is more than just a friend." Her words struck like a lightning bolt to Tiella and before she could mutter anything else, Karen continued. "No, I'm not talking about friends with benefits and no, you don't have those here. Yes, you do have a best friend here but no, that's not what I meant. Yes, you dingdong, I'm talking about a girlfriend. An actual one too." Karen whistled, clearly impressed.

Tiella took a moment to pause and take another look at the people in the room. With a sigh, she leaned back on the sofa and sat cross-legged. "I'll bite. Who? And do you have a light?" She got a disapproving look from Karen which she simply dismissed. "Lemme guess, is it her?" Tiella pointed at Lilly with a thumb.

Karen grinned. "Hey, Lilly, are you?"

"No," Lilly graciously shook her head with a smile. "Like Karen, I'm straight."

"Though, she is your best friend," Karen added.

"I thought you were my closest friend." Tiella wondered with a curious brow.

"Let's face it, Tielle. We're more like sisters than friends, right?"

"I guess." Tiella paused to give Lilly a look. She kept her distance by taking a seat on the sofa and seemed a little timid. She felt a little bad with the way she treated her supposed best friend, but it just hadn't clicked with her yet, so she paid her no mind. "Is it blondie over there?" She looked past Glynda to give Yang a once-over.

"Cold." Karen teased.

That left Ruby and Glynda.

She gave Karen an incredulous look, wondering whether she even had a girlfriend in the first place. It wasn't the first time Karen played tricks on her. A look at the smaller, bespectacled blonde told her that she was enjoying Tiella's dilemma immensely, so it wasn't too farfetched to think so. But then her supposed best friend hadn't spoken against it, so she decided to trust Karen for a little while longer.

Tiella eyed the little brunette with sharp eyes and she could see how she squirmed under her gaze. Switching, she met the taller blonde's gaze and she could easily tell how nervous she was with a glance. There was also a faint blush on her cheeks and she kept glancing back at her.

She didn't want to believe it but she guessed anyway. "Is it her?" She gave Glynda a wry smile. "Is it you?"

And silence was her answer. Karen stayed grinning, Lilly was content with simply watching, Yang was amusedly looking at the two, and Ruby felt awkward as the youngest person in the room.

Glynda, meanwhile, avoided her gaze and adjusted her glasses while the faint blush on her cheek only deepened. "Y-Yes."

"You've gotta be fucking shitting me," Was Tiella's instant unfiltered reply.

"Tielle!" Karen slapped her on the elbow.

Glynda's complexion quickly paled. Her heart hammered as she fought to keep her tears from seeping out of the corner of her eyes but to no avail. She turned her back and hid her face from view as frustration welled inside her.

Karen chastised her in harsh whispers. "That's your lover! She took care of you your entire time here!"

Tiella whispered harshly back at Karen's ear, but due to the deafening silence in the room, all heard every word she said.

"You're shitting me! She's leagues above me! Look at her! Are you seriously not fucking with me? Look at her and tell me she isn't leagues above me! Karen, she's too fuckin' hot!"

As soon as the words escaped her mouth, all eyes turned to her in surprise with their mouths hung agape. Even Glynda who was just about ready to bolt into the bathroom to wash her face.

"Wait," Tiella panicked — blushing, she glared at everyone that dared to meet her gaze, "did ya'll hear me!? Oi! Look me in the eye and say you didn't hear nuthin'! Bastards! Ya'll ain't sayin' shit to anyone about this, ya hear me!? No one's comin' outta here alive until you swear it with your lives!"


They took a minute or two to calm down and gather their bearings after Tiella's rather violent way of covering up her embarrassment. In that time, Lilly asked Glynda if she could borrow the kitchen again so she could prepare light snacks as they all discussed their next steps moving forward.

Karen and Lilly explained that the time spent in Patch would be used to find out more about Tiella's amnesia — how it happened in the first place and how they were to rectify the problem. Hopefully, Tiella's condition wasn't permanent and that her memories would have returned by the time the second semester started, which was still a little over two weeks at the time.

As they spent the next few hours chattering, asking each other about the hows and whys of various things big and small, everyone — Lilly included — did their best to avoid landmine questions.

Questions like, "Why is that particular moment in time significant to Tiella and Karen?"

"What happened in the place called the Vatican?"

"What happened after that?"

"Is it related to why Tiella was so scornful?"

Nonetheless, even with those questions at the back of their minds, they managed to enjoy the time spent. It was quite amusing trying to explain how Semblances and Essentias worked to her again. She was understandably unwilling to believe such fantastical notions, but when Glynda made pillows float with a swish of her finger, Ruby appeared from one corner of the room to another in a burst of rose petals, Yang set fire to her hair while her eyes turned red, Tiella had no choice but to accept it.

The next amusing thing that happened was when she was shown what Essentia was and how it worked.

Then came the not so amusing part of explaining what her Essentia was to her.

Dusk came as the hours passed. Ruby and Yang returned to their friends and explained the situation as best they could.

Lilly went back to her dorm room where Bardel laid asleep. It had been the first time in a long while since he exhausted himself using Iron Will, so while Lilly was genuinely worried for him, she fully believed he'd be up in another day or two at most.

Karen, a day after arriving at Beacon, stayed with Lilly and Bardel since they were all of the same team originally. Karen's services were also required for the sake of Bardel's treatment. Aura did wonders, as Tiella so aptly put, but it wasn't all-powerful. With Lilly as an exception, no one — no matter how powerful their Aura was — could ever make a full recovery after bathing in a sea of flames and Grimm blood when relying only on one's passive healing.

But with Karen's Essentia, Healing Touch, one's chances for survival rose significantly. Her Essentia, essentially, strengthens and accelerates a person's recovery rate via skin contact with her. She'd used the skill so much that changes in her body had been observed too.

She tired and hungered less. Small to moderate injuries healed in an instant — fatal ones took hours. She'd become highly resistant to all manner of poisons to the point that she was almost immune to them. It was why she would need a literal boatload of the strongest alcohol for her to even get tipsy. Nor would caffeine have any effect on her.

It was on a level that was arguably the strongest compared to the rest of Avatāra's members, though that was yet to be tested.

Could she, in the maximum capacity of Healing Touch, survive Critical mode Bardel's point-blank Tsar Bomba?

It was a question that had been floating around between the scientists and archaeologists on Earth but none dared to test it. It was unethical, but most importantly, it was downright dangerous.

It was also why when offered a chance to have her Aura unlocked, she declined. She greatly feared for her mortality in the sense that she might never die. To her, having her Aura unlocked would only be acceptable in the absolute worst-case scenario.

Like, the end of the world and there was no one left to stop it except her or something of similar magnitude.

But those questions and scenarios are topics for another time.

With the two left alone in the apartment, an awkward tension took over.

One was feeling quite timid and coy after putting her foot in her mouth while the other didn't know how to interact with her.

Should she be glad that Tiella wasn't mad at her?

Should she be disappointed that her apology wouldn't mean much if she did it before her memory returned?

Would apologizing before her memory returned even make sense to the girl?

Alone in a room with her significant other but she didn't recognize her. After all she'd been through — it was torturous to her heart and mind, to say the least.

She'd also been having nightmares.

Nightmares of that ashen white visage, adorned by black cracks webbing around eyes with black scleras and woeful gold irises. Haunting her, hurting her. She'd nary a good night's sleep since then.

"At least she isn't hostile towards me." Glynda thought to keep her chin up.

They sat in the living room with Glynda on the couch and Tiella on the sofa, each awkwardly trying not to look at each other, or at least get caught looking at the other. Glynda was drinking tea while Tiella had a warm glass of milk.

"H-How are you feeling?" Glynda asked without meeting the girl's eyes. "Do you feel tired? Hungry? Would you like a bath?"

Surprised, the sudden question made Tiella flinch in her seat. "I-... uh, I'm good. Good. 'Cept, for, y'know, the whole amnesia thing..."

"I see."

"You don't have to..." Tiella pursed her lips as she chose her next words. "You don't have to be extra considerate of me or anything. You can just leave me to my devices, I'll try not to do anything bad like before. I'm, umm... s-sorry about that."

"It is... fine." Glynda paused in thought. "I'm being considerate of you how I usually am when we're alone."

"O-Oh! So this is just normal?"

"Well..." Glynda blushed meeting Tiella's eyes for a second before looking away. "Usually you'd ask me what we're having for dinner by now. I'm positive you're hu-"

And a grumbling sound tore through their conversation like a hot knife through butter.

"-ngry already..."

Glynda looked at Tiella with a wry smile while the girl tried to make herself as small as possible on the couch, not meeting her eyes. For the first time in what felt like a long time, Glynda felt a genuine laugh escape her lips.

She felt at home.

She stood, suppressing her chuckle from becoming too loud, and headed for the kitchen while pulling her apron from the clothes rack with her Telekinesis.

Tiella froze when she saw the apron float towards Glynda for a second but she quickly reminded herself that that's just how it was. She recalled how Lilly, with a heavy heart, told her about Hollowing.

"The power to force heavy fatigue on everyone within a large radius." She clenched her fist a few times. "It's strong. Too strong. If I had that power back in my previous missions, things would have ended differently. I'd be untouchable."

She watched as kitchenware floated here and there while Glynda cooked.

"But... that Lilly girl said that it's a power born of our deepest wishes."

She hugged her knees and hid herself up to her nose behind them.

"So what does that make me?"


AN: Hello again!

I am back earlier this time! Wooo! 2 chapters in the same month! Wow! I feel like I'm back in my own groove.

And Tiella's back too! Did you miss her? No? Oh, okay.

Let's just go to the comments!

A dear anonymous guest had a blast going through this story until chapter 10. And, uh, I guess, I'm happy to be of service? I already answered that kind of comment back at an earlier chapter when a previous anonymous guest spoke of how much of a huge cringey/edgy hypocrite Tiella was in the beginning — and, to be fair, I fully agree. Tiella IS a huge cringey/edgy hypocrite, but that's nothing new to you guys, right? So, no need to answer that here again if you didn't ignore my ANs up to now.

Zapper Frost: Thank you very much for confirming that for me! I'll stick to what I've already established in Lost Star but any other RWBY fanfic I write after this will keep that fact in mind.

ArthurSG: Thank you, I'm happy you enjoyed this chapter despite the long wait! To answer your question, Lilly, reckless as she may appear, is actually one that dislikes risks. So when a new ability pops up in her arsenal, she's reluctant to use it on a real battlefield without having any idea whatsoever what would happen. She may have known what it was but she didn't know how it would work.

0-Tengatsu-0: Ohoho! Someone who appreciates the wonders of mythological literature! I won't confirm nor deny your speculation, just know that I appreciate that it caught your eye. Thanks again for liking the fight scenes and characterization! After a year of writing, I'm confident to say that action scenes and dialogue are two of my strongest points.

Okay then! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I really missed writing this mood. It's light and fluffy with a hint of bittersweetness to it and I'm hoping I delivered it well.

Oh, and, do give those fanfics I inserted a try if you're interested and haven't seen them yet!

The Progenitor by yours truly (shameless self-advertising right here if you're interested in a Dark Souls x RWBY crossover, but this is on hiatus until further notice, sorry!)

Paradigm of the Rose by AManwithaB0x (RWBY, I really like this one! The idea feels fresh within the fandom when I first encountered it. Though, I haven't read up to the latest chapter yet.)

Through Her Eyes by Peroth (RWBY, and this one's pretty famous, actually. If you want better characterization than the one I'm doing here, go give this a read. The characters here feel alive and real and the world-building is fascinating stuff!)

Remnant's Reclaimer by Hysterical Clerical Hijinks (RWBY, for a time, this was THE most followed and most favorited story on RWBY FF.)

A Silent Connection by ArthurSG (RWBY, since he's still advertising my story in his fic, I thought it'd be nice to advertise his again here! I'm not doing it just to be nice, I'm saying that his work has potential!)

Anywho, that's it for now! I'll see you in the next chapter.