June 21st
City of Atlas
Atlas
Downtown
7:45 PM
Caitlin Ironwood-Goodwitch was alone, in her apartment, and she was cold. Her scroll was open on her bed beside her, and the door was closed while the window was open to let the soft summer breeze in. It did little to make her feel better. Her so-called gift was giving her hell – not that it hadn't her entire life – and she knew it was because she had been trying to exercise it to gain some semblance of control. She had no control over her gift, it seemed, and she never had any control over her semblance. It seemed, even when she was screaming, that there were times that even when she knew she could be more than heard that no one could hear or see her. It was almost as if she had no place in the future. She was still struggling to reconcile, she knew, her feelings and it was hell.
Her friends – even Samara – thought her gift was lighter than she herself perceived it as. Ivan, one of her sister's co-workers and someone she had known since she was seventeen, had remarked that if she could control her gift that she would win every game of battleship ever, and Samara had told her that it would prove to be a blessing, that she would be able to plan ahead and have better control over her own destiny. The word destiny, as it happened, was a word Caitlin hated. She personally believed that her destiny had always been to die younger than she should – whether by her hand or someone else's – and it terrified her. She had already had her life threatened before (long before Adam, even) and she didn't want to reminisce.
So, now, she was alone. Her cat was the only consolation she had in the moment. The tiny little tortoiseshell cat was laying at her feet and purring but it did little, then, to make her feel better. She felt like shit and she was afraid, in that moment, that she was exactly what so many people had always accused her of being: a rich girl that had gone too far and relied entirely on her parents' money or connections or status. She tried to tell herself that the fact she had just finished another semester at university and was almost to law school proved that to be wrong but the words of people who had been accusing her so much her entire life persisted and made her feel awful. Sighing heavily, she let herself fall backward against her bed and she stared up at the ceiling. She was tired, to say the very least, and she felt like she was drowning. There was a faint throbbing headache that seemed to be beating her senseless. The mirror on the wall was partially shattered. She had smacked it by accident, putting her jewelry away after work, yet it felt cathartic.
"Fuck…" She muttered, tugging her blanket tightly around herself.
She startled upon hearing the door to her apartment open but she felt silly when she saw her cat was unfazed. The little animal had always been possessed of a keen intuition and Caitlin trusted it to verify her own. Hearing the door quietly click shut afterwards only eased her more. She didn't move from where she was, however, deciding to wait. Besides, she was exhausted and in some semblance of emotional turmoil. The last thing she had was motivation. Less than a minute passed, and then she heard the door to her room gently click open. She glanced up to see Spencer, who raised an eyebrow and looked genuinely concerned when he reached up to adjust his glasses and then run a hand through his shaggy hair. Her cat meowed happily upon seeing him and ran over to the other side of the room to sit at her food bowl. Spencer laughed weakly, and bent down to pet the little cat before shaking her (obviously full) food bowl.
"Your mom wanted me to check up on you," He finally told her, straightening up and leaning against the doorframe. "Sounds like Glynda's worried about you. Honestly, 'Rissa and I are too."
Caitlin sighed heavily. "I'm okay," She said. "I just needed some time alone."
"A week alone or basically alone is a long time," Spencer countered. "And I'm willing to bet you haven't eaten much."
She scowled but didn't argue.
"Or gotten sunlight," Spencer added. "What have you been up to?"
"Running, sleeping, showering, light shopping, and Halo," She replied. "I really am okay."
"Well, either way, get dressed, brush your hair, and put in shoes because I'm making you get out of here," Spencer laughed when she threw a pillow at him. "I have a class to teach for Emmett — curse him — and I thought you'd enjoy correcting people."
Caitlin giggled weakly. "Just me correcting dumbasses while you teach?"
Spencer nodded. "Ivy's on paid leave with Hope, remember?"
Caitlin shrugged. "Just asking. It might bring back bad memories of me correcting her as a child."
Spencer smirked. "And you can tell her thanks for giving me this idea in the first place."
June 22nd
Mistral
6:32 PM
"Look, are you sure you're not -" Qrow began though the chair of the Atlesian National Security Council raised a finger to silence him.
"No, I am not overreacting though I thank you for the concern," Elizabeth snapped. "Leonardo Lionheart is not on our side, I can almost guarantee you, but -"
"Oh come on," Qrow said, rolling his eyes and drinking the questionable liquid from his flask. "I think it'd be pretty obvious if Leo weren't on our side."
"I cannot believe I'm saying this, but did you hear a damn word Raven said?" Elizabeth angrily demanded. "Well?"
"Yeah, I did," Qrow said irritably, glaring at his sister. "And I think she's just trying to divide us. Something you ought to know, Eliza."
"The hell would I -" Raven began before Elizabeth could object.
"I don't know, maybe something to do with the tribe?" Qrow scoffed. "It wouldn't be a surprise, anyways."
"Look, what I was saying is that I don't trust Leo," Elizabeth said, forcing herself to not start yet another row with Raven. "But I also don't think that that is cause enough immediately start questioning him directly. Until I have evidence -"
"Until you have evidence?" Qrow stared at her incredulously. "You?"
Elizabeth crossed her arms haughtily. "Yes, me. I'm the chair of the Atlesian National Security Council, an integral part of the Atlesian Department of Foreign Affairs and Military Action under which this matter would –"
"Look, you can play with diplomacy all day and night," Emmeline said tiredly Elizabeth examined her nails to avoid looking at her. "But this isn't productive."
"I think she just wants an excuse to fight Raven," Qrow said, rolling his eyes. "Or a reason to rescind whatever deal you all made."
"That's not - " Elizabeth began though she knew it was true and so did the others. "Okay, so fine," She said, huffing. "Raven, I don't like you, I don't trust you -"
"I don't care," Raven said, sounding almost bored. "Get over yourself."
"I...I...I..." Elizabeth stuttered, unsure of how to respond. "Bitch."
"That's the best insult you can come up with?" Raven asked her, starting to laugh like a maniac. "I guess you really are -"
"Raven!" Tai snapped, pulling the slightly shaky Elizabeth into him. "Stop it!"
"Why?" Raven asked though she rolled her eyes and leaned against the counter. "Look, I am not the only person who thinks that there's something off about Leo. This has been deliberated on for years, and I know that, at the very least, Emmett, Emmeline, Glynda, and James agree with me -"
"You know that Emmett and Cristal's sister killed for power too, don't you?" Elizabeth asked, intentionally trying to anger the red-eyed woman for the sake of making a point. "That was why we had to transfer the remainder of Amber's powers into Glynda -"
"Yes, I'm aware," Raven said silkily, her eyes narrowing with every word she spoke. "So: do tell me how forcible aura transfer is more ethical than what I did? The girl was never going to survive as the maiden and what I did was -"
"Wrong," Elizabeth said before she could say anything else. "It was wrong."
Raven snorted. "Yes, and that's coming from the woman who was involved with Cinder Fall and her plans for nearly a year…something which almost killed poor Emmeline here and had something to do with the chaos after her father's -"
"That's not fair, nor is it true!" Elizabeth shouted. "I was coerced, I was -"
"I've read the court transcripts, you don't need to tell me," Raven told her irritably. "And all I'm saying is that, no matter what kind of situation you were in, you gave in and -"
"And you wouldn't?" Elizabeth challenged, still yelling. "You wouldn't cave if death were being held over your head like candy and you were being tortured, beaten, and -"
"Of course I wouldn't cave!" Raven snapped. "I wouldn't have risked getting into a situation like that in the first place and, at the end of the day, I -"
"All you do is run away, isn't it?" Elizabeth said, shaking as she clenched her fists and Raven looked away. "When are you going to turn your back on all of us? When are you going to become a traitor like I know you are? Because, if that's your endgame, none of us -"
"That is going too far!" Raven screamed, fighting against her powers as the Spring Maiden. "I am not -"
"I don't have to remind you that to do so would be a violation of Atlesian law," Elizabeth snippily put in, much to the discomfort of everyone else in the room, all of whom had been watching everything unfold and hadn't either the motivation or the chance to stop it. "A crime for which you would be brought before the courts due to violation of the deal that you –"
"I am stronger than you'll ever be, fuck whatever you have to say about it! I am in this for one thing, and it is to save my people from Her!" Raven shouted, setting aside the scowls she was getting from everyone and ignoring Elizabeth flinching (presumably against her will) or Tai tightened his arms around his wife. "And speaking of deals, why don't you tell everyone what else you're hiding?" Raven spat. "I took a look through your scroll, I'll have you know, and I'm curious what compelled you to make a deal with Roman Torchwick, Neopolitan, that Marshall, and Gina Adel."
"Raven," Emmeline said warningly, sharing a knowing look with Emmett. "If you think that you're making things better by confessing to criminality, then you're completely delusional."
Raven closed her eyes and forced her maiden powers to deactivate. "I..." She started.
"I guess all we can hope for is that you'll use those powers for good," Elizabeth muttered darkly as she walked out of the room, followed by Tai. "Like Glynda."
A tense moment of overarching silence followed after the clicking of Elizabeth's heels could no longer be heard down the hallway. Raven left soon after, snatching up her keys and storming out to her (stolen) motorcycle to calm her thoughts and shut her powers off. Her absence left Glynda, James, Emmeline, Emmett, and Qrow although Cristal and Ozpin, about ten minutes after Raven's temporary departure, stepped in as well. Cristal flinched upon sensing the tension, causing Ozpin to pull her in close although he knew, with everything that had happened, soothing her could very well be a futile task. In the continued silence, Emmett awkwardly adjusted his glasses, Emmeline fidgeted with her wedding ring and her hair, Qrow started drinking (not to anyone's surprise), Glynda collapsed her crop and reattached it to her boot, and James sat down on the couch beside his wife. Then, after far too long, Cristal broke the hold.
"What happened?" She pressed, pushing up her glasses nervously. "Did –"
"Raven's a bitch, Elizabeth's a bitch, and they were monstrous," Qrow surmised, shrugging off the annoyed looks he was getting from everyone else in the room. "Anything else you need to know?"
Cristal sent him a dark look but then sighed.
"I suppose not," She said, tiredly brushing her dark hair over her shoulder.
Another nervous moment passed in silence.
"So," Glynda said. "What are we going to do about Leo?"
"Nothing," Qrow firmly replied, glancing to Ozpin. "If Oz trusts him, then we all should."
"Oz has been wrong about things before," Emmett said with slight bitterness, recalling how he had ignored his visions before the Fall of Beacon. Then, suddenly, he recalled how Oz had never told anyone but Cristal about his sorcery being passed on to their children until he hadn't a choice. "And he's kept more than a few secrets from all of us, not to mention that –"
"Emmett –" Cristal started irritably.
"Shut up," Qrow told her, ignoring the angered look Ozpin gave him and turning on Emmett. "Schnee, are you really still going on about that? The whole damn –"
"I was right about the Fall," Emmett snapped, stepping towards him while Emmeline sighed in slight exasperation, knowing things would (if her husband and Qrow started fighting) become downright nasty. "I was right about my sister, too," Emmett went on. "But did anyone except my wife and teammates listen to me? No! Instead, Oz brushed it off as being a quick route to revenge, or –"
"Well, it very well could have been," Qrow argued, if doubtful of Emmett's capacity (if it even existed) to hurt another person regardless of whatever they could have done. "And you know it," He put in, taking a swig from his flask. "Because, even as you've said yourself, you're a vicious son of a bitch."
"I can be," Emmett agreed. "I can be vicious and cruel but –"
"See?" Qrow said, observing him critically. "You are vengeful. Kinda makes sense that you and Emily ended up together, all things considered."
Emmeline turned sharply towards him and glowered.
"Why do you get off to being such an asshole?" She snapped. "Well? Say something!"
Qrow shrugged. "How am I an asshole?"
None of them responded to his retort. Cristal, Ozpin, and James seemed rather uncomfortable while Glynda crossed her arms and Emmeline and Emmett both seemed to be more than willing to smack Qrow if it came to a physical confrontation.
"You can't be serious," Glynda said after a moment. "You act as if you don't –"
"I don't care what you're about to say, Glynda," Qrow said, rolling his eyes. "And I'm still not afraid of you, even if you are the Fall Maiden."
"Qrow –" She began dangerously.
"Look," He said, starting to pace. "I know that all of you have…psychic abilities or sorcery and whatever, but that doesn't mean any of you are infallible. I know as well as the rest of you that Leo's a nervous wreak most of the time and that he's spacey but that doesn't make him a bad person. Yeah, he confuses me sometimes but Emily does too and –"
"Qrow," Glynda snapped, glancing worriedly to Emmeline who seemed tenser by the second which had not been unusual since she had left for Atlas with Emmett and Samara and had continued since she had returned. "You don't understand –"
"What don't I understand?" Qrow snapped back, ignoring her anger and James' concern for his wife. "Seriously," He went on, perhaps too nonchalantly. "What is it that I supposedly don't understand?"
"Tell him," Ozpin quietly told his brother in law.
Emmett hesitated but, if slowly, turned to Qrow after he had wrapped an arm comfortingly around Emmeline and murmured gently with her for a moment.
"Emmy isn't confusing," Emmett eventually told the man angrily, gritting his teeth. "You have no idea what you're talking about, and, for what it's worth, we –"
"Your wife," Qrow said, jabbing a finger towards Emmeline who forced herself to coldly meet his gaze. "Has always had extreme mood swings and I've seen her be driven and then a few weeks later she starts tearing herself down for things out of her control. That, mixed with your sour personality, I imagine, makes your marriage difficult at times, doesn't it?"
Emmett was shaking in anger, still holding Emmeline close, and found himself struggling to respond. He didn't want to dignify Qrow with any knowledge but Emmeline, though she had always detested admitting it, did.
"I…have bipolar disorder," Emmeline informed him, her voice low and far less imperious than usual. "I was diagnosed when I was twenty, but it got a lot worse in the aftermath of my father's murder. You have no idea how it feels to be perfectly fine for months and then to have, in an instant, all motivation swept away. You have no idea about the meetings I've cancelled or bailed out of, or the times I felt so damn terrible that I avoided even my husband and kids."
Qrow stared at her, stunned.
"I'm…I'm sorry," He said, rubbing his neck guiltily. "I had no idea –"
"That's apparent," Emmett remarked dryly. "And, for the record, for however stressful things may be, it doesn't mean I don't love Emmy and don't do everything I can to help her whether she's depressive or manic. So don't you even dare –"
"I didn't know, I'm sorry," Qrow repeated, putting up his hands. "Okay? I'm sorry."
Emmeline shook her head and she and Emmett quickly stepped out of the room without another word. Qrow knew he had crossed a line (or several, it seemed) but he had never meant to hurt any of them. He supposed it was his own lingering anger but, at the end of the day, he thought it was justified. Cristal and Ozpin were still incredulous at his nerve – that was more than clear – and, just as obvious, Glynda and James were pissed at him for it. He had no words, no idea what to do, but decided what was done was done and he, too, left. Cristal scowled at him as he did, but he paid her no mind. After all, he knew how much hatred she held for him.
Little did he know, though, how deeply things ran for all of them, let alone just how horrible the things that were to be unleashed would be for everyone.
June 24th
Haven Academy
Headmaster's Office
City of Mistral
Mistral
Downtown
12:38 PM
Rosella Katt knew she wasn't supposed to be where she was. With every step she took, she felt more and more uncomfortable and she was worried about what she might face once she stepped through the doors before her. She had no trouble walking into the academy, nor was she bothered by anyone around the sleepy campus. It was a warm summer day, and everyone was feeling more than a little lazy. Rosella couldn't blame them. She had arrived on a concealed transport directly from the Atlesian capital, and she knew that Ronnie would be in a frenzy when he read the text message she had sent him as soon as she had landed. He was constantly concerned that she would be in danger and unable to defend herself, and she knew it was twofold. Ever since she had married him, it had been twofold. She was the wife of a prominent figure in Atlesian politics (a figure that happened to get gaunter and paler every day) but she was also a faunus. A beat passed in short silence and then, however hesitantly, Rosella pushed open the doors to the headmaster's office and stepped in – something which startled Leonardo Lionheart even after she quietly closed the door behind her and stepped towards his desk.
"Leo," Rosella Katt said shortly, sitting down in front of the man's desk and eyeing him critically. "I think you and I have a lot to discuss…including –"
"I can't," He choked out, looking worriedly to the currently dead-seeming seer in the shadowed corner of his office. "And you, Rosella, have always played a dangerous game. I commend you for it, I honestly do, but I cannot help you. What I'm doing is keeping me alive."
"Keeping you alive?" She raised an eyebrow. "But for how long, do you think, will that last?"
He swallowed hard. "As long as I need to. And, if I may ask, does your husband know you're here?"
Rosella hesitated. "That's not relevant."
"So, he doesn't," Leo shook his head. "Elena –"
"Don't call me that," She snapped. "You were the one who left and you're the reason mom got all of those ideas in her head about marrying people just to climb the social strata. How long are you going to continue to be terrified every damn thing, dad?"
Leonardo finally stared, for the first time since she had entered his office, into the face of his daughter.
"I was six years old," She reminded him. "I had no idea what happened to you, not until mom tracked you down out of spite after marrying someone she had met after sleeping her way to the top!"
"You were old enough to handle things, by the time your mother remarried," Leonardo said, not meeting her gaze in shame. "You were a teenager –"
"And I look just like her," Rosella sighed heavily and buried her face in her hands for a moment. "Which is a damn miracle, considering that I want no part of you."
He glanced to her out of the corner of his eye when he knew she was still not looking at him.
"If that's how you feel…" He warily began. "Then why did you come here in the first place?"
"Because I don't want you to die over this," Rosella said, also not meeting his gaze. "I know we may not stand a chance, but, regardless –"
"I know," Leo said, knowing that her narrow eyes were following him. "But why are you risking you life –"
"I'm not risking my life by warning you," She said irritably. "I'm giving you a way out because I'm in a position where I can. Ronnie might not be happy about it…but he'll learn to live with it."
"You're more cynical than I initially thought," Leo muttered and she bit her lip. "Not to mention oddly perceptive. I have to say…I'm proud of you, Elena."
"You don't understand, though," She said quietly. "You can't possibly understand what it has taken to keep myself alive, or to protect my family."
He sighed again. "Forgive me for being so blunt with you, Elena, but I can't imagine that's the case."
Rosella scowled, her old anger towards her father returning.
"Really?" She said, crossing her arms. "You can't imagine that's the case?"
"Your position makes you a target just as much as myself," He told her. "She must be going after you and the fact that you're still alive suggests that you must have something that she wants."
Rosella flinched. "That's insane," She said, her voice weaker than she would have liked. "I'm no more a target than anybody else."
"There's no need to be like this," He said passively. "I'm just giving you a warning."
She shook her head. "Why can't you stand for yourself?"
"Because some of us aren't meant to," He replied, and she raised an eyebrow. "Not all of us are meant to be a hero and die a martyr. Dying is easy, Elena, living, however, is much harder."
She stared at him for a moment and then sighed.
"It would do you some good to stand up for yourself," She said, feeling sharper than she had wanted but refusing to back down even when he shrunk back in slight fear. She hesitated, for a moment, and then forced herself to go on. "You are a coward, aren't you?"
"I…" Leonardo spluttered, staring at his daughter in shock. "Elena, listen, I cannot do this. If I fight her…I'll die and I…"
"I'm not saying what you're doing is irrational," She said, leaning towards him slightly to prove, mainly to herself, that she was not afraid. "You got handed a scenario, took in what you knew at the time, and you choose what you thought was best. It's perfectly sane, but you can't even keep your thoughts in order. I'm sorry, dad, but I'm trying to save your skin –"
"Elena, to put things into perspective for you, my life will be in danger if I even set a toe out of line," He said, and she sent him a sympathetic if annoyed look. "I can't risk it. You know I've never been able to risk anything. That's what I've always done."
She bit her lip. "How long have you been roped in on this?"
"Since Ashlynn Schnee was still Ashlynn Schnee," He choked out. "For my own protection. We're all in danger and we always have been…that was why I left you and your mother in the first place. I could not be culpable, not after I became even semi-important."
Rosella felt tears stinging her eyes and she prayed he wouldn't notice.
"I really did fall from the tree, didn't I?" She said, her voice breaking despite herself. "When I married Ronnie, when I had Neon and Devin –"
"You're a huntress and a combat professor, Elena," Leonardo reminded her, remorse creeping up on him after all the years that had gone by. "You have to understand."
"I understand that you're a coward and you didn't want me," She replied weakly. "Mom either."
"What has Ronnie Ciel put in your head after all these years?" Leonardo muttered.
Rosella stared at him for a moment and then brushed tears away from her eyes, finally giving into her overwhelming anger.
"Don't talk about Ronnie like that," She snapped. "He never walks away, he loves me, and he's done everything in his power to protect me and our children even when I've disagreed with the means. After everything I saw from both you and mom, he was the one who restored my faith that a father could stay and a child wouldn't have to wonder their worth."
Leonardo was silenced and she took his lack of words as a reason to keep going.
"And, by the sound of it, you don't even know the first thing about hard work," She said, seething. "You're sitting here, bending to the will of someone who will kill you even when someone is offering to give you a way out despite hating you to their core!"
"Please..." Leo protested passively, knowing that his weariness would not fade. "Please just go..."
Sensing it was no use, Rosella started towards the door but then paused and turned towards him for just a moment.
"I have to ask, honestly," She said, brushing her hair over her shoulder. "What are you really gaining from all of this?"
She had thought she'd get no response.
"Wait," Leo said, standing up suddenly. "Will Atlas protect me?"
Rosella motioned for him to follow her. "We'll see," She replied.
He ran with her to the airship without taking anything and, as he would later be relieved for, Salem knew not a word of what had been spoken between him and his daughter until she could do little about it.
