July 5th

City of Mistral

Mistral

Downtown

7:29 PM

"All I'm going to say is that I'm just glad she's no longer living with us," Emmett said darkly, taking back half a flute of champagne. "She almost drove us crazy."

Emmeline rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you aren't understating?"

Emmett shrugged. "I was just getting worried she'd never leave."

"Really?" Glynda said with a smirk. "Did she steal your shoes?"

"She used our steam shower," Emmett lamented, pathetically laying his head down on the table and groaning. "And Emmy and I have done things in there –"

"No," James said, sending him a dark look. "No, none of us want to think about that."

Emmett glanced up, scowling at his teammates, sister, and brother-in-law.

"Defend me, Glynda," Emmett groaned. "After what you two did in the elevator –"

"Are you kidding me?" Emmeline started laughing, ruffling his hair affectionately. "Emmett, honey, you're making things worse."

"And I had to grow up with him," Cristal remarked, smirking at her brother. "Which, at times, was a test of my will not to rip his hair out."

"I think you tried," Emmett put in, matching her teasing smirk. "Then again, I did, at one point, whittle half my hair off with my sword."

"I believe that," Ozpin said, sipping his coffee. "You've been known to do any number of things. Didn't you scare your wife a few years ago when you bought her a new car for your fifteenth wedding anniversary?"

Emmett turned almost scarlet. "That's irrelevant," He said awkwardly.

"It was sweet," Emmeline said, taking his hand. "Although I will say it freaked me out at the time."

"Our then four-year-old son thought it was great," Emmett reminded her. "And –"

He paused upon Raven stepping into the room. She looked disdainfully at the champagne on the table and sent Emmett a look that suggested he was, as Ronnie so eloquently phrased it, a flamboyant little bitch. The irony, in the moment, was that she was wearing pearls and a long, form-fitting wine-red dress that hinted at designer origins. Even her feathery hair was held up by a diamond encrusted comb. When she entered the room, Cristal tensed and immediately reached up to fidget with her glasses. There was something about Raven's aura that deeply affected her. Whenever she was around, the energy would become off-kilter and it threatened to make her sick. Ozpin felt it, too, but his attention was more to his wife's anxiety than to the questionable corvid-woman. Glynda and James shared a knowing look, one that, notably, was somewhat exasperated after all of the arguments because of/started by her conflicted loyalties. Emmeline and Raven stared each other down rather angrily, almost as if they were ready to fight, and Emmett, in an air of judgement, took back the other half of his champagne.

"Even within your little group, I see, there's an 'inner circle,' isn't there?" Raven crossed her arms and glared at Ozpin who evenly matched her stare. "Well, if that isn't fitting."

"Heaven almighty…" Glynda muttered.

"I'm tempted to offer you a drink if it will get you to shut up and be grateful you aren't behind bars for what you've done over the years," Emmeline said darkly, standing up to her full height, however unimpressively. "Or have you not –"

"I wouldn't go there, if I were you," Raven replied, stepping towards her. "Emmeline."

She bristled. "General Ciel," She corrected.

"Oh, yes, how could I forget?" Raven glared at her. "You're treading a dangerous line with me. I mean, you couldn't even beat Cinder Fall and -"

"And you're asking for a fight," Emmeline said, matching her tone perfectly. "A fight against me, someone who has won against Cinder Fall before, or did you forget what happened back in 2005? If I can live when someone like that is after me then I think I can take down the Spring Maiden too."

Raven scoffed. "That was almost twenty years ago and well before she became the Fall Maiden. I'd say you're…out of practice."

"Emmy –" Emmett started nervously.

"I'm fine, Emmett," She said, glancing to him for a moment and then turning back to the red-eyed woman. "But she may not be."

Raven moved to slap her but Emmeline caught her wrist, if only by a stroke of sheer luck. Ozpin sighed, probing his forehead for a moment in exasperation while Cristal tiredly curled into him in resignation. Emmett moved to help his wife and then thought better of it when she gently pushed him back with her free hand. Glynda muttered something to James about buying Emmeline an expensive bottle of wine if she gave Raven what she had long since coming for her and he laughed softly in response. Then, within a few seconds of the brief pause, Raven snatched her wrist out of Emmeline's grasp and kicked her. Emmeline let out a brief cry of pain and her aura rippled over her. Regaining her footing, she punched Raven in the face but was quickly knocked to the ground by the Spring Maiden's heels for it.

"You really think this is doing you any favors?" Emmeline snapped at her, pushing herself up. "Well, do you?"

"Emmeline, really –" James put in.

"I can and will handle her myself!" She scowled at all of them including Emmett, who, deciding he was defeated, reached for the champagne bottle. "Don't you dare intervene, James!"

It was then Raven kicked her down again.

"You've gotten used to your cozy existence in Atlas, haven't you?" Raven shook her head disdainfully. "It seems you've forgotten how –"

Emmeline kicked her in the knees and Raven lost her footing long enough for the general to get back on her feet and tackle the Spring Maiden. Raven shrieked in anger and, for a few seconds, James, Glynda, and Emmett considered stepping in despite Emmeline's insistence. Then, Emmeline punched Raven harshly in the face, enough to give her a black eye even with her aura. The Spring Maiden did not take kindly to the attack and activated her powers in a matter of seconds to retaliate. She had been intending smack Emmeline with an icy blast across her cheek but she missed upon Emmeline, in a split second realizing what was about to happen, shifting ever so slightly to try and shield herself with her arms. She was still too slow to deflect the blast with her aura, however, and the magic made contact with the right half of her inky hair and, instead of freezing it, encapsulated it for a moment before turning it white.

Silence shortly followed. Raven stared in shock, Glynda and James glanced to Cristal and Ozpin, who seemed to have realized, as they had, that things were about to get even worse. Emmett immediately dropped his drink and ran over to his wife, whom Raven had pushed off of her before quickly transforming into her corvid form and flying out of the room to avoid the hell she imagined she'd face later for it. She already knew that Emmett was going to be pissed when she returned and she figured it would be best (for her sake, at any rate) to delay a shouting match for as long as possible. There was a moment of shock the followed her departure. Emmeline shakily reached up to touch her hair, feeling it was colder than everything else around her and paused in horror when she realized half of it had gone white. Emmett kneeled down onto the floor and pulled her tightly into him and Glynda, James, Cristal, and Ozpin hesitantly moved towards them.

"Emily," Cristal started hesitantly. "You know that…"

Emmeline said nothing but nodded weakly when she gestured towards her hair.

"She could have killed you," Emmett whispered, shaking and holding Emmeline tighter. "If that had gone the wrong way, I would have lost you…"

"I'm going to kill her," Emmeline muttered.

"Give me a second," Cristal said.

She hesitated but she lightly took a lock of her sister-in-law's damaged hair and probing it with her own magic, attempting to reverse the Spring Maiden's curse.

"Well, it's not a curse in the conventional sense, as in, it won't do any lasting damage," She sighed, closing her eyes and deactivating her powers as the Winter Maiden. "But I can't fix it. Whatever she did, she knew what she was doing and she was trying to kill you or, at the very least, make you comatose."

Ozpin looked sickened at the thought.

"No," He said. "She wouldn't have."

"Now I am going to kill her," Emmeline said darkly. "If she thought it was on –"

"Emily, please don't," Glynda said gently. "As much as I'm sure all of us would get a kick out of putting her in her place, I really don't think now is the time to do it."

"Also," James added, causing Emmeline to sigh irritably. "There are better ways to get back at people than killing them."

Emmeline raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting I –"

"Don't finish that sentence," He said, sharing a worried look with Glynda. "Half the things you've said in anger have been –"

"Disturbing," Cristal finished. "I know Emmett thinks he can be vicious, but sometimes you both take things to levels I didn't think existed."

Emmett scowled. "That's not fair."

"It is," Cristal replied. "You're a dumbass sometimes, you really are."

"I'm also your baby brother," Emmett retorted. "Cut me some slack."

"Let's just be glad no one got hurt," Ozpin said calmly, choosing not to dwell on the irritated look Emmeline sent him. "And let's hope Elizabeth doesn't find out about this."

The six of them laughed for a moment but that quickly abated upon the tell-tale, imperious heels clicking into the room.

"Interesting, Oz," Elizabeth Morell said dryly, her arms crossed. "What else is there you don't want me to know about?"


July 13th

City of Atlas

Atlas

Downtown

11:33 PM

"Sit down," Karissa said, sending her eldest daughter a sharp look and motioning her towards the couch while she and Spencer stepped back into their rowhouse and their other kids immediately ran into the room, anticipating a fight. "I'm not going to ask you what you were thinking because it's clear you weren't. Rather, I'm going to ask what compelled you sneak out with your friends and tag highway dividers."

Percival smirked at his twin brother, who was nonchalantly leaning against the wall.

"Break out the sage and holy water," Percy said, laughing a little. "Natalie might be possessed."

Natalie turned towards him from where she was on the couch and stuck her tongue out at him rather childishly.

"I am not possessed," She said, crossing her arms defiantly. "I just wanted to have a little bit of fun."

Karissa raised an eyebrow and menacingly adjusted her glasses.

"Alright," She said, struggling to stay calm. "So: how does having fun involve getting arrested?"

Natalie began to awkwardly fidget with her hands, suddenly uncomfortable.

"We hadn't meant to get arrested, you know," She said, rubbing at her already smeared eyeliner. "Like I said, we were just trying to have a bit of fun."

Spencer sighed. "By doing something illegal?"

"It's only illegal if you get caught," Natalie replied sassily. "All things considered –"

"Natalie, listen to me," Karissa said, thoroughly exasperated. "You are an adult but you're still living at home and attending college, not to mention you're supported by your parents. Do you really think that, with your mother being the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Military Action, doing shit like this is a good idea?"

Natalie shrugged. "It was fun, if that's what you mean. Besides, classes don't start again until September. I think I'm okay."

"You still committed a crime," Karissa countered. "A serious one, too. Honestly –"

"We did a dumb thing," Natalie said, putting her hands up in surrender. "Come on, mom. It's not like you didn't do dumb things when you were younger."

"I never broke the law, though," Karissa said, sending her a sharp look. "I'm sorry, Natalie, but –"

"And we'd had a few drinks," Natalie protested. "How can you judge us for something we did when we weren't completely sober?"

Luna burst out into laughter and so did Percy and Matt, while Jasper smirked and hid behind his older siblings. Both Spencer and Karissa turned to their other children and motioned for the four of them to let them speak to Natalie alone. After a moment of more giggling, they relented.

"Nattie, honestly," Spencer said, waiting long enough to be sure they weren't eavesdropping. "Things are bad enough and –"

"Dad, I just want to enjoy my life," Natalie groaned and fell backwards against the couch. "Why can't you and mom just let me run wild?"

"Because letting you run wild apparently ends in you getting arrested," Karissa remarked and Natalie pouted. "If this is any indicator, anyways."

Natalie considered that. "Eh," She said. "If we'd been a little faster, we would have gotten away with it."

Spencer held his head in exasperation and glanced to his wife, who seemed unsure of how to respond.

"Would have gotten away with it?" He repeated. "You're kidding, aren't you?"

Natalie shook her head. "Well, like I said, crimes aren't crimes if you don't caught doing them."

"That isn't how it works," Spencer tiredly told her. "It's wrong, it's –"

"Ugh, fine," She scowled at the ceiling. "Gina was right. You guys are no fun."

Karissa flinched for a moment. "We'll discuss this more in the morning," She said, struggling to hide her hurt and concern for her eldest.

"'Rissa?" Spencer said, gently setting a hand to her shoulder. "Are you –"

"I'm fine," She said shortly, then turning back to Natalie. "Again, we'll discuss this more in the morning."

"Probably best," Natalie agreed, sounding dejected. "I can barely focus on anything right now."

Karissa stared at her for a few seconds and then quickly started up the stairs with Spencer quickly following her, more than a little concerned for her and not only because of the Council or the strain caused by their eldest child.


July 17th

City of Atlas

Atlas

Downtown

7:38 PM

Ronnie Ciel scowled at the man sitting across from him and his wife. Rosella had been nervous since she had returned back to Atlas, but tonight seemed worse than before. He supposed that had something to do with the kids being in the room as well. Devin had spent the whole time awkwardly eyeing the headmaster of Haven Academy, and he seemed particularly confused by the notion that this man was his grandfather. He had never met his mother's parents – her stepfather had died before he had been born and Rosella and her mother had a contentious relationship at best – and, because of that, he was very much interested by Leonardo. Neon, if more aware of her mother's feelings on the matter, had said nothing the entire time and let her brother chatter on and on.

"So," Ronnie finally said, setting his whiskey aside. "You're the man that abandoned my wife as a child and have now gone on to support someone who wants to damn the entire world. I have to say, that's quite a lot you have going for you."

Leonardo quavered and stared at his hands.

"I've…are you going to be able to protect me?" He forced out. "I –"

"I cannot protect you personally, that would be an overreach of my position as the Atlesian president," Ronnie shortly replied. "You will have to address that matter with Elizabeth Morell and Karissa Mar of the Atlesian National Security Council and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Military Action respectively."

Leo looked up to him in shock, a slight bit of fear hidden behind his eyes.

"And, I'm afraid, Madame Morell is in Mistral at the moment," Ronnie went on, sounding almost bored. "With that in mind, I would recommend you arrange to meet with Madame Mar by the end of the week. Luckily for you, she's more likely to hear people out."

"Ronnie," Rosella started warningly, resting a hand over his knee.

"Ella, this man doesn't deserve sympathy," Ronnie murmured, reaching over and pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. "Not after the hell he put you through."

"No one deserves to be murdered either," Rosella softly replied. "This is a question of morality, Ronnie, it's not as –"

"Okay!" Devin exclaimed suddenly, trying diffuse the tension. "Um…I'm Devin…your grandson!"

Ronnie scowled at his son, who hesitantly shrunk back.

"I figured that out," Leonard said awkwardly. "All things considered, of course."

Neon glared at him for a moment and then skated out of the room. Rosella watched her leave and then, a bit shakily, left as well. Ronnie let out a short sigh of annoyance and then gestured for his son to leave as well, something that Devin, after a moment, grudgingly did. Once the door slammed shut behind him, only the two men remained. Leonardo said nothing and decided to instead eye his son in law in an attempt to judge the situation. In the slightly dark room, primarily lit by the fire, Ronnie Ciel looked almost sickly pale and thin, with his hair looking, if it were possible, greyer than it ever had. It was odd to Leo, if only because he had only seen photographs of him in news articles and had only been tangentially aware that this man had married his daughter years before. He had always been disassociated from him and from Atlas, which was why seeing him the way he was now seemed to be so jarring.

"I'm not going to lie and say I don't hold you responsible for a good chunk of the misery my wife has been through," Ronnie eventually said, sipping on his whiskey again. "Nor am I going to lie and say that I think you deserve clemency because, by God, you don't. Ella does have a point, however, in saying that you don't deserve to left out to die."

"I've…done some things I'm not proud of," Leo choked out. "But leaving Elena was for her own good."

Ronnie narrowed his eyes and methodically adjusted his glasses.

"No," He said sharply. "You can't justify that."

"She would have been in danger –" Leo protested.

"She was always going to be in danger," Ronnie snapped. "But even more so because you left her and her mother dirt poor in Mantle! You do understand that, by the time her mother remarried, she was a teenager and already been through some of the worst as a kid? Do you have any idea –"

"I had never meant to –" He started.

"What you meant to isn't relevant anymore," Ronnie replied irritably, struggling to remain disengaged from his emotions. "It's the effect you've had on her. You know, even now, she struggles to believe that not everyone is out to get her and the kids? That's the price you pay growing up in the eighties and nineties in Mantle. You wouldn't believe how bad things were there…or the racism that dominated almost all business down there. Even business that was meant to help them."

Leo bit his lip when Ronnie gestured to the tell-tale snowflake on the SDC world headquarters, which could be seen from the window that looked onto downtown.

"People say Jacques is bad, and they aren't wrong to," Ronnie said, standing up and beginning to pace. "But Nicholas was just as bad and, at the end of the day, he did serious damage that Jacques has only worsened."

Leo looked down at his hands and did not respond, which Ronnie took to keep going.

"You never saw any of that," He continued, looking out on to the city with his back turned towards his father-in-law. "Of course, based on the position you're in now, I'm not surprised that you value your own survival more than anyone else's."

Leonardo swallowed hard. "That's not entirely true. I –"

"I don't want to hear your excuses," Ronnie said sharply. "Rosella is right. You don't deserve to die but, in my view, you don't deserve forgiveness either."

"I know I made mistakes," He said weakly. "But we all do –"

"Don't you understand the upset that's caused her?" Ronnie paused for a moment, anger rising in him that he quickly suppressed. "After all this time, Ella –"

"I don't want to hear how you think I've hurt Elena," Leonard bit off, then thinking better of it when Ronnie turned around suddenly and sent him a harsh glare. "She can tell me that for herself, if that is very much how she feels."

A deadly silence held over them and then Ronnie shook his head and left the room, doing everything he could to prevent his emotions from being noticeable. After all, he had spent his entire career denying them and hiding them from everyone except his family – and the man he had been talking to, in his mind, was not a member of his family.