Blake wasn't at the docks where they had agreed to meet. She wasn't answering her scroll calls either. Sable waited an extra hour before deciding to bite the bullet and confront Headmaster Ozpin when she received a message from Neo.

Neo 10:23 am: Blake is back.

She must have gone back on an earlier Bullhead, Sable realized. Sable's breakfast with Jaune had gone on longer than she intended. It had been an enjoyable reunion. But she'd have to apologize to Blake for keeper her.

When she got back to the cafe, Blake was in the bed, unconscious.

"What's wrong?"

Neo shrugged, typing on her scroll. I don't know. I was just eating ice cream when Blake just fell on top of me. She was asleep before she even landed.

Blake was grimacing even in her sleep. Shifting shadows drew patterns over her face, threatening to consume her. "I'm assuming that's not her Semblance?" She asked Neo.

"I'm afraid it is, Sable." The familiar voice caused Sable to whip her head over to the door.

"Dad?" Nicolas Arc gave a little wave, before returning to his stance of hands on chest.

"Hey, Sab. Came to check up on you, see how you're doing. Neo." The hunter nodded at the girl who nodded respectfully back. "It is good to see you again. Did you get your business from last time sorted?"

Neo looked downcast and nodded again. Nicolas made a mental note. There was something there, but perhaps now was not the right time.

"Dad? What did you mean by this being her Semblance? She already has a Semblance and from what she told me it looks nothing like this and has to be activated consciously."

Her father nodded. "You're probably right. It means her Semblance has changed. Evolved."

Sable was stunned. An evolving Semblance? Was there such a thing?

Neo, beside her, gasped.

"Yes, Neo. Yours is also an evolved Semblance. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your Semblance started out as simple illusions, correct?" Neo nodded. "Your teleportation ability also began as a trick of the light, making your enemy think you were somewhere else before you appeared right next to them. Until you had a desperate need to escape, a way that couldn't be provided by a simple illusion. That was when your Semblance evolved."

"Desperation is key. It is a wildly-held misconception in the Kingdoms that Semblances are static, unchanging. That is a purposely-crafted lie. In truth, your Semblances can evolve, but only in times of desperate, stressful need forces that to happen. The Kingdoms realized that hunters in pursuit of greater heights might become more reckless if that knowledge came to light. It would mean greater negativity as hunters sought out danger and perished while searching for the fine line between stress-induced evolution and death. So they buried it."

"I only know because of our Arc family archives," Nicolas said to Sable's unasked question. "My Semblance, you know what it is. It did not always start that powerful. It evolved, too, from a simple storage Semblance to what it is now."

"Anyway, my point is. This is normal. You don't have to worry about your friend. All she needs is a sufficient amount of aura to tide her over the transformation. There, that should do it." Nicolas said as he lifted a palm from her forehead. Immediately Blake's face relaxed and the shadows dancing across it receded.

"She's almost done. She should wake in a few moments."

Blake gasped awake, as if on command. Blake gripped Nicolas' arm. "Help! We have to help them! They're in danger!"

Then she narrowed her eyes at the unknown man at her bedside. "Who are you? Where are Sable and Neo? What did you do to them?"

"I'm right here." Sable stepped out from behind her father so Blake could see. Neo pinched Blake's arm. "This is my father, Nicolas Arc."
"Pleasure to meet you."

Blake's eyes widened. "Oh. Um, nice to meet you too, Mr. Arc. Sorry for grabbing you like that."

"No worries," Nicolas' eyes crinkled into a kindly eye-smile. "I've had worse from Grimm."
Blake chuckled. "Yeah I bet. Jaune's said a lot about you-no wait!" Blake gasped. "We can't be wasting time! Your son and his friends are in danger!"
The Arc patriarch's eyes hardened. "Explain."

XXXXXXX

Neo had seemed to trust the man, and Sable obviously did. He was also an accomplished hunter. So she told him. Neo helped throughout emphasizing things with her hands.

"So, there's a conspiracy involving blowing up Amity Colosseum during the Vytal Festival. You girls are trying to stop it."
Three nods in unison.

"One of the conspirators has infiltrated Beacon. Have you considered taking this to Ozpin?"

Blake nodded. "I gave him a document with all our intel on it. But I didn't know at the time about the spy. And when I talked to her, she suggested that he already knew and was okay with it."

"Impossible," Nicolas countered. "Ozpin may be devious, but he would never be okay with a dangerous enemy around his chess pieces unguarded and uninformed. No, it is likely she tricked him somehow. You mentioned her Semblance?"

"Yes. It's illusions, but not like Neo's. Emerald's is total immersion. She can make you see, hear, and feel whatever she wanted you to. She said to me that if she made me feel like I was dying, I would die in real life, it was so real."

Nicolas nodded. "Immersive hallucinations. If that's truly her Semblance, then it is possible she tricked Ozpin into seeing what he wanted to see. And he would never doubt her afterwards, he's arrogant like that."

"Sir?" Blake spoke up. "Couldn't you convince him that Emerald is an enemy? You're a hunter right? He should trust you."

A tired sigh was her answer. "Ozpin and I were never on the best of terms. And after I let Neo go and interrupt his plan, he put me on paid administrative leave."

Neo's eyes widened in alarm. "Don't worry, it's temporary. And it gave me the opportunity to visit you, Sable. I have the next two weeks free to spend with family. I will trade that for work, any day. And besides, this is al just Ozpin venting; at this point he knows I was right about you not being evil."

"That's right," Blake remembered. "He told me to give you his condolences, Neo. He's sorry." Neo's face went slack and clammed up as it always did when Mr. Candlestick came up. Blake thought she could see in addition to the clenching of her jaw, a shimmering in the corner of her eyes. Blake looked away respectfully.

"Well, it sounds to me like everything is going to come to a head at the Vytal Festival. That's in a week, right? If this Cinder is competent at all, she would be laying low shoring up her forces until the big day. So that leaves us only one option until then."

He looked at each of the three women.

"I will train you."