AN: Heyo, Void here with another chapter of dreams of Remnant. I uh, may have a bad mind set about story ideas. I'm writing two so my mind is just "You have two so why not another idea? Nah, a fourth wouldn't hurt, yeah keep 'em coming. Nine, ten? Story ideas Don't hurt!"

So yeah, that's my idea of saying I have a lot of ideas. One is kinda like a bastardized version of my two current stories now that I think about it… a Soldier… silver eyes (kinda,) and I can't say more than that.

One another note, I think I have an inkling about the differences in quality between my two stories… hopefully this turns out somewhat like how I'm writing my other fic.

So, enough of that, today's chapter is going to be a bit Lilith centric. Of course the Gang will be featured but it's time for our Little Bird to take flight! And actually make progress on her wild goose chase!

Of course, Uni's dream is kinda necessary so it's still there.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3 - Sides Unseen; Tales Untold

Another new dream. As usual of course…. Why couldn't she just have a normal dream for once? When was the last time she had a completely basic dream that was under her control? Too long, she knew that much.

Now, what was weird about this dream? There was that weird screaming tree again for once. She had kinda forgotten about that until now.

The grand oak with glimmering autumn leaves toward over her, the crystal doorway sizzles with warmth, yet a peculiar chill washed over her.

Unlike her previous visit, the tree was utterly silent this time. The woman's face was still engraved into the bark, this time it was sleeping rather than screaming in pain.

Maybe there was more to this tree than she had previously thought, she didn't notice it in her last visit due to her apathy but… something about the tree felt so real. It was far more lucid than what she was used to, and her dreams were very lucid.

That wasn't the only weird part of her dream though, or technically it was. It was peculiar because there was nothing else besides the tree, just an empty white void.

That was very strange.

"Just what, or who, are you?" Uni wondered with a tilt of her head.

Rather than reaching for the doorknob like last time, she did what she normally did when visiting dreams. She brushed her hand against the doorway gently.

It was hot, extremely so. It was hotter than the doorknob in that it burned her hands almost instantly, but the intended effect occurred. A face, one with warm, light brown skin and shoulder length brown hair. Her eyes were a much warmer shade of brown, almost amber in color with a beauty mark underneath the eye.

She had been asleep for a long time now, she wasn't sure how she knew that though. She just… felt like it.

Then came the name, Amber- The tree screamed as a hand clutched Uni's leg. She looked down in a panic and tried to pull free, but the pasty white arm held her tightly.

Black veins could be seen for the briefest moment but she was a bit busy calming panicking due to the paper white arm yanking on her leg. Sorry that she didn't take in every detail.

Not wanting to deal with this strange dream anymore, Uni simply jolted herself awake.

"I just feel like I've been on a wild goose chase, y'know?" The sunrise was beautiful as always, the roof of the Beacon Dorms had a lovely view. It was probably for that very reason that Uni chose it as their meeting place.

At least once a week, usually on Sunday, Lilith would fly over to Beacon Academy just to visit her friend. This time she happened to be venting a little. Luckily Uni was a good listener, though that might have something to do with the very calm attitude she held. Passive and collected, that was Uni.

Well, that wasn't exactly true, Uni appeared calm and aloof, but from what she had seen that wasn't quite apt. It wasn't like the trauma she endured just magically disappeared when she "regained" her feelings. Certain things would make her flinch, she always had a pained look whenever her past was mentioned. She hadn't caught onto a pattern just yet but some parts were clear. Such as when people called her Angel, she would jolt ever so slightly as if recollecting something. Whenever a stranger brushed up against her she would look almost nervous for the briefest of moments. Stuff like that.

Her pain was an Unseen Side of her.

Uni wasn't okay, and she knew that, even if no one else did. Well, she supposed that some people Must've noticed but then again, Lilith was perceptive when it came to matters of the heart. Her semblance helped with that as well.

Of course she was worried about her for that reason, but Uni was a very stubborn Girl. Seriously, she was surprisingly adamant that she was okay, even when it was clear she wasn't. Simply trying to get her to talk wasn't helping so she was trying to get a plan of some sorts to help her. Of course, that was still in the works.

Now, back to her rant. Lilith was exhausted, frustrated, stressed, all that stuff. So, Uni was lending her an ear.

"That would probably be annoying," Uni nodded softly, her face as blank as always as she stared off into the sunset. While on the outside she seemed like a doll, Lilith's semblance told her otherwise.

Like most days, Uni was conflicted with mixed emotions. Again, she refused to talk about it so Lilith wasn't having much luck in helping her.

"Yeah… I've just been led to all these locations, found all these small puzzle pieces, but in the end it's amounted to nothing." Her sigh was the only sign of her frustration. That, and the fact that she was clenching her fists hard enough that she wouldn't be surprised if blood was accidentally drawn. "I just feel like Folding sometimes."

"Well that's no good." Uni frowned softly, shaking her head. She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before returning to reality. "In a way you would put it, you shouldn't fold but you should play differently. If that makes sense."

Change the way she played? Did she really sound so… she didn't even know how to describe that. She didn't refer to games that much did she? Certainly she used metaphors that didn't revolve around card games, yes?

Maybe?

Okay so yeah she had a theme going on, she realized that now. As much as she hated to admit it…

"Change the way I play… what do you mean by that?" She tilted her head curiously, confused and intrigued, maybe slightly worried. Uni either gave really good advice, or really bad advice. There was no inbetween.

"How do I put this… rather than sneaking around and trying to chase down… whatever this is, why don't you just ask?" Uni said simply, tilting her head.

Just… ask? That was ridiculous! She suspected that her father was some sort of evil mastermind and she was supposed to ask? Just go, "Oh hey I overheard you were trying to kill people or something evil like that, what was that about?"

No… she was already feeling guilty enough for even suspecting her father of such things but the evidence was too much to ignore. Despite that she couldn't come up with the courage to be upfront about it.

"That's…" She found herself unable to come up with a proper response.

"I don't mean to be direct or blunt about it, instead just mention it in passing. Just… say that you overhead some people talking about this building and you were wondering what's up about it. Stuff like that, make it seem like you're just curious." Uni explained, shrugging as she twirled a lock of her silver hair.

Lilith blanked for a moment, turning away as she cupped her chin, humming in thought. It wasn't a bad idea, if anything it was a good idea. A really good one actually, in her opinion at least. It might give her some insight, and if it failed there would be little risk, hopefully.

Even if he dodged the question, that would still be an answer in it's own right. Not that she would like such an answer.

"That's not a bad idea…" Lilith nodded, smiling softly. "I'll have to try that, thanks for the advice Uni, and for lending an ear."

"Your welcome?" Uni seemed confused again, probably not underestimating some social aspect that just occurred.

Giggling softly, a thin smile found its way onto her lips. "What's got you confused this time?" She asked.

Uni's next words made her laugh, "How did I lend you my ear? That sounds painful."

After laughing a lot, smiling wildly she leaned back and let out a sigh. Uni was still confused so she answered her question while stifling a giggle. "It's another figure of speech, Uni. It means that you listened to me."

"Oh… I probably should've guessed that." She rubbed her neck sheepishly, her lips twitching upwards for a fraction of a second. "That was obvious, I feel kinda dumb now."

It was a little silly, she wouldn't deny that. Of course, she also wasn't going to say that to her only friend. "Nah, you just took it a little bit literally, it's not a bad thing. Besides, you are improving."

"Oh, okay then." Uni shrugged, yawning a little. It baffled Lilith about how much sleep a single girl could get. She spent more time sleeping than she did anything else, it was utterly ridiculous… but it was also just one of Uni's quirks. It made her… well, her.

"So, now that I told you about my problems… think you're willing to share your own?" Lilith was almost tentative with her question, not wanting to push further than necessary.

Unfortunately the spike in Uni's emotions told her that she did indeed push her. She still didn't want to talk about it.

"What do you mean? I have no problems." She stated adamantly, though her own emotions and the look in her eyes betrayed her words.

She Definitely had stuff bothering her.

Lilith sighed softly, shaking her head. "Fine, will you at least tell me how you've been?"

"Sure, I've been pretty good. My friends are enjoying their matches, training is harsh as always, the normal stuff really." She shrugged absently, tilting her head for a brief moment. "My dreams are weird as usual."

"Well that's good I guess, but what's weird about your dreams this time?" Lilith had indirectly become a sort of dream therapist for Uni, so sharing the details and giving analysis was kind of routine for them.

"Two things have caught my eye." Uni began, tilting her head in thought. She lifted her leg up and pointed to a strangely hand shaped bruise on her leg. "This happened in my dream, a white hand grabbed my leg tightly"

"Your semblance is really weird." Lilith nodded slowly, frowning in an almost apprehensive manner. Seriously, what kind of outta whack semblance makes your dreams affect you in real life? What if you were stabbed in the heart? Would you die?

That's… a kinda scary thought.

"Yeah, next up was the girl trapped in a screaming tree. It also had a really hot door that burned me a little." Uni stated it as if it was completely normal, holding up her hands which were tinged pink, the burns were partially healed due to her aura but they were still noticeable.

"Okay, do you Normally get hurt in your dreams and then wake up with injuries?" She asked with concern. She didn't want her friend to die in her sleep because of a nightmare gone wrong or something like that.

"Not always but it's definitely not the first time." She stated blandly, tilting her head in what seemed to be confusion. "Why?"

Of course, lovely. Uni might be able to fall asleep and then suddenly die! Why was she so calm about it?

"That's awful! What if you were stabbed in the chest in a dream and you died?" She exclaimed, her fears and worries genuine. Luckily her own emotions had no effect on herself or that whisper might've come back.

"I… I never thought about that. I suppose that would be bad." It seemed she didn't quite understand the severity of the situation because she thought it was simply bad!

"Bad? Bad?! You would be dead, gone forever! Me along with all your friends would be left without you! Can you get that through your thick skull?" She may have yelled a little and been just a tad aggressive. Okay maybe she was more than a little aggressive.

Though her outburst seemed to get through the dense mind of Uni, causing her to blank and pale for a moment as she looked away. "Oh…"

"Look… just… tell your aunt, or that crazy eccentric headmaster of your's about this. Let them know so they can figure it out. I don't want you getting hurt okay?" She really hoped Uni would listen to her advice, this was a serious matter that could get her hurt if she ignored it.

Uni nodded softly, looking away for a moment. "Yeah, I understand."

"Good," Lilith huffed, pouting just a little. Did she over do it? Maybe, but she overdid a lot of things, especially when it came to emotional matters.

"I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to make you upset." Uni apologized, which was a new thing she had started doing. Of course, she apologized way before now but she only started doing genuine heartfelt apologies recently.

"You're fine Uni, just try to not be dumb next time." Lilith smiled and shook her head, just a little amused now that the mood had, kinda, lightened up a little. She supposed she was just glad that she was able to convince Uni to get some help, even if it's not the mental help she so desperately needed.

"Impossible." She replied. At first Lilith was confused and concerned but then she noticed a faint upward twitch of her lips. Uni had told a joke, kinda. She at the very least showed a sense of humor.

That was a big change for sure. Comedy. Uni just used her formerly nonexistent sense of humor. She supposed that was a sign of improvement, so that was good. It meant she was healing, hopefully.

"Y'know, you surprise me everytime we meet with how much you change." She grinned a little, amused by the joke. It wasn't that funny but it was more the fact that it was the first joke she ever heard from Uni.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"A good thing, definitely a good thing." Lilith chuckled softly. She truly enjoyed these moments, the ones where she could simply enjoy her time. It was almost enough to make her forget about her troubles. Almost.

Uni's lip twitched up once again as she nodded in response. "Neat."

There was a moment of silence between them, but she wouldn't have called it awkward. It was just there, a relaxing moment with no words. They were at peace.

She knew it wouldn't last, as nothing ever did. Life was a series of fleeting moments after all. That didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the moments. Unfortunately she would have to get going eventually, but until then? She was going to make most of the time she had.

"Now I know things have been… abnormal as of late. I would like to apologize to you for that my dear." Her father was right about that, things have definitely been strange. Including the way he'd been acting as of late.

He was a very busy man and he made sure everyone was productive. Yet she hadn't been given a single job. She'd been doing nothing, all she had was free time. Which normally would be great, but it was kinda stressing her out for some reason.

When she asked about it? Z told her that it was "Time Off." How ridiculous was that? She asked for a day off a few months back and he gave her extra work instead. She didn't get Time Off.

"It's okay, the time off has been nice at least." She smiled, but it was fake. She was lying through her teeth at the moment. Of course, she needed to bring up the apartment complex some time soon. Most likely now, whenever she worked the nerve to actually do so.

"Well I'm glad—" A lie, probably. Maybe. Okay perhaps she was being irrational. "—though I might have you get back to work soon." Her father ran his fingers through his white hair, his broken stubs of his black horns peaking out briefly. He never did explain how his horns were seemingly ripped off.

She couldn't imagine losing her wings…

He sighed while stroking his nonexistent beard, seemingly humming in thought. Though she had no clue what he could possibly be speaking about.

"So this job you're thinking about, does it have anything to do with that abandoned apartment some people were talking about? The one on Ashwood in the slums?" She asked about it. There was no going back. Dammit, she was screwed wasn't she? This was a mistake.

"No, it has nothing to do with that. The location is no longer of any importance. Instead I'm thinking of Recon, scouting ahead in a way, though I haven't decided on the details." He was going to kill her! Wait what?

He answered the question, calmly?

Yeah okay maybe she overreacted just a little bit. Just a little. Though recon sounded interesting, hopefully there wouldn't be any fighting involved. If she hadn't made it immensely clear, she didn't like fighting.

Now the next question was should she push her luck and dig further into detail about the building. It would be a risky gambit for sure but… if it paid off, it would be worth it.

"So, what was the deal about that rickety old building anyways?" She asked, trying to hide her nervousness.

He turned to meet her gaze, his crimson eyes piercing into her own as he raised a single brow. "That is none of your concern. I'd recommend you stay out of things that aren't your business."

Denial of answers, he was hiding something. That was obvious, but what? What was really going on?

"Of course!" She nodded quickly, not willing to go any further with her questioning. She could gamble more at another time. She had some scouting to do or something like that. "So… uh… where would I be scouting out?"

"Likely Beacon or the Festival Grounds and the Arena layout, probably both. It depends on… other circumstances." He elaborated, humming thoughtfully once again. He was distracted by something.

Still, scouting those places had pros and cons. On one hand, she could spend more time with Uni and her friends, on the other, that meant they were likely targeting those places.

There was also whatever those supposed other circumstances were. Just more things she wasn't aware of. Tales she wanted to be told.

"So uh… when will I be leaving? What will I be doing?" She asked curiously, not wanting to push too hard, though she still wanted information.

"Hmm, make it a standard infiltration. Find blueprints, layouts, schedules, information, anything that we don't already know. I want as much as you can get as fast as you can, does that sound reasonable?" He asked, for once as a question rather than a statement.

"Y-Yes!" She nodded quickly, she was always excited for peaceful missions. Any mission that wasn't violent was amazing in her book.

While she made little progress, she at least made some. Still, she needed more information and she clearly wasn't making progress by talking to Z or sneaking around. She needed to find another way, perhaps talking to someone else. Emerald and Mercury didn't trust her whatsoever and Cinder would likely kill her. Torchwick was absolutely disgusted by her, so they were all out… but Neo? Neo was one of the few people who didn't actively dislike her.

So before she left for her scouting mission, or after, she needed to try and befriend Neopolitan and learn as much as she could.

Even if she didn't learn much, she could at least make a friend!

So yeah, time to get the Mute to Talk.

Uni was a bit distracted, hence why she was barely paying attention to the conversation before her. Of course, she was fairly certain most people would be distracted in a situation like her own. Sure she was stressed with all the training and social junk but Lilith hadn't given her an update on the situation with her step-father.

It wasn't that she didn't think Lilith could handle herself, but the fact that she didn't trust that Z fellow one bit. He was the textbook definition of sketchy. Not to mention absolutely weird.

"...She's like Blake and Weiss combined, if that makes sense." Penny was talking about her partner Ciel or something like that. She was only half paying attention in the first place.

As a testament to how little she cared, the best description she would give of Ciel was dark skinned, blue eyes, dark hair, and like a robot.

"Sounds… interesting." A lie of course, she was just attempting to be polite. She had no interest in Ciel whatsoever, despite the fact that the blue themed girl was staring at her curiously.

Apparently she had done something to grab her attention.

Ruby curiously glanced over at Ciel in return before leaning up to Penny and whispering something. Of course, she was far more intrigued by this but she wasn't about to invade her friends' privacy.

Penny shook her head, presumably answering whatever question Ruby had asked. She then looked between both Ruby and Uni. "So, I was considering… staying at Beacon."

Ah… so this was why Penny had called them over. She didn't know much about the curious girl, only that she had connections to the general. Strict connections if Ruby's reaction was anything to go by.

"...Penny, Ironwood wouldn't let that happen." She frowned, a tinge of sadness in her eyes. Uni had to agree with that emotion, she wasn't sure why. She liked the idea of Penny coming to Beacon, but knowing that it was unlikely felt… it was hard to describe but she didn't like the feeling.

Penny nearly surprised Uni with her smile, almost. She was confused at first until she responded. "Ah, but I have a plan."

So it was a possibility, that would definitely be nice, having another friend around, that is.

"It's been exactly sixty seconds ma'am, time to move on." Ciel said, reentering the conversation as she tapped her watch.

"I'll explain more later, it was nice seeing you two again!" Penny smiled brightly, waving as she began walking away.

Uni waved in return, her lip twitching upward briefly. She had said it multiple times but she truly enjoyed having friends. Who wouldn't enjoy it when they had the kind of friends she did?

"The next match will begin in fifteen minutes!" Professor Port's voice exclaimed over the announcement, shocking Ruby out of her temporary stupor.

"Oh shoot! We gotta go!" Ruby began dashing forward, dragging her along. Literally, it was very disorienting.

"Now it's obvious you didn't come here to start a friendship, so what do you want?" Neo typed out, a knowing smirk on her face. Her assumption was correct, she had immediately read Lilith's intentions. Was this how it felt like when she read people's emotions? It came off as very intimidating in an odd way.

"I uh… I wanted too um… ask you some questions." If she was seen through, then there was no point in beating around the bush right?

"Why? About what?" Neo was surprisingly confused, which was an odd thing for the normally serious yet playful sadist.

"Well um… I'm not exactly well liked and uh… no one tells me anything so… I was hoping you could?" Wow, she must've sounded so dumb. Seriously, can't she hold up a normal conversation?

Well, she was talking to a very sadistic ice cream themed girl. Okay so maybe that did sound so intimidating but she really was frightening.

"And what's in it for me?" Neo smirked, raising an eyebrow as she twirled her parasol. Hush, she believed it was called.

Uh shoot, she didn't think she'd make it this far. What could she offer Neo? What did the girl even like? Umm, "—Ice cream?"

Darn it, she said that out loud didn't she?

Yeah, she did.

"How much?" Yeah there was no way that was going to work. She would have to be insane to accept such an off— Wait what? It took a moment for Lilith to comprehend Neo's response. She said yes to ice cream. Was it really that simple?

"As much as I can afford?" She said stupidly, regretting it as soon as she saw that look in her eyes. She was going to be buying a lot of Ice cream wasn't she?

"So, what do you want to know?" Neo asked, eating neapolitan ice cream out of the tub. She looked annoyingly smug with her stacks upon stacks of ice cream cartons. Okay maybe she was bitter that she actually spent all of her allowance of ice cream for her. She was definitely ripped off, all that ice cream for a couple of questions.

"How about…, our goal? What are we supposed to be doing?" She felt dumb asking these questions, and just over all nervous about being in a room with Neo but it was necessary. Or at least, she saw it as necessary.

It didn't mean she had to like it though.

"Really? You Don't even know that? You really are being kept in the dark, huh." Neo seemed to have an odd mixture of a smirk and a pitied gaze. She didn't like it whatsoever, as it made her feel like she was lesser. Of course, Neo's emotions were a mess as usual. Then again, most sadistic psychopaths had funky emotions. "Well, as far as I know they want to take Beacon down. Like, for good."

Lilith suspected it might be something like that, and maybe she would've been fine with that when she still thought Hunters were the bad guys, well, maybe not even then but still. That was a stupid idea, so many people would get hurt. Citizens relied on hunters to fend off the grimm as well. Plus, the negativity would bring even more Grimm, not to mention drive her nuts.

"That's stupid." She said aloud, only to mentally slap herself. She had said something dumb again. She really needed a better handle on her emotions, lest she slip up again.

Neo, surprising her once again, nodded seriously. "Yeah, but we don't exactly have a say in the matter, you and I. We just have to listen to whatever Cinder and your Father tells us to do."

"Yeah…" She muttered bitterly, sighing softly. She hated that Neo was right, she wasn't much of a chess player but she knew she was a pawn in the situation.

Ugh, she had that weird feeling in her stomach. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like most of the answers she was going to receive. "Next… what are the Grimm in storage for? I've seen them but no one will speak about them…"

"Probably the same thing the breach was for, releasing them to cause panic. I hear they're some sort of mutant Grimm, is that right?" Neo asked a question of her own, inquiring about the Grimm.

"Yeah… like nothing I've ever seen…" She nodded softly, remembering the strange creatures. The idea of those Grimm being released… the destruction they would cause… it would be horrifying. Another chip on her shoulders, she couldn't let that happen.

"Huh, interesting." Neo smiled simply, still eating the ice cream happily. Her lack of concern disturbed Lilith. Seriously, how could she not care?

It was genuinely cold how someone just… could be so casual about people dying. Life was an important thing that should be cherished, not thrown aside like it's nothing. They weren't pieces you can just gamble away.

"That's… nevermind, next would be…" She knew what she wanted to ask, but she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer. She was terrified because she was fairly certain she knew the answer, she just didn't want to admit it.

Admitting it meant that her life was a lie, that all those acts she did for good were hurting innocent people. Admitting it would mean she was a bad person who had hurt a lot of people. Admitting it would mean she was on the wrong side the entire time.

"Is my father a good person? I mean, are we on the good side?" She felt dumb asking the question, especially asking Neo this of all things. She was asking a criminal about being a good person, how ridiculous was that?

She only felt worse when Neo was silently laughing, like, a lot. The amusement radiating off of her was way more than she would've expected from Neo, and her own embarrassment was growing.

"H-Hey! It's not funny! Nobody tells me anything, everybody lies to me! I don't know anything!" She said with more anger then she thought she could have expressed. She was distraught and stressed, and Neo was laughing at her! It was really frustrating!

"Oh that's rich, Z? A good person? He's just as bad a s Cinder, if not worse. He plays people like fiddles, I've seen it in action and it makes no sense how he gets people to act the way they do. It's unnatural." Neo eventually explained, her emotions distorting in a weird mix of respect, confusion, amusement, and several others. There was even a fleck of fear in there, which was an emotion she thought Neo would never show.

Was it her father's semblance? He had never told her anything about it, even when she asked. Was… was that why she was so oblivious to it all? Was he using his semblance to manipulate her?

Oh gods she felt sick, like she was gonna vomit. Was she really just a puppet this entire time?

She… she was done asking questions for now… she needed some time to think…

AN: A bit of a short one but I felt it time for Lilith to finally have an end to her goose chase for information, though there's still more to it than that.

Please vote on the poll as usual because it will be closed at the end of this volume. Please keep in mind that whatever wins the poll is not guaranteed to be the pairing, it's just to help me decide.

Enough of that, I think that's all I have to say, so see ya!

Void Out!