A/N:

Hi friends!

Welcome back to RWBY: The Selection!

Tyrian is in pursuit of the Winter Maiden, a quest that has led him back to the Isle of Tenebris and back to the Selection, to get answers from a certain Ciel Soliel...

Ciel has always been one of the more interesting minor characters for me because we never really know how much she knows about Penny, and we never get to see her again after that one cameo in Volume 3. I'm pretty excited for her role in this fic though, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Quick timing note: this (also) takes place on Thursday night, immediately after the last chapter, and quick formatting note: text messages are in bold :)

Once again, please review with any thoughts/comments/questions/concerns/anything else that strikes your fancy! Y'all have been so supportive through everything and I really appreciate that 3

Without further ado, enjoy!

Chapter 55: Ciel

Ciel left the Women's Room with a splitting headache. After a week of training to be a Huntress and a full day of putting up with Princess lessons, she wanted nothing more than to pack her bags and pass out. Ciel had had enough. Unlike many of the other girls, she wasn't here to woo Prince Jaune. She wasn't here to become a Princess, nor was she here to become a Huntress. She was sent here by General Ironwood, as a spy.

Of course, immediately following the Capital Report announcement, Ciel's mission on the Isle of Tenebris changed from gathering intel on Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows, and even the Queen herself to something much less intellectually stimulating and yet, somehow, much more difficult: protecting Penny Polendina.

While on the Isle of Tenebris, Penny was in danger: not only in danger of jealousy and heartbreak as most of these girls were, but also in danger of sudden, painful death. Penny Polendina was constructed to save the world: she was a robot of the Atlesian military with the aura of a human girl. She was also the Winter Maiden, although she didn't know it herself, and it was that power that painted a target on her back. It was for this reason that Penny Polendina was so vital to Ironwood's efforts to stopping Salem. It was for this reason that it was so necessary to protect her, and it was for this reason that Ciel Soliel now had such a splitting headache.

"She's where?" Marrow demanded after Ciel picked up her scroll.

Ciel sighed as she walked back to the safety of her chambers. The night had started as difficult when the date card arrived, asking Penny if she would accompany Jaune for the first one-on-one date of the weekend, and it had taken a turn for the worst when one of the Ace-Ops texted her (in an encrypted message, to avoid eavesdropping by Dr. Watts) that Tyrian Callows, who was looking for the Winter Maiden, now knew she was involved.

Ciel: That's bad

She had texted, her head already beginning to spin. While girls opened champagne and played videogames in the Women's Room, celebrating the end of another stressful week, Ciel's heart had pounded wildly. Her stress was just beginning...

Marrow: Is Penny safe?

Ciel: Hard to say. Right now, she's on a one-on-one with a Prince. They're going camping.

"Camping?" Marrow asked now. Ciel closed the door behind her and walked into her bathroom to continue the call. The last thing she wanted was eavesdroppers. "Are you serious? What if Tyrian finds them?"

"He just left Atlas, correct?" Ciel asked, removing her blue beret to run a hand through her hair.

"Yeah," Marrow's voice sounded hoarse. He sounded stressed too, one of the many things the two had in common. Marrow was the same age as Ciel, and they had been in the same graduating class of Atlas Academy, both picked by Ironwood's caste-blind application: Ciel from a family of Sevens, and Marrow from an SDC mine in Mantle. They had both risen to high-ranking careers from nothing, with Marrow now in the Ace-Ops, and Ciel one of Atlas's finest undercover agents. And they were now both in terrible danger.

"We should have until the end of the day then. Even if the first thing he did was catch a plane to the Isle, we're safe. It's a four hour flight minimum."

"Alright, but when she gets back from the date, you two need to leave right away."

Ciel bit her lip. "It's more complicated than that. We're not allowed to leave unless we're dismissed by the Prince. If we attempt to leave on our own accord, we face Cordovin's army."

"Whoa," Marrow breathed.

Ciel nodded. "Penny and I are skilled, but not that skilled. We'll never make it out alive. We leave legally, or we don't leave at all,"

"Can you explain the information to the Prince?"

"To Salem's son? I don't think we can risk it."

"Tell him you need to go home without explaining? Say it's a personal issue? Say you just don't love him?" Marrow suggested, "and get Penny to say the same?"

"And have Penny and I eliminated the same week Tyrian put the pieces together?" Ciel shook her head. "It'd be too obvious. They'd know it's her."

"But-"

"What has the General said? Have you heard from him?"

"He's been in meetings with the council all night," she could hear the bitterness in Marrow's tone. "Tyrian left panic and destruction in his wake. A series of murders all over Mantle, and Grimm are closing in. He's always had Penny as his top priority, but now the Council has his hands tied. No one on the Ace-Ops has been able to get a word in."

Ciel swallowed. If the Ace-Ops, the most elite team of Huntsmen in all of Atlas, couldn't get a word in, she was not likely to reach Ironwood either. "Tell the General, and I'll await his orders," she said, "but in the meantime, I think we have to lie low. Did anyone mention Penny's name to Tyrian?"

"No, only yours,"

Ciel nodded. "Then, for now, she's safe." She looked in the mirror. This massive, luxurious bathroom was simply not worth all the trouble the Selection had put her through. "Let me know when you hear from the General. I'll keep tabs on Penny. In the meantime, I'm going to take an Advil."