Glynda stood on the opposite side of the desk from Ozpin, listing off reports and details of the tasks that had yet to be completed before the next week began. Classes that required additional funds, mission requests and updates from older teams, and information from other kingdoms.

Ozpin removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve some of the mounting pressure that seemed to stem from that point. Trying to save the world was all well and good, but he did still have a school to run. In that way, Glynda was one of his greatest assets, running the majority of the school that Ozpin simply didn't have the time for.

'Perhaps paperwork will be the death of me in this lifetime. Salem won't even have the satisfaction of causing my downfall.'

"Would you like me to stop for now, Professor?" Glynda asked, having paused when she noticed the headmaster's mounting headache.

"No, no, Glynda. Please con-"

The icon on Ozpin's screen flashed, indicating that he should check the elevators. With a momentary glance, he pressed the button and waited, taking a sip of his coffee. Glynda didn't bother to ask who it was, she could see as easily as Ozpin due to the holographic screens. She tucked away the pen she had been using to check off the list and held the clipboard beneath one arm.

The doors of the elevator shifted apart to reveal Qrow leaning against the back wall, taking a swig of his flask. He capped it as they opened fully and stepped inside, placing the flask back into his pants pocket.

"How did the first training session with Miss Regalia go?" Ozpin steepled his fingers and sat back, glad for the brief break from school grievances.

"Well enough," Qrow replied, giving Glynda a brief nod as he stopped next to her in front of Ozpin's desk, "Kid definitely has more potential than a usual maiden, that's for sure."

Ozpin inclined his head, "I agree. The spire of ice at the docks was proof enough. I kept watch for a portion of the training session, but was pulled away by school matters. Is there anything else of note?"

Qrow scratched the back of his head, "The kid made a request, actually. Wants to help hunt down Amber's attacker."

"I hope you didn't accept such a ridiculous notion," Glynda snipped, shifting her arms higher to strike a more stern pose.

"About that… She actually had some good points to make. Her offer is pretty tempting, Oz."

"And what might that be?" Ozpin arched an eyebrow quizzically.

"Violet already has a source that could lead us to Torchwick and the White Fang. She thinks Amber's attacker would have stayed in the city to try and finish the job, and Torchwick might know something."

"If there is anyone that can bring together the most unlikely of allies, it is Salem," Ozpin confirmed, "I would be wrong to suggest a connection isn't possible. Still, it is too early to be risking Miss Regalia for a chance at finding the attacker sooner."

"I think we can pull it off," Qrow stepped forward, edging closer to the table, "The kid's a natural, she just doesn't realize it yet. When she was focused on trying to control the maiden powers, it was difficult for her. The instant she used it without really thinking too hard on it, though, she created a cascade of ice shards twenty times the size."

Glynda took a step closer, edging between Qrow and Ozpin a fraction, "It is still too dangerous!"

"Now, Glynda…" Ozpin held up his hand to gesture for her to calm down, then weaved his fingers together again, "You said Miss Regalia had a contact, Qrow. Did she say who?"

"Faunus by the name of Tucson that owns a bookstore down in Vale. Says he's a member of the White Fang."

"Interesting…" the contact itself didn't strike Ozpin as overly odd or out of place. How the girl had come about realizing this Tucson was a White Fang member in the though was a curiosity, "Did she say how she came about this knowledge?"

Qrow's brow furrowed, likely thinking back to the previous conversation, "No… She also gave me an old address for one of Torchwick's hideouts. Said he could have moved somewhere else by now. I checked on my scroll and saw it's a medium sized cargo building in the warehouse district."

'How did a young girl from Atlas discover the existence of a White Fang member right beneath our noses, and one of Torchwick's hideouts so quickly? Is there some other entity feeding her information, whether she realizes it or not?'

"Do what reconnaissance you can on the information she's already given you. For the time being, I find I must agree with Glynda. It is too dangerous to allow our maiden to traipse around in Vale on secret missions, even if she is in your capable hands."

Qrow seemed ready to interject, so Ozpin raised a hand, "However, if Miss Regalia makes large strides in controlling the maiden's powers, I will reconsider the request. Once we are certain she is capable of defeating the half-maiden, then I believe it is our best chance to save Amber as well."

"You can't be serious, Professor…"

"I am quite serious, Glynda," Ozpin turned a firm eye to his second-in-command, "While Miss Regalia's newfound inclusion within our inner circle is a welcome one, so too would be the recovery of Amber. We cannot win this battle without taking risks."

"She's so young…"

"She is a maiden, Glynda. Miss Regalia will be forced to make choices that many others would never even have to consider. Her life is sure to be a gruelling one, and we do not have the luxury of time."

Glynda turned her head away, appearing to be too frustrated with the conversation to continue. Ozpin could not blame her. It had taken him many life times to come to the conclusion that no one person was worth the rest of the board, not even himself. Besides, with all the events that had taken place so far, Ozpin was beginning to believe that God had a much heavier hand than any of them had yet realized.

'It begs the question… Is God manipulating all of us in order to make events happen with such frequency? A near indestructible King Taijitu appeared in Forever Fall, with no trail or path pointing towards where it had come from. Was that entire situation manufactured by God to expose Miss Regalia further and push events on to the fast track to where we are now?"

What if allowing her inclusion in events would speed up the process and allow them to save Amber that much sooner? Did it even matter what they wanted?

'And Miss Regalia's weapon is another matter. There are none on Remnant quite like it. Where did she get the idea for it? What was her inspiration? Could God have fed her the pieces of that puzzle so that she would construct such a thing? It is certainly flashy; something I might expect a bored God to enjoy seeing put into action. And its name as well... 'Zenith'... An allusion to God?'

Ozpin realized he had been silently pondering the entire situation for a few minutes while his allies patiently waited for his decision. He cleared his throat and returned to his usual demeanor, "That is my answer, Qrow. Help Miss Regalia become a competent maiden, and I will allow the both of you to track down Roman Torchwick, and potentially, Amber's attacker. Once you have, you will let us know," Ozpin pointed to himself and Glynda, "And we will all discuss how best to go about it. While we must take risks, it is foolish to not at least minimize them wherever possible."

Qrow nodded acceptance and took a swig from his flask, "That I can do. Like I said, the kid just needs to stop thinking so hard about how to do it. We'll be ready in no time."

Glynda turned back to regard the other two, and sighed, "Be careful, Qrow. We're counting on you."

"Hey, don't worry about it. This is me we're talking about here," Qrow gave a half salute and headed back for the elevator, leaving Glynda and Ozpin once again alone.

The pair flinched as one of the lightbulbs near the elevator blew out, scattering shards across the floor.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about, Qrow…" Glynda sighed and drew her riding crop, relying on her semblance to clean up the mess that Qrow had inadvertently made.

'Do not fret too much, Glynda. I believe God is on our side for once…'

Violet carefully dabbled into her omniscience; like dipping the tip of her finger a fraction of an inch into the massive ocean of knowledge that she had long since separated herself from. That miniscule amount was all it took to know Torchwick's exact location. With a swift flicker of land passing by beneath her, she stood in her spiritual form within the confines of yet another large warehouse, unseen to those within.

Roman stood at a table, a newspaper laid out in front of him, and his back to two dozen White Fang that were busy loading large crates that bore the Schnee Dust Company logo across their exterior. It seemed that despite team Vibrant's best efforts, the thief had still managed to swipe a hefty supply of dust over the last few weeks.

The thief was grumbling to himself, reading over the text on the page. Both his and Violet's attention was pulled towards the entrance as a small disturbance arose.

'Oh no… They got to you first...'

The book dealer and White Fang member was beaten and bloodied, being pushed along by two other members that had grabbed him by the forearms to keep him moving. Behind the trio was Neo, parasol across her shoulders and a smug look on her face.

Roman stepped forward a few feet, but chose to wait for the others to cross the remaining distance to him. Tucson was shoved to the ground at his feet, and weakly rose on to his knees, arms trembling from the exertion. Thin lines and cuts criss crossed his exposed flesh, revealing the damage that Neo had already caused.

Roman looked up from the bloody faunus and quirked an eyebrow at Neo, "Is this the one?"

The small multicolored girl smiled delightedly and nodded, leaning down to poke Tucson in the back with the blade at the tip of her parasol. Tucson gasped and shuffled closer to Roman, eager to avoid further pain.

"Well then, it would appear that you are the animal we've been looking for," Roman sneared, using the end of his cane to tip Tucson's head up and look into his eyes, "The girl. Who is she?"

Tucson coughed up blood and spat it onto the ground at Roman's side, defiantly returning his gaze back to the finely dressed thief, "Like I told that psychopath... I. Don't. Know."

There was the sharp sound of metal on skull as Roman beat him across the temple with his cane, knocking Tucson on to his side, "And yet when given the description of the girl, you said you had helped her to find one of our meeting places! Now why is that?"

Blood dribbled from Tucson's mouth as he worked his tongue around, finally spitting out a tooth, "...She knew the code…" his voice was barely audible. If not for having some inkling to what he might say, Violet would have missed it.

It appeared Roman in fact, had, as he bent lower with a hand to his ear, "What was that? I couldn't hear you from all the way down in that grave you're digging yourself into. Speak up!"

There was a small growl from Tucson's throat, but it faltered as he turned his head back to Roman, "I said, she knew the code."

"Unbelievable!" Roman spun on his heel, throwing his hands into the air, "You're saying some huntress in training managed to come across a phrase as obscure as 'Third Crusade'? Or are you suggesting she stumbled upon it by asking for a book that doesn't even exist!?"

"I'm saying she knew. So I gave her the card, like I have for anyone that knew the code."

"And did she have anyone with her?"

Tucson opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted as Neo excitedly raised a finger to catch Roman's attention. She stepped on top of Tucson on her way to her boss, reaching into her back pocket as she did so. Her hand came forward with a printed off picture which she handed to Roman.

Violet could see it from Roman's side. It was an image from a camera within the shop, depicting Violet and the rest of team Vibrant. Roman's eyes brightened as he looked at them, then handed the image back to Neo.

"Have one of the animals print off some copies and pass them around. I want to know if someone recognizes any of the brats in this photo. Someone had to be an informant. You don't just happen across code phrases like that."

Violet shifted uncomfortably, 'Not good… Some of these faunus had to have been pulled from Adam's camp… They'll recognize Blake, no doubt about it.'

Violet's hands were tied at the moment, though. What could she do? Burst the image into flames as she had Jaune's application? Then what? Destroy the original recordings at Tucson's shop so that they couldn't make any more?

'That wouldn't be suspicious at all,' Violet's internal voice dripped with sarcasm. She shook her phantasmal head, 'Qrow and I will take care of Roman soon enough. Even if Adam is alerted to Blake's presence, he would have known eventually. We can take him.'

As Neo left with the photo, Tucson struggled to rise. Roman spared him an eye and tutted, "You aren't off the hook yet."

Roman gestured for the two White Fang on guard to help Tucson back to his knees and waited until he was once again facing the bookstore owner before speaking again, "Let's say I allow you to leave this place in… well I was going to say 'one piece', but that ship has sailed," Roman laughed at his own joke, "Regardless, let's say I let you leave alive. What would you do then?"

Tucson appeared to have become hazy from lack of blood and repeated blows to the head. His eyes squinted, trying to focus on Roman and the words he spoke, "What would I do…?"

"Precisely! It is up to me to lead you animals since you were gifted to me like regular stock. If I allow you to leave, you are to retain your position at the bookstore. The girl tricked you once, she may attempt to do so again. If that is the case, you are to give her the location of the warehouse on Muller, then let me know. Do that, and I'll consider your failure forgiven. Does that sound like a good plan to you?"

Given the chance at life, Tucson numbly nodded his head in agreement, "Muller… got it. Let you know…"

"Excellent!" Roman replied offhandedly, already turning away from the bloody mess of a faunus, "Get him cleaned up and back to his store," Roman snapped at the two White Fang guards, then lowered his voice from its usual exuberant tone into one that was far more series, "Oh, and Tucson? If I hear that you've fled Vale, I'll be sending Neo and a few others to retrieve you. You don't want that now, do you?"

Roman didn't bother to turn around and see Tucson's fervent nod of agreement before the faunus was dragged away by his brethren. Roman's eyes returned to the newspaper in front of him before he was once again interrupted.

"Trouble in paradise, Roman?"

The sultry sweet voice surprised both Violet and Torchwick, as both spun to face Cinder and her cronies. Cinder gave a casual glance down at the tortured faunus as she passed by, then returned her gaze back to Torchwick.

Roman backpedalled half a step, raising his hands, palms upwards. "You forced me to work with these animals, and I must say, Cinder, I am not impressed. I expected at least a little competence, but all I've been given are untrained mutts spreading their fleas and shedding on my carpets."

"Oh, Roman," Cinder stepped close to the thief and placed her fingers against the underside of his chin, "Are you sure you aren't just failing to groom them? It is a leader's obligation to teach through example… Perhaps I should make an example of you?"

"Th-that isn't necessary," Roman flinched away from Cinder's hand, "We have a team of students hounding after us. They interrupted us at the docks… I thought we were free of them with the explosion," Roman gestured over to the newspaper on the table behind him, "But there's nothing about four corpses matching their description, or missing students."

Cinder allowed her hand to fall away from Roman's face, her eyes glowing slightly, "Is that so?"

The conversation was brought to a halt as the group focused on Neo, skipping back into the throng and holding out a stack of photos to Roman. Violet could see the flash of danger behind Neo's eyes, but by now the girl should know that she wouldn't stand a chance against Cinder. Neo handed one to the half-maiden as well and stepped back, a fake smile plastered across her lips.

Cinder held the photo up in front of herself and stared at the faces shown on it, "Which one of these children has been giving you trouble, Roman?"

Roman leaned forward, craning his neck to look at the photo as well, then pointed out Violet, "That one. She's definitely the ringleader of her little group."

Cinder absentmindedly held the photo out behind herself for Mercury to take, "The one with the purple hair and eyes. Find out what you can about her. We may be able to ease up some of dear Roman's burden. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"I, uh, would definitely appreciate it," Roman replied. Violet could see a small bead of sweat running down his forehead and around the outside edge of his brow, "They've been a complete thorn in my side."

"Rest assured that Mercury is more than capable of taking care of your problem," Cinder turned her eyes to scan across the faunus loading the crates up into a line of trucks, "See to it that the shipment is delivered to Mountain Glenn unhindered. We'll have another surprise for you in the coming weeks that should help to boost your number of recruits."

"No issues there. I already have the bullheads fueled and ready to head out. The first shipment should be there in a few hours, along with a group of mutts to speed up repairs."

"Good," Cinder turned away, both Emerald and Mercury stepping aside to allow her to pass. She stopped to look back over her shoulder, "Fail again, and it will be you that Mercury takes care of next. I don't know about you, Roman, but I quite enjoy having your head attached to your body. Don't you?"

Cinder didn't wait for a response, and neither was one forthcoming from the pale thief. Roman tugged on his collar and waited for the sound of the door closing behind the three of them before breathing out a sigh of relief. Neo still stood at his shoulder, looking after the group with a baleful glare of contempt.

"I know, Neo, but what can we do?" Roman shook his head, "We've gotten ourselves into a world of trouble. I know she's going to betray us sooner or later… As soon as our usefulness runs dry, she'll burn us to a crisp."

Neo caught Roman's attention and mimed slitting a throat with her finger, but Roman simply shook his head again.

"We'll have to wait for an opening. The instant we finish whatever she ends up having us do, we break contact. If we aren't of use anymore, then maybe she won't bother sending her goons after us, either."

Based on the pout on Neo's face, Violet could tell that she wasn't particularly excited about the proposition. Without Roman backing her, though, she wouldn't make any moves that might ruin his plans. Violet knew that much. 'Loyal to a T…'

With the conversation dying down and Neo leaving to go about her business, Violet returned to her room in Beacon. She began to pace across the floor in her spectral state.

'So, now I have Mercury after me, and soon enough, Adam will be after Blake. At the same time, whatever loyalties that Roman may have had are long since burned, or perhaps were never there to begin with… Could I turn him against Cinder? He's afraid of her power, but if I were to display some of my own when we capture him, that might sway him to turn against her. I could ruin Cinder's plans months before their completion…'

And Adam and Mercury…?

'Individually, they aren't truly a threat to us. I can take Mercury, even if it takes a little help from my 'maiden' powers to do so… Better him than me. Adam on the other hand…'

Maybe it really was a good idea that she and Blake would be practically attached at the hip for the foreseeable future. Violet didn't see Adam and Mercury cooperating together in order to bring either herself or Blake down, while the two huntresses would definitely be a match for either alone.

'The sooner we get to Roman, the better. I might have to make a few questionable leaps in logic to help Qrow find him faster than he might otherwise, but it should be worth it in the end.'

Violet had never considered turning Roman and Neo against Cinder before, but now that she considered it, the potential was there. 'And if Cinder is forced to replace Roman with one of her henchmen, that means they'll be stretched even thinner. What had Cinder said? 'It's about taking away what power they have'? Two can play at that game.'

Violet paused in her pacing and sighed, 'There isn't much I can do about it now…' Her eyes roamed across the three other sleeping forms in the room, finally settling on Blake in her top bunk above Yang. Her feet drifted up off the ground as she sought a better look at the cat faunus.

Violet hovered in midair above Blake's bed, looking down on the faunus consideringly. Every now and then, one of Blake's ears twitched in her sleep, and Violet couldn't help but smile. Her eyes drifted back to the other two sleeping forms in the room.

'What a mess this has turned into, huh? I never expected any of this to have changed so drastically… I was fully expecting to be on a team with Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora, and be engaging in friendly competition against team RWBY…'

Things would have been easier that way, 'But I guess JNPR's involvement was mostly minimal at best… Maybe I would have gotten bored…' Violet snorted, reconsidering that train of thought immediately, 'I doubt any time spent with Nora on your team could be called 'boring'. Still, I would have avoided all this potential drama with Blake…'

Violet's eyes scanned the bookshelf, latching on to the book she had given the faunus girl. She drifted back into her body and turned over, reaching across for the book to pull it off the shelf. Violet flipped it open to the bookmark and checked the chapter that Blake would be starting next.

'Ah, she's up to the part where I created Remnant…' Violet hadn't had much of a choice but to skip through the majority of her life and only touch on the finer points, 'At the rate she's going, she'll be done in a couple of days... Then I'll have my answer.'

If Blake thought the 'main character' was sympathetic, then Violet was willing to give whatever they had a shot. On the flipside, if Blake considered her irredeemable or abhorrent… 'It wouldn't be the first time one of my creations cursed my name.' Needless to say, Violet would break things off as gently as possible in that case.

'Blake would still have Yang to fall back on. I never wanted to separate them in the first place...'

Violet replaced the bookmark and slid the book back on the shelf where she'd found it, then turned over in her bed and pulled her blanket tight across her shoulders. She breathed out one long breath, letting her body settle into the mattress beneath her.

'Nothing to do now but wait.'

Sleep was not to come so easily, though. Violet spent the next few hours rolling around in bed, uncertainty gripping at her heart, and indecision gnawing at her thoughts. After a while, she had to admit the honest truth to herself.

'I don't know which I would prefer…'

Oh boy, it's a race of the spies. Qrow vs Mercury. How will our goddess navigate these dangerous waters? Also it appears that Ozpin is as insightful as ever, even if misinformation has led him astray. Will he ever make the connection that Violet is the Goddess?

Thanks for reading! I love writing, and being able to entertain anyone with it is a huge bonus! Uploading a new chapter always makes my day that little bit brighter.