Hero of Remnant: Veil of the Aether

by Aetherveil

Following after the events of the Volume 3 Arc, Dante, and his partner Inuba travel across Remnant to make their way to Haven, searching for clues that will lead them to the real mastermind behind the attack on Vale 6 months prior. They will meet allies, both old and new, and face challenging new enemies on their journey. Secrets will be revealed. Continuation of Hero of Remnant.

76. Chapter 76: A Night of Revelries

Holy crap this took forever...

To finish I mean.

Sorry for the long wait everyone. Been doing a lot of work and things happened recently in a way that a lot of responsibilities fell onto my shoulders where I really couldn't say no.

Well, I could have, but that'd make me look like a dick. Typically I don't care but... reasons and all that. Have to be nice, even when I don't always get the same treatment.

Anyway, here you all go. As always, please enjoy.

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Chapter 76: A Night of Revelries

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- Nearly two years ago -

She ran through the rain. It was all she could do right now. Heavy panting and silent, stifled sobs were the only thing that could be heard from her as she ignored the cold, the rain, and everything else around her. She just… wanted to get away.

He knew now.

He knew everything. Her secrets had come out into the open right in front of him. Worst of all, it was by the hand of one of her father's minions. That… thing said it all, telling the whole truth while twisting it with its venomous tongue. And he heard it.

The most important person in the world to her heard all of it.

Shame was one of the numerous, fleeting emotions she felt, but fear drove her away and into the darkness of night. She wasn't afraid that he was going to kill her.

She was afraid he'd hate her.

Anya never lied to him except for the secret of her nature, and it was the gravest secret she kept. When she first met Dante, it was clear he had great disdain for her kind. She was certain it was because her kind killed someone important to him, but after the time she spent with him, it was simply the case that he had run into only those that were pure evil. He never really found others like herself that just wanted to live in peace until recently. But to hear the truth in that way? From someone like that?

It was over.

She didn't want to see him look at her with scorn in his eyes. She didn't want to hear him yell or shout. She didn't want him to-

Anya couldn't bear to think about it any longer, and so she ran onwards in spite of the agony filling her heart.

Then she slowed down until she came to a complete stop.

It may have been dark, but the lampposts illuminated the forest-like terrain encompassing the cliffside park area, a place that gave a breathtaking overview of the entire city.

They came through here on their third date together. She remembered pestering him for an entire day to come here until he finally said yes. Needless to say, he soon abandoned his sour attitude, and enjoyed the venture in the end.

It was truly one of the better days…

…

…

She didn't have the strength to run anymore, and so the girl fell to her knees, biting her lip to try and silence her cries as she lowered her head and covered her eyes.

It was over…

"Despite having a fat head and huge boobs, you sure can run fast, huh?"

Her head jolted upwards at the sound of his voice, making her stand back up quickly and spin around to see him there, drenched and slightly out of breath. She locked eyes with him briefly but immediately looked away.

"I know you're thick headed, but even you can catch colds, you know? So-" Dante said as he took steady but sure steps forward.

"Stay back!" Anya shouted, stepping back a little as he stopped in his tracks, "Just..! Stay away..!"

"Why?"

"You know why..!"

He narrowed his eyes on her, and that only made her shiver. Then he began walking towards her again, making her look his way.

"Don't..!"

"Why?"

"Because I lied! I lied! I lied about who I am! I..! I lied about what I am!" She clutched her chest tightly, still trying to hold back the tears, "I'm..! I'm one of the things you hate..!"

"Anya-"

"JUST STAY BACK!"

Her shout echoed throughout the park overlook, and with that shout came a brief blinding light and sound of hundreds of shattering crystals. After shielding his eyes and standing up straight from the brief shockwave, he looked upon the girl to see she had changed.

Her long, blonde hair had changed to white hair that glistened and glowed slightly. Two beautiful, foot long obsidian horns had emerged from the sides of her head, curving outwards slightly before standing straight up. Her clothes had been burned away, revealing her beautiful, tanned body that was mostly adorned in glistening white crystal that shimmered under the light and from the rain droplets.

Pitch black sclerae with glowing white irises that had a beautiful, crystalline shimmer stared right back at him, tearful and completely terrified.

She couldn't tell what he was thinking at all. He was just… staring at her.

"This… All of this… It was just a dream… A foolish little dream that a foolish little girl had… I'm… I'm not someone that can stay by your side… Not after this… Not that you now know what I…"

She bowed her head once more, unable to see that Dante had steadily begun walking towards her again.

"It's time for the dream to end… So I'll leave… After all, why would you willingly choose to stay with a monster like me..? These months we spent together… I just… I want you to know they meant everything to me…"

There was still a good deal of distance between them, but when he was starting to get close enough, it was like time had become agonizingly slow for both of them as the rain continued to fall.

Many things went through his mind at the time of the revelation, and when he gave chase. But in the end, they were only troubling for a few brief moments. Seeing her there now, her true self… Some simple things came to mind.

In a few ways, he could understand the need for the grand lie. Some of the more obvious answers came to mind quickly enough, but all of them were easily dissuaded as ridiculous notions that contradicted who she was as a person.

He stopped walking, almost face to face with her now as she grasped her arm tightly. She wanted to run away again, part of her leaning back a little.

"It'd be useless to run away from you… Y-You probably want to hit me, right? I-It's fine… I'm a thing, a-aren't I? One of the monsters you hate… It'll hurt, but… I'll try to be still and-"

Anya couldn't see his hands move, but she prepared herself all the same, flinching a little when she saw him move.

She couldn't help but be shocked and confused at what happened next. Instead of being hit like she expected to, she was lovingly embraced instead, one hand wrapped around her waist to bring her close, while the other gently held on to the back of her weary head so that she could rest it on his shoulder.

"I once believed I had no real worth in this world other than destroying whatever came my way that tried to disrupt the life I live among others. I thought I didn't deserve to be loved or anything of the sort. But steadily… you helped build me back up from nothing. You dragged me out of my pit of hate and self-loathing, opening my eyes to... a lot of things I intentionally left unnoticed for a long time. The love you gave me was… invaluable. So I entrusted myself to you."

The girl was frozen in place, unable to speak a word or move no matter how much she wanted to.

"I can only imagine getting close to me must have been scary… But you nonetheless entrusted yourself to me. I'm yours, remember? That means I'll protect you, and continue doing so forever."

"But I'm-!"

"I've had a feeling for a while. Ever since I saw you that night in the warehouse, I felt like it couldn't have been anyone else but you. It was hard to believe and accept at first, but I understood almost immediately why you kept who you really were a secret. So I didn't ask, I didn't push for answers. I was just going along with it and waiting for you to tell me, if ever you were going to."

"I…"

"I don't care if you're a Dark Entity, Anya. Even when I had an idea, I still didn't really care. I was maybe a little disappointed you didn't tell me at first, but… I wasn't really angry at all." He assured, making the girl's eyes go wide, "Do you remember what I said in the warehouse that night? This changes nothing. You might be different, but you're still the same Anya I love, regardless of who or what you are. And that'll never change. I did promise that I'd always be on your side, didn't I?"

She couldn't speak, but the girl was finally able to make her body do what she wanted, and what she did was hug him tightly and selfishly, crying her eyes out all the while.

"I'm so sorry!"

It was difficult not to let it out himself, but he managed to grit his teeth and maintain his composure, focusing only on the girl in his arms. They remained like that in the rain for minutes until the girl drew back slightly, the two of them still holding onto each other as they gazed deeply into each other's eyes.

There were no lies or half truths between either of them, just the feeling of each other's love.

Dante raised up a hand, gently brushing his index finger under her eyes to wipe away her tears. Even though they locked eyes for a few moments, she quickly looked away.

"What is it?"

"It… It's just… This form of mine… It must be pretty hideous…"

"Actually, I'm more turned on if anything."

She laughed faintly at the sudden comment, "Even now you still find a way to say something inappropriate and make me laugh… Honestly though… Does this form really not disgust you? I…"

"You have to be one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. And that's the honest truth. Definitely the most beautiful Dark Entity I've ever seen. I mean really, when I saw 'you' in the warehouse that night, my damned heart wouldn't calm down. It was… startling. Then I just realized that I was simply that enamored by you."

She'd be lying to herself if she said she didn't feel her heart was aflutter after hearing that. All this time she was so afraid of what he'd say if he saw her "true self"… Everything she was afraid of happening went in the completely opposite direction.

How could she have been so foolish to expect anything else but love from him?

"Come on. We should go before someone sees us. Or you know, before you catch a cold."

The girl nodded, making sure to hug him tightly. For a brief moment, she felt as though she was floating, then felt her feet touch the familiar white carpet of her home as Dante left her for a few moments.

She looked around, feeling uneasy. Anya was prepared to leave everything behind minutes ago, and wasn't expecting to return. Now…

…

…

She was just glad to be home.

Before she could think of anything else, the girl felt a towel blanket her head, and a pair of hands gently rubbing her in order to dry herself off. A few times he brushed past her obsidian horns, until he went to work drying them off as well, hearing a faint whimper from the girl.

"S-Sorry, did that hurt?" He asked.

"N-No… You might not know this but… for those of us that have horns, they're sensitive to the touch of a significant other…"

"I-I see…"

Once he carefully dried Anya's hair and horns, Dante made to dry the rest of her off, but stopped.

"W-What's wrong?"

"Er… Well… I…"

"K-Keep going, p-please..."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Dante continued with drying the girl off, getting her shoulders, her back, her arms, her legs… All that was left was her stomach and chest. He looked at her again, and she said nothing, simply telling him with her eyes that he could go further.

It was a bit awkward at first, but he managed to do so in the end, and when she was relatively dry, they both took a seat on the couch as the HoloScreen came to life. They sat together in awkward silence, both looking in the opposite direction of the other until Anya finally looked his way.

"Say…" she spoke.

"Yeah?"

From the corner of his eye, he saw a brief flash of light and the sound of crystalline shards cracking apart. When he turned his head fully, he saw that Anya and her beautifully tanned body was completely bare, absent of the second skin-like white crystal that covered most of her person.

He stared for a few moments, but quickly turned his head back, the girl jolting up with a worried look as she moved further away and turned her head.

"I-I suppose it was asking for too much to accept this form immediately… I'll change back-"

"N-No! That's not it!" The young man spun around again, grabbing hold of her hand as he interlocked his fingers with hers and pulled her closer, "You're..! You're just…"

He grabbed hold of her other hand, strictly making sure to keep eye contact with her.

"The word 'beautiful' isn't even enough to describe you right now… And… I don't want you to think I'm only in this for a 'hit it and quit it' moment, you know?"

Again, she felt her heart flutter like before, only this time it was stronger as something powerful began to well up within her.

"I mean, people talk a lot of shit about me when it comes to that sort of thing, and I just-"

With a sharp exhale, Anya silenced Dante with a fervent kiss, deciding to give in to her burning hunger as she pushed him down on the couch, all the while keeping her fingers interlocked with his. Straddled by the girl and slightly confused by her sudden aggressiveness, the devil could only sit on his back, helpless, powerless, and pleasantly bewildered by her intoxicating, sultry kisses. Soon enough, the girl steadily moved down to his neck to pepper it with sweet kisses, sending pleasant shocks throughout the devil's body.

His intense shudders only urged her further on.

When Anya drew away, she left a thin but brief string of drool in the wake of her kissing spree. Seeing his reddened cheeks and rather cute expression made the burning hunger in her flare up even further, coursing throughout her entire body as she narrowed her eyes on the young man like a carnivore that had trapped its prey.

"I… I-I'm sorry… I can't q-quite… control myself right now…" She apologized between heavy breaths, her shimmering, crystalline white eyes glowing a bit more intensely, "T-This feeling… It's quite… quite new to me…" The girl spoke, her body shivering from the intense excitement, "I… I don't think I want to stop…"

As she said this, her hands drifted to his torso, her black nails digging into the fabric of his shirt before she ripped it apart easily in one go. Her hands brushed over his smooth chest to feel his warmth, but most importantly, to feel the beating of his heart underneath. That beat felt as though it reverberated through her hands and then her body, almost deafening her ears as she dove back into kiss the base of his neck a few times before sensually dragging her tongue upwards, where she then peppered his lips with more kisses.

"I-I don't want you to stop either…" He managed to squeak out, "It feels weird for me to say this, but… P-Please be gentle with me..."

Those words were like an electrical bolt that panged through Anya's vigorously pounding heart, further inflaming her already inferno-like passion. Whatever strand of reason that remained within the girl had been snapped like an elastic band stretched to its absolute limit. All that filled her mind now was her pure, shimmering love for Dante, and her white hot yearning to become one with him.

It was only them and their explosive, pent up desires, messily but lovingly intermingling with one another.

---

"Hey, wake up."

Dante felt a hand slap his forehead, almost making him fall out of his chair.

"Geez Weiss… Any harder and you might've sent my ass to the Phantom Zone…"

"Phantom what?" The girl asked with a confused expression.

"I really need to start running some movie marathons with you guys…" He said with a sigh.

"Are you actually getting tired for once?"

"Not so much tired as… losing some focus and taking a brief power nap. I don't know."

It was a lie, for the most part. It wasn't that he was losing focus, it was just…

…

…

No matter what he tried to do, he couldn't stop dreaming of the past. He couldn't stop dreaming about her. It'd come in flashes from time to time. A sudden need to close his eyes and drift away, where he would then live in the past, if only temporarily.

He didn't know if it was some sort of sign, or just a cruel reminder that suddenly popped into his mind.

"Anyway… Is the analysis complete?"

"It is, but… I'm not understanding the results…" Weiss said, standing next to Dante to show him her Scroll's screen.

"That's because these are frequency wavelengths instead of energy wavelengths."

"T-That can't be right…"

"It can and it is. You remember a certain professor Angelo who fled from Atlas to Mistral?"

"You mean THE Archibald Angelo who proposed the absolutely insane theory that Dust is activated by frequency wavelengths between Dust Crystals and people with Aura?"

"The very same one."

"You do realize he was discredited and ousted from the Dust Institute of Atlas, right?"

"I do. And that… is only because Angelo was actually on to something. His theory was actually correct in the end."

"Right, because people without Aura and machinery definitely can't utilize Dust and its energies without aid from those with Aura." Weiss said sarcastically as she stood up straight and crossed her arms.

"Oh they can, regardless if they have Aura or not. The difference… is that those with Aura can draw out the full power of Dust, or at least have the potential to do so. Machinery and Aura-less individuals can only forcibly draw out a fraction of its power. While Dust ammunition in soldiers' hands is definitely stronger than a vast majority of metal-based bullets, in the hands of a person with Aura, the effectiveness can be ten times stronger."

"Your basis for this?"

"Online footage and in person. I examined the effectiveness of Dust weaponry in the hands of soldiers. Comparing that to Ren and Yang, the difference is night and day. Especially when it comes to Grimm."

"Dante, that's two test samples compared to thousands."

"I know Weiss, I was just using them as an example. I've also gone over whatever footage I can, trying to match weapon types and calibers accordingly against Grimm, debris, metal… Anything and everything that could be shot at."

The young devil swiped his hand up, pulling his HoloScroll's projection up with him before he pushed it away to the round table, where multitudes of screens with various data popped up.

"Alright, fine. That point may be proven, but it still doesn't explain how or why Dust activates in the hands of Auraless individuals or machines."

"The reason for that is because Dust naturally ekes out energy over time. It's why machines and Aura-less people can even use it."

"And I assume in the hands of an individual with Aura, Dust can 'fully activate' and be possibly used to its maximum potential. I understand that but… When professor Angelo tried to prove his Frequency Activation theory, the frequency scanning technology never picked anything up."

"Faulty technology at the time could be an explanation." Dante shrugged.

"The chances of that actually being true is extremely minimal. Especially if the technology came from Atlas, or our company."

"Right, because Atlas or the SDC never took any shortcuts."

"I can't deny that, but I also can't fully agree with it. Even if there's some truth behind that, it doesn't change the fact that technology from Atlas was, and still is, more advanced than the other Kingdoms."

"Want me to tell you the answer?"

"Please, enlighten me." The girl said with mock anticipation.

Dante smirked, "While we can't be sure if it was faulty technology… we can definitely be certain that he got the equation wrong."

"He got it wrong?"

"It's rare, but not impossible. Fact is, he got just a few numbers and decimals wrong in his equation. So… using some of my knowledge from my World and other Worlds I visited, I took a look at the equation and… cleaned it up a bit. Turns out there were actually some unnecessary steps added in too, which in turn threw off the equation about halfway through."

"And these frequency patterns… They're the different frequencies of each type of Dust known to man?"

"That's right. Even this bad boy." Dante said, holding up the black dust crystal shaped like a bullethead, "Only difference is that compared to all the other Dust Frequencies, Anti-Aura Dust, or Null Dust as called in the Atlesian Military, has a negative opposing frequency."

"Which would explain why it cancels out all other forms of Dust and Aura. If I'm seeing these test results correctly, the frequencies literally mesh together into a total mess and effectively wipe each other out."

"Yup. So not only does it work against Aura, it can also work against other types of Dust. Though by comparison, it works a hell of a lot better on Aura. Almost like-"

"It was made to do exactly that… This is… This is just…"

"Fascinating?"

"Fascinating doesn't even begin to describe it! All of this… it could change so many things!"

"That it could…"

"You could sound a little more excited you know? You just proved a scientific theory that can change how we look at Dust forever."

"That it can."

"I'm sensing a 'but'…"

"But… It could be dangerous."

Weiss looked at him confused, "Are you saying you want to keep this secret? Dante, this-"

"It's a game changer, sure. But just as it can do as much good, it can also do a great deal of bad. Which is why I think we should keep this knowledge to ourselves and our group for the time being. With the way the world is right now… I don't think it'd do anyone any good to authenticate this theory."

The once heiress paced a few times, thinking about the potential difficulties this theory could enact just by existing.

"If this information goes out… the Kingdoms could go to war with each other again. Especially if the information is manipulated in such a way to cause conflict."

"Which is why I think we should keep it secret until we take care of Salem and balance the World's scales afterwards. Set everything right, and then, whatever discoveries we make in the process, we make it known to the World. At the very least, ones that have less risk of making people want to kill each other over them."

"Alright… So we've established that the full activation of Dust is achieved by the resonance of the Dust Crystal and the frequency emitted from an individual's Aura. Question is, concerning the Null Dust, how do you plan to create a countermeasure if Null Dust is on a negative frequency compared to Aura and the other elements of Dust?"

"Honestly? The only ideas I have right now is to match the negative frequency perfectly to cancel it out, or completely overwhelm it."

"Overwhelm it?"

"Yeah. Dip deeper into the negatives than the frequency of Null Dust to render it powerless."

"But wouldn't you be canceling out your own Aura by going down into the negatives like that?" Weiss asked, walking back towards Dante.

"Possibly. All I know is that if it doesn't work, maybe I can attune my Aura in a way as to have a higher positive frequency than what Null Dust can cancel out. Either way, finding a counter is going to take more time." The devil said, looking at the round table's clock, "Damn… It's 6pm…"

"That long?"

"Yup. Cooped up here since 8am."

"Well, we at least did something productive with our day." Weiss said stretch her arms high above her head.

Dante glanced over at Weiss, noticing how her rather beautiful figure stood out quite significantly when she wasn't wearing her vivid blue shrug and the belts of Dust pouches. When she turned his way, he quickly looked in the opposite direction, making Weiss tilt her head a little before she shook it.

"If by some chance you do discover a counter, do you think we'd be able to use it?"

"I don't know. I hope so." Dante answered quickly before he stood up, clearing his throat briefly, "My Aura Manipulation Semblance allows me to do some freaky stuff, so it could very well be the case only I might be able to do it. Though that doesn't mean we can't try."

The girl smiled, "But of course. I was going to ask if we should go to the cafeteria to eat, but I just remembered that we have our dinner reservation at the GlassWay in 2 hours."

"Right right. Excellent food, and showing up snobs. Except this time I'm not showing up as the manservant."

Weiss laughed, "Manservant?"

"Yeah, that whole 'butler for a day' thing I did for you to show up that rich girl." Dante explained as he pushed a button on the coffee machine to brew two cups.

"I almost forgot about that. Gods, the look on her face…"

"She was pissed."

The machine stopped, and the devil handed Weiss her mug as he took to sipping his.

"I miss those days when life was just… simple, and it was just school and the like…"

"Yeah, I miss it too." Dante said with a slight tilt of his head.

"Really? I thought you were bored all the time."

"Almost all the time. I paid attention to Port, Oobleck and Ms. Goodwitch's class."

"Really? Port?"

"Hey, he had good stories. Droned on a lot and went on wild tangents sometimes, but… Hidden gems all the same."

"And let me guess… You paid attention to Goodwitch's class because she was pretty."

"Well, yeah, she's a beautiful woman, but I paid a lot more attention because she more or less taught me how to use Aura and helped me out of some tight spots. And, well, she taught me about Dust too I guess."

"That's right, you never use Dust, do you?"

"Haven't had a need really. I mean, I can use my Aura to shoot out explosive blasts and beams and all that crazy stuff."

"And you weren't even the slightest bit curious as to if you could use it with your Blades?"

…

…

"Not really, but… You know, let's try something."

Dante walked over to the casing on the round table, opening it up to pull out a red Dust crystal.

"Eclypse?"

"Yes yes, the fabulous Eclypse has appeared." The girl said as she appeared in a brief blaze of platinum Aura, "So, how are we doing this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, am I gonna just hold it in my hand, or are you going to plug it into m-"

"Just hold it, please." Dante quickly interrupted.

The girl smiled coyly, moreso because Weiss didn't understand where the talk was going. All the same, she grabbed the Dust shard out of Dante's hand and pinched it between her fingers.

"How about it? Is it doing anything?"

"Not really. Feels tingly."

"Guess it doesn't work then…"

Eclypse looked at the Dust shard once more, then shrugged her shoulders before she moved her hand close to her mouth and bit a huge chunk out of the crystal. Dante and Weiss watched in bewilderment as the Blade ate the crystal like it was a protein bar, chewing it with a pleased hum.

"Tastes like chicken."

As she said this, the skin on her hands glowed until they blazed with platinum fire, the girl cooing briefly as she looked them over and waved her hands around quickly to play with the fire.

"Neat. Looks like it does work." Eclypse then faced Dante, saying "Batter up!" before she flicked her hands towards Dante, unleashing a small ball of platinum fire.

The teen raised his hand up and swatted it out of existence.

"Hey, I said batter up, not ping pong."

"Sorry." He said to his Blade, "Ok, so it turns out my Blades can use Dust by 'eating' it. Since we're not in a testing zone, I'd rather not try to test out their weapon form, but we'll assume it works."

"Did it really taste like chicken?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah. It was weird. Thought it'd be like eating those Flaming Hot Puffs."

"Fascinating…"

"That's fascinating?" The devil asked.

"Well, yes." The previous heiress shrugged "We've seen people literally pierce Dust crystals into their body, but we've never had a case of someone actually eating a crystal whole and… well, describing the flavor. I mean, we've had idiots that tried eating them on a dare and dying, but nothing else."

"Dust has flavor. A wonderful discovery." Dante rolled his eyes, "Thank you, Eclypse."

The girl waved her hand before she disappeared in a brief burst of Aura, leaving Dante and Weiss alone in the room again.

"Aren't you glad to have me and my nonsense to help test the boundaries of stupid ideas?"

"Oh so glad." Weiss said with a roll of her eyes and a smirk as she took another sip of her coffee, "But… I am glad to know you. I mean… you and everyone else challenged so many of my perspectives. It's just… You challenged everything to such an irritating extent. And yet, I'm grateful for it. I feel like I learned a great deal of how to better myself from you. I feel like watching and learning from you helped me be… 'free'."

"Free?"

"I know, I know… I'm Weiss Schnee. How did I not have any freedom with my family background?"

"That's not what I was getting at."

"Then..?"

"W-Well, I get that I think absurdly outside of the box and all that, but… Freedom? That's a new one…"

"Think about your image in the eyes of others for a moment."

"That's like asking me to subject myself to depression."

"Why?"

"Dude, anyone that doesn't know me thinks I'm some sort of deviant or whatever that hits on women constantly."

"And you don't?"

"Technically no. I just… try to be nice and appreciative."

The girl giggled briefly, "Going back to the point… Some might discern that you don't really care all that much about anything given your extraordinary existence. Or rather, because you have your powers, you can do anything you want. The reality though is that it's your words, actions and your kind consideration of others that have been more impactful on the lives of others. We appreciate and respect you, not just your power."

"So..?"

"So watching and listening to you all this time… I feel like I learned a great deal, and that it helped me solidify many things I was uncertain about. You were… a powerful source of motivation to help me move forward. Saying all those things to my father and standing by me… I feel like I'm able to truly live my life freely now after standing up to him directly. Not running away, just…"

"Standing front and center and basically telling him to eat shit."

"Basically." She laughed after hearing his crude remark.

"It's a tough thing, doing what you did. Casting aside the family fortune, the fame that comes with it, liberating yourself from the prison of expectations others have for you…" Dante listed off quickly as he leaned against a wall, "Most people in your position would worry far too much about your status, but mostly the consequences abandoning all that would curtail."

"Consequences?"

"Where would I go? Who can I go to? How long can I live like this? Am I going to be able to survive? It's these kinds of questions that stop people dead in their tracks. So… which question was it for you?"

Weiss was silent for some time, resting her chin in her palm as she gave genuine thought to remembering what she was thinking and feeling.

"Honestly? All of them. But the biggest one constantly nagging me had to be… 'Can I really continue putting on a fake smile and living like this?'. I… I just couldn't do it anymore. Living like some… husk just because my name is Schnee and everyone else has great expectations for someone with my family name."

She raised her head, taking a sip of her coffee before she looked to Dante.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"No, the other Dante I like a lot better. Of course you."

He smirked at the previous Heiresses snarky remark, "Well, let's see… For me it was mostly the fact that I could do what most couldn't do or others wouldn't do. My power, along with my rather insane mentality of going beyond the limits made me the perfect kind of guy to trap in a loop." Dante explained as he crossed his arms, staring outside the window, "You're the only person we can rely on. You're the only person strong enough. You're the only person who can do it. Hearing those things from people in need, how could anyone really refuse?"

"Is that why you hate being called a Hero?"

"Well, yes… But it's mostly because from my perspective, people abuse the hell out of the title for their own gain, or use it as leeway to do whatever they want to whoever they want. No, my issue was that if I didn't do it, or refused to do it… people would die. Sometimes, that even included people I knew or cared about."

"Do you regret leaving your old World then?"

"Not for a damn minute. Yeah, I left a criminal, but… I was free at least. Here, I chose what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. Here… I was finally free to choose to help people of my own accord. Not because it was required of me, and not because it solely depended on me. It was because I wanted to do it."

"Hearing those stories… I was shocked to hear that these Angels, these… divine protectors of mankind were so… corrupt…"

"Now you know why I'm also not a real fan of the divine…"

"Do you think they'll ever come back? The Brother Gods, I mean." Weiss asked, a hint of worry on her face.

"If they ever do, let's hope it's because they're not here to wipe out this World again. And even if they come back just for that… Well, let's just say they're not gonna have an easy time of it."

"Because the great and mighty Dante will be there to stop them?"

"No… Because the great and mighty people of Remnant are gonna give them the good old finger and yell 'Fuck you!' at the top of their lungs before they kick those chuckle brothers' asses."

The two of them laughed together at the absurd conversation, Dante looking the girl's way as he had a devious smirk on his face.

"Try it."

"Try it? Try what?"

"Try saying it."

"What?" Realization soon dawned on Weiss, "Y-You mean..?"

"Yeah. Part of the liberation process."

"I…"

"Come on. It's just you and me here, and the walls are soundproof."

The girl sighed, setting her coffee mug down on the table next to her chair and stared at Dante, who expectantly stared back with puppy dog eyes.

"Ugh… Fine…"

Weiss closed her eyes and cleared her throat, then took a deep breath with a hand resting on her chest before her eyes opened again.

A quick puff of the chest and the once Heiress screamed "Fuck you!" at the top of her lungs.

Dante, obviously humored by the act like a child, was doing his absolute best to hold back his laughter, ultimately failing to do so as he burst out in tears.

"W-What?! It's not that funny, is it?!"

He continued laughing, trying to respond and failing as he slapped his knee. Weiss couldn't help pout at him as she crossed her arms, the devil eventually calming down as he pressed the tip of the diamond stud on his collar.

From it was a voice recording of Weiss shouting her proclamation to the high heavens, making her gasp in shock.

"This is gonna be my new ringtone. For everything."

"D-Dante Aetherveil, y-you delete that right now!" Weiss said, rushing the devil.

"No way!" Dante replied as he unclipped the diamond stud from his collar acting as his Scroll, raising it high above his head as Weiss tried to jump up and grab it. This tactic however backfired with how close Weiss was with each attempted jump.

"C-Chill out, alright? I'll keep it to myself."

"J-Just delete it…"

"Come on. It's honestly pretty cute."

She gave another pout, stepping back and crossing her arms as he went to get her coffee.

"If you show it to someone, I'll punch you."

"I promise."

"G-Good. We should leave now, since dinner is in almost two hours."

---

"I… I can't anymore…" Oscar said as he leaned against the wall and slid down it from sheer exhaustion.

"Well, it is 6:30… We should probably end our session..." Dawn said as she tapped her staff against the ground.

The night sky, the glowing white floor with crystal clear water flooding it receded into her shadow, a faint shimmer of white Aura flashing around her body as she exhaled.

"You did really well today, Oscar. Your movements have gotten sharper, and your evasive and defensive maneuvering has also improved greatly."

"You… You were shooting magic missiles of light at me..! I had to dodge..!"

"T-They wouldn't have killed you or anything of the sort!" The girl quickly affirmed, "At the very least, you wouldn't have died or been permanently crippled on my watch!"

"That's… definitely reassuring…" he said with a tilt of his head, "How are you not… even tired..?"

"O-Oh… Well, I am a mix between Angel and Dark Entity, so my stamina is exaggeratingly higher compared to any human or Faunus individual." Dawn explained as she stepped closer to Oscar, "Though compared to my brothers and sister, my stamina is the lowest among them…"

"Are you kidding me? You guys can fight for like a week without stopping at all…"

"Ciel and Dante can, at the very least. Leonard and I are more… What was terminology… back-liners."

"That can't be true. I mean, you're… Well, your magic attacks are incredible. All I know is that I definitely didn't want to get hit by any of those spells…"

"W-Well… To be frank, the reason my attacks seemed absurdly powerful was because I placed my Territory in this space."

"Territory?"

"Yes. Perhaps Ozpin may not have explained this to you, but Territory Construction is crucial to us mage types. The reason why is because it serves to make the field advantageous to us and grant us or our allies numerous advantages within the Territory. They range from Workshops, to Temple-class, the last one being of the highest quality."

"So… What do Workshops do?"

"Uh… Let's see, what can I compare it to… Ah, ok… Normally they're something akin to 'extra battery power'. In even simpler terms, standing in a Workshop-class Territory would increase the potency of your Aura Reserves by 50% with more minor benefits."

"I guess that means Temple-class boosts someone to 100%?"

"Actually… It's more like over 100%… But there's a significant difference. Temple-class Territories not only boost the parameters of an individual or their allies to 100% or more, but they also allow the caster to establish rules that can… well, redefine the parameters of reality within the Territory."

"So like a 'whatever you say goes' sort of deal." Oscar said.

"Precisely. For instance, if I established the rule that 'myself and my allies' reflexes are boosted tremendously', then that would enhance myself and my allies' reflexes to the extent that they would likely be able to consistently catch bullets with their bare hands."

"Wow…"

"Yes. Wow." Dawn said with a rather proud look on her face, "A mage with Territory Construction Rank A or above can do incredible things. Essentially, when inside a mage's domain of such a rank, they are practically the absolute law. If I were to say 'you are completely powerless in my Territory', then you wouldn't be able to use your Semblance or any other power you might possess."

"And if someone is stronger than you?"

"The effect would only be half as effective then."

"Ok… What if you said 'anyone shorter than me will be taller than me'?"

"I… haven't quite attempted such a thing… I frankly don't even know if it's possible using Territory Construction, but I can safely assume that being inside a Territory won't be able to drastically alter your physicality."

"So I won't gain 30 pounds of muscle then?"

"I'm afraid not." The girl laughed a little, "At best, I can only make you temporarily stronger than you appear. You'd have to do the rest through your own efforts."

"Right… Didn't hurt to try…"

Dawn looked at the young man quizzically, sitting down next to him.

"Are you… perhaps unsatisfied with yourself?"

"I mean… kind of… I know I'm getting better, I mean heck, I can take a Sabyr on my own and sometimes even kill them in one hit if I'm fast enough. It's just… I still feel like I'm lacking. Like I'm not at the level I'm supposed to be to stand with the rest of you."

"No one achieves such greatness immediately, Oscar. Not even myself or Dante. Yes, we seem absurdly stronger than everyone else, but… What was it my brother said…" The girl paused to think carefully, "We're beings akin to what you might consider monsters."

"You guys are anything but that though."

"In your perspective, yes, that may very well be the case. But not everyone shares your opinion. Even we understand how… vastly abnormal the rest of us are by comparison."

"But just because you're not exactly human doesn't mean you and your family are monsters. You're people all the same, and have feelings and dreams of your own."

Dawn giggled a little.

"W-What?" Oscar asked, confused by her reaction.

"Perhaps you are learning something from my brother. It seems like something he would say."

"Well, he did say that, sure… But I agree with that line of thought entirely." Oscar said firmly, "I don't really care if you're stronger than us or not 'human' like us. Or, you know, Faunus either. Frankly, I don't think it should matter. People are people, regardless of what they are or where they came from. You shouldn't be called a monster just because you're different."

"I-I see… Well, I'm deeply grateful for having such open minded people with us. A-And you as well, Oscar."

"I mean, you're super nice and really pretty, so you couldn't be a monster anyway!"

"E-Eh..?!"

"I mean, monsters can be all that and more from what Dante's told me! Like those succubi he told me about once!"

WHAT?!

"But that's not the point!" The young man continued, "You've been helping all of us out quite a lot. Me in particular with my training regiment, despite it getting crazy a lot of the time. Not to mention, you've helped me learn a lot of new things. So frankly… I'm extremely grateful to you."

"I-It's nothing, really! We should all be helping each other in these times, so… I'll continue doing my best to help you. Please take care of me."

"If anything, I should be saying that…" Oscar said as both he and Dawn laughed a little, "I should get going… Ren asked me for some help with making pancakes for everyone."

"Best leave quickly then, least Nora go on another rampage because of another deficit of pancakes…"

"See you later then?" The boy asked as he stood up.

"Yes. See you later." Dawn waved as Oscar left the training hall.

She sighed, her face going red a little as she thought about what he said earlier.

He said I was pretty… Honestly… That's just so…

"Wow, that was pretty swanky of him."

"W-What?! Mother?!"

"Heya kiddo. Seems like your magic is still in top shape."

"S-Since when were you here?!"

"Since the last five minutes of your training session. Couldn't see shit though, since you blocked off visibility. Probably for the better though." Athyra said as she crossed her arms, "We wouldn't exactly want them to know too much about what we could do."

"They can still likely hear us…"

"No, they can't. I may not be able to use a whole lot of magic right now, but I can still use my Aura to do a few other things. Like flood the room with it so that they can't pick up any sound."

"I see…" Was the girl's response, her head jolting up a moment after in realization, "W-Wait, then-?!"

"Yup. Saw it all. Honestly, you're way too cute sometimes, Dawn."

The girl pulled the hood of her white cloak over her head, silently squealing in embarrassment.

"Honestly kiddo, you should just get it over with and pounce him already. Drag him off to bed and do the deed."

"That's skipping every known step in a relationship!" Her muffled voice came out from beneath the fabric.

"Maybe, but it's pretty much a guaranteed deal, you know?"

"Mother!"

"Better take him before I do, cause trust me, he ain't leaving if I got my hands on him."

"MOTHER!" Dawn shouted, finally taking her hood off to reveal her rather exasperated and irritated expression.

The woman meanwhile laughed heartily, "Oh, relax kiddo. I'm joking." She said as she wiped a tear away from her eyes, "For the most part."

"Mother…"

"Aright, I'm done for real this time. But I was serious about what I said earlier. If you like him that much, bed him."

"I-I can't just do that!" The girl argued.

"Of course you can."

"No, I can't! That's just..! Very morally questionable!"

"So what?"

"S-So what?! What do you mean so what?!"

"You like that Oscar kid, right?"

"I! W-Well… I…"

"Ah, I get it. You want to do things right and proper. That's fair, I guess."

"You guess?" Dawn questioned as she crossed her arms.

"Well, everyone's got their own way of doing things, even when it comes to love. Sometimes people go slow and steady, while some go fast and messy. Trust me, fast and messy is damned fun."

"Mother…" Dawn sighed.

"Let me ask you… You actually serious about him? What do you like about him?"

"He's… well… quite handsome…"

"Yeah, he's pretty damn cute. Go on."

"He might seem helpless, but… he's actually quite intelligent and capable."

"Ah, so you're a top then."

"W-What..?!"

"What else?"

"Well… What he said earlier… That it shouldn't matter what we are…"

"Ah… I guess you really are pretty serious about him. At least, now you are." Athyra sighed, "You really take that whole 'monster' thing personally?"

"About our natures? Well… I don't. With the life I led before starting my journey, I was mostly secretive with my abilities, and the family taking care of me was very supportive, even when they found out I wasn't exactly… normal." Dawn explained as she held her staff closer to her body, "Dante, Leonard and Ciel though… From what I've seen for myself, they weren't treated as kindly because of their being different. Not all the time, anyway. It's just… Whenever I think about their circumstances, I can't help but wonder if something like that could happen to me… And I suppose… that perhaps it is because of my fear I haven't really grown."

"Come on kiddo, you're a freaking talented mage. I mean really, what Caster at your age can use EX-Rank Territory Construction magic that goes even beyond Temple level? You're leagues above-"

"That's only when I'm in one of my territories. But I'm not speaking of just my abilities, mother. Yes, I am quite sorely disappointed that I haven't been able to unlock either my Shadow Skin or my Angelic Veil, but…" The girl paused for a moment, looking up at her mother, "I feel I haven't really grown as a person."

"You think so? I happen to think the opposite."

"R-Really?"

"Oh yeah. You grew up in a safer environment, sure, but when you learned about what you could do, you decided to confront that head on. You trained yourself up and faced off with some pretty nasty shit on your own. You bravely stepped outside the boundary and traveled to a bunch of different Worlds on your own. And when you knew of your siblings, you risked life and limb to come to the World of Remnant and helped them on their journey from the shadows." Athyra said as she sat down on a table, "When Dante needed a good kick in the soul, you rushed to every other World he'd been too, found all the allies he ever interacted with, and managed to get a piece of their soul to help him. Frankly Dawn, it's startling thinking about how effective you were. And that was just for the sake of your family."

"I…"

"Not just anyone can do those kinds of things. It takes a person with some real guts and love for family to do what you did, and to make it as far as you did on your own. Sure, you might not be the strongest, but you're definitely the wisest and most responsible."

"Isn't Dante-?"

"Dante's an idiot. He just talks really fancy sometimes and woos people. In any case…" Athyra paused as she crossed her arms and exhaled quickly, "Your efforts made a real difference in how things shaped up to be in the end. You… Well, you basically did what I couldn't do for my three little idiots. You guided them and protected them. So honestly? I'm really proud of you, kiddo."

"T-Thank you, mother…" Dawn spoke rather meekly out of embarrassment for the praise, "I'm… I'm really grateful for your words."

"Don't sweat it." The woman said as she pulled her daughter in for a tight hug before letting her go, "And don't sweat the Shadow Skin stuff. It'll happen one way or another."

"How did Dante come by his, if I may ask?"

Athyra looked toward the ground, grabbing her forearm rather tightly.

"Shadow Skin and Angelic Shroud are… complicated in that the key for their unlocking comes from deeply ingrained emotions. Obviously, they can be either negative or positive. In Dante's case… He's something of a prodigy with Shadow Skin because of the intense hate he had."

"H-Hate..?" The girl asked, startled by the revelation.

"You and I both know his life had some seriously shit moments in it. And I'm talking about shit that would just… break other people down on such a mental level that they'd hide away or just turn bad." Her mother explained, "The evil done to him, the evil he saw done to others for petty reasons or beliefs… The cruelty and unfairness he bore witness to… It made him immensely bitter for the longest of times. And while he may not have shown it, that hate in him festered. Sure, it made him fairly stronger, but…"

"He was never really quite as strong as when 'love' filled his heart."

"Exactly."

"But how does love empower both sides?"

"Love will make us go above and beyond to protect what matters to us most. Take you for example. You went all over the place and risked yourself just to help your family. In retrospect, it's also because of love that people can do some really terrible and fucked up things. Like slaughtering thousands just because they killed someone you loved."

"Love can make us tilt towards either spectrum… I think I understand…"

"Don't think about it too much. It'll happen one of these days." Athyra said as she pushed herself off the wall and stretched her arms over head, "I don't know about you, but I can go for some ice cream. And by ice cream, I mean you get the ice cream, I get margaritas, and you share some of the ice cream with me."

"Alright, mother." The girl laughed as she walked alongside her mother.

I just… hope I can be of use once again, and become strong enough to protect what I cherish with my own hands, just like them…

---

~I really enjoy how the princess told us to meet her here, and yet she's dallying about.~

Come on, Eclypse. Weiss texted me three minutes ago saying she'd be a little late.

~I get that, but why are we hiding in the shadows like that freaking bat dude from those comics? Isn't the whole idea to be a little public about this?~

Close enough… Dante smirked as he overlooked the restaurant from an opposite building.

The GlassWay certainly lived up to the rumors of its… glamour. The building itself was like a huge pyramid of tinted glass with many outdoor balconies lined across the numerous levels. However, when looking towards the top of the building, it was completely closed off, possibly in an attempt to reserve privacy for the more… better paying customers.

Looking down, Dante could see numerous fancy vehicles pulling away steadily at a time as people were lined up on both ends of the street, leaving just enough room for cars and the like to pass.

This'll be a first…

~What do you mean? You've been to fancy restaurants like this before.~

Yeah, but for infiltration missions. I never actually got to sit down at a table in a super fancy place like this and eat the food.

~I hope you remember your table manners then…~

*Good Dante!*

U-Uh, yes Navâra? The devil mentally called out, slightly startled by the sudden and faint tone of frustration in her voice.

*Long have we been in Atlas, and long has it been since we vowed to explore its great streets as I provide you with pleasures only affordable to a magnanimous Empress such as I!*

Sorry… It's been a little tough to get my scheduling in order these last few weeks… If it's alright with you, we can go out to have fun on Wednesday since I only have some tasks in the morning.

*Hmmm… Three days then… Very well! I find this acceptable!*

Great. Thanks for being so understanding.

*But of course, my Wielder! I am nothing if not extremely understanding!*

Dante's collar vibrated briefly as a Holographic screen popped up, displaying a text from Weiss. Reading it, he quickly looked down at the street corner to see a white limousine rounding the corner.

The devil stood up from his perch on the tall building opposite of the restaurant, patting himself down as he glanced over his black suit to find no smears, smudges or stains on it. He then fixed the cuffs of his grey dress shirt underneath his coat, moving his hands up to his black tie and quickly readjusting it.

His grey dress shoes were still shiny and clean, and his laces were tucked away out of sight. Dante then turned on his HoloGraphic scroll's camera mode to display his image on the screen, checking to see if his hair was in order. He actually had it cut since it had grown long and had been uncut for far too long.

Now, his hair wasn't quite chin length, but was shorter on the sides and back, where on the entirety of the back of his head, his white hair stood up a little, flaring out faintly in large clumps. His bangs were cut shorter as well, but still clumped together nicely into small yet faint curls that framed the sides of his face and covered his entire forehead just above his eyebrows, as opposed to when he usually parted his hair towards the left.

While still slightly messy overall, it was still rather neatly maintained, and thus respectable.

"Looks like I'm all set."

Waiting for the limousine to make a complete stop, Dante immediately surged forward in brief streaks of platinum Aura, reappearing in front of the rear side door of the limousine that faced the entrance of the restaurant. Everyone was briefly startled by the sudden flash of Aura, but immediately were in awe when they saw it was the newly appointed S-Class Huntsmen. Then, the flashes from their Scrolls began to assault him as he opened the door.

Weiss' ice blue gloved hand emerged from the vehicle, showing that the thin silk gloves reached all the up above her biceps. Dante gently took her presented hand and helped escort her out of the vehicle steadily, her foot emerging first to reveal her ice blue stiletto heels that sparkled like diamonds. The rest of her person emerged shortly after, revealing the dress she wore.

The dress itself was dark blue and strapless, where a thin and transparent white silk mesh emerged from the top hem of the bust, which showed some cleavage, and went upwards in a pointed diamond formation that stopped at the base of her neck. The fabric then wrapped around her neck, covering only an inch of her lower neck as the majority of her back was exposed, save for the lower back region.

A white sash wrapped around her slender waist, tied up into a knot whose strands dangled over her right hip. From beneath the sash downwards, the dark blue fabric very gradually began to fade into white, where the bottom area of the hem of her dress was completely white. With the gradual fade came small glistens adorning the fabric of her dress, sparkling under the moonlight. The hem had a long cut on the front left side, exposing almost all of her left leg as her complete person came into view now.

Her hair remained braided exactly the same as she usually wore it, sporting her iconic tiara. The only other difference was that instead of her usual diamond-shaped ruby earrings, she sported diamond-shaped obsidian earrings.

The crowd awed at the sight of Weiss' glamorous beauty and how her attire for the evening emphasized her beautiful, pale skin, her lith yet still well curved figure, and her white as snow hair. Deviously, the girl smirked as she let go of Dante's hand and then looped her arm through his, bringing them ever closer together as the passions of the crowd were inflamed even further, evidenced by their excited squeals and frantic picture taking.

"I didn't know I was coming to the Emmys…" The devil said as both he and Weiss walked towards the lobby entrance.

"Another pop culture reference?" The girl asked.

"A relevant one. Sort of. Or was it the damned Tony Awards? I forgot…"

"With how much nonsense you've stored in that brain of yours, it isn't a surprise you'd forget."

"Like being able to use moonshine as gasoline for vehicles?"

Weiss sighed with a faint smile on her face, "You can tell me more useless facts later."

As she said this, the sliding doors closed behind them, showing the interior of the restaurant. The ceiling plates of glass looked like the night sky, completely cloudless and riddled with stars as dim white light emerged from the glass-pane floors and rectangular dining tables and chairs. Fancy, slow jazz piano music gently played throughout the entire building as the duo walked ahead towards a glass podium.

A man dressed in black pants, a white dress shirt, a black vest and bow-tie stood behind it, looking up when he heard their approach. His face brightened up immediately when he saw the previous heiress step forward.

"Ms. Schnee! How wonderful it is to see you grace our establishment once again. I see you're not with the family this time, but with a strapping young lad instead."

"R-Roberto, please..." Weiss said as she cleared her throat, "Unfortunately, the family won't be joining us this evening. It's just the two of us."

"Oh?" He said, lips curling into a smile as he eyed up the duo, "I see, I see… I assume you wish to dine on the top floor this evening?"

"Indeed, I would. My… companion has yet to witness the fineries of this establishment, so I wish to spoil him a bit tonight."

"Ms. Schnee, if you're dining at the top tonight, you won't be spoiling him 'a bit', you'll spoil the lad rotten."

"R-Roberto..!"

"That's quite fine. If it's Ms. Schnee, I'm more than ok with being spoiled by her." Dante spoke up with a wink.

His words made Weiss jolt up a little, her cheeks turning a shade of red as she cleared her throat.

"A-As you can see, he's quite fond of speaking foolishly…"

"Indeed, I see he is." He stepped away from the podium with a smirk, guiding them to a glass platform elevator, "Your table will be ready by the time you reach the top floor with a waiter already present. Enjoy your evening Ms. Schnee and… young lad."

With a wave goodbye, the man made to return to his post as the elevator smoothly rose up, the duo looking about with impressed expressions at the glamorous and sophisticated architecture.

"I think he was undressing me with his eyes."

Weiss sputtered a little before giggling, keeping a hand on her mouth to try and stifle the quieted laughter that soon followed.

"I'm serious. 'Strapping young lad' and all that? I think he wanted to have me for dinner." The devil chuckled, making Weiss laugh some more before she punched him in the arm.

"Has… Has that ever happened to you before? Being hit on by a guy I mean…" The girl asked, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Oh yeah… Plenty of times… I don't have a problem whatsoever with people of that persuasion, just… well… I don't swing that way. In case you haven't noticed, I really like girls."

"I've noticed." Weiss said as she crossed her arms, "Your youngest sibling really likes girls as well."

"Oh yes she does… And good for her too. It's nice that she's with someone she really likes and is her type."

"What exactly is her type?"

"Physically strong girls that are taller than her."

"Er… Is there a reason..?"

"She likes the fact someone can be as strong as her. Speaking honestly, Ciel is actually the physically strongest sibling."

"Not you?"

"I'm more balanced compared to my siblings. Jack of all trades in essence, but master of many."

"Is that even possible?" The girl asked as she looked up to Dante.

"Of course it is. You just gotta have the patience and the desire to learn and master something. It's why I specialize in a lot of things."

"That you do… But going back to Ciel, why tall-?"

"I don't know, freaky kinky reasons, I guess. Some people just like 'em taller than them."

"What about your other sister?"

"What about her?"

"Well, what's her type?"

"Guys, I guess. She's not as… er, open about these kinds of things compared to me and Ciel. More of the shy type."

"I guess her hanging out with Oscar frequently might make sense then…"

Dante looked to the heiress with a questioning quirk of his eyebrow, the once heiress smiling as she quirked her eyebrow back at him.

"Shut up."

"I'm serious. They've been spending a great deal of time together. Obviously a good deal of it is training sessions, but… I've seen them together quite often as well."

"Well I'll be damned… Dawn's got a boyfriend. Or, you know, working her way up to that."

"I assume she's the more normal sibling…"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Dante, you are anything but normal. You're extremely abnormal."

"Is that so bad?"

"I never said it was a bad thing. If anything, it's a good thing. Your… overall strangeness…" Weiss said as she waved her hand over Dante, "has been a great benefit. To me, to everyone with us on our journey… to the World even."

"I'm no hero Weiss. Just-"

"A vagabond with fancy weapons. I've heard the phrase before. I really don't understand why you're so reluctant to call yourself a hero with all the good you've done."

"Even if I did a lot of bad things to achieve that 'good' result?"

"No one in life ever has their hands completely clean, Dante. Or at the very least, no one will completely live their life without dirtying their hands in some way."

"Look at you, being Wise Weiss."

"It's the truth. At least, it's the truth I believe in. But I don't think it's simply the fact that you've done some bad that makes you reluctant to be called a hero. So what is it? Why the strong refusal?"

"My biggest reason would have to be that a lot of evil bastards use the title of 'Hero' for less than heroic pursuits. Seeing it, and making that realization… I just decided that if killing, thieving and raping is what it means to be a 'hero'… then I'd much rather be a villain or a vagabond, and kill those so-called 'heroes'. I'm not here to be perfect and pretty, and I'm not here to be the kind of 'hero' people want. I'm here to root out and keep away the ugly things hiding in the Dark."

"The kind of hero people need, not want... Fitting, in its own way. Even so… That doesn't make you a terrible person, Dante. Would all of us love you so much if we ever thought you were such an evil individual?"

"Er… Love is blind?"

"Cute, but stop talking." Weiss said as she pushed her index finger to his lips to silence him, "You're a good man, Dante Aetherveil. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise."

The devil smirked, chuckling silently as he grasped Weiss' hand gently, "Thanks. I guess a reminder now and then helps a good deal."

The girl jolted up a little at the action, quickly taking her hand back as she crossed her arms with a brief huff, "D-Don't you forget it."

The elevator came to a halt, allowing the two to step off and into the dining area at the top. Looking up, Dante could see the inner tip of the pyramid or glass, whistling briefly at the gorgeous sight of the tapestry of stars blanketing the walls. Glancing around, he could see quite a lot of people that had some "big names" to them.

One of which was Andrei Polk and his wife Marisa Polk, both of them being the largest conglomerate of construction work and architecture in all of Atlas. Rumor had it that they helped design this building.

While Dante may not have known the majority of people here, it was clear Weiss did and vice versa. They were all… glancing at her as subtly as possible, most of them giving her very judgemental glances.

Despite their glances and disapproving looks, they were like droplets of water frozen completely solid as the once heiress strode proudly with Dante on her arm, not even giving them the time of day as they were seated at their table soon after.

"Ms. Schnee, Mr. Aetherveil, welcome. May we serve you with a wine of your choosing as you decide on dinner for the evening?"

"How are you with wine?" Weiss asked the devil.

"White wine any good?"

"In fact, they have a delicious specialty wine brewed by them." Weiss answered, "A bottle of the GlassHouse Special please."

"I'll return shortly with your wine."

The waiter left them their black, leather bound menus, both taking their time to peruse the selections. Weiss may not have been willingly pay attention, but using his peripherals, Dante could clearly see and feel the gazes of many at their table.

"I guess they're turning their noses up at you for associating with someone of my 'ilk'." The devil said, still sifting through the menu to find something he'd like.

"Most of them seem to forget the fact that the majority of the Atlas Families started as well known and powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses. This is just as much true for the Schnee Family before my grandfather, Nicholas Schnee, established our family's fortune with Dust." Weiss explained as she read through the menu, "They're right to be jealous anyway."

"Jealous? I'm getting more of a Gossip Girls vibe if anything…"

"Oh they're jealous alright. Think about it. I strode in here with a recently appointed S-Class Huntsman with a rather excellent reputation among people. They're more than likely under the impression you're in my pocket."

"Interesting line of thought…"

"Frankly, I'd be amazed if they haven't already made the assumption we're sleeping together just to have made that happen."

"Uh…"

"Don't worry about it. That's just the norm with high society in Atlas most of the time. If you made something rather impossible… well, possible, then it's likely somebody slept with somebody, etc."

"Er… Did people ever say that about-?"

"Dozens of times. 'Weiss probably got A's because she slept with the teacher. Weiss likely became the headliner in the ballet performance because she blew so and so in the back-room'."

"That's… Well… Shit, I don't even know what to say about that…"

"Heh… You're a lot less talkative now after hearing all that."

"Well, it's upsetting really. All your hard work being demeaned like that because people are stupid or jealous… It just never sits right with me. I mean, yeah, I talk shit sometimes to piss someone off into making a mistake, but… never behind someone's back. And definitely not like that." Dante said, lowering his menu to look at Weiss, "What's worse is that you really couldn't just turn around and tell them to 'fuck off' because of your social status."

"Honestly, it wasn't even my 'status' as a member of high society that prevented me from saying anything like that. I… didn't much care about that. Part of it was just to avoid making trouble for my younger brother and mother. The other part… Well, like you do, it was to shut them up with my actions rather than words. It was to prove to them that it was my efforts that got me to where I was. Not being a 'slut' and sleeping around like some already do."

"Well… I think it's safe to say you've done exactly that these last two years. Proving them wrong I mean, not the… sleeping around bit." The devil clarified, "You've done amazing for yourself, Weiss. And you really stepped up since Beacon. I think I speak for everyone when I say we're all glad you stuck with us."

"And you?"

"M-Me?"

"Yes, you."

Before he could manage a word, the waiter returned with an obsidian, glass bottle of wine and popped the cork shortly after, pouring their drinks quickly.

"Fried calamari for an appetizer?" Weiss asked, lowering her menu.

"Read my mind."

"As for our dinner… I'll be having the lobster special, please."

"Excellent choice, ms. Schnee. Mr. Aetherveil?"

"Uh… You know, I haven't had lobster in forever. I'd like the same thing, please."

"Very good. Your orders will be out soon."

Handing off their menus, the duo raised their glasses and clinked them together, both soon taking a quick sip.

"Wow… That's actually really good. Sweet, but not too sweet as to ruin the wine."

"Only the best, no?" The girl replied, setting her glass down, "You still didn't answer my previous question."

"Uh…"

"About being glad I stuck with you all. Were you glad about it? I… Well, I haven't always been nice to you…"

"You're worried about that?"

"O-Of course I am!"

Dante laughed a little, "Honestly, you lecturing me or calling me a degenerate every other day was actually pretty fun, if not pretty cute."

"Y-You..!"

Another huff, and another cute pout came from Weiss as she stared down Dante.

"I'm glad I stuck with all of you. And… I'm glad to have had someone brilliant at my side."

"You overestimate me."

"Hardly." Weiss said, swirling the wine in her glass before taking another quick sip, "I really do mean it when I say thank you. For everything."

"No need to thank me. I already know how amazing I am."

"Haha." The girl laughed in a deadpan tone, smiling soon after.

Further behind Weiss, Dante could hear a girl snickering with her date behind their menus, trying to be subtle.

"Ignore them." Weiss said, noticing how the devil furrowed his brow slightly.

…

…

Their chatter was simply too annoying to ignore, especially since he could hear their derogatory words about Weiss.

"Dante-"

"Back in a second."

The girl turned around, ready to call to him again until she suddenly remembered it'd be useless to do so, considering he made up his mind.

And so Weiss watched Dante approach the table fearlessly, despite the many gazes focused on him. He was being… rather flirtatious with the girl, much to the other man's chagrin seeing after a few fanciful words his date was rather fixated on the devil.

That was until he picked up the wine bottle on their table and steadily poured out its red contents on the woman and her fancy white dress. She gasped in shock before she breathlessly wailed at her predicament, looking up at the young devil in anger as both she and her date made to stand.

However, a stern stare seen only by the two of them made their blood suddenly freeze as their rears instantly planted themselves back to their seats. Their lips moved, but no words came out as Dante lectured them. From what Weiss could interpret by reading his lips, he was being rather harsh with his words, going as far as to call the woman a whore and slut, a whorish slut.

Wait, what? What kind of sense does that make?

Weiss rested her chin in her palm, watching Dante proudly stride back to their table as the berated couple fled the scene, thoroughly shamed. Just as the devil sat back down at the table, he mimicked Weiss' positioning, staring back at her with wide eyes before fluttering his eyelashes in a rather seductive manner.

No longer able to hide her smile, Weiss quietly laughed, shaking her head.

"You know that stunt of yours will show up in the city wide news tomorrow morning, right?"

"Like I give a crap about that…" Dante said as he sat upright in his chair.

"Obviously you don't."

"Do you care about it?"

"No. If anything, it'll be one of the many good memories I have of spending time with you and everyone else."

"Glad to hear I could make your night. Even if I… well…"

"I'm not conflicted in the slightest. That girl was Angelina Joyce, something of a real-"

"Bitch?"

"I was going to say bully, but that works just as well. She always droned on about being the best singer in Atlas, when really she missed quite a few notes often. When I tried to point that out, she tried biting my head off frequently."

"Her voice was grating too… I could actually feel my brain cells burning away the more I listened to her talk…"

Weiss giggled briefly, "She does have the effect on 'actually intelligent' people." She said with a quick wave of her hand, "Thank you for that. Truly."

"I've got you covered, mistress." Dante replied with a straight face and a thumbs up.

There was a time she would have berated him mercilessly for a comment like that, calling him a senseless degenerate and whatever other complicated insult she could think of.

Now, more than ever, she appreciated his attempts of humor, and his many acts of kindness. Despite her harshness and the occasional insult she threw his way when they first met during their days at Beacon, she would realize shortly after that he, aside from Ruby, her current friends, her sister and her mother, always treated her fairly.

But most impactful of all to the girl was how he treated her like a friend and human being, in spite of her arrogance and her occasional ugly words. He treated her like a person, not some puppet that danced to the pull of the strings. He challenged her constantly, teaching her new things and considerably changing her perspectives.

He made life more fun and interesting with his vagabond ways and deliberate moments of goofiness.

That's why she-

Before her train of thought could continue, the waiter at last returned with a cart in tow, two silver platters resting on the hard plastic as he came to a stop, quickly placing them on the table.

"Ms. Schnee, mr. Aetherveil, enjoy your dinner."

With those words spoken, he then quickly grabbed the knobs of the platter covers and pulled them away, quickly taking his leave soon after with his cart. The aroma of finely cooked lobster filled the nostrils of the duo, both eager to dig in.

"Have you had lobster before?" Weiss asked.

"We talking normal lobster, or..?"

"What do you mean 'normal lobster'?"

"Well, there's this one time I got eaten by a monstrous lobster and 'ate' my way out of him…"

"W-What? How did you even-?"

"I cooked his insides with my Aura and just chomped away." Dante shrugged.

Of course he did.

How dare she expect a sane answer?

Still, it made her smile nonetheless as she filed it away as "one of the many ludicrous exploits of Dante Aetherveil" before they enjoyed their dinner together that evening.

---

Daily training had wrapped up for mostly everyone. Dante had helped Jaune and Oscar with their practical skills, while Inuba helped with the girl's training. Fire was the only element she could naturally produce, but with the helps of her paper talismans, she could produce other elements, like lightning.

Nora's upgraded hammer could discharge enough electricity to amp up her Semblance. With Inuba's help and careful discretion, Nora was quite literally a monster. Thinking about a fully amped Nora using her fragment of Shadow Skin from Eclypse made the kitsune shudder at the potential destruction the hyperactive girl could unleash.

All the same, their training went smoothly, all without the fox girl showing any signs of her 'true potential' as a warrior. Playing the role of timid and slightly clumsy girl was… challenging since she had to ignore her highly honed instincts. So many lightning fast dodges she could have performed, so many parries and deflections she could have utilized for strong counter attacks… It was a little frustrating.

Still it was a necessary measure in case they needed a surprise counter attack. She took pride in being trusted with such a critical role, seeing as if such a time came, Inuba could completely turn the odds in their favor.

Her only hope was that it wouldn't come to that, and that they could all continue working together amicably with the Atlas forces.

"I wish to spar with you!"

The voice echoed throughout the training hall, drawing everyone's attention to Dante's direction, seeing William Ardâin standing in front of the devil with a resolute stare.

"Uh… You wanna spar with me?"

"Yes!"

"Hey hey, no need to be so loud about it…"

"S-Sorry…" William apologized, clearing his throat shortly after, "Sparring with one another can help us understand each other's abilities more. Especially since we both wield Aegis Blades."

"You got a point. I could definitely use some practice with that gimmick you pulled."

"Gimmick..?"

"You and your Blade fighting together on the field. I didn't think that was something that could be done until I saw it for myself. So I wanna try it out." Dante said with crossed arms, "How about it, Eclypse? Wanna give it a go?"

"But of course." The Blade said as she appeared next to her Wielder in a brief burst of platinum Aura, "Been looking forward to taking another shot at the short stack."

"Don't get so cocky, cow tits." Mòrai quickly said as she appeared next to William in a quick flash of sapphire Aura, "This 'short stack' is gonna kick your ass."

"At least I have tits, washboard."

"The hell you say?!"

Both Blades were ready to jump at one another's throats had their Wielders not stopped them, both exchanging awkward chuckles as they held the girls back.

"You'll have the chance to show her up, Mòrai. Please be patient." William assured.

"Easy Eclypse. You'll get your shot at her." Dante patted his Blade's head.

"Er… I suppose I will officiate this match?" Inuba spoke up, garnering the attention of both Wielders and Blades.

"That'd be just peachy." The devil said with a smile.

He and Eclypse backed away steadily, Mòrai and William doing the same as they went to their respective marks, each Wielder summoning their Blades' weapon form while the two Blades projected copies of their weapon forms. With each of them ready, they took their stances and waited for Inuba to start their match.

"This'll be pretty exciting… Standing next to you and helping you fight I mean… I feel like I'm gonna be unstoppable." Eclypse said, keeping her eyes fixed on her opponents.

"You're telling me. This'll be fun, if anything." Dante replied.

"Don't hesitate and don't back down. Go at him and the bitch with everything you've got, Master." Mòrai told her Wielder.

"T-That's not very nice, Mòrai…" he replied.

"Aw shut it."

With everyone ready, the kitsune raised up her hand, looking between the two pairs a few times before swiping her hand down.

"Begin!"

Both Wielders were the first to move, their clash unleashing a powerful shockwave that startled everyone watching as they suddenly saw them in the middle. Mòrai leapt high above her Wielder to strike down Dante, but Eclypse was waiting exactly for the girl to make that move and leapt over the devil as well.

Their swords clashed momentarily, sparks flying as they passed each other by midair. Dante and William spun around quickly, still deadlocked as the Atlas soldier used his Semblance to harden his arm and rear it back.

As his fist came flying in, the devil raised up his leg and kicked the punch, using the force of William's strike to jump backwards as Eclypse passed by him and began rapidly slashing at the young soldier.

Mòrai quickly darted in from the side for a horizontal slash, only to be parried by the left handed Eclypse as she spun around quickly towards Mòrai's exposed side and countered with a inwards horizontal cut. The attack only glanced the stomach of the girl's heavy armor, whereas the blonde Blade retaliated with a quick upwards cut of her, barely scraping the forehead of Eclypse's headpiece as she leaned back.

Capitalizing on his Blade's retreat, Dante rushed in from the side to attack William, the devil having the advantage in speed because of his longsword compared to the claymore William wielded. The soldier's Blade immediately went to aid her Master, only to have her claymore stopped by a lunging stab from Eclypse.

The black armored girl's strength was absurd, even for Mòrai as she struggled to push back. A quick inwards swipe to her stomach was stopped by thick metal plating covering the blonde Blade's forearm, where she then retaliated with a swipe to her opponent's neck, only for the girl to chuckle as she ducked underneath and freed her sword, leaping away from Mòrai before she immediately lunged back in to go after her again.

I've never really seen Eclypse fight before… The kitsune thought, Her style lacks any sort of elegance or sophisticated technique and yet her brutal strikes are effective all the same. Her instincts for battle and protecting her Master guide her, like how a genius artist's instincts guides their brush to paint a masterpiece. Truly… she'd be a frightening opponent to fight, even for me…

The two Blades clashed with one another, but Eclypse immediately reached out to grab her opponent. Mòrai reached back, however Eclypse was quicker and managed to grab hold of her wrist. After a short dance, the platinum haired girl spun around and lobbed Mòrai away from her like she was a baseball, focusing her attention on the fight between her Master and Mórai's wielder.

Dante had the upper hand with his strength and his speed, but William's own physicality paired with the durability of his Semblance allowed him to match the devil's pace and glance a lot of cuts that would have disabled another man.

Even so, the force behind the slashes were still incredible, knocking him back a few times if not causing a good deal of pain, but it was manageable.

Dante on the other hand was all the more impressed, not just with his durability but William's technique as well when the soldier wasn't focusing solely on defense. A lesser man would have had his arms cut off by now.

But that was the problem with the young man's strikes.

Even if this was a sparring match he wasn't attacking to kill, but to maim and disable. This in turn told Dante something else.

William has never taken a life.

It was difficult to imagine such a thing, especially given the fact he was an Atlesian Soldier. While not bloodthirsty like other kinds of militaries and soldiers the devil came across, a soldier more often than not might have need to take the life of another, whether in defense of their own life or on orders.

And yet… William's innocent naivety made it all the more believable that he had never taken a life. It was this fact that allowed Dante to greatly capitalize on his fellow Aegis Blade Wielder's flaws. He was trying to not hurt the devil.

Admirable, if not amusing.

A brief moment of un-attentiveness allowed William to glance a stab from Dante using the flat side of his blade. The soldier then quickly grabbed hold of his claymore's handle with both hands, then spun around and slashed outwards, unleashing a brief arc of sapphire lightning that forced away the devil.

While not painful, it numbed his hand for a brief moment, but that moment was all William needed to close in with what would have been a rather disastrous vertical slash. Eclypse had appeared in front of her Wielder, her copy of her weapon form brimming with platinum Aura as it collided with sapphire lightning, unleashing a powerful shockwave that pushed away both parties.

Dante kept his hand on Eclypse's back to steady her, while William, almost flying by his Blade, had his arm grabbed by Mòrai to prevent him from flying away further as he was promptly placed back on his feet.

"Y-You're bleeding..!" William said, seeing that some blood dripped down the side of his Blade's face.

"I'll live."

"You alright?" Dante asked, gently rubbing his thumb across the cut on Eclypse's cheek to remove the faint smear of blood.

"Bitch is tough, for a short stack. The Wielder isn't a pushover either from what it looks like. But we've got the advantage, don't we?"

"That we do."

Without a word needed to be shared between them, Dante and Eclypse charged ahead at William and Mòrai, who stood their ground as they found themselves under heavy assault from their opponents. Every few strikes or so, the devilish duo swapped opponents, flawlessly weaving around each other in rapid, fluid movements that put off the knightly duo.

Even with their strong defense, William and Mòrai found themselves fumbling around each other, William most of all with Mòrai needing to take initiative to help defend him. Like wolves sensing weakness in their prey, Dante and Eclypse continued their relentless onslaught of slashes, kicks and punches, all while easily defending the other from attacks.

And then, triumph.

A simultaneous attack from the devilish duo knocked William and Mòrai onto their backs. When they made to rise up, Dante stepped on William's claymore to keep it to the ground, the sharp edge of his longsword almost touching the soldier's neck to stop him from moving. Eclypse on the other hand kept Mòrai's weapon lowered to the ground by simply pushing the tip of her sword into the flat side, all while she planted a foot on the girl's armored chest to keep her pinned to the ground despite her struggling and cursing.

"The match has concluded!" Inuba called out, "Victory goes to team Aetherveil!"

"Awesome." Dante replied as he removed his foot from William's weapon and reached out with his hand, "You weren't taking it easy on me, were you?"

"W-What do you mean?" William fumbled out as he took Dante's and stood up with his help.

"I don't know… Just seems like in our first scrap you were more… intense."

"Is that so…" The young soldier, "Perhaps… It's because I didn't see you as a threat…"

"Oh?"

"N-No! I didn't mean it like that, mr. Aetherveil! I only meant that because I don't see you as an enemy, I may not have given it my absolute best…"

"One, I'm busting your chops dude. Relax. And two, we talked about the whole 'mr.' thing. Just Dante. And three…" The devil placed a hand on the soldier's shoulder, "Don't take it easy to the point you don't try. Even if it is a friend. Give it your best next time, yeah?"

"U-Uh… Y-Yes… I'll keep that in mind…"

"Get your foot off me, you fucking cow!"

"Hey hey, that's no way to be talking to the winner, Strawberry Shortcake. If you're not careful, I might crush that washboard you call a chest." Eclypse replied to Mòrai as she put more force into her foot, making the blonde Blade's armor creak steadily from the strain.

A pinch to the platinum haired girls cheek from her Master made her remove her foot, allowing Mòrai to stand back up.

"I would've preferred you pinched my ass instead…" The Blade told Dante, rubbing her cheek.

"One, that'd be a reward for you, not a punishment. Two, that's not something I could just do out in public without being called a pervert or something."

"People already think you're a huge pervert. Might as well just roll with it." The girl said with a shrug, making the devil sigh.

"A-Are you alright, Mòrai?" William knelt down, extending his hand to the heavily armored girl.

"I'm fine, damn it." She pushed away his hand standing up on her own.

The young soldier stood up as well, looking towards Dante and Eclypse as they continued their conversation.

From what I understand… this was their first battle together as a pair after discovering an Aegis Blade can manifest in human shape to fight alongside their Wielder. Normally, a pair fighting together for the first time ever would make many mistakes. Even with a pair like myself and Mòrai, we're prone to making mistakes from time to time. And yet…

He narrowed his eyes on the duo, clenching his fist tightly.

They worked together so flawlessly… and completely outmatched us without using their full strength. Ironic, seeing as he was the one that pointed out I didn't give it my all. Maybe if I did give it my best effort… I could have forced his hand and made him take me more seriously.

Mòrai was watching her Wielder closely. She could feel him thinking, pondering the battle and agonizing over his mistakes with that solemn look in his eyes. So, she took care of that the best way she knew how.

With a swift kick to the ass.

William jumped at the sudden round kick that hit his rear, making him cry out briefly.

"M-Mòrai?! Why did you-?!"

"Shut it. I'm gonna hit the showers."

"A-Alright then…"

"Next time."

"W-What? Next time?"

"Next time we're kicking their ass."

"We're… kicking their ass..?"

"That's right. The next time we fight them, we're winning. Got it?"

"Uh… I'll try-"

"No, we're not gonna try. We're gonna do it. Hear me?"

"R-Right…"

Before Mòrai could take another step forward, Ironwood and Clover had stepped inside the training hall, drawing everyone's eyes on them.

"Clover wasn't kidding. Everyone is really giving it their all." The General spoke with a proud smile on his face.

"Well, we have to, with the way things are going." Ruby said as she stepped next to Dante, "We'll be ready for anything, no matter what."

"Glad to hear it." The man said with an appreciative nod, "How goes progress on your… investigations?" He asked Dante directly.

"Er… Nothing totally solid yet. Patrols haven't picked up anything, but… An external source I have is looking into some territory outside the Kingdom's walls. Might be something, might not be. Either way, I'm on it."

"No links to what's been happening down in Mantle?"

"None. Like I stated to my contact, the bodies would've been taken for… transfiguration. 'Meat' for their army." The devil clarified, "And all the bodies found in Mantle were just left there mutilated."

"The enemy leader does know you. Any chance he's deliberately throwing you off the scent by doing the opposite of standardized tactics by their kind?" The General asked.

"Unlikely, and for two reasons. One, and the most simplest reason, it'd be inefficient to leave behind bodies. Bodies either get used for food or are transfigured into Lesser types." Dante explained, "And two, he's cockily straightforward. As in he'll tell you he's going to do something and actually do it while managing to succeed."

"Did he ever establish a date?"

"No. And I'm sure he did that on purpose to constantly keep us on our toes to wear us out."

"Are you certain you don't need more resources? More patrols outside the borders, or-?"

"You need your people, General." Dante affirmed, "They're not getting in the Kingdom walls anytime soon with the defenses we set up."

The General raised a hand to his chin, taking a moment to think until the answer came to him, "In turn, it forces them to only appear outside our Kingdom walls, which greatly reduces the risk of casualties. But only if we manage to keep them out."

"Which we can make happen with almost complete certainty. The goal is that when he shows up, we speedrun his ass."

"Speedrun..?" The man asked, confused by the terminology.

"Er… Take him down as quickly as possible."

"And if you can't quickly eliminate Ogrânix?"

The young devil sighed, tilting his head briefly, "Then we can use the help of the Ace Ops to get us closer quickly. Inuba will be able to keep them all boxed in so we don't have to agonize too much over time." Dante explained, "The short of it General is that this isn't an enemy you can just bomb and get it over with. I gotta get to him whenever and wherever he shows up and take him down myself."

"Can you explain the reason?"

"Soul Destruction. It's a… latent ability I have for uglies like this that'll come back even if you destroy their bodies."

"Which is why a slipping in a bomb won't work even if it does manage to destroy his body." The General added as he crossed his arms, "Are bombs even..?"

"Honestly? Never tried. But seeing as he's a King class, I doubt it would hurt him all too much, least of all kill him."

"And our only option is to get you close?"

"I'm afraid so. But don't worry General. I kicked that scumbag's ass once before, and I'll do it again."

"I definitely appreciate the confidence in the matter." The man exhaled steadily, "Just… Let me know if you need other resources to help you."

"I'll keep it in mind. Other than that…" The devil said as he crossed his arms, "How goes the election of our star spangled heroine?"

"Well…" Ironwood took out his Scroll, which projected a screen depicting the live election results, Jacques Schnee having 30% of the vote, while Robyn had 70%, "It's not quite going well for Jaques, is it?"

"Robyn might start being a pain in the ass, but frankly I'd prefer her over Jacques Schnee. At least like you, she actually gives a damn about the people."

"Yeah, I'm with Dirty Dan on this one." Yang spoke up, resting her arm on Oscar's shoulder, "It's good that she wants to help everyone, right?"

"I suppose so. Either way, this election doesn't bode well for our stability." The General explained.

"It could be a chance to work with Robyn and get Mantle on your side." Ruby told him.

"The likelihood of that working is…"

"If you opened up to her, she'd understand that you're being framed by all those smears in the news."

"Perhaps…" Ironwood said with a sigh, "But it'd only work if she's open too."

"It's a bit of a double edged sword, guys. If that's to happen, both sides need to be open minded when coming to the table. I think we should try to give it a shot after the election when things have settled down a bit. Is that alright, General?"

"It'll be a little difficult given the pushback from her in the last few months, but… I'll try to have a sit down with her sometime soon."

"Other than politics… I take it you're here for new mission assignments?" Ren asked.

"You could say that." Clover said with a smile, "The General and I want you guys to take the rest of the day and tomorrow off to recuperate. You guys have been working your butts off since day one."

"And so, we're basically ordering you to take a break. After tonight's election, we'll be waking up to a very different Atlas tomorrow. I need all of you rested and ready for whatever that may bring." Ironwood told the group, turning to Dante and resting a hand on his shoulder, "Especially you. Don't think I haven't noticed your late night patrols in Atlas and Mantle."

"Shucks. And here I thought I was being subtle."

"I'm sorry to say that you're everything but subtle." Inuba giggled a little, making everyone smile and laugh briefly.

"Ouch. Harsh."

A faint laugh came from the General as he patted the devil's shoulder and made to leave with Clover, "Rest well, everyone. We'll be even busier soon enough."

As he took his leave, everyone began discussing what to do with their free time. Ruby wanted to go to the victory party with Inuba, Penny, Nora and Ren just to check things out.

"Hey! Uh… Will!" Jaune called out.

The young soldier spun around to meet the blonde, stepping back a little.

"Oscar, Weiss and I are gonna go catch a movie. Do you and… Er… your friend want to come with us?"

"A-A movie..? I… Well…"

"Yeah, we'll go." Mòrai immediately answered.

"W-Wait a minute-!"

"Ah, quit your bitching. You just sit in your room on off days reading while I fuck around with WebFlix and video games. Let's go out for once." The blonde girl bluntly said.

William sighed in defeat, "Well… I suppose we will be joining you tonight then."

"Sweet! We'll meet up at the east side transport bay in the academy."

"Alright then."

"What about you, Dante?" Ruby asked, "Wanna come with us?"

"I'm not overly keen about politics, but I guess I'll go." The devil said, sighing before he slapped his forehead, "Shit, I actually can't. Dawn wanted to spend some time with me tonight and tour Mantle a little."

"No worries. You should spend time with her, especially if she's asking and because she's family. Besides…" she said, leaning in to whisper in his ear, "We can go on a date or something tomorrow with Inuba, right?"

"R-Right…" Dante replied with a slight blush in his cheeks, realizing the implication behind her words as he whispered back, "Honestly Ruby… Sometimes I think your 'appetite' doesn't match your size…"

"Hey! Are you saying I'm short?!"

"You are short."

"You're just freakishly tall! Dummy, tree of a boyfriend…" she pouted, "Anyway… Since we have the day off tomorrow too, we're going out! Alright?"

"Yes, your highness."

"Alright then! It's settled! Tomorrow night!" The little reaper said as she placed her hands on her hips proudly before she left.

Honestly… It's like she never tires out…

*Good Dante!*

Yes, Navâra?

*Tomorrow morning, we shall navigate the streets of Atlas together! I shall have no refusals!*

Sure. We can go tomorrow morning.

*Hmmm hmmm! Yes! This is good! Prepare yourself then! For tomorrow, we shall experience some of the fineries the city of Atlas has to offer!*

I look forward to it.

Finishing his mental conversation with Navâra, Dante pulled up his HoloScreen, typing a message out to Dawn.

"Hey, we just got finished. I'm gonna shower real quick, so meet me outside the hotel entrance in twenty minutes."

"Understood. I myself will be done shortly."

Pretty easy day overall…

The devil sighed, thinking back on his earlier conversation with the General and… feeling some guilt.

He's been completely open with us from the start… and we lied to him about Ozpin and the Relic of Knowledge… Can't say I feel all too great about that, seeing as he's done nothing but help us tremendously. Even in Vale he tried to help us with no malintent, despite my biased misgivings. And from what I heard from Weiss, he did his best to help her without disturbing the peace.

He crossed his arms, gluing his eyes to the floor.

We have good reason to lie given our previous situation with Mistral's headmaster. But by comparison, Ironwood has been genuine and upfront with us since Vale. Not to mention, he never showed any signs of his allegiances wavering. If anything, he's someone we can definitively trust, which brings up a new dilemma.

The devil raised his head, squeezing his fist in his palm as he cracked his knuckles quickly.

Should we come clean and explain we lied because we were just too afraid of Salem's reach? Would he understand? Or..?

He sighed, beginning to leave the training area to head for the showers.

Everyone else might not like it… But it's definitely something we should discuss soon after our day off. Don't want to bum people out if the talk doesn't go all too well. I just hope that if we do decide to come clean that Ironwood will understand our perspective...

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Lots of things happening this chapter. Good to see a little rivalry between Wielders and Blades. Not to mention, Dawn seems to be wanting to step her game up a bit. Something to look forward to.

Other than that, I've got nothing else suave or saucy for you guys. I'm tired after working a lot today and need some rest.

If you have questions, ask them anytime. I will try to answer them without spoiling anything.

Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Your support genuinely matters.

With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend, and remember... be kind and excellent to one another, stay safe, and stay healthy.