The Tremaine Mines, one of the pedestals of the Schnee family. That house of horrors was about to fall.

The mines of Dust had been abandoned, just like the shacks where the miners lived. Most of the faunus managed to escape under Solonas' leadership, while others were killed by the Famine Maiden. The immense pale tower, from which Henry Tremaine commanded, was completely sealed off and everyone inside could no longer get out.

Weiss and Blake were constantly on the lookout for Henry Tremaine, wandering from room to room and walking down those long corridors facing some soldiers and questioning some of the employees. When the structure was sealed off and the corridors lit a vermilion red, the two girls realized that something bad was about to happen.

There was a distress call from James Ironwood, a very unusual thing. Weiss and Blake went down the stairs and saw the man coming towards them; he held Jacques Schnee in his arms. When Weiss saw the blood on her father, she was stunned for a moment; she thought it was a joke. Ironwood's eyes told another story. Panic ensued in the girl and, immediately, she guided the man to an outpatient clinic that was present inside the facility.

James had no medical experience, but he had already helped wounded soldiers in the past; he knew how to stop a man from bleeding to death. He did his best to save Jacques and eventually gave him painkillers. James had already given up.

Jacques couldn't be saved.

"However, it was useless to even try," it was Penny's voice.

James raised his head and saw that fake Penny, that ghost... that Devil who had begun to haunt him again. The girl was standing on the other side of the bed and she was observing, with two eyes filled with a false pity, the face of Jacques.

"What you did, James, was useless. A waste of energy... you could've killed Watts and instead you decided to nurse this old decrepit piece of racist trash. You're pathetic, James... really pathetic."

"I just wanted to save him…"

"But really? Did you really want to save this man? Who made a deal with Watts? Who has hatched a conspiracy against you? Who put Atlas in danger by starting a battle that forced you to make those sacrifices? Him. Jacques Schnee, ladies and gentlemen."

"Stop it."

"Stop what, James? Should I stop telling the truth? You're a hypocrite, do you realize that? You condemn me for pushing you to do things you didn't want to do, but then you save the man who put you in this situation in the first place."

"Stop that—"

"No. Because I still don't understand what you're doing. You should be out there fighting, not here being a nurse."

"You want me to kill."

"I want you to accept your true nature. I am your true nature. I'm in your head, I'm what you are constantly trying to avoid. Running away into a desert, taking refuge with your brother, hiding in a mine or saving this man... these are all things that will never save you from me, from you and from everything you've done."

"SHUT UP!" he screamed.

Penny disappeared.

James was sweating and panting with fatigue. His mind was constantly being put under pressure, he couldn't concentrate and he couldn't help but think about what he had done. That Penny, fake as she was, was telling the truth.

He was running away. He had left Atlas to rebuild a life away from Ozpin and all those people who had hurt him, but that wasn't all. No. He had reached the desert to find a way to redeem himself. He had hoped for the help of his brother, a pure man and always ready to help the oppressed, and he had shown him the mine as the way. The way to redemption. How could James question his older brother? Victor had accepted exile in order not to give up his fight against the rich and aristocrats of Atlas.

Victor was the opposite of James.

James had agreed to follow the path that had been traced for him by his father and the former Headmaster of the Atlas Academy.

Victor, on the other hand, had made his own way. He had forged his own destiny with his own hands.

How could he have doubted such a man? He couldn't do it.

"But you did it, Jacques," James murmured. "I don't know how you did it, but you managed to make me doubt my brother. A man like you, a slimy racist businessman unable to be a good father... you, of all people, managed to make me doubt my brother. I hate all of this. If you hadn't spoken to me, I would've continued to hope for that redemption."

Jacques was still unconscious, but he was breathing.

"You were right, Jacques, men like us cannot erase the past with some good deed. We did what we had to when we had to, we didn't give a damn about the opinions of others and we continued to pursue our goals with our heads down. I never liked you and you never liked me, but I suppose we're both, in a sense, destined for the same thing: contempt."

Jacques was still unconscious.

"Well, whatever it is, we can only go on now. Farewell, Jacques, it was a pleasure to be your nemesis."

James Ironwood left and made room for Weiss Schnee, who rushed to make sure her father was okay. He explained the situation to the girl, trying to be as sensitive as possible, and eventually left Weiss with her father.

James had one goal: to meet Henry J. Tremaine. It was necessary to convince him, by hook or by crook, to reopen the tower. He had no intention of staying inside that building a moment longer.

Blake had noticed that there was something dark in the man's expression. "What happened outside?" she asked worriedly.

"Long story short: the situation got worse."

"How much worse?"

"Salem has a Maiden. To be clearer, she created one. They call her 'Famine Maiden' and I think it's implied that there will be three more."

Blake was speechless. Her face, painted with fear, needed no explanation.

"Considering everything that has happened between us, I would like to ask you: Did Oz ever say anything to you? Did he know anything about it?" he asked.

"No… you can trust me—"

"Trust? Now it's a bit late, we're not talking about trust but strength. We need strength, because we don't have it. The most powerful army in the world is on its knees, Salem has two Relics, her ranks increase with each passing day and, as if that weren't enough, now she also has her personal Maidens. And what do we have? Our defenses are small and fragile, the world is still torn apart by infighting, my plan to bring the world together has been a total failure and, of course, our Maidens are divided and the fate of the world is in the hands of a team of children." He sighed. "We can't win. We cannot win this war."

"There must be a way," Blake exclaimed.

"At this point what can we do? If Atlas cannot make its army available, the whole world is doomed. The other kingdoms have weak and ill-stocked armies, they cannot compete with the Grimm forces. The City of Vacuo, strong as it may seem, is still too weak to withstand a battle against Salem's monstrous legions."

"Then…"

"And then Beacon. Beacon Academy has already suffered a devastating attack, its recovery has been too slow. Salem is keeping the easy part for last. Do you think Beacon will be able to protect the Relic? Don't make me laugh. The academy will fall in an instant and Salem, victorious, will be able to destroy everything."

"So you have no plan? Are you giving up?"

"Even if I told you 'no', that wouldn't change a thing. We are in the worst possible situation. We have no strengths. Without strength, we cannot fight. We can only resist in vain."

"Okay, so what do we do? Are we waiting for the world to end?"

"I don't know about you, but I want to have a chat with Henry Tremaine. I'll get out of here first, then I'll see."

"Will you kill him?"

James didn't answer and left. Blake thought about following him, but then realized that it would be better to be with her friend in a difficult time like the one she was going through.

Weiss stood in silence, with tears in her eyes, in front of the bed and stroked her father's hand. She was constantly muttering things like 'I love you, Dad' or 'I'm sorry I left you'.

Blake walked over to the girl and hugged her. She told her he would be okay, that everything would work out, but she didn't believe it. She had seen such wounds before and, without excellent care, he couldn't be helped. Blake said nothing to Weiss, but it was obvious that Jacques was dying. At least he wasn't suffering. Blake kept hugging Weiss, comforted her with her warmth and calmed her when she cried; it was all she could do in that moment.

What an image.

Jacques eyes witnessed a sight that only two months ago he would've considered absurd: his daughter and a faunus together, embracing. Truly a strange sight and yet, despite being alien to Jacques, it was enough to stir something in him. His heart began to beat gently and that strange image got a touch of beauty, like that of an uncontaminated wild landscape. The purity and simplicity of that embrace moved Jacques; when he felt the first tear caress his face, he knew he had it all wrong.

He looked up at the ceiling and had the impression of going through his entire life. Many fragments, many small memories scattered here and there, advanced towards him and dragged joy and suffering with them; but they weren't alone. Wherever Jacques turned he witnessed, every time, memories of phrases, attitudes and choices fomented by a hatred that he could not explain.

"Why… did I hate… the faunus?" he asked in a faint voice.

"Dad!" Weiss cried in tears.

"Hate…? No, it wasn't hate… it was… fear. Yes… I was afraid of faunus… I remember, as a child I had nightmares about these… beastly creatures with long claws and terrifying aspects. Even my father was afraid of faunus and had been hurt by one of them… I remember it… I remember it very well. I grew up with that fear in me. Yes. It was my nightmare. A city full of terrifying monsters that eat people. It was my nightmare. That nightmare became my heart and I… I was—no, I chose to be more terrifying than them because I thought they were monsters…"

"Dad…don't talk… you're straining—" the tears clouded her vision.

"No… I was the monster, right? I've become the beast with the claws. It was me, wasn't it? I have become my nightmare." His eyes got wet. "I have become… the monster. I've caused so much pain, I've laid the foundation for an empire of suffering and I'm ashamed." His quivering mouth uttered these words to Blake: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making the faunus suffer..."

"Dad…" Weiss hugged him.

"I don't want forgiveness… I don't ask for forgiveness… I know I've caused so much pain… and I know I've made unforgivable mistakes… so—"

"I forgive you," Blake said crying. "I forgive you."

Jacques opened his mouth; he could no longer hold back the tears. "Thank you…" he turned to his daughter. "I'm sorry for being a horrible father… I apologize to you, your sister and your brother… but most of all I apologize to your mother for being a terrible husband…"

"Don't leave, dad! Don't leave me! We can start over!" she screamed desperately.

"Weiss… look at me."

She lifted her head and saw his sad smile wet with tears.

"It's okay…" he murmured.

Jacques fell asleep keeping that smile. Weiss saw his father leave. She held his hand, as if not to let him go, she wanted to keep him close to her. She wanted to wake him from that sleep. But no matter how much strength she put into it, his hand slipped and Weiss lost her father.

"Dad…"

Weiss hugged her father and let all the pain in her heart come out of her mouth.

Under the starry sky, the metallic sounds of the two scythes exploded as they collided, one against the other, in a battle with a fierce rhythm.

Ruby Rose wielded Crescent Rose, the red and black scythe armed with a sniper rifle.

Victor Ironwood wielded Regicide, a blue, white, and black scythe armed with a shotgun.

Crescent Rose was not the same size as Regicide; the former had a more slender appearance, the latter was more massive. Crescent Rose was fast and light, but its strikes didn't have the same destructive impact as Regicide.

Ruby was a skilled huntress, but her techniques were still immature compared to Victor's; that man had a fighting style worthy of someone with decades of experience. Ruby's attacks, quick as they were, were never able to touch the man, which was absurd for the girl — especially considering Regicide's size — how could Victor be able to move such a large scythe so fast? The man was calm and cold as a block of ice. Ruby, on the other hand, was constantly thinking of her sister and she hoped to be able to finish the battle quickly.

At that moment Cinder Fall intervened, armed with a bow and arrow, and then Victor, like a kind of machine, immediately changed his fighting style; he had adapted to the new situation. It was surreal. Cinder Fall fired arrows, Ruby slashed and yet neither was capable of hurting Victor; that man was a fighting machine. He was fast, always focused, and dodged and parried with lightning speed. Ruby used her Semblance to try to confuse the opponent and hit him from behind; the tactic failed and Victor immediately counterattacked.

Cinder Fall, who was much more agile than Ruby, managed to keep up with the opponent, but that wasn't enough; Victor's attacks were hard to predict and it was insane to stand still and parry. It wasn't just the scythe that was sturdy. Victor was physically powerful and it was unthinkable to try to block his punches or kicks; Cinder had no intention of losing the use of her arms or legs.

Cinder, who had had the opportunity to fight James Ironwood at Atlas, recognized some moves in Victor's fighting style and then understood the reason behind the unpredictability of his attacks: that man had combined different fighting styles. That's why he was dangerous.

Ruby returned to the battle and again tried to deceive the opponent using the Semblance, this time the girl managed to catch him off guard and knocked him to the ground. He got up immediately. It was the first blow he'd taken and he replied with a pleased smile.

"My compliments, little girl, maybe you will be able to defeat me… if you can last at least, say, ten months."

"We don't have to fight, you know? Just tell us what's going on. My sister talked about prisoners… what have you done? What have you done to the people who previously lived here?" Ruby asked.

"I didn't kill them, even though death would've been preferable for those people. It was part of the deal."

"What deal?"

"The one I made with the two sisters: Vidi and Vici. They helped me, they were my new family when my father decided to exile me. The Longriver twins are two vampire faunus whose Semblance acts on their hunger. The more they use their powers, the more they are hungry for blood. In exchange for their help, I gave them Shadeshift."

"What?!" Ruby was shocked. "You mean—"

"Yes. Your sister saw the Longriver twins' 'candy store', let's call it that. The people who lived in Shadeshift, humans of course, are fed and kept alive so that they can constantly feed the twins. They are cattle, nothing more, nothing less—"

"They're people! How can you refer to them like that?!" she screamed in anger.

"People, yes, but not only. Ordinary people don't colonize a land that belongs to the faunus because they are driven by the need to perpetrate the slave system of the SDC. The people in there are criminals, they are not like the old lady you meet on the street. They lived here to the detriment of the faunus and they perpetrated an oppressive regime, now their lives are used to feed two faunus. Ironic, right?"

"No, it's monstrous. Only a sadist would come up with such a plan. You're not doing justice, you're just making people suffer—"

"Oh, boohoo how sorry I am for those poor souls. Well, it sucks to be in front of the barrel of the gun, huh? The suffering of those people can only hurt those who empathize with slavers. If you feel sorry for them, then I recommend that you review your values because there is no place for pity in the Red Desert."

"Are you doing it on purpose? Why don't you want to listen to me?"

"And what should I listen to? Yet another moralistic bullshit about respect for the life of every single person? It's bourgeois bullshit. There is always talk of respecting life when it comes to humans, but strangely these speeches never come up when it comes to faunus. Either we don't talk about it or we always talk about it later, never before. With humans we prefer to prevent, with faunus it is more ethical to cure. Isn't that slightly hypocritical? Respect for life? Whose life? The life of those people? Those people whose life wouldn't have been possible without a genocide of faunus? Is their life important? Are you telling me that their life has the same value as that of a faunus who lives in chains? So there's no difference?"

"You're just trying to justify the atrocities you commit—"

"I'm doing justice, little girl."

"Justice? You call it 'justice'? What kind of justice makes people suffer?"

"The fairest justice. Eye for an eye… crimes must be punished by giving the guilty their own medicine. This is the Red Desert, little girl, and it is on the law of retaliation that we base our justice. This justice was taught by the SDC when it came to colonize the lands of the faunus and now, we rebels, use that same justice to punish those same colonists," he said gravely. "You call it 'atrocity'… but you don't know anything. You only say these things because you don't know what it means to make a revolution—"

"But I'm getting it," she said. "Apparently you revolutionaries just want to kill and make people suffer. You don't care about justice… you probably don't even know what it means to do justice."

"What do you know about it? You're half my age and you think you know how the world works… but you don't know shit. You're just a spoiled brat who had an easy life—"

Ruby, insulted by those words, did not hesitate to attack. As soon as the two blades collided, Victor made a quick movement and disarmed the girl; Crescent Rose fell into the hands of the man.

"You still have a lot to learn, little girl. Do you think you know the world just because you've traveled a lot? Spare me the bullshit, anyone can move their ass from point A to point B. The problem is that very few are able to look around and understand what is happening. You have traveled a lot, but what have you learned? Apparently nothing." He threw Crescent Rose at Ruby. "You and your friends have come here after a long journey and, even if you know nothing of Remnant's problems, you think you have a right to judge us."

"We have that right, we're trying to bring the world together to fight Salem—"

"Bring the world together?" He laughed briefly. "You kids have a lot of imagination, I give you that. The world can't be reunified, little girl, that's impossible. Do you think the kingdoms will put aside their personal ambitions just to fight Salem?" He laughed again. "Ingenuity is hard to kill, huh?"

"You have no idea what you're saying!"

Ruby attacked. Victor parried the blow and the one after. The two opponents moved away.

"If we don't bring the world together, if we don't put aside our differences, Salem will kill us all. Your ideas… your way… is all wrong, don't you understand? What you call justice will only create more wars!"

"And who will bring the world together? Come on, little girl, you know, deep in your heart, that the world will never listen to you—"

"You're right, but whoever refuses to listen is an enemy of the world."

"So what? What do you do to a so-called 'enemy of the world'?" he asked with a smirk.

"I'll cut it down."

Ruby's words left even Cinder Fall speechless. That girl, with the rose-shaped eyepatch, had an expression as cold as that of an executioner.

"Apparently my brother has an apprentice," Victor said. "Yeah… maybe you remind me of me too. Nothing's going to stop you, little girl, and that's okay with me, because I won't be stopped by nothing either. I will do everything in my power to carry out my revolution. Let's see which of us has more iron in the heart."

The duel resumed with more energy and more ferocity than before. This time Ruby had changed her approach, her mind was purified and she no longer had Yang in her head; now there was only Victor. The two blades collided at high speed, the impact of the steels blew sparks left and right. Ruby was more active, less hesitant and more attentive to the opponent's blows.

Cinder, seeing that duel, didn't have the courage to get in the way; the fear of being hurt paralyzed her. The woman saw that girl, that tiny girl in the red hood, fighting with the same energy as a hungry wolf. It was something paradoxical and frightening at the same time. Ruby had completely changed.

The two blades continued to collide. The two warriors moved constantly without ever taking a moment to rest. That battle was like a storm roaring with all its might. Crescent Rose was still unable to hurt Victor, but Regicide could no longer touch Ruby.

The metallic sounds continued to explode until the arrival of a noise that boomed in the starry sky. It sounded like the sound of a propeller and Victor recognized it immediately: it was an aircraft that had come from the City of Vacuo.

Ruby saw Sun Wukong, Scarlet David, Sage Ayana, Neptune Vasilias and Nolan Porfirio coming from the sky. The five Huntsmen took out their weapons and joined Ruby immediately. Victor didn't say a word and saw that craft hovering in the air.

"You're in big trouble, buddy," Sun said. "Our Headmaster sent us here to rescue Team RWBY and to arrest you."

Victor didn't say a word, but fixed his gaze on Sun and then on the others.

"The game of silence won't help you get out of trouble, this time you did it. I know you of the Red Desert believe you're above all laws, but that's not how it works." Sun turned to Nolan and Scarlet and told them to handcuff the man.

Victor didn't move.

"Put your weapon down and you won't hurt yourself," Sage said in an authoritative tone.

Nolan and Scarlet had weapons in hand and stood waiting for Victor to carry out the order. Sage repeated:

"Put your weapon down, Victor Ironwood, or it'll be worse for you."

While Team SSSNN was trying to arrest Victor, Ruby remembered her sister and wasted no more time; she used the Semblance and headed for the garage. Cinder, on the other hand, hid to avoid ending up in the same situation as Victor.

"I won't repeat it a fourth time: put the weapon down." Sage's tone had grown more aggressive.

Victor Ironwood sighed.

The man lowered Regicide slightly.

As Nolan let his guard down, a kick hit him and sent him flying against the wall of a house.

"Nolan!" Scarlet exclaimed.

Regicide's blade was already on the verge of cutting off his head; Sage's quick intervention saved Scarlet's life. Sun and Neptune attacked without hesitation. Victor was able to skilfully escape from the encirclement and found himself with all his opponents in front of him.

"Theodore didn't teach you manners, huh? You had to hold on to that little girl, she was your only salvation… now you are alone against me and that means Shade Academy will have to prepare five graves."

Ruby reached the garage and, as soon as she entered, she saw what Yang had described to her: there were people lying on beds, they were in a state of coma and had thin tubes attached to their arms and body; there were at least fifty people and they weren't all adults. A little farther on, in that immense garage that could accommodate at least twenty vehicles, there were steel cages, there were about a hundred, and each of these was inhabited by at least eighty souls; there were men, women and children and all of them had dull, stunned looks, Ruby could tell they had been drugged. Their bodies, covered in tunics, were thin and many were almost as pale as snow.

The hideous sight left Ruby speechless. No matter what Victor said, what was happening in there was not justice.

The girl was captured by the sounds of a battle and she saw Yang trying to hit her rival: Vici Longriver. That fight, reminiscent of the first duel, ignited Ruby's soul and, in an instant, Crescent Rose hit Vici.

Vidi, who was holding Oscar as a hostage, was surprised at the sight of the girl in red. If she was there that meant Victor had lost; this made her lose her coolness for just a moment, then she remembered hearing the sound of an aircraft. It didn't take her long to conclude:

"So your reinforcements have arrived."

"Leave my sister alone, monsters," Ruby exclaimed.

"You're really rude. Considering we didn't kill your sister, I would've expected a modicum of gratitude."

"Are you kidding me?! Your sister was—!"

"My sister Vici held back," she said coldly. "I recognize that your sister has a certain strength of spirit, she's certainly a great warrior, but there's no warrior who can escape my sister's Semblance. Blood Pressure is a Semblance that acts on the pressure exerted by the blood in the veins, if that pressure is drastically increased… well, let's just say something in your sister could explode. This is the fact, my dear: my sister took pity on your sister. Do you know why? Because there is no point in killing you."

"What the hell are you saying?"

"We've made a deal with you and it's not our intention to fail in the commitment that has been made. When your friends have completed the mission, you can go to the City of Vacuo and you will never return to Shadeshift again—"

"I don't believe you. Are you saying that you would let us go without making a fuss?"

"Yes."

"But you know that we can be a threat to you."

"Not as much as you think. You're annoying, there's no question about that, but you're not that much of a threat to my sister and me. If we had wanted to kill you, we would've done so already… believe me."

"What if we go and tell the world about what you're doing in here?"

"Do it. Considering the threat of Salem, no one will have the time to send armed forces to the Red Desert and confront us."

"I will not leave without those people—"

"I don't think you understand the situation you're in, Ruby. There is no compromise, none of them will get out of here. Accept it, otherwise I'll force you. "

Ruby prepared to fight.

"Do you really want to do it?" Vidi asked.

"This is a matter of justice, I will not let you stop me."

"Justice, huh?" The girl sighed. "I can't tell you how real it is, you know? What is right and what is wrong is subjective, as opposed to the difference in strength between the two of us: that is objective. I'll be honest, Ruby, my Semblance will kill you… and that's why I'll try to be careful."

"You're putting on airs, huh?"

"No, Ruby, I don't like to brag. Cold Blood is the name of my Semblance and I think the name says it all. I can freeze the blood in people's veins, I don't think you want to find out what happens when your blood stops flowing."

Ruby turned to Yang, it was clear that she was tired. "Can you still fight?"

Yang, panting, replied: "Yes."

Ruby then turned to Vidi. "You just made a miscalculation."

"I don't know what you're talking ab—"

"Yang leave Vici to me, you face Vidi."

Yang was ready to protest, but it was enough for her to look at her sister's expression to understand that it was part of a girl accepted.

Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. Vici Longriver and Vidi Longriver. Sisters against sisters.

The battle began.

Ruby attacked first and Vici didn't have too much trouble using her Semblance; at that moment Ruby turned into a mass of petals and moved behind her opponent. Crescent Rose's blade struck Vici once, twice, and then three times.

Vidi, seeing that scene, was amazed, but she immediately understood what had happened. It was obvious: Vici's power was to manipulate blood pressure, but this had no effect on Ruby when she was using her Semblance.

Vidi shifted focus to Yang, who was already on the offensive. The girl's punches were fast enough and Vidi was forced to use her own Semblance; Yang felt her body grow heavier, it was as if something was devouring her from the inside. Vidi thought she had victory in hand.

At that moment Yang's hair was engulfed in flames. The girl's eyes turned vermilion. Vidi was hit with a punch that sent her flying to the ground.

Thus it was that the two Longriver sisters came face to face with enemies worthy of their strength.

James Ironwood was looking for Henry J. Tremaine. All the soldiers the man encountered were attacked, stunned, tied up and locked up in rooms; no one was killed.

"We're nice, huh?" the fake Penny asked.

"Haven't you given up yet?" His tone was annoyed.

"I am stubborn like a certain someone…"

James was walking along the corridors and, looking down at the ground, he saw that Penny was walking too; yet those feet made no noise. The man was slightly uneasy.

"What's up, James?"

"The more I am in your company the more I question my sanity."

"It's not your sanity that you need to worry about, you already know you're crazy. That's a trait you share with your mother, isn't it?"

James threw a punch. The metal hand hit the steel wall. Penny was now behind him.

"Come to think of it: you never told Ozpin or Glynda. I know why not tell Ozpin, but I don't understand why not tell the beautiful and enchanting—"

"Stop it."

"Poor woman, I guess she has forgotten you… maybe it's better this way, right? You don't need anyone and nobody needs you. Why pretend to be a hero when you are just a criminal? Kill, James. Kill and stop pretending."

"Stop it, please…" The man put his hands on his head, he wanted to open his skull and stop that voice that was tormenting him.

"You're alone, James Ironwood, you're alone with me."

The man was about to collapse.

Only a voice saved him from utter despair.

It was Blake's voice. "Not good, at this rate you will only hurt yourself more."

James was confused, dazed and still shaken.

"Why don't you want to talk with me?" she asked.

"You can't help me, Miss Belladonna…"

"Yes, I can."

"How?"

"Tell me what's happening to you. Be honest with me."

Hesitation was holding him back, only her steady gaze was able to persuade him. Eventually the man decided to tell the girl about his family's curse: Mettle. Thus it was that Blake discovered the story of James Ironwood's Semblance and did not even know how to react, she only knew that this man was surely one of the most unfortunate individuals she had ever met.

Ironwood didn't tell her about his mother, but he said: "I don't know what to do, Miss Belladonna. I am lost."

"No, I don't think so, you can—"

"I told you before, it's not like your Semblance, Miss Belladonna, it's in my head and it's like… a disease. I've spent my whole life fighting it: I've strangled my passions, drowned my selfish desires and I've directed my energies to the fulfillment of the greater good to never lose the right path. I replaced my personal dreams with duty towards my neighbor; where there was love, I built an iron mental discipline in order not to give in to temptations and not to risk hurting those close to me. I trained my body for the sole purpose of becoming the most just of the just and the most virtuous of the virtuous. My entire existence has been devoted to controlling Mettle… but I've failed. I failed miserably. What else can I do, Miss Belladonna? I can't fight, I can only run…"

"James…" The girl put a hand on his shoulder. "Do you really think running away is the answer? Failure is normal, it's part of life. I've failed many times and still today I pay the consequences of my mistakes, but I don't run away. None of us make perfect choices, none of us always do the right thing in the right way. We are wrong because we choose, but if we refuse to choose… if we refuse to fight… we risk becoming only shadows of ourselves."

"So how can I atone—?"

"This is the wrong way to see it… you cannot atone for a fault, you cannot repair the damage done. You can only live with the experience of those mistakes."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"You have to change. There's no point in talking about atonement if you end up repeating the same mistakes. If you don't want to cause harm, you have to change."

"You talk about it as if you were an expert," he said in an incredulous tone.

"In a way I am. I forced myself to be the kind of rebel I didn't want to be. I forced myself to be a person that I'm not, just to be able to serve the cause of the White Fangs and Adam. I didn't do it for love, but because I thought it was the right thing to do. When I realized my failure, I decided to run away. I broke off with Adam and became a fugitive, but back then I wasn't running away from Adam or the White Fang… but from myself. I didn't want to face the fact that I had committed terrible criminal acts, I didn't want to face the beast that I had become because of the White Fang. I continued to run and ended up becoming just a shadow: I was unable to make friends, to live in the present and to look to the future with hope. In my life there was only that past, that Blake who constantly stared at me… that Blake who reminded me of the harm I had caused."

"How did you manage to stop running away?"

"I opened my heart to love," she answered smiling. "I know it may sound stupid, but… love for something or someone can really change things. I love Yang because she's the one who opened my eyes and made me understand my mistakes. I love her because it's only thanks to her that, now, I can live in the present and I can dedicate myself to my future. I don't forget my failures, but I don't run away from them anymore… I face them for what they are: choices of a Blake who no longer exists."

The man sighed. The girl's words made sense and managed to penetrate his heart, but he still harbored heavy doubts. But now was not the time to think about it, James had a task to complete and he got back on the road.

"Wait a minute…" Blake said raising a hand. "I heard something."

"Where?"

"Shh!"

Blake walked over to a door, the doors opened automatically and the two entered in a laboratory. There were computers, graphics on holographic blackboards and even tools which were used to break rocks.

"AMD," said Ironwood. "But where are the scientists?"

"What…? What's 'AMD'? "

"Mm? Oh, it's a department specialized in mineral analysis, especially Dust. If there is a Dust mine, there are scientists ready to do some research. "

"And where are they now?" she asked puzzled.

"I don't know—"

A man suddenly came out of the closet, the two were frightened and raised their weapons.

"Stop! Stop!" Paul Hanksite shouted. "I am unarmed!"

"Who are you?" James asked.

"Paul. Hanksite. Hanksite Paul or Paul Hanksite… whichever you prefer. I'm not evil, I hid for—"

"Where are the others?"

James' question painted a bitter sadness on Paul's face. "I don't… I don't think they're alive…"

"What happened?"

"Mr. Tremaine is… well, I think he's lost his mind. He accuses us of all this and he took my colleagues, I think he executed them."

"That man has gone mad!" Blake exclaimed in shock.

"Completely insane…" Ironwood added in a low voice. "Mr. Hanksite, maybe you should get to safety."

"And where? I can't go anywhere. The building is isolated and… well, outside—what's happening outside? Who was that person I saw? Why did she come out of the mine? Was it she who made the Dust unstable? No… it's impossible… and yet… and yet… something must have happened in there!"

"What are you talking about?" James asked confused.

"We had detected alarming magnetic levels in the Dust… the mineral, inside the mine, was unstable, highly unstable. Which, considering its raw form, couldn't be normal. Only an outside agent can cause such things… but what are we talking about? I have no idea. Does that girl who came out of the mine have a Semblance that can affect the Dust and affect it on a molecular level? But… how can this be? I mean, she completely ignored the Sandars Factor… it's not possible… and yet… something must have happened. Something must have triggered all this."

"How did it start?" Blake asked dazed by Hanksite's words.

"Not long ago. Two days… no, maybe three days ago… well… it's something recent. This is why it's strange. The Sandars Factor is the set of those characteristics of Dust, at a raw level, which make it stable both at a magnetic and molecular level. All the minerals of Dust, when in a raw state, respect the Sandars Factor… it is impossible that there is anything that can make the Dust unstable when it's not refined. Do you understand what I mean? We have to—"

"You won't do anything," Ironwood said sharply. "You will hide and leave this to us, am I clear?"

"Are you sure? Well… a scientist could be useful and—"

At that moment, the entire building began to shake. There was a loud bang on the upper floors and Hanksite immediately hid under a table. James and Blake, without wasting time, ran to understand what had just happened and, once they had climbed four flights of stairs, they found themselves outdoors; the roof had been completely destroyed along with at least two or three floors of the tower. The floor was inhabited by rubble and corpses.

Standing in front of the lifeless body of Henry J. Tremaine was the Famine Maiden. The woman, noting the two heroes, raised her hand and defiantly spoke these words:

"You are next."

James was ready for battle, but he wasn't sure he would triumph over a woman with that power. He would, in fact, have preferred retreat to fight.

While the man was planning the retreat, Blake was both shocked and fascinated by that woman. She had seen a Maiden before, but Cinder Fall lacked that terrifying elegance that was worn by that woman with long red hair. The woman felt no shame of her own body, even if it was completely naked; her hair covered her private parts, but they couldn't hide the perfection of that female figure. The Maiden's eyes, embraced by green flames, were like ice and her pale face looked like that of a doll. As the woman approached the two, Blake felt the fear run over her bones until it reached her head; a slight dizziness distracted her and made her attention fall on the blood that came out of the corpses around the Maiden. The blood was as if attracted to the woman and moved around her, floating and caressing her skin; the pale pores absorbed the red and made it disappear.

Blake understood immediately: that woman was eating.

"Who are you?" The question automatically came out of Blake's mouth.

The woman stopped. In a calm tone she replied:

"My name probably won't tell you anything, my dear. Your clothes and your weapons are enough for me to understand that I'm far from my time, too far away. Maybe millennia have passed."

"Thousands of years?!" Blake was shocked.

"Don't be surprised, my dear, time cannot destroy my body. You've seen what I can do when I'm in close proximity to blood sources, even your friend knows… but neither of you has guessed my identity yet, so I guess I'll have to give you a little clue." The woman then opened her arms and introduced herself with a solemn tone: "I am the founder of the Longriver family: Hildegard Longriver."

"Vidi and Vici…" Ironwood murmured. "So in Vacuo there's a family at least as old as that of the Schnee…"

"The Schnee, huh?" A marked disgust appeared on the woman's face. "I remember those people and I remember perfectly when the arch-knight Wolfgang Schnee declared war on me and my house. If he hadn't been helped, I would've triumphed and changed the history of the world. But I don't want to bore you with my life story, I have to kill you. "

"Stop," Blake stepped in the woman's path. "You don't have to follow Salem's will."

"Salem? I don't know anyone by that name, but I guess you are talking about the person who freed me from my prison. I should show some gratitude for such a person, but I have no intention of following anyone's will. I am here as myself and I will not obey anyone—"

At that moment the woman stopped.

Blake and James saw Hildegard retreat, it was as if something had taken possession of her. The woman, without saying a word, took off and left the building leaving the two speechless and even slightly confused.

"Apparently she was wrong…" James Ironwood asserted.

"Do you think it was Salem's doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? This is what Salem wanted: faithful Maidens willing to do anything to steal the relics and bring them to her. I'm confused… I don't know whether to damn her or to compliment her."

"So what's the plan?"

"For now it is better to organize ourselves. You go to Princess Schnee, I'll start looking for survivors."

"Good. Where do we meet?"

"We all meet again here, you'll have to help me bury these people."

James Ironwood was able to remain alone.

The man sat down on a chair and remained silent looking at that beautiful black starry. How much had he fought Mettle? How much time had he devoted to that useless battle against his Semblance? How many things had he sacrificed in order not to hurt his friends?

"You sacrificed so much just for me," said that fake Penny who was hopping among the corpses.

"Yet it didn't work…"

"Do you really want to trust that girl's words, James? She doesn't know you, she doesn't know anything about you or your suffering. She only knows that you're that general who has lost his mind—"

"Be quiet," he ordered sternly. "You use that face only to provoke me, but you have no idea how much I suffered when… when…"

"You can't face it, James, why don't you want to understand it? You're too weak to face the death of dear sweet Penny. You're too frail to take your responsibilities and face the fact that you killed your only daughter… a piece of tin."

"SILENCE!" He yelled as he got up from the chair. "Don't you dare insult her memory, I won't let you."

"And what are you going to do, James? You cannot force me to keep silent, by now we have already ascertained that you're too weak to oppose me. The most you can do is, of course, shoot yourself in the head."

"No. No… there's one more thing I can do," he asserted with renewed confidence.

"Oh, really…?" she asked intrigued.

"Miss Belladonna is right: I have to change my method. I was wrong to try to oppress you, if I repeated that mistake I would hurt other people and I cannot allow it. If I can't silence you, I'll use you my way."

"Your way…? What are you talking about?"

He, with a fiery gaze, spoke these words: "I will never kill a person again."

"What?"

"I will never kill a person again," he repeated as he approached her. "My hands will never be stained with blood again. My arms will protect the weakest and my body will be the shield of those who cannot fight; my legs will be like steel and will never complain of the fatigue of running after those who ask for help. My weapons will not bring death but justice. I will never kill a person again. Never again will my life be dedicated to war and never again will my existence be defined by the number of conflicts won or lost. It doesn't matter what happens to me or who I face: I will never kill a person again."

"You're crazy, James Ironwood…"

"Do you accept these conditions of mine?"

"Okay, James, if that's what you want… but know it won't be easy."

"I don't like easy roads."

"So be it: never again will a person die at the hands of James Ironwood. This is our deal and we will devote our energies to it. Good luck, my dear Crazy General. "

Penny disappeared.

The man breathed a sigh of relief. That was the first time he had managed to defeat Mettle, it was a victory that deserved celebration.

James noticed that there was a Scroll still active on the ground. He picked it up and then thought about Blake's words about love.

The man dialed Glynda's number. He deleted it soon after.

"Little steps…" he murmured to himself. "It's not time yet…"

He closed the Scroll.

It was at that moment that the man, looking up, saw that immense monster that was heading towards Shadeshift. There was no mistaking it, that monster that streaked the skies of the night was Monstra. Salem, the one who had defeated him at Atlas, had returned and the man was overcome by shivers of fear. His nemesis was up there, heading for his brother.

The war song had begun.

The actors were all on stage.

The curtain was rising.

It was time to go to war.