AN: In no way am I connected to RWBY

It may be his room as well, but Mercury still knocked. "You okay Em?"

Emerald blinked and glanced at the closed door. She turned to the clock and saw she had been alone in their room for over three hours. She hadn't noticed, but that wasn't normal for her so they would worry. It had now been 24 hours since his aura had shattered, a major improvement of it doing so every three or so.

"I'm fine." Just thinking.

The door opened and he shut it behind him. Mercury obviously had no intention of leaving it at that without even seeing her. But while he sat next to her on her bed, he didn't say anything.

Emerald leaned into him. He didn't flinch. Instead, he put his hand on hers.

"Yang was wrong, you know," Emerald started casually.

"No surprise there, but what about?"

"Cinder. Back then, if I had aura and not you, she would have distracted the Fall Maiden so we could all get away. She left us to die because she didn't think we could be saved."

It had been odd to learn that.

Just as she was accepting Cinder only cared about her Semblance and not her.

Mercury didn't say anything. He was still quiet. Just waiting.

"She meant it when she said she wanted you and not the triplets at LiaGuard. She would have let you kill them. Would have…You could have taken it."

"To make Cinder believe me, I would have to give up the Spring Maiden. I wasn't going to do that. It wasn't much of a choice to me."

Emerald let out a soft sigh. Mercury could have chosen to die. He could have chosen to work for Cinder again. He chose to endure and wait.

"Qrow told you then?"

"He told me that Maidens can sometimes have dreams of previous hosts. I just thought that you had already had them and I had just missed it back then."

"…No. They started after Cinder died."

"Ah."

Emerald chuckled. "Did you know that Marcus Black had killed a Spring Maiden?" Say what you will about his 'parenting', but there was no doubt Marcus was a very good killer.

He blinked. "Did he now? That would explain why Cinder wanted him. How long ago?"

"Not sure. But it was the one before the one that was attacked in Glade Town. In fact, those two were cousins. This one had been a Maiden for over a decade though and she was being trained by Raven. Saw her as a mother. Hell, the only reason Raven isn't the Maiden was because she wished the cousin had joined her. I don't know if I should tell Yang that."

The Maiden, Krystal, had certainly seen Raven as a mother figure. From what little she had dreamt, Emerald thought similar about Raven's feelings, save a few moments that Krystal had missed but Emerald didn't. Something about Raven's behaviour bothered her. Maybe…

Mercury spoke. "I don't think it's for us to say. They've never told Yang about the tribe; never told her the truth about her mother. That's going to be a problem once she does know. I'm almost curious as to who she is going to be angriest at."

Emerald shrugged weakly. She wasn't sure how to take this topic either, but she hated parents that abandoned their kids. Even if she thought Mercury's parents should have granted him that kindness.

"Have I ever woken you up?" She wasn't sure if she thrashed in her sleep or anything like that, but Mercury had always been out of the room when she woke up. Most likely due to his very irregular sleeping patterns of late.

"No. Are they that bad?"

"Not bad per se…" Yet was the word she was expecting soon. "I just don't know what I'll see."

"Whatever was most important to them probably. So Raven and…" Mercury hesitated for a moment before sighing. "Emerald, do you know anything about Cinder's boss?"

"Cinder's…boss? Cinder had a boss?"

"Yeah. A woman called Salem. Not someone you want to meet. Cinder was part of some conspiracy and from the way the others treated her, rather low on the ladder."

Emerald knew Mercury wasn't lying, but she just couldn't get that in her head. Cinder obeying someone else or allowing someone to talk to her the way Mercury suggested they did.

"Can't see it, can you?"

"No."

He chuckled. "I couldn't either and I don't think her being calm like she was when I was there was how she normally acted." He shrugged. "Anyway, if you dream of that, you'll know which one she is."

Emerald hoped she didn't or if she did, she wouldn't remember much of it when she woke up. "Do you want to talk about that?" He had never mentioned any of this before; probably didn't want to after all that's happened.

"…Not really."

"What's soul searching?" That is what Zephyr had said.

"I really don't want to remember that."

That was enough of an answer. "Lie down. And take off your shirt."

Mercury glanced at her, seeming to think about it. After a moment, he pulled his shirt over his head and lay down on his stomach. His breathing was a little more controlled than normal.

Emerald tried not to let it bother her. The sight of no scars on his back helped with that slightly. Felt his muscles relax under her fingers. Massages were something they all enjoyed, whether they were giving or receiving one. These days, Mercury tended to be more on the receiving end.

Mercury's aura shattered.

Emerald flinched and drew back.

"Emerald?"

"I-Do you want me to keep going?"

"Yeah."

He was cold to touch now. If it was like the other times, he would be quite tired as well. He hadn't sounded tired then though. He was just calm.

"It's sorting itself out. Shouldn't be too long now." He sounded so certain.

"Yeah."

Emerald warmed her fingers up a little. The muscles were still very relaxed under her touch. But she could tell he was fighting sleep easily.

"I thought I heard Qrow on the phone the other day talking to Autumn."

"Apparently to tutor. Things that Cinder wouldn't have focused on."

"And?"

Emerald let out a sigh. "I…don't know. I can't see what this power is for save for fighting or healing."

"That's probably her point. Any specifics?"

This was what Emerald wasn't sure how to bring up with him. "Well, you notice that Tai is really struggling not to focus on us when you need it more?" Who thought she would ever be complaining about someone being too good of a parent?

"If you're trying to figure out a way to tell me about the idea of leaving me here while the others return to Beacon so Tai and Qrow can focus on me, I overheard Ruby and Yang discussing it. More like arguing, really."

That was a surprise. "Really?"

"Well, they thought I was asleep."

That made more sense. "Right." Now what?

Mercury sighed. He rolled over and pushed himself up so he was sitting. "It's not the worst idea I've ever heard." His gaze went from her to out the window. "I'm honestly thinking about not returning to Beacon at all."

She…couldn't say she was surprised to hear that. She moved so she was sitting beside him again, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Do you have any plans for the future?"

Emerald's plans for the future were still up in the air, if she was honest with herself. But she believed she had one and that was a step forward.

"…Sort of. Recovering first. Doing a lot of little things I never got around to doing." He frowned at the window, still not looking at her. "Then leave and travel. The long route."

"Alone?"

"…I don't know. But probably. I can't play that role anymore and I don't want to try. I think I need to sort out what's a role and what's not and I need to be alone for that."

…

Ironically, it was that very reasoning that had Emerald returning to Beacon next week.

"Eris-"

"It won't be soon. I'm just…thinking about it. Either way, I don't want to go back to Beacon."

Ever since leaving Cinder, they had only been voluntarily separated once: when Emerald went to Hogwarts the year Mercury didn't. That ache was still fresh in her mind; almost like she had lost something so important for good despite being in constant touch.

She had hated it.

"…What is it? The classes? The people?"

"Both. The whole atmosphere. It was too…blissful. Most of the kids; they have no idea what the real world is like. Yeah, they see things in the paper, but it's not real to them. Even when it's staring them in the face. Unless it directly affects them, they don't care about anything other than themselves and that is going to be what kills them." He groaned and the back of his head hit the wall gently. "I just don't want to deal with them anymore."

"JWMP and BRN aren't like that."

He smiled softly, eyes closed. "No, they're not."

Emerald could list a few others, even from other schools, but she had made her point. That it was something he had already considered didn't help her argument.

"When were you thinking?"

"Not for quite a few months yet. I want to enjoy being home."

"Plenty of time to try and talk you out of it then."

"Sure."

Emerald didn't chuck him out of her bed. Instead, she let him fall asleep using her as a leaning post, though she soon manoeuvred him so he was lying down with his head in her lap. She knew from experience that was far more comfortable.

Even if she still had no idea why Merc was so comfy to fall asleep on.

Daisy had decided to go home for the weekend and had brought Violet with her. She had never been to Patch and she was interested in the island. On top of that, something had put JWMP and BRN into a very good mood and they had started a prank war with five teams in their fourth year. No doubt REY would join in when they returned to Beacon on Sunday.

Needless to say, a lot of teams that knew what to expect had decided to head home for the weekend.

There wasn't a city in Patch. There wasn't much of a town either. All the bare necessities were there, such as a pharmacy, hospital and school. Most of people's supplies came from the marketplace and were as fresh as could be. Most were locals but some were travelling salesmen.

More than twice a year, Daisy complained about wanting to move to the city. Her parents had been stubborn though and had excellent contacts in both Patch and Vale. With Vale City so close and easy to get to, they saw no need to move. When Daisy was accepted into Beacon, they had even less of a reason.

Violet's jaw dropped when she saw all the stalls. "How many are there?"

"Never counted and it changes anyway," Daisy replied. "On the right will be the fish caught by the Wilder Brothers. Salmon, cod, trout, herring, scallops…You want it, they got it and they only caught it late last night or very early this morning. It's Friday so it'll be Flint selling today. On the left are products from Cliffside Farm. They tend to deal with animal produce. Fruit and veg are a little further in."

Her parents were on very good terms with most of these people and Daisy had known the Wilder brothers since she was little. Brine used to babysit her.

It wasn't just food. Everything from handbags to furniture to trinkets, depending on who the travelling salesmen were that week. Some stayed for more than a week, but none had been a permenant fixture since the elderly Mrs Redwood started selling statues hand carved by her inspired by her travels when she was younger.

It was summer, so the theme was Vacuo and its close villages.

While the hand woven baskets were pretty, Daisy wanted something a little more reliable and she could see that 'bow' was for show and would be little good at firing an arrow. Mrs Redwood didn't sell weapons, even during winter when Atlas was the inspiration and they were known for weapons.

Weapons weren't really sold here. Some were, but they were mostly for decoration and were far too fancy for use in the field.

Today, there was a couple selling clothes. Daisy immediately headed over to them, Violet following with a sigh.

"I won't be long," Daisy promised. "Besides, you might see something you like."

"Maybe," Violet replied with a raised eyebrow. "But the last time you said you wouldn't be long, you took two hours. Shorter than normal maybe but it wasn't quick."

Had it been two hours? How time flew. But this was only one stall. "Good afternoon. How long are you staying for?"

The woman behind the counter smiled. "Not much longer. Much of our stock is already gone, so I'm afraid there's not much to see. See anything you like and let me know."

Daisy could see why their stock had gone so fast. There were a few things she liked, but they weren't in her size. Violet did get a dress that would be good for a prom, but not for clubbing. Unlike her namesake, it was a thistle colour.

"When you want to wear that, I've got some jewellery that would go well with it." Daisy knew Violet didn't shop for jewellery either and only had what others had gotten her.

"I can't think of a time I would wear it," Violet admitted.

"How about when Sawyer asks you out?"

Violet froze, a blush blossoming on her cheeks. "I-I-"

"Oh please. I've seen how he looks at you lately. It's obvious. Any day now he's going to be asking you on a date. That's good for a fancy restaurant or that new ballroom. It's a bit much if he choose something a little more low key and I think that's where he's going to start."

"B-But-"

Daisy was enjoying this. "Maybe you should get out of your school uniform a little more-"

Now Violet found her tongue. "Okay. Shut up. I am not taking your advice for dating. I still remember your suggestions for the Festival dance."

"And there were quite a few girls dressed like that, or some in more revealing, so you can't complain." None had been too over the top even by Daisy's standards, but there were more girls interested in flirting than those that had gone the modest route.

Violet glared at her and took the dress to the till.

Daisy waited patiently, until she noticed something.

On one hand, Daisy tended to avoid the crazy sisters whenever she could. On the other hand, the younger one was wearing something she definitely hadn't been the week before last.

Violet sighed as she began forward. "Really Daisy?"

"I don't want to pick a fight this time. I just want to learn something."

But five step forward and she realised two things. One: Ruby was not the only one wearing it. Second: Mercury was back.

No wonder everyone's in such a good mood.

Violet hesitated when she saw him, but then her features hardened and she followed at a quicker pace. It took Daisy a moment to realise what had come over her.

Of course, the stall they had stopped at was Taiyang Xiao Long's. He was still setting up and had probably only left Signal an hour ago.

She might not like his kids, but Daisy couldn't deny his baking was magnificent.

Emerald spotted her first. "Hey Daisy." That drew the others' attention. "What do you want?"

Glad they cut to the heart of it as Daisy did have better things to do and places to be, she pointed at Emerald's left hand. "Where'd you get those rings?"

It was a real gold band, Daisy was very certain of that. She also had no doubt the red, green and grey gemstones were real and not fakes. The stones were placed nearly side by side all the way around with the gold band keeping them together. It may be thin, but it must have cost a fortune. She had no idea where they got the money for it, but she didn't care. She had enough to get what she wanted.

Emerald and Ruby had one. Yang didn't. Mercury's left hand was in his pocket and his right had a glove, but he probably had one too. His new dark grey almost racer jacket had almost certainly come from the stall she had just left.

Yang pointed to her right. "Traveller that way. Bolt they went by."

"Bolt?" She had never heard of it.

"Yeah," Ruby chirped up, very hyper. "We placed an order on Tuesday and picked it up today. There's plenty of stuff on sale now though. A lot expensive and some not."

Daisy raised an eyebrow. "All real?"

"All real," Emerald confirmed. "I know the difference."

True. She did.

Daisy made to leave, but Violet didn't follow her.

"Mercury, sorry to ask but…Have you seen a young man with a rainbow tattoo on his wrist?"

The smile faded from his face. That gave Daisy the answer.

"And a Pegasus tattoo on his right arm?"

"Yeah. What happened to him? Is he…?"

"He died. I'm sorry."

Violet swallowed. It was what they had been expecting but…

Daisy put an arm around her shoulder. "See you at school." With that, Daisy guided her away from the group and began to head back to her house. It was a bit of a walk, but it didn't matter.

But Violet pulled away. She brushed the tears away. "I'm fine. I think I already knew…Now…Have you ever heard of Bolt?"

Daisy gave her a look. "No. But we can come back tomorrow."

"I want to go now. I've got a dress. Might as well get some jewellery to go with it."

If Daisy didn't know something was wrong, Violet willingly going shopping would tip her off. She wasn't okay and she wouldn't be for a while. Ryder might have been her cousin, but they were more like siblings.

Bolt was run by three people.

Daisy could see they preferred to sell genuine stones and metals, but they did have replicas for much lower prices. It genuinely surprised her how varied they were.

Violet picked up a Pegasus necklace.

Daisy insisted on paying for it.

Then she made a note to talk to Sawyer. A relationship might be what Violet needed to help move forward, but delicacy was needed here.

There had been no word from Salem.

That should be a relief.

It wasn't.

Headmaster Lionheart looked down at the papers. Of the eight teams that had graduated last year, five were dead and the others were broken up. Missing members.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was only supposed to be one small favour and she would leave him alone.

But one favour led to another to another to another-

But she had left him alone. He had done what she had said and he was left alone.

He had told Watts he didn't know the Spring Maiden. He had handed over all the information he had on the Spring Maiden (Krystal Umi) years ago. He knew it had been useful as her cousin has inherited but he didn't have anything up to date and he didn't know if Watts believed that.

There was no order about new students this year. They weren't sending him any this year but they might next year and he was ready in case they asked.

But Haven was hosting next year.

Without the Spring Maiden, he couldn't get them the Relic.

If he didn't get her the Relic, she wouldn't leave him alone.

He needed to find the Spring Maiden.

Saturday night found the kids sleeping in a pile in the living room. With the girls heading back to Beacon the next morning, this was the last night for a while they would be together.

Tai took a photo for the album, but left them alone and headed into the kitchen to find Qrow. Rather than close the door for privacy, he left it open so the kids were in view.

"That is what they should be like at their age. Mostly carefree and enjoying the final years of childhood."

Qrow scoffed and took a drink from a coffee. He didn't argue though. To Tai though, it still looked like he hadn't had much sleep recently.

"At least with no Vytal Festival this year, it should be a relaxing one."

"Glynda would disagree with that. These guys and their friends have been causing trouble since day one. She even thinks STRQ wasn't as bad."

Tai could believe that, if only because his and Summer's parents had never been called to the school. "They haven't done any permenant damage yet."

"Yet," Qrow noted with a snort.

"And at that point, I'll take all their Dust, Crescent Rose and Yang's bike until they earn it back."

"And Emerald?"

"Her favourite books. I just haven't decided which ones yet." Tai rubbed his eyes. "Your contacts reported anything worrying or can I go back to wondering when I'll next be called to the Headmaster's Office?"

Qrow shrugged. "I haven't heard anything and that's the problem."

"Atlas isn't our problem and Ironwood might be a little too stubborn, but he'll find them when they come out. It's not like we're planning on heading over there."

"On Haven either."

"A problem for next year." Tai did know the danger and he would have to tell Emerald eventually. But he had plenty of time before that. "I'm worried they're going to accidentally tear down Beacon first."

"Glynda would rebuild it. Then Ozpin would probably give them rewards for managing something we couldn't. I'm curious as to who would have won that betting pool. I know the teachers were involved."

Tai chuckled and grabbed a coffee himself.

"But the papers have been finalised. They are now official and their legal names are Mercury Crawford and Emerald Ryu."

"That was quick." Not that Tai was complaining, but he had expected it to take longer. Legal matters could often take months.

"They had Dr Waterbrook as a reference."

There was that.

Changing a legal name wasn't exactly difficult, but normally a reference was needed to ensure they weren't criminals. The more highly respected the reference, the less hassle the name change, especially as Emerald and Mercury didn't have any legal papers at all.

It would buy Mercury some breathing room from those who knew Marcus Black as Marcus Black and, while he wasn't entirely sure of her reason, Tai suspected Emerald had wanted to change her name to help move forward and put the past behind her.

More importantly, it had been their decision.

"Glynda also asked exactly what stories from our glory days we passed on. I'm not going to tell her much, but I know you've told them some. Which ones?"

Their reminiscing of their school days went deep into the night.

Blake didn't like this.

Last year she had no problem sneaking into White Fang meetings. They looked at the ears, saw a Faunus and stopped there. Winning the last Tournament meant many Faunus would recognise her even with the mask.

She did not want to give the idea that she supported the White Fang's current actions.

Coral had agreed to go in her place. Blake had refused and had thought that was the end of it, only for Jasper to message her and say his sister had gone anyway.

Now Blake had a rough idea what Sun must have felt like last year.

But calling her could get people to ask awkward questions that could bring her to harm, so Blake instead began to pace. She was sure Coral would be fine, but she couldn't stop the worry. In a way, Coral being in this situation was Blake's fault.

One safe house was ready and was in Menagerie. Her parents were looking after the place and the people within. Jasper had been the first to arrive there along with two others, both a little younger than him. Coral had been very grateful.

Which is part of the reason Blake suspected she had done this.

There had never been any violence at a White Fang meeting before, but they had never been this divided before.

And Blake had no idea how Adam would respond.

Before, it had been the people Adam had allied with that would kill the deserters. But Blake had been hearing rumours that Adam was starting to do that himself and Blake never thought she would ever see the day Adam turned against a Faunus.

Blake collapsed on her bed.

Emerald was returning to Beacon tomorrow. Even if she was having private tutoring, Blake could ask her afterwards. Maybe some of the other Faunus weren't happy with who Adam was allying with. But if these were the same people who were behind the kidnappings, Blake could see why people weren't so willing to back out.

This worrying was getting her nowhere.

It was late, but it was easy enough to sneak into the gym. There were a few techniques that Blake had yet to perfect and she knew that, while she won the Tournament, there were those that were more skilled than her. She needed to keep practicing.

With Adam so prone to violence, she needed to be ready for when she met him again.

The door to the gym was already unlocked.

Ren and Nora were inside, doing some fancy acrobats that Blake had never seen. It was going well, Blake assumed, but she was very sure that Nora was not supposed to lose her footing and nearly crash into a wall.

"You needed at least another spin there Nora," Blake noted. "Probably two."

"I'll try four," Nora grinned and ran back to the other side to try again.

Blake and Ren exchanged a tired smile.

Still, a relaxing evening spent training with her teammates sounded like a good idea.