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Chapter 116: Leaving

Felix had, against both his own better judgement and the advice of his friends decided not to attend his lessons for the morning, though in the Lion Faunus's mind his absence could be justified as being for a good cause.

For the last two weeks the Fourth Year students had been sitting their final written exams for each of the subjects they studied, each exam being a gruelling experience lasting for several hours and testing the student on everything they had learned in the relevant subject over the course of their training. There were no grades as such, a student simply either passed or failed although it was possible for an exceptionally scholarly student to pass with distinction and any student who failed would not receive their Hunters' license, although there were still plenty of career options open to those students, not least of which was simply acting illegally as an unlicensed Hunter and serving those whose lack of funding or scruples necessitated hiring such people.

Felix checked the time on his Scroll and felt the tension in his gut redouble itself as he began to pace the narrow corridor, the echoing of his own footsteps being the only sound he could hear as he counted down the seconds in his head. Eventually, after what felt like an age Felix began to hear voices on the opposite side of the door he was pacing outside of which was soon followed by the sound of muffled footsteps and the scraping of chairs; as the door to the exam hall opened he stepped aside and looked amongst the faces of the leaving students for his sister

"Hey, hey Corey!" Felix weaved between the bodies of the Fourth Years as he caught sight of Corvid, hastily acknowledging her classmates with whom he was acquainted as they greeted him

"Hey Fluffy" Corvid managed a small smile, though her face was lined as though she'd been frowning consistently for the last several hours and her tiredness was so intense that it seemed to reach out and drain the energy from those around her. As Felix made his way towards her gave the other members of Team CLIR a nod of greeting, Iris mentioned that she was going to head to the canteen and the Lion Faunus noted that Rusty's usually tanned face seemed pale and the Vaccuan gunslinger appeared anxious as he and Lux followed her.

"How did it go?" Felix enquired apprehensively, whilst he had every faith in his sisters' abilities the fact remained that these exams were the final barrier that stood between her and her childhood dream and that several Fourth Year students had suffered from stress related breakdowns in the last few weeks.

"The exam was a piece of cake…..So I'm now a professional baker but I think I might have been in the wrong place" Corvid winked and her smile became just a little more lively as she playfully shoved her brothers' shoulder "All jokes aside it was tough, but I think I did okay"

"Awesome" Felix beamed proudly, refusing to let his smile falter even as a thought occurred to him "So when do you leave the academy?"

"Goodwitch says Fourth Years are welcome to stay until the end of term, she knows that there's students here from other Kingdoms or people whose home situation isn't great" Corvid shrugged "I know the others are thinking about going home soon but I'm probably gonna stay another week or two….this is gonna be the last time I get to use Halo's workshop for free so I may as well bleed it dry" she chuckled the last part although a tinge of sadness filled her stormy grey eye as she and Felix meandered slowly through the hallways, the realisation that an enjoyable chapter of her life was ending suddenly hitting her

"Our Mums are gonna be a mess when you leave, y'know that right….hell I'll be honest it's gonna be weird not having you around" Felix admitted

"Yeah well I can't take any official missions until the summer when our papers come through….then we're heading to Menagerie"

"It's official then?" Felix asked, having heard the news of Team CLIR's provisional contract for a mission from an eager and preening Corvid shortly after she'd told Arctus

"Yep, I promise I'll still find time to watch you kick ass in next years' Vytal Tournament though" she assured him, her grin widening to almost comical proportions as she leaned close and whispered conspiratorially "That's not all though, guess what"

"What?"

"Guess!"

"Come on Corey"

"Fine" Corvid gave an exaggerated sigh "Team CLIR are getting a Bull-Head!"

"What?" Felix sputtered, the idea of his sister purchasing an aircraft seeming far-fetched if for no other reason that the cost of such a thing.

"Yeah, it's an old model that got pretty wrecked in the breach" she admitted "We all chipped in and got it for cheap 'cos it was gonna be scrapped….If we all take summer jobs we should be able get the parts we need to get it flying again in time for our first mission"

"I'm proud of you Corey" Felix spoke slowly, suddenly aware of a lump in his throat "I really am….I feel like I don't say it enough sis but I love y'know?"

"I love you too Fluffy" Corvid ruffled his hair and chuckled "Hey come on, don't start tearing up on me now….save it for when I get my license"

"Yeah, yeah" Felix laughed, coming to a sudden halt as he caught sight of something ahead of them which made his eyes widen "No way"

"What-Oh my Oum, Rusty you ten gallon ass-hat" Corvid hissed under her breath, adding an explanation as she caught sight of her brothers' disbelieving glare "I knew knew he was planning this I was gonna help him make it special" the Lion Faunus disregarded her for a moment, instead simply watching and allowing a squeal of joy that he would later deny all knowledge of to escape him as a tearful Lux accepted the engagement ring that Rusty was holding as he knelt in front of him.

"Hey, they're gonna wanna get married in Vale so now you've gotta come home some time" Felix laughed, nudging his sister gently until he saw that she looked as though she were trying to ignore something

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm good….You gonna go congratulate those two or what?" Felix stared at his sister for a moment before understanding that she needed a moment to herself and that he was being politely dismissed, nodding silently he went and joined the crowd of well-wishers that had gathered around Lux and Rusty, which included Iris who had practically thrown herself at the pair to pull them into a group hug.

Corvid pulled her Scroll out of her pocket and for a few seconds that felt far longer as she debated sending a message to Onyx before she finally shook her head and pocketed the device; deciding to leave well enough alone before either one or both of them got hurt. Plastering a smile onto her face she quickly joined her team-mates and launched herself into the group hug with enthusiasm.

It had been weeks since Rhodium Torchwick's criminal empire had been all but gutted by the group of Hunters and police officers who would seemingly stop at nothing to see him comply with their demands. In that time the redhead had lost an amount of lien that he would have shuddered at the thought of, were he not preoccupied with other matters and had been forced to order many of his remaining thugs and associates to lay low, though he was managing to keep most of his protection rackets in operation through simple fear alone without any fresh physical threat. A small group of Torchwick's underlings had attempted to continue to distribute narcotics despite his instructions and Rhodium feared that it may be the beginnings of a coup or insurrection that would force him to abandon his criminal empire where all else had failed; in a perversely ironic twist the problem had been solved by Fawn Bordeaux in her continued open hostility and flagrant abuse of her powers, the leader of this small faction of Torchwick's crew now resided in hospital under police guard after Brindle had simply run him over with her patrol car as he attempted to flee from the corner he had been selling drugs from at the time.

All thing considered Torchwick found himself unable to care about the situation as much as he once would have; true to their word and regardless of officer Bordeaux's ongoing brutality, Rover, Artemis and Scarlet had left Rhodium's legal businesses unmolested and in the weeks that had passed since the Hunter's had broken into his childhood home he had seen or heard nothing of them, presumably he was being given time to make a decision that they felt was inevitable.

An opinion Torchwick was begrudgingly beginning to share as he and Corona considered the mounting evidence

"Play it" Corona breathed out as she sat beside him on the dingy and threadbare sofa in the living room of the barely furnished and shabby apartment that they currently resided in. Despite the overwhelming and unreasonable amount of force being used against his drug dealing operation Torchwick was continuing to have raw product produced, firstly for the simple principle of the matter and the redheads' own refusal to accept such a defeat but more importantly gave him an excuse to slow down Ozymandias Eldritch in his pursuit of the twisted goals that it was impossible to continue to deny that the man harboured whilst at the same time allow Rhodium to spy on the scientist through the use of his younger and more unassuming underlings. Both Rhodium and Corona stared in silence at Torchwick's scroll for a moment before he let out a slow breath and played the latest audio file to be recorded and sent by one such informant; when he finally pressed play the recorded audio was muffled due to both the fact that the conversation was being eavesdropped on from the other side of a wall and also that the Scroll itself was hidden in the pocket of a hoodie, after replaying the recording a few more times however both Rhodium and Corona had manage to decipher enough of what had been said to leave them sharing grim and unsettled expressions. More damning evidence that led credence to the claims made by the Hunters, Nickel Polendina was continuing to search for something whose description seemed to alternate between an object and an organism which would, by some means neither the mobster or the renegade Huntress understood allow Ozymandias to locate a specific Creature of Grimm.

"So how're we handling this?" Corona asked, watching Rhodium sit in silence with his head buried in his hands for several drawn out seconds before resting her mechanical hand on his thigh "Rhodey?"

"I can't work with the cops" the redhead forced out through clenched teeth "If I work with the cops I'm as good as dead anyway"

"I can't fight Nickel" Corona replied simply "Not if she's as good at killing Hunters as we think she is" the regretful admission brought a fresh layer of panic and concern to Rhodium's eyes which was quickly buried as the man began applying the ruthless and cunning mind that had enabled his rise to the top of the cities' criminal underworld to his current predicament; several possible solutions were considered and discarded in the span of seconds and Corona privately noted that it was fun to watch her boyfriend plot and scheme despite the seriousness of the situation; though before he could form a decisive plan a knock at the front door of the apartment broke both of their concentration

"Who the…." Rhodium trailed off making an irate gesture towards the door

"Probably just door to door salesmen" Corona noted as she rose to her feet and made her way towards the door. The Mantis Shrimp Faunus received no warning, no sooner had she unlocked the door than it was flung open by someone flinging themselves into its' surface with Aura fuelled strength and forcing themselves inside; with her fight or flight response thus engaged Corona blindly lashed out with her Cybernetic and drew grunts of pain from the intruder as her fist collided with a soft midsection, she then grabbed and bodily threw the attacker into the apartment. Rhodium leapt from the sofa and made to reach of anything that could be used as an impromptu weapon as they collided against the back of the furniture only to roll aside before Corona's follow up blow could land; her open palm struck the sofa and in a flash of light it flung across the room whilst simultaneously being torn in half by the force of the concussive blast

"STAND DOWN CORONA OR THIS BASTARD DIES!" the Mantis Faunus came to an immediate half, eyes widening in fear at the sight of Rhodium being held by the neck whilst their attacker pressed the blade of the kitchen knife the redhead had brandished against his throat; even more shocking was the fact that her attacker was familiar

"I told you that you weren't gonna get away" Foggy panted with exertion as he glared at the partner that had betrayed him "So lets' talk, I wanna hear you explain yourself"

A Beowolf fell to the ground with its' head neatly severed from its' neck as the Harpies' Claws were swung in wide arcs, Syneffo landing from her graceful somersaulting motion in a crouch before launching herself upwards in a flurry blows that sundered bodies and tore limbs from the rest of the pack; a particularly large Grimm prepared to lunge at her, she caught the movement from the corner of her eye and crouched as the beast leapt, allowing to pass over her and activating her Semblance and whilst it may have been named 'Protector' the domed shield of pure Aura she could unleash served equally well as weapon in such circumstances, tearing the Grimm apart as it collided with its' underbelly.

"DAMN IT!" Syneffo roared in pure frustration as she swung one of her axes with such force that it tore through a Grimm and embedded itself in the tree behind it; she left the axe behind and simply hurtled towards the sole remaining member of the pack of Beowolves that she had cut down only for the dull and muffled crack of a sniper rifle to ring out from behind her before the Grimm staggered backwards and Syneffo came to a halt, face reddening with anger as she watched the monster rapidly disintegrate and the wisps of acrid smoke that trailed from its' body dispersed. With a furious sound she hurled her remaining axe into the soft ground and slammed her fist into the trunk of a nearby tree, the blow splintering bark and threatening to break trunk or simply uproot the tree entirely

"Syneffo calm down!" Ruby demanded as she collapsed Crescent Rose and scanned the perimeter "This isn't helping"

"NOTHING'S HELPING!" Syneffo retorted furiously as she slumped against the tree she had struck, voice cracking and threatening tears of stress. Penny had flown the two of them out to one of the many forests that filled the space beyond settlements outside of the walls of New Vale's capital before departing and leaving Ruby and Syneffo to train in relative seclusion. Whilst it was undeniable that Syneffo had been a capable fighter upon arriving in the Kingdom and had only continued to improve the fact remained that she had still never consciously accessed the powers of the Silver Eyed Warrior and that her inability to recreate her reaction to the Creatures of Grimm during the breaches was only making the girl more and more angry at herself; a reaction that Ruby was trying her best to curb and dissuade

"Hey, look at me" the caped Huntress spoke softly as she crouched down, one pair of silver eyes boring into another "It's okay, it's not supposed to be easy"

"But I'm supposed to be making progress-"

"You are making progress" Ruby insisted "You know you've got the powers if you need 'em right? Learning to control them fully could take years….And a lot of dangers that you don't want"

"I'll put myself in danger!" Syneffo cried desperately "It'll be worth the risk to-"

"No, it won't" Ruby sighed "And won't just be yourself in danger….The first few times I used my Silver Eyes, there were entire cities at risk and people I loved were either dead or in danger…..I thought I'd lost Penny" her voice dropped to a haunted whisper at the thought of memories which haunted her nightmares even decades later. Syneffo remained silent and simply leapt to her feet, ripping her axes free of the ground and tree that their blades had been sunken into and cleaning them roughly as she paced, her entire body seemingly tense with agitation until after a few moments Ruby saw something moving in the trees

"Wait here" before Syneffo could question her Crescent Rose had been deployed and Ruby had streaked forwards in a crimson blur of motion and a shower of petals; reappearing before a gargantuan Ursa that had been lumbering steadily towards them through the trees in the distance, a single calm and precise swing of her scythe disposed of the monster but as she collapsed her weapon once again she found herself with her head down and deep in thought as concerns that had been growing in the back of her mind finally made themselves impossible to ignore; the fact that Syneffo's own emotional state was most likely what had drawn the Ursa cemented Ruby's decision in her mind and as the girl drew close, having soundly ignored the order to wait Ruby turned to her with a forlorn expression

"Syneffo, I've been thinking….I think it might be for the best if we stop your training"

"We've been here for less than" Syneffo trailed off as she realised that Ruby meant something far more permanent

"Ruby no, please!" tears welled up in her eyes "I'll try I harder, I can-"

"That's not it" Ruby's eyes closed for a moment, she truly had no desire to see the hurt expression on Syneffo's face "I know you're trying as hard as you can but I think it's what's best for you at this point"

"How can it be?"

"I don't know how to teach you" Ruby admitted freely "I think we've gotten as far as we can; there isn't enough information to base any kind of testing or training on and I'm worried that pushing you any harder will do more hard than good"

"But-"

"No buts" Ruby shook her head "I'm not saying that I'll never train you again, maybe in a few years you'll be ready; you will always be welcome to ask me for help when you're ready but right now you're not ready and I think it's for the best that you went home to Anima"

"I can't go home" Syneffo croaked out miserably, tears flowing down her cheeks

"You hate it here" Ruby pointed out as gently as possible "And I'm not judging you for it, I promise you but there's no sense in staying here and making yourself unhappy"

"I'm the heir to my people, I can't return as a failure"

"You won't be" Ruby clamped a firm but reassuring hand on Syneffo's shoulder and waited for the girl to meet her gaze "You are more dedicated to protecting people than anyone I've ever met and your people should all be proud of you. You've unlocked your powers and used them against Grimm, all that's left no is mastering it"

"You don't understand the Nikosi-"

"You're right I don't" Ruby shrugged "But I know that you're mother loves you and will be proud of you regardless. The only Nikos I'd ever met before you and your brother was Pyrrha….and under all that anger and stubbornness and teenage moodiness I can see a lot of Pyrrha in you" Syneffo remained silent, the comparison to Pyrrha Nikos was enough to halt any arguments at least for the moment. Taking advantage of the silence Ruby gently led Syneffo towards the clearing which would serve as their extraction point

"Come on, let's go home"

The vessel that Team GORE had been given by Atlas in return for their service was progressing slowly but steadily; the sheer scale of the task more daunting than any particular difficulties although Felix had been as good as his word and had managed to procure several dismantled or disabled but perfectly functional robotic and automated components and various pieces of equipment courtesy of his Aunt Ruby who had seemed frankly glad to be rid of it and happy that it would continue to be put to good use even after she no longer had need of it.

Work on the vessel had also been greatly accelerated by Eagle Arc, whose assistance had proven invaluable to the seafaring Faunus on several occasions and whilst Hellion understood and accepted that disciplines such as robotics and programming lay utterly outside of her skill-set, the fact remained that the Dragonfly Faunus greatly wanted to repay her girlfriend for her help and whilst she was not as gifted at creating and manipulating machinery as Onyx, Hellion understood the principles enough and was eager to help turn the Lightning Bug into the unstoppable weapon of Grimm destruction that Eagle wished it to be.

"Okay, let's give this a try" the freckled blonde murmured, voice filled with apprehension and nervous energy. The two of them were currently situated in the relatively spacious garage situated to the rear of the Arc family home, having taken advantage of the reduced academic workload that many of Halo Academies' students had been given in return for their efforts in the relief and evacuation of Arcadia and made the way to Eagle's home-town of New Hope immediately after classes had ended for the day, as they had done several times over the last few weeks. The Lightning Bug was currently raised aloft by and firmly secured to a series of jacks and Eagle sat within whilst Hellion watched from beside a workbench as the blonde turned the key in the ignition.

The engine of the car growled into life with a far more full and throaty sound than one would expect from a vehicle of its' size, the car ran smoothly now and Hellion caught sight of Eagle smiling happily before moving onto the next phase of their testing; the Dragonfly Faunus found herself smiling along with her as she watched the blonde reach below the dashboard to a series of hidden switches.

The rear of the Lightning Bug began to unfurl and break away from itself, previously unseen panel lines separating and rotating until the screeching sound of grinding and tearing metal filled the garage, the moving components of the Lightning Bug shuddered and ground to a halt whilst smoke billowed from within until Eagle hastily killed the engine and hopped out of the drivers' seat.

"What happened?" Hellion asked, heart hammering in her chest at the idea of something going catastrophically wrong whilst Eagle was still inside the car

"I'm not sure" Eagle wore a pout and frown of concentration "Either something is catching as it moves or we've made some serious mistakes somewhere" the Lightning had only been raised enough for Eagle to slide beneath it on a small wheeled board and she promptly did so, using her Scroll as a torch to inspect the damage. Hellion for part merely enjoyed the view, Eagle's armour and leather jacket had been discarded leaving the Dragonfly Faunus an exquisite view of the blondes' abs as her tank-top rode up a little, for a moment she gave serious consideration to simply letting Eagle work in peace and helping her in any way she could.

In the end however, other ideas proved far too tempting.

"Hey" Eagle giggled softly has Hellion's fingers brushed against her toned stomach, breath hitching as those fingers trailed slowly beneath her tank-top; Eagle quickly pulled herself from beneath the car and the pair were upon each other in an instant, kissing passionately as their hands roamed over each others' bodies until despite blondes' larger frame she still found herself pinned to the floor of the garage with Hellion straddling her waist and her wrists held down

"Wait" Eagle murmured, still panting and with cheeks that were flushed scarlet "Not here" Hellion slid off of her and helped her to her feet, though she kept her hands firmly on Eagle's hips once they were both stood

"Then where?" Hellion all but purred

"Somewhere where we're not always worrying about getting caught" Eagle pouted "Somewhere with a bed and where I can fall asleep snuggling with you afterwards" she surprised herself with just how forthright she was, long gone was the shy and awkward Eagle who had been utterly incapable of even talking to a pretty girl without stuttering and fumbling every other word; Hellion considered for a moment and gave a wicked grin

"If we leave for the Academy now I can have the others out of my dorm for the rest of the evening before we get there"

Eagle needed no further encouragement and was already reaching for her jacket.

Corona and Foggy had known each other for years, their alliance was once a partnership of necessity that had gone on to become a genuine friendship and respect to the extent that the two would have said that they considered each other family.

Corona was a Native of Vale that had studied at Haven Academy in Mistral only for her team to officially disband within days of their graduation, the Mantis Shrimp Faunus had considered it no great loss; they had never been close or indeed especially liked each other and she had on multiple occasions rented rooms close to the Academy just so that she didn't have to share a dormitory with her assigned team, in her mind she was a far more capable leader than the person given the privilege of the position and refused to be subjected to the dangerously poor leadership of a man too soft to make the tough decisions.

The rest of her former team had died on a failed mission within two years of their graduation so Corona supposed, in her most bitter moments that she could consider herself vindicated.

However Corona's first mission was one that had brought her back to her home Kingdom of New Vale, working in the no mans' land in centre of Vytal which was claimed by neither Vale or Vaccuo; she had been warned by her benefactor that the mission was not one that could be undertaken by a lone Huntress but Corona, being filled with the euphoria of her graduation and the overconfidence that only ignorance could give simply assured the client that she had always worked better alone.

She had been officially listed as missing and presumed dead for three weeks, suffering from several broken bones and slowly giving into the poison coursing though her veins when Foggy and his former partner had found her; yet she was still defiant and refused to concede that the mission was a failure.

Foggy and his former partner had found the wreckage of Corona's transport and agreed to suspend their own mission in order to investigate, a decision that had cost Foggy's original partner their eyesight and most of the fingers on their right hand. Both of them were treated for their injuries in the same hospital upon their successful escape; Foggy had visited Corona often and the two had become fast friends, when his blinded partner voiced their intentions to retire it seemed only natural that the Mantis Shrimp Faunus should be the one to step in and fill the void.

The pair had worked as an effective and reliable duo for over five years with Corona's presence being welcomed by the woman her new partner had gone on to marry and both of Foggy's children who considered the Faunus to be their aunt.

And then the promise of lien, power and security offered by Rhodium Torchwick with all of his confidence and charisma had prompted her to throw it away.

Foggy regarded both Corona and Rhodium with open disgust, an additional and more personal layer of anger being reserved for the Faunus despite the unwelcome pangs of pity and regret that he felt as he noted her mechanical arm and saw just how extensive the plasma-burns she'd received at the hands of the Grimm were. The trio had moved into the small kitchen and dining room of the shabby apartment after Rhodium and Corona had stated that they could explain why, if nothing else handing the pair over to the authorities would be detrimental to the safety of the Kingdom as a whole

"So" he grunted as the last of the audio recordings that Torchwick had been sent by his spies within his own gang ended "You've really managed to fuck things up for everyone then"

"If Oz wasn't working for me it would've been someone-"

"I'm not talking to you" Foggy's finger twitched against the finger of his shotgun which rested against the surface on the table they were sat around

"Was it worth it?" he demanded of Corona "Leaving me and those students to die, for this little prick? Is it everything you hoped it would be?"

"What do you want me to tell you Foggy?" Corona snapped back, incensed "I got sick of scrimping and saving to get by because you're too chicken shit to take any high risk, high rewards jobs? Yeah I started gunrunning for lien; who cares? This city is a mess anyway!" Foggy's eyes narrowed and his jaw worked in tense silence as he contemplated his next move

"So the Hunters you're working with need you specifically?" he snarled at Torchwick

"Unless you want an actual terrorist running my crew then yeah" the redhead shrugged, determined to portray at least a portion of his usual swaggering bravado regardless of the situation he had found himself in

"So then what's stopping me from taking Corona as insurance right now?" the older man allowed himself a bitter chuckle at the appalled look on his former friends' face "Come on Corona you always wanted me to make the tough choice, here we are-"

"Anything happens to her and my cooperation ends" both Foggy and Corona were left staring at Torchwick in stunned silence for a few seconds, both perturbed to varying degrees by the fact that neither of them could tell if he was bluffing

"You'd let this whole city burn to keep Corona out of prison?"

"Absolutely" the word left Rhodium's lips without hesitation

"Alright" Foggy nodded in understanding "Here's how this works, Torchwick you're gonna keep whatever arrangement you've got with the police and Hunters then you're gonna get the fuck out of town. Corona, you've got until the end of the week to get out of Vale. I found you once and if you come back I'll find you again and next time I'm not planning on taking prisoners"

"And what would Misty and Stratus say if they heard you shot Aunt Corona?" the Mantis Shrimp Faunus goaded, a savage grin on her face as she found what she believed to be an angle of attack, the smile faltered with Foggy's next words

"I've already told 'em that you're dead, it's easier than explaining this" Foggy rose to leave "End of the week. I'll be watching" the sound of the apartment door closing signalled that he had left and Rhodium and Corona stared at each other in shell-shocked silence for a few moments until the redhead finally spoke

"So….My Ma's in Vaccuo if you wanna meet her?"

General Winter Schnee made her way through the pristine and minimalist corridors of an Atlesian vessel that was not her own; the crew of the Gespenst coming to abrupt halts and saluting to her as she passed them, knowing that however lax Specialist Commander Slate allowed those under his command to become in regards to proper decorum Winter herself still commanded respect. She was currently alone, the faint whirring of the mechanisms within her cybernetic left leg the only constant source of noise; the solitude being the result of an old point of contention between Winter and her brother in law, she refused to be escorted to and from her personal Bull-Head by the ships' security detail whilst Gangrel bluntly refused to allow the retinue of Atlesian Knights which often flanked Winter onto his ship and although he stated that the machines posed a security risk that he could not allow, Winter had always suspected that it was truthfully a product of the Bear Faunus being raised in Lower Atlas; where detachments of such robots had been employed with zeal by a heavy handed and openly racist police force.

Winter reached the door to Gangrel's office which slid open with a hiss before she could request entry, evidently he was expecting her

"Gang" she gave him weary smile as she entered, any pretence of rank and protocol forgotten as she made herself comfortable and gratefully accepted the glass of brandy that her brother in law had already poured for her. Gangrel's office was kept dimly lit, primarily due to the glaring lights of many Atlesian vessels being uncomfortable to Faunus eyes and Winter noted that despite the secrecy of both the vessel itself and Gangrel's role as head of the Specialist Branch the Faunus still had several personal effects upon his desk, photographs showing both his wedding to Weiss and various pictures of his children which Winter noted some obviously recent pictures of Coral, the Crab Faunus whom Gangrel and Weiss had adopted.

"You wanted to meet in person?" Winter raised a questioning eyebrow

"Some things need your official approval" Gangrel shrugged, cybernetic arm whirring with the movement "Things I don't trust on any secure line right now"

"The Vale operation" Winter surmised, to which Gangrel nodded; there were other matters for the Specialists to concern themselves with of course, organised crime, large scale Grimm incursions and the usual political intrigue that a Kingdom such as Atlas would forever be home to, which currently took the form of a separatist movement within several of the smaller settlements which was gaining traction; all of them paled in comparison to the rogue Wizard and the sentient Grimm which he seemed fixated on.

"Rover and Missy have made their move on Torchwick, they're certain that he'll play ball…..it's just a matter of seeing how long he keeps up the tough guy act for"

"Which still leaves the matter of actually bringing Eldritch in" Winter noted

"Project Legacy is the more immediate threat" Gangrel noted bluntly, he'd fought with Penny Polendina once as a teenager and been soundly outclassed; he couldn't imagine her successor being anything other than monstrous in combat

"That's not the main issue" he noted, turning the screen of his computer towards Winter "Read this" the General did so, eyes narrowing as she took in the details of the reports that had been sent from the scientists experimenting on the Grimm known as Pantheon.

"They still want to continue to experiment?"

"Donner is against it" Gangrel answered "But your research team is determined to figure out what makes it tick….I can't give that go ahead" Winter considered for several moments, carefully weighing the potential benefits against the obvious risk, the need for safety against the need for answers

"They want to experiment on the fossilised Grimm tissue inside of the subject?" she murmured making sure that she understood, seeing Gangrel nod she made her judgement "They're to be given a partial clearance. They're to remove a small section of the tissue and destroy it once experimentation is complete; no invasive procedures are to be carried out on the subject under any circumstances"

"I'll make sure they understand" Gangrel nodded, privately harbouring serious doubts about such ides; in his mind Pantheon should have been decapitated the moment it was vulnerable

"Whilst we're on the subject of things that need my approval" Winter sighed as she drained her glass and set it down "I received your request"

"If you want me to apologise you're gonna be disappointed" Gangrel told her

"An explanation would be nice"

"This job is making me a bad father and husband" the answer halted any counterargument Winter may have had "I was never around as much as I should have been for Arctus when he was growing up and I'm doing the same with the girls….Blake's reaction to all the secrets we keep was the wake up call I needed, I can't do this job and have a family"

"And you think your First Mate is ready to succeed you?"

"We went through the Specialist Program together" Gangrel reminded her "Chiffon was ready for command years ago" Winter nodded in silence, she accepted Gangrel's reasoning and found herself with no choice but accept his request

"Once the situation with Eldritch is resolved you're free to resign from the Specialist Branch….In fact I already have a new assignment in mind for you"

"Oum damn it Winter" Gangrel growled, expecting better than underhanded trickery from her; Winter merely grinned

"Considering your clearance arranging transport from the manor to and from site shouldn't be an issue….although it will be a notable commute"

"What are-"

"Also there's going to be the matter of retraining, although I'm certain you won't find it too difficult" Winter gave an amused smile "You do have a way with kids after all"

"Oh you've gotta be joking" Gangrel mouthed, barely above a whisper and amber eyes wide as he realised exactly what Winter was offering him.

It was mid evening and Penny had collected Ruby and Syneffo from the forest in which their training had taken place several hours ago and the twins had returned from school not long after that as neither of them had any of their extracurricular activities that day, instead they had begrundgingly attended to their homework before heading out to play with some of the other local children and were expected to be home at any moment.

"Are you sure about this?" Penny asked, she and Ruby had been sat at the dining room table as the caped Huntress explained her intentions to have Syneffo returned to Anima and her people as well as the reasoning behind it. Ruby nodded slowly

"I am, it's for the best" she breathed out, though she was convinced by her own logic implementing it would still be no easy thing "She's a great kid, the twins adore her but being here is bad for her….she's like Blake used to be in some ways, or Weiss or a mix of the two. She's got all this responsibility and expectation placed on her and now she wants to save the whole of Remnant on her own"

"She is sensationally determined" Penny nodded as she turned her attention to the pots whose contents she was slowly stirring

"She is" Ruby agreed "But she shouldn't have to be. It's self destructive and I can't sit here and enable that, even if it's what Qrow wanted me to do"

"Have you spoken to him yet, he'll need to contact the Nikosi?" Penny asked delicately, truthfully wanting to avoid the subject of Ruby's uncle altogether. Whilst Ruby was the most vocally and obviously upset by the secrets that had been kept from them, her eyes hardening at the mention of anyone involved Penny herself equally appalled, more importantly though she was afraid of what the revelations meant

"Not yet" Ruby admitted "I'll talk to him after I take the kids to school tomorrow….May as well get it over and done with"

"You're planning on sending Syneffo home so soon?"

"No, not straight away" Ruby shook her head sadly "Give her people time to get the message and send someone to pick her up, besides I want the twins to have time to get used to the idea of her leaving; it's gonna break their hearts" at the mention of the twins Penny looked at a clock mounted on the wall, noting that they should be home any minute although both of them were at an age where they seemed determined to push the boundaries imposed on them so it wouldn't be unexpected for them to appear late.

"Dinner's almost ready" she informed Ruby; with them preparing to move many of Peal, the AI which operated both their home and their Bull-Heads' functions had been deactivated; though the security protocols would be kept in effect until the day they left the house for obvious reasons, a side effect of this was that Penny had started cooking more often, claiming that she found it soothing. Ruby rose and planted a brief kiss on her wife's cheek

"I'll go get Syneffo" with that she left the combined kitchen and dining room, making her way upstairs and knocking on the teens' bedroom door; there was no answer though Ruby supposed that Syneffo had simply not heard her over the sound of the loud and aggressive death metal that was blaring from within

"Teenagers" Ruby chuckled and rolled her silver eyes, stopping short as she realised just how old she sounded to herself

"Syneffo, dinner's just about ready" she called out as she knocked again, still there was no answer "Syneffo?" Ruby was suddenly concerned; Syneffo didn't sulk and hide away, the girl was loud and tackled her problems in a direct and admittedly sometimes abrasive manner

"Syneffo, open the door please" Ruby called out, voice suddenly wavering and upon receiving no answer she added "Okay, I'm coming in" with that she activated her Semblance, using her speed to vibrate her body in a way that allowed her to simply phase through the locked door. Syneffo's room was furnished with only the things that had already been present upon her arrival in the Kingdom, the only real signs of the room having been lived in were the opened closet door which revealed most of Syneffo's more mundane clothes such as jeans and hoodies had been left behind, a small desk that had obviously been used as a workbench with oil, polish and used rags still present on its' surface and the fact that Syneffo's bedsheets were on the ground beside the bed itself; Ruby had learned that the redhead routinely slept on the floor as it was closer to what she was used to.

The most important detail however was one that made bile rise in Ruby's throat with sudden panic.

Syneffo was gone.

Authors Notes:

Okay, we're about a third of the way through the volume now things are gonna start happening at a more rapid pace.
Get ready and enjoy the show.

Not much to add so, let's summarise:
So if exams have been going on for two weeks and they were a few weeks away last chapter we've skipped forwards about a month.
"The exam was a piece of cake…..So I'm now a professional baker but I think I might have been in the wrong place" peak Corey.
So yeah Team CLIR may or may not show up next chapter, they will be mentioned either way but after that they're gonna be absent; I'm planning on starting Fourth Year with their graduation though and giving 'em a proper send off.
"Ten gallon ass-hat" she's on form today.
Also I've been looking for a time and a place to have those two get engaged and Rusty having the ring, wanting to plan something romantic and ending up just going for it after the last exam seems to fit.
The on going saga of Onyx and Corvid's messy love life continues.
So Torchwick's crew has been slapped around by the law so much that people are starting to think about removing him….and Fawn is just carrying on acting like the average Police Officer and abusing the shit out of her power.
So Rhodey knows that he's out of options but he's still trying to create more.
You knew Foggy was coming back at some point.
As hard as Syneffo's trying the fact is that Ruby's right and it is probably for the best that Syneffo goes back to Anima.
I'm enjoying teasing the bad-ass shit that the Lightning Bug is gonna be able to do….Just remember that this is Eagle's work and Eagle made a shield that's also a robot.
I felt like I needed to give Corona some backstory and explain how her and Foggy came to be partners considering that he's about five years older than her and the obviously weren't team-mates at an Academy.
It's also a much needed reminder that whilst she might be a Huntress, she has never been a nice person.
And that's another character who's going to be departing; honestly the finale of Vol.9 and moving into Vol.10 is going to be where we start to streamline a lot of things as it gets to the end point of what this whole story has been building towards.
Gangrel fighting with Penny is a reference to one scene in The Downward Spiral where she absolutely schooled him.
We're gonna see how Pantheon works in a couple of chapters and hopefully you'll start to figure out what I'm planning if you haven't already.
So Gangrel's resigning…..I'm sure you can figure out what his new job is going to be.
Of course Penny's the one cooking; the twins could convince Ruby to eat cookies for dinner.
Syneffo definitely loves death metal.
Of course, Syneffo responded to her problem in true teenager fashion….she ran away from home.

Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander and DizzyDwarf for their reviews on the last chapter.
Oh and Funlander, congrats on being the 666th review on FF….You have achieved maximum edge.
The relaxation won't last.
I mean Torchwick was having Police killed and their cars bombed not too long ago, that was almost certainly done with the help of his people on the inside and Junior's people would have bee the first to be picked out and marked for death.
Someone versus someone at least.
Well he already knew most of it, he was just getting it confirmed from an outside source and it's not like he could actually do much to Rover or Artemis.
I kinda do plan on Astra going on to be a Hunter, but he can certainly have a more grounded boxing style like earlier Yang fights.
They're not trying to kill Pantheon just yet, they're the second sentient Grimm in two years and Project Snare was intended to use a sentient Grimm to redirect packs or migrations; they're taking a risk by keeping Pantheon alive but hoping it could save a lot of lives in the long run.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.