It was nearly seven in the morning by the time either of the two awoke. Coco was first, shuffling in her bed and beginning to panic when she realized where she was. Olivia was up and to her door in an instant, knocking once before peeking her head in.

"Whoa there, Coco. Nothing to worry about, just the Beacon infirmary. You're alright," Olivia smiled softly. "They didn't even force you into one of those horrid hospital gowns, so you must be fine."

"Would have been their mistake," Coco growled, sitting up and whipping the blanket off herself. Despite her immediate burst of energy, she swayed slightly after swinging her legs over the side. Olivia darted forward to steady her, placing a hand on her shoulder that she readily accepted.

Coco raised her eyes, looking around the room for a moment, "Is everyone alright? I don't remember much, other than… Velvet!" Her face grew frantic, and she tried to hop up once more before Olivia pushed her back down.

"Everyone is fine. Fox is one room over, resting just like you were. Yatsuhashi and Velvet both slept in your dorm. I've been keeping watch all night because Velvet was worried." Coco stared at her uncertainly, only relaxing once the words she had said were finally understood. Olivia took her chance to pull up a chair from across the room and sit down as well. "What happened? Velvet said there were a lot of Grimm, but that's pretty much it."

Coco frowned, eyebrows drawing together in confusion, "She didn't mention…?" She paused for a while longer, eyes vacant in thought before shaking her head with a sigh, "No, there must be a reason for it."

"A reason for what?"

Coco sighed, flashing her an apologetic smile, "I'll have to check with Vel. Sorry, Olivia," she brightened, "Thank you for watching over us, though. I'm glad she could get her rest instead of worrying over nothing."

Olivia decided to ignore the information that had been glossed over for now. It likely had something to do with Cinder anyway. Instead she laughed lightly, sparing a smirk for the older huntress, "Velvet was exhausted. You two must have done some rigorous 'celebrating' after the battle if it ended with her passing out, and you in the infirmary~"

Coco grinned, not one to be embarrassed so easily, "Like I said. You've obviously never know the true pleasures of dating a rabbit faunus~"

Olivia pouted, "You can't share?"

"Hah!" Coco straightened her hand and brought it down on Olivia's head like a karate chop, "Not a chance, kid."

Olivia chuckled, fixing her hair while Coco dug into her pocket for a scroll, popping it open once it was in her hands. Olivia could see her typing out a quick message to Velvet through her screen before she hit send.

"Mind giving me a hand?" Coco raised an eyebrow, pocketing her scroll and placing both her hands on the edge of the bed to prop herself up.

Olivia nodded, hopping up to place an arm around Coco's and steady her as she stood. After a few moments spent regaining her balance, she gestured for Olivia to step away. The older huntress wobbled for only a moment, then regained her composure, letting out a rattled sigh. "Balance is a little off... Think the thunder might have done a number to my hearing, but my aura seems to be clearing it up…"

'Thunder?' Olivia decided not to comment on it and headed for the door instead, opening it so that Coco could step out unimpeded. "I'm guessing you wanted to visit Fox, yeah?"

Coco scoffed, stepping out past Olivia to head for the next door over, "Lazy ass is probably milking this for all its worth." She didn't bother knocking, instead slamming the door open wide to glare at her teammate. At the sound of the door rocketing against the wall, Fox bolted up in bed, eyes wide and staring blankly in their direction.

After a few tense moments, Fox mentalling grumbled, falling back against his bed while speaking to them telepathically, "What's a guy gotta do to get a little shut eye around here?"

"Not get outdone by a midget, for one," Coco stepped next to his bed and grabbed his sheets, ripping them off him without hesitation. "Last I remember, you were already unconscious by the time we got there. Neo had to save your skin. You'll earn your rest when you don't make us look like fools."

Fox sighed, "Nothing bad must have happened if you're in such good spirits. You sure we didn't win?"

"Carmine won," Coco growled. "We were baggage." She kicked the side of his bed roughly, causing him to shake back and forth, "Get up. We need to go get debriefed by Oz before anything else. Vel should be meeting us soon, too."

Fox waved his hand nonchalantly, not bothering to move, "I'm sure Carmine handled that, too. What else can we say about it?" The voice in his mind changed, adopting the tone of someone giving a dutiful report, "As you can see, Oz, I can't. But even a blind man could tell that woman was insa-"

"Fox!" Coco warned aloud before moving closer to his bed. She quietened then, words passing mentally between the two of them that Olivia wasn't privy to.

'An insane woman involved with thunder, huh? Was Nora missing yesterday?' Olivia chuckled quietly. She shook her head, turning to look back out the door and give the two some semblance of privacy, even if she could still feel everything they were doing with her extra sense. 'Just more questions I'll need to ask Cinder.'

Olivia felt Fox nod before climbing to his feet and adjusting his jacket. She was once again included in his telepathic messages, "Right. I guess Neo wouldn't have been able to say anything. My bad."

"Not as if she could tell you off for forgetting," Olivia joked, stepping out the door as Fox and Coco both followed suit. She retrieved the bag that Weiss had brought, stuffing the pillow back inside with the blanket before slinging it over a shoulder.

"She's actually a lot of fun to talk to," Fox admitted, rubbing a hand against the back of his head in apparent embarrassment.

Coco smirked, slamming one hip into his side and sending him staggering forward, "Oh~? You don't say~?" She put a finger to her chin as she walked ahead, not waiting for Fox to recover. "Sounds to me like ol' Foxxy was having a good time. A shame the Grimm had to interrupt~"

Fox straightened himself out with a huff, "Surprise, surprise. The girl that can't talk is actually a good conversationalist. Who'd have guessed? I'm a deadeye with a sniper, but you've never bothered to ask."

Coco snorted, "Fox, you don't even use a gun."

"I could if I wanted to…" he grumbled quietly.

"Regardless, due to our survival at the hands of team Carmine," she lowered her voice for a moment, "And despite how much I hate their leader.." Coco cleared her throat, "I'd say that's cause for celebration!"

"In other words, she wants to set you up with Neo~" Olivia teased, giving Fox a gentle shove.

"You're invited too, Olivia. It's been a while since we had a chance to hang out. Whaddya say? A few rounds, on me?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow, "On you, or on you~?"

"Body shots it is!" Coco beamed, flashing Olivia a wink before turning back ahead. Fox groaned at the plans being made without his consent, but didn't argue. He was used to his team leader's antics being an immutable fact, one that he'd never be able to counteract, even with Yatsu on his side.

Coco slammed the doors open with more force than was necessary, allowing the morning sunlight to stream through the entrance before they were all out and breathing fresh air.

"Coco!"

They all turned as one to see Velvet joyously waving towards them, Yatsuhashi in tow. It looked as if they'd both gotten dressed in a hurry, their clothes mismatched and wrinkled. Coco didn't seem to care, instead crossing the distance in a flash to wrap Velvet in a hug. The two embraced for some time, the rest awkwardly waiting on the sidelines for them to finish.

"Are you alright, Bun?" Coco pulled away from the embrace long enough to pat Velvet down, looking her over thoroughly.

Velvet blinked back a few tears, laughing softly, "You're the one that spent the night in the infirmary, dunce, not me. I'm fine."

"Damn right you are~" Coco sighed, apparently done with her quick examination. "Should we go see Ozpin now?"

Yatsuhashi nodded, "That would probably be for the best."

"Alright," Coco turned to Olivia, raising her hand to fire a finger gun at her, "I'll shoot you a message later if Carmine agrees to come out with us. After classes and all that, so feel free to bring whoever you like~"

"Will do," Olivia gave them all a small wave as she started to walk in the opposite direction, back towards the first year dorms. She paused momentarily, reminded of how things had ended between herself and Melanie the night before. "If we could avoid Junior's, that'd be great."

Coco's eyebrows raised, "Trouble in paradise?"

Olivia shrugged, "Something like that. Anywhere else is fine, just let me know where."

"You got it~ See you then!" Coco cheered out one final time as the rest of her team turned to leave. Olivia turned back with a quick shake of her head. 'It's sooner than Cinder planned for us to meet, but at least this gives us a decent excuse to talk to one another, even if someone finds out about it.'

All the better if they managed to find a secluded corner to speak more candidly with each other. Many people believed that a quiet place with no one nearby was the ideal location for a secret meeting, but speaking in a crowded place where someone a foot away would have to strain to hear you typically got the job done just as well, and drew less attention. 'Not that I had to bother often with Widow around…'

Olivia yawned, stretching with her arms above her head and the large bag wrapped around her shoulder. To her surprise, the yawn lasted quite a bit longer than she was expecting. She shook her head ruefully once she'd finished, continuing on her way towards the dorms. 'I'm getting soft.'

But, if that was the price she had to pay for the life she now lived… She'd learn to make due.

The fact that coffee existed made life that much easier.

Qrow yawned and rolled his shoulders, trying to work the kinks out of his back on the way up to Ozpin's office. The flight to and from Arcus had taken its toll, with no results to show for it. 'More bad news… but at least some good came of it all.' The one that had originally stolen the Maiden powers was dead, killed by a third year student from their very own Beacon Academy.

The fact that the Maiden powers were back under their control, and in the possession of a top tier student, was nothing short of a miracle. Qrow would have gone back out on the town to keep drinking with the kid if it hadn't been for the task he was assigned. Everything was going in their favor for once, except…

'Not finding the body is a problem.'

The elevator doors dinged open, both announcing his presence, and allowing him to step through into the room. Oz sat in his usual place, calmly sipping off the cup in his hands. A mug sat across from him, still steaming and waiting to be consumed by an exhausted huntsman.

Qrow accepted it readily enough, letting out a tired huff as he sat down heavily in the chair across from the Headmaster. He grabbed the cup by its handle and blew across the top for a few seconds, cooling it off enough to drink greedily. Ozpin only waited, allowing him time to relax before giving his report.

With a contented sigh, Qrow polished off the last of the coffee and set his cup back down, nodding his thanks when Oz poured him a second helping almost immediately. He refrained from continuing though, now ready to get down to business in a tone laced with disappointment.

"It wasn't there, Oz. The body. Someone already came and took it by the time I'd arrived. I asked the townspeople, but they didn't see anything suspicious…" Qrow shrugged, leaning further back in his chair, "As for clues, nothing stood out to me. My guess is, her people were already nearby and retrieved it to keep us from gaining any valuable information off it..."

Ozpin lowered his own cup, "That is troubling, but not completely unexpected. By your telling, there were three that worked together to kill Amber. Even with the one that inherited her powers out of the picture, that still leaves two unaccounted for."

"Pity we have no idea who," Qrow grumbled, grabbing the flask from beneath his coat. He gave it a small shake and huffed, returning the empty container to his inside pocket.

"I may have identified one of the culprits…"

Qrow's eyes widened as he sat forward, "Really? How'd you manage that?"

"I have my ways," Ozpin replied with a small, mysterious smile. He reached across his desk and pressed a few keys, expanding an image into view. Qrow squinted, seeing a grainy screenshot of security footage that had obviously been cropped. There on the screen was a woman around his age, perhaps younger. She had deep red hair and a curvaceous body, dressed almost entirely in black. Each hand held a sickly curved dagger, long enough in length that you could almost call them short swords if not for the lack of a guard or pommel.

"There isn't much to go off of, I'm afraid. She's an assassin that goes by the name 'Widow', and is one of the lesser known underground figures within the underbelly of Mistral. I was fortunate enough to get into contact with a new informant, a rather seedy woman that I wouldn't typically do business with. But, when worst comes to worst…"

Qrow stared closely, making sure to get down her features so that he would recognize her if they ever crossed paths, "How do you know she was the one?"

Ozpin spread his hands wide, "I can only guess. Widow vanished from the city around the same time as Amber's murder. My contact was rather displeased that the assassin had up and left so suddenly. Contracts that still needed to be fulfilled, you understand... Widow's disappearance left my contact in quite the predicament, the way she tells it."

"Pity." Qrow stated sarcastically, letting out a short chuckle at the mobster's expense. "So, too old to gain the Maiden powers for herself, but skilled enough to help take one down. I can see your reasoning on this one."

"Indeed," Ozpin nodded, "It appears that she's decided to stay in Vale as well, helping out the White Fang. She's been caught on the scene in several instances, by cameras that were unaccounted for despite their best efforts."

"A faunus, too?" Qrow rubbed a hand across the stubble on his chin in thought. "I don't see a trait, but that doesn't prove much."

"She's a spider faunus."

Qrow's eyes widened, "Like Olivia?"

"Like Miss Mandevilla, yes."

"That'll be a pain. If the kid's anything to go off of, then she won't be easy to catch off guard. Olivia's never really noticed me in my bird form, though… Might not be any different for the older one."

"Just be careful, Qrow. We don't know exactly how dangerous this woman really is. Given her history, she may be capable of fighting even you on equal footing."

Qrow scoffed, "Careful is my middle name. Don't worry about me, Oz. I'll track her down and get to the bottom of this. Once she's out of the picture, there'll just be one unknown left to worry about." He looked to the Headmaster expectantly, "I don't suppose you have any idea on that one?"

"Unfortunately not. If you do find this woman and manage to subdue her, try to find out what you can. That information will be necessary in assuring our new Maiden's continued safety. I will not lose another," Ozpin's eyes pierced into Qrow's by the end of it, making sure he understood the severity of the situation.

Qrow nodded, hefting the mug of coffee back off the desk and drinking it down in one. He gasped for breath at the end and set it back down, pushing himself back onto his feet, "You can trust me, Oz. Like always."

"Like always, old friend. Best of luck in your hunt."

Qrow laughed as he left, waving a hand over his shoulder. He didn't need to say what they were both undoubtedly thinking.

'Who needs luck?'

The doors closed behind him, and Ozpin was lost to sight.

Olivia flipped backwards to evade Nora's hammer as it struck the tiled arena floor, sending a shockwave of dust and tiles erupting outwards from the impact. Her sixth sense finely tuned, she ducked immediately after regaining her feet, the hammer rippling through the air as Nora followed it up with a horizontal arc aimed at her midsection. The dust billowed in its wake, stirring it up into yet another flurry.

With a swift burst of speed, Olivia moved into her guard, putting Nora onto the defensive with a few semblance infused blows that knocked her into the air. Olivia spun once Nora was airborne, delivering a roundhouse kick with the back of her heel that sent the other girl flying across the ring. She'd managed to defend against the blow with the haft of her hammer, but the force alone hadn't been negated.

"So, how about it? Party in Vale with Coffee and Carmine?" Olivia posed the question as she closed in, keeping up the pressure as Oath spiraled back into the frey towards Nora's back.

"Sounds fun!" Nora cheered in return, swinging wide to hold Olivia at bay before continuing in her arc to catch Oath on its return pass, knocking the gravity infused blade away once more. "Anyone else you're inviting?"

Olivia slammed her fists into Nora's defense, pressing her back across the arena with each blow, "Anyone that wants to, really. The more the merrier~"

"Renny and I haven't had a chance to go out for a while!" Nora replied excitedly, managing to parry one of Olivia's attacks well enough to try for a counterattack. Olivia had allowed it on purpose however, and took her chance during Nora's longer windup to drop low and kick her legs out from under her. She slammed to the ground heavily, momentarily disoriented while Olivia stood to catch Oath on its return trip. She spun it in her hand once to gain a better grasp before swinging it down at her opponent's chest.

Nora blocked the blade with her hammer and rolled out of range, but was forced to take the follow up shots that Olivia fired after her. Each was a heavy blow that caused numerous waves to ripple across her aura, dropping it down into the mid-thirties.

Olivia stopped to reload while Nora caught her breath, the magazine falling to clatter loudly against the floor while another was replaced from the pouch on her thigh. She frowned across to her friend, "It's been weeks since Beacon started. When's the last time you two went out?"

Nora looked up towards the ceiling in thought for a moment, "Not since the first night of Beacon, actually. When we all went out to The Lounge?"

Olivia slumped, letting the tip of her blade fall to rest against the floor, "Wow, that is way too long. I can't even imagine... If you need some lien so you and Ren can rent a room down in Vale-"

"Olivia!" Ren hissed, leaning forward from his place against the railing and glaring at the faunus. At least, it was a glare as far as Ren was concerned, which is to say his eyes had narrowed by a slight margin.

"Indeed, Miss Mandevilla. If the two of you could hurry this along and perhaps wait until after to make plans?" Miss Goodwitch chastised coldly, standing with her arms crossed and gripping her crop tightly in one hand, scroll pressed against her chest.

"Sorry, Miss Goodwitch," Olivia smirked and raised herself back into a ready pose. A quick glance to the monitors showed Nora's aura level. "I'll finish this soon enough."

Nora scoffed, shouting out a determined, "Oh yeah!?", before flinging herself back into the melee.

A handful of seconds later and with a few gasps of the crowd, Olivia stood over Nora with the point of her curved sword bearing down on the other girl's chest. Magnhild lay outside the stage, sent flying by a particularly skillful riposte that Olivia had executed. Nora's aura hovered below the spar's threshold, the barest fraction into the red after the brief exchange.

"Yeah~" Olivia smiled, returning Oath to her lower back and extending a hand down to Nora. She smiled in return and allowed herself to be pulled back up, bouncing on her heels as she returned to her feet.

"You're going to have to teach me that one," Nora grinned, clapping Olivia on the back before heading over to retrieve her hammer. The two climbed the stairs together, returning to sit with their teams, only Ren between them.

"I already have a student," Olivia replied, denying her request. "And I'm behind on lessons."

"Yeah, but I don't think Weiss would mind sharing," Nora stated, glancing up behind them to where the heiress sat. "You wouldn't, would you?"

"You're welcome to join us…" Weiss answered tentatively. Olivia could feel her shuffling in her seat, both appearing physically and emotionally indecisive about allowing Nora to tag along.

Olivia cut Nora off with a shake of her head, knowing that improving as a huntress was important to Weiss, "Training is best kept one on one. We can set up a different day for the two of us instead if you'd like, Nora." She put a hand to her chin, pretending to be deep in thought, "Weiss pays me by mostly doing my homework… What do you have to offer?"

"My undying friendship!"

Olivia chuckled, "Good enough for me~"

The conversation quieted down as the next pair of students was called to the stage, two that Olivia had barely ever paid attention to and wasn't about to start with now. She leaned back in her seat instead, sparring an eye for the rest of those gathered, "Anyone else up for a party down in Vale? Team Coffee survived their mission, thanks to Carmine. They wanted to throw something together for them to show their appreciation and asked me to come, along with whoever I wanted to invite."

"Yeah!" Yang punched the air in excitement, "You can count us in!"

"We are caught up on our homework…" Ren agreed slowly, shooting Nora a quick glance out of the corner of his eye, "And it has been a while…"

Nora leaned across his lap to half whisper to Olivia, bringing a hand up to cup the side of her mouth, "You weren't kidding about paying for a room, were you?"

"Nora…"

Olivia laughed, reaching out to wrap an arm around the both of them and pull them in tight. She kept her voice low for Ren's sake, whispering conspiratorially, "I've got plenty of lien to spare for a girl in need~"

Ren's face colored, going from its usual lightly tanned complexion to beat red in a matter of seconds. Olivia grinned fiercely and Nora joined right in with her, finding enjoyment in the rare moment where Ren showed any sort of emotion, let alone embarrassment.

"Can I go?" Ruby chimed in from a few seats down, nervously pleading while poking her fingers together, "I mean, if you don't mind, since there's going to be a lot of drinking…"

Olivia pulled away from the small huddle and passed the question off to Yang, wondering if the older sister would deny Ruby a fun night on the town. Yang appeared conflicted, and looked to the other two members of team Rainbow with a similar gaze, "Weiss, Blake? Are you coming with? I wouldn't want to just leave Ruby alone at the dorm…"

"Parties aren't typically where I enjoy spending my time," Blake began, smirking lightly in return when Ruby's pleading face was directed at her, "Buuuut, considering that it is a special occasion… I suppose I'll go. Someone needs to keep you all in check."

"That's one for two. Princess?"

Weiss glared at Yang for using the nickname, then sighed in defeat when Ruby looked to her as well, "I was going to study. Unfortunately, I don't believe Ruby would let me hear the end of it. She'd pout for the next two weeks if she was forced to stay with me instead of partying with you." She shrugged, sending a glance in Olivia's direction, "I'll go. I wouldn't want to get in the way of you enjoying your time with Team Coffee. They are important to you, after all."

Ruby erupted into a loud cheer, causing many of the other students in their class to send curious glances in their direction. The younger girl withdrew slightly when she noticed them, shying away from their stares and letting out a quieter, "Wooh..." once they'd stopped looking her way.

"This should be fun," Pyrrha smiled at Ruby's antics and nudged her shoulder into Yang. "Now's the time to prove you're as good a dancer as you claimed."

Yang ran a hand through her hair, brushing the large blond mass over her shoulder in a gesture of confidence, "Olivia can attest to how good I am on a dance floor, don't you worry."

Olivia grinned, "We drew quite a bit of attention, that's for sure. People were left speechless at the moves we were throwing down."

"You two danced?" Pyrrha asked in surprise.

"No, they practically blew the place up," Ruby chastised. "We're lucky dad didn't get sued."

Yang waved a hand nonchalantly, "Fighting, dancing… What's the difference?"

"Whether or not you wake up in their bed the next morning~" Olivia looked Yang over with a discerning smirk, "In your case though, either might work."

Yang and Nora laughed along with Olivia while several others reddened at the implication. "So, looks like we're all going? I'll let Coco know so she's not surprised or anything."

"Do you know what time they're meeting up yet?" Yang asked, glancing at the time on her scroll. There were only a few spars left in class, but they'd already pushed well into three in the afternoon.

Olivia waved her hand, gesturing for Yang not to worry, "Around seven. We'll have plenty of time to do what we need to, get ready and head down." She looked over to Weiss reassuringly, "I wasn't about to skip out on another training session after we've missed two in a row."

Weiss's lips quirked into a smile, "I appreciate it. While I have made some progress in applying your lessons so far, I could do with a… refresher course…"

Olivia nodded, "No problem. We'll do the same as last time to see how you've improved and I'll give you more pointers from there."

"I have been wanting to test out a more complicated glyph…"

"Oh really?" Olivia smiled, "Good. Show me what you're made of, Princess."

Weiss smiled in return and gave her a confident nod, sparking an annoyed quip from Yang when Olivia wasn't reprimanded for the nickname as she'd been. "What, so Olivia gets to call you Princess but I don't?"

Weiss shot her a haughty glare, having caught the comment despite Yang's voice being lowered, "I don't need two people going around claiming I'm royalty. Besides…" Weiss cooled off suddenly, turning away from the group while her voice came out in a stammer, "I h-haven't succeeded in the challenge yet. Until then, it's only natural that she continues calling me such a… such a foul title."

"You should have a good chance at it today," Olivia admitted, letting out a long yawn. "I didn't end up sleeping at all last night. Figured Velvet might've been upset if she came down early and found me slacking on the job."

"Then it won't count if I do," Weiss replied flatly, still staring off towards the stage and avoiding looking at any of them. "You need to be at your best, no exceptions."

Olivia sighed, wondering if Weiss's refusal to accept her own victories was due to some odd Schnee pride. 'Or maybe it's just an Atlas thing in general?' That could be it, considering that Atlesians enjoyed lauding themselves as the world's greatest military power. With the relative weakness of their androids and the average SDC guard, though… Olivia wasn't convinced by their boasts.

She shrugged and let it go, unaware of anyone from Atlas that she might be able to compare the Schnee with.

Class continued on for another half an hour, the final few fights dragging on longer than Olivia would have wished. The outcomes were painfully obvious from the onset, but each time, the weaker of the two refused to simply accept defeat. She might not have cared typically, but today of all days was the first real training session she'd be able to have with the heiress. It had been an entire week since the first, despite her promising a repeat every other weekday. Olivia was slightly surprised at her own excitement, but eventually waved it off as just wanting to see Weiss's progress.

Finally, the last bout of the day came to an end with its obvious conclusion. Olivia stood, stretching her arms above her head and letting out a pleased gasp as she heard her back pop in several places. She barely paid attention as Miss Goodwitch made her ending announcements, dismissing the class and telling them to learn from the mistakes the last few contestants had made.

Yang lightly punched her forearm in passing, smirking at her and Weiss in turn, "Give her hell~"

Olivia scoffed, "Don't I always?" She raised a hand to accept the fist that Yang presented, bumping her own against it before the blond winked and left.

Blake stopped to whisper with Weiss while the rest filtered out, Nora shouting out her excitement for the evening while Ruby got caught up in it as well. Olivia smiled at that, glad she'd be able to show the kid a fun night out on the town. She hadn't really been able to hang out with Ruby as much as she'd have liked, due to her and the heiress being at odds with each other the first couple of weeks. Olivia was glad that was over with, for Ruby's sake, more than anything.

'On second thought, I might start inviting her to some of these little training sessions as well...' Olivia waved the thought away. 'No, I'll keep her safe. She won't need to worry about fighting people as long as I'm around…' While her young leader was a prodigy in her own right, Ruby still had trouble dealing with most of their sister team's members, along with Blake. She was much better matched against Grimm, who lacked the cunning of human opponents. 'And that's all she'll ever need. Ruby can handle Grimm just fine. Our time together would be better spent just having fun.'

"Hey, you ready?"

Olivia was pulled from her thoughts by Weiss's voice, only a short distance away at the head of the stairs. She was looking Olivia over curiously, waiting for the faunus to follow now that the rest of the class had filtered out. Olivia shook her mind clear and adopted her usual grin, "Ready when you are~ What glyph were you wanting to try? You told me about most of them… Summoning, maybe?"

Weiss shook her head as she stepped down the stairs, Olivia in tow, "That's still a bit too advanced for me. I was thinking of trying out time dilation."

"That does sound promising. What's the catch?"

"Aside from the complexity?" Weiss shrugged, making it on to the stage and turning around a dozen feet from Olivia. She began readying Myrtenaster, spinning its revolver to the necessary chamber that contained lightning dust. "As long as I get it right, it'll grant whoever steps on it a significant boost in speed. If it isn't perfect though… you'll run out of energy and slow down more than usual for a few moments by the end of it, leaving you open for an attack."

Olivia nodded her understanding, "So unless you get it perfect, it's more of a last ditch effort to overpower your opponent. It sounds dangerous, but definitely worth putting the effort into." She rolled her shoulders and drew Oath from her back, extending it out, "I suppose you want to practice against me, instead of in a real spar or against a Grimm that might take advantage of your mistakes?"

"Precisely," Weiss smiled, raising her weapon into a ready stance as if to blitz across the stage in a single dash. Olivia complied, preparing Oath to defend herself against the heiress's onslaught.

Weiss stood in place for a few moments, her eyes closing to concentrate on the glyph that sprung into life beneath her feet. Olivia stared closely, seeing the foreign numerals along the edge, it's shape that of a circle, as if the symbol itself represented a misty white clock. Yellow pulsed into being, the lightning dust charging it and causing the glyph to spin quickly. The instant it reached what seemed to be the apex of its rotational speed, Weiss opened her eyes once more.

Olivia was forced to use every hardwired instinct at her disposal to dodge the first strike, the heiress blurring across the stage at Ruby-like speeds. She was too shocked to even move Oath in time, instead falling back on her hand to hand training to dip her head to the side. Weiss drew her blade back and slashed again, this time meeting the edge of Oath, now that Olivia was better prepared for the change in speed. Weiss moved like lightning itself, her aura coursing with the dust that had been imbued by her semblance to turn her into a blur of silver and white.

Just as quickly as it had begun, Weiss's movements slowed to a crawl. Her arms moved as if through sludge, her body nearly immobilized by the backfiring of her own semblance. Even her expression remained mostly unchanged, the slightest amount of surprise beginning to take over as she realized the effects had worn off.

"Wow, I can see what you mean~" Olivia chided playfully, reaching up to push against Weiss's chest with a hand. The heiress's balance failed her, causing her to begin falling over in slow motion. Olivia laughed while watching her descent, even as time itself seemed to catch back up with her.

Weiss flailed her arms once before falling on her backside with a loud huff and turning to glare up at Olivia, "I thought you weren't going to take advantage of me?"

"Phrasing, Princess~" Olivia failed to contain her continued laughter when Weiss took a moment to think on the implications, then blushed profusely, jumping back to her feet to turn around and head to her previous position. "That was surprising, though," Olivia called out, not wanting to upset the heiress too much. "Anyone aside from myself or Pyrrha would've gotten stabbed~"

Weiss brightened at that, though her cheeks were still heated from the previous comment, "You really think so?"

Olivia nodded, "I know so. Blake might be able to avoid it with her own semblance, and Ruby might counter it with her speed, but against ninety percent of the students here?" She shrugged, "They'd be hard pressed to contend with that."

Weiss smiled deeply, seeming proud of herself, "Thank you!" She paused afterwards, clearing her throat with a miniscule cough, "Shall we continue? I would love to get more control over it before our next combat class."

"By all means," Olivia grinned, glad to see the heiress's mood improve so drastically. A smile always looked nicer on her than her usual frown, and Olivia found herself enjoying having a hand in it. "As long as it takes, Princess~"

Weiss smiled in return as the glyph spun to life once more beneath her feet, ready to continue their training.

It was a long while before either of them bothered to check the time.

The wholesome bits are always so much fun to write. I've become increasingly aware of how much entertainment I get out of making Olivia profusely oblivious to Weiss's actual feelings, as well as her own. Ever so slowly, they're both coming out of her respective shells. In Olivia's case, she's allowing the walls she's kept up so long to finally crumble, to show the damage her soul has sustained over the years and find acceptance within her teammates, her friends, and especially Weiss. The person Olivia believes would be her biggest critic.

The point of the Widow and Ariel conflict was partially to point out this difference between Olivia and the older faunus. Widow never truly let her walls crumble, only giving out small bits of information to Olivia in order to control her better, and keep her at her side. She didn't exactly lie about her experiences and hardships, but neither has she ever really opened up about them in order to heal. Where Widow failed, Olivia has a chance to succeed and grow into a better person.

It just depends on whether or not the truth is too big to forgive.

Plenty of developments to come, both in plot and in Olivia's various relationships, whether friendly or otherwise.

In other news, today is the anniversary of my first ever upload! It's been a wild year full of ups and downs, (but mostly ups, fortunately). As always, I'd like to thank everyone for reading. Writing for others is something that does make me happy, and I'm glad I started so long ago. At least, it feels like it's been a long time. Over 600,000 words and counting!

Hope you enjoyed,

- Sybaen