I finished this chapter pretty soon after the last one, which pleases me. Enjoy if you can.

Early Morning, Atlas Shuttle Bay

Homura stood at one of the docking ports, squinting stoically as the wind of an approaching airship threatened to topple her over. She kept a steady stream of aura channeled through her legs and into the ground in order to stay upright—and another, weaker stream through her hair, so that it didn't whip around inconveniently. Next to her, the green-haired security huntress—and their contingent of soldiers—were applying the same technique, so as to not be blown away.

She moved to lean close towards the huntress. "Thank you for allowing me to accompany you, Lieutenant Shizuki!" she said over the roar of the engines.

"Don't mention it!" Hitomi replied with a polite smile. "Not like it's against the rules! Besides, didn't the VIP request for you to be here!?"

Homura nodded, before returning her attention to the airship, which was in the process of docking onto their platform.

The ship was of Valean design—boxy and wide, with fin-like wings on each corner that gave it the look of a sea turtle. There was a sense of clumsiness with the way it slowly maneuvered towards the docking clamps, as if one wrong move would cause it to crash. Homura, however, knew from experience that the seemingly sluggish movements were for the comfort of its passengers.

The thought caused her lips to twitch into a smile, though only for a moment, as she mentally compared it to the various kinds of airships she had ridden on.

Atlas' ships were fast and efficient, with an economy of movement that made the ship seem almost alive. They were clearly also military ships, which expected their passengers to function normally in even the bumpiest turbulence. Mistral's ships constantly swayed back and forth whenever airborne—either due to a quirk of the design that their engineers never removed, or a deliberate attempt to emulate the water-craft that their airships resembled. As for Vacuo? Homura had never ridden in a Vacuan airship, so she had no experience to turn to, but other hunters' accounts described them as basic and utilitarian.

All things considered, Valean airships ended up being some of the more comfortable ones to ride in.

Once the ship was secured in the docking clamps, it opened its hatch and extended a bridge towards the platform. Emerging from the ship were two Atlesian soldiers, the Beacon Headmaster with his messy grey hair and distinctive cane, and a familiar-looking huntsman with pale maroon hair and a crossbow cradled against his chest.

"That huntsman is staring at you," Hitomi noted. "Do you know each other?"

"Yes—but that's a story for another time. Eyes forward, Shizuki. You shouldn't make a bad first impression."

Hitomi pursed her lips, before stepping forward to shake Ozpin's hand. The two exchanged pleasantries for a moment before leading the group towards the parking lot.

"It's rather fortuitous that we met today, Miss Akemi," Ozpin said as they walked. He paused, before adding: "The fact that I arranged this meeting notwithstanding, that is."

Homura snorted. "I was given paid leave, on account of upcoming events, so I was not particularly busy."

"Be that as it may, you did not have to be here to welcome me. You could have easily waited at whatever lodging James provided me."

A shrug. "Why waste time?"

"I see that you haven't changed much in the years since you graduated. Well, I'll be happy to get down to business as soon as we have some privacy."

Homura snorted again. "This is Atlas City. There is no privacy."

Ozpin chuckled knowingly. "So you say. Then maybe we should take this time to catch up instead?"

"Perhaps."

Once in the parking lot, Hitomi, Ozpin, and the soldiers all entered the armored vehicle that was waiting for them. The huntsman opted to stay outside and follow them from above. Ozpin agreed without question, though Hitomi needed a little bit of convincing. She only relented when Homura offered to accompany him.

"This is a change of plans but…" Hitomi shook her head. "I'll inform the other members of the security detail on what you two are up to. In the meantime, head to the roof. You'll be free to move once we send you an all-clear signal."

A nod from Homura. "Head to the roof, wait for the signal. Understood."

With that, Homura ushered the huntsman to the elevator. Neither spoke until they reached the roof—and even then, it took them a moment to break the silence.

"You're in your second year now, right?" she asked, walking to the edge of the roof and leaning on the guard rail.

He nodded.

"I remember Semblance Development being a second year class. How has that been?"

He shook his head. "We don't get that class until the second semester, this fall."

"I see…" Homura ran a hand through her hair, averting her eyes. "It's been long enough that Beacon's curriculum is a little hazy to me now…"

He smirked. "Just because the classes don't start for another month doesn't mean I haven't been working on it. Watch this."

He performed some light stretches, before materializing a pair of glowing angel wings, easily spanning twelve feet from tip to tip.

"Oh my." Homura began to circle him, examining the spectral wings with intrigue. "You've definitely improved," she remarked with a small smile. "Last time we met, your wings barely matched the length of your arms."

"Eight years is a lot of practice time," he said with a wry chuckle. "What about you? How you holding up?"

She looked down at her hands, quietly rubbing them. "Well enough. She still keeps me grounded—though I haven't actually talked to her in a long time…" She pursed her lips. "I really miss her…"

The huntsman flapped his wings, weakly. "Yeah, I miss her too…" He shifted his weight. "I also missed you…"

Homura looked up for only a second before averting her eyes. The look of longing he wore was too much for her to handle—their faces were too similar. But even though she couldn't bear to see it, she knew she couldn't just ignore him. She would never let her.

Using her semblance to bend space, Homura took one step, closing the several-foot gap between them, and pulled the huntsman into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry I haven't contacted you in so long, Tatsuya," she whispered gently.

"It's alright," Tatsuya replied, dismissing his wings and returning the hug. "Mama and Papa really made a mess of things last time you visited, so I understand why you stayed away. Of course, I can't really blame them, but…"

"I don't blame them either. They're allowed to feel what they feel." Homura tightened her hold for just a moment before letting go, stepping back to press her hands to Tatsuya's cheeks. "But they also have to understand that we fight monsters for a living. The threat of death is just a fact of life for us."

Tatsuya snorted, batting Homura's hands away. "There you go again, acting like my sister while saying things she'd never say. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're doing it on purpose."

Homura smiled. "I'll admit, messing with you is quite enjoyable. You're a lot like her in that way."

Tatsuya smiled back. "Thanks… That means a lot, coming from you…"

Homura's momentary cheer faltered as her scroll began playing a pattern of long and short beeps from her pocket. "That's the signal."

Tatsuya clicked his tongue. "That was barely enough time to catch up," he grumbled.

Homura shot him a wry smirk. "We'll have plenty of time later. I'll make sure of it. But for now…" She let out a huff and schooled her expression. "Game faces on, Tatsuya."

He sighed and nodded. "Right…"

With that, they both materialized their wings and followed Ozpin's armored vehicle from the air.

Meanwhile, Atlas Training Arena locker room…

Sayaka closed her locker and looked down at her combat gear. Her armor was marred by minor damage from numerous battles, but its freshly polished surface still gleamed against the light. Her gloves and boots were similarly worn from use, though not to the point of needing to be replaced. Siren Song, hung securely from her belt holster. All she was missing now was her cloak, which she quickly clipped over her shoulders.

"Still wearing those silly bedsheets, huh?"

Sayaka turned and smiled wanly at the grey-clad cadet leaning on the lockers behind her. "Cadet Bloodhunter," she greeted with a turn of the head and a lazy salute.

"Lieutenant Miki." Maria returned the salute in kind. "You know, I expected you to grow out of that superhero cape phase at some point."

A shrug. "I mean, my cloaks are practically bulletproof. I've lost track of how many times it's saved my hide."

"Sure, sure. Just promise me it won't get in the way, like last time."

Sayaka's smile waned even more as she eyed the prosthetic arm resting against Maria's hip. "Yeah. I promise."

"Anyway, since we have time before it starts, why don't we do a little strategizing?"

Maria sat on one of the benches surrounding the locker room holo-projector. With a few taps of her scroll, the Hiiragi twins' database profile appeared on the holo screen, along with footage of the previous year's Vytal Festival.

"And there they are, mopping the floor with you and Kamijou."

Sayaka grimaced as she watched the recording of the twins nearly overwhelming her and Kyousuke with a relentless assault. When one twin finished attacking, the other was already in the middle of a follow-up. The few sound blasts that Kyousuke had managed to let out in their split-second counter windows had been playfully swatted away by Tsukasa, or absentmindedly cut in half by Kagami—how they achieved either of those feats against a pressurized pulse of vibrating air was anyone's guess. The four of them had danced around the various biomes of Amity Colosseum for close to a minute, the two Atlesian cadets fighting two Mistrillians to barely a standstill. The stalemate had only ended when Sayaka's cloak had caught on a rock, making her briefly lose her balance. Kagami had used that opportunity to knock both Sayaka and Kyousuke out of the play area.

The footage abruptly cut to a different match—the first round's team battle between the Hiiragis' team and some team from Vale.

Sayaka let the video play in the background as she turned to Maria, who eyed her critically.

"Your bedsheet has failed more than once, Miki. Don't let it fail again."

Her face hardened. "I know. I've got a handle on it."

"Sure you do."

They returned their attention to the holo screen, just in time to watch Kagami take down the last of her team's opponents, systematically delivering cuts that would have severed tendons and major arteries were it not for the natural protections of aura.

Again, the screen cut to a different video. It now showed the singles round match wherein Kagami had lost against another Mistrillian wielding a pair of black and white falchions.

"So, what's the plan?" Maria asked, shrinking the video and maximizing the windows showing Atlas' database profiles on the Hiiragi twins. "Obviously they're like that, but I'm sure we can still take them. I'm pretty much at the same level that I was from before I lost my arm—though I'm still getting used to it, admittedly. And I know you have gotten waaay better."

Sayaka managed a small smile. "Exaggerating there a little, aren't you, Bloodhunter?"

A snort. "Oh, come off. I saw you face off against the commander around a week ago."

"I lasted barely two minutes—"

"That's still longer than most of the other clowns who took her on that day. The only other people who lasted as long or longer were other elite hunters—like that woman from Vacuo that Major Tomoe's dating."

Sayaka blinked. "Wait, dating? Aren't they—?"

"Not together together?" Maria smirked sardonically. "If you really believe that crap, then you're just as dense as Kamijou—but we're getting off topic. Point is, you fought Winter Schnee and it wasn't a complete curb stomp."

Sayaka's lips curled into a smirk of her own. "Well, once you fight her enough times, it gets a little easier to read her moves. I guess that's a benefit of being Commander Schnee's protogé—a lot more practice against her."

"You know, you're starting to piss me off. Just shut up and take the compliment already. I'm trying to be nice."

"Yeah yeah, you're right." Sayaka said with a roll of her eyes. "I've definitely improved since last year. Hopefully it'll be enough to win in the rematch."

"I know it will."

Sayaka frowned at her wording. "You know? You do realize they had a year to get better, just like we had, right?"

"So? That supposed to scare me? We can take them!"

"It's supposed to make you think," Sayaka snapped. "It's supposed to make you stop and realize that you're underestimating your opponents again."

Maria scowled. "You sound like Major Tomoe," she spat. "I'm strong enough for this."

"Just like you were strong enough to fight that ursa maximam that nearly killed you and half your class last week?" Sayaka asked, making Maria flinch. "And how you were strong enough to take on a pack of dire wolves on your own back in second year? And how about—"

"Shut up!" Maria interrupted, raising her prosthetic arm. A pistol unfolded from her forearm into her hand, only for a glyph to appear around the cocking lever, locking it in place—a little trick Sayaka had seen Kyouko use against one of the Hiiragi twins. Upon looking down at the circle of music notes, Maria grit her teeth, finger twitching around the trigger guard.

"You can call me a hypocrite for stubbornly keeping my cape," Sayaka said in a low voice, "but you can't deny that you're just as much of a hypocrite as I am. If losing your arm wasn't enough to temper your pride and recklessness, I don't know what will."

Maria's glare flashed with greater intensity, but slowly petered out into a rueful grimace. She let out a sigh. "Dismiss your glyph," she said, the fires of rage in her voice now sufficiently doused. "I can't put away my gun if it's kept half-cocked like this."

With a flick of Sayaka's finger, the circle of notes disappeared around Maria's pistol, which she folded back into her prosthetic arm.

The two avoided each other's eyes in the moment of silence that followed, though neither seemed willing to completely turn away. Part of Sayaka wanted to press the issue. Another part of her wanted to shelve the topic for later. In the end, Maria made the decision for her.

"So, what's our strategy?" she asked, returning her attention to the holo screen.

Sayaka pursed her lips before following suit. "Alright, so let's start with what we know about them…"

Mid-morning, Atlas Training Arena A, audience seating

Mami rubbed her temples as Kyouko enthralled her class with another one of her tall tales.

This time, the story was about how Kyouko and Homura brought death upon an entire mountain range's population of grimm in the space of just a single night. It was embellished with dramatic details, such as Homura mowing down droves of beowolves using only a pistol, or Kyouko bringing down her spear so hard on the head of an ursa major that she bisected it vertically.

Surprisingly, though, the extent of the embellishments wasn't as drastic as usual. Based on what Mami had read from the mission reports, they did, in fact, clear that mountain range of grimm. There was even footage of the mountainside becoming shrouded in black smoke from the sheer number of evaporating grimm corpses they left in their wake.

All things considered, the fact that the Angel of Death was involved gave Kyouko's story an air of believability. It helped that Homura's fight against Winter—if that six second curb-stomp even counted as a fight—was still fresh in everyone's minds.

Next to her, the Haven headmaster chuckled. "Despite Miss Sakura saying she's not cut out for teaching, she shows remarkable skill in keeping students engaged."

"I agree, Headmaster," Mami said, eyeing Kyouko sadly. "She has a command of their attention and respect that would be a valuable asset in one of our instructors. Unfortunately, it might be a career she has no interest in…"

"Unfortunate indeed. Just as many a skilled hunter has put down their weapons to find their true calling, the reverse is also true. We can only hope Miss Sakura reconsiders. Remnant is always in need of new heroes—and by extension, people to train them."

Mami nodded thoughtfully and looked down at her scroll. It was nearly time for the Hiiragis' sparring match with Maria and Sayaka—a thought that made Mami want to groan. How on Remnant did Kyouko convince her to oversee this on such short notice?

"It will start soon, Headmaster. If you wish to give your students any last-minute advice, I suggest you meet them in the hallway leading to the locker room."

"Quite. If you'll excuse me."

With that, Leonardo made for the stairs. In the meantime, Mami stood and tapped Kyouko's shoulder.

"Two minutes left. Wrap it up."

Kyouko snickered and addressed the class. "I'll have to cut this story short, guys. Your teach just told me the match is about to start. Anyone who needs to pee, go do it now."

Mami was forced to suppress a chuckle. At Kyouko's words, a dozen cadets stood and rushed to the door, leaving the remaining five to talk amongst themselves.

"Mami, I don't know what it is you do to your kids," Kyouko said under her breath with a sidelong glance, "but them jumping at the chance to just use the bathroom isn't normal."

Mami maintained an outward smile but winced internally. She shrugged. "Blame Atlas' military command structure for that."

"I thought hunters weren't as beholden to the strict hierarchy as regular soldiers."

"They aren't." Mami pursed her lips. "It's just a hard habit to break out of once you're indoctrinated."

"Indoctrinated," Kyouko parroted with visible dissatisfaction. "The more I learn about this place, the less happy I am to be living here."

"I'm surprised you haven't tried to leave yet. For all of Atlas' machinations, it has very little power over free agents trying to move out."

Kyouko gave her a knowing smirk. "And leave you and Homura to fend for yourselves? Nah. I think I'll stay."

Mami chose not to dwell on the sudden outpouring of mixed emotions she felt from this, instead leveling Kyouko a serious look. "I'm going down into the arena now. Watch over them."

A wink and lazy salute. "Will do, Major."

Mami pursed her lips tighter and turned to leave. As soon as she was out of view, she put one hand over her face and another on the wall to steady herself. The dizzying swell of unsorted feelings had threatened to send her toppling, and it took a few seconds for it to subside.

"Now she's just playing dirty," she grumbled to herself. "Being all sincere and then suddenly pivoting to sarcasm. Gods—!" With a shake of her head and a slap to her cheeks, she let out a frustrated huff. "Alright, enough dilly-dallying. There's still work to do."

With another huff to steel herself, she continued down the hall to the arena proper.

Minutes later, Arena Floor…

"Miki, on your left!"

A curved sword barely missed Sayaka's shoulder as she stepped back. She attempted a counter cut, but was blocked by a bladed pole lunging towards her face. She dodged to the side and was forced to disengage.

Sayaka and Maria's strategy, boiled down to its simplest form, was to outlast the two Mistrillians. Maria's semblance replenished the auras of herself and allies by wounding her opponents—or in this case, depleting the shields of her opponents—which synergized well with Sayaka's own healing semblance. In theory, it would allow them to weather the twins' onslaught indefinitely, assuming they were able to land consistent hits in.

Unfortunately, landing hits proved much harder than they first anticipated.

"Bloodhunter, on the right!"

Maria pivoted from her exchange of swords with Kagami to block an incoming swing from Tsukasa, Sayaka lunging with a stab to keep Kagami off of the distracted grey fencer.

In the first twenty seconds of the battle, Maria had managed to elbow Kagami twice on the shoulder by taking advantage of her armored prosthetic. Sayaka fared little better, managing to land only a handful of superficial cuts to the legs and torso, and one clipped strike to the temple. In contrast, both twins had already struck them countless times, with a number of cuts that would have incapacitated them had it not been for their aura shields.

"Get back!"

Sayaka shot a burn dust round at Tsukasa, hoping the resulting explosion would at least distract her, only for the younger Hiiragi to reflect it back with a mere glance. Sayaka was forced to dive out of the way, Maria inadvertently taking the blast in her stead.

"Gah—! What the hell are you doing, Miki!?"

"Probing their defenses!"

"You're doing it badly!"

"She's right," Tsukasa agreed cheekily, slamming the flat of her polearm into Sayaka's stomach, knocking the blue fencer into Kagami's waiting blade.

The Hiiragis were just as in sync now as they had been during the Vytal Festival, moving as one unit to overwhelm the Atlesian huntresses. Tsukasa seemed able to repel attacks through some unseen force, while Kagami was so aggressive that there was little chance to actually attack her during her onslaught. Against Kagami with her nodachi, and Tsukasa with her naginata, Sayaka and Maria seemed downright uncoordinated in comparison, scrambling around like frightened animals.

"Your bedsheet's getting in my way!" Maria spat as Sayaka threw herself over a low sweep from Tsukasa, her cloak billowing past the other combatants' faces.

"It's getting in their way too!" Sayaka replied, pirouetting around Kagami, the bullet-proof fabric of her cloak snagging the Mistrillian's nodachi mid-swing. Sayaka leveraged the cloth to pull the sword down, leaving Kagami open for a strike.

"Not as much as you think it does!" Tsukasa replied, her naginata bearing down on the captured blade, a sudden explosion of force wrenching Kagami free and pushing Sayaka away. Maria had also attempted a stab at Kagami during this exchange, but Tsukasa's attack had pushed her back as well.

"See!? It's not working! Get rid of the cloak already!"

"Fine, you pushy brat!" Sayaka unclipped her cloak and threw it at Kagami, hoping to at least use it as a distraction. The Mistrillian swordswoman threw a cut that immediately shredded the incoming fabric into tattered scraps, making Sayaka briefly wonder how she'd managed to catch Kagami's blade with that very same cloak just seconds ago.

They continued to clash for several more seconds, the sounds of deflectional parries and clambering step dodges filling the arena. Sayaka and Maria were still holding their own, but it was becoming clearer with every exchange that they could not sustain it. The cracks in their teamwork were widening, a fact that their opponents clearly saw and were eagerly exploiting.

In the corner of her eye, Sayaka noticed Tsukasa attempting to flank them. In response, she summoned a gravity glyph. A black circle appeared underneath the short-haired twin's feet when she next took a step, making her lose balance. Kagami noticed her sister stumble and rushed to defend her, leaving her vulnerable.

Maria immediately took advantage of the opportunity, bearing down on the older twin with wild ferocity. Her cuts and thrusts bounced uselessly off Kagami's armor and aura, but every solid hit seemed to revitalize the grey fencer, steadying the panicked shakiness of her movements. Even when Kagami recovered enough of her wits to begin blocking, dodging, and parrying Maria's attacks, no longer was the Mistrillian leading the dance.

Sayaka, too, felt the effects of Maria's semblance, gaining a spring in her steps and a grace to her strikes that her earlier defensive lacked. She jabbed and swiped at Tsukasa's legs to keep the younger twin from regaining her footing, not missing a beat, even when her swings unexpectedly veered away from her target. Tsukasa did eventually right her balance, but that did nothing to stall Sayaka's momentum. She kept up the pressure, remaining inside Tsukasa's guard so as to never allow the younger twin to take advantage of her longer weapon.

Slowly, the Mistrillians lost ground, falling back towards the walls of the arena.

But just as quickly as one side gained the advantage, Kagami took it back with a single move. She dug in her heels and swung her nodachi like a baseball bat, causing a gale of wind from the sheer brute force of the attack. Though lacking the finesse and precision of her earlier cuts, it still knocked both fencers back multiple yards. The Atlesians took a second or so to blink away their daze and regroup, which proved a second too long as the Mistrillians rushed at them and retook the offensive.

"You're better than last year!" Kagami taunted as she cut straight through a glyph Sayaka had summoned as a shield. "And your sparring partner isn't bad either!" She used the momentum of her swing to whip her blade into a block against Maria. "But both of you are too off each other's tempo!"

Sayaka wanted to retort, but Tsukasa's naginata lunged past Kagami's neck towards Sayaka's chest. She barely twisted her body in time for the strike to glance off her armor.

"You get in each other's way!"

Before Sayaka could regain her balance, Kagami began a systematic series of strikes to her joints that threatened to send her sprawling on the floor.

"You argue and distract each other!"

Sayaka stumbled back as she blocked a swing, managing to stay on her feet, though only barely. She had just enough wherewithal to notice Maria struggling to get past Tsukasa.

"You're going to lose!"

Kagami raised her sword for the final blow. Desperately, Sayaka summoned another gravity glyph under Tsukasa. Maria lunged as soon as the short-haired twin stumbled.

"And it won't be because of the cape!"

"Why don't you shut up!?" Maria yelled, rushing inside of Kagami's guard and punching her in the stomach with a prosthetic-enhanced fist. Though Kagami's shields did not break, she let out a choked gasp as her aura visibly flickered.

Sayaka felt another surge of energy rush through her limbs upon Maria landing a solid hit. Spurred on by her partner's semblance, she danced past Maria to defend her from Tsukasa, who had already recovered from the gravity glyph and was ready to avenge her sister.

A cutlass rose to meet the horizontal swing of a naginata, the polearm's shaft sliding over the flat of Siren Song's blade and catching on the guard. Both weapons were deflected upwards, pushing their users off balance, Tsukasa due to overcommitment to the strike, Sayaka due to her lighter weapon and poor footing.

The fight devolved into a chaotic scuffle as half the combatants fell and scrambled to stand back up. Tsukasa continued to swing her naginata in her fallen state, the tip of its blade scraping against the floor as it arced towards Sayaka's head. Sayaka managed to sweep her body around, rolling under the swing and kicking her legs to trap the shaft between her calves and thighs. With a wordless yell, she channelled aura through her muscles and clenched her legs, snapping the wooden pole in two.

Her opponent yelped in surprise, Sayaka kicking the naginata's blade away and crawling over to straddle Tsukasa. After a moment of intense bucking and thrashing, she managed to pin the Mistrillian down and press Siren Song against her neck.

Much to Sayaka's surprise, that was all it took to shatter Tsukasa's aura shields. She quickly pulled her sword away, lest she draw actual blood.

"Tsukasa Hiiragi, eliminated!" Mami's voice blared through the arena speakers, cutting through the sound of the blood pumping through Sayaka's ears. As the adrenaline faded, she slowly became more aware of the cheering crowd.

"Huh… I didn't expect to actually lose," Tsukasa mumbled, glancing at the splintered wooden shaft that had fallen a few feet from where they lay on the floor, then at the naginata blade a further distance away. "Congrats," she eventually said.

A wordless nod was all Sayaka could manage.

After a moment to catch her breath, she crawled off her defeated opponent and sat up.

Across the arena, Maria and Kagami were still going at it, though clearly no longer restraining themselves on account of their partners' safeties. Maria fought like a berserker, swinging in a wild frenzy, completely unconcerned by the state of her aura shields. Kagami was much the same, focused entirely on the enemy in front of her, striking vital points with merciless precision. Neither seemed to notice how both of their shields were close to breaking. Should they continue, they might actually kill each other.

"I think you need to stop them both," Tsukasa said as she too sat up. "Kagami's hard to talk down when she gets really into a fight, and your friend seems that way too."

Sayaka nodded grimly and pursed her lips. She loaded a lightning dust round into Siren Song, pointed it at the remaining combatants, and summoned a golden circle of music notes under their feet. At the pull of the trigger, she released a strong electric discharge through the glyph. Maria and Kagami's shields shattered before they both collapsed, unconscious.

"Kagami Hiiragi and Maria Bloodhunter, eliminated! Blue team wins!

With a huff, Sayaka let herself collapse backwards as well. "Why did I agree to this fight again?" She asked herself tiredly, putting her arm over her eyes to block out the arena lights.

Later, Atlas Training Arena Infirmary…

"They'll have a bit of the jitters for a little while, but they should be fully recovered within twenty-four hours."

Mami nodded and thanked the medic for his time. Once he was out of earshot, she rubbed her temples. "Why does everything involving you cause me stress?"

From her bed, Maria smiled sheepishly. "Because you worry too much?" she suggested with a weak chuckle.

"Oh, I certainly worry, though it's still up in the air if it's too much—especially considering the kind of trouble you normally get yourself into. You realize you could have died back there, right? Or worse, you could have killed Miss Hiiragi. You're lucky Lieutenant Miki knocked you out before either could happen."

The cadet looked down at her prosthetic, which had refused to move after Sayaka shocked her. "We're both fine, though," she muttered. "There's no need to worry."

Mami stared at the grey-clad cadet as she continued to make excuses for herself. Once Maria finished saying her piece, a sigh was all Mami could muster in response.

"We'll discuss your punishment when you've recovered. For now, rest."

Maria looked like she was about to argue but closed her mouth and glared down at her lap.

"Good day, Cadet Bloodhunter." Mami gave a salute, more out of habit than anything, and left the cadet to rest.

"Instead of reinforcing it, wouldn't it be easier if you just make the shaft out of metal? The added weight shouldn't hamper mobility if you're channeling aura through it—which you're already doing anyway."

"Huh. That is true. I'll think abou—"

"Hey, Mami's out!"

The three-way conversation between Kyouko, Sayaka, and Tsukasa that was occuring in the hallway abruptly cut short as soon as Mami exited the infirmary. A wan smile tugged at her lips as she gave them curt greetings.

"She left out the 'Miss' and 'Lieutenant'," Sayaka noted, glancing at Kyouko.

"She must really be bummed out," Kyouko continued with a chuckle.

"How are my sister and Miss Bloodhunter doing?" Tsukasa asked, mercifully not needling her with attempts at humor that she wasn't in the mood to deal with.

"They're both fine, though your sister hasn't woken up yet. I wouldn't worry about them, though. The medic said they'll be right as rain within a day."

"That's good. Can I go see her?"

Mami smiled and gestured for the door. "Go right ahead."

As Tsukasa disappeared into the room, Mami turned to the two huntresses leaning on the wall in front of her. "Well?" She said impatiently. "Spit it out."

The two glanced at each other with raised brows.

"You alright?" Kyouko asked. "Seems like Bloodhunter's antics has you up the wall today."

A wry smile. "Oh, stress like this is actually a fairly regular occurrence. I wouldn't say I'm alright, however."

A snort. "Shaves a year off your life expectancy every time she causes an incident?"

Mami chuckled, rubbing her eyes. "Yes. Something like that. And as an active huntress, I imagine that's not a lot of time left for me."

After sharing small laughs at the admittedly dark humor, a silent stillness filled the hall.

"So," Kyouko eventually said. "Miki and I have a request…"

Mami pursed her lips. "Should I be worried?"

Kyouko rolled her eyes before nudging Sayaka's elbow. The blue fencer stepped forward.

"I got reassigned to R&D last week, and consequently lost my daily sparring partner due to scheduling conflicts. Since you two have a thirty-minute block reserved for Arena A every morning, I was wondering if you'd let me join."

Mami's brows rose before turning to Kyouko. "This is your doing, isn't it?"

"Look, Miki needs someone to fight. Why can't that someone be me?"

"There's no reason it can't be you," she admitted. "But wouldn't it be an awkward spar with an odd number of participants?"

Kyouko shrugged and turned to Sayaka, who also shrugged. "I'm fine with it," the fencer said. "I work better in a group of three anyway."

"See? It'll be fine, Mami. Worst case scenario, it does end up awkward and we just add another person to make it even again."

Mami rolled her eyes. "Like Miss Akemi?"

"Yeah! Like Homura. She shares her shift with Miki so it'd actually be perfect."

Mami's gaze flitted back and forth between Kyouko's eager look and Sayaka's hopeful one. After the events of that match, she didn't have nearly enough patience left to deal with both of them at the same time—she still had the rest of the day's classes, after all.

"I'll think about it," she said with a sigh. "For now, I'd like to get some lunch. Overseeing this match was more tiring than it had any right to be."

Late Morning, undisclosed location within Atlas City…

Homura noted that the quarters that Atlas provided Ozpin were very different from his office in Beacon Tower. For one, it was a lot smaller, comparable to Homura's own apartment. There were only two windows: one overlooking the city, another towards the open sky. It had two bedrooms for himself and his escort, a living area shared between them, and a fully-stocked kitchen. It was not particularly luxurious, but one could definitely do worse than the well-furnished, albeit small, apartment.

Ozpin took a seat on one of the couches in the living room. "I'm looking forward to resting after that long flight. But in the meantime, shall we get down to business?"

Homura nodded and took the seat across from Ozpin, placing Tempest Hourglass in the middle of the coffee table, and depositing her scroll to the side. Ozpin and Tatsuya followed suit, placing their scrolls on the table in front of them.

"Hands on the shield," she instructed.

They complied, firmly grasping the rim. Homura nodded at both of them before placing her hand atop the center. With a deep breath, she began channeling her aura through the weapon, activating her semblance. After a moment of letting the energy build up, Tempest Hourglass clicked and whirred to life.

Beneath the protective plating of Homura's shield was a complicated system of gears, springs, and volatile dust chambers filled with time, void, and gravity dust. Despite the clockwork of moving parts, however, Tempest Hourglass was, functionally, little more than an over-designed paperweight. None of it could actually do anything without Homura's semblance giving it meaning or purpose.

But even if the shield couldn't do anything on its own, channeling her aura through it allowed Homura exponentially more control over space and time. Without it on her person, the most she could muster was minor spacial stretching and contraction, or an 8:1 time dilation effect. But with it?

The lights in the room flickered and flashed for an instant before the world suddenly became greyscale.

"I'll spare you both from an explanation of metaphysics that I barely understand myself. Suffice it to say, the three of us are effectively outside of space and time right now." She turned to Ozpin and tilted her head. "This is as private as you'll ever get."

The Beacon headmaster smiled knowingly. "This technique has made a significant jump in efficacy since you first demonstrated it to me. I take it that you've also improved on your strict five-minute time limit?"

"I can maintain this… I suppose you can call it a timeless pocket dimension for around ten more minutes before aura exhaustion causes me to pass out. I would request we never let it get to that point."

"Very well. I'll keep this brief then." Ozpin pushed up his glasses. "Doctor Oobleck finished his analysis of the historical records you asked us to check. The trends in grimm activity seem to match what you described in your visions, though we don't have nearly enough data to confirm them. Speaking of which, have your visions changed in any way since we last spoke?"

A shake of the head. "No. I still don't have a definite place or time. The most I can discern is that it's soon, and that it'll happen on this continent."

"Soon, you say?" Ozpin smiled grimly. "I will not envy James, if and when it hits."

Homura pursed her lips. "He's a military leader. I'm sure he'll get over it."

"Perhaps he will." A thoughtful nod. "But to get back on topic, have you made any headway with regards to safely breaking the gem?"

Another shake of the head. "Still nothing, though not for lack of trying. Her shields are too strong for anything direct, and draining her aura through constant use will literally burn me out long before it makes even a dent in her reserves."

"That's unfortunate. So you'll be pushing ahead with the original plan?"

Homura pursed her lips. "I have no other choice. Nothing I've tried so far has worked."

"But you're sure this will work."

"Yes. I've mapped out a lot of the theory in my head. Additionally, ever since they found out about me three months ago, Atlas R&D has conveniently allowed me to put my theories into practice. I just need to do it in reverse once I get to Her."

A look of horror dawned on both Ozpin and Tatsuya's faces.

"Homura," Tatsuya whispered with trembling hesitation. "When you say practice, do you mean…?"

For a single, tense second, Homura felt like she couldn't speak. These were two of the only people even aware of what she was capable of, and the only two who wouldn't use her for it. She knew that the implications of her words were not pleasant to think about, but they deserved to know the truth.

"Yes," she eventually replied, not meeting either of their eyes. "For what it's worth, I'm doing it to save their lives, and most of their memories don't stick. It's only overwhelming in the moment, but once I sever the connection, it just feels like a half-forgotten dream. Both they and I remember nothing by the second week."

"But still," Tatsuya muttered. "To experience several lifetime's worth of memories…?"

Ozpin put a hand on Tatsuya's shoulder before leveling an iron, soul-piercing gaze towards Homura. "It is a burden that no one should be forced to bear. That you take it on willingly speaks to your resolve. I simply pray that it does not break you."

Homura pursed her lips, unable to look away. The gem within her glove seemed to grow hotter, threatening to burn the skin off the back of her hand. "It won't break me," she said. "I won't let it."

"For her sake?"

"Always."

Ozpin did not speak for a moment, allowing the weight of the exchange to hang in the air between them.

"You've been working towards this for eight years," he eventually said. "Homura Akemi, I know you will not allow yourself to fail, but what will you do once you succeed?"

"Well…" Homura ran a hand through her hair. "To be honest, I don't expect to survive."

"Homura," Tatsuya gasped, seemingly at a loss for words. "You're gonna…? You can't just…! I—!"

Ozpin cut him off with a sharp wave of his hand. "And if you do survive?" he asked steadily.

A wry smile. "I'll have to get back to you on that…"

Another silence followed, Tatsuya glancing back and forth between the other two before looking down at the clenched fist on his lap. Ozpin merely let out a sigh.

"We can discuss it more at a later date. For now, I have one last thing to ask before we finish." Ozpin leaned forward. "Does Madoka Kaname still want this?"

Homura looked down at her gloved hand and set her jaw tightly. "It's been a long time since she was present enough to actually say so, but the last time we spoke, she said she wanted two things." She gave both Ozpin and Tatsuya meaningful looks. "She said she wanted my happiness… and to be put to rest. An end to the formless half-existence she's been forced to live…"

There was more silence as her words hung in the air, a foreboding finality tinting the echoes of her voice.

"When it hits, please contact me." Opin said, closing his eyes. "I will attempt to rally the hunters stationed in and around Vale to aid you. I cannot promise you any large force, unfortunately."

"That's fine. As long as we manage to evacuate the civilians, we'll have already done better than we did in the last incident."

Ozpin chuckled humorlessly. "Not a particularly difficult bar to clear, but well stated regardless. Is there anything else for us to discuss?"

"None," she replied flatly. "Shall we adjourn?" A nod. "Very well. I'm dropping the stasis now. Brace yourselves for a sudden influx of stimuli."

After confirming that they were ready, she severed the stream of aura through Tempest Hourglass.

All at once, color and life returned to the world, from the muffled drone of distant vehicle traffic, to the sterile tang of ventilated air, to the subtle vibrations of the very ground under their feet. Tatsuya gasped and recoiled, as if struck by a physical blow. Ozpin took it more stoically, though his pained grimace told enough of his own feelings on the matter. It took them a few seconds before they were coherent enough to speak again.

"I was still eleven the last time we did that," Tatsuya mumbled as he cupped and uncupped his ears. "It wasn't nearly this bad."

Homura raised a brow. "Didn't you throw up that time?"

He scowled. "Okay, maybe it was this bad."

"How are you feeling, Miss Akemi?" Ozpin asked, seemingly recovered.

She gave him a weak smile. "A little faint, but it'll pass. That technique takes a lot out of me."

"Give us a few minutes and perhaps the three of us can have lunch together. I imagine food, company, and lighthearted conversation will do all of us some good after all that."

Homura glanced at Tatsuya, who was alternating between blinking rapidly and squinting.

"I suppose I could stay a little longer," she muttered. "We never did get the chance to catch up, after all."

End of Chapter

Thanks to Sypharo, picardyThird, and asianpotter1 for beta reading this chapter.

I wanted to do two things when I wrote this. One is an action scene—the last time I wrote one for this story was KyouMami vs the ursa maximam in chapter 13, which is the longest this story has gone without one. The other is a scene where Homura talks candidly about her job at R&D with someone who isn't Kyubey. Every other scene in this chapter was written around those two things happening. That they all tied into already existing plot threads was a happy accident.

Speaking of which, let's do a plot thread round up.

There's the KyouMami plot and Kyouko's WTF is Wrong With This City plot, both of which are chugging along nicely. There's the Kyousuke's arm/R&D BioTech plot, which is progressing in slow, sporadic steps, but should pick up steam soon. The R&D AuraMod plot is technically still on a cliffhanger after the last chapter. The Remedial Class plot just got a nudge forward with this chapter's fight scene. The Charity Event plot also got nudged forward with Ozpin arriving in Atlas. And finally, the "main'' plot, what's going on with Homura, has been stewing along in the back burner for essentially the entire story (and will continue to do so until further notice.)

All in all, I'm happy with the pacing of this story. Now if only I could get chapters out faster. Just something I'll have to work on, I guess.

Until the next chapter!