Although the first semester of their second year wasn't differing from the norm, JULI was put under immense pressure in the second semester. The reason? The 30th biennial Vytal Festival Tournament and celebration. This one, however, was even more pressuring than normal because it was supposed to be held last year. It was delayed because a large collection of aerial Grimm had prevented the moving of the tournament arena. To some this came as a shock because it was protected by the Atlas military, but most of the residents of Vacuo, the city holding the 30th festival, weren't surprised by it at all. Most of them were surprised that it took 60 years before something like this would happen. This delay would lead to two Vytal Festivals being held in two years to even the numbers. This only put more pressure on JULI, and the rest of the Huntsmen in Beacon. They were all being given far more extensive training than they were their first year and with teams that helped train each other, like JULI, there was more pressure on each teams best. Only a couple weeks before the end of the year Beacon students who were going to compete in the tournament were being sent to Vacuo. Team JULI and STRQ were one of the two teams out of eight set to compete for Vale. June was happy with her team that they could compete, but she kept to herself that she didn't want to go back to Vacuo. The fly there had been a couple of days long, with JULI and STRQ celebrating that they both could compete. On that note, Summer threw June a surprise birthday since she would turn 18 while flying to Vacuo. Summer wanted to make it special, but felt there was only so little that she could bring on the ship besides what their teams were packing. Even with that, the rest of JULI had all gotten one gift each for her and STRQ, as a team, would give her a gift. The surprise was done near dinner, and they had celebrated with a birthday cupcake. June went with it and then they started to give her her gifts. Summer gave her the gift that STRQ pitched in for, which was a new hooded-cloak. "The rest of Team STRQ pitched in for the material, and then I sewed it for you," Summer added. June sat silent for a bit, looking at and holding the blue cloak. After that, she told Summer thank you, holding back tears. Not only had it been clear to both of them that they liked each other, now she was starting to remind June of her mother. She moved on from that, getting to what her teammates had given her. Levi and Uruclay went with a theme, getting her kits that would allow her to clean and tamper with her weapon more easily. Then, Ino gave her something that almost scared her. They were color contacts that came with a kit that helped manage them. Ino joked that her red eyes never went with her character and that blue eyes would be more fitting. June laughed it off, but was worried a little. However, she finally had different contacts than the ones her dad had. She realized that she had more hate for them than she thought, so new ones seemed to be nice. The rest of the flight wasn't very exhilarating.

When the ships had landed in Shade, both teams had to settle in the new dorms that they were staying in for the time they were. "Home-sweet-home," was the first thing June said when they got there, but it was very sarcastic. After living in Vale for almost two years she had found more distaste for the city. However, the Shade students were more hospitable to her team and STRQ, and this trend would probably continue as more Beacon students arrived. Part of it was respecting that they were picked for the tournament, but it was also in part of the Great War. Although it had ended and the festival was to support unity among the kingdoms, Shade students were still aware of which side each kingdom was on. Another reason for some Shade students respecting June specifically was that she was from Vacuo. Her skilled reputation had spread there because of that fact. Another part was that it was found out that she was the wandering "Huntress" that protected the outskirts, so students that came from the outskirts had a respect for her. The rest of JULI, however, were a little worried about the odd looks they were getting. They asked June about it, and she explained that they were lucky nobody was saying anything. She also added that the looks were a way of showing respect, as an Atlas team walking by had proved to them. The team had been scolded walking through the school, with them being stopped and challenged by another team. JULI started to feel better. There was one outlier, though. She was a Shade student named December Folie, who had long, dark red hair that went almost to her waist and had crimson eyes. She was one of the best in the school, being in one of the teams chosen to fight for Vacuo. She knew who June was and stopped her while she was walking to her dorm. They made death glares at each other, and June realized the challenge. December, who stood a couple inches lower than her, shoved past her and whispered something for her to hear, "Your're a disgrace." June ignored it, but JULI was worried about the encounter. June told them not to worry and focus on why they were there. The festivals tournament wasn't being held for another week because of the preparations the Amity Colosseum required. The festival was being celebrated in Vacuo, though, so JULI and STRQ wanted to enjoy the festivities. June had always wanted to go to the Vytal Festival, but now she didn't know with her feelings for Vacuo. She went with her team and enjoyed what she could. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, until Summer asked her a question that she didn't want to be asked. "Don't you want to see your parents," was the question she asked. June never thought she hear that, but what surprised her even more is that she felt she had to see her father. June told her she didn't know, but Summer had pushed her to see him. June explained to her that she needed 4 days to travel to where she lived, and back. Summer understood, but still wanted to go with her. She also understood that she would be leaving her team for that time. She was confident in her team, though, and trusted that they could enjoy themselves and that they were trained well. June decided that she would bring her. The trip was grueling for Summer, not being used to the desert heat. June, however, was determined to get this trip over with, so she went as fast as she could go with a camel. Then, they got to that house. June almost cried when she stopped next to the tombstone. Summer was confused by what it was, or who it was for. When June had keeled down to place flowers there, Summer asked who it was for. June had wiped away the dust from the title to reveal the name 'Angelus'. "Who... is it," Summer had broken the silence. "My mother," June responded. Summer was shocked, now realizing why June may not have wanted to come home. June started to head towards the house, which looked as though it was abandoned. Now Summer had started to feel bad and had many questions, but she saved them for later. June told Summer to wait outside while she got her father. Summer waited and waited until it had been 30 minutes. Summer had thought something was wrong and decided to see what was wrong. Before she could go in, however, June came out. She looked as though she had been crying before she came back down, and told Summer that she should head back to the camel. While Summer was heading back and started waiting near the camel, June had taken fire dust crystals and powder left by her father and spread it around. Then, she reread the piece of paper and cried even more than she did when she first found it. Summer asked if she could see her father when she came back. June said nothing, got on the camel, and started to head back. Summer didn't want to ask anything until she saw a house fire start. Summer didn't understand what was happening and asked June, scared what was happening to the house. "He's dead," June had said at a near inaudible volume. Summer understood now, and June started to cry. Summer, even through the heat, comforted June all the way back to Shade.

The trip had only taken 3 days, and June hadn't talked in the time leading up to the tournament. Whenever JULI would train together in that time, she was harsher than usual. Then the first day of the tournament had come. As much as June was going through, she was able to lighten herself and motivate her team before the first match. The first match, which was JULI vs an Atlas team, CAMO, was going to be important for JULI's reputation in Shade. June didn't care, as she never had any reason to go back after that festival, but the rest of her team didn't know how to feel about it. Both the teams had lined up in the center of the coliseum, waiting for the announcers to present the environments they would be fighting in. The two areas that were selected were the desert and geyser arena. Although this would imply a home field advantage for June, the Atlas military had trained in many artificial environments. June had known this, and gave warnings to the rest of JULI and STRQ in upcoming fights against Atlas students not to underestimate them. JULI kept their composure and the fight was started. JULI moved to the desert area while CAMO had moved to follow up on them. JULI had been the closest to the desert, so they had more cover against CAMO. Ino and Levi had used suppressing fire to prevent forward advancements from CAMO. Levi had stopped firing, CAMO assuming that they were planning something else that required him. Their flank, however, wasn't an issue because JULI had made the mistake of being almost completely in the open, other than the rocks they had found for cover. The leader of CAMO, Cernal Cloak, had done research on every team from each academy that was selected. He had access to some mission data that revealed their weapons capabilities. He was still concerned, though, as June had revealed next to nothing about herself on missions and in her reports. One of the only things he knew was that she was able to move at fast speeds, showing him that she focused on speed tactics. He did know about Levi's weapon, the Rote Bedrohung, had a charged shot that would be able to wipe out cover they were hiding behind. His guessing was proven right, and Levi had come out while Ino ducked to reload to fire that shot. He fell for the trap, and Cloak used his weapon, the Liberation's, anti-gravity deflection field to fire the shot back at their cover. Levi and Ino stayed behind the cover and had nothing to stop the shot from connecting. The destruction had brought up a cloud of dust, which CAMO's members that had firing capabilities had fired into to prevent movement of JULI. The dust had cleared and JULI was gone. Before it could fully clear, there was a blur behind Cloak and, before he could react, June had kicked him into the air and sent him flying into the far wall. This had knocked him out of the battle by ring out, and the crowd had gone wild about June's impressive appearance. The announcers had started to break down what had happened. JULI had appeared to take the better place, but CAMO's sudden advancement had played into their plan. June was no fool, and researched the team the same way he did for them. However, Cloak hadn't tried to hide his weapons abilities, so June had strategically planned around what their key player would do. She used her semblance, which was unknown to them, to quickly get behind them without alerting them. With most Atlas teams, the team leader was the key person, this one being no different than the others. The rest of CAMO were eliminated rather quickly, Levi and Ino taking out their supporting fire, Uruclay turning his scythe blade into a handle to pull another member into a geyser and the last being another quick ring out by June. The first explosive round was concluded, and the crowd had cheered JULI very clearly.

JULI had to wait 4 days until the beginning of the duo rounds of the tournament, 4 battles taking place everyday. STRQ had eliminated the Shade team they were paired with, and JULI was there to support them in the crowd. STRQ's fight was on the second day, so the teams had spent the rest of the time together in the festival. Summer didn't bring up her and June's visit to her home. June had decided to look for someone, and brought Summer with her. The last day of fights in the first round, June and Summer went back to the fighting arena to look for June's somebody. This someone was March, who was very passionately cheering for the Shade team in the last fight of the day when she saw June. They hugged and June introduced March to Summer. March was uneasy, but June told her that she was part of one team sent to fight from Beacon. March warmed up to her quickly, adding that she recalled seeing them win against a Shade team. Summer got a little scared, but March was joking and laughed when she freaked out. June was happy to see her friend again, and remembered what she miss if she never came back to Vacuo. Then, another surprise had shown up. March had gone to the festival with her family. Amica had seen June for the first time in years, and he had much to say. He treated her with respect, as one Huntsman should to another. August and May had been there as well, with May not being able to enjoy herself watching the fights. She said hello to June and June said it back. June spent the rest of the day with March and her family, and she even joined them in dinner. They caught up on everything, mostly June to Amica as March had been using the CCT tower to talk to June every once in awhile. Amica was impressed to hear how well she was doing, between taking Huntsmen jobs during breaks and her team showing much skill in their first fight. After the dinner, they had bid each other a goodbye and they promised to watch all the matches she would be in.

The next day held the first 4 matches of round 2, or the duos round. Ino and June, who were chosen out of JULI to compete, would be the first match of the second day. Summer and Raven were chosen out of STRQ to move on, and they had beaten a duo from Atlas. June and Ino were set to compete against a duo from Haven. Yet again, the contestants were lined up opposite of each other and the fighting environments would be randomized and picked. The 4 environments were the Obsidian Glass Fields, which was almost completely flat with some hilly elements to it that provided little cover, the Ice Fields, Grass Fields and a broken down urban area. The timer started to count down until the starting sound had gone off. Right before the Haven students could get off initial dust fire on JI, June had grabbed Ino and the two vanished. The Haven duo set out and started to cut the tall grass in the fields because they saw movement in them. However, the other kept an eye on the environments around them, making sure that they weren't attempting to flank them. One of their team members had watched the fight between JULI and CAMO, warning them that June appeared to possess fast speed. This had explained their sudden disappearance at the beginning of the battle. While they were checking the grass, a sudden hail of fire had bombarded their position from the urban sector. They were able to find cover in the Ice, but then the assault had stopped. One of them peaked cautiously, but they weren't fired at when they came up from cover. That's when they noticed that that there was what appeared to be a blue cape coming from a covered part of the Obsidian Glass Fields. They decided that it was June and defeating her would call for an easy victory, so they moved to the fields. The girl had stayed out in the ice just in case it was a trap and to provide support if Ino showed up again. They were right. It seemed the Obsidian Glass had a secret: Gravity was wonky because of anti-gravity dust that controlled it. The advancing student found this out quickly as he started to float without control, and he was confused by why June wasn't responding to the change, not knowing that her weapon used anti-gravity dust. June came out of cover and exposed herself to the support who was in the Ice Fields, but before she could fire, Ino had appeared behind her and knocked her out when her guard was down. This meant that she was considered defeated and that the other Haven student was the last one left. With him being stuck in the air, June eliminated him swiftly with one kick to get him out of the ring, which was starting to become a staple of hers. The crowd had cheered once more for June and Ino.

The next day was a break to let winning teams pick their finalist, and give some time for people to put in extra training or rest. The 8 winning duos had selected their final competitors, Team STRQ selecting Summer and JULI picking June for Vale, Haven had one team that made it, Atlas pulling 3 and Shade got 2 in. It wasn't surprising to figure out that December was one of the contestants in the finals. Each of the 4 fights were going to take place one day at a time, the first fight taking place between Summer and an Atlas finalist. Summer had won, but it wasn't easy for her. June helped her relax once the fight had ended, and also celebrated the win. The fight for the next day would be chosen after each fight. After Summers fight, June was chosen to fight... December. The crowd had had a mini cheer simply for this match up, as it was no secret that the two were among the most skilled to be in the tournament that year. Although June wasn't cocky, she was always confident in her abilities, so she didn't freak about the pairing the same way others did when they were paired against Decembers team. JULI and STRQ believed in June, but December was one of the people that everyone had researched because they were scared. They all had an idea of where they had stood in skill, and it seemed they were equals.

The next night had come quick for many, with the Amity Colosseum being more packed than any other fight before. Even some Haven and Atlas students had tuned in to see the fight, as they were curious what was going to happen too. June and December had came up to the final ring, which started to rise once they both were on the stage. The countdown had begun and the crowd was roaring with yells to hurry and start it. December had shown her battle gear, which was onyx, spiked armor that would deter close contact. What most people didn't know, is that December would fight even more seriously than she had before. This was because of her distaste of June, which came from her originally leaving Vacuo. December was very patriotic and found anyone who left to be deserters. The clock hit 0 and December had showed her speed, which led her to almost speed blitz June. Not even Oraculi was that fast. December took a slash with her weapon, the Resurgens Daemon, which was a smaller than average great-sword that made it lighter. June flipped upside down and used the sword as a base to push herself into December, who was knocked back. June glanced to check her aura on her scroll, a natural thing she did, but the result surprised her. Even with the small use of her semblance her aura was drained farther than usual. This led to some theories, but she manage to figure out a function of Resurgens Daemon. The weapon had a way to siphon aura on contact, an excellent counter to faster combatants that tried to use her weapon against her. For the first time in the tournament, June had decided to bring out Angeli Cadunt. The crowd was put into a flurry over this, and Amica even started to cheer for June as this would be the first time he would see the weapon used. Decembers plan, however, was ruined. She was banking on the fact that June wouldn't be able to figure out her weapons function that soon. They started to circle the ring, with December making petty comments about June's leaving of Vacuo. This wouldn't bother June, but with recent events coming back into memory, she found that the comments were getting to her. June had enough, and fell for her taunting. She charged first and the two started to clash weapons. They matched each others speed, but June had realized a problem she didn't have often: She had natural barriers on her semblance. The only way she could start to outrun December was to break those barriers, but she didn't know how. This thinking and Decembers taunting had dulled her speed, and she was able to get an overhead slash on June that would've knocked her out. One of her semblance barriers could be broken by being put under pressure, which this attack had done. June was able to catch Resurgens Daemon with Angeli Cadunt's chain. Although December wasn't expecting her sudden burst of speed, she now knew that June couldn't keep a consistent speed faster than hers. She was in a struggle with June, but December had caught her off guard. All of sudden Resurgens Daemon had ignited and instantly grew hot enough to burn through the chain. It snapped. June naturally dodged to the other end of the ring. She kept her cool about her weapon breaking, but one last taunt had done the trick. "You should've never come back. You're parents wouldn't want to see your disgraceful self." June, like her chain, had snapped for the first time in years. She did something that showed that she wasn't the same. She started to laugh and laugh and laugh. The crowd was silent, even December had to hold in some fear by June's sudden mood change. June had instantly moved in on December. She was blitzed and too slow to react. She was sent flying across the ring, but was able to catch herself with her sword. She recovered quickly and saw that June was walking towards her. She needed to keep her range, as June had just shown that she was far faster than she was before. Resurgens Daemon had an ability to fire high caliber dust rounds, but when the first shot had appeared to connect, it only phased through June. She now understood how to get rid of her barriers, and had created several afterimages. Now December wasn't sure if she could win. Every afterimage she shot had only went through. June then revealed a function that she hadn't used with Angeli Cadunt since she was first training herself on how to use it. The 2 handles had ejected the excess chain, and deployed a beam of white light from both handles. Angeli Cadunt was able to produce a saber with light dust crystals. June appeared before December again and instantly disarmed her of Resurgens Daemon. She then released an attack that involved hundreds of slashes against Decembers aura. Right before the finish, however, June stopped. December showed pure shock and confusion, but the ring had started to lower and June was heading out. The announcers, who almost forgot to announce what had happened, had stated that June's semblance overuse had caused her aura to drop below the required 15% and above to stay in. December had won. The crowd was indifferent, not knowing what just happened, but they eventually started to cheer and boo equally. December didn't care if she won or not, as she was just frozen still.

The rest of the festival June kept to herself. Amica had felt personally responsible about the chain not being strong enough, so he said that he would repair it before she left, telling her an idea he had. Although Summer tried to comfort June, it would be some time before June felt perfectly OK again. The tournament had ended, also marking the end of the festival. The results were in, with Summer winning for Vale, December winning for Vacuo, and two Atlas students winning the last two matches. Everyone was rewarded with a medal based on which place they were in. June was able to get herself to talk to Amica and March before she left for Vale. To help her mood, March was very proud to tell her that she had gotten into Shade. June was happy for her, and said that she would make an amazing Huntress. Amica had also handed her a fixed Angeli Cadunt, sending her a message on her scroll that included new schematics. Amica would miss June, but he understood if she never came back to Vacuo. When JULI had packed up and started to head for the departing area with STRQ, December had stopped them. Just like before she got close to June, but she just put her closed fist in June's hand and walked off. She gave her something. It was a note and the medal that December had received for winning their final match. The note had only said, "You deserve it." June felt better the rest of the way back to Vale, seeing what was new about Angeli Cadunt. The chain, which seemed to be more of a rod now, appeared to be locked in place when idle, but when activated it would separate into smaller cylinders that were refined magnetic dust crystals. This meant that, if the cylinders were ever separated, it could come back together on command. She showed Summer the improved weapon and she thought it was really cool, adding that it made her weapon even more unique. With that, June had felt better on her way back to Vale...