"Alright, Vermillion, it's been a month. Surely, we are ready to release the tins to the public.

"Perfect timing, Ally-Boy~! I just finished the last box. Now then, how did you plan on getting these out, hm? Advertisements? Business deals?"

"PFFFFFFT- I'm just a kid! I ain't got the cash for that!"

"Are you not the same kid who has been selling that "wonder metal" that the smiths have been lauding as the next best thing since sliced bread?"

...hwat-

"As I was saying, I was just going to sell them to random stores that I walk past and, as we get a more stable & massive income, go bigger and bigger, until we give the Schnee company themselves a size complex."

Fun little fact: since summer isn't even IN Beacon yet, Jac-Cock hasn't even become the president of the Gele company. Note to self, eliminate his influence on the world: best case scenario, assassinate him in such a way that no one can be connected to him; worst case scenario, marry into the schnee family instead of him using my extreme dosch and the soon-to-be omnipresent Illusionary Industries ownership.

"Hm~hm. Well, Allen, I will hold you to it. After all, you would be a horrible father if you fail to make our industry grow."

"When did we start talking about fatherhood?"

"Is your heart not made of ice and steel, Mr. Whittington? Does it pump oil instead of blood? This whole idea, this CONCEPT, is your own brainchild, and you can only think of it as numbers?"

"Oh, I assure you, Mr. Pegasus, my heart is one of the purest things you could find on earth. Full of hope and faith for humanity. Good thing I fed it to the first Grimm I killed."

Yeah. He was not expecting that. The raw shock and appalment on his face got me cackling.

"Oh, hah-hah. Rather funny, sir. Shall I put you to bed now?"

"Oh come now, Vermillion, a face suits your face so ill! Lighten up, it's just a joke!"

"Hmph. Go on then, sell your children to the highest bidder."

"Do what I intended on doing since day one? Indeed I shall."

[Perspective shift: Arcus Laruam]

Upon wings that subjugate fell, stagnant winds, I ponder. How could I further break down this mad witch's plans? Father, in his infinite wisdom, has given me knowledge of her plans, and as a beacon of sapient union, of all colors & crafts & cuts, disgusts me. To eradicate all of your successors, simply because your true love perished past his time, and you cannot join him? Folly, I say! Madness! Would you not recognize such pain to be unbearable to the Nth degree, and prevent all others from seeing?! Why would you wish such pain upon another!?

Hark! It would appear that I must save this conjecture for later. For I have arrived within the den of the devil! I see below my mineral majesty a pack of craven animals, waylaid by their lack of common sense and morality! And lo, there lay two lost sheep, led by a wolf playing at a shepherd! And so, as my duty commands, I roost upon the floor, unyielding despite the disbelieving glares upon my commanding presence.

Upon my visage I see a brother, heart drowning in grief to his late sister, killed by neglect.

Upon my visage I see a man of all manners of science, raging against the world for being unable to advance at a quick enough pace for him.

Upon my visage I see a ghoul who has fancied himself a suit made from a Faunus's skin.

And upon my visage I see the result of the Twin's worst mistake ever.

"What is this?"

And with this question, I begun.

"Hark, my brothers! I am the illustrious Arcus Laruam, sent by the Father to impart upon you many truths! The first of such is this: so long as you continue upon this path that you find yourselves walking, you shall surely achieve naught but oblivion! For you shall find yourselves assaulted not only by heroes who wish to preserve the world that they love, but by the Father himself, and you shall find yourself at the door of the reaper! The second is-"

My speech was halted by the ghoul, crushing my body using his tail.

"What heresy, spouting that o-

Everyone there was shocked when my body rebuilt itself.

"The second is that my Father is one who has crafted me from naught but nothingness! He is the one who acknowledges the light and darkness in both their positives and negatives! He despises the actions of the Twin Brothers, agreeing whole-heartedly that one separated from their love is a crime most cruel! He may be all-powerful, all-knowing, and omnipresent, but lo and behold! For he is still a Man, and his heart he has not lost!"

"The third is that he knows what gathers you all here! And he has told me to tell you this: 'Please let all who wish to seek asylum from a world what has treated them without respect to their core; to what is they care about, to what it is they have sworn, and to what is theirs without doubt: come to me, and I shall find you what it is you seek! Be it a world of true enlightenment, a family member once dead, whatever it may be! For I shall be able to bring you to them, to give your trembling, raging heart peace at last, so that you may ascend to a better state!" And in my crystalline breast, where my hard but not quite cold heart beats, I know this to be nothing but undeniable fact!"

"The fourth and final is that Father knows what you plot, Black Queen! For He has seen it unfold many times before! He may be but a child in body, but as Sun Tzu has said: 'appear strong when you are weak, and weak when you are strong"!"

"And it is upon this day, that I implore you to ask: "is this path truly the way to find my inner peace?" and with that, I bid you fare well and live prosperously!"

And upon these brilliant wings of mine did I start the trip back, making sure to dive inside of those foul clouds so that none may spy upon me and find where Father resides. But before I could immerse myself in that miasma, I heard the ghoul speak such heretical, accursed words I could help but shudder, think of just how much the 7 circles would leak onto this plane if they were true. And the jubilation they were spoken with made it all the more dreadful.

"SALEM HAS A SON!?"

(AN: see? I told you that tyrian wouldn't be mad. :D also further proof that rainbirb is best birb cause he flew valiantly into salem's castle and flat-out dissed her to her face AND in front of her little gaggle of gag-mes!)

(on a more serious Author's Note, i tried to find out what the recruitment timeline was, but i couldnt, so here is the timeline canon specific to this story because i am not secretly a developer there so i cannot claim this to be official in any way;)

(First, tyrian. Headcanon is that Salem walked up to him and offered him the chance to burn the world to ashes personally. Tyrian being Tyrian, he took it. After Tyrian, she convinces Arthur by allowing him to experiment on the Grimm and telling him that "he will be contributing to a world of pure enlightenment". After that, she hears about Gretchen Rainart dying, and convinces Hazel that in her world, no such tragedies would ever occur. Of course, she does this while he is in the worst parts of his depression, and now here we are.)

(man this was a big ass update.)