Disclaimer: I own nothing; just the OC

'Thought'

"Talking"

*Action*

"Powerful entity (gods, dragons, etc.)"

[System]


I push Raven away and grab Winter's sword.

Emergency!

Quest: Winter's Coming!

Atlas, or rather Winter Schnee, has located you and doesn't seem too happy to see your face. Try to be careful not to kill her, okay?

Objective 1: Subdue Winter Schnee

Objective 2: Defeat Atlas Soldier (0/6)

Objective 3: Destroy Atlas Knight-200s (0/12)

Reward: 56000 EXP, 73209 Credits, Gacha Token, Perk, Skill, Reputation with Willow Schnee greatly Increases

"Go! Get everyone out!" I yell and Raven leaves the area.

"I will make you pay dearly for what you've done!" Winter screeches out like a banshee. I've never seen her this angry before except during the end of volume 8.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Winter snarls, her [Bloodlust] towards me becoming more potent and a massive white [Glyph] suddenly appears below our feet.

"Oh no…" I whisper.

Winter's smile was all teeth.

The shot changes to the outside of the cottage right before a massive glacier sprouts from nowhere destroying it.

I let out a coughing fit as I walked out of the man-made glacier. "Damn. That would have killed me if my level was lower. I hope the others got out safely."

*CLICK*

I look to the platoon of [Atlas Soldiers] and their squadron of what looks like the [Atlas Knight-200]. All of their rifles were loaded and aimed straight at me.

[They sure did not waste any expense for us]

"Asmodeus Endeira. By the order of the Atlas council, you are charged for the murders of Willow Schnee and Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart. Surrender now or we will have no choice but to use deadly force!" An Atlas Soldier yells out.

"Well that's nice because you see I was about to head to Atlas myself. There's a certain man I'd like to have words with." I said.

"You will put down your weapons and be taken to our custody. Surrender." The Atlas Soldier yells back.

Sorry, but that's not gonna happen. I still have things to do." I crack my neck and summon [Palindel]. "I promise I'll make this as quick as possible."

"HOSTILITY DETECTED. INITIATING COMBAT PROTOCOLS." The Atlas Knights open fire at their target.

"Open fire!" The Atlas Soldiers open fire as well.

I raise my arms up to block their bullets. They may not hurt but they sure are annoying as hell.

"Shit! How much Aura does this bastard have!?" I heard one of the soldiers scream out. After a couple of minutes, the barrage stopped as their rifles ran out of ammo.

"Did you get that out of your system now?" I ask them with a bored expression.

The soldiers slowly step back in fright at the monster in front of them.

"My turn." I aim my gun and shoot the soldiers down in quick succession, their armor and Auras breaking from one shot alone.

You have defeated Atlas Soldier(x6)! You have gained 876 EXP(x6)! You have gained 2780 Credits(x6)!

"INITIATING SECONDARY COMBAT PROTOCOLS." The Atlas Knights drop their empty rifles and their arms transform into blades before promptly charging at me.

"Cute." I put my weapon away and punched the first robot close to me, shattering its head into small pieces. I then swiftly kick the second robot in half before grabbing it and using it to bash the other robots like a club.

"[Electro-geddon]!" I slam my hand into the ground and watch as electricity travels through the earth and into the Atlas Knights, causing them to short-circuit and collapse.

You have defeated Atlas Knight-200(x12)! You have gained 2870 EXP(x12)! You have gained 1356 Credits(x12)!

Level Up!

Skill Level Up!

[Electro-geddon LVL. 47/100]

I sidestep back and avoid Winter's little surprise attack. How did I know she was trying to gang up on me from behind? I didn't. I am just that lucky.

Winter sees her forces decimated in front of her. "You killed them!"

"Relax, your soldiers are fine though I can't say the same for your tinmen." I said nonchalantly. "Can't we just talk? I have something to tell you."

Winter seethe in anger. "How are you so calm!? Do you have any idea what you've done? Remnant's peace has been shattered because of you!

I scoff. "If this is what you call peace, I'd hate to see what you call war."

Winter is at her boiling point. "Do you think this is a game!? Your actions have caused the world to spiral out of control. People look at Huntsmen with doubt and disdain, like we're worse than Grimm!"

"And whose fault do you think that is? You let an incompetent coward take office because of your blind trust and now dozens, maybe even hundreds, are DEAD because of that. And now you're all throwing temper tantrums like your damn five. Do you know how fucking embarrassing that is?" I ranted.

"You were the one who posted that video! If it wasn't for you, Remnant wouldn't be in the state that it is. And my father-" Winter stops herself.

I arch an eyebrow. "And your father?"

Winter clears her throat and straightens her stance. "It doesn't matter. You are coming with me, terrorist scum." She takes her sword and presses a switch, releasing a second smaller sword from within the first one, giving her two weapons to use.

'Should I use my Keyblade? No, that would be overkill. Maybe my spear?' I ponder what weapon to use.

Winter grits her teeth. "Are you mocking me? Take out your weapon and fight!"

I stare blankly at her. 'She really is Weiss' sister.' I summon [Fēngbào Lóng Yá] and twirl it around. "I haven't used this guy since Hazel." I take my stance. "I hope you go easy on me."

We moved.

Winter makes the first move and tries to slash down on me but I block it with the pommel of my spear. She stabs at me with her smaller sword but I kick her back and twist my body but Winter manages to dodge the spear's sharp end by an inch.

She creates five [Glyphs] above her firing ice shards at me. I put both hands on the spear and twirl it around destroying all of the upcoming projectiles.

"[Aero Boom]" Orbs of wind float forward before exploding into smaller, faster orbs straight at Winter. She reacts too late as the orbs detonate and launch her upwards into a pseudo tornado. Inside her coat is shredded and cuts appear all over her body before it dissipates and she falls on the ground.

Winter slowly stands up and glares daggers at me. "Damn you…" She charges at me. "DAMN YOU!" She tries to stab me in my stomach but her opponent disappears like smoke "!"

Suddenly, Winter is surrounded by hundreds of copies of her enemy. She can't tell which one is real or fake.

"I got to hand it to Emerald. Her Semblance is a real diamond in the rough." The copies say all at once before groaning a little. "Though if I had to pick, I'd go with Neo's since that one doesn't give me a migraine."

Winter looks frantically at the copies. "You bastard! Are you so afraid of me that you need to use your Semblance to hide like a coward!? Come out and face me!"

The illusions smirk. "And why should I? I can tell that you're not currently of sound mind. Why should I waste my power on a woman who's on the verge of snapping. You'll likely only hurt yourself in the end."

"SHUT UP!" Winter roars out as she begins to strike down the illusions. She summons three [Sphinx] through her [Glyphs] to take care of the rest. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! IF YOU HADN'T KILLED HER, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!" She stabs a clone in the stomach.

"S-Sister…?"

Winter's blinks in horror as one moment her enemy was and now her sister, Weiss now stands in his place, vomiting blood from the stab wound in her stomach.

Tears ran down her face. "D-do you resent me that much…?"

"W-Weiss!? O-oh god!" Winter shouts realizing what she has done. "I-I didn't mean to!"

"But you did."

Winter doesn't have a second to register the voice as a fist collides squarely to her face sending her flying back as Weiss vanishes from where she was. She falls to the ground, her hair flowing down caused by the force of the punch. She staggers to get up, the pain from that punch is so overwhelming as her Aura breaks completely.

Winter tries to reach for the sword. "I am not done…!"

"Winter, that's enough!"

Winter recognizes that voice and turns to the source. "Mother!?"

"Can't you see this is pointless, stop it!" Willow yells out.

Winter turns back to me and openly snarls. "You SCUM! It wasn't enough to make me believe I killed my sister, now you want to use the memory of my mother against me? Does your evil know no bounds!?"

I say nothing and snap my fingers. Black bands appear and bind Winter along with her human soldiers.

"I'll kill-!" She doesn't finish as she is tackled into a hug by her mother.

"My baby… I am so sorry." Willow cries on her daughter's shoulder making Winter realize that she wasn't an illusion but the real Willow Schnee, her mother.

She stays silent as her mother continues to hug her tightly. When was the last time her mother hugged her? It feels like a lifetime ago she received any parental affection.

Quest Complete!

Quest: Winter's Coming!

Objective 1 (Completed): Subdue Winter Schnee

Objective 2 (Completed): Defeat Atlas Soldier (6/6)

Objective 3 (Completed): Destroy Atlas Knight-200s (12/12)

Reward: 56000 EXP, 73209 Credits, Gacha Token, Skill, Item, Reputation with Willow Schnee greatly Increases

Level Up(x2)!

Skill Level Up(x2)!

[Aero-Boom LVL. 47/100]

[Hallucinations LVL. 9/100]

Item acquired:

Jackal

Rarity: B

A special dagger you carve the name of a person onto the hilt and if you use this blade to kill anyone other then them it will instead deal the injury to you but if it's to the single target then the wound will never heal, after use the knife will shatter

Skill acquired:

[Super Archive LVL. 1/100]

A type of Caster Magic from Fairy Tail. A stronger variation of the Magic [Archive], it lets you access databases like computers, smartphones, Scrolls, servers as well as allow access to the internet but it may take a while to fully connect to a specific network. Allows data to be converted into magical energy, , which can be stored, enabling the user to gain access to previously stored information, such as other types of Magic, but in a more powerful sense.

+21 Reputation with Willow Schnee (92/100)

'Oh this is just perfect.' I cross my arms together. "Did you get it all out of your system? Good. In that case, you may want to hear this."

(Sometime later)

Amber and I look on from our destroyed cottage as Raven and Vernal round up the Atlas soldiers and take them to the Bullhead they came in. Neo is scavenging through the destroyed Atlas Knights hoping to find something valuable which was a stretch as they were all turned into scrap by yours truly.

Meanwhile, Winter and Willow are conversing with one another. It's clear from the exchange that they haven't talked to each other in ages and the tension between them doesn't help either.

"Hey, can I ask you something? What is your overall plan for when we go to Atlas?" Amber asked.

I ponder for a moment as [Mastermind] works its magic. "... we can fly through Atlas airspace but the main problem will be getting through their security. [Hallucinations] may be able to trap people in illusions but I doubt it'll work against machines or people on the other side of the screen. It also doesn't let you mimic voices either; we'll likely have to make a run for it." I explained.

Amber hums before she moves to another topic. "Did you give any thoughts to what Winter said?"

I let out a sigh. The revelation that Jacques is participating in the elections was not something I expected to happen so soon.

Have I skipped six volumes without even noticing? Damn.

From what I overheard, Jacques has amassed a large following of people to support his campaign. A majority of his voters are from Atlas. His only rival for the council seat meanwhile, Robyn Hill, has garnered support from pretty much everyone in Mantle. At this point, any sort of action can tip the scales to either party's favor.

"I'm still thinking about it." I told her.

"Honestly, I never really liked Jacques. He always seemed like the type who only cared about himself first and foremost. But seeing the current state of his family I can confidently add 'neglectful' to the list of things I hate about him." Amber states.

I notice Willow walking up to us. "How did it go?"

Willow sighs and crosses her arms. "She said she'll turn a blind eye once we land on Atlas, but from then on we will all be hunted down as criminals to the kingdom." Her grip on her arms tightened. "It's so hard seeing her like this. She used to be such a sweet girl."

"We should feel fortunate that your daughter is willing to turn a blind eye for us." Everyone's attention turns to Raven. "All of the soldiers have been placed on the airship. I've already 'persuaded' the pilot to take us to Atlas."

"You held him at sword point." I deadpanned.

"And gun point." Vernal added.

I sigh. "Whatever, let's get going." I turn to Neo. "Neo! Stop playing around, we're leaving!"

Neo looks up and throws away the arm she's holding before skipping towards the Bullhead. We get inside and the hatch closes behind us. No sooner from that, the engines roar to life and we fly off to our destination.

Couple of hours later…

I look on from the window seeing clouds quickly pass by.

"What's the Winter Maiden like?" Vernal asks Amber.

The Fall Maiden shrugs. "I don't know, I've never met her before. "She turns to the window. "Supposedly, the Winter Maiden is one of the oldest people to hold the maiden power for this long, having complete mastery over her magic. However, her body has grown older and weaker with each passing day and James has been frantically looking for someone worthy of replacing her."

I glance at Winter in the corner. I know that James has been grooming her in order to become the Winter Maiden, making her visit Fria everyday so that when she does die Winter would be the last person in her thoughts.

I don't know much about Fria to be honest, only the fact she's the oldest Maiden to date. In Vol. 7, she showed that she was suffering from a form of Alzheimer's disease as she couldn't remember certain things other than having a duty to complete. Regardless, she isn't someone to be trifled with as she was able to hold back Cinder for a bit before naturally passing away.

"Hey, if you've never seen Atlas in person before, then you will want to see this." Raven calls out from the cockpit.

Vernal, Amber, Neo, and I went up to the cockpit eagerly while Willow sighs and sits next to her daughter.

"[Is it weird that I'm sorta nervous?]" Neo said.

"Not really. Besides, you're not the only one who's nervous here." Amber told her.

The airship passes through the clouds revealing the floating city of Atlas in all of its glory. Everyone lets out exclamations and amazed gasps at the sight.

"It's been a long time since the last time I've been to Atlas but the view never changes." Raven said.

Willow merely looks on passively at the sight from the side window. 'Back into the cage, huh?'

The radio cracks on, "we have you on our radar. Please identify."

We all look at each other, unsure on what to do.

"Please identify or we will be forced to shoot you down."

I take initiative and open the channel. "This Manta 8-3. Requesting permission to land."

"Manta 8-3, transmit the clearance code for landing procedures."

Everyone turns to look at me. "I don't know what that is."

"It's 80004-51209" Winter calls out.

Raven quirks an eyebrow. "Is that the actual code?"

"I could care less if you trust my words, but if you wait any longer to act then we'll all meet a fiery grave."

With no alternative, I type down the code on the keypad and transmit it back to air control. After a few seconds, the computer displays a map on where to land.

"Clearance code received and accepted. Welcome home, Specialist Schnee."


Mantle Landing Bay

"Hey, what do you think of Jacques Schnee running for council?" The soldier asks his partner.

"Personally, I think his ego has gotten too big for his head. He just wants new ways to have the kingdom under his thumb." He said.

"I know. The twit already has a monopoly over all things Dust. He keeps raising prices on them like there's no tomorrow. So much so that Mantle can barely afford a shipment anymore." The soldier said. "If you ask me, Robyn Hill is more worthy of that seat than that bastard."

"Yeah. She at least has the people's interest at heart. What does Jacques have? Money, that's it. From what I hear, not even his own family supports him. His second daughter left for Beacon months before the start of his campaign and Specialist Schnee is indifferent to her family as a whole. Even his relationship with his eldest son is strained."

"But to everyone up there, he is the perfect model of what an Atlesian citizen should be: conniving, prideful, and an overall pain in the ass."

The two soldiers laugh before they hear the sound of engines in the distance. Moments later, they see Atlas Bullhead flying in and slowly making its way down for landing. The duo walk up as the engines slowly quiet down and the hangar doors only to be shocked by the sight of Winter Schnee bound and gagged alongside her squad of soldiers.

"What the hell!?" The soldier exclaims. He rushes to a nearby button and presses it, activating emergency alarms of the base and initiates lockdown procedures.

As the entire facility goes into a frenzy, no one notices or registers the slight distortions in the background as it leaves through the main gates before they close completely.

Once beyond the gates and into the streets, illusion shatters revealing the girls and I.

"I can't believe your plan worked." Amber sighs in relief.

Before we landed, I had Neo use her Semblance to hide us from plain sight by using an illusion to camouflage us as we sneak out of the Bullhead and ran straight towards the main gates before they closed.

"You alright, Neo?" I asked the ice cream girl to which she nodded.

"So what's the next step? We can't afford to stay in the open like this." Raven states.

"Leave that to me." A blue flat screen and keyboard appear in front me as [Great Archive] activates granting me access to the city's systems. "Time to work my magic."


A preview, would you kindly?

Amber looks at her new outfit and twirls around. "What do you think?"

I simply give her a thumbs up.


"What do you plan to do? What is your goal?" Robyn demanded.

"That's a tough question. I don't have a permanent goal. I just don't like how things are so I want to change." I told her.

"In that case, why do this? Why become a criminal when you could have become a Huntsman or a politician?" Robyn asked.

"Because either choice would have ended with me being a puppet and I refuse to be strangled in strings."


Author Notes

This chapter is a little shorter than normal. My new job doesn't give me much time to work on it so that's why its a little short than usual.

Anyways, today's my birthday, I am so excited!

Next story will be the crossover one, look forward to it!

Peace~