A Troublesome Party.

The dance had started, and Edelgard, like the other teachers, was watching the students enjoy themselves while she stood away from them, closely watching. She was happy to see Blake joining the girls, and how she looked less tired and with more energy. Good, it meant she was recovering.

Despite the somewhat calm aura of the place, she couldn't stop thinking about the talk she had earlier with Ozpin about the Maidens and Amber. She wanted to track whoever did it down, but with no leads and no possible suspects yet, finding the perpetrator would be next to impossible.

While thinking, she couldn't help but glance at a particular couple in the dance floor, composed of a boy with silver hair and a girl with dark green hair, both of which seemed somewhat awkward dancing together, but not only that… It seemed like they were talking about something.

"Ah, Edelgard, nice to see you" - Ironwood said while approaching her - "I see you also decided to help keep the kids safe tonight" -

"Hello Ironwood. Yes, after all it was either this or staying in my room doing nothing. Overall, this is more entertaining" -

The general of Atlas then got closer and whispered to her - "Ozpin told me you know about the Maidens too" -

"He told me earlier today. Do you also know?" -

"For quite a while, yes. I'm surprised he decided to tell you about it, however" -

"You'd be surprised at how persistent I can be when I want to figure out something" -

"I see…" - Ironwood understood how Edelgard managed to find out in the first place - "I've tasked my units to track down any evidence that might lead us to whoever did it, but so far we've got nothing" -

"I'm aware, but I also know that whoever did this can't run forever. Sooner or later, they'll be found, and they'll be captured" -

"I like your optimism. I think so too, whoever did it will make a mistake, and leave themselves wide open, and that's when we capture them" -

Despite the conversation she was having with Ironwood, Edelgard couldn't stop focusing on the two kids she previously noticed dancing, yet her attention was taken away by something else. Ruby was walking outside the party.

"If I may interrupt, Ironwood, there's someone I need to talk to" -

"No problem, do what you must" -

Edelgard left the party, noticing in the corner of her eye how the boy with silver hair turned to look at her before resuming his dance with his partner, which did nothing but increase her suspicions on them.

Outside, Edelgard saw Ruby standing looking at the night sky, and decided to join her - "Weren't you having fun with your friends back there Rose?" -

"Oh, Teacher. Yeah but, I needed to take some fresh air. Stuff like this isn't really what I like" -

"It isn't? I see, you and I both share that" -

"You don't like dances either?" -

"Not really. Before I came here, I used to attend them since I was required to, but it wasn't ever something I enjoyed doing, although there was one person that I did truly enjoyed dancing with. Seeing the students dance back there brings back memories of that person" -

"Really? Are you going to tell me about your life before coming here to Beacon? Please do, I want to know!" -

Edelgard laughed at Ruby's excited attitude - "Perhaps another day, tonight's not the time for such a tale" - after Edelgard finished, she noticed how Ruby was looking at the buildings behind her - "Something wrong?" -

"I saw someone running over the buildings!" -

Edelgard looked up, seeing a shadow moving fast towards a giant tower, the Cross Continental Transmit System Tower.

"Good eye Rose. Let's go after it" -

"You read my mind Teacher, let's do this" -

Both ran straight towards the shadow, seeing its agile movements under the cover of night. It reminded Edelgard of her friend Petra, albeit, whoever was running was less fast and agile compared to the princess of Brigid.

After a long run, they lost the shadow behind the cover of some houses, and when coming to a clear space, saw that the tower was right in front of them, the shadow must've already entered the place.

They walked towards it, seeing some unconscious soldiers in front of the door, likely the guard of the place.

"Whoever did this must be very skilled in hand to hand combat. Be on your toes Rose, we might have to fight a dangerous enemy" -

"No problem, I've got this" - Ruby said while using her scroll to call down her weapon locker and pull out Crescent Rose.

The pair entered the building and walked towards the elevator. After calling it and waiting, they noticed how there were 2 bodies inside of it, other guards taken down by whoever was running towards the tower. They entered the elevator and went to the top floor, where they found more unconscious bodies.

"Hello?" - Ruby said while she and Edelgard walked in and the elevator door closed - "Is someone here?" -

"There's someone here. Keep your guard up Rose, and prepare to fight" -

The two separated and started to search on the left and right sides, looking for whoever was hiding there, and where they were. After getting near the end, Ruby looked over one of the desks when suddenly a woman in black outfit with a mask covering her face suddenly jumped out and attacked her, throwing her off balance and making a run towards the elevator.

Edelgard saw this and quickly moved to block the escape of their enemy. Thanks to her physical superiority, she was able to stop her and throw her back towards the desks, breaking 3 of them.

"Ruby, capture her!" -

Ruby tried to do as she was told, but their enemy wasn't willing to go down so easily, as she managed to kick her towards the ceiling, creating what seemed to be 5 spikes of glass and threw them against the girl. Edelgard saw this, and shot a small fireball against the shards, destroying them. Because Ruby was caught off guard, getting hit on the ceiling made her go unconscious.

Edelgard saw in their enemy's face that she didn't intend to fight them, she was trying to find her opening to escape one way or another. With this in mind, she did her best to subdue her, but quickly noticed that her enemy was above what she had faced so far in this world. She was stronger and faster, which shocked Edelgard for a few seconds, at least until she managed to put herself back together.

Her enemy launched a barrage of projectiles against Edelgard, which she dodged before closing in the distance and punching her in the stomach and holding her by the neck.

"You're outmatched. Surrender, there's nothing you can do" -

After saying this, Edelgard noticed how the skin around the neck of the girl started to heat up, first a small heat and quickly becoming a burning sensation. Using this small distraction, her enemy grabbed her weapon and hit her in the arm, getting Edelgard to release her due to being surprised.

She threw one of her weapons towards the glass to break it and made a run for it while Edelgard was distracted. After jumping out and thinking she had a clear escape, she was surprised by a sudden and great pain in her left arm… Or rather, where her left arm used to be. Edelgard had launched a fireball against her as she made her jump, this with the intent of knocking her out. The enemy managed to nearly dodge it, yet this cost her one of her arms.

Edelgard watched from the top of the building as the mysterious girl vanished into the night. She wanted to chase her, but needed to tend to Ruby. Even though she failed to capture whoever was hiding there, she cracked a small smile, at least she left her with a 'permanent gift'.

Edelgard held Ruby in her arms and started to head out to the school. She had news for Ozpin and Ironwood.

Wow, how long has it been since I last uploaded this? October last year I think? Well, I'm very sorry for the absence, things didn't go well for me during the first half of 2022, stuff which I'd rather not say.

On the good side however, I spent some time correcting spelling and wording mistakes in this and the rest of my stories, so expect to see higher quality stuff from now on.

Again, I'm sorry for not updating in a while, but I think things are finally back on track for me.