AN: Hey, all! Sorry this took a while. I had some really bad writer's block, plus a pretty hectic work schedule last week, which delayed getting this done.

Before we get started, I recently read the JNPR anthology manga, and to be perfectly honest, I don't really like Ren anymore. Like at all. Nora deserves way better than him.

Once again, thanks to Lord Maximus for the help with this chapter.

Chapter 101

Aqua pointed her Keyblade at the man before her, narrowing her eyes at him. Weiss and Winter stepped out of the still-open portal next to her, the portal closing behind them.

"W-What?" Ruby asked, stunned at seeing her mother standing. "How? Mom? Weiss?"

"What the hell is going on?" Qrow asked, stunned.

"Hey, everyone," Aqua said, briefly turning to give her family a smile. "Miss me?"

"And who are you all supposed to be?" the man asked.

"Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing," Aqua retorted.

"What, you don't know me?"

"That's Midas Goult," Winter said, drawing her saber. "One of the most wanted men in Mistral, and leader of the Gold Gang."

"Ah, I see at least one of you recognizes me," Midas said.

"Atlas makes it a point to keep its eyes on scum like you." Winter said, levelling a fierce glare at the gangster.

"Wait a minute, I recognize you," Midas said. "You're Winter Schnee, General Ironwood's most loyal lapdog. Which would make the smaller one Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Looks like it's my lucky day."

"Why were you attacking Yang?" Aqua asked.

"He kidnapped me and tried to make me build some supped-up bikes for him," Yang explained.

Aqua's eyes narrowed at Midas. "You what?"

"And that bitch had the nerve to trash my gang, so now I'll be adding her to my collection," Midas growled before grinning "Though adding two Schnees will be a bonus."

Mushu was on Weiss's shoulder, watching the entire spectacle. "You know they got a word for people like you back home for saying stuff like that."

Almost everyone stopped when they saw the tiny dragon on Weiss's shoulder talk.

"Did that dragon just talk?" Qrow asked, oddly feeling that this should not be all that surprising.

"Guess I'm not the only one." Yang gestured to Simba who was helping Ruby and Nora get the golden Grimm off her. "By the way, this is Simba. He talks and he's a king."

"Hello," Simba spoke to prove Yang's point.

Now everyone was looking at the lion that had just spoken. Nora, Jaune, and Ren were sadly not used to this at all, while Ruby, Yang, and Qrow were only slightly better, with Weiss and Winter somewhere in the middle.

"Hey, I'll have you know the position of talking animal is already taken here," Mushu grumbled.

"I'm guessing he appeared from a charm given to you by a certain man in a dark coat," Aqua said knowingly.

"Yep," Yang said as she got up. "You too, Weiss?"

Weiss just nodded while Midas was starting to lose patience. "What the hell are all you freaks?!"

Aqua glared back at Midas. "I happen to be the mother of the young lady you attempted to kidnap."

"Yeah, so what?" Midas retorted.

With that, Aqua disappeared and reappeared in front of him, her blade glowing as she slashed at Midas, leaving a gash on his golden chest. Midas cried out in pain as he stepped back, staring at the gash and then at Aqua with a stunned face that quickly morphed into anger.

"You…"

"That means," Aqua calmly replied, the Bladecharge style still glowing around her Keyblade. "You have made a serious mistake."

"Careful with him," Yang said. "He can turn anything he touches into gold."

"Got it."

Midas roared, aiming his broken mace pieces at Aqua as they turned into rifles at the he, and he started firing. Only Aqua spun her Keyblade with the Bladecharge easily catching the bullets. Everyone else moved to attack with Nora being the first, swinging her hammer at Midas, who blocked with one arm and flung her back. Ren fired his twin pistols at Mida, who shrugged them and charged forward with a loud roar, his rifles changing back into maces.

Qrow and Cloud shot forward, their swords clashing with Midas's maces and they grappled for a few seconds. Winter jumped over them and delivered a double kick to Midas's face, making him stagger back.

"Fancy seeing you here, Ice Queen," Qrow shouldn't help but say.

"Oh shut up," Winter retorted.

Midas shook his head and growled at Winter. "Fine. I'll break you first."

Winter charged at the crime lord, her swords a blur as she slashed and clashed with Midas's maces. The crime lord's Semblance covered him in gold, which made him more durable and enhance his physical strength. Winter had also been through a tough round with the Tainted Will, so she ended up getting punched back, but she was not helpless. She summoned another swarm of Nervermores that pecked against Midas, annoying him as he tried to swipe them away.

Winter then used a glyph to hold him down as she, Cloud, and Qrow slashed all over his golden body. Midas roared, the cuts from their swords more annoying than painful. He managed to break free and swung his maces wildly, missing his targets, but that wasn't the problem.

The problem was his hatred attracting Grimm.

More Beowolves swarmed the area, forcing everyone to split their focus between fighting Midas and holding off the Grimm.

A few seconds later, Aqua had an idea If he's completely covered in gold, then…

"Nora! Get ready for a super charge!" She called out to the ginger girl, who stopped and looked at her. "Thunderbolt!"

Aqua was then engulfed by a green aura as she held her Keyblade above her head. An orb of light shot into the air that then rained down bolts of lightning. The lightning hit not just the surrounding Grimm, but also Midas who screamed in pain as the electricity coursed through his golden body. Realizing what was happening, Nora held her Magnhild above her head, catching the lightning as it rained down upon her, feeling not one but several bolts being absorbed by her Semblance and giving her a literal super charge.

Winter watched as the surrounding Grimm were killed by Aqua's attack, and she looked in amazement at the Keyblade Master. "This is really magic…"

Midas growled as he managed to stand up, his golden body now smoking from the hit. The gold began to recede from his body. "You bi—"

Before he could finish, Simba ran up and swiped his claws at Midas, making him grab his face in pain. "ARGH!"

Before he could recover, Nora dashed forward, her speed and strength enhanced to the point she was able to move as fast as lightning now and slammed her hammer into Midas's chest, sending him flying into the air like a rocket. Everyone watched as he screamed and flew up into the clouds… and then fell back down into the river below, making a loud splash.

Nora groaned, but she smiled as she fell to her knees, looking like all the blood in her body was rushing to her head. "That… was… amazing."

Aqua sighed as the green aura surrounding her faded, and hoped this would be the last fight for the day. She really needed a break.

"Mom!"

Turning around, Aqua smiled as she caught Ruby rushing up to her and hugged her tightly. "Oh, Ruby… I missed you so much."

Ruby hugged her back just as tight. "I missed you too…"

It wasn't just Ruby coming to hug her though. Yang rushed up and gave Aqua a hug around the shoulders, which Aqua returned with one arm. "It really worked… Ironwood got your legs back."

Aqua frowned slightly but answered. "It did."

"Room for one more?"

The girls parted as Qrow walked up and gave Aqua a hug, followed by a kiss. "Hey."

"Hey." Aqua smiled back. "I thought you were going to keep them out of trouble for me."

"In my defense, Yang wasn't with me." Qrow chuckled before pulling her into a deeper hug. "Missed you too."

"I missed all of you… so much." Aqua smiled, basking as her family hugged her.

"Weiss!" Yang yelled. "Get your bony ass over here and hug us!"

"Hey!" Weiss said indignantly, just like old times. "It's not bony!"

"Oh, just join the group hug, Weiss," Ruby said impatiently. Aqua saw Weiss roll her eyes, but she didn't but up much resistance before joining in the group hug.

"Don't forget me!" Nora shouted excitedly before tackling the whole group, making everyone fall over. "Hey, everyone. Long time no see. You two seem to be in better shape than the last time I saw you."

"Yeah. Hi, Nora," Aqua said, buried underneath her family and Weiss. "Missed you, too."

"So, this is your mother and sister that I've heard so much about?" a blond man wearing black with a large sword asked.

"Who ordered the beefcake?" Yang asked, quickly standing up. "I'm Yang. And you are?"

The blond man raised an eyebrow. "Cloud."

"He's a mercenary," Ruby said. "I hired him while we were traveling through Mistral."

"Well, he is welcome to stay as long as he wants," Yang said, looking him up and down and purring. Aqua gave her oldest daughter a playful smack on the back of the head.

"I'm Aqua, I'm these knuckleheads' mom," she said. "Thanks for looking out for Ruby."

"Oh, uh, it's no problem," Cloud said. "Who are those other two?"

"Oh, this is my teammate, Weiss!" Ruby said excitedly, putting an arm around the white-haired girl. "And the taller, grouchier one is her older sister, Winter, and I have no idea why she's here."

"Hey!" both Schnee sisters said.

"Ah, it's just like old times," Ruby said whimsically. "We even just fought off a dangerous wanted criminal! It's like we never left Beacon."

"It's nice to see some things never change," a young boy with brown hair said, walking up to the group with a cane in his hand. "It's good to see you again, Aqua, Miss Schnee, Miss Xiao Long." The three women in question looked at each other in confusion.

"Uh, have we met before?" Yang asked.

"Oh, this is Oscar," Ruby said. "But, uh, he's also Professor Ozpin."

"Wait, what?" Weiss asked.

"How is that possible?" Aqua asked.

"It's a rather long story, I'm afraid," the boy that was apparently Ozpin said. "One moment." His eyes glowed for a second, and the boy's shoulders slumped suddenly, his entire demeanor shifting in a way that seemed far less confident.

"Uh, hi," he said awkwardly.

"Oscar, I presume?" Aqua asked.

"Uh, yes."

"Well, that's different," Yang said. Aqua's eyes narrowed at the boy after seeing Ozpin seemingly shift control of the boy's body between himself and Oscar.

"I can certainly say this many familiar faces is a surprise," Ren said, approaching the group with Jaune. Aqua's eyes widened at seeing the blond boy, remembering that she had seen Pyrrha when she was in Atlas.

He was a father, and he didn't even know it yet.

Sadly, Pyrrha had asked her to not tell him, as she wanted to tell him herself.

"I knew we were coming here to help Yang, but I wasn't expecting to see all of you again, too," Jaune said, making Aqua flinch inwardly at the boy addressing her.

"Yeah, how'd you guys get here, anyway?" Yang asked.

"That was one of Raven's portals, wasn't it?" Qrow asked.

"It was," Aqua said. "She kidnapped us."

"She did what?!" Yang asked, her eyes turning red.

"Yeah, but I whooped her little red-eyed butt!" Mushu declared prompting Aqua, Weiss, and Winter to all roll their eyes. "Anyway, who are all you people? Friends of my girl?"

"First off, my name is Weiss," Weiss said through grit teeth. "And yes, these are my friends. This annoying little gecko is Mushu."

"Hey!" he said, prompting Aqua to chuckle at the dragon apparently already starting to pick up some of his summoner's mannerisms.

"And I summoned him from a charm that hooded man gave me," Weiss finished.

"Wait, you have one, too?" Ruby asked, before looking down at her own charm. "I wonder if…" She reached up and touched her charm, and in a bright flash of light, a small elephant with giant ears wearing a hat suddenly appeared in front of them. "Ah, yay!" Ruby cheered. "Aw, he's so cute! But he's smaller than usual." The elephant happily reared up on his hind legs, spraying water out of his trunk.

"He says his name is 'Dumbo', and he's happy to finally meet you for real," Simba said.

"You can understand him?" Yang asked, to which the lion nodded.

"Aw, even his name is cute!" Ruby cheered, wrapping her arms around the elephant's neck and hugging him. The elephant seemed to lean into the embrace, wrapping his trunk around her.

Nora gasped. "Can you summon a talking sloth?!" The girls all looked at each other before shrugging. "…Lame."

"Hey, you get tested by that hooded bastard, and ask him if you can get a sloth," Yang said, before she spotted Simba looking closely at Aqua. "What's wrong, big guy?"

"What's that on your neck?" he asked, looking at the blue-haired woman, prompting everyone else to look at her. Qrow's eyes widened when he spotted the scars.

"How did you get those?" he asked, greatly concerned for his wife.

"It's a long story," she said, before the sound of loud engines interrupted them. They looked up and saw a large group of airships floating in the air all around them. "Oh, what now?"

"This is the Mistral Police!" a voice on a loudspeaker announced. "Put your hands in the air and come quietly."

"What the hell?!" Yang asked angrily. "What's that for?" Aqua took a look around and realized where they were.

"Oh…" she said. "We're on the highway. Whoops."

The others looked surprised, as if they had also forgotten just how public the battle with Midas was.

They all slowly raised their hands above their heads, the summoned animals dissipating into golden particles.

"Yeah, this seems about right," Qrow muttered.

Pyrrha found that she had never truly appreciated Argus while she was still in training, but she had remedied that after Achilles was born. She had found that letting her son get fresh air helped him to not be so fussy at night.

Plus, the peaceful atmosphere really helped her to relax, too, and she really needed as much calm as she could get.

Her daily walks had brought Pyrrha and the bundle containing her son to a park bench in the center of town. The park had become her favorite part of these walks, the nice, quiet atmosphere really relaxing both her and her son.

She sat down on the bench, using her arms to lightly bounce Achilles up and down. The baby giggled, prompting Pyrrha to look down at her son with a smile. He was wearing a light blue onesie with the Pumpkin Pete logo on the chest.

"Ba!" he babbled, reaching up his little hands towards her. Pyrrha reached her right hand above him, cradling him in her left, and started tickling his belly with her index finger and making him giggle uncontrollably, prompting her to laugh right along with him.

"Aw, he's so cute!" a voice suddenly said, prompting Pyrrha to look up and see a young woman with long blonde hair, carrying a baby boy of her own. He had dark skin and black hair, and was looking at Pyrrha with curious brown eyes. The newcomer took a seat next to Pyrrha, looking excitedly at Achilles. "What's his name?"

"Achilles," Pyrrha said proudly.

"Hi there, Achilles," the woman said, leaning close and wagging her finger at him playfully.

"Ba!" Achilles babbled, trying to reach for the woman's finger.

"Aw," the woman gushed, before displaying her own baby. "This is Adrian."

"Well, hi, Adrian," Pyrrha said, making the boy laugh at the attention. Pyrrha and the woman shared a look for a second before laughing at their sons' cuteness.

"Where are my manners?" the blonde woman asked. "I'm Saphron."

"Pyrrha."

Saphron gasped. "As in Pyrrha Nikos?"

Pyrrha sighed. "Yes."

"You're Jaune's girlfriend!" Saphron shouted, pointing at Pyrrha.

"Wait, what?" Pyrrha asked in confusion. "You know Jaune?"

"Of course I know him! He's my little brother!" Saphron said, surprising Pyrrha.

"You…you're…what?" Pyrrha asked.

"Jaune's my brother," Saphron repeated, before her eyes widened. "Wait a minute…"

"Yes," Pyrrha said, before looking down at her son. "Jaune is Achilles's father."

Saphron gasped happily. "He's my nephew?! Wait, does that mean Jaune's here? How could he have a kid, move to Argus, and not tell his favorite sister? Oh, I'm gonna throttle him!"

"Um, Jaune isn't… exactly… here," Pyrrha said awkwardly.

"What do you mean?" Saphron asked. "Where is he?"

"Um, I kind of… broke up with him… and left… without telling him I was pregnant."

"… You did what?" Saphron asked, her eyes narrowing and her voice taking on a dangerous tone. "Explain. Now."

"Well…"

"Did they seriously have to take my arm, too?" Yang asked, sitting angrily on the bench in the large lockup cell in the police station. When the group was brought in, their weapons had of course been confiscated, but since her new metal arm had an Ember Celica built in, they had also chosen to just take her entire arm.

"It does seem excessive," Weiss said, sitting on the bench next to her, her arms crossed. "They had just better give it back to you when this nonsense is settled."

"Damn straight."

The members of their group had all been interrogated by the police, and in the meantime, Yang had filled everybody in on what exactly had happened between her and Midas, and Mom and Weiss had told them why they had been at Raven's camp. Apparently, the ship they had hitched a ride on to Mistral had crashed, and Raven had just so happened to be the one to find them.

It didn't explain why Winter was there, though, and when she had asked, Mom had simply said "I'll tell you later".

"Come on!" Nora yelled, hanging on the bars of the cell. "Let us out!"

"You tell her, girl!" Mushu said, suddenly appearing on Weiss's shoulder.

"Mushu?!" Weiss practically shrieked in surprise. "Why are you here? I didn't summon you."

"Don't know," the little dragon said. "I never really left."

"You've been here the whole time?" Ruby asked.

"Yup."

"What about you, Simba?" Yang asked the thin air. "You still here, too?"

"I am," the lion said, materializing before her. "Did you need me for something?"

"No, not really," Yang said. "But, uh, you can stick around if you want to. Or at least until the cops come back."

"Can I pet him?" Nora asked, reaching for Simba. "His fur looks so soft!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Yang said. "He's a king. He's not just some house cat. Show the proper respect."

"How exactly can a lion be a king?" Winter asked.

"It's not the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Mom said.

"To be honest, I don't mind," Simba said, presenting his head for Nora to pet him, eliciting a contented purr from the lion.

"Aw, he's like a big cat," Ruby commented.

"Anyone wanna pet me?" Mushu asked, prompting no response from anyone. "You guys suck."

"Alright," one of the officers approached the large cell, prompting Simba and Mushu to disappear again. "I think we've got the story straight at this point. Miss Xiao Long, you were kidnapped by Midas Goult, managed to escape his clutches, but he chased you onto the highway, prompting everyone else to come and help you. That about right?"

"Yeah, that's it," Yang said. "So, are we free to go?"

"Not quite," the officer said. "There's one thing that doesn't add up." He looked over at Mom. "What exactly is a fugitive from Atlas doing here?" Everyone except for Weiss and Winter turned to look at Mom with wide eyes.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Jaune asked. "Why are you calling her a fugitive?"

"Cause she is one," the officer said. "Aqua Branwen is wanted in Atlas for assaulting Jacques Schnee and General James Ironwood, resulting in their hospitalization, and kidnapping Weiss Schnee before hijacking an airship. She even has a 10 million Lien bounty on her head."

"What?!" Ruby asked, dumbfounded.

"That's absolutely ridiculous," Qrow said. "Aqua would never do something like that."

"Well…" Mom said sheepishly.

"Wait, what?" Yang asked.

"There's a lot more to the story than that," Weiss said in irritation. "You all know for a fact she would never kidnap me."

"I don't really care about the specifics," the officer said. "It doesn't change the fact she is a very wanted woman. With things as tense as they are between Mistral and Atlas, we can't have you in Mistral. Atlas wouldn't like it if they found out we were harboring one of their criminals."

"Don't call her a criminal!" Ruby shouted. "She didn't do anything wrong!"

"The warrant says otherwise," the officer insisted. "The rest of you are free to go, but I'm afraid that Mrs. Branwen will have to stay while we work on extraditing her back to Atlas. If you get in our way, I'll charge you with obstruction of justice."

"Look pal," Uncle Qrow said. "There's clearly been some kind of misunderstanding. Why don't we just talk this over?"

"There's nothing to talk about. We need her out of this kingdom as fast as possible."

"That won't be necessary," Winter said, stepping forward. "I am Specialist Winter Schnee, of the Atlesian military."

"Yeah, I know," the officer said. "I assumed you were here to track her down."

"I was," Winter said, making Yang clench her remaining fist. "However, that will no longer be necessary."

"Oh?"

"I was initially sent to pursue Mrs. Branwen, but after learning the full story from the woman herself and my sister, I have decided not to pursue her any further. The charges levelled against her are in fact false."

"But there's still a bounty out for her issued by Atlas."

"That is something I will be correcting upon my return to Atlas. At this point, my word carries the authority of General Ironwood himself, and I will no longer be pursuing Aqua Branwen. Returning her to Atlas will not be required."

"But…" the officer said.

"Do you intend to argue the issue?" Winter asked, narrowing her eyes dangerously.

"N-No," the officer said, grabbing the keys to the cell from his belt. "You're all free to go, then."

"Ugh, finally!" Nora said in exasperation.

"Does this mean I can have my arm back?" Yang asked.

"…"

Pyrrha sweat nervously, hoping that her explanation was enough to satisfy Jaune's sister. Both children looked back and forth between the two women in confusion, as if they could sense the tension in the air.

"…I understand," Saphron finally said, prompting Pyrrha to let out a sigh of relief. "I'm not happy about it, but at least I know you're not some bitch that broke my brother's heart for no reason."

"Language!" Pyrrha said, covering her son's ears. Saphron just chuckled.

"Ah, damn it, Jaune did good," Saphron said. "Definitely a keeper."

"Um, so does that mean we're good?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, we're good," Saphron said, before standing up. "Follow me."

"Where are we going?" Pyrrha asked.

"You are coming with me to meet my wife," Saphron said, her tone leaving no room for argument. Not that Pyrrha really wanted to argue. "Terra needs to meet our nephew and future sister-in-law. You are our future sister-in-law, right?"

Pyrrha blushed profusely.

"W-Well, that would be up to Jaune, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Don't worry about that. If he doesn't marry you, you can count on me to knock some sense into him."

Once again, Pyrrha found herself laughing.

"So, the Grimm have a leader?" Yang asked, her arm having been returned at the group returning to the house Qrow had rented for them. "And she's after Relics hidden in all the schools, which she needs the power of the Maidens to unlock their Vaults. Do I have it right so far?"

"Correct," Oscar, or apparently Ozpin, because that's an entirely separate issue, said.

"Are you all seriously believing this?" Winter asked.

"General Ironwood himself told us about the Maidens when he arrested us," Weiss said, looking at her sister. "I believe this."

"Raven actually already told us about Salem," Aqua said, surprising the others. "Nice to know that she wasn't lying to us. Which means she also wasn't lying about you giving her and Qrow the ability to turn into birds."

"Wait, what?" Yang asked.

"We saw her transform in front of our very eyes," Weiss said.

"Hm, that's not a secret I thought she would give up so easily," Ozpin said. "Raven must have really wanted to earn your trust."

"Like that was ever going to happen," Aqua said, rolling her eyes.

"My ability to reincarnate, though a curse, isn't without a few key benefits. Much like the Maidens, I too possess a certain… 'magical' power." Ozpin stood up and took position next to Qrow. "Using this power, I was able to gift the Branwen twins the ability to 'see' more, to move freely and be unburdened by their natural bodies. I… well… gave them the ability to turn into birds. Rather ridiculous sounding out loud, isn't it?"

"Show me," Aqua said, looking at her husband.

"Huh?" Qrow asked.

"I want to see it."

"Uh, okay, then," Qrow said, before his body suddenly shifted into a small black bird, similar to the form Raven took. He cawed loudly, and Aqua held out a finger to allow him to perch on it. She looked at him intently for a few seconds. "Aw, he's so cute!" she said, taking everyone aback. She lightly rubbed under his chin, making him preen at the contact.

"Mom, would you please stop petting you husband?" Yang asked, making Aqua realize what she was doing with a blush on her face. She awkwardly cleared her throat, and Qrow flew off her finger and transformed back. Ozpin chuckled.

"So, have you done this with others?" Ruby asked. "Like General Ironwood?" Aqua, Weiss, and Winter couldn't help but flinch at the mention of him. "Or Professor Goodwitch?"

"As helpful as that might be, unfortunately, it is not that simple," Ozpin said. "My power is finite, and if I'm being honest, dwindling. The amount that I gifted to Qrow and Raven was, all things considered, rather miniscule. You see, centuries ago, I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women, who I hoped would use my gift for good. They were the first Maidens."

"So, you couldn't do it again even if you wanted to?" Cloud asked.

"Correct. Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self-interest. Now, all of you have a choice. If anyone wishes to leave, now is the time. There's no shame or disgrace in abstaining, only in retreat." The silence served as his answer. "Very well, then."

Yang suddenly stood up. "I made it all this way to see Ruby again, and if she chooses to stay, then count me in. But, if we're going after this Salem, then no more secrets. From now on, you tell us everything. Deal?"

"Deal," Ozpin said with a smile before turning to Winter and Cloud. "And you, Specialist Schnee? Mister Strife? This isn't exactly what you signed up for. What will you do?"

"Regardless of what you all do, I'm still a soldier of Atlas. I must return to General Ironwood."

"Understandable."

"I think there's a good chance that Sephiroth will be coming back very soon," Cloud said, making Ren tense up for some reason. "I need to defeat him. I think my best chance at finding him is sticking around the Keyblade Wielders, so I'll stay and fight." Ozpin gave him an approving look.

"Don't think you can count us out!" Mushu's voice suddenly said, he, Simba, and Dumbo materializing. "You're stuck with us, girls!"

"Great," Weiss said sarcastically.

"Hold on," Qrow said. "There's one more thing we need to talk about. How exactly did you end up with a bounty on your head from Atlas?" Everyone turned to look at Aqua, who sighed.

"Okay, so you know at this point that General Ironwood invited me to Atlas to help cure my paralysis." The others nodded. "Well, he used some experimental new procedure that almost killed me, but he was able to replace the broken part of my spine. After that, despite knowing that I needed to get here, he kept coming up with excuses to not let me leave Atlas."

"Why?" Ruby asked.

"I learned later that he wanted my Keyblade. At first, it didn't make sense, but now that I know about Salem, I can see why he was so desperate. Anyway, Jacques Schnee had at some point become convinced that I was a long-lost Schnee member, and apparently became obsessed with 'putting me in my place'. I was approached by him, and he tricked me into signing a contract that forced me to fight against Weiss for her freedom."

"He had locked me up in the manor and disinherited me, and told Aqua that he would send me to the Schnee mines if she didn't sign the contract," Weiss explained. "If Aqua lost, I would have my freedom."

"But, we both ended up surrendering, so per the contract, Jacques forced me to become his maid," Aqua said, seeing Qrow's face contort in anger. "He even made me dress up as one."

"Did he touch you?" Qrow asked through grit teeth.

"He tried," Aqua said. "But he did put a shock collar on me, which he made liberal use of. It's where these scars came from."

"He did what?!" Yang asked, angrily standing up, her eyes red.

"When Weiss and I were escaping, we overheard Jacques talking to Ironwood," Aqua continued. "Apparently, Jacques only did that to me because Ironwood asked him to. When I heard that, I got mad and attacked them, which is where the assault charge came from. From what I gathered, he allowed Jacques to enslave me just so he'd have an excuse to keep me in Atlas before the borders closed. He sent Winter after me to try and bring me back."

"FUCK!" Qrow suddenly shouted, sending his fist through the coffee table. "After everything we did for that sack of shit, he does that to my wife?! I swear, when I get my hands on him, there aren't enough cybernetics in the world that will fix what I'm going to do to him!"

"I can honestly say I never expected James to go that far," Ozpin said, his eyes wide.

"Why would the general do that?" Ruby asked, rushing to wrap her arms around her mother.

"Let's break his legs!" Nora said. The room descended into general chaos until Yang fired a round from Ember Celica into the ceiling, her eyes red as she glared at Winter.

"What now?" she asked. "You gonna try and drag Mom back to that asshole? Cuz I'll tell you right now, you're going to have to go through all of us if you want to do that." There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone waited for Winter's response. Finally, the older Schnee sister sighed.

"When I was first told by Aqua and Weiss what had happened in Atlas, I refused to believe it. While this behavior is typical of my father, it seemed at first that the general had no reason to do that to an innocent woman. Now that I know about this Salem, his actions make a little more sense. He thinks the Keyblade will be able to combat her, and for this reason he felt he needed to do whatever was required to keep Aqua in Atlas so he could acquire it. A sentiment I can't help but agree with."

"Why, you-!" Yang started to say before Winter raised a hand.

"However," Winter said forcefully, "I cannot abide him using my sister in the way that he did, nor conspiring with my father to imprison, humiliate, and torture a woman who committed no crime until she attacked him trying to escape. I have sworn the same oath to protect Atlas as he has, but there are some lines we should not cross. This was one of them."

"Winter…" Weiss said quietly. Yang continued staring the older Schnee down for a few seconds.

"…Fine," she said, sitting down. Worryingly, her eyes didn't change back to normal.

"Hey, ugly!" Mercury shouted to the bandits standing guard outside the Branwen camp. They stopped what they were doing to look at him and Emerald as they approached.

"Is Raven Branwen home?" Emerald asked.

"Beat it," one of the bandits said. "It would be a shame if something happened to that pretty face of yours."

The bandits' eyes widened as the rest of their group walked out of the woods, consisting of Watts, Cinder…

And Sephiroth.

"Doesn't look like he wants to cooperate, Boss," Mercury said.

"Good," Sephiroth responded, his sword appearing in his hand.

The bandits had no idea what hit them.

"GODS DAMN IT!"

Weiss came upon Yang wildly demolishing training dummies in the back yard of the house. "Uh… Yang?"

"What?!" Yang spun around, her eyes flashing red.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked hesitantly.

"Gee, I don't know. Should I be okay?" Yang asked, punching another training dummy so hard the head flew off.

"…This is about what happened to Aqua in Atlas, isn't it?" Weiss hesitantly asked.

Yang growled as she punched another dummy.

"Look, you have ever right to be mad at my father and General Ironwood. I feel bad she got wrapped up in the idiocy of my family but—"

"But what? That your father is a petty insecure asshole and General Ironwood is every bit the tyrant Mom was afraid he was?" Yang kicked a dummy's head away. "I trusted him! He gave me a new arm and I trusted him to look after her! I wanted her to go to Atlas and get her legs but I never… I never thought…"

Weiss stared sadly. "You wanted her to go?"

Yang let out a frustrated yell as she sat on the ground. "Yes, I asked her to go! She wasn't going to go because she was afraid of leaving me alone when I needed help, but I couldn't let her stay. Not when she had it worse than me."

Yang couldn't believe how bad it could have gone.

"I convinced her to go. I promised her everything would be fine and we'd meet up here. I should have gone with her. I should have been with her when they did the operation." Yang clenched some dirt in her hands. "I should have been with her to protect her from Ironwood. I should have been with her as soon as your bastard dad looked at her funny and buried my fist so far up his ass, he'd be the world's most realistic sock puppet."

Weiss had to stop and try desperately not to conjure that image in her head. "When you say so far—"

"Shoulder deep, Weiss," Yang growled. "I should have gone with her… I should have protected her from those two… I should have broke all of Ironwood's limbs when I had the chance. And I should have been with her and you when my bitch of a womb donor tried to hold you both hostage and punched her right in the face for all the grief she kept causing."

Weiss was silent for a few seconds. "You know something? After everything my father did to her, after everything he made clear he wanted to do to her, Aqua never once submitted to him." Yang looked back up at her. "She took everything he dished out, and she did it with a smile on her face and defiance in her heart. She knew he wouldn't hurt her. Not for real. Not if she really didn't want him to. But she endured it. For me. To help me, and return to you, Ruby, and Qrow. Your mother is the probably the strongest, most incredible woman I have ever met, and after spending so much time with her, it's no wonder you and your sister turned out the way you did."

"Weiss…"

"Don't beat yourself up over something you couldn't control. It wasn't to break her. It wasn't enough to stop her. And honestly? I don't think anything ever will."

"… Thanks, Weiss."

"You're welcome. And if it makes you feel any better, she cut off General Ironwood's limbs for you."

"What?"

"And kicked my father in the nether regions."

"What?!"

"And left him with a shock collar on for hours."

"WHAT?!"

"Like I said, she's a hell of a woman."

AN: So, this is pretty much what I think should have happened back in Volume 2 after the fight with the Paladin. It's the only logical thing, really.

Now everyone knows what James did, and have taken it about as well as you'd expect.

I also realized it's been a while since we've seen Pyrrha and Achilles, so I figured now would be a good time to have her meet Saphron, coincidentally her own son's aunt.

As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!