AN: What's a guy gotta do to get a TV Tropes page for this story? I really want one.

I would like to thank ZeroTheOne and Lord Maximus for the help with this chapter.

Chapter 104

"Uh… Uncle Qrow? Why are we here?" Ruby asked as Qrow led her and Yang to a clothes shop. "We just went shopping with Weiss."

Qrow rubbed his head awkwardly. "Well, you kids know I'm not into all the fancy stuff."

"Shocker," Yang said with a small smile.

"But your mom had it rough up in Atlas, as you know," Qrow said with a scowl, remembering to punch James in the face and maybe slice Jacques in half for what they did to his wife, and his scowl was mirrored by the girls.

Yang had already vowed to punch the Schnee patriarch in the balls if he still had any after Aqua was finished with him, and as much as Ruby wasn't one to hold a grudge, she wouldn't mind giving them both a thrashing for what they tried to do to their mom.

"There's a fancy restaurant with a small festival going on," Qrow explained. "Kind of old-fashioned, and Oz was kind enough to direct me to a tailor with some cash for us to spend."

"Oh?" Yang got the gist of it now and was smiling. "Uncle Qrow, you're more of a romantic than I thought."

"Hey, how do you think I charmed your mom?" Qrow asked rhetorically, making both girls roll their eyes. "Hey! Anyways, the festival has a pretty unique dress code, so we're here to look you over and work out what would best fit and what style works. I've already got one ordered for your mom."

"Oh, I wonder what it looks like!" Ruby said excitedly.

"You'll see," Qrow said with a smile.

"Qrow, what is this?" Aqua asked, looking inside the box her husband had giver her. It seemed to be a kimono, and a fairly expensive one at that.

"Well, we kind of missed our anniversary… again… and you had a rough time at Atlas. So, when I found out there was a lantern festival going on nearby, and figured that was a good place to make up for it." Qrow rubbed the back of his head.

Aqua raised an eyebrow. "We missed it?"

Qrow chuckled. "Yeah. Me and the girls had some help from Oz to pay for something good. Who knew a wizard had so many hidden back accounts?"

Actually it wasn't that hard to believe, but Aqua smiled all the same. "Qrow… You're a real sweetheart sometimes, you know that."

"Shh!" Qrow quickly shushed her. "Can't have everyone finding out."

Rolling her eyes, Aqua looked over the kimono. "So, a festival, huh?"

"Wait till you see what the girls have," Qrow said and Aqua suddenly felt excited.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's customary for women to wear something like this for the festival, so we got one for the girls, plus mini Ice Queen and the hyper one."

"Oh, I can't wait!"

"So, what are we all in here for?" Jaune asked, as for some reason, all the men had been asked to gather in the living room for some reason, with Qrow wearing a simple dress shirt and a black jacket with black dress pants and shoes.

"We should be training," Ren said impatiently, prompting Cloud to sigh in frustration.

"I just wonder where the girls are," Oscar said.

"Just wait," Qrow said, before Ren crossed his arms in annoyance.

"I just wonder where Nora went," he said impatiently. "We were supposed to be training right now."

"Here I am!" Nora said happily, opening the doors as she made her grand entrance.

The kimono she wore was pink with white hearts and a red sash with a white string. Her hair was tied in a bun, with two golden pins holding it in place. The dress was moderate but hugged her body in all the right places.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked, posing proudly with one hand on her hip and one hand in her hair, giving the boys a playful wink.

"W-Wow," Oscar said, absolutely stunned.

"You look great!" Jaune said enthusiastically.

"Aw, thanks!" she said, before looking at Ren expectantly. He just raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you dressed like that?" he asked.

"There's a festival going on down in the city, so Qrow got all of us these awesome kimonos!" Nora said.

"Festival?" Ren asked.

"Yup," Qrow said with a nod. "Wanted to do something nice for the wife before we—" he stopped talking suddenly as the door opened again, and the others turned to see what he was looking at, being greeted with the sight of his wife.

And what a sight it was.

"Wow, Aqua! You look beautiful!" Nora exclaimed.

Everyone else in the room seemed to agree as Aqua stepped out of her room in the brand new kimono Qrow had gotten her. It was a primarily white kimono with a red line traveling down the edges, and blue wave patterns along the sleeves and bottom above her feet. A black obi sash was what tied the outfit perfectly together, but Aqua took the liberty of adding her blue cloths underneath the sash so that they trailed down her legs like a skirt that stopped at her knees like cascading waterfalls as always. Her sleeves had slit openings at the forearms that exposed skin leading up to the shoulders, much like how her normal outfit did.

In addition to the outfit Aqua had a pink flower in her hair that only enhanced the flowing river-like beauty she gave off.

"Why thank you," Aqua said with a smile. "You look great, too!"

"Heehee, thanks!"

"Now where's the rest of my family?"

"Right here!"

The girls stepped out and Aqua almost lost her breath when she saw her daughters.

Where they always this beautiful, or had Aqua been away for so long that she had forgotten?!

Yang stepped out with a confident smile that belied how innocent and… ladylike she now looked, wearing an orange-colored kimono with a blue inner layer and golden dragons sewn into the sleeves and bottom area. Around these dragons were blue-colored roses and golden flame symbols matching her emblem. The obi tying the outfit together was primarily yellow, but decorated with an assortment of flowers with colors ranging from white to blue and pink, and a red string tied around it.

She had her hair tied into a pony tail with a pink lotus flower hair clip added for decoration. It was amazing how innocent she looked compared to the usual confident and headstrong look she gave off, but was still as beautiful as always.

And then there was Ruby.

Oh, she looked so precious!

Ruby looked so shy and out of place as she fidgeted but everyone, including Aqua just gushed over how beautiful she looked. The kimono she wore was a traditional one, colored primarily black with a red inner layer, and a red rose pattern with scattering petals along the sleeves and legs. Her boots had been traded in for sandals, but at least they weren't high heels. She had a red obi tied around her waist, and if that wasn't enough it wasn't tied in a bow, but tied in a red rose pattern that perfectly matched her emblem.

And of course she wouldn't be Ruby without her cloak, which was wrapped around the obi like Aqua's blue cloths, falling down her back towards her legs. If that wasn't enough, Ruby had a silver rose-like hair clip in her hair with hidden wires connected to small crystals laced through the air that gave off a floating feeling and a shiny glow that matched Ruby's own silver eyes that was just astounding to look at when the light from the crystals cast off a shiny glow through her hair.

"Oh look at you two!" Aqua gushed as she rushed over and hugged her daughters. "You both look like the princesses in those old stories we read when you were little!"

"Mom!" Ruby whined as Aqua rubbed her cheek against hers. "Please stoooooop."

"Hm… Nope," Aqua said, continuing to nuzzle against her daughters' cheeks. "Someone better bring a scroll because we're going to be taking lots of pictures tonight!"

The others smiled at the scene before them, except for Cloud, who they weren't sure had ever smiled, and Ren, who for some reason looked unhappy.

"Okay, I get that Qrow wanted to do something nice for his family, but why is Nora dressed like that, too?" he asked.

"Well, cuz we're going too, silly!" she said. "Why else?"

"Excuse me?" Ren asked, sounding offended. "Nora, we don't have time to waste. We need to be training."

"C'mon, we've been training since we got here," Nora said. "We can take today off to do something fun."

"No, we can't," Ren said, sounding oddly forceful for someone normally so quiet. "I thought you'd understand that."

"But I—"

"No, Nora!" Ren said, before storming off, leaving the others confused and Nora looking down sadly.

"…But I… wanted to go with you," she said.

"…Um, I'll go with you," Oscar said, prompting Yang to grin at the boy. "If you want to."

"You know what, let's go," Nora said, grabbing Oscar's hand and heading towards the door. "Be like that, Ren! See if I care!"

She slammed the door on the way out.

"…Um, that was awkward," Ruby said.

Jaune sighed. "I'll have to talk to Ren later. Anyway, Where's Weiss and Winter?"

"Probably still getting ready," Yang said with a roll of her eyes.

"I'll go get them," Aqua said.

"Weiss? Weiss, are you in there?" Winter asked, knocking on the door to her sister's room.

"Just a second. You can come in," Weiss called out.

Opening the door, Winter stepped into her sister's room, spying her behind a dresser. "I just want you to know I will be heading out. I have an airship ready to bring me back to Atlas."

"Oh. I was… I thought as much," Weiss said, putting the finishing on her hair before stepping out.

Winter raised an eyebrow and blinked at her sister's appearance. "Weiss?"

"What do you think?"

Weiss was wearing a snow white kimono, befitting their family theme, with blue outlines and a red interior. Decorating the dress was a blue and white snow pattern. A blue and white obi was tied around her waist with a red string tied around it as well. To complete the was a rear skirt that reached the floor, giving off a beautiful and regal look that complimented Weiss greatly, even if she had disavowed her family. Her hair was tied back up in a pony tail with a white hair band matching the color of the kimono.

"I…" Winter cleared her throat, trying to shake off the surprise. "It's… new but… it fits you greatly."

Weiss smiled at that. "Thank you."

"What is the occasion, may I ask?" Winter questioned.

"Well, there's a lantern festival going on nearby. This was actually Qrow Branwen's idea," Weiss stated.

"Qrow?" Winter asked, now even more surprised.

"Yes. As it turns out he and Aqua missed their anniversary during her time in Atlas," Weiss continued. "And given all that happened to her he wanted to try and do something special for her."

"I…" Winter was still trying to process that it was all Qrow's idea. "Where did he even get the money to pay for this? Or did you pay?"

"As much as I'd like to take credit, I don't have access to that much money anymore. This actually came from professor Ozpin. He accessed some secret funds he kept in Mistral to pay the tailor for this and a few more outfits for Ruby, Yang, and Nora," Weiss said, holding up her arms as she looked down at her outfit, still getting used to it. "I know it's not typical Atlesian, but… I kind of like it. It's formal but a little less… stuffy than the usual parties parties fa—Jacques used to drag us to."

Winter raised an eyebrow at how quickly Weiss refrained from saying "father", but did not comment on it. "It's new but you are quite… beautiful in it."

Weiss smiled, knowing it takes a lot of effort to get her sister to say such a thing before changing the subject. "So you're leaving?"

"Soon. I have to report back to General Ironwood about what's happened." Winter nodded.

"What will you say when he asks you about Aqua? If you tell him you let her go, he could charge you with treason," Weiss stated.

"Officially I haven't let her go… But since Aqua Branwen is staying in Mistral and has been 'given hospitality by Headmaster Lionheart', it is clear she has been given political sanctuary, and unfortunately we have no jurisdiction in Mistral," Winter said professionally. "The General will have to convince the Mistral Council to allow for extradition before I can arrest her."

"Officially," Weiss stated.

Winter nodded. "That's right."

So I guess coming to the lantern festival is out of the question." Weiss sighed.

"I'm afraid I will have to take a rain check, Weiss," Winter said with a nod. Weiss suddenly wrapped her arms around her sister, pulling her in close for a hug. Winter froze for a second, before awkwardly returning the hug.

After a few seconds, they pulled away, and Weiss looked over to the box on her bed. "I was kind of was hoping you'd consider sticking around, at least for the festival."

Winter watched as Weiss picked up the box. "What is that?"

"Well, I asked the tailors to make a little something on the off chance you said yes," Weiss as she opened the box.

Winter stared in surprise to see a kimono inside similar to her sister's only it had a blue interior instead of a red one. "Weiss, you had this made for me?"

"I know dressing up and parties isn't your thing, but I was hoping you'd make an exception this time," Weiss answered. "Especially since we might not see each other for some time."

Winter stared at the kimono inside the box, seeing it was likely as beautiful as her sister's. For the briefest second she considered changing plans, if only for Weiss's sake before reality kicked back in.

"Thank you, Weiss. If the situation wasn't so bad I would consider it." Winter softly closed the lid. "But I can't stay. Too much time has passed and the general recalled all Atlas military back to Atlas. If I take too long he might send someone else here, not just after Aqua but me as well, and if he believes I'm being derelict in my duties I will be charged with insubordination."

"I know." Weiss placed the box in her sister's hands. "Keep it anyways. Maybe one day, we can both try seeing what parties are like outside of Atlas. Besides, I haven't gotten you anything for your last several birthdays."

Winter stared at Weiss in surprise before offering a small smile as she accepted the gift. "All right. I wouldn't throw away something you must have spent a lot to have made anyways. And maybe we will indeed have such a chance one day."

Weiss nodded as she followed her sister to the door. "I guess this is goodbye then, Winter."

"For now. While the General's orders are to bring in Aqua, you don't have to worry about that. If you need to return at any time, I assure you that you won't be arrested on sight," Winter replied with a small smile.

"Even after what I did to Jacques?" Weiss asked. "Or allowed to happen?"

"You are of age now, Weiss. He can't control you anymore, and if you get an official Huntress license, he will have even less cause to apprehend you," Winter replied. "And if he tries to slap you again…"

"Don't worry," Weiss said with a small smile. "He won't, and even if he does, he won't get away with it like he did the first time."

A knock at the door interrupted the Schnee siblings and Weiss cleared her throat. "Come in."

The door opened, revealing Aqua in her own kimono, ready for the festival tonight. "…Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Winter cleared her throat. "No, we're finished. I was just giving my goodbye to Weiss before I return to Atlas."

Weiss looked at Aqua and noticed something. "Aqua, your scars…"

The markings on Aqua's neck had faded somewhat. They were still present, but had surprisingly healed.

"Oh, right." Aqua rubbed a hand over her neck. "I usually meditate in the early mornings to keep up with my skills and focus my magic. It's a variation of the healing trance I used back in Atlas during my operation. I focus all my magic into slowly healing any parts that a Cure spell doesn't just fix when I'm in battle, and is not vital at the time. Truthfully I wouldn't be paying much attention but I have noticed the small looks Yang, Qrow and Ruby have on their faces when look at me and see the scars."

It was clear they were all feeling guilty, especially Yang and Qrow. Yang felt guilty for asking Aqua to go to Atlas to have the operation and not being there when Aqua had to deal with Ironwood and Jacques, and Qrow just felt guilty for not being with his wife when she was in trouble.

"Wow…" Weiss touched her own scar. "Any chance that can work on me?"

Aqua smiled. "Anything is possible."

"You wanted to talk to us about something?" Winter cleared her throat.

"Right, I'm glad I caught the both of you before you left," Aqua said as she closed the door behind her. "There was something I wanted to speak to you about, but it was a personal matter."

Weiss looked confused. "What is it?"

"Well, it's not easy for me to say because when I say it's personal I mean it's personal to both you and your family," Aqua said, confusing the siblings. "During our… stay at the Schnee Mansion I had a rather interesting talk with your mother, Willow."

This surprised the siblings, but Weiss was the one to speak. "Mom?"

"Yeah." Aqua nodded. "It was clear from the first few seconds of speaking to her how much pain Jacques has caused her. But the longer we had our talk, I found something out that I'm not sure either of you two know."

"And what is that?" Winter asked.

"…You both aren't on goods terms with your little brother, aren't you?" Aqua questioned, surprising the two sisters. "Weiss, you mentioned that back at the mansion before we left."

"Y-Yeah." Weiss nodded. "He acts too much like Jacques that any chance of us having a real family bond was impossible… We were close… At least once."

Winter nodded. "Yes. It seems he takes after Father more than any of us would have hoped."

"Well, after having met Jacques I can't blame you two for getting away from him. Winter, you left to join the Atlas military and Weiss, you went to Beacon to become a Huntress. But I ask you, where did that leave Whitley?" Aqua questioned.

Winter looked surprised for a second before she answered stiffly. "It leaves him with Jacques… Alone."

Weiss looked at her sister, and then at Aqua. "Is this what you talked to our mother about?"

"Willow is of the opinion that Whitley is not as much like Jacques as anyone would think. She thinks he latched onto him and pretended to be the perfect son because it was the only way to protect himself when no one else would. Although my interactions with him haven't been positive, I didn't see the same negativity I saw in Jacques. In fact, what Willow feels guilty the most about is that you and your brother are divided compared to other siblings," Aqua explained, surprising the sisters. "That's the real source of her pain, even if Jacques only marrying her for her family name and money is also a big contributor."

Weiss and Winter were surprised to hear this, having never expected to hear this.

"I won't tell you what to do with what I've told you. I've had enough of being part of Schnee drama, no offence." Aqua shrugged and chuckled a bit. "It's up to the both of you to decide what to with this."

Weiss and Winter were silent as they mulled over this this, allowing Aqua to slip away.

Kali stuck her head out from behind the overturned coffee table to fire at some White Fang grunts with a pistol she picked up off a poor fallen guard, alongside another guard. After only a few shots, she ran out of ammo, throwing the gun to the ground in annoyance. She quickly looked down and picked up a tea tray to block the incoming bullets. She looked to the side at a wounded female guard, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"Do you have a better idea?" she asked.

Suddenly the large Faunus man with bat wings flew in and grabbed Kali's guard by the neck, slamming him into the ground and choking him.

"Quiet now…" the man said, trying to choke the guard out. Kali raised the tea tray above her head and charged at the bat Faunus, letting out a battle cry.

"Ma'am, no!" the female guard yelled, surprising the Bat, who let go of the guard he was choking and turned around in surprise.

"Did you come here to hide?" Blake asked staring at Ilia with Gambol Shroud held tightly in her hand.

"I told you, I didn't want this," Ilia said.

"But you're still here!" Blake snapped, her patience for her former friend's stubbornness all but completely eradicated.

"I don't have a choice!" Ilia insisted.

"Of course you do!" Blake yelled back, but Ilia said nothing, instead looking away from her. "Just… stay out of my way."

Blake sheathed Gambol Shroud on her back and turned to walk away. Ilia chose to leap from the upper landing and attack her, but Blake used her Semblance to leave a shadow clone and dodge the attack. She reappeared a few feet behind Ilia, her weapon back in her hand. Ilia charged at her, swinging her electrified whip, but Blake chose to simply dodge than counter-attack. She rolled away, wrapping her ribbon around Ilia's wrist. She pulled hard, sending Ilia towards her, and Blake kicked her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. She swung her sword down at the chameleon, but Ilia managed to block it.

"Why do you feel like we have to hurt people to get our way?!" Blake asked.

"Because it works!"

"That doesn't make it right!"

Ilia pulled the trigger on her sword, sending an electrical current through Blake's weapon, forcing her to drop it. Blake quickly reached behind her to grab her cleaver, but Ilia stepped off an overturned desk and kicked Blake, knocking her over another desk, which made her drop her weapon. Ilia swung her whip at Blake, but the cat Faunus used her Semblance to dodge, taking cover behind another desk.

"Stop lecturing me!" Ilia yelled. Blake peeked out from behind the desk and noticed that Ilia's mask had fallen off at some point during the fight and was lying on the ground. The lights in the room slowly turned off, Ilia having turned off the lights and making her body appear pitch black. Blake decided now was the time to go for her sword, diving for it. She managed to grab her katana, but then Ilia appeared in front of her, kicking her away. Blake quickly transformed her katana into its pistol form and shot at Ilia, who disappeared again. "Why couldn't you just leave?!"

Blake changed her weapon back into its katana form, looking around for more attacks. "Because I run away too much."

Blake dove out of the way of more attacks from Ilia's whip, realizing that she had jumped up to the balcony. Blake took cover behind a desk, and loaded her pistol with a cartridge of fire Dust. She spotted a piece of shrubbery in the room and took aim.

"Sorry, Dad," she muttered, firing at the shrubbery, setting it alight and revealing Ilia's position. Ilia scowled at her, jumping down from the balcony to attack Blake directly. They exchanged several blows, before Blake backed up and started firing her pistol at Ilia, but Ilia deflected the shots with her whip.

"Quit taking potshots and fight me like you mean it!" Ilia screamed. Blake dodged another swing of Ilia's whip and jumped up to the balcony, taking cover behind the railing. "You used to see things the way I did! The way Adam did! If no one's going to do anything to stop the humans that attack us, then the only choice we have left… is to attack back!"

Blake loaded and ice Dust cartridge into her pistol, firing at Ilia again. Ilia deflected the shots like last time, but was stopped from using her weapon against Blake when she realized that the whip had been frozen. Blake wrapped her ribbon around Ilia's weapon, yanking it out of her hand. She jumped down from the balcony, tackling Ilia to the ground and grabbing her wrists to pin her down.

"You're wrong, there's always another choice," Blake said. Ilia tried her hardest to break free, but Blake's grip held true. "Ilia… please. You're a good person but you're making all the wrong decisions!"

"SHUT UP!" Ilia yelled, but Blake could feel her resolve starting to waver.

"Is this really what you're parents would've wanted?!" Blake asked.

"I don't know what else to do!" Ilia said, her voice breaking. She stopped struggling, and Blake could see tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't know what else to do…" Ilia said, beginning to sob. Blake stayed looming over her for a few seconds, watching Ilia cry.

She was reminded of the girl she had been friends with for years, and the times that she would comfort her when she would weep on the anniversary of her parents' deaths every year.

"Listen to me, Ilia," Blake said. "What Adam is doing isn't going to do anything to improve things for the Faunus. He just wants to make humans suffer. Your parents were good people, who did everything they could for you. Do you really think they would want you to kill people? To attack an academy and the future Huntsmen and Huntresses that defend all of us from the Grimm?"

"B-but what should I do?" Ilia asked.

"Join us," Blake said. "Help us stop Adam. Prove to the world that the Faunus aren't the way he makes us look. Show the world that we deserve respect, and we don't need to resort to violence to get it. Do you parents proud. Do me proud."

"I…I," Ilia said, the tears still falling from her face. Blake decided that he didn't need to hold the chameleon Faunus down, and instead pulled her up to hug her.

"Please," Blake said. "To be honest, I've missed you since I left the White Fang. It kills me to see you going down this path. It destroyed Adam. It nearly destroyed me. Don't let it destroy you, too."

"Blake…" Ilia said, tearfully wrapping her arms around Blake and burying her head in her shoulder. Blake just held her old friend for a few minutes and let her cry until she heard the door open. Blake and Ilia pulled away a little bit and looked at the door, seeing Blake's mom and Sun walk in dragging the bat Faunus in with them. He was unconscious, and his hands were tied behind his back.

"Uh, are we interrupting something?" Sun asked with a playful smirk, making Ilia back away with a blush on her face. Kali smiled at seeing that Blake had seemed to get through to Ilia. Blake cleared her throat before addressing her new guests.

"I see you did as I asked," she said to Sun. He just groaned.

"I wish," he said, confusing Blake. "By the time I got there, she had already knocked him out. Who knew your mom kicked so much butt?"

"And don't you forget it," Mom said with a grin. The door on the other side of the room opened, and Dad and Tifa walked in dragging Fennec and Corsac with them, restrained similarly to the bat Faunus, but not unconscious. The enemy leaders looked around the room, at the Belladonnas that were very much not dead, a Blake that was very much not on her way to Mistral stuffed in a crate, the defeated bat Faunus, and Ilia not fighting any of them.

"Ilia!" Fennec yelled. "What are you doing? Kill them!" Ilia looked down at the floor for a second before looking back up, glaring at the Albain brothers.

"Blake is my friend," Ilia said. "I'm done."

"TRAITOR!" Corsac screamed. "You ruined everything!"

"You failed," Dad said. "I'm sure Adam will be disappointed in you."

"The Faunus of Menagerie are stronger than you think," Blake said, drawing her weapon and pointing it at the Albains. "Now, surrender quietly."

"How dare you?" Fennec said, practically growling. "Who do you think you are to get in the way of our glorious mission?" Blake's eyes widened at the sight of something she hadn't seen since Beacon. She could visibly see dark clouds rolling off of Fennec as he kept talking.

"Get away from him!" she shouted to her father, who looked confused at the Albains before complying with his daughter's request, clearly seeing that something was amiss.

"Brother?" Corsac asked, looking at Fennec in confusion.

"You can't stop the White Fang," Fennec continued his rant, and when he looked back up to glare at Blake, his eyes had turned a brilliant gold. "The best way that you can help the Faunus is die, and be out of our way forever!" Darkness suddenly exploded around him. "Glory to Adam! Glory to the White Fang!" The darkness spread out further, engulfing both of the Albain brothers, leaving them trapped in a large dark orb.

"What's happening?" Dad asked.

"Get away from it!" Blake yelled. "They're turning into Heartless!" Blake quickly looked down, and kicked the ice off of Ilia's weapon, tossing it back to her friend. She looked back at the orb, and saw it explode outwards.

When the darkness faded, standing in the middle of the room was a large creature. It was primarily colored white, and looked like a large fennec fox, except it had nine multi-colored tails, and two heads. On its back was a black and red emblem.

"What the hell?" Ilia asked beside Blake.

The Heartless roared.

AN: So, we have a little bit more to go before we get to the Battle of Haven. We have a festival to go to first, and Blake has to deal with the Albains turning into a Heartless! It's been a while since one of those has shown up, huh?

I would like to thank ZeroTheOne for help with coming up with what this new Heartless looks like.

In other news, I haven't read the Roman and Neo book, but I looked it up and I absolutely have to ignore it for the sake of this story. The book confirms that Neo was in her twenties when Volume 1 started, and confirmed that she and Roman were lovers.

Yeah, that doesn't work here, since I've established that she's only a year older than Ruby, and sees Roman as her father after he saved her from human traffickers.

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