RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

by UGX7

In the wake of the fall Team RNJR sets out to bring Cinder Fall to justice while the new Fall Maiden overlooks her master's plan in Haven City. Meanwhile Weiss tries to help a friend, Yang struggles with the loss of her arm, and Blake deals with guilt over the White Fang. Meanwhile someone from Cinder's past returns and Salem's newest pawn rises. Arkos, WhiteRose, SunnyBees, Renora

50. The Beacon Lights Again Part I: Meetings

RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

Chapter 50: The Beacon Lights Again Part I: Meetings

A pair of Templar Guardians swung open the great double doors leading into the inner sanctum where the meeting between the various Knight Legions of Remnant was supposed to take place, clapping their gauntleted fists to their chest-plates in salute as Argentius walked through those doors with Sharp Strike a few short paces behind him.

The massive hall in which the Round Table was located, with thick pillars rising up towards the vaulted roof which was prevalent in the overall architecture of Tintagel. The walls of the hall were covered with banners denoting the campaigns and missions worthy of remembrance in the past history of the Knight Order, each depicting a major confrontation against the Grimm or the agents of darkness, with the personal emblems of the Knights who took part in those engagements. The largest banner of all which was placed upon a flag stand made of carved black obsidian marble was that of Lord Emmanuel, one of the previous Grand Knight Masters, wielding the legendary Excalibur against the Dark Queen.

As his master took his given place at his assigned throne-like chair, Sharp Strike watched as he gave a nod of greeting to Soul Seer who was seated just a few meters away from his right. She acknowledged his greeting with a small hand gesture, before turning her attention to the other Knight Castellans who have already arrived in the chamber. While Soul Seer had a pair of prognosticators dressed in similar robes over their Aegis armor standing at both sides of her own chair, Argentius only had Sharp Strike standing on his right. The young knight knew that his master had trained many of the other Knights besides him, but none of them were currently present at the moment, so he accompanied his master instead.

As the lenses of Sharp Strike's helmeted face traveled across the wide expanse of the Round Table and the warriors present, they have answered the call of the current Grand Knight Master, and whatever that would be spoken here would only be for the ears of those who have attended. The hall in which the Round Table resided in was also protected in a incredible variety of ways both physically and magically due to it being one of the most important places stepped in the rich history of the Knight Order, dating back to its formation an unfathomable number of years ago. Once the great doors were closed, they would not open until the arranged meeting is adjourned by the Grand Knight Master of the Remnant Knights.

The Winter Templars of Atlas stood ramrod straight as though at a military inspection, their polished white and silver armor plates glinting subtly in the illumination cast by the light globes mounted on the ceiling high above. The Knight of Air, Knight Castellan of the aforementioned Legion, was a huge eight feet tall individual clad in overlapping armor plates of a partially cybernetic armor crafted with advanced technologies that would make even the top scientists of Atlas green with envy. In the spaces between the thick armor plates cables and other mechanical parts could be seen, and his complex helmet cut an impassive and threatening outlook at anyone who so much as glanced his way. Soft whines of gears and a low steady breathing sound could be heard as the leader of the Winter Templars fixed everyone present with a steady and emotionless gaze, his thickly armored arms and hands resting upon the surface of the table. He was accompanied by a pair of honor guards, one carrying a huge banner with the emblem of the Winter Templars, the other holding a large laser-tipped halberd with its blade pointing upwards.

The Steadfast Sentinels of Vale stood in stark contrast to the Winter Templars, their gunmetal grey and green armor plates. The Knight of Earth, while a little smaller in stature to the Knight or Air, gave a nod of respect to Argentius when he entered the room, and Sharp Strike could see that he was also accompanied by a pair of honor guards from his own legion. One carried the banner of the Steadfast Sentinels Knight Legion, while the other had stood with his broadsword pointed downwards in ceremonial formation, the sharp tip of the thick blade in contact with the stone floor. The Knight Castellan of the Steadfast Sentinels tapped a complex rhythm with the fingers of his gauntleted right hand on the table's surface, while his slightly larger and more elaborate left gauntlet was clenched into a loose fist.

The Relentless Crusaders of Vacuo wore armor of gunmetal grey with red highlights in specific areas on their helmets, body and limbs. Unlike the other Knights who carry swords with straight edges, the Relentless Crusaders commonly carried swords with curved edges to them, in addition to axes that could generate an energy field that can cut through virtually anything. Most of the ranks of the Crusaders were made up of Faunus, but humans were also present within their number. The Knight of Fire who oversaw command of the Knight Legion was a Lion Faunus, as his helmet had openings around the edges for a lion's mane to spill out, and his personal Aegis armor had several masterfully-carved images of predatory animals crafted into the various armor plates. One of the honor guards of the Crusaders held a rather large ceremonial cup between his gauntlet hands by the thick handles with a considerably bright fire burning within, while the other carried the flag of the Knight Legion.

The Eternal Warriors of Mistral's armor of silver and blue gave them their own unique place among the Knight Legions of the Order. Their Aegis armor suits were highly polished and shone brightly in the reflected light of the crystal chandeliers above the table, and if one were to look closer at their intricately-crafted plates of armor, one would find that every inch of those plates were covered in spidery, incredibly detailed and illuminated text extracted from the various famous tomes found in the Knight Order's archives. Upon the pauldrons of the Eternal Warriors various delicately-faceted gems could be seen inlaid in them, along with the signature emblem of the Knight Legion. The Knight of Water, Knight Castellan of the Eternal Warriors, regarded the other Knight Legions present in the manner a warrior would analyse his opponents for any strengths and weaknesses, as it was said that the Knight of Water was a fierce warrior who had never lost an honor duel, except to Argentius and the Grand Knight Master himself.

And there used to be a fifth knight legion as referenced in the Knight Order's archives, but something rather terrible happened to that particular legion which necessitated its disappearance and wiping of all mentions save for the battles they took part in The Second Great War. Sharp Strike had asked his master about this before, but was informed that only the most senior of Knights knew the truth, but they were also forbidden to speak about it. The only clue the twin sword-wielding knight found in the extensive archives of the Order only came up with two words: Shadow Revenants. Looking around the large table, Sharp Strike had the impression that a long time ago the there would have been more of the Knight Order's warriors, as there was quite a number of empty spaces at the Round Table. But time, various trials and attrition in the various battles the Order had taken part in during the Three Great Wars took their toll, resulting in those various Knight Legions being broken apart, reforged or absorbed into the other remaining legions until only four legions remained. And while their numbers weren't as many as before, the Remnant Knights remained vigilant in their protection of the people of Remnant, countering the forces of darkness wherever they might be so that innocents would not be harmed.

Sharp Strike sensed another presence beside him, and turned in time to see Shadow Reaper emerging out of the darkness a short distance behind Argentius's chair as though the black shadows unveiled him like some kind of magician's trick. The gun-sword-wielding Knight bowed a little in respect to Argentius before taking his place at the left of the honored warrior's throne chair, while Sharp Strike occupied the right. The young knight heard a soft murmur of a few words passing between Shadow Reaper and Argentius, and his master gave a grave nod after listening to Shadow Reaper's latest report. The Beowolf-shaped helmet turned and regarded Sharp Strike for a fleeting moment before turning back to focus on the stone table in front of them.

"All rise for Grand Knight Master Seraph Pendragon." The Templar Guardians around the chambers all spoke in one voice at the same time and every Remnant Knight present either stood up or stilled their movements. The massive doors behind the head of the table opened and the current Grand Knight Master of the Remnant Knights walked into the chambers, his silver-grey elaborate armor suit glinting in the lights. He wore a helmet with three metallic wings extending from either side, while the azure lenses that took in every available detail in a stern countenance regarded every other Remnant Knight in the meeting chamber. The sound of the doors closing behind him thundered through the room once he made his way to the seat at the head of the Round Table.

"Fellow Remnant Knights, we meet again." The Grand Knight Master spoke in a calm and measured tone, and there was several echoing clacks as the knights of the four legions all brought their gauntleted fists to their chest-plates in salute, while the Knight Castellans all drew their own swords and brought it to their face-plates as Seraph drew the legendary sword of the Remnant Knight Order, Excalibrius from its scabbard and held it aloft in front of him. It was, according to legend, older than the Knight Order itself, and given to the first Grand Knight Master when the aforementioned Order were first formed, and was passed down to every succeeding new leader the Order had until present day. Long lines of tiny script were set into the lengthy silver blade, tapering down to an ornate hilt of gold inset with the words, 'Caliburnus Rex' fashioned into the material itself, "Protect the innocent, survive the trials, serve Remnant."

"Protect the innocent, survive the trials, serve Remnant!" The shouts of every knight present echoed throughout the meeting chambers like thunder and echoed up into its vaulted roof. Seraph brought down his sword and slowly sheathed it, the four Knight Castellans doing likewise while the rest of the knights stood at attention again, "Be seated. I hereby declare the meeting in session."

A feast of rich conversation immediately descended among the gathered Remnant Knights, as intelligence on various operations undertaken by the different Legions as well as various Knight Errant operatives were reported, analyzed and sifted thoroughly for every small piece of useful detail. The group of figures clad in a variety of distinctive archaic suits of Aegis Knight armor engaged in deep discussion even as they traded and compared the different pieces of crucial information they had individually gathered over time.

"Grimm attacks on the other Kingdoms have intensified considerably as of late, Grand Knight Master." The Knight Castellan of the Steadfast Sentinels reported grimly, his own fingers producing a faint tapping sound on the table's surface.

"And how did the other Kingdoms fare besides Vale?" Seraph replied, steepling his armored fingers slowly with his elbows set on the table.

"The Kingdom of Atlas has been able to weather the storm due to its advanced automated defenses and extensive military forces. Our agents in Atlas have also reported that they are currently holding the line on all fronts for now." The Knight Castellan of the Winter Templars replied in a near-robotic voice, the horizontal visor slits of his helmet regarding the leader of the Remnant Knights calmly.

"Our Knights operating in Vacuo have reported that they have encountered a significant increase in swarms of more powerful Grimm in the outskirts areas." The Knight of Fire mentioned with a straight and serious face, "However, the capital of Vacuo is relatively peaceful and they have increased the Vacuo Rangers' frequency of patrol as well as stepping up on their security to counter those Grimm threats, as several Hunters are being assigned to protect villages instead of one."

"The Mistralian military forces are stretched thin across their continent, Grand Knight Master." The Knight Castellan from Mistral reported gravely, "While the capital of Haven has significant military forces to protect it, the same cannot be said of the settlements of Kuchinashi and Windpath. Our Knights stationed in that Kingdom had to secretly intervene a few times in those outlying towns."

The Grand Knight Master gave a nod as he absorbed the latest updates of relevant information before speaking, "I have listened to the after-action reports of Operation: Fracture. The White Fang's overall fighting strength has been severely crippled, and since the death of Adam Taurus there wasn't a strong enough figure to hold them together, so while most have been captured while, there are still several sizable cells unaccounted for despite the mop-up operations by the various military and law-enforcement agencies of the Four Kingdoms, and despite our best efforts they seemed to have gone to ground for the moment."

"Operations Whiteout, Desert Strike and Wave Ride have also met with success as they have also crippled the White Fang operations in the other continents." Soul Seer said, her golden eyes looking at the Grand Knight Master calmly as she rested her hands on top of each other, "All mission objectives have been met, and all evidence we have gathered so far points to the fact that the White Fang in which Taurus controlled will never recover from the simultaneous blows we have struck, not to mention the main assault by the Altesian-Vacuoan forces at their headquarters."

"So it would seem, and that's a significant victory as we have effectively cut off a significant amount of troops for The Dark Queen." Seraph gave a nod of acknowledgement before turning to Agentius posing a question, "What new information have we received from Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon and Councilor Henry of the Vale Council?"

"Professor Ozpin successfully led a counterattack to retake Beacon Academy with considerable military assistance from the Atlas Military as well as several hundred Huntsmen," Sharp Strike's master replied slowly, "However, judging from the collateral damage Vale has suffered, the Kingdom would need a number of months to fully recover from the... incident that happened there several months ago."

"Vale will recover in due time. However, the current situation facing Vacuo and Mistral might tip the battle in the enemy's favor should any of the other Kingdoms suffer an overwhelming Grimm attack." The Knight Castellan of Vacuo stated carefully, "Another important concern is that Vale might not be able to weather another Grimm invasion since it has only barely recovered from its previous incursion."

"You have a point there. Have our Knights stationed in Vale continue to gather more information on the developing situation, and tell them to keep their guard up." Seraph replied, and the Knight Castellan of Vale nodded his head in agreement. "And what of the Aura Crystal, has there been any news?"

"We have fresh news on that front. Shadow Reaper has spoken with headmaster Ozpin and he has informed us of the new guardians that are currently in possession of the Aura Crystal." Argentius spoke, his voice echoing around the meeting chamber, "Apparently the relic has chosen them to be its new bearers since Ashe Kasai is no longer alive."

Seraph nodded, considering this information as the Knight Castellan from Mistral asked respectfully "Are we going to take back the Aura Crystal from its new guardians, Grand Knight Master? It would make sense for us to take and protect such a important relic from the agents of Salem."

"No. We would need to see if the new guardians are worthy of protecting the Aura Crystal for ourselves." Seraph answered carefully, "I am sure we will see to that matter personally once we meet those guardians at the secret meeting Headmaster Ozpin has arranged for us. I do not want a repeat of the incident with Ashe Kasai again." Sharp Strike could feel Seraph glancing at him when he said that. No one argued it, they all nodded at Seraph's decision. The leader of the Remnant Knight Order spoke up once more, his stern voice echoing around the chambers as he inquired "Has the Headmaster of Beacon Academy mentioned anything else, Argentius?"

The warrior gave a nod of his head, "Yes, Grand Knight Master, mere hours ago, in face. Headmaster Ozpin and his group have obtained permission from the councils and they are formally requesting for an alliance with the Remnant Knights, considering the... exceptional circumstances facing us now."

There was a brief murmur of voices around the Round Table, which was quickly silenced as Seraph held up one gauntleted hand for silence, "I see. Remnant Knights, it seems that we may have to change our rules of engagement soon in order to fight our enemy more effectively, and we need all the allies we can get."

"Grand Knight Master, are you sure that's sensible for us to do so? Our Knight Order has maintained its existence in secrecy for several generations to safeguard Remnant by fighting the Grimm whenever and wherever we are able to do so, but if we reveal ourselves now we might become potential targets for Salem or her agents." The Knight Castellan of Vale pointed out selflessly.

"The enemy has made their move, and if we don't match them blow by blow we would be eventually beaten back continuously until we have nothing left. I will not let that happen... not when I have sworn an oath to The Wizard to prevent the cataclysm from happening ever again." Seraph answered, the last few words invoking a momentary sense of trepidation among the Knights present, as there were more than a couple sharp intakes of breath at the mention of the costly battle which nearly ended all life on Remnant several years ago. It was won at a heavy cost, and the effects of that battle were still affecting the Knight Order even until today, albeit on a smaller scale.

"Should the worst happen, wouldn't that be the appropriate time to summon Avalon?" The Knight of Atlas said in an emotionless tone.

"Avalon is only an option when all others have failed." Seraph remarked sharply, his helmeted head turning to regard the large white and silver armored knight, "At the moment we are coping with the obstacles the agents of Salem have thrown in our way so far, and countering them effectively. But should the worst happen and not even our alliance with Ozpin's guardians could stop what's coming, Avalon might be our best chance to avert disaster."

His statement received grim nods from all the Knight Castellans present, and they all knew about the consequences of using Avalon. The Promethean Tribe assisted the Knight Order in the creation of Avalon, and even though the tribe of exceptional weaponsmiths have fallen to the Grimm some time ago, they have managed to complete Avalon and entrusted it to the Remnant Knights, telling them to use it in their time of greatest need. Throughout the Order's history it has never been used, but should the time comes it would mean that something cataclysmic would befall Remnant that necessitated its use.

"And the status of the remaining Maidens?" Another question left the lips of the Grand Knight Master.

"The Winter Maiden Elsa is currently being watched over by the Atlas Military as well as a significant detachment of the Winter Templars." The Knight of Atlas reported.

"The Spring Maiden Ameythst is being tailed by some of our best Knights within the Eternal Warriors Legion." The Knight of Mistral replied, "So far she hasn't detected any of them yet, she only know of the Hunters guarding her, but we are keeping a careful eye on her."

"The Relentless Crusaders report that Heliosia the Summer Maiden is currently at Shade Academy in Vacuo. She's safe there and her identity is a carefully guarded secret from the students and certain staff there." The Knight of Vacuo mentioned, "As long as she doesn't use her powers no one would be the wiser about her presence."

"Good. We would need to watch over them carefully, since Salem will probably be sending her agents to seek out the rest of the Maidens for their individual powers." Seraph observed, "And after what happened to Amber, Ozpin's slight overconfidence might just become his worst enemy."

"What are your orders for us now, Grand Knight Master?" The Knight of Fire asked.

There was a pregnant pause as Seraph remained silent, the azure lenses of his winged helmet regarding everyone present as he dealt with whatever he had listened and discussed right down till the latest moment. After a while, he placed his gauntleted hands on the marble table and replied, "Continue with the orders I have given to each Knight Legion for the moment. Also, inform the other Remnant Knights out in the field that their assigned missions have been slightly altered. They are hereby given new orders under the authority of Grand Knight Master Seraph to protect the Maidens at all costs."

"As you command, Grand Knight Master." The Remnant Knights present all intoned solemnly.

"Good. Until we meet again, Remnant Knights. Eternal Vigilance!" Seraph stood up and clashed one hand to his chest-plate which had the impression of an angelic figure wielding a long spear carved into its surface.

Immediately, all the Remnant Knights within the meeting chambers drew their long weapons in response and pressed them to their faceplaces, shouting the credo of their ancient Order loudly and powerfully. "Protect the Innocent, Survive the Trials, Serve Remnant!"

"Dismissed."

Within moments the various Remnant Knights vanished into the darkness, leaving the marble table and chairs the only object illuminated by the ethereal light in the empty cavernous chamber.

All except for Argentius, Soul Seer, Sharp Strike and Shadow Reaper. With a casual gesture of her fingers, Soul Seer dismissed her accompanying prognosticators who bowed respectfully and left as quickly as they came. Before the meeting, each of them have been informed that they would need to remain with the Grand Knight Master after everyone has left, and all of them knew what he would be speaking to them about.

"I am sure you all know the reason I have called you all to remain?" Seraph spoke in a low and measured tone. Slow nods coming from the small remaining group of Knights answered his question.

"Good. I will be brief then. Councilor Henry and Headmaster Ozpin have agreed to a secret meeting with us at Beacon Academy to speak about certain matters regarding our alliance as well as bringing to us the current guardians of the Aura Crystal. The time and location has already been set, and you will all accompany me to the meeting they have arranged for us." The leader of the Knight Order continued, "And Argentius would also be meeting someone particularly important once we were there."

Sharp Strike saw his master give a curt nod in response at the last sentence, his gauntleted hands resting atop each other. Seraph turned and looked at Soul Seer with a sharp look, "I am requesting your presence to make sure that everyone there is who they say they should be...and also to identify the Aura Crystal to be the authentic one. We have chased enough phantom leads with regards to that relic in the past, and so we must be cautious."

"Of course, Grand Knight Master. I would perform my duty as ordered." Soul Seer remarked in a cautious yet firm tone in her usually gentle voice.

"We will be taking the stealth prowler Andromeda for the journey to Beacon Academy in Vale. Forge Smith, Iron Fist and Eagle Eye will join us at the Tintagel airship docks at the appointed time before we leave. The council of Vale has already secured safe passage into the Kingdom as per our agreement." Seraph added in his gravel voice once more, "Report to the departure bay at the given time, and be prepared for...anything. Am I clear?"

"As you command, Grand Knight Master." The remaining Remnant Knights stood up and saluted the leader of the Remnant Knights, before turning and vacating the chamber as well, leaving Seraph alone with whatever thoughts that occupied his mind after the conclusion of the latest meeting.

---

Claudandus sighed to himself as he rested in the bed in the guestroom of Ghira and Kali's home. Kali, ever the caregiver, insisted that he stay with them in their home until he was feeling better, just in case any White Fang escapees wanted revenge. A part of Claudandus wondered what would have happened if he had died at that base, what if Adam had rammed a sword through his torso. He wouldn't put it past Adam to do such a thing, as it would be just more blood upon the dead Faunus' hands.

A part of him pitied Adam for what cruelty and racism had done to him, but he knew that in the end Adam's death had been earned. Still, the thoughts of who Adam could have been had hatred not consumed him made the old cat wonder. Adam had died with the old White Fang... and Claudandus wondered if he should have died with it too.

No. He... he deserved to be alive. To spend his last years with his family, with Blake knowing who he really was. After so many years in self-imposed exile, he deserved to be among his family again. He was happy being in Menagerie, and while there were very few humans living there he had noticed something the other day that warmed his old heart; a happy family of a human male and a female Fox Faunus with several children running ahead of them as they walked by. A family like that, one of two species, proved that there was a chance for true racial equality and it wasn't a far away dream anymore.

A knock on his door got his attention. "Come in." The door opened up to reveal Kali, a kind smile on her face as usual, coming into the room.

"Blake's on the scroll, she wants to check on you, you up for it?" She asked.

The old Cat Faunus smiled and said "Always" He got up and accepted the scroll from his in-law and looked at the screen to see his granddaughter's kind face.

"Hello Blake."

"Good morning, grandpa." She said with a slight smile, "I don't think I'll ever really get used to calling you that."

"Neither will I, but it's something I've always wanted to hear." He said warmly.

---

As Blake talked to her grandfather on the scroll the others were all getting ready to go down stairs and get some breakfast while some of them were getting a morning shower and the others were waiting for their turn. In Team CFVY's room Velvet was currently taking hers after Coco had her turn while Ren and Nora were waiting for their turns in Team RWBY's, since Ren knew that Jaune and Pyrrha probably wanted some early morning privacy and he did not want to risk walking in on the sight of the two in an undressed, possibly amorous state.

Indeed, Pyrrha was the first to awake, and when she did she smiled and happily snuggled into Jaune's chest, but doing so caused him to stir. She climbed up until her head was before Jaune's and when he opened his eyes he met hers.

"Still the most beautiful thing to ever wake up to." He said as he brought his head up to kiss her. "You sleep alright?"

"More than alright." Pyrrha said as she got off of him, allowing him to sit up and stretch, yawning as he did so, while Pyrrha admired his back muscles. Jaune tried to get up, only for Pyrrha to grab him from behind and bring him down on her chest, making him giggle.

He looked up to her face and lifted himself up to kiss her. "I could get used to waking up like this." He remarked, personally he would have been completely fine with just laying in bed with Pyrrha all day, just the two of them, not even clothes between them. But he knew that they wouldn't be able to do that with all their friends around, but hopefully that could happen in the future when they were... well married. "A part of me wonders if this is all a dream. That I broke down and I just dreamed all of this to cope with losing you. A part of me is still afraid I'll wake up in some horrible reality where you're gone for good and no matter what I do I'll always lose you. And that whenever I open my eyes I have to live with the fact that I lost you." He confessed to her as he held her tightly to give himself some comfort.

Pyrrha hugged him back, leaning into him. "A part of me is still afraid I'll wake up as Fotia Drakos, still Salem's slave... still trying to kill you. But here were are. This, the love between us. Just the two of us together... that's real, and that's all that matters. Forget whatever worlds there may be where I die or you die, the only thing that matters right now is that we're together. Thank you Jaune, for never giving up." Pyrrha said as she hugged him and buried her face into the crook of his neck.

"And thank you for loving and never giving up on me." He said gently. He would be aroused by the feeling of her gorgeous naked body against his, but sex didn't really matter. Having the woman he loved was what really mattered to him. "Want to take the first shower?"

"Want to shower together?" Pyrrha asked, a slight boldness in her voice.

"That would be perfect, my Goddess." Jaune said, leaning up to kiss her again.

Outside of their room everyone was getting ready for the new day. While Team SSSN got dressed and showered in their own room, their leader was elsewhere. Sun, who was looking rather nervous for some reason, came up to Yang. "Hey, can I talk to you about something?" He asked.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Um... in private." He added.

Yang noticed how nervous Sun looked and nodded, allowing him to lead her into a secluded corner on the other side of the floor they were on.

"Sun, what's up? Why do you look so down?" Yang asked, currently only dressed in a tank-top and her bike shorts, making for a very pleasant sight but Sun didn't seem to have her good looks on his mind at the moment. "Didn't have fun last night?"

"No, last night was awesome. The best time I've had since... well, y'know." He said, gesturing to his tail. Yang nodded, giving him a sympathetic look. "It's just that... well I'm worried about... well us. Can the three of us really work together?"

"Hey, I think we all knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I think it's going pretty good so far. What's wrong?" Yang inquired.

Sun sighed and said "I'm worried if I'm getting in the way of you guys." Yang's eyes widened and she gave him a look. "Blake loves you and you love her back, you even lost your arm trying to save her. I'm worried that if it's the three of us you'll feel like nothing but a consolation prize, like a third wheel. I don't want you to feel like that."

"I don't." She said firmly, placing her arms on his shoulders. "I don't think you're in the way and I don't feel like I am either. We both love her and she loves us back, and with some time maybe we'll be able to feel the same way about each other."

"Yeah, but..."

"But nothing. Remember what I said to you on Razor's ship? I know how you feel about losing your tail," she flexed her robotic hand, "you have me here for you. We both love Blake and nothing can change that. I don't want you to give her up just because you think you're in the way of us, you're not in the way, you're a part of this." She said to him both firmly and kindly. "Look, if you ever want to talk about this Blake and me are here for you, we always will be, so will your team and the rest of us. Alright?"

Sun smiled at her, feeling better. "Alright. I just want you to feel like an equal in this."

"I feel like I am. You get to kiss Blake, I get to kiss Blake, and we..." She surged forward and kissed him on the lips. He was a bit surprised at first, but returned the kiss just before Yang pulled away. "We can kiss too." She finished before winking at him. "So, don't feel down, don't feel like either of us are in the way. We're all in this together, okay?"

Sun smiled and nodded. "Got it. I'm gonna go join up with my team, see you downstairs."

"Good." The blonde brawler said before walking away, putting a noticeable sway of her hips as she did so and Sun couldn't help but stare at her backside.

Ruby walked down the hallway with Penny, just pacing as she waited for Weiss to finish up with her shower. "Does she usually take this long bathing?" Penny inquired.

"Weiss? Oh yeah." Ruby confirmed with a smile as the door to Team JNPR's room opened up to reveal Jaune and Pyrrha, both freshly showered, having showered together, and freshly dressed, stepping out of the room together. "Hey guys!"

"Hi Ruby, Penny." Jaune said with a smile.

"Good morning to both of you. Did you enjoy the sleepover?" Pyrrha asked them.

"Absolutely!" Penny declared.

"Yeah, it was fun, but I wish you guys could have been there." Ruby said.

"Next time for sure, promise." Jaune swore, holding his fist out which Ruby bumped in return.

"I'll hold you to it. So how was your night?" She asked.

The couple glanced to each other and lightly blushed as Pyrrha leaned into Jaune and said "Magical."

"Oh brother." Fox muttered as he and Coco walked by.

"That's his way of saying 'congrats'. Way to go you two." The fashionista said with a sly smile before following her partner down the hallway.

Ruby and the others smiled at them before the silver eyed Huntress put forth "Well I'm happy for you too, you deserve it. Mind if I use your shower?"

"Go right ahead. Could you tell Ren and Nora to lock it when you're done?" Pyrrha asked.

"I'll do it." Penny volunteered as she whirled around and made her way to RWBY's room.

Ruby thanked them and went into JNPR's room and Pyrrha and Jaune headed for the elevator "See you downstairs." She said before she closed the door.

Yang leaned against the wall by the room her team was in and while Penny went inside Blake was coming out.

"How's Claudandus?" She asked.

"He's doing good. Healing up just fine and feeling a lot better now that he doesn't have to live in hiding anymore." Blake said.

"Why did he go into hiding anyway?" Yang wondered.

"After Adam began to get violent, after a few people were killed, he fled to the Mistral Countryside as a punishment on himself for letting Adam take over, and so no one would blame him." Blake told her sadly.

Yang patted her back and said "Hey, relax. Don't blame yourself for what happened okay? I don't want to keep going over this."

Blake shuddered a bit at the feeling of Yang's robotic hand on her back, a reminder of what Yang had lost because of her, before voicing "I know, you're right. A part of me still wishes I had tried harder to stop Adam before he turned into what he was in the end."

Yang had noticed the shudder and gently took Blake's hands into her own, it was an odd sensation for Blake, feeling a slight coolness of the robotic hand along with the comforting warmness of the flesh hand. "You did try and he wouldn't listen, nothing he did was your fault, that includes this." Yang said nodding to her robotic hand. "So don't blame yourself for what he did, got it?" Yang asked.

Blake smiled at the warmth in Yang's eyes and voice, and felt a little better. "Understood." She said with a nod as Nora came stomping down the hall to JNPR's room.

"How do you live with someone who takes showers that long?!" The redhead cried.

"Weiss?" The duo guessed in unison.

"Weiss." Ren confirmed as he came up from behind his girlfriend.

"Well don't worry Ruby's showers are pretty quick, she likes to use her Semblance to get cleaned up fast." Yang told them. Ren nodded and decided to go back to RWBY's room and let Nora go after Ruby while he waited for Weiss.

"Hey, where's Sun?" Blake asked.

"With his team, decided to get a shower too. He and I had a little chat a few minutes ago."

"About what?"

"Us. Don't worry, everything's good now. He just wanted to be sure all three of us are in this and that we're all gonna be equal in this relationship, no one's a spare or in the way." Yang explained.

Blake nodded, "Good. So... how are we going to tell the others about us?"

"Good question, lets figure it out later." Yang said quickly, wondering how her dad and uncle would feel about the trio's relationship, after all Taiyang had had two marriages, even if they weren't at once. Ruby would probably be okay with it, after all she knew whatever made her sister and friends happy wasn't all bad. They'd have to just wait and see.

Eventually everyone made it downstairs to the dining area of the hotel and they were all having breakfast. Nora, of course, had pancakes and shared them with Ren, Ruby and Yang shared a large plate of scrambled eggs, Weiss, Coco, and Velvet all had a crepe, and so on. Jaune and Pyrrha both had a plate of waffles with some eggs, though Jaune had gotten some bacon as well. Penny didn't need to eat so didn't partake, but she did sit at the table with Zwei in her lap, occasionally sneaking food with Ruby to give to the little dog who ate it heartily.

Ruby looked around at her friends, all eating and enjoying their meals in one way or another and she smiled to herself, hoping peaceful moments like these would last.

---

Ziz was dozing off upon the top of a massive Goliath, which was in the middle of a herd of the Grimm marching through the Vacuo desert. She had some headphones upon her ears and she lazily hummed along to a song as her wings stretched out from under her, her hands under her head. While Ziz wasn't one to demand total loneliness she did like having time to herself. Nearby, a Griffon she had rode on perched atop the back of another Goliath, its claws barely being felt by the huge beast.

However, her time alone was short lived as she heard the unmistakable sound of a portal opening. She sighed and glanced over to see a large Saber pounce atop one of the nearby Goliaths with Sheer Kaa riding upon it.

"Here you are, we wondered if you've forgotten." He said calmly as he dismounted the large Tiger Grimm and leapt over to the Goliath she was laid out on.

"About the meeting? No, I didn't forget, just needed some downtime before I called for a portal. Y'know, I like these guys." She said, gesturing to the Goliath herd around them. "Too big for anyone to mess with and they only get riled up if there's a lot of fear and hate, but for the most part they're just calm. I dig that."

"They are quite different from the usual Grimm." Sheer Kaa agreed with a nod before asking "Is something wrong? You've been... off ever since Haven. I've noticed it, but I've wanted a chance to wait until we were alone."

Ziz shook her head and said "It's about Fotia... Nikos, I mean. Before all the crazy shit went down I told her about my old team, BLTZ, how I got left behind. I was an orphan you know? Grew up a loner in the orphanage, guess that's why I became a Huntress, no real family so if I died no one would miss me. Then I got teamed up with them. Jack Boulder, Lana, Tom... We got assigned to help a village in the middle of the desert about to be over run by Deathstalkers and Tarantula Widows. The rangers would perform the evacuation while we kept the Grimm at bay. There were too many of them and we had to leave early... but I got left behind, stuck in Tarantula Widow webbing. I screamed for help, but none came. I saw the ships take off and I was so scared and angry... I guess that's why Salem chose me. I heard my team died a few months later, and I never bothered to figure out what happened, until Nikos suggested I find out for closure. I figured 'what the hell?' and looked up the battle reports on the local servers. They hadn't known I wasn't on the ships, since I was the fastest of them and usually the first one out, and they couldn't hear my voices over the screeches of the Grimm and the screams of the villagers."

"And how did they die?" Sheer Kaa inquired.

"Looking for me. Jack was convinced I wasn't dead, so were the others. They went back into that desert to look for me... and they found Grimm." Ziz told him with a dry, monotone voice.

"And they died there."

"Yeah. They called for help, but it was too late. The report and the news coverage says they all died trying to rescue me. Mistress Salem never told me that." Ziz said to her fellow hybrid.

"And so what now? Your team was the target of your hatred, now you have nothing." He pointed out, "You'll be weaker with nothing to hate."

"Wrong, I got something new to hate now." Ziz said, clenching her fist a bit.

Sheer Kaa smirked and said "I think I can guess, our Mistress?"

"Yep." Ziz said simply.

"Well, keep it to yourself. We don't want her getting wind of your newfound hatred and the others might not be as forgiving as I." He told her.

She glanced at him and asked "You're not snitching? Funny, I thought you'd be the loyal one."

"Oh I am, but you're a good Grimm Commander, would be a waste to dispose of you. Besides, she might not even care, sometimes there's no figuring our master out. Now come on, we've got a meeting to attend." He told her.

She nodded and stood up, her wings flapping a bit before she flew over to her Griffon and Sheer Kaa jumped back onto his Saber. The portal reopened and the two jumped through it.

As they came out in a large corridor in the Grimm Queen's dark palace they saw a young figure, only sixteen years old at the most. She was thin and sickly looking, she was shivering noticeably, her white skin was shining with a wet sheen and her long, soaking black hair was dripping. She nodded to them as she brought up a water bottle to her neck where if one were too look closely they could see a thin slit that slightly opened and closed like a gill on a fish, opening up a bit as she poured the water onto her neck.

"Hey Ziz, Commander Kaa." The young girl greeted.

"Hey Mavis, you doing okay?" Ziz asked as she dismounted.

"Yeah, I'll feel better once this meeting is over and I can get back to the pools." Mavis said. Mavis was the newest, and youngest, Grimm Commander, genetically engineered by West and Dr. Watts to replicate the late Dr. Giger's work. She was to control the aquatic Grimm and despite a few problems adjusting to breathing in water she was holding up alright so far, one major drawback to her Grimm modification, however, was that she couldn't last very long outside of the water, but Salem felt that simply meant Mavis would be better suited for leading attacks on seaside towns, ports, and harbors of major cities.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm sure you'll learn to handle dry land better soon." Ziz said as she ruffled the girl's dripping hair.

"Th-thanks." Mavis said. She had been discovered by Salem when one of the Sea Dragon Grimm attacked a small yacht outside of Atlas, Mavis herself had been a daughter of one of the servants and had been one of the few survivors. What made Mavis noticeable to Salem was her resentment towards the rich and upper-class of Atlas who looked down upon others not wealthy enough to live a life of luxury. "Steppenwolffe and the others are waiting for us with Mr. Rainart"

"Well, let's not keep them waiting." Sheer Kaa said before he walked ahead into the hallways, the two females following behind.

Forked lightning crashed through the dark skies while the damning howls of various Grimm beasts echoed throughout the shattered landscape that comprised of Salem's domain. From the spawning pools of inky black liquid scattered around the massive and foreboding palace of the Dark Queen, more hideous and monstrous Grimm creatures climbed, crawled, slithered or flew from those black pits, announcing their birth to the tortured heavens with chillingly horrifying cries of unbridled rage and killing frenzy.

Within the sinister-looking edifice, the sounds of footsteps and soft conversations echoed throughout its gigantic hallways, when normally deafening silence save for the crackle of flames burning in their wall brackets dominated the interior of those aforementioned gloomy hallways. However, if anyone was brave enough to explore the empty chilling halls and venture closer to the source of these sounds, they might just have seen a hooded feminine figure walking at a fairly brisk pace down the main hallway thoroughfare with Emerald and Mercury following closely behind her.

"Just asking, does anyone have any idea what's this meeting we are attending is about?" Mercury asked as he walked, looking to Emerald who simply shrugged her shoulders, "If it's just another boring meeting, you can probably count me out because I am just itching to get back at that yellow bombshell for what she did to me last time in Haven."

Cinder Fall turned sharply, her amber eyes glaring at Mercury who stopped on his tracks and swallowed a little, "You might get your chance soon, Black. And one doesn't refuse Salem's request when she informed that everyone to be present, and you wouldn't want to displease her, do you?"

The silver-haired assassin held up his hands and shook his head before turning a little to see Emerald slowly shaking her head with her arms crossed over her chest, "Hey, I am just joking. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side anyway...because I can get the idea what she can do to people who displeased her. In fact, I am cool with it."

The Fall Maiden's glare focused on him for a few seconds more before she regarded Emerald briefly, her face somewhat hidden underneath the shadowy hood she wore, "To answer your earlier question, yes I do know what this meeting is all about. It concerns about our next move in Salem's great plan, and what our parts are within it."

Then she turned and walked onwards through the side door, with Emerald and Mercury following her through it and into Salem's extensive and windowed throne room. In the center of the chamber stood a long, marble table in the colors of purple and black with a dozen chairs made of purple crystal positioned on each side and a much larger and intricately-fashioned one at the head of the table. Behind the aforesaid seat which was undoubtedly Salem's, a large stained-glass window divided into sections of complex patterns rose high up into the ceiling and allowed the light of the shattered moon to shine down upon the room at regular intervals.

"You will stand behind me, and speak only when I or my master has given you permission to do so." Cinder spoke in a voice that brooked no argument as she made her way to a chair which was near the top. Neither the illusionist nor the assassin argued and they obeyed the Fall Maiden without a word.

Just as Cinder took her seat, there was a noise that sounded like a quick burst of air and a slightly husky female voice asked in a slightly mocking tone, "Well, hello there Cinder. How have you been after all this time?"

Both Emerald and Mercury turned their heads to regard the new arrival while Cinder sighed as she saw a tall, pale woman with nearly shaved off dark brown hair strut up to them and sat next to Cinder. She wore a long and flowing black jacket with a white shirt underneath, in addition to dark trousers and combat boots. The other female human adjusted the cuffs of her jacket as she shot a mocking smile at the Fall Maiden and her followers.

"Thorn." Cinder greeted neutrally as she looked at the pale woman in the eyes.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your students? I haven't had the chance to meet them personally until now." Thorn said with a smirk crawling across her face.

"These two accompanying me are Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black." Cinder mentioned to Thorn slowly, "And this is Thorn Branch, one of Master's students like myself, and she would be either the new Spring or Summer Maiden." She informed her followers while gesturing to the lady beside her.

"So that means only one person can hold the power of only one Maiden at a single time?" Emerald spoke softly, looking down at the seated Cinder.

"Give the Emmy here a cookie. That's correct, and no one thus far have even attempted to absorb all the powers of the maidens one after another. After all, too much power can destroy one's body completely." Thorn's mocking tone coated her words as she raised a finger to prove her point, "You know...originally I thought I will become the Fall Maiden and you, Cinder will become the Summer Maiden, but I guess the name was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. Anyway, it's nice to finally meet you both by the way."

Emerald and Mercury simply looked back with what looked like slight aversion on their faces.

"I take it you still resent me for going after the Fall Maiden?" Cinder asked in a calm voice.

"Nope. I am not one to hold a grudge, not most of the time anyway. I just thought being the Summer Maiden would suit you more." Thorn chuckled as she leaned back on her chair just as the main door opened and a large, muscular man with short brown hair, a beard and hazel eyes walked in with the various Grimm Commanders following him. Hazel Rainart walked calmly and slowly into the room, surveying the others carefully as he did so, while Sheer Kaa walked with the agile grace befitting a large cat. Steppenwolffe walked briskly behind his commanding officer, the recently-healed scar from his battle with a Remnant Knight showing clearly on his chest. Ziz walked in behind them with the Grimm Siren Mavis trailing close to her for safety as Anansi clacked in behind them, his long spider legs lifting him up from the ground to make himself appear more intimidating. Then came Norvik, his horrific Chimera form lumbering in at the end, and everyone in the room eyed him with both fear and disgust even as they made sure he wasn't about to try anything.

Hazel took his seat directly opposite Cinder Fall with Sheer Kaa beside him while the Grimm Commanders arrayed themselves behind him in short order. Cinder gave them a nod and they returned the motion silently. Hazel had been placed in command of the Grimm hybrids to make sure they were kept in line, but he had come to see Sheer Kaa as a good ally and worthy comrade during their assignments together, so he had little reason to distrust the Tiger Faunus. Norvik snarled a little and corrosive saliva dripped from his fanged maw, but Hazel simply crossed his arms and closed his eyes momentarily.

A smartly dressed man with short black hair that was graying at the sides and a large mustache upon his face came in next, and he wore a gray overcoat with yellow linings and a large collar, along with a yellow dress shirt and a black necktie. His pants share the same gray color as his overcoat, and his yellow-buttoned undercoat was of the same color as his finger-less gloves and cordovan shoes.

"Greetings, Mr Rainart, Commander Kaa, Miss Branch, and...Miss Fall." The man spoke, putting clear emphasis on Cinder's name with some disdain.

"Hello to you too, Doc. What's up?" Thorn fixed the mustached man with a grin while Cinder simply glared daggers at him.

"Everything's fine and dandy at my end, Miss Branch." He adjusted his tie about his collar, "However, that cannot be said of our dear Fall Maiden." At this comment, Mercury grunts and makes a move towards Watts, but Emerald grabbed his hand and holds him back, slowly shaking her head.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve? My sincere apologies. You would do well to keep your posse in check." The man made a mocking bow while Hazel gave him an unimpressed sideways glance.

"Watts, do not antagonize the Fall Maiden. She has faltered for now, but everyone does. Even you will one day." Hazel said with a subtle ire in his voice, looking at the doctor with hard eyes that shared his namesake.

Dr. Arthur Watts sighed and sat down as Dr. West, Dr. Sherizawa, Keeper Matilda all entered the room to stand behind him along with another man, a portly fellow with wild dark hair and deeply tanned skin. Dr. Isiah Cadmus was Salem's other robotics expert who had worked with Sherizawa and Watts to design and create the Grimm Knights. He had not been around much, as he had been stuck at several different factory sites to oversee the production of the robotic army. He had bags under his eyes and a slightly tired look upon his face, giving off the feeling he hadn't slept much. Sherizawa had grown a beard over the past few months and West's hair was noticeably longer, but they still retained some sense and nodded to the Fall Maiden, with West's nod being slightly apologetic for Watt's behavior.

Arthur Watts was Salem's head of science and technology, overseeing the Grimm hybridization process, the construction of the Grimm Knights, and many other things she required in the upcoming conflict, his high ranking and intelligence combined with a privileged life of the Atlas upper-class made him rather arrogant and judgmental to those he felt were beneath him. He was also very wealthy, having a series of dummy companies with legitimate businesses around Remnant providing him with much-needed funds and resources to assist the overall efforts of Salem's inner circle.

"He's right Arty, and when you do screw up, I hope we're all there to point and laugh!" A cackling voice echoed throughout the room from above.

Everyone looked up to see a thin man with a wild face and demented yellow-gold eyes, with long black hair formed into a long ponytail crouched upon one of the taller pillars like a gargoyle. He wore a white sleeveless jacket that left his prominently scarred chest bare along with white trousers with a large black, lumpy belt wrapped around his midsection. His arms are covered with purple bandages and leather vambraces covering the area above his elbows, plus brown gauntlets that went up to his hands. He also wore brown combat boots that covered his entire shin with knee guards.

"Callows." Hazel said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Hey Hazel." The man named Tyrian Callows greeted, putting a mocking emphasis on his comrade's name. He jumped down and landed atop the table, doing a bow as if he expected applause. He straightened up and looked to the door and whistled, while beckoning someone to come forward with an open hand.

Entering through the doors were Lieutenant Hui of the recently renamed Red Fang and his new second in command Ilia Amitola. The latter was a muscular looking Faunus girl with brown skin and light brown hair who had been assigned by Adam to lead a small task force of White Fang loyalists to join Salem's faction on a special mission along with some... experiments by Watts and West. The experiments had been a success for the most part, and the thing around Tyrian's waist was proof of that, as he had been born a human but genetically altered to be something else. Ilia was a different story; she had been born a Cheetah Faunus, as evidenced by the large dark spots on her body, but with some biological tinkering she had become something new. When they had reunited with Hui and the others, Ilia and the task force she commanded had been horrified to learn of Adam's death and the fall of the White Fang, and so they had dedicated themselves to be part of the newly reforged Red Fang.

Tyrian hopped off of the table and into a chair next to Thorn, sitting on his haunches and bent over, letting everyone see the crazed look in his yellow-gold eyes. He cackled to himself after a brief glance in Cinder's direction, rubbing his palms together like a mischievous child about to play a prank on his teacher.

"Tyrian, you showed up on time for once." Watts commented blandly.

"Wouldn't want to disappoint my master." Tyrian stated as he looked over to Cinder again and spoke, "Hey there Cinder. Still hiding your face in shame I see. Too bad that ice cream looking girl isn't with you any more, or she could easily cover up that ugly little scratch with no problem!"

Cinder only stared at Tyrian until she heard Emerald growl and clutched the handles of her sheathed guns. Quickly bringing her hand up, she turned to regard Sustrai, "Don't give in to his foolishness, Emerald. Tyrian loves to antagonize his would-be victims most of the time, and he is actually more dangerous than he acts. If you fight him, you will be giving him exactly what he wants."

Both teens nodded as Tyrian cackled a bit more before turning his attention elsewhere. His crazed eyes looked to the Grimm Commanders while Lieutenant Hui sat down next to him, "Well, well, well...they even brought out the freakshow too! This meeting really is important."

Sheer Kaa scowled and stood up, holding his clawed limbs out as Ziz and Anasi snarled at the man, getting ready to swipe at him. "I would be careful calling anyone here a freak, Callows. If anything's a freak in this room it would be unquestionably you, the one whose body was genetically altered to be like us. You may be a Faunus now, but I have known many Faunus over the years, and you will never truly be one of us." Sheer Kaa said as he glanced to the other Grimm hybrids to add, "Cinder's right, don't let this fool vex you." The others nodded and reluctantly lowered their Grimm appendages.

"Well, my good ole' charm still works." Tyrian said to himself, his damnable smirk occupying his face as he pressed his fingers together, resting his elbows on his knees.

"You're about as charming as a dead rat." Ziz remarked with clear contempt in her voice.

"And your 'charm' works about as well as that ponytail." added Mavis, getting a few sarcastic chuckles out of a few of the Grimm Commanders.

Tyrian scowled a little but before he could retort Cinder said, "Not another word Tyrian, we wouldn't want the master to walk in on us giving into our natural impulses to shut you up permanently."

Tyrian thought about her words for a moment and decided to remain quiet, although he still stuck his tongue out at Mavis, who returned with a significant hand gesture that didn't escape the minds of everyone present in the throne room.

"Gods help us if that creep ever meets Ante." Mercury whispered to Emerald.

"Don't tempt fate..." Emerald warned him, only for the footsteps of more people entering the room to reach their ears, causing them to turn their heads to see Damien Ante and his enforcers arriving. "...damn it."

For his part Ante looked uncharacteristically serious than his usual conceited self as he sat down at the end of the table, with some of his enforcers looking on edge at the sight of Norvik so they made sure to have their weapons ready just in case the unpredictable murderer tried anything at all. He looked down the table to Cinder who gave him a small nod and he nodded back in return. From among the enforcers, Trooper looked to Ziz and gave her an acknowledgement nod as well and she answered back with a small wave of her hand.

Another figure soon entered the throne room in the shape of a woman who looked to be in her twenties with dark blonde hair and dark blonde eyes, and a decently-built physique with average looking arms and legs that were actually much more powerful than they appeared, like Cinder and Thorn themselves. Her face had a slight tan and there was a little flower planted in her hair to match with her sundress and long skirt which painted a deceiving outward look of an average peace loving girl.

The new girl regarded both Cinder Fall and Thorn Branch with an oddly kind smile and a bowing nod before she sat down next to Hui, placing her hands upon the tabletop, the rings she wore on all of her fingers making a slight clattering sound as she did so, "It's good to see you again, Thorn...and I see your usual fashion sense haven't changed since last time. Pity." She shook a head a little, and regarded Cinder slowly, "Ah, Cinder...I trust you have been well, or at least as well as someone could be with a scar like that on your face. I heard you have been quite busy after what had gone down in the city of Haven."

Cinder chose to ignore that thinly veiled insult and instead directed Emerald and Mercury's attention to the new arrival, "The lady who had just spoken is Anastasia Bloom, and like Thorn and myself she is my master's choice for one of the Maiden's powers. Spring in this case."

"As if the name didn't already give it away, Miss Obvious." Tyrian said snarkily, but he was ignored by everyone else.

Emerald and Mercury both nodded to her, but saw Thorn lean close to them and whisper, "Don't be fooled by her innocent outlook. Anastasia might act sweet, but Cinder and I have seen what she can do personally, so don't ever underestimate her."

The illusionist and assassin nodded, and looked at the newly arrived lady, who briefly shot Thorn an amiable look before saying, "I might say the same about you Thorn, since you are not so trustworthy yourself. Just like your namesake, whenever one gets too close to you...blood gets drawn. Often in large amounts." That earned a glare from Thorn herself, but Anastasia simply returned her glare with a smirk playing about her lips.

A few minutes went by and other people arrived, most of them keeping hoods over their heads like Cinder, as they wished to remain anonymous for now. Cinder, Hazel, Watts, Tyrian, Thorn, and some of the others knew what they were; criminals, pirates, immoral business executives, spies, assassins, corrupt politicians...it didn't matter about their gender or race, they all had one thing in common: allegiance, whether willing or not to Salem, the Dark Queen of Grimm.

They passed the intervening time with casual conversations, discussions of what they'd been up to, and so on, all the while patiently waiting for their dark leader to appear.

"So Cinder, call me curious... but what have you been up to all this time?" Thorn asked carefully, tilting her head a little in questioning.

"Attending to whatever tasks my master has given me." Cinder replied in her usual tone, "There are quite a few significant operations that I am overseeing that would greatly benefit us when it's time to strike against the other Kingdoms."

"And I thought you are training with our master to get stronger. She must have taught you some new skills right?" Anastasia said, toying with a lock of her hair, "...or else you won't be keeping the power of the Fall Maiden for long."

"Cinder has also been training with her master to gain better control of her maiden powers, unlike you." Emerald spoke up, shooting a glare at the Dark Queen's candidate for the Spring Maiden.

"Of course she would, or otherwise why would our master waste her time on someone who was defeated by a Silver-Eyed warrior and allowed a pair of potential Grimm Commanders to defect?" Anastasia waved a dismissive hand while Cinder grit her teeth in anger about the stab at her failure.

"In time I will fix those mistakes and make them pay for what they have done to me." Cinder snapped at her, and Anastasia simply raised an eyebrow in return, "And you will do well to remember your place." The girl with dark blonde hair simply shrugged her shoulders and held up her hands in a conciliating gesture, knowing that she had pushed Cinder Fall a little too far, before turning her head and looking somewhere else.

The conversation at the marble table abruptly died away when the main doors at the head of the room opened of their own accord, and emerging from the darkness behind those doors was the sight of the dark queen herself. As the doors closed behind her she opened her eyes of red irises and black scleras, surveying all of her subordinates who have gathered before her, and all of them stood the moment she entered the throne room. "I see everyone has arrived, excellent." Salem moved to her purple crystal chair and as she sat down she held her hands out and all the other doors closed on their own, "Now, let us get down to the matters we have gathered here to discuss. I trust that everyone who needs to be known has been named?"

Everyone within the room nodded their heads, deciding to remain respectfully silent.

"Good. Now that we have gathered, all that remains is informing you all about the roles you would play within my plan. However, there has been a significant setback: The White Fang has fallen, and Adam Taurus is dead." She spoke while resting her deep red and purple veined hands on her lap. At the mention of Adam's death, Ilia clenched her fists while lieutenant Hui simply gave a scowl. "His death and the loss of the majority of the White Fang's resources and troops is a blow to us, but one from which we can recover from. It is unfortunate that we have lost him, since he has showed much promise," Salem continued, "Nevertheless, we have a replacement in the form of the Red Fang which is still loyal to us, and have placed them among our ranks once more."

She looked at Hui in the eyes and added, "From now on, the Red Fang will be led by Commander Hui, who will in turn answer to Tyrian." None of the Red Fang members were happy about being under the command of someone who's clearly some cards short of a full deck, but they didn't question Salem's order.

"The White Fang fell because of the conceited efforts of Team Beacon and military reinforcements from Atlas and Vacuo, but the crushing blow was dealt by one of their number, a huntress known as Blake Belladonna who defeated Taurus, but they were not the only ones involved in the attack." Cinder noticed that everyone paid slightly more attention at the last sentence, "According to Steppenwolffe's memories which I have gleamed with the help of my Seers, and the sworn testimonies of Emerald and Mercury who have witnessed the entire fight scene, they claimed to have seen a mysterious armored warrior who identified himself as one of the Remnant Knights, and I have heard the delivered message... that their order still lives."

At the mention of the Remnant Knights, Salem instinctively raised her hand to her cheek as she remembered the unforgettable battle at The Endless Gorge a long time ago, the battle in which a previous Grand Knight Master of the Remnant Knights known as Lord Emmanuel inflicted a painful wound there moments before she killed him many years ago. Until today, she still experienced phantom pain coming from that wound even though it has already healed, and she wondered about the final words Lord Emmanuel told her before delivering the blow that wounded her across the cheek.

"Highly improbable! We haven't encountered the Remnant Knights in over a decade! It must have been some Huntsman claiming to be one." Watts put forth, waving a dismissive hand.

"I have considered that explanation since the last time a Remnant Knight has appeared was nearly twenty years ago, but that doesn't mean they have been inactive. Several operations have either failed or have been crushed by unknown enemies, and they have all the handiwork of the Knights all over them." Salem pointed out, "And while the warrior Steppenwolffe fought took part in the battle at the White Fang headquarters, the other White Fang bases around Remnant have also been wiped out swiftly by unknown hostiles simultaneously at different positions. Only the Remnant Knights would be organized and powerful enough to coordinate such a massive worldwide operation."

"I have suspected that they have been the constant thorn on our side, attacking both our less important operations as well as thwarting the more...essential ones." Hazel spoke up, his voice always in a calm tone.

"Yeah, sure. As if they could do any proper harm to us." Tyrian rubbed his head while rolling his eyes.

"And that may explain why some of my secret projects have been... erm, delayed..." Watts muttered to himself, averting his eyes when Cinder looked in his direction.

"If I may speak, Mistress?" Steppenwolffe spoke up. She nodded and he continued, "This knight I fought was one of the most capable fighters I have ever met, and he said that the Knight Order will never give up and that they would be joining in the fight against us."

"That means the Remnant Knights will probably ally themselves with the Huntsmen academies, maybe even the councils of the Four Kingdoms." Hazel surmised.

"So what, they didn't work with the academies and councils before?" Ante asked, while tapping a finger against the surface of the marble table.

"From time to time, but only briefly to suit their operations and never a full-fledged alliance. They prefer to be independent of the Kingdoms so as to be free of outside interference." Salem explained softly and Ante nodded his head, so did some of the other hooded figures.

"If the Knights form an alliance with the academies and councils, they would be making themselves a much bigger threat to our plans." Cinder gestured with a finger, "And Ozpin's guardians might just have gained another advantage over us."

Salem was about to reply when Tyrian slammed his hands on the table and ranted crazily, "I still want to know why we haven't just gone over to Beacon Academy, dump swarms of Grimm over their toy soldiers and meager defenses, take it over again once more, kill Ozpin and make an example out of him to show others what happens when they mess with someone the likes of us!"

"Because your reckless ways would lead to catastrophe." Salem scolded, and that made Tyrian recoil like a reprimanded child before his mother, "Allow them this minor victory for now, and let it bring them into a false sense of security. It would be all the sweeter when we crush their fragile sense of hope when the time comes." She turned her head to regard the Beowolf Grimm Commander once more, "Tell them what else you discovered when fighting the Remnant Knight, Steppenwolffe."

The Wolf Faunus nodded and continued, "The warrior I fought mainly used two swords to fight, but he had a third belted to his waist which he did not use throughout my battle with him. I noticed the hilt and vaguely recognized it, and so I searched through the books in the archives here and finally found a match within one of the ancient books of weapons. The hilt of the third sword is unmistakably of the Promethean Tribe's craftsmanship, and it is one that can only be possessed by a member of that tribe."

There was a brief silence in the room which Watts broke, "The Promethean Tribe? We wiped them out ages ago!" Hazel remained silent, while Cinder raised a hand to her chin in thought, amber eyes widening.

"Indeed." Salem said with a nod, while her eyes looked to the more recent additions to her faction, "As you all know, the Promethean Tribe was one of the oldest tribes on Remnant. They were a clan of renowned weaponsmiths who crafted some of the finest weapons in all of Remnant's history, including many famous blades and swords. A long time ago, word of a clandestine deal struck between the elders of that tribe and the Remnant Knights reached my ears, and I had already suspected that they made an agreement to craft weapons for the Knights to wage their war against me. I learned of this and offered them a choice to aid us instead by telling us where the Knights resided, but the tribe elders refused. And so I offered them an ultimatum: Their tribe will have a chance to survive if they become my weaponsmiths, or else they would all die. Still, they refused. To show my displeasure, I arranged for four of my most trusted disciples: Cinder, Hazel, Dr. Watts and Tyrian to attack their village and wipe them all out as punishment for their arrogance in defying me, and also to show that my apprentices could work together, proving their worth to me."

"We destroyed the entire village that day, and no one survived." Hazel stated solemnly, "The Grimm picked off the remaining survivors, and all of their warriors were slaughtered."

"Well, apparently someone did survive." Ante remarked, "...or how would that sword exist?"

"There are a couple possibilities I can see here," Watts proposed, a twinge of nervousness in his voice, "It is possible that the tribe elders gifted one of their finest swords to the Knight Order, or the knight that Steppenwolffe faced had somehow gotten his hands on one of the crafted Promethean swords...or one of the tribe's children had already joined the Remnant Knights and took it with him."

"Steppenwolffe, the warrior who fought you, how old would you say he is?" Salem asked.

"Most likely in his twenties, my lady." Steppenwolffe reported.

"We wiped out that tribe out more than fifteen years ago, meaning this warrior would have been a child at the time." Cinder said, her mind connecting the dots together.

"Correct. That means it is possible that a child has managed to evade dying by your hands and escaped. He could be probably recruited by the Remnant Knights, and thus becoming the warrior Steppenwolffe faced." Salem said while considering the possibility.

"So ma'am, what will you do?" Watts asked, his green eyes showing a gesture very similar to fear.

"Do what exactly, Watts?" Salem returned his gaze calmly, raising an eyebrow.

"Would you punish the four of us for this failure? Evidently we failed in our task and there's always the possibility that it may come back to haunt us." Watts explained, ignoring the annoyed looks from Cinder and Hazel and the furious one from Tyrian. "After all, failure shouldn't be tolerated, not from anyone nor for any reason."

Upon hearing Watt's words, Salem leaned back on her throne and laughed, her strangely silky yet sinful voice echoing around the throne room. The sound of her laughter made everyone draw back instinctively, as it wasn't something many of them expected to hear and hence they were caught off guard by her brief display of amusement. "Advocating a zero tolerance for failure? If I adopted that arrogant rule, everyone present in this room would already be dead. While there are often times when certain failures needs punishing..." She said, glancing at Cinder who lowered her head, "...but not in the way you propose, dear doctor. If I punished you for every mistake you have made, every little failure you think only you know about, you would be dead and gone like a speck of dust in the wind."

Watts adjusted his tie nervously and nodded, his face slightly pale at the thought. He glanced down to the surface of the marble table in slight embarrassment before looking back up only to see the mocking visage of Tyrian and a shadow of a smirk upon Cinder's face. Even Hazel had a rare fleeting faint smile on his lips before it vanished.

He returned those looks directed towards him with a scowl of his own.

"The Remnant Knights do pose a threat to us in the long run through their actions, as they have been a thorn on my side for centuries now. If they are indeed planning an alliance with Ozpin and his group of guardians we shall all have to accelerate the progress of our other... more unconventional plans." Salem decreed, gesturing with her fingers at everyone present.

"Do we actually know where these Knights operate from?" Sherizawa inquired.

"Their citadel, known as Tintagel, is just as well concealed as the castle in which we are presently in. The Knight Order only entrust that piece of information to a handful of individuals across the Kingdoms to ensure that location remains a secret." Salem said, "However, we shall wait for them to make the first strike and overreach themselves, which in turn makes them vulnerable to our own attacks."

"Would that course of action be...practical?" West asked carefully.

"An opening salvo does not determine the outcome of the overall battle. Let them wear themselves out fighting the small battles, while we prepare to deliver the killing blow when they finally have exhausted themselves." Sheer Kaa growled and Steppenwolffe nodded in agreement.

"Technically they have already stuck quite a blow by wiping out our...White Fang bases." Ilia pointed out boldly.

Salem nodded at that comment, "A valid point Lieutenant Ilia, but the Knights have withdrawn for now. We shall wait for our next chance to strike before we can take our revenge, and deal a terrible blow to them in which they would probably never recover from." She smoothed her dark robes and continued, "Now, we shall go over the topic of acquiring the powers of the remaining Maidens."

"Finally." A small voice muttered down the table, one that sounded suspiciously like Anastasia's.

"I have received fresh information that has narrowed down the current location of the Winter Maiden, but Ozpin's group has made it quite difficult for us to identify the current locations of both the Spring and Summer Maidens at the moment." Salem explained to her gathered subordinates.

"And considering that Elsa and her guardian keep moving about the various mountain ranges in Atlas it is highly possible that the other Maidens are also constantly on the move in the other Kingdoms as well." Sheer Kaa voiced his opinion.

"An acute observation." Salem agreed with a nod.

"Damn, that just makes things a little more difficult." Anastasia muttered to herself.

Thorn rolled her eyes in response and asked, "Master, I propose we redouble our efforts to discover their whereabouts. It feels like we got lucky with Amber."

"Maybe so, but we will not give up on those fronts. We have been able to confirm that the Spring Maiden is in country-sides of Mistral while the Summer Maiden is currently in the capital of Vacuo." Salem stated, "And my spy in Shade Academy is still active, gathering further information for us."

"So, we will have to keep looking for them on our own then." Thorn surmised, a few other hooded figures around the table nodding their heads.

"What about the Winter Maiden?" Emerald asked suddenly. "I mean, Cinder's the Fall Maiden, and these two will be Spring and Summer, but who will become the Winter Maiden?"

Salem allowed a smile to grace her bone-white face before answering, "There's no need to worry. I already know who is getting the powers of the Winter Maiden."

"So once we find them, we are allowed to use all necessary force to get their powers?" Anastasia asked hopefully.

"By all means, once any of them are found I am sure you are more than capable of killing them and taking their power for yourself, my dear." Salem promised, Cinder wincing a bit at those words, "Now that we have gone over some recent developments, I think it's time we should mention one of our triumphs. Tyrian, would you please present your new powers to everyone here?"

"As you wish, my wonderful goddess." Tyrian answered before jumping up onto the table and the lumpy black belt-like thing around his waist unwound and revealed itself to be a deadly looking scorpion tail, shocking anyone who hadn't known about it already.

"For those of you out of the loop, allow me to explain. Tyrian and a handful of Adam Taurus' most trusted warriors agreed to be a part of a series of genetic experiments conducted by Dr. Watts and Dr. West, which consisted of surgical procedures and ground-breaking experiments that transformed dear Tyrian, who was born a human, into a hybrid, and one of the first with a non-mammal trait at that." Salem elaborated.

"Were they all successes?" Thorn inquired, eyeing Tyrian's scorpion tail carefully.

"Not all, there have been a few... mishaps, but for the most part those experiments were mostly a success." Watts confirmed as he nodded his head towards Salem.

"I think it suits me perfectly." Tyrian said as he wrapped his tail around his body, his eyes briefly turning violet. "It also gives me a bit of a poisonous sting, which will help out a lot in fights. Hey Kaa, you guys aren't the only fancy freaks around anymore!" Sheer Kaa glared at the man in return, but said nothing.

"As for the White Fang volunteers, Lieutenant Ilia, would you please demonstrate?" Salem asked.

Ilia nodded and stood up from her chair. "I am a different story; I was born a Cheetah Faunus," She said as she indicated the large dark spots on her body, "but I am no longer just that. Thanks to some biological tinkering from the doctors my DNA was spliced with that of a Chameleon, giving me the ability to camouflage myself." With that she changed her skin and hair color at will, changing into several glaring colors until she practically became invisible to those present.

"A Cheetah and a Chameleon, fast and invisible, that makes for a really deadly combination." remarked Mercury.

"Got that right, she and the others are what I like to call the Fusion Faunus." Tyrian stated as Ilia's skin color returned to normal. Tyrian looked to Salem, only to see her give him a stern look that clearly meant he should get off the table now, which he did rather promptly by jumping back into his chair.

Salem turned her head from Tyrian to the others and said, "And now that we've gone over this new advantage we must discuss something else, which is the one sure way to ensure that we will be victorious in the oncoming war. The Relics of Remnant."

"Yes, the Relics needed to attain your ascension to godhood, my goddess." Tyrian stated with a toothy grin.

"What are the these Relics?" Mavis asked, her finned ears flicking this way and that a little nervously.

Salem acknowledged Mavis's question with a nod and began, "For those of you like young Mavis who have never heard of this particular tale, I shall give you the condensed version. Many legends of Remnant say that some time after the Great Shattering of the moon, there existed four gods. These gods, which consisted of two brothers and two sisters, came to Remnant to ensure the survival of humanity and make sure that they would rise from the ashes of an apocalypse. Each of them bestowed one gift upon mankind to ensure the race wouldn't die out, and thanks the power of those four Relics humanity managed to survive and rebuilt whatever they lost after the Great Shattering. The four gifts given to mankind by the four gods are named Knowledge, Creation, Destruction and Choice, and they aren't just metaphorical words. They all apparently exist in physical forms, and each has immense power individually. If someone were to wield all four Relics at once they would have the power to change the world however they see fit."

"So... what happened to those Relics?" Ante asked, "I take it that Ozpin's group of guardians don't leave them lying around for anyone to pick up and use at will."

Salem paused for a moment as her eyes flicked to Ante who immediately clamped his mouth shut, and then continued, "Due to the enormous power the Relics held, they were split apart by an old religious order so that no one could use their powers for their own...undesirable purposes. After some centuries passed and before the religious order's members died they reached out to the fledgling Huntsmen Academies and passed a Relic into the custody of the four main Academies on Remnant, informing them to protect the Relics at all costs. Things change throughout the years however, as over time my...predecessors attempted countless ways to obtain the Relics, but they were thwarted repeatedly and as a precaution the Relics given to the four Kingdoms were secretly moved elsewhere to unknown locations to further keep them out of my reach. However, one of my spies in Vale informed me that Beacon Academy kept its Relic, which was Knowledge. I conceived a plan to acquire that relic, and my previous disciples carried it out."

"What happened to those disciples?" Sheer Kaa questioned.

"Some years ago, when Ozpin became the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, I had my disciples attempt to infiltrate the Academy and abscond with the Relic, but Ozpin defeated them after a great battle. He then contacted the Remnant Knights and entrusted the Relic of Knowledge to them, and knowing how the Knights operate there's a high possibility they are safeguarding the relic in their hidden fortress Tintagel ever since." Salem finished and placed her hands from her lap to the surface of the marble table gently.

"So, we wait for the chance to fight these Knights, capture one of them and obtain the location of their secret fortress, as well as its strengths and weaknesses. We then lay siege to their stronghold, obtain the Knowledge Relic and use it to locate the other three remaining relics." Cinder proposed.

Salem considered it before speaking again, "Possible, but it won't be easy, the Knights are well trained to fight against us and will rather die than betray their Order. Besides, an all out assault on them now, when they are still strong and ready for us, would be too costly and we would need to pull additional operatives from other essential operations around Remnant, which would in turn endanger the success of those concurrent operations."

"However, I have one more bit of advantageous information with regards to the Relics." The Grimm Mistress added, "According to what I have gathered from the old tomes, if a person were to find a single Relic, the relic in his or her possession can be used to identify the location of another."

"So all we have to do was find one, and it would lead us to another quite easily. Then at some point we will no doubt encounter the Remnant Knights once more, but we need not defeat them, but merely track their movements to discover the location of their hidden fortress." Watts slowly laid out his own opinion.

"Correct. Once we have taken the powers of both the Spring and Summer Maidens, combined with the Relics we have found, we would have a distinct advantage over Ozpin and his guardians. With the powers of the four Maidens on our side, we would be able to destroy the Remnant Knights and take the Relic of Knowledge, which would in turn lead us to the remaining final Relic." Salem said, "And once we have the powers of the Four Maidens and the Four Relics, and possibly even the Aura Crystal, we will destroy everyone who opposes us and have the darkness dominate Remnant forevermore. When I finally become a goddess, you all shall be rewarded for your loyal servitude to me and together we shall reshape this world as we see fit."

"So, that is our endgame." Hazel grunted.

"Indeed." Salem confirmed with a dark smile, the realization of her grand plan feeling closer than ever before, "I trust that everything has been going well with regards to the imminent invasion of Atlas?"

"Yes, ma'am...of course." Watts coughed politely, "Everything is proceeding to plan and I have already put in place additional agents to make sure that when the time is right, the Kingdom of Atlas will fall according to our plans."

"Good." Salem nodded her head, "I take it that similar operations are already in progress in Vacuo and Mistral?"

"The outlying tribes of Vacuo have already swore their allegiance to us in secret." Hazel replied, "Their chieftains have thrown in their support with us after the example we have made of the Promethean Tribe. They will answer your call once the invasion of Vacuo is underway."

"My goddess, what shall we do with the Remnant Knight who has the sword of the Promethean Tribe?" Tyrian asked with a freaky smile on his face, "Shall I seek him out and kill him?"

Salem placed her hand to her chin in thought for a few moments, "Not at the moment, Tyrian. I want you to continue your search for the Summer Maiden."

"As you command, my master!" Tyrian cackled manically.

"What about the Silver-Eyed girl, Ruby Rose?" Cinder spoke up, and everyone turned their heads to look at her.

"What about her? We have dealt with Silver-Eyed warriors before." Hazel grunted, "She will meet the same fate as the rest of them in due time."

"And what about Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, do we still capture them or... kill them?" Steppenwolffe posed his next question.

"The order for their capture still stands." Salem replied, "Under no circumstances are you to kill them, but if they suffer wounds during the capture, that's acceptable to me as long as they are returned to me...alive."

"Understood, master." Hazel, Dr. Watts, Cinder and all the Grimm Commanders replied.

"What we have now is opportunity." Salem continued, and her sinister eyes gleamed with malice, "Once we crush Ozpin's guardians and the Remnant Knights, there would be no one else on Remnant who will have the power to oppose us effectively. We all know how it would end eventually, so I trust everyone knows their roles in the grand plan now?"

Heads nodded around the table silently, save for the soft growls of Norvik.

"Very well." The Grimm Mistress stood up and swept her hands in an encompassing gesture, "Let it be war, chaos and ruin."

"War, Chaos and Ruin!" everyone at the marble stood up and echoed the words of their dark queen, "All Hail Salem!"

---

Ruby hummed to herself as she loaded up Crescent Rose's chambers with several different kinds of bullets. Currently Team RWBY were in their room, preparing to take on the patrol duties for the day

"Man, I never thought I'd say this, but patrol duty feels really good and simple." Yang announced as she loaded up her gauntlets.

"I suppose a very close call with death makes smaller tasks seem more appealing." Blake mused.

Yang nodded as Weiss finished loading up Dust crystals into Myrtenaster. "Well, it won't last. I talked to Professor Goodwitch the other day and she says Beacon will be ready for reopening by next week."

"It'll be weird going back to classes after everything we've gone though. You think we'll have to start all over again?" Ruby asked as she patted Zwei's head.

"I don't think so, we've gone through more than some seniors have!" Yang reminded.

"I don't think they'll hold us back, after everything we've done, learned, and accomplished I think they will let our group proceed. However, I think they'll just give us more work to do to catch up on what we missed." Blake suggested.

"More homework?! Oh man..." Ruby whined.

"For goodness sake Ruby, homework is nothing compared to what we've been through!" Weiss challenged.

"What about a ten pounds of homework?" Ruby shot back, smiling when she saw her partner falter.

"Ten pounds? Surely there won't be that much..."

Ruby and Yang laughed, even Blake let out a chuckle as the heiress began to wonder how their education problem would be dealt with.

Just then there was a knock at the door and Yang went to answer it, "Yeah guys, we'll be out... oh! Hi dad." She said, seeing it was her father.

"Hey sweetie, have fun last night?" He asked her as he hugged her.

"You know it." She said as she hugged him back.

Taiyang moved into the room and smiled upon seeing Ruby. "There's the other light of my life." He remarked as Ruby ran to hug him.

"Hey dad, were you lonely last night?" Ruby asked.

"A little, but I'm alright. Have fun with your friends?" He asked as he smiled to Weiss and Blake who returned the gesture.

"Oh yeah! We had a great time just lying around and watching movies together." Ruby confirmed, before she looked into his eyes and frowned. "Dad, are you alright? Do you need anything? You look a little... off."

"Are you going with us on patrol today?" Blake asked, as he had done so from time to time after they had taken back Beacon.

"No, Ozpin and the others assigned me to come and tell you and your friends in JNPR that you won't be on the patrol today. They want to see all of you and talk about... everything you've gone through." He explained.

"Is it about my eyes? I already to Dr. Oobleck and Professor Crane I was okay with my eye-energy being used for their special bullets as long as they don't overuse it or try to force it out of me." Ruby said, remembering how horrified the two teachers seemed at the very thought.

"Kind of. You'll find out once we get to Beacon." Taiyang said to her.

"Beacon? But it's still under construction." Weiss pointed out.

"Yes, but we're going to one of the completed areas. Don't worry, me and Qrow will be there." He assured them. "Oobleck, Port, and Crane will be joining the others on patrol today, so the rest of Team Beacon will be fine."

"We know they will. Dad, what's going on?" Ruby asked calmly.

"I can't tell you, but it's not dangerous, I promise. You'll find out what's happening once we get to Beacon. I love you both." He said to his daughters.

"Love you too dad." Ruby and Yang both said at once.

"You want us to tell Jaune and...?" Yang began before her father cut her off.

"No, it's okay. I'll tell them myself. See you downstairs." He said before making his way down the hall.

Ruby looked to her team and asked "You think it's something serious?"

"Without a doubt." Weiss stated bluntly.

"Definitely." Blake agreed.

Yang considered, "Dad seemed a little worried, but I could tell he wasn't lying when he said it wasn't dangerous. I say we just go along with it and see what happens."

"Not the best of ideas, but we can't refuse to go into Beacon. We should stay alert and be ready for anything." Weiss suggested.

"Good idea, but Yang's right; dad wasn't lying and he'd never put us in danger. Whatever's happening we'll be ready for it." Ruby decided firmly.

A few moments later Pyrrha appeared in the doorway. "Ruby, Yang, your dad just came and told us to join you in going into Beacon... and he told us to bring the Aura Crystal." She revealed.

The members of Team RWBY all looked to each other, if their collective curiosity hadn't been piqued before it was now.

"Did he say why?" Inquired Blake.

"Yes, he said that Ozpin, Goodwitch, Councilman Henry, and General Ironwood want to talk to us about it, as well as our experiences in Haven. He made it clear they didn't want us to surrender it to them after Jaune asked but we're still not sure what to really say about it." Pyrrha elaborated.

The girls all looked to each other before Weiss asked "And are you going to take it?"

"Well... Jaune and I both feel a little anxious about talking of our experiences with the crystal, but he was more hesitant than I was. I told him I think we're up for it as long as we hold our ground and answer any of their questions to the best of our abilities. Once I told him that he seemed a little more open to taking the Aura Crystal to them and explaining what we can." Pyrrha told them.

Ruby and the others nodded, "Seems reasonable." Stated Blake.

"Well I for one can't wait to find out what they're up to and why they're being so secretive about it." Ruby voiced, a sentiment the others readily agreed with.

Pyrrha went back to JNPR's room to see Ren and Nora helping Jaune close up the vault beneath the bed where the Aura Crystal's case was contained. "Jaune, if you don't want to do this..." She began.

"No. I'm okay with it." Jaune said. "I trust Professor Goodwitch, and Ruby's dad and Qrow, don't know Councilman Henry that well but he seems alright..."

"And Ozpin and the General?" Ren asked.

"Despite their failings and... what happened to us because of them I don't blame them. After I brought you back and they tried to freeze you I said some... pretty cruel things to Ozpin." Jaune said.

"Hey, past is in the past, right?" Nora said as she patted Jaune on the back. "Ozzy isn't one to hold grudges, I think he's alright."

"Ozzy?" Deadpanned Ren.

Jaune looked to Pyrrha and asked "What do you think?"

Pyrrha considered and responded "Well, even if something is up I don't think Professor Goodwitch would let anything happen to us, or Qrow, or Taiyang. Besides, it would be the eight of us as well."

Jaune smiled and nodded, "That's right. Eight of the most powerful Hunters-in-training Remnant has ever seen."

Soon enough the seventeen members of Team Beacon left the hotel and went to the landing pads in the back, where a Bullhead was waiting to pick them up with Taiyang already on-board. They boarded the ship and it took off towards the nearly finished Beacon.

Velvet smiled at the sight of Jaune and Pyrrha leaning against each other after they had made sure the case was secured. She could guess what had happened last night and she was very happy for them. She looked over to Taiyang and asked "How's the construction on the school going?"

"Pretty good, most of the school itself is done. Today they're putting their efforts into finishing up the dorms so you kids and the other students will have your rooms back." Taiyang answered.

"Man, it's been so long since the fall, it'll be nice to have the dorm back." Nora voiced.

"I don't think you guys will get your old dorms." Said Taiyang, "Ozpin's having a special section just for you kids, so Team Beacon can be together and help each other with school work." The Blond Huntsman explained.

"All right, special treatment." Said Coco approvingly.

"I like this school already." Agreed Scarlet.

"Let's fix our new room up like our old one! Bunk beds and all!" Ruby suggested to her team.

"Hopefully with some proper ones this time." Weiss mumbled as the ship began to approach Beacon.

"You guys sure you'll be okay without us today?" Yang asked, the others had been told that RWBY and JNPR were needed for something within the school by Ozpin and the others and that SSSN, CFVY, and Penny would be working with the teachers on patrol, but they didn't mind.

"We'll be fine." Coco assured her.

"Yeah, if anything I'm more curious about what's going down in the school. Hopefully you'll be able to tell us later." Sun stated.

"Hopefully." Agreed Blake, "It's best not to keep the the rest of you in the dark about whatever's going on, I'm sure Ozpin will let us tell you."

"I hope so." Ruby said quietly as the ship began to land.

The doors opened up to reveal Qrow, along with Dr. Oobleck and Professors Port and Crane. Taiyang exited first and went directly to Qrow who whispered "They're here." Which wasn't something missed by Blake and Velvet as the group disembarked from the ship, Jaune and Pyrrha carrying the case together.

"Good day my students! Glorious day for a bit of Grimm Hunting, eh?" Port asked with his usual jolly voice.

"If there are any left. By now they should know their boundaries." Yatsuhashi said.

"Well then, we'll just push the boundaries a little further." Coco suggested confidently.

"Ah, excellent!" Port declared.

"It is good to see you all again, I trust you are all well?" Oobleck asked, to which everyone nodded. "Good." He looked to Ruby gave her a smile, which she returned.

"Hey squirt. Hope you don't mind sitting out the action to do something for us." Qrow said as he ruffled her hair.

"Nope, don't mind one bit. I'd just like to know what's up." Ruby told him.

"You'll find pretty soon. You kids ready?" The red eyed Huntsman asked.

"As we'll ever be." Said Yang while the others nodded.

They said their goodbyes to the other members of Team Beacon with phrases like 'bye', 'see you tonight', or 'catch you later'. Once the three teachers led SSSN, CFVY, and Penny to the Emerald Forest to ensure the Grimm were keeping a good enough distance Qrow said "Okay kids, let's go."

Qrow and Taiyang led Teams RWBY and JNPR, making their way through the recently repaired pathway that led to Beacon Academy, they noticed that the repairs on the Huntsman Academy was mostly finished and the magnificence of the whole school was also mostly restored. The bulk of the castle-like academy was almost fully rebuilt and ready to take in the student population once more, while the main tower still needed work even though the Cross Continental Transmit System had already been repaired to full functionality, with the exterior of the tower still having some additional components that needed to be cemented back into place.

They came across a few groups of construction workers who were still doing repair work around the school, but those workers did not notice the passing group of students and adults as they were simply too focused on their tasks at hand, patching up the considerable wounds suffered during the Grimm attack on Beacon such as replacing the missing glass panels in window frames and pouring concrete and cement into various large craters and holes in the other more damaged sections. The broken sections of the amphitheater in the main avenue have been also repaired, in addition to the circular pond that encircled the reconstructed Huntsman and Huntress statues and main fountain of Beacon Academy, and the impressive aqueduct-like features as well as archways that marked the avenue were also painstakingly restored to their former grandeur, showing that the overall repair work had been wonderfully pulled off for the reopening ceremony taking place later in the day.

The group made their way along the main pathway towards the Academy, noticing that all round them were newly-built sidewalks, repaired benches and lamp-posts, in addition to a wide variety of freshly transplanted plants and trees, hence giving everything they saw a splendid overall outlook. Ruby gazed up at the main tower as they approached the school, allowing her a smile as they walked towards the main building and entering the tall entryways which were wide open and leading to empty and spotlessly clean hallways.

As Qrow and Taiyang led the way through the hallways, bypassing crates of building supplies and steel scaffolding, Blake beckoned her friends to come closer to her. Closing the distance, the other three members of Team RWBY managed to subtly move towards the Cat Faunus and once they were close enough and out of an earshot of others, she whispered softly, "I overheard something when your uncle is speaking to your dad, and he said that 'they are here'."

Everyone glanced at each other even as they continued to walk, with Weiss quietly asking, "What do you suppose that means?"

"Yeah, who are 'they' exactly?" Nora inquired in a uncommon whisper which briefly surprised everyone for a few seconds that she could actually speak in a quiet tone.

"I think we are about to find out." Ruby replied softly as the group reached the end of a long corridor leading to a junction which had other hallways leading in three separate directions, where they saw four figures standing there already waiting for them: Headmaster Ozpin, Professor Glynda, General Ironwood, and Councilor Henry.

"Well, Glynda... I have to admit you do clean up nicely." Qrow commented with a smirk on his face as the eight students felt their eyes widen at the variant of the clothing that their teacher normally wore in class. Her clothing was like a cross between a priestess and an evening gown, colored predominantly in white, purple and black. Long white robes flowed from her womanly figure, with cut slits that ended at the knees and a long sleeved, white pleated top that ended with a choker that enclosed a flawless round emerald. The robes ended at her feet, but the feet of her boots were still visible to everyone present. Her cape wrapped around her shoulders and enclosed her front, and at the cape's both ends were additional emerald gems, with the cut of the cape stylized to end in flames and arrows, and diamond-shaped bronze beads hung from those ends. Her personal emblem that was seen normally seen on her cape was also shown on the robes she wore, woven into the cloth in a similarly stylized manner, with her riding crop attached to a holster at her right waist. Finally, a purple tiara with sharp ends and additional gems decorated the top of her head whose hair had been let free of the tied bun, giving off the impression of either a regal queen, or a powerful sorceress. Perhaps both.

Glynda shot a glare at Qrow who shrugged his shoulders and nudged Taiyang, the latter raising an eyebrow. The female professor turned to regard both teams and opened her hands in a courteous manner, "Teams RWBY and JNPR, I know you all have questions as to why you are called here away from the rest of Team Beacon, but I can assure you that answers will come in due time. I can tell that you are all a bit confused, and maybe even a little hesitant, but we are still the same headmasters and teachers you met when you first arrived at Beacon, and we wouldn't do anything that will bring you harm."

She paused for a moment, briefly looking at Pyrrha with regret, and saw her holding hands with Jaune. She had good cause to be suspicious of them, Glynda reminded herself, after what had gone down in the hidden vaults underneath Beacon Academy. "Now, we have some very important guests who have arrived from a faraway place awaiting us in the meditation chambers, and while they have requested to only speak to Miss Rose, Miss Nikos and Mr Arc, but after some discussion we felt it would be best if all of you are to accompany your friends so that these three feel safer."

The eight teens nodded their heads, even though they aren't exactly sure of their current situation, but feeling assured that nothing dangerous would happen to them since they were armed with their signature weapons, and the authority figures they had come to respect were also trying to make them feel safer.

"I guess we are not going to know who these guests are until we meet them in person?" Ren speculated.

"That's correct, Mr Lie. However, I must warn you that these visitors are legends to the majority of people on Remnant, but to a chosen few they are quite real, and before we go any further we require you to swear an oath of secrecy." The female professor informed them.

"Are you serious?" Yang asked incredulously.

"She sure is." Qrow confirmed, "Because these guests who we are meeting value their secrecy very seriously."

"The oath of secrecy ensures that all participants know the importance of those details only they are privy to." Ironwood mentioned, "It's the very foundation of the secret guardians who protect Remnant."

Ruby turned and looked at the others before saying, "I think our other friends in Team Beacon should know too. It's only right since they're part of our team, and we make them swear to keep it a secret too. They deserve to know or else we can't really trust each other."

"Ruby's right. If we are going to be a real special unit together we can't keep whatever this is from the rest of them." Jaune agreed, his voice bold as he spoke.

Glynda looked to Ozpin and meeting his eyes, before turning to look at Qrow and Taiyang. The headmaster took a step forward and addressed the eight teens, "I will speak to the...leader of our guests on this matter, but I would caution you that certain...things that you witness or hear today are not to be spoken of anywhere else, or there will be...severe consequences."

"That's right." The blonde witch professor added, "While we humbly ask for your trust, and it's only fair for us to place our trust in you all in return. We will allow you to tell your friends within Team Beacon about this, but they must agree to be sworn to secrecy the same way as you did." Her expression turned slightly serious, "Are we clear?"

All eight teens nodded and Ruby replied, "So we can tell our friends as long as they promise to keep it secret too, right?" Glynda nodded her head slowly, and the red-hooded girl answered, "Okay, crystal clear. That's a relief."

"So... what's this oath? Is it like a promise?" Nora inquired.

Glynda addressed the students of both Teams and instructed slowly, "Huntsmen and Huntresses, place your hands over your chests and atop your hearts." The eight students did so obediently, "Now repeat after me: In the illuminating light of day, in the shrouding dark of night, this oath of secrets will bind us tight. For those who would betray this sacred right, beware of Remnant's Guardians might."

Teams RWBY and JNPR dutifully repeated the oath in unison. As they finished reciting the oath they looked up to the gathered adults, and the blonde Huntress nodded to Ozpin, who picked up his cane and gestured, "Follow me."

The group followed the group of adults through the grand hallways after taking the corridor that led to the right, their collective footsteps lightly echoing throughout the building as they walked together. They soon entered another new corridor which was blocked by a heavy wooden gate barred with a steel signboard which read 'Area Under Construction - Keep Out.'

"Wait, I thought this section of Beacon Academy has already been repaired?" Weiss asked slowly.

"The repairs are nearing their final stages, Miss Schnee. Nevertheless, we have chosen this area to ensure our privacy." Glynda informed the ice princess as she drew her riding crop and used her powers to lift the gate open, allowing the group to pass through before placing the gate and signboard back where they were just moments ago. They continued walking for a few more moments until they arrived at the entrance to the meditation chambers, its doors crafted from fine wood and inlaid with swirling gold patterns.

"Well, I guess there's no turning back now..." Ruby muttered to herself, but everyone within an earshot had heard her. Jaune and Pyrrha felt their hands close around each other, and so did Ren and Nora.

"Don't worry Ruby, we're with you." Yang said reassuringly as she placed her organic hand on Ruby's shoulder while giving her a comforting smile. Weiss and Blake both nodded their heads and Ruby returned their assurance with a small smile of her own.

Ozpin and Glynda opened the door to the meditation chambers, which was a large room with soft carpeted floor and a grotto-like recess in the center of the room with many pillows around it for meditation and relaxation purposes. Equally carved stone steps led down to other curved sections and the recess at the bottom. All around the circumference of the chambers circular stone pillars led up to the dome-shaped roof of the room, where soft lights shone down on a group of nine armored visitors who stood at the other end of the room, the illumination from those lights glinting from their elaborate suits of armor.

There were nine of them in total, and no two armor suits were the same. A grand and powerful-looking warrior with gunmetal-grey and white plated armor stood in the middle, his long white cloak flowing from his large shoulder pauldrons which had metallic feathered wings fashioned onto them. His helmet had an azure T-shaped visor, with a curved top that was split into a distinct V, and had three smaller wings sprouting from the sides of the helmet, pointing slightly upwards as though about to take flight. A sizable sheathed sword with a pommel of gold was strapped to his left side, and it looked far larger and thicker than any other sword that the eight students have ever seen, and yet to the great knight it looked like he could wield it like any other normal swords, unaffected by its seemingly heavy weight. He seemed to be the leader of the Remnant Knights as he stood in the middle, studying the new arrivals with a careful gaze through the visor of his multi-winged helmet.

The leader was flanked by two knights each on either side of him, with the ones on the left being a male that was wore an elaborately-crafted suit of armor, its silver-grey plates having some black highlights near the edges of the individual armor plates, and the cloak worn around his shoulders was clearly silver in color with gold trim. The other knight was a clearly a female, who wore a white hooded cloak with gold trim over her head and flowing white robes which covered her armored body. The robes and armor plates seemed to have an odd language inscribed onto their surfaces, and there are also some designs on the robes which resembled glyphs. Her weapon was clearly a golden staff with a head that was shaped like an open flower, and similar word inscriptions could be seen adorning the long handle of her staff.

Both knights on the right appeared to be male with the first being a tall and muscular figure clad in gunmetal-grey armor with black trim highlights and wearing a black robe that seemed to share the same color as the dark between the stars. He also has a hood over his head but one could vaguely make out a helmet fashioned in the likeness of an alpha Grimm Beowolf underneath. The other male knight was slightly taller than the leader, but was clearly wider due to the different configuration of armor he wore, which made him look like some sort of giant juggernaut warrior. His armor suit was just as elaborate, with heavily armored pauldrons that were fashioned in the shape of snarling predatory beasts, and on the back of his left clawed gauntlet was a golden griffon head with red inlaid gems in its eyes. Emerald laurels circled the winged breastplate which had a smaller griffon head jutting out from it, and silver lightning bolts decorated his forearms and thigh armor plates, and a tabard with his personal emblem flowed from his armor's lower half. His personal armor had thicker plates and looked even more sophisticated than the others, colored mostly in gold, brown and silver, in addition to a helmet fashioned in the face of a Grimm Goliath with a similar V-shaped curved top and a T-shaped visor like the leader. Within his large gauntleted fists the giant warrior held an mighty rectangular-shaped warhammer, with its gold-trimmed ornate head adorned with snarling drakes and beasts as well as swirling ancient script on its metallic surface, and it looked far too big and heavy to be physically lifted by any normal humans.

There were also four other armored figures in the chamber besides the five Remnant Knights who stood at the far end of the room. The first was a feminine knight clad in gunmetal-grey armor plates and an emerald green cloak, with a rapier sword in a sheath strapped to her belt, and the green lenses of her helmet studying the group of new arrivals carefully as though searching for any threats before focusing on Ozpin himself, giving him a nod of respectful acknowledgement which he returned slowly in her direction. The male knight standing a short distance behind her had the build of a brawler, and he was clad in armor plates of similar grey colors with an orange trim, with a brown cloak flowing from his own pauldrons. Unlike the other knights who had lenses of blue, his lenses were blood-red in color and he clearly had the build and posture of a Tiger Faunus. Ending at both sides of his arms were elaborate gauntlets of gold and orange which looked like a far more advanced version of Yang's Ember Celias with thick-plated arm guards that had swirling red-orange flame patterns on them.

Standing at the right hand side of the chamber was another female Knight who was decked in armor plates of grey with red trim highlights, and her cloak was white with a distinct red trim. She carried a long complicated-looking rifle in her gauntleted hands, clearly designed for sniping from long distances due to its customized scope and additional silencer screwed onto the already lengthy barrel. Her helmet was fashioned in the likeness of a Grimm Nevermore, and crimson lenses regarded the arriving group closely even as she stood at attention with her fingers resting lightly on the trigger guard while the other cradling the lower receiver to support the long rifle. And finally there was a familiar knight figure who was dressed in gunmetal-grey armor with blue trim, plus a midnight-blue cloak which flowed from his own shoulder pauldrons. Two long swords were mag-locked to his back, and an armored helmet with a V-shaped component and azure lenses covered his face, but everyone in the group instantly recognized him due to the fact he was the first Remnant Knight they had met and provided much-needed assistance to Team Beacon during the White Fang mission.

"Sharp Strike!" Ruby cried out in surprise even as Glynda closed the doors behind them.

The young Remnant Knight turned his helmet in her direction and said in a warm voice, "Hello Ruby, it's good to see you again."

"Sharp Strike..." The deep gravel voice of the lead knight echoed throughout the room as he turned his helmet in Sharp Strike's direction. The other knight nodded his head quickly and stood at attention, going silent as ordered by his superior.

The group of six adults and eight students walked down to the grotto-like recess where the Remnant Knights presently waited, with Ozpin stepping forward to face the leader of the Knights. He was taller than Ozpin by at least a full head, and the headmaster had to look up at the grey and white armored warrior even as he held an ancient paper scroll in his hands. The leader of the Remnant Knights looked down at Ozpin and continued, "I take it those eight students are the young warriors I have heard and read so much about from the reports you have given me? Teams RWBY and JNPR?" The winged helmet turned and regarded the female knight with the flowery staff for brief moment as though asking her an unseen question. Only when she gave a slight nod did the lead knight turned back to regard the Beacon headmaster once more.

"Indeed, Grand Knight Master. We have brought them as promised." Ozpin confirmed.

"Have they taken the oath?" The rumbling voice of the Remnant Knight's leader came again.

Glynda walked forward and spoke up, "Yes, they have all taken the oath. However, they have requested us to tell the other members of their special unit of what they have seen here today, which I agreed on the condition that I will also make sure those members are sworn to secrecy as well."

The T-shaped visor of the Remnant Knights' leader looked at Glynda for a long moment before he sighed, and it sounded as though a giant was taking a breath, "Very well, but make sure that no one other than their special unit knows of our existence, as once a secret is known...it cannot be unknown." The large winged helmet shook slowly, and then turned to regard Ozpin, "This is a highly unusual meeting for our order, William Ozpin, as we do not come out into the open in such numbers lightly save for significant missions, nor do we allow this many individuals to know of us at once." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Have the ruling members of the Kingdoms' councils approved of your proposal for allegiance with the Knight Order?"

"I can assure you that our request for an alliance is genuine, Grand Knight Master Seraph." Ozpin nodded as he replied, "I have spoken with the heads of the councils and they have agreed to this alliance. As proof of my words, I present to you this scroll." The headmaster then held his arm forward, revealing the paper scroll sealed with wax which had the imprint of the Remnant Knight Order.

The Grand Knight master took the scroll from Ozpin delicately, breaking the wax seal and held it up to his helmeted face, reading the cursive script written in neat lines on the aged material of the paper scroll carefully for a few long moments. After he had scanned through everything, the knight leader released a heavy sigh and said, "The last time a full-fledged alliance was needed, the world of Remnant was on the brink of a Great War that would have left nothing but ashes and ruins in the aftermath. We have suffered greatly in that particular conflict, but we managed to snatch victory narrowly from the jaws of defeat, and yet we still paid a terrible price for winning that battle. If things have become so calamitous that the scroll of alliance is needed once more, we may be facing another Great War against the forces of darkness."

The headmaster gave a grave nod, "As bad as things may seem now, there's still the possibility that they might get much, much worse if proper action is not taken. By forming an alliance between our respective organisations, we would stand a better chance of stopping them together as it's the best possible way to ensure our success in that endeavor, like what your Order and our Kingdoms did in the years long past. We require the aid of the Remnant Knights once again, and I hope you will give it to save Remnant."

There were a few moments of silence before Grand Knight Master Seraph spoke, this time with a softer tone in his deep booming voice, "And we shall. An alliance between us will be formed again, for the sake of Remnant's people. We shall seal this with an oath." Glynda and Forge Smith both stepped forward, and the giant heavily-armored Knight took the paper scroll and placed it on a lectern pedestal nearby. From a hidden pocket within the confines of his armor, Seraph withdrew a simple ceremonial blade and unlocked one of his gauntlets, while Ozpin received an identical ceremonial blade from Glynda who passed it to him reverently with both hands.

"I, William Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy, hereby seal this sacred oath of alliance with the Remnant Knights on behalf of the Kingdoms' councils, and I will honor this alliance till the end of time itself." The silver-haired headmaster spoke solemnly as he swiftly performed a small cut on his palm and allowed his hand to bleed a little, before pressing his palm onto the left-hand side of the paper scroll.

"I, Seraph Pendragon, Grand Knight Master of the Remnant Knights, hereby seal this sacred oath of alliance with the four Kingdoms' of Remnant and the Guardians, and I will honor this alliance till the end of time itself." The leader of the Remnant Knights intoned as he slit his unarmored hand and pressed the bleeding palm onto the right hand side of the paper scroll. After both individuals removed their hands, the words on the surface of the paper scroll showing the previous word oaths briefly flashed a glowing blue before returning to its normal state once more, surprising the eight students slightly, and they just managed to keep their surprise under control.

"So witnessed." Glynda and Forge Smith both spoke in unison, and Seraph turned towards Ozpin offering one of his large gauntleted hands out to the headmaster, who gratefully accepted it and shook.

Turning to the eight teenagers of Teams RWBY and JNPR, the leader of the legendary Remnant Knights regarded them all with the majestic regal visage of his winged helmet and spoke, "Young Hunters, we have a lot to talk about."

TO BE CONTINUED...

I am so, so, so sorry this took so long, I was a bit lazy recently and I've been rather burned out on writing which is why I need a break. I also wanted to make this chapter very good, since it will be the last one for a couple months. Also RelentlessCrusader (my friend and co-writer) had a lot of work to do at his university, which took a lot of time and I needed him to make sure the Knights were portrayed as he wanted them to be. The wait would have been longer, but I decided to split this chapter in two so the chapter wouldn't be so long. The next chapter will be up within the next few weeks.

The reason Tyrian, Ilia, and the other White Fang members are genetically altered is because in this universe, Faunus can only be mammals, therefore they needed to be mutated in order to match up with their traits in canon, plus I thought genetically re-engineered Faunus traits was an interesting idea. I also did consider having Claudandus die by Adam's hands during the war for the White Fang, but I decided it would be unnecessary as Adam had already dug his grave deep enough by that point. Also, we finally see Mavis, the other new Grimm Hybrid and revisit Ziz and peak back at her character arc.

Voices

Sharp Strike: Troy Baker

Argentius: Ewan McGregor

Soul Seer: Renee Faia

Sheer Kaa: Idris Elba

Selena: Grey DeLisle

Commander Central: David Harewood

Thorn: Jordan Reyne

Mavis: Melissa Fahn

If you enjoyed this story, then please consider faving and following this fic and leave a review if you read it on fanfiction . net. If you're on An Archive of Our Own then please leave a kudos and a comment. Tell me what you liked and what you didn't, and how I can improve. Please guys give me some feedback, as it keeps me and this story going and if you want me to keep writing please tell me what you think, please! For those of you on the RWBY Reddit please give this fic a mention, thanks. Please guys, help me out here, let me know if you enjoy this story, what's good and bad about it, tell me if you liked it or tell me if it sucked, please, I work really hard to make this story good so please give me some feedback, please let me know that my efforts aren't wasted. Thank you all, once again.