So, this chapter is beyond late (see what I did there) and I'm really sorry about that. I could blame it on school or life, and while that is true, it's mainly because I was lazy, but for all of you that have been waiting patiently for this chapter, thank you. I can't promise chapters will come out fast, but they will come out. Rest assured this story isn't going anywhere.

Emerald decided she hated flying. If there was a way to jump out and swim the rest of the way to Atlas she would have done it. Getting hit with that creature's spit had been a better experience than this.

Currently, she was trapped in the middle seat between Jaune, who was permanently hunched over, his mouth hovering over a barf bag, and a leech of a teenager, who was obviously trying to undress her with his eyes while he attempted to chat her up. Apparently, he was an up-and-coming musician, who left home because his parents just didn't understand him and he could really use a backup dancer and she'd be perfect for the job. Emerald didn't know if he was fearless or delusional to be able to just ask something like that.

On top of all that, there was a family behind her that had a baby, who cried nonstop, and a young boy, who wouldn't stop kicking her seat. Even on the street, she never had to live through something this awful. If security hadn't made her give up her weapons, people would probably be dead.

"I'm telling you if we team up, the two us will be famous," the punk teen continued. Emerald thought about using the-guy-sitting-next-to-me-is-actually-my-boyfriend excuse, but considering Jaune had just filled his third bag, it would probably just make the other guy think she settle for anything.

"Attention passengers," the intercom buzzed, "we will be landing shortly. Please return to your seats and buckle your seatbelts."

Emerald had never felt more relieved. Then, the little boy kicked her seat again. If Jaune was aware enough, he would have noticed Emerald's face warp, but too bad for the kid there would be no knight to save him. Using her semblance, she produced the most grotesque monster she could think of and had the young boy see it suddenly climbing over her chair, ready to eat him.

Emerald caught his face drain of all color before he released a bloodcurdling scream that shook the whole airship. The mother jumped as she suddenly had two ear-wrenching demons to deal with and everyone on the airship turned her way. She tried to calm her son down, but it didn't do much.

Emerald reclined into her chair, hands behind her head not minding the increase in noise. She would be free from it soon and the mother would have to deal with it. Emerald kind of hoped she scared the kid for life. Maybe it would keep him from ever getting on an airship ever again.

Jaune had Emerald stood in the airport with their messily luggage. Both relived to be off that flying hell but for completely different reasons.

"How are we getting to the Schnee Mansion?" Emerald asked.

"What do you mean? We're walking." Jaune said. Atlas might have been known for its unforgivable weather and endless amounts of snow and ice, but that didn't mean it was like that all year-round. There were days where the weather was nice and peaceful, no worse than an average fall day in Vale.

Today was not one of those days.

Icy winds pounded on the airport windows and the snow was coming down thick. It was all Emerald needed to see. "There is no way in hell we are walking."

"What else are we supposed to do?" Jaune said pulling out a single 5 lien card, the remainder of their funds. "We don't have any money for a ride and I don't think the public bus makes a stop at the Schnee Mansion."

"We're definitely not walking. We'd freeze to death before we made it halfway. Thankfully, I secured us some more funds, so we can call a taxi." Emerald pulled out a wallet, with a guitar wielding, mohawk wearing, skeleton etched on the front, from her pocket.

"Emerald," Jaune hissed, looking around to make sure no one was watching them, "where did you get that?"

"I stole it from the guy sitting next to me."

"I can't believe you. We are specifically here so we can get money in a non-illegal way."

"It's not a crime if nobody reports it. Besides I guarantee you that we'll be putting this money to much better use than Mr. Rock n roll."

"That way of thinking is completely unjust."

"Fine," Emerald said throwing her hands down in defeat, "If you're really that against it, I'll turn it in then we can walk through the freezing weather, watching our skin turn black as we hold ourselves trying to keep even the slightest bit of warmth. We'll get lost and have to hold up in a cave waiting for rescue that will never come, cursing all the things we never did in life before the cold, dark grip of death takes the life away from our frozen bodies."

Jaune looked at Emerald.

Emerald looked back at him.

Jaune looked at the wallet.

Emerald smiled.

Jaune snatched the wallet out of her hand in a huff. "I'm only doing this because we need to. This is not okay. We're supposed to be the heroes."

"Yeah, yeah," Emerald said, following Jaune as he called for a cab.

Jaune watched the scenery pass by as they drove. It helped slightly to calm his stomach, a trick he sadly couldn't really use on an airship. There wasn't much to find in the endless sheet of white, however. They wouldn't be driving through the city proper since both the airport and Schnee Mansion were outside of it. Maybe when they finished their job they could visit.

The drive wouldn't be a long one with their destination being pretty close to the airport. Jaune guessed that with the amount of flights the Schnee family were probably expected to take it made sense. They would certainly have private planes, but an entire private airport seemed a little much even for the richest family on Remnant. Plus, Jaune didn't think a fleet of commercial airships could be all that aesthetically pleasing when parked in your backyard.

As they got closer, the driver kept looking back like he expected they would tell him it was all a joke and that they actually wanted to go into the city. He and Emerald weren't the type of people to be invited to Schnee Mansion, and if they had been, they certainly wouldn't be showing up in a public taxi.

The mansion grew over the horizon looking like an odd mix between a fairy tale castle and a government building. The cab dropped the two of them off by the front gate. An armed guard quickly came to meet them eyeing their weapons suspiciously. "What is your business here?" the woman said forcibly.

Jaune held out the job posting. "We're here to help with your ghost problem." Wow, saying that out loud makes it seem really stupid.

The guard let out the most soul-crushing groan Jaune had even heard as her eyes wandered the printout. A pit opened in Jaune's stomach. Was it fake? Had they gotten trick? If so they were screwed, stuck in Atlas with no money and nowhere to go.

Thankfully that wasn't the case. "Follow me," the guard said waving them in. The gate opened and they were led into the mansion. "Wait here and don't venture off if you do, you'll be removed from the premise, forcibly if we must."

With that said, the guard went back outside leaving Jaune and Emerald to take in the scene before them. The entrance hall was massive, being the size of a small house alone, but it was the people that filled the entrance hall that drew attention. There must have been more than fifty individuals meandering around.

"We weren't the only ones to take an interest," Emerald said.

"I can see that," Jaune replied.

There was a clear divided between the SDC security, wearing similar white and blue uniforms, and the interviewees with their patchwork of color. Some wore costumes that could have been stolen straight from a traveling caravel.

Jaune and Emerald pulled off to one wall, getting some room for themselves as they watch even more people trickle in. "Something's not right here," Jaune stated.

"It really is odd. You'd think that a company at war with a terrorist organization wouldn't just invite all these people into their home. That guard didn't even ask for identification, and we even have weapons."

"Think this might be a trap to lure White Fang members here and then arrest them when they try to do something."

"If there was someone stupid or ambitious enough to try, they wouldn't be very high up the command chain, and the SDC works with the Atlas military they wouldn't need to do something like this."

"Could they just be that desperate to solve this haunting?"

"I'd put money on General Ironwood funding the White Fang before I believe that Jacques Schnee loses a second of sleep from a supposed ghost. If even half the things I've heard about him are true, he'd probably buy a new mansion before begging for help."

"Yet here we are, along with half a hundred others. I get that ghost hunters probably don't advertise their services, but the SDC it rich enough to find the very best, or even hire an expert huntsman. Why did they just throw out a help wanted ad to the general public. There's definitely more going on here."

"Should we just leave? Hunting creatures and solving problems is one thing, but getting wrapped up in an SDC conspiracy isn't something we should strive for."

"We don't have any other options. If we walk out we'll be left without any money or place to go. We have to solve this, or at least make Mr. Schnee believe we did. We're done for otherwise."

"Why did you brings us here again?"

"I thought it would be easy."

"That was you first mistake."

Even as the two of them talked, there were still people arriving. It wasn't until people were having to yell over each other just to talk that the man himself appeared.

The head of the SDC stood at the top of a huge staircase looking down on them like it was the most natural thing in the world. A very stern looking woman, wearing a business suit, stood next to him, holding a tablet. "There's even more of them than yesterday," Jacques mumbled.

"It shouldn't take too long. We just need to find a few competent ones. If this bunch is anything like the last, though, I don't have high hopes."

"You do know we can hear you, bitch," someone shouted from the crowd.

"Please remove that person," she said without showing any change in emotion. The guy had probably thought they wouldn't be able to tell who had yelled under the cover of the crowd but security got him immediately and roughly escorted him out the door.

His complaints were lost to the roaring Atlas winds, and the crowd grew silent. Their host took another few seconds to inspect them before making his descent. Everything time his shoe hit a step it sounded like cracking ice. He secretary was always a measured distance behind him and both came to a stop at the second to last step, just enough to stand above the crowd.

"I trust that you have all come here after hearing about the request the SDC released. I realize that it is a strange request, but this is not a joke as I myself have personally come to greet you. If there are those of you who believe this to be a joke, I suggest you leave." No one moved. "Now be—"

"Mr. Schnee," a man said steeping forward. "Please forgive my interruption, but I know you're a busy man and don't want to waste your time, so I would like to demonstrate right now why I'm more than capable of handling your ghost. There will be no need to bother with the rest of this fools once you see my powers. Behold true magic." The man held his arm out straight with his palm facing Jacques. From his point of view, it must have looked like there was nothing there, but from Jaune's and the crowds point of view they could easily see the playing card the magician was hiding by griping the corners with the back of his fingers. With a quick flick of his wrist the card was sent around his fingers into his palm.

Jacques did not look impressed with the man's "true magic" and with a nod of his head security escorted their second person out. "Tough crowd," Emerald joked.

"While what just occurred was a sad excuse of a performance, that man did demonstration what I would like. You should think of this as a practical interview where you must prove to me why you are best qualified to handle this problem. It's like applying to any other position in my company. It is only the nature of this job that I have conduct the screening in this manner. I am indeed a busy, so don't delay and don't disappoint me."

"For those who are ready," the secretary said stepping in, "form a line in front of the stairs." A line was quickly formed and the interview/competition began.

"It just keeps getting stranger by the second," Emerald commented.

"I was joking before but maybe this really is all for Mr. Schnee's enjoyment," Jaune said.

"Does that look like a man who's enjoying himself to you?" True to her word Jacques' face was set in stone as he gave each person about ten seconds to sell themselves before he moved them away. Those who disagreed or demanded more time were quickly taken by security. Everything about it felt like an assembly line.

"We're going to need to find a way to stand out," Jaune said.

"Why, you can use real magic? That's more than enough for them to take us seriously."

"I'm not so sure about that. The only magic I can really use are etches and they can only really do what dust can. They could easy see it as a trick or a semblance. Even if they do believe me, I'm not sure it's wise to be using magic so casually in front of all these people. It's stayed a secret for this long, and I don't really want to blow that because I showed off to Jacques Schnee."

"Fine, but if you're not going to use magic, we're no better than anyone else here. How do we convince Mr. Schnee to give us a chance?" Emerald said, glancing at the ever-diminishing line.

Jaune rubbed that back of his head as he thought. What did their host want from them? How could he even judge if someone was qualified to deal with this problem? What would the man at the head of the SDC expect from them?

Jaune chuckled as the answer came to him. "Hey, Emerald how detailed can you make your illusions?"

The line moved quickly and soon enough Emerald and Jaune were up. Jacques icy gaze never strayed from their faces. "Has this become such a farce that even children come out to play?" He mumbled quietly, but not so quietly that they weren't meant to hear him.

Knowing they were only seconds away from being kicked out Jaune took the lead and stepped forward. "Good day, Mr., Schnee. I know we look young, but my partner and I are actually very experienced in dealing with the supernatural. We have been all over Remnant helping with problems just like yours," Jacques did not look convinced, "and we've even prepared a resume to prove it."

Jaune handed the man a single sheet of white paper, and he took it suspiciously but not without a slight trance of curiosity. His eyes scanned the paper going over each line. "This is quiet the list of accomplishments you have, but you'll have to forgive me, I'm not familiar with any of them."

"I'm not surprised," Jaune said in a polite and calm manner, "most of our clients aren't as open about their problems as you are. If you need confirmation feel free to call any of the references." Jacques nodded and held the paper so his secretary could see it.

She pulled out her scroll, punched the number in, and turned slightly away from them as it rung. Jaune wiped sweat off his hands onto his pants and Emerald bit her lip while they waited for the old women to converse with the person on the other end. It only lasted for a couple of minutes before she hung up. "The reference claims that these two are reliable and were the only ones who could help when his child was abducted by a monster."

Jacques Schnee watched her from the corner of his eye like he expected to catch her in a lie before looking back down at the resume. "This it quite the resume, and far more than any of these other fools have offered. It's enough to let them take a shot. Congratulations, Mr. Arc and Miss. Sustrai, you're hired." He folded the piece of paper in half and handed it to his secretary, who put it under her tablet. "Would you escort them to the guest room while I finish up here?"

"This way, please," she said leading Jaune and Emerald farther into the mansion. The hallways were so large and long that it felt like they might be walking forever, but they quickly were ushered into a small room, at least compared to the other rooms Jaune had seen, with three huge windows on the far wall and a table surrounded by large chairs and sofas. "Please wait here, someone will be around shortly."

"Thank you very much," Jaune said as the women closed the door leaving them to themselves. Almost immediately Emerald stumbled with her hand against her forehead. Jaune quickly led her to take a seat. "Are you alright?" he said filling up a glass of water, with the pitcher that was already on the table, and giving it to her.

Her expression was pinched as she took it. "I'm okay, I just overused my semblance. There was a lot the keep track of."

"Sorry to make you do it."

"It worked, didn't it."

It had. An illusionary resume that impressed Jacque's Schnee. Even Emerald didn't know for sure what was on it, only the general form and ideas, Jacque's saw whatever he thought a good application for this job should be. Combined that with some fake reference numbers and an illusionary voice on the phone, and hello Schnee Mansion.

It had been very risky, of course. Creating an implied illusion was apparently much more unstable and less convincing than one Emerald would think up in her own head since it relied almost completely on the other person's state of mind. There was also the problem that if Mr., Schnee and his secretary had decided to discussions the resume right there it would have been over since they would have seen different versions. Also, if the secretary looked at it again it would be nothing more than a white piece of paper. Hopefully she would file it away and either forget about it or think it was misplaced when she went to look for it. It all could have been avoid if they thought to forge a resume beforehand, but it was too late now.

They were still close to the fire, but Jaune felt confident enough to relax. Whatever happened now was out of their hands. He took a seat next to Emerald and spread his arms along the back. "Saving a child from a monster, though, you couldn't think of anything subtler?" he said.

Emerald glared at him though the one eyes that wasn't covered by her hand. "My head was killing me. I just said whatever would be the fastest."

"Your semblance is busted, you know. I don't even know what my is, but there's no way it's going to be as powerful as yours. It might be the best on Remnant."

"You're not the one who has to deal with the aftereffects. My head feels like it's about to crack, and it's not as great as you make it seem."

"Are you kidding me? You can make people believe anything."

"If it was that good, do you think I would've stayed on the streets? First of all, my semblance only lets me mess with people's sight and hearing. Touch, taste and smell are beyond my control. A well-trained huntsman or even and overly cations person could pick up on that especially if they knew about it beforehand. They also can't create negativity so grimm can pretty much ignore them and seek me out immediately. I also can't sustain them for very long. Simple things like hiding my weapons, I can do for a while, but anything more complicated than that and a few minutes is all I have."

"I still think it's much better than most."

"And how many semblances have to actually seen?" Emerald smirked.

Jaune's face flushed bright red. The conversation would have continued from there, but Jaune was save any further embarrassment when the door to their room creaked open. A slightly overweight man with a distinctive mustache entered and gave them a slight bow. "Good evening, my name is Klein Sieben. I'm the Schnee family's head butler, but I'm also here to serve you."

"Um…thanks?" Jaune said having never had anyone wait on him before.

"You have been invited to dinner with Mr. Schnee where he'll discuss what he would like for you to do in more detail. I shall escort you."

"What about our luggage?" Emerald said.

"You can leave it here. I'll have someone bring it to your rooms. Also, weapons aren't allowed at the table, so if you could leave those here. I promise they'll be treated with the upmost care."

Emerald didn't like the idea of leaving her stuff, and even less so with her weapons, but refusing would have just made her look suspicious. Reluctantly she set them aside. Jaune did the same with his sword.

"Excellent," Klein clapped, "please follow me, and I'll lead you to the dining room."

Klein did as he said and walked the pair through overly large hallways and took so many turns that Jaune felt the need to ask for a map. After a few minutes, Jaune was convinced Klein was just as lost as he was, but not even a second after he had that thought Klein opened a door to a room with a large table and several dishes spread across it. "Sir, Mr. Arc and Miss. Sustrai have arrived."

Mr. Schnee was sitting at the head of the table with a white-haired boy sitting to his right. "Thank you, Klein, you are dismissed. As for you two, please take a seat. We have businesses to discuss."

Jaune took the seat to Jacques' left and across for the boy and Emerald took the seat beside him. It was a little awkward considering there must have been a good eighty percent of the table not being used while they were scrunched up to one side. Even if all nine other members of Jaune's family were here, they wouldn't have been able to fill it.

"This is my youngest son, Whitley," Jacques introduced.

"A pleasure to meet you." He said with a smile and a pleasant tone, but his eyes told a different story. He looked a Jaune with—not distain—but dissatisfaction. Jaune followed his eyesight and realized Whitley was staring at the center of his chest, or more specifically, the Pumpkin Pete icon on his hoodie. It only now occurred to Jaune that Jacques probably had similar thoughts about his appearance but was just better at hiding it. Jaune didn't care what they thought, though, it was comfortable and warm, and it wasn't like he had a suit to wear. He dreaded what they would think if Emerald was wearing her normal attire. Luckily, the Atlas cold had forced her to wear something more conservative.

"Nice to meet you, too," Jaune replied. Emerald nodded already eying the food in front of them. It looked more like art pieces than edible meals, but Jacques and Whitley took some without hesitation, so he and Emerald did the same. Jaune didn't know much of about high class dining etiquette, but following their host seemed to be a good plan. If he did anything wrong it could just be chalked up to him being an eccentric. It would certainly fit in with the rest of the people who had gathered in the main hall.

"Actually, aren't there supposed to be others? Where are all the only people you hired for this job?" Jaune asked.

"You two are it," Jacques answered. "All the others I meet with were, how should I say, unsuitable for the position."

"You mean they were all lunatics trying to make a quick buck off the Schnee name," Emerald said. Jaune nearly kicked her, under the table, for her lack of tact, but shockingly her comment got a light chuckle out of the SDC head.

"I couldn't agree more. These people coming with smoke and mirrors trying to convince me of their delusions. Do they take me for a fool?"

Emerald and Jaune shared a look. For someone who hired them to deal with a haunting, Jacques sure didn't act like he believed in it. "If I may ask." Jaune said taking to lead, "when you said you would like help with a haunting, what do you mean by that?

The question was directed at Jacques, but Whitley took no hesitation in answering. "What we mean is exactly what we say. It might seem cliché but Schnee Manor is experiencing events right out of a ghost story: objects being moved around without anyone knowing, people catching a mysterious floating figure from the corner of their eye, and strange noises echoing down the halls at night."

"Have either of you experienced these things firsthand?" Jaune asked.

Jacques turned slightly away from them like he was fighting the urge to spit. "I'll admit, I have heard some unusual noises and misplaced things I'm sure I put elsewhere, but I think that's due to lack of sleep. These new waves of White Fang violence have left me very overworked."

"As for me, I haven't seen anything directly, but I did get detailed accounts from all those involved in accidents."

"Accidents?"

"Whitley," Jacques interrupted, "I've told you that you don't need to follow up with the servants. Let HR handle it."

"But father if I'm to be the heir to the company, isn't it important to make connections with the employees and show that I care."

"We've discussed this. You are not the heir. As of now, your sister, Weiss, is still heiress. Things might change but this it not the place to be talking about it."

"Of course, father." Jaune wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he heard the tiniest bit of condescension to his tone. "But, back to what I was saying, calling them accidents might make them sound worse than they really are, but there's certainly something mysterious about them. For instance, a few days ago, a maid was cleaning one of the hallways when a picture, hanging on the wall, smashed into her. She wasn't injured, just a small bruise, but she swears up and down that the painting didn't simply fall on her, but was flung off the wall like it had been kicked."

"Is that the maid who quit."

"Yes," Jacques said, deciding it was his turn to speak. "She couldn't handle the job and used that accident as her reason to quit only to go and blab to the tabloids about it. I wonder how much she made for selling the story?"

"Issues with you maids doesn't matter to us," Emerald said, continuing to brute force her way through the conversation. "We're just here to solve your problem and get paid." She had to be doing it on purpose, Jaune deicide.

"Then let us get down to business," Jacques said, perhaps likening the more direct manner. "All I want is for whatever is causing these problems to be removed, or killed, or exorcised or whatever. Since I don't know how one goes about doing that, I'll leave it largely to your discretion. You'll be allowed into any part of the mansion although I ask you to try your best not to disturb anyone here. Once you do whatever you need to do, and no more incidents occur, you'll be paid for your work. Are there any problems?"

"No sir, I'm sure my partner and I can handle this for you."

"Excellent, I'll be glad when this it over with."

Dinner continued with little more in the way on conversation and when it was done Emerald and Jaune left to familiarize themselves with the mansion. "You have a plan?" She asked.

"Actually, I do. From what they described, I think we're dealing with a misfit which just happens to be the first creature I ever defeated."

"Why would one appear here."

"They're drawn to negativity, kind of like grimm, and this is the home of the richest family on Remnant with a history of brutal business practices. There's probably plenty of reason for one to be here. Luckily, the only problem is going to be finding it. Once we do that, it should be easy."

"I have my doubts."

"Don't, it pays to be optimistic, and we deserve a break."

It was a little past midnight and Jaune was wandering the mansion hallways. He had honestly expected servants to be running around at all hours, but apparently the Schnee family like their home just as quiet at night as any other family. The only difference was the scale. Jaune remembered walking around his own house at night being creepy enough. Treading down moonlight halls in an eerie silence was about a hundred times worse. No wonder people quit, he hadn't even seen anything unnatural, yet, but he was already convinced that there was no way this place wasn't haunted.

Suddenly, Jaune heard a crash and something shatter from a couple rooms down. Running towards the noise, Jaune opened the door and shined his light inside. There was a broken vase on the floor but nothing else that looked unusual. It was possible the vase just fell and broke on its own, but it wasn't very likely.

Jaune shot off a quick message to Emerald, who was monitoring the other side of the mansion, telling her to get over here. She answered back almost instantly, but it would still take her a while to get across the entire mansion. Jaune had two options. Wait for Emerald and risk the creature getting out through one of the other doors, or go in without any backup.

Making his decision, he stepped inside being careful to check the ground for nails not wanting to experience that pain ever again. He couldn't risk letting the misfit get away. If it did, it might be days before they could find it again. It was an incredible stroke of like that he had stumbled on it the first night, but why had it broken that vase? Maybe it was just an accident. Misfits weren't prefect and the room was pretty cluttered with knickknacks and antiquates. Why the Schnee family even had a room like this Jaune didn't know. Was it just to impress guests?

Jaune circled the room watching for any signs of movement. It wasn't until Jaune was starting to think that the misfit might have slipped by him that something suddenly flew at him. He brought his shield up just in time and heard the loud thud as the object bounced off.

Jaune quickly shifted into his fighting stance ready to attack whatever had thrown the object, but it turned out the object had thrown itself as it was now hovering in the air about three feet in front of him. The floating object was some kind of gemstone about the size of his fist and definitely would have hurt had it connected.

Jaune didn't know what to do. He didn't think he could cut it with his sword, and even if he could, would he have just had two sentient object trying to attack him? One was already bad enough as it launched itself into another charge. Jaune blocked again which reset them to where they were before. The fight would devolve into an endless stalemate at this rate, so when the killer rock geared up for its next attack, Jaune dropped his sword and lunged at the object, grabbing it before it could build up any momentum.

It tried to break out of his grasp, but Jaune was too strong, something the gemstone seemed it recognize as it stopped resisting. "Ha, what are you going to do now?" Jaune mocked.

It didn't respond, of course, instead a black mist started exiting the gemstone almost making Jaune drop it. The mist slowly morphed into a human-like shape missing its lower half and wearing a mask with one eye. "A grimm?" Jaune stuttered.

The ghost grimm used that brief moment of shock to escape into the hallway, unfortunately for it, the second it exited the room, a green blade connected to a chain was impaled into its mask. The grimm dissipated a moment later.

"What was that?" Jaune asked when Emerald walked into the room.

"A geist," Emerald said like she was testing out the word for the first time, "I've never seen one in real life before. They're supposed to be pretty rare."

"But want's a grimm doing inside Schnee Mansion?"

"You tell me, you're the magic man."

Jaune sighed. "I have no idea. Grimm aren't like misfits, they can't just appear, at least I hope they can't. It might have snuck in somehow."

"Grimm aren't intelligent enough to do that, and even if it did get in how did it stay hidden for so long. It should have gone after the first person it saw until they killed them. Grimm don't play around with their targets."

"That grimm seemed pretty smart to me. Maybe geists are different."

"Possibly," Emerald didn't sound very confident in that.

"Listen, it doesn't really matter how it got in. You killed it so our job it done. We'll stick around for one or two more nights, and when nothing happens, we'll tell Mr. Schnee we lifted the curse and get our money."

"That's only if nothing happens."

Jaune looked at the gemstone in his hand seeing his distorted reflection. It wasn't the look of a satisfied man. "Yeah, if."

Transcript from hospital emergency room

Doctor: Please Sir, you need to calm down.

Patient: Run! Run! Monsters that break the brain live just out of sight! Oh, Oum why did I step into that place? I should have listen!

Doctor: Sir, what happened? Where did you go?

Patient: The abyss! Human's don't belong! How can such a place be? Even Salam bristles at its cracks!

Nurse: Doctor his heartrate is reaching dangerous levels.

Doctor: Give him two—

Patient: Ahhhhhhh! Those fool, what have they done? What have I done? Cryphilictal is a place of madness and they took [unintelligible]. I can hear the Hatter screaking! Tea Time! 6 o'clock! Fairly tails are real and they killed Alice! Oum is dead and we'll be too!

Patient dies soon after.

Cause of death: unknown

Time of death: 6:00 P.M.