Hello Everyone! So once again I caught COVID for what is essentially the 3rd time in the span of a year. This time I was bed ridden for days and took about 2 weeks to recover. Of course, I had to call in sick for an exam but when I went to get my medical submissions in my doctor when on vacation... then I had to do house repairs for 2 weeks during which several (and I really mean several) strangely unfortunate things happened which I would need an entire page to describe.

Anyway, onto the reviews:

Totallynotaduck I'm glad you find more appreciation in Nova. I wrote them like this initially as a sort of symbol that love transcends the boundaries of gender, race, skin colour, or whatever you look like on the outside, as long as you love someone and they love you back, nothing else should matter.

On a side note: I am hoping to go back and rewrite the earlier chapters. I'm not sure when I want to start that but I know I will at least get one or two done once I finish the intermittent volume that's currently going on. Essentially the 1 year pseudo time skip between the end of volume 8 going forward for a couple more chapters takes priority.


Chapter 77: Old Friends, New Friends


-Vacuo-

The training courtyard of Shade Academy was a vast hard dirt portion of the plateau on which the school resided. It stretched as far as a football pitch (A/N: Soccer field? I'm not American but I think it's about the same). There were bleachers set up along the left and right wings of the field, most of which were shaded but it wasn't a grand field like Beacon Academy. It seemed more designed toward class-based activities and training rather than grand events and competitions.

Ruby felt the sting of the desert sun bearing down upon her and was glad she changed into a new outfit. She'd contemplated wearing the very outfit she'd worn in Atlas, though once she put it on, she realized it wasn't as wholesome as it used to be. There were several tears along the sleeves and leggings, her skirt was slashed on the right side and her blouse had a gaping hole across the abdomen where she'd been slashed.

Her new outfit now consisted of a black V-neck shirt with a black laced, long-sleeved undershirt that covered the exposed parts of her skin. The collar of the undershirt stretched halfway up her neck while the lace patterns along the sleeves consisted of roses with thorns. She wore an accompanying black skirt and skin-tight leggings. Her boots were brand new shin-high gothic style boots with lots of buckles and straps. Her iconic red cloak was wrapped around her shoulders, plated neatly onto them resting comfortably enough to not completely cover her neckline and her necklace which hung out in the open.

The outfit made her look more mature and professional while also retaining her style and youthful appearance.

"They're late…" she muttered, checking the time on her scroll. She'd been standing in the empty courtyard for several minutes waiting for her assigned team, hoping their lateness wouldn't be a recurrence. Eventually, the sound of scampering footsteps alerted her to see them running up to her, looking particularly disoriented.

Gawain was the first to approach, his metallic armor clanking as he jogged. He spoke in gasps while attempting to regain his stamina, "Miss Rose, sorry we're late. Regis' locker fell apart and we had to get it fixed before we came. Thankfully this teacher was there to help us. I think he's your uncle...?"

Ruby blinked, realization dawning on her face, "Qrow? Was he there before or after the locker fell apart?"

"Uh, he was passing by when it happened…?"

Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation, "Ugh, sorry about him. He's a bad luck charm sometimes."

Gawain decided not to question it and straightened himself up. He was dressed in heavy, shiny steel armor, not a full suit but rather only the chest plate, gauntlets, shoulder pads, and greaves. On his back was a large two-handed great-sword. She almost didn't notice the three other individuals showing up behind him.

"Oh right! Almost forgot, this is my team," he said ushering to the persons just arriving. At first glance they were a strange mix of colours, a boy wearing black and blue, a girl in purple and another girl in ghostly white.

The new boy stepped forward, "I'm Regis, this guy's unfortunate best friend," he said in a bored tone while patting Gawain. He stood about 5' 7, with short black and spiky hair that rested just up to the bridge of his nose. His bright blue eyes shone against his dark clothing: a black leather jacket over a navy-blue shirt and dark grey jeans. Around his waist was a Katana with a black scabbard and blue metallic guard.

"Regis, show some respect," the white-haired girl said awkwardly as she pinched his cheek, "Sorry about my partner he's just a bit shy sometimes," she had lilac eyes and long eyelashes. She was clad in a white frilly blouse and black skirt. She didn't appear to have a weapon at first glance but Ruby quickly noticed a pair of handguns strapped to her back. "I'm Ether, at your service Professor." She curtsied.

"And I'm our fearless leader's partner, Violet," the last girl strung an arm around Gawain's neck and hung there loosely. She had violet hair and stormy eyes. Her outfit consisted of a pink hoodie that fit over a white undershirt and accompanying blue jeans. Hanging from her other hand was a large pair of purple scissors, approximately 6ft tall and 3ft wide at the base.

Ruby glanced over them all one at a time. They were strong, each had Aura levels to match trained Huntsmen. From their confidence alone she could tell they had some combat experience and were at least trained enough to be out in the field.

"Team GRVE, nice to finally meet you all. I'm Ruby Rose, and I'd prefer if you not refer to me as Professor or teacher. Just Ruby is fine, or Miss Rose, though that still kinda makes me nervous." Ruby said with a light smile.

Regis folded his arms and gave her a once over, "Teach, you mind if I call you that?"

"That's… fine, I guess."

"Say Teach, word around Campus is you're fast." He continued.

"Uh… it's not really speed as it's more dematerializing myself into rose petals and changing locations quickly…?" Ruby admitted, "Though I guess it is considered speed."

Ether rolled her eyes, "Please don't mind him, ma'am, he's just competitive. His semblance is teleportation so he just wants to mess with you."

"Don't just tell her that!" Regis complained, but Ether just stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. "Ugh."

Ruby giggled at their antics, "That's quite alright. We'll be spending quite a lot of time together so it'll be good if we get to know each other better." She then thought for a moment before getting an idea.

She unsheathed her weapon and let its heavy-weighted blade anchor into the floor and shatter the surface of the courtyard much to their amazement, "This is my weapon, Crescent Rose. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat their weapon so why not introduce yours?"

Gawain nodded feverishly and unsheathed his mighty blade. It was ornate and extended above his head when he held it at chest level. It had blue and gold designs along the hilt and guard, and from what she could tell, there were several mechanisms in place for the blade.

"This is Solaris, it's a two-handed greatsword that can be infused with dust cartridges at the bottom," he tapped a hole in the handle, "And it doubles as a bow that shoots dust projectiles," he then pulled a trigger on the handle that split the blade in half such that halves curved to form the hands of the bow while an energy string generated. He then pulled back while what appeared to be an arrow formed between his fingers from the energy and fired off.

Ruby gaped, "That's insane! How did you do that with the dust?!"

"My semblance allows me to control the material properties of Dust as long as I'm touching it," he explained.

"Wow… so cool!"

Ether pulled out her handguns. They were a pair of black desert eagles that seemed very heavy. "Judgement and Punishment. They carry .50 calibre rounds and they double as daggers," she clicked the handle and blades shot out from the magazine. "My semblance makes it so that I never miss, and every bullet I hit consecutively just hits a little bit harder."

"Oh my god can hold them?" Ruby asked.

Ether handed her with a smile and Ruby almost let her hands drop from their weight. They were extremely heavy, but she was prepared and held firm, spinning the guns a few times before handing it back. "They're gorgeous."

"Thanks, yours ain't so bad either."

Regis unsheathed his katana, which had a blue glowing blade made almost entirely of energy, "He's called Nightfall. The blade is highly conductive to lightning and fire dust so they can be fired off like projectiles. My semblance is teleportation, or rather once a day I can tether myself to an object, usually my blade, and I can teleport to it once I'm not too far away."

Ruby marveled at his ingenuity before gazing at Violet who pulled out the large pair of scissors.

"She's called Life Shear, and…" Violet opened the scissors to a 90-degree angle on the handles and rotated the central pin that held the blades. A heavy metal pole shot out of the hanging handle and anchored to the floor for support, the blade that stood in the air folded inward, and the blade that stuck out opened up a hole, "She's also a stationary artillery."

"That's a whole military weapon…" Ruby mouthed. "How did you…"

"Fit it into the mechanisms? Well instead of shooting explosives or heavy rounds it shoots densely compressed dust canisters. It's not as destructive but it gets the job done." Violet said with a half-smile. "My semblance is Mastery. It allows me to wield whatever weapon I touch as if it were an extension of myself. It doesn't teach me what I already don't know but it also makes even the heaviest of weapons light as a feather for me."

After a lot of marveling from Ruby's perspective, she took them out to the field.

"Well, I don't really have much planned for you guys today… it was more or less just a meet and greet…" Ruby said nervously.

Regis folded his arms, "Well why not a bit of sparring? Let's show you what we can do and we can see what you're also capable of?"

Gawain slapped him on the back of the head, "You can't just challenge a teacher!"

"Why not? I think it's a great idea!" Ruby said with a smile.

Regis smirked and stepped up to the chalk circle, "I volunteer myself."

Ether hummed, "Don't take her lightly Regis, underestimating the enemy will be your downfall. Don't be overconfident because you're strong."

The boy in question just smirked, "Yeah, whatever. Let's get this show on the road!"

Once the match began with both Aura meters displayed on the screen, Regis was the first to act, dashing in with a lunge, his body angling forward with his shoulder toward Ruby in a drawing stance.

To the average person, they would've blinked and missed Regis' speed, but Ruby's eyes were used to levels far above him by now. To her, Regis was moving at an average pace. The moment he took off from his stance, she expanded her aura sensory field around her. He entered the invisible zone, katana arcing lighting as it escaped the housing of its scabbard, Ruby's eyes drinking in every detail as it moved in almost slow motion to her.

She dodged the blade by a hair's breadth, notching Crescent Rose beneath him like a hook and flinging him to the side in one graceful movement. Regis' body skated across the hard dirt, leaving a trailing crater in his wake as he came crashing into a heap near the bleachers.

"Woah…" Gawain marveled from the sidelines.

"She dodged the attack just enough and countered in one movement. That… takes a lot of skill…" Violet observed.

"Is that all you have?" She asked smugly, looking toward the crater where she'd thrown Regis.

His response was to throw his blade at her, remembering something from earlier, she caught the blade. As she did Regis teleported to the blade handle, grabbing it from her hand, at least that's what he thought would happen.

The moment he appeared in front of Ruby, she was ready, charging her Aura into her fist as she'd trained with Yang, a silver-red light covered her hand as it connected with Regis' body and exploded in a burst of silver light and petals that sent him and his weapon once again careening far away from her, this time into the other three members of his team.

Gawain easily caught their friend, albeit with effort because of the recoil.

"I-I'm not done," he said weakly but Ruby shook her head.

"Your Aura is in the red. For a sparring match, that means you're out. In a life or death battle obviously, you would have to fight regardless of your Aura level but for now, at least we'll be training like this."

"No way! With one punch?!" Violet gasped as she checked the Aura bars. Ruby's Aura was depleted only a little while Regis was in the red. "What kind of attack was that? I thought your semblance was speed?"

"It's advanced Aura control. I think my sister teaches that here, so you'll learn more from her, but basically you can control your Aura so that it can either be a weapon or a shield. I'm not so good at it since my fighting style is focused on my weapon."

"Anyone else want to try?" she asked again looking at them.

Gawain looked eager but held himself back, "I… maybe some other time."

Ruby shrugged, "Well, I guess that's it for today. I'll see Gawain tomorrow for class and the rest of you at our next training session?"

They all saluted with genuine respect, "Yes ma'am!"


-Atlas-

The airship ride across the Solitas tundra was not as eventful as Nova hoped it'd be. Not that he wanted anything crazy but they didn't even spot a single Nevermore across the skies. It was almost like when Salem left, all the other Grimm just upped and vanished along with her.

"Another hour, another flock of birds on the radar but no Grimm," Marrow said, spinning around on his chair. The ship was set to autopilot.

Nova hummed, "I want to say it's a good thing but the quiet just makes me antsy…" his trigger finger itched closer to Helios around his waist only to be reigned in.

"It's almost like she pulled them back when she left…" Vine said thoughtfully.

Nodding in agreement, Nova walked toward the window and gazed at the clear open sky, "I thought she can make infinite amounts of them. Kinda makes one of my early theories make more sense."

Elm raised an eyebrow urging him to continue so he did.

"It takes time to make Grimm. It takes even more time to make stronger Grimm, and from what we've seen, she's capable of evolving Grimm. My theory was that other than the wild Grimm that roam naturally, she breeds special ones to head her army. Grimm, just like energy, can have their form transformed to another, altered like putty."

"Oh, I think I saw that on the video tapes. That Cinder woman was using powers like the Grimm and summoning them out of her body, at least that's what Winter said." Elm confirmed.

Nova had a dark look, "I think it means that Salem is pooling her Grimm back to make newer, stronger, and more powerful Grimm. The likes of which we'd never seen before. Her plan failed, and she's a smart person, so she's going back to the drawing board and revaluating her strategies."

"As if the ones we already dealt with weren't enough of a problem," Marrow grumbled.

Much of the red went on in silence, occasionally only pierced by the sounds of switches being flipped and the rattle of the ship in turbulence. "Argus city ETA five minutes," Vine said from the cockpit.

Marrow moved to tap onto the communications, "Argus Tower and border control this is Marrow Amin of the Ace-Ops on airship Alpha-Foxtrot Siera One requesting landing permissions, over."

A very familiar elderly and feminine voice was heard in response, "Ace Flight one we read you but we request you hang in air space until we clear a response from mother base." Cordovin was on the other end of the radio.

Marrow groaned, "Argus border control, we have clearance from General Schnee please let us through."

"I'm afraid I can't do that until we get verbal confirmation from mother base regardless of your clearance. It's protocol."

Marrow pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "We outrank her right? Can't we just force a landing?" he looked at Vine who just shrugged.

Nova brushed past him and picked up the communications, "Hey old lady!" he smirked making everyone's jaw drop at his audacity.

"Who is this?! Who dares to use such a tone against this base's commanding officer? I will have whoever you are fired for disrespect and insubordination!"

"Fire me? I'm surprised they haven't retired your senile ass, Cordovin." he said with a smirk, and the pregnant silence that followed made Nova imagine her face scrunching up in irritation.

Marrow paled, "What the hell?! Are you trying to make this harder?!" he was exasperated but Nova simply held up a hand with the same smug look on his face.

The radio responded, "That annoying voice…" Cordovin cringed, "Dragon brat?"

"The one and only, well actually one of two but you remember me don't you? I mean I think we left quite the impression last time…" Nova was enjoying every moment of this.

"I can't believe you're alive. I thought you'd gotten shot or something…"

Nova feigned joy, "Oh please you almost sound like you care. Just give us the all-clear and we'll be out of your hair. These guys have better things to do than babysit me."

Cordovin snorted, "I have half a mind to just leave you in the air." She hung up.

"WHAT WAS THAT?! NOW WE'LL NEVER LAND!" Marrow looked ready to strangle Nova.

The dragon simply held up three fingers, "Three… two…." As the final finger dropped at one, the radio opened and broadcast again, "Proceed to hanger six, you have five minutes to land."

"I knew you missed me," Nova said with a proud smirk as he hung up.


As the ship pulled into the dock Nova took a moment to admire the anti-Grimm forcefields that were set up in place along the coast. The pillars were all black and a lot larger, the shield itself seemed to stretch in three layers on just the first ring of five. At least they learned their lesson and upgraded since he last saw them.

Nova stepped down from the airship, "Well this is my stop," he turned to give one last look at the Ace Ops.

Cordovin stepped onto the landing platform to see them, "You certainly don't look much different…" she said rubbing her chin.

Marrow smirked as he saw her, "Oh good, he's your problem now."

"Wait what?"

"Byeee!" he waved, "VINE HIT THE GAS!'

Nova blanched as he watched them leave in a hurry before chuckling and turning to the old lady, "Don't worry, I won't be here for long. I'm heading out soon but I gotta make a few stops to see some friends before I leave."

Cordovin raised her eyebrow, "So you didn't come bearing news of the end of the world for once?"

"Oh no that's still very much a thing but for now it seems we have a few brief moments to prepare."

"Prepare? How exactly do you propose we do that?" she said as they walked through the facility.

"Easy. I'm going to retake Beacon." He said nonchalantly.

Cordovin simply hummed, "Oh retake Beacon, that sounds easy enou- WHAT?! BY YOURSELF?!"

Nova snorted, "Gods no, I'm going to pick up some recruits on my way."

"None of mine I hope? I can barely spare time let alone soldiers."

"Oh, no soldiers I'm just going to grab an old friend…" he said before finally seeing the pier to enter the city.


As Nova passed by the market district where the festival was held the last time he was here, he tried to make his way through the streets as best as he could, based on memory.

"Left, then up the street, and then… where was it again?" After about ten minutes he found himself full circle back at the market district.

Pinching the bridge of his nose he contemplated scaling a building and just running on the rooftops but that would probably get him in trouble. Groaning loudly, he walked over to a nearby outdoor café and pulled up a chair.

As his eyes looked up, searching for an available menu his gaze was drawn to a very bright red head of hair that sat drinking coffee in the cold. Amidst all the people she was arguably the tallest and it was a wonder he hadn't spotted her from ten miles away.

With a drawn-out smirk playing on his lips, he quickly and silently got up and shimmied over to her, standing behind her, quietly observing what she was doing. Pyrrha was reading the newspaper and having her morning coffee. Headlines read 'Atlas in shambles? Grimm suddenly disappeared from Solitas. Where did they go?'

"This is so weird… I hope the team is alright out there…" she muttered to herself.

"Oh the team is fine, I think."

"WAH?!" The red-head jumped out of her chair and spun around on the offending person only to stop short as she met the grinning face of one Nova Flareheart.

"Long time no see aye?"

"Nova?!"

"The one and only," he opened his arms, "So you gonna stand there gawking, or are you gonna give your friend a big old hug?"

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and hugged him, "What are you doing here?" she asked releasing the hug and holding him at arm's length. "Where is everyone else?". She was more interested in the "Where is JNPR and more specifically Jaune?" but she never asked that.

Nova scratched his nose awkwardly, "We got separated again. They're at Vacuo, according to Winter. As for me, well…" his stomach grumbled.

"Sit, I'll order you some coffee and food," she laughed sitting back down as Nova pulled a chair opposite to her.

After ordering they picked up their conversation once more, "Yeah like I was saying, I'm heading to Vale. Well, actually I'm heading to Menagerie first, then to Vale."

Pyrrha blinked, "Wait why are you going back there? Isn't it like infested with Grimm?"

"That's partly why I was looking for you," he looked at her deadly serious, "I need help to reclaim Beacon Academy. I know I have no right to ask this of you, I'm pretty sure you have your hands full with…"

"Nova." She said firmly.

"Yes?"

"I'll do it."

"Wait for real? I thought it would take a lot more convincing than that… same thing happened with Winter too. Is everyone going crazy?" bewildered he took a swig of the scaling coffee just to make sure he wasn't crazy.

"Yeap. Taking back Vale and Beacon won't be easy and knowing you, even if I declined you'd go anyway. Honestly, I can't have your death on my conscience and I'm pretty sure if anything happened to you, the guys wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

Nova blanched, "No one would blame you if you declined Pyrrha…"

"Nuh uh, no buts. I would blame myself anyway," she took a sip of her coffee as well, "So when do we leave?"

"Today if possible, we can catch the evening train back to Mistral, it should give you enough time to pack the essentials, and say goodbye to Chrys and I can also take a stop at the Terra-Cotta's and see how they're doing."

Pyrrha swallowed hard, she forgot about her mother Chrysanthemum, "Right. She should still be home, I can head there while you go visit…"

Nova finally got his tuna sandwich and began scarfing it down, "Wait I want to come with you."

"Huh? I mean sure that's not a problem, we can see my mom, and then…"

"Oh no… well that too, Chrys was a very nice lady the last time but I'm more in need of uh well… you know…" he blushed in embarrassment.

She wasn't following, "Out with it, whatever it is I'm sure…"

"You're three sizes are still the same right..,?" he asked awkwardly.

Pyrrha almost spat out her coffee, "Why would you ask that?!"

"Because I only have this outfit that fits my male body. I'm going to have to change out of this eventually. I also didn't exactly walk with chest support!" Nova said, his face beet red.

Pyrrha made an 'O' shape with her mouth, "I forgot about that. Why didn't you… I thought… why me?!"

"Because last time your clothes fit me perfectly! And I'm not exactly sure who else to ask and it's not like I can go shopping for them because my boobs are gonna be bouncing all over the place!"

She looked at him dryly, "Do you even know your sizes?"

"Well no… that's also why I was hoping you'd help me out…? I mean we're basically sisters, right? We might not share blood but we have the same Aura so that makes you family to me, at least in my book anyway..."

"Alright fine. We head back to my place, I can loan you some clothes then we go get you some spares just in case."


Pyrrha's house wasn't as grand as Nova thought it would be. He was sure her family was loaded from all the sponsorship deals but it seemed they weren't ones to show off.

Chrys was the one to greet them at the door, pleasantly surprised to see her daughter's saviour, "Welcome dear. If I'd known you were coming I'd have at least prepared…"

Nova gave the short woman a small smile, "It's fine Mrs. Nikos. I'm not going to be here for long. Which reminds me…" he said as he stepped inside, "I'll be needing to borrow my sister for a little while. I'll be sure to bring her back in one piece."

"Your sister…?" Chrys asked confused.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes, "He means me. I'll be leaving with him on a trip to Vale." When she noticed her mother's expression morphing into worry she tried to amend, "I'll be back when it's all over. I promise..."

Chrysanthemum looked nervous, "But dear, are you ready to leave so soon? I've only had you back for two months…"

Pyrrha's expression softened as she gave her mom a reassuring hug, "I know, but I can't stay here forever. This job is what I was born to do. It's my responsibility..."

"I wish it wasn't. These things shouldn't be resting on the shoulders of an eighteen-year-old girl. You might be an adult by societal standards but you're still my baby girl."

The spear-wielding Huntress stared into her mother's eyes, "The same could be said for Nova and the others. They all bear a burden much heavier than what I've been carrying, and I think it's about time I start pulling my share of the weight. Besides... I owe it to my Aura Sister," she said that last part with a smile.

At that moment the dragon in question yelled, "Hey, Pyrrha which is your room?" he asked from the stairs.

"Second one on the left, and don't go through my stuff!" she yelled up at him.

Nova just let out a throaty chortle as the sound of his footsteps scampered across the tiled flooring.

"I'll go make sure he doesn't break anything…" she said leaving her confused mother downstairs.


After several minutes Nova (In their female body) came back down wearing a black skirt accompanied by matching leggings, one of Pyrrha's leather jackets that covered a black tank top. She underestimated the chest size it seemed that Pyrrha was a little larger than her, but it would hold until she could get her own clothes.

After one extraordinarily grueling and slightly embarrassing ordeal of Nova getting her sizes measured, they managed to secure some spare clothing, both male and female for her. Nova and Pyrrha walked down the streets of Argus dressed up as pretty as they possibly could be. They looked like a pair of untouchable beauties with Pyrrha Nikos dressed in a black jacket over a white dress shirt with accompanying jeans and studded belt.

Nova on the other hand opted to give Pyrrha's jacket back and swapped it out for a white leather jacket with fur lining the sleeves and collar. The dragon also sported a pair of aviators which sat comfortably on the bridge of her nose.

Pyrrha was amused at Nova's choice of outfits, "You were dying to look like a bad bitch weren't you."

The dragon took a scrunchie and tied her hair back in a high ponytail, "Pyrrha, we look hot, gotta flaunt it at least once in a while."

"All you're missing is a pair of heels and you'd be dropping the local populace like flies," she smirked, elbowing her.

Nova deadpanned, "Please no, you will not catch me dead in heels, I have no idea how Weiss and Neo fight in those things. My boots are my babies."

Pyrrha raised her eyebrow, "Neo? As in, Neopolitan?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. She's part of the team now, she's also the Winter Maiden."

Pyrrha almost stumbled from Nova dropping that bomb, "Holy shit, anything else you wanna tell me?"

"Um…" Nova tapped her chin, "I think she has a crush on Weiss, or Weiss has a crush on her… actually I think they're just crushing on each other and they don't know it."

"Uh huh… What about Jaune, is he alright?" she asked, finally letting out the question that'd been plaguing her mind for some time.

Nova gave her a sympathetic look and patted her shoulder, "He's fine. You miss him, I get it. Trust me I miss Ruby just the same. You just gotta have faith in him you know?"

"Yeah, I know… it's just… lonely sometimes without him."

Nova tried not to let her words show how much they rang home and made a popping sound with her lips, "Oh you know who did get together though? Ren and Nora!"

"Wait they weren't a thing this whole time?" she asked genuinely surprised.

"Same thing I said. I honestly thought they were dating this whole time. I hope she's okay now though, last time I heard she got electrocuted so badly it overloaded her semblance and she's got like these scars all over her body now…"

Pyrrha gasped in horror, "Oh my god… she's alive right?"

"Oh for sure. It'd take a lot more than that to actually take her out, but I think she has permanent damage. Ren has been a sweetheart taking care of her from what I heard."

"From what you heard? You didn't see it happen?"

They'd been walking toward town for a while now while Nova explained the story.

"Nope, I had to go fight an army of robots and then I got kidnapped, and Oscar got kidnapped too and we were tortured for like a week…? Then I got separated from them in the fight with Onyx and Cinder… it's all a mess really…"

She looked hesitantly at the dragon, "… Are you okay…? That sounds…"

"Traumatic? Oh for sure. I can still hear Oscar's screams in my head and I can feel the sharpened blades against my skin whenever I close my eyes!" she responded so calmly as if it were normal. "Ah well, what's one more trauma to add to the growing list aye?"

"Nova that's not healthy…"

"The world doesn't wait for you to be healthy Pyrrha. People need us and we have a job to do."


They finally pulled up in front of the Cotta-Arc household where Pyrrha suddenly stopped just before the entryway, looking rather stiff.

Nova turned back to her perplexed, "You not coming inside?"

She scratched the side of her face nervously, "Well…. I sorta haven't really spoken to them yet…? Jaune's sisters that is…"

Nova blanched, "You can't be serious… YOU'RE DATING THEIR BROTHER AND YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SAID HI?"

"Well, I just… haven't gotten around to it…?"

"Oh my god… that's it. We are changing this right now." Nova walked up to Pyrrha and began fixing her hair. "There, now take a deep breath and…"

"Oh! What are two beautiful ladies such as yourselves doing standing around outside my house?" a high-pitched feminine voice resounded to Nova's left.

"…And they're here okay!" Nova turned around to find Saphron locking up her house with her purse and Adrian in her arms.

The dragon waved awkwardly, "Hey, Saphron. I just stopped by to say hi…"

The blonde blinked twice, "Um… do I know you…?"

"Saphron, it's me? Nova? Forgotten me already?" she asked, pulling down her aviators and smirking.

Saphron almost dropped her purse and Adrian made cute gurgling noises, reaching for the dragon girl. This caused Nova to smirk, "At least someone remembers me. Aren't you the sweetest, smartest baby, yes you are~ yes you areee~" Nova cooed as she tickled Adrien in the tummy.

"Oh wow, I didn't recognize you… like that. You look good!" Saphron replied, recognition dawning on her face as she let Nova hold the baby.

"This is Pyrrha," Nova said turning around to introduce the redhead who was shrinking back.

Saphron's mouth opened in surprise, "I know you! You're the one with the statue in town!"

Pyrrha waved shyly, "Hi Jaune's sister. I see the resemblance."

This made Nova snicker.

"Oh, you know my brother?"

"Uh… yeah… you could say that…"

"She's dating your brother, and they're on the same team. Honestly, it's true love if you ask me." Nova interrupted.

Saphron made an 'O' shape with her mouth before responding, "Well it's lovely to meet you Pyrrha, but I'm heading out now, gotta pick up some groceries but if you two want, you can head inside." She began unlocking the door again.

"Oh, we don't mean to impose…" Pyrrha responded awkwardly.

"Nonsense! My wife is inside, she'll be with you guys until I get back. Where are… the rest of you?" Saphron asked looking around for the team.

Nova shook her head, "Not here, unfortunately. They have their own mission to deal with. Actually, that's part of the reason I'm here."

"Huh?"

"I came to see Terra. I need some help. Advice? Technology related?"

"Ah well, just head on inside then…" suddenly Adrian gurgled and tugged on his mother's sleeve which prompted Nova to hand him over, "Oh right the groceries!" she scampered down the stairs waving goodbye to the two.

Pyrrha nervously followed after Nova as they stepped into the Cotta-Arc household.


"Terra! Are you in here?!" Nova yelled out. "It's me, Nova!"

"I'm in the kitchen!" the other homeowner responded.

They found her making a pot of coffee in the quaint kitchen. Her black hair was tied in a bun and her eyes looked tired but less stressed than they had been the last time. It was an improvement if nothing else.

"Nova…? You look… different." Terra observed.

The dragon shrugged, "Thanks, I'm pretty I know," she smirked, "I stopped by to ask if you knew anything about cross-continental communication. I know you helped Hex out with that stuff before…"

The older woman hummed, "Well I know a thing or two… what do you need?"

Nova fished the scroll out of her pocket, "This scroll connects one way to another scroll in Vacuo. It can send messages but it can't receive them. I was wondering if you could help me upgrade it. At least make it capable of calls?"

Terra took the device and began skimming through its software, checking its features and hardware, "Well it's not impossible… but it'll be hard without the other scroll."

"Unfortunately that's halfway across the world."

"Right. Well, how about we head upstairs into my office and we can try something?"

Nova shot her a small smile, "That'd be great…"

The two worked on the scroll while Pyrrha waited downstairs.

After about two hours they were done.

"Well, it's not perfect but you can send voice messages now," Terra said handing the scroll back to Nova, "No calls, unfortunately, and even if you wanted to get the voice messages through, you'd need a clear signal."

Nova sighed and pocketed it, "Well it's better than nothing right?"


-Vacuo-

Ruby sat in her new office, slightly exhausted after the day's classes. It had been only three days since she started working as a professor and she was already fed up with it.

The work wasn't hard by any means, but it was dealing with the constant attention that was the problem. She was very much used to the freedom to do as she pleased, now it felt like her movements were being watched by the entire student body. Her only solace was her personal office.

A soft knock was heard, "Ruby? It's me, can I come in?" it was Yang.

"Sure, it's open," Ruby responded.

A moment later Yang stepped into the office, she was clad in a new brown leather jacket over an orange dress shirt and shorts that went up to her mid-thigh.

Ruby snorted in amusement as she observed her sister's attire, "Don't you think a teacher should be wearing more appropriate clothing?"

Yang smiled at her sarcasm, "What can I say? It's comfortable, easy to move in and the stares I get are flattering. Besides I'm a physical training instructor, this is considered proper attire."

The red leader burst into a fit of giggles, "So what brings you here?" she said as she moved what looked to be several piles of envelopes on her desk.

Yang raised an eyebrow curiously, "What're those?"

"Well… these," Ruby said pointing to the smallest of the piles, "Are student requests for the upcoming field training… these…" she said pointing to a slightly larger pile albeit not by much, "I think are hate mail? I'm not sure. I think it's mostly just students dissatisfied with a teacher as young as I am…"

The blonde felt her eyes flash red for a moment, "Hate mail? Point me at them I'll…"

"Yang you know you can't do that. Besides, it's not like it's real hateful. Most of them are just concerns rather than threats."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to make them run a few laps extra next time, maybe that'll draw attention toward me instead." She said flipping through the mail.

"Don't do that. I don't want you getting hate in my stead…" Ruby looked concerned.

"It's fine. I gotta look out for my baby sister, right? If you got sad on my watch then dad and Nova would have my head." She glanced at the last pile, which was arguably the largest of the three, almost as tall as the length of her forearm, "What're these then?"

Ruby blushed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of her neck, "Those are… love letters I think?"

Yang gaped, "No way!" she grabbed one out of the pile and began reading, "Professor Rose, you are like the first flowers of a spring day, beautiful and pure and… bleh!" she made a fake gagging noise.

"Yeah, I don't know who sends them, they're all anonymous and each one is a different person, though I have seen the same handwriting at least twice in there. I haven't read them all because honestly, they're all so cheesy." Ruby said casually poking it with her index.

The blonde laughed, "Well I'll be damned. Don't they know you're dating Nova?"

Ruby shook her head, "Well since he's not here, they assumed I was fair game, plus it's not like I want to go around shouting that I have a boyfriend. It'll get exhausting. Besides, it's none of their business anyway."

"True." She got quiet for a minute as her mind drew toward Nova, wondering what her leader was up to before she remembered why she was here. "Oh right! Citrine wanted to see you. She said to meet her in her office."

Ruby facepalmed, "Lead with that next time?"

"Nah"


Ruby found herself in Citrine's office, the woman in question was sipping what appeared to be a glass of whiskey on the rocks, her boots kicked up onto the desk, and what sounded like jazz coming from a speaker on the desk.

"Um, Headmist- Citrine," Ruby corrected, "You needed to see me?"

Citrine smiled warmly and moved her legs off the table, "Ruby! I was waiting for you. Care for a drink?" she waved the glass of whiskey.

Ruby shook her head, "Sorry, I don't really drink… besides I'm still technically on the job so…"

"It's single malt~" she waved the glass again, "And the school day is done in ten minutes anyway."

Ruby caught a whiff of the golden liquid and she had to admit, it smelled enticing. "Sure… one wouldn't hurt I guess."

Citrine smiled widely, grabbed a glass from under the desk, and with exaggerated flair she flipped the glass into the air, threw a large ice ball into the mid-air glass, caught it, and placed it on the table before spinning a large bottle in her other hand, uncorked it with her thumb and poured a full glass in the span of ten seconds before sliding it across to Ruby.

"Impressive…" Ruby said with genuine wonder as she picked up the glass and took a sip of the liquid. It was strong, not enough to make her cough but strong enough that her expression gave it away. It tasted savoury like liquid caramel but runny and warm with a hint of something nutty.

"Good right?" the headmistress smirked.

Ruby nodded, taking another sip and feeling her cheeks warm, "It is. So what did you need me for?"

"Oh don't worry so much, have a seat, take a load off. It's a Friday and you need to lighten up girl."

Ruby obliged and took a seat, continuing to sip on the whiskey.

"I hear you're doing amazing things for your classes. Students have been leaving nothing but good reviews about you. The other staff members say you're also very patient from what they've observed." Citrine continued to talk while Ruby drank.

"Thanks. I was worried I wasn't doing enough…"

"Oh nonsense, you've so far proved you're capable and that my decision was right in trusting you. All of your team have proven yourselves. That being said…" she fished around her desk drawer again and pulled out a scroll. "I have a gift for you."

Ruby looked at the device, "A… scroll? I already have one from Dr. Polendina…"

"Dear this isn't just any scroll. This is the backup emergency scroll that Hex connected to Atlas. It's connected to the backup emergency scroll on her end."

Ruby hesitantly lowered her glass, "Why are you giving this to me? Shouldn't you be in charge of…"

Citrine took out the other scroll, "This is the main one. I'm giving that back up to you because the one it's connected to is in the hands of the prince."

"Nova?! You're saying Nova has the other scroll?! D-Does this mean I can…"

"Call him? Unfortunately not," she answered for her. "It can however receive messages. I've been in communication with Winter and I'm going to ask her if she can get a word out to Nova, let him know that he can send you messages through his end."

Ruby felt her entire body become warm, her eyes began to tear up as she clutched the scroll to her chest, "Y-You'd do that for me? B-But isn't this for emergencies? It shouldn't be used for personal…"

"Oh please honey, that's your scroll now. You can do whatever the hell you want with it. I'll ask Hex to set up another backup for me."

"But why would you go so far for me? I mean don't get me wrong, it's not to say that I'm not grateful but… why…?" Ruby was genuinely confused as to why this woman would go out of her way to give her peace of mind.

"Because," Citrine said with a warm smile, "I'm a sucker for romance. I had a boyfriend too once… a fiancé." She reached into her blouse and pulled out a ring that hung on a silver chain around her neck. "His name was Grey Moonshadow and a long time ago, back when I was a young huntress, he and I were on a mission together."

Ruby observed Citrine's gaze become distant as she recalled the memory, staring into her glass.

The headmistress continued, "We were cornered on the edge of a cliff by a swarm of Deathstalkers. We were both running low on Aura and we were out of ammo. His valiant ass decided to wrap his cloak around me and throw me off the cliff while he distracted the Deathstalkers. His cloak acted like a parachute and slowed by fall. I thought he was going to sacrifice himself but instead, he dove off the other side, grabbed onto a low-hanging root, and headed into the forest, the brilliant jackass…"

"So he escaped…?" Ruby asked hopefully.

Citrine smiled sadly, "Once the coast was clear I spent the next six days searching for him. I eventually found him…"

Ruby saw the look in her eyes and understood it wasn't happy.

"I found his body buried under a pile of rocks. Apparently, he took shelter in a cave when the Grimm found him. There'd been a battle that resulted in a cave-in and without any way to call for help or anyone to get to him, he succumbed to his injuries and died after struggling for about four days."

Ruby swallowed a large gulp of the whiskey, "I'm so sorry… that must've been horrible…"

"I mourned him for years… I still do…" she said pointing to the trophy wall where a tattered navy blue cloak hung. It had holes and the colour was faded but Ruby could barely make out the name 'Moonshadow' stitched into the fabric. "Moral of the story is I never let anyone out into the field without at least two ways to contact home base. I will not lose anyone else the same way again… especially not my students. When I hear that we have a comrade in the field without any form of communication and his girlfriend is one of my prodigies? Now I just couldn't let that slide."

Ruby unconsciously grabbed onto her necklace tightly, her mind now graciously worried about Nova. The Silver Heart responded with a low hum, something only she could feel. It was warm and reassuring as if it was telling her that he was alright.

Ruby finished her drink and pocketed the scroll, "Thanks Citrine… this… means a lot to me."

"Think nothing of it. I wish you two nothing but the best."


-Argus Train Station-

The station was a clean and modern-looking station, grand and filled with people. It very much mirrored its counterpart in Mistral but it was a lot colder. The train also saw some upgrades since the last time they used it.

Nova reclined in the comfortable plush cushions of his and Pyrrha's private first-class train car.

"Was first class necessary? This probably cost a fortune in tickets…" Pyrrha said as she observed the luxurious car. There were cabinets and closet space, beds and heaters. There was even a coffee table and a directory for food and drinks.

The dragon shrugged, choosing to remove her jacket and sunglasses, hanging them on the couch before leaning back, the gold-orange glow of the evening sun shining through the window providing a little extra warmth to the cabin. The specks of snowflakes begin to fall onto the window pane signaling an oncoming snowstorm.

"It's royal first-class," Nova corrected, "Besides, what's the point of being loaded if you're never going to spend your money?"

"Still, shouldn't you… I don't know… start saving for when this is all over…?"

Nova shot her an amused look, "Pyrrha, we could be dead tomorrow. Besides this really isn't that much compared to how much I actually have untapped."

"How do you even have that much?" she gaped.

"It pays to steal from Weiss' dad." This caused Pyrrha to look at her incredulously. "James Ironwood was also many things but at least he was professional. Licensed Huntsmen in Atlas get paid a lot".

Pyrrha nodded, "I can imagine…" she reclined on the opposite couch, "So why did we sign on as regular passengers instead of the ones in charge of protecting the train?"

"Because," Nova answered, not opening her eyes, "For once in my life I'd like to not be responsible for the life of everyone in the nearby vicinity. Last time we took this train we had the Relic which attracted a ton of Grimm. Now? I get to actually relax."

"So you're on vacation?" she asked dryly.

"If you count doing nothing on a train for a day, vacation? Then yes this is vacation. Now if you'll excuse me," she rolled over and snuggled up to the couch cushion, her soft white hair falling gently over her face, "I'm going to bed. If you get hungry just order something 'cuz food's free for us…"

Once Nova's breathing became even and soft, Pyrrha found herself also falling asleep.


(A/N: Warning the following is Nova experiencing a rather gruesome Nightmare caused by the recent traumatic experiences of Vol. 8 akin to PTSD. If you are uncomfortable with reading very graphic depictions of violence skip this part until the marker)

She found herself once again hanging from the shackles tethered to the fleshy ceiling of Salem's flying fortress. Her body was torn and bloody, the gaping claw wound across her torso leaked rivers of crimson that seemed almost never-ending. The dehydration and hunger gnawed their way through her again, and the familiar onset migraines and muscle soreness felt too real.

The sound of footsteps caused her to strain her ears as someone came walking through the open cell door. A large body that stood almost ten feet tall, barely fitting in the doorframe, Nova knew that sinister aura anywhere.

"Onyx..." she spat, "Come to finally finish the job?"

The man smirked but didn't say a word, grabbing hold of Nova and unhinging her from the shackles, yanking so hard that both arms dislocated at once sending sharp piercing pain throughout her body.

Her tormentor spoke nothing as he dragged Nova across the floor and threw her into Salem's throne room.

"What do you want from me?!" Nova yelled at him from her place on the floor, only to again be met with morbid silence. He simply held out a finger pointing to a spot just in front of the throne where Salem sat, her head propped on her left hand as she sat with her legs folded and a dark smile on her lips.

Nova followed the finger to see, sprawled in an array of neatly wrapped bodies were his team. From left to right were Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, Nitro, Hex, Yang, Blake, Weiss, and lastly Luna, Oscar, and Ruby. They were all beaten and bruised, the discoloration on their limbs suggested prolonged time periods with no blood flow.

"You monsters! Let them go or I'll tear you all apart!" she snarled, bearing her fangs at Salem and Onyx.

As she said this, her shackles suddenly lifted her into the air, hovering three meters off the floor, giving her a clear view of her comrades.

Out of the darkness came another body flung harshly as it sailed through the air and landed under her, a very distinct white cloak wrapped over it. "Summer?!" Nova gasped

The sound of heels stabbing into the ground with heavy steps drew Nova's attention to the one who had flung the body, it was none other than Cinder Fall.

"Let us go! I'll...!" Nova's mouth stopped working as Cinder strolled over to Jaune, grabbed the blonde by the hair, and exposed his neck. "WAIT STOP WHAT ARE YOU...!"

With one swift motion, Cinder slashed her claws through the boy's throat, tearing it out and giving Nova a clear view of Jaune's eyes as the life faded from them.

Nova felt real fear grasp hold of her heart but Cinder was not done. Next, she moved on to Nora.

"STOP! NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Nova's words were merely absorbed by the silence that followed when the sickly sound of crunching bone and tearing flesh echoed.

One after another they were being taken out, and with each body Nova's resolve was weakening, breaking her down until there was nothing left but desperation.

"Please..." Nova sobbed, "Stop... please..." she sobbed as Weiss stared panicked into Nova's eyes before all life drained from them.

As Cinder moved near Luna, Nova went into overdrive, struggling with every ounce of strength in her body trying to stop it.

For the first time in this nightmare, Nova heard a voice, but it was not pleasant. "Brother... I'm scared..." Luna sobbed, tears streaming down her face.

"Don't look away from me, sis, it'll be alright. I will save you I- NO!"

Cinder took Luna's head and tore it clean off, leaving the headless corpse to bleed onto the floor before tossing Luna's head onto Summer's body.

Finally, she got to Ruby.

Nova could take it no more, "Please, no more... I'm begging you. I can't... I'll do anything please..."

"Nova no! PLEASE SAVE ME!" Ruby squealed.

"I'll SAVE YOU RUBY I PROMISE I'LL-!"

"You can't save anyone!" Onyx snarled in Nova's ear, grabbing the dragon's face and forcing her to look as Cinder set Ruby on fire, her flesh charring as her screams tore through Nova's ears, before decapitating her.


(A/N: Okay nightmare over, you may proceed)

Nova awoke with a start, feeling cold sweat dripping down her neck, desperately searching her environment to see that she was still back on the train.

The sounds of Ruby's voice ringing in her head, echoing around her skull and banging against the walls of the cranial space begging to be let out. The sickening thuds of bodies dropping and the teary lifeless eyes of his friends and family were thoughts she desperately tried to purge from her mind. She needed to get some air.

She glanced around the room and found Pyrrha sleeping on the bed, remnants of food platers on the coffee table.

"It's just a dream," Nova nightmare to herself. "That's all it is..."

Deciding it wasn't good to sit in the cold and covered in sweat, she opted for a warm shower, desperately trying to wash away the horror of the nightmare. Getting out, Nova opted to swap into his male body, and change into his white jacket.

As he got out of the shower, drying his hair he noticed the scroll light up. Not the one he usually carried around but the emergency scroll.

Curious, upon checking the screen Nova saw a message from… Winter?

"Nova, this is Winter. The Headmistress of Vacuo has just informed me that the attached scroll of this device has been given to Miss Rose. Therefore any contact from your scroll will be directed to her scroll. The Headmistress said, and I quote, Let her know you're okay."

The dragon read the message and then reread it several times to ensure he wasn't crazy. He felt his eyes springing leaks so instead, he quietly opened the train car door to the outside area. With the rushing cold night air whipping across his face, Nova closed his eyes and let the tears flow in the glint of the moonlight. Saying a silent thank you to whoever the Headmistress was, he picked up the scroll and called the only number on it.

There was no ringing, no dial tone, only Hex's voice saying "Leave a message after the beep!" followed by a long beep.

Nova chuckled at his friend's antics before taking a deep breath and opening his mouth to speak.


-Vacuo-

It was the middle of the day in Vacuo. Ruby was in the middle of teaching a large class when the scroll given to the headmaster vibrated twice, interrupting her.

Ruby was in the middle of a lesson regarding team coordination when it vibrated, causing her to stop mid-sentence.

"Sorry class I think someone's giving me a call…" she felt around in her pocket for her scroll only to realize it wasn't the correct one.

Realizing it was the special Scroll she scrambled to her desk in a panic. Her students looking on in confusion as they just witnessed their professor bolt across the classroom in a flurry of rose petals. For many, it was their first instance of seeing her semblance.

She picked up the scroll and read the screen, 'One new voice mail'.

The startling shock seemed to shake her to her core, causing her to forget the ongoing class.

"Um… professor is something wrong…?" Gawain asked from the front row, genuine concern flashing across his face.

Ruby recollected herself and gave him a small smile, "It's fine… uh… this is important so I'll be stepping out of class…" she checked her watch, "Actually class is dismissed early. You guys get an extra ten minutes before lunch I guess?"

After some celebratory cheers to which Ruby responded with a fake smile, trying her best to smother the rising anxiety and anticipation in her chest, most students were excited, quickly filing out of class. Gawain and his team were filing out last, sparing a moment to glance at their professor before leaving.

Once they were gone, Ruby pulled out the scroll and tapped on the voice mail, holding it up to her ears she braced herself for what was on it.

"Hey… I hope this message gets out to you Ruby, otherwise, if anyone else was listening it'd be super embarrassing…" the recorded message played in his voice and Ruby felt herself choking up.

She wanted to respond to him, but she knew this was just a recording.

"I just got word from Winter that they gave you the scroll. I'm… really glad that I can at least let you know what's going on with me… even if I can't hear your voice."

She felt tears flowing down her cheeks as a bitter-sweet smile spread across her lips, "You dork…" she muttered, wishing he could hear her.

"I'm on my way to Mistral right now. I picked up Pyrrha at Argus and we're heading to recruit some more people before heading over to Beacon. Things are great out here. I met up with Jaune's sisters, Pyrrha took me shopping, the train is fixed and I'm taking it back… honestly it's pretty relaxing. It makes me wish that our first time around was this calm…"

She felt her worries melt away like a heavy weight was lifted off her shoulders, the tension in her shoulders dissipating like vapor. He was alright, he was alive and well.

"I… guess I just… I miss you, Ruby. I miss you so much…" Nova's voice sounded like it was choking up and Ruby felt her own emotions reciprocating.

"I miss you too…" she said softly to herself.

"I hope you're doing okay out there, tearing it up, kicking ass, and taking names. I know you're taking good care of my sister and the team. Could you tell them that I'm okay? I'm not alone out here, so you don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine…"

The line went silent but the message was still playing, "And Ruby…? I want you to take care of yourself while I'm not there. Please don't overwork yourself as you did before. Please don't push yourself too hard out there."

"Stop worrying about me you dork, you're the one heading into hell…" she muttered.

"And Ruby…? One last thing before I leave, since I'm not sure when I'll have good signal reception again…" his voice sounded so raw and vulnerable. She wanted nothing more than to hold him in her arms, to be there and tell him that everything was going to be okay.

"I love you, Ruby. I love you so much… I'll be home as soon as I can… I promise…" and with that, the voicemail ended.

Ruby fell onto her knees, clutching the scroll to her chest, crying her eyes out, "I love you too, you dumb dork…"

She sat there for several minutes, taking deep breaths and thanking the stars that he was safe. "At least he's with Pyrrha and he's not alone..." she muttered, wiping away any stray tears before drying her face. Her stomach grumbled, having all the stress and worry finally seep away leaving room for her bodily needs to rise up once more.

Deciding food was in order, she opened her class door to find Gawain, Regis, Violet, and Ether standing outside, awkwardly attempting to make it look like they were casually hanging around.

"Uh, Miss Rose! Hi… we were just uh… hanging out…?" Gawain said awkwardly and Violet just rolled her eyes.

Ruby looked at them with embarrassment, "Did you hear anything?"

Gawain quickly shook his head, "No! I… we didn't. We were just worried something was wrong and…"

The reaper smiled a genuine smile, "I'm alright… actually I'm a lot better now. Thanks for worrying, you're good kids." She walked off leaving them to wonder what caused the sudden change in her demeanor.

"She seems… a lot happier… but also sad at the same time," Violet observed. "I'm not sure what happened in there, but it was pretty big."

Regis grabbed onto Gawain's arm, "It's not like it's our business anyway. Come on, I'm starving."


It's short, I know, sorry. Next chapter is already in progress so I can hopefully finish it by the end of the next week before university starts again. 'Til next time ^w^