Heads up, my grandmother has gone into hospice care, so there will no chapter next week.

If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444

Beta-ed by xenosaiyan

Mercury had lived a life of great terror. From the moment he could understand what fear was, he knew he felt it towards his father. He'd felt it when the bastard had beaten him half to death every day and tore his soul apart, literally. He'd compressed his fright within him, until at last it had boiled over into the plan that had seen him beat his dear old dad to death after a longer than usual night of drinking.

But the fear hadn't disappeared, just changed shape. He no longer needed to dread beatings he knew would come, but instead he had beheld horrors and monsters the likes of which regular people had never dreamt of, even becoming one himself. His lost semblance was more than compensated for by the maritime powers he'd gained, his body constantly pulsating with enough power to tear Yang Xiao-Long limb from limb, if his new master were to allow it. He was a demon, he was a Celestial Spirit, a legendary Eclipse Etherious.

And he found he had never been more afraid than he was right then and there.

"So… the horsy can jump over the other pieces?"

Cinder's teeth ground against each other so loudly that Mercury thought she must have used her curse to enhance his sense of hearing just so he'd notice. "It is not a horsy, it is a knight."

Mercury gulped. "Right, sorry."

He, Cinder and Emerald were in the training hall of Salem's castle, as usual these days. But instead of flooding the place or turning it into some mucus-covered slip-and-slide, the ex-boss lady had decided that, since they were now 'equals' they could learn to think instead of just obey. Which had of course always been her plan when she'd told them about the Gates and had nothing to do with the Keeper ominously overlooking them all.

Either way, it was how he found himself sitting at the black side of a chessboard across from Emerald, who couldn't help cracking a pleased smirk at Cinder reprimanding him. He couldn't exactly blame her, he'd do the same if it was her in the Gate of the Archer's crosshairs, but that didn't prevent the spark of annoyance from popping up within him. And since the new boss lady was watching, that meant the old one couldn't kill him if he gave her a bit of lip.

"Why are we even playing this stupid game anyway?" he demanded, throwing his hand over the board, most of his pieces sitting off the checkered squares, captured by Emerald.

His green-haired compatriot sighed, as if she knew anything more about the stupid game than he did. "We're learning strategy, you idiot—"

"Since when have you cared if we knew anything about strategy?" he challenged Cinder, ignoring her fangirl. "And what can we possibly learn from this crap that we don't already know? This isn't how a fight works. The guy trying to beat the shit out of you isn't going to play by any rules."

Cinder's eyes flared with orange light, flames flicking over her palms. "You cocky, ungrateful little—"

"Ahem."

Mercury smirked as all of Cinder's fire was immediately extinguished. The Keeper floated over to their table, a soft purple glow shining from within.

"You do not berate friends for not understanding something when you have not explained it clearly," Salem's voice directed, her odd mix of menace and guidance permeating the air even when she wasn't physically present. "Help them to become better, just as your teacher did you. I do not believe you understood this lesson the first time either."

Cinder glanced away, a disgruntled pout on her face. If he didn't know for a fact that she was a sociopath, he might have even called it cute. "I figured it out quick enough."

"Different people have different experiences. Not everyone shares your aptitude."

"I am well aware of my own abilities."

"Then help them improve theirs."

"She is helping us," Emerald cut in, supporting her idol as always. "We've learned how to make use of the pieces in front of us, plan with their limitations in mind… and… um…"

Mercury rolled his eyes. "Don't bother. We all know that this game isn't even close to how an actual fight works."

"Quite correct," Salem concurred. "But this exercise is not about learning battle, child."

"It's about learning war," Cinder finished. The Fall Maiden sighed and set all the pieces back onto the board as if it was the beginning of a new game. "If two players are at full strength, who wins between them?"

Emerald raised an eyebrow. "The… better player. Right, ma'am?"

Mercury scoffed. "As if." He knocked two of Emerald's pawns off the board, ignoring her cry of indignation. "Even if two people are at 'full strength', they're never going to be equal. One of them is going to be more powerful than the other."

"Exactly."

Mercury glanced up, finding Cinder looking upon him with a surprised expression. "What?"

"He's right?" Emerald asked, aghast.

"Partially," Salem said, a note of approval in her voice. "He's on the right path. Now, Cinder, guide him the rest of the way."

Cinder nodded, replacing the pawns Mercury had knocked down. "The great lie of chess is that it assumes that conditions will be equal, that each side will have a fair chance at claiming victory. Knowing how to fight under such constraints is important, as there will be times when you will need to, but more importantly, one must understand how to break such rules."

"What do you mean, ma'am?" Emerald inquired.

"Cheat," Mercury answered.

Cinder smirked. "You're thinking too small. Bringing a gun to a knife fight might give you an edge, but it doesn't prevent the possibility of your opponent landing those knives in your gut anyway." She reached over to Emerald's side and turned each of her pawns on their side. If Mercury was remembering right, that was meant to symbolize that they had reached the end of the board and transformed into queens. She then plucked Mercury's queen off to the side. "Steal your enemies' knife before the fight starts. Don't show up and have a sniper pick them off from afar. Poison them so they don't even make it to the battlefield. Set the conditions how you want them to be, and you can win the battle before it starts."

Mercury scowled, but he supposed it made sense. He'd waited to attack his old man until he was both drunk and exhausted from a job and he still lost his legs. If he'd poisoned the bastard's beer instead, maybe he wouldn't have had to have been the only Eclipse Etherious with metal legs. Still, it wasn't in him to admit he was wrong so easily.

"I thought you said this was about learning war, not battle," he challenged, causing Emerald to glare at him. "You're telling me that this is all there is to strategy? More elaborate cheating? What if the enemy brings a weapon you don't know about or is immune to the poison you use?" He gestured to Emerald's side of the board. "How do you make sure the game ends the way you want it to if you can't see the other guy's pieces?"

Surprisingly, Cinder's smile only grew. "By making sure it's the only way it can end."

When both he and Emerald looked at her questioningly, Cinder pointed at both sides of the board, a strange, almost innocent excitement radiating off her. "Every piece on the board is loyal to one of you two. Who are you loyal to?"

"You," Emerald said.

Mercury pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the Keeper. "The boss lady."

Cinder sighed, but it was filled more with exasperation than irritation. "And since I am loyal to Salem, no matter which side wins this battle…"

She gestured with her hand as if expecting an answer, one that instantly popped into Mercury's head as his eyes widened with realization.

"She gets what she wants," he muttered. "She wins the war."

"Precisely," the Queen herself declared.

Cinder grinned, plucking a pair of pawns from each side and casually tossing them into the air. "Our enemies will always have a choice. The key to strategy is to make sure no matter which choice they make, we benefit. The pieces are irrelevant, let them choose whatever side they trust. Control the players, and the war is yours as soon as it begins."

A sudden purple flash emanated from the Keeper. Mercury and Emerald blinked spots out of their eyes, while Cinder stared at the bulbous Grimm.

"Your grace… did you just take a picture?"

"It won't be as fine a quality as those security cameras Watts installed everywhere, but this angle will feel more authentic," Salem explained. "Your teacher would never forgive me if I didn't capture the memory of your first time hanging out with your new friends."

Emerald's eyes widened, her cheeks flushing. Mercury might have mocked her for it if he wasn't sure the his own were the same, along with his shorter breaths. Salem acting like an embarrassing parent was both embarrassing, and terrifying.

Of course, the one with the reddest cheeks, red with fury, was Cinder. "Your grace, this is not a playdate. I am instructing them on strategy."

"Using your favorite game."

"It was how Teacher taught it to me."

"And you were quite enjoying teaching it to them," Salem noted. "I believe I shall leave you three to discuss the matter in private. Have fun!"

The Keeper went dark and proceeded to bob its way out of the room. Mercury wished it had stayed. Logically, he knew Hell's Core would bring him back when Cinder killed him, he'd even get new legs out of the deal, but he wasn't quite so eager to test out his mortal coil.

Emerald gulped. "Ma'am—"

"No, not ma'am," Cinder sighed. She flashed her hands beneath her and conjured a chair of glass, which she proceeded to collapse into. "She is… not wrong. You two have performed… adequately, and well-earned your position as my… my… equals."

"Oh," Mercury uttered, for once at a loss for words. Was this a fake-out to lower their guard? Was she going to incinerate them in one shot? "Um, thanks?"

"It's no trouble at all ma'am—Cinder," Emerald piped up, looking like she was trying to decide if the holidays had come early or if the apocalypse was upon them. "We won't let you down. We wouldn't have made it this far without your guidance."

"No, no you wouldn't have," Cinder concurred, nodding as if something in the world finally made sense again. "And as… fri… frie…fir…"

"You need help there, boss?" Mercury couldn't help snarking.

"Friends," Cinder at last gasped out. "As friends, we shall take each other even further. I will care for you and you will care for me, and we shall all sit atop the new world our mistress will build."

Mercury cocked an eyebrow. "Hooray?"

"We're with you, Cinder," Emerald grinned.

"Are we?" Mercury said, both women whirling on him with narrowed glares. "Hey, I'm just saying. None of us have the most traditional social background. Do either of you know the first thing about being 'friends'? Because I don't."

"I used to have them," Cinder said, a murderous scowl crossing her face, though it didn't seem to be directed at him. "They betrayed me."

"Well then, we'll start by not doing that," Emerald declared. She covered Cinder's hands in what she must have thought was a comforting way. The ex-boss lady just raised an eyebrow. "So what if none of us have had good friends before? Team RWBY figured it out. How hard can it be?"

Cinder grinned, her expression more eager yet somehow more terrifying than ever before. "Yes. Those idiotic fools think they're better than us. But they're not the only ones who can use each other to become stronger. And we will become stronger than they've ever been, than anyone has ever been!"

Mercury couldn't help but shake his head. A thief, an assassin, and a megalomaniac with a penchant for fire were going to become friends when between them they didn't have a single relationship that hadn't ended in homicide…

Well, he couldn't complain that his life wasn't interesting.

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"Anything?" Winter inquired.

Dr. Pietro Polendina shook his head, typing away at his lab's computer. "I'm sorry, commander. But I've looked through Intelligence's files a dozen times now. There's no mention of magic."

Winter growled. "What about Taurus? Any mention of how he got into the kingdom?"

"Nothing," Pietro confirmed. "If COMMAND does have something to do with what's been happening, she's hiding it very well."

Winter clenched her fist. "Thank you, doctor. Give my best to your daughter."

The old man smiled kindly, his mechanized carrier taking him over to another computer, returning to his regular work. And leaving the Schnee Specialist with nothing.

She knew there was something going on here. Intelligence had taken Ella Autumn all those years ago. Drizzella had been ordered to arrest Blake Belladonna back in Vale. And now, Adam Taurus was conveniently able to enter the kingdom and provide enough of a threat for Weiss and Fullbuster to work with COMMAND ESR to stop him. When she had pointed out the pattern to General Ironwood, he'd ordered her to conduct their own 'in-house' investigation into Intelligence's activities, especially since he had revealed that the director had mentioned nothing about Fullbuster being a member of Fairy Tail.

Something was going on. That masked devil was plotting something! But what? Her only stated goal had ever been the protection of Atlas, and while the general had made clear his personal displeasure with her recent actions, he was still doing exactly what she suggested and keeping the embargo up. What did she have to gain from all this? What was this grand scheme for? Winter knew she was intelligent, but the spymaster had years of experience in espionage over her. Her master plan was probably so tangled it would be impossible for an outside observer to figure it out.

So… maybe she should start smaller. She couldn't unravel machinations from years back without more information, but perhaps she could ascertain what the smaller objective was of her more recent endeavors. That was a place to start.

Assuming that COMMAND ESR did let Adam Taurus into the kingdom, then her follow-up to that act of treason was to manipulate events so that Weiss alone was present to confront him, with military forces thrown off by her withholding information and her Intelligence reinforcements kept from the reports. Where was the benefit in that? The piece she'd brought onto the board was gone. Had she planned for Weiss to join her? Was that why she'd made her into a hero? If so, it had backfired spectacularly. Winter had only caught the periphery of the matter and Weiss had made it perfectly clear that she had been… discouraged from working with Intelligence again, at least without tremendous incentive.

Perhaps a bidding war would break out for her little sister between COMMAND and Esper. the council chairwoman had been doing her best to make contact, though Weiss had refused a meeting so far. Given that she'd recently purchased an apartment in Atlas proper, Winter could guess what was keeping her so busy.

Was that all this was? Another attempt to acquire a wizard and create a popular public figure to rival Esper?

… No. No, maybe if Eleanor was calling the shots, but COMMAND was never so straight forward. She never let one of her plots going pear-shaped keep her from making something of it. Operation Godmother's Haven had nearly resulted in all-out war and she'd turned it into a way to discredit the Hunters for Humanity and gain a silver-eyed warrior. There must have been some other goal, but what else could have been gained at the surplus complex? There was some dust missing, but Intelligence had no reason to steal it, they had access to plenty of dust.

Wait. Everyone was looking at what happened at the surplus complex. The media was showering attention on Weiss and her brave actions keeping the dust safe. But as a consequence, no one outside the military knew what else had happened that night.

It was ridiculous. The Ace Ops had easily repelled the White Fang's attack. It was a diversion for the other raid. Taurus had designed it to fail.

Just like COMMAND ESR had designed for him to fail.

"Doctor," Winter called. "What was the lab like after the attack?"

Pietro looked from his console, a concerned frown on his face. "Well… we don't know yet. The White Fang somehow acquired the access code, so I made sure to change it. The cameras had gone down, so we've been running their files to find out what happened, and checking the rest of our systems just to be sure."

"There was no visual of the lab during the attack…" Winter muttered. "Is your daughter—"

"She's fine, don't worry," the professor assured her. "I have her on a separate network. Can't have anyone messing with my girl when we're so close to putting her back together."

Winter shot him a small smile. One more step to repairing the damage done by the Fall of Beacon. "Give her my best. You said the cameras in the lab were down during the attack. What about in the docking bay itself?"

"Funny you should mention that," Pietro said, tapping a few keys on his chair. The mechanical palanquin projected a small screen into the air between the two, displaying the docking bay the night before, the doctor, the Ace Ops, and the dozens of unconscious White Fang all present. "Watch this."

Several seconds passed. The doctor sealed himself in his elaborate panic room. The Ace Ops left to cover the rest of the convoy. The screen froze.

"There," Pietro said. "Right there."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I don't see anything."

"Neither did I at first. On the visual spectrum, there's so much dust from the fight it'd be hard to make out anything. But when I showed it to Penny, she caught this," the professor explained. He reached out and pointed to a specific section of the smoke, one a slightly different shade than the rest. "It's not much. But there's no telling what semblances can do these days, and that's without taking magic into account."

"Fair reasoning," Winter admitted, not entirely convinced slightly different colored smoke warranted such suspicion. At least, it wouldn't on its own. "What else have you been able to find out?

"Not much, unfortunately. I ran tests throughout the docking bay but didn't pick up much out of the ordinary. Although…" Pietro tapped a few more keys, several chemical composition graphs coming up. Winter's eyes widened. "I did find traces of this compound, but I've never seen anything like it."

"I have," Winter murmured. "Ana showed it to me once back at the academy. It's a poison Intelligence uses. They call it Bane Particle."

Pietro raised an eyebrow. "If they are involved in this, that doesn't seem like something they'd leave behind so casually. What's this mean?"

"I don't know, doctor. But I think you should put all matters aside until your daughter is back online. Something tells me that we'll need all the help we can get soon enough—"

Her worries were interrupted when her scroll suddenly buzzed. Conspiracy aside, duty still called as it would and Winter picked up without hesitation.

"Commander Schnee speaking," she said. "Report."

"Ma'am," Clover replied, his voice grave. "It's the General. And your family."

Winter could already feel a headache coming on. And yet, the terrified tone from Clover, one of the most decorated specialists in the kingdom… somehow, she knew that it was much, much worse than that.

She could only hope Weiss was okay.

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"Alright, that should be everything," Weiss declared, dropping two suitcases full of dust and lien at her feet.

She and Klein stood in the midst of the manor library in the dead of night. After she'd decided to move out of her family home while Jacques was still in a tizzy from her threat, her faithful butler had informed her of a hidden escape passage her grandfather had kept secret since he'd first built the house. At the same time she and Gray slipped out through the underground, he would drive out a car that supposedly would hold her. With Whitley coming home at the same time, it would have created the perfect confusion for her to slip out unnoticed.

Of course, given that Jacques had been yelling at General Ironwood in his office for the last fifteen minutes, the elaborate scheme had proved decidedly less necessary. Just another thing the bastard had ruined for her.

The grand bookcase slid open and Gray strode out, completely shirtless. "All clear. No sign of Intelligence on the other side."

Weiss nodded. They could leave as soon as Whitley returned, and Klein headed out. Jacques wouldn't be available to fool, but she wouldn't put it past Eleanor and COMMAND ESR to have someone keeping an eye on her, make sure she stayed in line. She supposed she'd just have to be satisfied with her plan fooling them.

She glanced around the library, rows upon rows of books going on as far as the eye could see, deep blue walls given the impression that one was submerged under a magical sea. She'd spent hours upon hours in this haven as a child. Reading about grand and noble heroes or studying every scrap of knowledge she could in hopes of becoming one. They were good memories, some of the best parts of her childhood.

But in part, because Jacques had so rarely come into this place.

The mansion was her family home. It was a part of her legacy and her birthright. She'd grown up there, in more ways than one. She was leaving now, but she would return. She would return and make it hers.

She turned to Klein and enveloped him in a hug. "Thank you for everything, Klien."

Her faithful butler tried his best to smile, but he was clearly nervous about this entire thing, beads of sweat pouring down his bald head. "I'd do anything for you, little snowflake. Please get out of here."

Weiss pulled back and smiled at him. "As soon as you give us the signal, we'll be gone."

"Right. Right, of course," Klein muttered. He looked to Gray and his eyes flared red. For a moment, Weiss worried that his grumpy personality would scold her friend for not wearing a shirt in the presence of a lady.

Instead, his eyes faded to their usual brown and he looked at the wizard with… desperation.

"Please, take care of her," he begged.

Gray raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Always."

Klein returned the gesture and left the library, carrying another of Weiss' bags that would be used as a decoy.

"Did he seem… worried?" Gray asked.

Weiss shrugged. "He's the closest thing I ever had to a father. I can't imagine he'd be all too thrilled that he won't be able to protect me anymore."

"Probably."

Whatever else he might have said was cut off when Weiss' scroll went off, causing the heiress to raise an eyebrow. There was no way Klein had gotten to the front of the mansion so quickly.

She pulled out her device, the caller ID reading…

"Whitley?" she said. "What's he calling about?"

Gray shrugged. "He should be here soon. Maybe he just wants to let you know?"

Weiss cocked an eyebrow. Whitley wasn't exactly the type to call home when he was getting back. She'd only seen her brother periodically since she'd gotten back from Beacon, he was busy with his internship and she was focusing on Adam. Whatever it was he wanted to talk about, it could wait until after she'd relocated. She'd give him a call once she'd settled into her apartment. They could go out for lunch, or whatever else it was normal siblings did.

She flicked her finger across the screen and hung up. Soon, she would be free from Jacques' influence forever. And she'd be one step closer to putting a stop to both him and Atlas Intelligence.

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"Hello, you have reached Weiss Schnee. At present, I am occupied with other important matters. Please leave a message and I will do everything in my power to get back to you in a timely matter."

Whitley sighed and turned off his scroll. "Well, I tried."

He and Esper were in the back of her limo, sitting in complete comfort as they drove towards the Schnee Manor. Some might have found it odd that his boss drove him home, but he had heard that mothers dropped off their children at trying events, like sports or academic tests. And since his own mother hadn't been sober since he was eight and his home life more than qualified as trying, he appreciated the chairwoman's concern.

However, at the moment, all she had for him was an unamused look. "Whitley…"

"What?" he protested. "She didn't respond when you called to set up a meeting for us to talk and she seems to have no interest in reconciling with me. I can't work anything out with her if she won't speak to me."

And he did want to work things out with her. He wanted to speak with her, work out whatever issues they had. And though he told himself it was to take advantage of the rampant praise the public was heaping on her, he couldn't deny that Madam Rosenflos' overtures towards repairing his relationship with the one sibling he actually cared about had been… convincing.

But if she didn't accept his calls, there was nothing he could do about that. They should just go on with their current status quo and not attempt to make any changes that might result in him suffering physical or emotional harm. Who needed familial relationships anyway?

Esper sighed. "You don't stop trying to reach your goal just because you fail. You reevaluate your strategy and try a different approach."

"That is one way to think about it," Whitley admitted. "What's your new approach for getting through the general's thick head? The vote on the embargo is tomorrow."

The chairwoman groaned. "Don't remind me. Robyn just sent me Mantle's latest news."

"Anything good?"

"Nothing unexpected. James is being called a tyrant for not having ended the embargo already and people are slowly losing faith in the rest of us for not figuring out a way around him," Esper shook her head. "I can't say they're wrong either."

Whitley huffed. "They may be correct about the general, but not you. You're working harder than anyone to put an end to this stupidity."

Esper smiled. "Thank you, Whitley. Sometimes though… sometimes I'm really going to help people."

Whitley raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"The public sees me as some sort of saint. A guardian angel, who even at her worst is only naïve," Esper explained. "But you know more than most that my hands aren't exactly clean."

"No one's hands are clean," Whitley scoffed. "But you're hardly my father. When he cuts corners, its to enrich his profits. When you do it, it's so Mantle won't be entirely a town of homeless people."

"But people are still hurt by my actions."

"Less than would be if you did nothing," Whitley declared. "I'd say suffering with a net gain is better than suffering for suffering's sake."

Esper looked down, her perfect façade fracturing for once. A moment later however, her brilliant smile returned. "Thank you, Whitley. Sometimes, it's hard to keep in mind what I'm working towards. But that makes it no less important."

Whitley grinned, the limo pulling into the mansion's parking circle. "Happy to help."

Indeed, who needed familial relationships? The bonds formed by choice were far superior that whatever blood ties fate lumped them with at random. He would seek to reclaim his relations with Weiss, but as for the rest of them?

They could burn for all he cared.

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"I know you were behind this James! This has your fingerprints all over it! Stealing my daughters and blaming me for your blunders—"

"For gods' sake, Jacques, shut up!" Ironwood shouted. He'd only come to this meeting to make sure the Schnee patriarch didn't try anything reckless before the vote tomorrow, but not it seemed his old associate wasn't even going to wait that long before getting on his nerves. "What are you talking about? I've already told you that Weiss joining up with Intelligence was a state-sanctioned action—"

"And what about telling her little edited version of Godmother's Haven?!"

"What?"

"Don't lie to me!" Jacques screeched. "She told me about that false version you concocted to put everything on me! And now she's threatening to release it to the public! She'll bring down the entire kingdom if she does that!"

"Which is why we never told her a word about it," Ironwood growled, his eyes narrowing at the CEO. He had his hands full stockpiling the kingdom's defenses and preparing for the Amity Project. He needed to focus on stopping Salem, not containing a secret that should have long been buried. "How did she find out?"

Jacques froze. "Well, how am I supposed to know? She said COMMAND and Eleanor told her about it, but for all we know that could be a lie as well. But she must have gotten proof of it somewhere! She's trying to blackmail me with it for the company!"

"She's trying to blackmail you with a state secret?" Ironwood repeated incredulously. "And you're just telling me this now!?"

"You haven't exactly been the easiest person to deal with as of late, James!" Jacques fired back. He stomped over to his bookcase and pointed to a deep cut in the wood. "She threatened me, right there! She's learned how to use her semblance to conjure swords out of thin air!"

More than likely that was actually magic. Jacques certainly wouldn't know the difference. Still, from what Ironwood had observed, such behavior was a bit too aggressive for Weiss. Though if she had been working with Intelligence, she must have picked up a few things.

"I will handle Weiss," Ironwood promised. He would greatly prefer the SDC to be in her hands to her father's, but if Godmother's Haven got out it would start a war with Mistral. He couldn't let that happen. "Right now, we need to figure out how she knows and plug the leak."

Jacques straightened his tie and glanced all about his office. He was off-balance, rattled. Ironwood hadn't seen him like this in a long time.

"She said COMMAND and Eleanor told her," he said. "But those two are fanatics. They'd never let anything slip that could jeopardize the kingdom's security. The Tremaine girls prefer to think it never happened. And you obviously didn't tell her. Which means the only other person who could have known is the Specialist Commander. I don't suppose Obsidian ever met Weiss."

"No," Ironwood replied. "I've had an eye on him since his dismissal. He's never contacted her."

"Well, then who could it be? The only person left is…" Jacques looked up as if coming to a realization. "Winter."

Ironwood's eyes narrowed. "You should think twice before you accuse my right hand of treason, Jacques."

"Of course," Jacques said, holding up his hands. "But you have to admit, she does dote on Weiss. And considering her animosity with COMMAND ESR… well, what better way to convince her little sister to stay out of harm's way."

"Perhaps, but unlike you, Winter is a professional."

Both Ironwood and Jacques whirled around to the door, a very unexpected guest marching into the office with shaggy white hair and a crinkled petticoat.

"Willow," the general greeted, unable to hide his surprise.

"What are you talking about, dear?" Jacques asked, quite confused. "I am not accusing our daughter of anything—"

"Neither of us deserve to be called her parents, and yes you were," the oldest true Schnee interceded, a stalwart spark lit within her normally dead eyes. She raised her scroll. "Fortunately, you're not very good at it."

She tapped the play button and the device began to play a recording of Weiss and Jacques in the very same office. A video that consisted of Jacques telling his second daughter everything about Operation Godmother's Haven.

Ironwood leveled his fiercest glare at the tycoon, his mouth was open in abject terror. "You told her everything?!"

"I thought she already knew! I thought COMMAND had already told her! She knew things she couldn't have known otherwise!" Jacques protested. He glanced fearfully at his wife, then at the position the camera must have been at to get the recording. "You… how long have been spying on me?"

"Long enough," Willow declared. "I have everything stored in an offsite server." She looked to Ironwood. "Is it enough?"

"To charge him for treason? Most definitely," Ironwood growled. He stalked towards Jacques, the businessman fearfully backpedaling until he smacked up against the wall, the general leering over him.

"Wait! James, wait! You can't threaten me in my own home!" he pleaded.

"You disclosed state secrets. That is a felony."

"I was tricked! And you should be one to talk! You're the one that approved the damn thing in the first place!"

"What I did, I did for the good of Remnant," Ironwood snarled. "Everything I do, I do for the good of Remnant."

"You, on the other hand, are not nearly so altruistic," Willow noted.

Jacques' panic dissolved for a moment, replaced with fury. His eyes narrowed at James. "If you arrest me, there'll be a trial. I'll tell everyone the truth!"

"That will make you a Class-A security risk," Ironwood reminded him. "That will be one matter I'll gladly let COMMAND ESR handle."

"Oh, don't act like she isn't already your favorite attack dog!" Jacques spat. "Seducing Weiss to be your puppet, stealing my dust! I bet you even plan to loose her on Esper the first chance you get—"

"Stealing your dust?" Ironwood interjected. "What are you talking about?"

Jacques scoffed. "Don't play dumb. I looked over the reports after the Taurus incident and I visited the surplus complex. Their records show that a quite substantial missing amount that Intelligence's public statement did not mention."

Ironwood backed off, his fists closing in fury. "Their report to me didn't mention anything missing either."

Jacques' eyes widened. "What?"

The door to the office creaked open. The two Schnees and the general turned to see the new entrant.

"Klein?" Willow said. "What is it?"

"Get out of here, you oaf!" Jacques commanded. "We're discussing something important."

Klein ignored his master entirely, his panicked eyes locking onto his mistress as his fingers tightened around the large bag in his grip. "No. No, ma'am, why are you in here? You're supposed to be in the garden. No, no, no, no."

Willow raised an eyebrow and braced her long-serving butler. "Klein, Klein, it's alright. It's alright. What's wrong? Why shouldn't I be here?"

Tears began to tumble down from suited man's eyes, something that caused even Jacques to raise an eyebrow. Ironwood didn't blame him. He'd been visiting Schnee Manor for decades now and he'd never seen the professional man break his composure, even with his multiple personalities.

"I tried to resist her," Klein muttered. "I tried so hard to resist her, but… but I can't… I wanted to scream, to warn you all… but I can't."

"Who?" Ironwood demanded. "Who are you trying to resist?"

Klein glanced at the general, a look of complete despair on his face. He lifted up the bag in his hands.

A bag that suddenly clicked with a quite distinctive hum. One that prompted Ironwood to immediately raise his aura.

He knew it wouldn't be enough.

"She sends her regards," Klein murmured. "And her apologies."

After that, there was only fire.

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Whitley staggered to his knees, his ears ringing with cacophony, his pristine vest and dress clothes covered with soot. He looked out over the scene before him, his eyes widening with utter horror.

The Schnee Mansion, the manor built by his grandfather, the symbol of his family's affluence and majesty, his home, was rubble. The marble pantheon of Atlas was a gargantuan ruin, the main building completely demolished as small fires and shattered glass littered the site. Even the gardens, his mother's precious sanctum had sustained damage, though unlike the rest of the place, they still stood. Mother would be fine, unlike—

"Weiss!" Whitley screamed, blanket terror rushing over him. He dashed forward into the rubble.

"Whitley, wait!" Esper screamed after him, only to be held back by her security team, one of whom was already radioing for emergency services.

"Madam Chairwoman stay back!" one of the suited specialists ordered.

Esper growled, reaching into her coat and withdrawing three knives in one hand and four in the other. She threw them out into the air, each on shimmering with a soft white glow. Suddenly, they all flashed and suddenly there were seven new Espers, white capes and all, a product of her semblance.

"After him!" the original commanded, her clones and two of the security specialists chasing after him.

In some small rational corner of his mind, he recognized that he should really stop and let them take him back to the overturned limo. He wasn't a huntsman, or fighter. He didn't even have his aura unlocked. Whatever had occurred to cause the explosion, the only thing he could possibly do to help in the aftermath was to stay back and stay out of the professionals' way.

But he wasn't thinking with that small rational part of his brain. Call love, call it adrenaline from the blast, call it stupidity, because it really was. But it didn't matter. Weiss was his sister, and whatever differences they had, whatever she might have done to him, he cared about her and he had to make sure she was okay.

And so, he found his legs rapidly carrying him through the ruins towards the library, the place where he and Weiss had always hidden from father's wrath when they were children. With any luck, she'd been taking sanctuary from him there today as well.

At least, that was his thought before he saw that it too had been reduced to a pile of rubble.

Whitley sank to his knees, uncaring that his Mistralian dress pants were torn to shreds against the sharp rocks or that Esper's clones and the security team were catching up to him. He wasn't sure if he was sniffling or coughing from the smog, but he didn't care.

"I'm sorry, Weiss," he murmured. "I'm sorry for being angry, for being petty. You left me… and I was alone. I was alone with him, and I didn't know what to do. I just knew that you left… and I wanted you back. And then when you did come home, all I could think about was how you hadn't wanted to return, that you didn't want to come back to me. I thought I was still alone, and because of that, I was. And now you're gone again… I just want you back again."

Idly, he noted a pair of water droplets drip onto the gravel beneath him, their black hue made slightly darker.

He also noticed that it was surprisingly cold for a place that had just been blown up.

A large pile of rubble shifted to his left, drawing the distraught boy's gaze. Beneath the rocks and ash, a cracked dome of pink and black ice was revealed. A moment later, the crystalline structure melted away, revealing—

"Weiss!" Whitley cheered, shooting back to his feet.

His sister was alive. Sagging and panting for breath with her aura crackling to nothing around her, but alive, Myrtenaster outstretched in her hand. Her Intelligence friend was laid out beneath her, singed and bruised, but well enough. He collapsed on his face immediately after. Whitley would probably care more about that if he could remember the black-haired boy's name. Did he ever learn it?

Eh, he could do that later. His big sister had survived the explosion that had leveled their family home! He couldn't remember a time when he was so stupendously joyous. The same legs that had carried him into the ruin now carried him over to her.

Then, something happened. Weiss' body, previously exhausted and heaving, suddenly went ramrod straight, filled with a burst of energy. As Whitley raced towards her, his sister's blue eyes widened. She started running towards him, and, for a moment, he thought they would embrace in a hug, just like normal siblings.

Then, Myrtenaster rose and a sharp pain blossomed in his gut.

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Weiss staggered back, her brother tumbling to the ground, his vest darkening with blood. The same blood that now stained her sword.

She didn't understand what had happened. The explosion had ripped through the house, she and Gray had barely gotten a barrier up in time. Even then, both their auras had shattered and he was laid out on the ground, completely exhausted.

Everything had been leveled, the entire mansion was gone, rubble. Then Whitley had started running towards her and… something had taken over her. Her body had moved, but she hadn't moved it, she'd been too exhausted to move an inch. But whatever power had moved her had made her run towards Whitley and raise Myrtenaster and—oh gods.

"Whitley!"

Esper Rosenflos dashed over to her brother, kneeling at his side and applying pressure to the wound in his gut. "Stay with me! You're still breathing! Stay with me!"

Weiss, in control of her body once more, staggered towards them both, but she was instantly blocked by six other Esper Rosenfloses, likely blade clones created by her semblance. The small squad was on her in an instant, smacking Myrtenaster from her grasp and sweeping her legs out from under her before she could even realize what was happening. From there, the two suited specialists took over, wrenching her hands behind her back and binding them in a gravity dust bolo.

"Weiss Schnee," one of them said. "You are under arrest."

I considered putting another chapter between this one and the last to act as a breather, but I figured that first section at the top would serve well enough. Plus, it shows Cinder desperately trying to be a friendly and empathetic person. Rest assured, it is going to take more than this to actually make the CME trio into legitimate friends, but this marks the point when Cinder is giving it her best shot, if only to please her Teacher and Salem.

Meanwhile in Atlas, the good guys start to figure out the game, but they're not fast enough to stop the start of Teacher and Watts' Phase Two. For the record, Whitley is not dead, those present knew enough field medicine to keep him alive until paramedics arrived, but he will be in the hospital for a bit.

And what controlled Weiss' body to stab him should be quite obvious, and terrifying, to Fairy Tail fans.

Please feel free to check out the TvTropes Page! As a first for one of my stories, it has an Awesome Moments page, so don't let it be incomplete. Head on over and add any trope or awesome moment you see to the list!

An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, and Matthew Blevins.

Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!

Go Forth and Conquer!