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"…And, you know the rest," Blake finished. "I don't know who Tyrian is, but if he could handle… that form, so easily, then he is far too dangerous for anyone on this island."

"Yes," her father murmured. His face, normally so rugged and wise, was pale with shock. "Yes, I do believe he is."

Blake cringed. The doctor's skill and Tyrian's guidance had ensured that she was never in danger of dying from the latter's poison, but it had still left her delirious for days. Apparently, the scorpion faunus had been quite distressed by that, muttering on and on about how he had "delayed her reunion with their goddess". One thing had led to another and once she was well enough, her parents had asked who Salem was and how she had met her.

Thus, she'd gathered all the allies she had on the island and divulged everything, Fairy Tail, maidens, the Relics, and Grimm Queen included. Qrow might get mad at her later for the Salem bits, but these were her parents. She wasn't going to have them within spitting distance of one of the Gates, and Tyrian was putting out way too much curse energy not to be somehow demonic, without knowing the score.

Oh, and Ilia too, but after Sienna Khan had given Tyrian a free hand on the island and the Albains had put her in his line of sight, her loyalty to any White Fang leadership figure that wasn't Adam was quite thoroughly shot. And wasn't it a strange day when she when that was the thing that realigned her with her old friend.

"The Mother of Grimm," Ilia murmured, her hands trembling. "And that psychopath is just one of her minions?"

"Well, one of her top minions, but yeah," Sun confirmed. "Qrow said these Gates are capable of wiping out armies. You'd think she'd want to give that kind of power to someone who's mentally stable." The blond monkey faunus turned to Blake. "But why does he seem to think you know her?"

Blake shrugged. "No idea. I'd never heard of Salem until Patch. But… when I was in Grimm Form… there was a voice."

"A voice?" Her mother said, furrowing her brow. "Mr. Callows did mention that his Queen would be trying to get through to you."

"Did you recognize it?" her father inquired.

She shook her head. "No, everything is so warped when I'm like that. The voice gave me… advice on how to better control myself. It's how I was able to drop the form."

"Really?" Sun said, jumping to his feet. "That's great! If you can control it—"

"Then what?" Ghira challenged. "She can put her faith in a voice she can't recognize that's probably the Queen of the Grimm?"

"Well… no," Sun awkwardly backpedaled. "But, she's healthy enough to move now. Which means Tyrian isn't going to take 'no' for an answer. Her Grimm form is the only thing that even has a chance of fighting him, and only if she's in control of it."

Blake frowned, but her friend was right. The advice the voice had given her, to give herself to the darkness instead of fighting with it, aim the power instead of grappling with it… she'd be lying if she said she was at all comfortable with the idea. She'd made so many mistakes trying to use morally ambiguous means to accomplish good ends.

When she'd seen her parents again, when she'd forced herself back to normal, seen her mother's broken arm and remembered that she'd tried to do much worse to her in her Grimm form… well, combined with all the reasons they already had to hate her, she had been planning to run. Like the coward she was.

But she hadn't run. She'd been tired of running and it hadn't done anyone any good, not her or the people she cared about. She'd gotten down on her knees and professed her apologies to her parents, fully expecting to be disowned for her trespasses. It'd be what she deserved.

Instead, they had done the one thing she'd never imagined they'd do. They forgave her. Just like with Weiss and Yang, she'd gone to those she'd harmed, taken responsibility for her sins, and they'd forgiven her. She wasn't naïve enough to think that was how things would be with everyone she'd hurt, but in the end, she couldn't be forgiven if she did not appear for judgment. She had to let them meet her halfway instead of wallowing in her own guilt and taking the burden of redemption wholly on her own shoulders. Like Mira had always said about Take-Over, it was all about equilibrium.

Which led into the actual logistics of her current problem. Salem's words, to give in to the Grimm's killing intent and aim it, weren't entirely distinct from the elder Strauss sibling's teachings. She couldn't try to manhandle the Umbral Spirit's essence. She had to meet it halfway, find an equilibrium with it that she could use to protect her friends…

Umbral Spirit? Why had she called the Grimm an Umbral Spirit? What even was that… a Servant of Seram. Just as the Celestial were the Servants of Ankh.

…

And how the hell did she know that?

Had the voice, Salem's voice, told her? Or was it like when she'd nearly absorbed Loke? Was she gaining memories from the Grimm? Were they hidden somewhere, beneath the sea of darkness that kept trying to drown her?

Was there an actual mind buried under Seram's mad commands?

"Even if she gains control of it, Tyrian was still barely trying in that fight. He had to put more effort into not killing her than winning," Ilia pointed out. "According to the Albains, he was killing professional huntsmen when he was only a faunus. Now he's some demon that can wipe out armies. What chance does she have alone?"

"She won't be alone," Kali proclaimed.

Sun frowned. "Mrs. B, it's a good thought, and I'd gladly jump in the ring if it would help, but it won't. He's too powerful."

"Too powerful to fight," Ilia concurred. "But not too powerful to run from."

"No. I'm not running," Blake declared.

"What other option is there?" Ilia demanded. "The rest of us can't scratch him, and you can't beat him alone."

"If I run, he will burn Kuo Kuana to the ground."

"He wouldn't dare," Ghira gasped. "He is here by Sienna's grace. And she would never tolerate such a blatant atrocity on the island."

Blake sent her father a look of pity. "Sienna isn't calling the shots here. Salem is."

"I know. I have no illusions about that," her father replied. "But if Salem truly wishes to facilitate an alliance with the White Fang, she can't do something that will turn Sienna against her or turn the faunus against the Fang. A terrorist attack on Menagerie would do both."

"That is a fair and logical point," Blake conceded. "Do you think Tyrian is a logical individual?"

Ghira stared at her for a few moments. Finally, he let out a long, tired sigh, his hands rising up to rub his temples. It had been a few years, but Blake was only now realizing just how much older her father looked compared to when she'd last seen him. The split from the White Fang, governing Menagerie, and her own absence… how much stress had he taken on himself?

"Your mother is right, though. You will not be facing Callows alone," he proclaimed. "I'll talk to Saber, see if the guard has any artillery they've kept in shape since the revolution. Most of it is on the walls, but there should be some we can bring to bear against this miscreant."

"Decades-old cannons against a Gate?" Sun skeptically asked.

Ghira smirked. "You youngsters may have your fancy weapons, and admittedly, they are quite versatile. But, when you've been in the midst of a real battle, you'll find that there are few things more useful than a very large gun."

Sun blinked numbly and then raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't the White Fang peaceful when you were in charge?"

"It was. And because of that, I learned a great deal about being shot at."

Blake couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I think I've got something else that might help. Or at least get some backup that might help."

"Backup?" Ilia said. "I thought you said your team was at Haven and Atlas?

Kali raised an eyebrow. "Is there a magic that will allow them to teleport here to help?"

"What? No! Well, maybe, but none that we have."

"The Fairy Sphere!" Sun suddenly realized, jumping to his feet in excitement. "You're planning to unlock the Fairy Sphere in the desert!"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"There's a sphere in the desert?"

Blake sighed at the others' responses. Still, she nodded. "If I can control the Sea Feilong Full-Body Form, I'll have enough power to break through the sphere. And then Tyrian will have two Fairy Tail wizards to contend with."

Sun chuckled, smashing his fist into his palm. "If they're anything like Wendy, you two will be able to turn that bug into paste."

Blake grinned. "If who I'm hoping is the person in there, they'll be even stronger."

"Excellent," Ghira said, though his worried frown belied his continued concern. "But Tyrian will be here tonight to take you away. How will we have time to both prepare the trap and get out to the desert to free your friend?"

"Easy," Blake said. "He's going to take me out there."

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"Gretel Rainart."

Gray's eyes narrowed at the holographic young woman projected from the table. He, Winter, Esper, and Eleanor had gathered in the Council Chairwoman's office. In the days since the attempted coup, Atlas had only gotten colder. Pietro Polendina was found dead in his lab, his defenses wrecked and his computers wiped, after what most assumed to be their information being stolen. The conclusion that Esper had drawn from the investigation was that Pietro had learned what had been going on and was the reason the Black Queen Virus shut down so quickly, proclaiming the good doctor a martyr and a national hero. Since he was respected in Atlas for his genius and beloved in Mantle for his charity work, both cities joined mourning him. And baying for the blood of his killer, who most assumed to be COMMAND ESR.

Of course, the fact that the Winter Maiden was found dead in her room, with all the cameras and Knights conveniently shorting out when it had happened, suggested that someone else had made that particular kill.

Gray had already suspected that there was more than one Gate involved. Weiss had been affected by the Macro Curse, and while it could animate the dead, it couldn't do so with the precision that Ironwood had displayed in the council chambers. The curse that could, however, was one that the Ice-Make Mage knew all too well.

The Necromancy Curse was in play. Not in Keyes' hands, but in a monster just like him, who'd used it to revive a man he'd murdered to manipulate the loyalty of those who'd loved him. Gray had once made a vow to destroy the Etherious, a vow he had forsaken when it had nearly turned him against Natsu. But for this bastard, he'd temporarily reinstate it. Gladly.

But they didn't have any clues to who that Gate was. COMMAND ESR on the other hand…

"Gretel Rainart," Winter annunciated slowly. "Are you sure?"

Eleanor nodded. "During Godmother's Haven, when I was… struggling to do what needed to be done regarding Ben, she appeared before me. When orders were insufficient to get my sentimental ass in gear and I pulled a gun on her, she removed her mask to apply a 'human element' so to say. It worked." The spy sighed and glanced away. "I should have shot her."

"Yes, you should have," Esper said, glaring at the flickering image of her rival, finally having a face for all her rage. "Would have saved us all a lot of trouble. Ironwood's files confirm that she was under the mask." Her brow furrowed in thought. "Rainart… Rainart… where have I heard that name before?"

Gray and Winter shared a worried glance. Since assuming emergency powers, Esper had gained access to all military files no matter their previously required security clearance. It had resulted in some positives, like her choosing to officially inform Gray about Godmother's Haven (probably figured Weiss had already told him, which she had), but also meant that she had access to Ironwood's files on Salem. He and Winter had debated whether they should tell her the truth about the Queen of the Grimm, but since she would find out from her reading eventually, they eventually decided that it was their best move. With Ironwood gone, they needed the highest authority in the kingdom to know the real score.

Suffice to say, when the Chairwoman had closed her office for the next day, they'd theorized that she had drunk herself into a stupor. Surprisingly, the day after, she'd appeared before them with many empty cookie tins and having speed-read through as many of the files as she could.

"Madam Chairwoman, I believe this is related to the special matter we discussed earlier," Winter said. She glanced towards Eleanor. "The classified one."

Eleanor scowled at Winter, but her vaunted professionalism was more than talk. When Esper's eyes widened and she looked to the Special Agent, the Tremaine matriarch fell into a salute and marched out of the room without a word of protest.

"Thank you," Winter nodded.

"Be careful, Winter," Esper warned, though not unkindly. She strode around to her desk and slumped into her seat, her optimistic air oppressed by exhaustion. "I'm doing what I can, but no Specialist is popular these days. If I didn't have emergency powers, I don't think I could keep Clover and Marrow out of prison."

Gray cringed. With the death of Councilman Sleet and Ironwood no longer alive to take the backlash, the Specialist Corps itself, and Winter as its commander, had been facing the brunt of the people's fury. Clover Ebi and Marrow Amin, the sole survivors of the Ace Ops, had had thousands clamoring for their incarceration, despite the fact that they had nothing to do with the coup attempt.

"I can only do so much before people's faith in me isn't enough to help," Esper warned. "Now then, how is COMMAND ESR's true identity, this…" she glared at the holographic girl again, "…Gretel Rainart, involved with Salem."

"I don't know the details, but from what the general told me, one of Salem's Gates is a man called Hazel Rainart," Winter said. "He was one of the general and Professor Ozpin's allies until his sister's death drove him to Salem."

Gray cocked an eyebrow. "Did Ozpin kill her?"

"No, she was a huntress. She fell to the Grimm."

"What?" the Ice Mage said. "Then why in the world would he join the Queen of the Grimm? That makes no sense."

"No, it does not," Esper remarked.

Winter shrugged. "I can't speak to the thought process of a terrorist."

"Fair enough."

Esper pulled out her scroll and ran a quick search through Ironwood's files. "According to the general, Ms. Gretel is this Hazel's cousin. James had known of her beforehand, the Rainart family has been dedicated huntsmen for the last three generations, but she only joined Atlas Intelligence a few years after her cousin's desertion. No mention of Ironwood or Ozpin ever bringing her into the loop."

"Maybe she was looking for the loop?" Gray suggested. "She's had Intelligence on the lookout for magic for decades. Maybe she tracked down Salem and got turned by her cousin."

"Perhaps, but for the moment her motives for treachery don't matter so much as her next move," Esper noted. "Her attempt to have me and the rest of the council assassinated and rule using James as a puppet failed, but she used the opportunity to take the Winter Maiden's powers and have some other agent of hers, possibly another Gate, steal Pietro's files and the Penny Project."

Winter frowned. "We don't know for sure if they have the Penny Project."

Esper peaked up, a sparkle of hope in her eyes. "Has the girl contacted us?"

"Um, no, ma'am."

"Oh," the chairwoman deflated. "Then we must assume the worst."

"Does that include anything about Weiss?" Gray demanded. "Why haven't we freed her from prison yet?"

To his great surprise, it was Winter who answered him. "Because even if we put the attack on the Manor at Rainart's feet, it was the Chairwoman who witnessed Weiss stab Whitley."

"If I release her, it will be like saying I lied before, even if I convince my security team to lie with me," Esper explained. "We've already got every soldier and huntsman we have on Mantle's walls fighting off Grimm attacks caused by the coup. If we create any more unrest, any more negativity, who knows if our defenses will hold."

"We cannot sacrifice thousands of lives just to release Weiss," Winter declared, though she most certainly did not look happy with the fact. "We can get her out as soon as we can prove that she was being controlled by a curse. Which means we need to tell the public about magic and Salem, but without the Winter Maiden we have no way to prove it!"

"And without the Amity Tower, our reach will be limited," Esper sighed. "James, why didn't you tell… me? No… you didn't tell anyone."

"Ma'am?" Winter said.

Esper ignored her, suddenly frantic with movement. She tapped into her scroll and swiftly replaced the holographic image of Gretel Rainart with one of maps of a certain area of Solitas. Gray didn't recognize it, but Winter raised an eyebrow.

"The Amity Storage Site?" she noted.

"That's where she's going," the chairwoman stated. "Her partner accessed Pietro's system once to insert the Black Queen Virus. The only reason they'd return is if they assumed that James was hiding something that they needed more time to extract. And if they already gained the Winter Maiden's location, the Amity Project is the only other hard target to hit."

Winter paled. "We're still clearing out the planned launch site, but if they destroyed the coliseum, a symbol of peace and unity—"

"—They'd set back any hope of reuniting Remnant by decades," Esper finished. She turned to Gray. "Maidens bleed ethernano, correct? If we get you within the general area, you'll be able to pinpoint her location?"

Gray frowned. "According to what Weiss told me about Cinder, I should. But if COMMAND is a Gate and a maiden, I might need help to take her."

"You'll have it," Winter assured him, stepping forward and clasping a hand on his shoulder. "I'm coming with you."

"As will I," Esper grinned. "I've been waiting years to put this bitch down. We'll have to bring Eleanor too. If she's really on our side, she'll want her own pound of flesh. If she isn't, she'll have to reveal her true colors there."

Gray nodded. It wasn't a bad plan. He wasn't one for killing if there was another option, but he knew better than most that one couldn't take chances with demons. If they played this right, they could make sure the maiden powers went to Winter and then they'd have their proof to free Weiss. It was a risky plan, at least a dozen things could go horribly wrong, but that was par for the course with a Fairy Tail mission.

However, there was one risk he was unwilling to accept.

"If we do this, all three of us will be outside the city at the same time," he pointed out. "COMMAND didn't have me recruit Weiss for no reason, she's a target in this somehow. As long as she's in the prison, she's a sitting duck. If we all leave, there'll be no one to back her up if she needs it."

Winter frowned. "That's… a good point. Rainart has proven more than proficient at making us look one way and then moving in another."

"And yet, we can't risk Amity," Esper mused. A few moments later though, she smirked. "We'll just have to make sure Weiss isn't where Gretel thinks she will be."

"You just said we couldn't release her," Gray reminded her.

"We can't. But we don't need to," Esper explained. "If we're all seen going elsewhere, blame cannot fall on us if Weiss suddenly disappears from her cell."

"But it will fall on her," Winter pointed out, none too enthused. "Escaping from prison is a crime in and of itself."

"Once we have the proof to exonerate her, we can sell whatever story we need to remove that charge. We can even say she was transferred to another site," Esper said. She pursed her lips in concern. "Though, since the three of us would be gone to deflect suspicion, we couldn't run that operation. Clover and Marrow have too many eyes on them right now. And we can't assign it to Intelligence without risking Rainart hearing about it if any are still loyal to her."

A solution immediately popped into Gray's head. Someone who wasn't a member of Intelligence but had all the skills of one. A person who had been completely loyal to Winter and would be perfectly capable of breaking Weiss out. It was a lucky break.

And yet, he and Weiss had gotten a lot of lucky breaks in Atlas that had turned out to be anything but. Maybe he was getting paranoid, but he found he couldn't trust where he was being led, even if he trusted the person he'd arrived at. There had just been too many reversals, too many betrayals. Even if Eleanor and Drizzella had saved the council, even if Esper had nearly lost her life in the coup and been nothing but helpful towards them since… he didn't think he'd be trusting anyone but Weiss and Winter any time soon.

"Ana," Winter stated, a smile coming over her face. "Ana can do it. Hell, she might even be able to get Drizzella to run interference for her off-the-books."

"I wouldn't advise that," Esper said. "We should keep the circle as small as possible on this."

"Agreed," Gray chimed in. "Driz loves Ana, but she won't go against Eleanor. If she is against us, Driz won't oppose her."

Esper frowned. "Then we may need to take her with us as well, just to be certain." She looked to Winter. "Will you be able to fight your old teammate if it comes to it?"

Winter's face hardened into steel. "If she was a party to what was done to the general, Dr. Polendina, my sister, and this kingdom, then she is no teammate of mine."

Gray wasn't sure he agreed with that. Call it naïve of him, but even if the Tremaine sister was against them, he'd heard firsthand how she'd become that way, and he doubted she had enjoyed recent events any more than they had. She still needed to get some sense knocked into her and face whatever justice was in store for her, but to abandon her outright?

Well… it wasn't his family that had been torn asunder. In the end, it was Winter's choice.

He just had to make sure that she, and Weiss, survived long enough to make it.

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"Please! Please, Brother Tyrian! It wasn't what you think! Have we not done all we could to be of help to you since we have arrived?"

The former scorpion faunus rolled his eyes. The inner chambers of the Menagerie White Fang enclave were, in common terms, trashed. Comfortable thrones overturned and ruin, expensive Mistralian drink smashed along the floor, and its two most common occupants currently squashed under Tyrian's feet.

"Please, Fennec, do not insult the intelligence of us all," he chided the fox faunus. "We are not brothers, and you have never sought to help me. The two of you have always been so clever, so cunning. Alas, you have fallen into the same trap that many who are clever but not wise too: just because the rest of the world does not match your cunning does not mean they are fools."

"We know you are not a fool, Brother Tyrian!" Corsac spoke up. "That is why we—"

"Attempted to use my mission from the Queen to have me execute Lady Blake's parents and clear your path to the chieftainship?" Tyrian snorted. "Honestly, you weren't even subtle." His tail flickered down, gliding across the side of their faces. The Albain brothers' famed silver tongues went silent, their eyes focused on the stinger that could end them with less than a pound of pressure. "I would so love to educate you in the consequences of such sloth."

His tail withdrew, the Albains near fainting from relief. He stepped off them and allowed the fox brothers to scramble to their knees.

"However, that would be to commit sloth of my own. The Queen's efforts must come before any of our own petty desires after all," he grinned. "And you two still have a part to play, no matter how insignificant."

"Wha—what?" Fennec muttered. "What do you mean—"

Tyrian grinned. "Your High Leader has discovered who exactly you were planning to support in the recent coup. Naughty, naughty foxes, thinking the bull would conquer the tiger."

"That's a lie!" Corsac shouted. "We have always been loyal to High Leader Khan—"

"Do shut up, Corsac. You're wasting air," Tyrian dismissed, instantly silencing the fox. "After all, she learned the truth from the horse's mouth."

"What do you—"

"But! Thanks to the Queen's guidance, she's decided to give you a second chance!" Tyrian cheered. "There's a ship in the harbor bound for Mistral. Make sure you and all your followers are on it."

"Mistal?"

"That's where Haven Academy is," Tyrian grinned. "And in case you're thinking of running."

An orange glow lit up around his hand, summoning up a similar shine upon each of the fox brothers from where he'd planted his foot. The Albains' eyes widened.

"Don't," he advised. "Run, and my curse will send you flying in pieces. We wouldn't want that, would we? Hehehehehehehe!"

Maybe it was the lifeline, maybe it was the threat, and maybe it was his laughter, but the Albain brothers wasted no time in dashing out of there, leaving Tyrian to bask in his victory.

After a conference call with their Atlas team, Sienna Khan had been more than eager to have the names of all those who were disloyal to her. Donating them to the Queen's strike force against Haven had been a simple task for Hazel's negotiation skills. The tiger faunus might have raised some fuss if the attack was meant to actually destroy the school as Beacon had been, she did believe the huntsmen academies protected all, but with the objectives the attack was to have, there was no trouble. After all, dear Headmaster Lionheart had already sent all his precious students home early.

The attack would be led by the Lord Ophiuchus and fitted to the Queen and Gate of the Maiden's wider strategy. As soon as the Spring Maiden was found, the Relic of Knowledge would be theirs and then the locations of all the Fairy Spheres would be theirs, setting the stage for their goddess' grand revolution.

And speaking of the Spheres, Lady Blake had just informed him of a most fascinating discovery. It seemed he would be returning to the Grimmlands with two prizes instead of one.

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The processing had been a nightmare. Yang had made her watch some old crime movies once and they'd always skimmed through the procedure, made it seem like the fingerprinting and the mugshots and the searches went by in the blink of an eye at best. But it was an eternity. An eternity of a creeping pit growing in her stomach, of knowing that the entire kingdom would see her as a monster, a murderer who'd tried to kill her own brother… and she had no way of proving she wasn't.

Gray would believe her. Winter as well maybe. But everyone else? Who in their right mind would believe that a mystical force had taken control of her body? If she didn't know for a fact magic existed, she wouldn't believe her either.

Compared to the processing, actually being in prison wasn't too bad. Either through her fame or some insider having knowledge of her true power, she was deemed too dangerous to have around the other prisoners and so had spent her time in solitary. The isolation might drive some mad, she was sure. But Weiss had been alone before. She wasn't a fan, but her time in her eighty feet squared cell was little different from her time under her father's thumb, just with an itchy gray prison jumpsuit, food being delivered through a slot under the door instead being delivered by Klein, and an automated turret hanging from the ceiling ready to pepper her full of bullets if it detected her activating her aura.

Oh, and the seal stone cuff latched around her right wrist. That had certainly been an unwelcome surprise.

That had been what had primed Weiss' true terror. There was a possibility that COMMAND ESR honestly thought she was guilty and so had provided the kingdom with the necessary means to restrain her magic, but the white-haired wizard huntress doubted that tremendously. More likely, whoever it was who was Salem's agent in the kingdom, be they Intelligence or otherwise, had wanted to make sure she couldn't escape any time she wanted.

She needed to warn Winter. She needed to make sure Gray had recovered from his wounds from the explosion, that Whitley had survived his stabbing. She needed to tell somebody about the danger that was closing in on her home. But she couldn't get out and no one came to visit her. That only fueled her anxiety even more. Perhaps there was some politics at play that prevented Winter from coming, but Gray wouldn't let anything of the sort stop him. Which led her to darker thoughts.

What if they were captured as well, plucked away by Salem's forces? What if they'd been killed, Winter caught in an ambush and Gray strangled in his sickbed while he was still recovering? What if the Queen of the Grimm had already struck and seized her home, and the first time her cell door opened fully, it would be to receive a dust round in her skull?

Or… what if her nightmare had come true, and they had all abandoned her? What if she was the loneliest of all once more?

No! No, that was ridiculous! She shouldn't let such preposterous things poison her mind. Maybe the isolation was getting to her after all.

She needed something to distract her. There was no way to tell time in the cell beyond when she got her meals and when she slept, but she needed to occupy herself. She couldn't use her semblance without provoking the turret, but she could run through the mental exercises of its use.

She closed her eyes and imagined her glyphs. To the untrained eye, at a glance, they'd all appear to be the same. But a true Schnee understood the subtle differences, the different symbols in the center, the varied sigils that lined their borders. Hell, when she'd finally gotten summoning down, she'd started noticing the differences between the sigils surrounding her Arma Gigas glyph and her Boarbatusk. Though, there was always one sequence that was there every time, a series of symbols…

"Open the Gate."

Weiss' eyes shot open. What was that? She'd just been thinking about the sigils of her summoning glyphs and then… that voice… deep, male, and foreboding. Dark. She'd never heard it before but it sent a flash of terror through her, greater than even the trepidation that had been smothering her since her arrest.

And the words it had spoken… she'd never known if the sigils around her glyphs translated to anything, but that sequence… for some reason, the words the voice had spoken seemed to fit within her mind.

But what gate was it talking about? If that was what the glyphs did, then she'd opened it a dozen times already, Winter and her mother more than that. What more was there for her to do? Was this involved with Salem somehow?

She was roused from her thoughts when the turret on the ceiling suddenly flared to life. Weiss' eyes widened, her aura crackling to life around her. If she was going to get shot for activating her aura, she might as well actually use it. If it shot at her, she'd defend herself.

At least, that was the thought before the turret's electronic whirring suddenly went silent. The machine's barrels went limp, not even inactive. Just… broken.

"What in the world?" Weiss muttered.

She had no time for confusion before her cell door swung open. Once again, her eyes widened as a familiar figure strode inside and tossed Myrtenaster into her hands.

"Get up," Ana Tremaine commanded, no trace of the boisterous drunk Weiss had caught glimpses of before.

The young huntress obeyed and rose to her feet, grateful to have her sword returned. Still, after the luck she'd had, the sudden appearance of a Specialist at her door was more than a tad suspicious. "What's going on?"

"Winter sent me. I'm getting you out."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "Winter sent you? To break me out of prison?"

"Yeah, I know how it sounds. Rules-stickler extraordinaire masterminding a jailbreak," Ana said. "A lot of stuff has happened that I will be happy to tell you when we aren't standing in the middle of a military prison. Now, come on!"

The Specialist strode off after that, forcing Weiss' hand. If she didn't want to be found with her cell door open, her turret broken, and her weapon in hand, she had to follow.

The pair stealthily made their way through the dull steel halls of Glacial Cliffs' solitary wing, the cameras all dead on the walls. There were a scattered few guards on duty, but against them it was child's pay for Ana to teleport down another corridor and then create a distraction just as she was teleported back by her semblance's time limit. Of course, this tactic would be less effective against the hordes of Atlesian Knights posted around the facility, but Ana assured her that they had a workaround for that.

Indeed, when they passed by some of the robots, while Weiss had flinched at the sight of their viewscreens, the Knights acted as if the huntresses weren't there. The young wizard was so relieved she almost didn't notice another familiar aspect of the androids.

At last, Ana kicked open a door and led Weiss out onto a helipad. There was already a bullhead there, its back door opening up.

"Alright, head out with these guys. They'll take you to a safehouse that the Chairwoman's set up. Winter will meet you there soon enough," Ana explained. "I'll stay here and cover your tracks. Once we clear your name, we'll just say you were transferred to another site."

"Got it," Weiss replied. She raised her right wrist. "Think you can get this off?"

Ana shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't have the time to grab the key."

"It's fine," Weiss said. "Not too much of a complication. Weird that they only put a cuff on one wrist."

"Yeah. Can't see it doing much of use."

There it was. Weiss dropped back from the Specialist and raised Myrtenaster to her throat.

"Woah!" Ana yelped, raising her hands to show she wasn't carrying weapons. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Intelligence knows about magic," Weiss stated bluntly.

"Knows about what? I'm not Intelligence!"

"But you were born in it. You were part of Godmother's Haven. And Gray told me you talked with your sister about her attempt to arrest Blake back at Beacon," Weiss said. "You know what seal stone is. You're not dumb enough to be a dupe."

"Weiss, I don't know what you're talking about—"

"Oh, give it a rest, Agent Tremaine. It seems one of Jacques' brood actually has some intelligence. What a miracle."

Ana's eyes suddenly went wide with panic. Weiss might have enjoyed watching the traitor squirm if the voice, arrogant and full of itself, hadn't been accompanied by a surge of mystical energy. Both magic… and curse.

The door to the bullhead came down completely and a thin man in a finely made suit with perfectly combed mustache strode out, mockingly clapping his hands together.

"You? What are you?" Weiss muttered, keeping her sword at Ana's throat. "Some kind of demon?"

"Eclipse Etherious. So, part demon." The man gave her a slight bow of respect. "Dr. Arthur Watts, at your service."

"You promised you wouldn't hurt her!" Ana shouted. "Her and Winter, you promised they wouldn't be harmed!"

Watts rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, no need to worry. Greater forces than you demand their safety. Though…" He flicked his hand and a small orange ball appeared in his palm; a small blurred figure visible within. "Of course, I have been given permission to use violence if necessary. So, I do recommend you come quietly, Ms. Schnee. The Queen is quite eager to see you again."

"Queen?" Ana said, genuinely surprised. "I thought the orders were to get her to safety?"

"They are. There is no place safer than at her side."

"Salem being the 'her', I presume," Weiss sneered. "I apologize. I must decline her invitation."

Watts smirked. "The Gate of the Maiden sought to give you invitations, my dear girl. The fact that I am signifies that the time for games has ended. You will be coming with me."

Weiss' eyes narrowed, a glyph swirling behind her. "Not without a fight."

"No, don't!" Ana shouted, only for the specialist to leap away when Weiss stabbed for her throat.

Watts smirked. The scientist flicked the orange ball towards her. "Fight, my servant."

Weiss turned Myrtenaster towards him, speeding up the summoning glyph behind her. Despite her bravado, she was well aware of the disadvantage she was at. She was facing off with some sort of super demon, a fully trained specialist, and whoever else was in that bullhead. Meanwhile, her magic was sealed, her sword only had as much dust as her enemies put in it, and she was in a baggy prison uniform and sneakers instead of the sleek combat skirt and combat heels she was accustomed to. She did not possess anything close to an advantage in this fight. Still, she had every intention of making these traitors and terrorists work for their victory.

At least, that had been the plan. Then the orange orb Watts had thrown shattered. And out popped her worst nightmare.

"Schnee!"

Adam Taurus, roaring, furious, and very much not dead stampeded out of the broken sphere, her crimson blade held high. Weiss' eyes widened, her brain spinning at the sight of the supposedly deceased man. Unfortunately, when her stunned mind found something focused on, it saw the restored SDC brand on his face rather than any other pertinent detail. Specifically, his incoming sword.

Weiss stumbled backwards, Myrtenaster barely rising to deflect his strike, the glyph behind her fading as her shock rose. Unfortunately, she caught a flash of light in the corner of her eye and instantly knew who her back had just smacked into.

Ana's arms coiled around her body, restraining her body in an iron hold. Adam did not waste the opening, smacking Myrtenaster from Weiss' weakened grip and smashing his hilt into her gut, the white-haired huntress folding over from the pain. The Blood-Soaked Bull grinned at her weakening, bringing back his sword for a heavy slash.

"Stop," Watt's voice rang out. Like a machine, Adam's arms froze. The faunus growled, but he sheathed his blade as his master walked forward. "That's a good little zombie. She's not to be harmed more than necessary."

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

Adam's teeth gnashed together. "Yes… master."

Watts smirked. "Much better."

Weiss still couldn't figure out what was happening. How was Adam Taurus alive? She'd watched Eleanor shoot him. She'd seen his skull cave in. People don't just walk that off.

While she was still reeling, Ana pulled her arms behind her back and restrained them with a gravity dust bola. The Tremaine sister frowned and leaned into Weiss' ear.

"I'm sorry," she said, sounding legitimately sincere. "Winter did send me, but the plan was always to have her think to send me if things got to this point. And it wasn't supposed to get this bad."

"You're Intelligence," Weiss muttered. "You never left Intelligence."

Ana looked away in shame. "I tried. But no matter how much I tried to get away, Mom always pulls me back. All I can do is try to make sure Winter and Driz don't end up as casualties."

"Oh, don't be so morose, little girl," Watts chastised. "Your sister plays your mother's shadow like a good little dog and Winter and Mr. Fullbuster will soon be facing more distinguished company than we are. Now then, we must be on our way."

Ana frowned, but she made no more complaint when she handed Weiss to Adam. The bull faunus scowled at Weiss, but he did nothing else as he and Watts dragged Weiss to the bullhead.

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Target located. Analyzing threat level.

Tactical readout: confrontation inadvisable.

Final message… final directive must be followed.

Constructing alternate stratagem.

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Gray's assessment of Amity Coliseum? Creepy.

Seriously, this was where the four kingdoms held their equivalent of the Grand Magic Games? It certainly had space comparable to the Domus Flau, but the mechanical juggernaut was nothing like the sunshine-filled arena. Of course, that may have just been because one had never had to go in for a tune-up.

The COMMAND hunting party had arrived at the storage site, a wide plain of ice surrounding a massive metal shipyard, dozens of bullheads and manta flyers scattered around the towering husk of Amity Coliseum. Drizzella had been ordered to join their Atlesian Knight escort in guarding their ship. If things went wrong, they'd need an escape route.

Which led to Gray, Winter, Esper, and Eleanor stalking through the decayed halls of the metal marvel. Several of the overhead lights were cracked, wires leaking out of the openings, sparks intermittently surging from their open ends.

"I assume this place looked better before the Fall of Beacon?" Gray joked.

Winter grimaced. "Even without the Grimm, civilian panic causes damage all its own. It will take time for the coliseum to be restored to its full glory."

"But it will be restored," Esper declared. "No matter the hardship, no matter the struggle."

"Yes, lovely sentiment, but can we stay focused," Eleanor snipped. She turned to Gray. "Can you sense her?"

Gray nodded. He'd felt the Winter Maiden's stockpile of ethernano surging out while they were still landing. It was like a font of water in the middle of a desert, flooding across the sands. Already, he could feel the ethernano levels of the air rising just by proximity. And he could easily tell where they were even higher.

He led the group down the hall until they came out in the middle of a grand stadium. The four of them stepped out onto the center, weapons drawn and eyes flickering around the seats.

At least, until steel doors crashed closed over every exit. A series of holographic roulettes flashed into the air, quickly landing on a pair of hill shapes. The outer edges of the arena opened up and the stadium split in half. To the right was a volcanic zone of boiling lava rivers, while the other was a rocky brown canyon.

And standing at the highest peak of that canyon, stood their enemy.

"Welcome," COMMAND ESR greeted them, as if they were old friends and not mortal enemies. "I've been expecting you all."

Winter pointed her swords towards the spymaster while Eleanor raised her pistols. Esper drew a pair of knives from her belt.

Gray merely narrowed his eyes. Now that he was close, now that she had sprung her trap and appeared before them, he had no more need for games.

"Gretel Rainart," Esper proclaimed. "In the name of the Kingdom of Atlas, you are under arrest—ah!"

Her words were cut off when a trio of pink ice lances slammed into her from behind and smashed her into the floor.

"Gray!" Winter roared, turning the shorter of her blades on him. "What the hell are you doing?"

The ice mage ignored her, instead noting Eleanor's completely unsurprised reaction. He glared at the Intelligence Agent, his other suspicion confirmed. "Do you want to do it? Or should I?"

Eleanor scowled, glancing up at COMMAND. "You did say he was smart."

"Indeed." COMMAND ESR reached up and unclasped her mask. For the first time, the symbol of Atlas fell away to reveal the face of Gretel Rainart, hazel eyes looking down on Gray with a twinkle of mirth.

For a moment, the Fairy Tail wizard feared he'd made another horrible mistake. Then he sensed the familiar, subtle weave of magic and he knew that he'd made more than just one. Just not now. Now, he needed to make up for the consequences of his previous poor judgment.

Another lance of ice fired from his hands pierced right through Esper's head. The chairwoman flashed white for a brief moment and then disappeared.

In her place, a single knife clattered to the stadium floor.

Winter's eyes widened. "Wha… what? A blade clone?"

Eleanor pivoted and pointed her gun towards the Specialist Commander.

Gray glared up at COMMAND ESR. "So, that's the mask you showed Ironwood. Did you kill her too?"

"Of course not," the phantom wearing Gretel Rainart's face snapped. "She was a brave huntress who fell to the Grimm. Hazel was grieved but he agreed that I should not let her death be in vain."

"How thoughtful," Gray snarked. "And the clones?"

COMMAND shrugged. "They copy whatever I look like when I summon them. If I've made any alterations, they take them on as their base. Was that what gave me away?"

"In part," Gray confessed. "The night of the gala and the night of the surplus complex raid, I realized you felt different, but I didn't think much of it. I was hardly focusing on you the second time anyway; it could have been a mistake. But then the bombing happened. And you were there when Weiss stabbed Whitley. And I got to thinking, transformation magic really isn't that hard to learn, is it?"

"What are you saying?" Winter murmured, though her wide, fearful eyes told Gray she'd already figured it out. She just dreaded the truth.

COMMAND sighed. She put a hand across her face and pulled. Her transformation magic came right off…

…and revealed the face of Esper Rosenflos.

"I had hoped to make a show of taking a dive before sneaking off, but it seems that won't be possible," the Council Chairwoman and Head of Atlas Intelligence explained. "We have much to discuss, my fairy friend."

Gray's eyes narrowed. He'd barely been able to sense the faint wisps of transformation magic on Esper at the Schnee Gala. It was such an economical magic, unless the user did something big, most wouldn't even notice it was there. At least, until it was gone and then they would know something had changed. And as things had conveniently worked out more and more for Esper, her rivals being killed or disgraced as she accumulated more power, that something, the difference between interacting with her and one of her magicless blade clones, became just a bit more noticeable. He'd gone along with this trap to figure out whose side Winter and Eleanor were really on, and to make sure it was the real Esper that he was pounding into the dirt.

His only hesitation was that, even though the face that gazed upon him was the one all of Atlas had sung the praises of, he still sensed the faint whiff of transformation magic along with the rush of the Winter Maiden's power.

It seems there was much to discuss. Specifically, what the hell she planned for Weiss?

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Weiss couldn't stop staring at him, his branded eye glaring down at her with utter hatred. The crimson symbol of her family unrelenting in its judgment of her.

"He won't harm you," Watts assured her, sitting across from her in the bullhead's passenger chamber, though he wasn't tied down. "I've made some modifications to my zombies to prevent similar insubordination to that which crippled the previous holder of my curse. Why settle for the best when I can be better?"

Weiss glanced over to the cockpit, where a dark-skinned woman in an Ace Ops uniform flew the ship, Harriet Bree, if what the doctor's prattling of the events since her imprisonment was truthful. Like Adam, whenever Watts talked, which was often, she shot the scientist a look that said she would rip his head off if she could. Whatever she had done, whatever Adam had done, no one deserved to be ripped from the peace of death to be this monster's pawn.

Still, if her enemy liked to talk and she wasn't going anywhere for the moment, the least she could do was figure out what she was up against.

"Impressive," she said. "And that orange ball thing you stored him in? Another facet of your curse?"

"Oh no, my dear. That was the other half of my being. My magic," Watts smirked. "The magic of a Celestial Spirit. Specifically, one you know, I believe. The Goat."

Weiss eyes widened. "Capricorn couldn't do that."

"Well not naturally though. But he was once possessed by a wizard who could. Who had to use his body to do it," Watts explained. "Unfortunately, the fool found the magic he learned by proxy repulsive and refused to ever touch it. As you can imagine, I have only his memories to go off to learn it, and those are vague at best. Still, while my progress has been slow, I do have a reliable method of transporting my tools."

Adam growled. "I am not your tool—ah!"

Watts head struck and smacked Adam to the ground. The doctor, his body intermittently transforming into a black mist, swept over the bull faunus and planted a boot on his face.

"Yes, you are," Watts corrected him. "That is the only fate for the weak and the stupid."

"Get off him," Weiss demanded.

Watts cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"

He pressed his boot even harder into Adam's face, grinding the hard leather against the bull faunus' face. The undead terrorist bit his lips to stifle a scream of pain.

"I said get off him!" Weiss shouted.

"Why?" Watts inquired, turning on her. "Is it the brand? Perhaps I should have left it off when I reconstructed his face? You might not feel such mercy for the murderer of thousands if he did not bear your family's mark."

"There's no point in being cruel to him," Weiss said, unable to look at the crimson mark on Adam's face.

Watts smirked. He lifted his foot off Adam and strode over to Weiss, leering over her. "I am being cruel to be kind. Despite his current state, despite his death, he still believes the sad little delusion that he is master of his own fate. Crushing that delusion, educating him in the truth of the matter, is the kindest thing I can do."

Weiss clenched her fists. "People are not tools."

"Of course, not all people. Just as I said, the weak and the stupid," Watts continued. "The Blood-Soaked Bull, the Ace Operatives with their blind devotion to dear departed James Ironwood, even your plump old butler."

Weiss' veins froze to ice. "What?"

"Ah yes. He was to be the bomb carrier in the Gate of the Maiden's failsafe plan. Originally, she had him under her Macro, but when her efforts to entice you subtly failed and it became apparent that her sentimentality would throw off the entire plan, I took matters into my own hands."

"You… you killed him," Weiss hissed. "You killed him and then used him to kill my mother and the general."

Watts shrugged and stalked away. "Your mother was unintended. The bomb was created with the intention of the gardens being outside the blast radius. Only Jacques and James needed to be disposed of."

Weiss tugged against her bonds, desperately straining to break through the gravity bola and rip the smug scientist apart with her bare hands.

And then she fully processed what he'd said. 'Only'. Only Jacques and General Ironwood had been intended to die. But Madam Rosenflos had been bringing Whitley home, as she had been doing for months. If he'd waited a minute to spring his trap, he could have removed the need for their following coup attempt altogether. They could have wiped out Atlas' greatest leadership in one tragic stroke. Why wouldn't Watts, who clearly had no regard for anyone's life, seize the golden opportunity when it had been right in front of him?

Unless Madam Rosenflos wasn't actually a target. Of the bombing, or the coup. Was COMMAND ESR right all along? Was she actually behind the conspiracy? Had she used Winter, used General Ironwood, only to betray them all? Had she taken control of Weiss to stab Whitley, framed her for everything and nearly killed her brother? What other horrendous plans did she have in motion?

Weiss needed to warn Gray and Winter. But she couldn't do that while she was trapped three thousand feet in the air and being transported to Salem!

A sudden beep from the bullhead's radar roused her from her thoughts of vengeance.

"Doctor!" Harriet called. "We have incoming!"

"How many?" Watts demanded.

"One, sir."

"One?" Watts repeated incredulously. "Grimm?"

"Unidentified, but too small," the zombie Ace Ops confirmed.

Watts marched into the cockpit and leaned over the shorter woman's shoulder, glaring at the radar display. "A missile? No, still too small. But it's gaining too fast to be anything—No! Pietro, you bastar-"

Whatever else he was going say was lost when a blur of green, orange, and gray smashed through the cockpit window, the sudden decompression pulling Watts and Adam, the only two in the ship not tied down or buckled in, towards the new opening. The wind howled as the demonic doctor struggled to stay within the ship, grasping onto whatever he could as his body struggled to stay solid. Mist didn't have nearly as much mass as flesh.

Weiss' eyes whirled over to the passenger area and proceeded to widen at the sight before her. The blur that had crashed inside now stood resolute upon the steel floor, wings of wired swords outstretched behind her and a mane of orange falling down her back.

"Salutations, Arthur Watts," Penny Polendina snarled.

Still, the android girl wasted no more time on words. Her swords streaked across the compartment and severed the bonds keeping Weiss in her seat. She raced over and plucked the Schnee girl into her arms, bridal style. Her blades took position beside her and began to spin, twin crackling spheres of emerald energy building within their confines.

"You impetuous toy!" Watts shouted. The pressure of the cabin had begun to equalize, enabling the doctor to take form within the ship, stomping towards the two girls. "Do you really think yourself strong enough to overcome me?"

"Such a scenario is unlikely," Penny confessed. "However, unlike you, I can fly."

Watts' eyes widened. "No!"

Weiss didn't have time to follow the plan before Penny's sword whipped around unleashed her twin energy blasts behind them. The bullhead's backdoor was ripped out, wind once more rushing out of the aircraft. Watts tried to dash forward, using the path of the pressure to accelerate his chase, but Penny was closer. She leapt out of the improvised exit and carried a panicking, magicless and auraless, Weiss into open air.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die! We're gonna—we're not dying! We're… we're flying!" Weiss cheered, the bracing air suddenly much more comfortable as Penny's sword wings spread out behind her. "Penny, you can fly! And you're alive!"

The robot girl beamed at Weiss. "Both of those statements are true. It is good to see you again, Weiss! I have followed my father's… his final directive and found my friend."

"Your timing couldn't be better," Weiss said, though her smile faded once she processed her friend's words. "Wait, final?"

Penny glanced away, her face crestfallen. "The Atlas Government has been compromised. We should land and get you out of these restraints. There is a lot we must discuss."

Weiss' eyes narrowed. Penny had primarily been Ruby's friend, but she'd come around enough that they'd all grown rather fond of the wholesome girl in time. Finding out she was a robot after her match with Pyrrha didn't change that. And Rosenflos and Watts had scarred even her.

No more. She wasn't going to let them hurt anyone else she cared about.

"Do you know where my sister is? Or an Intelligence Agent named Gray Fullbuster?" she asked. "They're the last obstacles between Rosenflos and complete control of Atlas."

"The Council Chairwoman is involved?" Penny gasped. Her face hardened into a scowl of determination, oddly like Ruby. "I accessed the government network a few hours ago to find which prison you were being kept in. There was a notice that the Chairwoman and the Specialist Commander would be unavailable on a mission to the Amity Storage Site."

Weiss nodded. "How fast can you get us there?"

"Fast enough."

The jets at Penny's feet exploded with force, rocketing the two girls across the Solitas sky. Their enemies hadn't won yet.

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

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

Go Forth and Conquer!