Ugh. Spent half the week writing the first draft of an original pilot, then got precisely no sleep Thursday night and had to spend all Friday recovering. I've had better weeks.

Beta-ed by xenosaiyan

Alright, everything was ready. The laundry was folded. Mostly crinkled because she left it in the dryer too long but folded. And she'd put everything she could in the dishwasher. The stuff that needed to be hand-washed could be someone else's problem. She wasn't supposed to be doing this stuff anyway. It was all that stupid hag's fault—

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?"

Ella froze in her tracks, trying to keep a frown from her face as she whipped around to face the one who'd spoken from the top of the fine wooden stairway. In all her refined, hair bun wearing glory.

"Good afternoon, stepmother," she said, with her best smile, the kind that always got father to give her extra dessert after she'd eaten her vegetables. "I've just completed my chores, so I'm headed out to meet with my friends."

Eleanor's yellow eyes, vicious like a cat, narrowed at Ella. "I've seen what you've done, young lady. I would hardly call any of those tasks complete."

"I don't understand," Ella replied. "I did as you asked."

"You did as you wanted to do. At best, you only did what I asked halfway."

At that point, Ella couldn't keep the frown from her face. They'd had maids and servants to handle the housekeeping before. Then stepmother had come and convinced father to dismiss them. Something about the money being put to better use acquiring favors from political parties. Which was ridiculous. If they needed party favors so badly, they could just buy them from the store like everyone else. Why did Ella have to take on so many chores instead?

"What does it matter?" she whined. "It's done, isn't it?"

"Young lady," a deeper, far more familiar voice spoke up. Her eyes flickered to the hall beneath the stairs. Dressed in his finest suit and with his thin black mustache finely waxed, Benjamin Autumn strode into the foyer. "Don't take that tone with your stepmother."

Ella went ramrod straight, her face paling. Mouthing off to the hag was one thing, but father? Preposterous. "I'm sorry, father. I'm just… tired."

Father sighed. He knelt before her and shot her that soft smile that always let her know she'd disappointed him. Well, not really. He'd told her many times that he'd always be proud of her, but that smile always made her feel like she wanted to do better, that she didn't want to let him down.

"Ella, I know things have been difficult lately. I know that you miss not being able to see your friends as often," her father said. "But pulling together is the only way we stand to make things better."

"I know that. I know that those Hunters for Humanity jerks want to hurt Jack and the others. I'm okay with not being allowed to stay in the Lower Ring after dark," she said. It wasn't the complete truth, she wasn't okay with it, but she understood why father had demanded it of her and she had no intention of letting him down. "But I don't have any time to spend with them in the daytime when I'm stuck doing dishes!"

Her father sighed. "I understand that sweetie. But your stepmother and I are working on something very important. Something to keep the Hunters for Humanity from gaining any more support. And we really need your help to keep everything here in order."

Ella pouted. "What about Ana and Drizzella? Why don't they have to do chores?"

"They have their studies and their training," Eleanor stated, descending the stairs. "They are not spending their time goofing off and running into danger."

"Actually, mother, I may be able to help in this matter."

Ella, her father, and Eleanor all looked up to the top of the stairs. Her stepsisters stood at the top, both in their Rampart Combat Academy uniforms, though Drizzella's was still orderly and tidy while Ana's had the top few buttons undone, her undershirt peeking out as she leaned against the railing.

Eleanor raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind, Drizzella?"

The black-haired girl stood even straighter at her mother's acknowledgement, if that was possible. "If Ella needs additional time to make it to the Lower Ring, I can complete her remaining afternoon chores."

Ella's eyes widened. She hadn't thought much of her stepsisters beforehand. They were better than the hag by default, but they were always off training or studying, so she never really saw them. Then again, they were training to be huntresses at the best combat school in the capital, so that was awesome. But this was the first time one of them, let alone the stoic Drizzella, stuck her neck out for her.

Eleanor's eyes narrowed. "Your… assignments are completed for the evening?"

Drizzella nodded. "Every last one, ma'am."

"Mine too," Ana chimed in. "And hey, if Drizz wants to do the dishes, I can tag along with Ella to the Lower Ring, make sure trouble keeps away from her."

"You will?" Ella exclaimed.

Ana smirked. "Sure. You okay with that, kid?"

Okay with that? Was she okay with her actual huntress-in-training stepsister coming with her to play with her friends? Heck yes! That was the coolest thing ever! The only thing that would be cooler would be if they were both huntresses! Oh, Jack and the others were going to be so jealous!

She turned to her father. "Can she, daddy? Please, please!"

Her father chuckled, a warm thing that made her smile brighter with every echo. "I don't see why not. Just make sure to stay with your new bodyguard here, alright?"

"Yes!" She bolted up the stairs and snagged Ana's hand, tugging the older girl down the stairs. "Come on, come on!"

"Ella!" the hag shouted.

The young girl frowned. What did she want now?

Eleanor strode up to her, kneeling on the stair right below her so that they were at eye level. "You want to be a huntress?"

Ella rolled her eyes. "Well duh. Huntresses are the strongest, and the coolest, and they can stop anyone from hurting their friends. Why? Do you not think I can do it?!"

Surprisingly, the hag didn't rise to her challenge. Instead, she simply smiled and patted Ella's dark black locks. "I have no doubt you have it within you to become a superb huntress. But would you care for some advice from an old pro?"

"Are you going to tell me anyway?"

"Ella!"

"It's alright, Ben," Eleanor called down. She sighed and returned her gaze to Ella, yellow eyes staring into the young girl's silver. "Being a huntress is one of the most crucial duties in the world. And part of that is doing what you need to do before you do what you want to do."

Ella blinked at her for a few moments. Finally… "Is that everything?"

Eleanor sighed. "Yes. That's it."

"Great," Ella said, dragging Ana down the stairs and out the door. "Come on! We're burning daylight!"

The hag could say whatever she wanted. She wasn't her mother. She was just some Atlas lady who'd come in, took up all her father's time, and made her life harder. Honestly, it was amazing she was Ana and Drizzella's mother.

"Oh, wait!" Ella yelped, suddenly dragging Ana towards the kitchen. "I forgot something!"

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT

"Fairy, where're you going?

We'll gather the light along the way,

And make it shine upon a brand new day!"

Ruby smiled, sitting back in her chair as Wendy wowed the entire karaoke bar with her sweet and lofty vocals. She'd never been in one of the places herself, Weiss didn't want to be swarmed with fans and she hardly had a pair of pipes to warrant going alone, but with the warm lighting, spotlight on the stage, and cheery atmosphere, she couldn't help but be reminded of the guildhall. There were differences of course, important differences given the need to help the Maiden of the Sky acclimate to Remnant, but the faint wisps of Magnolia were important in their own right.

At last, Wendy completed her number and returned the microphone to the stand. The bar erupted into applause, none louder than Ruby, who leapt to her feet and cheered for her friend. The blue-haired girl shot the crowd a soft smile and bowed in thanks.

Soon after, she descended from the stage to make her way back to their table in the back. Along the way, many of the patrons, strangers she'd never met before, patted her on the back, congratulating her on her performance. Each time, the Sky Dragon Slayer replied with a soft thank you, a ghost of a smile spreading on her face.

The sight of it prompted an even larger one to bloom across Ruby's.

"Has Mira been giving you singing lessons?" she teased when her friend retook her seat. "That was fantastic."

Wendy chuckled. "Sherria actually. During the year Carla and I were with Lamia Scale, she and I performed as the Sky Sisters." She glanced down at herself and giggled. "The outfits were usually a lot more elaborate than this."

Ruby did the same. On the girls' second stop on their trip through the Upper Ring (the first was obviously the comic book shop), the red hooded huntress had decided to take a page out of her sister's playbook and took Wendy to a clothing store to get a new outfit. She remembered the enchanter enjoying going to boutiques in Magnolia with Yang, Weiss, and Cana, so maybe getting her some of her very own Remnant huntress clothes would help her feel more at home. Granted she wasn't entirely sure why it would, there wasn't much difference in the clothes of the two time periods, but she knew she would feel at home without her cloak, so there was probably something to it.

Gone was the delicate sundress she'd arrived in, now Wendy wore a dark maroon jacket over a simple white shirt, a tan scarf wrapping around her neck. Her lower half was covered in a scarlet half-skirt, black pants, and red knee-high socks, with a pair of crimson combat boots completing the ensemble. Ruby wished that she had agreed to a full combat skirt, but in the words of a lost friend, Wendy was one hundred percent 'combat ready'.

"It looks good on you," Ruby smiled. "What were the others like?"

"The dresses were nice. The wings were a bit cumbersome, but the stages were usually pretty clear," Wendy grinned. "I still tripped over myself a dozen times. Sherria tried to help me, and then she tripped too."

"Ha! I know that feeling. Remind me to tell you about my friend Penny sometime."

Wendy's brow furrowed in thought. "Penny… Penny… oh!" Her eyes widened. "She's the robot girl—ergh—I mean," she glanced around at the nearby patrons, but none of them were paying any attention to the girls' conversation, too busy listening to the guy on stage do a really good cover of Weiss' hit single 'Mirror, Mirror'.

Still, Ruby understood the reason for Wendy's hesitance and waved her off. "Don't worry. Penny being a robot isn't a secret anymore."

"Oh," Wendy remarked, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. "Did she get permission to tell people about it?"

For the briefest moment, Ruby's smile flickered. The image of her friend, torn to pieces by Pyrrha's semblance, somehow because of Cinder, flashed through her mind.

She pushed it aside and fortified her grin. "No. She was… hurt at the Vytal Festival. Everyone watching saw the wounds and… well… squishy guts didn't come out."

This wasn't the time to wallow in her grief. She may have lost Penny, but she still had so much. Wendy needed her help. She had lost so much more, she couldn't pile her pain on her friend.

Alas, Wendy's smile faded, her perception too keen to be fooled. "She's gone, isn't she?"

Ruby looked away and nodded.

"I'm sorry," Wendy said. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, it's alright," Ruby quickly reassured her. They were making progress. They had been wrenching Wendy's mind off her mistakes and the loss of Earthland, she couldn't mess this up now.

What could she do? What could she do?! What could she do to keep her pain from burdening her friend? She couldn't just pretend to not be hurting, that didn't work!

"She was a lot like you, actually," she said. "Sweet, friendly, much stronger than she looked."

Wendy's smile didn't return. "And she's gone."

Darn it, Ruby! Stop failing! Stop depressing your friend! You were being helpful a second ago. Reminding her of Sherria with the singing was working—

Wait. Why had that been helpful? Sherria was as lost to Wendy as Penny was to her. So what was the difference between when they'd recalled the two?

It was… yes…

Ruby smiled. "The first time Penny and I got into a fight, I didn't know what she could do. Roman Torchwick blindsided me while I was trying to protect her. Then she jumped into the fight, wrecked the docks, and took down like five bullheads on her own. It was awesome."

As she hoped, Wendy's lips twitched upward, just a smidge. "That sounds like something Natsu would do."

"Oh please, if Natsu had done it, there wouldn't have been a dock left," Ruby teased. "It sounds like you."

Wendy giggled. "No. It's definitely Natsu. When he and Lucy were trying to get me to rejoin the guild, another guild attacked Lamia Scale, and they hired Bluenote Stinger to help them. Natsu incinerated both him and the mountain he was standing on. After he made a new plateau to stand on."

"He learned Earth Magic?"

"No. He used his fire to force the stone to rise."

"… how?"

"Melted an air pocket underneath, then had the flames build pressure and force the rock above it up."

"… Natsu did that? On purpose?"

Wendy smiled. "I talked to him about it afterward. He said he knew he would gain height, but the mountain was just a happy side effect."

Ruby burst out laughing. That was just like Natsu, just like Yang. Both of them had an incredible natural instinct for fighting, and they had honed that instinct into incredible technique and power over years of hard training. But their specialty was tactics, not strategy. They weren't the complete idiots they sometimes acted like, they knew exactly what they were doing and thought of every option to achieve their objective, but they didn't always think of all the factors outside their current mission.

But that was alright. That was what Ruby and Lucy were for. They thought about the big picture so Natsu and Yang could handle the rest and help them when something inevitably went wrong in the larger plan.

And thinking about that… didn't hurt. Yang was still down an arm and hadn't caught up with them, and Natsu was who knew where, but thinking of them… their strengths… it was nice.

Ruby ducked down to a cloth bag she'd brought from the Nikos' house. She passed it across the table to Wendy. "Here. I've been working on them for a while."

Wendy raised an eyebrow and reached into the bag. She pulled out a pair of layered buckler shields, the metal primarily gray, but tinged with a hint of blue.

"You finished them," Wendy gasped. "When—"

"After me and Pyrrha had our match. I was so excited that I went right down to Haven's forge and put the finishing touches on them. Professor Ozpin handled the enchantments, but I think they're still versatile enough for you to modify however you want."

Wendy strapped them on her arms and gave them a few experimental swings. "They're so light. How'd you do it?"

Ruby smirked. "Lightening enchantment plus clever metalwork. I based a lot of them off Styx."

"Pyrrha's shield?" Wendy raised an eyebrow. "Wait, does that mean they're also—"

Her finger clipped a switch on the right shield's underside. The layers of the shield folded back to reveal a pair of assault carbine barrels.

Ruby had never seen Wendy look at her so utterly unamused.

"Hehehe, in my defense," the red hooded girl chuckled nervously. "I was still thinking about Styx and I was kind of forging on instinct."

Wendy only blinked at her. She clicked the switch again and the gun portion was resealed.

Ruby sighed. "Look, Wendy, I know you think you messed up. I know Remnant, in comparison to Earthland, has a lot more obvious horrible things going on. I know I haven't been able to help as much as I should have…"

"Ruby, you've done nothing wrong," Wendy assured her.

"But I should have been better. I should have done more," Ruby replied. "But the past, what we've lost… I don't think the pain of it is all there is. Yes, there are terrible memories, like the ones Scarlet got. But there are also good memories, great ones, that she didn't. Memories that we still have, from jobs, to the guildhall, to whatever craziness came up. They're still there. The bad doesn't erase the good."

Wendy glanced away. "But the bad seems to be what's carrying over. And the stuff I used to do to make things better, simple, good things, they only seem to make things worse."

"Did saving me and Pyrrha on the tower make things worse?" Ruby challenged. "Did helping all those villages we protected on the way here make things worse? Or holding off the Jupiter Cannon in Oniyuri?"

"Well… I guess not."

Ruby sighed. "Wendy, I know when things go wrong it's easy to focus on all the negative, every little thing against you, but that doesn't mean that's all there is. You don't need to be desperate or lost. Whatever's wrong, there are still things we can do. Still things that are going right."

A ghost of a smile floated over Wendy's lips. "Look for the light, and you can often find it. But if you look for the dark, then it is all you will ever see."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"It's an old proverb Grandeeny liked to quote," the Maiden of the Sky explained. "Apparently it was said by a Fire Dragon Slayer named Iroh. I think he was one of Igneel's first students."

"Oh. Sweet."

Wendy grinned in full. She reached across the table and clasped Ruby's hands in hers. "Thank you, Ruby. For everything. I couldn't ask for a better friend."

The silver-eyed girl blushed. "No problem. I do what I can. I'll try to do more in the future."

"You've done more than enough," Wendy said. "And maybe… maybe I need to stop focusing so much on doing things, on having a plan to act. I mean, look at this place!"

She gestured all around the karaoke bar, with its smoky yet homely aesthetic, filled with deep purple curtains and scented candles. The singer who had sung the Weiss cover, whose name was apparently Caleb, had just finished his number to rapturous applause.

Wendy pulled out the issues of Sailor Shattered Moon they'd picked up at the comic shop. "Look at these. I need to find and help the others, but I'm not going to be any use to anyone except Salem if I run myself into the ground trying to force it. I've lost so much… but I won't gain anything at all if I don't live."

Ruby smiled. "That's the Fairy Tail way, after all."

Wendy nodded. "If Pyrrha can't convince Scarlet to take another shot at the enchantment, then I won't argue it. I'll figure out some other way to get Erza back without risking her identity. Even if she only came into existence because of amnesia, if she believes she is her own person, then she has every right to exist."

"Agreed," Ruby nodded, before tilting her head to the side. "But, uh, can you do that?"

For some reason, Wendy looked to the side of the table, at what was apparently empty air. And then after a few seconds, her grin widened. "It'll take some time. But I'll figure something out."

"Uh, right." Ruby looked down at the buckler shields, her eyes blazing with excitement. "So? What are you going to name them?"

Wendy cocked an eyebrow. "Name them?"

"Of course! Every weapon needs a name!"

The Sky Dragon Slayer pulled back her hands. She raised her right shield and narrowed her eyes at it. "This one… Fairy Scale. A shield of the past to protect my friends in the present."

"Sweet," Ruby cheered, her body chittering with excitement. "And the other one?"

"The other one?" Wendy hummed, raising the left shield up to her eye level. "This one will be—"

Just as she was about to speak, they both felt it nearby, at another area of the Upper Ring. Power, swirling like the sun, shining across the mystical plane like a lighthouse's beacon.

Power they'd both last sensed on Beacon Tower.

The Fairy Tail wizards left lien for their tab and bolted for the door.

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT

"Jack! Gus! Mary!" Ella shouted, dashing across the dirt lot. "I'm here! I made it!"

"Ellie!" Jack called back, running out from the ruined wooden wreckage surrounding the Lower Ring 'park' and trampling across the dry weeds littering the ground. The mouse faunus' tiny ears poked out from under his dull wool hat, his orange coat, a gift she'd gotten him for his last birthday, flapping behind him. They both met in the center of the yard and embraced. "We were worried you weren't gonna make it!"

Gus and Mary ran out after Jack, their own colorful coats, yellow and pink, contrasting against the drab, abandoned lot. Both of their eyes were alight with relief, and terror.

"What are you doing here so late?" Gus queried. "It'll be dark soon."

"The Hunters of Humanity have been stepping up their marches," Mary said. "Some of Lady Sienna's men are camped out in the square to protect everyone, but… people are still disappearing."

Ella pulled out of the hug. "Are you guys alright?"

Jack smirked. "Don't worry about us, we know this place like the back of our hands. If we run, those black hats will never find us."

Mary sighed. "You are way too cavalier about this."

"I am not being cav… cava… whatever that is. I've planned out all our escape routes," Jack protested. "I'm more worried about you, Ellie. The Hunters aren't exactly friends to your dad."

Ella grinned. "Don't worry about me. I've got a bodyguard!"

"Who is currently in service as a pack mule!" The quartet turned towards Ana. The young huntress-in-training staggered into the park, a trio of milk crates in her arms. "A little help here please!"

"Food!" Gus cheered. The chubby mouse faunus zipped over and snagged the top crate from the stack. He unfurled the top, his mouth only watering more. "Awesome! You brought the good cheese! Thanks Ellie!"

"No problem," Ella grinned. "Have your parents been able to find new work?"

"Not since the hag let them go," Jack snarked. Mary smacked him upside the head. "Ow! What the heck—"

Mary glared at him and pointed towards Ana who was setting down the remaining crates.

"Oh," Jack said. "I mean, that wonderful, wonderful—"

"Eh, don't worry about it," Ana waved off. "When she's not trying to kill someone, mom's people skills are middling to say the least. Once she gets it in her head that something needs to be done, she's going to do it. Now then, let me see if I remember this right," she rubbed Gus' matted hair, interrupting him from nibbling on some cheese. "You're Gus?"

"Uh, yeah," Gus nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, big guy." Ana vanished in thin air and teleported right in front of Jack and Mary, forcing the two faunus to lean back lest their faces end up in her chest. "And that makes you two Mary, and that Jack fellow that Ellie's always talking about—"

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Ella cut in, pulling her stepsister away before she said too much or pushed her undone uniform any closer to her friends. A few seconds later, Ana's semblance went off and she teleported back to where she stood before, right beside Gus and the food.

"Woah," Mary murmured, eyes wide.

"How did you do that?" Jack whispered, his eyes locked on the redhead.

Ella grinned and stepped in front of her stepsibling, showing her off like a museum piece. "That is her semblance. Ana goes to Rampart."

"The combat school?" Gus gasped, actually dropping his cheese.

"You're a huntress!" Jack screeched, a wide smile dominating his face.

"Eh, training to be a huntress," Ana clarified, an unusual flicker of doubt tinging her voice. "I mean, with mom's tutoring I can probably kick around any Haven first year, but I don't have a license."

Mary smirked and stepped up to her. "Well, if you're not an official huntress yet, then there shouldn't be any issue with you playing huntress with the rest of us."

Ana grinned. "Well, if your merry band will have me, I'm all in."

"Great!" Jack shouted, pumping his fists. "The super huntsmen team of Strong Sandstrider gains a new member!"

"Excuse me," Ella pouted. "I thought we agreed that I was leader."

"Nuh-uh. I'm leader."

"You're both leader, remember," Mary sighed. "We agreed you would be co-leaders after you wouldn't stop arguing while the settlement was being sacked by imaginary Grimm."

"Those imaginary Beowlves nearly took my head off!" Gus protested. "How would you all have survived without Boulder Steelwill?"

"We would have managed."

"Wait, hold up," Ana said. "Strong Sandstrider? Boulder Steelwill?"

"Oh yeah," Jack nodded. "Those are our huntsman names. So none of the crooks we take down come after our families and friends."

Ana cocked an eyebrow. "You do realize huntsman licenses are a matter of public record, right? People just have to check-in at the CCT to know your real names."

"No!" Jack declared, popping into a pose. "They'll know the name of Strong Sandstrider, the Vacuo nomad with a heart of gold!"

"Boulder Steelwill!" Gus shouted, rushing to Jack's side. "A warrior you cannot be broken!"

Mary chuckled and jumped into a star formation. "Sunlight Seeker! The greatest tracker the wilds have ever known."

"And Cinder Starspark!" Ella roared, standing in front of them all with her hands on her hips. "The greatest hero Remnant has ever known. None can match her strength or harm her friends!"

For a moment, Ana just stared at them. Then, she burst out laughing. "This is… this is adorable."

"Hey!" Ella whined. "Don't make fun of us!"

"I'm not, I'm not. I mean adorable in the best way possible," Ana said. She took a deep breath and stood up straight. "Being a hero… I'd be honored to join you all in your noble quest."

"Great!" Ella cheered. "So, I was thinking, maybe you could teach us a few of the combat tricks you've been learning at Rampart? You know, to make us all even better huntsmen."

Ana smirked. "Ella Autumn, did you accept my bodyguard invitation solely so I would teach you and your friends how to fight?"

"Well… yeah."

"Good, just wanted to make sure," Ana replied with a wink. "Alright, everybody, the first thing you'll want to do is keep a strong stance. Whatever weapon you use, you aren't going to be able to do anything without a strong base stance to strengthen it."

The younger children cheered and got in a line. Ana showed them how to take the stance and then came up to each of them and corrected what they were doing wrong.

Mary leaned over to Ella. "I'm glad that you're getting along with your stepsisters. I was worried you'd be lonely without us being there every day while our parents were working."

"It is, a bit. I do miss you guys," Ella assured her. "But I guess Ana and Drizzella aren't so bad. And even if Eleanor's a hag, she makes dad happy. So, I'll deal with her. After all, even the ugliest hag in the world could never defeat Remnant's greatest huntress."

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT

Cinder gazed at the plaque of her father's name for a few more moments. The gardens had been built on the ground where their house once stood, before Operation Godmother's Haven had necessitated Eleanor burning it to the ground to frame the Hunters for Humanity. She couldn't say it was the worst thing to cover the grave, but it was about as self-congratulatory as was to be expected from the Mistral Council. Why bother actually advancing their departed comrade's policies when they could just put up some flowers and pat themselves on the back?

She'd scoped out the Lower Ring before they'd made camp in Haven. It was just as much a cesspit and faunus slum as ever. All her father's idealism, all his sincerity, and nothing came of it. Only the Tremaines' efforts behind the scenes, bullying, bribing, and killing for Atlas' agenda had yielded fruit. And when they'd been forced to pull out and spirit their prize back to their home kingdom, the slums were left the same pieces of shit they'd always been.

Similar to the one that was currently approaching her from behind.

"Of the two of you, I would have put lien on Emerald following me here," Cinder remarked, her eyes not leaving the headstone.

Still, it wasn't too difficult to imagine Mercury's cocky smirk. "She wanted to. But I reminded her that old fire snake especially didn't want the two of you to leave the vault and risk spoiling the surprises you're packing. Then she begged me to help, I made her grovel, extracted an IOU, and followed the leaking maiden power here. Piece of cake."

"How enterprising of you," Cinder muttered. "And wise of her."

Cinder had carefully cultivated Emerald's devotion to her, but it seemed that whatever affection the green-haired girl bore was insufficient to risk the wrath of the Ophiuchus. Perhaps it was because Salem had elevated her to the Fall Maiden's equal, perhaps it was the rush of her new abilities (middling as they were), but more than likely the thief simply understood the power of their superiors. Her years on the street had taught her not to stick her neck out for anyone if it would get herself killed.

It was somewhat vexing for Cinder that her former minion was no longer sticking to her command not to think, but only obey, but she supposed it was an unavoidable trade-off. Part of competence was self-preservation, and she would not have bothered to recruit Emerald if she was not competent. It was part of why she found Teacher and Salem's advice to befriend his former minions to be ridiculous. Anyone without skill was not worth befriending, and anyone worth befriending would be smart enough not to risk their lives without advantage to themselves. It was an undeniable paradox.

Of course, as long as Emerald actually helped her, she'd be better than her last 'friends'.

Mercury sauntered over to her side, smirking down at the plaque. "Councilman Benjamin Autumn? You came out here for this guy?"

"I came for the gardens," Cinder deflected. "Few things can match the beauty of Mistralian flower work."

"Uhuh," Mercury replied. "So was he your uncle, or your dad or…"

Cinder's eyes narrowed. "Do you see my name on the plaque?"

"No, but you don't really expect me to think that your actual last name just happens to be 'Fall' and you went after the Fall Maiden."

"So you think I went to all the trouble to change my name from 'Autumn' to 'Fall'?"

Mercury shrugged. "Most people wouldn't. But most people also wouldn't say stuff like 'it's not about overpowering the enemy. It's about taking away what power they have,' all angry and stuff."

Cinder's eye twitched. She liked him better when he was too terrified to speak out against her. The power of a Gate had only inflamed his cocky bluster, even if he had only mastered the demonic skillset.

"What can I say? You're really dramatic," Mercury grinned.

The Gate of the Archer growled. She shot to her feet and started walking away. "Emerald sent you to bring me back, did she not? Let's go then."

"Yeah, why not?" Mercury snipped. His words were at odds with his actions however, as he kept leaning over the headstone. "So what about this 'Ella'? She anybody you know?"

"She was weak. Therefore, she is no one of consequence. Then or now."

"Of course. Guess daddy dearest didn't care much about her."

Cinder immediately froze. Her golden eyes momentarily flared with orange light. "What?"

"I'm just saying. If his daughter was weak, wouldn't it be his job to protect her? Or make her strong if he couldn't?" Mercury chuckled. "Of course, maybe he tried to do that the same way my dad did for me. She probably set the fire to end him—"

A blazing glass dagger formed in Cinder's hand and she threw the blade straight for Mercury's eye.

In the blink of an eye, the silver-haired assassin raised a single finger in the weapon's path. The knife struck the harder than iron flesh and shattered into a dozen burning pieces. The shards scattered across the grass, the flames fighting to survive amidst the dew touched grass. Mercury flicked his hand and a sprinkle of black water put an end to the struggle.

"Now that's just careless," he taunted. "I thought you liked this place."

Cinder charged and snatched the bastard up by the collar of his jacket, one of her glass swords raised at his eye.

"Do not presume to know anything about me," she snarled. "And don't you dare compare my father to yours."

Infuriatingly, Mercury only smirked. "So, he was papa dearest after all. Good to know, Ella."

When she'd first been taken by the Tremaines, she'd raged day and night without end. Every time they'd hand her a weapon for training, she'd storm through the training bots and charge straight at whichever one of them was overseeing that day. Ana would dodge her, pleading with her to calm down. Drizzella would parry her strikes with ease, never striking back, reveling in a presentation of false invincibility, as if Cinder couldn't see the scar she'd left trailing down from her left eye. Eleanor had simply beaten her down every time, brutally and without mercy, demanding afterward for her to state what she'd learned from her outburst. Usually, that had just prompted another.

But over time, though she'd never completely mastered her anger, she forced it through an evolution. If blindingly hot fury would not get her results, she'd clamp down on it, crush it, force it to become cold. And when the chill seeped through her like a scorpion's venom, it would grant her strength. Oftentimes, it would require patience, that which she held for Eleanor and her spawn still waited to be unleashed, but sometimes…

Sometimes, something so insignificant, yet so infuriating would come along that was worth dipping into that reservoir.

Cinder flashed a blinding smile and released Mercury, her sword dissipating from her hand. "That name no longer has any meaning for me. It was the name of a child that had not yet learned her lesson. One my father provided an up-close education on."

Mercury raised an eyebrow, obviously put off by her sudden change of tone. "Oh? And what would that be?"

"Weakness," Cinder related. She stalked past her former minion and brushed her fingertips along her father's plaque. "In loving memory of Benjamin Autumn. Memory. Because he is gone. For all his ideals, for all his desire to help his fellow men, in the end, the only thing in his life that affected real change was his murder. It gave his cause a brief burst of sympathy, a pretty garden, and then nothing. Everything he believed in, he was used as a martyr to achieve. Everything he loved, he failed to protect."

"But you don't hate him?" Mercury pointed out. "If you had, you wouldn't have come here. Or at least you would have burned it to the ground."

Cinder scratched her hand across the plaque. She could have melted it to slag, but… but she did not want to. So, she just removed her appendage.

"Why would I hate him? He is a part of the past. He is gone. There is no point in being distracted by such things. As our Queen is so fond of saying, we must continue to move forward on our eternal adventure," she declared. A victorious glint gleamed within her golden eyes. "We can't all be like you, Mercury."

Mercury rolled his eyes. "And here we go with the drama."

"It's not dramatic, it's simple observation," Cinder smirked. "Did you think I just picked your father's name out of the wanted posters in the Vale police office? I did my research. I sought him out for his skills. His very unique skills."

Mercury's smug expression fell away, replaced by wide eyes and tightening fists.

"All those beatings he gave you," Cinder mused. "I admit, I was unsure at first if he'd ever taken it from you. But as time went on and you didn't use it, I suspected. Especially your eagerness for the ascension, your desperation to get your hands on real strength. After that it was obvious."

The silver-haired boy shuffled back, but she wouldn't let him escape. She swept over in front of him, stared right into his face, and smiled.

"We're friends now, so I'm going to be honest with you," she said mockingly. "You're an up jumped cutthroat with daddy issues, chasing every scrap of power you can. Nothing more."

She watched his face shatter, gleefully drinking her death blow. Then she strode around him and began her walk back to Haven—

"So we're the same then."

- and she froze. She took in the deepest breath she possibly could and turned back around.

"What?"

Mercury whirled to face her, his grey eyes hard like flints of steel, his expression warped in fury. "See? I can be dramatic too."

Cinder stomped forward, grabbed his throat, and smashed him on top of the headstone. "You and I are nothing alike, you insolent cur!"

The bastard only laughed. "Oh please! The only differences are that I'm prettier and you needed your precious Teacher to save you. I put my old man down myself, no semblance required."

"I am a thousand times beyond you! You are a dog chasing a car!" Cinder spat. "You seek power, but you have no vision! You're a listless fool with no ambition!"

"And what's yours?" Mercury challenged. "What happens after you become the ultra-mega-super-maiden? All that magic, and you're still going to be Salem's minion."

"I will be a Gate and serve with glory beside Teacher," she snarled. She pulled back her hand and ignited it with the full blaze of her power. "I shall be at the front when we crush the g—"

Her words halted on her lips. She had been so focused on Mercury's asinine assertions; she hadn't even noticed their magical signatures approaching. And she most assuredly had not forgotten them.

Her mouth curled into a frown. She dissipated the flames on her hand and released her ally. No snide comment accompanied the action and he hopped to his feet. He knew better than to antagonize her in the presence of the enemy.

Cinder turned around and beheld the two people she perhaps despised most in all of Remnant. The brat who had defied her, and the wizard who had defeated her.

Never again. She would never know that pain again. She would not be weak.

"Ruby Rose and Wendy Marvell," she smiled. "How wonderful to see you in these beautiful gardens."

As much trouble as outside circumstances made writing this thing, I'm happy with how it turned out. Ruby and Wendy take some crucial steps forward and the flashbacks show Ella started out an excitable, good kid, if a bit spoiled, who dreamed of being a huntress and hero similar to Ruby.

Got to say though, my favorite part of this chapter was Cinder and Mercury. In this story, they're just so similar and both of them are such talents a breaking other people down, so to see them tear into each other was just a blast.

An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, David Wayman, G-Unit91, Primordial Paper, and Mark Skrzyniarz.

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

Go Forth and Conquer!