I stood there numbly for several more minutes before finally the sound of the hard-light barrier giving out above prompted me to scramble back after grabbing a hold of Daybreak. The beast landed in the middle of the arena and caused the metal floor to groan under the weight. I was prepared to try and fight it myself when several lockers descended from the now open roof and slammed into the Nevermore, causing it to collapse on the ground. It wasn't dead yet, but it was disabled long enough for Aura to run up to it from where she had been, somewhere behind me it seemed, and deliver a kick that looked like she was trying to punt a football to the creature's head.

That one move caused the Nevermore's neck to twist in an unnatural way, although it still didn't look dead. Not that it would stay that way for long as a host of students raced past me and accessed their lockers, arming themselves with their weapons and starting to lay into the Grimm, Violet among them.

Notably absent was Cinder, my immediate worry was that she might have run off to try and fight whoever caused this herself. Violet hurried back to me while Aura and the other students worked on killing the Grimm, "Cinder ran off towards the exit, she said something about stopping someone. Any idea who?" I shook my head and she nodded towards the exit, "Go after her then, we'll deal with things up here."

I smiled, "Thanks Violet." Before we could talk more, several more Grimm dropped down from the sky, smaller Nevermores that accosted the other students. Luckily they seemed more than able to deal with them, so as Violet turned to fight, I turned away and started to hurry as fast as I could towards the exit. Unfortunately, I was a lot slower than I would have normally been due to just how drained I was.

I joined Daybreak together and nocked a fire dust arrow as I continued to move. A smaller Nevermore flew towards me and I loosed the arrow, the blast sent it flying back before it landed on the ground. At the very least, the smaller ones died quickly. It didn't take me long after that to get to the exit to the arena, through the lockers and towards the rest of the arena.

Civilians were racing in one direction or another, trying to get to exits. I saw students from every academy working together to get innocents to the correct Bullheads. Finding a ship that would take me back to Beacon and wasn't taking civilians would be difficult, but I continued towards the hangar either way.

I was heading through the concessions area, now abandoned with food and drink either left on tables or scattered on the ground due to the rush of everyone suddenly needing to leave. I 'stole' someone's hot dog that they left on their table and ate it as I kept going, knowing I was going to need as much energy as I could get. It might not recover much of my aura, but anything to give me strength wasn't going to be wasted.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to eat anything else. As I got to the wider food court, I noticed a Beowolf lurking among the thrown aside tables and chairs. It looked like it was eating some of the food, which was a strange sight, but I didn't have time to dwell on it.

I had been holding Daybreak, still in its bow form, in one of my hands. Now that I was finished eating, I nocked an ice dust arrow while the beast was looking away from me. It slammed into the Grimm's back before it turned around and roared at me and started to race towards me while throwing tables and chairs aside to do so.

I broke apart Daybreak and prepared to fight, although I was slower than normal I was still able to dodge the swipe of the Beowolf's claws, I silently cast Fleet Foot during all of this, knowing that any small amount of increase to how fast I was going right now could mean the difference between life and death.

I slashed at the creature's side and then ducked as it tried to chomp on my head with its jaws. I stabbed upward and connected with the bottom of its jaw before it jumped backwards and howled at me in what sounded like beastial anger.

If I were firing on all cylinders that one attack could have killed this beast, but I was very much not at my best at that moment. Instead, I braced myself for it to attack me again. Suddenly, I heard what sounded like a child giving their best battlecry, it wasn't a scream of terror. That was when Shi appeared on my left, wielding her maces, as she smacked the beast on the side. Her attacks didn't hurt it, but as I saw her my eyes widened, "Shi!" Then, the beast started to look at her, trying to discern what the distraction was.

I used that as my opportunity to strike, rushing forward and stabbing straight into the Beowolf's neck with both my blades and then horizontally slashing outward, beheading the beast as it fell to the ground. Shi looked at me worriedly, "Uncle Neve! I can't find Mama or Papa!"

I slipped one blade of Daybreak back into its sheath so I could put one of my hands on Shi's shoulder, "I'm sure they're okay, Shi. Listen, I need to get you out of here. It's not safe."

Shi frowned, "But I need to find Mama and Papa."

I nodded, "I know, I know, but there are plenty of soldiers and huntsmen here, they can find them. Right now, you need to worry about getting to safety, you don't want them to find you hurt, do you?" She shook her head and I nodded, "Okay, let's go." I started to stand up, but she took hold of my sleeve, causing me to look at her.

Shi asked, "Can I ride on your back?" I thought about telling her that she could walk just fine, but the look of worry on her face was more than enough for me to acquiesce. So, after I knelt back down and allowed her to piggyback on me while I drew the other blade of Daybreak again, I started towards the hangar again.

Thankfully she had her own sheaths on her back, Cinder gave them to her along with the maces. She might not have been able to fight yet, but she at least had the weapons with her. If nothing else, if something happened to Daybreak before I got out of here I could use her maces.

Although I'd rather have not had to fight with her here, I knew I would have to prepare in case I did. As I made my way towards the hangar, I asked, "Where did you see your parents last?"

Shi hummed before she responded, "We were all sitting watching you fight, and then they covered my eyes when stuff started to go bad… After that we left, but the crowd was big, so I lost them…"

Well at the very least she hadn't seen anything bad. They had probably already made it out, I just hoped she didn't see what I did to Penny.

Penny.

Penny.

I killed Penny.

Oh God…

I could do nothing but berate myself for being so stupid, so unaware. I let my guard down, I didn't suspect that something would go wrong, so it did. Even if I knew Penny would come back, it still weighed down on me.

I knew I couldn't let it weigh down on me, I needed to get Shi to safety and find Cinder, that was what was right in front of me. As we left the food court and started to approach the hangars, I noticed several soldiers, robot and not, directing innocents to airships. I saw Ironwood, standing over a dissolving Beowolf corpse,

I approached him, "General, have you seen any students going down to Beacon?"

He regarded me with a strange look once he saw I had Shi on my back, but he nodded, "I've sent a few ships down to the school already, almost every student chose to stay and fight rather than flee. I take it you're going to do the same?" He paused for a moment, "Hopefully not with that little girl on your back."

I shook my head, "I was just taking her here, to safety. Her parents got separated from her in the midst of all of this. Can you take care of her from here?" He nodded, so I looked at Shi, "Alright, the General here is going to get you to safety. He'll bring your parents to you once he finds them."

Shi reluctantly got off my back, "Okay… You be careful too, Uncle Neve. I don't want you to go missing too…"

I smiled as reassuringly as I could, "Don't worry, Shi. I'm not gonna go missing. I just need to help keep people safe." She nodded and the General proceeded to take her by the hand, showing her towards one of the waiting ships.

Another Bullhead arrived at the hangar and the pilot announced, "Anyone capable of fighting, come and fight! Beacon itself is under attack!"

I hurried towards the ship as fast as I could. I wasn't the only one, some other students who had remained to help evacuees boarded the ship. All of us were transported down to Beacon, the pilot needing to maneuver and dodge several oncoming Nevermore, luckily the Atlesian Air Force was in full force and shooting down Grimm as they appeared.

Ships and carriers that were fighting the Grimm were ones that weren't hacked, thankfully none of them were. At the very least I could say I had done good in that regard.

When we reached the ground, the other students and I all fanned out in our own directions. I needed to get to the tower, and fast. I couldn't afford to get bogged down with Grimm, not when Cinder's life was possibly in danger.

Cinder and just about everyone else at Beacon.

The approach to the Bullhead station was heavily guarded by soldiers, androids, and hunters-in-training. It had been turned into a makeshift triage center/base of operations for the combined efforts against the Grimm.

A more reasonable person would have decided that this was well in hand and tried to recover. A more reasonable person would have let people who hadn't just spent almost all of their aura handle the fighting.

A more reasonable person that I was not.

Instead, I walked out and towards the courtyard, brandishing Daybreak and hoping that whatever I could do here would atone for at least part of my mistakes. Penny may be able to come back, but that didn't make her death any less impactful to me. I kept Focus on as I kept a vigilant eye out for Grimm. There were students fighting monsters left and right, if I didn't have an objective in mind I would have stopped to help them, but they had it well in hand.

I only came to a stop when I saw Pyrrha, Jaune, and Jeanne together. Pyrrha was sitting on the ground against a tree near the main path, with her knees pulled up to her chest and her head in her hands. Jaune laid unconscious on the ground with a hole in the middle of Crocea Mors' shield element and in his armor too. Luckily, it looked like his aura had protected him from death. Jeanne was sitting next to Jaune and looked, physically, alright. Although she looked worried for the other two.

I approached them and with some effort knelt in front of the three, "What happened?" I asked as I looked at Jeanne.

Jeanne looked relieved to see me, "Neve, thank the Brothers you're alright…" If she wasn't sitting on the ground I imagine her tail probably would have tucked between her legs with how distraught she seemed, "Jaune got knocked out but he's fine. Pyrrha… Well…"

I furrowed my brow, "Run me through it."

Jeanne nodded, "Alright…"

Note from Neve: 'I transcribed Jeanne's story to a journal after the fact and had her verify its accuracy before I committed it to these pages.'

Thirty minutes earlier, Jeanne POV

Everything happened so fast.

I had been wandering the campus, enjoying a peaceful evening with my brother and his girlfriend, when suddenly everything changed. It was as if, in a blink, I had been transported to some alternate dimension where the Grimm were attacking us! It was all too real, and it was all the three of us could do to get our weapons from the locker room and rush out to join the fight.

We found ourselves in the courtyard, watching each other's backs as a small pack of Beowolves began to circle us. The sounds of battle rang out across the whole of the campus, Beacon had turned into a warzone, and we were right in the middle of it.

A Beowolf charged at Jaune, who blocked the beast's swipe with his shield before stabbing outward with his sword and killing the beast in a swift motion. He had improved a great deal from when we got here.

Another charged at Pyrrha, and it was no surprise when the monster didn't even get to raise its paw to her before she struck it down with a stab of her spear. Then, she transformed her spear into a javelin and tossed it to another Beowolf, killing it before recalling the spear back to her hand with her semblance.

I noticed two of them racing for me, and I knew it was my turn. Wielding Alba Mors in my hands, I delivered one powerful swing to the first that approached before raising the blade of my claymore to knock away a swipe from the creature. It was times like this I wished I had a shield!

As the beast reeled from my attack I dug my feet into the cobblestone beneath me and brought down my blade on the creature's head, cleaving straight through the bone armor and leaving it collapsed on the ground. All those days lifting weights in the gym were paying off!

The three of us fanned out further from each other, yet remaining within a reasonable distance, so we could strike out at more of the Grimm as they came. The Beowolf pack thinned, and we were getting ready to push onward, deeper into the school, to help deal with the threats to come.

That was when we heard a battlecry that sounded like it belonged to a man possessed. Before any of us could react, I looked as a man clad in armor designed to look like that of the Arma Gigas ran up to Jaune and brought his two large swords to bear. He slammed into Jaune's shield with one sword, and then into my brother himself with the other.

Luckily, Jaune had a load of aura, unluckily, this man struck with enough force to send Jaune flying back towards me. If I hadn't moved, he would have crashed into me, but luckily I was able to avoid my flying brother. As he scrambled to his feet, Pyrrha and I moved to stand with him as we glared at the newcomer.

Pyrrha was the one to speak, "Who are you?! The Grimm are our enemies here, there is no reason to attack Jaune!"

The man had been hunched over slightly while he struck Jaune, but now he stood up straight. He was massive. I knew he had to be at least seven feet tall, but he might well have been taller! The man chuckled and spoke, his voice deep and intimidating, "The Grimm are no enemies to me, Pyrrha Nikos. They are a means to an end."

If he hadn't been established as an enemy before, that line would have been enough. We all readied to fight as Pyrrha responded, sounding baffled, "A means to an end?! What is your end, attacking innocent people?"

The man raised his right great sword and pointed it at Pyrrha, "Your whole family, Pyrrha Nikos. They must pay for what they've done."

If that wasn't enough of a shock, then seeing ink and parchment coalesce on his right and his left into facsimiles of Alpha Beowolfs sold it. The world around us seemed to give way to an illusion, and suddenly we were fighting in a moonlit field of magnolias. At first I thought it was his semblance, but then I saw a girl with a journal sitting on a tree branch behind him.

She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and wore a pure white dress. She has a pair of what looked like angel wings at first glance on her back, although I assumed they were bird wings, marking her as a Faunus.

Whatever she was jotting down, it allowed the beasts to take shape and for the illusion to form, and there was no more ceremony before they, and the large knight, charged at us.

Pyrrha had taken it upon herself to fight the giant with two equally large swords, which left Jaune and I to deal with the ink and parchment constructs. I thought that paper constructs would die easily, but instead as I swung at the large Paper-Grimm and cut into the paper, it just repaired itself!

Pyrrha, the Invincible Girl, found herself evenly matched by her opponent. I saw her try to activate her semblance, the black coloration of her attempt to manipulate the metal of his swords, or his armor, and yet her eyes widened. Her semblance was having no effect on him, which meant she had to rely entirely on her skill with her weapons.

I couldn't focus too much on her, though. The creature managed to connect a sharp paper claw with my stomach. Luckily, my armor and aura blunted the attack, but as it managed to get another strike on my legs, I had to fight to keep balance.

Why couldn't these paper beasts be as weak as paper?! It was totally unfair!

Luckily, it seemed like landing successive hits did eventually make the paper begin to tear. Unluckily, while I was whittling down my Paperwolf, it looked like Jaune was having markedly more trouble, and Pyrrha was still locked in her duel with the enemy knight.

As I brought down my blade for a final strike that caused the Paperwolf to disintegrate and for the ink and paper to splatter on the ground and be lost to the wind respectively, I turned my attention to Jaune to assist him.

He seemed battered, and yet he ultimately didn't need my help with the Paperwolf. Another strike with Crocea Mors caused it to collapse much like mine did. We didn't have time to celebrate though.

As the two of us turned to join Pyrrha in her battle, suddenly I heard Jaune shout, "Look out!"

I noticed too late that there was a blinding white spear of light hurtling towards me. Jaune positioned himself in front of me and raised his shield, as it clashed with what, in retrospect, was most likely a hard-light spear. I hoped that he would be able to successfully block it.

I didn't notice at the time, but my gold tinged with white aura flared up, and in that moment it left my person and draped itself on my brother, my semblance manifesting to hopefully save him. It wasn't enough to stop the spear though, it broke through his shield and collided with his chest, causing me to drop Alba Mors as I caught him.

He was unconscious, but luckily it seemed he wasn't seriously injured.

Pyrrha didn't know that as she looked back at us, breaking the cardinal rule of a duel in the process and taking her eyes off her opponent. Her voice was laced with fear and worry as she shouted, "Jaune!"

That was all the Gigas Knight needed as he brought his giant blade down on Pyrrha's side, sending her flying backward a foot before she collapsed on the ground, her aura flaring up to signal it was critically low. She opened her eyes and struggled backwards while never breaking eye contact from the helmet of our enemy.

I interjected myself between the two, even though at that moment I was terrified and unarmed. The Gigas Knight chuckled, "A stalwart knight to the end, aren't you? You have my admiration, but not my mercy."

However, as he raised his sword to strike at me, I heard a soft and deceptively gentle voice behind him, "Haimon, my love." He paused and looked back at her, the girl used her wings to fly down to his side, "Orchid has called us to her side. We can leave this quarrel for later." The illusory field of magnolias gave way to the reality of Beacon's war-torn campus as she arrived at his side.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she whispered in disbelief, "H-Haimon…?"

The Gigas Knight named Haimon sheathed his swords on his back before he pulled off his helmet, shaking out a mane of red hair and blinking his green eyes. Were he not my enemy, I'd have called him handsome, like a true heroic knight. Were I not locked into place out of fear and unarmed, I would have tried to stab him in the eye. He gazed past me, not hard considering his height, and spoke, "Pyrrha." He smiled a twisted smile, "How long has it been, dear sister?" His voice dripped with contempt, "Since you and 'our' parents left me for dead in the woods?"

Pyrrha couldn't respond, I knew she had to have been struck with shock, I certainly was.

He put his helmet back on as the girl patted his arm to get his attention. He nodded, "Come, Astra. We can finish them off later."

They walked away, and I let them, because I was too afraid of what would happen to Pyrrha and Jaune if I had grabbed Ala Mors and tried to attack. My friends were too weak to fight, and I knew I wasn't strong enough to fight our enemies one on two.

Back in the Present, Neve POV

When she finished her story, Jeanne looked ashamed of herself. I put my hand on her shoulder after sheathing Daybreak, "You did what you had to do, Jeanne."

She sighed, "I know, but… I wasn't strong enough to protect Jaune and Pyrrha, I wasn't strong enough to fight our enemies by myself…" She looked down and whimpered, not dissimilar to a sad puppy, and it tore at my heart just the same.

I shook my head, "Listen, nobody is strong enough to do that kind of thing on their own at our level, don't be unfair to yourself. It all happened so fast." I needed to get her focused on something else, "Jaune and Pyrrha need you right now. I need you to keep them safe, can you do that?"

Before she could respond, I heard a familiar girl's voice behind us, "She won't have to do it alone."

Jeanne's eyes lit up, "Peregrine!"

I looked back and sure enough, the tall and sharply dressed swordswoman with the black buster sword on her back was standing there with a hand on her hip. A small smile was on her lips as she regarded Jeanne with a warmth I hadn't seen her give anyone yet at that point, other than me, "Did you think I'd leave you at your darkest hour? I wouldn't do that to a… friend."

I smiled, "I guess you both have it well in hand." I stood up, "There's a triage center at the Bullhead landing, if you can get Jaune there you might be able to rejoin the fighting."

Peregrine nodded and soon Jeanne was getting up while I stood up as well and stepped away so I could look at the both of them. Peregrine regarded Pyrrha, "I don't know what you're moping about, but if you're not fighting fit, then get up and come to the triage center."

Pyrrha didn't respond, causing Peregrine to roll her eyes. She stepped over to the Invincible Girl and in one swift motion picked her up and tossed her over her shoulder, much to the shorter girl's chagrin as she protested, "I-I am capable of walking! Put me down!"

Yet it seemed Peregrine's mind was already made up as Jeanne started to gather Jaune. I had to ask, "Did you see Cinder at all before or after this all started?"

Jeanne thought for a moment before she nodded, "While we were sitting here, she ran past us towards the Headmaster's Tower. Just a few minutes ago, you might be able to catch her if you're fast enough."

I smiled, "Thank you, Jeanne."

She responded with a smile of her own, "You're heading there?" I nodded and she hefted up Jaune, "Once I drop him off, I'll start there too. I'll be right behind you!"

I knew I couldn't tell her not to, so I just grinned, "Thanks, partner. I'll see you there."

I separated from them and continued on my path to the tower. Pyrrha's brother was not only alive, but apparently working for this 'Orchid' girl, who I could only imagine was the person responsible for all of this. The fact that her name was the same as Weiss' old flame didn't escape me, but that girl was dead, so I reasoned it was probably just a coincidence.

The blonde girl… her paper facsimiles and illusory background made me think that she was responsible for the things I saw at the arena. The illusion that created a wall of lasers, and the visions of civilians getting murdered. If her semblance was really that versatile, then she was a major threat, there was no doubt about that.

If she was the culprit, then she was at least in part responsible for what I did to Penny. My own carelessness still cost me the day, but her actions were what put it into motion. I would have to bring her to justice through any means possible.

I continued on my path towards the heart of Beacon, and yet I found myself diverting again as I reached one of the many gardens that Beacon had. This particular garden had all sorts of flowers. Roses and moonflowers, magnolias, and more.

I hadn't stopped to appreciate the beauty of the garden, as nice as it was. I stopped because I saw a figure laying in the middle of the field of flowers, on a bed of orchids, seemingly unconscious.

As I drew closer, I saw that it was Weiss and hurried to her side, kneeling down and checking her for injuries.

Mercifully, she looked unconscious. I couldn't help but wonder though, what exactly happened to her?

Note from Neve: 'After the fact, I asked Weiss to write down what happened so I could commit it to these pages, much like I did with Jeanne. The following is what she sent me.'

Twenty minutes earlier, Weiss POV

As the attack commenced my immediate goal was to try and help stave off the invading Grimm as best I could. My training allowed me to easily dispatch the weaker Grimm, and I soon found myself patrolling along one of the paths, keeping an eye open for more to slay.

That was when I heard a voice vaguely familiar, it brought chills to my spine but I shook it off. She was dead, it had to be someone else. Her voice was melodic and beautiful as she strummed out the opening lyrics to a song, "Child… our daughter. Stay while we talk awhile. You've done… no misdeed, still they'll put your life on trial…"

I felt myself drawn to her, like a moth to a distant moon. She was off the path, sitting in the middle of a garden while playing her acoustic-electric guitar. She wore a White Fang uniform, her hood was up and her mask was on, obscuring her features. She looked at me and regarded me with a smile before she kept playing, "Born like your family… Far from any state of grace! You're as perfect… as the wind and sky, but they'll treat you like you're out of place!"

She had some accompanying instruments playing out of her guitar, somehow, but she paused the song and stood up as she looked at me, "Weiss Schnee. You know, I've waited for this day for a long time."

I held Myrtenaster in my hand as I assumed my fencing position, keeping the blade raised and at the ready, "Whatever my family has done to you, I assure you that I had nothing to do with it!"

Her smile turned into a malicious grin, "Oh Weiss. You have no idea what you've done, do you? Well, before I tell you, I have a little song for you. I made this with the help of a friend of mine. She also has a bone to pick with the Schnee family." Just about everything about this girl made me uneasy, there was this sense of familiarity to her, and yet there was just enough off that I couldn't tell if I really did know her or not.

She picked up the song she was playing before, the accompanying instruments returning, emitting from a speaker on her guitar, "This world is cold! The power's with those who would judge and control. But we have a chance to make it right, for you. This is what. You'll. Do~"

I was so taken by her beautiful voice that I almost let my guard down, but her next verse made me tense up. She continued, "Show them how you smile… It's only for a while. Take what you need…"

Her grin never faltered, "Leave them to bleed. Let them know bitter while your revenge is sweet~"

The song kicked up as she began to play, suddenly fire dust infused circular sound waves began to radiate towards me, "Keep the secret! Pretending you're just like them!"

It was all I could do to dodge as she continued, "Live there like a princess! In the kingdom of selfish men!"

I responded by summoning a glyph infused with ice dust and beginning to fire several icicles towards her. Yet, shockingly, she emitted some sort of strange power, a visible wave of wind knocked away the icicles and redirected them towards me. While I was busy dodging, she continued, "Play their game now! Do what it takes to win!"

I finished dodging and used a glyph at my feet to launch me towards her, she jumped back and, to my shock, began hovering in the air! "Steal it back, all they keep from you! They refuse to look beyond your skin!"

She sent out another wave of dust-infused soundwaves at me, these ones were electric. I summoned a glyph to catch the energy before it shot the lightning back at her, it connected and caused her to fly backwards, but she quickly recovered as she kept playing, "And as you grow! You'll gain from their knowledge but your heart will know! When the time is right to end the lie!"

Her voice began to raise in volume as the song continued and yet more waves of dust, now accompanying arcs of lightning and ice, began to shoot towards me, "You'll know what to do! When the charade is through!"

I was so busy trying to dodge and fire back with dust-infused glyph projectiles that I didn't notice the localized clouds above our impromptu arena, "Show them how you smile!" A bolt of lightning struck only a foot away from me, sending me to the ground, "It's only for a while~ Take what you need! Leave them to bleed! Let them know bitter! While your revenge is sweet!" I scrambled to my feet and immediately had to dodge another bolt of lightning.

The strange girl flew through the air and continued to rain down musical hell upon me while I desperately tried to dodge and fight back at the same time, "You might think that maybe they're changing! You'll pray that their hatred is waning! That's when it hurts most to find! The story unfolds, and their cruelty's exposed! You'll be glad you're not their kind!"

She entered into a guitar solo, fire and flame shot out of the guitar and seemingly out of the sky itself as I found myself busier trying to not get hit than actually hitting her. Not that I was doing very well, it seemed that every time I dodged one gout of flame, a bolt of lightning or icicle would slam into me!

I finally saw an opportunity between her attacks. I created a glyph at my feet and used it to launch me into the air, towards her while I thrusted Myrtenaster out towards her, gritting my teeth as I did so.

Only for her vocals to return and for a powerful blast of wind to send me flying towards the ground again, "Show them how you smile! It's only for a while! Take what you need, leave them to bleed!" A blast of water followed suit from her guitar with the force of a firehose, "Let them know bitter, while your revenge is sweet!"

The song ended as I slammed onto the ground and gasped, the water had hit with force, and the ground was happy to return the favor. My aura vanished and I felt myself starting to lose consciousness, even as the water spout ended.

The girl knelt next to me, I was certain she would kill me, and yet she spoke in a humored tone, "You're lucky I like to play with my food, Weiss." She reached up and pulled off her mask while lowering her hood at the same time. My eyes widened and my blood ran cold as a distinctly hexagonally shaped, honey-colored iris gazed down upon me. Across her right eye was a brand, the letters 'SDC' tainted her beautiful visage, filling me with horror. What had father done…?

With some effort I managed to say, "O-Orchid…?" My voice was as labored as my breathing, "You…You're…"

Orchid giggled, it was her, it couldn't be anyone but her. I found myself asking why. Her voice was tinged with malice, even as she laughed. She leaned down until our noses were almost touching, "Alive? Yes…"

Then, a shock, she leaned down and kissed me. I didn't return the kiss, but she held it for a few seconds. There was no passion or love in the kiss, not like the ones we had shared when we were younger. It was almost possessive, and to this day the thought of it fills me with dread.

My vision began to blur as my eyes grew heavy, she leaned away from me, "I'll see you again soon, Little Miss Perfect…"

The last thing I remembered as I drifted out of consciousness was the somehow sickening taste of sweet honey in my mouth.

Back in the Present, Neve POV

I knew I had to get Weiss to safety, but before I could move to pick her up, I heard the growling of Ursa. I stood up and drew Daybreak, quickly on alert as I looked around. The Grimm appeared, there were four of them. That wouldn't be so bad if two of them weren't Ursa Majors, the biggest and most dangerous of the Ursa.

I knew I couldn't abandon Weiss, so I stood my ground as the four Ursa began to circle me. I was going to have to find a way to dispatch these beasts quickly, speed I didn't have…

Magic, however…

I was at 30/40 MP, and I was going to need to use it well here. First, I cast Daze on one of the Ursa Majors, watching as it stopped circling me and instead started to meander about in confusion. The other three didn't seem too perturbed, however, instead one of the smaller Ursa charged me. I was able to dodge as it attempted to swipe past me while not slowing down, causing it to run right past me.

If I could just get Weiss out of here I could use Fireball, these Grimm wouldn't stand a chance against that, but neither would an aura-depleted huntress…

The non-dazed Ursa Major charged at me and I braced myself. I was going to have to stop this thing before it could pass me, or else it might trample Weiss! I was lucky that dodging the last one didn't have that effect either…

Before I could strike out however, suddenly the hammer element of a bec-de-corbin smashed into the beast's head from off to the side and caused it to stagger. It wasn't dead, but it was also hurt and no longer charging me.

I saw Cobalt, now in his armor. He wore plate armor that covered his torso and legs most prominently. He had on a pair of pauldrons and plate gauntlets as well, his arms covered in chainmail. The metal was predominantly colored azure, with the trimming being colored gold. He also wore a white cloak with gold trimmings on his back with the hood pulled up over his head, the only piece of armor he was missing was a helmet. His armor reminded me startlingly of a relic, except I could tell it definitely wasn't a relic. Just a coincidence, then.

The scarred crusader smiled at me as he followed up his strike on the Ursa by raising his weapon, I watched as it was covered in a red aura that faded to blue before he struck down at the creature's head, a beam of light the same color as what I assumed was his aura appeared over the creature before it bolted downward and struck with his hammer, separating the Ursa's head from its shoulders.

With that Ursa taken care of, we were able to turn our attention to the others. Cobalt regarded me with concern in his voice, "Your aura is in no state for battle. What are you doing out here?"

I shook my head, "I've got someone I need to find…"

Cobalt sighed, "Very well." He brought his bec-de-corbin to bear as he glowered at the two smaller Ursa, the other Major still dazed, "Then let's clean house."

The two of us charged the smaller Ursa, and though they tried to attack us with tooth and claw, they were really nothing compared to two huntsmen-in-training, even if I myself was one good hit away from losing my aura.

The Ursa Major wasn't even a problem, given that it was still dazed. Cobalt's powerful strikes more than made up for my weak stabs, I only wished I could have been more help, I knew that when I got to the Tower I was going to have to be quick about making sure Cinder was okay.

When the Ursa were all dispatched, the two of us knelt near Weiss and inspected her. She was fine physically other than a few minor injuries, but her aura was spent. I looked at Cobalt, "You need to get her to safety."

Cobalt furrowed his brow as he lowered his hood and looked at me, "Neve, do you see the state you're in? You should be the one taking Weiss back, and staying there with her. Who are you hoping to find?"

I sighed. I knew he was right, but I had to press on, it was all I could do right now, "I need to find Cinder, my girlfriend. She's on campus somewhere, I think near Beacon Tower, and I need to make sure she's okay." There was no small amount of emotion in my voice.

Emotion that made Cobalt soften, "It would do neither of you good if you end up dead… You're not going to be talked out of this are you?" I shook my head, causing him to smirk, "I figured. Honor before reason, others before yourself. I was like that some time ago…" He looked down at Weiss and scooped her up bridal style, "Still am, in a lot of ways."

I stood up with him, "Well, you're doing a much better job of it than I am." I smiled, "What are you going to do after you get her to safety?"

Cobalt hummed, "I'll make my way towards the tower as well. There might be more trouble than you can handle there, if so I need to be there." Well, that was reassuring at least. Yet another person who was going to come to my aide with enough time.

So, I continued on my path. The sound of gunfire and clashing metal informed me that the fight was still raging around me, even if I couldn't see it.

The walk gave me time to catch my breath and to take stock of the situation. With the assistance of Atlas' military might, not bogged down by sabotage, Beacon shouldn't fall. At least, I hoped it wouldn't. There were still plenty of Grimm and I was sure even while I was walking to the tower that people were dying. I shouldered personal responsibility for their deaths, I knew.

Yet there was still a lot I could at least try to do, no matter how weak I was. I needed to make sure Cinder was safe, and that Amber wasn't in jeopardy. If there was a new maiden pawn to Salem, and if they did get Amber's power, then they would be far stronger than even Cinder was in the original timeline.

I was torn out of my thoughts when I heard a chilling roar, turning around I saw something flying high in the sky. It didn't take long to identify that it was no Nevermore, instead it was the Wyvern! It must have been awakened again, although I had no idea how. Maybe Salem's new pawn was able to rouse it from its slumber?

Either way, it was a problem. The Grimm puddles it created would cause new monsters to crawl out ad infinitum until they were stomped out, or, hopefully, if the source was killed.

If Ruby and Violet had received at least moderate training with their silver eyes like Oz said they would, then they should be able to beat back the smaller Grimm. Neither of them were in any position to try to dissolve the Wyvern though, nor any Grimm that was too large, like the giant Nevermore from earlier. That meant it would need to be killed the old fashioned way.

The Assistant appeared next to me while I was still watching the sky, "You aren't thinking of doing what I think you're thinking of doing, are you?"

I smiled warily, "I am thinking of doing exactly what you think I'm thinking." I joined Daybreak together, "I might not have a lot of aura left, but Dust doesn't care about that, does it?"

I looked at the Assistant in time to catch them frowning at me, "You're an idiot, you know that?" She put her hands on her hips, "If you die, I hope you know you won't be getting a respawn."

I laughed, "Oh, I know. That would have been a bit too generous." I produced a gravity arrow from my quiver and nocked it, "Still, sometimes this line of work needs people to make stupid decisions."

His frown deepened, "Whatever, don't say I didn't warn you." She patted my shoulder, "Well, if nothing else you can say you died in a blaze of glory. If you die, that is. Don't, by the way."

I smiled, "Is that concern I hear in your voice, Assistant? Here I thought you weren't capable of feeling anything like that."

She gasped at me, "O-Of course I am!" She punched my arm, "Idiot! Just- Ugh, don't die, alright?!" Then she poofed away, leaving me with at least a somewhat raised mood.

I realized that I was going to need to bring the beast closer to land if I was going to have any chance of doing real damage to it. Although with how large of a beast it was, I doubted even gravity dust would keep it down for very long. I needed to be quick.

Quick and reckless.

I aimed downward and fired, allowing the gravity dust to launch me into the air. I was aiming for the top of a nearby building, one of the transfer dorms it seemed like. I landed on the top, the place reminded me of where Cinder and I would train, but what I was doing today was the furthest thing from training possible.

I nocked two more gravity arrows and waited. The Wyvern was flying around Beacon with no real objective other than to spawn more Grimm it seemed, so it was only a matter of time before it came within arrow range.

Once it did, I loosed the arrows and watched them sail through the air. They connected with the Wyvern's stomach and caused it to roar in anger, the added weight made it start to descend, it was looking right at me as it nosedived, and I knew then that it was very angry with me.

That was both good and bad, good because then it wasn't looking at anyone else, bad because it was flying right at me, intent on making me an evening snack.

I was not on the menu, and I intended to let it know that. I nocked a lightning dust arrow and waited until the beast drew closer before I fired it. The lightning hit the beast in the mouth and caused it to roar as electricity surged through its body. It was forced to pull up at the last second, away from me, yet still being weighed down by the gravity dust as it was, it was slower.

Slow enough for me to do something stupid.

Namely, knocking another gravity arrow and firing it at my feet, sending me into the air after the Wyvern.

I was close, but it was still flying too far. I nocked another arrow, this one the kind of grappling arrow I had used during initiation. I loosed it, aiming for the creature's side. The bone spikes it had on its back were going to be an issue, but they would also provide a perfect place to keep my balance.

The arrow dug into an unarmored side of the beast and allowed me to channel the gravity dust in the chain to allow me a measure of control over it as I swung around underneath the beast. I thanked God that I wasn't airsick as I worked on climbing up the chain while the Wyvern flew in circles, trying to get me to lose my grip.

Yet my grip held, my gloves were more than a small help in allowing me to not lose my grip. I slowly but surely made my way to the Beast's body. The lower half was clearly very tar-like, while the top was more viscous, dripping Grimm Pools down onto the grounds below.

I found shaky footing atop the Grimm, although it clearly didn't like my presence. I broke apart Daybreak and sheathed the metal blade, keeping the obsidian one ready for use as I very slowly made my way towards the beast's neck, using the spikes to keep my grip.

On the way there, I looked at the bat wings and channeled ice dust into my blade before swiping outward towards the wing closest to me, the one on the right. It connected and caused the Grimm to roar as ice began to collect on it. It was losing altitude, however it seemed to have a fix for its ice problem.

Namely, the fact that the beast breathed fire like a true dragon. The Wyvern flew into its own fire, seeming unperturbed by the flames that melted the ice. I had to hold on to the spike as my aura shielded me from the fire, but I knew that it was costing me precious aura reserves. I was down to 30/150, this was getting more dangerous by the minute.

Finally, after a minute that felt like an hour, I reached the neck of the dragon. It was exposed, but as I tried to hack into it with my blade, it didn't seem to be doing the kind of damage I needed it to do.

Another gout of fire washed over me as the Wyvern spewed it forth, 25/150. I was going to have to do something even stupider than what I was already doing if I wanted to have even a small chance of surviving this.

I raised my obsidian blade and with a shout of exertion I plunged it down into the Wyvern's neck. It pierced the skin and lodged itself there this time, the beast roared a deafening roar of pain, but I wasn't done.

I channeled some of my last aura reserves into using my semblance, trying to make sure I didn't use too much. If I had to use a landing strategy of some kind, I was going to need a little bit to break my fall.

Absolute Zero began to take its toll as the temperature around me and the Wyvern dropped significantly. Suddenly, the beast was fighting against a much stronger creeping frost that was already starting to solidify into ice.

If Grimm that were old were intelligent, then that meant they could panic, and it certainly felt like this one was panicking as it tried its hardest to get me off. As ice began to solidify slowly onto its body and winds, we drew closer to Beacon Tower.

It rolled, and this time I was too busy holding onto my blade to grab a spike in time, my hands slipped off the obsidian blade. I was cast off from the Wyvern and I saw it trying to shake off the ice that was on it. Well, fine then! If I was going down, I was going to take it down with me! Sometimes, ice wasn't enough, sometimes you had to fight fire with fire!

I cast Fireball, and as I continued to fall the large ball of flame shot out of my talisman. It sailed true and smashed into the Wyvern, and the intense heat was clearly far more than the beast was prepared to take. It lost control finally, I noticed that one of its wings was missing a piece, likely broken off by the ice, while the other was on fire.

It started to descend right alongside me, its massive weight enough to make it fall much faster than I. It was clearly still alive, if unable to fly. Yet, as we quickly reached the ground and the creature landed first, I heard the telltale sound of a building collapsing.

I hit the ground and gasped in pain as I landed on my back. My aura had shielded me from the worst of it, but as it dissipated, I saw that I was now out of the protective shielding I needed to fight properly.

I was having trouble sitting up, I had fallen right in front of Beacon Tower, while it seemed the Wyvern had fallen into an auxiliary building not far from me, I hoped that the people inside had evacuated. The mist rising from the Wyvern showed that it was dead.

I felt bleeding on my right palm, and in a few other places. I'd suffered more cuts and bruises from the beast and the fall than I had noticed. I was about to struggle to get up when I heard footsteps approaching me, then I heard a familiar male voice, "I guess you're Neve the Dragon Slayer now, aren't you?"

Lunus appeared in my vision with a tired smile on his face. He looked as battered and wounded as I did. He reached out his hand and offered it to me, "Leave it to you to do something that reckless. You're lucky you're still alive."

It hurt to laugh, but I did it anyway. I reached out and took his hand with my own, he asked me while standing me up, "You're not gonna stop until you find Cinder, are you?" I shook my head and he chuckled, "Alright. Well, let's end this." That was when I got a notification.

Tier 5 Platonic Relationship Achieved!

Lunus Marigold

10/100 - Blood Bound Brother (Tier 5)

Blood bound…? I looked at my hand and saw that we were both holding on with our bleeding hands. I smiled at him, "You've got my back?"

He grinned a determined, if tired, grin, "Ever and always."

After we let go, I drew the one blade of Daybreak I had left, the metal blade. I had lost track of the obsidian one, and I could guess it had probably shattered on impact anyway.

Lunus took Selene off his back, he was already in his usual huntsmen gear, although the beige cloak he wore was torn up pretty badly. Together we turned towards the tower and started for it. We could hear fighting already, I recognized the sound of magic going off. Fire, water, wind, lightning, and more. I wondered if Ozpin was there?

I got my answer as Lunus kicked open the door, in the midst of the tower's tiled main entrance was a battle of grand proportions. Cinder was fighting against a girl with hair that was striped black and gold horizontally, both were slinging magic. That must have been Orchid.

Also fighting against Cinder was the Gigas Knight named Haimon and some of the Paper Grimm that Jeanne had talked about. That meant that the other girl, Astra, was here too. I gritted my teeth, Cinder was fighting a losing battle, but that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was who I saw slumped against a nearby wall, Professor Ozpin was bloodied and lifeless as he sat there. He must have been fighting alongside Cinder! There were large cracks running down the wall to where he had landed, and his suit was covered in blood, tears, and slashes. He went down fighting, with the Long Memory in his hand.

Lunus saw him as well and gasped, "Ozpin! Is he…?" He closed his eyes and shook his head, "Whatever! Do you have an idea?" He looked at me.

I nodded, "I need to get to the elevator. There's something deep below that can help us." I already was dreading what I knew I was going to have to do, but the terror I felt outweighed that more than anything else.

Lunus, oblivious to my turmoil, nodded, "I'll help Cinder and cover you, you might want to take Oz's cane. I don't know if you'll be able to keep balance on your own."

That was a good idea, so I nodded. Lunus ran to join the fighting while I stumbled over to Ozpin's crumpled form. I knelt next to him and checked his pulse, sure enough he was dead. I sighed, but there was no time to mourn, I just hoped he would go to someone other than Oscar this time. The boy didn't deserve the hand he was dealt.

I gently took The Long Memory from his hand and used it to help me stand. I saw Lunus now fighting Haimon, giving Cinder some breathing room as greatswords clashed with buzzsaw.

I hurried as quickly as I could, hoping that I could avoid being caught as I raced to the elevator. I managed to get there just fine, and I even got inside the elevator just fine, but that was when I heard a woman, Orchid I assumed, yell, "He's going to the vault! Stop him!"

Cinder was taken off guard for a moment, but she recovered quick enough to dispatch one of the Paper Grimm. Lunus, in the meantime, was knocked aside by Haimon. I knew he was fine, but Haimon now seemed dead set on stopping me instead.

The elevator doors slid closed as he raced towards me and I heard him curse on the other side before he yelled, "Fine, then! You want to get to the vault?!" As the elevator began descending, his voice began to grow fainter, yet I still heard what he said, "Then fall!"

I had no idea what he was planning at first, but then suddenly the slow descent of the elevator escalated quickly as it began to hurtle down. I could only assume that Haimon had cut the rope to the elevator, and so I braced myself for impact. It was all I could do to sheath Daybreak and prepare for what was to come.

The elevator came crashing down and tossed me against the wall before I fell to the ground. I felt shooting pain through my body and briefly my vision went black. My ears were ringing and I gasped a shaky breath as my blurry vision saw the elevator doors, the doors on the elevator itself had been forced open by the crash, and the other ones had a dent in the middle of it.

I struggled to my feet, finding that the ceiling of the elevator had collapsed somewhat. I was lucky, if it had collapsed further, I would have been completely trapped. I stuck The Long Memory between the hole in the elevator doors and used what little strength I had to force it open.

I climbed my way out of the elevator and coughed as I reached the clean floors of the basement. I looked at the ground and saw I had coughed up blood. That wasn't good, to say the least…

I used The Long Memory to help me stand, my hand was bleeding, my legs were screaming at me, and my left arm was broken, limply hanging at my side.

Yet still, I pushed on.

Moving as fast as I could was still going slow, but I made every effort to reach the chamber. The lights were dim and occasionally flickering, likely from the damage happening up above, yet the silhouette of my target kept me going.

The aura transfer chamber that had, at one point, been intended to hold Pyrrha. I supposed Ozpin never got a chance to call her to the tower this time, otherwise the fighting would be down here.

Yet there was nothing but silence broken up by the flickering of incandescent light bulbs down here to keep me company.

Well, that wasn't entirely true…

The figure that was the only other occupant of this room sat in a chamber that I was growing closer towards. I didn't want to do this, but I felt a terrible fear gripping my heart. Cinder could die, Lunus could die, everyone could die. If Orchid won today, she could kill us all with the power of two maidens. I was in no state to even try to oppose her, even at full strength I couldn't, like this? She'd kill me without a thought.

A wise man once said that the single quality that's common across every living creature on this planet is fear. Yet, as common as it is, we often underestimate it. I had made that mistake, more than once, I had messed up so many times already. Mistakes that built toward the circumstances that led me to be walking towards Amber.

I told myself I shouldn't grow close to anyone here, once, because I knew the risk and was afraid of it. I was afraid of losing someone, that was the fear that gripped my heart the tightest that day. Fear of failure combined with the previous turmoil was part of what kept me walking. If I collapsed there, before I did what I had to do, then people would die. Everyone I loved would die.

They were depending on me, not just them but the whole school, even if they didn't know it. That just made the fear even more pronounced than it was previously, amplified by a thousand. My vision blurred, but I leaned on The Long Memory to keep balance as I walked.

Previously I had been cocky, I believed I had all the answers, when in reality I only did as good as I did because of what I already knew. Now that that was out the window, I was backed against the wall.

The question was, then, devoid of all of that, stripped of my knowledge, the answers I had once held, left on my own with nobody around to judge me... Who was I? Who was I becoming on that day in the vault?

Was I going to be proud of myself, looking back, or was I going to feel as if I'd betrayed everything I stood for? If nothing else, could I forgive the person who called himself Neve after the fact for what they had done?

Thinking back on it, at that moment I couldn't even recognize who I was at the start of all of this. Who I was when I came here, that trepid and fearful boy who just wanted to live a quiet life, was nothing like the person who I had become. The person who lied and manipulated others, the person who claimed to have the answers and the secret knowledge needed to carry on. The person who thought he was worth a single damn.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that if the me from back at the start, or the me that existed in my old life, saw who I was in that moment, they would be afraid. Afraid of the boy with blood running down his face, afraid of the one who felt they could toy with their friends as if they were pawns in a chess game…

I stopped in front of the chamber that held Amber and drew Daybreak after dropping The Long Memory. I stared at the blade, which reflected my visage back at me. The fear that I felt deep inside was reflected in the desperate look in my eyes.

I think, more than anything, that the more innocent version of me would be afraid of who I was about to become, rather than who I was even at the start of that day.

…Afraid of the murderer.

I looked up at Amber and felt tears welling up in my eyes as I gritted my teeth and walked closer.

I readied my blade and closed my eyes for a moment.

Then, I opened them and thrust the blade forward.

It broke through the glass and stabbed Amber right through the heart. Her eyes flew open and she looked into mine as she gasped her last breath. I saw the fear, the hurt, and the anguish in her eyes until the light left them.

I pulled my blade out and looked at my arm, my adrenaline had prevented me from feeling the glass shards that were now plunged into it.

I dropped Daybreak and picked up The Long Memory again before I started to walk back towards the elevator. However, I finally lost balance and fell forward onto the ground.

My vision grew blurrier and blurrier as my eyes grew heavy. My breathing was labored, my mind was aflame with anguish while also shutting my body down due to the pain and exhaustion I felt.

Finally, I gave in. I closed my eyes and my vision turned dark.

In my last moments of consciousness, I asked myself…

...Did I make the right choice?