"This had better be good," Stratford said as his hologram stretched before Coco and he yawned, cracking his neck, shoulders, and elbows respectively before cracking his knuckles and ultimately running out of immediate body parts to pop out. "I have not had my morning coffee yet, and it's been a long time since we've had to last utilize the emergency holographic display system. Did you really come across something so volatile that it just couldn't wait?" Coco took a sip of her latte that she'd brewed in the teacher's lounge and smiled contently as she glanced back at the door, waiting for Oobleck to arrive before she began her report.

"If it could've waited, trust me, I would've waited," Coco said. "The less often that I have to see your ugly ass face the better." Dorian laughed and Sterling glared at him, Olesia's second was unphased by the icy gaze of the head of Mistral. Coco yawned thanks to Sterling and shook her head, trying to shake the remaining sleep out of her body as she took another sip from her mug. Emergency meetings were typically held early in the morning so that it didn't interfere with the rest of Ruby's schedule. None of them were ever aware completely of what Ruby was up to at all times, only catching the bits and pieces of knowledge that Remnant's savior offered them in passing before she dashed off again in a whirlwind of petals, following one lead or another. An additional factor in the reasoning for having these impromptu discussions so early was so that everything was fresh in the mind of the members addressing the situation.

"How's everyone doing this morning?!" Ruby asked, yelling into her microphone as chipper as ever. Qrow's figure showed up next, rubbing his chin as someone out of the range of being rendered in said something to him and he turned around for a moment.

"I love you too," Qrow said before returning to face the rest of the council. "I'm awake."

"But are you sober?" Siobhan asked. Qrow let out an abrupt snicker.

"Kid, does Ruby ever stop being Summer's daughter?" Qrow asked as he removed the flask from his inside pocket and twisted it open. He peered down into it at the contents and swirled it a bit before taking a sizable swig and slamming it down on the table before him, letting out a satisfied 'ah' as it made contact with the surface, droplets splashed out from the opening and spackled the wood around it. He screwed the lid back on before Siobhan finally answered him, not knowing if it was completely rhetorical or not.

"No?" Siobhan asked.

"Right. They're synonymous. Just like me and being drunk," Qrow explained. He glanced around at the others before looking back at Coco and clearing his throat. "Coco, what exactly are we waiting on right now?"

"Dr. Oobleck will be here shortly with a statement that he has prepared about an incident that took place in Forever Fall only a few days ago," Coco informed Qrow who was the last to arrive of the actual council members. "We decided that a joint report would be for the best as opposed to doing them separately and wasting your time with another emergency meeting at a later date."

"I'm still waiting to hear the reasoning as to what happened that would force a meeting this quickly," Sterling griped. "From what you indicated in your email to us yesterday, you only just arrived back from my kingdom yesterday at around noon."

"I'm sure if you think about the words you just said that you'll come to the realization that this is going to reflect poorly on you as a leader," Coco told him. The door behind Coco burst open, papers exploding everywhere as Oobleck slammed through and then scrambled around to grab them, catching all of them before they hit the ground and putting them back in order in the stack without blinking and in record time.

"I'm sorry that I am late everyone but it would seem that the line at the coffee shop that I often offer my patronage to was longer than I had anticipated because, in this week's newspaper, they had included a coupon for a dollar off of your next cup. Then, if you can believe it with the information that you've already been presented with, the airships were running late because low and behold the pilot that was on duty this morning, was at the coffee shop himself, he had been maybe the fourth or fifth person in line behind me, if I'm recalling my surroundings correctly. Finally, once he arrived I told him that we needed to move posthaste due to the fact that I was running quite late for an important meeting to which he replied that he would still have to wait the designated ten minutes for the rest of the ship to fill up, as is standard protocol for the shuttles that travel back and forth between the school and the city. Finally, I arrived on the cliffside, it still appeared that I was going to make it here on time after all, when I made the discovery, that I had left my thermos down at the city side docks. I made the trip back, being the responsible huntsman that I am I was worried that someone might get their hands on my weapon and hurt themselves, or worse! That they would drink my coffee," Oobleck told them.

"Uh…" Sterling blinked before rubbing his eyes and staring hard at Oobleck, trying to process everything that the man had said. "Well, we are glad to have you, doctor."

"Please, the work that I have done recently pales in comparison to what you men and women have been doing for us for the last several years of your lives. Please, call me Bartholomew," Oobleck told them. Ruby covered her face, snickering and giggling as her eyes began to water, looking away from the group. They all watched her for a long moment before Qrow sighed and called out to her.

"Ruby, what's going on?" Qrow asked her.

"I didn't know his name was Bartholomew!" Ruby blurted out before slamming her fist on her table repeatedly and laughing deeply. "Bartholomew!"

"Mrs. Rose, may we please continue?" Oobleck insisted as he took his seat next to Coco and flipped through his stack of papers, preparing his material. Ruby cleared her throat and nodded her head.

"Yes, please. Proceed," Ruby instructed. Coco cleared her throat, ready to state her findings.

"A team of students from Beacon and myself spent the better part of the last week in Mistral where I came across some pretty disturbing things that I determined needed to come to light before this council or at the very least, Sterling needed to be made aware that these things were going on," Coco informed them.

"What kind of disturbing things?" Sterling asked as Coco sifted through her paperwork.

"Close to the village of Shion there was a natural cave system that a rather large tribe of bandits had taken to calling their home, they had been terrorizing villages and people nearby, ruining their commerce and virtually controlling everything that happened within and around the village, even the mayor was either being bribed or blackmailed by them so that he wouldn't say anything to you about it, he had no intention of contacting the Mistral council head, let alone any sort of police or military force," Coco informed him. "I understand, and if it's been said once, it's been said a thousand times, that Mistral is the largest landmass out of all of Remnant's regions. I realize that it has more settlements and small villages scattered about than the other kingdoms. I get all of that. However, if you can't guarantee the safety off all of your people on a general scale, then perhaps we should consider alternatives. Perhaps, Mistral should be split into two? When these territories were decided upon we had actual kingdoms and castles, it was a primitive time that saw fewer people and more unity against the Grimm, a time before the Great War."

"I'm sorry to say this, but with the Fang and everything else that we've been having to deal with this last year, can we really trouble ourselves with every last group of thieves and vagabonds that pop up and wreak a little havoc," Sterling said. "Anyone in that village could have called for help."

"Someone finally did call for help, that's how my team and I ended up over there," Coco explained. "A girl and a couple of her friends who had to steal a scroll off of someone and rewire it so that the signal would be strong enough to reach anyone that mattered. The people of Shion were too afraid to do anything that might defy the rules that had been set forth by the bandits, but these three kids were beyond that. Nothing that they did was right in the eyes of these crime lords, and do you want to know why?"

"Competing factions?" Siobhan asked.

"They were Faunus," Coco told them. She placed the photos that she had upside down on the table before her, it scanned the image and displayed it for each member to see on their own tabletops beside them. Olesia covered her mouth and wretched as she shook her head and stepped away. "I went back and took these pictures after we had cleared out their cave and defeated their leader. Saying that the woman needed a bit of psychiatric help would be a bit of an understatement, as you'll see in the pictures, they used part of the cave as a meat locker for Faunus."

"Dear Oum," Ruby muttered. Qrow swallowed hard as he looked away from it and back up at Coco.

"What were they doing with the meat?" Qrow asked.

"Selling it to a local market as different meats ranging from small animals to exotic delicacies, to Grimm jerky. It's hard to say whether or not the meat affects the human body in an adverse way after consumption or not, I got some so that we could bring it back and test it for the sake of the people in Shion, I made sure that the Father of the church in the village looked after them until they could find a new mayor, instructing him to shut down the market until all byproducts that the bandits had been selling could be removed," Coco told them. She looked at Sterling who seemed genuinely shocked and he opened his mouth slightly to defend himself. "Stratford."

"I…" He stopped. He looked at Coco for a long moment before gesturing with his hands for her to continue.

"I know that you'll say that you can't be everywhere at once, and I realize that your military force is spread thin between looking for Strakh and looking for Athena, but maybe I can suggest another way that you can go about fixing things in the west of the kingdom," Coco offered.

"How's that?" Sterling inquired.

"Assign huntsmen and huntresses to regions, make sure that there is a force that can keep people safe patrolling the area frequently," Coco told him. "With the crime on the rise in Vale again I've begun recruiting huntsmen to the police force, these fighters are more than just pieces to be played when a specific need arises. They can be used to maintain peace as well."

"Well put," Qrow said.

"I shall consider your advice," Sterling replied with a nod that was meant to thank her.

"I will shift my efforts to finding the White Fang," Ruby told them. "I'll spend the next month or so tracking down Ben Taurus and I'll make him tell us where his daughter is."

"We may be able to help you with a lead," Kitsune finally weighed in. "It's not much, but we think we have him pegged for a specific, albeit large, area in Atlas." Ruby nodded to her.

"Your help would be appreciated," Ruby replied. "Is there anything else that you wanted to add before we hear Oobleck, Coco?"

"The students did an amazing job in the field and I wanted to request that the council look into and consider allowing year 4 students to switch to a curriculum next year that is based less on classroom studies, and more on guided hands-on experiences. It'll help take some of the weight off of the older huntsmen and huntresses in the area while giving these kids a feel for what they're in for after they graduate. Most students in their fourth year are quite skilled, but I'm requesting your approval on the matter," Coco offered. The members all looked at each other, none of them saying anything until Qrow piped up.

"It's not a bad idea, we'll think about it," Qrow told her. "At the very least we'll get back to you before the next school year begins."

"Thank you for taking the idea into consideration," Coco told them. She sat back down, allowing Oobleck to take the floor and preparing for a long follow up to her opening.

"There was an incident in Forever Fall a few days ago where Team CBLT from the school here in Beacon was called ou to take care of a Grimm threat that had been threatening trains passing through the area as well as people who had been out there for recreational purposes and other such reasons. Upon their arrival, it became immediately obvious that they were dealing with something rather large as there were strange unidentified markings on the ground where it appeared that the beast had crash-landed through a group of trees. It wasn't until they actually spotted the Grimm that they decided that they should contact me and have me investigate immediately. Though what I'm about to show you is not as stomach-churning as Coco's images, it should raise just as much concern, in my opinion," Oobleck spouted off. He displayed the pictures to them, Ruby stared at it hard, her head tilted slightly and she glanced back up at Oobleck.

"What is that thing?" Ruby asked.

"A new species which is a very disturbing discovery indeed," Oobleck declared. "As we've known it to be true in the past, there are only two ways for a new kind of Grimm to be created and those ways are either directly being created by Salem, which is something that we can rule out considering the fact that she has been dead and in the ground, metaphorically speaking, for quite some time now, or for them to be created artificially, as was the case with the work of Merlot and changing their genetics in order to try and construct the perfect monster. To the fullest extent of our knowledge, everything should have been destroyed with the explosion of Merlot's facility on his island just off the western coastline of Vale, but it would seem that such is not the case."

"What do you mean?" Olesia asked. "Didn't Merlot die in that explosion."

"Yes, and what is even more curious is the fact that Merlot literally had nothing left when he tried to pull that stunt, his entire family was already dead at that point and he had no surviving relatives. He was never married, and he had never fathered any children, the man was far too engrossed and preoccupied with his work to even consider taking a moment away to court a woman, let alone sleep with one!" Oobleck told them. "Yet here we are, a brand new subspecies of standard Grimm which begs the question, who might have done this?"

"Do you have a lead?" Dorian asked. Winter glanced at Kitsune, firing her a message that went unnoticed by the rest of the council.

"Unfortunately, no," Oobleck informed them.

"Then why is it assumed that this can be tied back to Merlot?" Qrow asked.

"Because it can," Coco said. "Or at the very least, someone is using his old equipment."

"What are you talking about?" Sterling asked. Coco smirked slightly as she shook her head.

"I'm sure that you're familiar with Lake Matsu and its floating islands in the northern territory of Mistral?" Coco asked Sterling.

"I am, though not many people are willing to risk navigating the region due to it being home to the densest population of Lancers in all of Remnant. What does that have to do with anything?" Sterling inquired.

"Doctor?" Coco set him up.

"Lancers stay in groups by nature to try and protect their queen. They don't stray far from their home unless they feel threatened and even so, more often than not they would rather sacrifice themselves is if means keeping the queen safe. Now, we don't have enough information yet on their beautiful beasts to confirm whether or not they share a hive mind, but it's clear that someone must have driven them off of the islands," Oobleck began.

"When I debriefed Neela she informed me that she'd been attacked by a pack of Lancers that seemed pissed, for lack of a better word," Coco added.

"Was Neela okay?" Ruby asked. Coco nodded.

"She was fine, her new friends that she'd made in Mistral helped her take down the Lancers," Coco explained. "In addition to this, Honey, one of the Faunus that we saved from the bandits, told us that they had recently been in the northern region and that they'd seen large crates that read 'Merlot' on them."

"Where would they have gotten Merlot's old supplies from? Mountain Glenn was completely destroyed by Mercury's gang during that incident last year and we condemned the area shortly afterward, and as we established before, Merlot's island was destroyed," Siobhan pointed out.

"Perhaps Merlot had a fail-safe?" Ruby asked. "After we fought his creations and came back home to tell Ozpin everything that had happened to us, he said that Merlot was the kind of man that usually put all of his eggs in one basket, but I don't that's completely true. He was obsessed with seeing his plan succeed, no matter the cost. I think it's quite possible that he might have had the plans to continue his work somewhere off the island or maybe even had someone to fill his shoes once he was gone whether it was due to an accident, like the one that killed him, or a death by natural causes."

"Is that all?" Qrow asked.

"As of this moment, yes," Oobleck replied. "Once I've had ample time to observe the patterns and behaviors of the Camazotz, I hope to discover where it flew to Forever Fall from. As interesting as new Grimm are, someone is playing a very dangerous game as Merlot once did, and we need to put an end to it as soon as we can before things get to be more than we can handle." Ruby glanced down at her scroll and looked up at all of them.

"We'll reconvene at our next scheduled meeting date," Ruby informed them. "You're all dismissed." All of the holograms were deactivated at the same time with the exception of Winter, Ruby, and Kitsune's, leaving the three of them alone with Oobleck and Coco.

"Is there something else, Mrs. Rose?" Oobleck asked.

"Winter asked that we stay here to hear something 'off the record'," Ruby told the two of them.

"Thank you, Ruby," Winter said. "I actually think that we may have a lead, though it will require further digging on my part."

"Who might that be?" Ruby asked.

"Do you remember the name Silvia Blood?" Winter asked. Ruby gasped, her eyes grew wide and danced back and forth as she went rigid.

"You're not suggesting that this is her work, are you?" Ruby questioned in a panic. Winter sighed.

"We don't know where she disappeared to after the incident in Mistral, and since she's the only other geneticist who has a track record of being morally unsound, I'd say that there is a possibility," Winter replied. Ruby groaned and shook her head.

"That's something that we can't ignore, not even for a moment," Ruby told them.

"Kitsune and I will do everything in our power to find out if Silvia was behind it," Winter reassured her. Kitsune nodded and the three of them disappeared leaving only Oobleck and Coco behind.

"What does this mean, doctor?" Coco asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied.

Bái slowly opened her eyes, she found her arms bound to her sides and she glanced around the room, looking for Lykos or Ren but neither of them was there. In fact, she wasn't even in the nurse's office at all but was stood up in some kind of cryo chamber, rattling in the container and trying to free herself. A man stood outside of her containment unit, he had long spiked black hair with orange eyes. He was clean-shaven, staring at Bái with eyes that seared into her as someone threw open the door and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"We need to get going, Atlas and Mistral are here, not to mention some of the Council's agents are here as well!" The soldier yelled at the well-dressed man that was staring at her. "We need to leave now."

"No…" The man yelled. "No! It wasn't supposed to happen this way! Get me Blood now! Why is she the only one that survived?!" The soldier took off without questioning the orders of his superior. The man in charge moved towards the chamber and slammed his fists against the glass. "Why were you the only one that survived?" Bái didn't understand what the man was talking about, but she could feel tears running down her face. Where was she? What was going on?

"Where are my parents?" Bái asked. "Where's my mom and dad?"

"Absolutely useless!" He yelled again.

"What is it?" A woman asked crashing into the room. Bái's head was overtaken by throbbing pain and she cringed. She couldn't see the woman, and the man's image was starting to fade as well.

"I needed an army, not a little girl who keeps crying for her parents!" He yelled at her gesturing towards Bái. One of his men came back into the room and Bái's memory struggled against itself as she smelt the smoke already. "Burn everything down! This was a failure and I'm holding you responsible, Blood!"

"You can't do that!" Blood yelled at him. She grappled him but he slapped her and threw her onto the ground.

"I can and I will, I'm the one who funded this project! We cannot let the militaries or Council find anything!" He shouted at her. The flames filled the room as the people disappeared before her eyes, filling her with fear as she thrashed against the chamber and screamed out.

"Help me! Please! Somebody!" Bái shouted out. "I need help!" Bái felt the ice covering her, coating and layering on her skin slowly as she realized her body was embracing the power. The cold blasted and exuded from her body, it slowly took hold of her, it was almost as if someone flipped a switch on that couldn't be turned off, her power seemed to draw from the ground and air around her.

"Bái!" A shout came from somewhere. She glanced around, still terrified and swallowed whole by flames that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't put them out. Her mind spiraled further and further into panic, she grew frantic, desperate to put the fire out. "Bái you need to wake up!" Bái recognized that voice… it was Lykos! This wasn't real, was it? It was another one of her nightmares and she needed to wake up! Her eyes shot open, the dorm room was filled entirely with ice spikes and spires, Lykos was reaching for her from the top of a disheveled ice pillar.

"Lykos," she said out of breath. She felt the sweat that covered her body, glancing across the room. "Lykos."

"It's okay, Bái. I'm here now and you're okay," Lykos reassured her. Bái looked around for Cobalt and Tawney, a knock on the door, startling her.

"What the hell is going on in there!?" The voice yelled out. Cobalt struggled in his bed, encased in a thick layer of ice as Tawney burst through the bathroom door and noted the ice.

"Hey! Send your monster out here, would you?!" Yelled another voice as the banging on the door intensified.

"What happened?" Bái asked.

"You lost your nerve is all, must've just been some of the stress of coming out of being knocked out," Lykos told her trying to keep her calm. Tawney moved quick, leaping over the frozen landscape and grabbing her tonfas off of her desk, hooking them together, and freeing Cobalt in a single blow.

"Bring her out!" Another voice came from the door. Tawney pulled Cobalt to his feet and he grabbed his sword.

"Was it that bad?" Bái asked trembling.

"It's fine Bái," Cobalt told her. He opened the door and the hall was filled with students, peering in and trying to shove in past Cobalt.

"Get back!" Tawney yelled.

"There is a lot of ice out here," someone yelled.

"It destroyed our light fixtures downstairs!" another yelled.

"She really is a freak!"

"A danger!"

"Someone's going to get hurt!"

"I was almost impaled in the shower next door!"

"Clear out!" Titus yelled at the far end of the hallway. They all turned to look at him when another voice called out in protest from the other end.

"No!" Soya yelled in reply. "She's a danger to everyone at this school and we aren't going to let her stand by and hurt people. She's probably a sleeper agent for someone and these outbursts are simply her way of building up for her all-out assault."

"Do you understand how ridiculous that sounds?" Ilia asked.

"I stand by what I said. If there wasn't a genuine concern, there wouldn't be so many of us in this hallway!" Soya shouted.

"Are you sure we can't beat the hell out of her?" Eliana asked freaking out. Neela looked down towards Soya who smirked at her.

"Freak!" They yelled. Tears filled Bái's eyes as she stood, her body shaking with fear as the flames surrounded her and she felt alone once more. Nobody loved her. She trembled… she didn't deserve love… she was a monster. She glanced at Lykos who had moved to the door with Cobalt and Tawney to try and help with crowd control. She didn't deserve his love, they would only attack him on account of her. She shook her head.

"I'll go!" Bái yelled. Everyone stopped and glanced over at her.

"Titus?" Neela asked. He looked at her for a moment before swinging his kopides out, planting all of them to the floor before any of them could move. "Ilia, Eliana!" Ilia fired through the lines, Eliana split the bullets with her own, the fire proving enough to melt the ice and the lightning giving a jolt to those unfortunate enough to have stayed or shown up.

"You heard her, she said she'll leave!" Soya shouted. Neela gripped her sword and set her feet.

. "Soya!" Neela shouted. Soya chuckled and smiled, her vines pulling people back and securing them tightly to the wall and extending her whips, planting herself and preparing to sprint for Neela. She took a step before finding a tonfa in her gut, driving her into the wall and planting her with a second blow. Her eyes flickered and as she slammed her guns together, Titus caught her arms and pulled them back.

"Let me go!" Tawney yelled.

"I can't let you do that!" Titus shouted. Bái ran out of the room during the commotion, rushing past Neela and heading for the stairs.

"Bái!" Lykos shouted. Neela turned back, running after her with Lykos on her heels as they leapt down the stairs, Neela hit her ass at the bottom, Bái had formed an ice path to move down the last flight more quickly and distance herself from everyone. Lykos blew past Neela and she watched him a moment before chasing once again, Bái was showing no sign of stopping and she was heading past the administration building, passing the tower, and moving for the cliff.

"Where is she going?!" Neela called after Lykos. Lykos sprinted as quickly as he could, pushing himself harder, gaining slowly on her before realizing what she was planning. She was going to jump off of the cliff, rather than bear the burden or force anyone else to for her, she was going to end it all, alone and confused, without a memory of her past, the pain that she felt, the pain that he saw on her face.

"Neela!" Lykos screamed out. "She's going to jump! We need to catch her!" Tears formed in the normally reserved eyes of the third member of CBLT, he felt them slip across his face, wetting his cheeks and stopping at his hairline. It couldn't happen again! Not to Bái!

"Why don't you go out and play for a while honey, I'm going to make dinner and I'll call you back in when it's ready, okay?" Lykos mother told him as she stood at the stove, staring at the pot and stirring it slowly, her face sullen and eyes sunken as she glanced at him and did a poor job of flashing him a reassuring smile, it had been a long time since Lykos had seen her smile anymore.

"Okay, mom. I love you," Lykos reassured her. She stared, her dead eyes trailing lazily after the ladle that she pulled through the soup. He hesitated for a long moment, hoping that she would say that she loved him too, but the words never came and he finally decided to go out and practice with his shuriken. After about an hour he came back in to check on his mother, walking in to find her with a gun placed against her temple. Her eyes met Lykos's, they watched each other for a long couple of seconds as he felt the tears streaming down his face, he took a step forward, prompting her hand to shake more violently and forcing him to stop.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Lykos asked. Her pupils danced back and forth, her finger twitching against the trigger, the fumbling audibly unnerving Lykos as he found himself at a loss for thoughts. Was she planning on killing herself? Would she really do it? Didn't she know how badly he needed her? "Mom… please… don't do it..."

"Lykos," she mumbled in a haze.

"You don't have to do it, mom!" Lykos shouted at her. "We can leave! You and I can run away and then dad will never hurt either of us ever again!" The door crashed open and Lykos's body seized up on him, his mother's eyes exploded with tears as she pushed the gun harder against her head.

"Where are you, you stupid bitch?!" Lykos father roared.

"I love you," his mother mouthed as she pulled the trigger. Lykos raced to his mother as she fired, throwing himself onto her as she hit the floor, his body soaked in the crimson ocean that poured from the holes in her head. Lykos felt an unbearable sadness and he screamed in anguish, his father stopping his search immediately and moving directly to his location.

"Where the fuck is that whore?" Lykos father asked. Lykos felt an overwhelming sensation take over his body and control him, the sadness was erased, replaced entirely by anger that overflowed and drove him. He tightly gripped the shurikens in his hand, a Beowulf howled nearby, signifying to other Grimm that there was something of interest nearby. Lykos stood, stumbling to his feet but never looking up once, instead staring at the blood that covered his chest and soaked into the edges of his pelt. "What happened to her?"

"You happened to her!" Lykos shouted. His eyes met his father's, both glowing red and his father stumbled back, pointing behind Lykos and tripping back over his feet.

"Beowulf!" His father shouted. Lykos looked back, there was nothing behind him but he did note the change in his father's eye color. Was this his semblance, had it manifested from his mother's death? Lykos threw the stars, each planting into the man's chest and he looked on at Lykos in shock. It was obvious he was drunk, that was easy to see. Lykos had finally had enough, just like his mother. He retrieved his weapons, grabbing his dad by the collar and pulling him up to his face.

"Is this what you wanted all along?!" Lykos asked. He nailed him in the face, drawing blood from the corner of his mouth on the first hit, his father's aura was shot due to his alcohol levels. "Did you want mom dead?!" Hit after hit after hit, his dad tried to escape but it was no use at this point, Lykos was determined to make him pay!

"Bái!" Lykos yelled out in terror. "Neela! Stop her! Please!" Neela could hear the desperation in his voice as she raced for them as quickly as she could, grappling the statue and throwing herself forward, allowing her to pass Lykos and close in on Bái, stopping momentarily and removing a lightning arrow. Neela would apologize later but it seemed as though Bái was on a warpath to confirm Lykos's fears. The arrow struck her between the shoulders, dropping her to her chest for a moment. Bái stood shakily on her legs, still moving for the cliff, Lykos still closed the gap as he tossed away his pelt and moved with even greater speed. In the moonlight Neela caught a glimpse of why Lykos wore the pelt, lowering her bow as he tackled Bái and held her on the ground, wrapping his arms around her.

"Let go of me!" Bái shouted at him, flailing and pounding her fists against his chest but he shook his head, pulling her close to him firmly and burying his head against her bosom.

"It's going to be okay, Bái!" He shouted at her. "I'm here for you. I won't let them hurt you. It causes me pain as much as it does you." She looked at him.

"It's not fair to…" Bái stopped protesting and looked at his face. It was red, tears streamed down in an endless waterfall that dripped off of his chin and she panicked. Why was he crying so hard? It was her fault again, wasn't it? She wasn't any good to anyone, was she? "Everyone is better off if I die. I only end up hurting people, I almost killed some of the other students, I hurt Ilia once, and now I'm hurting you."

"Everyone, huh?" Lykos asked. He looked at her. "Bái, I love you." Her heart stopped for what felt like an eternity, her body was washed over with heat, her chest heaving as it processed the information with her. "I love you and I don't want you to suffer the same fate as my mother!" Bái looked at him, tears now forming in her own eyes.

"I didn't know," she whispered.

"I would not be better off without you Bái and I love you, and if that's not enough, I don't know what would be. We don't have to stay here. We can go. We can leave and find a place to stay far away and live a happy life together Bái but I will not let you throw everything away because of those hateful comments," Lykos informed her. "You're not a monster and you know that!" Bái's eyes grew again as the revelation plowed into her. Just because they thought she was a monster didn't make it true, did it? "Will you stay with me?"

"Yes," Bái replied. "Yes." Lykos picked her up, carrying her in his arms as Neela draped his pelt over him, he smiled and nodded to her.

"Thank you, Neela," Lykos expressed his gratitude.

"Your secret is safe with me," Neela said with a wink. Lykos chuckled and he looked down at Bái. Neela smiled at Bái. "You're a member of our family, Bái. None of us would be the same without you." Bái started crying again and hid her head against Lykos's torso. "Okay?"

"Yes, thank you, Neela," Bái replied.

"We don't need to talk about this ever again," Lykos said. Neela agreed with him. It'd be better if they didn't.

Next Week, Chapter 88 - Stardust Vs Vale's Finest!