The moon was at its fullest that night, the first time in several months that it had been so, and Ilia Amitola took a moment to enjoy the view from the perch she'd taken in the trees high above her target. After Team RWBY had defeated Salem she'd gone back to Menagerie and spent several years recomposing herself and deciding on a direction for her life before she was approached by Ruby about working for her in secrecy. Out of everyone that Rose had ever met, she had to admit that Ilia was both faithful and had a natural ability for stealth, two things that Beacon's savior was in desperate need of. Amitola was to work from the shadows as she always had, completely off the record. The council would claim that they knew nothing about her if she was ever caught because Ruby truly was the only one that was aware of her actions. Ilia took a deep breath before putting on the left half of her Fang mask that was still intact.

It was strange to think that no matter where she was in Remnant, despite how large it was, everyone viewed the same moon. It was a world that they needed to learn how to share, and even though she'd taken everything that Blake had believed to heart, the Faunus and Humans seemed as if they'd always be at odds, whether they unified under a peaceful brotherhood or a riotous uprising. Ilia, however, had opted long ago for peace thanks to Blake, and she couldn't imagine returning to the Fang, though she had been contacted by Athena on several occasions. She had offered to find the woman for Ruby, but every time the trail went cold, and Ruby had given her a different, more important task. She still wasn't quite sure where to start with these people.

Neo-Salems, uber-religious types that had slowly begun coming out of the woodworks again and were forming an even larger following than she had when she was still alive. It felt almost more like a cult, she watched as they made their way into a large church in the middle of nowhere, a statue of a god on the left and a goddess on the right, clearly a place of worship that had last been utilized before modern technology and concepts had brought them out of the wilderness and into villages and cities. The hooded men crawled through the large doorway in a single file, nodding to the ushers as they all pulled back the covering over their heads, allowing a white paste to be drawn across their forehead. Were they trying to emulate Salem's appearance?

The light from the inside glowed softly through the stain glass windows, depicting who Ilia assumed were the god and goddess that had been memorialized outside, the two fighting one another in one window, and creating together in the next. Was this a variation of the brothers, or was this meant to represent Ozpin and Salem? She stared at them for a moment longer before landing gently below and making herself invisible, slipping into the crowd and moving into the building. Perhaps this would shed light onto what the Neo-Salems felt was important to maintain, even though their goddess was undeniably dead. As they entered past the foyer they split into two separate lines, entering the chapel on the left and right, allowing Ilia to enter through the middle opening without the fear of bumping into anyone.

The room was grandiose, tall enough to fit the largest Grimm within if someone so desired, magnificent stone pillars lined the aisle that separated the plush red pews and the members of the congregation gathered at the front for something that Ilia could only describe as horrifying. She watched as the men conducting the 'service' crushed up Dust and added it to a tar-like liquid that the people then drank. Their eyes became bloodshot and they smiled eerily, moving sluggishly to their seats. Ilia turned her attention to the largest statue yet, that of Salem which stood as tall as the room itself, extending up into the steeple. Ruby definitely had the right place, but was her target here? Her eyes scanned the crowd as they filled the room to near capacity, she'd seen many things in her life that were unnerving that the Fang had done, but none of it compared to what was happening here.

After they finished pouring in, the men distributing the liquid took a swig themselves, setting the bowls down on the appointed podiums in front of them before sitting in the front row. A man covered in white body paint to make himself appear more like the woman that they were worshipping made his way to the front, nearly brushing into Ilia who was swept away by the performance but quickly noting that this man was the target that she'd been tasked with killing. The only way that she'd be able to kill him without alerting all of the other members was to wait until the end of the ceremony, she didn't want to disturb these people, especially since she wasn't sure to what extent drinking the Dust would distort their perception or physical abilities.

"Brothers…" the man finally spoke. He looked out at them, his eyes dark as he stumbled a bit, pointing out across the crowd. "And sisters!" He swayed again before crashing into the lectern, he acted like a man that had staggered into the church on accident after having a few too many at the bar. He groaned before his body went rigid and his eyes lit up, concerning Ilia for the first time since she'd arrived. "You can feel her, can't you? Our goddess! She's here in this room with us! Speak to us, oh Salem! It's been so long since they've heard your voice, and they grow weary."

A minute or so passed before anyone did anything or something happened. The members attending stared blankly onward, their minds clearly dulled by the concoction they drank and Ilia began to wonder if anything was actually going to happen. Without warning, lightning cracked through the top of the building, knocking Ilia off of her feet from the sheer force of the thunder that followed and she landed on her back, lying paralyzed as flames formed in the hand of the Salem statue before her, the aura of the building changing quickly.

"I'm so glad that you've all been faithful for so long," a voice called out from beyond. Ilia's mind cracked as ice ran through her veins, she couldn't move even if she wanted to. It couldn't be, could it?! It had to be parlor tricks, smoke and mirrors that they'd planned beforehand to make a show of Salem's power to appease the members for a while longer. Ruby was vague on the details and spoke of the possibility of them resurrecting their queen, but wasn't it impossible without the new host body? Were they able to choose another for her, or was she stuck in an eternal limbo… no! This was clearly some kind of trick! "You shall all be rewarded soon enough, but there is someone among you who is not faithful to my cause… and they must not be allowed to make it out alive."

Ilia's heart crashed against her chest, it felt as though someone's breath was on her neck, and even though she was invisible, she'd never felt more exposed than she did in that moment. A specter that looked similar to Salem reached out its hand to her, beckoning her to take hold, the other members didn't seem to be able to see the vision before her as they all remained motionless, a haze clouding their minds. She had to tell Ruby what was happening! But what if none of it was real? Perhaps the air was just thick with drugs! She needed to finish the job here, she couldn't be deterred.

"You would kill them simply because they've found a higher calling?" Salem whispered into Ilia's ear as she managed to at least kneel. "You need only follow me, child, and I can make you stronger than your wildest dreams." Ilia swallowed hard as she continued to her feet, chest heaving as she white-knuckled her whip, pulling against the ghost that was trying to prevent her from moving closer. "Will it be worth it? Someone will replace him, you'll have to kill all of them to make this stop, and I thought you made a vow to give up violence…"

"Shut up…" Ilia demanded through her teeth, blood drawing where Salem's vision gripped her arm tightly.

"You really don't understand how futile this all is, do you? Imagine the power that I can give to you," Salem insisted. "This fear that you're feeling now, that you felt your entire childhood. You'd never have to feel it again." Ilia took another step forward, slowly making progress to her target who had fallen to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

"I will never give in to you…" Ilia commanded. "You'd have us all killed by your Grimm! I couldn't live with myself even if I had power equal to yours if it meant that I had to watch my friends die!"

"Then persuade them to join us," Salem told her, now standing between Ilia and the priest instead of holding her back. "You can all have your fairy tale ending! However…" Salem's eyes grew dark as lightning cracked above again. "Stopping my followers would be a grave mistake."

"I'll take my chances!" Ilia shouted. Her whip extended, passing through Salem who disappeared into mist as her weapon impaled the priest through the heart, killing him almost instantly as she stood before the entire church, back turned to them as she became visible and the strange haze evacuated the chapel. Screams and shouts broke out as most of the men and women began trampling each other to leave, a few staying to fight Ilia who'd gone invisible again in the chaos and looked to make an escape. She tore down the aisle, pushing against the back of the crowd, her body flickering on occasion as her racing heart made it difficult to stay hidden.

"Get her!" Someone in the back aisle demanded. Strakh stood slowly, pulling his hood off before pulling Paris to his feet who was white as a sheet. "What is wrong with you? Are you not faithful to Salem?" Paris' body shook as he looked into Strakh's eyes. The men that remained to fight her rushed past them.

"Didn't you see her? Feel her?!" Paris demanded. "I could feel her hands on my neck! She spoke gently to me! She told me that I was unfaithful and couldn't be allowed to make it out alive!" Strakh groaned, gripping Paris by the jaw.

"Did you drink when you arrived?" Strakh asked him. Paris looked at him sheepishly before Strakh threw him against the pew and hobbled to the pulpit. "The concoction is one of Salem's own creation. Without partaking, these rituals can be a bit much to take in, and if you're going to help us as Abigor has requested, you will follow Salem's teachings, so perhaps next time, you will drink the liquid."

"I didn't ask for any of this," Paris shouted at him. "I was promised the power to see my revenge through, and that's all I wanted." Strakh chuckled as he took the cloak from the priest and draped it over his shoulders, slinking back to Paris who hadn't left his seat.

"Once you've entered Salem's graces, there is only one way out," Strakh informed him. "And I'm sure that the clergy would love to tell you all about it." Strakh grumbled, shaking his head before leaving the building with Paris close by. "Where is Quake? The two of you have been biding your time ever since you had your asses kicked by Raven and that girl from the academy, but from looking at his record I'm surprised that he hasn't grown restless yet." Paris smirked.

"Are you telling me that Abigor informed me of something but didn't include you?" Paris asked. Strakh stopped for a moment and stared at Paris who kept walking away from him. "I guess you must not need to know then." Strakh balled his fists up, throwing his cane hard against the ground. His chest heaved, waves of heat rolling off of his body as he shook with rage. He would have words with Abigor, Strakh had been there longer than the rest of them, he deserved to know what was going on! Salem never hid anything from them, that was Ozpin's game. He bent down slowly, picking up his cane before heading out after Paris who hadn't waited.

"You mind if I talk to you on the way in?" Dorian asked as he met Siobhan at the door, holding it open for her and letting her enter in front of him before he followed after her.

"Why do I get this strange feeling that it doesn't matter if I say yes or no to you at this point?" Siobhan asked him with a sigh as she let security pat her down across from him before they both stepped through a metal detector.

"So, you're having to head in without Sterling and I have to head in without Olesia, and the only way that I see this working out at our current juncture is by getting them to break up," Dorian suggested to her. She looked at him for a long couple of seconds as they walked down the corridor of the Atlas bunker.

"As much as I don't care for the two of you, I'd rather see Sterling happy," Siobhan told him. He nodded, it made sense.

"Well with that out of the way, have you ever wondered about why semblances are tied to Aura? I mean, if someone's Aura breaks, they can't use their semblance. Would a person have more Aura if they don't use their semblance? Does using your semblance drain your Aura over time? Is there some way that scientists could separate the two to make us more efficient fighters? The more that I think about it, the less evolutionary it seems, but maybe the brothers designed it that way on purpose. Then again…

Did the brothers even come up with Aura and semblances, or was that in itself evolutionary? I mean, I get that you don't want anyone to become overpowered and try to rule the entire world, but if they'd at least given us more Aura, we'd have a better time fighting criminals and not getting injured. On the same hand I suppose, the criminals would also have more and that would just lead to more property damage and then that brings us to the question of Lien. How did that come about? Is there a really large treasury that we're all unaware of that is just packed from wall to wall with Dust? Is it pure Dust? Why does Dust need to be refined?" Dorian ranted on.

"How has she not murdered you yet!?" Siobhan shouted as the doors were opened for them. Ruby and Qrow looked up from their notes, staring at Siobhan and Dorian. "Hello, Ruby. Qrow. We were just having a friendly discussion about Dust and wondering why it needs to be refined." Ruby looked at Qrow before looking back at them.

"I wonder about that a lot too," Ruby told them.

"Atlas is late for a meeting in their own kingdom?" Dorian noted that neither of their members were there yet.

"Winter was running late trying to iron out a few details and Kitsune will be joining us via hologram because she can't currently leave her assignment," Qrow explained to them. "You two may be seated."

"Right," Dorian replied with a nod. "Thank you." They parted and Qrow leaned over to Ruby to whisper in her ear.

"You were just humoring them, right?" Qrow asked. She shrugged as she continued jotting down key points.

"No, I don't know why," Ruby told him.

"Pure Dust is unstable," Qrow explained. Ruby looked him in the eyes before it clicked and her mouth went agape.

"Ohhhhhhhhh," she said. "I get it now!" Qrow facepalmed, shaking his head.

"I really failed teaching you," Qrow admitted.

"No!" She denied. "You did great!" The doors opened again, Winter stormed in without looking up, taking her seat and panting as she rubbed her face.

"Everything alright?" Qrow asked her.

"I had to go home for most of the night last evening instead of preparing for the meeting, Klein was having the worst time getting Rosy to go to bed," Winter told him.

"We have been busy recently," Qrow noted. "I'll go home after this and spend the day with her." Winter nodded.

"Thank you," she said before leaning over and kissing him.

"Ew!" Ruby exclaimed. "Gross! No PDA!"

"Aw come on," Qrow pleaded. "I put up with you and Weiss kissing."

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby flatly replied. "Weiss won't let me kiss her in public."

"Sounds like Weiss," Winter agreed.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen the two of you kiss before," he insisted after taking a gulp from his flask.

"At their wedding most likely," Winter reminded him. He nodded.

"Yeah, that was it," Qrow confirmed.

"Mmhmm. Hey, how did you get that past security?" Ruby questioned pointing at the flask.

"Ruby, this flask is necessary for medicating my condition. You wouldn't have them take away someone's medication, would you?" Qrow asked.

"That's the excuse you use?" Ruby pried. Winter nodded.

"He somehow gets away with it every time," Winter added.

"Every time!" Qrow repeated. The doors opened one last time, Sterling and Olesia were arm in arm, the younger woman more or less hanging all over him and Siobhan suddenly wondered if she should have taken back what she told Dorian earlier as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she gritted her teeth, trying to ignore them as she situated their papers. Olesia giggled like a schoolgirl, stealing a kiss from Sterling which caused Siobhan to snap her pen in half, eliciting an 'Aw' from Ruby and a groan from Qrow.

"So nice that the two of you could join us," Ruby said trying to ease some of the tension in the room.

"Can we get started?" Siobhan requested. Sterling sat, giving her a stern look but the intense gaze in her eyes didn't ease up. Olesia took her seat beside Dorian.

"How was your morning?" Dorian asked. She beamed and laughed.

"It was good!" She exclaimed.

"Great," Dorian replied. "I'm happy for you."

"I said 'Can we get started?'!" Siobhan asked for a second time.

"Relax, Siobhan," Sterling insisted as he raised his hand.

"Yeah, yeah," Qrow replied to her as he stood with a groan, "We can get started."

"Can I begin?" Sterling asked as he stood and glanced across at Olesia who blushed. Qrow looked over at him before sighing and sitting back down.

"Yeah, sure," Qrow mumbled.

"We are proud to report that the Mistral Army with the assistance of the Atlesian Military have driven out Strakh's presence from Shade and the surrounding area," Sterling reporting. "It would seem that he has gone into hiding for now, but it's only a matter of time before we flush him out."

"Doesn't that kind of make us worse off for finding him than we were before?" Ruby asked. Sterling gave a slight shrug before nodding.

"While it makes it more difficult to pinpoint wherever he may have gone to hide, it also makes it harder for him to operate his business," Sterling pointed out before taking his seat once again.

"Is this true?" Qrow asked drawing a furrowed brow from Sterling and Siobhan.

"Mostly true," Winter interjected. "Kitsune and another one of my men were forced to fight more of Vacuo's military assets in the middle of the market district."

"We are working with the Mistral Army tirelessly to find the source of these miscounted and lost inventory items to assure that it doesn't happen again. It's a long process, but as soon as we find the people behind it we'll put an end to it and Vacuo will be just as safe as the rest of Remnant," Dorian spat out before he could even find his feet.

"Ruby," Qrow said glancing over at her.

"Leave them to it," Ruby told him. "It seems at this point that they are more than capable of getting things under control."

"Thank you!" Dorian blurted before promptly sitting once more, leaning over to Olesia. "Best… meeting… ever…"

"General Branwen," Ruby began. "Anything to report out on?"

"It was brought to my attention by my husband that the White Fang were responsible for the explosions that occurred a while back in the Dust Mines outside of the capital," Winter explained. Sterling stood slowly.

"I thought that we would have dealt with the Fang by now," Sterling noted.

"We're doing everything we can," Qrow offered.

"We had them cornered, but they managed to get away which is what led to the rallies in Vale," Ruby said.

"What came of visiting Benjamin Taurus?" Olesia added.

"We haven't pinpointed his location yet," Winter informed them. "My people are working on it day and night with the information that was provided to them."

"Surely we didn't have this much of an issue taking down the Fang the first time," Siobhan chuckled. Qrow cackled, taking a swig of his drink before slamming his fist on the table before him.

"You weren't around for that and you must be wildly misinformed if that's what you really believe," Qrow replied. "Your military has been assisting us in the search, why haven't they found the Fang yet?"

"Enough," Ruby replied. "I will speak with Ben before the end of the month."

"How will you find him before then?" Sterling asked.

"I know someone who will tell me," Ruby reassured them. Qrow glanced at her, shaking his head.

"I wouldn't count on that," Qrow warned.

"Who?" Dorian asked on the edge of his seat.

"I don't have to answer that," Ruby replied.

"Is this what you're using your pass on?" Sterling inquired. "You really must not want us to know."

"Yes we are, lay off!" Qrow snapped. "We need to work together, okay? Ruby will do as she said she will, we'll have the Fang before they can cause any more issues or discourse."

"And the Stardust Gang?" Siobhan questioned.

"Coco had the situation under control at the courthouse. They took nothing of consequence and we actually lifted a weapon that we'd been wondering about for some time from one of their members," Ruby noted.

"That glove?" Dorian asked.

"Made of a Gravity Dust alloy, it allowed him to collect his semblance's ability in his palm before expelling it," Qrow said. "Could come in handy for some semblances if we can recreate it."

"That's all fine, but are we going to put a stop to them soon?" Sterling asked. "And did we ever retrieve the EMP that they were given?"

"No, but we have no reason to believe that they would be inclined to use it any time soon," Ruby insisted. "Once graduations are finished at each of the academies we'll have new huntsmen and huntresses to work with us that won't be tied up with matters of Neo-Salems or other pre-existing issues that can help us flush them out."

"Whatever came of the discovery of that new Grimm?" Siobhan added.

"We're still not entirely sure where the Camazotz came from. Oobleck has been working day and night to find out anything that he can about the beast and as soon as we have something more to show for it, we'll present it to the council," Ruby finished as her scroll rang. She answered it, holding up a finger as she left the room to take the call.

"Are we finished then?" Sterling asked. Qrow nodded as he finished his alcohol.

"Yeah," Qrow sniffed. "Anybody want to hit up the bar down the street. I'm buying."

"Sure!" Olesia replied giving a nod to Sterling.

"Do I have to drink?" Dorian asked.

"You can just come along with us," Olesia told him.

"He has to have at least one," Sterling insisted as he walked across the room to join them.

"What money do you plan on using?" Winter asked. Qrow laughed before pulling her in for a kiss.

"About that," he managed between locking lips.

"Qrow…" she scolded.

"Just a little?" He requested.

"How bad off are you?" She pried.

"As dry as this flask," He admitted. She shoved him back shocked.

"Qrow!" She shouted.

"I know what you're thinking," He began.

"How did you go through that much Dust in the last two weeks?!" She demanded.

"I spent it on Dus-! Oh wait, that is what you said," Qrow interjected before stopping himself. "We've run into a lot of Grimm hunting the Fang."

"Why don't you just ask Weiss for Dust?" Winter asked.

"With the shortages, I figured that every bit helps," Qrow explained. "The SDC and Military are working too closely together to be able to survive without the other."

"Qrow!" Ruby called out. Qrow held a finger to her, kissing Winter again before moving quickly to his niece.

"Hey kiddo, what's up?" Qrow asked her.

"That was Ilia Amitola," Ruby told him.

"And?" Qrow asked.

"You may want to sit down," Ruby suggested.

Perhaps Salem has more influence left over than they originally thought. Next week, Chapter 115 - Love Sick!

A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.

Until next week, stay classy!