After learning the hard way to prioritize quality over keeping a schedule, I've decided that it would be best to go back to a weekly upload schedule. Once again, chapters will just be coming out on Fridays. Yes, I know it's Saturday, I took an extra day to polish up this chapter. Deal with it. Despite that, I still intend for this story to be done by the end of December.

Speaking of, if you missed it, I edited the last chapter to make the Penny fight more tense and dramatic, along with giving the fight a more organic ending. Not necessarily a must-read, but I did add roughly 800 more words to it, so… your call.

So, taking a look at reviews…

To xfel, thanks muchly for the critique, which inspired the touch-up. I'm always open to hearing how I can improve my writing.

To AxDevilman, Cardin's trembling hands were more about how tired he was after the fight than any hesitation on his part. He still isn't exactly a paragon of virtue. I hope the extension of the fight helped sell that more.

Chapter Fifty: The Power of Friendship

After the whirlwind of TV interviews and meetings with Ozpin and Ironwood, an unsettling calm had settled over Cardin's life. Though he had used his media attention to mitigate the public outcry against Atlas as much as possible, Cinder's news producers spun the tale with equal leverage. Worse, under the pretext of White Fang bomb threats, the Dukes had closed the ports and airdocks. As the negativity of the stranded tourists rose, increased Grimm attacks at the frontiers brought refugees into the city in droves, filling the already overcrowded city to the seams. People slept in tents on the sidewalks, and public buildings had sleeping bags laid out on every square inch of flooring. Unruly mobs roamed the streets, and bloody brawls became a daily occurrence.

Through the week after the final round, Cardin tiptoed through the resumed lessons at Beacon, looking over his shoulder for the assassin's knife, searching every scrap of food for poison, and leaning towards every whisper that might contain plots against his life. Sleep came in fits, interrupted by the nightmares of betrayal that had haunted him since the Seer.

During this time, Cardin kept his distance from the other students. He could tell Weiss was trying to avoid him, and Blake kept an aloof distance away, always watching him, but never coming close. Ruby, however, hunted him down with a single-mindedness that jarred his nerves like a razor scraping violin strings. Every time he caught a flash of red heading towards him, he ducked into another hallway or pushed on of his teammates into her path as he made his retreat. She even came to his dorm a few times, but so far, he had succeeded in avoiding her.

Worse still was Cinder's absence. All the other visiting students had remained in their dorms, but after the Vytal Festival, Cinder told the school she would be staying with an acquaintance and took her team with her. With her out of sight, Cardin's mind was left to imagine all the ways she could be preparing her demise. The nightmares bled into those musings, leaving him breathless and paralyzed at inopportune moments.

Throughout that week, he checked his Scroll regularly, never letting it leave his side, waiting for a message from his father or one of their few remaining contacts, perhaps even one from Ozpin and Ironwood, if only to end the tense silence. For seven days, his Scroll was silent.

On the eighth morning, as he picked at a pile of hash browns and bacon, his Scroll rang. His father's name appeared on the screen. Cardin's fork clattered on the floor as he sprinted out of the cafeteria. He waited as long as possible, running halfway up the stairs to his room before taking the call.

"Are you there, Cardin?"

Cardin slammed the door shut behind him and sat on his bed. He fumbles for the right code words, but before he can sort them out, he says, "I'm here."

"Good." An awkward silence followed, and his father cleared his throat. "You fought well."

The words carried a grieving air that made Cardin wonder what fight he was talking about. "I did what I could."

"You did. And I'm proud of you."

Cardin's grip tightened on his Scroll. "What's going on?"

His father sighed and sipped a glass of wine. "Cinder has made her move. Your cousin is dead, and I won't last much longer. I imagine they will hold your coronation soon."

"You're giving up, just like that?"

"They're already here, Cardin." His father held up the Scroll, letting in the sounds of axes smashing doors and wild yells to come in over the speaker. "The White Fang has the manor surrounded. Gideon's buying me time for this call, but once we're done, I'm sending him to you with all the lien I have left, along with documents that may be of some use to you."

"What should I do?"

"I don't know." The shuffling of paper came through the line as his father arranged his desk for his final moments. "You are the Duke of Winchester now. My titles, estates, and finances are in your hands as of yesterday. Make use of them as you see fit."

Cardin's head spun as he fell back onto his pillow. Going through the possibility of his father's death had been one thing, but to actually hear his father's final words, to know that he would be crowned Duke of Winchester within the week, likely to be killed at his coronation, left him with a terrifying sense of vertigo, as though the world had fallen out from under his feet, leaving him floating in empty space.

The background noise of the White Fang breaking in grew louder. Cardin's father drummed his fingers on his desk, while Cardin stared up at the ceiling.

"I don't really know what fathers do," the Duke said after a long silence. "I was the third son, so your grandfather didn't spend much time with me. I had hoped that your mother would help me raise you, but, well, you know what happened." He cleared his throat and took a sip of wine. "I know I wasn't perfect, but I tried my best to make you a proper Duke."

Cardin's expression soured as he remembered grueling reading sessions, spars with Gideon that had lasted until he couldn't even stand, and several memorable nights where a lapse of attention had allowed a server to slip him a non-fatal poison.

"I have no reason for complaint," Cardin said mechanically.

"I see." His father paused again for more wine. "There are times when I wonder what it would be like to not be a Duke, to not have to look over my shoulder and test every bite I eat. To have a normal life." He gave a wry chuckle. "I have no idea what it would be like."

"Why would you want to be like that? Other people could take advantage of you, and there would be nothing you could do about it."

"True, but maybe it would be worth it, to not have to be afraid anymore."

Cardin's breath caught as the nightmares bubbled up in his head, clawing at the mental box he shoved them inside.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

His father heaved a sigh, and more papers slid across his desk. "Nothing I can tell you now. It's not safe to talk over the Scrolls. The papers Gideon has will tell you what I've been able to dig up."

"Alright. Then I better get going. I should tell Ozpin what's about to happen."

"Wait."

Cardin's finger froze over the end call button. "What is it?"

A loud splintering noise came from the other end, and a rough voice called out, just audible over his father's Scroll, "Here's Johnny!"

A gunshot rang out, followed by another. Cardin's father said, "I'm taking as many of these bastards with me as I can, but there's almost a hundred here. Adam Taurus is with them as well."

The pounding rose to a fever pitch. Cardin's heart pounded in his chest. Though he was far away from the Winchester manor, the danger to him felt no less real with the separation of his Scroll.

"I don't think there's anything we can do," Cardin said. His voice sounded bleak and listless in his own ears. "She's too powerful, and she has too many allies. We don't even know what she's trying to accomplish."

"Perhaps," his father replied, "But that's not important now. All you can do at this point is fight back with everything you've got."

As the last of the door gave way, the Duke of Winchester stood tall behind his desk and said, "I don't know if these words will do anything for you. I'm not even sure if they mean anything to me, but I feel like I should say this while I still have the chance."

Cardin waited, holding his breath, for his father's last words.

"I love you, Cardin."

Before Cardin could decide whether to reply, let alone what he could say in response to those words, the line went dead.

The conversation left Cardin with a numb, empty sensation inside. For once, he had no idea what to do. What could he do, in the face of the indomitable strength Cinder possessed? What could he offer to her allies to entice them away from their service to her? What enemies of hers could stand up to her power? Where could he hide himself, when she had the resources of nations at her disposal to hunt him down?

Unable to contain his anxiety, Cardin leapt out of bed, grabbed his weapon, and went down to the training yard. The palm of Cardin's right hand, burned during the fight against Penny, was covered in raw, shiny red skin that stung every time he moved his hand, reluctant to heal even with Jaune's help. As he swung his mace, unfurling the chain and flinging the ball across the practice field, the skin broke, and droplets of blood ran down his wrist. He fought through the pain, using his Semblance to lighten the chain as he whipped it through the air, striking down the fears in his head, slavering Grimm, Watts' smug expression, White Fang masks, and Cinder's smoldering, impassive eyes.

Footsteps came up behind him. With a growl, Cardin swung the chain in a circle. The ball crashed through a cloud of rose petals, scattering them across the training yard. A few feet out of reach, Ruby stood with her scythe drawn, its tip resting on the ground at her side.

"We need to talk," she said. Her voice was firm and cold.

"About what?"

"Weiss, Penny, and everyone else you've hurt."

"What about them?"

Ruby stepped closer, her scythe held in front as she entered the range of his chain. "Why? Why do you hurt everyone around you? You're here to be a Huntsman, to protect people from the Grimm, right?"

Cardin shook his head. "I came here because it was the safest place for me. Other Dukes would have a hard time infiltrating Beacon's staff, and Beacon's professors are some of the best fighters in Remnant."

Ruby started back, but her jaw clenched, and her hands tightened around her weapon. "Fine, maybe you don't care about helping other people, but that doesn't mean you should hurt people. Yang told me what you used to do, in primary school. All those kids you bullied, even the teachers, all you've done is make people miserable.

"So? Why do you care?"

Ruby's expression darkened. "You threatened Blake and made her do your homework for you. You did the same thing to Jaune and tried to make him hurt one of his own teammates. You even made the two of them date each other, just to make Pyrrha upset."

Cardin's eyebrows rose. "How did you figure that one out?"

"Blake told me. She was in tears over it, and terrified that I would tell Jaune."

"She really should tell him." Cardin shrugged and said, "It's what I would have done."

"And Weiss," Ruby went on. Her face reddened, and her eyes dipped lower, not quite meeting his own. "I get that it's okay for you to not want to go out with her, but you didn't have to be so mean about it. She's been crying in our bathroom all week! Do you have any idea how awkward it is having to shower with her in there?"

"I'm sure Team JNPR has some idea," Cardin quipped.

Ruby bolted in front of him fast enough to make Cardin jump back, but she grabbed him by the breastplate, hauling him closer to her with both arms. "This isn't funny," she snarled. "You had Penny beaten. You didn't have to kill her, but you did. And not only that, but you made a big show of it, getting the crowd riled up and smashing her like…" Her voice cut off as she visibly tried to hold back a sob.

"That's where you're wrong," Cardin said in a weary tone. "That whole thing was orchestrated to generate enough negativity to get the Grimm to swarm into Vale. If I hadn't done that, Vale would've been attacked."

Ruby's expression wavered, but she said, "You could've found some other way. She didn't have to die."

Anger welled up in Cardin. As his hand gripped his mace with renewed intensity, another crack opened on his healing palm, letting a rivulet of blood run down his weapon. "Face facts, Ruby. The only way to get ahead is by using others as steppingstones. If I didn't hurt those people, if I was a nice, kind, sweet little boy, I would've been drowned in a bathtub of poisoned with a piece of candy, and my father would've gotten himself a better son to take my place. If I didn't use Blake to help me with my reading, I would've flunked out of Beacon. If I didn't use Jaune, if I didn't make Pyrrha's life hell, I would've never had a chance at the Vytal Festival. If I didn't use Weiss, I would've never gotten the connections to Jacques Schnee and Ironwood that had saved my life." He crossed his arms and asked, "Do I need to spell out what would've happened if I didn't destroy Penny?"

Ruby looked down, brow twitching in her concentration. "You didn't have to do all that."

"No?" Cardin asked, temper creeping into his voice. "Then tell me, how do you think I could've survived this year, let alone my whole life?"

"You could've made friends."

Cardin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, friends, that's exactly what I need. I have the person pulling the strings of this country's whole government out to kill me, but the power of friendship will take care of it. Do you think I get to have friends? The few people who got close to me back in school got phone calls from my dad. Any 'friends' I have are someone else's spies, and if I trust any of them for a second, they'll stab me in the back."

"Real friends wouldn't do that," Ruby countered. "And the only way you'd get real friends, that stay by your side no matter how bad things get, is by being nice to people."

Cardin waved her off. "Yeah, whatever. None of that matters anyways."

"Excuse me? Of course it matters, you're still hurting people!"

"I won't be for much longer."

Ruby examined him with a puzzled frown. "What do you mean? What's going on?"

"Cinder tried to trick Yang into killing me, then she had Penny hacked and tried to have her kill me. What do you think happens next?"

"I, um, well–"

"My father is probably dead by now." Shock twisted Ruby's features. "I just got off the Scroll with him about ten minutes ago. The White Fang were knocking down the doors to the family manor."

"You should go help him!" Ruby shouted.

"And do what? There's no way I could get there in time, and even if I did, I'd just die with him."

"He's your dad, isn't he?" Ruby's voice was soft and wavering. "Shouldn't you at least try?"

His father's last words echoed in his head. He crushed the uncertain feelings welling up in him and said, "There's no point. Just leave me be."

Cardin turned back around and made a few hasty swings with his mace, but Ruby didn't leave. After a moment, Ruby swung the blade of her scythe up over his head, jabbing the point into the gaps in the head of Cardin's mace. With a twist, she pried the weapon out of his hands and flung it across the practice yard.

"What are you going to do, then?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"You're going to let her kill you?"

"What can I do?" Cardin asked. "I don't have anything left. Ozpin and Ironwood have their hands tied by the media, Junior doesn't have the firepower, and I don't have any other allies. Cinder, meanwhile, has the entire Council of Lords behind her, along with all their connections to the Council of Commons and every Committee. She even has the White Fang under her thumb." Cardin laughed softly. "I was lucky just to delay the inevitable a bit.

Ruby thought for a moment and said, "What about your teammates?"

"What about them?"

"They're your friends, right?"

"What part of the whole 'getting calls from my father' part wasn't clear to you? They're all spying for him–" He trailed off as he realized he no longer had his father offering them bribes and hanging blackmail over their heads, which meant they no longer had a reason to help him.

"So, they're not your friends."

"Nope."

Ruby sighed. "Fine then. I'll be your friend."

"Wait, what?"

"But," Ruby said, pressing a finger at Cardin's chest, "You have to start being nice to people. Apologize to Weiss for making her so sad, and apologize to Jaune and Blake for all the things you did to them." Ruby thought for a moment longer. "And Yang. Pyrrha too, and Velvet, let me think, who else…"

"Whatever, I get it," Cardin grumbled. "I'll tell them all I'm sorry if it makes you feel better. Now, can you be a good friend and leave me alone?"

Cardin turned around again, but Ruby appeared in front of him, moving so quickly with her Semblance that she created a gust of wind. "We need to figure out what we're going to do."

"What we're going to do?" Cardin repeated, emphasizing the plural pronoun.

"Well, Cinder has all these really powerful people helping her, right? We'll have to come up with a plan to beat them."

"You can't beat Dukes, Ruby. They have guards."

"Then we beat the guards up."

Cardin groaned and hid his face in his hand. "You're starting to sound like Yang."

The comment took some of the brightness out of Ruby's voice, but she pressed on. "Maybe Yang has a point. You tried thinking your way out of this problem, right? If that doesn't work, punch your way out of it. That's what she always says."

"Then I'll get arrested for assault."

Ruby stammered as she said, "Then we'll beat the cops up."

"They'd send the whole army after us."

"Then, uh, we beat them up too?"

Cardin shook his head and retrieved his weapon. "Look, Ruby, I get that you're trying to save me, but forget about it. There's nothing anyone can do, especially you."

Ruby gave him a sour face and said, "Apologize to me too."

"I'm sorry. Happy?"

"No. You didn't mean it."

"Then what's the point?"

As he was walking away, Cardin's teammates entered the field. Just behind them was Gideon, dressed in Winchester livery, carrying a wooden box in both arms.

"Master Winchester, I wish I had better news," he said, bowing as low as the box would let him.

"I know. Let's take this into my room."

Ruby tailed them as they went back to his room. Cardin tried shutting the door on her, but she zipped inside, too quick with her Semblance for Cardin to keep out.

Gideon drew an axe from a sleeve, but Cardin held out a hand. "It's fine," he said in an exasperated tone. "She's probably on Cinder's kill list anyways."

"Wait, what?" Ruby asked.

Everyone else ignored her, watching the box as Gideon unlatched it and reverently opened the lid. Lien cards were piled on top, spilling over the sides and onto Cardin's bed. Underneath was a scattered pile of papers, hastily shoved in there by his father. Cardin plucked one and scanned it, a bill of lading for unidentified metal crates.

"That's unusual. The crates are a lot heavier than usual," he remarked, setting that one aside. Each of his teammates had one in hand and glanced through them.

"Huntsmen contracts," Russell said, "Dated a few days ago."

Cardin double-checked the date on the shipment he had read. "Put it with this."

Sky pointed at some mismatched figures on a warehouse's inventory, and Dove showed him Committee meetings that approved the use of a large outdoor venue for an unspecified event, set five days ahead at noon.

Ruby picked up a document, to the open displeasure of Gideon, but with a wave of his hand Cardin let her take it. She squinted at the paper, but after a moment, she whined and said, "What the heck is this? It doesn't make any sense!"

Cardin took it from her and glanced at sporadic spots, struggling to concentrate on it. "A shipping manifest, marked missing." He set it in a different pile. "Much earlier than the others. Keep looking."

In the end, they had wound up with four piles, one that suggested transported goods and venue preparation in the near future, one with every scrap of information available on Cinder, a short stack of deeds, stock portfolios, and proofs of ownership beneath his father's will, and a catch-all pile that had no obvious clues to follow.

"Ugh, my brain hurts," Ruby said as she rubbed her temples.

Cardin resisted the urge to do the same. His legs twitched as he glanced over the last paper and chucked it in the mystery pile.

"So, what do we have?" Sky asked.

Cardin tapped the first pile. "Looks like they're making my coronation public and planning their surprise there. Whatever they moved, they had a lot of security around those containers. That's all I think we're getting."

Dove fell back on his bed. "Well that was a lot of help."

"It was a long shot." Cardin nodded to Gideon and said, "Thank you. What will you do now?"

"I will accompany you wherever you go." He drew both axes from his sleeves and tucked them back inside. "Your father was concerned that an assassin may still find you here."

Russell shuffled through the first pile and found the document Cardin had read. "What's in those crates? Seems like overkill to have Huntsmen guarding them."

"Maybe they were worried the White Fang would take them," Sky suggested.

Ruby peered down at the papers and asked, "Hold on. I thought the White Fang was working for Cinder. Did I get that confused?"

Cardin frowned. "No, you're right. Why would they guard these crates so thoroughly? Were they worried my dad might send Junior after them?"

"Or maybe Ironwood," Dove added.

"Ironwood wouldn't. If word got out that he raided Vale's supplies, all hell would break loose."

Everyone stared at the papers, but no answers came to them. After a few minutes, Gideon cleared his throat. "Might I suggest that you all call it a night? You may have new ideas in the morning."

A quick glance out the window showed that the sun was setting. Cardin stood up and stretched his legs.

"Right, Ruby, why don't you go check on Yang, or something."

He all but pushed her out the door as she stammered, "Uh, sure, I guess I will see you in the morning, maybe? Oh, and don't forget to apolo-"

Gideon bowed to Cardin and said, "I have made arrangements with the Headmaster to take a spare professor's room. Call me if anything happens."

When the servant opened the door, Ruby was still standing outside. Gideon gestured for her to leave, but Cardin remembered Penny's final words.

"Hold on a second. Ruby, Penny asked me to tell you something."

Ruby flinched. Her eyes glistened as tears welled up in them. "What is it?"

"She was happy to be friends with you."

Ruby blinked at him, tears running down her cheeks. She wiped her face with her wrist, staring at the damp sleeve as if wondering where the liquid had come from, and with a start, fled down the hall. Gideon bid Cardin good night once more before heading to the professors' quarters.

As the door closed, Cardin slid down to the floor and sighed. His teammates sat on their respective beds and asked, "What now?"

Cardin hung his head. "Do whatever you want. There's nothing I can do to any of you." He gestured at the pile of lien cards in the middle of the room. "That's all that remains of the Winchester fortune, and I doubt it'll cover chemo."

Russell sifted through the lien cards and frowned. "She's in hospice anyways."

"Wait, what?"

"About a couple months ago, our insurance plan fell through. Without her treatments, the cancer spread to her brain. She can barely even speak, now."

"My sister lost her scholarship," Sky added, "But she joined a sports team to stay in."

Dove looked restlessly at the floor. "My dad still has his job, and nobody's tried to make me do anything."

Cardin watched him carefully, but after considering it for a moment, he realized that no one would bother turning his teammates against him, not when he was doomed already. Looking at his teammates, still at his side even after his father had left him, he felt a slight twinge of happiness break the gloom weighing down his heart.

"So, you're going to stick around?"

"Yeah, sure," Russell said with a smile. "We're a team, I guess."

The others nodded. Not knowing what to say, Cardin declared that he would be going to bed, never mind it was only eight in the evening. Exhausted by another long day and restless nights, Cardin fell asleep seconds after the lights went out.

For once, the nightmares didn't wake him.