When I was writing these last two chapters they were originally one, but it got to be so long with enough of a disconnect between the two halves that I split them into two. I want to keep them two distinct chapters for consistency's sake, but I also kind of want this act finally over and behind me.This had certainly not been the strongest act in this series, but it has been necessary.

I don't want to make you wait an entire week for more of the same talking and setup, so I'm going to upload the final chapter in a few days instead. Probably Monday or Tuesday.

Lyrics used are from Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time by Panic! at the Disco.

Reaper stood in the kind of dark void that could only exist in dreams. She stood alone, her dream-state self not quite functional enough to question why she was even here. Not until another voice broke the silent vacuum.

Reaper…

"Ember?" Reaper's eyes shot open, and she began scanning the darkness. She began to take a step, but quickly felt off balance. It was hard to see what was ground when everything was just black. Am I even standing on the ground?

I'm here… in the dark…

"Where?" Reaper called out, missing her mental companion more than she cared to admit.

And when I get stronger…

The sound of that last comment brought Reaper to a halt. "…Ember? Or… no…"

The darkness faded revealing a familiar room. A room was absolutely covered in blood. Ren's blood. Reaper felt her heart beat faster and faster as her eyes passed over the space in a panic. They quickly fell upon Ren's corpse, Brutal Thorn sticking out of his chest. Reaper backed up, away from the body, until her back hit the door. Thankfully, nightmare logic had not removed it exit from the room.

No, nightmare logic had done something worse. Reaper desperately yanked the door open and rushed through, only to find herself not in the halls of Beacon. She was standing in a frozen slice of time with rubble and flames suspended in the air around her. Out of a mound of rubble in front of her protruded a bloody hand. Neo's right hand.

Reaper's hands found their way to her head. She just couldn't escape these images. Turning to run, she ran right into a reflection of the dark woman, without the burns. The reflection's arm shot out, fingers gripping tight around Reaper's throat. Black spots appeared on the outstretched arm, spreading and turning the whole thing black. Reaper struggled against the weak grip, eye locked onto her reflection.

The reflection opened her black and red grimm eyes…

… and Reaper finally woke in cold sweat. The dark woman sat up slowly, taking care not to disturb Neo's sleep. She grabbed her scroll, using the face camera as a mirror to check her eyes. Safe and silver. "It's gone…" Reaper assured herself, lowering the scroll. "If it wasn't, it would have reared its ugly head before now…"

The bed shifted behind Reaper, reminding her of her dark lover, and of what happened the nightmare. I thought, without a trigger, I'd finally be done with these flashbacks. But now they've invaded my dreams. Can I never be free of them?

Reaper didn't trust her dreams. Not that I'm too tired anymore, anyway, she told herself as she stood. This time, her rustling the bed did wake someone, someone she had forgotten was there.

"Reaper…?" Chamillia spoke groggily.

The dark woman sighed. "Go back to bed."

"Where are you going?" Chamillia asked instead.

"Out," was all Reaper gave her.

"…Can I come?" Chamillia asked carefully.

"No," Reaper replied shortly.

"Oh…"

Reaper could hear the defeat in Chamillia's voice. She felt a tug in her chest at the young girl's tone, a feeling nearly foreign to the angry woman. Lately, it was difficult for anyone that wasn't Neo to get anything that wasn't anger or exhaustion out of her. Reaper turned back around to see Chamillia with her head hung low, and the tug in her chest repeated itself.

She sighed again, heavily. "Look, Cham, I'm just going out for a little bit. Can't sleep," Reaper assured.

Chamillia looked up at Reaper, nodding.

"It's probably not smart for you to follow me around at one in the morning anyway," Reaper continued, "Who knows what trouble I'll get up to?"

Chamillia giggled briefly and laid back down. Neo shifted in her sleep, unconsciously wrapping her arms around the little girl, and the two ended up snuggling. Much to Chamillia's delight.

Reaper threw on her tattered cape and stepped out of the room. She entered the common room to the sight of Weiss leaning against the front door, staring into the darkness. "The hell are you doing up?"

Weiss turned, surprised to see another awake at this hour. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Yeah, but I asked first. It's only polite," Reaper smirked.

Weiss sighed, her gaze returning forward out the door. "I guess I'm just anxious. The longer we sit here waiting, the further ahead Salem is going to get…"

"Something happen?" Reaper asked, leaning on the other side of the door.

To answer this, Weiss held out her scroll for Reaper to read. It was showing a newsfeed headlined FREAK STORM SWEEPS SHADE ACADEMY. "Several people have been hospitalized, including Shade's headmaster. According to Qrow and Professor Ozpin, it looks like the work of a maiden."

Reaper didn't have anything to say in response.

"Well, it's your turn. Why are you up?" Weiss asked.

"That would be the polite thing to do, wouldn't it?" Reaper smiled.

"Of course… I suppose I'm the idiot for thinking you would be polite," Weiss rolled her eyes.

Reaper gave a short laugh, staring out into the night. A comfortable silence fell between them, but Reaper still broke it before too long, "Nightmares."

"Come again?" Weiss was caught off guard.

"You asked why I'm awake," Reaper reminded her, "I haven't had a flashback in days. But still the images attack, this time in my sleep…"

"Wow…" Weiss voiced.

"What?" Reaper scowled.

"Nothing," Weiss defended, "It's just… a hassle to get any real response out of you, and it's usually sarcastic when we do."

"Maybe I just felt like being polite," Reaper responded shortly, quickly regretting opening up.

"You, polite?" Weiss almost laughed.

"Well, maybe-! Ugh…"

"Maybe what?" Weiss asked.

"Nothing," Reaper cut quickly.

"Maybe what?" Weiss asked again, more serious in her voice.

Reaper sighed. "Maybe it's just too quiet."

"When have you ever had a problem with things being too quiet?" Weiss teased, and then a thought hit her. There had been so much going on, it was easy to overlook little things. Things like a certain silence. "Speaking of… how has Ember been?" she tried to word carefully.

Reaper didn't know if it had something to do with the calm night, her own exhaustion, or maybe she actually wanted to talk, but the words spilled quickly from her mouth. "I don't know if she was a casualty of that thing with Korruption, or if her silence is proof I still have parasite bodies in my head somewhere, but she's… not here."

The silence fell again, Weiss taking in this new information and Reaper having run out of things to say. In an effort to break the silence once more, Weiss spoke up, "Well, once our gear finally comes in, hopefully we can get started."

"I don't know if I'd be so quick," Reaper shrugged.

"We have to get started, the sooner the better," Weiss argued.

"I know," Reaper assured, "I'm just saying 'enjoy it while it lasts'. We're not going to get another extended rest like this once things kick off."

"You don't think so?" Weiss asked.

"After this, what else is there to wait on?" Reaper started counting off on her fingers, "Raven's bandits, Haven's relic. Amber is already with us, so we go straight to Beacon's relic. If any of that goes wrong we still have the winter maiden and Atlas's relic on reserve. Then we take the fight."

"I guess you have a point…" Weiss admitted, "By the way, I'm not the only one who thinks they're being deliberately dodgy about the winter maiden's identity?"

"I think we're dealing with people who would throw us to wolves if they can justify it to themselves," Reaper growled.

Weiss was a little taken aback by the change in tone.

They fell silent once again until Reaper decided it was her turn to break it. "Hey, Weiss, you're, um… well studied?"

"I like to think so?" Weiss was happy to keep this calmer tone.

"What do you know about the myths and legends of Remnant?" Reaper asked.

"Not much," Weiss answered, "There are so many, and my father didn't want anything 'impractical' in my curriculum."

"So, you've never heard any legends of silver-eyed warriors?" The dark woman asked slowly.

Weiss stared pointedly at Reaper's good eye, deep into the silver pool. "No… no I haven't…"

"Well, it was worth a try," Reaper coughed quickly before Weiss could ask any questions and stepped out the door.

"Where are you going?" Weiss asked instead.

"Out," Reaper told her off-handedly as she walked, "Between Ozpin, your sister, and my nightmares, I seriously need some me time." She stopped and turned around and smirked, putting on a fake monster voice, "unless you want to try and stop me? I could be going to report you to my master."

"You have been deliberately antagonistic with everyone since you got here, and half of us aren't even sure you want to stay," Weiss explained, "Not exactly the actions of a spy."

"Unless I'm a really clever spy?" Reaper smiled.

"Yeah, Korruption didn't strike me as that smart."

Both of them got a good laugh out of that one. Reaper looked up, "So I'm off the hook?"

"Well, I can't be a hundred percent sure unless I could crack open your head and look inside, and you are still a crook," Weiss smile kept for a second. It fell once she looked back at her scroll, "I've got enough to worry about. Just don't do anything stupid."

"Can't guarantee," Reaper joked. She waved off her old friend and was on her way.

"Who knew there were shops like this in Atlas?"

Reaper stepped lightly through a darkened store selling all kinds of black clothing and rock memorabilia. Behind the counter she found the control panel for the security system and kicked it out. "That'll give me a few minutes of fun. Finally get to blow off a bit of steam… speaking of…" she smiled as she spotted the sound system. In a moment, her scroll was plugged in and she was stalking the shelves to the beat of the music.

Alright, alright, it's a hell of a feeling now!
It's a hell of a feeling now!

Reaper dragged her hands across the boots, stopping at a pair that caught her eye. Knee-high, buckles all the way up, with a forward-facing metal plate on each strap.

Who are these people?
I just woke up in my underwear
No liquor left on the shelf
I should probably introduce myself

Reaper picked up fresh black jeans, a red belt, a pair of fingerless gloves, and the first black shirt she saw on her way through the shelves, hopping to the beat of the song the whole way.

You shoulda seen what I wore
I had a cane and a party hat
I was the king of this hologram
Where there's no such thing as getting out of hand

Reaper took her sweet time as the song picked up, knocking things off shelves, singing, and dancing her way toward the back of the shop.

Memories tend to just pop up
Drunk pre-meds and some rubber gloves
Five-thousand people with designer drugs
Don't think I'll ever get enough, don't think I'll ever get enough!

There was still one last piece to replace, and Reaper found just the kind of thing she was looking for at the very back. She whipped it off the rack with a flourish and began to change.

I'm a scholar and a gentleman
And I usually don't fall when I try to stand

Reaper stepped back in front of the mirror in her new clothing, completed by a coat that hung past her knees with an oversized hood.

I lost a bet to a guy in a Chiffon skirt
But I make these high heels work

She idly rolled the sleeves of the coat up past her elbows, watching red and blue lights appear outside the storefront window.

I've told you time and time again
I'm not as think as you drunk I am

Three human officers and two android backups stormed inside in time to watch Reaper take the hooded-skull insignia clasp from her old cape and pin it to her jacket's right shoulder. "Hands up!"

And we all fell down when the sun came up
I think we've had enough

Reaper raised the hood with a genuine smile. "Time to break this stuff in." In a flash of petals, policeman number one was sent flying into a wall, collapsing shelves as he fell.

Champagne, cocaine, gasoline,
And most things in between!

Reaper appeared in front of officer two, grabbing his pistol hand and flipping him over her shoulder onto the ground, keeping the pistol for herself. As she spun back around, she jumped and kicked the head of the first android clean off.

I roam the city in a shopping cart,
A pack of camels and a smoke alarm!

The head of the first android collided with the second, throwing it off balance. Reaper raised the pistol and squeezed off three quick rounds, disabling the second robot. Officer two was finding his feet, but quick thinking and a pistol whip took him down for the count.

This night is heating up,
Raise hell and turn it up!

Reaper knew there was still a third officer at the front window, now to her back. She turned and threw the pistol as fast as she could manage, trying to beat his trigger finger. She was successful, and the weapon struck his head before he could fire, disorienting him.

Saying "If you go out you might pass out in a drain pipe"

Wasting no time, Reaper rushed the final officer before he could recover. That fresh, new boot smell would be the last thing he recalled about that night before he was kicked through the window.

Oh yeah, don't threaten me with a good time!

The song wound down. Reaper stood straight and exhaled, a smirk on her face. "That was fun!"

Her attention was caught by sirens in the distance. She glanced back at the androids, whose emergency lights were flashing. That's my exit, she told herself, jogging back behind the counter to retrieve her scroll. As she pulled it from the sound system, her eyes lingered on a cheap-looking safe under the register. Her smirk grew.

If you want to see Reaper's outfit for yourself, I'll have a sketch up on Instagram and Tumblr in a day or two!