I quickly want to address something from the last chapter. The really poorly done "exposition" in the middle of the chapter. I know it was really terrible, but I have a reason for it. I hadn't intended for that part to stretch on so long, but it wound up taking up a large portion of the chapter. I meant to just vaguely define the types of magic, but while writing it I realized that I wasn't doing a good job. I'm not the best at exposition, so I just decided to bite the bullet and create that massive info dump rather than spread several other terrible, smaller info dumps throughout the rest of the story. I know it's not an excuse, but hopefully, it explains why the characters started acting out of character and just explaining how magic works for thousands of words. Also, I have an author's note at the end of this chapter that might explain some of the reasons why this story has been weirdly paced so far, so if you'd like please read that one. I hope this chapter is better than the previous one, but that's for you to decide.


She hit the ground and rolled, narrowly dodging the massive blade as it cleaved into the ground where she had been sitting. A massive armored hand tugged the sword free, hefting it up onto the shoulder of a large suit of armor. A towering creature wearing a set of polished silver plate mail stood before Weiss, wielding a single-edged cleaver wider than Weiss's entire body.

She reached to her side to draw Myrternaster, but her hand grasped at air. Before she could think to try and find her sword the knight barreled towards her, wielding its blade in a two-handed grip. The sword sailed through the air in a horizontal slash that Weiss just managed to duck under.

Her mysterious assailant shot it's foot out, catching her in the stomach and sending her flying backward. She struggled to her knees before throwing herself to the side to avoid a downward slash from the monster as it leaped across the room. It followed up by swiping at her with its arm, just managing to land a glancing blow that sent her tumbling backward into a destroyed pillar.

Where was her sword? Weiss frantically looked around but couldn't spot it. She was near the opposite end of the room she had come in from, so it should be on the other side of the knight. A glitter of light caught her eye, the torches around the perimeter of the room reflecting off the polished tip of her blade.

"Weiss, pay attention!" Ruby's shout brought her back to reality just in time to see the knight sprinting at her, moving far faster than something of its size should be able to. It reached her before she could even try to move, jumping into the air and bringing its sword down in a thrusting motion.

Weiss leaped away from the spot, but the force of the blade's impact sent a cloud of debris flying, clouding her vision. Through the dust, she could see a burning red orb in the armor's eye slits before a gauntlet hurtled towards her. She twisted her body to avoid the attack, dancing out of the monster's range. What was this thing?

The creature swung again, but she flipped over the blade acrobatically and rolled under its legs. She broke off into a desperate sprint once she had gotten behind it, hearing the creaking of its metallic joints as it pursued her. She pumped magic into her legs to try and gain ground, but the armor's massive legs cleared far more distance. It was quickly overtaking her, and she wasn't sure she could reach Myrternaster before it did.

The thundering footsteps got closer and closer until she could feel the reverberations of its stomping feet behind her. It raised its cleaver in a one-handed grip as it brought it down on the white-haired noble. She fell backward, watching as the blade sliced through empty air just above her. She rolled like a log as the monster brought its foot down on the spot she had just been lying in.

She got to her feet and pushed as much magic into her legs as they could hold, jumping forwards with a powerful jump that slightly cracked the ground. Reaching the pile of rubble she had been sitting at before, she rolled on her shoulder and picked up Myrtenaster. Now this was a more even fight.

The creature brought its sword up in a diagonal slash, forcing Weiss to dodge to the right. Her rapier flicked outwards, thrusting into its armored shin but having no visible effect. She danced out of its range when it stomped its foot down, trying to spot a defect in its armor.

There didn't seem to be any flaws in its plate, and she couldn't see anything underneath the joints as they shifted and moved. The massive silver cleaver thrust towards her, but she merely leapt to the side and avoided it. She quickly formed a glyph in front of her and activated it, sending ropes of golden light outwards towards the massive blade.

The ropes wrapped around the large sword, pulling it back towards the glyph. She jogged around the attacker, positioning it between her and her glyph. It swung again, but the ropes held its blade back. The jolt caused the glyph to flicker slightly, but it nonetheless restrained it.

The monster swung once more, relentlessly trying to free its blade. Knowing the glyph wouldn't hold forever, she drew another glyph in the air, added another layer to it, and slammed her right hand into it. Two fireballs shot out consecutively, blasting into the helmet and breastplate. It reeled in shock, nearly falling over before righting itself.

It tugged its blade once more, finally tearing the bindings of light. She drew up another glyph, but was interrupted when it charged towards her, swinging its blade wildly. She flooded her left hand with magic and activated the dust crystals in Myrtenaster. The blade ignited and swung out, crashing into the larger weapon and holding for a brief second.

Unfortunately, her blade quickly gave way and faltered, leaving her defenseless to the massive blow coming towards her. The momentum of the attack had been lessened by her attempt to parry it. Instead of being cut in half, she was sent soaring by the force of its slice. She twisted in the air and stabbed her sword into the ground to slow herself down.

The glowing point of her rapier drew the shape of a glyph in front of her. She added two additional layers to it and thrust it into it. Aura moved from her body into her sword, then into the glyph, causing it to activate. A powerful bolt of lightning crackled through the air, shooting outwards and striking her foe in the chest, forcing it to its knees. The smoking suit of armor pushed itself up shakily before charging once again.

It relentlessly attacked her, swinging time and time again each just barely being dodged. She twisted away from an overhead slash, only to immediately duck underneath a backhand. She rolled away from a stomping foot, and danced out of the way of a series of powerful slices.

They were at an impasse. The knight was far more powerful and durable, but wasn't skilled enough to land a hit. She could avoid any of its strikes, but her own did nothing to it. Only her glyphs seemed to have an effect, and a negligible one at that. She formed one in front of her and activated it, sending a beam of purple energy outwards that blasted into the creature, but it only faltered for a moment before resuming its assault.

Weiss knew she was at a disadvantage. She would tire, unlike the knight, and it only took one mistake for her head to be separated from her shoulders. Running out into the tunnels wouldn't work, she'd just be forced to fight it without dodging. She had to kill it here, and soon.

She formed a glyph and activated it. The extra layer she had added delayed the activation slightly, so she charged forwards, baiting the attacker. It raised its sword up to strike her, but was struck in the abdomen by a fireball from the delayed glyph.

"Weiss, look at its knees!" Ruby cried out, pointing a finger towards the point where two separate pieces of armor connected. Weiss peered at where the girl was pointing, and saw a faint shape wriggling in the joint. The ghost had noticed a weak point.

She ducked under a slash and rolled between the creature's legs, jamming her rapier into the gap between the pieces of armor. Black smoke bled outwards, dispersing into the air, and the Grimm hiding inside the armor let out a shrill shriek.

She filed her aching muscles with aura and flipped over a pile of rubble behind her. She leaned against it, trying to catch her breath with the moment of time she had gotten by cutting the monster's leg.

"It's a Grimm," She told Ruby, whose eyes went wide.

"What? But Grimm can't use armor," She countered, but Weiss just shook her head.

"It could be a Geist that possessed the armor," Weiss whispered to her friend.

"But then where is its mask?" Ruby told her, causing Weiss to pause. A Geist's mask was the only way to properly harm it, as otherwise it would just posses more objects and continue to attack. Finally, she perked up.

"It's on the inside of the armor! In the back of the helmet, I saw a glowing red eye," She told the girl, who nodded in understanding.

"Than how do we kill it?" She asked, but Weiss could only shrug. She couldn't even damage the armor, but if she could the Grimm would just create a new limb out of the rubble or the pieces of whatever she broke.

"We'd have to hit it hard enough to destroy the armor," She said to Ruby, who looked at her in confusion. "If we could fully expose the Geist, it wouldn't be too difficult to kill it, but I don't have anything strong enough to do that at my disposal," She admitted.

"Why can't you just make a bigger glyph?" She asked, but Weiss shook her head.

"I'd have to draw it on the ground around it, and creating a glyph beneath it while dodging its attempts to kill me would prove difficult."

Ruby grinned at her. "What if you had help?" Weiss just turned to her in confusion.

"What are you planning?" She narrowed her eyes. She wasn't going to like this, was she?

"Well, this is an ancient fortress. There are skeletons all around us. Use necromancy to create a distraction and form your glyph," She plotted, and Weiss could only blink in surprise. That was actually a really clever idea.

Their little planning meeting was interrupted when a massive blade cleaved through the pile, separating the ghost from the noble. Weiss grabbed Myrternaster and ran around the debris, avoiding a swing from the armored Grimm as she did so.

She bobbed and weaved under several powerful swings as she ran to the middle of the circular chamber. She held up her right hand and a small black flame ignited in her palm, seemingly sucking in the light in the room and dimming it. She spotted a few skeletal remains off to the side and threw the black flame towards them.

Twisted black bolts of lightning struck the pile of bones, fixing them together like magnets. Three shambling skeletons stood up, each one incomplete. She thrust a finger towards the quickly approaching knight-like Grimm and willed her undead servants to attack. The rotting bones creaked and cracked as they ran towards the creature, who in turn began to focus on her creations.

They would only buy her a few seconds, so Weiss had to be quick. Drawing forth her innate magic, she created a small cloud of mist between her hands roughly the size of the knight's helmet. With a burst of magic, she pushed the ball towards her foe and watched as it impacted the ground in front of it, exploding in a grey haze.

The Grimm backhanded one of her summoned undead, destroying its body and her hold over it. It stomped its foot down, cracking another's arms in two. Smashing the third with the flat of its blade, it shattered the skeleton into pieces.

Before it could move to strike her, the mist surrounding it seemed to writhe as dense arms made of mist held together with necrotic energy wrapped around the armored Geist. It strained against the arms, but her necromancy held.

She quickly drew a circle on the floor roughly ten feet in diameter, making sure that it was as perfect as humanly possible. She ran through the circle, drawing several interconnecting lines that formed an intricate glyph. Outside of that, she added an extra layer that would contain the blast to only the confines of the glyph, increasing its destructive power while protecting her.

As she did this, she could feel the dark magic she was using to hold her foe back was beginning to thin. Turning to face the Grimm, Weiss stabbed her sword into the outer layer of the glyph and began to pour her aura into it. Glyphs this large took more aura to activate, so she had to time this just right.

Weiss felt a snap in the back of her head, and she immediately knew that her magic had been broken. The metallic clunking of the Geist gave away its position. She felt herself smirk; she'd won.

Twenty feet. It was charging right into her trap.

Fifteen feet. The glyph only had a bit more to go.

Ten feet. The smirk disappeared. It was moving to fast.

It crossed into the glyph and stabbed at her. She twisted out of the way, but it struck her across the face with a backhand, sending her flying away. Without her flow of aura, the glyph wouldn't activate.

Her head spun as she tried to find her bearings. Were was the glyph? Where was Myrternaster? Her head pounded, she felt something warm flowing down the right side of her face, and the light in the room seemed far harsher than it had been. She heard a voice calling out to her, but it sounded muffled.

"-et up!" She thought she heard, but she wasn't sure. She felt so tired, she just wanted to close her eyes.

"-me on! Get up!" There was that voice again. Who was calling out for her? Father never cared, and Mother was only ever disgusted with her. Winter or Klein might care, but they weren't always around. The only person who would care enough would be... Ruby!

Her mind cleared. She couldn't die here. She couldn't leave Ruby to her fate. She had to survive. She crawled on the floor, desperately trying to carry her body forward to find her weapon.

Instead, she found the shining white glyph that was ready to be activated. The creaking of metal alerted her to the presence of the Geist, but she didn't care. She was going to kill that bastard even if it cost an arm.

She slammed her palm onto the floating glyph and poured as much aura into it as she could, causing it to glow an ominous red. The Geist didn't have time to react as a massive pillar of flame shot up from the glyph, engulfing the monster in a raging inferno.

The powerful magic armor the Grimm was occupying wouldn't burn, but the fire filled in through the joints and baked the Geist alive. It let out one last anguished screech before being incinerated. When the flames cleared, the pieces of the armor fell to the floor with a loud clang that echoed through the chamber.

Weiss had been spared by the extra layer she had added, the blast being contained to the inside of the glyph. She wiped the blood from her face and felt a large gash. If she had the aura to do so, she could stimulate her body to heal that wound. Unfortunately for her, she was to exhausted to do so, meaning it was likely to scar.

"Weiss! Oh gods, are you okay!" Ruby screamed worriedly, causing Weiss to wince.

"Ruby... not so loud... my head hurts," She told her friend, making her worry even more.

"You might have a concussion! You need to-"

"Use my aura to heal it. I already did that. But I've burnt through the rest of it, so I need to rest for a bit," She reassured Ruby, whose worry only slightly diminished.

"Still, be careful. I didn't mean for you to get so hurt," She mumbled, but Weiss just waved her off and leaned against the wall.

"Could you keep watch while I take a short nap? It's the fastest way for me to recover my aura," Weiss asked, receiving a nod as an answer. She smiled at the ghost girl before leaning her head against the wall and closing her eyes.


After Weiss had taken a short nap, the pair continued on through the fortress. Few Grimm bothered them, as they were all in the lower levels. A few small Beowolves, a couple tiny evermore, and a brief encounter with a short Ursa were all that hindered them as they combed through the halls.

Eventually, they had reached the topmost floor of the fortress, and were searching the rooms that Ruby guessed were barracks for a clue as to what to do next.

They searched destroyed drawers, shifted large rocks, and looked under beds for something they could use. A diary written in the ancient language, a spellbook detailing the necromancy language, anything that might help their cause. Yet they found nothing until there was only one room left in the entire fortress.

A large, imposing stone door stood open before them, leading into a large room with an altar in the middle. Ruby turned to Weiss and nodded, going first to check for any Grimm waiting to ambush them. Finding nothing, she waved for her white-haired friend to follow. They began to investigate the altar, but couldn't find anything.

"What do you think they used it for?" Ruby asked.

"Religious use," Weiss said with conviction.

"Really? How do you know?" She questioned, confused at the quick response. Weiss just smiled.

"I have no idea what it is used for, but scholars always saying that about things they don't know the use of," The noble explained. Ruby giggled at her response; She had sounded so serious.

"Wait, Weiss! Look at that wall!" She cried out, pointing to the wall to the left. They walked up to the wall and saw two large stone slabs bearing many intricately carved runes.

The ex-heiress flipped open her satchel and drew out the heavy tome her grandfather had been translating. She flipped to a random page and held it up, comparing the symbols to the ones on one of the slabs. Many of them matched, telling them both all they needed to know.

"This is the same language as the one in the tome," Weiss stated, but Ruby was busy scanning the other slab, her eyes flicking back and forth between it and the book. She had her hand on her chin and was humming in deep thought.

"What is it?" Weiss asked, causing Ruby to turn and look at her with a confused frown.

"This slab has completely different symbols. Is it a different language?" She asked. Weiss's eyes widened and she turned to regard the second slab. Ruby had been right, they did seem to be different. She couldn't help herself; She let out a relieved laugh, happy that their journey had been a successful one.

The silver-eyed girl just looked at her like she was crazy. "Weiss, are you okay? You sure that Geist didn't give you a concussion?"

"Don't you see what this means Ruby?" She asked incredulously, but Ruby just shot her a deadpan look.

"No, I don't. Which is why I'm asking you what's so funny about a rock with writing on it. Is it a joke?"

Weiss just smiled at her. "No, but this is exactly what we need," she told Ruby, who just tilted her head.

"A big rock?"

"No. Ruby, think. If these two slabs are written in different languages are together, why are they together?" She asked, trying to help Ruby to figure out what she had.

"Because... they say the same thing?"

"No you dolt, because... I mean, yes. Because they say the same thing," Weiss muttered embarrassedly. She hadn't expected Ruby to get the right answer, so she had gotten ahead of herself.

Ruby just shot her a look, laughing at the soft blush on her friends face. "But what's so important about them saying the same thing?"

"Well, even if no one could recognize the first language, the second might just be possible to translate, meaning that we could use it to figure out how to translate the first," Weiss lectured, and understanding finally dawned on Ruby. Use the second language to translate the stone tablet, then use context clues to figure out how the language works. But there was one problem.

"Neither of us knows the language. And even if we did, I don't think we could decipher a dead language from context clues," She stated, but Weiss just waved her off.

"I know of a famous scholar from Vale. He didn't recognize the first language, but he might be able to read the second. And if not, he may be able to point us to someone who could," She claimed excitedly. Ruby found it funny how happy Weiss was about this. Weiss always seemed happiest when she was helping Ruby. That realization made Ruby frown. That wasn't right; Weiss shouldn't center her entire life around helping Ruby.

"Did you hear me? I said what's wrong?" Weiss said suddenly, right in front of her face. She cried out in embarrassment and jumped back, a blush on her face as she stammered out an apology. She had been way to close to Ruby. Close enough that Ruby could make out her reflection in the girl's eyes. It wasn't good for Ruby's currently nonexistent heart to be so close to such a pretty girl.

Weiss just rolled her eyes. "Apology accepted, I guess. Now, for the hard part."

Ruby perked up. "What's wrong?"

"Well, we have to get these writings to the scholar. But he's in Vale. So we either bring him here, or write down the content of the tablets. And I'd much rather never return here again, so we need to write," Weiss explained, making Ruby wince. She had to meticulously copy down every symbol on the wall in the exact order and position. Then do it again for the next tablet.

But she threw herself into her work, spending three hours pouring over two pieces of parchment as she copied down the writing on the wall. Ruby watched her the entire time, finding herself oddly fascinated by the way Weiss's lips would quirk into a little smile, the way her eyes would flick around and rest on her. She looked ethereal, the glow from Ruby's silver flames reflecting of her pale skin.

Once she finished writing down the last symbol, she rolled up the two pieces of parchment and placed them in her satchel. Weiss led the way back through the fortress, with Ruby following behind her. She couldn't help but feel like the princess from a fairy tale, being rescued by a brave and dashing knight. She may have always wanted to be the knight from Mom's stories, but, for now, she'd settle with being the princess.


The merchant sat on a barstool, sipping lightly from a tankard of ale as he watched his crew laugh merrily in the corner. They looked so happy, eagerly believing that this trip would be the time they finally struck it rich. He could hear them talk about how they were going to live up in Atlas, with a mansion twice the size of their current home.

He didn't have the heart to tell them that they were being run out of business by Jacques Schnee. This was to be their last voyage together. The costs of maintaining their merchant ship was too high. The Schnee families merchant fleet far outperformed them, and contained a larger inventory of goods with which to trade.

Their little trading ship couldn't match the speed and size of the frigates used by the Schnee Merchant Company. They weren't even an ant compared to the wealth of the Schnee family, yet they were being run out of business simply for existing. He tightened his grip on his tankard. He didn't want his boys to be forced to work for a man like Jacques Schnee, but they'd need jobs, and they were born and raised as sailors. He cursed the man under his breath.

A hush fell over the tavern as a cloaked figure walked in through the door. The glint of silver armor caught many less than reputable patrons' eyes, as did the face of the young girl wearing it. But it only took one closer look at the girl's stone expression to tell them it wasn't worth it. She wasn't afraid of anyone in this building, and not because she didn't know better. It wasn't smart to mess with someone who carried themselves the way she did.

The white-haired lass made her way to the counter where he was sitting and took the stool next to him. Great. Strangers only did that if they wanted something from you. He didn't know what he had done to warrant the ire of an Atlesian knight, because what else could she be with that armor, but he couldn't imagine this would be pleasant.

"I hear you're a ship captain," The lass spoke up, causing the man to glance at her and grunt.

"Not for long, thanks to that bastard Jacques Schnee," He responded, failing to notice the expression of guilt that crossed her face.

"Is he driving you out of business? I can't imagine you're a threat to his monopoly," She stated, but he just let out a bitter laugh.

"Lass, that man is a slaver. He knows that if you let one person get away with something, others will try and follow. More merchant ships not under his thumb means more examples of people being able to get by without him. His Lordship Jacques Schnee is practically the king of Atlas, and there's nothing I can do to save my ship," He drawled, taking a swig of his wine.

The girl just frowned. "True, but I might be able to help you if you help me," She said, drawing a pouch of coins from a satchel on her waist. It jingled with coins, and she removed most of them and set them on the table.

"Ninety-six lien, triple the rate of a normal passenger on one of lord Schnee's ships," She told him, pushing the pile of lien towards him. He glared at her suspiciously.

"Why aren't you taking one of his then, lassie?" he questioned, but she just shook her head.

"You're not the only one who isn't fond of Jacques Schnee," She told him. He nodded, finding her answer acceptable. He wouldn't want to let someone on their ship if they were willing to pay that much to avoid going through a more monitored ship. He wouldn't be a smuggler. But he supposed that a grudge against Jacques Schnee was reasonable enough, especially for a knight.

"Alright then. Is it just you?" He asked. She smiled slightly, like she was laughing at some joke he didn't understand.

"Yes. It's just me," She answered. He shrugged. People who willingly went out to fight Grimm weren't exactly renowned for being sane.

"Where to then, lassie? We'll stop by on the way to Vale," He asked. She pondered for a moment, putting a hand on her chin, before answering.

"I want to go to the Island of Patch."


There are a few things I want to address in this author's note, so let me start by saying thank you to everyone who has put up with the horrible pacing and poorly done exposition in this story.

When I originally wrote an outline for this story, I skimmed over the beginning in Atlas, focusing more on planning events later on down the line. I thought that this whole arc would take like five chapters at most. Turns out I was wrong; it took twice that. I didn't really have too much of a plan for this arc, besides having Ruby and Weiss meet, become friends, find the Tome, and set out to save Ruby.

But I quickly realized I had to write a lot more than just that. Between having to write exposition about the world and writing about Weiss's relationship with her family, I quickly realized the intro to this story needed to be a lot longer. I tried to spice it up with some combat, but that didn't cover up the glaring issues.

I am terrible at writing Weiss interacting with her family, which made it seem like Weiss was, as once reviewer put it, a bit of a crybaby. That hadn't been my intention. Hopefully now that we're reaching the more well-planned parts of the story I can start to improve the flow of the story a bit. It's also going to be easier for me to write characters if they actually matter to the plot instead of the Schnee family and Klein. Sorry, but this is an Adventure/Romance story, so I need to write some more Adventure and Romance.

If you couldn't figure it out, the Grimm they fought was meant to be the Arma Gigas from Weiss's White Trailer. Unfortunately, she won't be able to summon in this fic because aura doesn't work the same way.

Also sorry for the really frantic update schedule, I have literally no hobbies besides this so I get really impatient and type a new chapter daily. That might slow down in the future.