WARNING: This chapter is being released as a part of a double chapter week! Thusly, if you came straight to read this week's chapter, you actually want to go back one, to 32!

If you already did that, and are reading this note now, then I apologize for wasting your time.

So yeah, TWO chapters this week, 32 and 33. Read 32 before 33 (or don't, I technically can't stop you)

Anyways, without further ado!

Chapter 33

Cinder recognized the knock at her door that rang out sometime in the late evening.

It was hers.

She stood, tried her best to avoid feeling that small doubt surging within her breast, and stepped towards the door. She pulled it open, and smiled as casually as possible at Glynda, who stood…

Who stood in front of her, with a worried sort of expression on her face.

"Ah, Cinder." Glynda spoke, seemingly in a rush to get her words out. "Uhm… is Emerald here?"

That… Cinder bit down on the jealousy that welled up within her. "No. In fact, I've not seen her since this morning."

Glynda nodded her head, pursing her lips as she gazed at the floor beneath her.

"What's wrong?"

"It's… I ran into Emerald earlier. I heard yelling coming from the library, and I believed it to be her voice. When I found her, and confirmed it was her, she… said some things to me that left me both saddened and confused. I would like to clear up the situation before it can become an issue."

Cinder nodded. "I'm afraid I've little to go on at the moment. All I can truly offer is to let you know if Emerald comes back this evening?"

"I…" Glynda sighed. "No. I… I'll give Emerald some time to herself. Thank you, however, Cinder. I appreciate the gesture."

There was little that Cinder would not have done for the woman in front of her.

"If you'd like, we could speak with one another?" Cinder offered.

"I… I apologize, but not tonight." Glynda smiled forlornly. "I am a bit rattled. I think I'll be spending the evening alone."

Cinder shunned the piece of her that blamed Emerald for that. It was not to be listened to. Not now.

"Alright then. Let me know if you need anything."

Glynda hummed, even as she turned, and set off down the corridor. Cinder herself sighed as she closed the door, and turned back into the room.

It was only herself and Neo. Mercury and Emerald were both absent.

It seemed to be growing more and more common these days. For those two to not be here.

Cinder was only growing more and more suspicious of such things.

And Emerald… she had freaked out at Ms. Goodwitch, had she? That…

There was just something suspicious about that. Compounding it with the way that Emerald had spoken to her that night, when she'd told her that there was nothing going on with Ms. Goodwitch, that nothing had been out of the ordinary at all…

She'd barely believed her then.

She didn't at all, now.

There was something going on. Somethings, perhaps.

And everyone was trying to keep her in the dark.

Cinder found herself frowning.

She was not a fan. Not at all.

Cinder's scroll, as if on cue, gave an aggravating buzz.

And she sighed, knowing that she was not going to be having a pleasant evening.

/

James Ironwood was beginning to grow rather accustomed to the science of diagnosing problems with the teenaged brain.

To be clear, this was not at all a thing he'd sought out, nor something he'd ever thought he'd be anywhere near an expert in. And yet, it would've been difficult to somehow manage to not pick up some things when one had what was, ostensibly, a teenaged daughter, even if that teenaged daughter was technically a robot, and also not his daughter even remotely.

Penny treated him like a father figure, however, and that meant that he had certain responsibilities towards her. Penny had put her trust in him.

He would not betray that.

"General Ironwood? How do I apologize to a friend?"

Even if he understood that he was perhaps the least fitting person to be answering questions about the drama between students.

"Well…" He rubbed at his chin with his robotic arm, taking a moment to consider. "I suppose it depends upon a number of factors. How badly do you believe you have erred. How much do you care for this particular friend. What in particular did you do, and how did they respond to it?"

Penny nodded her head, a motion that he was almost positive she'd simply picked up from other people around her. There would be no reason for her to execute such a maneuver at a baseline.

And yet, when he considered further, he supposed that nodding one's head was even for humans a learned gesture. It was not some instinct, was it? Not something that came from one's DNA. No, it was a behavior gathered from existing around others.

So, in that way, perhaps Penny was again far more human than he was giving her credit for.

"The person I have hurt is my friend, Emerald."

That… well, to say that Ironwood was slightly biased on the matter of this particular student was a bit of an understatement. An immoral woman who'd taken advantage of Penny, no matter how much she claimed that such actions had been completely consensual.

Still… it was clear that Penny was upset about this matter. Her brow hung low, and slightly taut. Her frame was sullen, her shoulders sinking far lower than normal.

…He would shelve his personal opinions on this matter. He would put aside his feelings, and do his best to be totally and completely objective.

It was a familiar sort of thing, shelving his feelings, and acting impartial.

"I see." He voiced. "And… what happened, exactly? Would you mind walking me through it?"

Penny hummed in affirmation, even as the machine that was measuring her 'brainwaves' beeped, reporting that there were no abnormalities thus far in its scan.

"The three of us, myself, Emerald, and my friend Ruby, were in the library working on our studies. I do not need to study, as any information I am given I immediately register to my log, and can thus call upon it at any time. But I often find myself enjoying the time that the three of us spend together. However, it was clear to me that Emerald was different from usual. Her heartrate was slightly more erratic. Her eyes often darted away from the two of us, and I sensed that she was not entirely listening to the conversation between myself and Ruby."

Ironwood nodded his head, content to listen to Penny for now before drawing conclusions.

"I asked Emerald if she was okay, or if there was anything bothering her, and she reported to me that there was nothing. I did not believe what she said, and so I continued to push onwards, even when Emerald told me multiple times that there was nothing wrong. I thought that she did not understand that she was incorrect."

"I see." Ironwood finally spoke. "You pushed to try and help her, not understanding that she understood that there was something wrong, and merely didn't want to discuss it with you?"

"Yes… I… I took her at her word, and was merely trying to convince her that she was in fact not fine." Penny looked at the floor, her eyebrows drawing together with a hint of sorrow that had Ironwood once again becoming irrationally angry at an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old girl. "She became upset. She yelled at both myself and Ruby. Afterwards, she began to cry, before exiting the library. I… did not track her any further than that."

Ironwood nodded his head. Despite his internal feelings on the matter, it sounded as if Emerald Sustrai was going through something. She should not have yelled at Penny as she had, but…

Ironwood would've been lying had he said he'd never let his emotions get the better of him before. It was the reason half his body was metal. It was the reason he never allowed that part of him to make important decisions.

Those were left to Mettle.

"Mm. And do you have some idea as to the nature of her problem?"

"I believe I do, yes. Although I…" Penny paused, which was a bit unlike her. "I do not wish to share her secrets, if that is fine, General."

"Of course, Penny." Ironwood did his best to smile. "That's perfectly fine. If you think you understand, then that's enough. Very well, so you know what was wrong, what you did wrong, and you want to apologize to her, hm?"

Penny nodded.

"In that case, I think you should simply be honest. Give her some time to cool off. Perhaps a day or so."

"But I–" Penny cut herself off, her mouth slamming shut.

"It's alright, Penny." He urged her on. "Speak your mind."

"…I do not want to leave her to suffer. I do not think… I believe she is hurting now. I do not wish to allow that hurt to continue."

"Mm. I understand your perspective. And I suppose you do…" He sighed. "You do likely know your girlfriend better than I do."

Penny shot him an odd look. "Girlfriend?"

Oh, yes. Penny would not have heard that term before. It was the kind of thing that would've made sense for Pietro to add to Penny's database, and yet, also the kind of thing that Pietro was horrible at.

He was a genius, that man, but he was often almost awkward when it came to certain matters with his daughter, often leaving Ironwood himself to explain them to her.

It was half the reason he'd been so infuriated by that Sustrai girl, how she'd taken advantage of Penny, despite her not even knowing what it was to be that close to someone else. Whether or not she'd intended to take advantage of her was, in Ironwood's opinion, besides the point.

"'Girlfriend' is a word that means… well, in layman's terms, it is a person you have strong feelings for, and want to spend time with. Someone you care deeply for, more than any other."

"I care deeply for friend Ruby as well." Penny spoke, apparently not quite grasping Ironwood's words. "Does that mean she is also my girlfriend?"

"Ah, well… unless you are doing the same, er… things that you and Emerald engaged in with Ruby as well, then no, I do not believe she is your girlfriend."

"Oh." Penny's eyes briefly lit up. "When Emerald and I slept together, you mean?"

Ironwood winced. "Yes. That."

It wasn't Penny's fault. She didn't… she couldn't have understood what it was like for her to say such a thing in front of him. He had never thought he would be the overprotective parent, but here he was, wanting to strangle Emerald Sustrai for daring to taint his 'daughter'.

When had his life gone and become so overwhelmingly complicated, anyhow!?

Penny nodded. "Emerald is my girlfriend, then."

"I… Yes." He sighed. "Anyhow, if you truly believe that Emerald could use your help sooner rather than later, then perhaps you should approach her. But… I know you mean only to help, Penny, but in some situations, we must give others time to come to terms with things on their own. Often, inserting ourselves into their lives at these times can do more harm than good."

Penny was terribly dissatisfied with that, Ironwood could tell. Yet at the same time, he also understood that she was absorbing his words, taking them to heart.

"I understand, General."

"Penny, you know you don't have to call me General."

"Then… I understand, sir."

He shook his head, letting out a low chuckle. "I suppose that's the best I'll get."

"I will… exercise restraint in this matter."

"Like I said, you likely know more than I do. It may be best to approach her as you said, however…"

"That already angered girlfriend Emerald once."

"…Probably don't refer to her as girlfriend Emerald."

"Why?"

"It's just not… well…" His brow furrowed. "It's simply not entirely… correct?"

"There is nothing wrong with it grammatically."

"More socially." Ironwood attempted to explain. "Most others do not give titles to those who do not officially have one. For example, yes, I am often referred to as General Ironwood, but that is a military rank. Emerald is merely your girlfriend."

"But that is an important thing, is it not?"

"Well, it's…" Ironwood debated fighting onwards with this, trying to get Penny to understand, and… "Actually, sure, Penny. Do what you will."

Some battles simply weren't worth fighting. This, like them, was left far more easily avoided.

/

Mercury let out a long breath as he forced himself to sit still outside in the Beacon Courtyard. Despite his efforts, his breathing was shaky.

Life only continued to grow more complicated.

It wasn't like Mercury was helping himself much, to be fair. He was actively hurting his own cause in this particular case, what with avoiding the entirety of his 'Team' by camping out in the courtyard for the evening. He'd arrive back later, when they were all too tired to ask any questions of him, of where he'd been, what he'd been up to.

It couldn't last. He knew that, no matter how much he warred against that fact.

His teammates would only grow more suspicious of him if he kept his distance from them.

Cinder had noticed. She had always prided herself on such things. On being the smartest person in the room, so Mercury hadn't doubted she would. He'd perhaps hoped it would take her longer, but…

No. he'd expected that.

His real concern was whether or not Neo noticed.

As for right now, the diminutive girl was as she always had been, which was to say lazy and unfocused, largely coasting through life while she enjoyed reading, watching T.V., and just in general getting up to nothing at all.

Things needed to stay that way if Mercury wanted to have any hope of keeping Jaune alive.

At the very least, he hadn't gone and done anything stupid, like try and talk to Neo about what he'd learned. That way would've led to certain death. Even still… even still, Mercury couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more going on even on Jaune's side of things.

…Mercury wasn't cut out for this kind of life. For a life of espionage and deceit. Give him a horde of Grimm, or a Huntsman, to kill any day over this.

Something had happened with Emerald. Mercury would've been lying if he said he didn't care what it was. He'd heard she'd run away from Goodwitch, which was something he shouldn't have given a shit about, and yet…

Yeah, no, that shouldn't have been happening. She and Goodwitch, and, well, Cinder too, to be fair, had been attached at the hip for some reason. Both Emerald and Cinder had feelings for the woman, although those feelings were of drastically different types. Cinder lusted after her. Emerald…

Well, not even Mercury was able to really decipher what was going on, there.

Something had happened, though, and it had raised Cinder's alertness. That, in turn, threw Mercury into jeopardy.

…

He was getting more and more paranoid by the day, it felt like.

Idly, he gazed out ahead of him. The cliffs that overlooked the city of Vale were steep, even if while gazing at it from this particular bench – which was weirdly warped and sort of off-balance, but who was he to judge? – he couldn't quite manage to see over the edge.

He had a habit of coming here, recently, and staring off of it. Of looking out over the city and just sort of pondering things.

In a month, they'd be setting this city alight.

It was all just a distraction, of course. Just a way for Cinder to get into the bowels of Beacon, and steal away the other half of the Maiden's fire.

Mercury… the city itself he didn't much care for, and he accepted that he was being a bit hypocritical in that. Because he was willing to risk so much for one guy, for Jaune Arc alone, and yet…

And yet he'd gladly sacrifice the entirety of Vale without a second thought.

He supposed it came down to the fact that he knew Jaune. He knew the boy's habits, his favorite video game. He knew his teammate's, Valkyrie, Nikos, and Ren. He knew the boy's family, his seven sisters and his parents, and the boy's village. He'd gone there himself, and he'd found it…

He shook his head.

The point was, Jaune he knew. And because of that, he cared.

He did not know Vale. He had seen bits and pieces, little parts, but there was a part of him, perhaps a foolish part, that simply thought that those bits he cared about would survive the attack. Because they had to. In the same way that Mercury himself would survive, in the same way that Jaune Arc would survive.

They simply couldn't not.

…He needed to do something else. In fact, he needed to head back to his dorm room. Being around the others had him feeling more and more uncomfortable lately, but at the same time, that was even more reason he needed to be headed back. He needed to get used to the lies he was telling, to get comfortable existing in the same space with those he was trying to fool.

If he couldn't, and they learned something…

Well, that was a thought for later. For now, things were… not good, but fine. They were progressing. Time, as it always did, flowed onwards. As things were, Mercury, and Jaune for that matter, would be fine.

As long as nothing changed… things could continue as normal.

And yet… there was the tiniest pinprick at the back of Mercury's mind as he stood from his place on that little crooked bench in the middle of Beacon's courtyard. As he walked back across the plain, and into the building proper. His mind was abuzz with… with something.

He could not identify exactly what it was, but his instincts were screaming at him that something, somewhere, was wrong.

No… it was more like…

Like his instincts were screaming at him that he was forgetting something.

/

Cinder decided to take the call in the CMME bathroom, not exactly wanting to worry about getting a flight out into Vale to answer a simple scroll call. The person on the other end gave an awful lot of faux cheer in response to her picking up, and Cinder found herself rolling her eyes, wanting nothing to do with this conversation.

"Roman." Cinder breathed evenly.

"Cinder, how's it hangin'?" The man, as usual, attempted to make himself sound more casual, more carefree, than he actually was. He was good at that. A weasel in everything but stature. Cinder could appreciate such things, even if she knew the truth that beneath his bluster, he was afraid.

As he should be.

"It is 'hanging' fine." She rolled her eyes, invisible to the man on the other end of the sound-only call. "How are last minute preparations?"

"Eh, they're going." Torchwick didn't sound particularly enthused, but then again, he also didn't sound disappointed or scared, either. "Not quite up to the rate you I was hoping for, but they're matching the quota you gave me, so there's that."

Cinder hummed something out in the affirmative, not particularly surprised by that information. Vale would be cottoning onto Roman's efforts in a few different ways. That he was still able to match the quota she'd set was actually fairly impressive.

She would not say such a thing, of course, but it was there.

"More importantly, though, given we didn't do the whole Breach thing," Torchwick spoke out across the line. "How exactly are you getting me on board the flagship, then?"

…

Cinder would not admit that she had all but forgotten about the fact that Roman still needed to be arrested, still needed to be taken so that he could be moved where Cinder needed him.

She would need to come up with something, then. That much was obvious, but it was being confronted with it, laying it directly in front of her, that had her scowling.

"I've been debating through a few different methods," Cinder spoke, her voice even. "I doubt they'd believe you if you showed up to a police station saying you'd had a crisis of conscience."

Roman snorted. "Yeah, somehow I think that would raise a few too many red flags."

"I will decide on something a week or so before you must act." She spoke into the scroll. "In the meantime, focus on gathering the last bits of dust."

"I am, I am." Roman let out a little sigh. "Sheesh, working me to the bone, and then sending me off to prison, you can be a bit of a taskmaster, y'know that?"

Some part of Cinder thought idly about the fact that Roman wouldn't have dared talk like this in front of her a good half a year ago. She could still partially remember their conversation on the day that had started it all, when she'd bailed him out that day.

The exact dialogue that had come between them had long since been forgotten, but she recalled the way he'd been unable to meet her eye as he'd been made to grovel before her, to thank her for her efforts.

…Strange. Thinking on such things did not bring the same fire to her breast as it once had.

"Ah, well. Look after Neo for me, make sure she doesn't maul anybody outside my supervision." Roman said, sounding entirely unbothered. "She has a nasty habit of getting uppity if you don't feed her enough chocolate, so make sure she gets her requisite five bars a day."

Cinder sighed. "Yes, yes, anything else, Roman, or are you finished?"

"Nah, I think I'm about good. So, when am I getting caught, then?"

"Soon enough that we will have time to react to any results, but also late enough that they will not be able to cotton on to our plan. A week before the beginning of the Vytal Festival."

A week before the veritable end of the world.

/

"A problem with Ms. Sustrai?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow towards her. "I hadn't heard, no."

"I see." Glynda let out a tired sort of sigh, even as she let her head rest against the elevator doors behind her. "It is… I don't entirely know what's going on. I'd like to think she'd been doing well, more than well, these past few months, but… perhaps that was simply wishful thinking."

"I do not doubt that she has, Glynda." Ozpin smiled her way. "You and Ms. Sustrai get along famously. As do you with Ms. Fall, although I suppose that is a different matter."

She blushed somewhat, shaking her head, and letting out a breath of mild annoyance.

"May I ask you a question, for lack of any actual information on Emerald's woes?"

"Go ahead."

"…Why do you encourage me so much when it comes to Ms. Fall?" She asked the question that had been hanging about her mind for a while now. "I know what you said. That I seem more alive. More energized. But a part of me can't help but think you're not being honest with me, at least not entirely."

"Glynda, I swear to you, it really is that simple." Ozpin stated, with that grandfatherly look on his face that said he couldn't tell a lie. "I simply find it refreshing to see you so energized and full of life. It suits you."

She nodded her head, even if she found herself still carrying the smallest bit of doubt.

Perhaps it was related to the CCT intruder, the way she found herself questioning everything these days. She was less able to trust the words spoken to her by anyone, but Ozpin…

Ozpin was the type to always tell her what she wanted to hear. To always give away only as much information as he had to. She could not blame him for that, she knew that the man had dealt with more betrayals than most people had even had acquaintances, but…

Glynda sighed, shook her head, and pressed the button on the elevator, causing the door to open as she pushed herself off of the doors, and turned around.

"I'll speak with you later, Headmaster." She spoke as she entered into the lift.

Ozpin frowned. "Mm. Whenever you require it, I shall endeavor to be there for you."

The elevator doors closed a moment later.

Those words… they were not a lie, that Glynda could tell.

…

But they were not entirely the truth, either.

/

Emerald understood, logically, that sitting in the corner of an empty classroom, with the lights all off, and her scroll out of battery, was not an entirely normal way to pass the time.

She understood that, but she did not particularly care, or worry much about it.

There were other things on her mind.

…She'd been such an idiot.

That was what ran through her head now, ostensibly on loop. It kept playing over and over again, pointing out all the different places that Emerald had gone wrong, all the different ways she'd been a fool.

She could not even deny it. It was the truth.

Penny and Ruby had been worried about her. How could she not have just kept her temper in check? How could she not have just controlled her emotions. Was such a thing really so difficult?

She felt like a fool. No. She was a fool, that much was for certain.

She wasn't entirely certain what time it was, given that her scroll had run out of battery a good three or four hours ago – perhaps longer or shorter than that, she didn't know. She'd stayed put in this room, however, for fear of having to run into anyone that she'd hurt.

She just… she couldn't…

Emerald shook her head.

Now wasn't the time to think about such things.

Still, the clock on the opposite wall she could just barely make out, and though she couldn't see the minute hand, she thought she could spy that the hour hand had just crested the 11. It was late in the evening at this point. Chances were that any people who'd wanted to speak with her, or yell at her, or blame her, or anything else would've already gone to sleep.

Emerald sighed as she stood from her place on the ground, pocketed her dead scroll, and moved out into corridor beyond.

And of course, again, the universe smote her. She assumed whatever Gods or Goddesses watched over Remnant must've found her suffering humorous, for there was a person walking right by the classroom she'd exited out of.

Someone she'd not had any desire to ever meet again.

"Ah." General James Ironwood of Atlas sounded just as surprised as her. "Ms. Sustrai. You…"

She was waiting for the rebuke. Waiting for him to glare her way, or call her a harlot or a slut or some other funny thing. …She understood that the man thought those things, even if he would, of course, never voice them to a student. He thought she'd slept with Penny. Apparently everyone did, even her own team.

Even still, despite his position as a teacher, she wasn't expecting anything else other than for him to reprimand her for camping out in an empty classroom. Such a thing was punishable with detention, although rarely enforced by the Beacon teachers.

Obviously, General Ironwood would take whatever excuse he could get to get her in trouble.

…Or, well, that was what Emerald had assumed, anyhow. She… hadn't been expecting the man to turn to face her fully, take a breath, and say, "You do not look terribly well."

A part of her flashed with annoyance at that. Of course, she didn't look terribly well, why did everyone have to keep saying that like it was some grand observation!?

But… she'd gotten irrationally annoyed about this once already, and it had cost her. She could control herself.

"I suppose so." She muttered, shrugging her shoulders in a lazy arc.

She chanced a glance up at Ironwood, and saw an expression on the man's face she had not been expecting.

He looked oddly conflicted.

"…Ms. Sustrai, might I ask something of you?"

Ah, here it was.

"I can't exactly refuse, can I?"

"You can, if you wish."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"I have recently become more… aware of the fact that I have perhaps treated you more harshly than you deserve." The man sighed. "And… I can tell you're currently hurting. If you wouldn't mind…"

Emerald found herself shocked as the man gave the tiniest ghost of a smile.

"Would you walk with me? There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

End Chapter 33

Alright, unfortunately that's the end of the double chapter release! You'll have to wait for next week for more (and it will be a single chapter, sorry!)

See you all then!