Chapter 1: A Promise of Retribution

"So, is it good as new?" Levi asked, watching as Neo tested her arm. She flexed it a few times, opening and closing her hand, wiggling her fingers. She grabbed a hold of her parasol, giving a few forward jabs, a couple of swipes and then a strong slash. Feeling satisfied, she gave the young man a nod. "You should still be careful, your ribs are still hurt. Just because your arm is fixed doesn't mean you can go fight Grimm all willy nilly."

She gave him a nod, the expression on her face reading 'Yes, mother', in a rather sarcastic manner. She reached for her Scroll, pulling it open. She remained silent as she read her messages. Levi couldn't quite read the name of the receiver, but it was clear she was trying to get in contact with someone. She tapped the home button, attempting to launch an application, but was met with nothing.

"Should have told ya," he said, causing her to turn around. He twirled a strand of hair around his fingertip. "Communications are down all over the kingdom. I think something happened to the CCT, and with Beacon being attacked it's quite possible it was damaged or even destroyed. I'm not exactly sure how long we'll be disconnected. Not just from other people but from the rest of Remnant."

She gave a silent sigh, shoving her useless scroll in her back pocket. She grabbed her bowler hat from the table, taking note of the damaged brim. Despite this, she placed it on her head, making sure it was secure. She started toward the door, only for the young man to grab her shoulder.

"Hey, where are you going?"

She tilted her head, a frown flashing onto her face. Now that she could use her hand, she didn't need the whiteboard anymore. Instead, she used her scroll, typing out a message. She hit the "Speak" function, holding it out so he could hear. "I'm not exactly sure where I'll go. I'm all alone so I'll just drift around until I get somewhere."

"That's… pretty sad," Levi said, ears twitching as he looked away. "I'll be heading back to the sewers. I managed to send some of my neighbors and old friends down there. I want to make sure they get evacuated. Think you could help me?"

She nodded, gesturing with her hand for him to follow. She kept her parasol trained and ready to fight, the faunus doing the same with his gunblade. She moved around swiftly and quietly, her eyes trained on every single thing around them. She found a stairwell that led downward, quickly moving in. It was rather dark in there but Levi didn't have too much trouble following around.

He started seeing signs leading to the Armory. Clearly, Neo was looking to get some extra firepower, and it wasn't like the Atlas Military was going to stop them. Ten more minutes of silence and they finally arrived. The armory was rather empty when they arrived, most of the weapons had been taken, but there had been a few rifles left behind. She didn't seem too interested in those, going straight for the back where the Dust Vault was located. With a single forward jab to the lock and a twist, she was able to open the door.

Hundreds of Dust Vials rested within, each separated by element. It was all finely refined and had the imprint of the Schnee Dust Company on the side of the bottle. Neo grabbed a few vials of Lightning Dust, stuffing them in her pockets, along with Energy, Gravity, Hard Light, and Wind. Levi reached for some Fire Dust, pulling his hand back before he grabbed onto the bottle. He spared a glance at Neo, who had tilted her head, a confused look on her face.

"Stealing is wrong, especially from the Atlas Military. My mother taught me that it's wrong to do it and that we should always buy our dust legally," he said, sighing. "But, it's not like we're going to get in trouble. I'm short on Dust for my gloves anyway. I doubt the Military or the SDC is going to yell at me for a few missing vials of dust."

He shuddered at the thought of the Schnee Dust Company Heiress screaming at him for his ineptitude. His few run-ins with her at school had been none too kind. He grabbed five vials of Fire Dust, shaking them a bit to see how refined they were. They were, of course, the highest grade possible. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, he grabbed a few vials of every dust type, filling the special compartment of his holster with them.

"Fire, Water, Rock, Gravity, Energy, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Steam and Combustion." he counted, as he slipped each vial into its proper section. He noticed he was completely out of Hard-Light Dust, and looked up, seeing all of the unused vials still on the shelf. He grabbed ahold of one, a small smile on his face. "A single vial of this dust costs 23 Lien."

"It's a lot harder to come by than Water or Fire." Neo's scroll chirped, making him look up at her. She typed a new message, hitting "Speak". "Which is why you should make the most of it, take it all! Not like anyone else is going to use it."

"You have a good point. Eh.. we're already this deep, may as well go all the way. Not like I'll get a chance to use the five-finger discount any time soon." he chuckled, grabbing the remaining twelve vials of Hard-Light Dust. He uncorked the bottle, opening the special port in his glove, pouring a bit of the propellant into the glove. He had refilled the others, making sure he had them ready whenever it was he used his Glyphs. "Let's get out of here."

Neo gave him a nod, pausing for a moment to grab some ammo boxes. She handed them to Levi, along with some spare rifles she had found. The young man decided to take a few bullets for himself, knowing he would likely need them for the future. Finally restocked on ammunition and dust, the pair started heading toward the nearest exit, hoping the Atlas Military wasn't around to see what they had stolen.

xxx

Levi let out a growl as he stabbed his blade into the sewer cap. Neo kept an eye out, making sure there weren't any Grimm wandering around. It had been the first time since the previous night that he had seen this street. Shell casings from his fight against the Grimm, alongside the destruction left behind, reminded him of the battle that had taken place not that long ago. It felt almost like an eternity, despite it having been only a few hours. He decided not to dwell on it, choosing to focus on something else. Lifting the cap, he pushed it back with all of his strength, the loud metallic clang echoing through the empty street.

"We should be good. I'll go first, just in case any Grimm decided to get in there," he said, drawing Shiva from his holster. He made sure there was a round in the chamber before jumping down, bending his knees as he landed. He scanned his surroundings, shifting his aim in every direction, ears twitching a bit as he listened for enemies. Satisfied with his scan of the area, he turned around, cupping a hand around his mouth. "Alright, you can come down, Neo. Be careful!"

The lithe young woman started coming down, deciding to jump down halfway. Her parasol sprung open, allowing her to slowly parachute down to the ground, landing softly. She closed it after a second, twirling it around, giving him a brilliant smile, eyes changing colors with every blink. He was beginning to grow unnerved by this but decided to ignore it.

"Okay, if I remember correctly, there's a service station down this way. It was used by the construction workers who laid the foundation of this system." Levi said, taking the lead.

The silence was beginning to bother Levi. He normally wasn't a talkative person, but when he was with his teammates, he at least cracked a few jokes. He and Aria only spoke about class and a few times outside of it. It had been a long time since he had a casual conversation with his team leader. He knew a lot about her, whenever she decided to actually open up to them, but she was a rather silent individual. Being a wolf faunus from Mistral, she tended to act like a loner than a team player. Even so, he couldn't help but think about her and the argument they had before the attack. He'd never forget the look on Cadence and Sonata's faces after what he had said.

"Is there anything you wanna talk about?" Neo's scroll said, causing him to look back. It seemed she was being bothered by the silence as well. "You look rather worried."

"That's because I am. Not speaking with my teammates is really making me worried. It's the first time since we met that we've spent a long time not talking. I had a really bad argument with my team leader before the shit hit the fan, I sort of said some things I shouldn't have."

The silence was filled with the soft clicks of a keyboard, letting him know a reply was slowly coming. "You're a first year at Beacon, right?"

"Second Year. I'm part of Team ACPL or Acapella. Aria Blaze is our leader, followed by my partner, Cadenza Di Capriccio. Then there's Aria's partner, Sonata Piccolo. Three girls, one guy. Believe me, when we were made into a team, Aria had a bitchfit for like a week. She just couldn't accept that she had to share her room with a man. She got used to it, but I was forced to wear a face mask whenever it was close to bedtime." he said, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

"A face mask? Why would you be forced to wear that?"

"Because Aria thought I was a pervert who liked looking at her natural curves through her thin nightgown. Cadence talked her out of it, you know, after a semester of me wearing it. Sonata didn't give a shit if I stared or not, hell she was topless half the time I was in the room." he said, quickly clearing his throat. "She wore a sports bra."

Neo wiggled her brows, a rather pervy look on her face as she typed out her message. "Sounds like the ideal situation for any growing boy. Imagine being surrounded by lady teammates and you are the only guy. I would totally take advantage of that."

"Except I'm not a horny dog. I respect my teammates just like they respect me. The thing is, the three of them had this sort of talent. They all could sing, so they thought it would be cool if we formed an actual acapella group. I wasn't included in most songs but I still took the training Sonata gave us. I'm a pretty good singer if I do say so myself." Levi said, a proud look on his face. "Thing is, Aria never wanted to include me in any songs, so all of the performances we had as a team were them three in the front and me in the background. This was what led to our argument…"

(Flashback)

"I'm starting to get really pissed off with your bullshit, Aria! Seriously, why is it that I'm always the butt of every one of your fucking jokes?!" the Faunus snapped, glaring at his team leader.

She was a beautiful young woman, a few inches taller than him with long, silvery-gray hair, with black highlights. She had soft, ivory-colored skin and bright blue eyes that glowed as brightly as sapphires. She was wearing a sleeveless silver shirt, with black armor plates over her chest, the image of a wolf howling at the moon etched onto the left breast. She was wearing a pair of black jeans stuffed into combat boots. Around her waist was a belt that held her Multi-Action Dust Katars, "Crime and Punishment", her signature weapons.

He balled his fists up, shaking with rage. "I worked for an entire month on that song and I didn't even get to participate in the performance! I mean, what the hell? We were supposed to do the halftime show on day three, but you changed it to today, just so I would be busy with practicing for my fight in the next round!"

"I've already told you why you can't perform with us, Kitten. You just aren't up to snuff, even with all of the training you've gotten from Sona, you just can't sing." the woman replied in a rather haughty tone, her silver-colored tail wagging behind her. "I mean what am I supposed to do? Put you in the forefront and let you shred your voice? You can't even sing a C-sharp!"

"Sona said I had a pretty voice! You've heard me sing! I think it's a little unfair that you have me write songs for our group and I can't even be a part of them!" he snapped angrily.

"Um, guys, maybe you shouldn't argue like this in public?" the soft-spoken Sonata said, being ignored by the pair.

She was shorter than the other two, being around four feet, ten inches in height. She had long, smooth blue hair with streaks of teal and white running through it. She had a sun-kissed complexion and a rather curvy body for someone so young and short. She was wearing light blue armor, over a sky blue sundress, littered with musical notes. She wore armored leg protectors, along with high heeled boots, though it only raised her height to 5 foot 1. Strapped to her side was her signature weapon, Carolloo, a Dust-powered Piccolo that aided her Soundwave Semblance in battle. She was very popular around school, not only because of her niceness but also due to the fact she was very busty for her age.

"We're supposed to be a team. I don't know why you two can't get along, but you have to stay friendly with each other." she continued, giving the pair looks of concern. "Please, can you try to get along?"

"Why the hell should I? She's been doing this to us since day one! Always treating me like shit, even when we're practicing! Me and Cadence have to refine our styles all on our own instead of working together as a team! Why is it that in every goddamn aspect of our time here we have to be at each other's throats? What the fuck did I ever do to you? Huh?"

"What did you ever do to me? I'll tell you what you did to me! You are rude, uncouth, disgusting, not to mention a perverted twerp that can't stop staring at women!" she howled, jabbing her finger into his chest. "Our team would be so much better if you weren't in it!"

"Why you… you!"

"Okay, that's enough!" the final member of their team cried, causing the pair to stop arguing. Her dulcet voice was filled with anger as she glared at the two, looks of disappointment on her face.

Cadenza Di Capriccio was among the popular girls at Beacon. Hailing from Atlas, she was one of the girls from high society. You would expect her to be a bratty teenager but was in fact one of the sweetest girls one could ever meet. She was vibrant, peppy, and held a lot of love for everyone, not just humans but also the faunus. She was a girl of average height, with long vibrant pink hair, laced with white and violet highlights. She wore a long-sleeved, light pink jacket over a leotard, which was bejeweled to heaven and back, making her look like a diamond whenever she was under direct sunlight.

She wore armor around her arms and hips, leaving her strong and lithe legs free. She also donned a pair of ballet shoes, which were laced with dust, allowing her kicks to pack a bit of an oomph. With the aid of hard-light dust, she was capable of walking on water. Her signature weapon was a bladed chain whip she affectionately named "Brilliant Pirouette", a weapon she was quite deadly with. She also happened to be Levi's partner, having locked eyes during initiation. She was quite upset with Aria for how she treated him.

"Look, I have had to deal with so much of your crap for these last two years, but it has only been getting worse as time goes on. It is not healthy to be like this, guys. We're supposed to be a team. Once we graduate from Beacon, we'll be given missions and who knows what else. We need to be ready for when that day comes."

"I've already told you, Cady, I am not going to continue being a team after we graduate. I work better alone. You know that Sona knows that and the Kitten knows it as well. The only reason I put up with his bullshit is because Headmaster Ozpin makes the rules here. If not then he wouldn't be on our team!"

"Pfft, if someone else made the rules, they would have demoted you from Team leader four semesters ago. Seriously, the only reason I didn't report you to Professor Goodwitch is that Cadence told me to get to know you." Levi said, crossing his arms. "I have tried, and I have tried, but it is unfair to me that you treat me like trash. You have game nights with the girls and I have to sit in the library alone! You three take missions without me because you lie to Sona and Cadence about me being sick, and the only reason I even made it to the Vytal Tournament's second round was because you were out-fucking-voted! That's terrible sportsmanship and terrible team management."

She didn't say anything as he continued his rant. "We're all here to learn and improve our craft. There might be a day where you bite off more than you can chew. You're gonna wish someone was out there to cover your ass when Cadence and Sonata can't."

Aria let out a laugh, tail wagging back and forth as her body rocked with mirth. Sonata and Cadence shared a look, both of them confused by her reaction. "Ha, cover my ass? You? I seriously doubt it. Listen, buddy, if there's ever a point in time where I am cornered by Grimm, White Fang, or literally anyone else, and the only one there to save me is you, I'd rather you let me die."

The two girls gasped in surprise, not believing what their leader had just said. Even Levi was taken aback by this sudden statement. He looked rather hurt by it, his ears drooping a bit in sadness. He swiveled on his foot, turning away from his team leader, glancing briefly over his shoulder as he grabbed onto his hood.

"You know what Aria? I'm tired of trying. So I won't anymore. You are truly the worst person I have ever met in my life. I really do hope you die, maybe that would make your pathetic existence mean something."

As he left, he could hear Sonata and Cadence calling out to him, along with Aria who had cupped her hands over her mouth. "I'm reporting you to the Headmaster when we get back to Beacon! Let's see what happens when you get kicked out of this academy, you useless cat!"

(Flashback ends)

"It wasn't one of my proudest moments, I will admit," Levi said, lowering his gun a bit. His ears twitched as he listened to his surroundings, hearing voices coming down from the right corridor, he moved in that direction, relaxing his posture a bit. "I felt like shit afterward. I don't know what happened to Aria to make her hate me so much, honestly."

"Maybe she just didn't like men? There are a lot of women who dislike men, and that might have made those things come to the surface. She likely would have been more comfortable if another girl had been a part of her team." Neo spoke through her scroll, causing him to shrug.

"You have a point there, but I'm not the one who made the rules. Headmaster Ozpin clearly stated before initiation, that our teams would be decided by what pieces we brought back. Cadence grabbed the Black Knight Piece, and so did Sonata."

"That doesn't mean she can take advantage of your songwriting, to the point where she doesn't include you in your team. It's also borderline dangerous that she lied to her teammates about you being sick before missions." the computerized voice barked, the expression on Neo's face being one of anger.

He didn't say much of anything. She had a point, Aria wasn't being a good team leader. She didn't include him in missions, ousted him whenever possible, and was less than civil in most interactions with him. But there was also a sweet side, he had seen it a few times. He just wondered why it was that she acted that way.

"I dunno. She can be nice when she wants to be, she even stayed up with me during one of our missions because I was having an anxiety attack. I tend to worry a lot when Cadence or Sonata are missing. This one time in Vacuo, we had gotten separated after a Grimm attack, so I kept worrying about it and she sang me a lullaby to keep me calm. I just wish she would be more open with me, you know?" he said, finally reaching the worker's station. He sheathed his weapon, giving the door a couple of knocks. "Let's hope there are no injured here."

The door was slowly opened, a nervous-looking human having opened it. He seemed to relax a bit when he recognized him, calling over his shoulder. "Hey, it's that Faunus boy. The one who helped us before!"

He heard movement inside, the door opening further. Clarice jumped at him, hugging him tightly making sure not to knock him back. "Oh, Levi! I was so worried about you. I tried calling you on your scroll but I couldn't get through!"

"Communications are down, the way I see it, the CCT is likely damaged. There are evacuations going on, so I came here to lead you all out. We need to make it to Sector 11 before the Atlas Military leaves." he said firmly, earning a nod from the young woman.

"Okay, you heard him, ladies and gents. Grab your belongings, rifles, and children, because we're getting out of here," she said cheerfully. A flurry of movement filled the station as everyone started gathering their things. She picked up one of the children, holding him tightly against her. It was, of course, her four-year-old son, who hid his face from Levi. "So, who's your friend there?"

Levi glanced back, placing a hand on the small of Neo's back, pushing her a bit forward. "This is Neopolitan, I call her Neo for short. I found her on my way back home, she was severely injured but we managed to make it onto that Atlas ship that crashed. We brought some weapons too, just in case."

Neo raised her hand for a moment but quickly lowered it. She typed something out on her scroll, holding the device out. "It's nice to meet you, Miss. I hope your stay here wasn't a bad one." the voice said, as she gave her a polite bow.

"Oh? It wasn't really. Are you mute, sweetheart?" she asked, earning a nod from Neo. "I'm so sorry, I probably shouldn't have asked."

"She's very talkative, despite being mute. And she's also good company, she'll help us keep everyone safe on our way out. We'll be okay, alright Timmy? You don't need to be scared." he said, giving the boy a soft pat on the head. He smiled a bit, still hanging onto her mother.

"Whoa, you have an umbrella for a weapon? That's so neat!" another voice said, causing Neo to jump back a bit. This came from Clarice's second son, Leroy, an eight-year-old deer Faunus, whose antlers were beginning to grow in. He had a look of wonder as he looked at Neo's weapon. "Can it shoot bullets? Does it have a hidden blade? Can you use it as a parachute?"

Neo smiled, giving him a nod. She spun the weapon around, flicking it open as she did so, resting it against her shoulder. She twirled it around, giving the boy a wink, pressing her finger against her lips. She used her hand to make a set of jaws, a look of fear on her face.

"Uh… why is she doing that?"

"She's mute, sweetie. That means she can't speak, she's trying to tell you to be a bit quieter, there could be Grimm here and we don't need them to find us." Clarice said, earning a nod from Neo.

"Oh… I'm sorry, Miss." he said softly. Neo gave him a pat on the head, handing him her parasol. His eyes brightened up a bit as he took hold of it, looking it over. "Whoa, this is so neat. I want to have something like this as my own weapon when I become a huntsman."

"You have to graduate from Signal first, kiddo. Let's focus on the here and now, we won't be able to make you the world's greatest huntsman if we don't get out of here, right?" Levi said cheerfully, as he handed the last rifle off, along with the magazines he had brought. He drew Shiva from his holster, taking the lead. "Alright, let's move lively! We don't want to be left behind by Atlas, right?"

The group started following along, letting the young faunus take the lead. Neo stuck close to Clarice and her children, after all, her oldest son had her weapon, and if the need to fight arose, she needed to be ready.


Levi was expecting to find trouble the moment they had left the sewers, but he had wanted to avoid it. Sadly, that wasn't the case. The moment they had made it topside, having used a collapsed street as a ramp, they were met with Grimm. Beowulves and Ursai. Thankfully, these were easy creatures to deal with, he had fought against these for most of his time in Beacon, as well as some missions around the Kingdoms. He sprung into action the moment he could.

Neo had followed along, stepping briskly as she twirled her parasol, seemingly not bothered by the Grimm. In fact, she seemed to be excited to take them on. A large beowulf made its way toward her, swinging its massive claws at her. She dodged it with ease, using her lithe movements to dodge. She spun around on her hand, kicking her legs with all her strength, leaving the creature stunned.

She ducked and weaved, avoiding each one of its attacks, waiting for an opening. She finally found it, darting forward with great speed. She swung her parasol at its face, causing it to backpedal, spinning her parasol around, she struck the underside of its jaw with the handle, flipping out of the way in time to avoid another swipe. It let out a roar, racing at her, aiming to pounce her, only for her to shatter into a million pieces.

Levi heard the sound of glass breaking and turned back, not seeing his new friend anywhere in sight. The Grimm glanced around, only for the ice cream-themed woman to jab him from the side. She struck him repeatedly, channeling her aura through her weapon. The Grimm swiftly turned around, aiming another slash at her. She angled her parasol to take the hit, digging her heels into the ground to slow herself down.

Neo rolled her shoulders a bit, tipping her hat back. She threw her parasol into the air, sprinting toward the Grimm. She jumped over the creature, catching her parasol mid-air, using her momentum, she brought her weapon down hard on its back. She gave her parasol a twist, drawing the sword hidden within, spinning it around with ease. Before the Beowulf could do anything, she stabbed it through the brain, ending its life.

"Damn, she's pretty good!" Levi thought, admiring the young woman's lithe movements.

"Levi!"

He shook his head, returning to his own fight. He snapped his fingers, casting a glyph above the Ursa. it glowed orange for a brief second before it was pelted with glowing fireballs, each one exploding on contact. He kept the glyph active as he dashed forward, his blade glowing a bright blue as he channeled his aura through it. He delivered a fierce blow to the Ursa's shoulder, severing its arm clean off its body. He stepped back a bit, the creature roaring at the loss of its limb. It rose its heavy paw above its head, aiming to crush the puny faunus under its weight.

Levi was quick to react, creating a shield of Hard-Light Dust with Shiva. Its paw bounced back, allowing him to step back. Shifting his weapon back into its gun form, he cast a small glyph at the end of the barrel, taking aim at the creature. He pulled the trigger thrice, the combustion glyph aided the rock dust bullets, causing them to pierce the creature's chest cleanly. Casting a final glyph, the Ursa was surrounded by a swirling green gale, being lifted from the ground. Levi fired the remainder of his magazine into the funnel, finishing the Ursa off.

"Good work, you two were able to defeat those creatures with ease! A lot better than any of us." Clarice said, clutching her plasma rifle tightly in her grasp. Levi shrugged, giving the woman a smile.

"My mother told me my style needs a bit of refinement. But I'm glad I was able to take that Ursa down. I'm just happy it was the one and not a horde." he said, turning to face Neo, who had a look of satisfaction on her face. "But you… you are something else. You fought with so much confidence."

She rolled her eyes, twirling her parasol. The look on her face was one that said "Years of Practice". It was still impressive, Levi thought, especially with that shattering thing she did. It was clear that was her Semblance. Something nifty like that could be applied to quite a lot of situations. He shook his head, not wanting to delve into the mechanics of something he had seen only once.

"Erm, well. Let's keep moving, the military should still be in the area. Sectors 10-13 were going to be the ones with full-scale evacuations. Keep a weather eye out, in case we see any more Grimm." Levi said firmly.

They moved in silence, being as quick and as quiet as possible. A few Beowulves lingered in the area, but he and Neo had managed to bring them down with ease. They seemed like babies compared to the much larger, and older ones. They only had a few bone plates while the alphas were covered from head to toe in bone armor.

As they made it toward the end of the street, they started to hear movement. The sound of propulsion engines and loud horns. The military was nearby, meaning their trek through the city was coming to an end. Having spotted a soldier, Levi flagged him down, urging Clarice and the others to go on ahead while he kept an eye out for any lingering Grimm.

"Awesome, we made it. That was a lot better than I had expected, and a lot smoother too. Of course, I had Neo with me." he thought. He glanced over his shoulder, about to thank Neo for tagging along, but he noticed she was gone. "What the… Neo?"

Silence. Of course, he wasn't going to get a response back. The woman was mute, what was he expecting her to say? He felt his scroll buzz in his pocket. Digging his hand inside, he pulled his scroll out, seeing a message from an unknown number. It seemed this area had service, likely a remote one having been established by the Atlas Military. He opened it, seeing the words that had been sent to him.

"Sorry to run, but I don't really get along well with Atlas. I was sort of kicked out of their academy after all. It was a pleasure meeting you, Levi. Thanks again for helping me but it's best we go our separate ways from here. Feel free to message me if you'd like- Neo."

He deflated a bit. He wanted to get to know her more. He hadn't met someone as unique and as interesting as her in a very long time. There was something about her that just screamed at him. But he couldn't force her to stick around if she didn't want to. He added her to his contact list, sending a short message back.

"Alright. Message me as well if you want. I'm likely going to be busy for a while though, seeing as Vale is still in ruins. Take care of yourself, Neo. I won't be around to help you sneak onto another Atlas Military ship." he typed, a small smile on his face.

"Excuse me, young man. Are you perhaps a student of Beacon Academy?" one of the soldiers asked, causing Levi to look up.

"Yes sir, I am." he tapped on his identification app, showing the man his scroll. It was his Huntsman-in-Training License. It contained his name, basic information as well as his year. It read "Second Year Student: Beacon Academy. Status Active." in bold black letters. The soldier read the information, eyes widening a bit when he caught his last name. "Athan? Are you related to Professor Athan?"

"Yes! She's my mother, is she here? Is she alright?"

The man remained silent, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I've been told to take you to the refugee camp should I run into you. There's something you must know. Professor Goodwitch sent very specific orders."

He didn't know why, but he felt a chill run down his spine. His heartbeat quickened, the seriousness of this man's tone had been enough to make him nervous, anxious. He took a deep calming breath, trying to remain firm and calm. "Take me there, sir. It's best I don't keep her waiting."

"Come along then. We'll put you on one of the Atlas Mantas heading to the Eastern part of the Emerald Forest," he said, pressing his hand against his ear. "Sir, I have a Beacon Academy student here. His name is Levi Athan, he's part of Team Acapella. We need immediate transport to the refugee center."

It was silent for a moment, before finally nodding. "Alright, you've been cleared."

Levi silently followed along, having drawn his weapon. He held it close to himself, a habit he had developed whenever he was nervous. Shiva was his lifeline, so it kept him calm whenever he was about to get bad news. He had to be ready for whatever was going to happen. Though his body was ready, he knew in his mind and his heart that he never truly would be.

xxx

Vale was in ruins. There were large sectors that had been completely leveled, by Atlas Military tech, destroyed ships, or the lasers the flagship had fired. The bodies of civilians, military personnel, and VPD littered the streets, slowly being collected by whatever authorities were still standing. He had heard the news reports, claiming that over 2,000 people had been misplaced, with some being missing, deceased, or in critical condition. He also had gotten confirmation of the CCT being destroyed, causing Kingdom-wide comms to go down. Not only that, but now Atlas, Vacuo, and Mistral had been cut off from Vale and from each other, as the CCT worked in tandem to keep Global Communications stable.

Things kept getting from bad to worse. The moment he stepped off the Manta and actually saw the refugee camp, his heart broke. There were injured people everywhere, some he recognized, others he didn't. There were some medical tents nearby where he could hear doctors fighting to keep people alive, while others were focused on keeping the injured as comfortable as possible. He passed by another tent, seeing several bodies laid on the ground, with blankets over them. He tore his eyes away, ears flattening themselves against his head as he walked.

"This is horrible. Who could have started this? Caused so much destruction to innocent people?" he thought, holding back the urge to cry. He spotted a few of Beacon's professors, helping some distraught-looking students out. He recognized the members of Team CRDL, their leader was laying on a bed, his arm in a heavy cast.

He also spotted Team CFVY, all of them were thankfully fine. He knew them personally and had gotten along well with both Coco and Velvet, treating them as very close friends, especially Velvet. The rabbit faunus briefly looked away from her team leader, locking eyes with Levi. The color had drained from her face almost instantly, and she had looked away just as fast. He didn't like that look. It only made him even more anxious.

Team JNPR was nearby, they were first-year students. He had gotten along well with their team leader, Jaune, and had even sparred against Pyrrha on various occasions. Not seeing her around made him even more nervous, especially due to the fact her close friend Nora was crying on her partner Ren's shoulder, and Jaune looked absolutely destroyed. He briefly looked up, wiping his stray tears away. He looked like he wanted to say something, but bowed his head, staying where he was.

"What the hell… I don't like this… not one bit. Where's Pyrrha? Don't tell me she… and what happened to Team RWBY? I haven't seen any of them anywhere?" he thought, his heterochromatic eyes looking every which way. He couldn't spot the peppy scythe wielder, the white-haired heiress, the raven-haired cat faunus, or the busty blonde anywhere.

The soldier that had escorted him finally stopped, gesturing for him to go on ahead. He silently thanked him, moving forward on his own, keeping Shiva even closer than before. He spotted his Professors, Bartholomew Oobleck and Peter Port helping a few students. Professor Peach seemed to be in an argument with someone, but he didn't recognize them. Someone from Atlas probably. He however didn't see his mother anywhere.

She had been the Weapons Instructor for Beacon Academy, helping the students improve upon, redesign, and build new weapons. She worked in tandem with Professor Peach, who taught Dust Studies and Dust Chemistry. New designs usually went through her to make sure the mechanisms wouldn't cause the flow of dust to be impeded. The last thing someone needed was to have their arm blown off because they forged a bad dust system. The moment she saw him thought, she immediately stopped talking, bowing her head almost apologetically.

"Professor, what's going on? Everyone keeps looking at me like that. Like something bad happened. Do you know where mom is?"

"Terra is…" the professor began, looking away from the young man. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Levi."

"P-professor?" he stuttered. His anxiousness had risen to an all-time high, he felt like he was about to explode. His ears twitched, causing him to whirl around, moving back a bit when he saw it was just Professor Goodwitch. He could tell the woman hadn't slept, in fact, if it wasn't for the makeup she was wearing, the bags under her eyes would be much more noticeable.

"It's good to see you, Levi."

"Same to you, Professor Goodwitch," he said, a little bit more forceful than he had intended. He took a deep breath, steeling his nerves. "Everyone keeps looking at me like something bad happened. Vale was attacked and Beacon was destroyed. Give it to me straight, is she dead?"

"Yes."

He felt his heart drop at her confirmation. He flicked his wrist, transforming Shiva into its travel mode. "Take me to her."

"Levi, I don't think you-"

"I don't give a shit! Take me to her!" he snapped, his pupils turning into thin slits, something he only did when he was angry. She nodded, gesturing for him to follow. He was taken to one of the side tents, seeing several more bodies placed in body bags, a few loved ones clinging to them.

"She fought valiantly, gave her all to protect the students. It all happened so suddenly, that gigantic wyvern started sending swarms at us. It destroyed the CCT, we're still not sure what happened but… Miss Rose confirmed the death of Pyrrha Nikos. She was fighting against Cinder Fall and tragically lost her life in that fight."

It all turned into white noise, Levi was just focused on getting to his mother's side. She wasn't the only one that had died, Pyrrha too? How many others had been killed during all this.

"There were some Nevermores in the Auditorium. A few students had holed up there and she wanted to help them out. But she had been fighting the White Fang most of the night, it was like a personal vendetta or something. The Grimm kept attacking, and she kept fighting, even after her aura had been broken, she continued to fight. Ignoring her injuries, pressing forward. She destroyed every Grimm in her path and brought the students here. She collapsed into Peach's arms."

She led him into the tent, where the bodies of Beacon Staff members had been laid up. He didn't even wait for her approval, he just ran in, already spotting his mother. He wrapped his arms around her unmoving body, hugging her tightly. "Mom!"

Terra had been a beautiful woman, with long waist-length hair, and light-colored skin. She had a set of feline-like ears atop her head, just like her son. She had a peaceful look on her face as if she had been sleeping after a long day of work. She had been wearing dark blue clothing, a long-sleeved shirt that had been in tatters, along with heavily dented body armor. He could see various injuries across her body, along with bruises and several other things.

He felt everything around him stop as his mother lay dead in her gurney. He didn't know how to react, he just stood there staring at her body. He hadn't been ready for this possibility. She had promised to meet back up with him when everything was over, and now she would never see him again. He'd never hear her voice or her laugh, or her stern tone whenever he failed a test.

"I… I'm sorry mom, I should have been here. I should have been with you." he said softly as he hugged the woman. Professor Goodwitch stood straighter than before, not exactly mincing her next words.

"Professor Athan… Terra wasn't the only one who was killed in this attack, I'm afraid. Your teammates, Aria Blaze and Cadenza Di Capriccio… were both killed in action."

"What?" he cried, releasing his grip on his mother. He turned to face his professor, a stunned look on his face. "Aria is…. And Cadence…?"

"Aria was cornered, Sonata had been heavily injured and Cadenza was searching for help. She went down fighting until the very end, using her own body to protect Sonata. Cadenza was carried away by a Nevermore. We can only surmise she was killed somewhere else."

"What about Sonata?" he asked, desperation clear in his voice.

"She was gravely injured but she survived. She is however in very critical condition and was transported to a medical facility in Atlas," she said firmly. While the young man looked relieved, his sadness returned seconds after.

He buried his face in his arms, resting them over his mother's body. "Would you mind leaving me alone for a while? I just… I just want to be alone."

She respected his wish, leaving the young man alone. Once he was sure she was gone, the flood gates opened. He hugged his mother tightly, processing everything that had happened. In a single night, not only had he lost his only remaining relative, but also his girlfriend and his team leader. What was even worse was the fact that she died hating him.

"This all happened because of Cinder Fall… the reason the Grimm attacked, the reason my mother is dead. My partner, Cadence, and Aria! It's all her fault! Sonata is in a coma because of her, Pyrrha is dead because of her! That fucking…."

He sat up, wiping his tears away. He looked at his mother's face, seeing the peaceful look on it. He remembered the story she had told him, about the people who had attacked his old village before he was born. How she had wanted to fight but couldn't because of her condition. How she decided to become a professor so she could stop people from dying.

"I'm going to find Cinder Fall and her friends, and I'm going to kill them for what they've done. For taking your life mom, and for taking the lives of Aria and Cadence. I will hunt them down until my dying breath if I have to, but I will kill them."

Having made his own promise, he stood up from his seat. He wiped his tears away, casting away his fears. He needed to be strong, things had changed. "No more kid games. I knew one day I would have to grow up, but I wasn't expecting it to be today. You did your best to guide me, mom, but it's time for me to go at it myself."

Sparing a final look at his mother, he left the tent, a new chapter in his life about to begin. He wasn't sure he could let go of the previous one. Sometimes you just had to close the book and move on.


A/N: Well, here is the official first chapter, since the last one was a prologue. This one is a little shorter than the first, but It serves as a sort of companion piece to it. Originally, this was all one chapter but I realized it was far too long to leave it as is. It was going to be over 50 pages if I didn't cut it down to size. Regardless, I do hope you enjoyed it. Now that Levi has received the worst news of his life, he's going to search for the one responsible, and that will take him on a journey far beyond what he was expecting.

I hope you all look forward to the rest of what I have planned. I have a lot of material to work with given the finale of Volume 8 aired on Saturday lol. It's gonna be one hell of a ride haha. Whelp, see you all when I see you.