RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

Chapter 55: A Bright New Day

Two days had passed since Gestalt-Prime's horde of Grimm had breached Port Alistair and yet the first signs of normalcy returning to the Capital of Menagerie were a distant and fleeting hope glimpsed by only the most optimistic of its' residents.

Fires still raged in some parts of the city as the combined efforts of the emergency services and the cities' defence forces battled against them, though now that larger aircraft could be deployed safely without the risk of being attacked by Gestalt-Prime several airships hung low in the air, their shadows blotting out the late morning sun as they emptied vast quantities of seawater that had been pumped into their cargo holds down onto fires burning in places where it had been deemed that the risk of further damaging the infrastructure by doing so was limited. The breaches to Port Alistair's defences had been sealed, at least temporarily by Nickel Polendina who had since returned to Maiden-Gate, taking no small amount of refugees from the savaged city with her to the safe haven she hoped her foundling community could be; the notion giving her a sense of unwavering purpose as she had flown alongside the transports leaving the city.

Other refugees had been more reluctant to leave the safety of bunkers and shelters which had, in a mercy for which the people of Menagerie were eternally grateful, by and large performed their task to a high standard with no shelters being breached by the attacking monsters and the only matters of concern being how well stocked any given shelter was for a prolonged struggle; the concerns of those unwilling to return to their homes were varied and understandable as they ranged from the simple, terrible truth that in some instances their homes no longer existed, destroyed either by rampaging Grimm, artillery levelled against them or falling fighter craft and reasonable safety concerns as the scale of the damage to the perimeter wall and other defences would take some time to assess and those with nowhere to go were wary of being so open and exposed to the wasteland beyond and all it held to a palpable sense of dread which hung heavy in the air as civilians muttered that not all of the Grimm were gone, that some of the monsters had broken off their attack and now slunk in the shadows and lurked in the sewers or behind every corner in wait for the perfect moment to strike at unsuspecting victims.

The legacy of Port Alistair's first breaching was one that would linger and haunt its' populace for some time.

To combat the rising panic which would, almost prophetically ensure the coming of more Creatures of Grimm through the sheer magnitude of the fear, grief, anger and suspicion that any civil unrest would encourage every single available Hunter within Port Alistair who had not been slain or injured in the initial battle had spent the intervening time actively and openly patrolling the streets of the Capital, from its' now deathly silent commercial hubs to the residential areas in an effort to instil confidence and more importantly, a sense of hope. These Hunters had been joined by defence forces who had likewise been spared the most severe horrors of battle, albeit the heaviest and most intimidating of weaponry and armour available to them was instead deployed towards the wall and around key buildings such as hospitals to ensure that no further damage could come to them; members of cities' police, a vast number of volunteers willing to protect their homes with whatever improvised implements they could find or in many cases simply offer exhausted Hunters a meal and a drink and even, to the surprise of those who had never dealt with members of the clans which roamed the wastelands of Menagerie, members of Clan Aiktishaf who had been sent out into the city to make good on their Elders' promises and aid the city in anyway they could; the jetbikes of the outriders and lithe bodies clambering broken walls and perching upon roofs becoming an accepted sight in a short space of time.

These last developments were tangentially related to how Felix Xiao Long had come to find himself in Coco Adel's office.

"Any sign of them?" the Headmistress and Councilwoman demanded bluntly, far too exhausted for anything more tactful.

"Some scrap that might have been one of the Grimm's wings. The Aiktishaf confirmed that Grapeshot is dead, Hueso killed him. As for Hueso himself….nothing, nobody can say exactly where he fell or if he survived it" Felix answered patiently, the lion Faunus along with the rest of Team FADE had been amongst the Hunters patrolling the city, although as with all of their actions in Menagerie they had been given a deeper and more secretive purpose by the shadowy group of Remnant's guardians to whom they were answerable and of which Coco Adel was a member; namely the task of finding the hybrid Alpha Grimm and the madmen who would lure such a monster into a city.

The idea that Carmesi Hueso could meet such an inglorious end rang hollow and Coco openly scoffed at it.

"We don't get that lucky" she snorted, rising from her seat and removing her sunglasses as she trudged tiredly into place beside Felix; the two of them staring out into the skyline that was still smudged with smoke and surveying the sprawling capital where the blonde man knew that his team-mates were still conducting their search and using their presence to great effect. Eventually Felix turned his attention to Coco herself and saw that she looked, in no uncertain terms, utterly terrible; it was now Monday morning and one could see from a simple cursory glance that she had not slept since the Grimm had come early on Saturday afternoon, with her glasses removed dark rings could be seen around her bloodshot eyes and her skin was pale, her hair hung lankly about her and her clothes were creased and dishevelled whilst a more astute observer would notice the way she favoured her left side, indicating that she had received some injury in her defence of the city helped found and govern.

"How're you holding up?" Felix asked, voice barely above a whisper as though discussing the idea that the famously fearsome Coco Adel were not in immaculate condition was a conspiracy of sorts.

"Coping" she answered with the same bluntness, before allowing herself to sag as though finally feeling the pressure of all that weighed on her; words falling from her unbidden "Velvet's gonna be okay but she'll be laid up for a few days….I had to put Arslan on leave, she wasn't hurt but Bolin took a nasty chest wound. She wanted to be out in the field but she wasn't helping….she was scaring people-"

"She'll help where she can, just not as public relations" Felix mused "Aunt Penny and Ruby have that covered, the whole city feels safer knowing that they're around. Aunt Ruby said she'll report back in a couple hours"

"Yeah" Coco noted, struggling to suppress a yawn "Yatsu is holding the fort here, he's mobilised the students to get this place running as a shelter….It was always intended to, now we know for sure; Little Fox is helping"

"Good for him" Felix nodded, the proud smile that formed on Coco's face at the mention of her only child seeming to melt the exhaustion away for at least a brief moment until Felix spoke again "So….What happens now?"

"Now we rebuild, we start doing everything we can to put Port Alistair back together and help the people who live here put their lives back together" Coco sighed "The Council has basically given me rubber stamp approval to do whatever I need to, although I don't know how long that's going to last or how long I want it to….I'm not a dictator, I lead because people want me to. The Aiktishaf will be here for a while, I spoke to a representative of their leadership who tells me they need to repair that crawler anyway so they'll be trading and working with us for the summer"

"That could be helpful, for the long term as well" Felix noted, having found the people who had produced Regalia Russet to be exceptionally capable and easy to work with during his admittedly limited interactions with them thus far.

"Could be a problem as well, it's only going to take one wrong word from one ass-hole to start an incident we can't afford" Coco breathed out, tensing herself with apprehension before regarding Felix carefully "I spoke with Qrow earlier, he tells me your team are leaving?"

"I would have told you myself, I came here to tell you" Felix shuffled uncomfortably "The Nemesis Kharybdis was tampered with, that tampering affected our ability to fight; Carcharodon thinks something was smuggled onto the ship on a shopping run, slipped into a package or something but we don't know….Either way we need to fix it and fast, there's a branch of Poly-Tech in Neo Vale so we're gonna anchor there and have Antonia Arc send her people or come in person, Eagle will enjoy having her Mum over anyway; the hacking was like what Qrow has been trying to get to the bottom of-"

"So the Benefactor is in Neo Vale then, it's a sure thing" Coco murmured "And even if Hueso is dead, we still need to know who they are and what they want before they find another Grimm they can use"

"Exactly"

"And being close to home doesn't hurt" Coco noted, arching an eyebrow.

"Patch is easy to get to from the mainland, I haven't seen Helios in months, Eagle hasn't seen Hellion" Felix shrugged "Would you spend this long away from Velvet and Yatsu?"

"I'm not judging" Coco shook her head "Say hi to your Mums for me"

"I will….and speaking of family stuff" Felix trailed off expectantly, hoping that Coco would understand the direction their talk was being steered and allow it to proceed.

"Astra?" she asked hesitantly, catching Felix's slight nod and continuing "Nurse Kintsugi tells me that they could wake up at any time, their injuries will heal but they're gonna be out of commission for at least a month or two; if you're leaving I'd suggest you taking them home with you-"

"As a temporary measure" Felix interrupted, the firm tone causing Coco to lock eyes with him and begin a stare-down which could have lasted indefinitely were it not for the weariness of both parties, as it was Coco eventually spoke.

"I gave Team MARZ strict orders and told them in no uncertain terms what would happen if they were disobeyed. Astra chose to-"

"Astra had a messy teenage breakup and needed some space; they were with me before the attack started, if it wasn't for the Grimm attack you wouldn't even have noticed they were gone" Felix gave Coco's comment a dismissive wave before speaking again, this time in an almost pleading tone "You can't seriously be thinking about kicking 'em out over this….After everything?"

"After everything?" Coco repeated slowly "Yatsu flagged their teams debriefings, made it clear that all four of them will likely need extensive counselling…..That was, damn it all Felix; neither of us had an easy time as students but that was hard to read"

"Astra held that Grimm in place and told Carcharodon to open fire on their position" Felix enunciated every word clearly "You can't expel them after this….Coco it's not right, they saved Port Alistair, the Grimm would still have been fighting like they were, organised and coordinated-"

"I know" Coco strode back to her desk and slumped into her seat "And I know I have no right to judge any leader for bending and breaking rules to get the job done considering the way I lead Team CFVY….But I have students' lives to consider here and I can't shake the feeling that Astra-"

"Astra needs guidance" Felix conceded "We knew that, we planned to give them that guidance. Why aren't we?"

"Okay" Coco breathed out "Team MARZ will be returning as second years….Despite their complete lack of ability to follow a simple instruction, I'll talk with the other professors about giving them the additional training that they were considered for. All four of those kids earned it, I can admit that"

"Astra will be happy to hear it when they wake up" Felix beamed, trying not to worry themselves by considering how long that might take.


The pain that filled Astra's senses was less surprising to the teen than the fact they were alive to feel anything at all.

Their act of self sacrifice in the final moments of the fight against Gestalt-Prime had not been the noble act of heroism that they might once have seen it as, it had instead been a rash and desperate action borne of a deep-seated need to do anything at all coupled with a complete lack of options or time which, if the memories of the look upon their partners' face as the realisation of what Astra had done hit her were any indication it was a choice that the leader of Team MARZ would soon come to regret more than they already did. Their current regrets however were of a far more immediate and physical variety; simply put there was no part of their body which was not in pain and even as their conscious mind began to order itself into some semblance of cohesive thought it was left awash with a surge of dizzy nausea that was only increased when they tried to open their eyes, finding themselves blinded by the bright yet clinically sterile lights above.

"If this is the afterlife I've been fucking cheated" Astra grumbled, managing to pout as much as possible only for a cold dread to coil within them as their attempt to move informed them that several tubes had been inserted into their body, their legs and left arm were currently encased in either casts or braces which restricted them and most worryingly of all their neck was supported by a brace which did little to offset the way their head seemed to tilt to the right of its' own accord.

"Yeah….It was bad….Nurse Kintsugi says that you'll probably be able to walk when she cuts you out of those casts but you're gonna need time to heal; that antler will grow back right?"

"My antler?" if Astra could see their face they would have seen the way the colour left it and their eyes, sporting more than one ruptured blood vessel and severe bruising around them widened in horror as they brought their still mobile right arm up to gingerly touch the point where their Faunus attribute ceased to exist, sickened revulsion and a plummeting feeling being combined with a pain that left them hissing through clenched teeth as flesh that even the most extreme Aura stimulants could not quickly heal was pulled taut. All of these sensations were brushed aside in an instant however when Astra's mind reduced the teen's entire consciousness down to a single detail.

They recognised the speakers' voice.

"Wolfie?" the mangled teens' voice was a brittle, feeble mess of fear, defeat and hope as they forced themselves into a sitting position; finding what they could still not bring themselves to call their ex-boyfriend sitting in an uncomfortable chair within what Astra now realised was a private room in Breaktide Academies' medical wing. Wolfram himself sat hunched with his eyes downcast, hair untied and falling about him and clad in clothes that were decidedly not his Hunter gear, suggesting that some time had elapsed since they had seen each other last and leaving Astra suddenly fearful for those who were not presence.

"Team MARZ!" they choked out, vaguely aware of several machines around them beeping more insistently "My brother-"

"They're okay" Wolfram answered as softly as his gruff tones could manage "Your brother was here a couple hours ago, he said he'll be back later and I said I'd keep watch….Your team needed to get patched up, they're all in their dorm after they were told to go and sleep it off, as if anyone can sleep now"

"How long-"

"Two days. You've been in a coma for two days"

"Oh" Astra said simply, fighting the urge to wretch as the understanding of how close they had truly come to death etched itself into every fibre of their being; the teen frantically seeking some positive angle found themselves looking at Wolfram, who was still yet to meet their eyes and asking "Did we do it?….Port Alistair-"

"Is a mess, but at least there's something to rebuild….You did it" Wolfram finally looked up and offered Astra a smile that allowed the Deer Faunus, for just a moment to believe that the vague hopes they carried might be vindicated.

"That's something then" they breathed out weakly.

"Your Semblance really saved us" Wolfram added, taking a deep breath before rising from his spindly chair to place himself on the edge of Astra's hospital bed "It was Professor Rose that took that Land-Shark out but we would have already been dead before she got there if it wasn't for you….I always knew you could find your Semblance and I always knew it'd be something incredible"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay but I had to-"

"I know, people to save and all that" Wolfram raised a hand to wave off Astra's concerns which were still not voiced in the form of an explicit apology, though his expression hardened in a way that reminded Astra too much of the argument that had led to their breakup "It's just a shame it took so much"

"Yeah, if only it'd been something simple like jumping off of the roof" Astra dared not add a fake laugh to the comment for fear that it would be genuinely painful, Wolfram's steely expression suggested that it would have been of little use anyway.

"That's not what I meant" he muttered "I mean I wish that it hadn't come to this….to you running away, abandoning your team. I thought you were better than that"

"I didn't" the admission came unbidden and Astra found hot tears stinging their eyes as they gave it "Without you I didn't….I didn't believe in me at all, so I didn't see the point in trying any more"

"Well it looks like we were both wrong about ourselves" Wolfram offered a snorting laugh filled with bitterness that Astra sensed was not aimed at them "I found out that I've been using my Semblance wrong….Not that I upgraded it, not learned a new trick….I was literally using my soul wrong"

"Is that what you came here for, to tell me that and make me feel better?" Astra muttered, trying their best to keep their own bitterness at a situation they could see slipping from their grasp out of their voice and failing miserably.

"You really don't get it do you?" Wolfram sighed, visibly forcing his own feelings under control with every word "I love you Astra Mars, I really do….I never wanted to end things with you, especially not the way they did-"

"Then don't" Astra's voice cracked and was reduced to a whisper by the plea.

"We need time, both of us" Wolfram answered "We've both been so wrong about ourselves, who we are…I need to figure out who I am all over again before I think about being with somebody, I think you do too. So maybe one day things can be how they were Astra, but not right now; right now I need space"

"Well look at you" Astra managed a genuine laugh now, even as the pain of it lanced through their chest and tears spilled from their eyes "Feelings and crap, being all responsible"

"You brought out the best in me" Wolfram answered with total sincerity "And whatever happens I'll always love you for that….But now you need to bring out the best in yourself. I'll go tell Nurse Kintsugi you're awake"

Astra was left in numb and silent shock as Wolfram leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on their forehead and then rose from the bed, departing a moment later without a look back. Privately they knew that this moment should feel like closure, a bittersweet moment of victory or something equally grandiose and poetic as it became apparent that despite Wolfram's hopeful assertions things could never be the same again between them in the wake of all that had happened; they knew that it should feel like the beginning of a new chapter.

Instead it was an ending and Astra felt as though their heart had been torn out.


Team MARZ's dormitory had been filled with a tension like that of the deepest abyss of Remnants' oceans since Athena-Jade, Regalia and Zirconia had been awoken from fitful, nightmare-ridden sleep by word from Professor Ruby Rose that their team leader was awake and alert and would be returned to them in short order and left flitting aimlessly around the space which seemed suddenly and far too small as they sought out anything that might occupy their minds and distract them from the conversations they all knew would be inevitable.

Physically the three of them were faring well, or at least relatively well considering the circumstances and in comparison to Astra themselves; with Regalia's dislocated shoulder having been healed by her own recovering Aura well enough to allow her to retrieve Clunker from the city and ride it back to the academy herself, rendezvousing with outriders of Clan Aiktishaf in the process so that she could have them send word to her mother that she was alive and well but could not in good conscious rejoin her people until her partner was awake. Zirconia's injuries had been similarly easy to heal with a course of Aura stimulants and painkillers combined with what little sleep the Grasshopper Faunus could managed, though the wound Carmesi Hueso had dealt her had left a thin horizontal scar running upwards from her right eyebrow that seemed unlikely to fade and leant her otherwise delicate and refined features an air that Zirconia privately felt that she might come to appreciate to some extent. Athena-Jade however had suffered more severely, in a twist of fate that was almost cruel the injuries she had received in the battle itself had been tended to whilst the ankle she had broken by falling several stories trying to reach Astra at the climax of the violence had left her needing a crutch for the first day of her recovery and even now, thought she could support her own weight the Bear Faunus had a noticeable limp which she would suffer from for at least the next week until her Aura corrected the damage.

Not that it mattered too much to Athena at that moment, given that she was sat on her on her bunk and slumped both against the wall and Zirconia's shoulder.

The snowy haired girl had by no means forgotten the promises she had made to herself regarding her relationship, hopeful and ill-defined as the term was with her partner during the search for Astra however she had been unable to broach the subject or even properly consider it since; a state of affairs that Athena herself would argue vehemently was a solid justification given that her entire team had been injured to some extent, the city had been devastated, the academy she considered her home away from Atlas now serving as a shelter and refugee camp and the sight of so many people in need and hurting had pushed ideas such as romance to the back of her mind even more effectively than the heartfelt call to her parents in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The moment would come, but the sound of the dormitory door opening made it clear that it could not be this moment.

"Astra? Oh thank fu-Aunt Ruby, I mean Professor-um….Hi" Athena stumbled over her words, the sight of Astra staggering and lurching into the dorm, their body a bruised and burned mess, littered with surgical scars and their eyes red from crying in addition to their current bloodiness being enough to catch her off-guard to the extent that she did not immediately realise that the Deer Faunus was supporting themselves with a crutch under one arm whilst the other was draped around Ruby Rose's shoulders.

"Aunt Ruby is fine today" the Silver Eyed Huntress gave a weak and tired smile and in an instant Athena had crossed the dormitory and thrown her muscular arms around her aunt, melting into a hug so tight she could feel the worry and tension beginning to leave her. Seeing that Athena was distracted and not begrudging her prioritising her family in the least, especially considering their own recent failings Astra took the opportunity to trudge a few paces into the dormitory, the experience a decidedly unpleasant one which left them wincing in discomfort with each part of their body they placed weight upon until that pressure was suddenly lessened as they felt the familiar strength of Regalia's arms holding them steady.

"Heh, I've got you"

"Thanks" Astra managed to croak out, throat suddenly dry as they forced themselves to meet their partners' eyes and saw only genuine concern there in place of the fury they had expected and been preparing themselves for; unable to maintain the gaze for long Astra allowed their eyes to drift across the room until a detail registered in their mind which left them with ice in their veins and their heart hammering painfully against bruised and broken ribs.

"You're all packing your stuff?"

"The academy is closing early" Zirconia rasped out quietly and whilst her tone was even and measured Astra could not help but note, as they looked over to her, that she had left a particularly nasty barb unsaid. Such thoughts were interrupted by Ruby chiming in.

"Zirconia's right" the teacher began, slipping into the same tone and cadence she used in lessons "Due to the ongoing nature of the current crisis the campus is being closed early to allow those students injured in the fighting time to recover, as well as allow those currently taking shelter here more space and time to deal with their situations, many of the Professors will also be unable to teach due to being needed in the city….Yatsu has assured me that his services will be available to any student who needs them over the extended summer vacation and Coco has assured me that all grades for the final mission of the year will be waived, every student either by joining the fight or defending the academy has earned that"

"Thank you Professor" Zirconia's tone hardened a little, even this brief darkening of her features being more ire than she regularly showed "But I believe Astra was more concerned about our current status as students-"

"Hops!" Athena gasped, surreptitiously gesturing to her partner in an effort to convey that now was not the time; Astra however straightened their posture as much current limitations would allow and braced themselves.

"No, she's got every right" the Deer Faunus turned to Ruby "Professor Rose, the others were out of the campus because they were looking for me. I-"

"Needed some space. Felix has already discussed the matter with Coco" Ruby waved the concern aside, privately not wanting to give Astra the attempt to dramatically flagellate themselves in lieu of an actual apology and cutting them off before they could try

"Team MARZ will be returning as Second Year students when the academy re-opens, with all current limitations lifted-"

"Thank you!" Athena's exclamation betrayed her own nerves.

"In addition you will be resuming additional training and instruction….At least for the duration of your time at Breaktide" Ruby's remaining silver eye shone with mischief "Next year is a Vytal Tournament year after all, I expect that the four of you will make it worth watching….Now, I have to head back into the city; I was only here to check on AJ and report to Coco. I'll leave the four of you to talk"

With that Ruby left and as Team MARZ found themselves alone the silence that settled over the dormitory was almost profound.

Until it was broken.

"YOU SUCK! YOU SUCK SO BAD, YOU ARE THE ABSOLUTE FUCKING SUCKIEST!" Athena-Jade yelled as she rounded on her team-leader, the rare cursing being followed not by a tirade but instead by the pale Faunus simply sagging under her own exhaustion "You could've died Astra….What the hell were you thinking?"

"I didn't know what else to do….About any of it" Astra's eyes were downcast, unable to meet their friends' gazes until the faint sound of Zirconia's cybernetics alerted the Deer Faunus to the fact that their most private team-mate had drawn close.

"Any of it" she repeated their words back to them "You nearly threw away everything that all of us have worked for and you had no right to. I respect you enough to be honest about this Astra if Athena had taken up your offer of leading this team I would have supported her-"

"I-"

"Stop taking" Zirconia cut them off firmly "We were all beyond angry with you Astra….But more than that we were worried and we were scared….And we're glad you're okay"

"I don't deserve you guys, I really don't" Astra forced the words through sniffles as their eyes began to well up again "But I'm gonna be better I promise….I was ready for you to hate me"

"Heh, you get a high idiot threshold when you live on a cramped crawler full of people" Regalia shrugged as she slunk closer to her partner and pressed something into Astra's hands "It's pretty messed up but it's yours….We thought you'd still want it"

It was their jacket.

The sight of the shredded and bloodstained remains of the fiery red garment bearing Astra's personal emblem, a garment as synonymous with the Deer Faunus as their now broken antlers or their spiked Mohawk having being reduced to tatters from which something new would have to be fashioned as the original thing simple could not be remade would have been symbolic to Astra were they not simply overwhelmed by the gesture and reduced to choked sobs as they threw their arms around all three of their team-mates and finally found words that had eluded them for so long.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything"


Team WULF, having been removed from the battle for Port Alistair rather sooner than their fellow first years Team MARZ had needed far less time to recover from their less severe physical injuries and had been supplied with concoctions of stimulants to more rapidly replenish their spent and strained Auras; though the emotional and mental strain of the battle for Port Alistair would weigh on them as much as any young Hunter's first experience against such overwhelming destruction.

Given this relatively unscathed nature the four teens had naturally spent the intervening two days helping in the running of the shelter and refugee camp that Breaktide Academy was now functioning as, aiding their fellow students who had not joined the fight directly and the administration staff overseeing the affair from almost the moment they had been deemed medically fit to do so; largely contributing in small but useful ways such as relieving overworked kitchen staff, the majority of whom were citizens of the beleaguered Capital themselves or else helping prepare rooms in unused wings of the campus held in reserve in case of just such an emergency though in addition to the this Laser had also taken to the situation by applying his usual opportunistic cunning to a more charitable end, namely finding out which residential areas of the city had borne the most damage and enlisting the help of students with cars so that he could retrieve belongings from utterly destroyed houses and apartment buildings where possible and return them to their owners.

In the face of such spirited activity, clearly borne of a need to distract themselves from what they had experienced Wolfram was somewhat surprised to find, upon slumping through the door of Team WULF's dormitory and letting out a single, wavering sob as he leaned against the wall that he was not alone.

"Wanna talk about it partner?" Ursinia's question held both a genuine and well-meaning offer as well as a fair warning to the habitually gruff teen which caused him to turn and pay more attention to his surrounds and actually register the presence of his entire team; Ursinia and Laser sharing the last dregs of what was clearly the same food being served to students and sheltering civilians alike in the canteen whilst close by Diabla was checking over what few belonging she had, Wolfram being unable to subdue a wince upon seeing that what amounted to her entire life could be contained within a duffel bag and rucksack.

"Priorities" Wolfram shrugged, shaking his head "Too many people are dealing with too much, don't worry about me-"

"You say things like that and have the audacity to be surprised that your Semblance is a shield" Laser snorted out in his usual nasal voice before looking up at Wolfram and, in a display of temerity he would not have shown in previous interactions, rolled his yellow-green eyes at his team leader whilst Diabla, who still sat on her bunk gave a chuckle and tired smile at her partners' teasing antics which only made Laser puff up with more mildly obnoxious pride and leave Wolfram bewildered, yet in a fond way as he found himself wondering just how the team he had initially doubted his own abilities to forge into a cohesive structure had become so close.

"I spoke with Astra" he finally sighed, sensing that his friends would not rest in their well-meaning pestering until he divulged some of what troubled him "I needed to see 'em before we leave….We're not back together, I don't know if we ever will be but I couldn't let our breakup be the last time we spoke. We just need some time and space to grow into ourselves"

"Sounds like a mighty fine idea to me" Ursinia nodded, patting the space beside her at the makeshift table of stacked boxes that she and Laser were huddled around

"Yeah, still hurts like a bitch though" Wolfram managed a slight grin at that before slumping passed Ursinia to instead flop backwards onto what was in fact Laser's bunk, wincing slightly before reaching beneath himself to fish out whatever small, oddly-shaped and likely stolen trinket or component he had fallen on until Diabla's voice caught his attention.

"Need a distraction?" she offered.

"Probably" he admitted "Is everything ready to go here though….I'm pretty much packed, a lot of things can honestly just stay here over the summer"

"Darlin' we were ready to get out of here from the moment the Professors told us they were gonna organise special flights; my folks want me back on the farm where they can see I'm still good and well"

"I get that" Wolfram nodded, expecting his own mother to be equally concerned upon their reunion although the comment left him shifting uncomfortably as he turned to Laser and Diabla, preparing himself for the way the talk would inevitably have to go "I can call home now and tell Mum that you two need a place to stay"

"Thanks" Laser mumbled the word out though his expression said more than words cold hope to whilst Diabla merely smiled warmly, an almost unthinkable thing to most people who knew her.

"Actually I'm heading back with Ursinia….I guess I wanted to see somewhere new" the Mantle-born brawler shrugged in a gesture of what appeared to be self-consciousness at the idea of being welcomed into a home, much less a family and Wolfram quickly turned to the Scorpion Faunus in search of an explanation.

"Plenty of room on the farm, used to having plenty of mouths to feed with all my cousins and whatnot" Ursinia said simply "One of those cousins used to help out with my grandparents gardening and things like that but they got offered their first job in the city, so I told my folks that I know a girl with a strong pair of hands who aint got no place to be for the next few months and don't mind hard work"

"Good" Wolfram felt his heart swell in a way he would once have been embarrassed to discuss "I'm glad everything worked out….I wouldn't have let any of you guys go without a place to stay anyway even if I had to find rooms and pay for 'em myself but still-"

"I appreciate it Wolfram" Diabla clearly felt that this was not a time to call her leader by the nickname 'Wolfie' but still added "And tell your Mum thanks for the offer as well"

"Will do" he nodded "In the meantime you wanna go see if there's anything else we can help with until we know when these flights are gonna be?"

With that Team WULF moved as one and headed out of their dorm, ready to help in a way far removed from the heroism and adventure they had initially sought but was still as meaningful as their actions as Hunters.


You didn't have to help me with my luggage, it's not like I came with half a dozen cases"

"Athena you have a broken ankle that's still healing" Zirconia's blunt response was accompanied by a caring yet exasperated smile, made visible by the fact that the Grasshopper Faunus's signature scarf had been removed and catching sight of the expression was enough to leave Athena-Jade herself suddenly looking anywhere but her partner as the now all too familiar blush began to creep across her cheeks. In looking around she saw that the campus itself was largely peaceful the mid afternoon air was warm and bright with the sun shining down upon them all from a blue sky, the fortress and academy serving as a bastion against whatever might attack Port Alistair so successfully that from where she stood Athena could see little if any of the fading plumes of smoke where firefighters still grappled with the extent of the damage, the only outward indication of something being amiss coming in the form of so many outsiders present upon the grounds of Breaktide, where they would stay until either their homes were secured or alternate living arrangements could be found for them.

Athena took the moment to allow the image of Breaktide Academy to embed itself in her mind, certain that she would miss it soon enough.

She was returning home to Atlas, commercial flights in and out of the Kingdom were still suspended until further notice and the private transports that Headmistress Adel intended to arrange would not be until later that evening however, as her few detractors might claim it often did Athena's family name and connections had come to her aid with her parents using their various connections, including their friendship with Headmistress and Councilwoman Coco Adel to allow a private flight into Menagerie's airspace in order to collect her; the flight would not be able to land at the academy itself however and Athena-Jade had thus been forced to limp through the campus with luggage in tow so that she could await the private car that had been sent to collect her. Once she might have complained or been left feeling awkward by the special treatment, or more fairly the reaction it would garner amongst her peers however now the snowy haired Faunus could confidently claim that she was more than her families' name; the Grimm cared nothing for prestige and she had fought against them to defend the city she called home just like her brother and parents had before her.

Her musings were soon interrupted however and she was forced to turn her attention back towards her partner despite a lingering blush as Zirconia proved that she too had been consumed by her own thoughts by voicing them.

"Do you think I was too harsh on Astra?" she looked pensive, as though worried that Athena might somehow think less of her and the Bear Faunus quickly thought back to Team MARZ's recent reunion and the tearful reconciliation which had followed; wherein Astra had all but abased themselves before their team which given their current physical condition had been a sorrowful affair that their friends had soon seen fit to put a stop to.

"Normally I'd say no, honestly normally I'd say you should have given them a piece of your mind and let them deal with the consequences of their actions….But they kind of already are, I mean….It was sad seeing them like that; they know they need to do better and I think they will next year" Athena paused, round cheeks dimpling as she added "And I don't want to be a team leader, I haven't for a while….But knowing you'd support me, that means a lot Hops"

"You did amazing" Zirconia answered earnestly "You are amazing"

"Every time I think I'm figuring you out you go and say something like that and throw me off" Athena mumbled, hoping to disguise the fact that her cheeks were now a particularly interesting shade of crimson whilst Zirconia herself looked away, clearly not intending to speak so boldly and so the shorter of the girls tried to push through the awkwardness "So….Do you think we'll be able to meet up over the summer?"

"I'm….I'm not sure" Zirconia's body language seemed to crumple "Damascus is very protective of me, understandably and after this he's certainly going to be even more so"

"I get it" Athena sighed "We can call and text, it's only a couple of months"

"I didn't come to the academy with the intention of making friends….But I'm going to miss you a lot" Zirconia's words left Athena struggling not to choke on thin air, only for her partner to follow them up with something even less expected by leaning in close and being the one to initiate a brief but tight hug.

Athena-Jade quickly realised that this was the moment.

Her promise to herself that when Astra was safe and sound she was going to act on her feelings for her partner came rushing back to the forefront of her mind, however with it came all the nerves and worries that had accompanied that intention and so she was left standing dumbstruck as the two of them broke apart, willing herself to act or speak and yet simply finding herself staring into mismatched pink and orange eyes that she would have been happy to gaze into for far longer until her partner spoke again.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah….Just" she trailed off, eyes roving up from her partners' eyes to the scar running upwards from her right eyebrow that Carmesi Hueso had inflicted and then, acting on instinct that felt more like an epiphany Athena reached to the jade green bandanna wrapped around her own bulging bicep and quickly untied it before bringing it up to Zirconia's head, brushing her partners' curtain of black and spiky hair away so that she could tie the bandanna around her forehead as an impromptu bandage.

"It looks good on you" she murmured, hands trailing down to Zirconia's cheeks as her heart hammered in her chest and air suddenly became scarce, seconds stretching out forever as Athena tried to force herself to be brave enough to do what she wanted so badly to do until finally her doubts caused her to waver, though her resolve allowed her to make a compromise with herself and so, heart still pounding and sapphire eyes drifting closed she reached up on her tiptoes to kiss Zirconia on the cheek.

It was gentle, it was tender and it was brief and then, in a single fleeting moment it was over.

"I uh, I think that's my taxi, I've gotta go; I promise I'll call!" Athena exclaimed, hurriedly clutching her luggage to herself and limping away on her injured leg with a complete lack of dignity as her bravery and conviction failed her in spectacular fashion whilst for her part Zirconia was simply dazed, staring after her partners' retreating form with a longing smile.

It was going to be a long summer.


Managing to secure her own luggage, along with what Astra still had in their possession following the crash of their brothers' car to Clunker in such a way that Astra themselves could still ride behind Regalia, especially given their current injuries had been a task which required some planning, flexibility in regards to the concept of physics and at least one small use of her Semblance however she had managed to do it.

The ride from Breaktide Academy to the docks had been a sobering thing, the multitude of rushing emotions brought about by Team MARZ's reunion however brief it might have been forcibly scrubbed from the thoughts of the two Faunus as Clunker carried them through Port Alistair where they were forced confront the stark reality of what Gestalt-Prime's horde had inflicted upon the city. Now that Astra was declared well enough to leave the campus Regalia had sensed that it was time to make good upon her promise and return to the Aiktishaf and her people, a notion given a sense of urgency by the knowledge that her own mother was amongst the clans' wounded and so she had said her goodbyes to Athena-Jade and Zirconia before offering to take her parter to the docks where they could join Team FADE and sail back to the Kingdom of New Vale before rendezvousing with the Aiktishaf Outriders and scavengers working systematically through the city in order to find any trapped or injured people and cut down any lurking monsters; the journey had taken longer than Regalia had expected as the familiar route between the two landmarks was denied to her, along with several ideal alternatives due to roads rendered impassable by cordons and checkpoints patrolled by armed security insisting that the two students turn back, makeshift barricades stacked too high for Clunker to clear or destruction that was simply too all-encompassing and as a consequence of this Regalia and Astra had witnessed destruction that the Deer Faunus had not seen since their childhood when Vale's Capital had been under siege by Salem's forces and that the Racoon Faunus was entirely unfamiliar with.

Eventually however the two of them reached the docks.

"Heh, don't worry I've got you" Regalia assured her partner as she clambered off of her jetbike and aided Astra's evidently hampered efforts to do the same.

"Thanks" Astra mumbled gratefully, still barely able to look at their partner as the stomach-churning realisations of the magnitude of their own failures left the once bravado-riddled teen trying to shrink into a corner even whilst stood in open space and for a few moments the pair simply stood in awkward silence, Astra shifting their weight on their crutch to accommodate what little luggage they still possessed and debating popping the collar of the bloodied and shredded jacket which they had worn out of a simply refusal to part with it; the only sounds between them were those of the gulls wheeling overhead, the gently crashing waves nearby and the idling thrum of Clunker's Dust powered engine as the jetbike hovered in place until finally Regalia cleared her throat and gestured towards an unmistakable figure standing in the shadow of the Nemesis Kharybdis, the ships' hull distinct in its' patchwork and heavily reinforced nature along with the glyphs and sigils of an Aima tribe daubed upon it.

"Your brother's there so….this is is it?" Regalia swallowed thickly, sensing that a moment would soon come where the two of them would have to be more honest with one another than either of them were comfortable with, Astra sensed it as well and gingerly touched the broken, roughened edge of their left antler and took a wavering breath.

"Are we gonna be okay?" they croaked the question out "After everything I mean….Sorry doesn't feel like enough, not even close"

"You asked me to trust you" Regalia's voice cracked, breaking as though a dam holding her emotions back had finally given way and she became more fluent in her frustration with every word that followed "You ran away from us, your team with just a note, did you really think we'd just be okay with it? That we wouldn't come after you? And then we were fighting and you asked me if I trusted you and….And damn it all I did and you used that, you made me be the one to throw you at the Grimm so you could sacrifice yourself! If you'd told me what you were planning I-we could have found another way!"

"I'm sorry I had to ask you to….I'm sorry I hurt you, more than I can say" Astra shook their head slowly as they choked the words out, noticing again the newly altered sense of balance "But I'm not sorry I made that call. I didn't want to do it but it was all I could come up with and if I didn't do something you were all going to get hurt….I couldn't let it happen"

"Then I guess we'll just have to do better next time" Regalia offered the answer with a smirk so like what Astra had might have given in similar circumstances that the Deer Faunus could only smile numbly, the understanding that this was an olive branch of sorts slowly dawning upon them, just as Regalia spoke again and left her partner, leader and friend confused "And I'm sorry too"

"You've got nothing to apologise for"

"I have" Regalia's eyes screwed shut for a moment "Before you and Wolfram broke up the two of us had a talk, about how you'd been acting and how we were worried about you and….I don't know for sure but, I'm sorry Astra, I think I might've have accidentally convinced him to end things with you"

Astra remained rooted to the spot for several seconds, mind struggling to process his partners' words as the reasonable part of their mind declaring that they had no right to be angry at any of their friends was screamed into submission by the stinging sense of betrayal.

"Are we gonna be okay?" Regalia returned Astra's own words to them, lip quivering slightly as she tried to appear hopeful and yet resolute, ready for whatever might come in the same instant and Astra soon realised that they simply could not bring themselves to loather her however forgiveness remained just out of their reach.

"We'll be okay….eventually" they nodded "But right now I think I need some space away from everything, from everyone"

"I….Okay" Regalia nodded before climbing back onto Clunker and setting off in the direction of one of her peoples' scout parties. As they watched her leave Astra found themselves assured of the fact that they did wholeheartedly believe their own assertions, a welcome rarity which allowed them to relax slightly and release some of the tension building in their battered and bruised body; in turn allowing them to register the sound of footsteps approaching as the roaring scream of Clunker's engine faded into the distance.

"Hey kid….Looked like you two needed a minute"

"Yeah, yeah we did" Astra nodded as they turned towards their brother, glad to see that Felix appeared entirely unharmed despite the brutality of the Grimm's attack on Port Alistair.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked.

"Yeah" Astra repeated, the honesty in that single word allowing them to give a sincere smile "Yeah, I think it's gonna take some time and some work but we're all gonna be okay"

"Good" Felix slapped a hand down on Astra's shoulder, careful not to trouble any injuries as he steered his younger sibling towards the ship that would carry them home "Because we found my car where you left it and you're gonna spend the summer fixing it.

Astra could only manage a wordless groan in response to that.


Whilst those students of Breaktide Academy not native to the Kingdom of Menagerie would soon be returning to their homes aboard specially authorised flights provided by Coco Adel Zirconia Shadowmoon had, like her team-mates found herself able to depart ahead of her peers through personal connections, namely the fact that she was the ward of Chairman Damascus Nero of the Clara Die Novus Conglomerate whose wealth and influence was tempered only by his reputed altruism. The Chairman had, at some point during the two days that had passed since the breach of Port Alistair, reached out to the Council of Menagerie and specially the local governance of the Capital city to both offer any aid that his considerable resources could be put towards whilst at the same time reminding those same officials that it was a team of specialist engineers under his employee who had restored the functionality of Hammerfall Observation Outpost with the end result of the negotiations being that a private flight would be chartered in order to send an initial team of analysts to survey the scale of the crisis and determine how best the conglomerate could help with the engineers already on Menagerie using the same flight to return home; Chairman Nero had naturally contacted Zirconia at the earliest opportunity to inform her that a place had been reserved for her aboard said flight and that he would very much appreciate her swift return to Neo Vale.

Which was how the Grasshopper Faunus had come to find herself roaming the streets of Port Alistair, making her way steadily towards the airship terminals.

The sun had passed its' zenith though the dry heat showed little sign of abating, making the task of trudging through streets littered with debris and broken glass and hauling her luggage around overturned vehicles and the remains of decimated store-fronts or other, more severely damaged buildings a more arduous affair that it strictly needed to be, however Zirconia found herself less bothered by this inconvenience that she might otherwise have been as she allowed her mind to drift, the act of adjusting the bandanna Athena-Jade had tied around her forehead before her own departure giving the insectoid girl a reason to once again recall the brief and chaste kiss that had been playing in her mind since the moment it had occurred.

Until the sound of glass breaking underfoot snapped her senses back to her immediate surroundings.

"Show yourself!" Zirconia demanded in a low and dangerous rasp, luggage falling to group forgotten as her hand flew to her waist and clasped Sunriser Cain so that it could be drawn and fired in an instant whilst her mismatched eyes scanned her surroundings cautiously until a flicker of movement, shadows within shadows caught her attention and then, leaping through a shattered window and landing with an unsteady tremble before pulling himself upright an individual who was easily recognisable despite the utter ruination of his body appeared in the otherwise empty street.

Carmesi Hueso.

"You've gotten sloppy, I knew you were coming from three streets away" the words held an unmistakable note of disapproval, yet none of the violent threat that an onlooker would have expected; Zirconia's response too was missing the proper amount of panic as she merely narrowed her eyes.

"Don't presume to talk as if you're the one who trained me Carmesi"

"You're late…..he wants to speak with you" the Komodo Dragon Faunus rumbled out, deep crimson eyes which were now surrounded by bruises which extended across most of his body to an extent that it suggested a degree of internal injury which Aura alone had not yet begun to heal; after a single moment of pause wherein he studied Zirconia's glaring features he snorted and added "Don't tell me you're upset about the hit I got in on you in the tower, you should have been able to avoid it"

"We will speak soon enough" Zirconia huffed, her usual almost demure tones being replaced by a rare irritability at the sight of the rogue Hunter before her gaze focused on a metallic container slung across their back, which drew a single muffled gasp from her "Is that-"

"It is. I did it" Carmesi crowed, unable to contain his self-satisfied smugness at his victory before returning his voice to its' normal imposing bluntness "And this isn't a discussion, he wants to speak"

With that the older Faunus withdrew his scroll and both he and Zirconia unconsciously stiffened slightly as the video call began, revealing the shadowy and indistinct figure of the Benefactor; the figures' modulated and distorted voice filled with crackling tension as he spoke.

"Carmesi….We will address the consequences of your actions in due course. In the meantime report" there was a pause as the Benefactor took in the sight of just who was calling him and added "It pleases me to see that you're still capable of some degree of cooperation despite the necessary subterfuge…..I see that the Major is absent, I take it-"

"Dead" Carmesi snarled hatefully "He betrayed us at the last moment….Fool"

"Unfortunate, but not unforeseen….Alas, but now there is no need for disguises" with that the Benefactor's image flickered and distortion filled the screen for a moment before it was replaced with an unedited video feed of a man who was tall and boasted a physique that had once been more powerful than it currently was, clad in an expensive black suit adorned with various trinkets and whose right hand was hidden by a silk glove whilst his thin face was framed by dark, cascading waves of hair which framed eyes like quartz but did not hide a path of discoloured scarring which crept up from the right side of his jawline across his cheekbone and reached to just below his eye.

Chairman Damascus Nero of the Clara Die Novus Conglomerate.

"It's good to see you again" Zirconia rasped "I never did like the disguise, it was a little too pretentious"

"I will endeavour to make my next ruse more appealing to your tastes" the sardonic reply from the revealed Benefactor came in his own voice, faintest traces of a stutter and accent and all and was offered with the loving sincerity of a father; the brief reunion ending as Carmesi gave a wordless growl at the moment he could not be a part of which reminded both ward and guardian of their more immediate concerns.

"We have the subject?" Damascus enquired

"We do" Carmesi gestured to the containment unit slung across his back "It was almost gone when I found it, carelessness on Zirconia's-"

"Zirconia's ability to install a backdoor onto the ship Team FADE and their allies operate from is the only reason the mission was not a failure" Damascus countered firmly, unwilling to countenance the cheap point scoring "Unfortunately that avenue is now likely closed to us as I had to personally interfere with the ships' targeting systems to prevent its' Captain from hitting our target directly"

"And we don't have any bugs within the academy itself" Zirconia noted quietly, eyes downcast as she explained herself once again "I managed to orchestrate events so that I had an opening to bug Adel's office….I didn't account for her son walking in on me; I couldn't-"

"You did what was needed and made the correct choice" Damascus assured her "I wouldn't have asked you to kill an innocent simply to secure an objective"

"He leaves that kind of work to me" Carmesi sneered, lacing the word with vitriol which had the Chairman rounding on him in an instant.

"And you seem to delight in the havoc you leave in your wake Carmesi, but as I said we will discuss your actions in private….In the meantime stop the bickering, it's beneath you. I will arrange for your medical evacuation, you're in a bad state"

"Don't worry about me" Carmesi rumbled, his anger subdued somewhat by the genuine concern for his well-being "I need to bring the target to-"

"Zirconia will bring it Neo Vale, the flight I have arranged will be avoiding a great deal of the usual customs. Soon we will be able to move into the next phase of our plans for Remnant"

Carmesi glowered at Zirconia for a fleeting moment before grimacing and slinging the containment unit down from his shoulder and passing it carefully to the younger Faunus who regarded it with awe that was mingled with fear and revulsion as she considered what lay within its' sealed and secured form. Presently she began to open her luggage and redistribute her belongings so that the containment unit which held the captured Gestalt-Prime could be hidden away, secure in the knowledge that her bags would not be checked and as she did this she found her thoughts wandering once again as every item she moved and replaced seemed to now hold memories of her time at Breaktide Academy, the friends she had made and especially her partner. Zirconia considered herself lucky that Damascus and Carmesi were discussing matters amongst themselves at that moment as she was forced to steel herself, wiping away a single tear before it could fall and remind herself of the noble cause behind every act of deception she had committed over the course of the last year and the many more that would undoubtedly follow.

A bright new day for all of Remnant.

Author's Notes:

And that is the end of Vol.03 and the entire first year arc.
Okay….Put down the pitchforks, put them down.
Yeah, that is how you cliffhanger and that ending, hoo boy, I have literally had that in my back pocket since before I even wrote Chapter 01; this has been planned out since the very beginning and I've been holding onto it for over a year.
We'll get more into it in the summary but all I'm going to say is you haven't seen anything yet, because there is still a lot of this story left to tell.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
So the battle was Saturday, it's now Monday; I originally wasn't gonna have such a long break but honestly given the injuries a couple people got they weren't gonna wake up for a couple days.
Nickel Polendina, protector of the hopeless….It's a nice resolution to her story.
I think recent world events have shown the world that the aftermath of a battle is even more of a struggle than the fight itself.
If you follow me on Tumblr you'll know that the whole thing about needing Hunters to be publicly present and needing a swift response to keep further Grimm attacks gave me an idea for a Post Vol.3 story following Goodwitch, Shop-keep and some OCs in Vale that would have a definite Batman No Man's Land vibe.
So nobody knows if Carmesi is still alive and they have every reason to thing that Gestalt-Prime was actually killed by that rail-gun shot.
Coco is no Ironwood, she will give back control of the city to the people the moment those walls are back up and running.
Coco does have a point, the clans have a reputation comparable to say, Irish or Roma travellers in the UK, they deal in scrap and right now the biggest supply of scrap is what used to be peoples' houses….There could very easily be an incident.
Felix did promise that he'd talk to Coco on Astra's behalf and he might be tough on 'em but he's not a liar.
Every time I have a character wake up staring at a hospital ceiling I think of Evangelion.
Basically Astra's first thoughts were "Fuck".
Aura turns life changing injuries into 'That's gonna take a weekend to fix' and Astra is still gonna be down for a month or two, that's how badly hurt they were.
And here it comes, the Astra and Wolfram….Well I can't call it closure yet, but a bookend.
"I didn't" ouch, there is the truth of it all. Astra, despite all there bravado did not see anything in themselves.
Wolfram has grown so much….And he's right, they do both need some time and space to grow.
So yeah, there's no getting back together dramatically at the end of the arc because honestly it wouldn't be healthy or productive and that 'Big gesture but day to day work' mentality is something Astra needs to abandon.
Oh yeah AJ already had semi-regular nightmares about things from her childhood, AJ and Zirconia probably have them every so often about the siege of New Vale in FADE but now everyone has got a nightmare in common.
Zirconia has half a Weiss Schnee scar on the other eye.
AJ gets a pass, you can't expect her to ask her crush out at a time like this.
"Especially considering their own recent failings" Oh Astra is gonna have a whole new set of issues and flagellate themselves.
Zirconia is allowed to snipe at Astra a little.
So the fact that the Vytal Tournament is happening in Vale and that Coco knows the Benefactor is in Vale should have been your hints that something big was coming concerning the shift in setting.
Was there anything else AJ could say there?
AJ's jacket is wrecked, because traditionally new school year means new looks.
And there it is, Astra finally remembered how to actually apologise.
So Team WULF are all okay and have been doing what they can to help the people taking shelter at the academy, Ursinia is part of a big rural family, she can cook and Diabla spent years on army base where she was definitely given some of the grunt work so she can cook too….Although she is still squeamish about butchering her own meat, whereas Wolfram is from out in the sticks and he, Ursinia and Laser have all caught their own meat before.
Laser calling Wolfie out on his shit, Diabla laughing at Laser's smart-ass comments, look at these kids and how far they've come.
Wolfram was already making plans to look after Laser and Diabla over the summer, now he gets to remember that he isn't the main character and that his team are just as capable of looking after one another without him as he'd like them to be.
So Laser is spending the summer in Stalwart and Diabla is going to Ursinia's farming village on the very edge of Vale's territory.
Also, remember Wolfram's thoughts on jobs that weren't dramatic, like security work and things like that earlier on in the story….Look at him now.
"It's not like I came with half a dozen cases" yeah Weiss.
She might not want to use the family name as a crutch but at the same time she wants to go home.
AJ has a lot of figuring out to do with Zirconia.
And here it is, the moment we've all been waiting for, let's see if AJ's got the nerve.
The bandanna thing, I mean considering the significance of colour in Remnant….there's really not any wiggle room about that and then the kiss….Oh my fucking god she had to stand on her tiptoes and she kissed her on the cheek; look at these adorable fucking dorks.
Just giving an idea of how battered the city got.
I feel like Regalia had a lot to get off of her chest but wouldn't be able to say it in front of anybody else so I gave the two of them a moment.
Regalia is absolutely right to be angry, Astra did what they did with the best intentions but if they had died Regalia would have felt like their blood was on her hands and had to live with that for the rest of her life.
But on the flip side, she did inadvertently contribute to the entire situation in the first place….Although it seems so small in comparison now.
So Team MARZ are gonna be fine but understandably they all need some space away from each other to process everything that just happened.
And of course Felix got his car back.
Chairman Damascus Nero, once again having people in all the right places after something goes wrong and having just enough altruism to get something he wants out of it.
So Carmesi survived and dragged himself away from where he collapsed in the street and now we get to the grand WHAT THE FUCK that I've been holding onto.
Okay so Zirconia is a double agent and here's how deep the foreshadowing goes, every time Zirconia has spoken about helping people she's never once said that she's planning to do so as a Hunter, she was the only member of Team MARZ to be inside the bridge of the Nemesis Kharybdis and that was specifically because she's a programmer which I set up by having her literally modify the academies' training holograms, she was outside the staffroom door when Coco was talking about Rowan's prison transfer and passed that information along, she was still at Breaktide when Fox was attacked whilst the rest of Team MARZ were away but it goes even deeper….Zirconia, is an artificial stone, for all of her Kamen Rider aesthetic she's named Shadowmoon after the villain who was a brainwashed friend turned enemy, her weapon is spelt Sunriser Cain, not Cane 'Cain' as in the one who biblically killed his own brother. This set up has been here, just out of view the whole time.
Obviously if Zirconia is a double agent then there's only one person that the Benefactor could be but get this; Clara Die Novus literally means "Bright new day" in Latin but then go back and read any scene where either the Benefactor or Damascus says that they have matters to attend to, the other one will show up later on in the same chapter.
Also yeah, Damascus is pissed at Carmesi over Port Alistair.
So there's not bugs in Breaktide or the Nemesis Kharybdis now, but Damascus's people just finished on Hammerfall Outpost.
The rivalry between Carmesi and Zirconia will be something to get into, considering that Zirconia still hasn't discussed her childhood and history with AJ yet.
So Zirconia has been working undercover this whole time but evidently there's now a Bear Faunus sized chink in that armour of hers.

Thank you to MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
I originally planned for this story to have a low stakes, fantasy slice of life feel...I really cannot help myself; I mean just wait until you see what I've got for the first 'monster' of the week of Vol.04.
It's not bittersweet any more, now it's just sour

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.