Ruby couldn't help but gawk in awe as she walked through the entrance to Haven and was greeted by a truly massive mural overhead of some great battle, soldiers locked in formation holding off an unending wave of Beowolves, all surrounding the centerpiece, which was some warrior armed with a seriously wicked Mistrali halberd which he was using to cleave a Nevermore's head right off.

"I also had that reaction when I toured Haven the first time. Before it was converted to a Huntsmen Academy, this place was the imperial palace for the Mistrali royalty, and they certainly spared no expense on its construction…. Though you may not want to keep your mouth open too much, you'll end up catching bugs." Pyrrha teased from up ahead, her cloak and sash fluttering through the air as she spun around to look back at her friends.

"I can't blame her… it is rather beautiful," Ren said, his lilac eyes tracing over every detail of the mural above and the brilliant colors and vivid, flowing design of the Mistrali style of architecture. Compared to Beacon's grand but austere gray stone, it oozed a level of fanciness and money that Ruby was pretty sure would make Weiss blush.

"All this to house one person's family seems a bit like a waste," Nora added, eyes frowning as she looked around.

Pyrrha continued matter-of-factly, "Well, initially, this was a much more humble bastion by the First Empress to house her family and the city's populace when Grimm attacked."

"Explains why it's built all the way on top of two mountains. Makes it easy to defend." Ren said.

Nora's brow quirked, "So how did a fortress designed to protect people get turned into this monstrosity?"

"Well, Mistral eventually grew large and capable enough to defend itself without the need to fall back to Haven, and it was expanded into more of an administrative center to help the imperial family manage the growing empire."

Nora fired back, "Still doesn't explain why they'd need to make it so… glitzy. I imagine there is a lot they could have done with that wealth."

"As much as it was because they believed they deserved such privileges in response to their immense duty, the ostentatiousness of it all did have a practical purpose too. A beautiful palace above the clouds that cost the wealth of multiple kingdoms was a good way to flex your power over your subjects and vassals.". Pyrrha said.

"So, is there any sort of story to this painting? Or just some ruler trying to polish his ego by pretending he fought Grimm." Ren asked.

"No, this piece above us has some truth behind it, even if it is a rather glorified depiction of what happened. It was commissioned by the Fourth Emperor, showing The Battle of Ascension against the Grimm surrounding the outskirts of Mistral in 706 BGW. The battle is named such because it broke the Grimm's numbers for decades, which allowed Mistral to truly begin the imperial expansion that would eventually see it cover all of Anima."

"So, what were their names?" Nora asked, "You've only brought up their titles so far."

Pyrrha smiled, her emerald eyes alight with passion, "It's because the Mistrali emperors had a tradition of intentionally wiping any record of their name upon taking the throne and adopting the title. After all, what's a simple name compared to being the ruler of the known world?"

"Seems pompous to me." Nora crossed her arms, sticking her tongue out at the painting of the emperor.

Pyrrha chuckled, "Oh, they absolutely were pompous, though taking the name of your family's profession as a last name was actually how many people used to be named before the Great War."

"That sounds kinda boring. Imagine how many people last named 'Huntsman' would be at Beacon." Ruby said.

"They'd probably think we're overly self-indulgent, but Ruby Huntsman doesn't exactly have the same ring as Ruby Rose and…" Pyrrha's face fell, "I'm sorry… I'm getting distracted and delaying everyone when we should be heading straight to meet with Headmaster Lionheart."

Ruby frowned, "Don't apologize! I totally get what it's like when you just sorta really get talking about stuff you like. I get like that with weapons to my team all the time, and you actually make this stuff interesting, too!"

That was sorta true, at least. Ruby mostly just liked seeing Pyrrha be so energetic about something, seeing how those deep green eyes lit up and how her controlled stride almost broke into an excited run like when Ruby got to explore a new weapon shop. Especially given everything that happened, Pyrrha deserved to be a little happy.

"I think spending some time walking around will help center us and also," Ren cracked the faintest hint of a grin, "stretch a bit after being on an airship for so long."

"And I think it wouldn't kill the headmaster to wait just a bit. We can always just… say we got lost, or some Grimm delayed our flight, or one of us had to use the bathroom because-"

Ren intervened quickly, "I think we get your point, Nora,"

Ruby let out a small giggle before looking at Pyrrha, who was looking at the three of them with a growing smile, "Well, if you wouldn't mind… I'd be happy to play tour guide…. Hmmm, where to-? Oh, I have an idea!"

Pyrrha spun around and strode forward. As they pulled behind to follow her, Nora sidled up next to her, speaking lowly, "You should have seen her at the Valean National Museum, but… thanks, Ruby."

It took a moment, but Ruby understood what she meant and flashed her back with a bright grin, "Of course! Pyrrha is my friend, too."

/

Pyrrha probably spent at least two hours talking and explaining the vagaries of everything they passed. She was a bit embarrassed that she'd ended up blathering that long, but… her friends seemed to enjoy listening to her play tour guide. Pyrrha certainly enjoyed seeing their faces when they realized just how the Imperial Gardens had been able to serve as Haven's courtyard, especially Ruby. Pyrrha had a feeling that Ruby thought it would just be a fancy herb garden.

Eventually, they'd meandered their way to the headmaster's office. Much like Beacon, the headmaster's office in Haven was situated at the highest point of the academy, the pinnacle of the former imperial palace. The doors to the office were heavy wooden things with ornate carvings depicting an artistic rendition of Haven, the surrounding city of Mistral, and the surrounding environment. All around them, sunlight shone through expansive windows, giving a truly stunning view of the surrounding sea of green that went all the way to the horizon. For hundreds of years, it was a view exclusively reserved for Mistral's imperial family but now accessible to everyone. Pyrrha sighed. Normally, thinking about such things helped cheer her up and center her, making her problems feel small, but… with everything that was happening, everything that had happened to Beacon, to Jaune… It felt hollow to think about how good they had it.

She shook her head, fists clenching. Now wasn't the time for navel-gazing anyway; as much as she didn't want to have this meeting, they were on a mission here. Pyrrha wouldn't hold everyone up with her hesitation. She looked briefly at her friends, who all gave soft smiles of support before firmly knocking on the double doors.

"A-Ah, give me a moment!" Pyrrha instantly recognized the voice of Headmaster Lionheart. From the sound of it, his voice much softer and muffled by the heavy doors, they must have caught him in the middle of a call.

A few seconds later, the double doors swung open, with the old headmaster gesturing for them to come in as he returned to his desk.

Compared to the last time she'd seen the man, there were noticeable dark circles under his eyes, his face resting in a slight frown, and his shoulders slumped as he sat down, not even attempting to maintain some sense of poise. Of course, then he'd been proudly giving Pyrrha a tour of Haven, not having to deal with… everything.

The headmaster took a deep breath, "It's good to see you and your friends have made it here swiftly and safely. I hope the accommodations the Council arranged were to your liking?"

Ruby's brows furrowed, "It was nice, but-"

Pyrrha quickly cut her off, "It was lovely; please pass our gratitude on to the Council."

She mouthed a silent 'Sorry' to Ruby, who looked briefly puzzled before letting out a wordless 'Ooh.'

The headmaster sighed, his shoulders sagging as he looked away, "I do wish this meeting was happening under better circumstances, and I'm… dearly sorry for everything that happened at Beacon."

"You have no reason to apologize, headmaster; it wasn't your fault what happened." After all, it was Pyrrha's fault. She couldn't bear to hear the same false platitudes yet again, not when it was her slowness that lost the Maiden powers, that got Jaune….

It was Ren who continued, "What happened at Beacon is precisely why we're here, headmaster. We know the perpetrators came disguised from Haven, and we've reason to believe they're coming for Mistral's missing Maiden next."

Lionheart's eyes widened, well-worn wrinkles on his face creasing, "W-who told you all of that?"

Ruby chimed in, "My Uncle Qrow did, Headmaster. So we can stop them from getting the Maiden while he's busy doing stuff we can't."

"We're hoping you could help us look into team ABER and maybe help locate the Maiden," Nora said.

The headmaster sighed yet again, "Unfortunately, you likely know just as much about her location as I do. Ever since she abandoned her duty around a decade ago, she's vanished, and we have even fewer resources to look for her when so many Huntsmen are now devoted to just keeping the upsurge in Grimm from overwhelming the outlying settlements. As for our perpetrators, I'll gladly give you a copy of their transcripts and applications, but Cinder's team seems to have-"

It took only a moment for the incongruity to rear its ugly head to her, "Wait, Cinder?" Pyrrha asked, "But the name she used was Ash Autumn? If you knew she was using a fake name, why not investigate?"

Lionheart's eyes widened, and Pyrrha could see the man's tail swishing energetically in the background while his voice quavered, "O-oh yes, she… I prefer to talk with each of my students at least once… and it came up that her name was Cinder."

Nora crossed her arms, "And that didn't seem suspicious at all?"

The headmaster gathered himself for a second before he continued, "Many students with troubled backgrounds use fake names to try and move beyond their past, and Cinder seemed like an exceptional young woman, so I didn't pry. Most of my attention involving Team ABER was focused on keeping watch on Mercury anyway. As the son of an assassin who made a career of killing Huntsmen and seemed to cause an entire team's worth of trouble, I hope you can understand why my focus, unfortunately, shifted to him. I wouldn't be surprised if that were their intention all along."

Ruby interjected, "And besides! Blake came in with a lot of things left out of her transcripts too so she could enroll in Beacon, and she ended up being a good person."

Pyrrha frowned. Calling Blake a good person? After vanishing when Ruby's sister lost an arm to save Blake's life and her team leader was in a coma? Ruby really did look for the best in everyone.

Nora nodded in response to Ruby before her eyes shifted back to Lionheart, "Is there anything you can maybe do to help with our investigation? Allow us to search the room they stayed in here, examine their applications, anything?"

"Or if we could assist your own investigation in any way, we'd be more than happy to help." Ren quickly added.

Lionheart steepled his fingers, eyes scrunching up in thought, "My own search has unfortunately come to an impasse. The faculty has already reviewed their form and records, and nothing has come up, but I've also been mostly focused on keeping this place from falling to pieces and dealing with the current diplomatic mess, so hmmm… I don't think there would be any harm in letting you take over the search." His gaze softened, "While I don't believe I will be able to help you all too much, I'll give you what I can, along with lodgings here at Haven." He sighed, "All I ask is that you make sure to take on some of the missions being posted. I know you are all still students, but we're so overwhelmed that anything helps."

"Of course, we'd be more than happy to help out, right guys?" Ruby's silver eyes flicked over Pyrrha and her two teammates.

Pyrrha and her two teammates nodded in affirmation before Pyrrha shifted her attention back to the headmaster, "I apologize for bringing this up since I know it might be… blunt, but I imagine that the Council certainly wanted something from me in exchange for helping us get here so quickly."

For the first time in the meeting, Lionheart gave a small smile. "No, you're just not sugarcoating how things work around here. After dealing with Mistralian politics for a few decades, someone getting straight to the point is far more preferable. As for what the Council wants, thankfully, it's only really one or maybe two things. They mostly want you to give an interview about what happened at Beacon."

Pyrrha felt her mouth dry up, "Wh-why do they need that?"

"Miss Nikos, the last thing most people saw was a national celebrity accidentally tearing apart that poor girl and scattered footage of Atlesian war machines gunning down civilians before being cut off from the rest of the world. They're scared and confused, and a good portion are convinced an Atlesian invasion is going to happen any minute. Having someone on the ground clear up what happened would do a great deal of good, and it could help clear your name of any odious falsehoods people may have spread."

Pyrrha's fists clenched, her polarity snaking across the room, grasping and touching the buckles, metal bits, on her friend's outfits, "I… I'll…" She just wanted to hide away, but… S-she couldn't be selfish again. She couldn't! How many people died already because of Pyrrha hesitating? Even entertaining that was desecrating Jaune's sacrifice.

Pyrrha took a deep breath as she tried to center herself "Y-yes… that is more than acceptable, Professor." Her voice only slightly wavered. She wouldn't let her fear control her, she wouldn't be a spineless coward like Blake, like Yan-

Nora stepped forward, eyes flicking between Pyrrha and the headmaster, "Can we get at least some time to settle in? A few weeks, perhaps? Give Pyrrha some time to prepare."

"Nora, it's-"

Pyrrha stopped as Ruby's hand gently wrapped around her own clenched fist, while Ren's light touch on her shoulder preceded the soothing calm of Ren's semblance, and Gods was Pyrrha shaking?

She exhaled, fists unclenching and her Polarity receding as she began clasping Ruby's hand in return.

Yes, Nora was right; she… she could maybe use some time to steady herself so she could be fully collected when the time came. That was it, yes.

Thankfully, the headmaster didn't comment on the exchange, simply replying to Nora, "Yes, I think I can sell the Council on a two-week gap, though almost certainly nothing more. If that is what Miss Nikos wants, of course." His gaze focused on her, and his eyes crinkled in concern.

Pyrrha took a few increasingly steady breaths before she responded, "Yes, I'd like two weeks to prepare if you don't mind, headmaster. It's not like we won't be busy after all; we finally have our culprit's real name after all."

/

Pyrrha and her friends arrived at the dorm that had been assigned to them to find all their luggage neatly sorted and separated into each individual dorm suite. Unlike the other Academies, at Haven, students had their own rooms with a larger common area connecting them.

Nora, of course, was the first to break in their new living quarters by promptly leaping onto and sprawling out over the couch in the common area, with Ruby and Ren sitting beside her. Pyrrha remained standing, fiddling with her scroll.

"Soooo, are you guys feeling hungry? I don't know whether it would be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, given this whole time change business, but I'm starving." Nora's question was immediately punctuated by the growling of her stomach.

"I think the dining hall would be closed, but maybe we could take them to some of the places in the lower quarter we used to go to? We'd get to show Ruby a bit of the city, and they wouldn't ask too many questions about our mysterious hooded companion." Ren's eyes quickly shifted to Pyrrha, and she flashed him a small smile of appreciation.

Ruby grinned as she nodded, "Yeah, that sounds great! Does that sound good to you, Pyrrha?" Her gaze shifted to Pyrrha, her soft, silver eyes meeting Pyrrha's own.

"I'm also feeling rather peckish, but… I need to make a call first, if you don't mind. With the CCT down, I haven't been able to contact my mother in Vale, and I want to let her know that I'm okay.

Ruby gave her a sympathetic look. "Of course, Pyrrha, go talk to your mom; we'd be happy to wait a bit for you."

Ren silently nodded in agreement while Nora playfully shooed her toward her room.

After Pyrrha closed the door, she sat on the bed, pulling out her scroll and tracking down her mother's number in her contact list.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she hit the call button. Her scroll rang once, then twice, then-

"Pyrrha, is that really you? Please tell me it's you!" Her mother's normally soft-spoken voice came through the scroll with an unfamiliar, disjointedness.

"Yes, mother, it's-"

"By the Pantheon, you're alive! You're okay! I-I know communications went down, and evacuations have been slow, but the last I saw you and with all the reports about everything happening in Vale, I…" A shuddering sob passed through the scroll, and a pang of guilt lanced through Pyrrha. Gods, her poor mother thought she'd died.

"I'm sorry for making you worry, Mom, but I managed to make my way back to Mistral; me and my friends just arrived at Haven only a few hours ago."

"There's no need to apologize, especially with… recent events being what they are. Are you and your friends alright? Did any of you get injured?"

Pyrrha choked, and her mother immediately responded, "Oh Gods, Pyrrha, I'm so sorry, I'm here for you; just… do whatever you need to. I understand if you don't want to discuss it, but I'll always be here."

Pyrrha felt tears well up in her eyes, "W-well, Ren and Nora made it out all right, but… Yang lost her arm and… and… Jaune… he died saving me. He died because of me, Mom, and I-I-"

What self-control Pyrrha had shattered as she broke into ugly sobbing, tears streaking down her face even as she prayed her friends couldn't hear her.

"If you need anything, just ask. Gods, I wish I were there with you right now."

Pyrrha was silent for a few seconds before she finally mustered up the courage to ask, "Mom… I know you saw what I did to poor Penny. I… what do you think happened?"

There was a brief pause, but her mother's response was firm as iron, "Pyrrha, I know better than anyone else how much you've practiced keeping your semblance under control, especially during a fight. I don't know what those terrorists did to you, but they were trying to send a message. You would never hurt someone if you didn't think it was necessary. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool."

Pyrrha gave a quaking breath, "We know it was an illusionist of some sort; she also did the same thing to Yang earlier in the festival… but thank you, Mom.."

"It's no problem." There was an awkward pause before her mother continued, " I hate to change the subject, but… who is the 'we' in this context? I thought you would be coming back home to Argos. Please don't tell me you're putting yourself back in danger again."

"The we in this situation is Headmaster Lionheart, my teammates, and Ruby, who came along after her team broke up with… everything that happened. We're hunting for the perpetrators of the attack on Beacon. I… don't know how much I can tell you, but I wouldn't want to say it over an unsecured scroll call."

The line was silent for a few seconds until her mom's voice finally came through. "I'm not going to be able to convince you not to get involved, am I?"

"No, this… this is important, not just to me but-"

"You don't have to convince me, Pyrrha. I'd be a hypocrite to tell you not to get involved with something dangerous because you want to do the right thing. Can… I at least come and visit you?"

Pyrrha smiled, "Thanks, Mom, but… we believe that Haven is the next target, and if you're here and they attack… I'd prefer to have you safe in Argus and also… To get back home so quickly. I needed to cut a favor with the council, and they're asking me to do an interview to clear both my name and some of the confusion involving what happened in Vale and having you meet with me with your chairing of the Argosi Cultural Revival Organization wouldn't… go over so well. I'm sorry if this comes off as-,"

Her mother's derisive snort cut her short, "Never apologize for telling the truth. I know those vipers in the media would turn a mother visiting her poor daughter right after the Vytal attacks into a hair-brained conspiracy about me using you to peddle some Pro Atlesian message. I'm happy to wait… but keep in touch, and if you or your friends need any help with anything, I'll see what I can do, okay?"

"Thanks, Mom, and if we ever have anything that takes us close to Argus, we'll be sure to pay you a visit and…" Pyrrha's voice tinged with concern, "Speaking of home, I hope everything is okay up there. I know we've been talking about me, but… I can't imagine things have been easy."

Her mom sighed, "Even with how close Argos's ties are with Atlas, after what happened, what people heard and saw from Vale about what Atlas's machines did, people have been scared; even the contingent of Atlesian soldiers at the Boot didn't seem to know what had happened. Ironically enough, it was a Grimm attack that finally caused things to calm down just a bit, given that Atlas managed to fend it off. ACRO has been starting to help get those still stranded in Vale back here, and if we find out they passed in the attacks, at least inform their families and see about helping pay for any costs to bring any remains and belongings back. It's been difficult but… knowing you're okay lifts a good portion of the burden awayfor me."

"I'm glad I can at least alleviate that worry and-"

A loud tumbling THUMP and Ruby's high-pitched but recognizable laughter caused Pyrrha to pause midsentence.

"Pyrrha?" Her mom asked, worry creeping into her tone once again.

"Oh, it's just my friends. We're planning on going out for food after this, and they tend to have fun in rather… loud and unique ways." Fun that Pyrrha had certainly partaken in a few times, much to Goodwitch's chagrin.

"Well then, I won't keep you and your friends waiting on food; enjoy yourself. Thank you for letting me know you're safe, and… I love you."

"I love you too, Mom, and… thanks, it was good to hear your voice after all this and don't worry about me, I'll…" Pyrrha swallowed, she always hated lying to her mother, "I'll make sure I come out of this, okay."

/

After nearly two months this bad boy lives! I'm deeply sorry that I veered off schedule so badly, but I took a bit of a detour to write my oneshot Caged Bird, and then was spending some time with family before moving for Grad School + job, and that move has been uh... Not good. The hiatus has given me a lot of good brainstorming for this story.

I hope this chapter is up to y'all's standards even if its a slower one, but everything here is important to setting up the Mistral plot, even Pyrrha sort of talking history in the beginning is more than just self indulgent lore dumping. Also, we see the first bit of Pyrrha's mom, who will be pretty important in the future. Definitely a lot to extrapolate on from like the few minutes we saw her in canon, where she existed just to make Jaune cry more.

As always your thoughts, criticisms, and juicy speculation are always appreciated! Hopefully, I'll be back on schedule after this.