Beacon Academy was burning. All around her were students running about the campus and through the academic buildings. Some were desperately trying to avoid the packs of grimm, while others charged head on into the fray. There were no familiar faces within the crowd. No one from STRQ or OKRA was present, and Willow wasn't there either. She tried to call out to warn a student of a beowulf approaching from behind. The stranger didn't react. Summer looked away as she heard the desperate cry of the young man as he was attacked.

It was cut short by a growl, and the sound of teeth sinking into a throat.

An explosion rocked the campus and brick flew from the side of an unfamiliar building in a torrent of stone. Summer noticed too late that the debris was headed straight for her and raised her hands in a desperate last-second attempt to stave off what damage she could. The falling rocks passed through her harmlessly, scattering on the street behind her. It was then that she realized she was in a dream, having yet another vision. No matter what happened, she would be safe, and able to act as an observer to whatever future event was playing out before her.

Just after that revelation, Summer saw her.

"Hey!" Summer called out, extending a hand toward the running student. "Who are you!?"

The blonde didn't react. Summer only saw her lilac eyes for the briefest of moments as she looked over her shoulder, seemingly checking for something. Upon finding nothing, the young woman rounded the corner of the damaged building at a full sprint, heading for destinations unknown. Her tangle of long, saffron hair traced a brief trail behind her, as did the short flowing veil attached to one side of her hip. Summer tried to follow, but her legs wouldn't move. Her breathing quickened as a horde of grimm approached her down the street just ahead. The beowolfs at the front seemed to be looking through her rather than at her, as though they were focused on something beyond. With her breath caught in her throat, Summer looked over her shoulder and everything went fuzzy.

As her vision returned, Summer tried to figure out where she was, and realization hit her immediately. She was in the library building, on one of the upper floors. Just as soon as she had figured out her location, a shelf fell through her from behind, scattering books haphazardly across the floor. Summer whirled and raised her weapon just in time to see an ursa barreling down on her as it leapt and bound over other pieces of fallen furniture. She swung Pearl Phoenix as hard as she could, hoping to catch the monstrous bear in the jaw. The weapon went straight through the grimm as though nothing had happened at all. Summer wasn't sure why she had even tried.

Just as quickly as a single word- 'stupid'- had surfaced in her mind, shards of ice flew through her stomach and impaled themselves within the shoulders and face of the charging grimm. The beast howled in pain and reared back onto its hind legs as a torrent of fire engulfed its body. A sudden clacking of high heels across the tile floor of library caught Summer's attention, and she turned to find a familiar figure advancing toward her. The girl had a hand held out before her, a stream of flames gushing forward as she went. A familiar sword was clutched in her left, and her face was filled with confidence and determination as she continued to strut toward the burning beast.

"Willow…?"

Within seconds, Summer realized her mistake. The face was all wrong and featured a prominent scar below one eye. Her hair was far longer than Willow's, and her figure was almost worryingly thin. All the same, the girl did have Myrtenaster, albeit with a few upgrades to its dust chamber. Summer couldn't help but smile softly as she watched the stranger raise the sword above her head with a flourish, summoning up a glyph as the entire world faded to white once again.

The scenery shifted. She was somewhere outside once again, or at least, within the confines of a ruined building where the roof had collapsed to show off the shattered moon high above. There were flames and streams of falling rubble on all sides. Wherever she was, Summer knew that it was a deathtrap for anyone who was actually there. A figure seemingly blinked into existence, appearing from thin air and sinking into a low stance as she let out a guttural proclamation.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore!"

A black ribbon lashed out, carrying a hooked sickle attached to its end through Summer's face. She knew well enough not to bother flinching, and instead looked forward through the smoke toward the face of the wielder. A tearful faunus girl with piercing yellow eyes glared through her, feline ears flat against her skull. The girl was the spitting image of Kali, with one key difference. Her long hair billowed and twisted as she spun in place, yanking the weapon back to herself before several low caliber rounds flew from its barrel. The unmistakable sound of bullets ricocheting off of steel filled the air behind Summer, and the faunus bared her teeth as she began to reload.

"Don't lie to me. I can see it in your eyes. I know you better than anyone…and I know that all you want to do right now more than anything in the world is turn around run. Run, like you did before. Abandon this place. You don't belong here. You never have."

Summer's blood ran cold. She knew that voice. She didn't even have to turn around to know that Adam Taurus was behind her, standing somewhere within the burning rubble. The faunus girl hesitated before slamming a fresh clip into the base of her transformed weapon and pointing her bladed sheath forward.

"…I'm not running," she declared. "Not from you, not from your underlings, and not from Salem. This ends here."

Another bullet flew for Summer's face, and instead of passing through her, it brought only darkness as it collided with her face. Summer tried desperately to open her eyes to no avail. Slowly, vision came back to her, revealing something she didn't quite understand. She was floating in some sort of green liquid, and the only sound around her was a steady bubbling. Summer couldn't move her head- something was keeping her in place. All she could do was float, staring down a long, dark hallway. Somehow, she knew that Beacon was still under attack. Somehow, she knew that the three girls were winning their fights.

Somehow, she knew someone was coming, and she knew their name.

Ruby, Summer tried to say, only for a bubbly stream to escape her mouth. Again, she tried to call out, only to take more of the tinted liquid into her lungs. Despite the ill-advised attempt, she couldn't feel anything. It didn't hurt to breathe in the substance, and that scared her more than the alternative.

Eventually, a figure appeared, sprinting through the darkness and toward Summer. A short, spritely little girl, looking a bit too young to attend Beacon Academy was running down the hall. It all made sense to Summer in some twisted way, as though she knew that it was inevitable. Even so, something was wrong- someone else was coming, too. A friend? Someone pursuing her? Summer couldn't tell. Summer couldn't even tell who Ruby was, despite knowing the girl's name. The image was too distorted through the liquid to really make out the girl's features as her desperate sprint turned to a slow walk up to Summer's holding chamber.

Summer thought she saw the small girl hold a hand up to her mouth, as if in horror. Their eyes, or at least, what Summer thought must have been the girl's eyes through the green filter, met. The other figure finally made their way up to the first, standing slightly behind her. Summer realized that she wasn't sure which one was Ruby, but she somehow knew them both. Both of them were young huntresses. Both appeared to have fair, pale skin highlighted by indeterminate splashes of red clinging to them. The other woman was taller. That was all that Summer could really glean about the second figure's appearance.

"…it was you, this entire time…" the first girl said, her tone full of apprehension. Slowly, she turned around to face the other figure. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again, her voice a horse near-whisper that was trembling with rage. "What did you do…?"

"I…" the other figure began. Her voice much deeper and full of sorrow, carrying with it a slight wavering quality. Summer could tell immediately that she was about ready to burst into tears. "I didn't kn-"

"What did you do!?"

Summer awoke with a start, momentarily confused by her surroundings. The inflatable mattress beneath her was drenched with sweat, as was the blanket she had hurriedly thrown off of herself. Slowly, it all came back to her- she had spent almost an hour talking to her friends at Shade Academy. Willow had returned to the beach house in the interim, escorted by Team BASS. Professor Gumo had graciously provided transport vehicles for STRQ and OKRA for the remainder of their vacation. Summer's friends had insisted that they all sleep downstairs and keep tabs on her after BASS had left. Everything added up.

Beacon wasn't burning.

Not yet.

Summer rose from her makeshift bed and began to creep through the downstairs, heading for the kitchenette. The sight of her teammates and the members of OKRA passed out all around the open living area brought her a modicum of comfort, but it wasn't enough to slow her racing heart. Slowly and carefully, she pulled open a cabinet and took down a glass. As she turned around, she had to clasp a hand over her mouth to fight back the urge to yell in surprise at the figure standing mere feet from her.

There stood the Schnee woman from her dream, albeit with shorter hair and lacking the scar below her eye. Even in the low light of the moonlit kitchen, Summer could see the resemblance. It was uncanny. Willow brought a finger up to her lips, speaking in a breathy whisper as she nodded toward the glass doors that led to the deck.

"Follow me."

Summer nodded and gently turned the faucet, allowing water to trickle into her glass as she watched Willow exit the beach house. After Summer turned off the tap and took a quick drink, she followed her friend out onto the deck and closed the heavy glass door behind herself.

"Are you alright?" Willow asked as she beckoned Summer over to one of the unoccupied tables and sat down.

"I'm… fine," Summer lied, taking a seat opposite Willow.

"…then why do you look like you've been swimming in your sleep?" Willow asked with a roll of her eyes as she crossed her legs.

Summer let out a sigh and took another sip.

"I'm having dreams," Summer answered. "Dreams of possible futures."

"You don't know that," Willow said icily, her posture stiffening. "Dreams can just be dreams, too."

"I'm a Maiden, Willow," Summer countered. "Clairvoyance is one of my abilities."

"You don't know that, either," Willow denied with a wave of her hand. "If Raven filled me in properly, then it's a theory. Admittedly, a good one, but… nothing is certain, Summer. Things can change. You've been wrong before, haven't you?"

"I have, yes, but…" Summer began. "Something about this is… it's different. Somehow, I know that all of this will happen. I think my powers are gaining strength, or…"

Willow took a deep breath as Summer trailed off. The heiress closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before shaking her head softly.

"…and do you want to see where these predictions lead?"

"I feel like I have to," Summer admitted. "I saw… things. Things that Professor Ozpin, or Ozma, or whoever he is… I think he needs to know."

"Then I'll do anything I can to help you along," Willow declared. "Simple as that."

It was Summer's turn to take a deep breath.

"…Raven would try to stop me…"

Willow nodded, casting a quick glance over to the glass door.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not Raven. Now, tell me what you saw…"

Author's Note:

Things will return to relative normalcy soon… but not yet.

-RD