After gauging the remaining story, I'd say this final arc is about half done. We're closing in on the really juicy stuff soon once Blade Wing mountain Arc gets here.

Also Monster King glad to see you're still with us!

Now onto the chapter.

Chapter 97: We can't do a Prison Break

Hex stood outside in the cool night air of Sami's porch, drinking a cup of his specialty herbal tea. The brew, as explained by Sami, was a mix of dried seaweed only found during their equivalent of the Winter season. It was supposed to calm the nerves and relax the body but she couldn't sleep. Tormented by worry for her brother, she was far too restless to sleep, and she doubted she would get any until she knew he was safe.

Nevertheless, there was one other person awake at the time, as the door to the porch opened and Ruby stepped out into the open air.

"Can't say I'm surprised to find you out here," Ruby walked over and leaned against the wooden railing near the techno-wizard. "I don't think I need to ask why. It's about Nitro right?"

Hex sipped her tea uneasily and sighed, "Did I ever tell you the story about how we met?"

Ruby tapped her chin, "You were working for a gang right? He was an undercover agent for his parents?"

She chuckled, "I was just a kid. My parents worked for the mob, they died in a shootout with some rival gang. It's been so long I can't remember."

"I…"

"Don't worry, I hated them. They were hardly ever home and I knew they weren't good people. Murders, thieves, kidnappers. That's the type of people I was constantly surrounded by. You know what does to a kid?"

Ruby was silent, unable to comment on that. She could guess, based on Nova's own story, but she'd always been a sheltered child.

"I was cold, emotionless, a machine. I found comfort in machines, I cared more about my projects than I did about the lives of those around me… then I met Nitro. He didn't fit in the gang at all, hell I knew he was a rat from day one but I didn't say anything. It didn't affect my work, why should I?" she drank a bit more.

"He… was so persistent, maybe because I was the only one around his age. Always wanting to do things, hang out, crack the stupidest jokes. He reprimanded me when I hurt myself on my projects, reminded me to eat when I forgot, and stood up for me when no one else did. Before I knew it, I started to feel again. He'd shown me what having a family meant. So…"

Ruby stopped her, "You don't need to explain how that feels. I kinda get it. I know you're worried about him, but remember we all are, especially Nova."

Hex froze for a moment recalling her minor explosion, "About what I said I…"

"I know you're sorry. You don't need to ask for forgiveness, it was barely an outburst if anything, hell I've said worse things when Nova was kidnapped…"

Hex flinched, how could she forget? Nova was kidnapped and tortured if that was Nitro in that situation… she didn't even want to think about that…

It made the guilt sink in even more now.

"Look," Ruby said sensing her growing remorse, "If you're worried about it, it's all water under the bridge. I just… I want you to remember something. Nova is carrying a weight bigger than any of us can fathom right now. He's been making decisions and so have I but he's not god. He can't predict the future."

"I know, it's… just… I said it was his fault and… fuck…" she bit her lip in anguish.

"He's already forgiven you, you know that? Hell, he didn't even feel anything but hatred for himself the second you said that. I felt it in his soul, he knows he can't do it all, but he can't help but feel like he needs to." Ruby began to vent her frustrations, some brewing for a while now.

"I know that you guys look to us for leadership and wisdom but we're pretty much clueless out here. We're winging it because you can't plan for the unknown. He feels especially responsible because it's supposed to be his country, his kingdom to eventually rule, so he's trying to shoulder most of the burden and the thing I hate the most is… I can only help him out so much…"

Ruby was gripping the rails in frustration. She wanted to vent about the fact that she could sense that Nova was hiding something from her but she didn't think it appropriate.

"I should go apologize… shit…" Hex downed her cup and made a move to go inside when Ruby held her back.

"Don't." she said seriously, "Those words will fall on deaf ears. He knows already, he understands, he just can't help it."

"Then why tell me all of this?" Hex turned to her, "You could've just left me to worry."

She shook her head and cracked a slight smile, "Nah, what kind of friend would I be if I left you alone? I told you this because maybe I needed to vent my frustrations. Things are happening, way too fast, and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. We… need to be there to hold him up when he starts to fall."

"Why are you so sure he'll fall? You two are like titans of strength."

"I know, but... he's slowly leaving my reach and I don't know how to keep up." Ruby said softly, "He's never healed, he's never taken a break. No matter how strong you are, everyone breaks eventually…"

Hex was surprised, in all of her time spent with Ruby, this was the first she'd heard of any form of relationship problems, "But you're like two halves of the same whole, I've seen it more times over..."

The reaper let out an airy laugh, "Yeah well... I love him, that's not even a question. He loves me, there'll never be doubt about that..."

"But..?"

"Not a but. It's more like he's moving ahead," she cast her hand to the night sky, looking in its direction as if staring at him disappearing in the distance, "Right now, on this continent, it feels more like he's grabbing me by the hand and telling me to keep up... and I'm trying but no matter how hard I run, I'm stumbling ever so slightly behind."

Hex narrowed her eyes, "If it's a matter of strength then you're right next to him."

She shook her head, "It's not strength, it's like... momentum? Politics, royal order... it's all so new to me. Yeah, I studied with Randolf but theory and practice are two different things. I'm not ready to keep pace with him and if I don't step up my own game then I'm scared he'll run off into the distance and I'll never see him again..."

"That'll never happen," Hex punched her arm lightly, "You're a better leader than you give yourself credit for. Your time to shine just hasn't come up yet. Besides, you two got that soul link thingy."

Ruby smirked, "Thanks for believing in me. I came to give you a pep talk but it ended up with me venting on you."

The tech wizard hugged her friend, "We'll figure out this mess."

-Dinner at Castle Seastone-

Following their previous plan, Nova, Luna and Ruby would attend the dinner while Blake, Hex and Neo would infiltrate the castle and find Nitro.

They didn't bother to dress up too formally, Ruby stuck to her casual outfit of a black jacket cut up to her chest with a red undershirt with the sleeves rolled to her elbows. Completing the look was a pair of black jeans, Weiss even offered to do her make-up but Ruby stuck to black eyeliner.

Nova wore his standard outfit but wore a tight-fitting black undershirt with his white long coat and black jeans.

Luna also didn't try too hard as her usual gothic style, galactic patterned blue dresses were enough.

They were stopped just outside the arch to the bridge, here their party would split.

Ruby looked them over, "Remember guys, there is no fail-safe if you get caught. We absolutely can not be found out otherwise it'll damage relations with the kingdom."

Blake smirked, "While you're being diplomats we sneak in and find Nitro," she turned to her spy squad, "As leader of the infiltration division I'll call the shots."

Neo raised an eyebrow, 'Who died and made you queen?' she sassed.

"Do you want to lead?" she folded her arms and eyed Neo.

'Nah, I work best solo anyway, this whole team thing is still new to me.'

"Right, so we'll divide and conquer. The castle has three layers, the upper floors, the main floors and the basement. Traditional settings aside, we can't guarantee it'll be the basement they got him chained up in, so we'll cover all bases."

Hex nodded checking her gadgets for cloaking and camouflage devices, "I'll take the basement."

'Leave the main floor to me, I can blend in with the guards or wait staff,' Neo signed off.

"That leaves the top floor to me, alright team we act when the guards get distracted by our leaders."

Neo blanched, 'Wait Luna isn't our leader…'

"She's Nova's little sister, she might as well be."

'Point taken.'

The banquet hall boasted an array of colourful banners and flags all hung high around the balconies above. Both the Oceanis and Flareheart symbol were flying high, it seemed they remembered to adhere to royal protocols when hosting esteemed guests.

The grand dark oak dining table was plated with a lavish spread of fish and dishes of various types. Delicately prepared cuts and roasts, even plates of sushi, seemingly presented solely for the dragons.

Thankfully the two dragons were using every fibre of their being to not attack the table with their primal instincts.

Ruby, however, was not so trained. With her newfound dragon traits she began to experience cravings, ones that were difficult to control.

"Sweetheart, your fangs are showing," Nova spoke mentally as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

Ruby came to her senses after eyeing down the plates of fish, "Damn these senses and instincts when I'm transformed like this… they're intense. How do you deal with it?"

He shrugged and pet her head, "You get used to it, just be glad it's not mating season."

She blinked slowly and gaped at him. There were… so many questions…

The chamber doors opened as the guards took up attention, "Now announcing, Queen Marina and the royal council, Morgan Tidefinn."

Queen Marina waltzed in wearing a seafoam green shimmering dress with a matching translucent shawl draped around her shoulders.

Morgan was wearing a dark blue shimmering dress that went down to her ankles, the outfit hugged her frame accentuating her curves, her hair was let down and she was wearing light blue lipstick. The glitter on her eyelids brought out the sharp glint her eyes that pierced the trio.

"She's trying way too hard," Ruby scoffed, "Who's she trying to seduce in that outfit? You?"

Nova snickered, "She can try, even if her chances of success are below zero."

Luna looked between the two, "Guys, don't leave me out of your silent conversations, it's not fair," she pouted and puffed out her cheeks.

Ruby smiled lightly and poked them, "Sorry, it's easier to be discrete like that."

As the mermaid royals drew closer it was their queue to shut up.

"Lovely of you to join us this evening," Marina spoke in a welcoming tone, "Castle Seastone is pleased to host the esteemed Prince and Princess of Castle Firestone."

Nova nodded and gave a light bow from his chair, "We are honoured to be here, Your Majesty."

"Enough pleasantries, I'm sure you're all famished. Let's eat," she commanded the servants to begin sharing out food.

The dragons who'd been holding back their instincts couldn't resist any further, instantly going down without hesitation, oblivious to the sneaking smirk that Morgan had plastered on her face.

As dinner went underway, the conversation started, "I apologize for our meagre provisions," Queen Marina addressed them, "We haven't gone to resupply after the Moonfish Ceremony."

"Moonfish Ceremony?" Luna asked curiously as she swallowed a mouthful of sushi.

Marina nodded, "Legend says if you sacrifice a Moonfish under the light of a new moon, you'd get your wish granted. They're rare and only the most skilled fishermen could catch them. I sacrifice one every year on my daughter's birthday."

"You have a daughter?" Luna continued again, "We'd love to meet her!"

Marina had a forlorn expression and looked down sadly. Morgan placed a hand on the queen's shoulder and looked at them, "The Queen's daughter sadly disappeared four years ago. She was but a baby."

Luna gasped in shock, "Oh dear, that's awful! Was she kidnapped?"

The Queen shook her head, "No one knows… there no witnesses. I fear… she may be…" she began to choke up.

Morgan pat her on the shoulder, "It's alright my queen, I'm sure she'll turn up someday." She turned to the team.

Queen Marina nodded and smiled at Morgan fondly, "Indeed, ever the optimist. Now's not the time for depressing talk, please tell me about yourselves!"

"Indeed, your Highnesses, you'll forgive me if I have more than a few questions," Morgan started, batting her eyes at Nova.

The dragon felt something nagging at his mind but he quickly brushed it off, "By all means."

"Where have you all been this entire time? Before two weeks ago we all believed the dragons had died out." She eyed him suspiciously.

Nova cautiously took a sip of the wine, "I believe my ancestors were separated in the first civil war of Pandora. They ended up on the island of Menagerie and we grew up without any contact with the homeland."

"Forgive me for asking, but what is a 'Menagerie'?"

"Across the ocean lies two large continents, Anima and Solitas. They are home to four kingdoms, Vale, Mistral, Atlas and Vacuo. Before you ask, yes there are Faunus just like us living in harmony with humans."

Morgan's eyes widened in interest, "Really? Humans? I've heard they were vile, evil beings who would destroy all Faunus if they could! You're saying our people live with them?"

Ruby cleared her throat, "There was a divide for a long time, especially with the great Faunus wars, but eventually we came to peace with each other, and, thanks to Nova, the Faunus and humans are more united than ever."

"So, they're not bloodthirsty monsters?" it was Marina who asked.

She shook her head, "No, they're not. Humans and Faunus are not that different from each other, Faunus look different, but at their core, we're all the same, we're people."

Marina hummed interestingly, "Well, I would like to meet one someday."

Ruby resisted the urge to let the cat out of the bag now, but it wasn't the time.

Morgan took a long drink of her wine and leaned on the table with her slender arms, one supporting her chin and the other stretched toward Nova's direction.

"My prince, I'd love to know what brings you to our humble palace," she lulled.

Nova once again felt the nagging in his head but his body was fighting it. Looking around, Ruby seemed unaffected, eyeing Morgan cautiously while Luna was in a small daze, seemingly enamoured by Morgan's figure.

Something was off.

"Red, are you okay? Something's up. It might be a semblance or some sort of drug… I'm not sure but my adaptability is going nuts."

"Everything is fine dear," Ruby smiled warmly and then caught herself. "No… not fine. Why did I say that? That's… not me…"

Nova's hand was itching for Helios but he didn't walk with it… weapons weren't welcome in diplomatic meetings, so he cautiously carried on.

"We're here to restore the Flareheart throne and unite the three kingdoms against Salem. The demon queen who lives in the Badlands" he answered resting down his fork. His nose didn't pick up anything wrong with the food, or the drink… there were no off putting smells. Was it poison? No, they wouldn't dare. It was something else…

Was it the food? Morgan hadn't touched a speck of it since dinner started...

"This… Salem," Marina spoke up, "Who is she? We've been at war with those monsters of darkness for longer than I can remember, but they've never managed to breach our defences. Local adventurers take care of any that turn up in the land while the Bladewing Mountains squash any that try to breach the borders. What threat could they possibly pose?"

Nova got serious, "The Grimm, those creatures, have been attacking the Four Kingdoms for centuries, and while by themselves the Grimm are one threat, Salem commands them all. To make a long story short, she's come into possession of two very powerful items, and she's looking for the last one. She will stop at nothing to get it."

"Let's say we believe you, what happens if she gets all four? What are these items?" Morgan asked curiously.

Nova began to explain the story of the Four Kingdoms and the relics while Morgan and Marina listened with deep interest.

He found it strange, a story like this would draw skepticism but Morgan looked like this was believable. It took three major incidents and the fall of Atlas for the world to believe in Salem…

"Status check, Ruby, how are you holding up?"

"Barely keeping myself in line. I want to tell her everything and I don't know why. I can only hope Luna isn't affected."

"So you're saying that she will wipe out the entire world?" Morgan looked with alarm, "This is… but why now?"

"Because before now she hadn't had the means. A man known as Onyx Steelemane has joined forces with her and with several powerful allies she now has two of the four relics."

"What about the other two?" Morgan asked earnestly, batting her eyes.

Nova was about to say they had no idea, but Luna was faster than him.

"We have them," she said almost too readily.

Nova and Ruby turned to Luna in shock, eyes wide that she would outright say that, "It's okay," she said with a smile, "This lady seems very nice."

Now they knew something was wrong, and the fact that Queen Marina seemed normal about it meant that it was Morgan's doing. Was it a semblance? A drug? They couldn't tell but looking at Ruby he could see even she was beginning to falter.

Nova could only thank his semblance of Adaptability for nullifying whatever was affecting them.

Morgan smiled again but kept her focus entirely on Nova, something Ruby didn't appreciate not one bit.

"Darling, your sister is right, you can trust me, just like I know I can trust you~" she dragged her index finger across the tablecloth and began tracing circles, "After all, you're Prince Nova Flareheart. Powerful, smart and charismatic."

Ruby'd mind was in a frenzy, on one half she felt the increasingly powerful desire to agree with Morgan, on the other hand, she felt an intense rage spurned from Morgan's casual flirting with her fiancé.

"You flatter me, Miss Morgan. I'm just a normal guy," he kept his calm but plastered a smile.

"Nonsense!" she continued, "What normal guy makes it across the ocean to raise a dead kingdom back to life? You have ambition, I find that quite attractive…"

Nova felt a chill run down his spine as he cast a side glance at Ruby. She had an unreadable expression.

"My dear queen, it is getting late, you should get some rest," Morgan spoke and the queen got up and wiped her mouth.

"You are correct Morgan, as always. I'll head to bed now," she turned to the trio, "It was nice meeting you all. We can schedule your trial for tomorrow if you'd like. Originally I was going to have Morgan screen you, but she says she can trust you… so why not sooner than later?"

Morgan on the other hand looked a little shocked by the queen's declaration. That wasn't the plan. Was the potion wearing off?

"Dear, you have such incredible stories but it seems dinner is over… I'd love it if you stayed in the castle… with me. I'd love to get to know you more…"

"I apologize but we must leave. It is getting late, and I must get back to my team, besides, I'm taken." Nova said curtly, getting up from his chair.

Morgan waltzed over and was on him in a second, placing a finger under his chin, "What a shame. Please… surely you wouldn't want to miss a chance to… learn more about our people."

Nova brushed her off, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't touch me so casually. Like I said, I'm spoken for."

She moved closer when there was a sudden noise.

*SNAP*

The loud sound made them turn toward Ruby who had just snapped a fork in half with pure rage. Whatever was affecting her had run its course and she was glaring at Morgan with murderous intent.

Her silver dragon eyes glared at Morgan ready to kill, "He said he was spoken for."

Morgan turned her nose and looked down at Ruby, "You know, you've been speaking this entire time throughout dinner but I have no idea who you are. What are you some sort of handmaiden?"

This made Nova want to toss Morgan out of the room already but Ruby was faster.

"I'm his fiancé!" she glowered, "and I don't appreciate you flirting with my Nova in front of my face." Her fangs were baring now, and they were sending off alarm bells in Morgan's head. This woman was dangerous… very dangerous.

It made her step back and reassess the situation. Her potion wasn't affecting the prince, and it was half affecting the other girl until she broke out of it. The princess was completely under her control but the threats in the room weren't.

She needed to play it cool, and ease the boiling tension before she ruined her chances.

"My apologies," she bowed immediately, "I wasn't aware! It's a terrible instinct of ours, you see our people, once they find a potential mate, they lose themselves a little. I… was not in my right mind." Morgan lied as naturally as she breathed.

Ruby wasn't buying it, but Luna stood up and chirped, "Oh it's alright Miss Morgan. I understand my brother is quite the catch, I'm sure Ruby would agree?"

Nova signalled to Ruby through their bond, "I know how you're feeling. This woman tried to drug us or something, and it almost worked. We need to leave and figure out what's wrong with Luna. It won't do us any good to end Morgan now. There's too much we don't know."

Ruby sighed internally and cooled down, "Yeah, I know it's a bad move but if this bitch thinks she can flirt with you and get away with it…"

"Hey, it's alright. I'm all yours remember? Eternally bound, there's no one in the world I'd ever want in my life." He tried to soothe her. "She could never have me, not in any lifetime."

The thought that Morgan could never have what she had sprouted some pride as she cooled down. Underlying thoughts of bringing up what Nova's been hiding from her brushed aside, she turned to face Morgan again.

"Your apology is accepted on the grounds you don't do this again," and with that Ruby grabbed his hand and Luna before exiting the chambers.

-Blake-

The stealthy cat Faunus slipped into the shadows, literally, and snuck her way into the upper floors of the castle. Guards and servants paid no heed to the flickering shadows on the walls thanks to a new trick she learned.

It drained a lot of stamina, but she learned how to make her body become one with the darkness, morphing into shadow and almost dematerializing herself as Ruby's petal burst. It wasn't applicable in any situation without a ton of shadows to bounce between but it was perfect for stealth operations like this one.

Castle Seastone was not nearly as grand as Castle Firestone, it didn't climb for dozens of floors or have long winding corridors with never-ending rooms. It was neatly sectioned off with the servant's quarters and the royal's quarters. Finding the important rooms was a simple process of elimination.

She slipped into the queen's bed chambers first. It was your standard royal quarters equipped with a king-sized bed in aquamarine sheets and veiled curtains. Nothing was out of the ordinary aside from a tea set that sat marinating in the cold air. The white porcelain cup was empty with remnants of dried tea leaves spread across the bottom.

Blake eyed the brown stains on the interior, "Interesting…" she swept her finger across the residue. The tea leaves crumbled easily but retained their moisture, but there was something off… about the way they smelled.

Opening the teapot she inhaled the cold aroma and… nothing. It smelled like regular tea, no strange odours or otherwise.

Using her shadowy tendrils, she grasped one of the tea leaves at the bottom of the teapot and once again tested it. Just like the ones in the cup, it had a strange aroma as if in the process of releasing the tea flavouring, it soaked in something else.

With a fresher sample, she took a deeper inhale and she caught the scent directly. It was faint, almost invisible to the untrained nose. Blood… and Nitro.

The mere thought of what this meant sent waves of nausea through her body. A cold stone had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach and she felt sick, but she needed more clues.

Before leaving the room she spied a peculiar painting hanging just above the Queen's dresser. It was Queen Marina holding a beautiful baby girl in her arms, with blue-teal hair that bordered on sea-green. The girl was very familiar, too familiar, she quickly snapped a picture of it on her scroll.

Shrinking back into the shadows she climbed higher toward the tallest tower, the most secluded section of the palace and the only place on the upper floors she hadn't checked.

The door was barred and there were no signs of guards or servants anywhere. "Creepy stone, no signs of life, abandoned section of the castle. Could they make it any more obvious?" she rolled her eyes and seeped through the thin space beneath the door.

Inside was a room of vials and beakers bubbling with dark liquid. A Distillation setup took up the majority of the main table space while a few other tables to the back were littered with test tubes of multicoloured liquid.

She sniffed the liquids that seemed to be resting off on a cooling rack, odourless and colourless, almost like water but its viscosity didn't suggest water. The dark liquid in the boiling flasks, however… smelled strongly of blood.

As she walked she kicked an empty test tube that was strewn on the floor, freezing to see if the sound alerted anyone.

Realizing no one was alerted, she grabbed the infringing glass and inspected it to the moonlight. Sure enough, she found irrefutable proof that Nitro was somehow involved in this. Bloodstains, the entire thing had been filled with blood once.

If she were to guess, Nitro was somewhere in the castle, alive and being drained of blood… but the question is… where?

The last thing to investigate was the open book on the table. It was ancient, the pages were wilted and thin, yellow and delicate as if squeezing it a little too hard would cause it to crumble to dust.

Her eyes scanned its contents and soon went wide with horror, "This… this is some sort of… elixir? For… brainwashing?!"

The sound of footsteps was caught in her sensitive hearing. They were far off, possibly just about to climb the staircase. They'd be here in less than a minute she needed a way out. A single window was her only other escape route.

"Shit…" she cursed, grabbing one of the colourless test tubes and storing it. She opened the wooden latch, stepping out into the cold night air she was immediately met with a sheer drop into the ocean. "Looks about… two hundred feet to the water? Man… I hate water…" Hesitantly she looked for another option. Other towers were too far for her ribbon to reach and the lack of direct shadows due to the blaring moonlight made it impossible otherwise.

The footsteps got closer.

"It's fine Blake, it's basically a bath, a salty, ice-cold, deep bath… that has rocks in it. Just don't hit the rocks… ugh where's Sun when you need him?"

Plugging her nose she used her ribbon to shut the window and her tendrils to close the latch before jumping.

Morgan slipped into her tower just as Blake made a soft splash into the sea below. She was none the wiser.

-Hex-

Switching on her active camouflage, Hex made her way through the ground floor area with Neo dressed as one of the servants. As soon as Ruby and the others were inside, Hex found Neo some uniforms from a spare supply closet and let her go on her way.

With Neo commanding the ground floor she began searching for a way to the basement, every castle had one.

Past the kitchen, through the pantry, she found a set of stairs that were isolated and apart from the rest of the castle. The dust and grime on the walls suggested that it wasn't cleaned or frequented by any of the staff.

"Ominous dark passageway and lonely section of the castle… it's like they're not even trying."

She cautiously made her way down the stairs without letting her effects knock into the walls of the narrow passage. She was no Blake Belladonna when it came to stealth but she did her best.

Eventually, she came upon a small, old, slightly damp wooden door with an iron bar grate for a window and a rusty door knob.

"Try the lock?" she asked herself, jiggling the doorknob only to find it unsurprisingly locked shut. "Well… nothing a little bit of lockpicking won't fix…"

After a few seconds, the lock turned with a soft squeak that made her wince as it echoed through the tunnel. Hopefully, it would've been mistaken for a rat.

Upon entering she found a small, wet and salty dungeon with surprisingly clean floors. Six jail cells stood with three on either side of her spanning the length of a wide and dimly lit corridor plastered in seastone.

All of them were empty… except one.

Curled up against the back wall, completely naked and shivering from the cold was none other than Nitro Zephyr.

Hex felt a mixture of joy and deep sorrow as she finally laid eyes on her brother. He was thin, pale, bruising along his arms and legs as if he'd thrashed against the walls of his cell for far too long. Bloodied knuckles and discoloured pin holes in the lengths of his forearm.

"N-Nitro?" Hex whispered.

Immediately his head shot up, looking around like a feral animal before seeing his sister. He squinted in the dim light and moved toward the cage, "Hex? Is that you..?" his voice was a rasp in the dark.

She nodded silently as tears streamed down her face. Nitro reached through the bars and clasped her cheeks, "Y-You're real? Oh… thank the gods… if you're here then that means…?"

Taking his hands off her face she nodded again, "Yeah, we're here. I'm so glad you're safe… are you alright? What have they done to you?!"

He shrugged and winced from his discoloured shoulder, "These injuries are self-inflicted mostly. I kept trying to break out of the cell but these rocks and the bars reflect kinetic energy or some shit. The pinholes though? Those are from needles."

Hex gasped, "What…?"

"Morgan's been draining me of blood ever so often, I'm not sure exactly what she's doing with it but it can't be good. I've been down here for a few days and eventually, I stopped trying to escape, I don't want to leave anymore." Nitro said almost… emptily.

Hex was taken aback, "Wait… you don't want to leave? Nitro they have you trapped in a cage why…?"

Nitro shook his head furiously and began clutching it, pulling at his hair like a maniac, "That woman, she… did something to my head. I should want to leave, I know I should but I… can't fight this… whatever it is. It's driving me mad, Hex. I do things I don't want to, and eventually, I start wanting to." His voice was growing louder.

"You're not making any sense! Come on, Nitro. I'm busting you out of here," She made a move to pick the lock when Nitro grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Listen to me, Hex, while I have some of my sanity left. I've had a lot of time to think about this and while, I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I know if you break me out now then Morgan will label you enemies of the state and that will ruin the whole plan of uniting the Kingdoms."

"FUCK THE PLAN! I WANT YOU TO BE SAFE! I was so worried I…" she broke down into tears.

"I am safe, mostly. Morgan doesn't want me dead, and besides the fact that I'm naked and it's kinda cold, the living space ain't all that bad. She at least brings me food that's healthy for me now that she needs my blood more often. I'm useful to her as long as she thinks I'm the only human here. I can tough it out for a few more days."

Hex was appalled, "Nitro this is insanity, you're not right in the head. I need to get you out and…"

"HEX!" he shouted, grabbing her face and forcing her to look him in the eye, "I will be fine. I'm not in any real danger here. What you need to do is expose Morgan's plans, whatever they are, and gain the queen's favour BEFORE busting me out."

"What if we rescue you and we testify against her?" she tried to think of an alternative that involved saving her brother. "We can change public image, get the queen to push her out and…"

He shook his head, "No, she's in too deep, she's far too trusted. I'm not enough evidence. I don't know what all the pieces are I feel like she's told me all of them but… I just…can't get it out of my head!" he began pounding his own head with his knuckles and Hex had to throw her chains through the wall to stop him.

"NITRO STOP! You're not yourself!"

He calmed down, "No… I'm not, not entirely. I'm enough of myself to know a bad idea when I see it. Just… get all the pieces. It has something to do with my blood, the queen's daughter and… ugh my head…" he clutched his head in pain. "Just… get out of here. Tell Nova, tell Ruby, come up with a plan and come get me after."

Hex nodded slowly and sighed, "Fine… but we're busting…"

"Shhh!" he hushed her, "Don't tell me anything… please. I'm afraid I might let the plans slip if you do. You coming here was already a huge risk…"

Gritting her teeth and biting her tongue, Hex rose and began making her way to the door.

"Wait!" Nitro said, stopping Hex in her tracks.

She looked back, casting a worried glance at him.

"T-Tell Sami that I'm okay. He lives on the small fishing shack near the docks, has blue hair, a handsome face He has the bubbliest personality and is really fun to talk to…" it seemed his delusional state made him ramble, "he's Morgan's brother. If you see him, please tell him I'm safe…"

Hex smirked, "I'll tell your boyfriend you're okay, don't worry."

-Sami's house after the dinner-

Everyone had gathered in Sami's house, it was deep into the night and Nova, Luna and Ruby walked into the door looking dishevelled and twitching.

Neo was already waiting for them inside while Hex was leaning against the kitchen counter with a brooding expression, fidgeting her thumbs in thought.

"Where's Blake?" Sun asked as they walked in.

Nova looked around, "Late, I'm guessing. No alarms were raised and no incidents aside from dinner, so she's fine."

Oscar looked at Luna, the young girl who appeared to be internally struggling with something, "Hey… are you guys alright?"

Sami began serving his herbal tea, "Did you guys find Nitro?"

Nova grabbed an armchair and Ruby fell in beside him, tightly holding onto his arm. Her transformation had become undone.

"One question at a time. First, we'll report what we found," Nova said looking warily at Luna who was clutching her head and leaning forward in her chair, Oscar rubbing her back comfortingly.

"Dinner was terrible, and the food was great but your sister was behaving like a grade-A slut," Ruby spat bitterly as she clung to Nova. "Not only did she try to hypnotize us, she even tried to seduce Nova! On top of the disrespect…!"

"Easy, Red. Reign in the possessive dragon instincts a little, I think staying in that transformation is affecting you more than I thought," Nova soothed her.

"Hypnotism?" Sami rubbed his chin, "That would make some sense… given how the Queen's been acting…"

"I'm not sure if it was a semblance or a drug," Luna spoke up finally finding her voice, "But it got to me first. I said things I shouldn't have… fuck…"

Nova looked at her with sympathy, "It's okay blue, it wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, even I was affected for a little bit," Ruby said with guilt, "If it weren't for the intense rage of seeing her try to flirt with Nova overpowering those senses, I would've caved."

"Morgan was awfully interested in the tale of the Four Relics and the maidens," Nova pinched the bridge of his nose, "Queen Marina was like a puppet as well, just going along with everything Morgan said."

Weiss who'd been listening intently rubbed her chin, "The relics… do you think Salem is involved?"

"More likely she's behind Morgan, probably backing her. Remember the Apathy?" Yang prompted, remembering the old village. "Those things could make you lose the will to live entirely. Could it be something similar?"

"I'm not sure it's Grimm, but I'm not sure that it's not Grimm," Hex said now stepping away from the counter.

Yang approached her in concern, Hex only rested her head on her shoulders for comfort briefly before speaking up, "I… found Nitro."

"REALLY?!" It was Sami who shot up, "I-Is he okay?! Why didn't you break him out?!"

Hex clenched her fists in rage before calming down, "He's fine, at least he's not dead and he's not being tortured. They got him locked up in the dungeons below the castle behind some sort of kinetic energy absorbing stone."

Sami frowned, "Probably sea stone stacked in layers mixed with slate… it's how the castle stays on that rock without any signs of erosion for years. The waves crashing against it are nullified by the Seastone's absorbing properties."

Hex looked at him impressed, "As for why I didn't break him out, he had this to say…" she began to relay Nitro's message.

Everyone's face morphed from confusion to deep thought, to worry.

"So… he's affected by that brainwashing too…" Nova murmured, "Still, he's making a lot of sense. I don't like it… but… fuck…"

"Pieces of the puzzle… a way to make everyone lose trust in her…" Ruby thought deeply, "If strong emotions could override the hypnotism then it'd have to be something really bad…"

"Anything on your end Neo?" Hex looked at her.

'Did some scouting and nothing too crazy on the ground floor. The staff seem happy to be serving Morgan though….'

"So it's in the staff too…"

*SLAM*

The front door slammed open and in walked a soaking-wet Blake Belladonna with her ears pressed against her head and an annoyed expression. Sun immediately ran over and draped his jacket around her.

She looked at him gratefully and turned to the others.

"Blake!" Ruby looked at her friend, "Are you okay?! Why are you wet? Don't you hate the water?"

The irritable cat girl grouchily plopped down onto a stool, "Never mind why I'm wet, what's important is what I found…"

"Do tell me, what has the master of infiltration learned?" Weiss raised an eyebrow sassily.

Ignoring that, Blake began to recount what she found, "That woman has some kind of lab set up, found traces of Nitro's blood in some strange elixirs. There was a book on her table indicating how to make some sort of brainwashing potion that makes the drinker think the brewer is their most trusted friend. It's odourless, tasteless and almost untraceable had it not seeped into the tea leaves I found in the Queen's bedroom."

Weiss' jaw dropped, "Well… shit that's actually most of the answers we needed."

Blake smugly smiled at her, "Plus one for Detective Blake."

"Another really interesting thing," Blake said as Sami handed her a hot cup of herbal tea, "I found a really interesting picture in the Queen's room. She has a daughter."

Luna nodded, "The queen did mention her daughter went missing…"

Blake took out the picture on her scroll and showed the baby to everyone, "Look familiar?"

Weiss squinted at it, "It does look familiar…"

"It should," Blake flipped through a few pictures until she found one of Adam, Belle, Kalli and Ghira with a certain aquamarine-haired little girl in Belle's arms.

"Holy shit…" Sun gasped, "Mira… Adam and Belle's kid is… the queen's missing daughter?!"

"How the hell did she end up on Menagerie?!" Yang asked incredulously.

Blake shrugged, "Not sure but want to bet Morgan has something to do with this?"

Sami clenched his fists, "I thought I knew my sister… but it seems everything is tied back to her now so I'm willing to take that bet."

Nova rubbed his chin, "If we could get Morgan to confess to everything, and get it on recording then we could safely expose Morgan without damaging our relationship with the kingdom."

"The Queen has set your date for the trial to earn your right of passage…" Ruby followed up. "Morgan didn't look too happy about that, no doubt she'll try to interfere."

"So it needs to happen between then and now…" Luna began to think, "And how do we even get her to talk?"

Blake fished in her pocket, throwing away some stray seaweed before pulling out a small storage cube. She opened it and brought out a small vial of colourless liquid, "Why not use this?"

"Is that what I think it is…?" Weiss was once again blown away by Blake's resourcefulness.

"Yeap," Blake said popping the 'p'. "Morgan's elixir. I finished batch from what I could guess. We slip this in her tea or something and get her to talk."

Sun giddily hugged his girlfriend, "Blake have I told you how amazing you are?" he quickly recoiled when he realized she was still soaking with sea water.

She smugly looked at him, "No but please do."

Nova clapped, "Outstanding move Blake, can't say I've ever been more grateful you're on our side," he shot her a beaming smile, "Now the question is how…"

Neo raised her hand, 'Didn't you say she was trying to seduce Nova? Why not use this to our advantage?'

Ruby did not like where this was going.

'Nova goes in, alone, to talk with Morgan before his trial. He slips her the elixir and gets her to confess, sends the recording to us and we do the exposing while he does his trial?'

Weiss looked at her proudly, "Devious, I like it."

"Well, I don't!" Ruby looked at them irritably, "I trust Nova, but I don't trust her. That woman is slimy and evil…"

"I hate to agree with Ruby on this one but Morgan really rubs me the wrong way…" Luna said remembering the hypnotism.

Nova gave Ruby a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand, "I'll be fine, my semblance makes me almost entirely immune to the effects of the elixir, besides… we don't really have any better options."

Ruby huffed and planted herself in his lap, "Yeah, I know, doesn't mean I need to be happy about it."

"If she touches you, I will skin her alive." Ruby shot him through the bond.

"I wouldn't doubt it, but maybe do that after we expose her? Brutality is bad for the public image."

"Hmph, I'll show you public image…" she pinched him.

He feigned pain, "Maybe you could show me the non-public image later? I'd be more than happy to learn more..."

She turned beet red instantly and flicked his forehead, "Ugh, I hate you sometimes…"

"You love me~"

"Fuck off…" she grumbled but wrapped her arms around his torso.

Weiss whistled, "Three years into their relationship, engaged, and I'm only now starting to see how possessive she gets over him."

Yang raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? She always had a jealous streak, ever since Beacon. Remember Nova's fan club?"

"Oh right…"

-Morgan-

She marched into her laboratory and slammed the door behind her, seething with fury to the point she was trembling.

"THAT INFERNAL BITCH!" she tried to strangle the air, imagining it was Ruby's neck. "If she thinks just because she's betrothed to the prince now that I won't remove her from the picture?" she began to flip through her Alchemical tome. "And why didn't the Prince seem affected by my elixir?! Perhaps it was too diluted? I'll need to brew a stronger batch..."

She found a particular potion entitled, 'Hideous Monstrosity'. Smiling to herself she began to gather the ingredients, "One drop of this should make her disgustingly hideous... the prince wouldn't even look twice in her direction again." her mad rant in the safety of isolation trailed on, "I'll remove her from the picture and the prince will be all mine... the throne of the Flareheat Empire, ripe for the taking..."

"It won't be 'Morgan aide to the Queen'... soon it'll be 'Morgan, Queen of Pandora'! HAHAHA!" Morgan was so deep into her madness that she didn't hear the sound of bone scraping against the stone floors of her castle.

"How goes your progress with eliminating the brats?" It was Salem's visage, apparating out of the Grimm Crystal Ball.

Morgan, startled, spun around and quickly closed the book, "I met them tonight, and scoped out the targets. You were right, that Ruby girl is quite formidable."

"I would warn you against fighting them directly. I doubt anything in your kingdom would come close to so much as touching a hair on their bodies."

"I-I have a plan," Morgan began tapping the desk nervously, "Tomorrow, the prince is to undertake his trial. Only the Queen knows what that entails but I managed to get her to talk..."

Salem folded her spectral arms and looked at her with interest, "Go on..."

"It's a test of endurance, The prince will be shackled to the ceremonial altar just outside the coast, on an island that's barely a rock. He is to endure the Titan's Test, it involves one of those Grimm Titans that live in the ocean and something about... survival?"

"You would have me command those beasts? I'm afraid in my current state they are a bit... much for me."

"Nothing of the sort!" Morgan quickly amended seeing Salem grow quite annoyed, "He will come back battered and weak, I will have them patched up at the castle where I'll give him this..." She turned to another page in the book that showed a black potion. It read: 'Perpetual Death- A potion designed to reduce its consumer to a near-death state, shuts down the mind and the body as its virulent poison necrotizes the flesh'.

Salem hummed, "Well, I certainly hope your potion works, if not, I have a backup plan for you."

Morgan raised an eyebrow warily, "What plan?"

"You'll know it if I need you to know it."

Chapter 98 is soon to be cooked with the finale of the Oceanis arc. Honestly, if Morgan wasn't such a fun character I'd stretch this further.