As the footage came to an end Qrow sat there in silence, head bowed hands resting between his knees above a pool of alcohol courtesy of the crushed hipflask in his grasp, his eyes were shut a complicated expression on his face, after a few moments a small sigh slipped past his lips. He didn't really know what to think of any of this hell he still wasn't even sure about what the hell he just saw, only that it involved that bastard Mikael and his youngest niece, Ruby.

His hand tightened around the remains of his flask causing the metal to warp further, spilling more of its contents onto the office floor, the headmaster sitting across from him sighed typing a quick message for a cleaner into his scroll, the headmaster waited patiently for a few minutes giving his longtime friend and underling time to calm down, before he began. "I understand this may be difficult for you, old friend, but-"

"But what Oz!?" Qrow demanded, slamming his fist down on the headmaster's desk as he rose from his seat. "She's my niece what the hell do you expect?!"

The white porcelain mug beside the headmaster toppled sideways spilling its contents across his desk, forming an unnatural trail directly towards the headmaster's paperwork. Bringing his arm down Ozpin bard the dark liquids paths from his work, swiping his arm across the desk he flicked the remnant of his coffee away as to avoid any unwanted incidents.

"Qrow, calm down." Ozpin urged, now was not the time to allow their emotions to get the better of them, not when they still knew next to nothing of what transpired that night. "Miss Rose is fine, Glynda and I have been keeping a close eye on her and Mikael since these events transpired, you are right to be concerned for your niece's safety, but please. For the time being, you need to remain calm."

Qrow scowled at the headmaster, before sighing his hand tightening into a fist. "Fine" He grumbled under his breath before returning to his seat. "But what exactly do we know about this." Qrow said gesturing back towards the monitor "Oz, is this her?" He asked.

"Doubtful" Ozpin replied, he had fought her longer than any man or woman before them. He knew her ways as she knew his own and as such, he had grown all too familiar with the extent and overall presence of her power, the fact this event had transpired without his knowledge left only two options, that she was growing stronger or... that this was something else entirely. "If Salem possessed a power such as this, she and her Grimm would have marched on Beacon long ago, this may yet be something unprecedented."

"Great." Qrow sighed "Has Ruby said anything to you or the others about this?"

"Miss Rose has chosen to remain silent about the events that transpired that night, as has Miss Autumn." Ozpin said drawing an immediate reaction from Qrow.

"She's a part of this too?" Qrow asked.

"We believe so." Ozpin replied, pulling up another video on his terminal. " Footage taken from outside the faculty dormitories, showed her waiting by one of the side entrances for some time, she seemed rather anxious for the time leading up until Mikael's arrival, they shared a few words although the lack of audio leaves the contexts of that conversation as anyone's guess. But since then they both appear to have taken a rather large interest in Miss Rose."

Qrow's eyes narrowed suspiciously, there was only one trait about his youngest niece that could draw this kind of attention. "Do you think this involves her eyes?" Qrow asked.

Ozpin paused taking a moment to mule over such a possibility. "While the legend may have faded over time, it is Possibly." Ozpin replied. If any of the young man's stories were to still be believed involving his origins, it was doubtful he had any prior knowledge pertaining to the silver eyes, although his new-found interest in the girl could say otherwise.

"Although Miss Rose has shown time and time again that she possesses no knowledge of her heritage, or any evidence suggesting she may have inadvertently tapped into her own innate abilities, however, we cannot rule such a thing out. Though what concerns me above all is Amber's willingness to follow along with these act's without intervening."

It didn't make any sense. He'd known Amber for roughly six years now, he was the one Ozpin had sent out to find her when word of a young girl supposedly performing miracles of nature had first reached them. She'd changed a lot since then, from that shy teenage girl scared of the gift and responsibilities she now bore to the determined young woman who'd dedicated her life to aiding her fellow man.

He knew what kind of person she was, and Amber Autumn wasn't someone who'd sit back and do nothing about this, not when an innocent life, the life of a child may very well hang in the balance, something wasn't right, and he was determined to figure out what. "What do we know then?" Qrow asked

"Very little beyond this single event, for all we know Miss Rose may have been only one of many involved in this." Ozpin replied, and he had a strong feeling this may go deeper than any of them realized.

"And now his sister's come knocking, think she's a part of all this, that her showing up all the sudden was "part of the plan" or what?" Qrow asked rubbing his brow in both frustrations and pain his mind drifting back to his very reason for being here, he still couldn't remember a damn thing up until he stepped off the bullhead.

"As I told Glynda when these events first came to light, it's too soon to be making any assumptions without evidence to back up such a claim" Ozpin replied leaning his chin against his fist. " When I approached him concerning miss Volkihar's arrival he seemed both surprised and suspicious as to how I knew of her, and their meeting not long after seemed to only confirm that he had no prior knowledge concerning her arrival."

Qrow sighed pushing the headache aside before speaking "There's something up with her Oz, whatever it is it isn't natural."

"You've felt it too." Ozpin said, " Miss Volkihar has quite the presence surrounding her, much like her brother."

"It's not just that... it's..." Qrow grew quiet, inwardly trying to explain his experience in a way Ozpin could understand. Meanwhile the headmasters eyes widened behind his glasses, Qrow was one of the strongest allies and one of the closest friends he'd had over the years, to see him so troubled was not only so unlike the man, but worrisome as well, idly he wondered what the woman could have done to cause such a reaction.

"I'm missing time." He began rubbing his brow as, yet another migraine made itself known. "The time between me questioning her after she walked out of Raven's portal and up until I stepped off the bullhead into the academy. Every time I try to think back on what happened it's like someone jamming a knife into the back of my skull."

"And you believe miss Volkihar is responsible?" Ozpin inquired his eyes drifting down to the crushed flask in his subordinate's hand before immediately pushing the notion aside. While Qrow did tend to indulge in his drinking more than the average man, it had never been to such a degree that led to gaps in his memories, the man knew his limits and knew the dangers of going past them.

"The last thing I can remember clearly was being in the middle of questioning her, after that things are just a blur at best, nothing at worst." Qrow explained recalling everything he could from the experience despite the mental bombardment." Next thing I know the two of us are stepping off that bullhead into the courtyard, with me feeling like I'd just woken up from some messed up fever dream."

Ozpin hummed in response to Qrow's words, the situation he'd described raised some valid concerns towards miss Volkihar and her abilities. Semblances focusing on mental manipulation, however rare they may be, were highly valued in both the huntsmen and criminal communities, with their effectiveness in battle had been proving time and time again in the past. Misdirection and subterfuge while looked down upon by many, could be crucial in turning the tide of a battle in one's own favor or with a mere thought avoiding entirely.

Despite her apparent relations to Mikael, Qrow would know better than to deliver a possible threat to their very doorstep, without at the very least contacting him beforehand and her affiliation with miss Branwen would have also advised extreme caution, in the event, it may have been a ploy of some sort. The headmaster's eyes narrowed, if miss Volkihar possessed such an ability through the ancient arts, then it would explain Qrow's memory loss as well as why he had taken her directly to the academy without reporting this new development to him first.

Perhaps it would be for the best he speaks with Miss Volkihar and her brother concerning this matter. He doubted her intentions leaned towards anything nefarious, but under the circumstances, they couldn't afford to take any unnecessary risks involving the security of the kingdom, if Qrow had been compromised by an outsiders influence, then there was little to no telling what secrets he may have unwillingly divulged to Miss Volkihar.

Even the simplest of questions even those involving her brothers wellbeing may have led to her unintentionally learning of the secrets they had all been trusted keep from the world, or god's forbid it the existence of the relics. It was better they addressed this matter as soon as possible before it could become an issue, there were already more than enough of those that needed his attention at the moment, speaking of which.

"How went your mission in Mistrial. Have there been any developments?" Ozpin inquired.

"Not a damn thing." Qrow replied a little glad Ozpin had decided to change the subject " Spring wasn't there not now at least; the whole thing was just a bunch of old rumors like the rest of the leads we've had over the years."

Ozpin hummed in response sharing Qrow's foul mood, he had hoped, however fleeting that hope may have been after all this time, that she would be there or at the very least they may have found something to point them in the right direction. Summer and Winter were still lost to the wind as he had hoped, but the possibility of spring reemerging wasn't something they could overlook.

Salem and those under her had come close to claiming the power of Fall, having only failed, due to Mikael's interference, if the opportunity to claim another maiden presented itself and one so far from their protection, he doubted Salem would not jump at the chance if presented to her and this time there may not be some hooded archer there to save her.

"Qrow we cannot give up hope, to do so would be to all but surrender her to Salem." Ozpin said

"I know." Qrow responded followed by a long sigh. "So, what are we planning to do about Ruby and Amber, I know you Oz, you wouldn't just sit by all this time and do nothing."

A small chuckle slipped past the headmaster's lips. "Yes, there has been some discussion between myself and Glynda concerning the matter, although we have chosen to refrain from taking action in the time being. "He saw the look of disbelief on Qrow's face and how quickly it changed to outrage.

"But-" Ozpin cut in before Qrow had the chance to voice his... concerns. "-that does not mean we have been ignoring the matter. Mikael has chosen to keep a close eye on Miss Rose, attempting to approach her and inquire to what transpired that night, may, in the event his actions leaned towards something more nefarious, alert him of our suspicions and spur him to flee Beacon before facing judgment for his actions."

"So, we try and get to the bottom of this and he vanishes before we can confront him about anything. "Qrow leaned back in his chair cursing under his breath, well that was just perfect.

"Yes and no." Ozpin replied drawing Qrow's interest " While your arrival here may have been not of your doing, it gives us the opportunity to delve further into what transpired that night."

"You want me to look into this, while you and Glynda help keep up appearances around him." Qrow surmised. It was a good plan even if it seemed a little like a rush job, though under the circumstances it was the best they could come up with in the time being, it also let him check on his nieces and if that bastard had so much as laid a finger on either of them... His lips quirked up slightly, he'd make sure Mikael got well acquainted with the end of his scythe.

Ozpin wasn't blind to the violent aura surrounding his subordinate and was well aware of his protective nature towards his beloved nieces "I know you care for miss Rose and Xiao long deeply, but I ask you to put aside those feelings until the matter is settled, I'd rather not have any bloodshed before we are certain of his guilt." Ozpin asked. If the young man was innocent, he wanted no harm to come to him, better they learned what they were dealing with then possibly chasing away the only expert they may have on what this really was.

Qrow's subtle smirked dropped and he let out a short sigh "Fine." If the guy was innocent then nothing would come of it, but if not then he'd be sure to show him why it was unwise to go after his family.

/

A long sigh slipped past Mikael's lips the only sound he had actually made in the last fifteen minutes after Serana finished her tale, he pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to soothe the goliath of a headache the source of which being the current situation Serana described to him.

The Elder Scrolls, artefacts of limitless power and knowledge, object that if mishandled could bring about the end of reality itself which he had gone above and beyond to keep out of the eager hands of mankind, were now scattered across the face of Remnant- notwithstanding the one currently in Serana's possession -along with a handful of his closest friends and one rather deranged assassin.

"I feel the need to ask." Mikael began turning his gaze back towards his sister "Why in oblivion did you allow Cicero to come here with you?" While the mad gesture was handy in a fight, he wasn't exactly the most...stable person, this being one of the main reasons he had requested that he remain at the sanctum in Dawnstar, as the Keeper he was more than happy to remain in the presence of the Night mother.

Serana shrugged in response "Honestly I don't know, he was with Mjoll when we arrive at the college. I thought about asking her back at the college but the look she gave me at the time, made it clear she wasn't exactly comfortable with him there either."

"I imagine so" Mikael replied. Mjoll's skill as a warrior was nothing to scoff at, she had served as Riftens protector for over a decade now and had been adventuring across Tamriel long before that, in that time she had proven her worth a hundred times over earning the title of The Lioness in the process. But even she was wary of all those who bore the emblem of the Black hand and with the assassination of Emperor Titus Mede, fear of the Brotherhood had risen to new heights.

Mikael pushed those thoughts aside, they were getting off topic. " How exactly were you able to find me? You mentioned making a deal with bandits care to expand on that."

Serana nodded "I ran into them in the aftermath of one of their raids on a small village after that I spent the rest of that day locked in a cage. "Mikael's eyes narrowed and his jaw tensed for a few seconds before relaxing, Serana smirked rolling her eyes in response 'Overprotective as usual.' she mused before continuing with her tale "I broke out that night and managed to sneak into their leader's tent, we traded a few blows before having a little sit-down. You've made quite the name for yourself, you know that."

"I'm aware of the rumors floating around if that's what you mean" Mikael replied. " What happened during this sit-down?"

"I had to... let a few things slip about you and me to get the scroll back." Serana admitted much to her own dismay " Nothing too damning if that's what you're worried about. After everything was said and done, Raven wasn't exactly keen about keeping it there, but she didn't seem to trust letting it out of her sight"

"Smart woman. " Mikael said, she recognized the threat the artefact's power could pose to her own people but was hesitant to be rid of it for the same reason.

"Remind you of anyone?" Serana asked raising a slender brow Mikael's way.

Mikael rolled his eyes moving the subject back towards her arrival "After that's when she opened the portal to Qrow? You're certain it was directly to him and that he didn't just respond to its sudden appearance?" He asked

"Mmhm" Serana hummed "And judging by the black hair and red eyes they seem to share, I'm guessing they're related."

"Interesting" Mikael mused rubbing his chin in thought. If her semblance was portals, Raven should have been able to open one directly to Beacon or at the very least Vale, as one of the four huntsmen academies its location would have been known across the four kingdoms, instead she chose to send Serana directly to Qrow one of Ozpins field agents, which begged the question, did she have some sort of affiliation with Ozpin?

Speaking of which "How exactly did you convince Qrow to bring you here?" Mikael asked

"Yeah" Serana droned rubbing the back of her neck nervously, there wouldn't be any point lying right now Mikael would figure it out in the end " I may have had to... put him under hypnosis."

Mikael's face fell into his hands a low grown passing his lips "Yeah..." Serana said

"Please tell me you at least covered your tracks?" Mikael asked, Serana's feeding habits often required the victim to forget their encounter with her or risk them reporting her to any guardsmen in the area once they snapped out of it. While she may not have killed her victims like most of Skyrim's vampire population she still drew blood from them to sustain her and store for later use, to his understanding Serana and Florentiues had been working on creating a "Blood substitute" as they called it, if their research paid off it would mean she would no longer need to go out and feed on the living to survive.

"From the smell of him at the time he'd been drinking long before I arrived, so I capitalized on that when I put him under." Serana explained " I started bringing him out of the trance when we were flying over Vale, I made it, so he shouldn't be able to access those memories easily, at least without going through one hell of a migraine first. From his perspective, it should look like he just blacked out after a long night."

Mikael hummed in response, it could work, he'd seen Qrow indulge in his drink more than once and due to his "Profession" it was unlikely he hadn't experienced such an event before, nevertheless, there was still another issue they had yet to address.

Ozpin and his colleges would want an explanation as to how Serana arrived here. But the truth regarding the matter was out of the question. While he may have respected the headmaster and his brotherhood for their actions, he did not trust them with the knowledge they possessed an Elder Scroll.

Mikael looked back up at Serana "Ozpin will want answers as to how you arrived here. And I don't think either of us are eager to explain how. " He said

"Agreed" Serana replied, after the fiasco back at Ravens camp she wasn't letting the damn thing out of her sight again, let alone revealing its existence to anyone else.

As for any questions she might be asked regarding her arrival to this world, the College of Winterhold would be her safest bet. Qrow was aware of Magic to some degree as was the Headmasters and the members of his brotherhood, talk of the college would be enough to convince them how she arrived here while keeping knowledge of the elder scrolls to herself and Mikael. "If they ask, I'll tell them about the ritual the college used to send us here it should be enough to satisfy them."

Mikael hummed in response "Good" He whispered, his mind already at work trying to find a suitable place, preferably somewhere secluded, to stash the artefact while they were here, better to get the damn thing out of sight before anyone started asking questions, questions he couldn't answer.

"One more thing." Serana said crossing her arms over her chest " On the way here I took the liberty of Bleeding Qrow dry on what you've been up to while I wasn't around, not going to lie you've been busy, in more ways than one." A small smirk began to form on Serana's lips and Mikael could already feel a headache coming "So~" The Vampire practically sang "What's her name?"

A sudden knock drew the duo's attention towards the large double doors leading into the room, as well as a small pout from Serana 'Well, looks like that conversation will have to wait until later.' She mused as a rather buxom woman entered wielding a riding crop of all things... huh, kinky.

"Glynda" Mikael greeted

The stern woman nodded back from her position by the door before turning her attention towards Serana her eyes scanning over the vampires form. "Miss Volkihar" She greeted the young woman before her "My name is Glynda Goodwitch, Professor Ozpin asked me to collect and escort you to his office, he would like to discuss the means behind your... Arrival, at the academy."

"Just me?" Serana asked raising a slender eyebrow suspiciously.

"Yes." Glynda continued "Early today there was an incident involving the student body, your brother agreed to aid me in dealing with the aftermath, speaking of which." Glynda turned her attention to Mikael " The students involved in the cafeteria incident are gathered in the library, I've already informed Peter and he has instructed Miss Valkyrie and Miss Xiao Long to make their way there."

"Well, that saves me a trip." Mikael replied

"I would like to apologies in advance Miss Volkihar, I understand it has been some time since you and your..." Her eyes flicked to Mikael " Brother, have spoken with one another, but under the circumstances, this meeting cannot be put on hold." Glynda gestured to the doorway "If you would please, follow me."

"Understandable miss Goodwitch. " Serana said pushing herself up off the desk, she paused mid-stride before asking. "Do you mind if I hand my things over to Mikael before I leave, I'm not entirely sure how long this meeting may last so I wouldn't want to delay us with any unnecessary detours"

"I see no reason why not." Glynda replied

"Thank you" Serana replied respectfully, removing her satchel and the elder scroll from her back she held them out to him, Mikael caught on quickly and took the items, throwing her pack over his shoulder and slipping the scroll between his bow and quiver. "Try and stay out of trouble while I'm not around" Serana whispered as the trio moved out into the hallway.

Mikael rolled his eyes in response, turning down the adjacent hallway he started making his way towards the library, he'd need cut through the teacher's dorms along the way to stash the scroll in his room, at least until he had the time to find a more suitable location to hide it. He hoped Peter hadn't tortured the pore girls too much with his stories, he was certain the man was aware of how the students abhorred his long-winded lectures in some way at least, and if he was, he just didn't seem to care.

/

"Ughh, finally." Nora groaned in both relief and exhaustion as the double doors closed behind them, the sentiment shared by the blond to her left, her usually bright amethyst eyes were dull her eyelids threatening to drop closed, their owner having been drained of all energy, Yang shook her head reaching up to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"Tell me about it" Yang muttered, the two trudging down the corridor towards the library to meet up with their teams. Two hours, two hours of sitting through not just one but three of Professor Port's stories something he thought would help pass the time while they waited for either Miss Goodwitch or the Professor to return and dish out their punishments, she didn't think there could be any fate worse than death...how naive she had been.

They'd only been set free from their torment after the well-rounded professor received a message from miss Goodwitch asking them to make their way down to the library to join the others in their punishment, had such a blessing not arrived when it did Yang suspected both she and Nora would have succumbed to their fates not long after, she had half a mind to get down on her knees and thank the blond combat instructor when they arrived.

"How do you think the others are doing?" she asked

"Knowing miss Goodwitch..." Nora paused mid-step before sighing in utter despair.

"Yeah..." The blond brawler trailed off recalling the look of utter fury on the blond professors face when they'd left the cafeteria, Yang couldn't help but agree with the red-haired bombers assumption, as well as dread whatever punishment awaited them, she and Nora may have been spared from cleaning up the mini warzone they'd helped create in the cafeteria the fallout on the other hand, well that was another story entirely.

The duo arrived outside the large oak doors leading into Beacons library, taking a breath they pushed open the doors revealing the crowds of students ranging from first to third years surrounding the various tables and chairs dotted between the rows upon rows of bookcases, their arrival drew the attention of a few students close to the entrance by many of which Yang and Nora recognized as the ones who aided Weiss in selling them out to the Professors.

Their faces drain of all color at the sight of them standing in the doorway, Yang smirked alongside Nora, the Valkyrie cracked her knuckles as Yang sent a glare towards the nearest group of students her deep red eyes staring into their very soul's, oh she would have fun when the semester started up again tomorrow, they had combat practice first thing after all.

"Ahem" A voice spoke up from the side, Amber glanced back down to her scroll sending a quick message to Glynda about their arrival before fixing the two of them with a small glare, mimicking the one she'd seen Mikael use once before, it didn't carry the same weight as his own but was enough to get the message across. "Good afternoon you two." she said

"Miss Autumn" The two replied both noting the blond combat instructors absence.

"Where's miss Goodwitch?" Nora asked glancing around the library

"She stepped out for a moment." Amber replied "Don't get any bright ideas though. Your all on thin ice as it is, and I'd rather not see you wrack up any more detentions before the semester even starts." Amber stated before jabbing her thumb off to the side "Your teammates are sitting close by, they should be able to run you through the gist of your punishment, you both have some catching up to do."

"Yes, Ma'am." they both replied following the fall maidens directions she and Nora making their way past the isles of bookcases towards one of the more secluded areas near the back of the library most students reserved for studying or in her partner's case, reading her smut. Exiting one of the isles the duo found their teammates crowded around one of the tables a pile of papers similar to the others in front of them.

Ruby sat slumped forward onto the desk her eyes staring down at the papers in front of her, the treacherous ice queen herself sat by her side, Weiss raised her head in response to the new arrivals calling out to them her eyes widened as the duo quickly started closing in and ducked back down behind her book earning some not so subtle smiles from Yang and Nora.

"Hey guys" Yang greeted taking a seat across from her teammates.

"Hey." Ruby said waving weakly at the new arrivals.

"Hey" the others echoed, offering a lazy nod or wave of their hand to them.

" So, what's all this. Did we miss a group assignment or something while we were gone?" Yang asked, reaching out she plucked one of the papers from the pile in front of her sister, her eyes skimming over her sister's admittedly messy but still eligible handwriting.

"It's our punishment from Miss Goodwitch." Pyrrha replied as she jotted down her findings, a long sigh slipped past the champions lips as she added the paper to her own growing pile.

"This suck's." Ruby head fell forward onto the desk a pitiful whine escaping her.

"Miss Goodwitch sent a message to everyone's scroll's shortly after we finished cleaning the cafeteria, asking them to make their way to the library once we'd finished getting cleaned up." Blake began, it had taken them roughly a good hour to finish cleaning, the combined efforts and the overall number of the student body present making the task all the easier to deal with.

Although that advantage had quickly turned on them once everything was said and done, she'd stood alongside the other students in the locker room waiting patiently for her own turn in the shower, and with so many people showering at once when her time finally came, the water pressure was low, and the very thought of hot water may as well have been a distant dream for her. "All the teams involved have to write a ten-page essay about improper food waste and ways to avoid it."

"That doesn't seem that bad actually." Yang said a little surprised by the revelation, in all honesty, she'd been expecting something far worse, maybe a few months' worth of detentions, overall it sounded pretty generous. After all, when it all boiled down to it ten pages wasn't really a lot, even if she and Nora had missed around an hour of time to work on it, they might be able to finish it off by tonight and still have some time left to relax.

"Ten pages, per student" Weiss, corrected her, eyes never leaving the sheets of paper laid out in front of her "Finished and handed in by tomorrow morning, two pages added for every day it's late."

"Oh..." Yang muttered as Nora's forehead met the desk an exhausted groan tearing itself from her throat, yeah that seemed a lot more realistic, forget about finishing it off later that night, even if the others had a head start on them, they'd all be at this until the end of the week.

"Yeah..." Jaune replied offering what little sympathies he could to his friends glancing down to his own papers, at their current rate they'd all be pulling a few all-nighters just to keep up with Miss Good witch's demands. After a moment of sullen silence, Jaune spoke up hoping to move the subject away from their impending doom. "So, what happened between you guys and the professor?"

"Nothing." Yang shrugged as she hastily began filling out one of her own papers in hope of at least getting a start on the almost impossible task assigned to them.

"He didn't even yell at you?" Weiss asked in amazement

"No thanks to you" Nora grumbled under her breath.

"He wasn't even there to do the yelling. Professor Ozpin pulled him aside for some reason, so we had two hours of Professor Port's 'story time' instead." Yang replied, sending a small glare towards the Schnee heiress.

"Ohh" Ruby winced

"Yeah." Nora said flatly turning her gaze towards the Schnee heiress.

Weiss rolled her eyes in response "Don't you dare look at me like that, it's your own faults anyway." Honestly, they were making it sound far worse than it probably was. "Might I remind you that You and Yang started it off with those apples and cream pies, not to mention all the collateral damage you both caused. " Weiss said raising an eyebrow at Nora, the read haired bomber chuckled rubbing the back of her head.

"Weren't you the one that hit the professor with that trifle though? " Ruby asked innocently

"And then sold us out to save your own skin." Yang replied her eyes briefly flashing red.

"Who threw what at who and the events that followed after, doesn't matter" Weiss replied a light dusting on her cheeks "What happened is in the past it's best we move on and neverbringthisupinhispresenceagain." Nora and Yang giggled at the flustered heiress, sharing a look they nodded in silent agreement, yeah, they were definitely going to milk this.

Weiss harrumphed turning her nose up at the others and back to the papers she had yet to finish. She didn't regret her actions back in the cafeteria and had their roles been reversed she was certain Yang would have done the exact same thing, she'd let it go by the end of the day, Nora on the other hand... Well, she was certain Ren would interfere if things looked like they were going too far, never the less she'd be keeping a look out for anything strange over the semester as well as keeping as far below the professor's radar as she could.

"Who says he didn't deserve it." The group's laughter died, and any form of amusement shared by the group ended there, all eyes turning to the resident faunas of Team RWBY, she sat there never once looking up from the book held in her iron-clad grip, the tips of her nails piercing through its bronze cover. Her face was the epiphany of calm but her eyes, on the other hand, blazed with an unnatural fury.

"Blake?" Ruby asked she'd never seen her friend act like this. "Are you ok?"

Blakes closed her eyes taking in a slow breath through her nose as she set her book aside, she opened her mouth to speak, twice, but no words came forth. She worked her jaw trying to say something, anything.

With a heavy sigh, Blake leaned back in her chair taking another slow breath through her nose..."How?" she finally asked trying desperately to remain calm, she could yell, but that would only draw the unwanted attention of one Amber Autumn towards them. "After everything that's happened, after everything, he's done, how can you all be so calm about this?"

"The professor?" Yang asked

"Yes!" Blake snapped shooting to her feet her voice echoing through the library, her outburst drawing a few dozen eyes towards them a silence like no other surrounding them, after a few moments of awkward staring their audience turned back towards their essays.

"Yes." Blake repeated settling back into her seat "He lied to us, all of us not just about who he really was but about that thing as well, for god's sakes Yang he almost got Ruby killed" Blake's seethed, her outburst caused most of the table's occupants shifted uncomfortably while Yang cursed under her breath, she'd been hoping to have this conversation somewhere more private where they'd be able to get all this off their chest's without any prying eyes or ears listening on what they were saying, but it looked like that wasn't much of an option anymore.

"Well..." Weiss sighed deciding to put her own two Lien into the conversation "Blake does have a point."

"Weiss" Ruby blanched at her partner's words "That's not fair and you know it."

"Well it's true" Weiss said, while she still looked upon the professor in a positive light, that didn't mean she was blind to the fact his actions were reckless at the time. "He said it himself, he found out beforehand that thing was coming after you and while we may have all been distracted after Blake vanish that still gave him ample time to inform us after we returned to Beacon."

"And if he had, would any of us have even believed him?" Yang asked

"That's no excuse and you know it." Blake shot back "All this time we trusted him, we never questioned him because we thought we knew who he was, and now..." Blake cut herself off before she could finish. She could feel it, an onslaught of anger threatening to spill forth, but neither Yang or the others deserved it. Blake took several long agonizingly slow breaths, her anger fading with each one. "Just...why are you so adamant about defending him, why aren't you upset, it's like you don't even care!?"

Yang's eyes narrowed dangerously, her amethyst orbs shifting to a deep red as she rose from her seat a low growl slipping past her lips. "You did not just go there." Yang seethed, Blake flinched under her partner's gaze turning away from the blond her bow folding down slightly, any righteous anger she'd felt feeding the fire inside her vanished, she knew she just crossed a line.

"Yang I didn't mean-" Blake tried before being cut off

"What!?" Yang snapped back her partner Blake's mouth snapped shut as she flinched. "You think I don't feel just as betrayed, just as confused, just as angry that he lied to us, as you are!?" Yang demanded, eyeing her partner expectantly waiting for her response, Blake glanced off to the side shame swelling up inside her. "After everything, he and Ruby told us not a day went by I didn't think about confronting the guy and giving him an earful, before smashing his head into the floor a few dozen times" Ruby's eyes widened she knew Yang had been angry with the professor after what happened but she didn't think she'd actually try to attack him "But what good would that actually do, huh!?"

Blake's silence was all she needed to hear." Do you actually think he somehow planned this, that he wanted any of this to happen? He tried to protect us, all of us from something that if it wanted to could have killed you, me and Weiss the night it took Ruby." Yang's fist tightened as she spoke her nails digging into the oak desk, Ruby reached across the table laying her hand atop her sisters, giving it a gentle squeeze, Yang raised her head nodding to her little sister before taking a slow breath to calm herself.

"After everything that's happened, I don't know if I... if any of us might ever be able to trust him the same way again." Her eyes flicked back up over to Blake " But I'm willing to give him a second chance, just like the one we all gave you after what happened at the docks." Blake seemed to shrink in on herself even more at the mention of what happened at the dockyard, if the professor hadn't been there when he was, she didn't know what might have happened.

"He made a mistake" Yang went on, her eyes drifting from her partner washing over Weiss and the members of team JNPR " And he's been trying to figure out a way to make it right ever since. I'm not saying you have to just forgive him after what happened, but I need you guys to trust me on this, give the guy a chance, please." Yang settled back down into her seat glancing back up towards Weiss and Blake the two of them clearly deep in thought, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren in a similar state, staring down at their work in silence the idle tapping of Jaune's pen against the table filling the void.

Weiss heaved a heavy sigh, she wouldn't admit it for fear of inflating her ego any further but, Yang was right. The professor had no control over what happened that night and while their anger was justifiable it was also somewhat petty to place all the blame upon him when he had been the one to bring Ruby back risking his own wellbeing in the process, true he could have informed them prior to her leader's abduction but it would have been hard fought to make them believe his words even with Miss Autumns backing.

"I trust you Yang." Weiss began "And if you think he deserves that chance, then he has it."

"Aww, Weiss" Ruby gushed wrapping her arms around the heiress Weiss wanted to resist the timing was far from appropriate, but she settled for rolling her eyes at her partner's antics.

"Us too" Jaune spoke up, the sister's eyes roamed over the remaining members of JNPR each showing support for their leader's decision, be it a simple nod, or a small smile their way.

"The professor has been there for us all more than once during our time at Beacon" She began, sharing a small glance with Jaune memories from Initiation where he'd stayed behind to hold back the hydra and the incident involving Cardin coming to the forefront of their minds "And while I don't agree with him keeping this secret from us for so long, I can understand why he did such a thing and what it was done out of. So if you believe he is worthy of a chance then I'll gladly give it."

"Thank you" Yang said, the mistral champion nodding back to her. Yang's eyes drifted back towards her partner "Blake?" She asked, her voice hopeful.

She wasn't blind to the fact she may have gone a little too far in bringing up such a sensitive topic for her partner. The white fang and Blake's overall past as a whole was a delicate subject, they'd all tried to get her to open up more about it, more importantly, what her life was like before her time in the White Fang, what were her family like? where did she grow up?

From what little they had discovered about their teammate it was clear she wasn't from Vale, Yang guesses either Mistral or Atlas although the later seemed a little more unlikely, still she wouldn't deny Blake had this far more cultured air about her that made her believe she'd been brought up somewhere where politics was a common topic of discussion, though anytime she asked, the cat Faunus would often try and steer the conversation in another direction, making it clear she wasn't comfortable talking about it.

Blake had her own fair share of skeletons in her closest, the White fang was a prime example of that and despite their originals reactions, they'd forgiving her, Blake's past didn't define who she was and if she said she'd left those freaks behind then that was the end of it, now it was time to do the same here.

"Yang I don't know what to tell you, you've given me no reason to doubt you, but..." Blake paused rubbing her forehead as a small sigh slipped past her lips. She'd been suspicious of the pro-...Mikael since they'd first met, the stories that had been circulating about him and the White Fang hardly helped matters at the time, over the course of the semester she'd begun to see a different side of him, a side that contradicted all that she thought she knew.

Then she found that book, a book that showed her the man she had come to know was, if what she read was to be believed, a high ranking member of some sort of criminal organization, the logical part of her mind didn't want to believe it at the time, the age of the book alone was the main factor in that, perhaps he had been inspired by the book when he was younger, and just designed his armor taking the description of these Nightingales as inspiration.

That had been her theory, up until that night when Ruby had been abducted by an actual God or Demon or... whatever it was. His revelation to them all following her leaders return brought everything she thought she knew of the man into question, it wasn't just the fact he had lied to them for so long, it was that what he told them practically confirmed much of what the book had led her to suspect about Mikael. He was one of them, a Nightingale, a master criminal on a similar level or perhaps even above Roman Torchwick.

She had thought about outing him to the others more than once, but every time she'd stopped herself a small part of her refused to go through with it, clinging to the fleeting hope that she had been and still was wrong about him, that despite all she had discovered about these Nightingale, that he was still the man she had grown to respect...and even admire, Ughh, she was so confused.

"I just don't know if I can move past this like the rest of you, a part of me wants to give him that chance I really do, but I... I just don't think I can, not now at least. "She watches as the hopeful looks on Yang and Rubies faces fell and for a second it looked like Ruby might try and get her to reconsider, though Yang's next words silenced any protest from the red-clad reaper

"Alright then." Ruby's head snapped towards Yang, both shocked and confused by her sister's words, wasn't her plan to try and make Blake forgive the professor, what was she doing?

Yang met Ruby's gaze, a comforting smile formed on her lips while giving Ruby a look that quickly calmed the younger girls nerves 'It's fine.' Yang turned her gaze back towards Blake continuing from where she left off. "If that's your choice then I won't try and force you to do or say otherwise."

"I know you wouldn't. " Blake replied

"Just, try and ease up on the prof a little at least, every time we've seen him, you're always so tense it's like you're ready to jump up and attack him." Blake glanced off to the side a light dusting of pink on her cheeks, had she really seemed that hostile towards him? "I'm pretty sure he knows you won't do it, but if any of the other teachers saw they might try and figure out what happened and that's not good for anyone," Yang said receiving a small nod in response from Blake

"...Ok"

Yang smiled, it wasn't much but it was a start at least, maybe now things around the academy might go back to some semblance of normal, well as normal as any of their lives could be right now. Demons, Gods, a mythical hero from another world and tentacle monsters. If someone told her this is what waited for her at Beacon, she'd have either laughed or decked him in the face before turning on her heels and walking away from the weirdo.

But now... well the heads up would have been appreciated.

And there we go the next chapter is out, as per usual I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave a review if you like any constructive criticism is always welcome. Anyway, the plot has thickened, Ozpin is delving into matters he does not understand in the slightest and team RWBY and JNPR are taking the first step in moving past Mikael's deception and Serana arrival at the academy brings a new problem for our hero.

Happy new year, Lady's and Gentlemen this is Nightstalker33 signing off.