Sera wasn't sure if she made the right move by going to the Xiong Family, Junior's gang, for help. It's been days since she went to the nightclub, and those days often had her worrying about what Junior would call on her for to repay the favor she now owed. She was tempted to go check and see if they'd made any progress, but these things take time, so she waited.

She also worried about the White Fang and that man, Roman Torchwick. Blake was worried too, that much was clear. The girl barely slept or ate, and she spent way too much time out of the dorm. But Sera had something to take her mind off of all that—practicing with her new handmade sword, Amethystus Igneous. The name was still a mouthful but sounded cool to her. Its Dust capabilities were extremely useful, for more than just combat. She told the others to not let Weiss know, but she cooked marshmallows with the fire Dust function. And when she was fighting with JNPR, she powered Nora up with some electricity. Turns out when she loads up with some electricity Dust, her sword can act like a lightning rod.

She often found herself admiring the weapon, and it's no wonder why. She's the one who made it. Well, mostly. Ruby had a field day swooning over her sword. When Sera actually let her hold up it, the silver-eyed girl took off, giggling to herself and loading random types of Dust into the sword and swinging it around the training area.

"This thing is really freaking cool, Sera!" Ruby cackled.

"All right, already," Sera smiled. "Hand it back over so we can get back to the room."

"You actually want to go back to the others? You know that includes Weiss, right?" Ruby quirked an eyebrow.

"I know. Weird, huh?" the amnesiac took her sword and sheathed it when Ruby held it out to her.

"Whatever. We're all supposed to be going to the library anyway," Ruby told her, gaining a surprised look from her teammate.

"For what? Don't tell me we're doing group study now."

Ruby snickered and followed Sera when she started heading for the exit. "Weiss wishes. Or she thinks that's what we're doing. In reality, we're going to be doing a little team bonding exercise."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" she raised an eyebrow.

. . .

"You're kidding," Sera stared down at the boardgame.

"Afraid not," Yang sighed and took her seat. When she and Ruby got back to their team's dorm, the team leader rounded everyone up to go to the library. After they got there, Ruby laid out a rather large board game made for four players. Seeing how Sera was the odd woman out, and technically not a full member of the team, she volunteered to sit this one out and let the others have their fun. Even if Blake looked like she was going to collapse from exhaustion any minute now. She considered talking to her to figure out what was wrong, but that ended up seeming like a bad idea.

She spotted team JNPR just a table away and decided to go talk to them while Ruby and Yang got the game set up. Weiss seemed confused as to why a boardgame was going to be played inside of a library of all places.

"What's up, guys?" Sera asked and took a seat next to Nora. It looked like they were all trying to actually study, apart from Jaune reading his X-Ray and Vav comic book.

"Not much, just getting in some reading for that paper coming up in Goodwitch's class," Pyrrha replied. "What're you all up to?"

"Well, Ruby's forcing them to play some boardgame for 'team building,' and I got outta there as fast as I could," she rested her chin on her palm.

"Can't say I blame you there," Nora glanced over to see Ruby having a rather difficult time trying to get her team to cooperate.

"How's the new X-Ray and Vav, Jaune?" Sera nodded in his direction. Jaune put his comic down momentarily and met her eyes. "Not too bad actually. The Mad King is messing with them and it's pretty funny."

"Thought he was locked up?" she frowned. "I haven't been able to catch up to the new one."

Jaune gave a sly smile and lifted his comic. "You'll see." Then the comic was snatched out of his hands by Pyrrha, and the blond-haired boy looked like he'd just watched someone get hit by a bus. "Wha-?"

"You're supposed to be getting ready for the paper, Mr. C-Minus," Pyrrha said with an amused twinkle in her eye. Jaune groaned and picked up his textbook. Pyrrha opened the comic to the first page, then winked at Sera before she started reading. The amnesiac scoffed and shook her head.

"I cast Giant Leviathan!" Ruby shrieked, drawing Sera's attention. She turned to see the short girl slamming a card onto the tabletop. Apparently the boardgame had kicked off, and the team of multicolored girls didn't know that libraries are meant to be quiet.

"At least they're having fun," Sera shrugged. Then she noticed Blake's exhaustion and the look of confusion on Weiss's pale face. "Or at least Ruby and Yang are…"

"Oh, never mind them. We can have our own fun right here! Right, guys?" Nora said.

"Please be quiet," Ren said calmly. The entire time, he'd been quietly trying to read his textbook. 'Professional nerd,' Sera thought to herself. 'Such a tragedy.'

"Sure, Ren," Sera said in a quieter tone, noticing the slightly hurt look on Nora's face. "Hey, Nora, you up for some two-on-two sparring later? I've been wanting to try some more combo moves with you, and I know the perfect punching bags to practice them on," she slammed her fist into her open palm.

"Heck yeah," Nora's face brightened. "More electricity Dust?"

"More electricity Dust," Sera affirmed with a grin, then gave Nora a fist bump. She knew that the girl had a massive crush on Ren—heck, everybody knew it. But apparently Ren didn't share those feelings, or he just wasn't acting on it. Either way, Sera was glad she helped make her feel better about Ren's rather rude comment.

"Sup nerds?" a familiar voice said, and the five students turned to see Sun and his friend, Neptune, standing by team RWBY's table with broad smiles.

"Playing boardgames, I see. That's cool," Neptune crossed his arms.

"It's not and you know it," Sera said.

Neptune shrugged. "I stand by what I said."

"So, Neptune," Weiss said in a weird tone. Alluring, even. "What brings you down to our neck of the woods?"

"Oh, no reason," Neptune stepped closer to her. "Just thought we'd uh, 'check out' the competition," he winked.

"Blech," Sera gagged. "Get a room, Ice Queen."

"Hey!" Weiss said indignantly, her cheeks reddening.

"Anyways," the amnesiac said as she approached her other team and the two boys. "What's up? Spying on the enemy?"

"Just coming to see what the gang was doing," Sun shrugged. "We're kinda bored. Still getting used to the new campus."

"Understandable," Yang said. "There's still a ton of stuff to do around here though."

"Like play boardgames?" Neptune asked.

"Exactly!" Ruby said. "Team building!"

"That's an… interesting strategy," Sun said, trying not to sound offensive. Then Blake abruptly stood and began to leave them, drawing all of the students' attention.

"Where are you going?" Weiss asked, almost demanding.

"To read."

"Uh, we're in a library," Sun said. But Blake wasn't listening, she kept walking until she was out of earshot, then she was gone.

"What's up with her?" Neptune asked.

"We're not sure," Yang groaned. "She's been like that since the fight with the White Fang."

"Probably has something to do with that, then," Sera murmured. "I'll talk to her."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Yang asked.

"Can't hear you, already made up my mind," the amnesiac said before jogging after their Faunus teammate.

"She's almost as stubborn as you are," Ruby told Weiss, who promptly crossed her arms and glared at the younger girl.

Blake was outside of the library and walking briskly past everyone by time she caught up to her. Sera ran a little faster and called out to her when she got close enough. "Blake! Wait up!"

The Faunus looked back at her, irritation clear on her face. "What do you want?"

"To talk to you, duh," Sera said once she caught up. "You're worrying everyone, so what's your deal?"

"My deal is that that criminal is still out there, and everyone's acting like nothing's wrong. I don't know who to trust, especially you, and—"

"Whoa, whoa," Sera raised her hands. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Blake's eyes widened, seeming to realize what she'd said. "I—"

"What do you mean you don't know who to trust? We're your team! The people you should be trusting. And what the hell is your problem with me, of all people?"

Blake seemed to take a moment to gather your thoughts. "Look, it's not that—"

"No, no," Sera interrupted again. "What is your issue with me? That before anything else."

She took a deep breath. "I've had to deal with a lot of bad people when I was in the White Fang. I've got a sort of sixth sense for that kind of thing. I can also tell when someone is lying," she looked pointedly at Sera.

The amnesiac's eyes widened slightly. The lying part, she could understand. Hell, practically everything that she's said about herself was a lie. Someone like Blake could be able to tell from a mile away. But that other thing she said? That kinda made her mad.

"So, what? You think I'm some kind of evil person? Like those people we fought at the docks? Like the people you used to be a part of?" she demanded.

"Sera, I—"

"No, if you don't like me, then fine, but whether you like it or not, I'm part of this team and I care about the people on it. You don't trust me? Cool. But you should know that I trust all of you."

"I'm sorry," the Faunus said. "I didn't mean that. I'm just tired, that's all. It's not that I don't like you, it's just… like I said, I've dealt with a lot of people. And you just sort of… set off my alarms."

Sera wanted to berate her more, but she just sighed. "You… have a pretty good reason to trust your instincts about me."

"I… Do?" Blake asked.

'Well, I was told that I could tell anyone I wanted, and Blake is my teammate, so if this eases whatever tensions there are between us, then it'll be worth it.'

"Yes. And if I tell you this, do you promise to not tell anyone and keep this our secret?" she asked, looking around to make sure that no one was within earshot.

Blake considered what she was saying. Finally, she nodded. "Okay. What is it that makes me right about you?"

Sera sighed, her shoulders dropping slightly. "About the lying part. I have been lying to you all, but before you think too negatively on that, just know that Ozpin knows everything that I'm about to tell you."

"…Okay," Blake crossed her arms.

She chewed her lip for a moment before continuing. "Okay, so, everything you know about me is a lie."

"…Huh?"

"My name isn't Sera, supposedly, I'm not from Signal Academy. I woke up in the middle of Forever Fall Forest with absolutely no clue who I was. Amnesia. A huntsman found me, then brought me here to see Ozpin and find out if anyone knew who I was. Until they could do so, Ozpin offered to enroll me in the school. The headmaster threw together a fake I.D., school records, and just like that, here I am. That was just before the start of the school year," she said.

Blake drank in what her teammate was telling her, and if it surprised her at all, she didn't let it show.

"I see," she said finally. "Well, that explains why you react weird when asked about yourself. And other things, like when we went into the city you claimed to be from, and it was like you'd never seen it before."

"That's it? No calling me a liar?"

"Sera, I don't think you could come up with all that yourself just to lie about why you're here."

"Thanks—Wait, hey!"

Blake chuckled and looked at her with a kinder light in her eyes.

"So… We're good?" the amnesiac asked.

"Yes, we're good. I'm ready to start trusting you, now that you were so open with me," she replied.

"Oh, good. And you won't tell anyone?" she asked.

"I won't. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm pretty good at being secretive," she rolled her eyes.

"No need to be so snarky about it," Sera crossed her arms.

"But you should tell the others. It'll be better to do it sooner rather than later, cause waiting just might make them lose their trust in you. Believe me, I know," Blake told her.

"I know," Sera admitted. "I'm just… waiting for the right time. Until I can find out more about myself."

"Do you even know your real name?" she asked.

"I do, actually. Well, just my first name. It's Kassandra," she responded. It felt good to say her name out loud. Almost like a weight had been taken off her. "Well, I think it is. It's a long story."

"Uh-huh," Blake said. "We can talk more about this later, if you want. I know what it's like, to feel like an outcast…"

"I'd like that," she put her hand on Blake's shoulder. "So, does that mean you wanna come back and join us? You know the others would like that," she asked.

"No."

"Aw, why not?"

"I have my own stuff to deal with, Sera—Kassandra. Like I said, everyone's acting like everything's okay when there's still a criminal on the loose."

"And what, you're going to go catch him yourself? C'mon, be real," Sera said, trying to make her see reason.

"If I have to," Blake said determinedly.

Sera rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Okay, look. If you're going to run off and try to be a vigilante crime fighter or something, at least let me know so I can help. I'm not going to let you run off by yourself. Besides," she cracked a grin. "It could be pretty fun, busting bad guys in the dead of night and all."

"Fine," Blake sighed, but Sera could see a hint of a smile.

"You can go to the room now, I won't stop you," she said. "But you should consider how this is affecting the others. They care about you Blake, whether you like it or not."

That seemed to hit Blake like an Ursa. Then almost as quickly, her eyes narrowed. "I have to put a stop to him."

Sera sighed. "I can see I'm not gonna get through to you, so I'll just go. But remember what I said." The huntress pointed at her teammate. Then she turned to head back inside the library, leaving Blake to reflect on what she said.

She made it back to where her friends were playing their boardgame, only now team JNPR was gone, and Neptune had taken Blake's spot at the table. Ruby was sobbing, assuming because she had been knocked out of the game. Yang's face was tight with concentration, trying to plan her next move. Weiss was, well, Weiss.

Sera plopped down in an empty chair near them and next to Sun, effectively startling her blond teammate and making her eyes flicker red.

"Can you not do that?" Yang asked.

"What?" she propped her feet up on a nearby chair. "What's wrong with Ruby?"

"Neptune destroyed her kingdom in like, two turns," Sun said with a wicked grin. "It was pretty funny, to be honest."

Ruby picked her head up long enough to let out a mournful sob, then dropped it back to her folded arms.

"Uh-huh," Sera brought out her scroll when she felt it vibrate. A message from Qrow was blinking, and she raised an eyebrow at the text.

'Hey Snowball, Oz has someone here he wants you to meet. Don't get your hopes up, might not lead to anything. Just bring your gear and try to look serious (I know that bit doesn't come too easy to you, so try your best.)

"I freakin' hate him," she said quietly with a smirk.

"Oooh, Sera has a boy toy," Yang leered, making her nearly fall out of her chair.

"You wish, Blondie," she tucked her scroll away and got to her feet. "I have to go, Professor Ozpin wants to talk to me."

"About what?" Ruby asked.

"I'm not sure," she lied. "But I'm sure I'll be back soon, so don't wait up."

"Oookay," Yang said. After Sera was gone, she turned back to her friends with a cocky grin. "She's totally seeing some guy now."

"What makes you say that?" Sun asked.

"A girl just knows," Yang shrugged.

"You're being weird," Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"You'll understand when you're older," Yang ruffled her hair, and Ruby shoved her hands away with a huff.

"Whatever, can we get back to the game?" Neptune asked, clearly enjoying the fact that he's mopping the floor with the three girls.

. . .

Sera was riding the elevator up in Beacon Tower, now in her white coat, violet tank top, and black combat pants. Her new sword and shotgun were strapped to her back in the holster that Qrow had given her. She took a deep breath and adjusted a strap on her shoulder. She didn't know who Ozpin wanted her to meet, but it must've been serious business. Except for when she had that nightmare, she hasn't seen the headmaster.

Finally, the elevator doors opened, and she stepped out to head towards Ozpin's office. As she got closer, she could hear loud voices that seemed to be arguing. Sera blinked before knocking on the door, and the arguing stopped. She slowly pushed the door open and poked her head in to find Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch, along with a tall military-type looking man with graying hair and kind, yet intense eyes.

"Sera," Ozpin said warmly and gestured for her to come in.

"Sorry to interrupt," she smiled awkwardly. "I wasn't sure when to come, Qrow just said you wanted to talk to me."

"Indeed," the headmaster set his coffee mug down, then gestured to the tall man in his office. "This is General Ironwood."

"The headmaster of Atlas?" she asked. "Head of the Atlas military?"

"You've done your homework," Ironwood said with a laugh.

"It's kinda hard to not know who you are when I've got Weiss Schnee as a teammate, General," Sera said kindly. "So, uh, how can I help you?"

"Actually, I was under the impression that I was here to help you, Kassandra," he folded his arms behind his back.

Sera stopped in her tracks. "Ah. Well, then, what can you do for me, General?"

Ironwood smirked and gestured to the seats near Ozpin's desk, and she took a seat.

"I'm hoping that Atlas can help you with your little problem," the general told her. "Ozpin filled me in, and we think we can get to the bottom of it."

"But I'm guessing that no one's found anything yet," she guessed. Then no one said anything until she spoke again. "I'll take that as a 'no…'"

"Apologies, Miss Calypso," Ozpin said. "Ironwood is the only other headmaster I've been able to get into contact with regarding your issue. You see, the headmasters of Haven and Shade academies aren't too keen on handing out their student rosters, and I'm trying not to give out your secret unless I absolutely have to."

"You're good at keeping secrets, right Oz?" Ironwood said, and Ozpin ignored him.

"Why not tell them? If it's just to get them to release the lists, so why not?" she asked. She didn't see what the issue was. She was alone and in trouble, and no one knew who she was. So, if she wasn't a student at Beacon or Atlas, then it's a good possibility that she attended one of the other two. Hell, maybe she's even transferred from Shade to Haven, or vice-versa. But she didn't like the way that the three professors before her were trading uncomfortable glances. "Where's Qrow?" she finally asked.

"Out on assignment," Goodwitch answered.

"When'll he be back? Kinda wanna bust his head, for fun," she cracked a smile. Ironwood just looked at her questioningly.

Ozpin cleared her throat. "She and Qrow are like he and Taiyang were during their school days."

"Ah," Ironwood said, a smile spreading across his face. "It's unclear when he'll be back, this might be a long assignment."

"I see," the huntress tapped her fingers to the tune of some song by that old band Rush, but she couldn't quite remember which one. "So, what now?"

"Well, this was mainly a formal meet and greet. As you put together, we have yet to find anything regarding your identity. But I wanted you to meet General Ironwood rather than just telling you that we've told someone about you, or just keeping you in the dark about it. As a show of good faith that we're on your side, in case you were having doubts."

"…I see," Sera answered. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it. And for the record, I wasn't having doubts. I was just getting a little…impatient. But why keep this all a secret from other headmasters or huntsmen? It's not like you're harboring a fugitive or anything."

Ironwood seemed to perk up at that, but quickly regained his cool. Ozpin tapped two fingers on his desk while thinking of what to say.

"It's just better to keep this all under wraps until we know what's going on," Ironwood cleared his throat, earning a sharp glare from Professor Goodwitch.

"James—" she started.

"Maybe it's better if we—" Ironwood said.

"James," Ozpin interrupted sternly. Ironwood sighed and faced away from them. Sera glanced between them all. Clearly, they were having some sort of disagreement. But what worried her was that it was about her.

"Was it something I said?" she chuckled nervously. Ozpin sighed and took a sip from his coffee.

"Nothing to worry about, Sera," Goodwitch said. "Why don't you go back to your team? Forgive me, teams. We'll let you know something as soon as we do, okay?"

"Uh, sure…" she got to her feet and headed towards the door, sensing that she didn't need to be in the middle of this argument. Halfway to the door, she stopped and looked back at them. "Hey, professors? How come you keep calling me Sera, even though we've figured out my real name?"

No one answered for a while. Finally, Ozpin cleared his throat. "I think it's best for you to head back to your team now, Sera."

Taking the hint, she simply nodded and left the office, feeling dejected. Once she was gone and the door was closed, Ironwood turned to Beacon's headmaster with an intense look in his eyes.

"What's your plan, Oz? You're just going to keep stringing her along until the truth finally comes out? Or until she finds out on her own? What happens then?" he demanded.

"She's not going to find out, James. If she was, then she would have already in her nightmare," Ozpin said.

"And how do you know that she won't have another one? Anything could happen, you know that," Ironwood paced the room. "You're putting too much faith in the hope that she won't turn out how we think she will." The general looked out the window and down onto Beacon's courtyard. "If our intel is good, then everything is about to come down on us. I already asked you if you think that your students can win a war, and if things keep going how they have been, then I might just get my answer."

"James Ironwood," Glynda said with a cold fury. "I don't know if you keep forgetting or if you simply do not care, but these students are children."

"Glynda…" he said, much calmer.

"No, General," the emerald-eyed woman said. "We all know what's at stake, we all know the dangers. But putting that kind of weight on someone, anyone's shoulders, it's just unfair."

"Oh, that's rich, coming from you of all people," the General said.

"Don't," Glynda warned.

"Aren't you and Oz planning on inducting a certain one of your students into this little inner circle, but for a very different reason?"

"General," Ozpin said. "I realize tensions are high, but now is the time to keep a level head. Now is not the time to do something like that to someone who already feels like their world could fall apart at any minute."

Ironwood took a deep breath and held his hands behind his back. "I'm sorry, Oz. It's just…"

"Believe me, I know. Better than anyone, you know that. But we can't afford to try anything if we don't know how it'll end up, especially when it comes to her," Ozpin interlaced his fingers.

That's when Sera took her ear off the door and calmly stepped backwards, trying not to feel overwhelmed by everything she just heard. She slowly put her scroll back into her pocket after making sure she was actually recording. She didn't get the entire conversation, but she got everything she needed. For what, she wasn't sure. Just to make sure she wasn't crazy.

Then she turned around and ran right into someone extremely dense and small. They fell to the ground, and she looked down to see that she was laying on top of none other than Penny Polendina.

"Wha-? Penny?!" she said in a hushed tone. "What're you doing here? We haven't seen you since the fight at the docks!"

"Sera! Salutations! I didn't realize you had an appointment with the General as well!"

"Shh!" Sera put her finger over her lips. "Keep it down!" She got to her feet, then helped Penny to hers. "Listen Penny, you can't tell them that you saw me out here, okay?"

"Why not?" she blinked curiously.

Sera mentally sighed. She liked Penny, but she was a bit of ditz. "Please, Penny? As a favor for a friend?" She put emphasis on the word "friend."

Penny brightened at that. She thought for a moment, then smiled and gave a curt nod. "Okay, friend Sera. You got it," she gave a quick salute.

Sera's shoulders relaxed and she smiled back. "Thank you, Penny. I promise we'll hang out, and I'll tell the others you said hi."

"No, wait!" Penny said before Sera could leave. "You can't tell them that you saw me."

"Déjà vu," Sera blinked. "Why not, Penny? I know Ruby would love to see you."

"Umm… I've sort of been ordered to not talk to you. Or anyone, really," she said nervously, then hiccupped.

Sera blinked several times. "Uh… Okay. How about this? We'll just pretend we never saw each other, and we won't tell anyone. Deal?"

"Hmm… Deal!" Penny smiled. "Okay, then! See you around, Sera!"

"Bye, Penny," Sera waved, then turned and hurried down the hallway before she could run into anyone else.