Attack on Titan: A New Path Chapter 30, an Attack on Titan/進撃の巨人 + RWBY Crossover fanfic

"If they wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change."

Michael Jackson

Chapter 30: Inquisition Part III

Hours ago

"Oh, sorry. We're not doing research. Ymir's just hogging the screen to find out where she wants to go."

"Hey, don't rush me! I gotta find a place Raven might not show up!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Eren finally turned around to face the rest of his friends, which gave Ymir some much needed privacy. Not too much time had passed since she had gone out of her way to help Eren and his friends once again. Only this time, they needed to trick a Councilwoman instead of fighting an immortal Grimm-like witch.

Ymir didn't have too many objections with aiding Eren, given the fact that he helped her be rid of Raven Branwen. However, this separation was likely to be temporary, if the woman wasn't truly dead. So Ymir was currently looking at the Dark Wing's computer to find a new home for herself; one that was far away from Mistral and Raven.

Before he started talking to his friends, Eren showed Ymir a lot of places she could go to. They were all in different Kingdoms, and they all had their pros and cons. Eren suggested Mantle first, the city below Atlas. It wasn't as fancy as Atlas, but it looked like a good place to hide from anyone.

Across the sea was a continent called "Sanus," one that was home to two Kingdoms. To the east rested Vale, which appeared to share the modern setting as Atlas, only not as advanced. It seemed more open and less secretive, though.

To the west was the Kingdom of Vacuo, which rested in the hot and barren desert. It sounded like the perfect place to lay low, just not the best place to live. Of course, who would want to spend the rest of their life in the desert?

*SCREECH*

All of a sudden, the car came to an immediate halt. Ymir nearly hit her head as she flew forward, but she managed to catch herself just in time.

"Hey, what the hell?!" she yelled at Eren. "What are you doing, trying to kill us?!"

Her complaints seem to have fallen on deaf ears, since Eren had joined everyone in the back of the car. They were all looking at Mercury, who was on his Scroll and talking to someone named "Vernal." And from the sound of it, everyone was happy to hear about this girl.

"Just what I need," Ymir said to herself. "Less room in this tin can." Nobody seemed to listen to her once again, and nobody saw a smile forming on her face as she turned around. "Well... at least it's another girl. Heh, heh."

"Ymir."

"..."

Ymir stopped smiling when she heard the sound of her name. She turned around slowly, but she saw everyone else was concentrating on Mercury and his Scroll. So she simply shrugged and turned back to the computer screen.

"Ymir."

Ymir turned around again and began to grow annoyed. She didn't know who was talking to her, so she decided to find out. "Who's-?"

Ymir stopped talking when she felt a painful throbbing in her head. She grabbed her forehead as she turned around once again while groaning in pain. Nobody seemed to notice, and the pain did nothing but intensify.

All of a sudden, everything went black.

The woman's eyes opened again, but they weren't the dull gray color of Ymir's eyes. Instead, these eyes were a beautiful ice blue. And they belonged to Winter Schnee, the owner of the body as well.

Winter hadn't seen the light through her own eyes in many days. She also needed to readjust herself to inhabiting a physical body instead of a mindscape, which was where she called "home" for a long time.

But now, she was about to return to her actual home.

"I'm sorry, Ymir," Winter whispered as she opened and clenched both of her fists. "But if what Eren showed Councilwoman Redwood is true, I have to find out what's going on for myself."

Present

Winter's plan had ultimately failed.

With her true identity now exposed, courtesy of Ren's Semblance and observations of her mistakes, all was lost. Not just her goal to find out who was using Atlesian material to create monsters, but her very life was now on the line.

"I can explain," Winter promised. "If you would let me-"

*BAM*

Winter was immediately grabbed by Eren and pushed against the wall. "Explain what?!" the young man yelled. "That you took over Ymir to get here?! So you could rat us out the first chance you got?!"

Winter was grabbed by the collar, so she could speak normally. "No, it's not like that! We're on the same side, Eren!"

"Bullshit, you've been trying to kill me ever since we met!"

Everyone else was expecting Eren to be mad at this revelation. And truth be told, they were starting to be mad too. However, Mercury didn't like Vernal being here. While he told her about their fight with Salem, he chose to keep everyone's identity as a Titan a secret. And this argument would definitely lead to this secret being brought out in the open.

"Uh, maybe we should let everyone else handle this, babe," Mercury suggested. "And make sure nobody's watching." He then took his girlfriend's arm and began to walk away.

"Wait, I don't get it," Vernal said as she was moved away. "What's going on?"

"Well, to make a long story short, that girl has DID. One minute, we thought she was someone else. But looks like she reverted back."

Winter heard this explanation and immediately became angry. "I am not mentally ill!" she insisted as the duo walked away.

"Is that right?" Eren asked as he pressed Winter against the wall some more. "Well, you were crazy enough to pull something like this off."

The Atlesian looked back to Eren. "Look, I found out about the metal when you showed Councilwoman Redwood. I knew something was going on, and I wanted to find out what it was. I have done nothing but help you since we got here! So let me help you-"

*SMACK*

"Liar!"

It wasn't Eren who hit Winter, but Cinder. The young woman had her fill of Atlas for one night, and Winter wasn't helping for the matter. Eren had let her go when Cinder hit her, and he backed away when he saw there would be no stopping his friend.

"All you Atlesians ever do is lie!" Cinder screamed. "And when you're not lying, you're doing whatever you want to get whatever you want! You're disgusting!"

*BAM*

In her rage, Cinder sent a good punch at Winter's face. The Atlesian fell over and quickly looked up to Eren. Her Aura was healing the bruise she got, but she knew it wouldn't be enough.

"Eren, stop her!" she pleaded. "Are you just going to let this happen?!"

"..."

"Eren!"

This time, Eren gave what he considered an appropriate response. "...I'm thinking," he said callously.

The color on Winter's face disappeared completely. And one look on Cinder's face showed that she meant business. At first glance, it seemed like this would be like every time Winter tried to rebel against Eren's captivity.

However, during those times, she was bound and unable to move. This time, her hands were free and Winter had all of her strength.

So when Cinder threw another punch, the Atlesian soldier was ready. She moved to her knees and caught Cinder's fist with ease and began to squeeze. And when she was able to move to her feet, Winter repaid Cinder for the injury she just sustained.

*BAM*

Winter's punch sent Cinder back a few feet, where she accidentally crashed into Nora. Eren, Ren, and Emerald quickly realized the threat before them, and Ren acted first. He quickly drew his pistols from his sleeve while Emerald reached for her weapons.

Ren was fast with his weapons, but Winter proved herself to be faster with her legs. She sent a quick kick to Ren's hand and another to his gut. It was a very swift attack, one that also knocked Ren backwards.

"Winter, stop!"

When Eren gave this command, he showed Winter his bleeding palm. Winter had enough understanding of the Titans to know that this was the first step to a transformation. And if she didn't stop now, Atlas would once again feel the wrath of a Titan.

And so, Winter had no choice but to stand down and hope that Eren would not transform.

"Now... give me one good reason why I shouldn't transform," Eren demanded.

"..."

Winter once again felt fear course throughout her entire body. Ever since she lost her fight with Eren, the soldier knew that it was very hard to reason with him. Whether it was to let her go or seek help from Atlas, Winter never seemed to get through to him. And Ymir's silence wasn't doing her any favors.

In short, a miracle would save her life now.

"If you transform now, none of you will leave Atlas alive," Winter began. She knew talking was the only way to save her life. After all, even a miracle needed a hand.

"I escaped before," Eren said without transforming. "I can do it again."

"You got lucky before. And things have changed since then. Nobody will let you live, let alone leave. Not the General, not the people... and certainly not Infrigidando."

Again, Eren didn't lower his bleeding hand. However, he didn't transform either. "...Who?" he asked.

Ren, Nora, and Cinder all got off the ground and began to listen as well. Emerald was also listening, but she was pointing the ends of Theif's Respite right at Winter's head. Eren noticed this as he listened to Winter.

"I didn't do anything to give you away in the mines," Winter began once again. "But I did learn something that could put you all in jeopardy. Ren was forced to turn into a Titan to save himself and a team of miners. When he did so, he let that team see a Titan back in the Kingdom of Atlas. When that happened, they told the soldiers stationed at that mine. And now, they plan to contact one person to investigate this: Irae Infrigidando."

Eren turned towards Ren, who nodded slowly. This action was to tell him that Winter was telling the truth, that he had to transform to save himself and a few others. As for the veracity of the person Winter was talking about, Nora brought this to light.

"I heard one of the soldiers mention someone named 'Infrigidando,'" she said truthfully. "So... who is she?"

"Another Specialist of the Atlas military," Winter explained. "I mean, she was." Winter let out a very noticeable groan. "It seems she's a Lieutenant now. If that's true, she has a lot more power than me."

"So, what?" Eren asked. "You're saying she's a friend of yours?"

Winter scuffed at the remark. "Hardly. She never did me any favors since she came aboard. Not to mention we were both ready to receive the same promotion."

"Oh, boo-hoo," said Cinder, who mimicked wiping tears off her face. "Winter's upset because someone else got her job. And now she thinks wasting our time and turning us in will make it all better." Cinder stopped mocking Winter when she said the last part. "That's not going to happen, you bitch!"

"You're not listening to me!" Winter yelled back. "I may have wanted to follow my orders to report all of you, but Irae is very anti-Titan. The ideas she has to prevent another attack in Atlas are radical and dangerous. Not just to all of you, but the people as well." Winter's eyes landed on one particular person. "Nora, you thought overtime in the mines was bad? Try blocking any access from Mantle to Atlas during a Grimm invasion. No evacuation, no Huntsmen coming to help, just everyone left for themselves. That's what she'll do with her status now."

"..."

Everyone so far, save for Nora, didn't seem ready to trust her yet. They were all taken aback by what this Lieutenant was willing to do, but it didn't seem to put their plan in jeopardy.

But Winter had another idea.

"Eren, Cinder was saying you met a group of people before you joined us again," Winter continued. "They called themselves 'Lux in Tenebris,' did they not?"

"Yeah, I met them," Eren confirmed. "So what?"

"I've met them before too. After Irae had them arrested."

Everyone looked at Eren after he confirmed that he met this group. While they weren't sure what kind of group they were, Winter implied something about their nature.

"So you're saying they're criminals?" Eren asked.

"Their only 'crime' was talking about the Titan. I've heard what they say and think, and merely regarded them as... 'strange.' Irae, on the other hand, had them all arrested for simply speaking about the Titan in a positive light. The charges may not have held up, but Irae was never punished for taking away freedom of speech."

"..."

"Eren, I support upholding the law. What I don't support is false arrest. And if Irae has even more power now, who knows how it will affect the rest of the military?"

"..."

All of this was enough for Eren to finally put down his hand. If all of this was true, Winter could be a saint when compared to this "Irae Infrigdando." However, he wasn't sure what to do with Winter at the moment.

"Are we part of the law too?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Winter asked, unsure of what Eren was talking about.

"You said you support upholding the law." Eren gestured to everyone who was with him. "And you also said your orders are to turn us in. So are we a part of the law too?"

"Eren, I-"

"What happens if we do nothing to you?"

"I help you, that's what happens." Winter took a breath as she prepared to continue speaking and hoping her life wouldn't end today. "Eren, I saw what was on that metal you found. Even if the company or my father aren't involved, I'm just as concerned as you are. I want to find Dr. Watts and stop him, if he's still alive."

A collective curiosity was risen among Eren and his friends with this choice of words. "Still alive?" Ren repeated. "What do you mean?"

Winter briefly glanced at the young medic. "Arthur Watts was a scientist, like you said, Midori. He worked closely with the military, but a conflict of interest with General Ironwood resulted in him being disgraced publicly." Winter remembered everything else she heard about the man. "He attempted to restore his influence by creating a war machine, a Paladin. But something went wrong. His lab and machine were destroyed, and he was presumed dead."

"I know what I saw and heard with Salem," said Midori. "It's him. He's alive."

"Watts is a genius in more ways than one. Faking his death wouldn't be hard for him."

Eren began to see an opportunity with Winter, one that he wanted to exploit quickly. "What else is he capable of?" he asked. "What else can he do?"

"If you give him the right material... anything he wants."

"..."

Winter decided that enough time had been wasted with descriptions and imagination. "My point is, I know how both Irae and Watts think. If you want to get out of Atlas without her knowing, let me help. And if you want to capture Watts before anyone else finds out what he's done, let me help."

"..."

Eren looked over to Midori, Ren, Nora, and Cinder. They were all looking at either him or Winter as they wondered what they should do. Eren needed to figure out soon, or else nobody could get what they want.

"Emerald, watch Winter," Eren ordered. "If she tries anything, shoot."

"Gladly," Emerald said as she pulled the hammer on her guns back.

"Everyone else, let's talk." Eren watched as Cinder, Ren, and Nora gathered close to him. When they were in closer proximity, Eren began to whisper. "What do you think?"

"No," Cinder bluntly said. "I'm not trusting her."

"I think it's been proven we can't trust her," said Ren. "Not after she pretended to be Ymir for a while."

"But isn't it a little weird she didn't try to sell any of us out?" Midori asked. "She had the best chance when I was waiting outside the mine with her. I was in no condition to stop her, but she did nothing but talk to me."

"And when we were at the mine, all she did was ask about metal," Nora included. "We may not be able to trust her, but I think she really wants to find out if that Watts guy really did this."

"But if we do find him, there's no telling what's going to happen next," Eren said. "She could turn on us when she feels ready. Maybe even tell this Lieutenant about us."

"All to get her back where we found her," said Cinder. "We can't let that happen."

"But we can't waste an inside source like this either," said Ren. "Even if it's for a little while."

Eren had only known about Winter's deception for a few minutes, but it was enough time to know that something had to be done with her. And to him, it didn't matter that Ymir was in there or not.

"Winter has been a thorn in our side long enough," said Eren. "The only reason she's still here is because I let this happen. Once we're done here, I think it's time... to correct that mistake."

Everyone looked at Eren when he said that, but Midori was first to speak. "You don't mean..."

"I'm going to kill her. Before she can turn on any of us."

"..."

Everyone needed their own amount of time to process this idea, and they all reached their own conclusion.

"Works for me," said Cinder, who was honest and upfront.

"This... may pose a problem with Councilwoman Redwood," Ren said to Eren. "How confident are you that Ymir can take control again?"

"None," Eren replied. "We can worry about Redwood later. But Winter is a liability. I should've realized that earlier."

Nora looked back to Ren. "I don't know about this," she said. "Winter's still helping us."

"Yes, but Eren has a point," Ren replied. "If we find Watts, Winter will want nothing more than to turn us in and take all the credit."

"And if we show our Inquisitor licenses, Winter will still tell the military everything about us," said Cinder.

"We could lie or deny it, but they might see our blood if an interrogation turns physical," Eren included. "We can't let that happen." Eren had an idea who else could speak against this plan, so he turned to her next. "Midori, you could have it worst of all. You're not an Inquisitor, you're just a citizen. Atlas could use that however they see fit."

Cinder agreed with Eren and helped build up his point. "They might be able to find out you're a runaway," she said. "They could ship you right back to Argus to your mother if they wanted to. Or worse, you could be arrested."

"..."

It may have been cruel to play with Midori's fear of her mother like this, but the young medic knew that Eren and Cinder were right. She was putting herself at enough risk as it was, and being caught would only lead to more trouble. Right now, the only one capable of making this trouble happen was Winter.

"I... I won't stop you, Eren," Midori decided. "But whatever you do, please don't let it involve me."

"...Me neither," Nora said. "I just... don't like how it feels."

Ren nodded before he looked back to Eren. "We lied to Redwood once, we can do it again," he said. "I'm with you, Eren."

"I am too," said Cinder. "You have my full support, Eren."

Cinder's loyalty was always a welcoming light in the darkness for Eren. And so, with his mind clear and made up on the subject, Eren broke the huddle and looked at Winter. "Alright, we'll let you help us," he said.

"Wise choice," Winter said. Despite this exterior, Winter couldn't help but mentally sigh in relief. Her life had been spared, and she was ready to make good use of this miracle. "Now, I believe we have a warehouse to investigate."

"Follow my lead." Eren began to walk, but turned back to his friends first. "Midori, could you get Mercury and Vernal for us?"

"Sure," Midori said. "Be right back." As she left, everyone began to slowly move ahead towards the direction they were previously traveling in.

Emerald had lowered her weapons and put them away when Eren nodded to her. As she walked, however, Emerald moved back towards Ren. Something about all of this felt like there was more than meets the eye.

"Are we really letting her help?" she whispered. She was at a considerable distance from Winter, so she knew everything she and Ren said wouldn't be heard.

Ren knew this too, which was why he was willing to tell the truth.

"For now," he whispered back. "But once we find whoever's making the collars, all Winter has left to do is turn us in. Eren's going to make sure she can't do that. Ever."

Emerald easily understood what this meant, so she shared an opinion of her own. "Good. It's the right call." Ren nodded in response.

Nora, however, frowned and looked down at the ground.

The walk to the train station and the trip to the Dust warehouse was a rather long one. Eren decided to pass the time by explaining to Cinder and everyone else what exactly happened when he met the people of Lux in Tenebris. Winter was familiar with the group, but listened out of a strange curiosity. But the one who paid attention the most was Cinder, and she was captivated by the final story Eren heard.

"I've seen that Huntsman before," Eren continued. "You actually saw him too, Cinder. He was at the hotel the night we escaped Atlas."

Everyone turned to Cinder, who stared at Eren with a shocked expression on her face. "You mean... he was the one who tried to stop us?" she asked. "After I killed the owner and her daughters?"

Eren nodded. "I thought he died when I transformed, but I was wrong. He spent all that time in a coma, and he just woke up. According to him, his wife was a member of the group for a long time. Tonight was the first time he came to one of their meetings."

"Did he recognize you?" Ren asked.

"I don't think so. Even if he did, he's in no shape to do anything about it. He's blind in one eye and in a wheelchair."

"Ouch," said Mercury. "He could still say something about you, though. Did he say anything else?"

"Only that he was... he was sorry about what happened. How he did nothing to stop what was... happening."

Everyone remained silent at the notion, but Cinder grunted at the notion. "Big whoop," she said sarcastically. "If he really cared, he would've done something before we destroyed that place."

"Yeah," Emerald agreed. "All of this sounds a little far-fetched."

"I don't know," said Nora. "Eren said a lot of people shared their stories too. They all did and said things they wish they could take back."

"Yeah," Midori agreed as she looked at Eren. "And didn't you say they were doing things differently with their lives? People can change."

Cinder moved her eyes towards the rest of the train-car, where people were minding their own business or talking amongst themselves. "...Not these kind of people," she said.

Winter had been patient with Cinder about her distaste with Atlas before, but now she was starting to grow annoyed. If the finger tapping on the table wasn't a clear sign of this, what she said was. "You don't know that," she said, even though it could be akin to speaking out of place.

"No?" Cinder asked as she looked back to Winter. "Well, the next time you're assaulted on a train like this one just because somebody doesn't like what you're wearing, come talk to me." She immediately stood up and walked away without saying where she was going.

"Cinder," Eren called out to his friend. When she refused to respond, Eren angrily turned to the Atlesian. "Do you ever shut up?"

"Does she ever talk about anything else besides how terrible the people here are?" Winter retorted.

"Well, maybe it's because it actually happened here. Maybe I actually paid attention to it while you razed villages."

"Oh, don't you start that-"

Nora quickly put a halt to the argument. "Whoa, whoa, wait a second," she said. "Eren, what are you talking about?"

"You were there, Nora," Eren explained. "When the SDC came to Kuroyuri and-"

"No, I remember that. I mean, what's this about Cinder being assaulted?"

"Oh. It..." Eren wasn't sure if he should talk about this without Cinder, but it seemed Nora and everyone else knew something was going on. "It happened when we came up here with Emerald. She was sitting alone and these people just threw her out of her seat."

"It's true," Emerald said before anyone could reply. "Eren and I saw some big guy about to throw her bag on her after she was thrown to the floor."

Everyone, even Winter, shared an overall atmosphere of disbelief and concern. Comments ranged from how such a thing could happen to how Cinder was doing after such an ordeal.

"Someone say my name?"

Everyone looked to see that Cinder had returned and she was pointing to the door. "This is our stop, guys," she said. "Let's go."

"..."

Everyone remained silent as they looked at Cinder and piled out of the car. Eren was the last one to go, since he was staying by Cinder's side.

"Were you guys talking about me?" Cinder asked as she walked with Eren while keeping her distance from everyone else.

"...Yeah," Eren admitted. "Nora heard what you were saying to Winter, and she wanted to know what you were talking about."

"Oh." Cinder let out a heavy sigh. "Let me guess; they all wanted to talk about it?"

"Mostly if you're okay or not. But I think you answered that for them."

"Yeah... I guess I did."

Eren knew he was on thin ice in regards to talking about what happened, but he couldn't resist talking some more. "But really, are you okay? You know, after we talked?"

Cinder took a minute to remember everything she talked about with Eren while they were waiting outside the SDC headquarters. "I think so," she said. "I mean, I'll be better when we're out of this God-forsaken Kingdom. Mistral's never sounded better than right now."

Now it was Eren's turn to sigh. "Cinder... I don't think we can go to Mistral just yet," he sadly admitted.

"What? Why not?"

"Well... Watts is the last of Salem's servants. Once he's done with..."

"Oh." Cinder suddenly shook her head. "Oh, that's right. Sorry, I totally forgot about that."

"I mean, we might be able to go. Once we deliver Watts to the Council."

"No, going straight to Salem is the... Wait a minute." Cinder stopped walking. "We're taking Watts to the Mistral Council?"

"Yeah, after he-" Eren remembered that he didn't share his whole story of Lux in Tenebris with everyone. "Sorry. There was something else I forgot to tell you. About Lux in Tenebris."

"What is it?"

"Darkness watches them."

Cinder slightly moved back before she recovered from the surprise. "What?"

"Yeah. Apparently, he likes how they pray to him. Guess it feeds his ego."

"Are you sure?"

"He came to me and told me about it. But he also said it would be a good idea to keep Watts alive. He thinks Watts might be useful or something."

Cinder didn't like everything she was hearing, and she wasn't entirely sure if listening to Darkness of all people was a good idea. "Do you trust him?" Cinder asked.

"All I know for sure is that he wants Salem gone," Eren began. "He didn't stop us from killing Tyrian or Hazel. There has to be a reason why he wants Watts alive."

"What do you think it is?"

"...I don't know." Eren looked ahead to see that he and Cinder had fallen behind everyone else. "Let's find out."

Cinder turned to see the same sight Eren was seeing. "Oh, right!" She immediately began to walk at a faster pace with Eren. "Thanks for telling me all that."

"Thanks for listening."

Cinder smiled for a brief moment before she looked at the ground she walked on. "Hey, Eren... would you mind if I told you something really quick?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, thanks to you and Emerald, it was easy to see that everything those Atlesians said was nothing but bullshit. But... I can't help but feel they were on to something."

Eren didn't exactly know what those Atlesians said about his friend, but he knew for sure that it was nonsense. He tried hard to make a shell-shocked Cinder see this, and now he felt that his work wasn't done.

"...What is it?" he repeated.

Cinder continued to walk, but she pulled at the clothes she was wearing. "Well... I'm starting to think I need to change what I wear," she said.

Eren couldn't help but stop again. "What?" He then remembered something else that happened earlier. "Wait, this isn't about what I said, is it? I was just trying to say that-"

Cinder took Eren's hand and guided him towards their friends again. "No, it's not that," she promised. "Though it wasn't the best choice of words."

"..."

Cinder was obviously joking, but she was in a more serious mood. "No, you see... if I'm going to be getting into this kind of work, with the Council, I need to change how I look. I mean, this was what I looked like when I met Councilwoman Redwood. Dirty, totally unprepared, and honestly a little... showy."

"Cinder, nobody has a problem with how you dress," Eren insisted. "We were farmers, after all."

"Yeah, but haven't you heard the phrase 'dress for success' before? I look like a total peasant right now. And dozens, maybe even hundreds of people saw me like this when I gave that press conference."

"So, what? You think you need to dress differently to get your ideas across?"

"I mean, I think it would help." Cinder looked back to Eren as she walked. "Didn't you have to wear your uniform a lot? Even when you weren't fighting?" Cinder looked at Eren's clothes. "What do you think would happen if you dressed like that when you had to talk to a superior officer?"

Eren looked down at his clothes, and he had a good answer for Cinder's question. "If I was still a cadet... my instructor would probably put me on stable duty for the rest of my life," he said.

Cinder remembered Eren showing her his drill instructor, an older man named Keith Shadis. More importantly, she saw how this instructor enforced discipline in his cadets. Fortunately, this and Eren's answer gave her the confidence to prove her point. "See what I mean?" she asked.

"I do," Eren replied as he thought about all the times he had to dress appropriately in Paradis. "What did you have in mind?"

Cinder continued to walk while looking down at her clothes. "Well... I don't have any ideas just yet. I just wanted to put that idea out there." She then smiled at Eren. "Thanks for listening."

A few minutes after they left the train, Eren and everyone else found themselves at one of the Schnee Dust Company warehouses. Just as Emerald said, this warehouse was guarded solely by Atlesian drones and robots. It was also a warehouse that stored metal alone, so this was the perfect place for a robbery to commence.

As proposed, Emerald used her Semblance to move inside the warehouse. There, everyone saw multiple robots walking around and moving crates of metal inside the large space.

"Well, here we are," said Emerald. "This was the best warehouse I could find. Nothing but metal here."

"And you're sure the robberies are happening in Atlas?" Winter asked. "Not anywhere else on Remnant?"

"..."

The only response Winter received was silence followed by awkward stares. Needless to say, Winter grew annoyed by this. "What, I can't even ask a simple question?" she asked.

"I'm sure," Emerald replied rudely. "Just keep your mouth shut." She then looked to Eren. "So, what do we do now?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Eren said. "You have experience with this kind of thing, do you think it might help us?"

"Well..." Emerald looked up at a catwalk that appeared to be close to an office. "We could probably do a stakeout up there. Maybe even turn off any security cameras from that office."

"I didn't see any cameras," said Mercury. "And the door didn't even have a lock on it."

"I guess they trust their robots more than people," said Cinder. "Might be cheaper too."

"Sounds about right," said Vernal. "And I'm with Em on this one, that looks like a good place to see if anything goes down."

"Let's do it," Mercury said. "Stairs are over there."

"Waste of time." Vernal ran over to a stack of crates that were stacked high above the ground. She jumped on each crate she could in order to get higher, and she did this in the blink of an eye. When Vernal reached the crate that stood above all the rest, she jumped upwards and did a somersault in the air before she grabbed the side of the catwalk to pull herself up.

And she did all of this without any of the robots seeing her.

"Whoa," said Cinder, who watched every step Vernal had taken upwards. "When did she become an acrobat?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Mercury said as he moved towards the stairs. "C'mon, let's ask her." He took the lead up the stairs and joined Vernal at the empty office she had just broken in to.

Everyone spread out across the catwalk while staying out of sight. Some of the group went inside the office to see if they missed some security or if they could find any other information.

Winter kept to herself, but made no attempt to run away. Instead, she leaned against the railing and sighed. "How can it be this hard to just work with me?" she asked herself without expecting a response.

"Maybe it's karma. It's not like you don't deserve it or anything."

Winter sighed once again as she listened to Ymir. It was easy to ignore her earlier, but now was as good a time as any to make some things better.

"I'm busy," Winter began. "And I don't need any commentary on this."

"You think you can just shut me up?" Ymir asked angrily. "Unlike you, I don't quit easily."

"I didn't-!" Winter paused before she could yell again. "Look... you have every right to be mad at me for leaving. I'm sorry."

"Leaving?! I don't give a shit that you left! I give a shit that you came back! You gave up your body the night you gave up to Eren, you don't get to just wake up again and expect me to fall in line! Especially when I finally get my chance to live my life again!"

Winter had to admit that what Ymir said was true, but she wasn't ready to back down just yet. "...I understand," she said honestly. "And you're right. I did give up my body to you. But... it's still mine, Ymir. And right now, I need it. I really need it."

"Yeah, right. What, you need to make our situation even more fucked than it was? To wait for a moment to escape and warn everyone?"

"No, I-"

"This is all your fault, you know that?! Every time we pulled something with Eren and regretted it later was all because of you! Oh, if only someone could have learned from her mistakes and warn you about Eren. If only someone could have done that. Oh, wait! I did!"

"Ymir-!"

"But all you ever did was try to get your own way! Well, you're home now, Winter! Was it all worth it?!"

"Shut up!"

"I mean, seriously! What the hell is wrong with you?! All this time you've said I'm a selfish bitch, but at least I'm not pretending to be something I'm not! We both know you didn't join the military to do some good, you ran away!"

Winter didn't have a response for Ymir this time, but she was growing extremely angry. Ymir could tell, but this didn't stop her from continuing her tirade.

"And look where that got you! Washed up and replaced with some random Ironwood found! Don't you get it?! Nothing will change if you turn Eren in! You'll still just be a weapon without a name, you'll still be trying to be someone you're not, and above all else, you'll just be a joke! You hear that?! You're just a dumb, lifeless, washed-up joke!"

*BAM*

"I know that, okay?!"

"..."

Winter's scream and strike on the metal railing was not only enough to make Ymir stop talking, but it was also enough to gather the warehouse's full attention. Eren and his friends all looked at the angry Atlesian, and so did the Atlesian robots they had narrowly avoided earlier.

Now the droids were all aware that an intruder was inside the warehouse.

"What the hell?!" Cinder yelled.

"Winter, you idiot!" Eren screamed as he joined his friends outside the office. "Look what you did!"

Everyone looked to see multiple Atlesian drones running up the stairs and towards the intruders. They all took out their weapons and prepared to fight back, but Winter simply raised her hand and stared at the robots.

"Override code: Gelé."

The robots stopped running. In fact, they stopped doing anything at all. The red light that was visible beneath the steel turned off and the robots became nothing but metal statues.

Everyone stared at the robots in amazement as Winter turned around. "All drones that report to the company have an override code built in their software," she said as she stepped aside. "All it requires is voice activation."

Eren, while impressed by the display of control, was angry at Winter for this. "And you didn't think this was something you wanted to tell us?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Mercury agreed. "We could see if there's anything recorded in its optics or something like that!"

"I'm sorry, but it's not my fault you never listen to a word I say," Winter retorted. She then walked past everyone else and towards the office for some privacy. "Do whatever you want with the drones. If you want to reactivate them, the activation code is the same." She quickly disappeared from sight.

Everyone looked at the first robot, which remained perfectly still. Mercury decided to take his own advice and examine its recordings while everyone looked past the surface of other things.

"She's right," said Nora. "We said we would let her help us. How are we supposed to do that if we don't listen to her?"

"It's not our fault everything that comes out of her mouth is her holier than thou bullshit," said Cinder.

Nora was about to retort, but Ren stopped her. "What I think Cinder means is that we shouldn't exactly trust Winter. It seems the only times she's helped us are when her back was against the wall."

"Yeah, I'm kinda starting to notice that," Vernal agreed. "And I've only known this chick for, what, ten minutes?"

"Yes, thank you!" Cinder exclaimed. "The only thing she cares about right now is herself. And she's so far off the deep end that she can't even think straight right now."

"Are you talking about Winter talking to herself?" Emerald asked. "I saw that too, it was pretty weird."

"Uh, I don't think she was talking to herself," said Eren. "If I know Ymir, she's not happy about being where she is."

"I guess having multiple personalities does that," said Vernal, who was unaware of Ymir's true nature. "But really, what was she saying?"

"All I heard was 'I know that, okay?'" Midori repeated. "I didn't hear anything else, I was in the office."

"Me neither," said Eren. "But she's obviously having a hard time keeping herself together. We should watch her closely."

"Say what you will about her, but she was right about this."

Everyone looked to see Mercury examining one of the Atlesian drones that Winter had deactivated. "I always wanted to see one of these things up close," he said as he studied one of the arms. It appeared that Mercury had managed to make it switch from an arm to a gun, and he was captivated by the sight. "You know these things hold up to thirty rounds? How do you even store that in a robot like this?"

"Um, Mercury?" Eren asked as he moved closer. "That sounds great and all, but shouldn't we see if it recorded anything?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Mercury moved towards the head. "I don't think we'll see any kind of stealing, but I can delete us from its memory-"

*ZAP*

"Gah!"

Mercury jumped back as he received a shock from the robot. All of a sudden, the machine began to move once again.

"What the-?" Emerald asked as she pulled out her weapons. "Mercury, what did you do?!"

"Nothing!" Mercury claimed. "I was just looking at its head!"

"Well, whatever happened, it's spreading!" Eren said as he looked past the first robot. All the others had reactivated, and they were moving once again.

Only instead of going up, they were moving back down to the ground level.

"What are they doing?" Cinder asked. "We're right here."

"I guess they don't care anymore," said Nora. She watched as they approached the crates of metal and lifted them up. "Kinda late to be working, don't you think?"

"Wait, something's wrong," said Ren, who began to climb down the stairs. "Weren't the robots glowing red underneath their faceplates?" His memory didn't fail him, the robots were glowing red a moment ago.

Now they were all glowing a bright purple underneath the steel. And they were also moving the crates outside of the warehouse.

"They're taking the metal!" Eren yelled as he moved downstairs.

"Yeah, but where?!" Cinder yelled as she joined him. She was then joined by everyone else.

"What do we do?" Nora asked. "Should we stop them?"

"No!" Ren said as he watched them leave the warehouse. "We wont know where they're taking it!"

Winter was the last one walking down the stairs, but she stopped when a light in the window caught her attention. "Nobody move!" she ordered. She looked down to see everyone was staying right where they were. "There's an airship outside!"

Emerald moved towards the nearest window and looked outside. "She's right!" she said as she gestured for her friends to join her. "There's an airship landing right now!"

Everyone else joined Emerald as they looked to see a large airship landing very close to the warehouse. Once it stopped moving, the hanger doors opened and two people moved outside.

"Who are these guys?" Mercury asked.

"Ah, I can't see," said Midori. "They're too far."

Eren saw the Atlesian drones moving towards the airship. They were all carrying the metal that they had taken from the warehouse and were moving back to get more.

"Is this supposed to happen?" Eren asked. "Is this when the supplies are moved?"

"No way," said Vernal. "This is a robbery."

"How can you tell?"

"They're unloading at night, for starters. And I don't think either of those guys work with customs. Probably got paid off. Not to mention there's no SDC logo on the airship."

"..."

Everyone was impressed with Vernal's observations, even Winter. She had a feeling that Vernal had experience with robberies before, but that wasn't important now. Now she was looking at the robots that were loading more and more metal onto the airship.

"Ren was right," she said. "They're not supposed to glow like that."

Ren looked back to Winter, who was willing to trust her only to build on his next theory. "Do you think they're on some kind of other setting?" he asked. "Or some kind of control?"

"That would be the most logical thing to assume. Now it's a matter of finding out who's controlling them."

"Let's do that," said Cinder. "Emerald, you think you can use your Semblance to hide yourself and get a closer look?"

"Yeah," Emerald confirmed. "But it's gonna be hard with two people."

"I'll go too," said Vernal. "I'm good with staying out of sight."

"Then let's go."

At the airship, two older men stood by the hanger door and watched the robots bring them more and more metal. As they watched the machines hard at work, one man was spinning a small remote in his fingers without a care in the world. The second man was flipping a coin while he also waited.

Both men were starting to get bored, so the one with the coin began a conversation.

"Hey," he said to his friend.

"Yeah?" the second man asked calmly.

"...You ever wonder why we're here?"

"Eh, not really." The man looked at the robots once again. "I'm just glad to be outta that shop, you know? If I have to build one more of those things outta this stuff, I think my fingers are gonna fall off." He then let out a sigh. "This might be the easiest job in the world. Not the most exciting, but the easiest. So I'm glad to be here."

The first man looked back to the robots and watched another crate being loaded on the ship. "No arguments there," he said. "But actually, I was talking about-"

*CLICK*

"Don't move!"

The man froze as he felt something metal pressed against his back. "What the-?"

"I said don't move!" Emerald repeated. "Talking is moving!"

The second man was about to intervene, but he also heard the same noise and felt the same metal pressed against his back. Vernal even wrapped her free arm around his neck to make sure he wouldn't go anywhere. While his friend was starting to panic, this thief had a plan.

"What is this?!" he asked. "Don't you know that you're trespassing on Schnee Dust Company property?!"

"Isn't that what you're doing?" Vernal asked sarcastically. "And stealing all this metal isn't looking good for you."

"Stealing?! No, I work for the company! You're the one who's stealing! Look, you'll be in serious trouble if you-!"

"Oh, really?"

A new voice reached everyone's ears and caused them to look towards another woman that was approaching the ship. "And where exactly are you taking this metal?" Winter asked. "Are you taking it to the refinery here in Atlas? Or straight down to Mantle for the mines on the east side?"

The second man was still calm while his partner was silent. "What's it to you?" he asked.

Winter moved closer so the thief could get a better look at her face. "This is everything to me," she said. "It's part of my grandfather's company after all."

The thief could now see that Winter Schnee was in front of him, so now he knew that he had to keep playing innocent. "Um... the refinery!" he said. "Yeah, the refinery in Atlas needs this right away!"

"Oh, really?" Winter asked. "Because the only refinery I know of is in Mantle. And before you say anything else, you should know that there are no mines on the east side."

"..."

Both thieves knew that they had been beaten. And from the looks of the people who captured them, they definitely meant business. However, they weren't ready to give up just yet.

The first thief, who was still panicking, was also smart enough to remember that he was still holding a remote control in his hand. As to what it controlled, his new enemies were about to find out.

*CLICK*

All of a sudden, the robots stopped moving metal onto the ship. Everyone heard them drop the crates of material they were previously carrying and raise their arms. They were still glowing the same color as before, but now they had transformed their arms into the guns that Mercury was so curious about.

"Look out!" Eren yelled as he pulled Cinder and Ren aside.

*BANG*

Multiple bullets fired all over the place and caused everyone to get out of the way. Vernal and Emerald couldn't get out of the way in time, but they weren't too worried. This was because the man who pressed the button on his control had made a fatal mistake.

The order he gave the robots was to protect him and his friend, and he was planning on using it with the girls behind them. Unfortunately, they were in the line of fire. And they couldn't move in time.

"W-Wait-!"

*BANG*

Emerald and Vernal were able to avoid the gunfire due to the thieves being in the way. The thieves, however, were dead before they hit the floor.

"Take them out!" Eren yelled as he took out his own guns. He returned fire with Ren and Cinder, but their bullets and arrows were merely bouncing off the armor.

Nora and Mercury saw this as well, and they knew they had to get up close and personal with the robots. So as Midori moved to check on Emerald and Vernal, Nora and Mercury made their own attack. Nora was able to swing Magnhild hard enough to break the robots bodies while Mercury kicked their heads and arms off. Vernal and Emerald joined him when Midori healed cuts from stray bullets.

Ren noticed that Nora's attacks were working, so he decided to use his guns' blades to follow her example. The blades were small enough to fit through the cracks of the armor, so Ren was able to break the droids with ease.

Eren and Cinder used their weapons differently at the moment. While Eren used his swords to follow Mercury's idea of removing heads and limbs, Cinder's explosive arrows were enough to blow the robots to pieces.

A minute later, the fighting was over.

Everyone was staring at a pile of armor and circuitry. They were also catching their breath, but Nora was the first one to regain her bearings.

"Well... that was a thing," she said as she kicked a head.

"Heh, heh, heh," Mercury chuckled as he also kicked a head. "Too bad about the arms, though." He kneeled down and picked up one of the guns; unlike the others, this one was in one piece. "I might be able to do something with this, though."

"We have bigger problems, Mercury."

Nora and Mercury turned to see Eren looking at the dead thieves at his feet. "They're both dead," he said as he gently kicked one of the bodies.

Emerald joined Eren, but she leaned down by the first thief and picked up the remote he was holding. "Looks like we know how they did it," she said. "They go to every warehouse with robots and make them do what they want."

"Yes, we know how," said Winter, who also looked at the bodies. "What we don't know is why." The older woman let out a sigh as she ran a hand through her hair. "They were our only lead."

"...Maybe not," said Ren, who looked close at the ship's door. There were many metal crates inside, but Ren was looking at a red substance on the crates and the floor. "Someone else was here."

Winter looked at the ground with Ren. "It might be the ship's pilot," she said. "They're hurt, and I didn't-"

"Shh. Listen."

"..."

Ren and Winter moved closer when they heard what sounded like grunts and quick breathing. Whoever was on the ship right now was indeed hurt, possibly from a stray bullet. Ren took the lead while he raised one of his guns, and he found another man crawling towards the cockpit.

"Stop right there," Ren ordered as he pointed his gun.

The man stopped crawling, but he turned around and revealed himself to be a wounded Faunus. He had dog ears on top of his head, and he was bleeding from his shoulder. There was a small pistol next to him, but he didn't have the courage to pick it up. Instead, he raised both of his hands and began to beg.

"Please... Please don't," he implored. "I... I didn't know, I-"

"What are you doing with all this?" Winter demanded. She was still behind Ren, and now she wasn't wasting the opportunity before her. "Why are you stealing metal?"

"I... I can't. I-"

*BANG*

Another bullet was shot, but it hit the wall closest to the Faunus. Ren and Winter turned around fast, but Ren relaxed when he saw that Eren was the one who shot his gun. After Ren moved aside, he and Winter watched Eren pick up the scared Faunus and point his gun at his head.

"Answer the question," Eren ordered as he prepared to fire again. "Why are you doing this?"

The scared Faunus knew that he had to chose between keeping his word and keeping his life. Fortunately for everyone in the ship, he chose to keep his life.

"Th... The metal," he began. "It's... It's for..."

"For what?" Eren asked impatiently.

"For... the doctor. He... He needs it, and pays... pays us to... steal it."

Everyone began to believe that Midori's theory about Arthur Watts was correct. True, there was more than one doctor in Atlas. But who else would make metal collars for Grimm Titans?

"Were you flying this ship?" Eren asked.

"Y... Yeah," the Faunus confirmed.

Eren grabbed the Faunus by his wounded shoulder to make a point, just in case it wasn't made already. "Take us to him."

After everyone boarded the airship, the Faunus pilot reluctantly flew them to his original destination. Midori healed the thief's wound, but only partially. That way, he wouldn't lose too much blood and he wouldn't try anything foolish.

The brief downtime was welcomed by everyone aboard. While Eren, Cinder, and Midori kept their eye on the pilot, everyone else stayed with the metal and waited for the flight to be over. Vernal and Mercury were looking over the gun he took from the destroyed robots while thinking of how it could be useful. Emerald and Ren were talking to each other and wondering how this "doctor" found enough money and people to pull off a job like this.

Winter was wondering as well, but she didn't bring this out in the open. Instead, she sat down in the corner and focused on the voice in her head.

"What do you think she's thinking about?" Emerald asked Ren after she spent a few seconds staring at Winter. She had been curious about the Atlesian's behavior ever since she yelled in the warehouse.

"I'm not sure," Ren replied honestly. "But she's definitely not happy."

Emerald chuckled for a brief second. "I could've told you that."

Ren joined her in the brief laughter. "Well... she seems to be sad. Though she's doing a good job of hiding it."

"Sad? Really?"

"Yes. Like I said, she's hiding it well. I would have expected her to be angry."

Emerald had a good feeling that Ren was using his Semblance to determine that Winter was sad. As to why, she used her own imagination to find out. "Do you think... she knows what Eren's going to do?"

Ren took a few moments to consider this. "I think 'knowing' isn't exactly right. At the very least, she may be suspicious."

"..."

Ren was indeed using his Semblance to see how Winter was feeling. And right now, he was seeing multiple blue petals fall down around Winter. She was definitely sad, but her look of determination was hiding this fact. However, Ren was able to see that Winter wasn't the only one who was feeling sad. There were more blue petals resting towards the left of the Atlesian. They seemed to be forming a path as they disappeared, and Ren knew where the path was leading towards.

Or rather, who it was leading towards.

"Emerald, I'll be right back," he said as he began to walk away. "I just remembered I need to check something else."

"Okay," Emerald said. "I'll be here."

Ren followed the trail of blue petals and found himself alone in one part of the ship. His path wasn't long, and it was easy to keep up with the disappearing petals. After he took a few more steps, he found exactly who the path was leading him to.

"Nora?"

The young redhead was currently sitting on top of a crate while gently kicking another one. Before Ren called out to her, she was in another world, one that appeared to be sad and lonely. But when she heard her name, Nora smiled and jumped off the crate.

"Hey, Ren!" Nora said with her normal sense of enthusiasm. "What's up?"

"You were, apparently," Ren replied as he gestured towards the crate. "What are you doing here all by yourself?"

"Oh, nothing! Just waiting to get off this thing. Why did you ask?"

"Well, I couldn't help but notice that you were alone. That's just... so unlike you."

"Oh. Well, I..."

"..."

Nora knew that she wasn't doing a good job hiding her feelings. Unfortunately, Ren knew her too well. While she could say that she needed some alone time or she was simply nervous about meeting this "doctor," it wouldn't take much time for Ren to find the truth.

And his Semblance was already telling him that something was wrong.

"Ren... you can be with Emerald if you want," Nora said after she took a breath.

"I was," Ren replied. "But now I want to be here with you. To know what's-"

"No, I mean... you can be with her. I think it's for the best."

"For... the best? What do you mean?"

Nora took a breath again. "I mean she's not wasting your time, you have a lot in common with her, and she doesn't do anything that might get you hurt or killed!" She began to calm down when she realized she made her point. "She's better than me, Ren. At least, with how she treats you."

Ren was even more confused than ever. Nora's sadness had turned to anger, and that anger was obviously directed at herself. What Ren couldn't understand was how he was involved in this fit of self-loathing.

"Nora, what are you talking about?" Ren asked. "Are you saying you've hurt me somehow? Because I'm fine, you haven't hurt me."

"Yes, I have," Nora said firmly. "Not just in the mines, but by... waiting for me."

"Waiting for what?"

"For me to change! To stop being so stupid when we need to stop Salem!" Nora turned around and leaned on the crate. "Back in the woods when you stopped Rod Reiss, I told you that I was going to change. To be who you needed me to be. But I've done nothing but keep you waiting and ruin the best laid plans we have for this. Emerald's not like that with you. She's patient, ready to do what needs to be done, and you two have a lot in common." Nora couldn't help but let a tear fall down on the floor. "So go. Don't let... Don't let me hold you back."

"..."

Ren remembered the conversation he had with Nora in the woods. It was the first time he ever confessed how he felt about her. He recalled how it made Nora happy, and he also recalled how she wanted to hold things off until she found out who she really was. But it seemed that she was regretting that choice, and regretting how long she had kept Ren waiting for her.

It also seemed that Nora viewed Ren's growing friendship with Emerald as a bad thing for her. The flowers Ren was seeing now indicated that Nora was somewhat jealous of this friendship, but this jealously was overwhelmed with the guilt she was carrying.

Not only did Ren want to set things straight, but he also wanted to set Nora on the right path again.

"Nora... why didn't you say anything?" Ren asked. "We could have-"

"Because I was being selfish," Nora quickly said. "No, I am being selfish. I didn't want... I didn't want you to see me being selfish. You deserve better."

"Maybe. But if everything you said is what 'better' is, then I don't want better." Ren put a hand on Nora's shoulder to make her turn around. "I want what we have, Nora. And nothing else."

Nora couldn't help but blush at the gesture and the look Ren was giving her. "But... But Emerald's been-"

"Emerald's been a friend, I promise. And you're right, we do have a lot of things in common. I'm glad I've been discovering that with her, but that's all it is. And what you've been is the opposite of everything you just said."

"No, it... it hasn't."

"Yes, it has." Ren moved his hands so he could hold both of hers. "Nora, when we lost Father, I was ten times worse than how you think you've been. All you've been since that talk we had in the woods is what makes me happy to have you in my life. You've been my opposite."

"I... I don't understand."

"Nora, opposites aren't always bad. In my case, you use your opposites to be my better half. When I prefer to isolate myself, you choose to express yourself. When I follow my head, you follow your heart. When I think, you do."

"..."

"So you see? We may be different, but you'll always be my better half. What happened with the mine foreman may have been a misstep, but it wasn't the end of the world. We all make mistakes, we're only human. And the whole thing started because you proved me right, with what I said in the woods; you have a heart of gold, Nora."

"..."

Nora, while grateful for everything that Ren had just said, still wasn't sure if she was still the right person for him. She may have been trying to follow her heart, but there were definitely times when this choice backfired. Emerald, however, had done nothing but make Ren laugh and feel at peace.

Emerald may be a friend to Ren... but that didn't mean Nora was the right person for him.

"Ren... I appreciate that," she said. "But how do you know you're not making the wrong choice here? Everything I do, good or bad, is always because I take a chance. I don't know what will happen, I don't always care what else could happen if I do it, I just... take chances. But you... you know how to think, how to analyze a situation. Without me, you wouldn't be in much trouble. And... you wouldn't be waiting for something that might not go as you think."

"..."

Ren needed another minute to do exactly what Nora said he did best. He began to think, to analyze, and he eventually agreed with Nora.

Not fully, but to a certain extent.

The extent was that Ren didn't know exactly what the future held for him and Nora, if they were to ever fulfill the promise they made to each other. They could be happy, or they could be unhappy. They could stay together longer, or they could choose to never see each other again. It would be taking a chance, just like Nora said.

And for the life of him, Ren couldn't be sure how it would end for them.

"You're right," he said. "You do take chances, just like how you saved me in the cave." Ren began to tense up. "Nora... can I tell you something?"

"...Sure," Nora replied. "Wh... What is it?"

"Like I said, I'm glad that you saved me in the cave. It was a big risk, but it paid off." Ren tensed up again, and he also let go of Nora's hands. As he did, he put them on her shoulders. "But... I was disappointed as well. Disappointed in myself, actually."

"That you got stuck?"

"Not exactly." Ren's arms started to shake. "You see... I wanted to... to take a chance as well. After you saved me. But I was afraid, I... overthought it. So I didn't do it. And now, more than ever... I regret taking it."

Nora was a little scared as to what Ren would say, but she felt somewhat relieved now. She was also curious about what he said. "What was it?" she asked. "What did you want to do?"

Ren took a quick breath and answered. "It was when I fell," he said. "When I saw you with my own eyes."

"...What?"

"..."

"Ren, what was it?"

Ren breathed again and answered quickly. "This."

With that, Ren gently pushed Nora to the wall... and kissed her.

"..."

What Ren was doing now wasn't just something he believed would help Nora, but it was also the truth. When he was free from the Predator Titan, when he fell on Nora, the first thing he saw were her beautiful blue eyes. While he was trapped, he wasn't sure if he would ever see them again. But right then and there, Ren knew there wasn't a time when Nora looked more beautiful than she did then. His only regret was not taking the opportunity to show her how happy he was to see her.

Hopefully, this would be enough to make up for the loss.

After a few seconds, Ren moved away from Nora. As he did, he saw that she was completely dumbfounded. Her cheeks were visibly red, but she looked like she couldn't believe that this actually happened.

"Sorry," Ren said as he quickly looked away. The reaction wasn't what Ren was expecting to see, and now he was feeling embarrassed. "I just... had to do that." Believing that he had blown his chances, Ren turned to leave.

Nora stopped him by gently grabbing his shoulder and turning him around.

"Do it again," she requested with a smile.

Ren happily obeyed.

About ten minutes after the airship left the warehouse, it found itself in Mantle. More specifically, it landed in a dark, run-down part of Mantle. Eren and Cinder saw this and shared a certain uncertainty about the place. They didn't know what they would find, but it seemed to be the perfect place to hide a servant of Salem.

After the airship landed and its engines slowly came to a halt, Eren struck the Faunus hard enough to knock him unconscious. He and Cinder worked together to move him out of the cockpit and to lock it from any other access. Once the deed was done, everyone left the airship and became aware of their surroundings.

"Of course," said Winter, who stopped studying the area. "This is a perfect place to hide." She looked back to Eren. "We're in the middle of Themis."

"Themis?" Eren asked. "I thought we were in Mantle."

"We are. Themis is a portion of Mantle."

"Themis, huh?" Mercury asked as he looked around. More specifically, he looked at the unclean and almost soulless aspects of the city. It was giving him a very bad feeling. "If it were up to me, I'd call this place 'Uranus.'"

"..."

The joke was met with either silence or rolling eyes. Emerald chose to meet it with a slap to his head. Winter, however, entertained Mercury's thoughts.

"Profanity aside, your argument is logical," she said. "You can think of Themis as the Kingdom's lower Mistral. Witnessing crime and underground business here is as common as seeing the stars above." Winter pointed above her to see a starry night. "Once, long ago, it was the crowning jewel of the city. The police made it the safest and most just part of Mantle."

Cinder still wasn't Winter's biggest fan, but the story she was sharing made her curious as to how such a promising town could look worse than lower Mistral. "So, what happened?" she asked.

Winter pointed overhead once again, but she was pointing to the city of Atlas this time. "When Atlas rose, nearly the whole population of Themis moved there. Police, lawyers, judges, they all left for greener pastures. Everything they built here was left to the... immoral."

"Uh-huh..." Cinder looked up at Atlas once again. "And what made you want to have a city in the clouds again?"

"Don't look at me. I didn't create it." Winter turned around and walked towards the building that the airship had landed in front of. While she still had her priorities set at finding out who was making the metal collars for Titans, she didn't want to have yet another argument of right and wrong with Cinder.

"She's kinda got you there, Cinder," said Midori.

"Still," Cinder said as she rolled her eyes. "A city in the clouds practically leaves everyone here to rot."

"No arguments there," Eren said before he joined Winter. "So, do you think this 'doctor' is inside?"

"Possibly," said Winter. "But this could be a drop-off site as well. However... nobody's come out to meet or stop us."

Eren turned around to look at Ren. "Ren. Can you use your Semblance to see if anyone's here?"

Ren looked to the left, the right, and even behind himself to see if there was anyone in the area. Since his Semblance detected any kind of emotion, it was impossible to hide from the young man's eyes.

But there was nobody hiding anywhere around them.

"It's clear," said Ren. "Nobody's out here."

"Wait," said Mercury, who walked around the immediate area. "Something's wrong."

"What is it, Mercury?" Cinder asked.

"What do you guys smell right now?"

"Smell?" Winter asked in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Just do it! For one second."

Everyone obeyed and took one large whiff of the air around them. Out of the whole group, Midori was the one who was uncomfortable with the smell. Given that the dirty air of Mantle was just as strong as ever in Themis, Midori couldn't help but let out strong coughs after she stopped smelling.

But Eren and everyone else smelled something else.

"Is... something burning?" Eren asked as he stopped smelling.

"I think so," said Cinder, who smelled the same thing as Eren. "But I don't see a fire. And there wasn't one close by when we were in the airship."

"There's no fire," said Mercury. "But someone's welding something together." He quickly moved towards the door of the seemingly abandoned building.

"Are you sure?" Winter asked.

"I know that smell anywhere. This is definitely the place."

*BAM*

The doors that Mercury kicked had just opened and fell off their hinges. "Let's see what we can find," he said as he led the way.

Everyone followed inside, but not before they took out their own weapons. Winter never recovered her swords from Eren, so she did her best to remember the hand-to-hand combat training she received from her time at Atlas Academy. Midori was holding the arm-gun Mercury had taken from the pile of destroyed robots. It was still functional as a weapon, even though the arm part was useless.

The tour of the building began with an extremely dark hallway. Broken glass and decaying walls littered the area, and left Cinder feeling a mixture of disappointment and confusion.

Fortunately, Eren was there to lend an ear.

"I don't think this was how I planned on spending my next to trip to Atlas," he began. "I don't think I ever planned one, actually."

"That makes two of us," Cinder replied. "But still, they just left this place to rot? This could have been anything. An apartment, a grocery store, maybe even a doctor's office. With what I heard from Nora and Midori, it sounds like Mantle could use all of the above. How can they just leave?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Eren looked overhead again, even though all he saw was a decaying ceiling. "Don't get me wrong, I never thought I would see a city in the clouds. But there's plenty of room up there for everyone down here. Hell, there's room down here for all of them too. What made them want to just get up and leave?"

"I don't think it's the city that's the problem, Eren. If being here twice has taught me one thing, it's that these people are just..." Cinder took a minute to think. "Is there a word that means 'greedy,' 'selfish,' and 'spiteful' at the same time?"

Eren also stopped talking to think about an appropriate response. He had seen these qualities before, but he wasn't exactly the most knowledgeable person to think of an answer to this question. Armin wouldn't have much of a problem, but he wasn't here right now.

However, Eren was able to think of a kind of person who possessed all the qualities Cinder mentioned.

"Marleyan."

Cinder stopped walking and looked back to Eren. She wasn't confused as to why Eren chose that word, but he still explained himself.

"It was still a stupid thing he did, but the Marleyans broke their promise to King Fritz," Eren said. "All just to get their hands on the Founding Titan. There was no war, there was never a threat to their homeland. Even without the Eldians, they still had wars of their own. Their greed and need to stay on top was what drove them to attack Paradis. As for their spite, well... I already told you about that."

"...You know what, Eren?" Cinder asked after everything her friend said sank in. "You're right." She walked through the dark hallway again to catch up with everyone. "If what happened to me and Mantle isn't proof enough, we still remember what the SDC tried with Kuroyuri. It's just like Marley. Why didn't I see it before?" Cinder stopped once again and looked back to Eren. "But you won't see another Marley, Eren. I promise."

"..."

"Psst, guys."

Eren and Cinder turned to see Ren with a finger to his lips. He used his free hand to gesture for his friends to come forward. When his friends obeyed, Ren moved his hand and pointed down the hall.

Ren and everyone else had found another hallway, but this one had a light at the end. And Mercury could smell the familiar smell of welding being done. Ren took the lead once Eren and Cinder joined him, and they all slowly walked towards the light.

When they reached the end of the hall, everyone found themselves at an open door, one that led to a flight of stairs. Nobody moved down the stairs, but Ren and Winter looked to see what was at the bottom of them.

The answer was about the same as what they expected.

There were multiple people at the ground floor, walking about and doing various jobs. From welding metal together to placing various pieces together, the people were all a part of some kind of crafting operation. Not all the pieces looked like the collars of a Titan, but Ren assumed that they were connected somehow.

Either way, this had to be the place.

"This is it," Ren said as he turned around. "This is where they're taking the metal."

"Are they building the collars?" Eren asked.

"I couldn't see the collars, but the pieces have to be a part of it all. Like they're building the separate pieces of the collars."

"Can you see anything else?" Nora asked.

This time, Winter turned around and answered. "There are about twenty people in there," she said. "Human and Faunus. They're unarmed, but there are more Knights watching them."

"Human and Faunus..." Eren repeated. Given the obvious distaste each one had with the other, it was easy to wonder how they were working together on a project such as this.

"Do any of them look like a doctor?" Emerald asked.

"Or Watts?" Midori asked.

Winter looked again, careful not to be in the robots' line of sight. "No, they don't," she said. "Looks like they're all just workers."

Emerald groaned. "Damn it," she said. "He might not even be here."

"Somebody's in charge here," Mercury noted. "This all sounds pretty big. Ain't no way a boss would leave without someone to rely on. That is, if he wasn't here."

"So we need to lure them out," said Eren. "How should we do it?"

"I saw a power-box on one of the walls," said Ren. "The darkness will make everyone panic. Whoever's in charge may try to run."

"How can we turn it off?"

"Cinder's arrows should be able to hit it and take it out."

"But we don't have anyone guarding the exits," said Winter. "They could get away before we get outside."

"I'll go outside," Vernal volunteered. "I'll find the exit and cover it."

"I'll go with you," said Mercury. "Just in case there's more than one exit."

"Hold on," said Midori. "Darkness will work, sure. But how are we supposed to see what's happening in there?"

"That's true," said Cinder. "Is there anything else we can use?"

"If you shoot at some of the machinery, maybe," Ren replied. "There might be something that could cause a fire."

"Wait, I got it!" Eren said as he took one of his blades. "I'll make some Grimm and scare everyone out!"

"That's perfect!" Cinder said. "We'll be ready to-"

"Absolutely not!"

Everyone looked to see Winter staring at Eren with upmost defiance. "Eren, there is no way I'm going to let you unleash Grimm here!" she said. "What if the Knights don't stop them in time?"

"In time for what?" Eren argued. "For everyone to get out?"

"Obviously! A Grimm would kill them before they knew what happened!"

"So what? These people are making the collars, they have to be. That means they're helping Salem make more Titans. And they have to be stopped."

"By risking their lives?"

"Salem has three people too many already working for her. We can't risk letting any more of her slaves live." Eren could see that Winter wouldn't be beaten easily, so he gave her a choice. "Now move, or I'll let my Grimm get you too."

"..."

Silence followed the standstill, but it was broken by Mercury.

"I'll just... go wait outside, then."

"This makes about twenty-five units this week, sir. They'll all be loaded on your airship tonight."

"Excellent. My superior will be most pleased with this progress. I almost didn't think you had it in you."

"I, uh... I'll take that as a compliment, sir."

One of the many workers in the once prestigious building was currently speaking to the overseer of this operation. The overseer was an older man with black hair that was graying on the sides. He was a slender man in a gray suit with a yellow undershirt and a black tie. And right now, he was smiling under his uniquely large mustache.

"You should," Arthur Watts said calmly. "You can tell everyone that they earned their pay tonight."

The worker was pleased to hear that, but the satisfaction didn't last very long. "Actually, sir... that's something I was hoping to talk to you about," he said timidly.

"Oh?" Watts stood up from his seat. "Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think I've been more generous than your previous employer."

The worker could see that he started off on the wrong foot and needed to correct himself. "No, I completely agree! I mean, I never earned what I make here when I was in Schnee's mines!"

"..."

"I'm sorry, what I meant was, I was hoping to speak with you about everyone else. That's all."

"Oh... really?" Watts turned to a window this time, where he could see all of his workers busy doing what he was paying them to do. He himself wasn't employed by anyone, but Watts did have ways of stealing money under people's noses. And he liked to believe he had been generous with the money he gave them all.

It bought their silence, after all.

"What seems to be the problem?" Watts asked calmly as he continued to look out the window.

"Well, sir..." the worker began as he gained back his confidence. "It's just that there have been... rumors going around. About the things we've been doing."

"You mean your work?"

"Yes, sir. There seems to have been some... confusion."

Watts finally turned around. "Regarding?"

"Well, we were led to understand that you represent the Mistral Trading Company. That our work here will rival anything Jacques Schnee tries to sell the Kingdom."

"Oh, it will. Nobody on Remnant will have the devices like the ones we built here. The evolution of mechanics will lead to its revolution, I assure you."

"Yes, that we were making new material for mining Dust."

"Indeed. So what exactly is this... confusion?"

The worker cleared his throat before he continued. "Well, are you familiar with a young man named Rouge?" he asked.

"I believe so," Watts replied. "One of our more recent 'hires,' I believe. Why do you ask?"

"Apparently, he was trying to convince his brother to join us. He works at the Trading Company itself, at a desk job."

"Go on."

"He originally applied to be working one of the refineries in Mistral. He saw the machines they use for mining and processing Dust. And when he learned what his brother had been making, he... he said he couldn't find any kind of use for it. Not in the way you described, at least."

Watts was beginning to understand what kind of trouble this would be. "So the confusion is that he doesn't understand the kind of work we do," he said calmly. "Perhaps I can elaborate further with him. Tell him to come see me, will you?"

"Of course, sir." With that, the man finally left the office.

Watts was left alone with his thoughts, just like he was before receiving a daily report from the worker he hired. He had met several men like the one he spoke to, people who were either unpaid for their work or unhappy with the conditions at the Schnee Dust Company. With this in mind, and with the need to build Titan collars, Watts fabricated a story and proof that he worked for the Mistral Trading Company, a rival of the SDC. With the plans he drew of the collars, Watts briefly explained that it was meant to revolutionize Dust mining.

He also promised pay far superior to that of what these people were making under Jacques' employment.

All Watts had to worry about now was not blowing his cover and delivering Salem her collars as soon as possible. Nothing was impeding him with his second task at the moment, but this "Mr. Rouge" would prove to be a problem. The disgraced scientist had dealt with men like him before; people who weren't entirely buying the idea Watts had shared.

Fortunately, Watts had a simple solution. He could offer more stolen money and words of encouragement to ease the young man's mind. And if that failed... a simple bullet to the head and a quick body disposal would solve the problem.

Nothing could possibly go wrong.

*ROAR*

A loud and familiar roar, which was followed by screams, returned Arthur Watts to reality. He turned around fast towards the window to see that all of his workers had seemingly gathered together in a panic. Screaming and running was all he could hear and see as he watched the scene unfold, and then he saw one of the reprogrammed Atlesian Knights fire in one direction.

*BANG*

"What in the world?" Watts asked as he moved towards the door. As a precaution, he took out a large handgun coated in gold out of his pocket and swung the door open. Once he did, he was met with an unexpected sight.

Two Beowolves had broken into the complex and were currently fighting the robots. Some of the workers were on the ground grabbing wounds they received, but the majority were running towards the back of the room. Watts silently insulted their intelligence for not running towards the doors instead of seeking safety outside, but he joined the fight and fired multiple rounds at the Grimm.

*BANG*

His shots weren't lethal, but they were enough to assure the Knights in finishing off the Grimm. With the threat now over, Watts joined his workers and demanded an explanation.

"We don't know!" one worker cried as he helped a friend of his off the ground. "We were just working, and they came out of nowhere!"

Watts looked in the direction he believed they came from, and noticed something else was wrong. "Why weren't we warned? Those two should have been keeping guard after..." Watts turned back to the group of people. "Have Holmes or Doyle reported back with the new metal?"

"No, I don't think so."

"I haven't seen them," another worker chimed in.

Watts put away his pistol and sighed. "We better have a-"

*WHOOSH*

All of a sudden, a metal arrow hit the ground between Watts and the body of workers. The arrow was closer to Watts, but it was still in between him and his workers. It then gave off a series of beeps, which made Watts engage his Aura and run.

*BOOM*

The arrow exploded and knocked everything backwards. Whether it was people or metal tools, they were all blown away by the small yet powerful explosion. Watts himself wasn't injured, and the rest of the workers mostly suffered bruises as they fell back. The only things that weren't affected by the blast were the Knights, who simply fired in the direction the arrow originally came from.

Watts watched his workers either crawl up in balls or flee in terror of the situation. He was thinking about running as well, given that he believed the Atlas military had found him.

But to his surprise, a spinning object had landed in front of him while taking down two Knights. And now, the object revealed itself to be a familiar man holding a sword in Watts' face.

"You," Watts maliciously said as he looked at the face of Eren Yeager.

"Arthur Watts," Eren said calmly as he stared at the man on the ground. In the back, he could hear his friends fighting the robots and telling the workers not to move. "You're under arrest."

Watts looked back at the sword in his face before he turned to Eren. "Am I now? Were Tyrian and Hazel supposed to be 'under arrest' as well?" He knew what had happened to his comrades, and he would be damned before he would join them.

"The situation's changed." Eren moved the sword closer. "Whatever you have going here is over now. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Watts moved off his back and leaned on his side. "Yes. Yes, my work here is done. But even if you had the intention of brining me in, I have no intention of going anywhere with you."

Eren quickly moved his sword against Watts' neck. "This is your last chance."

"My answer hasn't changed. But I will take your red-haired friend's earlier advice... and think fast!"

Watts reached towards his chest, specifically the tie he was wearing. After he tapped it once, a small red light began to shine at the center. All of a sudden, the entire building began to shake.

*BOOM*

The walls, ceiling, and floor all erupted in violent explosions. Pieces of debris began to fall overhead, destroying machinery and injuring people unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Eren quickly engaged his Aura and shielded his face with his arms, which proved to be wise after falling rubble nearly crushed him.

His skinny appearance was very deceiving for most people, as Watts was able to move quickly off the ground and run incredibly fast towards a corridor of the self-destructing building. Eren knew Soaring Freedom and another Grimm could help him catch Watts, but he first turned towards whoever was closest to him and yelled.

"Get everyone out of here!" Eren screamed at the top of his lungs. Emerald was the only one who could hear him, and she began to obey the logical command. With that, Eren cut his arm and launched himself towards the corridor.

Watts continued to run, but he could hear something strike the wall behind him. As he turned, he saw that Eren had flown towards the same spot by that flying machine of his. Watts was curious as to how it worked, but he chose to focus more on survival. And so, he fired more bullets behind him.

"Fifteen, fourteen," the scientist counted to himself. The shots were as clear as day, but he could hear something that didn't align with his counting.

*BANG*

A bullet struck his shoulder, but Watts was able to block it with his Aura and deduce that Eren had guns of his own. It seemed he chose to bring blades and guns to any fight he chose.

*CRASH*

The corridor shook for a moment as a piece of it caved in behind Watts. When he saw this, Watts couldn't help but laugh. "Ha, ha! That will hold him!" he said as he reached for his Scroll. The corridor was dark, and he did have an escape route; he just needed to find it. "Now, I believe it was two rights and a left to-"

*BAM*

Pebbles and dust struck Watts in the back, which caused him to turn around and see that the caved-in portion of the corridor was gone. All that remained in its place was a large hole and a glowing Eren Yeager.

"Oh, bloody Hell!" Watts screamed as he fired more shots at Eren. Each bullet hit Eren in the chest, but his Aura blocked all the rounds.

Eren used the Volant on his gear instead of his hooks to launch himself towards Watts and pin him against the wall. As he said earlier, Watts had no intention of going anywhere with this young man. So even though he wasn't the best fighter, the scientist sent the strongest punches he had at Eren's face.

Each strike was strong, but it wasn't enough to break Eren's Aura. As he felt the punches strike his shield, Eren could tell that Watts seemed to the be the weakest member of Salem's followers. He may be smart and fast, but not very strong. Then again, it seemed his specialty was in mechanics and science.

Either way, Eren decided to put a stop to this by squeezing the man's throat. He had decided to take Darkness' advice and let Watts live, but to weaken him physically would make him easier to control. The man had already dropped his gun, now Eren just needed him to be in the verge of losing consciousness.

But Watts had other ideas.

The necktie he was wearing wasn't the only hidden device Watts was wearing. Thinking quickly once again, Watts removed the suit cufflinks he was wearing on his wrists and threw them towards the wall behind Eren. Once he did, the cufflinks formed a Hard-Light Dust shield around Eren's free hand. The cufflinks then stuck to the metal wall behind Eren, since they were magnetic. As he flew with the small shield, Eren inadvertently let go of Watts and tried to pull himself free.

Watts immediately used his newfound freedom to breathe heavily and let out a cough. As he felt his strength return to him, Watts stood up and dusted himself off. "Well... you're resilient... aren't you?" he said as he caught his breath.

Eren's only reply was to grunt as he attempted to free his arm.

"Resilient, but not too smart." Watts finished dusting himself off and looked around the corridor. He could hear more explosions, but he knew he was safe. "I suppose I have to give you credit for ruining my operation. But I think Salem has enough copies of you... or should I say Titans of you, for now."

Eren managed to retrieve one of his swords, and he was currently using it to try and attack Watts. But the doctor stayed out of reach. "She won't have any more for long," Eren promised. "Not when I'm finished with her."

"Finished with her?" Watts chuckled. "Clearly you didn't learn from last time. And I can assure you, there won't be a next time." Watts stopped looking around when he saw a small golden object on the floor. "Ah, there it is."

When Eren saw Watts reaching for his gun, he knew that he had to free himself. At first, he tried pulling his arm free from the Hard-Light Dust. But the burning sensation was painful; even for a Titan Shifter such as himself. It would take time to pull himself free.

But Watts wasn't going to give him the time.

"Imagine how she will reward me," Watts said as he recounted the number of bullets he had. "You're no Ozpin, but you and your friends have been more than a thorn in our side. I think removing one of you is good enough for now." Watts moved back once again as Eren swung his sword. "Oh, please. Do you really think that's going to work?"

"No," Eren said through grit teeth. "But this might!"

*SWISH*

With a mighty swing of his sword, Eren cut off his own arm and watched as black blood poured from the wound.

"What?!" Watts screamed as he watched Eren stand after he cut off his own limb. He was even more shocked to see that not only had the arm on the floor turned to a pool of black tar, but Eren's wound had begun to cauterize itself.

"Don't worry; it'll grow back."

"..."

Watts raised his revolver at Eren's head, but the young man swung at it with his sword and heard it go off in the air.

*BANG*

Eren then sent a strong kick to Watts' gut, which was enough to knock him off his feet and knock the gun out of his grasp. And with that, Eren sent another kick; this time, at Watts' head.

*BAM*

"Attention citizens! Place your hands in the air and drop your weapons! Repeat: hands up and drop your weapons!"

This was the first thing everyone heard when they finally managed to escape the exploding building. The right people had seen the explosion in the city, and the Atlas military were immediately notified to investigate its origin.

Cinder and everyone else had gone back and forth inside to find Eren and anyone else who were trapped inside. While they were able to find more of Watts' workers, nobody was able to find Eren.

Mercury, Vernal, and Midori were the last ones to emerge from the ruined building. Luckily, Mercury was able to see and hear new airships land close by. He also saw soldiers emerge from them and approach everyone else.

"Oh, shit!" Mercury said as he quickly stopped Vernal and Midori. "Soldiers!"

"Dammit!" Vernal groaned. "How many?"

"About ten."

"Do we fight?"

"I like what you're thinking, babe. But we're supposed to be the good guys tonight."

"Speak for yourself. I don't have one of those licenses."

Mercury turned back to Vernal. "Which is why you should get outta here. Hide somewhere where they won't find you, we'll catch up later."

"What? No way!" Vernal looked back to the soldiers. "They don't look like they're in the mood to take prisoners."

"Maybe. But Winter and our licenses might give us a chance to talk to these guys."

Midori offered her own ideas to the situation. "He's right," she said to Vernal. "They might think we're citizens or with those guys Watts had working for him. Let's just stay out of sight and get in touch later."

"Yeah, exactly!" Mercury said in support. "You'll know if we need to fight our way out."

"...Alright," Vernal said. "Just don't do anything stupid, babe." With that, Vernal gave Mercury a quick kiss before she led Midori to a proper hiding spot.

When he was alone, Mercury came into sight with his hands raised. Two soldiers immediately searched him and dropped him to his knees. "Hey, watch it!" Mercury said. "I'm on your side!"

"We'll see about that," one soldier said as he began to remove the guns from Mercury's boots. He then took them away towards the rest of the weapons they had just acquired. Mercury rolled his eyes in annoyance at the sight of losing his weapons.

"Psst, Mercury."

Mercury turned towards the whisper to see Emerald staring at him. "Where are Vernal and Midori?" she asked.

"Hiding," Mercury whispered back. "They don't have licenses like us." He then looked around to see that everyone else was in a similar spot as him and Emerald. "Where's Winter?"

"Somewhere up there." Emerald moved her head towards the airships. "I think she's talking with the soldiers and Cinder."

"Anyone say that we're the good guys here?"

"You got me." Emerald looked around again. "Did you see Eren or Watts back there?"

"No. Wait, they're not here?"

Emerald silently shook her head.

True to Emerald's word, Winter and Cinder were indeed at the front of all the other people. And they were also explaining the situation to the soldiers.

"So, let me see if I understand this," one soldier said to Winter. "You uncovered an underground group of people that have been stealing from the SDC, with the help of..."

Cinder showed her license to the soldier for what felt like the millionth time. "Inquisitors," she repeated as well.

The soldiers shared a confused glance before their leader turned back to Winter. "...Right," he said slowly. "This all true, Specialist Schnee?"

"It is," Winter confirmed as she pointed back to the building. "Their leader is still in there somewhere."

"And so is my friend!" Cinder yelled as she moved towards the building. "You have what we need, let's just go!"

"Hey, hold it!" another soldier yelled. "We're sending in our Knights to excavate the area. That place is a deathtrap waiting to happen."

"But we already told you, they can control those things! They could come back any second and kill us all!"

"We can handle broken droids, ma'am. I'm sorry, we just have to wait."

Cinder groaned as she grabbed her head and began to pace. She was sure that if Eren was still inside, he would use his Titan to dig himself free. So why wasn't he doing it yet? Did he know about the soldiers? Or was he really hurt?

"Gentlemen, this isn't a time to follow protocol!" Winter said in Cinder's defense. "Their leader is still in there, and he's a genius! He's been controlling Knights to help him steal from the SDC! He can turn those droids against us in the blink of an eye!"

"Calm down!" the soldier said as he continued his interrogation. "And who exactly is this 'genius?'"

*SLAM*

The sound of metal hitting the ground caused everyone to turn around quickly. The soldiers had raised their guns and turned to see a metal trapdoor was open on the ground behind them. Then, the caught the sound of what seemed to be air escaping a container escape from the hatch. Lastly, they were greeted by two men that had quickly emerged from the door and landed on the ground.

"Eren!" Cinder yelled as she ran towards her friend and hugged him. She noticed that steam was around his arm and that he was missing another sleeve. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Eren replied. "I got him just in time and found this escape tunnel he-"

"Freeze!"

Eren and Cinder turned to see the soldiers were pointing their automatic rifles right at them.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands on your head!" one soldier ordered.

Eren didn't have his hands on his weapons, but he had a better idea as to what to do next. "Tell that to him," he said as he grabbed his prisoner by the hair.

When the soldiers looked at the face of the man Eren was presenting, they all shared the same reaction. Only one brought this issue, which seemed to be impossible, to light.

"Is that... Arthur Watts?"

The fighting at Watts' underground business had stopped roughly ten minutes ago. He, his associates, and his new enemies were all being watched closely by ten Atlesian soldiers and ten Atlesian Knights as well. All of the present parties were having some kind of reaction to the situation; while the scientist's metalworkers were panicking and trying to bargain with the soldiers, Watts and the self-proclaimed Inquisitors kept themselves at a calm composure.

However, Watts' composure was a farce for the seething anger he harbored for his enemies.

Ever since the day he attacked Salem at her own castle, Eren Yeager had been an interest to Watts. Salem's decision to create more Titans to find him was not an easy one, but Watts was able to convince her to do so when he proposed a method to control them. He was confident that these Titans would be able to find Eren and his friends with the sole purpose of crushing him and ridding Salem of an annoyance.

But tonight's actions had proven the arrogant man wrong. And he hated being wrong. Only this time, his miscalculations had cost Watts his operation and his farce of staying "dead."

Watts' mind was racing with all kinds of questions, mainly how Eren Yeager, a reckless warrior, could beat him after he failed to stop the Grimm Queen. However, his primary concern was escape. He needed to find a way to escape before he could have his revenge on Yeager and his friends. But the soldiers watching him like a hawk were making that quite difficult.

And based on the new airship that had landed in the abandoned area, things were about to get worse.

When Eren and his friends explained everything to the soldiers and showed them the licenses they acquired in Mistral, none of them knew how to handle the situation. Did this fall under Atlas jurisdiction or Mistral's? They knew they had to call someone in and let them decide for themselves.

So they left the task of guarding the prisoners to the robotic Knights as they turned their attention to the new airship. Once the ship landed, its door opened to let more Knights disembark. As they did, they were followed by a person instead of another robot. This person was an Atlesian officer, one that every soldier saluted immediately.

The officer was a woman, and an alluring one at that. She possessed dark sapphire blue hair that was tied back into a ponytail, one that reached the nape of her neck, and curled bangs framing her diluted orange eyes. She also possessed noble features on her face, with well-defined cheekbones and fair skin. She was dressed in a blue-tinted black leather trench coat with silver plated pauldrons integrated into the shoulders and neckline. Along with a dark blue and white plated armoured shirt reminiscent of scales underneath, and military standard issue white cargo trousers. She revealed this, as well as a pair of black steel-toed combat boots and dog tags around her neck, when she removed the coat and handed it to a Knight.

"At ease," the woman ordered bluntly. Once the soldiers stopped saluting, she looked at the group of prisoners now in her company. "Are these all of them?"

"Yes, Lieutenant," said one soldier.

"Have they all been searched?"

"And stripped of any weapons, ma'am." The soldier raised his left hand towards the woman to reveal a Scroll. "When we saw this, we contacted you."

The woman looked at the device for a moment before she took it in her own hand. Once she opened it and was welcomed by the faint blue light, the Lieutenant read the contents of the Scroll.

"Hunt Inquisitorius: Winter Schnee

Let it be known that as an acting official of the Kingdom of Mistral, any member of the Hunt Inquisitorius is herby granted full authority in any case concerning the safety of said Kingdom. Any interference in their work will be considered an act of defiance and war against the Kingdom of Mistral."

The Lieutenant read the message over once more before she turned off the Scroll and handed it back to the soldier. "Did you see the Council's seal, ma'am?" he asked calmly.

"I did," the stoic woman confirmed. "As well as the signature of Councilwoman Redwood." She then looked at the row of prisoners. "Is... she here?"

"Yes, ma'am. Right over there."

"Good. Let's get to the bottom of this."

The soldier led his superior officer to Winter Schnee, who was sitting alone amongst the crowd of people. When she looked up, Winter quickly gasped and began to stand as the woman before her took in every detail about her new... appearance.

One that caused her to form a small smile of amusement.

"Hello, Schnee," the woman said as she made her smile disappear.

"...Infrigidando," Winter reluctantly addressed the woman.

"It's Lieutenant Infrigidando now. I would refer to you as Specialist, but..." Irae Infrigidando looked at Winter's clothes and hair once again. "You don't look like much of anything right now. Care to explain why?"

Winter was about to answer, but the voice inside her head answered first.

"Jeez, that's Infrigidando?" Ymir asked. "You should have told me she was a looker. I could probably get us outta here in two minutes flat! Ha, ha, ha!"

Winter's level of annoyance grew quickly. "That's no concern of yours," she responded while ignoring Ymir.

Irae wasn't one to take such an answer lightly, but this was a special circumstance. "Fair enough," she said as she took out Winter's Scroll again. "Perhaps you could explain what this is."

Winter looked at the screen to see the Inquisitor license on the screen. "What's there to explain? Can't you read?"

"..."

The soldiers all looked at Winter with either dropped jaws or widened eyes. They too were familiar with Winter Schnee, and they knew how she commanded a sense of discipline and respect for authority. So what they heard came as a shock to them all.

Irae was also surprised, but she brushed off the insult like it was lint on her shirt.

"I was more curious as to what it was that made you change your status from AWOL to full-blown traitor," she retorted.

Everyone of the prisoners heard the conversation, but Nora was the only one who spoke. "AWOL?" she whispered to Ren.

"Yes," Ren whispered back. "It means 'Absent Without Official Leave.'" It seemed that Atlas had drawn their own conclusions about Winter's disappearance.

"I didn't betray anyone," Winter said.

"No?" Irae asked as she looked at the Scroll again. "Because it looks like you traded everything you had here for a job with the Council of Mistral. Now, we may be at peace with them. But something like this could... complicate things." Irae leaned closer. "I'm sure he can work it out with the Council, but you know how the General punishes traitors... don't you?"

Winter indeed knew the punishment for treason against Atlas. But she didn't show her concern just yet. "You're the one complicating things," she retorted. "So I have to ask again; did you read the Scroll?"

"I did. And I can assure you, I'm not 'defying' anyone." Irae turned to the workers and their leader. "I think we've been generous with the assistance we've provided you and your little band, don't you? But I'll let them decide." Irae turned to one of the soldiers. "Detain her, but keep her here. I have a little surprise for her."

"Yes, ma'am," the soldier said as he moved closer and took a small device from his belt. He then opened the device to reveal a small wire that collapsed around the hands. Winter didn't resist.

Irae walked past the pleading workers and looked at Watts. "I'll deal with you later," she said as she continued walking. When she finally reached Eren and his friends, Irae studied them closely. She was unimpressed with their initial appearance, but then she turned towards the pile of weapons that had been taken from them. From pistols to bladed weapons, she couldn't help but wonder what they did in combat. But first, she had to deal with the Inquisitor she stopped in front of.

"Welcome to Atlas," she said neutrally. "I have to admit I'm surprised to see you of all people here... Ms. Fritz."

Everyone turned towards Cinder, who was surprised by the apparent familiarity this woman had with her.

"You... You know me?" Cinder asked.

"I do." Irae took out her own Scroll and began to type on it. "You made yourself quite the celebrity, after all." She then showed Cinder the Scroll's screen, which was playing a familiar video.

"It's because I find myself unable to trust Huntsmen and Huntresses. Many of Mistral's guardians choose to stay in the city, and involve themselves in multiple police cases, just like how they were involved in trying to find and hurt Eren. Their powerful presence doesn't make Mistral stronger, it just saves them from what lies beyond."

Irae paused the video and looked back to Cinder, who understood how this woman knew her. "You watched my speech," she realized.

"Everyone watched it," Irae confirmed. "A corrupt Councilman and Headmaster really catches attention, you know."

"Well, I-"

"And that's not all. You really went all out in about three minutes. And you brought up a lot of interesting points." Irae turned her Scroll back to her. "How about I show you my favorite one?"

Cinder was surprised to hear that someone was interested in her speech at Mistral, but the military's presence and Watts had her full attention right now. "Um, we still have Arthur Watts to-"

"No, no, I insist. Watts isn't going anywhere." Irae showed Cinder her screen once again. "Take a look." She then played the video again.

"My point is that these Academies and their Headmasters wield more power than I believe is necessary. And we even have one Kingdom that controls both Huntsmen and a powerful military. They cling to this power in the name of peace, but that peace is very limited. More than it should be."

"..."

Irae sighed as she put away her Scroll. "Everybody's a critic," she said. "Now, how about you explain to me what a critic such as yourself is doing here, and how you managed to find Arthur Watts of all people building..." Irae looked over to a large collar that had been recovered from the building. "Whatever that is. A weapon, I assume?"

"..."

Cinder was speechless. When she made that speech, she believed that convincing everyone in the crowd that the Huntsman system had become corrupt would be hard. But now, she knew that explaining something to someone she had apparently made an enemy out of would be impossible.

"Well?"

Cinder opened her mouth, but she felt that she had lost her voice completely.

"Ahem."

Cinder and Irae turned to see Eren holding a Scroll towards the officer. "This should explain what Watts was doing," he said. "As well as why we're here."

Irae looked down at the Scroll, but didn't take it from Eren. "I already saw your 'licenses,' Mr... Yeager, was it?" she asked confidently.

"This isn't a license." Eren held the Scroll out further. "Look at the picture and video."

"..."

The picture Eren was referring to was the SDC logo on the collar he and his friends had found. The video, on the other hand, was the one of the Titan that had attacked Vale. Councilwoman Redwood had forwarded it to Cinder, and she in turn sent it to all of her friends. While Eren would have felt better about keeping the Titans a secret, it was the only way to establish a semblance of diplomacy with the soldier. He knew it was unlikely that Irae or anyone else would be skeptical about the Hunt Inquisitorius.

He just hoped that Cinder and everyone else agreed with him.

Irae finally took the Scroll and looked back to Cinder. "Now... that wasn't so hard, was it?" she asked sarcastically. "It seems we learned that... What was the phrase again?" Cinder opened her mouth again, but was stopped by Irae. "Oh, I remember. It goes along the lines of 'You can talk the talk... but you can't walk to the walk.'" With that, Irae moved to watch the video privately.

She turned around just in time to miss Eren angrily staring at her while clenching his fists.

This anger, however, wasn't as strong as the feeling of self-loathing Cinder was harboring. She had her fill of Atlas for one lifetime, but she couldn't disagree with the Lieutenant's insult. Her lost voice practically resulted in a slap to the face, and it had left Cinder feeling humiliated. Irae had just taught Cinder that she would be facing opposition and criticism to her plans with the Huntsmen and Huntresses, and she had to be ready to face them.

But she couldn't even face one person tonight. Now what was she going to do?

Cinder had to wait to answer this question, given that Irae Infirgdando had turned around once again. She practically threw Eren's Scroll to him as she asked a question. "That's no weapon," she said as she pointed to the large collar. "It's used to control those things, isn't it?"

Eren nodded. "We came here to-"

"Step aside," Irae ordered as she pushed Eren out of her way. Without looking back at the young man, Irae stormed over to the detained scientist as fast as she could.

Watts looked towards the woman and rolled his eyes. "I suppose you know you already-"

*SMACK*

The irate Lieutenant swatted Watts' face like a fly, only with all her strength and her Aura engaged. The power was enough to make Watts stop talking and fall to the ground, where he received a sharp kick to his gut.

Irae seethed in anger and breathed heavily as she grabbed Watts by his collar and pushed him against the wall. The video and pictures Eren showed her had fully convinced Irae that Watts knew something about the Titans.

And she would be damned before she left without knowing herself.

"What are these... freaks?" Irae asked the scientist. "How did you accomplish such a complex task of controlling the Titans?"

"..."

Watts breathed hard and coughed as he attempted to recover from the officer's brutality, but he remained silent. The effort was harder than usual, given that Watts didn't have his Aura back yet. Despite this case, he refused to talk.

Irae reached towards her waist and pulled a metal handle resting in a sheath. As she pulled, a long blade emerged from the sheath and revealed a straight bladed sword with a sharp edge. And this edge was pressed right at Watts's chin.

"Answer me!" Irae demanded harshly.

"..."

Watts' silence enraged the Lieutenant even more, and she showed this by cutting his neck with her exquisite sword. The cut wasn't fatal, but it was enough for Watts to grab it in pain and attempt to stop the bleeding. Irae left the man alone to think about the consequences of defiance as she returned to Eren.

"Your turn," she said. "Answer me."

Eren looked towards the collar before he looked back to Irae. "I don't know how it works," he said. "I heard about that... thing when-"

"Not about the collar." Irae moved closer to Eren, which caused him to back against the wall. "What is this... Hunt Inquisitorius? Why did the Mistral Council allow you to come here?"

Eren began to relax as he could easily answer the question. "It's an outdated system in Mistral law. Councilwoman Redwood temporarily revived it so we could come here."

"How outdated?"

"Since before the Great War."

Irae was pleased to finally have answers about this, but she wasn't satisfied. "How did you know about Watts and his work?"

"We fought one of his... Titans, right? That's what you called them?" The feigned innocence worked, as Irae slightly nodded. "We fought it, all of us. When we found that it was made with SDC metal, we knew something was wrong. We thought all of Atlas was involved." Eren looked to Watts. "It seems we were wrong."

"Indeed you were. But I don't understand, we've worked with Mistral Huntsmen and Huntresses before. Why revive an outdated tradition?"

"..."

Irae was about to demand an answer once again, but her memory and intuition guided her towards one possibility. Once again, her eyes fell on Cinder. "So, your little speech reached the right people, is that it?" she asked as she walked towards Cinder. "You made the Council abandon the people who kept their Kingdom safe because you're not happy." Irae hummed at the idea. "Maybe I underestimated you, Ms. Fritz. Maybe you're dangerous after all."

The insult and accusation made Cinder finally find her voice. "Dangerous?" she repeated. "Dangerous to who? I came here to help the Council!"

"Help the Council? Or change it altogether?" Irae gripped her sword again. "I don't think many Huntsmen and Huntresses are very welcoming of revolutionaries, Ms. Fritz. And I don't think I am either."

Eren immediately moved towards Cinder and Irae. "Hey, that's not fair!" he said. "We're trying to stop people like Lionheart!"

Eren's support gave Cinder her confidence back. "Yeah, and didn't you watch the rest of my speech?" she asked. "There are corrupt Huntsmen and Huntresses that have to be stopped!"

"Mentioning isolated incidents isn't doing you any favors," Irae insisted. "And neither is changing how the Council works, Ms. Fritz. Or speaking out of turn, Mr. Yeager."

Eren moved closer. "It's not a good idea to threaten me."

Irae faced Eren this time while gripping her sword tighter. "Nor you me."

"..."

A silent staring contest followed the exchange, along with rising tensions among both parties. Nora could tell how bad this was going to get, and she knew that only one person could put a stop to it.

"Ren, do something!" she whispered to Ren.

The young man obeyed and walked over towards Eren and the Lieutenant. "Wait a minute!" he implored. "Lieutenant Infrigdando, while I don't agree with your opinion, I'm willing to respect it."

"..."

Eren was about to express his disappointment in Ren, but his friend continued talking. "And while I know Cinder never had any bad intentions with her decision to speak to Councilwoman Redwood, what's done is done. We're still members of the Hunt Inquisitorius, and we have a duty to bring Arthur Watts before the rest of the Mistral Council."

"..."

"You said it yourself, Atlas is at peace with Mistral. And the two have a mutually beneficial trading relationship with one another. Do you believe it's wise to jeopardize all of that simply because you doubt the validity of what we showed you? Or over who gets to take our common enemy to be brought to justice?"

"..."

Eren continued to hold his tongue as he saw how logical and helpful Ren was being right now. It seemed playing with one's ego was a wise strategy. The only question that remained was if it worked with Lieutenant Infrigdando.

"Lie Ren, is it?" Irae asked. "Your argument... is agreeable."

"..."

Irae let go of her sword and moved out of Eren's face. "I may be willing to let you take Arthur Watts to Mistral... if you are willing to abide by my conditions."

Eren let Ren speak on the group's behalf once again. "And those would be?" Ren asked calmly.

"I will be including our meeting in my report to my superiors. I think I can speak for them when I say that they would like to attend Watts' trial."

"Would they be willing to testify?"

"Certainly. As you know, Watts did steal metal from the SDC. That would be grounds for us to testify."

Ren looked towards Eren and Cinder, who nodded slowly. "Then by all means, please attend," Ren insisted. "Anything else?"

"If I recall correctly, this 'Hunt Inquisitorius' is a temporary position," Irae continued. "I'd like some assurance that it stays that way. Perhaps a meeting with the Council is in order."

"That could be arranged."

"Excellent. Just one more thing." Irae turned around and walked towards one particular person. "I'm not sure what it was that made the former Specialist Schnee join in with your little band. But like you said, Mr. Ren; what's done is done." She leaned towards Winter again. "And I don't think a temporary license is enough protection for treason. I'd like her to stay in Atlas."

"..."

Ren looked towards Eren and saw a similar look on his face. Both of them knew that this was a bad idea; not because they needed Winter's help anymore, but because she knew everything about the Titans. If she stayed now, the secret about Salem and the Titans would all be exposed.

They couldn't let her stay.

"I'll do it."

Everyone looked towards the source of the words, and Winter was walking towards Irae with a soldier behind her. "I'll stay," she repeated. "Charge me however you like, but just let them leave with Watts."

Irae was surprised but also pleased to hear that Winter was willing to cooperate. Eren, however, was the opposite.

"No," he said. "You can't leave, Winter."

Irae looked back to Eren. "Such loyalty," she believed. "Interesting."

Winter moved again, this time fast enough for the soldiers to believe that they needed their weapons drawn. But when she stopped in front of Eren, nobody fired. "Let's talk," Winter implored. "You and me."

"..."

Winter turned towards Irae and the rest of Eren's friends. "I just need a minute alone. I won't run." She lifted her hands to show that the wire was still around them. "I have nowhere to run to."

"...One minute," Irae decided. "I mean it."

Winter mentally sighed in relief. "I suppose I should thank you?"

"I suppose you should start talking." Irae began to walk away. "Your minute's already started."

Eren nodded towards his friends and began to walk away with Winter. They didn't move out of anyone's sight, but they were sure they were out of listening range. And so, Eren stubbornly spoke.

"I can't let you leave," he began. "Not after everything that's happened."

"You don't have a choice," Winter reminded him. "It's the only way to get Watts to Mistral. Better yet, you can make him help you fight Salem. That's why you didn't kill him, right?"

"..."

The look on Eren's face said it all, and it told Winter a lot of things. "Then do it. Take him and stop Salem. That's all you wanted, right?"

"..."

"...Or did you want to kill me now?"

"..."

The slight surprise on Eren's face, one that he quickly erased, confirmed Winter's theory. Now that she knew for a fact that her life was on the line, Winter knew that she had to change Eren's mind.

Luckily, she knew him long enough to say what he might like to hear.

"Eren, you don't like me, and I surely don't like you," Winter began. "You've never given me any reason to trust you, and I can say the same about my recent actions. I mean, I'm home now." Winter raised her hands. "But look what happened."

"..."

"I know I've seen too much about you, but I don't want to stay to sell you out. I want to... I want to..." Winter knew what she wanted to say, but she still had doubts about it all. "Was it true? What happened to Cinder when you came here?"

Eren finally spoke. "...It was," he confirmed.

Winter nodded. "She didn't deserve that. I've seen her speech too, I saw how she wants to create change. Like you. It's... admirable, to say the least."

Eren was surprised to hear this, but he was growing impatient. And flattery wasn't going to change how he saw Winter. "Do you have a point?" he asked.

"Well, you probably heard me in the warehouse, but Ymir was telling me how much I've failed as a soldier. All I did was uphold laws that have the potential to change. I can help make that change from within. I mean, I don't know how I can do it like... this." Winter looked at her hands again. "But... I have to try."

"..."

Once again, Eren was surprised to hear all of this. Of course, it could all be a lie. Winter could easily tell Irae everything she knew about the Titans, as well as the fact that he was one of them. Everything he and his friends did could be lost forever, and they could all be killed for sure.

It wasn't very likely that Winter was telling the truth, that she believed in what he and Cinder were doing. Eren believed this, but couldn't help but ask himself what if Winter was being honest.

"Time's up," Winter said as she pointed behind Eren. Sure enough, Lieutenant Infirgdando was walking towards the both of them. "It's your choice, Eren."

Eren let out a heavy and annoyed sigh. "Go," he reluctantly decided. "But don't think I won't be watching." Winter nodded as Irae finally joined up with them.

"Well?" she asked.

Eren gently pushed Winter towards the other Atlesian. "Take her."

"Wise choice. Your friends have Watts, we'll handle his crew." Irae took Winter's arm and proudly led her away. "Come along now."

"..."

Eren and Winter shared one last look at each other before Eren walked back towards his friends. And sure enough, they were leading Watts to an airship that had orders to take them to Argus. There, they were expected to travel to Mistral and bring Arthur Watts before the Council.

But before he boarded the ship, Eren made a small cut on his hand and saw black blood begin to pour out. He then kneeled down as if he was tying his shoe so the blood could form a puddle small enough to summon a small Nevermore.

"Watch her," he ordered the demented bird. "Stay hidden, and act if she says anything about the Titans." The Nevermore flew into the night undetected as Eren finally boarded the airship.

When its creator had been taken towards the sky, the small Nevermore began its mission by perching itself on the wing of Infrigdando's airship. There it kept its red eyes on Winter, who was still being held prisoner.

"Why are we still here?" Winter asked impatiently. "I already told you that you can take me away."

"I will," Irae promised. "But not yet." She finally let go of Winter when she was standing a few feet away from the building. "I'll take it from here. You all take Watts' crew away."

"Yes, ma'am," one of the soldiers said as he pushed a Faunus. "Come on, fuzz-brain." He was soon followed by the rest of Watts' workers and the other soldiers. They all moved to their own airship and led the prisoners on board. When some were moving too slow, and for an older Faunus, the soldiers struck them with their weapons.

Winter sighed at the display. "At least tell them to stop that," she requested. "You don't need to treat them like that."

"That's not for you to decide," Irae said. When she saw the final prisoner had been placed aboard, the Lieutenant smirked. "Finally, we're alone. Now, I thought we could use this time to catch up, before I never see you again."

"...What do we have to catch up on?"

"Well... Okay, maybe not too much." Irae began to walk behind Winter. "But tell me, did you come to wonder why I'm here?"

"I've wondered a lot of things about you, Irae. Mostly whether or not your head is screwed on right."

Irae played off the insult she deemed to be childish. "Well, I'm actually here because of you. You see, I was called to a mine here in Mantle tonight. There were reports about a giant Grimm in the cave that collapsed." She stopped walking. "I'm sure you know why I chose to lead the investigation."

"..."

Irae continued to speak. "I was hoping to find signs of a Titan there, but I never expected to find any sign of you. The foreman said he spoke to you, as did one of the soldiers. Care to explain?"

"I was there to investigate their metal stockage. The metal in the collars belonged to the SDC, after all."

"Ah, yes. Which brings me to my next point." Irae began to walk again. "Oddly enough, my investigation brought me to one of the company's warehouses. Apparently, there had been a skirmish, a firefight. It left quite the aftermath. And plenty of damage."

"They could control Knights. We did what had to be done, in order to get here."

"Of course." Irae had made a complete circle around Winter, and she had stopped in her face. "I completely agree. But not everyone here is very... open-minded. After the incident, I had to meet with someone who took the loss of the Knights and the metal a little more... personally." Irae moved closer. "He and I had a long talk and figured out we were on the same side. In return for cooperation, I promised to keep him... in the loop."

"..."

*WHOOSH*

Winter, Irae, and the small Nevermore looked up to see a new airship was descending from the sky. "Well, speak of the Devil," Irae gladly said.

Winter managed to get a better look at the airship when it came closer. She saw it was less of a military airship and more like a civilian one. Not like the airship she came to Atlas in, but more personal and privately owned.

Winter recognized it, along with the snowflake brand on the door.

"You didn't," Winter said after softly gasping and looking at Irae. "Please tell me you didn't."

"Oh, I could tell you," Irae replied. "It just wouldn't be true."

"..."

The airship landed right next to Irae's personal airship. Once it did, the door with the snowflake brand opened as an automatic ramp moved to the ground. And once it finished moving, a white-haired man in an even whiter suit walked down it with his eyes set on Winter.

"Well, well, well," Jacques Schnee said in feigned surprise. "Look who finally came home."

With the reality of her situation presented before her, courtesy of the soldier who was clearly enjoying herself, Winter saw no choice but to address it as best as she could.

"Father," Winter groaned with a sour expression on her face. "I would say it's a pleasure, but we both know that's-"

"Winter!"

Winter softly gasped once again at the sound of her name. It came from Jacques' airship, and it belonged to a younger girl standing on the ramp. The girl had white hair like Jacques', but it was much longer and tied in a long braid down the side of her face. She was wearing a thigh-length strapless dress with a faint color gradation from white to pale blue at the hem, and knee-high combat boots. And she was running down the ramp to join Jacques and Winter.

The running stopped when Jacques firmly raised his hand up to his head. Once she complied with the familiar request, the young girl was able to get a closer look at the appearance of the taller woman.

"...Winter?"

Winter couldn't stop staring at the young girl next to her father. She recognized her as her younger sister Weiss, who appeared to haven't aged a day. She had lost count of how long it was since the last time they saw each other, but she knew it was under much different circumstances than tonight. It was no mystery that Weiss always looked up to her older sister, and did her best to look, fight, and act just like her in the hopes of having a similar future.

Now, Weiss could only see a complete stranger; one that Winter was embarrassed by.

"Weiss..." Winter whispered before she regained her bearings. "Weiss, what are you doing here?"

The younger girl needed another moment to regain her train of thought. "I... I heard that-"

"I thought it would be wise to bring her here," Jacques said after he silenced his second daughter with a slower raise of his hand. "After we heard about that dreadful incident at my warehouse and that you had returned, I thought a small reunion would be in order." Jacques turned back towards the ship. "Whitely. Come down, please."

Another person walked down the ramp, a boy who was similar in height to Weiss. He also possessed white hair, but it was neatly combed. He was wearing more formal clothes then his sisters, as his attire included a short-sleeved white dress shirt and a light blue vest. As Jacques implied, Whitely was the younger brother of both Winter and Weiss.

It was also worth mentioning that he had acquired most of his father's unfavorable qualities and viewpoints.

"Dear sister," the boy said as he looked at Winter. "Look what has become of you." Whitely had never liked Winter, so he rarely spoke about her. But what he saw now, in his mind, was worthy of pity and disapproval.

"My thoughts exactly," said Jacques. "I think we're all owed an explanation of your behavior and your... choice of presentation." Jacques sighed as he shook his head. "Have I taught you nothing before you left? Weiss may need to remember her manners at the present..." The young girl stiffened her body at the sound of her name. "But she's clearly not as ungodly as you appear to be right now."

Winter remembered hearing insults such as these whenever she was in her father's presence, though not all of them were directed at her. So what irritated her the most was how Irae appeared to be relishing every moment of this unnecessary interaction.

"Are you enjoying this?" Winter asked the Lieutenant.

"Enjoying what?" Irae asked sarcastically. "Giving you the chance to see your family that's not on the wrong side of the glass?" She moved a little closer to Winter. "I know plenty of people who'd give anything to see their family one more time."

Winter had a good idea what Irae was talking about, but she didn't dare mention it to her.

"Quite right, Lieutenant," said Jacques. "Have you nothing to say for yourself, Winter? Where you've been? Why you made no attempt to come home? And more importantly, what in the world you were thinking by turning your back on your family and Kingdom?"

Winter opened her mouth to answer, but stopped herself when she heard another voice.

"Hey, Winter."

This one wasn't behind her or in front of her, but in the woman's head.

"I know you're pissed right now, and I know Eren's watching," said Ymir. "Look, there's no way things can get worse for us, so how about you just hear me out? Come on, what have you got to lose?"

"..."

Ymir took Winter's silence as a willingness to listen, so she said the one thing that was on her mind.

"So, if you're gonna take my advice at least once in your life, take it now. This guy wants to hurt you? I say it's time you hurt him back."

"..."

Ymir was right. There was no possible way any of this could get any worse for Winter. She had been arrested, she had been humiliated in front of her sister, and she was still on Eren's bad side.

But despite all of this, a greater good had become of it. Eren and his friends had gotten Watts and they stopped his plans to create more controllable Titans. Now they had a good way to go back to Salem's castle and put an end to her madness, whatever it was. Her part in their story seemed to be over.

Now Winter had been given a chance to make something of it.

"Heh, heh, heh," Winter chuckled. The laughter she began with started to grow as she remembered exactly what had been asked of her. Now she had a chance to share it all. But first, she took everyone's reactions in full detail. Irae and Jacques shared a brief glance at each other as they grew confused at her behavior. Whitely was indifferent, but Weiss was the only one who showed concern. And so, Winter calmed down and began to explain herself.

"Where have I been?" Winter repeated. "Obviously, I've been helping you out of a bind. Or did you not notice that any of your metal was missing?"

"I'm aware, thank you," Jacques said. "You may have uncovered all this, but that doesn't excuse-"

"Of course it doesn't. Because we both know there's far more worrisome things besides that." Winter moved closer to her father. "Did you want to not inspect any of the hazardous mines with me? Or better yet, don't you have another village to tear to the ground?"

"I beg your-"

"Oh, not yet. You still want to know why I didn't come home? I'll have you know I made several attempts to get to Atlas, but why on Remnant would I want to come back to that house? Where I have you and your ungrateful ass waiting for me?"

"My what?!"

Weiss and Whitely gasped at the profanity and couldn't help but look at each other with shocked expressions on their faces. Irae was shocked as well, but easily found entertainment in what she believed to be her old rival digging her own grave.

"You heard me," Winter defiantly said as she looked to her sister. "Whitely may be young and still has a lot to learn, but I can't deny his eye for business. And Weiss looks ready for combat, doesn't she? Don't you even care that wherever she goes, she'll be fighting for the honor of our family name? Or is it because you married into it?"

Now it was Jacques turn to gasp in shock. "How dare you?!"

But Winter didn't end there, not when she saw the opportunity in front of her. When she was a child, she saw her father as an unbeatable force of nature. It took time, but she grew past this idea. And now she saw her father as nothing more than a scared little man.

Now it was time for Weiss to learn this and do some good with this knowledge.

"What was the last thing you asked?" Winter asked sarcastically. "Oh, wait. I remember. As I was telling Lieutenant Infrigdando, I never had any plans on turning my back on Atlas. But you, and your work, that was worth leaving behind. Not when all it did was destroy me, destroy my life!"

"You spoiled brat!" Jacques screamed. "I have done nothing but give you the best opportunities life had to offer! I chose you to inherit the company and you have the audacity to embarrass me in such a manner?! Do you know how lucky you were that I chose you?!"

"You chose me?" Winter backed away so she could have room for what was about to happen next. "No, you know what it was? You never had anyone else close in your life to choose from! You just surrounded yourself with 'yes-men' and fake friends and only had me to be like you! And you know why? You can spin it however you like it..." Winter jabbed her finger at Jacques face. "But all you are is a reject!" She moved it back and pointed it again at Jacques surprised face. "You are a pariah! You couldn't earn a penny without anyone to help you, because you are so damn useless! You couldn't get a job in Atlas cleaning toilets!"

*SMACK*

Irae needed all of her willpower to stifle a laugh as she watched Jacques slap his eldest daughter. Weiss softly gasped and Whitely looked away, but Irae couldn't look away from the swift violence. She didn't blame the socialite for acting in such a manner; if one of her subordinates spoke to her in such a way, Irae would give them more than a simple slap.

Oddly enough, the look on Winter's face seemed to say the same thing.

"You... absolute... bastard!" she screamed as she raised her cuffed fists. Despite them being bound, Winter was able to land a heavy blow at Jacques face.

*BAM*

As she watched Jacques Schnee fall to the ground, Irae knew she had to act now. She drew her sword quickly and moved just as fast to hit Winter at the back of her head. The blunt end of the handle was enough to catch Winter off guard and fall to the ground. "Take her!" Irae shouted to the Atlesian Knights that were standing behind her. They immediately complied and dragged Winter aboard the airship. With that, Irae began to help Jacques get back on his feet. "Mr. Schnee, I'm so sorry. I had no idea that-"

"Yes, well, she seems full of-!" Jacques took a minute to calm down before he spoke again. "Surprises, tonight."

"Surprises?" Whitely asked as he examined his father's face for cuts or bruises. "Father, she just assaulted you!"

"I noticed, Whitely." Jacques began to rub his face. "I don't know who or what that was, but it was certainly not my daughter." Jacques looked back to the airship. "You may wish to consider a straightjacket for her, Lieutenant. She's completely mad!"

"Don't worry, sir," Irae said with a smile. "She won't hurt you or anyone again."

"...Very good." Jacques turned back towards his own airship. "Come, children. We're leaving." Jacques was immediately followed by his two children.

But Weiss stopped halfway up the ramp.

"Wait!" she defiantly said to her father. Earlier tonight, she would have followed him in silence. But now, after witnessing the reckless and foolish, yet courageous, act of her sister, Weiss found it in herself to stop following orders. It may only be for tonight, she told herself, but she didn't think she could forgive herself if she didn't go down the ramp and walk towards Irae's ship.

"Lieutenant," she said with a quick bow. "Would you be so kind... as to let me say goodbye to Winter?"

"..."

"Nonsense!" Jacques yelled as he moved towards the other airship. "Even if she was in such a condition to speak properly to you, I said that we're leaving!" He finally stopped in front of his second daughter. "This instant!"

"..."

"No, sir," Irae said after a prolonged silence from Weiss. "Perhaps it would do Ms. Schnee some good." Irae began to walk inside the ship. "Like I said... I know some people who'd give anything to see their family one more time."

This was a rare act of kindness from the Lieutenant, but one she didn't change her mind on. Willingly and in full awareness of her actions, Irae Infrigdando led Weiss into her airship and to the spot where she expected to see her Knights guarding Winter Schnee.

Instead she saw broken pieces scattered on the floor.

And no Winter.

Author's notes: hey, everyone. Hope you're doing good and I hope you're enjoying the chapter. Thanks for being so patient and thanks for all the support in the comments. I don't have too much to say at the moment, but I think I speak for everyone here when I say we're excited for the next part of the Attack on Titan anime! It's gonna be awesome, isn't it?

Also, we have RWBY: Volume 9 out now. I've seen what it looks like, and I just want to say AT and I don't really have plans for the Ever After just yet. Mind you, we have this story planned out really well, we just never got around to the Ever After. But if we decide to use it, you'll be the first to know.

Speaking of AT, here's a little note from him.

"Hey guys, The Avenging Titan here. I hope you're all enjoying the story and thanks for all the support. Just before we close things off i wanted to make a quick announcement.

In the future, sometime after completing the first act, I'll be posting a companion piece for Attack on Titan: A New Path.

Now i haven't got a title in mind yet, and we still have the first act of the main story to complete, but the gist of this companion piece is basically a World of Remnant type story. RWBY had World of Remnant explaining the lore of things such as Dust, Grimm, Aura, Individual Kingdoms, and events in history such as the Vytal Festival and The Great War. For this version of World of Remnant, it will dive into events and concepts native to the story such as the new Titans, the Titanic Retribution (Eren and Cinder's escape from Atlas), Lux in Tenebris, the new and improved Kuroyuri, and so on.

Again, this is still a ways away, but i hope that this would be a good and insightful piece for our crossover universe.

This is The Avenging Titan, signing off."

I don't have anything else at the moment, other than a reminder to drop a comment before you go. So, have a great day, and we'll see you all next time!