Note: HOLY SHIT THIS IS LATE. I apologize. Tricia and I had...our own issues in the past weekend, me especially (I was at serious risk for, as notable internet personalities Arin Hanson and Dan Avidan refer to it, receiving a ticket to the Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour.

Also- holy shit, 50 chapters. We never thought the day would come. Thank you SO MUCH for all the support, we cannot thank you enough.

Now suffer while reading.

"You look nice today, Brianna," Ceres teased. Brianna huffed and tried not to pout. The still genderbent Ben had to borrow a mix of Yang's button up shirt and Blake's skirt. She could feel eyes on her at all times, and it left an uncomfortable, prickly sensation on her skin.

"I still hate this skirt. So much," Brianna said, pulling the hem down. "I feel like some pervert is gonna try to sneak an upskirt pic of me."

"Why would you complain about something so implausible?" Weiss asked. "Phones are turned off during class hours."

Brianna frowned. "Easy for you to say, Miss 'I wear a skirt for everything, including battles'."

"Excuse you, it's a combat skirt," Weiss spat back.

Ruby appeared next to her in a shower of rose petals. "Yeah!" she agreed, flaunting her own super cute combat skirt. They both wordlessly low fived each other, never breaking eye contact with Brianna.

"...oookay then," she muttered, looking away.

"Hey, you! Brown haired chick!"

Brianna spun around to see Cardin leaning against a locker, smirking triumphantly.

"Ugh," she grumbled under her breath.

"So, I'm gonna get right to the point," Cardin said sauvely. "You. Me. Dinner. Tomorrow."

Brianna was about to flash him the Omnitrix, but then she thought of a devilishly great idea. She looked back to her friends and smirked.

"Alright, sure. I'll be visiting some family in the next town over tomorrow-" Brianna lied.

"Oh, in Legedore?" Cardin asked.

"Yeah, yeah!" she said, batting her eyelashes. "I know this great Italian place there. Ask anyone in town, they should tell you how to get there. I'll be there around...7 PM. Feel free to join me~"

Cardin pumped his fist. "I'll be there." He walked away, a skip in his step. Brianna smiled, flipping her hair and grouping back up with her friends.

"That was weird," Weiss said, flabbergasted.

Brianna smirked. "I'm gonna no-show the fucker. He should've learned my name first."

After class

"That poem you wrote earlier was actually great, Bri," Ruby commented, as she, Bri, and Ceres walked to their next class. "What was the inspiration?"

"Oh, uh...I just...copied and pasted anime lyrics," Brianna admitted, rubbing the back of her head.

"Please don't tell me you used Naruto lyrics," Ceres groaned.

"What? No," Brianna scoffed. "Naruto has like four good openings."

"Good."

"I used a Bleach opening," Brianna said. "Specifically opening 7, AFTER DARK."

"You better hope the band never finds out you stole their song," Ruby giggled.

"So, Bri-" Ceres asked. "When are you supposed to revert back to being Ben?"

"Should wear off like...tomorrow," Brianna said. "Gotta admit, I'm gonna miss using my charms for evil."

"Would it help if we used our charms for evil in honor of you, buddy?" Ceres asked, smiling softly.

"...You know, it probably would," Brianna mused. "I won't miss THESE monsters, though." She looked down at her chest. "These things suck."

"Yeah, that's why I bind mine on the field," Ruby told them. "I feel like I'm gonna slice mine off when I use my Semblance."

"Hopefully you're doing it carefully," Ceres warned. "Improper binding can do some SERIOUS damage."

"I'm always careful!" she pouted.

"...Ruby, you wield a big ass scythe that could knock everything over in a heartbeat," Ceres deadpanned. "I reserve every right to have my doubts."

"I'm with her on this," A slightly taller Brianna said.

Ceres paused. "...uh, Bri?"

"Yeah?"

"Were you 5'4" a minute ago?"

Brianna blinked. Ruby gasped as she watched Brianna's hair retreat into her scalp- it was weird, what the actual fuck-

"Dude! I think you might be reverting back to Ben!" Ruby gasped.

"Huh?" Brianna asked, as her voice cracked. "What do y-OH SHIT."

Ceres rolled her eyes. "I dunno if this is Min's fault or Charmcaster's fault. Probably both."

"I-I need a distraction!" Brianna, slowly returning to Ben, hissed. "Quick! Ruby! Do something so I can transform into Ghostfreak without attracting too much attention!"

Ruby looked around before spying her locker. "Quick! In here!" She took Brianna's hand and suddenly shoved her into the locker.

"...this was REALLY your best idea?" Brianna complained.

"Shut up and get back to the dorm! Qrow once wore a skirt in school as a joke and hall monitor Glynda grilled the hell out of him!" Ruby warned. "Imagine what she'll do to you!"

Brianna shivered. "Shut the door." Ruby slammed the door just as Brianna transformed.

"I owe you one," Ghostfreak's voice whispered, before she vanished.

Ceres blinked. "Was that REALLY the best plan of action, Ruby?"

"Probably not," Ruby said. "I just wanted to flex dominance."

Ceres rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'm gonna head to my next class. Are you free after?"

"Why, wanna do some sparring?" Ruby asked.

"Definitely. I've already taken down 3/4ths of your team, and, well, I see no reason to stop there," Ceres teased.

"Aaah." Ruby grinned. "Yeah, we can fight! I just gotta help Weiss with some speed training. She's still getting used to the armor."

"Understandable. See you then?" Ceres asked hopefully.

"See you then." Ruby grinned as she went off to her next class.

Emerald strutted through the training area, Cass's plan in mind. Find the girl and do your thing. Easy.

She walked on over to one of the arenas- Ruby Rose, the annoying brat, was working with her equally insufferable teammate Weiss. The heiress had added some lightweight armor to her outfit- not a bad plan, Emerald could admit, especially since the armor itself looked like it was good quality. But she doubted adding any armor would actually help the heiress, given her pointlessly time consuming dance powerups. Ruby was helping Weiss get accustomed to moving around in it, as it was a notable weight on her body, especially her chest.

Must've been a first for Weiss, Emerald joked silently. Hope would've laughed at that. Maybe Cass too.

Emerald watched from the outside- Ruby was racing Weiss around the arena, with Ruby slightly outpacing her teammate. Weiss was using her glyphs to speed around, another notable tactic Emerald took note of, should they face each other in the future.

"Sizing up the competition?" Emerald perked up and realized that Ceres North was looking into the arena as well. She was a full head taller than her, something that lowkey annoyed the girl.

"You could say that," Emerald lied, like a liar. "Are you doing the same?"

"I'm just here to make sure my recent work is up to par," Ceres answered, eying the armor.

"You made that?" Emerald said, surprised. "That's impressive. How long did that take?"

Ceres grinned. "A few hours."

Emerald whistled, genuinely impressed. "Nice. Think I could get my hands on something like that?"

"Not unless you can keep up with my commission rates," Ceres said. "That's at least a thousand dollars of work."

Emerald laughed. "I'll scrunge something up if those are your rates."

Weiss and Ruby finished up, with Weiss stepping out of the cage. Ruby chugged her water bottle inside, an Emerald decided to make her move.

"Uh, hi!" Emerald piped up, acting like a normal huntress that WASN'T involved with an immortal, evil Goddess. " You're Penny's friend, right?"

Ruby blinked. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Well, since MY leader is busy with her, I thought it fair I'd steal her friend for training," Emerald joked.

"Ohhh!" Ruby said. "I gotcha. So, a quick sparring match?"

"Absolutely. I'm Emerald, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Emerald!" Ruby grinned, extending her hand. "I'm Ruby."

Emerald briefly shook her hand. "Here's to a good match?"

"Oh, you know it." Ruby grinned as she ran to one side of the arena, Emerald to the other.

The plan was simple- use illusions to see what made Ruby tick. It was a typical 'break the haughty' moment. There was always something funny in seeing someone double over in pain and horror over seeing their worst nightmares, and Ruby would no doubt be equally as entertaining.

Emerald whipped out her weapons, a pair of convertible revolver-sickles. "Ready when you are!" she announced, a fake smile painted on her face.

Ruby moved with the speed of lightning- she was suddenly in front of Emerald, planting her scythe in the ground and using it to vault into a flying kick. Her feet struck Emerald's chest with such force that she went flying into the wall.

Emerald blinked. She was approaching the situation with more levity than she honestly should have. Ruby thrust in with her war scythe, and Emerald blocked it with her right pistol. Ruby pivoted and brought her left elbow around to attack Emerald.

Emerald blocked the attack with her left pistol and fired the weapon. The blast went over the girl's head. Ruby flew back, her weapon shifting to it's rifle mode.

Quick as a gunshot, Emerald tossed out her blades, sending them both in opposite directions- the left one was thrown a second later than the right one, so even if Ruby blocked one of them, she 'd still have to deal with the other. Ruby blocked the right sickle, and the left sickle wrapped around her body.

Emerald reeled herself in, kicking Ruby in the chest harder than she had done before. Ruby winced in pain as she was knocked to the ground. She frowned as Emerald stood over her.

"Nice chains," Ruby said, looking down at them. "What material are they made from?"

"Stainless steel, believe it or not," Emerald answered, as she prepared to shoot Ruby point blank-

BANG!

The gun shot hit the ground. Ruby had sped away, having successfully distracted Emerald. She was clever...

But not clever enough.

The best thing about Emerald's Semblance was that it was quiet. It didn't show any 'activation' like Yang or Cass did. She could use it quietly and discreetly-

And it gave off the impression she didn't have a Semblance to begin with.

Emerald fired a few shots at Ruby, who dodged them with ease- the younger girl's movements were faster than the usual prey she hunted. The girl's Semblance made her a blur, especially now that she knew how tight those chains were.

...was Ruby teasing her? Maybe, or maybe she was reading too deep into it. Emerald readjusted her weapon, and Ruby paused to stop- the girl was losing her breath, finally. Now was a perfect time for Emerald to use that ability of hers-

Emerald's Semblance worked best with direct eye contact, but sometimes it worked if she was just looking in someone's general direction. It was too finicky though, so she made sure she would look her victim directly in the eye.

Emerald's eyes prepared to strike Ruby-

But she sped away at last second-

And suddenly, the attack hit Ceres North.

Emerald was shocked at how well she was taking it. The thoughts she'd conjured up made the person relive their worst moments, their worst failures, the worst things they'd ever heard, in an incredibly vivid series of flashbacks. It made Huntsmen weep as Emerald finished them off...

So why was Ceres so calm? Ruby suddenly attacked her from the side, and Emerald prepared to strike back.

It was subtle. One second, Ceres was watching Emerald counterattack Ruby with a few gunshots from her weapon. Did decent damage to her aura, enough for Ruby to fall back. Ceres expected her to shoot back up and do something crazy. That was Ruby's typical style, wasn't it?

...and then all she saw was blood.

Ceres blinked, and the details around her changed. She could only hear Emerald's heavy breathing. The arenas around her dissolved into familiar darkness.

Ceres blinked again. It was a familiar communications room in a small starship. Lev and Ari were right beside her. The hyperspace jumpgate illuminated the galactic battlefield.

Her fingers danced on the keyboard, inputting the command code. The jumpgate dimmed. She hit send-

Ceres blinked again.

She was back in the arena.

She was shaking.

She needed to get away. Now.

Ruby groaned as Emerald retracted her weapons. How did Emerald pull that last move off? She looked like she was standing still just a few seconds ago, so how'd she manage to get the drop on her?!

Emerald giggled (a mixture of pity and genuine humor, Ruby's last attack was a solid offense but poor in execution) as she extended a hand to help Ruby up. "Good match."

Ruby smiled back as she took Emerald's hand. "Whose team are you on again?"

"Oh, me?" Emerald asked. "I'm apart of Cassidy Amity-Prewitt's-"

"Thaaat explains it," Ruby cut her off. "You should totally face off against Ceres, that was so impressive! Right Cer-"

Ruby looked around to see that her friend had vanished. "Ceres?" Ruby called out. "Huh...wonder where she went."

Emerald shrugged. "She might have gone off to the bathroom or something. I dunno...uh, anyways, nice sparring with you?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah," Ruby said distractedly. "We'll train together some other time. I'm gonna go look for my friend. It was nice to meet you, Emerald!"

Emerald nodded. "It was nice to meet you as well. I'll tell Penny I didn't rough you up too badly."

Ruby laughed. "Right, right." As she walked off in search of her friend, Emerald mentally replayed the fight, specifically to the point where she accidentally struck Ceres with her attack.

Was it just her, or...

Did Ceres silently shed a few tears as she was hit with a stare that would make grown men cry like babies?

...she may have just found a new victim for the plan.

Ruby searched for Ceres for a while- the girl was nowhere in sight. She was about to call her when her phone buzzed.

Ruby picked up her phone to see Ben on the caller ID. She quickly answered. "Hey! You back to normal?"

"Uh, yeah," Ben's normal voice came through the line. "I just kinda woke up from a nap. The stress really tired me out."

"Understandable," Ruby mused. "Uh, hey, random question- have you seen Ceres?"

"I was just about to ask you ABOUT Ceres," Ben said. "She's back in the dorm room. Did...did something happen?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Ceres was shaking and crying. What happened?" Ben sounded scared.

Ruby shivered. "I...I don't know."

Ben paused.

"...we need to get Ari. Now."

People don't understand PTSD.

On paper, it's easy to follow; A disorder in which a person has difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. That seems simple enough. But people don't understand the feelings.

Having PTSD is isolating. It's lonely in such a way that nothing else is. The same illness that makes you feel so disconnected to other people is also the thing that prevents you from reaching out and connecting with others in the first place. It's isolating because people don't get it. They think that if someone feels lonely, they should want to be around people. But to be around people, the victims have to pretend to be normal.

Sometimes people try to relate by saying "I've experienced some traumatic stuff too!" but they don't always know what they're talking about. They don't understand that, sometimes, they're diminishing the victim's pain instead of helping, because they really have no frame of reference. They think they're sympathizing, but they're just reminding the victim of how alone they are.

Ceres North was one of those victims. By the time her war was over, she spent most of her teenage years feeling hollow.

Ruby found Ceres sitting on the floor, her knees to her chest and staring at the ground. Her glacial blue eyes were bloodshot, and tears trailed down her bronze face.

Someone had thrown a blanket over her shoulders- Ben, most likely. He was sitting next to her, murmuring comforting words into her ear, but Ceres barely responded. She only perked up when Ben mentioned Ari coming, her expression becoming soft, before it reverted back into the blank mask it was before.

Ben's eyes flitted to Ruby, and he murmured into Ceres' ear again. She made a noise of confirmation, and Ben gave her a warm, heartfelt hug before striding over to Ruby and ushering her out into the hallway.

"What's going on?" she demanded to know.

"Ceres had a breakdown," Ben told her bluntly. Ruby's mouth shut with a click. "It's been nearly a year since the last one, but with everything that's been going on, this was bound to happen. Beacon's great, but playing at school seems more like an absurdist comedy sometimes. And that's just me and Kevin and the rest of the Squad; for Ceres, it's constant."

Ruby found her voice. "What do you mean? Wouldn't something more normal be better for your mental health after, you know, everything?"

"In some ways, yes, but for Ceres? No." Ben grimaced. "Don't get me wrong, me and Kevin and the rest of the Squad enjoy it here, but Ceres hasn't had a normal school life since she was at least fourteen." He furrowed his brow. "Actually, I don't think she's had a normal anything since she was fourteen."

"Wha- but that's-"

"Messed up? Believe me, I know." Ben sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked at the door and grimaced at how quiet the dorm room still was. "If you wanna know more about Ceres' backstory, you'd have to ask her. But keep in mind that it is horrific, so don't make her talk about it unless she wants to. Ari's one of the few people who can get her out of this, and her ship's landing soon."

Ruby raised an eyebrow at that. "That was fast."

Ben shrugged. "She was actually scheduled to come within the next few days. Lev got here sooner since he can do a lot of his work remotely, but Ari's a nurse. Finding a replacement for her took some time." He took a look at the time. "Kevin and I are actually supposed to meet her when she gets here, which is… a lot sooner than I thought. Can I trust you to take care of Ceres while I'm gone?"

"Of course," Ruby said instantly.

Ben smiled at her. "Make her hold something warm, speak gently, maybe get her to watch some TV. We just need to get her to stop spiraling, alright? I'll be back as soon as I can."

As Ben jogged down the hallway, Ruby took a deep breath and opened the door. Ceres was still in that same position, still staring at the ground. It didn't even look like she was breathing.

"Hey." Ruby's voice was like a gun going off. She winced as she closed the door. "I'm gonna make some hot chocolate, you want some?"

A moment's pause, and then Ceres gave a jerky nod. Ruby would take it. She quickly went about making the hot chocolate- Zeta Squad had a coffee grinder and a contraband electric kettle in their dorm room, along with a mini fridge filled with snacks and drinks. Ruby didn't know how Ceres liked her hot chocolate, so she made it like how Yang liked it- mainly with water, but she added some milk to keep it semi creamy and flavorful.

Ruby handed the mug to Ceres, who took it with surprisingly steady hands. Ruby sat down across from her and took a slow sip of her hot chocolate- made entirely with milk with whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top. Ceres drank a little of hers and did little else.

"You're probably wondering why I'm like this," Ceres stated, startling her. She recovered quickly, watching as Ceres tried and failed to look Ruby in the eyes. Ruby could only wince at the state of Ceres' voice- it sounded so hoarse and broken, with none of the strength she was known for.

"...yeah, a little," Ruby admitted.

Ceres took another sip. "What do you know about the Archimedean Empire?"

"...honestly? Nothing. It never came up."

"Probably because everyone thinks it's common knowledge." There was some of that strength back. "To put it in layman's terms, the Archimedean Empire is the Atlas of the universe. The known universe is dependent on us for trade, commerce, and at least half of it for safety, no matter if you are from a colony planet or not. The Empire has lasted one thousand years and can last nine thousand more, and the universe wants us to last because without the Empire, it's safe to say the known universe would collapse in on itself."

"...that sounds unrealistic," Ruby said weakly. Ceres actually smirked a little at that, and it heartened her to see her friend not be so despondent.

"And if I told you the Archimedeans started out as a slave race? How would you react to that?"

Ruby made disbelieving noises.

"I don't blame you, that's not exactly common knowledge." Ceres took a sip of her hot chocolate. "But it's true- the Archimedeans were once slaves to the now-defunct Paladinian Empire. We didn't take kindly to that, so over a thousand years ago we banded together under the leadership of General Bellatrix Molotovka, later known as First Empress Bellatrix, and took over all five of their home planets. We then hunted down the Paladinians to extinction like how they tried to do to us, took over their whole Empire and redid everything in our image, and burned and salted their original home planet so that it could only be used as a prison for the galaxy's worst criminals."

Ruby stared.

"Yeah, we really hate the idea of slavery." Ceres cleared her throat. "We use the Paladinian Empire as an example on how not to act as an empire. The Paladinians, in the beginning, weren't terrible. They were definitely expansionist and conquered lots of planets, but they were originally fair to most of their conquered subjects. All a conquered planet had to do was wave the Paladinian flag and pay a few taxes, and they would be left alone while still enjoying the technological advancements the Paladinian Empire had to offer. But the Empire's elite became arrogant and greedy, and corrupted their government so badly that the few people in charge were all the same- narcissists who overworked their subjects until they bled to death, and constantly demanded more. That's how they started the slave trade, and why the Archimedeans fought back so hard after our original home planet was destroyed.

"As a result, the Archimedean Empire was built on principles to ensure that wouldn't happen. The first: to have strength is to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Archimedeans have a lot of natural power, and we train from a young age to handle them. We're also trained to use de-escalation tactics first, fighting second, which is why we make exemplary peacekeepers. This principle is especially important for those with disabilities. Doesn't matter if you have a mental disorder or a physical disability or whatever, the Empire will give you the tools you need to succeed. Lev never had legs, but he was always given excellent prosthetics to ensure that he could succeed in life and, more importantly, protect himself from enemies. That's why Lev was always allowed on the battlefield, though his skills are best suited in front on a computer screen."

Ruby could only give an amazed, "Whoa."

"Yeah, it's pretty great," Ceres said, smiling. "The second principle is: lend a hand, but have a knife nearby. The Archimedean Empire still has colonies, but mainly because we, along with the Plumbers and other planets, cultivate planets with no sentient population in case refugees need a new home. Or a planet was nearly destroyed by outside forces and called the Empire for aid. In such cases, the leaders of those alien races can choose to join the Empire or not. If not, we leave them alone… but every so often an alien race chooses to join up with insurgent groups to fight us, if they don't attack us themselves. That's when we use the knife, so to speak."

"Talk about biting the hand that feeds you," Ruby scoffed.

"It admittedly doesn't happen often, but, well." Ceres shrugged. "It's a big universe, and there's plenty of assholes in it. That being said, it's pretty rare for that to happen, just as it's rare for the Empire to actually conquer a planet nowadays. So I say the system works."

"What else is there?" Ruby asked eagerly. So far the Archimedean Empire sounded like a great place to live… but she also knew about the corruption of the Ancient Roman Empire and how it fell. She just wanted to know more.

"The third principle is: absolute power corrupts absolutely, so have multiple systems in place to weed it out. It's the answer to that one quote, 'Who watches the watchmen?', though it's pretty vague. Through trial and error, we've developed multiple groups to ensure that there is little to no corruption throughout our government. No one person has all the power; that's why the Empire has nine empresses. Not only because the Empire is enormous, but also so that no one person becomes drunk with power."

"Nine empresses?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"It is a little weird," Ceres admitted, "but it's symbolic. The first nine empresses of Archimedes-Alpha laid the foundations of the Empire as a whole- they were our founders and architects, so to speak. To honor them, we have the Nine Empresses to ensure we, the Empire, live up to their ideals. And also because of what I said before," she quickly added.

"This all sounds too good to be true," Ruby said bluntly. "And you can't tell me there isn't some sort of corruption in the Archimedean government, that's just impossible."

"Oh there is, and yeah, it does all sound like a dream," Ceres told her. "But, I mean, there's a reason why we burned down the Paladinian home planet and why little can grow on it now. First Empress Bellatrix was terrified of the Paladinians; everyone was, which is why they were hunted down. That terror is why we even have these principles in the first place. As for corruption…" Ceres' face turned blank again, and she curled up into her blanket, her mug forgotten.

Ruby put a hand on her knee. "Hey, you don't need to tell me-"

"The fourth principle," Ceres interrupted. Her voice was small and vulnerable. "The fourth principle is: if there is corruption in the government and the government will not remove it, it is the responsibility of the people to do so. This is a matter of last resort- with all our watchmen and systems, and adding in a well trained, super powered populace, it's rare for corruption to get out of hand. But when it does… the amount of blood and death is staggering. But unfortunately, you can't always stamp out corruption, at least, not when you're at war."

"...when was the last war?" Ruby asked quietly.

"...what do you know about the Incurseans?"

"A few things from Max. Ben had unlocked an Incursean form a while back, when we were kids, and Max almost had a heart attack." She grimaced. "He told us they were warmongers. All they want to do is take over planets, bleed them dry, and then kill anything left over. Rook even called them, 'a vile, evil race that the universe would be better off without.' I've never heard him talk like that before," Ruby added, stupefied.

"That's because Rook's home planet, Revonnah, only produces Amber Ogia, which is a superfruit unlike the universe has ever seen," Ceres explained. "Revonnahganders cannot live without it- it feeds them, clothes them, and powers the whole planet, therefore making them the few truly independent and self-sustaining planets in their galaxy, if not the known universe. Amber Ogia is so valuable that it's not uncommon for invaders to threaten Revonnah. The Incurseans, up until a few years ago, constantly threatened to conquer Rook's home world just to get Amber Ogia."

"Oh my god, no wonder he hates them!" Ruby exclaimed.

"And he's not the only one," Ceres told her. "Everyone in the known universe hates the Incursean Empire. If you thought the Archimedean Empire was a dream come true, than the Incurseans are your worst nightmares come to life." Ceres' eyes lost what little light they had. "Well, they used to be, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"It was during the last Archimedean-Incursean war…"

A few years ago

The first known sighting of a Behemoth was in one of the smaller cities, called Corona. The city was one of the less populated areas on Archimedes-Alpha, but it had a population of 126.5 million and a total area of 145,937 square miles. It was a technological wonderland on a mostly desert planet, with buildings so tall they threatened to tear the sky, and cars that sped through the clouds before parking near one of the colorful buildings. It was a land of innovation and creativity and life, not unlike the other cities on Alpha. Therefore it wasn't a prime target for the war-hungry Incurseans, not like Iridium and Antimony and especially not Hyperion.

And then it erupted out of the ground, like something out of a children's nightmare. Except this nightmare left hundreds of thousands dead, and the rest of the Empire scrambled to pick up the pieces.

(No one knows how it got there. People say a double agent, or a domestic terrorist planted it there a long time ago. Unlikely, given the loyalty the Archimedeans had towards their Empire and their Nine Empresses, but certainly not impossible.)

Ceres didn't see what it looked like, but she saw the carnage it wrought. She hated everything her eyes could take in: the colorful skyscrapers reduced to jagged rubble; corpses flung about like children's toys; the sprawling walls of beautiful green plants that protected the city from desertification and helped feed its many residents, reduced to trambled, bloodied weeds; and finally the darkness in every survivor's eyes, like every bit of hope had been crushed underfoot, leaving behind a barely functioning shell.

The worst thing about it was the silence. Miles and miles of empty silence, where once there had been life. It was suffocating...but maybe it had been a blessing in disguise.

The screams of agony would've haunted her for far longer.

The second case was worse, believe it or not. It popped up in a training camp only rookie soldiers used. Out of thousands, only a handful made it out alive, but not unscathed, never that. Missing limbs, exposed bones, broken sanities- the end results were horrifying, and Ceres feared the weapons that caused this. Everyone did- Corona had been a tragedy unlike any other, but it was a public space that everyone, from Archimedeans to travelers frequented. The training ground had been a secret military base- no one was supposed to know about it. The fact that someone did… Ceres feared that someone inside the military really was selling the Empire out.

And then one day, Ceres saw a Behemoth.

She had turned fourteen years old only a few weeks before, but the military needed all hands on deck. This was a series of horrors never seen before, so while Ceres should have been at school, she was instead ushered to a good-sized army base where she could create and fix as many weapons and aircraft as quickly as possible.

She never made it.

The Behemoth stood in the ashes of the destroyed base, staring at the airships- her airship. Ceres nearly threw up looking at it; it was a mutated To'kustar, a complete bastardization of creation. It had a distinctive chest plate that resembled pectoral muscles, two completely red eyes, and four nostrils situated between them. Its skin was dark grey and the 'armor' on it was purple. But the worst thing about it was the unhinged, gaping jaw and its blood soaked teeth.

The Behemoth glared at them as the airship tried to reverse course. The pilot didn't know what else to do; how did one attack something so monstrous when conventional weapons couldn't even harm it?

Well, that wasn't a problem for them to solve.

The Caelus Military Corps had figured it out for them.

They had come in their devastatingly huge mothership, all sharp gray panels and black lines and edges. To Ceres, it looked like an enormous laser gun ready to fire at the Behemoth. Instead it released specialized fighter jets- sleek, black, pod-like aircraft that were only big enough to fit two people. What it lacked in shielding they made up for in speed, aerodynamics, and overwhelming firepower.

Ten were dispatched to take on the Behemoth. They cut through the air like bullets, firing multicolored lasers at the monster as they danced around it. Even as her airship reversed course, Ceres could only watch in awe as they fought the Behemoth… and won.

It wasn't uncommon for wars to drag on for too long, but this time was different. The Incurseans were steadily gaining ground and airspace, and the Archimedeans were running out of options. Ceres could taste the desperation in the air- the Archimedean Empire provided safety and security for half the known universe. If the Empire fell, not only would there be chaos, but the power vacuum left behind would be filled by the Incursean menace, leaving trillions of people in the hands of despots.

At least, that was what Lev had told Ceres and Ari over secure phone lines. Lev was excellent at ground combat, but his true skills were as a hacker and codebreaker, so he was hidden away to hack into Incursean airwaves and glean any information about their missions. (Though there was also the fact that Lev had two prosthetic legs. They were of top notch quality and Lev could easily do maintenance on them, but he was separated from Ceres, his primary mechanic. He would be expected to fight like any other soldier, but nothing could happen to his legs. There was no guarantee of rescue.)

Lev never said much about his time as a codebreaker. For the most part it was a waiting game, spending 8-12 hour shifts hacking into Incursean ships with his team and puzzling out their codes. He would drink copious amounts of coffee that had been brewed with strong energy drinks ("I think that shit took forty years off my lifespan!" he would say cheerfully before chugging tequila). He would try to ignore the hustle and bustle around his tiny desk, hunched over his laptop and notes, his hair long and greasy and his eyebags impossibly dark ("The others would laugh at me for wanting to keep up my beauty routine," Lev would scoff. "It was like they all wanted to be crusty hobos! How can anyone work under those conditions, honestly").

But sometimes, after he had drunk far too much, Lev would grow melancholy. His golden eyes would become hollow and dark, and he would curl up into a ball, tucking himself into a tiny corner as if he could disappear that way. He would whisper about dreading every piece of news from the homefront, because "you two were always there, and I kept thinking 'this is it. My best friends are dead.'" And when it wasn't about Ceres and Ari dying, Lev would instead hear about the soldiers, children he went to the academy with, dying in droves. And sometimes we would hear about cities being laid to waste like Corona was, and he would think 'is my family okay? Is Hyperion next?' And each devastating loss was always discussed in statistics, because that was easier than admitting real people were being slaughtered out there, easier than admitting one-third of Alpha's cities were now necropolises. And Lev constantly worried about Incursean forces finding their little camp, storming through the hallways and killing everyone in sight.

Things like this should have spurred Lev forward, making him work harder in breaking through firewalls. It didn't- he simply worked mechanically, trying not to break down as, eventually, everyone screamed and hurt each other around him, panic setting in once everyone realized that the Archimedean Empire might actually fall, taking the universe down with it.

He had a job to do, after all.

(And months later, even in the midst of therapy, Lev would paste on a smile and pretend that everything was fine. He would drink too much and cause too much chaos and he would smile and smirk and laugh through it all. It would take years before he could do all that genuinely.)

Ceres worked as a mechanic, hidden away in an army base that had bombs dropped on it every other day. It came like the rain- one minute the two suns of Archimedes-Alpha would blaze, the first daystar shining yellow light on the planet before the second sun turned everything blue, and the next Incursean airships would drop bombs onto dozens of army bases, a brutal downpour that the Incurseans hoped would hit everything or everyone.

But it didn't matter. It didn't matter when each army base, built to withstand everything from airship crashes to the inevitable explosion of the suns, would eventually be chipped away by each Incursean onslaught. Ceres would run out into the battlefield, dodging those bombs as her comrades either ran beside her or were killed, and she would drag each broken Archimedean airship back into the base. Ceres knew how to restore an engine in less than 90 seconds. She could repair a broken wing with just a spare piece of sheet metal and her fists. She could fix a ship's interface just by crossing wires and praying to Oum for guidance.

But Ceres could still hear the sound of bombs hitting the ground through her helmet, no matter how much it dampened the sound. She could still smell the stench of smoke and burning flesh. When she blinked, she could see her comrades, children she went to the academy with, dead with most of their limbs blown off. A scream would bubble in her throat, threatening to pierce the air around her. Her limbs tried to lock up as she ran, making Ceres stumble as she failed to compartmentalize. She wanted to scream and cry and hide until everything just stopped.

She didn't. Ceres had a job to do, after all.

(Her therapy had worked wonders helping her get over this part of her life. The other part… well, that was a work in progress.)

And then there was Ari, brilliant, beloved, beautiful Ari, with her caustic tongue and honeyed voice. For a long time, she had lived a true nightmare. A combat medic sees horrors everyday, and back then she saw things that would give the Devil himself nightmares.

At first it started with gunshot wounds and broken limbs, wrapping up bloody heads and helping soldiers with their concussions. Standard stuff, really. And then it was dodging bombs while carrying torn apart soldiers to the medic tents. It was carrying them in their arms, their knees bent and exposing pale muscle and even paler bone. It was stitching fingers and limbs back onto proper bodies when there was little anesthetic to go around.

At some point, it came to saving their own medics, because the Incurseans had no concept of mercy or honor. Because the Incurseans saw their medi-kits and took aim, and the headless corpses of Ari's colleagues would fall to the ground. Or she would have to abandon a soldier and carry a medic back to the tents, trying to stymy the black blood that gushed out of their shoulder wound. And there was never enough anesthetic to go around.

So many times, they had to cut off a limb. One's leg was twisted beyond recognition, bone breaking through the skin, and Ari would either hold them down as they screamed and thrashed, the other doctors sawing off the limb. Or sometimes she would have to cut it off herself- one poor girl sobbed and screamed and fainted over and over again because Ari had to cut off the broken, bleeding remnants of her arm. And there was so little Ari or anyone else could do to help, because there was never enough anesthetic.

How could there be? The Incurseans kept shooting up their supply lines and bombing the medi-tents.

But the worst of it all was when, despite everything Ari or the other medics did, someone was simply beyond help. Most of the others would spread out, faces twisting in grief as they hurried away to attend to other patients, but Ari always tried to stay. She would hold their hands in hers and sing quietly to them, watching as they tried and failed not to cry. She would watch these soldiers barely older than herself (children, they were all just children) try to save face so they could die with dignity, but every. Single. Time their faces would crumble, tears pouring out over the agony of their injuries and of the realization of that's it, this is how it ends. And Ari would stay with them as they died on a tiny, bloodied cot, in a cramped medi-tent, on a dusty battlefield so very far from home.

And then Ari would gently unclasp her hands from their still warm ones and close their empty eyes. She would say a silent prayer to Oum and Fajra while her vision blurred and her throat became tight. And then she would blink her tears away and get up, already moving to the next patient.

She had a job to do, after all.

(Ari never really talked about her therapy sessions. All Ceres knew was that she would come out of Vivian's office with her violet eyes red, and she would hide in the medical wing or at her apartment for hours on end. The few times Ari talked about her experiences with the war was when she was blackout drunk, and it always ended up with her sobbing and screaming into her friends' arms, her voice making that high pitched whine that only came out when you were well and truly devastated.)

(No one would have blamed Ari if she changed careers. What she went through was the stuff of nightmares, and everyone who knew about it couldn't sleep for days on end, just imagining it. But Ari would still come into the medical wing the next morning, her hair up in a bun, her nurse scrubs clean, and her station in perfect order. Ari had plans on becoming a doctor, you see, and she swore to help anyone who needed it. And it didn't matter how traumatized she was, because she wasn't going to let another kid die alone, scared and in pain, not if she could help it.)

Ceres knew the Archimedeans were well and truly losing when the higher ups started sending young recruits to the front lines.

The population of the Empire was in the trillions! There were drafts going on everywhere! What was the point of sending their greenest soldiers to their deaths? Ceres demanded answers, using her grandmother's name as leverage for the first time in her life, but she was sent away with words like, sacrifices are necessary and I'm just following orders and you'll keep your damn mouth shut if you know what's good for you.

This could not continue. And Ceres had a plan.

For the first time since the war began, Ceres, Ari, and Lev were able to meet up. Ceres told them her idea, told them about the tools she already had, and told them what it could do.

"We have to do this," Lev said, skin ashen and eyes sunken.

"They're sending out the first wave of green soldiers in less than a week," Ari said, voice thick with tears. "We don't… we don't have enough room or painkillers. It's just gonna be another pointless bloodbath."

Ceres poured over her notes and schematics. She already had all the necessary parts at her disposal- saving all that scrap metal and radio parts was necessary for the war, but now it seemed like a godsend. "We've all been sent on a four day mandatory rest," Ceres finally said. "That should give me enough time to build this thing."

"And in the meantime, Lev and I can find ways to get into the communications section on the main ship," Ari said, perking up slightly. "It'll be at the command center, which is a huge risk… but at this point we don't have a choice."

"It doesn't even have to be the main ship, we just need a place with a strong radio signal and a wide range," Lev mused, already pulling up the holographic maps needed.

And so, they got to work. For three days and two nights Ceres built her weapon- a crude, box-like attachment that would hack into Incursean airwaves and send a pulse that would immobilize them completely. The pulse would only affect Incurseans, since the pulse would use a hearing range that only they could utilize. Archimedean hearing was good, but Incursean was better, and Ceres planned to use that.

The pulse was supposed to paralyze them completely, lock up their limbs and give them migraines so intense they would be disorientated for hours. Long enough for Archimedeans to break into their airships and capture or kill them. Ceres expected a large amount of death; if the Incurseans were paralyzed, therefore there was no one to steer their airships or maintain the ships in the first place. And when the Archimedeans found them… well, it was going to be a bloodbath with or without the pulse.

On the third night, Ceres packed away her weapon and her tools and her notes. She collapsed onto her makeshift cot and slept like the dead. She awoke on the fourth day bright and early, with Lev and Ari explaining their plan over a sad breakfast of starchy ration bars and tepid water. And then they got to work.

Lev and Ari chose a smaller ship in the main fleet, one that was right in the action and was in perfect range for the pulse. They used the cargo bay to sneak on board, and timed the patrols to avoid any guards. The communications room was small and easy to miss- and therefore didn't have any guards posted, because who would think to look there? It was small in size, and yet had a nice, large window to the upcoming space battle.

There were only two people stationed in the room, and they were easy to knock out and tie up. Ceres strapped her weapon to the control panels and waited for the hyperspace gates to open.

Space and reality opened up in a flash of blue and white light, and from the enormous portal came the Incursean war fleet. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of those horrible green and yellow ships, all of them lacking in the warmth and finesse of Archimedean starships. They came out of the jumpgate in an endless stream, and Ceres knew that, if her plan failed, it would spell the end.

Her weapon chirped, tearing her gaze from that horrible sight. They were inside Incursean airwaves. All Ceres had to do was put her hands to the communications console and type in the command code.

"What are you waiting for?" Ari hissed at her.

"For the gate to close," Ceres told her. "I don't want to give them a way out."

"It's coming soon, then," Lev said shakily, pointing out the window. The stream of Incursean ships trickled to a crawl. Everyone was waiting for a signal.

Ceres typed in the command code. Her finger hovered over the send button.

She held her breath.

The last airship exited the jumpgate. The white and blue light quickly dimmed.

Ceres sent out the command.

When they first heard the screams, all three of them cheered. When the ships started careening into each other, they cried and jumped around and hugged. Because they had struck a decisive blow. The war would be ending soon. The Empire- no, the universe- was safe.

And then the screaming started to fade.

"What's going on?" Ceres asked, confused. She looked at the Archimedean warships. "Why aren't they attacking? The Incurseans are paralyzed."

"Don't the other ships have visuals on the inside?" Ari wondered. "Lev, you mentioned finding ways to hack into Incursean security systems, to see what they were doing inside their own ships."

His fingers danced on the keyboard. "Already on it."

A visual popped up. They could see the Incurseans hold their heads and scream in agony, their limbs locking up as the paralysis took hold. But then blood would drip from their eyes and ears and nose and mouths, endless pools of blood that splashed onto the floor like heavy rain.

"No," Ceres said faintly, her own limbs locking up.

"Try the other ships!" Ari cried out desperately. Lev brought up more visuals, but it was the same scene all over again- Incurseans screaming in agony, blood splashing everywhere, and finally their cooling corpses hitting the ground.

Something broke through the screens. "T-the Archimedean airways are demanding answers," Lev said quietly, disbelief and horror in his voice. "O-others are cheering. It's an absolute mess out there."

"...does this mean we win?" Ari asked, genuinely confused. She looked to Ceres for answers.

Ceres could only stare at the screen in front of her. All she could see were dead bodies. The ships floundered in space- so many ships, filled with an entire race of people.

The reality crashed in on her in one terrible moment. Ceres could hear someone screaming in utter despair and horror, could literally feel those same emotions rocking through her until she was an inconsolable mess on the floor.

Only later would Ceres recognize her own screams.

Ruby stared at her in horror.

"Do you understand, Ruby Rose?" Ceres asked. Her voice was hoarse from talking so much. Tears slid down her face. "Do you understand why I'm like this now?"

"B-but you didn't know-"

"It doesn't matter," Ceres spat out tersely. "It doesn't matter if I didn't know. I created a weapon of genocide. You are sitting before the universe's most efficient mass murderer."

Ruby's mouth clicked shut.

"My therapist, my friends, my team, they have tried to console me about this. Reassure me that it wasn't my fault, that I was desperate to save as many lives as I could. And in a way, they're right," Ceres acknowledged. "The weapon was untested. It was a last resort created in a hopeless war. I get that. What I don't understand is why I'm considered a war hero for it."

"W-what?"

"Once the Empire found out, they hailed the three of us as heroes," Ceres explained. "We got parades in our honor and medals and money and prestige. And it wasn't just the Empire, it was Revonnah and Peptos XII and Kinet and Galvan Prime. Everyone in the universe called us heroes. They literally told me, to my face, that the extinction of an entire species was a good thing.

"And I get it! The Incurseans were the scourge of the universe! They were literally going to kill us all! But their blood is still on my hands," Ceres sobbed. "My original name is linked to genocide, and no one thought that was wrong."

Ruby felt something drip onto her fist- when did she curl her hands into fists? She looked down briefly, and realized the water falling down were her own tears.

Ceres swallowed, forcing herself to calm down. "And that's not the end of it."

Please don't let it be worse, Ruby silently begged.

"Some government officials wanted my notes on the weapon," Ceres continued. "I told them that I destroyed everything. Every paper, every schematic, even the computer. There's no iCloud or Google Drive to find it on. I told them this. They didn't believe me. They put me in an interrogation room and tried to intimidate and frighten me into giving them the plans. I did not give in. They shipped me off to death row."

Oh no, it got worse, Ruby thought hysterically.

"Lev found me, and my family got me out of there," Ceres told her. "You wouldn't know it if you saw us, but my family is considered minor nobility thanks to my grandmother. And even in death my grandmother's name carries a staggering amount of clout. I was taken off death row before I ever had to face the Death Worms. Those government officials were publicly executed. The Nine Empresses themselves came to my house to personally apologize for what happened to me. They offered to give me anything I wanted as atonement."

"...what did you want?" Ruby whispered.

"I wanted a new name and a new home," Ceres answered. "Lev and Ari joined me. A few weeks later we were on Earth, ready to become Plumbers."

Ruby let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"We are still able to go back to the Empire at any point in time, to visit or to stay," Ceres reassured her. "We can still contact our families. But in all honesty, it's gonna be years until I can go back. It still hurts too much."

"I don't blame you."

"The only thing I can do on Earth is just… live. Invent. Fall in love. Save the day." Ceres let out a bitter laugh. "I can't atone though. I could live a thousand lifetimes trying to make up for what I did and it would never be enough. So the only thing I can do is just… live."

Ruby hesitated a moment, and then held Ceres' hand. "You're allowed to live, though," she said. "You're allowed to invent and fall in love and save the day. You're allowed to be happy."

"You sound like Ari," Ceres said with a watery smile. "And even now I'm not totally convinced that last bit's allowed."

"Well it is," Ruby insisted. The room was silent for a moment, and then she asked tentatively, "What was your original name?"

Ceres paused, thinking. And then she quietly said, "It was Aelita Petranova. Never did like it much. My last name carries a big legacy, and my first name means 'complaint' in both Archaic and Modern Archimedean. My current name, Ceresa-" she pronounced it like 'Theresa'- "means 'illuminating' in both. I always liked that name better."

Ruby had to admit that Ceresa was a better name for her friend. But she mulled over her original name in her mind, and eventually said, "Aelita Petranova. You may not like it, but it's a very pretty name."

Ceres chuckled, but fresh tears sprang to her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, it really is."

Later

Ruby left when Ari arrived. She couldn't hear the couple behind the closed door, but she had briefly seen Ari throw her stuff to the side and embrace Ceres, refusing to let go. It seemed practiced, which warmed and broke Ruby's heart all at once.

Ruby had just left the bathroom, scrubbing her face, when she saw her team and a few others approach her.

"Is Ceres okay?" Yang asked worriedly. She looked from Ruby to the few Zeta Squad members in the hallway.

"She's with Ari," was all Ruby would say.

"It's a personal thing," Kylie explained further. "Sometimes something triggers her PTSD and she just... shuts down for a bit, and then has a proper breakdown."

"Ceres has PTSD?" Weiss asked. "I never knew."

"That's the thing with stuff like this," Kevin said. "People NEVER know. I'm not saying it's your guy's fault, especially considering how we're now entering the 'we have issues and we need to get them off our chest' portion of our blooming relationship."

"If it's not too much to ask," Blake asked. "Where exactly does Ceres' PTSD come from?"

Kevin and Lev shared an uneasy look.

"...we've seen some stuff, Blake," Lev said, hugging his arms. "And I'd think it'd be best if we left it at that."

Blake looked worried at that. So did Weiss and Yang, and Min (who had been in the background, just watching) had to step up in case they asked further.

"Fate's a fickle thing," she said, frowning. "It screws over too many people and makes a situation seem hopeless and infinite. Team RWBY has been lucky so far- you haven't had a bad day that truly made you snap. That's the kind of thing that can define a person, for better or worse. In Ceres' case, she still hasn't figured it out."

Blake tilted her head. "So you know her backstory, then?"

Min shook her head. "Nope. I just know it isn't pretty from a glance. We should keep our distance."

Weiss briefly met Ruby's eyes, and Ruby shook her head. Weiss seemed satisfied with that answer, and that was enough confirmation for Yang and Blake to drop the subject entirely.

Good thing too, because Ruby wouldn't tell. She couldn't.

Emerald closed the door to her Beacon dorm room- it wasn't as well decorated as the other rooms on campus. In all honesty, it was probably the emptiest: nothing on the desks or walls, not even a sarcastic motivational poster or a calendar. The other two members were out- Mercury was probably still training, and Neo was...doing whatever Neo did in her free time. Cassidy was sitting on her bed, reading a book borrowed from Salem's extensive library.

"Hey," she said, looking up from The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. "How'd it go?"

Emerald gleefully pushed down Cassidy's dog eared book. "I got something good."

"You broke Ruby's spirit already?" The redhead pouted. "Aw, I wanted to do that."

"No, actually." Emerald beamed. "I got something better than that."

Cass raised an eyebrow, closing her book. "Go on."

"So, I tried using my semblance on Ruby- brat was too fast, she evaded the attack at last second," she explained. "And...I hit the Zeta Squad leader."

Cass was even more interested. "And?"

"She was completely silent during the whole thing. Like, at most, she shed a single tear," Emerald told her in a rush. "It was weird. Like, you saw what it did to that bookstore guy, right?"

Cass rubbed her chin. "Interesting," she mused. "She's a lot more resilient than we thought."

"I know." Emerald grinned. "So, I have some revisions to the plan."

Cass smiled evilly. "And I'm very open to suggestions..."