A/N: Chapter 79 of REKT. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or teams of RWBY, they belong to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. What I do own are the characters and teams of my OCs: REKT, GTSY, KACE and DAZE. I also claim Ingrid, Teo, Reina's parents and aunt as well.

Special thanks to the reviewers and to the readers who Fav/Alert this story, I really appreciate it.


Chapter 79: Nightmare Hunter at Signal

Outside Signal Academy…..

The building was exactly as Yang remembered, even if it had been a couple years since she graduated; this was her own old stomping ground, and a place that kicked off her journey to be a huntress. Taiyang came through with his promise and drove the teens to his workplace at the crack of dawn, Zwei taking the front seat to stick his head out the window, tongue flapping in the wind. During the ride Taiyang did most of the talking for entertainment purposes as well as combat boredom, talking about topics from childhood to how he landed a job as a teacher at Signal Academy; Efram responded to keep the conversation going, but he would glance at Yang from time to time to make sure she was alright. The blonde had stayed quiet for the most part, only making one word quips when asked questions directed to her. Her eyes weren't focused on anything in particular as the various houses and scenery flashed by.

There weren't a lot of people on the road, not surprising since the shutdown and lack of communication from the other schools. With the world up in an uproar over the invasion of Grimm at Beacon, many areas housing lower-level institutions decided to shut down until further notice; some institutions who are able to continue teaching students took it upon themselves to continue classes, however students will have to decide how to proceed until graduation. They were left to their own devices if they didn't want to continue their education, of course some of the fleeing hunters and huntresses from Beacon volunteered to assist Beacon in cleaning up debris or hunting rouge Grimm with the teachers. The car soon approached a building, pulling up into the semi-empty faculty parking lot with a slow rumble of the engine. Taiyang shut down the engine, unlocked the door, and hopped out with a big grin on his face. Efram and Yang followed suit albeit a bit slow pace, with Zwei hopped out with the same eagerness as his owner.

"Well, kids. How do you feel? Isn't Signal Academy exactly as you remembered?" Taiyang grinned as he slung his arms around their shoulders, pulling them close with the dashing smile still plastered on his face. Zwei sat by their feet, his tongue out in a panting manner, but not at all bothered by the lack of students running or walking around the courtyard; in fact, the four of them were the only ones standing outside. "Not going to lie, but Ruby and Yang were the best of the best while they were here. I couldn't be any prouder of them as I am now."

So this is where Yang and Ruby went to school before Beacon, that's pretty impressive…. Efram gazed at the building in awe, puckering up his lips to let out a short whistle. If he had to wager a guess Signal Academy was about one-quarter the size of Beacon, which means that this education institution was the largest building on the island; most of the buildings, or lack thereof, he saw on the road were simple, one to two story homes and shops.

"Tai!" A voice calls out and the three of them turned to see the owner, a woman with voluminous peach-colored hair held up in a ponytail; the wave of shaggy strands reached waist length while the left eye was shrouded by her bangs. From the black thigh-high boots adorned with pink arrows and zippers that covered her feet all the way up to her white dress-shirt hidden beneath a laboratory coat, Efram and Yang would have mistaken her for a teacher's assistant at first glance. There were also rose-colored bands crisscrossing across her abdomen that was also covered by a vest, trailing off underneath her breasts; around her neck was a very pink brooch in the shape of a cherry blossom. "Over here, this way!"

"Who is that? How come she knows your name?" a hint of wariness leaked out of Yang's voice as she followed the other males towards the woman, arms crossed over her chest. "Is she the faculty member you spoke of?"

"Huh, I never took your daughter to be cautious type, last time I saw her she was threatening to bust another kid's nose for bullying her sister. Definitely had your behavior when you were a kid, Tai!" The woman mused, mouth curled up into a smirk. Then she got solemn and serious, adding, "Perhaps what happened both during the Vytal Festival and the invasion of Beacon played a role in her psyche, trust me I know what that feels like. I hopped on the last bullhead to Patch before Ironwood ordered the border closed as soon as possible. Not like I had anything else to do since my workplace also threatened a lock down."

"Wait wait wait, the border closed and it was under Ironwood's order?" Efram asked in surprise, even Yang's eyebrows quirked up with interest. They both knew that global communications were down with only a scattered amount of working towers, but to this extent was something out of left field. "Why would he do something like that? If memory serves me right from our class about the world, Atlas is just a floating island in the sky."

"You're not wrong, kid, I came up with the same thought: 'Why would Ironwood hastily decide to close Atlas' border and recall all the officials and political figures'? But after digging around talking to my connections and thinking back to my last interaction with the guy I came to a conclusion. The short answer to this erratic behavior is paranoia, just plain old, by-the-books definition paranoia. Now if you want the long answer, it is –"

"That can wait another day, I believe now introductions are in order. Kids, please say hello to Celestia Peach. Celestia, this is Efram and Yang, two students from Beacon. Well….ex-students at this point, they haven't even finished their second year." Tai smiles as he steps aside for the others to shake hands with the professor, mentally patting himself on the back for the diversion. He then directs another question to Professor Peach, "I'm sure you had a chance to read through my email before high-tailing out of Atlas?"

"Yup I read through it from beginning to end, but come on in first. Let's talk about this some more from the office, this topic shouldn't be something we can just talk out in the open all willy-nilly." Professor Peach held the door and ushered the visitors inside before taking the lead. Tai was behind her with Zwei at his heels, followed by the two teens. "I would've spent the time to type out a reply but you know how Ironwood acts. You shouldn't keep that man waiting or else nothing goes well."

"Unless you're Qrow Branwen, he's quite the special case. That birdbrain couldn't care less about how much corporate work he'll cause Ironwood, and in turn causing Winter a lot of grief because she ends up with the brunt of it, ends up doing more than was required and got an earful later. If he's really unlucky which is most of the time, he'll end up squabbling with Winter and Glynda at the same time."

"That sounds about right and I remember those days! How is he by the way? He should visit from time to time and say hi to his old friends! Him and his sister while he's at it, I don't know where Raven flew off to." Celestia chortled, putting her office key in the keyhole and opening up the space. "But that's neither here nor there. Welcome to my humble office! Get comfortable, beverages are over there just help yourselves."

The inside of the office was pretty spacious, even with the noticeable large desk in the middle stacked high with papers and flasks filled with questionable liquids. There were also papers strewed across the floor in a haphazard flurry, almost as if the owner left the room in a rush. A big chalkboard mounted on the wall behind the desk was filled to the brim with scribble notes and complicated diagrams as far as the eyes could see; the two kids had to squint against the bright lights to see just how far the notes went. Along the adjacent walls were a couple of portraits, some of Professor Peach while others were earlier headshots of previous headmasters or headmistresses through the ages. There were even smaller pictures on the shelves of a large bookshelf, those depicted Professor Peach with her students with big grins on their faces.

"Makes me wonder what Professor Goodwitch's office is like, whether or not it'll be the same or different than yours, Professor Peach." Efram commented before settling down beside Yang while Tai went to grab a couple cups of water. "If it's neat and tidy or just as chaotic."

"Knowing Glynda I'd say her workspace is uptight and tidy, bet there isn't even a speck of dust in her space. For me, my office acts as my laboratory as well so I do all my experiments and personal research on the side when I'm not teaching." Professor Peach smiled as she sat in her chair, setting aside a couple loose sheets of paper to make some space. "As one would expect of Ozpin's right hand woman, she's a no-nonsense gal and everything needs to be precise. Once she was so strict that if even a single strand of hair slipped out of her bun she'll be back in the bathroom for an extra half hour. Absolutely wild.

"Anyway back to what we were discussing before. Tai reached out to me saying that something bad occurred at Beacon, and at the time I had the monitor on to watch the Vytal Festival; at first I only had it on to act as background noise…because I was more invested in my research than anything. However my eyes were drawn to the matches, from team to singles and I saw the matches, yours especially Yang, and by then my eyes were entire glued on the screen. My research and experimentation on hold as I watched up until the connection cut out. The carnage, the suffering, everything. By the time news feed came back, even if just a flicker, I saw glimpses of the creatures of Grimm flooding the streets."

"I also saw what I could before the signal went out." Taiyang added, putting down what seemed to be cups of water on the table. Efram and Yang both murmured a quick thanks before grabbing a cup for themselves, downing the liquid slowly. "Then before I knew it I was on the bullhead to Beacon to pick up my girls, hands clenched into fists and my teeth grinding against each other anxiously. The only moment of relief was knowing that I was able to take them home with me...only then could I allow myself to rest."

"Must've been frightening. Fortunately there was a moment of pause in the invasion so officials were able to evacuate as many as possible." Professor Peach said. "I can only imagine the carnage you were greeted with when you landed at Beacon."

"Not as frightening as not knowing if my kids were alive...I had an inkling that they were going to be okay, but I wanted to see them with my own eyes." Taiyang smiled when he glanced at Yang for a minute. They made quick eye contact before he continued, "But the moment I saw them, as…they were after the fight, I could only count my blessings. I have seen countless bodies of those that didn't make it, of those who were trying to get their friends out of the rubble. Some even ended up ditching others to save their own skins."

"Well that's a great result, in your scenario I mean." Professor Peach quipped.

"Regardless of the outcome, people still died anyway….that's something that will never change." Yang muttered after quenching her thirst, being careful of not crushing the paper cup completely as she put it back on the table. Professor Peach only smiled in response, a small sad smile, but a genuine one. The reaction only made the blonde scowl, and she snapped, "And somehow you can only smile about that fact."

"What do you expect me to do about those that have already passed on?"

"Save them when they weren't already at Death's doorstep. Save them while they were still alive and breathing! Don't wait for them to take their last breath!"

"I've had my share of people dying before I could save them, people dying in the process while I did my best to save their lives. However, I knew I wasn't able to save all of them, even as I pushed myself to my limits; I even fell ill because I pushed too hard and thought that every single day living was like getting dragged through hell. The ones I did save were extremely grateful, told me that they share their condolences to the ones I wasn't there for, but be as that may I did what I could. That's all anyone can really ask for."

"Sounds like a whole lot of false hope and bullshit."

"Oh I never said it was going to be easy to let go of such feelings. Feelings that as a huntress you pledge to serve and protect those in need only to betray and break that very promise. To walk down the road and think about those you could've saved, who would've walked down the very roads alongside you." Professor Peach's voice was quite calm, there was no self-loathing, angry, or sadness because she's already lived long enough to witness despair. It was nothing new in her line of work and she knew the new generation of huntsmen and huntresses were faced with a new threat. "I have already come to terms with it, and have made peace with myself. Self-loathing and self-pity does nothing for anyone and certainly doesn't do anything for yourself. So in the end, you are only hurting yourself."

"How can you maintain that feeling when people still die around you? Even if you aren't particularly the one at fault?" Yang asked her. "You still have their blood on your hands don't you?"

"And it only gets harder and harder to wash away." Professor Peach glances at her hands, turning them up and down as if she was still searching for something on them. She snorted in laughter and added, "The fresh blood painted on top makes it harder anyway."

"Then why try at all if the results end up the same? What's the point?"

"The point is that the results don't lead up to the same conclusion, even doing the same experiments can yield very surprising results when things are altered." Professor Peach watches Yang intently as she folded her arms over her desk, specifically the facial expression. Efram and Taiyang were watching the two of them with interest, their mouths closed as to not disrupt their conversation. "And you'd know that if you did everything you could, by any means necessarily in every battle."

"They do lead to the same result, because the constant thing that occurred is people DYING! And no matter what I do I still feel the same thing…that I DIDN'T do what I could! I didn't save anything or anyone!" Yang stood up quickly, breathing heavily as she stared at Professor Peach. Her body was shaking and her voice shook just as hard, "I… I didn't…I couldn't…I was…I was…" She briefly glanced at her missing arm before sitting back down, shoulders hunched over in defeat. "…all I ended up doing, was hurting myself and paid a price for it."

"….is this what you were alluding to in your email, Tai?" Professor Peach asked, shifting her eyes towards the older blond. Taiyang had a worrisome look on his face, his mouth twisted in a way that he was biting his lower lip. "That a certain circumstance at Beacon from the Vytal Festival until now lead to the loss of an appendage."

"Mmmhmm I wouldn't have believed it myself had Blake – who is her partner by the way – not tell me about what happened. She was careful to now tell me deep details, but what I got was enough. However, if you want to hear about it that should be something Yang should tell you from her own mouth." Efram noticed how Yang clenched her fingers tightly, it was a very quick motion, but he caught it before she released a quick breath and uncurled her fingers. She was trembling slightly but she waited for Professor Peach to finish her sentence. "It's not my place to say."

"And I can tell that this is quite personal to you." Professor Peach turned her attention back to Yang.

"Damn right it is." Yang spoke with a shuttered breath.

"May I still ask how?" A strange hush fell in the room, as everyone in the room waiting for Yang's decision. The blonde glanced at each person individually before glancing at the ground. Even though her mouth was closed, the way her eyes darted from right to left, sometimes up and down, signified that her brain was in overdrive. Sometimes she opened her mouth but only to mumble a few incoherent words to herself. Professor Peach didn't pressure Yang to give a fast answer, or chastise her for a late response. She waited patiently. Finally Yang released her held breath and prepared an answer.

"A…friend was in trouble during the Festival….someone from her past decided to show up, cause mayhem and when he caused her harm….he was grinning…laughing at her pain." Her arm shuddered for a minute, giving her a brief pause before continuing, "I immediately saw red and felt anger. My friend begged me to stay away, pleading while she bled out, and I ignored her. With a searing hot flash of pain, a feeling I wouldn't want to wish on anyone, I remembered nothing… when I came to I was already in my bed in Patch. Ruby was in the next room over, but when she was able she'd come and see how I was doing…"

"This individual…do you per chance remember a name or clothing?"

"His name is Adam. Black coat with a rose symbol on the back. A mask covering his eyes…a White Fang mask."

"Mmmmm…..and how is your friend's condition? Does she suffer in the same way you do?"

"She was literally stabbed by that psychopath, in the same place he stabbed her before…." Yang paused again, looking at the black ribbon tied around her arm. "If you're asking about mental state….I don't know. She isn't here…when I woke up this was all that remained; she already disappeared before I had a chance to say goodbye or even see her. I can only assume….what happened to me weighs heavily on her conscious….like she feels that it's her fault I got hurt."

"As one does when dealt with a situation. And Adam?"

"I don't want to know where he's gone." Yang responds angrily. "As far away as possible from me or my friend is good enough."

"What he did to you was more than a physical injury…there's also the psychological wound. He has left you in a constant state of panic. You've experienced dreams and even hallucinations involving him. You break out into a cold sweat whenever something red appears, or when you think you've caught a glimpse of his silhouette by the foot of your bed. Am I wrong?"

"…no. No you're not."

"My colleague and friend might be of an assistance for your….situation. Their gift is quite unique, but it has worked wonders for patients all around Remnant from what I read; they're not very picky with who they treat so there's been a couple of Faunus patients who traveled from Kuo Kuana just to see them. From young kids to frail adults they've seen them all, so you are in very capable hands if I do say so myself!" Professor Peach says in a manner-of-fact way, a big grin on her face. She claps her hand twice and from the back room another individual appears, a young, long silver-haired woman with a floppy mage hat; three black feathers were pinned along the left side, with the plumes standing straight up.

They had on a loose, light purple long-sleeved shirt tucked underneath a pair of baggy white trousers, a black sash wound around the hips to secure the clothes in place. Around their neck was a black fabric collar with two gold rings, while a pair of high-heeled black boots covered their feet. Three golden keys can be seen hanging around the waist as well that jangled with each step. "Feast your eyes this special individual who excels in eradicating Grimm through dreams, quite the extraordinaire if I do say so myself."

"No need for such a fanfare introduction, but thank you very much Celestia. I appreciate it." The young woman spoke with calmness in their voice once they approached the group. Their eyes glazed over the guests individually, analyzing them in silence before opening their mouth and said, "My name is Shion Zaiden. I am a Nightmare Hunter. What that means is my specialty is capturing Grimm within dreams."

"You went to Beacon Academy? How come we've never seen you around?" Efram asked them. "We would've ran across you at some point during our time at the school."

"I graduated and spent my time moving from place to place tracking Grimm, specifically ones that require my skills. Any old Grimm won't do because any huntsman or huntress should be able to solve the problem quickly." They replied, walking over to lean against Professor Peach's desk. "I decided to drop by Signal Academy for a while since some of the bullheads aren't schedule to run any time soon given the circumstances. What was supposed to be a quick stop to catch up on time turned into something more disturbing; some of the kids here have been suffering from insomnia, some teachers even noted on low classroom engagement and even bizarre behaviors. Thus Celestia called me up to come and try and provide some assistance. My guess is that since the Vytal Festival the kids stayed up late and watched something they shouldn't have been subjected to."

"The Fall of Beacon…" Efram and Yang spoke in unison, making Shion nod their head.

"Well yes, that as well, I can tell that an invasion of beasts is not an image they will never forget. The matches themselves were mesmerizing for their developing brains though, and spurred their eagerness to become huntsmen and huntresses such as yourselves. But, once it turned into the single matches….I don't think I need to elaborate any further. That was the first catalyst in the long chain of events that ultimately led up to Beacon's fall."

"It wasn't my fault…." Yang said it in a soft whisper that it was barely detected by the others. Sensing something wrong, Zwei got up from where he was laying on Taiyang's side of the table and plodded over to Yang. He walked around in a few circles before laying at her feet instead, hoping to give her some comfort. "It wasn't my fault…."

"How do you help the students with this problem if I may ask?" Efram quickly deviated the conversation back to the original discussion. "Is it some kind of psychological experimentation or therapy session?"

"Mmmmmm well, I guess you could call it some sort of an exorcism. Most of my patients need to be in a deep sleep state in order for me to do my job, for it is only when one is in a deep slumber that one can walk through dreams. However, there have been complications in the past where complicated dreams came back to hurt the individual. I have taken some measures against such scenario but I cannot guarantee one-hundred percent that a person can walk away unscathed."

"It depends on the nature of the dream correct?"

"Yes."

"But how do you do it?"

"With my weapon of course." Shion holds up what appears to be a staff with a giant dreamcatcher attached on top. The threads glowed briefly, a faint purple which indicated a presence of a particular dust. It flickered a bit before holding a steady glow, illuminating the room with a warm hue of purple. "Pretty powerful if I do say so myself, but the weapon isn't inherently what I use to capture these Nightmares, which are a breed of Grimm."

That's pretty on the nose in terms of naming the Grimm… Efram held his tongue to keep the comment from slipping as Shion continued explaining.

"They function like any other Grimm, feeding off the stress and negative emotions of their prey, and then trapping them. Through the dreams, Nightmares can exploit fears and insecurities. The scary part is that the life force slowly ebbs away, which is why when someone gets infected then it is imperative that they get pulled out."

"So they can die whilst inside a dream?"

"Yes, but I have not allowed such a thing to get to that point. Back to how I do this," They held up their dream-catcher and pointed to the threads. "These threads will create a hammock or netting large enough for my client to lay on – including a few of the client's friends because they are needed to pull the infected individual out. Once the Nightmare has been identified and chased outside into this realm, these threads are used to ensnare and capture it."

"You don't kill it once it's outside the body?"

"Normally I don't which is quite weird since we're supposed to exterminate them. But the specimen could be used in research studies and people have paid me handsomely for such material, so I have it ever since."

"How do you communicate with the individuals inside a dream? I don't suppose you just put them in there and let them do as they please." asked Yang. Smiling, Shion pulled out a fancy suitcase and propped it open. There were many compartments and one end even opened up like a staircase.

"I'm glad you asked, very nice segway into the next topic. Here are the tools I use other than my threads. Since only people associated with the victim are allowed to enter the dream it is essential for communication so I can thoroughly explain the steps on how to save everyone involved. If I had any sort of telepathy power that allowed me to communicate directly to individuals I'd be some sort of god, that or it'd make my job somewhat simpler." Shion shrugs and laughs, "But I'll take what I get and my Semblance is very reliable. I couldn't for a better set of powers."

"Is it true that you can get rid of problems related to nightmares? Like anxiety and waking up in cold sweats?"

"It sounds like you are dealing with a nightmare, but matters such as anxiety and PTSD…" Shion frowns for a minute before saying, "I don't believe I've ever tried, but the concept is still the same. You'd have to go into a slumber and find the root cause of your fears, your anxieties. Once you have determined it I'll judge whether or not a Nightmare is responsible or if it is your own mentality. If it is caused by the Nightmare, then that's great because I can help you extract it. If not, then you'll have to find a way to come to a solution that will give you some sort of peace with yourself."

"So Yang, what do you say?" Taiyang asked his daughter, Professor Peach was also looking at the girl with interest on what the answer would be. "With all the, well you know, things that have been happening lately since your…incident. The hallucinations, the crying in the night, the physical markings you get when you end up hurting yourself. You can finally get to the bottom of what's happening."

"I already know what's going on, Dad. It's not hard to forget what happened to me," Yang glanced down at the black ribbon tied around her arm. "In fact I have a reminder right here. I think…I can figure it out on my own for now. There's just, so much to unpack right now."

"Yes I agree, but this is perhaps something way deeper than imagined, this is why we made a trip out here in the first place." Taiyang may have not caught on, but Efram noticed the defensive tone in Yang's voice. The blonde continued to push a bit, "Yang, you truly need help. And I don't want you to brush off this opportunity since it has presented itself to you."

"You don't think I know that?! I KNOW, but sometimes these kind of solutions can have a reverse effect! I could end up worse… way worse than where I am right now!" By this time her voice was rising, her breathing coming out in pants. Her pupils were slightly dilated and her arm trembling. "Besides this is not my first time being dealt a difficult hand, I've experienced it twice! Twice!"

"Oh do you now? I find that hard to believe." Taiyang asked with skepticism, crossing his arms over his chest. "You are but just a child who doesn't know just how cruel the world is! For as long as I've known you, you can have such a tunnel-vision when your thick skull takes the lead, you aren't even willing to look at the bigger picture! Right now you're just lashing out in frustration because it seems like the obvious thing to do!" He huffs with annoyance and comments under his breath, "I'm starting to think you lost a couple of brain cells along with that arm of yours!"

"It's just so SIMPLE for people outside what happened to say what they feel…to say what they THINK I want to hear! Not knowing that the words they say is actually poison to my ears!" Tears were threatening to spill, but Yang did her best to not let them fall; the last thing she needed is Taiyang feeling sorry for her and attempt to coddle her. "As for the loss of brain cells….it sure takes one to know one. Those years of drinking and wallowing in your pain sure gave you permanent damage!"

"Yang, don't you dare…" Taiyang's warning however fell on deaf ears as Yang continued to barreled through her rant. Everyone else in the room just watched the two of them in silence, not daring to interrupt them.

"Yeah you know exactly what I'm referring to! You weren't any better when Mom left and then Raven left not too long afterwards! You were just…just a hollow shell of yourself, didn't even bother acting as a proper father like you should have done!" That statement got an audible gasp from someone in the audience, but neither father nor daughter paid attention as they stood mere inches from each other. Taiyang's eyes widened at the words, however Yang kept the momentum going, and the words kept flowing out faster than her brain could keep up, "I had to care for Ruby at such a young age! I had to sacrifice my whole childhood for her while you just drank your life away! Uncle Qrow tried to help you but you shrugged him off, which is why he flew off trying to find Raven…or to console himself after Mom disappeared. So when I needed help the most, you weren't there for me…you sought solace with that inanimate object in your hand day in and day out, taking in its sweet red nectar than comforting a real, living, crying child. "

"And I spent years coping with that feeling…until I decided to clean up my act." Taiyang's voice came out in a whisper, the words dredging up very painful memories for him. "Up to now I still feel a slight guilt of how I acted back then, thinking about how I could've handled the situation…."

"But at the time that was the only way you could've acted. And it came at a devastating cost. Those years lost are years neither you nor I can ever get back, I don't regret raising Ruby on my own…but sometimes I wished I knew what it was like to have an ounce of childhood. To actually act my age and not have a care in the world. To be free of that burden." Yang took a breath, closing her eyes briefly before reopening them, "So…I will figure this out one way or another. I…I need to be alone for a minute."

Feeling the fight drain out of her body from the verbal shouting, the blonde turned on her heels and exited the office. The sounds of her dull footsteps faded down the hallway until it couldn't be heard no more. Professor Peach and Shion shared a worried look as Taiyang sat down and sighed, putting his face in his hands. Zwei quickly hopped up next to him, ears lowered and whining. After excusing himself and stating that leaving Yang alone wasn't that good of an idea especially with what her mental state was, Efram quickly left the room as well, his hurried footsteps disappearing just as fast.

"…sorry, I should've handled that a bit better. You all saw a glimpse of perhaps the worst version of me." Taiyang's muffled voice flowed out from between his fingers. Taking a deep sigh he leaned back and stared at the ceiling, seemingly looking at nothing. "It's been way too long since I allowed my emotions to get that way….and a part of me wished that the version of me when I lost the two people I love the most didn't come back up."

"Looks like there's still wounds that never healed over time…perhaps it never healed because she wasn't allowed to talk about that experience; to comprehend why her parents split, and why the other didn't come home at such a tender age, not to mention having to fill in an adult role when she herself was only a child…I can only imagine a fraction of what that child's going through." Professor Peach sighed. "That's something only the two…no, the whole family involved has to come together on."

"Yeah…"

"Besides, the two of them just met Shion, an individual who can help with whatever it is Yang is dealing with, but the amount of information given was quite an overload. Hmmmm… it seems as if Yang didn't want to ask for help, well not yet anyway. Let's not push her too hard, give her time to think and figure out how to proceed." Professor Peach nodded her head, quickly scratching some notes on a nearby clipboard. She gave it to Shion to hold onto before continuing, "We at least gave her an open option should she choose to take it, but we won't force her. However we shouldn't let her bottle up her emotions for too long, she'll end up crashing underneath the weight."


Inside Salem's domain….

"FUCK!" Raisa gazed at the whirlwind of a mess she created inside the room, chest heaving and panted breaths. The Beowolves that had been standing on guard outside were nowhere to be found, they scampered off when the owner of the room turned on them, her lips pulled way up to showcase ivory canines. "That damn bastard…and I was so CLOSE too! She was well within my grasp…."

"Don't be too upset, in fact I'll say you did a wonderful job." Salem's voice floated through the room, announcing her arrival; in truth Raisa already smelt the other approaching, but didn't bother to acknowledge the other's presence until now. The guards were taking shelter behind their Grimm mother, ears slightly flattened. "Hmmmm I can see now why my babies were scared when they came to me, tails tucked between their legs."

"Hmph, hearing you praise my failed attempt makes my ears bleed, and my stomach churn." The other snorted, taking a deep breath to calm down and relax. Turning her gaze to the other woman, she continued, "However, you are correct, as much as I hate to agree with you on some points…. I shouldn't be too angered with what happened. I may not have gotten the result that I wished for, but I learned of something that even my own family kept from me."

"Even a botched execution of a plan can garden a small grain of information…hence why I say well done." Salem mused as she turned to leave, having seen enough of the cluttered room. Raisa followed suit, falling into step beside her. The Beowolves plotted after them at a respectful distance, their claws making soft 'clicks' against the floor. "After knowing this tidbit, how will you use it?"

"Knowing the ultimate sacrifice, my only thought is to avoid getting hit by it. However, with daddy dearest out of the picture, and with her friends separated, I can only imagine how broken the little urchin is." The two women approached the grandiose room where the throne resides, a couple of Grimm lounging about in a lazy manner. The moment Salem appeared, the creatures snapped to attention, their glowing eyes were dead-lock on the two women with interest. "There shouldn't be any more thorns in your plans, for now at least."

"Broken, yes. However you should not underestimate such a small creature. She's strong, but she's exhausted, and I expect the little girl to be back on her feet over time." Salem smiled as she settled comfortably on her throne, folding her hands over her lap. The Seeker quickly moved to hover near its mistress, its light dimly glow an eerily orange-yellow. The Grimm mother held out a hand, watching as a tentacle obediently placed itself on her palm. "Now your comment about thorns...hmmmm, unlike you, I want that child alive by any means necessary."

"Why? What's so special about her?" Raisa frowned at the statement, brows furrowed in a pinch. "In case you have forgotten, Cinder wants her dead."

"Cinder has been reprimanded for her actions, and should be out in the field processing the next steps of our plans. If she steps out of line then I will discipline her once more. Now, if Ruby's anything like her mother," A small grin appeared on Salem's face, a very happy yet sinister grin that sent shivers running down the other woman's spine. "Well don't I have big plans in store for her."