Vermillion Port was nothing special from the outside looking in. It didn't perform better or worse than the various other privately owned docks surrounding it and it didn't import or export anything special. On paper, it was just another boring old port, all of which made the group of cloaked weirdos moving stuff in and out of the attached warehouse all the more suspicious, especially considering the fact that most of them weren't even trying to hide the fact that they were carrying automatic weapons. They moved openly and brazenly, their black cloaks and dark tarps concealing them and their mysterious cargo from most people under the cover of night. Thankfully for the huntsmen in training, two of them just so happened to have excellent night vision, Jin lacking the strong night vision most Faunus have, and Jet had the foresight to summon his set of night vision goggles for himself and his partner. The figures were clearly trafficking something, or more accurately, a bunch of somethings, all of which were large and aggravated if the way the containers shook and jolted in random directions was anything to go by. The teens agreed that a frontal assault would be a terrible idea, and instead made their way around the building. The second set of open docks was more or less the same, although the collection of cloaked figures varied more, some were in blood red gowns while others were in white with bright red highlights, their faces were also covered in white masks, not that the teens could get close enough to get a good look in the first place, but it just added to their suspicion. They searched more of the perimeter of the port, the front entrance was a no-go, not because it was too heavily guarded, but because there was absolutely no one on lookout at all. That had to be a trap considering what was going on in the back, there was probably a set of guards just waiting to open fire on anyone dumb enough to try and break in, so they kept searching, eventually finding a side door that was much more manageable. Two guards were there in the more simple black cloaks, similarly armed with a set of rifles that Jet immediately identified as Vacuan-made now that he had a better view from their spot just past the corner.

"Looks like your aunt's informant knows what they're talking about." Elena mumbled out from her spot at the corner, watching the pair of cultists. A part of her couldn't believe that they actually looked like stereotypical cult members, shouldn't they try not to stand out? Or were they so into this 'Goddess' they believed in that they just weren't concerned with prying eyes at all?

"Yeah…I guess so." While the comment hadn't been overtly negative, the reminder itself had Jin feeling uneasy, and the fact that the information had apparently paid off definitively proved that she was working with someone she shouldn't be. He knew she had a good reason, she had to, he just couldn't figure out what it was, no matter how hard he wracked his head over it. Seeing the boy start to sulk, Luna placed a hand on his bicep, rubbing his arm in an attempt to be comforting.

"Jin, are you alright?" She asked gently, getting a weak nod from the boy that wasn't fooling anyone. "Is it about your aunt?"

With a sigh, Jin caved, nodding his head as he looked to his fellow huntsman in training as he explained himself.

"I'm just worried, I know I should trust her, but making deals with crooks isn't something Huntresses are supposed to do, right?"

"Pretty much the exact opposite, my Dad always told me getting involved with crime is one of the worst things you can do as a Huntsman." Jet said, placing his night vision goggles into the small backpack he'd brought along with them to store his extra gear, pausing once he realized that both Luna and Elena were both giving him a questioning look over the statement. "He had a uh… unique perspective on it."

"Well I'd say something to her, she of all people should know better than to play with fire." Elena said as she turned her attention back to the makeshift team, lacking any sympathy towards Ruby. Miss Rose was a decorated Huntress, she couldn't fathom why a woman like their assistant headmistress would even consider something so foolish.

"But what if she's really just helping? Miss Rose is really nice, she doesn't seem like the sort of person who'd be a bad guy." Luna spoke up in defense of their teacher, only to get a stern look from Elena in return.

"Of course not, she wouldn't want you to think that she could make deals with gangsters." The red headed Faunus had clearly made up her mind already, there was just no excuse for her behavior, she was a Huntress, one of the most influential in the kingdom. Even if her partner was right and she was just doing everything in her power to find more information on this group, she should have gotten it from within an interrogation room, not from a handshake and a favor.

"Uh Elena, I know this is questionable, but she's still my Aunt. Mommy even says she's the best Huntress around!" The earnest way he spoke about his aunt reminded Elena that Miss Rose wasn't just a professor in his eyes, but a family member that he'd known a lot longer, and frankly, better, than she ever would. Her suspicions didn't go away of course, but she reminded herself that some tact wouldn't hurt in this discussion. However, any genuine tension that may have been building evaporated once the big muscular boy uttered the word 'Mommy'. His fellow students were unable to stop themselves from giggling like children.

"Pfft- Mommy?" Jet snorted before covering his mouth to stifle the sounds he was making.

"What?" Jin looked perplexed as the three others calmed down, it wasn't like he was just being childish, he had two Moms! He needed a way to specify which he was talking about, so Mama and Mommy seemed fine to him and the twins.

"Nothing, that's actually kinda sweet." Jet said, raising his hands in surrender and giving a polite smile as Luna giggled a bit more.

"Heads up, the guards are changing." Elena suddenly said, waving Jet over, the boy pulling his night vision goggles back out as he took his place beside the girl, getting them on just as the door closed. From his perspective, the only difference was that one of the cultists had apparently shrunk about half a foot.

"Anything worth noting?" It didn't look like it, even as he tried to take a look at the finer details, they used the same guns and lacked any outline of armor or any additional equipment. There was the faint outline of a tail moving underneath the robes of the taller of the two guards, though it was impossible to tell what kind of Faunus they were, nor if they had good night vision or any other enhanced senses. Either way, it probably wasn't worth risking and testing their luck. "We should do another sweep, see if we missed anything, maybe even just an open window that Jin could float up to."

"Why? The door's right there." Elena said casually, confusing the boy next to her as he glanced from her to the two mooks standing guard by the door.

"Unless you have a way past the guards, that's not really an option." To his surprise, the girl stepped out of cover and a small flicker of red Aura flowed across her body from her head down to her feet before a strange sensation went through his mind. He shook his head and looked back at her, confused as to why his eyes were drawn to her confident smile more than they had a moment ago.

"Actually I do, stay close." The frog girl said as she glanced back at her fellow students, having second thoughts when she noticed her partner playing with Jin's hair as she adjusted his ponytail, the boy sitting down to let her help. "Oh, right. Luna, you might want to keep your eyes closed for this."

"Uh, why?" the girl asked confused, immediately disregarding the suggestion as she peered around to try and look at her partner. In response, Elena grabbed Jet and moved him in-between them, using him to keep herself out of Luna's immediate line of sight.

"My Semblance is sight based, just trust me, okay?" And with no other explanation, she walked right up to the pair without a care in the world. The sight damn near gave Jet a heart attack, the Huntsman in training immediately drawing Hephaestus from its holster and aiming it at the two cultists in case the pair made any sudden movements. Meanwhile, Elena finally got close enough to the pair by the door, clearing her throat before speaking in a sweet, clearly over-exaggerated voice.

"Hello." Elena cringed as her voice cracked as she put on the act, hating the way it made her sound and come across to others, but considering it helped with her goal, she put up with it.

"Who're yo-" the two jumped as soon as they heard her a few feet away, Jet drawing a bead on the taller one and preparing to pull the trigger. But, he found himself hesitating, it was different opening fire on a Grimm or during training where no one would seriously be hurt. Pulling the trigger on someone without Aura, just punching someone's ticket, wasn't something he was prepared for yet. Thankfully, that hesitation stopped him from prematurely blowing their cover as the pair seemed to freeze once they laid eyes on her, not raising their weapons like he feared they would. In fact, they seemed to lose their sense of urgency all together. "Oh, hello there, s-sorry about that, we were told to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious looking."

"N-not that you're suspicious or anything, we just um…" The shorter of the two added on quickly, fearing that the girl might take offense to the statement, a fear that was quickly squashed with a bright, if obviously fake smile.

"Oh, no worries, I get it! My name's Elena. See, now we aren't strangers!" As she spoke, she motioned for the rest of her 'team' to come up to her. Hesitantly, Jet followed with Jin and Luna not far behind. Apparently, their lack of skepticism only applied to Elena, as they shot dirty looks towards the other three, only stopping short of actually taking aim when Elena took a step back to rejoin the group. "But, what is this place? It seems really cool!"

"It's our hideout." The shorter of the two said without hesitation, immediately getting an elbow to the ribs for his trouble.

"Darius!" Despite being scolded by his fellow cultist, the man felt pride as Elena's smile grew at the reveal.

"Really, that sounds so cool! Could I look around, pretty please?" Darius went to open his mouth and give the okay when the taller of the two covered his mouth, dragging his partner away as they took a moment to discuss the pros and cons of letting a stranger, even a really nice and pretty one, into a site meant to help the Goddess spread her influence.

"What's going on?" Jet asked, hesitantly holstering Hephaestus for the moment as the two guards lost any credibility that made them seem threatening, given that they started to act like nervous teenagers out of the blue. He had a theory of course, one that was growing stronger as he noticed that Elena's eyes had a certain inexplicable beauty to them that they lacked just a few minutes ago, along with the fact that it took far more effort than usual to look away from said eyes.

"It's my Sembla- Luna, I said not to look." Before the explanation even really began, it was interrupted as she saw her antenna sporting partner poke her head out curiously from behind Jin.

"But why?" Luna asked, tilting her head as she tried to figure out if it just was something she didn't see about her partner as she really didn't feel any different, unless maybe Elena turned it off already? The redhead just watched, being confused as Luna didn't even react.

"Because… nevermind, I guess you're fine but- damn it Jin." Turning around, Jet saw his partner looking weirdly nervous, the boy immediately breaking eye contact and looking down at his feet, suddenly acting very shy towards their ally once Elena called him out for falling under the influence of her Semblance. So, this was how Jin acted when he was attracted to someone? He had to admit, he wasn't expecting that, especially considering how brazen he was about teasing him about his closeness with Scarlet. The boy made a mental note to keep an eye out for this kind of behavior in the future. Elena turned, exasperated, and vaguely motioned between the boys. "Jet, can you just hold his hand or something?"

"I can hold him for you!" The little cultist volunteered, his enthusiasm further confirming Jet's theory.

"No, no! You guys are fine." Elena said quickly and a bit too harshly, causing the two cloaked figures to recoil. They looked back to one another, the gears visibly starting to turn in their heads. Why were they talking to this girl again? Thinking quickly, Elena recovered her cadence and sauntered right up to the two guards once more giving them both the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. "So, can me and my friends see inside?"

"Well, we really shouldn't, no one is supposed to come in." Right, this was going nowhere, and it was starting to be demeaning, so she made her skin start to secrete her neurotoxin, not a fatal dosage, but enough to take care of them for the time being.

"Pretty please?" she said as she leaned in, stroking the shorter man's cheek. She didn't linger any longer than she had to, instead moving over and doing the same to the taller man just as his shorter counterpart started to get woozy.

"Well… o-okay?" The effect only took a moment to set in, he felt lightheaded and tingly, and soon enough, his control of his motor functions started to slip as he stumbled back into the wall, sliding down it while that idiot Darius fell down, hitting his head.

"Thanks! You guys are the best!" Elena said sarcastically, the act gone as she gave the big guy a small kick to the ribs, testing to see if he'd budge. When that yielded no response, she turned to her team and held up her hand, showing off the greasy film that covered most of her skin. "One of you guys should probably get the door."

"I got it!" Jin said with a nervous crack in his usually deep voice, jumping into action and rushing over to open the door and holding it open politely for the rest of them. As they filed in, the entrance didn't seem all that unusual, at least, until they peeked out from the small hallway. Aa chill ran down Luna's spine as she inched closer to her teammates, as the building was swarming with cultists of varying types, and now that they were close enough, the girls, having better night vision, could clearly tell that they were wearing Grimm masks, not all too different from the ones from initiation. The most prominent were blank faced Geist masks, there also seemed to be a decent amount of canine Beowolf ones, and even a few that, with their prominent fangs and dualistic color scheme, resembled King Taijitu. They stuck by the wall, avoiding heading out into the open until they absolutely had to do so, staying in the dark as much as possible. Luna stayed particularly close to Jin, gripping his tail just a bit too tightly, but he was nice enough not to make a fuss over it. Eventually, after finding a small secluded space behind some boxes, they grouped up, and the ping of Aura around Elena happened again, and all of a sudden, her eyes looked totally normal despite nothing actually changing about them. Jin similarly felt himself quickly feel normal once more, shaking his head as the blush faded from his face and his throat untightened, allowing him to speak without his voice cracking like he was going through puberty all over again.

"Wa-was that your semblance?" he whispered, blinking and looking around. He didn't forget the last few minutes, but it was hazy and he didn't feel normal, like what he suspected being drunk felt like. With a small sigh, the frog girl nodded before explaining.

"Long story short, I can make people like me, really like me. I didn't think that it would work on you, sorry about that." Jin nodded and accepted the apology without question, his partner smirking as his theory was confirmed.

"That sounds pretty useful, especially in situations like this."

"Yeah it sounds great, unless you forget to turn it off or never realize that it was on to begin with and it turns out that all of your friends only wanted to be around you because their heads were getting messed with." That… shit, that did sound pretty bad, and her tone made it clear that she wasn't talking about some nebulous hypothetical either. It wasn't all that common for someone to unintentionally activate a Semblance, but it was known to happen. He assumed it had to work like Goose's or her Dad's where it consumed so little Aura that it could effectively stay on indefinitely. He thought about what he'd feel like if it was him with such an ability, if Jin or Scarlet only wanted him around because of outside factors. Even as a hypothetical, it didn't feel good. Luna, feeling bad for the girl, stepped forward to voice her support.

"Well, it didn't work on me, and I still like you!" Luna said cheerfully, reaching out to pat her partner's shoulder, stopping when she remembered the neurotoxin currently covering her skin and retracted her hand, choosing to smile supportively instead. Elena didn't return the gesture, instead heading further into the warehouse, trying to ignore the disappointment that lingered.

Deep within the warehouse, a group of maskless figures struggled to control one of the larger cages, the beast within it snarling and struggling to break free. One of the cables snapped causing it to lean, and acting on instinct, one of them abandoned the cable he was using to hold down the struggling beast to reach under the tarp and grab the bars, pulling with all his might. To his relief, the weight shifted back, and for a moment, it seemed like the crisis was averted. But seconds later, he was pulled up off of his feet as his entire left arm was pulled through the bars. Despite the pain of sharpened bone ensnaring his arm, he didn't scream at first, too shocked to even react, but once his arm was pulled out from its socket, he cried out in agony. The low level cultists sprang into action as best they could, some grabbing the stun rods and haphazardly shoving them into the cage until they made contact with the beast within, while others tried to pull their brother free from the danger zone. Despite the electricity running through its body, the creature was determined, and even though no one had a clear look, the sound of tearing flesh and snapping bone was unmistakable alongside the screams coming from the unfortunate soul. With the chaos unfolding around them, no one noticed the figure walking up to the crate. Like them, she was adorned in a black robe and wore no mask, but she was deathly calm, unlike her underlings. Her robes, despite being the same jet black color as the regular ones, had a very different, almost leathery texture to them, and were also layered, each seeming to flow around each other in an ornate pattern, topped off with fluffy white fur that matched her hair and skin covering the frame of her hood. Even as blood started to splash onto the brothers and sisters pulling at him, she didn't flinch, only looking over once she heard the sound of a shotgun being racked and one of the goons running over and aiming into the cage. Before he could pull the trigger, the woman grabbed the weapon from his hands, pulling it away with surprising strength. She gave the man a calming, almost motherly, glance, her crimson eyes wordlessly communicating the need for a different approach. Still, she understood, some of them were like children, unable to think things through once things started to go wrong. Thankfully, that was why she was there, to guide them, to lead them down the promised path. She reached out and took a hold of the bar, the beast within taking notice and relinquishing the arm of its victim, the man immediately being pulled away, landing on the floor as blood spilled from his mutilated arm, and as they worked to stop the bleeding, she looked into the beast's own red eyes as it stared down at her.

"Patience, your time will come." The woman showed no fear in the face of destruction given flesh, and it similarly didn't react with violence as it did with its other handlers, instead backing up to the middle of the cage and lying back down, calmed by her words. With the situation handled, most of the present cultists went back to their duties, save for a set of three that were trying to stop their brother from bleeding out. The woman remained in the area, her presence having a calming effect on the caged Grimm in her presence. As she lingered in the area, a red robed figure walked right up to her, bowing in respect to the elder before speaking.

"Mother Moon, we have someone who claims to be one of us." Moon Moffit turned to her fellow zealot, unsure of why this was being brought to her attention. Even if it was a lying heathen trying to infiltrate their ranks, the solution was to interrogate and then dispose of them. Perhaps it was an informant or one of their infiltrators, or possibly a member of the inner circle checking in on their progress. Regardless, this apparently required her attention.

"Do they bear the mark of our Goddess?" A simple question that would narrow down the possibilities to just who exactly they were dealing with. If the answer was yes, then it was likely another leader coming to deliver a message, they couldn't risk being monitored on public networks, and that smug bastard Watts claimed creating a private network for the entire congregation, not a damned cult like he and their enemies called it, was impossible. Such limitations meant that messages had to be delivered personally, although it wasn't without upsides, the lack of any sort of tangible paper trail made them getting detected or having the entire congregation compromised by hostile elements a far smaller possibility. Still, how a man of such little faith had gained the favor of the Goddess was something she could never quite comprehend.

"No, but she said you would know she was coming." 'She'? Was this Henna's apprentice? She hadn't expected the girl so soon, but it explained why no one in her congregation recognised her, as well as the lack of a mark. Azrael had spoken of the girl's reluctance to take part in prayers, how she had been handwaved through any sort of proof for her devotion, brought into their Goddess's embrace through blood alone instead of being properly initiated like everyone else. It didn't sit right with her, but perhaps this was a chance to change that however, Sister Henna specifically wanted her help after all, so she'd either set the girl on the right path or weed out an unworthy brat.

"This girl, is she a scorpion Faunus?" she asked, just to be certain.

"Yes ma'am, with yellow eyes and dar-"

"She speaks the truth, bring her to me." Moon said, cutting her subordinate off mid-sentence. Soon after, the girl was brought in. Lavender looked around as she got used to her surroundings, clearly uncomfortable. The red cloaked figures guiding her were eerily silent, ignoring any questions she asked, and the pool of blood by the cage was far from welcoming. She hadn't brought The Queen's Servants, not expecting to need them, something she regretted now that she was here, no longer feeling safe without them. Laying eyes on the woman she was meant to meet, she approached her slowly and carefully.

"M-Mother Moon?" The woman didn't react verbally, instead turning to face Lavender, causing the young Faunus to flinch away. The woman was stroking the black and bone plated maw of a Grimm through the bars, yet that wasn't what caused Lavender to flinch back, it was her eyes. She had pitch black sclera, not unlike Azrael's, but her irises were a deep, bloody red and had a faint glow to them, like she was looking into the eyes of a Grimm rather than a woman. Those eyes watching her, studying her, judging her… she hated it.

"Do I frighten you, child?" A white eyebrow gently raised with the question, it was like she was looking right through Lavender's soul.

"No… no, I'm not afraid." she lied through her teeth, walking up to the woman and holding out her hand. "My name is Lavender, Henna said that I should speak with you."

"Indeed she did. A faithless family member, correct?" Moon asked, ignoring the hand Lavender had extended. Not the best of introductions, but Lavender decided to ignore how she was snubbed, already used to worse treatment from Azrael.

"My brother, he doesn't know anything about our ways, I need to find a way to talk to him about it. I know he'd understand, he's smart, but… this is a lot." That might have been the understatement of the century, Lavender still couldn't fully wrap her head around the details that were shared with her by Henna, which, in truth, she wasn't sure if she believed herself, especially the more outlandish claims like the Goddess being a witch who controlled the Grimm. Sure, they manipulated the Grimm for their own uses, but that was different, that was just because they were using her creations to serve her will. Granted, she didn't really know how that worked, but she didn't understand how a witch could control just the Grimm by herself, when such an act of taming purest, indiscriminate destruction was clearly divine in nature.

"And you don't think that you could convince him? He is your only family, is he not?" the woman asked. She had heard a little about the girl's biological family, and what she heard disgusted her. They were heathens who lived only for material goods, pleasures of the flesh, and served only themselves. Frankly, it was a mystery why the girl willingly associated with any of them after seeing Her path.

"He wouldn't listen to me, he just treats me like his kid sister." Lavender lamented to the leader of Vale's sect as the woman nodded along, the tone of the girl's voice not even bothering to hide her displeasure at that fact. Ah, a point of conflict then? Picking up on the potential rift between Lavender and the family who, if Henna was to be believed, had tossed her aside like garbage, Moon started to pry.

"If it came down to your brother or the congregation, which would you choose?"

"What!?" The question shocked Lavender, particularly because of how out of left field it felt. Choose? Why the hell would she have to choose!? Her brother and her beliefs weren't mutually exclusive, so just what was she trying to imply? "That's not fair!"

"And that is precisely my point." Moon said, her suspicions all but confirmed by the girl's suddenly hostile response. No child of Salem would just accept a family like that, this girl simply wanted to have it both ways. Well she may not like it, but it was time for her to get a reality check. "What you have isn't a matter of family, it's a matter of faith."

"You don't know anything about me!" Lavender growled. Just who the hell did this woman think she was? She sounded just like Azrael, judging her because she was lucky enough to have her sister to build her up, but now she was being judged for the other side of her family. It was the same shit, but even less justified!

"I know that you were brought in without any kind of initiation due to your father, each and every one of us other than yourself took part in the rite of passage, we cast aside our old lives." The young lady didn't bother to hide her scowl, an act of defiance and stubbornness that, were it up to her, would have been corrected then and there. However, Lavender wasn't one of hers, so let it go and she continued. "I also know that you have done nothing in service of our Grace. Have you even spilled blood yet?"

"I almost killed Scarlet!" Lavender snapped, she was tired of it, tired of being treated like she was different. She may not have killed anyone, but why was that the metric that proved her loyalty? She had just as many reasons to hate The Betrayer and her child as anybody else there did, her Father had helped build the very organization she was a part of, was it not enough for them that she wanted to honor him?

"To avenge your father, not because it would please our Mistress." Lavender didn't go through with the intrusive thoughts to lash out at the woman, but it was a close call. Despite seeing Lavender's obvious anger building, Moon went on further. "I don't see a Sister before me, I see a selfish child who is desperately clinging to whatever grasp of normalcy there is in front of her."

"What about you? Henna told me about your family problems!" Lavender shot back. She didn't know what she expected, she just wanted the holier than thou woman to shut the hell up. What she wasn't expecting was for the woman to barely even react.

"Clearly she didn't tell you the full extent of it, because then you'd know that I never went looking for them after they abandoned me." Lavender could feel her blood pressure rise at those words, the insinuation was clear even without her needing to actually say it. How dare she, how fucking dare this woman talk about her brother like he'd leave her! Talking about her was one thing, but her family? One of the only people who actually was a part of her true family!?

"He'd never do that!" At Lavender's insistence, Moon shook her head sadly, the poor girl actually believed it, didn't she?

"Of course he will, those who don't understand Her Grace and see Her glory will recoil in horror. My own husband turned his back on me, he took our daughter and ran, too enthralled by the lies of the Emerald Devil. I know my words are harsh young Lavender, but I'm trying to save you from that heartache." The intense pain, despite being hidden beneath the woman's calm voice, was obvious to Lavender, likely because she had felt that same pain with her own mother. She may not have actually been tossed out and cast aside, but Neo had made it clear that she wasn't wanted, that their family would be better if she could forget about the mistake.

"I… I'm sorry that happened to you, but he wants me around, we want to be a family again!" Lavender said, taking a more calm and less emotional approach, trying to get the almost albino woman to see that things weren't beyond repair in her case. Something changed in the calm abyss of the woman's eyes, something that Lavender hoped was understanding.

"Come with me." Moon said, walking right past the girl, who had to pick up her pace to follow along.

"Where are we going?" Her question was ignored just like last time as Moon led her through the labyrinth of boxes and aisles of storage. The two red robed figures followed just behind them, their Beowulf masks hiding any expressions that they may have been wearing. She was brought up a set of stairs and into a room that looked like it had once been used as an office, but now it seemed to be some sort of interrogation chamber, the soundproofing of the office making it ideal for hiding the screams. To Lavender's shock, there was already a man in one of the sets of restraints, a Faunus like her, although it was hard to tell what kind he might have been considering that the ears atop his head had been reduced to bloody nubs by his captors. He was delirious, probably from a mixture of pain, blood loss, and probably even a lack of basic needs if he had been kept for an extended period of time.

"W-What is this?" As usual, the brunette's question was ignored, the matriarch of Vale's sect silently taking a hold of a jagged and curved dagger before holding it out to Lavender, the confused girl taking it on instinct. She looked down at the rusted metal that barely passed as a weapon before looking to the woman before her, looking for answers once more.

"Something that has been long overdue, you're going to be tested child." Yellow eyes watched as the man regained some semblance of awareness, looking up at his captors through swollen eyes and immediately recoiling against the chains that held him in place. "Prove yourself."

"I don't need to prove anything to you!" It was on instinct that Lavender fought against the order, but even without her knee jerk reaction, nothing about this sat right with her. Maybe this guy, whoever he was, had what was happening to him coming, but what did killing him accomplish? It wasn't like any other time she'd seen death, this was just cruelty for the sake of it.

"If you can't do this simple task, how will you be able to change your brother's mind?" Lavender froze at the mention of Romeo. That's right, that was why she'd originally came here to begin with, to get advice on how to broach the topic of her beliefs. How the hell did it end up like this? "Romeo Torchwick is a hedonistic sinner, a man like him cannot be convinced by someone with a weak will and a lack of conviction. If not for my trust, then do it for your blood."

Lavender pondered Moon's words for a few moments. On one hand, she was considering turning the knife on the woman for speaking about her brother like that, but on the other hand, she couldn't deny the intent behind her words. Romeo was… different from herself, not just in his lifestyle, but in how he viewed the world. He wouldn't want this either, it was senseless, he was no stranger to bloodshed, but only if it had purpose… but even he broke his own rules for her. That just made Moon's point hit harder, how could she convince him if she was just letting him make the calls? She needed to push at those boundaries, show him what they could do if he just extended their wrath to two other people, show him that they could be a family, a much bigger family. She just had to kill- no, murder this poor man, who for all she knew had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sh-she couldn't, not when his eyes pleaded for mercy! No, no she had to, it was for Henna and Romeo… The pressure built and she started to hyperventilate, stress overcoming her senses. The robed men looked to Moon, who held out her hand to stop them, her actions making it clear that Lavender would get no aid in this task, it was her trial, not theirs. She couldn't deal with this, couldn't make the choice, and without even thinking, her tail sprung into action, stinging herself in the thigh, a burning liquid relief flooding her senses as the world started to fade. She tried to focus, to not see the man in front of her as someone sympathetic, but as someone she wouldn't regret killing. The man started to swirl, his features shifting into ones she recognized, his nubs were replaced by black horns, his hair was suddenly longer and red. She could see Scarlet slowly starting to take shape. She focused harder, letting her hate guide what she saw. She needed to want this, to want to hurt them more than anyone else in the world. She needed to see…
Suddenly, Lavender could see the person in front of her clearly, despite the haze. They were small, an inch or two shorter than herself with three toned hair, one side entirely brown while the other half started off as white, but transitioned into pink. The middle aged woman looked tired and beaten down by life, her brown and pink eyes on a face that she could easily imagine being her own in twenty or so years. Neopolitan looked the same as how she remembered her from childhood, tired and beaten down by life. It was downright pathetic, but that didn't stop Lavender from marching forward and raising her knife to end the wretch of a woman once and for all.

"Stop." Before Lavender could go through with it, a hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her mid-swing. Moon's powerful grip had halted her in her tracks and pulled the knife right from her hands.

"W-what?" Ignored once again, Lavender watched as Moon took a hold of Neo's hair, her mother making a very masculine sounding cry of pain. Her head cleared somewhat as the illusion of her mind was broken and the scene before her returned to normal, if not still fuzzy with the shapes of everything blending together in a swirl of color.

"You aren't ready, turning to your own venom because you lack the conviction to do a simple task." With a single swipe of her wrist, Moon cut the man's throat open, his eyes widening before blood spilled from the wound like water running from a fountain, accompanied by a series of gurgles. While it was painful, his death came soon after, the flow of blood swiftly coming to stop a few moments after the gurgles ceased. Lavender recoiled in disgust at the cruel snuffing out of a life, but then it registered to her that she had been moments away from committing the act herself, and the only reason she didn't was because Moon disapproved of the fact that she wasn't comfortable doing it sober after being cornered and pressured into it! "Go back to your brother. From what I've heard, his hedonistic lifestyle would suit you better."

In her inebriated state of mind, the insult was the last straw, her tail lashing out and striking a table at her side, sending it flying at the wall right next to Moon, shattering upon impact only a few feet away from her. The guards immediately sprung into action, pulling a set of blades from under their crimson robes, but Moon raised a hand to stop them; she recognized a tantrum when she saw one. While Lavender would never admit it, the fact that she reacted the way she did meant her words had sunk in. She could try to ignore the truth but eventually, she'd have to confront it and decide for herself. Before anything else could happen however, the door flew open as a man in a black cloak ran in panting.

"Mother Moon! The side entrance, someone's inside!" Well… this could wait, apparently they had more pressing matters at hand.

"This place is fuckin' huge!" Scarlet said quite loudly, her profanity echoing across the walls, which made her giggle like a child. Lumi could have died of embarrassment, this was the first time she was meeting anyone from the upper crust of Vale, and naturally, as the eldest scion of the Arc-Schnee bloodline, it was her utmost duty to make a good first impression, something that Scarlet seemed determined to ruin. They had already just let themselves in, as Juliet, strangely, said such a thing would be fine.

"Are you just incapable of speaking properly or something?" The blonde scolded the redhead as they made their way down the halls. While not as massive as the Schnee estate, it was a respectable three story manor, done in the architectural stylings typical of northern Vale. Yet, despite being a degree of magnitude smaller, it felt so much more empty, no servants or little siblings running around. If Juliet was to be believed, it was just Jacinthe in her home, it sounded quite lonely.

"Oh gimme a break, you're just not impressed because this is the size of your summer home." Lumi chose not to dignify the statement with a response, mostly because she couldn't think of a way to spin the fact that their summer home in Mistral was actually bigger as a point in her favor.

"So Juliet, what exactly does your friend do? Is she a politician? You mentioned she was well connected." Lumi asked, not so subtly changing topics, which Juliet didn't seem to mind as she shook her head, answering.

"Nah, nothing like that, she's a fortune teller. Like, she uses the stars and stuff to predict your future, that kinda thing."

"Huh, guess Vale has a lot of gullible rich people then." Scarlet said offhandedly. She didn't believe in stuff like that, mostly because Jet had a bad habit of feeling the need to show off just how big of a know-it-all he was and explain why stuff that seemed supernatural was really just sleight of hand or special effects. She had expected some pushback, but she didn't expect both Juliet and Lumi to stop in their tracks and look at her like she'd just admitted to spitting in their food.

"Of course you'd say that, it must be so dull living with such a close minded point of view." Lumi chided. Oh no, was she one of those astrology girls? She really hoped it was just a case of her accidentally being rude again. From the side, Rosaria raised her hand to get the group's attention before adding her own two cents in.

"No, for once, I agree with Scarlet. There's no proven correlation between the astrological state one was born under influence things such as future events or one's personality." HA! Someone was on her side, now they just had to see how they liked it when they were ganged up with facts and logi- wait, what did Rosaria say?

"You know, you didn't have to include the first part." the bovine Faunus huffed. She was right about stuff all the time! "But yeah, like the stars are too far away to affect us or… I dunno, Jet could explain it better, I only listened long enough to realize it's all a bunch of bullshit."

"Riiight, just fall back on what your boyfriend said." Juliet teased, but rather than blush or try to defend her stance, Scarlet just gave her a confused look.

"Huh? Jet's not my boyfriend." That was just… okay, it wasn't like she hadn't thought about it before, he was the whole package, smart, sexy, strong, but still weaker than her so she could pin him down if she wanted to… but they were just friends. He had even said that she was like his older yet younger sister before, and while it hadn't felt as nice to hear than she thought it would be, it was how it was between them, it had always been that way.

"He's not?" Lumi asked, genuinely shocked by the proclamation from her partner, which got a double take from Scarlet, who was now just as confused.

"Lumi, you live with us. Why would you think we were dating?"

"You two are awfully close for being just friends, didn't you cuddle up with him after SLVR started messing with you?" Lumi pointed out, causing Scarlet's cheeks to heat up and turn a bright red. Okay, now that wasn't playing fair, she was having a hard time and his hugs happened to help.

"How did- Damn it Jin." Scarlet muttered, realizing that he was the only one who'd seen that who would tell anyone. She was sure he didn't mean anything wrong with it, but she was absolutely getting even with her fellow Faunus at some point. For now, she just had to wipe that smirk off of her partner's face. Who was she to poke fun when she was still 'just friends' with her himbo monkey boy? "Yeah, well, the same applies to you and Jin!"

"Obviously, who wouldn't be smitten with a boy like him?" she said with a tone that Scarlet was sure Lumi thought sounded confident, but came off more as being horny than anything else. Lumi was a lot of things, but the sheer thirst that escaped with that question couldn't have been intentional.

"Oh, wait, you're actually not hiding it?"

"Why would I hide it?" Lumi asked. It wasn't like she was being subtle, she had made her intentions known, making sure she leaned in real close if not directly on the boy, always waiting for him after class rather than heading straight to the next lecture, lamenting about the fact that she was still single to him. The tricky part was getting him to notice, as, for someone who read those scandalous novels on a regular basis, he was rather oblivious sometimes.

"I dunno, you're the dumbass who never asked him out." Despite it being a fair criticism in Scarlet's eyes, Lumi just scoffed at the sentiment.

"Why would I? A lady doesn't do the chasing." In hindsight, Scarlet probably could have guessed Lumi was one of those girls if she had put any thought into it. But still, it was annoying to see a girl as smart as Lumi forget a key fact about romance that even she knew: guys are dumb, and she was even dumber for thinking he'd be an exception.

"Just saying, you're gonna feel real stupid when we head out for the Vytal festival and he finds a nice, if kinda loose, chick who isn't afraid to take him for a ride." Now it was Lumi's turn to get all red faced, though more out of offense on behalf of her friend and apparent long time crush.

"Wh- He would never-" Before their argument could continue, the leader of JWEL cleared her throat loudly, interrupting the pair.

"Hey guys, as much as I'd love to sit and watch you two work each other up until you both confess to your obvious crushes, we're keeping my friend here waiting." They shot each other a look, Scarlet smirked while Lumi scowled, but both made it clear that this conversation wasn't over just yet. But Juliet was right, time was limited, the other four would likely already be at the warehouse by now and they had to be ready to pile into Rosaria's car in case they had to be backup. They made their way through the ornate halls, eventually coming to a pair of doors that Juliet said they'd be most likely to find her in. Taking a hold of the right side door, they pulled it open to reveal a large library that was at the very least the size of her entire house on Patch, and was filled from wall to wall with books. Frankly, it was ridiculous for one person, there was no way she could actually read all of these, there was even an upstairs section! Yet, Scarlet was the only one to acknowledge this as Juliet just casually looked around before her face lit up, and before any of them could react, she took off. "Jacinthe!"

"Juliet, it's good to see you." The voice just off to their side alerted the others to the woman's presence. She was fairly tall for a woman, about the same size as Scarlet if you didn't include her horns. She wore an orange dress that hugged her figure nicely, and Scarlet had to admit it was quite a figure, maybe it was just the dress making her look better, but even still, she was almost jealous. Almost jealous. Along with the orange dress, she had a semi-transparent shawl of a matching color that arched upwards into a loose hood that framed her face. The outfit paired well with her pale skin, the striking colors of both coming together and making her dark hair pop out even more as it flowed down from either sides of her face and beneath her hood. She looked great, a bit aged, but not in a bad way, moreso in the way that it gave her an unmistakable aura of maturity. Juliet was holding her up off of the ground in a hug that left her suspended in the air, but she didn't seem to mind, appearing to be used to the situation as far as Scarlet and Lumi could tell. Still within Juliet's crushing embrace, she just smiled and looked over to the others. "Rosaria, how's your father?"

"Working on a project in Argus currently, you know how his partner can get with his… eccentricities." Rosaria said calmly, not even bothering to try and pull her friend off of the older woman, already used to the affectionate behavior between them.

"That I do." The woman said as she was set down by the buff teen, her eyes, just a shade or two off from her dress, glanced over to the newcomers. "Oh, and these must be your friends. Scarlet and Lumi, right? I trust that Juliet's already spoken about me."

Lumi stood up straight and put on her best smile to make a good first impression. Then remembering who her partner was, she glanced over to her side, only to see the horned girl slouching. Well, that just wouldn't do. A moment later, Scarlet felt a thin and bony elbow hitting her ribs, nearly jumping out of her skin as she looked over to Lumi to protest, but the small woman already stepped forward with her hand out in a mix between a gentleman's handshake and a lady's courtesy.

"Lumi Arc-Schnee, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, ma'am." Prim, proper, and polite. It was almost hard for Scarlet to think Lumi had just bruised one of her ribs with the little lady act she was putting on for the woman.

"The pleasure is all mine, Lumi." Jacinthe said as she shook her hand with a kind smile, glancing over to Scarlet. Thankfully, she was nice enough to wait for her to nurse her sore side before speaking.

"Hey uh, yeah, I'm Scarlet. I'm sorry, but is it okay if we skip the small talk? This is important…" If the look on her face was any indicator, Lumi could have spat with disgust, but the little rib hitting gremlin could stay mad for all she cared. Although, she'd be a liar if she wasn't at least a bit concerned about offending the woman herself, but she hoped she'd understand.

"Of course. Come, take a seat." They then all piled around a table in the middle of the vast book hall. Scarlet didn't know just what Juliet had told her friend, but she seemed to understand the situation. Hesitantly, Scarlet pulled the journal out from her bag and opened it up to the page with the symbol. Immediately, Jacinthe's eyes widened, and she brought the book closer to herself without even asking to get a better look. "This symbol… it's rare to say the least. If I may ask, how exactly did you get this book?"

"Some crazy chick tried to murder us, she dropped this, and if the book's to be believed, it turns out that she's probably a part of some kinda batshit cult." Scarlet explained. The woman pursed her lips and sighed at Scarlet's explanation, almost as if disappointed. Lumi and Scarlet shared a look over that, it at least confirmed that she knew something, but her reaction was puzzling.

"We were hoping you'd know something, Juliet spoke highly of you." Lumi spoke up, clearing the silence.

"Yes, I know this symbol. It originates from an ancient text, symbolizing what some believe is a new God." That got their attention, a 'new' God implied old ones. Lumi in particular started to take notes, if it was a newer religion, then that narrowed down their search quite a bit, even if it turned out to be- Before Lumi could finish her thoughts, Jacinthe spoke up again. "Are any of you familiar with the Church of the Brothers?"

"Uh, not really? I've heard of them, but that's it."

"Well, I don't suppose you came all this way for a sermon." she chuckled, figuring it would be best to keep things as brief as possible. "To simplify things, the church teaches that we were created by a pair of deific brothers, the elder one having the power to create, and the younger one having the power to destroy. Humanity, being their greatest and final creation, has the power to do both."

"So… is this like the symbol of the destruction God? He's the bad guy I'm guessing?" Scarlet earned a chuckle from Jacinthe with that line of questioning, making her feel just a little self conscious even if it was in good nature.

"Well, from a certain point of view. The texts firmly outline that he isn't inherently evil, but death, natural disasters, and even the process of aging are all by the younger brother's design." The explanation really didn't clear any of this up on Scarlet's end, this younger God still sounded like quite the prick, at least, between the two Brothers based on what she was being told.

"It's like the circle of life, stuff has to die so that other stuff can live." Juliet spoke up, hoping to clear up some of the confusion, only feeling a bit condescended towards when Scarlet and Lumi once again looked confused at her explanation. "Jacinthe knows some members of the church, she taught me a bit about the church's teachings when she sponsored me."

"Okay, okay, but what does this have to do with some 'new God'? Is it because he's the younger brother?" Lumi said, moving off of the same assumption as Scarlet, neither of them really following along, religious fundamentalism was a bit hard to grasp when you've only been talking about it for a few minutes.

"No, this symbol doesn't appear in any of the original texts, it came centuries, possibly millennia later. It belongs to a group who call themselves 'The Goddess's Shadows'. They worship the new God: Salem." Salem… Something about the name didn't sit right, in fact, it felt wrong, sinister even. Scarlet didn't know why, but it rubbed her in a very wrong way.

"Wait, how is there a new God? Did one of the old ones boink a person?" The joke got nothing more than a sideways glance from Rosaria. She wasn't bothered though, knowing full well that would happen, she just didn't want the others to notice how that name gave her goosebumps.

"According to legend, she was a human woman made immortal as a punishment by the Brothers, and the original texts claim she still walks among us, cursed to walk Remnant until the end of time. However, another less known set of scripture says that, using her newfound power as an immortal fated to never die, she usurped them, and now seeks to undo what she sees as flaws in their design."

"So this cult thinks they're helping her undo the original Gods plan?" It was as good an explanation as she was going to get when dealing with nutjobs she supposed, but still she wondered what it had to do with her Mom and her powers. Was that some kind of divine gift from this Goddess, or maybe one of the Brothers? Did she learn that it was all bullshit? She wished she could just ask, but… she couldn't, not yet, she just wasn't ready to speak with her about it yet.

"Yes, they believe that, with Salem, a human woman, having seemingly defeated and taken the place of the Brothers, her will for humanity supersedes the Brothers' wills for humanity, which naturally resulted in their outright ejection from the greater Church of the Brothers. Additionally, I wouldn't call the greater sect a cult per se, merely a spiteful and rebellious offshoot of the greater Church of the Brothers that has metastasized into its own entity that ultimately means no greater harm, much like the Church in which it split from. That being said, if an extremist element of the Shadows like what you described truly does exist…." The woman stepped up from her place at the table, and over to the bookshelf, skimming through the spines of the many books before finding one simply titled 'The New Goddess' and pulling it from the shelves. She then stepped right up to Scarlet and placed it in front of her. "You should read this."

"I uh… I'm not looking to join the faith or anything, especially not to a potentially dangerous cul-subsect." Scarlet said, trying to politely decline, only for the woman to slide it even closer.

"Perhaps not, but learning about them and their worldview may help you find what you're looking for." Jacinthe said with a knowing tone, one Scarlet tried to ignore.

"What I'm looking for?" Her acting skills weren't the best, everyone present probably knew she was blatantly lying.

"It's all over your Aura, you're lost dear, left without guidance for the first time in your life, and now you must choose your next steps on your own." That was… an uncomfortably good guess, did she know from the news? Was it her Semblance, or was the fortune telling schtick not an elaborate ruse with her? Before she could ponder any further, the woman placed her hand on Scarlet's, giving them a soft and comforting squeeze that strangely made her feel much better. "Please my dear, just give it a read."

Reluctantly, Scarlet picked up the book. Answers huh? Well, if nothing else, it might help them know what this weird ass group was specifically trying to accomplish.

"Okay, thanks anyway Miss Maccabée." Lumi said on her behalf as Scarlet looked down at the book, inspecting it closely.

"Please girls, just call me Jacinthe, and if you'd ever like your fortune read, you know where to find me." And with that, the four of them were sent on their way. There was some conversation as they walked back to the car, but Scarlet didn't hear a word of it, transfixed on the book. Below the silvered title, it carried a similar but much less creepy version of the symbol from Tyrian's journal, also clad in silver. Frankly, it was amazing how simply removing the eye from the middle changed it from looking weird as hell to almost regal, she could even imagine Lumi picking out something like it if it wasn't for her weird ass obsession with her family name. As they reached the steps, Scarlet's attention was grabbed by the sound of her scroll's notification ding, pulling it from her skirt pocket before freezing in place.

"Uh, guys?" All three heads turned to Scarlet who raised up her scroll, a simple message from Jin displayed across the screen, one that made their blood run cold.

HELP!

Five minutes earlier

Elena glanced around the corner once more, triple checking that they were in the clear, and made a motion for the rest to follow her as she snuck down the small path created by the crates. With her night vision and silent weapon, she acted as lookout, Luna and Jin keeping close as backup while Jet was bringing up the rear, all of them steadily inching their way through the building. With one of the robed figures around almost every corner, caution was more important than ever, as if they made one wrong move, they'd be swarmed by nutjobs within minutes. While they had no doubt the four of them could handle a group of even the stronger cultists, if they were surrounded by that many people, they wouldn't last long, even if only a few cultists had the advantage of Aura. That on its own wouldn't have been so bad, but they also didn't really know what exactly they were looking for. Gathering information was their goal, obviously, but it wasn't like they knew where to look, and trying to interrogate a fanatical cultist in the middle of their own base probably wasn't the best plan, so instead they settled for gathering evidence of whatever was in those crates, then they'd leave, and find Professors Arc-Schnee and Fuchsia. After all, while the situation was well and truly out of their league, two professional Huntsmen would have no problem dealing with this place.

Making their way deeper into the building, they eventually came across a small area within the depths of it where some of the crates had been staged. There had been some sort of commotion earlier that led them over, however, by the time they arrived, the area had been completely cleared, save for two guards overlooking the area, both armed with shotguns. The four stopped by a set of wooden crates just behind them, getting a better look, double checking that the two guards in front of them were the only ones present, and while that checked out, the puddle of drying blood by one of the crates they were going to be looking at on the far side of the room didn't bode well. Then, almost as if in response from their unease, a low growl came from under the tarp. Fortunately, they weren't the only ones who noticed the ominous sound either, as the guards both looked over towards the snarling crate. Using the opportunity, Elena motioned for Luna and Jet to keep watch and for Jin to follow her.

"It's growling again."

"That is its nature Sister, it is the divine destruction of its Goddess given shape."

"I know, but shouldn't it be calm after ear- ACKrlier?" By now, Jin and Elena had gotten close enough to act, Jin coming up behind the woman and throwing his arms around her neck and getting her into a chokehold, locking his arm around her windpipe like a vice. Meanwhile, Elena jumped onto the man's back, putting one hand over his mouth to silence him and the other over his eyes. The only further noises made from the pair were from them dropping their weapons as they both started to lose consciousness. Both Elena and Jin carefully lowered the pair to the ground as Jet and Luna came up from the back.

"So, what do you think the different masks are about?" Jin asked as he knelt down, trying to remove the Geist mask from the woman he'd choked out, but found it unmoving, as if it was bound to her very skull. He fiddled with it for a few more moments before giving up and turning to Jet who scratched his chin.

"If I had to guess, they probably symbolize rank, there's only a few with the Taijitu masks, so they're probably in charge of this place, but the Beowulf and Geist masks were pretty common, and the ones without masks are at the bottom."

"Wait, so why aren't there a bunch of guys in Creep masks? Aren't Geists actually really strong?" Elena questioned the theory, kicking the man she had knocked out. While there was no official consensus on what Grimm types were more dangerous given the myriad of factors that could influence a single Grimm encounter, especially when you got to the higher classes, any reasonable Huntsmen or Huntress could tell you that a Beowolf was not the same level of threat as a Geist.

"You're asking for logic from a group of people who probably think Grimm are divine messengers or something else just as stupid. If anything, they're probably going off how spooky they think the masks are." Conceding to Jet's point, Elena searched the man's pockets for anything useful.

"So… what's in the crate?"

"I… I think it's a Grimm." The timid voice of Luna spoke up, the growl that persisted from the container supporting the claim.

"Jet?" Rather than a verbal response, Jin was greeted by the subtle click of Jet pulling on Hephestus's slide to double-check that a round was already chambered. A bit more comfortable knowing his partner was ready to shoot should anything go wrong, he opened up the camera function of his Scroll and started to record as he lifted the tarp, and, as he expected, came face to face with a Grimm,. There, within the darkness, was an Alpha Beowolf with a bloody red maw that steadily dripped with a mixture of diluted blood and saliva. On instinct, Jin moved back to get out of range from the creature's claws and jaws, but the beast didn't react, staying stock still as it watched the boy with eyes like burning coals. Jet moved closer, his weapon still trained on the beast as it watched them, its infernal gaze moving between the two boys slowly.

"It looks like it's thinking." Jet muttered, keeping his aim steady, though a part of him worried that Hephestus wouldn't actually pierce through its thicker than usual armor plates. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, it turned back to him.

"About what?" Jin asked, his scroll still recording the creature.

"Probably the best way to eat us." Elena said as she got to her feet, coming up short from searching the man under her. Jin got a good angle on the beast as it watched, seeing nothing but purest malice in the glowing eyes that stared them down from under the tarp. He then recorded the others, presumably also carrying Grimm.

"Come on, that's everything we need." Jet said, his discomfort only growing as he looked at the Beowulf. Before anyone could answer, the sounds of quick and heavy footsteps alerted them to someone approaching, just as they turned the corner yelling.

"Intruders, Brothers Darius a-" The man stopped, his masked face obscuring his reaction to the knocked out cultists, but the way his head snapped up to them told them everything they needed to know about his state of mind. "I've found them!"

The robed man reached into the folds of his cloak to presumably open fire but before he could, Luna turned Cigarette Lighter on him, a laser shooting out and blasting him in the shoulder, burning away part of the robe he wore as well as several layers of skin. Now with a burning hole in his shoulder, he fell kicking and screaming to the ground as he clutched the scorched skin, the small girl wincing as she realized what she'd done, never having tested her weapon's laser function on bare skin, let alone on someone without Aura. But, even if he was the sort of person she'd apologize to for her actions, there was no time, the alarm had been sent out, and Jin had barely enough time to text the other team before they began to book it, already hearing the commotion of dozens of feet converging on their location.

As they rapidly began to escape, Jet stopped for just a moment, turning around and shooting the corner off of the Alpha's cage. If they wanted Grimm in the city so badly, then they'd have to deal with the consequences. And deal with it they did as the lupine monstrosity immediately sprung into action, bone claws tearing through the now compromised structure of the cage towards its captorsAfter taking the shot, he immediately turned back around and rejoined the group, and, while he didn't want to see the aftermath, he couldn't ignore the chorus of screams and twisted howls behind him. With a distraction in place, they then started to book it through the building, the steady caution that had gotten them as deep as they were completely thrown to the wind as they tried to retrace their steps as quickly as possible. It wasn't a difficult trip, but that wasn't to say it was without incident, Jin had to barrel through more than a few masked creeps as they ran and Luna ended up having to pistol whip a masked man as he popped out from the shadows to try and grab her.

Soon enough, they reached the exit, Jin not even bothering to open the door and instead shoulder bashing it open, taking the metal door right off of its hinges as they reached the outdoors. Unfortunately, they weren't out of the woods just yet, as they were still backing up the rear, Jet hearing footsteps sprinting just behind him. He turned around and went to open fire on their follower. but by the time his finger reached the trigger, Hephestus had been backhanded to the side and their assailant tackled him to the ground with the full force of their momentum. A hand grabbed him by the throat and slammed him down onto the concrete, causing his head to smack painfully against the pavement, and, before he knew what was happening, two piercing yellow eyes locked with his own as Lavender scowled down at him, pressing her thumb against his windpipe as a warning before looking up to the other three.

"So you're the ones causing trouble, huh?" Jin and Jet both recognized the Faunus immediately, and Luna and Elena were able to piece it together once they saw her stinger rest by his neck, a clear warning not to try anything. Jin and Luna both froze, unsure of how to separate the two without her giving him a direct dose of deadly venom. Meanwhile, Elena started to shake with rage as she laid eyes on Callows's daughter.

"This coming from the crazy bitch who attacked my friends?" Jet spat back, doing his best to hide how nervous he was, though he found it hard as her stinger lightly scraped against his neck with a small green flash, not hard enough to pierce his Aura just yet. Her dilated eyes narrowed as she looked down at him, tilting her head slightly before giggling.

"You mean Scarlet, don't you?" she asked in a sing-song voice, angering the boy she used as a seat even further, leaving him shaking angrily as he couldn't move a muscle in his current position.

"You!" Elena shouted, unable to contain her rage anymore. As Lavender looked up at her and tilted her head, Elena pressed a button on Poias, causing the string to retract and the compound bow to straighten out as it transformed into a dory-headed spear. She then ran the tip of the spear against her palm, coating it in neurotoxin before dropping into her stance. "Do you have any idea what your father did to my family!?"

"I- Who're you exactly?" The question wasn't asked out of malice, just genuine confusion, who was this girl? An enemy of the Goddess's Shadows? Maybe their families were rivals or something, but in the blissful haze of her mind, she didn't really care much about the answer. However, Elena had gotten her attention long enough for Luna to take aim and fire, Lavender barely moving her head out of the way of the beam that scorched the wall behind her in time.

With her opponent now off guard, Elena moved in first, her spear ready to run the girl through. Seeing that she had to move, Lavender jumped off of Jet and got in close, spinning on the ball of her foot as Elena thrust her spear, narrowly avoiding getting impaled and managing to grab Elena by the wrist. The Mistrali girl grew smug as she felt the hand on her skin, however, the feeling faded quickly as she looked down and saw an Aura construct in place of flesh, swiftly followed by a second arm forming and elbowing her right in the temple, causing her to stumble. Jin tried to move in and assist the girl, but was forced to duck as her stinger suddenly swung up at his head. Elena recovered just as this happened and grabbed Syrinx, which similarly mechashifted into a new form, her quiver quickly taking the shape of a kopis short sword that she now swung their attacker's way. Lavender, using the now ducking boy as a momentary platform, balanced herself on his back on her four hands as she reverse roundhouse kicked the redhead square in the jaw, before righting herself and kicking off the back of Jin's head to now move towards Luna. Before she got even a few feet, a spray of bullets hit her back as Jet mag dumped into her flank, boiling with rage. With her attention thoroughly drawn and the venom still pumping through her system she turned in the air, landed on all six of her limbs, and took off at a leaping gallop back to the boy, tail, raised, intending to finish what she had started, only for a sudden fist to the gut from Jin to knock the wind out of her, and a second uppercut to take her off of her feet. Hitting the ground with a thud, the scorpion Faunus rolled as she landed, narrowly avoiding Poias stabbing through her air where her face was milliseconds ago. Attacking relentlessly, Elena swung Syrinx, only for a bullet to hit her arm as a pair of red robed figures appeared on the scene, both aiming a set of rifles their way, followed by a white robed man wearing a King Taijitu mask. Lavender backed off, seeing as backup had arrived, just in time too as a heavy flash of pain and nausea struck her, clutching her head and groaning as she stepped back.

Sharing a momentary glance, Luna and Jet both turned their weapons onto the newcomers. Jet, aiming for center mass, shot the white robed figure square in the chest, only for a flash of magenta to protect him. The Huntsmen in training froze at that, realizing that these ones had Aura, and in no war was this the easy fight they had been expecting. In a panic, Jet summoned a flare gun into his other hand and aimed it straight up, pulling back the trigger and sending the bright signal into the air, hoping that the Huntsmen who were supposed to be keeping watch saw. Seeing the obvious S.O.S, the white robed man moved in immediately, now brandishing a pair of hooked swords that he swung down at Jet's head in a downwards arc. Seeing the attack, he tried moving to the side to dodge the strike, only for his opponent to suddenly retract the blade, the inner edge of the sword catching his shoulder and sinking into his flesh, pulling him into range of a second swing meant to decapitate him. Jet caught his wrist mid-swing and tried to twist the blade out of his hand, the pain and position making it difficult. Thankfully, Jin moved in, tanking the shots sent his way and delivering a devastating flying side kick that sent the man into the wall of the building.

Meanwhile, Luna and Elena turned their attention to the two still firing from the door, Luna setting Cigarette Lighter's charge as high as it would go and taking aim at the same time while Elena shifted Poias and Syrinx back into their bow and quiver state, knocking an arrow. But, before they fired, a soft shimmer of white flashed from the doorway they fired from and it was as if they'd just been spun a million miles an hour. Seeing straight, let alone actually aiming was out of the question, but they still let loose with their volley, missing horribly and only managing to put a scorch mark and half an arrow into the opposing wall. As they tried to reorient themselves, they could barely make out a figure in a pitch black robe with white hair approaching them, the five cultists converging behind her as the Huntsmen in training regrouped.

Looking out to the docks proper, Moon looked over the new arrivals. So, these were the heathens who had ruined their operation, hmm? She began to make a note of how she would make their deaths slow and painful, that is until she spotted a familiar face. Her blood red eyes widened as she stepped forward, and she found herself pulling down her hood to reveal her face, as well as her antenna, causing the younger moth Faunus to freeze in place.

"No- nononono not you… Please…" Luna's voice broke as she took a step back in silent horror. Moon, however, kept moving forwards, looking at her with a kind, reminiscent smile as she laid eyes on her daughter for the first time in a little over a decade.

"Luna, you've grown my dear." Her words, despite sounding warm, sent a new wave of fear throughout Luna with each syllable, Jin looking back and forth between Moon and Luna.

"That's your mom?" Still focused on her mother, she just nodded in response. Despite knowing Luna's mother was likely involved with this cult in some capacity, they hadn't expected to find her, let alone for her to be seemingly in charge of the operation.

"I thought- Dad said you were dead." It was the only thing she could force out of her lips, there was so much she'd thought she wanted to say. She wanted to ask why most of all, yet instead she just fell back on that truth, that she was supposed to be dead.

"I'm sure Lucius thought I was, I bet he hoped that was the case even." Moon said, her voice dripping with disgust as she spoke her ex-husband's name, reminded of the man who had taken her daughter from her, and turned the girl against her. Well, now she had a chance to fix that mistake. "I know he's filled your head with lies and deceit, so come over to me dear, let me show you the truth. Mommy's missed you."

As the woman reached out her hand towards Luna, Elena stepped in front of her partner, Poias and Syrinx shifting back into their close combat forms as she stood before her protectively, staring down Moon, who's blackened eyes narrowed.

"She's not going anywhere with you!" Seeing Luna's inaction at her offer, the smile and warmth was wiped off of her face in a moment.

"I won't ask you again, Luna." Luna winced upon being given the thinly veiled threat, but she didn't hesitate to answer this time, even if it hurt.

"M-m-mom, I-I can't." Moon sighed hearing her daughter's decision, looking down sadly before speaking in a dejected tone.

"Kill them all."

The order shocked the teens, even Lavender recoiled in disgust at the cold order to end the lives of her daughter and her friends, but the robed figures didn't so much as blink. The man in white suddenly dashed at Elena, who ran in to meet him as Jet and Luna traded shots with the ones in red, just trying to keep their attention away from the others. Jin, on the other hand, wasted no time closing in on Moon, taking a swing at the woman, who sidestepped, and in one motion, drew and cut him across the thigh with Sting, a pistol-gripped epee. Not letting the pain get to him, he turned to swing again, only for her Aura to shimmer white once more, causing him to stumble as the dizziness took hold again. A pair of thrusts then found their way into his chest and shoulder, his Aura stopping the blade from sinking deeper than an inch, but the pain lingered. Before he could recover, a second flash of her Semblance caused his stomach to do a flip, and it took all of his effort to remain standing until a sudden stab through his calf while he couldn't focus forced him to drop down to one knee.

Analyzing the battlefield, Moon smirked. Luna and Jet were in a stalemate with the gunners, and Elena was outpaced by the swordsmen, just doing what she could to defend herself. She rested the flat of her blade underneath Jin's chin, forcing him to look up at her. She somehow hadn't noticed before, but the boy was quite handsome, in fact, he was downright beautiful.

"You know, I've never killed a man quite like you." she said as she licked her lips. She'd savor sinking Sting into his throat, it would be delectable. Or, that was what she had planned until Luna tackled her, trying to knock them over, but failing as she underestimated her mother's strength. Moon reacted fast, swiftly kicking Jin in the chin before grabbing Luna and yanking her upwards by the wrist, forcing her to suddenly stand on her tiptoes. As Moon held up her hand, she started to thrash and struggle as Moon coldly raised Sting's blade level with her sternum.

"Mom! Please, no! I'm your daughter!" Luna screamed desperately. She clawed and even bashed Moon's hand with Cigarette Lighter as she clenched harder, making her cry out in pain as the woman's grip threatened to break the bones in her wrist. Her begging and pleading for her mother to release her attracted the unexpected attention of Lavender, knocking her out of her state of shock. Her blood ran cold as she saw a girl, crying out in pain as her own mother hurt her. It brought back painful and all too familiar memories, she herself had been in that situation once. She had just wanted to help, the man had hurt her, called her… it didn't matter. Neo would have rather stayed in her delusional torment than accept the help of her own daughter. Sadness was overtaken by rage, and she acted without thinking.

"Don't struggle my dear, it'll just make it hurt mo- Ah!" Three tails swung into Moon's side at once, releasing her grip on Luna and sending her flying, two of which had been Aura constructs while the middle-most tail was her real one. Lavender paused as she realized what she had done, looking at the girl clutching her wrist as it started to bruise, then to Moon,who quickly got to her feet. Lavender felt a lot of things in that moment, but regret wasn't one of them as she snarled.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" The disgust on Moon's face from her attack was clear, and as the rest of them fought, the two sized each other up. That had been cathartic, wiping the calm off of her face, and if it wasn't for the circumstances, she'd have happily joined in fighting Moon more, but the venom was wearing off, and she already knew she'd more than overstepped her bounds.

"She's a sinner, and even worse, an apostate. I'm doing her a favor." The cold answer broke Luna's heart as she shakily aimed Cigarette Lighter, fear controlling her actions. She didn't even know if she really could shoot her own mother, but her body did what it could to act defensively.

"There's no way the Goddess would want us to kill our own family members just because they think differently!" Lavender shouted, only to get a scowl in return.

"Know your role, child. I gave you an order, not a choice."

"I don't answer to you." She hadn't even considered listening, this woman was just like Azrael, so self absorbed and thinking their way was the only way forward. She was leaving, this had been a waste of time. How stupid could she have been to even think of entertaining her ideas!?

As the argument between Lavender and Moon unfolded, Elena stepped back to avoid a swipe from a cultist's hook sword, only to move right into the curved blade of his second one as he pulled her right off her feet. Landing with a thud, Elena was too stunned to react, and the man raised his blades to strike the killing blow. Jet went to cover her, his aim darting to the white robed man, but a bullet hit him right in the chest. Already weakened, the impact sent him reeling as he could feel his ribs already starting to bruise. Elena's life flashed before her eyes as she looked up, fear settling in as it seemed her life would be cut short. Then, a black spearsurging with light pink dust impaled him through the chest, pinning his lifeless body to the wall. From her spot a few feet away, Touko remembered the handcannon function of her weapon, having forgotten it in her panic and just chucked Carnation Lily at her student's attacker. Oh well, she could just chalk it up to a dramatic entrance.

"Aunt Touko, Jaune!" Jin called out with a smile, making Lavender stiffen up, seeing a wrathful Moon on one side and a man who had survived her Father, as well as a huntress who was his equal on the other. Needless to say, it was time to turn tail and run home before something happened to her. She shot one last look to Luna, who similarly looked up at her, silently thanking the girl, who scowled in response.

"Next time I come for Scarlet, be smart and stay the hell out of my way!" With that, she made her leave, running into the shadows and disappearing, leaving the two sides to battle. Moon immediately turned her attention to her daughter, and seeing her student in danger, Touko ran forward. Using her gloved hand, she reached out and called her spear back into her grasp alongside activating a mechanism in her legs, using the installed rockets to fly forward and quickly close the distance, locking weapons with Moon and sending her sliding backwards from the impact.

"Get back!" The professor shouted, not even looking away from her opponent. Luna acted on instinct and turned around to fire at the men in red, however, it was pointless, as Jaune had already disposed of them, his dense Aura allowing him to tank the shots, and using his sizeable sword, he effortlessly cut them down before turning to join Touko in fighting Moon.

Using the length advantage of her weapon, Touko kept the cultist at bay, and to the students, it looked like a dance of blades. Eachthrust of Carnation Lily was met with a parry or dodge from the cloaked duellist, yet Moon couldn't land a blow with Sting either, the Grimm Studies professor effortlessly raising and twirling the length of her spear to block incoming blows. The stalemate persisted as Jaune got closer, and, knowing she needed to switch things up, Moon activated her Semblance once more. Thanks to her cybernetic eyes filtering out the visual stimuli of her opponent's Semblance, Touko remained unaffected by the flashes. However, Jaune started to stumble, and in her worry she glanced back just long enough for Moon to thrust her epee forward, forcing her opponent to raise her left arm to stop the blade from piercing her chest. Sting effortlessly cut through her sleeve and, to her surprise, scraped against something hard and very much not flesh. In her confusion, Moon didn't react in time to the blast of the same pink hued Dust that powered her weapon, throwing her back and setting the rest of the sleeve on fire.

"This was my favorite coat, you bitch!" Touko snapped as she was forced to rip the sleeve off, revealing that her arm was composed of a very different material than the rest of her prosthetics, seemingly made of pure crystalline Dust. Moon got to her feet, scowling at the development as Jaune joined his friend. To make matters worse, a gray car pulled up behind the group, slamming right through the flimsy gate meant to keep intruders out and coming to a stop just a few feet away. From the vehicle, four girls piled out, making her numbers disadvantage even worse, however, there was only one girl in that group she cared about, her eyes widening as she laid eyes on her.

"Ah, the betrayer's spawn." Scarlet immediately went frigid as she heard the stranger speak, she didn't need to guess who they were talking about, but still, what the hell was with that title!?

"The fu- me!?" Rather than answer, Moon took a step back, her cloak shifting unnaturally before starting to unravel, revealing itself to be a set of pitch black leathery wings interspersed with patterns of white and red on their interior. For the students, confusion set in quickly, Faunus didn't just have two traits, and Luna definitely would have remembered her mother having two if she was just some rarity, but those were clearly moth wings emerging from her back. However, Touko and Jaune went stiff as they recognized the Grimm parasite grafted onto her spine for what it was. Moon wasn't concerned with them though, instead looking Luna in the eyes one last time, the girl frozen in horror at the monster her mother had become.

"If you're smart Luna, you'll rethink my offer. Otherwise, save me the effort and turn your toy on yourself." And with that, the woman took flight, her abyssal wings carrying her away into the night sky before Jaune or Touko could even attempt to shoot her down. Watching her mother leave, and with the sting of her parting words, Luna broke down, collapsing as she cried harder than she had ever cried in her life. Jin ignored the pain and got to his knees, pulling the girl into a hug as she shook, clutching him close. Elena moved in to comfort her partner as well, only stopping once she realized her skin was still covered in her neurotoxin, instead sighing as she looked to her Professors while SJJL and JWEL checked on their wounded.

"So… we can explain…"

The professors made their way deeper into the abandoned building, the remaining cultists having long since made their escape during the fight. Thankfully, their 'cargo' had been too volatile to be brought along and the Grimm were left behind, leaving Touko and Jaune with the simple, if tedious, task of cataloging and exterminating the creatures left behind before they escaped. One had already been taken care of, if the busted cage and dozens of shell casings on the floor was any indicator. It hadn't been a one sided bout though, the bodies and chunks of bloody flesh littering the ground was clear enough of that.

The evac they had called in for the students should have picked them up by now, not that they would have noticed given that they were focused on the task at hand. Still, their thoughts couldn't help but drift to the teens. None of their injuries were serious, mostly just dealing with wounded pride on the side of Elena and Jet, but that was normal, getting schooled by what looked like basic mooks was disheartening to say the least. As for the other two, Jin's stab wound had healed as soon as he could focus enough to raise his Aura back up, and Luna was a mess emotionally, clinging to whoever would hold her like a security blanket. Additionally, Elena had gone quiet, just muttering about how Callows had gotten away. They had debated punishing the teams, SJJL especially, as they had a history of infractions already, but they had been young once, and they had traveled across another continent after the Fall of Beacon, so they couldn't really say that what the teams had done was wrong without looking like complete hypocrites, just that they hadn't really thought the whole 'sneaking into a heavily guarded cultist base' part through. In the end, they let their students off with a warning, a reminder that they were still students, and a brief lecture about how an important part of staying alive as Huntsmen was knowing that the time to call for backup wasn't after they were already outmatched.

"So um… can I ask you something personal?" Touko asked as she pulled Carnation Lily from the chest of the fifth Ursa Minor she'd found. The ursine creatures, normally a cause for concern given that they were larger than a decently sized car and just as powerful, were completely helpless in their cages. Jaune looked over at his friend, noticing that she was quiet, which was normal to a point, but before now, she'd just been responding with one word answers at best, and she'd been significantly more moody than usual since they met up for the mission.

"Oh boy. Alright, shoot." He had a feeling he knew what, or more accurately who this was about when she started to rub her bicep where her Dust limb met skin before answering, soothing a chronic pain that seemed to flare up often, particularly when she was nervous. He couldn't remember exactly why it hurt, just that it was something about the Dust being connected to her heart that aggravated it.

"How do you talk to Weiss when you guys are fighting? Like when she's so mad, you think she doesn't want to talk to you?" Touko finally asked as she turned to the knight. Ah, relationship troubles, that he was all too familiar with. While he knew he had a healthy marriage, you just didn't spend over seventeen years of your life married to someone without getting on each other's nerves or fighting over something stupid at least a few times.

"Did something happen with Ruby?" he asked and the way the woman's cheeks went bright red confirmed that it indeed was. He chuckled, it wasn't like he was trying to tease his friend, it was just an amusing side effect. Really, he needed to know more to give her advice, that was, if he could.

"N-no…" The way Jaune crossed his arms at her with that disapproving stare made her sigh, and she let her back hit the wall of the empty container as she slid down it. Once she reached the floor, she ran her flesh and blood hand through her hair with a sigh. "I said something I didn't mean, I was just mad and… it doesn't matter, I just wanna make things right."

Jaune nodded, oh he'd been there, more times than he cared to admit. His upbringing was very different from Weiss's, most of the time he didn't even mean to offend her, he just accidentally said something benign that Weiss found unacceptable, but he had a feeling that wasn't the case with Touko.

"Well, Ruby and Weiss are two different people. Weiss typically means it when she tells me to sleep on the couch, Ruby probably wants you to climb into bed and cuddle her until she stops being mad."

"But I'm the one wh-" Before she could finish, he cut her off.

"Which of us are married again?" Touko opened her mouth to protest, then quickly closed it and pursed her lips, letting Jaune speak. "Look, if you want my advice on girls, I'll tell you the same thing I told Nicholas; just be you. Ruby likes you because you're you, so go make her happy by being you." Jaune didn't know it, but that was exactly what she needed to hear, as while ultimately rather simple, the reminder that Ruby did want her around helped calm her down enough to think clearly. In fact, now that she thought about it, that was probably the best thing she could do, she had messed up by saying that she wouldn't be there if things went wrong, so she needed to prove that she didn't mean it and be there regardless. Then she realized what Jaune had said, that he was giving her girl advice, and she quickly coughed and covered her face.

"I mean it's not like that…" Jaune knew her well enough to see right past the flimsy act. No, that wasn't it, she was just terrible at hiding it, both of those girls were, everyone in the office could see it. Hell, he was sure even most of the students knew it.

"Yeah, I'll let you get away with that in front of the rest of the staff, but we both know that's a lie." The familiar blush covered Touko's face and she looked away, mumbling under her breath before changing the subject.

"So uh, about that Lavender girl, did you hear what Luna said?" Jaune decided to acknowledge the change in subject, internally relieved that he didn't have to navigate a romantic minefield anymore.

"That she saved her?" It wasn't unheard of for an enemy to have a change of heart mid battle, but the way it had been described certainly made it feel like there was something more to it all, especially since she all but announced that she'd be making another attempt on Scarlet's life afterwards.

"Yeah, hard to believe." Touko said getting to her feet looking around to see if there were any caged Grimm they'd missed. "Well… okay, no, I can see it now actually."

"What do you mean?" The knight asked, unable to help himself in noticing that she seemed to know more about the girl than him, which was to say, she knew more than her name.

"Well, you know he- oh right… you don't." Her tone suddenly turned somber as she motioned for Jaune to follow her up the stairs to the office. "Let's just say that she didn't have a good upbringing to put it lightly."

Ah, that explained it, Jaune had been wondering what might bring about a change of heart from a clearly damaged girl, and while he had his answer, he wasn't pleased to know that it was the result of what was very likely abuse. It also reminded him of his brief talk with Ruby about the girl, how she might not be as bad as they expected and there could be some good in her heart. He had initially brushed the thought off at first, but after hearing of this and the fact that she wasn't so brainwashed as to stand by and do nothing while a woman attempted to murder her own daughter, it made Jaune rethink his stance.

"You know, when she told me about this spot, she mentioned something, that a girl as skilled as her could do a lot of good if steered in the right direction. I'm starting to think she might be onto something."

"Please tell me she's not roping you into the deal…" The confused look from Jaune informed her that he really had no idea what she was talking about, in fact, now that she thought about it, that was probably less a part of the deal, and more so wishful thinking on Ruby's part. "Uh… don't worry about it."

"You know, one of these days, you and Ruby need to stop leaving me in the dark." Jaune sighed. It wasn't the first time Touko had offhandedly mentioned some sort of arrangement between Ruby and an unknown party, the cyborg had even lamented how pissed she was over it while drunk a few times , but she had enough control not to actually name anyone or give any information aside from ranting to her friend.

"Are you suddenly a better liar?" The blond shook his head. "Do you want to go to jail?"

"No- wait, what!?"

Touko stifled a small chuckle, "Then you're better off not knowing, trust me." It wasn't that she didn't trust Jaune to blab on purpose, it was just as he had admitted, he was a terrible liar. They entered the port's office a moment later, the stench of death and blood hitting their noses the moment the door was cracked, and not a moment later, they spotted the mutilated corpse chained up. Jaune ran up to the body and started to pour his Aura into the body. He had to try, even if it looked pointless, if there was even a chance he could save them, he'd take it, but unfortunately, the man was already gone. As Jaune swore, Touko moved over to the desk, moving some hastily moved papers out of the way and revealing a map of Vacuo. Specific locations were marked on it in pen, such as Shade Academy, and an area labeled 'sanctuary' over the mark for Coquina. These guys were more spread out than she'd thought, probably larger too. But when she saw a photo stapled next to the capital city, her heart skipped a beat and her blood ran cold.

"Um, Jaune, I found something…" Hearing the fear in his friend's voice, he ran over, similarly spotting the map and growing fearful. The beginning of the Vytal Festival was just a couple of months away, and the tournament wouldn't be much longer afterwards. No, they weren't planning on trying it again, were they? The academies had learned since then, they simply wouldn't be able to pull off an attack on an active Festival, not with the combined forces of the Kingdoms keeping a close eye on the event after the last attack. Then his eyes fell to the photo that Touko was pointing at, and his reaction matched hers.

"Oh shit." the man muttered as he saw the picture. It was a bit faded, but he could clearly make out a blonde haired woman in her mid twenties, tanned from what looked like a lifetime of exposure to Vacuo's sun. There was a girl next to her who looked very similar, but the focus was clearly on the woman, as she'd been circled many times in red ink. It was worse than they had thought, the cult had found the Summer Maiden.