Author's Notes

This one was a hell of an undertaking for me. I hope you all enjoy!

Neve POV

The single quality that is common across every living being on this planet… is fear.

I don't remember where I heard that for the first time, I don't remember if I had ever actually heard it spoken, but it still filled my mind like the afterimage of an old dream. It never made much sense to me, at first, a simple statement that was a simple truth—every living creature felt fear.

I failed to understand what it actually meant. The depths which that simple phrase held. The fact that we are all vulnerable at some point in our lives, the fact that no matter how hard we try we might end up succumbing to fear. I had thought that I knew fear by now, but…

I had only seen the tip of an iceberg that went well under water. Beyond the light, and beyond me.

I was pulled subglacial, the water threatened to drown me, and the massive wave of swords threatened to end my everything. I poured as much aura as I could into my semblance, resulting in a deep freeze unlike anything else I had created before. Enough to coat the arena in sharp jagged spikes of ice, actual ice, not just the creeping cold I was used to harnessing, but so much more than that.

Penny shattered along with my worldview, as ingrained and indelible beliefs that I had taken for granted fell apart.

There are several assumptions that many people make without thinking about it, assumptions that are ingrained into your psyche from a young age and that, no matter how you might grow and change, they remain.

Until they don't.

Until the seemingly benevolent world takes without justification, and the seemingly benevolent people of this benevolent world turn their back on you. This is the assumption of the benevolent world.

The walls of ice prevented anyone from seeing me as I scrambled over to where Penny had been, and where now a simple black box made of metal that eluded my understanding sat. The shattered pieces that had once been Penny were in no way recognizable, but not all of her swords had been destroyed. Several remained, their strings cut. I grabbed two of them and ran, the words of a mad woman ringing out over the PA system, my mind too distraught to listen.

Some live their whole lives in peace, and to them, bad things only happened to bad people, and good things only happened to good people. If you didn't deserve it, in some way, then something bad wouldn't happen to you.

I ran through the tunnel I had entered from, my mind racing a million miles a minute and doing nothing but following the base and primal instinct whispering one simple word in my head: run. I pushed into the commercial area, and immediately I was standing atop a pool of blood, screams of the innocent pierced my senses like a knife through unprotected skin. Grimm ran rampant, their entry a mystery I didn't bother to try solving.

I ran past more corpses, striking down Grimm as they tried to engage me, but running ceaselessly all the same. Did the people who lay at my feet deserve to die? Did anyone here deserve to be put through this, to be killed because of the mistake of another? No, and that's why the assumption of the just world is nothing but a fallacy.

I heard the screams around me, but I didn't stop to help anyone. Why? Was my life worth so much more than theirs? I, who had just shattered a trusted friend like glass on a pavement? No, but I didn't care. My mind told me to keep running, and so I did.

Many people assume that they are just, they are right, that they are deserving. I felt that way, even if I wouldn't have said it directly. I felt that I was right about and deserving of a lot of things. My friends, my team…

But I wasn't, and I didn't. That's why, instead of staying and fighting, I jumped off the edge of the Colosseum.

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A Few Minutes Earlier

Orchid had been stuck in place as if she too had been frozen, staring in shock at the glaciers that had risen up from the ground and at where Penny had once been. Ruby had arrived and fallen to her knees, sobbing in shock and grief. Orchid patted Ruby on the back soothingly, but they didn't have time to mourn.

The sound of the Hard-Light barrier that protected the top of the Colosseum being collided with drew their attention, with Orchid saying, "Ruby, I miss her too, but… something's about to break through the roof, and you need to decide whether you're gonna run or fight, because just sitting here is going to get you killed." She hoped that she was making sense, she was trying her hardest to emulate what Neve would say, dearly wishing he was here all the while.

Ruby didn't seem to be motivated at all by Orchid's words, but the sound of Colosseum's barrier breaking grabbed her attention. A giant Nevermore flew down into the building, but before it could do anything, dozens of lockers flew in from the same ceiling it had just broken and crashed into it, lodging themselves in the creature and pinning it to the ground.

All of the students in the crowd jumped over the railing and ran to grab their weapons, while Orchid punched in her locker code and added another locker onto the Nevermore before she raced forward and grabbed Muse from it, feeling glad that she had decided to wear her Huntress gear today.

The Nevermore began to move, clearly not dead yet, but before anyone could move to dispatch it, they all heard Violet yell, "Make way!" They all stepped back as she jumped from the spectator's area and crashed on top of the Nevermore's head, cursing it and causing it to go limp as she laid casually back on top of its corpse. She shot a grin at Neon and said, "Told you I could crush Grimm."

Neon blinked a few times before grinning. "Guess so, huh? Damn thing is lucky to go out that way."

Violet just smirked before standing and going to grab her weapon from her locker, making her way over to where Ebony and Orchid were, Ebony having run to join her just a couple minutes ago. Orchid looked more worried as she looked around and asked, "Have any of you seen Neve?"

Most of the gathered students shook their heads, but one, Yatsuhashi Orchid thought he was called, said, "I think he went that way." He gestured to the entryway Neve had taken.

Orchid just grew more worried, because running was not something Neve had ever done before. "Okay, thanks." She looked at Violet and Ebony. "Guys, we need to find Neve, he might get hurt out there on his own, especially without Fimbulvetr…" What had been his weapon lay broken on the ground, covered partially in ice.

Ebony nodded in agreement. "He could still be in the Colosseum, if we act fast we might be able to stop him before he leaves." She tried to sound as even as she could, as monotone as she usually did, but hints of fear and worry were clear in her voice. Neve needed help, just as she had before.

Maybe more.

She looked at Requiem and whispered, "Ya voy, Nevado." ("I'm Coming, Snowfall.) before she, Violet, and Orchid left. The others would leave soon, as well, hurrying to try and save as many people as they could while seeing how bad the damage really was.

As the three girls ran out of the arena proper, they saw how horrible things had gotten so very quickly. The floor was slaked with blood, the bodies of the fallen an all too obvious source. While there were mercifully few dead that they could see, 'a few' was still too many.

There was no telling at the time how the Grimm had gotten into Amity, but it also wasn't a priority to figure that out. Rather, it was a priority to save who they could while going to look for Neve.

Grimm ran at them, Grimm fell. Violet and Ebony led the charge, while Orchid did what she could. In such close quarters, using Muse effectively was difficult, but she could still manipulate Dust and hum songs to get the effects of her semblance to help Ebony and Violet.

Eventually, they came to what had been a concessions area, but was now vacated of any civilians and was seemingly destroyed, as if an explosion had gone off right in the middle of it. There didn't seem to be any Grimm there either, at least, not yet. The three of them were prepared to move on, but then they heard sniffling from behind one of the counters.

The three of them hurried over it to find a boy sitting behind one of the concession stands, his legs held to his chest as he cried. He seemed to be about thirteen or fourteen, though which one none of the three could tell. He had fair skin and wore a simple black T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and some simple blue tennis shoes. His hair was midnight blue and had white stars across it, and as he opened his eyes to look at them, they saw that his irises were star-shaped as well.

Orchid was going to move to console him, but to her surprise, Ebony was the first one to do it. She knelt down next to him and placed one of her sickles at her hip. "What's wrong?" She asked, trying to sound soft, but her wavering voice made it clear that she was scared.

Either the teen didn't notice, or he didn't care. "I… I can't find my mom… I… my semblance, it…" He couldn't seem to elaborate, but the fact that he had a semblance at least made Ebony relax slightly, he had aura, and he could at least defend himself long enough to escape. Yet, the fear in his eyes was all too great, he wouldn't be running anywhere on his own.

"Hey…" Ebony placed her free hand on his shoulder. "You'll make it, I promise. We'll take you to the hanger, Atlas should have soldiers there… I think." She was emulating Neve now too, or trying to. He was her best reference point for how to calm someone down.

No matter how poorly she thought she was, something seemed to work. He took a deep and steady breath as the fear vanished from his eyes, as if stolen in the starry expanse his appearance encapsulated. Not even his voice portrayed his fear, "You're right. I'm… I'm thirteen, I can take care of myself for a little bit. I need to… I need to get somewhere safe." He looked at her, "Can you… take me there? To the hanger?"

Ebony nodded, standing and looking at the others, who nodded in silent agreement. The three of them then led the teen away, hurrying with him in tow towards the hanger. They did encounter some Grimm, but they were easy enough to dispatch, and slowly more civilians joined them. By the time they reached the hanger, they had a whole cadre of twenty people trailing them.

The girls were relieved to see that Ironwood and his soldiers were there, directing civilians to get onto ships to safety. He seemed surprised when he saw the three approaching with such a large cadre, but his surprise faded into a smile. "Girls, I'm glad to see you've saved so many people. We'll take it from here."

The civilians began to pile onto a Bullhead, but as the teen passed by Ebony, he said to her in a shaky yet determined whisper, "My name is… Orion. I'll… I'll repay you someday. I promise."

Before Ebony could even protest—she didn't need repayment—he left, onto the Bullhead. Ironwood looked at the girls and said, "You've got two options. I won't fault you if you want to get on this ship and head to safety as well, but… given what happened, and given who's missing, I think that's not really an option for you, is it?"

They all nodded, determination clear in their eyes. He smiled slightly and looked outside the hanger. "Leading away from that bay door, there's an ice slide that goes down to the festival grounds. I think that's your best lead right now."

They thanked him for the lead and ran off before Ironwood could offer to give them a flight down, jumping over the edge without so much as looking before they leapt.

There was a large ramp of ice, just as Ironwood had said, but only Ebony used it to slide down, her sickles digging into it to control how she fell. Violet, meanwhile, just enveloped herself in Yuvi before landing on the ground, cracking it slightly as she did. She then drew Suncutter and swung it at a Beowolf as it came for her, cutting it down with ease.

Orchid manipulated the wind as she had done before, the Dust in her guitar allowing her to glide down safely without worrying about her aura too much. She landed at the same time as Ebony did, with the latter girl jumping off the ramp at its peak and rolling as she hit the ground, standing back up none the worse for wear.

The festival grounds didn't look that different, at first, but with the fires and darkened atmosphere, along with the Grimm rampaging and the screams of desperate civilians, it turned what had been a place of joy into a living hell. A hell that Orchid was intent on getting out of alive and with everyone.

Orpheus might have failed to get his love out of Hades, but Orchid was all too willing to upstage a long-dead failure.

But they couldn't forget their duty to the people of Remnant.

So, the first thing they did was start running for the source of the screams, wherever they were. Civilians hiding in concession stands, in game stalls, in trees in at least one instance. Each of them were hiding from Grimm, and each one they gathered up to take with them while they looked for somewhere safe to leave them.

They were all scared, and so were the girls, but they needed to look tough. Violet clenched and unclenched her fists nervously as she looked around. They had made it to the campus proper, but the sight wasn't any better. It looked even more war-torn, with some walls collapsed and buildings in various states of ruin. The sound of battle raged around them, Huntsmen both in training and professional were all fighting, and stuck in the middle of it like the eye of the storm was them.

A Beowolf ran up to them, but Ebony dispatched it with a quick toss of Requiem in its boomerang form. They headed for the Bullhead port, figuring that if a base of operations was going to be set up somewhere, it would be there.

Violet felt a chill down her spine and a whisper in her mind from another her. Something was wrong. She heard someone shout not far away, "For the glory of the Dark Queen!"

Violet threw out her arms as a charcoal colored bubble shield expanded outward and shielded everyone just as an explosion rocked the ground beneath them, loud enough and strong enough to almost make Violet lose her footing. Before she could ask what happened, Ebony spoke with a voice mixing fury and fright, saying, "I-It's the Choir! Those… those bastards!"

Violet grimaced. "We need to get these people to safety before we do anything else!" She wanted to bash the skulls of some zealots, but the civilians were scared out of their mind and the red gore covering the ground outside the barrier wasn't inspiring confidence. She dropped the shield and the three girls hurried, taking the civilians to the Bullhead Port.

/-/

Neve's blood was ringing in his ears.

The only sounds he could make out were the stomping of his own feet, the heavy breathing from his chest, and the sound of explosions in the distance. He had seen some, but he kept running. He wasn't sure where he was even going, he just needed to get away.

He didn't know how long he had been running, but he only finally came to a stop when he heard a voice he had only heard a couple times before. Qrow Branwen shouted, "Kid! C'mere, I need…" He coughed, and Neve turned towards him and saw he was injured, nursing what looked to be a hurt leg and a bleeding chest. "I need you to do somethin' for me."

Neve ran up to him and knelt down. "Q-Qrow! Hold on, I'll patch you up! I-"

Qrow was already shaking his head. "I'll be fine kid, aura's a beautiful thing. If that bastard suicide bomber hadn't gotten the jump on me, I would have avoided him." He placed a hand on Neve's shoulder. "No, what I need you to do is go to Beacon Tower. There's an elevator, yeah? Go to the basement, it'll ask for a pass code. The code's 1-21-20-21-13-14. Put that in and go down there. Ozpin, he…" Qrow coughed again. "He's gonna need backup, to help protect her…" He winced in pain. "Now go! I'll buy you a drink when this is all over."

Neve just numbly nodded his head and took off, boots pounding against the cobblestone, as he muttered the code to himself over and over again.

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Far on the other side of Beacon, meanwhile, Orchid, Violet, and Ebony had dropped off the civilians at the Bullhead Port. As they had guessed, a sort of triage center was set up there, heavily guarded by Atlas' soldiers and a few of Beacon's teachers and students. They were offered to stay, but they declined—there was no way they were going to rest while Neve was somewhere else, possibly in danger. Probably in danger.

But they didn't go without opposition. As they headed deeper into Beacon, the stiffer the fighting became. They weren't the only people fighting Grimm, cultists, or the White Fang, but it was clear that nobody could help them but themselves out here. The only saving grace seemed to be that the three groups were only nominally cooperating. The three different groups (if the Grimm could be called a group) were fighting each other just as much as the Huntsmen and Huntresses of Beacon.

Ebony growled as she struck down a Choir member that had charged them with a simple tire iron after his bullets had run dry. Violet stomped on the ground and sent out a seismic wave that launched the two Grimm in front of her into the air, allowing her to shoot them out of the sky. Meanwhile, Orchid focused on playing any song or melody that came to mind, desperate to keep the beat going even as she had to duck, dodge, and retaliate against their opposition.

They fought their way further and further, inch by inch, until they eventually reached what seemed to be a calm in the storm. A few students were resting there, recovering from their own fights, and so the three girls opted to take a breather as well.

Nobody said anything, there was nothing to be said. The silence was deafening, and Orchid wasn't entirely sure why it felt so… uncomfortable to her. She mulled this over, racking her brain for the reason. Finally, it hit her.

The sound of battle had become so distant, one might think that they were somewhere else entirely. As if the battle on this side of the campus had decided to freeze in place for a few minutes.

Suddenly, she learned why.

Screams filled her ears, the bone chilling screams of the students they had been resting with, all three of them in equal amounts of agony. Orchid's gaze shot up, and her eyes widened as she saw what she did.

The students had all been pierced with… threads? Golden threads that stabbed into their bodies like they were knives going through butter. The three screamed in agony as they fought to try and pull them out, but suddenly their heads drooped as they seemingly lost consciousness.

Orchid, Violet, and Ebony had all scrambled to their feet by this point, their weapons held at the ready, but all of them froze as they heard… laughter? Malevolent and cruel, a clear baritone rang out as they saw someone approaching from behind the students, his head held low at first. "Oh my, my… are these humanity's defenders?" The three students jerked as they drew their weapons, a hammer, a sword, and a rifle.

The man came into view, standing taller than even Orchid, with his long black hair peppered with gray reaching his back, his yellow and black priest robes were stained with blood, and his face was concealed by a theater mask that covered his eyes with the symbol of his cult. He bowed forward as the three students jerkily did the same. "And you, my dear…" He grinned, teeth that were almost too clean on display as he looked at Ebony. "Are far far away from home. Did I not teach you better?"

Orchid and Violet looked at Ebony with alarm, as she gritted her teeth and looked down, her eyes covered by her hair as she growled. "You didn't teach me shit, besides how to be a wild fucking animal!"

Violet's gaze flicked between Ebony and Hastur as she asked, "Ebony, who is that? Is he…?"

Ebony looked up, her eyes filled with rage as she bared her teeth at the man and yelled

"HASTUR!"

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The sound of battle raged around him, as if he was in the middle of a warzone. Still, he kept focused on those numbers until he finally reached Beacon Tower.

He entered it and found that, while there were no Grimm, there were a couple members of the White Fang ransacking the lobby. They looked at him and charged, one raising a bat and the other raising a machete.

Neve didn't even give them any thought. He just crossed the swords in his hands and slashed outward as they drew nearer, cutting both down with a single swing of the potent blades. Penny's weapons were no normal swords, their sharpness and clean effectiveness was far beyond what any normally smithed sword could perform.

He ran past his fallen foes, entering the elevator and punching in the code, thankful for his good memory.

The elevator began to descend, and Neve found him at a point where he had to stand still and had nothing to occupy him. He paced the elevator, trying to keep his body moving and his mind off of what had happened and what was happening.

Finally, the elevator came to a stop, and he ran out of it and deeper into the giant basement.

The sound of ringing steel met his ears first, before he saw fire lighting up the whole room.

Ozpin was locked in a fight with… the woman who had asked Neve to the dance, Cinder Fall. He expertly dodged or parried her attacks, but Neve could see that he couldn't keep doing this forever. He raced faster, raising his swords, while Cinder remained focused on Ozpin.

She raised one of her swords and brought them down, but this time instead of Ozpin parrying it, it was Neve who knocked the blade away as he came to a stop between Ozpin and Cinder. Pyrrha was screaming in the background in pain, but Neve couldn't afford to look away from the woman who glowered at him with anger. "Professor! Qrow sent me, he's hurt but he'll be okay!"

Ozpin ran to Neve's side, holding his cane at the ready. "Good to see you, Mister Cadere." He wasn't happy to see a student here, risking his life for this when he should have been somewhere safe, but there wasn't time for arguing. "Together, then?"

Neve raised the swords in his hands and nodded. "Together." They both charged at Cinder, with Ozpin being fast enough to reach her first, striking at her with his cane while she blocked with her swords.

Her attempts to parry and dodge got more frantic once Neve joined the fray, a flurry of steel meeting steel as they rang out across the mostly empty basement. Both parties were able to get in glancing strikes, with Neve taking the most hits between him and Ozpin, but not focusing on any pain he felt. Cinder was taking plenty of hits,but with the amount of fire she was shooting out, Neve had to wonder how long she could handle this. Her aura had to run out eventually, right?

After a solid minute of back and forth, Cinder broke off and jumped back, trying to catch her breath. This coincided with the sound of whatever machine Pyrrha was in stopping its low humming. Ozpin glanced back, and Neve said, "Go and check on her! I'll be fine on my own for a little bit."

Ozpin looked like he wanted to tell Neve to go back, but something made him trust Neve's skill. He turned and ran back to go check on Pyrrha, while Neve began to pace left to right as Cinder caught her breath. She growled at him and said, "Wasn't enough to turn down the privilege to entertain me for an evening. You had to come here and intrude on my destiny as well. My rightful power!"

"I could tell you were nasty just from looking at you." Neve retaliated. "And it looks like I was right. Hot and cold, Cinder, they don't go together." He shook his head. "And the seasons aren't compatible either. You know what comes after Fall…?" He smirked as he lowered his stance and prepared to lunge forward, knowing well that he might not win this fight but refusing to be cowed.

"Winter."

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Hastur commanded his puppets with elegance unbefitting such an evil man as he commanded them to attack. The girls were in a conundrum—if they went all out, they might kill the students, but if they didn't, they might end up dead instead!

Ebony struggled the most with this conflict, deflecting an attack with Requiem from the sword-wielding student. Orchid and Violet weren't the kind of people to kill if there was a chance to take someone down non-lethally, but Ebony had never held such compunctions.

Her entire life was bathed in blood and violence, a trail of corpses that she created. This shouldn't bother her, she reasoned, and yet… she felt strangely uncertain about killing these people. It would be easy enough to cut them down, but… wasn't that exactly what Hastur wanted from her?

She couldn't give him what he wanted. Not again.

Instead, she deflected another attack from the same opponent, striking at their chest, tearing into their clothing and leaving a wound where Requiem had struck, before she jumped back as the rifle wielding student tried to shoot at her. She cursed the fact that her semblance couldn't do anything here—afraid or not, these students couldn't control their own actions.

Meanwhile, Violet was holding her own against the hammer-wielding student, Suncutter in its sword form as she dueled with them, ducking and dodging as they attacked, striking, swiping, and sending out Yuvi to deliver quick punches when she saw openings. Still, she couldn't focus entirely on herself, as the threads that Hastur manipulated struck at her, giving her something else to dodge. Even then, she couldn't dodge everything, a strike from the hammer wielder caused her to skid backwards and grimace, gritting her teeth.

Meanwhile, Orchid was trying to fight the rifle-wielder and Hastur both, although she found Hastur surprisingly adept at dodging, or using the students as his human shields against her attacks. This wasn't including Hastur's threads constantly trying to assail her, only being kept back by frantically played notes, so much so to the point that Orchid struggled to even come up with a song to play, for once in her life the little band in her head had nothing.

She growled as she ducked under another thread and rolled to the side as it came back to try and strike her back. She popped back up, and suddenly a song came to mind. Just one. A song she hadn't heard or even listened to in a long time, and she hated that it came to mind, but it was all she had. 'Fine, you get one.'

She skipped most of the song, skipping to the rock part as she began to play Path to Isolation.

The initial instrumental blasted forth, sound waves washed over the rifle wielder, who mindlessly held their ground as Orchid began to sing.

"The joy… That my heart used to know is eluding me!"

Ebony slashed wildly with her sickles, but she still tried to restrain herself somewhat, avoiding any place she knew would be lethal, but this didn't seem to be doing her any favors. These students didn't have their auras up, which meant that every strike could potentially be lethal. This came back to bite her when she swung too wide, leaving herself open to take a stab in her side by the longsword, her aura the only thing stopping it from being a worse injury than a bruise.

"Removed! And the one thing I feel is alone…"

Suncutter was knocked out of Violet's hands with the swing of a hammer, and in retaliation she simply swung a fist at her foe, and though she clocked them in the jaw, they didn't stagger or move away, their body too inexorably controlled by Hastur's strings.

"Smile's faded… And I'm spinning and sinking! I'm weakening! Frozen in solitude Loneliness chills to the bone…"

Orchid had to ignore the pain she felt when a thread grazed her arm, her aura was still in good shape, but that didn't lessen the pain as much as she would have wished it did. She shot out a bolt of lightning towards Hastur, and while it managed to knock him off his feet, it didn't stop the rifle wielder from landing a shot on her shoulder, causing her to gasp in pain.

"Memories escaping as my heart begins to drain! Scars that cover wounds can't hide the self-inflicted pain!"

Hastur got back to his feet and grinned as he guided strings towards Ebony, but she knew his moves better than he anticipated, able to dodge and bat away the threads that came at her. He growled angrily, but Ebony's focus on him meant that the sword wielder was able to get another strike in on her, making her yelp and stagger backward.

"Everything my mind wants, in conflict with my heart Fighting back surrender But every day I'm falling more apart~!"

Orchid sent out waves of water to try and slow down their enemies, but it seemed little more than an inconvenience at this point. Fear gripped her heart, she knew that this battle wasn't going their way.

The song ended as quickly as it had begun, with Orchid unable to string together the words she needed to sing in the face of this foe, and of the foe that had just arrived, roaring above them and flying overhead, not focused on them, but the Wyvern was only making her worry greater. Her body ached with the pain of the bullets that had only just been deflected by her aura.

Violet managed to kick the hammer wielder away, breathing heavily but not spent yet. Far from it. She raised her fists and prepared to engage again.

Ebony gripped her sickles tightly, eyes filled with fear and anger, she was endeavoring to hold back, but…. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to hold back for much longer. 'Neve…

Where are you?'

/-/

Ringing steel filled the silence in the basement as it had before, except this time it was a desperate fight between Neve and Cinder.

In the chaos of the duel, Cinder slashed with Midnight and created a wave of kinetic force that Neve dodged. A consequence of it, however, was that it slammed into a tube that was a part of the Aura Exchange machine. Ozpin got to work repairing it as quickly as he could, but that was still going to take a lot longer than Neve would have liked.

Until it was fixed, he was alone.

They fought closer to one of the walls, with Neve backpedaling and continuing to block her strikes until she thrust forward with one of her swords. Neve side-stepped and struck at her side, causing her to hiss in pain when it connected. She turned in place and slashed the butt of her sword against the side of his head, disorienting him for just a moment.

She tried to capitalize on this by bringing down her other sword, but he jumped back just in time to avoid it, a few strands of his hair floating down, the only casualty of that swing. She began to slash rapidly at him, creating waves of fire that flew towards him. He held his ground and turned on his semblance, cold enough that the fire simply ceased to be.

"Damn it!" Cinder yelled with all of the entitlement of a spoiled teenager. "Why are you still fighting me?! You won't take my power! It's mine, MINE!" She lunged forward and slashed in an X, catching Neve in the chest and causing him to gasp in pain as he stumbled back, his back connecting with the wall behind him.

He rolled out of the way just in time to avoid her sword, it coming down where his head had just been, getting stuck in the process. He uppercut with one of his blades, it colliding with her arm and causing her to growl in pain before the sword that had been stuck dissipated and she created a new one, bringing both blades to bare and colliding with Neve's, fiery amber glared hatefully into determined ice blue as Neve growled out, "You aren't owed shit. I dunno what you've gone through, but suffering isn't enough to earn anything you want!"

Their semblances raged against one another even as their swords longed, Cinder trying to create flames while Neve snuffed them out with freezing cold, their breath was visible as well.

Eventually they broke and jumped back from one another,

'Can't freeze her as long as she's using her damn semblance…' He scowled at her as the two of them, eyes locked on one another, stepped away from the wall and towards the middle of their impromptu arena again. 'Guess I need a different approach…'

He called out to her and said, "I've got friends who have suffered! I can see it in your eyes, you've suffered too, but instead of trying to overcome it, you gave in to it. Hate and spite, vengeance and rage, they're just gonna leave you dead in a ditch! You want power? Then earn it! You can't just be strong, you have to be smart! You're not earning shit by coming here and trying to bring down Beacon. I don't know what you want to get from this, but I know that you'll never have it!"

Cinder let out an angered battle cry as she raced forward, yelling, "Shut up! SHUT UP!" She began bringing her swords down in a furious and chaotic flurry of strikes, making Neve backpedal while blocking as many as he could and trying to retaliate when an opening presented itself. Though, increasingly, it became apparent that Cinder was trying her hardest to not give him those openings.

Neve found his back against a pillar, and continued to block attacks despite being unable to retreat. Finally, he managed to roll out of the way just as she struck the stone, leaving a deep gash in it. He struck her side and caused her to wince in pain before she retaliated by dropping low and stabbing one of his legs, causing him to stumble back and almost fall. Fortunately, he stopped himself just before he did.

Feeling her semblance faltering, even for the briefest second, Neve struck at one of her legs while Penny's sword was infused with his semblance. As he connected with her, her leg began frosting over, although the frosting ceased as she let out a burst of fire, hot enough to remain even in the face of his semblance.

This, however, had an unintended consequence.

The two semblances, mixing temperature, aura, and (little to Neve's knowledge at the time) magic, caused an explosion of ice and fire that sent both Neve and Cinder flying back in opposite directions. Both hit the ground, and both of their auras shimmered, dangerously close to breaking.

That didn't stop them, however. Instead both struggled to their feet while panting and trying to catch their breath. Cinder growled and let out another desperate battle cry as she ran towards Neve, while Neve himself gritted his teeth in frustration before running towards her as well.

The two collided in the middle once again, the clashing of swords and the flash of fire and ice illuminated even the darkest corners—antipodes, two that should have never met, exact opposites, raged in combat.

These strikes were no longer trained or honed, not from either side. They were desperate and thoughtless flurries meant to try and overwhelm the other. Yet, neither gave ground, and soon blood began to splatter on the ground, their previous owner lost in the madness.

Finally, Neve made a miscalculated swing—a swing that caused one of Penny's swords to break in two when met with Cinder's magical weaponry. As it did, a wave of fire emitted from Cinder's blade and struck Neve on the left side of his torso and head, causing him to shout in pain as he staggered backwards and covered the left side of his face.

Cinder looked ready to capitalize on this, but then she saw Ozpin running to assist him, and so she turned and ran, hurrying off while Ozpin stopped to check on Neve, asking, "Neve, are you alright?"

Neve shook his head. "No, but… that's not what's important." He lowered his hand from his face, and Ozpin was able to see the wounds he had gained. Burn scars climbed from his neck up to the left side of his face, leaving it discolored. Currently, the burns were red, but they wouldn't stay that way forever. "Is Pyrrha alright?" At Ozpin's nod, he sighed in relief and said, "...How do I look?"

"You've received some burn wounds." Ozpin stated simply. "I fear that these are not going to go away easily, if at all." He took out his Scroll and handed it to Neve so he could look at the camera, and when he did he grimaced as Ozpin said, "I'm sorry. If I had been better prepared, this wouldn't have happened."

Neve shook his head. "No, no… I made this choice." He had a torrent of emotions going through him, but there was nothing he could do to sort them out—not yet. "I have to go find my team. Is everything going to be okay down here?"

Ozpin nodded and looked back towards where Pyrrha was. "The process is complete, but… she's unconscious, I don't know how long it will last, this is uncharted territory, but… I can at least bring her somewhere secure, where Cinder can't find her. I know you have a lot of questions, Mr. Cadere, and I will answer what I can, just not right now. I would tell you to simply rest and recover, but you're not going to do that are you?"

Neve shook his head, causing Ozpin to look at his cane. "You're used to fighting with two weapons, are you not?" At Neve's nod, Ozpin held out the cane to him. "This won't break. Use it well, just make sure to have it returned to me when all of this is over. Don't worry about me, I'm going to be staying with Pyrrha to guard her, and I have more ways to fight than just this cane."

Neve's eyes widened in surprise at the offer, the broken blade was still in his hand. He sighed and slipped it into his satchel, what remained of it would stay with him. He then reached out and took hold of The Long Memory. "Thanks, Professor… I'll bring it back when all of this is over."

"Of course." Ozpin smiled. "Use it well, Neve." He turned away and started back towards where Pyrrha remained. "Now go, you're needed up there."

"Don't I know…" Neve muttered, staring at the cane in his hand, feeling its weight, then starting off towards the elevator, pulling his hood up to partially cover his face as he did so.

When he got in the elevator, he hit the button to take him to the ground floor and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily as he tried to gather his strength. His aura was gone, but he was still here. That was enough. He needed to make sure the others were safe—that they could get out of this hell together.

His vision blurred, his body begged for rest, but he would give it no such luxury. Instead, pushed off the wall and leaned on the cane in his hand, the weapon strangely familiar in a way he couldn't describe, but still very foreign. 'Need to hold on, need to hold on, need to hold on…' he repeated in his head.

Finally, the doors opened and he hurried out. He couldn't run very fast, his energy almost spent, but he needed to try and push forward regardless.

The sound of battle raged around him, but none seemed to give him any thought. He stumbled forward, injured and weak, the cane the main thing keeping him standing. He could feel blood rolling down his arm to his fingers, but there was nothing to do about it now.

He could hardly focus on anything else, and he couldn't tell how long he had been walking. It wasn't until he rounded a corner that his mind and body came to a screeching halt.

There were a few Huntsmen securing an area, nothing initially concerning, but what was clear to him was a familiar girl's sobbing—Serina, his sister. He saw someone's body on the ground, and as he numbly walked forward, too keenly aware of the ringing in his ears, and the numbness in his legs, and his mind desperately grasping at straws for reasons.

Maybe it was someone else.

Maybe it was just a friend of hers.

Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Maybe, maybe, maybe…

But his hopes burned like he had just a few minutes ago.

His mom lay there, bloodied and battered, but still clinging to life. A Beowolf laid further away, dead. He approached her, the sound of the cane gave him away as Serina looked up at him and spoke in a hoarse and heartbroken voice, "Neve…I-It's…"

Wordless at first, Neve dropped to his knees, and June's gaze shifted to him, her eyes glistened with tears. "Neve…" She whispered, voice weak, but even now she tried to be strong. She smiled weakly at him. "Y-You've been… busy, huh?"

"M-Mom…" Neve's voice broke with sadness as he held her hand as she held it out to him. "What…?" He couldn't think, his mind filled with nothing but this moment. "Wh-What…"

"Grimm…" She responded simply. "Tried to jump on Serina… was all I could do… to stop it." She shook her head. "Didn't see it coming… b-but, listen… Neve…" She whispered. "You'll be okay…"

"D-Don't say that." Neve shook his head, his voice weak and pleading. "Please… don't say that… You'll be okay… we'll go home after this, together." He didn't notice that tears had already started to fall. Serina remained silent, her eyes squeezed shut as she rested her head on June's shoulder.

"Listen…" June responded. "You're a big boy now, you've got…" she coughed, blood splattering on her lip, "you've got your friends, and… I know you'll make your father proud, Neve… you don't… you don't need me anymore. Serina… you'll keep an eye on her…"

He shook his head and held her hand, suddenly feeling like a small child again, clutching her hand nervously before his first day of school. "Mom, please… I'm not grown up… I can't do this… I can't… I n-need you…" How small and foolish he felt, a little boy playing at a man's game. "Please…"

"Y-Yes you are." June replied with ironclad certainty. "You're so much more grown than you think… you're talented, skilled, strong, so strong… such a talented leader… you'll… you'll keep the world safe."

He shook his head. "I…" He didn't want that, if it meant he would lose her, he didn't want that. "Please, hold on… I'll- I'll make your favorite meal when we're all home again. I promise. We'll watch all those old family videos you made, and… I'll never take you for granted again." He couldn't hold back the tears or how broken he felt from seeping into his voice.

"Keep smiling, kids… I'll be waiting on the other side…" June said softly. "Good…" she struggled to say what she wanted to, "good….night…"

It was all Neve could do to fake a smile for the briefest moment before she faded and her hand slipped out of his grasp. "Mom, please- M-Mom! MOM, PLEASE!" He heard Serina begging her too as they both held onto her tightly. "Please don't leave me…"

Yet, there was no stirring her from this final rest. He whispered brokenly, "Goodnight, Mom…" Then he took Serina's hand, catching her attention as he looked at her. "Serina… listen… go with these Huntsmen, we have to be strong." He tried to steel himself, but it was hard, so hard. "I'll come too, after I find my team."

Serina shook her head. "P-Please come with me. I don't want you… I don't want you t-to…" She couldn't finish her sentence, but the intent was there. She didn't want to be left truly alone.

"I won't." Neve spoke with fake confidence. "I'll come and find you after this is over. I promise." He looked at one of the Huntsmen who guarded them and said, "Take her somewhere safe. I gotta… I gotta find my team."

The Huntsman held clear sorrow in his eyes as he looked at Neve, but he nodded in understanding. "You're Neve, yeah? From the tournament? I think I saw your team heading that way." He pointed in a certain direction. "I don't know how far they've gone since then. Don't worry, we'll take care of your sister, and your mom."

Neve just nodded silently, smiling as Serina looked at him with a worried gaze. It tore him apart to need to leave her there in that moment, but he did. He didn't have a choice. Instead, he felt the burning anger in his heart. Anger at the world, anger at Grimm, anger at The Choir and the White Fang, a burning hatred for whoever was responsible for this.

His gaze darkened as he picked up The Long Memory and started to walk again.

/-/

The fight hadn't been going well for the other members of COVE.

Their decision to not use lethal force on the students had hampered their ability to fight greatly, and each had taken some serious blows. They still stood, their auras still held, but there was a sense of uncertainty among them on just how long they would last.

Yet, they kept fighting, because they had to hold out hope that they could overcome this. Orchid grimaced as she evaded more shots from the controlled rifle-wielder, Ebony and Violet had been fighting their own battles, and they found it was hard to bring down enemies who had no concept of exhaustion. They would keep going until they were broken, or until they got them to stop somehow.

One of Hastur's threads struck Orchid, causing her to slide back and grit her teeth. She heard the sound of her enemy's rifle go off, and braced to take the impact, closing her eyes as she did so.

But the shot never came. Instead, the sound of the bullet being knocked away filled her ears, steel ringing in her ears like the toll of a bell. She opened her eyes and they widened further as she took in the sight in front of her.

Neve had arrived, in his left hand The Long Memory, held outward to his left, indicating that it had been the thing that knocked the bullet away. His hood was up, and his coat billowed in the wind. The whole fight had paused for a brief moment, the silence broken as Orchid grinned and said, voice full of relief and tearful happiness, "Neve!"

He turned his head, his right eye looking at her and his left side obscured as he smiled. "Hey." He looked forward again, raising Penny's blade and The Long Memory. "Guess I got here just in time."

Hastur's expression was unreadable under the mask, but his smile was clearly visible. "Ah! A hero's dramatic entrance! How befitting of a finale such as this, it's unfortunate that it won't save you."

Neve pointedly ignored Hastur. "Ebony, these are auric threads, yeah?" Ebony nodded, her own eyes glistened with tears—Neve was safe, he was there, and she felt that now everything would work out. "Violet." He looked at her. "Yuvi."

Violet's eyes widened in surprise. "Holy shit, why didn't I think of that?" She rolled her shoulders as her aura flared up. "Guess that's why you're the leader!"

"Orchid." He looked back at her. "Play us out."

Orchid pushed past her torrent of emotions and nodded, grinning as she began to play a new song. I May Fall.

"There's a day when all hearts will be broken, when a shadow will cast out the light, and our eyes cry a million tears, help won't arrive…"

Violet acted immediately, sending out Yuvi, who pushed forward through the strings that held the hammer-wielder. As she did, the strings fell out of the student and Violet grinned while Hastur scowled.

"There's a day when all courage collapses! And our friends turn and leave us behind! Creatures of darkness will triumph! The sun won't rise~!"

Yuvi pushed forward, next into the sword wielder, causing him to fall as well, before she ran forward, the bullets that were shot at her simply getting stuck in her like they had been trapped in jello. She enveloped the final student in herself and caused the strings to fall before returning to Violet.

"When we've lost all hope! And succumb to fear! As the skies rain blood! And the end draws near!"

Orchid's music crashed into Hastur, who growled and pushed forward, sending out his strings to try and strike at each of them. The ones aimed at Orchid fell before her music, Violet simply used Yuvi to bat away the ones aimed at her, Ebony dodged them, and Neve? Neve knocked them away with the cane and sword.

"I MAY FALL! But not like this – it won't be by your hand! I may fall! Not this place, not today! I may fall! Bring it all – it's not enough to take me down! I may fall…"

Ebony shot forward, now that the students were no longer a factor, she allowed her anger to guide her forward. She swung wildly at Hastur, who used his strings to block and parry her attacks while stepping back. "Such an unconventional weapon! And so ineffective, it's no wonder why she died!"

"There's a place where we'll stand outnumbered! Where the wolves and the soulless will rise! In the time of our final moments, every dream dies…"

Violet and Neve ran forward as well, Violet moving to punch Hastur in the side while Neve swung the cane downward, cracking it against Hastur's head while Violet's punch sent him rolling to the side.

"There's a place where our shields will lay shattered! And the fear's all that's left in our hearts! Strength and our courage have run out, we fall apart!"

"You shut your mouth!" Ebony shouted at him. "You've got no right to talk about her! She saved me!" She ran towards him as he stood back up, slashing his chest with Requiem before he jumped backward.

"When we lose our faith, and forsake our friends! When the moon is gone, and we reach our end…"

Hastur laughed. "Please! You must have forgotten the truth!" He grinned wickedly. "You killed her! You were the blade to her heart, after all of the 'gifts' she gave you, you couldn't escape your true nature! The Herald to the end of the world!"

The music lulled for a moment as Ebony's eyes widened and a look of shock crossed her face. Yet, instead of collapsing in sadness and despair like Hastur had probably hoped, her eyes just burned with greater fury as she let out an animalistic roar before launching forward and beginning to attack him with a flurry of strikes, which he attempted to block and retaliate against with his strings.

"There's a moment that changes a life when, we do something that no one else can, and the path that we've taken will lead us. One final stand…"

Neve yelled, "Omniphobia!" He then raced forward, working with Ebony's blind rage by taking advantage of Hastur's occupation with her and swiping at his lower half, sweeping his legs and causing him to trip.

"There's a moment we make a decision, not to cower and crash to the ground! The moment we face our worst demons! Our courage found!"

Before he hit the ground, Violet raced over and kicked him hard, sending him into the air as Yuvi brought her her rifle, letting her unload several Dust rounds at him, all of which connected with him and caused explosions to ring out in the air.

"When we stand with friends, and we won't retreat! As we stare down death, then the taste is sweet!"

Orchid channeled Wind Dust to keep him in the air while the wind began cutting him, so sharp and so precise it was that it crashed against his aura and occasionally got through, causing him to grit his teeth in pain.

"I MAY FALL! But not like this – it won't be by your hand! I may fall~! Not this place, not today! I may fall! Bring it all – it's not enough to take me down!"

Ebony joined Requiem together and threw it at him, the wind carrying it up and speeding it on its journey before it crashed into him, cutting into his back before returning to Ebony.

"I MAY FALL!"

Neve used what strength he had left (along with the power of the wind Orchid was channeling) to jump up after Hastur, along with Violet and Ebony joining him. The three all raised above him, raising their weapons (or fists, in Violet's case) and bringing them down all at once just as the wind cut off, sending Hastur rocketing down.

"I MAY FALL!"

They all landed, with Neve grimacing as he felt the impact of the fall. There was smoke covering Hastur, and each of them waited to see if he was defeated or if he was going to keep fighting.

"I may fall~..."

Golden threads shot out abruptly from the smoke, piercing Neve and causing him to stagger backwards as the others could only watch in horror. Their hearts seized, and as he lowered his head, the three were prepared to free him.

Yet, as Hastur rose from the smoke and prepared to say something, Neve grabbed the threads and yanked them out of his body, searing pain shooting through him as he gritted his teeth, yet the look in his eyes was nothing but burning anger as he yelled, "Try again! I dare you!"

They didn't need to see Hastur's eyes to notice the shock that overran him. He looked around before growling. "This is just the beginning, fools!" He then bolted away while saying, "It's better if the protagonist struggles first anyway! This will make for a grander play!"

The four prepared to chase after him, but then Neve stumbled and leaned on the cane, his body covered in blood. "Neve!" All three girls yelled as they ran over to him, his head lowered. Orchid was standing behind him still as she asked, "Are you going to be okay? We should get you to the triage center!"

"I'm… fine…" he responded, "Violet… go to the top of Beacon Tower, then use… use you know what. Find Ruby if you can. If you two can use your powers… we might get out of this without any further casualties."

Violet hesitated and looked ready to protest leaving him, but she grimaced and nodded, running off. Neve then said, "Orchid, go ahead and make sure the path is clear." As much as Orchid didn't want to leave him there, she nodded and did as she was asked. He then looked at Ebony and gave her a hug. "I heard what he said, it's not your fault…"

Ebony didn't respond, though she leaned against him somewhat, his embrace a comfort to her. "We need to get out of here." Ebony responded, ignoring what he said as she pulled away and said, "Lean on me if you have to, we need to get to the triage center."

Neve knew that this was all going to catch up to her, but if she was trying to avoid it right now, he could respect that. "Alright." He responded simply. "Let's go."

Further ahead, Violet raced ahead as she looked for Ruby. She eventually found her, having just beaten an Atlesian Paladin that had turned on everyone. Violet called out, "Ruby!" Grabbing her attention and then saying, "No time for questions, just come with me! We can clear out these things!"

Ruby followed her without asking any questions, though a look of uncertainty was clearly written on her face.

As they ran, Violet led them to Beacon Tower. The tower was still (thankfully) in one piece, so they were able to take the elevator up. Ruby used this time to ask, "What are we going to do up here, Violet? How can we beat them from here?"

"L-Look." Violet rubbed her forehead. "I- There's something we can do, but I'm not sure how, so we're going to figure it out really fucking fast, okay?" This just added to Ruby's confusion, but she couldn't ask any more questions, as the elevator stopped at the top.

The two of them got out and ran forward just in time to spot the giant Wyvern out the window, all of their eyes widened as they saw the thing. It was all they could do to duck as it took off the top of the tower. "H-How are we going to beat that?!" Ruby exclaimed. "W-We have to do something! I-I just… I don't know what!"

Violet's own stress and fear was starting to catch up to her. "I-I don't- fucking! J-Just!"

Suddenly, they saw the Wyvern returning, flying right towards them. As the shock and the fear overwhelmed them, their eyes shot out massive waves of light, enough to cover the entire campus, and enough that the light reached many of the Grimm in the city itself.

For a moment, the night had been banished and the light brought on a temporary dawn.

The girls didn't see how the Wyvern turned to ash, nor were they able to take in just what they had done immediately after, as both of them lost consciousness.

In that moment, a strange sense of serenity washed over the campus, their human enemies, seeing the Grimm suddenly vanish, all began to run away, the students and teachers seized the opportunity to push back and converge on the Atlesian androids and mechs. Through the city and through the campus, their remaining enemies were destroyed.

This day, many died. Many more still had their lives forever altered in some inexorable fashion or another. This day, the fires of conflict brought forth the greatest and worst qualities of both Human and Faunus, and though there was much left to be done, both on that day and for many, many days to come, this day…

Beacon stands.

Author's Notes

That's that for 'Act 1' as it were, we'll be separating from canon more with the next few chapters (with canon returning every so often as the need arises). For now though, I hope you enjoyed! I'm gonna work on a few other stories for a bit, but I'll come back to this one after a bit of time. I hope to see you all on the other stories too! If not, then see you next time this story updates!