Hey, hey, people. Hope you all have been doing well since the last chapter. I've been doing ok for the most part.

Did attend my first ever anime convention, though. That was a real blast to see happen, especially with all the Honkai Star Rail cosplay too. Got me some cool merch like an Arknights artbook, some Honkai Star Rail pins and a bit more. Was pretty fun and wouldn't mind going to another convention in the future.

Though waiting out in line to get in sure wasn't too fun, ha ha.

Anyways, aside from that… yeah, to be honest, plotting out this chapter was pretty rough. As I swiftly discovered, while I had a very solid grasp of how to begin this fic as well as what I want to do for the middle and climax sections of it, how best to get to that point was something I'd blanked out on aside from a handful of certain details.

And among those details was Eva and a few other characters that I feel would be important in this first part of the fic. That much I was certain about. That, and how I would be implementing Eva was another thing I had planned out to an extent… it was just the stuff in between that had me scratching my head.

But I like to think I have it all figured out now, so here's to hoping it will be smooth sailing from here on out, barring some instances.

So without further ado, let's get onto the chapter!

P.S. Please consider buying any of my original novels! Universal links can be found on my profile page, just remove the spaces! Fading Darkness, Rising Light and the Infinite Genesis trilogy can be found for purchase on a variety of sites such as Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, the Apple store, and more!

P.P.S. Also added Salem as a character tag to this fic following the last chapter. Can't believe I forgot to do that the first time around given her own importance in my plans for Defining Purpose. Plus, I figured adding her would also help boost the attention for this fic too, lol.

Chapter 3 – Meetings and Greetings Pt. 2

Roman let out one hell of a sigh as he slinked his way over to Junior's in the very early hours of the morning. Normally, he'd still be asleep if he knew he was going to have a lazy day while on his 'busier' days, he'd be up and plotting out the next heist.

In this particular case, it was supposed to have been a lazy day, but late last night, those brats that Cinder had as her direct subordinates suddenly paid him a visit. Under the guise of two students playing hooky late at night, they'd been able to shimmy their way over to his most recent safehouse and in between moments of snark had told him the boss lady had a new order for him, one to be carried out posthaste.

For the tenth time or so, he pulled out his phone and glanced at the picture of the guy he was supposed to hunt down, some merc that had apparently caught the attention of the fire spewing bitch herself.

For what reason, he knew not – those kids hadn't been ordered to tell him that much… or maybe they were and they decided to be petty by not telling him – but Cinder wanted it done. Hence why he was now up and at it so early in the day. With the relative handful of help he still had from those damned Faunus of the White Fang, he was unable to personally dedicate any manpower to this task of tracking down this merc and he sure as hell wasn't about to send Neo on an errand like this, not when she had some other tasks to take care of.

Thus, he had no choice but to head over to Junior's for the big man's assistance. With his connections all throughout Vale, it should theoretically be a cinch for him and his goons to track down this unknown merc, who's caught Cinder's eyes as of a few days ago.

Slinking through a series of alleys, the thief kept a diligent eye on his surroundings. He's always been 'popular' since he began making a proper name for himself as a criminal here in Vale, but ever since he and Neo were coerced into Cinder's services, he's been getting a lot of media attention now… and in not the in way he ever would have wanted.

He loved sticking a finger to the world around him whenever he could and always had a blast whenever he did so, but taking an Atlesian Paladin out for a spin on the highway while a not insignificant portion of the Atlas military was here in Vale wasn't on his personal bingo card. While Vale could be hard on lawbreakers, it didn't hold a candle to the likes of Atlas which was much more militaristic obviously. And even if general Ironwood himself was playing nice to placate the council, it still wasn't something even Roman wished to test, especially not with the greater military presence throughout the kingdom.

It was only due to the sheer size of Vale and his own knowledge on how to not draw attention when not desired that he'd been able to make it this far without being caught. Even then, it made what had once been a quick trek into something thrice as long.

Finally, after what felt like forever, he reached the hidden side entrance to Junior's and after a series of sharp knocks and a password, he was allowed entry.

The inside of the club was a hell of a lot different during the day than it is during the night. It wasn't just the lack of music or special lighting either. It was just the feel of it all, kind of like a liminal space in a way due to the sheer lack of people around. Even with Junior's guy diligently working to keep the club clean and restocked for the night, it still just felt too different.

…It was something Roman could never really get used to, this surreal feeling between the reality he was most familiar with and this almost fantastical setting where the norm as he knew it was gone. Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone else, of course. Only Neo knew this part of him.

Didn't help either that all of Junior's goons, less than competent at anything other than tending to the club, were plodding around almost like zombies. Must have had a wild night or two if they were this tired, devoid of the usual idiotic banter they had with one another.

"Ladies," Roman uttered suavely to the twins, the Malachite sisters.

Normally, they'd give him some kind of greeting, typically in the form of a derisive 'hmph!' as if they were too good for him, though it was still a whole hell of a lot more preferable to Emerald's and Mercury's 'relationship' with him.

But this time, they scarcely even seemed to notice him, only just barely perking their heads up in his general direction from where they were hanging out by the DJ's spot.

Roman quirked an eyebrow at his less than stellar reception but just shrugged. Maybe they were tired or something, who knows. Not like he was actually their friend or anything.

So instead, he focused on the main man himself. Junior, aside from being the owner of the place, was also its bartender more often than not and that included actually maintaining the bar himself. Sure enough, the towering man was wiping down the bar counter with a practiced hand, only looking up when Roman got closer.

Junior grunted. "Well, if it isn't Vale's newest enemy number one." Even as he snarked, he kept on wiping away. "Was it at least fun to pilot Atlas' newest and meanest toy?"

"About as much fun as could be expected," Roman replied as he twirled Melodic Cudgel about. "A pity the paint job was so bland, really clashed with my personal style, you know?"

Junior rolled his eyes as he finished wiping down the current spot and put the rag aside beneath the bar for now. "Is that gonna become your official statement if or when Atlas gets its collective hands on you?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Roman retorted. "But that's beside the point though. I'm here on business, big guy."

"Figures," Junior said as he turned his back to Roman. It looked like he was now in the midst of preparing a drink of all things, which got the criminal to quirk yet another eyebrow. Junior was seemingly being quite accommodating this time around for some reason. "Let me guess, your 'boss' wants you to do something else equally dangerous?"

Roman huffed. "I sure as shit hope not. She wants me to find a certain someone – a merc of all people."

"Ah. So that's why you're here," Junior grumbled as he finished preparing the drink in record time, a Whiskey Smash of all things… though to Roman's experienced eyes, it had more than just whiskey in it – bourbon amongst a few other things. It was enough to make the man sneer at the drink briefly in disgust. Aside from it being an oddly poor mixture from Junior, the sheer amount of alcohol in it would probably knock out most people with a single gulp.

"Got it in one," Roman continued. "I'm a little too busy staying low to do this myself and I sure as hell am not about to rely on my newest circle of friends to find the guy. Your guys might be incompetent in a fight, but on the other hand, they sure as hell are a lot better at this kind of thing than my new crew."

Junior slid the completed drink down the bar, away from Roman, while still keeping his eyes completely on the thief. "And you're willing to pay the money for such a task on my part? You know mercs can be tough to track down depending on the circumstances."

"Come on, Junior, when have I ever not paid my dues?" Roman asked with a smirk.

Junior held his gaze for a few seconds longer before sighing. "Let me see a pic first. Maybe we've already encountered him."

Roman pulled out his burner phone and showed the picture of the man to Junior.

And the instant Junior even glanced at the photo…

"Yeah, we've seen him," he replied immediately. "He was just around here two days ago, actually."

Roman let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Looks like this new job of his would be swiftly completed. "Great to hear. So, you know where he might be right now or at least have a way of getting in contact with him?"

"Oh, I most unfortunately do," spoke someone new. "But before I kiss and tell, how about we have a nice little chat first?"

Every last hair on Roman's body went ramrod straight upon hearing that voice, much like how they once did when he'd first heard the song that would become his favorite even until this day. Except that feeling of nirvana, nay, euphoria, was on a whole other level this time around, making him do a full body shudder as he whipped his head around.

There at the end of the bar was a woman of immense beauty. Even though she was dressed in a fairly long-sleeved crop top that showed off her perfectly trim stomach and hip hugging pants, she wore them so perfectly that it made the various fashion pieces that models wore look like nothing in comparison.

And she was also drinking the heavily modified Whiskey Smash that Junior just made. She took a long gulp from it, the sounds her throat made causing Roman's own to go dry as said noises rocked him to his core. Only when she finished it did she finally turn to look at him, a charming smile on her face.

Roman had to put an immense effort into not gaping like a blushing preteen around their crush. It did help somewhat that he now was able to recognize the woman before him, her dark blue hair and lime green eyes now familiar to him, having seen her on plenty of movie posters and the news.

Eva Lambros, Vale's hottest damn actress around. Even when just on screen, be it in a movie or an interview or even just a fucking casual photo, she commanded everyone's attention.

And that type of charisma, that 'it' factor, was being directed at him right now, he realized.

Still, he had to stay strong, regain his composure. "W-Well-." Damn it, he stuttered. "This is quite a surprise. To think the kingdom's one and only Eva would admit to knowing a merc of all things. I guess he is good-looking enough to be a movie star in his own right. Is that how you may know him?"

A dumb comment to make, but the only one he could think of in the moment.

Eva chuckled, her voice more melodic than any bell or whistle he's ever heard. The sound was enough to steadily mess with his very senses, making him focus more and more on her as she shifted in her seat. God damn, she was a beauty, more so in the abundant flesh than even on screen.

"How terribly sweet of you to say that about him," she began. "But like I just said, if you really want me to kiss and tell about this man, you'll need to do the same."

Why the hell would she want to know that? It was a bit odd.

But eh, it wouldn't hurt that much to talk a bit, right? So long as he kept the details relatively sparse.

"Let's say I have an employer who's taken an interest in the guy," he began, putting on his own charming smile, cane in hand and all. "Now to what end does her interest lie, I can't say for sure, but your friend has sparked it nonetheless."

"Oh? Your employer?" Eva's eyes all but literally lit up. With drink in hand, she got up and moved closer to Roman's. His words had really grabbed her attention, it seemed. "And here I thought it was just a case of him falling in with a different crowd. But for your employer to be the one interested… tell me, does she have anything to do with Salem?"

Now that's something he hasn't heard before.

"Wouldn't be able to tell you, to be honest." Roman let out a sigh. "My employer is kind of a bitch that likes to keep things on a need-to-know basis… and I never needed to know, apparently."

It might be wrong of him to vent a little like this… but eh, it was only a little. And he was really liking having Eva's attention on him.

And holy hell, did he have her attention now. She sat down directly next to him and gently slid a hand of hers onto his own, the one that gripped Melodic Cudgel. "Need-to-know basis… I've been there myself. It's definitely never a fun position to be in," she muttered sympathetically. "But hey, don't worry, Roman. Tell more a little more about your employer and maybe I can help you break out from being under her thumb."

The husky quality her voice took on, along with the way her fingers smoothly traced circles on the back of his hand, got him swaying.

…Had he been much more alert, he might have noticed how eerily quiet the club now was, Junior having fallen silent the instant Eva had spoken to Roman.

Had Roman retained even a hint of his usual faculties, he might have noticed the way Junior and the twins and the rest of the men in the club now began to form a wide circle around the two of them, all eyes on a smiling Eva as Roman now talked and talked about Cinder and all the operations he'd undertaken for her.

But alas, Roman was currently too far gone to notice any of this, utterly enraptured by the manifestation of beauty known as Eva.

All that mattered to him was that her eyes – her attention – were focused on him.

And that he was focused on her.

Only her.

Ozpin silently and diligently tapped away at his keyboard, answering some inquiries from both councilmen and other VIPs alike regarding some other preparations to be made for the Vytal Festival. This is something that had comprised his day-to-day existence for the past two days and it was as mind-numbing as could be.

Alas, the war of subterfuge he's long since been engaged in was hardly full of action. Unlike in fiction, where things often occurred at a rapid pace, when it came to real life, it tended to be far less glamorous and pulse-pounding. New information that can be trusted and acted on can either spring up spontaneously or be gradually uncovered over the course of weeks, months, or even longer.

…It was times like this where he almost missed just how… simple life had once been. Now he was stuck in what could only amount to an eternal war against his former love, typically in the form of a cold war waged between his allies and her pawns.

And currently, he could only rely on his allies to carry on the work for the time being, his position as headmaster simply not allowing him the freedom of movement needed to look into things personally.

For what it was worth, however, he had been able to pass on word of recent events to Theodore and even to Qrow via a special receiver his scroll was installed with, allowing for extremely long-distance calls at certain times of the week. This was how he and Glynda had been able to hastily make preparations for the chamber that now served as Amber's recovery room before Qrow had even been able to get near Beacon back then. It was hardly the most perfect way of communicating at times, but it still served its purpose admirably enough.

In any case, however, Ozpin knew he shouldn't be expecting any new updates soon. Theodore had recently had to help quell civil unrest in Vacuo as a string of viruses had spontaneously erupted in batches throughout the land. Said viruses were ones that hadn't been seen for entire generations thanks to people gradually building immunity and developing antibiotics to further treat them. Somehow, a handful of these viruses, thankfully fairly minor, had sprung up after all this time, but minor or not, it was driving the usually hardened citizens of Vacuo up their collective wall. They had thought themselves long past these things, but evidently the viruses had managed to finally evolve enough to make up for lost time, having developed into new variants just different enough to bypass immunity.

As for Qrow, the man was still out doing recon elsewhere. For several months now, Qrow had been looking into Salem's lands as best as he could to scope out what she's been up to in addition to actively tracking down whatever agents Salem has under her thumb in this current era. In both cases, the man's efforts had borne some marginal fruit, enough to determine for a fact that Salem does have pawns running amok in Vale. There was also a strong likelihood that said pawns were the same ones responsible for Amber's dire situation, which certainly increased their threat level.

But other than that, Qrow has had little to report and now with Ozpin having tasked him with looking into any other rumors of new threats abound, the veteran huntsman was unlikely to have any other news to report soon barring a miracle.

And Ozpin sure could use a miracle right now. Maybe even two or three.

Finishing up his emails for the day, Ozpin got up and did a little stretch to loosen the joints. After that, he made his way out of his office and to the elevator, whereupon he opened up a secret panel and pressed the button upon it.

The elevator silently moved down, well below the ground floor. He remained silent the whole time, even as it dinged and he exited the elevator.

Walking forward for several minutes, he finally reached Amber.

"…" He made a sound that would be hard to describe in words alone, but his discontentment was evident nonetheless. "If only you could speak even just a little."

He placed a hand against the chamber that the comatose Fall Maiden was in, her normally light brown complexion looking worse than it ever had before. Was her almost deathly parlor merely a trick of the light, however? Or was it actually a sign that she was well and truly dying? Not even Ozpin, with all his experience could tell.

Still, he almost childishly wished Amber would awaken, even if only long enough to recount the battle she'd clearly been in and at least be able to sketch facial portraits of her attackers.

Alas, this wish was yet another in a long string of wishes that shall go unanswered. The gods had always been fickle like that.

He remained still for a moment, quietly praying for Amber's recovery… while also steeling himself for the inevitability that his side was ultimately down a Maiden and thus would need to be… replaced.

Ozpin hoped things wouldn't become that dire, but that was yet another thing that likely wouldn't go his way.

Sighing, he finally pulled away from the chamber and strode on over to a nearby corner of the room. Every now and then, he or Glynda would come down here. Sometimes to visit Amber and at least provide her some company even if she likely wasn't aware of it, other times just for their own peace of mind. As such, they've placed a table here along with a growing and changing selection of books and other knickknacks to keep themselves occupied.

Looks like Glynda had been here recently, for Ozpin discovered new reading material upon the table – fairy tales.

It would seem his deputy headmistress had been refreshing her memory on the various tales and legends Remnant had to offer.

He supposed he should do the same.

And look at that – a copy of The Girl Who Fell Through the World sitting atop the neat pile.

Pulling up a seat, the headmaster gently took the book for himself and opened it.

The tale was one long since burned into memory – of a girl named Alyx who one day suddenly fell through Remnant itself into an entirely different world, where the fantastical was the norm and the rules of reality differed immensely from here on Remnant – the Ever After. The young girl Alyx would stumble across the Hunter Mice, get trapped in vines and then fend off the terrifying creature known as the Jabberwalker. After making her escape, the dagger she carried on her would be stolen away by the Jinxy Peddler, forcing her to give up her happiest and saddest memory in order to get it back. She'd meet and defeat the Red King in a board game, meet the Curious Cat and Rusted Knight and gradually make her way towards a giant tree that was in the very center of the Ever After, braving all sorts of dangers big and small… before finally making it back home.

…It was a tale that nearly everyone knew in one form or another, Alyx's spunk and wits endearing her to most readers and listeners. The tale of her time in the Ever After, a mixing of terror and wonder in equal measure, is what made this particular fairy tale so enduringly popular.

…And it was worth noting that at some point before the Great War… Alyx had truly existed. Her brother, Lewis, had been the author of this tale. And though the author had not been forthcoming with any details about his sister… it was clear that The Girl Who Fell Through the World was written for a reason.

A way to honor his sister? Given the look of pain and other mixed emotions in his eyes, Lewis did seem like his tale was a way to at least mourn her, if nothing else…

…But once again recalling what Veratyr had said… perhaps…

"Could it all be real?" Ozpin whispered as he set the thin book down, having only read through a portion of it thus far.

Others would dismiss such a thought as pure idiocy and delusion. But Ozpin knew firsthand of magic and gods and the curse of eternity, suffered in two distinct forms by himself and Salem.

If the tale was in fact real… then could the threat Veratyr spoke of be referring to it somehow? The Ever After itself or something within it?

Ozpin thrummed his fingers against the table, mulling over this particular thought. The mercenary had made it seem like the threat was already here in some way, upon Remnant. If that is truly the case, then that led to two other possibilities. First, something from the Ever After had arrived in Remnant somehow. The second possibility was that something native to Remnant had some kind of connection to the Ever After.

A place of the surreal and illogical – a place of magic, for all intents and purposes.

And if that was the case…

Ozpin closed his eyes and lightly shook his head. His mind was whirling around like a tornado right now, his thoughts steadily becoming erratic as these possibilities now seemed much more likely all of a sudden.

It was one thing to entertain such possibilities. Beginning to so fervently believe these possibilities to be facts without any solid evidence to back them was a different matter.

…

Still, it was something he should attempt to keep in mind. Without starting to feel overwhelmed, of course. He already had enough on his plate to deal with. Adding more stress without knowing for sure if it was all true or not would only do himself more harm than anything else.

Getting up abruptly, Ozpin now felt it best to take his leave lest his mind wander down paths that it shouldn't just yet. But just to play it safe, he decided to take the book with him.

Perhaps he should run this by Glynda later. She's always been good at helping him sort his more out there thoughts.

Salem was used to long periods of time spent in utter boredom. Given her eternal life spent in isolation, it was to be expected. After all, for all her power, she couldn't just make anything she literally wanted to happen instantaneously. This war with Ozma would have long since been over if it were that easy.

More often than not, she had to rely on whatever goods and the like that her subordinates brought on their being whenever they came to her castle. Outside of that, all she could really do was scheme and have others carry out her will to achieve her goals.

Unfortunately, this war has long since become one of… of chess, more than anything else. She would make a move, and Ozma would respond in kind. He makes a move and she'd try to counter him. It's been like this for centuries, her power availing her little in the long run. For despite her magic and cursed immortality, she was ultimately one being that could be evaded given enough leeway and stalling efforts. Not even her control over the Grimm could change this much since it was really only restricted to those within a certain distance of her… and humanity has, frustratingly enough, become rather good at defending itself from the Grimm provided it wasn't a large enough horde and they had time to prepare.

Such was humanity's true strength – their sense of unity in times of true crisis. Being human herself, albeit immortal, it was something she was keenly aware of and knew that it'd be best to chip away at this strength before she can swoop in to claim victory.

Alas, this knowledge meant long periods of times spent doing nothing without a way to truly kill her nigh-perpetual boredom…

…However, it would seem like that was about to change.

Even from here, she could feel it – something was coming, heralded by the numerous Grimm roaring and howling and screeching throughout the land that her castle occupied.

To say such a reaction was unordinary would be downplaying it immensely – the Grimm were creatures of darkness and malice, created for no other reason than to bring about chaos and destruction. For them to feel anything other than hostility was something worthy of her attention.

And it seemed like the source of such an oddity was approaching her.

…

Tyrian was out on a mission to take down some huntsmen out in Mistral, ones sent out on falsified missions by her newest little puppet Leonardo. Those poor fools had no idea the headmaster of Haven Academy was sending them out to be ambushed by the crazed Faunus on her orders. Truly, Leonardo's fear of her was quite something.

Hazel was doing much of the same out in Vacuo, picking off any huntsmen and other combat worthy opponents at a slow and even haphazard pace. It was at a rate far, far slower than Tyrian's but in the long run, it would play out well once it came time to march her forces upon Vacuo's land.

And Cinder was enacting her own plans in Vale. Should all go well, Ozma's current reincarnation can be taken off the board for a while and leave the kingdom in shambles, allowing her plenty of time to conduct a thorough search for the Relic.

That meant only Watts was around to act as a greeter on her behalf.

…That didn't give her much confidence, but it was better than nothing.

Arthur Watts, if asked, would have declared anyone not of Salem's faction to be entering this land of evil to be a fool, utterly and hopelessly. And he'd have no trouble saying such a thing to that person's face, no matter what they may say or do.

And Salem knew this yet had called for him to act as a greeter for someone that was apparently making their way over to the castle of all places. Granted, he was the only subordinate of hers around.

Making his way outside of his lady's castle, Arthur maintained a stoic expression on his face and had his arms neatly folded behind his back. With the complete lack of technology out here aside from whatever he and his allies brought with them, his rings would be useless in their primary respect, though they still had Hard-Light Dust within them to make use of. And he carried his trusty revolver in case this guest proves… uppity.

As prepared as he'll ever get, he now stood at his post directly outside the castle gates and awaited whoever was coming this way… and in his wait, he bore witness to an admittedly eerie, nay, unnerving sight.

Grimm of all kinds surrounded the castle, from Beowulves and Ursas to Beringels, Crawlers and even a relative handful of Goliaths. Nevermores flocked throughout this wicked land ranging in size from ones scarcely bigger than his palm to the avian Grimm that were of comparable size to Goliaths.

And as the person approached, Arthur could only watch as the Grimm essentially had a freakout.

No, fits of terror more like.

Beowulves howled and fled out of sight, like dogs with their tails between their legs. Ursas did much the same. Beringels screeched and roared before beating a hasty retreat to higher ground and poked their heads out like frightened children. Crawlers ran off and showed no signs of stopping and even Goliaths, among the largest and mightiest of the Grimm, let out near deafening bellows before diverting their path away from whoever was coming.

Seeing all this, the normally confident, even arrogant, former member of Atlas's R&D department put him ill at ease. Before he even knew it, his heartbeat sped up, rapidly becoming erratic in rhythm.

Arthur Watts huffed and panted wildly, his advanced mind just scarcely able to recognize the fact that he was outright hyperventilating now… only for it to flat out blank as fear unlike anything he's ever felt now filled him completely.

What was he doing out here?

He was in great danger.

He had to run, as far away as he can, as fast as he can.

He had to do this now, before it was too-!

Just as abruptly as fear overtook him, it just as suddenly left him. Covered now in sweat from head to toe, the former scientist shook in place as the massive surge of adrenaline awkwardly wore off, leaving him physically and emotionally drained.

It wasn't until his knees painfully struck the ground that his mind was jolted from its previous state, now working a million miles a minute in a desperate attempt to understand what had just happened. He was so shaken that the sense of shame that would have otherwise filled him from being reduced to such a state was nowhere to be seen.

"U-Uhm!"

A voice suddenly called awkwardly.

Even so, Arther knew it – the voice belonged to the one responsible for whatever had happened, was the one to make the Grimm respond the way they had… along with himself now.

No wonder those beasts had fled so readily – even just hearing that voice, shy as it was, had caused his hands to ball into tight fists and the rest of his body to freeze as if he were now awaiting death.

Except such a fate or any other type of horror befell him.

"A-Are you…? U-Uhm, no, sorry, that was dumb of me to ask…" the voice, clearly that of a young woman, murmured.

With a herculean amount of effort, Arthur forced himself to stand up to his full height as much as possible. Even then, this took nearly a whole minute for him to do and almost half a minute longer to finally raise his head and look at the new arrival.

As the voice clearly indicated, it was a young woman, around Cinder's age give or take a year. She stood at a height comparable to his own and possessed a clearly trained physique that her almost fully covering outfit still managed to highlight. Said 'outfit' consisted of a catsuit, the tight material black in color while the various straps all over the body were either blue, purple or silver in color. Over the catsuit, the young woman wore what appeared to be a military jacket of all things… and an Atlas one at that too, the pure white of it heavily contrasting with the rest of her appearance as it was draped over her shoulders and fell down to just past her waistline.

Her face had all the features of an almost classical beauty from the more northern parts of Atlas as well, young and sharp, which should normally give off the image of her perpetually glaring, but instead her features were warped in shyness and concern, almost ingenue-like. Her hair, nearly as white as Salem's, was extremely long, going down past her waist, even just past the length of the jacket, and with several braids of varying thickness amongst it all. Some strands of hair also appeared to be either blue or purple as well, but whether it was dyed or somehow natural was unknown.

…There also appeared to be several things directly behind her, but her torso, jacket, and fluttering hair obscured the objects too much for him to be able to discern what they were.

"…Who are you?" Arthur asked, finally regaining some semblance of his normal self. "And for what reason have you come here?"

The young woman, who'd been fidgeting this whole time as he'd taken her measure, seemed to perk. "Ah, yes! I'm Alisa. I-It's nice to meet you!"

She bowed – bowed – to him in greeting, doing so with such speed that it almost gave him whiplash. Hell, this entire encounter so far was already doing just that.

The woman – Alisa – remained in that pose for a few seconds. Then a few more seconds.

Arthur coughed.

The young woman immediately stood at attention like a soldier. "A-Apologies!" She began, almost quaking.

"…Your reason for coming…?" This situation, which had started out odd, then became terrifying and now just surreal, was leaving him unable to truly respond as he normally would.

"Right, yes, that," Alisa mumbled. "…Uh…" She began to pat herself down while trying to maintain eye contact with him.

She was failing.

Arthur stared.

Alisa blushed, embarrassed.

"I swear I'm not dumb, I'm just panicking," she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"Noted." Some of his sarcasm was finally coming back to him… though he tightly gripped his revolver behind his back subtly.

"O-Oh, no, wait! No need to go for the gun!" Alisa cried out, startling him. Despite her horribly introverted demeanor, it would seem she had a very keen eye indeed to go along with that combat trained physique of hers. "Ah, there it is!"

She now beamed as she pulled out… a neatly folded paper. Alisa then delicately opened it… and began to read from it.

This woman had written up a damned speech to give.

Clearing her throat, she spoke as clearly as she could. "On behalf of our group, Cradle, I would like to formally greet the great Salem, formerly of the Tower and the original world. It is with great pleasure that I, Alisa," She paused slightly to gesture towards herself. "Come here to your abode, the land of ancient divinity Evernight, with the intention of providing information that should be of great interest to you. Additionally, and should you allow it, I will also be assisting you and your agents in achieving that which you so desire. Doing so will be immensely beneficial to both of us. I hope for a positive response!"

Finishing her speech, she folded the paper up again and tucked it away in some side pocket of her jacket before bowing yet again.

Arthur could only stare, too off-kilter from this entire situation to have any particular thoughts on it just yet.

Except for one.

"What."

And another chapter completed.

If it seems like somehow events are moving rather quickly all of a sudden, I assure that this isn't the case. At least, not exactly. There's still plenty more build up to be done before fans start getting hit and I really go off the rails from canon, perhaps even more so than in my previous RWBY fics.

With that said, I do believe I've already revealed more than enough info for you guys to sus out certain details that will be more explicitly revealed later in the story. Even if you do figure it out, however, these details were hardly meant to be kept too much of a secret… and that's because the other things I have in store will be (hopefully) much more surprising and overall impactful to the narrative, ha ha.

Trust me, whatever you might figure out from this chapter is only the tip of the iceberg I've made for this fic. Now to just make sure I can unveil the entirety of the iceberg properly in the future.

Until next time, everyone. Take care.