On a day which all of team MACE had believed would be a calm and peaceful day full of relaxation, the four girls found themselves facing their hardest battle. This one was for all the marbles. It was a war of guts and glory, passion and love and pride and joy. Today, after nearly completing three-fourths of their first year at Beacon, the day of reckoning has arrived.

Today was the academy's dance.

"No." Kagami said plainly with her arms crossed. She took a deep breath, shaking her head. "No. Just no."

"Awww, come on!" Kris threw her arms up, her gree eyes wide. "Today is like my day! I could make you look amazing!"

"No." Her leader repeated, narrowing her eyes.

Groaning, the red head grumbled and crosses her own arms. At the moment, her short hair was rolled up in curlers. She was wearing a bright red robe with snowflakes dancing across the soft fabric. "One night. You have to." Her eyes narrowed more.

"Like I said, no." She let her arms fall before sticking them in her pocket.

Finally, the young girl gave off a scream. "Well why not?!"

Kagami rolled her eyes, leaning up against the bookshelf in front of the window in their dorm room. "Because..." She let out a huff of air. "It's stupid."

"It's not stupiiid!" Kris groaned more, rubbing her face.

"Come on, Kagami." Cheyenne looked away from her reflection in the mirror and looked back at her leader. "It won't be that bad. Besides, it's every girls dream to go a dance and get dressed up like a princess." She smiled, looking back at the reflection before running a comb through her hair for the hundredth time. "I know I've always dreamed of it." Her eyes locked with her moon shaped neckalce before she sighed softly.

"Well not me." Kagami munbled, her head sinking down into her shoulders. "It just sounds so stupid. Dressing up and gathering in a room with a bunch of people. I would very much rather just stay here all night."

"You're such a anti-social loseeeeer!" Kris let out, throwing her arms up as she turned around. "The one night out of the whole year that I actually get the chance to put makeup on your pale skin and you refuse!"

Feeling the heat start to rise to her face, she shut her eyes and mumbled as quiet as a mouse. "I'm not dancing..."

"Then just get dressed up and go and chill by the punch bowl!" The red head's arms shot out.

Letting some of her jade hair fall around her face, she softly shook her head. "I don't want to get dressed up... and I don't want any of that sugar filled drink..."

"Come on, guys." Elise lifted her head up from her nails. She was currently painting them a dark woodland green. She looked back at her teammates. "Let her be. If she doesn't want to go, don't force her. We still have three years after this anyway. I mean, she would have fun if she went, but she doesn't want to."

"The we should make her!" Kris rapidly waved her arms around.

Sighing, Cheyenne set down her comb and looked back at the short girl. "Elise is right. If Kagami doesn't want to go, we shouldn't make her."

To that, the red head gave off a scream, pointing in Kagami's direction. "Well that's stupid! What's the point of friends if they don't make you do things! I want to dress her up! I bet she would look pretty!"

"You know," Elise sighed, looking back down at her nails. "Not everyone needs makeup too look pretty."

Cheyenne held her breath, waiting for a comment on how Kris had to wear makeup to look pretty, but sighed and smiled in relief when there wasn't any.

"I just don't want to go, alright?!" Kagami shot her head up, snapping at her team. Her jaw tensed as she glanced outside. "It sounds stupid."

As her voice shot through the air, it made the rest of the girls jump a bit. Cheyenne simply sighed, looking back in the mirror as she patted her hair down. Elise shook her head softly, going back to her nails. Kris though, had a different direction.

"That's not a valid reason!" The red head snapped back. She took a few steps, placing a finger on Kagami's chest. "It doesn't matter who you are or how you were raised, every girl wants to feel pretty! Dressing up and going to the dance is the best way!"

She would have went on more if it hadn't have been for a hand with a black fingerless cglove on it pushing her to the side. "Enough." Kagami grumbled. She was trying to hide the deep shade of red forming across her face. "I'm not going."

"But-!" Kris started hen stopped as the door to their dorm slammed shut. She groaned deeply, hands reaching up and rubbing her face. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. She grumbled deeply, turning on her heels and storming off to the bathroom. "This is ridiculous. Stupid... everything!"

Blinking softly, both Elise and Cheyenne looked at each other. There was a long moment of silence before they both sighed and nodded. It was clear without speaking on what was needed to happen. While Elise went off to find Kagami, Cheyenne would stay here to keep Kris calm. No words were exchanged but still, both girls knew exactly this.

Up above on the rooftop of the student dorms, Kagami was leaning against a wall. She watched as the sun slowly started to set, revealing small speckled stars popping up all across the sky. She sighed, glancing down at her book. She stared at it, its opened pages filled with writing. She took a deep breath, letting her shoulder sink down. It was theb she flinched, hearing a voice call out her name followed by the door opening.

"You know," Elise munbled, walking as she braided her hair. "I was almost positive you would be up here. It was either here or the cafeteria and since that place is clooosed..." She glanced down, smiling as her fingers danced strands of her hair around.

"What?" She looked up at her, tilting her head a bit. "I already said I wasn't going to go."

"Oh, I know." She sat down beside her. "I know you don't want to go. And I'm not here to change your mind. I just want to know why with an actual explanation."

Giving a long and heavy sigh, she let her jad hair fall around her face as she looked away. "I just don't want to."

With a smile, the brunet nudged her back. "Mama always said people say they don't want to do something when it's a personal reason." She smiled a bit more, seeing Kagami's face go a bit red.

"Shut up." She mumbled, her hands tightening around the edges of her book.

Seeing that would get her no where, Elise sighed and leaned over Kagami's shoulder once she finished braiding her brown hair. "Sooooo... can I read another?"

Kagami jerked a bit at that. She then blinked, looking over at Elise. "You... want go read more?"

"Well since you have it and it's opened." She smiled and shrugged. "Why not?"

She sighed softly, leaning back against the wall before she started to flip through the pages. "Alright, alright." She rolled her eyes. "Here. I'm sure you'll like this one." She stopped at a page, holding it out to Elise.

In an instant, the young farm girl snatched it away. Her eyes immediately started to scan over it. As she did, she couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.

There is something about an adventure, that I simply cannot refuse

The thrill, the excitement, the passion, it's all my refuge

With green trees so tall

The harshest winters and all

I am awaiting nature's call

This raging heart, this raging heart

Where do I even start?

Snow peak high or rock bottom low

Where should I even go?

Step by step with rifle in hand

I will travel all across this land

Sailing far and wide across the sea

Oh dear Oum, how great it'll be

This raging heart, this raging heart

It is ready to leave its mark

All across Remnant

In remembrance

So think again

When you say my story ends

"You... wrote a poem about me?" She couldn't help but chuckle softly as she looked over at her leader.

Kagami simply shrugged back. "Yeah. I mean... you're an interesting person. I have this thing where I can tell a lot about people just by watching them. It's kinda nice. Guess it comes from being born with magic." She rolled her eyes.

"Or you're just really observant." Elise smiled. "You seem to take in situations a lot faster than any of us. Maybe that's why Oz made you our leader."

She shrugged back, glancing up at the sky filled with more stars. "It's just a thing I do. I mean... I'm working on writing one for Kris. It's rather difficult. But I do have one for Cheyenne-"

"Can I read it?!" The brunet's face lit up with a smile as she interrupted her.

She sighed, reaching over and grabbing her book before she started to flip through the pages. "Sure, why not."

Watching the pages slow down, Elisee bounced a little as the book was handed back to her. "You're like a pure genius!" She muttered in a shout before her eyes locked on the black words on the page.

Born and raised in poverty

Because of my hereditary

Pushed aside, locked in a cage

While the rest of my kind rose in rage

And I refused to take the stage

I am no fighter

I just want to make the world better

No making others feel less than what their worth

Just a chance for greatness and rebirth

People in our world today

Deserve much more than what they are paid

I couldn't give that to my family back home

But that will not turn my heart to stone

I am going to give

And help all the damaged souls live

Brings heads above water

Let them breath a little softer

I, am going to break free

And show others they deserve to be happy

"You know," Elise mumbled, glancing up. "You're really good at this. I mean, it's realy amazing."

Kagami just shrugged, taking her book back. "It's just a way to calm my nerves. That's all."

"It's written beauty." The brunet mumbled back. "Where did you even learn to do that?"

She simply shrugged back again. "I just do it."

"Kinda like your magic?" She raised an eyebrow.

At that, Kagami sighed. "I suppose."

Elise internally winced. She was getting so close to calming her down and basically blew it. She was about to facepalm herself before it hit her. "Hold on," She raised an hand. "Since your eyes are like magic, doesn't that mean you have some type of other semblance?"

Blinking rapidly, she brushed her jade hair behind one ear and looked over at her. By the look on her face, it was clear she never thought of that. "I... suppose so?" It came off much more like a question than a statement.

"We should totally figure it out." The brunet softly punched Kagami's arm. "Think of how bad ass you would be if you could do more than swing your sword around in a battle."

Kagami smiled a bit at that, leaning back as she looked up at the sky which was completely covered in stars. "I guess we could discover it one day."

"Great." Elise leaned her head back, looking up at the broken moon. She gulped a bit, glancing over at Kagami before she looked back up. "Say," She took a deep breath. Hopefully she had calmed down enough. "Why don't you want to go to the dance?"

She let out a sigh, closing her book as she brought her knees up to her chest. "It's just... not my thing... Back on Vytal, there wasn't much for beauty. Really, it was never even thought of. Usually, unless the woman was getting married or showing off like my mom did all the time even though she said she wasn't, women never really did anything that made them stand out. Plus... putting a bunch of chemicals on your face sounds like an awful plan." She looked over at Elise, raising an eyebrow.

Those words had gone in one ear and out the other. Elise had only heard one simply sentence. "You lived... on Vytal...?" Her eyebrows slowly raised up. "I knew you said you grew up with Atlas oppression but... Vytal? Mama use to tell me stories of how peaceful that place was before Atlas wanted the valuable Dust underneath it. And how... cruel some of them could be."

Kagami blinked a few times before shaking her head. "You... weren't listening. Alright."

At that, the brunet snapped out of her faze. "Y-Yeah I was! Swear I was!" She shook her head a bit. "I totally was!"

"Oh yeah?" She raised an eyebrow, smiling as she brushed her jade hair back. "What did I say?"

There was a moment of silence before Elise quietly spoke up. "About... why... you don't wanna dance...?" She smiled innocently.

Kagami couldn't help but softly laugh as she looked back up at the sky. "Alright, close enough. Technically, you're not wrong."

"Sooooo, you'll go?" She smiled, nudging her a bit. She smiled a bit more before her world shattered and fell apart like glass at Kagami's response.

"No." The jade haired girl said, shutting her eyes. She then gave a soft sigh. "It's not your fault. I was just never raised to do anything like that. It all just seems worthless."

Elise sighed, sliding down the wall so she would be laying on the floor. "But don't you want to? Just deep down? Even with how you were raised and brought up, don't you want to have that feeling of being pretty?"

There was a silence, Kagami's face gaining a blush as she crossed her arms and looked away.

Smiling, the brunet sat up some. "You do? Don't you. But you feel like it's against your nature." In the distance, the clock tower started to ring nine o'clock at night. "Come on." She smiled, standing up. She held out her hand, smiling softly down at her leader. "I won't do anything you don't approve and I won't go crazy like Kris would. Just give it a chance. The dorm should be empty anyway since the dance is started. I'm sure I could, you know," She grinned from ear to ear. "I could spruce you up a bit in half an hour."

Kagami blinked once before bringing her foot up and kicking Elise to the side. "That was an awful joke!" She shouted, trying to hide her smile as she stood up.

Elise chuckled softly, rubbing the back of her head with shut eyes. "Totally worth it."

Inside the ball room, Cheyenne took a deep breath, biting her lip as she struggled to stand i her high heels. She then glanced over at Kris, raising an eyebrow. "Are you... sure this is a good dress for me?" She looked down at her long and silky light brown dress that went down to her ankles. Aside from a small flower made out of frabric and sewed in between the bottom of the v of her neck, there wasn't anything really fancy out eye popping about the outfit.

"It's perfect." Kris smiled. "I was debating for a while, but I cam to the conclusion that if your dress was too out there, it would take away from your eyes and Faunus heritage. I wasn't going to do that. It fits you perfectly."

"Alright." She nodded back slowly before looking over at her teammate. She then gave a nod to her. "You looked amazing too."

"I know I do." The red head gave off a smile. In her bright ruby red high heels, she was at least six inches taller and it made her feel great. Her dress was more of a long skirt that was as bright as her shoes and showed off her shoulders and the clevage she thought she had. Really, there wasn't much there. And to top it all off, her hair, rather than messy, was gently curling around her face which was just a little over done with makeup. Not that she cared.

"Wonder if Elise got Kagami to come." Cheyenne muttered, looking around before she started to wobble over to the punch bowl. "I hope she could."

"She better have." Kris grumbled, easily walking over next to her.

No sooner than the two did, the doors to the room opened.

"Come on," Elise mumbled with a grin as she pushed Kagami inside. "It'll be fine."

Taking a deep breath, the jade haired girl composed herself. She shifted around a bit, glancing down at herself. She was wearing a black skirt with green trimming around the bottom and a black sleeveless top with a collar. Around her neck and under that collar was a green tie. Where her skirt didn't cover her legs were black stockings and a pair of green gloves on her hands. But even though she allowed Elise to pull her hair back and make it look a little less messy, she still had her green and black tennis shoes on.

"I'm going, I'm going." She muttered, smiling over so slightly. She then shot her head back, eyes narrowing. "It's not like I see you in a dress."

"You're funny." Elise grinned, patting down her camouflage tuxedo with shotgun cufflinks and looked up. "You think I am going to wear a dress? I would rather sleep in Jelly Bean's stalls naked for a week."

Rolling her eyes, Kagami reached up with her left hand and grabbed her right arm. "You're insane." She mumbled. She then blinked, seeing a fiery young red head come bolting in their direction. "You're also a dead man." She muttered, looking back.

"Well." Elise blinked, seeing Kris' furious glare. "Not like I'm going to change." She pulled on the collar of her tux. "I look bad ass and she's not going to change that."

On the other side of the room, Cheyenne sighed softly and took a sip from her cup of punch. "Kris is going to kill her." She muttered before smiling, taking another sip. A thing like that may be annoying to other people, but for this team, it was a normal thing they all secretly couldn't live without.

As their innocence and joy filled the not, Nihilus gave a soft sigh while sitting across from his sister at a table. "You know, Thanaton, you can't have sex with every man you want to."

"Well why not?" She pouted, crossing her arns. "Some old men have really sexy-"

Suddenly, Nihilus was standing behind her with a mouth over her hand. "No. Don not. I said I don't care, but I don't need to know about it."

Chuckling, Thanaton reached up and pulled his hand down. "Come on Nilly. You promised me that you wouldn't use your semblance against me. Plus, it's not like the guy lives afterwards."

He sighed, shaking his head as he walked back over to his seat and sat down. "Just... don't give me the details."

Before she could say something else, the sound of heels entered the room. "Aquilus, Thanaton." Valentine's golden eyes pierced through the dakrness before her body became visible. "My daughter has informed me of some very promising information. You know of the little brats who keep interfering with us?"

"And who got Dion arrested." Thanaton pouted. "Now there is no one here to sleep with unless we want incest!"

"For the love of..." Nihilus reached up, rubbing his eyes with his hands. There were several dark bags under his eyes as he looked up. "Ignore her."

The pink haired woman shook her head, looking over at him. "I have a job for you. You alone."

He blinked a bit, raising an eyebrow. He didn't seem excited or confused at what she said. He looked indifferent. "And that is?"

"I want that girl with magic brought to me." Her eyes narrowed like daggers. "Her power hides within her eyes. If you are able to blindfold her, you should be fine. I want her brought back to me. Alive. Is that understood?"

"Clear as day." He mumbled, looking down at his katana.

"Awww," Thanaton chuckled a bit, leaning back in her seat. "Does the Princess of Darkness want a green toy to play with?" She started to grin like the devil. "I'd love to make her scream."

Valentine just nodded, looking back at Nihilus. "I am going to show these children what happens when you play with things you don't understand."

"Consider it down, Valentine." Nihilus gave a nod.

She nodded back, turning on her heels as she walked away. "I should really thank my daughter for this information."

As the clock struck eleven, Maya smiled while sitting next to her twin. The two were both watching the Varken brothers each dance with either Kagami, Kris or Elise.

"You know," Cheyenne smiled. "It's actually rather impressive those boys found tuxes that could fit them."

"Yep." Maya nodded back, watching her teammates dressed in black tuxedos dance around. She then glanced down at her long, pale white dress before looking up. "They were looking for them months ago. Apparently it's really hard to find a five extra large." Shs gave off a soft laugh.

Her sister did the same, leaning back in her chair as she looked up at the roof. "It's nice to have things like this, you know?" She looked over at her sister. "It reminds us we're still just children."

"Yeah, children." Maya looked down, staring at her feet. She knew very well how much the children she knew were about to get into. They didn't deserve to be in a war, but she didn't question it. "But since we are children anyway." She smiled and stood up, pulling Cheyenne with her to the dance floor. "We might as well live like it!"

"Whoa! WHOA!" Cheyenne stumbled, her heels making it impossible to walk, let alone dance. "I'm not dancing! Not in these things!"

"Too bad sis!" Maya smiled from ear to ear, pulling Cheyenne along to the music.