Tinted Glasses

The odd shudder rocked the tunnel occasionally. One of the trucks spluttered and died as it ran out of fuel nearly an hour ago. The air still clogged up with ash, however nowhere near as badly as in the caverns. Though the heat continued to rise at a steady pace as wind blew down the tunnel, the entrance behind them glowing a hateful orange that silhouetted the odd Grimm that trailed at a distance.

Celestine let her blade light the area around her, including the Drukhari, Lelith, who had not left her side. And there was no doubt in her mind that the woman was once one of those wretched Xenos; the armour, or lack thereof, and its design was enough evidence. Not to mention the strange grey-ish tone of the woman's skin. Not even one of the Aeldari's beloved Soulstones could be found.

My problem now.

She held back a groan. Babysitting an Aeldari at a Custodian's… orders? She assumed they were. Great.

Then again, if the Drukhari was to be believed, Lelith was in league with Yvraine. That had to hold for something, right? But it was still an 'if'.

"What is the Golden Mon'keigh?"

Celestine jerked her mind to the smooth voice of Lelith, "why do you wish to know?"

The Drukhari side-eyed Celestine, "I know of your Militarum, Mechanicus, Astartes and Inquisition, yet the Golden one and the Sororita are… different. What is it?"

The Saint blinked, as a debate ran through her; she doesn't know of the Custodes or the Silent Sisterhood, that is an upper hand over her that should be held. But she already has visual confirmation of their existence less than fifty metres away...

"Custodes, yet even we know little of them,"

The Drukhari remained silent for a beat, "ancient."

Celestine cocked her head, "what?"

"It is ancient, Mon'keigh,"

Her brows furrowed in confusion, "and so am I by His will, your point?"

Even as the last words left her mouth, the primers from the Schola about how illogical and incomprehensible an Aeldari's mind is floated around.

"You are old. I am older." Lelith's hands ran through a small amount of hair as another adjusted her leather top if it could even be considered a top, "That… Custodes? Even more so."

Celestine snorted, "and you know this how?"

Lelith faced her, her purple eyes seemingly glowing like a distant galaxy, "instinct and experience."

The Saint rolled her eyes, "Yes, because I will openly trust a Xeno who undoubtedly slaughtered hundreds for a twisted sense of fun."

"Lies. It's billions and for… survival."

Her grip on the Ardent Blade's hilt tightened, "you think admitting that will keep you alive?"

This time it was Lelith who snorted, and Celestine felt bile rise at how human it sounded, "I don't expect it to, Mon'keigh. You couldn't kill me if you tried. I want off this world and blatant lies will prevent that."

Celestine rolled her shoulders and relaxed her hand while it was still on the hilt. If she were to die, the Custodian would have ended her already, "I gave you my name, use it."

The Drukhari tilted her head, "Ah yes, Celestine, was it not?" the name rolled effortlessly off her tongue.

"Saint, switch places with the Professors and send them up! Take the Drukhari with you!" both faced the front of the small convoy where the golden tower of a Custodian marched,

As the Saint started towards the rear of the convoy, she motioned for Lelith to follow, earning purple eyes to roll, "yes, that is my name, please use it."

Lelith stayed silent for a moment, "Very well, so long as you use mine,"

Celestine weighed it in her mind then nodded, "fine. I also suggest using the Inquisitor's title,"

The Saint watched as Lelith stretched her neck with a tiny, malicious smile, "I could."

"You will, for your sake,"

Lelith snorted, "If that is an attempt to scare me, try harder."

Celestine ignored the comment; the woman would learn soon enough that Greyfax is far less forgiving or even tolerant of Xenos. If they couldn't aid the Imperium in forwarding its survival at minimum, they were not worth the space they live in.

The duo maneuvered past a group of Atleasian soldiers and some rubble, the pristine white armour of the soldiers long since sullied to an ash-covered black set, one or two of them walked with a slight limp. The convoy of trucks moved at a walking pace, their headlights providing one of the few sources of light outside of flashlights and the Ardent Blade.

One could technically count the inferno behind them as another light source.

Whatever clothes or cloth could be found, whether it was torn clothes or rags, was handed to the prisoners while what medics were with the squads performed their duties.

That didn't prevent misery permeating through the air drawing the odd Beowulf or two-legged Grimm out from the shadows.

"Move to the front, the Lord Custodian requests your presence," Celestine relayed to the Beacon professors once they came into sight,

Qrow glanced behind him as a roar echoed from the dark depths, "You know the big guy has a name? Kotek? Something about watching a throne..."

"One of the few who watch over Him," she uttered to herself in awe then spoke up, "Lord Kotek requests both of you, now go,"

"Amazing, the Mon'keigh watches a corpse for a living," came Lelith's sarcastic comment,

"And yet he holds more importance than your pitiful existence ever will," Celestine fired back venomously,

"I do not need a Mon'keigh's validation on my existence; I and I alone control it, not a Lesser Warp God nor one the Aeldari birthed," Lelith responded in an almost bored tone, yet sounded… she couldn't tell, the tone sat level while holding a wave of anger within,

"Watch your tongue, Drukhari; an insult to myself I can tolerate, to the Emperor I will not,"

Lelith dropped her head mockingly as she faced the Saint, her tone just as taunting, "I'm terrified,"

Celestine grit her teeth, her expression stony even as Lelith turned her attention to the Hunters, now bored with mocking Celestine. Eldar, mind-numbingly as simple as they are complex.

The blonde glanced at the Aeldari up and down, "and you are?"

Lelith took gentle steps towards her, ensuring her hips swayed. A frown plastered itself on Celestine's face as Lelith lent forward toward the blonde Hunter, and while she was handed an eyeful of Lelith from behind, the confused look from both Hunters at the Aeldari was all she needed to know what the woman was doing.

Celestine brandished the Ardent Blade, the flames casting an orange glow over Lelith's skin, "Take a step back or you will not have a body left to flaunt,"

The Drukhari straightened faster than Celestine could blink and rounded on her with a snarl morphing her features from the natural, refined beauty to reveal a rage seen in only her kind, "and you will find yourself missing your beloved wings, Ceiba-ny-shak,"

The Ardent Blade's tip nearly rested against Lelith's chest, "try as you might, there will be repercussions; ones you will not survive."

Lelith snarled as she swatted the Ardent Blade aside.

"Go as you were requested, I can handle her," Celestine addressed the Hunters; Qrow standing with his scythe drawn and ready while the blonde had debris of all sizes floating around herself.

"But, she's-" the blonde cut herself off at the heated, predatory glare that tore into her from Lelith,

Celestine warily eyed the Drukhari, silently preparing a psychic call for help if the need arose, "no. Lord Kotek has called, go."

The duo of Hunters slowly backed away after a moment of hesitation before turning and jogging to the front of the convoy. The Saint followed them with her eyes only to be distracted by the number of Atlesian soldiers with their weapons raised towards Lelith.

Lelith stared at one with wide, wild eyes and tilted her head in a similar manner to a cat sizing its prey.

The soldier stiffened and immediately lowered his weapon.

"You never answered what the Sororita is."

The rapid change from confrontational to conversational nearly made the Saint's head spin, "why do you need to know this?"

Lelith started to follow the convoy, "she has Banalma… what do you Mon'keigh call it?"

Celestine frowned, "I do not know your tongue…"

The Drukhari ignored her, "the Necrontyr called it Pariah," she mumbled to herself.

"Pariah Gene, Blanks, Soulless; it is ultimately all the same, Drukhari,"

The Saint flicked her gaze up to the crested helm that seemingly appeared from thin air, "Lord?"

Kotek towered over them, "a breach in the tunnel has been located slightly further ahead, a squad along with the psykers and the Inquisitor have been sent ahead,"

A small smile graced Celestine's lips, "finally, a way out,"

And a way out of the heat of the inferno behind them. The Saint looked down at herself, "and a good wash,"

The black liquid was an affront to the living and sullying the golden armour. It also felt sticky and oily to touch…

"Once we're out of here, you may do as you wish, Saint,"

A shower was definitely happening.

"-am it, Oz! That over there is exactly why Vale needs a military, not some Militia!"

"They are more than capable of protecting the Kingdom-"

"No, they're not! two towns were lost and five will take a year to recover because they weren't defended," Ironwood's voice echoed down the halls of Beacon, "your militia was immediately spread thin once panic set in,"

"A sudden militarisation would ruffle more feathers in Vacuo and especially Mistral," a calm, almost condescending voice responded,

Ironwood groaned, "Oz, I can't keep running to every situation all the time. My ship's engines almost burnt out just getting here as fast as we did,"

Celestine sighed the closer she got to the door and could feel the disdain radiating off Katarinya. Who or what it was directed at could have been anyone's guess, though the alive Drukhari probably had something to do with it.

The shower had to wait, apparently.

With the door a few steps away, Greyfax cocked her bolter then adjusted her hat to cast a shadow over her eyes.

"Why aren't we in my office, James?"

With the door open fully, Celestine waltzed in, not particularly caring of the trail of black liquid she made, "apologies for being a bit late,"

Brown eyes flicked up to her from behind small spectacles, "ah, Greetings," the grey haired man stood from the desk and held a hand out, "Headmaster Ozpin, and you must be Celestine,"

The Saint took his hand, "By the Emperor's grace, yes,"

With a quick glance around the room she found Ironwood and Clover off to just the left of the desk, Alexea already seated with her feet up on a desk on the lowest rung of the Auditorium seats, Greyfax now by the Saint's side.

Lelith lent against the wall to the side of the door with her arms crossed and boredom written across her face.

The Saint watched as Ozpin's eyes widened as Kotek squeezed through the door, his armour scratching the door frame, and towered over everyone in the room once he entered fully. Qrow and Glynda followed after. Glynda ignored Ironwood's greeting and went to the teacher's side of the desk, from the drawers she pulled a pair of glasses and put them on.

Ozpin remained standing but brought a cane to his side to lean on, "hello to you all as well, I am Headmaster Ozpin,"

"Inquisitor Greyfax," the frown sounding in the Inquisitor's voice,

"I am Kotek, Watcher of The Throne," he gestured gently towards the Sister of Silence who quickly signed something, "and she is Alexea of the Silent Sisterhood,"

The woman wiggled her fingers in greeting but frowned as Ozpin adjusted his green scarf and avoided her gaze, instead, focusing on the final occupant.

Lelith boredly stared at Ozpin and revelled in the disapproving gazes of Qrow and Glynda, "old man."

Ozpin brought his can in front of him and rested both hands on it, "I am far younger than I look, Ms?"

Lelith ignored him. Just as she ignored Greyfax's death stare.

"Well, you are the only one dressed to deal with the heat," with no response from Lelith Ozpin returned his attention to the others, "I apologize, our Air Conditioning is currently down,"

"We can man-" Celestine cut herself off as Greyfax made her way over to the controls by the door and pressed a few buttons. Cool air soon flowed from vents in the ceiling.

"Lying is unwise, Headmaster," Greyfax warned, "we are only here for information on Tyrian Callows, not pleasantries,"

The man sat back in the chair cautiously, "I don't know much I'm afraid, just that he's a serial killer,"

"Atlas arrested him a year or so back but made an escape," Ironwood chimed in, "this was just before I was made General, though, so I don't have much information on hand."

"But you can get it?" Greyfax asked,

Ironwood nodded, "sure, but why?"

Kotek stepped next to Greyfax, "his name was given after interrogation in the burning ruins. He may be the key to your cult problem."

Ironwood folded his arms, "your Sister of Silence got a description of the leader of the Mistral branch as well,"

"That leaves the possibility of the other two Kingdoms being compromised," Greyfax concluded, "likelihood of Atlas being Compromised?"

The General frowned, "little, however, Mantle is likely as it's overlooked by Atlas... something I'm trying to change,"

"We should be careful, who knows what lies under this," Ozpin advised, "diving headfirst may result in more casualties,"

A frown pulled at Celestine's lips, "it already has, if their actions in those ruins are anything like what they're doing everywhere else, the dead would number in the hundreds already."

"The- the carnage we found at our site in Mountain Glenn was unlike anything I've seen, Sirs," Clover spoke up to both Ironwood and Ozpin, though his gaze flicked to Kotek as well, "we lost a squad just trying to get to the victims; they were naked and in cages. Men, women and children."

"That was the same as ours. The lack of clothes was most likely to prevent the hiding of tools to aid escapes or scuicide," Greyfax toned in, "the crates were laid out to mimic a maze as well to hide surgical and tourture rooms,"

Both Headmasters held a look of disgust while Qlynda looked pale.

"Probably to make escape harder as well," Qrow gave his two cents, "the bastards knew what they were doin',"

Ozpin hummed, "were you able to take prisoners?"

Greyfax shook her head and Kotek answered, "we left none alive."

Ozpin let his gaze linger a minute at that response before facing Clover,

"We took three, the rest escaped once the fires grew further out of control," Clover sighed, "we were able to get the surviving victims out via Bullhead before then as well,"

The grey haired man nodded, "and James told me you got out through the old tunnel systems?"

Celestine nodded, "yes, we came out in the woods between Mount Glenn and Vale where we were picked up by Bullheads, then here,"

A look of satisfaction surfaced on Ozpin's face, "was the tunnel collapsed?"

"It was, there's no way to Vale through it,"

"Very well, I will still have the rest investigated and secured just in case,"

Greyfax eyed him for a moment then faced Ironwood, "I need resources to find Callows,"

"I don't have resources to give at the moment with the Vytal Festival in the coming months," Ironwood rubbed the bridge of his nose with his gloved hand, "but I can see what I can get you?"

"Manpower and authority to conduct investigations,"

The General's eyes narrowed, "I won't give that away just carelessly, Inquisitor," he sighed, "officially, that is."

"That is better than nothing," the Custodian voiced, "we do not hold the same authority here as within the Imperium, and creating enemies would be counteractive to our survival here,"

"I-" Ironwood stopped himself, "I can bring you into the Military, however tests will be needed to ensure the Council is satisfied and that you all are worth the time and resources,"

Ozpin cleared his throat and Celestine could sense the annoyance from him, "is there anything I can do?"

A soft giggle came from behind the occupants.

"Someone isn't happy he's being ignored,"

Celestine side-eyed Lelith with her hand slowly moving towards the hilt of the Ardent Blade.

"What are you talking about?" Ozpin queried,

Lelith ran a finger up one of her blade's edges, "you've realised you have no control over anyone in this room," her purple eyes bore into Ozpin's, "and what could you offer any of us, hmm? A way back to a galaxy split in two? A way to kill an immortal Empyrean spawn?"

The Headmaster's eyes narrowed minimally, "an immortal?"

"Lucius the Eternal." Lelith's head tilted, "or perhaps something else?"

Confusion washed over Ozpin, "what? The mere concept of an immortal is fantasy,"

"Yet I stand here by His will," Celestine interjected, "and so does Lord Kotek. Immortality is far from fantasy, just rare."

Greyfax shuffled away from Alexea a bit more.

"I can't say much for here, immortality exists in the minds of children and fiction,"

"Someone's species hasn't birthed a Chaos God and it shows…" Lelith's mumbling went ignored,

Kotek sighed, "we are leaving the main topic behind. Headmaster, you have nothing we require currently," he turned to Ironwood, "I formally request travel to Atlas."

The General raised a brow and went along with the Kotek, "What for?"

"To aid in the destruction of the cult in any and every way possible,"

"Granted, on the condition that the Atlesian Military takes lead,"

"We can act as advisors; Cults and Insurrections are a speciality of ours."

"Good, good," Ironwood faced Clover, "we'll need to start drills across the board,"

Clover nodded, "and the Specialists?"

The General glanced at Kotek and Celestine, "I'm sure some extra training would do well,"

Qrow stepped forward as Ozpin sipped from his mug, his brows furrowed, "woah, woah, you're not going to war are ya' Jimmy?"

Ironwood shook his head, "no, not if we cut this off before it spirals out of control more than it has. Wind Path is already under complete control and if we don't stop them now, an entire Kingdom may be next,"

The caped hunter groaned again, "they blew up a building to stop two hunters! An army? They'd burn a Kingdom to stop you!"

"And the heretics would do it anyway if we sit on our asses and do nothing, Branwen," Celestine intervened, "unlike the Grimm, you can't just build walls to hide behind. Threats like these require offensive action, purge them before they get the chance to purge us."

"And throw lives away at the chance of winning!?"

"A necessary sacrifice for the survival of humanity otherwise more lives will be lost," her hand came to rest on the hilt of the Ardent Blade, "they have shown their true nature in those ruins; they will kill anyone without hesitation and they do not deserve anything less in response,"

"Cleanse the unclean, purge the alien, kill the heretic-"

"And they are heretics," Greyfax finished for Celestine,

Glynda fell into a disgusted state, "how can you be so casual with murder?"

"Murder implies it was undiserved, that killing these creatures is a crime. The moment they worshipped something that can bring the end of humanity they forfeited their lives and are guilty of wasting my time," Greyfax's cybernetic eye glowed a threatening green from under the shadow of her hat,

"And that is worthy of death!?"

The inquisitor shrugged uncaringly, "my abilities are needed elsewhere, at the side of the Lord Commander and his brothers," she made her way to the desk, ignoring the looks she was receiving, "or hunting down threats that lay in the shadows no sane man dares to tread. Yet I am here on this backwater world forgotten by the galaxy,"

Ozpin scowled and sat straight in his chair, "Surely you must realise you too have created victims as well by leaving their families behind?"

"And what of those they killed, tortured and did Emperor knows what to?" the Saint argued,

"They could have been refor-"

Greyfax slammed her hands onto the table, cutting Ozpin off, "I am an Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, Holy Imperial Inquisition; my authority is limitless, my patience this day, however, is not." she lent a little further and let her Bolter thunk onto the table loud enough for it to echo,

"Try me." she snarled as her cybernetic eye's light reflected off Ozpin's glasses.

Kotek took a step forward, "Inquisitor!"

Greyfax stared Glynda down as she straightened her posture then returned to Celestine's side, much to the relief of Ozpin, now gripping his mug tightly, and Glynda who watched the Inquisitors every move with fear filled eyes, especially at the Bolter now back in the Inquisitor's hands.

"They will not give up without a fight, and neither shall we," Celestine reinforced her own point from earlier.

Ozpin sent a gaze to Greyfax and Kotek before pushing his glasses up and speaking to Celestine, "if there's anything I can do, do not hesitate to ask,"

Celestine shook her head, "nothing right now, Headmaster."

"General, you, however, could do something if it's possible?"

The man's gaze turned sceptical, "yes?"

She gave him a lopsided smile, "A Bullhead to a town called Camberidge if you could spare one, please?"

Ironwood pulled his lips into a thin line in thought for a moment, "there most likely isn't one available at the moment, but definitely in the next few hours,"

"Excellent, a few hours is all I need!"

"What is out there, Saint?" Celestine froze at the voice and turned to Kotek,

"I have taken up a charge, Lord, and I can only transport myself,"

She got no verbal response, just a nod from the Custodian and she took it as her que to leave in a flash of golden light.

The Headmasters and Hunters stared at where she once stood with awe.

"I believe this meeting is over," Kotek spoke to Ozpin then Ironwood, "we shall wait on this facilities grounds until you are ready for departure, General,"

Ironwood nodded, "that should be in a few hours when repairs to the engines are complete,"

"I may see you all at the Vytal Festival,"

Kotek nodded to Ozpin, "till then," he followed out after Lelith had left the room leaving Ozpin in cold silence, watching them leave from behind his glasses.

Only once the group had their way through the halls back the way they came and were outside the building in the dusk light, did Greyfax speak up, "the old man is hiding something,"

"Yes, he is," Kotek agreed as he tilted his head to avoid clipping a lamp,

"I could feel something but the Sister's potency made it difficult, to read anyone in the room," Greyfax cast a look Alexea, who gave a sheepish shrug, "My suspicions were confirmed when I was close enough to him; his thoughts were carefully hidden or echoed enough to hard to make out,"

Lelith snorted, "That Mon'keigh craves control, something none of us wishes to give him, or anyone here,"

Greyfax shot a hateful look at Lelith, "...you are... correct. The moment immortals were brought up, he got defensive,"

"And… jealous, for a lack of a better word, when Celestine gave Ironwood more attention," Kotek spoke for Alexea, "he wants her under his control, she may know why."

"we'll ask her when she returns," Greyfax adjusted her hat, "the man most likely had demanded to make,"

"Good thing he never got the chance,"

Greyfaxe looked at the Sister, "even if he did, I doubt he has any leverage."

Kotek looked out over the Kingdom below Beacon for a moment, then up the CCTS tower, "maintain vigilance, Inquisitor. He may be hiding information in the shadows or just a controlling man."

"Either way, he can be a barrier,"

Red eyepieces settled on Greyfax, "if he becomes one, tear him down,"

The Inquisitor tilted her hat, "now that, I can do,"

The treeline lit gold in the light of dusk for a moment, from which came Celestine. The town's guards gave her an odd look but let her through without question into the town.

A Custodian.

"A Watcher of the Throne, nonetheless," she muttered to herself.

Only with Guilliman did she see a Custodian due to being within the Palace walls, but to have one of such importance speaking directly to her? The notion was insane to comprehend.

They were His personal warriors, mere myths to all bar those high enough.

So much for a holiday…

She rubbed her eyes and wiped the liquid off her face and pulled her hair away from her eyes. The wound on her temple ached a little and her bob cut was most definitely ruined, but both would fix themselves with time or a resurrection. Though dying to fix an inconsequential wound and a bad hair day was a bit too far.

Though the idea was humorous in its absurdity.

The buildings offered some cool shade from what little sunlight there was now, but provided nothing from the annoyance of humidity. The few people out copied her and gave her but a glance of attention.

It didn't really matter as she went through the foyer doors to the hotel and made her way up to the room.

As she closed room twelve's door behind her, she noticed Emerald passed out face first on the floor. Judging by how she was laid out on the floor, she must've pushed herself too far trying to work out.

Celestine rolled her eyes a little, "Stubborn girl,"

There was a few hours till the Bullhead arrived, the girl could rest for a little bit longer.

The Saint entered the bathroom and dumped the very ruined bag in the sink's basin and got under the shower and flicked the tap on, letting the cold water wash the liquid away for a few minutes.

With most of the black ichor washed off the armour, she stripped it off and got under the shower once more to do the same to the Fibro layer before stripping that off as well.

She brought her hands up to her chest and interlocked them at the thumbs, creating the Aquila. The Saint closed her eyes and lowered her head, "Praise He who granted me strength in battle, in life and in death. Praise be our Undying Lord, the Master of Mankind, the God-Emperor, for his generosity and eternal vigilance."

She lent back onto the wall under the shower and let her wings wrap around her sides and out front of her, "Nice and cooold~"

She shivered, "too cold, too cold!"

Her hand spun the tap a bit to the left and the water warmed up. A sigh of content left her as she let the water wash over her head and scalp, though the water stung at her temple's wound for a bit till the pain died away or she got used to it. Either was possible.

A faint tap on her left wing prompted her to lift it slightly, "hello,"

"Are they gone?" Emerald asked nervously,

Celestine faced her entirely and knelt down, "I won't lie, only the ones in Vale are dead," panic rose on Emerald's face and the Saint continued quickly, "but they won't be around for long, I found more...friends than just Katarinya while I was gone,"

Emerald calmed slightly, "o-okay,"

Celestine gave a gentle head pat, "And we're going to Atlas to help get rid of the Heretics,"

Red eyes widened, "But what about m-"

"I said 'we' did I not?"

The girl's mouth formed a perfect O shape, "oh…"

The Saint gently rolled her eyes, "Wording is important, just as is listening, Emerald," she stood, "you smell of sweat, you can either get in now or wait till I'm done,"

Emerald lifted an arm and sniffed, only to give a look of mild disgust. She stood in silence for a while, her eyes avoiding Celestine entirely. The Saint shrugged slightly to herself and got back under the shower. Though a pair of arms soon wrapped around her thigh.

She glanced down and found Emerald pressing into her hip gently, so she placed one hand onto Emerald's head and started gently scratching and massaging the girl's scalp.

Emerald looked up happily, through her eyes narrowed at her temple, "you're hurt!"

"I'll be fine, Emerald, I've suffered worse,"

Emerald scanned her body, "no you haven't,"

"Tis but a flesh wound,"

Emerald frowned unhappily but let the subject go. Something Celestine was glad for as a sigh escaped her. Emerald peeled herself off of the Saint and started washing her hair while Celestine did the same.

As she placed the bottle of shampoo down in the corner of the shower, she noticed the small, lighter lines that peppered parts of the girl's body. Some were hard to make out, others weren't. It was obvious what they were and what made them. Thankfully, for both their sakes, the scars weren't deep.

Is this why she's shy of being seen like this?

Celestine knew the answer was a mixed bag.

The Saint pushed it aside and continued with her own hair, pulling the loose strands out and away from the wound to show an uneven mess of hair, not that it mattered, a trim or shave would fix it later till it regrew.

She looked down at Emerald, who was just finishing rinsing and knelt down behind her and wrapped her arms around the girl. Emerald stiffened briefly but shortly relaxed and leant back into Celestine.

"Are you okay?"

Emerald nodded with a content hum,

"Good," Celestine squeezed a little tighter, "now come, I have to pack and clean my armour quickly, your help would be nice,"

Emerald squirmed out of the Saints grip and shower to get dressed. Celestine stood and rolled her shoulders and neck, cracking it before turning the shower off and following after her.

Christmas shopping has begun to spur up and being a retail worker means my free time has become nearly nonexistent, just getting this done has been hard, so this is very likely the last chapter for the year for the sake of my sanity.

this chapter is on the shorter side mainly because I wanted to get something out before Christmas so this had stuff moved to the next chapter.

Ironwood saying something about the thrusters needing repair was an attempt to fix the travel time it took for them to go from Atlas to Vale in less than a day. I kinda fucked the timeline and should have spread it out a bit but that's my fault.

Now with the Imperials and Lelith together, it's time to focus on their shenanigans on Remnant.

And of course, the title refers to Ozpin.

Anyway, next chapter there's a bit more of Ironwood and Ozpin to tie up a few things left here, to get Oz's perspective on why he did what he did this chapter and Emerald seeing more gold than she thought possible next chapter and maybe the gang's arrival in Atlas.

Review time!

Saitama1155: Salem watching how screwed she is good luck bitch

Salem: "this is fine" *sips cup*

Mr Myself: very enjoyable

Thank god for that, lol

Guest: Wow Hesperax on Remnant THE dark eldar battle junkie makes me wonder if she finds out about Salem will she use her as a warm up when she finally faces Lucius at some point of her life since both Lucius and Salem are immortal.

Im surprised she never heard about the Custodes since generally the bigger the super soldier the Imperium have tend to be a better version of said super soldier

Her not knowing comes from me thinking that she was born a few hundred, maybe a thousand years after the Horus Heresy; enough time for the Custodes to fade away into legend to the 95% of the Galaxy.

Guest: Kinda ironic that Atlesians consider Celestine as a faunus than a human which is blasphemous if it is said to her face since her wings were probably a gift of the Emperor and Celestine sees herself as human above all even before being a saint.

Its gonna be fun seeing how general Ironwood and Ozpin try to assert authority over the Custodian.

Kinda agree with you about chaos as antagonist its overused to me while disregarding the xenos from the spotlight hell I despise the xenos but come on can Order vs Chaos not only be Imperium/Eldar vs Chaos there are xeno order factions I want to see Nurgle to screw over the Tau for one. Maybe even xenos vs xenos.

Otherwise great chapter and looking forward for the next.

Cel would correct them a couple of times max before getting pissed and offended. At least my version of her would. Canon version would stab a bitch.

Hehe, Oz just got flat out ignored, called out by Greyfax and Lelith and ignored some more. But it's not the end of Oz in this, he's just not in the forefront right now.

I lowkey wish instead of the Imperium, I had like, an entire Craftworld or T'au expedition force only. We don't get many Xenos in Crossovers as the main characters and is part of the reason why Lelith was my writer block therapy before being dropped in. As for GW, they really could do more stories with Xeno vs Xeno and the Imperium being the ones to show up only once.

I hope this chapter lives up to what you looked forward to!

Carre: 1. ...Lelith is here...?

...Washed Thumbs Up!

2. Keep Up with the Good Work (washed Thumbs Up!).

Yep, she is here for the reasons I gave in the last chapter, but she truly is the last 40k thing. It's now for the plot to finally start properly and the Remnants side of things to be built.

Brother Bov: why...why did you help me?

mmmm mon'keigh

But in all seriousness, loved the chapter, from the golden professionalism of Kotek to the grace of the "murderwhore" Lilith.

And on those few personality traits, here are my suggestions:

1. Every custodian explores the arts and kitten cooks ten thousand nutritious and delicious pizzapies everyday for his brothers. Kotek could be equally skilled in the kitchen.

2. PTSD whenever someone says body oil and posing...ayayayaya.

3. If you leave him alone in a room, when you return, the room will be mysteriously cleaned of ALL imperfections.

4. Of course, can't forget "ITS NOT FUCKING CANNON".

loyally awaiting the next chapter.

Brother sergeant Bov.

I really wanted to have her make that meme and it gave birth to the idea that while she's the galaxy's best duelist, she's also a walking meme/troll/chaos gremlin because she's bored.

I'm glad the reception of Lelith and Kotek was a positive one because by god I was sitting with my finger nervously over "publish" for that chapter for a good 30 mins before I finally pressed it.

Kotek being a master cook and a neat freak is something I love the idea of. Part of which will be in one of the coming chapters hopefully.

Now, because this is probably the last chapter of the year, here are two small snippets of two of many versions of how Mt. Glenn was going to be before it reached its final form as a holiday gift:

The red armoured giant held its massive mace up, over its horned head that held glowing scripts etched into its skin. Paper seals flowed off its armour in the slight breeze, each one holding orange glowing scripts. Qrow knew not what it was meant to be, just that the thing was larger than it had any right to be and radiated malice and hatred, unlike anything he'd seen.

With Glynda somewhere else within the ruined underground city he was left to deal with whatever this thing was. Whatever it was, it could play with the shadows by how they were moving was a tell of its Semblance.

The shadows swirled and flowed through the gaps and uncared for ruins all around the two of them; Qrow tried to watch the shadows movement as well as the giants, until he saw the genuine fear written over its face, and the mace was gripped tighter in its hands.

The shadows violently shot out from all directions into the gap between Qrow and the red giant to form a vortex made of ravens that screeched and cawed unnaturally loud. The vortex slowly shrunk and morphed into a vague shape before disappearing entirely revealing a massive black figure.

"Hello, brother."

Then, depending on the version of this particular version, a different character would stumble into Qrow, Lorgar and Corax; Lelith, Greyfax, Celestine, Cain, Sisters of Battle, Astartes, Sanguinius. Then Corax and Lorgar throw down for a while. Cut for obvious reasons.

Another version of it was just Greyfax running into Cain before both of them running into Celestine, either some Sororitas or the Geminae Superia and Lelith before fighting the cult as a reluctant team.

Cold and desolate buildings surrounded him on all sides, the tall decrepit walls towering up into the cavern's roof that was oh so far above. At least it gave him some idea of where he was.

A Hive city.

As little as that narrowed it down.

It doesn't narrow it down at all actually…

Alright then, an abandoned Hive city…no, still very little narrowing.

His boots clumped against the ground and the odd bit of rubble was crushed underfoot, all of which echoed off the buildings.

How hard was it to get a single day off?

Apparently, very hard according to the universe. If it wasn't an Ork invasion or Tyranids or even Necrons and Cultists of some type, it was random Warp-storms ruining his day. Was a day too much to ask for? Was it really? Paperwork was much, much better than wandering around in abandoned Hives.

No seriously, the claw marks that were all over the buildings' entrances and windows were starting to become a worry.

Well, the fact the Hive was abandoned was also a worry, but semantics and all that.

And now there was skittering. Great.

In his long service with the Imperium as a Commissar, a battle-hardened warrior that had faced down WAAAAHG!'s of tremendous size and even the Tyranid Hive Fleet Kraken, he knew the exact approach to such a sound.

He faced the opposite direction of the sound and found a doorway directly in his view. He promptly took large, cautious steps in order to avoid making a large racket and drawing attention to himself. He entered the building as silently as possible but cringed as a large plank of wood was accidentally shouldered by him.

The plank slowly came down at first.

Then it sped up.

Then it whacked the decayed wooden stairs in such a way that they collapsed. Loudly.

Wood splinters and dust was thrown in the air, clouding his vision and when it- and the falling wood- settled, the half-lidded eyes and taught lips of Commissar Ciaphas Cain's face was covered in dust.

"Just why does-" a screech so similar, yet different, reverberated off the walls of the building.

Loud cracks of Bolter fire made him jump, not that anyone would know that, and the screeches ended with a gurgle. An Astartes. Thank the Emper-

Instead, the all too familiar 'I' on a large hat shot his hopes down.

And a few other versions, one of which had a Titan but that never made it past being a dot-point, before settling on the one published in the last chapter.

'Till then.