"I'm bored," Emerald whined, lazily resting her hand under her chin.

Mercury, of course, didn't hear her. Neither did Yang for that matter. No, they were far too busy having the time of their lives off in their own little slice of the world, completely oblivious to the two people that were right next to them.

Ugh. This was stupid. Weren't they supposed to hate each other? Barely more than a couple of hours ago, everyone in the Cotta-Arc's home were doing their best to keep these two away from each other. And now here they were, chumming it up like best friends.

What the hell was so interesting to them anyways? She strained her ears, trying to tune back into their conversation, and immediately scrunched her face up in disgust at one of Yang's idiotic puns that sent the two of them in hysterics.

At least she didn't have to suffer alone. If anything, Ruby seemed even more uncomfortable than she was, shrinking down and desperately trying to avoid eye contact. Or she had been, at least.

With Emerald's offhand remark, Ruby had finally looked up, offering a weak, apologetic smile. "Sorry. Yang kind of has a tendency to give it her all when she's having fun." She sneaked a look back at the two of them. "Besides, it could be a lot worse," Ruby reminded her.

Emerald groaned again, leaning back in her seat. That was the problem. She knew it could be a lot worse, she knew that she should just be happy they aren't pissing each other off. And it wasn't that she hated that they were getting along.

She hated how easy it was for them.

She wasn't jealous. Not in that way, at least. She wasn't quite that paranoid, thankfully. She just thought…she wasn't used to seeing Mercury so at ease with someone else. That was something reserved for the two of them. No one else could understand. That's how it was supposed to be.

But here they were, acting like they weren't just five minutes away from trying to kill each other. They were even laughing at each other's stupid jokes! They weren't even funny! Puns and sarcasm, truly the height of comedy.

Emerald scoffed. This was supposed to be fun. A chance to get out of the house and bum a free meal out of Nora. And, maybe, possibly, it might have been able to serve as a trial run.

For a real date.

Instead, she wound up playing 3rd wheel while her…her… whatever Mercury was sat there oblivious to her conundrum. Or was it technically fourth wheel because of Ruby? Ugh, that was even more pathetic.

"Could be a lot better, too," She grumbled in reply. Ruby sheepishly shrunk back. Emerald sighed, making an effort to appear a little less hostile. It wasn't Ruby's fault. It wasn't anyone's fault, really. Except maybe Nora, for setting them all up. You owe me big time, lady.

"Excuse me!" Someone said frantically behind her. "Coming through! Sorry!" Lucille was weaving her way over to their table, carefully balancing their food while narrowly avoiding the other patrons.

The younger girl sighed in relief upon safely reaching them. She gently placed their food down in front of them. "Okay," She breathed. "Is that all? Do you need drinks or anything?"

Emerald shook her head. "We're alright."

"Maybe we should ask Yang and Mercury," Ruby suggested, turning to get her sister's attention.

" No," Emerald hissed, with much more venom than she intended. She cleared her throat, forcing herself to try and sound a little less… affected. "If they wanted a drink so bad, they would say something. It's not our fault they can't pay attention when we're sitting right next to them." She certainly wouldn't interrupt their fun. And if their food happened to be cold by the time they realized it was here, well, they should have been more attentive, shouldn't they?

" Okaaay," Ruby said hesitantly. "I think that'll be all then."

Lucille nodded gratefully, and turned to leave. Emerald almost let her, when something else occurred to her, and she tugged on the girl's sleeve.

She yelped, her eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights. Emerald ignored her. "You worked for Jadis then, right?"

"Y-Yeah, I did," She stammered. "But I left! I left even before you, uhm, did what you did. No hard feelings, whatsoever. I barely even knew anybody there!"

Emerald frowned. Brothers, was I ever this bad? She shook her head. "Well I did. One of them, at least. You ever meet a guy named Clive?" Lucille flinched immediately at the name, and she knew there was something there. "Taller guy, a bit lazy, but mostly decent. He was pretty much the only person who worked for Jadis that was even tolerable. I didn't see him when we went to have our little talk with her. You know what happened to him?"

"I haven't heard anything," Lucille lied. Rather poorly, too.

Emerald sighed. "Look, I don't have the patience for this right now. We're on our best behavior, alright?" She gestured towards Ruby. "She's a huntress. It's not like I'm going to go out and hunt down Clive for the hell of it."

Ruby waved her hand, and grinned. Lucille looked doubtfully between the two of them. "She's my age."

"She's a special case," Emerald lied, much more convincingly than Lucille did. It helped that it was only partially a lie, of course. "Point is, we're not interested in going after Clive. Hell, we never were. It was only Jadis and whatever idiots stood with her that got screwed. I'm just curious in where he ended up, is all."

Lucille bit her lip nervously, before finally relenting. "He was the one who convinced me to leave before you two showed up," She confessed. "It's been rough, the last couple days, but he's been letting me stay in his apartment. It's small, but it's something. I was the first of us to manage to find a job, so he's probably back home, looking for something."

Emerald grinned. "Good. Clive always seemed nice. Glad he had a fall back option." She paused. "And you too, I guess."

"Gee, thanks," Lucille said sarcastically.

Emerald raised an eyebrow, and the younger girl flinched, clearing her throat. "If that's everything, I should probably get to the other tables. I don't think my boss will like it if I spend too much time over here."

She nodded. "Good idea."

Lucille took off, walking fast enough that she was almost running, clear across the other side of the cafe.

Ruby looked at her disapprovingly. "Did you have to try and scare her to death?"

Emerald shrugged. "I didn't try to do anything. I could have sat here reciting the alphabet and she'd still have been quaking in fear."

Ruby frowned, but didn't argue with her. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't help it if the girl was scared. Did Ruby want her to start a book club with her or something? I don't understand these people. She tried doing the right thing, and they still weren't satisfied.

One more day, two at the most, She thought, forcing herself to focus on the positive. Then they'll be gone. Things will go back to normal, in a way, and there won't be any irritating blondes to distract Mercury.

"Did you like it at Beacon?" Ruby asked suddenly.

Emerald blinked, caught off guard by the younger girl's bluntness. "Did I… what?"

"Did you like Beacon?" Ruby repeated, before taking a bite out of her sandwich.

She shook her head. "Why would that matter in any possible way right now?"

Ruby shrugged, swallowing her food. "It doesn't, I guess, not really. I'm just curious. You said you and Mercury wanted to stay here because you liked it here. Because it was the first time you felt like you had a home." She paused. "I guess I was just wondering why you didn't think of Beacon like that, and how much of the time you spent there was a lie."

Emerald sighed, toying with her plate. Her appetite was quickly leaving her. "Most of it was. And…I don't know. It was fun, sometimes. It was by far the nicest place I've ever lived in, even counting the Cotta-Arc's, but it was different. When you and your friends were at Beacon, you were there because you wanted to be. Mercury and I, we were there on a mission. With Cinder. We weren't really allowed to enjoy it. We were too busy to really think about it. And the only times you could say we did, were when we got to do something fun, like Mercury picking a fight with Pyrrha."

Ruby frowned. "That's a little sad. Beacon was the best time of my life. Every day was something new, and every day felt like we were getting closer and closer to becoming real Huntresses." She looked down, avoiding her eyes. "I wish you would have gotten a chance to know Beacon like we did."

Oh. She rolled her eyes. "Why? So we could have seen the error of our ways, and held hands, and stopped Cinder with the power of friendship and magic?"

Ruby winced. "That's not…that's not what I meant."

"Close enough though, right?" She asked rhetorically. "You think that if we had gone through that school, and had been able to enjoy it like you had, things might have been different? That we might have left Cinder to play Huntress?"

"Blake did it" Ruby argued. "She left the White Fang so she could help people."

"See, there's the thing Ruby," Emerald said bitterly. "Your friend is a good person, ultimately. Mercury and I are not."

"I don't think that," Ruby muttered. Emerald's eyes flashed in surprise. "I'm not trying to say that you should have done that at Beacon. I know you were either too terrified or too enamored with Cinder by then. I just wish things had been different. I don't think you're a bad person, Emerald. Not you, and not Mercury either. You're just two more people no one ever gave a chance."

She swallowed, her throat suddenly feeling very dry. "And what makes you so sure of that?" She asked, trying to keep her voice confident.

Ruby shrugged. "Because as soon as someone finally did, the two of you jumped at it without a second thought."

The simplicity of how she put it was what shocked Emerald. The matter of factness. She said it like she truly believed they weren't bad people. Before she had a chance to reply, before she had a chance to even gather her thoughts, they were interrupted. "Hey, our food's cold!" Yang complained.

Emerald rolled her eyes, secretly glad for the change of subject. "Then you should have been paying attention."

"You could have at least said something," Mercury whined.

"You're both more than capable of looking out for yourselves," She said. "Your plates were literally right in front of you. You have no one but yourselves to blame."

Yang shared a look with Mercury. "I don't know about you, but I'm not leaving here empty handed. Bad enough I got tricked into coming here, I was promised food, and I'm not going to let it go to waste just cause it's a little cold."

Mercury grinned. "Far from the first time I've had to eat cold food. It's a hell of a lot better than dumpster burgers, I can tell you that."

Emerald groaned as the two tore into their lunch, pigging out. How long had it been since they left? It had to be close to an hour by now. Definitely, counting the time it would take to get back. She was going to kill Nora when she got back. Her stupid plan better have worked.

They ate quickly, at least, scoffing down their food as fast as they could before it got too cold. Lucille was nowhere in sight, but they called one of the other waitresses over, and Yang left her a sizable tip to give to the poor girl.

Walking back wasn't nearly as obnoxious as sitting in the cafe was. Mercury had drifted away from Yang, and was back at her side. Which was both a good and a bad thing. She was grateful she had him back to herself, and annoyed that he had spent so much time with Yang in the first place.

And annoyed at how frustrated it made her.

"You alright, Em?" Mercury asked, picking up on her discomfort. "You look pissed."

How very observant of you. But he couldn't have noticed back at the cafe, now could he?

She sighed, shaking her head. She was being ridiculously petty, and for no good reason. "I'm fine," She answered, lying through her teeth.

He snorted. "If you were fine, you would have snarked back at me, not tried to brush me off. What's wrong?"

Nope. Not doing this. Not now. When in doubt, change the subject. "I'm impressed," She said. "You actually managed to not be an asshole for twenty minutes, with Yang of all people." Oh goddamnit, that's even worse! Go back!

"So am I," He confessed. "I expected that to go way worse than it did. But hey, turns out she's now as boring as I thought. And less of a bitch, too."

No. No she wasn't. She was totally a bitch. "So what, she pays for one meal, and all of a sudden we're best friends with her?"

He snorted. "Hardly. I haven't forgotten how much of a pain she's been to us, and I'm sure she hasn't forgotten for a second everything that the two of us have done." He paused. "But at least we found a bit of common ground. And with how the last few days have been going, I'm glad at least something went right for us."

Emerald relaxed a little. He was right. It was a good thing they were getting along, and it wasn't like they were actually friends with the brats anyways. Beacon stood like a giant rift between them all. But if they could be civil with each other until they left for Atlas, it would make everything easier for everyone.

She thought a little on what Ruby had said. Ugh. That girl could be almost as annoying as Mercury sometimes. What the hell was all that about anyways? Asking pointless questions about Beacon, trudging up the past.

Telling her she wasn't a bad person.

Emerald clenched her teeth even as she tried to ignore the wave of elation as she remembered what Ruby told her. She didn't actually mean it, She told herself. She was just being polite. For the sake of not starting a fight. That was all. She knew as well as they all did that her and Mercury weren't exactly angels.

It wouldn't do any of them any good by trying to pretend otherwise.

Mercury frowned looking back at Emerald as they walked. She had fallen silent, letting their conversation drop off.

Something was up with her, but he couldn't quite pin down what.

Eh, probably just annoyed Nora roped us into this crap. He wasn't exactly pleased about it either. Still, things didn't go too badly. They managed to refrain from starting a firefight in the middle of the city, and he counted that as a win in his book.

Besides, Yang wasn't as bad as the other brats. At least she was able to put up a decent fight from what he remembered from the Vytal festival, even if he did have to throw it. I wonder if she'd be up for a rematch sometime…

Nah. They'd be gone in a day or two anyway, and a single civil conversation hardly made them best buds. He'd be glad just to finally see them leave. And it wouldn't hurt if they followed through and put in a good word for them with the General.

The Cotta-Arc's house was just as they left it, which meant whatever Nora said to Qrow, it didn't result in the house burning down. See? Another positive.

Entering their new home, it felt strangely empty. They were used to Saphron or Adrian being around, and the last couple days they couldn't go five feet without running into one of the Beacon kids.

The living room was empty, except for Nora, who seemed to be waiting for them on the couch. Mercury frowned. And no Qrow in sight. Did things go badly then? Did he screw off to go drinking? It didn't really matter to him, but if they had to go through that whole ordeal for nothing, he was going to be more than a little irritated.

Nora grinned at the sight of them, shooting up and holding out her arms in welcome.

"Hey Nora," Yang greeted, trying to sound relaxed, but an edge of concern lay in her voice. "How'd it, uhm…How'd it go?"

Mercury nodded towards the empty couch. "Probably not great if he's not here. What, did he go back to the bar or something?"

Her eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head, already pulling out her scroll. No! Nothing like that! It went well, actually. I'm pretty sure I got through to him. He's sleeping off his hangover in an actual bed, thankfully.

Yang breathed a sigh of relief, and he noticed a lot of the tension leave Ruby as well, hearing that their Uncle was alright. "Thank you Nora," Yang said, pulling the other girl in for a hug. "Seriously."

Nora pulled away, still grinning, and waved her off dismissively. Don't mention it, She seemed to say.

"Great, cool, your uncle's fine, all that's well and good," Mercury interrupted, scowling. "But maybe next time don't trick us into a playdate just to get out of the house? I know you can't exactly use your words, but come on. A note on the door would have worked fine."

Nora shrugged. If I left a note on the door, you would have ignored it out of spite.

Mercury opened his mouth to refute her argument, and paused. "You don't know that for sure," He tried.

"No, but I do," Emerald said, in an act of vile treachery. "And you totally would have."

"But she didn't ," Mercury argued. "And that's my point."

"Your point is stupid," Emerald said, grinning. Oh, you little-

" Okay," Yang said, before she wound up in the middle of another argument, playful or not. "Let's just focus on the good, yeah? Uncle Qrow's doing better, Ruby and I got to stretch our legs, and you two got a free lunch."

He snorted. "Fair enough."

He wasn't going to be the one to start a fight. Besides, like she said they got to bum a meal off of her for the trouble. As far as he was concerned, at least, he and Yang were pretty much even. Whether or not she felt the same way didn't matter, so long as it never became a problem. He was willing to put their little rivalry behind him.

Nora, though, he would have to think up something to get back at her. He couldn't just let her get away with screwing him over like that, now could he?

Cinder was impressed at how well they had managed to stay out of sight. She would never have expected it. Emerald, yes, sure, the girl had a knack for slinking away from one's sight, and no doubt her semblance proved a boon.

Mercury, though? She half expected the city to be burning down as she arrived. The fact that it wasn't despite her knowing her former compatriots were here, meant that they had learned a measure of finesse that they had never displayed in her service.

Because of course they would prove even moderately competent after they betrayed her. Ugh. Imbeciles.

She hadn't bothered searching for Ruby Rose. She had no need to, not when she already knew where they would be going. The only way to Atlas was through the military base, and no airships had taken off since their arrival. Ruby and her friends were still in the city, and they would no doubt use the opportunity to catch their breath, if only for a day or two.

Mercury and Emerald, for all their faults, were not entirely useless, and neither were they complete fools.

Idiots, certainly, for going against her and Salem, but idiots who at least knew they were no doubt damned.

They wouldn't simply announce themselves to the city and set up shop, or try and force their way in as the head of some new criminal outfit. No, that would draw far too much attention to themselves, and attention was the last thing they needed.

Besides, they couldn't very well trust criminals with their identity, now could they? No matter what they say, there was no honor among thieves, and any who discerned Mercury and Emerald's true identities would no doubt leap at the opportunity to turn them in for a reward, or at least tip off the authorities.

They would be in hiding, yes. But no matter what they were doing, or how far off the grid they were trying to remain, a few things held true. They would need some way to provide for themselves, and they would need at least somewhere they could hide away in that offered a degree of privacy and security.

The problem was where that place could be.

She had dispatched Neopolitan to try and learn what she could, while she herself stole newspapers from the last two weeks, sifting through article after article for anything that may be of aid to their search.

It was boring. Boring beyond belief. But it was no less necessary. There were few other methods of gathering information available to her. After all, she was more wanted than even Mercury and Emerald were. Still, it wasn't exactly exciting being forced to read about a children's little league game being canceled because of the weather.

They were in Anima. It was always cold.

Ugh. Boring, and probably pointless. Hopefully Neopolitan's excursion would prove more fruitful than her own. Her semblance permitted her to travel where Cinder could not. It galled her to admit, but if they had any chance of finding Mercury and Emerald before Ruby and the others left, it would likely be thanks to Neo.

Their alliance was a strange one, and one that she had no illusions would end in betrayal from both sides, but she would not deny it had proved an unexpected boon. Neopolitan's skills were singular, and she was a woman driven by a goal she could admire. Vengeance.

Though she was a fool if she thought Cinder would allow her to be the one to claim Ruby Rose's life. The silver-eyed bitch had cost her far too much already. Nothing would suffice, except to watch the life fade from those eyes herself as she died by her hand.

Neo could have the rest. And if she wasn't satisfied with that, then she could join them in death.

Hm…though perhaps it wouldn't come to that. Perhaps Neo might be shown reason, and the futility of resisting Salem. Their alliance need not be temporary. It would be pleasant to have a subordinate not be so utterly incapable for once.

Her remaining eye widened, glimmering with delight as she at last came across something that might prove moderately helpful.

The newspaper was dated three days ago. While the front page was dedicated to the same drivel of complaining about refugees from Atlas and Haven, a sizable portion was dedicated to an… unusual event that took place just before her own arrival to the city.

She grinned as she read. The police were drawn to a discreet warehouse deep in the city, called there by reports of gunfire. The scene they found was a massacre, and it was soon discovered that the warehouse formerly served as the hideout for a small, yet prominent criminal outfit. Prominent for Argus, anyways.

It was also discovered that said criminal outfit was headed by none other than one with ties to Lil Miss Malachite's spiders, one who was found dead in the warehouse.

Killed, perhaps, for informing her former employer of the very information that was given to Cinder.

Hm. It made a certain kind of sense. One of Malachite's spiders was the one who found Mercury and Emerald, and they would no doubt be desperate to keep any news of their presence a secret. Perhaps they found out what she had divulged, and moved to silence her? The bodies left in the wake of the spider's death certainly smacked of their touch, particularly Mercury's.

Her grin widened. That would mean I was right, of course. They may not have burnt the city down, but a massacre wasn't precisely keeping a low profile.

Amusing. Even when serving only themselves, failure followed them. Yes, this was their doing. She was sure of it. It was only part of the puzzle, not enough to learn where they had gone, but it was enough to find a trail.

And, of course, there was always Neopolitan. Perhaps she had found something else of note. Something that could lead them to either Ruby Rose or Mercury and Emerald.

In any case, she finally had a lead. It was high time she took some action herself, and see where it led.

As it happened, Malachite's little spider was a busy woman. Emphasis on the was, of course.

But while she did live, she had managed to claw her way to the top of Argus's criminal infrastructure. Somehow. The girl was little more than an upjumped grunt who happened to have unlocked her Aura.

That was enough, it seemed. Other petty criminals flocked to her, desperate for the chance to have their own Aura's unlocked. Before long, she had established herself as the premier criminal organization in Argus.

It was still laughably pathetic by any reasonable standards. But it was successful.

Until it all seemingly fell apart, almost immediately. Jadis' death was, to the public at least, unprovoked. There weren't really any prominent gangs in Argus, and none that would draw the eye of the Argus authorities in such a blatant act. It was a mystery, for the time being.

And the only ones who would have the answers, would be those who formerly served Jadis.

A few were found dead, littered around her corpse, but most ran off as soon as the fighting began. And yet, no amount of threats or promises from the police who rounded up a few of the survivors would glean any answers. Nobody was willing to speak.

Of course, they weren't being interrogated by Cinder Fall.

She watched as the mousy looking girl hurried out the cafe door, almost tripping over herself. Lucille…something. Cinder forgot the rest of her name. It didn't matter.

What did matter was that up until a few days ago, she worked for Jadis. She would likely be able to confirm if it was Mercury and Emerald who killed her, and maybe even point her in the right direction to find them.

Cinder fell behind the girl smoothly, matching their steps together. She was completely ignorant to the fact that she was being followed. I could almost laugh at how easy this is.

Alas, she couldn't play forever. Before long, they were sufficiently far from the more respectable parts of town. No one was watching, at least, no one who would do anything.

Cinder waited until she passed an alley, then lunged, wrapping her arm quickly around the girl's mouth. Immediately, she tried to scream, thrashing around desperately in her grip. "Stop that," She ordered, dragging her deeper into the alley.

Cinder gripped tightly, slamming the girl into a wall and lifting her above her feet. "Shh," She hushed. "Quit crying. Look at me, girl. Do you recognize me?"

The effect wasn't instant, unfortunately, but she did eventually quit squirming. The moment she did, she got a clear view of her assailant, and her eyes widened in terror, her futile resistance renewed with a desperate vigor.

Cinder rolled her eyes, pulling the girl back and slamming her back into the wall for emphasis. " Enough," She demanded. "Shut up, already. You recognize me. You know who I am, what I've done, and you think you know what I can do. Now, you are going to tell me what I want to know, or I will show you firsthand how little you really know about my capabilities. Are we quite clear?"

The girl nodded fervently. Cinder let go, letting her fall to the ground. "Good," She said, as the girl coughed, struggling to her knees. "Now listen carefully. You used to work for a woman named Jadis. She was murdered a few days ago. Be a dear and tell me who did her in, will you?"

Lucille shook her head. "I don't-" Cinder shoved a foot into her side, hissing.

"Allow me to rephrase the question," She snarled. "I know who killed her, and I know you know as well. I simply need confirmation, and for you to tell me every little detail you can, so I might find them. Now answer me, and don't you dare try lying to me again."

"It was them!" She said quickly. "Mercury and Emerald! They-They work for you, don't they? They killed her. I wasn't there to see it. I left before they had a chance to kill me too!"

Cinder frowned. "That isn't very helpful," She mused, toying with the idea of killing the girl anyway for wasting her time.

"But I saw them again!" The girl sputtered. "After! Earlier today!"

Cinder tilted her head. "Awfully convenient. Are you lying to me?"

"No! I swear!" She cried. "They came into the cafe I work at, almost gave me a heart attack. And they weren't alone either."

Now that was intriguing. "Who were they with? Describe them," She ordered.

"Two girls, one their age and one only a little older than me," She said. "I think they said they were sisters. The older one was blonde, and really loud. The younger girl had a bit of red at the ends of her hair."

Her eye flashed hungrily. "The younger girl, her eyes, what color were they?"

"I don't know, I wasn't paying-" Cinder kicked her again, growling. "Silver!" The girl coughed. "They were silver! They ordered some food, spoke for a while, and then they all left together. I don't know where, and I don't know who they were!"

Silver. A satisfied grin found its way onto her face. This…this was far too good to be true. The girl dragged herself away, scrambling to her feet and running, but Cinder ignored her for the moment. She wouldn't say a word.

Mercury and Emerald…dining with Ruby Rose and her sister. They do know each other are in the city, and they were at least cooperating in some manner.

That was surprising, honestly. Never in a thousand years did she expect Beacon to be so easily forgotten. Or perhaps it was a ploy of some sort? Or an alliance of necessity? No matter the case, it certainly made things easier. If she could find one of the two groups, more likely than not they could lead her to the other. Even better if they were traveling together for some reason.

She heard the sound of heels hitting the ground behind her, approaching towards her. She turned, and nodded. "Neo," She greeted, only mildly surprised by her sudden appearance. "Tell me, did you learn anything?"

Neo grinned triumphantly, holding out her scroll. Cinder frowned. It was a register, showing a name and an address. "Saphron Cotta-Arc…that sounds familiar. Why does that sound familiar?"

A wave of false glass shimmered over her body, changing her appearance completely. Cinder's eye widened in recognition. "Arc! That girl Pyrrha's partner, yes, I remember him. He has family, here in the city?"

If he has family here, no doubt he would be staying with them. And if HE was staying with them…Cinder grinned.

It had been weeks since Mercury and Emerald's betrayal, and months since her humiliation at Beacon. She had faced injustice after injustice, forced to suffer incompetent followers and traitors. And now, finally, she would have her revenge. She glanced again at the address, committing it to memory. "Found you," She whispered in delight.

I really like this chapter, despite being a bit of a lighter one. Petty Emerald is a joy to write. In other news, I have begun writing the second to last chapter. It looks like this fic will end at 31 chapters, unless something changes at the last second, or a chapter winds up being longer than I thought, which is entirely possible.

It should be clear from that, and what chapter we're on now, that I won't be covering the Atlas Arc. I was never going to. The beginning and end of this fic was planned from the start, generally speaking. I won't spoil anything, but I don't want anyone to keep reading expecting me to cover all the way up to vol 9.

Thank you for reading, I do really appreciate it. If you enjoyed this week's chapter, please let me know with a comment!

As always, I crosspost on AO3! Next Chapter: Tuesday, August 27th