Roman's legs felt heavier with each and every step he took back toward Willow's beach house. Though the tiny building was in sight, it took everything he had to keep moving forward for multiple reasons. His entire body was sore and sweaty in the rising Vacuan sun, and removing or unbuttoning his shirt wasn't exactly an option in light of just how many telltale marks Cerise had left on his shoulders and chest. Roman's legs and butt both ached for reasons he only partially remembered, and his eyes felt oddly heavy despite the fact that he knew he had gotten a decent amount of sleep. The guilt and anxiety weighing on him in an entirely different way did nothing to help, either.

As the young huntsman grew ever closer to the building, he finally noticed a figure leaning up against the wall next to the door. It took Roman a moment to realize just who he was looking at, his brain still occupied with mixed memories of the previous night and the cocktail of emotions wrapped up within them. Maria Calavera was busy with a scroll call, though Roman could tell her eyes were fixated upon him even from a distance. Seeing her without her goggles was unsettling enough- seeing her giving him of all people attention despite everything going on was even worse. Roman couldn't help but feel like he was being studied, or as though Maria was discussing something she didn't want him hearing and she was trying to calculate when he would be in earshot.

Perhaps it was both.

"…not yet," Maria said cryptically into the device as Roman finally arrived before her. "I should have more information for you tomorrow, depending on how things go. Gumo may be a patient man, but I have no qualms with giving him a kick in the ass to get things moving if she drags her feet."

There was an awkward pause in which Roman said nothing, merely waiting for the call to end. He could see what appeared to be a large collection of people gathered in the living room through one of the windows, though he did his best to remain out of sight.

"Right. I have my own theory as to what's going on. We'll know soon enough. Talk soon."

"…Professor Ozpin?" Roman tried, his voice coming out more exhausted than he had intended.

"Indeed," Maria acknowledged with a nod as she put her scroll away. "You look like you had… let's call it an interesting night, Mr. Torchwick. You're not quite hiding all of your battle scars, if you want to adjust yourself before you see the others…"

Roman stiffened and immediately went red. Sex was just about the last thing he wanted to discuss with his professor, no matter how attractive he found her outside of her workshop attire. In fact, that notion only made it worse as he tried not to stare.

"Yeah… it was… a wild night," Roman admitted, hoping that they could swiftly move on to another topic. "Uh… anyway…"

"Don't misunderstand- I'm not judging you," Maria forewarned with a smirk. "You're on vacation, and I would expect you to let loose. You simply chose an unfortunate time to do so, all things considered. The one silver lining is that your friends are quite capable and resourceful, so a crisis was averted. All is…relatively well, to my knowledge."

"That doesn't really fill me with faith. What exactly happened, and what's going on now?" Roman asked as he leaned to try to get a view of what the others were doing inside once again. "I've only gotten the short version, and I have no idea what's going on this morning…"

"To summarize- one of the Watchers from Those Above All has come for Raven and Qrow, and they're currently explaining what that means to Team BASS," Maria said simply. "I'll be staying with you all for the time being to ward off any further trespasses."

Roman could only stare as he tried to process the myriad implications tangled up in the two short sentences. It was enough to make he want to turn around and walk back to the city, where he could just collapse atop Cerise's stomach and refuse to move.

"But… the Relics. And working for Professor Ozpin. And the spirits in the Relics, and the whole Maiden thing, and…"

"All things that you are not supposed to know about, either," Maria reminded. "Don't worry- I made it very clear to the Branwens what was off the table for discussion when they called the rest of BASS in for the full explanation. They need to know who Sienna Khan is and why she's such a threat, with only necessary context surrounding her. Nothing more."

Roman watched as Maria pushed off the wall and began to walk the long way around the house, avoiding the windows. He moved to follow, unsure whether or not he was forgetting something he should have already known.

"And Sienna Khan is…?"

"The Watcher who has come to Vacuo," Maria explained as the pair made their way down a gentle sloping hill that ran alongside the basement. "Raven and Qrow filled Oz and I in a few months ago… and you're going to need some catching up, as well. For now, though, it would be best not to interrupt with your return. We're heading for the deck, and we can wait out there until story time is over."

"Shouldn't you be inside, though?" Roman questioned as he looked down and moved slowly to make sure his footing remained steady. "They could be talking about anything in there…"

Roman almost ran right into Maria as she stopped at the bottom of the hill to turn and face him. He narrowly avoided the woman by transitioning into an awkward little jog around and past her as he made it down onto the flattened sand of the beach. Though he didn't know why Maria looked so annoyed, he did get the feeling it was somehow directly his fault.

"…believe it or not, Mr. Torchwick, I trust you," Maria said icily. "So does Oz. If either of us thought that any of the nine of you weren't worthy of bearing these secrets and responsibilities, action would have been taken in some form or another to keep them from you. While you and I may not exactly be close friends, I agree with the Headmaster that each and every one of you has untapped potential and a firm enough moral compass to handle inheriting the roles associated with guarding the Relics and their Maidens. That is what this is really all about, in the end, and the Branwen twins understand the seriousness of that burden more than anyone else in the house right now. They can handle it. They'll be fine."

Roman couldn't help but be amused by his professor's defensiveness, given the topic at hand. For the first time that morning, he allowed himself a smirk as he led her toward the steps to the deck.

"I mean, I agree with you… but man, it almost sounded painful for you to say you believe in all of us, Professor…"

"I have a reputation to uphold amongst the students that haven't earned their way into familiarity with who I really am," Maria explained. "Additionally- bite me, Torchwick."


Ghira had heard many fascinating tales in his time at Shade Academy, but none quite so intriguing, or full of holes, as that told to him by the Branwen twins. While the idea that he was talking to two former members of a secret society tasked with aggressively protecting something high atop a mountain too isolated for most to know it existed was indeed a thrilling tale, there was too much that simply didn't add up. There were too many glances between the siblings to signal that they needed to make their stories sync up for there not to be additional information being withheld.

That briefcase they were transporting to the Headmaster was too important and suspicious not to be connected to the Watcher pursuing them.

"…so… while this is all rather… a lot to take in," Ghira said carefully, doing his best to sound curious rather than accusatory as he shifted upon the couch opposite of STRQ's, "there is one thing that I just do not understand. Even if neither of you was ever told what it was that Those Above All were protecting… why didn't you investigate the vault after the death of your father, or at the very least send a task force to do the same as soon as possible? Whatever he considered worthy of protection would have been incredibly vulnerable, and likely better kept in an Academy than on that mountaintop with whatever followers of his remain…"

Raven swallowed hard, well aware that Ghira, Velvet, Sage, and in a way, Fox, were all looking her over with suspicion. She clasped her hands within her lap as she fumbled for a believable excuse, coming up with nothing solid.

"I… well…"

"…Raven feels like it's her fault," Qrow jumped in, sitting atop the arm of the couch next to his sister. She gave him a thankful look, trusting that he had some sort of plan. "She was badly injured in the fight, and I insisted that we leave the mountaintop as soon as possible. Her Semblance was our only way out, and we weren't about to just leave Professor Ozpin and Professor Calavera there. I was… honestly afraid she was going to die. Those two agreed to go back immediately for her sake, and after that… I don't know. My only concern was Raven, until she was stable. It was out of our hands, at that point."

"After that, Beacon did send a strike team to the mountaintop to investigate, and the vault was just… empty," Raven said with a shrug. "The clan just seemed to have vanished entirely. The Headmaster told me after I recovered, and asked if I had any idea where they could have gone. It's plausible that they could have bases in other locations around Remnant. In fact, I'd say it would be shortsighted if they didn't… but we also don't know who their leader is, now. It could be Sienna herself. She's going to be a problem, especially if she has backup…"

"And fighting her with anything metallic is practically suicide," Velvet pointed out. "Fighting her in or around this house, actually, given how many things she could pull, launch, manipulate, or otherwise twist against us. Fortunately for all of you, we have a way to help mitigate her advantage. We need to get to Shade immediately. Bring your weapons."

"What are you thinking?" Taiyang asked. "You don't feel as worried as I would expect you to. Any of you, actually…"

"Vacuan Glass," Sage answered. "Incredibly strong, tempered material created from the very sands around us. Made correctly by a master craftsman and interwoven with the right proportion of dust, such weaponry is nearly indestructible."

"And non-metallic, incredibly expensive, and highly illegal elsewhere in Remnant," Bartholomew added as he swept back his hair.

"Fuck yeah," Kali offered with a toothy grin. "I want some illegal weaponry!"

"Of course you do," Bartholomew said with a roll of his eyes. "But seriously- getting caught transporting it back across the border would be very bad for us. Said weaponry is strictly regulated and tracked outside of Vacuo. It may be a solution here, yes, and may very well keep us alive… but don't get too excited if Shade is willing to invest that kind of time and money into us. Said weaponry will only be a temporary measure. We can't keep it."

"Then it's a good thing Professor Calavera is bringing it back to Beacon on orders from Professor Ozpin, isn't it?" Adam asked, drawing the attention of everyone in the room to himself. "I heard she wanted to work with the weaponmasters at Shade, study it, and bring back samples. That's why she came here to begin with. Isn't that what all of you heard, as well?"

"…oh, that is devious," Velvet praised. "And would absolutely fly to let you keep your new weaponry after leaving Vacuo. Time for some permanent upgrades... assuming we can convince Calavera to use her clout to get them made."

Fox quite suddenly turned his attention toward the doors to the deck and tilted his head in confusion. Ghira took notice of the motion and raised a questioning brow.

"Fox…?"

"…Cerise is here," Fox said, not quite believing his own words as he got off the couch and began to head for the doors. "With Professor Calavera and Roman…"


Author's Note:

Or is she?

-RD