Note: Only one more chapter to go! And then... things get really serious. Enjoy.


This is the story of a student named Aqua Lilliota.

Did anyone have a problem with that?

Aqua was many things. Talented. Plucky. Hateful. Humble. The humblest, actually. Super fucking humble. She had her sins and vices, of course, the same as anyone else. And yet, despite the fact she was a perfectly normal person for the most part, she had this nagging sensation that the universe was punishing her. The past four months of Aqua's life were a tale of misery and woe fit only for the loneliest and most depressed of peasants. Truly, no one in all of Remnant suffered quite like she had suffered. Where was she even to begin? So many miserable memories to choose from after all. Oh, maybe with the time that Team RWBY destroyed a giant Grimm and became the biggest celebrities on the planet. That fucking sucked.

Was there a worse feeling in the world than watching the worst people she knew achieve levels of fame, power, and success she could only dream of? No. She couldn't think of any. Maybe, like, a loved one dying of cancer, but honestly, she was confident she would be more pissed off watching this. Team RWBY were snakes in the skin of teenagers, venomous twats who sucked up all the oxygen in the room wherever they went. They glowed so brightly in the spotlight that every other student in Beacon was forced into their shadow. And for four goddamn months, Aqua had been watching them with envy and spite and so much goddamn hate that just thinking of them burst a blood vessel in her brain.

Beating the Grimm was only the beginning. Aqua was hate-watching Team RWBY give some interview when she received word that she would be heading to Atlas Academy for her next semester. Great, just what she needed. Winter. She didn't have the complexion for the Atlasian climate. She also didn't have the complexion for a billion fucking pushups, but that was what the drill instructors made her do every day. Wallowing in Atlas Academy was brutal. Every day was muscle-burning, instructor-screaming, ear-ringing, bone-chilling slog, and she was pretty sure that the Academy stripped ten years off her life expectancy. Not that Team RWBY had to deal with any of that shit. Noooooooooo… those bitches got to start a fashion line. They got cool beach vacations and could walk around without those tight-ass Atlas Academy uniforms that weren't even a matching shade of blue for her hair! The double standard would have been laughable if it didn't make her blood boil. Or freeze, technically. Because of, like, the cold.

Wait, but how could she forget? Team JNPR and Team CFVY got to join in on the fun as well! And by fun, she meant shit. When she heard the rumors, she didn't believe them at first. Team RWBY? Sharing? Nuh-uh. But nope! Absolutely true. That fun-ass beach vacation got to be shared with a group, and during the seven days that Team WhateverTheirFuckingNameWas disappeared from Beacon, Aqua was allowed to stew in her resentment. She lay awake at night thinking of them, picturing them in her mind, with their string bikinis and their splashing in the waves and their drinking games and their giant orgies and their pool floaties. It made her sick! Those selfish brats were mocking her by having fun without her! Like, did it never cross their mind that she wanted a beach vacation? That she would like to participate in the orgy? She loved the beach! Her name was Aqua! That was related to the water that was next to the beach!

So, Aqua plotted her revenge. Her teammates—Tia Arancia, Mattis Brown, and Cyrus Cedarman—all tried talking her out of it at various stages. She would get expelled, they said. You should let it go, they said. You can suck my fat dick, she said. Oh yes, she would have her revenge on Team RWBY. She would make them pay for their egos, for ignoring her and treating her like some silly background character. She would craft a plan so devious, so complicated, that the most brilliant minds in Remnant could not foresee it. She crafted a sprawling narrative of how it would play out, each twist and turn like a political game of chess. She planned to make alliances and break apart her enemies, to slowly siphon Team RWBY's power for herself, and flip the script on those wrenches once and for all. She would transform herself from a single, lowly student into a genius dealbreaker and powerbroker the likes of which Beacon Academy had never seen. She would set Team RWBY's world alight, and then dance in the flames of their misery.

Unfortunately, Aqua was also really fucking lazy, so she didn't actually get that far into planning before she got bored.

But now, the universe had thrown her a bone. As she stood on the stage in front of her angry classmates, taking in the admiration from her headmaster and accepting the immense responsibility of the Vytal Festival, she realized she had found her success. She had totally fucked over Team RWBY, and she barely had to try. Because she was the best.

So she may have stopped her classmates from getting healthcare or whatever… big whoop. She was victorious, and they'd all have to live with that.

While Aqua danced her little dance, Ruby stared up at her from the ground with dazed confusion. She only just remembered her: Aqua Lilliota, member of Team ATMC, the middling team that once challenged them early in their first semester. Aqua had been on a team with her sister and Blake once upon a time, though it might as well have been a lifetime ago for how little it meant. Ruby had even made a modification to her weapon, inspired by Aqua's spear—though much like the student, the weapon form was mostly forgotten. And that really was the key: Ruby hadn't thought of Aqua in months. She was such an overwhelming nothing that she hadn't even approached her for a personal bribe. Of all the things to stop her from competing in Vytal, she was really going to let this nobody stand in her way?

She sneered. The answer was obvious. Ruby rolled up her sleeves and marched up the stage. Aqua was far too busy declaring victory to realize what was happening until Ruby had gotten directly in her face.

"Stop that."

The order was harsh. Weiss stayed behind though kept on her toes in case she would have to rush to Ruby's defense. The members of Team JNPR were cautious, unsure if they should assist in Ruby's mission, or even what they could do to be persuasive. Team JJWL simply enjoyed the chaos. Aqua paused her dance for a moment, butt jutted out and hands over her head. She pursed her lips.

"Um… no?"

"How much?" Ruby asked plainly. She was not in the mood for games, but Aqua hadn't even realized they started playing.

"How much what?"

"You know what."

"No, I don't."

"Everyone has a price," Ruby stated. "How much would it take to make you drop from Vytal?"

Aqua considered the question but merely laughed off her adversary. "Uh, nothing? Didn't you hear me like two seconds ago? I wanna be in Vytal."

"Fifty thousand."

"Nope. Vytal."

"One hundred thousand."

"Still wanna do Vytal."

"Two hundred thousand."

"Look, you can say all the big, round numbers you want," Aqua explained condescendingly, "but I will have you know my dad is a pediatrician. I'm not exactly strapped for cash right now. And you're not even considering the obvious. As long as you want to be in Vytal, I'm gonna compete. Get over it."

Ruby clenched her fist. The first thoughts that came into her mind tumbled out of her mouth. "What is your problem?"

"My problem is that Vytal is in two weeks and I have to think of something cool to wear for all the fancy events," Aqua retorted. "I need a dress or something. Or maybe a cool suit. Yeah, suits are cool."

"I can't believe you," Ruby said angrily. "I can't believe someone would ever act like this." She saw Ozpin smirking out of the corner of her eye. Of course, he was loving this. He just got saved by the stupidest outcome possible. Aqua had no idea what she was getting into; just a vain child screwing around with forces far beyond her comprehension. She gave the rest of the Beacon students a bad name, and Ruby lost some of her cool as she was forced to confront the deeply irrational.

"I'm sorry, Miss Sweatshop," Aqua said accusingly. "If you got a problem with me, I suggest you get on your knees and kiss my beautiful ass."

"That! That is exactly my problem! Who speaks like that?"

"Me. I just did," Aqua snickered. "Fuckin'… stupid…"

Before Aqua had a chance to bury her public reputation even further, Professor Ozpin stepped in, lightly tapping her on the shoulder. She screamed in a panic but quickly calmed down when she realized it was just an old person.

"You should stop speaking with Miss Rose, Miss Lilliota," Ozpin said calmly. "She's only here to antagonize you. Come, we should celebrate your entrance into Vytal. Where is the rest of your team?"

"Oh, it's those dudes," Aqua stated, pointing to a nondescript part of the crowd. "Cyrus, Tia, Mattis, come on up! We're partying!"

Tia Arancia, Mattis Brown, and Cyrus Cedarman did not see the point of celebrating. Aqua's teammates in arms and decent Huntsmen in their own right, they were actually trying to shrink themselves as much as possible. Unbelievably, they thought getting promised benefits into retirement was actually really cool, and they were far less content to throw themselves into a very dangerous, possibly fatal tournament they had no real chance of winning. However, they were loyal to their team leader despite her manic behavior. Reluctantly, they stood up and shuffled through their peers, scooting along the narrow walkway to reach the stage. The other students didn't even bother to stand up for them.

Close to the stage, they were forced to walk by Weiss, who like Ruby, had no clue how to react to these horrible circumstances. She had her own frustrations; for all she rejected from her home kingdom, she still tried to carry herself with some dignity, and these three boys had none. She could tell from their ragged clothes and shrunken demeanor they were nowhere near prepared for the honor of the Vytal Festival. Yet, she had more pressing concerns. She could feel Ruby's rage flooding over, and her heart went out to her girlfriend, whose usually successful plans had come undone at the seams. But she was also fearful. A furious Ruby was a Ruby fueled by Rosaline, and she had no doubts that the Red Angel was plotting somewhere in Ruby's subconscious a cleaner, bloodier way to eliminate this new threat. And, well, she had seen what happened to the Maiden. It wouldn't be much of a fight.

When they finally stepped onto the stage, Ruby realized she remembered them even less than Aqua. Tia, an artist with a strange orange hairdo and a perpetual sneer. Mattis, a curly-haired boy with stubble and a hoodie who did not want to be there. Cyrus, a sickly-looking quiet kid who permanently seemed like he was going to sneeze. What were their weapons? Their Semblances? She genuinely couldn't remember.

These jobbers were going to represent Beacon in Vytal. Her blood boiled at a higher temperature.

Aqua ran to her teammates and pulled them all into a big group hug.

"Guys, we made it! We're finally gonna live our dreams!"

Mattis frowned awkwardly, speaking in a hushed tone that was nonetheless picked up by everyone in the deathly quiet auditorium. "Uh, Aqua? Maybe we should talk about this first?"

"Talk? What's there to talk about?"

"We can talk about how we're going to die in Vytal," Tia moped.

"Nah, we'll be fine."

"What if we fight Team VLNC?"

"Wha—nahhhhhh. They love us." Aqua looked over her shoulder toward the smirking seniors sitting on the stage. "Yo, Viv. We're friends, right? You wouldn't murder me to death?"

Vivian had no fucking clue what was going on anymore, but she was smart enough not to protest any of it. She just shrugged. "I have no idea."

"See, she loves it."

Nevan gently raised their hand. "I'd kill you."

"They don't really mean that," Aqua claimed.

"Yes, I do."

"What a jokester."

"They definitely mean it," said Vivian.

"I'm gonna kill you if we fight," Nevan repeated. Aqua smiled anyway.

"Oh, you." She whispered to her teammates. "Okay, let's try to avoid a fight with them."

Shockingly, her words didn't do anything to soothe her teammates' restless spirits. Unfortunately, they were not really in a position to argue. Aqua had signed up with all of her recklessness, and she was going to drag them through hell to get her revenge on Team RWBY. They couldn't influence her. It was as if they were the background characters to a different, far more violent but loveable background character.

Ozpin was quick to recognize the doubt on Team ATMC's faces and sought to move quickly. Ruby was a clever child, and the longer he delayed, the more likely she was to come up with some scheme to remove Team ATMC from the competition. He passed by a fuming Ruby, disregarding her like some worthless thing. He tapped Aqua on the shoulder, and she screamed in terror. Then, she sighed when she realized it was just an old man.

"You gotta stop doing that," she stated.

"Well, I believe that we should probably be on our way," Ozpin stated. "No point dawdling when there's plenty of paperwork to be signed."

Aqua frowned. "Ew. Paperwork?"

"That is traditionally how it goes."

"Ugh, fine. Lead the way, Bossman."

Ozpin pulled Aqua close to him and began to lead her offstage, her teammates shuffling behind her like a herd of sheep. He pushed her past Team JNPR, who felt helpless watching their friends lose their grasp. He sheltered them from Team JJWL, who only certainly saw new, easy prey. But crucially, he kept her back turned to Ruby. As far as he was concerned, the matter was done with. He needed to keep her mind clear of distractions.

But Ruby was never going to give up. She had to think and think fast. Once Aqua learned how to write a signature, she was going to be locked into Vytal, and she was far too stubborn to change her mind. Money wouldn't lure her out of the Festival. Would power? But what power could Ruby offer she hadn't already—and why the hell would she give Aqua any shred of actual authority in anyone's life? Think, please, think. What fueled Aqua? What got her out of bed in the morning? What inspired her?

Ruby suddenly came to a realization. Once it clicked, it seemed so obvious. Aqua was only halfway down the first step when Ruby suddenly spoke up.

"Okay, Aqua. You win. You've sort of beaten us fair and square."

Aqua stopped dead in her tracks.

"Uhhhhhhh… what do you mean… sort of?"

Ozpin grabbed her hand and tried to pull her along, but she was as still as a statue.

God-fucking-dammit.

Ruby shrugged innocently, playing dumb. "No, nothing. I shouldn't have said anything. You beat us."

Aqua smirked. "Oh. Cool."

She continued walking down the steps.

Okay, play slightly less dumb.

"No, I did say sort of," Ruby said quickly.

"Aha!" Aqua turned and sprinted back onto the stage. She ran up to Ruby and jutted her finger into her chest. "Reveal your bullshit!"

"It's not bullshit," Ruby stated. "I'm just saying, you only sort of defeated us. Like, it half-counts."

"Uh, no," Aqua said defensively. "It fully counts. I took something you really wanted. I win. That's a gigantic win for me and a big, fat loss for you."

"Yeah, but I'm not even that mad about it," Ruby explained. "Because you only won by default."

"Yeah, and that counts!" Aqua shouted. "It one hundred percent counts as you being beaten."

"Yeah," Ruby shrugged. "Technically."

Aqua fumed. Technically? Technically? This bitch was really going to start playing technicalities with her? No way. Not fair. Absolutely the fuck no way goddamn not. This was her moment of triumph. What gave that redheaded bitch the right to say it shouldn't count? Hell, it being a technicality should make it extra count! Because, like, she exploited a loophole, and that was… clever? Yeah! It was clever! She was clever, the cleverest little bean that ever was! Fuck Ruby for trying to downplay that. Ruby should be weeping that she got outplayed, not shrugging off the defeat with pathetic excuses!

"It's not an excuse, it's the truth," Ruby stated. Aqua blinked. Huh. Had she been saying that out loud?

"Whatever! Excuse or not, I still—"

"Technically."

"—won!"

"Exactly."

"Yes! Wait, no! Not exactly! I win! I win, I win, I win!"

At this point, Aqua was stomping on the stage like a pouty child, and Ozpin's face was thoroughly slapped by his hand. Aqua's teammates just stood by and watched her have another temper tantrum. They knew better than to interfere, otherwise their faces would be the ones being slapped.

"If you insist," Ruby shrugged. "I mean, it wouldn't be as good of a win as if you had actually beaten us."

Aqua's eyes went wide. "B-Beaten you?"

"Yeah. Like… a physical beatdown. Right, Weiss?"

Ruby turned to Weiss for support, and her girlfriend was with her every step of the way. She climbed onto the stage and rushed to Ruby's side, nodding beside her like some enthusiastic corporate yesman.

"Absolutely. A defeat in combat would have actually been humiliating," she said. "I mean, if you had ever defeated me, I would… I mean, I would just—"

"Kill yourself," Aqua said bluntly.

Weiss was taken aback. "What? No! I would just… bawl on the floor… or something."

Aqua nodded. "I mean, I'll take it."

"Yeah, it'd be so embarrassing and heartbreaking and shameful if our team was defeated in combat by your team in front of all of our peers," Ruby said with a sigh. "Then, everyone would know that you are better than us for all time."

"But alas… technicality," Weiss said bluntly.

"They'll always know you never really beat us."

"And we'll know that."

"So really, you only sort of won."

"That's how it goes."

Aqua let the words bombard her like some sort of bombarding thing. Weiss and Ruby—two overly smug cunts just drilling her with her shortcomings. It was far too much for someone as insanely talented as her could bear. Were they right? No, they couldn't be. She was better than them. ATMC beats RWBY every time, except for the one time they fought and they lost but that didn't count because of reasons. Everyone knew they were better, too. Like, look at all those smiling faces in the crowd, happy to see RWBY being beaten. Wait a second… those people were frowning! Could it be…

It was…

They were mad she didn't beat RWBY in a non-technical way!

Dammit, fuck, goddammit! This was all coming undone. Her moment of victory was tainted by Ruby and Weiss smiling through the whole thing, deflecting and denying the scope of her accomplishment. Her joy was robbed from her by a thief in the night. What was the point of taking everything away from Team RWBY if they weren't going to be miserable about it? No, no, that wouldn't do at all. If she was going to truly defeat Team RWBY in a way to immortalize herself in the history books of Huntresses, she would have to do more than outsmart them. She would have to break them. She would have to rip them limb from limb and make fine pottery out of their torsos. She would have to see them stripped naked and paraded through the streets of Vale. She would have to tear off their skin, dip it in oil, deep fry it until it was golden brown, and then serve it with a plate of red beans and rice. She would have to make Ruby watch as she tortured her girlfriend and slowly drove a spear through her heart, helplessly crying out as she choked to death on her own blood.

She would have to punch them.

Ozpin couldn't stop it. Her teammates couldn't stop it. Once the idea entered her head, no force on heaven or earth could possibly stop her. She raised a finger to the sky and declared her intentions with as many cruel intentions as she could summon.

"Challenge by the Honors!"

Ruby and Weiss exchanged knowing glances.

"Oh, no," Ruby said dryly.

"Oh, yes!" Aqua laughed. "Tomorrow, one final showdown! RWBY vs ATMC! When we beat you, you will forever know that we are superior to you and the best Huntress team ever and you will finally let us go on vacations with you!"

"And when we win," Ruby said. She suddenly paused. "Wait, what?"

"Nothing! I hate you!"

"O-Okay." Ruby continued. "When we win, you drop out of contention for the Vytal Festival."

Ozpin called out desperately. "Miss Lilliota, don't—"

"Deal!" Aqua stuck out her hand, and Ruby shook it with vigor. Aqua gloated proudly to the audience, who had suddenly lit up with smiles at the possibility of their benefits being restored. "Everyone is invited to the fight tomorrow! Get your asses ready, because you're about to see the ugliest beatdown of a team of Huntsmen students you've ever seen."

Ruby and Weiss smiled at each other. For once, they agreed with Aqua.


Thirteen injections. Five consecutive hours of tests. Too many broken bones.

Velvet sat on the edge of the bed, white linen cloth crumbled beneath her fingers. Her teammates said nothing. Coco kneeled at the side of the bed, her fingers overlayed with Velvet's, trying to find some understanding in what she had just heard. The nurse had chosen his words carefully, explaining to her step-by-step his findings. The room had been silent ever since only the gentle humming of medical equipment kept the silence from overwhelming them. Velvet tried to smile through her disbelief, teeth shimmering through a broken face that still hadn't healed—that may never heal. With her words clogged through a disfigured nose, she let out something resembling a laugh.

"What… what do you mean I don't have Aura?"

The nurse shook his head. "That's what the testing shows."

"Right, but I mean… it's wrong," Velvet stated. "I have Aura. I'm just… tired right now. That's why I can't use it."

"That's not what the machines show."

"Then your machines are wrong," Coco retorted. "She can't just not have Aura. She's a Huntress, for god's sake."

"I'm very aware of that," said the nurse. "Honestly, I've never seen anything like it."

"Well then, there must be some sort of mistake," Velvet insisted. "Because if I don't have Aura, that would mean…"

She would never heal properly.

She would never fight properly.

She would never be all right ever again.

Velvet was never one for bad luck, but she would be the first to admit that the recent months had been crueler to her than she could ever remember—not that her memory was doing all that well since the Vault anyway. Injury after injury, setback after bloody setback. She had been trying her best to push past it with a decent attitude, but her teammates could see her smile shaking. The Aura injections were keeping her mobile, working to heal her body along with whatever supplements nature provided. But the Vytal Festival was only a few weeks away, and her teammates were counting on her. The world was counting on her. If she couldn't fight, how could she…

"Maybe… maybe you need more tests," Coco suggested. "Or… that Aura collar. Maybe it has some side effect, and your Aura is still suppressed somehow. Right?"

She looked around to her teammates for support. Yatsu nodded, though only because he felt pressured to. There was so much he wanted to say to Velvet, so many conflicting emotions tiered on top of each other, but he could only give passive support. Fox barely reacted at all. He was, for foolish internal reasons, trying to play it cool. Inside, he was a nervous wreck. Velvet was an essential member of their team. He was happy she was all right when she shouldn't have even been alive, but their collective future just took a massive hit. Coco, sensing their hesitation, squeezed Velvet's hand tighter.

"It's gonna be fine. We'll figure out some way to fix all of this."

"Y-Yeah," Velvet said. She spoke eagerly to the nurse. "I'm sure you'll think of something. A-And maybe it will come back soon. There's no way this hasn't happened before. We shouldn't panic."

The nurse grumbled under his breath and checked his notes. If the patient asked him to be supportive, he would be supportive. There was no use arguing. But it was one of the strangest medical cases he had ever seen from a student. He was not the person to ask about this. Velvet needed treatment far beyond the limitations of Atlas Academy. All he could do was test and recommend she take the time to rest… not that she had the luxury to listen to him.

There was a quiet knock on the door. It creaked open slightly, and a purple bow popped into the room. An uncharacteristically timid Blake peaked her head inside shortly afterward.

"Hey, uh… am I interrupting something?"

The immediate glares gave Blake her answer. She looked away and started to retreat when Velvet suddenly spoke up.

"It's all right. You can come in."

Blake hesitated a few seconds longer. The air was no less thick with tension as she stepped into the room, arms dangling by her sides. The nurse walked past her, leaving the students alone. Blake relaxed outside of his presence, though with Team CFVY's fury at her, she couldn't let her guard down. She wondered if they blamed her for Velvet's current state, or if this was just leftover resentment from their vacation… or if the difference really even mattered.

"I just, well, wanted to stop by and check in. See how you were feeling," Blake explained. "So… how are you feeling?"

"I mean… not the best," Velvet admitted. "But better than I have any right to be, all things considered."

Blake nodded, but before she could respond, Coco cut her off. "Since when did you care about how she's doing?"

Velvet sighed. "Coco, we don't need to start this."

"I don't mind starting this," Coco sneered. "You've never once given a shit about Velvet, and now you're acting like you suddenly care about her? Come on. Just say why you are here and get out."

"I just… wanted to see how she was. Really," Blake insisted. "Like, the Vault fucking sucked, and we're still working together, and I… wanted to see how you were. Honest."

Coco's suspicions weren't alleviated in the slightest, but Velvet could sense Blake's sincerity. She wasn't coming here out of ill intent. If Blake wanted to be a bitch, she would have just left her alone. The fact she dragged herself here, seemingly of her own accord, was enough to let Velvet lower her guard.

"Well, truthfully," Velvet admitted. "I'm having a bit of difficulty healing."

"Yeah, I can see that," Blake said, crossing her arms. "Did the doctors give you a timetable or an estimate or anything?"

"No. There's maybe some… complications?" Velvet said carefully. "Hopefully nothing. I just want everything to go back to normal."

"Yeah, well, nothing's ever normal with us. Sorry. But actually, I did slightly lie when I said I just wanted to check in on you. There were actually two things—two other things—I wanted to say."

"Which was?" Coco asked, expecting the worst.

"First, about your injuries," Blake explained. "I got this… friend. A really cool guy. He might be able to help fix you up. At the very least, he can work on making your face less…" Blake gestured broadly to her own face, struggling to find the words. "… you know."

"You do?" Velvet said. She thought she may have heard of this "friend" before, either from Blake or Coco or someone, but the exact details escaped her. She gulped. "He might not be able to help me though. My Aura is acting a little strangely right now."

"Oh, he doesn't need Aura. It's all physical," Blake said quickly. "I mean, I'll be honest. I totally called him already. I know he's going to have to look over Yang, and I figured, if he's going to be in the area, he can look at you and see if there's anything he can do. He's great. Like, you won't even believe how much he can fix in just a day, you know? So, really I'm just saying… you should talk to him and see what he can do."

"Y-Yeah. I definitely will," Velvet said. If he could do anything to make her better, she would jump on the chance in a heartbeat. If Blake's Human qualities were anything to go by, she might have a decent chance of becoming an active Huntress again. At the very least, she cosmetically wouldn't look like she had just been run over by a semi-truck. "What was, um… the second thing?"

Blake grew visibly more uncomfortable. She rolled her head and the words became stuck in her throat. The condescending stares from the rest of Team CFVY were wearing her down. She considered just leaving the room, bolting out, and pretending the conversation never happened. She thought of maybe throwing out a joke answer, a quick Blake-esque quip to establish that she hadn't changed. But as contrary as it sometimes seemed, Blake Belladonna had a conscience. She wished she had Team RWBY to back her up, to put words in her mouth that wouldn't sound so pitiful, but she had to do this alone.

She mumbled under her breath.

"Thank you for saving me."

Velvet's ears perked up. The rest of Team CFVY leaned in.

"I'm sorry, did you just—"

"Look, you saved my life, okay?" Blake groaned. "Like, unquestionably. If you didn't act, I'd be where you are now, and I should thank you for that, at least. And this doesn't fix any of the other problems we had, okay? Like, politically, I'm still fucking furious at you. You don't get to do one good deed for me, and then that suddenly makes up for everything else you did, because I'm not the person you wronged in the first place. But if we are talking just between us? I'm not interested in doing the silent treatment anymore. I can't bring myself to do that. And for whatever other personal issues we have, I am willing to put them all on hold until you get better and we fix this whole Grail mess. Once that's out of the way, I'll start actively hating you again. But in the meantime…" Blake shook her head as if she was disappointed in herself. "I'm calling a truce."

Velvet had never expected to hear kindness from Blake Belladonna. In a way, she still hadn't. Calling what Blake did compassion would disregard the more pragmatic reasonings she had. Team RWBY needed everyone on the same page, and extending a peace offering was an excellent way to ensure Team CFVY cooperated for what lay ahead. But Velvet could sense within Blake some genuine guilt; not actual guilt for anything she had said in the past, but the potential of knowing that if she didn't at least try to make things right, she would never be able to live with herself. Her awkward shuffling was enough to inform Velvet of her internal struggles, and she didn't even wait for a response before she turned on her heel, having said her piece.

"Okay, I'll leave you alone now. I got to go check on Yang anyway," Blake stuttered. "I'll text you my friend's number later. Bye."

"Blake, hang on!"

Blake only stopped when she realized it wasn't Velvet calling after her. The activist was still too surprised to speak. It was Coco calling after her, only barely able to keep straight herself. Blake kept her back turned and huffed.

"What?"

"Just…" Coco sighed. "Tell Yang I'm wishing her a speedy recovery. Okay?"

Blake nodded slowly. "Sure."

Just as soon as she arrived, Blake Belladonna was gone. She swung open the door and left with such intensity that one would have thought an invisible hand was throwing her out. When she closed it behind her, she released a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. Her chest hurt. Fuck, that was easier than she stressed about for the last hour, but it still gave her anxiety. Her, Blake, with anxiety. She hated how much she had to think about this. Then again, she hated everything she just said.

Thanking one of the worst people she knew. She preferred that to an actual apology, but then again, she would have preferred getting crushed by the Maiden to a fucking apology.

Well, it was done with. She got it out of the way. She could finally move on to something more important. Yang was in one of the next rooms over. But fate wouldn't let her leave yet. She took a few steps down the corridor, but the door behind her flew open, and Velvet came spilling out into the white hallway, nearly tripping over herself.

"Wait!"

"Oh my god, what?" Blake asked, spinning on her heel. She was visibly frustrated, but there was still some softness behind her stare, enough for Velvet to continue. The young activist clasped her hands together over her heart and spoke nervously, words interrupted by jitters. She had to turn her gaze away from Blake just to keep herself from breaking down.

"I… Blake, I know I shouldn't…" She took a deep breath. "I'm not supposed to be alive right now."

Blake said nothing. Her lips were straight as an arrow.

"I had no right surviving that Vault," Velvet confessed. "After everything I've done, I should have died there. It's like this weird feeling in my chest that… that I was meant to die there. It would have been justice for everything I've done wrong. But I'm… I'm still here, and I don't know how. All of this is so strange to me, and it's terrifying. Thinking about it fills me with a dread I can't describe. But the thing is, I… I don't know how I'm still alive, but I do know why. And you… you were right. About everything."

Blake relaxed her shoulders but kept quiet.

"I'm… I'm a horrible person," Velvet stated. Tears started to form in her eyes as the truth overwhelmed her. "I have been living my life running away from the consequences of what I did. And I've been trying to pretend that I'm better than that, but I'm not. I am a coward, and I am selfish. But I… I don't want to be that anymore. For some reason, Ruby, Rosaline—the universe—gave me a second chance. Maybe I don't deserve it, but I know that I can't let it go to waste. I want… I want to be the person everyone believes I am. And I… I can't do that without your help."

Blake sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaustion overwhelming her.

"Look, there's a lot of Faunus out there who can help you."

"But none who have been through what you have."

"I'm not the person who can give you forgiveness."

"I'm not asking for forgiveness!" Velvet said passionately. She pulled her hands to her chest and bowed, exposing her shame and humility in equal measure. "I want to learn from you. You know how to help the Faunus. You know how to make things right. I just… I want to know how to make things right."

Blake could only snicker. Really? Her.

"Please don't laugh. I swear, I really mean this," Velvet said desperately. "You care about the Faunus. You truly care for them. You've never been afraid to give up everything to make their lives better. That's the kind of bravery I wish I had. I know you aren't perfect, and I know that there's more out there than you could ever teach me. But you're the only person I can talk to about this. You're all I have. I…"

She fell to her knees, her entire body trembling. "Blake, I don't… I don't want to waste the last chance I have…"

Blake did not say much as Velvet started to openly cry. Thrust into the open arms of death, Velvet Scarlatina had tasted the abyss. The darkness that lay beyond this realm was something she couldn't fathom. Every precious second she had in this new life had to be spent meaningfully. And maybe Blake would cast her aside. It was her right. Even with that fateful shove to safety, Blake owed her nothing. But Velvet had to be genuine now, with herself as much as anyone else. The cold of death still lingered on her tongue. If Blake rejected her, it couldn't hurt her nearly as badly.

But Blake didn't turn away. Instead, with something of a defeated groan, she approached Velvet and helped the crying girl back to her feet. Blake took one long look over the activist as she wiped tears from her eyes, her posture uneven due to her misshapen back. How she was walking was a miracle in and of itself, as if her body had willed itself into motion despite her biology demanding she rest. She was as broken as a thing could be, but Blake ensured that when she talked next, it wasn't out of pity. It would get them nowhere.

"Look. Susan Rekojvik. Turqoi Maleipol. Raj Song." She rattled off the names by memory, drilling them into Velvet's head. "All great authors for intro theory on Faunus rights. Pick a book. Start there. Read it and reconvene with me with this weekend to discuss what you've learned."

Velvet sniffled. "Read a whole book by the weekend?"

"That's not too much for you, is it?"

"N-No! Not at all!" Velvet promised. "It's just… I didn't think that's what you would start with."

"Well, you gotta start somewhere," Blake said with a shrug. "There's a million Faunus out there smarter than me. We should both listen to them instead of each other, don't you think?"

Velvet nodded carefully. "I… I guess so."

"Cool. Read the book and we'll talk about it this weekend. We're gonna turn into decent people one step at a time." She gave Velvet a gentle pat on the shoulder, and turned to leave again, this time for good.

"Do I have to agree with everything they say?" Velvet called once more. Blake rolled her eyes as she picked up the pace.

"You kidding? Disagreeing is half the fun."

Blake left Velvet behind. She didn't know how her life would turn out. She thought briefly of how many of her feuds ended with truces. Weiss, Sienna, now Velvet. God, was she actually good at forgiving people? She shuddered at the thought. She much preferred the idea of incredibly violent, immature vengeance. If her from last year would have seen her now, she would have called her a coward. Blake figured she would take it as a compliment.

She didn't have far to walk. She had monitored Yang's recovery closely, there every step of the way for her examinations. She needed to see how she had rested. Unquestionably, she would be miserable. Yang Xiao Long, trapped in a small room, unable to step out of bed? Maybe she would be on her Scroll, checking her socials, or watching some dumb video about pets to pass the time. Blake wondered if she should have brought flowers, or maybe a book; something to cheer Yang's spirits as she was stuck in bed, healing from her injuries. Yang probably thought that would be cheesy, and Blake could picture her saying something dumb and flirtatious seeing the lilacs that matched her eyes. Blake hid a smile as she found Yang's door. She tried to steady herself for the worst though, just in case. Yang could have taken a turn for the worse overnight. Hopefully not. She opened the door.

Instead, she found Yang, in her sweats, doing push-ups off the medical room floor. Blake's heart nearly jumped out of her throat.

"Yang, the hell?"

Yang strained as she finished what might have been a hundredth push-up, loose, golden hair cascading in waves on the reflective tile. She picked herself off the pristine surface as Blake closed the door behind them. She struggled only slightly as she made the final effort to straighten her knees.

"Just trying to stay active," Yang explained cheekily. Blake grunted, pawing at the bed, where the sheets were crumpled into a ball and tossed aside.

"Yeah, and you aren't supposed to move," Blake reminded her. "We have Stiltskin coming this weekend, and you're going to fucking paralyze yourself before he shows up."

"The doctors said I was fine to walk around," Yang promised. "I'm just not supposed to get into active combat. As long as I'm not falling over, I shouldn't aggravate it anymore."

Yang was a titan. Her strength was incomparable, but maybe more impressively than that was her ability to heal. A vast ocean of Aura let her walk through life-ending injuries with barely a scratch, and a body clean of scars was evidence enough of its ability to recover. It was what made her such an effective tank, and what caused a younger, reckless version of her to earn a false sense of invincibility. Through car crashes and laser beams, Yang always came out standing, though this time, she had a little help. She didn't reveal how many Aura injections she took into her back, and Blake didn't want to know. The damage was described to her as "teetering on the edge of a cliff", and that already sent the Faunus's anxiety skyrocketing. Her spinal cord was saved only by Nora's absurd, Aura-inducing hammer strike, and the herniated disks and fractured vertebrae should have been enough to leave a person bedridden for months, if not years.

But Yang just started doing jumping jacks, the only sign of pain being the sight wince she made every time her feet hit the polished floor. Blake grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Hey. Stop that. Please."

Yang came to a halt. Blake kept her emotions mostly in check, but Yang had seen plenty. She frowned.

"Sorry. I just… I need to make sure I'm okay." She gently removed Blake's shoulder and walked around the bed. A window lay in the south corner of the room, sunlight beaming through long, vertical shades, and she stared outside toward the Atlas Academy courtyard.

"You are not okay," Blake reminded her. "Like, that's why you're here, you know?"

"Yeah, but you know what I mean," Yang sighed, leaning with both hands pressed against the windowsill. "Second time this year I've been removed from activity. Before this, never even happened once. I mean, that's a lot to deal with."

"But it will be over soon," Blake promised. She sat on the rough mattress, letting the dragon have her space. "When he gets here, he'll fix everything, so don't strain it before then."

"If he fixes it anyway, not really a point of straining it."

"That's true, but come on."

"Sorry, sorry. Not trying to argue. Just… shit, this sucks." Yang sighed, discontent. "I already haven't felt like myself all year. Now throw this on top of the pile."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Yang chose her words carefully. "I don't think I've ever been… overpowered like that before. I've always been the strongest. Nothing's ever really challenged that. Even when I lost in the past, I had some kind of excuse I could tell myself. Like, remember the giant Grimm bird?"

"I don't really," Blake admitted. "I was concussed."

"Okay… fair."

"But you did have an Aura collar on your neck."

"Right. I wasn't myself. If I ever lost, I could always just say I was beaten some other way. I got a crazy amount of excuses. When Ruby beat me, she just outsmarted me. When the chimera beat me, I was dissociating. But this?" Yang's fingers tightened against the windowsill. "The Maiden just… beat me. It didn't sneak up on me, or depower me, or anything. It was just… stronger. I got overpowered. And it makes me feel like… I'm so useless compared to everything else that's out there."

"You aren't useless though," Blake insisted. "I'm so sorry you feel like that. But you aren't useless at all."

"Compared to the Maiden? Compared to Rosaline?"

"Those are exceptions that you are never going to have to worry about," Blake promised emptily. "I totally understand what you are going through, okay? It makes perfect sense. But I don't want you to overthink this. You are still the strongest Huntsman I know. The fact you are standing here at all is proof of that. That's special, and you don't have to do jumping jacks after almost being crushed to death to prove that to anyone. Trust me, if anyone should feel worthless, it's me."

Blake immediately regretted saying that. She shouldn't have tried to overshadow Yang's feelings with her own, but her doubts just slipped out before she had a chance to stop them. Yang turned around, sensing the discomfort on Blake's face. She wasn't bothered though. While most of the attention had fallen to her and Velvet after the Vault, she wasn't blind to Blake's feelings. She had been through a hell all her own in the darkness, and no one had been there to help pick her up at her lowest.

But Yang was here now. She was going to make the most of it.

"Hey. I get what you are feeling, but I don't want to hear you call yourself worthless."

Her words were meant to be uplifting, but Blake just played them off with a laugh.

"Really? Yang, I couldn't do anything," Blake reminded her. She nearly choked as the memory came back to her. "You were stuck in that thing's grasp, and I was trying, and trying to get you out, and I might as well have not even existed. I just had to stand there and watch you almost die. That's by definition… worthless."

"Blake, it's okay—"

The topic suddenly changed before Blake could dwell on it. "And now we might have Vytal coming up. The whole team is going to count on me to pull my weight or else we're all gonna fucking die, and what am I supposed to do there exactly? You have Ruby with freaking angel wings that can cut through anything, and you have Pyrrha, who has never lost a fight to anyone. Penny has a billion weapons. Vivian has kicked everyone's ass. And I…" She thrust her arms out in front of her, splaying out her fingers, grabbing toward something that wasn't there. "I have a sword, a pistol, and some rope. I know we have some weaker links on our team, don't get me wrong. But compared to what you can all do, I'm pathetic."

"Whoa, whoa. Let's stop for a second." Yang knelt by Blake's side, holding her hand. "I am fine if you want to let out your frustrations, and I know you are just trying to be honest with how you are feeling. But let's work on that self-talk, okay? You are absolutely not pathetic, and you are not worthless."

"I feel pretty worthless."

"Well… fuck your feelings, I guess."

That got a short laugh out of Blake, and Yang moved swiftly to reassure her.

"Look, considering how we all got our asses kicked by the Maiden, we clearly need to get some upgrades. You're easily the most skilled fighter on our team—Weiss wouldn't have been able to kick your ass if you didn't train her."

"True."

"And she probably sucked worse than you did in the Vault."

"Also true."

"My point is, we need to get equipment that can stand up to Fables and Grimm. Ember Celica is in the workshop right now. Maybe Ruby can spread some of her Rosaline magic to Gambol Shroud. I don't know. But my point is that you are still incredible. You're basically the soul of Team RWBY. I don't know what I would do without you."

Blake tried to smile. Yang was being unbelievably shmaltzy, and after the hell of the Vault, she needed some dumb, incredibly unfunny humor to remind her of what being normal felt like. But it was Yang's final sentence that broke her. Despite her laughs and her attempts to be strong, Yang's words violated her defenses and caused her to crumble. She turned away from Yang, clasping her hand over her mouth, and Yang could see her face become hot and cragged lines appear on her forehead. Blake shuddered, her hand balling into a fist inside of Yang's grip. Yang sat on the bed next to her, trying to draw her close.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing. It's just…" She took a shaky breath, trying in vain to keep herself together. Yang squeezed her hand.

"Take your time."

Blake wiped away some fragments of tears before they could form into something wretched. She took several more deep breaths, but everything came out trembling.

"I… I really thought I lost you," Blake confessed. Her golden eyes met Yang's, and the dragon wilted. "And you know it's… it's not great losing someone you care about. You just start thinking of all the mistakes you made with them. All of those regrets from time you wanted to spend with them, the things you wanted to tell them…" She faltered, only slightly. "You just really wish you hadn't wasted so much of your time with them. And you hate feeling like they died not knowing everything they were supposed to."

Yang stammered. "B-Blake… I…"

Blake grabbed both of Yang's hands suddenly, squeezing them tightly. She spoke with a genuineness that was unbefitting of her. "Look, I know I fucked up our relationship a lot. I'm the problem here, and I get that. But you need to know that… a-and I know I don't say this enough… I really care about you. You're my best friend. I cannot thank you enough for putting up with all of my bullshit and being patient with me when I didn't deserve it, and being impatient when I needed a kick in the ass, and just… listening to me. I really… I…" She struggled to find the correct word. "I appreciate you."

Yang smiled softly… but not nearly enough as Blake wanted. She had chosen too cautiously. Try that again.

"I need you. How about that?" Blake asked innocently.

"Blake," Yang sighed. "It's not a contest."

"Well, there's another word there, but I'm not fucking saying it," Blake said quickly. "That's not a word that I say."

Yang held back a laugh. "No, no, I get what you mean. I… appreciate you, too."

Blake breathed a sigh of relief. Fuck, why was she so bad with her feelings all the goddamn time? Weiss wasn't even this bad when she was confessing her feelings to Ruby, and that was something way more stressful. If she was worthless in combat, she was a disaster at conversation.

But Yang didn't mind. It was what made Blake who she was, and Yang didn't ever want to change that. But if they were on the topic…

"Actually, there is something I wanted to tell you, too," Yang confessed. "Because the truth is… you've been trying to be open with me these past few months. And I haven't really been returning the favor."

"What do you mean?"

Yang steadied herself. After nearly dying and losing her chance, it didn't seem so scary to look Blake in the eye anymore.

"I… we… haven't been the same since our merger," Yang admitted. "When our personalities combined, it was more than just gaining a new perspective on things. Yin and Yang made something, I don't know, new. This person that you have been calling Yang for the past few months… she isn't the same Yang you knew when you first met. We're something different, I guess."

"You are… not being clear," Blake stated dryly. "Are you saying you aren't Yang?"

"No, we are. We just… aren't."

"You are so bad at explaining this Branwen's disease stuff."

"Yeah, we know."

"So you and Yin…"

"No, Yang and Yin…"

"Okay, so Yang—OG Yang—and Yin were two different personalities who lived in the same body, right?"

"Yeah."

"And then something happened that caused the two of them to merge, and since then, you've been calling yourself Yang and acting like you are Yang."

"Right."

"But really, you are a totally distinct third personality that just happens to be more like Yang than Yin, because Yin was always the dominant personality. But it's really its own separate thing, and it has been this whole time."

"That's…" Yang blinked. "Okay, see that's actually pretty spot-on."

Blake playfully huffed. "Okay, that wasn't hard at all."

"No, we guess not."

"Why can't you explain it like that all the time?"

"We're not good at explaining things!"

"Right," Blake said calmly. "So you still have all of Yang and Yin's memories, but you don't see yourself as either of them, and that's causing you some issues."

"Some issues? Blake, it's so fucking confusing," Yang confessed. "Like, we can't even begin to describe how alien it feels. It's like we're walking around in a body that doesn't belong to us—our whole life doesn't belong to us. Everyone wants us to be a version of Yang that doesn't exist, and no one ever wanted Yin to exist in the first place. But this is who we are now—this weird, half-and-half thing stuck with two sets of memories that don't belong to them. And you…" Yang sighed. "This isn't what you want. We weren't the person you had feelings for. They're gone now. So, like… what are we supposed to do now?"

Blake sat quietly for a few moments. Yang wasn't anywhere close to crying, but her heartache rang out with every syllable. She started to pull her hands away from Blake, but the Faunus refused to let them move. She kept Yang firmly in place, close enough to feel her ragged breath on her skin.

"No… I don't really buy that."

Yang shook her head in disbelief. "What? What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, that you're really such a different person than you were before," Blake explained. "Not to tell you how to judge your own experiences, because fuck knows I'm not an expert in it. But Yang, Yin, you… I don't really know if we can treat them like these vastly different people. I mean… how much of Blake Belladonna is even a real person, you know? When you fell for me, I was just a disguise. Belle was the real person, and she had to break down a lot of her barriers and break a lot of her principles to get close to you. I can act now like that's all behind me, and like I've made some huge change to who I am. In some ways, sure, I have. But Belle isn't gone. She's always going to be there, part of me that I can't let go. And Yang and Yin are still you. They make up your memories, and your past, but they don't have to define who you are—and likewise, you don't have to think of them as some other thing that you just happened to be. Yin, and Yang, and Belle… they're all just stepping stones as we follow the path toward who we ultimately become. And for the record…"

Blake rested both her hands on Yang's shoulders. "This version of you is the best version you've ever been. This person, right in front of me, is who I would trust with my life. It's who I am actually willing to open up to. It's the person who really listens to me. This person, right fucking here, is going to make a lot of people's lives brighter by being in it. And she—they, whatever—they are going to make someone…" Blake bit her bottom lip. "They will make someone very happy one day."

Blake didn't know why she added that last part. Maybe appreciating Yang had brought a thought to her mind that she had been trying to bury. Maybe she meant for it to be some kind of affirmation and it just came out terribly, terribly wrong. It was entirely unnecessary, and unfortunately, it would bring about her ruin. Yang had been following along, stuck on every word, their soul lifted by Blake's act of reassurance. For once, a clearer picture of who they were emerged, and they could see themselves clearly, confidently, as who they always were meant to be. And then with that one little throwaway line, Yang's attention shifted. The two stared at each other silently, suddenly aware of how little distance there was between them. They were expressionless, staring into each other's eyes, drawn together by something that had no right being this potent.

Yang let their next sentence slip out. "I mean… you're someone."

Being near death had taken much from Yang Xiao Long. Apparently, their inhibitions were one of them.

"I… I mean…" Blake cleared her throat. "That's not… wrong…"

Blake didn't want to leave any regrets between them.

"And we have been working on each other… listening to each other…"

Not nearly enough.

"The people we were… they weren't ready for this."

"But they were just stepping stones. Right?"

Blake leaned in closer.

"Right."

They never broke eye contact, lost in each other's gaze.

"And if we need to grow…"

Yang licked their lips, which had become so dry they almost couldn't speak.

"Maybe it's easier together."

Their faces were inches apart, and soon that distance was reduced to almost nothing.

Blake shuddered. "You know, I suck with words."

Yang sighed. "Same."

"But I could show you how much I appreciate you in… other ways."

Blake was using that tone again. God, Yang forgot how much they missed that.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

Yang closed her eyes and leaned in. Blake did the same—and then the door flew open, and Ruby jumped into the room.

"Emergency meetin—whoa!"

Ruby had burst into the room with great enthusiasm, but the second she saw Blake and Yang close to locking lips, she screamed in a panic. Blake and Yang desperately pulled away from each other, coughing and clamoring and doing everything they could to seem like they weren't going to fuck in another doctor's office. They stood up and Blake ran to the other side of the bed, desperately trying to explain away what Ruby had just seen.

"Nope! Nothing!"

"We're good!" Yang insisted. Weiss followed Ruby into the room, a split-second behind on seeing her teammates getting insanely gross with each other.

"Guys, the hell?" Ruby cried. "Are we really doing this again?"

"What? Us? N-No," Yang said with a nod.

"Of course, not," said Blake.

"That would be…. Pfft, I mean…"

"Ridiculous."

"Totally ridiculous."

"Why don't you tell us your thing?"

"Yes! Do that!"

"That's way more important."

They were right, of course. This was way more important. Like, it wasn't even her business at all what her sister got up to. But, like… holy shit, she did not want to deal with more Blake and Yang relationship drama in her life. Not on top of all the other drama she was currently dealing with. Weiss gently tapped Ruby on the shoulder, puzzled.

"Um… did we just walk on you two about to have sex or something?"

"Sex?" Blake exclaimed way too fucking loudly for being in a public place. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Schnee. Fucking pervert."

"What's the emergency, Ruby?" Yang asked very, very, very urgently.

Ruby just took a deep, trying not to let her frustrations get the best of her. "I… I just want to say… at least compose yourself until we are back at the dorm. Geez…"

"The news, Ruby?" Yang asked again.

"We… we maybe have a path to Vytal," Ruby explained, frustrated. "But there's a small problem. Do you remember Team ATMC?"

Blake and Yang awkwardly looked at each other, and the Faunus answered for the both of them.

"That's a team?"