"We are nothing more or less than what we choose to reveal."

- Francis Underwood


Damn it, why won't you give up already? Move!

Blake ducked back around the corner, scowl fixed in place.

She'd made it out of Vale and back to Beacon successfully, heading to a quiet corner of the campus and passing time by reading. She knew the library was the first place Yang would look for her — before their room, even — so that was out, as was anywhere else obvious like the cafeteria along with the entire city of Vale. At least in Beacon she'd only have Yang and maybe Ruby looking for her. In Vale it'd be who knows how many criminals, thugs, and informants.

And despite how little she wanted to confront her partner after what had happened, she wanted to confront her old partner even less.

So she'd waited until team RWBY would normally be asleep and carefully snuck back to their room, only to find Yang very much so awake and very much so standing outside the door waiting for her.

That had been almost two hours ago, and in that time she'd moved from standing to slouching to leaning to sitting. Now, to Blake's dread, it seemed as though she was five minutes short of falling asleep in the hallway, leaning against the door.

She bit her lip. She could find somewhere else to sleep tonight. There would be empty dorms she could break into, or failing that an empty classroom she could sleep in. The hard floor would be far from comfortable, but it would still be better than she was used to in Vacuo.

But that wouldn't make the problem go away. And if Yang was stubborn enough to fall asleep slouched against the door, she wouldn't be willing to let this go.

And… well, Yang looked exhausted. She'd be doubly so tomorrow morning, and Blake didn't want her partner to have to sleep in the hallway because of her.

She doesn't have to, this is her choice. Part of her mind sniped.

Shut up. She sniped back.

Steeling herself, Blake turned the corner and walked to their dorm like nothing was out of the ordinary. She was almost halfway down the hallway before Yang noticed her, half asleep as she was, but the moment she had she was on her feet.

"Blake!" she shouted, with what Blake felt was far too much enthusiasm — and volume — for the time of night.

Blake flinched when Yang launched towards her, and ignored every instinct in her screaming at her to dodge and counter. She closed her eyes and braced herself. Whatever Yang did to her… she had coming.

She flinched again when a force struck her front, and took a step back to adjust her balance.

Only to find two arms wrapped around her, locking her in place.

"Blake, you idiot," Yang mumbled.

Blake opened her eyes, but otherwise remained frozen.

"Aren't you… mad?" she blurted, wincing the moment she'd finished speaking. As expected, Yang pulled her back to arms length. When Blake met her eyes, they were a crimson red.

"Of course I'm mad, you idiot," she snapped. "I'm mad that you're being so cagey! I'm mad that you ran away! I'm mad that you made me worry!"

Blake hesitated.

"And yes, I'm mad that you knocked me on my ass to do it. You'll be paying for that one." she grinned viciously, and Blake wilted.

"But before that." Yang wrapped an arm around Blake's shoulders and bodily pulled her flush against the taller girl. "We're gonna have a chat."

Blake whimpered.

"Tomorrow?" she tried.

"Now."

"Oh…"

To Blake's surprise, Yang didn't drag her down the hallway but opened the door to their dorm, dragging her inside. Not to their other two members sleeping as she'd expected, but to Ruby arguing — actually arguing. Her. Ruby Rose — with someone on her scroll, while Weiss sat on her own bed with her scroll in her hands, a tired frown on her face.

The two noticed the door opening, and immediately dropped what they were doing.

"Nevermind!" Ruby yelped, snapping her scroll shut.

"Finally." Weiss sighed, shutting her own scroll and dropping it beside her.

Blake wilted once again as two new pairs of eyes focused on her, for a moment shuffling to hide behind Yang before remembering why that was a horrible idea and snapping out of it.

Weiss crossed her arms and looked at Blake expectantly, a posture that Ruby imitated a moment later.

"Well?" the heiress asked testily.

If it were possible, Blake would've wilted further. "Hey guys…"

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Weiss asked sharply.

Any other time, in any other situation, the heiress' words and tone would've either made Blake laugh at the attempt to appear authoritative, or annoyed at her teammate for her arrogance.

At this moment, in this situation, Blake found herself cowed.

She looked down, shuffling uncomfortably. She… wasn't going to get out of this without giving them something.

She bit her lip. What could she give them, though? She couldn't say anything about the White Fang — not only because of their reputation in general, but also because Weiss Schnee was on her team. Anything she said would either lead back to her being chased by the White Fang or that Perseus knew her. From there they'd just ask him and then her involvement with the White Fang would be revealed anyways.

If he decided to explain why he was having her killed before he did, that was.

It wasn't like she could give half the story, and telling them the full story was out, so what could she say?

There was… one thing she could do. Not say, but… show. One thing that would tell part of the story without volunteering the rest.

Met with the expectant and increasingly impatient glares of her teammates, Blake closed her eyes, steeled herself, and reached up to take off her bow.

Her second set of ears were revealed, and she couldn't help but to twitch them in relief.

And then the gravity of what exactly she'd just done settled in. Blake looked frantically to the stunned gazes of her teammates, and the suspicious glower Weiss had suddenly leveled at her.

Blake eyed the door skittishly, only to find her partner was placed firmly between her and it.

"O… kay?" Ruby was the one to break the tense silence that had fallen over their dorm room. "That means… something."

"It's certainly something," Yang mused, looking at her curiously. "But I'm with Rubes on this one. Does this have something to do with how you've been acting recently?"

It was Blake's turn to stare at her team. "Really? That's your reaction to finding out I'm Faunus?"

Yang shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, doesn't change anything."

"Doesn't mean anything to me," Ruby chipped in.

Three pairs of eyes turned to Weiss, who seemed to realize she was staring at Blake with an unhealthy amount of focus and coughed, looking away with a slight tinge of red. "I don't see why you think I'd care. If anything, I don't see why you decided to hide it," she huffed.

Blake wanted to pull her hair out. That was it? The weeks of walking around with her ears in a bow, her anxiety over the Schnee Heiress of all people finding out, just to garner that reaction?

She took a deep breath. No. The goal hadn't been to trick her team in the first place — it was to trick everyone. Sure she could've gotten away with being a bit more relaxed in their dorm, but that was it.

And, while it was nice to know her team was as good as she could've hoped, that wasn't the main reason she was being so 'cagey', as Yang had put it. Not even close.

"I'm… a runaway," Blake said carefully, in answer to their unasked question. "I'm trying to… leave some things behind from my old life."

Yang patted her arm and leaned against the wall next to the door, apparently more at ease now that Blake was talking. Ruby adjusted her posture to a more comfortable one on her bed, while Weiss' stare had resumed. Blake tried not to flinch — maybe not all of her teammates were as progressive as she'd hoped.

Not that Weiss would be wrong to suspect the worst, in her case.

"Well I'm glad you feel comfortable enough with us to open up about it, but I gotta say I'm still at a loss Blakey. That doesn't explain why you've been jumpy in Vale, or why you don't like Pyrrha — or Percy, I guess."

Blake decided not to point out that she hadn't, in fact, been 'comfortable enough' to open up about it and had essentially been forced, in favor of panicking over her second sentence.

"I don't… dislike Perseus," she said hesitantly. "I just… would rather avoid him."

Yang frowned, leaning forwards towards her partner. "Is it something with your past? You don't have to tell us the specifics if you don't want to, but are you avoiding him because he has something to do with where you came from?"

Blake didn't dare open her mouth. Stupid. Stupid. What had she been thinking, even saying that much? They were getting too close to the truth — enough that they might just ask Perseus if he knew her outright, and then…

It was looking less and less likely that she could avoid that confrontation, but if she could just convince her team that she was of no interest to him but still needed to avoid him somehow, she had a chance.

Yang sighed when it was clear she wouldn't be answering, and Ruby pouted. Weiss… Weiss continued staring at her with narrowed eyes.

"We're worried about you, Blake," Yang said softly. "We're your team, and we can't help you unless we know what's wrong. Normally I'd let you deal with your own issues if you wanted to keep them private," Blake would believe it when she saw it. "but it's clear this is a problem you can't deal with alone."

Was it? What about this could she not deal with on her own? In fact, her team getting involved would be the opposite of helpful.

Blake's confusion must have been clear on her face, because Ruby answered the question she hadn't asked.

"You're making us worry, Blake," she explained with a pout, and Blake had to look away for fear of melting. "You suddenly left us in the city without telling us where you went. We had no idea where you were!"

"We had to spend our day tracking you down," Yang added. "We stayed out looking for you until the last bullhead back, and when we got back I stayed outside the room to wait for you while Ruby and Weiss called every hotel and shelter in the city."

"You didn't have to do that," she said awkwardly, rubbing her arm. They'd gone through all that just to find where she was? Why? Why go through the trouble? She'd be fine, and even if they hadn't known that, she'd made her choice; she should've been left to deal with the results.

So… why would they go through all that just to keep her from facing the consequences of her own actions? Despite herself, Blake flushed.

"Of course we did!" Ruby crowed. "You're our teammate, Blake, so it's our job to help you no matter what!" she declared. "And you were all jumpy before disappearing into the city. Who knows what could have happened to you!"

"And we will help you no matter what." Yang inserted herself back into the conversation. "But to do that we need to know what the problem is."

She wanted to tell them so badly. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to open her mouth and explain it all.

But… well…

Blake's eyes briefly met Weiss' before darting away.

There was that. And even if Weiss wasn't here, Ruby and Yang were sure to tell Perseus — they liked him, and they'd known him a lot longer than they'd known her, that was to be sure. If they thought she was hiding something from him, it was all but a given they'd rush to inform him. Telling them was as good as signing her death warrant.

If she were being honest with herself she knew there was a chance — a pretty good one — that Perseus wouldn't kill her outright, but he would take her with him and decide what to do with her from there. Either back to Adam or to her family, she was sure — whichever held his favor more at the moment, more likely than not. Considering how pleased he'd been with the White Fang's performance in Vacuo, she really didn't like what that said about her chances of ending up a prisoner of the White Fang.

A prisoner of Adam.

And Perseus was easily powerful enough to threaten her where it mattered. Biting her lip, she looked at her team. He'd threaten to kill them if she didn't cooperate, and then her parents after them, and who knows how many others after that — Ilia? Innocent faunus on Menagerie? Children? Blake was far from soft, but she knew she had a breaking point and she knew Perseus enough to have no doubt he'd reach it if he wanted to.

She couldn't. She couldn't tell them anything. If she did, she might as well seek Adam out herself.

She'd lived in the shadow of the White Fang all her life, and she'd finally broken away to make something of herself; to right some of the wrongs she'd abetted. She refused to go back. Even if it meant forcing Perseus to kill her before she let herself be captured, she would not go back to the White Fang. Better she be dead than alive to hurt more people.

Blake kept her lips sealed.

Yang frowned harshly and opened her mouth to deliver words that would no doubt make Blake hate herself even more. She steeled her resolve; they might hate her for it, but if she kept silent there was a chance she could live her own life; there was a chance she could stay with her team.

"I've got it!" Weiss exclaimed suddenly, leaping up from her bed and pointing at Blake.

Three confused pairs of eyes stared back.

"Belladonna!" she said, as if it explained everything.

"Gee, thanks Weiss." Yang rolled her eyes. "Forgot Blake's last name there for a second. That really helps."

Ruby leaned over her bed to the bottom bunk where Weiss sat, just as confused.

Blake went still.

"I knew that rang a bell," Weiss snapped, a satisfied smirk on her face. "She's Blake Belladonna. Belladonna is the clan name of Menagerie's royal family. I dismissed it as a coincidence before, especially since there's nobody aside from the Chieftain and Chieftess active in the family. But now that we know you're a faunus, and a cat faunus at that, it all makes sense! There were rumors about a child of theirs that went missing years ago, if I recall. That's you, isn't it?" Weiss asked ecstatically, positively humming with glee.

Blake, on the other hand, stared at the heiress' grinning face in horror. She began to feel sick, and a high-pitched ring slowly started to block out the noise of her other teammate's reactions.

Rat, meet corner.

Escape.

Blake bolted for the door, slipping under the blonde's arms and leaving an afterimage of herself in her place. It occupied the brawler for the moment it took her to slip past and nothing more. A moment later she was forced to duck to the ground to avoid the arms that attempted to grab her from behind, and launched herself at the door, arm extended for the handle.

She reached it with the tips of her fingers and wasted no time turning it to open, throwing her weight against the door.

Or trying to, rather.

She felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder in the same moment she felt the arm beginning to wrap under her armpit and around her upper arm.

A scowl broke its way onto her face as she was forced to spin counter-clockwise to break out of the hold, away from the door enough that the blonde forced her way past to block it.

The other two were rushing her now, and she was forced to hop back into a corner lest she have an enemy at her back.

Three on one it may be, but she had an advantage they did not.

Gambol Shroud whipped free from her side with a near-inaudible flutter of silk, the blade quickly shifting back to reveal the barrel of its pistol with a click.

The three froze for a moment, suddenly cowed by the reminder she had a weapon when they did not. Unfortunately, actually using the firearm was out of the question — so late at night, she'd immediately attract the attention of the entire dorm.

But Gambol Shroud was nothing if not versatile.

She took full advantage of the momentary lapse to charge through their perimeter, ducking through a clumsy swing from the smallest one and kicking off of the Schnee when she tried to follow up.

She paid attention only long enough to confirm the fencer was doubled over and out of the fight for now before her feet were back on the floor, launching her towards the window.

She spotted the yellow one — the threat — launching towards her from where she'd stood by the doorway.

Threat or not, she was predictable.

Blake swung Gambol Shroud around without breaking stride, and the blonde brawler found her legs suddenly strapped together by the durable silk of Blake's weapon. She collapsed to the floor just short of her target, crashing into the wood. Blake detached her weapon with a grimace. It was expensive but replaceable. Her freedom — her life — was not.

Blake kept with the momentum she'd gained from launching off the Schnee, feet barely staying on the ground as she propelled herself towards the window.

She was so close, just one more leap-

Red appeared in front of her, blocking her escape.

Blake didn't stop her lunge, a snarl of frustration coming out as she was forced to deal with the distraction, lifting her forearm to be level with her neck and feeling her elbow slam into the shorter girl's nose. She didn't even stop her stride to reach her leg behind the child's and sweep her off her feet, using the momentum to send herself crashing into the window.

There was no telltale shattering of glass to signal her victory, and instead Blake found herself slamming into a barrier that hadn't been there the moment before.

She was slammed backwards and to the floor by her own momentum but wasted no time scrambling to her feet, ignoring the renewed and heightened sharpness in her left arm where she'd slammed into the solid construct.

She registered the sight of the shield — no, the glyph — in front of the window, the rotating symbol of her most hated enemy.

She span on her heel and shifted Gambol Shroud back into a sheathed blade, preparing to swipe at the Schnee and remove the barrier to her escape.

Instead, she was met with a wall of yellow as she was tackled to the ground. She struggled, kicked, and writhed, but they were far too close for her katana to be of any use, and the blonde specialized in hand-to-hand — not to mention she was taller, stronger, and had Gambol Shroud's ribbon which she was currently wrapping around Blake.

She struggled fitfully, even if she knew it was in vain. She struck for organs where she could, went for cheap shots where she couldn't, but aura absorbed both.

I won't go back!

She refused to. She wouldn't allow it to happen, she wouldn't! She'd promised she'd die before-

"-e're going to help you, Blake. We're with you, alright? You're safe. We've got you. I've got you."

Blake paused. Her captor- Yang was lying. She might want what was best for her teammate normally, but with her secret revealed it was only a matter of time before they told Perseus.

"It's alright." the blonde- Yang's voice was clearer, as the ringing in her ears began to fade, "We're not gonna do anything you don't want us to, alright? We're in this together. We won't do a thing till you wake up, I promise."

Until she woke up? She wasn't asleep.

But her partner's words drew her attention to how her eyes were already shut, how labored her breathing was. How her attention seemed to wane and fade in and out.

Her first instinct was to fight the pull of unconsciousness with everything she had, but Yang's words…

"You're safe, Blake. Nothing will happen to you, alright? Not while I'm here. You don't have to run anymore."

Blake didn't believe her. Not having to run? It was a fantasy, a dream she'd thrown away with the White Fang. There wasn't anywhere that was safe for her. There never would be. But if there was somewhere… she knew she could trust Yang.

"You're safe Blake. Nothing will happen. Not here, not with us."

The voice wasn't Yang's anymore, but Ruby's. That's right, she was here too.

Was she really so out of it that she'd forgotten that?

Yang… Yang would protect her. She said so. Even knowing her secrets, her partner had sworn to protect her until she was awake. So had Ruby, her team leader.

Yang… Yang was too dumb to lie. No, not dumb… earnest. She was too honest and open. She wouldn't know how to lie if her life relied on it. Ruby was the same.

Open, eager, dependable…

Blake let herself float into the throes of unconsciousness.


"Gotcha!" Yang grunted, tackling her partner and wrestling her into the bonds she'd just torn off herself, wrapping her legs in the silk.

If she thought Blake would calm when it was obvious her attempt to run had failed, she was proven laughably wrong a moment later as the ravenette began lashing out wildly.

Yang took a wild elbow to the liver, a knee to the inside of her thigh that had been aimed… higher, a forehead to her chin that had been aimed at her nose, nails on her arms, a violent tugging on her hair, and even a bite on her hand. Still, she refused to relent.

There wasn't a way in hell she was letting Blake get away this time. There was clearly something fucked up going on, and she was going to get it out of the girl if she had to torture it out. Nobody elbowed Ruby Rose in the nose outside of a spar and got away with it — least of all her partner. Not while she still drew breath.

Her semblance responded to her rage, allowing her to ignore the damage and keep a stranglehold on her partner. Her attempts at breaking out turned from desperate to pitiful as Yang's grip strengthened, pinning her wrists and not letting her budge an inch.

And then her semblance failed her as her anger melted. Now that she was finally in control enough to pay attention to something other than keeping her partner from escaping, Yang noticed the rivers of tears flowing from her eyes. She noticed her complexion — even paler than normal — more than that, she saw Blake's eyes. Normally so sharp and focused, now the amber orbs were directed past Yang towards something that wasn't there.

"Blake?" Yang let go of her wrist, attempts at restraint forgotten. She lightly tapped the side of her partner's face when she got no response, releasing her other wrist to cradle the faunus' head.

"Blake? We're going to help you, Blake. We're with you, alright? You're safe. We've got you. I've got you," she rambled, looking desperately into her eyes as if she'd find an answer there.

As if by a miracle, she did. The girl calmed slightly at her words, relaxing back into Yang's grip. Slowly — imperceptibly — color flooded back into her partner's skin and her eyes began to flutter closed.

Invigorated at the sight, Yang kept talking. She rambled incoherently, dully aware of Ruby sliding to her knees by her side and doing the same. Words of trust, love, and safety flowed forth until she went slack in Yang's arms.

Yang let out a relieved sigh, and Ruby was no different. That was… exhausting.

Carefully, Yang lifted her partner in both arms and carried her over to her bed, setting her down gently.

"Sheesh… talk about baggage," Weiss muttered. Yang felt a wall of defensiveness rise in her, but couldn't find it in herself to disagree.

"So…" Ruby began, awkwardly kicking the floor. Yang was sat on her partner's bedside, one hand rested on her lower leg while Weiss stood flushed and panting lightly towards the middle of the room.

"That was clearly a subject she wasn't ready to broach," Weiss said, lips turned downwards in a bitter frown. "But I guess her being cagey about Perseus at least makes sense now. She's a runaway princess of a kingdom in his purview. I can imagine he'd want to return her to her parents if he found out she was here, or at least tell them where she was."

Ruby nodded, eyes locked to the ground. "If she ran away from her parents and she thought Percy would bring her back, then any chance we'd mention her to him must have panicked her."

"It also explains why she refused to come to your party if Percy was there," Yang volunteered. "I guess it all makes sense now. Still, that she didn't tell us…" Yang bit her lip, watching her partner as she slept. She was so relaxed now — not eyeing every corner as if a beowolf would jump out at any moment.

"She must've assumed we'd tell Percy," Ruby muttered. "She knew Weiss would be able to tell him, but learning that you and I knew him must've been a nightmare. She was supposed to feel safe with her team…"

Yang sighed. "Well, we'll just have to keep her here until she's forced to believe we won't tell Percy about her."

Weiss scoffed. "And when did we decide that, exactly?"

Yang's eyes were suddenly locked onto Weiss', eyes flickering a crimson red. "I didn't realize there was anything to decide," she snapped.

Weiss' eyes narrowed back. "I want to help Blake the same as either of you, but we need to think this through. She was hiding this from us for weeks — she could be dangerous. I'm not saying she is!" she corrected when Yang made to rise from the bed. "Only that we don't know for sure. From what you've told me, you two know Perseus better than I do, and I'm willing to trust that he'd know what was best. You can speak to him and tell him the full situation. Do you honestly think he'd take her back to her parents against her will if he didn't think it would be for the best?"

Yang scowled, but to her horror, she hesitated.

Blake was her partner, but she knew Percy too. She trusted Percy. She trusted Blake too, but… wouldn't Percy know what to do best? She'd never been in politics or anything, and didn't have nearly as much to work with as they would if they told Percy.

But would he decide what was best for Blake? No, the answer came easily. He'd do what was best for Remnant.

His heart was in the right place, but she was privy to some of the less above-the-board things he'd done. Who wasn't, really? The irony of Weiss Schnee saying Perseus would do the right thing wasn't lost on her, not after his history with her family.

But if even Weiss Schnee thought that, then who was she to disagree? She'd have thought Weiss would be upset at what had happened to her family, but she was clearly fond of Percy despite it all.

Begrudgingly, she was forced to admit to herself that Percy would know what was best.

She glanced at her partner.

She… still couldn't bring herself to betray her trust like that. Not after the things she'd said — what they'd promised.

They were partners. That meant something beyond what was best. Beyond trust.

As Yang's mind scrambled to think of a justification for the duality of her thoughts, she remembered the last — and only — time she'd gone clearly against what Percy thought was best, in helping Pyrrha sneak into Mistral.

I won't pretend I'm not upset, but… well, I think I'd be more upset if you were more afraid of me than willing to help Pyrrha.

She hadn't made the decision Percy thought was best, but she had made what Percy knew was the best decision for her. Friends came first, sometimes — Percy understood that.

It was the same here. Helping Blake stay away from Percy — he wouldn't approve of the decision, but he might approve of Yang making the decision. That, despite its flaws, the decision to stick by a friend was the right one.

"Percy would want us to keep this from him." she said suddenly. "He understands that friends need to stick with each other, even if it's not technically the best decision."

And even if he didn't, there was the other bit of that conversation to keep in mind.

I owe you one.

She'd never intended to collect on that supposed debt, but if all else failed… using it to save a friend was worth it.

Weiss frowned. "What sort of logic is that? Perseus would want us to keep secrets from him? You can't seriously be believing this, Ruby."

Yang scoffed and rolled her eyes. "As if Ruby would even think about selling Blake out. Right, Rubes?" She looked over to her sister, unprepared to see her face torn with indecision.

"…Rubes?"

"Oh, come on." It was Weiss' turn to roll her eyes. "You cannot be considering this. Perseus would want us to keep this from him? Really?"

Ruby muttered something under her breath that both she and Weiss strained to hear.

Apparently noticing they'd failed to hear her, Ruby repeated herself. "We gave her our word."

"Bu-"

"No buts! We gave her our word that we wouldn't do a thing until she woke up! Our team keeps our promises to each other no matter what, and that's that."

"I never promised anything."

Yang rose from the bed, but Ruby beat her to it. In a flutter of red petals, Ruby's finger was pressed into Weiss' sternum.

"I made a promise as your team leader, and we're going to stick to it as a team. How would you feel if you thought Percy would try to take you back to Atlas?"

Weiss hesitated, and even Yang knew that was a low blow. She didn't disagree, though — this was the kind of argument that required getting personal. She was just surprised Ruby had managed to go there before she had.

"He wouldn't…"

"But what if you thought he would?" she pressed. "If you'd never talked to Percy before, and ran away from home. Maybe you have abusive parents," Weiss flinched. "And maybe Percy didn't know that. Maybe he'd take your parent's words over your own, and take you back anyway."

"We don't know that she was abused." Weiss protested, but even to Yang's ears it sounded weak.

"We don't know that she wasn't." Ruby countered, pulling back from the heiress when she was satisfied that she'd been sufficiently cowed. "We wait until she's awake, and then we talk about it as a team. Alright?" Ruby sent a sharp look at both of them, and Yang begrudgingly nodded. She didn't think there should be much to talk about in the first place and the last thing she wanted was for Blake to be drawn into a fight about whether to give her up or not, but she'd take what she could get. At least this way she knew that nothing would happen until Blake was awake.

Weiss looked similarly dissatisfied, but nodded nonetheless. "I suppose… I suppose it would not hurt to gather more information before deciding on a course of action. And…" she softened. "It's not like I'd want her returned to a bad situation, either…"

Yang sat back down by her partner's side, fists clenched. How could they not see Blake was afraid of this very thing? How couldn't they see that this was why she'd been so secretive and jumpy? By considering outing her, they were just proving her paranoia right.

And Yang had forced her into being exposed, rather than just giving her time like she should have. Like a good partner would have.

Well, she'd be a good partner now. She'd gotten Blake into this, and she would get her out — consequences be damned.

Even if she had to call on every favor from everyone she'd ever known, she wouldn't let Blake's destiny be decided for her.

And where Percy was involved, she knew a good place to start.

She had to find Pyrrha.


damn i feel like an idiot.

so, reason the chapter didn't go up yesterday is cause a reader on AO3 pointed out that we were close to releasing chapter 69 on 4/20. I was like 'yo ur right' and, because mentally I'm on chapter 76 and just posting these after the fact, assumed that chapter 69 is what I must be posting on 4/15. So, I held a vote on discord to delay the chapter 5 days, which passed (BECAUSE NOBODY ELSE BOTHERED POINTING OUT THAT THE NEXT CHAPTER WAS CHAPTER 68)

then i went to edit the ANs today, and realized that, actually, chapter 68 was the one being posted yesterday.

Goddamnit.

So, hope you enjoyed the chapter a day late as it is, and I hope getting chapter 69 in 4 days makes up for it.

4 chapters in a month, smh. im burnin through these things.

Also, thanks to hulk we're back at 3 chapters a month, so the schedule is now 1st, 10th, and 20th of every month.

Also also, I'll go back and respond to everyone's reviews from previous chapter, though it might be a couple days. Been really busy recently (mostly good busy, aside from taxes. up yours, IRS.) and had been putting off responding till i update. I read and really appreciate the reviews regardless.

Next Chapter April 20