Whatever reason that Rider had for going for his more princely outfit as opposed to his battle armor was gone the moment they entered the room. No wait, Rider thought. Too armed. Chiron's presence was already known around Mistral, at least among a few huntsmen and huntresses. Qrow's presence, along with Vernal, didn't need much to convince Leonardo about anything else.

Negotiations were short. There was hardly any sort of greeting to be had. None of them even bothered with their cover stories. With Qrow's presence alongside Chiron, Leonardo was able to piece together a good enough guess as to the current predicament.

"All this time?" Leo asked. He was seated behind his rattling desk. Even the key for the Vault was rattling just as hard if not more. Any sign of color was fading from his body with each passing second. That mane of his was losing its luster and volume as the floor is being littered with fallen hair.

Qrow had his hands on the desk, doing little in stabilizing the poor table. "Not exactly. I had a little… anonymous suggestion."

"And you still—"

"Technically, Salem's immortality is no longer as clear cut as it used to be. We actually have a chance this time, Leo." Qrow reigned in any hint of desparation.

Rider's eyebrows went up. Qrow still hoped that Leo could change, huh? Saves them the trouble, at least. Mistral would be in better position if it still had its headmaster, a sense of stability and order in times of uncertainty and hardship. Otherwise, they would need someone else to take his place. Chiron perhaps?

"But it's impossible!" Leo exclaimed. He was shaking his head furiously. More of his hairs were falling out. No bald spots yet. "Not with all the huntsmen and huntresses gone!"

"We're actually doing well enough," said Chiron. "You're welcome."

"You—"

Chiron nodded. Leo's fingers continued to shake. His eyes darted everywhere as he processed that revelation. Leo begun to mumble to himself. No one could understand what he was saying, but he was mumbling fast.

"You people are crazy; you know that?" Leo's voice never returned to that calm. He tore off the key to the Vault. "You want to take a risk that Ozpin has been trying for centuries and failing, then be my guest!" Leo then especially addressed Chiron. "You take over my office, if that's what you want!"

"Headmaster Leo, sir!" Ruby tried to call out. But it was too late. Her voice became a poor whimper. "We have a chance now. We could win."

Leonardo Lionheart had jumped out of the window, enforcing himself with aura as he landed and then fled. Chiron was the only one who could keep track of the faunus as he kept running, gaining few peculiar eyes in his direction.

Qrow sighed and Vernal shook her head.

"Mistral is doomed if that was its huntsman headmaster."

"Hey," Qrow defended. "In other times, that man was one of the bravest I know."

"Yeah, was. Past tense."

"Ooh, didn't think Ray would actually think about teaching grammar."

"You want to run that by me again, old man?"

"He broke down at the knowledge of Salem." Rider stepped in. He did his best to hide his disappointment. Whether that was for Leo or for the display from these two bandits, he didn't know. The pleasures of having to wear a helmet. It was a shame he wasn't in his armor in that moment since he was sure that everyone saw it.. "I suppose not even the promise of the Grail could convince him to stay."

Qrow picked up the Vault key, having calmed down enough. He still had some of that Branwen tendency of stregnth rules inside of him. Might be a genetic thing. "So, key secured. Now we just need the Maiden. I don't know about you guys but I'm not exactly keen on going back to Vale just to pick up a lost bird."

"We really can't force it open?" Ruby asked. Her eyes drifted towards the Servants, Rider especially. He was sure that it was because he was the Rusted Knight.

Chiron shook his head. "It is conceptually locked. Anything else that isn't considered to be the Spring Maiden is rejected." Chiron turned to Rider. "Unless…"

"No," Rider replied. "Paper Pleaser Raven is still just a Paper Pleaser. No Maiden bypassing there."

"Worth a try." Chiron shrugged. "More on that note, how many questions did the Relic have?"

"That time, it was two. Probably still the same here. Ozpin wouldn't hide that if he was more open with us back in Patch."

"That is good." Chiron nodded. "All we need is the one. Everything else is in this document."

"Document?" Ruby asked. "The one we got from Mistral Below?"

"That's right, miss Rose. Let's find some seats. Since we're here in the headmaster's office, we might as well use the privacy. And let's hope that Raven finally shows up."

"Doubt it." Qrow shook his head. "Considering the only person she would have gone to; odds are that she's hiding out. I know Tai is a big softie."

"Thank you, Qrow," Lancer replied.

"Hey, my luck isn't that bad." Was Lancer trying to goad out Qrow's bad luck?

Rider stayed quiet. He had expected this sooner or later and while there were a few interruptions, it was inevitable that this would occur. His connection to that story of the Little Prince, his outfit outside of battle, and Lewis' involvement. The connection of Remnant's Holy Grail War and the Companion Servants. The matter of the documents in Chiron's hand. Chiron told them of everything he knew, leaving out details in regards to the other members of this League of his; one of them was one of the participants of the Grail War, on Salem's side but with a wish of their own.

Pyrrha could only stare at Rider as Chiron relayed information about Lewis and the Voyager probe. Launched in ages long before any calendar on Remnant, the Voyager space probe was meant to carry a message across a sea of stars from a pale blue dot called Earth. Its electrical power had long since died and the lonely probe was left adrift in the cosmic ocean.

Eventually, that space probe had been pulled by Remnant's gravitational force and landed near where Lewis was, after the Ever After. With it came the concept of the Grail War.

A composite of sorts, Rider thought. His eyes examined every part of his outfits. While Jaune Arc still reigned as the dominant influence of the Rusted Knight, the signs of Voyager's influence were clear now.

In some respects, Jaune had been a kind of Voyager in the Ever After, telling the stories of Remnant just as that space probe told the story of Earth's humanity. Rider wondered if that red sash also meant that a Pyrrha took his place much like this one.

"Is that why Dust doesn't work in space?" Ruby asked.

Interest sparkled Ruby's eyes. Rider could guess what his living self's best friend was thinking: probably the different weapons and technologies of Earth.

"It is the belief of one of our members," answered Chiron. "Dust not working in space might be a coincidence. But with this Grail War and their involvement, one could not simply dismiss the possibility that perhaps your gods do not wish for you to leave Remnant."

"Not without their approval, I bet," Lancer added. A little disgust flavored her voice mixed with a little bit of shame. As a Silver-Eyed Warrior, Lancer had a connection to the Brother gods. "Still, Gilles de Rais and now Jason of the Argonauts, huh. Remnant's first Grail War and not one of the candidates came from Remnant?"

"Most of our fame came after the Great War." Rider himself technically came to the public eye before that but by that point, his legend was hardly even worth a footnote. Legends and myths need time to develop and the Rusted Knight was no exception.

"If that's the case." Lancer crossed her arms. "I'm not sure how much help I could be."

"Lancer!" Ruby sounded scandalized. "You don't know that! We could—"

"No, Master," Lancer replied. She pointed towards where her eyes are. "These Silver Eyes of ours? These are our most potent weapons against the Grimm, beings created by the god of darkness. You know who is said to be the reason we have these in the first place?"

Ruby made no answer. It was Rider who answered for them saying, "god of light. It is also why they hurt against Remnant's people; we're created by both light and dark."

"Don't get me wrong, kid," Lancer added. "These eyes could still hurt. But that's like throwing a pebble against a falling boulder. It's probably going to scratch but don't expect much."

Chiron took this opportunity to get return to the conversation. "While Jason did provide us with the information with that wish of his, we had no reason to think that the god of darkness might not be involved this time. We have the means to deal with either and we're ensuring that we could deal with both."

"But in order to do any of that," Qrow said. "We'll need my sister first." He groaned. "Great! So we're just going to have to wait for her to show up? That's going to take way too long."

"Thank you, Qrow," said Rider. He might as well hope for the best.

"Hey, don't you start no—"

Unfortunately for Qrow, a portal had just appeared by him. Vernal stood as the sight of it was definitely clear. Raven came to them.

"Alright! Alright!" complained Raven as she stepped out. "I am not a student of yours anymore, Ozpin! You don't get to boss me around."

"The fate of the entire world is at stake, miss Branwen." Ozpin's voice on the other side of the portal sounded stern. None of those who had been students under Ozpin had heard such tone coming from him. "And I have already given you too much to time for your dillydallying! To be frank, I am practically punishing miss Xiao-Long with your continued presence!"

Another man's voice was heard from the other side. "Honestly, we should have pushed harder to have you be there."

"Arthur Watts?" Rider commented.

"Oh?" Watts replied. "I take it that you have met with them already, Chiron?"

They all turned to Chiron. He sighed. "And I take it you've met with Raven and convinced her enough to join us?"

"You could say that we have come to an agreement."

Chiron shook his head, likely guessing to the circumstances of the agreement. Rider didn't know what that was.

Raven soon closed the portal after that. Ruby's hand was half-raised before she got a chance to speak.

"Your sister is doing fine." Raven guessed Ruby's thoughts. "Better in fact. You're welcome."

Qrow sneezed. Rather, he said something under the guise of a sneeze. He didn't believe a single word out of Raven's mouth.

Lancer, on the other hand, did not miss her opportunity. "Thank you, Qrow."

Raven looked at Qrow with curiosity. Qrow returned it with a little disdain. He mumbled something to himself. Lancer just oozed of smug vindication. How she had known that it would work was beyond Rider.

"Look, I'm a Lancer, alright?" She must have read his mind. "Let me have this."

"And that's supposed to explain how?" Rider asked.

There was little in the way of explanations. Raven had already told them of her reasons and what she already knew, courtesy of Arthur Watts of all people. Chiron then proceeded to explain that Watts', and subsequently Archer's, involvement with the League.

"I cannot tell you any more than that." Chiron raised both of his arms in surrender. "Only that Watts and Archer are at least allied in this endeavor."

In return, Raven was brought to speed about the state of Leonardo. Much like Qrow, even Raven thought that Leo would stick around a little longer with the prospect of Salem's immortality. Looking at the Servants, however, must have changed her mind.

"Mistral is going to be in a state of chaos, you know?" Raven said.

"We know," Chiron replied. "But since I was asked to train this world's heroes, I might as well do it in a better suited position."

Rider did not miss Pyrrha's reaction; no one did. "You're going to become Haven's headmaster?"

Chiron shrugged. "It isn't my decision to make. But I am, at least, going to send in my application."

It was the council who would decide these things but Chiron was pretty much the only one with any modicum of teaching experience that was available. Rider didn't see any other professor, whether that had been in this timeline or the other.

"Whatever." Raven rolled her eyes. "Let's just get this over with."

The whole group soon made their way back towards the gate. Raven had guided them since she already knew. Rider could have done the same but Raven actually volunteered. She probably didn't know that Rider knew as well.

Vernal didn't speak much at all. She was busy staring at her bandit chief. Or was it former now? The Branwen Tribe was gone with any survivors outside of the ones here having deserted and are likely looking for something else to do. Rider couldn't recall that many tribe members when he had gone to save Qrow.

Chiron used the key and the gates to the Vault opened. The platform was certainly large, but it could not fit them all at once.

"Rider, Lancer," Chiron instructed. His eyes were focused on one particular direction. "Cinder's group is arriving soon. We will need time to prepare. Hold them at bay for as long as you can."

Lancer turned to Rider. "You didn't kill Berserker?"

"Had to get Qrow and Vernal out first. Couldn't risk it."

"Lancer," Ruby asked. "Could we?"

"Come on, now, kid," Lancer said. "Remember what I said about light and dark? Berserker's practically our opposite. This is me we're talking about. Bet you I could do better than rusty over here."

"Doubt that," Rider replied.

"I mean you are quite… rusty."

As Chiron descended down the platform, he gave them one last warning, ignoring the banter. "There is another. I suspect that it is Assassin."

He didn't need to say more. Even if he had, he couldn't. But with what they know now, Assassin and their Master was someone to watch out for.

Does the other side even know? Rider thought. Watts does but the man was selfish and a little self-serving from what I heard.

Rider and Pyrrha looked at one another. There was no hiding that concern on Pyrrha's face. After knowing those things, she had to be even more worried now. Rider gave her the best reassuring face that he could before changing to his combat attire.

Nora managed to tussle his hair before the helmet came on. Even after the armor came on, she still held him in tight embrace. Pyrrha wasn't the only one who was worried.

"Vernal," Rider said. "We'll need what huntsmen we could get."

"I'm coming with the kid," Qrow added.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.

"What?" Vernal gestured offense. "Don't trust me?"

"No." Qrow shook his head. "I don't." He then turned to Lancer. "Keep Ruby safe."

"Of course," Lancer replied. "Was there going to be any doubt?"

Rider drew his blade. They will have to keep meet with them as far away from the populace as they could. Thusly, he was the first to separate from them. But he at least brought Pyrrha with him as he carried her towards their destination.

The rest were soon following suit but they wouldn't be able to keep up, not against Rider's agility. Rider made his descent towards Mistral Below and leapt across the gates, still carrying Pyrrha in his arms. Pyrrha endured a little redness on her face after that.

"We need to keep them as far away from Mistral's gates as possible."

His Master understood that much obviously. Rider didn't really need to say it at all. Pyrrha drew her weapons and the two checked their aura reserves. Rider wasn't worried: he had confidence in his efficiency.

The branches and leaves moved aside. Grimm pack met with Paper Pleasers. Master and Servant met with Master and Servant.

/-/

The descent down into Haven's Vault was held in silence and Raven's eyes never once drifted from Chiron's back. That Servant appeared far too relaxed about the whole thing as he held the documents in his hands. Raven already knew of this League, courtesy of Watts and Archer.

She herself witnessed the power behind Berserker and wondered if she should have gotten involved in the Grail War. Regretfully for her, she was never chosen.

Idly, she looked around her. Those lights that pushed away the darkness of this descent must have cost a lot. How are these things even maintained? Why was the platform so slow that she had time for this?

There is one thing that was on Raven's mind. There were many actually, but she had a feeling that those things will come with the Relic of Knowledge. "Tell me. Why are you, Heroic Spirits, involved in all this? What's in it for you?"

"Depends on who you ask," Chiron replied. "You've already met with one of the members so I suppose I could tell you about the League. Most of the others have been here before."

"Before?"

"Alternate time, really. They have lived their lives here that Remnant might as well be their second home. As for myself, I am here because someone asked me to. I suspect that there would be others who would like it here."

"So that you could beat us all like ragdolls." Raven's hand was on her sword. She didn't like it to be on the other end.

"Nothing too barbaric, I assure you. Back on Earth, we would have had to keep ourselves hidden to preserve the mysteries of the world. There is usually an organization or an Extra-Class meant to keep things in check."

Chiron stretched his arms, like he had been asleep for the longest time. Satisfaction painted his face.

"But here? Many of our abilities could be utilized under the guise of aura and semblances. Remnant is full of such strange yet commonplace things that I am certain that Heroic Spirits—those who thrive being in the open anyway—would absolutely love it here."

"That's it?" Raven asked. Her palm was out, making her appear like a beggar. "That's all the reason for you people to be here? To show off?"

"No. Only part of it." Chiron shook his head. "Many of us, myself included, longed to leave behind a legacy worth remembering. Be it regrets or glory, everything we ever did, has advanced our world's humanity." A tear started to fall from Chiron's eye. "Even if each of us pushed humanity only by a few inches, we eventually made it here. Our greatest triumph is getting our story told."

The platform stopped and the two people got off of it. Finally, that platform was slow. Raven made a mental note to remind Ozpin to consider faster platforms.

"And now," Chiron continued. "Our story, the collective story of our humanity, is being threatened of being erased by a god."

"You say that as though you have faced gods yourselves."

Chiron stayed quiet. His smile was knowing.

"No." Raven shook her head. "You're kidding, right? They're gods. Literal gods!"

"There are many gods and even children of gods, Raven," Chiron. "I have trained some of them. I can think of one at the top of my head who achieved the status of godhood, in medicine."

"But how?"

"Depends on the method you use to fight against them."

The two stopped at the Vault itself. Raven already knew what she had to do and stepped forward. Before she did, however, she had some thoughts.

She had already seen to an extent what a Servant of Remnant could do and now there were apparently more. Each one having accomplished some great feat or had terrible tragedy that marked them in that world's history. What kind of world is that the gods of Remnant would rather destroy any traces of here in Remnant?

Raven knew that her answer would come from the Vault and the Relic. With her Maiden powers, the Vault's doors began to open and the two stepped inside. On the other side, it might as well be another world as their surroundings seemed like a desert yet there was no heat from a desert sun that they could feel.

There were two round, rockier circles that were more solid to stand on. There was a third that had a raised platform containing the Relic of Knowledge.

In the distance, there appeared to be mountains of some kind that only fed the image of a desert. There was smoke coming from there as well. Strangely, it was cool despite the light.

It was as though that black ashes were falling but there was no sign of a fire. Strange place the inside of the Vault is.

"I take it you already know what to do?" Raven asked. Chiron nodded and stepped forward.

The Relic of Knowledge was in the shape of a lamp. Chiron chuckled to himself and Raven suspected that there was something about the Relic's appearance that seemed funny to him. He turned to her.

"I'm going to guess," asked Chiron. "But whatever knowledge that this could give, there could only be three at most? I think Rider mentioned that but I forget."

"How do—"

"Stories, miss Branwen," Chiron interrupted. "There are many, many stories that have been told. And if I'm not mistaken, some of them had a name for these sorts of things: Jinn."

Raven's eyes widened as the Relic reacted. Time slowed to a stop as blue mists began to flood the inside of the Vault. Falling things stayed suspended in mid-air as an entity began to manifest before them. A blue-skinned, voluptuous woman that to anyone else appeared to be naked. But neither Chiron nor Raven were bothered by this and simply accepted that the being appearing before them was someone who simply looked like this. She had some gold ornaments on her person but those couldn't even give a façade of covering her blue skin.

"Well, well, well," said she. "I've been certainly curious about your kind since you came here."

Chiron was about to open his mouth before closing it again.

The spirit of the Relic only seemed amused. "And already you know some of my rules? Good. Jinn, the Relic of Knowledge. I still have two questions left for this century."

Raven nearly opened her mouth but Chiron put his hand on it. "That's fine," he said, there was slight sweat dripping from his forehead. "We only need one question answered."

"Then ask away," Jinn was in a sitting position though she was still in the air. Raven never thought she would see a being of knowledge actually being curious. Shouldn't Jinn know everything up to this point?

"I have here in my hands some documents," said Chiron. There was a pause as he recalled his words. "My question is: could the goals stated within these documents be met by the information provided in it?"

"I'll have to see what's in those documents first," replied Jinn. "I would rather read them myself. It gets rather dull seeing things in the past. But yours? Even I find myself rather…missing in some areas. Your friend somehow kept these even from me. It's quite a feeling, actually. Being ignorant for once."

Raven's eyes narrowed. Even Chiron appeared surprised.

"I… did not know that."

"I know you don't. The one who calls himself Archer is rather elusive. Every action he does seems to make even someone like me blind. I'm actually quite interested myself. An interesting fellow and one I want to know more to be honest."

The documents were raised and Jinn perused each one methodically and with a slowed pace. Her face initially started with intrigue.

"Blind?" Raven asked.

Chiron could only shake his head in disbelief. "He is a master criminal. That is all I can say."

Jinn's expression progressively turned from genuine curiosity to serious grave as she turned each page in the document. Rather than being gifted the knowledge in the instant that it had been created, she had to read it like anyone else. Her earlier words about Archer, the Servant that Raven herself had already encountered and known about, rang in Raven's mind. All of that while still keeping what essentially amounts to regular pieces of paper as merely that.

Chiron and Raven waited patiently as Jinn looked between the documents and themselves. Chiron only nodded like the two just had a silent conversation.

Jinn, spirit of knowledge, one who shouldn't be surprised at anything that already was, never appeared more uncertain than now. Raven's eyes were drawn towards Chiron, the only one who had any sort of answer that even Jinn did not have.

"I…" Even Jinn's voice sounded unsure. Whatever information she gathered from the documents must have been added unto her existing knowledge. "I was supposed to aid humanity… from all manner of threats. That was my purpose, the reason that I was created."

"And it would seem," Chiron continued. "That the very threat of this humanity, are the very ones who entrusted you and your brethren with such a duty."

The atmosphere turned solemn. Raven felt no tension. Chiron offered no words of consolation and Jinn was going through quite a human reaction: a crisis. Jinn's own was silence but her eyes went everywhere. Her form spun, rose and fell, and changed speeds until Raven felt dizzy just watching. What was going on inside that head?

"A conflict of the soul," said Chiron, noticing Raven's own reactions. "Jinn was made by the Brother gods and thusly serve as their agents. If I had to guess, she's contemplating on whether or not such an action would be tantamount of treasonous rebellion."

"You're correct," Jinn made no rebuttal. Her eyes were closed and she stopped moving. She was nodding. "And to answer your question: yes. It is possible." Her voice was quiet and low, a grim acceptance of that fact. "I had to come to terms with it first."

"They did not consider it possible, Jinn," Chiron said. There was consolation in that tone for once.

Before Jinn could return the documents, Raven swiped it exclaiming, "give me that!" She had to know. Raven knew Servants were powerful just as much as they could be cunning. But Archer was said to be a criminal.

How could a mere criminal possibly go against a being of literal knowledge? How could Archer's actions stay outside the vision of a being who sees everything that is and has happened?

"If you find an answer to any of that," Jinn said, reading her mind. Her back was to them as she seemed to continue to contemplate. "Let me know. And yes, I am still contemplating this. Consider it a freebie since it never came out loud."

Behind Raven, Chiron could only shrug and shake his head. "Archer. You've outdone yourself."

Raven ignored Chiron as she herself went through the documents. Each one had graphs and images, full of numbers, letters, and symbols far too complex for Raven to understand. What she could make out though was that it appeared to be some kind of architectural design: a building. A tower of sorts with a rather peculiar design.

"Okay, I'll bite," Raven said. "What am I looking at here?"

"You asked me earlier if we had fought against gods," Chiron said. "Sometimes, that is the case. Other times, not exactly. There are also times when we would fight against gods with other gods being our allies…"

Raven continued to look over the documents as Chiron continued to speak. She was trying to make sense out of each one. It was a weapon, that much had been certain.

"…admittedly," Chiron continued. "It is the most that we could make out of it. Archer himself said that there are modifications to the original and even then, it isn't as efficient. It is a poor attempt of a replica, if you will."

Raven heard Jinn chuckle bitterly. She still hadn't returned to the lamp? Then again, the space around them still remained frozen. "And yet it is still able to do what it was supposed to do."

"What is?" Raven couldn't help but ask. In this moment, she felt herself like a child still learning about the ways of the world.

"The schematics," Chiron answered. "Or architectural design. Whichever you prefer. A weapon that gives us an additional edge."

Raven looked up from the documents and looked at Chiron. She then turned to Jinn who turned around and met her eyes.

"A weapon," Jinn added. "To kill a god."

She turned back to the documents. Her eyes stopped on one of the pages. Unlike the others, this one seemed to be the most important piece of them all there were all sorts of notes on it. It was colored as well while the others were content with being a mere sketch with measurements. It also contained the words inspired by on it.

It depicted some kind of black barrel.

AN: It would be more accurate to say that I was influenced by the Shinjiku Subcategory Singularity rather than the Black Barrel (I just slapped that in, thought "screw it, I'll take the heat on the lore"). Mainly because I just pictured all of Atlas as the bullet. There's a reason I went with Moriarty for the Archer-Class.

Specific to FFN, speaking of Moriarty, does anybody know how long it takes for a character tag to be added? I requested Moriarty to be added some time ago (following this forum post I found). I don't know if I did something wrong or is it just a time thing?