Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! Sorry, it took a while for this to come out!

As always, let me know what you think!

Chapter 6- The Lioness

Present Day

Seven months after the Spade War

Clover Kingdom

Common Realm

Celestial Phoenix HQ

The Celestial Phoenix base was quiet and peaceful… too quiet and peaceful… Only six members of the squad were currently in the base itself, minding their own business for the most part: Jade was in the kitchen, making a tray of cookies and tea while Aun and Percival were reading quietly in separate corners in the living room, Alex was holed up in his observatory, grumbling that Valance had left and he couldn't see her magic, Calleo and Kanna were playing a board game together in the dining room.

"I wonder how the talk with the Wizard King is going," Calleo mused as she moved her game piece across the board, offering Kanna the dice next.

"I'm sure it's going fine," Jade reassured, settling next to her, and putting the tray of cookies and tea on the table. "The Wizard King just wanted to meet with Fiore to make sure she's settling in okay here."

"It's fun to have people from the Ace Kingdom here," Kanna said cheerfully, rolling the dice and doing a small dance in her seat when it rolled a large number; she moved her game piece forward ten spaces and Calleo sighed when she landed on a 'roll again' square. "I never thought we'd meet mages from another Kingdom so soon."

"Is it a good thing though?" Calleo wondered, absentmindedly nibbling on a cookie while Kanna took enthusiastic, larger bites out of hers; the older girl choked slightly and eagerly took the tea Jade offered her. "It seems like relations between Adriane and Valance are strained."

Jade opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, a series of pounding sounds caught their attention.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The three magic knights exchanged glances before quickly hurrying to the front of the base, their game and treats forgotten. When they reached the doors, they found Aun and Alex already there, the former gripping an astrology book tightly as his brow twitched in annoyance. He was upset that whatever research he was doing had gotten interrupted by their guest.

"Go away! We aren't taking any more missions today and you're interrupting my reading! I'm trying to read about constellations!" Alex called annoyed.

The banging stopped and Alex looked like he was about to leave when the double doors suddenly flew off their hinges by a burst of burning hot flames, crashing into the opposite wall in a burned crisp.

The magic knights all gaped, taking a step back as a woman with blue eyes and short, wavy vermilion-colored hair stepped into the base. She had red markings around her eyes, and one sharp, pronounced canine tooth.

The woman wore a white tunic, covered by a long, dark blue shirt with long sleeves and a high collar. The shirt was decorated with fabric with vertical stripes design on its edges and collar and along the sleeves that were rolled up to her elbows. She also wore a purple sash that tied the shirt and tunic closed and white trousers. To keep the shirt together, she wore a purple sash around her waist and lastly, white trousers and brown shoes.

The woman looked around the base with intense blue eyes, landing on the group of magic knights in the center. "Where's Valance?" She demanded, voice rough and loud at the same time. "And isn't Avalonea part of this squad? Where is she?"

All of the members stayed quiet, glancing at each other before Jade finally took a step forward, he recognized the woman in front of him.

"Lady Mereoleona," Jade stepped forward, he felt a shiver go down his spine when her gaze focused on him. "Valance took Fiore to speak with the Wizard King. Avalonea is on a mission with some of our other squad members. It's just us here."

"Hmph." Mereoleona looked at them again grinning, "If it's only six of you, it'll have to do." A fire paw shot out from behind her, passing the five members in front of her and grabbing onto the head of the sixth remaining member as he tried to flee.

"No!" Percival frantically waved his arms as he was brought to hang in front of Mereoleona, panic in his pink eyes. He had been hiding behind the wall, vainly hoping the woman would ignore him... but of course, she had to grab him first.

"Aren't you that lazy noble kid who was part of the Blue Roses? Did you think you could run?" Mereoleona pulled him closer so that they were only inches apart, the intensity of her glare striking terror into his heart. He shivered in her hold, gulping.

"I'm with the Celestial Phoenix now," Percival said in a small voice.

Mereoleona nodded, five more fire paws shooting out from her back and latching onto the remaining knights' heads. "Good, you'll be a good one to train with."

"Training?!" Calleo cried, excitedly. Mereoleona Vermillion terrified her but she thought this was a good chance for her to get stronger and gain experience. Mereoleona was one of the strongest mages in the Clover Kingdom and a talented wizard.

"How exciting!" Kanna cheered along with her, waving her hands through the air. "You're scary but strong. I'm sure you're a good teacher."

Alex scoffed, trying in vain to free himself, "I don't care if we do training, as long as we're back before nightfall so make it quick!"

"Does Valance know?" Aun asked cautiously.

"Can we at least clean up before we leave?" Jade asked, looking at the broken door and messy living room. "I think Valance will freak out if we're gone and the door is busted open."

"Tsk," Mereoleona knocked all their heads together and turned to leave the base. "Stop talking! Would you chatter like this if it was an actual enemy who broke into your base?" She pulled all six of the magic knights through the open door, causing them all to squirm as they were crushed together, the door not quite big enough for them all to fit through at once. Cracks formed on the walls as the vermillion-haired woman forcefully pulled them through.

"Let's go!" Mereoleona created a lion out of flames, jumping onto its back before taking off, her captives dangling dangerously by their heads through the air.

"Ah... can you at least put us on the lion?" Percival complained, looking down and regretting it. They were so high up that if she dropped them, they'd end up as pancakes on the floor.

"Suck it up! Dangling like that will build character!" She snapped.

The six of them stayed silent until the former Crimson Lion Captain dropped them unceremoniously on the floor of a mana zone that had burning hot lava rivers and an active volcano that looked like it was about to burst at any moment.

"... so what's the training?" Aun asked politely, brushing the dust off his clothes before looking up at her. He was used to living in a mana zone, so the dense magical energy didn't bother him, but he was worried about how his teammates would be.

"I want to see you fight. I was trying to soak up the natural mana around here when I was rudely interrupted by that," Mereoleona explained. As she spoke, a large Kraken-like monster burst out of one of the lava rivers, its tentacles swinging through the air.

"Why didn't you take care of it yourself?" Alex asked annoyed, he had been reading a new book on astronomy in his observatory before this woman had broken through the doors and he wasn't happy that he had been interrupted, now he was even more annoyed that she had interrupted him when she could have taken care of this situation by herself.

At his tone, Mereoleona grabbed him by the back of his neck, pulling him closer so that there was only an inch between them, and staring him down intensely. When he didn't back down, she smiled, roughly shoving him away. "You have guts Kid, I like that. But it would be better if you had the power to back up that attitude."

"Wow! You're rough! And terrifying for a royal lady!" Kanna said loudly, voice enthusiastic. "But he's right! You could have just done it yourself."

"I was going to, but I wanted to see this new squad in action so I came to your headquarters." Mereoleona grinned. "Valance gathered a large group rather fast. I want to see what she saw in you. So take care of that," She motioned at the monster behind her.

The Lava-Kraken roared again and both Jade and Calleo stepped forward after sharing a glance. "Can't we just have Alex take us home?" Calleo asked.

"She'd just hunt us down again," It was Aun who replied, he looked a bit worried as he glanced at the monster. "I think she might destroy the base next time."

"... why me..." Percival looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment, and honestly, the other five were surprised he hadn't used his magic to run away. Maybe he knew it was useless to use against Mereoleona who would probably catch him before he got far.

"Let's just do this!" Alex said, stepping forward, "We're burning daylight here! At this rate, we'll get back home after sunset!"

Mereoleona nodded, "Right, the faster you kill this guy, the faster you can get back to base so you can stargaze. The sky should be extra clear tonight." She then turned her gaze to Percival, "And you can go back to finding a hole to hide in and a book to read. Get to it!" She ordered before riding her lion away, planning to observe from a further distance.

"She's not going to tempt us with going back to base?" Kanna asked, looking after her.

"We're a bit easier than those two," Calleo mused. "How do you guys want to do this?"

"Hey, don't you guys think it's weird that the big ugly monster hasn't noticed us by now-AH!" Kanna's words cut off when the Kraken did notice them, lashing out with its tentacles.

The magic knights leaped out of the way, but Kanna didn't move quite as quickly as the rest; so Jade tackled her out of the way, getting hit slightly by a tentacle, sending them tumbling over each other on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Kanna asked worriedly, looking up at him with her brows furrowed, he looked a bit ruffled, dirt covering the back of his jacket.

"I'm fine." He grunted standing up, he looked up to see that the Kraken was starting to crawl out of the river to attack them directly.

"Fire magic: Spiral flame," A tornado-shaped blast of flames burst from Calleo's palms, slamming into the Kraken and sending it skidding back before it reached them.

Jade quickly followed up with an attack of his own, Kanna joining him once she jumped back onto her feet.

"Feather magic: Feather Gatling gun," He summoned blue and white feathers around him before shooting them out with a snap of his fingers, hitting the Kraken where it was already burned, causing it to scream in pain.

"Hell Dragon's Inferno," Kanna's grimoire opened and an aura of black flames surrounded the white-haired girl before she released them as multiple flaming needles pierced through the slick skin of the beast and setting it ablaze.

The Kraken screeched in fury and swung three of its tentacles down on them, the sharp ends gleaming in the light.

"Sacred Tree Magic: Dense Concentration," Aun threw his hand out, and a dense barrier surrounded the three younger magic knights, preventing the tentacles from crushing them.

"Are you guys okay?" Aun joined them in the barrier along with Alex and Percival, looking at the howling beast.

"That thing is tough," Percival mused, slowly he summoned his grimoire, "Acceleration Magic: Thought XL," He got quiet as a plan quickly formed in his head, sped up by his magic which allowed him to speed up his thought process, many scenarios going through his head in the blink of an eye.

"What are you thinking?" Aun asked, looking at the man who had been a magic knight the longest even though he was lazy.

"That it has tough skin. Kanna, Calleo, and Jade should charge in and do a series of attacks together while we back them up." He nodded to Aun and Alex, "I don't think any of us have any direct offensive attacks."

"I can help take care of it too," Alex took a step forward, readying his grimoire, a serious look on his face, "Let's just get this over with so that we can go back to base before night. If we do a really good job and impress that woman, maybe Valance will reward us and show us her magic."

Kanna and Calleo exchanged a quick look, "You know, being so single-minded is not good for you." She told Alex.

"Whatever, let's just get this mission over with." Alex huffed, looking at Aun.

Aun nodded and dropped the barrier but the moment he dropped his magic the Kraken launched itself at him with a howl, its beak wide open.

"Spatial Magic: Push," Alex threw out his hands and pushed the space around him outward, blasting back the Kraken fifty yards, forcing it to crash to the floor, tangling itself up in its tentacles, but Alex didn't let up, following up with another attack, "Spatial Magic: Split," He threw his hands out and increased the distance on either side of the Kraken, cutting off two of its tentacles and sending the rest in a wild dance through the air.

"Acceleration Magic: Dash XL," Percival reinforced Calleo's speed, allowing her to charge the Kraken at a speed that it couldn't keep up with. She leaped into the air, her extra speed, allowing her to sail over its head.

"Fire Magic: Burning Chains," She created fiery-red flames in the form of chains and shot them down, wrapping them tightly around the body and flailing limbs of the Kraken and anchoring the ends of the chains deep into the ground.

Once it was nicely pinned down Jade and Kanna charged in close to the Kraken, grimoires glowing brightly.

"Feather Magic: Feather Chain sword," Jade leaped up, creating feathers that formed a line together before transforming into a black steel whip sword with a white hilt. He flicked his wrist and slashed the whip across the Kraken's body, over and over again, slashing through its skin and drawing dark red blood.

"Purgatory Magic: Hell Dragon's Roar," Kanna pointed at the Kraken, manifesting the head of a black flame dragon with sharp teeth at her fingertip and fired; hitting the Kraken in the chest. It looked like a winning hit, but due to the nature of her magic, it absorbed Calleo's purer flames before it could burn the Kraken to a crisp; allowing it to break free and lash out at all three of them.

"Feather Magic: Feather Ribbon Shield," Jade reacted immediately, a pair of feathers turned into long ribbons and formed together into a body shield with wings decoration on it. The shield formed just in time to take the brunt of the impact but he still skidded across the terrain a good way back, stopping just in front of Aun who had formed a barrier in front of both Calleo and Kanna.

"Sorry, Cal! That didn't go as planned at all!" Kanna said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head, "I didn't mean to absorb your flames."

Calleo shook her head, "We should have expected that based on the nature of your magic."

"What now?" Alex asked, looking annoyed that they hadn't been able to fully slice the Kraken up. "I don't think we're making a good impression on that Lady." The rest of them turned their heads to look at where Mereoleona stood, arms crossed over her chest, and a neutral frown on her face. She didn't look impressed at all.

"What are you waiting for?" Mereoleona shouted at them when she noticed their gaze. "At this rate, you'll die and won't be able to stargaze!"

"She's right," Alex muttered.

"If you don't want that to happen, then get to work!" She added just as a tentacle swiped for them.

"Sacred Tree Magic: Dense Concentration!" Aun raised his arms and created another barrier just as the tentacles crashed down on them. "We'll just have to try again, Just don't let your flames touch." He said to the girls. The tentacle tried to wrap around his barrier, causing the invisible walls to start to tremble much to Aun's worry.

"Spatial Magic: Push," Alex threw his arm out and once again pushed the Kraken away from them by bending the space around him to his will. He then looked at a point past the Kraken and grabbed onto Kanna without a word, "Warp," He warped the space around him and Kanna, transporting them to a point behind the Kraken.

Kanna stumbled slightly, a sick look on her face. She wasn't used to this way of travel. "Some warning would have been nice," She muttered before regaining her footing.

Alex just shrugged. "I'm done wasting time, night is almost here. Spatial Magic: Split," Once again he cut through the distance between two points, slicing one tentacle in half and cutting the tip off another, gaining the Kraken's attention and fury.

Kanna ran forward when they got its attention, trying to get as close to it as possible. She twisted under a large tentacle before jumping over another as she neared the main body, "Purgatory Magic: Hell Dragon's Blade," She created a sword out of dense, burning black flames, the edge as sharp as a real sword as she continuously slashed along its body, dodging it's beak by an inch when it tried to peck down at her and swallow her whole; she was warped away just in time from the beast when Alex warped her back next to him; once again causing her to stumble and fall on her butt.

"Feather Magic: Feather Grand Festival," Jade created a flurrying storm of feathers around the Kraken, covering it completely.

"Sacred Tree Magic: Barrier Craft," Aun stood next to him, creating a thinner barrier that surrounded the Kraken.

Jade watched as the feathers multiplied inside the barrier, thickening in the enclosed space before he snapped his fingers, causing all the feathers to explode all at once and engulf the Kraken in a large explosion.

There was a moment of silence when they all waited, with bated breath, wondering if the Kraken had lost consciousness but they slumped when the Kraken let out a roar, dispelling the smoke by swinging its remaining tentacles around.

"Acceleration Magic: Magic XL," Percival gained the Kraken's attention at his words, but he kept his finger pointed up at Calleo who was soaring through the air, a bird of brilliant orange flames rapidly forming in front of her. "Fire Magic: Firebyrd's Cry," A large bird of flames rapidly flew through the air, twisting and turning as the tentacles lashed out at it, trying to stop its progress.

However, the bird was almost just a blur as it crashed down on top of the Kraken, encasing it inside a brilliant burning cage, incinerating it until the skin blackened and the Kraken fell limp onto the ground in a burnt clump.

"We did it!" Kanna was the first to cheer, jumping to her feet. "You didn't do so bad despite being obsessed with stars!" She shook Alex as she spoke in her enthusiasm.

"I'm the one who did the most!" Alex shook her off, "If I didn't it would have been night already!"

"It took us too long," Aun said, feeling slightly disappointed. Realizing that as magic knights, with a beast like this, it shouldn't have taken long.

"You're right." They all jumped at Mereoleona's voice and turned to see her standing behind them. "But that Kraken spent a lot of time absorbing pure mana, gaining more durable skin and strength, but that's no excuse." She then went ahead and knocked them all upside the head, leaving a large pulsing bruise.

"Why'd you do that?." Calleo whimpered rubbing her growing bruise.

"For not finishing quicker," Mereoleona lectured sternly. "But you did work together as a team pretty well. So I'll give you that point."

She then turned her eyes on the two girls, a slow smile forming on her face, her canine jutting out. "You two... I like your magic; you'll be training with me every few weeks."

At her words, a chill went down their spines.

"What?!" Calleo demanded, freaking out. "Don't you need Valance's permission for that?"

"What?! We're training with the scary lady?!" Kanna cried shocked.

"Are we allowed to go back to base now?" Aun interjected, feeling slightly worried for the younger girls. This woman had thrown them into an unknown situation and he didn't want the girls to end up with her alone. Who knew what she would throw them into next?

"Get home on your own." Mereoleona shrugged carelessly before taking off in the opposite direction, much to their shock.

"Let's go!" Alex had already created a portal back to base, tapping his foot in annoyance. "If you take longer, I'll leave you behind!"

At his words, the other five hurried through the portal and found themselves in front of their base, eager to rest... only they were faced with a fuming Valance, her green eyes bright with anger as she turned to look at them.

"What happened?" She demanded. She motioned to the burned and cracked walls of the base and knocked over doors.

"Well..."

Common Realm

A café in Kikka

Adriane lazily glanced around the town, her dusk blue eyes taking in the happy families and couples, the structure of the buildings, and finally crafted merchandise some shop owners were trying to sell. It reminded her of her own home... just a little bit less comforting.

"It sure is peaceful…." She mused, before taking a sip of her tea, cherishing the combination of spices. "You chose a nice place," Her gaze turned back towards the man opposite her, an amused smile curving her lips when she saw his scowl. "You could at least try and pretend you like being around me." She added at his silence.

"There's no point, this is a forced engagement," Zen answered.

"Hmmmm," Adriane nodded, she was dressed a bit simpler than usual, wearing a silky sleeveless Prussian blue blouse with a deep ruffled v-neck, tight-fitting black pants, and heeled black boots. "You didn't have to say yes."

"I was the first one who came to our Queen's mind for this task." Zen shook his head, "I don't want to disappoint her."

Adriane's eyes narrowed at that. She had suspected that Zen must be close to the Queen if he was her first choice to marry an Ace foreigner… it also made her all the more cautious of him; she didn't want to accidentally say something that he'd report back to the Queen.

"You didn't have to agree either," Zen observed.

She laughed softly at that, "No, I suppose I didn't. But, it's my responsibility to shoulder the more unsavory tasks so that no one else feels like they have to."

"Unsavory?" Zen's brows furrowed at her words.

Adriane shrugged, "You're not bad to look at. But from what I've seen you're a bit of a grump. It's no fun, I can't get a rise out of you like I do with Qrow. What a bore." She flipped her hair over her shoulder but kept her eyes on him, trying to see how he'd react.

"I don't like being harassed," Zen said he was trying to gage her just as much as she was trying to gage him; from what he had seen she could be playful and flippant one second and deadly the next.

At the words, she laughed again, but somehow the laughter sounded more genuine. "Now you do sound like Qrow. He's always saying I'm harassing him and that I should get back to work. He makes it sound like I'm the one with constantly unfinished paperwork."

There was silence after that; Adriane went back to watching the crowd around them while Zen silently studied her. He wanted to figure her out; he didn't like how she so strongly and openly disliked and distrusted the Queen; but everyone from Ace seemed to. He needed to learn why as soon as he could. He also noted that there was sadness in her eyes when she looked at the families around them.

"... do your parents approve of the match?" He asked. His parents had been informed and while they were both worried about it, they supported his decision to not fight against the engagement.

Her eyes snapped to him and he noted how guarded and dark they became. When she answered there was a mix of venom and anger in her voice that shocked him, "I suppose I'll never know. They were murdered when I was ten. But if I had to guess, they'd be displeased."

"I'm sorry for your loss," He said genuinely, he couldn't imagine how it must be to lose one's parents so young.

Adriane took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. "They married for love and wanted their children to marry for love too."

"How do your siblings feel about this?" Zen tried, hoping for a better response.

"... they're dead too, it's just me." Adriane sighed after a moment. "My family now is Qrow and the others, and you know how they feel about this."

Actually, he didn't. Not fully. He assumed that they were all on board, he had seen Nox and Amaris tease her when the engagement was first announced, and Qrow had looked smug and slightly vengeful like it was partially payback for what she had done to him. But before he could try to ask about what her peers truly thought about the engagement she spoke. "How about you? How did your parents take to you being randomly engaged?"

"They weren't thrilled that they weren't consulted and that it's not a love match, but they back my decision. My sisters are a bit more wary of the idea." He paused, debating on whether or not he should add the next part. "They'd like to meet you."

Her eyes flew to meet his. Brows furrowed, she didn't think such a thing was needed in their situation. "No."

"My mother would really like to meet you," He pressed, even though he didn't like the idea himself. He did not want her to meet his family, but he had been scolded by his mother when he had tried to refuse too.

Adriane sighed and looked away, once again looking around, changing the subject before he could ask again. "This place kind of reminds me of home," She said thoughtfully.

"Would you like to look around? I can show you some less crowded markets, they have better merchandise too." He said when he caught the glint of interest in her eyes. He could tell he wouldn't get her to agree at the moment; hopefully, it stayed that way. They could get through the six months without her meeting them.

He stood up and offered her his hand, his cold look melting into a slightly inviting smile.

She gazed at him with an unreadable look on her face. An olive branch. That's what he was offering her. She'd be a fool not to take it; he was a potential way in for her to investigate the Clover and she knew he'd also try to learn Ace's secrets from her. It was only a matter of who made the better moves during their "courtship".

She took his hand, her own smile forming on her face. "I'd love to."

Let the games begin.

Hello! We got to see some of the members work together, sorry there wasn't Mereoleona a lot in this, I didn't know how to write her. If I'm honest, I still wasn't quite pleased.

We also got to see Zen and Adriane know each other.