Author's Notes:

-Hello readers. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. As you might have noticed from my profile update, college is back in session, and with a pandemic in play. (Boy, oh boy...) I wish you all good luck in your endeavors and good health to all my readers. In related news, on September 7th will be the story's two year anniversary.

-As for the story's pacing, I'd say we're about a third to half of the way through the volume 4 saga of the story. Here's where we are so far;

Ch. 41-44 Into the Dark

Ch. 45-47 Beauty and the Beast (Blake and Adam's backstory)

Ch. 48-50 Dark Reflection and Beginning of Purgatory

Ch. 51-56 Setting the Stage

Ch. 57-69 Succumbing to Fear as the End Draws Near (Ch. 58- Mistralian Huntsman Massacre Begins)

Ch. 70-74 Fall from Power and Beginning of Everlasting Night

Ch. 75-80 Beginnings and Endings

Ch. 81-87 Scarlatti Trojan Alliance Battle, Battle for Aletheia and its Aftermath

Ch. 88-90 End of the Quintet's First Journey

-Do feel free to comment on your favorite and/or least favorite arc. And by the way, thanks for over 300 favorites. Seriously, you guys are the best.

-By the way, the names Onyx Thurmon and Wyatt Forest belong to Roosterteeth not me. Also, I'd advise you to pay close attention during the last part of this chapter. There's gonna be a lot of information revealed.

-Man, these chapters are long. Looks like another new record.

Now then, are you prepared for what's to come next?

The sun was shining on a beautiful cloudless day. It was mid-afternoon and the heroic quintet was in high spirits; what was once the Scarlatti Trojan Alliance gave up the hunt for her, weakening the Trojan Alliance, and knowing that they had successfully saved Aletheia and Aldwy made them all smile. Even Pyrrha, who weeks ago barely smiled at all, was visibly content with the way things were.

Nora squinted her eyes, looking ahead. "Is that... our destination?"

Ren nodded. "It is." The camera turned to a coastal village. "The village of Omega."

Jaune smiled to his teammates. "Looks like we finally made it."

The quintet made their way into the village. As they went down the hill to Omega, they saw a variety of houses, big and small, made out of varying materials, from wood, to brick, to metal, among other things. A few children were shown happily throwing a red ball to each other. The salty sea air could be smelled for miles.

"It almost seems unreal." Pyrrha told her friends. "That we made it here."

"Why, because the Scarlatti Alliance found us and the Trojan Alliance has a lot of ground in Vale's outskirts?" Nora asked.

"That, and the fact that Omega is really far away from Vale City."

"You think so?"

"She does have a point." Ren began. "Omega is a hard village to make it to on foot. There's no airport, no way to fly in unless you have your own private aircraft, and it is the farthest village from Vale city. Some say that if you make it here, you can make it anywhere."

They walked through the village before the screen cut away to a small shed near the docks reading, Tickets Here!

She ran ahead and the others soon followed. The ticket vendor appeared to be a middle-aged man wearing a simple business casual attire. The quintet approached him and he greeted, "Hello. How may I help you?"

"Five tickets to Vita, please." Jaune requested.

"Actually, the ship for Vita left nearly two weeks ago..."

The team leader frowned. "Well that stinks."

"What are our other options?" Ren inquired.

"Well, you have three options." the vendor began. "If really you want to go to Vita, you could wait for that ship to come back in fourteen weeks."

"Not optimal. We just need to get Mistral. More specifically Mistral city. What else is there?"

"Your second decision is Griamore Port, a coastal village in southwest Anima. That ship left four weeks ago but should be back in about ten weeks."

Nora frowned. "Still not very desirable. Anything else?"

"Your third and final choice is Aslolis, another coastal village, this one southeast. That ship is actually taking off in a few hours."

"Well it's farthest away from Mistral, but it's better than waiting around." Jaune told his team. "Alright then, five tickets for..."

"Oh, no, wait, hold on, I forgot..." the vendor stammered. "There's only one room on the next ship and rooms are only big enough for four people."

Ruby's face bordered on disappointment, but she pushed it aside and answered, "It's okay, I can take the floor."

"No, Ruby, you deserve better." Pyrrha told her.

"I'm used to it." Ruby said. "I'm the fifth wheel. Fifth wheels always get the worst conditions for the greater good."

"Ruby..."

She sadly turned away from the rest of the group. The Valkyrie turned to her and flipped her around so she could face her. "Ruby, listen to me." Nora began. "You are no fifth wheel, and don't you ever think otherwise. Fifth wheels are unnecessary parts of a machine. You are not only necessary, but wanted and welcomed. You slayed Grimm, you saved countless lives in Aletheia and Aldwy, and most importantly, you're our friend! When that madman betrayed team SOLR and whisked you away, we risked our necks to save you! I know we've all been scared, angry and/or swallowed by sorrow and/or guilt, but you are extremely important to us." Nora threw her arms around Ruby. "No one gets left behind, and we're in this to the very end."

Ruby returned the warm, friendly embrace. "Thanks Nora."

"There's gotta be some solution to this." Pyrrha reasoned. "Maybe there's an extra mattress somewhere?"

The ticket vendor began, "I'm afraid there aren't..."

Before he could finish, a vigorous coughing and retching sound was heard from afar. Everyone looked around, trying to see where it was coming from. At the top of the wooden plank ramp was a man who appeared to be the ship's captain and a female sailor. The Captain was a pale man with dark brown eyes and a white beard. He wore a black uniform with yellow trimmings, and a white hat showing the logo of his ship.

The woman had brown skin, light brown eyes and short, chocolate brown hair parted on the left. Her ship uniform consisted of three-quarter length blue sailor pants with gold buttons at the pockets, a blue and white striped T-shirt, orange neck scarf, brown knee-high boots and brown gloves. In addition to the uniform, the first mate also wore gold stud earrings. She held a bucket in her hands and looked sick.

"Is she okay?" Ren asked.

"The first mate prefers to be called 'they' but, no, they are not okay." the captain answered.

Ruby looked at the first mate with sympathy. "What happened to them?"

The First Mate threw up into her bucket as their boss answered, "They're horribly sick. Matte Skye fears that they caught Summer Anthrax, a rare but serious bacterial infection." The captain pointed towards the ticket vendor. "You, I need you to call for an ambulance immediately!"

"Right away, Sir!"

As he whipped out his Scroll to make a phone call, Jaune nervously asked, "Is it... contagious?"

"Fortunately, no, but it requires hospitalization and extensive treatment." He sighed. "Oh man, this is a disaster. With Ms. Skye out, we have no first mate and we don't have anyone else experienced enough to take her place. We'll have to delay the ship's departure."

He hung his head in sorrow.

"Wait." Ruby began. "I think we got a solution to both of our problems."

The Captain looked up. "And what would that be?"

She breathed in and answered, "I'll be your first mate and the rest of my friends will purchase the last room aboard the ship."

"How old are you, Miss?" the captain asked.

Instead of answering, she asked him, "Does it really matter?"

"Usually, I don't hire anyone under the age of eighteen, and you don't look like adult age. Then again, I might not have much choice..." He looked at Ruby, then at his sick first mate, throwing up again and gave a deep sigh. "Alright, your hired."

"Yay, thank you!" Ruby cheered. "You won't regret this, Captain..."

"Odell." He bowed as he formally introduced himself. "Captain Gregory Odell."

"Rose. Ruby Rose."

"Ruby Rose..." Odell mused to himself. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Perhaps you saw footage from the most recent Vytal Festival Tournament?"

"Ah yes, team RWBY vs team ARBN. That was a wonderful fight to see. And your friends..." He blinked in realization. "They're the members of team JNPR."

"Correct." Jaune stated. "And these teammates are getting the last four tickets for your ship."

"That'll be 2,000 Lien." the vendor told him.

The leader of team JNPR handed the vendor the money. "Here you are."

"Thank you." He was handed the tickets. "Have a nice voyage."

Jaune handed a ticket to Nora, Pyrrha and Ren while pocketing his own. A few minutes later, the ambulance arrived and the captain escorted Matt Skye to it before stepping out. Odell waved goodbye as the ambulance drove off. "Good luck, Matt."

"Don't worry, Captain, er, um, Sir." She cleared her throat. "I'm sure they're in good hands."

"I can only hope so. Now then, let's get you guys settled in."

Captain Odell walked up the ramp and gestured for Ruby and her friends to come up. With their bags on their backs, the quintet went up the ramp and boarded the ship. Upon boarding, Team JNPR handed the captain their tickets and they went to a white door, which was opened to reveal a wooden staircase doing down. They went down the stairs and made their way through a dark-blue hallway. The wooden doors they passed all had numbers written to the side of them. Eventually, they came to a door with the number 510 written beside it.

"To the members of team JNPR- this is where you'll be staying. I hope you enjoy your stay."

Jaune smiled. "Thanks."

"Looks lovely." Pyrrha stated.

"You're welcome." Odell told them. "And if you'll follow me..." He gestured to Ruby. She exited the door and followed him further down the hall to the very end with a door that read, 1000.

They entered a room similar to team JNPR's but the biggest and most noticeable difference was a ladder leading up to an open trapdoor. To Ruby's left was a door leading to a bathroom and on her right was a small area with a dark blue curtain pulled back to show an empty clothes rack. There were also a few paintings of ships, both wooden and metal, lined on the wall including a picture of the very ship they stood on above a king-sized mattress. Further down to Ruby's left was an open arched doorway that led to a kitchenette and a small table for two.

Man, this looks really nice. Ruby thought.

"And this the Captain's Suite, where we will stay." The Captain gestured to a queen-sized bed closer to the door, drawers and a table nearby the window. "You have your own bed, a drawer of your own to place some of your bags in, a full sized bathroom, walk in closet, kitchenette and a small table for us to have our meals."

"What's the ladder for?" she asked.

"That ladder leads to the entrance to the ship bay/control room. We'll be spending a lot of time up there."

"So... how exactly is this temporary employment as first mate going to work?"

"Don't worry, I'll brief you about an hour before we take off. Try to relax for now." Ruby plopped down back-first onto the bed after setting her bags down. "We will depart in about four hours. In the meantime, I'm going to gather some of Ms. Skye's personal possessions that she stores on the ship and bring them to her."

The young huntress nodded in understand. "Alright. Mind if I go talk with my friends before we depart?"

"Go right ahead."

"Thank you."

She dashed out the open door, a slightly anxious look on her face. Ruby ran down the hall to her friends room aboard the ship and skidded to a stop upon making it back to room 510.

"Hello?" Nora asked from the other side.

"It's me, Ruby."

"Ah, Ruby, I didn't think we'd get to see you this early!" Jaune exclaimed. He opened the door. "Come on in!"

Ren turned to his silver-eyed friend. "We thought you would be discussing the details of your job with the captain."

"Not quite." Ruby told him and the others. "He's taking the first mate's possessions and giving them back to her before we leave. He's briefing me later." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

"Ruby... Do you know anything about being a sailor or sailing an actual ship?"

Ruby remained silent. Pyrrha looked at her sadly, as if she knew and completely understood the reason for Ruby's actions. "You... lied... to get us all a place on the ship?"

"I did. Honestly... I'm... touched by what you said back there. I guess I've been hiding some of my feelings."

Jaune gave her a forlorn look. "Do you miss your team?"

"Of course I do." She sat down on one of the beds. "I can look back on our days at Beacon." She smiled. "When all we had to worry about was grades, getting to class on time and occasionally the White Fang. Now..." She hesitated for a moment. "that was nothing... compared to everything we've faced in the last two and a half months. Not to mention the events that occurred during The Battle for Aletheia, which almost ended as badly as the Fall of Beacon." A tear leaked from her right eye. "We weren't ready for any of this..." She dried her tears. "Yet, somehow, we all survived... We saved lives. We slayed the Grimm... And Pyrrha found herself... Yet I haven't gained very much..."

"How would you like to be the new co-leader of team JNPR-Ruby?" Pyrrha offered.

The silver-eyed warrior blinked, unable to believe what her friend was offering her. "Really?"

"Yeah... Most of my decisions got us in trouble." She timidly smiled. "Even if we did get out of it."

"Sure. Thank you."

Jaune offered her a fist bump. "To socially awkward team leaders."

And she returned it with a bright smile. "Socially awkward leaders."

"Well, now that we got that matter resolved, back to the main issue at hand." Ren stated. "Ruby seems to be unprepared for this nautical undertaking. But to what extent is she unprepared?"

Ruby dismissed his concerns. "Come on, it can't be too hard. Jaune survived his first and only year at Beacon even without any combat experience. He quickly learned the ropes. I'm sure I can do the same."

The ninja gave her a skeptical, questioning look. "Do you even know any ship or nautical terms?"

She began to hesitate. "Uh..."

"What's the difference between port and starboard?"

"Up and down?" Ruby guessed.

"Left and right. Port is traditionally where passengers board the ship. What side are the restrooms on?"

"Isn't that the poop deck?"

"Actually it's the head."

The young huntress trainee raised an eyebrow in utter confusion. "Really? That doesn't even make any sense!"

Pyrrha looked at her usually silent teammate. "How do you know all these terms anyway?"

"I once read a book that mainly takes place at sea. They were nice enough to have a glossary in the back for any nautical or otherwise foreign terms."

Ruby came to a realization. "Oh. That would do it."

"Maybe you should come clean now." Nora advised.

The silver-eyed girl tensed up. "But what if he kicks me out of the suite, or worse, throws me overboard for my deception?!"

"He doesn't seem very likely to do that." Pyrrha told her. "He seems nice enough."

"Even if he didn't throw her overboard, no doubt he'd be disappointed." Jaune remarked. "I'm gonna give some advice my sister Indigo told me before I left for the academy; 'Just fake it til you make it'."

"Well, thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Ruby." Nora told her, slightly aggravated.

Ruby sadly looked away from her. "So do I."

A few hours passed, and as many of the other ship crew members did their final preparations, Ruby stood in the control room, now wearing a star-shaped Honorary First Mate badge beside her rose emblem pin. The Captain stood nearby the wheel, facing Ruby, whose back was a few feet from the door.

"Alright, we take off in approximately one hour. I assume you've been sailing on many vessels before, so I'll try to keep this short and to the point. You will work for me, fully payed like any other first mate every Friday, until we reached our destination. Depending on how long it takes to get there, you will receive your final payment after the other passengers depart the ship, and then you and your friends can take leave. Now, on to the control room and it's functions. There's the wheel, and two different digital grids. The one on your right controls the ship's varying functions such as speed, anchorage and folding and unfolding the ramp to the ship. On your left controls the ship's cannons if we end up attacked by another ship, or worse, a Grimm. Here's the directions..."

The footage was fast-forwarded as he speak words to Ruby that were unintelligible to the audience for ten seconds.

"And that covers everything. Any questions?" Ruby had a million questions on her mind. But, not wanting to blow her cover, choose to remain silent. "Good. Now let's ready the ship for takeoff."

Ruby pressed a button towards the upper left corner. Outside, the anchor rose up.

"That was the lift/raise anchor button."

The girl appeared frightened. "Oops! Sorry, finger slip!"

She pressed the right button and the metal ramp was unfolded and slowly compartmentalized back into the ship.

"There we go. Everyone's on board who's coming aboard." Captain Odell turned to a built-in speaker in the wall. "Ground crew, are electrical systems properly flowing?"

"Systems ready, Captain!" a male voice was heard on the other side.

"Did you resolve the issue with the boilers?"

"We found the issue and hammered out the kinks."

Captain Odell smiled. "Excellent. Any other problems to report?"

"No, Captain! All systems are ready to go!"

"Perfect. And now, we take off!"

He pulled a lever, gave the wheel a small spin and the ship left the port.

As the ship took off from the bay, Ruby silently prayed, Well, here's hoping I can keep up the lie.

Ash Nikos was seen with his hood down as he walked up a hill-slide cliff in Mistral.

Well, it seems things have gotten slightly better since I learned that Pyrrha's alive. He sighed. But only slightly...

He reached the top of the cliff. At the top of the cliff was a large cherry blossom tree, currently without flowers or leaves in the middle of winter. Above him and the tree was the shattered moon, and below him were the graves of Phoenix and Merle Nikos.

"Mother, Father..." He sobbed. "Words can't describe the pain I feel." He sniffed. "I miss you so much." His sniffling broke into a sob. "I miss Pyrrha. I miss Sanctum Academy. I miss my distant friends who don't live in the city... I even miss Headmaster Aurelio Sterling..." He sighed. "I never thought I'd find myself missing the Headmaster of Sanctum Academy." He wiped away his tears. "I don't even know what the future looks like... Do I continue doing this messenger job until I'm old enough to sign up for becoming a huntsman at Haven Academy? Or do I continue until I find Pyrrha? But what if I never find her? What then? Are my efforts to find her all in vain?" His eyes began to water again. "I don't know if you can't hear me, but if you're listening... Please..." Another tear fell. "send me a sign that Pyrrha's alright." The tear fell onto their gravestones. "I love you."

He stood in silence for a few moments and began to walk away from the cliff side. As he made his way down the hillside, he put his hood back up and the scene transitioned to him in one of the lower city districts.

Alright, I got five letters to deliver in Mistral. If I can get all of them knocked out tonight, I'll be good shape. First one is in the lowest level of Mistral, and then the second. Then the third and forth are on the third level.

A montage was shown of Ash putting a letter in a big blue mailbox, one in a P.O. box, and sliding the next two letters under the doors.

Okay. The last letter, that I picked up from a poor dead guy... is addressed to someone named... He looked at the addressee written on the letter. Arslan Altan. That name sounds familiar... Where have I heard that name?

Ash shrugged it off and continued forward.

Back in the Evernight Castle, Cinder was shown sat on her bed, her back to the bed-frame. In her hands was the book she retrieved from the library, Slave to the Sword.

She sighed. I can't believe I have to read this book to prevent Salem from finding out about my silver-eyed warrior research. I suppose if nothing else, the book is nicely written. Also has some nice action and good pacing. But the label says it involves sinful romantic ventures, which I haven't found but am not looking forward to.

Her eyes turned to where she bookmarked in between the pages. She resumed her reading.

Ch. 5- The Art of Combat

Kagami pondered how she got herself into this situation. How was it possible that her luck was so horrible yet so fortuitous? She did not know, but now she had more important things to be concerned about. She got herself a position that she had no experience in, and now she had to prove she had the skills to keep her place.

'But how am I supposed to do that?' she thought to herself. 'Maybe I could speak to Sakura. She seemed to be one of Sensei Yomoto's best students here at Saki Dojo. But would she even help me if she knew the truth? I'm supposed to be a kunoichi with at least a year's worth of experience. I don't have any experience! Why did I lie in the first place? Oh, wait, you know why you lied. Or rather, why you continued Akiko Yamada's lie of being her lost-long paternal half-sister. To prevent anyone from finding out that you ran away from home to escape an arranged marriage. I even took on the last name of Yamada for crying out loud! The real me, Kagami Ishimaya, is nothing but a faker, a liar and a fraud!'

She slumped her back against the wall. She needed somebody to help her. But who could she trust?

Then she remembered that students were allowed to ask certain senseis to tutor them.

'It's a gamble, but it's a risk I might have to take.' She breathed in to calm her pounding heart. 'I must speak to Sensei Asahi Yomoto if I'm to have any chance of making it here.'

Slowly creaking open her door, she looked around to see if anyone else was roaming the halls. Pleasantly finding no one there (at least as far as she could tell), she stepped out, closed her door and tiptoed through the dormitory hall. Once she made it to the stairway, she allowed her heels to touch the floor. The stairs wore made of stone and helped to prevent the sound of her steps from being heard, allowing for more breathing room. She looked around again, just to be sure no one had followed her, and descended down the stairs at a swift yet gentle pace. Three floors later, she found herself at the bottom. She opened the door stood upon the large stone platform that housed her dormitory building. She went to metal rail surrounding the stone surface and looked at the grounds of the Hidden Garden Academy.

High in the sky, the first quarter moon illuminated the campus. Down below almost immediately in front of her line of sight was the Great Cherry Blossom Tree, which was in bloom all year. No one knew how or why it bloomed all year round when the other trees didn't, but what everyone knew was that the tree a gift to the original headmaster of the academy many centuries ago. Down to Kagami's left was the dirt path that led to the school... for those who knew how to find it. To her right was a slightly elevated mountain Scattered around the campus were other cherry blossom trees, blooming in the spring and various dojos and temples, all adorned in varying shades of blue, red and black. Climbing down the outdoor stone staircase to make her way to the ground, she made a dash. She ran past the Great Cherry Blossom Tree and went up the hill to a red painted dojo.

The rookie kunoichi stopped for a moment to catch her breath. But as she stood in front of Sensei Yomoto's Dojo, she felt a cold chill of doubt creep up her spine.

'Should I really...?'

A knock on her door was heard, forcing Cinder to put down her book. After bookmarking her spot, she opened the door.

"It is time." Salem spoke.

Cinder looked in surprise, nodded in acknowledgement and followed Salem to the throne room. The scene transitioned to both of them standing before a crystal altar with numerous lit white candles on it. Cinder stood on the left and Salem was a few more feet from her right. The Grimm Goddess turned around so that her right side faced the altar and Cinder faced her superior.

"Are you ready, Cinder?" Salem asked. Cinder nodded in affirmation. "I need to hear you say it."

"Yes." she faintly croaked.

"Thank you. Now, we may begin."

The Grimm Witch took her arms and put them in a downward v shape. Around her right arm, she summoned black energy. On her left arm, she held it out, as if she was trying to summon something. Soon thereafter, a shadow hand come to her, and it squirmed as though it were trying to escape. She held the shadow hand in her left arm as she directed the negative black energy to Cinder.

Cinder gasped, the dark energy threatening to swallow her. Salem soon directed the shadow hand to Cinder. Her left arm throbbed violently in pain, as if it were trying to escape. Her head spun, as if her brain was on fire. She felt weak all over. And where she didn't feel weak, she felt throbbing pain. Taking a sharp, deep breath, she channeled her fall maiden power on her right side and black energy on her left. The Shadow Hand extended forward without any warning, destroying one of the glass windows in the process. Cinder, who had no aura on her Grimm arm, felt a small stab of pain and groaned.

"Don't fight it." Salem instructed. "Remember, make it dread you. You are the hand's master."

Squinting her remaining eye, she glared at the shadow hand and let out a scream. The shadow hand retracted back.

"Don't think." Cinder spoke to the shadow hand. "Obey. You obey me."

You will obey me. Cinder sternly thought.

The shadow hand stopped squirming and soon assimilated itself to Cinder. She took a few breaths, and then smirked.

Salem smiled. "Well done. You have learned to secure the Grimm arm and, thanks to your treatment, avoided any possible backlash from this procedure. Now, using all of its advantages will require some more effort on your part. Don't try to use it for anything else just yet, but do use it as you would use your human arm, just to get used to the feel of it." Cinder nodded. "And it seems, if I'm not mistaken, that some of your vocal chords have finally healed. Am I correct?" Cinder breathed, but ended up coughing in the process. She gave her mistress a nod in the negative affirmation. "Of course. I'm not surprised. Silver-eyed light is always damaging to those who are part Grimm. That will be all for today. And do remember to keep your new appendage in check."

The Fall Maiden bowed to her superior, breathing in and smiling with a wicked grin.

Looks like my patience is starting to pay off. Now if I could just get a new eye...

Meanwhile, some place far away from the heroes and villains, a man and a woman stood inside an abandoned factory. The woman wore a black cloak with her hood down, revealing an oval face with pale skin, red eyes, and long black silky hair.

"Well this is just great." the woman said sarcastically. "Just great. Fantastic."

"What's the matter?" her partner asked.

Like the woman, the man wore a cloak, this one being white. His hood was also down, revealing a round face, blue eyes and short white hair along with deep skin.

The woman gave her partner a frown. "Did you not read the paper?"

"What paper?"

She sighed, and her black cloak was seen being placed on a crate along with a black backpack. With her shadow seen to the camera, her hands were shown unzipping the bag. On her left wrist was a charm bracelet with the yin part of yin and yang. She took a newspaper out of the bag and turned to the camera, revealing a long white modest v-neck dress with slits revealing her legs. To complete the look, she wore white heels and a pearl anklet.

She showed the newspaper to her partner in crime. "Look at Maura's last words."

Her partner read over the newspaper silently for a minute or two as the woman stood there with her arms folded. Then he widened his eyes as he realized... "Oh... That... might be a problem."

"Not might be. It is a problem." the woman corrected him.

The man followed the woman's lead and took off his cloak, revealing black cargo pants with a black jersey top with a white backpack over his shoulders. On his right wrist, he wore a charm bracelet with the yang part of yin and yang. To complete the look, he wore black tennis shoes and black socks that were barely visible.

He placed his backpack down next to his cloak. "On a scale of one to ten, how bad is this?"

"Twenty." She scowled. "If this news circulates throughout Mistral or even all of Remnant and people believe her words, that means our job is going to get a lot harder."

"As if our job wasn't already difficult enough." He gave his partner a scorn. "I know you want to see justice done, you and I both, but we've been going at this for months, and all of our trails have led us to dead ends." He slumped his back against the wall. "Maybe we should call it quits."

"And let that red-haired bitch get away Scot-free? No way am I letting that happen. Not even if the moon came crashing down on Remnant."

He sighed heavily. "The one trait that is both your strength, and your weakness- your stubbornness."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I don't need you to lecture me, Kiaran."

Kiaran looked at her sadly. "Sorry, Alva."

The red-eyed woman put her hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. Tensions are just high because we never found Pyrrha Nikos."

"But we found her parents no problem."

Alva smirked. "Who would have known it would be so easily to kill them, yet so hard to find Pyrrha, and to a smaller extent, her younger brother Ash?"

Kiaran gave her a saddened look. "And who would have known that we'd be sidetracked after hearing about Nero Black and finding two of Pyrrha's former teammates?"

"And who would have known that we'd directly recruit rogue huntress Onyx Thurmon in Kunchinashi and while on the road, Wyatt Forest, to try and eliminate the red haired bitch?"

"We certainly didn't." He folded his arms. "Face it, we've been on a wild goose chase."

She sighed heavily. "I know. But what else are we to do? Justice never sleeps."

"We have no more leads." he reminded her.

"Hmm..." She looked closely at the newspaper and the map. "According to the newspaper, a group of Pyrrha haters said they saw her fall off a cliff in Mistral city. She either survived the fall or tricked them into thinking she fell, which tells us that she was in the city, if only for a brief while. She had to have left after the death of her parents and unable to find her brother since he was out partying at his friend's place."

Kiaran snickered. "What delicious irony. Shame we never found Ash, we could have used him as a bargaining tool."

Alva got out a map for them to examine, with her pointed to each location with her index finger. "In a previous article, Maura was revealed to be hiding in Kuchinashi before she was captured by team CUBB on the outskirts of Mistral city. If the former White Fang leader encountered her all these months ago before making it to Kuchinashi, it's likely that Pyrrha's still roaming Mistral. Since Maura was previously living in the southern part of Mistral, Pyrrha likely went south as the fugitive made her way northward. So from there, it's likely that the red haired warrior continued going in that same direction, likely far from the Mistralian trade route to avoid being detected. By now she's likely in the outskirts of Mistral."

"So what do we do?"

"Well first, we'll need to acquire an airship by any means necessary. Then we'll fly to the first village on the outskirts of the kingdom. We'll recruit more people to aid us in our goal along the way. And once we find her, we'll put an end to her once and for all."

He gave her a look bordering on curiosity and skepticism. "Do you really think we'll get more people to join the Trojan Alliance?"

She smirked with boundless confidence. "Of course. Besides, we're the founders after all. With enough persuasion and manipulation, we could get almost anyone to join us."

Kiaran smiled back at his partner in crime. "Honestly, I didn't think this would work as well as it did."

"Our allies in and out of the kingdoms have done well." She put her hands to her hips. "Thanks to the efforts of Garnet Scarlatti and Uriel who helped to recruit her, we managed to spread our influence into part of Vale and the majority of eastern Sanus. Although Mistral is resistant to turning on their beloved idol, Anima has been turned into a hostile hotbed of people just waiting to pounce on her, including Onyx and Wyatt. Nearly all of Atlas believes Pyrrha dead and many particularly hate her for the downfall of Penny. Hardly anyone lives in Solitias on the outskirts of the kingdom, but who needs them when Atlas hates Pyrrha? Vacuo doesn't know Pyrrha's alive due to general misinformation spreading like a virus, and Menagerie is in the same boat as Atlas, only they don't hate the red-haired bitch."

"Many believe Pyrrha's dead when she's really not. Those who know she's alive hate her."

"And quite frankly, it doesn't matter where she goes. Even if it's not by our hands, one way or another, we'll find her and destroy her."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Kiaran asked. "It's time to finish what we started."

The two smirked as they put on their Trojan Alliance badges, Kiaran on his right shoulder strap, and Alva in the form of a chain bracelet on her left wrist next to the yin charm. Alva took the newspaper and put it back in her backpack. Then they took their respective cloaks and put them back on, leaving the warehouse.