Pelka stood in the common room, looking out over the frozen wasteland on the other side of the window. This is what the world looked like four thousand years on. Of course, not all of it looked like this. Ruby had assured her that they were in literally the coldest part of the entire world, and that tropical islands and sunbaked beaches were waiting out there. She wasn't exactly thrilled to hear it, since, as Winter had informed her, there were no others of her kind remaining on the planet. They called it Remnant, but that's not what it was to her. There was no remnant of her people, the Dragon Faunus, to be found. There were still plenty of Faunus, though the Humans were now basically the dominant people. That was all well and good as far as Pelka was concerned. The time of the Dragon Faunus had gone, and it was reasonable from her perspective to assume the time of the Faunus as a whole was showing signs of its end. She wasn't happy about it, of course not, but there was no point lamenting the loss of something that was destined to be lost. No, this world was full of people and places to see, all sorts of wonder, but there was no point to seeing them. It was empty for her. There was no remnant.

The snow had let up as night came, and the black sky stared down at them with its smattering of stars. They looked so different to her, so alien and different. She saw a shooting star arc across the horizon. Checking behind her, she determined that no one would hear her. Pelka clasped her hands together and offered up a prayer. "I wish to know what you want me to do, oh great dragon. God of the quiet night, the end to this journey of turmoil, I see your eye glowing bright as you race through the sky on your rounds to comfort all the people of this world of strife. I pray to you now, black dragon, that you guide me. I beg your forgiveness that I have not come to you in a long time, and your lenience with my actions in my foolish youth. If there is still a role for me in this world, please let me know. I will strive to serve your will in all I do."

She hung there for a moment longer, thinking on those words. She'd always known that a shooting star was not the actual eye of the black dragon as he flew through the night sky. She hardly believed in the gods at all, or any of the myths about them. She knew they were real, and that they had real power, but putting her faith in them was not something she could ever do. No, a shooting star was nothing but just that; a star, flung across the canopy hung over the world. Nothing more than a displaced light. With a heavy sigh, she turned away from the window, almost bumping into Weiss. She jumped, startled by Weiss' sudden appearance.

"That was a nice prayer."

Pelka averted her eyes, looking everywhere but at Weiss. "You... heard that."

"Yes." Weiss nodded, turning to the side to give Pelka the room to leave if she wanted. It was a subtle way of inviting her to stay and talk. "You're very perceptive. No one told you that we call him the God of Darkness, and he's generally viewed negatively by those of us who know about him. Still, you figured out without anyone saying anything about it, that there was some tension about your people actually praising him, so when you go to pray to him you're concerned someone will overhear you. I get it, but you don't really have to worry so much."

"It doesn't bother you, that a being you consider as the source of all evil is one I consider only a source of comfort and rest?"

Weiss shook her head. "No. And that's not really a fair statement. Really, very few of us actually know much about him, but what we do know is that he created the Grimm. Without him here to control them, they obey Salem. It's not great, but he isn't the one who is ultimately causing all the suffering in the world. I don't think he's really helped much, but he's not the one I blame. In fact, from the story as I heard it, he might be the least to blame."

"I... see." Pelka shook her head, stepping away from Weiss. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it's not necessary. Well... I know this may be surprising, but I think I'm ready for some sleep."

"Same." Weiss joined Pelka and led her to the barracks room.

The Dragon Faunus had dropped off to sleep in a blink, still as death as she huddled under her cot's blanket. In the bunk above her, Ruby was also sleeping, a light snore coming from her. Weiss had fallen asleep in the bunk below Jinn quickly and quietly. Not far off, Marrow was sleeping just below Vine, and Elm was below Harriet. The general was also asleep across from where Clover had nodded off. Everyone who would be heading out again in the morning was asleep except for Jinn. She was unsettled, sure that something would happen the moment she went to sleep. Someone was watching her from afar, just waiting for her. Someone who wanted to talk, and she knew it wasn't the God of Light again.

Whatever his brother wanted, it couldn't be good. As much as it might have looked like it, this rivalry between the brothers was not something they were just sitting back and waiting for the result. They were both doing everything they could to influence the outcome, but it wasn't obvious to her what outcome they each wanted. It stood to reason that the God of Light wanted all Humanity to come together peacefully, and that the God of Darkness wanted them to destroy themselves, or to call the brothers back to a warring world that they would then destroy. That seemed like it should be how things went, but it wasn't all so clear to her. What was in someone's mind, she couldn't quite say. Especially a god's mind. Their motives were a mystery to her, their reasoning clouded by the transcendent nature of the two brothers.

Regrettably, the best chance she had to learn what they were thinking, what they wanted, was to fall asleep right now. She did not look forward to an encounter with the God of Darkness, but she had to do it. Closing her eyes, Jinn let sleep take her off into the bliss of oblivion. That bliss only lasted a short while before dark fog began to swirl around in her mind. Something twisted crept into her dream and appeared before her. Just as she'd expected, he was waiting for her. Now that he had her attention, however, he was content to sit there in her dreams and stare at her.

Finally fed up with waiting, Jinn spoke first. "What is it you want from me?"

Slowly, he started. "It's been a long time since someone asked for my help."

Help? From him? She knew Salem was one of the first, and that practically no one had spoken of him in reverence for thousands of years, but now? Oh... that was right. Of course she knew Pelka had prayed to him before going to bed. "You came because of her prayer, but you came to me?"

He snorted. "Yes, I came to you. She wants guidance, so I will give her you."

"Relegating it to me? Why can't you do it yourself?"

"Because, truth told, I have no real interest in this planet anymore. Far better things further afield in the universe have been occupying my time. The only reason I came back here in any capacity is the earnest request from someone who never once thought to ask anyone else but me. That is something I refuse to ignore."

That made sense, at least from what Jinn knew of his character. How well she understood his character, however, was in question. She wanted to know. "To be clear, you have no interest in Remnant anymore. Is that correct?"

"I wouldn't say none at all, but it is now little more of an annoyance to distract me from better things." He leaned down, putting his big face right in front of her. "You mean to ask if I am still competing with my brother over this remnant. I am not. His jealous pride insists on winning a contest. When he provided Ozma with the Relics, telling him how to summon us back to your world, he failed to tell me about it at all. So let me make this very clear. When that time eventually comes, I will not answer."

"Right. That's all I needed to know." She waved him goodbye. "Farewell then. I hope we never see each other again."

"I would not object, explicitly, but yes. We most likely will not."

"And have fun with whatever else you found out there."

Elm shot upright, hitting her head on the bunk above her. She fell back, putting her hand on her forehead. She looked around to see everyone else was getting up and preparing for their journey. Aside from Pelka standing around uselessly and Jinn looking like she did not get nearly enough sleep, everything seemed fine. There was no reason for Elm, as far as she could tell, to say anything. It didn't matter her reason for waking up with a start, so she pushed it out of her mind and got out of bed. There were ten of them preparing to head out, and they would be taking the big LAD on the way back to Atlas. None of the smaller ones could accommodate the Relic anyway, so they fitted themselves into their cold weather clothes and stepped out into the cold.

Several of the soldiers were up and about outside, setting up the last of the equipment and making sure the big LAD was ready to go. Elm could see the final stage of the outpost construction underway next to the command center. A rope leading up to the top of the plateau, which would be attached to a machine anchored to the top by Ciel's team that would automatically pull things up to the top for installation. There, with the parts delivered to them, they would built an antenna. With luck, the antenna would be able to reach Atlas. Even if it couldn't reach all the way to Atlas, there were northern outposts that it might be able to contact, which gave them the hope that this might be a permanent expansion of the kingdom.

The back of the big LAD opened up, a large ramp dropping down and revealing the large vehicle's cargo hold. This is where all the supplies to build the outpost had been carried on their way to the plateau, but now it was almost empty. A few soldiers unloaded the last of the food down the ramp and carried the bulk storage crates off to the outpost compound. At the top of the ramp, Elm could see Ironwood directing Ruby and Weiss where to take Jinn while they waited. Pelka followed them as they went further into the LAD.

Clover waved to Elm, indicating for her to follow him. "Let's get the Relic in there."

"Right." Elm followed him back into the outpost and into the command center, where Winter was waiting with the Relic.

"We're here to take the Relic and get out of your hair." Clover said, putting a hand on the Relic and patting it.

Winter nodded, rubbing her eyes with one hand. "Yes, good. Now I can get some sleep."

"You could have gotten some last night."

She shook her head. "Yeah, but no. There are too many snorers in the Ace Ops."

"Really?" Clover looked surprised. "I've never heard any of them snore."

"It only takes one really bad snorer to keep me up."

"Huh... don't know who that would be." Oblivious, apparently, Clover moved around the Relic and grabbed a hold of it. "Come on, let's get going."

Elm grabbed onto the other end and lifted the Cradle off the floor. Together, the two of them moved it out of the command center and out through the outpost and to the door that took them outside. It was much easier not to bump into anything once they were outside, so the rest of the walk was rather simple. Reaching the LAD and moving the Relic up the ramp, they set it down on the deck and strapped it in securely. Clover went over to the side of the door and pulled a lever that brought the ramp up. They were ready to get underway.

He turned on the radio. "This is Clover. We're in and secured. Ramp is closed and we're ready to go."

"Roger that. We'll be on our way momentarily."

Stepping away from the console on the wall of the LAD, Clover walked back over to Elm next to the Relic. "We'll be off in just a bit. Let's sit and talk."

Elm wasn't that keen on sitting in the freezing cargo hold and having a conversation, but at the moment the rest of the LAD would be just as cold. If Clover was approaching her like this, though, it was because it was a more private subject. "What do you want to talk about?" She said, sitting down on the floor and leaning back against the Relic.

Clover joined her on the floor. It wasn't like it would be any warmer standing, at least until the engine was started and warm air was being cycled through the vehicle. He took a moment to adjust his position until he was comfortable, then another moment until he was sure what he was going to say. "Okay... something's bothering you. You haven't told me already, which means it's not mission relevant or a threat. So I take it that it's something personal. I don't think you'll let it compromise us, but just in case, you shouldn't be the only one who knows about it."

Part of the job of a leader was moral support. She knew this, and it wouldn't be the first time Clover had sat one of the Ace Ops down for a talk. Still, it wasn't a common thing for him to have to do, since they were a rather solid and emotionally stable bunch. But with this being the third time for her, it would clearly mark her as the least reliable, wouldn't it? Or at least the one who required the most upkeep. If that was the case, then she wanted to be as easy to handle as possible, which meant being honest with her leader.

"You know I'm not great at talking about feelings."

"I know." He nodded. "But you have to sometime."

There was no reason to hide anything from him. This was part of the job; telling your commander what was bothering you. So it came out all at once. "Those trials hit me differently from how I expected. Seeing Atlas on its side, and then my mother, it was a lot to take. And then that eel monster... I figured there would be some crazy monster we had to fight, and Weiss did amazingly, but I can't get it out of my head. Did you know Lieutenant Argent found some small eels living in the snow up here?"

He had been patiently listening, but when Elm asked him about the eels Clover nodded excitedly. "Yes, she showed me. They looked a lot like the one we saw. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

"Well, I'm not much for wondering, but it does make me concerned. I doubt I'm overthinking it, since I don't know what I think the danger might be, but I sense there is danger." She shook her head, letting out a sigh. "I know that's not very helpful, since we're at war with Salem, but it feels like something else is coming."

Clover put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a light shake. "That's just your intuition. We're all feeling it. The discovery of a new Relic changes everything about the world. But we've got the best allies we could ask for."