Howdy and welcome back to The Fallen chapter XII! We begin the Solitas Arc today and I'm so happy we're finally here. Now just a warning I'm not too sure on a few choices I made in this chapter and I'm sure a few people will point out a certain someones characterization but overall I'm happy with how this turned out. If you see something that I overlooked please leave a review so I can take a look. Also an announcement, I've started another story "The Shattered Familiar" and if you have any interest in seeing another Shirou variant being tossed into The Familiar of Zero head on over. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

-OtherwiseR00K

Caroline Cordovin liked to think she was a patriot of Atlas, not a zealot like some people spewed at her image. She was simply aware of how Atlas outclassed the rest of Remnant in nearly every sense of the word though she wasn't exactly unaware of the few flaws that did permeate her wonderful Kingdom.

Caroline was a Special Operative of the Atlas military, meaning she could occupy almost any role given to her to a satisfactory degree. She was top four in her graduating class and was later assigned to oversee the city of Argus; a city meant to represent the political bonds between Atlas and Mistral. A representation of peace after the Great War.

She'd taken the position up with zeal and had been Argus' protector for the last thirty years. Caroline would admit its had its ups and downs as well, her first year here had been chaotic, to say the least with her being a replacement for her predecessor after the man had sullied her Kingdoms name after taking bribes.

She'd have strangled that man herself if the people of Argus hadn't gotten to him first.

But since then things have been calm, besides the occasional colossal Grimm that tried to breach the hard light walls surrounding the bay. It had been so fun to take out The Boot for a spin each time these things appeared. Sea Feilong were also problems but they were typically shot down before they did any real damage.

Though, she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss home. Caroline hadn't left Argus in those thirty years, having not taken a break in that time either. She'd missed a lot of things that happened over there and recently the General of Atlas passed away. General Marcus Crassus was the man who gave her this task.

Caroline wouldn't miss the funeral or the inauguration of the new General.

She'd taken the last few days to prepare to leave Argus but she needed to leave someone in charge. That someone was Lieutenant Oswald G. Spanner, a man she'd come to trust immensely and one that she believed deserved more in life than what it had dealt him.

What she had dealt him.

She shook her head, she didn't want to go down that path of thought again. Caroline needed to finish up some last-minute directions and notes to help out her lieutenant lead while she was gone. It was the least she could do.

Caroline finished up her work and sent it off to Spanner's scroll. Now she was ready to depart so she turned and hopped off her seat, an unfortunate fact about her stature was it didn't command much respect. Caroline was on the very short side.

She could grumble about the Brother God's cruelty later.

Caroline exited her office and began walking down the hall. As she walked her mind moved to the subject of the next General of Atlas. Personally, she was voting for Captain Dolus as she'd read his file. It was a file filled with stories of valor and courage in the fight against the Grimm and she could respect that.

Captain Ironwood was a close second but he wasn't even in the race and Caroline couldn't say she blamed the man. Being the Headmaster at Atlas Academy was a busy job and she didn't even want to imagine the hell being both a Headmaster and General of Atlas would be. Both were important roles but someone shouldn't have to put both on their back.

She turned a corner and could see the door to the barracks was ajar. She raised an eyebrow, wondering if anyone had stayed behind. Caroline walked over and glanced inside seeing the rows of beds and not a man or woman in sight. She nodded.

Good, she didn't tolerate laziness.

Caroline continued her walk with a small smirk. Pride within her soldiers who did as they were told.

Caroline continued on without any more distractions, eventually coming to the exit to the base's airship. In front of the door waiting for Caroline was her lieutenant, "Hello, Spanner, come to wish me off?" Caroline asked as she approached.

"Somewhat, ma'am. I'm actually here to make you aware of a situation that's currently developing in Argus." Spanner says, his ear twitching slightly. Caroline couldn't help but note it.

"A situation? Explain."

"Yes, ma'am. Two hours ago two of our patrolling soldiers came across a body left in an alleyway."

"A body? Has it been identified yet?"

"No, the investigation is still ongoing." Spanner admits, "But I felt I should bring this up because you would want to know about it."

"You're correct, as usual." Coraline says, "I'm going to assume you've already begun to spearhead the investigation?"

"Yes ma'am, by the time you are back we'll have the perpetrator in custody."

Caroline nodded, "I assume you have Todd and Hobbs on the investigation?"

"Yes ma'am," Spanner says.

Caroline nods and folds her arms behind her back, "Lieutenant Spanner, I leave Argus in your capable hands. I do expect a full report on this investigation sitting on my desk and the killer thrown in a cell by the time I'm back though."

"We will."

"Good man. Now I have a flight to catch, good luck Spanner." Caroline adjusted her coat and walked out the door and into a heavy snowfall. She opens her hand as she walks allowing snow to catch on her gloved hand before she closes her fist and places it back behind her.

She walked across the tarmac and toward the airship. Caroline nodded to the soldiers standing at the ramps leading into the airship as she walked past and into the ship. Soon after the soldiers followed while the ramp closed behind them.

Caroline made her way to the main cabin of the airship and walked in as the pilots were doing their final checks. She let them be and simply watched as they went over the last checkups.

"Cargo bay is clear, everything is strapped down." A voice came over the console's radio.

"Good, then get to your place we'll be taking off in a moment." The pilot on the right responded. Caroline nodded, glad that even the pilots were efficent.

Caroline steadied herself slightly as the airship shook taking off. She turned her head and watched as they rose into the sky and went over the bay and over the hard light walls that surrounded the bay.

It was a couple hours before they got to Solitas so Caroline decided she should probably rest in her own quarters. With a nod to the pilots she turned and walked off, knowing she'd soon be back in her home Kingdom.

-Robyn Hill-

Robyn Hill walked down the streets of Mantel and she wasn't in the best of moods. It was a normal thing for her as the situation between Atlas and Mantel had always frustrated her, she wished it was different and had become a Huntress to try to help mend that difference but so far the Mantel Politicians stonewalled her.

So she was currently walking through the poorer streets of Mantel toward the large hole left behind when they rose Atlas into the sky. The Crater is what people called it, and it was home to a lot less fortunate folk. Faunus most of all.

Robyn was here for a reason though, she'd gotten a call about a disturbance occuring over here and since it was out of the way of the police she decided to take it up. As she walked she looked around at the people passing her, some in coveralls and hard hats covered in dirt. Miners for the SDC.

Robyn sighed as her wish to improve Mantel's state rose again. Robyn wished she could put the blame completely on Atlas and to an extent she could but she wasn't stupid and was fully aware of the floating kingdom's attempts to help out. It had started back when Captain Ironwood came into the Headmaster position at Atlas Academy but every attempt was stonewalled by the people of Mantel.

The people just couldn't see past the differences the two places had and some just couldn't forget how Atlas had left the original capital behind. It was pride and bitterness at something that happened decades ago and unfortunately, the people from back then are in a place of power now.

Atlas soldiers weren't even allowed down in mantel, only on the walls to protect them. If an Atlas soldiers were allowed in it was because of a geniune crisis and that had only happened once from what Robyn knew. Robyn was sure this was frustrating for Ironwood, having known him in her time within the academy as a good man.

Better than most at least.

Robyn shook her head, she had something she was doing and she couldn't be distracted right now. Robyn turned a corner and noticed a small group of faunus in worn clothing down the street it seemed they were speaking to someone. As she approached the faunus moved and Robyn could see the person they were speaking to. It was someone she recognized.

"Fiona?" Robyn called, making the sheep faunus turn toward her. Fiona's eyes lit up and she looked over at the older woman she was speaking to and said a few words before nodding and turning back toward Robyn.

Fiona Thyme was Robyn's partner in Atlas Academy and best friend. The two had gone through a lot together and Robyn liked to think that together there wasn't anything that could stop them. Of course that was the naivety in her talking but she liked indulging in it every so often.

Fiona met Robyn halfway and Robyn noticed the new addition to Fiona's neck, "Nice scarf."

Fiona looked down at the red article of clothing draped around her neck, she brought a hand to it and smiled slightly, "One of the older ladies here gave it to me. Said something about keeping the neck warm, I thought it was a nice gesture."

"I'm gonna guess, but are you here because of the disturbance?" Robyn asked.

"Yeah, I heard about it from a friend and thought I'd look around, ya'know?"

"Hmm, you figure out where the noises were coming from?"

"Uh, yeah. They came from an old building that overlooks the Crater, I think it was an observation building when Atlas was being raised into the sky. Nowadays it's abandoned besides ah…" Fiona droned off as a small blush came to her cheeks.

"Well? What is it used for?"

"It, uh, has been a known spot for teens to lose their uh…card." Fiona was now blushing up a storm but for the life of her Robyn couldn't tell why.

"Card? What they lose their IDs or something?"

Fiona looked at her with a slightly horrified expression. Though it confused Robyn why she would be horrified.

"How do you not…oh, right." Fiona sighed before ringing her hands together and looking at Robyn in the eyes with a stern eye but growing blush, "Apparently, the building is a known spot to lose your virginity."

Robyn stared at Fiona whose face was now resembling a tomato, "Why didn't you just say that? Its not that embarressing of a subject." Robyn droned.

"It is to me! I had to listen to this lady recount her first time in that place! She went into vivid detail, Robyn, I don't need to know she enjoyed it in all three holes!" Fiona screeched in hysteria. Thankfully she didn't notice the many odd looks her words had gained, or the mother holding her kids ears as she glared in their direction.

"So, Its just a false alarm then? Just teens screwing around?" Robyn sighed, her hand palming her face. Of course, it was just a bunch of horny teens.

"I-I'm not so sure about that," Fiona's blush lessened as she took on a more wary tone. "I-I spoke to a guy after I, uh, recovered from that lady recounting. He said he'd been pretty close to the building and had heard screaming, I thought the same as the woman at first but the way he described it. The scream was guttural, as if someone was in pain."

Robyn hummed as she brought a hand to her chin. If what that man said was true, then it would be best to check it out. Robyn just hoped they didn't run into a pair of screwing teens. She didn't want to see that and she doubted Fiona would survive the encounter without fainting.

"Alright, we better check this out. Did you get any directions to the building?" Robyn asked.

"Yeah, just follow me." Fiona turned and began walking down the road, Robyn followed after.

The two walked further into the slums, passing people going about their days until they finally came to the mouth of the Crater. Within the Crater, a group of wooden shacks were bunched together, held together by nothing but rusty nails and a prayer.

But Robyn and Fiona weren't looking at that, they were looking at the building near the edge of the Crater. It was blocky with the same brick material all other places in Mantel were built with, the only difference was how dilapitated it was.

"This is it?" Robyn questioned.

"Yes."

"This where people lost their virginity."

"Y-yes."

"This shithole?"

Fiona sighed, "Yes."

"I don't understand people." Robyn pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. She didn't have a clue why people would want to screw around in this place, she had a feeling it had a moldy smell with mildew thrown in. She couldn't see this being a nice place to have your first time.

"Whatever, let's check it out," Robyn said before checking the small crossbow on her wrist. Satisfied she looked over at Fiona who already had her weapon in its crossbow configuration. She nodded toward Robyn and Robyn nodded back before turning toward the door. She walked over and opened it.

A dark hallway greeted her and Fiona but a smell assaulted Robyn's nose. It was a moldy smell, which was what she had expected. What she didn't expect was Fiona to begin retching the moment she got a whiff of that smell.

Fiona dropped her weapon and covered her mouth with her hands before rushing outside with Robyn right behind her, "Fiona!? What is it-"

She was interrupted by Fiona spewing bile onto the snowy ground. Robyn cringed at the contents of Fiona's stomach being displayed to the world and wordlessly walked over and patted the now dry-heaving Fiona.

"Fiona, what's wrong?"

"Ugh, t-that smell. I'm guessing you couldn't-hurk-smell it?"

"I only smelled mildew and mold," Robyn replied, looking at the building with a frown. Fiona's senses were much better than Robyn's as faunus generally had better senses than humans as a whole. "What did you smell?"

"Blood."

That single word made Robyn frown heavily. If the smell of blood was enough to make Fiona throw up then that meant there was likely a lot of it. She wouldn't take Fiona closer to the smell.

"Fiona, can I use your scarf?" Robyn asked.

"Ye-yeah, I'm gonna have to bleach this thing." Fiona said muttering that last bit under her breath as she handed the scarf to Robyn. Robyn took the red cloth in her hands and wrapped it around her nose and mouth before pulling it as tight as it would go. It was a little hard to breathe but that was fine.

"I'll be back." Robyn said before she walked into the building again. Robyn walked down the hallway, passing doors which were either open, missing, or rotted. Overall this place didn't look like a hangout where teens lost their virginity.

She shok her head of that last thought. Robyn wasn't sure why that bothered her so much but now wasn't the time. She continued on until she'd cleared the rooms on the first floor and found herself walking up a suspicious staircase which groaned under each step.

Making it to the top without her foot going through a step, she was met with a smell. One thankfully drowned by the scarf over her mouth and nose but the fact she could smell it wasn't a good sign. Robyn grunted and readied the crossbow on her arm and moved forward, following the smell.

It lead her down the hall to the last door. Robyn knew the source was behind the door and she knew she had to open it. She breathed in and exhaled before grabbing the knob and twisting it. She pushed open the door and froze at both the smell and sight.

This was obviously the office of whoever was overseeing this place as it had a balcony that overlooked the Crater. It would've been a beautiful sight but Robyn wasn't looking at the sight beyond the balcony. She was looking at the sight right in front of her.

A mattress lay in the middle of the office and on the mattress, staining it red was the body of a young man. He was naked and his chest was carved open, his face stuck in his final moments of terror and his removed heart now lying in his hand.

Robyn stumbled back into the wall, she retched as bile tried to climb up her throat but she swallowed it back down. Robyn quickly left the room and made her way back out of the building faster than she was on the way out. Soon she was out the door and Fiona was in her sights.

"Hey what'd you find-" Robyn shoved the scarf into Fiona's arms and moved to the side where she took her turn throwing up. As she purged her stomach she felt Fiona's hand on her back, patting it. Finally, the bile stopped and Robyn coughed out the last of the chunks in her mouth.

"What did you see?" Fiona asked worried.

Robyn swallowed before turning to Fiona, "I found a body."

Fiona flinched and looked back at the building before turning to Robyn, "We need to get the police."

Robyn was of the same mind.

-Tyrian Callows-

Tyrian Callows strutted down the streets of Mantel in broad daylight. It was something he enjoyed doing, seeing if anyone would recognize him. After all, this was his old stomping grounds before his goddess uplifted him into her church's arms and gave him more of a purpose behind his killings. Before he was a lost soul but now he had a guiding hand.

He was happy to be back in Mantel and happy to watch the flowers of the chapter here bloom. Just hours ago he was able to witness a young woman seduce a young man and led him to his doom. It was glorious to watch as he died mid-coitus to her own hand.

Tyrian wished he could something like that but he was aware he wasn't exactly the best looking guy and he didn't have the patience for something like that. He was better with wanton death and destruction but he could appreciate the advanced arts of killing.

Anyway, Mantel hadn't changed all that much. It had been two years since he'd last been here and while certain things had changed the important things stayed the same. The Mantel chapter headquarters was still in the same place but that didn't surprise him. It was better hidden than the others since it was beneath the most advanced Kingdom on Remnant.

Tyrian couldn't help the gleeful chuckle that escaped his lips at the thought of what his goddess had planned for Atlas. It was so deliciously devious! Oh, when that plan was finally set off he couldn't wait to watch the Kingdom fall to the ground, crushing Mantel and the people in it.

His smile stretched further as he turned a corner just to see the Mantel police station. The pigs within were scrambling out of the building and into the squad cars, the sirens squealing as they went past the serial killer. Tyrian licked his lips as he wondered where the little piggies were going until he remembered where the latest ritual was held.

Tyrian leaned back as he laughed. The people around him shuffled away from him as he cackled maniacly. He was glad to know the piggys had found the site as his junior would be thrilled to know her first kill would be found. He could just imagine her face at the news.

Tyrian slinked away toward the alley nearby. He'd head back to the church and tell his junior the news. He wanted to be the one to break the news and watch as the girl experienced a euphoria he'd come to love.

-Shirou Emiya-

Shirou looked out the window of the cargo hold at the approaching lights through the snow. It was dark out right now, night had over Solitas. He could just make out Mantel and assumed the giant lights above it was Atlas. Shirou momentarily wondered how much gravity dust would've been needed to lift a chunk of the ground into the sky but discarded the thought.

Shirou knew he was going in mostly blind here. Unlike Mistral he didn't know where the main stronghold was and would have to find it to burn out the cult. He'd need to do some investigating on the ground. It shouldn't take too long.

Shirou watched as Mantel came closer and closer. He knew he had to make his move when a tall building passed the airship. Shirou moved from his spot and headed toward the cargo bay doors. The moment he opened them would alert the entire airship to his presence but they wouldn't have the time to catch him.

He reached the button near the doors and slammed his fist onto the button. The moment his fist pushed it in an alarm went off, red bleached the cargo bay and the screech of the doors opening at this altitude screamed in Shirou's ears.

The snow filled night sky was revealed to Shirou as the doors opened. Shirou traced Rider's chain nail and walked forward only to spin the chain and turn around to block a gunshot. The shot came from a solitary soldier who would have continued firing had Shirou not leaped backward.

Shirou was in freefall now as he fell quickly to Mantel. He spun himself in the air before throwing the nail toward the talles building near him, the nail anchored itself deep and Shirou lurched as he was stopped by the chain. He used the momentum to swing himself down and dissmissed the chain.

Shirou fell toward an alleyway and traced Kanshou and Bakuya. He reached the alley and stabbed into the building wall with both blades, forcing him to slow down as he created two scars on the building because of his descent. As he beard the ground of the alley he hopped off the wall and landed crouched down.

He waited for a second for anything to happen but nothing did. Shirou dismissed the married blades and pulled his hood back up over his head. He walked to the mouth of the alley and readjusted the strap to his guncase as he exited the alley. He walked under the warm yellow glow of the lanterns of Mantel ready to burn out this chapter.

Now first thing I want to talk about is Cordovin and what I plan to do with her moving forward. I'm sure most of you noticed but I toned down her racism and have even given her a little guilt about it. Thats an important thing because we'll be seeing a lot of her this arc even if not her POV and I wanted to tone her down just a smidge so that way its believable she's an ally to Atlas and Ironwood. I hope this doesn't kill some people's interest in the story as I admittedly don't know if people like her or not as I haven't actually paid much attention to that so I guess we'll see.

Now onto Robyn Hill and Fiona Thyme, they will be important for this arc as well. They will play a role in investigating the cult in a more official capacity and I'd like to say that they aren't fresh out of the academy but I wouldn't call them experienced. I hope I presented that well and we will see the rest of the Happy Huntresses in the future. Also that poor kid, I don't have much to say about that as I needed a motivation for the Happy Huntresses and thought this would do pretty well.

Tyrian is here! He's our favorite psychopathic faunus serial killer and I hope I did his character justice. Dude is all twisted up in that brain and I wanted to show this and I also wanted to plant a seed for the future of this arc as well. Heheh, I'm devious like that.

Now Shirou has arrived and soon Ironwood will know once shit begins hitting the fan.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a good night/day!