Headmaster Takaya looked at the image of the imprisoned Kent in the mirror. "Oh dear. This is worse than I imagined…"

Weiss set the mirror down, letting the image disappear. The other members of her new team were just as anxious as she was, if not even more.

"What do we do?" Sage questioned. "Hostage negotiation probably wouldn't work. And even if we did have a rescue team, who's to say team SMMK wouldn't kill him anyway?"

Takaya let out a heavy sigh. "With Mistral as a whole facing one of the worst huntsman and huntress shortages in years, it looks like we're on our own. Fighting them is too risky, even if me and/or Taupe stepped in. The only idea I have left is sending someone to sabotage them from the inside. Weiss, do you think you can fake joining team SMMK?"

"I would, but my alter self Willow Smith already turned them down. And somehow I don't think trying to join them as my real self would work any better."

Takaya turned to the team's original leader before Weiss stepped in to co-lead with him. "Neptune?"

"I don't think I could do it." He shuddered. "I'm too much of a coward, they'd find out immediately."

He gave a resigned sigh before turning to the next team member. "Sage?"

The green haired man fervently shook his head. "I'm not comfortable with this idea."

"Taupe, even if he was here, is already recognized by team SMMK as an enemy. And everyone already knows who I am. That means there's only one choice left." He turned to the red-haired pirate, pleading with him, "Scarlet, will you do it?"

"I don't like the idea," he admitted. "But if I don't do it, who will?"

Sage frowned at him. "You can't be serious."

The pirate gave him a serious stare. "Yes, I am."

He gestured his arms down. "What if you're too lured into the dark side?"

His teammate nodded, tensing. "I won't be."

Sage took his hand. "I don't want to lose you."

Scarlet held his hand over his, trying to reassure him. "You won't."

Weiss gave a slight confused look as Sage let go of his hand. Were they… like brothers? Or was there something more to it?

"Seems that team SSSN is changing and dissolving as quickly as it formed." Neptune sighed.

"Well you know your task, off you go." Takaya told them. "There's no time to waste."

Weiss took the mirror back from where it had been resting and left with her new team, each feeling the collected weight of both hunger and dread.

Meanwhile, Qrow looked at Anastasia as she sparred in combat with Nora. As she dodged a kick from the lightning girl, the normally drunken huntsman looked at her attire; the flowery dress she wore, the flowery hairpins in her free flowing hair, the vine-like glove on her right arm, and more recently, a flower crown of daisies upon her head, carefully braided together with the stems of the flowers. The late morning sun shined through, almost illuminating her crown.

He knew she loved flowers and that she felt connected to nature, but yet as the sun slowly rose through the sky, so did a new thought. Was it her being a flowergirl, or was there something else there that, perhaps, he failed to see earlier?

A voice from behind reached out to him. "Something on your mind, Qrow?"

Qrow tensed as he turned around, only to find Ozpin speaking through Oscar. "Oh, Ozpin. It's you." He motioned to the flower huntress, effectively blocking Nora's punch with a tiny aura shield over part of her arm. "I've been thinking about Anastasia lately."

Ozpin gave him a sly smile. "Oh? And in what way?"

"Her flowery cheer, her use of plant dust in combat, her reluctance to leave home… I know it's a stretch but… is it possible that she's the spring maiden?"

Ozpin blinked. "That can't be possible… Can it? She disappeared in Zephyros ten years ago."

"We've been trying to find Rosa Vernal for ages. What if she's not even alive anymore? What if we've been following a cold, dead trail for years?"

"That is very much a real possibility," he admitted. "Part of me wanted to believe that Rosa would have eventually learned how to use her powers and started to slay Grimm while remaining anonymous like her mother did, but what if she failed in doing so? Or died in some other way? It's very much possible that her power could have transferred to a random host upon her death."

The conversation shifted to them in the background as Anastasia successfully blocked Nora's upper kick, now boosted with lightning surging in and around her left leg. "But if that were the case, I think one of us would have been able to sense Anastasia's spring energy by now."

Qrow folded his arms as the lens shifted back to him. "What if she has a way to conceal it? You know? Through concealment amulets?"

Ozpin hummed; he hadn't considered the possibility of a concealment amulet in play, believing the creation of such amulets to be a nearly lost art. But lost things could still be found.

"Not likely, but not entirely impossible either." He ordered, "Get a bit of her hair, and we can test out that theory."

And that was how Qrow found himself standing before Anastasia's room. He probably had ten minutes, if that even, before her training session came to an end. With a reluctant sigh, he opened the door and examined her quarters; Her white and pink floral bedspread had a cherry blossom tree on the right, with petal blossoms scattered throughout the sheet and the comforter, the bed unmade. A couple of pink pillows with cherry blossom petals rested at the head, perfectly fluffed.

He stepped inside, seeing an open closet with a few alternate outfits (mostly in red, pink or other bright colors), a small wooden table (currently barren of any items) and an open scrapbook lying on top of one of her drawers. The veteran huntsman walked up to the book, seeing a flower scrapbook artwork of a rose design within a heart of rose petals.

He took in the artwork, pausing for a few moments to appreciate its beauty. Wow, that looks beautiful… I didn't know she was an artist. He smiled as he realized. Those must be the flowers that her older sister gave her at the wedding. His smile began to fade. She's lucky to have such a kind and caring sister… And me?

He closed his hands and eyes, the image of Raven flashing over the screen. The sister that left behind her family, her husband and daughter, who chose to return back to the darkness. He let out a groan of frustration.

I'm getting distracted! Where is her hairbrush?

Then by her nightstand, he found a light purple hairbrush alongside a few other items; a nail clipper, a comb, saltwater scented hand sanitizer, a bottle of "Coconut Mall'd" perfume and strawberry scented hair detangler. Thankfully, luck was on his side at least a little; because he saw several strands in the brush that hadn't been pulled out and discarded yet. Taking the brush by its handle, he pulled out the hair from her hairbrush, feeling its strands before crumbling them up into a soft little ball. Setting the hairbrush down, he enclosed his fingers over the hairball and dashed out of the room.

Little did he realize that Anastasia had been in the hallway as she saw him leave.

Meanwhile, team SSSN was shown eating breakfast in the mess hall, but nobody seemed particularly happy. How could they be, with uncertainty lurking in their minds about the mission one of them was about to take? Some of them felt hungry, but fear was getting in the way of otherwise healthy appetites.

"Come on Sage, you have to eat something." Weiss reasoned.

She pushed a small bowl of congee towards him. He sat there despondent, looking at an untouched plate of scallion pancakes. "I can't eat. I'm too worried about this mission."

"Why are you the one worried?" Scarlet questioned, poking his boiled salted eggs with a fork. "You're not the one going behind enemy lines; I am."

He took a bite from one of his eggs as his green-haired teammate gave his response. "There's so many things that could go wrong here. What if they discover your alliance with us? What if your cover story for joining them isn't believable enough? What if they kill you on the spot?! What if they kill Kent before you even get to him?!"

Weiss squirmed, setting down the fork for her half-eaten bowl of wonton noodles. Her package of chopsticks remained unopened. Either way, it was hard for her to eat.

Scarlet held a steamed dumpling partially coated in sauce with two chopsticks in his hand. "Please… Sage. I think you're overthinking a lot of this." he pleaded, trying to reason with him. "We still have a chance to succeed. And this way, we can figure out what team SMMK wants out of him."

He shoved the dumpling into his mouth.

"This might be our best and only chance to succeed in saving him." Weiss reasoned before taking another bite of her noodles.

"I mean, unless anyone else has any better ideas." Neptune spoke before taking a sip of his savory, spicy soup.

Everyone glanced at each other, but no one said a word. It was hard to face the world on an empty stomach, but it was harder to eat when they knew so much was at stake. They all returned to eating their meals, silence weighing down upon them for a few moments. Even as they ate their respective dishes; wonton noodles, salted boiled eggs with a side of Gou Bu Li Baozi, scallion pancakes and Hu La Tang soup, no one seemed happy about what lay before them. The food brought them some comfort, but despite everyone enjoying it for its taste, it was hard to truly enjoy it all. The Congee was passed back to Weiss, who sighed and started eating it, only to give up after two spoonfuls.

About ten minutes later, they finished their meals as best as they could manage and prepared to say their goodbyes to the brave redhead.

"You got this, dude!" Neptune encouraged him.

Weiss nervously smiled. "Good luck, Scarlet!"

"Good luck… my…" Sage began, only to lose the words he was going to say. "my friend."

Scarlet forced himself to smile. "Thank you, I guess you'll see me sooner than I'll be seeing you."

With this, he turned away and marched out of the mess hall. Sage watched in somber silence as Scarlet left the room, disappearing as if he never even knew them.

She saw the sad look in his eyes, as if he were staring at the ocean from a cliff. At this, Weiss finally realized the real reason why he was so scared. "You… you love him... don't you?"

The sigh he admitted said it all. "I can't ever seem to find the right time to tell him." Sage admitted. He sat back down. "I've never been good with expressing emotions. And while I know that Scarlet is gay from what he told me previously, I don't know if he has feelings… for me."

"And he doesn't know?" Neptune followed.

Sage nodded. "If he does, he's never said anything. For all I know, he might even think that I'm straight." He sighed, trying to release all of his dread. "I fear that I may lose him, one way or another."

Back in Mistral, Qrow was in the hallway, hearing Oscar laughing to himself. Believing Ozpin told him one of the stories of his youth, he knocked on the door.

Oscar laughed, only registering Qrow's presence when he knocked on the door a second time and slowly entered the room. Much to his surprise, he found Yang standing in the room as well, in the midst of recounting a tale of valor… and humor.

"And that's how we won the greatest food fight ever." Yang concluded.

Oscar, sitting on the bed, chuckled. "Sounds like a wonderful time!" He turned to find Qrow. "Oh! You're back."

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Qrow interjected.

Yang smiled. "No, you're fine. We were discussing my magic and then somehow I got distracted telling Oscar about that food fight during my second semester at Beacon."

Qrow chuckled as held out a red ball of rolled up hair strands. "One clump of hair."

He placed it into Oscar's hands. "Alright… let me get Ozpin so he can meditate and hone his senses."

He closed his eyes and let green energy wash over him. His eyes glowed golden, signaling the shift of spirits. From there, he closed his eyes and deeply concentrated.

Yang turned to her uncle, her brows knitted. "What's going on?" she almost whispered.

"Well… I have a small theory that Anastasia might be the Spring Maiden."

"Really? That seems way too easy."

Ozpin opened his eyes and nodded. "Nothing. Not a trace of magic. And speaking of which, when are we going… to…"

Yang and Qrow turned and realized two things; One, the door had been left open. And two, Anastasia was standing right in said doorway, glaring fiercely at the off-duty drunkard.

"Why were you in my room? Why did you steal my hair?" He remained silent upon hearing her question. "Tell me the truth now or I'm leaving!"

He held up his hands. "Okay, I know this may sound crazy, but… magic is real. And we thought you were the Spring Maiden." Qrow shifted into a bird right before she could say anything else. "Magic comes in a lot of forms, and in my case, it's quite literal." He spoke as a bird.

Anastasia couldn't breathe. She quietly pinched herself, a small breath taken in. A million thoughts went through her brain at once, rendering her silent.

"Ms. Chrysanthe?" Qrow responded. He shifted back to his human form, unsure if she even noticed him shift at all. "Anastasia?"

"You have magic abilities…" She blinked, taking it all in. "So that's what I've been sensing this whole time."

The shifter took a step back, almost losing his footing. "Huh?"

She sighed. "Ever since I was a little girl, I've always been able to sense certain energies." She took one of the petals from her flower crown. "Usually strongest when I'm outdoors or surrounded by nature." She smiled upon looking at the flower petal in her hand. "Most people around me just believed it was me being in tune with my environment." The flower huntress set the petal down, smile fading as her gaze focused on the shifter. "I sensed a strange energy around Mr. Branwen when he first arrived at my family's home. I couldn't tell if that was some extension of his semblance, something else, or if I was simply paranoid. That wildland energy… was something entirely unique. I sensed it around Qrow, and more recently around Yang. I'm guessing she has similar powers as well."

Yang wordlessly blinked. She knew, and she didn't even know about magic to understand the changes happening around her.

Qrow turned to Ozpin's vessel. "Ozpin, are you hearing this?"

She turned to the young warrior. "Huh?"

"Hello, Ms. Chrysanthe." Ozpin greeted her.

Anastasia's eyes narrowed, trying to hold back her tears and tucked in her lips. "Ozpin… is that you?" She took in a staggered breath, ran forward to the young man, knelt before him and threw her arms around him, much to their surprise. "I thought you were gone forever…"

"It's alright, Anastasia." Ozpin said, trying to console her. "I know this is a lot to take in."

"I'm just glad that you're here. I was devastated to hear of your demise." She let go of him and stood up, her eyes now dry. "How is this possible? Is Oscar… a medium of sorts?"

"Kind of. I've reincarnated into a similar soul. It took a lot to convince him to leave his home to help save the world." Anastasia chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"It seems we're… kindred spirits in that regard."

They all chuckled in response to her joke, Ana herself included. Even Oscar was laughing internally.

"In all due seriousness, she's an expert magic detector!" Ozpin exclaimed in triumph. "What are the odds?"

"This could be huge!" Qrow echoed. "We could finally find the Spring Maiden!"

Her brows tensed and her tone shifted. "Who is this Spring Maiden, and why is she so important?"

"She's a highly powerful mage, and has the ability to open a secret vault below the school."

"And inside this vault?..."

"Is a powerful relic that needs to be protected from evil hands."

Her lips shaped into a big 'O' as she replied. "Oh. That sounds… pretty important."

"And to explain why I had taken your hair, we thought that you might have been her, so we were having Ozpin try to sense a trail of magic. But there's nothing there."

She gave a soft chuckle. "Oh, I'm no Maiden. But it is an entertaining thought. Truth be told, I've often wondered if magic might be real, or what I would do if I was trusted or gifted with such abilities. Glad to know I was right in some ways."

Qrow blinked, his eyes suddenly brightening a bit. "Wait a minute… You hail from Zephyros. It's a bit of a long-shot, but… we have some questions to ask you. It's very important that you're honest with us here."

She nodded, feeling a bit uneasy. "Okay."

"Before leaving team SSEA, when was the last time you had been in your hometown village?"

"The last time I was in Zephyros?" She held her hand to her face. "That would have been ten years ago, in December… I saw my family and spent the winter holidays with them."

"Did you feel anything strange or unusual while you were there?" The flower huntress nodded. "You have. Give us as many details as you can." Qrow instructed.

Anastasia hummed. "I felt… something in the air. Something… floral, earthy… kinda powerful. Like, more powerful than your wildland magic. But the feeling disappeared as soon as it appeared. I thought maybe I was hallucinating, but maybe I wasn't."

So she was there. Ozpin thought. Our prediction was correct.

Ozpin's guess may have been right, but it still didn't do anything to solve the present dilemma.

"How far does your ability to sense magic extend?"

She lightly shrugged, hardly lifting her shoulders. "I'm not sure. I guess I've never tried searching for it beyond the immediate area that I'm in."

"Hmm… Could there be a way to amplify her magic detection abilities?" Yang suggested.

"I'm not sure," Qrow began. "Having magic and being able to detect it are two entirely different skills. In theory, we could try to create or modify a ritual to give her more power, but Anastasia doesn't actually have magic herself, so the magic to be amplified would have to be channeled into her somehow and come from another source. Oscar hasn't even unlocked his magic yet, and me and Yang only have pretty small amounts. Nowhere near enough to give the strength she would need."

"But is there not a third option?" Anastasia wondered.

"What do you…" Qrow began, before his eyes went wide, the answer dawning upon him.

"Ruby…" Yang whispered.

I almost forgot… My baby sister has silver eyed abilities.

"But her powers don't even activate unless there are Grimm nearby." Qrow reminded them.

The flower huntress looked at him and challenged him. "Really? I thought I read a legend somewhere of a silver-eyed warrior using their powers to light up an empty cavern." She shifted the flower crown she wore. "But I suppose it's hard to tell myth from reality when it comes to magic."

"As far as I can tell, silver eyed magic has only ever worked in the presence of Grimm. I don't think it's possible to activate it otherwise." Qrow began. "If that's the case, we would need to capture a Grimm and have Ruby destroy it with her silver eyes for the ritual to work."

Anastasia raised a brow and audibly gulped. "Can Grimm even be captured?"

"Killing Grimm is easy if you know what you're doing." the off-duty drunkard remarked. "Capturing one to use for later… is tricky. And there's no guarantee that this would even work."

"We have to at least try." Ozpin reasoned. "This might be our only chance to find the Spring Maiden before our enemies do."

"But what if Ruby gets hurt? What if she can't do it?" Yang feared.

That was the big question that hung over them all. Ruby was young, and as far as everyone (save for Anastasia) could recall, had only used her silver eyed powers once- to freeze the Wyvern that was currently stuck on Beacon's tower.

"We don't have to decide on anything right away," Ozpin said. "But the sooner we discuss this with everyone else, the better."

"Does Pyrrha's team not know about magic?" the flower huntress asked.

"They know about the maidens, but they don't know about me or Yang's powers." Qrow confessed.

Anastasia shot him narrowed eyes. "And why haven't you told them yet?"

"Well, I didn't even know I had shifting powers until only a few days ago." Yang admitted. "I thought of telling Ruby, but I wanted her to focus more on her hand to hand combat training. As for my uncle Qrow… maybe he just never found the right words to say?"

Qrow slumped. "No, she's right. We need to tell them. The only question that remains… is how."

All the while, Blake and Sun were shown with several stacks of flyers in their hands. Between the two piles, there were over a hundred flyers to be distributed.

"Finally, all the flyers are done." Blake smiled. "All eighty of them."

"Here's hoping the next book is a success." Sun stated.

"The Banned Books Club should work out pretty well. We are a book club on paper, even if the truth is a bit more complicated than that."

"And correct me if I'm wrong, but this one's a newer release, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is!"

"That's awesome! I may not be much of a book reader, but I do appreciate a rising star." Blake's smile grew even brighter. "I'm very glad the owner's been kind enough to let us use her printer without charge, on top of everything else."

"Hopefully Jessica and Taylor Green can handle distributing them all."

Not too far from them, a woman with blonde hair and green eyes stood with a rolling cart. She wore jean shorts and a red tank top with side straps. Rounding out the look were a pair of slightly worn out red sneakers with white laces.

"Ah, Jessica." Blake began, the woman acknowledging her call. "Glad to see that you're already ready to go." Sun and Blake set the flyers on top of the cart. "Where's Taylor?"

Jessica showed them a long face. "She got sick." she answered. "Like, throwing up, running a fever, doesn't-want-to-leave-the-room sick."

Blake squinted in apprehension. "Oh no… That's awful." Trying to regain her resolve, she asked, "How did this happen?"

The blonde woman sadly nodded. "I don't know, but it looks like it's up to me to distribute them all."

"But are you going to be able to carry all those flyers at once?" Sun asked. "Maybe we should get someone else to help."

"Actually, I have another idea." She turned around, revealing a blue drawstring bag with red adjustable strings. She slung the bag off her shoulders and held it. "I'll put the remaining flyers in here. Could you hold this open?"

Sun held the bag open as she gradually placed flyers inside, each time showing the bag filling up a bit more in a still shot until nothing was left.

"That's as many as I can get in there." Jessica concluded. "I think I can carry the rest."

To prove her point, she immediately took the last pile of flyers into her arms and began to depart.

"Good luck," Blake told her.

She wordlessly nodded and left the building.

"I hope she doesn't have any trouble. Distributing eighty flyers is a lot for one person. Even just forty in a day is a challenge." The two began walking down the hallway as Blake wondered out loud. "How could Taylor have gotten so sick?"

Sun thought in silence before mumbling to himself, "No… that can't be possible."

"What can't be possible?"

"I'd say Coco poisoned her, but supposedly she's been away helping her grandmother."

Blake tilted her head to the side. "Coco? The chess player?"

"Yeah. Coco Cocoa. The one whose name sounds like it was created by a fanfiction writer." He faced forward, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, what kind of name is that?"

"Maybe her parents just weren't very creative people." she suggested to him.

"Well, it's not just her name." Sun sighed. "Something just doesn't seem right about her. First she claims that she was a bit scared to join the Bookworm Army only to change her mind just as quickly. Next, she got some of the names wrong for the CFVY vs CMSN doubles match. Then she gave us an obscure book recommendation that hardly brought anyone in, and if that's not enough, she lied about her aura!"

"She did not lie about her aura!"

"Oh really?" He folded his arms. "Then why did she say that she didn't need Urdina to unlock her aura when she came to us without it?"

Blake copied his movement as she retaliated, "She said that she had unlocked her aura after she joined us!" She gestured to him. "You were able to unlock your semblance without trying, so it's not entirely implausible that her aura just opened up for her."

"It seems unlikely. Aura often takes a long time to unlock. You told me that yourself from your early training days with Adam!" Blake turned away. "Also, we've lost a baker's dozen members who are either dead or missing without a trace! Not to mention Mata somehow got caught while sabotaging the aircraft! What if she's the reason they're all dead?!"

Blake's annoyance began to turn to anger. "You're being way too hard on her! There's no way Coco is responsible for his death or anyone else's! None of the other members know that we have a spy!" She stifled back a sob. "Or… did have a spy."

Sun felt a stab of guilt as he took a step back. Was he really right about the peaceful cat eared faunus, or was paranoia beginning to get the better of him? Despite the odds that his half brother Zhu had perished in the Vacuan desert, he had been right about his brother being alive all those years (and about him being the thief Ganglie), but could lightning strike twice? Or even thrice?

After a long pause, he admitted his guilt and his fear. "Look, I'm really sorry. I'm just worried about this war endeavor."

"I suppose we both are," Blake admitted.

He leaned in, whispering to her. "I love you."

Blake did not respond, but instead showed her love by nudging him to the wall and making out with him. He returned the embrace, wrapping his arms across her back.

Not too far from them, 'Coco' was walking by, and happened to notice their makeout, but her ears twitched a bit.

Huh? What's this? A passionate kiss after a tense argument?

She took a closer look at them as Sun's tail curled up around Blake's waist pulling her closer.

Blake kissing Sun? But why? She can't really be in love with him. From what I just heard, Sun actually does love her, but Blake did not repeat those words. She's a selfish coward, probably stringing him along. Biting her tongue to hold in a gasp, she concluded, They must be friends with benefits! Oooh, this is quite intriguing! She smirked to herself. Athena's going to love hearing this!

With this, she quickly dashed off, neither of the lovebirds being aware that there was a witness.