Pyrrha's life may have had become a torrent of emotion and confusion, but she knew one thing for sure: she woke up the next morning a free woman. The world hadn't ended. Her team hadn't abandoned her. She was still alive. Despite the concerned and curious looks she got from other students as they ate breakfast, it was like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. A couple of them even said 'hello' to her: that was an improvement to being completely unapproachable!

She was free. Liberated.

Which was why when she checked her Scroll for today's Vytal Festival schedule and found out the day's matches were being postponed to tomorrow due to a 'pending investigation', she was worried.

And when Jaune pulled her aside to say an official let him know that Team FNKI was the team being investigated, she was heartbroken.

Puppets on String

"No more secrets, Adam. After our two-on-two match, we need to talk."

That was all Yang had said when she'd returned that night, rebuffing attempts to talk to her afterwards.

The night passed quickly for Adam. Weiss hadn't even returned, though with her likely being with her sister, none of them were worried.

Dawn had brought news of some investigation pushing back the doubles round potentially into the next day, which at least gave them plenty of free time. Ruby and Yang were likely to spend that time with their uncle, and he... wasn't avoiding Qrow, but if he found himself on the opposite side of Beacon from Raven's brother who definitely knew who he was in relation to Raven. The only thing that man had even said before sending him off was asking who taught him to fight.

Perhaps he was overreacting. Perhaps he was just unsure of what to even do if it turned out that Qrow still knew Raven. If he was affiliated with her. Such thoughts filled his head as he wandered through the many stands and shops that had sprung up all along Beacon's courtyards. Most hadn't even finished setting up in the early dawn, only just bright enough for natural sunlight to beat out lamps and streetlights, but there were still people mulling about.

A frown tugged at his lips: there were enough people for him to see that—despite all the claims that this Festival represented unity—the self-segregation of human and faunus started by Tacet's attack on Beacon had been completed. The only thing that seemed to pass between the groups were false attempts at politeness at best. The sun was just creeping up below the horizon, the autumn breeze sent leaves fluttering, and the air was filled with the sounds of morning chatter and the smell of delicious food.

Yet Adam could feel the tension underneath it. If this was how they were acting during a holiday, what would happen when that was gone?

"This is a load of crap, man! How can they just make this stuff up!" The voice of a man not even bothering with the pleasant mask stood out in the fairgrounds. Curious, Adam wandered towards the source.

"Beats me, but think of it this way: once we beat this lie, we're gonna have the world's eyes on us!" a woman replied. It was a pair of Atlesian students dressed in uniform lounging at a stand selling coffee, cups in hand. One he knew to be Flynt Coal, and if it weren't for that, he might not have even recognized the girl: Neon Katt. Neon's pink hair, rather than done in giant ponytails, was combed straight down to her lower back. It was interesting, how a different clothes and hair could change someone.

Flynt snorted. "Yeah, well you've always been a lot more optimistic than I am. I know how this'll go down: if they faked this investigation, they'll fake the evidence, too."

As Adam sat down a couple seats away and waved for some coffee of his own, Neon turned to lean with her back against the counter. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I take it as a point of pride: we really had to get under somebody's skin for them to do this. I bet it's just some angry fanboy from Mistral with a lotta cash."

Flynt's expression darkened. "Or a faunus hater from Atlas. Either way, I ain't rating our chances—"

"Hey! You there!" Neon suddenly spoke over him, her gaze turned to Adam. "If you're not gonna mind your own business, at least stop pretending like you are!"

Adam had half a mind to just play dumb about it, but relented. "Sounds to me that you two know more about the investigation than I do," he said as he stopped bothering and moved next to Neon.

"We know a lot of things, yeah." Neon eyed him with suspicion until, all at once, it vanished. With a sparkle in her eyes, she leaned in uncomfortably close. "Oooh, hey! I remember you: you're the White Fang guy!"

Adam's heart skipped a beat. More than a couple humans glanced in their direction.

Flynt blanched. "Neon, you can't just drop that without context!" While Neon only snickered and sipped at her coffee, her partner rolled his eyes. "Don't mind her. Word on the street is that you were getting some of the Fang who weren't so down for the cause to fight for Vale. Even that you shouted down a guy in a tank."

Adam masked his sigh of relief under a chuckle. "It was a Paladin."

Neon whistled, and Flynt nodded in appreciation. "Gutsy."

"Despite what my team might say, I have a way with words when I want to," he joked and passed over some lien for a cup of concentrated caffeine he desperately needed. If it were up to him, he would've slept for two days after that fight. "So, what's going on with this investigation I'm hearing about?"

With a groan and roll of his eyes, Flynt turned to recline like Neon. "I guess a bunch 'a fat cats decided someone beating the Invincible Girl must've been cutting into their merchandising or something, because some rat's been saying we've been using some boosted-up, fancy and, most importantly, non-tournament legal Dust."

"Which is, like, the easiest thing in the world to disprove, by the way," Neon chipped in.

"Something getting this far up the chain that fast is more than a little suspicious." Adam tapped his fingers on the counter.

"Exactly!" Flynt exclaimed. "It's any excuse to try and shove anybody challenging the status quo: 'guess I know why the Invincible Girl is so invincible," he growled before drowning his anger in coffee.

Adam waved it off. "I don't think she has anything to do with it: Pyrrha looked torn up about it, not angry."

"Huffy Atlesian it is, then," Neon said with a sigh.

He scoffed. "Common problem in 'paradise,' I'm sure."

"Yeah, more than a little," Flynt replied. "Being one of the few Atlesian teams with a faunus on your side who doesn't hide it tends to get a few people trying to screw you over. I'm not sayin' it's the General, but people up there really don't like it when a faunus kicks their asses."

"It's why I like to piss 'em off as much as possible when I do~" Neon winked at him.

Adam couldn't hold back a laugh. "A respectable response." Something scratched at his mind as he watched the people walking by. "Where's the other half of your team?"

"Being interrogated by the man," Neon huffed. "My sister Ivori doesn't even use offensive Dust. Shows how smart they are."

"They've got another thing coming if they think we're taking this lying down. I never minded losing against Nikos, but I'm not going down to a made-up technicality. They even inspected our weapons before the match!"

"Inspected mine twice," Neon muttered under her breath.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck. You'll have my support, at least." Adam stood and took a quick sip. "I need to check on something with my team, if you don't mind."

"Hey, any little bit helps," Flynt said with a shrug. "I got a feeling there's more than a few salty teams in Atlas who are going to suddenly start saying we were always cheaters."

"Your team was pretty cool out there: when Amity's over in Atlas, you should call us up!" Neon patted herself down. "Ugh, I must've left my Scroll back at my dorm!"

"Hold on there, Neon; isn't he with the Schnee?"

Adam waved it off as he walked away. "She's not that bad!" he called back, smiling. Once he wasn't facing them, his smile dropped. Ozpin wasn't the type to rig a tournament as far as he knew, and Ironwood clearly wasn't subtle. Adam had his suspicions on who could be setting up the tournament like this, and it didn't bode well: if the tournament was integral to Cinder's plans, they had only two more days to put an end to it.

He sent a text out to his team: they needed to meet immediately.

That just left one question, though: what could make Pyrrha so integral to their plan?

"You poor thing, trapped as a cog in a machine you don't even want to be in..."

Sitting in a pristine dormitory free of dust and color bar a single photo of her and her friends, Penny waited on her bed. She was ordered to fight as little as possible in her first match and return before she could speak with anyone: General Ironwood phrased it as a safety measure until they could be certain that there were no signs of foreign code or tampering, especially after her refusal to follow orders on the train. One of her 'teammates'—soldiers with very good paychecks to socialize with her—joked that it was more like being grounded.

After having to have that term explained to her, Penny was ecstatic: that was something that happened to normal teenagers, which made her even more human!

Of course, the bad news was that it meant she'd likely have a lot more eyes on her. But the good news was that two of those eyes were on her side!

"Miss Soliel, are you sure that I'll be allowed to go to Beacon?"

"I cannot guarantee the headmaster will allow you into Beacon, but I can guarantee that if you win the Vytal Tournament and do not hold back, my father will be able to levy his influence to have you apply." Ciel Soliel stood at attention in front of the closed and triple-locked door. Daughter of Penny's technical caretaker—caretaker before she weaseled away one too many times, anyway—she shared his dark complexion and raven-black hair. "He's the one who convinced the general to bring you here for your 'testing'."

Penny's mood brightened. "Headmaster Ozpin will listen to me, I know it!" she declared with a sunny smile. "I'll be sure to defeat all of my opposition!" She sprung to her feet, hands on her hips.

Ciel nodded sharply to her. "I'm certain, as well. Do be aware of our condition, though: our project must remain a secret."

Penny saluted to her teammate. "Our little secret, yep! But can I ask you a question?"

Her partner checked her watch. "You have two minutes and twenty-four seconds until your final check-up. Proceed."

A bird barely the size of a crow fluttered from her bedpost onto her shoulder. Its feathers were so pale that it was almost invisible against the clinical, white walls of her room. Yet the piercing, red eyes and thin lines of the same across the mask obscuring most of its face stood out more from them. Penny looked to the strange creature.

"Why did you show me this?"

Though Ciel's face remained impassive, her stare softened. A quiet whistle and outstretching of her hand, and the pale Nevermore flew to perch on her wrist. "Solidarity. There is no predetermined destiny something must follow: if a Grimm can be made to stray from it, then it should not be an issue for you to be freed from yours."

She took a moment to take it in, then, beaming ever brighter, bounced forward towards Ciel. "That was very poetic for you, Miss Soliel! Thank you!"

Ciel raised an eyebrow and leaned back. "I... suppose."

"O~one more question?" Penny did her best replication of her friend Ruby's 'puppy-dog eyes'.

Once more, her partner checked her watch. "One minute and forty... nine seconds."

"What's your name?" she asked the Nevermore.

With all-too intelligent eyes, it watched her. Then, cocked its head to one side, and a voice slipped into her thoughts, soft and motherly, just as it had when Ciel first brought the bird to her.

"You may call me... Elphaba. Follow us, and I know you will be set free from all chains that bind you."

A black chess piece flickered to life on a screen. Few, if any, would view it as anything more suspicious than a chess application on a Scroll. Only five on the planet would see anything of worth in how the logo's background changed from white to red, and of those five, none would be happier than Cinder was now. Penny—their little backdoor into the system—had finally been connected into it, and in the Atlas Telemon, no less: with her came the completion of their virus. Total access. No more would she have to slither in the dark. No more would she have to peer at the tools of Beacon's destruction, to watch yet never to touch.

The final phase of her plan could begin.

"Is everything alright, ma'am?" asked the investigator behind her, reminding her that she had yet to leave his office, hand daintily resting on the handle. The virus' completion had triggered just as she was leaving.

Cinder wiped the wide smile from her face with ease and turned, the glimmer in her eye and subtle frown the picture of worry. "I'm sorry, sir. I was only concerned. Are you sure that this can't remain anonymous?"

He brushed a hand through sandy-brown hair. "I can make this an anonymous tip, Miss Fall, but not much else. Can't hide the name from the authorities themselves."

The investigator for the truly tragic accusation of Team FNKI's victory being illegitimate was a kind one. Early twenties, baby-faced, and as soft as any would expect a person whose job was to look into events in the most peaceful event on Remnant, even if he did hail from Atlas. Either it was a test position or he'd made a few regrettable decisions when he started: either way, he was perfect. Such youth was a double-edged sword: it left one creative, more independent and less likely to dismiss evidence based solely on old doctrine, but it also left one... vulnerable.

Cinder didn't really like her 'Huntress' uniform much: she'd thrown the simple piece together upon realizing that gallivanting in her red dress could draw suspicion from the administrator who saw her in it defending Torchwick. Leather, open vest and tight jeans. Tightly-wound bandages kept her decent, but unfortunately that left assets off the table.

Still, it showed enough skin to catch the investigator's eye as she sauntered closer and clasped her hands just under her chest. "Please, sir? At least until the tournament is over? I know how it could look: a student of Haven informing you of the crimes of an Atlesian. If anything were to get out, it would make tensions higher," she pleaded. "I would hate to know I could've ever caused that."

He swallowed hard, searching for words.

So she pressed harder. "You said it yourself, didn't you? How important my knowledge could be to the matter? I'd even brought you this..." Cinder slid her fingertips across the investigator's desk, gently pushing the Scroll of Neon Katt forward. One with quite the interesting conversations between her and not just her team, but a mysterious Dust seller who'd left behind the pricey, illegally-powerful Dust they were accused of using. Even the location of a dead drop of lien that would, of course, have her fingerprints on it. Cinder idly wondered if the girl realized her wallet was empty yet. Bless Emerald's talents, and bless Atlas' high stipends.

"Ma'am, I... fine. I'll see what I can do."

Cinder allowed herself to smile. "Thank you so much. I owe you. What was your name again?" She leaned forward just a little more.

He was struggling to keep his eyes from roaming. Good. "Kastanie Braun."

"Kastanie Braun..." she tested the words on her tongue. Her smile grew more sly. "Well then, Kastanie, I hope I could pay you back again some time with a drink... but I'm afraid my team needs me right now. Until we meet again, Detective," Cinder purred and slipped out of the makeshift office he held in Beacon, mentally saving the image of the blushing mess she'd left in her wake. Ah, the vulnerabilities of the inexperienced.

As she slipped on an earbud and connected it to her Scroll, she mentally reminded herself to have Mercury eliminate him when they were sure he'd played his part. A little blood would do wonders to keep the focus off of them. Something to be hurriedly brushed under the rug by the authorities, and a name soon to be lost in the destruction of Beacon.

Walking through throngs of people in the pavilions whose cameras' poor quality she knew well, she opened the bug that had infested Beacon's security systems free from any worry she'd be caught.

And right under Beacon's nose, she sifted through her access points, finally able to not just see from cameras, but listen through Scrolls. Every Scroll her virus touched was another microphone. Another folder of data to be picked clean.

Where better to start than with the headmaster's own?

And just in time...

"Despite our disagreements on method, Ironwood, I'm afraid I'm forced to agree with your reasoning." Ozpin watched the students of Beacon go by from his seat at the top of it all: his office did grant quite a view. "The situation is too hostile for us to hold out hope for Amber's condition any longer."

At Ozpin's side, Glynda sighed. "Torchwick potentially still on the loose, rising Dust prices, this rift between humans and the faunus, Ildaite's continued occupation... were it not for the Vytal Festival, I'd be afraid the city would be in chaos," she commented.

"It's already an unstable Dust crystal: ready to go up from the slightest disturbance," Ironwood said, pacing to and fro behind Ozpin. "It's why I brought my forces here in the first place: it makes the Vytal Festival a target."

Ozpin rapped his fingers against his cane. "If she was going to launch an assault while the greatest students and visiting Huntsmen and Huntresses are in Vale at once, then I'm afraid an army would not be of much worry to her."

"Her attack being when many of those Huntsmen and Huntresses were away says otherwise," Ironwood countered.

"Yet you still feel it, don't you? The energy in the air, behind the feelings of 'what next' and fears of warfare: someone is still out there, planning. This isn't over yet: it's only the beginning. This attack may not come during the Vytal Festival, but it will be soon. We must choose our Guardian before then."

"Which is why I brought my candidate along with me."

The two turned to face Ironwood: it certainly got Glynda and Ozpin's attention.

"Please don't tell me you intend to put forward Specialist Schnee," Glynda said, peering over her glasses.

Ironwood clenched his jaw. That was going to leave the succession of the Winter Maiden awkward. "No. Penny Polendina: she's shown excellent growth and proficiency in all forms of combat. What happened to Amber will not happen again once she is fully trained."

Ozpin hummed to himself. "Yet she lacks proficiency in social matters, I've seen. Guardians are not created, but chosen."

"She's being taught to become the guardian of Mantle already, Ozpin: I am well aware of what a guardian needs."

"Perhaps so, but not, it seems, what being a Maiden needs. You exhibit quite the control on the young girl: would you be prepared to surrender all of that? She would be staying here in Vale, not in Atlas."

"And that was our problem: we let Amber go far too early and while she was too inexperienced!" Ironwood pivoted on his heel and marched to the desk.

"Our problem was how that poor girl was forced into her position," Glynda interjected. "Just as Miss Polendina would be."

Ironwood looked between the two for a moment, then sighed, accepting his defeat on the matter. "Then what is your suggestion, Ozpin?"

"Someone capable, someone respected, someone caring, and most importantly, someone ready. There's only one among our students who I would consider to hold these traits: Pyrrha Nikos."

The general watched Glynda for any sign of disapproval. He found none. "I see. I assume the two of you are in agreement, then." A pair of nods confirmed it: there was no way Qrow would ever agree with him. He took a deep breath, then stood tall.

"So be it. I recommend informing her once this trouble over whether or not her 'Invincible' title has been brushed aside: my investigators tell me they should be arriving at a conclusion by morning."

Ozpin nodded. "I agree fully: we cannot afford to have her mind in other places."

"And of..." Glynda sighed and pushed up her glasses. "And of Team Rua?"

"They can be inducted afterwards, as well as the remainder of Juniper. I believe what Amber was missing most in her defense was an open protector: Qrow was left to wait in the wings and watch, and we see what happened when she managed to slip from him. From what I can gather, Pyrrha's team considers Rua friendly."

Ironwood nodded. "Then it's settled." A low buzz came from his pocket. Retrieving his Scroll, he only needed to scan over the message sent to him. "I'll have to cut this meeting short: it looks like the investigation may be even shorter than expected."

"Well, at least you showed up," Glynda grumbled.

With only a short wave to dismiss Ironwood, Ozpin turned to stare out from his perch once more. "Now, now, Glynda, I see no reason to pull Qrow away from his family... yet." He sipped at his mug, a pleasant smile on his face. His thoughts, however, were not so kind. An open attempt at jockeying for the Maiden's power? Had Ironwood been grooming this Poledina girl to be a Maiden this entire time?

Ozpin's eyes settled on the AAS Atlas Telemon hovering over Beacon. His heart may have been in the right place, but what was Ironwood thinking?

The AAS Atlas Telemon was an almost kilometer-long labyrinth. Weiss greatly appreciated being allowed to stay aboard the dreadnought for a night to stay near Winter, but she did wish Ironwood would've given her a map. Pristine, white hallways led to more pristine, white hallways. Tight corridors looped around to either even tighter corridor or much more vast hallways she felt out of place in walking alongside soldiers.

She didn't show this, of course: she knew the first rule of looking confident was to look like you belonged there. Head high, steps even, shoulders just a touch higher. She couldn't just ask any of the soldiers, that'd just make her look like a little girl looking for her big sister. So she just set off in search for Winter a few minutes earlier to meet her for breakfast. Thirty minutes earlier, to be exact: it was best to be early.

The time wandering the ship gave her plenty of time to think, though. She would have liked to spend that time with Winter, but she was in the medbay for half of the night, and per the soldiers at her door, 'politely requested' to be alone for the other half. Weiss was worried: was her sister hurt? Upset? The only other time Winter had been so upset that she wouldn't even see her was the night before she left for the military. The night after she was kidnapped by the White Fang.

Weiss grimaced. Kidnapped by Adam, most likely. Yet again, he cast a shadow over her. If it's not one criminal mystery, it's another. If it's not the past, it's the present. She knew what it was, honestly: she was silly enough to think that having a former enemy of her family as her partner could last without challenge. Reality had come knocking now, and it had left at her door the choice she'd thought she'd left buried: family or friends.

And neither had their hands free of the others' blood.

Was it bad that she felt like she was getting numb to it?

She sighed, glanced at the doors she passed and nearly tripped over herself: Specialist Mess Hall. She'd almost missed it completely! This was where she would meet Winter. She placed a hand on the door and paused: was she still hurt? Would she be upset she tried to bother her yesterday? Maybe it would be better to just let her eat breakfast in peace and just come later—

"Arriving early?" said Winter at her side.

She jumped with a completely professional and stoic yelp. "Winter! You're... fine?"

Standing with a tray of food for them both, Winter didn't look any different from when she'd first spotted her with her team. Not a single hair out of place, not a single scuff on her uniform. If she didn't know better, she would've thought the previous night was just one long, confusing nightmare.

"I do not see why I would not be." She walked ahead into the small mess hall: the only color was from the muted television and a couple tables with ocean-blue cloths over them. Weiss didn't envy whoever had to polish the tiles here.

An uneasy silence fell over Weiss as Winter set out plates of simple toast, bacon, fruit and rather... questionable-looking eggs. Her eyes were drawn more to the two mugs of coffee.

"I noticed our father arrived," Winter said as she sat down.

Weiss sighed and plopped down in the seat across from her. "Yes. Yes, he has."

Her sister's lips twitched up. "Oh? Not as happy as I thought you'd be about it, I see." She leaned against the table, head propped up on a dainty hand. "You always were 'daddy's little girl' in your youth."

Weiss crossed her arms and huffed. "I was not! I had simply wanted to show him what I had learned in Beacon, that's all."

"Allow me to guess: he was not particularly receptive about that, instead choosing to focus on every little thing you have done incorrectly? Am I correct?"

She was left with her brow raised. "How do you—"

"Has he run background checks on everyone around you yet?" Weiss' shocked expression said all Winter needed to know. "I have experience," she said. "Were it not for you telling me about your funds already being taken away, I would have put money on that being the next thing to go."

"He didn't say anything about it, actually..."

"Which means he is well aware that if you did not bring it up, then his attempts to force you back into servitude have failed." Winter sipped at her coffee, keeping her pleasant smile. "You've done well to last this long, Weiss. You've done well in Beacon altogether. Please, do not let him sow seeds of doubt into you."

"I wouldn't say he's trying to do that," Weiss said, rubbing her hand and looking away. "He's just... trying to keep me safe."

Winter leaned forward. "But is that what you believe, or what he says to believe?"

Weiss flinched and, with a soft sigh, Winter reached forward and placed a gentle hand on her sister's own. "Weiss, I understand that you wish to see the best in our family, but the time will soon come when he will force you to choose between him and your own freedom. I know you will make the right decision; however, the more you refuse it, the more it will hurt when you must choose: do you want to travel the world on your own, or would you rather stay on his golden leash?" She pat her hand.

Finally, Weiss smiled and looked back up to her sister. "Correct as usual, Winter."

"Of course I am," she said with her nose turned up. "It will take much more than just a year's training for you to have me searching for an answer."

The two giggled and, for a time, focused more on their meal. She still picked at it: she already missed Beacon's food, let alone from the manor. Though underneath the scratches of utensils against plate, sips at coffee and constant thrum of the dreadnought's engine, Weiss felt pressure creeping higher. Her eyes would dart to her sister, waiting for the inevitable, but she was quiet. Like yesterday truly was just a nightmare.

"I did realize something quite interesting during that fight between you and Team CFVY," Winter suddenly began, even as she looked only at her food.

Weiss didn't trust it one bit, but smiled nonetheless. "Did you, now?"

"Oh, most certainly." She couldn't keep back a sly smirk. "I realized that you had been rather coy about your summoning progress in the letters you sent to me."

Weiss froze.

"And that was quite an interesting glyph you were using just prior to your elimination..." Winter peered over at her little sister. "Call me impatient, Weiss, but if you were planning on surprising me, I am afraid I have very little time left in Vale."

She cleared her throat. "O-oh, well, it was just an attempt and, as you saw, I still couldn't manage it. Yep! Still eludes me!" Weiss rambled, cheeks already flushed.

"It is not like you to take such a risk, when it is the difference between success and failure," Winter countered.

Weiss groaned. "It's embarrassing! That's why I didn't use it!"

"Every Schnee starts somewhere. Even a limb or a smaller summon holds infinite potential."

Gripping her dress and shrinking down, Weiss ran through her mind for any possible way that she could weasel out of this. She was surprised the thought of even using it where the possibility of her family could see it ever passed her mind. Actually using it in front of Winter just wasn't an option!

Winter's tone softened. "If it is the subject of your summon, remember that I summon the very Grimm themselves: it didn't exactly win me any friends. If you are worried about respect, trust that there is nothing you can bring that will make me think any less of you."

Did that help qualm her fears? Yes. Did that make it any easier? Absolutely not. So, after a glance at the closed door and a few more pouting looks at Winter in the vain hope she'd relent only to get a hopeful smile in return, Weiss let her shoulders slump. Before she could second-guess herself again, she pulled Mrytenaster from her waist and pointed it off at her side. She didn't look at the spinning glyph and closed her eyes at the cold draft that rose from it. She only focused on completing it.

The wind stopped.

"Well hello there, sweetcheeks~" said her greatest shame.

Weiss sank her head into her hands.

"It... talks?" she heard her sister say, utterly dumbfounded.

"It talks..." Weiss groaned.

"Ladies, you wound me. I'm standing right here!" said the snow-borne simulacrum of Roman Torchwick.

"Please stop talking," its summoner half-grumbled, half-pleaded into her hands and was glad she didn't need to be stern to command it.

"I-I, uh..." Winter stammered. If it weren't for the fact that she was awaiting the sweet release of embarrassment-caused death, Weiss would've found it funny how for the first time since Winter joined the military, she got her sister to break that professional attitude of hers. "I'm... surprised?" The chair across from her scooted back, and Weiss could hear the click of Winter's heels around her summon.

After a couple seconds of waiting for laughter or concern, the last thing Weiss expected to hear from Winter was curiosity. "Is the cane functional?"

Weiss peeked out of her hand to see Winter inspecting her summon with a pleased smile rather than the judging look she'd expected. When Winter shot a questioning look her way, Weiss sat up straight, face red.

"Y-yes, it is! I don't think the rockets fired hold the same strength, but it does still have the weapon's grappling hook." As if to show that off, the 'Snowwick' popped the handle of its cane off, revealing a sparkling, ice-blue chain within. A sky-blue so pale that only against the whites of the surrounding room could its color be seen, the only things truly solid about the simulacrum were its coat, cane and bowler hat. The rest were ever-shifting like mixing snow across it, face and hair perpetually trailing off into mist. Despite her fights against him, Weiss didn't remember everything about Torchwick's appearance, and it showed.

"It knows some of his fighting style as well, though I haven't been able to hold it together for long," Weiss explained.

After a few moments, Winter shook her head and turned back to Weiss with one of the brightest smiles she'd ever seen on her. "Oh, you truly have come so far since we last saw one another!" The pride alone in her voice left Weiss grinning. "Did you really believe I would hate it?"

"It is a criminal mastermind," Weiss reminded her and let Snowwick vanish away into frost.

Winter waved it off. "I would never have any place to speak. We Schnees may have our hereditary summoning, but it is different for all those who gain it. Our mother summons friends long past, and you seem to be lucky enough to have the opposite of our grandfather's: he summoned the allies he had fought alongside, rather than his foes. I, on the other hand, summoned the Grimm. You could imagine what those who believed a Semblance was borne from personality had to say when the 'illustrious heiress' summoned humanity's greatest enemy."

The two giggled, broken only when Weiss' Scroll began to buzz. She quickly checked it.

"It appears that my team wants a meet-up," Weiss said. "It must be for strategy: I imagine I am a shoe-in for who goes to the doubles round."

"Hopefully not without finishing breakfast: the cooks would be quite upset with me if they caught me wasting that extra food I requested," Winter teased.

After a last laugh, they spent the next few minutes with eating and small talk. Maybe everything would be alright, Weiss thought as she finished the last surprisingly-decent bites. Maybe Winter really was fine with just pretending the last night just hadn't happened. Maybe she was fine with that, too.

They gave their goodbyes for the time being and Weiss made it just to the door before Winter called out behind her.

"You know who he is, don't you?"

So much for pretending nothing happened. Weiss put on a fake smile and turned. "Know who?" She kept herself from flinching at the level stare her sister was giving her, but couldn't stop herself from tensing up.

"Taurus."

Her smile grew more strained. Winter's eyes reflected disbelief, then the judgment she feared seeing most. When Weiss looked away, knowing there wasn't anything she could say to logically convince anyone this wasn't a terrible idea, Winter sighed.

"Weiss... I may not condemn you for believing in who you think is a friend, but as someone who has been in your shoes, you cannot afford to drop your guard. He will betray you one day, even if it takes years." The bitterness in her tone alone made it clear what was unspoken: 'just like he betrayed me.' "I cannot protect you forever so, please, Weiss, keep that in mind. He is our family's enemy."

It would've been the right thing to do to defend him, right? To tell her she was wrong, that there was no way he would betray the team. There were so many questions she knew she could only ask now, but would probably only leave her doubting him all the more. Doubting her family. Reality had come knocking yet again, and the truth was that she cared for them too much to believe the ills they no doubt saw in each other. But she knew convincing them of that was folly.

So she nodded. "Of course, sister." Smiled.

And left.

A/N: So, as you can see there are some slight changes, mainly to Weiss' Semblance. Basic idea's the same, but the execution changes. As for Team FNKI... everything after V6 is up in the air on what I'll use.

There may be a delay in the next chapter dropping of about 2-3 weeks. A lot of changes going on with the current times.