I couldn't sleep. The thought of Nikos dying was enough to send my heart and brain into overdrive. In cases like these, my reptilian brain took over and I turned to the one thing I'd do during a sleepless night:

Study.

In particular, the very essence that Nikos gave me. I spent the past 15 minutes in a library with my nose deep into one book; a basic guide to Aura. It also gave me a crash course on Semblances, namely how one doesn't just manifest it from the word go.

"What are you doing up so late?" A gruff voice immediately yanked me out of the book and into reality as I nearly leaped out of my chair. I saw the buff man from before, now dressed in an olive and dark green coat. His tattered black shirt was still visible, but he looked better for wear.

"Reading. I just found out about Aura the other day and figured to learn a bit more before I head back to my ignorant life at Atlas." I gave a half-assed chuckle while he stared at me. He took a look at the book, then went to the shelf to take out another one; a second guide to Aura.

"It's an outdated book. Volume 5 has a more accurate summary on Aura." He dropped it off in front of me. I took a look through the book and, sure enough, it felt as though I was reading a completely different topic altogether. Before, I thought Aura was always active and that Semblances are formed by the personality or vice versa. Now, all of a sudden, Aura needs to be activated and Semblances allegedly have no correlation to one's personality?

"What the hell is this!?" I said out loud.

"Not to your liking?" He asked.

"… Screw it. I'm not gonna be able to wrap my head around this anytime soon." I sighed as the man put away the other book.

"Why were you interested in the first place?" He asked.

"Well… Having came to this place for the first time and seeing how most of these people train, it… kinda made me feel intrigued." I said. He sat on a chair, elbows resting on the table.

"Well, don't. Being a Huntsman is far from the idealistic job people make it out to be." He said.

"Even so, I wouldn't be able to capitalize on being a Huntsman. Where I'm from, food's given to us, hand and foot." I replied. He gave me a blank look before he continued.

"Good. From what I saw, you have a wife to look out for. A Huntsman would have to fight every day, knowing that they'll eventually die and leave their loved ones to mourn… If you know what's good for your wife… Don't be a Huntsman." He told me. I sat there, my mouth agape. It took me a second before I realized I needed to say something.

"That's good advice. I guess from your expertise that you're a Huntsman yourself?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Far from it…" He took a pause before he spoke up. "My sister was. Though, she wasn't ready…" I could see him clench his fist and I quickly prattled.

"Oh, crap. Sorry for your loss." I said. He released the tension in his hand and exhaled.

"You didn't know. But now that you do, you understand the dangers, right?" He asked.

"Yes. And telling from Nikos's injuries… It's nothing to scoff at either." I said.

"Good. If I could at least dissuade you from making that decision, it'd be a weight off my back." The man got up and walked off. I took a while to look at the book before I put it away…

I returned to see Willow packing up some of the leftover luggage we were able to secure from the bandits.

"I'm sorry…" I said.

"For what?" She asked me.

"This entire honeymoon is a disaster and I feel responsible for it." I shook my head.

"No, you didn't ruin it. In fact, it wasn't ruined to begin with. We had ourselves a nice stay, albeit with some bumps." She placed some of the crystals of Dust into one part of the luggage. Lionheart saw fit to refill our supplies after we informed him of the situation. "Besides, Father heard the news and is on his way to us, so the honeymoon was gonna end no matter what. He told us to meet him at Argus to ensure we don't have any nasty encounters."

"Do you think…" I tried to find the right words. "You don't think she's still out there, right?"

"Who?" A pause later… "Oh, stop, silly!" She gave me a pat on the back. "Is that what you're so upset about?"

"Well, it's that and the whole Kuroyuri thing. I was told that the bandits were on their way there and… given how it was destroyed…" I sat on the bed next to her.

"You think she had to do with Nikos…" She took a moment before she held me tightly in my arms. Despite me looking like her age, if not older, I felt more like a kid nestled in their mother's grasp. "Aaaw, Jacquey…"

"Like… Nikos might have a point! If she isn't stopped, who knows how many people would lose their lives!" I shouted before Willow held me tighter, muffling my complaints.

"Don't fret about it. There's nothing we can do anyways… We're the providers of Dust, not the police." She said…

No…

There has to be something…

"To have the Schnee Dust Company officially provide Dust to the army would save money and probably even lives…"

… I knew what I have to ask of Ironwood…

"Besides… We're gonna be in Atlas soon. She's not going to be a problem to us any longer…" Willow held me as we flopped onto the bed. I decided to keep mum on the army, realizing it might kill the mood Willow had put me in. Her lips met mine…

Come morning, we departed to Argus with little fanfare. No goodbyes were made to Lionheart and Nikos was sent home for better treatment to his wounds, so no checking on his wellbeing. I wasn't even able to see the buff man off, though I presumed he left Haven soon after my conversation with him.

I barely even got to see the whole of Mistral before I was forced to leave it, just a few streets and pictures of how it looks. Most of my time was spent in the house that Lionheart had for us. In fact, most of the last day I was at Mistral was spent with me sitting on a velvety red couch waiting for a phone call to let me and Willow know that our ride to Argus Limited, the train that'd take us to Argus, arrived.

For the most part, the trip to the Argus Limited station was much like a regular taxi drive to the train station back in my world. Even the station itself was akin to my world's train stations, right down to gift shops.

"Hey, Willow… Got something for you to commemorate the end of the vacation." I handed her a small bag with a gift inside it. Nothing major, just a gold diamond ring.

"Oh, this is lovely! I'll be sure to open it soon…" To my knowledge, she still hasn't opened the gift.

It didn't take long before we boarded our ride. The train ride to Argus was just as plain as the train rides in my world, though there was a slight bump…

Or rather several.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing some heavy turbulence. Sit tight and stay positive." Our conductor said as I suddenly noticed our window's blinds automatically closed to the sound of loud whirring and clanging, followed shortly with cute videos of animals projecting onto the blinds. I made out what looked to be diagonal lines behind the blinds, making diamond pattern bars.

"What the hell?" I muttered as what would normally be the sounds of kittens meowing before their mother were instead replaced with bestial growls and loud gunfire. "I-is this normal!?" A baby cried before the outside noises were drowned out by the kittens' mewing. Willow just held my hand tightly.

"Don't worry. We're going to be fine." She gave me a wistful smile. I looked to the blinds, focusing beyond the video footage and trying to catch a glimpse of the snowy outside…

What was going on out there?