Weiss Schnee sits on her bed in her room with her head bowed and her hands folded in her lap. Jacques Schnee paces in front of her.
Jacques: Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.
Jacques suddenly stops, then turns and points at her.
Jacques: Do you have any idea what your stunt cost us?
Weiss: I—
Jacques: (cutting her off) And don't think I'm just talking about Lien here! Our reputation! Our... our...
Jacques sighs angrily and holds his head, unable to come up with the words to finish expressing the gravity of her mistake. Weiss waits for a moment before speaking.
Weiss: I want to leave.
Jacques: I beg your pardon?
Weiss: I said I want to leave. I don't want to stay here anymore. I don't want to stay in Atlas anymore!
Jacques: Young lady, I don't give a damn about what you want! This isn't about you. This is about the Schnee family name and your apparent insistence on dragging it through the mud!
Weiss: (Stands up from the bed) I have done nothing but fight to uphold the honor of my family name, a name that you married into!
Jacques slaps Weiss hard on her left cheek, sending her head to the side as she gasps in reaction. She puts her hand on her cheek and turns to face her father, looking at him a little incredulously as she lowers her hand. He looks right back at her, unrepentant. When he begins speaking again, his voice suddenly sounds calm yet intimidating.
Jacques: This behavior of yours is incredibly disappointing. You couldn't possibly understand the lengths I've gone to in order to keep this family where it is. You think running off like your sister is going to make the Schnee name stronger? You're wrong. Siding with her only divides us.
Weiss: I'm not siding with anyone. I'm doing what I feel is right, and that does not include wasting my time up here...
Jacques walks away, rolling his eyes as his daughter finishes her rant.
Weiss: ...with these clueless people in Atlas. The Schnee family legacy isn't yours to leave. It's mine, and I'll do it as a Huntress.
Jacques stops and slowly turns to face her again. As he speaks, he moves to stand in front of his daughter, peering down upon her.
Jacques: No... you won't. You're not leaving Atlas. You're not to leave the manor grounds unless I specifically allow it. You are going to remain here, out of sight and out of trouble, until you and I come to an agreement on your future.
Weiss: What?!
Jacques: Your presupposition that you can simply have whatever it is you want is a clear sign of our failure as parents. But from now on, I'll be giving you the full attention you require, starting by keeping you where I can see you.
With that, Jacques turns once more and walks away.
Weiss: You can't just keep me from leaving!
Again, he stops and turns to look at her.
Jacques: I can, and the staff here will make sure of it.
Weiss: So now I'm just your prisoner?!
Jacques: You are my daughter. You're a child, and children are grounded when they misbehave.
He walks away, and this time, he continues walking even while his daughter speaks.
Weiss: This is only going to make things worse, Father. People will ask questions! They'll want to know why the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company is suddenly nowhere to be found!
Her father stops in front of the door and faces her.
Jacques: Which is why you are no longer the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.
Weiss takes a step back, stunned.
Weiss: Excuse me?
Jacques: Clearly, the trauma you endured at the fall of Beacon was too much for you. Which is why you've generously revoked your claim to the company and its earnings and passed it on to your brother Whitley.
Weiss stares at Jacques, breathing heavily as she digests the news.
Jacques: It's time to wake up and face reality.
Jacques turns and leaves. Through the open door, we see Whitley waiting and clearly having been eavesdropping. Jacques turns to the left without acknowledging his son.
Weiss takes a moment to deal with her emotions and then steps out into the hall with her fists clenched, calling out to her brother who is moving down the hallway in the opposite direction his father had gone.
Weiss: Whitley?!
Whitley: (turning around with a small frown.) It's not like I had any say in the matter, so don't get mad at me.
Weiss: Don't act like you aren't happy.
Whitley: Whether I'm happy or not isn't going to matter in a few days.
Weiss: What nonsense are you talking about?!
The boy lets off a sigh before checking the halls around them before grabbing his sister and pulling her into her room.
Whitley: I had a talk with Ironwood after one of his visits to Father.
Weiss: And he actually listened?
Whitley: Not just that, he agreed to what I asked him.
Weiss: What exactly did you ask of him?
Whitley: A rescue operation. Mother and I are leaving in two days. And since you now have another reason to leave, it's best you come with us.
Weiss: Mother...really agreed to this?
Whitley: Sister, she came up with it.
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Tyrian narrowly dodges Gwen's torrent of punches before doing a spinning backhand with the blade of his weapon. Gwen raises her left arm to block as her Aura shimmers to life, creating a hex shaped shield that catches his blade in the small gaps and immobilizes his arm.
Gwen delivers two right hooks to Tyrian's face with the speed, strength, and technique of a trained soldier. Gwen's Aura flashes it's blue/white color every time her strikes land while the hex shield that is pinning Tyrian's arm siphons the purple aura from Tyrian. She reeled her fist back a third time and spikes extend from the knuckles before she drilled her fist into his stomach, causing his Aura to flash. The spikes suddenly burst out of her weapon and pierced Tyrian's aura, lodging themselves in his stomach.
As he recoils from Gwen's attack, Tyrian sees Ruby unprotected and beelines for her with a maniacal grin. A black feather falls past his vision and Shae appears in mid kick. Her kick lands square in his face and she flips off of his head before he is suddenly dragged back towards Gwen. His aura flashes and dissolves, showing that Gwen's attacks did more damage than originally perceived.
The spikes in his body contained gravity dust that is remotely activated by In Mea Manus after they are embedded into a target. Gwen reels her fist back and Tyrian is forcefully lurched forward into a colossal Superman punch, causing a sickening crack to emit from his neck.
The students turn away as Tyrian's body tumbled to the ground lifelessly, blood leaking from his mouth. Gwen looks horrified at first, looking down at her fists in shock before an expression of resolve crosses her face.
Shae reappears again with a neutral expression as she looks at the corpse of the scorpion Faunus before turning to RLNN with a concerned face.
Shae: Are you all alright?
Ren sighs in relief as he helps Nora to her feet while Pyrrha does the same for Ruby.
Ren: Just a little banged up.
Nora: Talk about saving our bacon...
As Shae spoke with RLNN, Gwen cast a glance towards a black crow perched on a fall streetlight. It flapped its wings in a strange motion as it was clapping for her. Her eyes widened for a moment before she chuckled under breath and sent a two finger salute the bird's way before it took off.
She then kneeled down and retrieved her spikes from Tyrian before taking his weapons and scroll, needing them as proof just in case. She put them on her back and walked over to RLNN.
Pyrrha: Shae, who's your new friend?
Gwen: Gwen. Gwen Azul-Isbert. Nice to meet you all. I hope you all don't see me in a negative light because of...
Ruby: No, not at all! You saved my life! The both of you did!
Gwen gains a somewhat sheepish smile.
Gwen: Think nothing of it, honestly. Shae said you were friends in Beacon, so I had to help.
Nora: Actually, how'd you find us here anyway?
Shae pulled a map from under her cloak and showed it to them.
Shae: The map we used to find this place was outdated. The ones now usually have Oniyuri marked out entirely. Gwen mistook it for a town that was still functioning and we followed the map here.
Gwen: Knew I should have sent those two to scout this place instead of just taking their word for it...
Ren: It's a good thing, I don't know what might have happened to us if you two didn't end up here.
Pyrrha: Nothing good...
Shae: Speaking of, why are you out here? What did that man want with you?
Pyrrha gave Ruby a significant look and she nodded before looking at Shae again.
Ruby: Let's set up a place to sleep first, I'll tell you everything then.
|>—>—>—><—<—<—<|
The Iron Wolf members expressed a feeling of unease while inside the Pyramid, but claimed the could bear with it for the sake of the world.
It was a heartwarming thing to hear for Gryphon.
He felt the same unease tenfold as he piloted the ship through a mental connection. Voices whispered words of temptation into his ears, he found It no different than wielding the Dragonslayer's Proxy and it's Ahamkara spurning him on to cause more destruction.
He had a map of Remnant memorized is seconds and was piloting them towards Mistral. According to Juno, Skylar is reassembling team Cloudburst in Haven. The White Fang are making a move and the Iron Wolves need to be there to counter it.
Why drag this out? You have no need of a revolution.
His eyes snapped open. He wasn't in the ship anymore, but sitting on a black beach. A giant cragged mountain of obsidian that bleed gold from it's peak sat behind him, parts of it splintering off and hovering in the sky. The sky held two celestial bodies.
A White Hole and a Black Hole. There was no Sun. This is what his Throne World has become.
You restrain yourself for the sake of these mortals that know not who they dine beside.
The pests were meant to kneel before you!
However still, you show them such grace. As if you were just as human as them. You supersede what it means to be "Human".
Gryphon cast his eyes to the water, the source of the voice he'd been hearing. Three voices chuckled in the same way at the same time as he turned to look at the water.
An emerald light began to shine from the sea before a wave of paracausal will cascaded over him. A being he had never seen before rose from the sea, displaying it's colossal form with pride.
A three headed Worm God.
First Head: Your mind tells you to guide them. Xu.
Second Head: Your heart tells you to save their weak. Ul.
Third Head: Your body tells you crush their strong. Khur.
All Heads: The Body is a vehicle for the Will. The Heart creates the Will. The Mind guides the Will. The Sword makes your Will into Law. The Logic makes the Law unbreakable.
A bright green Sun manifests between the two astrological objects.
Gryphon's eyes shoot open. His body was nearly engulfed in emerald Soulfire. In his hands was a sword. The sword he had created after absorbing Oryx's power.
However, the shape of it had been altered drastically. The broad blade was now a sheathe for a thinner, lighter, and more powerful blade than he could have imagined.
He remembered the words the three headed worm spoke. Xu. Ul. Khur. Eris' lessons in Hive myth came in handy as he remembered the name of an old Hive legend.
Xu-Ul-Khur,
The Malformed Worm
Gryphon shook the stray thoughts from his mind. A communion with an exiled Hive Worm God is a problem he'd need Eris to help him fix and she is lightyears away from Remnant.
Eris once told him that the Hive never use thin blades because they were inefficient for killing, hindering the effectiveness of the Sword Logic. Apparently Xu-Ul-Khur thought otherwise.