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Chapter Text

X1X

On the outskirts of the continent of Solitas, not too far from the Kingdom of Atlas sat a traditional Japanese-style home. Mere minutes prior there was no such residence, but in the next, it appeared as if by magic. Any people and creatures passing by the area would give the home a wide berth as if it did not exist at all. At this very moment, an elderly gentleman shimmered into existence in front of the home's main gate. He was of advanced age with gray hair and wrinkles while dressed in mostly black vestments with white and gold trim. He held a cane that reached his waist in length perpendicular to himself with one hand while checking an antique pocket watch with the other.

“Well then, they should be waking up right about now, let’s begin shall we.” He spoke to no one in particular with equal parts glee and mischief in his old voice. The old man put away the watch and proceeded forward into the estate.

‘Bang, Boom, Crash’

“Seems they’ve already met, this should be interesting.”

X2X

Kiritsugu woke up in his dining room, the last thing he remembered was sitting out on the veranda and waiting as his body finally gave out. He had closed his eyes and at the last moment, everything seemed to freeze until he woke up in the living room dressed in a familiar black suit and trench coat, no longer wearing the yukata he remembers. Getting up from his seated position to get his bearings, Kiritsugu immediately noticed something was wrong or...maybe right; he could feel his magic circuits. They were alive and functioning as if he were still in the prime of his life, as a matter of fact, his muscles were better than they had been prior. He inspected his body further, noticing even in the dark of the room he was in that his skin had darkened considerably. If you ignored his facial features, inside Japan he would be considered foreign and exotic. He looked for a reflective surface to get a good look at himself, eventually settling for a crockpot lid with a translucent surface. The lid showed enough of his reflection that Kiritsugu could now see that his hair was stark white instead of his previous dark brown.

“What the hell happened to me?” Kiritsugu asked.

‘Bang, Boom, Crash’

“Shirou!!!” Kiritsugu ran out of the living room towards the explosive noises, most likely coming from the back of the residence near the dojo, completely forgetting about his new appearance. In his haste, he didn’t notice the gaze of two sets of eyes as he passed them by, nor the words they both spoke.

“Kiritsugu?”

“Daddy?”

The two people in question were his wife and daughter: Irisviel and Illyasviel von Einzbern.

X3X

Several Minutes Prior

Irisviel was in shock, to say the least. She had woken up mere moments ago convinced that she was already dead, yet somehow she was back among the living. Furthermore, cradled in her arms was Illyasviel clinging on to her for dear life. “This isn’t right, something is definitely wrong here?” She sat up with her daughter resting on her shoulder, she scanned the room to get her bearings and concluded that she was in one of the bedrooms of the residence Kiritsugu procured during the fourth war. But something still felt off. It was too quiet, and too cold, especially for winter in Japan.

‘Bang, Boom, Crash’

“Shirou!!!”

What’s going on? Irisviel thought to herself as she made her way out of the bedroom towards the commotion. She made her way down the hall, preparing an alchemical familiar in advance of any danger and inadvertently waking up Illya in the process. Then at that moment, that is when they saw him, Kiritsugu rushing through the house. They called for him.

“Kiritsugu?”

“Daddy?”

But he did not hear them. Picking up her pace and tightening her hold on Illya, Irisviel followed him towards the house's veranda and found the source of the commotion: three men, all brandishing weapons of some sort, engaged in a heated battle. Though there were three of them the battle was two-sided with a red bowman and a younger man with twin swords engaging an older gentleman wielding twin handguns with blades attached. They exchanged blows at barely inhuman speeds. Arrows and bullets were fired while blades swung furiously while completely ignoring the others present. Irisviel then laid her eyes upon the form of her husband once more. He stood as if in shock at the sight in front of him, like his heart was about to break. They were in a completely unknown situation, but one thing remained true. Irisviel would always be there for her husband. She reached out to comfort him but Illya beat her to the punch.

“Daddy it's been so long. How was your trip to Japan?” She spoke excitedly and brightly, without a care in the world.

“Illya what are you doing here? You should still be in-” that's when Kiritsugu looked up and gaped as if he saw the face of an angel. That angel smiled back in response and wrapped her arms around him.

“It’s great to see you too Kiritsugu.” They fell into a comfortable silence, the fight with the three strangers forgotten.

X4X

The three combatants finally took notice of the scene playing out near them. What caught their attention was the lyrical voice of their mutual little sister Illya. The first to speak was the red bowman.

“We should probably call a truce in light of recent...developments. What do you say…Shirou?”

“Agreed. Though can I just say Archer, working with you is weird enough, but your... courteousness (is that the right word?) just doesn't seem right.” The young man known as Shirou responded while looking at the happy family. “What about you?”

The gunslinger dispersed his guns into motes of light and took a slightly more relaxed stance. “Fine, now get out of my way.”

Shirou looked at him incredulously. “Where could you possibly be going?”

“There’s a large magical signature passing through the house and it’s almost on top of us. I’m going to eliminate it.”

Archer responded promptly. “I can sense it too, it’s not giving off any hostile intent, it’s most likely what’s responsible for pulling us here. Attacking may not be in our best interest.”

As soon as Archer finished speaking, the magical signature disappeared instantly before reappearing behind them in the form of a regal-looking old man. “I have to agree with the red one, attacking me would not be in your best interest, especially since all I want to do is explain what’s happened to you all.”

Seeing no opposition to his will the old man moved along. “Now, everyone should meet me in the dining area...that includes the two of you hiding in the dojo and the other in the shed.” The old man shouted.

Slowly the door to the shed creaked open to reveal the form of a woman with short black hair dressed in all black. Her face was stern and unmoving except for her eyes which ever so subtly moved in the direction of Kiritsugu and his family. Archer was the only one who took note of this or was the only one that cared to do so.

At the same time, a pair of ladies came out of the dojo. The two of them were dressed in archaic nuns’ habits and had a noticeable resemblance to Irisviel.

“If that is what mistress Irisviel wishes.” The two nuns looked in Irisviels direction who, upon noticing their intent, gave them her consent to follow the old man’s instructions. They promptly followed suit.

“Now if that’s everyone then as I said before, meet me in the dining area. I will have tea prepared for everyone along with any answers you might have.” Before leaving he turned to Shirou. “Be sure to grab the young woman in the green dress snoring loudly in the bedroom nearest the dojo will you?” Shirou nodded his head in acceptance before realizing who he was talking about.

“Wait, Fuji-nee is here?!!”

X5X

After calming down a visibly shocked Taiga and taking a sip of the surprisingly good tea, Shirou sat down to listen to the old man who had now revealed himself as Zelretch the Wizard Marshall. While Shirou didn’t recognize his name, many others around the table did, namely, Kiritsugu, who after recomposing himself, took charge of the situation, asking all the pertinent questions.

“So to be precise you used the second magic to pluck us from out of time and space to 

prevent our gruesome and pathetic deaths, okay that I understand.” 

Kiritsugu could really keep his cool, Shirou couldn’t help but think to himself. Come to think of it, I never had the chance to observe Kiritsugu at work before. While the thought filled him with anticipation, Shirou had to school his features as Kiritsugu continued talking. 

“What I don’t understand is what you have planned for us afterward. Earlier you said you wanted us to save the world. I’m sorry to inform you but that’s impossible.” Shirou looked like he wanted to object to that statement but stopped when Zelretch spoke up first.

“Well I don’t actually want all of you to save the world, Emiya-san, I’d say just you, your assistant Maiya, and just one of your sons would be enough.” Kiritsugu flinched at the mention of his ‘sons’ while Zelretch just took another sip of his tea. “As for the impossibility of the task, that may have been the case in your old world, here you will find a much clearer path to that goal.”

“Would you care to elaborate on that?” Kiritsugu asked.

“Yes, yes I will. I swear you youngsters are so impatient.” Zelretch then proceeded to explain that the world they found themselves in was called Remnant, not earth and that it existed on a different timeline. He explained that there were creatures spawned from the darkness called Grimm controlled by some immortal being and how a select few were engaged in a secret ‘forever war’ with said being. Not to mention how humanity walls itself up inside four kingdoms and new settlements start and disappear almost every day, along with a host of other information.

“And before I forget, those of you who realize you would have no real efficacy in battle or are just completely lost at the moment, the reason you are here is to ‘sweeten the pot’ so to speak for the ones I really wanted. Other than that you are free to do what you want.” Zelretch paused with a sip of his tea. “ That goes for the rest of you as well. You are free to choose not to take up this task. Go ahead and live a happier life, spend time with your family, and pursue your dreams ( within reason ). The reason I say this is because quite frankly I can’t and won’t send you back.”

That last statement was punctuated with a loud ‘ WHAT’ by all other parties. Kiritsugu managed to reign them all in however with a word. He then proceeded to calmly question Zelretch. “I take it that you have a reason why?”

“Of course!” Zelretch said jovially and then proceeded to explain himself. “The first and in my opinion most important reason is that I enjoy sticking it to Alaya and Gaia whenever and wherever I can. Why that mattered is because the members of this family are their favorite punching bags, the fact that some of you were turned into counter guardians is proof enough.” Zelretch paused while watching the gazes of Kiritsugu and Irisviel turn towards the ‘ three Shirous’, alarm and sadness passing over them respectively. “Moving on to the second reason, it has to do with the fact that if I send you back you will most assuredly die.” The atmosphere in the room was already tense, but then it just got worse. “To elaborate, for some of you, your circumstances have changed. For example Kiritsugu I’m sure you’ve noticed by now but your body is in much better condition now isn’t it?”

“That’s putting it mildly. I almost look like a completely different person!” Kiritsugu answered.

“It was necessary to remove the curse in such a manner. Had I returned you to the same point in time with your original body, you would definitely live longer, but Alaya and Gaia would have seen to it that you still suffered and died a broken man so that the timeline continued as they wished. And yes this goes for all of you, should any of you return you will suffer one way or another.”

Kiritsugu took deep breaths.

“...Well anything’s better than death, where does everyone else stand on the matter,” Kiritsugu questioned.

Irisviel spoke first. “I am of a similar opinion with Kiritsugu, and I would very much like the chance to get to know my three new sons.”

“I’ll do what mommy and daddy want to do.” After speaking, Illya hugged her parents tighter.

“I’ll follow your lead Kiritsugu.” Spoke Maiya.

“We will do as the Madame and the Young Lady wishes.” Spoke Sella, While Leyzritt nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I’m with Kiritsugu as well.” voiced Shirou with restrained enthusiasm.

“Same,” Archer said only one word, no others needed. Meanwhile, Alter just nodded his head.

Taiga on the other hand looked exasperated.”I’ll agree to this but Kiritsugu you owe me some explanations later.” She pointed a finger at Kiritsugu who just nodded sagely in response.

“Honestly Taiga after the day I’ve had explaining this to you sounds like a cakewalk.”

Zelretch stood abruptly and began to speak. “So we’re all in agreement, good. And not a moment too soon either.” 

Kiritsugu was puzzled by Zelretch’s remark until he noticed certain members of the group changing.

-Fwoosh-

“Zelretch what did you do?!!”

“Well I am giving you a second chance at life, I might as well give you a second chance at parenthood too.”

X6X

To: Ozpin

From: Zel

Dear Ozzy,

I’ve left a small surprise in the outskirts of Mantle for you that could prove useful in your little ‘forever war’. The surprise should have been there for about a month now getting the lay of the land and learning what they could. You should make contact with them as soon as possible, the bounded field I cast upon the premises should be deteriorating soon. And don’t worry about unnecessary confrontations. I've informed them of your eventual arrival.

P.S. I sent you another ‘special’ coffee blend.

To say that Ozpin was blindsided by that message was an understatement. The message’s sender, Zelretch, was a fixture in Ozpin’s many lives, though an infrequent and erratic one. They had first met during one of Oz’s earlier reincarnations under less-than-pleasant circumstances on Ozpin’s part. He’d thought the man an agent of Salem due to how he not only recognized him as a wizard but as a reincarnated soul as well. Though right now these memories were the furthest thing from Ozpin’s mind. His main concern at the moment was finding this surprise he’d mentioned. 

Based on the wording, whatever's out there is most likely not an object but a group of people. I know Zelretch said to not expect hostility, but you don’t get as old as I do without exercising due caution.

Ozpin opened his eyes from his musings and addressed his subordinates. 

“Glynda, how far out are we from the location indicated in the message?”

“After going over the map and confirming with James’ pilot, we’re about eight minutes from the destination.” While Glynda Goodwitch spoke professionally and acted accordingly, she was concerned that they had so hastily rushed out to the wilderness of Atlas without even confirming the situation. Before she could voice her concerns, her colleague beat her to it.

“Listen Oz, I trust you but are you sure it was wise to just come rushing out here like this? I mean you said it yourself, it's been forever since this guy contacted you. What makes you trust him like this?” In a low and gravelly voice, Qrow Branwen voiced his concerns. Though inebriated, the questions he posed were on everyone’s minds.

“I’m afraid I agree with Qrow, Oz.” The voice came from the cockpit beside the pilot. The owner of the voice was James Ironwood, Headmaster of Atlas Academy and General of the Atlesian Military. “You contact me out of the blue, ask for immediate access to Atlesian airspace, and all you have to say in response as to why you need it is “come and see”. The least you could do is tell us why.”

Ozpin sighed deeply.

“I guess that’s fair. James, is there a way to make this conversation more private?” With that question, Ironwood pressed a few keys on his console, issued some orders to the pilot, and walked to the back of the bullhead before it closed behind him.

“I’ve instructed the pilot to cut intercom communications and once that door closed this part of the bullhead became functionally soundproof, the pilot will only disturb us once we reach the location or if an emergency occurs. Now Oz, will you please explain what this is about.”

For all his military rigidity, James can be strangely accommodating, Ozpin couldn't help but think to himself. “As I’ve told you all before, I have been at war with Salem as the sole constant for the side of good. Now while that is true, what I purposefully left out was the fact that the sender of that letter, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, has made far greater contributions to this war than I have.”

Ironwood was the first to respond. “Oz are you saying he’s immortal...like you and Salem?” The creeping dread was apparent on Ironwood’s face, but Ozpin decided to alleviate that worry. 

“While his immortality is closer in execution to Salem’s own, its origins are undoubtedly far less sinister.” Oz took a moment as if recalling a fond memory. “And before you ask, yes he is a wizard just like me, one beyond comparison in fact. While he has never taken me on as a student, I have learned an immeasurable number of things from him, magical and otherwise.”

Glynda hesitated to speak, taken aback by the warm almost genuinely happy smile on Ozpin’s face. “C-Could you enlighten us on what accomplishments he has under his belt sir? Because I don’t see how a single man could have been as influential as you're saying.”

“Of course, Glynda.” Ozpin paused as if deciding on what he was going to say next. “You all have heard of fairy tales such as ‘The Man of The Jewels, Old Man Time, The Royal Witness, and Solo,’ well Zelretch is the source of all of them and many others thanks to his exploits.”

If Qrow wasn’t sober then, he definitely was now. “Wait! "THE Solo"? The story of how a single man took down an entire horde of unknown types of Grimm and won without any loss of life. You’re saying that this Zelretch and Solo are one and the same?”

“Quite. You see everyone, Zelretch has a habit of becoming active in between my reincarnations and only making contact with me either just out of whimsy or to steer me in the right direction. As a matter of fact, he temporarily served as a royal advisor to the king of Vale, my previous incarnation.” Ozpin continued like this, explaining with great fervor how Salem fears Zelretch, the truths behind the fairy tales he spawned, and finally the importance of the message he sent.

“You see, while Zelretch has offered me advice and the odd bit of criticism he has never gone so far as to outright aid my endeavors. Even his activities during my absences are more for the benefit of the common people than they were for mine, which is why this surprise of his has me acting with such haste.”

After taking everything in and letting the information gestate, Ironwood decided to guess what Ozpin was getting at. “You believe that whatever he left for us could turn the tide of this war.”

Ozpin corrected him. “Not what, whom.”

“What do you mean Oz?” Ironwood said.

“According to his message, whatever he left out there has been getting the lay of the land, so it’s most likely a person or a group of people.”

“I’m sorry Oz, but we already have plenty of people to fight this war, knowingly or not. I don’t see how one person or a group can make any difference.”

-Bzzt-

“Excuse me, General Ironwood?”

“What is it pilot, have we reached the coordinates? Is there an emergency?”

“Well sir, both actually.”

Ozpin’s circle responded with a collective ‘WHAT’.

X7X

The Emiya estate was under siege. They were being attacked by Grimm from above and below. Perched on the roof were Maiya Hisau and Archer Emiya, defending their home from airborne Grimm with a high-impact rifle and bow respectively, though Archer’s bow was much too tall for him. A sad consequence of Zelretch’s idea of a joke, turning the children of the Emiya family into literal children once more. As a result, Archer had to employ an unorthodox grip for his bow.

“ Archer, how are you holding up?” Asked Maiya Hisau to her sniping buddy, sounding somewhat uncomfortable. “I know you used to be a servant and all, but Irisviel would have my head if something happened to you.” As if to punctuate her statement, Maiya fired off another round to the head of a Grimm from the barrel of her magically reinforced rifle. 

“While my circuits aren’t operating at their full efficiency, the overabundance of mana in this world more than compensates for it.” Yes, the resources for the mysteries of this world were nearly limitless for the small group of practitioners within it. This battle had been going for the better part of an hour and Archer had already traced 6 broken phantasms without a harsh dip to his reserves. “Although your concern is appreciated nonetheless Aunty Maiya.” The very tone of Archer’s voice was shit-eating, as usual.

“Just shut up and shoot,” said Maiya, exasperated by Archer’s subtle yet obvious teasing.

X8X

New targets acquired, engaging.

-bang-

-bang-

-bang-

Reloading...continuing assault.

The servant that was originally known as Emiya Alter, now Kuro Emiya and in the body of a teenager, was a force to be reckoned with. He eliminated each Grimm he came across with brutal efficiency...and just a bit of unnecessary acrobatic flare. Every bullet he fired would make Grimm explode into a mass of blades, in almost no time at all Kuro’s section was nothing more than a mass of rapidly decaying Grimm bodies.

Upon completion of his task, Kuro turned in the direction of his father and watched him go to work so to speak against the Grimm in his area. In Kuro’s eyes, Kiritsugu’s execution of the mission was flawless: no wasted movements, not overly flashy, and his power was overwhelming for a fellow third-rate magus, though that was most likely due to the circumstances of this world if anything else. Still, it did not change the small spark of child-like admiration he had for his father.

X9X

Time Alter: Square Accel

Kiritsugu used a combination of reinforcement and innate time control to tear through a group of Grimm, a Glock 17, and a bowie knife in hand. He reinforced his gun and bullets to improve the penetrating and stopping power as well as the firing speed.

BANG

BANG

BANG

With one shot he penetrated the skulls of three beringals in quick succession. As soon as the bodies of the Grimm began to decay, Beowolves descended upon Kiritsugu like flies on shit. In one swift motion with Double Accel and his knife, he decapitated them, adding to the growing pile of still decaying grim bodies.

This can’t be a coincidence. The moment Zelretch’s bounded field came down we were attacked by these creatures. Someone doesn’t want us here, but who?... Questions for later, right now I have to make sure these things don’t get to the house.

X10X

“Okay Taiga, this is completely normal.”

SLASH

“A month ago you woke up on some strange ice continent on a planet that is most certainly not Earth.”

SHANK

“Wake up to find Shiro is back after disappearing to God knows where.”

SHUNK

“Come to find out not only is Kiritsugu alive, but also his wife, her sisters, their daughter, and Kiritsugu’s very scary assistant are as well.”

STAB

“Learn that Kiritsugu killed people for a living(that really shouldn’t be surprising considering he was an associate of grandpa) in some misguided pursuit to be a ‘hero of justice.”

SLICE

“Get told magic is real, refuse to believe it, and get turned into an ACTUAL cat girl by that cocky old man.”

GRAWR

“Will you shut up? I’m trying to deal with the shock of this situation and you guys aren’t making it any easier!”

SLASH

Taiga lunged forward and cut off the heads of three Ursa Grimm in a single motion and proceeded to drop back into her ready stance in anticipation of the next assault. “Whoever that old fart was sending to pick us up better be here soon, I’m not sure how long I can keep these things out of the house.”

X10X

Utter silence permeated the aircraft. Everyone was stunned by the sight they were seeing. 

A cold and detached-looking woman sniping airborne Grimm at distances not yet achievable by even the most advanced of Altesian personal weaponry.

By her side, a boy of probably no more than ten years using a bow much too large for him to shoot any and all Grimm. He was somehow able to summon endless arrows and swords from nothingness to impale and pin down all of his targets.

On the ground, a young man in his teenage years was engaging the Grimm with cold surgical brutality. Every bullet he fired would turn the Grimm into eldritch pin cushions and the way he fought was less like a huntsman and more like a machine.

Adjacent to the young man, an older gentleman did battle with Beringals and Beowolves using nothing more than a handgun and knife. When he moved he was like a blur. The only reason anyone on the Atlesian aircraft knew he was there was because of the mass of rapidly decaying Grimm bodies.

Guarding the entrance of the residence was what appeared to be a relatively young female tiger Faunas. She wielded a katana with exceptional skill and precision. What was more astounding was the amount of good luck that befell her and the amount of bad luck that befell the Grimm who opposed her. It was almost like watching a life-or-death comedy skit.

Breaking the stunned silence, Qrow was the first to speak. “So does anyone else see the absolute horde of Grimm being mowed down by only five people or do I finally need to stop hitting the bottle?” Though it sounded like a joke, Qrow was entirely serious with that question.

“No Qrow, I see them too.” Chimed in Glynda. “Though I do recommend that you stop drinking. With the amount of time you spend around Tai’s kids you’re bound to set a bad example.” While he was thankful for the acknowledgment, Qrow ignored Glynda’s remark.

Before anyone else could give out any more confirmations, a loud, cacophonous roar shook the battlefield. To the east of the battlefield, a monstrous form was rising past the mountain and taking to the air and working the already present Grimm into a frenzy.

“Dammit! It’s a wyvern Grimm! Pilot, prep for extraction! We need to get these people out of here as soon as possible!” Ironwood motioned towards the exit hatch of the ship, preparing his sidearms.

“Wait, sir! What are you planning to do!?”

“Create a landing zone.” Ironwood's voice was solemn as he leaped from the aircraft, firing gravity dust rounds to clear out his point of impact and decrease his descent speed.

“Qrow! Glynda! I’m going to assist James with clearing a landing zone. I want the two of you to keep the aircraft safe while waiting to land. Once you've touched down, defend the landing zone until everyone is evacuated, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” said Glynda.

“You got it, Oz,” grunted Qrow.

 Ironwood came rocketing down into the same general area as the man with the handgun and knife combo. They locked eyes and immediately began working their way toward each other. 

Kiritsugu darted around the Grimm, getting into their blindspots to shoot, stab, or force a reinforced strike through their heads. He used his reinforced Calico to bifurcate a Beowulf down its midsection with a hail of bullets, killing it instantly. Back on Ironwood’s side, he was using his cutting-edge robotic arm to physically brutalize the Grimm that came at him and blow a hole in the heads of any others with Due Process. They kept this up until Kiritsugu and Ironwood managed to reach each other, standing back to back to keep the Grimm swarm at bay.

“I take it you're this ‘Ozpin’ Zelretch told us to wait for?”

BANG

BANG

“No, I’m General Ironwood. Ozpin should be dropping down any minute now.”

Just like Ironwood said, Ozpin leaped from the aircraft and used his cane’s secret functions to cushion his fall. He produced an aura barrier around himself and let it slam into the ground, protecting him. Ozpin immediately made a b-line for Ironwood, while one-shotting any lesser Grimm that bared its teeth at him with his cane; The Long Memory.

BANG

BANG

“So you’re Ozpin?”

“Yes, may I ask who you are?”

“Kiritsugu Emiya, the other people here are my family. Zelretch sent you, correct?”

“Yes but now isn’t the time for more questions. We need to get you and your family out of here!” Ozpin pointed to the landing zone being defended by Glynda and Qrow.

Kiritsugu then directed Ozpin’s attention to the roof of his residence. “I don’t think that will be necessary, my son should be ready to make his move right about now.” 

Ozpin was perplexed by Kiritsugu’s words but all that went out the window when he witnessed the unmistakable glow of magic in the distance. The glow was dark in nature and made the creatures of Grimm cower before it, instinctually backing away. 

As the dark radiance grew larger, a small hint of blue light began to peer out from the center. Upon further inspection, Ozpin could see where this light was coming from. It was a sword, a sword of supreme make, the kind to be wielded by the legendary heroes of old, the kind wielded by allies long since past. 

The blade was pale silver with a black metal cross guard with a deep blue jewel embedded in the center of the hilt from which the blue light emanated. The sword was placed on the drawstring of the large black straight bow wielded by the young boy. 

As the sword was knocked it began to contort and warp until it began to resemble an arrow by the time it reached the apex of the draw. Ozpin was so caught up in the sight that he barely registered the chant coming from the boy's lips. He only heard the final two words.

“FALL-BALMUNG!”

The sword arrow burst forth from the bow, rocketing towards the Wyvern at incredible speeds. As it sailed across the sky, it left a black/blue streak in its wake. All Grimm that stood in the path of the projectile was instantly decimated into motes of black light. The arrow sailed further and further through the sky until it reached its intended target: the Wyvern Grimm.

As soon as it made contact the sword arrow exploded into a mass of light that enveloped the dragon-like Grimm entirely. The light spread out further to encompass the entire area. When the light faded, the eyes of everyone present were greeted by the image of a Grimmless snow-covered valley.

“Alright, now we can evacuate.” Said Kiritsugu. 

X11X

Ozpin’s inner circle and the Emiya family were situated in Ironwood's office. The ride back to Atlas had been a quiet one. Ozpin’s group was in stunned silence from seeing such a devastating attack come from a simple bow. Ironwood wanted to know what that attack was and Ozpin was sure now more than ever that this family had access to magic. Glynda and Qrow were more concerned about the children, primarily the ones that they saw fighting, they seemed far too comfortable on that battlefield for children of their age. To break the silence, Kiritsugu began to introduce his family.

“I believe introductions are in order. As you already know, my name is Kiritsugu Emiya, and seated next to me are my wife Irisviel von Einzbern, and our three-year-old daughter Illyasviel.”

‘Von? A nobiliary particle? Interesting.’ Ozpin thought to himself.

“These three boys are my...sons. Shirou, Archer, and Kuro.” Ozpin looked upon Archer and Kuro. They showed combat skills well beyond their years during that attack, not to mention their use of magic. If the older brothers are this remarkable then surely the youngest one will be as well.

“To my left are Leysritt and Sella, my wife’s sisters.” Ozpin had the sneaking suspicion that these sisters weren’t human. I doubt they’re golems, but they are definitely not human. Their features are too perfect, too pristine. Either way, it doesn’t matter, questioning them about it would not endear me to them.

“And to my right are my assistant Maiya Hisau and family friend Taiga Fujimura. So now that we’ve introduced ourselves would you be so kind as to do the same, Zelretch only informed us of one of you and he didn’t give us much information to go on. If I’m being honest I would like to know who it is he wants me to work with before I decide whether or not I go through with it.”

That's a surprise! I would have thought that Zelretch had already secured their cooperation. Well, that's what I get for assuming. “My name is Ozpin, I’m the headmaster of an academy built to train young men and women to fight the creatures you and your family so easily dispatched. These are my associates: Glynda Goodwitch, my assistant, and also a professor at Beacon Academy. The man with the stern expression is James Ironwood, General of Atlas and Headmaster of its academy. And lastly, we have Qrow, a huntsman as well as my eyes and ears throughout Remnant.”

Ozpin adjusted his glasses. “Now that introductions are out of the way, I would like to ask a question if I may be so bold.”

Kiritsugu tensed. “If the question is within reason, then I don’t see why not.”

“Great. Then I will get right to the point.” Ozpin cleared his throat and spoke plainly. “You and your family are capable of using magic, aren't you?”

Kiritsugu immediately tensed his body as if he was getting ready for combat but before he could go any further, Irisviel touched his shoulder and gave him a knowing look, “Kiritsugu, how about I speak for now.”

“...Fine.”

Irisviel handed Illya to her husband and took the reins of the conversation. “Am I to understand that the reason you are asking is that you are a practitioner?”

“Yes, that is correct.” Ozpin did not mince words, these people were sent by Zelretch and he needed to win them over. 

Ironwood, Qrow, and Glynda, for their part, were taken aback by how forthcoming Ozpin was being. Normally during these types of discussions, Ozpin would play things very close to the chest.

“Based on your associates' reactions, can I assume that magic is a closely guarded secret?” asked Irisviel.

“Not just closely guarded, it’s almost non-existent. The number of practitioners in the world is exactly six at any given time. Though with your family, that number has now increased.” said Ozpin.

That explains the abundance of mana in this world. Thought the Mages of the Emiya family. 

“Now does this world's lack of practitioners have anything to do with whatever goal you’re working towards?” asked Irisviel.

“No...not exactly, let me explain.” Ozpin then explained the origin of magic in Remnant, the brother gods, the Grimm, Salem’s immortality, the extinction of the original humans, his reincarnations, and the forever war. 

Irisviel processed the information and then came to a decision. “We’ll aid you in your endeavor,” Irisviel said resolutely.

Kiritsugu was caught off guard by his wife’s snap decision. “Honey, are you sure that’s the best course of action?”

Irisviel looked at her husband and smiled her signature smile. “Of course, it’s the best course. Kiritsugu, with how long we’ve been separated I feel like you forget how well I know you.” She took one of his hands in hers. “You and our sons are not ones to leave a problem unresolved, as soon as Ozpin informed us about this Salem woman I saw your body tense out of the corner of my eye. You even got that calculating look in your eye.”

Kiritsugu couldn’t deny her claims. “Besides, I’m almost positive that Grimm attack was no accident.” That caught the attention of Ozpin and his circle. “The moment Zelretch’s barrier came down those creatures descended upon us like a swarm, that woman has already made the first move and I doubt she’ll stop there. If we are to make a life for ourselves in this world then we have to deal with her sooner or later.”

Kiritsugu exhaled, acquiescing to his wife’s logic. “If we agree to this then I have conditions.” Kiritsugu looked at Ozpin.

“Name them,” Ozpin said. “We’ll do what we can to accommodate.”

Kiritsugu prepared to negotiate. The discussions went on for several hours covering concerns such as accommodations, new identities, education for the kids, who would and would not be aiding Ozpin and his circle, as well as plans to introduce the rest of Ozpin’s circle.

“All that’s left for us to worry about is where to put your family for the time being seeing as how your previous home...disappeared. Considering the time of year, there should be some hotel vacancies here in Atlas. We can put you up for the time being,” Ironwood offered.

“James, I don’t think that would be wise. Atlas is rather exclusionary, especially to newcomers.” Glynda tried to dissuade Ironwood and Qrow agreed with her.

“She’s right, Jimmy. If they’re up in Atlas, Ms. Einzbern along with her sisters and daughter are going to catch peoples’ attention. Not to mention how they’ll react to seeing a tiger Faunus like Ms. Fujimura in their ‘elite city’.” Qrow slurred his speech while drinking from his hip flask.

Taiga decided to broach the subject of discussion for her side, but not before correcting Qrow. “You don’t have to call me Ms. Fujimura, we’re probably around the same age so just call me Taiga.”

“Oh. Well alright then, Taiga.” Qrow capitulated and knocked back another swig of his flask.

“Now what exactly would be the problem with our group going to Atlas? The way the conversation was going you made it sound like it would cause a scandal or something.” Those of the Emiya family who knew her were rather surprised to see Taiga asking pertinent questions and taking the initiative in this discussion. Shirou especially.

“Who are you and what did you do with Fuji-nee?!”

Taiga ignored him to listen to Qrow’s explanation.

“I’m not sure what the situation is where you’re from, but here, Faunus like yourself are more or less discriminated against. The moment they see you they’ll be snooty and condescending at best and try to have you expelled from the city at worst.” Qrow took another swig of his flask. “That kind of flies in the face of trying to keep a low profile.”

“And why exactly would my wife and daughter catch peoples’ attention?” asked Kiritsugu. “I don’t see anything about my family that would cause someone to have a problem with them. Or is this attention of a ‘ different sort?”

Ozpin was the next to speak. “You are correct that your wife and in-laws would garner ‘ that ’ sort of attention, Mr. Emiya, but that is not what we’re talking about.” Ozpin turned his head and adjusted his glasses before steepling his fingers and looking back at the Emiya’s. “You see, Atlas is known for its ‘Elite’ class of citizens who live in the floating city aptly titled Atlas. The most famous family amongst these Elites is the Schnee family who owns and operates the Schnee Dust Company who-”

“-bare a striking resemblance to my family. Goddammit.” Kiritsugu did not need Ozpin to elaborate further. Managing to finish Ozpin’s thought before he did. “Does this family of supposed elites at least have a good reputation?” Kiritsugu asked hopefully.

Ozpin sighed. “Sadly no. In recent years their company is known for ruthless business practices, discrimination against the Faunus, and the family’s snobbish attitude towards ‘those beneath them.”

“Yeah, figured it would be something like that,” said Archer. “Our luck always seems to be like this.”

“What do you mean, young man?” asked Ironwood.

In unison, all four men of the Emiya family responded. “If you’re a man and your last name is Emiya you are always going to have shit luck.” Irisviel rested her head on her husband’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

“With a wife like that, I wouldn’t call that shit luck,” Qrow said under his breath. Glynda punched him in the shoulder soon after. Kiritsugu heard him but decided to let it go.

“In any case, this complicates matters. Atlas is more secure than Mantle and even down here there are risks to letting the common citizen mistake them for a Schnee.” As Ironwood mulled over the possible solutions to their predicament, Ozpin received a message from Zelretch.

-BZZT-

To: Ozpin

From: Zel

Dear Ozzy,

Stop deliberating and put them up in the Glass Unicorn hotel, Mantle isn’t ready for them yet. If you’re wondering about this particular establishment, well a little chaos theory never hurt anyone. Now hurry and suggest this before the tin woodsman gets it in his head to keep them in an Atlas military base.

Bye.

Ozpin finished the message and expertly hid his exasperation. 

The least you could have done was give me some believable reasons to send them there. And how exactly did you know we were even having this conversation? Ozpin texted back but he did not receive a reply.

Ozpin sighed and did a CCT search for the Glass Unicorn in Atlas. It returned results for customer reviews, hotel rates, menus, and a list of esteemed guests of the past.

From what I can tell this establishment is rather popular but hasn’t managed to hit the big time with the Atlas Elites though the Marigolds are frequent patrons and financial backers. Hmm, they seem to also have a rather sizable Huntsman customer base. This place doesn’t seem too bad, now I just have to come up with a believable reason to send them there...maybe this will work.

Ozpin interjected himself back into the conversation before Ironwood reached the predicted outcome. “It might not actually be a bad idea to put them out in the open like that.”

The room went silent as Oz’s inner circle stared at him in disbelief. The Emiya’s on the other hand kept their expression measured and neutral. Save for Taiga. I have their attention, good.

Ozpin rose from his seat at the table and began to walk with his cane, using the dramatic silence to prod someone else into speaking.

James was the first to speak up. “Oz you can’t be serious. After that Grimm attack, it’s quite clear that Salem knows about them and will target them again.”

“I have to agree with the general, Ozpin,” said Kiritsugu. “I fail to see how putting me and my family out in the open like that will be beneficial to anyone.”

“It’s actually quite simple. Throughout my time fighting against Salem and her forces, she has always clung to the cloak and dagger approach when it came to waging war.”

“So assassination, extortion, bribery, and acting through proxies. Does that sound about right?” asked Kuro, startling some of Ozpin’s circle with his familiarity with such tactics.

“Precisely, young man. If we put you and your family up in a hotel within Atlas you will no doubt garner attention from the citizenry due to your mother’s distinct appearance and aristocratic bearing.”

Irisviel joined the conversation once again. “So you want the public to suspect us of being a part of this Schnee family as you call them?”

Kiritsugu concurred. “To ‘lean into the skid’, as it were. But I don’t see how that would be enough to keep this Salem off our backs. At most, we’d be an oddity that the tabloids would talk about for a week tops. That’s not exactly enough to cement us in the public eye.”

“Exactly!” Ozpin turned towards the Emiyas, Kiritsugu in particular. “To that end, I would like to make a request of you.” As Ozpin said the last word he made a respectful half-bow to the Emiyas which, again, caught his inner circle by surprise.

Kiritsugu and Irisviel were now on guard. “What did you have in mind?” They said in unison with stern looks on their faces.

Ozpin rose from his bow and looked towards the Emiyas. “Your oldest son, Kuro Emiya, I would like for him to enroll in Atlas Academy starting this year.”

“I’m pretty sure we talked about this earlier, Ozpin. My kids are off-limits so that they can have normal childhoods.” Kiritsugu’s body was tensing at the thought of sending one of his kids back into the battlefield that they managed to escape from. He wouldn’t allow history to repeat itself, not again, not here.

“Which is why I only want your son to become a Huntsman. I will not even factor him into any of our plans if you so wish.”

Kiritsugu still wanted to refuse and planned to do just that until Kuro spoke before he could. 

“...Dad? I know what you’re about to say but you really don’t have to protect us from the world. You know as well as I do that the men of this family have a bad habit of sticking their necks out for others. So I want you to think about what I’m about to ask you: Would you listen to your dad if he tried to prevent you from doing what you thought was the right thing?”

Now that wasn’t fair at all. If my old man could see the way I was using his magecraft he likely would have killed me himself, let alone stop me from trying to save people with it, Kiritsugu thought to himself. 

He looked into the eyes of his oldest, eyes that not long ago had looked no different from his own at the height of his career as the Mage Killer, but after a month had seen life return to them if only minutely.

He’s right, no matter what I say they’re going to chase down every one of these creatures of Grimm they hear about if it means saving a life. Archer might gripe about it, Shirou will hold fast to his stubbornness, and Kuro probably won’t emote, but it doesn’t change the core belief each of them shares deep down: ‘it’s not wrong to save others.’

And who am I to deter them? It’s my fault thrice over they went down the paths they did not only for handing off my dream to them but also for training them incorrectly...yeah, trying to keep them from this was foolish from the start.

“Fine Ozpin, seeing as how my son is on board with this, I’ll allow him to enroll in your school but you have to keep your end of the deal.”

“I assure you, Mr. Emiya I will not betray your family’s trust,” said Ozpin. “And just to clarify, your son will not be enrolling into my school but Ironwood's instead.”

“While I appreciate you not hoarding the best students for yourself Oz, I fail to see how enrolling a single young man will garner people’s attention in the way we want.” Ironwood gave his honest opinions in the hopes that his old friend would properly explain himself.

“Then allow me to answer your question with another question. How well would you rate young Mr. Kuro Emiya as a combatant?” Ozpin gave a knowing look to Ironwood, already knowing what answer to expect.

Ironwood’s expression became pensive for a few seconds before answered Ozpin. “If I’m being honest, he’s exceptional. He’s already more skilled than most of the graduates to come out of my academy at such a young age. I’d be so bold as to even say he’s more skilled than most of the Veteran huntsmen that are active today. If I had it my way, I’d have boy recommended to the Ace Ops the day he turned eighteen.”

“That is exactly my sentiment as well, James. And it is because he is exceptional that he will attract attention among his fellow first years once he starts attending, then amongst the citizenry when he is officially deployed for his first mission as a huntsman student, and finally to all the kingdoms during the Vytal Festival which is set to be held this year.”

“So that’s your aim,” said Glynda. “The Festival is the grandest stage in Remnant for someone to announce their presence to the world as a Huntsman. With the level of skill he has shown so far, he’d likely decimate the competition.”

“But that begs the question.” Qrow continued the conversation after it became clear that Glynda was finished speaking. “If the kid is so skilled, what’s the point of even sending him to an academy? Why don’t we just have him take the Huntsman Certification Exam right now?”

“Ehem.” Irisviel cleared her throat to garner everyone’s attention. “I’m afraid I must disagree with you, Mr. Branwen.” Qrow was taken aback at being called Mister, he even had flashbacks to his late father. 

“You can call me Qrow, actually,” said Qrow.

“No, I think I will stick with Mr. Branwen,” said Irisviel.

“Oh, ok then.” Qrow felt like he had the wind taken out of his sails.

“Getting back on track. I understand that my son is exceptional at killing monsters and that for most people their first instinct would be to question the necessity of even sending him to a school whose sole primary focus is to train them to kill monsters, but you forget the other intended purpose of a school.”

“To socialize.”

Taiga and Glynda answered at the same time. The brief ‘duet’ caught them both off guard with Glynda giving Taiga a look of surprise but also acknowledgment and Taiga looking bashful.

“Thank you Taiga and Ms…” Irisviel trailed off in hopes of Glynda answering her.

“Glynda Goodwitch.” She answered.

“Yes, thank you, Glynda.” Qrow once again felt the wind get knocked out of his sails.

“I want my boys to be healthy in mind and body and not dedicate their entire being to rooting out wrongdoing. Be it Grimm or otherwise. So I suggest we go with Ozpin’s original plan and enroll Kuro, do this for me and you will have no other objections.” 

“Then I assume this arrangement is suitable, at least in the meantime, for everyone present,” asked Ozpin and no one objected.

“Then I think we can say that this meeting has reached a natural stopping point,” said Ozpin. “As for where to put them up, I recommend the Glass Unicorn. They cater to Huntsman, Huntresses, and the rich alike so your presence likely won’t attract too much attention.”

Kiritsugu wanted to inquire about the Glass Unicorn before agreeing, but upon looking at his daughter decided it was best to just get somewhere she could properly rest. Ozpin was right, this was a good place to stop and there would be more time for questions in the future. For now, it was best to just finally get out of this office.

To Be Continued

Chapter Text

X1X

The Emiyas were dropped off in front of the Glass Unicorn by an Atlas military transport. Their driver was a friendly man in his early to mid-twenties with brunette-colored hair. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get you to your accommodations in something a little swankier, considering Ironwood asked me directly to get you guys where you needed to be you must be some serious V.I.P.s”

Irisviel, ever the people person, responded to the man’s apology. “It’s quite alright, we know how these things can be. We’re just glad to have things winding down for the day.”

“You can call me Clover, by the way, Clover Ebi. Anyway, we’ve arrived at your destination and it seems like you’ll be getting the V.I.P. treatment after all.” After hearing that, everyone looked out the windows of the vehicle and laid eyes upon the Glass Unicorn.

“A bit ostentatious if you ask me,” said Maiya as she leaned away from her window. “Do they have to make it look so gaudy?”

“I know what you mean, but that’s Atlas in a nutshell,” Clover answered Maiya’s question. “The Elites love to flaunt their power and status as much as possible.”

“Ironwood didn’t seem the type,” said Maiya.

“Ironwood is a military man first and foremost. On top of that, he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. The General worked his way up from the bottom. It’s why he’s so respected.” Clover’s admiration was clear to see.

“Hm, good to know.”

The vehicle stopped and everyone piled out, save for Iri and her sisters who exited with a touch more grace than their peers. Irie took her husband’s hand and let him guide her down the steps of the truck.

Waiting for them at the entrance was the proprietress, her two daughters, a small kitchen staff, and what looked to be a disheveled girl standing away from everyone who was trying to keep out of sight. The workers seemed to be doing their best to ignore the little girl to the confusion of most of the adults present.

“Welcome to the Glass Unicorn, you may call me Madame Treemane and these are my two daughters Anastasia and Drizella.” The Madame introduced herself with a mild bow and her daughters followed suit with a curtsy. “If you have any luggage, it will be brought to your room post-haste.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Madame. Unfortunately, my family and I have not brought any luggage with us as these accommodations were made at the last minute due to an emergency, I’m sure you can understand.” Irisviel noticed that the young girl off to the side looked visibly relieved after hearing about their lack of luggage.

“I completely understand, Mrs. Emiya. If you so wish, our establishment offers laundry services for customers if you wish to have your current attire cleaned, robes will be provided free of charge of course,” offered Madame Treemane.

“Thank you for the offer, but for now we would just like to be shown to our room,” said Irisviel.

“Then allow my daughter to show you to your suite.” Madame Treemane clapped her hands twice to summon her daughter. “Cinder!”

The now-named Cinder, who turned out to be the young girl that was being ignored by everyone present made her way over from the sidelines and meekly introduced herself. “I-I’m Cinder. I’ll guide you to the Council suite, please follow me to the elevators.”

As the Emiyas made their way into the establishment, Madame Treemane’s daughters kept looking at Taiga Fujimura and then back to their mother in confusion. “Mother! That woman’s a Faunus! Why are you letting her in!?” asked Anastasia.

“Because girls, they paid top dollar for our most luxurious suite and have booked an indefinite stay. As far as I’m concerned they could bring Beowulf cubs into my hotel and I’d still show them every courtesy. If you learn anything from me girls, it’s that everything has a price.”

Anastasia and Drizella were stunned by their mother’s answer. “We should also consider the fact that even though their family name is Emiya, a fair few of them are obviously members of the Schnee family. If we play our cards right, we could finally make it into the big leagues with the rest of the Atlas Elites and not just the Marigolds.”

The thought of rubbing elbows with the elites of Atlas made lien signs appear in the eyes of the Madame’s daughters. If putting up with one measly Faunus would get them to where they wanted to be in life, then so be it.

____________________________________________________________________________

X2X

The Emiyas were finally in their suite for the night, mostly. Irisviel, Illya, and Kiritsugu retired to their own room for the night while Maiya scoped the hotel out on Kiritsugu’s orders. Taiga helped herself to some refreshments from the suite’s fridge without a worry about the bill. This left Shirou, Archer, and Kuro to their own devices in their own room.

Shirou occupied his time with meditation. His circuits were in disarray after what Zelretch had put them all through and he needed to exercise them if he ever wanted to get them back up to scratch. As he was right now the best projection he could manage would be Kanshou and Bakuya, and that was only because of his affinity for the married blades, anything else would be mundane at worst or a slightly above-average mystic code at best.

It was amid this meditation that Shirou’s attention was pulled elsewhere, specifically to Archer. “So are we going to talk about the elephants in the room or not?” asked Archer.

Kuro, who was occupying his time by just standing against a wall nonchalantly, answered. “What did you want to start with, little brother ?”

The familial sobriquet caught Shirou off guard, but he decided to keep ignoring the two of them, working on his circuits was more important.

“Let’s start with something simple. We’ve been placed into younger bodies, how's everyone feeling?” The question was harmless enough so Shirou saw no harm in answering.

“I’m about seven years old and my magic circuits are mostly locked again. I can still project a few things, but nothing crazy.”

Archer hummed in acknowledgment. “I figured as much. You’ve been meditating like crazy ever since the incident. I’d slow it down if I were you. It’s not like rushing will change anything. I’m about twelve by the way.”

That comment irked Shirou. “And what’s that supposed to mean!?” Shirou shouted.

To Shirou’s surprise, Kuro answered. “What he means is even if you unlock your circuits quickly it won’t do you any good as you will not be allowed to fight with the body you have right now. You’re physically too young and from how you’re acting right now, too immature. Not to mention, Fuji-nee wouldn’t allow it, and neither will mom and dad. Also, I’m seventeen” 

Shirou was pissed but he couldn’t refute Kuro’s reasoning. Regardless of how strong he knew he was, no adult in their right mind would allow him to fight. Worse yet, this was finally his chance to fight alongside his father, to show him that he could achieve their shared dream as he said all those years ago. But here he was regulated to the sidelines. It filled him with no small amount of anger.

“Alright let’s not get so heavy so early on, how about we move on to something else? How about this world’s naming conventions?” Archer’s new topic perked the interest of both Kuro and Shirou as they each had their own thoughts on the subject.

Archer started things off. “From what I can tell, people’s names or surnames are either based on color, are related to a color, or remind you of a particular color. What about you guys?”

“Honestly, it’s just inane,” said Kuro. “Sticking to that kind of tradition will only limit the number of names people come up with. What concerns me is whatever caused a tradition like this. Then there’s the fact that people seem to dress in a way that reflects their name’s meaning. Again, it’s all rather inane.”

Shirou, having given up on his meditation at this point, asked a question. “So am I the only one who noticed the whole mess of literary references in some peoples’ names? References that no one in this world should know.” 

“I noticed it but I didn’t want to start the conversation off with that, it’s better to let these sorts of things happen naturally, Shirou.” Shirou rolled his eyes at Archer’s condescension. “But yes you’re right. The meanings behind their names are peculiar.”

“The general is obviously the Tin Woodsman, Glynda Goodwitch is without a doubt Glinda the Good Witch, and Qrow is likely the Scarecrow by association. That just leaves Ozpin whom I don’t have any ideas for.” Archer listed the references he could pick up on.

“That’s easy, Ozpin’s the Wizard of Oz himself,” Shirou said. “His name’s even half of the abbreviation of the Wizard’s full name, OZPINHEAD. Not to mention he’s admitted to being able to cast magic.”

“How do you know that and I don’t?” asked Archer.

Shirou shrugged noncommittally with an Archer-style smirk on his face. “Difference in life experience, probably.”

“That just leaves the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, Toto, the Wicked Witch of the West, and a couple of flying monkeys.” Kuro got the conversation back on track.

“The cowardly lion is probably someone else in Ozpin’s circle, whereas Dorothy is someone they’re yet to meet, like a newcomer to this whole war of theirs, same with Toto.” Archer pondered his next thought. “I’d bet money this Salem person is supposed to represent the Wicked Witch and that there are probably some flying monkey Grimm out there. This is actually amusing, who else did we meet?”

“There was that guy, Clover. With his name and the rabbit’s foot he wore he probably just connects him to good luck in general,” Shirou spoke.

“He also had a fishing rod as his weapon. Ignoring how strange that is, if I had to guess the inspiration I’d say it’s The Fisherman’s Good Luck from Aesop’s Fables.” The conversation grew more animated as the three new brothers discussed literature and myth and what they’d likely encounter here concerning those two subjects. Eventually, they reached the subject of Madame Treemane and her three daughters, or rather, her two daughters and the other daughter she didn’t acknowledge.

“So if the Madame and her daughters are based on the Evil Stepmother and the Evil Stepsisters, does that mean Cinder is...Cinder…ella?” Shirou trailed off as he realized he was asking a stupid question. It was made worse by the fact that Kuro and Archer were giving him deadpan looks that eventually bled into exasperation on Archer’s part.

“Shut up! I heard it as soon as I said it!” Shirou shouted.

“Seriously, kid, learn the art of the unspoken message. It will do wonders for you.” Archer placed a hand on his forehead while shaking his head.

Kuro seconded his brother. “He’s right it will save you a lot of trouble in the future.” After that last exchange, things became quiet between them. The last subject they discussed had only one natural progression, but none of them wished to bring it up because of what it would mean for them.

Archer spoke up first. “So let’s not beat around the bush. That was a shock collar around her neck, wasn’t it?” Shirou and Kuro silently nodded their heads. “Who’s going to talk to her about it?”

Both Kuro and Shirou looked at Archer who quickly realized their eyes were on him. “Well it should be someone whose part of her age group,” said Kuro.

Archer’s senses went on high alert. “Now hold on just a minute here…”

“And I’m much too young and immature to deal with such things.” Shirou twisted the knife.

“It can’t be me!” yelled Archer in his prepubescent voice.

“Why can’t it be you? You’re the one who brought up the topic in the first place,” asked Kuro.

“We were all thinking it!”

“Yeah, but you were the one who brought it up, ergo you should be the one to deal with it. Don’t worry, we have full confidence in your abilities.” Shirou was taking a page out of Archer’s book and was being as smarmy as possible.

Try as he might, Archer couldn’t find a way out of his predicament. Had he been his normal, adult self he could have easily found a way out of this situation. Sadly, that was not the case.

“Fine, I’ll do it!” 

As Archer finally caved, Taiga burst into their room whining. “Shirou, Archer, Kuro! There’s only beer and wine in the fridge, could one of you whip up something to eat!?”

Without any prior planning or forethought on their part, the three brothers all stood up at the same time and said the exact same thing. “Sure, Fuji-nee. What are you in the mood for?” 

They looked at each other in confusion. “I’m the oldest, it only makes sense for me to be the one to cook.”

“Oh no, you don’t. You’re not pulling that age bullshit again. I should get to cook dinner seeing as how you two dumped Cinder on me. It’s only fair.”

Shirou was about to speak but before he could, Archer and Kuro shut him down. “You’re too short to reach the counter!” They said in perfect harmony.

Taiga watched them carry on like this for a few minutes conflicted between just watching the pure hilarity of it and just grabbing one of them so they could sate her hunger. Eventually, she found a third option in the form of Sella.

“Ms. Fujimura I’d be perfectly willing to cook dinner for you seeing as how the young masters are occupied.” 

Taiga looked at Sella with tears in her eyes before hugging her like the tiger she was. “Thanks, Sella-chan, you’re a lifesaver.”

With her request on its way to being fulfilled, Taiga skipped back to the kitchen to wait while Sella looked on at the still-arguing brothers.

SIGH

“Boys will be boys.”

____________________________________________________________________________

X3X

It was the next day and well after breakfast when Archer found himself wandering the halls of the Glass Unicorn. Earlier in the morning, a few things happened. Since they were still bickering like the children they were, the boys lost out on cooking a meal for everyone once again. The only thing that stopped them was Illya’s puppy dog eyes.

Immediately before breakfast, Clover dropped by again with their new identities. For most of them, their identities were the same, save for Iri, Illya, Sella, and Leysritt. The former two had now officially taken the name of Emiya while the latter two took Einzbern as their surname, without the von particle. they were all listed as living outside the kingdoms but also having past ties to Mistral and Atlas. Extended family relations were left blank. Kiritsugu was also given an expedited Huntsman’s license which was signed off by Ironwood. Clover also handed out some devices that were known as Scrolls, they were basically collapsible smartphones. Before Clover left he informed Kiritsugu and Irisviel that the General and Ozpin wished to meet with them once again and that a car would be waiting for them. 

During breakfast itself, Maiya gave a rundown of the establishment and the immediate surrounding area. She managed to surmise that the Glass Unicorn was situated in the upper commercial district of Atlas city. The Glass Unicorn itself was owned and operated by Madame Treemane who was a single parent with three daughters and catered to Huntsmen and was currently in its off-season so there were little to no Huntsmen present. 

After scoping out the place from the lobby, Maiya figured out that except for the kitchen staff, the entire place was tended to by Cinder. This brought him to now, Archer had been prodded once more by his brothers to seek out Cinder and once Irisviel caught wind of this she encouraged him as well. For some reason, she had a far-off and anticipatory look in her eye.

The problem was, that he had no idea where she was. Considering she was doing the work for an entire wait staff she could be anywhere in the hotel right now.

“Gah, this is taking too long. I’ll just use structural...oh there she is.” Archer spotted Cinder as he turned the corner of the hallway. At the moment she was rigorously scrubbing a long set of mud tracks out of the carpet. He decided to watch how long it would take for her to notice him, which was right away.

The sudden stiffness of her movements and the brief twitching of her head in his direction were all indications that she was aware of his presence. He could approach her right now and get the ball rolling but he decided to take in her details a little longer.

She wore her hair in unkempt pigtails with some of her hair in a fringe to the left. Cinder’s shirt was an oversized and dirty white tee with tares and scuff marks but most of it was covered by her brown apron. Around her neck, she wore a choker or better yet a camouflaged shock collar with noticeable taser burns around the area.

Archer’s gaze was becoming unbearable for Cinder, so she decided to bite the bullet. “Is there something I can help you with...sir?” She hesitated to call him ‘sir’ only for the fact that Cinder was fairly certain they were the same age, but couldn’t think of the proper title for someone who was clearly an elite.

Archer stayed quiet a tad longer before asking, “do you need help?” Which threw Cinder for a loop. 

What’s his game? She thought. He’s probably just looking for some way to screw me over or worse, screw me !

Cinder decided to ignore the boy’s question and continue with her cleaning. Eventually, Archer left and Cinder breathed a mental sigh of relief. Suck it you Atlas big wig, I’m not giving it up that easily!

Cinder’s gloating was short-lived as Archer returned with a pale of soapy water and a sponge. He proceeded to get on his knees and scrubbed the floor along with Cinder. She stared at him with her eyes wide as not only was this Atlas Elite doing physical labor, he was better at it than she was. For some reason that pissed her off enough to try and outdo him. There’s no way I’m getting outdone by some spoiled rich kid.

“If you scrub too hard it will damage the carpeting,” Came Archer’s voice.

“What!?” said Cinder.

“Your scrubbing, it’s too hard.”

“Fuck you! I’m not letting you show me up!”

“I’m not trying to “show you up”, I’m trying to give you some advice so we can finish faster.” 

Cinder grunted and ignored him, scrubbing harder all the while. Soon she admitted that his advice was on point as she noticed the carpet starting to fray a little. After a little more time they managed to clean the mud trail before Cinder could get reprimanded.

They were currently downstairs by the elevators and Cinder was looking at Archer quizzically and he was at her. Where she was trying to parse his reasoning for helping her, he was just taking in the little details about her: She had noticeable bags under her eyes.

“When was the last time you slept?” Archer asked.

GROOOWWL

“Or eaten for that matter?”

“What’s it to you?” Cinder spat back.

SIGH

“Come with me.” Archer gave no room for argument as he grabbed Cinder’s hand in his and took her toward the elevator.

“Where are you taking me!? Let go!”

“I’m taking you to get some rest and some food in your stomach.”

“You can’t just decide that for yourself! I still have work to do!”

“My brothers will be more than willing to do it for you, now stop being a child and come on.”

“You’re one to talk! You’re a child too!”

As they made their way onto the elevator a dark-skinned guest eyed them curiously.

“So she made a friend. Good for her, guess I don’t have to intervene after all.”

____________________________________________________________________________

X4X

These things aren’t that different from smartphones, now if only I could find the contacts list! 

Archer struggled with his Scroll for a short while longer before Cinder piped up from her corner of the elevator. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to find the contacts list,” Archer said absent-mindedly.

Cinder gave him a dead stare before marching over and snatching the device out of his hands. “You’re the weirdest Atlas rich kid I’ve ever met,” She said under her breath.

CLICK

CLACK

CLICK

CLACK

“There.” She handed the Scroll back before returning to her corner of the elevator. “Who are you texting anyway?” Cinder’s curiosity got the best of her.

“Texting my older brother.”

“I thought you said brothers, plural. ”

“I got a message from my older brother. Apparently, Shirou went with Mom and Dad to see Ironwood and Ozpin again.”

Do his parents know the General?

“So instead of sending the two of them to fill in for you, it’ll just be Kuro while I cook something for you, and afterward I’ll join him.”

This sounds too good to be true. “What do you get out of this!?”

“Do I have to be getting something out of this?”

“Of course you do! No one just helps out of the kindness of their heart! What are you aiming for? Are you trying to get in my pants? Are you trying to get in good with the Madame?”

Before he could answer her, the elevator door opened up to the suite. “We’re here, those questions can wait, so for now just go sit at the table while I make you something to eat.”

“Hey, don’t just walk away from me! And answer my questions dammit!”

“Come on, we’re wasting time.” Archer took Cinder by the hand once again and lead her to the table. Sitting at the table were Sella, Leysritt, and Taiga who were enjoying a cup of tea, they looked at Archer.

“Oh! Bringing girls home already, Archer? Ms. Iri will be glad to hear that!” Said Taiga as she sipped more of her tea. Sella and Liz agreed.

It’s not like that, Archer thought to himself.

“I knew you were trying to get in my pants! And your family’s in on it! I swear, all you Atlas Elites are sick in the head!” while the adults in the room cringed at the accusation, Archer, having heard this already, was unfazed by the accusation.

Before she could turn to run away, Cinder was hoisted by the scruff of her shirt. Holding her in the air was Kuro and he immediately shut down Cinder’s accusation. “First of all, no one here is going to touch you. Second, where does a kid your age even learn to talk like that? Third, you are going to sit down, shut up, get some food in your stomach, and rest. And lastly, what are the rest of your chores for the day?”

Cinder tried to put up a tough front but buckled under Kuro’s intense glare.

“Fine,” she said with a pout and proceeded to list everything that needed to be done.

“Good. The kitchen staff is probably waiting to have the food delivered so I’ll go take care of that.” Kuro turned to address Archer. “When you’re done cooking, go take care of the laundry.”

“Got it. Afterward, we can meet up and handle any miscellaneous duties.”

The adults watched this exchange, managing to pick the gist of the situation and that Cinder may be overworked. “Since it appears we’ll be having a guest, I will go prepare the fold-out couch.” Sella finished her tea and went to complete her appointed task.

“Bath.” Leysritt left to prepare a bath.

Taiga didn’t want to feel useless so she decided to chat up Cinder. “So if I remember correctly, your name is Cinder. Why don’t you tell me about yourself.”

What is up with these Elites? was all Cinder could think.

____________________________________________________________________________

X5X

Summer Rose bounced animatedly in her seat. A day ago she got a call from Ozpin that he was pulling her off of the mission he assigned her before she could even get started, but that didn’t matter because she was meeting people from another world!

“Oh, this is gonna be so awesome! I feel like a kid again!” Summer exclaimed.

“Geez Sum, calm down, they’re just people like any other,” said Qrow. “This whole thing is just to introduce them to the rest of our circle. Try to keep it cool.”

Summer did the exact opposite. She stood from her seat and argued back at Qrow. “Qrow, you’re just a person like any other. These are visitors from another world! Oz even said they could use magic! Magic that was nothing like the Maidens! How are you and Tai not as excited as I am!?”

“Who says I’m not excited? I’m not sure if you noticed in your excitement about ‘world travelers’ and magic, but when Oz called us his voice had a whole lot more life and hope in it, that’s what’s occupying my attention,” explained Taiyang. “If these newcomers have got Oz breaking character like this they must be pretty capable.”

Qrow concurred. “You could say that again! When we got there, most of their family was fending off a horde of Grimm, successfully I might add!”

“Oh, my gods! They’re a family!? That’s even better!” Summer exclaimed as her parental instincts kicked in. “I’m so glad we brought the kids! Qrow, quick, how old is their youngest? Is it a parents and children situation or is it just a group of siblings!? Maybe we could set up a playdate!”

As Qrow tried to answer Summer’s numerous questions about their new compatriots, the other guest in the room did his best to not gain anyone’s attention. This guest was Leonardo Lionheart, Headmaster of Haven Academy and the newest recruit of Salem. 

Externally, Lionheart was as stoic as a statue, internally, he was a raging river of emotions. He had just made the decision(read: the decision was made for him) to betray Ozpin to Salem and her Inner circle, his first mission: suss out potential weaknesses and liabilities of Ozpin’s new allies. What terrified him was that not long after getting this order, he was contacted by Ozpin about the very same subject.

Keep cool, Leo. No one knows about your true allegiances yet. These newcomers should be completely unaware of how we do things and if Ozpin was telling the truth(highly unlikely) they’re from a completely different world so they should be at even more of a disadvantage.

As Leonardo collected himself, Ozpin, Glynda, and Ironwood walked into the room along with their new guests. “Thank you to everyone who could make it here, sadly Theodore and Rumpole will not be joining us,” said Ozpin.

Good! Theodore is far too suspicious for my tastes and he would make this already hard job even harder, thought Leonardo.

“To not waste any more of everyone’s time, let me introduce to you all Kiritsugu Emiya.” The man in question gave a nonchalant nod of his head to everyone present.

“His wife, Irisviel Emiya.” Irisviel beamed at the mention of her new family name as she gave a dignified wave to everyone.

“And their assistant, Maiya Hisau.” She simply nodded in acknowledgment. “The floor is now theirs.”

Kiritsugu stood up, catching everyone’s attention. He lit a cigarette and took a drag. “I’ll keep this simple, what Ozpin has told you or what I assume he’s told you is correct, my family and I are from another world and yes, we can use magic. I’m sure you’ll find what we’re capable of to not be all that impressive, but we will be no less useful to you. I’m sure the new faces here have some questions so ask away.”

So they are from another world and can use magic. Salem’s suspicions were correct . Leonardo subtly jotted down his thoughts on his Scroll. He was sure he wasn’t noticed, he was wrong.

Surprising absolutely no one, Summer Rose raised her hand and asked about their family. “Hello! I’m Summer Rose. you can just call me Summer or Sum. My friend Qrow tells me you have quite a few kids, if it’s not too much trouble could you tell me the age of your youngest?”

Tai facepalmed and Qrow looked so done. Ironwood asked what everyone was thinking, “Ms. Rose, why is that your first question?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Everyone shook their heads. “Well we shouldn’t start with the heavy questions first, we should ease into those.”

That actually makes sense , thought everyone.

“Honey, how about I answer these questions for now and you relax.” Kiritsugu conceded and retreated to his seat.

The husband seems to be subservient to his wife, Salem could definitely use this.  

“So. Summer. Why do you want to know the ages of my children?” Irisviel’s expression was warm and inviting, but the vibe she was giving off was anything but. Summer was completely unaware of it.

“Oh! Well, Taiyang and I are married with our own kids, and it’s just so hard to make adult friends who are also parents, when Qrow told me you all were a family I was hoping your kids’ ages were around my kids’ ages. Not to mention I was hoping your kids could get my youngest to come out of her shell”

The oppressive air around Irisviel immediately disappeared and was replaced with a warmth that matched her expression. She clapped her hands together and matched Summer’s enthusiasm. “I would very much like that. My two youngest are aged 3 and 7, a boy and a girl.”

Children? And they’re quite young! Salem could probably abduct them and use them to threaten Ozpin and the parents.

“Oh mine are 5 and 7, both girls and they’re a total handful. Thankfully, Atlas Academy has a daycare for the employees’ kids that we can use while we’re here.”

“Oh that’s where we left our kids!” exclaimed Irisviel.

“Oh then hopefully they’re already hitting it off.”

As Iri and Summer droned on about their kids, Tai looked at Kiritsugu with an apologetic look and Kiritsugu acknowledged it with a nod.

“For the sake of moving the conversation along, who trained your sons?” asked Qrow.

Oh, this information could prove useful to Salem as well.

Kiritsugu answered them, but he decided to fudge the truth a little. It’s not like the truth is all that believable. “Taiga and I taught Kurou and Archer the basics of combat, while Iri instructed them in magic.”

“Are you not capable of magic yourself?” asked Leonardo.

“No, I am. It’s just that Iri is better at magic than I am and she’s a better teacher.” Kiritsugu took another drag from his cigarette.

Yes, this is good.

“And what exactly are you capable of and not capable of with your magic? Your whole family in fact?”

That was when Lionheart screwed up. The moment he began to ask about the specifics of their magic, their weaknesses, was when the Emiyas went on alert. Kiritsugu gave a look to Maiya who circled around to get behind Lionheart while Iri finished exchanging contact info with Summer before promptly confronting Lionheart.

“And why exactly would you like to know that?” asked Iri as she approached.

“I would like to know that as well, Leo?” asked Ironwood. “If you just want to know the capabilities of our allies there are better ways to ask.”

Once Maiya was behind Lionheart, she placed a firm grip on his shoulder and spoke. “During the meeting, he kept typing on his Scroll, I ignored it initially but I grew more suspicious when he would only type something when any of us would talk.” Maiya reached for his Scroll.

Damnit, dammit, dammit, I fucked up! I was sure I was being careful, how the fuck did she notice what I was doing!? What am I going to do!?...wait their kids are at the daycare! That’s one level below us! That could be my out.

Before Maiya could grab Lionhearts Scroll his wrist-mounted weapon, Stalwart, activated its Gravity Dust container and was fired into the floor, pushing back Maiya, Kiritsugu, and an approaching Irisviel.

Ozpin’s circle went on alert, but before they could apprehend Lionheart he flung himself out of a window. Qrow and Ironwood ran to the window thinking Lionheart had killed himself but when they got to the edge all they saw was an ice slide leading back into the floor below them.

“All personnel, this is General Ironwood. We are going into lockdown, I repeat, we are going into lockdown. No one is allowed in or out of this building, especially Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart. He is to be detained on sight. If necessary, you have permission to use lethal force.”

As Ironwood issued orders to his subordinates throughout the building and Glynda, Qrow, Summer, and Tai raced out of the room on Ozpin’s instructions, Kiritsugu darted towards the open window and jumped followed by Maiya. They repositioned themselves mid-air with their respective sides perpendicular to the building. They reinforced their bodies, particularly their grips, and dug their hands into the concrete of the building until they slowed their descent to the floor below them.

They were now on the same floor as Lionheart as well as their children.

____________________________________________________________________________

X6X

Several minutes prior, in the Atlas academy daycare, the room was alive with the laughter of young children. The reason for their laughter was that all across the daycare, all the children were happily playing with cute animals. These weren’t just any animals, they were glowing animals provided by one little girl named Illyasviel Emiya. They were created through the use of her magecraft when someone saw her brother making stuff with his own magecraft. 

Not wanting the other kids to distract her youngest big brother from his training, Illya decided to summon some of her alchemical familiars to distract the excitable kids and the results speak for themselves.

“Magic Puppy!” exclaimed Ruby Rose as she merrily chased a familiar that looked quite similar to a corgi. Before the demonstration, Ruby sat in the corner of the room away from the other kids. She tentatively looked at a red-headed boy who kept making knives and other objects from nothing. She wanted to go over and talk to him but was scared off by the other kids crowding him and making requests of their own. Ruby’s sister, Yang Xiao Long, who was sitting beside her, stared worriedly at her sister. She wanted her to come out of her shell and make friends but it was like pulling teeth. There might be a solution though.

“Hey rubes, come with me!” shouted Yang.

“Huh, what-” Ruby didn’t get a chance to respond before Yang began dragging her over to the other redhead. His red hair was a few shades brighter than Ruby’s and he had bright gold eyes that were tightly closed in concentration from making another object at the request of one of the other kids. Beside him was a girl that was even younger than Ruby who looked to be getting annoyed by all the other kids crowding around the redhead. The girl had pale, almost snow-white skin without a single blemish on it with ruby-red eyes. Her hair was long for her age and colored a pristine white/silver, though when the light hit it from the right angle it looked almost lavender.

Hm, maybe their siblings, thought Yang. Anyway, back to what I came here for,

“HELLLOOO!!!” greeted Yang as she dragged Ruby along. “I’m Yang and this is my sister, Ruby. What are your names?”

Shirou looked at the sisters in surprise. They were the first to actually introduce themselves instead of just coming over and asking for something. It didn’t bother him as much as it seemed to bother Illya, but Shirou could still appreciate good manners. 

“Shirou Emiya,” the redhead said simply.

He then gestured for Illya to introduce herself. She turned up her nose and refused. To get her to cooperate, Shirou threatened to tattle on her.

“Fine.” Illya stood up and curtsied perfectly with her purple dress. “I am Illyasviel Emiya. It is a pleasure to meet you both.”

“Is there something that I can do for you?” asked Shirou as he got the conversation back on track.

 “We saw you making toy weapons and stuff for the other kids and my sister wanted to make a request!” If Yang noticed Illya’s angry pout she didn’t show it.

“Yang be quiet!” whisper-shouted Ruby.

“Uuuhhhh, you’re all distracting my onii-chan from his training with your begging.” Illya stomped the ground and raised her voice in anger.

“Well excuuuse me, princess!” Even though she was older, Yang was matching Illya’s brattiness pound for pound. “We saw him making stuff for everyone else so we thought he wouldn’t have a problem doing the same for us.”

“Yang it’s fine, I don’t need a magic knife,” said Ruby, fearing her sister would start another fight. Though this time it would be much worse since her would-be opponent was a three-year-old.

“It’s alright. I don’t mind making you a knife.” Ruby’s eyes lit up when Shirou said he would make a knife for her. Sadly, that joy would be crushed by Illya’s next outburst. Though that would only last for a short while.

“No onii-chan, you need to keep practicing if you want to catch up to A-nii and Ku-nii.” 

Elsewhere, Archer and Kuro wondered if they had caught a cold.

“If they all want something to play with so bad, then they can play with these!” Illya elegantly brushed her hands through her hair as her mother would her own, and for a brief moment, the daycare was bathed in the power of magic. It was unrecognizable to the general populace of Remnant yet at the same time they found it alluring. Every child present was captivated by the sight. Even the daycare workers, who had been leaving the kids to their own devices, were in awe of the sight in front of them.

One by one, several alchemical familiars were constructed out of Illya’s stray hairs. There was a glaring of cats, a pack of dogs, a flock of birds, even a colony of rabbits, and a kaleidoscope of butterflies. When everyone realized what had happened, all of the other kids exploded with excitement.

There was petting, chasing, playing, and overall joy in the daycare. As she was chasing a puppy, Ruby ran up to Illya and said thank you, although she did find it weird being so formal with a kid who was even younger than she was.

Ruby then proceeded to walk toward Shirou to apologize.

“You don’t need to apologize for anything, you just wanted to do what everyone else was doing. No harm done,” said Shirou.

“How’d you know I was going to apologize?” asked Ruby.

“It was written all over your face,” Shirou answered.

“SOMEONE WROTE ON MY FACE!?” Ruby shouted.

“No, it’s just an expression. It means I was able to easily pick up what you were thinking.”

“Oh.”

“Now about that knife you wanted…” Shirou then proceeded to project an ornate wooden knife right in front of Ruby before he handed it to her. The expression on her face was one of pure joy.

“Thank you, onii-chan!”

Like a perfectly tuned instrument, Illya rounded on Ruby. “He’s not you’re onii-chan, he’s my onii-chan! You can’t call him that!”

“I can’t? isn’t that his nickname?”

“No! Onii-chan means big brother. He’s not you’re brother so you can’t call him that.”

At this point, Shirou realized he needed to step in, but before he could the entrance to the daycare was busted open to reveal an older gentleman with a lion tail and an odd-looking shield. He looked across the room as if he were in search of something specific. He found it in the form of Illya.

“Just who I was looking for!” As the lion man walked toward Illya, Shirou tried to intervene but was stopped in his tracks by a blast of ice dust freezing him in place. To Shirou’s surprise, Yang and ruby also tried to help but were met with the same fate. As the lion man drew close, Illya prepared to summon a more battle-oriented familiar, but before she could she felt an oppressive weight bearing down on her. It prevented her from performing the necessary motions.

“Oh no, none of that. I already know what you and your family are capable of. You’ll be my guaranteed ticket to escape if they know what's good for them, now come with me.” While Illya was restrained, he knocked her out with the blunt side of his shield.

“Headmaster Lionheart, what are you doing?” before the daycare workers could get another word out they were hit with a blast of fire dust, propelling them all into a wall and knocking them out. With his hostage now in his hands, Lionheart took out a non-descript scroll and dialed the only number logged into it. There was a ringing noise for a few seconds before someone finally picked up the other end.

“Hello?” the voice on the other end sounded vaguely British to Shirou’s ears.

“Watts? It’s me, Lionheart. I need to get out of Atlas Academy!” 

“And why would I waste my energies helping you, Leo?”

“Because I have one of the children of Ozpin’s new allies!”

The other end of the line was silent until the speaker came back. “The Queen will have something ready for you, just make it to the front of the academy.” relief washed over Lionheart as he left the daycare and made a mad dash for the front entrance.

Back with Shirou, he was currently channeling mana through his body, causing it to heat up and thus make the ice easier to break out of. Eventually, he got out and the first thing he did was follow Illya’s trail. She had a strong magical signature so tracking her down was child’s play.

“Hey, wait for us!” following Shirou were the two sisters he met earlier, Yang and Ruby, but they looked different. Yang’s hair was set alight with every part of it looking like a raging bonfire. Ruby on the other hand seemed to have petal-like particles falling off of her. “We want to help too!” Shouted Yang.

Shirou really didn’t have time for this and with his young mind not operating at its full adult efficiency, he allowed them to come. “Fine, but only if you can keep up.” With his peace said, Shirou focused as much Prana as he presently could into his legs and sped off.

Yang looked at Ruby while holding out an arm. Understanding the gesture, Ruby turned into a storm of petals and grabbed up her big sister as she chased after Shirou.

____________________________________________________________________________

X7X

You’re almost there Leonardo, you just have to make it down this hallway and you’re home free.

“Give back Illya!” came the shout of three children.

Oh, Gods dammit! How did they manage to escape the ice?  

“I don’t have time for you brats. I have to make my escape!” he fired another blast of fire dust but Shirou, who was out in front of Yang and Ruby, cleaved through it with a hastily traced Kanshou.

Deciding not to waste more time with the kids, Lionheart continued his run through the hallway, but his hopes were dashed when the Atlas security system kicked in and barred his exit. “Shit! Curse Ironwood and his machines!”

Lionheart weighed his options. My ticket out of here is likely just beyond these doors. On the one hand, I could try to push past these pests and find another exit. On the other, why waste time looking for a new exit? I could just quickly deal with these troublemakers and just blast my way through Ironwood’s defenses with a few concentrated rounds of fire dust and ice dust to rapidly cool it, thus making it brittle. Yes, this is a good plan.

Caught up in his own planning, Lionheart failed to notice the two thrown short swords whizzing towards his head like buzzsaws. It was only by a hairs breath that he managed to dodge them as they embedded themselves in the wall behind Lionheart. He was so taken aback by the sudden attack that his grip on his hostage had become slack, giving Ruby an opening. She activated her semblance and zoomed at Illya. Before Ruby could reach her though, Lionheart blasted her with gravity dust, locking down her movements and speed.

“ WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BABY SISTER!?” screamed Yang.

“The same thing I’m going to do to you, whelp.”

“Think again!”

As Lionheart was about to blast Yang, another pair of short swords came spinning through the air to attack him. They had missed once again, but they at least stopped Lionheart from finishing his attack on Yang. She then proceeded to land a devastating semblance-powered haymaker on Lionheart.

If she were older, that punch would have been enough to send a man of Lionheart’s size flying into a wall on the opposite side of the room and breaking his aura. Because of how small she was, the best that Yang could manage was flooring him.

Either way, it worked out because Lionheart’s grip on Illya was non-existent. Yang picked her up and proceeded to run back to Shirou, turning her back on Lionheart.

This would prove to be a mistake because once her back was turned, Lionheart roused from unconsciousness. “I refuse to be done in by some meddling brats! Give me that girl!”

As Lionheart gave chase to Yang, he heard that telltale whizzing sound that came from those buzzsaw-like short swords. He looked up and ahead to get ready to dodge the attack once more, but all he saw was Shirou standing there with the blades still in his hands. For a brief moment, Lionheart wondered how the boy was able to keep throwing them even though he was sure he had not let the boy get past him to retrieve them. Then…

SHUNK

SHUNK

SHUNK

SHUNK

The four swords that had been planted into the wall blade-first had somehow found their way into his back. As if that wasn’t the worst part, Shirou was now dashing towards Lionheart with his blades raised. In an instant, Shirou delivered a cross slash to Lionheart’s torso.

Damn! too shallow!

Capitalizing on his young opponent’s faux pas, Lionheart overloaded all of the dust rounds in his shield and created a large explosion that managed to blow away the kids and destroy the barricade blocking his path.

He limped his way out of the academy. If he focused his hearing enough, Lionheart could hear gunshots and roars in the distance. Obviously, Salem had sent Grimm to distract the Huntsman and soldiers as he made his escape. 

In the distance, Lionheart could see a sphinx Grimm waiting for him. He did it. He finally did it. He finally would be getting away from Atlas. He’d finally make his escape. In his desperation and delirium from the blood loss, Lionheart had forgotten that the entire reason he had been allowed to escape was that he promised to bring a child of Ozpin’s new collaborators, but now he had no such child. This realization dawned on him the moment he laid eyes on the seer Grimm that came floating down from the sphinx’s back.

The seer transformed into Salem. She carried herself with cold regality while looking down on Lionheart. “Where is the child you promised?”

“I had her but these children…”

“Children? You were stopped from completing your mission by children?”

“You don’t understand! I had her! I was almost here before everything went wrong! Doesn’t that count for anything?” Lionheart was now raising his voice at Salem and becoming petulant.

“No. it does not count for anything because I do not deal in “almosts”. I deal in absolutes. You told us you would have the child with you and in exchange, we would offer you safe passage to my domain. You now have no child and therefore I have no reason to help you escape.”

“What do you mean you’re not going to help? The only reason I’m in this predicament in the first place is because of you. You came to me! Not the other way around!” Lionheart was indigent as he pointed his finger at Salem in accusation.

“Yes, and that was a mistake. One I plan to correct right now.”

“What!”

As the image of Salem faded away, the seer Grimm began reaching out its tentacles to drag Lionheart towards it. As the foul creature began to entwine its tentacles around his neck, Lionheart screamed for mercy. He prayed for something to save him from this grizzly fate, anything at all.

His prayers were answered in the form of rifle fire tearing through the seer Grimm’s globe. The shot came from Maiya’s reinforced rifle. She was perched at a window on the floor she and Kiritsugu chased Lionheart to.

Speaking of Kiritsugu, he was currently barreling towards Lionheart and the sphinx Grimm with reinforced speed. The seer was a non-issue as it was fading away.

The sphinx roared into action as it tried to finish its mistress’s objective. It prepared to swipe at Lionheart but its claw was severed by Kiritsugu’s reinforced bowie knife. The limb dangled helplessly as a few scraps were all that was keeping it attached. The Sphinx roared with fury. It had forgotten about Lionheart and was acting under new orders from its queen to slay the interloper that stands before it.

The sphinx roared some more but it was silenced as a devastating heel kick planted itself square on the creature’s bone plate skull. A sickening crack could be heard throughout the academy campus. Somehow the Grimm was still standing, but it was severely hurt, just as Kiritsugu wanted it. Truth be told, Kiritsugu could have ended this fight quite easily. He wasn’t fighting to stay alive or to stall for time until backup could arrive. After his talks with Ozpin about the Grimm, Kiritsugu learned that they are controlled by a singular entity. Salem. This Salem had not only tried to have one of her agents gather intel on them but also tried to abduct his baby girl and even accosted his youngest son. He wasn’t just killing a Grimm. He was sending a message.

Fighting the Sphinx Grimm was like child’s play. Kiritsugu darted all around the creature, slicing off chunks of its black mass or taking potshots with his Glock. Normally, overpowering a creature like this so directly would be beyond Kiritsugu, but this new body of his was more in line with his alternate self. His servant self. Even if that other self is of the weakest class of Heroic Spirit it would still be at least ten times stronger than a normal human. Once again, butchering the Sphinx was child’s play.

The Sphinx lay defeated as Kiritsugu approached it. He planted his heel at the creature’s temple, or at least where Kiritsugu approximated it would be, and he spoke.

“I know it’s a long shot to think that you’re potentially listening in on this fight, but I’ll make my threat anyway.” The Patriarch of the Emiya family was cold and professional, lighting a new cigarette to show how unafraid he was of Salem and her Grimm. “You’ve known about my family for a handful of days and in that time you’ve attacked us twice. Now a normal man would be terrified to think that an immortal witch wants them dead, but here’s the thing Salem: I’m no normal man.

I’ve slain monsters like you before and I am willing to do it again, so I’ll make this nice and simple for you to understand. Touch any of my loved ones and I will kill you!”

With its dying breaths, the sphinx roared in defiance before Kiritsugu proceeded to crush its skull underfoot. Making the last of the creature’s mass dissipate into black motes. 

Kiritsugu stamped out his cigarette and turned to Lionheart. The man was sweating bullets, his pants were soiled, and there was a scattering of bullet holes around him. Apparently, he had tried to make a break for it but Maiya kept him pinned down to his location.

“P-please don’t k-kill me. I’ll do anything.” Lionheart begged for his life like the pathetic coward he was. Kiritsugu could only look at him in disgust.

“I’m not going to kill you ya damn rat bastard.”

“Oh thank the gods!”

SMASH

In the blink of an eye, Lionheart was laid out on the ground and unconscious. “But you are going to face the law for what you’ve done. I don’t want to sour relations with Ozpin so you better hope and pray that once he’s done interrogating you that he gives you the death sentence because whatever way they cook up to execute you will be child’s play compared to what I have in mind.”

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter Text

X1X

Willow sat in the garden of the Schnee family mansion as she worked her way through another of her bastard of a  “husband’s” vintage whiskeys that she had swiped from his exclusive stock. Doing so had become a kind of pastime for her over the years.

Her marriage was a loveless one but that was her own fault. There was someone she truly loved and had continued to love well into her marriage but she ruined it all because someone in the press started to get suspicious. Now, look what it cost her.

Winter was throwing herself into becoming a soldier and wanted nothing to do with the Schnee name or her own mother. If Winter had a say in it, she would rather have her real father’s name and Weiss was becoming very much the same. Whitley was far too young to understand yet but Willow was sure that he would come to hate her too once he learned it was that it was “her fault” that they lived in a broken home,

Willow had often wondered what her life would be like if she had stayed with her children’s real father.

Qrow Branwen.

Qrow may have always been busy with his work for Ozpin, but he always found time to ask about and keep tabs on the three beautiful children they made together.

 Was it really the best idea to prioritize preventing a scandal than just leaving Jaques? They’d signed a prenuptial agreement and the only thing he would get was the company itself. The fortune, the lands, the resources, and even the Schnee name would all default back to Willow in the divorce. She really didn’t have anything to lose in a divorce, so why was she still here in this loveless marriage raising the children of a man she still clearly loved but had pushed away?

“This is too much to think about?” Willow pushed the thoughts away and took another drink.

While she indulged herself one more time in the game of drink, Klein came barging into the garden holding a tablet. “Madam, I believe you need to see this!” he handed her the tablet with a video already set to play.

The video showed Atlas Academy being besieged by Grimm on all sides. This was alarming and a cause for concern to be sure but Willow was uncertain as to why Klein was showing this to her. “Klein, you do know that my Huntress days are behind me, right?”

“Madam, please keep watching. You need to see this!” that was odd. She had never seen Klein be so forceful. Not even when she was a little girl. So she continued to watch the video.

Soon enough, Qrow had come onto the screen. He was slaying Grimm left and right. Nothing that she hadn’t seen before and therefore not what Klein wanted her to see. So she kept watching, then she saw it. Or she saw them. Her. 

She had pale skin. Like her own. She had pale white hair. Like her own. All around her, she was commanding pale white beasts. Just like her family.

“!”

It can’t be! My family was hunted with extreme prejudice during the Faunus Uprisings! My father was the last Schnee of his generation and branch! There was no one left!

“Klein, how old is this?” Willow demanded of her butler.

“About an hour or so, Madam,” replied Klein.

“Bring my personal transport around to the front!”

“At once, Madam!”

“And fetch me my Claymore!”

If there was still a branch of the Schnee family out there besides her own, then Willow was going to make sure they knew that they weren’t alone.

X2X

Ozpin and Ironwood stepped into an express elevator located inside Ironwood's office. It lead to a level not documented on any official floor plan pertaining to Atlas Academy’s construction. They soon stepped off of the elevator once they reached the ground floor.

Greeting them was a single door that led to a long hallway. At the end of this hallway was an entrance to a room used to conduct the General’s seedier interviews.

The current occupants of this room were none other than the rest of Ozpin’s inner circle, excluding Summer and Tai, along with its new additions. The only individual not of the Ozluminatti was its most recently expelled member: Leonardo Lionheart.

The group was interrogating the traitor. Qrow had already worked over the cowardly lion Faunus for any information that he had and all that he had managed to glean from the man was that Salem had in fact put him up to this. Sadly, Leo’s fearful nature prevented him from spilling more information beyond that.

“I don’t think that we’re going to get much else from him,” said Qrow as he began to wipe off his bloody knuckles.

“Then I think it best that we dispose of him,” said Ironwood coldly. “Just because we couldn’t get anything out of him doesn’t mean we should leave a potential leak alive.” Qrow took out a hunting dagger, but Maiya managed to stay his hand.

“Let me try something…” Maiya grabbed a seat and sat across from Leo. Qrow had beaten him to hell and back. Several parts of his lip were split open while his face had been severely worked over. His left eye was welted shut while the rest of his face was swollen. He was even missing several teeth. If Maiya was being honest, she was rather impressed with the alcoholic Huntsman’s work. In the span of ten minutes, he had done what would have taken a seasoned torturer an hour at least. What was even more impressive was the fact that Leo was still conscious. Crying and simpering, but still conscious.

Sadly, this was not what she needed right now. “Ms. Iri, if you would be so kind as to heal Leo.”

“What!?” shouted Ironwood. “Ms. Hisau, I would very much have to recommend against such actions. If his injuries are healed then it would restore his aura!”

Ah, yes, aura. I’ve read extensive literature on the subject thanks to those Scroll-things. A permanent force field that boosts physical capability by a not insignificant margin that also provides passive healing. What has me concerned is whether this aura can provide protection from non-physical threats such as hypnosis. There’s only one way to find out, but first I have to deal with the General’s obstruction. 

“Even if he’s got his aura back, he’s already proven that he’s nothing more than a coward. We could give him back his weapon and he’d still be too afraid to make a move. And more importantly, I need him coherent with what I’m about to do.” Iri finally finished healing Leo.

“And what exactly are you going to do,” asked Ironwood while reaching for his sidearm in preparation for what he believed to be a disaster in the making.

“I’m going to command him.” Maiya leaned forward in her chair with one leg over the other and steepled her fingers together. Maiya stared intensely at Leo. It made the man squirm uncomfortably. 

With the atmosphere set, Maiya pulsed her circuits. She blasted out a wave of mana that was focused squarely on Leo. After a few seconds, Leo’s eyes became foggy but there was still intelligence in them.

Perfect! Mental Magecraft still works. Let’s begin the interrogation. Maiya narrowed her eyes at the coward. “Lionheart.”

“Y-yes?” answered the coward.

“Tell me about Salem.”

Ozpin, Ironwood, Qrow, and Glynda didn’t know what to expect from such a blatant and forward question like that, but one thing that they definitely weren’t expecting was for Leo to answer.

“She’s afraid of you,” said Leo.

This was only the start of the interrogation, and Ozpin was already thanking Zelretch for sending this family his way.

____________________________________________________________________________

While Ozpin and the rest dealt with the traitor, Tai and Summer rushed to the Infirmary where the kids were being kept. Summer and Tai were already distraught when Leo revealed himself as a traitor and the Grimm descended upon the facility, but it was only made worse by the fact that Leo had targeted the same daycare where their baby girls were staying.

The parents burst through the doors of the medbay, screaming at the top of their lungs. “WHERE ARE OUR BABIES?!” their panic and forceful entry were only met with shushing and a large amount of side-eye from a petite little girl.

“Keep your voices down! Everyone is recuperating!”

Tai and Summer were shocked to see a little girl that was younger than Ruby tending to the patients with very little adult supervision. As a matter of fact, the only supervising adult in the clinic was one of Ironwood’s most direct subordinates, Clover Ebi. “Hey, let’s keep calm there, Illya. These are the parents of the two girls that came to rescue you along with your brother.”

Illya raised her eyebrows as she realized her faux pas. She quickly stood up and curtsied as she introduced herself. “I am Illyasviel Emiya. It is a pleasure to meet both of you and I would like to thank you on behalf of your daughters for aiding my brother in rescuing me.” Illya bowed one more time to show her gratitude.

Recognizing the name Emiya and the similarities the little girl had to Iri, Summer managed to put two and two together. “You’re Iri and Kiritsugu’s daughter.” it was less a question and more of a statement.

“Oh, you’ve met my mommy and daddy?” asked Illya. “Do you know where they are?”

“You have nothing to worry about, sweetie. Your parents are fine!” Summer tried to be bright and cheerful in an attempt to distract the girl from her parents. Summer was well aware of the fact that their new allies were currently aiding the rest of Ozpin’s circle in interrogating Leo and she didn’t want to tell a little girl about that.

Tai was more interested in knowing where his little girls are. “Clover, where exactly are my daughters?”

“No need to worry. Your kids are in the next room over.” Clover gestured to a door off to the side of the room.

Tai headed for the door while Summer said her goodbyes to Illya. “It was a pleasure to meet you Illya.”

“I’ve actually been meaning to check on the three of them myself.” Illya finished healing her last patient and followed the couple plus clover into the adjacent room.

____________________________________________________________________________

Shirou woke up to the sight of a ceiling he didn’t recognize. He was at least mildly sure that he was in a medical room. Sitting up confirmed that suspicion when he saw all of the filled patient beds.

“Guess that explosion hit me a little harder than expected.” Shirou had taken the brunt of the explosion as he was the closest to Lionheart at the time.

“Wait! What about the girls?” Shirou immediately scanned the room looking for Illya, Yang, and Ruby. He found Yang and Ruby quite easily. They were both sleeping on either side of him in their own beds. Yang to his right with Ruby on the left.

SNOOOORE

“Magic knife…”

To Shirou’s mild amusement, Yang was snoring and Ruby was clutching onto the wooden knife that he had traced for her in her sleep.

Upon further perusal, it seemed that Illya’s three rescuers were not the only children present in this room. Up and down the walls, beds were filled with whimpering children. Shirou recognized them from the daycare.

None of them seem to be hurt, just shellshocked really, Shirou observed. 

They were also crying.

“Where’s my mommy?”

“I wanna go home!”

“Are the Grimm gone?”

From what Shirou could remember, the creatures of Grimm are attracted to negative emotions. Feelings like anger, fear, and sadness, all emotions that were on display here, were like catnip to those beasts.

It probably wouldn’t be good for anyone if these kids keep wallowing in negative emotions. But what can I do for them right now? None of them look like they’re in the mood to play with toy weapons. Maybe…

Shirou still couldn’t summon Noble Phantasms but there were still a few Mystic Codes within his reach. There was one in particular that met his needs at the moment. 

According to the code’s history, it belonged to a mage of the Moonlit World that was particularly enamored with the normal world’s depiction of magic practitioners. Particularly, Harry Potter. The Code took the form of a particularly famous flying broom from that book series.

Shirou would need a few if he would lift the other kids’ spirits. “Nimbus!” a stylized broom, longer than Shirou was tall appeared in his right hand. It was accompanied by seven other brooms.

The brooms were all made of finely carved mahogany with wheat-like bristles as the broom plumage. On the top of the handle, the number 2000 could be seen in plain view.

With his task complete, Shirou looked up at the rest of the kids in the room and asked them all one question: “Do any of you want to fly?”

____________________________________________________________________________

Tai, Summer, Clover, and Illya walked into the room expecting to see sleeping children, or at worst, crying children.

What they didn’t expect to see were eight kids on brooms flying through the air and racing around the airfield of Atlas Academy.

The sight of it would have been novel if Summer hadn’t seen her daughters about to get on one of those brooms together.

“Yang Xiao Long! Ruby Rose! You get down from that broom this instant!” demanded Summer.

“But mom~,” the sisters whined.

“No buts, young ladies. Get down from there this instant!”

Ruby and Yang looked at each other and had one of those silent conversations that only close siblings could have.

“NO!”

The girls then leaped together off of the balcony of their room…

“No! My babies!” screamed Summer.

...and then ascended into the air to join the other kids in the race.

“Girls I said get off of that broom this instant!” Summer was now on the balcony, screaming her head off.

“No!” the girls cheered.

Summer was beside herself and now needed backup. “Tai, will you do something?” Summer turned to her husband for support.

“Uhhh…”

Only to find him about to start riding one of those brooms himself. “That’s a great idea! We can catch them on one of those!”

Taiyang’s eyes began to dart from side to side to hide his guilt. “Yeah! That was totally the reason I was going to do this. No other reason.”

Summer joined Tai on the broom only to run into another problem. “It’s too small,” said Summer.

Deciding to throw the parents a bone, Shirou used Alteration to resize the broom for two people of their size.

“Thank you, young man,” said Summer before she took off to the skies to catch her kids.

While Shirou was distracted by the sight of the antics of the Rose/Xiao-Long family, he was blindsided by Illya.

“Onii-chan, what are you doing out of bed?”

“...cheering up the other kids?”

“You’re still recuperating!”

“I feel fine, though,” said Shirou.

“That’s not for you to decide!” before her big brother could offer any rebuttal, Illya summoned a familiar, a large hawk of some sort, and had it carry Shirou back to his bed where Illya checked him over.

Illya used structural analysis to get the scope of her brother’s condition after healing him. “Your wounds healed up, no surprise there since I was the one who healed you,” said Illya with a smug grin on her face.

“How bad were my injuries?” asked Shirou.

“Second-degree burns, frostbite, and some broken bones.”

I guess that’s what I get for prioritizing my projections over reinforcing my whole body. Then again… “ If those were the only injuries I had, then your healing wasn’t necessary. Avalon would have taken care of it.”

“You mean that same Avalon that A-nii and Ku-nii can no longer use because Artoria deemed them unworthy of it for some erroneous reason?”

“Illya…”

“No buts. Now lay down and recuperate.” Illya left her brother and went to check on the other children who weren’t currently occupied with broom racing.

____________________________________________________________________________

The ride back up from Ironwood’s secret room was not a quiet one. With the information that Maiya was able to pull from Leo’s mind, it had the group formulating new strategies and countermeasures. Some, like Ironwood and Ozpin, were reflecting on how their past actions had sent prior colleagues into the hands of Salem.

“In light of what we have learned thanks to Maiya’s efforts, I suggest putting the likes of Tyrian Callows, Hazel Rainart, and Arthur Watts on the Most Wanted List across all Kingdoms,” said Ironwood. “We can’t make it easy for them to conduct their business going forward.”

“I agree,” said Ozpin. “But I would also suggest reaching out to Menagerie as well. I wouldn’t put it past Salem to exploit the generational animosity between our peoples. We’ll need an ambassador.”

“I’ll take that job,” said Qrow as everyone stepped off of the elevator. “I’ve got some contacts amongst the higher echelons of White Fang that I can make use of.”

“Then I’ll talk to Oobleck and Port about disseminating the information we gleamed about the new Grimm species we were attacked by today. If you’ll excuse me.” Glynda left to start making phone calls to her colleagues.

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

Qrow’s scroll went off all of the sudden.  “Who could be calling now?” said Qrow as he looked to see who was texting him. When he saw the caller ID his eyes went wide and he immediately made a B-line for the exit of Ironwood’s office.

Seeing that his subordinate was spooked, Ozpin inquired as to what was troubling him.

“it’s…Willow,” he said quietly.

Understanding the implications, Ozpin let Qrow go. “Don’t worry, go see what she wants. She probably saw what was happening here on the news and is concerned about you.”

“Thanks, Oz.” Qrow proceeded to leave with a whole lot more urgency than he had when dealing with the Grimm or Lionheart.

“If it’s alright with you, headmaster, my husband and I would like to go check on our children. I had already sent one of my familiars to check on them, but a mother worries.”

“You don’t even need to ask, Mrs. Emiya. Family is important after all. But before you go…” Ozpin pulled out a collection of folders from a drawer in Ironwood's desk. There were four in total and he handed them to the married couple. “These are all of the necessary paperwork that we hashed out in our previous meeting for your children’s schooling. They’ve all been set up with enrollment in Atlas Academy. Shirou and Illya are registered in the Primary division of the general track. Archer is registered in the Middle division of the general track and Kuro is in the Senior Division of the Huntsman track as a first-year.”

“That was surprisingly fast,” said Kiritsugu while looking through the documentation on the school.

“As a headmaster, James and I have a breath of resources at our disposal,” said Ozpin. “Getting your children set up with schooling was an easy task.”

“Was that because there’s only one school in all of the Atlas Kingdom, perchance?” asked Iri. “that can’t be good for developing young minds.”

“You would be correct. Due to the Grimm, it’s hard to procure new land beyond the walls of the kingdom, meaning certain sacrifices have to be made,” said Ironwood who felt ashamed of his inability to find a better way to fight off the Grimm.

“Well, at least we found a school for the kids. Now we just have to find a permanent residence,” Kiritsugu.

BZZT

BZZT

BZZT

Ozpin's, Maiya's, Iri’s, and Kiritsugu’s scrolls went off. They all answered them simultaneously. It was a conference call with Zelretch.

“Zelretch?” they all said collectively.

“Ah, you all answered. Good. I hope this isn’t a bad time but I have some good news for you all! I’ve managed to procure you some permanent lodgings!”

“What’s the catch?” said Maiya and Kiritsugu.

“No catch. I just think that a family as distinguished as yours should live somewhere that reflects your past status as well as your future importance to this world. As such, I’ve left a gift for you all in the Mantle crater…”

A picture was forwarded to each of their scrolls. It was a picture of the Einzbern Family Castle. The one from Germany. Along with the entire forest that surrounded it.

“Zelretch! What the fuck? We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile! You dropping an entire castle and forest in the middle of a city is the opposite of that!” Kiritsugu was practically seething with rage. His family had, once again, just finished getting attacked. He didn’t want to deal with zoning permits and explaining away the sudden appearance of a fantasy-like castle.

“Keeping a low profile is boring! Live a little, Kiri.”

“You didn’t bring Old Man Acht along with it, did you?” Iri and her family had finally escaped the machinations of the Einzberns, she would be damned if she allowed it to continue here.

“Oh heavens no. That old fart would have just been a stick in the mud. So I replaced him with Justeaze. She was more than willing to indulge her old master.”

Kiritsugu, Maiya, and especially Irisviel went deathly silent. They were too shocked to speak. “I’d get a move on if I were you. People are already stepping into the forest to explore it and since the bounded field is still active, they’re getting quite lost.” Zelretch was about to hang up until he remembered one more thing. “Before I forget, I’ve also brought over all of your past possessions. From curios to your weaponry and transportation, it’s all waiting for you in the estate. You should also be glad to know that I’ve brought over your collective wealth and used it to create various bank accounts.”

DING

DING

DING

Maiya, Kiritsugu, and Iri received alerts on their phones from bank apps that they didn’t remember downloading. They showed their respective levels of wealth.

“Congratulations, you’re rich again. You should also know that Das Reingold is also locked up in the Einzbern Vault. So you are now effectively the richest people on Remnant! Yorokobe, Emiyas!”

“Yorokobe my ass, Zelretch! You just doomed us to misfortune because of that thing!” this time it was Iri who yelled.

“Oh, that curse is overblown. You’ll be fine. Now I have to go, toodles!” Zelretch hung up.

“Okay, so from what I managed to glean from that, was the fact that there is now a magic castle smack dab in the middle of my city surrounded by forestation that people are getting lost in. Is that correct?” asked Ironwood.

The Emiyas nodded.

“I’ll get a search and rescue team together.”

“We’ll lead them,” said Iri. “Einzbern Castle has some…nasty defenses.”

“I’ll get started running damage control and information smothering,” Ozpin chuckled. “It’s certainly been a while since I’ve had to hide the existence of magic so actively. This should make for a very interesting day.”

As the group began to leave to complete their assigned tasks, Qrow stepped back in. His shirt was slightly disheveled and there was a blue lipstick mark on his left cheek. “Good, you guys haven’t left yet,” he said to the confused and exasperated Emiyas. “There’s someone who wants to meet you.”

Not wanting to deal with anything else except the current pressing issue, Kiritsugu tried to shoot down Qrow’s request. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait. Our plate just got filled again with some pressing bullshit.” Kiritsugu made to go around Qrow, but the Huntsman cut him off.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but you really need to meet this person. If you don’t, it could cause problems down the line.”

Seeing her husband’s anger start to rise, Irisviel took over. “Mr. Branwen, please tell us what the issue is, and we’ll try to deal with it when we can.”

Looking thankful, Qrow began to explain. “Remember that family that I said you, your sisters, and your daughter share a very close resemblance to? The Schnees?”

“Yes?” she said, unsure of where the conversation was going.

“Well the Matriarch of the family, Willow Schnee, saw the coverage of the attack on the news and saw you specifically and is demanding to meet you on the grounds that you are her last living relative…”

Once again, the Emiyas went dead silent until Maiya spoke up again. “If it’s not one thing it’s a-fucking-nother.” everyone present except Qrow nodded in agreement.

To Be Continued

Chapter Text

Once the adults in the medbay managed to corral the children that were flying around on the broomsticks that Shirou had projected, they were all checked over by Illya. Even now, no one was sure why a three-year-old was in charge of looking over the injured, but the kid knew what she was doing and could get you to do what she said so everyone just left well enough alone.

“That was so much fun!” said one orange-haired girl with an orange tail coming out of her backside. “First he made those toy weapons at the daycare then his sister made those animals for us to play with and now he’s making flying brooms? Best day ever!” exclaimed Neon Katt as she fell down in a gentle heap on the medbay floor.

Next to her was a dark-skinned boy wearing shades and playing with a harmonica. “Easy there. Neon. You almost knocked the shades right off my face.”

“Sorry, Flint!” exclaimed Neon loudly.

“The race was cool and all, but what I really like was when we started playing soccer with them,” said Yang as she held onto her baby sister who was once again playing with her “magic knife.”

“Soccer? I thought we were playing dodgeball?” said another boy with auburn hair and a large frame for his age. He also eyed Neon suspiciously.

“ You were playing dodgeball, Cardin. I was properly familiarizing myself with the instrument that you all seemed to take for granted,” said a little girl with a blue beret.

“Stop using big words to sound important, Ciel,” said Flynt to his uptight cousin. “You’re seven like the rest of us. Act like it.”

Ciel only stuck her tongue out at her cousin.

While the kids had their pow-wow, the adults discussed recent events occurring down in Mantle. “There’s another attack happening?” asked Summer as she looked at Clover.

“According to the reports General Ironwood sent me, a…magic castle…landed smack dab in the center of the Mantle Crater.” Clover was looking over his scroll as if he didn’t trust what it was saying. “Apparently he’s assembled search and rescue teams to look through the place because people have started to go missing.”

“Then what are we sitting around here for? We need to get down there and help!” exclaimed Summer before wincing at how loud her voice was. The last thing that she wanted to do was alert the children that there was another problem within the Kingdom.

Too bad her daughters along with Shirou heard them.

“Ozpin actually wants the two of you on standby. Says it’s in case a “certain someone” takes advantage of the opportunity.” Clover wasn’t aware of who the message was referring to, but he figured the caution was warranted.

“Standby? How are we supposed to sit still when more crazy crap is going down?”

“If Ozpin and Ironwood want us on standby then it’s probably for the best that we follow orders,” said Tai. “Besides, someone’s got to look after these kids.” he gestured to the gathering of children talking about their game of flying broom dodgeball/soccer/racing.

“I guess you’re right. Though, I find it odd that Kiritsugu and Irisviel didn’t come to check on their kids before leaving.” while Summer said that, a redheaded blur ran by her and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“NIMBUS!!!”

Shirou projected another Nimbus 2000 and threw it off the balcony where it hung in the air, waiting for him. He dived off of the balcony and landed on the broom butt first.

The adults in the room ran to the balcony in a panic. “SHIROU, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN HURT!” shouted Summer.

Shirou only looked back before bucking his broom and flying off. “That kid is such a handful,” said Tai while he held onto his daughters. They had tried to follow Shirou out but Tai quickly grabbed them.

Illya returned to the medbay to find that her brother’s cot was empty. She had left to brew some tea to aid his recovery. She was not expecting to return to find him missing. “Where did Shirou go?” she asked.

“He ran off to go deal with whatever’s happening in Mantle!” said Yang as she wrestled with her father’s grip. “We have to back him up!”

“Yeah!” exclaimed Ruby.

Illya looked at the adults and asked: “Did another crisis pop up?”

“I’m sorry, Illya but I can’t let you leave this room. You’re only three and your parents would have my head if I let you out of my sight.” Clover tried to put his foot down but it was unnecessary.

“Don’t worry, I’m just going to make a phone call…” She put down her tea, a little annoyed that it would go to waste, and dialed a number with her scroll. It rang for a few seconds before the other end picked up.

“Hello? Ku-nii…”

____________________________________________________________________________

Kuro was currently doing the dishes in the kitchen of the Glass Unicorn. He at first had gotten quite a few looks from the cooking staff but they were too intimidated by him to say anything against his actions. There was also the fact that he was doing a bang-up job with the dishes as well as keeping the kitchen itself tidy and organized.

The flow of dishes has slowed down tremendously, thought Kuro. As a matter of fact, I don’t believe I smell any food being cooked either.

Kuro ceased his dishwashing to find out what was going on. He left the sink and went to find someone. That was easier done than said as the entirety of the kitchen and wait staff along with a few of the remaining patrons were crowded around a TV showing live news coverage of some sort of attack.

“I can’t believe what’s been happening,” said one of the waitresses. “First Atlas Academy was attacked now there’s some sort of forest with monsters in it right in the middle of Mantle.”

“Better them than us,” said a patron who was wearing a very expensive and very gaudy suit.

Kuro ignored the byplay of the peanut gallery and focused on the broadcast. It showed footage of the Atlas Academy being attacked then quickly switched to where Kuro was reasonably sure the Mantle Crater was supposed to be. Except now, it was filled with lush forestation with a German-style manor at the center of it.

That’s Einzbern castle! Kuro shouted internally. He quickly walked to the exit, throwing off his smock and donning a pinstripe three-piece suit with gun hosters under the jacket.

Some of the staff wolf-whistled at his sudden change in attire. “Someone looks like they're ready for a night out on the town!”

Kuro ignored the cat call as he always did. “I’m finished with the dishes and I’ve mopped the floor. The pantry has been reorganized and restocked. Cinder’s other chores should be finished as well. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Kuro quickly walked out the door while flicking on his scroll. The kitchen staff was left in a state of confusion at his sudden exit.

“So who’s gonna tell the boss lady that we let a customer do our jobs for us?” said a Faunus sou-chef.

The Maitre D’ only scoffed. “I won’t say anything if you won’t.” that became the general consensus of the entire group. What the madam didn’t know didn’t hurt themselves. It’s not like any of them wanted to end up like Cinder.

____________________________________________________________________________

BRING

BRING

“Hello?” said Archer from the other side of the call. He sounded like he was in a hurry, much like his older brother was right now.

“Have you seen the news?” asked Kuro.

“The entire fucking kingdom has seen it. I’m done with my half of the chores and I’m already on my way over.”

“Good, I’m heading over as well. Considering the situation, our folks should at the very least already be on the scene…Maybe not considering what happened at the Academy.

“What happened at the Academy?” asked a voice that most certainly wasn’t Archer’s. It sounded too feminine and far too upbeat.

“Archer who is that?” asked Kuro.

“That would be Fuji-nee…”

“I thought you said that you were on your way out?”

“I am…and she’s on her way out with me…”

There was a pause in the conversation.

“You can’t bring Fuji-nee into an active combat zone like this! Tell her to stay and watch Cinder!”

“I tried to get her to stay put but when she didn’t get her way, she threw a tantrum, activated her EX-ranked luck, and somehow it prevented me from leaving the hotel!”

“You have Rule Breaker! Just use that to end the effect and get a move on!”

“What would you want me to do? Stab her with a magical knife for the crime of being concerned about us?

There was another long pause.

“Does she at least have the proper attire and weaponry?” Kuro acquiesced.

“If by “proper weaponry and attire” you mean decked out in full Yakuza Regalia and wielding a Tora-Shinai that I altered into a Katana, then yes, she is properly equipped.”

Kuro could only sigh. “Fine, bring her along. How are you getting there?”

“I’m taking Saber’s Motored Cuirassier. What about you?” Kuro could hear the revving of the engine in the background.

“Cuirassier Noir.” the aforementioned motorcycle was projected into reality. It was sleek and black with a vaguely sinister feel to it.

“I guess great minds think alike,” said Archer.

“Whatever. Who’s looking after Cinder now?” Kuro revved the engine.

“Sella and Leysritt.”

“Then she’s in good hands. See you down there…” Kuro shot off on his bike, but not before Taiga could ask more questions.

“Wait! You still haven’t told me what happened at the academy!”

“Not now, Fuji-nee,” said the pair of brothers in unison.

Kuro hung up and was about to put his Scroll away when he got another call. It was from Illya.

“Hello?” Kuro said.

“Hello? Ku-nii? Are you there?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Illya. Whatever you need, can it wait? I’m kind of in an emergency.”

“That’s actually why I’m calling. There’s something going on in Mantle right?”

Now Kuro was concerned. His little sister calling him about this couldn’t be good. “Yeah? Why?”

“Shirou is racing off to try and get involved.”

“Oh god dammit!” Shouted Kuro as his motorcycle finally dropped onto the ground of Mantle after projecting platforms to guide and ‘cushion’ his fall. “How’s he getting here?”

“Flying broom…”

Of fucking course he is! We’re supposed to be keeping low fucking profiles! What doesn’t he understand about that? “Thank you for telling me this, Illya. I know how close you are to Shirou so this couldn’t have been easy.”

“You’re all Shirou so you’re all close to me. If one of you is being an idiot and also too stubborn to listen to me, then I’ll make sure the other two reign you back in before you do something stupid.”

Kuro actually felt a warm fuzzy feeling in his heart thanks to those words.

“Either way, thanks for telling me. I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“Thank you!”

Kuro hung up, and this time there wasn’t a new call immediately after.

Alright, time to rescue several people and play at being a big brother.

____________________________________________________________________________

Irisviel stood in front of the door to the meeting room where Qrow had guided her to. Maiya and Kiritsugu had rushed off to deal with the Einzbern situation, which left Iri as the sole remaining member of their weird little family to meet with the Schnee Matriarch. Considering that Irisviel was the one who inadvertently started all this, it only made sense for her to deal with it. 

“Is this the place, Mr. Branwen?” she asked.

“Yes, Willow’s right behind this door,” said Qrow. He made to open the door but was cut off by Iri’s grip on his shoulder.

“Before we proceed, I have some questions.”

“Ask away.” Qrow turned around to face Irisviel.

“Let’s start with the most obvious. What’s your relationship with this woman?” Irisviel started hard and fast with the tough questions.

“What makes you think that there’s some kind of relationship between us.” Qrow, not showing his usually excellent skills at undercover work and subterfuge, lies through his teeth.

Irisviel only stared at him dumbly. “Before you left our group, your attire was properly managed. When you came back, you looked noticeably disheveled.”

“Oh, that? That was just from rushing around the Academy. The place has quite a strenuous layout, y’know.”

Irisviel continued to stare at Qrow. “you have lipstick on your cheek,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Wait what?” Qrow pulled out his scroll to check his reflection with the camera. After a few seconds, he cursed. “Shit!”

“Feel like telling the truth now?”

“Yeah, fine.” Qrow closed his scroll and turned back to Irisviel. “So as I’m pretty sure you were able to guess, Willow and I had a prior relationship.”

“It was romantic, wasn’t it?” asked Irisviel.

“How did you…let me guess, magic?” asked Qrow incredulously.

“No, just paying attention,” said Iri with a serene smile. “Also I’m married.”

“Paying attention to what?”

“Everything really. In any other circumstance, you come off as flippant and carefree, if a little rough around the edges. You wear a locket that you seem to be fiddling with a lot more since you came back from meeting with this Willow and on our way here I saw you stealing glances into it. Also, you’re giving off the same energy that my Kiritsugu did when he admitted to his former colleagues that he was getting married.”

“Okay! Fine! Willow and I had a relationship in the past, but I need you to be quiet about it. No one’s supposed to know.”

“I feel like that notion is out the window now that you’ve walked around the entire base with her lipstick on your cheek.”

“Oh god, did I really do that? If she gets divorced it’s gonna be my fault! The kids are too young to be dealing with that…”

So there are children involved. And from the sound of things, this is an extramarital affair.

“Look, can we just get this over with? It’s bad enough that she’s sending me mixed signals right now. I don’t want to think about how I may have just screwed things up for the kids.”

“That’s fine.” Irisviel followed Qrow into the room as he opened the door for her.

____________________________________________________________________________

Willow waited in the room nervously. When she first arrived at Atlas Academy, Willow was expecting the place to still be under siege. While there were still some very small pockets of Grimm extermination going on, the attack seemed to be pretty much over. Even walking through the halls, Willow felt ridiculous for bringing her Claymore like she actually expected to accomplish something. She’d been away from any action as Huntress since she’d gotten married. Now here she is, nursing an oversized weapon waiting for a possible long-lost relative to arrive.

Oh god, I’m probably going to look like an idiot to her, won’t I? I mean I barged my way in here to get to meet her! She probably thinks I’m just some weird Atlesian leveraging their status to get what they want! Oh god, what if she thinks this is some elaborate ploy to proposition her? I don’t think I could handle the humiliation of such a thing!

Willow stood up to make her way out of the room and escape from a potentially humiliating experience. If I leave now, I can probably make it out before…

Willow felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to the side to see Klein holding her in place by the shoulder. “Klein?”

“Madam, why are you running away?” he asked.

“I’m not running away, I’m just…”

“Scared?” said Klein.

Willow didn’t want to answer and looked away.

No matter how old she gets, she’s still that nervous young lady that Nick left me in charge of…

Klein guided Willow back to her seat at the long table where he took a knee beside her. “Now, what has you so scared, poppet?”

Willow briefly smiled at that childhood name. “I’m afraid that I’m going to make a bad impression…that I’ve already made a bad impression. I’m also terrified that I was mistaken about her identity.”

Klein chuckled. “If you make a bad first impression then you make a bad first impression. There’s nothing saying that you can’t correct that mistake in the future. As for your second concern, do you truly feel that you were wrong in your impression of her? Because I certainly don’t. She was the spitting image of your grandmother. I’m certain that she is related to the Schnee bloodline.”

Willow smiled. “Thank you, Klein. I certainly needed to hear that.”

“Think nothing of it,” he said as he dried her tears with his handkerchief. “Now, stiff upper lip. You have to make a good impression when Lady Irisviel arrives.”

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

“And just in time, no less.”

Qrow had returned, and this time he had company. “I’m back, Mrs. Schnee. And I’ve brought Mrs. Emiya, as requested.”

Irisviel entered after Qrow. She was dressed in her lavender blouse and white skirt. She stood with poise and walked with purpose. She sat down at the long table where Willow joined her. “I understand that you are Willow Schnee and that you have requested to meet me. What can I do for you?”

Willow took deep breaths. “I’ll keep things simple.” Willow pulled out her handbag and began searching through it for something. Willow eventually pulled out an old photograph. It depicted a family photograph of Nicholas Schnee, his daughter Willow Schnee, Nicholas Schnee’s wife, Wisteria, and the grandmother of the family, Justinia.

Willow pushed the photograph in Iri’s direction. When Iri looked at the photo, her eyebrows raised in recognition of one of the subjects. Willow did not miss that little facial tic.

She may just be…

Willow pointed at the picture of her grandmother. The woman, even in her old age, looked quite youthful. Her hair was long and white with eyes that were like rubies that contrasted against her alabaster skin. Excusing the eyes, Justinia’s looks were all features that were associated with the Schnee Family much like their hereditary semblance.

These were also features that were associated with The Einzbern bloodline. Especially for the Justeaze-type Einzbern Humunculi.

“Tell me, do you recognize this woman? Her name is Justinia Schnee, nee Einsbarne…” Not only did Irisviel recognize her name, but Qrow also recognized the name as well. A name like Einzbern wasn’t a name you heard very often so when you did hear it, you remembered it. “She’s my grandmother and as I’m sure you’ve noticed, she’s the spitting image of you. Your resemblance to her along with the footage of you using my family’s semblance is what has led me to believe that we are related.”

Maiya was right, if it’s not one thing then it’s another, thought Irisviel.

____________________________________________________________________________

The day had started out so simply for Winter Schnee. It was another routine visit to the Schnee dust mines in the mantle crater. The workers were unhappy with their wages and the general lack of safety. They demanded either a pay increase or the implementation of more adequate safety measures.

Winter’s not-father vetoed both choices and substituted his own. Either they continued with their present conditions as is or they will be fired. Anyone who didn’t comply would have been forcibly removed from the premises.

The workers soon became belligerent, rightfully so, and Jacques was about to order his guard to open fire on gathered protestors when…well…Winter doesn’t exactly know what happened. She was about to spring into action to stop her father from committing what would clearly look like a hate crime to standing in a forested clearing.

Where am I? She thought. She took out her scroll to check her GPS. That was a bust. The scroll still says I’m in the Mantle Crater, but the crater doesn’t have this kind of thick forestation.

Winter went over to observe the flora. What kind of plants are these? And these trees don’t look like Atlesian Firs.

CAWW!

Winter quickly looked up from the plants toward the sky as a large shadow briefly blotted out the sky. She drew her saber accordingly.

What was that? A Nevermore? This close to Atlas? Impossible!

Winter then began to hear growls coming from all sides.

Dammnit! Grimm!

Winter prepared to do battle as what she thought to be Grimm began to step into view. Their bodies were dark and blackened, as she had come to expect, but when they finally came into view, what she saw didn’t resemble any kind of Grimm she’d seen or read about.

As a matter of fact, they didn’t resemble anything. The collections of black mass simply swirled and undulated without rhyme or reason. There were red vein-patterned lines coursing throughout the mass and they pulsed menacingly.

Winter prepared for battle and summoned her first and only set of defeated Grimm, a pack of alpha Beowolves. She leveled her saber commandingly and spoke. “Charge!”

Whatever these things were, Winter would not falter in the face of them.

____________________________________________________________________________

BRRRMMM

BRRMM

BRM

Kuro raced through Einzbern forest at a breakneck pace. He’d just broken past the dividing line between the city and the forest and was already on the search for survivors…and an idiotic baby brother.

He focused his senses and began to listen for any signs of human life. Kuro could faintly hear the sounds of battle.

That seems to be…one human…female…something nonhuman. Beastial, but not the Wolf Packs of Einzbern Forest. Those are…Beowolves if I’m not mistaken. But they seem…docile? If that’s the case then what are they fighting?

As Kuro got closer to the source of the fighting that he heard, he began to pick up on the scent of something very magical and very dangerous.

Dammit! That’s not good! 

Kuro put Cuirassier Noir into high gear and rushed over to the fight double time. He brought his body as close to the machine as possible and ducked his head down to the handles as much as he could without ruining his line of sight.

Whoever you are, I hope you can hold on for a little longer…

____________________________________________________________________________

Winter couldn’t understand what was going on. These black masses, these phantasms, didn’t have physical bodies. Winter couldn’t comprehend how that was possible. They were like Geist Grimm but didn’t need to possess something to attack. Worse yet, these creatures had effortlessly torn through her Beowolves, leaving Winter defenseless.

Winter proceeded to separate her weapon into their saber and dagger configuration and preparation for combat.

“I’m not going to make it easy for you! Have at you!” she yelled as she charged the phantasms. “AAAHHHH–!”

BRRRMMM

BRRMM

BRM

FWOOSH

BANG

BANG

BANG

Before Winter could get too close to the creatures, a black motorcycle came barreling through the trees carrying a rider with white hair and dark skin who seemed to be just a little older than Winter. He held two bladed black and white handguns that unloaded into the creatures with reckless abandon. As the bullets entered their bodies, blades began to erupt violently and kill the phantasms.

That was the part that shocked Winter the most, this stranger had managed to not only hurt these monstrosities but kill them as well.

The black motorcycle and its rider landed and then proceeded to spin in a circle while unloading his guns into every last remaining enemy until nothing was left except black particles.

“How did you manage to hurt them?” Winter Demanded. “My weapon is top of the line and made from cutting edge materials but did nothing against those things. What allowed you to harm them so?”

“We don’t have time for this! Climb on if you want to live!” the stranger gestured to the backseat of his ride.

“Not until you explain how you managed to do that!” demanded Winter. “And identify yourself while you’re at it!”

“Of all the asinine…fine! My name is Kuro Emiya and the reason my weapons work where yours don’t is that they’re specially made to fight things like these. Now get on!” Kuro once again gestured to his backseat.

“Give me one of your guns,” Winter commanded.

“What?” Kuro said, more confused than anything.

“I said give me one of your guns. If they're specifically meant to deal with these kinds of creatures then I’ll benefit from using one of them.”

“No.”

“I will not go with you unless you hand over one of your weapons. I refuse to be defenseless and allow others to fight my battles for me.”

Oh my god, she’s just like Rin, thought Kuro. “Fine, you want a weapon?” Kuro holstered his weapons before stepping off his bike and held out his left hand toward Winter. Teal interface lines formed and began to coalesce as an object began to form in Kuro’s palm.

“What are you doing?” Winter asked.

“What you asked,” Kuro said.

“I asked you to give me one of your guns, not…this.”

“I’m giving you something more your speed.”

“And what would that be?”

“This.”

The light show ended and in Kuro's hand was a short sword with a leather-bound grip and a red jewel at the bottom. He handed it to Winter and then headed back to his bike. 

“What’s this weapon called?” she asked.

“An Azoth Sword. It’s meant to amplify the user’s abilities.” Kuro said that not expecting Winter to be able to do anything with it.

“Are you satisfied now? Because we still need to get you out of here and someplace safe.”

FLASH

After a blinding white flash, Winter was surrounded by several wolves. They were nothing like her normal Beowolf summons. As a matter of fact, they looked like–”

“Einzebern Alchemical Familiars?” Kuro said, stupified.

“Is that what these are?” said Winter. “What do I do with them?”

Kuro rolled with the punches. “They’ll follow your orders as you intend them. Tell them what to do and they’ll do it.”

“I’d prefer one of them to be big enough for me to ride. I usually do the same with my Beowolves.” on command, one of the wolves grew in size until its body was big enough to be mounted.

“Like that?”

“Yes?” Winter was unsure of what to make of this.

“Look, you can freak out later. Right now, you obviously want to help with whatever’s going on, so focus on that. Get on your wolf and help with the search and rescue effort. If you’re attacked by those creatures again, use the sword and your familiars, understood?”

“Yes.”

“Good, now break!”

Kuro rode off in one direction while Winter and her wolves went in another. 

Why was she able to summon alchemical familiars? Thought Kuro.

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

Irisviel couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Right in front of her in a dated photograph was a woman who looked very similar to one of her fellow Einzbern Homunculi. She had the same features even the same fashion sense as herself. It didn’t make any sense as to how this could have happened.

Why would a member of my family be in this world? Zelretch mentioned that this world was beyond Gaia’s influence so how can an Einzbern be here?

Irisviel looked up at Willow for a moment and scrutinized her looks. She looks very much like one of us except for the eyes, but it’s impossible. Zelretch is the only magus with access to the Kaleidoscope, he wouldn’t send a random Einzbern Humunculus to this world for no reason. The Wizard Marshall is a man of whimsy, but his whims always serve a purpose and there would be no purpose to this.

Iri mulled over what she knew, what her family knew and told her of, and the trends that she saw in this world.

The boys noticed that certain individuals seemed to share similarities with characters from fictional stories in our world. It’s also often been theorized that while there are many different worlds out there, there will always be similarities. So even if a world is beyond Gaia’s influence that doesn’t mean that there won’t still be similarities.

Case in point: A woman from a well-to-do family known for their ruthless and cold-hearted practices in pursuit of a particular goal. They formed a relationship with a gruff man in a violent profession and started a family together but outside influences interfered in their happiness.

That could easily sound like my life or Willow’s life based on what I’ve observed.

There’s only one way to know for sure.

Irisviel looked up from the photo once again and looked Willow dead in the eye. “How would we go about finding out if this is true or not?” she asked.

“I can have an appointment set up with our family’s doctor. He’s accustomed to keeping our family’s secrets and can be completely trusted.”

“Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s an emergency down in the Mantle Crater which requires my attention.” Irisviel proceeded to get up from the table but not before she got another alert on her phone.

BZZT

Please don’t let this be more of Zelretch’s bullshit…

• From: Kiritsugu

• To: Irisviel

• We’ve set up a perimeter around the forest. Maiya and I are coordinating several search and rescue teams. We’ve managed to get several people out, but we’re still having an issue breaking into the main ground of Einzbern Castle. We could really use your ‘Authority’ here.

• P.S. The boys are also here helping out. They’re using two different versions of that Yamaha that I tuned up for Saber. Shirou is…riding around on a flying broom. Please get down here before any more people can get an eyeful of him.

Irisviel smiled. She loved knowing that her family was bonding. She also found it hilarious that Kiritsugu thought that they could keep what their family was capable of under wraps for long. Their boys took after their father after all.

Irisviel made for the door but was shocked to find not only Qrow but also Willow following after her. “Is there something else?” asked Iri.

Willow hefted her claymore onto her shoulder. “I’m planning to help.”

“Willow, you can’t–”

The Schnee matriarch cut him off. “After seeing what almost befell the Academy, I have the understanding that something Ms. Irisviel considers to be an emergency likely involves violence. I am not going to sit around any longer and let others take action. Especially when those others could be related to my kin.”

Qrow went at things from a different angle. “You do realize that we haven’t yet proven any blood relation right? From a certain perspective, this could look overbearing.”

“From a certain perspective, this could be seen as me making sure that a possible relative is alive to confirm the relation,” Willow countered.

AHEM!

Irisviel cleared her throat to catch their attention. “Do I get a say in this?” the former/current couple turned to look at Irisviel. Qrow looked indifferent but Willow looked hopeful. Her face wasn’t particularly expressive but her eyes were another story. There was a fire in them, a hopeful fire.

Iri could relate to it. Going into the fourth war, Irisviel was hopeful that there would be a way for herself to survive the event. She loved her husband and daughter both and wanted to see them again.

Sure, Iri ended up getting what she wanted, and more in the end, but at the time that wasn’t a certainty. Now here she is looking at a woman with a similar look in her eye. Who was she to quash that hope?

“Okay, you can come.” Willow kept a professional air about her upon hearing Iri’s response but some micro-expressions clued Irisviel in on what the Schnee matriarch was feeling. 

A small part of Irisviel hoped that the two of them were actually related even if she knew that wasn’t the case. Just the idea of having family did wonders for this woman’s attitude. She’d hate to see what losing that hope would do. Maybe they could still be friends if things didn’t work out that way.

____________________________________________________________________________

Cinder sat in the living room of the Emiyas’ luxury suite. She was wearing one of the hotel’s super comfy bathrobes that she never thought she’d get to wear a day in her life sipping hot cocoa that she was definitely sure wasn’t made with the instant stuff. There was one thought going through her mind.

“What the hell is going on?” she thought.

She was clean.

She was comfy.

She was fed.

She was relaxed.

She was…content.

She didn’t feel the nagging need to claw out the eyes of her ‘sisters’ nor did she entertain the idea of going to the kitchen and grabbing the butcher’s knife to rake it across her ‘mother’s’ neck.

She felt truly and utterly content.

But what Cinder couldn’t parse was the fact that it was a family of Atlas Elites that were doing this for her. They pampered her, fed her, and even did her shift for the day. Even the tiger faunus had said that she was going to do a load of laundry for Cinder before something pulled her away. It was now the maids who were doing Cinder’s laundry chores, leaving the girl on her own in their suite. 

Deciding to distract herself from the new feeling of contentment, Cinder turned on the TV to whatever was on the first channel that popped up. She ended up dropping the remote.

There, on live television, was the boy who started everything along with the older boy, the tiger woman, their brother on a gods-damned flying broomstick, the man of the house, and his assistant.

They were going in and out of some forest that apparently had just popped up out of nowhere in the Mantle Crater. The man of the house seemed to be working with Ironwood and his people very closely. The older boy was on a motorcycle and working closely with a Schnee who seemed to be riding on a wolf that was leading a pack. The little brother dropped off a bunny-eared girl and a green-eyed redhead from his broom. The tiger woman grabbed Jacques Schnee by the scruff of his jacket while on the back of the red boy’s motorcycle and tossed him over the barricade line. Ironwood went over and escorted the man over to the command center where he made a big fuss in front of the man of the house.

“Who the hell are these people?”

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

Cinder’s attention was pulled away from the TV and she walked over to the door. Those maids probably forgot to bring the key…one of them did seem kind of flighty.

The ashen-haired girl opened the door to find…her worst nightmare.

“Hey there, Cindy,” said Anastasia.

“I see you’ve been mooching off of the big spenders,” said Drizella.

“What do you bitches want?” Cinder asked heatedly.

SMACK

Cinder cupped her cheek and stared back at Anastasia heatedly. “Don’t you take that tone with us, you little bitch! We’re your betters!”

“Yeah, don’t get a big head just because these Faunus lovers decided to dote on you a little. As soon as they’re gone, it’s back to being a workhorse for you!” said Drizilla.

“As a matter of fact, why don’t we try to get them to leave sooner?” Anastasia pushed Cinder out of the way and entered the Council Suite. She walked over to the dining room where she found pots and pans stacked in the dish rack. Underneath the dish rack was a white towel hanging over the edge of the counter.

“Whoops!”

Anastasia pulled the towel and the dishes came crashing down.

“What are you doing?” yelled Cinder.

SHOCK

Cinder felt the all-too-familiar burn of her shock collar as Drizella loomed over her. “Ah, ah, ah! No talking back to your betters. Or else we’ll have to use this on you.” Cinder eyed the remote with disdain. They had somehow swiped it off of the Madame. This situation couldn’t get any worse.

“What is all this yelling that I’m hearing?” Cinder was wrong. The situation just got one hundred times worse. Madame Treemane stood at the entrance to the Emiya’s Council Suite. She looked over the room and then zeroed in on Cinder. “Cinder? What are you doing in the Council Suite? What are you doing in that robe?”

“The Emiya’s– AAARRGH!”

The shock collar prevented Cinder from speaking. “It was horrible, Mother!” Anastasia and Drizella put on their best performance to throw Cinder under the bus. “We found Cinder in here destroying the Council Suite!”

Livid, the Madame took the remote for Cinder’s collar and began to turn the setting up to its maximum. Cinder screamed like a woman possessed, clawing at her neck in a vain attempt to remove the collar.

“You wretched child! I took you in! Give you the clothes on your back! Give you a purpose and you dare to bite the hand that feeds you? Well no more! I’m going to do what your no-good parents should have done in the first place and get rid of you! You will not ruin my life’s work!”

“AAARRRGGGHH!”

Cinder could feel her mind starting to get cloudy and black spots starting to encroach on her vision. This was it. She knew it. The Madame was finally going to do it and no one would care. Cinder thought back to every moment of her life that she could remember. It all sucked. The orphanage. The parents she couldn’t remember. Working here. She would admit, though, that this afternoon of being pampered and helped by this family was really nice.

I…wish…I could…say…thank…you…

Before Cinder went down, she heard the voice of the more stern maid. “Alright, that will be more than enough.” Then she heard the sound of bone cracking before finally passing out.

She hoped it wouldn’t be the last time.

____________________________________________________________________________

“James, what is the meaning of this?’ demanded Jacques Schnee. From his perspective, the day had been going wonderfully. He was finally going to deal with those annoying workers in his factory and mines who hadn’t been doing their jobs and dared to demand things like “better working conditions” and “humane treatment”. Jacques scoffed at the idea of giving animals such things. They were the lower class, they should be happy with what their betters allowed them to have and pray that they don’t change their minds. They were slave labor and nothing more. The Atlas Council may pretend that they need to treat the lower class with “respect” but Jacques knew slaves when he saw them. Now all of a sudden, some random forest sprouted into existence on his property, and some low-class woman had just manhandled him. The nerve of that woman.

“That’s not your business to know, Jacques,” said Ironwood. He carried the wiry man to the command center where he laid eyes on some newcomers to James’ usual inner circle of soldiers and sycophants.

Normally, Jacques would be demanding to be let in on what’s going on on his property but he was distracted by the beauty in black. “And who might you be Miss…?”

Maiya just stared at the gangly man in white that was trying to get her attention. She’d definitely dealt with more than her fair share of creeps and lechers trying to make a pass at her, especially before she met Kiritsugu, but never had she encountered someone who would try to chat her up during an emergency. Worse yet, Maiya could see the wedding band on the man’s hand.

Great, a creep and an adulterer.

Maiya looked at Kiritsugu to see how he was responding. He was typing into his scroll while looking away from her and the creep. Soon after, her scroll began to light up.

If he tries something, make sure to make a spectacle so he can’t flip the situation and say you were in the wrong. Otherwise, just ignore him. Even if he’s dumb enough to try chatting up a woman during an emergency, I doubt he’ll get handsy with so many potential witnesses.

Maiya really didn’t want to deal with this right now. She’d much rather take out her hunting knife and press the edge into this weasely bastard’s crotch until he got the message. Maiya took a deep breath and walked away from the man known as Jacques Schnee.

“I’m not interested.” she left him with his mouth hanging open before heading over to help out Kiritsugu. Jacques was about to follow before another Atlesian bullhead touched down near the command center that Ironwood had set up.

Jacques looked up. “More of your wind-up soldiers, James?” asked the Schnee Patriarch. The man didn’t much care. It was free publicity for the SDC. The AK-100 was powered by SDC brand dust. It was a lucrative deal that would leave the SDC sitting pretty for decades to come. It was also a show of Schnee superiority. Jacques’ superiority.

It was for that reason that when he saw his ‘Wife’ Willow walking down the boarding ramp of the bullhead carrying that damned claymore that Jacques lost his shit. 

He’d gone through great pains to remove Willow from the public eye. Sure, she’d become a hopeless drunk, but that was beside the point. When people thought of the SDC, they needed to think of Jacques, not Willow. He’d removed her from power and put the entire company in his pocket. The SDC was his, and Jacques needed to maintain that image. Willow being out in the open jeopardized that.

“Willow, what are you doing out here?” Jacques walked up to her with clear aggression on his face. Before he could reach her, however, a wireframe animal cut off his path. It appeared to be a canine of some sort, but Jacques didn’t care enough to figure it out. All he wanted was to get this thing out his way.

“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded. “Move this thing out of my way at once.”

“Hmm? I didn’t hear you say please. Do you want to try again?” asked Irisviel as she walked down the ramp behind Willow. On her shoulder sat a hawk of the same make as the canine, and in her hands was an oversized sword of similar wireframe construction.

Jacques was shocked to hear such insolence from some nobody. “Do you know who I am?” he asked.

“No, and I don’t much care.”

“I am Jacques Schnee you insolent bitch! With a word, I can have you thrown in jail for this insolence”

CLICK

CLICK

Both Kiritsugu and Maiya undid the safeties on their sidearms and made a show of unholstering them in view of everyone. “I suggest you choose your next words wisely, Mr. Schnee.” Kiritsugu walked over to Jacques and put his hand on his shoulder, making sure that his weapon was in full view. “We wouldn’t want to escalate things when we’re already in a tense situation.”

“That’s quite alright, Mr.…?” Willow spoke up after finding her footing.

“Emiya. Kiritsugu Emiya.” the man didn’t take his eyes off Jacques for a second. “Since my wife is defending you, I take it that the two of you are already acquainted?”

Willow blinked for a few seconds. She looked between Kiritsugu and Irisviel before she eventually responded. “That’s correct. It’s a pleasure to meet you. As I was saying, you need not defend me. Jacques knows better than to cause a scene out in public, don’t you, Jacques?”

The man brushed off Kiritsugu’s hand and adjusted his clothes. “Of course. But all the same, what are you doing here, Willow? This is hardly the place for someone with your…affliction.” Jacques hardly cared about his wife’s drinking problem but the less the public knew about it the better. The SDC had to present the image of unassailability.

Willow merely shook her head. “I’m not so far gone that I can’t function, Jacques.” she looked around with a frown of concern before returning her gaze to her husband. “Jacques, where’s Winter? I know for a fact that she was shadowing you today.”

“Galivanting with some dark-skinned hooligan on a motorcycle.” Jacques waved off. “Honestly, it’s unbecoming of a Schnee to be doing such laborious work. That boy on the weird broom and tiger faunus that was letting the child drive the other motorcycle is more than enough. Not to mention of little importance. If they die in this accursed forest, no one will care. If she dies, that’s a blow to the SDC’s image. If it weren’t for the cameras, I’d have dragged her over here right this instant.”

Irisviel withheld her anger and just walked past Jacques. She waved over her familiar from the annoying little Schnee and instructed it to take a larger size. With another flourish, Irisviel summoned another canine familiar of similar size along with a carriage to carry herself in. As usual for her craft, they all had a wireframe construction. Irisviel stepped into the carriage. Maiya and Kiritsugu joined her. The eldest Emiya took the reigns while Maiya sat in the back with a rifle that she kept stashed in her ‘briefcase.’ Irisviel sat prettily on Kiritsugu’s right as she pointed her gaze out at the forest like steel. Without turning her head toward her compatriot, Irisviel spoke to Willow. “If you’re coming with us, Willow then I suggest that you catch your ride now. We’re heading in.”

Instead of Willow answering, Jacques bellowed. “Excuse you, but Willow Schnee is an esteemed member of the Schnee Family! She is not some grunt to be ordered around by the likes of some nobody. As a matter of fact, if anyone will be giving orders–”

GRIP

Jacques ceased his speaking once he felt a bone-crushing grip on his shoulder. The pain made him quake in his finely tailored shoes. Through quite a bit of pain, Jacques turned his head to look at who was accosting him.

He was more than a little surprised to see Willow digging her manicured fingers into his shoulder. Jacques thought he could feel his blood being drawn.

“Don’t speak for me,” was all Willow said as she walked over to the carriage with her Claymore hefted across her shoulder. 

This seemed to be the last straw for Jacques. “Willow, you get back here this instant!” Jacques shouted like a man possessed. Willow only ignored him. “Oh, you think you can ignore me?” Willow did in fact think she could ignore him. To prove it she climbed into the carriage Irisviel had created. “Fine then! Let’s see you defy me when I have you committed to a sanatorium for your addiction?”

“And that’s all that I need.” Jacques quickly turned around to look in the direction of Ironwood who was busy talking to a drone with a camera lens that was fixed on Jacques.

“Ironwood what did you just do?” asked the Schnee patriarch.

“Secured damning evidence against you for threatening your legally married wife. Unless you want to make things worse for yourself, I suggest you sit down and shut up.”

Jacques realized when he was in checkmate and did as he was told. He would have to formulate a plan of action while he still had time.

____________________________________________________________________________

In the carriage that Iri summoned, Willow sat at the back as the carriage charged forward into the forest. Willow truly hoped that she wasn’t going to regret her actions. She was already starting to rethink her actions when a hand appeared on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Qrow.

“You alright?” he asked.

Willow nodded and leaned into him. “I’m just hoping that I’m not making a mistake. This is the first time I’ve been out in the public eye and I cap it off by defying Jacques. The press is going to have a field day when this reaches their ears.”

“Do you feel like you’re making a mistake?” asked Qrow.

Willow shook her head. “Honestly? No. I feel like this is the right course of action. Like this is where I need to be, but I can’t help this nagging feeling that Jacques is going to pull something to bring everything back into his favor.”

Qrow nodded. “I wouldn’t put it past him to start cooking something up now that he realizes that he’s not automatically getting his way. Still, I’ll do everything that I can to keep you and the kids safe.”

Willow responded by placing a hand on Qrow’s cheek and going in for a kiss. Qrow responded in kind.

____________________________________________________________________________

Maiya stopped listening to the two love birds and let them have their privacy. ‘It’s like listening to Kiritsugu and Iri when they’re in private,’ she thought to herself. People thought that Irisviel was affectionate in public, but it was a far cry from what she was like with her husband when it was just the two of them. If Irisviel got the idea to sell a sex tape of one of her and Kiri’s nights together, she’d probably get a hefty sum for it.

Shaking away those thoughts, Maiya scooched forward. “So what is our plan of action, boss lady?” asked Maiya. It was clear to her eyes that Irisviel had taken charge of the mission and was ready to end things.

“The boys and Taiga are out in the forest rescuing people, correct?” Maiya and Kiritsugu nodded. “Then our priority is getting to Castle Einzbern. The sooner we deal with the source of this, the sooner any remaining civilians are out of danger. If Justeaze is in there then I’m hoping to end this without a fight.”

Maiya and Kiritsugu nodded in agreement. They checked their weapons and got ready.

“So what’s the story with Qrow and the cheating housewife?” asked Maiya. “Last I remember, you were going to see some woman named Willow. Is this her?”

Irisviel only sighed. “To put it simply, we may have some family in this world. Or at least I do. She came to me thinking that we were related and then showed me a family photo. There was someone I recognized in the photo.”

“Who?” asked Kirtsugu.

“There was a picture of a woman that resembled a Justeaze-type Einzbern Homunculi in the picture. She looked the spitting image of me and my sisters. It was uncanny.”

Kiritsugu began putting the dots together. “Do you think that Zelretch sent one of your sisters over here? Or maybe one of your ancestors?”

Irisviel shook her head. “Doubtful. Zelretch is the whimsical sort but I doubt that he had this planned so far ahead. At that point, why even let us die? Why grab us from the situations that we were in? If he already had an Einzbern present on Remnant then he could have just taken her under his wing and trained her and her descendants in magecraft. There would have been no need for us to be here.” Irisviel shook her head but made sure to keep her concentration steady so that her familiars did not disperse. “No, I think something else is at play. What was that phrase you used to say, Kerry? Like recognizes like?”

Kiritsugu’s ears perked up while he kept steering the carriage toward Irisviel opening up the forest. “You think that the Schnees are a Remnantain version of the Einzberns?”

“Yes. sort of? It’s complicated. It would explain certain resemblances and that young lady who looked quite similar to Willow who was accompanying Kuro. She was riding on an Einzbern Alchemical Familiar. She wouldn’t be able to do that if there wasn’t some form of recognition with the Azoth Sword she was wielding.”

“Is there any way that we can confirm whether there is a relation?” asked Maiya.

“Willow did say that she wished to get some tests done. We’ll start with that and go from there. For now, let’s just make our way to Einzbern Castle. My progenitor is waiting.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Kuro and Winter were currently parked in the forest assessing the situation. “According to the residential logs, we’ve secured most of the victims of the incident,” said Winter while looking at a map that she had procured from one of Ironwood’s agents. “According to the workers, there’s a group that isn’t accounted for yet.”

“Who are we looking for?” Kuro asked. He was checking his guns while also using his senses to keep an eye on his surroundings. He’d also set off a flair that he’d projected. He needed to get the attention of certain someones and knowing them it should work easily enough.

“Another group of workers. They live in one of the poorer sections of the Mantle Crater. When these trees erupted, they cut off that area from evacuating. If we’re going to get them out of there, we’re going to have to figure out how to clear that lumber.”

Kuro put his guns away and spoke up. “Leave that to me. You just focus on guiding us to our destination.”

Winter gave Kuro a look. “You got lumberjack equipment in that weird collection of weapons you have?”

“Something like that…”

Winter folded up her map and placed it in the bag that she borrowed from the Atlas soldiers. “Well, if that’s the case then let us get a move on. The longer we take the longer those people will be left to fend for themselves against those phantasms.” Winter hopped atop her new trusty hound and prepared to ride off with Kuro toward their destination. Kuro had other plans, however.

“Hold on for just a second. We need to regroup with other rescuers,” ordered Kuro.

Winter frowned. “I don’t think that waiting would be a wise course of–”

VROOM

VROOM

VRM

Winter was cut off as a motorcycle that matched Kuro’s save for its lighter coloring pulled up near them. Riding on the vehicle were an adult faunus woman with tiger ears and a young boy who looked to be only a few years younger than Winter. Strangely, instead of being where you would expect a pair like that to be on a motorbike, the boy was the one steering while the adult woman was riding as a passenger.

“You could have chosen a better place to have us meet you,” said the boy. Winter noticed he was dark-skinned like Kuro with similar hair and other features. He also spoke with the cadence of an adult. Winter found it…jarring. She noticed Kuro talked like that but he was closer to being an adult so Winter just ignored it. “What’s the plan of action?”

WOOSH

Before the newcomer could get any answers, another guest arrived. This one was stranger than the last. It was a boy even younger than the last with red hair and golden eyes. The stranger part was the fact that unlike the other two men here or even Winter herself, this boy was riding a very unique mount. Instead of a motorcycle or a pack of wolves, this redheaded boy was riding through the forest on a flying broom.

Today was just full of surprises for Winter.

“Oh, it's you guys,” said the little redhead with disappointment and a hint of contempt. He attempted to fly off but Kuro grabbed his broom and snatched it from under him. “Get your ass back here, Shirou. We need to regroup.” the boy that Winter now knew was named Shirou tumbled to the ground and landed on his butt.

“What the hell was that for?” Shirou demanded.

“For being a dumbass and worrying Illya. What were you thinking by coming here on a flying broom? Are you trying to put our family under a microscope?” Winter watched Kuro reprimand Shirou like an older sibling.

“I had to help!” Shirou said defiantly.

Kuro was not going to suffer the back talk. “No, you didn’t. Mom, Dad, and Maiya were already down here with a crew of search and rescue specialists. Archer and I were already on our way. You had no business coming here apart from your need to save every Tom, Dick, and Harry.” Kuro lifted the broom and snapped it in half over his knee. This caused the object to disappear into light particles. “Worse yet, tons of people have probably seen you flying around on this stupid thing!”

Shirou scowled and looked away.

“Ease up on him Kuro. He’s the youngest and stupidest of us. You can’t exactly fault him for his poor decision-making,” said the younger white-haired boy.

Winter thought that was uncalled for. She wasn’t certain as to why it was such a problem for him to be seen on that flying broom, but it couldn’t warrant such a disparaging remark.

The Faunus woman that accompanied the white-haired boy seemed to agree.

POP

“That wasn’t nice, Archer. Apologize to Shirou.” the Tiger Faunus popped the boy named Archer. Winter couldn’t believe that they were brothers. Not because of appearance, but because of how he talked to his kin. Winter may have been strict with Weiss, but that was only so she didn’t end up like either of their parents.

This Archer boy just turned his head away.

What’s the deal with this brat?’ Winter asked Mentally. ‘He can’t be more than a handful of years younger than me and he’s acting like a petulant child?’

“Well, Archer, if you’re going to be like that then I have no choice but to pull out the big guns.” Winter Legitimately wanted to know what this woman was going to do to get this brat to cooperate. “You’ve lost cooking privileges. Only Shirou and Kurou will have the right to cook.”

‘Huh?’

“Yes!” shouted Shirou. 

Winter didn’t understand why the youngest was so excited, but he was. Archer seemed to even be reeling from the threat. “Fine! I’m sorry!”

The faunus woman nodded her head. “Good! Now, Kurou, if you will.”

Kurou nodded as well. “Thank you. Now that we’re back on task I can tell you that there is one last group of civilians stranded here in this forest. They’re stranded near the poorer section of town. Winter here has informed me that the path to the section of the town is blocked off by the wood and trees from this forest. As such, I suggest we switch up our mode of transportation to something meant for off-roading and ramming.”

“What did you have in mind?” asked Archer.

“We’ll be using this.” Kurou raised his arm and waved his hand in an arc. His winter watched as interface lines flared and spread out from his arm to form a construct. It was large with twelve wheels and all of it was colored black.

“Mind telling us what this is?” asked Archer. “I’m reasonably sure that I don’t have this in my collection.”

“Neither do I,” Shirou echoed.

“This is the Shadow Boarder. It’s something that I picked up from back home. I was doing a job for the Animuspheres and caught a glimpse of a few of their projects. This is the only one that I could replicate. The rest were too advanced for me. I still have the notes though.”

Everyone looked up at the behemoth of a machine in awe. It was bigger than them all by a sizeable margin. Just looking at it, everyone could tell that this beast of a machine could plow through the trees with ease.

The back hatch of the Shadow Boarder opened. “Get in. The more we dawdle, the more chances there are for the civilians to die.” Kurou got in first, followed by Archer who dismissed his motorcycle like Kurou did, Shirou, and lastly, Taiga. “Holy Cow! It’s huge in here!” She exclaimed.

Winter quickly followed behind to see what all the hubbub was about and saw that Taiga had understood the spaciousness of the vehicle. It was practically an entire mobile command center. “How is this possible?” Winter demanded.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kuro said as he took his seat at the wheel and strapped himself in. “Just find a seat and strap in. Archer? You and Taiga go prep the med bay for anyone who’s been injured. Shirou?”

“Yeah?” he said expectantly.

“Don’t touch anything…”

And just like that, they all drove off. The trees fell in their wake.

____________________________________________________________________________

A collection of faunus and human workers were gathered inside of a warehouse. They barricaded the doors and huddled as far away from any entrances as they were aware of. That included the ceilings.

Among the gathered workers were two children. These children went by the names, Adam Taurus and Ilia Amitola. Ages twelve and seven. 

It was a heavily kept secret but the Schnee Dust Mines allowed children to work for them. None of the board of directors knew about it. Neither did Jacques Schnee. Doesn’t change the fact that children were working in a place that children didn’t belong.

Ilia held on to Adam tightly and Adam kept her from seeing the black phantasmal monsters that crawled all along the outer wall of the warehouse. Every so often, they would stop and stare into the windows as if they were looking in, trying to find them. Adam wouldn’t admit it, but he found these things haunting. They looked like–felt like they shouldn’t exist. They felt worse than the Grimm.

‘What the hell are these things? They can’t be geists! Geists don’t get this big! They aren’t even possessing anything! They’re just existing as they are!’

“Are they gone?” asked Ilia, quietly.

“Tell that brat to shut up!” a human worker loudly whispered…

“Eh! Keep your voice down! You could set them off!” a Faunus worker defended.

“That girl asking dumb questions could set them off too!”

“Screw you! I’m not dying because this girl kept asking stupid questions!”

“She’s just a kid, man!” said another human worker.

“And she could get us killed!”

Adam looked down and saw that Ilia was about to start crying. That idiot kept running his mouth and it was about to make Ilia break out into tears. She was practically fighting to keep them back.

“If she’s smart she’ll–”

Adam had enough.

“HOW ABOUT YOU SHUT UP…SHUT UP …SHUT UP…Shut up…shut up…up!”

The yell echoed within the warehouse for several seconds. Nobody moved. Nobody talked. Everyone was deathly quiet. Until they heard it. Glass breaking and lightly impacting the ground. Everyone looked up to the ceiling of the warehouse. One of those monsters was up above, pressing into the ceiling window slowly. As if it wanted to maximize the fear and dread the workers were feeling.

crack

Crack

CRACK

CRACK

CRACK!

With one final push, the black phantasm broke through the window and had the workers in its sights.

SCREEECH!

The creature’s wail signaled others to come. They followed their comrade's signal, invading the warehouse and looking down at the cowering workers.

“Way to go kid, now you got us all killed!” said the human worker from earlier. Adam ignored him and prepared to shield Ilia. he hoped that by laying over her, he would be able to hide her from the phantoms that were about to kill everyone in this warehouse.

SCREEECH!

“Close your eyes, Ilia. it’ll be over soon,” he whispered. Adam held onto Ilia tightly and braced for the pain that was about to fall on them.

SCREE–BAM!

Against what his nerves told him, Adam looked up to see what had made that loud sound. He was treated to the sight of the barricade that everyone had set up being blown apart by the mass and bulk of a larger-than-large military vehicle. It had twelve wheels and absolutely decimated the barricade like it wasn’t even there.

“What the hell is that?” asked one worker. They were a Faunus like Adam who had spent what everyone thought to be their last moments silently praying to the god of animals. To her, it seemed like those prayers had been answered.

The vehicle whipped around and opened its back hatch to release a gaggle of rescuers. A Tiger Faunus woman, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, Winter Schnee on the back of a large wolf that was leading a wolf pack, a white-haired boy with a large bow who flipped onto the surface of the vehicle. Another boy followed, red-haired, like Adam. Adam had to blink a few times because he wasn’t sure if he was correct about seeing that little kid riding out of that tank on a flying broom and flinging swords at the ghosts. Bringing up the rear as the vehicle continued to whip around was an older kid in the driver seat of the large behemoth. He had white hair like the other boy and easily aimed a bladed gun out the window, taking out the monsters with a single shot from the hefty barrel.

“Winter! Taiga! Get everyone onto the Shadow Border! Archer! Shirou! You’re both covering their retreats! Break!”

____________________________________________________________________________

As the phantoms poured in, Archer and Shirou began doing their best to keep them at bay. Meanwhile, Taiga, Winter, and Winter’s pack of wolves moved toward the civilians. Any phantoms that got passed Archer and Shirou were dealt with by Winter and Taiga.

“HYAAH!”

Taiga sliced through one of the phantoms with another sword that had been projected by Archer. Just like the last one, it was a katana that complimented Taiga’s style of fighting quite well. She was like a deadly cavalcade of blade strikes that rent every phantom she went up against. Every movement served a purpose. Not a single strike was wasted.

Adam was utterly enraptured by the way that she moved. The strength that she projected. He wanted to be like her.

When the tiger faunus woman got close, she began ushering everyone to safety while Winter Schnee sent her wolves to tear them apart.

“Form a perimeter! Don’t let a single one of these creatures through!” Winter ordered and her wolves responded accordingly. Adam watched as the wolves formed a metaphorical line in the sand around the escaping civilians, letting them all make their escape as quickly as possible.

Adam kept watching her. For the longest time, Adam and any other faunus firmly believed that the Schnees were the worst of the worst. They treated faunus-kind like cattle and forced them to work tough jobs for very little pay and nonexistent support. So why was one here defending faunus and normal folks like it was the most normal thing?

SHOOP

SHOOP

SHOOP

FLING

FLING

FLING

Adam took his eyes off the Schnee and looked up at the large vehicle's top as he followed the other escaping civilians. These kids were younger than him or the same age, yet they were fighting these monsters with ease he didn’t think was possible for one so young. Especially the redhead. He couldn’t have been more than seven or eight and he was flinging those curved short swords with grace and ease.

Did the tiger woman teach them to fight? Adam was older than them but he didn’t think he could muster such skill and intensity against these foes. Adam looked to the tiger faunus woman known as Taiga and swore that he would ask her to teach him how to fight.

____________________________________________________________________________

BANG

BANG

BANG

“They just keep coming!” shouted Shirou. “We need a more permanent solution!”

“Getting tired?” asked Archer. “I thought you planned to keep up with us? You can’t exactly do that if you complain!” Archer knocked more arrows and fired on the phantoms. Each arrow found its mark within the phantom’s origin.

Shirou growled at Archer. “It’s not about me getting tired! If we try to leave here with these things still chasing us we might drag them to the safe area that the General set up! We need to deal with them now!”

Archer stopped firing his arrows and seemed to think about what his brother had said. “You might have a point.”

BANG

BANG

BANG

“You two pile in!” Kuro cut off any further discussion between Shirou and Archer by banging on the roof. “We’re getting out of here!”

Archer and Shirou looked down and realized that the civilians were all in and that they were the only combatants still in the thick of things.

The vehicle began to pull off. “Hurry up you two!” Kuro shouted once more.

“Think you can keep them at bay while I prep a solution?” asked Archer.

“Better than you can,” Shirou shot back. He went back to flinging his swords.

____________________________________________________________________________

Kurou was in the driver's seat, banging on the roof. “The hell are those two doing up there?” he asked himself. He was splitting his focus between shouting orders at his brothers and steering the Shadow Border.

Soon, Winter came in to see what the banging was about. “What was that banging?” she asked.

“My idiot brothers are on the roof and are refusing to get back in. I swear if they’re about to do something stupid, I'm putting them both in headlocks.”

Winter took the passenger seat next to Kuro and let her wolves rest near her on the floor. It became quiet between them. While it was obvious that Kuro was peeved, Winter could tell that he wasn’t exactly worried. His relaxed nature allowed Winter to ask some questions.

“So this vehicle?”

“The Shadow Border.”

“Yes, the shadow border. Who made it and why are you able to summon it?” Winter was quite well-versed in the potential of Semblences. She knew what they were capable of and how sophisticated they could be. There has never been any record of a Semblance creating a construct this sophisticated. This shadow border had facilities for medical attention, storage, food prep, baths and bathrooms, a CIC, and personal quarters for more than the gaggle of people that they’d just rescued.

“You don’t need to worry about it.” was the only thing that Kuro said.

“Then will you enlighten me as to how these wolves were summoned? They look nothing like my usual summons. And why was this sword you gave me able to hurt those phantoms when my own armaments which are made with the best smithing techniques and materials of Atlas, could do nothing but pass through them?”

“My weapons are special,” was Kuro’s curt response. “Though being honest, I wasn’t expecting the sword to respond to you that way.”

“You’re not going to explain any further than that, are you?” asked Winter with an upturned brow.

“No. You wouldn’t believe me either way.”

“But I’ve seen clear evidence of it. How outlandish could it be?”

“Look, put it out of your mind. We’ll probably not see much of each other after this.”

Winter scowled. “That doesn’t quell my curiosity!”

FWOOSH-BOOM!

Both Kuro and Winter looked out the windshield and watched a white pulse wash over the vehicle and the surrounding area, making the environment shudder.

“What the hell was that?” yelled Winter with uncharacteristically uncouth language.

Kuro scowled. “That was my brothers being stupid.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Kiritsugu, Irisviel, and Maiya stepped off of the carriage followed by Qrow and Willow. The former three looked off in a particular direction. They felt a surge of magical power and vaguely recognized it.

“That was a noble phantasm wasn’t it?” asked Maiya.

“It seems like the boys are busy,” commented Iri.

“I just hope they’re being careful about using those things. We don’t need to be fielding difficult questions from the public.”

“Did that white light come from someone you know?” asked Willow as she hefted her claymore out of the carriage. Qrow followed suit and pulled Harbinger out of the carriage and unfurled it into its scythe form.

“Yes,” answered Iri. “It seems my boys are taking the search and rescue very seriously.” Irisviel turned to the gates of Einzbern Castle. “I guess we should handle our business here.”

“So what should we expect going in there?” asked Qrow. “Something crazy, right?”

“That depends on what Zelretch wanted to accomplish by bringing this damned castle and its contents here.” Irisviel headed toward the gate of the castle and held up her forearm where her magic crest was implanted.

“I’m sorry, but who is Zelretch?” asked Willow unsurely.

“A pain in the ass,” said everyone else except for Qrow.

Irisviel’s magic crest glowed and they opened without protest. From the corner of her eye, she could see the various battle familiars shrinking away from her intended path. She walked forward and everyone followed her. Maiya and Kiritsugu were nonchalant while Qrow and Willow couldn’t help but gawk at the creatures parting for them. They weren’t Grimm but they looked no less terrifying.

“The hell are these things?” asked Qrow.

“Humunculae,” said Iri. “Artificial life forms. They’re meant to be attack dogs for anyone who tries to trespass.”

“How do you just know that?” asked Willow while gripping her sword tighter.

Irisviel sighed. “I know that because I used to live in this castle. It was my family’s home before I met Kiritsugu.”

That admission caught Willow by surprise. She was reasonably sure that none of her relatives owned a castle like this. An estate like this would have been listed among the Schnee Family’s assets.

Before Willow could have her confusion alleviated, the large oaken doors to the castle opened themselves up slowly. The wood creaked with protest as the doors opened up inch by inch without someone knocking or pushing the doors open. Willow and Qrow got ready for a fight, but Kiritsugu and Maiya told them to stand down.

“Calm down. They’re inviting us in,” confirmed Kiritsugu.

“Who is?” asked Qrow.

Irisviel answered. “Her.” Irisviel pointed at the entrance where a woman dressed in a white gown and crown stood to welcome her guests. Her eyes passed over each of them but lingered on Irisviel.

“You’re my descendant.” The woman’s voice was exactly like Irisviel’s. Even her appearance mirrored Iri’s almost exactly but one could not ignore the detached and lifeless tone with which she spoke.

“We’re something like that, yes,” answered Irisviel. “I take it that you’re Justeaze?” she asked.

The woman in front of them, Justeaze, nodded her head. She then turned to Willow with the same eye that she looked at Irisviel with. Her eyes lingered on her much longer. It was like Justeaze was trying to figure her out. “You are not an Einzbern, but there is a resonance. It’s very odd.”

That declaration seemed to affect Willow. She knew that her family name was not Einzbern, but she was certain that she was related to Irisviel. Was she mistaken?

“What do you mean that I’m not an Einzbern? I know that we have differing names but surely Irisviel and I are related. We’re almost the spitting images of each other.”

Justeaze shook her head. “You are incorrect. You share none of our blood. Though I will admit, there is a resonance, but that is all that there is. You are not our kin.”

That seemed to knock the wind out of Willow’s sails quite thoroughly. She had taken a moment to sit down from the shock. She was so sure that she found a member of her family. Had she been delusional? Desperate? She wasn’t even sure now.”

As she continued to spiral, Willow felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder and a comforting word. “I’m sorry that you had to figure it out like this.”

“You knew?” asked Willow. Irisviel nodded. “Then why did you go along with it?”

“Full disclosure?” Willow nodded. “I was already in the midst of an emergency and trying to explain why I wasn’t related to you seemed like it would take longer than was necessary. When you proposed a blood test, I figured letting things lie for now would be for the best. If it’s any consolation, I wouldn’t have minded becoming friends.”

“...I think that I could really use a friend. Still, can we do the blood test? Just to be sure?”

Irisviel nodded and then stood up to go back to Justeaze who had been patiently waiting for Irisviel to return. “Thank you for waiting. Now, let us get to the reason why we came here. Why are you here, Justeaze?”

Justeaze blinked a few times more than was necessary for a human until she finally spoke. “I wanted to experience another world myself. When he came to claim Einzbern Castle, a part of my consciousness was still attached to it. That part of me, the one you see before you now, wished to experience the Operation of Parallel Worlds for myself. Even just once. Any magus worth their salt would have come along.”

“And the phantasms that you unleashed?” asked Kiritsugu.

“If any people were inhabiting the area where the forest had touched down then the castle’s defenses would have taken effect. I can cease them if you wish?”

“Please do so,” ordered Irisviel. Justeaze went still for a few seconds before returning her attention to Irisviel.

“It is done.”

“Thank you, now what other business do you have here?” asked Irisviel.

“I will be acting as the Castle’s central operator in place of Jubstascheit. The castle cannot operate without one and I believe that I will be up to the task.”

“You also wish to experience this other world even if it is the only part of the Kaleidoscope that you will ever get to experience, correct?”

Justeaze did not respond to Irisviel, but she did not need to. Her silence was telling enough on its own.

“Fine then, but you are not allowed to make any moves without consulting me at every juncture.”

“Accepted.”

“Great. Now is there any way that you can remove this forest?” asked Irisviel.

“Yes, I have several. Would you prefer the fastest one?” asked Justeaze.

“Use the fastest one that doesn’t endanger the lives or property of anyone still caught within the forest,” Irisviel stipulated.

“Certainly.”

____________________________________________________________________________

As the Shadow Border pulled in for a stop at the evacuation site, Kuro noticed that several of the soldiers from the Atlas Military were striding up to their vehicle with weapons drawn. They formed a firing line and Ironwood began to speak into a megaphone. 

“TO WHOEVER IS OPERATING THIS VEHICLE, VACATE IT IMMEDIATELY AND IDENTIFY YOURSELVES! FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN THE USE OF LETHAL FORCE!”

“Is he seriously resorting to violence right from the start?” asked Shirou. “Shouldn’t he be trying to open a dialogue first?”

Kuro and Archer shook their heads. “Not in this situation,” said Archer. “This is an emergency like this with the phantasms running around and the people that had been injured. His first instinct should be to respond with force unless given a reason to do otherwise.”

“Still, we have to stop this from escalating. “I’d rather not have to start taking out members of the military because they decided to get trigger-happy,” said Kuro. As he stood up to go outside calm matters down. Winter stood in his way.

“I think that it would be in our best interest if I went out there instead.” she reasoned that as a Schnee, the military personnel would not be inclined to immediately respond with force whereas everyone in this Shadow Border was a relative unknown. She was the best choice to de-escalate the situation.

Kuro backed off, folding his arms over his chest. “Alright, have at it,” he allowed.

“Thank you.” Winter turned around and rounded up her wolves then guided them toward the door and headed out.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Sir, I see movement,” said a cadet. “The door is opening. Confirming…several targets exiting the vehicle. They are…I’m not sure what I’m looking at here sir.”

“Describe it to me, soldier,” ordered Ironwood.

“I think I’m seeing Winter Schnee surrounded by a pack of wolves that seem to be made out of wireframes?”

Ironwood paused. He wasn’t expecting to hear that. Then he remembered what he saw Mrs. Emiya do and assumed that she was there with Winter. “It’s fine, soldier. Those are definitely friendly. What is Ms. Schnee doing now?”

“She seems to be…flagging us down, sir. She’s saying…give me a minute…it appears that there are civilians aboard that transport who need to be looked at.”

“Well, what are you waiting for, soldier? Get those civvies situated.” Ironwood ordered.

“Sir, yes, sir!”

____________________________________________________________________________

Winter watched as the civilians were walked out of the Shadow Border by her compatriots for the day along with the soldiers who lent their aid. She chuckled at seeing the befuddled looks on the faces of the Atlesian Soldiers upon seeing how much bigger the vehicle was on the inside than it was on the outside. It had probably matched her own expression from when she first saw it.

“Winter?” Winter’s good mood ceased as soon as she heard the voice of her not-father call her name. She had been in a relatively good mood all things considered. She had aided in helping with an emergency like she had been planning to do once she joined the Military. She felt good about herself. Now this bastard had to come and ruin it with whatever he wanted to talk about.

“Yes, Father?” 

“What were you doing with those ruffians?” he asked coolly.

“Saving lives,” she said just as coolly. “Something that I’ve been training to do for quite some time.”

“You have no business lowering yourself to do such work. Leave it to lesser men to handle. We are meant to handle more important matters.”

Winter honestly wanted to ask what those matters were because from every return trip that Winter made back here, all that she saw her father doing was staying near Ironwood to be protected. “I’m sorry, father, but I felt that I was needed. More to the point, I was already in the forest when everything went down. You cannot blame me for desiring to take action. It is a trait that is expected of a Schnee, after all.”

“I couldn’t agree more, sweety.” both father and daughter turned to see Willow returning from the forest. Willow seemed no worse for wear and was carrying her claymore. She looked at Winter with a smile. “I’m proud of you, Winter. You did a great job lending aid in this crisis.”

Jacques scoffed. “Are you finally back from your pointless trip? I see no other ‘rescuees’ with you so I assume you failed to find anyone?”

“Actually, our goal was different from that,” said Irisviel as she walked up beside Willow. Kiritsugu and Maiya hung back while Qrow went to inform Ironwood.

“And what, pray-tell, was your ‘goal?’” asked Jacques.

“See for yourself,” said Iri as she turned and gestured to the forest before them. Soon enough, there was a glow radiating from deep within the forest that could be seen from beyond the edge of it. The glow rapidly expanded and enveloped the forest faster with every second until finally, in a flash of light, the forest was gone and all that was remaining was the infrastructure of the Mantle Crater. The warehouses, mines, homes, and businesses were all left and free of the forestation. The instantaneous resolution of the problem that the forest presented. There was also the fact that there was now a new addition to the Mantle Crater. The castle at the center of everything. Einzbern Castle.

“That was our goal. That should wrap everything up nicely, yes?” asked Iri.

To Be Continued

Chapter Text

“After checking and rechecking the results, I can conclusively state that there are no blood relations between Ms.Schnee and Mrs. Emiya,” the doctor finally said. The tests had taken most of the day, but now the pair could conclusively say they were unrelated. The doctor packed up his things and left the room.”

“Well that’s disappointing,” said Willow. She turned to Irisviel. “I was still a little hopeful that we were family of some sort.”

“I can understand the sentiment,” said Irisviel. “I love my sisters Sella and Lys like no other. I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if I lost them.”

“Imagine growing up with most of your family having died in a war or being picked off immediately afterward. I can tell you, it was not fun.”

Irisviel frowned. Growing up in Einzbern Castle was no picnic either, so she could sympathize with Willow. She still hated Jubstascheit. That old bastard could rot in hell for all she cared. Still, Iri didn’t want to leave this woman alone. They may not share blood but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be sisters.

“Even though we share no blood, would you like to at least start off as friends?” Irisviel asked. “If you say yes, I can guarantee you won’t regret it!”

Willow chuckled and looked at Iri. “After the years of fakes and sycophants? That sounds lovely.”

Iri clapped her hands together. “Great, then I’m inviting you and your kids over for dinner tonight! My boys finally came to an understanding and are sharing the kitchen!”

Willow smiled. She may not have gotten a relative but she definitely got a sister.

____________________________________________________________________________

Cinder was sitting in the car with Sella up front driving the car. In the back with Cinder was Maiya. Cinder was sitting next to her. Cinder didn’t know how to feel at this moment. She hadn’t known how to feel for the last few weeks.

A few weeks ago she woke up surrounded by medical equipment and drugged to the gills with bandages around her neck. Sitting around her were those boys from that weird family of Elites, their parents, their servants, the Tiger Faunus, the scary black-haired woman, and their daughter.

That time had been confusing but someone explained what was going on to her. It was one of the servants. Her name was Sella. Cinder vaguely remembered hearing the woman’s voice when Lady Treemane was electrocuting her. Sella had said that an investigation had been opened on the Glass Unicorn and that Cinder had been placed in the care of the Emiyas.

That had been the best day of her life. She was away from that evil woman and her evil daughters. Even better, today Cinder learned that the madame would be convicted of child abuse, child endangerment, neglect, attempted murder, and violation of child labor laws.

As of right now, Cinder was free of her evil mother and sisters. But she didn’t know what that meant for her now. The Emiyas no longer had any reason to look after her. Would they abandon her now that their job was done? Would they leave her at some orphanage again? Cinder didn’t want to go back to a place like that. She just got a taste of what a loving family is like. She doesn’t want to give that up.

“Cinder?” Cinder looked over at Maiya. “We need to talk.”

‘Here it comes, she’s going to tell me that the family wants to get rid of me.’

Maiya handed Cinder a folded piece of paper. “Can you read?” the girl said yes. “Then read this.”

“Certificate of Adoption,” Cinder's eyes began to water. This couldn’t be happening. Maiya barely knew her. They barely interacted. Why would she do this? “This certifies that Maiya Hisau has officially adopted Cinder Treemane as Cinder Hisau .”

‘No, no, why would she do this? Nobody ever wanted me. Even the madam just wanted a slave. This…this…’

Cinder kept reading. “By signing this certificate, I promise to give them the lifetime of love, care, and attention which they deserve. I promise to do my best to protect them and help them live a happy and healthy life.” At the bottom of the papers was a space for signatures. Maiya already signed her name and dated it. There was still one more space for someone to sign. A space for her. The tears began to spill over and stain the papers. Cinder quickly rubbed her eyes and apologized. She still couldn’t help but ask the all-important question. “Why?”

“I was a mother once. Back when I wasn’t ready for it. It was forced on me and after I gave birth, the child was taken from me. It was a boy. I have no idea what his name is, what he looks like, or what he’s doing with his life. For all I know, he could be dead. But that’s beside the point. You’re a kid that needs a home. My employers have more than enough room and we want you to be part of the family. As for my personal reasons? I want to do something with meaning in my life this time around. I think I could give being a mother a shot.”

Cinder wiped her tears, grabbed a pen from Maiya, and signed the papers then she tightly hugged Maiya. “Thank you!”

Maiya returned the hug. “Don’t thank me just yet. Wait until we get home. The boys have cooked up a real feast to celebrate you becoming a member of the family. Even the Schnee family is attending.”

“The Schnees?”

____________________________________________________________________________

Qrow stood in his hotel room on a conference call with his two best friends. “What if I mess this up?!” he exclaimed.

Summer was the first to speak up. “You’re not going to screw this up. You’re great with women.”

“That’s usually short-term relationships and one-night stands! I have three fucking kids with her, not to mention, she broke things off with me!”

Tai spoke up next. “Dude, you said for a fact that when she saw you again she practically sucked your face off. I could see the hickey marks on your neck when you came to get Irisviel. I’m telling you, dude, you’re going to have a hard time screwing this up.”

“And she only broke things off because you both were worried about the kids!” Summer added.

“Yeah, but what if the kids don’t like me?” Qrow asked.

“Then you can work on that as things go forward,” said Summer. “First impressions are important but actions following them are even more important.”

“And let’s not forget that you’re following Jacques Schnee. I’ve talked to a few friends still in the Huntsman game, particularly the mercenary side of things and they all can’t stop talking about how much of an ass the guy is to his workers and his kids. You would have to fuck up pretty bad when following that kind of act.” Tai was confident that Qrow could rekindle his relationship with Willow. Tai and Summer were super adamant about it happening. Especially since neither Summer nor Tai had any living relatives outside of the family that they made together. Tai grew up an orphan and Summer lost her entire clan to a Grimm attack. Qrow getting back together with Willow would mean that the girls would have cousins. THREE COUSINS. They could imagine the play dates now.

Summer and Tai began to hear the tinkle of a glass tumbler. “Qrow? What are you doing?”

“Get a little liquid courage,” Qrow said.

“QROW! PUT DOWN THE ALCOHOL NOW!” screamed Summer. Qrow fumbled with the bottle but managed to catch it. He did not want to have to pay for damages plus whatever this bottle of liquor cost. “You are not going to ruin this for me!”

“For you?”

“Yeah, for me!” Summer confirmed. “We finally have a chance to expand our parental friend groups! The first was with the Emiyas and now we have the Schnees! I want parent friends Qrow! Now you are going to put down that bottle! You are going to enjoy your night with Willow while having dinner with the Emiyas. You are going to rock her world again when you go home with her tonight. And you are going to like it!”

“Y-yes ma’am!”

“That didn’t sound convincing! Say it again!”

“YES MA’AM!”

“GOOD! NOW MOVE OUT!”

Qrow put down the bottle of Jim Greene whiskey and grabbed his keys to head out. Completely forgetting that he still had thirty minutes before he had to meet up with Willow and the kids for this dinner.

____________________________________________________________________________

Irisviel and Kiritsugu waited at the entrance of their home. “Their vehicle has just arrived,” said Justeaze as she appeared to them within their castle. “There appear to be five individuals plus a driver dropping them off.”

“Alright! It’s time for the dinner!” Irisviel turned to her husband and began adjusting his tie. “Make sure that they feel welcome! We need to start making connections in this world and what better connections could there be than the most powerful family in the kingdom?”

Kiritsugu raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that you don’t just want to make a new friend?”

“You say that like it's a bad thing.”

Kiritsugu waved his hands. “Nothing of the sort. I just feel that you don’t have to come up with an excuse to make a friend. You already made friends with the Roses and we didn’t really get to do social couple things the first time.”

Iri kissed her husband on the cheek. “Which is why we’re going to be doing those things this time around. We’re also going to be doing several family things as well. That reminds me, find someone willing to paint a family portrait for us.”

Kiritsugu quirked an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t it be simpler to get a really good photographer? Especially since that way, we wouldn’t have to stand around for hours on end?”

“Say what you want, but there’s a certain charm to painted portraits.”

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

Kiritsugu and Iri heard the door knocker and immediately got ready. “We can shelve this topic for later. For now, let’s greet our guests.”

“Lead the way,” said Kiri.

They head to the door and Justeaze, through control of the castle, opens the main door of the premises. Waiting out there were Qrow, Willow, Winter, Weiss, and Whitley accompanied by their driver and long-time butler Klein.

The group was dressed in clothes that, while fancy, were meant for a more casual outing. Willow smiled while holding Qrow’s hand. Qrow was also holding the hand of Weiss who had a beaming smile on her face. Winer looked just as happy and Whitley just looked happy to be there at all.

“Thank you for coming, Willow,” said Irisviel.

“Thank you for having us, Iri.”

Irisviel could tell that Willow was in a great mood. She wondered what could have done it.

____________________________________________________________________________

“I want a divorce.”

Those words went off like a grenade in the Schnee Family Dining Room. The children didn’t say anything. Winter understood that this was a long time coming. Especially after her mother reconnected with Qrow. Weiss knew what divorce was. She’d heard the maintainers of the estate mentioning it from time to time concerning her parents. She looked up what it meant and why it happened and found it preferable over staying with the man that she thought was her father. Whitley didn’t understand at all.

“What’s divorce?” Whitley asked innocently.

Winter and Weiss stood up, grabbed their five-year-old brother, and carried him out of the dining room. “Don’t worry about it, Whitley. You’ll find out when you're older.”

Klein ushered the children out which left Willow and Jacques alone. Jacques ceased nursing his brandy and Willow had yet to touch her food. It would likely go uneaten for the night.

“So, you’re finally doing it. You’re going to divorce me?” asked Jacques.

“Yes, I am,” Willow confirmed. She rested her elbows on the dining room table and leveled a glare at Jacques. “How will you respond?”

Jacques chuckled. “How will I respond? Go right ahead and do it. That will leave me with sole ownership of the company. On top of that, I don’t have to put up with the brats. Believe me, you’re doing me a favor.”

Willow stared at her “husband” for a moment before realizing something. “Jacques, have you read the fine print of our prenup?”

“Of course I have. Especially the part that says I get to keep the company in the divorce.” she saw him reaching inside his coat jacket. He pulled out a case of cigars and lit one with a Burn Dust Lighter. He put it between his lips and smirked. “For all intents and purposes, I’m the sole owner of the SDC. The Legacy is mine. I could even drop the Schnee name and change it to Frost. The FDC has a nice ring to it.”

Willow continued to stare until she reached for something in the seat next to her. It was a file. “I figured that you would say that. Allow me to enlighten you as to the reality of the prenup.” Willow laid out the file to have it reveal that it was a copy of their Pre-Nuptial Agreement. Willow highlighted a few particular sections. She even spoke out loud about what they said so that Jacques didn’t waste time reading.

“In the event of our divorce, you retain ownership of the company. As it exists now, it is a publicly traded company and the shareholders have a say in who the Chief Executive Officer is. Everything else, however, defaults to me.”

Jacques stopped his self-glazing and looked at his ‘wife.’ “What do you mean ‘everything else?’ I have the company. What could you possibly take?”

“The Schnee Dust Mines. Both domestic and abroad. The Schnee fortune and any patents filed specifically by a blood-related member of the Schnee bloodline. Properties owned under the Schnee name by a blood-related member of the Schnee bloodline. So the land that the SDC Headquarters and many of the other properties are built on will be defaulting to me. You can either pay rent or give me the land. Your choice.”

“Moving on, the last item on the list is the Schnee name. You will obviously be returning the name to me and taking up the surname ‘Frost’ again. Then again, you can take up a different name if you want.  After I’m through with you you’ll be dreading showing your face in public for a while to come.”

Jacques took the papers out of Willow’s hand and stared at them in abject horror and disgust. “This can’t be right! How did this happen?”

“My father was the one who detailed the exact wording of the agreement. He mentioned that you would get the company first because he knew that is what you’d focus on at the exclusion of all else. I thought he was being paranoid and believed what you and I had was special. It was clear that he knew better. It’s likely the only reason that you got as far as you did was because Father knew that you were needed for the company to last beyond him. Looking back, I find that a little insulting. Then again, I spent more time training as a Huntress than focusing on my business education so father had his reasons.”

“YOU FUCKING BITCH!” Jacques roared. He went to smack Willow but the timely intervention of Klein intercepted his hand. 

“I ask that you refrain from attacking the madame,” Klein ordered. “Failure to do so will result in your removal from the dining room.”

“KLEIN, I WRITE YOUR PAYCHECKS!” 

“Which come directly from the Schnee coffers. Coffers which the madame now controls. For all intents and purposes, she is my sole employer. Not you.”

Jacques ground his teeth angrily before standing from his seat and heading for the exit. “I won’t stand for this. You will not ruin all that I’ve built!”

She would.

____________________________________________________________________________

“I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Emiya, but we cannot turn over ownership of the Mantle Crater to you. It is a section of the city owned by the government and the Schnee Dust Mines are owned by the Schnee Dust…I’m sorry. They are owned by the Schnee Family, not the company which has been dissolved. If you wish to have ownership of the crater then you will need the signed signatures of every business owner, resident, and property owner just to get the ball…what do you have there?”

“These would be the signatures of all concerned parties,” said Irisviel as she handed over a datapad with digital signatures to the government official they were meeting with.

“As well as signatures from three out of the five sitting Council Members: Councilman Sleet, Councilwoman Camilla, and Councilman Ironwood.” Kiritsugu handed over the paper signatures of the mentioned individuals on the change of land ownership documents to the government official.

The official looked through the documentation. “Well…okay. You have the signatures. Then the next order of business would be paying for the deed to the land. Protocol dictates that you will have six months to procure the necessary funds to purchase the land. It will be priced at…are you serious?”

Irisviel slid a bank check toward the official and he gingerly took it. “I’m sure that amount should suffice.”

The official looked at the amount on the check and compared it with the Mantle Crater’s price which had been calculated for this meeting. “You are actually over the listed price by at least a hundred thousand if my calculations are correct.”

“You can consider the extra money a donation to the Kingdom,” said Irisviel with her ever-present serene smile.”

‘Who are these people?’ thought the government official. ‘Who just has a hundred thousand lien to throw away for a spur-of-the-moment donation?’ the official got his wits about him and decided to finish up the meeting. “Well, you’ve crossed your ‘T’s’ and dotted your ‘I’s’. All I have to do is get everything processed and barring any unforeseen complications, the Emiya family should be the sole owners of the Mantle Crater. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Irisviel as she shook the official’s hand. Kiritsugu did the same but with a firmer grip.

As Kiritsugu and Irisviel stood up, the official decided to ask a question. “Before you go, can I ask an off-topic question?”

Kiritsugu turned around and stared at the man while Irisviel responded. “We don’t see why not.”

The official cleared his throat and spoke up. “Are you guys really magic?”

Kiritsugu walked off and Irisviel simply smiled sweetly before walking away herself. The official simply said. “Yeah, 'cause that wasn’t ominous.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Kuro stood in the crowd of all of the other students gathered for the first day of orientation at Atlas Academy. He didn’t see any faces that he recognized, then again, he hadn’t been in this world for very long.

He looked at what he was dressed in. The Atlas Academy uniform. It was an all-white blazer and sweater vest/undershirt combo. He found it tactically unfit. If this school were to be attacked it would be that much harder to operate in stealth.

He looked around. No one had any alterations to their outfits. It was a safe bet that altering the uniform was out.

Kuro continued to look at the crowd. There wasn’t anyone who stood out. No student seemed to be impressive. Not even by this world's standards. Kuro had learned that Winter Schnee-girl was a few years younger than him so the chances of seeing her here were slim. Seeing as how this school had a team system he would have preferred having her on a team with himself than anyone else he saw here.

TAP

TAP

TAP

Kuro turned around with a great sense of apprehension before he realized who was behind him. “Interesting seeing you here,” he said.

“It was a bit of a last-minute thing,” said Winter. “General Ironwood came to me with a proposal of enrolling me two years early. He said that if I was good enough to aid in an emergency like that then I was good enough to  get moved up two years early.”

“Hm, seems a bit like favoritism,” said Kuro.

“It probably is.”

“So what can you tell me about this school’s team system? I’d like to know what to expect.”

Winter cleared her throat and got down to business. “Each of the four major Huntsman schools all have team systems in place. What’s different is how the schools conduct their teams. Vacuo and Vale hold initiation and let the teams form randomly, though Vacuo makes it a point to shake things up by changing up team compositions every so often. Mistral allows their students to pick who they want to be on a team with. Atlas, however, is the only Kingdom that preselects what students will be on what teams based on information from prior records.”

“So military rigidity vs everyone else’s informality.”

“I guess you could describe it like that. Any hopes for who you’ll be placed on a team with?” Winter asked.

“Not particularly. Just as long as they pull their weight, I’ll be fine with whoever. It's not like I know anyone here.”

While Kuro and Winter talked, General Ironwood had come up to start calling out team designations.

“The next team will be Winter Schnee, Kuro Emiya, Dee Tweedle, and Dudley Tweedle. They will form Team WETT(Wet). Lead by Winter Schnee.”

“Well, that answers that question,” Kuro said as he and Winter headed up to the front row to meet their new teammates.

____________________________________________________________________________

“But I don’t want to go to school!” screamed Cinder as Sella and Leysritt tried to pull her off the bedpost so that they could help her get dressed. “All the kids there are just going to make fun of me and start shit!”

“Cinder, language!”

Without thinking, Cinder let go of the bedpost to apologize which caused Sella and Leysritt to pull Cinder off of the bed. They were up in Cinder’s room within Einzbern manor. She still couldn’t believe that she got her own room.

Waiting at the door with Archer was Cinder’s new mom, Maiya. “Cinder, we talked about this. You need an education and Atlas Academy offers the best one in the kingdom.”

“It’s the only one in the kingdom. There’s just gonna be a bunch of stuck-up rich brats lording the status over me!”

“You do realize that regular students attend those schools too right? We’ll meet plenty of kids on and below the poverty line,” said Archer. Cinder simply stuck her tongue out at him. “Ah, how very mature.” Cinder tried to pick up a pillow and fling it at Archer but was stopped by Sella grabbing the pillow and then grabbing ahold of Cinder herself.

“I’ll tell you what, Cinder,” said Maiya. Her bland tone caught Cinder’s attention. “If you go to school for a full week then we can see if you’re capable of using magic like the rest of the family. Sound fair?”

“DEAL!” Cinder exclaimed. The girl quickly learned that her new family was capable of real magic like from the story books. She begged and pleaded for them to teach her but the answer that she always got was that they weren’t sure if she could use it as well. Now they were promising to at least see if that were true.

Cinder got up and raced into her personal bathroom where Sella and Leysritt followed, leaving Archer and Maiya alone.

“Are you sure that’s wise?” asked Shirou.

“It couldn’t hurt. Besides, the Madam was already going to invite Winter and Weiss to do the same. She said something about it ‘being time this old witch gets a few apprentices’.”

Archer scoffed at his mother calling herself a witch.

____________________________________________________________________________

CLAP

CLAP

CLAP

“Class? If I could have your attention? We have two new students joining us today.”

Cinder and Archer were standing at the head of a classroom waiting to be introduced. Their teacher was an older woman by the name of Ms. Flaxen. Her hair was the same color as her name and she wore glasses on her wrinkled nose.

The room quieted down and everyone was looking ahead. “Everyone, I would like to introduce Cinder Hisau and Archer Emiya. They live down in the Mantle Crater.”

“So they’re poor?” asked one kid. That made the entire class laugh. Cinder started to growl but Archer gestured for her to let it go.

“Henry? We’ve been over this. Making fun of students for their financial situations is not very nice,” said Ms. Flaxen.

“Not my fault their parents are probably a bunch of miners or factory workers. They should have saved their money like my parents did.” the boy who was talking was Henry Marigold. His parents were Atlas Elites with their hands in several pies. 

“And who are your parents?” asked Archer.

“The Melvin and Delilah Marigold,” Henry said smugly.

“Good, I’ll inform my parents not to do business with yours.”

“What?”

Cinder was watching Archer now. She wanted to see what he had planned.

“You see, My parents own the Mantle Crater. They’re essentially the landlords. If you want to have a business running down there then you need their approval. Last time I checked, the Marigolds had a few businesses running out of the Crater. My parents can easily foreclose those properties. Especially since the Marigolds are behind on several of their payments from when the kingdom still owned the land.”

“But, but, but!”

“I suggest you stop talking or I really will tell my parents.” Archer turned to Cinder and told her to follow. They headed for two empty seats behind each other on the row closest to the window side of the classroom.

As they walked, Cinder questioned Archer. “Uncle Kiri and Aunt Iri wouldn’t actually listen to you would they?” she whispered.

“Of course not,” he whispered back. “I don’t know a thing about business, but he doesn’t know that,” Cinder smirked once she realized the trick. 

“That’s bad. I should try that sometime.”

“Get pointers on lying from Maiya first. You still suck at telling lies.”

“I do not!”

As the pair sat down, a student from the aisle next to them leaned over. “Hey, thanks for shutting up Henry. He’s a real butthead” the new kid held out his hand. “My name’s Marrow, by the way.”

“Cinder”

“Archer”

____________________________________________________________________________

“Hey! It’s broomstick boy!” shouted a student that Shirou was reasonably sure he met at that daycare. “You remember me, right?” the boy asked.

Shirou was hard-pressed to remember the boy’s name. “I don’t think you told me your name,” Shirou finally said.

“Oh, yeah. My name’s Cardin. Cardin Winchester.”

“Hey, is that the broomstick kid?” asked another student. Shirou remembered this person as well. She was a redhead like him and had a tail to match. Shirou was certain that it was a cat tail.

Joining the cat girl was a boy with dark skin and shades. He was fidgeting with a harmonica like he wanted to play but obviously wasn’t allowed because he was in class.

“Do you remember me and Flynt?” she asked.

“I do but I don’t remember everyone’s names,” Shirou admitted.

“Oh! Then let me go get everyone from that day! We’re all in the same class! We were on a field trip to the Huntsman part of the Academy. I’m Neon by the way. Neon Katt!”

“Nice to meet you,”  Shirou replied.

“Flynt Coal,” said the kid with the Harmonica.

Neon zipped away while dragging Flynt and quickly came back with the other kids. “Ah, the Broomstick Purveyor! It is a pleasure to meet you once again! My name is Ciel Soleil.” the next girl to show up had dark skin and short black hair. She dressed primly and properly like a little soldier.

“Come on, Cici,” said Flynt. “Stop talking like that. You sound like a butt-kisser.”

Ciel frowned. “Cousin Flynt, I will ask that you refrain from using such language in relation to my person from now on. It is quite inappropriate.”

“Blah, blah, blah. All I’m hearing is a bunch of butt-kissing. Come up with some new material.”

As Ciel and Flynt argued, Cardin came up with his friends. “Hey, these are my friends from that day. They wanted to say thanks for the brooms. The blond kid is Dove.”

“Hi, I’m Dove. Dove Bronzwing” Dove had short quaffed blonde hair and wore a bronze T-shirt. His hair was parted to the left and his eyes were squinted shut.

“The kid with the messy hair here is Russel,” Cardin introduced.

A skinny kid with a mess of mint green hair greeted Shirou. “Russell Thrush. You can call me Russel. So can you make other weird stuff like those brooms?”

“I can but my brothers are better at it, sadly.”

“What do you mean ‘sadly?’ it’s pretty cool that you guys can do that.” Russel was genuinely confused by Shirou’s statement.

Shirou shook his head. “I agree with you. It is pretty cool. I just hate that my brothers are better at it than me.”

“Ah, sibling rivalry,” said Russel, nodding his head in understanding. “I know that feeling.”

Cardin moved on to the last member of his group. “And this is Sky.”

“The name’s Sky Lark,” said Sky.

“And that’s everyone from my group of friends,” said Cardin as he pounded his chest with a single fist. “If you need anyone to tell you how things work around here then I’m your guy.”

Neon interjected. “Hey, Cardin! Don’t try to hog the new guy. There’s still someone that wants to meet him.”

“Pfft, I wasn’t hogging him. I was just trying to be helpful!”

“Whatever,” Neon grabbed Shirou’s hand and dragged him over to where Flint was standing by a pair of boys. “Shirou, you remember Flint.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, these are our other friends, Kobalt and Ivori!” the pair simply waved at Shirou. He had been expecting them to say something but they didn’t. “Don’t mind them. They don’t talk much. They mean no offense by it.”

“Ahem!”

The group looked to see who had cleared their throat. It looked to be a girl with White hair styled into a side ponytail. She wore a frilly white dress and a light blue cardigan. She was Weiss Schnee. Shirou remembered her from the dinner that their respective families had a few weeks ago.

“You have yet to introduce yourself to me!”

Shirou blinked and blinked again. “We already know each other. Our families had dinner together already,” Shirou said calmly.

“Yes, but you never spoke to me then.”

“Yeah, because our parents did the talking. There was no need for either of us to talk.”

Weiss was getting angry and Shirou’s nonchalance. “Whitley got to talk to your little sister and Winter was occupied talking to your scary oldest brother. You were supposed to talk to me!”

Shirou scratched his cheek. This girl was difficult. Rin would have at least resorted to physical violence by now and physical violence was something that he could handle. Not the petulant ranting of a little girl. To be honest, Shirou had nothing to talk to this girl about. With Kuro and that Winter girl, they had fought together. They had an understanding of each other that was born from being in battle together. Illya was being badgered into annoyance by the boy known as Whitley. It was clear he had a crush and Illya wanted no part in it. It was clear that Weiss just didn’t want to feel left out. How can he easily turn her down without hurting her feelings or inciting a reprisal?

CLAP

CLAP

CLAP

“Okay, children. I understand that you’re all excited to have a new friend, but we must commence with class. Everyone to their seats!” ordered the teacher from the front of the class.

Shirou took the opportunity presented to him and ran with it. “Well, I’ve got to go to my seat so I’ll see you later.” the scowl on her face made her displeasure clear. This wouldn’t be the last he heard of this.

While Shirou walked to his seat, another girl, a bunny faunus with brown hair stared at him from across the room.

____________________________________________________________________________

Illya sat on her toy throne in the kindergarten class where she was fanned by other kids with paper fans and handed juice boxes and animal crackers as tribute. A child came up to her throne, kneeling, and made a request. “Miss Illya, may I please request a magical pet of my own to play with? As a trade, I will give you the two oatmeal cookies that my mom packed for my lunch.”

Illya ceased drinking from her nth juice box and watched her latest subject genuflect. “What animal would you like?” Illya asked as she took the offered snacks.

“A lion cub, please.”

“It will be done.” with a brush through her hair, Illya summoned another alchemical familiar. As requested it was a lion cub that pounced into the little boy’s arms.

“Thank you so much!” the boy ran off. He held the lion cub aloft and made goo-goo noises at it.

This was how Illya had climbed to the top of the class. She could make animals and kids loved animals. She would exchange her services for snacks and juice boxes. She was essentially the queen of the class.

Another student came walking up to her throne. Illya ceased eating her oatmeal cookies for now and looked the boy in the eye. He was the last person that Illya wanted to see.

“Hello, Illya! How are you enjoying your first day?” It was Whitley Schnee. He was here to bother Illya with his crush once again.

Illya simply snapped her fingers and her two fan-waver boys, big for their ages, ceased their task of fanning Illya and stepped forward to grab Whitley by the arms and drag him off.

“Nobody bothers the queen,” Illya said to herself while going back to her remaining oatmeal cookie.

____________________________________________________________________________

Taiga was jogging around the Mantle Crater to keep up with her physical fitness. While the crater was mainly known for its mining efforts, there was more to it than that. There was a thriving community down here. Shops, homes, restaurants, makeshift playgrounds for children. To add a little more ambiance to the crater, Irisviel had Justeaze return some of the vegetation of Einzbern Forest without unleashing the creatures that usually stalked its premises. As a result, the Crater looked much healthier and more lived in. The increase in vegetation also brought a few grassy fields to the location. It was enough for some enterprising individuals to start planting seeds for crops. In time, The Mantle Crater would be a thriving community.

All of this made Taiga proud. The Emiyas were a family of means and they were using those means to make things better for the community that they were a part of. Taiga’s Yakuza Family had means but because of the law and tradition, they had to hold back on affecting the community. It was a pity. Her grandfather really felt Fuyuki needed a pick-me-up.

Taiga was about to finish her jog when she saw a pair of children loitering outside of the Einzbern Estate. One of them had red hair and the faintest showing of horns hidden within his hair and the other was a dark-skinned girl whose skin kept changing colors.

Taiga ceased her run and switched to slowly walking up to them. She listened intently as she got closer.

“What are we supposed to do now, Adam? They have a gate?” said the girl.

“Don’t worry, I’ll think of something!” said the boy.

“Well think faster!” the girl pouted. “Breakfast service at the church is almost over and the sisters there can only save so many leftovers!”

“I am! Just give me a minute!”

Taiga was standing behind the pair of kids now and could hear them arguing. She decided to make herself known before they started to turn on each other.

“Ahem!”

The pair immediately turned around and fell on their butts upon seeing Taiga in her tracksuit. “Whatcha doing?” asked Taiga.

The girl gulped but the boy known as Adam stood his ground. Taiga expected him to say some form of smartassery but was surprised when the boy got on his hands and knees and bowed his head. “Please make us your apprentices!”

Taiga was surprised by the request. She was also surprised to see a kid this young and from a completely different world use ‘dogeza’ on her. Still, she had questions.

“Apprentices in what?” asked Taiga.

At this time, the other girl was also bowing while Adam looked up. “In combat!”

“And why do you want to learn about combat from me?” asked Taiga. “I’m pretty sure we’ve never met before.”

Adam and the girl looked at each other and then at Taiga. “You and those other people rescued us from those creatures.”

That was when the memories clicked for Taiga. She remembered that little rescue mission that she went on with the boys and that girl Winter. She remembered there being a pair of children amongst the rescued workers. “You were those kids with the workers?”

“Yes!” said Adam. “you remember us?”

“Yes, I do. What are the two of you doing here so early in the morning? Where are your parents?” she asked.

Adam looked away dejectedly. “Ilia and I don’t have any parents. We’re just orphans living here in the Mantle Crater.”

Taiga was starting to see where this conversation was leading. “Do you…Do you want me to adopt you?” It wasn’t like the estate didn’t have space. Maiya had just adopted Cinder and there was more than enough room for her and any other number of people who could show up later. Taiga just didn’t know if she was ready to be a mother, especially to kids she didn’t know.

Adam and Ilia shook their heads. “No, the church we’re at is really nice to us,” said Adam. “plus, someone has to look out for the other kids.” Ilia nodded along with what Adam said.

“Then you came looking for me just to have me teach you how to fight?” asked Taiga.

The pair of them nodded vigorously. “You’re strong! We want to be like you!”

Taiga thought about it. She had more than enough time to teach a couple of kids how to fight. It was more than likely that they’d become ‘Hunters’ and if Taiga teaches them well enough then that might get the word out about Taiga’s little plan.

She was in a completely different world. That meant that all of her credentials as a teacher were nonexistent. Still, could teach kendo at the very least. Taiga had paid attention while moving around Mantle proper. There were many places to learn how to fight. After a bit of research, Taiga concluded that you barely needed any credentials to open up a dojo or something of the like. You just need to pass a competency test.

The test was being pitted against a Hunter. Taiga felt that she could handle that. 

“Alright then. I’ll train you both.”

“Hooray!” Adam and Ilia both cheered.

“Just so you know, I teach swordsmanship. A specific kind.”

Both Adam and Ilia bowed. “We know that. That’s why we came to you.”

Taiga smiled. It would be nice to get back in the saddle once again. Even if she wouldn’t be teaching the same subject as before.

____________________________________________________________________________

CRASH

SMASH

THRASH

TRASH

SLASH

BASH

Evernight Castle was in an uproar. Mainly because of one woman. Salem. After being routed at the hands of Ozma’s new lapdogs, she was filled with nothing but fury.

“How fucking dare they!” she screamed. “They come here from parts unknown and dare to get in my way? Do they not know who I am? I am the queen of the night! I am the one that humans and faunus unknowingly fear!”

Salem blasted holes into the walls of the castle. The more she raged the more she destroyed. If this kept up then there would be nothing left of the castle.

Anticipating the fallout, one of Salem’s subordinates stepped up. “Your Majesty?”

Salem quickly rounded on her subordinate. She used the eldritch matter that made up the castle and formed tentacles to grab her subject and drag him before her. “What do you want, Watts?” she hissed.

Ever the professional, Watts cleared his throat and began to speak up. “Ahem, am I correct in saying that the source of your anger is the Emiyas?”

Salem just stared at Watts threateningly.

“Of course, dumb question. I’ll cut right to the chase. The opposition is gathering allies. I recommend that we do the same. Remnant has no shortage of individuals who would like to buck the status quo and take the top dogs down a peg. All we have to do is assemble them and get them on board our cause.”

Salem let down Watts and contemplated his proposal. This could work. If Ozma and that blasted Zelretch were going to tamper with the board then she might as well grab who she could to bolster her own forces.

Salem returned to her throne and made a gesture. “Let it be done, Watts.”

Watts bowed. “By your will, Your Ladyship.”

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

Iri stood at the front of a makeshift classroom within Einzbern Castle. Seated before her were two children. Twelve-year-old Cinder and fifteen-year-old Winter. Cinder was here after a promise was made to teach her magecraft once she acquiesced and attended school. Winter was here purely for Iri’s own curiosity. According to Kuro, the Azoth Sword reacted to her and allowed Winter to summon alchemical familiars. Iri wanted to know if there was something there. To that end, Iri would be testing out a few theories today with these girls.

“Well, girls. I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve invited you here,” proclaimed Iri.

Cinder didn’t waste a second. “You’re gonna teach us magic now, right!?” Cinder’s enthusiasm to learn the art of magecraft was evident. She had been badgering Maiya and Iri herself for instruction ever since the possibility was put on the table. When asked why she wanted to learn so badly, the girl's answer was concerning. She did not wish to be weak anymore.

“Does this relate in any way to the peculiar sword that Kuro equipped me with during the kerfuffle in the crater?” asked Winter. “He’s since taken the weapon back, but I find myself thinking about it quite often.”

Iri nodded to both questions. “To answer both your questions, yes. Now I should preface this by saying that I am not one hundred percent sure if you will be able to use magecraft, but that is what we’re here to find out.” Iri gestured to two magic circles that she had set up beforehand in preparation for this lesson. “To that end, I would like for the two of you to lay in these two magic circles for the time being. If you need to use the bathroom, then now is the time to do it. The exercise that we will be engaging in will be lengthy.”

The girls nodded. Cinder headed for a magic circle and lay down. Winter, on the other hand, headed for the bathroom.

Minutes later, both circles were occupied. Both Cinder and Winter lay atop them. “So what do we do now?” asked Cinder impatiently.

“All you have to do is lie there. The circle will do the rest of the work.” As soon as Iri said that, the circles began to glow dimly before eventually getting brighter. “We will be finding out the Element and Origin for both of you today.”

“What are Element and Origin?” asked Winter.

Iri thought about how to explain it simply but thoroughly. “Element and Origin determine what a mage is best suited for as a magus. Element determines the general alignment of a magus, while the Origin determines the behaviors and compulsions of a magus. Depending on the origin, it can become your element.”

“What would be an example of Elements and Origins?” asked Winter again.

“An example would be Kiritsugu’s Element of Fire and Earth and his Origin: Severing and Binding. He, metaphorically, severs with fire and binds with earth.”

Cinder perked up. “Does that mean Uncle Kiri can use fire and earth spells?” she asked enthusiastically.

Iri chuckled. “Heavens no. Kiri uses Time Manipulation Magecraft.”

The girls became silent, but Cinder was the first to recover. “He can manipulate time!?” she practically yelled. “Can he go back in time? Can he go to the future?”

Irisviel smiled and patted Cinder on the head. “It’s nothing so amazing as that. If my husband could do that, then he would have had even more people afraid of him.” Iri thought of her husband's reputation as the Magus Killer and how much more terrifying his reputation would have been if he had access to True Magic. “Kiri simply has the ability to accelerate or stagnate his personal time.”

“So it is a roundabout way of achieving super speed,” Winter concluded.

“You could say that,” Iri allowed, not getting into the other aspects of the Emiya Magecraft.

“What about Archer?” asked Cinder. “What’s his Element and Origin? It’s probably something like Steel or Iron,” Cinder declared.

Winter became pensive. “Kuro and the others seem to be capable of the same things. So whatever the Element and Origin are for one, the rest should have it as well. I agree that it would have to be something like Steel or Iron, though.”

Iri chuckled. “Remember how I said that Origins can become the Element?” The girls nodded. “Well, that is the case for the boys. All three of them have the Element and Origin of Sword. This is what allows them to use their unique magecraft, Tracing.”

“Sword?”

“Sword?”

“Yes, sword. It is very unique and very limiting.”

“What do you mean?” asked Cinder.

“What I mean, sweety, is while my boys are very good at things that involve making weapons such as projection magecraft and their unique Tracing, they are absolutely abysmal at other forms of magecraft such as healing, elemental spells, divination, and so on,” Irisviel explained in simple terms. “They’re really good at one thing and anything closely related to it, but anything far removed from that is hard for them to do.”

Cinder looked calculating. “So, what I’m hearing is that I can be better than them at this magecraft stuff. Is that right?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.” Cinder was absolutely over the moon with that information.

After a few more minutes, the ritual was done. The series of magical arrays surrounding both of them was lit up in patterns unique to each child. Irisviel asked both of the children to keep still as she looked over the results and recorded them. “Alright, girls, you can get up now.”

“What are our results?” Cinder asked excitedly.

“Yes, I would like to know as well.” Winter stood beside Cinder in anticipation.

Irisviel simply smiled. “Let’s start with you, Winter.”

“Aw, man!” Cinder whined.

“For your Element, you have Water and Wind.”

“Wait, you can have more than one?” asked Winter.

Irisviel nodded. “Certainly, people are complex and do not always fit into easily defined categories.”

“Well, what does having a Water and Wind Element mean for me?’ asked Winter.

“Beyond being good at those types of spells, one use that I can think of is the manipulation of poisonous gases to render them inert. You would also not be limited to manipulating water through spells. You could even liquify certain substances if you saw fit to.”

“That does sound useful.”

“Now, as for your Origin, it is Order.”

“Order? What does that mean?” asked Winter.

“That is for you to figure out,” Irisviel said. “The thing about Origins is that many of them are open for interpretation. Now, let’s move on to Cinder. You are an Average One. Congratulations!”

Cinder pouted. “I’m only average?”

Irisviel shook her head. “You misunderstand. An ‘Average One' is someone who has an Affinity for all five major elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Void, or Water, Fire, Earth, Wood , and Metal . Realistically, what would be difficult for most Magi, you could achieve with average magics.”

Cinder’s face lit up. This was everything that she wanted to hear. She was special. She had power. She could be somebody. She had a right to be a part of this family.

“Now let’s move on to what your Origin is.” Irisviel looked at Cinder’s circle one more time and nodded. “That looks about right. Cinder, your Origin is Destruction.”

Cinder frowned. “Isn’t that bad?” she asked.

Irisviel shook her head. “Certainly not. What you two need to understand is that your Elements and Origins do not define you. They are just there to give an idea of what you’d be good at with your magecraft and where your tendencies would lie. By no means do they define you as good or evil. Now, let us begin the first lecture. We will be starting with the basics of Magecraft. Mana and Od.”

From there, Irisviel started her first lesson as an instructor to these two young girls. Two young girls whom she hoped would be her daughters-in-law in the future.

____________________________________________________________________________

Qrow sat in front of his son and daughter, Whitley and Weiss, telling them of the good old days of Team STRQ (Stark). He told them about initiation. Their first mission. Graduation. Tai’s silliness. Summer’s warmth. He did not tell them about his sister, who abandoned the team to become a bandit queen. The less said about Raven, the better.

“Daddy! Can you show us your semblance?!” shouted Weiss excitedly. “Is it like mom’s glyphs!?”

“What’s a semblance?” asked Whitley.

Weiss, putting on her big-girl pants, explained the question to Whitley. “A semblance is a power that all Huntsmen have. You know how Winter makes those platforms that you like to jump on?” Whitley nodded. “Those are a part of her semblance. She can do much more than that, like slow things down, move fast, and others.” 

Whitley and Weiss turned to their father with stars in their eyes. They wanted to see their father’s semblance. The problem was, Qrow did not want his semblance anywhere near Weiss or Whitley. His semblance, Bad Luck, was a plague on himself and his allies. More than once, he had ruined an operation or mission for his team because this stupid semblance wouldn’t behave. Now his kids were asking to see a power that could harm them in some random way. Willow would have his head if anything became of their kids.

Qrow looked at the faces of his two youngest, shining with childlike wonder and anticipation. He had to show them something. He didn’t want to disappoint them. That was why he came up with a solution. He couldn’t show the kids his semblance, but there was another power that he had that he could pass off as a ‘semblance’,

“Okay, brats. You want to see your old man’s power?” Weiss and Whitley cheered. They really wanted to see it. “Then pay attention!”

Qrow focused on the small bit of power that was at the center of his being. It was similar but separate from his aura. It had been placed there by Oz once upon a time. With a mental command, Qrow felt a shunt of his mass before there was a rush of feathers. His vision changed, and he was much smaller now. He looked up at the kids. Their eyes were full of awe.

Qrow looked to the window of Weiss’s room. It was open. It was time for more wonder. Qrow beat his wings and flew out the window, soaring into the sky. His black body made him stand out more in the black backdrop of Atlas.

Qrow continued to soar, forgetting he was putting on a show for his kids. Flying was just that addictive. Being untethered to the ground was true freedom. Eventually, Qrow got his wonder back under control and returned to his daughter’s room.

WOOSH

PLOP

Qrow transformed back mid-landing to show off to his kids one more time. “Well, what do you think of your dad’s cool semblance, kids?” Qrow asked, waiting to hear praise from the two kids. Instead, he heard something else.

“CAW”

“CAW”

Qrow looked down to see what the issue was. He was greeted by the vision of two birds. A white Snow Owl was in the place where Whitley was, and a White-Tailed Kite was in the place of Weiss. The birds looked young. Their wings were still developing.

Before Qrow could say anything, there was a rush of white feathers that blocked out Qrow’s vision. That was when Qrow saw his kids again. Whitley blinked. Weiss blinked. Qrow blinked. They all blinked. Then Whitley and Weiss cheered. “We have Daddy’s Semblance!” The kids got up and started running around to repeat the cheer. The kids were happy. Meanwhile, Qrow was having a crisis.

‘WHAT THE FUCK!’

____________________________________________________________________________

Taiga stood in the dojo that had come with Einzbern Castle. Irisviel had told Taiga that there wasn’t originally one included with the castle, so everyone assumed that Zelretch-Weirdo added it.

That wasn’t important, though. What was important was what was in front of her. In just a year, Adam and Illia had made serious progress. They soaked up what Taiga had to teach like sponges. It was unnatural. Taiga did some research, and apparently, this world just picked up combat faster than people did back in her homeworld. It was weird, but Taiga rolled with it.

Adam and Illia were currently sparring. They were using training swords, obviously, and their movements were sharp and well-executed for their ages. Taiga had been thinking about entering the kids in some local tournaments. Well, entering Adam in some tournaments. Illia was still much too young.

“Hah!”

“Yah!”

“Hwah!”

Adam had knocked back Illia and broken her stance. Seeing an opportunity, he took a different stance. Taiga sighed. Her pupil took a quick draw stance and then lunged forward to strike Illia. As soon as he tried to lunge, Adam messed up his footing and face-planted. “Oof!”

Taiga swore her oldest student was a Chuuni, but apparently, this world didn’t have that as a concept. She supposed it made sense. Everyone could easily get superpowers, and it wasn’t a secret, unlike her old world.

“Adam, what did I tell you about those quick-draw techniques?” Taiga admonished.

“Not to try them because I’m not ready?” Adam parroted.

“Exactly.”

“But when will I be ready?! It’s already been a year, and you won’t teach me the cool stuff!” Adam complained.

Illia watched and laughed at him. She turned on her camouflage and then went who knows where.

“You’ll learn the ‘cool stuff’ once you get the basics down. That’s how training works,” Taiga explained. “Fundamentals first and then cool moves.” Adam still complained. “Be more like Lia. She’s being patient and looks at how solid her fundamentals are.”

Illia dropped her camouflage to reveal that she was reading a book. Once the camo was down, she looked at Adam and stuck her tongue out at him. Taiga thought it was precious. Adam, not so much. He pouted like a baby. Puffed cheeks and all.

“Tell you what. If you can beat Archer in a spar, then we’ll get started on more advanced techniques. What do you say?”

“Deal!” shouted Adam, and he rushed off to find Archer.

Adam came back an hour later with bruises all over his body and obviously wounded pride. Just like Taiga expected. From that day forward, Adam appreciated learning the basics. But he also developed a one-sided rivalry with Archer.

____________________________________________________________________________

“It’s the showdown you’ve been waiting for, folks. The match to decide the winner of this year’s VYTAL FESTIVAL!”

Kuro listened to the announcer hype up the crowd while he waited to be called out for his match. His team had made it all the way to the finals for the singles matches. For the doubles rounds, it had been him and Winter. Now, it was just him facing off against the leader of Team HZET(Hazelnut).

“Damn, who would have thought that we’d be making it to the finals for our first Vytal Festival?”

“I’m pretty sure our entire year did, Dee. Kuro, here was the favorite to win. Harriet and her team are the underdogs here.”

“There’s a difference between being the favorite to win and actually pulling it off. We’re a bunch of first years, and we were taking down upper-year students, Dudley! At least have some sense of astonishment about what we pulled off!”

“We? As in you and me? We didn’t do anything. We were carried by Kuro and Winter. We lucked out with team placement.”

“Hey! We did our part!”

“During the team matches, we had to get bailed out by Winter’s wolves thrice!”

“That’s teamwork!”

“That’s called being a liability!”

“We weren’t liabilities during that evacuation we did of that village. What was it called?” Dee asked.

“It was called Kuroyuri, and that was because we were on evacuation duty while Winter and Kuro handled the Nuckalavee!”

Kuro was not alone as he waited to be called. His team was waiting in the entrance hall with him to see him off. Dee and Dudley Tweedle were the other half of the team that Kuro was placed on, along with Winter. Dee had fair skin and dark, messy hair. He was stocky and muscular and carried himself like he was hot shit. He dressed in dark blues and blacks, and his weapon was a massive spiked club that could emit a current of electricity thanks to lightning dust infusion. Dee called it ‘Tweedledee.’

Dudley was the smarter of the two brothers. He often had to rein in his brother’s dumber habits. Dudley had a noticeable tan and dark hair that he wore in a ponytail. He wore light blues and tans with gold accents. His weapon was a black and brass yellow bolt-action rifle. It fired a collection of single-shot rounds. Either regular ammunition or dust rounds. Dudley likes to call it ‘Tweedledum.’

As Dee and Dudley continued to argue, Winter stood beside Kuro. “Are you nervous?” she asked.

“Have you ever known me to be nervous before a fight?” Kuro asked back.

Winter rolled her eyes. “No, I have not. I guess it’s a foregone conclusion that you’ll win?”

Kuro smirked. “You never know. She may pull something out of her hat. She could catch me unawares.”

Winter looked at Kuro in disbelief. “Are you actually making a joke? Is the world ending?”

“Careful now. That sounds like you’re making a joke. I believe that's more cause for worrying if the world is ending.” Winter popped him in the shoulder. He barely felt it. “But honestly, no. I am not nervous. The level of combat here is way below what I’m used to. I should be able to win this match, no problem.”

“...good. Good.”

“Something on your mind?” asked Kuro to Winter. He could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

“I was just hoping to see you go all out, is all,” said Winter.

“Really?”

“Truly. You speak of how the missions and lessons aren’t truly pushing you and how you have yet to go all out. I want to see that. I’ve been taking lessons with your mother, and I’d like to see how far I have to go to get where you are.”

Honestly, Kuro had been expecting something more serious in terms of concern, but he should have known better. He thought about her concerns and tried to give her an answer.

“You shouldn’t be too worried about how you compare to me. I’ll level with you right now, in terms of skill set and breadth of knowledge, my brothers and I are mediocre.”

Winter gave him a sideways look. She looked him up and down. “If you’re mediocre, then I don’t want to know what first rate looks like.”

Kuro chuckled. “Let me explain. The three of us, my brothers and I, are very specialized. We’re good at one specific thing and struggle to do others. When it is all said and done, you, Cinder, and whoever else our mother teaches are going to have a wider breadth of knowledge and capabilities compared to us.”

“So, you’re saying that I could copy people's weapons and use them perfectly?” asked Winter.

Kuro shook his head. “No, when I say the three of us are specialized, I mean we are really specialized. No one can do what we do with the means by which we do it.”

“See, what I’m hearing is that I should specialize.”

“Figure that out after you’ve gotten the basics under control. Then figure out a way to specialize.”

Winter and Kuro finished talking in time for the combatants to be called out. “Our first combatant is the favorite to win this year. His family is the newest members of the Atlas Elites and are hometown favorites of Mantle. Put your hands together for Kuro Emiya!”

“That’s me.” Kuro made his way out of the entry hallway and toward the ring, unholstering his guns and holding them at his sides.

It goes without saying, but Kuro easily won his match and brought home the gold for Atlas.

____________________________________________________________________________

On the island of Menagerie, within the town of Kuo Kuana, inside their town hall, the Menagerie Council, along with Menagerie’s Chieftain, and the head of the White Fang held a meeting of the utmost importance.

“It looks like everyone is here, so I believe now is a good time to begin the meeting.” Krodha Belladonna, the chieftain of Menagerie, struck his gavel. “As you know, this meeting is concerning certain abrupt changes in Atlas and the SDC in particular.”

“No need to beat around the bush, Krodha. The Schnee Dust Company has been dissolved!” cheered the head of Menagerie’s Defences, Gaston Taurus. He raised his hunting rifle, which he was never without, in the air in jubilation.

“You know it’s not that simple, Taurus,” Chided Aria Amitola, the head of Menagerie’s Agriculture. “Yes, the SDC has dissolved, but a new power is rising within Mantle, which is backed by the blood daughter of Nicholas Schnee. We may have traded one oppressor for another.”

“I thought that we had already established that Willow Schnee was not to blame for the SDC’s downturn,” reminded Ghira Belladonna, the head of the White Fang. “Nicholas Schnee was a known ally of the Faunus.”

“If she were really on our side, then why did it take her so long to do something?” asked Chilla Corsac, the head of Menagerie’s finances. 

“Our informants mentioned that a lost member of the Schnee Family had come into contact with Willow Schnee,” provided Sienna Khan. She was an agent for the White Fang and one of Ghira’s best operatives. “Perhaps someone with a claim to the company gave Willow the leverage to overthrow Jacques.”

“And dissolve the SDC? Unlikely,” Chilla shot back. She snootily stuck her nose up.

“I’d like to circle back to something that Aria said,” Khodra interjected. “This new power in Mantle. What do we know about them? I'd like to be able to get a handle on whoever may potentially replace the SDC.”

Aria spoke up, seeing that she was the one who originally brought this subject up. “According to what our informants gathered, this new power, known as the ‘Emiya Family’, has situated itself within the Mantle Crater.”

“The Crater? Where Atlas keeps all of its ‘Legally Indentured Workers ’?” asked Gaston with a sneer. “Let me guess, they’re trying to gentrify the Crater?”

Aria shook her head. “While there have been efforts to fix up the Crater, there have not been any efforts to remove the residents. These Emiyas are the new owners and have been funneling money into community enrichment projects. New homes, infrastructure, businesses, and the like. It’s creating jobs, which is generating money, and more money means more spending power for the citizens. Best of all, the Faunus in Mantle have been benefiting from this. All that new money in the hands of citizens is being poured into the Greater Mantle Area. Over the last three years, there’s been serious enrichment for the lower class.”

“What are the Emiyas getting out of this?” asked Chilla. “They can’t be doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.”

“Inconclusive,” said Aria. “From the outside looking in, it appears that they truly just want to enrich their community.”

“What can you tell us about the members of the family themselves?” asked Khodra.

“The heads of the family are Kiritsugu and Irisviel Emiya. Kiritsugu seems to be from Vacuo, as his dark skin indicates, while Irisviel looks like she comes straight from the upper crust of Atlas. Pristine, perfect features, and unblemished skin. Like I said before, she might be a long-lost Schnee with that white hair. The red eyes are a change, though.”

“After them are Maiya Hisau, Sella Einzbern, Leysritt Einzbern, and Taiga Fujimura.  The first three are clearly Atlesian, while the last is Mistralian and a tiger faunus.”

“A tiger faunus, you say?” asked Gaston. “Is she a servant?”

Aria shook her head. “No, she’s a member of the family like the rest of them. She’s studying to get a teaching license, from what we could learn. She’s also been teaching two faunus children swordsmanship. We couldn’t learn their names, though.” 

“After the adults, there are four children: three sons and a daughter. The two oldest sons look exactly like the family patriarch, with the white hair and dark skin, but the third is fair-skinned with red hair.”

“Ha!” Gaston laughed. “A redheaded stepchild!” Aria shot him a glare.

“The last member of the family is Illyasviel Emiya. She’s the youngest member and takes after her mother strongly. She attends Atlas Academy’s civilian branch along with her brothers. Though the oldest, Kuro Emiya, is enrolled in Atlas Academy proper.”

Khodra hummed. “Do we have any information on this family’s origins prior to their appearance in Atlas? Or do we just have speculation?”

Aria shook her head. “Only speculation, sir. While they have a paper trail, it’s like these people appeared out of nowhere.”

“With enough wealth to buy the Crater?” challenged Chilla. “Preposterous.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that they’ve been doing good for the Faunus in Mantle,” Ghira pointed out. “With the SDC going under and Jacques Schnee being financially ruined, I suggest that we change gears.”

Gaston scoffed. “To what? Sucking the dick of these new Atlas Hot Shots? Come off it, Ghira. Just because they did our people one good turn, does not mean that they are allies.”

“I beg to differ,” Ghira defended. “We have a family in Atlas with money and burgeoning power. There is a vacuum left by the SDC, and Willow Schnee still holds all the cards of the former company’s resources. If we can ingratiate the Faunus People with the Emiyas, then we can turn around our entire situation. We can establish trade deals with Atlas that are not marred by the SDC’s disdain for our kind. This is a turning point!”

Chilla sighed. “As much as I hate to admit it, Ghira has a point,” she admitted. “I’ve looked at the stock trade within Atlas. The stock of several companies is being bought up rapidly, and it all leads back to the Emiyas. They have the spending power to gain sizeable stock in the business ventures of the major Atlas Families like the Marigolds, the Sleets, the Soleils, the Ebis, and the Hills. With the Schnees more or less defunct as a power base, the Emiyas are positioning themselves as the new powerhouses of Altas without having to establish a company. As I said, I hate to admit it, but Ghira has the right of it. The Emiyas are worth allying with if the conjecture of them being sympathetic to the Faunus cause is correct.”

Khodra nodded. “Then we’re agreed. Menagerie will reach out to the Emiyas.” Khodra banged his gavel and adjourned the meeting.

____________________________________________________________________________

Hei Xiong had just taken over the Xiong Crime Family after the demise of his father. He went by ‘Junior’ now, and he made sure to command respect from his new subordinates as well as the other crime families in Vale.

Junior was not going to risk things going tits up like they had when Senior clashed with the Spider Gang from Mistral. He was going to run a tight ship and make sure that the Family continued to prosper.

Junior sat down at his desk in his office and then buzzed the PA system to have one of his guys come in. He had orders that he needed to issue.

No one answered.

Junior buzzed again.

Still no answer.

“Goddammit,” Junior complained as he rubbed his temples before getting out of his chair and heading out of his office. “I know we had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for new henchmen, but you would think they know how to answer a PA system.”

Junior had been expecting to see his henchmen horsing around or simply loitering. What he saw was all of them lying out across the floor of his bar, in various states of unconsciousness and injury.

“You might want to up your game with the henchmen you hire. From what I heard of your father’s people, these guys have quite a way to go before they can live up to the Xiong Crime Family Soldato of old.”

Junior’s eyes moved toward the bar where his new bartender was nervously serving drinks to a man with dark skin, white hair, and dark eyes. He was dressed in a black three-piece suit and black trench coat. Junior’s bartender served the stranger a drink. Martini, on the rocks.

Junior knew an enemy when he saw one. He didn’t have his Bazooka Bat on him, but he did have a Dust Pistol on his hip. Junior reached for it and aimed. Before he knew it, the pistol was shot out of his hands.

“Don’t get any funny ideas,” the stranger said while aiming a handgun at Junior. “Despite what I’ve done to your men, I’m not here for a fight. I’m here with a business proposition.”

Junior had seen aggressive negotiations before. Especially from his father. Experience dictated that he hear this man out while trying to find a way out.

“I’ll keep this brief. I’ve already gone to the other Kingdoms and recruited other crime families to my cause. Simply put, I train up your men; in exchange, you take control of crime in your Kingdom’s underworld and report back to me on anything unusual.”

“Unusual?” Junior parroted.

“Outsiders coming into the kingdom and making moves. Suspicious Grimm activity. Anything that sticks out,” explained the stranger.

“And why would I agree to this?” asked Junior. “You come in here. Attack my men, and expect me to go in on a business deal with you?”

“You’ll agree, or I can kill you and your bartender and then move on to the next best choice. Full disclosure, you were my first choice.”

The casual indifference to threatening his life made Junior’s blood run cold. Junior looked at his men. They were flunkies and nowhere near huntsmen level, but they weren’t pushovers. A lot of them came from illegal fight clubs and knew their way around a weapon. This guy just took them apart like it was nothing.

“Who are you?” Junior asked.

The stranger finally turned around to look at Junior. “You can call me Kiritsugu Emiya. You may or may not have heard of me.”

The Attack on Atlas Academy and the Commotion in the Mantle Crater. Yeah, Junior had heard of him. He’d also heard of the other name this guy had. The Grimm Slayer. The things that this guy was rumored to do to Grimm were unsettling. And he had only knocked his men out. The fucker was being kind about this whole thing.

Junior swore that he would make sure that the Xiong Crime Family would flourish again. Part of being the head of a crime family is being able to make good decisions. The decision that Junior had to make in this situation was obvious. “What does this training entail?” Junior asked.

“Maiya will explain that to you,” said Emiya.

“Who’s Maiya?” asked Junior.

As if summoned by that question, a woman with dark hair and fair skin dropped from the rafters of Junior’s club in dark tactical gear.

“That is Maiya.”

The woman looked like every definition of the word ‘severe’. She walked over to Junior with purpose. “Let’s talk training schedules,” Maiya commanded.

Junior obeyed.

____________________________________________________________________________

Krodha Belladonna arrived at the Emiya Estate in Mantle. Joining him was his daughter, Kali. Her husband, Ghira. And their daughter, Blake. Along for the ride were a contingent of White Fang soldiers to act as bodyguards.

As Krodha and his entourage made their way to the front gate of the Emiya Estate after stepping off the escort ship, Krodha went over the plan with everyone.

“Remember, everyone. We are here to take the measure of this family. Find out where they stand on Faunus Rights. We are to leave our grudges at the door unless they present themselves to be just like the rest of the Atlas Elites. Am I understood?”

Everyone nods.

“Good,” Krodha. “Now let's—”

SLIDE

The front gate of the Emiya Estate is opened up by a human in a steward's uniform. “The envoy from Menagerie, correct?”

Krodha responded. “Yes, that is correct.”

“Then right this way, the Lord and Lady of the house have been waiting for you with the other guests,” explained the steward.

“Other guests?” echoed Ghira questioningly.

“Yes. Headmaster Ozpin. General Ironwood. And Willow Schnee.”

A nervous air began to move through the crowd. They had originally come here to meet with the Emiyas. They were not prepared for a Headmaster, a General, and a CEO.

“I’ve also been instructed to inform you that this meeting is completely informal and that the other guests' presence here is to hash out other issues and to eliminate any rehashing of the same subject with different people. The other parties have also brought a minimal security detail.”

That explanation alleviated the tension amongst the party from Menagerie.

After a ride to the estate proper, they all made their way into the mansion. Waiting for them at the doors were the headmaids of the Emiya Estate–Sella and Leysritt.

The two maids bowed. “Welcome to the Emiya Estate,” they said. Leysritt opened the door while Sella continued to speak and led the party to their destination.

As they made their way, other kids were seen running through the halls of the mansion. They caught Blake’s attention. Sella picked up on it. “Would you like to play with the other children?” asked Sella.

Blake looked to her parents. They seemed unsure of letting their daughter out of their sight. Sella moved to assuage their worries. “I assure you, the children and the staff will be on their best behavior. Besides, I highly doubt your daughter wants to be in a room hearing the adults talk about politics.”

“I guess that’s fine,” said Kali. She set her daughter down and spoke to her. “Listen, sweety. If anything happens, come and find me. Understand?”

Blake nodded. “Yes, Mommy.”

“Leysritt will guide you to where the children are playing,” said Sella. Blake left beside Leysritt, and the adults kept moving along.

Before long, they arrived at a dining room where the meeting would be held. Waiting in the room were the heads of the Emiya family as well as Ozpin, Ironwood, and Willow Schnee. Behind each of them were Glynda Goodwitch, Specialist Ebi, and the head butler of the Schnee Manor, Klein Sieben.

Krodha and his people stepped into the dining room and took their seats at the table. At the head of the table, with a big smile on her face, was Irisviel Emiya. She looked like a kid in a candy store.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s get down to business. As I understand it, Menagerie and the White Fang are reaching out because of the shift in the power dynamic of Atlas, as well as the dissolution of the SDC.

Krodha spoke up. “Yes, exactly. So far, you Emiyas have made yourselves into something of a Soft Power within Atlas. A Soft Power that has the Elite of society on something of a precipice. Your family has essentially come in and established itself overnight. But that is not why we are here. From what I’ve seen of your family’s activities, you have no issue with the Faunus.” Krodha hardened his gaze. “Is there a reason for that?”

Krodha, Ghira, and Kali raised the hackles now. They were watching Irisviel and Kiritsugu for any tells. Any slip-ups. They noticed that the others had been quiet, but that easily could have been part of some ploy. The Belladonnas had not come this far without being weary.

“Well, you’re people, aren’t you?” of all the answers or lies that the Belladonnas and their entourage could have thought of, that was not one of them. “I was just trying to lift my community a little. I didn’t particularly care who was living here. We just asked the opinions of everyone who lived down here, and we got them to put down their signatures to help support our ownership of The Crater. After that, it was just a matter of addressing the issues that the residents and business owners brought up.”

Krodha was massaging his temples, trying to stave off a headache. He had never heard such a…refreshing opinion on the matter. Krodha looked over to the other participants of the meeting. He saw Ironwood, Ozpin, and Willow nodding toward him with an expression that said ‘yes, she is for real’.

Ironwood took the reins of the conversation. “For full transparency, with Atlas on the precipice of change, we are willing to work with you to start mending bridges with the Faunus.”

Willow chimed in next. “Exactly, with the SDC gone and my abundance of resources, I am looking to start a new business that harkens back to my father’s time and his ideals when he ran the SDC. I want it to be a company that doesn’t exploit the Faunus or the lower class.”

Ozpin was last. “For my part, I wish to expand Menagerian Combat styles into Huntsman culture. I believe that if Menagerian Hunting and Hunters are more prominent in the public eye, it could go a long way to changing people’s opinions on Menagerie.”

Krodha and his people were ready for arduous arguments and politicking. What they weren’t expecting was Irisviel’s overwhelming generosity and Ironwood’s willingness to meet them halfway.

It goes without saying, but this day would go down as the most momentous moment in Faunus History.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Here we are,” said Leysritt.

Blake had been brought to a playroom that seemed to be subsumed in utter chaos. There was a little white-haired girl who was in a tug-of-war match with a slightly older blond girl over a jump rope. A little white haired boy was panicking near them and trying to get the white haired girl’s attention.

There was a redheaded kid in the corner using his semblance to churn out weapons. Beside him was a little red-headed girl who was looking through a gun magazine. Standing a little ways off was another white-haired girl with a side tail and a scowl directed at the redheaded boy. She tapped her foot and crossed her arms.

There were also older kids in the room.

Two dark skinned boys were playing a game of chess. One had a buzz cut, and the other had his hair styled back. At an adjacent table were a pair of girls. One of them was yet another white haired girl, and the other had dark hair and golden eyes. They were both absorbed in what looked like study material.

Blake made an executive decision and decided to go over to the redheads. She didn’t feel like fighting over the jump rope. She had already done her exercises for the day, so she wasn’t going to spar. And chess and studying were boring.

Blake walked over and sat down next to the redheads while the angry white-haired girl gasped. “Hi,” said Blake.

The two redheads looked up from what they were doing. “Oh, hey,” said the boy. “Do you want me to make you a weapon? It will have to be wood, though.”

“You take requests?” asked Blake.

“Yeah, I do. Have any requests?” the boy asked. “My name is Shirou, by the way.”

“I’m Blake,” she said.

“HI BLAKE! I’M RUBY!” shouted the excited younger girl. “You should ask Shirou to make you a knife. He makes really nice knives! Though they end up disappearing!” Ruby pouted. From just outside of Ruby’s field of view, a wooden knife was offered to her. “MAGIC KNIFE!” she squealed. The knife was followed by headpats.

“Hey! Why does she get a toy weapon?!” The other white-haired girl with the attitude finally walked over.

Blake looked back at Shirou to see what he would say. “It's what she normally asks for. You didn’t ask me anything, so I didn’t give you anything. I’m not a mind reader, Weiss.”

The so-called Weiss pouted and puffed out her cheeks. Her face turned red, and she looked like she was holding her breath. ‘Ah, a tantrum,’ Blake thought.

Blake watched Shirou sigh. “What weapon would you like me to make, Weiss?”

Weiss let go of her breath. “Well, if you must know, I would like a rapier. Atlesian Standard.”

Shirou blinked at Weiss. “I’m sorry, you’re a child, right, Weiss?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What kid talks like that?” asked Shirou. “You sound like an uptight little pilgrim.”

Blake couldn’t stifle her laughter fast enough. Weiss caught it. “And what’s so funny to you, new girl?”

“I’m sorry,” Blake said. “It was just kind of funny. The way you act is kind of uptight for a kid. I’m Blake, by the way.”

Not one to ignore a greeting, Weiss introduced herself. “I am Weiss Schnee, Daughter of Willow Schnee, Granddaughter of Nicholas Schnee, and third in line for the title of Lady of the House. I am no longer related to Jacques Frost.”

Blake nodded. “My mom and dad mentioned that. That Jacques guy doesn’t sound nice.”

Ruby nodded along. “Oh yeah! My mom and dad, and uncle talked about him. My uncle REALLY didn’t like him! He didn’t like him by,” Ruby stood up and held her arms and hands out wide,” by this much!”

“Who’s your uncle?” asked Weiss, genuinely curious about who could hate her fake-father so much while not being related to the family.

“Oh, my uncle Qrow! He’s really happy now! He’s seeing this really nice lady named Willow! Oh, wait!” Ruby put his fist into her palm. “Didn’t you say Willow was the name of your mom? Huh, I can’t believe that my new aunt and your mom have the same name. Small world.”

Blake watched Weiss’s eye twitch with frustration. Blake guessed that Weiss didn’t like the idea that this little girl was her cousin. “You can’t be my cousin!”

Blake saw Ruby reel back. “I didn’t say we were cousins!”

“Your uncle is my father, you dolt!”

“Hey!” shouted the blond girl from across the room. Blake turned around to see the flaming blonde march over to them. Her hair was on fire, and her eyes were an intense red. “Don’t call my sister stupid!”

Blake saw Ruby stand up. “Yang, calm down!”

“No, Ruby! She’s not getting away with that!”

Blake watched Weiss flip her hair and stick her nose up. “Hmph, I did not call your sister stupid. I called her a dolt!”

“That means the same thing!”

“No, it doesn’t. The dictionary definition for ‘dolt’ is–”

“Will you two brats shut your mouths!” shouted one of the younger girls as she marched over to where Weiss and Yang were. She was shorter than even Ruby was, and Blake had to honestly wonder how old she was to be stepping up to bigger kids. “Your stupid bickering is getting in the way of my brother’s training!”

Blake looked at Shirou himself, and he was pinching his nose.

The yelling started getting louder. Blake could hear the shuffling of chairs and feet. She looked over and saw the oldest white haired girl and the black haired girl getting up from the desk with the books and were about to walk over, but not before the two older boys tapped them on the shoulder and shook their heads before muttering something. Blake wondered what they said. She couldn’t hear them with her underdeveloped ears.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Don’t get involved,” said Archer to Cinder.

“It will resolve itself,” Kuro said to Winter.

Cinder and Winter shared a look. “What do you mean it will resolve itself?” Winter asked. “My sister is getting into a shouting match with our cousins.”

Kuro shook his head. “Just sit back and watch. This is a pretty common occurrence for the men in our family.”

Archer chuckled. “It might even be funny if he screws it up.”

Winter and Cinder sat back down, if only out of trust for Kuro and Archer. As the yelling escalated, Shirou finally stood up and stepped between Yang and Weiss. Illya saddled up next to him and stood with her arms crossed like some sort of lieutenant. 

Immediately, Shirou started laying down the law. He admonished both girls for yelling, then he scolded Weiss for not calling people by their names. Then he called out Yang for almost resorting to violence like some sort of thug. He cheered Ruby up by making her a toy popgun rifle. She squealed again and hugged him before going off to play. He made a wooden rapier for Weiss and boxing gloves for Yang. Yang jumped in delight and ran off to join Ruby while Weiss just stood there, blushing. Finally, the new kid went over and asked for her own toy weapon. She got a wooden katana and started practicing their swings. Illya simply sat down next to Shirou and watched him go back to work. Winter’s youngest sibling didn’t know what to do, so he simply went and sat down next to Shirou like Illya did. Shirou asked if he wanted anything, and then Shirou made him a toy revolver.

Just like that, everyone was pacified with little effort. “He’s ten, right?” asked Cinder, echoing what Winter wanted to ask.

“He is,” Kuro answered. “It’s just a thing in our family.”

“What?” asked Cinder. “Being good with kids?”

“Being good with the opposite gender,” answered Archer. 

“What?/excuse me?”

“Calm down,” said Kuro. “They’re like ten right now, he’s an idiot, and Yang and Ruby don’t see him like that, at least.”

Winter. “That’s not what I meant. You’re saying all the men in your family are like this? Just smooth operators with women?”

Kuro shrugged. “I wouldn’t say we’re smooth operators. Half the time, we don’t even realize it's happening.”

“Really now,” said Cinder with a scowl.

“Yeah, apparently we’re thickheaded and don’t notice that we’re leading girls on,” Archer answered. “Considering how dangerous some of the girls that we’ve gotten the attention of were, that’s pretty dangerous.”

Kuro held up his hand and counted off. “Yeah, there was Rin, Artoria, Sakura–”

“Don’t forget Rider and Bazzett,” Archer added.

“True,” Kuro admitted. “And there was Luvia. What about Lorelei? She was always riding us about something.”

“Nah, she was just uptight. What about Caren and Ciel?” asked Archer.

As Archer and Kuro went back and forth with each other about the string of dangerous women that they inadvertently attracted the attention of, Winter and Cinder, two new additions to that list, began to fume. Winter ran her hand through her hair and summoned an alchemical construct in the shape of a hammer. Cinder reinforced her arm and fist to the maximum.

“You-”

Kuro and Archer looked toward the two girls, but it was too late.

“PIGS/ASSHOLES!”

The fist and hammer of feminine retribution came down on the two oldest Emiya siblings, and they crashed through the chess set and table they were playing on. Winter and Cinder marched out in a huff, leaving the brothers on their own.

Archer was the first to speak. “We missed the signs again, didn’t we?”

Kuro sat up. “Yeah. The future is not looking bright.”

Archer agreed. “True, but at least there’s a bright side.”

“What bright side?”

“If we’re still struggling wth this little family quirk, then Shirou’s going to be overrun by it,” Archer smirked at the thought of Shirou having to face romantic woes.

Kuro didn’t agree. He looked over at Shirou and the girls. Weiss and the new girl were sitting next to him while shooting glares at each other. Shirou was entirely oblivious. More oblivious than they would have been. Kuro got up and projected a new table before setting the chess set right. “Keep telling yourself that.”

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

Shirou woke up. Today was an important day. He would be attending Atlas Academy. This would be his first step on the road to joining his dad in saving the world. Now Shirou just had to hope the world didn’t get completely saved before he graduated.

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

“Young Master Shirou. It is time to wake up.” That was Leysritte on the other end of the door. Either her or Sella would wake up Illya and me these days. Archer and Kuro used to get that treatment, but they’ve gotten older and can look after themselves now.

“Thanks, Leys,” Shirou calls. He gets up out of bed and gathers his things. His toothbrush. A washcloth. And a change of clothes that he lays out on my bed for when he comes back.

Shirou makes my way out of his room, and Leys is already gone. He heads to the bathroom and finds Illya there. She’s brushing her teeth. Shirou joins her.

“Morning, Onii-chan!” Illya says cheerily

“Mornin’, Illya.” 

Illya was now thirteen years old, and it showed. She no longer looked like she was perpetually stuck at the age of ten. Shirou looked at himself in the mirror. This was his second go-around at age seventeen. It was jarring seeing the same face from ten years ago staring back at him again.

‘I guess that’s True Magic for you.’

He didn’t even feel mentally older. Sometimes, Shirou felt like he had been mentally reset. At least in terms of maturity. The number of times he got into pointless arguments with Archer and Kuro couldn’t be counted on two hands.

Shirou spit into the sink and gargled with mouthwash. Illya did the same.

“You excited to start Huntsman school?” asked Illya as she trundled along beside Shirou.

Shirou smiled lightly. “Yeah, all I have to do is get through this and I’ll be able to join dad in saving the world like Kuro did.”

Illya suddenly hugged Shirou tightly. “Then I hope you pass this school with flying colors!”

“Thanks, Illya.”

They went their separate ways, and Shirou headed back to his room. He had to put on his gear for his first day. In another life, his gear would have mirrored Archer’s. A red shroud with some battle armor and extra-tough pants. With dad still being around, Shirou wants to pay homage to him.

A tough trench coat rated for combat. The color was black with white trim. Shirou bit the bullet and still used the body armor and pants that were similar to Archer’s uniform. And even finished the ensemble off with a red scarf around his neck. For a touch of professionalism, Shirou also wore some tough white gloves.

Shirou looked at himself in the mirror of his room. He looked like a professional. He looked like he would be one of Kiritsugu’s assistants. Just what he wanted to be. A fellow hero of justice.

Shirou stepped out of his room and saw Sella waiting there this time. “Sella?”

“Is everything ready to be loaded and moved, young master?” asked Sella.

“Yes, Sella. I’ve packed all of my things last night,” Shirou confirmed.

“Then I will move it all to the limo. I will see you after breakfast.” Sella walked into Shirou’s room and started lifting the luggage onto a luggage cart. Shirou turned away and headed to the dining room for breakfast.

Now he had to deal with the next few hurdles.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Oh! You look so handsome in your combat outfit!” Iri cried. 

FLASH

FLASH

FLASH

FLASH

She was taking pictures and pinching Shirou’s cheeks, “You look just like a Mini Kiritsugu!”

Shirou sighed. His dad echoed the gesture. “Iri, the boy’s not much smaller than me. He’s not a mini anything.”

Shirou had caught up to Archer and Kurou somewhat. He was taller than he had been when he had last been seventeen. He chalked it up to this world’s nutrition having a different effect on his growth. Archer and Kuro were similarly tall. Same with Illya. Even though she was only thirteen, she was actually somewhat taller than Weiss and even Ruby.

“I can’t help it, Kiri! He looks so dashing in his new outfit!” Iri squeezed her son tightly into a hug. Shirou hated it. Mostly because Archer was looking at him with a smug look. He didn’t have to go through this. He had opted out of attending Atlas, Huntsman work, entirely, meaning he didn’t have to suffer any embarrassing photos or cooing from Iri. He had a hunter’s license, but he rarely went on missions.

‘Smug bastard…’

Then Archer made things a million times worse from his seat at the end of the table. “Why don’t you post a few pictures to Dustbook? Share how handsome he looks with the world.”

“Oh! That’s a great idea!” Iri exclaimed.

“Iri…”

“I’m sure my millions of friends would love to see my handsome baby boy!” 

While Iri fiddled with her phone, Shirou glared death at Archer. His smile simply grew more smug.

SMACK

And the smugness was quickly smacked out of him by Cinder. “Stop bullying him.”

The years had been good to Cinder. She was a real head turner now. She had also forgone going to a Hunter school in favor of just taking the certification exam like Archer did and aced it. She was more active than Archer was, but she always came back to him. Shirou thought she could do better. He had no idea what she saw in that jerk.

Cinder turned to Iri. “I would suggest against posting photos of him on Dustbook, aunty.”

Iri looked up from her phone. “Oh, really? Why?”

“He’s already going to have thousands of eyes on him at that school,” Cinder explained. “He’s the son of the Grim Slayer and the brother of the Gunslinger. Not to mention, his mother is the most sought-after fashion model in the industry. There’s no need to add fuel to the fire by showing off his combat ensemble.”

“I guess,” Iri grumbled. “I definitely don’t want to have too many photos of Shirou floating around for those freaks on the net to do who knows what with.”

‘Thank god for Cinder,’ Shirou thought. For one thing, it would have been embarrassing to have his mother figure gushing about his clothes on the net. For another, he didn’t want people thinking he was full of himself.

Kiritsugu clapped. “Alright, let’s all sit down and eat.”

“Where’s Fuji-nee and Maiya?” asked Shirou.

“I have Miaya on assignment, and you’ll see Taiga at school. She’s starting her first day of teaching with Atlas Academy,” Kiritsugu revealed.

That surprised Shirou. “Really? She didn’t say anything about it.”

“She wanted to surprise you.” Kiritsugu smiled. “So act surprised when you see her in class.”

Shirou chuckled.

Illya, who had been quiet since she arrived down here, spoke up. “It’s gonna be really lonely once you’re gone, Onii-chan.”

Archer recoiled as if struck. “Illya, you’ll still have me, you know?”

“Yeah, you’ll still be here, but you spend most of your time running your bar or sucking face with Cinder, so it’s basically the same thing.”

Cinder nearly choked on her breakfast. “We don’t do it that often!” she defended.

Illya scoffed. “I know what the sock on the door means, Cinder!”

Cinder was now red in the face. She stood up, took her breakfast, and exited the dining room. But not before grabbing Archer and dragging him along with her. “We’ll be on the patio.”

“Don’t get frisky!” Kiritsugu playfully called. They all heard Cinder trip. They laughed.

From there, breakfast went on as usual. Shirou kept looking forward to his enrollment. He wouldn’t let anything stop him from joining his father as a hero.

____________________________________________________________________________

Everything was perfect. Weiss had scored perfectly on the Atlas Entrance Exam. Both the written exam and the practical. Her outfit was perfect: a white skirt with a blue petticoat underfluff. A tasteful bolero jacket colored white with a pale blue gradient on the sleeves. Tasteful white high heel boots that went up to her. Of course, it had the same gradient to match her sleeves. On her shoulders was a fur cloak, blue with white fur trim, to match Ruby and her father. And the most important part. Weiss had her hair tied into a beautiful twin tail. Twin tails that she knew Shirou liked.

How did she know this? Weiss had been experimenting with hairstyles when she saw the way Shirou looked at her. Mouth agape and gaze lingering. His brother Archer had informed her that Shirou had a thing for twin tails on shorter girls. He was right. Every time she wore them, Shirou’s eyes would linger. The black ribbons were definitely a nice fashion choice. Those drew his eyes even more.

Weiss took a deep breath. “Everything is perfect.”

“Is it now?” Weiss turned, startled. Standing at the door to her room was Klein. “And just what is everything perfect for?”

“Um…”

“Oh? Is this supposed perfection for a certain redheaded young man?”

Weiss became flustered. “Klein!”

Klein chuckled. “Pardon my intrusion, young miss, but I’ve come to confirm that you are ready for the trip to Atlas Academy.”

Weiss deflated, then wore an air of dignity. “Yes, Klein. I am ready to leave for my first day at the Academy.”

“Wonderful. The family is waiting to join you for the trip,” said Klein. “And may I just add, I’m sure Sir Shirou will think that you look quite beautiful.”

Weiss’s cheeks took on a pinkish hue. “As long as that thieving cat doesn’t try to steal him, everything should be fine,” she said under her breath.

“What was that, Miss Weiss?”

“Nothing, Klein! I’m on my way!”

Weiss made her way out the door, all the while formulating strategies against a certain cat.

____________________________________________________________________________

Blake Belladonna stepped off her family’s personal Airship at the Atlas Elite Airport. The dissolution of the SDC and its hold on Atlesian politics has led to many boons for Menagerie. It was flourishing into a mighty kingdom. Some were saying that it was on its way to becoming the fifth kingdom if things went right. Support from other Kingdoms, especially Vale and Atlas, has allowed Menagerie to expand. Not inward, as the innermost parts of the island were nothing but desert, but around the island. Artificial islands were made around Menagerie, granting new real estate to Menagerie’s overflowing population. As for the economy, Menagerie’s desert was rich in deposits of Wind Dust and Earth Dust. With SDC gone and the new Schnee Foundation focusing on different pursuits, Menageries was able to corner the market on Wind and Earth Dust.

None benefited from this more than the Belladonnas. An ancestor of Kali’s had erroneously bought the land rights to Menagerie back when it was nothing but a pittance. That foolhardy purchase comes back to pay for itself several times over. The Belladonnas were not Schnee Rich, but they could confidently say that they were the Faunus equivalent of the Schnees.

Khodra, Kali’s father and Blake’s grandfather, stepped down as Chieftain of Menagerie and named his daughter’s husband, Ghira, his replacement. Once again, cementing the Belladonna’s hold on Menagerie.

As for Ghira, he stepped away from the White Fang and had his most trusted subordinate, Sienna Khan, succeed him. The White Fang became Menagerie’s standing army, and Sienna, its general.

As for Blake, she was well and truly a princess. She worked to live up to her new title now that it meant something. Etiquette classes, lessons on poise, and political science. The one thing she was scrimping on was finding her prince consort, and Blake already had her eyes on someone.

Shirou Emiya, the youngest of the Emiya brothers. She had met him when she was little, and he’d left an impression: mature, controlled, handsome, and remarkably similar to the heroes of her favorite long-running book series, Throne of Heroes by Kischur Schweinorg.

That was one of the reasons she wished to attend Atlas Academy. Her extensive network of informants (i.e., her mother asking Mrs. Emiya) told her that Shirou would be attending here. That meant that every girl worth their salt would be aiming for Shirou. Blake wouldn’t let them win. Especially when she had all the advantages. She was a catgirl, a princess, a ninja, and mysterious. She was practically every boy’s dream girl. She had nothing to worry about as long as a certain ice queen didn’t get any ideas.

Just as Blake touched down on the tarmac, her mother followed soon after. She was dressed in her best Menagerian kimono and holding a digital camera. “Okay, sweety. Smile for the camera!” Kali took pictures nonstop, embarrassing her daughter.

“Mom!” Blake looked around at the various people offloading her luggage. Some didn’t care, but there were a few who made snickers. Then there were the Atlas soldiers sent to escort her, who were hiding smiles. “Mom, stop!”

Kali didn’t stop. “Oh, come now, sweety. This is your first time leaving home for so long. I want to commemorate the occasion.”

FLASH

FLASH

“Can’t you do that when there aren’t so many people watching?” Blake grumbled.

“Sorry, sweety, parental rights,” Kali claimed. “Besides, I need to take plenty of pictures for your father and grandfather. You know how they wanted to be here.”

Blake couldn’t deny that.

“I especially wanted to get some photos of you with little Shirou. The last time you saw him was on his seventeenth birthday. I bet the two of you will look so cute with your new combat outfits!”

“Mom!” Blake continued to complain.

Speaking of her combat outfit, Blake was wearing a black long coat with a cinched waist, flared collar, and purple undertone. Underneath was a white thermal, sleeveless turtleneck with a design on the chest that revealed some cleavage. She wore black form-fitting pants under dark purple thigh-high boots with gold trimming. A white belt with gold buckles and a single pouch for dust cartridges. Lastly, her ears were out and free. She would not be hiding them in human society any longer.

Blake knew she looked stunning, and she knew she would have the attention of so many boys. There was no way that Shirou would overlook her attempts to court him. Not like the other times.

Still, Blake didn’t want her mom bringing it up. She was trying to be low-key. “Mom, could you not bring that up around other people?”

“So you don’t want me to show you the picture that Iri sent me of Shirou’s outfit?” Kali asked teasingly.

“Wait, what?” asked Blake.

Kali waved her scroll around. “He looks rather dashing. Especially with that rifle slung across his back. He’s also wearing black, so if the two of you get onto a team together, then  you’ll match.”

Blake knew her mother’s game. She was dangling Shirou’s combat outfit over her head. She’d seen the form-fitting attire his brother Archer would usually do battle in. The lines of the body armor were the perfect contours of his torso. Everyone called him a walking thirst trap with that get-up. Then there was Kuro’s attire, of which there was only one singular photo. He normally did battle in a suit and tie that echoed his father’s attire, but there had been one time when he wore something different. A black and gold skin-tight mantle that covered his arms but left his chest and abs bare, long, bell-bottom-esque pants with steel-capped shoes, and a black and gold waist cape with intricate designs. The raunchier people on the net called the outfit a male version of the reverse bunny girl outfit. Whatever it was, it didn’t change the fact that it had every man and woman who swung that way interested in Kuro Emiya. Blake could only imagine what Shirou was wearing.

“Fine…” Blake finally said.

“Wonderful,” said Kali. “Now strike a pose, these are going into the annual Winter Holiday card.”

Blake would put up with this. She had to see Shirou’s new combat outfit. Even if she sees it eventually in an hour or two.

While Blake and Kali took pictures, the two Atlas Soldiers who had been sent to escort them to Atlas Academy spoke in hushed tones.

“Hey, Elm.”

“Yeah, Marrow?” asked Elm.

“Can I change my bet on the youngest Emiya?” asked Marrow.

“Nope!” said Elm. “All bets are closed.”

“Dammit!”

____________________________________________________________________________

“I CAN’T BELIEVE I GET TO GO TO ATLAS ACADEMY WITH MY BIG SISTER!” exclaimed Ruby Rose. She had been offered, by the head of Atlas Academy, General Ironwood himself, a spot at his school.

The general had witnessed Ruby’s skill with marksmanship. He was also aware that she was related to the last Silver Eyed Warrior on the planet, marking her as one herself. Ironwood wanted to make sure that the next set of Silver Eyes was properly trained. Of course, Ruby was not told of this. But her parents and uncle sure knew.

“I can’t believe it either!” said Yang excitedly. “You get to come to Atlas with me two years early! With Weiss, Illia, and Shirou going, it will be like a whole family affair!”

Ruby bounced up and down in her seat on the Bullhead they were taking to Atlas. Their family back in Patch had seen them off at the Airport. Taiyang and Summer were blubbering messes, but they also told them to never buy anything in Atlas proper. They were told to only go shopping in Mantle.

“Do you think we’ll get to be on a team with Weiss and Shirou?” asked Ruby.

“Who knows?” responded Yang.

Ruby pulled up her hood. It was part of a new cloak that her mother had sewn for her. It was red like her last one and much heavier to keep Ruby warm in the colder climate. As for the rest of her outfit, Ruby still wore the black blouse with bell sleeves and red lining in the sleeves, a red and black waist cincher, and a black dress with a red peticoat. Beneath the dress were thermal leggings colored black, and for shoes, she had on black combat boots rated for fighting in the snow. “I really hope we do. I’m not good with new people.” For Yang’s outfit, she was wearing a black and grey muscle shirt with a cleavage window under a brown cropped jacket with fir lining. She wore blue denim pants and knee-high boots with brown leather. As for her arms, she wore orange cloth gloves with Ember Celica over each wrist.

Yang hugged her sister and spoke to her. “You've got to come out of your shell eventually, Ruby. How are you going to make friends if you don’t?”

Ruby blinked. “Why do I need friends? I have you, Weiss, Shirou, and the rest of our families. Isn’t that enough?”

Yang sighed. “And that just shows that you still have a lot of growing up to do,” Yang chastised.

Ruby groused. “Huh? I don’t need to do any more ‘growing up’. I drink milk!”

“Ruby, you do know that Milk doesn't make you grow taller, right?”

“What!?”

As Yang and Ruby talked, a blonde passenger raced to the back of the Bullhead to make it to the bathroom. He was holding his mouth and trying to keep from getting vomit on his shoes and the floor.

____________________________________________________________________________

Velvet’s dad was already at the Atlas Military headquarters working on Ironwood’s next great project. That meant Velvet had the house to herself. Velvet was busy laying out her combat outfit. She had worked with her mother to work shop it. Why had she gone to her mother, who was a school teacher in Vale and had no true knowledge of huntsman life? Because her mother was more in touch with her feminine side than Velvet was.

Velvet wanted to impress the boy she had had a crush on since elementary school. Shirou Emiya. The boy every girl in her age group, and a few above and below, had a crush on. Velvet was different. She knew him from when he first set foot in Atlas. Now, no, she’s never talked to him for too long, and he probably doesn’t know she exists beyond Velvet being the weird photography girl, but she was going to make it count this time. With help from her mother.

Velvet’s combat outfit consisted of a brown, gold, and black dress that stopped at the knees. The shoulders were puffy, and the design on the chest resembled a heart. The pattern on the dress had a crisscrossing stitch pattern. Underneath the dress was an elegant bodystock made of a durable material. And for footwear, gold colored heels.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Velvet thought she looked stunning. She placed Anisadora onto her waist pouch along with Hardlight dust vials.

“Alright, Shirou, let’s see you say no to all of this…”

____________________________________________________________________________

After Cinder’s embarrassing morning, it was time for Archer to open his bar. Cinder had her own plans at the local orphanage. It was obvious that she just wanted to keep an eye on the kids and make sure they weren’t having a rough go of it. She would even do routine check-ins with the kids who got adopted.

As Archer rounded the corner to his bar, Copenhagen, he found two youths standing outside his door looking through the windows. A boy and a girl. The boy looked Asian, Mistralian as it was called in this world, and the girl was a caucasian redhead.

The mistralian boy was wearing a martial arts tang suit with the sleeves rolled up. The colors were green on white for the tops and bottoms. On his arms, he wore pink arm sleeves that seemed to hide some apparatus that deployed his weapons of choice: A pair of Desert Eagles with blade attachments.

‘Hm? Those look eerily similar to Kuro’s guns,’ Archer thought to himself.

As for the girl, she wore a sleeveless top colored white and black with silver embellishments. On her right and left arms were pink and black armsleeves, respectively. She wore a long skirt/waist cape combo that had a slit up the left leg to reveal black stockings on milky white skin. As for her shoes, they were a pair of sturdy-looking platform heels. The weapon on her back, to Archer’s eyes, was an exercise in excess. In default mode, it looked like a massive rocket launcher. The kind that would be banned by the Geneva Conventions. When it transformed, it became a massive rocket hammer that honestly seemed too big for her to carry. Then again, musclemass didn’t mean strength here.

As Archer got closer to the pair, he could hear them talking. “Renny, how much longer till this place opens!”

“We still have an hour to go, Nora,” said the boy cooly.

“Aw, but I’m hungry now! And I want to meet Kuro sooner!” complained the girl.

‘Ah, so they’re fans of Kuro, but why did they come here. He doesn’t work here.’

Archer finally arrived at the door where the boy and girl were. “Ahem.” Archer cleared his throat to get the pair’s attention. The pair jumped. The girl hopped into the boy’s arms like that American cartoon with the Great Dane.

“Ah! Who are you?” screamed the girl. If Archer recalled correctly, her name was Nora.

“I’m the owner of this bar,” Archer revealed as he took out his keys and opened the door. Archer went in, and the kids followed. The girl’s voice trailed behind.

“Wait! Really? You own this place?” asked Nora.

“Yup. What’s your business here, and why are you looking for my brother?” Archer took off his coat and hung it on a hook before making his way to the other side of his bar. He watched Renny and Nora make eye contact before they looked back at him.

“So you’re Archer Emiya?” asked Renny.

“That’s what it says on my ID,” Archer said back.

“Then you know Kuro Emiya?” asked Nora.

“Yeah, he’s my brother, unfortunately.”

“Unfortunately?” asked Nora.

“Don’t worry about it. I know him. Why do you care?” asked Archer.

The pair shared a look again before they bowed their heads to Archer. “We would like to thank Kuro Emiya on behalf of all of Kuroyuri, our village, for saving us from the Grimm and the Nuckalavee.” They both spoke at the same time, their voices in synch. Archer was caught off guard. He’d seen people thankful for Kiritsugu and Kuro for the work that they did; this was a first. No one had ever come to him as a way to thank those two.

The pair continued. “If it weren’t for him and his team, our village and our families would have been destroyed that day. From the bottom of our hearts, Kuro Emiya and the Emiya Family as a whole have the undying gratitude of Kuroyuri.”

Both of them stopped bowing and raised their heads to look at Archer, who was just looking at them with a perplexed look on his face.

“I’ll be sure to pass along the message, but why did you come to me with this? I know for a fact that my dad and brother get plenty of fan mail for their exploits. You could have written a letter.”

Renny nodded, and Nora bashfully scratched the back of her head. “We know that, but interkingdom mail is slow, and we wanted to make sure he actually got the message. We also sent something more important in the mail.”

“What was that?” asked Archer. 

Nora smiled. “Photos of all the children born after he and Team WETT took down the Nuckalavee. There are also photos of how the village has expanded.”

“Well, I’ll be sure to pass along the message to my brother once he’s back from the campaign in MT. Glenn.”

Nora and Renny became dejected. “Aww, Renny, I knew he wasn’t here in Atlas.”

Renny sighed. “It’s only to be expected that such a huntsman would be busy.”

Archer decided to move things along. He did have a bar to open, after all. “So did you come all the way to Atlas just to thank my brother, or did you have other business?”

“Oh! Yes!” exclaimed Nora. “We’ll be attending Atlas Academy! Just like Team WETT!”

“Yes, we hope to follow in their footsteps,” said Renny, calmly.

‘So they’ll be classmates with the idiot, then. I do not envy them. Hopefully, they won’t get drawn into his stupidity.’ 

“Well, congratulations,” Archer said. “I’m about to open up for the day. If you stick around a bit, then I can make you something. As I understand it, Orientation for the Academy doesn’t start till the afternoon.”

“Thank you, but we couldn’t possibly–”

GRUMBLE

GRUMBLE

GRUMBLE

Nora’s stomach growled louder than cannonfire. She smiled bashfully and poked her fingers together.

Renny sighed. “On second thought, food sounds wonderful.”

Archer chuckled. As always, hunger was the enemy.

____________________________________________________________________________

Qrow stood at the airport in the general landing zone for commercial flights. Standing by his side were his wife, his daughter, and his son. The years had been kind to Qrow. He no longer had constant stubble, and kicking the bottle had done him many favors. It also helped that Willow’s influence made Qrow want to dress more respectably. Gone were the ratty clothes, only to be replaced with respectable suits. He still dressed with flair, but he could walk into society without looking out of place.

“Are they landing soon?” asked Whitey.

“They’ll be here soon, Whit,” Qrow said. “Stop being impatient.”

Weiss harrumphed. “I don’t see why you’re being so impatient. We had seen them at Shirou’s birthday party a couple of months back.”

“I wanted to pick Ruby’s brain about the weapon I’m making.” Whitley pulled out the schematics on his scroll and showed them to Weiss. “It will be a combination high-powered revolver and long hunting knife.”

Whitley continued to explain his future weapon as Qrow and Willow listened. “It seems Ruby’s love for weapons rubbed off on Whitley,” Willow commented.

“That’s putting it lightly,” Qrow agreed. “She’s practically converted her cousin into a gun nut.”

Willow chuckled. “Well, you certainly didn’t help by teaching him how to shoot.”

Qrow smiled. “Hey, that's simple father/son bonding. Practically a tradition. Like sharing a drink with is old man on his twenty-first birthday.”

Willow squeezed Qrow’s hand. “And not a day sooner.”

The flight from Patch finally landed, and the passengers disembarked. The first person to come running off was some blonde kid in hand-me-down armor, an orange scarf, and an orange beanie. He was dead set on a trash can, where he bent over and vomited his guts out.

“I truly hope he’s not a Huntsman student,” said Weiss. Qrow had to agree. Atlas would eat him up.

Qrow smelled it before he heard it. The scent of rose petals. Then he heard it. “Weissy!” shouted the voice of his youngest niece. Qrow turned around to see a red rose petal crashing into his second-oldest.

CRASH

The next thing Qrow saw was Weiss and Ruby on the ground, with Ruby hugging Weiss. “It’s so great to see you!”

Weiss resigned herself to the hug. “Hello, Ruby.”

Yang walked up holding all their luggage. She looked down at Ruby and Weiss on the ground. “Hey, cuz.”

Weiss sighed. “Hello, Yang.”

Yang looked over at Qrow and Willow. “Hey, Unc. Hey, aunty.”

“Hey, firecracker,” said Qrow as he ruffled his niece’s hair. Yang protested under the onslaught.

“Hello, Yang.” Willow came up and wrapped Yang in a hug. Yang tried to fight off the hug.

“Aunty, no hugs. You’re messing up my hair!”

“Hey, Ruby! Can you take a look at my schematics?” asked Whitley, and Ruby eagerly looked over the designs with her younger cousin. 

Qrow looked back at his other niece, who had finally been released from her hug with Willow. “So, you excited for Atlas?” he asked.

Yang, after smoothing out her hair the way she likes, answered. “Of course I am. No more training dummies and practice drills! We’ll be getting actual missions!”

“After some time getting your feet under you. The tin man isn’t going to throw you lot into the deep end first. I made sure of it.” Sobriety and fatherhood had done wonders for Qrow’s sense of responsibility. There was no way he was going to let Jimmy-boy just drop his kid and nieces into the deep end to get results. He left behind that survival of the fittest nonsense with the tribe and several bottles of liquor.

“Ahh, Uncle Qrow. Don’t baby us! We can handle it,” Yang complained.

Qrow just ruffled her hair again, and Yang protested. Life was good, and it was only going to get better from here on out.

____________________________________________________________________________

Shirou arrived at Atlas Academy, stepping off the bullhead that transported students from Mantle. His family had seen him off, though Iri had left him with the notion that he would be seeing her around.

As Shirou followed the directions to the orientation hall, he noticed that he didn’t see anyone he recognized. Not surprising. Of the friends he knew who were planning to attend a huntsman school, their numbers weren’t so grand that they’d take up a significant portion of the student body.

What was taking a significant portion were people who recognized him. The whispers were in full swing.

‘Oh my god, that Shirou Emiya?’

‘He’s attending here?’

‘Do you think I can be on a team with him?’

‘No way!’

‘His combat outfit isn’t what I expected.’

‘You don’t honestly think he’d wear an outfit like what his brother wore that one time.’

‘Do you think he has the same powers as his brothers?’

‘Archer and Kuro have the same power, obviously, he has it too.’

‘Then why does he have a rifle on his back?’

It went on like that until Shirou heard a distinct yell.

“SHIROU-NII!”

Shirou didn’t look around. He just braced for the impact that was coming.

“OOF!”

Shirou was tackled to the ground by Ruby. The little red reaper wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. “It’s so great to see you! It’s been forever since the last time!”

Shirou sighed and returned the hug. “Ruby, you saw me at my birthday party.”

“Yeah, and that was like two months ago!”

Shirou decided not to argue with Ruby, instead focusing on the two other figures walking up to him. “Hey, Weiss. Hey, Yang.”

“Greetings,” Weiss said with a smile.

“Hey, lady killer.” Yang held out a hand and pulled up Shirou while Ruby was still hugging him.

“Yang, we talked about this,” Shirou said. “You know I don’t like that name.”

Yang smirked. “I’ll stop saying it when it stops being true.” Yang looked back down at Ruby. “Okay, baby sis. You hugged your pretend big brother long enough.”

“Yelp!” Ruby squawked as Yang dragged Ruby off Shirou.

With Ruby out of the way, Weiss moved in, lacing her arm around Shirou’s and pulling him forward in the direction of the orientation hall. “You look quite dashing, Shirou. You strike a similar figure to your father.”

“Th-thanks,” Shirou awkwardly said. He couldn’t help it. With Weiss’s hair done up the way it was, she reminded him too much of Tohsaka.

“Now, have you given any thought to who you would want on your team. I’m quite sure that I would be a stupendous choice. If the teamwork between my sister and your brother is any indication, then it is clear that Emiyas and Schnees make great teammates.”

Shirou raised an eyebrow. “You’re assuming I’m going to be the team leader. More importantly, teams are decided at random. I can’t really choose who I want on my team.”

Weiss hugged Shirou’s arm closer. “I’m sure that if the two of us were to make the request, then the general would–”

“Grant you special treatment?” Weiss scowled. She knew that voice. Shirou perked up. He knew that voice.

They both looked to the side to find Blake Belladonna. Blake waved at them both. “Hey.” Shirou saw a friendly smile. Weiss saw a condescending smirk.

Blake walked up and wrapped her own arm around Shirou’s other arm and snuggled in close. “Hey, Shirou. Long time no see. I hope you didn’t miss me.”

Shirou put on a defeated smile. “Like I told Ruby, I just saw you at my birthday two months ago.”

“And that was two months too long. I was left so lonely without seeing you.” Blake pulled Shirou’s arm closer into her cleavage.

Weiss wouldn’t stand for this. She let go of Shirou’s arm before immediately moving between them and karate chopping her arm through to separate them.

“Illicit physical contact is not allowed in Atlas Academy!” Blake let go of Shirou before glaring at Weiss.

“Oh? And who are you to decide that? You don’t look like a professor to me.”

“It’s called common decency, Belladonna. Something you seem to lack. Brushing your assets against him like that. Have some class!”

Blake simply smirked, folding her arms beneath her chest to make them more pronounced. “Sounds to me like someone is jealous. What’s the matter, Schnee? Feeling inadequate?”

At this moment, Shirou really wished for some sort of distraction—anything to keep him from being at the center of this feud. That was when Shirou heard the yelling of a familiar voice.

“YO, EMIYA!” Shirou knew that voice from anywhere. He’d heard it practically every day in combat school.

What came next was the relentless march of metal greaves on pavement before Shirou was wrestled into a headlock by none other than Cardin Winchester. “HAHAHA! Hey buddy! Great to see you here!”

Cardin gave Shirou a noogie. “Cardin, you knew I was coming to Atlas Academy. Why are you acting surprised?”

“Just great to see one of my best friends!” Cardin answered before dragging Shirou up from his noogie. “Come on! I know where everyone else from class is!”

That was Cardin. Always reliable in a pinch. Shirou made it a point to remember to make him those lemon squares that he really likes.

____________________________________________________________________________

Ironwood sat in his office, going over the plans for today’s orientation. He had the teams all picked out for the regular students, as well as had his plans in place for the new ‘Class Zero’ initiative he had been planning since the day Team WETT graduated.

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

Ironwood looked up from his work to look at his door. “Speak!” Ironwood commanded.

“Sir, it’s Specialist Ebi.”

Clover Ebi. One of Ironwood’s most trusted subordinates. No reason for alarm. “Enter.”

Clover entered and saluted. “What can I do for you, Clover?” Ironwood asked.

“It’s the Emiyas, sir. They’ve come to speak with you,” Clover said.

“Ah, I think I know what this is about. Send them in.” Ironwood cleared his desk and got ready to talk with the Emiyas.

Clover stepped out, and the Emiyas stepped in. Just Irisviel and Kiritsugu. Ironwood got up from his desk and went around to meet them.. “Irisviel, Kiritsugu. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Ironwood was being professional, but it was always nice to see them. This family had done good work for humanity at large and given him one of his best operatives.

As always, Irisviel took the lead between herself and Kiritsugu. “It’s nothing too major, James. We just wanted to make sure that you were adhering to our arrangement about Shirou.”

“Don’t worry. I will not influence the boy in any way, though I do feel the need to mention that the boy seems gung-ho about being a Huntsman. Particularly in following your footsteps, Kiritsugu.”

Kiritsugu nodded. “Believe me, I’m aware. I just don’t want you using him in our missions against Salem and her forces. He’s a kid. Let him be a kid.”

Ironwood nodded back. “And I will let him along with every other student here at Atlas Academy. Still, there is something that I wish to bring to your attention.” Ironwood went back to his desk and picked up a folder. “This is an initiative. One that will eventually revolutionize our war against Salem. It relates to why I offered you a teaching position, Irisviel. Your Magecraft Lessons are a force multiplier.” Ironwood showed the folder to the Emiyas. “You will not be teaching the entirety of the student body. You will be teaching ‘Class Zero’. The future protectors of every kingdom. And I want Shirou to be leading by example with this inaugural class.”

From there, Ironwood explained the finer details of the ‘Class Zero’ Initiative and the project it would lead to. Project Guardians. Defenders for every kingdom. And it all started with Shirou’s class.

To Be Continued…