The next morning we walked down to the docks to confront Mikal, as a team. There was no way I would let any man push around my little sister. As we approached the docks, we encountered a large stone brick building that seemed to have popped up overnight. Hanging on the side of the stone building were several thick tapestries, each one depicting the Cross against a gold starburst. The side that we approached held a gate that was wide open, men and women in Paladin garb entering and exiting. Some carried stone, others wood, some carried blades. We weaved between them into a large artificially lit hall. The building was imposing, the ceiling looming over us. At either wall, several screens flashed with seemingly infinite and incoherent data, observed by several attentive paladins transcribing the information onto small handheld screens. As we continued down the hall, we passed by a pair of doorways on either side of the building, opening into small hallways that no doubt connected into another portion of the building. At the center of this hall was a large table several stood around. I strode up to the table, the light of the intersecting hall flooding over us. The large man standing in front of me looked over his shoulder and turned around. His face was wrinkled with age, mostly around his eyes. His red hair was matted and slicked back and he wore a chin curtain beard. He wore, in addition to gold and black paladin armor, a large cape draped over his back which depicted the Paladin Cross. He turned around, revealing several medals sewn into his tabard.

"I am Forward Commander Bartholomew," he stated in a bold and deep voice. "XO of the Remnant Expedition. What is your business here?"

"We want to talk to Mikal," I stated boldly. "Personal business."

"With Mikal all business is personal," he replied. "It is rather crass and rude to barge in and demand an audience at a moment's notice, let alone with a man as busy as Mikal. What gives you the right?" I brandished my fist, Ember Celica deploying.

"That would be a very unwise decision girl," he stated, revealing a blade at his side. Several other soldiers stepped up, aiming rifles at us. "You do not want to start a fight with a Paladin, let alone an army of them." Behind him a flash of blue light appeared across the table. The commander turned around in response.

"Bartholomew, it's fine," Mikal's voice said through the receiver. "Set up a portal and I'll speak to them at The Basilica." The commander nodded and swiped a small screen on his arm. He flicked his hand and the soldiers around us lowered their guns and filtered into other parts of the building. From the left hall, a small robed woman passed by one of the soldiers. Her robe was an immaculate combination of reds and blues, interwoven into fine spiral patterns. In her hand she held a large staff, gold and silver, with a large diamond at the tip.

"She will transport you to the entrance of Basilica del Paladino," He said. "There you will be directed to Mikal so that you may speak privately with him." The woman nodded and positioned her hands above and below her body, a blue white glow emanating from both. A blue circle drew itself around me and the rest of the team, a glow filling it in. Suddenly, we were caught up in a pillar of blinding white light.

When the pillar faded, were stood not in a small stone structure, but before the gates of a massive imposing building. It towered far larger than the small base back home. It was several stories tall, at least four. Suddenly a gust of wind swept at us, covering us in snow. I felt fine thanks to my semblance, but everybody else didn't fare so well. Weiss's legs shook uncontrollably, Blake crossed her arms for warmth, and even Ruby was shivering. Slowly it became warmer in the air around us, and the snow melted in a circle. Underneath us a sand circle in alternating red and white appeared, each ring containing a set of poles holding a gold spark. I looked around the great building, on either side a large forest of white and pink flowered trees. As I looked, one of the trees had a sudden rustle. My eyes darted to see what had moved it. Leaning up against the tree was a lanky, silver haired man. He wore a green hood the hid much of his face and wrapped around his body like a coat. His legs were covered in brown fur specked with white snowflakes. But the final feature was the curve of a wooden bow that wrapped around his midsection.

"Yang come on!" Ruby yelled over to me. I looked back and Ruby and the others were speaking to a small black haired girl in red and yellow schemed Paladin garb, eyes buggy. "They're taking us to Mikal." I looked back to the forest, but the man was gone. I turned back and followed behind the shaky Paladin girl. We passed through the massive gates into a grand hallway. Either wall was reinforced with giant arches that created separate rooms. Above the arches were several stained windows, mirrored on each wall. Each set was a different depiction. One had a bow and arrow, another a black cross, one depicted the traditional four elements, and one was a grand tree. As we arrived to the center of the structure a hall intersected much like the building before. Above us was an imposing glass dome, decorated with several rings of stained glass, its color reflecting below on a giant rug, mirroring the color of the dome. In front of us was short hall, a large Cross dominating the far wall. It was set against several lights, shaped into a starburst. In front of it were several rows of seats. That must have been the church in this base. We walked to the left and into a hall dominated by gold, red, and black. Several paladins went about their business, reading out of books, taking notes at tables. A giant tapestry hung on the far wall, depicting a large hammer with the symbol of a red star with a blue wing set upon the hammer head. We stopped in front of a set of frosted glass doors in a large overwhelming box of a room. She opened the doors and we stepped into the office. It was a large space, several screens on the walls. Aside from that there was only Mikal at his round desk, with several monitors surrounding him.

"Thank you Tomoko," he said. She bowed and quickly left the room. He stopped typing and stood up, walking out from his desk. "So tell me Yang, what is so important to talk about that you barge into my office?"

"What makes you think it's just me?" I asked.

"I have already spoken to Ruby on the subject, Weiß doesn't give a shit, and Blake is used to persecution," he listed off. We stood in silence, his theories being fairly accurate. "Oh yeah, I can read you like a book; one of my better qualities really. You can tell a lot about a person based on many factors: their body movement, what clothes they wear, what colors they wear, what websites they frequent; those are the effective ones," his eyes went wide and began to smile. "You'd be surprised how many of my opinions of people change just by checking some comment history. Or discover that one asshole deleted his account," he laughed. I stared him down, unamused.

"You told Ruby that you would kill her," I said.

"You twist my words Yang," he said. "I said if circumstances would bring her to become my enemy I would not hesitate to kill her."

"Is that any different?" Blake asked. "From what Ruby said, you would kill her because she's with Weiss; or as far as you're concerned, a homosexual."

"Whether or not Ruby would ally herself with them," he said. "more active or radical groups would rally behind her, use her as a symbol, and they would do whatever they could to stop me, us, and more importantly, God."

"God, God, that's all you ever talk about," Weiss said. "Just trying to please some unseen force that you can't even prove."

"For what is known about God is clear to them, because God has shown it to them," he spoke. "But although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans Chapter 1, verses 19 and 21." Weiss stood down and looked away, unable to look Mikal in the eye.

"You think you're such top shit?" I yelled. "using fancy rhetoric to justify discrimination?"

"I only use the words of my Faith," he said. "The Bible is incredibly effective at challenging people's views. Weiß has experienced the first step."

"What step?" I asked him.

"Conviction," he said. "Regardless of how much either of us thinks we know about her, she has a few existential and epistemological issues lying within her soul. Good thing you're in a church Weiss."

"You are some manipulative bastard!" I yelled.

"The fuck did I do?" he asked. "Seriously, why did I do to piss you off?"

"Look, Ruby is important to me," I said. "and if there is any threat to her, I will do anything to remove it." I slammed my fists together.

"I see," he said suddenly and calmly, his face becoming lighter. "Then to two of us aren't so different."

"Excuse me?" I asked him.

"The both of us are trying to protect something precious to us," he said. "You want to protect Ruby, and I want to protect my brothers in the Faith. Both are under very real threat to their lives; Ruby to the Grimm and other Remnant threats, and My people to murderous radical Muslims."

"That's oddly specific," I said. "Also what's a Muslim?"

"It's a topical subject back where I'm from," he said. "But all you need to know about it is that it's a faith that developed out of Christianity that focuses on very aggressive methods of spreading their faith. Mostly through Holy War, or Jihad."

"Something tells me there is another side to the story," Blake said.

"How observant of you Blake, you want a fucking cookie?" he said. "regardless of how you feel about Muslims, a vast majority of their members do believe that the violent acts made by these extreme members are justified."

"How much is a majority?" I asked.

"Anywhere from 60 to 99.99% depending on who you ask," he said. "That is repeating of course."

"Why are they so violent?" Ruby asked.

"Probably cause they don't understand satire," he said. "Hell, I'm about two feet from scrawling their precious prophet's name on a weapon of mine just to make a point."

"Is that the most prudent thing to do?" Blake asked.

"Neither do you too, apparently," he said.

"I don't think you would appreciate having your God mocked," Blake responded.

"Hey I said I'm two feet from it," he said. "It's gonna take something extreme to get me to put the name on Crescent Star."

"Crescent Star?" Ruby asked.

"Loosely based on Crescent Rose," he said. "Except instead of a scythe it's more of an axe with a crescent moon for a blade, and instead of a sniper rifle it's a mother fucking machine gun." We all stood in silence, shocked by his speech. "What!?" he said. He rolled his eyes. "Regardless, what's it gonna take for you to trust me, Yang?" he stepped forward and leered into my eyes.

"Despite your opposition to those violent Muslims you're so found of bashing, you are incredibly violent yourself," I said. "Prove to me you're no worse than them."

"Are you suggesting that I halt all efforts to garrison and reinforce military forces in need of men? To not defend the unarguably innocent victims of extremist attacks?" I stepped back, considering his words. "we are a vast organization. Our influence stretches quite far, and extends to help the welfare of many people. We engage in war, only when it is the only viable option, not to justify killing people." His face became softer. "Look, it's a tough subject back home, and I do admit my opinion is not the only one. It's going to take many views to solve such an issue, which is rather applicable to why I need your support. If I am to be an effective force in Remnant, I am going to need your trust." I looked away, unable to speak. "Two weeks," he said. "I promise two weeks, I will limit our activity in Remnant. We will only focus on establishing a garrison and nothing else. This should prove my desire to cooperate with you."

"Fine," I said. He smiled.

"Good," he said. "It is nice to finally find a compromise. Now, feel free to look around, see a little more of the common folk of the Confederation." He sat down at the computer and began to type something. "Weiß, if you want, you can speak to one of the Priests in the opposite hall regarding any epistemological issues. I've wired you some credit so the four of you can sample some of the local cuisine; do some shopping I don't care. Just shut up, take my money, and let us do our work." Weiss and Ruby slipped out together, while Blake hung back. I stood staring him down until she placed her hand on my shoulder. I followed her out to doorway, and we held our own meeting together.

"Well that could have gone better," Blake said.

"I told you guys he talked weird," Ruby said.

"He sounds very condemning," Blake said. "Even if he tries to be peaceful about something, it sounds so hostile."

"And for some reason he thinks he can buy our forgiveness," I said. I looked over to Weiss who was still sulking, unable to look us in the eye. "Weiss, what's wrong?" her eyes darted over, her arms still covering her chest.

"Weiss," Ruby said. "Please, tell us. Tell me," She grabbed onto Weiss's hands, pleading with her. Weiss pulled her hands away, and wrapped her arms around Ruby, pressing her against her chest.

"I'm sorry," Weiss said, tears welling in her eyes. "I, I don't know how to describe it, but I have this pain in my chest. Much like when I think of you Ruby, but different."

"What do you mean?" I asked her. Ruby slipped out of Weiss's arms as she loosened her grip.

"I feel confused," she said. "I don't know what's going on. I think what Mikal said really got to me."

"From what I gathered he just called you stupid, like some playground bully," I said. "Don't let it get to you." She looked up, and sighed.

"It's deeper than that," she said. "It's something personal." I shifted my weight.

"Oh, I'm sorry Weiss," I said rubbing the back of my head. "Too personal, my bad."

"It's fine, but I think I will take Mikal up on his offer and talk to a Priest," Weiss said. I looked over at the opposite hall. It looked basically the same, except with a different color scheme. While it kept gold, the colors red and black were replaced with relative opposites, light blue and white. A tapestry hung on the opposite wall as well, depicting a staff with an oval shaped head with a red gem in the center.

"Perhaps," Blake said. "Perhaps you could get some info about Mikal and the Paladins Weiss." My eyes lit up.

"If we split up we can find out more about this place Mikal is in control of," I said. And more importantly I could find that cloaked archer. Ruby nodded.

"I'll stay here, talk to some of the paladins," Ruby said.

"I saw a few Faunus here," Blake said. "I can find them and see how they fare here."

"And I'll head out and see how strong the paladin influence is here," I said. We nodded and were about to part ways when a paladin carrying several coats walked near us.

"Excuse me," he said. He was fairly young aside from a scraggly beard, not unlike Mikal's, but his eyes were light in weight and his skin was lighter in tone. "You girls seem to have neglected to bring warm clothing. No matter though." He began to hand each of us a coat from his hand. "Feel free to take these dusters. Custom fit." I slipped mine one over me, passing my arms through the sleeves. He was right when this were custom fit; they fit perfectly. The design began from a central black stripe and alternated from it red then black. Several struts were designed onto the lower half of the duster, emulating the metal struts attached the belts of the paladins. The leather draped over the shoulder was colored black and on either side of the material was a red triangle separated by a yellow outline. "Take these as well," he said handing me and the rest a pair of gloves, red with black fingers. "And more specifically for Weiß and You," He handed me a rolled up cloth in the same paladin colors. "Stockings; there is an empty room to your left for you to change." I declined, threw off my shoes and slid the socks over my legs. They stretched up to my thighs, leaving only a small line of skin between them and my shorts. They were simple black stockings with gold and red lace spiraling up the black fabric. Weiss had slipped the stockings on as well, but were hidden by her skirt. "Normally they are very baggy," he said. "They're meant to be worn over paladin armor. But for some reason they were sitting at the front of the armory, strange." He nodded and walked off. I looked at the rest of the team, in the warm coats we looked like paladins, albeit far less bulky; especially with Ruby, having drawn up the hood of her coat. We nodded and dispersed, and I marched down the hall with Blake. I marched out of the Basilica into the cold, Blake gone out of my peripherals. I flipped up the hood of the coat, ready to find the man in the trees.