Chapter 16: Prison of the Heart

April 25th:

"What. the hell. was THAT?"

When Yang and Ruby made finally made it outside after watching the video themselves, Yang's exclaimed question hanging heavy in the air, Farran was already wearing down a line in the courtyard, pacing back and forth. He had become so focused on what he had just seen that he almost didn't even notice his two distraught teammates join him. The majority of the video didn't bother him. While he still didn't find the sight of Blake running for her life, or getting captured by the White Fang, to be pleasant, much like the events that were to befall Velvet, he would have been fine just focusing on defeating the newly revealed Palace. However, that was where the problem arose. Blake should be the victim they were supposed to save from the Palace ruler. Everything in the video, up until the end pointed to that fact, and yet when the countdown had been displayed, it was her name that appeared above it. If that really were the case, then…

"H-Hey, Farran!" Ruby's voice broke through his train of thought, "Come on, we need to talk about this, and you spacing out isn't going to help any…"

He turned towards her voice, realizing they were standing next to him, "Right, sorry. Just… kinda shaken up a bit."

"Well then, I'll ask my question again." Yang folded her arms, "What the hell was that? I mean, it looked like that video you guys showed me, about what would've happened to Velvet. Is that another one? I didn't really watch the other one after you guys showed me, so I can't really compare all that well…"

"Don't worry, Yang. Neither of us watched it any more than we had to." Ruby patted her older sister on the arm, "But yeah, that was definitely it. Another prediction video…"

"Which means another Palace…" Farran grimaced.

"Gods, this blows!" Yang growled, "How are we even supposed to do this in three days?! We don't even know who the hell this Adam guy is, let alone what we need to do to beat his Shadow."

"Yang, it's not his Shadow that we're going after. That's the why this is a problem. Even if we don't know who the hell he is, that'd probably be a better option."

Ruby looked up sadly, "So, you noticed it too, then?"

"Of course I did. That's why I'm freaking out so much, cause I really want to be wrong."

"Hold on, you two!" Yang put a hand up, "What are you talking about? If it isn't that guy, then who is it? The monkey Faunus from the boat?" She took a look at the pensive looks on their faces, her lips curling into a frown, "Wait… You guys aren't seriously thinking it's Blake's Palace, are you?"

Ruby grimaced, "There isn't really anyone else it can be, Yang. It's her name that's with the countdown. Richards was the same way…"

"But it can't be hers! I mean, seriously, what the hell has she done? You guys really don't think she's as bad as Richards, do you?"

"No, of course not." Farran scowled, "The only thing I can think of is if she really is a member of the White Fang, but I don't want to believe that's true."

"What we need," Ruby got between the two, "Is to calm down and talk this over. Whether it is or isn't Blake's Palace, we still need to come up with a plan on what to do, because we saw what'll happen if we don't. Farran, would you mind going to the Velvet Room? We're going to need Viola, and you could ask whether she or that Igor guy can tell us more about all this."

"Sure I can, but where are we going to do this? The dorm's out while Weiss is in there, and I doubt we could find a way into the library this late at night."

"There's always the gardens." Yang grumbled, "If we go back far enough, nobody will see the fire, and nobody should be able to overhear us all that way. Would that work?"

He nodded, and the group started down the path around the dorms and into the campus gardens. When they had made it far enough in that the lights of the dormitory had been lost to the rows of trees, Farran summoned the Velvet Room door, rushing inside for some sort of answers. When the blue light faded, he found himself inside the Velvet Room, same as it always was, save for one detail. The scales held by the sapphire Lady Justice now tilted somewhat more evenly than before. The scale reading innocent, which now hung lower than it had before, glowed slightly with a small flame that had been started since his last visit. Farran opened his mouth, wanting to unleash a torrent of panicked questions at Igor, but was stopped by the feeling of a soft weight on his shoulder. He looked up to see Viola smiling sweetly at him, her slender hand delicately set on his shoulder, and he instantly felt his anxiety start to leave him.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear guest." Igor greeted behind his usual, maniacal grin, "I must say, congratulations are certainly in order on your account. You have come quite far in such a short time, and you have successfully overcome your first ordeal. And what an ordeal it was! Your foe, a master of manipulation and misdirection after a long life of crime, pitted you against what appeared to be a never-ending, invincible army, and yet you and your allies saw through his deceit, and dispatched of both Shadow and illusions quite masterfully. Well done indeed, young man. Truly, it would appear a champion against Fate has appeared. However, while praise for you and your teammates is certainly deserved, there is hardly time to relax. After your first victory, Fate now sets its eyes on a target far closer to you than before, and with a meager amount of time to work with as well."

"That's actually why I'm here, Igor." Farran took a deep breath, steeling himself, "I just… I don't understand anything about that video. Why Blake? Why is my own teammate our target? She hasn't done anything! I mean, the name at the end of the video is the name of the person's Palace that we're supposed to infiltrate, right? So how could she have one? And how are we supposed to get through all this in only three days?"

"Now, now, my dear guest. While your fears are understandable, you must keep your wits about you." Farran opened his mouth to speak again, but Igor raised a hand to stop him, "I will, of course, answer your questions. That is my duty, after all. To start, Fate is hardly ever fair. A lesson you learned, I'm sure, with the would-be victim of your first foe, and one you will continue to learn along your journey. Your teammate becoming the next victim, as well as the time you have to work with, are simply the results of her own actions, as well as those of the other major players that will be involved. As for your next question, I believe you asked whether the Palace you would be entering belonged to your teammate? I regret to inform you that is the case. Now, I can understand your confusion on this matter. The first Palace ruler you opposed was the Shadow of a career criminal, after all. However, not all Palaces belong to those who would be considered 'evil'. A Palace, you see, is simply formed by distorted desires. Those from all walks of life are capable of having one, so long as they allow their view of the world to be distorted. Your friend, I'm afraid, is no different. You will find this is hardly an isolated incident as well. After all, you are on a journey to pursue justice. Justice, you see, is not simply bringing punishment to the guilty. Much like you pardoned the would-be victim of the past Palace ruler from her unfortunate fate, so too must you bring pardon to your friend."

Farran leaned back in his chair, defeated, "So, we're going to have to take on Blake's Shadow…"

"On a more pleasant note, I'm pleased to announce that your timeline for this Palace is hardly as restrictive as it first appears. You see, the layout of a Palace is determined by two factors: The strength of the distortions, and the amount of time one's distortions have existed. Your teammate is about the same age as you, and has been able to function as a normal person, even with their distorted desires. While I cannot say for absolute certain, I am of the opinion that this Palace can be completed in the given timeframe."

"You really think so?"

"Indeed. As young as your friend is, and as week as her distortions are as far as Palaces are concerned, I do not believe you will find as grand of a Palace as the first. However, that is coming purely from my personal opinion, and you will still need to find a way to cause a shift in her distortions, else you will be unable to defeat her Shadow."

"Which means we need to find her, somehow. Right…" He thought for a moment, then nodded, "Alright, I can handle that. That's all I needed to ask, but would it be alright if I borrowed Viola for a bit? We're going to need to get some sort of a strategy together."

"But of course. However, before you leave, I have my own question for you." Igor gestured at the blonde standing next to Farran, "As I understand it, my assistant came under attack during your last foray into the Metaverse. With no real way to defend herself, you were forced to protect her, while also defending yourself, defending your teammates, and attempting to defeat the Palace ruler. Therefore, I must ask, are you satisfied with her performance? Do you wish to continue having her accompany you on-"

"Of course." Farran spoke up before Igor could finish his question, his gaze intense, "I don't mean to cut you off, but I wouldn't take anyone else besides Viola. She's been nothing but helpful since the start of all this. I'll take having to pay some extra attention to her every once in a while when we get outnumbered, thanks."

Igor chuckled, "Very well. I dare say, my dear guest, you are certainly fit for your roll. If that is truly how you feel, then I see absolutely no reason as to why she should not continue to accompany you as your navigator. Although, I will ask that you aid me in attempting to build up her self-esteem in the future. She worries far too much for her own good."

"M-Master, I…" She started stammering.

"Don't worry, Igor." Farran smiled as he rose from his chair, "She's one of my bonds, isn't she? Of course we'll stick by her."

"F-Farran… I mean, Dear Guest… I- That is to say, I appreciate your concern, however-"

"Come on Viola." Farran cut her off, spinning the girl around and maneuvering her towards the exit, "Time for us to get going."

When Farran and Viola emerged from the Velvet Room, Yang and Ruby had taken up a spot on a nearby bench, watching them with matching expressions of worry. He grunted as he lowered himself down onto a solid stump in front of them, Viola leaning up against a tree to his left. Slowly, Farran started to relay his conversation with Igor to the team. He had been preparing for Yang to explode at him when he confirmed it would be Blake's Palace they were dealing with, but the blonde remained silent the whole time, her only reaction being that she became visibly relieved when he explained that having a Palace didn't mean she was guilty of any crime. As he finished, he sat back and waited for his teammates to react.

Yang buried her face in her hands, "Alright… How are we supposed to do this? I mean, it took us four trips to get through Richards's Palace, plus Dust knows how long it took to plan everything…"

"Well, that's where the good news comes in." Viola offered, "According to my Master, your friend's Palace shouldn't be anywhere near as large as the last one. Not to mention, there we might be able to buy ourselves some time as well."

Ruby frowned, "What do you mean? I thought that the stuff in the video would happen no matter what we do, other than beating her Shadow, right?"

"Remember, the videos you all see are put together in a way that you can understand what will happen to the victim. That means that, while the events will happen if left unchecked, the events can be altered in ways, or even outright stopped altogether depending on your actions in this world. Say you found a way to prevent the victim of the previous Palace ruler from opening her locker at the deadline. Obviously, that particular event would not happen. However, you can only struggle against Fate for so long in this world before things start to move back to the original course. I hate to say it, but in most cases you can only buy yourself a few hours at most, which is why it would have been a waste of time in the last case. The amount of time we would have gained wouldn't have been enough to justify it, especially when we had a month to work with. I only bring it up now because we need all the time we can get for this Palace. The only way to permanently stop the events dictated by Fate from occurring is to cause an irreversible change in one of the people involved."

"So, say for example… Not that you would ever actually do this, Farran." Yang hesitated, "Say he had decided to kill Richards before the deadline. Is that what you meant?"

"Exactly. And the same if he had decided to kill his victim as well, but neither of those situations are plausible with any of you. No, instead you all changed his heart, a permanent change that prevented Fate from having its way. That, as you know, is our goal."

"Alright. So, what you're saying is, if we can find Blake before the deadline, and bring her back with us, we can at least buy ourselves a little more wiggle room, right?

"Precisely. And even if you can't," She pointed at Farran's scroll, "You know exactly where she will be and when. So, if she does manage to hide from you all until the deadline, we can still find her when we need to cause a shift in her cognition."

"Hmm… I think we may be able to make this work." Ruby hopped down off the bench, "Ok, members of Team RWBY and Viola! We really need to come up with a name for our group, but that's beside the point. With all this in mind, I propose that tomorrow and Sunday, we will get up early and search the town for Blake until afternoon. Then, we will return to campus and head right into the Metaverse, where we will make as much progress as we can, and then return home. On Monday after classes, we will give the town one last sweep for Blake, take care of whatever last bit we have in the Metaverse, and if we haven't found Blake by then, we'll go to wherever that part of the docks in the video is and bring her home. Any questions?"

"Just one." Yang leaned forward, "Where are we supposed to go in this time? The same alleyway as before?"

Viola shook her head, "No, the entrance this time is much different. Instead, you will need to access the Metaverse from your dorm room."

"The dorm? How come?" Farran raised an eyebrow, "I'm still confused as to how that all works, honestly. We entered the Metaverse from that alley, and ended up in the middle of campus in the other world."

"I can't really say for sure as to why, unfortunately. What I do know is that everything, as I'm sure you can imagine, comes down to the cognition of the person. Their Shadow, the Palace's appearance, the location of the entrance in this world, and where you end up in the Metaverse, all of it. I'm sure as we make our way through, things will become more clear."

"Then, I suppose we don't really have a choice but to wait and see, right? Alright then, Team RWBY, we're off to bed for the night. I'll set our alarm for six thirty, and after breakfast, we'll go looking for Blake. At noon, we'll head back to the dorm, then meet up with Viola in Blake's Palace. Unless anyone has anything else to add…" She paused for a moment, but when no objections came, she nodded, "Then we're all set to go! BANZAI!"

April 26th:

Just as they had planned, Ruby, Farran, and Yang got up, showered, and changed before Weiss had even begun to stir, and proceeded to the airship docks down into the city. The goal was to split up, canvas as much of the area as they could before noon, then regroup back at the airfield. Farran made it a point to stop into every shop, every café, even every alleyway he could find along his search, but to no avail. Frustration mounted with each failed stop, as it seemed that Blake had just vanished into thin air. With as big of a city as Vale was, one that naturally had all sorts of places for someone who didn't want to be found to hide, he couldn't help but start to feel the weight of the deadline starting to creep up on him. Surely there wasn't a way for the three of them to be able to search the whole city in a three day span. With the planned meeting time encroaching on his search, he had no choice but to take to the skies, scanning the rooftops for any sign of his cat-eared friend, or at least the monkey Faunus who she would be with when the events of the video came to pass. Unfortunately, by the time he landed at the airfield, he, as well as Ruby and Yang, had to return to campus empty handed. The airship ride back to campus was filled with disappointed silence.

They returned to the dorm, only to find an empty room awaiting them. With midterms on the horizon, Weiss was no doubt planted firmly somewhere in the library, her nose in one of her textbooks, rereading a passage that she had most likely memorized five times over by now. Still, her absence proved to be convenient, as the group didn't need to make any precautions or excuses for her to not discover them while they were traveling to the Metaverse. The storage closet was as stuffy as ever, the right half of the room littered with enough storage containers to make traversing through that side impossible. The trio spent a few minutes moving the clutter about, making sure there was a circle of free space in the middle of the room so that none of their belongings would be sucked into the Metaverse along with them. Their preparations complete, they moved to the center of the circle, as Yang pulled out her scroll and opened the Metaverse app. She hesitated for a moment, but pressed the button nonetheless, the familiar, blinding blue light filling the room, and swallowing them once more.

Farran wasn't sure what to expect with the new Palace, as from what Igor and Viola had said, he believed it would be vastly different than the previous one. The first difference, however, he noticed before the light had even faded. The second the wind whipping by the group had died down, he could hear the soft sound of water lapping up against rocks and sand, echoing slightly all around them. When their sight finally returned to them, he could see that they had arrived inside a small cave, well lit by a number spotlights littered around the area, their mass of power cords accumulating on one end of the cavern and disappearing down a tunnel that hand been roughly hewn through the rocks. They stood on a beach made of coarse, rocky sand, which led down to a pool of water that lapped up against the walls and the beach, the far end clearly descending far below into inky darkness.

"Where the hell are we?" Yang mumbled, slowly glancing around them, "This is Blake's Palace? It's so different than the last one…"

"I guess it is." Farran nodded, his voice breathless, "Viola said they're entirely based on the person's cognition, right? For whatever reason, Blake sees our dorm room as… whatever the hell this place is. I just wonder where we're supposed to go."

"Well, we got two options, and I dunno about you Hero, but I don't particularly want to go for a swim before we have to fight Shadows. Not to mention none of us are really dressed for it."

"Well, it's a good thing we're not going that way, then." Viola's voice came from down the tunnel. She poked her head into the cavern with a smile, "Any luck in town today?"

"No luck, unfortunately. Nobodies seen any sign of her." Ruby gave her a wave as they approached, "How about you, you find anything out about this place?"

"I have. We're obviously not dealing with anything as massive as the last Palace was. I haven't gone past this floor, but from what I can sense, they're big on their own, but there's only five of them, compared to the whole structure that made up the last one, And the Shadows, well… I hate to say it, but even if they aren't as strong as the last Palace ruler individually, they're much stronger than the guard Shadows we've faced up to this point. Thankfully, there aren't as many wandering around the place as last time, if this floor is anything to count on at least. We'll need to be careful, as always, but I honestly think we should be fine making our way through this Palace."

"Alright, that takes care of the Shadows… Hey, V…" Yang took another look around the cavern, "What exactly is this place? So type of cave system? Richards's Palace looked like Beacon and Vale, but this… I have no idea what all this is."

"Not exactly, no. From what I can tell from quickly looking around this floor, this whole Palace seems to be some sort of underground prison, and not exactly a very high tech one at that. Cells carved out of rocks, rusted iron bars, large keys that hang on rings, that sort of thing."

"That's… Well, it makes more sense then a bunch of tunnels, but why that kind of prison? When I think of prison, this isn't exactly what comes to mind."

Farran thought for a moment, "You know, I remember Doctor Oobleck saying something about prisons like this. I guess there are some left over from before the Great War. None of 'em are in use, but they're just sort of there. I wonder if there was one wherever Blake grew up."

"Ok, but that doesn't explain why a prison like this is how she thinks of the dorm. Or any kind of jail while we're at it. Is it cause she's always coops herself up in there all the time?"

"I think we'll find out more as we make our way through." Ruby muttered, "Anything else we should know, Viola?"

"Hmmm… Just one more thing, honestly. That card we got from the Salamander in the last Palace is a lot more useful than I thought." She motioned for Farran to hand her his scroll, "Even if there aren't any security panels here, if I'm right, the map should have updated for this Palace. There we go…"

She opened up the Metaverse app. The map displayed the outline of Richards's Palace for a few seconds, before it comically fell over and exploded, accompanied by a cartoonish sound effect. The remains of the tower fizzled out, soon to be replaced by an outline of what Farran assumed to be the prison. The display showed them on the bottom of five floors, with a number of Shadows mindlessly milling about the corridors in front of them. It seemed relatively straight forward, save for one thing.

"Hey, Viola. What's with this tunnel, down here." Farran pointed to the room on the display that represented the cave they were currently standing in. The floor seemed to be connected to a large tunnel that snaked underneath the ground below them.

"That? Well, it looks to be where that pool of water goes. As for where it leads, however…" She trailed off as she started dragging her fingers across the screen. The display ran down the length of the tunnel until it came to a bend, leading back up a small distance away. At the second peak of the "J" shape, the tunnel opened up into another cavern, "There. That's where it ends. From what the map says, it's some sort of… solitary confinement. Seems more like torture to me, dragging someone all that way…"

"Well, I suppose that's better than having to worry about some giant Shadow popping out of there or something." With one last hesitant look towards the pool, Ruby started heading to the passage Viola had come through, "Alright, guys. Let's get going. We need to make as much progress through this place today as possible."

They followed her in, stumbling over the rocky terrain into the entrance. The tunnel itself seemed to be naturally made, perhaps the result of some earthquake or collapse that had exposed the cavern they had entered from long ago. The walls, clumsy and irregular, slowed their progress somewhat, as at points it gave them plenty of room, others pinching together and forcing them to sidle along to get through. Thankfully, the whole way had been lit by strips of lights that had been hung on the walls, and after about forty feet, they emerged into the Palace proper. They stepped out into a massive room, walls and floors made of thick stone blocks, all lined with all sorts of moss and algae. In the center, a massive sunken hearth had been carved into the ground, long stained black from the ashes of countless fires.

Long corridors split off from each of the other three walls that, despite being rather dimly lit, Farran could make out what looked to be iron cell walls lining the sides every few feet. Pausing momentarily, Viola figured out their location on the map, and directed them down the hallway to the right. The whole area reeked of musk and damp earth and rust, giving an overwhelming sense of being underground. Their footsteps echoed off the stone walls around them, the only noise they could hear outside of their own whispered small talk, Viola's occasional directions, and the sporadic sound of water droplets falling from the ceiling to the stone floor below. The whole scene gave Farran a huge sense of unease, and more than that, dread. From the moment they had entered the prison, his heart had started beating furiously, and the hairs on his neck started to stand on end. He began to crave the adrenaline of battle in between the occasional skirmish with Shadows the couldn't avoid, as it was the only time he could feel his tension loosen up. After a while, he felt something soft slide up by his arm, hooking itself around it. He turned to see Yang, who had wrapped her arm delicately around his, giving him a sunny smile.

"What the heck are you doing?" He whispered harshly.

"Trying to get you to calm down, dumbass." She pointed at his arm, "I don't know if you noticed, but you've been shaking for the past few minutes. Everything ok?"

He looked down at his free hand which, sure enough, was still shaking, "No, I didn't… Sorry, Yang. Guess this place just has me freaked out."

She frowned, "Really? I mean, I guess it is a little unsettling. Does the idea of being in a prison just get to you that much?"

"No, that's the thing. Being in a prison isn't what bugs me. It's just…" He paused for a second, "…I guess I'm freaked out at the idea of being underground? I never really thought about it before."

"Are you going to be ok, then? I mean, this whole place is underground. We could take you back to the entrance if it's gonna be that big of a deal."

"No, I'm fine. When we're fighting, I can completely forget about it and everything, but other than that, it just… You know."

She let go of his arm to ruffle his hair, "Then, I guess it's gonna be something we have to work on as a team. Can't have you passing out in the middle of a mission if we have to go underground, now can we? Until then, just focus on me, Rubes, and V. I promise you'll be alright as long as you're with us, Hero."

"I'll try… Thanks Yang."

Throughout their trek, it seemed that every single hallway they took were lined with cells, their bars all rusted to the point one might be able to break them off with little force. Their darkened interiors all stood empty, save for being furnished by ancient steel beds, chamber pots, and the occasional wooden chair. Many even lacked doors, which had fallen off their hinges into the cells long ago. Every so often, the darkness in the cells proved useful, as the group would have to dive inside, taking refuge under or behind the metal cots to hide from a patrolling Shadow. On one such occasion, Farran peeked from behind his metal hiding place to watch a conversation taking place outside the cell between two Shadows.

He was surprised to find that even the Shadows had taken on a different appearance in this Palace. Whereas before, the Shadows had looked much like stereotypical gangsters, albeit with masquerade masks, these wore black, hooded clothes underneath a white cloak that draped down to their legs, and both wore steel masks that resembled the creatures of Grimm. If the masks weren't damning evidence on their own, their cloaks certainly were, as both had the silhouette of a Beowolf's head painted on the back in blood red, the unmistakable mark of the White Fang. The first, which looked female, carried a sword on its hip, while the other, a male, had a rifle holstered on its back which it slid down to the floor, allowing the Shadow to lean up against the cell's iron bars.

"Careful where you're leaning." The female Shadow folded her arms, "Who knows how old these cells are. You'll end up in one of 'em if you don't pay attention."

The male Shadow let out a bark of laughter, "Oh, please. They may look old, but the ones that ain't junk hold the prisoners just fine, now don't they?"

"Fair enough. So, you know what the Lieutenant wants? We're supposed to be meeting upstairs in a bit, right?"

"Hell, I dunno. Probably word from the Warden, I'd have to guess. There's been talk of moving that Prisoner into Solitary, right? Guessing it's probably just telling us all what we're supposed to do to get ready."

"Gods, Solitary? What'd They do this time that got them sent down there?"

"Hell if I know, but it ain't my call. Just know They've got some bad blood with the Warden, and that's pretty much good enough to get sent down there. Hope They got real good at holding Their breath, otherwise…" The male Shadow let out a cackle.

"Ugh, knock it off with that creepy laugh of yours, will you? I hate it when you do that." The female Faunus held up a hand and sniffed at the air, "Hey… You smell that?"

"Smell what? Mold and rust? Cause that's about all I ever pick up down here. Hate it whenever I have to patrol this floor. Throws all my senses out of whack, you know? Why, what you got?"

"I don't know. This whole place just reeks of humans to me."

"Oh, is that all? Come on, you worry too much. Of course you smell humans down here. It's when you stop smelling 'em that we'll be having problems. Now come on, we gotta get moving. I dunno about you, but I don't want the Lieutenant to decide he wants to practice his chainsaw carving skills on me just cause we're late."

"If you say so…"

The female Shadow gave one last sniff towards the cell, and with a grumble, departed with her rifle-baring counterpart. Their footsteps echoed off the walls for quite some time, until finally, they died down completely. Farran, Ruby, Yang, and Viola piled out from their hiding places, regrouping together out in the hall.

"Well, that was… something, I guess." Yang stared down the hall where the Shadows had disappeared, "Those things are so damn creepy. It's weird listening to them, almost like you're listening to two actual people talking."

"Well, they're beings born from the hearts of people. It would make sense that they have some sort of conversational skills." Viola offered, "Add that to how they're as affected by the Palace ruler's distortions as everything else here, and you end up with Shadows that could pass for human. Or Faunus, in this case."

Ruby brought a finger up to her chin, "I was scared they were about to find us for a second. I wonder what the one meant when it said that they'd have problems if they stopped smelling humans…"

"Well, this is a prison. Maybe they were talking about the prisoners?" The words weren't even out of his mouth before Farran shook his head, "No, the whole floor's been empty so far."

"That's been bugging me too. That, and they kept bringing up the 'Warden'. We haven't seen any sign of Blake's Shadow so far. Could she be the Warden they kept talking about?"

"It's her Palace, she's gotta be the Warden! Think back to the last Palace, Richards was the guy in charge of the whole thing. So, it would only make sense if Blake's Shadow were in charge of hers." A goofy grin crossed Yang's lips, "Blake in a police uniform, huh? Now that I gotta see."

"Can you not be a pervert for two seconds, Yang?" Farran deadpanned.

"Screw you, asshole! I'm just trying to lighten the mood!"

"Then there's that prisoner they mentioned too." Ruby continued, "They said they were planning on taking the prisoner to that special cell under the water by the entrance because the Warden didn't like them. Does Blake really hate someone enough to do something like that?"

Yang's face dropped, "Oh… Right… I guess this all kind of confirms it, doesn't it? If she's the Warden, and her guards are all White Fang… That means she's one of them, right?"

Conversation stopped as the weight of Yang's words pressed down on them. Farran had just been following Igor's advice since their last meeting, trusting that Blake really was completely innocent, but was that all there was to it? Maybe Igor was wrong, or maybe he had purposefully left out information to keep him going on his journey, even if it meant pursuing his teammate. He opened his mouth to speak, wanting to say anything to deny what Yang had said, but the words never came.

"N-No, that's not right." Ruby finally spoke up, breaking the silence, "We haven't seen Blake's Shadow yet, so who knows what her connection to all this is. We shouldn't go doubting her until we get all the facts."

Viola nodded, "Ruby's right. After all, we can't take things from this world at face value. There may be truth behind it, but the truth is still buried in the distortions of this world. We can't allow them to get us off track, otherwise we wont accomplish our mission. I do think Ruby was onto something with the prisoner though, and that whole part concerns me. If they're seriously taking that much care with transferring them that they need all the guard Shadows to meet up to discuss the plans, that's huge trouble for us. We might even need to think about it as another deadline, as whenever they plan on moving the prisoner, and for a while after as well, our entrance here will be swarming with Shadows. We'd be overrun the second we came to this side!"

Yang, having been shaken from her slump, nodded, "That sounds like a good idea. They said they were meeting a few floors up, right?"

"Yes, they did. Right about… here." Viola held out the scroll for them, which displayed a room on the third floor she had zoomed in on. The entire room was already filled with the red dots that represented Shadows.

Yang let out a low whistle, "Yeah, I'd say it's a safe bet that you're right, V. Damn, that's a lot of Shadows."

"Then that's where we'll need to go, and unfortunately it's probably gonna have to be our stopping point for today." Ruby frowned, "With as many Shadows as they have there, going any further is going to be pretty much impossible. That being said, we still have a lot of ground to cover, so let's get moving for now."

Meanwhile at Beacon:

Weiss had never considered herself to be an "angry" person. Sure, she had less patience than most, and would become irritated by the actions of others if she deemed them foolish or annoying, but she was far from the type to lose her temper. Still, Weiss was only human, and when someone pushed her far enough over the line, she did have her father's blood in her. Which is why she had spent most of the day today in such a seething rage, that she could feel the first twinges of a migraine coming on.

Of course, how else was she supposed to feel after spending almost her entire afternoon and evening the day before arguing with her teammate? Even the thought of it made her blood boil. Granted, she may have gone a bit too far in generalizing all Faunus, as she was sure there were some that were good people, but Blake had tried defending the White Fang! Not only that, but if her outburst was anything to say about it, she was a member of that group of terrorists as well. After everything they had done to her family, that simply wasn't something she could forgive, no matter who Blake was, or rather, who Weiss thought she was.

To make matters worse, the rest of her team had decided to go into town looking for Blake before she had woken up this morning. At least, that's what she assumed they had done, as not a single one of them had thought it prudent to let her know what they were up to. She spent most of her morning waiting for them to return, but after she was forced to eat breakfast alone, she decided not to be burdened by their disappearance, opting to head to the library to study instead. Her teammates might have been willing to forsake their academics for a wild goose chase across Vale, but Weiss certainly was not.

This, however, was all for naught, as she hardly managed to get any studying done. Instead, she found herself distracted, thinking over the events from the night before, repeating them over and over in her head. The vexation that she had felt when Blake started making excuses for the White Fang resurfaced, peaking into outrage when she had gone on to claim that, not only was she as bad as Cardin or Richards, but that she was in part responsible for the actions of the White Fang. However, what hadn't been there that night that was now was the twinge of guilt she felt deep within herself just before Blake had run off. Blake had worn a look of abject terror, one that was far more than that of a criminal that had been caught red-handed. Those thoughts continued rolling over again and again in her mind, but they always ended up on that look, just before her teammate bolted for the door. When it became evident that she wasn't going to be able to study in the slightest, as these thoughts and her oncoming migraine because of them caused her frustrations to mount, she snapped her book shut, startling a nearby librarian who almost dropped the mountain of books she had been returning to the shelves. Since she had no other reason to be in the library, and studying was certainly out of the question at that point, she resigned herself to return to the dorm.

By the time the door to their room had closed behind her, Weiss's migraine was already in full effect. The whole room started spinning around her, and she felt sick to her stomach as she sunk to the ground, her face buried in her hands. She hadn't had problems with migraines for quite some time, and yet she could vaguely remember Klein, saint that he is, making sure to pack a bottle of medication in one of her bags when she left for Beacon. Not one to be defeated so easily by a measly headache, Weiss forced herself back to her wobbly legs, stumbling over to the storage closet. What she found, however, almost made her migraine even worse. The storage closet, which she had attempted to keep organized more times than she could count, had been absolutely torn apart, with the boxes and storage containers she had meticulously put into place now moved about to form a circle in the middle of the room.

"When did they even do this?!" She groaned, leaning against the wall, "I was just in here last night looking for a vial of Dust! Did they come back just for this? Oh, whatever… Medicine first. I'll just make them take care of it later or something…"

She struggled over to the part of the mess that she could recognize as her belongings as the world started spinning under her. She pulled a number of shopping bags off the top of her metal traveling case, desperate to find her medication, only to stop when she saw their contents. Momentarily free from the vise grip of her migraine, she realized that the bags contained a number of women's outfits that she couldn't recall ever seeing before. They were certainly too small for Yang, and they didn't look like anything Ruby or Blake would wear either.

"So whose…" She grimaced as the pain in her head started searing again, "Later. I'll worry about this later."

Weiss was lucky enough to find the medicine she was looking for in the first container she checked, lovingly placed at the top months ago by Klein. She greedily tore the bottle from the case, popping the recommended two pills into her mouth. Her mission accomplished, she replaced her case and the bags, determined to take care of the mess later. Pill bottle in hand, she feebly returned to the room, dropping herself on her bed, sliding the bottle into her night stand. She felt around for her scroll, flipping it open. Still no sign of her teammates, not even a call or text letting her know where they were or what they were doing. With a sigh, she flicked it closed, shutting her eyes tight in an attempt to get the room to stop spinning. While it wasn't something she would normally do, Weiss decided she didn't have much of a choice but to take a brief rest and wait until her migraine went away. It wasn't long after that the veil of sleep finally fell over her, relieving her of her pain.

Blake's Palace, 2nd Floor

"That… sucked…" Yang leaned up against the wall behind her, panting, "That sucked so much."

Farran couldn't help but shake his head at Yang's comment as a cool wave of energy washed over his back from one of Ruby's healing spells. He was currently sitting on one of the stairs between the second and third floors, his shirt off and laying on the ground in front of him, as Ruby fussed about behind him pulling jagged thorns out of his back and shoulders. Saying the past floor had been horrible was a massive understatement, as it had proven to be a psychologically-trying nightmare from almost the second they had ascended from the first. As soon as the heavy, oaken double doors had creaked open to allow them passage to the second floor, a harrowing tumult of groans and metallic rattling echoed all throughout the floor. The hall ahead of them was lined with steel plate doors, with small barred portholes allowing a view inside, and all seemed to be rattling off their hinges at the group's arrival. They decided to proceed quietly and cautiously, leaving whatever was causing the racket alone, until curiosity got the better of Ruby. They had made it a good distance in when their leader's scream caused them all to jump, whipping around to see Ruby lying on her back in the middle of the hall, white as a sheet.

"Z-Z-Z-Zombies!" She had stammered, pointing a shaking finger at the door.

Unable to ignore his curiosity any longer, Farran took a peek through the hole Ruby had pointed at, only to feel his stomach bottom out. There were no zombies inside, but to Ruby's credit, they weren't far off. Beyond the door was a cell, not unlike the one Shadow Richards had locked the two of them in all that time ago. The cell had been overfilled with a number of humans, all sickly, gaunt, and pale, as if they had been left in the cell to starve and rot for quite some time. A hideous odor wafted through the open hole, forcing Farran a step back to gag, Viola and Yang mimicking his actions shortly after. From what Farran could tell, although he wasn't exactly too keen on finding out, each of the numerous doors lining the walls belonged to a cell, and each cell had been overfilled with these prisoners. Suddenly, the female Shadow's comments from the last floor started making much more sense.

"So… those aren't actually real, right Viola?" Farran pinched his nose to escape the smell, "Like those robots and Faunus from the last Palace?"

"Yes, they're pretty much the same." She wheezed, "Cognitive beings. Lifelike puppets meant to mimic people in a Palace. A bit too lifelike in this case, if you ask me." She shook her head, "Come on, let's keep moving. There's no point on dwelling on them."

Farran helped Ruby back to her feet, and with one last worried glance at the cell door, the group continued onwards. The caterwauls of the cognitive beings filled the halls as they continued their trek, mindlessly groaning and slamming against their cell doors as they passed, but as their cells continued to hold, the noise they produced seemed to just fade into the atmosphere as far as Farran was concerned. These "puppets", however, would soon prove to be the least of their problems.

Their path led them through a large, cylindrical room, well lit by a number of lights hung about the walls, the stairwell to the third floor ahead of them. As they entered, the moans of the prisoners began to cease, and soon, the entire room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Thankful to be spared from the ear-ringing chaos, the group made their way across the room, only to be stopped as the door across from them, as well as the one they had just entered, became enveloped in thick, thorny vines. In a flash, they drew their weapons, as the vines slid to allow the female Shadow from earlier into the room, before quickly moving back to block the exit.

"I knew my senses weren't off, no matter what that damn fool said." She mused, "I'd never mistake the smell of fresh meat."

"You people are horrible!" Ruby growled, "Treating people like this… It's completely inhumane!"

"Inhumane? We're simply treating humans how they deserve to be treated." She let out a bark of laughter, "Locked in cages like animals, beaten, tortured… Sound familiar? That's how humans have treated the Faunus for decades. It's only fair that we pay you all back tenfold. A lesson, I promise, you all will learn soon enough!"

The Shadow reared back, its form becoming obscured by the usual wave of black ooze that came with their transformations. The mass expanded, as long, thin spindles started to spread out from it, making Farran think it might take a similar form to the one Shadow Richards had taken. However, when the Shadow showed its true face, it took the form of a beautiful woman, nearly completely nude save for bunches of thick leaves used to preserve its modesty, with a number of undulating vines tipped with rose buds surrounding it. The vines were covered with large, serrated thorns that almost resembled the teeth of a shark. The Shadow, as Viola would inform them, had taken the form of an Alraune, a Shadow of the Moon Arcana.

"Agh!" Farran flinched as Ruby ripped another of the thorns from his back, another wave of healing magic spreading over the wound before it bled too much.

"Oh, don't be such a baby, you dummy." She scolded, pulling out another one, "There's only a couple more."

"Besides, you don't get to complain, Hero." Yang smirked, "It's all your fault you got turned into a human pincushion."

"How the hell is it my fault?! You threw me into them!" He gritted his teeth to prevent another gasp of pain.

"I threw you into them so you would stop attacking me, you idiot!"

"That wasn't my fault, and you know it!"

Just as Yang said, Farran had attacked her, and Ruby and Viola as well, during the skirmish with the Alraune. However, it wasn't something he was proud of, and it certainly wasn't something he meant to do. While the Alraune wasn't the most combat-adept foe they had come across, in fact its only major means of self defense was to whip them with its vines, where its strength lied was a number of attacks that distorted their minds. When the battle had initially seemed to be in the bag, a bright light flashed in front of Farran, blinding him temporarily. When his vision returned, he couldn't tell friend from foe, as the Shadow, and all of his teammates appeared the same. After he had attacked her a few times, thinking she was the real Shadow, Yang decided to snap Farran back to his senses by picking him up and heaving him at the Shadow. While it had its intended effect, it also meant that a good number of the Shadow's thorns broke off in his back. As the fight continued, the Alraune showed off a number of other status inducing attacks, those that could cause charm, fear, rage, and many others. In the end, it was Yang's sharp eye that noticed a dull light that preceded the status inducing bright flash, allowing them to protect themselves. With the Shadow's main line of defense out of the way, the team was easily able to outnumber it, and Farran claimed the Alraune as his newest Persona.

"And of course you would take that one as a Persona." Yang chided.

"What? I needed a Moon Persona, and you can't deny that it'll be useful!" Farran grumbled.

"Oh yeah, cause that's totally why you took in one that looks like a naked woman." Yang winked, "Don't act like I'm not right."

"Alright, I don't appreciate being accused of being a pervert by the girl who just flirted, and tried to make out with, her own sister."

"Oh, screw you! I was charmed by that damn thing! I do NOT really feel that way towards Ruby, asshole!" Yang's hair started to glow gold, while her cheeks flushed red.

Ruby yanked out the next thorn particularly hard, "Then maybe we should just all drop it, and forget that all happened, ok?"

"Why, Ruby?" Farran raised an eyebrow, "You want to forget it made you even shorter?"

"Shut up, you dummy!" She hit him right by one of his cuts, "Oh, sorry! But it didn't make me shorter, it turned me into a mouse!" She pouted, "That doesn't count."

"I'll tell you what, Rubes. You sure looked RATtled after that attack!" Yang put on a shit-eating grin, much to the annoyance of everyone in the room.

"Well, whenever you're done getting those thorns out, we're going to need to get upstairs." Viola held out Farran's scroll. On the display, a large, dark red dot was making its way from the fourth floor down to where the rest of the Shadows were congregating, "That's most likely the lieutenant they were talking about earlier, so the meeting should be starting soon."

"Just one more!" Ruby exclaimed, ripping said thorn from Farran's back, and eliciting a sharp gasp from him, "There you go, Farran. All set."

With one last healing spell from Ruby, Farran pulled his shirt back on, and the group proceeded up the stairs as silent as possible. When they reached the landing, Farran slowly pushed the oaken double doors open, just enough to allow them to see and hear inside. The room past the doors encompassed the entire floor, and appeared to be the barracks for the guards of this Palace. Farran could see doors leading to bathrooms, a kitchen area, and sleeping quarters, but everything was open air and connected to the assembly hall that sat in front of them, filled to the brim with Shadows in White Fang garb, all eagerly talking amongst themselves. After a few minutes of waiting, the door at the end of the hall swung open, and out strode another Shadow, one about the size of Yatsuhashi, an oversized chainsaw strapped to its back.

"All of you, silence." The Shadow spoke in a dark tone, "As I'm sure you are all aware, the Warden wants our top priority Prisoner transferred permanently down to Solitary. The Prisoner is highly dangerous, so we'll need all hands to ensure a smooth transfer. By now you should all know your positions, as you will all need to be spread out along the route at every intersection. The move will be starting tomorrow night at 23:45, and we should reach the transfer point at 00:30. From there on, we will need heavy guard posted around that area, just on the off chance the Prisoner finds a way back out. We cannot afford any slip ups people! Now as for…"

Yang took a few steps away from the door and whispered, "So… That pretty much means we have to do this by tomorrow at midnight, right?"

"Well, not necessarily." Farran frowned, "We could still do it, but then we'd be neck deep in Shadows. We could probably make it through between Viola's mirages and Alraune's status spells, but getting back home would still be an issue."

"One of us could always make sure to have our scroll opened to the app, just in case. Wouldn't be the first time we left the Metaverse with Shadows after us." Ruby shrugged, "But I agree, the best idea would be to make sure we find Blake tomorrow, and get everything done before the transfer."

Viola took another look past the doorway, "It would seem that this is definitely our stopping point for today. There isn't any way into the room without us being spotted, let alone getting through to the next floor."

"That's alright. We only have one more floor before we reach the Palace ruler's chamber, right? So I'm thinking we take more time tomorrow to find Blake, then come back here once we have her. Do you think you could meet us at about five, Viola?"

"Of course."

"Still…" Yang hummed, "All this prisoner business is really bugging me. Not just the one they're moving tomorrow, but the ones downstairs too. I mean, even if Blake isn't entirely who we thought she was, there's no way she sees humans that way. She would've been much more closed off than she actually was, right? I doubt she would even talk to us if she wanted to see all humans like that. And then to almost drown someone just cause you don't like them… That doesn't sound like her at all!"

"I've been thinking about that too. This whole thing seems off." Farran furrowed his brow, "In the last Palace, we saw Shadow Richards our first day, and you talked with him when you were destroying the factory, Yang. Yet here we are, and there's no sign of Blake's Shadow anywhere…"

"Well, didn't that big Lieutenant guy… Shadow… whatever say that the super dangerous prisoner is on the same floor as the Shadow's chamber?" Ruby offered, "Maybe that's why we haven't seen her, cause she's been so busy guarding it."

"Maybe… But with only one floor left…" Yang punched her open palm with a cocky grin, "We'll definitely find her tomorrow. Then we can get to the bottom of all this and things will go back to-"

She was cut off as the Lieutenant Shadow's voice boomed from inside the room, "Which one of you left the door open?"

They all jumped, and before any of the Shadows could investigate the door, they bolted down the stairs, not stopping to rest until they reached the Palace's entrance. With their job for the day complete, Yang, Ruby, and Farran bid farewell to Viola, with the plan of meeting up again the next day after they had finished their search. As soon as the Velvet Room door closed behind Viola, Ruby pressed the button on the Metaverse app, enveloping them once again in blue light.

Ruby had warned the team that there was a chance Weiss may have returned while they were exploring Blake's Palace, so upon their return, the trio crept out of the storage closet as quickly and quietly as they could, hoping to avoid any awkward questions as to why the three of them had been in there together. What they weren't expecting upon their return, however, was to find Weiss sound asleep on her bed, despite it only being early evening, and still fully dressed as well. As they stored their weapons, Farran tried to keep an eye on his slumbering teammate. Weiss, while already pale normally, seemed to have lost any color she might have once had, and her skin was slick with perspiration. Once Yang had finished emptying, cleaning, and storing Ember Celica, she dropped down from her bed, making a beeline for the door.

"Yang, where are you going?" Farran called to her in a whisper.

She shrugged, "I was just going to make a pot of soup."

"Soup?" Ruby looked up from her attempt at quietly maintaining Crescent Rose.

"Yeah. The three of us hardly ate at all today, and we're going to have another long day tomorrow. Might as well get something good in our stomachs to keep our energy up. Soup's easy, and that's about all I have the energy to make right now. Besides…" Yang looked at Weiss. She tried to keep her face stoic, but couldn't quite hide a small, worried frown, "I dunno what's wrong with her, or if she's getting sick, but it should help make her feel better at least."

With that, Yang simply turned and left the room, closing the door behind her as softly as she could. As Farran and Ruby waited for their dinner, the dorm room was filled with the hushed sound of their weapons maintenance. Once Farran finished cleaning Silverbreak's dust chambers and storing it in its case, he tiptoed over to the side of Weiss's bed. Steadily, he placed his hand on Weiss's forehead, trying to see whether she had a fever, the silver-haired girl mumbling slightly in her sleep. From what he could tell, not only did she not have a fever, she even felt a bit cold to the touch. Maybe the Schnees have a lower body temperature than normal? As he pulled his hand away, he noticed her eyes start to slide open.

"Ngh… Farran?" She struggled to pull herself into a sitting position, "What are you doing?"

"Sorry, Weiss. Didn't mean to wake you." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Just wanted to make sure you didn't have a fever or anything. You ok? You look like death."

"I felt like death before I fell asleep." She brought a shaky hand up to her head, "Feel much better now, though. But to answer your question, I'm fine. Just had a migraine earlier and really needed to lie down."

"Sorry to hear that, Weiss!" Ruby flopped over the side of her bed, "You hungry? Yang's in the kitchen making some soup. Should be ready soon, I think."

"Soup sounds absolutely wonderful right now, actually. I haven't eaten since breakfast…" She paused as her lips curled into a frown, "Where… Where exactly did you three go today?"

"Into town…" Ruby frowned, "We went out to look for Blake, cause she still wasn't back when we woke up this morning… We just got back a few minutes ago."

"You went looking for her, and you were gone all day? You were already gone before I woke up this morning, so that's at least twelve hours!"

"Believe it or not, Ice Queen, but some of us are actually worried about our teammate." Yang's voice came from the doorway. The three of them turned to see her leaning against the door with a deep frown etched on her face, "Soup should be done in a few minutes. Just wanted to let you know."

"And just what is that supposed to mean, Yang?" Weiss huffed.

"Exactly what it sounded like." Yang folded her arms, "Our teammate is missing, and has been for almost a whole day now. Of course we're going to go looking for her. We were worried."

"And you think I'm not?" Weiss raised an eyebrow, "Why do you think I ended up with a migraine today? None of you three thought it prudent to leave any sort of note or communication to tell me where you might have been! You were all gone twelve hours, and the only sign that any of you weren't dead was when I came back to find you all tore apart our storage space."

"We're adults, Weiss!" Ruby pouted, "And we're Huntsmen too! You don't need to worry about us when we're just going into town."

"Ruby, Blake's just as much of an adult as any of us, and she's a Huntress as well. That's not the problem here. I was worried you three might run into trouble with the White Fang if you went after her!"

"Are you still on that?! We still don't know for sure whether or not she has any connection to them!" Yang glowered, "And even if she is, we're still her teammates! We can't just leave her out there. But I bet you don't even care what happens to her after you ran her out of here!"

"Excuse me?!" Weiss returned her glare, "How is it my fault?! I'll admit, maybe I took things a bit too far, but I never said a single thing to her with the intention of insulting her!"

"Alright, guys, enough!" Farran snapped, stepping between Yang and Weiss and holding up his hands, "We can't afford to start fighting one another. What matters most is that we find Blake. Weiss, whatever you think of the White Fang, I can't really blame you after what they've done to your family. And I'm sorry we didn't stay in contact with you. All of us have just been a little on edge since last night. At the same time, we don't know what Blake's connection to them is, if she even has one. We're going to find her, we're going to bring her back here safe, and we're gonna find out just what the hell is going on. We're going out again tomorrow, and the way I see it, you have two options: You can come with us and help us find our teammate, or you can stay here by yourself while we go looking for her. Either way, the three of us aren't going to stop until we find her. She's our teammate, and she deserves to be heard out at the very least."

After a moment of awkward silence, Weiss finally sighed and looked up at him, "Very well… I can hardly allow you all to take on the burden of searching for Blake without me. My personal feelings towards the White Fang aside, I would have come along today had you asked me. Contrary to what you believe Yang, I am worried about her. Perhaps not for all the same reasons, as I think it's a very real possibility that our teammate is a member of a terrorist organization, but I still worry about her, and wish to see her back here safe. That all being said, I refuse to leave at such an ungodly hour like you all did today. There is no reason for us to leave before we are properly rested and fed. Am I wrong?"

Yang's growling stomach was all the confirmation she needed. With a slight tinge of red on her cheeks, Yang looked away from the group, "I guess you have a point. But right after breakfast, we're out of here." She sighed, popping the door open, "I'm gonna go finish the soup. I'll be back with it in a minute…"

She left, and shortly after returned with a pot filled near to the brim with soup. The four of them gorged themselves on the soup, as only Weiss had eaten that day, and even then she hadn't eaten since early in the morning, before silently getting started on their usual routines to prepare for their early bedtime. When everyone settled into their beds, the soft sounds of the girls' slumbering overtaking the room, Farran found himself unable to sleep, instead staring out the window at the night's sky. Blake… Where the hell did you go?

Somewhere in Vale

Kapaka Cigars. Widely considered one of Remnant's finest, this peculiar brand comes exclusively from a plantation off the coast of Mistral, and is famed for both its spicy and tangy notes, containing the flavors of hickory, saffron, and cumin. In recent days, the prices of Kapaka cigars had skyrocketed, both due to a long standing boycott organized by the White Fang over the abuse of Faunus laborers on the plantation, as well as the sudden disappearance of a gargantuan shipment of cigars that had been en route to Atlas. One of these cigars, freshly plucked from one of the crates stolen from said shipment, sat clutched tightly betwixt the fingers of one Roman Torchwick.

Cigars of this quality would normally be smoked in celebration of a major accomplishment, or at the very least among the company of elite and powerful acquaintances, and Roman was well aware of that fact. When he had originally hijacked the shipment, he had planned on using it as such, at least with the cigars he didn't plan on selling for a premium on the black market. However, he found the extravagant flavor of his ill-gotten gains to be his only escape from the demands of his newest employer. What that raven-haired brat and her two lackeys needed with so much Gods damned Dust, and where all these White Fang fleabags they had running around his warehouse came into the picture, was beyond him. They sure as hell didn't plan on filling him in on their full plans yet, but with as powerful and well connected as they seemed to be, he didn't have any choice but to comply with their demands to take some huge shipment of top quality Dust that just arrived from the SDC the day before. Hence why he found himself chewing on the end of his precious luxury cigar, finalizing the plans for the heist that they planned on executing once night fell on Monday.

The sound of knocking on his office door almost caused him to crush his cigar in half. A knock on the door this late at night was never good. His usual subordinates knew to never disturb him this late, and his employers, or Neo for that matter, would just enter without a second thought. No, it had to be one of the White Fang knocking, and for them to have reached his office without Neo slicing their throat open, it had to be important.

With a sigh, Roman spun around in his chair to face his office door, "Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Come on in, I guess…"

The door opened, and in walked a scene straight from a comedy film, as one of the White Fang Lieutenants, near seven feet tall and extremely well built, was being escorted into the room by a pink and brown haired girl, almost half his height and certainly a quarter of his weight. She kept a long, thin blade pointed at the Lieutenant's neck, the tip pressing into his skin, as she walked him over to the chair opposite of Roman, prompting the large man to sit. Her escort seated, the girl, Neo, backed off behind him, still keeping her sword within striking distance of his neck.

"Yes, Banesaw. What is it?" Roman droned, his head propped up by his hand.

"Uh… Sir?" The large man tilted his head, "You know my name isn't-"

"Your name isn't what's important right now, now is it? Or have you forgotten that my subordinate can slit your throat at a moment's notice?" He mused, watching the glint of Neo's sword behind the man's back, "But that's not what you came here for. So I'll ask again, what's so important that you decided to come and annoy me while I'm planning our next job?"

"Well, you see sir, I just got word from our intelligence network in Atlas." Banesaw gulped as Neo slid the tip of her blade gently on the back of his throat, "We've been informed that General Ironwood is heading to Vale, along with a major contingent of soldiers and ships. They're set to arrive Monday morning."

"Monday morning, which means that by the time we're planning all this, we'll be up to our necks in stiffs. How Gods damned typical of Jimmy. Can't even wait to the Festival to bring his toys with him…" Roman took a long drag of his cigar, "And you're absolutely sure about all this? He's absolutely going to be here on Monday?"

"Yes, sir. I'm positive. Apparently, Agni Richards of the Atlesian Mafia has turned himself in. He's currently on house arrest under watch by some top Huntsmen. I guess he's cutting a deal with Ironwood for his own safety."

"That so? Ol' Fire Dick's turned into a rat, huh? Guess that's why things have been so quiet on their end. Well, can't say I'm sad to see any of 'em go. Less competition as far as I'm concerned." He let out another sigh, "Still makes more problems for me, though."

"So, should I tell the men that the job's off?"

"Ha! As if. You wanna tell Little Miss Matchstick that we called off a job with this much Dust on the line, that's on you. I just got my suit cleaned, and I'd prefer to not get any ashes on it. No, I want you to tell your men that we're moving the job up to tomorrow night. By the time Jimmy and his tin soldiers show up, we'll already have the full load. Got it?"

"Uh, yessir. Right away, sir." With speed unfit for a man his size, Banesaw bolted from the room before Neo could make the decision to skewer him with her blade.

With her favorite seat in front of Roman now unoccupied, Neo skipped over to it, sliding her blade back into its sheath which doubled as an umbrella as she did so, and dropped into the chair with a pleasant smile. Roman still had no idea what pit of hell the seemingly sweet girl had crawled out of months ago when she had slaughtered a number of the goons he had hired from Junior, but he certainly couldn't complain. Ever since she'd come into his life, she'd become one of his most trusted partners, and any job he'd sent her on was guaranteed to go smoothly. For this job to go off without a hitch on such short notice, he'd need her to be at her absolute best.

"Neo, be a dear, would you?" Roman leaned forward, "Go to the docks where the shipment is being stored, and make absolutely sure that our guys are going to be handling security tomorrow night. And if they have any sort of cameras set up, or any other kinds of alarms, make sure you take care of them too, ok?"

The small girl folded her arms and pouted, turning away from Roman.

"I know it's overtime, but we don't really have a choice, do we? You heard what the animal said, we gotta do this tomorrow. So, would you please do this? For me?"

She stuck out her hand, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You want me to pay you, now?" Roman ran a hand through his hair, "Kid, you seriously need to kick that ice cream habit of yours, you know that? You're gonna get-"

He was cut off as Neo glared at him, her hand hovering dangerously over the handle of her blade.

"What?! No need to get so hostile. I'm definitely gonna pay you. I'm just saying you're bordering on being an addict at this rate. Sheesh…" He fished through his jacket pocket, pulling out a thick wad of Lien, which he handed to her, "There, satisfied?"

She shuffled through her pay, making sure there was a satisfactory amount, before pocketing it with a smile and enthusiastic nod.

"Good. Now, I'm sure I don't need to tell you, but be discreet, got it? And at least try not to kill anyone? The last thing we need is to draw any heat to that place when we're working on such a tight schedule. Other than that, I leave the rest to you. Sound good, kid?"

Neo closed her eyes, pondering his words for a moment, then gave him a cutesy salute and made her way out of the room. With that taken care of, Roman leaned back in his chair, taking another long drag from his cigar to calm him down. Tomorrow promised to be an interesting day, but without any unforeseeable setbacks or problems, everything looked like it would be a quick, solid operation.

Author's Notes

Aaaaaahhhhhhh! It's finally done!

Hey Guys!

Glad to finally be back with another Chapter! Not gonna lie, I missed you guys so much during my break. Thanks to everyone that left reviews while I was gone, they've all been appreciated!

In the last chapter I posted, I told you guys I was gonna put up a poll to help me decide on what to do with Farran relationship-wise. I was surprised to see how many of you guys voted, honestly. The last poll I posted only got a handful of votes. After the poll, and reading all the reviews, and thinking about what narrative exactly I wanted to do with this story, I've decided to go with the Poly option. When I posted the poll, I figured that one of the options would blow the other two away, but on my last check, both the Poly and single girl options were really close, even though Single Girl one in the end. I know this might turn some of you guys off the story, and I certainly can't blame you if it does, but I will ask that you at least give it a shot before you make up your mind. And besides, much like a typical Persona game, I'm not gonna let the relationship aspect completely override the rest of the story, even if it is more prevalent in this story than the games.

As for the Personas in this chapter, we only have the one.

Alraune – The offspring resulting from a Mandrake impregnating a witch. Yeah, a very… interesting figure. I used the model from Persona 4 for it, just with a little bit more modesty. Can't get too lewd with it, now can we? :3

Speaking of the Alraune fight, if anyone's worried about Farran's comment about Yang flirting with Ruby while she was charmed: No, I am not currently planning on having Enabler in the story. If there's a high level of demand for it, maybe, but as it stands, it's not happening. I'll sprinkle in the occasional gag, just for some laughs every once in a blue moon, but that's the most I'm willing to go. I don't actively ship it, even if I hold nothing against the people that do, and I don't want to run the risk of losing readers just cause I decided to throw it in.

That all said, I'm so glad to get this chapter done and out for you all. I would have liked to get some more Blake in this one, but I think I built a solid foundation to do some serious developing for her in the next couple chapters. I think I got some things set up that you guys are really gonna like.

Oh, and to the reviewer who posted calling themselves "A Fan", offering to be a Beta reader/editor, I'd be glad to have your help if you're still interested. Just send me some way I can get in contact with you, ok?

That's all I got for this week. It's good to be back, and I hope to see you in the next Chapter!

Inferno :D