Whoo! New chapter, after like, half a year. I am so sorry for how late this is. Time flies.

Chapter 7: Belgrade

"Alright boys, it's our first mission together as a mixed unit! Who's ready to beat up some monsters?" The ginger haired second Master of Chaldea exclaims with nothing but glee, her smile almost lighting up the room.

"Good grief… it's only a scouting mission into a minor Singularity…" EMIYA Alter grunts, his modified Kanshou and Bakuya already in his hands.

"At the very least, one can admire the Lord Magus' enthusiasm." Hassan of the Cursed Arm hums, rubbing his chin lightly as he nods.

"Shouldn't it be 'Lady Magus'?"

"It is a little late to be changing the naming convention right now, Archer."

Near them, the dark armored Berserker known as Lancelot was silent, his glowing red visor gazing blankly at his Master, awaiting orders.

"Four Servants though Goody-Bags? Sure that's enough for this?" Angra Mainyu raises a brow, standing near Gudako.

"First of all never call me that again in public, and second of all, hell yeah! You guys can totally handle this!" She grins widely and flashes a thumbs up to her favorite Servant.

"You remember I'm still weaker than a packet of instant noodles right?"

"Pssh, you'll be fine." Gudako waves him off before clearing her throat, gaining all her Servants' attention. "Now then, there's only four of you today, so I want full cooperation between all of you. Especially you Lancelot."

"…Arrr….thurrr….."

"Be good and I'll let you play with some of the unused anti-air cannons the security team doesn't use cuz we're stuck here!"

The Berserker immediately straightened up, his head rearing back as he lets out a howl, visor now flaring a brighter red.

"OOOOOooOoouuuUUUHHH!"

"Atta boy!"

"Master, enabling a Berserker is a terrible idea." The alternate version of EMIYA snorts, unable to hide the slight amount of mirth he felt from this. "Fujimaru will yell at you again."

"Nah, it'll be fine." Gudako flashes a peace sign as she grins cheekily. "I'll make sure he's going on a mission in a Singularity when it happens. It'll be the perfect crime."

"Speaking of, why the heck isn't your Ruler here instead of me? He'd be a better fit in a scouting mission to a London Singularity, wouldn't he?" Angra Mainyu grumbles before getting a slap upside the head courtesy of his Master. "Ow, bitch!"

"Shaddap! I said you're coming with me and that's that!" She huffs, pouting at him before turning towards CHALDEAS main core and pointing at it. "Doc'! We're all set! Rayshift us already! It's time for another adventure!"

Her three sane Servants simply sigh and shake their heads before resigning themselves.

Such was the way life went as a Servant to Chaldea's unpredictable female Master.

"You guys excited as I am?" The resident Avenger grinned, arms crossed behind his head as he strutted down the hallway of Beacon's dorm. "Orientation starts today, we can FINALLY get some real action."

"The actual test doesn't begin until tomorrow morning, today is just the day the other students arrive." Cursed Arm hums, his cloak shrouding most of his features aside from his gleaming white mask.

Emiya had no response to give as he simply stared ahead, doing his best to ignore the Avenger as he turned to look at Lancelot. "You think you can keep yourself under control when the test starts? There likely will be combat."

"I… think I will be fine. I believe my Madness Enhancement has been lowered enough in this body that I should be able to fight more seriously without it activating… hopefully. It briefly flared during the bar fight but I was able to get control of it before anything happened." The purple haired Berserker sighed, running a hand through his lightly spiked and slicked back hair. It was starting to grow longer again, not quite enough to make his appearance identical to how he looked late into his adultery with Guinevere, but it was getting there. He'll need to cut his hair eventually.

"Good. You are lucky we included a possibility of an enraged breakdown in your medical form. Maybe some of the medication they make here could help you keep yourself under control." The Archer grunts, remembering that particular survey they had to finish. Standard issue medical forms to write down any possible illnesses they had. Of course, he himself had to write down that he had short term memory loss, and had lost his sense of taste for his own medical issues.

Cursed Arm had to write down his inability to properly eat solids due to his mask getting in the way with its positioning (aside from extreme circumstances where he pulls it off enough to eat a heart, which obviously was not included) and included his 'mutated limb'.

Lancelot simply had to have emotional and mental instability written down in his medical forms. Thankfully, he would be receiving medication once the school term started.

Angra Mainyu of course had nothing to write down on his medical form. Of course the arguably weakest of them was the one with the least health problems.

"Assuming those medicinal pills actually have any effect on me at all…" The Berserker mutters, only to grunt as Angra Mainyu walks closer and slaps him on the back.

"Hey, you guys are pretty much human so chances are it will!"

"Please do not touch me again, lest I accidentally react violently."

"Another year, another batch of new students." Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck hummed, sipping quickly from his thermos. Most of the staff at Beacon were currently scattered around the campus, preparing for the arrival of freshmen students, and returning ones. The good Doctor on the other hand was simply standing on one of Beacon's balconies, observing the distant airships heading towards the landing platforms, Ozpin relaxing by him. The two coffee aficionados enjoyed little moments like this, basking in the company of not just a companion, nor a coworker, but a fellow lover of caffeine.

"Excited? I have a good feeling that this year's batch of students will be quite impressive." Ozpin hummed as he sipped from his mug. From the various profiles he's collected of the new freshmen year, he's already put his eyes on several noteworthy children who may achieve greatness. Ruby Rose was of course one of them. But there were others, such as the famous Pyrrha Nikos, and a small handful of other students who show impressive grades.

"I choose not to play into those feelings and prefer to examine them myself once they actually pass, after all grades are typically written with bias when it comes to small schools to prepare children for becoming Huntsmen, and some students may fold under the pressure of studying in a place such as Beacon." Oobleck sniffed, before sipping from his thermos yet again, his body barely able to remain still.

"True. We shall find out either way whether or not they can handle the entrance exam…" The headmaster nods as the two enter a comfortable silence once more, watching the airships finally arrive and the students start to disembark. "….on a more serious note, have you looked over the blood and Aura samples I've given you?"

"Yes of course, I finished examining them last night, quite curious and very disturbing. You say that they came from someone currently comatose in the medical ward?"

"Indeed. A young woman named Gudako, about the age of most of the freshman students… and according to our quartet of mostly amnesiac freshmen currently resting in the dorms, recently injured by Salem." Ozpin's eyes narrow. "The unusual alterations to her physical body are incredibly concerning, and I am unsure of why Salem would target the girl unless she was a Maiden…"

"Except she isn't one." The green haired history teacher hummed, tapping a finger rapidly against the railing of the balcony. "You checked I presume?"

"I did." Ozpin nodded, though his lips pursed at his own findings.

While he definitely found out that the comatose girl wasn't a Maiden after the deep dive he took with his senses and abilities to truly examine her Aura, he did found out that she somehow had magic.

Her body had magic in it, and from what he could sense from the 'feel' of it, she's used that magic numerous times.

A natural born magic user, possibly the first in thousands of years.

He didn't tell anyone of his findings of course, because he wasn't entirely sure. For all he knew the magic he sensed in her was a byproduct of Salem doing... whatever it was that caused the girl to look like that. He could sense that her magic was also greatly affected by the taint left behind by Salem's actions, as he could sense her magic attempting to fight back the crawling darkness of Salem's corruption.

"My own findings are very unsettling. Her Aura is contaminated, eroding, constantly regenerating and being broken down by whatever damaged her. Prolonged stay in the ICU is certainly helping her recover at least, I imagine her Aura will finally be back to normal in several weeks, perhaps a month, assuming there are no complications. Blood test is what I found concerning however. Found microscopic bacteria, ancient, possibly thousands, if not millions of years old."

"Is that so?" The headmaster turned to look at his companion with raised brows. "Are you sure about that?"

"99.7% sure of it. Bacteria does not match anything in recorded history. Some sort of Grimm-like bacterium, eats Aura and slowly converts it into Grimm-like cells found in decaying Grimm. Unusual synergy in how the cells move, almost as if operating under a single directive or mind, but with some form of latency between each individual cell. Not entirely identical but very close. My hypothesis is thusly; whatever was done to her was done in an attempt to try and transform her into a Grimm hybrid of some kind by Salem."

Ozpin's expression darkened.

His job just got a lot harder. It wasn't enough to make sure the Maidens were hidden now. They had to be protected at all costs unless he wanted them to be corrupted and transformed into… Grimm.

'Salem… how low will you go..?' He muses mentally before shaking his head. "Have you discovered a way to kill this bacteria?"

"None, besides time. From what I have discovered, the bacterium in the blood sample died off naturally after a few hours, either due to a lack of a host body to feed off of, or due to separation from main source. I would wager that all the bacteria will die eventually inside the patient's body in due time, as long as she continues to receive life support." Oobleck sips from his thermos again, starting to actually vibrate in place a little. "Students are entering the auditorium now, it's close to time for your speech. What's the theme this year?"

Ozpin hums, accepting the change in subject, before chuckling as he happens to witness a small explosion down in the courtyard, followed by distant and furious ranting.

"I'm thinking… complacency."

At some point, Shirou had broken off from his team and was wandering around, scoping out the other student hopefuls.

He got plenty of new weapons added into his Reality Marble in the process, due to the fact that many of them wandered around with their weapons sheathed and on display. It was good to see that they were smart and carried their gear with them instead of leaving it in the luggage, though he could see a few that did just the latter.

He was honestly impressed by virtually each and every weapon he came across. Each one had its own name, its own little history. Most of these weapons were made by the very people who wielded them, and have been virtually inseparable from their wielders since the day they were made.

It almost made him smile, just a little.

"You absolute dolt! You almost blew us off the side of the damn cliff!"

And there it goes. Goodbye smile, see you next year.

Shirou sighed as he turned to look at the source of the shouting. A girl in all white with matching snowy hair was busy telling off… Ruby.

Small world. He almost forgot she was offered to join Beacon by Ozpin.

"I-I said I was sorry! Please stop yelling!" The red riding hood whimpers a little, flinching away from the irate girl in front of her.

"Sorry isn't enough considering you just caused the complete obliteration of one of my Dust canisters, and almost destroyed the rest of my luggage! Do you have any idea who I am!?" The icy eyed girl demands, her hands on her hips.

"Someone who needs to remember what an inside voice is."

The two girls turn towards Shirou, who simply stood there with a languid stare. Ruby's eyes immediately lit up with joy.

"Shirou!"

"And you are?" The other girl narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms haughtily. For a brief moment, the image of another girl with raven hair tied in pigtails and eyes that were a different shade of blue overlapped over the white haired girl's figure.

As soon as Shirou blinked, the image was gone.

'Who was… oh. Rin. I… haven't had a clear image of how she looked in ages…' He mused in his mind before finally replying. "I'm just someone making sure my friend here isn't in trouble. I'm sure whatever happened was just an accident."

"She knocked over my luggage and blew up one of my Dust canisters!"

"I-it was an accident I swear! I tripped cuz I was dizzy and spinning because my sister ditched me and then I sneezed when she shook the canister in my face while yelling at me and then there was an explosion and I just want her to stop yelling!" The silver eyed girl wails a little, zipping behind Shirou to hide behind him with a whimper. The Archer sighed, before pulling Ruby out from behind him by the scruff of her hood.

"It was obviously an accident. Look at her and tell me she'd do something that malicious on purpose. Doesn't this look like the face of regret?"

The snowy haired girl did look at Ruby, and was greeted with the most pathetic looking expression she'd ever seen. The red hooded girl looked like a kicked puppy. A hooded, silver eyed puppy.

"...ugh, fine, I'll halt my chiding, but you had better shape up if you plan on staying here. Schools like Beacon are no place for the clumsy."

"Phew…" Ruby wipes some sweat off her forehead, before flinching and nodding quickly when she receives a stern glare from the angry girl. "I-I mean yeah, got it! I'm sorry!"

"Hmph. What is your name, dolt?"

"E-erm, Ruby Rose…"

"Good. I will attempt to remember your name, just so I know whose name to yell out when another explosion happens during classes. Assuming you make it that far."

"Eep…"

The icy eyed girl then proceeded to look at Shirou, raising a brow. It took him a few seconds to realize she wanted his name too.

"Shirou Emiya. And you are?"

"Hmph, my name is Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Remember that as the name of the woman who will become the top of the class for this generation." The now named Weiss huffs arrogantly, smirking a little before snapping her fingers as she walks off, her… butlers or something following after her tiredly, carrying the rest of her luggage.

"….she's scary. I don't know how you talked to her so calmly, she was terrifying." Ruby sighs, hunching over a little.

"I've had.. Experience with other people of a similar disposition… I think. I don't really remember." Shirou shrugs, receiving a small frown from Ruby. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just… knowing you can barely remember stuff kinda makes me feel bad."

"Don't worry about it. I've had years to come to terms with this. Usually I just write in a journal to make sure I can refresh my memory." He waves her off a little, before realizing he hadn't actually written in it since his little excursion to Vale. Shit. He had a lot to put in there now, hopefully he remembered most of it.

"Oh wow, that sounds pretty smart actually!" Ruby beams a smile, before standing up straighter. "Well, don't worry, I've got great memory as long as it's not related to boring stuff like, ugh, history classes or something, so I can do the remembering for you!"

"Don't worry Emiya, my memory's pretty good besides boring magecraft theory, dumb history lessons and that kinda stuff that Rits likes to harp on about, so I can do the remembering for you!"

Shirou blinked away the memory of his Master saying something almost identical to what Ruby just said, before smiling tiredly. "Yeah… you do that."

"Erm…"

The two friends look away from each other to find a boy with blonde hair and deep blue eyes standing there awkwardly.

"Sorry to, erm, break the moment I guess but… do either of you know where we're supposed to go?"

Blake was on edge all morning.

Knowing that the… murderer she met in Vale was going to be here somewhere, assuming he spoke the truth, has had her scanning every person she came across as she slowly walked along the courtyard. There was an explosion or something that almost made her pull out Gambol Shroud, but she relaxed when it turned out to just be an accident related to Dust.

A part of her wanted to go over to ground zero of the blast to get some verbal jabs in at the Schnee heiress who was berating a younger girl, but for once, something else took precedence. Finding the one known as Hassan I' Sabbah.

It was easier said than done, the skull masked teen was an expert at hiding. She couldn't find a trace of him anywhere outside no matter how hard she looked. Maybe he was actually in the auditorium? Hiding amidst the crowd of students?

"Damn it…" Blake grunted as she slammed a fist against one of the trees in the courtyard. "Where is he..?"

"Giving up already?"

Her senses screamed Danger as she leapt away from the tree and drew her weapon in gun form, aiming it right up at the branches.

There he was, cloak, mask and all, crouching on one of the thicker branches.

"How long were you there!?" Blake hissed out, her heart pounding.

"A little over five minutes. I was wondering whether you would notice or not. You would be surprised how often people on the lookout tend to ignore what is above them. Although perhaps, you of all people would know better than most." Hassan hums, before slowly dropping down from the branch and crouching down, his hood pulled lower over his masked face today. "Still, as I had said before, I am here. Be at ease."

"A little hard to do that when a murderer was hiding in a tree right above me and I never noticed." The feline Faunus grunts, her eyes narrowed as she slowly returns her weapon to its katana form and then sheaths it.

"I prefer the term Assassin."

"So a murderer for hire."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Belladonna. Now then, I believe it is time to go and enter the auditorium, loathe as I am to do so."

Blake raises a brow at that, watching the Hashashin slowly start to walk off with his back hunched for a few seconds before she slowly starts to follow him. "Not a fan of crowds?"

"Too many people in such a room will be noisy. I am not fond of being stuck in a crowd of people, especially children who will no doubt gawk and stare at my appearance."

"Maybe next time don't come to orientation for school wearing the world's most suspicious outfit."

Weiss Schnee was having a bad start to what should have been a great day.

A number of things have gone so completely and terribly wrong in the past week.

First of course, being her father acting up when Winter and General Ironwood came to have a little meeting with him.

What the meeting was about, she had no idea. It was apparently confidential. But it wasn't a pleasant meeting for sure considering that her father could be heard shouting in his office at them.

She hasn't heard her father shout in years. Last time he did, it was at her. When she asked if she could be a Huntress.

Either way, the meeting obviously went sour. General Ironwood left with a grim expression, and Winter looked absolutely livid.

Weiss had made sure that she was nowhere near her father for the rest of the evening, lest he find a new target for his ire and possibly somehow find a way to revoke her application to Beacon.

The other things that went wrong were minor things. Stubbing her toe on the bathroom door after she woke up, something that her Aura didn't protect her from due to being so unprepared and groggy. Sneezing so hard in the shower that she dropped the soap, on the same toe she stubbed, which also bypassed her Aura somehow. Dealing with her brother's snide and smug attitude. Realizing her hair wasn't brushed long after the airship took off for Beacon, and then proceeding to spend a few minutes to deal with that.

And of course, running into that that dumb klutz of a girl with the red cape, and her smug, scowling affiliate.

Upon further rumination as she walked around the grounds of Beacon for a short detour to take in the sights, she of course realized that they weren't that bad. It 'was' an accident. But that didn't change the fact that she didn't like them. Much.

'Still, at least I'm here now.' She mused to herself, smirking confidently as she walks through one of Beacon's little side gardens. She would walk around for a few more minutes before heading for the auditorium. She had plenty of time.

She paused for a moment when she noticed that the small garden, comparable to a miniature park, had a rather large fish pond. And there was someone kneeling in front of it.

As she walked closer, she felt her breath get taken away.

Kneeling in front of the pond was a knight.

There was no other way to describe the youth who knelt there but as a knight. A handsome, serene looking knight.

The perfect knight.

His armor was a very deep and dark shade of purple. It looked incredibly sturdy and high quality, with spiked boots and gauntlets, and sharp claws on the fingertips.

And yet despite the menacing armor, the face of the boy wearing it contrasted greatly.

He was the most handsome boy Weiss had ever laid eyes on. A perfect, chiseled jawline. Firm, yet delicate eyebrows. His medium length hair was a beautiful shade of violet, combed back in some sort of spiky mullet.

His lips were in a thin, flat line. Neither a smile, nor a frown. His eyes were shut, and had dark rings under them, possibly from a lack of sleep. Or maybe eyeshadow.

He was kneeling in front of the pond, one hand forming a fist on the ground, the other arm crossed over his chest.

It looked like he was praying.

Weiss shook her head quickly and lightly slapped her rosy cheeks. 'W-what's gotten into me? He's handsome, sure, but he's not… that special… but he's so.. ugh, snap out of it!'

"Are you alright milady?"

The heiress froze when she realizes that the knight was looking straight at her.

His eyes were an icy blue. Just like hers.

"Y-y-yes! I am perfectly fine, thank you!" She exclaims, a little more loudly than she intended, before clearing her throat and smoothening out her dress she does her best to look presentable.

"If you say so." He nods, briefly flashing a small, tired smile as he stood up slowly, his armor creaking. "I apologize if I am getting in the way of your enjoyment of the garden. I will be on my way."

"N-no no! I should apologize for intruding on your prayers!" She yelped a little, taking a step closer. "We can enjoy the garden together, before heading to the auditorium!"

What's gotten into her? She's never.. felt like this before. It was almost unusual. There was a strange allure to the boy, an almost supernatural one. His features were too fine, too well sculpted.

There's an odd, almost sad look on the knight's face before he nods with a small smile. "If that is what you wish, milady. Might I have your name?"

Weiss nods, cheeks red as she puts a hand on her chest, smiling with pride. "My name is Weiss Schnee. Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company."

"I am Lancelot du Loc." He nods, before gesturing to the rest of the garden. "Shall we?"

"Y-yes, we shall."

"W-wow… there's.. a lot more people here than I expected…" Ruby murmurs as she looks around the massive auditorium.

Teenagers filled the entire room up, all crowding around in small groups and talking to each other.

"Yeah… it's a little intimidating…" The blonde teen from before voices his agreement as he follows after her.

A new friend! His name was Jaune Arc, and he was… just as awkward as she was. And a bit noodley looking.

But he had a pretty cool weapon. It was a classic sword and shield combo too!

"If you think this is intimidating, I can't imagine how you'll react to a Grimm." Shirou huffs beside her, his eyes scanning the crowd before seemingly locking onto something. "I need to go. Found my… ugh.. friend…"

"Ooh, where? Where? I wanna see what your friend looks like!" Ruby chirps, bouncing a little as she tries to follow his line of sight.

She ends up spying a single teenager leaning up against a wall lazily, the other student hopefuls giving him a wide berth.

For a good reason, he was completely covered in gnarly looking tattoos. The dark red ink of the markings mixed with his dark skin tone made him look rather… menacing, especially with how he just smirked at anyone who even glanced at him.

Add that with the fact that he was wearing nothing but a ragged red cloth of some kind that wrapped around his waist and went down to his ankles, a red bandanna holding up his spiky black hair and red bandage-like arm bands of a similar looking material, and you have yourself one mean looking teenager.

"….i-is that him?" Ruby meekly points at the distant, tattooed teenager.

"That's him." Shirou nods with exasperation, sighing.

"He's covered in tattoos."

"That he is."

"He's shirtless."

"He is."

Ruby stared up at Shirou nervously. "He… kinda looks scary."

"He's more bark than bite. But you shouldn't underestimate him either. I'd wager he's probably one of the most dangerous people in this entire room." The ebony skinned gunslinger grimaces, narrowing his eyes. "As much as I hate to say it, he's a bit tougher than I am right now."

"With ink like that, he definitely looks tough…" Jaune murmurs as he stares at the tattooed teen by the wall. "He gives me the creeps."

"Well, you're lucky you don't deal with him every damn day then." Shirou grunts, before he starts to walk towards his 'friend'. "I'll see you both later I guess."

"S-see you." Ruby nods, waving lightly at him.

She and Jaune stood there in silence for a few moments as they watched Shirou walk over to the tattooed teen, before Shirou proceeded to slap him upside the head as the two suddenly start to bicker about something.

"They sure don't look like friends…" Jaune murmurs, before turning to look at Ruby. "So, what now-"

"Oh, there's my sister! YANG! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME!? BETRAYER!"

With that loud exclamation, Ruby zipped off, her arms flailing as the proceeds to tackle her blonde sister a few dozen feet away, almost knocking her to the ground.

Jaune stares after Ruby, idly noting the falling and disintegrating rose petals left in her wake, before he sighs and slumps, starting to walk off in a random direction. "….great… alone again. What are the odds of me finding another cute, quirky girl now-oof!"

Only for him to walk right into another person.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" The person, who turned out to be another girl, exclaimed as she looked at him with a pair of the greenest eyes he's ever seen, and hair that was long and a shade of red more intense than Ruby's hood.

Jaune was momentarily stunned.

She looked incredibly elegant, like a princess…

…at least her face did. Everything below her neck screamed warrior.

She was wearing bronze armor that left her shoulders and upper thighs bare, with long gloves and armored greaves of a similar design. The armor left a surprising amount of her body to be revealed, and what he could see was that she was built like an amazoness.

She wasn't overly muscular, but she was definitely fit enough that she could probably snap him in half with a hug. Her partially visible abs alone looked like they could probably break his fist if he tried to punch them.

The blonde boy blinked in surprise for a few seconds, his wide blue eyes briefly scanning her appearance. She looked familiar. Almost like…

"Holy crud…"

The girl grimaced, her brow furrowed, as if expecting the worst. "O-oh… I should-"

"You look like that girl on the back of Pumpkin Pete's cereal boxes!"

She blinked, her expression going blank. "Pardon?"

Jaune chuckled sheepishly, scratching his cheek a little. "S-sorry. Didn't mean to blurt that out. I just really like Pumpkin Pete's cereal and your outfit reminds me of this girl I keep seeing on the back of the box. Like, some pro athlete or something. You even have the same red hair, so I just felt a little giddy. Sorry if I weirded you out."

The redheaded amazoness stared at him for a few seconds before a small smile bloomed on her face as she nods. "It is completely alright. I get that all the time. What's your name?"

"Oh, the name's Jaune. Jaune Arc." He grins, lightly dusting off some imaginary dirt off his chest plate. "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it~"

"Do we now?" She raises a brow, smiling wryly.

"W-well… my mom says they do?" Jaune deflates a little, chuckling. The redhead giggles a little before giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Well, she sounds like a wise woman. My name is Pyrrha, it is nice to meet you Jaune."

The two smiled at each other, and a budding friendship was formed.

"You're shitting me."

"I wish I was. His name is actually Jaune Arc."

"Huh… if that ain't the mother of all coincidences. Small world eh?"

Shirou grunts as he rests his back against the wall behind him, standing beside Angra Mainyu.

When the blonde boy introduced himself, he had to take a second to steel his expression to prevent showing any outward shock.

A completely different world, or at least completely different version of Earth, and yet a name like 'Jaune Arc'. If that wasn't a foreboding prophecy to the fate that awaits the boy, he didn't know what was.

Still, unlike his namesake, he didn't act anything like he would have expected. He was incredibly friendly, sure, but he seemed… a little dim. There wasn't an aura of divine grace around him. Hell, he didn't look like he had ANY Aura at all either.

He didn't feel like a Saint.

He also seemed ill prepared. From what he could make out, the boy was very lanky. Barely any sign of any muscle tone one would associate with the body of someone who has spent years training to enter a school like this.

What was most telling was his weapon.

Crocea Mors. An incredibly impressive sword and shield combo, with the shield being able to fold and compress itself to become a sheath. It wasn't the flashiest weapon, not when compared to most of the other weapons he's scanned lately, but it seemed to be nigh indestructible, and had a long, long, LONG history of combat and had many wielders, all of which were part of the Arc family.

Jaune was the latest wielder, but he could tell that the weapon had seen absolutely no combat while in his hands.

'Maybe he was raised with training weapons and only recently was allowed to wield it?' Shirou mused, before shaking his head.

It didn't matter. Ruby was one thing, but he wasn't going to befriend another child here. The only reason he befriended Ruby was because they were on the same wavelength.

If somebody like her existed back in Fuyuki-

"I see you two have not killed each other yet."

He's snapped out of his thoughts when Cursed Arm approaches, people giving his hooded form a wide berth. A number of people seemed to be panicking a little and approaching nearby teachers, but the teachers all just seem to shake their heads and utter a few words of assurances, calming them down a little.

"And I see you predictably cause a ruckus with that mask. Ever thought of giving it a paint job to make it look less creepy?" Angra Mainyu grins cheekily, prompting a huff from the Assassin.

"Desecrate my culture in such a way? I would sooner cut off a finger."

"I have absolutely no doubt you would do that." Shirou mutters, before glancing behind Cursed Arm. There was a girl with him, one that matched his description of the one that managed to get the drop on him, albeit briefly. Yellow eyes, black hair, and a bow on her head.

Blake Belladonna.

The girl seemed to be scanning the three of them, seemingly evaluating how much of a threat they were. "So these are your… friends?"

"More along the lines of associates." Cursed Arm nods. "Is your curiosity satisfied now, Belladonna?"

"I'm a bit more concerned now considering they look almost as suspicious as you do."

"What, suspicious, me? Now why would you think such a thing?" Angra Mainyu laughs, splaying his arms out. "I'm completely harmless!"

"Forgive me if I find doubt in hearing that from someone who associates with him." Blake huffs, jutting her head towards the Assassin, who simply lets out a deep chuckle. "I'm going to assume you both know who I am, and what he did."

Shirou nods at that, while the Avenger beside him simply widens his grin.

"And you aren't bothered by that?"

"We all have a checkered past. If we were bothered by what he did, we'd probably kill him ourselves." Shirou grunts, shaking his head.

"You could try." The Hashashin mutters not-too-quietly.

Blake stared at the three dark skinned teens in front of her, utterly puzzled.

"How on earth did people like you three end up here..?" She murmurs. She could tell from the looks in the other two teens' eyes that they were just like Hassan.

Murderers.

They'd killed before, and they wouldn't hesitate to do it again. She's seen that look in many White Fang soldiers' eyes.

In Adam's eyes. Before he put on that mask and made it his face.

"We were given a… deal from Ozpin. It's none of your business, but for him to keep up his end of it, we have to be protectors of humanity." The yellow eyed teen with white hair sighed, before staring at her with jaded, and stern eyes. "You don't need to be concerned by our presence, you'll only distract yourself. Like it or not, we'll all be classmates for the next few years so might as well bury whatever misgivings you have and deal with it."

Blake narrowed her eyes, before giving the smallest of nods.

"There you three are." A strong, yet graceful male voice called out. Blake turned to find probably one of the prettiest looking men she's ever seen walking towards them, wearing a full set of dark purple armor. He briefly waved behind him at… the Schnee heiress, small world, before continuing to approach as the white haired girl watches him go with suspiciously red cheeks.

Of course the Schnee would go ga-ga for the knight type. Typical.

"Lancelot. Did you have any troubles on your walk?" Hassan greeted the purple haired teen with a small nod.

"No, it was quite pleasant actually. I made a new acquaintance in Weiss Schnee. She's rather pleasant." The now named Lancelot smiles a little tiredly, before turning towards Blake. She stiffened a little, her instincts telling her to be wary.

Not because he was dangerous, but because she's seen this kind of person time and time again.

His armor, his general facial structure, the fact that he seemed to hit it off with the Schnee so quickly, he had to be from Atlas. His entire demeanor screamed Atlesian.

"You must be the one who managed to catch my teammate here off guard a few nights ago. Lady Belladonna, was it?" Lancelot smiles at her, holding out an armored hand. The claws on his gauntlet looked horrifyingly sharp, sharp enough to tear the flesh off of bones with a single swipe. "My name is Lancelot du Loc. Despite your negative first impression with him, I do hope my team and I can let bygones be bygones and build a working relationship, perhaps even a friendship if possible."

Blake stares at his hand for a few moments before looking up at him. "Why?"

The purple haired teen blinks in confusion. "Why what?"

"You know what I am, don't you?"

"What you are?" Lancelot scrunches up his brow in confusion before realization dawns on his face. "Oh you mean a Faun-"

"Yes, that. You're from Atlas. Why aren't you…" She trails off, raising her hands a little. "…well… acting like one?"

"…you mean racist?"

"...yes, that."

"I am above such things, Lady Belladonna. Honestly, the racism you Faunus receive is completely ridiculous." He sighs, shaking his head before flashing another tired, yet charming smile. "You are all people just like humans are. There is no reason your people should suffer in such a way."

Blake stared at him for a few seconds, a little floored.

She was well aware that not 'all' of Atlas was racist. But…

…a very, very large majority of the Kingdom was the source of most Faunus racism. She's heard the horror stories from various Faunus refugees who had to escape from Atlas simply because the discrimination from the populace was far too great for them to bear.

It was especially prevalent in the richer families, or the families that have a history with raising their members to join the Atlesian military or to become Huntsmen.

But Lancelot here seemed…

…decent. It was honestly something that gave her some hope for a better future.

"…how on earth are you friends with him?" She couldn't help but ask as she pointed to Hassan.

Lancelot let out a small chuckle, before shrugging his armored shoulders. "I ask myself that sometimes… but to be honest, I do not think I can picture myself fighting alongside any others at this point in my life. Despite their faults, I trust my team."

The other three members seemed pensive all of a sudden, with the tattooed one and the white haired one visibly blinking in surprise before looking a little guilty for some reason.

"…yeah, what he says." The heavily tattooed teen leaning against the wall says before grinning a little and striding up to Lancelot, looping an arm around his shoulders. "The three of you are assholes, but you're my assholes."

"And you just ruined it, excellent." Hassan grunts, shaking his head.

Blake stared at the quartet of… mismatched boys, with a now relaxed gait.

There was no threat here.

Not right now.

After a rather… somber speech from Ozpin, the students all began to settle down and pull out their sleeping bags and changed into their sleeping clothes. A large majority of the male student hopefuls all ended up bare chested, engaging in the ever traditional mating ritual of all male teenagers by flexing their muscles and winking at girls.

The amount of girls who actually reciprocated was rather staggering.

"You would think that being future warriors who will hunt Grimm, they would spend the night resting instead of engaging in this juvenile behavior." Hassan huffs as he leans up against a wall closer to a window, his cloak shrouding his entire body now like a blanket. He looked surprisingly comfy.

"I mean, yeah, but they're also teenagers so…" Angra Mainyu shrugs, grinning cheekily.

After Blake had left them halfway through Ozpin's speech, the four of them sequestered themselves over to an empty spot in the auditorium near one of the large windows.

They didn't have to sleep here for the night, they had their own dorm room already after all. But they might as well if only to help scope out other students.

Lancelot was busying himself with finding a comfortable position to sit against the wall in as his armor shifts and scrapes against the surface, while Shirou simply sat down without a fuss.

The four of them looked like an odd quartet for sure.

"Hey there!" A bubbly voice exclaims, immediately catching Lancelot's attention as a familiar violet eyed blonde drags her little sister over. "Oh hey Lance, didn't expect to see you hanging with my lil' sister's boyfriend!"

"H-he's NOT my boyfriend Yang! W-wait, isn't that the guy who helped you in that barfight?" Ruby quickly cuts herself off from her embarrassed squeal as she changes the subject, staring at Lancelot. "Shirou, you know him?"

"We're all… acquaintances. I'm guessing this is your sister then." Shirou sighs as he looks up at Yang, who gives him a once-over before grinning.

"Mhm, that's me. Yang Xiao Long. And I gotta say... Not bad sis, I approve."

"Again Yang, he's just my friend!" Ruby grumbles, before she looks at the rest of Shirou's team. "So… erm, hi? I'm Ruby Rose… erm, nice to meet you all…?"

"A pleasure to meet you once more Miss Rose. I am Lancelot du Loc." The purple haired Berserker smiles and nods.

Angra Mainyu snorts, grinning toothily. "Chill, red, we're not gonna bite. Name's Angra Mainyu, call me the thorn in Emiya's side."

"An unfortunately accurate description." Shirou grumbles, while Yang walks a little closer and lets her eyes roam all over the Avenger's body.

"Damn dude… getting all those tats must NOT have been a comfy experience."

"Trust me, it wasn't." Angra Mainyu's grin turns just a little darker. Oh no it wasn't. Not even close.

"Still, they look dope. You're probably the scariest guy in the entire auditorium right now!" The blonde chuckles, before her grin falters just the tiniest bit as she glances at Hassan. "Second to skullface over there I guess… erm, just to be sure, you're not like, White Fang, are you?"

"I have the oddest feeling I will be repeating this many times throughout the year, but no. I am not a member of the White Fang. Nor am I even a Faunus. This mask is simply part of my culture." Hassan huffs, almost petulantly.

"Your culture?" Ruby chimes in, curious now as she steps a little closer to the slouched Assassin. "So.. you mean there's a lot more people who also wear masks like that?"

"There were. Not anymore."

The mood immediately dropped upon the uttering of that reply, causing Ruby to frown sadly, her eyes widening a little. "O-oh.. o-oh no, I'm so sorry-"

"It is of no consequence." The skull masked teen shakes his head, before turning to look right at Ruby, his mask tilted upward a little. "You have nothing to apologize for. It is simply the way things are. Which is why I am here, to not only become a Huntsman, but to revive my people and their culture one day."

"Pretty cool reason to join Beacon if you ask me. You look creepy as hell but you sound like a pretty alright guy." Yang chirps, grinning before glancing at Lancelot. "You've got some pretty interesting and weird friends here Lance."

"It certainly stops the days from becoming boring." The Berserker chuckles, shaking his head. "It sounds like the same could be said for you and your sister."

"Not a day goes by without her making it more exciting, one way or another, for better or worse." Yang winks, before receiving a light punch to her arm from Ruby.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Nothing, just that every day is an adventure with you, my adorable and weird little sister!"

"I'm not adorable or weird! I'm fierce! And… and pretty average! With average and normal knees!"

"Seriously, what's up with the knees thing, you've been saying that all day-"

"Do you people mind!?" An irate Weiss Schnee suddenly marched over, growling, wearing a nightgown and a fierce scowl. "SOME of us are trying to slee-o-oh hello Lancelot, fancy meeting you here!"

A fierce scowl that completely evaporated as soon as she laid eyes on the resident Berserker.

"Ah, Lady Schnee, good evening." Lancelot smiles politely.

"Oh, friend of yours Lance?" Yang smoothly steps around her sister and towards Weiss, eyeing her a little while Weiss narrows her eyes at the familiar tone the blonde took with the knight.

There was a sudden tension in the air as the two girls seem to square up, sizing each other up as Lancelot suddenly turns a little pale, recognizing what was happening.

He turns his head to Shirou only to find the boy a good three or so feet further along the wall, in the middle of conversing with Ruby.

He then turns to his left to find Hassan to be nowhere in sight, and Angra Mainyu currently scooting away quietly with the cheekiest of grins.

Leaving him with a possible conflict on his hands.

Damn it, he didn't even have the Charisma skill, how was this happening!?

Meanwhile, in Patch.

Taiyang Xiao Long was having a good, if slightly stressful night.

His daughters, BOTH of them, had long since arrived at Beacon Academy, the very same place he and their mothers attended, to become Huntresses.

To say he was shocked when he found out that Ruby was given a chance to basically skip a grade or two and head straight for Beacon's entrance exam, all thanks to Ozpin noticing her skills when she interrupted a robbery led by Roman bloody Torchwick, would be an understatement. It made him wonder why Ozpin would do such a thing.

Maybe he saw something in Ruby that he thought would lead to great things for the future.

Maybe it was sentimentality, a spur of the moment action brought upon by his guilt for what happened to Summer. Because lord knows that out of everyone he knew, Ozpin was probably the third guiltiest feeling about the entire event. Second only to Qrow.

Maybe Ozpin was finally going senile. The man didn't look it, but he was old. Older than one would expect.

Hell, now that he thinks about it, Ozpin's actual age wasn't public knowledge. Huh.

Eitherway, by now, his two baby girls were sleeping at Beacon, just like he did, and were resting up for the entrance exam.

"I wonder what Ozpin's theme for the relics in the Emerald Forest is this time..." Taiyang mumbles as he finishes washing the dishes. It was a solo dinner tonight, so he made himself a simple meal consisting of pizza delivery.

A knock on the door made his eyes narrow.

Who the hell would visit him at this time of night?

It wouldn't be Qrow. Asshole never even bothers knocking, he just lets himself in, either by unlocking a door with his spare key, or by turning into a bloody bird and swooping in through the chimney.

Nearly gave him a stroke the first time he did that.

Taiyang dries his hands off and squares his shoulders, putting on his calmest, friendliest smile as he walks towards his front door and opens it up. "Can I help you?"

"Ah, yes, you could. Do you happen to have a map?" An incredibly cultured voice replied.

Taiyang blinked as he took in the appearance of the person in front of him. It was a man, about his age perhaps, maybe a little younger. He was tall and thin, with slicked back hair that was such a dark shade of blue that it could have been black in the right light. A single strand of his hair hung down in front of his forehead. His face was narrow and his features all told him of perhaps Atlesian descent.

He wore neatly tailored white dress shirt and dark trousers under some sort of… brass corset? He couldn't tell properly because he wore those under a thick and rather frayed looking trench coat with shoulder capes of some sort. In fact, the coat seemed to split into different flaps at the bottom half, with each flap being connected by leather straps forming lattices between each flap. In his right hand, he held an expensive but elegant looking walking cane, which was most definitely a weapon as well, and in his left, a smoking pipe.

Taiyang was immediately suspicious at the man's appearance. He looked well dressed, WAY too well dressed.

His suspicions died when he noticed a small figure trying to hide behind the man's back.

It was a girl, a small one, probably in her early teens, possibly even younger.

She had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes that currently stared at him nervously. The girl was dressed in a deep purple, almost black puffy dress with long frilled sleeves that almost completely hid her hands from view. The dress almost made her look like a jellyfish with how puffy it was in the lower areas. Under that she seemed to be wearing puffy bloomers that looked a lot longer than usual ones since they reached her knees, and Mary Jane shoes on her feet.

She also had a little top hat on her head, and the parental side of Taiyang wanted to just coo at how dapper she looked.

She was currently hiding behind the man's back, while hugging a battered looking orange teddy bear to her chest.

"Erm, sorry, did you say a map?" Taiyang blinks, looking back up at the man, who was eyeing him with a calm, but calculative eye.

"Yes, quite. I am afraid the two of us are rather lost and are lacking any form of communication devices, so I thought we'd ask for directions from a local. We have been wandering through the forest for quite a while." The gentlemanly looking stranger explains, moving to take a puff from his smoking pipe, only for nothing to come out, causing him to sigh a little.

It wasn't lit? Seems he must have ran out of tobacco.

"You two were wandering through the forest? Are you both alright?" Taiyang asked with concern lacing his voice. "You have a child with you too, wandering through that forest at this time of night is incredibly dangerous. You're lucky I live out here, there isn't another house for quite a while… did you get attacked by Grimm?"

"Grimm you say?" The man hums, his eyebrows raising. "Yes, quite. Those monsters were quite a nuisance but I managed to dispatch them quite easily."

"I… see… well, you both might as well come in. I'll show you a map, and you can rest here for the night." Taiyang decides, smiling warmly as he takes a step back and gestures to the inside of his house.

"Are you sure? We wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense, there's no way I'm letting you both have to trek all the way to town at this time of night." The blonde man chuckles, shaking his head.

The blue haired man hums, tilting his head a little as he scrutinizes Taiyang. It almost felt like the man was trying to unravel him just from a single glance.

After a moment, the man smiles a little and nods. "In that case, we will happily accept. Are you in favor of this decision, Miss Williams?"

The little girl hiding behind the man and her teddy bear stares at Taiyang for a few seconds.

Something felt off about her. There was an odd niggling in the back of Tai's skull. A strange pressure in his head. Something about the girl and her focused stare just… seemed…

Wrong.

The moment passes as she nods nervously before hiding back behind her teddy, holding it up a little as she makes it nod as well.

Blinking in confusion for a moment, Taiyang grins and takes a step back. "Well, in that case, let me welcome you to Patch. My name's Taiyang Xiao Long."

The blue haired man slowly steps past Tai, entering his house with a dramatic flutter of his coat, before he suddenly pulls his outer coat off in one swift flourish and then hangs it from the nearby coat hanger in a smooth, fluid motion. He then lifts his cane up and hangs it on the coat hanger, before smiling confidently.

"And I…. am Sherlock Holmes."

…

Taiyang stares at the oddly dramatic introduction with a blank stare. "…um…"

"And this is Miss Abigail Williams. My protégé of sorts." Holmes pats the now named Abigail on the head, prompting her cheeks to redden just a little as she gives a tiny wave with her teddy bear's right limb.

"...h-hello..."

"I.. see. It's nice to meet you, Mister Holmes, and you too little Miss Williams." Tai smiled politely again, though he was honestly at a loss for words. Despite his seemingly calm looking appearance, this Holmes guy looked like he had a flair for the dramatic.

Or possibly a few screws loose.

It reminded him of Barty in a weird way.

With that though, Taiyang leads them to the living room so he can get them some refreshments. They were probably exhausted, and thirsty.

"So, Holmes, what do you do for a living?"

"Why, my dear Xiao Long, I am a Private Eye."

Somehow, Taiyang didn't doubt that for a minute.

Whew. Finally. There's your Ruler. Its the greatest detective. And bonus, Abby's with him! Yay!

Bet you weren't expecting to see them so soon. Well, enjoy it, cuz you won't see them again.

For a long while.

I wasn't gonna include that last part but a part of my brain, which may have been the whispers of Yog Sothoth himself, kept going "Dew it. Dew it now."

Hope this was worth the wait guys. I'm not gonna lie, writing this chapter was difficult. I just couldn't find the motivation or moxy for this chapter, but now that its done, hopefully the next one will flow smoother! Next chapter will involve the orientation!

Now, to answer just a few questions that may have been asked.

How is it that Gudako summoned Ivan if she is still in Babylon?

Simple, I answered this already. Loopholes. Fanfic loopholes. I rationalize that she summoned him the same way some people summon certain story locked Servants in FGO before even reaching the chapter they're in, because of events.

Think of it as Gudako managing to summon Ivan cuz of a Rate Up Gacha.

If you want a lore answer though, you'll have to wait until we get to dive into Ivan some more. Which won't be for a while.

Second, does the character progression seem a little shallow? Probably. But only cuz of my relative skill in writing. I'm not the best at being super complex about character development, but damn it, I'm doing my best so whoopee!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I can say with complete certainty that while I'm sure some of you have made very good guesses to some of the other Servants despite being given no evidence or hints to them...

None of you will be able to guess the Caster.

Absolutely none of you.

I guarantee it. If you do, then... I dunno, shoutout to you when Caster shows up I guess.

Not cuz the Caster is impossibly strong or anything, but because its the last Caster you'd expect. Muahahaha, got your attention now didn't I?

Onto FGO news!

So, the past few events in FGO have been... fruitful I guess. Kenshin Uesugi is a great unit, and she marks the second wellfare Servant I've managed to get to NP5!

She's also bloody scary. Those facial expressions get downright Danganronpa worthy.

Couldn't get my hands on Avenger Nobunaga but I did get to NP5 Mori Nagayoshi. So that's awesome. He is the most literal embodiment of a glass cannon I've seen in FGO thus far.

The latest FGO Fes came and went, and I walked away from it with a bunch of wasted SQ I got from login bonuses that I tried to use a day or two ago to try and summon Hessian Lobo (I failed btw, that's like 120+SQ, poof gone, and no Lobo in sight), and I managed to get Kama from the Guaranteed SSR Servant gacha.

While I was hoping for a Berserker, preferably MHXA, I sure as hell ain't complaining about getting Kama. I've been needing an Alter Ego slayer. If I can slap her into a team with Sima Yi and make sure Sima Yi's NP is ready for use as soon as the battle begins...

Boom, that's one dead ass Alter Ego. Watch out Ashiya Douman, your days are numbered when you finally become a boss fight!

Not gonna use the new 'Special Ascension' feature on her yet though. Gonna wait until its close to the end of the time limit given to use the one-time option to instantly Max Ascend any Servant. If I don't have any new 5 Star units by then, I'll use it on Kama.

Kinda means I can't use her for a long while but eh... despite how 'okay' I am with summoning her, Assassins are the last Servants I'm in need of. I have a LOT of those.

Anyway, no promises on how soon the next chapter will be. Hopefully before Christmas? Maybe? Same goes for Misericordia.

Also, this story has a TVtropes page.

Forgot if I mentioned this before, but knowing that still makes me SO damn happy. I couldn't stop smiling when I found out this story had a page on TVtropes.

Whoever made it, from the bottom of my heart... thank you.

I'm really happy that there's people who enjoy this story that much.

Anyway, enough being sappy, see you all next time!