A/N: It's finally March. Even though it's the shortest month, February seemed to last forever to me, but I digress. The beginning of the new month includes the beginning of a new volume. The first chapter of volume six is here.

The kingdom of Atlas, a truly marvelous display of human ingenuity. The kingdom built in the northern continent of Solitas was a large city landscape with skyscrapers, highways, and very advanced technology, which the kingdom was known for. Much of the kingdom's success lies with many different factors; the harsh, frozen environment keeping the Grimm at bay, the kingdom's enormous military might, government, and Huntsman Academy were all combined into one entity, and the other contributing factor are the various noble households that has kept Atlas financially ahead of the game as well. The city is full of aristocrats whose families played a part in the kingdom's growth, but none quite as pivotal as the Schnee family. Despite all the glitz and glamour, there are many citizens in Atlas who don't live in the lap of luxury. The kingdom's center may have had wealthy individuals, but many on the outskirts of Atlas, and many of the other settlements in the continent were very poor, which is overlooked by Atlesian higher-ups and mocked by the wealthier citizens.

Of the many noble families in Atlas, there was one that was known as the most peculiar family in all of Atlas. Living on the outskirts of Atlas in a vividly colored mansion was the Underland family, a family of aristocrats that provide various services in Atlas. The Underland family seemed eccentric to others, but only the members of the family know what it's truly like to be a member of the family. One of those members was the leader of Team VRSZ, Violet Tulipe. Forced back into her old home, Violet had to deal with her insane family and whatever plans they had for her, especially her father. She had no hopes of escaping a second time, but she was prepared to fight her father every step of the way. However, what she witnessed in her home was something she wasn't prepared for.

Setting: Underland Manor

Walking down the hallway to her father's study was Violet. She was wearing white buttoned shirt with a light blue, knitted, cardigan sweater, grey leggings, knitted purple scarf, and black tennis shoes. It wasn't her usual style, but it was all she had in this household, but she made due with what she had. Violet's attire aside, her usual side cut hairstyle was shaved off, reduced to a buzz cut. Her purple dyed hair was gone and the extremely short strands of her natural blond hair remained.

It's been about two weeks since Violet has been home and she had been on edge at first, but the feeling has died down now that she has seen what the Underland family has been reduced to. With everyone fighting to be the head of the family, a lot of people have died along the way which was no surprise to Violet. She was well aware of the insanity that flows through their veins. Now, only a small handful were left, which was startling because over thirty of them were living in the mansion when Violet left years ago. The battle for the throne was reaching its conclusion, a battle Violet wanted no part of.

Violet has been meeting with her father for the past three weeks and he tried to enforce his will upon her only to be met with adamant defiance. She entered her father's study. The room's floor and walls were made of wood which is odd because metal would be better in the cold. Beside both walls were bookcases filled with literature. There was a small coffee table and small sofa on the right side of the room. Against the wall at the end of the room was a large wooden desk and a chair where Violet's father was sitting in. On the other side of the desk was a chair for guest to sit in when they wanted to conduct business. Her father had his blue eyes dead set on Violet and she looked at her father with hatred. They stared at each other in silence until her father began their conversation.

"Aylssa."

"Tarax," Violet said with zero emotion and a deadpan stare.

"I am your father. You will not address me in such a disrespectful tone," Tarax said in a stern tone. "Now, if you are done being a defiant brat, let's continue with where we left off yesterday." Tarax went through documents on his computer to find what he wanted.

"…" Violet observed her father, seeing him as nothing more than a shell of his former self.

He was a man in his late forties, but he appeared to be in his fifties or sixties. He had short, pale blond hair and blues eyes. He wore a grey blazer and matching grey pants and black dress shoes. He also wore a dark green sweater shirt over a white dress shirt and he had on a yellow bow tie. He also sported several rings on his fingers and gold earrings to show his regal stature. Violet's father didn't seem to be healthy for a man his age. He was thinner and seemed more fragile than he was when Violet was a child. Violet noticed it the first time she met him after all these years, her father was getting weaker.

It didn't take long for Violet to realize how unfavorable the years have been to her father. Tarax L. Underland was the undisputed head of the family. His claim to the throne was recognized by all, making him untouchable in the battle for next in line, meaning Violet/Alyssa was the next best target. She was meant to be nothing more than his pawn to gain more power, not even a daughter, but the attempts on her life and his negligence was what drove her to abandon her family and her birth name. And without Violet, his grip on head of the household was loosening. He had no other children, no heir to sink his fangs into, so the other Underlands began to ignore him and fight each other to be the next head. Tarax became nothing more than a figure head, no power within the manor. They left him alive so he could witness who would surpass him and cast him aside.

"Ah, here it is. Ebony Vantablack sent me information about your life after you had the gall to leave my side. You've made quite a name for yourself, Alyssa, or should I call you Violet Tulipe? An absurd name. Don't know why how you came up with such a thing, but it's in the past now."

"Wanna bet?" Violet challenged her father.

"Quiet child. I still have the power to keep you tethered to this place. You will not escape like the last time and you won't be going far without my assistance. With your return, you are next in line to be Underland's head, and this means your cousins will try to eliminate you," Tarax answered.

"They can have it. I have no desire to lead this insane asylum full of nut-jobs," Violet declared.

"I don't give a damn if you don't want the title, you'll take it and the responsibilities so I can further our family's foothold in Atlas with you."

"Hmm… figured as much. That's all you want; power. It's the only reason you want me here and it's the same thing that drove mom to her grave," Violet said with a low tone.

"You and your mother are no different. Iris was just a vessel to bear my child and you were just a pawn, nothing more," Tarax admitted.

This was not new to Violet. She was aware of how her father felt ever since she was a child, but it was another thing to hear him actually say it. She felt a massive pit in her stomach after she heard him say what she already knew. Throughout her few weeks of being back in Underland Manor, it was at this moment she wanted to leave the most and return to her life in Vacuo. Violet hated being in her father's presence and her rage was burning today.

Without his consent, she got up and walked out of his study, only to see a dozen members of the castle guard stationed at the door with swords and spears. Even without her Enigmas, Violet could fight them barehanded and defeat them all, but that would bring even more guards would show up and she knew she couldn't beat them all. Taking a deep breath, Violet turned back around and sat in her seat, waiting for her father to finish what he needed to say so she could leave. She figured whatever he needed to talk about was very insignificant.

"Now then, you are of proper age. Let's talk about the prospect of marriage and your possible spouses," Tarax stated.

"Dammit," Violet cursed, thinking fighting the entire castle guard was better than this.

"None of that foul language. You have to be presentable to your future partners. Speaking of, here is a recommend a high-profile prospect in Atlas. I'm sure you are aware of the Schnee Dust Company and the Shcnee family, correct?"

The last thing Violet remembered about the Schnees was the fact the father had a daughter who was named the heiress of the company. She wondered if her father was going to marry her off to another girl.

"They only have one son and he is their youngest child. He is much younger than you, but you'll make do if it means we can have a stake in the largest company in Atlas. Here's a picture of the lad. I believe his name is Whitley," Tarax said as he positioned his computer screen so Violet could see.

Violet looked at an image of Whitley Schnee and was immediately disgusted. Not only did she find him repulsive, but the idea that her father would marry her to a child made her feel like vomiting.

"Absolutely not," Violet declared.

"We'll put a pin on that one and show you all the others," Tarax said while bring up more options for Violet.

It didn't matter who Tarax brought up or how wealthy they were, Violet was adamant about refusing an arranged marriage. She declined every offer her father presented and he was getting vexed with her defiance. Tarax sighed and brought up something else on his computer.

"Then who do you wish to marry? Perhaps one of your associates from your renegade second life? Let's see here," Tarax stated.

He brought up the files Ebony gave him when she first arrived to the manor. Violet was unaware of this exchange of information, but realized it was a possibility. Bringing Violet here and giving her father information about Team VRSZ were things Ebony would do, despite what little Violet knew about her. What she could deduce just from the fact that Ebony hand delivered her back to her family made Ebony an enemy, at least in Violet's book. Blood was an anomaly. He was a friend, but now works for Ebony. Violet couldn't discern their relationship. She had to meet with him again and get a clear answer about his goals.

"Silvester Synch," Tarax said which snapped Violet out of her thought process. "A boy that was formerly a member of the infamous Greyhounds. Hailing from Atlas or more likely one of the lesser settlements, he's of common birth, perhaps even a bastard child. No real power in his name, a nobody. He's worthless to me."

Violet didn't like her father berating Silver. He judged her friend with such disdain in his voice as if he knew everything about her friend. Silver was a character and Violet could sing a few bars about him, but her father had no right to insult him.

"Next is Zelts Allister. He's already not another candidate for your hand. No record of birth parents or where his is from. How does he even know Allister is his real last name. All that's here is information about an underground fighting ring. Who cares? Forget what I said about the other fellow, your other friend was a better suitor. Zelts is just a pity case. He's less than nothing."

Violet was clenching her fists, doing her best to keep her emotions under wraps. Her father read the tragic story of Zelts's childhood and spat in it. Knowing the sorrow and grief Never-End brought to her dear friend, Violet fought really hard not to defend Zelts. Striking her father would do nothing but cause the castle guard to storm the room and subdue her. Violet just had to hold her tongue as she waited for her father to insult her last boy.

"And lastly, Remus Cobalt. Hmm… actually, he's the most presentable of the lot," Tarax said, surprising Violet greatly. "The Cobalts are a well-known family. Their reputation in the Great War precedes them and having connections with a line of fine warriors is good for us. Though, it seems your friend is last member of that line. ...If anything, he'll make for a rare and exotic spouse. What do you think of him, Alyssa?"

Violet didn't know what to think. This entire topic was ludicrous and making her incredibly uncomfortable. She never had the desire to marry anyone, now her father was forcing this on her, and what made it even more awkward was the idea of her father picking a suitor from her own team. There was only so much Violet could handle and she had reached her limit. She rose from her seat and walked to the door, though this time with a more tame body language.

"I wish to return to my hall. I have no desire to talk about this any further," Violet told her father.

"You'll be in this house for the rest of your days, Alyssa, and I'm a patient man. We can discuss this matter another time," Tarax said as he shooed his daughter away.

Violet exited her father's study and walked past the castle guards that protected him. She wondered if he assigned them to watch over her, as if her father was afraid of her breaking his chains. It reminded Violet how much her father desperately needed her if he wanted to be in charge. With the rest of the family ignoring him, it must have been hard, but Violet was glad it was difficult. She held no sympathy for her father, abandoning any feelings for him when she was a child.

Setting: Violet's Hall

The Underland Manor was a large mansion. It was meant for every family member to have a hall with several rooms meant for different purposes. Violet's hall had four rooms; a bedroom where Violet slept and got dressed, a bathroom, a dining room where she had meals, and a free room for whatever she wanted. Violet didn't know what to do with that room, so she ignored it and returned to the privacy of her bedroom.

Violet was glad the uncomfortable conversation with her father was over. It was one of the most awkward things she has ever had to do, especially when he mentioned marrying one of her boys and berating Silver and Zelts. That part was very infuriating, but it was eclipsed by how she felt afterwards. Violet noticed how she lit up from the mention of her teammates. Hearing their names after a few weeks apart was refreshing, even though they came from her father's lips. She thought it was wrong for her father to even utter their names, so unnatural. His condescension to her boys was unwarranted, unnecessary, not what she wanted to hear about her friends after so many days apart.

She looked at the only personal item in her room, Silver's old, destroyed gun, Ceasefire. It was completely useless reminded her of him. She reached into the pocket of her sweater and pulled out the other item in her possession; Remus's bionic eye. She received both items from Ebony and kept Remus's eye on her person at all times. Violet didn't want to lose it in case he wanted it back, but then she wondered if she'll ever see him again or if he was even alive.

With no word from them or hearing anything about them, Violet had no idea if they survived the destruction of Fortuna or if anyone else she cared for did. Despite staying strong in the face of her father, the unknown fate of her teammates was weighing heavily on Violet. She kept a firm grip on Remus's bionic eye.

"Silver, Zelts, Remus… please be alive. Please be safe, wherever you are."

Setting: Open Seas

It has been two weeks since the three members of Team VRSZ went out to sea in hopes of finding their leader and dear friend in Atlas. They were accompanied by Lily and Azura Cobalt. Travelling by ship with Kelvin Murphy as their captain, though with a much grander ship thanks to a run-in with pirates. The voyage was long, but several encounters with Grimm kept it interesting. The path to Atlas did show progress thanks to floating icebergs appearing more frequently as the ship pressed forward. Everyone could only wait until they reached the northern continent of Solitas.

Silver's usual place on the ship was the crow's nest. He sat there while fine tuning Fenrir as well as serving as the lookout. He said he would stay up there to alert everyone about anything that catches his eye, but the truth was he didn't want to hear anyone to make fun of his hair. The destruction of Fortuna meant the destruction of their home and their personal belongings, including Silver's hair gel which he uses to keep his black hair in its slick back style. Without his hair gel keeping his black hair tamed, it reverted back to its natural spiky style just like his streak of spiky silver hair. The others enjoyed comparing Silver to characters in animated shows, much to his displeasure. Silver wore the winter attire Remus bought before beginning their voyage. He sported a dark grey winter coat with a hood. The inside was lined with artificial fur and had small traces of fire dust weaved into it to keep the wearer warmer than an average jacket. His jacket had pockets on the chest and on the sides so Silver could carry extra ammo into battle. He also had black gloves and a pair of winter goggles on top of his head.

The others remained on the deck. Zelts and Lily stood side by side as they watched the beautiful scenery of the icy water. Zelts was looking at the water while Lily looked at Zelts's face. The facial hair on Zelts grew considerably since the end of Fortuna. He never had the time to trim his jaw beard so it grew in length and was fuller, giving Zelts a much more masculine look which almost seemed impossible to Lily, but she did like the new look.

Zelts wore a dark green, hooded jacket. His was a little bulkier than the others, but it was also weaved with fire dust on the inside for more warmth. He also had brown gloves for his hand and a strap to keep his Heart of Gold on his back. Lily had a brown long coat that reached to her knees with the same dust woven feature. Lily practiced training in this jacket to see if it would hinder her combat abilities or agility, but found that it didn't.

Azura and Remus were near the front of the ship with Remus staring in the direction the ship was sailing. Remus's attire consisted of a dark blue jacket with no hood. Instead, Remus had a small black scarf wrapped around his neck and chin, and he could lift it higher to cover his mouth and nose if need be. It was similar to the stretched collar of Violet's old shirt. Remus had his shoulder belt strapped around the jacket with the sheath holding Romulus and a small cloth wrapped around his head, covering the socket with his missing eye. He kept it closed all the time, but the cloth helped make sure his socket wouldn't get anything caught in it. Azura was the only one dressed in her normal attire, but the freezing cold didn't bother her. The dust circlets infused on her wrists and ankles glowed red with fire dust, keeping her body warm in the chilling climate. She had to mentally keep this up and she couldn't use any of the other four types of dust in her body, but that was the exchange she had to make to stay warm.

Azura stayed by his side because she preferred his company more than the others. She was warming up to Lily and Zelts, but Silver was a little skeptic of her which she couldn't blame him. Remus was the only blood relative she had left on Remnant and she was worried about him. Remus's personality took a striking turn after the destruction of Fortuna. It wasn't the loss of his home that changed him, it were the events that transpired during the tragedy, specifically, Blood betraying and attacking him and his team. The very concept of a friend's betrayal didn't fit in Remus's world and experiencing it changed something inside him. He was more stoic and his friends noticed he was more ruthless in the battles with Grimm. It concerned everyone, Zelts and Silver especially, and they hoped finding Violet would help bring him back to normal. However, they were concerned about what would happen if they came to Atlas all for nothing.

How would Remus react? It was a question with an unknown answer, but would to go unanswered because Kelvin stopped the ship. It was next to a mass of land covered in snow and ice.

"We're here," Kelvin told everyone.

The first to react was Silver. Putting his goggles over his eyes and placing Fenrir in their holsters, Silver used Gravity to jump high in the air and out of the crow's nest. He landed on solid ground for the first time in days and felt the cold winds of Solitas for the first time in years. Remus and Zelts walked up behind him with Lily and Azura standing beside them. Even though they had footwear, everyone could feel the difference between Solitas and Vacuo's desert. The landscapes were complete opposites and the feel of snow differed greatly from sand.

Silver had a smile on his face as he thought back to his childhood in this continent. He took a deep breath then exhaled with the cold making his breath visible.

"Yep, I still hate this place," Silver said with a grin.

I've already decided on Violet's second theme, but I'm withholding it for a later chapter. There are also two themes for the Underland family, but I'm withholding those as well until the others are introduced in the story.

The members of the Underland family are named after various flowers.

Violet's father is named Tarax L. Underland. Tarax comes from Taraxacum which is the name of a genus of flowers species commonly known as dandelions. His middle name is Leontodon which was the original Latin name of the dandelion (Leontodon Taraxacum). Leontodon is Greek for lion's tooth and the dandelion's leaves look similar to a lion's tooth. In Greek, the word Taraxis means disorder and dandelions represent disorder and remedy which is the opposite of Violet's real name, Alyssa, which means sanity. Tarax himself rules a disorderly family and tries to remedy that by making sure he always remains at the head of the pack. He is name and color scheme are after the dandelion.

Tarax is based on the King of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. The King of Hearts is more of a figure head with no real power because of the Queen of Hearts's tyrannical reign. Tarax is the same because no other family member in the house takes him seriously anymore and he's more of a figure head. He has some influential power in Atlas, but very little in his own home.

Tarax is a withered old man trying to remain in power and Violet is his golden goose to keep the reins on the rest of the family. His role for this volume is the main antagonist, but he'll be more the type to pull strings than do things himself. Even though he's the main antagonist, Tarax isn't the biggest threat in the Underland Manor.

The castle guard of Underland Manor are similar to the Red Queens card troops in Alice in Wonderland.

Around this time in VRSZ's story, it is around the middle of the winter season, so Zelts's birthday has already passed. He is now 21 years old since his birthday is in the fall season.

I know absolutely nothing about Atlas or the civilizations they have so any settlements I put in are just imaginative and not canon. The same could be said for Atlas and Mantle since I don't know what they truly look like. Any description is just me being creative. If I had to guess, the kingdom of Atlas looks like a futuristic New York City where it's winter all the time.