A/N: Apologies for the lateness, and thank you everyone, for those who've read, followed and favourited!

I had a bit of a minor issue near the end that basically killed writing for two weeks or so. Multiple plot-bunnies also spawned, two of them I'll probably post up to see if I could get them to work and to see reactions.

—

So, I just learned that Bandai Namco released an official Character Setting for Louis Amamiya and Mia Karnstein on 7th February 2020. These include their backgrounds and families.

Now, I've started writing this since long before that. Back in Vein 03 (published 1st November 2019), when I wrote with Mia's perspective, I've stated something along the lines of 'both herself and her brother did not remember their parents, even with their vestiges restored'. I don't think I'm going to retcon that, instead I'll be continuing to play with the idea that she no longer had any memories of their parents.

Vale 03 - Amber

Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale

11:47pm

Mia waited until Yakumo had left the infirmary before she sat back upstairs. She grabbed the collar of her Blood Veil that was draped over her back and pulled it over her as she stood and stretched. Wrapping it over an arm, she looked around the infirmary.

Shiva remained unconscious, her chest rising and falling as she slept and recovered. Not physically, as her body was declared healthy…as 'healthy' as a corpse could be. Ma'am Peach was stumped in caring for a body 'undergoing a perpetual state of necrosis' due to blood circulation, so she had simply instructed both Mia and Rin to routinely give their friend a massage therapy to keep her muscles from declining due to lack of use, treating her like any normal patient. And Mia did just that, after leaving her Veil aside on the bed-end table.

There was the other occupant in the room, Jaune Arc. Like Shiva, he was completely healthy, yet remained unconscious without any symptoms to show for it. There was enough brain activity to show that the boy was physically fine, breathing by himself and occasionally shifting his eyeballs under the lids as though he was dreaming. Ma'am Peach attended to him for the most part, with his team coming to help irregularly, though they were forbidden from doing anything intrusive.

Once Mia had completed the massage for Shiva, she gazed at her friend's visage and let her mind wander. The woman was practically her sister and it hurt that she could do nothing else to help her. Shiva cared for her much like the way she herself did for Nicola, giving her a sense of being wanted and security that she never knew she wanted, until she learnt of Carmilla's thoughts in her Vestige.

'Nicola… …!' She drew a deep breath in when she saw her brother lying on the bed, clothed in a patient robe and fitted with an oxygen mask. When she blinked after her breath, Shiva once again occupied the bed, unmoved and resting silently.

Thoughts of her brother gave her knots in her stomach. Unable to stand the sight any longer, Mia took her Veil and left the Recovery Ward.

Ma'am Peach was seated at her station, staring at the computer screen as she ate her lunch from a prepared box. The Professor turned to Mia as she exited the room. "Finally awake?" She commented, which Mia returned a nod to. "You should go and get your lunch before the crowd starts forming. All the transferred students coming in today will hog up the line if you don't hurry."

Mia shook her head. It was the wrong move to make because it made her nauseated. "I'll just be staying here. I don't need to eat."

"You should at least have something." Ma'am Peach ignored her words and took out a small package and slit it towards Mia. When she picked it up and read the label, she found that it was a pack of biscuits.

Mia sighed quietly. "Thank you." She bowed to the Ma'am, who waved her off, then made her way to the Waiting Room, taking a seat at the empty table. Even though she was given it, she did not feel like she could eat it. So she left the biscuits on the table and simply waited.

Rin should be coming soon, joining Mia and waiting until lunchtime was over. May told her yesterday that she might be swinging over with her team if she could get them away from the arcade. Mia appreciated their company, though with their—Mia and May only—latest outing just yesterday, she felt drained when they explored the sights of Vale.

Her Scroll vibrated in her Veil's pocket. When she pulled it up to answer the caller, the keychain attached on it clattered against the metal casing. Her eyes were drawn to the keychain, but one more rattle from her Scroll brought her eyes away from the trinket. When she saw that it was from Rin, she answered. "Hello, Rin?"

"Hey Mia. Sorry, did I wake you by accident?"

She might have sighed a little louder than she intended when she answered Rin. "No, I'm just exhausted." She missed her brother. "Are you coming over to the infirmary?"

"Not immediately. I don't know how it happened, but it seems that I've been coerced into going to the cafeteria by two transfer students."

So Rin was finally going out with students? That actually sounded great for the Armourer, which Mia voiced in a reply as such, because Rin seemed like the only person out of them that did not have company: Mia had BRNZ; Yakumo seemed to have taken to Professor Huntsmen; And Louis was spending time with the Headmaster. Rin had devoted herself to her craft since they arrived here. It would be good for her…

'Hold on…'Coerced?' Mia drew a deep breath. Was she forced against her will? Did she need help? Mia could not leave the infirmary and Shiva alone, so she would have to call someone else to help. Their tallest friend came to her mind first. "Do you need me to call Yakumo for help?"

Rin had hummed, as if she was considering. "I should be fine." She finally replied. "We're just going to the cafeteria for lunch. And they aren't really stopping me from leaving either."

That was…fine, Mia supposed? Thinking about it now, if Rin really had felt threatened, she could have easily overpowered the students and just leave. And lastly was the tone of her words, which sounded excited to Mia's hearing? "I understand." She suddenly recalled the memories of her first meeting with Rin, when she had made the first move to befriend the wary Sniper by jumping right into her face. "I know you really like to make new friends."

"Sorry about that day. I was just really excited when I finally met someone of my age and wanted to make friends with you."

"I'm glad you did. I really do." Mia was honestly grateful for Rin's enthusiasm when she thought about it. She had just lost Nicola then, killed and Ashed in her arms by an attack from Jack. She did not fully recall her emotions that day, but she knew she was harbouring hatred and anger. And she was interested in Rin's variety of weapons, because she could have used them in her vengeance.

So, yes. She appreciated Rin's effort to befriend her, regardless of her reason. Everything turned out fine in the end, when they learned that the Nicola that died was just a clone that her Successor brother had created.

The sound of a door opening from outside of the waiting room distracted Mia. She inhaled, letting her old thoughts fade away. "So, you will be coming here after your food?"

"Yup! Is BRNZ going to pick you up?"

The group that entered the infirmary had not been the aforementioned Team, instead it was a Boys-only Team donned in Beacon Academy's uniform. "I'm not certain, but," the one in the lead with orange hair and the smallest one with mohawk style turned to see her. The former faced forward again while the latter nodded at her before following suit. Mia sighed, "I'll be taking a raincheck with them for today."

Mia could hear Ma'am Peach addressing them. The last boy behind the team, who looked under the weather, had disappeared around the bend before Rin spoke again. "Do you want me to get anything for you from the cafeteria?"

Come to think of it, Mia had never gone to the cafeteria before. Anytime Team BRNZ came to see the Revenants and picked Mia to accompany them, May had insisted and took them to the city for food instead. Perhaps she could try the Academy's brew of tea? The taste would be different as a take out, but she would rather that than leaving their friend alone. "A cup of tea. I have yet to sample the Academy's brew."

"Okay. I'll see you later!"

"Have fun and enjoy your lunch."

Taking the device away from her ear, Mia eyed the screen as the elapsing call time changed to 'Call Ended'. She placed the Scroll face down on the table, rattling the keychain attached to one of the corners and pulling the knight figurine to a stand. Subconsciously, her fingers stretched towards it—

—and hooked her index finger under the keychain to pull it out of the holder. Mia brought the little figurine to her palm and took a closer look at it.

The figurine was made out of plastic and paint. Its head was fully enclosed by the helmet, with the face plating extended slightly outwards and lined with black dots to signify openings for the sight. It wore a brown cloth cloak around the neck, with one side pinned by the singularly larger shoulder pad. Above what would have been the breastplate was a tabard, painted with an unfamiliar—likely just a design choice—insignia. Its hands and legs were fully covered in silver-painted plates, with a little detachable sword in one hand and a foldable kite shield with a much more detailed picture drawn on the surface on the other hand.

It was a miniature figurine of a full suit of armour. The design of the figurine had nothing in common with Nicola's ephemeral knight form, but it reminded her of her little brother and his dream of being a Knight. Of their little play-fighting with sticks in hand as swords.

'Nicola would love this…' She flipped the toy around to look at the price tag on a little slip of paper. 'Fifteen Lien? Is that expensive?' She only had so much allowance from Louis, which was given by the Headmaster for settling themselves into Beacon. She took a quick peek at the prices of the other keychains, none else that had attracted her attention. 'They're between twelve to twenty Lien. Maybe it's fine?'

"Mia!" Said girl turned to the call. The one who took her to the clothing store, May, had put on a different tee-shirt and jacket, which was unzipped at the front. With her originals held over an arm to her body, she did a little turn in front of Mia and struck a pose with her free hand. "How do I look?"

"It looks good on you." Mia returned kindly as she placed the keychain back to its holder. The jacket May currently wore was a fashion choice, with only a pair of pockets in the front. Unlike May's original jacket, which had utility pockets lined inside because of her chosen career. Mia hummed as she thought about it. "Wouldn't the colour be a bad choice for use in the desert?"

"It'll be fine. I wasn't planning to wear them for spars and combat. They're casual." May looked down to her track pants. "I still need to get new pants to fit this." She pointed at Mia. "We still have to get you some more clothing as well!"

"These two will suffice for me." Mia had already picked them out earlier.

May shook her head while making a negative sound. "Uh-uh, we're going to get more clothing. I think a light-coloured dress and coat will suit you."

Mia did have a white coloured Blood Veil and hat back at Homebase. But besides that, she only wore the coat for the precise reason of it being a Blood Veil. Mia shook her head. "I don't have enough money to afford them."

"Drat." May snapped her fingers. Her head turned as she scanned the store and, seeing what she was looking for, pointed at one of the aisles. "How about these? How much of this do you think the three of you you need?"

What May had pointed at were the hygiene products. It was something that Mia had not considered, for a reason. Memories of using said products suddenly came back into her mind. She had forgotten that such a thing existed, because she never needed to use it since…that. "We're okay on that front."

May picked one of the packages. "Oh, you girls already have them?"

"No, we just…don't need it." It felt weird saying that.

May's head spinned around to Mia instantly with a look of mortification written on her face.. "What do you mean you don't need?" She had another package in the other hand, raising both up between them. "Don't you like…bleed? Periods?"

"We don't anymore."

"Wah!" May dropped the packages and grabbed her by the biceps, pleading at her with sorrowful eyes. "Do you know how much Lien I could save if I don't need to constantly buy and use this? All the pain and misery I don't have to suffer? Turn me into a Revenant too! End my suffering!"

For a moment, anger flashed across her mind and body. How could she make light of their lives like this? And to want to die and become a walking corpse for a inconsequential reason like this? It felt like she was insulting the whole group of them that way.

Her anger must have been shown on her face as May let her go and stepped back. "S-sorry," she quickly apologised, "I didn't mean anything by it, honest! I wasn't thinking and I'm just…uh, caught in the moment."

Mia took a deep breath and sighed, her anger abating. She gave May what she hoped to be a reassuring smile. "It's okay. I know it's surprising. So think of it this way: We can't physically have children anymore, so it's quite a terrible thing to not have it."

May's facial scrouged up. Then she sighed. Mia guessed that she could not decide which issue was worse between the two thoughts and pat her shoulder. "Let's get these paid and then have a tea break?"

"Okay." May picked up her dropped selection. "You sure you've got everything? Just the two dresses?"

Mia realised she did miss something when she took one last look around and spotted them: Undergarments. "Actually, I do need those." May followed her sight to what Mia had seen. "Why don't you pay for yours first while I grab them?"

"Sure."

Once Mia had paid for her items and left the clothing store, May brought her to a cafe she said that served a mean tea. Seated on the second floor balcony that overlooked the road, both girls waited for their orders in silence. Mia watched the busy street and could not help but compared it to the streets of Gaol. '—They would be crawling with Losts. Cracked streets; Dead vegetations; Wrecked vehicles…I hardly even remember how the Ruined City used to be like, or even its name…' She inhaled and closed her eyes, forcing the dreary thoughts away before casting her gaze at the shops instead. 'Nicola would like to check them out…' She sighed.

"Hey, Mia?" She turned to the fellow Sniper calling her, then caught the sight of May sliding a little rectangle box across the table between teacups towards her. When did the server come and deliver their drinks? "It's for you. I saw that you were thinking about getting this, but then you put it back."

Mia blinked with a confusion, but took the present from May. When she opened it, a little familiar figurine was set in it under foams. Mia sucked in a breath.

"I was being rude earlier, so I wanted to apologise." May explained. "Sorry."

"You…you didn't have to." Mia was choked with gratitude and embarrassment. She lifted the Knight keychain from the box and held it between her palms. "Thank you…"

May smiled and sipped her tea. "You know, I won't ever peg you as someone that likes knights and sorcerers."

"I'm not." May tilted her head. "My little brother is the one who likes it. He…dressed up like one before too." Mia's hands clenched the figurine as the image of Nicola's Successor form flashed across her thought.

"Oh! You have a younger sibling!" May leaned forward, curious and excited about it. "He likes to cosplay? What is his name? How old is he?"

"Y—yeah, he does." It was as good of a cover as any. Mia smiled as she thought of him. "His name is Nicola and he's eight."

"Ooooohh. I'm the only child in my family, so I always wonder how having a sibling is like. Tell me more about him?"

"Sure! Well, he likes the medieval stuff. He's got the interest since…"

As Mia happily talked about her brother and May asked about him, the conversation would inevitably lead into life in Gaol. Simple questions that Mia easily answered and curious answers that May would later talk to her Team about. It was not with any malicious thoughts attempts, mere genuine curiosities and interests. But things would change, and the Revenants and the Team would unknowingly drift apart. And it all started with a question—

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Mia blinked at the sudden question coming from her right, tearing herself away from her daydreaming, and turned her eyes away from the figurine. The smiling questioner was no one familiar to her, standing and leaning closer to her than he had sounded. It was the little spikes of hair-do in the centre of a head of stubby hair that reminded her of the team of boys that entered the infirmary a moment ago. Mia took a breath as she sat up straight. "It is not. Please have a seat."

"Cool." The mohawked boy grinned and dragged the collapsible plastic chair out. The chair made more creaking noises when Mohawk sat down than when the rubber stopper was pulled along the smooth tiles of the floor. "I haven't seen you before in Beacon. You a transfer student?"

Mia shook her head. "No, I'm not a student at all."

"Oh." Mohawk sat facing Mia, leaning forward on his straightened arms that held the seat between his legs. "Waiting for an appointment with Professor Peach, then?"

"No, I'm just waiting. For my friend."

Mohawk dragged his 'oh' ramble again as he nodded and pushed back to the backrest. "So your friend's recovering in the ward?" He twisted around to look towards the door. "Prof Peach was just chilling at the counter and see to Sky's appointment immediately.

"Yeah, she is."

Mohawk rolled his head to glance at her. "Uh, Prof Peach or your friend?"

"My friend."

He turned the chair around so he could use the backrest as a support for his crossed arms and head. "Oh, what happened to her?"

"Just a minor…accident."

"Oh, I hope that she will recover soon."

Mia nodded in thanks and dropped the conversation. While she had nothing against the boy, Mia hoped that Mohawk would stop. She was not particularly in the mood for small talks.

Thankfully for her, the ward door opened and the orange-haired teen stepped out. Orange was smirking as he strutted towards them.

Or perhaps, towards his Mohawk teammate.

Orange threw a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the ward. "Oie Russ, apparently there's a Big ol'Cat in there crashing with good ol'Jauney."

Mia raised her eyebrows, not saying anything yet.

Mohawk—Russ clicked his tongue. "She should stop wasting resources on the animals."

"That's what I said!" Orange crossed his arm as he replied, then jerked an elbow to the ward again. "But then she just kicked me out for saying the truth. Bloody hell."

"Mhmm, yeah. Should've just left them to rot, right?" Russ turned towards Mia, flashing a sickening smirk on his lips.

Mia was not amused. "I'd appreciate it if you and your friend would stop insulting my friend."

Russ gradually lost his smirk as Orange turned his attention to her. "Oh?"

Mia kept her scroll away. "Yes. What's wrong with that?"

Orange narrowed his eyes. "Just thinking how dumb you are, considering the faunus as 'friends'."

Mia simply crossed her arms. "Not as bad as your fragile ego is, considering you would only speak behind someone else's back."

Orange snorted.

The ward door opened again before Orange could say anything further, and the brown haired boy with squint eyes exited. "Hey Cardin," he called out to his team. Orange remained fixated on Mia, "Sky needs a bit more time here. Let's head to the cafeteria first?"

"Yeah, sure Dove, got to at least show faces there." Cardin replied, so Mia now knew his name. Russ pushed off from his seat hotly, almost toppling the chair over, and marched his way to the squinty eyed boy named Dove. Russ started to talk in both hashed and harshed tone to Dove, while Cardin was addressing Mia. "Word of advice for my fellow Human Being: Leave your so-called friend. The faunus are beyond trouble."

Mia said nothing in return, simply glaring at the boy until he turned around and left with his team. 'What a jerk.' And there was still one more of them in the ward, the sickly-looking boy that she presumed Ma'am Peach was attending to. And neither of them had left the room yet. Worried about what the last person of the team led by a racist or two would do, Mia got up and approached the door.

Just as Ma'am Peach opened the door. Her eyes darted around, frowning when she failed to find something, then stepped away from the door as Mia was reaching. "Miss Karnstein, where is the boy's Team's?"

"They had already left for lunch, ma'am."

Ma'am Peach snorted with indignation. "Teams nowadays." She grumbled. "No patience at all to wait for their friend. And that Winchester boy is lacking in attitude." She mumbled under her breath sentences that were too soft to be heard by Mia. Ma'am Peach strolled irately towards another door. Seeing that she had left abruptly, Mia reached for the ward's door. She was expecting the boy to be at Shiva's bedside doing something, now that no one else was in the room.

The blue-haired boy was indeed at a bedside, but not her friend's. Instead, the sickly boy was by Jaune Arc's bedside, head bowed and eyes closed. He had a hand on the comatosed boy's knee, palm resting on the blanket covering him. Mia could just barely hear him speaking, unaware of her presence yet. "—my fault. I'm sorry, just hold on a bit longer brother. He'll fix this, make you bet—" The sound of the door closing automatically behind Mia surprised Blue and stopped his monologue. "Oh! Um…"

Hearing one person from that team sounding remorseful and apologetic was the furthest thing away from what Mia expected. She gave the boy a solemn nod. "Your team had left for the cafeteria." She informed him. "Ma'am Peach was angry about them leaving you here alone on your behalf."

"I see. Thank you." Blue sighed and stood up. Stepping into the alcove between beds to let him pass, Mia watched as he started to leave, until he reached Shiva and stopped. Mia raised her guard. "What happened to your friend?" He gestured to Shiva.

"An accident." Mia made the same answer.

"Right. I hope she'll recover soon." Blue said.

"Thank you." Blue smiled at her gratitude, gazed at Shiva for a few seconds of silence, then he left.

Mia dropped herself into the bedside seat and sighed, fingers rubbing between the eyes. 'Not everyone is similar.' She made the mistake of lumping each individual into the same category with prejudice, just because they were the same team.

Turning to Shiva, Mia wondered if she had faced discrimination in her life. Just what did the Faunus do that garnered so much hate? And now that she thought about it, did she know any Faunus in her life before?

Mia was not sure if she wanted to remember.

—

Police Headquarters, City of Vale

1:40pm, two hours later

"Thank you for coming so quickly, Headmaster." He held his hand out. "My men are stumped with this issue for a couple of days now."

Ozpin took it in a quick handshake. "Then let us tarry no longer, Chief. Team Amaranth—" He waved towards the Fourth year team he had picked, "will assist in your investigation."

"Infestation?!"

The sound of metal meeting flesh, then flesh meeting concrete was heard behind Ozpin. He suppressed the urge to laugh at the Chief's questioning expression as he listened to one member of AMRT get scolded by his no-nonsense teammate. "Damn it, Chocolove, be serious!"

"I am serious, Tangie!"

Chief's expression settled into a frown. "Are you sure about them? I honestly was hoping for a fully fledged team to lead the investigation."

"As a team, they are indeed the most promising." There were not a lot of teams that came together as one in their first day and trained for a specialised role. Ozpin was proud of Team AMRT. "They'll be able to point to your men in the right direction. Please lead the way."

The Chief rumbled his throat, then turned around with a, "This way, people," and went ahead. Ozpin stayed his steps to let the senior team lead and watched as Chocolove McDonell held a broken cockroach mask dejectedly in his hands, which disappeared in the next turn. Ozpin still wondered where he kept or took his items from that were somehow appropriate for his jokes.

The Chief led them to the evidence room where two officers were standing guard. Forms were signed before they were allowed access, and the entourage entered the large, tidy room of lockers, cabinets, filings and displays. Ozpin remained near to the entrance, content to watch his graduating student team lead the investigation.

Chocolove lingered behind his team and rubbed at his nose as the Chief went to one of the many nondescript metal lockers. "This is it."

"What's that weird stench?" Ozpin himself smelled nothing, but as a Jaguar Faunus with a semblance that had a passive improvement to his senses, Chocolove was probably the person of the two Faunus to notice something. "Did the ventilation fail or something?"

"It was checked yesterday because of this case. It's working fine." The Chief unlocked the locker and took out the Blood Bead that Mr. Amamiya had described to Ozpin in one of their previous interviews. Andresite, Rozelinda and Tangelina took a closer look together while Chocolove flinched back. "It's probably from these."

"Woah, this thing looks pretty," Rozelinda commented. "What is it?"

"I don't smell anything." Andresite, a Canine-type Faunus, looked to his two other Human teammates. Both shook their heads. He stared at Chocolove. "Did you break your nose again?"

"No." He cupped his nose with a hand and finger-gun pointed with the other at the Blood Bead. "That thing smells really bad. What is that thing?"

"Classified." It was a stern answer that left no room for questioning by the team. "But if you can actually sniff something off it, it'll help us immensely." The Chief placed it back into the foam holders that held several other Beads. One holder was suspiciously empty. "One of them, as you can see, is missing from its container. A different version of them, yellow in colour with a quarter volume of its content taken for study."

Team AMRT glanced between each other, then to their leader. "Can you tell us the details of what happened?" Andresite asked.

"Documentations were in order. I had personally seen to the storage of the contrabands eight hours before they were slated to be destroyed. Seven hours later, as I prepared to transport them, I discovered that the specified contraband is missing." At this point, the rest of his team began scrutinising the room: Chocolove tilting his head up towards the ceiling; Rozelinda checking the exterior of the locker; Tangelina studying the evidence room, until her eyes lingered near the terminals.

"Is there anything that you can tell us about your search for the missing item?" Andresite asked.

The Chief shook his head. "Not much. Nobody has entered the room after I've checked the items in and left, and before I came in the next day. Camera hasn't shown anything out of the ordinary between those times, both in and out of the HQ—"

"Mind if we check the footage?" Tangelina pointed at the terminals. The Chief nodded and went to unlock it. "Doge." She called out.

Andresite 'Doge' Klove sat down beside Tangelina. "I'll check the internal cameras. Chief, can you tell us more?"

The Chief assisted the two students to access the software while he continued talking. "To be sure that it wasn't foul play, these two days as my men tried to find out how it happened, I was triple-checking every officers' activities in the last two weeks." At this point, he sighed. "It is disappointing to admit, but a few of my 'upstanding' men had problems. Though none of those had any relations with this case."

"I'm smelling a fading scent from this vent, slightly different than the ones inside the locker." Everyone but Tangelina turned to Chocolove, whose head was still upturned to the ventilation he was talking about. He pointed for further emphasis. "Is it possible for someone to crawl through the vents?"

"Not at all for an adult." The Chief answered. "The opening barely fits someone's head, much less the whole body. I'm sure you can judge it just by looking at it."

Chocolove turned to the Chief and pointed with both thumbs to himself. "I'm blind, sir. Why do you think I'm still—" He reached his hands up to his shades and shifted it in emphasis. "—wearing this cool pair of sunglasses indoors?"

The Chief patted the back of his head. "Sorry about that, I didn't know." Chocolove nodded and gave him a thumbs up with a smirk.

The Jaguar Faunus pointed at the vent again. "Can the item fit between the grating?"

Rozelinda answered him. "Nope, too big."

"The ducts run through several places and upwards between the third and fourth floor, which is linked to an opening that's flat against the surface of the wall in a rectangular slit. It's a maze of interlinked tubes where none ran directly into this room." The Chief elaborated further.

Andresite waved a hand. "Are there any criminals with known semblances that change body size or shape."

"None." The Chief looked to Ozpin. "Headmaster?"

He frowned in thoughts. At the current moment, there were two shapeshifters on the planet, both that he had helped create: Qrow and Raven. But both of them could only transform into avians of their namesake, of which neither were small enough to fit through the grating. And neither of them were in or close to Vale at all. Thus, with confidence, he replied to the Chief. "There aren't any Huntsmen with shapeshifting Semblance, Chief, Mr. Klove."

'Though, Salem could easily grant shapeshifting power to any of her pawns as well. Considering the strange nature of the Revenants, it could very well be her…'

"Let me try running a trace." Chocolove threw a thumb to the door. "Sniff out where the mystery object had run off to."

"Jasper!" One of the police officers standing guard by the door peeked his head through at the Chief's call.. "Assist the Huntsman in checking the vents." He turned back to Chocolove. "He will let you have access to areas that the ducts run through. I hope you'll be able to get a trail for us to follow with your nose."

"Definitely!" Chocolove gave the Chief a giant thumbs up, his prop pulled from out of nowhere. The Chief and Officer Jasper blinked. Ozpin just smiled.

After Chocolove and Officer Jasper had left, Rozelinda stepped back from the locker. "Quick question: Is it the same lockers we use in Beacon?"

"That is correct." Ozpin answered. "The lockers here are the original versions from Atlas, with state of the art security installed. Beacon's version had part of the security system replaced for the rocketry system and its interior reinforced for the abuse."

"'State of the art,' eh? Sounds like it hasn't improved or checked in years." Rozelinda nodded at Ozpin, then turned to the Chief. "The airtight seal is no longer airtight; The inside is flaking and damaged. But I don't really see how it's possible to lose anything through those tiny holes."

"I see." The Chief moved next to Rozelinda and looked. "We missed that, it seems. We checked the surface only and never did try to peel back the rubber to see the lining."

Rozelinda darted her eyes around. "I'll look around the room."

"No one entered. No one even spared a glance at the door. Nothing out of the ordinary happened." Andresite commented. He was fast-forwarding four recordings, one from the camera in the upper corner of the room that overlooked the entirety of said room, and three different hallways, one of which had the door in view. He rewinded the recording.

"Did it rain two days ago?" Tangelina asked. She got an affirmative from her teammates. "The heat vents are a lot steamier that day because of the rain. There's five people that passed by the alleyway camera in the seven elapsed hours. They're just walking through. Hhmm…"

"What is it?" Andresite looked away from his terminal to Tangelina's. "What do your Semblance eyes see?"

She rubbed her eyes. "Sweet fuck all. Three kids just passing by, a girl and then a man. The last guy did stop for a moment, looked up, then walked away, but he did nothing." She started to rewind the recording.

"You've reached the point where we're stuck at." The Chief said. "Two days of scrutinising every recording and checking the sites where it might be possible for a break-in, but we got nothing."

Ozpin stepped up behind Tangelina as she fast-forwarded the alleyway video. The camera was mounted on the Headquarter's wall within the alleyway and facing the exit that led to the road. It was night time and the heavy rain was causing the heat vent to steam heavily, obscuring part of the alleyway: One at the exit and one in the middle.

First to appear on screen, an hour after the time the Chief had said he had exited the evidence room, were a group of three teenagers clad in raincoats. They appeared from below the camera and were brisk-walking away from it, heading towards the street. They parted once to dodge the heat vent, but did nothing else that warranted attention.

After another two hours, parting the heavy cloud of steam at the exit, a woman wearing a dark-coloured cloak materialised. She had her hood lifted over her head to shelter herself from the rain, which had the effect of shading her face under its shadow. Her white clothing almost blended with her pale white skin, but it was there to barely cover her well endowed body. She simply travelled through the alleyway, heading towards her destination without pause.

Another hour and a half passed before the last person appeared on screen, coming from under the camera and headed towards the exit. Just as he reached the heat vent, he paused and looked up, a hand sheltering his eyes from the rain, just as Tangelina had said. The bald man was dressed in a white coat, similar to a doctor or a scientist based on his back, and ignoring the fact that his coat was getting drenched by the rain by not carrying an umbrella. Whatever he was scrutinising was on the wall of the Police Headquarters. After he stood there checking the wall, he turned back towards the exit into the street and left the scene.

"Do you have any idea who that was, Chief?" Andresite was the one to bring up the question.

"I've checked." The Chief replied. "His name is Doctor Merlot."

"Merlot?" Ozpin was shocked by the identity. The man had looked nothing like Ozpin remembered. "Of the Merlot Industries?"

The Chief nodded. "According to the records, yes. The AI and Genetic research industry from Mountain Glenn. He apparently survived that disaster and recently appeared in Vale roughly three years ago, where he found a job in medical-science as an assistant, later becoming a doctor with his own lab."

"He looks so much different than the last time I've seen him. Did you ask him how he survived Mountain Glenn?" Ozpin asked.

"It isn't part of our investigation, Headmaster. It wasn't asked by my men." Ozpin frowned. The Chief followed-up. "If you like, I can try and open an investigation on him, but without a probable cause, it might not happen or it might stall."

Ozpin stepped back to let Team AMRT and the Chief continue on, distressed by the news of the Doctor's apparent survival. It was disconcerting that the man that directly caused the Fall of Mountain Glenn was still alive and had come to Vale. Merlot, who used to be the leading expert over Atlas's Doctor Polendina, became obsessed with the Creatures of Grimm and started to experiment on them. Not too long later, out of subjects and out of patience, he attempted to lure additional Grimm to his main facility in Mountain Glenn. His bait worked far too well and the result was disastrous, leading to the fall of Mountain Glenn. If the possibility of causing even more unsettling emotion among the public had not been prevalent, due mostly in part to how trusted the Merlot Industries were by the public, he would have disclosed the full story to the Council.

In the end, the remainder of Merlot Industries had to shut themselves down. With the main facility destroyed and its founder missing and presumed dead, the industry could not recover from the blow. With things ended this way, he did not have any need to follow up on Doctor Merlot.

"He looks different, right Headmaster?" Rozelinda posted the question. He saw the girl had climbed up to the camera in the room, checking the hardware with her eyes. "Are you sure he's the same person?"

It was a valid question. The Merlot he knew had a head full of hair, a beard and mustache. This person captured on the screen was both bald and clean-shaven, as well as having a larger physique than the last time Ozpin saw Merlot. Perhaps someone had stolen the Merlot's identity?

But the Chief's answer nipped the thought. "His data checks out. He had his profile updated in the West Branch one week before he landed his medical occupation here. His blood tests and fingerprints had passed without issue."

"I will talk to him." Ozpin decided. "For now, you should continue with the current investigation. Chief, please let me know where I can find Doctor Merlot."

The Chief nodded. "I'll retrieve the information and send it to your Scroll later."

With that said, Ozpin stepped back to the door once again. Now he had another problem he needed to look into, perhaps he could get Bartholomew or even recall Qrow to question Merlot. The faculty knew of what Merlot had done, as most of them had been the responders to the disaster and learned of it themselves in the midst of evacuation.

While Ozpin's mind stewed in thought about the Doctor, he listened with half a mind to the things the Chief and the Team were discussing. "So what was Doctor Merlot doing when he faced upwards?" Tangelina asked.

"He said he smelled some wonderful scent." Chief frowned. "He did not elaborate it beyond 'someone's cooking something nice,' and that it 'reminded him of his old home.'"

"Was there?" Andresite asked.

"No one was making or eating supper at the pantry at the time. We don't even have a canteen in here." The Chief further elaborated.

Music rang suddenly in the room, surprising everyone, and they turned to the source. Andresite blinked and pulled out his Scroll. "Chocolove?" He paused, then placed the scroll on the table and activated Speaker Mode. "You're on."

I've traced the scent as far as I could. It ended up outside the HQ before the smell's gone, washed away by the rain. Officer Jasper said that we're at the back alley of the HQ, can anyone see where we're at on camera?" Chocolove reported.

"Chief?"

The Chief responded to Tangelina's request and changed the settings from footage to live. It was the same scene with few changes, prominently it was day time, as it was in the afternoon currently. And the heat vent had visible steam rising up only to the ankle. Chocolove and Jasper were standing near the street exit, with the former's head tilting up towards the wall, scroll in hand pressing to his ear.

If Ozpin could tell that Chocolove was facing in the same direction that Merlot had been, both the Chief and Team AMRT could see it as well.

"We're seeing you." Andresite said. "What's up there?"

"Officer? Can you describe what I'm supposed to be seeing?"

A different voice came through with an exasperated tone. "It's a four-storey high wall with two windows on the third and fourth storey each. The vent leads out to here, below the third floor window. That's all."

Rozelinda climbed off her perch and sat on the table. "Is it possible that Doctor Merlot smelled the same thing Chocolove was tracing?"

"Huh? Who?"

"A guy named Doctor Merlot stopped right where you are and smelled something from the vent." Andresite updated Chocolove. "The Chief confirmed that no one at the time was cooking or having supper."

"Uh, is the Doc a Bear or an Elephant Faunus? Or a Snake? They have an even stronger sense of smell than me."

"No, he's Human." The Chief replied.

"Oh, maybe it was the neighbours?"

"He definitely was looking at the vent." Tangelina spoke up. "Or at least in the general direction. I can't see the vent from the camera's angle."

The scroll in Ozpin's pocket suddenly vibrated from an incoming call. As the Chief and Team AMRT continued to discuss the action made by Merlot, Ozpin stepped out of the door and beside the other officer that was seated at the desk facing the evidence room's door. He nodded to the Officer, stepped further away for the illusion of privacy as he pulled out his scroll.

It was Glynda. Ozpin answered the call immediately. "Glynda?"

"Ozpin." There was a tinge of frustration in her voice. "There's been an incident, between Team CRDL and one from Haven, Team SSSN."

Ah, Team CRDL. The freshmen team with a penchant for trouble. They were a case that was growing problematic as the semester passed.. Ozpin had half a mind to relieve them of their statuses as trainees after their last accident in the Emerald Forest—the one that resulted in Team JNPR's Team Leader, Jaune Arc to be comatosed—yet it was not fully their fault for the accident. Ozpin knew about the boy's fake transcript, yet he still let the undertrained, runaway boy into his academy. There was no way Team CRDL would have known that when they were attacked by a group of Ursa. That accident had also inflicted some kind of damage to Team CRDL's Sky Lark's psyche, a trauma of some form that he had been seeing Professor Peach for treatment and counselling. "What happened?"

"The incident occurred in the cafeteria during lunch. According to Mr. Shinonome, Team CRDL's members stood up to defend the team leader from a physical assault initiated by of Team SSSN. was assaulted in the process, to which he retaliated in defense of himself." Ozpin frowned. If he recalled correctly, from the student dossiers, Sun Wukong was the Team Leader of SSSN. " had been there to stop the conflict from escalating between Teams CRDL and RWBY—the latter being in the vicinity when it occurred and intervened—as well as 's partner, and one of the other 'guests', ."

"What was Mr. Shinonome's response regarding this?"

"He sent Team SSSN to the infirmary with . As for Teams CRDL and RWBY, he was escorting them to me as I was heading towards the scene, thus I had met eight of them in the hallway. was missing, but had seen her following Team SSSN towards the infirmary." Glynda answered Ozpin's question in mind before he asked. "I have had both teams confined to their dorms for now, pending for an appropriate punishment: I was planning to discuss this with you as it involves the Team from Haven, as well as interviewing each Team for their side of the story prior to that."

"Very well, I shall return post haste." Ozpin ended the call and returned to the evidence room. The Chief was standing, arms crossed and head turned to Ozpin, behind Tangelina and Andresite as they rewatched their respective recordings again. Rozelinda had leaned over Andresite's shoulder to see his screen. "Chief? Something has come up at the Academy, I will have to return now."

"Yo, Headmaster." Tangelina waved a hand back without taking her eyes—and semblance—away from the screen, right at the moment Ozpin ended his sentence and before the Chief could reply. "Requesting permission to stay here and assist the Chief with this? "

"Granted," Ozpin answered, "so long as your Team Leader and the Chief allows it." Andresite simply nodded, likely because they had discussed it while he had stepped away for Glynda's call.

The Chief nodded as well. "I would like to ask for their continual assistance. Will it affect anything with regards to their academics?"

Ozpin gave it a thought. "If you can write and send me an internship request, I can have them signed on as part of their studies." He hummed, a thought seeping into his mind. "If possible, I would like to have a report of the investigation as well."

"I'll have the internship written up and sent to you within twenty-four hours." The Chief said. "As for the report, I can only send you a summary after the conclusion."

"That will be fine." Ozpin turned his sights to Andresite. "I will be counting on your Team's effort to get to the bottom of this, AMRT."

Andresite sat up straighter and nodded. "Sir!"

A/N: The figurine keychain is Oscar, Knight of Astora from the first Dark Souls.

Hindsight after writing, I think maybe using 'Merlot?' was an error. It was that or I would have to completely come up with a suiting background.

—

This chapter wasn't originally what I wanted to write. As I thought about what I wrote on Vale 02 and worked on (now) Vale 04, there was a thought for me to develop CRDL as well, rather than just making them evil without context. I mean, like, I already have plans for their furthest actions, but I never originally planned to write every bit of their actions out. Then I thought about it further and reckoned that it might seem completely 'out-of-the-left-field' if I suddenly threw a bunch of things out from out of nowhere. Like a retcon.