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Akiza's POV a day later-

After she made sure she had said her goodbyes, and stocked up on enough snacks, and drinks and some bombs, Akiza made her way out towards the landing platform. She didn't need to take a Bullhead since she had better means of transportation, but using the landing platform made it easier for her to head out.

When she reached the platform she brought out a card from her sleeve and threw it forwards. She didn't bother saying its name, she wasn't on camera or in front of her class so it wasn't necessary.

As soon as the card was about to go over the edge it burst into a bright red light, the sound of an engine firing up reaching her ears as the form of an advanced fighter jet took shape ahead of her. Thankfully it came empty, a plus of the Machine type was that there were usually multiple kinds of them instead of a single version like some Spellcasters.

Spoiler: The ride

The Kozmo archetype had so many options it wasn't even funny. She had been highly tempted to fly around Remnant in one of the destroyer class ships, but she wanted to get this done quickly, so as much as she wanted to do that she chose a Sliprider since its speed would get her to where she wanted then back before the day ended. (It helps that it's still got a decent amount of firepower.) Akiza liked making things explode, the Sliprider had some good enough weapons to do just that, it was great.

Brushing that thought away she walked over to the fighter jet, using her telekinesis to open the cockpit, and stepped into it. Akiza thankfully knew how to operate the fighter jet since the controls were easy to understand with her above normal mechanical knowledge. (Wouldn't that have been fucking embarrassing?) She was just thankful neither of her on site Daughters were in range to see that possible blunder. (Though if the gremlin levels of excitement I'm feeling mean anything then they're looking at me instead of being in class.) Akiza mentally looked towards Beacon, finding the minds of Team RWBY on the roof of their dorm, meaning she was in their line of sight.

(Well, it's not like they followed me.) She didn't mind that they were skipping class to see her off, she found it rather endearing actually, though she wasn't going to be surprised when she heard they got in trouble. (They're big girls, they can own up to it.) After that thought she closed the cockpit and began lift off. She had no idea what she was going to find but the sooner she did it the sooner she could come back.

The Sliprider was ready to lift off so Akiza sat back and put pedal to the metal, making her ride take off into the air and away from Beacon.

~A few minutes later~

As soon as she left the Kingdom of Vale she put the jet on hover, taking a moment to orient herself before she took the next step. When she was ready she took out an old mechanical compass, but instead of having a normal needle it had a blood red crystal in its place. The crystal was made from Ruby's blood, which she'd acquired by asking her for it in the guise of showing her a 'cool looking spell.' She'd done just that, but secretly kept enough to enchant a blood based compass that would point her to Ruby, Yang, their Father, as well as her current target her birth Mother Summer Rose.

She had to send the intent on who she wanted to find to the compass, but when she did the needle went wild for a few moments before locking onto the woman. Akiza frowned at the second confirmation of what she could find but brushed it aside and set course for wherever Summer Rose was.

Alive or not Akiza would find out what kept the woman from returning to her Little Rose and Golden Snapdragon. (All that matters is that I find her.) With that thought she set the compass down on the console and began accelerating towards Summer Rose's direction.

As the jet cut through the air faster then anything made by either world Akiza began to idly shuffle the cards she held in her sleeves. It was unnecessary since she'd be using her telekinesis to draw them instead of manually doing it, but it kept her mind active and ready to respond at a moment's notice, making it a good exercise to do before she got into a fight. "~Perhaps we'll finally see how capable these 'Grimm' creatures truly are.~" Akiza hummed at that.

She had yet to really fight Grimm since she had more pressing things like being a teacher or getting to learn about her new girls, so this would be her first engagement with the Grimm that populated the planet. She wasn't naive enough to believe there wouldn't be any Grimm getting in her way, even if they weren't everywhere on this godsforsaken rock she expected the suicidal immortal was involved since she was the only one that could set down the Wards Summer Rose was under. (Though I'm not heading to the Land of Darkness.) She knew where it was and could easily tell she wasn't heading that way.

(So where exactly am I going?) Akiza didn't know...

But she did know that wherever she was headed was not prepared for a less then pleased Witch of the Black Rose.

~15 minutes later~

Akiza spread her senses out over the island she'd found herself above, searching for any minds that could give her answers... Then felt the metal beneath her hands warping beneath her hands as her Aura flickered. The island only had a hundred or so people on it, which was sort of expected since it wasn't under any specific Kingdom's aegis, but it was what she found from just a brief skim of those minds that had Akiza feeling murderous, and the Spirits that were with her itching to manifest.

She felt people of varying ages sedated, their minds sluggish and easily susceptible to her casual brush.

She felt the residual fear they had moments before they were sedated, the last things they'd seen or experienced terrifying them enough to leave a heavy impact despite being unconscious.

She felt children that didn't understand what was happening wanting the pain to stop and to just go back to the streets, preferring being homeless then being experiments.

And she felt a mind whose sole whispering thoughts were of her 'Rubaby' and 'Sunflower'. The thoughts on repeat as if they were a lighthouse to help her stay sane. Akiza could feel her mind was fractured, something that usually happened to people that entered a coma in rather violent circumstances, and already knew she was going to have some work ahead of her to help put the woman back together.

The only good thing about this was that Summer Rose was alive...

Though Akiza wasn't sure what form of 'alive' she'd find the woman in. Her fractured mind wasn't a good sign, and the fact she was on an island where someone was conducting human experiments? (Someone's going to die. Very slowly and very painfully.) She felt the Dowager's agreement at that, though it wasn't her focus.

No her main focus, now that she knew where Summer Rose was and that she was alive, was the single active mind and what she could gleam from it. (Him. He's the one.) Before the man could react she shut his mind down, forcing him into a slumber before she began searching through his memories for anything she would need to know before stepping foot on the island...

And what she found made her scowl. (Of course he's a mad scientist. Of fucking course.) Akiza wasn't surprised the man on the island, a Doctor Merlot, was one of those insane science types, he lived on an island and conducted human experimentation... And Grimm experimentation? (What the fuck?) She didn't bother looking for his reasoning, she instead looked for what he'd used and what he'd done... And had to let out a seething breath when she saw the fucker had a bunch of mutated Grimm that were apparently stronger then their normal counterparts. (Because obviously the Grimm needed that.)

She took note of how many mutated abominations were on the island, where they were, and what they were weak too. She would go clear them when she was either on the way to the laboratory or before she went to leave.

When she was done with that she searched for how he got Summer Rose... And felt her braid lash out and crack the class of the cockpit, her nails digging into the metal of the console as she grit her teeth to keep her powers reigned in. She'd known the woman was Ruby's birth Mother, but the resemblance was uncanny. That wasn't the full reason for her to be pissed, it was who she saw in the man's memories. (Salem.)

Akiza hadn't acted against the woman since the Crimson Dragon or some other Spirits would handle her when the former took over, but apparently that didn't mean the woman wouldn't fuck with her.

Salem must have felt the Wards around Summer Rose ping against her attempts to scry the woman since she had 'spontaneously' decided to hand her off to Merlot. The man hadn't been expecting the sudden 'gift', but had easily accepted since the reasoning she gave the man had been different, using the woman as a 'resource' for the man's research. Merlot himself hadn't seen anything wrong with the exchange, but Akiza could see the trap since she had an outside perspective on the whole thing.

A man on a isolated, yet heavily fortified, island who was experimenting on Humans and Grimm alike. One who was suddenly being given a woman that was recently scried for?

Yeah, Akiza would need to be a meathead to not see the trap for what it was. She was still going to spring it, but recognizing it for what it was had already put her on high alert. (After I put Summer back together I'll need to do something to dissuade Salem from testing me further.) Akiza was highly tempted to use her one time use of the Crimson Dragon's power on the woman, but that could possibly alert the Brother Gods, and Akiza wasn't tanky enough to deal with a Divine slug fest, so that was out.

What truly pissed her off was the state she'd seen the woman in from his memories. She had to dig into Merlot's more recent memories to see what he'd found or done to Summer Rose before and after using her for his tests...

Only for the Dowager to let out an enraged screech as the leash she held her powers on snapped after seeing what the man had done to the woman who looked so much like her Little Rose. The small clip of memories were enough to make Akiza dispel the crumpling Sliprider and manifest an imitation of the Dowager's wings, something she learned they could do after having her Aura Awakened, diving towards the island like a bullet with a flap of her wings.

Akiza didn't care about the dozen or so Griffins that immediately swarmed towards her, nor the similar number of horse sized Nevermore that joined them. A flex of her telekinesis found their wings snapped, bone plating being ripped off of them and being used to impale their necks and heads faster then they could process.

By the time Akiza's feet touched the ground any Grimm that hadn't dissolved in the air had harmlessly crashed onto the earth around her, dissolving into the ether.

Though she paid them no mind and just marched forwards, idly activating Thorn of Malice and having the thorns wrap around her arm while also bringing out her Mechashift weapon, a black and red box the size of her torso, and holding it in the air behind her. It wasn't complete by her standards, not enough enchantments to make it live up to its inspiration, but this would be a good enough testing ground.

The 'box' wasn't her first idea of a weapon, but after thinking about it for a while she realized no man made weapon would be on par for her Spells and Thorn without taking months, if not years, of work. So she disregarded the need for an immediate close range weapon and instead laid the foundation for something she remembered from Devil May Cry.

She lashed out with her Thorn, a Beowolf being sent back flying and crashing through a tree, while also grabbing another two with her telekinesis and blasting them towards the first one. As she did that she mentally activated one of the functions of her Pandora's Lament, the box shifting and breaking apart as two dozen hand cannons fanned out behind her and took aim at the Beowolves.

Spoiler: The ideaSpoiler: What they look like

(Fire.) And with that thought the sound of an incinerator firing up rang out as over a dozen hand cannons behind her shot literal fire at the downed Grimm, incinerating them from existence. They almost started a forest fire as well but that would come later, so she snuffed out any flames and moved on.

She made Pandora's Lament return to its box configuration and continued on into the island.

As she made her way through it she encountered numerous Grimm, far more then there should be, and handled them all with brutal efficiency.

Nevermore and Griffins weren't issues when she snapped their wings and forced them to crash into the earth like boulders. The few that shot their feather at her found those very same feathers being sent back to impale themselves instead. (Ironic. Probably a saying about birds and their feathers that isn't coming to mind at the moment.) She'd probably know it if she wasn't as incensed as she was.

Beowolves were fodder she dealt with by snapping their necks or ripping their masks or bone plates off to kill them with. Even the Alpha she encountered was stripped of its armor before she turned it into a pincushion.

Ursa were picked up and compressed as far as they could go before she let them explode in shadowy gore. The one she let get close was used to test the dozen shotgun forms of her Pandora's Lament before it was blasted by enough lightning to power a building.

Spoiler: Shotgun

Creeps were given the Loki treatment and used to beat other Grimm to death before she riddled them with magic bullets from her assault rifles.

Spoiler: Rifles

Numbers meant nothing to her as she could not only immobilize them with a thought, but could also bring forth reinforcements of her own like Botanical Lion and Amaryllis. She didn't let her bouquet out, they were too young for these Grimm, but she did summon out other monsters she Bonded with as well to boost up Botanical Lion and make it easier to get to the laboratory.

The former was easily able to dispatch Beowolves, while the latter set everything it went up against aflame.

The only issues were when she began running into the mutated Grimm.

The first being a massive modified King Taijitu that made her scowl. She knew where that thing was supposed to be, and it wasn't near her current location. She didn't like the fact it was here, her suspicion already roused knowing she was walking into a trap, and sent out her summons to secure the area around her as she handled this thing.

The creature screeched at her, the black side bristling before shooting some of its spines at her like it was a Nevermore shooting feathers, but she ignored it. With a mental flex she took control of the spines, redirecting them towards the Grimm... Only for the white side to intercept the spines before they could reach their target.

Akiza narrowed her eyes and made her Pandora's Lament change forms while she also forced the dust cloud aw...- She jumped back, wings once again manifesting as she took to the air. Because of that she saw as the ground beneath her broke apart as the black head erupted from it with its maw open wide, intent on devouring her. (This fucker.)

She spared the white head a look, making sure it wasn't going to make a move, then turned back to the black one when she confirmed it was too far away to get involved with this.

Pandora's Lament only had 6 forms at the moment, but she made sure she had a big gun for fuckers like this.

Spoiler: Bitches love cannons

Akiza, even as livid as she was, took a moment to appreciate the pair of fucking cannons she pulled out of her ass. As soon as she was done though she triggered her weapon's new form and activated the frost enchantment on it. (Freeze.) With the trigger sent she felt before she heard or saw her weapon fire, a concentrated beam of frost bursting forth behind her and encasing the beast in ice. Then with a compressed and directed burst of telekinesis she burst the black side's body like glass before it could free itself, because knowing her luck it would've been possible.

With the death of the black side the white one let out an enraged screech before it hurled itself at her. Akiza didn't bother to evade and just grabbed the Grimm and used a touch of magic to make a pair of thick roots to rise and impale the Grimm through its eyes, killing it.

With it dead she tossed its carcass aside and dropped back towards the ground, dismissing her wings as she did. As good as the wings were she hadn't worked on their Aura upkeep as much as she wanted, so even if she had a vast majority of her Aura still in reserve she'd rather keep the drain to a minimum in the event Salem threw something surprising at her.

After that she kept trekking towards the lab, having her monsters clear a path while she removed any Grimm that got passed them.

Like the thing guarding the laboratory.

From the first look she'd say the thing was supposed to be a Wendigo, it had the long arms, the deer skull, and general look of one of those creatures.

Though the mutations made it something else.

Something more familiar to her considering the most recent game of the series came out during the war.

A Leshen, just not a real one.

Akiza scowled at the creature, especially at the feelings of despair it was radiating like a miasma. It wasn't enough to get through her passive defenses, but to anyone else? Yeah, they would be screwed.

The Grimm screeched at her, the despair miasma spiking and battering against her mental protections, actually chipping the first layer a bit but not breaking through. She narrowed her eyes at that and watched as the Grimm Leshen looked at her, head tilting atleast 100 degrees as if waiting for her to drop. (Is it intelligent?) If that was the case then she needed to get rid of it now.

Akiza cracked her Thorn against the ground, channeling just a bit of her magic to make over four dozen roots appear and swarm towards the creature, some to restrain and some to impale... Only for the thing to not move and instead attempt to wrestle control of her roots from her.

She blinked at the balls on the monster before ripping its feeble attempt to shreds, her roots crucifying the monster and filling it full of holes a moment later. (Fucking idiot.) She dismissed the roots when the creature started to dissipate, heading towards the lab and ripping the door off of its h...- A hand attempted to grab her ankle, her tk field being the only thing that kept it from grabbing her. Akiza reflexively lashed out with her Thorn in response, the Leshen cackling as it ghosted away from her in a cloud of black and green. (... Okay, no. This thing dies.) She triggered the last form of Pandora's Lament, her weapon shifting and unraveling as it grew bigger then it reasonably should be until it finished becoming a singular weapon, and aimed at the Leshen.

Spoiler: Artillery cannon

Akiza was a firm believer in there being no such thing as overkill and made sure she had her really big fucking gun ready before she took her weapon with her. She didn't expect to use it yet, but she needed this thing dead, and she wasn't facing the laboratory anyway so it was fine. She channeled Ice Magic into the cannon, boosting the frost enchantment that was already in her weapon, then fired towards the Leshen. "Begone."

Everything in front of her turned into a frozen hellscape as the overcharged beam of frozen Magic blasted through the clearing. The ground in front of her, the grass, the trees, and even some of the air froze at the blast.

As for the Leshen itself?

Well the thing wasn't as powerful as its counterpart considering the cloud of black and green froze in the air, an abstract structure hanging in the air for a moment before gravity reasserted itself and it crashed to the ground, cracking as it did. (Just to make sure.) She grabbed the ball with her telekinesis and crushed it beneath her grasp like the insect it was. She made sure to watch for a few more moments, making sure it wasn't playing dead, then nodded when it actually started to disperse, its skull listlessly clattering to the ground.

She had no idea how it was still intact but a trophy was a trophy.

Skull put away, she turned to Pandora's Lament, the artillery cannon leaking Ice Magic and seeming a little frozen. Akiza frowned at that and put a hand on the weapon, her senses checking its internals... And sighing as she saw it was somewhat damaged. (Too soon.) She made it return to its default form and stored her weapon away, making a mental note to get Yusei and Ruby to look it over later.

That done she dismissed her monsters, turned towards the laboratory, and walked in.

Akiza looked around, searching for the sensors and traps she knew existed before disarming or destroying whatever she could. Merlot had a self destruction feature built into his lab, because of course he did, and she was not about to trigger it before she was done here. "~Don't.~" She blinked. She thought the Dowager was too livid to talk. "~Dialogue does not equate to serenity. I am still prepared to tear the fool man limb from limb and drain the blood from his cooling corpse,~" That was a mood. "~Yet I can control myself enough to provide council.~" Understandable. Though she wanted to know what she meant with the whole 'Don't' thing. "~The island is isolated, empty of a natural populace, and the perfect size to Ward without much effort. Destroy the laboratory without harming the island and take it as your fiefdom.~"

Akiza thought about that as she walked through the lab, mind disabling the traps and sensors as she ran the logistics through her head. She'd need to get rid of the Grimm, but her monsters and Spirits could handle that. She'd have to Ward it against Salem and her ilk, but she had a few favors she could call in to get that done. She'd have to set up a living area, which would take a bit but she could just grow one with her Magic.

The more she thought about it the more she realized that this could work. (I'll need to strip Merlot's memories of anything and everything he's done with the island before I set my roots down here, but that won't take long.) That was pretty much it, and it wasn't even that hard. Akiza was about to nod to herself but she noticed something move from the corner of her eye, Thorn lashing out at the Grimm...

And hitting air as it flowed beneath it before lunging at her with an obnoxiously loud screech that made her stagger.

Even though she staggered she still managed to react and blasted the Grimm away with her telekinesis, the Grim soaring through the air before crashing into a wall. With it away from her she had and used the moment to get her bearings, glaring at the Grimm ahead of her as she modified the tk field around her ears to muffle/deaden sound.

The thing wasn't a mutant Grimm, so it was another thing Salem was testing her with. She was pretty sure it wasn't even supposed to be here either since Banshee's were known to be native in Mistral, and she was nowhere near that continent.

Annoyance aside, she saw the way it shook itself and stood up, showing that it didn't take much, if any, damage from being hit into a wall. Akiza frowned and mentally grasped the monster before she turned the Grimm into a ball and made it impale itself with its arms. She would've probably toyed with it more since it actually did damage to her, but she was on a mission here and couldn't afford it.

Leaving the dissipating corpse of the Grimm behind her she continued on with her trek through Merlot's lab, killing any Grimm that got in her way.

Though as soon as she entered the lab where Summer Rose was being held in she whirled on her heel and manifested the Dowager's wings, crossing them in front of her like a shield. Had she not done that she would've been mauled by the grisly claws of the Grimm that crashed down onto her from above.

The Grimm snarled at her as its claws raked on her wings but she just batted it aside with Thorn, adding momentum with a Psychic push as it slammed into a wall in the corridor in front of her.

With the Grimm away from her she had a moment to just stare and try to comprehend what she felt. The Grimm didn't have sentience, well the average ones didn't, the Ancient Grimm and above gain it after living for so long, but it took centuries for them to get it, and more time after to develop from smart animals to cunning individuals.

This... Thing, in front of her didn't feel like a person. It felt like a weird mix of a child and an animal. It's form didn't make her confusion any clearer either since it looked like a Beowolf, but more humanoid, kind of like a Wendigo. Whatever it was unsettled Akiza, especially its ability to hide its mind from her the way it had.

Akiza didn't like it, so her first action was to murder it with extreme prejudice. She used her telekinesis to grasp it, cracking Thorn against the ground as she turned the corridor ahead of her into a wall of thorns and roots, directing them to impale the creature...

But instead of any of that happening the Grimm did... Something, that gave it the ability to slip out of her grasp, growling as it bounded around and even atop the thorns and roots she directed at it like some kind of demented monkey. She was surprised at it getting out of her hold but she didn't let that stop her from ripping out the walls and floor around her and sending them towards the Grimm, a card being drawn from her holster and charging it as she watched the Grimm handle her impromptu projectiles.

The smaller parts of the wall were dodged or in one case used to deflect other parts, while the chunks of the floor were jumped over or around in shows of agility that made her frown. Whatever this Grimm was showed enough intelligence to use weapons, knew when and how to use its surroundings to its advantage, and could apparently slip out of her hold.

She didn't like it.

She didn't like it at all.

When the Grimm cleared her projectiles it lunged in her direction, and since she was only a few meters away it could've easily reached her...

If she let it.

The Grimm lunged at her and she activated her Trap. The card she brought out earlier was turned towards the Grimm, activating as she willed it. "Infinite Impermanence!"

Spoiler: If you don't splash this in every deck what r u doing

The figure of one of the most ridiculous xyz monsters appeared behind her, a dying screech leaving its maw as a veritable tidal wave of lightning flowed out from it towards the Grimm.

As soon as the wave hit it she grabbed the Grimm in her hold...

Only to freeze when the black tar of the Grimm was ripped off of the lunging creature while a small body continued soaring towards her. It was only by instinct that Akiza caught the smaller figure in her grasp. (What?) Akiza's mind blanked as she took in the small naked figure that had a head of short red hair with white streaks and black tips, red and black fox ears on her head, deathly pale white skin with black pulsing veins...

And a face similar to Ruby's but with a pair dead fish like Silver Eyes that made her recoil at the thought of her Little Rose's looking anything like them.

(That's the best the AI I used gave me and its pretty much it, just pretend she's got Silver eyes and Grimm features.)

Akiza stared at the child hovering in front of her, empty Silver eyes staring back. The child breathed, blinked, yet her senses told her the child had a mind that was empty, silent.

The lights were on but no one was home was the most apt comparison she could think of.

Akiza just kept staring at the child, confused and fearful of what she was looking at...

Then remembered what she'd pilfered from Merlot's mind.

Remembered the medical diagnostic the man had run on Summer Rose when he received her.

Remembered one of the things that made her so livid in the first place.

'Her Eggs show repeated signs of harvesting. Going by the signs it seems this has been going on for years.'

Akiza stared at the child in front of her, stomach churning as she felt bile try to rise and escape her. She kept it in, but seeing the unresponsive and malnourished child in front of her really made her want to throw up. "~They must suffer for this.~" Akiza let herself lean on the cold fury the Dowager was feeling, banishing her disgust and horror as she gently shut down the child's mind and brought her into her arms.

"~Monsters. Monsters the lot of them.~" She agreed with the Queen. Anyone that had a hand in this couldn't be considered human, and would be treated as such if she ever found them. "~When you do you I will aid you."~ She could tell the Queen of Thorn meant that, so she just nodded and accepted the future aid.

(She's so small.) Akiza was a giant of a woman, she knew that... But the child in her arms couldn't even be a meter tall. She couldn't even tell how old the girl was! (This...) Akiza knew evil, but she had never truly encountered the kind of cruelty that led to children being used as weapons such as this. Casualties were just numbers, but this was different.

Her fingers brushed against the child's cheek, the feel of bone immediately reached her, yet the child didn't even react to her touch. She couldn't understand it. This wa...- Her eyes widened and her head snapped up as she saw the amorphous blob of Grimm taint rushing towards her.

Akiza's rage spiked, and without a care in the world she unleashed the full force of her telekinesis at it and the hallway it was in. The sound of twisting metal and cracking wood was the only warning the blob would get before a wave of force tore through the hallway and ripped everything in its path to shreds.

It didn't stop at the hallway and continued on, her rage fueling the blast as it tore through everything in the direction she fired at and ripped its way through the facility until it reached the outside...

And kept going.

Akiza didn't know how far it would go, nor how long it would keep going, but she didn't care. That creature did not deserve to exist so she would ensure it did not.

When she was sure the creature was dead she turned back to the girl in her arms, gently checking her over before bringing out a blanket when she found no wounds. Akiza wrapped it around the girl before she brought her back into her arms, resting the child's head on her shoulders as she stood and turned towards the lab she found herself in.

And finding the woman she initially left to find.

Near the back wall and surrounded by machinery was the unconscious body of Summer Rose floating in a medical tank. The woman was naked, but Akiza couldn't find it in her to be aroused.

Summer had a massive scar on the entirety of her left side, it telling a story of her missing left arm from the elbow down and her left leg, which entirely gone. Her right side had damage as well, but the few missing fingers of her right hand and chunk of scar tissue of her right leg weren't as bad as her left side.

Then there were her eyes...

Or rather, her lack of them. Akiza could see the scarring around where her eyes should be, the wound looking like they were crudely ripped out with a rusty yet jagged weapon. Combined with her shattered mind and Akiza knew all she needed to know about how the woman found herself in a coma.

Akiza just walked up to and stared at the woman who, even though heavily scarred, looked oh so much like her Little Rose, then looked to the child resting in her arms. She hadn't known what she was getting into when she went off to look for Summer Rose...

But this? This hadn't been it.

Akiza could fix them both, her Healing Magic and use of Aroma Garden and other restoring Spells would help her give Summer Rose her limbs and organs back, but it would take atleast eight hours of preparation to make sure her body didn't go into shock or cannibalize itself as she started restoring her limbs and erasing the scar tissue, and then an entire day of work to make sure everything healed properly. That alone would take up her entire Tuesday, and that wasn't even factoring in how much time it could take to bring the woman's conscious out from where it was buried, or worst case scenario, reconstructed.

Then she'd have to make sure the child was fine as well and see what she needed! She obviously needed food and water, which Akiza had in abundance, but she also needed food that she could eat and keep down instead of potentially throwing it all up in case her stomach rejected it. (That's not even factoring allergies either!) Akiza nearly groaned, but kept it in as she just ran her hand through the young Faunus' hair.

Then she remembered that there were supposed to be civilians here as well and gave in and groaned.

There would be much work to do, so much Magic to cast and potential favors to call in, but she would go through with it. It was more then just giving her girls closure at this point.

Now.

Now it was more then personal.

It was a mission.

One Akiza would see through to the very end.

And that's Summer. I initially didn't know what I was going to do with Summer, and I when I started writing this story I thought of keeping her dead or 'missing.' But then I had the thought of what her dynamic with Akiza could be if she was alive, then I kept thinking about it, then decided to keep her alive.

But I couldn't just have her alive and be like some damsel in distress that'd be fine if someone came and rescued her, so I needed a reason for her to be out of commission and would actually mean something other then her being made a nugget or something like that.

Then I remembered The Hound and had an idea.

And said idea turned into Salem deciding it would be funny to farm Silver Eyed Warriors and make them Hounds.

The trauma Summer is going to have is going to be greaaaaat.

Also Salem learning about Akiza and some of what she could do, but there's no way that's important.

Not at all.