[Zwei Not]

"Very well. Until next time, Miss Nahualli." Juno replied as he stood up, looking the woman over once more before turning his back to her and striding through the door. That meeting had been... Well, it was a complete fucking disaster, not that he had expected much in the way of success. He had been all but forced to stay in the city, with little information on what their next actions would be. He was, quite clearly, on Malina's shit list, and while the feeling was mutual, that was definitely a negative that would not be changing any time soon. Not to mention those two Atlesians... He couldn't be sure if they saw Phi or not, and even if they did, he could only hope nobody in their higher ups was interested in the whereabouts of the AI.

A deep sigh escaped his lips as he trudged down the hallway, replaying the meeting over and over in his head.

[Dr. Gustave]

Malina only offered a curt nod as Juno made his way out of her office, shutting the door on his way out. She waited there, in silence, for a moment or two. The same hard lines etched into her face, the same stubbornness in her eyes, just in case he came back in. After a moment or two of nothing but silence, she collapsed, dropping her face into her open palms and letting her dark hair spill over onto the desk.

The hated this. She hated how she acted, how she had to act. She hated how he didn't understand. She hated how there wasn't anyone she could go to, not Tania, not Eliana, not Candida, not even Carmine. Especially not Carmine. She hated Juno and she hated that she hated Juno.

She sat there for far more than a moment or two, hands in her face and completely still. Neither tears nor a breath of relief or relaxation came, just the stewing of emotions, boiling the point of almost spilling out before being quenched back behind wall after wall after wall.

After a long while, she drew in a breath and lifted her head from her hands, pushing her hair from her face, and picked up her scroll. She swiped through her contacts, briefly stopping on Candida before continuing on to Titania. She hit calle and raised the scroll to her ear. One ring... two... three...f-

"Hello?" The professor's voice called over the small speaker. "Malina?"

"Hello." The cheerful demeanor and smile plastered on Malina's face betrayed the earlier argument. "I just had an Atlesian scientist and a soldier come in earlier, they said they talked to you...?" She asked as she used her free hand to pull open a drawer to the right of her legs.

"Yes!" Titania sounded joyed at the question. "I could have taken care of them, but I thought it would be a good opportunity for you to-"

"I sent them away." Malina cut her mentor off midsentence. There a silence that hung in the air for a moment before Titania spoke again.

"Ah..." She sounded disappointed, Malina had expected it but it still hurt. "I can't say I'm happy with that decision, Malina... a job like that, it would look great for your career."

"I don't care-" about my career "-for their work." She thought she heard the slightest of groans on the other end of the call.

"You don't care about more efficient dust? I thought you of all people would be able to appreciate that." Titania said, almost mirroring what Dr. Fawn had said earlier.

"It's not that." Malina retorted quickly. "I just..." She struggled to find the words. "... It doesn't matter, I just wanted t check in and make sure you had sent them over."

"Okay..." Her voice wheld the faintest twinge of disappointment. She hated it.

"Before I forget, I'm doing some work with team VCVS, could you let me know if they have any missions lined up?" Malina asked, almost as an afterthought.

"Sure thing," Titania said as the sound of her taking her scroll from her ear and tapping on the screen several times sounded through the speakers. "Mmm... doesn't look like it, do you want me to arrange something?"

"No, no, that's okay. That's actually the answer I was looking for." She forced a small laugh. "That should be it..." She paused for a split second before adding, "Thank you, Tania." and hung up before she could hear the response.


Malina looked down at the book she had pulled out of the drawer. Unassuming in its appearance, it was thin and a simple black color. A small, genuine smile crossed her face as she opened the cover to the first page. Machlud 11th, 73 AC, the first day of Beacon.

The smile faded as she flipped through toward her fourth year. She stared at the pages for a moment before shifting her eyes to the screen of her scroll, where the contact information for Carmine was now displayed. With a small sigh, she closed the book and clicked the call button. One ring... tw-

[Dr. Gustave]

Epilogue: Malina I

Arashi 24th, 76 AC

The cargo ship shuttered to life, the noise of its engines temporarily deafening all other noises before the noise-canceling buffers kicked in, sending the cargo bay-turned-seating area into almost perfect silence. Just calling it a cargo ship was probably a bit insulting, Malina thought. It was, by all rights, a cargo ship. It just happened to also be very, very big, almost dwarfing the airships of Vale in size.

Malina looked around at the vast empty space around her, it alone was larger than most classrooms at Beacon. To think that this was all for cargo and supplies was almost hard to imagine. The small windows that lined the area certainly didn't help, though she chalked that up to some designer in Mistral wanting to make it prettier or more symmetrical. She certainly didn't mind, the view was something some would kill for.

They were slowly leaving the Vale docks and sailed lazily over the city, a titan casting shadows on the buildings below. That made her frown slightly. It would be a long trip. A very long trip. A day at the least and a day and a half at the most. The Haven headmistress had provided chair and beds for them to relax and sleep on in the vast empty space, but there wasn't much she could do other than that. Other than prepare.

They had been specifically selected by the headmistress of Haven, Eliana Baris, for an apparently top priority mission. Not by name, perhaps, but by reputation. Malina's team, MCCA, had a reputation for getting the jobs they were put on done. The disguise of traveling in a slow, bulky, and featureless cargo ship was a downside of the mission's secret nature.

Malina looked around again at the others in the room. There was herself, obviously, who sat in a chair she had pulled up to one of the windows; There was Carmine, excitedly looking out of one of the windows nearby her; Aurelia, who laid in one of the beds, a pillow covering her face, trying to sleep; and of course there was Candida, setting in a chair a ways away from Malina, nose deep in a book, her black scleraed eyes scanning over the pages and faunus ears twitching periodically.

One of the reasons they weren't one of the top teams at Beacon was probably the fact that none of them were terribly social, Malina thought. Sure, they got their jobs done, but they were so often caught up in themselves, not asking or receiving help from others. Malina had tried, once upon a time, back in her first year and had that summarily ruined by Candida and Aurelia. The twins, for all their mischief and mayhem, mostly kept to themselves of their teammates. Carmine, probably the most social of them all, was... well, she almost always ended up overwhelming whoever she was talking to.

The question of why them crossed her mind and not for the first time. They weren't the best, even with social issues taken away. There were other teams stronger and more capable than they were at taking on tasks in Beacon and surely in Haven as well. The request didn't entirely sit well with her but at the same time, she wasn't one to turn it down. A personal mission from another school's headmistress? No one would be able to overlook that when they looked at their team.

She returned her gaze to the window and rested the side of her head against it, feeling the vibration of the ship through the glass. They were at the edge of the city now, passing over the small houses that dotted the exterior. A long trip, she thought again as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift to sleep. She could allow herself to worry about specifics later.


She awoke to someone shaking her by the shoulder. Groggily, she opened her eyes to see Aurelia, the blue of her eyes surrounded by pitch black, just like her sister. "We're here, Malina."

Malina furrowed her brow and then tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes. "How long was I asleep...?" She asked slowly.

"We sped up once we were out of CCTT range," Aurelia said, not directly answering the question. "Carmine and Candida are at the exit talking with, uh, someone... they didn't tell me who."

Malina let out a long yawn and rubbed at her eyes, offering only a quiet, "Fuck." as she grabbed the bag she had set down next to her chair and patted at her hip, making sure her weapon was there under her heavy coat. Manticore unfoiled as she stood up, swishing back and forth behind her as if she were stretching out a limb that had gone to sleep. She straightened her back and put on a harder face as she made her way to the exit, Manticore poised behind her and Aurelia following several steps behind. Confidence, Malina thought, was all one needed to take care of most scenarios like this. A little intimidation on the side didn't hurt.


"Uh huh." Candida spoke, obvious annoyance in her voice.

Malina heard her before she saw her, a few steps before she rounded the corner to the exit. Candida stood, arms on her hips, talking with someone Malina couldn't see on the other side of the doorway. Carmine stood a few feet behind Candida with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Well forgive me if I think that's bullshit."

"What's going on here?" Malina asked as she approached whoever she was talking to could respond. As she took her place next to Candida, she realized the man didn't have any weapons. A meek-looking dog faunus stood on the other side of the door. Slumped shoulders and bags under his eyes gave the impression of someone who didn't get much sleep.

"He says we have to fill out paperwork to get into Mistral." Candida offered.

Malina frowned slightly. Not the crisis situation she had been expecting, but that was a good thing. "We were-" She paused suddenly before continuing. "Actually, I'd like to talk to my teammate quickly if you don't mind."

"No ma'am." His voice was ragged and tired.

Malina offered a polite smile as she lead Candida away. "Did you say anything about our mission?" She asked in a low voice.

"No?" Candida half stated, half asked.

Malina only nodded in response and walked back to the doorway. "I'm sorry about that, sir. We'll sign the paperwork."

A small smile graced the man's face as he nodded.


"'m not sure that was such a great idea, Malina..." Carmine spoke up as the group made their way up what felt like the seven hundredth set of stairs in Mistral. "Now they've got our signatures an' info."

"Lesser of two evils... I hope..." Malina said through panting breaths. "The mission's supposed to be secret."

Carmine only let out a small sign in response.

Malina let out a long breath and stretched her back as she reached the final landing. The large gate to Haven academy loomed in front of them.

"Couldn't they have dropped us off closer..." Candida said quietly as she made her way to Malina's side, receiving only a shrug in return.

"It'd be a bit conspicuous if a giant cargo ship pulled up to Haven, I think."

"Mm." Candida grunted in return.

"Doesn't matter now anyway, we're here.... finally... now come on, let's go meet the headmistress." Malina said as she placed one hand on the large gate, pushing it open.