Feydrum has been having a very bad month.

  He has been having to put up with Vanessa Soryu.

  The investigation into her has been a long and tedious one.

  It began with the bang that was the destruction of Rome and the death of Gelmidas Atheneum. Reports were conflicting, but word got out fast. Those who lived on the pnet but had homes outside of the city were quick to flee after its destruction. Many of them feared for their lives and knew the chaos that would come after their Emperor’s death.

  Those accounts were the first to make their way to the Martian Council and onto Feydrum’s desk. That mound of reports only increased as the small group of survivors began to trickle out into the universe one by one. They were all human and all mortified by what they had witnessed.

  Feydrum questioned as many of those survivors as he could.

  “We were all just trying to get out.” One said.

  He was a rather drab man. Feydrum figured him for a business owner or ex-soldier. The man’s voice was steady enough to show that he had seen death before, but faint enough to show that nothing could have prepared him for what happened that day.

  “Who do you mean by ' we?” Feydrum only pushed the question slightly. The man was alone, sure, but nothing else about him seemed suspicious.

  “I mean everyone.” The man said it as if he wanted to ugh, but knew that this was no ughing matter. “Everyone gathered at the edge of the city.”

  He went on as Feydrum folded his arms and listened. “Emperor Atheneum had ordered the city locked down because of something about his son or an attempt on his life.”

  “That was after the wedding?” Feydrum asked only for the man to shrug.

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t there for that, I know a lot of people who were, though…” His voice grew even fainter. “Well knew, I guess. They weren’t with me when everything went down.”

  The man went on to tell Feydrum about how he spent hours waiting to be let out of Rome, only for the city to burn around him. It was an odd account. A far-off one.

  Feydrum wasn’t satisfied by it. He needed someone who was up close to the action.

  Sadly, the woman Feydrum spoke to next wasn’t exactly willing to help him.

  “You bck eyed grey-skins are all disgusting!”

  Feydrum let the xenophobia slide, but had to take more drastic measures after a winegss was thrown at him. “I don’t want to hurt you.” He stated as his thin, grey fingers snatched the human woman’s arm. “I just want to ask a few questions.”

  She forced him off her. Her face was drenched in tears as she mumbled, “My family is dead, my home is gone, and you want me to answer questions?” Her face went dark. Her nails dug into her skin. “Everything was on fire,” She told him. “Everything was on fire, and one of you martians was walking around without a care in the universe.”

  Feydrum had reached a surprise breakthrough.

  There was one non-human survivor of Rome’s destruction.

  The dreaded Martian warrior Galihend.

  “You won’t get much out of her.” The guard outside of Galihend’s ever-shifiting getin cell told Feydrum when he arrived to question her.

  “Why is that?” Feydrum asked the guard.

  “She doesn’t speak much.” The guard said as he patted down Feydrum.

  Even Council investigators can’t carry weapons into a prison. Feydrum is more than okay with that rule. The guard took his hands off Feydrum and sighed, “In fact, she hasn’t said a word since we brought her in.”

  Feydrum didn’t even shrug at the information. “I’ll get something out of her,” He told the guard before stepping into the shifting cell. His feet sank into the getin at first, but it hastily contorted itself to be firm beneath him. Galihend, on the other hand, was on anything but firm ground.

  The getin had tied itself around her. It was given mental instructions since birth to contain its prisoner at all costs. It would format itself into any shape to attain that goal and keep its creators pleased. Feydrum always found the whole thing unnerving. He much prefers the iron bars of old that kept prisoners contained until the humans unleashed the Rusting.

  But the getin gets the job done, even if it isn’t an easy one. Feydrum can rete to it in that way.

  “Galihend.” He addressed the woman in the most basic way he knew. Her reactions would tell him how to proceed. “I would like to ask you a few questions about Rome.”

  Feydrum looked into Galiend’s blind eyes. A deep scar was etched across her face, a scar she received when she was just a girl. The gash seeped into her eyes and turned her once deep-bck eyes into a stark white, outlined by the crimson of her nerves.

  She can’t even blink, but Feydrum just knew that she wanted to.

  He can sense these things. He reads people like books. All of them are the same, even so-called monstrous killers like Galihend.

  “Did you hear me?” He asked.

  “Qrow,” Galihend said.

  Feydrum tucked his hands into his pockets. How was he supposed to work with this? “Your birds are gone. Maybe if you tell me what I want to know, I can give them back?”

  “Qrow,” Galihend said.

  Feydrum kept calm. “Why were you in Rome?”

  “Qrow,” Galihend said.

  Feydrum took his hands out of his pockets. “I’m not the one who took your birds. The men who arrested you did that.”

  “I know,” Galihend said. “Qrow.”

  Feydrum was getting frustrated. Galihend was pying with him. “So you can speak normally?”

  Galihend gave something close to a smile. “Normal is stretch. Qrow.”

  Feydrum knew how to push her now. Galihend is a warrior; she needed to be challenged.

  “Indeed. Normal is a stretch. I can see that you aren’t a typical woman. You certainly aren’t an honorable one either.”

  Galihend tilted her head. “Honor?” She had dropped the ‘Qrow’ from her speech. Her mind was on something else.

  Feydrum’s pn was going to work. “Well, of course. If you were a true warrior, you wouldn’t have been imprisoned, right?”

  Galihend scowled. “Spared.”

  “What was that?”

  “Spared,” Galihend mumbled. “The one I faced in Rome. Was not true warrior. Wanted the Scorched Archer. Got coward in her pce.”

  Feydrum tapped his foot. The getin moved to accommodate the rhythm. “So what happened in Rome had something to do with the Scorched Archer?”

  Galihend nodded. “Had a group. We were sent to kill Gelmidas, like her. Except we were hired.”

  Feydrum stopped tapping his foot. The getin settled.

  “Hired? Hired by who?”

  It was a question that Feydrum would come to regret, especially now as he stands with Galihend outside of the Martian Council chamber.

  “Qrow,” Galihend says, and a Qrow nds atop her head.

  The guards all raise their spears at her.

  “There’s no need for that,” Vanessa Soryu yawns. She waves a paper fan in front of her face. The heat of Tethaseele seems to be getting to her. “You won’t try anything, will you, Galihend?”

  The guards keep their spears drawn.

  Feydrum narrows his gaze on Tendo Soryu. The man has his hands csped together just below his stomach. Feydrum swears that he sees them glow as Galihend expins, “I need eyes. Qrow is eyes.”

  “Let the girl have her bird.” Vanessa waves her fan at the guards. They lower their spears.

  Galihend smiles. “Qrow,” She says, delighted.

  The door to the Council chamber opens ever so slightly.

  An elegantly dressed elderly Martian slides out of the chamber and swiftly shuts the door.

  “Councilor, Endariv.” Feydrum acknowledges his superior and assumes a salute along with the guards. Vanessa and Tendo remain idle, but Galihend at least bows.

  “Investigator Feydrum.” Endariv smiles and motions for everyone to drop the salute. They all do so as Endariv takes a seat on the bench beside Vanessa. “Madam president. I understand that you’ve found yourself in a heap of trouble.”

  “Spare me your pleasantries, old man, I’m not some naive criminal, and I’m hardly in any trouble.”

  “Yet you’re sweating,” Endariv smirks.

  Vanessa gives him a look of disdain before Feydrum hands Endariv his report. Endariv opens the folder and looks over the documents inside. “It’s a compelling case. You humans sure know how to stir up drama, don’t you?” Endariv looks to Tendo, who is completely unfazed by the comment. Endariv chuckles to himself before licking his fingers and turning a page. “Ms. Galihend, is it true that Vanessa Soryu hired you? We’ll ask this again in the council, but I-”

  “She did.” Galihend ftly states. Vanessa nods. “I did.”

  Feydrum taps his foot. Endariv turns to the next page. His bck eyes go wide. “Oh… My condolences. Losing a child is a terrible thing.”

  Tendo hangs his head. Vanessa continues to wave her fan. “Indeed, and I am incredibly offended that you all think I could have done this thing that led to the death of poor Cassandra.”

  She sure is fond of the Sympathy plea, Feydrum thinks as he taps his foot faster on the tile floor. The sole of his shoe beats like a rapid drum beneath him. Endariv seems close to wrapping things up until he makes it to the final page in Feydrum’s report.

  “Where is Adamus Atheneum?” He asks the group, who all look at him bnkly.

  Vannessa yawns again, “That boy is always te, isn’t he? Tendo, dear, can you send for-”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Adamus calls from the end of the hall. He approaches the group rexed and dignified. There is something about his manner that Feydrum finds odd.

  He first met Adamus st week. Feydrum knew of Adamus’s more than unprofessional reputation, and the man himself more than lived up to it. Especially given the fact that he definitely doesn’t take anything seriously.

  He often ignores matters and avoids questions, particurly those about his Father. That sort of thing is typical of a son grieving the death of the man who raised him.

  However, what Feydrum finds strange runs deeper than that. Multiple sources cim that Adamus Atheneum holds or held some sort of strange power. One that consumes him. Changes him.

  He may have destroyed Rome with this power.

  That is the narrative that would benefit Vanessa Soryu the most, benefit the Republic the most. Adamus has been more than willing to take on all that bme. He’s on trial as much as Vanessa is.

  This all leads one to question if the pair are somehow in league with each other. Yes, that is a question any normal person would ask. But Feydrum is not a normal person. Every instinct is telling him that something here is rotten. He just can’t tell what.

  There is the possibility that this is a fake Adamus, perhaps a shape-shifting Lungoza has taken on his appearance. It's a rare ability, but there are tests for it. Tests that even the corpse of Cassandra Soryu was put through during her autopsy. Adamus has passed each one of these shape-shifting tests. He could be the genuine article, or he could be something else. Something darker.

  A gut instinct isn’t evidence, though.

  Until Feydrum can prove that this is all as suspicious as he knows it is, he is completely powerless.

  This truly has been one very bad month.

  Endariv shuts the folder.

  “Well then. Shall we begin?” He stands and opens the door.

  “What instructions were you given upon being hired by Vanessa Soryu?”

  “Only act if wedding failed. Move on Pza when Adamus was unleashed.”

  “Is that correct?” The councilor asks Vanessa.

  “It is,” She answers, her husband now holding her fan for her.

  “Ms. Galihend, was there any additional information?”

  Galihend leaps at the question. “Vanessa told of the Scorched Archer. She was in Rome with her ally. A pale human.”

  “Irrelevant.” Another councilor speaks up.

  The previous one holds up a hand. “Notion dismissed, Councillor Yararum. Let us cut to the heart of things. Gelmidas Atheneum is dead. His body was found with an arrow beside it. The body of the human female known as The Scorched Archer was indeed found in Rome as well.

  This information, combined with what the council knows of the events prior to Rome’s destruction and the additional evidence of both Mrs. Soryu’s and the Archer’s fingerprints being on the arrow, suggests Mrs. Soryu’s involvement in the murder of Gelmidas Atheneum.

  However, the Archer’s fingerprints are the most pronounced and the most recently dated. Therefore, the council has found Vanessa Soryu innocent in the case of Gelmidas Atheneum’s murder. Granted, her involvement in the destruction of Rome is another matter.”

  Feydrum folds his arms and leans back in his seat next to Galihend. He didn’t get the chance to look over the arrow that his fellow investigators cimed killed Gelmidas. Is it possible that Vanessa could have maniputed the data?

  No, he’s overthinking things. If that were the case, then Vanessa’s prints wouldn’t have been on the weapon at all. He begins to tap his foot again. Galihend’s Qrow looks at him. Its bck eyes seem to burn into him as she tilts her head. “Done what I’ve can,” She whispers.

  Feydrum sighs, “It’s not over yet.”

  “Adamus Atheneum.” Councilor Endariv finally addresses the man that everyone has had their eyes on. “What is this talk of being unleashed?”

  “My power, councilor.” Adamus begins with a smile. “My Father was in danger, so I unleashed my power onto the city.”

  Some of the younger councilors hold back ughter at the words. Endariv is among the older ones who remain firm. “Eborate.”

  Adamus pulls back the sleeves of his suit jacket. The council watches in horror as his arms split open. He stands proud as something crawls out of his arms and takes shape around them.

  Feydrum stops tapping his foot and narrows his gaze on Adamus. A blue haze has formed around him. His arms are wide open. Stone bdes protrude through the bloody slits on them.

  Endariv tosses up a hand. “That’s a mighty fine demonstration, d. Tell me, did you use this ability often?”

  “Only in the gdiator arena,” Adamus ughs as he draws the bdes back inside his arms and the blue glow dissipates.

  “But you unleashed it in Rome because you thought you could save your Father?” Endariv asks.

  “Yes, councilor,” Adamus answers.

  The whole council begins to murmur amongst itself. The councilor who questioned Galihend speaks up again. “The council decres a recess.”

  Feydrum catches Vanessa smiling at the words. She grips Tendo’s hand. It is then that Feydrum notices something.

  There is a tattoo on Tendo Soryu’s wrist.

  A symbol?

  No. A number.

  One.

  The council ter finds Vanessa Soryu guilty of only attempted assassination and conspiracy.

  The punishment is a light one.

  She can’t leave Tethaseele for one year and is to be under watch at all times.

  Adamus Atheneum is deemed as acting only in self-defense. When he is asked to give a statement on the future of the Division of Humanity, he says, “There is no Division. Vanessa Soryu is the only leader humanity needs. In fact, I hereby decre that all prior Division pnets and other territories are to be transferred to the Republic, effective immediately.”

  Feydrum was frustrated at first, sure, but the affairs of humans have always been frustrating to him.

  Once the meeting is adjourned and everything is settled, he draws the short straw and ends up being the one to return Galihend to prison. The Qrow stares at him in the Grogrung-drawn carriage.

  Galihend doesn’t bother to fight against her restraints. It is only an hour into their journey that she finally speaks. “I am dishonorable.”

  Feydrum decides to take the bait, figuring that he might as well engage in conversation to take his mind off the Council’s disappointing ruling. “How so?”

  Galihend sighs, “Should have spoken more.” Her Qrow flutters away from her.

  Feydrum leans forward. His frustration builds once more. Ready to ignite now. “What do you mean? Did you keep something from the council that could have helped the investigation?”

  Galihend shakes her head. “No. Only noticed…”

  “Noticed what?” Feydrum asks.

  “In Rome. My eyes, Qrow eyes, everywhere. Saw many things. Saw Adamus. Saw what he was.” Galihend shakes her head. “He not what he was then. He was something today that was… different.”

  Galihend has seized Feydrum’s curiosity, but he is yet to be validated. “Different how?”

  Galihend folds her arms. She taps her foot. “Rome. Adamus changed. His power is not power. He something else. Someone else.”

  The Qrow leaves the carriage and flies off into the night. Galihend leans forward. “Adamus Atheneum not here today, neither was thing living inside of him.”

  Feydrum csps his hands and taps his foot along with Galihend. “Can you prove this?”

  “Working on it. Need help with other thing. We use Vanessa to Martian advantage. Appease your councilor friends.”

  Feydrum nods. He can’t believe what he’s hearing, and he certainly doubts that Galihend can help him any more than she already has. “And how do we do that?”

  Galihend leans in closer to whisper in Feydrum’s ear. “Been watching group on Ourobeel with Qrow eyes. Cassandra Soryu with them. Three Machinists who had consciousness transferred into human bodies there as well. Can use them. If give Vanessa Cassandra, could convince Vanessa to assist Council.”

  Feydrum wants to ugh at this. Machinists? They’re a myth, and Cassandra Soryu is dead. He saw the coroner's autopsy report himself.

  Yet Feydrum is desperate. He has been working this case for a month, and it just went up in fmes. If he can salvage it somehow…

  “What do you mean, convince her? And how do we get Cassandra here if she’s on Ourobeel?”

  “We…” Galihend mutters only to grit her teeth. “No.”

  Feydrum grips her shoulders and shakes her. “What? What is it?”

  She shoves Feydrum away. He topples into his seat. The carriage shakes.

  “Too te,” Galihend states.

  “I can’t see them anymore.”