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Years passed.
The seasons changed in Atlas, but the cold always remained.
However, the small girl who once sat outside a cafe with a stolen wallet was gone.
In her place stood a confident young woman.
Neo adjusted the collar of her Atlas Academy uniform.
The white and blue fabric looked sharp on her.
She carried a sleek silver umbrella.
It was a weapon she had built herself.
Elias and Dee stood with her near the Academy gates.
"Do you have your scroll?"
Elias asked.
Neo nodded.
She patted her pocket.
"Do you have extra ammunition?"
Dee asked.
Neo rolled her eyes.
She signed with one hand.
*I packed four boxes. I'll be fine.*
"Don't roll your eyes at your mother,"
Elias told her.
"She is just worried. Academy students are arrogant. They think they know everything. We taught you better."
*I know,*
Neo signed.
*I'll be careful. I won't show them all my tricks at once.*
"Good,"
Elias said.
"Keep your Semblance hidden until you truly need it. Surprise is your best weapon."
Heavy footsteps approached them.
General James Ironwood walked down the stone path.
He wore his white uniform.
His metal arm clicked softly with every step.
"She looks ready,"
Ironwood said.
He stopped next to Elias.
"She is,"
Dee said.
"Thank you for the enrollment, James. We know it wasn't easy to push her paperwork through the council."
"It was very easy,"
Ironwood corrected her.
He looked at Elias.
"When the two best operatives in Remnant ask me for a favor, I say yes. The council didn't argue."
Elias didn't smile.
He just nodded.
"We appreciate it."
Ironwood looked at Neo.
"Welcome to Atlas Academy, Miss Politan. Your parents have a flawless record. They have never failed a mission for me. Not once. I expect great things from you."
Neo gave him a mock salute.
She smiled her signature smirk, turned around, and walked through the large iron gates.
Elias watched her go.
He felt a rare moment of pride.
"Are you sure she will be safe?"
Dee asked quietly.
"She is with other students,"
Elias said.
"She will be the one keeping them safe."
Ironwood turned to them. "I have another contract for you."
"We just returned from Vacuo three days ago,"
Dee said.
"We need a break."
"This one pays triple,"
Ironwood said.
"It is an impossible extraction. A research team is trapped deep inside a mountain in Solitas. The Grimm have surrounded them. My specialists can't break the line."
"We will do it tomorrow,"
Elias said.
"Send the coordinates to my scroll."
"You have a one hundred percent success rate,"
Ironwood noted.
"People are starting to call you ghosts. You go into dead zones and come out with everyone alive. How do you do it?"
"We plan,"
Elias answered simply.
"And we don't panic."
Ironwood accepted the answer.
He turned and walked back toward his office.
Elias and Dee walked home.
They lived in a quiet neighborhood.
They had bought a large house with their mission money.
When they walked inside, the house felt empty without Neo.
"She will make friends,"
Dee said.
She went to the kitchen to boil water for tea.
"She will probably rob them first,"
Elias replied.
He took off his heavy jacket.
A knock sounded at the front door.
Elias paused.
He looked at the door. He didn't expect visitors. He walked over and opened it.
Two familiar figures stood on the porch. They looked older, but their posture was still strong.
Ghira Belladonna stood tall. His beard was thicker.
Kali Belladonna stood beside him. She held a woven basket.
"Elias,"
Ghira said.
His deep voice filled the doorway.
"It has been a long time."
"Ghira. Kali,"
Elias stepped back.
"Come inside."
Dee walked out of the kitchen.
She smiled widely.
"Kali! It is so good to see you."
The two women hugged. Ghira offered his hand to Elias.
Elias shook it. The grip was just as strong as he remembered.
They sat around the wooden dining table.
Dee poured four cups of hot tea.
"Where is your daughter?"
Elias asked.
"She is back in Menagerie,"
Kali said.
"She is training. She wants to help our people. Just like her father."
"Menagerie is changing,"
Ghira said.
He took a sip of tea.
"And we came here to thank you for that."
"We didn't do much,"
Elias said.
"You did everything,"
Ghira shook his head.
"Three years ago, the Grimm attacks on our borders were terrible. We didn't have enough Huntsmen. We didn't have enough weapons. Then you two arrived."
"We had free time,"
Dee said softly.
"You built a steel wall across the eastern ridge,"
Ghira stated.
"You worked for a month. You didn't sleep. When the Grimm pushed, you stood on that wall and shot them down. You cleared the entire valley."
"It was good target practice,"
Elias said. His face remained blank.
"You refused our money,"
Kali added.
"You protected our homes for free."
"We don't need your money,"
Elias told them.
"Ironwood pays us. We have enough. You needed a wall. So we built a wall."
"You did more than build a wall,"
Ghira said. He reached into his coat. He placed a small, heavy pouch on the table.
Ghira opened the pouch. Three glowing blue crystals rolled onto the wood.
They pulsed with a soft, steady light. They looked like Dust, but they were different.
Dust looked sharp and volatile. These crystals looked smooth and calm.
"The magic crystals,"
Dee said.
"Yes,"
Ghira nodded. He leaned forward. His eyes were wide with wonder.
"Before you left, you gave me a handful of these. You told me to plant them in the soil near the farms. You told me to water them and wait."
"Did you follow my instructions?"
Elias asked.
"I did,"
Ghira said.
"I thought you were crazy. You can't plant Dust. Dust is mined from dead rock. But I trusted you. I buried them in the dirt."
Ghira took a deep breath.
"They grew,"
Ghira whispered.
"Elias... they grew. They formed clusters. They spread through the soil like roots. We harvested them last month. And the next week, new ones grew in their place."
Kali looked at Dee.
"What are they? We put one in a generator. It powered our village for a week. The crystal didn't shatter. It didn't burn to ash. It just dimmed. And when we put it back in the dirt, it started glowing again."
"It isn't Dust,"
Elias said.
"Then what is it?"
Ghira asked.
"It is mana,"
Dee answered.
Ghira and Kali stared at her. They didn't understand the word.
"Mana?"
Ghira repeated.
"I have never heard that word. No scientist in Atlas has ever used that word."
"Because they don't know it exists,"
Elias explained. He picked up one of the blue crystals.
He held it up to the light.
"Dust is physical. It is fossilized energy. When you burn it, it is gone forever. You have to dig deeper to find more."
"Yes,"
Ghira agreed.
"That is why the Schnee Dust Company is so rich. They own all the deep mines."
"Mana is different,"
Dee said.
"Mana isn't a fossil. It is alive. It is a natural energy that flows through this entire planet. It is in the air. It is in the water. It is in the soil."
"If it is everywhere, why hasn't anyone found it?"
Kali asked.
"Because you can't see it,"
Elias said.
"You can't touch raw mana. It flows through the world like a ghost. But if you know how to trap it, you can give it a physical form."
Elias pointed to the crystal.
"This crystal is basically a sponge,"
Elias said.
"I made it. I took empty quartz and carved special runes into it. When you put it in the ground, the runes pull the invisible mana out of the earth and trap it inside the rock."
Ghira looked at the crystal. His hands were shaking slightly.
"It pulls power from the earth?"
Ghira asked.
"Yes,"
Elias nodded.
"And Menagerie has the richest soil in the world. Your island is sitting on an ocean of mana. Atlas is cold and dead. The mana here is thin. But your home is overflowing with it."
"That is why they recharge quickly,"
Dee added.
"When the crystal is empty, you just put it back in the mana ocean. It fills up again. Just like dipping a bucket into a river."
Kali covered her mouth. She looked terrified and amazed at the same time.
"It is an infinite resource,"
Kali whispered.
"It will never run out."
"Exactly,"
Elias said. Ghira sat back in his chair. He rubbed his face with his hands.
He was a smart man. He understood what this meant. He understood the danger.
"This will change the world,"
Ghira said slowly.
"If we have a power source that never runs out... we don't need Dust."
"No,"
Elias agreed.
"You don't."
"If we don't need Dust, we don't need the Schnee Dust Company,"
Ghira continued.
"We don't need to buy fuel from Atlas. We don't need to send our people into dangerous mines to dig for scraps."
"You can power your own cities,"
Dee smiled.
"You can trade the crystals to other kingdoms. You can control your own economy."
Ghira looked at Elias. His eyes were totally serious.
"Jacques Schnee will kill us,"
Ghira said bluntly.
"He will send mercenaries to Menagerie. He will burn our island to the ground. He cannot allow this to exist. If the world finds out we have infinite energy, his monopoly dies overnight. He will lose billions."
"He will try,"
Elias corrected him.
"Elias, you don't understand,"
Ghira warned.
"Jacques owns the council. He has an army of private guards. He will declare war on the Faunus to take this secret."
Elias put the blue crystal down on the table. He looked right at Ghira. His face was cold and hard.
"Let him try,"
Elias said.
His voice was very quiet.
"Jacques Schnee is a businessman. He sits in an office and counts money. He doesn't know how to fight a real war."
"His mercenaries do,"
Ghira argued.
"I have killed mercenaries,"
Elias said simply.
"Lots of them. They only fight for money. When they start dying, they stop fighting."
Dee reached out and touched Kali's hand.
"We didn't give you these crystals to put you in danger,"
Dee said gently.
"We gave them to you to set you free. The Faunus have been abused for too long. Jacques Schnee uses your people like animals. This is your chance to break his chain."
"But we can't fight him alone,"
Kali said.
"You are not alone,"
Elias told them. Elias leaned forward. He rested his elbows on the table.
"You go back to Menagerie,"
Elias instructed.
"You plant more crystals. You build your power grid. You make your cities bright and warm. Don't hide it. Let the world see."
"And when Jacques sends his men?"
Ghira asked.
"He will send threats first,"
Elias said.
"He will try to buy the land. When you say no, he will send saboteurs. When they fail, he will send his private army."
Elias paused.
"When that happens,"
Elias said,
"You call me."
Ghira stared at the Huntsman.
"You would fight the Schnee Dust Company for us?"
"I told you years ago,"
Elias said.
"I don't like bullies. Jacques has pushed people around for decades. It is time someone pushed back."
"Ironwood won't protect you if you attack a citizen of Atlas,"
Ghira warned.
"You will become criminals here."
"I don't care about Atlas law,"
Elias said.
"I care about what is right. We gave you the mana. We will help you protect it. Let Jacques Schnee come. Let him bring all his money and all his guards. We will bury them in the dirt, right next to the crystals."
Ghira looked at the blue stones on the table. The soft light reflected in his eyes.
For his entire life, his people had suffered.
They had marched, they had protested, and they had died in dark caves.
Now, he had the power to change everything.
He had the power to build a future for his daughter.
Ghira slowly reached out.
He picked up the crystals and put them back in the pouch.
"I will start the plan tomorrow,"
Ghira said.
"Good,"
Elias nodded.
"We will need a lot of them,"
Kali said. She looked brave now. The fear was gone.
"We will need enough to power the whole continent."
"I will teach you how to carve the runes,"
Elias said.
"It is simple. Anyone can do it. Soon, every farmer in Menagerie will know how to harvest mana."
Dee smiled and stood up.
"Who wants more tea?"
They spent the rest of the evening talking about the future. They drew diagrams on paper.
Elias showed Ghira the specific rune shapes.
He explained how to align them with the magnetic pull of the earth.
It was a simple conversation, but it held heavy weight.
Far away, in a massive white mansion, Jacques Schnee sat behind his desk.
He reviewed his profits. He reviewed his mining reports. He felt very powerful. He felt very safe.
He doesn't know that a simple blue stone was about to destroy his entire empire.
He doesn't know that Elias Throne was waiting for him.
The world was going to change very soon.