I REALLY like this chapter. It's so darn interesting to read. For starters, it shows Merlot as a competent master with a level head, which makes me like him more. Then there's the atmosphere, where little hints are dropped throughout to really sell you on the dread and panic that Ruby feels at the archives. And the archives themselves are really interesting on their own.

If the floods were where I got truly hooked, this chapter was when I got properly invested on the story and it's world.

Reading Merlot's reasons for picking Ruby as an apprentice seems redundant now that I know he already has his answer. I remember when I read the reveal that he was behind the fall of Menagerie and the Grimm horde and felt like it was a retcon of some sort. Like, some nitpicks made it hard to sell me the idea. For example, here the librarian said that the farthest anyone has gone was just 5 days and later on the Menagerie party that survived traveled for weeks iirc, but then it turns out that merlot was going back and forth between Vale and Menagerie enough that he had managed to learn different arcanas, and then comments that he did so too in Atlas, Vacuo and Mistral too, by disguising his travels as him researching. The scale of time feels disjointed, for some reason. Unless he had some kind of transport like the one The Librarian mentions here, the travel time alone would eat at most of the time he could realistically remain there. There's also the fact that earning an Arcana is supposed to take years of study and practice. To get away with what he's claiming, his research travels should have taken at least a year and a couple of months, but no one could realistically pack enough food for a whole year and travel to sell the idea.

Like I said, nitpicks.

I personally found it lackluster that he ended up being the bad guy instead of roping someone else and having him join them instead. Perhaps he could have joined the Grimm horde to get the answers he so desperately wanted and to give Ruby some as well before bing executed. Sadly, he got sidelined near the end to focus on Ruby and Weiss's relationship and then appears as the bad guy. It really is a shame that so much of the last stretch is focused on those two alone. So much character potential got wasted because of it.

You know, I have this headcanon that Jaune had the potential to develop feelings for Ruby, but due to the White's interference he ended up progressively using her as his anchor to remember himself instead and losing the ability to develop those feelings. I personally don't see nothing wrong with him falling for Yang at the end like some would say (Characters sharing screentime the most doesn't necessarily mean they should straight up end together) because it wasn't done straight away and the fact that the story shows that Yang made him happy sold me into it. Besides, it helps my headcanon.

Speaking of pairings, I find it sad that Sun ended up with such an ignoble end after everything he went through. He had good chemistry with Ruby and Weiss and a really warm broship with Jaune, so him being left behind alone, beaten and without memories of his best pal when they could have taken him or at least send for him in the epilogue feels like a cruel end for his character. It's a shame that his chemistry with Weiss early on wasn't capitalized on to develop a proper relationship. It was so easy to. Both outsiders from the Royalty, one desperately trying to fit in and miserable for it while the other remains true to himself and happier for it, him melting her Ice cold demeanor with his charismatic charm and good natured attitude, him forgetting his best friends while she does everything in her power to help him remember after the ordeal. It's a shame that later on the story focused too much on Ruby and Weiss's relationship and forgot all the other characters besides the immediately involved.

I really like how detailed Vale is. If there's anything that really sticks with me after reading the story for the first time, is how fleshed out the city is. It's it's own character basically.

People say that the Slums are unrealistic, that nobody would live there with the flood and the crimes and poor quality of life and all that, and to a certain extent it is because of how extreme it is, but there's a zone in my city called Las Chacaritas (Which is this zone next to the main river in the capital where's it's illegal to live because it gets flooded when the water rises) where poor people go and make a community, and it's pretty much how you describe the Slums basically. Unsanitary, poverty, lack of security, criminal activities, etc. The only thing missing is the entitled attitude (After the floods of 2020 due to the weather phenomenon called El Niño the entire zone ended under water and the people demanded reparations from the government despite the fact they were living somewhere they shouldn't).

Anyway, I just wanted to say that the final product is something really interesting and completely capable of seeing use at a retail level. Some say that you could change the names and totally publish this as a stand alone book, but I personally think you'll need way more polish and exposition to use the full package without having to rely on RWBY as a base, but the city and characters concepts would work really well and could totally see them in major book franchise.

Another great story, still slightly curious though, what happened to Summer and Raven? Summer apparently just dissappears off-screen, believed dead despite being an experienced Wildmage she was somehow killed without the Arcaniums effort? When we already know the Grimm are barely any threat to a Wildmage when Adam could annhilate thousands in one battle just by smashing them apart through telekinesis of objects?

Then there's Raven, we literally get one throw-away line from Qrow saying "The White cost me my sister, then my lover", but how or why? Is she even Yangs mother in this fic? It's never brought up, only the strong implication Ruby might be Qrows daughter instead of Taiyangs.

Also was Goodwitch aware that Ruby was Qrow/Summers child? I get the feeling she was, from that throwaway line partway in the story. Might make a few things make more sense (wanting to forcibly tie Qrows loyalty by keeping ahold of Ruby for one), but also makes me confused on why she never had Ruby tested/interrogated to see if any knowledge about her mothers wildmagic was passed down so I might be wrong.

Oof bad idea to ask the head mage to teach you a spell when she's already got some minor suspicion on her. All it takes is Ozpin deliberately tweaking the spell he teaches her in a way that makes it fail harmlessly, wait to see if she succeeds despite the sabotage, and bang, he's got his Wildmage.

Guessing this is our first clue of the reasons why Wildmages are hunted and locked in the Sanctum; Grimm are attracted to them.

humans didn't hunt down and drive out wolves because they decided "nature didn't apply to them anymore". what kind of bullshit is that?

they hunted down and drove out wolves because wolves are dangerous to humans and because wolves are a competing predator for a shared food source.

that's literally a part of how nature works - and the fact that humans survived while wolves didn't, that's literally just survival of the fittest or survival of the best.

humans didn't kill wolves because they decided that "nature didn't apply to them anymore", humans hunted, killed and drove out wolves exactly because humans were better at the games of nature

extremely overexaggerated conditions for the slums - if they truly only ever got waste water, practically nobody would survive

so basically you are ravenclaws

wow... this story... one of the best RWBY fics I've ever read. I'll be definitely coming back to reread in the future.

as fucking amazing as always. thank you for a beautiful story

the end of this chapter really makes me want to see a sequel. one that retcons the epilogue and one where ruby and Weiss can have a romance. they really work so well in this fic and it really bums me out that couer was too much of a coward to commit to white rose and bumbleby in this fic that has the best justification for them

Fourth story I've finished. Second best so far, going Service w. of Beaconnot this time fate.

I'm surprised that this was so good, since it has so little humor, and before this, I thought that was your strongest point.

The Weiss of this story was such a cinnamon bun, more so than any other Weiss I've ever seen. I regret we never got Ruby fully confiding in her until it no longer mattered. Summer was able to confide in Crow. I would have liked Ruby to do the same with Weiss.

Some other points of contention.

There were some minor issues. Like Blake saying she coudn't use shadow magic on Ruby because she was a Wildmage, yet something like the Emerald Arcana's healing can work on her. When Ruby was going for a check up, I was sure that would out her, and I wasn't sure why it didn't.

In fact, I felt that there were several things they could have done to try and out Ruby as a Wildmage, and the only reason they didn't was because plot. A couple of spells were mentioned as being to delicate for a Wildmage to do, (like black or emerald arcana) so just have all the initiates learn the very barebone bascis of them, and the one that can't do it is your Wildmage. Easy.

The White was infuriating, which was no doubt intentional. But there were constantly arguments that I wanted to scream at the page or wanted Ruby or anyone else to bring up, and it was infuriating when they didn't. It makes sense why they didn't, as they want to avoid to suspicion, but omg.

The entire nobility thing here feels weird. From Weiss' situation, it clear there is a difference between nobility and just being rich. Yet then what is nobility here, really? What are they the noble of? Normally, you got a spot of land, or a city, and the ruler of that city and his family is considered noble. Since they rule. Are the nobility of this setting just landless nobles? That would make it just a meaningless vanity title? Its just weird for a city like this to have this many different noble families. Usually, its one noble family per county, duchy, country, or what have you. Here, the title just felt like bragging rights and little else.

I was baffled that something like the slums could sustain themselves. How does any woman there survive pregnancy? The Slums would need constant immigration to keep up with the high death toll.

Well, that's it. Really good job on this one.

Consider me invested. AU is always dangerous, and at this point, this has jack all to do with the original show. Its a fully original work that just borrows names and half of those do not even the personalities attached to them.

Still good though.

The only thing I'm wondering about is Malneux's right to take Ruby as his servant if she lost. What if Ruby simply decided not to apologies and also not duel? What if she dueled and lost and told him to ff off still? And on one side forced into servitude (or whatever they call it) and on the other side. . . what did the other side lose except reputation? The scales were uneven.

How much legal authority did that duel actually have?