Qrow exchanged a look with Raven, silent, sharp and purposeful. Then he turned to the three younger hunters.
"You three stay here," he ordered, voice clipped. "Help keep the Rank Ones stable. Don't wander."
Ruby blinked. "W-wait—"
Yang frowned. "Uncle Qrow, where are you going on—?"
But Qrow was already moving. Raven followed without a word, her posture rigid, expression unreadable. Evergreen gave the trio a strained glance—something between apology and urgency—before motioning Qrow and Raven down one of the inner corridors.
Ruby watched them disappear around a corner, the frown on her face deepening.
"Did you hear what they were saying? They're clearly hiding something," she muttered.
Yang crossed her arms. "Yeah. And they're doing it on purpose. My money is on it having something to do with the permanent imbuing fiasco."
Jaune didn't disagree. His gut was twisting the same way. Qrow and Raven didn't pull rank unless it was serious. Very serious.
He exhaled slowly. "Let's at least try figure out what we can."
The nearest non-awakened operative sat slumped beside a support pillar, boots off, fatigue obvious in the droop of his shoulders. His armor, while lighter than awakened gear, had slight scorch marks and scuffs everywhere. He looked up when Jaune approached.
"Hey," Jaune said gently. "Mind if I ask a few questions? About what happened? About the... Dragon Gang?"
The man nodded tiredly. "Yeah… yeah, sure. We're all in the same mess anyway."
Ruby and Yang hovered close, pretending to check on one of the drowsy Rank Ones but very obviously listening in.
The operative rubbed his face. "Long story short? Every single LUCID member in Belmont—awakened or not—got pulled into the Dream. One moment we were in the base... or other parts of the city, and the next, we were just… dragged into here."
Jaune stiffened. "Even the unawakened?"
"Yeah. That's the weird part." The man tapped the faintly glowing sigil embedded in the wall. "Normally, non awakened can't enter the dream unless we use the specialized sleep pods. But, fortunately, because of our sync-link in the sleeping pods, we manifested inside the Dream-base version too. Lucky break. Damn lucky, actually."
"Why?" Ruby asked.
"Because the Displacement Rune should've spawned us in our real-world positions. Which would've been on the streets. Or in separate buildings. Or scattered in Grimm territory." He swallowed. "We'd have lost dozens. Maybe all of us."
Yang muttered, "So the rune didn't work as expected."
"It worked," the man corrected grimly. "But the rules of the nightmare realm interfered with the process and I guess it just sort of... determined that we were supposed to spawn here. Those who were in the dream at the time were also affected. Their real bodies somehow merged with their dream ones."
He shifted, wincing as he displayed a badly bruised side. "The Displacement Rune that their boss has… it's supremely monstrous. He's in his fifties, but still a full Rank Two. Evergreen fought him outside the base a few times now. Meanwhile the other awakened in the gang tried to breach our walls."
"Guerilla tactics?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah. Hit-and-run. Ambushes, fade into thin air whenever things turned against them. Displacement at Mastery is… unfair."
Ruby shivered. "Someone that strong is in this area, running a criminal group?"
Yang's jaw clenched. "What do they even want?"
Jaune nodded. "Yeah. Who are these Dragon Gang guys. What's their goal, and why go after a LUCID base?"
The man blinked at him. Then stared. Ruby turned toward Jaune slowly and so did Yang.
All three of them gave him the same look—confused, surprised, almost incredulous.
Jaune froze. "…What?"
Their expressions didn't change.
It was clear that whatever he didn't know… he was apparently supposed to.
And Jaune felt the prickling of annoyance crawl up the back of his neck.
Yang was the first to break the silence.
She leaned in slightly, eyes narrowing at Jaune as if studying some strange creature in a tank. "Jaune… do you seriously not know about the awakened factions?"
Jaune's annoyance faded to confusion. "Factions?"
Ruby's eyebrows rose. The operative staring at him mirrored the same baffled expression.
Yang exhaled, long and dramatic. "Oh boy."
"I—what?" Jaune sputtered. "Since when are there factions? I thought it was just LUCID and, like… random rogue awakened running around."
Yang's lips curled into a slow grin—the "you sweet summer child" kind. "Oh wow. You really didn't get the onboarding tutorial, huh?"
Ruby frowned thoughtfully. "Wasn't this covered in the introduction when you first joined LUCID?"
Jaune flushed slightly. "Well… clearly I... didn't pay attention? I didn't exactly… get the normal process."
Yang snorted. "Understatement of the year."
She clapped him on the shoulder, nearly knocking him off-balance.
"Alright, Jauney boy. Crash course time."
Ruby nodded eagerly. "Yeah, Jaune. This is sort of... kind of basic Dream Realm stuff."
The operative looked relieved someone else was taking over the explanation and sagged against the pillar again.
Yang folded her arms, adopting her best "lecturing older sister" posture.
"First off: LUCID. You already know they're basically the Dream Government. Their entire job is making sure humanity doesn't get eaten because some Grimm decides to pop out of a sleeping kid's body. They regulate awakened, track Nightmare Zones, protect the Dreamscape outposts… all that."
"Right," Jaune said hesitantly. "That part I get."
"Cool," Yang said. "Now… the part you don't get."
She held up a finger.
"There are awakened who don't want to join LUCID."
Jaune nodded. "Yeah, I figured there'd be a few lone wolves."
Yang shook her head. "No, I mean… there are a decent few of them. Entire groups of awakened who flat-out refuse to operate under LUCID oversight, for plenty of reasons. Some ideological and some personal. And some, simply because they don't like authority. Among them, crime... tends to be something that they get involved with."
"That seems like a pretty big problem," Jaune muttered.
"Don't get me wrong, there's not so many of them that LUCID can't handle them. But there is still a decent amount." Yang agreed. "In any case, some of these people form their own factions. Gangs. Independent awakened syndicates. Call them whatever you want, but they're powerful and dangerous, and LUCID can't just bulldoze them without causing a world-wide supply-chain and political meltdown."
Ruby added quietly, "And because they're awakened… mortal gangs don't stand a chance against them. They took over the underworld ages ago."
Yang leaned against a metal support beam. "So every kingdom has at least one major awakened gang running the shadows. Except Mistral."
"Why not Mistral?" Jaune asked.
"Because," Yang said, "the Rank Three that is stationed there is… well.... a monster."
Ruby nodded. "Unofficially? People call him the strongest awakened alive."
Jaune's eyes widened. "Stronger than Ozpin?"
Yang nodded reverently. "That guy is a walking natural disaster. Mistral's underworld wont even be able to breathe unless he lets it."
"But that's a story for another day," Ruby added.
Yang snapped her fingers and pointed at Jaune. "Back on topic: the Dragon Gang."
The operative groaned at the name. Ruby winced. Even Yang's smile dimmed a bit.
"They're the awakened gang of Vale," Yang explained. "They run the underworld and don't let any other gang or small awakened factions take over their territory. If lone awakened exist, they usually get absorbed by them. LUCID monitors them, but… they're slippery. A lot of their activity goes unpunished because by the time LUCID responds, the gang's already vanished. But beyond that, some of their activities are, low-key, allowed."
Jaune frowned. "I see... criminal being allowed to complicit their activities huh?"
"Better the devil you know, than that which you don't. You get me?"
"I get the notion. But... they're that strong?"
"Strong enough to hold Vale's entire criminal ecosystem under their thumb," Yang said. "And smart enough not to provoke LUCID directly… at least not openly."
Ruby tugged lightly at her cloak. "And if they are here? Directly causing trouble to a LUCID base, well, that's not normal. At all. LUCID is likely to retaliate against them heavily because of this."
Jaune's brow furrowed. "The man Evergreen fought—he said the leader had a Displacement Rune, right? Master rune-level. That's… someone high up, then? The leader?"
The operative, listening despite his exhaustion, spoke up faintly. "Not the leader. Just a sub-leader. One of the commanders. The real boss… you don't ever want to meet him."
Yang whistled low. "Sub-leader. That's still really bad. Worse than I thought, really."
Ruby bit her lip. "If a sub-leader is here… what do they want?"
The man hesitated before answering. "What do awakened criminals always want? Power. Runes. LUCID-tech. Territory. But this time…" His eyes flicked toward the corridor where Qrow had gone. "This time it's something big. Big enough they'd risk a full-on war with LUCID if they get caught."
Yang nodded slowly. "Yeah. That tracks."
Then her expression sharpened, and she grabbed Jaune's arm.
"Come on."
He jerked a little. "Huh? What?"
"We're leaving," Yang said. "Not out of the base—but away from the injured. I want to talk without ears around."
She pulled both Jaune and Ruby to a shadowed corner near a barricade of stacked supply crates. Ruby glanced around to ensure no one was close enough to overhear.
Then Yang dropped her voice to a whisper.
"Permanent imbuing."
Jaune stiffened. Ruby's eyes widened.
Yang continued, "Look at the timing. A permanent stat-boosting method suddenly exists. Qrow and Raven treat it like world-ending news. And then—bam—the Dragon Gang storms a LUCID base within the same week."
Jaune whispered, "You think they found out about it?"
Yang lifted her hands. "I don't think. I know. Criminal awakened sniff out opportunities like sharks smell blood."
Jaune folded his arms, a pit forming in his stomach. "If they get their hands on permanent imbuing…"
Yang finished the thought grimly.
"…they won't just control the underworld anymore. They'll control everything."
Ruby swallowed. "So that's why Qrow and Raven are acting weird."
"Yep." Yang nodded. "They don't want us involved in this part. Not yet. Because if Dragon Gang really wants imbuing… that means this isn't just a Belmont problem."
Her voice dropped even lower.
"It's a global one."
And Jaune felt the weight of those words settle like lead in his bones.
.
.
AN: This Belmont arc is probably going to be a long one
Advanced chapters are available on patreon