Hidden Remnant

I was with Team RWBY, PERN, and NALA as we looked at Pyrrha covered with the tell-tale signs of being possessed by a Nightmare. We were in a separate room with Ozpin, Glynda, and Shion Zaiden. I tuned out their explanation as my mind replayed last night, and I could not help but wonder if my and Pyrrha's talk somehow caused this to happen now or if it was merely a coincidence. While I can easily extract the Grimm here and now without harming Pyrrha, but part of me wants to see the world the Nightmare created within her heart.

I will save directly removing the Grimm as a last resort, as going into the polite spartan's dream could help her resolve whatever issues she could have in this World Line. Plus, I won't lie and say that I am not curious about the dream world of Pyrrha and her negative version. I am being selfish for wanting to go when I could deal with the problem here and now. As I debated internally how selfish I was willing to be, Ruby called out to me.

" Silva? Are you alright?"

" Sorry, I was lost in thought and tuned everything out. What's next?"

At my question, the Nightmare Hunter started to weave her giant dream catcher with their wand to prepare for the dive into Pyrrha's dream. From what I could tell, the thread was made with highly Aura-reactive materials and Gravity Dust that allowed their Semblance to help connect multiple people. Shion then asked.

" Who will be entering her dream?"

" As Pyrrha's friend, I think I am the best candidate to help her escape the clutches of the Grimm."

Weiss immediately volunteered first, then Nora came around and said.

" She is our team leader, so Me, Ren, and Emerald should go!"

Neopolitan loudly clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, then conjured a bunch of signs to point toward her. Everyone cared about Pyrrha, but because of that, they all started to argue about who would go first. Neither Ozpin nor Glynda shows any signs of stopping them, as they probably figure the kids will solve it themselves. I frowned at their bickering as while I was being selfish in wanting to go, time was of the essence. I sighed and quietly walked up to Shion and made my intent clear.

They looked at the still-bickering group and nodded my way, then gestured for me to lay across from Pyrrha. I complied and laid down on the giant dream catcher as threads started to form as a blindfold, and I drifted into sleep.

***

" While you may be Pyrrha's teammates, I can confidently say I know her best!"

" Oh, please, ice queen, you may think you know her, but we lived with her for the past few months!"

Nora retorted toward Weiss's assumption, and Neopolitan conjured some lettering in the air that said.

" While I spent time with Pyrrha and her Mom during last Winter Break, the person that probably knows her best is not me, or you, or even you, but Silva."

" Oh, really? Well, Silva, what are your thoughts on the matter?"

The snow princess asked skeptically but was met with silence. Then she looked before calling out to the snow leopard man.

" Silva!?"

After a few moments, she spotted him already entering Pyrrha's dream while they were arguing about who would go first. Yang whistled while looking mildly impressed.

" Who knew such a big guy could get around so quietly?"

" Luna and I noticed, but we kept quiet."

Argint said while Luna nodded in agreement, and Emerald added.

" Neo is right, you know. Silva does know Pyrrha best out of all of us, probably considering he made a point to visit her regularly. Like once or twice a week since they first met at the Mistral Regional Cup and again at Argus."

" We all care about Pyrrha, but it was presumptuous of Silva to go ahead without a word to any of us!"

Weiss complained, but Ozpin then said his piece.

" While you may have a point, Ms.Schnee. Mr.Branwen's choice was on point, as time is of the essence, and now was a time of action rather than arguing about who among you would enter Ms.Nikos's dream—additionally, Mr.Branwen is the best suited among you to scout out ahead of out of all of you, due to his past circumstances."

" Oh, yeah, Silva was a-."

Yang quickly shut her mouth about the snow leopard man being a former bandit, as while things are still complicated between them emotionally, she owed him a lot. First, to get her birth mother to change and reconnect with her. Then to find and bring back the mother that raised her when she thought she was dead. The pun maker was a lot of things, but being ungrateful wasn't one of them. Raven explained Silva's origins to her when she wanted to know who he was after a while.

" Silva, was a what, Yang?"

Ruby asked her sister, and Yang decided to be vague.

" He was a really good scout, from what Mom told me about him."

Glynda decided to help divert the topic of Silva's less-than-reputable origins as it would be better for everyone to hear from the man himself.

" Regardless, the only thing to do now is wait for Mr.Branwen to make contact with us after he appraises the situation in Ms. Nikos's dream."

At that, everyone went silent as they looked toward the snow leopard man and waited for him to call.

***

" Okay, this is going to be a lot harder than I thought."

I muttered to myself as I overlooked the massive metropolis in front of me that resembled Argus but bigger with added Greco-Roman architecture in the mix that made it look both modern and ancient at the same time. Well, I better get started; I got a lot of scouting ahead of me.

***

[ Salem Interlude]

Salem walked through the massive Gremory manor-slash-castle. After interfering with Akeno Himejima's conflict with her family and meeting Rias Gremory, she was invited to the Underworld by the little redhead, and the witch agreed to be a guest for the time being. She will admit the Gremory family had good taste in interior decorating as everything displayed their wealth and power, but not in an excessive way.

" Ah, Salem-chan, hello!"

Loli Rias called out the witch, and she returned the greeting.

" Hello, Rias; how are you?"

" I managed to get Akeno to talk with me a bit longer than last time!"

The redhead proclaimed while puffing up her developing chest with pride and Salem gave her a small smile as seeing the little girl made her think back to her own daughters. Moving on from her old scars, she congratulated the little redhead.

" Good for you, Rias. I am sure you will get through to Akeno at this rate."

Rias giggled happily at the compliment and then asked Salem.

" Salem-chan, can I ask you something?"

" You may."

The witch replied gently, and the little Gremory asked with a hopeful expression.

" When I get my Evil Pieces will you join my Peerage?"

" Hmm, maybe, but that is all I will say until you actually get them."

Salem thoroughly planned to use Rias's desperation at finding out about her arranged marriage with Riser Phenex to get the best benefits. The witch did feel a bit bad for manipulating a child, but she was not above it, as she is jaded toward the concept of innocence in general. The little redhead then declared with certainty.

" I will get you to join my Peerage no matter what, Salem-chan!"

" I am sure you will."

But at what price was the unasked question. Before Salem was about to excuse herself, Rias then added.

" Oh, yeah! Akeno also mentioned she wanted to talk to you!"

" I will see her later then. If you will excuse me, Rias."

" K, bye!"

The little Gremory then went off to who knows where, and the witch went back to exploring the estate. Suddenly, Venelana appeared in a hurry and asked.

" Have you seen, Rias? It's time for her etiquette lessons."

Salem wryly smiled as this particular antic was something all her daughters had in common in the past and then pointed in the general direction where Rias ran off.