Two Sides to a Coin Ch. 27: Security

Thank you for showing so much support while I've been away for this story, here's the next chapter.

It was a week removed from RWBY's last visit with the Phantom and he had a new set of priorities. He had enough reason to believe that RWBY would be back and be better. They were lead by a hero complex and hero complexes often caused more problems than they were worth. This meant it was time to reaffirm security.

"And you're sure of this list?" The Phantom asked as he wandered around the top floor. The Black Knight stood nearby, observing as the Phantom looked closely over his scroll.

"You asked me for my top picks and I gave them to you," the Black Knight replied. "They will do what you wish for them to do and do it efficiently."

"Hm, I trust you enough to do this." The Phantom stopped pacing, placed his scroll on the bar and turned to face his right hand man. "How difficult would it be to find them?"

"Follow the blood and you'll find Jacks. Scar will be more difficult." The Phantom sighed and glanced back at the scroll.

"I suppose I will have to work today." He picked up his scroll and started to type out the required messages.

He paused, looking back up at the knight. He stared at him, observed him, taking careful note of everything.

"How confident are you that you can convince them?" The Phantom finally asked. "You aren't exactly a man blessed with a silver tongue."

"I won't be able to no matter what material my tongue was made of," he answered back. "I can get them here without a problem. It'll be up to you to convince them." Phantom clicked his tongue twice and then laughed. It was empty, devoid of emotion and eerie.

"I suppose I have a lot of work to do today." He gestured to the table where The Black Knight had left his scroll. "I'll send the details of the location of Scar later. For now…" He left the end to hang and waited for the Black Knight to pick up the scroll. He picked it up and looked at the newest message on it, a single map. "Follow the blood."

Life at Beacon was a game of going through the motions for RWBY. They couldn't get their minds off of what had happened with the Black Knight and how he was still allowed under the power of the Phantom. It was distracting, it haunted everyone's thoughts, especially Ruby's.

Onyx didn't lose. That was the only thing that made living with it easier for Ruby, Onyx was a safety blanket for her. It kept her body safe, but now that was at risk. Onyx had mostly stopped thinking about what had happened but it wasn't the end of her thoughts. Now the mental torture became her own, a new position for Ruby.

For now, they all sat quietly reviewing over notes in their dorm. There weren't any sounds outside of the occasional sigh and the turning of pages. Yang was the fist to break the silence.

"Blake, mind lending me a hand with this history assignment?" She said. Blake looked up from her book and nodded.

"Sure," Blake replied. "But I was going to move to the library to grab some other books, mind if we review there?" Yang shrugged.

"Fine by me." She got to her feet and nodded and Ruby and Weiss. "We'll be back. You kids behave now."

"Okay," Ruby said. Her tone was completely flat, no emotional spikes one way or the other. Yang frowned and looked over at Blake.

"Let's go."

The library was relatively empty which made Blake feel a little better. The only thing better than a library was a quiet and empty library, especially when she knew where this conversation was going to go.

Blake and Yang took a table in the corner and sat down. Yang set down her book and sighed.

"The faster we review the faster we can get back," Yang said.

"You actually wanted to review?" Blake said. Yang gave Blake a quizzical look. "I thought this… Was about Ruby… I'm sorry." Yang's look darkened a little as she hung her head down. "I shouldn't-."

"I mean, you're right but what're we gonna do?" Yang shrugged and lifted up her eyes to meet Blake's. She looked dejected, unsure and sad. "She's in a rough time and this time, it's not Onyx. I can't hug her and let her cry it off." Yang gave a sad chuckle. "I don't have the words to make her feel better this time. She just has to ride it out." Blake reached her hand out and gave Yang a pat on the back.

"I'm sorry Yang," Blake said. "I wish that I could help but-."

"Ms. Belladonna and Ms. Xiao Long!" Someone called out loudly behind them. Blake and Yang turned to see Professor Peach walking up behind them. "A good day of studying, I trust?"

"So far it's great!" Yang said, her voice, posture and expression all perking up with a drop of the hat.

"Glad to hear. Unfortunately I have to commandeer your partner for a moment." He gave an apologetic smile. "I have some questions about Ms. Belladonna's last assignment that I'd really prefer if she were there to answer in person. Do you mind?"

"Of course not, we can resume our session later." Yang gestured to Blake. "I'll be here, don't be long." Blake stood up and gave a nod to Yang.

"If all goes well, this won't take long at all," Peach encouraged. "Come along now, Ms. Belladonna." Blake nodded and started to walk with Peach.

"What kind of questions do you have?" Blake asked.

"Oh just a few of the general variety," Peach answered. "Thought process, what exactly happened, etc." Blake nodded and went back to thinking.

The predicament with her team was a problem. It was a tremendous problem. The solution was, on first glance, simple. If Ruby were to feel better, everything else would brighten up around her. But Ruby was a puzzle, one that nobody knew how to solve. Not as long as Onyx was apart of her.

Yang was always the closest to Ruby. If she didn't have the answer, then Ruby was going to have to fight through it herself. There wasn't a scenario that Blake could imagine that'd be worse than that.

She came out her thoughts to notice how far down the halls they were. As she passed the history room, she realized that they were past Peach's.

"Uhm, Professor, isn't your room back that way?" Blake asked.

"Yes, do forgive me for lying initially," Peach said. "I promise it was only for the intention of making sure Ms. Xiao Long was unaware of this meeting."

"Meeting?"

"Yes." Peach stopped in front of the elevator that lead to Ozpin's office. "One with the headmaster."

The elevator came to a stop at the very top. Blake cautiously got out of the elevator. She saw Ozpin sitting in his chair with Glynda standing at his side. Peach got out behind her and gestured forward.

"Go on," Peach said. "If you really want to get this over with, go and get it over with." Blake walked forward slowly and stopped right in front of Ozpin's desk. He stared at her with even eyes, not giving away any cards.

"Blake Belladonna," he said flatly.

Not a lot of emotions in anyone's voice today, Blake thought.

"Professor Ozpin," Blake replied, matching his tone.

"I apologize for bringing you with a veil of secrecy. Your team can't know about this meeting."

"What am I not telling them?" Blake asked. Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, never breaking eye contact with his student.

"What can you tell me about Ruby Rose?" Even though Blake knew that Ozpin knew about Onyx, she felt her hair stand a little bit and her posture straighten.

"Nothing you don't already know," Blake said, attempting to shrug off the question.

"You'd be surprised." Ozpin took another sip of his coffee. "Let's start with relations. I already know about how close her and Yang are, Qrow saw to that. What about the two of you? What is your relationship like?" Blake took in a breath and answered slowly.

"We're friends," she started. "I trust her, she has proven herself more than capable. Most importantly, she has proven herself to be more than Onyx's host. I do keep a little distance but… Somebody has to be able to pick up the pieces."

Stop talking now, she thought. That's more than necessary.

"I see," Ozpin said. "And what of her and Ms. Schnee?"

"They're pretty close since they're dating." Ozpin widened his eyes and nodded.

"Now that I did not know. We don't require students to fill out relationship status here." He put his coffee cup down and focused in. "You've already told me something I didn't know before, so please share more."

"What do you want to know?" Blake asked.

"How has she been this past week?"

"Within the classrooms we've noticed a drop-off," Glynda added in. "However, we need to know if this is just a lack of focus brought on by Onyx, or something else?" Blake paused, very afraid to say something that'd hurt Ruby.

"She's… Hurting," Blake began. "More than usual. It's… Not been easy for Ruby. Losing is hard for Onyx and her to cope with."

"What has this resulted in?" Ozpin asked.

"Distance, vacancy, little interaction. Her and Weiss are seldom talking and Yang doesn't even elicit a good reply from her most of the time."

"I see." Ozpin nodded to Glynda and then to Peach. Peach walked forward and tapped on Blake's shoulder. She looked back at him and saw that he had his arm extended towards the elevator.

"Thank you Ms. Belladonna," Ozpin said. "You've given us what we need to know, I hope today is smoother for you."

"Likewise," Blake replied. She walked towards the elevator, hopeful she didn't just sign something horrible for Ruby.

Time was never truly an issue for the Phantom but it was a part of his thought. The faster things went, the better it was. Plus there was still a part of him that was worried about perhaps the two people the Black Knight picked out weren't really that cooperative.

That was when his ears perked to a familiar sound with a few others. The soft metallic walking of boots with two other pairs of boots rang throughout, earing a smile from the Phantom.

"Sir," the Black Knight said. The Phantom looked up and saw the Black Knight standing there with two people on either side of him.

The first was dressed in a black cloak with black pants and the hood pulled up. The only thing that differed from that was a white mask. It had a large yellow and red smile carved into it with yellow and red cracks radiating all around the mask. The eyes were painted red and white to match the general theme.

The second person was dressed in a dark red leather jacket and a pair of jeans. Like their counter part, they had a mask. This one looked metallic, with only two slots open for eyes. Otherwise, there were no distinguishing features about their mask. Two club-like items hung at their waste.

"Jacks and Scar Nos," the Black Knight said.

"Thank you," the Phantom said. He gestured to the couch. "Please, have a seat."

"I prefer standing," the one in the white mask. His voice was higher pitched but raspy.

Jacks, the Phantom thought, remembering the image given of this person.

"As do I," the second one added. Their voice was deeper but just as raspy.

Scar Nos.

"Whatever suits you," the Phantom said. He pulled out his staff and leaned forward, onto it. "I'd prefer to talk strictly business."

"Baaaaah that's never any fun," Jacks said with a laugh. "Gotta loosen up sometimes." Scar looked on silently.

"I have a large sum of money and Dust to offer," the Phantom started. "I have targets for you to kill, places to attack, various fun tasks for you to complete. All with one caveat."

"What is it?" Scar asked.

"There's a group who may take issue with myself, a danger of my job I know, but there's something more to them. There's the need to separate them, isolate and destroy. Most importantly, there's the need to stand against something you've never encountered if the Black Knight should fail."

"BK's not losing to anyone," Jacks laughed. "Doesn't matter how good or powerful they are." The Phantom let out a small smile behind his mask.

"I wouldn't speak so soon, Jacks."

"Sign me up then," Jacks said. "I'll one up BK for the first time in anyone's life." Scar looked cautiously at the Phantom and nodded slowly.

"Let's see how this goes," he said. "You're the Phantom, if you say a large sum it's gonna be larger than anything anyone else can give me."

"If somebody tries to top me I'll match them at the minimum." Scar now laughed.

"Count me in, then." The Phantom picked up his staff and held his hands out wide.

"Then let's begin!"

End: Questions, comments and feedback is always appreciated!