"So, tell me, Professor Moriarty" Ozpin started as he walked the halls of his academy with Beacon's newest – albeit, temporary – staff beside him "What do you think of Beacon so far?"

"It's certainly a grand piece of architecture, that's for sure. Nothing at all like Haven, as I'm sure you no doubt know" the Professor replied with a chuckle "It has an incredibly modern feel to it, unlike Haven's more traditional design. Not that I hate it, of course but it is a welcome change of scenery"

"Speaking of Haven, how is Leonardo? I've spoken to him a few times but that was by scroll. It's been a while since I've met with him personally" Ozpin asked as the two old men approached Beacon's teacher's lounge.

"Ah, well… You know Leo. Ever the survivor. Doesn't look like he'll be going away anytime soon, that one" Moriarty replied "Of course, it's not like I'd let him, seeing as he still owes me money, the old bastard"

"Oh? Is he facing some kind of financial problems?" Ozpin asked "Nothing too serious, I hope"

"Nothing of the sort, Headmaster" Moriarty answered with a small wave "We were just playing a little card game and I happened to have the better hand, that's all"

"Well, here we are. Allow me to introduce to the rest of the staff" Ozpin said as he pushed the door to the teacher's lounge open. In the middle of the room was a long white table, with a few plates of food and a few cups of coffee and tea placed on it. Seated around it were Beacon's various faculty members "First of all, I'm sure you've met her already but she is my Deputy Headmistress here at Beacon Academy, Professor Glynda Goodwitch. She is in charge of the combat classes for all four years of Beacon students"

"Professor Goodwitch. How nice to formally meet you, at last" the man said as he shook hands with the blonde woman.

"Likewise, Professor Moriarty" Glynda replied with a small smile.

"I do apologize for having to leave early the other day. I had some personal matters to attend to"

"It's quite alright, Professor. After all, you did just finish helping out some of our students" Glynda stated.

"And I can't thank you enough for that, Professor. Who knows what would have happened had you not been there" Ozpin interjected.

"All in a day's work. Besides, they were talented young students. I'm sure they would have fared just as well had I not been there" Moriarty said with a smile before Ozpin moved on with the introductions.

"And this is Beacon's History professor, Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck"

"Ah, Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck. Your reputation precedes you" Moriarty said as he took the Doctor's hand "Might I say that your analysis on the ancient ruins of Vacuo is certainly an interesting one. Controversial, yes, but interesting nonetheless"

"Ah, a reader of one my works, I see" the Doctor replied as he adjusted his glasses "Although, controversial? I'm afraid I must disagree. You see, Professor-"

"Ah, why don't we save the debate for later, Bart? After all, classes will be starting soon" Ozpin quickly interjected, pulling Beacon's new staff along "And this is Beacon's Professor for Grimm Studies, Professor Peter Port"

For a few seconds, no words passed between the two men as they shook hands. Peter was the first to break the silence, as he immediately stroked the moustache on his face with a smirk, "I say, Professor Moriarty, what a fine piece of facial hair you have there. Truly magnificent"

"I was just thinking the same thing, Professor Port" Moriarty replied, a chuckle escaping his lips as he, too, started stroking his own moustache.

"Right then. Shall we move on?" Ozpin asked, not at all weirded out by the display in front of him, unlike the rest of his colleagues before Moriarty stood in front of a man dressed in a black robe that reached his ankles as well as a black cloth covering his head. What surprised Moriarty the most, however, was the black gas mask he was wearing "He is the newest addition to Beacon's faculty, Doctor Asclepius"

"Ah, good morning, Doctor. It's nice to meet you" Moriarty said as he shook the man's hand.

"Likewise, Professor. We're both newcomers here so there's really no need to be so formal with me" the young Doctor stated "That said, should you find anyone exhibiting symptoms of an illness, I'd appreciate it if you could bring them to me at once. It doesn't matter if it's not serious. After all, there's nothing more worthless than a doctor not in front of a patient"

"Ah, o-of course" Moriarty said, slightly taken aback by the young Doctor's request.

"Now then, if you'll excuse me, Headmaster, I'm afraid work's been piling up lately" the man said before he left the room.

"Beacon's previous Doctor retired quite recently, you see, and he was the first qualified individual we interviewed. Young as he may be, he is quite an experienced physician" Ozpin added.

"He's also one of the more eccentric staff we have here at Beacon" Oobleck chimed in from behind.

"Quite. Well, I suppose that's it for the introductions. There is the head nurse as well as Professor Peach but I'm afraid they're not here at the moment. I'm sure you'll meet them eventually" Ozpin stated before he looked at the time "Your first class starts soon, doesn't it? Will you be alright locating your classroom?"

"It's quite alright, Headmaster. I may not look it but I have an excellent memory, if I do say so myself"

[/]

James Moriarty sat behind his table in his assigned classroom, as he waited patiently as the students for his class slowly entered the room. Some of the students sent looks of surprise and confusion at him but the old Professor simply ignored them all in favour of the book in his hands until the time to start the class had arrived. Closing the book, the old man immediately rose to his feet before addressing the classroom full of students in front of him.

"Good morning, students from Atlas, Haven, Shade, and Beacon. I am Professor James Moriarty" he started as he stood in front of his desk "You may address me as 'Professor' or 'Professor Moriarty'. Your choice. As to why all of you are here today, it is so that I can teach you about Logic, Politics, and how to apply both if and when you graduate from Beacon and officially become Huntsmen. Let's start with Logic, shall we? Who here can tell me why we need a good grasp of Logic when performing our duties as Huntsmen?"

Scanning the crowd in front of him, only a few of the students raised their hands. Nodding to himself, he pointed to a blonde girl, "Yes, you. Quickly state your name followed by your answer"

"Oh… Um… Arthuria Pendragon and to answer your question, it's because when we're Huntsmen, we must be able to think rationally before making a decision that affects not just us but the people around us"

"Thank you, Miss Pendragon and yes, she is correct, class. After all, as Huntsmen, we cannot afford to use brute force to help solve every single problem we have" the Professor said with a nod "Now, here's a fun scenario for all of you: Due to the rise in Grimm activity, you and your team have been assigned to assist in the evacuation of a village on the outskirts of the kingdom. However, upon arrival, you find that the village has been decimated with not a single survivor to be found. To further complicate matters, reports arrive that there is an active group of bandits nearby. Your challenge now is to figure out the cause of the village's destructions. Now, who can tell me the correct answer to this particular scenario?"

The Professor stared at the students in front of him as their minds scrambled to find an answer, frowns slowly appearing on some of their faces. A few more seconds of silence passed before a girl with white hair raised her hand into the air.

"Yes, you. As before, quickly state your name followed by your answer" Moriarty stated.

"My name is Weiss Schnee, Professor, and my answer is that we should check the village's supplies of food" the girl answered.

"Oh? And why is that, Miss Schnee?" James asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back on his desk.

"Because, if it were Grimm, then they would have just destroyed the village and moved on but if it were bandits, then more than likely they would have raided the village for supplies, like food and other necessities" Weiss replied.

"Very good, Miss Schnee" the Professor replied as a proud smile formed on Weiss's face "Now, before we move on, who here can tell me what the purpose of being a Huntsman is?"

Almost immediately, the hand of a young girl in a red cape shot up. James nodded at the young girl, a sign for her to answer.

"Uh… My name is Ruby Rose and to answer your question, Professor, the job of all Huntsmen is to help and protect the people around you"

"Interesting answer, Miss Rose. However, what if I were to tell you that the job of Huntsmen is to kill the Grimm, instead? What would be your response to that?"

"T-then I would say you're wrong, Professor" Ruby replied, nervousness in her voice "Because the best Huntsmen in the world could spend their whole life killing Grimm and it still won't do anything to change the world"

"Certainly a fascinating answer but yes, I do agree with young Miss Rose" the Professor replied before he moved towards the chalkboard behind him. Picking up the chalk, the old man began writing "Now, let's move on with the lesson, shall we?"

A few seconds passed before the Professor turned around to face the students once more as he pointed to the chalkboard behind him, "'The lives of the few must not outweigh the lives of the many'. With a show of hands, who here agrees with this statement?"

Observing the class full of students in front of him, a slight frown of disappointment appeared on his face as only a handful of students raised their hands.

"How disappointing. Then, a question to those who disagreed, please tell me why" the Professor said as silence once again came along in the classroom. The silence continued before a redheaded student raised her hand. Nodding to the girl to continue, Moriarty simply leaned back on the chalkboard, his arms crossed.

"My name is Pyrrha Nikos, Professor, and I disagree with that statement because…" the girl took a few moments to gather her thoughts before continuing "Well, because as Huntsmen, we should do everything in our power to save everyone"

Shaking his head in silence, Moriarty looked at the ground before turning his attention to Pyrrha, "A disappointing answer, Miss Nikos. Just because we should, does not mean we can. Allow me to present you with another scenario: The village you have been assigned to has been under continuous assault from the Grimm and on this day, the walls have been breached and a massacre is imminent. Your supplies as well as your Aura are running dangerously low. Fortunately for you, the Bullhead you've requested to evacuate the village's citizens has arrived. With the situation as dire as it is, what do you do to ensure the absolute minimum amount of casualties occur?"

The students in front of him immediately started discussing among themselves as Moriarty smirked at the sight before he took a seat behind his desk, "You have five minutes to discuss between with your team. We still have a lot of time left for class, after all"

As five minutes ended, the Professor stood up before clapping a few times to gain everyone's attention, "Now then, your time is up. Have you decided on a strategy?"

Weiss's hands shot up not a moment later, a determined look in her eyes. Nodding for her to continue, Weiss answered, "I believe, Professor, the best strategy would be a defensive one. The hardest hitting one in my team, Mordred, will be the primary defence while the more agile members, Ruby and Blake, will be in charge of diverting most of the Grimm's attention to them so as to avoid any casualties among the villagers. As for myself, my main job will be to provide support to Mordred"

Rubbing his chin, Moriarty took a few seconds before he shook his head, much to Weiss's dismay, "Optimistic as that plan may be, Miss Schnee, it is much too arrogant to think that it could succeed. With the onslaught of Grimm increasing by the second on top of your quickly depleting stamina, it wouldn't surprise me if the Grimm were able to catch up to Miss Rose as well as Miss Blake in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. As for Miss Mordred, the same problem applies. The Grimm may be weak individually but together, they could take out any experienced Huntsmen on their best day, especially so if fatigue were to set in. After all, the human body can only do so much"

The Professor paused for a moment as he looked Weiss in the eye before continuing, "As for you, Miss Schnee, I believe that you would fall sooner than most on your team, seeing as your abilities actively rely on Aura and dust, both of which are running low. Thus, I can only conclude that your answer is wrong. Would anyone else care to try?"

"I would, Professor" came the voice a blue haired student from the back of the class "My name is Cu Chulainn and to answer your question, sir, I believe that as soon as we know the situation can't be saved, we should just cut our losses and leave the village as soon as possible. With our team on board, of course"

"Oh? Interesting answer, Mr Chulainn. Would anyone care to refute that?" Moriarty asked before Ruby immediately stood up to face the boy in question.

"So you're just going to let the rest of the villagers die?!" Ruby argued as she glared daggers at Chulainn "That's… How could you be so cruel?!"

"Hah? Cruel? I'm just being realistic, little girl" the boy countered.

"Even so, you're not even going to try to save everyone?!"

"So, what? Your suggestion is to 'Save everyone or die trying'? That's pretty stupid, kid" Chulainn argued back.

"Alright, children, calm down" the Professor said with a clap. Pausing for a few seconds for the rest of the class to settle down, the Professor continued, "I'm afraid, Miss Rose, that the boy is correct or at the very least, he's closer to the answer than Miss Schnee"

"But Professor-" Ruby made to argue but Moriarty simply lifted his hand, signalling for silence.

"You must understand, Miss Rose, that noble intentions are fine but to actually execute them is another thing entirely. As I've written down, 'The lives of the few must not outweigh the lives of the many' and what that means is that sometimes, difficult choices must be made. Moving on, lets discuss something that actually happened instead of hypotheticals, shall we?"

"Tell me, with a show of hands, how many of you here have heard about the tragedy of Mountain Glenn?" the Professor asked as a few dozen hands were raised to the air "Then, for those of you who don't know, the abridged version is that it was basically a failed attempt at expansion by the kingdom of Vale and Atlas. Due to the fact that Mountain Glenn did not have the natural barriers Vale did, attacks from the Grimm increased by the day until the citizens were forced to flee through the underground tunnels"

"The city fell? What happened to the refugees?" a student asked, as Moriarty could only stare at the floor in silence. Unbeknownst to them, however, a smirk had form on the old man's face.

"Unfortunately, the tunnels were sealed, never to be used again" the Professor answered "As for the civilians, however, they were sealed along with the tunnels, effectively making it Vale's largest tomb"

The students' uproar came soon after, anger in the voices of some while the others tried in vain to calm the situation down. For Moriarty, however, the chaos was like music to his ears. He did not even attempt to defuse the situation in front of him, instead content to wait for the noise to die down naturally. A few minutes passed before silence once more reigned.

"Are you all ready to continue with the lesson, then?" Moriarty asked as he looked around the class "Good. Does anyone want to tell me why the Kingdom of Vale allowed this to happen? Nobody? It's quite simple, really. By doing so, they were able to save the hundreds of thousands of lives living in the Kingdom"

"They could have-" Ruby spoke up once more, louder than she intended before she calmed down somewhat, "They could have asked help from other Huntsmen for reinforcement"

"Most likely, they could have done that but then again, how long would they have had to wait for help to arrive? During that time, do you not think that the Grimm will have breached the walls of Vale and massacred everyone in the city?"

"T-then… They just let everyone… die?" the question this time came from a student from Shade, if the lack of uniform was anything to go by.

"Unfortunately, yes. The Kingdom of Vale made a decision on that day, a decision that saved countless lives while damning countless others" the Professor stated just as the bell rang, signifying the class's end.

[A few months ago, Haven Academy]

"What is the meaning of this Lionheart?!" Cinder asked, fuming as she entered the Headmaster's office, "I don't like being summoned like-"

The presence of a third party leaning on the desk in the Headmaster's office brought the girl to a sudden halt, "Good afternoon, Miss Fall"

"Professor Moriarty. Good afternoon" Cinder said after taking a quick moment to compose herself "This is quite unexpected"

"I'm sure it was, Miss Fall" the old man said, a smirk on his face as she stared at Cinder.

"May I know what this meeting is about, Professor?" Cinder asked, her hands behind her back.

"Come now, Miss Fall, there is no need for forced politeness, especially given our current circumstances" Moriarty stated as his gaze met the girl's. The Headmaster, however, remained quiet throughout the whole exchange.

"Whatever do you mean, Professor?" Cinder asked once more as her hands formed started to glow.

"Why, I'm referring to the fact that we here are all comrades in search of Beacon's relic, of course" the Professor stated.

"Relic, sir? I'm not quite sure I follow…"

"You didn't mention she was a persistent fellow, Lionheart" Moriarty said "Come now, Miss Fall. I tire of this game. I know that you're working for a woman named Salem and that a few months from now, you and your little crew are planning to infiltrate-"

The old man didn't get to finish his sentence as Cinder immediately materialized a sword in her hand before swinging it at the old man's head. The girl was shocked to find that her attack had been blocked by the Professor's cane.

"Tsk, tsk Miss Fall. Don't you know that an unjustified attack on a member of the faculty is punishable with detention?" the Professor asked, a mocking smirk on his face.

"I would say I'm incredibly justified, Professor" Cinder countered.

"I'm sure cooler heads could prevail today, don't you think so?" the Professor offered.

"Oh? You would need to have something that I would want and what I want isn't something so easily obtained, Professor"

"You wouldn't be worth working with if that wasn't the case, Miss Fall" the old man said "Fret not, I have exactly what you need"

"Do tell, Professor" Cinder said, her grip on her sword not loosening one bit.

"The location of a woman named Amber, the previous Fall Maiden" at that answer, Cinder's eyes widened before a small smile appeared.

"It appears, Professor, that we can indeed come to an agreement" the girl replied as she lowered her weapon as Moriarty did the same.

"Excellent. Shall we discuss terms, then?" Moriarty asked as Cinder locked the door behind them.

[Present]

Opening the door to his office, James Moriarty was not surprised in the least to find that it was currently occupied by Haven's third-year representatives.

"Good afternoon, Miss Fall" the Professor said as he approached his desk before "How was your lunch? I see you've brought along the side characters with you"

"It was splendid, Professor, thank you for asking" Cinder replied as she raised her hand, demanding silence from her two subordinates.

"Excellent. Now then, shall we begin?" James asked, as she sat down behind his desk.

[Chapter END]

A/N: And that's a wrap for Chapter 18. Really hope you guys liked it. I sure enjoyed writing it. For this chapter, I wanted to try something new and that is have it written from the perspective of one character. That is, from Moriarty's view. Except for the flashback, I think I did okay. What do you guys and gals think?

Also, I made a small change to Moriarty's title in Chapter 14. He's now in charge of 'Logic Application & Politics' instead of 'Advanced Dust Manipulation & Politics'.

As for Asclepius, I don't currently have any plans to make him relevant to the story. He was just a name I wanted to add to the story. For fun. Also, a hundred points to those who can figure out who the Head Nurse is.

As always, fave, follows, and reviews are always appreciated.

NoXIV Signing Off