Chapter 2
Relaxing Morning
"So this is beacon, hmm." Roman said to himself as he walked towards the main hall, his blue unbuttoned trench coat that fades into black by his feet swaying in the wind. He wore a blue shirt to go along his new black pants and his sturdy black boots. He wore a set of blue sunglasses and his red hair was put in long taper cut instead of his infamous bangs. He carried with him a bag, full of his needed school uniform and toiletries, as well as his new weapons he spent most of the night making. According to his newly issued school scroll his first order of business was to speak to Professor Ozpin.
As he walked through the front doors he jumped back immediately to prevent himself from being run over. The commotion inside was immense. People were running back and forth in every direction as fast as they could while the noise of them doing so was incredible. After a minute when his head finally stopped spinning he looked at his surroundings. Inside the circular room there was a stage at the very center while columns and corridors covered the edges. The color scheme was full of light and dark browns with aquamarine spread throughout. It gave a calming warmth to the room like dying embers of a hearth. The number of people running through began to die down and he began to stroll towards the center of the room. He was in awe while carefully taking in the details of the room as he did not know what might come in handy later. As he spun around taking in the sight he was suddenly thrown off his feet and flung face first to the floor. Barely catching himself he heard someone shout behind him. "Nora, you need to watch where you're going you just ran into someone." Turning around he saw a black haired man with a pink highlight dressed in a green uniform of some sorts glaring in annoyance at the overly enthusiastic redhead next to him.
"Sorry Ren." Turning her attention to him she gasped and continued on excitedly. "Somebody new! What's your name? Where are you from? What's your favorite type of music? Do you prefer apples or oranges? Have you gone on any cool adventures yet?" Asked the redhead.
"Well you could say that…" responded Roman.
"Tell me!"
The black haired one interrupted her saying "Since she's not going to stop pestering you with questions I'm going to apologize for her for running into you. I hope she didn't hurt you in any way. She can be…. eccentric when meeting new people."
"I am perfectly alright although this is turning out to be quite an eventful morning. It is only eight and the cleanliness of my suit has already been threatened. Is it too much to ask, considering that hit made me lose my sense of direction for the time being, that I ask the directions to Professor Ozpin's office? I am from Atlas and I will be attending this school for the Vytal festival." Roman said matter of factly.
"Sure, down the back left corridor, take your first right, and you should come up to an elevator on your left."
"Thank you. By the way my name is Cobalt, yours?" Said Roman.
"Ren, and this is Nora" he said while trying to hold Nora back from pelting Cobalt with questions.
"It has been a pleasure meeting you two and thank you for directions. By the way, wasn't that the late bell I heard a moment ago." Cobalt said as he left to follow Ren's directions. As he was walking away from the two students he could hear Nora's eccentric voice trying to get Ren to walk faster because they were late. Cobalt smiled hearing this knowing that his disguise worked and he took a moment to compliment himself on his handywork. As he approached the elevator he realized that this was the true test as to whether or not his disguise would fall through or not.
Inside the elevator everything was green, the lights, walls, carpet, everything. Duly noting the common theme present he began breathing tactics to alleviate his nervousness. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't lower his heartbeat. With a sigh and a face of resignation he stopped as the doors slid open and he walked forward. Once again the common theme of green was prevalent throughout everything in the room. As he walked in he heard a gray haired man, dressed all in green and black whom he presumed to be Ozpin, tell him to come in and take a seat. Cobalt sat down with his legs crossed and leaning back in the chair. Once he stopped moving Ozpin initiated the conversation.
"Greetings Mr. Cyan as you may have guessed I am Professor Ozpin, headmaster of this academy. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise. Although may I ask as to what reason you brought me here?"
"Strait to the point I see. Very well. I have read your transcript and reasoning as to why you have come in the formal documents presented to me but I wanted to hear the story from you. I have called you in today out of concern for your abnormality of transition. You are not arriving when most students from the other kingdoms do as well as the fact that you arrived by yourself, without a team. Would you mind enlightening me as to why?" Said Ozpin as he sat back and took a long sip of his coffee.
"Why certainly sir, you see I am a member of team CNCR, pronounced 'conquer'. Two of my teammates, Cindy and Raphael, are twins and their grandfather's condition is worsening so they have gone back to their home kingdom of Vacuo to spend as much time as they can with him. My other teammate, Norman, got into a fight with an extremely powerful Grimm and was hospitalized. None of them are expected to return or get well until the Vytal Festival is over. The reason as to why I am arriving at an odd time is that I fought with Norman as to whether or not I should stay with him or go ahead and go to the festival. He didn't want his injuries to hold me back and after a long fight he finally convinced me to go ahead and come."
"What kind of Grimm attacked Norbert?"
"His name is Norman sir, and he was attacked by a elder nevermore."
"What is the name of Cindy and Raphael's grandfather?"
"If I remember correctly I believe his name was Mantigue."
Ozpin pushed up his glasses nonchalantly as he stared at Cobalt. A stare that could peer into his inner soul searching for any lies in his argument. They sat there in silence for only a few minutes but what felt like hours to Cobalt. One could practically see the gears turning in Ozpin's head searching for more evidence other than instinct to prove that the man sitting before him was lying. Something seemed off about the man, familiar even. "Are you sure that there isn't anything else you need to tell me?"
"Yes sir." Responded Cobalt, his voice about to waver.
"Alright then. Give my regards to your team but I would appreciate the periodic update on a regular basis. I hope you don't mind it is just unusual for a student to attend without any of their team. Your classes, room number and key, as well as your schedule are being sent to your scroll now. You have this morning off to settle in. Lunch is at noon and I don't suggest you miss it. You are dismissed."
"Thank you sir." Said Cobalt as he respectfully got up and left the room. The second the elevator doors closed he released his breath that he had been holding in. "Damn" he thought. "I have never had to be that respectable to anyone before, not even to Cinder. I didn't know how much longer I could have kept that up. At least it's over now. I suppose I should check out my dorm room then."
After wandering around aimlessly for a couple of hours he accidentally found his room. His room was pasty white and rather plain. The creaking wooden floors, dusty windows and battered furniture showed that the room had seen better days. It wasn't up to par with Roman's standards but he would survive. He always had. The four beds in the room took up most of the space and there was a small desk with an alarm clock to the left hand side of the doorway.
Plopping down on what appeared to be the most well kept of the beds he began to collect his thoughts. "That Nora person really is something isn't she. That man with her, Ren I believe it was, acted somewhat like a guardian of hers. I'm sure glad I'm not in his place. Ozpin though, I swear I thought he could see past my ruse. Maybe he did but wants to keep an eye on me to see why. I should be especially cautious around that man. The rest of the building is large enough that I should have fun exploring it for the next few months." A vibrating scroll brought him back to reality. The message came from an unknown number and said "Don't forget the mission." "So the witch decided to check up on me. Please it's my first day here and she's already pestering me. No fun, no fun at all."
Setting his scroll down he decided to look through his bag. That morning right before he left his apartment there was a bag placed on his apartment's doormat with a note on it. The handwriting was clearly Cinder's and it told him to put everything of his into the bag with directions to use the materials inside to avoid suspicion. Roman never quite got a good look at what was inside due to his hurry and just stuffed his things inside and hoped for the best. Now he could properly examine the materials. Upon further investigation it was revealed to him that other than his school uniform and clothing he brought, as well as his toiletries and weapons, the contents of the bag were nothing but books and posters no doubt with the intention of making him look even more like a young adult. He equipped his weapons after loading power cells into them and moved on to his provided decor. After putting up those posters and setting the books on his shelf above his desk he decided he would get a little shut eye to recover from the morning and long night. Setting the alarm to noon and jumping onto the bed he slipped into unconsciousness immediately.
