Finally, this headache has passed.

I don't own RWBY.

It was dark out, and the only light coming in through the windows was that from the moon.

In a hallway, someone was walking towards the dorm rooms.

...

Pyrrha was thinking.

Who was Markus's father?

What were they going to do to Yang?

Who was Markus, exactly?

For the second question, she could only think of the worst things. Hopefully, that was not the case.

She at least held the minimum amount of trust towards Markus, just from being a fellow human, after all.

But the thing that confused her the most was Markus's father. She could hear the slight undertones in his voice, especially when he mentioned his father.

Fear.

Not fear of the unknown, but a fear that he understands entirely. One that he knows he cannot do anything about.

But he said he worked with his father. Why would he scare him now? Was his father keeping a secret from him up until now?

Something was off, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

After all, Markus is a member of team JNPR, whether he likes it or not.

…

…

She opened the door.

Jaune was fumbling around with his sword, Ren was meditating, and Nora finally got back her personality, asking Jaune a million questions about his life.

Everyone was ready for bed.

Is it going to be like this the rest of the year?

Pyrrha was happy. A team that she was only a member of, and one that nobody in it cared about her achievements?

It's a dream come true.

...

...And there was Markus.

"Why is Markus sleeping in my bed?"

Ren didn't open his eyes. "He said he was injured."

I suppose that is true.

...

Jaune finally put his sword away and turned to Pyrrha. "Did you find anything out?"

Pyrrha tore her eyes away from Markus and nodded. "He didn't say what he did, but I got some context on his life."

Ren opened his eyes at this. "What did he say? Be quiet, Nora."

Surprisingly, Nora actually turned silent.

"He said that he used to be criminals with his father for all of his life. From what I can tell, they were good."

A snort came out from Pyrrha's bed. Everyone looked over, but Markus was asleep.

"...He said that one day his father planned to do something with Yang, that girl on the other team, and that he didn't know what is was exactly until the end."

Ren raised an eyebrow. Jaune spoke for him. "What was it?"

Pyrrha looked over. "He didn't say. But, whatever it was, it was bad enough that he rebelled against his father to stop it."

Ren frowned. "That doesn't give me good thoughts."

"I know." She continued. "He says he came to Beacon to hide from him, as well as becoming stronger, so he can…"

Pyrrha gulped. "...kill his father."

The room felt like it got colder at that statement.

Ren widened his eyes and Nora hugged him from behind.

Jaune stuttered. "K-kill?!" He looked at Markus's sleeping body. "Wh-what kind of criminal was he?!"

"I don't know, Jaune." Pyrrha thought for a moment. "But he seemed willing to tell people about it, at least. So, I'm going to trust him for now."

Jaune hesitated for a while, then nodded.

…

"Classes start early tomorrow. Let's go to bed now." Pyrrha looked around for a place to sleep after changing, among other things, in the bathroom.

"It's okay, Pyrrha! I'll sleep with Renny tonight!" Nora unleashed herself once again. "Use my bed!"

Ren said something under his breath.

Pyrrha chuckled. "I appreciate it, Nora."

Pyrrha got in bed.

...

The lights turned off.

-Break-

The morning

Everyone was awoken to a certain boy's angry yelling.

"What. The. HELL! How do I take this off?!"

I was in the bathroom, trying every possible way to remove both my boots and my coat.

Unlatching it. Nope.

Trying to slide my arms out. Nope.

Untying my shoes. Nope.

Sheer forcing it. Nope.

Moving my fingers and toes into various shapes. Nope.

I burst out of the bathroom.

The rest of my team was sitting up in bed and looking at me strangely.

I blinked at my team. "...Good morning team. Mind helping this teammate of yours?" I offered my arms forward. "I need to get this coat off. Boots too."

…

I was returned with stares from tired eyes. "...Gosh, thanks, team."

Access granted.

I looked at my coat and boots. They seemed to inflate and loosen once again. They slid right off.

"Ah, that's nice."

I walked back into the bathroom. "By the way, classes start in less than thirty minutes." I closed and locked the door, chuckling to myself on the inside when I heard their frenzied movements and panicked voices.

I am so evil.

…

…

When I exited the bathroom, I was wearing the student uniform with my coat in place of the blazer. My frying pan was in my coat, but it was in deep enough that you couldn't see the handle. Showing up to class with a weapon wouldn't be too good.

Not a bad look, I must say.

Immediately after I exited, I was shoved out of the way by a frenzied Pyrrha, who dashed into the bathroom. Nora also ran in. The door shut and I heard a scream come from inside.

I wonder what is going on in there.

"...Well, I'm going to go to class." I waved at my only male teammates. "Bye."

I walked out the door to hear… construction work? Coming from the dorm opposite of mine.

Well, it seems like Yang was able to cheer up. That's good.

I walked down the hallway, headed to class.

…

I opened the door to the classroom, which was empty.

I found a seat on the second row and took it.

Soon after, I realized I was not really alone. A portly man with white hair and a white moustache was standing behind the desk, writing something on the board. The nameplate on his desk said: Peter Port.

He noticed me. "Good morning Mr. Quinn. You're here early."

I leaned back. "Well, I woke up and had nothing to do."

He raised a white eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be interacting with your team?"

"They were asleep. And I don't think I can spill my guts if they are too busy panicking, now."

The teacher laughed at this.

He was going to say something else, but was stopped by students streaming into the classroom.

…

Eventually, the stream of students stopped, and there was no traces of either my team or team RWBY.

At 8:59, I could hear many quick footsteps coming from the hallway.

Literally seconds before the bell rang, the doors blew open and eight people flew in.

"WE MADE IT!"

…

I waved to my team and gestured to the four empty chairs beside me. They seemed to understand.

I looked at the other team, and neither Yang nor Ruby looked at me back. At least she isn't attacking me anymore.

They sat down.

The teacher began.

"Monsters! Demons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey!"

And that was when I felt the most powerful feeling of boredom I have ever felt. It was as if someone was casting a spell on me that will make me fall asleep. And by 'someone', I mean Sykes.

My head hit the table.

Thok

I fell asleep.

…

"Mr. Quinn!"

"...Mmph."

Someone shook my shoulder.

I lifted my head.

Pyrrha was beside me, looking at me in a concerning way.

"Huh?"

"Mr. Quinn." The teacher spoke harshly. "Since you appear to be quite excited about class, why don't you come down here and participate?"

In front of class was a cage with a boarbatusk inside of it. I think this was the part where Weiss would normally fight it.

"Umm… okay." I walked down in front of the class.

The teacher looked at me. "You're not going to get any battle gear, son?"

"I have everything I need already." I spread my arms.

The teacher looked at me a moment longer before breathing out his nose and turning to the cage.

He unlocked the cage and the Grimm charged at me with extreme speed.

...

Now, I can't tell you how many times I have been in this exact situation.

Back when Sykes threw me in the forest, there was a time when my legs were really sore from dashing and I was sitting down, rubbing my legs. At the time, I did not know that a boarbatusk was charging at me from behind, at maximum speed.

It was then I realized the true defensive strength of this coat of mine.

Now that I finished reminiscing, I chose the laziest option available to me to take down the Grimm.

I sat down, put my back to the charging boar, and put my hands over my head.

The teacher seemed surprised, and the students were all about to gasp.

CRAK!

...

A broken and almost dead boarbatusk flew over me. I never moved an inch.

When it landed again, it was disabled and stuck on the ground, whining due to the pain.

I stood up and lazily walked over. Once I arrived, I pulling out my frying pan, which got mixed reactions from the students, and smashed it right on the offending Grimm's head. It died.

...

I turned to the teacher. "Did that satisfy you, professor?"

His eyebrows were twitching. "...Is that… your weapon?"

"No, this is my frying pan."

A couple students chuckled at that.

"And why… do you carry a frying pan with you?"

I tilted my head. "So I can fry things?"

A couple more students laughed at that.

The teacher's mouth (moustache) was twitching furiously, but he calmed himself down with a loud sigh. "Go back to your se-."

He was interrupted by the bell.

He turned to the rest of class as he hid his perplexity. "It seems we are out of time! Be sure to take a look at the assigned readings, and stay vigilant! Class is dismissed."

I slid the frying pan back in my coat and started to walk out, but my team caught up to me.

Pyrrha was sporting a amused smile, Jaune was trembling, and Nora was asking if I could make pancakes.

"I can. They are very good, too." My sister liked them.

Ren seemed to be happy about that fact.

"Really!? Can you make some now!? That would be great!" Nora bombarded me with questions.

"Isn't it lunchtime now?" Was that class really four hours long? "Pancakes for lunch is a sin."

I looked at Nora. "So, no."

She looked visibly deflated at my denial. "But-"

"No buts. No pancakes either."

"Awww… Ren! You make me pancakes then! Let's go!"

Ren shot me a deadly glare before getting pulled away.

…

Pyrrha spoke up. "Is that… frying pan really your weapon?"

I looked at her like I was looking at an idiot. "No, of course not. Who would fight with a frying pan? I use it to fry things. Like I said."

"Then… what is your weapon?"

I pointed to my boots. "These boots are my weapon. My coat too."

"What do they do?"

"Well the coat is just incredibly defensive." I shot a glance at her. "As for the boots, that's my secret."

She seemed to understand. "Oh, okay."

"Speaking of which, what are your weapons?" I asked both Pyrrha and Jaune.

We talked all the way to the cafeteria.

…

Once we entered the cafeteria, I scanned the room for my other teammates. I found Nora gorging on some pancakes. Soon after, Ren came in through a door, holding a plate with literally twenty pancakes on it.

He was wearing a pink apron.

It was very cute.

…

I snapped myself out of my trance before anyone else noticed it.

...

I grabbed a tray of food and planted myself a seat away from Nora.

The rest of the team soon followed. Ren finished with his five-hundred pancake challenge, and sat down next to Nora (and me). Pyrrha and Jaune sat to the left of me.

Apparently, we arrived before team RWBY did, if them just now entering the cafeteria is anything to go by.

They grabbed their food and sat in front of our team, despite the obvious hesitance of Yang and the nervousness of Ruby.

Blake sat directly in front of me, the others sitting around her.

I kept eating. When I looked up, I saw Ruby staring at me. She quickly focused back on her food.

...

Wait a minute… is… is Ruby wearing an eye patch? How didn't I notice yet?

And why does it fit so well with her?

...Sykes?

Probably.

…

"Hey, red girl." I called out to Ruby.

All conversations stopped and a heavy atmosphere appeared from the silence. I saw Yang visibly tense up.

"Y-yes?" Ruby slowly turned to me.

I raised an eyebrow at her nervousness before pointing to my eye. "What happened to your eye?"

The air lightened a little, but Yang was still tense.

"I-it was s-shot."

My eyebrow raised further. "Shot? Didn't you have aura?"

"N-no. I-I mean, yes. I-It was like my aura turned off until it was halfway in my eye."

"Hmm." So it was Sykes.

That bastard. How dare he hurt Ruby.

Well, there is one more thing to confirm it.

"Where'd you get the eye patch?"

She bit her lip for a moment. "T-the man with white hair gave it to me."

Yang shook, but did not say anything. I'm guessing she did not know this.

Weiss blinked.

Well, time to act it up.

COUGH COUGH COUGH

I fell from my chair, still coughing.

I eventually stood up, using my chair as support. Everyone at the table was looking at me questioningly.

I pointed a shaky finger at her while consciously putting as much hatred as possible in my voice.

"You... saw my father?"

Everyone froze from whatever they were doing. Yang scowled.

Ruby shook her hands in front of her. "N-no! I saw him before I was s-shot, then he left a gift for me in the hospital."

"I… see." I breathed out heavily and sat back down, dragging my fingers through my hair.. "That explains everything."

This time Ruby asked me. "W-what?"

I looked at Ruby. "Well, red girl, I can tell you that my father made you get shot in the eye simply because he thought you would look cute in that eye patch."

Even if Sykes wasn't acting insane, I'm sure he would do something like that anyways.

That made Ruby and everyone else speechless.

"Yeah. He's like that." I leaned across the table to get a better look a Ruby. "I've gotta say, though, he does have a point there." Ruby backed away slowly.

My scrutiny was interrupted by Yang snarling at me.

"Stay away from Ruby, scum."

I shrugged and sat back down. She didn't put as much emotion into her name for me this time. I guess our relationship is improving. Somehow.

The atmosphere was still tense.

Speaking of Sykes, I still have to drink that second bottle of divinity, don't I? The tiny bit of extra I had from the first bottle was depleted by the boarbatusk.

I pulled it out of my coat and downed it in one gulp. My 'aura' flared for a moment, visible to all, before dying down.

"Ahhh… " I relaxed in my chair. Did it always feel this good?

Blake was snapped out of her silence. "What was that?"

I thought of a believable lie. "That… was a secret concoction that my father gave to me. No clue where he got it from. That was my last bottle." All of that was true, actually.

She looked at me oddly before finally focusing back at her book.

That was able to defuse the tense atmosphere.

...

Weiss seemed to notice how out of the loop she was regarding my father. She looked around at the two teams for any clarification. When she got none, she turned to me.

"Just what kind of guy is this father of yours?" She sounded irritated.

"Hmm." I tilted my head. What exactly do I know about Sykes's cover? "...Well, he can be described in three words: Strong. Insane. Strong." I nodded my head. "Yes, that's it. Perhaps you should ask your oppositely-colored friend." I pointed at Blake.

I don't think Blake liked being called that, judging by the twitching of her bow and the light scowl that graced her features.

Weiss looked at me with a blank expression after glancing at Blake. "You said strong twice."

"I felt the need to emphasize it."

She was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the bell. So, she 'hmph'ed at me.

I looked down at my plate. "Thanks, all, I was able to eat maybe two entire bites of food on this incredibly productive lunch period."

I was ignored.

…

…

…

I was sitting in class with my team next to me and team RWBY under us. Yang would look back and make sure I wasn't doing anything suspicious every so often.

The class was on history. Mostly about the Great War that was about eighty years ago.

Actually hearing the entire thing, unlike the show where it is all cut to less than five minutes, I found out it was actually pretty interesting.

Maybe everyone else already knew all this. That might be why the were so uninterested.

When class was over, dinner was served in the cafeteria. This time, I was able to eat a healthy amount of food.

Me and my team returned to our dorm.

I hear tomorrow will be combat class. That should be fun.

I fell asleep on the floor.

-Break-

A warehouse

…

"Hey, boss, you ever try stand up?"

Roman looked at his most valuable underling, who was still smiling in his creepy way. "No, I haven't."

Sykes shrugged. "I think you'd be good at it."

Roman actually imagined himself doing stand up comedy for a moment.

He looked back at the television. "You have a point there."

An explosion sounded out from the TV.

Roman and Sykes both pumped their fists in the air.

...

The movie ended soon after.

"Hey, numbnut. You got any more movies like that one? I liked it." Roman told Sykes.

Sykes laughed. "Of course!" He took out three movies from his coat. "Now, we can watch the prequels."

Roman was confused. "Aren't you supposed to watch the prequels first?"

Sykes laughed again. "No, I didn't want to see the prequels at all!"

Roman was even more confused. "Why?"

Sykes tilted his head for a moment.

"You'll see, boss." He placed the first disk in the player. "You'll see."

…

Roman saw.

-Break-

When I conscious enough to feel my surroundings again, I realized was not on the floor of the dorm. Instead, I was sitting up on a chair and leaning on a counter.

I lifted my head and opened my eyes.

I looked around before putting my head back in my arms and cursing.

Skye.

Why am I here?

Somewhere, a door creaked open and some footsteps got nearer.

Tak tak

I didn't even need to lift my head.

Sykes.

Who else could it be?

I asked him, mumbling in my arms. "Did I die?"

"No, of course not." He spoke.

Then why am I here?

"I brought you here in your dreams to teach you stuff."

I finally lifted my head. "What?"

He checked to make sure I was listening before he started. "I am going to teach you some divine abilities. Also, what you can and can't do, stuff like that."

"I can use my divine abilities?" I thought I had to keep that a secret.

"Yeah, you can play it off as your semblance. Coincidentally, that being your semblance can be a very important plot point, one that I almost overlooked."

I was going to ask more, but he interrupted me.

"Here's how you use it." He pointed at me. "You need to picture what exactly you want in your mind. Then, you need to say a chant either in your mind or out loud. You can make it up."

Aren't I still limited to things that have to do with my divine ability?

"Yes, there is that limit on your specific ability," Sykes nodded. "but there are a few abilities that all beings that have any divine power at all have access to. I will tell you about those now." He put three fingers up.

"They are: solidify, foresight, and melding. These are the three simplest abilities. Their chant is little more than yelling out their name in your head."

"Remember those magic circles?"

Yeah.

"One of the things you can do is solidify them. Before you do that, you can move them to any point and rotation, even floating in the air. Once you solidify it though, you can't move it anymore. Use it like a shield."

"Next, foresight. This will let you see a tiny bit of the future via an excerpt of The Book of Fate." He pulled the old book out from under the counter and laid it on top. "Normally, you would only be able to see the future on things you have authority over, such as that pan of yours." Sykes winked at me. "But I'll give you some special permission to view it on most everything."

Thanks.

"Finally, melding. This will mold your magic circle into whatever shape you want. It's different from summoning because it will only last as long as you supply it divine energy, and it is breakable. Very breakable."

Sykes stopped talking.

Is that it?

"That's it. You should go outside and try it now." He pointed at the exit to the bar. "Or, you can stay here and drink until you wake up." He shrugged.

I stood up and walked to the door.

…

I've never seen what was outside the bar before.

I stood at the end of the street and looked down into the abyss. "What's down there?"

Sykes replied. "Who knows."

I thought you lived here.

"I'm not suicidal."

Could anything really kill you, though?

"Probably not, but I don't even have the slightest clue of what is down there. There are very few things that I know absolutely nothing about."

Hmm.

…

I stood in the middle of the street, and Sykes stood slightly further down from me and took out a small handgun.

"Just imagine a magic circle in front of you and then say 'solidify' in your mind. I'm going to shoot you once you do." He waved the handgun.

So I did.

...

I imagined a red circle with all sorts of symbols on it, protecting me from anything that will come from the direction of Sykes.

A circle appeared in front of me, but it looked translucent.

Solidify.

The circle flashed brightly for a moment before fading into a completely opaque version of itself.

Sykes nodded and brought up his gun.

Blam blam blam

A couple cracks appeared on the circle, but if I focused on it, it seemed to repair itself at the cost of my 'aura'. Very little, but noticeable.

Sykes shot more and more.

The circle cracked more and more before shattering into nothingness.

Sykes nodded. "Very good. You learn quickly." He put away the gun.

"Now, picture another circle and imagine it melting and molding into whatever. Try a sword."

I did so.

A magic circle appeared in front of me again. I imagined it turning into a simple iron sword.

The circle quickly bent and twisted until there was a small sword floating in front of me. It still was made of whatever the magic circle was made of, red light.

I reached for it and grabbed it by the handle. It was light. Very light. I swung it around randomly before trying to strike a solidified circle I just summoned.

It broke instantly.

I stopped focusing on the solidified circle and it faded away.

Sykes clapped. "Very good, very good. You can use that as a surprise attack if you make multiple spears on the ground or something." He stopped. "Now, foresight pretty much is self-explanatory. But since it is an excerpt from The Book of Fate, it won't work on Fatebreakers."

"If it is an excerpt, do I have to read it?"

Sykes shook his head. "No, the book is a spiritual object. You will just immediately 'understand' what will happen."

"Just focus on whatever, then say foresight in your head. It will give you an idea what it will do or what will happen to it for the next… half a second? Something really short like that."

He raised a finger in the air. "None of these abilities are too taxing, but enough of it and your 'aura' will be used up. Be careful. I can supply you with bottles whenever you need it. Just text me."

Is that it?

"Yes. That is all. You should be waking up soon." Sykes waved at me. "Bye!"

I blacked out.

Roman would be a very good stand up comedian, though.