{Investment}

Awkward didn't even begin to describe how Ray felt when leaving the stage.

As if the murderous glare from Glynda Goodwitch wasn't enough, the dozens of eyes belonging to the other students ardently fixated on him made him feel very uncomfortable indeed.

No, awkward was far too underwhelming a term to describe this situation.

So much for being discrete, Ray couldn't have been more noticeable if he had a neon sign above his head saying "Wanted Criminal".

Kyzal had really screwed up with that champagne bottle, especially now that Ray was holding a half empty bottle full of still alcohol.

That said, he did last the first day at Beacon, but he could no longer celebrate it as he had intended.

After the newly christened team Renegades, given the abbreviated title 'RGDS', had sat down. Other teams were eventually called up and dismissed.

Ray was more focused on the blood-chilling glares Glynda Goodwitch would constantly send his way to pay any attention to any of them though.

That said, there was still that one team that disturbed him.

The last team called up quite possibly worked in coalition with the wordsmith that came up with the term 'ominous'.

They only had three members at this point in time. And the chilling reason behind this was due to the death of a male student.

The same student Ray spotted through the camera feed, lying in a puddle of his own blood.

It wasn't just the fact that a student had died either, no, something far worse was presented in addition to the grave situation.

Ozpin's speech on the matter.

"Unfortunately, our last is unable to present at the moment. Earlier today in the forest, one of their teammates had suffered and lost his life. As such, they have been excused from attending today's ceremony. The current standing members are as follows; Niro Ezdeil, Anoel, and Kitsuki Aeolus, forming team Elandrial (ELA)."

Avatars of each individual, accompanied by their initial, floated high above the stage onto projected holographic screens, letting Ray grow familiar with their appearances.

The recently departed student wasn't there…

Yeah, alright, the death of an initiate wasn't unheard of in Beacon or its sister academies.

But the fact that Ozpin took this matter so lightly had Ray's eye twitching.

He delivered it so passively and without hesitation that the man might as well have screamed 'I don't care!'.

Just how could a man tasked with protecting his students and the kingdom he resides in act so uncaring?

A 17-year-old boy died today, and his only response was a pitiful condolence and a brief mention?

A mother lost her child today, and all Ozpin could do was say sorry?

Ray was disgusted.

Death, no matter how often it happens, should never be taken lightly.

Regardless of the circumstances, whether you knew the deceased or not, the appropriate reaction to such a devastating circumstance was not whatever bullshit that spewed from that man's mouth.

It was insulting, especially when that boy could have been one of the best this school had to offer.

What was confusing though, was how this boy had died.

From what Ray could see, the boy only had gashes across his chest.

Gashes that were credited to Grimm claws.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the wounds inflicted on him caused a slow, painful expiration, but the fact that the boy was killed by normal, pathetic Grimm was far too shifty for Ray to accept as the unmitigated truth.

Ray, despite how much he wanted to drop the matter and let it go, suspected that this was no ordinary death.

Because it almost seemed orchestrated…

No Grimm in the Emerald forest should have been able to kill anyone there, it was all designed to be challenging, but not that life-threatening.

His theory was too far-fetched and he had no sure-fire proof of this claim, but something about the death of this unnamed warrior was so unnatural, that the hacker could not just simply allow it to slide.

But without the body, Ray had no way of finding out for certain.

And he probably never will.


The dorm room was as standard as standard could get, four beds, two desks and chairs, three bedside tables, and two dressers.

As soon as you opened the door, to the right, you would find the bathroom, and to the left, was the kitchenette.

Ray ignored both of those things and decided to instead claim the bed in the far-left corner, throwing his messenger bag on the floor beside it, kicking off his shoes, and faceplanting the soft pillow with a long-winded sigh.

"Comfortable?" Gabriel asked amusedly, eyeing the boy as he made his way to the third bed from the left and sat down.

Ray's response was a raised thumb as he rolled over on to his back and folded his arms behind his head.

"Hey, i-if there are no objections, I'm going to take a shower." Kyzal's voice was still slurred after drinking too much Acolyte, but continuous pulses of his golden Aura could be seen as it burned whatever alcohol that remained.

"Go for it." Gabriel replied nonchalantly as he removed his boots and hat, resting the latter on one of the bed posts.

Scarlet stood in the middle of the room, torn between which choice of beds she could take. The options laid in front of her was the one laying untouched in the far-right corner, and the one between Gabriel and Ray.

Though the look on her face meant that her decision had already been made. She slowly paced towards the second bed from the left and sat down on it, bouncing up and down slightly to get a feel for the mattress.

Satisfied, she followed Gabriel's lead in removing her combat boots and laying them neatly by the foot of the bed, out of the way.

Scarlet had a level of sensibility to her that was rather fitting, given her recent promotion to team leader, though it was also evident that she lacked the experience her three male teammates did.

It wasn't hard to tell that Kyzal, Gabriel, and Ray all had their fair share of familiarity with this hostile world.

Luggage had already been delivered to their designated dorm room, with three suitcases and an armoured crate sat by the desk by the bathroom.

It was obvious which one was Ray's, the matte black crate appeared as though it belonged to military personnel.

Inside was a small handful of clothes, spare beanies in particular, and technological gear that Ray would need to use in order to attain that last piece of his father's weapon.

It was no secret that airport security would have tried to scan the contents of the crate, and failing that due to the IR jammer placed inside, they would have tried to pry it open.

Scratches on the lock on the front of the crate indicated forced entry, but this crate was built so survive a military strike. A crowbar, hammer and chisel, and just about any cutting tool had no hope.

Ray's privacy meant more to him than his own life, and like hell was he about to let some airport security goons take a look inside.

The gear he had wasn't even dangerous, mostly logic boards and other hardware, but the principle of other people taking a peek at the equipment was still the same.

They can all fuck off.

No doubt that the Beacon faculty would make another attempt at breaking it open, but as far as Ray was concerned, they were all welcome to try and fail. Again.

So, in lieu of anything better to do, Ray stayed on his new bed, resting his head on his arms and keeping his eyes closed.

He crossed his legs and sighed into the quiet room, relieved that the hard part of the day was finally over.

He could have honestly fallen asleep right there, but eventually his stomach and his need to shower would put a wrench in those plans.

Classes were nothing too spectacular to look forward to, if anything, they were a distraction to break up the long days ahead of him.

He had assumed Beacon, despite it being a place he thoroughly despised, would still be a cakewalk in comparison to what his father put him through.

Ray wasn't a bad fighter, and he had knowledge to back up his student disguise enough to deter any kind of unwarranted attention.

That said, the bottle of champagne probably put him and the rest of his team in line of sight of many other students, but the novelty of that rumour would wear down and eventually die within a couple of days.

As is the usual with teenagers, they dwell on events such as that for a couple of days before their short attention spans force them to focus on something more recent.

"Ray, are you not going to unpack or anything?" Scarlet's tender voice broke the relaxing silence and he opened his mouth to reply.

"I will in a second, I just need to relax for a couple of minutes."

"Oh, okay, then could you at least move your uh…" she paused, eyeing Gabriel trying unsuccessfully to shift the heavy crate sat on top of his suitcase, "box-thing?"

Ray's eyelids opened to reveal the amethyst gems hidden beneath as they visually acquired Gabriel's struggle.

With a sigh, the hacker sat up and placed his hand on the bedside table. A thin wire of violet light traced its way down the table and wormed through the soft carpet fibres before gripping the crate and lifting it effortlessly.

Ray turned his head to Scarlet and gave her a curious look. "Where do you want it?"

Scarlet's finger curled around her bottom lip as she thought for a moment.

"Umm, will it fit under your bed?" She asked, and in response, the hardlight shifted the crate off of Gabriel's case and towards the end of the bed before sliding it in.

"Better?" Ray asked as he laid back down in his previous position.

A nod from Scarlet was all the confirmation he needed as he resumed doing absolutely nothing. He decided he'd grab a shower after Kyzal was finished, but until then, he had a date with his pillow.

Scarlet, in her spare time, had dug inside her red and black suitcase to bring out her purse, to which she then began to count out the Lien cards she had on hand.

"Oh no…" She whispered, her eyebrows furrowing in concern as she recounted her total amount.

"No no no!" She exclaimed, practically emptying her purse onto the bed and counting again.

"What's wrong Scarlet?" Gabriel asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I-I thought I had more money than this!"

She held up the pile of plastic cards, brandishing them in his face before he gently swatted them aside.

"What do you need the money for, again?"

"The part, Gabriel! I won't be able to afford the part I wanted!" Tears had begun to form around the corners of her eyes as the reality of the situation had begun to settle.

Gabriel nodded as he looked down at the cards in her hands.

"How much do you have?" He asked.

"Seven-hundred, but I need at least a thousand to get the part I need… W-what am I going to do?"

The tears that had formed around her eyes had begun their descent down her face. Gabriel, in the heat of the moment, had begun to dive into his own suitcase, looking for any spare change he may have.

"I'm sorry, kid, I got nothing," Gabriel relented, "maybe you could ask for additional funding, perhaps?"

"I-I doubt they'll help me out… it's just a new firing pin…" Scarlet's eyes fell to her feet as she brought her knees up to her chest.

"You don't know that, you're the leader of our team now, surely they must hold you in a higher pedestal than us? That's all the more reason to give you the part you need, if not the money to afford it."

"M-maybe… but I- "

Shuffling from the corner of the room indicated movement and as Scarlet was about to turn to face the source, three plastic cards hit her in the face and fell to her lap.

"Will this shut you up? I'm trying to nap here."

Startled, Scarlet looked down into her lap and picked up the three-thousand Lien Ray had just given her on a whim.

She gave the boy a confused look as he closed his messenger bag and laid back down.

"Consider it as a gift, or a bribe, whichever you'd prefer." The boy mumbled as he closed his eyes once more.

Scarlet wiped the tears from her eyes and switched her focus between the boy resting on his bed and the large amount of money he'd just given her.

"Y-you didn't have to do that…" she mumbled softly, biting her bottom lip anxiously, "this… is way too much money…"

"Between losing money and losing sleep, I'll choose the money any day. Just don't spend it all in one place." Came his immediate reply.

His eyes remained closed as he lay there in his comfortable position, almost completely uncaring toward the fact that he'd basically just bought his partner a brand-new firing mechanism rather than just a meagre firing pin. Strands of golden hair brushing past his temples as he rolled over.

"Let me know when Kyzal is done, I'm not going to class tomorrow smelling like the rear-end of a Creep after curry night."

Gabriel chortled in response to Ray's comment, "You got it."


Lilac canvas shoes stopped just short of a large apartment building.

The woman wearing these shoes had done her research, apparently, this was one of the nicer areas in Vale to live in, far better than downtown Western Vale, anyway.

Not like she didn't have the experience there though.

Crime rate around this area was significantly reduced, plus the seaside view from the balconies she heard of was rather lovely. She may have been a master thief, but Lylac Chroma wasn't breaking in to this apartment block tonight.

No. She was shopping instead.

Truth be told, it had been a while since she'd really treated herself, add that to the fact that her and Ray needed a safehouse in Vale too, and she was more than willing to go all out.

Maybe she'd get reacquainted with some old friends too…

Out of all the places her and her younger cousin had travelled to, the number of times the pair had made a visit to Vale could have been counted on just one hand. Ray despised the kingdom relentlessly, given how his childhood here was sub-par at best, and Lylac had very few reasons to visit anyway.

See, Ly knew Ray better than anyone else; better than his father and most definitely better than his mother. Lylac was the only one that could read that boy like a book.

He didn't hate Vale for fun. He hated it because it brought back a whole entourage of bad memories.

The death of his father was the prime reason behind his prejudice. 6 years have passed since then and yet he still wouldn't let it go.

And with the seventh anniversary of Orion's passing just around the corner, she held her reservations that he'd most likely break down.

This broke Lylac's heart…

Inside that tough, stubborn exterior lies the little boy she grew up with and he's hurting.

With the machine inside his head concealing that side of him on a permanent basis, she had no way of working her way inside and consoling that poor child.

Ray never allowed himself to grieve for his father, to finally come to terms with reality and let it go. He's so stubborn, he absolutely refuses to give in to the truth and let his father rest in peace.

But with a mother like that, who can blame him?

He would rather burn everything to the ground with weapons unlike the world has ever seen than accept that woman for the parent she should have been.

Truth be told, Lylac was terrified of what her cousin could do to this planet if he lost his mind.

Which is all the more reason to pull him out of the darkness and put him somewhere he can be watched.

Lylac had done her part, she'd essentially been a mother to him since the age of 14 and she'd like to think she'd done a pretty good job of it too, considering how he had saved her life more times than she could count.

But she was also young, also inexperienced with the real world. And despite how much she loved Ray to pieces, she had to find her own path as well.

Lylac shook the cobwebs free from her mind, her blonde hair swaying as she did so. The young woman sighed, "I'll break those defences of yours someday, Ray. And when I do, I'm not going to be sorry."

Having Ray in Beacon allowed Ly to make some preparations. In truth, she never honestly cared for the sword her uncle left behind. It was nothing now but just another artefact. An artefact from a time long since passed.

His father's weapon, Avramosis, was just a distraction to get him inside Beacon so that she had more time to plan ahead.

6 years of hiding away is far too long to keep away from society and out of the loop.

First thing Ly had to do was get in touch with the information network here.

With what Lylac had planned to attract them, they were bound to notice her return. She still had a few contacts dotted around the kingdom, but she needed to make her way all the way to the top of that chain of command. The scheme she had in mind was most definitely going to incentivise an investigation on their part.

Her reputation would do the hard work for her, but it was down to her skills to complete her plan.

Next, she had to use the network to get her hands on some money. Legitimate money.

Ray's numerous bank accounts are nice, but a nigh limitless supply of Lien gives it less value. Lylac preferred to work for her earnings, not mooch off of her cousin.

With the network's help, she would be able to trade information for the whereabouts of valuable items to steal, and once she had completed these jobs, she'd sell the items for real, hard-earned cash.

And finally, once she had settled and rooted herself in Vale, she'd get that cousin of hers fixed for good.

Gods only know how she was going to accomplish that, but it had to be done.

She had to reacquaint that boy with his humanity again, for both of their sakes.

Sighing, she approached the front doors of the apartment block and gently opened them, walking casually over to the attendant by the desk.

"Excuse me, I hear you have an apartment for sale?" Lylac asked with a warm smile.

The girl sat behind the desk turned her focus from the terminal beside her to Ly, her chocolate brown eyes locking with the thief's pink orbs.

Ly noticed that the attendant seemed to perk up slightly with this new visitor, clearly, she'd had a long night.

"Oh, umm, yes we do. I'm sorry… I've been working for 9 hours already…" The girl replied earnestly, pulling her chocolate-coloured her to one side.

Lylac's soft lips curled up into a wider smile, her soft sapphire eyes growing softer, "That's quite alright, I know your pain."

"Oh, uh, so… you're enquiring about one of our apartments? We have a couple on the market at the moment, which would you prefer?"

Lylac's eyes watched as the woman plucked out a brochure and offered it to her, to which the thief immediately crumpled it up and threw it into the trash can on the floor.

With a sly smirk, Ly took a deep breath before opening her mouth to reply, "What's the most expensive one you have?"


Author's note:

Aura works wonders for those that are intoxicated, the conscious ability to burn alcohol away? I know for a fact that I'd kill for something like that.

Anyway, Ray's tired and need his sleep, so I figured we could turn our eyes to Lylac for a change, her scheme is no doubt going to bat a few eyelids.

Especially since the products she'll be stealing are no doubt something very rarely taken.

It also seems like Ly intends to stay in Vale for a little while too, it's most certainly been a while, so not only are there new things to do, but also very valuable items to claim for herself.

It helps that her reluctant cousin is also in Beacon and won't leave until his job is complete.

Either way, Follow and Favourite if you enjoy this story, there is certainly more to come.

Reviews are also highly encouraged since I love reading your thoughts and opinions.

Have a good one.

- Hydra