Guest- that was not Black Zetsu. It was a clone/copy of another vile amorphous entity.

Blackmoon915- He's had bijuu chakra from both Shukaku and Luna, and some from Gyuki from using the Uke-mochi. Of course, even that much altogether is a far cry from how much Gyuki is composed of, so yes it will take a bit for his body to acclimate. Even more problematic is that in accomplishing his goal, he used his remaining eye five times.

Chapter 38

? Domain

"It seems that they failed," Salem, master of the Grimm, thought sitting in her chair and looking down at the glass-like head of a Seer Grimm. "I expected as much."

Just moments ago, she had watched the doppelganger of an ally get torn apart by an inexplicable force.

"A power that like that derived from something as weak as aura… No, there must be a missing step in between. That silver—no, platinum—eye. It has some kind of relation to that power."

The woman turned her head away from the Grimm, changing focus to the large pair of black doors across the room. There was a rhythmic clicking sound coming from the other side before stopping. The massive doors opened, pushed apart by a figure in black. Like she herself, the petite girl had white hair, but the differences laid in her pigmented skin and silver eyes. She glared, the small hands that pushed open the door curled into fists. Following behind her was a tall man with darkened skin, dressed in a dark gray suit.

"Forgive our intrusion, your grace, but she insisted that this matter was urgent," the man said eloquently, bowing his head in respect

"It's fine, Dr. Watts." Salem raised a calming hand to the man. She then stared at the girl with a look of curiosity as well as impatience. "Now, what is it?"

"With all due respect, I'm getting annoyed," The girl scorned at her senior, huffing. "We had a deal and I'm sure you didn't forget. I would serve under you as long as you helped me locate Ozpin and Mekah. It's been weeks if not months, and not even at Beacon could I find them. At what point are you going to hold up your end?"

"Child, I would suggest not speaking in such a manner." Dr. Watts whispered, eyeing the Grimm beside Salem. "Don't forget where you are."

"Can't the mother of all grimm control her damn kids?" The silver eyed girl asked, staring at the man with a confused look.

"If I was such a figure perhaps. Nonetheless, the young are infantile nonetheless, even despite my superiority." replied the woman in a flat tone and a bored expression. "And as for your concerns, Juliet, Dr. Watts,"

On cue, the man drew a scroll from his pocket, stepping forward and setting it on the table between the three. The screen lit up, constructing a holographic image for all to see. It was the image of a poster for the Vytal Festival Tournament. Still, the girl remained confused.

"Okay, it's in like two or three weeks," the girl named Juliet asked, raising an eyebrow to the poster. "What about it?"

"The ones you are so focused on will be part of the tournament, as you should know. However, if you manage to find Ozpin and confront him, you will lose." She declared, an almost worried tone hidden within her voice before glancing at the room's third occupant. "For now, return to young Cinder and prepare. Dr. Watts seems to want to speak with me alone."

Without reply, Juliet turned and exited the room. The doors closed behind her automatically, leaving Dr. Watts and the Grimm's master alone. In the ensuing silence, Dr. Watts cleared his throat.

"Thank you, your grace… If I may ask, what is the point of keeping that girl around?" Dr. Watts asked, glancing at the door behind him. "None of our plans involve her goals despite what she was told—much of the opposite in fact."

"To begin with, she is a bearer of Silver Eyes. The power that slayed the First Grimm is formidable even in the hands of a child. It is not a common occurrence when my enemy's power can be at my disposal. Now, her value has increased." with a gesture, the jellyfish-shaped creature floated towards Dr. Watts, who stumbled back instinctively. The glass dome-like head lit up, displaying the same recording she had watched minutes ago.

"Another Silver eyed girl. I don't see the significance" He put a hand on his chin "Although that other eye interests me. Is the goal to recruit her as well?"

"Wrong. That is not a silver eye. It is some sort of mutation born of the accursed trait—one that has never existed before. If one can attain this mutation, then another may as well." She smirked confidently. "Is there anything else that concerns you?"

"Yes, the bodies of the two large organisms that you have managed to detain—the larger one in particular. Despite the lack of movement, it feels as if the fox will awaken at any moment." Dr. Watts' voice failed his calm facade.

"They are nothing to be concerned with," She reassured him, her calm demeanor aiding to quell his nerves.

"I see. Very well then. I will be taking my leave." Without another word, he too had exited the room.

Salem leaned back into her seat, neither smiling nor scorning, simply staring at the ceiling with a look full of intent. She was silent. "Soon, Ozpin. Everything you have built to combat me will crumble. You know it's coming, don't you? Your king will not save you a second time."

Beacon Academy

It was no more than a day since the battle and explosion that rocked the forest. Class had been put on pause since then.

Atlas Military had swept in and secured the area, preventing anyone from entering without authorization. Despite this, the results were nothing short of a miracle. The evacuation had gone smoothly. Only the students at ground zero, team RWBY, had received any injuries—even then, they were minor.

Blake was relatively unharmed which, known to nobody but her, was thanks to Weiss throwing her out of harm's way. Said heiress had an injured liver, but was sure to make a full recovery before long. Yang had slight burns on her hands thanks to her aggressive technique and bruises on her stomach. All that was left, was Ruby, whom the three awaited uncertain.

Since the team's "victory" Ruby had been unconscious, in a comatose-like state ever since they were evacuated. There was no word from the school's medical staff on her condition and none had the courage to ask the nurses or doctors directly. As such, they remained in their dorm room, quietly waiting in hopes of their always energetic and scatterbrained leader's triumphant recovery.

Yang sighed, stretching her arms out as she laid back on her bed. She looked bored, having been almost completely inactive for the entire morning. She tossed and turned, squirming tirelessly before exhaling deeply. She glanced to her one visible roommate. Weiss was sitting at a desk facing away. Upon squinting her eyes, she could just barely notice hooks hanging behind her ears.

"Glasses… since when did Weiss wear glasses?" Yang tilted her head as best she could in her position. "Eh, I guess it would fit her the most to be that kind of character. I wonder how she'd react to being called 'professor'?" She smiled briefly on the ridiculous idea. Weiss wouldn't accept the title for as long as she lived, unfortunately—not even as a joke. Even so, the image was entertained longer than it really should have.

Suddenly, she turned and sat up from her bed, narrowly avoiding a collision with the base of the bed just above hers, Blake's. "I'm going out for a bit," she said, standing up and heading to her dresser.

"Hm? Where are you going?" Weiss asked, turning to Yang and allowing her to confirm the presence of lenses held in front of her curious blue eyes.

"Out," Yang replied, donning her usual brown shirt and black bike shorts. "I'm gonna go and get some fresh air, maybe get something to eat. Anything but stay in here." She walked towards the door, taking unusually heavy steps with a serious expression on her face.

Weiss had a good idea what the cause for Yang's irritation was. If not for the book she read that kept her thoughts occupied, she would have been in the same position. Granted, she would have found a somewhat less direct way to cope.

"Oh, alright. See you later then." Weiss replied hesitantly, returning her eyes to her book.

The door shut with a hard thud. The sound of heavy footsteps started at the door and quickly faded out of range. Silence returned to the room.

Unlike Ruby and Yang, the other two members of their team embraced the quiet and serene moments. These times were too few and far between for either of their tastes. Most disappointing was that Blake, who was asleep, would never know of this rare occurrence. Being asleep during this kind of time had a different air to it than being awake.

"I hope she doesn't end up going on a rampage, or someone try something stupid with her hair now of all times," Weiss thought, shuttering fearfully as she remembered an unpleasant memory. Someone thought it would be a good idea to cut off a piece of her oh so beloved hair and was summarily sent to the nurse's office.

She sighed to herself, continuing to scan through the textbook in front of her. She blinked rapidly, focusing her eyes on a single passage. "Ninety years ago… nghn—" she grunted in pain, a migraine suddenly affronting her. In moving her hands to cradle her head, her elbows slightly banged against the table. She stayed like that for about ten seconds, before shaking off the ensuing nausea. She quickly closed the book, but rather quickly. It felt like her body moved on its own as she forced the book shut, as if she was just a puppet.

"You alright?" She heard Blake's startled voice from behind, prompting her to turn around. Weiss did a double take as she stared blankly, but appeared to shrug it off soon enough.

"Yeah I'm fine. Good morning." Weiss replied awkwardly, putting the textbook away and moving to their bathroom. "Something, weird happened. I'm reading one of the assigned chapters and all of the sudden it feels like I've been kicked in the head."

"Maybe stress?" Blake suggested with an indifferent look, fixing the bow on her head as she too got out of bead.

"I don't think so. I didn't have any trouble sleeping, and while I am worried about Ruby, overthinking about things I can't do anything about is just wasted energy." The sound of running water echoed through the room. Weiss had turned the sink faucet on. "By the way, Blake, I have been meaning to mention for awhile… you're a Faunus, aren't you?"

The question dropped on Blake like an executioner's blade. She couldn't think of how to respond while her mind was thrown into chaos. The name she gave her, the title she tried to hide the most, was suddenly brought to light.

"W-when… how did she find out?"

A cold sweat running down her back drew a scared look on Blake's face. She was caught in the middle of a crossroad, trying to think of how she would respond. Her long held beliefs clashed against her more recent experiences. She knew that she would eventually have to tell Weiss the truth, and planned for a time to do so, but it would be on her terms. She hadn't expected for the time to be so soon or for Weiss to initiate the conversation. She wasn't yet prepared, her head was still stuck on trying to figure out how Weiss had discovered her secret to begin with.

The door to the bathroom was wide open and Blake could partially see the mirror, but not the person inside, meaning she could only wait until Weiss returned so that she could see the heiress's expression. Soon enough, she re-emerged from the bathroom, the natural oils and dust gone from her face. More importantly, was the unexpectedly nonchalaunt look on her face. There wasn't any sign of anger or elation that could be discerned.

"I'm not upset, if that's what you think," Weiss said, putting a hand against her side with a calm gaze.

"How, or when, did you find out?" Blake asked, slightly at ease by Weiss's demeanor—calm enough to be able to speak coherently.

"The random twitching of your bow," Weiss said sarcastically, pointing to the air above her head. "At first I thought it was just the wind, but then it would happen regardless of if we were indoors or outdoors. I also noticed the unusual eating and sleeping habits, in particular your almost seafood exclusive diet. Lastly, while I was doing research for one of Professor Oobleck's history papers, I discovered the name "Belladonna" was more than just the last name of my team member."

The name Belladonna had slowly faded from the minds of the current generation. There were few that remembered the name for what it stood for. No less than two decades ago, it belongs to the leaders of the—then pacifistic—White Fang. they made many minor steps towards improving human-faunus relations until the leader, Ghira Belladonna, stepped down and Sienna Kahn had taken over. Based on Blake's age, and the year the Belladonnas relinquished their positions, she had surmised that Blake had been a member at a young age.

"It was surprising to discover that you were apart of the White Fang so long ago. Though, I think after what that organization has become, anyone would want to get away from all of it." Weiss shrugged before crossing her arms. She frowned, her eyes sharpening in the process.

"You're right, but that's… not all, Weiss." Blake sighed as she undid the string that held her bow in place, revealing a pair of cat ears. Weiss blinked as her eyes first laid upon the animalistic features.

"So she's a cat faunus? I kind of knew with the fish thing, and the obsession with small quick moving objects, but it's surprising nonetheless." Weiss thought, her gaze shifting up and down between the ears and Blake's eyes.

"Even after the change in leaders, I didn't desert. I was a member up until just before enrolling in Beacon. I was… too blinded by the good I thought I was doing to realize how many were suffering because of it. I never wanted people to find out, because there's no way a school would accept an ex-terrorist. Who would?" Blake raised her voice a notch higher, She stared at Weiss restlessly waiting for an answer.

"You're right. Most people wouldn't accept someone like that—someone like you—but it'd be hypocritical of me to look down on someone for what they were instead of what they are." Weiss' frown faded from her face. "Even if you were, we fought at the docks together. We were all fighting the same enemy. That's the Blake I know."

Blake stepped back unintentionally. She was certain that these words were sincere, and her body language proved as much. Unfortunately, she hadn't a proper response to give. Her lips opened and closed aimlessly.

"I don't know what to say, but thank you." Blake said, smiling as her shaking coming to a quick end.

Weiss gave a self-deprecatingly chuckle, her mouth forming a thin smile. "There's no reason to thank me. All that matters is that we can work together better as a team and as friends. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm still coming to terms with the fact that my teammate has been a faunus all along, and finally admitted to it." She waved dismissively.

Suddenly, several clicking sounds came from beside them. They both turned their heads to the room door. Its knob turned and it opened, allowing entry to their petite black haired team leader. Her discolored eyes scanned the room before fixating on Blake and her lack of bow.

"I-gi-but!" Ruby stuttered, babbling something towards Weiss.

"I-it's alright Ruby. just calm down." Blake said with a frantic look. After a moment Ruby nodded, stepping in and closing the door behind her.

"So… What did the nurse say?" Weiss asked, eyeing her partner worriedly.

"They… I'm all checked out, no worries here." Ruby quickly responded, smiling proudly before looking at one of the empty beds. "But what about you two? Blake?" she asked with a concerned face.

"It's fine, Ruby." Blake said simply, glancing at Weiss with a smile.

"Oh, that's good." Ruby cheered to herself. Had she heard the news some other time, she may have thrown her hands up in celebration. However, the lack of a certain presence caught her attention first. "Hey, where's Yang?" She asked, looking at the empty bed that belonged to her sister.

"She said she wanted to get some fresh air, and then just left. Maybe it's just me, but I get a bad feeling from it." Weiss commented with an uneasy look.

"Oh… we should uh, go find her then, before she ends up beating someone up." Ruby laughed to herself sarcastically. Blake and Weiss looked at one another briefly, as if they noticed something, but nonetheless accepted. As the two stepped passed Ruby, who moved to the side, the color drained from her face. Before following behind, the heterochromatic eyed girl looked down at her feet, held by a sense of guilt.

Her diagnosis was not as she had explained. She wasn't fine, perhaps the right word was weaker, but she wouldn't let them know. If it could be fixed, she would do it herself before it became an issue.

END