Disclaimer: I do not own either RWBY or Star Wars

Stunned silence reigned. Gone was Melaion's sadistic glee, replaced with bewildered intrigue at this sudden development.

"This… was most unexpected. You conquered your fear… but… What is this?" The Sith queried.

"I found my answer. I will not turn out the way you desire, Melaion." Wayle responded.

"Answer? Could it be?" Melaion's eyes lit up with realisation. "You have chosen Revan's path. Who would have thought letting you study him would lead to this?" He smiled. "But I have to say, while I sought to raise a superior Dark Sider, this is also quite fascinating…"

"As difficult to comprehend as always."

"That is merely because you never paid attention. Well then… Let us test your newfound answer!"

Melaion's power was once again unleashed, once more seeking to grab hold of Wayle.

This time, he denied it. It scattered on his defences.

The Sith seemed like he was about to say something but wasn't able to as Wayle suddenly appeared in front of him, forcing him to block.

This time the young Lord forsook the use of Amara's Lightsaber. He didn't need it.

A series of clashes ensued, Melaion once again forced on the back foot, forced to use every little bit he had to defend himself.

Even so, the Sith wasn't a Darth for nothing, and Wayle was still his apprentice, even if he had grown in ways he couldn't have imagined.

With a good understanding of Wayle's techniques, and skilful application of the Force, Melaion held his ground.

Small rocks and the like flew at Wayle, disrupting his attacks, and Tutaminis still served as protection.

In the end, the young Lord lashed out with a ferocious kick, sending the Sith flying with a pained shout and a sickening crack, which was immediately followed up with another bolt of electricity.

Yet Melaion managed to recover and evade it, showing no signs of slowing down in the slightest.

Wayle dashed to the side, evading an explosion of kinetic energy and dismissing an illusion of Melaion coming right at him before blocking the stream of electricity coming from the real one above him.

Using the Force to kick up a cloud of dust while also sending a couple of decent sized rocks at Melaion, Wayle obscured the Sith's vision of him. And in that tiny instance Melaion needed to compensate, four Wayles sprung up from the cloud.

Melaion's eyes darted between the four of them, presumably while he used his other senses to search for the real Wayle. He didn't expect the young Lord to appear behind him, and only through quick thinking did he evade taking a serious blow by letting himself start falling.

As it was, he had a small cut on the back of his shoulder when he stopped himself.

At this point it wouldn't have been odd for Melaion to have become enraged. It was a fairly standard response to the threat of death for Dark Side users. Of course, there was nothing standard about Darth Melaion, no, he looked quite ecstatic, as if him losing was exactly what he wanted.

As if he actually welcomed the threat of death.

A ball of dark energy formed in the Sith's hand, and Wayle responded by doing the same, both of them managing to launch them simultaneously.

With immense power they clashed, stopping each other in the middle, pushing against one another for a few moments, before exploding with devastating force that levelled trees for a good distance around them.

And out of this Wayle came seemingly unharmed, although in reality he had Aura to thank for this, while Melaion came out with his armour damaged and his robes frayed, as well as burns on his hand and breathing heavily.

But there was no change in the Sith's mood.

Both of them started moving as kinetic explosions burst where they once were, occasionally interspersed with bolts of electricity and spheres of energy, as well as the occasional wave of force and every now and then some objects that had the misfortune of being in reach.

In contrast to their earlier lightning speed duel, this was far slower and more deliberate. But even so they remained in the air, partially because they valued the additional directional options, but also because this was a battle of skill and ability.

Well, Melaion probably also appreciated the fact that Wayle couldn't really bring his physical prowess to bear.

This continued for some time, with neither side showing any signs of letting up or tiring.

This ended when Wayle sent forth several streaming arcs of electricity, crossing the distance between the two of them, further than Melaion had anticipated, crashing into him and forcing him to block it with all he had.

This kept up for several moments, and during it, for just the briefest of moments, Melaion's focus wavered and he winced in pain.

When the torrent died down, Melaion's breathing was slightly ragged, although Wayle had also started showing some small signs of tiring.

"I must say Melaion. I never imagined I would one day find myself in this position." Wayle suddenly said.

Melaion chuckled slightly. "And yet I can't say the same. I always knew you had it in you. But still, that strength of yours, is it something you obtained in this world?"

"It is. A power I encountered here. It can do many wondrous things, although I myself cannot do more than the basics."

"But I can also see that you have learned a quite few new things during your time here! You didn't have the ability to use Flight when last I saw you!"

"Indeed. I have met many people, and learned from them, new things, as well as improvements on old ones." The young Lord smiled. "As a matter of fact, I have, during my time here, encountered two illusionists of remarkable ability."

"Oh?" Melaion seemed slightly puzzled for a short few moments, unable to figure out why Wayle brought this up at all.

Then realisation struck him, and his eyes widened.

"Too late." The Sith heard behind before a searing pain shot through his chest.

Looking down, Melaion saw the blade of a Lightsaber piercing him.

Then he suddenly smiled, and broke into laughter.

"Magnificent!" He somehow managed to exclaim.

But as suddenly as this burst of energy came, it left, and soon the laughter died out.

Wayle deactivated the Lightsaber, and Melaion slumped together.

"Truly… I chose… well…" These words were faint, almost imperceptible.

The Sith started falling, but suddenly his last power coalesced within him, and dark unnatural flames sprung up, devouring him from within.

In the end, nothing remained to indicate that Darth Melaion had ever been in Remnant.

Somehow, he had managed to erase it all, even his Lightsaber, crystal and all.

All that was left was the memory in Wayle's mind, and the scars their battle had left upon the surrounding area.

Wayle sighed, in both relief, and mental exhaustion.

He let himself descend to the ground, although he kept vigilance. He might be able to mask his presence, but that didn't work on everyone and everything.

He had defeated his Master…

He pinched himself, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

No, he seemed to be awake.

Melaion showing up had put him under immense stress, and he had long before been struggling with the very question he had found the answer to during this battle.

He scanned the area around him, trying to see if there was anything lying around that Melaion had brought with him, but after searching for a good while he didn't manage to find anything.

Strange.

Did Melaion bring nothing?

If so, why? He can think of a number of possibilities, but…

No matter. He should probably head back.

Blake might get worried if his unexplained absence continues for much longer.

-Break—

"So no one knows where Wayle went?" Blake questioned.

"That is correct. Our Lord seems to have left the town, but he didn't leave any traces." Felis responded.

Blake turned to look at Latune and Ouka.

"We don't know anything either. We can't sense him at the moment." Ouka replied, with Latune nodding in agreement.

Next she turned to look at Phantasm, who for once was quite visible, but the girl shook her head.

Well, if Latune and Ouka didn't know, Phantasm probably didn't either, but the apprentices and Phantasm were connected to him in different ways.

Not that Blake liked considering that part of the whole thing.

Well, she did trust Wayle when he said it was Phantasm's choice, her atonement for her sins. Never to reveal who she really is. To cover up her entire body, and never speak before those who doesn't know already.

Other than that, she supposedly still had her free will…

Honestly, Blake was occasionally tempted to ask her directly about it all, but…

She was kind of scared to do so, and she couldn't just do so anywhere.

Does Phantasm even know that she knows…? It didn't seem that way…

"Lady Belladonna! Lord Tyran has returned!" A soldier suddenly barged in.

Blake sighed softly. She was fine with him disappearing off, if he told her about it first.

She thinks…

"Let's go greet him then. I really want him to explain himself." The raven-haired girl said.

-Break—

"I am sorry to have worried you. I had… personal matters that I needed to deal with…" Wayle said.

Everyone present could tell that something had changed during Wayle's absence.

How they experienced it varied, but they all felt that there was a different… quality, to his presence.

Although Blake, who was the closest to him, was currently taking more note of something else…

"You've been fighting. There's dust on your clothes and they have been damaged… And you are wearing the robes." She said, staring him square in the eye.

Blake was, as a matter of fact, slightly familiar with the simple Sith robes Wayle was currently wearing. She'd seen them a few times, and had learned what they were, and what they meant to him.

"I did not want to involve anyone else… I had to deal with it myself. My final… trial."

Could it have been… something involving his past…? Trial… a test?

"It couldn't have been… someone from your world?" She whispered, softly enough that only Wayle could hear.

And Phantasm… might be close enough? Everyone else was keeping a pretty healthy distance, except for Phantasm.

Well, that wasn't important right now. What was important were the subtle changes in Wayle's expression, which even Blake couldn't readily interpret, but which told her she was right.

And really… she knew the most likely candidate.

"Was it… your Master?" She continued.

"Yes. Do not worry, he is gone now…" Wayle embraced Blake. "He cannot take you from me…"

"Wayle… Let's get you to our room. I can tell you need rest."

He chuckled, perhaps even a bit sheepishly.

-Break—

"You're being followed Qrow."

"Yeah, I noticed. And judging by how hard they are to keep track of, they're probably… Well, it shouldn't be a problem."

"So you know who they are? No wonder you didn't seem particularly bothered by them."

"I'm not telling you anything. Not unless you come back to our side."

"I chose our tribe, over Ozpin's nonsense."

"And by doing so you abandoned your own flesh and blood."

"She'll be fine."

"Will she? She's spent so much time and has taken so many risks searching for you."

"If you won't tell me who those following you are, I'll have to find out some other way."

"Dodging the subject?"

"Goodbye Qrow."

"And she's gone… Hopefully she doesn't cause too much trouble… Well, they're probably nowhere near as strong as him, or that little missy… But… We just don't know what they are capable of."

Qrow stared into the almost empty glass in his hand.

"Dammit Raven, don't make an enemy of that guy. I don't think you could survive it." He then muttered into the empty air, perhaps hoping that his sister would hear it.

Author's notes: Is this really the chapter I am going to upload? Well, yes. Rhetorical question. After all, I already did. Well, alea iacta est. Feedback is always welcome.

I realise that it might have been a bit silly to ask people to guess who Phantasm is. I do honestly believe that someone could have reached the right conclusion, but I'm not really sure what possessed me to think anyone would.

I hope you enjoyed, and that you have a nice day.