And we are back. I haven't posted a chapter for this story since last year! Hah, yeah, that joke will never go away sadly. Anyhow, this chapter should hopefully be a little shorter. All the climax happened last chapter with Blake's death, so let's take a bit of a breather here… Bah, knowing me, I'm going to write more than I planned.

Beta: CrowSkull

Destiny Fated Black

Chapter 18

Nothing felt like progress before what I did back then… typical… I just kept going with the flow after that…

Marcus felt woozy and dizzy, his eyes felt open but it was difficult to see, a piercing pain in his shoulder spiked and he heard himself groan as a result. Then hands were on him, helping him up to a sitting position. He coughed up excess saliva mixed with blood. But he was alive, in pain, but alive. Next, he heard something call out to him, he recognized the voice of his old partner and relaxed, realizing that he was no longer in danger.

Then the memories flooded. How he got there, diving out of the window all the way at the top of the CCT in Beacon and maneuvering himself through the air so that he could dive into the ocean, only to then be forced to swim miles over countless hours. It was not the movie chase scene he imagined, it was just pure desperation. He just kept swimming toward land, blacking in and out as the exhaustions continued to weigh him down. He passed out the moment he pulled himself onto a rock, where someone picked him up.

He shook his head and let himself lie back down into the surprisingly soft cushions. He won the night… but it didn't feel like he did anything worthwhile. That girl… that stupid, fucking idiot of a girl… she just didn't know when to quit, and she got exactly what she deserved for trying to kill him when he showed mercy for the first time in years. What was she thinking… what was he thinking? Now Ozpin wanted him dead, Qrow even more so, and he could make a willing bet that the General and headmaster of Atlas wanted a piece of him now after he killed a dozen of his men.

It was so exhausting thinking about it… he just wanted to keep sleeping.

"Hey!" A slap to his face had Marcus waking up violently, grabbing the hand that struck him and reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. Roman's green eyes stared back at him with shock and he pulled his hand away. Marcus was almost too strong to lose the grip, but Roman was an ex-huntsman himself. He was more than strong enough to overpower him in his current state. "Calm down man, it's me, Roman." The criminal assured him, even going as far as to kick away his own cane weapon as a way to help calm him down.

"Ro… man." Marcus said slowly, going limp as he remembered that he was now in a safe place. Well, as safe as it can be with Roman and his little pet in the room with him while he was at his weakest. "What happened?"

"What happened?" Roman laughed. "You earned the aggro of just about two whole kingdoms, that's what happened. Now tell me why you thought it was a good idea to kill that girl? Don't tell me she actually got the drop on you…"

Marcus groaned and made himself sit up, then groaned again as he felt the same stinging pain in his shoulder. Shit, his aura was still down. Which meant his body was healing entirely naturally. In other words, too slow. His black eyes opened wider to look around the room he was held up in. It looked like some kind of apartment. He sat on an actual comfortable bed that's sheets were soaked with his sweat and his knives and weapons were being toyed with my Neo. Who sat at a normal looking wooden dining table and waving at him with the usual sly smirk she always wore on her face.

"No," Marcus finally answered his question. "At the start she did, but she made too many mistakes. It ended up costing her life. Stupid girl…"

"Hm," Roman hummed. He didn't care much for the girl that was killed, the stupid cat faunus made his work difficult when she first brought her whole damn team to the docks. Honestly, she should have died there. Would have if he didn't ask Marcus not to kill anyone. One would have thought that she'd stop pushing her luck then, cats only have nine lives after all, and from what he's heard about her over the news being an ex-member of the White Fang, she used up just about seven by the time she even made it to Beacon. "Well, it's been a while since you woke up." He went on, changing the topic.

"How long?" Marcus asked, suddenly worried.

"Three to four days, you had a hole in your shoulder and swam God knows how many miles before Neo found you on the rocky shore. You looked just about dead,"

"I feel it," Marcus agreed. "Who treated me?"

"Er…" Roman nervously pulled at his collar. "Well, you know how far my first aid experience goes, and Neo ain't that good at it either… but I'll just leave it at our mutual friend."

Cinder then, damn. There went the debt that she may have felt like she owed him. Marcus sighed and nodded his head, falling back into the bed he wondered how she did it. It was probably easy for her to demand that she and him were to be left alone for a considerable amount of time. He tried to feel around for any abnormalities around his body, and to his relief, he definitely seemed like he was still human. The Grimm parasite though, he felt it's presence ever still, residing within his body and ready to make shut him down if he got a little too uppity. That left one other possibility that he honestly didn't know if it was good or not. She treated him, warmed up his body and bandaged his wounds. The moment he was conscious again his aura would start regenerating, and he could feel it slowly replenish itself even now. Cinder just wanted him to get better, and fast. Which meant that there was a reason that she went out of her way to spend what must have been hours to treat him for his wounds. Not just out of the kindness of her heart, but because she needed more from him.

He cursed under his breath as he wondered what else he had to do for that damn woman.

"Guess you figured that one out pretty quickly," Roman said as he lit one of his cigars and puffed smoke through his nose. "You should probably rest some more before she finds out that you're awake. I am going to get one of little Em's calls pretty soon checking up on me. They're still in Beacon, but she'll definitely take a trip over here the second she finds out you're awake."

"Where are we?" Marcus interrupted, looking to the criminal through the corner of his eye as he rested.

"Straight to it then, alright. We're in one of my hideouts," Roman spread his arms apart and smirked, showing off his rather dull and simple hideout to his old partner. "It's amazing how a simple name change, some false, personal information, and a wig can do to rent a place out like this. Don't worry, this is going to be the last place anyone would care to look for you."

"Good," Marcus didn't like the thought of how easy it would be for any huntsman to kick down the door and rat them all out, but he was too exhausted to express those thoughts at the moment. If they lasted a few days already, then it could last a few more so that he would recover.

"This going to become normal for us Marcus? This is the second time I have to look after your ass, pretty disappointing for a master assassin, I must say."

"Fuck off."

"Is that any way to say 'thank you'?" Roman pointed to the mute. "And I think you owe her a few words of thanks. If it weren't for her, someone else would have found you down there on those rocks. I can't imagine the trial afterward would have been easy for you."

Neo made a fake puppy-eyed expression when Marcus didn't say anything to either of them after that. Even after their little moment in the cave… Neo dared to think that they were friends! Rude.

"Hey," Roman leaned over his exhausted ex-partner as he rested. "You usually say something else after the 'Fuck off', everything alright in there?"

An odd question to hear among the countless voices of the ones he stole the semblances of in his head constantly cursing him for locking yet another person up in his arsenal. The girl's voice was the loudest of them all, cursing him for ending her life while she was still so young. His voice was, of course, the loudest, and the strongest. He was the owner of his own body and his thoughts usually always clouded over the words of the damned. Though Summer's was strangely absent. She was always the second loudest in his head, always making her presence known since the day she died. He opened his tired eyes open again as the emotions were once again stamped out into null, and looked at Roman.

"I'm fine," He half-lied. "I just need some sleep."

Roman leaned back away and huffed. Yeah, he didn't buy that for a second. The way his old friend said that was very off and unlike the man that he'd gotten to know over the recent months. He reminded him more of… back then, with the way his dead voice spoke to him and the way his eyes looked so exhausted and… sad even. Roman was no psychologist and wasn't too good at figuring out what was wrong with a person at first look, but Marcus was an entirely different story. His life is a completely different story. So he chose not to pry and to leave the man be to his rest. If he needed it, he could feed himself with the dry food that's been in that place for who knows how long.

"C'mon Neo," Roman said as he made his way to the exit. The mute flipped over her chair and appeared by his side, walking behind him and fortunately choosing to leave Marcus' weapons at the table as well. He remembered the moment where he had to take all those blades off his unconscious body. No one needed that many knives and ammo all inside their clothes and in places that didn't seem comfortable whatsoever. "I'll send the text to Cinder so you don't have to, and whatever you do, don't try drawing on his face with a marker like I caught you doing the other day." He scoffed as he flicked away his cigar when Neo raised her two fingers into the air for a scouts honor promise. "I can't promise you he won't be angry once he finds out what you did to one of his knives, and when it happens, I'll take a nice bathroom break."

Neo stuck her tongue out at the criminal and disappeared out of thin air, her semblance taking her someplace else. Roman stopped once she was gone and looked back at the now sleeping Marcus. He pitied the guy, he really did. They were the best of friends not that long ago and even now he was able to tell that the guy was going through some shit. He honestly felt a little bad for him, along with being thankful that he wasn't his enemy for now.

"Rest up buddy, you know as well as I do that we are nowhere near done with Cinders shit." He warned. "And it won't be long 'till you see me again, we both know that."

Marcus listened as the man who used to be his partner leave the room, leaving him completely alone. Only then was he able to relax even in the slightest. If only he knew… no, if he knew that he was supposed to kill him pretty soon, then he'd be dead already. Being so weak as it is.

He willed his aura to regenerate faster as he rested, another trick that he picked up over the years. Once he was satisfied with the minuscule amount of aura he was able to regenerate quickly, he let himself pass out. By the time he woke up, he'd be good enough for whatever Cinder needed from him. That was all he needed now.

Ozpin has been in this position before, and it was one of the few things that was able to make him want to do anything but this. In front of him were the fractured members of Team RWBY, now Team RYS or Rose, after the death of their fourth teammate. Ruby, the young girl he's been keeping an eye on for some time because of the color of her eyes never looked so depressed and defeated in her life. To her right was her elder sister, who shared a very similar expression, and to her left was Weiss Schnee, the heiress who let her hair down for once, but only because she simply didn't have the energy to put it up to come see him when they were all called. It was clear on all of their faces that they have all been crying for some time. The death of Blake Belladonna shook them to their cores and shattered their spirits.

"I am sorry that I didn't call you here for different reasons," Ozpin said carefully, over the shoulders of the girls before him, their family members were all present as well. Qrow Branwen and Taiyang Xiao Long for Yang and Ruby, and Winter Schnee for Weiss. After asking them for permission to continue with his eyes, he went on to explain their situation. "But this meeting needed to happen, the loss of your fourth teammate… I feel for you all, I really do. I understand your feelings, for my entire team met a similar fate." And hundreds to thousands more moreover through the thousands of years that he has lived, he knew more than any other living person what it felt like to lose a loved one. He lost count of the number of families he has had and lost over the years. And each one of them hurt even now. The expression of the three girls before him still, however, made him pity them all. So young… they shouldn't have had to go through this so early on in their lives.

"But I won't pretend to know every little thing you are each going through, to do that would be an insult." At the nod of their heads, he continued. "Due to your team being reduced to three members, and for the concerning mental state and physical states of each and every one of you, I am afraid that I am required to bar you all from taking training missions until you are all cleared. Your grades will be exempt or be given an automatic hundred depending on the professor, but fear not for I know my staff will be lenient."

"However, it goes deeper than that," He took a deep breath and removed his glasses. "You will not be able to enter the Vytal Festival Tournament, for fear of your lives and for what the man who has done this to you may have planned. I am sorry."

Taiyang rubbed his oldest daughter's shoulders and showed his support once the tears slowly started to flow out of her eyes again. Qrow placed a hand on Ruby's shoulders once she began to shake, and Winter hugged her younger sister when she let her head fall into her hands and whimper. Ozpin feared that if their loved ones weren't there, they would have been far more emotional in their reactions.

"I am also sorry that we weren't able to catch that man…" Ozpin went on, feeling long locked away emotions swell up from within his mind. "Marcus Black is a top priority target for all of Vale and Beacon as a whole. If needs be, I will go down and hunt him personally. I know it won't do anything for your fallen comrade, but I promise you all that her death will not be in vain."

"Can we leave now?" Weiss asked through her tears. The heiress to the Schnee Dust company looked nothing like the heiress he has seen on the television from time to time, her eyes were rimmed with red and she was irritable. Completely understandable and with a good reason why. Ozpin nodded his head grimly.

"You may."

Weiss and Yang were the first to stand up and go, but Ruby, to everyone's surprise, stayed behind. Qrow offered to stay with her and did as Yang, Taiyang, Winter, and Weiss all made their way out of the office. Ozpin remained silent as Ruby whispered something to Qrow, and the old huntsman nodded his head and gave them both some space. Knowing that her semblance was stolen and that she has been struggling trying to become a better huntress without the dependency of her semblance. Qrow has kept him up to date on her progress, she has trained to surpass herself and learned how to fight with a different weapon. Crescent Rose was still her priority go to, but following in the footsteps of her uncle, she has began to use a sword as well. It was a sword from a friend apparently, but she was adapting.

Or at least that was what she was doing before the incident at the dance. Now… she never seemed so weak before. It pained him to think it, but was this really was the silver-eyed warrior he has had held such high hopes for so far?

"Is there something that you need, Miss Rose?"

"Yeah…" The girl meekly replied. Even her voice sounded broken. "I-I just need to know something… something that I think you would better than the other person who would…"

"I will help however I can," Ozpin promised.

"Okay…" Ruby fidgeted with her hands and then moved on to play with the hanging strands of her hair. She was nervous and within reason. A quarter of her team has been killed and her semblance was gone. He expected the question to be about her standing as a huntress if she would be allowed to continue. If it had been anyone else, he would have given them mandatory medical recovery leave. It was only her eyes that kept her in Beacon now. Of course, he is going to give her the answer that makes her the happiest, whatever it may be. No other course of action was acceptable with how delicate her situation was.

"It's about Marcus Black…"

Ozpin exhaled air through his nose in the only external sign of surprise that he felt. Out of all the things he expected Ruby to ask him about, right now, his old student was at the very bottom of that list.

"Marcus Black…" He repeated the name calmly, letting his surprise fade away as he made room for rational thought. "What about him?"

"I want you to tell me about him, he used to go here, right?"

"He did…"

"How did the man that I saw in the pictures that dad showed me become the way he is now?" She asked, her voice becoming more and more frantic as she slowly lost her cool. "How could a huntsman do such… evil things!?"

Ozpin wondered the same thing, over his many many years. There have been those he trusted the most, who then turned to darkness. Sometimes because Salem threatened them, others because they see the entire situation as hopeless. He's been betrayed over and over to the point where he expects it. Marcus was a special case, he had a very good reason to stop being a huntsman. Others lose friends and family members and decide that it's time to hang up the sword while others continue the good fight. But him… He was never on his side in the first place.

"Marcus Black was a man of strong virtue and was a hard man to get along with," He began. "Not even his brother was able to know him perfectly, even though they have been around each other for their whole lives. He had considerable skill, more than almost every other person who applied that year. So much so that the team he lead was able to start taking their training missions early." The headmaster closed his eyes as he remembered, knowing very well that Ruby was leaning forward with great interest. "He was good, too good. I ran a background check and his records were clean, I was suspicious so I took a look at them myself. There was nothing suspect… that I could find. I let it go since he was causing no trouble, and a huntsman with his skill would be greatly needed for the world. Eventually, I even grew fond of him as a student… Then the Mountain Glenn incident occurred."

"He lost his brother and one of his teammates, and then he showed his true colors. Not even Qrow's team at the time we're able to get through to him, and he was revealed to be an assassin the entire time. Even going as far as being the one responsible for many assassinations across Vale and Mistral. Miss Rose, if you are asking me if Marcus Black was ever a good man, then the answer I have for you will be hard to hear."

"You don't need to tell me," Ruby shook as she spoke. "I already know enough… I wanted to believe that there is good in everyone, like my mom did, I wanted to believe that maybe, just maybe, there is a way to turn him good again." Ozpin felt a pit of tremendous guilt and sadness as he was reminded of Summer Rose, a woman who once spoke similar words in the defense of her friend. "But… he killed my teammate." Her hands balled into tight fists. "He stole my semblance, he hurt my sister and humiliated Weiss. He's done nothing but hurt people the entire time he's been in Vale. Why hasn't he been stopped yet!?" She suddenly cried, leaping into a stance and slamming her fists onto Ozpin's desk. The headmaster did not flinch, but Qrow called out and reached to her and only stopped when Ozpin waved a hand in his direction.

"Why is he still out there, why did he get away with everything he did?" Ruby screamed at the headmaster. "How was he able to escape you of all people!? Aren't you supposed to be the strongest in Vale? He got away with killing my teammate and now he is in Vale hurting even more people why hasn't he been stopped yet!?"

"Miss Rose," Ozpin's voice was ever calm but held an incredible amount of weight to it. Ruby realized her outburst and backed up from the desk. Her hands shaking and bruised from slamming them into his desk so hard. Because of her aura, the metal desk was dented and cracked. But more than that, his patience was running thin. "I have made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child on this planet. Haven't I told you that before? I must have. But I assure you, that the decisions that I will be making, will not be mistakes." He stood up, his towering height intimidating the younger girl, though that was not his intention. "I made the mistake of hoping that your mother was right, that Marcus Black was redeemable when he is far from any iota of good. No longer, as of today, Marcus Black is registered as not just the most wanted man, but a man wanted for doom. At the moment of his death, you shall be told." He tapped his cane on the ground, as if he was a judge calling for order.

"Now, you have some recovering to do. Take this week off with your team and heal your wounds, however spiritual or physical. You are all aspiring huntresses, and you shall not let this loss hold you down forever. You are dismissed."

"Y-yes, headmaster. Sorry." Ruby said as she bowed her head submissively. Ozpin was lenient enough to let her go without punishing her in any way, she was swirling with emotions after all.

As the girl left, Winter and General Ironwood were making their way back into his office. Qrow followed his niece out, giving a nod of his own approval to the headmaster as he went to make sure his family and friends were okay. James made his way to his desk and even showed his condolences with Qrow for his hurt family members. Quickly, the bad luck charm said his goodbyes and left. Leaving just Ozpin, Winter, and Ironwood together.

"I am so sorry," Ironwood said the moment Qrow left. "I did not place enough security at the CCT, I didn't even realize what was happening until the cameras were back online. If only I was more careful…"

"Do not blame yourself for what is not your fault," Ozpin said as he stood at the windows looking over Vale and Beacon. "We were outsmarted and caught off guard. But never again…"

"Thank you…" Ironwood hesitated. Beside him, Winter nodded her head. "Some time ago, I gave Winter the okay to form a small squad to go hunt down the man, though they nearly succeeded, it sadly did not work. I couldn't help but overhear what you said to the girl earlier…"

"Permission granted," Ozpin said before Ironwood even made to explain himself. "As a member of the Valean council and the headmaster of Beacon, I give you full authority over the security of both Vale and Beacon."

"Ozpin I-" Ironwood clicked his mouth shut. He wanted this from the start, but now that he had it, he didn't feel as proud as he thought he would have. "Thank you… so you already knew then?"

"Nothing goes in or out of this school without my knowing… most of the time." Ozpin added bitterly. "I let you do what you wanted because I thought it was right. Now I know for sure that you are trustworthy enough. So yes, I agree." He turned to face his fellow headmaster. "Call in your Ace Squad, and do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of Vale."

Ironwood sadly nodded his head. Ozpin didn't want to relinquish control, but his hand was forced. Blake Belladonna's death showed that there was something very wrong with his views of what was necessary and what was not.

"Do it," Ironwood said to Winter.

"Yes sir," Winter reached for her scroll and called a number. Ozpin sipped at his mug and turned back around as the scroll rang for no more than three seconds.

"Clover, Operation: White is a go. Bring your squad here ASAP, and commence the hunt."

"Yes, mam." The commander of the Ace Squad replied.

Ozpin continued to look over Vale with a grim expression. Somewhere down there, Marcus was hiding. Not for long, he thought. His schemes would end swiftly and quickly, and now that he has lost every ounce of pity from the old headmaster, he was now deemed an enemy.

It was time to assassinate the assassin.

Marcus adjusted his position as he rolled his injured shoulder. The bandages were still necessary to help stem some of the pain but after another three days of resting and recovering, he was able to take care of himself now. He wasn't full strength despite his aura being recovered, but he was at the 'good enough' he instilled for himself in the past. Exactly what Cinder needed.

His hand lingered around the bullet wound for a moment longer than it should. It would scar, forever reminding him of that murder. Just like all the other scars he has scattered around his body. Every once in a while, there was a few huntsman who were able to really get a good hit on him and give him a run for his money. Some were even better than him, but he'd come out on top nevertheless. Now that he was awake and stronger however, the voices were being much more controlled. Good, now he was able to think clearly.

From the small TV that Neo was so kind as to leave on for him and hide the remote, a news channel told him that there was a public funeral held for the girl he'd killed. All of Beacon gave her the highest honors and despite being dead, she was given her license as a true huntress. He shot the TV before it could tell him any more. She was dead, what point was there to keep fretting about it? It didn't make all that much sense to him.

Someone knocked at his door and he instinctively reached for his pistol to shoot whoever the would-be intruder may be. Only to stop and put it down once Cinder let herself in and smirked at him.

"You look as good as new," the woman greeted him as she locked the door behind her.

"Sure," Marcus replied. She hasn't returned since he got hurt in the first place, but Roman must have passed on the message that he was better. Typical for her to come right when he was starting to actually feel better. His muscles were still extremely sore and his lungs were still recovering from inhaling as much water as he did. He could still taste the salt. But there was no rest for the pursuit of his freedom, he needed to play along with whatever Cinder wanted from him until it was his time to make his move. Until then, he was her pawn.

"You will be traveling soon, so I certainly hope so." Cinder sat down at the table across from him. "Has Roman informed you?"

"He has not."

"Hmph. Very well, I shall do that for him then." Cinder tilted her head and started gauging his future reaction, which was his sign to hide that reaction when it came. "You and him along with Neo will be returning to Mountain Glenn." He didn't react outwardly, even at the mention of the location of his brother's death. "You will be brought along as extra security with some members of the White Fang in order to make sure that everything is just right."

"What task will I be looking over?"

"You'll see."

"Tch," A reaction, Marcus cursed inwardly. Cinder wanted him to go on a mission he didn't know the full details of without being at full strength. It was a test of some kind, it had to be. Because if something really did go wrong, he could only do so much about it by himself. "Why are you sending me on a mission without telling me what that mission entails?" He asked once he accepted that Cinder won their little bout of words.

"For reasons of my own," Cinder admitted so little. "Do not worry, you should not be in any grave danger. Just make sure that the animals do as they are told, and everything will be fine. Don't you trust me?" She reached over and caressed his forearm. Her hand felt hot like a stove. The threat was clear.

"Of course," He lied through his teeth. Cinder smiled.

"Then trust my judgment, and meet up with Roman in two hours. You will be headed there by Bullhead. Do make sure that you are well enough by then."

As if he had control of how fast he healed… He didn't say.

"Fine," Marcus sighed and grabbed his shirt, lifting it over his head and putting it on. "I'll do as you say."

"Good man," Cinder purred and stood up. "I must return to Beacon in the meantime, there was a death in the student body and I am oh so sad about it." She taunted. "I must make sure to console those who have been hurt by the loss, I will remain in contact dear. Do make sure you continue to impress, I may be willing to offer you some rest after this upcoming mission…"

"Sure," Marcus said without any real interest. Any attraction he had for the woman faded once he realized how dangerous and sadistic she really was. To make it worse, she works for the literal embodiment of evil. He wouldn't ever be caught looking at her strangely again.

"So long then, darling." Cinder said as she stood up and left the room, stopping once to take one last look at him before they meet again in what she assumed to be quite some time. Weeks, Marcus immediately presumed. Whatever Roman and the White Fang needed to do in Glenn would take weeks. He nodded back and strapped on the rest of his weapons, his body hurt all over, but he'd get over it with some time. What was most important was that he was being given time alone with Roman, and a chance to finally start that list that Anon gave him some time ago. There was no real-time limit on their agreement, but he didn't want to wait and see if there was one to begin with.

He'd have to make a move in Glenn… Whatever that was going on over there, Roman couldn't make it out of there. An accident would happen, surely.

As he thought of that and looked at his knife, his hand began to shake again just like it did back in the tower. He grit his teeth and threw the knife into one of the cabinets.

He couldn't let his emotions control him anymore. He was trained to kill them, and so he would do just that. Because of those emotions, he almost made a dire mistake in that tower, and because of them he almost let someone live after being given clear instruction to eliminate anyone who spotted him.

He was no huntsman, he was an assassin. She was wrong about him. An assassin he would forever be.

"Alright," His voice didn't sound nearly as determined. "Let's keep going then…"

Wow… I actually followed a plan for once? That's actually… very surprising. Can't believe I actually managed to keep true to a plan and write three simple scenes. Anyway, this was a pretty serious/sad chapter. It sucks to see all this happening, but believe me, everything happens for a reason. Remember that, and what happens in the future of this story will be of little surprise. I may have said this before, but if all goes well and according to plan, this story should end in the thirties… hopefully.

Please review and let me know what you think!

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