Chapter 8

Growth

Lucien arrived at the breakfast table last for once, sitting down down with his food he greeted the group, a smile lighting his face up. Almost immediately the members of teams RWBY and JNPR took notice and began exchanging glances with Jaune, the boy simply shrugged his shoulders wearing a smile of his own. Eventually the table grew silent, everyone but Jaune and Lucien wondering what was going on.

"So Jaune, you tell your lady what happened yet?" Lucien asked, finally breaking the expectant silence.

"Nah I decided to wait for you." Jaune replied, trying to sound as cryptic as possible.

"Ah cool, I get that." Lucien replied, not giving anything away.

"Yeah, figured it would be more dramatic with everyone here." The boy said. This back and forth went on for a few minutes more before Pyrrha finally spoke up, tired of being kept in the dark.

"Are you going to tell us or not?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh nothing major. You boy just discovered his semblance. Not that big of a deal." Lucien said dismissively, the grin he wore contradicting his words.

"What?! That's huge! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She shouted, expressing the astonishment the rest of the group felt.

"I wanted the whole group to be here. Couldn't leave anyone in the dark." Jaune answered.

"That's amazing Jaune! So what is it?" Ruby spoke up, her excited bouncing causing the table to shake.

"It's kinda lame actually. Not as impressive as any of yours." Jaune said self deprecatingly.

"Oh shut it kid, it'll be damn near undefeatable when you get good with it." Lucien said, not standing to see his student take the joy of the day away from himself.

"Can you stop messing with us and tell us already?" Pyrrha asked, growing more and more impatient, a trait not normally associated with the calm redhead.

"Jaune here can conjure what seems to be an impenetrable shield. Pretty autonomous too, it followed me around for a solid minute while he had his eyes closed." Lucien explained, the pride he felt for his student evident in his voice.

"That is pretty dang awesome Jaune. Can you show us?" Ruby asked, giddily.

"Eh I'm not really sure how to make it work just yet, it… uh… it kinda just happened?" Jaune explained.

"That's normal, and probably for the better. Using it here would let everyone know what it is. It's better to keep that kind of thing a secret for now. Showing off your strengths isn't very smart." Lucien said.

"Yes I think it's for the better." Pyrrha said. "That's why I try and keep the use of my semblance as minimal as possible."

"And you do it very well too." Lucien said, complimenting the girl.

"This is all very well and good, but how did this all come about?" Weiss inquired, dubious of Lucien's methods.

"I pushed Jaune hard, that's the best way i know to get a semblance to show." Lucien answered.

"So you attacked Jaune in hopes that you wouldn't kill him?" She said scornfully.

"No, wouldn't have gone at it that hard. Just enough to stress him out a bit. He'd already come so far with controlling his aura that I figured it wouldn't take that much more to get his semblance to show it's face." He explained. "Oh and by the way I'd like to apologize to you Weiss, I was a real ass when we met and you didn't deserve that."

"No… That's ok, it was mutual...Uh… I'm sorry too." Weiss stammered, taken aback by his apology.

"No problem." Lucien said, his good mood a welcome surprise to the rest of the group at the table.

"What's got Mr. Doom and Gloom all smiley?" Yang interjected.

"Just in a good mood I guess. I wouldn't get used to it children, soon enough I'm sure I'll be back to eating alone." Lucien said jokingly.

"Sure you will geezer." Yang quipped back.

The good mood Lucien was in followed him all through the day, his good natured smile raising more than one eyebrow. The attention that would have normally pissed him off didn't bother him at all. He just kept on gliding through his day without a care in the world. Taking his meals with JNPR and RWBY greatly enjoying the company and good natured laughter. After he had finished his classes for the day he was heading back to his dorm when he got a call on his scroll.

"Hello this is Lucien." He answered.

"Hello Lucien, this is Professor Goodwitch." The voice on the other end of the line answered.

"Well hello, what can I do for you this evening ma'am." He replied.

"I would like to speak with you, could you stop by my office." Glynda replied.

"Yes I can, I hope this isn't about anything bad?" He joked. "That might ruin the good day I've been having."

"No nothing like that. Just stop by as soon as you can." She answered seriously, quickly dispelling his good mood.

"I'll be there in in just a minute." He replied, his joking tone abandoned him as he closed the line and turned towards the wall. Ghosting through the walls of an empty dorm room and into the cool evening air he flew at record pace towards the clock tower. Phasing through the window behind Glynda's desk he stood there silently, looking at the golden haired woman, waiting for a moment to let his presence be known.

"Hello Professor." He said, finally finding his voice.

Startled, GLynda stood up from her chair and turned around to smack the man who had just scared her. Feeling her hand connect with his jaw a satisfied smirk graced her face. When she pulled her hand back she saw a large red imprint of her hand on the face of Lucien, his eyes wide with surprise.

"I told you long ago that I would smack you for your antics." She said proudly.

"Ha… Hahahaha… Yes you did!" He replied, still laughing at the pleasant memory. "I guess I thought you were bluffing back then."

"So did I." She replied with a giggle, his laughter infecting her.

"So what did you need to speak with me about?" He asked, finally reigning in his laughter.

"I wanted to talk to you about your training with Jaune. Please take a seat." She answered.

"Ok then, what did you want to know about it?" He asked, reclining into a seat across from her.

"I wanted to know why you have continued to train him. Even after the initial gratification of annoying Miss Schnee had undoubtedly worn off." She told him.

"Well that's easy. What I told you earlier was the truth. I find great joy in teaching him. It's as simple as that. It's a good distraction and entertaining to boot." He explained like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Really now? That's it?" She asked, astonished by his simple answer.

"Well it does remind me what it used to be like teaching. Those were some of my better days." He said, not realizing how vague he was actually being.

"You taught? When did you teach?" She asked, disbelieving that the man in front of her was capable of teaching.

"Yeah I taught a few kids along the way. They were just some kids who couldn't afford to attend an academy. Nothing to special, but a few of them had real potential."

"Had potential? What happened to them?" Glynda asked, fearing the answer.

"Nothing good. I made a lot of enemies back in the early days. Trying to do good isn't always taken so well." He said. "A few of those enemies thought going after kids would be a good way of getting to me. Turns out it was just a quick way to die."

"Well… I guess that… I honestly don't have words for it." She said quietly.

"Yeah neither did I." He responded. "Now I do. Atrocious. On all sides of the ordeal. Just atrocious."

"I guess that would sum it up." She said sadly.

"But either way, I enjoy teaching, and Jaune is a good kid. I guess that's why I'm spending so much time helping him train." Lucien said, attempting to lift the mood.

"You seem to be enjoying it, that's for sure." She said with a small smile. "It's been nice seeing you happy again."

"People keep saying that. I don't think you have a very good definition of happy." He joked.

"Maybe it's your definition that's messed up?" She quipped back.

"Hmmm… Maybe it is." He conceded after some thought. "Anything else you needed to talk to me about or did you just wanna keep teasing me about my humanity?"

"As fun as that sounds, I think you should probably be heading off." She said somewhat regretfully.

"Ok then. It was nice talking to you Professor." He said as he stood and stretched.

"Use the door this time… too late." She said as she watched Lucien fade away. After a moment she said to herself quietly. "And call me Glynda."

"Whatever you want." She heard whispered in her ear, looking around she couldn't see Lucien anywhere, not that it meant anything.

Floating back through the evening air lazily, Lucien thought about his behavior lately. A part of him wanted to condemn his jovial behavior that day, but a louder voice said that he should be happy. I don't really deserve to be happy, but I can enjoy this while it lasts can't I?

Gliding into his room he landed in front of his wardrobe and began undressing. After he was out of his day clothes Lucien laid down and soon he was deep in a dreamless sleep. Waking early as he had grown accustomed to over the past month he busied himself with getting ready for his day. He even reviewed some of the material they had been studying in history class. Finally deeming it late enough to get breakfast he began the walk to the dining hall. As he walked down the hall he saw someone he didn't expect to.

"Well good morning Ren." Lucien greeted.

"Hello. How are you?" The quiet boy greeted.

"Pretty good. Heading down to get breakfast?" Lucien asked.

"Yeah, sometimes I just need a break from babysitting." He said jokingly.

"I understand. Sometimes you just need a break from your relationship." The older man said understandingly.

"Nora and I aren't a thing. She's like a sister to me." Ren said, falling back to his immediate response whenever someone assumed he and Nora were a couple.

"Really? Well then someone should tell her that." Lucien joked.

"What? Really?" Ren said confused and surprised by this news.

"Yeah, she is all over you half the time. It's no wonder people assume you are a couple." The older man explained.

"I guess I never noticed that." Ren said. "That's kind of a surprise."

"For you maybe. But it's blatantly obvious to the rest of the world." Lucien chided. "Just don't wait too long."

"What are you talking about?" Ren asked, a slight blush rising to his face.

"Oh… Well I'm sure you'll figure it out. You are a smart kid." Lucien said, as cryptic as he could possibly be in this situation.

Ren just kept walking in befuddled silence, leading the way to the dining hall. Soon enough they had their food and were eating in a comfortable silence. After they had finished they cleaned their trays and returned back to their seats, taking the opportunity to study in relative peace while waiting for their friends. Soon enough the others had arrived and put an end to the peace and quiet.

"Hey Nora, could we talk for a minute?" Ren said during a lull in the conversation.

"Uh… Sure!" The hyperactive girl answered.

"Uh… maybe we could go somewhere less loud?" He asked, standing to lead the way out of the dining hall.

"Ok. lead the way." Nora said as she stood to follow.

A curious silence spread over the table, Jaune being the first to break it.

"Anyone know what that is about?" The blonde boy asked.

"Just wait… In three… two…" Lucien said only to be cut off by a piercing scream coming from outside the hall, followed by exclamations of joy.

"There we go." Lucien finished. "You may want to find a safe place to gag. It's gonna get sickeningly cute in here."

"What are you talking about?" Yang asked, earning nods of agreement from the rest of those seated around the table.

"You all will see soon enough." He replied.

Moments later the partners walked back into the dining hall holding hands and smiling wider than anyone had ever seen them smile before, and for Nora that was quite the achievement. Walking back over to the table and sitting back down, this time next to each other instead of across the table. Not long after they sat back down looks of understanding started to appear on the faces of their friends. Soon enough questions were being flung at the new couple left and right. With a smile Lucien excused himself from the table and left for class and his ritual nap.

As Lucien left the dining hall he got a call. Opening up his scroll he saw that the call was from Ozpin. Contemplating ignoring the call for a moment, he decided that it must be important.

"Hello." He answered.

"Lucien, come to my office immediately we need to talk." Ozpin said in a grievous tone.

"I'll be there in a moment." Lucien respond seriously, hanging up and instantly fading away, taking flight to the top of the clock tower. As soon as he was in the office he brought himself back into reality and landed with a quiet thud.

"What is the problem?" Lucien asked, straight to the point.

"It seems we have a situation that concerns you." Ozpin began. "Early this morning while most of the staff and students were asleep a small team infiltrated the school grounds and abducted a member of our faculty. It seems like they were after someone specific and I believe they are enemies of yours."

"What makes you think that?" Lucien asked.

"They left a message for you. And they took someone they believed could be used as leverage against you." Ozpin answered clinically.

"Who was taken and what did the message say?" Lucien said, fearing the answer.

"They seemed to have taken Glynda while she was sleeping. I normally wouldn't be worried about her, she can deal with criminals easily, but we found an empty syringe in her room, we believe they drugged her." Ozpin told him.

"What did the god damned message say?" Lucien growled.

"It said that you have two days to show yourself or they would do unspeakable things to her, and then they would find another person close to you and do the same. The message was signed by the leader of the Crimson Brotherhood. One of the larger criminal outfits that operates out of Vale." Ozpin replied.

"Yeah I know who those scum are. I wiped them out once or twice. They always seem to grow another head." Lucien said, seething with anger.

"What are you going to do about this?" Ozpin asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm going to cut off their head once and for all. You can do what you want after that, but I think it's time to pull Wrath and Vengeance out of the closet." Lucien replied determined to right this wrong.

"We shall see about the consequences after you return. I expect that you will return my staff member to me in one piece. And remember, I didn't need to tell you this." Ozpin stated.

"Then thank you, but I have work to do." The assassin replied as he began to fade away.

I knew that I would be Morningstar again before too long.