Beacon Academy – Rooftop, Late Evening
The stars hung silently over Vale, cold and distant. The wind brushed across the rooftop, carrying the scent of the trees below and the quiet hum of the city in the distance.
Onyx Thorn stood alone by the edge of the rooftop, cloak fluttering behind him. He hadn't said a word since arriving—only followed the message Blake had sent: Meet me. Roof.
Behind him, footsteps.
He didn't turn. He already knew.
"Thanks for coming," Blake said quietly.
Her tone was different. Not cold. Not angry. But… restrained.
"I figured this wasn't a casual invitation," Onyx said, voice steady.
Blake stepped beside him, resting her hands on the railing. Her amber eyes didn't meet his. Instead, they stared out into the distance, as if she were trying to make sense of the chaos the world had become.
Then—
"I knew it was you."
Onyx said nothing.
Blake glanced sideways, her voice a low whisper carried by the wind.
"The moment I saw you fight Pyrrha. When you summoned those Grimm… the Beowolves. The dragon skulls. When the statues twisted into monsters around you."
She looked at him now.
"I knew."
Onyx's expression remained unreadable.
"You were him," she said. "The Ghost."
A flicker crossed his face. But he didn't deny it.
Blake's voice turned bitter.
"You know what they used to say in the White Fang? That you were a demon. A shadow. A cursed child who wore Grimm as skin and broke men in silence. Every time we thought we were safe—every time a job was almost done—you'd show up."
Onyx still said nothing.
Blake stepped closer, her eyes blazing.
"They said you moved like a phantom. Crippled squads. Maimed Faunus. Left them for Atlas patrols. Tied up. Broken. Traumatised."
Her voice cracked.
"You hurt our people, Onyx."
Silence.
Then—
"I did," Onyx said quietly.
Blake stared at him, anger slowly morphing into something heavier.
"…Why?"
She didn't shout it.
She needed to know.
"Why did you do it to them?" she asked. "To us? Those Faunus were lost. Misguided. Fighting for something they believed in. Even if it was wrong, they were still our people."
Onyx closed his eyes.
"Misguided?" he echoed softly.
He turned to her—finally—and his amethyst eyes burned with something cold and buried deep.
"I'm sorry, Blake. But no."
The words hit her like a whip—quiet, but scarring
"Yes, some of them were misguided. Some were desperate. Some didn't know any better."
His gaze darkened.
"But the majority of them?"
He looked back toward the sky.
"They weren't misguided. They were monsters."
Blake opened her mouth—but Onyx raised a hand.
"I was twelve," he said. "It was the first time I encountered the White Fang. I stumbled on a village being raided by a squad. Small place. Nothing of strategic value. Just… people."
His voice hardened.
"They weren't robbing it. They were destroying it. Burning homes. Laughing while they hurt the elders. I saw them throw a crying child into the fire just to prove a point."
Blake's face drained of color.
"There were no Atlas soldiers nearby. No Huntsmen. No one coming."
Onyx clenched his fists.
"So I summoned them."
From the shadows behind him, two glowing amethyst-eyed Beowolves slowly emerged—silent sentinels, more loyal than flesh and bone.
"I fought. I tore them down. And when their leader—the lieutenant—tried to escape, I made him kneel. I didn't kill him. I just… broke his Aura. Let the Grimm handle the rest."
Onyx reached into his coat and pulled something out.
A mask.
Black. Shaped like a Beowolf skull.
Veins of glowing purple etched across its surface.
"I took this from his body. Painted it. Made it mine."
He held it up to the moonlight.
"It was a symbol. Not of vengeance. Not of pride. But a warning. That no matter how deep they went—how confident they became—someone would be watching."
Blake's breath hitched.
"I didn't want to be their nightmare, Blake. But I had Hemera on my back."
He turned, eyes flickering.
"She was barely a year old. And the White Fang didn't care. They would've burned the village with her in it. So yes… I made sure they feared me."
He stepped closer, his voice a whisper now.
"I fed them to the shadows. Because if they were going to act like monsters… I would be the one who hunted monsters."
Blake stared at the mask.
At the boy who'd once hunted her kind with brutal precision.
Not because of hate.
But because no one else would.
"…I used to hate you," she admitted. "Back then, I was still in the White Fang. I saw your work. Heard the stories. I thought you were a traitor. A coward. Worse than the humans we were fighting against."
She swallowed.
"But now…"
She looked away.
"Now I wonder if maybe… we were the cowards. The ones who stood by while innocents burned."
Onyx said nothing.
Blake looked up at him again.
"Do you regret it?"
A long pause.
"No," Onyx said. "Because I saved lives."
Another pause.
"…But I regret that it had to be me."
He placed the mask back inside his coat.
Blake looked at him for a long time.
Then—quietly—she nodded.
And said nothing more.
They stood in silence, the wind whispering between them.
Just two shadows who had once walked different paths.
And walking toward the same light.
Then, softly—
"Come on," Onyx said, turning toward the door. "Let's go inside and get some sleep."
Blake didn't respond. She just followed.
---
Onyx and Hemera's Dorm Room — The Next Morning
The room was peaceful.
Until it wasn't.
"I hereby claim this drawer in the name of Queen Nora!" Nora shouted as she dove headfirst into Onyx's old storage trunk like a hyperactive raccoon.
"Seriously?!" Weiss snapped, horrified. "That's not yours to touch!"
Ren attempted to pull Nora out by the ankles. "Nora, this is Onyx's room. You know… the one filled with deadly secrets and probably ancient curses."
"Oh, relax," she waved him off, still buried up to her waist. "C'mon guys, Onyx won't get mad at us! Right, Ruby? Don't you wanna know your boyfriend's mysterious adventures?"
Ruby turned tomato-red. "Y-Yeah, but not like THIS!"
Blake stood in the corner, silent, arms crossed. Her expression was unreadable—but her amber eyes never left the trunk.
Jaune raised an eyebrow. "I mean, we are curious…"
Nora suddenly gasped. "Oooohh~ what's this?"
She pulled something out—a folded cloth, worn and dark. She unwrapped it quickly, revealing a mask.
The room fell silent.
A matte black Beowolf skull.
Jagged. Sleek.
Painted with glowing purple veins, Grimm-like and pulsing faintly as if it remembered things.
Ruby blinked. "What… is that?"
Jaune's brow furrowed. "Definitely not a standard issue."
Pyrrha stepped forward, wary. "It feels… wrong. Like it's alive."
Yang gave a nervous laugh. "Okay, this is officially weird. Even for Onyx."
And then—Blake froze.
Her eyes locked onto it.
That mask.
The one from the rooftop. The one Onyx had shown her beneath the stars.
She knew exactly what it was.
Her heart skipped.
They found it.
No… Nora found it.
But she said nothing.
She swallowed her reaction, folded her arms tighter, and remained silent.
Then—
"Hey!"
The door creaked open as Hemera skipped into the room, in an oversized sweater trailing past her hands.
"That's Papa's old mask!" she said brightly.
Everyone turned at once.
Ruby blinked. "Wait… Onyx wore this?"
Hemera nodded with a big grin. "Yup! He got it after beating a White Fang lieutenant and his whole squad that were attacking a village!"
The silence in the room stretched.
"What?" Weiss asked.
Hemera continued proudly. "He was only twelve. I think I was, like, one at the time? Papa used his speed, changing weapons, teleporting through shadows, and his Amethyst Eyes. He fought the lieutenant himself using his dragon blasters while his Grimm overwhelmed the others."
Yang's eyes widened. "He… fought an entire squad? At twelve?"
"Sometimes when Papa wore that," Hemera added brightly, "he'd leave me with Wuffles or in Shadow Phantom after he finished building her. But before that? I was always on his back—everywhere he went."
Pyrrha looked horrified. "He carried you… into battle?"
Ren's voice was quiet. "That's why he fought like that. He wasn't just fighting for himself."
Ruby stared at the mask. "That's… a lot to take in."
"A whole squad," Jaune murmured, stunned. "And a lieutenant."
Weiss covered her mouth. "That's beyond prodigy. That's—"
Then—
The door clicked.
And the temperature dropped.
"I see you're all having fun."
Everyone froze.
Standing in the doorway, shadows brushing his heels and a lunchbox in hand, was Onyx Thorn.
No smile. No anger.
Just… watching.
Holding Hemera's lunchbox.
"Uh…" Nora carefully sets the mask down like it might explode. "Hi?"
Onyx stepped in. "So. You found it."
Silence.
Ruby hesitated, then asked, "You… kept it all this time?"
Onyx nodded, picking up the mask. "It's a reminder."
Jaune swallowed. "That was your first time stopping a raid, wasn't it?"
Onyx didn't look up. "Yes."
Weiss spoke softly, still shaken. "You did all that… with Hemera on your back."
"I didn't have a choice," he said. "She was all I had. And they were hurting people."
The others were stunned.
Then Onyx turned his gaze toward them—slowly. Cold. Tired.
He took in a long, deliberate breath. The kind that wasn't just to steady his voice… but to hold back everything that still lived behind his eyes.
"Since Hemera told you how it started," he said quietly, "I'll tell you the rest."
Confused glances rippled through the room
Jaune blinked. "The rest…?"
Weiss frowned. "There's more?"
Blake said nothing.
Because she already knew what was coming.
Onyx's fingers brushed the folded mask in his hand like it was a trigger.
"After I stopped that White Fang squad, I didn't walk away," he said. "I started hunting down every cell I could find. One by one. Camp by camp. Base by base. Operation after Operation."
He stepped forward into the room. Shadows trailed behind his boots like they remembered the blood he walked through.
His amethyst eyes flicked upward—dull with memory.
"I spent four years," he continued, "tearing apart White Fang operations. Not because someone ordered me to. Not for fame. But because no one else was doing it."
His voice dropped—like stone sinking through water.
"I crippled them. Dismembered them. Left them in piles for Atlas patrols to find, to arrest. Bound and Broken. Not because I wanted to—but because it was the only way to stop them fast enough."
Pyrrha flinched like the words hit her physically, color draining from her face.
"Oh my gods…"
Ren didn't move, but his jaw tightened.
Yang's fists clenched at her sides, but she said nothing—eyes wide, breath shallow.
Jaune took a small step back. "You… hunted them?"
Onyx didn't nod. Didn't blink. Just stared at the floor like he was watching blood dry.
"Raids. Ambushes. Recruitment Rallies . Propaganda dens. They were spreading like poison. I tracked them. Fought them. Killed when I had to. Broke them when I didn't."
"You did that… alone?" Weiss asked, voice trembling.
"I was all they had," Onyx replied, barely above a whisper. "Hemera was on my back. People were dying. Villages were burning. The White Fang called themselves freedom fighters… but they were just monsters wearing masks."
Ruby's voice cracked. "You were just a kid…"
"No," Onyx said, looking up, eyes glowing faintly. "I was Hemera's shield. And the world didn't care about my age—so I stopped caring too."
Onyx looked down at the mask once more.
"I had to."
He raised his eyes again. No hate. No pride. Just exhaustion.
"I didn't want to be their monster. But the world needed one. So I became it."
Weiss swallowed hard. "How many?"
Onyx didn't answer right away. Just looked down at the mask again.
"Enough to make me a myth," he said finally. "Enough that they gave me a name."
He looked at Blake.
"The Ghost."
And for a heartbeat—no one breathed.
Ruby took a slow step forward, eyes flicking from the mask… to Blake.
"Blake," she asked quietly, "did you know?"
The room stilled again—everyone suddenly remembering where Blake had come from… and who she used to be.
Blake didn't flinch.
"I already knew he was the Ghost," she said calmly. "Ever since his demonstration with Pyrrha. The way he summoned the Grimm. The dragon skulls. The statues—it all lined up with the stories."
She looked at Onyx.
"We talked last night."
Yang's jaw dropped. "You knew and didn't say anything?"
Blake's gaze dropped to the floor. "Because I understand now, why he did it. And… I'm not proud of who we used to be."
There was a long, heavy pause.
Then Onyx gently placed the mask back into the cloth, folded it shut, and gave it to hemera.
"I became their nightmare," he said. "Because I had to."
He looked at them all. Grim. Calm. Honest.
"I don't regret what I did. I only regret that someone like me needed to exist in the first place."
The room was still.
The silence wasn't just awkward—it was weighted. Thick with truths spoken and unspoken.
Onyx's eyes dropped to the mask one in Hemera's hands for last time before he looked up.
Specifically—at Ruby.
His voice, always calm, was quieter now. A ripple beneath still water.
"…I understand," Onyx said. "If you want to end things. After hearing all of that."
Ruby blinked.
"I get it if none of you want to be friends with me anymore," he continued, gaze drifting to Team RWBY and Team JNPR. "You didn't sign up to share dorms with a ghost who used to maim people in the dark."
Shock rippled through the room.
"No," Ruby whispered. "No, I didn't—"
But Onyx held up a hand, silencing her with nothing but a soft look.
"I wouldn't blame you," he said gently. "You all have people. Each other. I've always just had Hemera… and Qrow."
Weiss's breath caught.
Jaune looked between him and Hemera, stunned.
Even Blake's eyes widened a fraction. She hadn't expected this.
But it was Hemera who moved first.
She stepped in front of her Papa, her tiny hands holding the folded cloth that wrapped his old mask.
Her silver eyes shimmered—not with tears, but quiet understanding.
"I get it too," she said, looking at Ruby. "It's okay if you don't wanna be with Papa anymore."
The room froze.
Hemera hugged the mask to her chest.
"…It was nice," she said quietly, "to call you Mama for a while."
She tried to smile.
"Even if it was pretend… it still meant everything."
Ruby's heart cracked at the edges.
She looked at Hemera—at her trembling smile, the way she stood in front of Onyx like she was trying to shoulder some of the weight herself, even though her arms were far too small.
Then she looked at Onyx—standing so still, so composed—but she saw it now.
Not loneliness. Not exactly.
It was recognition.
He knew what he was. What he'd become. And he wasn't begging to be accepted.
He just wanted her to have a choice.
Ruby's fists clenched.
And then—
"No," she said.
Everyone looked at her.
"I'm not ending anything," Ruby said louder, firmer. "Because that would be hypocritical."
Weiss blinked. "Wait—what?"
Ruby stepped forward, putting herself between Onyx, Hemera, and the rest of the room like a shield.
"We accepted Blake—even after we learned she was in the White Fang. We accepted Jaune—even after we found out he faked his transcripts."
Blake's eyes widened, and Jaune sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
Ruby then knelt in front of Hemera and took her hands gently.
"I meant it when I said you could call me Mama," she said softly. "And I'm not going back on that now."
Hemera's eyes welled up.
Ruby turned to Onyx, standing tall again, gaze steady.
"And you? You did what you had to do. Not for power. Not for glory. But for her." She looked down at Hemera. "You protected people. That's what being a Huntsman is all about."
Yang stepped forward and slung an arm around Onyx. "Please. You're my baby sister's boyfriend, Qrow's only success story, our badass professor, and the guy who regularly kicks the crap outta Pyrrha. You think that's gonna make us ditch you?"
Pyrrha smiled. "I agree. Because of you, they stopped seeing me as just 'the Invincible Girl.' You didn't treat me like a title… you treated me like a person. And thanks to that—so did everyone else."
Nora gave a thumbs-up. "Plus, anyone who builds a Grimm-themed death motorcycle and names a Beowolf Wuffles? Certified legend."
Ren nodded solemnly. "Your past was violent. But your intent… was noble."
Weiss crossed her arms. "I'm not exactly thrilled you fought wars as a kid… but you were a kid. And you saved people. Including Hemera. So… fine. You're one of us."
Even Blake, who had said nothing for a while, finally let out a long breath and smiled.
Jaune stepped up last.
He looked at Onyx with a raised brow. "Y'know… I still think you're insane, but—if Ruby can forgive me for my lies, I sure as heck can accept what you did."
Onyx stood silent.
Then—slowly—his expression broke.
A smile. Small. Quiet. Grateful.
"…Thank you," he said.
Then he turned to Jaune, amusement flickering.
"Oh, and speaking of transcripts—those are only for the initiation," Onyx said with a faint smirk. "If you pass that, you're officially part of the academy."
Jaune blinked.
Waited.
"…Wait, what?"
Onyx nodded. "I've read every page of the Beacon regulations. You passed the entrance trial. That's all that matters."
Jaune's jaw dropped.
"So Cardin blackmailing me… was for nothing!?"
"Completely," Onyx confirmed. "The school wouldn't expel you unless you failed your academics or field work after."
Jaune dropped to his knees. "I could've saved myself so much anxiety!"
Everyone burst out laughing—even Weiss.
Nora grinned. "Told ya you were legit!"
Ruby giggled, grabbing Onyx's hand and intertwining her fingers with his. "Guess we're all misfits in some way, huh?"
Hemera hugged her legs. "I'm glad I still have a Mama."
Onyx looked around the room—at all the faces, all the trust. At Ruby. At Hemera.
And for the first time in a long time…
He didn't feel like a ghost.
He felt like he belonged.