Weiss stepped briskly along the corridor, high heels clacking against the marble in sharp staccato. There were a few servants going about their business, whom she ignored - if she didn't stop to talk to them, they wouldn't ask where she was going. Not that they talked a great deal anyway - the Schnee Manor staff had always been circumspect around their employers. Yet another consequence of her father's reformation of the company.
Weiss turned a corner, entering a part of the manor where servants seldom came. The light dimmed as she left the towering windows of the outer walls and entered the illumination of the interior lights. The great doors of the inner hall loomed before her. Though she had been coming here regularly since her return to Atlas, the sight of those doors still caused anxiety. In a way, that anxiety was what spurred her practice.
Ironic, she thought to herself, using the past to escape the past.
She braced against the doors and heaved. The doors inched their way inwards, a thin blade of light dividing the darkened hall. Once they'd parted enough to admit her slim frame, Weiss squeezed through. She found the switch that activated the lights and activated them. Dust lamps fizzed into life, casting the room in a cool, ice-blue light. Pushing the doors ponderously closed again, Weiss strode to the centre of the room.
Myrtenaster was unsheathed and in Weiss' hand as she came to a stop. She brandished the rapier before her and called up a glyph. The fractal patterns of the snowflake-like sigil rotated through each other, pulsing with power. With what had now become practicsed discipline, Weiss began to summon.
"Think to your fallen foes."
Weiss stood as the knight crashed to the ground. Warm, wet blood blinded her left eye, and the adrenaline was beginning to lose its battle with the pain. She bit back the urge to cry. Never had a victory been so empty, so pointless. She'd called her father's bluff and all it would earn her was enmity.
"The ones who forced you to push past who you were..."
Weiss shifted her feet. The White Fang lieutenant hefted his chainblade and prepared to fight. She'd often wondered what emotion would drive her when she inevitably faced a Faunus hell-bent on killing her. Hatred? Anger? Fear? Retribution? She hadn't expected her motivation to be protecting her Faunus team-mate from her erstwhile allies. If father could see me now... she thought as she braced for the first strike.
"...and become who you are now."
Coco cried in alarm as the Atlesian Paladin sent Velvet flying. A hail of small-arms fire from the assembled students peppered its armor, barely affecting it as it prepared to finish its target off. Weiss suddenly snapped out of her reverie, a surge of rage propelling her forward. This was not how it would end. She wouldn't stand by helplessly as yet another person was crushed by her country's subverted hardware. The fact that it was Velvet was just further salt in the wound. She'd promised herself that she'd put a stop to the damage her father had done. This was enough. This stopped here. This. Stopped. Here.
Weiss stepped back as the summoning glyph reached its zenith. A towering figure rose from the floor, leaning on its mighty sword as it pulled itself to full height. Weiss snapped Myrtenaster up in front of her nose. The Knight responded in kind, holding its broadsword up with both hands and bowing its head.
Ready, Weiss commaned. The Knight brought its gauntleted fists back and held the sword ready to swing. Weiss brought her own sword up to her shoulder, holding the blade horizontal.
Parry. The Knight brought its sword forward in a block, mirroring Weiss' own move.
Cross-slash. Riposte. Reverse. Pommel Strike. Weiss walked through the weapon drill, testing how well the Knight obeyed her commands. It had steadily become better, faster, more accurate - Weiss swore it had actually anticipated her commands on occasion - and she was confident that the next time she fought in the field, it would prove a reliable ally.
"At ease," Weiss said aloud, lowering her sword. The Knight sat down with a muffled rumble of shifting plate mail. One hand rested on its knee while the other placed the sword down and splayed out to support the Knight's weight. Weiss smiled in amusement. As its responsiveness had improved, the ghost had developed something of a personality. It was completely silent, incapable of emoting, but Weiss fancied that it had a stoically friendly personality.
"Doing alright there?" she asked jokingly as she also sat down on the floor. The Knight replied with a thumbs-up.
Four seconds later, Weiss almost toppled over in shock.
"Wait - you can understand me? You're not just following my commands? How long have you been able to do that?" The Knight shrugged. Weiss was gobsmacked. Was this usual? Did summoned entities gain their own personalities? She'd have to ask Winter the next time she was home.
"I don't... where do I even start?" Do you remember things between summonings?"
Nod.
"How far back do your memories go?"
The helmet turned away and cast its visor down. Weiss didn't understand at first. Then a sadness crept into her face.
"...you remember our fight, don't you?"
Nod.
Weiss was still for a long time. Then, without warning, she stood up & stormed off.
"It's not fair!" she shouted as the Knight got to its feet and followed. "He ruins everything! Every time I do something for myself, he sabotages it somehow! I go to Beacon, he makes me choose between Beacon and him. I defend Vale, he comes to take me away. And now you! You were my chance to break away, to start fresh. That's how I've always seen you; proof that I was ready to leave the past behind. And now I find out I'll always have to carry a piece of that past with me! It's not fair!"
Weiss punched the wall, screaming in anger. Defeated, she slumped to her knees. She should have known better. She should have realized that coming back here was a mistake. She'd spent years trying to escape her father's shadow, only to wind up right back under it.
Weiss was so absorbed in her despair that she didn't notice the Knight kneel down behind her. She started as a vast, glowing white gauntlet rested on her shoulder with a feather touch she wouldn't have thought possible. The Knight put its other hand on its breast and bowed deeply. Even without words, Weiss found she understood the meaning. I am yours, not his. Weiss dried her eyes & rested a hand on top of the Knight's wrist.
"Why can't he just accept me?" Weiss asked quietly. "Why am I never good enough for him?" In response, the Knight held out its arms. Weiss let herself be cardled in the giant hands, and the Knight lifted her to its breastplate. Almost without thinking, she wrapped her arms around its neck, letting out a sigh. The Knight looked down at Weiss, and she looked back into the featureless blackness behind its visor. Still it did not speak and still she understood. Whenever you need me, I will be there. You are my Lady, and I am your Knight. You have nothing to prove with me.
The Knight knelt down as the essence of the summon began to fade. Weiss alighted from its embrace and turned to look up at it. The helm dissolved into motes of light as the Knight lifted a finger and gently wiped away a tear on Weiss' cheek. The last of the Knight's body faded away, leaving only a rising swirl of light particles. Weiss smiled.
"Thank you."