AN: The advantages and disadvantages of an active imagination and a muse hyped up on all the coffee in the world is both a blessing and a curse, I tell you. Here I am once again, ladies and gents, with one of the many ideas that wouldn't leave me the hell alone, so here we are! All things considered, this one was really fun to write and here's hoping you all enjoy it! As you might have seen from the description, there are minor Fate series elements within this one, so fair warning here, if you know nothing about the Fate series, back out now and as always, no flames!
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Naruto, RWBY or the Fate series! All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto, Rooster Teeth and Kinoko Nasu respectively.
It was her choice. She had made it willingly, knowing just how the utter bastard she called Father would react. She loved Atlas, she really did, but Weiss Schnee, if she were being honest with herself, felt that deep down she was meant for more than wasting away in her winter wonderland of a home. As expected, Jacques had reacted poorly. Unexpectedly, however, he reacted so poorly that he had her hauled down into the depths of the Schnee Mansion's basement levels where the Sentinels of the family had been taken into storage. The Sentinels; relics and reminders of the power and grace that Nicholas Schnee commanded in his day, reminders to Weiss of the heights of her family's legacy… reminders to Jacques that he would never be able to measure up to such a legacy, no matter who he married or what he did with his company.
Underneath the mansion was an entire hall dedicated to the Sentinels; their new home as it were, as Jacques would never let them see the light of day ever again. Truthfully, he had assumed that the things would sit there, forgotten until some hapless future Schnee family member stumbled upon them by accident, hopefully in a state of ruin, but obviously the fates had something different in mind.
"Jacques." Called out a voice coming from one of the people trailing him. "Jacques, is all of this necessary?"
"Indeed it is, James." Jacques answered briskly. "If Weiss really wants to throw her entire future away as a Huntress, then she'll have to prove to me that she's ready to face reality."
"By fighting one of this family's protectors?" James raised an eyebrow but nonetheless followed the man and his daughter. "What if these Sentinels refuse to fight their own charges?"
"That's why you're here, James." The man broke a barely visible smirk. "That's why I asked for the package."
"So, that's why…" James sighed, stopping himself short. "I don't like this, Jacques, but I'll reserve judgment for now."
Weiss, for her part, was contemplatively silent for the entire walk, mentally preparing herself to fight what could almost assuredly be one bitch of a fight, depending on which Sentinel is called upon. She herself had only heard stories of the Sentinels of her family. They were supposedly living armor; constructs with a pure Dust core powering them. They were, according to what remained of her Grandfather's personal memoirs, his own brainchild and his first attempts at a partnership with the then Kingdom of Mantle in an effort to jumpstart the Kingdom's military after the Great War downsizing and demilitarization. Even his memoirs, however, were frustratingly vague on the exact details of what the Sentinels themselves were, other than living armor combined with a pure Dust core.
After turning a few more corners, the three finally made it to what could only be described as a monstrously huge hall which seemed to be hewn by a peerless stonemason. The floors were polished and left untarnished even by time, the columns lining the walls were likewise polished to the exact same sheen, a red-on-white bordered carpet lined the floor approaching a slightly raised platform at the opposite end of the room where, sure enough, a pure white throne sat with a red velveteen cushion upon its seat, backrest and armrests.
Before anyone even had a chance to remark upon anything, the relatively dim-lit hall suddenly sprang to life as sconces upon the many pillars were alit with blue flames, basking the pure white space in a peaceful yet eerie blue glow until the throne, which was the only remaining unlit thing in the room, joined the light show as a brazier behind it lit with the very same blue flames of the sconces, completing the rather cinematic effect upon this throne room.
"Dust in the sconces?" Jacques raised an eyebrow at the theatrics. "I didn't know there was any left in here to burn."
"Y-You… knew about this place, Father?" Finally Weiss found her voice and spoke up as she stared up at her Father quizzically. "Mother never said anything about… all of this." She gestured to the hall.
"And why would she?" Jacques rolled his eyes at his daughter. "It's as insignificant as you can get, Weiss; this place is more or less an over-glorified storage closet."
"This place holds relics of our family, though…" She took a few cautious steps forward and down a few of the steps until she was standing within the hall proper, leaving her Father and James still standing in the entrance. "The Sentinels…"
With wonder, Weiss stared at the Sentinels themselves, giving each one its fair stare-down before moving onto the next. Between each of the columns on either side of the room stood facing each other eight towering suits of varying armor brandishing equally varying weapons. The first one she had come across seemed to be wearing a suit of full plate armor and its weapon of choice was a greatsword which it held point down with the haft grasped in both hands.
Its companion on the opposite side of the room was a vaguely feminine figure donning a set of half-plate with a long robe draped over it. She had a hood drawn up to obscure most of her features and was holding a book in her right hand which seemed to be in the process of turning itself to a page while her left seemed to be arcing with electricity. To this woman's right, separated by a column, was a man wearing a full set of steel scaled armor and a hood drawn up like his companion and was brandishing twin pistols pointed forward at an unknown enemy.
Likewise on the opposite side of the room, the pistol-wielding suit of armor's companion was another feminine figure wearing plate armor minus the gauntlets, in their places were a pair of arm warmers that went up past her elbows and like her compatriots had a hood drawn up to obscure her face. Her weapon of choice seemed to be a lance of some kind which she held in her right hand propped upon her right shoulder while her left hand was on her hip.
As she walked the length of the hall, Weiss had noticed that there seemed to be four more alcoves for four other pieces of armor but were mysteriously missing. Obviously they had been moved, or possibly even sold, but she had to earthly clue as to why or who they had been sold to and would most likely never know. However, as she approached the throne itself, she was entranced by the fifth and final Sentinel within the hall.
This one had taken a knee before the throne and was hunched over… his own weapon jammed through his chest, through where his heart would have been if he were human. He wore no visible armor, only a hooded cloak which obscured his entire body. What puzzled Weiss the most out of all the mystery surrounding this particular Sentinel was the small puddle of what she assumed to be dried blood pooled underneath the Sentinel, along with the stains upon his hands as they grasped his weapon.
"Weiss." Jacques called to his daughter, his voice echoing throughout the room as he did so. "It's time."
"One moment, Father." Weiss called back as she momentarily took her wary gaze off of the assumedly disgraced Sentinel where her eyes lit upon spying what was laid upon the throne itself.
It was a silver circlet of ornate and rather arcane design which had a large and beautiful sapphire set as its centerpiece, along with nine other slots for varying gemstones of which all but one were missing, which was an emerald. As she ran a careful finger along the gleaming metal of the circlet she had suddenly become aware of a low hum filling the air just before both the sapphire and emerald in the circlet began glowing. Sharply turning to survey the entire hall, she saw one last glowing stone coming from a chain necklace hanging from the disgraced Sentinel's neck, and from what Weiss could tell, it was an orange zircon.
"Worthy…" A deep, raspy voice called out into the hall, almost harmonizing with the low hum.
"What?!" Instinctively Weiss had drawn Myrtenaster and stepped away from the throne to give herself a bit more elbow room.
"Worthy… of the…" The voice continued as at the far end of the room the greatsword-brandishing suit of armor began to creak and moan as its rusted joints slowly began to work the disuse out of the entire frame until it exploded forth, sword still grasped in a two handed hold and swung at Weiss who barely had time to activate her Aura before being batted straight into one of the walls.
"Worthy… of the… CROWN!" Its hollow voice echoed throughout the room, even causing Jacques and James to cover their ears because of the reverb.
Groaning and currently trying to peel herself out of the crater she had formed in the wall, Weiss slouched forward with a groan and noticed a crimson substance dripping from her head and onto the white stone beneath her, realizing all too late that it was her blood and that the Sentinel had shattered her defensive Aura in one blow.
'That's… a LOT of blood.' She idly noted as she finally regained her bearings and hopped down from the hole in the wall in order to face her opponent once again, the cylinder of Myrtenaster spinning until it landed on a vial of red Dust.
"Jacques, she can't beat this thing." James warned. "It broke through her Aura with one swipe of its sword and if the legends I've heard of these Sentinels are true, then we'd need at least…"
"At least three full teams of elite Huntsmen and Huntresses, I know." Jacques finished for the man with a smirk. "What do I care if I lose a daughter here, James? I've already lost Winter and it's about time Whitley took some responsibility within the Company. Besides, this wouldn't be the first accident we both have engineered…"
"Your own daughter, Jacques?!" James sneered as he instinctively went for his pistol. "Are you so wrapped up in family politics that you're willing to let your own blood die?! Just so a better successor is next in line?!"
"You are against the idea? You, of all people?" Jacques side-eyed the General. "How did you get your position? How did I take the company?!"
"Past sins that we both will burn for." Ironwood grit his teeth as he took his hand away from his holster. "And this is one sin that I won't share in; not anymore, Jacques."
Unbeknownst to all parties, the orange zircon that was previously hanging from the kneeling Sentinel had broken free of its bonds in the chaos that was the knight Sentinel's fight with Weiss and was currently, albeit slowly, floating its way up and towards the circlet. Just as Weiss had screamed out in pain once more from another brutal hit that her Aura did next to nothing to absorb, the zircon clicked into place at the sapphire's immediate right.
Just as the knight Sentinel was about to bring its greatsword down upon Weiss for the final blow, a great pressure filled the entire hall, forcing James and Jacques to their knees, followed by a gust of wind that actually threw the Sentinel back first against the wall. Stiff, creaky hands slowly, methodically, reached upwards and grabbed the hilt of the sword that was still embedded into his chest and with a mighty tug, the sword was rent free of its fleshy prison, sending freshly spilt crimson flying in an outwards arc as he stood on stiff and wobbly legs.
As everything settled and the pressure let up, the disgraced Sentinel unclasped his cloak with his free hand and as it fluttered to the floor, he glanced over his right shoulder where piercing blue eyes bore into the helm of the knight Sentinel.
"Saber…" Unlike the now identified Saber, this Sentinel's voice was more human, smoother. "Explain what it is we were awoken for."
"Worthy…" Saber repeated as it pushed itself off of the wall, gesturing to the still downed and bleeding Weiss. "Not worthy of the crown."
The blue eyes narrowed minutely. "Of course she isn't." He lightly huffed. "Nick wears our crown, only he is worthy."
"Master Nicholas… dead… no telling how long…" Saber glanced down at the floor, as if… sad?
"I don't remember this, Saber." At this point, his hair which was previously snow white, was starting to regain color, turning a more blonde shade as the color began to return to his skin as well. "Last thing I remember is…" His blue eyes snapped wide as a memory seemed to return to him. "He… he ordered me to stab myself…"
"Last order for us all…" Saber nodded. "You kill yourself, we deactivate… of no more use to the Schnee family…"
"Untrue." He shook his head as he rolled his shoulders, gaining a chorus of creaks and cracks. "The Schnee family is obviously still around; one touched the crown and woke the both of us up."
"Not Master Nicholas." Saber also shook its head.
"Standing orders from Nick were if anything happened to him, we continue serving and protecting this family." The blonde continued as he sheathed his katana within the sheathe hanging from his left hip. "He must have had a reason for ordering me to stab myself and ordering the rest of us to shut down."
"Ask little one here." Saber followed the blonde's lead and let go of its greatsword, which seemed to disappear into red glitter before it hit the floor.
"One moment…" The blonde held up a placating finger as he took in a breath and sharply exhaled, bringing all of the color back to his skin, eyes and hair, as well as sealing the once gaping chest would. All of his features now seemed normal enough, save for the fact that he had an extra pair of ears atop his crown, fox ears to be precise, as well as three whisker marks upon each cheek… and four fox tails swaying lazily behind him as he stretched the weariness out of his body. "Ahhhh, there we go!" He exclaimed happily as his four fox tails disappeared into golden glitter, much like Saber's sword.
As Weiss stood, clutching at the gash over her left eye, Myrtenaster long abandoned on the ground, she took a step forward and very nearly collapsed once again as a pair of strong arms not been there to catch her.
"Lemme help you with that." She heard someone say as he hand was carefully removed from her left eye. "Ooh." She heard the audible grimace. "Saber, the hell did you do to the girl?" A warm sensation then settled upon her entire brow and she could faintly feel a tingling sensation coming from the gash, as well as the splitting migraine she had disappearing, followed by the feeling of some kind of fabric being wiped across her forehead. "Couldn't do anything about the scar… sorry." He managed a chuckle.
With the migraine now gone along with the pain from the gash, Weiss had opened her eyes and immediately blushed upon seeing a boy around her age, bright cerulean blue eyes staring down at her with but the faintest hint of worry and an equally bright and kind smile that melted the ice surrounding her heart. He was wearing the same clothes as the kneeling Sentinel: A ruined orange suit shirt that was unbuttoned slightly, a black vest that was unbuttoned fully, the tattered remains of an orange tie, black suit pants and black shoes, as well as the shattered chain necklace that Weiss noticed was missing the orange zircon.
"Are you alright, my Lady?" His voice was as smooth as butter and it carried a warmness that Weiss would scarce describe, yet was oddly familiar, like hearing the voice of an old friend for the first time in years.
"I… I think so…" Weiss found her voice, yet was still blushing. "W-Who… are you…?"
"Naruto Uzumaki." With a smirk and a bow, Naruto introduced himself. "Captain of the Sentinels, Brigadier General of the Kingdom of Mantle's army and Deputy Headmaster of Atlas Academy."
"Dear Gods…" James turned nearly sheet white at the mention of the man's name. "I… I remember him, vaguely…"
"Pull yourself together, James!" Jacques admonished the man. "Who the hell is he?!"
"Deputy Headmaster of Atlas?" Weiss cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Brigadier General? Do you know General James Ironwood, by chance?"
"The Lieutenant General?" Naruto's left eyebrow rose. "Of course I do."
"Classified information, Jacques." James said as he turned to leave, intent on calling one man in particular.
"I may know him, but I can't exactly go into detail about it all; not yet at least." Naruto explained before gesturing to the circlet in order to change the subject. "You touched that thing, right?"
"How did you know?" Weiss asked with a furrowed brow.
"I can feel its imprint upon you, miss…?" He trailed off.
"W-Weiss Schnee." It was Weiss's turn to introduce herself. "Granddaughter of the late Nicholas Schnee."
"Granddaughter?" Naruto balked, despite himself. "Gods, how long has it been? I remember Nick as a fresh-faced young man who had just founded the Schnee Dust Company."
"Yet you're my age…?" The Heiress hesitantly pointed out.
"Pfffft." The blonde sputtered into a full laugh. "Hell no. I'm far older than I'd like to admit."
"And your… subordinate…?" Weiss turned to face the still towering suit of armor that was Saber.
"Mordred!" Naruto called up to the suit of armor. "Shrink down and take your armor off already!"
The newly identified Mordred merely nodded and shrank down to a more normal size yet was a whole foot shorter than Naruto, who stood at an even 6'0" to its 5'0" when shrunk. Red glitter then began to surround its form until it was completely obscured. As the seconds ticked by, the red glitter died down to reveal a girl rearing a white and red tube top that bared her midriff, denim short shorts, a pair of black boots and a crimson red leather jacket slung over her shoulder. Her long blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail and she had two bangs framing her face, her eyes were of a green color, she was fair of skin, a lone fang seemed to peek out from under her lips and she was currently scowling.
"This is Nick's granddaughter?" Her emerald eyes flickered between Weiss and her Captain. "Captain, are you serious…?"
"We still have our orders, Mordred." Naruto nodded. "And we all have posts and covers to get back to; it's been Gods know how long, we need to reintegrate ourselves with society, relearn everything we knew about Remnant, get caught up with the times."
"If you're looking for the successor to Nicholas Schnee…" Jacques made his way down the hall and approached the three. "Then look no farther."
"And you are…?" Mordred rolled her eyes at yet another white-haired pretender.
"Jacques Schnee." He introduced himself. "Son-in-law of Nicholas and current CEO of the Schnee Dust Company."
"Son-in-law…" Naruto seemed to nod a few times in acceptance before he hit the man with a hard glare reinforced by Mordred as well. "You are not a Schnee, and thus you do not belong in this hall. Leave."
"I beg your pardon?" Jacques huffed through grit teeth. "This is my mansion, my land, and my property. You have no right or authority to tell me where I do and do not belong. It is you two who don't belong here, quite frankly. I was hoping to come to some sort of arrangement, but if you're going to be this cross with me, I have no use for you."
"I don't think you heard the Captain, fuckface." Mordred stepped up to the man with balled fists. "Take your pompous ass and bleached white hair outta here, fuckin' poser."
"Seriously." Naruto chuckled. "I can smell the bleach from here."
"Might as well take a long swig of that shit while you're at it, save us the trouble of doing you in ourselves." Again, Mordred took another step forward which prompted Jacques to take a stunned step backwards.
With various visions of his imminent death flashing through his head, Jacques beat a hasty retreat out of the hall while also hitting his panic button for security to show up.
"Y-You two…" Weiss stared on in amazement, awestruck. "You two just said to him what I've always wanted to say."
"He's not Nick's successor." Naruto shook his head as he caught the young Schnee's gaze once again. "You touched the circlet and woke us up; only the one true successor of the Schnee name could have done that."
"What about my Mother?" Weiss asked. "Or my Sister? My Brother?"
"I vaguely remember two other women with Schnee features coming into this place at different times and at varying intervals." Mordred piped up. "They both touched the circlet but the urge to test them never came over me. Not until you showed up and touched it."
"Meaning Whitley never found or took an interest in this place…" Weiss sighed. "Typical."
"From this moment on, Weiss." Naruto spoke as he stepped up to the girl and placed a hand atop her crown. "You are the Master of the Sentinels and we are yours to command as you please."
Having been taken completely off guard, Weiss was surprised when a red marking appeared upon the back of her right hand in the shape of a snowflake eerily similar to the Schnee family's sigil before it disappeared once he took his hand off of her head.
"Sorry." He once again chuckled while scratching the back of his head. "I wanted to get that formality out of the way as soon as possible; we have company coming."
"Armor up, Captain?" Mordred asked as she sank into a battle-ready position.
"Not yet." He shook his head as he stuffed his hands into his pants pockets and began walking to the front of the hall. "Something's telling me this encounter's gonna reunite us with a few old friends."
As he walked, he spared his still inactive compatriots sad gazes while silently promising to find their gemstones as soon as possible, as well as finding their other four missing members just before Atlesian soldiers poured into the room, weapons at the ready.
"Naruto Uzumaki." James, now recomposed and finished with his call, marched back into the room with his hands linked behind his back. "It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"
"James." Naruto smiled. "Last time I saw you, you were still green as grass, fresh out of basic." He extended his right hand. "Good to see you again."
"Likewise, sir." James took the offered hand, catching the slight hesitation on Naruto's part upon feeling what his right hand was now made of, even through the glove. "Souvenir from a Grimm." He explained.
"Ouch." Naruto slightly grimaced. "Hopefully the blighter's dead?"
"And then some." The General chuckled. "At ease!" He called out to his solders, who immediately all lowered their weapons. "Never thought you'd be found, have to be honest."
"What's happened, James?" Naruto asked, affixing the man with a glare. "Apparently my Sentinels and I have been gone for a long time; what's happened?"
"For that, it's best we meet with him." James glanced back at Weiss. "Away from the sensitive ears of your new Master and away from this snake pit of a mansion."
"After you." Naruto gestured for the man to lead them out. "Mordred, keep an eye on the Master while I'm gone!"
"Roger that." Mordred grumbled, then seemed to disappear into red glitter before Weiss could say or do anything.
After everything that had happened, and after the adrenaline had worn off, Weiss merely collapsed to her knees, eyes wide and staring at the back of her white hand, one glaring question running through her head.
"What the HELL have I gotten myself into?!"
AN: And done! So, what did you guys think? I know I set up a bunch of things for a bunch of answers here, and all I can say is the answers will come with time, so be patient, kiddies! The mystery of the Sentinels, as well as Naruto's involvement with them will be solved eventually and until that time comes, feel free to theorize!
Now, as is custom with a new story from me, the pairings are high up in the air. Obviously, there's something to be said about Naruto being paired with either Weiss or Winter, but as to not copy Foxes and Snowflakes, I'm currently dubious about them in particular. Mordred's in this one and to those of you who are up to date with the Fate series, opinions of Naruto x Mordred as a possible secondary pairing to the primary? And who should be the primary girl? Yang? Blake? Ruby? Someone I haven't either mentioned or thought of? Suggestions and opinions are, as always, greatly appreciated!
This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!