Hotel Schnee

by crazyringo

The Schnee Family represents perfection, ambition, and most of all order in their everyday life. At least, that's what Weiss previously thought until she took her first official step into her family's business. It looks fine from the outside, but pretty soon the heiress finds out that appearances can be deceiving... First AU story.

2. This Job is Easy, Right?

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any of its characters. They rightfully belong to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth!

A/N: Guess who's back? I AM! And I am ready to unleash this brand new chapter! First of all, I will like to thank Blood Rose Knight, BetterTitles, KHARAKI TAKAN, and a guest reviewer for kindly leaving me a comment.

I was certainly surprised by the amount of praise and encouragement I received for this particular project, and that also counts for faves and follows too! Thank you so very much! But, that's enough about me, I will leave the rest of my rant/notes for the end of this chapter. I hope you guys and gals enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D

---

Chapter 2: This Job's Easy, Right?

When Weiss awoke, the first thing she noticed was a sharp pain in her back. She forced her eyes open, but quickly shut them again when they were met with the bright sunlight entering the room because of the open windows. The heiress groaned, sitting up on her desk chair as she stretched her back muscles.

Honestly, who's bright idea was it that she pulled an all night-er? Oh yeah, her. The young Schnee sighed as she closed her prep test manuals. She had stayed at this place for the last two days and so far Weiss had to admit that it wasn't so bad. Her new "siblings" not-withstanding, everyone else in this place are rather...interesting. Though, in actuality, some of the employees are shadier than others.

Emerald – For starters, she's a total fake. Nuff said. This girl needs an attitude adjustment, and for the life of me, I really can't wrap my head around why Emerald got hired in the first place. Sometimes I wonder if father even knows about Emerald's 'masks'...

Mercury – This guy must be the biggest slacker I have ever met. A bit of a smart ass too, and apparently he likes being yelled at. In fact, Mercury makes it a contest of sorts just to see how many "hairballs" father might cough up by days end. And, I am willing to bet that father's lectures enter one ear only to come out the other...

Adam – Red as the color that agitates him, or so I think, unless I've been lied to about this fact... Adam Taurus is by far the biggest mystery for me. Unlike the rest of the employees in this establishment, this apparent swordsman is a man of few words. Easy for his temper to flare, similar to Tyrian in that aspect, though personally I feel that Adam is much more tamed in that department. Oh, Dust! That was insulting, wasn't it? In Faunus terms? *Sigh* Good thing that this is all in my head... Please don't tell him I used the word "tamed" in that sentence...!

Tyrian – Considering my near death experience on my first day here... I would normally say to steer clear from this guy, but once he actually found out who I was and who's family I was related to everything felt as if someone had pressed a reset button. If that did indeed happen, then it actually worked cause the first version of Tyrian Callows was not the same as the second version I was introduced to. Let's just say: I don't ever want to be on the other end of his stinger...ever...

Cinder – I have met some people that tend to be absorbed into whatever they dedicate themselves to, but Cinder Fall might just take the first place trophy for this category. Mistaking me, of all people, from a pile of dirty sheets. Picking me up as if I weighed practically nothing... Either I need to start a new diet plan soon to try and gain some weight or I probably need to be feared at the strength department whenever Cinder is involved...

Junior – If there was something I would use to describe Junior Xiong, then I guess I would describe him to be a big teddy bear. Silly, I know. Serviceable. And honestly, I don't really have anything to complain about him... The man looked shady upon first glance, sure, but that's actually it. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary that would practically scream out "criminal" to my eyes...

The Malachite Twins – Or, as I kindly like to refer to them as: White Russian and Bloody Mary. These two clearly aren't Siamese Twins, but if by the off chance they were, I would say they'd be joined at the hip. Literally. It's rare to see the girls apart and unlike most twins I have met during my twenty one years of life... Miltia and Melanie are certainly an odd pair. They just seem bored with the world around them. I wonder if they even experienced an exciting outing, let alone having actually smiled for once in their lives. Though, my family and I certainly aren't one to talk in that aspect...

Neo – As in, Neapolitan Ice Cream? If so, then who in the name of Remnant would name their child after a traditional dessert? I would think that Roman Torchwick would be responsible for that one. Admittedly, the young girl didn't seem criminally involved, at first glance anyway... If anything, I'd say that this Neapolitan is a shy, possibly mute, adorable girl. Come to think of it, I don't recall the girl saying a word to me since my arrival at this hotel. Roman did mention that his daughter was a bit timid, but even so it's been two days since I've arrived here and I have yet to hear a simple hello from her... Maybe, Neo really is mute after all?

Roman – I don't even know where to start... First of all, what kind of man even wears eyeliner? The man looks like one of those pretty-boy types you'd see in anime/manga, heck, I'd totally believe it if Roman told me he used to be a part of some boy band group! Though, in hindsight, something tells me that Torchwick would shoot that thought down. He'd probably badmouth me for even thinking of it in the first place. Secondly, Roman doesn't seem like a bad guy. He'll certainly won't put up with anyone's shit, please pardon my choice of words, but other than that he seems like a hardworking individual...

Honestly, I don't know what father sees in these people... The heiress thought to herself, leaning her head against her folded arms. She suppose she shouldn't mope about it forever.

Weiss rose up from her seat and looked around her surroundings. The room was oddly quiet. Of course Emerald, Mercury, and even Whitley are probably working right now. Though, on Mercury's case, she highly doubts that he's doing any actual work...

"Well, I guess I should get ready for the day." The young Schnee headed towards the adjacent bathroom. "Torchwick wouldn't like it if I'm late for breakfast."

---

When the heiress made it to the kitchen/staff room, Weiss wasn't too surprised to find it empty with the exception of Roman, who was currently on break. The redhead sat back on a dining chair while reading the newspaper, enjoying a smoke from his cigar.

"Good morning, Roman." The young Schnee said in greeting.

The head chef looked up at her. "Good morning to you too, Schnee. Did you sleep well?" He chuckled a bit. "Oh, silly me! That's probably a stupid question 'cause I imagine that you slept like a baby."

He's certainly not wrong about that, not counting the slight ache I'm experiencing on my back... Weiss blushed in embarrassment. "Y-Yeah. I'm sorry, I'm late. I got so caught up with-"

"No need to worry. Your father told me that you've been studying for your tests today, and so I wrapped up your breakfast in the fridge. You just need to heat it up." Roman reassured her.

"T-Thank you so much..."

"Don't worry about it, Schnee. I may be snarky with most of our guests as well as some of our employees here, but I do know when to act courteous." The redhead then put out his cigar on an ash tray. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to work."

"Roman, you don't have to be so formal with me." The heiress told him, taking her meal out of the fridge before proceeding to put it in the microwave. "You can call me Weiss." She reassured him, giving him permission.

"But I call everyone in your family Schnee, Schnee." Torchwick responded with a grin at noticing Weiss' eyes roll in annoyance. "Seriously though, ever since I started working here I've been referring to your father and your siblings as Schnee and I will always continue to do so." He then added. "By the way, the 'Schnee' doesn't count for Emerald and Mercury. I have standards."

I do not blame you in the slightest on that one. Weiss thought in understanding, smiling a bit as she finally sat down with her breakfast, which was an omelet. "If you insist..."

"I do." Roman bowed his head in respect before leaving the premises.

I guess this Roman Torchwick isn't such a bad guy after all. The young Schnee conceded as she began to eat, a hum escaping from her lips soon afterwards. The taste of bacon, ham, cheese, and obviously egg was delectable, warm, and gooey! He's a pretty good cook too! Delicious!

After finishing her breakfast, Klein kindly volunteered to be her driver for the day. A drive through downtown Mantle, Weiss managed to attend her ABC as well as her Lifeguard classes. Her ABC license was the easiest to get. The heiress only needed to pay attention to details from her instructors, take an open book test to see if she was paying attention, and then BAM! Licensed received.

The Lifeguard license however she needed to be extra attentive for this class. Not only that, this test in particular took most of the day to complete. After all, someone's life does hang in the balance on a almost daily basis. The young Schnee definitely needed to study up on this one since by the end of the class she had to take a test as well as perform the correct steps for CPR. Weiss is still wondering if performing CPR on a dummy counts as a technical first kiss or overall if that doll thing is even sanitary to begin with... I mean, there's more than one person taking the same test as her after all.

As soon as she was done with that, Weiss and the other students took a swimming test. A Lifeguard trainee needed to qualify on four categories: Age, most places accept Lifeguards at the minimum of fifteen years old. Swimming, a trainee must be able to swim 300 yards or 12 laps. Treading through water, a trainee must also be able to tread water for two minutes without using their arms. And lastly, how much time the Lifeguard-in-training will have to complete a timed event. The time event must be completed in or under one minute and forty seconds.

Now, all the young Schnee needed to do was wait for her results.

---

When she and Klein arrived back to the hotel, Weiss was absolutely exhausted by days end. She didn't even say hi to her brothers either, who were chatting among themselves, when she entered the room she shares with her siblings. Instead the heiress collapsed on her bunk bed, covering her eyes with her forearm in an attempt to block out the light in the room. Sleep unfortunately didn't claim her as Whitley demanded her attention...

"Hey, you're back!" The youngest Schnee spoke, excitedly as he sat on his sister's bedside. "How did your tests go?"

"My brain is fried and my muscles are burning with exhaustion..." The heiress mumbled out in response, still not moving from her position.

Mercury looked confused. "So, does that mean you failed or-"

At hearing this, Weiss sat upright on her bed, giving the porter the most fearsome glare she could muster. How dare he say such a thing?! "A Schnee NEVER fails a test!"

"You could..." The blue haired boy mumbled out, but not quietly enough it seems since the eldest Schnee was still glaring daggers at him. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry! You didn't have to blow a gasket about it."

"Dude, I know you didn't mean any harm, but that's a joke we don't take lightly in this family." Whitley told him, knowing the full extent of the Schnee Family History. "We're perfectionists for a reason..."

Mercury merely shrugged his shoulders, laying back on his bed. "Well, excuse~ me..."

Having calmed down somewhat, Weiss looked around the room for a moment. Was it just her or was someone else missing? "Where's Emerald?" She asked them.

"Her shift isn't over yet, but it will be soon." The youngest Schnee reassured her, and then he grinned. "In the meantime, we can get started on other matters!"

For some reason, I don't like where this is going. The eldest Schnee thought worriedly, almost fearing for her life.

"Whitley and I have been talking..." Mercury started off.

"Knowing you two, it's something involving mischief no doubt." Weiss guessed.

Whitley laid a hand on his chest, clearly touched by his sister's intuition. "Oh! You know us so well, dear sister, and it's only been two days!"

"Two very interesting days. So, what do you boys have in mind?" The heiress asked them, ultimately deciding to humor them a bit. Nothing could possibly go wrong, could it?

"Nothing much. Little bro and I just wanted to welcome you to 'The Best Room'." Mercury answered, which made Weiss look at him in bewilderment.

"'The Best Room'?" The eldest Schnee repeated with a bit of skepticism.

The youngest Schnee nervously cleared his throat. "It's better that it sounds. I promise."

"Okay..." Weiss spoke out, slowly. "Though honestly, I don't see how this room is considered 'The Best' since most of its inhabitants are a bit...rowdy." She finished for a lack of better words.

"Hey now! I admit, we may not be the best bunch here but we at least KNOW how to have fun!" Whitley defended himself as well as his adoptive siblings.

"Give us a chance Princess. Once Emerald comes back from her shift, we're going to show you a grand time." Mercury promised her.

I highly doubt that... The heiress thought to herself. No soon as Weiss had finished her thought, the door to their bedroom opened to reveal the thief, who had just finished her work shift.

"I'm back!" The greenlette announced her presence, closing the door behind her. "Did you guys miss me?"

"Welcome back, best sister!" Whitley greeted her, welcoming the thief with open arms as he went to hug her.

Emerald smirked a little as she returned the hug. "I'd better be."

Weiss looked insulted. She couldn't believe that her own flesh and blood hugged a thief, who was a practical outsider, let alone called her "best sister". Though deep down, the heiress couldn't really blame Whitley for his actions. He was a technical only child 'till Emerald and Mercury came into the picture. Weiss wasn't sure how many years both Mercury and Emerald had been adopted into the Schnee Family, but one things for sure their trio bond as siblings is a strong one.

Mercury rubbed his hands together in glee, a mischievous grin appearing on his lips. "Now, the fun can really begin!"

"Speaking of fun, letters arrived at front desk and you-know-who received one..." Emerald purposely trailed off, snickering all the while.

"Excellent! A brand new episode of 'The Wall'!" Whitley exclaimed with excitement as he went towards one of the desks at the back of the room. He soon returned with four glasses. "Ladies and gentlemen, please grab your glasses."

Mercury and Emerald easily picked their glasses and headed off to a spot near Weiss' bunk bed, leaning the glasses against the wall as they put their ears onto the cups.

If the heiress wasn't confused before, then she certainly was now. "Glasses? 'The Wall'? What are we doing...?" She asked her little brother.

Whitley also occupied a spot on the eldest Schnee's bed, glass at the ready. "Just do what we do. And please, do be quiet." He cautioned.

If you can't beat them, join them. I suppose... Weiss thought to herself, finding a spot on the wall to join her siblings.

It was weird, not to mention unsettling. The heiress had never eavesdropped on someone before 'cause of course that would be considered bad manners and nothing good actually came from situations like this. It was truly unbecoming of a Schnee, and yet here she was... Although it was quite muffled, Weiss could still manage to hear what was going on in the next room. It's definitely a man's voice, young, possibly trying to mimic a female's voice but the eldest Schnee couldn't quite figure out who it was.

Come on Weiss, who could it be? Whitley and Mercury are obviously out of the question. Father? Weiss shuddered a bit, she just can't imagine her father doing something so...out of character. Out of the question. Klein? Sure, the man has multiple personalities, but I'm absolutely positive that it's not him. Let's see there's Junior, Roman, Tyrian... Who else am I missi- OH! Oh, dear Dust...

"Y-You're all terrible!" Weiss reprimanded them.

Mercury smirked. "And yet, you still keep listening."

"Shh! I think he's about to start!" Emerald hushed them, grinning for the upcoming hilarity.

"Not. A. Sound." Whitley whispered to his older sister, who whimpered a bit as she thought of the possible consequences their actions would bring.

| My dearest Adam,

How have you been? I trust you're doing well. I've started to get settled down at Vale. It was a rough month, at least I thought so at first. My dad was upset with my decision to move, but my mother was all for it. She was real supportive of me, helping out whenever she could. Eventually, my dad warmed up to the idea and pitched in to help us.

The girls were a big help too. Once I arrived at Beacon Shores, Coco already had a list of furniture stores to check out for my new place. Ruby asked if I was planning on getting a pet; she kept trying to convince me to get a dog, but you already know how I generally feel about them... Yang helped take my boxes out of the truck; I keep forgetting how strong she is.

The first few nights at my new place felt awkward. It was lonely. I usually enjoy peace and quiet, but for once in my life I didn't welcome it. I'm used to it now though. I guess I just needed to adapt. The following weeks were so much fun hanging out with the girls between shopping, eating out, having sleepovers, that kind of thing. You're a boy, you probably wouldn't understand.

Ha, ha, ha. Look at me, rambling and I have yet to tell you the best part! Not long after moving in, I got a job as a Florist. I was so happy. I'm still happy. This might be silly, but I think my liking for flowers stems from my last name. Get it? 'Cause it's a flower? Ugh... Please, don't tell Yang I made a pun. I wouldn't hear the end of it if she does find out. Seriously though, my new job reminds me of our high school days. Do you remember? When we used to be a part of the Gardening Club. It feels almost like yesterday that you and I were arranging flowers for the Vytal Festival... I really miss those days, and that's why I treasure them.

There's so much I want to say, but I think I'm going to end it here. I'm looking forward to catching up with you on my next visit to Hotel Schnee! You're still working there, right? Hopefully you'll have the day off so that we can hang out and you can tell me what you've been up to.

Take care, Blake B. |

Adam sighed longingly. "Soon, my Darling, very soon..."

As soon as the contents of the letter was finished, all four Schnee siblings practically collapsed on the heiress' bed and howled with laughter. They kept laughing until their sides started to hurt from the exertion.

A knock sounded off from the right wall of their room.

"CAN YOU KEEP IT DOWN?! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!" And that was the yell of a very, very, pissed off Cinder Fall.

"S-Sorry Cinder!" Weiss nervously apologized on everyone's behalf, regaining her composure.

"Was that fun or what?" Whitley grinned at her, heading off to his top bunk on the other side of the room.

"Fun? FUN?! We almost got our heads bitten off by our residential housekeeper!" The eldest Schnee practically blew a gasket, but she kept her voice at a medium volume.

"Pfft. Not that!" Mercury said dismissively as he settled to his own bunk, which was under Whitley's. "We mean, 'My dearest Adam'." He clarified, trying to mimic Adam's female voice. "Man, oh man, does he have the hots for her!" The porter snickered.

Emerald laughed out loud, though it was much quieter this time. "Stop it Merc, you're killing me...!"

The thief's laughter must've been contagious cause a small giggle managed to escape from the heiress' lips.

No! Behave yourself Weiss, this childishness has gone too far! Weiss mentally scolded herself, and so she took action. "Stop. This has gone far enough."

"'Stop', she says. If I remember correctly, you were laughing just as much as the rest of us." Whitley pointed out a fact.

"And for doing so, I feel ashamed of my actions. Which is why, I'm going to properly apologize to Adam the moment I see him tomorrow." The eldest Schnee decided.

"NO!" The youngest Schnee suddenly exclaimed, forming an X with his arms for emphasis. "Please, dear sister, I suggest that you reconsider that action." He begged, clearly not liking where this was going.

"Are you saying that I shouldn't apologize?" Weiss said in blasphemy, not seeing what the big deal was.

"N-No, I mean, yes, I mean..." Whitley closed his eyes and brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. Why couldn't his sister just try to have some fun?

"Listen Princess, I know that you're trying to do the right thing, but we HIGHLY suggest that you shouldn't." Mercury warned her.

"And, why not?" The heiress asked, demanding an answer.

"You might send the guy off on a rampage and that wouldn't be good for the Schnee Family business." Emerald came up with a guess. "You see, our friend Adam is obviously a man of few words. A big mystery for the rest of us, and it just so happens that... These 'My dearest Adam' segments help us find out a little bit about him." She explained.

"By eavesdropping?!" Weiss scowled at them in disapproval. "This is the equivalent of reading someone's diary!"

"A hilarious diary...!" The porter added with a smirk.

"I told you to stop." The eldest Schnee reprimanded him while sending a glare his way, which promptly shut the man up.

"Relax, dear sister, we're just having a little bit of fun. Harmless gossip between ourselves." Whitley tried to calm her down. "We're not stupid. Besides, we have a motto here: Whatever happens in this room, stays in this room. You have our word." He promised.

"And we kindly suggest you do the same," The greenlette continued for him. She then noticed Weiss sending a scowl her way. "And before you start staring at me with accusing eyes, I take this matter very seriously. The mail always arrives at front desk. I just take a glimpse as I separate the guests' mail from the employees here and...coincidentally, I just happened see Adam's name in the pile." She said her side of the story as she brought her hands up in defense.

The heiress' icy glare did not ease up one bit. "I do hope that you don't read any of his letters...!"

"You really have it out for Em, don't you?" The blue haired man couldn't help but notice from his bunk, debating whether or not to intervene the soon apparent cat fight.

"I don't know. She's the one with the fake, rotten attitude." Weiss voiced out her honest opinion about the thief. Adoptive sibling or not, clearly their first meeting left the heiress with a very bad impression of her.

Emerald stood up from Weiss' bunk, having heard just about enough false discrimination against her. "Listen here, Ice Queen, you're not exactly the friendliest girl around the block either! I may be a thief, but I know better. I have standards!"

"Forgive me, but I'll believe it when I see it." The eldest Schnee spoke out with cold spite, swiftly turning her head to the side with a huff.

"Believe what you want. It's not like I care about your opinion anyway..." The thief said her final words for the night as she finally got up on her own bunk.

Weiss settled under the covers of her own bed. "Fine by me."

Uneasy tension filled the room and after five minutes of silence from both girls, Whitley dared to dip his head below his bunk bed to look at Mercury...

"Should we...do something?" The youngest Schnee asked his older brother.

Mercury merely stretched out his muscles, getting comfortable on his bed. "Leave them be. Trust me bro, you don't ever want to get involved in a cat fight."

"We can hear you...!" Both the girls grumbled angrily from their side of the room.

"Love you too." The porter responded casually, ignoring their fury.

Whitley frowned a bit, laying back on his bed. Earlier, they were all having a grand time, but suddenly the mood turned sour really fast. He knew that there was going to be some tension between them upon Weiss' arrival, but he certainly wasn't expecting this.

The youngest Schnee sighed as he closed his eyes, willing himself to go to sleep. So much for getting along...

---

The next day, Jacques suggested that Weiss headed to the pool area. Her father thought that maybe Whitley might teach her a couple of tricks to get some experience in, just until Weiss receives her license.

The pool was not only loud, but also HUGE! Weiss decided to wear a simple white one-piece swimsuit, wearing a blue jacket that was tied around her waist to cover up her frame, and Whitley wore his blue Lifeguard t-shirt along with red shorts.

"Alrighty then! First order of business: Sunscreen!" Whitley declared as he tossed a bottle towards his sister, who caught it with ease and she simply stared at him in bewilderment.

"Seriously?" Weiss deadpanned.

"Don't look at me like that! We Schnees are super pale, I mean, if somebody decided to throw one of us in a huge pile of snow, nobody would be able to find us!" The young boy stated a fact, despite of the exaggeration added to it. "But hey, you do you, don't let me stop you from becoming a red lobster." He finished with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Point taken." The heiress responded while rolling her eyes. Regardless of her actions, Weiss obeyed and began applying the lotion. "So, can I really count on you for Lifeguard duty?"

Whitley looked offended, crossing his arms with a pout. "Of course, I take this job very seriously! Thank you very much!"

Weiss seemed unconvinced. "Do you now?"

"Yes! Now, let me ask you this: What do you think is the most important thing about being a Lifeguard?" The youngest Schnee asked his sibling.

"I don't know... Saving lives!" The eldest Schnee answered sarcastically, gesturing with her arm to a ton of guests who are currently occupying the pool that was filled with families, tourists, and the like.

"I'll pretend you didn't respond with sarcasm..." Whitley practically ignored her as he took a deep breath, trying to maintain his composure. It wouldn't be good to lose his temper in front of an audience. "Look, what I meant about that question is the perks, you know... Extra money, privileges, fringe benefits, stuff like that. Come on, take a guess." He encouraged her.

Weiss brought a hand up to her chin, deep in thought. "Aside from the pay, all I can think about on what's important to this job is monitoring, rescuing, education, and evacuation."

The young boy groaned, and as impatient as he was Whitley blurted out the answer. "IT'S DATES WOMAN! DATES!"

"Dates?" The heiress repeated in confusion. Last time she checked, dating was the least of her concerns... "How is that a perk on this job?"

"Are you or are you not twenty one years old? You must be single." Whitley flat-out responded, and he kept going with a guess. "I even bet that you haven't had your first kiss yet."

The youngest Schnee must've hit the nail on the head since his older sister was at a loss for words, her face settling with a flabbergasted look and her mouth opened to say some kind of retort, but no words not even insults came to her defense.

"S-Shut up!" Weiss yelled at him as she stomped her foot on the pavement, her face flushing with the most darkest shade of red Whitley has ever seen.

The young boy looked surprised at her reaction, raising a brow. "I only meant to get under your skin, I didn't think I was actually right."

"Shut. Up." The heiress spoke through clenched teeth, her temper about to flare at any moment.

"Alright, alright," Whitley raised his hands up in defense, giving up the topic. "I'm sorry that I brought it up in the first place..."

Weiss sighed, ultimately deciding to forgive him. "Fine. So, what does 'dating' have to do with the perks on this job?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The youngest Schnee said to her, thinking that his sister would've caught up on her own by this point. "You know, someone's in trouble and then we save them, and sometimes they want to show you their gratitude by, get ready for it..." He giggled a bit. "Going on a date!"

"Who in the name of Remnant would fall for something like that?!" The elder Schnee scoffed at the thought. "I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for you in your desperate attempt of finding a girlfriend."

Whitley took out his scroll from his shorts' pockets, and with it he started scrolling through his contacts. "I don't know, sister dear, but... I've actually gone out with lots of girls. For example: There's Matilda, Nancy, Helena, Brittney, Abby, Lori, and the list goes on and on." He brought his phone up so that his sister could see for herself, having a smug grin all the while. "I'd say I'm a pretty popular guy. And once I mention that I'm Schnee... Oh-ho-ho! That certainly seals the deal!"

"I-I can't believe you!" Weiss spoke, disbelieving as she scrolled through her brother's phone. She just couldn't believe how long this ridiculous contact list was. "You even threw OUR FAMILY NAME just for- You disgust me!"

The heiress returned her brother's scroll and soon after she stomped away in anger, leaving her brother behind.

Once she was a good distance away, Weiss stopped to think for a moment. "That's a really long contact list..." She whispered, loud enough to hear herself. Is he still dating one of them now? The young Schnee wondered.

After torturing herself with possible answers, only to give up to her growing curiosity, Weiss turned around and headed back to the Lifeguard station. Whitley was monitoring the pool area from the high chair, scooping the area with a pair of binoculars he had hanging around his neck.

The youngest Schnee grinned, knowingly guessing that his sister had returned. "You came back. And, if I don't know any better... You're curious about my love life."

Damn him! He totally knew I was coming back...! Weiss cleared her throat, dismissing her thoughts. "Me? Pfft! Preposterous!" She remarked.

"Then, why are you here?" Whitley asked as he finally dropped the binoculars, letting them hang around his neck.

"Because father told me that YOU where going to show me some real Lifeguard experience!" The heiress practically barked the facts at him, only for her to shrink a bit soon afterwards. "And, to ask you a question. Are you...dating any of those girls right now?" She added.

The young boy dropped down from the high chair, grabbing his older sister by the shoulders. "I knew you would see it my way!"

"You're not going to make me regret this, are you?" Weiss glared at him.

"Sister, please, have faith in me." Whitley practically begged her, showing a sweet smile.

The eldest Schnee was about to say a witty remark, but before she could a cry of distress sounded off by the pool side...

"HELP! I-I THINK SOMEONE'S DROWNING!"

Before Weiss could process what was going on, Whitley had spring into action. The youngest Schnee had quickly taken off his blue shirt and dived into the pool, swimming as fast as his body could take him.

Weiss couldn't believe her eyes on how fast her little brother acted to the situation at hand. No words. Just action. I guess he really is serious about this job after all...

"CLEAR THE WAY!" Whitley yelled from the top of his lungs as he got out of the pool, carrying his rescued victim. He then sent a demanding glare towards his sister. "Don't just stand there! Call 911!"

That's one Hell of a way to take charge little brother. The heiress thought irritably, though needless to say she was proud of her sibling's heroic actions. "R-Right!" Weiss hurried over to the Lifeguard station and rummaged through one of the satchel bags, searching for her phone. Once she had it on hand, the eldest Schnee made the call.

Meanwhile, the youngest Schnee laid the young woman on her back and gingerly tilted her head back, opening an airway. He then checked for breathing, listening closely for no more than ten seconds. Since there was no sign of the woman breathing on her own, Whitley began to perform CPR. The young boy placed his hands, one on top of the other, in the middle of the chest and began doing the necessary compression and rescue breaths as needed.

Weiss swiftly returned to his side, having finished with the call. "Is there anything you want me to do?"

"You can help me by telling our audience to give me some room!" Whitley ordered as he continued with his chest compression, about to head in to his fourth rescue breath.

Sure enough there was a bit of crowd gathering around them, the guests seemed not only shocked but also curious to what was going on.

Don't these people have anything better to do?! The heiress thought exasperatedly as she stood in front of the large group. "There's nothing to see here ladies and gentlemen!" She told them, trying to guide the crowd as far away as possible to give her brother some room. "Everyone stay calm and please evacuate from the pool area , it's just until the paramedics arrive!"

Some guests grew concerned. "I-Is she going to be alright?"

"Is she...dead...?" Others were in shock.

"Oh my God, what happened?" And some simply stared when they arrived at the scene, their curiosities taking over them.

Personally, Weiss has had enough. "GIVE HIM SOME ROOM! You can gawk and stare all you like from inside the hotel!"

That seemed to get through the crowd as they immediately followed the heiress' orders, clearly not wanting to test her patience. No soon had they left, Weiss heard hacking from behind her...

The eldest Schnee turned around to find her brother gently help the woman to sit up once she had gathered her breathing. Would you look at that? He actually saved her. Weiss thought in amazement.

"Easy there, easy, I've got you." Whitley softly reassured the young woman.

The blunette looked up at him, her amber eyes shining with gratitude. "T-Thank you for saving me..."

"Just doing my job." The youngest Schnee answered professionally with a grin.

No sooner than that the paramedics had arrived on the scene and proceeded to check on the girl. Weiss and Whitley decided to walk around the pool side while the medics did their job. The heiress didn't know what to think, everything just happened so fast and Weiss felt frozen in place as she watched her brother spring into action.

"You were amazing..." The eldest Schnee spoke in awe, still staring up the distance as they walked.

Whitley stuffed his hands into his pockets, trying his best to keep his face neutral but it was a near impossible task since a hint of a blush had rushed up his cheeks in embarrassment. Why does his older sister have to make such a big deal out of almost every little thing? "It was nothing."

"Nothing? NOTHING!" Weiss exclaimed practically in outrage, her icy blue eyes widening in shock. "Whitley, you actually saved someone's life today! I'd say that's something to feel proud of, moreover, you should be feeling good about yourself."

Good? How about embarrassed? The youngest Schnee thought shyly, his face becoming redder by the second.

He then felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders, hugging him from behind. The heiress had laid her chin on top of his head, a small laugh escaping from her lips. "Who knew that even Whitley Schnee himself could be embarrassed?"

"Laugh it up, why don't you?" The young boy grumbled.

"In all seriousness, I really am proud of you." Weiss spoke honestly, smiling a bit as she let go of him. "And, I take back everything I said earlier... You do take this job seriously."

Whitley grinned. "You bet I do!"

"Um, excuse me..."

Both Schnee siblings turned around to see the young woman that Whitley rescued earlier. She looked much better compared to her drowned state before.

"Oh, it's you." The youngest Schnee spoke, surprised as his icy blue eyes widened upon the girl's sudden presence. "I take it that you're doing well. That's good Miss..." He trailed off a bit, hoping that the girl would respond.

"Cadence. My name is Cadence." The blunette repeated as she introduced herself. She then took a couple of steps to approach him. "I...I wanted to thank you again for saving my life. I'm really grateful."

Whitley scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, blushing once again. "It was nothing. Really."

"I disagree." Cadence smiled at him. Bending down to the boy's height, she laid a kiss on his cheek. The youngest Schnee stiffened upon the sudden action, causing the girl to laugh as she pulled away from him. "You're pretty cute. May I ask for my savior's name?"

"W-Whitley Schnee..." The young boy stuttered.

"Well Whitley, I'll be staying at your family's prestigious hotel for the next two weeks." The blunette informed him. "If you'd like, why don't we go out sometime?"

In order of not making a fool of himself, Whitley wordlessly nodded like an adorable idiot.

"Great! I'll be waiting~!"

Cadence had left, leaving the Schnee siblings to themselves. Weiss had the look of total blasphemy on her face, her mouth agape as she watched the scene unfold before her very eyes. I can't believe that savior crap worked! She thought in disbelieve.

Whitley turned to face her, having a goofy grin plastered on his face. "See! I told you that I'm a popular guy!"

I retract my previous statement... HE'S THE WORST! The heiress thought with disdain as she pushed her little brother into the pool, huffing as she left the premises.

What the Hell is her problem?! The youngest Schnee thought outraged as he surfaced from the waters, spitting out chlorinated pool water. "Yuck!"

---

After her Lifeguard duty was done for the day, Weiss had returned to her room to take a quick shower and grab a change of clothes. As soon as her hair and attire were presentable to her liking, the heiress stepped into the hallway and once she did Weiss heard someone calling out her name...

"Weiss."

The young Schnee turned to her right to find Jacques Schnee approaching her. The man's face was stone cold not with anger, but with seriousness.

This can't be good... Weiss thought uneasily, already on edge. Regardless of it all, she decided to greet her father with a civil greeting. "Good day to you, father. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Good day." Her father responded in kind, showing off the barest hint of a smile on his face before it ultimately changed back to its earlier expression. "Is Mercury in his room by any chance?" He asked her.

The heiress shook her head. "No. I was the only one in there up until now. May I ask why?"

"That boy is supposed to be doing his porter/maintenance daily tasks! And since apparently he isn't here, I can only guess Mercury is hiding off elsewhere..." Jacques sighed exasperatedly as he closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What am I going to do with that boy?"

"If you'd like, I can go find him for you?" Weiss offered. "I'm done training with Whitley for the day so maybe Mercury could teach me a thing or two about his job, once I locate him, of course. If I am planning to inherit this place, I must learn everything I possibly can in order to run it someday."

"That's a fantastic idea!" No sooner that he said that, Weiss could've sworn she saw her father's eyes flicker with emotion, tearing up for a moment before he gathered his bearings and continued speaking.

Is he proud, perhaps? ...Or, is he...sad? The young Schnee wondered to herself.

"Maybe, you can kick him into shape and make him more diligent?" The elder Schnee chuckled then. "I'm afraid that's a bit too much to ask, even for you, to make that boy change for the better. Mercury's a full grown man now, and it is a choice he needs to decide for himself."

This peeked Weiss' interest. "Decide what?"

"Just ramblings of an old man." Her father spoke, dismissively. He then returned to their previous conversation. "I trust that your adoptive brother will be in good hands then?"

"Don't fret father. Rest assured, that Mercury will be in very good hands...!" The heiress reassured her parent.

Jacques chuckled once he realized his daughter's meaning behind those words, taking his leave. "I don't have to worry so much then. Have a good day, my dear girl."

"And you as well, father." Weiss smiled.

---

The manhunt for Mercury didn't take too long as Weiss expected, in fact, it was too easy thanks to Winter's advice on where to usually find the lazy oaf. According to her darling older sister: Porter is easily the most elusive, slacking job position on almost any hotel. Specifically, theirs. Mercury has a terrible habit of putting things off 'till the last minute, and truthfully the man never seems to have any kind of motivation whatsoever.

On most days Mercury would hide in the maintenance closet, the restrooms, the boiler room, housekeeping, and sometimes even the hotel rooms that have been set up as DNR. But today, his latest hideaway was front desk...

As soon as Weiss had stepped into the lobby, she spotted the porter chatting away with Emerald.

Ugh, great... I have to face her again. The heiress thought irritably, but nevertheless Weiss straightened up and went to face the music.

"MERCURY!"

The blue haired man jumped from the sudden yell, a hand to his chest to signify he indeed got scared for a moment. He turned around to look at the source, and he smirked upon seeing his older sibling. "Well, well, well... It's the Princess herself. What brings you here beautiful?"

"Shove it." The young Schnee scowled at him, not in the mood to play his games. "You DO realize that you have a lot of work to catch up on, right?"

"This again...!" Mercury groaned, slumping onto the front desk counter.

"Maybe, you wouldn't have to complain so much if you ACTUALLY stayed on top of everything instead of putting it off last minute!" Weiss reprimanded him.

"Lightened up on him, Ice Queen. He's just trying to live up to his youth." Emerald came to her brother's defense.

"Yeah!" The blue haired man said in agreement. "I work seven days a week at this place!" And then he lifted up his forearm to cover up his eyes, and with a dramatic sigh he continued. "Alas, even I feel my youth being sucked away from the cruel word that is 'responsibility'...!"

Oh, brother... The young Schnee scoffed. "Honestly, how this place is still functional and running is beyond me?"

"Hey now, I'm not entirely incompetent! I do my work, I just take my time." The porter shrugged his shoulders, acting like this wasn't much of a big deal.

"I just take my time", he says. If I had a lien for every time I heard that pathetic excuse, I'd be rich. The heiress thought with a roll of her eyes. "As if! Your laziness knows no bounds. It is very unbecoming of a Schnee!"

Emerald sighed exasperatedly, leaning back against her office chair. "Here we go..."

"To be fair, I'm not a Schnee to begin with." Mercury countered, crossing his arms with a smug grin. "And even if I am legally related to you through adoption, you and your 'Perfectionist' ideals can go and take a hike off a cliff for all I care. I am not changing for ANYBODY!"

Weiss narrowed her icy blue gaze, glaring at him. I've had just about enough of this nonsense!

The young Schnee stood up on her tiptoes, grabbing a hold of the porter's ear and proceed to drag him. "That may be so, but it doesn't change the fact you have work to do mister!" She retorted truthfully, ignoring the man's pained yells behind her.

"Ouch! That really hurts!" Mercury whimpered, and he sent a glance Emerald's way. "Em, p-please, help me!"

The thief simply stared before she went back to her computer. "As much as I love you Merc, I'm afraid my break's over. Good luck." She finished saying as she waved them off. Better you than me, pal. The greenlette thought spitefully.

"You've got to be kidding me...!" The porter whined in defeat as he was ultimately dragged away by the heiress.

---

Soon after leaving front desk, the adoptive siblings walked down a hallway that will eventually lead to the maintenance room. Surely, they'll have plenty of stuff to do since a certain someone put it off last minute...

"Ouch!" Mercury rubbed his sore right ear, whimpering all the while. "Damn Princess! If you wanted me to come along, you could've just said so..."

Oh, NOW he tells me! Weiss thought irritably. She merely turned her head with a huff in response to her brother's whines. "That wouldn't have happened if someone would've cooperated in the first place instead of putting up a fuzz!"

"I wasn't putting up a fuzz!" The porter insisted, clearly in denial.

The heiress rolled her eyes in annoyance. "The next thing you're probably going to tell me is that you weren't actually slacking off..."

"That's because I wasn't." The blue haired man adds his input. "Not entirely anyway..." He mumbled.

Weiss stopped walking and turned to face her adoptive brother, looking straight at his gray eyes. "Then, what were you doing at front desk? Pardon me for thinking so, but it looked like you were hanging out with Emerald instead of doing any actual work."

"I was simply telling Em that she should try to get along with you." Mercury answered honestly.

The young Schnee's eyes widened in surprise. She certainly wasn't expecting that. "Why?"

"You probably didn't notice it at the time, but Whitley was pretty upset last night over your apparent cat fight with Emerald. He was just trying to make us get along as siblings, which actually worked for a while, but things turned sour near the end." The porter told her. He then scratched the back of his head, emphasizing his slight discomfort. Clearly, this kind of awkward conversation was an unusual course of action for him.

I never knew he had the potential to be the serious type. Weiss thought to herself as she listened to him.

Mercury sighed as he continued. "Look, I know that you're new here and all...having to deal with a new environment, new people, and of course new 'siblings'. We don't have to like each other to get along 'cause, quite frankly, I don't give a rat's ass on what anyone thinks about me. The same goes for Em. I just don't want our little brother to worry about things like this. Can we at least agree on that much? And just so you know, Emerald told me that she's willing to comply if you are."

Weiss was absolutely stunned from hearing Mercury's little speech. She never knew that the man cared about her little brother, enough to point of convincing Emerald to compromise to get along with the heiress, and all of it was for Whitley's sake. "You really care about my brother, don't you?"

The porter shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing. "Hey, he's my brother too for what it counts." He then chuckled as he added. "Em and I can't really say no to him once he puts his mind into something."

"Fine. I suppose I can compromise with you." The heiress relented, giving her answer.

Mercury smiled for the first time since their conversation started. "Thanks, Princess."

No soon had he said that, an old man stumbled through one of the doors in the hallway, grunting as he was carrying a couple of heavy boxes. Upon noticing him, the porter did a mad dash towards the elder man and took the boxes from his grasp.

"Mr. Gorim! How many times do I have to tell you? If you need help carrying stuff, then come get me!" Mercury slightly scolded the old man, who simply glared and grumbled angrily at him. Understanding what the elder man was trying to say, the blue haired man shakily chuckled. "Right... I'll try to be around more often."

Weiss tilted her head in confusion as she watched the two of them interact. "Who is this?"

"Oh, uh... Princess, this is Mr. Gorim." Mercury introduced the old man. He then approached close to the young Schnee to whisper. "He's a veteran among all veterans when it comes to the employees here. Your father is trying to convince him to retire since the guy is over seventy. Plus, Jacques is concerned that the old man might hurt himself, but Mr. Gorim doesn't even want to hear the word 'retire'..."

Almost as if knowing they were talking about him, Mr. Gorim beats the porter with a nearby broom.

"Hey, quit it! I wasn't talking smack about you! I promise!" The blue haired man insisted before he realized his mistake. "Oh. How rude of me?! Mr. Gorim this is Weiss Schnee, my other adoptive sister. She just arrived here a couple of days ago." He explained, introducing the heiress to his fellow co-worker.

Mr. Gorim stopped beating Mercury for a moment, bowing politely in greeting while showing a small smile.

Weiss returned the gesture. "Nice to meet you too."

The old man nodded in acknowledgment before he proceeded to beat the porter again with the broom, grumbling all the while, emphasizing that he has somewhere to be with those boxes.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Mercury rolled his eyes in mock annoyance. He then sent an apologetic look to his sister. "Sorry Princess, I don't want to leave him with all this heavy stuff... Tell ya what, since you agreed to a compromise in terms of our little deal, I promise that I'll finish half of my tasks today. I can train you some other day, if you're up for it?"

"That sounds acceptable." The heiress responded with a small smile, glad to hear that her adoptive brother was putting some effort. It was certainly better than none.

"Great. See ya later, Princess." Mercury smiled, but it was for a brief moment until he got smacked in the face with the broom. "Can you quit it?! I'm going, I'm going...!" He spoke hastily as he and Mr. Gorim left the premises.

As soon as they were out of sight and out of earshot, Weiss couldn't help but laugh. At least someone doesn't hesitate to whip Mercury into shape.

---

"Milady, that's too much water!"

"Uh, that's plenty of fertilizer...!"

"M-Milady!"

"TYRIAN!" The bull Faunus yelled at him.

"Yes, Adam?" The gardener responded, cowering a bit from the redhead's tone.

"Keep it down a bit, would ya? She's doing just fine!" Adam insisted.

Tyrian pouted. "I was just trying to be helpful..."

"Go be helpful somewhere else!" The swordsman practically barked at him, and then he pointed to a lawnmower that was a couple of yards from them. "In fact, why don't you go and mow the lawn?" He suggested. "Schnee and I can take care of things here."

The scorpion Faunus looked at the heiress, staring at her as if he were a puppy that got scolded by its master. "Is that what you want too, milady?" He asked her.

"I...think that would be for the best." Weiss answered him.

"As you wish..." Tyrian moped in response as he left them be, his tail dragging against the ground in his wake.

As soon as the gardener was out of earshot, Adam's stance significantly relaxed compared to before.

"FINALLY! I can think again!" The bull Faunus sighed exasperatedly in relief as he returned to the flowers he was previously attending. "You would think since he's actually older, he wouldn't act like a child."

Weiss groaned, staring at Tyrian from afar, who was slowly making his way towards the lawnmower. "Now, I feel strangely sorry for him..."

"Don't be, then he'll come back and be twice as annoying!" Adam grumbled.

What a grump! I don't know what this Blake woman sees in him because this man is as stubborn as a bull- The heiress caught herself, cursing under her breath. Forget I ever thought of that... Back to my previous statement, I wonder why this Blake woman calls him my- Weiss snickered, unable to contain her thoughts at bay as she whispered. "My dearest Adam...!"

The swordsman physically stiffened, his eyes widening behind his black shades. "W-What did you say...?!" He spoke shakily, and yet demandingly at the same time.

"I said, 'My, oh my, Adam. I never knew that you enjoyed gardening! I've been wondering that to myself ever since I've first arrived here.'" The young Schnee repeated in a fake manner, hoping that the redhead would take the bait to clear off the suspicion. "I'm just curious as to why a man such as yourself decided to work at this hotel, of all places. Would you mind telling me your story?"

A long silence and stare down followed soon afterwards, and Weiss tried her absolute best to maintain a good poker face because if her face so much as twitched a muscle... It would all be over. Adam would obviously demand some answers and surely the heiress would crack under the pressure and blab her siblings' "comedy" segment out in the open, but as fate would have it...

"ADAM!"

Luckily for Weiss, the swordsman was the first one to break the stare off, haughtily sending off a glare at Tyrian's direction. "WHAT?!"

"I can't start the lawnmower!" The scorpion Faunus yelled pitifully from the distance, uselessly turning the wheel of the contraption.

"YOU CAN'T EVEN-" Adam held his tongue before he said something he might regret. "Find the key!"

"Key? What key?" Tyrian continued, clueless as he looked at all the buttons the cursed machine had to over. "I'm too old-fashioned! How do you even work this beast?!"

Old-fashioned? Try caveman. It suits you better. The bull Faunus thought up a snarky remark. "It's practically a car! The key is in a tiny secret compartment! Just insert it into the ignition!" He instructed.

"But I can't drive!"

"Tyrian, you don't need a fucking license to drive a lawnmower!"

"Don't yell at me Adam! I'm sensitive!"

The thin line that was called patience snapped as Adam's face turned red scarlet in his rage. Within a flash, the redhead unsheathed Wilt, which in turn startled Weiss as the poor heiress fell on her bum in fright. And without a second thought, Adam tossed his sword with all his might at the scorpion Faunus, who obliviously ducked as he checked underneath the gardening contraption. Wilt banged against the machine's secret compartment, which was forced open to reveal the key.

Hearing the sound, Tyrian raised his head. "Found them!"

Damn, I missed... The swordsman sighed heavily through his nose, similar to the animal he shared traits with. "Good for you...!" He grumbled.

Meanwhile, Weiss stared terrified from the sidelines as she tried her best to process what just occurred in front of her very eyes.

"D-Did I just witness a premeditated murder...?" The young Schnee mumbled in disbelieve, her body paralyzed with fear. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PLACE?!

---

"No, No, NO! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!"

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Winchester!" Cinder bowed, being on her hands and knees as she apologized. "A thousand pardons for our terrible mistake."

"You'd better be!" Cardin Winchester huffed angrily, passing a hand through his hair. "How can you expect my noble-self to lay on such common sheets?! I demand my bed sheets to be from the finest silks and nothing more!" He complained with utmost rawness.

Meanwhile Weiss, who sat in a similar position as Cinder, only difference was that she wasn't bowing and sputtering apologies. The heiress just didn't see why she should have to put up with a guest like him because as far as Weiss was concerned, she and Cinder didn't do anything wrong, and all because this bastard wasn't satisfied with the way they did things.

And here I thought the crowd I had to deal with at the pool was annoying... The young Schnee thought to herself, resisting the urge not to roll her eyes from hearing Cardin's banter.

"Excuse me!"

Weiss couldn't help but scowl at the man as she let out an annoyed, "Hmm?"

"You're a Schnee, aren't you? Jacques Schnee's daughter?" The browned haired noble asked.

"Yes." The heiress answered with a scowl, glaring at him. "What of it?"

"Hey now, stop giving me that icy stare of yours! But, I guess that's alright..." Cardin relented before he gave her a glare of his own. "Word of advise, Schnee. I spend good lien to be a regular at this place and I expect to be treated like royalty! How do you think a man like me stays rested to participate in the HHBP?"

A question that was supposed to be in her head, came out of her mouth instead. "What the Hell is an HHBP...?" Weiss inquired bluntly, not that she regrets doing so.

Cardin Winchester's face had the look of someone who was constipated and was in desperate need to use the toilet, that's how stupefied he was by the young Schnee's question.

Cinder couldn't help but snicker at the sight of Cardin's reaction. "Mr. Winchester, if need be, you may use your restroom facilities..."

"WHAT?! NO! SHUT UP!" The noble man silenced the housekeeper. He then stared at Weiss with a flabbergasted look on his face. "As for you, how could not know about the Hunter & Huntresses Battle Preliminaries?!"

"Forgive me, I hardly watch television. Unlike my mother, I rather do something more productive." The heiress answered honestly.

"The HHBP matches is essentially a world-wide tournament where warriors get to compete for glory. It is to honor the memory of our old ancestors, who once roamed Remnant to exterminate the creatures of Grimm." Cinder explained. She then leaned towards Weiss to whisper, "Just between us milady, Mr. Winchester may be a 'professional' athlete as he likes to put it, but most people in Remnant would say otherwise... The crowd favorite shall and will always be, The Great Amazon: Pyrrha Nikos. The young lady is a natural on the ring and most people consider her to be the bees' knees. The best, the ideal, the ultimate perfection. Ms. Nikos has been a rival to Mr. Winchester for years, but alas, the man has never won a single match. As things stand right now, Ms. Nikos is at the top and Winchester is at the bottom of the food chain as it were..."

Cardin growled, clearly displeased. "I'm right here you know! I'm not deaf!"

"I never said you were." The housekeeper spoke, bluntly as she gave the man a sweet smile. "And I never said you were good either." She added.

"Mark. My. Words. Pyrrha Nikos will crumble at my feet at our next match! Just you wait!" The browned haired man proclaimed to them through clenched teeth as he exited his room, not before saying, "And this room better be spotless and up to my liking by the time I come back tonight!"

The door to the hotel room slammed harshly upon Cardin's departure, and both women's postures relaxed considerably once the man finally left...

"Well, he certainly was flattering..." Weiss remarked sarcastically.

Cinder brought her arms up in a stretch, standing up from the carpeted floor. "I know, right!" She agreed as an evil smirk worked its way up on her face. "Let's mess up his room."

The heiress' eyes widened in response to her co-worker's proposal. "Mess it up? Aren't you supposed to train me on how to clean the rooms?"

"Oh, that. Don't worry about a thing milady, I can show the proper procedures some other day!" The housekeeper reassured her, dismissing the young Schnee's concerns away.

Weiss still looked unsure. "I don't know..."

"Milady, surely, you didn't appreciate the man's behavior and attitude towards the two of us, am I correct?" Cinder asked.

"No, and I didn't enjoy that one bit." The heiress answered honestly, a scowl showing on her face as further confirmation.

"Excellent!" The housekeeper's evil smirk returned almost ten fold, a plan formulating at the forefront of her mind. "And, I have an arrangement just for the occasion! Follow me!"

When Cinder exited Winchester's room, Weiss followed suit, and the young Schnee found her co-worker near her housekeeping cart. The older woman was fondly rubbing the cart's surface as if to signify its importance. "Welcome to my Cart-of-Wonder, where we will gladly sabotage a guests' day in a matter of seconds!"

"So, I'm guessing whatever we're going to use is inside your cart?" The heiress inquired, eyeing her co-worker suspiciously. If she hadn't heard Cinder's slogan, Weiss just couldn't shake the fact that something bad was going to happen...

"Correct!" Cinder beamed maliciously, searching through her housekeeping cart for the perfect item that will be part of their revenge. "Aha! I found her!"

"Her?" Weiss repeated, tilting her head in confusion.

"Tell me, milady, do you like spiders?" The housekeeper questioned, her amber gaze never leaving the cardboard box she was holding in her hands.

WHY IN DUST'S NAME WOULD SHE HAVE A...?! The young Schnee couldn't even finish the thought. She suddenly felt her throat dry up, but regardless Weiss swallowed heavily all the same. "N-No, I d-don't..."

"Then, let's hope that our 'friend' Winchester does...!" Cinder cackled with villainous glee.

It's official. Cinder Fall TERRIFIES me! Weiss mentally decided. "Cinder, no! Are you crazy?! Okay, sure, I hate the man, but I don't want to poison him! Do you know how much trouble we or the hotel itself could get into?!"

"Oh, heavens no! I only mean to scare Winchester's pants off, in a manner of speaking, not kill him." The housekeeper told her true intentions. She then showed the heiress the box. "What I have in here is a Funnel Weaver Spider. They are usually found in homes and are completely harmless. This kind of nonpoisonous spider is usually mistaken for the Brown Recluse. The black markings in their abdomen make them different from one another. So you see, it's all one harmless prank." Cinder reassured. "I may have my own version of fun, but I do keep in mind not to make your father be involved in a lawsuit of any kind. This, I promise."

Feeling a sudden weight disappear from her already stiff shoulders, Weiss sighed in relief. No sooner than that, guilt and any further consequences from this event also vanished within a blink of an eye as the heiress' icy blue eyes had a mischievous gleam to them as she spoke...

"Cinder, commence the preparations for our revenge."

---

"You should've seen him! I swear, my husband barely looks me in the eye anymore..."

Neo nodded sympathetically, signifying that she was indeed listening as she hand dried some bar glasses. Weiss simply stared at the young girl before her, studying her as the girl listened to the guests as she worked. It was odd, but Neo was doing a good job as far as the heiress was concerned. What astonished Weiss the most was that the customers kept on talking and the young girl simply nodded whenever it was necessary.

"I don't get it..." The young Schnee spoke in confusion, crossing her arms as she watched her fellow co-worker performing her duties.

Junior came in from the bar's side door with a handful of alcohol boxes, overhearing Weiss' slight dilemma. "Get what?" He asked.

"Her." Weiss responded, pointing at Neo. "How come the guests go along with it? Don't they find it rude or weird that she isn't talking with them?"

"Torchwick's little gal? She's actually one of those strong-silent types." The bartender answered her, setting the boxes down. "I'm sure that she speaks when spoken to, she simply chooses not to."

"And, why not?" The heiress inquired, genuinely curious.

"I'm not sure actually. I think Roman told me something about it a couple of years ago, but I can't seem to recall the reason why..." Junior retorted, trying to remember the talk he had with his fellow employee.

Weiss merely nodded in understanding, she really couldn't fault the man for not recalling something. "I see..."

"Regardless, Neo and I have our own way of doing things to manage the bar. I willingly provide conversation on whatever they want to talk about while Neo simply listens to their banters on her side of the bar." The bearded man explained as he headed to the back room, the young Schnee following suit. "It's pretty efficient and the guests rarely complain about it."

"Complain?" Weiss repeated, catching on to that particular word.

"Please, don't misunderstand Ms. Schnee. Sometimes the customers don't like our alcohol prices and so they brat about a million reasons on why they should get it for free." Junior clarified, starting to do some inventory. Keeping count on the varieties of alcoholic and a couple of different mix drinks he might need to order for the next truck delivery.

The heiress looked surprised. "People can't be THAT serious about their alcohol, can they?"

"You'd be astounded milady." The bartender responded. "People complain about our prices, the glass sizes, and the amount we serve our beers, wines, and shots. The way I see it though, if they're going to complain on how we do things around here then they should stop by whenever we have Happy Hour specials or go to a nearby gas station or something to buy their own damn beer."

"That does sound annoying..." Weiss agreed with him.

"Tell me about it. Before you arrived, our bar hours used to be from 5 O'clock 'till midnight and even then the guests come to us employees early asking for alcohol. It was such a constant occurrence to the point where your father was forced to extend bar hours, which is why we open at 2 O'clock in the afternoon now." Junior explained with a sigh, crossing his arms.

The young Schnee nodded sympathetically. "Do you guys experience any trouble with drunk guests?"

"On occasion. Though, two people in particular come to mind on that category..." The bearded man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We DO have the right as well as the responsibility to stop a customer when they clearly had a bit too much 'cause if something were to happen to them, then the fault lies solely on us."

"Now, that doesn't seem fair..." Weiss commented with a pout.

"I think so too, but unfortunately...it's 'The Law'." Junior finished with a mocking tone.

Halfway through checking the inventory, the bartender grumbled under his breath...

"Damn, I completely forgot about the Yuengling...!" The bearded man cursed at his inattentiveness. "I'm sorry to cut this conversation short Ms. Schnee, but I need to hurry back to the general store. If the guests don't get their precious beer, we'll surely have a riot of some kind on our hands."

"We certainly wouldn't want that now, would we?" The heiress stifled a laugh at the back of her hand. "It's alright Junior, Ms. Torchwick and I can handle things here." She reassured him.

"Great idea! I'll be back as soon as I can milady." Junior bid her farewell as he left the premises, walking with a sense of purpose as if he were on a mission.

"Take care." Weiss wished him luck as the bearded man departed.

Now that she was alone, the young Schnee decided to rejoin Neo at the front. When she opened the door, Weiss was happy to find that the young girl was by herself with no guest in sight. Neapolitan was gathering all of the empty bar glasses from the counter and placed them on the sink, getting ready to wash them.

Perfect! This will be a great opportunity to get to know her. The heiress thought to herself in determination.

Neo looked up at Weiss once she noticed her approach, acknowledging the young Schnee with a polite nod as she continued washing bar glasses by the sink.

Still silent, eh? Weiss then grabbed a washcloth and cleaning spray from the cabinets, and proceeded to clean the bar. As she began cleaning, the heiress decided to provide some small talk. "So, it's been kind of slow today hasn't it?"

The young girl merely nodded in what Weiss can assume was an agreement.

"The weather's nice today too." The young Schnee commented.

In response, Neo looked up for a moment to notice the clear sunny skies before she ultimately shrugged her shoulders and returned to her previous task.

Weiss' eye twitched in irritation. Does this girl ever talk? And, what's with that shrug? Does she mean, "It could be better" or "I kind of wish it wasn't that hot outside"? She then sighed in defeat. Why am I even trying? I'm probably annoying the heck out of her and she's possibly being nice to me since I'm related to father...

"Ms. Torchwick."

Neapolitan stared at her, giving the heiress her undivided attention.

"Please. Be honest." Weiss pleaded with her, heading straight to the point. "Am I...being a nuisance to you right now? It's okay, I promise I won't be mad."

The young girl's eyes widened in shock and she frantically shook her head, trying to tell the young Schnee that was not a problem.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Torchwick. I'm having a bit of trouble trying to figure you out..." Weiss shyly admitted, scratching the back of her head. Boy, was this awkward?!

Neo pouted as she glared at the heiress.

Startled from that sudden reaction, Weiss questioned her. "What? Did I do something wrong, Ms. Torchwick?"

Neapolitan's pout and glare intensified, crossing her arms in irritation.

The heiress' eyes widened in realization. "Oh! You don't want me to call you Ms. Torchwick. Is that it?"

The young bartender nodded her head, her pout and glare gone as Weiss managed to figure it out on her own.

"Well, if you insist..." The young Schnee trailed off, trying to recall the girl's name. What was it again? Weiss tried to remember, but surely nothing came to mind. Her brain had gone completely blank in trying to come up with an answer. Oh, Dust! I really can't remember! This is so unbecoming of a Schnee...! Not to mention, this is beyond rude at this point!

Sensing her inner turmoil, Neo made a gesture as if she was stifling a giggle at the back of her hand before she brought a hand up to her hair, pointing to her colored trio in hope that Weiss would get the hint.

But instead this is what came out of the heiress' mouth... "VanillaCocoPink...?"

Neapolitan blinked repeatedly, her mouth gaping open in disbelieve. She'd never guessed that someone would royally mess up her name, let alone having that person to be Weiss Schnee herself. Surprisingly enough, instead of being angry, she laughed.

Weiss' icy blue eyes widened upon hearing the young girl's laughter. She then recalled Junior mentioning something among the lines of, "Torchwick's little gal? She's actually one of those strong-silent types. I'm sure that she speaks when spoken to, she simply chooses not to."

She DOES speak! The young Schnee thought in blasphemy, her face flushing in an incredible shade of red at the fact she made a fool of herself in front of her co-worker. Right now, I just wish that the ground would swallow me whole...

Her humiliation soon dissipated however as a soft, adorable voice soon managed to catch Weiss' hears like a melody. Honestly, in the heiress' opinion, Neo's voice was like an angel's.

"Please forgive me, Ms. Schnee. I did not mean to laugh at you as I did." The young bartender apologized, wiping her eyes as tears welled up from her earlier exertion. "In fact, I never meant to in the first place, but it seems like you have broken my silence with your...humorous blunder. And by the way, my name isn't VanillaCocoPink~!" She giggled a bit. "The name's Neapolitan, you know, like the traditional ice cream. Neo for short."

The young Schnee's blush soon returned before she coughed awkwardly in order to dispel her embarrassment, regaining her composure. "Why keep silent? Neo, you have a beautiful voice. It's truly a shame not to hear you speak, and here I thought that I was an annoyance to you this entire time."

"Unfortunately, milady, this is a terrible habit of mine..." Neapolitan's eyes shone with a hint of sadness. "I just simply choose to listen."

That sad look did not escape the heiress' notice. "But why?" She insisted upon asking, genuinely curious to know the truth.

"Please, milady, don't waste your valuable time asking such trivial questions... Instead, have solace in knowing that I haven't laughed like this in such a long time." The young bartender smiled at the heiress, gathering the clean glasses from the sink as she headed back to work. "Thank you for that."

"Wait."

Neo stopped on her tracks and looked back at the young Schnee from over her shoulder. "Hmm?"

"So, what? Is that it? After I discovered that you can actually talk, you're just going to go back acting mute?" Weiss interrogated her, clearly displeased.

Neapolitan faced forward, refusing to meet the heiress' gaze. "Ms. Schnee. I personally prefer not to speak. Is that so bad? I'm not an interesting individual to begin with, and I do hope that you keep this little secret between us..."

"Does anybody else know?" Weiss asked her.

"Just my daddy Roman, and now you." The young bartender responded, holding the dish tray in her hands so tightly 'till her own knuckles turned white. "If you don't mind, I'd like to keep it that way."

"Of course." The heiress promised, almost feeling like she didn't have a choice on the matter, though secretly she locked two fingers behind her back.

"Thank you." Neo spoke in gratitude, leaving to the back of the bar.

Admittedly, deep down Weiss felt guilty for not keeping this certain promise. Forgive me Neo, but for once I will let curiosity get the better of me. Aside from Adam, I'd say you'd be next in line in the mystery category.

---

A small group of people consisting of Roman, the Malachite twins, and finally Weiss sat conversing in one of the tables of the restaurant while they waited for opening time. Loud laughter could be heard at the restaurant, which in turn echoed throughout the lobby...

"Quiet down! You're all acting like a pack of hyenas!" Weiss scolded them, urging them to tone it down a bit. She then pouted. "How come you guys don't believe me? I'm telling you, Neo really did talk to me!"

"VanillaCocoPink...!" Roman snickered quietly to himself, that was until he ultimately succumbed to the hilarity of the nickname, unable to contain his laughter any longer.

The Malachite twins also continued to laugh. Miltia stopped long enough to say, "Yeah, right, hearing Neo talk is like saying-"

"Mercury actually finished all of his work!" Melanie finished off her sister's sentence.

Why do I even deal with these people?! The heiress thought irritably, a scowl working its way up on her face as she crossed her arms. I can't believe that they don't believe me! Especially, Roman! Wait a minute... Weiss then recalled Neo mentioning that aside from herself, the other person that knows Neapolitan can actually talk was... "ROMAN TORCHWICK!"

The head chef seized laughing and straightened up in his seat. "What? What's going on?!" He asked frantically while looking around his surroundings.

"How dare you accuse me of being a liar?! Out of everyone here, you should definitely know what I'm talking about!" The young Schnee spoke in outrage.

Roman simply stared at her. "Whatever do you mean, Schnee? I don't know what you're talking about."

Now, I KNOW he's toying with me! Weiss thought angrily, close to losing her patience.

"I'm serious, Schnee." Torchwick insisted, putting his hands up in defense while he did the shifty eyes. "I have absolutely no idea that VanillaCoco- Damn it!" He cursed, catching himself. "I MEAN, NEO! I have not heard my little girl's voice since she was younger! So, forgive me for not having a good memory."

Luckily for them, the person in question had finally arrived.

Neo stood in her waitress uniform as she put a bag of clothes under the counter of the register, ready to start her restaurant shift. Feeling watched, the young waitress looked up to find everyone staring at her.

Neapolitan tilted her head in confusion and signed to them, trying to find out what was going on.

Bewildered herself, the heiress turned to the others. "Translation please?"

"She said, "What are you guys staring at?" Miltia helpfully translated.

"We're looking at you, silly." Melanie answered the waitress' question.

Roman let out a shaky chuckle. "Schnee here was telling us on how you apparently started talking to her, crazy huh?"

At hearing this, Neo turned to look at Weiss with pure disapproval reaching her eyes and for the first time in her life the young Schnee had never felt so ashamed as she is now.

Unbeknownst to the sudden tension in the air, the Malachite twins continued to tease the heiress as Melanie starting with, "Oh yeah, Ms. Schnee was also telling us of how she 'accidently'-"

"And by that, we mean royally." Miltia added.

The older twin giggled as she continued. "Screwed up your name. I mean, who does that? Your own hair color is a dead give a way that your name is Neapolitan, but instead-" She snickered. "She, she called you...!"

"VanillaCocoPink...!" Roman sputtered as he turned his head to the side, trying to hide the fact that he was laughing.

Neo's eyes narrowed on the heiress, and Weiss felt herself shrink further in her seat. "M-Ms. Torchwick, I can explain..." The young Schnee caught herself when the young girl added a pout to her scowl. "Drat."

It was too late to try and fix anything as Neapolitan came forward and grabbed Weiss' wrist, dragging the heiress off into the kitchen away from the others. They kept walking until they've made it into the storage room. After making sure that this room was perfect to hold a conversation in, Neo released the young Schnee and went to lock the door, but once she did Neapolitan did not turn around to face Weiss...

A terrible, uneasy silence followed soon afterwards, and it was complete torture for the heiress as she waited for Neo to say something. Anything to end the awkwardness between them, but nothing came.

Weiss couldn't take it anymore and so she spoke, "I take it that you must be angry with me..."

"For breaking your promise?" Neapolitan finally talked, but the young Schnee couldn't sense any emotion behind her words. "I should be."

"Neo, I am so sorry." Weiss apologized, her shoulders slumping in obvious disappointment at herself. "You've trusted me with your secret and instead of keeping your trust I...ruined it." She said in shame. The young waitress crossed her arms, which the heiress took as a bad sign since Neo had yet to face her, but unbeknownst to Weiss... Neapolitan was smiling as the young Schnee continued to talk. "I would understand completely if you don't ever want to talk to me again..."

Silence fell upon them once again, and by this point Weiss was fearing the worst.

Neo finally turned to face the heiress, however the girl's facial expression was void of any emotion. "Well, it serves you right for slandering my trust in the first place...!" Amusingly, Weiss' posture shrunk considerably as the poor girl hung her head in shame. And so, Neo smiled, deciding to give the young Schnee a break. "But, I think I can forgive you since you've already suffered enough through my silence and everyone else miraculously not believing you in the first place."

At hearing this, Weiss' head shot up in surprise. "Do you really mean it?"

Neapolitan simply nodded in response.

The heiress sighed in relief in knowing that the worst was over. "So, I take it we're going back to the awkward form of conversation, huh?"

"Not necessarily." Neo answered. "We can meet up on occasion like this, communicate through paper, or better yet, I can teach you sign language if you'd like." She offered.

Weiss smiled, happy to know that she made a friend of sorts in this unusual workplace. "That would be lovely."

---

After the rather stressful ordeal, and her first day of work officially done, Weiss decided to catch a break. The heiress sat on one of the benches in the hotel courtyard, lost in thought as she recalled today's events...

It started off with a simple Lifeguard lesson, which ended up with her wounded pride in terms of the dating department. Hunting down her lazy-ass adoptive brother, who miraculously wasn't slacking off on the job and instead he was trying to make amends between Weiss and Emerald on the heiress' behalf.

Weiss groaned as she leaned her head back against the bench, staring up at Atlas' sunny and yet cloudy skies.

The young Schnee still needed to talk with Emerald. Both women had been avoiding each other like the plague since their apparent cat fight last night, but honestly... Even though she compromised to Mercury's proposal, Weiss couldn't accept the fact that she would have to apologize to the thief. Part of the heiress realizes her own mistake of accusing Emerald left and right for almost every little thing, meanwhile on the other half she felt too proud and bitter to admit she was at fault.

Ugh. What is wrong with me? Am I really still angry over our first meeting? Weiss wondered to herself, closing her eyes. Well, in my defense, Emerald wasn't exactly courteous. I personally think that I don't hold any grudges but... The young Schnee released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "I'm such a horrible person..."

"Now, why on Remnant would you say that about yourself?!" A familiar grumpy voice spoke out in disapproval.

In a flash, Weiss opened her eyes and sat up on the bench. Once she did, the heiress was surprised to see her own butler. "K-Klein!"

Klein Sieben was not a happy man at the moment as he looked at his mistress, holding a tray filled with two coffee mugs. His eyes weren't their usual light brown color, instead they were red, which only meant one thing...

He's grumpy...! Weiss deducted in her thoughts, already preparing for the possible worst. "What brings you here?"

"My apologies for 'sneaking up on you', Ms. Schnee. That was not my intention." The servant apologized, extending his tray towards the young Schnee, who graciously accepted a cup. "I saw you alone and so I thought you could use some company and a hot cup of coffee."

"Thank you, Klein. You're too good to me." Weiss smiled, already having a sip of the drink. The pleasant, rich, strong, bitter taste of coffee was already flooding her senses. She really loves Klein's blend. The man just knew how to make it, just the way the heiress likes it.

Klein's eyes changed color again, this time to a yellow hue as a warm twinkle reached his eyes. "Anything for my little snowflake." He then sat beside his mistress. "Milady, I know that this might be overstepping my bounds, but what you were saying earlier..."

Weiss merely shook her head, dismissing her servant's concerns. "It's nothing, Klein. It was just a stupid thought, that's all..."

"Forgive me for saying so, Ms. Schnee, but this 'silly' thought of yours has me concerned." Klein spoke honestly, obviously not convinced. "Please. If you ever need to talk, I'd be happy to listen..." He offered.

The young Schnee thought about it. Klein Sieben was more than just The Schnee Family Butler. To Weiss, the man was not only a father figure to her but also a dear and loyal friend, one that the heiress wouldn't dare to trade for anything in this world. With that in mind, Weiss came to a realization...

Come to think of it...Klein is also the other newbie in this place, aside from myself that is. I wonder what he thinks of the people here? The young Schnee thought with genuine curiosity. "Klein."

The servant turned his head upon being called, giving Weiss his undivided attention. "Yes, Ms. Schnee?"

"Tell me. What do you think of the people here?" The heiress asked him. She then added in reassurance, "And don't worry, I promise I won't be mad. You're free to speak your mind."

"Honestly, I like it here. It's certainly a nice change of pace, not to mention lively, compared to The Schnee Family Manor. The people here have their quirks, but personally I think that's what makes this place interesting." Klein gave a straightforward answer, smiling so.

At least one of us has a refreshing opinion about this place. Weiss thought in amusement. She then perked up when her butler continued speaking.

"Moreover, I am happy that I got to see Master Jacques, Miss Winter, and of course Young Master Whitley again..." The servant admitted, the yellow colored hue returning to his eyes yet again. "Nothing makes me happier than to serve the family I am destined to care for the rest of my days, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Klein's sincere answer warmed the young Schnee's heart, hearing the truth behind his words. Weiss closed her eyes in a vain attempt to stop the tears that were starting to well up, but obviously she failed to keep them at bay as they silently slid down her cheeks. In order to hide them from her servant, the heiress leaned against the man's shoulder, obscuring her face from view.

Klein didn't seem to mind, but he felt the need to ask regardless. "Are you alright, Ms. Schnee? Is anything bothering you still?" He questioned in concern.

"No, not anymore." Weiss sniffled. "Thank you, Klein. For everything."

---

The following day was a brand new day for the heiress, a fresh start as it were. The conversation she had with Klein yesterday was a true eye opener for Weiss because it made her realize something. The Schnee Manor and Hotel Schnee may have their differences, one being lonely and empty while the other was random and lively along with its inhabitants, and while the young Schnee may not like the sudden change of environment she'd have to admit that it was a nice change of pace. And since her current goal was to inherit her family's business, then she might as well start to get along with her future employees...

Her training today started at the front desk, but it was a miraculously slow shift so far and so the girls were relaxing for the time being: Winter was in her small office in the back, trying to catch up on financial reports and start scheduling banquet days and other small events. Emerald was on the front desk computer playing video games, and finally Weiss sat beside the thief while reading an HHBP magazine, though admittedly, the young Schnee wasn't paying too much attention to the reading material in her hands and instead she was stealing glances towards her adoptive sister every now and then in hopes to start a conversation.

If only we weren't fighting, I think starting a conversation would be ten times more easier if I didn't have to apologize to her... Weiss thought irritably to herself, letting out a sigh to her slight dilemma.

"What?"

The heiress turned her head to look at the greenlette, a bit startled to hear her speak.

"What do you mean by, "What?" Weiss interrogated, obviously not liking her sister's tone.

Dismissing the young Schnee's aggressive behavior, Emerald casually shrugged her shoulders as she continued to click keys on her keyboard, still not taking her eyes off the computer screen. "I don't know, you tell me. YOU'RE the one who keeps burning a hole at the back of my head. Are my actions right now too criminally involved for you?"

"T-That's not what I-" The young Schnee groaned in frustration, scrunching up the sports magazine in her hands. Why was it so hard to apologize? From the way things are heading, the fight between them was only going to escalate and keep getting worse from there.

"What's wrong, Ice Queen? Cat got your tongue?" The greenlette taunted, ignoring her video game to give Weiss her full "attention".

"I'm sorry."

"Excuse me?" Emerald perked up a bit, debating whether or not she heard the heiress correctly.

It's now or never. I might as well as swallow my pride and get this over with... Weiss sighed in defeat, dropping the magazine on the counter as she was gathering her thoughts. "I said, I'm sorry. On that night, I shouldn't have falsely accused you for every little thing, regardless of your bad habits. That was wrong of me. I guess I'm still a bit bitter over our first meeting to the point where it solidified my bad impression of you and I was too proud to apologize, let alone admit that I was...mistaken." She then took a deep breath, and she begrudgingly continued. "We're sisters, and we shouldn't fight. So, can you forgive me?"

The thief's red eyes widened in surprise, totally not expecting this sudden terms of events. Who would've thought that Weiss Schnee was going to apologize and admit that she was actually wrong to her of all people?

Either, I slept on the wrong side of the bed last night...or the world must be ending? Let's go with the latter. Emerald inwardly groaned. Man, I'm really not good with this sorry-mushy stuff...

The greenlette crossed her arms, and Weiss could've sworn she saw the faintest hint of a blush to tint Emerald's cheeks, but even if the heiress were to point out this fact the thief would be in complete denial.

"Yeah, sure, whatever... Apology accepted." Emerald stammered awkwardly. She then dared to add, "Though, to be fair, you were the biggest bitch out of the two of us so..."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" The heiress exclaimed in pure outrage. "I practically poured my heart and soul into that apology only for you to deliberately throw it back to my face!"

"I didn't even know you had one of those..." The thief bluntly commented, back to her usual self.

Weiss practically exploded by hearing that remark. "You INSUFFERABLE little...!"

Luckily, before a bombing could take place, Winter stepped out of her office.

"Esmeralda...!" The former cop called out to Emerald in a warning tone. "Are you picking on Weiss again?"

"Me? Never." The greenlette answered innocently, probably too innocently for the Schnee sister's standards. "I was just showing the Princess a new move I mastered in Kung Fu Ninja Slayer. She was getting mad for me in my stead." She reassured the eldest Schnee, sending off a knowing wink towards Weiss. "Isn't that right, sissy?"

"I...suppose." The young Schnee growled out in response, crossing her arms. I guess everything's okay between us then? Oh, whatever, if we're not at each others throats anymore then that's fine by me. She mentally conceded.

Regardless of their words, Winter didn't seem convinced. "I don't get it. While I was in my office, you girls were practically screaming like banshees, but now you're telling me that everything's fine? Forgive me for saying so, but something is definitely fishy..."

"Just harmless sisterly bonding!" Emerald summarized.

Before Winter could even continue with her interrogation, Weiss surprisingly came to her adoptive sister's rescue.

"We already told you that everything's alright." The heiress insisted, and she then followed up with an input. "Now that you're here though, you can enlighten me: Who's. The. Groom?"

"You're still salty about your abandonment, aren't you?" The former cop eyed her little sister with amusement.

"Very much so, yes." Weiss answered. I just love how she dodged the question. Heck, I'm starting to think that her husband is imaginary! Though, that wedding band of hers is no joke.

Unfortunately, the young Schnee couldn't push her older sister further as the revolving doors in the lobby showed signs of activity, signifying that a guest had passed through...

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe we're already here!"

A fair-skinned young girl with silver eyes and black, neck-length hair that gradates to dark red at the tips walked through the lobby with her pet dog. She wore a bright red hoodie, denim shorts, and a pair of black boots.

The young teenager looked around the foyer as if she was in a unknown land, being amazed by just staring at the expensive décor. She took a deep breath, only to release it soon afterwards. "Oh Zwei, don't you just love that 'new hotel smell'? You know what I'm talking about, don't you boy?"

Zwei is a black headed tricolor Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Like some Pembroke Welsh Corgis, he has a bobbed tail, which is nowhere near the length that would indicate him as being a Cardigan Welsh Corgi.

A bark of confirmation was heard from the girl's pet as he sniffed around his surroundings, and soon Zwei made his way towards the carpet. Like most dogs, the Corgi proceeded to drag his furry posterior across the rug.

The red hooded girl giggled, amused by her pet's antics. "That's the spirit Zwei! You go get that itch!"

From behind front desk, Weiss was having a heart attack from witnessing this display, resisting the urge of assaulting her soon-to-be-guest in front of witnesses. No, it's okay, it's only a WHITE carpet...!

"Ruby."

Weiss' as well as the hooded girl's attention were directed towards the revolving doors as someone else walked through the lobby while hauling around two suitcases.

This newcomer was a young fair-skinned woman with lilac eyes and bright golden hair worn loose that fades to pale gold at the tips with a cowlick sticking out at the top of her head. The blonde wore aviators to obscure her eyes, an orange scarf wrapped around her neck, a yellow tank top though her ample breasts were noticeable and looked like they were going to spill out at any moment if she wasn't careful, black shorts, and a pair of flip-flops.

"Oh, hey Yang!" Ruby waved hello to her older sister. "Glad to see that you joined me!"

Yang pulled up their luggage next to a couch as she turned to address her teenage sister, giving her a look. "Ruby, how many times do I have to tell you to not wander off?"

The hooded girl pouted, giving the blonde a blank stare. "I thought that you were here to join me, not to be a drag."

"Oh, I'm a drag, am I?" The older sister repeated amusingly, though there was no playfulness in her tone as she took off her aviator glasses, challenging her sister's stare off. "Then, how about you try to be more helpful next time kiddo? Instead of, you know, getting off the vehicle and make your way inside the lobby when you could kindly help me and the others with our bags...!"

Being stomped with verbal truth, Ruby pulled up her hood over her head in shame, tightening the strings of her hoodie in a vain attempt to hide her face from view. "I'm sorry..."

Ultimately, the hooded girl's adorableness must've won since Yang's stern facade melted away within seconds.

The blonde sighed, passing a hand through her messy locks. "What am I going to do with you Rubes?"

Ruby whined as if imitating a small puppy as she cuddled up to her older sister, leaning her head against Yang's shoulder while showing the cutest puppy-dog eyes the blonde has ever seen.

"Alright, alright, you're forgiven Rubes." Yang chuckled as she hugged her little sister, admitting defeat. "Stop with the guilt tripping, would ya?"

"I'm glad that you agree, my darling sister!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly, breaking off from the embrace. Her adorable puppy-dog act now over. "I can't wait for this vacation to officially start!"

"It looks like I let you off the hook too easily, oh well..." The blonde murmured.

Soon enough, two more women passed through the revolving doors walked through the lobby to meet the sisters. Both of them were redheads. One of them wore her hair in a waist-length ponytail, curled lightly into a loose ringlet as well as green-vivid eyes. Her clothes consisted of a simple red t-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers. While her companion has short orange hair and aqua colored eyes, and her attire consisted of a black meme t-shirt that said "Curls For The Girls", pink sweatpants, and a pair of tennis shoes.

"Hiya ladies, fancy seeing you here!" The orangette hollered in greeting to the sisters.

Ruby did jazz hands in excitement. "I know, isn't it great Nora?!" She then looked towards the redhead. "Hey Pyrrha, are you as enthusiastic as we are?!"

Pyrrha stifled a giggle at the back of her hand. "Yes, I certainly am. I can't wait to relax."

"And fun, don't forget to have fun." Yang added.

Nora scoffed in blasphemy at hearing the blonde's input. "Of course not! That's the whole reason we're here! To have fun!"

"I know that, you goofball, I mostly said it for Pyrrha's benefit." Yang explained.

"OH!" The orangette lightly slammed her left fist into her right hand, a light bulb going off on her head in understanding. "Now~ It makes sense."

At front desk, Winter chuckled in amusement as both Weiss and Emerald watched their soon-to-be guests chatting animatedly with one another.

"Looks like I'm going to have to inform father that Ms. Coco Adel and her posse have arrived." The former cop informed her sisters as she was about to depart, but not before she laid a hand on the heiress' shoulder. "You better prepare yourself, Weiss. Mentally and physically for the next two weeks. We have a long road ahead of us..."

And with that, Winter left her parting words as she took her leave from front desk. "Esmeralda, you know what do to."

"Yes, ma'am." Emerald spoke in affirmative, stretching out her arms and her back as she leaned back a bit on her office chair. She then looked off to side at the calendar. "Man, I can't believe that it's that time of the month again..." The thief remarked in surprise, amazed on how time flies.

Meanwhile the young Schnee's mind was in turmoil, trying to figure out the meaning behind her Winter's words. What does she mean that I have to prepare myself? Mentally and physically? For the next two weeks at that... A-Am I going to some sort of war? This job is easy, right? ...Right?

---

A/N2: PHEW! And that is it for chapter 2 folks! Now, before we go any further, let me drop a couple of quick notes for this particular chapter...

Number 1 – The character that was referred to as Mr. Gorim is that frail, old man that you see constantly working at different establishments in the RWBY series. My sisters and I call him that as a little joke between us involving a different series that we're into.

Number 2 – Neo's nickname shall permanently be VanillaCocoPink! I personally found it hilarious when I was talking/more or less rehearsing out that particular scene with my little sister, I merely pointed at three spots of my hair while pretending to be Neo while my baby sister was acting as Weiss when all of a sudden my little sister mumbled out "VanillaCocoPink..!", and so that's how that comedy gold (At least, I personally think so) came to be! I just totally fell in love with it.

Also, yes, Neo actually talks in this story. She just likes to pretend to be mute just for the Hell of it to mess around with people. There's an actual reason for it, but that will be explored on a later chapter. Plus, admittedly, it made that bar scene MUCH easier for me to write because I felt awkward trying to write it with Neo just using sign language/gestures the entire time.

Number 3 – The HHBP matches stands for "Hunter & Huntresses Battle Preliminaries". Think of it as a wrestling sport/basically the Vytal Festival Tournament, but all year round and the hype for this particular sport is the same equivalent as Football with their Superbowl games is in America. I came up with it out of the blue and I thought that it would be an interesting add on for this AU for Pyrrha and Cardin being the veteran participants.

Number 4 – With the ending of this chapter stating the obvious, we will finally see Ruby and the others finally making their appearances/shenanigans as well as three, possibly four, hints/start ups on some of the romance ships for the next chapter! STAY TUNED!

So, what do you guys think so far? Like I said before, the amount of support I received from chapter 1 alone was just incredible. Your comments in your reviews as well as the faves and the follows are just wonderful and they really make my day! Hopefully, this little fan base for this story will grow with time. Please, please, PLEASE spread the love! Recommend this story to your friends! And just as I mentioned in chapter 1 you can show your support for this story by reviewing, adding it to you favorites, and following this story is fine too!

PS. I ultimately decided to update this story every two-three months to make my writing time more manageable/to give myself more room for inspiration. And in return, my fellow readers will receive long-lengthy chapters just like this as a reward for your kind patience. Until next time! XD