The night grew old and most residents of the castle were already asleep, including the Queen. The only ones awake at three in the morning were the night guards, protecting the integrity of the stone walls and the life of the grand ruler. Well, also a certain advisor who had an almost impossible task at hand to deal with. Ozpin tried to reason with Weiss along the day, giving her several motives as to why going to the villages unannounced and in the day of the Royal Festival was a terrible, terrible idea: The dangerous wilds could be full of bandits waiting for royalty to slip; the people could feel betrayed by the Queen and not make for tranquil hosts; the sun on its highest peak could hurt your beautiful skin – all of those fruitless.
And so the family's old friend gave up and started elaborating another tactic. If the Queen wanted to talk to the people to try to understand them better, he wasn't going to stop her; it was a noble sentiment. Weiss was growing up, and her responsibilities with her subjects grew each day as well. She never truly went out of her way on her own terms to try to directly help people before, and even though the way she wanted to accomplish that right now was a bad one, it was still valid. So, as the royal advisor, Ozpin had to find a way to make that work.
Turning left at the end of the library there was a hidden switch, one only Ozpin and Weiss knew about. Behind that switch there was a chamber and a person, and this person worked particularly for the royal family, even though she was free to come and go from the castle at any time. The only condition was that she only ever used her powers in behalf of the Schnee's bloodline, and so she complied. In return, she had a place to live and all the books in the continent to study from, something she quite enjoyed.
Ozpin didn't want to resort to this, but it was the last idea on his mind, and so he flipped the switch with a sigh. One of the bookshelves started to move, and soon the chamber's door was in sight. He knocked gently.
"Glynda? Pardon the time, are you awake?"
For a couple of seconds nothing happened, but then the door started to shine a beautiful purple color and opened. Inside, Glynda Goodwitch was lying down on her bed, reading as usual.
"Come in." She didn't even bother to look up. As Ozpin did so, she moved her wand once again and the door closed silently with magic. "How can I help you in this beautiful night, Ozpin? Need some books?"
"I need to discuss something with you, if you don't mind." Ozpin sat on a chair near the witch. "I don't really have much time, so I'll try to be quick."
"Ah yes, one moment please." Glynda moved her wand in circles and the books that were thrown everywhere started to move by themselves and form a tidy pile in the corner of the room. In seconds her chamber was clean as if new. Glynda closed the book she was reading and sat up straight on the bed. "Alright, I'm all ears."
"I'll be straightforward. Queen Weiss wishes to visit one of the villages tomorrow at the Royal Festival, alleging she wants to understand her subjects better. I am quite concerned, as you probably realize."
"I would be too in your place," Glynda smirked. "I mean, the Queen's reputation isn't the best one around the kingdom nowadays as you well know."
"Yes I am aware. I tried to reason with her, but to no avail. Once Weiss sets her mind on something there is not a force in the world that can make her change her mind." Ozpin sighed.
"Honestly Ozpin, I don't know how you deal with the Schnees." Glynda was the second closest person to the advisor, and they eventually talked over cups of coffee and tea. If the witch understood the concept of friendship, she'd probably consider Ozpin a friend. It would make sense, since he was the one who rescued her from the terrible shack in the woods she used to call a home.
Witches weren't exactly seen as good company in Atlas. Their magical spells and powers frightened most people who were terrified of the unknown. Hunting witches was considered a sport for many years, until King Wasser, Weiss's grandfather, stood up and put an end to the carnage of innocent women for amusement. Glynda had seen her grandmother being captured and burned at the stake, and on that day she moved to the deepest part of the wilds and built herself a poor home. For years she'd been terrified of villagers and people without powers, but she never stopped hungering for knowledge on how spells worked. One day, Ozpin and a few guards were making their way through the woods to gather herbs for medicine and stumbled upon the small shack. Glynda tried to attack them at first, fearful for her life, but Ozpin's calming voice and reasonable arguments made her less anxious. He saw the potential in her and asked if she wished to work for the Schnee family, in exchange for a better home and books to study magic. Without much choice, Glynda agreed to the terms, and became an official employee to the king and queen.
Glynda got up and cleaned up her uniform. "Well, say no more. You need a spell to alter her decision. I've got exactly what you need—"
"Not exactly, no. I intend to let her go."
"…Excuse me?" His words took her by surprise.
"She wants to help people, Glynda, I can't hold her back for this. If she wants to go to the villages, let her do so." Ozpin got up as well. "But it would be for the best if she wasn't recognized as queen while there."
"You are not asking me to do what I think you are." Glynda put her hands on her hips, and for a second Ozpin realized she wasn't so different from the Queen; same attitude, different maturity. "You ask for an appearance spell?"
"I am going to convince Miss Schnee that if she's infiltrated stealthily in Hastia Village it would do much better than to simply show up unannounced with all that royal posture. If she could interact with them as an equal, her conversation with the villagers would be much more pleasant and safe."
Glynda stood there, measuring Ozpin from head to toe, analyzing his body language to see how serious he was about this entire ordeal. When he didn't blink, she knew he was dead set on this idea of his. Crossing her arms and sitting back down on her bed, the witch had no choice but to agree to the request. "Fine then. You talk to the Queen and I get everything ready for the spell. It will take at least three hours for it to be complete, so you have until morning."
"Thank you, Miss Goodwitch."
"Don't call me that, old man." And with a twirl of her wand, Ozpin was sent flying out of the chamber and back into the library. He fell on his hips and grunted, getting up.
"Witches…" With a soft smile, Ozpin made his way to Weiss's doorstep, where he would wait until dawn to give her the news. And he knew she would need a lot of convincing, so a rehearsal was in order.
The first lights of day made their way through the stained glass in Weiss's room, making the place shine with a beautiful blue aura. The Queen slowly opened her eyes, and stretched her muscles, yawning as she did so. Weiss was really excited for today, so she'd barely slept at all. She rubbed her eyes while making way to the bathroom, and washed her face. Looking up, Weiss came face-to-face with herself in the mirror, and stared at the reflex for some time.
Was she really ready to face her people? For the first time in years she was the one going there, instead of having people come over to the castle, and even then she wasn't quite present to discuss bureaucratic matters. Most of the boring stuff was left to Ozpin to take care of. She felt like a failure. Weiss knew she was too proud; whoever dissatisfied her was either directly sent to the dungeons or killed on the spot. But she also knew why she did all those terrible things to innocent people – she was afraid. Afraid of losing what her entire family had build up to this point. The Schnee royal name could not be stained by her mistakes, and so she always felt that it was safer to rule by fear than by love. Weiss was never going to be loved by her kingdom, she was aware of that. It was pointless. She couldn't even love herself in that stupid mirror.
But today, maybe, just maybe, this could begin to change. She was going out there, speak up, and try to make the people understand that she is not a cold-hearted monster. She is just a girl afraid to ruin an entire generation of success.
A knock on the door made her thoughts go away.
"Your Majesty? It's me, Ozpin. I was hoping I could speak with you."
"Come in."
Ozpin opened the door, and adjusted his glasses. "Good morning, Your Majesty. I have an important issue to discuss before we part for—" He stopped dead on his tracks when he realized she was staring at the mirror. That was something about that huge piece of glass that made the Queen behave strangely whenever she stared at it for too long. For years he thought it might've been enchanted, but Glynda made sure it was just a regular mirror.
"Yes?" Weiss blinked and finally tore her gaze away from the reflection.
"Oh, right." Ozpin coughed. "As I was saying, I believe I found out something that will make both our lives a lot easier today."
"Speak quickly, I need to get ready for departure." Weiss started to comb her white hair as she listened.
"Very well. Tonight I spoke with Glynda, and we reached the conclusion that for you to be completely safe out there amongst the people, you would need a disguise."
"Excuse me?" The Queen put the hair comb down, and stared at her advisor. "What makes you think I need a disguise to talk to my own subjects?"
"Please allow me to finish, Miss Schnee." Ozpin couldn't falter now. "I understand your motives are noble, but the people harbor a huge amount of dislike for the Queen at the moment. For you to personally go there would be almost an invitation to get you captured, or even killed. Hastia Village is not a safe place for common folk, much less for royalty. But there is a way for you to experience how it is to be part of the people; an appearance spell."
Weiss was going to argue about how incredibly stupid all of that sounded, but something on her mind – perhaps her common sense sparking for once – told her that she should keep listening. "…Go on."
"Glynda prepared an incantation circle on her chamber already. We would change your appearance completely, making you unrecognizable. The Queen's face is all over the kingdom, so most people would immediately know who you were even with common clothes, Your Majesty, but if we change your face as well—"
"Stop." Weiss raised a hand, the universal gesture for stop talking. She gazed at Ozpin, right in the eyes, and he knew she was thinking about the whole idea, crazy as it sounded. "…So I would become someone else."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I would go to the village in common folk clothes."
"That is correct."
"No one would recognize me as their queen, and I would be able to have conversations with normal people. Talk about problems, and whatnot."
"Precisely."
"And they would probably talk badly about the Queen right in front of me."
Ozpin gulped. "It is a possibility, yes. A very high possibility, actually."
Weiss turned back to the mirror, and stared. That face, her own features had haunted her for some time now. The face of a defeated queen was hard to pass by. But if she could begin anew, interact with people, maybe make a friend for once in her life – that was all she needed. The truth is, she needed to feel that she belonged. And in a huge castle with nothing but empty halls to make her company and sometimes her advisor, there was no way she could ever feel needed. This could change her life, and in time, she would change others' lives as well.
"I… I agree."
"Wonderful! Let us go downstairs, then—"
"On one condition." Weiss removed her earrings and expensive jewelry, placing it on the sink. "I go alone. The new me can't possibly have guards following me around all the time, it would make no sense."
"…This is extremely unadvisable, Your Majesty, I…" Ozpin stopped talking when he realized Weiss's expression was not one of defiance, but one of plead. She needed this for herself. "…Very well, Miss Schnee. Terms agreed."
"Thank you, Ozpin. Truly." Weiss coughed, embarrassed. "Now, let me see this circle of magic, I want to speak with Glynda about my new appearance.
"What do you mean I can't choose how I'll look like?!"
"No can do, Your Majesty." Glynda was struggling with the girl, trying to make her stand still at the center of the circle, but Weiss wouldn't stop prancing around. "Appearance spells are difficult to make, and I only know one. Don't worry though, it's not like you'll become ugly or anything."
"Fine, just… Finish this quickly." After hearing from Glynda at least thirteen times that the spell wouldn't hurt in the least and that she would be free to change back at any given moment if she hated her new appearance, Weiss was feeling exactly 0% calmer. She never understood how magic worked, and quite frankly was really afraid of it. But she trusted Glynda as much as Ozpin, so she sucked in all her fears.
"Alright, I will begin the spell now. Please stand still and try to refrain from getting away from the circle's center. This could make things harder." The witch closed her eyes and started chanting something in an ancient language, one she'd been studying for years now. Truth to be told, Glynda was excited with this spell – it was one she'd been wanting to do for a long time now; she just never had any test subjects. To be testing it in the Queen, however, was something she didn't expect.
Weiss's body started to heat up, but nothing unbearable – until the heating sensation reached her face. She could literally feel her features moving places. Her nose getting smaller, her eyes getting further apart, her cheeks swelling up, her eyebrows growing in size. The last thing she wanted was to look at the mirror and see a masculine face staring back, she quite liked her feminine lines. After a couple of minutes, the burning sensation died down, and Glynda opened her eyes. She couldn't suppress a smile.
"It worked!"
Weiss and Ozpin stared at her, eyebrows raised. Glynda cleared her throat. "I mean, of course it worked. I knew it would all along. Go ahead, check out the new you, Your Majesty."
Weiss turned her face to the nearest mirror and her mouth hung open. She was essentially not so different: Same blue eyes, thin lips, fair skin. But at the same time she was a completely new person. A little chubbier, her white hair now a darker gray, and her jawline changed completely. But the one thing the Queen noticed the most was the absence of the scar on her left eye. That ugly thing that reminded her everyday how imperfect she was compared to others of her family was finally gone. She felt… Good. She felt free.
"This is amazing. I loved it. I loved it, Glynda!"
"I'm glad I could help Your Majesty." The witch had to sit down for a moment, the spell had taken a toll on her body. "Now, for some instructions. The effect will wear off after 48 hours. I wish I could've made it 24, but I couldn't find the right recipe on the book. It will wear off little by little, so it's not like you'll suddenly turn back to your old self. First your eyes, then your nose, your mouth and so on."
Weiss tried to listen, but she was too busy admiring her new self. She never felt so light in her entire life. It was like a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders, a burden carried by the sole fact she had the face of the Queen. Not anymore, though. Now she was a completely different person.
"And that is basically it, Your Majesty. Any questons?"
"Huh? Oh, no, not at all. Your services were highly appreciated, Miss Goodwitch."
"Don't call her that, she hates it." Ozpin muttered from the corner of his mouth, making Glynda stare angrily. "Alright, should we go to Hastia Village, then, Miss Schnee?"
"Yes. Definitely. No more delays, I have people to take care of." And with a delicate little jump, Weiss left the chamber. Glynda and Ozpin heard the small giddy laugh the Queen let out, and couldn't help but to smile.
It's been a long time since they'd heard anything resembling laughter coming from their Queen.
And one more chapter completed! Next up, things get real interesting when the 'heroine' gets introduced. Hope you like it so far!
- niigoki