Chapter 2: Weiss Schnee
Three hours earlier, Weiss was sitting on a bench, looking at her device, known as a Scroll, while researching about the picture her father gave her. Upon typing down the terms she heard before her departure to Mantle, she was not able to get any search results for "Lrigs" or "Selectors". "This is going nowhere," Weiss spoked in her mind, "Why would Father want me to search for something that I am not familiar with?" The heiress puts her Scroll away and gets up from the bench to go for a stroll in the park. She looks around as she sees children skating on the thick ice, couples chatting at each other, and some adults looking at their mobile phones. The heiress sighs and shook her head, "Searching for something in a place like this is a waste of time. I will have to look somewhere else to find that Lrig." With no hope left, Weiss turns around from where she walked from and heads to the park exit.
Before she can take her leave, she suddenly heard laughter coming from next to the exit. Weiss walks to her left to where the sound came from and walks towards it instead of going out. In front of her eyes, she saw three small girls, around the age of 11, play a card game on a sheeted table. Weiss hid behind a tree and pokes her head to the right to spy on the kids. As they continue to play, Weiss takes a glimpse at the logo of the table sheet corner. "What is this word?" she asked herself in her mind, "And why are these children playing a card game in the middle of a cold day?"
Two of the girls face each other with their table sheets at front, while the third sits between them to watch. "Myuu will grow in Level 2," said the little girl with long black hair as she puts a card on her table sheet, "I now draw Phantom Insect Monchou and Servant D. End turn." The girl with short chestnut brown hair shook her head back. "Oh, man! Now one of my SIGNI cards gets to lose power by one thousand!" she cried. "But at least it lasts for one turn," the girl in the middle with blonde hair and pig tails pointed out.
The second girl puts her head down and looks at the blue avatar in her card. "You sure are getting good at this game, aren't you?" she asked her friend. The first girl makes a wide grin on her face, "Of course I'm enjoying it! My Lrig is super cute and tough, am I right, Claire?" Claire slightly raised her head and stared her eyes at her friend's Lrig card.
"You what I don't get, Tina?" the second girl asked curiously, "If this card game is available for girls of any age, then why does Wixoss draw girls with clothes that almost show most of their skin?" The black-haired child blushed and leans back with her arms lifted up. "Claire, don't look at my card like that! You're acting like a creep!" Tina cried. In realization, the young girl with brown hair instantly raised and shook her head to regain her common sense. "Sorry about that," she replied, "I'm actually more into the costume design rather than the appearances of the characters."
Tina lifts up her right eyebrow while her head is still leaned back. "On which cards are you referring to, the Lrig or the SIGNI cards?" she asked her friend nervously. Claire turns her head away, trying to hide a mischievous smile. "A little bit of both," she answered before directing her eyes to the girl in the middle, "If I grew up to be a clothing designer in Atlas, maybe I can be a fashion designer with Eliza as my partner." Eliza's face went glowing red when she heard what came out of the brown-haired child's mouth. "You just want them to be dressed up like the characters, don't you?!" she cried defensively. "I'm only joking," Claire laughed, "Of course I don't have the experience to become one yet." The three girls laughed together after a quick recovery from the joke and continued their game.
Still hiding behind the tree, Weiss widens one of her eyebrows from the exact words she had just listened. "'Wixoss'? Is that what this whole situation is about? My father wanted me to find something that is based from a card game?" The heiress puts her back on the tree and shook her head. "This does not make any sense," she spoked to herself in her head, "Why would Father think that something like this is relevant?" She raises her head and faintly widens her eyes, "Actually…why would Father want me to find this Lrig before the White Queen?"
A jingle from her Scroll vibrates in her dress, waking the heiress up from her self-doubt in mind. Weiss instantly took the communication device out of her dress and sees a message titled "Image sent". Curious, she puts her fingertip on the Scroll and swipes the message to the right, which makes the delivered image pop up in the screen. In the picture shows a girl with brown hair and a small ponytail on her left side, brown eyes, and a blue sailor school uniform with a bowl of noodles on a table. Weiss looks at the image she received with a confounded expression on her face. "Who is this?" she mentally asked herself, "Was this image sent from one the spies Father mentioned?"
As Weiss stares at the picture, she notices something small and white on top of the table. With two fingers on her Scroll, she widens them to magnify the image. Next to the ramen bowl in the image was a person with white hair and clothing, looking up at the girl. Weiss took out the picture that was from the folder her father gave her and stares at the two things in her hands for comparisons. From the picture she is holding, the small girl with the trident also has white hair and a white dress. Both the girl in the photograph and the image in the Scroll have an identical hairstyle, the same white dress and boots, and silver eyes. The heiress gradually widens her eyes upon discovering this revelation. "They both match…" she spoke to herself quietly as she starts to grin, "I do not believe it, they both match."
"Hey, what're you doing hiding here?" Weiss's moment of delight has been suddenly interrupted by the three baffled elementary students, who saw her white hair behind the tree she was hiding in. Embarrassed from getting caught by the sight of the kids, Weiss swiftly puts her Scroll and the photograph and turns to them with an awkward, yet unamused glare. The three girls in the table were startled as the heiress walks towards them with her clomping boots. By the time she stops in front of the table, Weiss continues to stare daggers at them. "Um…can we help you?" Tina asked nervously. After a short pause, Weiss instantly lifts her arm and points her right index finger at the children. "You three did not see anything…did you?" she irritably asked them. Tina, Claire, and Eliza looked at each other with worried expressions and silently gulped before they turned to Weiss and shook their heads. "No…" they answered simultaneously.
With that said, Weiss immediately regained her composure and lowers her arm. "Thank you," she replied to them coolly. She turns herself around and walks to the exit of the park, where a big limousine is parked in front of. The three girls watched as the heiress steps inside of the vehicle and the limo drive away from the commons. "Wasn't that the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company?" Claire asked her friends in awe, "What was she doing here, hiding behind a tree near us?" Tina shrugged, "I don't know, but if she did watched us play, I'll bet she will be interested in playing with us."
Inside the limo, Weiss puts the photograph next to her as she takes out her Scroll. She pressed her thumb on the image she received under the "Message" folder, tapped on the button with the "I" in the circle on the upper right corner, and pushed on the phone number before putting it close to her ear. Weiss waited patiently in the back of the limo for the one who gave her the image to pick up. After a few seconds has passed, she heard a click in her Scroll.
"You called, Miss Schnee?" the caller on the phone spoke to Weiss. "I saw the picture you sent me," Weiss answered to one of the bodyguards on the Scroll, "Where were you able to find that Lrig? Was it from one of the spies Father sent?" "Affirmative," the bodyguard answered back, "The picture was taken in a cafeteria in an ordinary middle school. None of the students here are trained to be Huntsman and there is no technology that is powered from the technology of Atlas."
The white-haired heiress picks up the picture to have another look before asking the guard again, "What about the Lrig? Was anyone in this school able to see it?" "According to that girl in the image I sent you, only she is able to see it," the guard replied, "The students, teachers, or even the ones who played this card game that is related to the Lrig cannot hear or see it. We were not sure if they're either blind or deaf at first, but from their own senses, none of them can get its attention."
From the information she had just learned, Weiss starts to gather some pieces together in her mind. Her father mentioned that Huntsman and Huntresses along with Faunus can also see the Lrigs. She even remembered that the girls she saw play the card game, but none of the avatars are alive. "Could this be it?" Weiss asked herself quietly, "Is that what Father meant by 'Selectors?'" She then returned her attention to the bodyguard who is contacting her on her Scroll. "Was there anything else?" Weiss asked once more. "We managed to trace her footsteps shortly after we received the image," the guard communicated to her, "After school, she will most likely return home. On her way, the girl will be walking through an alleyway. We will setup an ambush if you are willing to allow us."
Weiss shook her head in disproval for a plan such as this. If the Schnee bodyguards managed to capture the Selector and Lrig, she might not take the credit of accomplishing the task. "No, that will not be necessary," Weiss replied to him, "This is something that I must settle alone. Send me the location of this alleyway. I'm going back to the hotel and get my weapon ready." "Understood, ma'am," said the bodyguard. The heiress ended the call by pressing the red button on the screen and puts the Scroll back in her pocket.
The limo stops in front of the entrance of a high class hotel that is twenty five stories high. Weiss steps out of the vehicle when the chauffer opened the limo door as she makes her way inside the building and enter an elevator with four bodyguards surrounding her.
One in a half minute after a long wait, the elevator stopped at the tallest floor and they walked through the hallway. At the end of the hallway, two butlers opened the doors for Weiss and her bodyguards, revealing her room to be a presidential suite. Two of the bodyguards stopped behind the door where they just entered and two more stopped in front of the door to the heiress's private quarter. On top of the dresser next to the bed is a long white box with a Schnee symbol in the center of the lid. Inside of it is a silver-gray rapier with a revolving chamber and five vials of Dust. The heiress picks up her weapon, Myrtenaster, from the box and holds it out at an empty space, directing it at the window.
XXXXX
Back in the present time, Weiss points her weapon in front of Ruko in the alleyway. "I found you…Selector," she said with a grin. Ruko looks confused at the situation she is currently in. She turns her head left and right before facing the heiress. "Selector…?" the middle school girl asked as she points to herself, "You mean me?" Weiss's grin dropped as she blankly looks at the brown haired student for the latter's nativity. "No, I was just talking about the girl behind you," she sarcastically deadpanned. Ruko remains puzzled from the heiress's words, "Huh…?" "Of course I mean you! Who do you expect it to be?!" Weiss suddenly shouted. The middle schooler shook back from the white-haired swordfighter's outburst.
"Battle!" The white Lrig energetically popped out of the pouch of Ruko's schoolbag and jumps on top of it multiple times. Weiss turns her attention to the small girl that is hopping up and down. She took out the picture from her dress and examines the appearance between it and the Lrig with Ruko. Both of the girls have the same color of hair and skin, along with identical clothing and hair accessories. "There is no mistaking it, "Weiss confirmed, "The Lrig is indeed real. It looks like Father was telling the truth after all." Ruko shook her head when she realized she is not the only person who can hear the small girl's voice. "Wait a minute…you can hear her too?" she asked surprisingly. Weiss nods while she puts the photo away, "Yes, I can hear her. My father told me that huntsman can see them too, according to my grandfather."
Both Ruko and the Lrig never heard of this term before. "What's a huntsman?" asked Ruko. The white-haired heiress opens her jaw, raised an eyebrow, and shook her head while holding the student at sword point. "You really don't know what is going on in this world?" Weiss questioned the middle schooler. While leaning her head back from the sword's tip, Ruko shook her head.
Weiss turns her head away from Ruko while pointing her weapon at her. "What am I saying?" she asked herself mentally, "Most of the population of Mantle should know about the other kingdoms in Remnant. How can someone as clueless as this girl could not understand what the outside world is like?" The heiress turns her eyes to Ruko, who is shivering from the ice wall she summoned. "Then again…" Weiss continues to speak to herself in her mind as she stares at the middle school girl's clothes, "She doesn't seem to have the wits or material of being a fighter. Just what am I going to do to get the Lrig from her?" An idea suddenly hatched inside Weiss's mind and she sheathes her sword away from Ruko.
She then brushes and straightens her clothes from the diving she performed, clears her throat, and faces the middle schooler in a formal manner. "Aside from the situation you are in, I'm guessing that you have not been outside of Mantle, correct?" asked Weiss. Ruko remains bemused from either the heiress's change of personality or what is currently happening. "Nope," she answered. Weiss remains composed as she attempts to endure Ruko's naivety. "Neither did I," she answered back, "I am going to attend to another school in a different kingdom, and I came here for a very good reason." Ruko tilts her head, "You're a princess?"
The white-haired teenager frowns and clomps towards the brown-haired girl. "I'm an heiress, not a princess! Can you not tell the difference between these two classes?!" she cried. Ruko stepped back from the teenager's shout; she bumped herself on the pillar. "Do you even know who I am?" the heiress asked again. "Um…no…" the middle schooler sheepishly replied. Weiss puts her face in her palm and sighs heavily, "Never mind…of course you would not know." Stepping back from the brown-haired student, Weiss flicks her ponytail from the back of her head and stands tall to regain her formal, yet somewhat haughty persona. "Since you are not the type of person who can fight, how about we offer a trade?" she suggested.
With a snap from her fingers, a briefcase that is attached to a parachute floats down from the sky. Weiss grabs the handle of the case before it can land on the ground and detached the clip of the parachute. "As a token of appreciation to forget this incident, I would like to present you something that will change your mind," the heiress says as she is about to open the case. Both Ruko and the Lrig leans forward to what is going to be inside of the briefcase, but neither of them are grinning. Weiss unlocks the clips of the briefcase and places her other arm under the case to prevent whatever is inside from falling out. She slowly opens it and reveals thirty-two belted stacks of plastic cards with a symbol of an "L" with two lines in each corner.
"I am going to give you away two hundred and fifty thousand Liens to keep this meeting a secret, just between the two of us," Weiss presents to the student, "With this amount of money, you can buy anything that you desire: clothing, sweets, books, or maybe it would be enough to afford for a new home in either Mantle or the Kingdom of Atlas. If you have decided to move to Atlas with your family, you can have comfortable lives, apply to better jobs, and you will never go hungry again." Ruko can only stare blankly at the Lien in the case while she listens to the white-haired teen's private presentation.
"Now here is the deal," Weiss continues as the brown-haired girl returned eye contact, "In order for me to deliver this much Lien to you, I would be most obliged if you would give the Lrig to me. Do so, and you will not remember about this matter and you are free to go home. So…are we in good terms?" Ruko looks down at the white Lrig in her bag pouch, who returns a curious look before they both turned to the white-haired swords girl. "I'm not allowed to take stuff from strangers," she said reluctantly. Weiss gives the school girl a straight face and closes the case. "How old are you?" she asked. "Fourteen," Ruko replied.
"Fourteen-year-olds should learn how to think or act for themselves," said Weiss, "If you are growing up to be a proper woman, you need to make a decision like this on your own if no one is tempting you to choose which option is acceptable." Listening to the heiress's advice, Ruko slowly lowers her head and stares at the Lrig, while the latter looks up at the middle schooler and does the same. "Now that you understand, do we have an agreement?" Weiss asked again with a small grin. From the blue bag pouch, the white Lrig starts to give the young human girl a troubled expression. The look on the small girl's face reflected on how Ruko thought about why her grandmother was worried about her, except that the Lrig feels that she is about to be betrayed.
Ruko thought that her grandmother would be upset if she accepts money from a person she has not met before. If she willingly did so, the Lrig would become emotionally hurt and heartbroken. With one long pause, Ruko gradually raises her head and starts to give out her answer. "I'm sorry," she responded while shaking her head, "But I can't accept it." The Lrig opens her mouth and smiles wider for the middle school girl's refusal of abandoning her. Weiss, on the other hand, was shocked to hear someone rejecting money for the first time. "What do you mean that you can't accept it?" she asked surprisingly, "Most people are eager enough of getting paid, but why can't you? Was there something that you wanted afford on your own? Didn't you want to move to a better place? Or is this because of that you never wanted to go outside of Mantle?"
Enduring the heiress's criticizing questions; Ruko picks up the white Lrig from her school bag and holds her to her chest. "If I did that, I would hurt both my Lrig and grandma," she gave out her reason, "She may want to do a card battle, but that doesn't mean she wants to be alone. Grandma always takes care of me and she is fine with living in an apartment. And even if I accept money from someone I don't know, she would be upset at me for doing so. I don't want to cause any trouble for you, but…" Ruko, while holding the Lrig, bows her head in front of the confused heiress, "…could you please let us go?"
Weiss could still not believe her ears that someone from the middle class can willingly take money. "You cannot be serious!" she spoke to herself in her mind, "How can one naïve simpleton like her not care about having money?" The white-haired teen immediately recovered from the shock and regained her strength of mind. "No, this is not the time to be thinking about trivial cases," she thought to herself, "If I want to attend to Beacon, I will refuse to admit losing to this girl. I'll just have to add some spice in order to convince her."
She snaps her fingers again and another suitcase falls from above, this time without a parachute. "I will give you three hundred thousand Liens instead, deal?" Weiss attempts to persuade her. Surprised at first, Ruko simply shook her head in refusal. "No, thank you," the middle schooler answered. Weiss scowls and snaps her fingers once more to summon another brief case of Lien, which landed on top of the previous one. "Three hundred and fifty thousand!" she cried. "No," Ruko replied again.
The white-haired heiress took out a switch from her pouch and pressed the red button. The wall behind her blew up and a large safe flew out of the explosion. "Four hundred thousand!" she interjected. "No way!" Ruko refused again. Fuming inside, Weiss turns the switch upside down and pressed the blue button under the red. The ground started to shake from below the girl's feet. This time, another safe that is twice as big as the one Weiss brought out earlier rose from the floor. She turned the knob of the second safe and opens it to reveal four golden bars. "Take four hundred and fifty thousand!" the heiress exclaimed. "I don't want anything! I just want to go home!" Ruko cried out loud. Running out of ideas, Weiss tosses the switch away and makes one more attempt by placing her palm out front, "Five hundred thou—"
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
Before she can finish her sentence, a loud growl came from someone's stomach. It didn't come from Ruko. The sound didn't come from the white Lrig this time. "RRRRRRRRRRRR!" Weiss embarrassedly covers her stomach and lowers herself to the ground. Ruko feels concerned about the heiress's wellbeing as the steps towards her. "Are you okay?" she asked. Weiss looks up at the middle school student with a scowl. "I am most certainly fine, thank you very much!" she answered back coldly.
Another gurgle from the white-haired teenager's belly made Weiss instantly dropped the haughty act and hides her flustered face. "I didn't eat anything since I have to start my search for that Lrig," she complained in her mind, "I came this close to get her, and now I am going to lose my sight on her. Just what am I going to do in a situation like this?"
Ruko wants to run away from the alleyway, but she does not want to leave Weiss all alone to starve. Deciding not to go back to her apartment yet, she gets closer to the white-haired teenager and asks, "Want to go to the cake shop with me?" Weiss slowly raises her head while trying to hold off her hunger. "Do they serve coffee there?" she asked weakly. Ruko simply nodded her head and answered, "Yup." The white heiress slowly raises herself up to recover from her stomachache. "Alright, we will have to call a temporary truce for now," said Weiss, "But that does not mean that we are friends, is that clear?" "Cake!" the white Lrig shouted excitedly. "I don't have any friends," said Ruko. Weiss puts her face on her palm as she groans from the middle school student's response. "Never mind," she sighed, "Lead the way." "Okay," the brown haired girl replied.
Ruko took Weiss's hand and they both start to walk out of the alleyway to head to the cake shop. "What about the brief cases and the safes?" the former asked. "Don't worry about that. My bodyguards will pick them up and repair the damage," the latter answered. The two girls continue to head out without saying another word. But shortly after a brief silence, it was Weiss's turn to move her mouth. "Why are you holding my hand, by the way?" she asked. "Because I thought you might get lost if you're still hungry," Ruko answered. The heiress shook her head from the awkward response from the middle schooler while walking. "Hey, that does not mean that you get to treat me like a child!" she retorted back. "Nyaaaah!" Weiss quickly turned to the white Lrig. "Not you," Weiss politely says to the small girl.
Outside of the ice barrier, people are becoming skeptical from the other side of the alleyway after hearing the loud noises. "What was going on back there?" asked a random man. "I have no idea, but it sounded like someone was trying to bribe a student," assumed another man. "I saw a girl walk through that alleyway, so maybe it might be true," said a woman. "Either that, or whoever was causing this mess would stoop to do something by force," the woman's husband remarked nervously.
On top of a building behind the crowd that is staring at the large block of ice, a girl with long purple hair that is tied to a ponytail and light greenish blue eyes watches the scene. She wore a ninja garb with fishnet upper sleeves, violet gloves attached to lower sleeves, a black armband around her left upper arm, an extended red scarf around her neck, black stockings that goes up to her thighs, and a belt with pouches full of scissors around her hips.
The kunoichi took out a mobile phone and taps on a specific phone number that is labeled in black. Putting the ringing phone close to her ear, the call is immediately picked up. "Did you find her?" the caller with a female voice asked. "Yeah, I did," the kunoichi affirmed, "That Schnee heiress girl is trying to trade off her money for the Lrig. It's a good thing the Selector keeps refusing the offers, otherwise the operation would be a mess." "Yes, it would be troubling if that bratty teen keeps on tailing her," said the caller in the phone, "We would have thought of killing off the son of a bitch of that snobbish CEO if he ever shows up."
While listening to her associate, the kunoichi looks up as if she was starting to have a cutesy, yet disturbing fantasy in her mind, "I don't know about that, but I was just thinking of what am I gonna do when I get my hands on that cute little Selector." Her face turns bright red out of pleasure and excitement to picture her inner fantasy. Before it can appear, a high pitched noise came into the kunoichi's right ear and she fell to the floor while dropping the phone. The sound from the phone stopped before the caller can speak again, "This is no time for having dirty imaginations, Takechi."
The purple haired kunoichi quickly recovers and picks up her mobile phone, "So, what now?" "Keep a close eye on the Selector and the heiress" her caller commanded, "If they start to fight each other, don't interfere. We need to bring the white Selector and her Lrig alive. The Schnee family is not of any interest to me." "And what if the bodyguards try to get in their way?" the killer asked. With a brief pause, the caller gives out her command in a dark, serious tone, "Kill them off. Don't spare a single soul." The kunoichi makes an evil smile when her order is given, "Got it." She hangs up her mobile phone, covers her face with the scarf, except for her eyes, and vanishes.
XXXXX
In the cake shop, the two girls sat in a table while the white Lrig sits on top of it. Ruko ordered a piece of strawberry cake and water, Weiss gets the same thing except with a cup of coffee, and the white Lrig eats a vanilla macaroon on a small plate. Weiss moves her eyes around the diner while eating. "So no one can see the Lrig but me and this girl," she said to herself mentally, "If the Lrig is part of a card game, then how come it's not in a card?" Weiss then turns her eyes to Ruko as she takes a sip from her coffee, "And this girl…what sort of lifestyle is she living in? Has she really not been outside of her hometown before? If so, then should I tell her what a huntsman is, or should I stay silent about it. I don't want to have someone like her to get involved in this mess I am going through."
Ruko feels uneasy about being stared at by the white haired heiress. "Are you sure you're okay? You're starting to freak me out," she said awkwardly. Weiss snapped back to reality after shaking her head. She took another bite from her cake and wipes off the bits from her lips. "If you are still curious about what a huntsman is, then I will tell you about them," Weiss told the student, "But I am going to inform you about them once, so pay close attention." Swallowing a small piece of cake, Ruko puts her fork down on the table to listen while the Lrig keeps eating her macaroon. Weiss clears her throat and begins to give out her explanation.
"A huntsman, or huntress, is a warrior that fights off monsters to uphold the peace of our world," Weiss enlightens them, "To become one, you must attend to a combat school in order to gain the experience of a fighter along with learning the sources of Aura and Dust. Additionally, students must craft their own weapons before they can head to the battlefield." Ruko took a glance at Weiss's weapon before making eye contact to the heiress. "You mean you made that sword by yourself?" she asked. "Of course," said Weiss, "However, unlike others, I trained myself in a facility under my manor." Both Ruko and the Lrig began to feel amazed as they listen. "If a student is capable of training on their own, then it would not be necessary to go to combat school," the heiress continues.
Weiss took out her Scroll and displays a map of the world to show them. "In the world of Remnant, there are four different Huntsman academies they can attend to once they either graduated from combat school or have the qualities of becoming one," she informs the middle schooler. Weiss points her finger at the top continent of the map, "On the continent of Solitas, we have Atlas Academy in the kingdom of Atlas. The combat school in Mantle used to be called Alsius, but due to the society of Atlsa building up, it was later renamed as Atlas Academy."
Taking her finger off of Atlas in the map, Weiss magnifies the image of the map and scrolls it from left to right. "For the other three current academies, we have Shade Academy in Vacuo, Beacon Academy in Vale, and Haven Academy of Mistral," the heiress told them. Among the three continents Weiss showed her, Ruko looks at a black landmass that is shaped like a dragon. "What about the one over there?" she asked as she points to it, "Does that place have a school in it?" Weiss flips the Scroll to herself to look at what the brown-haired girl was talking about. "I rather not talk about that one," the white haired teenager answered, "None of us actually went there before." She tucked her Scroll back into her dress before instructing Ruko more information.
"Before you can properly attend to the academy, each trainee should be at the age of seventeen and need to pass an entrance exam," Weiss continues again. Ruko took another bite from her cake while paying attention. "You mean like a writing exam?" she asked. The heiress turns her head away for a moment to think and shook her head. "No…but it could have been," she answered. The middle schooler is becoming even more intrigued by what Weiss is telling her about. "What sort of subjects do they teach?" she asked. Weiss counts on her fingers to remember what she can remember, "Well…aside from getting normal teachings from a regular school, there are Grimm studies, history, and of course, we will be doing some spar battles."
"Battle!" The two humans quickly turned to the white Lrig, who is jumping enthusiastically just for hearing that one word. "Battle! Battle!" Cocking one eyebrow, Weiss slowly turns to the middle schooler. "Does she always act like this?" the heiress asked bewilderingly. "I don't know," Ruko nervously answered, "My brother gave me the deck last night and that's the first word I heard from her this morning." Suddenly, a small vibration buzzes in the white haired teenager's dress. Weiss takes one last sip from her coffee and gets up from her chair. "Excuse me," she said.
Without pushing her chair in, Weiss walks away from the table Ruko is sitting in. She needs to find a quieter spot to make her call due to the amount of commotion from the customers in the cake shop. To do so, she walks through the narrow hallway and stops near a fire exit before taking out her Scroll. The caller who is ringing in Weiss's device shows no image but the caller ID that is labeled "FATHER". Weiss presses her thumb on the call button and puts her Scroll close to her.
"Did you find the Lrig?" her father asked from the small tablet. The white haired heiress slowly nodded her head and answered him back, "Yes, Father…I did." The CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, despite being in his office in the Schnee manor, lifts one eyebrow, wondering if his daughter has fully confirmed that she succeeded in the "task". "Do you have her in your hand?" the head of the Schnee family asked again. Weiss breathes heavily to come up with an answer, but anxiously decided to tell him the truth. "Actually, Father…the Lrig is not alone," she told him. "And how is that so?" Weiss's father asked once more.
Weiss walks to the corner of the hallway and pokes her head out. She sees Ruko playing with the Lrig as the latter is trying to get the small bit of strawberry cake from the fork. The heiress heads back to where the fire exit is at and continues her conversation with her father. "You see…there is this girl who is the only one who can see the Lrig other than me," she explains, "I'm guessing that she must be one of these 'Selectors' you mentioned before."
In the office, the businessman widens his eyebrows momentarily as he hears the news. He lowers his Scroll and turns around from his chair. "So this whole fiddle faddle about the Lrigs being real isn't a rumor after all," he muttered to himself quietly, "If Weiss is the first one to find this girl who found it, I'll have to make sure Sumireko or anyone of her retainers will never find out about what we were doing."
He turns back to the front of his desk and raises his Scroll next to his ear. "Was there anything else you learned about this girl when you first meet with her?" her father questions his daughter. Weiss sighs before she can communicate to him, "I tried to bribe her with money, but she refused to take it. She doesn't even know what is going on in this world. On the bright side, one of the guards has traced her footsteps to keep me in track before I can lose her."
As he listens, the head of the Schnee family feels unamused for hearing the first news Weiss gave him. "A simple commoner refusing to accept money?" he thought to himself, "This will not be ignored." He pauses and closes his eyes while he attempts to come up with a plan. After a short amount of time, the white businessman gradually opens his eyes and turns back to his Scroll.
"Do you know where this girl will be heading to after school?" he asked. "From the map that was given to me, she must be living in an apartment building," Weiss informed her father. He opened the drawer in his desk and took out a large map of the former capital of Mantle. "I just got myself an idea that will be helpful for you," he said. "What is it?" asked Weiss. The SDC president puts on a small grin before he can give out his advice to the heiress, "I want you to walk this girl to her apartment and make sure she brings the Lrig with her. Just pretend that you are now in good terms and forget about this whole incident that you caused."
In Weiss's position, she stood still in silence as she listens to her father's plan. "In other words, you want me to act…nice to this girl?" she uncomfortably assumed. "To put it that way, yes," the businessman replied before he can continue on, "When you get to the entrance of the building she is staying in…strike her down from behind."
Weiss shook her head and blinked before widening her eyes. W…wait a minute, Father!" she cried, "I can't use my sword to stab someone in the back! That's not how I do things!" "I never said anything about committing murder," her father corrected her, "What I mean is to render her to unconsciousness and bring her to your hotel room. Once you have done so, you can either check out to return home or you can stay in the hotel for a little longer. And on your way home, bring the girl and the Lrig with you."
Violence or abduction is never part of Weiss's approach of handling situation. She fears that if she has done either of these two options, it would tarnish the Schnee family name and shatter the company's trust. Feeling hesitant to take one of these drastic actions, Weiss needs to make a choice otherwise she will not be able to attend to Beacon Academy. "I'll try to take her home," she sighed reluctantly. "I knew you would listen," said Weiss's father. The heiress hangs up and walks to the girl's restroom before she can go through the hallway.
In the dark office, Weiss's father scrolls down on the "Contacts" folder on his Scroll and taps on a number. He took out an earpiece from his suit and wirelessly connects it to his Scroll to avoid anyone from listening to it on speaker. "Hello?" answered a male voice. "It's me," said the white businessman, "Head to a building that is close to the one my daughter will be taking that girl. If there is a problem, set up an ambush. We must capture her and the Lrig before the White Kingdom tries to stick their noses on our business."
Back in the cake shop, Weiss steps out of the bathroom after cleaning her hands. She stops at the corner where she peeked at Ruko while calling her father and backs herself against the wall. Before heading to table she was sitting in, Weiss took a deep breath to release the tense she had from the call and calms herself down. Putting on a friendly act before seeing Ruko, the white haired heiress finally leaves from the hallway. "Sorry about the wait," she said as she walks to the table, "I just had a call from my father. I was wondering if you can tell me about yourse—What the…?!"
Weiss's eyes widens as she sees herself talking to the empty table she was sitting in. Ruko and the white Lrig is nowhere to be found. The person behind the chair Ruko sat at turns around before facing the shocked heiress. "Oh, you mean the girl you were talking with? She just left. And she was able to pay for you before leaving," the customer told her. The jaw dropped heiress drops her head on her palm in disbelief. "Perfect…" she upsettingly muttered to herself, "Just perfect…"
XXXXX
Over a mile away from the cake shop, Ruko crosses the street to a walkway on the way to her apartment. While walking, she recalled from what she just learned from the white haired teenager. "Huntsman…academies…fighting monsters to uphold peace…I wonder what that would be like if I get old enough," the middle schooler spoke to herself. A tiny moan came from the white Lrig who is tucked inside of the school bag. Ruko looks down to the small girl with a small smile. "Don't worry. I may not be into this kind of thing," she told the Lrig, "I don't even want to hurt anybody." The middle school student turns her head forward and continues her stroll. "It's time to go home," she said to herself out loud, "Grandma might be worried about me."
After one long walk, Ruko is about several feet close to her apartment building. As she reaches her hand to the front door knob, a thought just came inside Ruko's mind. "Come to think of it, I forgot to ask her what a Selector is," she said to herself. The brown haired girl curiously looks down at the Lrig. "What about you?" she asked the small girl with white hair, "Do you know what a Selector is?" "Battle!" The Lrig could not understand anything but only speak out her favorite word. Ruko sighs as if she is on one is listening to her. She puts her hand on the door knob and turns it.
However, the door knob seems to not turn completely. Ruko keeps turning the handle left and right, but the door would not budge. "That's strange, the door knob wasn't locked when I left to school," she said. Ruko slowly raised her head and sees a black snowflake crest in a circle spinning around the door knob. "Wait…" the middle schooler muttered, "Didn't that come from…" She straightens herself up and turns around…only to see an irritated Weiss pointing her sword at her chest! "Eep!" Ruko yelped. "Battle!" cried the Lrig. "You really shouldn't have ditched me like that," the heiress said to the student crossly.
XXXXX
Elsewhere, a group of eighteen bodyguards gathered up in an alleyway that is twenty feet away from Ruko's apartment. The leader with the black mustache looks at his Scroll and sees Weiss pointing her weapon at Ruko in front of the building entrance. "Alright, we have located their current position," he said to himself out loud. Closing the Scroll and then tuck it in his jacket, he turns to his men. "Men, we must be sure the Miss Schnee will be able to succeed in capturing the girl," the leader gives out his orders, "If she is unable to do so, then Jacques—er, I mean, President Schnee wants us to surround the target and take her. Do not kill her, whatever you do. Uses stun bullets if you have to. Are we clear?" "Yes, sir!" the bodyguards yelled out.
Before they can do anything, the leader notices something amiss from behind the group. One bodyguard stood silent like a manikin with his mouth open. The rest of the bodyguards stepped away to clear a path for the leader to check as he walks towards him. "Leonard, are you listening?" he asked the speechless bodyguard. He sees a small red dot on the left edge of Leonard's mouth. The red dot grew bigger and formed a long line of blood dripping down his neck. The leader backs away in shock before Leonard collapse to the ground. Surprised, the guards saw something shiny on the back of the fallen bodyguard's neck. A large pair of metal shear pierced through the nape of the body, which would kill him in an instant.
"Everyone, spread out!" the leader alarmed them, "Don't let anyone see you!" They instantly took out their weapons and separate themselves into small pairs. Unfortunately, before they can disappear on sight, another pair of scissors flow passed two guards through their throats stopped the wall. One guard turns to the two collapsed men with slit throats, only to be stabbed in the back by a kukri thrown from midair. Three more men attempt to flee from the bloody chaos until they see numerous shadows grow wider on the ground. They looked up and a storm of blades fall from the sky, killing them in an instant.
Another guard came out of hiding while holding his fire arm forward and looks around the area near the rained down scissors covering the corpses. "Dammit!" he cursed angrily, "Where are you?!" Suddenly, he felt something puncturing through the stomach from behind. The brown skinned guard slowly turned his head to see who made the sneak attack. The attack did not come from a person, but a morphing blob of coming out of the dead bodies of the deceased men. "Oh, you have…got to…be…jok…ing…" the punctured guard lets out his dying breath from the surprise before the color of his eyes faded away.
The ten bodyguards, including the leader, were staggered from the atrocity they have seen while hiding. "The attacker is a Semblance wielder?!" cried the leader, "Then where is the attacker coming from?!" The guard looks around while staying behind the leader. He suddenly heard the sound of footsteps running to his ear. With his gun up, he looks around the alleyway left and right, but the attacker is not seen. The sound of running gets louder as the man keeps looking around. Before taking one step back, a metal blade fell from above and landed on his shoulder. The injured man fell to the ground and dropped his gun. Pulling the scissor out, the guard suddenly realized where the sound is coming from. The assailant is not running at them on ground, she is charging at them from… "Above!" the injured guard cried out.
The kunoichi dashes at the remaining Schnee employees on the wall, holding two giant pair of scissors in her grasp. "I think we found out who we are dealing with right now!" said the leader before turning to his men, "If anyone is injured, fall back immediately! Everyone else, fire when ready!" The nine undamaged bodyguards that are standing set their aim on the rushing assailant while the last one gets up on his feet and ran. While running down the wall, the kunoichi swings her weapons forward and the blades grew into larger saw-lake machetes. "Fire!" commanded the mustached man. They recklessly fired their bullets at the murderous attacker. With one arm, the kunoichi swings her machete horizontally to block and deflect every bullet that is coming at her.
Two repelled bullets pierced through one man's head, one went inside another's gun to explode in his hands, three more went through the leader's left shoulder, and four struck at a man's chest. The assailant jumps off of the wall and lands on the ground without any difficulty. The five remaining guards who are still standing throw down their firearms and took out their blades instead. They cautiously surround her to keep their distance away from her machetes. One guard jumps at her from behind, but the ninja proves to be swifter. She swings her left arm with great force and the man is cut in half. "That's one…" the kunoichi counted. The second on her right runs at her, only to be stabbed through instead. "Two…"
A blade is thrown by the third, but the kunoichi threw the giant sword with the body at him. The machete did not hit the flying blade, but she is able to catch it while the bigger blade impaled him. "Three…" The two other men swing their short swords towards her when she seemingly drops her guard. She turns and dodges to the side to avoid the attack and throws the guards blade at one's eye. "Four…" The kunoichi blocks the fifth man's blade with the machete in her right hand and parries it out of his hand and vertically severs him in half. "Five…"
She walks to the bloodied machete she has thrown at the third bodyguard, pulls it out of the two dead bodies, and swings it down to clean out the blood. Shortly after retrieving one of her weapons back, the kunoichi turns to the suited man whose hands are burned from the clogged gun. As she steps forward to the unarmed bodyguard, she clanged the blade handles together and the large machetes fused into a giant pair of pincer blades. Unable to move due to the massacre of his deceased colleagues he witnessed, his body only trembled out of fear as the teeth of the shears are close to his neck. Beneath the long red scarf hiding her face, the assassin sports a wide evil grin. "…And that's six." Under the combined handles of the fused machetes is a hidden trigger that connects to the blades. With one finger, the assassin pulled it and the teeth of the blades meet in a split second, decapitating the man.
The leader, sitting back against a wall while holding his wounded shoulder, breathes heavily after having watched his men killed with his two eyes. He stares at the armband the kunoichi is wearing as she starts to move towards him. "I remember you now," he says wearily as he almost limps to his right, "The authority is after your head ever since you killed over twenty seven women and children."
"Over twenty nine, actually," the female attacker corrected the bodyguard before stopping in front of him, "I just couldn't help myself into enjoying the pleasure of stabbing and chopping people one-by-one. Ah, and even if I continue to commit one or more kills, all I left behind is nothing but a bloody mess that stains all over the wall and furniture." The kunoichi's face went red while putting her hands on her cheeks, as if she is having a crude imagination of motivating herself, physically and sexually. The disgusted head of the bodyguards glared at her after listening to the venomous words that is coming out of her mouth. "You can keep talking, lady," he snarled, "Even if you killed most of us, there will still be more to hunt a monster from the Black Kingdom, like you, down! Do you understand…Otoya Takechi?!"
The serial killer puts down her weapons and loosens her scarf to uncover her face. "Oh, so you figured out who I am, eh?" Takechi teased with the wounded man, "This is actually the first time that I have a man know my real name." The black mustached man gradually stood back up as he leans his bleeding arm to the wall. "We've heard about the several cases that involved the serial killer known as 'Jack the Ripper," he said faintly, "I thought it would be a man at first, but I never would have thought the murder would be a teenaged girl." The ponytailed assassin grew more enthusiastic from the comment she was given from. "Oh, flattery will get you know where," she said playfully, "It's sometimes natural that a boy and a girl can share the same name."
Takechi's personality swiftly changed from energetic to threatening as she flash steps towards the wounded leader and pointed one of her shears at his throat. "Now that we can put this little chit chat aside, I think it's about time to answer what I'm about to ask you," the murderous girl speaks darkly while grinning. Almost unfazed from the intimidation, the leader of the bodyguards breathes slowly before he can talk. "And what would that be?" he asked weakly. "Tell me, why did your boss send his spoiled teenage daughter to find the Lrig sleeping in Mantle?" Takechi stated her question. "President Jacques wanted his daughter to find it for herself; otherwise she will never be permitted to attend to Beacon Academy," the leader informed her firmly.
While pointing the tip of the scissors at the man's neck, Takechi turns her head away for the moment and recollects the information she has gathered up. "So old Jack Frost unintentionally wanted his little girl to be a Selector, eh?" she talked to herself slyly, "That would probably make up a rather tragic ending for someone like her." The ponytailed murderer returns her attention to the bleeding bodyguard while putting on an affable façade. "Well, thank you for the info you just told me, mister…whoever you are doesn't matter to me," said Takechi, "Now that we learned about Jack's little operation he gave to his princess, guess that means we're done with you." Breathing slowly, the leader could not make another move with the sharp tip of the scissors close to his throat. "What are you going to do…kill me the same way you did to your victims?" he asked hoarsely.
The serial killer stills smiles at the man before bringing him to death's door, "Now, if I were to kill a girl or woman, I would take my time killing them, bit by bit by itsy-bitsy little bits." Takechi's jovial mask instantly dropped into a more sinister and sadistic nature as her dark smile grew wider. "But if you're a man…" she resumes talking to him for the final time, "I only make their deaths quick…and painless!" With one fast swipe at the windpipe, bloods spurts out from the now deceased bodyguard's throat and he drops to the ground.
Takechi lowers herself to the body and reaches into his pocket to take out his Scroll. The communication device shows the minimized map of Mantle, with a small flashing red spot in front of a human icon and a building. She taps her thumb on the red dot and an image of the individual appears on the screen. The dot was not indicating Ruko…it was tracking on Weiss. "Looks like Jack Frost must have told one of his guard buddies to put a chip in his Frosty Princess's clothing," Takechi talked to herself as she puts the Scroll in her lower sleeve, "I'll have to report to Ulith about this and find the Selector before more of these guys show up." Before leaving, she heard something dropped on the floor from a distance nearby. The murderer quickly turns around to where the sound came from and finds out who the witness is.
It was a young girl with white hair tied to a straight ponytail, grey eyes, and a visible scar over her left eye. She wore a black dress with a white apron over it and a white band on her head, which is a full attire of a maid. The maid is heavily shocked from looking upon the aftermath of the killing that happened recently. Takechi raised her eyebrows as her enthusiasm grew back upon looking at the scared maid for the first time.
"Oooh, a maid! I always wanted to play with a maid!" she cried excitedly. The purple haired assassin points her shears at the white haired maid and the blood formed from the corpses merged into a gigantic spider web that is sticking the alleyway. A hand launches itself out of the web like a grappling hook and grabs the maid by the collar before she can get away. The people around her were surprised in horror as they watch her get dragged away from the sidewalk.
Before some of them can foolishly rush through the alley to find out what is going to happen… "Ah-ah, no peeking!" said Takechi. She stabs one of her machetes to the ground and the blood that did not grabbed the maid melted into a puddle. The blood crawls around the killer until it stops before it can reach the sunlight. A mast made out of blood rose from the puddle to the edges of the roofs and hardens itself as if it resembles a brick wall. No one can see through and no one can climb up, the citizens looked at each other in anxiety and scattered around.
With the noise of screaming people dying down, Takechi pulls her machete out of the ground and sheathes it away. "Finally, some peace and privacy…" she said to herself in relief. She turns to the frightened maid, who is bounded and gagged by her blood. As the serial killer steps towards the white haired girl, she sees a wallet that was fallen out of her dress. Takechi picks up the wallet and opens it to take the I.D. card out instead of her money.
"Mahiru Banba, Age: 15," she read the card out loud, "Orphaned at a young age along with her elder twin sister, Shinya, broke free from an abandoned photo booth run by their incestuous uncle…ugh, that's sick…former thief and murderer who were struggling to survive, currently the youngest maid of the Hanabusa family, and one of the two personal retainers of Hanabusa Financial Clique heiress and White Queen…Sumireko Hanabusa."
Tossing the I.D. card and wallet aside, Takechi took two pairs of scissors out of her belt as she closes in on the tied up Mahiru. "So, you're one of the White Queen's retainer's eh?" she intimidated the maid with another fun-loving act, "Let's have some fun…shall we?" The black irises in Takechi's eyes shrank with thin black lines appearing in the pupils. Takechi lowers herself close to her immobilized victim and leans towards her while opening and closing her scissors repeatedly. While the assassin closes in, Mahiru can do nothing but scream out inaudible cries from her gagged mouth.
*Note: For those who are reading this, I do not own Wixoss, RWBY, and Riddle Story of Devil. All of these works belong to their respective creators.
**In case you are wondering, Takechi likes to call some people by nicknames since she called Haru "Haruchi." And the reason why Takechi called Jacques (Gelé) Schnee "Jack Frost" is because he is notably based on that being.
***This is perhaps one of the longest chapters I have written currently. I will work on the next chapter now.