December 9th

Schnee Family Manor

City of Atlas

United Kingdom of Atlas

3:21 PM

"If you won't tell me why you married my sister, at least let me see my niece. Come on, she's my niece!" Emmett sighed as he tried to be reasonable. "You let me train and spend time with her, so why is just talking with her any different? You can be so –"

"You really do have a terrible command of language, don't you Emmett?" Irritation swept across Jacques's expression as he narrowed his gaze at his brother in law.

Emmett sighed again. "Please?"

Jacques glared. "Why would I want to let you anywhere near her outside of training when you're the reason she acts out in the first place?"

"Acts out?" Emmett stared at him in confusion.

"She argues with me, for one," Jacques said, his irritation only clearer. "And she's neglected her duties as heiress before Willow and I decided we'd have someone to take her place."

Emmett stared at him in horror. "Do you even love her? She's your daughter –"

"I don't have time for this," Jacques snapped. "And I'm not going to let you see her."

"Then tell me the truth," He said simply. "Why did you marry my sister?"

Jacques narrowed his eyes. "Willow is beautiful, graceful, kind hearted, charming, eloquent, and willing to do anything for her family –"

"Cut the pretense. Do you love her?" Emmett raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms. "Well do you?"

"What…" Jacques stared. "Whatever do you mean?"

Looking at the man as if he was a complete and utter dolt, Emmett repeated himself. "Do you love her?"

"Emmett, does anyone actually marry for love?" Jacques asked, struggling to hide his thoughts from the man in front of him.

Emmett's horrified look only increased at the acknowledgement. "So, you don't love her?"

Grasping Emmett's shoulder harshly, Jacques's voice lowered to a deadly whisper. "I may find your sister charming amongst other things, but love is not one of them."

"Then why the hell would you marry her?" Emmett asked with same tone as Jacques's in voice. "Why the hell would you do that if you didn't love her?"

"Ashlynn would never have agreed to marry me even though I was in love with her at the time," Jacques informed him "I've grown to care a great deal for Willow, but I only married her for her fortune."

Emmett shook his head sadly. "You're a snake."

"That is completely irrelevant," Jacques replied. "My point to you, Emmett, is, and let me reiterate it now that I've answered your question, that I am not letting you anywhere near -"

He trailed off upon Emmett reaching into his sinfully large bag and pulling out some eggs and mayonnaise from within it. It took Jacques far longer to realize his own daughter had stepped out of her room to see what the commotion was about.

"Sorry," Emmett said, having noticed his niece and not wanting her to be forced to hear their argument so young.

Emmett tried to take down the eggshells and mayonnaise as if it were two cent whisky but ended up gagging and puking into a plastic plant. As it happened, this was much to the disgust of his brother in law, the amusement of Klein, and concern from Winter.

"Emmett?" Winter looked at him worriedly. "Where are you going? I thought we were going to -"

"Not today, change of plans." Placing a hand on her shoulder while her face changed from worry to confusion. "Listen to me, Winter, listen to me…"

"Are you sure you don't need something?" Klein resisted the urge to snicker. "Perhaps a towel?"

"Or medication…" Jacques remarked under his breath.

"Don't…" Emmett finally stopped gagging and sent his niece a pointed look. "Don't be like me."

Though she didn't quite understand, Winter nodded. "Okay." She said simply, however perplexed by her uncle's behavior.

Emmett pulled her into a quick hug before running out and hoping he wouldn't puke again. "Make me proud, pipsqueak." He called back.

December 16th

City of Atlas

1:34 PM

Why is he not here yet? Why aren't any of them here yet? Ciel, Schnee? Where in the world are they?

Cinder had been wandering for days. Salem had sent her back to Atlas to, as she put it, keep an eye Emmett Schnee and, more importantly, the Ciel family. Emmett Schnee. That was who he was now, not her brother. A now-workaday man who had been of a status far above that since the day he was born. The no sympathy strategy was working. Now all she saw in her former family were their flaws. In Emmett, she saw an entitled brat who had received everything he had ever wanted yet was at odds with one of the richest men in Remnant. Jacques was that man, without even having to do anything for it but marry well. In Willow, she saw a weak woman who resorted to reclusiveness to deal with her marriage. In Cristal, she saw a spiteful, rising prosecutor. In Winter, she saw a girl who could easily be brought over to their side. Easily manipulated.

But, for the moment, Salem had her in Atlas to spy primarily on the Ciels. She wasn't going to take the risk of the Emmeline recognizing her, but more concerningly Emmett, so she was in reasonable disguise. Her dark hair was up in a high bun, her amber eyes concealed by grey contacts. Her lips were a deep, rosy pink and she was dressed in black wedges, silver grey pants, and a dark blue shirt mostly covered by a black trench coat. Her weapon was concealed under her coat alongside some Dust in the pockets. She looked to be a polished, high class Atlesian woman which, naturally, meant that people were going to leave her alone. As she walked down the streets with her hands in her pockets, she got a strong sense of deja vu. It was more than foreign. This was where she was born and raised, but it was also the opposite of that place. She hated the feeling of being back where she was from more than anything.

This wasn't her kingdom anymore. It was the kingdom where the people put faith in one a council and academy with more power than most armies. That went double for the fact that they had the only standing military in Remnant at that. She found her anger boiling to the surface as she thought of how they all chose to work with a system she knew was broken. It pissed her off that Ronnie Ciel wasn't allowed to be assassinated yet. Salem had several rules for that, one of which was that any of the Ciels had to be assassinated on the same day and at the same time as their father. Another was that it had to be the right time. The people needed to feel safe, and right now they didn't. Cinder privately doubted that the people would ever feel safe and, instead, believed that more and more of them in Atlas were going to become more and more loathing of those that threatened or continued to threaten their perception of peace.

For this day, however, her luck changed.

Cinder dug her hands further into her pockets as she observed Emmeline Ciel and Emmett Schnee on the other side of the road as they walked. His arm was around her waist, and she was leaning in towards him. Against her will, a stroke of jealousy went through to her heart. She fought back the pain, the tears, everything that was hurting her. It was all her fighting against her nature and who she was. The world was cold, unforgiving and she knew that. Everything about this place was reminding her of the woman she had once been. And that was damn near unbearable.

Focus yourself, remember what you're after. She reminded herself. Sympathy won't get you power, and that is exactly what you are after.

Moving over to the side of the road that Emmett and Ciel were on, she intentionally gave off the appearance that she was lost in her thoughts. She wasn't above giving the appearance of clumsiness of a girl lost in her own mind in turn gave her the opportunity to bump into him. Quite literally, at that. As they got closer, she began to move discreetly to the side until she rammed suddenly into him and fell over. Releasing his arm from around the Ciel, Emmett reached his hand out towards her to help her off of the ground. Having hit the ground hard, Cinder attempted to look like she was fixing her clothes and brushing off her jacket as she took his hand hesitantly.

"Sorry about that, are you alright?" Emmett asked once she was back on her feet.

Looking at him in the eye with a flash of jealousy as she noticed Ciel, she chose to nod. "Yes, but…wait aren't you Emmett Schnee?" Choosing to play dumb, Cinder smiled like an idiot which caused Emmeline to raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm Emmett Schnee, why?" He confirmed with a question attached to the response as he looked to Emmeline with the same confusion that she was looking at Cinder with.

"Oh… it's just you looked familiar and the white hair…" Continuing the dumb act, she tried to act like she had never seen him before and was a normal, klutzy, woman.

"You know," He said as Emmeline narrowed her eyes while examining Cinder's face. "I feel like I've seen your face before...except your eyes are grey, not amber and -"

"Of course my eyes aren't amber," Cinder snapped far too quickly. "I mean...sorry to bother you."

Running off as fast as she could, Cinder tried to not drive any further suspicions from either him nor Ciel. Salem had informed her weeks ago of the now-official investigation into the whereabouts of Ashlynn Schnee. That was another part of why she was in Atlas. It was a test of not only her will, but of her subterfuge and disguise. After all, it would ruin the plans that she and the Queen were making if people still recognized her in disguise. Thankfully, it seemed like they were fooled. For now. Besides, the Ciels were starting to be known not only for their skill but for paranoia. They might be smart, and they might be powerful, but none of them were infallible. Because, to be realistic, who was going to take the Ciels seriously the minute they started talking about how their father had been killed by the woman who had been considered dead for months?

December 20th

City Of Vale

Vale

Downtown

11:19 AM

The cool December air flowed fairly statically through the city of Vale. Though it wasn't always easy for the two of them to get time alone together, today they had managed it. Things were looking good for them right now. The girls were doing well, their jobs were both steady, and it seemed as if things were finally starting to turn around. There had been the odd moment at the faculty holiday party at Beacon when Devin, one of Glynda's coworkers, told them the story of her job before she became the assistant to Professor Peach. James had stared at her in disbelief when the twenty-nine year old woman told them all about how she had been in the circus to pay for her degree, and that it had involved being dressed as a clown and eating disgusting meats while people tried to guess her credit score. Ozpin had turned around in shock while Cristal had recoiled at the notion and seemed to hope that the woman had been joking.

The truth was that stories of that degree were typical for Devin. She was an odd woman, to say the very least.

"It's a good thing that Emmett agreed to watch the girls today since he's in town for the next few weeks." With her hand in James's, Glynda leaned over on to him slightly as they walked through the city of Vale. "It's just the two of us right now."

Curling a finger around her bangs, he smiled. "And we'll get to have some more alone time later."

"I'm looking forward to it," Glynda said, kissing his cheek. "Hopefully the girls will be alright."

"They will be. It's not as if Emmett would let anything happen," He pulled her in close before the two of them began to walk again. "I love you so much."

Squeezing his hand, she smiled. "I love you too."

"Speaking of Emmett, though, how do you think he's holding up?" He asked with a bit of amusement in his voice.

"I don't know; hopefully alright. Has he ever really dealt with babies before?" Glynda asked although they both knew that he hadn't.

"Wasn't he ten when Winter was born?"

"I think so…he only started training her recently though. At least they've grown close enough over the years that she trusts him," Pulling out her key to the building, Glynda sighed as she let them in. "Apparently things didn't go well when he was there the other day."

"What happened?" James asked, trying not to imagine the things Emmett could have said or done.

"He didn't say. I was planning on asking him though." Glynda smiled as he squeezed her hand.

As she let them back into the apartment, she was relieved to see that the place was still standing and that nothing was wrong. Emmett had set up multiple pillows and blankets on the floor of the living room. The girls were both laying on them and rolling around a little. Caitlin had her bear in her arms while Ivy was laughing as Emmett tickled her tiny, bare toes. Placing down her bag and taking off her shoes, Glynda couldn't have stopped herself from smiling even if she had wanted to. The girls were happy, everything seemed to be alright, and Emmett had not gone up in flames by some miracle. James wrapped a loving arm around his wife as they came over towards Emmett and the girls. It was all so nice to see that things didn't seem dark even though they all knew how the world of Remnant really was. After all, they fought against the darkness.

And of all the people in this room, that goes double for you and Emmett. Glynda thought bitterly in spite of how beautiful the moment was. Salem and the people who work for her.

"Seriously, your kids are so sweet," Emmett said as he continued to play with Ivy who was giggling. "I mean, Caitlin seems to mainly want to be left alone but she's been pretty placid. Unless she's rolled onto her stomach and forgotten how to roll back or if I try to hold her the wrong way."

"She hates being on her stomach," James said as his wife picked up their little girl and held her close. "But she does love being held." Observing the relaxed smile on the little girl's face as he gently kissed his wife on the cheek, James felt confident that he was right.

"She's a feisty baby," Emmett chuckled. "I tried to put a cute headband I brought on her and she chucked it away. Seems like she's already got the innate Atlesian desire to tell the rest of the world to go fuck itself."

Glynda rolled her eyes. "Are you really going to go there?"

"I don't need to nor want to…but I can," Emmett said, putting his hands up in surrender. "Believe me, I could but I don't think the two of you want to hear it or, maybe, about me and Emmeline and -"

"No," Glynda told him, her eyes going sharp. "Let's just agree to not talk about each other's sex lives, okay?"

"Okay," Emmett agreed, his face falling slightly when he noticed the look Glynda and James shared. "What's going on? Did something -"

He cut himself off, realizing exactly what they were waiting for him to tell them. Sighing deeply as he rubbed the back of his neck, Emmett hesitated before responding.

"This is about my family?" He surmised and she nodded. Emmett sighed heavily and then shook his head. "You know how there's always been something that wasn't quite…right about Willow and Jacques' relationship, right?"

Glynda raised an eyebrow. "How does that –"

"I got into an argument with Jacques because he seems to think that I'm a bad influence on my niece…for some reason," Emmett sighed again, looking a bit dismayed. "We argued, I finally demanded to know if he loves my sister -"

She shook her head. "Wait…what?"

"He's convinced I'm nothing but trouble," He repeated. "And then it came back around to asking him why he married my sister."

"That was what you were arguing about?" Both Glynda and James were incredulous at that assertion. "Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm not. I've hated the man since I realized back in year eight when I was fourteen what kind of snake he is, in large part because of Cristal." Emmett breathed in irritation before continuing. "I know that my sister has had a…potentially unfair influence over me because of how close we are but he still admitted to me that the only reason he married her was because he couldn't have Ash and because he wanted the family fortune."

"I hate saying this," Glynda sent Emmett a sharp look as she continued to gently sway her cooing daughter in her arms. "But are you at all surprised by that?"

"No," He scoffed, feeling irritated that he hadn't pointed it out to Jacques before he forced him to tell him. "Of course I'm not surprised. The man's a snake, and I've known that for a long time."

"What I don't understand is how this all ties back to Winter," James reminded him of his original point. "I don't think you've explained that at all -"

"She came into the hall and I honestly don't know how much she heard but she's too damn young to have to deal with something like this…so I tried in vain to bridge it away and…let's just leave it at that, okay?" Emmett began to break down as tears swept out of his eyes. "I couldn't believe it for a long time myself. And, really, no one should have to suffer in the way that she has. A child shouldn't have to question whether or not their parents love them. That's part of why your girls are so lucky."

"Emmett…" Glynda said gently.

"I hate that things have to be this way in my family, I really do." Emmett sighed heavily as he picked up his bag and made his way out the door. "We'll talk later, okay?"

Making his way out quickly, Glynda knew from his look that he wasn't just talking about her and James. He was talking about their meeting with Ozpin set for January 2nd. Emmeline and Emmett both claimed to have an idea of what actually happened to his sister. But if any of them were being honest, none of them wanted to know the answer to that.