I don't own RWBY
Content warning for the topic of detransitioning, and all of the usual content warnings for any chapter with Jacques Schnee in it.
Weiss felt as though she was dreaming as the doorway to her father's house loomed over her. It was like a nightmare that she couldn't wake up from, though she desperately wished she could at the moment. She once again saw the cold, lifeless halls of the Schnee household entomb her, and the door closed behind her.
"You're in luck, after all, I'm feeling a bit generous, at the moment," Jacques said. "I'm willing to let you start over with a fresh slate. I will allow this once, and only once. You can have your room and bed back. Your door will remain off for now, but you may earn it back with time. As for now, you're to shower and get that disgusting face paint off. You're to throw away that wig, as well."
"They're extensions," Weiss muttered, defeated. "It'll take a moment, but I'll take them out."
"Good. You are to shower, and then get to work. I've gathered resources for you to study, as before. If you work hard enough, you still may be able to work with Whitley when he inherits the family company."
"Yes, father," Weiss sighed, heading down the hallway. She wished she could fight like she used to against him, but everything had been spinning around her so fast that she felt helpless, knowing he would get his way. She didn't have the energy to argue with him, and at this point in time she didn't care. She closed the bathroom door, looking up at the mirror.
The Weiss Schnee that stared back finally seemed like someone she could feel confident in. She had stared into this mirror thousands of times before, loathing what looked back. This was the first time she had ever looked into this specific one and not felt gross and wrong.
All she saw before her now was a sad, tired girl. She turned on the water, giving it some time to warm up, as she ran her fingers through her extensions for the last time, knowing she'd once again be forced into short hair she hated. Steam began to fill the room as she removed hair extension after hair extension. Her father had left a bottle of Winter's makeup remover on the counter. She washed off her immaculate, precise makeup she had slaved away on that morning, and stepped into the warm water.
The streams hitting her back should have felt warm, but now they just felt... there. Weiss adjusted the heat, turning it hotter, and hotter. Finally, she found a point she was happy with, as the water became scalding. It felt like lava washing over her. She let herself cry without restraint now that the noisy shower masked all noises. She curled up in the bathtub, burying her head in her arms and knees, and wailed.
It's not fair! I've been fighting for so long just to be able to be myself and I'd finally started to make it! It's not fair!
Weiss felt herself whispering those words as she sobbed.
"It's not fair," she mourned, feeling that creeping misery latching onto her mind. It felt as though her soul was drowning in a dark, endless sea.
If my friends were here, they'd at least do something to help, right? Or do they hate me for leaving? I've lost them, forever. I've lost everything, forever.
Weiss' hair, without the extensions, had grown at this point to roughly match Ruby's hair length. Weiss carefully gelled, doing everything she could to tediously mask the hair as a short hairstyle. She knew that if it grew any longer, she wouldn't likely be able to hide its length, but she was able to get it to work for now. She was damned if she was going to let Jacques take her hair, too. It was the one thing she still felt like she could cling to.
She cringed with all of her being as she threw away the hair extensions, holding back tears. She looked up at the mirror and felt the last nail in the coffin of her defeated thoughts nail home. She no longer recognized who looked back. She stared, unable to look away, at the mask she had once again been forced to wear. It was as though everything she'd done to make progress since Winter found out she was trans had just regressed back to that point. Blake, Yang, and Ruby were as far away as possible, she once again looked like an older twin of Whitley, and once again, she was trapped in this house. And now Winter wouldn't be here to save her.
She opened the door and returned to the rest of the house, feeling almost hollow.
"Much better," Jacques said, from down the hallway. "Now, it's time that you get reacquainted with your busywork."
Weiss nodded, as they stepped into her room. It lacked any emotion or expression, which Weiss felt was honestly fitting with how she herself felt at the moment. The only unique thing in the room was Myrtenaster, still on display. Weiss took a seat at her desk and sighed, getting started on the onslaught of work.
"As I'm sure you're aware, Taylor High, effective immediately, will have staff members dedicated to ensuring that the school behaves reasonably," Jacques had explained, hours later. "So I'd like to make sure you understand before you return to the school, before you get any ideas. This staff also reports to me. And they'll be ensuring that if you violate any of the terms of our agreement, I'm made aware. One word, to any of those 'friends', and it's off to Chronos Academy."
Weiss mulled over this threat as she walked to the bus stop, which was an unusual feeling after about a month of walking to school daily with Ruby and Yang.
"Weiss!" Blake called, snapping her out of her thoughts, as she came close to the bus stop. Blake stood, wearing her sweater that Weiss had gotten her, and a beanie. She stared at Weiss, her eyes larger than life, and slightly teary. "What happened?"
Weiss sighed, sitting down on the rock by the bus stop.
"I'm no longer permitted to speak to you, Ruby, or Yang," Weiss said.
"So what?" Blake asked, sitting by her. "Screw that, what is he going to do?"
"If he finds out, he's sending me to an all boys boarding school," Weiss said, looking at Blake. "I don't know what to do, Blake."
"Why did you go with him?" Blake asked. Weiss recoiled, terrified to put her reason into words. She knew that the moment Blake realized Weiss had put her family in danger, Blake would be livid, and they'd be back to the relationship they'd had before Blake knew who Weiss really was.
"Father is more politically and legally powerful than we thought, Blake," Weiss muttered. "If I fight against him, it won't just be me getting hurt."
"What do you mean? I don't understand, Weiss," Blake said. "You're my girlfriend, and I'm not just giving you up because your sleazebag of a father wants me to. Give me more credit than that, please."
"Blake," Weiss sighed, burying her face in her hands. "He's going to sue you and your family. And Ruby, Yang, and Taiyang. And Winter. He's going to sue them all for every penny they own. He will put you all on the street without a second thought. That's why I went with him. It was the only way to stop him."
Blake's eyes went wide, full of surprise.
"That... doesn't make sense. What would he be able to sue us for?" Blake asked.
"Well, right now, he would be suing you for aiding a runaway, and some garbage about undermining his legal authority as my parent. It doesn't matter, though. He doesn't need a real reason. You saw the court case. He can find the most minor possible reason to sue and turn it into something absurd. He blackmailed and bribed the jury, that's how he got a unanimous victory. And with Cordovin in the courtroom, the blackmail and bribery is more of insurance. Cordovin is good enough at her job that he could probably win even without taking those steps. Your families wouldn't stand a chance. I can't do that to you," Weiss said, unable to face Blake.
Blake sat in stunned silence for several seconds, and Weiss rested her forehead on her palms.
"I'm sorry, Blake," Weiss said. "But it's over. He's won. That's checkmate."
"Forget that," Blake objected, angrily. "I told you I'd run away with you if I had to and I meant it."
"You know that won't stop him from destroying everything your family has," Weiss said. "And even if we could protect them, I still couldn't do it to Yang and Ruby's family, not after everything they did for me. And Winter... she's been through enough because of me."
"Weiss, stop," Blake snapped. "Do you think for even a second that any of us would rather you be stuck there, at your abusive ass of a father's house, than put up a fight? Come back to us. Winter made the decisions she made because she's your older sister and she's going to protect you. Yang and Ruby got you a place to stay to protect you. That protection doesn't just stop because your father flexed a muscle."
"I don't care," Weiss said, standing as the bus came into view. "I'm not putting any of you in the path of his wrath. I wouldn't put even a single one of you into that."
"Weiss, we can decide what's best for us, not you," Blake said. "And I want my girlfriend back, damn the consequences."
"You can't possibly think you can take him," Weiss said.
"I don't. We've been in rough patches before, we'll figure out how to get through this one," Blake said.
"Just let me go," Weiss pleaded. "Don't throw away your life for me."
"You don't get to say that," Blake said, as they stepped onto the bus. "Not when you're trying to do that exact same thing for us."
"It's math, Blake. Either seven people can have their lives destroyed to help me, or I can take the bullet for them. It's an easy equation," Weiss muttered, taking a seat.
"You're acting like we're any better off without you," Blake whispered. "You're my best friend, my girlfriend, I made a commitment, that means that I'll ride through whatever storms come our way."
"Weiss," Nora interrupted, for once lacking her usual cheery atmosphere. "I heard the hearing went through. What happened?"
"Taylor High lost," Weiss sighed. "And Officer Qrow lost his job."
Nora hung her head, apologetically.
"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" Nora asked.
"I... I'm going to have to figure that out for myself. I appreciate your concern, but I'm going to need some space if that's alright," Weiss said. Nora solemnly nodded.
"I'm here for you, we all are," she said. Neon nodded in agreement, next to her.
Weiss gave a weak smile of thanks, before looking to the window.
"Weiss," Blake said, desperately. "Please, don't shut me out. I can tell you need me, and I honestly need you too. I saw how scared you were yesterday, when you ran out of the courthouse. I know it's not what you wanted. Please let me fix this."
"You can't," Weiss angrily said. "No one can fix this, except for my father. And he won't."
Blake buried her face in her hands, frustrated. She sat in silence as they grew closer and closer to the school.
Ruby was waiting for them outside of the bus when they stepped off. Her face showed only concern as she rushed over to Weiss.
"Weiss! Are you okay? What happened?" Ruby asked, at the speed of light. Weiss took a deep breath, bracing herself to explain again.
"Ruby," Blake cut in before Weiss could speak. "Weiss can't be around us at school anymore. I'll explain everything in the cafeteria."
"What?" Ruby asked, as Weiss began to separate herself from the two of them. "Why not?"
"I'm not happy about it either, but it's for her own safety," Blake sighed. Unfortunately, before Weiss could get too far, she caught sight of the fiery blonde storming towards her. She had seen Yang angry before. She had even seen Yang angry at her before. But this was unlike anything she'd ever seen. Yang's lips seemed to be pressed tightly enough together to crush diamonds, and her eyes held the fiercest inferno Weiss had ever seen. Blake and Ruby also quickly noticed Yang's approach. "Oh, no," Blake sighed.
"You have some explaining to do," Yang spat, coming face to face with Weiss and stopping her in her tracks, making it clear that she wasn't letting Weiss pass until she was satisfied with their conversation. Weiss couldn't help but think to herself that Yang would make an impressive bouncer.
"Yang, I'm sorry, but I can't," Weiss said. "Please, don't make this harder."
"We're past that," Yang growled, towering over her. "One, you're supposed to be my best friend. I've had people come and go, leaving no real impact. I've had best friends before, and it never really felt meaningful. You're the only time I've had a best friend that I felt like I could trust, like we'd stick together through anything! And you just tried to throw that away and leave, just like so many others! You don't get to just abandon me without an explanation. Two, and more importantly, I've seen Blake struggle to be able to trust someone with her heart for years. Then you came along, and I've actually seen her smile now! You made a commitment when you asked her out, and of all the things that I thought you'd do, I never thought you'd just leave her like that! If I'd known when you first told me how you felt about her that you'd just leave when things got tough, I'd have told you to stay the hell away from her. Third, and again more importantly, you've been miserable for years. When you became our friend, it seemed like all that changed. You owe it to your own goddamn self to do what's good for you, emotionally. We both know Jacques Schnee holds nothing good for you, and he never will! And finally, most importantly, you weren't just my best friend. You were Ruby's. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let someone just throw her away like that. You don't do that to my little fucking sister, you hear me? So I'll say it one more time, you have some explaining to do."
Weiss looked at her feet, wishing that she could run back to Yang's house for safety.
"Yang, I didn't want to leave," Weiss said, swallowing hard. "You've all been amazing to me, and I'll always be grateful for that. But I had to go. It's for the best."
"How is that for the best?"Yang asked, her voice angry and deafening. She stepped forward, and Weiss recoiled back two steps. "Everyone always leaves, and I was actually gullible enough to think you'd be different! I told you months ago I'd give you a chance. And for months, I've thought I was doing the right thing by giving you that chance, but now I honestly wish I hadn't."
Weiss winced, the last sentence stung harder than anything Jacques had ever done. She couldn't bring herself to speak. She closed her eyes tight to keep herself from crying, her breath going shaky and uneven.
"Yang," Blake interrupted. "She did it to protect you."
"What the hell is there for her to protect me from?" Yang snapped.
"You know who," Blake said, stepping in front of Weiss. "You saw what he did in that courtroom. He threatened to do the same thing to our families, if Weiss didn't come back to live with him. I don't like that she did it either, but she didn't want our families to get hit with a lawsuit. She was scared, and didn't want any of us getting hurt."
"Well, maybe she should have thought it through!" Yang spat. "That doesn't protect anyone!"
"Yang, I know you're hurt, but yelling at her isn't going to fix anything!" Blake retorted. "If someone was yelling at Ruby the way you're yelling at her, what would you do?"
"I'd feed them their teeth," Yang said, calming down to a degree.
"So why would you put Weiss through that? She needs her friends right now, not an attack. She's getting plenty of that at home," Blake said.
Yang took a step back, gathering her breath. After several seconds, she looked back up.
"I'm sorry, Weiss. That was unfair. I'm glad I gave you that chance, and I love having you as a friend. Hell, as family. But leaving me, that hurt. I'm not okay with that, and I don't know how to be," Yang said.
"I wish I could have stayed," Weiss whimpered, her voice emotional and scared. "I didn't want to go. Do you really think I'd want to go back to him?"
"Then stay with us," Yang said. "You're still family, even if you made a mistake."
"Didn't you hear Blake?" Weiss asked. "My father will personally ensure that all of you end up homeless and starving unless I do what he wants."
"Fuck that, I'd rather take my chances! You're family, Weiss," Yang said.
"He will leave you with nothing," Weiss emphasized. "Yang, this doesn't mean a rough patch. He got Qrow fired because he inconvenienced him, what do you think he'll do to all of you?"
"I don't care what he'll try to do, we protect our family! I know you're scared, Weiss, but we'll figure it out, no matter what happens. That's what family means. It means we protect each other, even when things get really damn hard," Yang said. Weiss stirred, frustrated. She knew that the longer she waited out here, the higher the chance that whoever her father snuck in to spy on her would put together the fact that she was talking to her friends.
"Yang, it can't happen, and I can't be out here! I can't be seen with you, any of you, as much as I wish it was different. Please just leave me alone," Weiss said, storming off to the doors.
"Weiss, stop! Don't you dare walk away again!" Yang called, fighting to keep her anger in check.
"Yang, let her go," Blake sighed. "We'll figure something out, but we can't do it here."
Weiss didn't hear anything else as she stepped into the school and took off her hood.
Confused glances washed over her, taking note of her once again male presenting appearance. Her hair held the illusion of shortness, and her face lacked any kind of makeup. She felt like she'd walked through a door to the past, and was trapped in her body from months ago. She shakily rushed into the cafeteria, looking for an unpopulated area to sit down. She finally settled for a table with only a few students, all of whom seemed to be minding their own business. She saw Blake, Ruby, and Yang enter the cafeteria seconds later, Yang fuming. Ruby glanced over to Weiss, her eyes widening even more seeing her without her hood. Weiss saw her say something, and Yang and Blake looked up, startled. Weiss looked away, not wanting to draw attention to any interaction between them. She could still practically feel their gaze washing over her.
"Weiss?" May asked, stopping as she walked by her table. Weiss sighed, glancing up.
"I'm sorry, May, but I think it's best if I keep to myself right now."
"What do you mean? What's going on, you look like you're trying to detransition," she asked, alarmed. Fiona, Joanna, and Robyn all stopped as well, having been grouped up with May at the moment.
"Yes, I do," Weiss sighed. "May, I'm sorry, I don't want to do this, but I can't associate with you right now. If I had a say in it, I'd love to be around you, but I can't."
May backed up, hurt.
"What's gotten into you, Weiss?" May asked. Weiss closed her eyes, frustrated with the knowledge that she would have to undo all of her progress from before. She knew, however, that continuing to present as trans would also make its way back to her father, and if she wanted to avoid going to that boarding school, she had to go all of the way.
"It's not Weiss," Weiss grimaced. "It's Warren. And I'd rather not talk about it."
May crossed her arms, and Robyn rolled her eyes.
"He's not worth it, May," Robyn said. "Let's move on."
"Yeah," May said. "I guess you were right all along."
"You know he and his father got Officer Branwen fired, right?" Joanna asked as they walked away. Weiss tightened her hands into fists, biting her tongue.
"It doesn't surprise me," Robyn sighed. Weiss wasn't able to catch any more as they passed out of earshot.
"Well, maybe you finally came to your senses," Henry said from a table away. Weiss cursed herself for failing to notice, as she realized with disgust, that her old "friends" had been sitting only one table over from her. "Don't think we're gonna just welcome you back, though. You've got a lot to make up for."
Weiss stood, walking over to their table, and leaning down over it.
"Let me make one thing painfully clear," Weiss said. "I would rather swim through the sewers under the school after pizza party day than even consider the remote possibility of trying to be your friend. You three disgust me, and if I could go back and choose my friends all over again, I'd never have spoken a single word to any of you. Got it?"
"And here I was about to give you the chance to fix everything," Henry said, rolling his eyes.
"Don't waste your time. He's a lost cause," Melanie scoffed.
"Once a freak, always a freak," Miltia added. Weiss stood, glaring back.
"Don't speak to me, ever again," Weiss said, before walking away.
Weiss stormed over to the doors, which had just opened on her way over as the bell rang. She hurried over to her locker, just wanting to hurry the day along as quickly as possible.
"Alright, I've seen plenty of weird, and usually I can call it," Illia said, startling Weiss. Weiss looked over her shoulder, irritated. She had sat down in the library, in the most secluded area she could find.
"What do you want, Illia?" Weiss hissed.
"I could tell you were trans. I could tell you were homeless. I could tell you had a crush on Blake. But Robyn told me you'd gone conservative and apparently detransitioned, and that's the first thing that actually surprised me. I almost didn't believe her. But evidently, there was some truth to the story. I want to know why, because this one doesn't have an obvious reason."
"Illia, just leave me alone," Weiss said.
"See, I thought you were different than your family," Illia said. "But this... cutting people out, ignoring Blake, and clearly trying to be what society calls normal even when it's a lie, I thought you were better than that. So why?"
"Illia," Weiss growled, irritably.
"Weiss," Illia said.
"It's Warren," Weiss said, trying not to gag on the name.
"Clearly," Illia rolled her eyes. "You sound real happy about the name. I've heard you had a part in getting Branwen fired. That makes no sense, he was protecting you. For once, gossip isn't giving me any idea in what happened, and I can't put my finger on it. And I'm already tired of arguing with you about it, so if you won't tell me, I'll just ask Winter."
Weiss turned to full on face Illia, alarmed.
"Don't you dare," Weiss said. "She doesn't know anything about this, and it needs to stay that way."
"And why is that?" Illia asked, holding her phone.
"Because she would try to get involved," Weiss said. "And that would just get her hurt."
Illia narrowed her eyes.
"So you're doing all of this to protect her?" she asked. "Not just her, your friends, too, right? I thought I heard something about you staying away to help them. Didn't make sense at the time. What are you trying to protect them from?"
"From my father, okay?" Weiss snapped. "And I'm getting tired of explaining it! My father is powerful, you know that! And he wanted me back home, so he made a few threats! Now would you please stop talking to me before somebody sees?"
"No one sees anything back here," Illia scoffed. "There's no cameras back here and the bookshelves hide it from anyone not clearly in the area. Why do you think I relax here?"
Weiss looked up, realizing that Illia was correct. She took a deep breath, and let her guard lower, exhausted. She rested her head on the table.
"I'm losing everything, Illia," Weiss said. "Blake, Yang, Ruby. Myself, even. I finally got away, and he just took it all back like it was nothing."
Illia moved over to Weiss' table, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"He's forcing you back into the closet, and secluding you from your friends," Illia muttered. "I guess I can see why Winter was so scared of him. Look, Weiss, he wants to be able to control you. For that, he needs to cut off all outside influence. That's why he's doing this. He wants to isolate you and take away everything that makes you happy."
"Well, it's working," Weiss said. "I can't exactly stop him. If I'm caught around my friends, or anyone he doesn't want me talking to, he's sending me off to an all boys boarding school, and I can't handle that, Illia. The dysphoria is bad enough, but there, it would get overwhelming."
"So leave," she said. "I know it's intimidating, but leave him behind. You already did before. Yang and Ruby will give you a place to stay, and you know Blake would protect you."
"Like I said, if I leave, he'll hurt them all. He'll use his power in the courthouse to take everything from them," Weiss said, growing exhausted from saying those words again.
"He might try," Illia said. "He's doing it to try to control you."
"Obviously," Weiss said.
"So if it doesn't work, he'll stop trying," she said.
"I'm not going to just let them suffer until my father's resolve breaks," Weiss scoffed.
"That's not what I mean," Illia said. "He wants to control you, for some weird, messed up reason. Maybe he feels inferior someway, I don't know. But he's flexing his power over you to try to make sure he can keep this control, and the only reason he has any semblance of power over you is because you give it to him. Every time he tells you to jump and you ask how high, it confirms in his mind that you're inferior to him."
"So what do you want me to do, then?" Weiss asked.
"If you really want to keep yourself safe? What you need to do is trust in your friends to protect you. My friends did a lot less for me and I still trusted them because you and Blake asked me to. Your turn. They want to help you. If it's a huge concern, then get their opinions. Everyone that could be hurt by what Jacques is threatening to do, get their opinions. And I'll tell you what. I'll back off if even a single one of them tells you you need to stay with him. You said it was Winter, Blake, Ruby, and Yang, right?"
"And their families. Obviously, minus Winter's family," Weiss said.
"Alright. Then, have Blake, Ruby, and Yang ask their folks what they think. Blake's parents are good people, I can't see them being even remotely willing to throw you to the wolves like that. Once upon a time, they gave me a place to stay for a couple weeks. They probably would have let me stay longer if I wanted, I just needed some time away from Blake after the breakup. And I know for a fact that Winter would happily take the risk in order to keep you safe. So unless Ruby and Yang's dad sees it differently, you go ahead and trust your friends to help you. And, if not, then fair enough," Illia said.
"I'm not letting seven people get hurt for me!" Weiss snapped. Illia sighed.
"Alright. Your choice. But just so you know, Winter made me promise that I'd never keep a secret about your well being be kept from her after before. And I'm not about to break that promise. So I'll go ahead and let her know that her sister's not safe," Illia said, pulling out her phone.
"You want to force my hand?" Weiss scowled. "This isn't your call!"
"I'm not threatening you, Weiss. And I'm not manipulating you. I made a promise and I was going to keep it either way. I just thought you'd want to have the opportunity to tell you first," Illia said.
"Well maybe I'm tired of having Schnees use people spying to try to force what they see as good for me," Weiss spat.
"If that's how you want to see it, then fine," Illia said. "But quite frankly, Winter used to be my best friend. And against all odds, it seems like we're actually going to fix that damage. You, you're just a mutual friend. So if I have to choose, I'm choosing my best friend."
Weiss' hands curled into fists in frustration.
"Then go ahead and tell her. It's what you're best at," Weiss snapped, standing up.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Illia asked.
"I'm just saying this isn't the first time you were going to expose a personal secret of mine for your own benefit. Or were you bluffing when you threatened to out me to the entire school?" Weiss asked.
Illia guiltily looked down.
"You're right to be angry about that. That was-"
"With good intentions?" Weiss asked.
"It was wrong. It was spiteful, and unfair, and I'm so glad that I didn't do it," Illia said. "But this is different, Weiss. I kept your secrets. So many of them. I didn't tell anyone you were homeless, even though I almost lost my friendship with Blake and Winter. And it's become clear to me that I made a mistake."
"I made it, didn't I?" Weiss asked.
"But you didn't," Illia said. "You ended up safe from the streets only because people found out and practically forced you to move to safety. If Yang hadn't forced your hand, you'd still be living under a bridge!"
"Well, that's my choice to make!" Weiss spat.
"Then make it," Illia said. "If you're really so stubborn that you'll let yourself be just like Jacques, you'd let him turn you into a clone of him, then go ahead! But you can explain that to Winter. It's not my choice whether or not she gets involved."
Weiss glared, her head boiling with anxiety and frustration. Illia calmly met her gaze, phone still in hand. She let out another sigh, and stood to match Weiss' height.
"I'm telling her, Weiss. I'm giving you one last chance to let her hear it from you," Illia said, matter-of-factly.
Weiss closed her eyes, taking in several deep breaths. She felt a bit woozy from the atmosphere of the argument. She sat down in defeat.
"Fine," Weiss said. Illia held out the phone, Winter's contact pulled up.
"She's at lunch right now, so it's easy time to call," Illia said. Weiss reluctantly agreed. She initiated the call and waited. After about eight seconds, she heard the line connect.
"Hello, Illia," Winter greeted.
"Hey, it's Weiss," Weiss said.
"Weiss, are you well?" Winter asked, a hint of worry in her voice. Weiss grimaced, forcing herself to speak.
"No, I'm not. And I'd rather not talk about it, but Illia is insisting," Weiss said. Illia gave her a look clearly showing that she was unapologetic.
"What is the issue?" Winter asked.
"It's a bit... complicated. About a month ago, father came to school and tried to force me to come back to the manor," Weiss said.
"He did what?" Winter asked, angrily.
"Officer Branwen didn't let him. So, he threatened to sue the school. And he did. It wasn't supposed to happen for almost five more months, but he pulled something and got it moved. Officer Branwen got fired and father now has people working at the school to make sure it's run how he wants."
"Bastard!" Winter snapped. "Weiss, are you safe?"
Weiss fought back a tear, shutting her eyes tight.
"He came to me after the hearing. He said that he had what he needed to sue all of my friends and their families to bankruptcy. And you. I didn't have a choice, I-"
"Weiss, you're not back at the manor, are you?" Winter interrupted, worried. Weiss took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice from trembling.
"I didn't have a choice. There's so many people that he would hurt if I didn't come back," Weiss said. The line was quiet for a moment.
"I understand that you want what's best for your friends, and for myself. However, right now, I need you to get away from that house," Winter said.
"Winter," Weiss cut in. "This is why I didn't want you involved. If you respect me, then I need you to respect my decision."
"I do respect you," Winter said. "And I respect the fact that you've made a decision. I'm not just going to stop protecting my little sister, though. I need you to get out of there. If you need, I can find a way to come down there and take you back here for now."
"Even if that was something I could do, I couldn't stay on campus grounds," Weiss said. "If I could, I'd leave, Winter. I can't. This isn't a choice. Not for me."
Winter sighed in equal frustration to Weiss'.
"Then stay safe. I'll find some way to get you out of there," Winter said.
"Please don't," Weiss said. "There's no beating him here. We showed every bit of evidence we could that I was abused by him and his attorney tore through the evidence in seconds. Please just keep yourself safe and out of his focus. You got away from him. After everything he did to you, I want you to stay safe."
"What are you talking about?" Winter asked, a hint of anxiety to her usually stoic tone.
"Did you really think I couldn't hear through the walls, growing up?" Weiss asked. Winter seemed to falter, unable to respond for a few seconds. "I heard everything that he put you through."
"I didn't want you to get caught up in that. We'd all thought you were a boy, and I'd hoped maybe he'd be more lenient on you," Winter said, somberly.
"I'll figure this out," Weiss said. "But I can't find my way out of all of this if I'm terrified that you're struggling to get by. I need to do this myself."
Winter sighed again.
"I can't just let you do this alone, but I understand. If you need to get ahold of me, find Blake, or Illia. You say the word and I'll come down there. I need you to trust me," Winter said.
"Wait, what are you going to do?" Weiss asked.
"Weiss, father wanted me to be the heir, too. I've been to his court cases. He wanted me to see how to direct one without making it obvious. I'm going to build a case," Winter said.
"You know no one could ever beat Cordovin," Weiss said. "We can't win this in the courts."
"I'm not so sure of that," Winter said. "I'm going to do everything I can, and you can't stop me. For now, I'll back away from directly stepping in. But I'm here to help."
"Why are you so stubborn?" Weiss groaned, frustrated.
"I guess you can call it a family trait. You're just as stubborn at times," she said.
"I love you. I really wish you'd drop this," Weiss said.
"I love you too, sister," Winter said. "And we both know I can't."
Weiss handed the phone to Illia as the line disconnected.
"Happy?" Weiss asked.
"Not particularly," Illia said. "Believe it or not, Weiss, I've grown to care about you. I realize you have this whole hero complex thing going on right now, but I think you need to realize that your friends can make their own choices." She stood to leave, tucking her phone back into her pocket. "Oh, and I'll talk to Robyn. I doubt you need her making all of this harder."
"I can't risk word of this making its way back to whoever father has here," Weiss said. "I told Winter. I need everything to stay between us."
Illia folded her arms, giving a disapproving stare.
"If that's really what you want, then fine. Don't blame me, though," Illia said.
Thank you all for reading! Chapter 29 will be out soon!