Interlude I: The Diary

AN: Here we go, the Remnant chapter! I'm not gonna lie, this was pretty tough. From what we see early on is that Weiss really doesn't like her brother, at all. Even after their "reconciliation", it's clear she still doesn't like him. So I had to think of a reason as to why Weiss would miss someone that she hates, or if not hates, dislikes, so much.

SDC Manor, A Few Hours After Whitley's Exit

Weiss stared at her hands.

Even after spending minutes scrubbing the blood from them, the crimson stains refused to go away. She didn't know what to feel.

Her brother was gone. Dead. No one without Aura could have survived an explosion like that.

Weiss never thought that Whitley was capable of doing something like this. He'd never been the type to fire a gun, or use a sword.

Next to her was a small metallic disk. It had been placed next to the note that had been written in red ink. In cursive, "Memoirs" was engraved on top of the disk.

Weiss wasn't sure if she was ready to read it or not. On the one hand, she would learn why her brother suddenly took this path and ended it all. On the other hand, was she truly ready to listen to it? If she listened to it, would she be ready to acknowledge whatever it said? That she may not have been the best sibling? That she pushed her own brother to kill himself?

It was a truth she did not want to acknowledge, but it was one she had to face.

Taking the disk, Weiss went into her room. Willow was still sound asleep, the explosion not having done anything to wake her from her alcohol induced slumber.

As her thumb pressed on the "Memoirs" engraving, a small voice echoed through the room.

"DNA Recognized. Weiss Schnee. Creating list. List created."

In front of Weiss, a holographic list popped out. In small print, various dates and titles popped out.

One in particular stood out, simply titled "Emergency Evacuation."

Weiss decided to ignore that for now, and simply decided on pressing the first log that had been made. The holographic screen disappeared, being replaced with a hologram of Whitley springing up.

Weiss recoiled in shock. The hologram wasn't an exact replica of the brother she'd seen a few hours before. His hair and height was much shorter, and his face seemed to be missing the chiseled features of his 15 year old self. What caught Weiss off guard the hardest, however, was the beaming smile on the boy's face. She couldn't recall seeing that expression on her brother….anywhere.

"Oh wow, this is actually working! Oh no, what do I do, what do I say! This is so embarrassing! Ah, uhm….ok! Introduction! Ok. My name is Whitley Schnee, I am 7 years old, and I am the son of Jacques and Willow Schnee! My sisters are Winter and Weiss Schnee. So, I made this thing as a replacement for that diary Weiss got me, because diaries are so boring! This is much better, isn't it? Ok, so, recently, Winter's been talking about something with Father. I don't know what it is, but they get really...loud, about it. I had to go ask Weiss what they were talking about, but she didn't know either! It's weird. Well, whatever it is, I hope Winter knows me and Weiss will stick by her!"

Weiss was shocked. This child in front of her was so much different from her brother. It was like night and day.

She couldn't help but think What happened? How had her brother changed from this to now?

She continued forwards. A hologram of the 7 year old Whitley appeared once again. There were small tear stains on the boys cheeks.

"Winter….she's gone. She left and she didn't even say goodbye. Was...did I do something wrong? Did I make her angry?"

On and on, Weiss went. Her heart grew heavier the more and more she saw.

"Father claims that Winter abandoned us. That can't be true! She wouldn't abandon her family, I know it!"

"Weiss says that Winter's been talking to her lately. I can't help but feel that she's making fun of me. It's not funny!"

"Uncle Nickel is dead. The White Fang...they killed him. I saw the body. It was horrible."

"I found out the truth today. To say that I am angry is an understatement. I'm bloody furious! Winter left us, for whom you ask? General BLOODY Ironwood! Yes, that's right! Winter Schnee left her own family, her sister, and her brother, just for the chance to die in the battlefields of the Atlesian Military! Well, great job, sis! When you die because our Father wages a war for more dust, I hope you know how much of a difference you have not made in this world, dying for a worthless cause!"

"Weiss was talking about Winter today, talking about how proud she was of her and how much like her she wished to be. I tried to keep my cool, I really did, but I ended up losing my temper. I screamed and shouted about how Winter abandoned us, and how she never cared for us, at all. Now, Weiss is refusing to talk to me. What do I do?"

"Mother….she's changing. I saw her drinking something yesterday. I don't know what it was, but it's causing her to act very strangely."

"Mother, she….she's lost her mind. I heard a commotion going on in her room, and I ran in, wondering if anything was wrong. She then started screaming at me about how much she hated me and how much like Father I was. She then picked up an empty bottle and threw it at me. I fell back in surprise, which possibly saved my life. The bottle shattered into dozens of tiny glass pieces. I went to Father, looking for reassurance, but he merely brushed me off, saying that a Schnee is not cowed by a common drunkard. What is going on? Why is this happening?"

"Father and Mother are starting to scare me. I wonder if Weiss's plan of becoming a Hunter is worth some merit."

"I've tried everything, everything I can, but I just can't seem to access the damn Glyphs! What's going on?!"

"I...I talked to a Doctor today. Apparently, the reason that I can't access our Family Semblance is because I can't access Aura itself. I am...Fractured. One of the few people on Remnant who was born with no connection to their Aura. Heh. Hahaha. That's...that's not funny at all."

"Today, I couldn't help but think, what did I want out of life? I didn't have any reason to think that, it just popped into my head. So, what did I want? While I thought I would want many things, it was when I started to truly think upon that question that I realized I only wanted two things, above all else. I want my family to be pieced back together, impossible as it is. If I can't have that, then I want...I want to leave a legacy. Something to show the world that, in the end, Whitley Schnee was here. That he mattered. That, good or bad, he existed with a purpose that the world could see. Now, all that's left is to recognize that second part."

"I snuck out to see one of our mines. Ever since the images were leaked online, I couldn't sleep. I couldn't help but ask myself if the rumors, the images, were true or not.

They were true. Everything. All of it. The suffering I saw...I will never forget. I saw children dying from a lack of food and water. I saw men getting branded and beaten for no reason. I even...Fuck….Dammit….I saw a woman getting abused in...horrific ways, today. How could this have happened?"

"Today, I realized an horrid truth. Father is blind. Not by naivety, but by apathy. He doesn't care what methods are used, as long as his profits are maximized. But...I can use this in our favor. I've begun to draft a plan to help the Faunus stuck in our mines. A full automation of the mines. With this, 95% of our labor will be replaced by machines, and Father will have no choice but to let go of all the Faunus in the mines. Of course, there is the issue that they will be displaced with nowhere to go, which is why I have taken the liberty to open up communications with Ghira Belladonna. We've begun to draft up another plan to compliment this one. Ghira will order drones from the SDC, from a private division I will head, away from Father's eyes. I will charge them at a price that will barely cover up the costs of manufacturing them. The robots will then go to work clearing out the presence of Grimm on Menagerie, as well as setting up a livable environment in which Menagerie's inhabitants can live more comfortably, rather than on the cramped island. From a few small tests in the field, the drones are able to wipe the Grimm with ease, while the Grimm ignore them. This way, everyone wins. Father will maximize his profits, Ghira will receive a far larger Menagerie to handle both new and old residents, and I will have not only cleared my conscience about the horrors that have been inflicted on all these innocent people, I will have achieved my dream. If this works, the world will know that I was here. That I mattered."

"Weiss came back today. I….I was hoping things could be patched up between us, but I was wrong. Her hatred of me has only grown in the months she left for Beacon. Even when we reunited, I could tell she despised my presence. But, I am not blameless. I feel that the fault lies with me. I have never been able to control my temper, or wear down my pride. Father's gift and curse to me, I suppose."

"Father said that the plan was a success, but, as usual, he threw a wrench in it in the worst possible way. He took credit. For the whole. Bloody. Thing! I can't even have one damned thing to myself?! Years of my own work, GONE!

At least the people stuck in the mines will face a brighter future now. All I have to do is wait, and get to working on my second plan. Even if I will not be credited with the mine's automation, I will be credited with rescuing thousands of lives."

"Weiss came back today. After months of disappearing, she just...came back. I was happy to see she wasn't dead, but it was clear that she didn't feel the same way. She immediately asked for where Klein was.

Klein.

KLEIN!

Even when he's gone, that man continues to torment me. Ignoring me in favor of Weiss like all the others isn't enough for him! Now, he has to take my place?! When I immediately tore my sister down, however, I was expecting to feel proud that I stood up for myself, that I finally made the great WEISS SCHNEE see that her actions have consequences. I did, for a few moments, then I felt shame. I left the party.

I don't….I don't know what's wrong with me. I try to fix things, but no matter what I do, I can only succeed in making them much worse. I can only pray that my terrible luck doesn't play into the grand plan that I have been working on for the past few years."

"Sigh. I saw my Willow today. I heard her crying from across the hall. I shouldn't have gone in, I know, I shouldn't have, but I am a fool and it seems like I will continue being a fool. I went into the room and, expecting a bottle to sail to my face again, I saw Willow crying into a wedding dress. In the midst of her drunken hallucinations, she believed that I was Grandfather. She latched on to me and begged me to cancel her upcoming marriage to Father.

Shit. I always thought that, at the very least, they loved each other at first, before all this madness. Before Uncle Nickel's death and Winter abandoning the family. To find out that they despised each other even before we were born….

That wasn't the worst part, however. I had to look Willow in the eyes, my own Mother, the woman who would have tried to murder me if she realized who she was truly talking to, and tell her that everything was alright. That I would cancel her disastrous marriage and save her from the hell she had landed up in. I told her that I would 'never abandon my own children.'

Like she did.

I don't even have the words to describe how disgusted I was with myself when I had to say that. How much…. hatred….welled up inside of me when I had to comfort the person who was supposed to be on my side, but who would've gladly thrown me out of a window if she wasn't drunk constantly."

"It's gone. It's all gone. All the progress I've made, the plants I've created, all gone now. Father has been arrested. His greed ultimately became his own undoing, but...DAMMIT! Couldn't he have received his comeuppance after everything was done?! Am I truly that unlucky?!

Fuck...It doesn't matter anymore. The board smells blood. They've seized Father's position and are planning to either install their own puppet CEO or dissolve the position entirely. Creditors and debtors are coming after our finances. All of my future efforts will be dedicated towards keeping whatever scraps we have left.

I wanted to save people, to leave a legacy to prove to the world that I existed, that I meant something. But it looks like all of that was just wishful thinking, the dreams of a child, too stupid to face reality.

If that's the way things are...then there's no point. There's nothing here for me. My family...hates me. They despise my very existence.

I don't know what I've done to deserve such a fate...but at least I can end things on my own terms. That is at least something no one can take away from me. Still, I cannot help but wonder, if I will have a final chance to patch things up with what is left of my family, or will that too be doomed to fail as well, like I have always done."

The hologram winked out of existence, leaving Weiss alone with the cold silence of the manor, with the fire having long gone out.

Weiss couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. The holographic disc was clasped tightly in her palms. She could feel the tears on the corner of her eyes. She fell to her knees

What have I done?

AN: While I originally wanted to take care of the Remnant angle all in one go, the chapter soon became so big that I realized I'd have to break it up a little. So, I'll write more interludes in the future that explore how Whitley's death has impacted Remnant, maybe two or three more.

Next chapter will have Jane Shepard coming to the Citadel after completing N7. I feel like I'm rushing things a little, but hey, if there's one thing I learned writing all these stories, it's that you should go with your instincts on what you want to write, and then try refining it in a way that is comprehensible and above all, interesting to read.