A Prison of Ice

I.


"You're so boring!"

Small light-blue eyes glared at him imperiously, as if they belonged to a queen looking down at her subjects. He shouldn't have been surprised, Weiss Schnee was one of the heirs to the Schnee Dust Company after all. Rather than a queen, however, it'd probably be more appropriate to compare her to a princess instead.

She certainly had the demeanor and the look of one, with her all-white dress matching her namesake.

"Stop ignoring me!" Weiss declared with a stomp of her foot. "We're supposed to be playing!"

He had to fight back the urge to sigh.

Dealing with children wasn't something that he was familiar with, doubly so when it came to one that was on the verge of throwing a temper tantrum. Ken had been the exception and he didn't even think that counted because of how the boy carried himself. Ken acted far more mature than any elementary school kid had any right to be, which was a far cry from the little girl glaring daggers at him right now.

"... Can't you play by yourself?"

"No, I can't." The girl quickly replied with an annoyed look on her face. "I'm your guest, so as the host, you should be a-accomodating me." She finished with a rather smug look on her face, as if she were satisfied that she was able to use a word with more than four syllables.

It didn't seem like he was going to be able to get any more reading done any time soon, so he closed the book in his hands and turned to face the little girl in front of him with an unimpressed look on his face.

"And just what exactly should we do then?"

Weiss seemed to be taken aback by that, as if she weren't expecting him to actually relent to her wishes.

"W-well, as the host it's up to you to find a way to entertain your guest."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at that in response.

Children.

"Wha- Hey! I heard that!" Weiss declared, her eyes narrowing as she thrust her index finger forward. "And you're as much of a child as I am!"

He hadn't meant to say that part out loud, so perhaps she had some merit in her argument after all. He was in the body of a child now, so he probably shouldn't even be surprised that his mouth could move faster than his brain at times. Not that he would ever admit it to the girl in front of him though.

"No, I'm not."

"Are too!"

Since he had absolutely no interest in getting into a back and forth with a nine-year-old, it was probably better to just play along with her wishes. There would always be time to catch up on his reading later on. His father had told him to be nice to her anyway, so he grabbed his book and stood up, making his way towards one of his cabinets.

"H-hey, where are you going?"

He didn't respond to that, choosing to put his book away instead before pulling open another drawer to take out a sealed black box.

"You said that it was the host's job to entertain their guest." He simply replied before opening the box to reveal the contents inside. "So how about a board game then?"

With the way how her eyes seemed to almost light up in response, for a split second he couldn't help but think that maybe playing along wouldn't be so bad after all.


Once, there was a tower.

A boy and his friends would eventually climb that tower. The boy would end up sacrificing himself for his friends and the world afterward. He would later become the seal that shielded humanity from its own destruction.

That had been the boy's fate.

Or at least, that was what he had thought anyway.

He didn't know how it was possible, but Elizabeth must have been responsible. It wasn't in Igor's nature to do something like this after all. She had freed him from the seal and given him a second chance at life. It wasn't as Minato Arisato anymore, but as Makoto Yuki instead, the heir to the Yuki Corporation, a dust mining company centralized in Mistral. Reincarnation was something that he had briefly read about once, but he had never given it much thought.

A knock on his door shook him away from his thoughts.

"So, Makoto, how was your play date with Weiss?" His father, Hiro Yuki asked as he peered into his room from the hallway. "From what Jacques has told me, she too is a child with great promise."

"It went well, father." He dutifully answered.

"That's good to hear, she might be the leader of the Schnee Dust Company one day." His father replied with a small smile. "She would be a good connection to have in the future when you take over the family business."

Makoto didn't have anything to say to that, so he simply nodded in response.

From everything that he had seen of Hiro Yuki, he was a stern but good father. He always made sure to have time for his family, even with his busy work schedule. Nothing in life was ever that simple though. He was a good father, but as a person, left a lot to be desired. The man had stepped over many others to get to where he was today. Shady dealings with the mob and cutthroat tactics were just a few of some of the nasty rumors that constantly circled around him.

Makoto couldn't help but have mixed feelings for the man as a result of that, even if he was his father in this life.

"I guess I'll leave you to your books then." His father eventually said, stepping out of his room. "Don't stay up too late now."

"Yes, father."

Having been satisfied by his answer, his father closed the door to his room, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more. The book in his hands still laid open and unread as he looked out his window. A half-shattered moon hanging from the night sky stared back at him, and it was a sight that he would probably never get used to.

Remnant was similar to his old world in a way, but it was also vastly different as well. Creatures of the dark roamed around the land, forcing most of humanity to live within four major regions while the Grimm controlled the rest. The Grimm were similar to Shadows in a way, but instead of only appearing during the Dark Hour, the Grimm were always around, eager to feed on the negative emotions of humanity.

In a way, the people of this world seemed to be even more destined for destruction than his old one.

Makoto had no interest in being the sacrificial lamb once more though. He had died for the world once already, but it wasn't for any altruistic reasons or anything like that. Some might even have called him a hero, but his reasonings were a lot more selfish than that. He just didn't want anyone from SEES to die, anyone else that had been saved as a result of his decision as well was simply an afterthought.

Elizabeth had given him a second chance at life and he didn't for it to end in the same way.

He deserved that much, didn't he? Dying for his friends was one thing, but to die for strangers in a different world was asking too much of him. He wasn't going to be the hero that this world so desperately seemed to need.

It was a selfish thought, but greed had always been an intrinsic part of humanity.

It was disappointing that he couldn't be with SEES once again, but the thought that he had been able to save them was enough for him in the end. Even though SEES wasn't here, being able to see, smell, touch, and feel again was already a blessing in itself. After spending all that time as the Great Seal floating in a bottomless pit of emptiness, even the small things in life seemed to sparkle all that much more.

Makoto took one last look at the half-shattered moon before he closed his curtains and got ready for bed.


Weiss Schnee never did enjoy attending the high-class balls that her father always insisted on going to. She had to always be on her best behavior there, a prim and proper girl befitting of the Schnee family, that was the role she had to always play. Weiss didn't want to upset her father, but it could get so very exhausting at times.

At the very least, Winter was here as well so she wasn't alone.

She never really liked mingling with the other children at these types of events. They might have seemed friendly at first, but it always did feel artificial in one way or another. She was a Schnee after all, so everyone wanted something from her in the end. Winter had warned her of course, but experiencing something like that first-hand was always going to be a rather difficult experience. It was rather ironic really, to be surrounded by people wanting to grab your attention and still feeling so very alone.

It was almost sad to admit, but she didn't think that she had anyone that she could even call a real friend among all of the people here.

Father was off talking about the state of the stock market with some of his colleagues while Winter was busy entertaining the son of some big-name CEO. Father would probably want her to do the same, it was the only reason why he brought Winter and her along with him to these types of events to begin with. Any connections that she made with the other children of influential people would only help the Schnee Dust Company in the long run. She disliked how artificial the whole thing felt, but the last thing that she wanted to do was draw father's ire.

Just as she was scanning through the guests for someone around her age, a familiar mess of blue hair caught her attention.

Makoto Yuki sat in the corner of the room with a bored look on his face and a book in his hands. He was a lot taller now from what she remembered, but that hair of his was still as disheveled as ever. How many years had it been since they had last met? Four? Five? She wasn't even sure, but the memory of that night was still as vivid as ever in her mind. It wasn't even like anything special had happened, they had talked a bit and played some board games throughout the night, but that was the extent of it.

And yet, there was something so very genuine about that night, and it was that genuineness that she couldn't help but feel was lacking in her life as of late.

Makoto hadn't been like the others, he didn't seem to be interested in her last name at all. Instead of the artificial niceties that everyone else seemed to approach her with, he had outright ignored her the first time they had met. It was almost embarrassing to think about how angry she had gotten at the time because of how off-guard he had caught her. Honestly, she shouldn't even blame herself for it, no one had ever just outright ignored her like that before after all.

Now that she thought about it, the Yuki Corporation was a rather influential company in Mistral, so she would still be obeying her Father's wishes of networking with her peers.

"Still spending all of your time reading, I see." Weiss casually began as approached and took a seat on the empty chair next to him. "You're still the same as ever."

He flipped to the next page of his book. "It's a hobby of mine."

"I can see that." She dryly replied. "Have you been enjoying the ball so far?"

"... No." He drawled in response. "My father insisted that I attend, however."

Weiss couldn't help but snort at that.

Of course, he would just admit it so bluntly like that, it was rather refreshing in a way and she couldn't help but be a little jealous. As a Schnee, she would never be able to just blurt out her thoughts like that, father would never allow it. No, she had to play the role of the perfect daughter in the perfect family, even if reality was far different from the image her father liked to portray to the public.

"Not much of a dancer then?"

"I'd like to think that I'm rather good at dancing," Makoto answered, his eyes never leaving the book in his hands. "I just don't enjoy large social gatherings like these."

"You? Dance?" She repeated, not entirely convinced. "That's surprising, you don't seem like the type."

"You shouldn't judge a book by its cover." Makoto simply replied as he flipped over another page. "That goes for books and people."

Weiss didn't really have anything to say to that, so the conversation soon died out.

The music still continued on, however, so at the very least there wasn't an awkward silence hanging in the air. Makoto didn't seem to mind either way, since his focus never left that book in his hands. The title of the book caught her eyes though, The History of the Floating City. Was he curious about Atlas?

She was going to ask him about it before a soft cough caught her attention.

"Excuse me, I hate to interrupt, but you're Weiss Schnee, right?" A dark-haired boy asked with an easy-going smile on his face.

Weiss could already see how the conversation was going to go.

"... I am, and you are?"

"Stark Schwarz, my father owns Schwarz Steel Works." He said before holding his hand out. "It's a pleasure to finally have a chance to meet you, Weiss."

Weiss forced a smile as she shook his hand. "The pleasure's all mine."

"Might I interest you in a dance?"

Normally, Weiss would have accepted the invitation.

She couldn't have just outright refused it for no good reason, after all, that would have been seen as a sign of disrespect. The Schwarz family was a rather well-known family among the elites of Atlas and her father would not have been happy to see her make an enemy out of one of them. All she had to do was put on the mask again and dance for a little bit while nodding along to some fake pleasantries. It was a song and dance that she had grown all too tired of.

It was fortunate for her that today she just so happened to have a convenient excuse at hand to refuse his invitation.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline. I already agreed to be Makoto's dance partner for the night, you see."

Makoto, to his credit, only looked up from his book and gave her an unimpressed look. She simply glared at him back in response, daring him to argue otherwise.

"Ah… I see." Stark eventually replied with a forced smile. "Maybe next time then."

The Schwarz scion quickly walked away afterward in order to save face.

"I don't recall ever agreeing to this arrangement, Weiss." Makoto dryly stated once the Schwarz boy was far enough away.

"That's because you didn't, but it's only natural that you should help me out after how rude you were to me the first time we met." She cheerfully explained, not missing a beat. "Now, you don't intend to make a liar out of me, do you?"

Makoto only stared at her for a brief moment before he let out a small sigh and closed the book in his hands.

"... Might I interest you in a dance then?" He begrudgingly asked as he stood up and offered her his hand.

His form and posture could use some work, but it would do. It wasn't perfect, but maybe that was for the better. This time, she accepted and took his hand as her lips ever so slightly quirked into a genuine smile.

Perhaps attending these events wasn't so bad after all.


Author's Note- Oh boy, here we go again.