Schnee manor: The ballroom

"What happen at Beacon was a terrible tragedy. But I heard that the mastermind behind it was student all along" Weiss' left eye twitched as she heard that, coming from a man that her father were in conversation with, along a few other like minded people.

"Oh my! Sounds like that headmaster of theirs should have a more proper screening of their students if that is the case"

One of the others just snorted and said "If that is true, than it is less tragic and more incompetence at what happen" The glass in Weiss' hand started to crack as she kept hearing these snobs prattle on.

"The white fang was also spotted doing the chaos and attacked human civilian and students alike. I mean if they can infiltrate the supposed most 'prestige' academy in all of remnant, than perhaps it is for the best for all that it got destroyed" *CRASH*

Their attention quickly turned towards Weiss, with a bloody right hand and the remains of a shattered wineglass and its content splattered on the floor before them. They seemingly did not notice the barely composed look on her face, save for her father who quickly tried to salvage this little embarrassment.

"Oh I am most dreadfully sorry, you see my dear daughter is still affected at what happen doing the incident" He quickly said as he nudged her to go out and clean herself up.

"Oh my lord, I am so sorry to hear that. It most have been hell on earth to have experience all of that!" Said one of the women, a blond one who looked not much older than herself.

Weiss tried her best to give a assuring smile "Oh you have no idea" And she turned around to clean her hand.

She made her way towards one of the kitchens, looking for a first aid kit but only managed to find several bottles of wine in nearly every cupboard. Even the drawers had bottles for crying out loud! The reminder of what her mother have been reduced to only seemed to add more frustration on her troubled mind.

"Looking for something sister?" Asked a familiar smarmy voice. She turned and saw Whitley with a first aid kid.

'Please don't be a smartass' She thought as she made her way over to him until they were within arms reach of each other. "A little help will be nice" She could have worded it better, and sounded more nice, but she was not in the mood to put on a fake smile.

Whitley showed a smug smile and said "Well since you ask so nicely, I guess I can fetch Klein to help you with that. Father wants me to be presentable in a few minutes, so I can't risk of getting blood on my clothes. You know how father is when we are not looking our best doing his gatherings" His tone was calm, but his attitude was just aggravating for Weiss.

'That would be nice, IF FATHER DID NOT SEND KLEIN HOME FOR THE EVENING!' She fumed as she theorized her brother might have had a hand in it. She snatched the kit and turned towards the counter "You know, it is polite to say thank you, when someone helps you" He added.

It made her stop right away and stand still for a couple of seconds as she tried to not let her lose her composure in front him. She turned and looked at him with the most forceful smile she could muster "Don't you have our fathers shadow to stay in?" The smug to frown look on his face was worth it as he headed out toward the rest of the party.

Her forced smile quickly vanished as she turned her attention toward the matter at hand. "Well it can't be that hard" She figured and started to clean the blood from her hand in the sink 'Hmm seems like none of the shards got stuck in, so i suppose that is good news' She thought

"Are you sure it is okay for us to do this"

And of course the small piece of good news was overshadowed by an unwelcoming entourage of boys her age. "I asked Mr Schnee's kid where I could find the better wine and he told me, So it is on him if we are not allowed here"

'Fratricide sounds lovely this time a year' She sighed and prepared for their arrival, though she remained her attention towards the task at hand.

"Or maybe he just wanted you to..." One of lost their train of thought as they saw Weiss, leaning slightly in over a sink cleaning her hand.

"Excuse me, miss Schnee. It seems we were led a-"

"The wine is in the cupboard next to me" She cut him off. Sure she could have told them to take it from any of the other hiding places in the kitchen, but so far only her family knew of her mother's *fondness* for wine and she would prefer it stayed that way. And the cupboard next to her looked like the most normal-ish place to find several bottles.

The three boys were a bit surprised by her quick response, and also the bored tone in her voice, figured she might have just as a bored night as they have so far. They all made their way towards her and she pointed to the cupboard above her to her left, as she got done cleaning and drying her injured hand.

One of the guys took out a bottle one of the other stood next to her right side. She noticed he had blue hair and a somewhat handsome face, it reminded her of Neptune a bit which brought a genuine small smile on her face, as she tried to wrap the gaze around her injured hand though she seemed to struggle with it.

"May I? And are you sure it is okay for us to have some" He offered while asking for assurance.

She accepted his help and held out her hand towards him and nodded "My father prefer to keep the really good wine for special occasions with his friends. The kind of occasions that are behind close doors, preferable in his office" She lied, quite easily she noted. He smiled so he seem to have bought it, not that he had any reason to question her. She gestured the third member of the group towards a cabinet with glasses "You want one too?" He asked.

She nodded. Despite the unbearable image of her mother drinking this stuff, she herself really needed something to take of the edge of this night.

"Figures. My father got a similar setup, though he has a tendency to show off as badge of pride rather than enjoyment" The blue haired guy said. "I'm Henry by the way. And to your left is Paul, and the man with the glasses is Carl"

She gave a light bow "Weiss Schnee" Carl gave everyone a glass and filled them up, just as Henry seemed to have finished with Weiss' hand.

"Thank you" She said and lifted her glass and just drank all of it in one go, to the surprise of the three guys around her. She looked at their expression and slightly blushed "Oh where are my manners, I am sorry you had to witness that!" She quickly apologized, but saw that they all had amused look on their faces.

"No it's fine miss Schnee, It's refreshing seeing someone other than us let loss at one of these events" Henry said with a assuring smile, as he and his buddies drank their wine and filled up again, through Weiss declined.

"I don't normally do this, but tonight just been a less than ideal night for me" She said in a slightly defeated tone, but glad that she could finally talk freely with someone, even through they are strangers.

"We know what you mean. Attending these parties is always such a drag. But gotta look good in front of the press and all the other rich snobs around here. Hell I don't even know what this event is even about" He said as he and his buddies were in the middle of the third glass, nearly emptying the bottle.

But for Weiss, her mood have seemed to make a one eighty after what Henry just said and despite being finish with his third glass, he could clearly see the landmine he just stepped on as he saw the look on her face.

"Get out" She said in a low voice as she looked down at her hands. Henry having heard that she attended combat school and knew how to fight, signaled his friends to put the bottle back, through quite hastily and get out. The door was slammed shut and she decided to close her eyes and just let it all out.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed and threw the used glasses at the far side of the wall in anger. She slightly sobbed as she slid down towards the floor and hugged her legs as she quietly cried into them, not noticing the barely closed cupboard and a rolling bottle

Schnee manor: The master bedroom

Another social gathering to avoid and to forget, was Willow Schnee's usual strategy. No one wanted to see an unhappy wife at a supposed party or event or whatever they decided to call it.

Drink and forget was a past time she only were half good at. The constant reminder that she dedicated the best part of her life to star a family with a man who turned out to only have wanted her, not for her, but for the name she inherited from her father. A man she had fond memories of from before she met her husband, after coming home from graduating from Beacon academy at her father's request.

Try as she might, but she knew she was never the warrior her father were or the hardworking entrepreneur. But still graduating from Beacon was an achievement in her own right, that not even her father could boast of doing.

He was proud of her when she came home after Beacon. But if he were alive today, he properly feel nothing but shame at his only offspring. A failed wife, a failed mother reduced to seeking the comfort at the bottom of a glass that could never fill the void within her. Her eldest daughter wants nothing to do with their family (saved for Weiss) or their name and rather pursue her own destiny moving forward.

Her second daughter had the damn company as her goal.

And her only son, who seemed to be following his father's orders and every move in order to appease him.

"Drink to forget. But the drink keeps reminding why I started to drink in the first place" She said, knowing no one was listening, save for the hidden camera she installed around the manor. A sort of hobby when the wine ran out that one weekend and Klein was on a well deserved holiday.

"Let's see whats on the channel tonight" She whispered as she took out her scroll and swiped through the video feed.

First image is the ballroom, where her dear husband was no doubt humble bragging his achievements again. And their son standing at attention like a servant behind him. Nothing new there, but where was Weiss? she wondered.

She swiped towards the camera that were in Weiss' room but it was empty, than Weiss' studio where she usual practice her singing when nothing else to do.

The thought of Weiss becoming a singer was an endeavor she hoped her daughter would take. No company and shady dealings to corrupt her to the core. No need to take on dangerous huntsman assignment that could have end up dead or worse in the middle of nowhere. A nice safe and self sufficient job that she could call her own.

"Where could you be Weiss?" She decided to shut the feed down and call her daughter instead.

But no answer came. Which meant Weiss did not wanted to talk, or she was not able to. The latter scared her more than the former and returned to looking through the cameras, checking all just for good measure. Her searched came to a halt when she saw a most strange sight. In the spare kitchen that she filled with nothing but wine, on the floor were a puddle of red, and a collapse Weiss who lied down in it with the a splatter of red on the top of her head.

Willow were frozen in fear "N-n-no. Not Weiss" She whispered as she got up and sprinted out of the room.

?

The last thing Weiss remembered was her crying in the kitchen, but now she seemed to be in a concert hall, or more accurately at foyer at a concert hall. But it seemed unfamiliar to her. The walls were a color of a soft dark blue with silhouette of chains adorning it. And a carpet of the same color but lacking the chain design and settled with black around the edges.

"Was I dreaming before, or am I dreaming now?" She got off the floor and went over to the entrance and noticed not only was the door locked, but the window on the door was covered in a thick fog.

She turned around and made her way towards the doors that would lead to the stage, perhaps someone could help her figuring out what was going on in here.

When she open up the door, all she saw was a big empty hall. The empty seats and stage gave her the chills. Normally she was used to them being filled to the brim with adoring audience with all eyes on her. Now it was just unnerving, however she determined to move forward to try and find answers.

"Well hello there!"

"EEP!" She yelped as a booming voice greeted her from the stage. She blinked and double checked, cause there was not anything there before. But now a strange looking man in a suit were looking straight at her with a creepy smile to add.

"I have been expecting you miss Schnee. Took you a while to awakened" He said in a calm and assuring manner with no hint of malice.

Weiss however was anything but calm "Who are you, where am I and how did i get here!?"

"Hehehehe. It seems you are still not fully awakened yet miss Schnee. But still, the fact of the manner you manage to get here is proof that you are in the right direction. You just need a little push further" He said as he took out a deck of cards.

"What are you talking about?! What does awakened mean?!" She demanded, starting to get angry more than scared.

The strange man only slightly look up at her and than towards the cards he was shuffling. He laid all of them face down with out even touching them, and one of the cards seem to float of the table and flew towards Weiss. Against her better judgement she reached out towards it as it stopped right in front of her. On the card was a strange picture of a woman with a scepter and a twelve star crown. She is sitting on a chair between a forest and a field. At the bottom of the card it said The Empress.

"Should you doubt what you see here, look at the empress and know no doubt" He than raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Schnee manor: Kitchen

All she could feel was part of her head and chest was wet. And the pounding headache from the top of her scalp. She pushed herself up, seeing the the shattered bottle on the floor and its contents, she pretty much figured out what had happen.

"So it was just a dream. Egh, how can mom stand this crap" And speak of the devil, in comes Willow much to Weiss' surprise being the first time she saw her mom since, well before she went to Beacon in the first place.

"Weiss! Are you alright?" She asked worryingly, though Weiss was a little thrown off by the gesture.

"Yeah mom, though my hea-" She was cut off as Willow suddenly hugged her daughter, seemingly out of nowhere, shocking the little girl. "Mom what are you doing?!" She called out, managing to get her mother to let go.

Willow in a slightly slurred tone said "I-i saw you lying on the floor. I thought you were hurt"

Weiss just looked at her slightly inebriated mother, not really believing what she was hearing. "And the real reason?"

"What?!"

"Mom. You did not see me off when I left for Beacon. Hell you did not even see me after father dragged me home after Beacon fell!"

It was Willow's turn to look confused "You went to Beacon?"

When it came to her family, Weiss thought nothing could surprise her anymore. Her father a corrupt CEO, a sycophant brother, a sister who never calls and treats her like she is a soldier under her command. She thought at least her drunk mother would have been the last one that would surprise her negatively. But somehow the lush succeeded and Weiss felt nothing but shame.

"Just leave me alone!" She called out and stormed out of the kitchen nearly in tears, not caring what her mother had to say and where she was going. Though she properly should have look where she was going as she quickly found herself back in the ballroom with the guests starting to take notice of the wine covered heiress.

"Oh hell" She quietly said and tried to walked out but was quickly stopped by her father who blocked her way and looked her over in disgust.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" He asked in a low and quiet voice, a tone she was all to familiar with.

"Dad please I just want to-"

"You sure picked a bad time to pick up your mothers habit Weiss"

"Wait! I have not!" She protested a little to loud for Jacques taste. It was than that she saw Whitley making his way over to them. "Oh no, please no" She quietly said and shook her head at her brother hoping he would take the hint and listen.

He noticed her alright, but she knew that look on his face. It was the one he always had when he held something over her that he could use against her. "I can attest to that. Or rather I know who can" He waved Henry over, who looked very reluctantly to get involved. Even more so when he saw the desperate look on Weiss' face.

Nonetheless he went over and stood next to Whitley. "My son tells me you know something about my daughter and the state that she is in. Would you kindly tell me what that is?"

Henry sighed. "My friends and I were looking for the restroom, and um we stumble across the kitchen where we saw your daughter drinking" He said, not daring to look at Weiss once. Perhaps he could not bear looking at her pleading eyes.

Jacques just nodded and waved the boy away and turned back to Weiss "The things I do for family" He said, but was than blind sided by his dear wife, much to his and everyones (minus Weiss) surprise. "Willow? What are you doing here? Is this your doing?"

Willow ignored him and went straight to Weiss "Weiss, dear please listen to me"

"No" Was all she said as she looked down.

"But-" Jacques interrupted her as he addressed the crowd the looked on the family drama. "It seems the incident at Beacon have taken a greater toll on my dear daughter's mental well being. But worry not, my dear Willow will make sure that Weiss is well taken cared of. Right honey?" He said, looking at her with a piecing stare, disguised as fake concern for his child.

"I-" Willow seemed unsure on what to do. It's been so long since she was in a crowd of people, and even longer when said crowd turned towards her for her input. She just wanted to make sure Weiss is okay, and from the look of things, a crowd was not a place for her little girl. So for now, she played along. "Yes. Since my daughter's return she has not been well. We hoped th-this event could also help her well bei-"

"JUST STOP IT!" Screamed Weiss, making everyone in the room stop what they were doing. She looked up at her parents and noticed something odd. "You don't get it do you mom! Just tonight have you decided to be concerned for my well being and it took one of your freaking wine bottles to my head to finally get out of your room and finally talked to me. You did not even notice I went to Beacon for crying out loud!" She ranted as she was breathing heavily for air.

"But Weiss"

"No buts!" She interrupted and pointed a finger at her mother. She than turned towards her father "And you. You manage to chase my sister away, make my mother a sad drunk who barely leaves her room, and pit me and my brother against each other for your favor. Meanwhile you run the family company through the mud and give the white fang reason for trying to kill us!"

"Now wait just a minute!"

But she had none of it and turned toward her brother who looked shocked at her sister's outburst now aimed at him. Though she had more of a sad look on her face "And Whitley. You set me up just to make yourself more of father's favorite by making it seem like I was drinking as badly behind closed doors like our mother. And what hurts the most, is that you took delight in seeing me being humiliated" She wiped the tears away from her eyes, not caring the if her makeup is going to get smeared on her dress anymore. "Whatever did I do to deserve to be treated like that from my own brother?"

He did not have any answers, he like his mother looked more ashamed than angry like his father.

But Weiss was not done yet, but she started to feel a pounding headache. She turned towards the gathering crowd, particular towards the group that trash talked what happen at Beacon. "And you!" She pointed at them, her anger rising again "You talk big on how the fall of Beacon was due to incompetence, and how good it is destroyed because a bunch of terrorist manage to get in and cause more havoc. You are what is everything wrong with Atlas! You sit in your mansions and think you are better than everyone else and think your untouchable because we got a active military?! Well guess who was in charge of security?! Our own armed forces got hacked and attack the civilians they were suppose to protect! But do you talk about that? Oh no you talk about how the headmaster could not predict that some students from other academies turned out to be criminals like you would have done any better! ARRRHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as she held her head as the headache got worse and something slipped out of her dress.

She saw it was the Empress card from her dream, and it was glowing. "How did that? Arhhhhh!" It started pounding again and she ended on her knees. However a feminine voice called out to her.

"Finally your eyes are open"

Weiss looked shocked and looked around in panic and saw only the crowd and her family look at her.

"You have at last shed the chains your supposed rulers held you in and finally took your step towards your own destiny"

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

"Hahaha. I am the rebel within you soul who have longed to come out. I too know the feeling of being chained and ordered what to do with my life. But like you I refused, and rose up against my oppressors for what they did to my people and my family, just like you and your friends"

For Weiss it might be the wine kicking in but she somehow felt at ease with the voice, like it was a true part of her "You... you know how it is?"

"Yes. And I can help you on your journey to resist and fight for your dreams as you see fit. All we need is a contract"

"I-i understand" She said in a low tone that only she and her family could hear.

"Hahahaha. Than let us begin. I am thou, thou art I. Our journey towards freedom shall begin once you say my name with pride!"

Suddenly to everyone's surprise, a ballroom mask materialize on Weiss's face and she gripped it and started to tug at it while screaming in pain "I call out to you! BOUDICA!" She got it of as actual blood covered her face from where the mask were briefly before her entire body was covered in blue flames as, and when it disappeared a new Weiss took it's place. Away was the sobbing angry wine covered girl, and out came a more dignified version of herself. Clad in dark blue dress that reached her knees with black sleeves, the family symbol on her chest and black low heel boots. And in her left hand was a modified version of her rapier Myrtenaster, now with a trigger to fire high caliber revolver dust rounds like a normal high powered pistol.

"Hahaha, now you are fit for the part my dear. Now lets take this for a test run shall we?"

All Weiss did was nod as she turned around and left the ball room and Atlas altogether. She have heard from Ironwood that the mastermind behind the fall of Beacon represented Haven academy.

"Haven will be our testing ground, don't you agree Boudica?"

"That is up to you my dear, I know your heart and will help you every step on the way"

Weiss could do nothing but smile.