AN: In no way am I connected to Rooster Teeth
"I'm getting very sick of Mountain Glenn."
Qrow smiled and ruffled Mercury's hair. "That's what you get when you hack into a company's database."
Mercury glared at him and mucked with his hair to get it back the way he liked it. "That wasn't exactly intentional. How was I supposed to know that the guy had the worst security in the world?"
"By guessing that if he didn't have any proper staff, he didn't have an IT technician?"
There had been no security around Merlot's data probably because the man didn't have the knowledge of making firewalls and computer viruses. When Mercury guessed his password ('Merlot'. What an idiot) he had access to everything.
"I'm a mechanic, not a computer guy."
"Then let that be a lesson to you. And don't complain about doing too good of a job."
Mercury let out a very aggravated sigh.
That made Qrow chuckle.
It was a simple job. They had a blueprint of the original tunnels under Mountain Glenn. Mercury had blueprints of Merlot's additions. They merely needed to check there weren't any tunnels unaccounted for, along with eliminating any remaining mutant Grimm. Apparently, there were twenty that had gotten to the mainland that hadn't already been dealt with.
"If this is what happens when I do 'too good of a job', I'm going to do the very least from now on."
"You can try." Qrow was very doubtful he would be successful in that. Mercury was too much of a perfectionist when he could be bothered.
"Your support fills me with great confidence." He knew it too.
"Doesn't it always?"
The tunnels split up now. That was always going to be the problem and honestly, they needed more than two people to search them completely. Where was Ironwood's army when you wanted them? However the kids had followed a very singular line to Forever Fall and eventually to the ship they irresponsibly stowed away on. It was in those nearby branch tunnels where the twenty mutated Grimm would be.
They were also pitch black, so Mercury would be going down them. Qrow would be scouting through the lit network near it.
Joy.
The Grimm nearby were staring at them and had been for quite a while. So far, they hadn't attacked and Qrow didn't really see the point in wasting ammo killing them. Mountain Glenn would just repopulate and he could not be bothered today.
"You have a very high opinion of yourself," Mercury responded to his earlier jibe.
"It's completely justified."
"From a very biased jury."
"Only one I care about. Don't suppose you can just tell the mutated Grimm to come here?"
Mercury showed no immediate reaction to that question. He studied Qrow for a moment before replying. "Afraid not. They don't like me. How'd you know?" He admitted to it easily enough.
Qrow shrugged. "Barty mentioned that the Grimm ignored you before. I wondered if that had changed. There should have been Grimm at times where there weren't, such as the situation with the poachers. I know for a fact there were at least three Beowolves nearby." The other main time had been Zephyr's funeral.
"…Does anyone else know?"
"Not in our family. Ozpin probably has a guess."
"Ozpin can jump off a cliff."
Qrow snorted. He ignored Mercury's sarcastic comment. "So much for the quick way."
"We still have the basic map matching." Mercury sounded and looked far too innocent when he said that.
"Don't ruin my day. I'm borrowing your flying fox. That got a name yet?" Two of the girls had a habit of wanting to name everything.
"If they have named it, I don't know it." Mercury and Emerald on the other hand only named things when it was practical to.
Odd that neither the Simple Form nor the Guardian Form has, come to think of it.
The winged fox didn't have grey eyes, but it was a lot more animated than Qrow remembered. It flew around his head. It shook its body like a Zwei would in an attempt to dry its fur before it went back to flying around. He didn't think Mercury was doing that on purpose.
The closest Grimm to it were following it with their heads. None of them showed any sign of aggression.
Now. Where to start?
"Eenie, meenie, miney, mo…"
Mercury rolled his eyes with a chuckle. He turned and headed down a pitch black tunnel with a wave. The shadows enveloped him quickly.
The childish rhyme gave him a starting point.
The winged fox had stopped and was now hovering near him. It tilted its head in a quizzical manner.
The Grimm were snarling at him now, but they still didn't attack him. Qrow suspected that would change if the Simple Form moved too far away from him. Or if he attacked them or was anything other than calm.
Hmm…This might take a while. That tunnel is connected to that tunnel and that one leads to a dead end…So this one would be the best to start.
There was some method to his madness. This one looped around and crossed with quite a few others. Hopefully he could cross out a few tunnels this way. This was going to take all day anyway; Qrow didn't want it to take two or three.
It only took five minutes before he was bored, but he couldn't truly relax. Every time a Grimm turned to glare at him, he fought the urge to attack. But they always kept their distance and Qrow was forcing himself to be neutral.
While the implications were very disturbing when it was truly considered, Qrow was honestly glad that Mercury wouldn't be having any problems with Grimm when he eventually left.
Of course, that does mean Salem is going to try to kill him and he's probably going to be quite high on that hit list.
Qrow didn't want Mercury leaving home until he learned that particular aura trick. He didn't know if it was an Aura Wielder technique (what little of the rulebook they knew was sort of thrown out with Mercury anyway), but it was devastating against people. Mercury had the idea down and managed four times out of five, but that wasn't enough in Qrow's or Tai's opinion.
Especially if they were right and Mercury was planning to head to Mistral. The slow way.
Qrow froze. He knew that shadow.
He gripped the winged fox by the scruff of the neck and pulled it backwards. He considered shifting into a crow for a moment. It was a wise idea, but he still shouldn't be seen. Once he managed to back into a connecting tunnel and completely out of view, he shifted.
The fox landed next to him and nudged him a little. It now had grey eyes. Getting the message, Qrow hopped onto its snout and then onto its back.
[What did you see?]
[A Seer.] Qrow sensed the bafflement and elaborated. [They look like creepy jellyfish.]
He got a confirmation then, along with…disgust? That was odd. It was the right image though. [Those things. I don't like those things.]
[Salem can communicate using them. They're her eyes and ears around Remnant.]
[I didn't see that in any of the books I read. I even checked after I got back. I take it she doesn't take it into civilisations?]
[Not normally. She likes us battling each other rather than uniting against a common cause.]
[We didn't find anything like that either time. What's it doing here now?]
It almost passed by then. The fox began to phase backwards into the wall; one hidden in shadow. Qrow phased with it. Qrow could see his body in the rock when he glanced sideways, but it didn't hurt. It just felt weird.
The Seer passed by them. It hadn't seen them.
Three feet away and the fox stepped forward, out of the wall. [Shift back.]
Qrow, confused, tried to read him. Mercury didn't let him. That was a little worrying, but…
He hopped off and shifted back to human.
Almost faster than Qrow could follow, the fox had leapt. Its jaws sank into the top area of the tentacles. The wings kept it stable. Two tugs and they were ripped off.
Oh. That'll work and in case she sees me, I'll be human.
Fair enough.
They couldn't really leave a Seer in Mountain Glenn, after all.
But the kids were only here yesterday, even if they didn't search thoroughly. How did they never come across it? Or did it only come here today?
Qrow hadn't intended to leave it alive, but he had wanted to be a little more careful. Then again, he had never battled this thing before and didn't want to get close enough to the tentacles. Mercury's Semblance was very useful here and he was more than happy to use it on him too.
Qrow hadn't known he could use it on other people as well if he had contact with them.
The sword swung. The orb shattered.
"Well. That was anti-climactic."
A chuckle echoed down the tunnels. The grey-eyed fox's tail flicked. "I was expecting more of a fight." Its ears then twitched. "I think that's a mutated Beowulf." The paw pointed. "That way."
"I got it. Now get back to what you were doing."
"Yes Professor Branwen." The grey eyes faded back into the whitish silver.
Qrow patted its head and followed the directions given. He knew everything the kids knew about these mutant Grimm and he was ready for them.
Found one. Only nineteen more to go.
This was going to be a long day. Maybe a long few days.
The joys of being a Huntsman.
Still. Teaching was worse. He still wasn't sure how someone thought it was a good idea to hire him, his success aside.
The mutant Alpha Beowulf attacked as soon as it noticed him.
I just hope the others are as easy to find. I do have other things to do this week.
As it happened, they found all the mutant Grimm within eight hours and were back in time for a late dinner with Taiyang. Killing mutant Grimm and causing cave-ins in inconvenient tunnels worked up quite the appetite.
Of course, this was when Mercury chose to tell them he was going to Atlas on Saturday.
"No…No…Maybe…No…Definitely…"
Ruby stuck her head in the dorm. She had just come back from a swimming competition and had come in first in butterfly. She hadn't managed to get anywhere above fourth in the other strokes.
"Hey Yang. What are you doing?"
Yang looked up from…whatever she was doing. "Hey Ruby. I was going through some of these games and wondering if it would be fun to do dubbing or commentated playthroughs of the RPGs."
"Huh." That did sound fun. She skipped over to not land on any of the games and plopped down next to her sister. "Whatcha think so far?"
"Well, I was thinking the crime and law games would be good and most don't have voice acting, especially the old ones. Didn't…who was it…Was it Jagoda have experience in computing and gaming?"
"Yeah. She was the one who did that fan translation of something. That was a law game actually. We can ask if we can dub that." Ruby had always meant to play that, but she had never got around to it. "Who do you think are going to be the voice actors? I'd like to, but maybe my voice wouldn't suit a lot of people…"
Yang grinned. "Oh, I can think of a few." She glanced at her scroll. "I've got a few people in mind and a few roles for them on good games, but I haven't asked them yet. I was going to ask script by script."
A thought occurred to Ruby. "Aren't there laws against this sort of thing?"
"Not if there's no profit for anyone. Besides, it's considered good advertising."
Ruby shrugged. Then she pointed at one game. "That's a no. Unless we state at the beginning that there are over 100 branches in the story."
"Or we do it weekly and let the public pick the path. Like a vote."
Not a bad idea. "I still don't think we should start with that. Those three are almost linear, so I think they're a good starting point. We just need to practice because I know the plot real well…"
"I was also thinking about that acting group that meets three times a week. Think they'll be interested?"
"I don't see any harm in asking." She settled down with a good game to start with. Maybe she could think of good people to voice the characters. She might want to write people a background sheet too.
There was a knock at the door. Jaune popped his head in. "Girls, what books did you check out of the library?"
"None," Ruby replied. "Why?"
"I could have sworn I saw a book on how to make paper mashe fireworks, but I can't find it now. Thanks anyway." His head vanished and the door closed.
Ruby and Yang looked at each other.
""Friday.""
They returned to what they were doing.
Emerald skipped the fireworks display on Friday. She had an appointment with Dr Waterbrook.
She may have done what she wanted with her healing, but she had continued her studies into medicine and was now quite far into studying psychology. It was something that genuinely interested her.
There wasn't anyone in the infirmary. Dr Waterbrook was in his office.
"Evening Miss Ryu."
"Evening." Emerald sat down in the spare chair.
"Have any trouble with the biology?"
"Apart from the ridiculous names for everything? Not really. I think I've got the hang of everything in the preliminary test you gave me. Professor Goodwitch can tell you I did it in exam conditions."
Dr Waterbrook chuckled softly. "She did mention it to me. While you did misspell a few names, you did identify them correctly and, more importantly, didn't get anything wrong on the organs. I would give it 95%."
Emerald perked up at that. It was a very general test, but all her friends had thrown up their hands at some of the questions, so it wasn't common knowledge. "Thank you. So what are we moving on to next?"
"You know the theory. Now we'll put it into context." He placed a picture in front of her. It was a mannequin, but other than a little blood, Emerald couldn't see any obvious problems. "This individual was found on a forest track three hours away from the nearest village. He is very unresponsive. Let's start simple. What can you tell about the situation?"
Emerald picked up the picture and thought. She spoke aloud quietly.
"Right. Blood is on the back of the collar so possible head wound. Nothing on the floor nearby so no weapon or cause…" She considered. She started again, a little slower this time. "No blood anywhere else, so possible blow to the back of the head. Results vary greatly. The clothes aren't ruffled so no struggle or sign of stress…" She thought for a few more minutes. "Nothing else springs to mind."
"A good first assessment. So what do you do?"
"The first thing would be to check if he is alive." For her studies, she pretended she didn't have the power to assess or heal someone with a touch if she wanted. "A check of the pulse in the neck and wrist."
"Why the neck and wrist?"
Names…What were they called? "Radial artery…in the wrist and…carotid artery in the neck. Radial artery is preferred but both are better for a reliable result."
"A good start. Let us suppose you find a pulse. The heart is beating at 47 beats per minute."
The mannequin was in a sitting position, leaning against a tree. "That's considered low…" Okay. The pulse was low, but there was trauma to the body. That altered the heartbeat, but up or down? And why? "A lower heart rate reduces the amount of oxygen getting to the brain…so…Fainting and low blood pressure…heart problems. Cardiac arrest possible…" She was being a little cynical here. Thinking a little more, she continued. "Blood on the back of the head, so the head shouldn't be moved in case of possible spinal injury which could lead to paralysis. In this case, I would search on my scroll for the nearest hospital. There's little I can do and I wouldn't want to do more damage."
"A good response. What if he dies before help can arrive?"
Emerald shook her head. "There's nothing most can do. Not much can help and a lot can make the situation worse. I could end up killing him myself."
Dr Waterbrook nodded. "Obviously, when it comes to situations like this, there is no complete right answer. There are many wrong answers, but not one right. Your scenario is a good answer. So you know, this particular individual died before help could arrive. He had been hit on the head over five hours before and it took him that long to die. He walked there himself."
Emerald wasn't too surprised to hear that. People could do very impressive things when pressured.
"So that is what most people would do. What would you do?"
"Well, the first thing after checking for a pulse would be to see the damage to the spinal cord. If that is undamaged, I can move the head to have a better look. Cerebellum…balance and coordination or…sight…Occipital lobe for visual interpretation. That's not including damage that might have happened if the front of the brain hit the skull. If it's the cerebellum…Still best not to move too much. I would still call the hospital as I don't know much about brains but I would try to keep internal bleeding internal."
Dr Waterbrook hummed. "You wouldn't try to fix the damage instinctively?"
Emerald sighed. "If it was someone I cared for, I would probably try but…Well, I would probably know them a little better. Instinctively I mean, especially if I sparred with them. I would try not to unless it was very, very desperate. I could get something very wrong and that's not an organ you mess with."
"A good instinct. Brain damage can be very long term and that is best for experts to handle." He picked up another picture. "How about this one?"
Emerald placed her picture on the desk and took the next photo.
Only to drop it onto the desk.
"Next. I don't want to talk about that."
"You know about this? The case went unsolved."
"Probably only because the prosecutors didn't think they'd get a conviction. Next."
"One of them would be Misty Clover, correct?" Dr Waterbrook took the photo back. It had been a mannequin and not the body but still. He entwined his fingers. "These lessons are confidential Miss Ryu as case files are often used when teaching psychology. You know this."
"Yes." She couldn't talk about specific details with anyone else. General things such as head wounds and possible brain damage, but if names were mentioned, that couldn't be passed on without Dr Waterbrook's permission. "I know."
"I would like details. Not for a biological discussion but psychological. If you really don't wish to, we can move on."
Emerald swallowed. She didn't want to talk about it but…She did want to know how people thought that was acceptable.
"Okay. I only really remember Misty in clear detail. I could make out the other two were the same age and were female as well. From what I could gather, they were punishing the one in the car trunk because she 'stole' Misty's boyfriend. After she died…I think…Misty made a comment that she set the victim up; that she told her boyfriend to date her. I didn't understand that. I still don't."
Dr Waterbrook hummed. "Teenage years are…interesting to study from a scientific point. Beacon does have similar aspects of other high schools, but it is very tame compared to others."
That had been Emerald's experience. Hogwarts had been far more vicious than Beacon, which was saying a lot considering Beacon was a warrior school.
"Bullying for instance," Emerald suggested.
"Exactly. It is not unusual for some of the bullies to be angels in the teacher's eyes. They would never believe that they are bullies because they had never seen evidence of such. Some are very good at hiding who they really are."
"Sounds like blindness. There were no signs that these girls are psychos?"
"Misty is a qualified doctor, Miss Ryu. She must have passed an aptitude test. It may not be perfect but-"
"Could Mercury pass this test?" Emerald asked as she leaned back with her arms crossed.
"If he wanted to, I believe he could," Dr Waterbrook agreed. "That is the problem. It is not perfect and if you know how to answer the questions or know how to act…Unsuitable people do slip through the cracks."
"But…What I don't get was that they were friends…"
"The theory isn't simple. However, it is thought that girls are socialised to be nice while boys are not discouraged from letting out their aggression on something. Therefore, girls often display violence towards people they know. Males tend to attack strangers or disliked acquaintances. There are obviously exceptions, but those are general patterns."
Emerald thought about that. "So girls are more manipulative if they dislike someone. Normally."
"Normally. Remember, behaviour is difficult to study because there are so many factors involved. If there was an answer to all teenage behaviour, schools would be much better and we would have much less crime."
"Right." Emerald wasn't convinced. But she picked up the photo again. These wounds were something Cinder had been very familiar with healing…Emerald shook her head and put it down. "I can't do this one now."
Dr Waterbrook nodded and took it back. He gave her a different one.
This had been a normal gunshot wound to the leg.
This one, Emerald could do.
Weiss had asked to miss Professor Port's lecture last thing on Friday. She would catch up later. She had an airship to catch at two in the morning, so she went to bed at five in the afternoon.
With care not to wake her teammates, she got up at one and got dressed. She had showered before she went to bed for once, so it took a little longer to do her hair. However, there should be time for that later.
She rejected her original choice of dress the night before and decided on a less decorated design. She tied her hair back and headed out.
The school was silent.
Weiss was glad of the quiet.
Mercury was waiting for her at the airstrip. He was standing straight when she could make him out.
"This the sort of thing?"
Weiss considered. "Step back three steps."
Mercury dutifully obliged. Now he was in better light, she appraised his outfit.
He was in a very plain suit with a black tie. There were plain dark grey gloves. That was it. It was something that would be suitable for a funeral, even if it wasn't the one he wore for Zephyr's. However, for tonight, it was a little wrong.
"Do you still have that cufflink?"
Mercury gave her a very confused look, but he turned over his left wrist. It was sitting there where a cufflink should be and where he had never put it before.
"Put that on your left side lapel. Otherwise, it's fine."
"O…kay." He moved it. "Why?"
Weiss didn't answer that. "That's good enough. Let's go." She led the way onto the airship. Once she heard Mercury get on behind her, she spoke to the pilot. "Okay. We're good to leave."
"Understood."
Weiss returned to the seats. Mercury sat opposite her.
Neither spoke as the airship took off.
Weiss took a deep breath. She only needed to get through today. She closed her eyes and began to meditate. She would be returning to Beacon afterwards, not going back to her father's home. It would be a long day and she would be awake for over twenty four hours, but she would manage. Long days were part of being a Huntress.
"Weiss?"
She opened her eyes. They were now going over the sea. "What is it?"
"What exactly do you think I should talk about with others? I didn't know Whitely."
"Neither did most of them." He blinked at that. Weiss looked away from him to out the window. "I would suggest professional behaviour and small talk. If you mention attending Beacon, always bring up the fact you are taking the advanced course."
"…Right." He returned to silence after that.
Weiss couldn't deny she was dreading this. She stared at her scroll, hoping to hear from Winter. Anything really. Weiss knew she would be there at some point today, but it wasn't going to be easy.
"What are you doing?"
Mercury looked up briefly at the question before his gaze went back to his scroll. "Yang had this 'great' idea to do dubbing for some non-voiced games. She sent me a few characters they want me to do. I'm still deciding on my bribe."
Weiss frowned as she thought. She had heard rumours around the school about that. "I heard a few people discussing that, now I think of it. Team JEWL were very interested."
Mercury gave her a blank look. "Who?"
"Frist years."
"Ah." He sent that message off to Yang before switching back to what Weiss now saw was a script. "Interested yourself?"
Grateful for the distraction, Weiss seriously considered it. "There is no profit, correct?"
"Of course."
"Then I would be interested. It would be a beneficial experience."
He snorted. "Beneficial for what exactly?"
"It would be good for communication between many individuals and different departments. I know that Ruby nor Yang are technology savvy. On top of that, it would be a nice distraction from my duties."
"Well, you're not exactly looking for something to write on job applications."
Weiss smiled a little at the thought of writing one. "No, but it is something I can quote and a personal experience."
Mercury shrugged. "I'll let them know. You'll probably get assigned a lot of spoiled brat roles or something."
"I trust them to have more imagination than that." She thought for a moment. "Well…More variation than that. They have many to choose from if what I heard is true."
"They'll be glad to hear that. Ruby wasn't expecting many interested and their first few videos picked a chapter that only needs four people."
"Are you one of them?"
"Yeah. Me, Jaune, Sawyer and Coco. I'm sure chapter two includes Velvet, Drake and Lucas as well. We planned to record it next week after work or classes and it'll hopefully be online by this time next week. The next chapter should be the week after on a schedule."
"That sounds good, but maybe you should aim for Sunday rather than Saturday. If you can get the voice recordings done during the week, that gives you all of Saturday to get it perfect."
"I know that, but it depends on what Jagoda wants. She doesn't normally have things to do on the weekends…or weekdays either really. So far, so good. But you know how it is."
Anything can happen at any time…
"May I see the script?"
Mercury glanced up, shrugged and moved to sit next to her.
It was calming to read. She could hear Mercury's voice when reading that characters lines, which was good. She could also hear Jaune's voice very well. This was a little basic and obvious, but it was a tutorial and so it was supposed to be.
"Do you know the backstory?"
"Only for my character. That's going to be the case for everyone. We thought it would make our responses easier to do."
This wasn't a game Weiss had played and Mercury had never played it either. In fact, he had no idea what happened until he was given the script to read for the voice acting and only for that chapter. Weiss thought she would do the same if she was asked to help.
At this hour, REY almost certainly hadn't read Mercury's messages.
Weiss turned away after she was done and again stared out of the window. Mercury moved back to opposite her, still looking at his scroll.
I just need to get through today. My father won't be happy about this, but he doesn't own me. I hope Klein doesn't mind though. I wonder when Winter is going to arrive. I could do with seeing her. I can only hope that today doesn't result in an argument.
I just…don't want to deal with anything.
There was a gentle shake on her shoulder.
She blinked and looked at Mercury, who was settling back into his seat. The sky was much brighter and she could see land if she directed her gaze down. Now she registered the cold, but that could be ignored easily.
Did I fall asleep?
Only five minutes later, the airship began its descent.
Weiss took a deep breath.
The actual landing was very smooth. There was barely a bump and the humming of the engine stopped.
Oddly enough, when the pair disembarked, General Ironwood was waiting for them.
"General?" Weiss asked. "Is there a problem?"
"It's merely a security check Ms Schnee. Atlas is on high alert at the moment and we are on the outlook for any suspicious behaviour, even in friends."
"Oh." Weiss did recall that fact now. "Would my scroll be enough identification?"
"It is not exactly identification I require as that can be forged. It is merely a security question and your sister has given me one." The man must have seen her perk up. "I expect to see her in two hours, but she will only be at wake unless she changes the plan. I understand you two will also leave afterwards?"
"Yes but…" Weiss glanced at the two Atlesian Knights before returning her attention to General Ironwood. "Is this necessary?"
"I think so," Mercury replied. "I know that neither of my guardians were happy to learn I was heading to Atlas, but they were reluctant to tell me why. Something about a criminal in the area?"
It was only because Weiss was already very on edge, but she had a suspicion that Mercury knew more than he was saying. She did not ask; she did not want to know. Not today. She was satisfied that this was a genuine concern.
"Very well," Weiss nodded. "What was my question?"
The General appeared to relax. "What did Winter give you for your thirteenth birthday?"
Weiss thought back. That birthday had been more stressful as there had been a concert organised and she had sung one of the final acts. She hadn't enjoyed it, but she hadn't been angry about it either. It had just been another day in her life and she had spent the morning with Winter. She didn't remember seeing Whitely that day.
"A pearl necklace." Weiss kept that hidden in her room at Beacon. It wasn't a fashion statement, but those pearls had either cost a fortune that Winter hadn't had at the time or an immense amount of spare time. It had sentimental value, not for casual or formal wear.
"That was what Winter told me," General Ironwood accepted. He turned to Mercury and seemed to consider what to say.
"Taiyang got so furious with you after our long chats that he threatened to have you removed from Vale and even from the Atlas board through scandal."
Weiss blinked.
"Or I can summon my Guardian Form-"
"I would much rather you didn't," General Ironwood cut across him. "I'm satisfied." He tilted his head to Weiss. "I will see you at the wake." He turned on his heel and walked away with his guards.
Weiss wasn't surprised that her father had invited General Ironwood, even if there was no emotional reason for it.
She sighed. Then she took a deep breath and straightened her back. She glanced at Mercury, who had been waiting patiently. "Come. The limousine is outside."
"Is your house far?" Mercury had decided to be on his best behaviour. That was a relief and some of the tension went out of her.
"No. Only ten minutes by car. Many of the company meetings are in inconvenient places if one relies solely on the roads."
He did not comment.
The walk to the limousine was silent.
However, once they were in the limousine, Mercury glanced at the black window separating the passengers from the driver.
"It's soundproof. There is a switch to open communications. It is switched off for the moment." She double-checked and frowned. She switched it off. It was normally already off, but maybe it had just been forgotten about.
Mercury's eyes went back to her. "You never said. Why am I here? No more silence or dodging."
It was an odd choice. Weiss knew that. Many people would not invite someone's killer to their wake. However, she had come to some conclusions. She had always planned to ask a friend to go with her, but it had somehow come to him.
"I investigated other victims of this group in more depth. I spoke to Dr Waterbrook concerning what little you allowed him to share with me. I do not hold you responsible. I have also told no one else."
Dr Waterbrook had confirmed that psychological triggers were possible. They were difficult to 'install' in someone, even harder to detect one and thought to be impossible to remove. The victim had no control or way to fight it. He did not speak much on Mercury himself and only Mercury's 'key word' he told Weiss allowed the doctor to speak of relevant information pertaining to him.
A few times, she had met with a therapist. That did help.
He showed no response to that. "…It doesn't explain why I'm here."
It was odd. Weiss would have been far angrier if the situation had been the reverse; if her brother had killed her friend to protect her. She knew she would miss Mercury more than Whitely and, in a way, that saddened her. But it was fine.
Reality was easier to accept.
"I do not hold you responsible. However, I want you to fully understand the consequences. I want you to see some of Whitely's life. I want you to remember him."
Mercury studied her for a moment before his gaze went to out the window.
What she told Mercury may be the truth, but it wasn't what she was going to tell her father. After all this time, she was still a little uncertain on that. She spent the car travel thinking, but nothing sounded satisfactory to her mind, never mind her father's.
Her father was waiting for them outside the mansion.
Weiss let out a deep breath. She opened the door and stepped out, walking forward quickly.
"Father." She sensed Mercury stop behind her.
"Weiss. You are always free to come home, especially if you change your mind."
"I am happy with my current choices Father." She hesitated a moment to make sure she said the correct name. "This is Mercury Crawford."
Mercury offered his left hand, acting very sincere. "Good to meet you, sir."
Father shook his hand once, taking in every detail. His eyes lingered on the cufflink for a moment. "I feel the same. As I understand it, your team were the runners up. That is very impressive."
Weiss didn't react.
Mercury's expression didn't change. "We did get a little lucky in the match-ups at times. The doubles rounds was by far the hardest, save for the final match obviously."
"Indeed." Father barely glanced at Weiss. "I am at a loss to why you are here. Did you meet Whitely?"
"I'm afraid not."
Weiss spoke before he could continue. "Mercury has an aptitude for business and marketing. I did share some of Whitely's ideas with him under confidentiality, so he wished to pay his respects."
That had only happened once because it was convenient and he was the one she trusted for a second opinion on those matters, but the second comment was a lie. Mercury was here because Weiss asked him; nothing else.
Father turned back to Weiss. He looked calm, but she could see his anger. "I would not consider that wise."
Mercury again piped up with an honest and respectful tone. "The matter she discussed with me was the idea of using airships manned by Atlesian Knights to aid in shipments outside the Kingdoms and main lines. I grew up outside the Kingdoms away from any trade points, so I can comment on the benefits and disadvantages that most would not know."
Considering that point, Mercury was correct that he was the only one that qualified that Weiss knew of. Even her friends that had not had a permenant home, they stayed within cities and villages. Not even Blake had stayed in the wilderness after leaving the White Fang.
"Even so, it is a family business." Mercury tilted his head, but said nothing. Father waited a moment before continuing. "However, I can see the merit in your responses which I was completely unfamiliar with. Allies are very beneficial." He turned back to Weiss. "See our guest to his room. Have you considered staying home for the weekend?"
Weiss nodded. "I did consider it, but it is simpler for both of us if we return to Vale after the wake rather than the morning after."
"…Very well."
Refusing to show her relief the conversation was over, Weiss strolled with purpose inside. The foyer was just as she remembered. She took the stairs at a good pace and headed to the room farthest along the corridor; the room for liked guests rather neutral or disliked.
Good manners suggested that she open the door for the guest, tell him the details and leave him to sort himself out.
Instead, Weiss stepped into the room and held the door open for him. Once Mercury was inside, she shut the door behind him.
"Weiss, I've decided I don't like your father."
Weiss allowed herself a chuckle. "He can be very…trying."
"Trying. Not the word I would pick." He glanced around the room.
Honestly, Weiss thought that could have gone worse. She glanced at her watch. "I will collect you in an hour. We'll go straight to the meeting hall."
"No funeral service?" His voice was quiet like he was trying to be gentle, but she caught his uncertainty.
"The funeral was a week after his body was found. He is being cremated today but we will have left before that. My sister will be witness to that." Weiss couldn't do it.
Mercury frowned. "Sorry, it's just…I thought a wake happened before a funeral."
"It normally is. Just not this time." She sighed. "I don't believe Whitely will be discussed much today."
Mercury chose not to comment on that. "I'll be on my best behaviour. Am I going to know anyone there?"
"Other than General Ironwood, I don't know. If you'll excuse me…"
"Sure. I'll see you later."
The hallway was empty, much to Weiss' relief.
Her own room was only two doors down from this particular guest room. Her eyes lingered on the knight portrait for a moment. She turned away and walked towards her wardrobe, which contained a full length mirror. She took in her appearance.
Robotically, she began to 'doll up'.
She jumped at the knock on the door. Upon reflection, it wasn't Father's knock and it wasn't Klein's knock either. By elimination, it must be Mercury.
Weiss opened the door and was faced with her sister.
After a moment to process who it was, Weiss hugged her.
Winter returned the affection. "It's good to see you too, Weiss."
Weiss reluctantly let go and stepped back into her room. Winter followed her and closed the door behind her.
"Honestly Weiss, how are you doing?"
Weiss thought about it. She sat on her bed and pulled her hair out to redo. "I'm…okay. I came to terms with this some time ago. I just don't understand why, months later, the wound needs to be reopened. This is nothing more than a business act."
"I'm in agreement," Winter allowed. She went behind Weiss and began to do the plait for her. "That being said, Whitely deserved much better."
Weiss sighed. "I don't remember him too well. We stayed out of each other's way so much, I can't focus on the simple things. I never learned such things like his favourite food. I regret that. I wronged him."
"I'm much the same. I never kept in contact with him after I left here. We had different interests and beliefs, so we spoke far less. I last heard from him a year before…Before his disappearance."
Weiss almost winced. "The day I left for Beacon. He didn't approve. We had a heated discussion on the necessities of Huntsmen compared to an army of Atlesian Knights."
"He brought that up with me too. It's a shame. He had such high hopes for his future."
Weiss managed a smile. "That I did know. He was certainly ambitious. He didn't deserve this."
"No one does Weiss." Her hands moved back. "Is that how you want it or do you want it more on the side?"
Weiss considered. "I think that's good. I thought you were going to be at the wake?"
"I changed my mind," Winter replied as she studied herself in the mirror. "Whitely was my brother and family should come first, even if it is too late."
That was something that Weiss was guilty of also. "I know."
Winter smiled at her. She gestured to the nearby desk. "Jewellery?"
Weiss took a deep breath.
She just needed to get through tonight.
For Whitely.