Location: Atlas, Schnee Mansion
Friday, June 5th
[Thin Ice]
Raye hasn't approached her since their failure of a dinner date and is often found hanging around Jacques, watching and learning as though he were his shadow, but, strangely, her father doesn't seem to mind.
Raye seems to have completely dismissed her entire existence since that day, not even sparing her the slightest of glances when they passed in the halls. He looked straight through her as if she were never there in the first place, a ghost that plagued the house he leached from.
Weiss really couldn't care less.
In fact, she was glad he was acting as if she wasn't there. She publicly humiliated the young man and left him during the middle of their apparent date, even refusing a ride home with the drunk man, and it obviously stings him to know that.
Weiss took pride in her accomplishment; deflating a man's ego by simply walking away. And, it kept him and his disgusting behavior away from her, which she was more than thankful for.
Though Weiss didn't let her guard down around him. She knew that Raye would not let her get away with what she'd done. He was just waiting, biding his time. She'd made a mental note not to let him find her alone in any way and strictly forbade him from approaching her bedroom.
She makes sure to sleep with the door locked every night, her senses on high alert and Myrtenaster positioned next to her bedside for easy access. Should she wake up with him anywhere in her room, she would not hesitate to aim to kill, or injure long enough for her father to consider someone else.
Not that she wanted anyone else, by no means did she want that, she knew she'd have no choice in the end, but anyone was better then Raye at this point.
The night after the so-called 'date', Weiss found herself becoming ill in the mornings, each morning seemingly worse than the last. The brief nausea she felt on the way to the restaurant would come rushing forward, barging through the gates and sweeping through every fiber in her body, numbing her yet tensing every nerve.
It causes her stomach to ache like Hell, as if someone had punched her in the gut and left her to rot. Weiss had been ill before, but nothing like this. This felt as if the gods were punishing her with hot irons and watching with sick pleasure as she writhed.
She usually managed to keep it under control for the rest of the day. She only had to excuse herself twice when she was called down for breakfast, the smell of her Father and Brother's morning coffee was strong and sickening, burning at her nostrils and causing her stomach to churn rapidly.
To avoid further humiliation, and her father questioning her behavior, she turned to requesting for her breakfast to be brought upstairs to her bedroom, much to her Father's displeasure. Whitley, being the smart mouthed brother he was, didn't help either. Weiss would've spilt her coffee on his lap if her father wasn't watching her.
If Yang were here, she likely would've made a pregnancy joke to try and lighten the situation, Ruby, being the overprotective girlfriend she was, probably would've immediately panicked and practically dragged her to the nurse to discover what was wrong with her. Blake probably would've known before the others due to her keen sense of smell.
A tiny smile tugs at the corner of Weiss' lips. If she were still back at Beacon, or anywhere with her friends, she would be hoping Yang's joke was true.
Unfortunately, she knew it wasn't…
The more logical reason for it was Raye doing something to her food as punishment for humiliating him. Her Father likely encourages it too, waiting for something to happen so they could play the 'caring lover' and 'worried father' roles. They could sue the restaurant out of business as well, for poisoning the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.
Weiss lets out a weary sigh and tightens the white sash around her waist, swallowing the heavy wave of nausea that rushed up her throat. She turns to examine her appearance in her mirror, taking her comb and brushing her bangs neatly to the side. She wore one of her favorite dresses; a long blue-grey gown, flowing into a white gradient towards her waist and darkening around her shoulders.
It had belonged to her Mother once upon a time, retrieved and cleaned for the event. Weiss knew it probably suited the frame of her Mother rather than her..
Despite still feeling unwell, her Father had insisted that she join him for a conference meeting concerning the SDC's next shipment of dust; one of the mines the faunus worked in collapsed due to tremors and many lives were lost, along with their cargo.
As unsettling as it was, Weiss already knows her Father's solution: Capture more faunus and send them to work in the mines, pick up where the others had left off and retrieve the remaining dust.
Weiss closes her eyes and takes a step back, tightening her hairpiece. She couldn't waste any more time. Her Father was likely to be already waiting for her arrival and he would be annoyed if she was late.
Weiss moves away from the mirror and slides her bedroom door open, her eyes snapping up quicker than she could blink to see Raye standing patiently at the other side. Her body tenses up as she steps out to greet him, instinctively reaching for her weapon that wasn't there.
An eerie vibe floats through the dark hallway, cold heavy air brushing against her skin as she closes her door behind her. She lifts her gaze to meet Raye's blank yellow pair. She felt like defenseless prey standing beneath the malicious, merciless eyes of its predator.
Weiss clears her throat. "Hello, Ra-" Her words are cut off by a strong hand lashing out to grab her chin.
The back of her head hits the door and she growls at her attacker, her hands desperately trying to remove herself from Raye's chokehold. She couldn't breathe. Raye leans in close and she swallows hard, her nails digging into his fist, deep enough to draw blood.
She can smell the alcohol off his breath. "Your Father told me that you attended Beacon Academy," he says without emotion as a smug, sleazy grin grows on his disgusting face, "why don't you show me what you've learned?"
Weiss snarls at him and chokes back a rough cough, her throat becoming tighter as her lungs scream for oxygen. "Let go of me!" She hisses out at him, feeling like her body was sliding into an electrical shock, she felt like she could pass out, but she also felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Raye raises a brow, unimpressed. "I said let go!"
"I heard you." He sneers, tightening his grip around her throat and forcing a strangled cough out of her. His hold was strong. "What a pity… I thought huntresses were stronger than this." He shrugs. Weiss glances down, noticing his stance. A glyph appeared behind him as her summon took form. "Then again, you are a woman, perhaps this was all a hoax to-"
Weiss grabs Raye's wrists and pulls as her knee snaps up to crash with his abdomen at full force, prompting an audible grunt from the man and causing Raye's grip to weaken slightly as he flinches. The man doubles over, giving Weiss the opportunity to snatch his hand down from her throat using her elbows and duck out of his way. "You bitch!" Raye's eyes light up with rage and he reaches for her again-
A heavy, glowing, metal arm shoots out, startling the young man as a hand the size of his head grabs his skull and smashes the side of his face against the wall, pinning him there with a horrified look on his face.
"Don't. Touch. Me." Weiss spat, massaging her chin and approaching the man to look him in the eye. "I am not your 'wife'. I am not your baby-making machine," her Arma Gigas' hand tightens ever so lightly around Raye's head and he glared at her through one pain-stricken eye, "and I am definitely not marrying your misogynist ass." She steps away and the summon disintegrates, she turns her back towards the blonde man.
"Do not follow me."
Weiss stares at the table with a blank and unreadable gaze, only half-listening to the bickering in front of her. It's been two hours since the conference started and they still haven't agreed on how to handle the collapsed mine and delayed cargo situation.
Her father didn't want the mine to be abandoned and instead have it be cleared out, his excuse was that there was still dust that could be collected and sold. He wasn't happy about the late shipment and wanted replacements for what was lost as soon as possible, he didn't care how many lives were lost so long as the dust made it out of the mine.
Another man, his status unknown to her, rejected his idea and insisted that they could search for replacement dust elsewhere. His main concern appeared to be the human workers who observed the faunus, instead of those exposed to the potentially fatal elements.
"What I think we should do is-"
Her Father waves his hand dismissively, irking the middle-aged man sitting across from Weiss. "Do not abandon the mine under any circumstances." He says with emphasis, tapping his index finger against the polished wooden table. "There is still dust worth millions sitting down there! We cannot afford to lose any more of it." He visibly bristles, his jaw clenches when the other man attempts to cut him off. "Have it cleared out! Dispose of the bodies and assign more to the job, make them work day and night until you can access the mines again!"
Weiss bites down hard, swallowing her words as her eyes dart between the bickering men. Her hand rests under her chin lightly, hiding the bruised finger marks from her earlier scuffle.
"I am not talking about the lives of those creatures here, Jacques!" The younger man intervenes, "They don't matter. I am talking about my employees! My human workers! I can't just send them to their deaths!"
She resists a roll of her eyes, having heard the same argument worded differently more than twice already.
Her Father's voice is like ice. "Then replace them. Breed new workers."
Weiss exchanges a puzzled glance with the man's wife for a beat, dread pooling in the pit of her stomach as realization clicks. Breeding meant… She couldn't accept this. "You can't do that!" She interjects, standing up to grab their attention, she hears the other woman urgently whisper for her to sit down, a hand nervously tugging at the fabric on her hip, "That's… Wrong. They're not concubines!"
"Weiss." Jacques scowls at her, his voice level but threatening. "Sit. Down."
The conference room door opens as Weiss reluctantly takes her seat, white tipped fingers clutching the edge of the table as rage ignites within her. A middle-aged, portly man enters with a cup of brewing hot coffee. "Good evening!" He says with an accent as he passes the young woman to sit at her other side.
Weiss' nose wrinkles up as a strong, overwhelming stench hits her at full force; something bitter mixed with something rather musky. Her eyes glance over to the man, locating the smell as his coffee and his thick cologne. "My apologies for being late, the wife required my attention."
Well, that explains the cologne.
"Perfectly understandable!" The young man sitting across from Weiss says, sending his wife a glance that wasn't returned. She almost gags.
The three of them continue their discussion, words sometimes overlapping enough that Weiss has to shift her focus from one man to another, unable to hear every word the three of them were spewing out. She catches a few in between, making enough sense of them to piece together what the bickering was about. Fortunately, her Father's previous topic hasn't been brought up again, but that doesn't stop them from offering multiple other inhumane solutions...
Nausea begins to rise up inside of her and Weiss straightens her posture as an attempt to push it down. Her stomach churns and rolls, sending queasiness floating through her body like a disease. Her jaw becomes firm and she makes her breaths shallow, her throat constricting as the new man swishes his hot coffee around in his mug, the acid-like smell attacking Weiss' senses. Her stomach couldn't decide whether or not her breakfast wanted to come up.
She felt lightheaded.
"Miss Schnee?" She fixes her gaze on the only other woman in the room, noticing her concerned expression. She must've made a face of disgust. "You look unwell…" Weiss feels her Father's eyes on her, watching her intently and suspiciously. She stiffens nervously. "Do you need to be excused?"
Weiss forces a smile in the woman's direction, "I'm just fine."
Her Father smiles sweetly, "If my dear daughter is feeling ill, then of course she is excused." A chill slithers up her spine and Weiss sends him a blank glare, hiding her scowl under a practiced appreciative look. He'd been waiting for an excuse to send her out of the room after what she'd said, Weiss could see it written in his eyes. "You may return to your room."
She hesitantly stands to her feet. "Oh, and Weiss?" She looks back at him. "Do not forget about the charity event later this evening."
"Yes, Father."
She returns to her room and closes the door, thankful for the breath of fresh air that it grants her. Her eyes immediately move to Myrtenaster, which still remains untouched by her bed. Another quick look around quenches her worries that Raye had rummaged through her things after being beaten by her for a second time.
Everything remained where it was supposed to, not a single speck of dust on anything within view. She made a quick note to have her drinking water refreshed before taking anymore from it, just in case.
The continuous ticking of her clock worms her way into the front of her mind. She takes a glance at the white marble piece that sat on her fireplace mantle. She still has a few more hours until her show, which gives her hopefully enough time to get over her sickness.
She kicks off her heels and slips her feet into more comfortable wear, another wave of nausea hitting her like an Ursa. She takes a breath, swallowing the saliva that had built in her mouth. There's no chance she can perform like this, but she knows her father would force her on stage either way. It's too late to cancel the concert now.
Whatever this was, it had long lasting effects…
All of a sudden, it's like a switch is flipped inside of her; her body feels heavy like stone. She was tired. For just a moment, she was conflicted. She wanted to lay down and rest, but she knew she needed to fetch her medication as soon as possible. She couldn't risk being nauseated and sick during a performance.
Her feet move on their own towards her bed.
The medication could wait… She could squeeze in a quick nap.
Weiss sighs and lays across her bed horizontally, crossing her arms below her chin and lightly touching the cold of her bracelet. She closes her eyes. As soon as she relaxed into the comforter, content spread through her like warm water soaking into the sand. Her muscles loosen with each breath she draws in and she feels the weight of the world slowly lift off her shoulders, her thoughts becoming foggy as a tranquil emotion sweeps across her
Her eyes open and a dark red color splashes across her vision, she grunts and lifts her head slowly, looking around and noticing the ground to be solid rock, she pushes herself to sit on her knees and takes in her surroundings. She was on the Beacon grounds.
"Weiss!" She knows that voice. "Weiss, are you okay?" She turns her head to see Ruby rushing towards her, worry plastered all over her face. The girl skid to a stop in front of her and kneels down, warmth spread through Weiss' chest as familiar hands cup her cheeks. She giggles and closes her eyes as Ruby taps her forehead against hers.
For some unknown reason, she knew what was happening, but she felt far away, as if she was watching everything happen through someone else's eyes… The air felt gentle, filled with excitement with a twinge of unease, but it was overall… relaxed. She glances behind Ruby to see Blake and Yang approaching with smiles on their faces.
She hears herself whisper a sweet response and she reaches up to grasp Ruby's wrist, but her hand catches air and her eyes open, finding that her environment has changed. They were gone… She was walking down the halls of the Schnee manor, her eyes moving upwards to see that she was following closely behind her father. The atmosphere was cold, almost unforgiving and thick with apprehension.
The words exchanged between her and her father were unintelligible, but somehow she knows what was said and her gut twists with disgust. A giant door opens and she finds herself standing at an unfamiliar table in a vague room, there was the shadowy, unclear image of a man sitting across from her. Inside, she knows exactly who the shadows represent. His mouth opens and her father replies, but whatever they discussed falls deaf on her ears.
His eyes were dark and malicious. Weiss frowns as the distorted appearance of a snake rises behind him like smoke, its eyes matching his.
"Traitor!" A voice echoes from somewhere around her, Weiss whirls around as an attempt to locate it. She was standing at the docks of Vale. A group of men stood before her, wearing ivory-colored masks covering their eyes and suits of armor. "You're no better than them!" The voice was more clear now.
Blake steps out from behind one of the men and a sense of relief washes through Weiss. "You're okay-" She hears herself say before the faunus interrupts her.
"You lied to us! You said-..." Her words trail off, but her mouth continues to move as Weiss' heart drops. Her friend turns away, lifting an ivory mask to her face and glaring back at the heiress. She fades away with the rest of the faunus, leaving Weiss alone with a hollow feeling inside of her stomach.
She looks down at her feet and her hands turn to fists. A splash of blood suddenly appears in front of her and she cautiously looks up, her breath catching in her throat as tears stung her eyes. "You're just like everybody else," Yang says to her, but Weiss is unable to see her. "You run… You abandon those who love you. At least…" the sound of her voice is distorted, "...came back."
"What about our team?" She says.
She turns around.
"There is no Team RWBY!" Ruby shouts at her, silver eyes cold and unforgiving. They become sad and remorseful. "Not anymore…."
Weiss' eyes snap open upon hearing a loud pounding on her bedroom door and she shoots upright, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and scrambling off her bed to answer it. Her foot is caught in the sheets and she comes crashing down off the bed, snatching her blankets off with her. Weiss lets out an embarrassed chuckle and carefully stands up again, kicking the blankets off of her foot and quickly strolling towards her door, her anxiety levels rising.
She draws in a deep breath as the unease in her chest fades away. Images flash through her brain as the handle clicks open and she braces herself. A sigh of relief escapes her when she sees the doctor smiling kindly back at her, "Sorry for awakening you, Miss Schnee," he apologizes nicely, "your father informed me that you were in need of some medication?" He asks, offering a small bottle and a glass of water to her.
Oh yeah, she'd almost forgotten about that.
"Yes, thank you." She thanks him with a small smile and takes the items from him, examining the pill bottle for a moment before realizing that he was walking away. "Oh, uh, how many do I take?" She just required something over the counter.
"One." He answers as he turns away to leave, Weiss nods and steps back into her room, she closes the door behind her and lets out a heavy breath. She only has a few hours to prepare for the recital…
She unscrews the bottle cap and removes one small white pill, popping it into her mouth and taking a quick sip of her water. Weiss sets the glass down and grabs her gown hanging up on her dresser, she mutters under her breath and slides into the bathroom for a shower.
After approximately fifteen minutes, she exits her bathroom and uses her heel to close the door while she tightens her tiara into her blow-dried and brushed white hair. Weiss moves in front of the mirror to examine her appearance and her brows furrow in disapproval, she shakes her head and reaches down to smooth out her dress again. Well, she didn't particularly like the way her dress was worn, but it's the one she was required to wear to formal events.
The colors were a depressing shade of blue-grey, too.
Weiss turns away and grabs the cup of water on her dresser, failing to notice the empty pill bottle and the misty white floating around inside of the mostly clear liquid. She grimaces as she swallows it, now aware of the acid-like aftertaste. Her chest convulses in retaliation towards the burning sensation and it takes every ounce of her willpower not to allow the liquid to resurface.
She coughs a few times and breathes in deep breaths, the burning in her chest slowly receding. "Weiss!" Her father yells for her from outside the room.
Weiss barely refrains from coughing again. "On my way!"
She didn't remember anything.
When did she step on stage? Why were her eyes so unfocused? Why was everything so bright?
Weiss could still feel the nausea stinging at her belly, rolling and churning as bile slowly rises in her throat. Her vision was swimming with black spots and her body trembles, feeling as though every ounce of her strength had escaped her body.
"Miss Schnee!"
The world was spinning, everything was a blur of indescribable colors she'd never seen before. The sounds around her were faint, but loud enough to irritate her surprisingly sensitive ears. The world moved backwards and suddenly there was a blinding white light above her, she could feel footsteps approaching her. Her blurred gaze turned to see what looked to be flashing lights coming from somewhere below her.
Weiss felt cold hands on her shoulders, pulling her up from the ground and attempting to situate her. Her eyes widened and she jerked her arm back, an inaudible voice telling her to fight back. Weiss spun around to look at her attackers, her body unsteady, and all she saw was black obscuring her vision. Her breaths were shallow, but quick.
'Grimm!' The voice warns her and a splotchy glyph appears beneath her feet, causing her to realize that her body had begun to tremble. Was she afraid? She didn't feel afraid, she could take on these Grimm no problem! She just needed Myrtenaster.
She didn't have Myrtenaster.
Her chest hurt.
"Miss Schnee, relax." A voice murmurs from behind her and Weiss whirls to face them, groaning when her vision becomes unfocused and nausea forms in the pit of her stomach, spreading throughout her entire being. She felt heave. "...Schnee… can… stay… hear me?"
Darkness swept over her like a wave.
Just when you think Raye couldn't be even more of a douche... Don't worry, we won't ever see Raye again in this story. What a relief!