Wrapped in just a towel with Myrtenmaster meters removed from her, Weiss could do nothing but look at the wild haired woman now standing in front of her, uninvited as well.
"I'm getting really tired of your unannounced visits Raven!" Weiss angrily declared "especially at a time like this! I thought I made it clear to Creel that I don't want him keeping tabs on me anymore!"
Raven crossed her arms indignantly "and you honestly believe Creel is going to take orders from you! Well hate to break it to you princess! But he answers only to one person, we all do."
As she was saying this Raven stepped forward, soon just inches removed from Weiss, who was eying Myrtenmaster which was meters removed at the edge of her desk, just out of arm's reach for her.
"All that we ask of you is that you play your part and stick to the plan, and now you are wasting time on this useless boy. I cannot believe that the Great Titan lets you get away with so much of your slacking behavior."
Weiss' normally cold eyes where now alight with embers burning. A burning anger towards the woman in front of her, the one who had been demanding her since the moment she had been let into the graces of the Collective. Even despite not being a full member, since the Collective only kept itself to six official members at a time, Raven had been consistently a thorn in her side since day one.
"Don't you dare call him useless! If I was you I'd watch your…"
"What's going on here?"
Weiss saw in the corner of her eye Jaune run out of the bathroom, wearing only a pair of sweatpants she had given him, his hair still wet from the previous shower. His expression was almost unreadable as he looked at the two woman in front of him.
Raven turned around to face him, and Jaune's face turned to shock.
"You! What are you doing here?" he pointed accusatory at Raven.
Raven's expression turned into a scowl and Weiss used the opportunity to slip by and grab Myrtenmaster from her desk, pointing the blade in Raven's direction.
"You know her!" the general asked in surprise.
"Of course I do! She just attacked Haven Academy days ago along with Cinder! Don't you know, that's Yang's mom!" Jaune yelled out.
Weiss' eyes widened in surprise. Yang's mom! She didn't know that little detail until now.
"So…." Weiss said with a gleeful expression as she walked around the older woman, Myrtenmaster still aimed at her "you're Yang's mom. Well it appears you're a lousy mother in both this world and your own."
"How dare you…" Raven said through gritted teeth.
Jaune watched the situation unfold with great uncertainty and even more confusion than ever before. He could now somewhat understand his situation, having fallen into a different world, a different kind of Remnant. This Weiss he was with…she wasn't his Weiss, one that had ended up differently, without Team RWBY by her side….
But the Raven he saw looked the same as the one he had seen less than a week ago.
"Weiss what's going on?" Jaune asked.
"It's a long story Jaune I promise I will fill you in shortly once we get her to leave!" Weiss shouted as she pointed the tip of Myrtenmaster just inches from Raven's face.
"Oh so melodramatic," Raven huffed "I only came here to pass on a message from the Great Titan. He wants to see you tomorrow night here for dinner."
Weiss' expression turned pale and she lowered her weapon as Raven smirked with crossed arms, leaning against her desk.
"Dinner…here…" Weiss mumbled.
"Yes here…" Raven pointed out, relishing in the opportunity as she saw Weiss almost internally break down with nervousness.
"Weiss you okay?" Jaune asked concerned, walking over to her.
"Well I'll think I'll be off then, it's been fun" Raven said as she proceeded to move past the pair, only to be stopped by Jaune suddenly grabbing her hand.
"Where do you think you're going?" he snapped.
In an instant as his hand wrapped around hers, Raven pulled it back before body slamming Jaune onto the floor beneath him with minimal effort. Her wild black locks twirling before her red eyes.
"Don't you dare try that again boy. You may be friends with Yang and Summer's daughter but that doesn't mean I won't hesitate to put you in your place if you get in my way" Raven snapped angrily.
Weiss immediately went over to Jaune to check on them as Raven stepped away from them, brandishing her sword and with a single strike of it created a portal away. She turned to the pair with a smirk.
"I will inform him you will make the necessary preparations, oh and Weiss," Raven said as she paused for a second and pointed at Weiss "keep my daughter out of it."
And with that she disappeared through the portal, leaving the pair behind.
"Jaune my dear are you okay?" Weiss asked concerned, rubbing her hands over his face.
"I'm fine! Just explain please what is going on! Why was Raven Branwen here! Who is she talking about and what in the Gods names is happening!"
Jaune was fed up, fed up with not having the answers he needed to make sense of the situation. So far he had only gotten small hints and details. One which did not make a clear picture of the position he currently found himself.
Stranded in a different world. Check.
Different Weiss. Check.
Why Raven Branwen was here. Still a mystery?
"Jaune please calm down I'll explain it soon just please…" Weiss pleaded.
"No Weiss I have had enough. I've been beaten, imprisoned and I don't even know why or how I suddenly found myself here with you! You say you are not my Weiss! That we used to be lovers? That I died on this world? And now I see Raven freaking Branwen talking about passing along a dinner invitation message while she was also threatening you! None of it makes sense and I want to know the how or why or I will walk out of that door the consequences be damned!"
"NO!" Weiss yelled with a pleading tone as she grabbed Jaune's arm as he stood up from the ground, tugging at it hard enough to pull him back.
"Please don't leave! I can't lose you again!" she said as a single tear ran down her cheek. Jaune felt his anger dissipate for a moment as he saw her cry….it felt so…so real…did she actually love him? Or the version of him that was no longer with her…
"Alright fine just…please put on some clothes first and then please explain to me what's going on."
And they did just that, in about half an hour later the pair was fully dressed. Jaune in a fitting pair of black pants and a white shirt, while Weiss had changed into a long white elegant dress that barely hid any part of her curves. Jaune had to keep himself from staring as she sat down next to him on her elegant looking couch.
"So…uhm…go for it. Hit me with it" Jaune started.
"Hmmm getting right into the naughty part aren't you dear?" Weiss said teasingly as she roamed her fingers around his leg.
"No not that!" Jaune immediately replied awkwardly "just tell me what's going on."
"Oh yeah right," Weiss replied, returning her hand to her side "well it's kind of a long story but…"
She took in a huge breath before she started telling Jaune.
"After you….I mean my Jaune died…I was lost, I couldn't take it so…I left Beacon…my…the team tried to stop me but I just couldn't be there anymore, I grabbed my things and returned home. The moment he did my father pushed ahead with his plans for me…he gave me no time to grief he just made me adhere to his will and follow his plan for me. He wanted me to forget Jaune…saying he would find me a proper suitor."
Jaune felt an anger boiling inside of him, clenching his fist as he listened to Weiss' tale. He had heard plenty of stories about her father and it seems in this world he was no different.
"I was so lost…I was so over it…I just wanted to grieve in peace but he didn't let me. He demanded I'd be a proper Schnee and fulfill my duties as such. I told him off one day and…he hit me…"
"That bastard…" Jaune muttered under his breath.
Weiss' expression was ice cold, not unlike the tears she let out earlier. "And then…he came…and he saved me…"
"Who?" Jaune asked.
Weiss remembered the memory as if it were yesterday. A portal opening behind her, her father Jacques looking angry one moment and completely taken aback the next. The figure that came out of the portal had Jacques by the throat, holding him up with one hand as her father struggled for dear life, not even having the strength to demand to be let go.
"The leader of the Collective...we call him the Great Titan"
"What's the Collective?" Jaune asked once more.
Weiss sighed before she continued "this may be hard to believe, because believe me I hardly did so when I first heard about it either. But they are an organization comprised of multiple individuals hailing from different worlds, like how you and me are from different worlds…they are dedicated to restoring balance across all worlds."
Jaune could barely believe what he was hearing. A multiverse spanning organization! He had read about such things in his favorite comics as a kid but didn't think that was actually a real possibility.
"And you are a part of it?"
Weiss shook her head "not exactly. Raven is a full-fledged member, I am more of a liaison to the organization, providing them with the necessary information. I see it as a way to repay my debt to their leader for all he did for me?'
By this point Jaune's curiosity had outweighed most of his others feelings and desires. This whole multiverse spanning organization thing seemed like straight out of a comic book but if Weiss was to be believed, they were living it now.
"What did he do for you?" Jaune asked curiously.
Weiss was silent for a moment, her hands brought together in silence as she thought about how to tell him the events that had occurred that day.
"He killed my father" she eventually said, completely without emotion.
Without missing a beat Jaune was taken aback by this sudden admission, even more worrying was the emotionless and cold tone with which she delivered it.
"He….he…what?" Jaune asked confused and slightly worried.
Weiss snickered "he deserved it. He was a monster Jaune….a cruel tyrannical monster. Believe me when I tell you I have thought about doing it plenty of times…but he was still my father…how could I…but he…he arrived out of nowhere and did it for me."
Weiss remembered the sight before her as she was on the ground, the giant figure holding her father up in the air with a single hand, like he was nothing more than a puppet. She would never forget the words he spoke to her father.
"You dare call yourself a father?"
"After that he took me under his wing. Trained me, guided me, and thanks to that I managed to achieve heights I never thought I could. And now the entire Atlas military belongs to me, all thanks to him…he has been more of a father to me then my own."
Jaune was unsure on how to respond to this giant bomb drop of information that was occurring right in front of him. Almost as if by instinct he wrapped a hand around Weiss' shoulder as a way to comfort her, and she leaned into him.
"Please stay with me Jaune…" she whispered as she snuggled into him. Leaving the young warrior unsure of how to proceed. He didn't belong in this world, he needed to get back to his own but….staying here…with her…it felt so right somehow.
