Lessons in History

"Listen here and all students I'm here to explain why exactly we have the idea of our weapons transforming into two to more forms in combat." Doctor Oobleck spoke out loud leaving fast and forth with his cup of coffee.

"Do you all know that it was inspired by a single individual Bronze Knight during the Great War in the Remnant?" The doctor asked and then explained before anyone could answer. "That he was able to create a weapon not just only a sword but into a bladed whip, a shield, bow and arrow, and the finisher of all opponents off a giant cannon. Even if they thought they found out something about that tool that he was using they soon it could do much more than what they thought, recognizing it as the all-purpose weapon to defend the innocent. This weapon of his inspired so many huntsmen and huntresses to create their own way of weaponry as he was the only one down defending off against the soldiers of Mistral and Mantle, especially fending off the hordes of Grimm attacking those villages outside the kingdoms that had disregarded their citizens."

Everyone was questioning one another and whispers.

"How could one single man take on a whole army?"

"Maybe it was his semblance that allowed him to defeat all those opponents."

"The user of this weapon must have been an elite warrior that the kingdom of Vale had long ago."

"I can hear and understand the rumors that are skeptical on how this single being managed to take down two forces together and one go. Even I, Doctor Oobleck have the same thoughts come across my mind. Even the enemies after the Great War who lost everything had continued trying to attempt to acquire this legendary weapon, especially to try to reverse engineer it to have more than one of those. Unfortunately, the individual had somehow left with no trace of him being located including his weapon along with him."

The students were stunned about this and began to raise their hands about the questions.

"If you're going to ask about any records of any recent locations of the Bronze Knight's last location and resting place, there are no records of it. The Bronze Knight was a close ally to the King of Vale and trusted him deeply, knowing his majesty had sworn under secrecy and erased any vital information of any documents of this individual's greatest arsenal to ensure it would remain unknown, keeping the story altered preventing any individuals not letting them know what it truly looks like preventing anyone with their dark intentions to acquire it."

All the students were stunned about this that no one. Not even the leaders of the Kingdom nowadays ever truly knew the location of that legendary weapon that has inspired so many huntsmen and huntresses to make them who they are today.

"Although, in history about the Bronze Knight. He wasn't the only one with a transformation weapon like his there was a silver night apparently who both of the leaders of the kingdoms of Mistral and Vale have more high respect not just by her unique skill of combat and fighting because of her compassion and wisdom within her heart touched the others and many others had followed her with the Bronze Knight. She also touched the other two kingdoms from outside, the people whom their rules had disregarded and sent them to oppression. The Silver Knight is truly a worthy ally to many noble actions with truly moral statures, known to even see past the facade of those who are truly corrupted." The doctor has spoken to all the students.

"Isn't it true that the Silver Knight became the Empress of Mistral?" One the students quickly asked. "And that she fought against the King Phadrig in the final battle of the Great War?"

"I heard she was defending the outer villages of Mistral when the Emperor took her as his wife."

"The Emperor only married once and she died in childbirth at least a decade before the war even started."

"She was so popular that the people of Mistral begged her to remain as their Empress, even after the war had ended."

"I heard the General of Mantle and Emperor of Mistral only made her Empress to make her the figurehead of their movement."

"Yes, yes, yes. The history surrounding the last Empress of Mistral has been a topic for many a scholar. It is known that the Silver Knight, also known as the Ocean Knight which is a title that has been passed down since ancient history, became popular by the outer villages of Mistral by protecting them from bandits and Grimm when the Great War began." Oobleck cut in. "Her skills and bravery resonated with the people who were being forced to give up their culture, their art, even being forced to suppress their emotions drew them to her, becoming someone they would follow when they felt their lives and very feelings were being disregarded by their Emperor. The Emperor, realizing he was facing the possibility of open rebellion in his own kingdom, tried to destroy or discredit the Silver Knight but all attempts failed. The General of Mantle, the one who came up with the foolish idea for repressing all emotions and arts even sent his own forces after her but failed all the same."

"So how did she become the Empress?"

"She killed the Emperor and took his throne, obviously."

"Wait, wasn't the Emperor dethroned and imprisoned?"

"Could have been a lie to cover up the murder."

"No, no, nothing like that. The Emperor found himself unable to kill the Silver Knight and he couldn't spare many soldiers while fighting alongside Mantle against both the armies of Vale and Vacuo at the same time. With the threat of open rebellion happening while fighting a war, the Emperor had to find another way and so he did. A plan was hatched between him and the General of Mantle's armies to use the Silver Knight's popularity to their advantage as well as turn her skills into their most formidable weapon." Oobleck explained, opening his book.

"Wait, didn't the Emperor have like an army of those…stone things?"

"Stone Warriors, I believe is the correct term, Mr. Arc." Oobleck corrected the boy with blond hair and blue eyes. "And yes, the Emperor did indeed have an army of them but while they were heavily armored and numerous, they still fell if one had the proper skills."

"I heard the Emperor got his hands on a weapon that was magical that's how he built the Great Wall of Mistral."

"Please, there's no such thing as magic." A female student scoffed.

"What about the stories of how the Great Wall of Mistral simply rose out of the ground, Weiss?" A girl with black hair with black cat ears sticking out of the top and yellow eyes asked. "There's no record of the Emperor ever ordering his subjects to build the wall and something that big would have required thousands of workers. I may not be from Mistral but this is required learning in Menagerie. I've heard that no one even knew of the Great Wall until it literally appeared around the kingdom of Mistral."

"I agree." A boy with black hair and violet eyes nodded. "Many people to this day question how the Great Wall was built. All that is known is that the Emperor built it to keep the Grimm from assaulting the outer colonies to gain support and make them more willing to accept Mantle's decree for self-suppression."

"The Emperor could have stock piled Earth Dust until he had enough." The white haired student pointed out. "Dust can very powerful, especially when stockpiled."

"True but even then it would have taken a massive amount of Dust, maybe more Dust than any known mine could provide." Her fellow student pointed out.

"But still-"

"Students!" Oobleck cut in. "While I am glad to see you both taking such interests, perhaps you can wait until after the lesson is over to debate this topic more thoroughly and hear the rest of our recent history."

"Sorry, Professor Oobleck." Both girls apologized.

"It's Doctor Oobleck." Oobleck corrected with an emphasis on the word 'Doctor'. "Now then, where were we? Ah yes, the history of the last Empress of Mistral. The Emperor threatened to imprison and execute the rebel villagers, taking many of them hostage and forced the Silver Knight to stand down and surrender herself. Rather than execute her like she likely thought they were going to do, they instead convinced her to become the spokesperson of Mantle and Mistral's alliance, formally becoming the Empress of Mistral since she was on Mistralian soil but she was meant only to be a figurehead of the alliance, a chief representative to unify the entire world under their political control, enforcing their call for self-expression and abolishment of the arts. If they had conquered Vale and Vacuo, one could surmise she would have been named Empress of all four kingdoms but again that would have only been in name."

"She was a rebel and they made her their queen? Why not just imprison or execute her for crimes against Mistral's ruling class?"

"Technically it was Empress and she was not meant to have any official power. She was meant to be made into a figure that would keep the outer colonies of Mistral in line as the Emperor moved forth to conquer every corner of Anima. Mistral has much more territory than the other kingdoms and was more spread out as well, making it nearly impossible to defend every settlement in the kingdom's borders and with the Silver Knight's popularity rising in the outer colonies, even after the rising of the Great Wall, the last thing the Emperor needed was a rebellion while the majority of Mistral's armies were facing the combined forces of two kingdoms. So he needed a way to quell this Rebellion with the least amount of bloodshed and neutralize the Silver Knight as a threat to Mantle-Mistral Alliance's plans. The Silver Knight is a very old legend, passed down from many stories of a warrior in blue and silver armor defending many kingdoms, villages and settlements from the Grimm as well as battling bandits, slavers and many other criminal elements and thus her legend grew to immense popularity by the time of the Great War." Oobleck corrected and continued. "Fearing that simply killing her would make her a martyr Mistral and Mantle's leader sought to find a way to turn her popularity into their greatest weapon along with her skills and legendary weapon."

"So is she one woman or just a bunch of women wearing the same armor?"

"Obviously the armor and mantle were passed down, either by descendants or apprentices who were trained to take their predecessor's place." The white haired student spoke again. "No one could live for thousands of years."

"Indeed, that is the logical conclusion and one of many reasons Mistral and Mantle sought to use her for their plans. With the Silver Knight acting as the chief representative of their alliance, she would be the forefront to spread their ideals as well as acting as a deterrent to Vale and Vacuo. It was hoped that the King of Vale and the Chieftess of Vacuo would hesitate against such a historical figure that is hailed as one of the greatest warriors in our history. She indeed presented herself initially as such, seemingly bending to the wills of Mantle's King and Mistral's Emperor, acting as their puppet." Oobleck continued. "Only she refused to bend to the Emperor's will, condemning their plans, especially since the elites of Mistral were allowed to continue keeping their art and freely expressing themselves. She used her position to spread her ideals of tolerance, pacifism and kindness. Amazingly her views set an example for the others to follow and managed to sway the majority of Mistral's higher ranks, outing the Emperor who was desired to maintain a dictatorship over Mistral. To enforce this, he even implemented a special program with a secret unit meant to root out dissidents and subject them to special mental conditioning to ensure their obedience."

"How horrible!" A student gasped.

"Indeed. This conditioning was said to be combination of emotion suppressing drugs that were made in Mantle and mind altering techniques that Mistral employed to ensure they stayed in line. Mantle was more brutal in its methods while Mistral's ruling class preferred its citizens physically in one piece to better serve their interests. Protestors were rounded up and imprisoned, subjected to this mind conditioning procedure as a warning against any more rebellion." Oobleck adjusted his glasses and took a sip from his thermos. "It is rumored that even the Empress was subjected to this to ensure she was completely obedient but since she had wrestled control from him these rumors are likely false."

"So why did she join in the final battle against the King of Vale? Why not just surrender?" One of Oobleck's students, a girl with white hair spoke up.

The answer did not come from Professor(Doctor) Oobleck but from another student, a girl with long red hair tied into a pony tail. "It's because if she broke off the alliance and surrendered, Mantle would have seized people who were living in settlements they had established in the northern regions of Anima hostage, threatening to kill them if the Empress tried breaking off their alliance. It was the General of Mantle who first imposed the restriction of self-expression and abolishment of the arts and then demanded that Mistral do the same with the threat of breaking off their alliance which would lead to a war between them. Mantle already had a foothold in Anima when the city of Argus was built as the primary source of trade between the two kingdoms and the numerous settlements that had been built when they showed Mistral how to colonize the northern parts of Anima meaning they could have easily held the northern lands and made their way south to Mistral itself."

"Correct, Miss Nikos. Though she did not desire to become Empress, the Silver Knight now had the fate of the people of Mistral in her hands and she had to think of their well-being before simply deciding to formerly surrender. Realizing that and with Mantle already deploying their troops to take control of Vacuo's Dust Mines she played the only card she could, something that the fallen Emperor hadn't done since he was a young man. She joined and led Mistral's forces in battle, not aiming to win but to save as many lives as she could by protecting them and sacrificing herself in battle." Oobleck continued. "By allowing herself to die for the sake of her subjects, the Empress hoped to become a martyr for her beliefs of pacifism and at the same time, break Mistral's moral when she faced down the Warrior King of Vale so that they would surrender and end the war. Only she did not die that day."

"She didn't?"

"Of course she didn't. It's well documented she continued to serve as Mistral's Empress, even when the monarchy was abolished." The white haired girl informed the girl next to her who had short black hair, pale skin and silver eyes.

"Indeed, she and the King along with the Bronze Knight who had suddenly appeared fought to a standstill in a battle so fierce it caused storms to form over the battle, fighting not just each other but the Grimm that swarmed the battle field. The Empress protected her people but Mantle suffered the most to the point that the Empress declared the battle was over and formerly surrendered to the King." The red haired girl continued. "With the Emperor dethroned and the remaining generals and leaders who supported him killed on the battle field, she was free to take complete control of Mistral government and restructure it."

"Correct again, Miss Nikos. The King of Vale was in position to take control of all four kingdoms but refused and as you all undoubtedly know, the treaty of Vytal was signed, abolishing slavery, restructuring governments and redistributing territories. Only the people of Mistral begged the Empress to remain in power, having become popular and worked with the King to help bring about peace. She helped the King found the Huntsmen Academies, personally seeing to the construction of Haven Academy in Mistral. There are rumors she was involved in the construction of the other academies but those are pure conjecture at this point." Oobleck reached the end of the book. "She would bequeath most control to the council, trusting only those she had befriended and had the interest of the people in their hearts. She remained a figure head until she mysteriously disappeared around the time the King of Vale was found dead on the top floor of Beacon Tower…which is now the office of the Headmaster. In the time following her disappearance, the council would attempt to keep control but with Mistral's territory being far and wide spread, they could only enforce their law as far as the Great Wall while bandit tribes rose up outside the wall, the most infamous tribes being that of the Branwen Tribe,"

A girl with blond hair narrowed her lilac eyes at the mention of that particular tribe.

"And the tribes led by the Bandit King, Shan-Yu." Oobleck continued.

"What happened to her?"

"No one knows. All that was left were her robes which were preserved in Haven Academy." Oobleck answered honestly. Attempts were made to find her but it appeared she had literally vanished into thin air.

"You think she killed the King?"

"I would prefer not to speculate. I study history, I do not make theories on what I cannot confirm or deny without sufficient evidence and you all would be wise to consider that." Oobleck stated.

"I heard she reappeared in Atlas."

"Yeah, I did too. There was someone in Atlas who wore a similar armor to the Silver Knight and she even took up the post of teacher at the new Atlas Academy."

"That is false." The whited haired girl spoke up. "Even if it was the same armor it could not have been the same woman. A few decades had passed by then and the person in question was much younger than the former Empress would have been."

"You know something about that, Weiss?" Their fourth teammate, a girl with blond hair and lilac eyes, asked.

"I've heard all these rumors before and can confirm they are false. It was likely that the mantle of Silver Knight was passed down to a new woman who had come to Atlas." The white haired girl, Weiss nodded. "In fact, the person in question became a close acquaintance to my family, my grandfather in particular."

This revelation caused everyone in the class to look at her before the girl with black hair and silver eyes asked the question they were all thinking. "How close?"

"…Close." The girl simply said. "She was regarded as the kind of Huntress everyone could aspire to be like in those days, my family included. In fact, she even spoke up on how to improve the Faunus relations with Menagerie, paving the way for it to become the unofficial fifth Kingdom."

The black haired girl with cat ears from before spoke up. "I remember those lessons when I was attending Kuo Kuanna Academy. Menagerie used to be uninhabitable save for a small corner of the land. Then after the Faunus Revolution ended, many people, argued for the Faunus to be stripped of their rights that they had earned following the end of the Great War. That is until something extraordinary happened. The great snowstorm that appeared in the center of the island, the desert region where nothing should have been able to survive happened and formed the Great Lake of Menagerie."

"Are you saying Atlas caused that?" The boy with blond hair and blue eyes asked.

"No one knows what really happened. All that we do know is after the lakes were formed, Menagerie became much more habitable and the Faunus could spread out to colonize the rest of the island." The girl with cat ears answered. "With more room to colonize, Menagerie was on its way to becoming a new nation, even a kingdom in its own right."

"Many in Atlas were not happy about that since they were off the opinion the Faunus should have been regulated back to second class citizens again with the head of the Diamond Dust Company being the most vocal." The white haired girl's eyes narrowed. "However, my family's company spearheaded the final project that would make Menagerie its own kingdom with the creation of its own CCT Tower. We helped developed the region, reaching out to the families of the Faunus workers employed by my grandfather, Nicholas Schnee, to set up new villages around the Great Lake to develop the land with the added agreement that the Faunus would remain in complete control of Menagerie. The development worked so well that a CCT Tower was built in the center of the project with Menagerie purchasing the much needed Dust from the Schnee Dust Company as well as being able to grow their own food thanks to the abundance of water and soil that was provided by the SDC."

That silenced most of the class.

"With its own CCT Tower along with more of the island made habitable, the Faunus colonized enough o Menagerie to be recognized as a new Kingdom, according to the charter of rights set by the Vytal Treaty." The girl with cat ears continued with a smile.

"How do you know so much about this?" Another student, a rather arrogant looking one asked rudely.

She looked up and smiled. "Because my father is the chief of Kuo Kuanna, the capital of Menagerie and headmaster of Menagerie's own Academy as well as the former leader of the White Fang. My family is tied closely with this history."

The shocked the rest of the class.

"Your dad led those insane animals?" The red haired arrogant boy scoffed.

The girl glared at him. "No, he led the White Fang before the extremist faction broke off, forming its own group: the Blood Fang. It didn't help that Human Supremacy group called the Wild Hunt sprung up and made hunting Faunus into a bloody sport and that it was funded by many so-called noble and influential 'people'. You wouldn't happen to know any of them would you, Cardin?"

The boy named Cardin glared and then smirked at the girl. "Maybe I might know but you and maybe your friends would have to do me a favor if you want me to answer."

The girl rolled her eyes and turned away as the rest of her friends glared at him. "I wouldn't touch you even to scratch you."

Cardin glared at the girl for that remark. "Why you-"

"I suggest you curb whatever you are about to say, Mr. Winchester. I will not stand for insulting and racist remarks in my classroom." Oobleck closed his book when the bell rang. "Remember to study, class as we will be testing your ability to remember you history in next week's test."

The class let out a collective groan upon hearing that aside from a select view.

"That's what I like to hear." Oobleck took another sip from his thermos.

Xxx

"Man, Weiss you were on fire in there." Yang commented as she along her teammates/friends returned to their dorm. "You too, Blake."

"Well, I had to speak up considering my family is part of that recent history." Weiss retorted as she sighed and sat on her bed. "It was a matter of family pride."

"Pretty much the same for me." Blake lied down on her bed and picked up her favorite book.

"So you're family really knows the Silver Knight?" Ruby asked, climbing onto her bed over Weiss' and then leaned over to look down at her teammate.

"You mean the one that was in Atlas and not the Empress or her known predecessors?" Weiss asked rhetorically and dryly.

"Uh…the second one." Ruby shrugged.

"…" Weiss looked away for a second. "I never met her personally but my father, my mother and grandfather did. In fact, she and my grandfather met around the time my grandfather was attending combat school and gathering money to begin searching for more Dust to help revitalize our kingdom."

"Wow. Sounds like she made an impression on you." Yang commented.

"I suppose so." Weiss answered and then felt her Scroll vibrate.

She took it out and saw the caller ID: Father. "Excuse me."

She stepped out of the room and walked down the hallway, answering the call and smiled at the face appearing on the screen. "Hello, Father."

"Hello, Weiss. Am I calling at a bad time?" The man on the screen asked in a gentle tone.

Weiss shook her head. "Of course not. Class has just ended for me and I only have some light homework but I have the time to talk."

"That is good to hear, my little snowflake." The man smiled, even more so when he saw Weiss was blushing. "I have been most eager to hear more about your time at Beacon and those friends you have made. Your mother was grateful to hear from your last message."

Weiss walked up some stairs, leading to the roof of the dorm. "They're all good, if having some quirks of their own and are special in their own way."

"Oh?"

"One of my teammates is Blake Belladonna, the daughter of the Chief of Menagerie, the political activist and current head of Menagerie's combat school, Professor Ghira Belladonna." Weiss explained with a smile.

"Ah, the activist for true equality. I have met and spoken with him several times. Him and his wife are pleasant people." The man stated with a smile.

"Funny you should say, a bit of our family history was the main topic in today's history class." Weiss walked over to the railing and looked out across the campus.

"Is that so?"

"It was mainly covering the legend of the Bronze and Silver Knights but it also covered their roles in the Great War and a bit of Grandfather's history." Weiss explained.

"I see."

"So of course it's obvious that the Sage King of Mantle would be an acquaintance of the Belladonnas." Weiss remarked dryly.

"I wouldn't say that much as I barely met their daughter outside from official contact and meetings. I suppose Ghira wanted to show his daughter the importance of essentially being the Princess of Menagerie." The man shrugged.

"She hates being called that." Weiss immediately said.

"As much as you hate your own titles, I imagine." Weiss let out a small sigh and looked at her father with a mock-glare who simply chuckled. "Now, now, no need for that look. I get enough of those from your mother."

"Probably should have more." Weiss muttered. "Speaking of, how is she and Winter and Whitely?"

"Whitely is excelling in school, especially in the research and development classes. I daresay he might be head of the SDC's science division one day. Your mother is off handling SDC matters."

"Let me guess, Jacques Gele of the Diamond Dust Company is attempt convince her to merge our companies again." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Regretfully so."

"That man really doesn't know how to take a hint. Mother spurned his advances when she and Grandfather found what he was really like and ever since then he has tried to get back at the two of you while having his company take over all the smaller Dust companies to compete with us. Only he's not interested in researching ways to improve life on Remnant, he just wants to become filthy rich and stamp his name all across Remnant. I believe Yang had a certain word to describe the likes of him which I will not utter." Weiss complained in irritation.

"I agree but that is not your problem. As for Winter, she is off on an assignment with General Ironwood but she briefly visited for a short time. She did tell me to send you her regards." The man leaned back in his chair.

"Thank you for telling me, Father." Weiss smiled but quickly became melancholy. "Father?"

"Yes."

"While we were discussing the Silver Knight, I thought back to what Mother would tell me and my siblings about our grandmother." Weiss said slowly. "You were there when she disappeared, right?"

"I was and it was very difficult time for your grandfather and mother." The man answered solemnly. "She was essentially their whole world, a model of strength and wisdom which they both loved and admired deeply."

"I remember the stories of how the Empress of Mistral, the previous Silver Knight disappeared like Grandmother did." Weiss continued slowly. "…Is there any way to really explain what happened?"

The man sighed. "Weiss, you truly possess both the intellect and wisdom from both sides of your family. There is no rational way to explain what had happened to your grandmother, only that she had warned those close to her that she might one day disappear and did her best to prepare us all for it but even then…I do not believe any of us truly were prepared for when it truly happened."

"So there is something to the Silver Knight then. How all of them were women who all disappeared at certain points." Weiss noted. "Meaning there is a connection."

"There likely is but why the interest now?"

Weiss cleared her throat. "…I guess it was today's history lesson. It must have struck a chord with me."

"I see." The man nodded and smiled. "Perhaps one day, we will have all the answers. Until then, I am glad to hear you are making friends and doing well at Beacon, Weiss. Perhaps when I have the time I can arrange a visit, so your mother and I could meet these friends of yours."

"Uh…" Weiss suddenly looked nervous. "I am sure that will not be necessary."

"Oh? Would you be willing to explain a reason to your mother?" The man asked, smiling when he saw Weiss paling slightly. "I thought not. Until then, be safe my little snow flake. I will be sure to call again sometime in the next week."

"Of course, Father." Weiss sighed but smiled. "I am glad you take the time to call me."

"You're my daughter. It is no effort or waste of time on my part to see how you are." The man smiled. "Good bye for now."

"Good bye, Father." Weiss replied and hung up with a smile for exhaling as she leaned over the railing and looked out across the campus again.

She then held up her scroll and brought up the picture section. The picture section had many pictures, the more recent ones showing her and her team at Beacon but she scrolled over them to the older ones, showing her family. Her mother being the epitome of beauty with her snow white hair falling over her back and smiling radiantly as she linked arms with her father who stood like a man of nobility or even royalty. Out of everyone in her family, her father was the only one who didn't have snow white hair or blue eyes, showing everyone that the Schnee genes were rather powerful considering she and her siblings all took after their mother and even their grandfather in appearance.

His hair was blond and worn back slick and light enough that it could almost be considered white, especially in the snowy weather surrounding Atlas. He sported a short mustache and goatee and his eyes were surprisingly bright orange. An odd trait and one that neither she nor her siblings inherited but she kind of doubted the eye color would have looked good on any of them, no offense to her father. For one of the richest men in Remnant, he was rather modest in what he wore, a simple periwinkle lab coat, a dark grey vest underneath, a white collared shirt and a violet ascot as well as black dress pants and shoes.

He even wore a red scarf around his neck, if for no other reason than it was his favorite scarf.

The one her mother gave to him as a gift when they were younger.

He might not dress as importantly as any business man but her father still had the air of a deep wisdom surrounding him and he carried himself like a wise king which she and her siblings would try to emulate as seen as how she and Winter stood tall and proper next to their parents with Whitely smiling in the middle. Though he had married into the family, he took his duties as a father and company head seriously but never placed anything important ahead of the well being of his children, like any real father would do. She skimmed over it and found a picture of her grandfather and grandmother.

Nicholas Schnee truly cast an imposing and yet inspiring visage, even from a simple picture. He was shown to be a tall man with long, white hair and a white beard. He greatly resembled his daughter, Willow and his three grandchildren, who all inherited his facial structure, blue eyes and naturally white hair. He wore a heavy, ornate suit of armor reminiscent to that of the Arma Gigas, with a black shirt and pants underneath.

Nicholas also wore a red fur-trimmed cloak which was held by a gold chord. Though, she was told in the old days he wore a red scarf similar to the one her father would like to wear.

And next to him was his wife, her grandmother.

She was a beautiful woman, clad in a blue ball gown that was fit for a princess with blue arm length gloves covering her hands. Her eyes were blue but not like that of a normal Schnee. Weiss' eyes and the eyes of her mother and siblings reflected the cold blue winter sky of Solitas while her grandmother's eyes reflected that of the sea. The dress left her shoulders bare and on her chest right above where her was a silver broach, resembling a heart with a sharp cross at the base.

The symbol was very angular and squared. This was supposedly her grandmother's emblem. Different that the family emblem of the Schnee family but every bit as grand. Her grandfather was holding his wife close to him, both of them looking very happy but her grandmother looked slightly embarrassed.

Her mother had told her that her grandmother was very modest and always embarrassed to be dressed up like a queen or princess, even though her grandfather along with most of the family staff at the time treated her like that. She would preferred wearing own armor while the portrait was being made but her grandfather and staff fought her tooth and nail and pretty much stuffed her into the dress she was wearing.

Weiss stared at the picture for a good long while, wondering what to make of it and what she had learned very recently.