Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope that you are all doing well.
Chapter 68, the second part of the Gloomharrow epilogue, is here. As always, I hope you enjoy it!
Once more (no, I am not stopping doing that) I want to thank you all for following/favoring/ reading the story. You are the best!
See you next week with the last chapter of the Arc. Have fun!
March 8th, 86
City of Atlas, Upper District
Night had fallen dark and deep in the city of Atlas. The Upper District buildings, covered in the ever-present layer of snow, stood silent and proud, only security patrols and night lights greeting the broken moon.
Among the vast and sometimes excessively ludicrous mansions that spread all over the area, one stood dominant, easily overshadowing every other competitor.
The Schnee Family Manor, a massive, Π-shaped building formed by a series of smaller ones stood in the middle of the luxurious district, its numerous triangular red rooftops and tall columns filled in white snow.
Extensive gardens, covered in a white layer and decorated with statues of all sizes depicting the Schnee Family Snowflake Crest, surrounded the road leading to the front entrance.
And, inside those gardens, hidden inside a series of well-tended bushes, a pair of conspicuous women dressed in gray-white winter outfits was carefully hidden, waiting for the patrol drones to move away.
"When two days ago I told you I wanted to make a fresh start and be more honest with myself, I didn't imagine the first thing we would do would be breaking in my father's mansion" Weiss complained.
"Since your brother is lending us a hand, does it count as breaking in?" Yang joked. "Hmmm… I know it does; for my father at least" the reply came, making her lavender eyes narrow in mirth.
"You have become much better in keeping up with my jokes. I have to step up my game" the brawler retorted. "Please no. Blake may really kill you if you do that."
The drones moved to the next sector and the Freezerburn pair tiptoed across the white terrain. Weiss was sure her father's state-of-the-art security robots had motion capturing sensors installed in them.
As soon as they stepped next to the back door, Weiss gave it a slight push with her elbow. It was unlocked, as she had been told to expect.
"Geez, I would have never thought your brother of all people would help us get in the mansion" Yang whispered. "I may have more or less misjudged him way too many times" Weiss sadly replied.
"Speaking of him" the tall girl continued "what did his instructions say again?" Weiss rolled her eyes; she had told her girlf- no, her fiancée- at least six times about this.
"We just have to move to the family library on the second floor without being seen. After that, everything has been taken care of" she replied, carefully moving next to the wall to avoid a couple cameras.
"And, you trust him?" the immediate reply came. "I have decided to do so, yes" she threw back. "Lead the way then" Yang finished their small banter as they stealthily climbed the staircase to the first floor.
About half an hour of stealthy moving and careful crawling, both girls turned to a small corridor, a little less lit than the rest of the mansion.
"Here it is" Weiss said, moving on all fours to avoid another camera. "I trust you, baby. And I am very ok with that particular stance, just so you know." "I am so kicking the world out of you later" she hissed back.
A few minutes later and after making sure no camera or security guard had noticed them, Weiss and Yang opened a small wooden door and moved inside one of the mansion's least used rooms- the old library.
The door was carefully shut behind the tall blonde, who pointed at the small camera monitoring from above. It had stopped working, the red button being closed off.
Weiss nodded in gleeful approval and turned around. The room was not vast, but it had a considerable size, with series of dusty old bookshelves reaching up to the ceiling, vertically placed along its length.
A medium-sized table was next to the small window, illuminated by a couple dust-powered lamps. Unlike the rest of the manor, there was no fresh paint coating the bricks that formed the wall, giving it an antique looking.
"This looks almost… abandoned" Yang commented. "Father was always preoccupied with work, and none of us ever cared about this place" her fiancée replied. "Mother, well, I have no idea what she does save for-"
Weiss stopped. "Someone's here" she stared towards the far end of the room, her eyes noticing a figure walking out of the shadows. "Whitley? Is that you?" she asked.
"I wouldn't say so" a deep, womanly voice replied, as Willow Schnee stepped into view. Dressed in her purple-white outfit, hair tied in a side ponytail, her smile had the same melancholic tune Weiss remembered.
Wow Yang stared at the surprisingly tall and elegant woman. Guess this is where Weiss get her looks from, huh?
"Mother" the young pale girl stared at her "what are you doing here?" her voice was heavy and filled in conflicted emotions, like her feelings towards the woman.
"I asked Whitley to let me see you" she crossed her hands, her slate eyes falling on their matching rings "and meet your fiancée as well. But if my presence here is unpleasant to you, I will take my leave."
Something about her tone, possibly the lack of mental strength or the exhausted mannerisms accompanying it slightly stung Yang's heart. The woman seemed like she had almost given up even on speaking.
"Ahem" the tall blonde straightened her posture. "It's an honor to meet you, Madam. I am Yang Xiao Long, Weiss' fiancée. I am really sorry to be meeting you like this" she tried to be as friendly and chill as possible.
"What a polite lady you are" Willow tried to form a bigger smile, slightly managing to pour out a little more emotion than usual. "You have quite the taste, Weiss. At least, better than me it would seem."
She stared at her daughter's eyes, at once realizing the slight difference in color "it looks great on you. You always were the defiant one after all my-" "How are you doing mother? Are you ok here with him around?"
The Schnee matriarch blinked for a moment. "At this point, I have more or less gotten used to it" she replied. "But, those last two days, I have been happier than I ever remember since we lost your sister."
Yang gulped as silently as she could, her eyes fixed on the two women. "Mother… I…" Weiss closed her eyes but didn't avert her head or gaze from the woman.
And then, something totally unexpected happened. The white girl took one step forward and hugged Willow, who nearly froze in shock.
"Weiss…" "I have been a terrible daughter to you and an even worse sister to Whitley; I... have been thinking of it so much lately" she told her. "I know I can't take back what I have done, but I really want you to know; I never stopped loving you Mom."
The older woman reluctantly returned her embrace "I only ever wanted you to be happy" she sent a side glance towards Yang who wiped a tear off her face "and know that, despite all the bad memories, there are people you love you in this place, Little Snowflake."
"I know" Weiss broke the hug and gave her mother a wide smile "and I am sorry for not showing it to you- or to Brother." Willow gave a quick smile of her own and spoke again.
"Your father will return tomorrow, so you are free to search as much as you wish, until the morning shift arrives. Whitley told me you want to find your Grandfather's notes, is that right?"
"Exactly" the now-smiling huntress replied. "Do you happen to know about it?" The older woman shook her head "he only ever told me that he 'leaves all his experience at the hands of those who will succeed his name'. My father was that kind of playful man."
"I see…" Weiss tapped her chin blatantly ignoring Yang's flabbergasted face. "I am sorry I can't be of any more help- I will let you do your job for now. It was truly a blessing to see you again, Weiss."
She took a few steps forward "Mom" she stopped as soon as the voice filled her ears. "When I am done with this fight we are doing" the voice continued "I would love to bring my team here to meet you."
Willow didn't turn around- she had done a lot of things to her daughter and letting her see her mother cry would never be added to that list, even if they were tears of joy.
"That would be fantastic" she only replied before making haste to her chambers, leaving two equally teary girls hugging each other behind her.
-o—
After a couple minutes of hugging and an hour of pointless searching, Yang crashed down on the closest chair, half-dejected and half-enjoying the view of Weiss standing on the ladder above her.
"No result with a quick search- looks like we will have to check them one by one" she grumbled. "We won't be able to do that before my father or the morning shift arrives" the tired reply came.
"Then we need some sort of inspiration or something" she cracked her metal fingers. "Like what?" "Dunno; you are the Schneecessor, you are the one who should know."
"I hope you are ashamed of that pun" the pale woman replied. She is right, however. Grandpa Nicolas' words towards mother should have some meaning behind them.
"A successor, huh" she finally said. "What would that ever mean? As far as I am concerned, there is nothing of importance save for my glyphs. What am I supposed to do- summon Grimm to attack the library?"
Yang stood up. "Give me a second" she told her before walking away to the end of the second line of shelves. "Did you find something?" Weiss asked in disbelief.
History… biology…Math… Ah! New Family Registers; here it is! "Just a long shot, based on what your mother said about him being a playful man" Yang replied, taking out the book.
Only to see a rectangular hole in the wall behind it. She reached out her metal arm and pulled one small, old-looking book out. "I found it!"
"YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME!" Weiss had jumped down even before her voice was heard, rushing towards her girlfriend. "It was truly where the man said it would be- with his successors" she proudly smirked.
"Instead of me pondering whether I should be impressed or annoyed" Weiss commented, taking the book in her hands "let's get seated and read this" she continued, earning a haughty nod.
It took them about half an hour binging though interesting, yet totally irrelevant pieces of information from Nicolas Schnee's exploits from all over Remnant, until they managed to reach what they were looking for.
"Here it is- May 17th of year 21" Yang noted, pausing to allow Weiss, currently comfortably seated on her lap, to start reading out loudly.
The small series of establishments we found scattered around inside the primitive cavern, really took me by surprise. They seem to belong to an organized society, despite them lacking any sort of knowledge on dust or affinity for modern technology.
Despite the numerous protests of quite a lot of miners, we thoroughly checked the abandoned village. We could only find a series of stone idols that quite surprisingly depicted some twisted Grimm forms.
The most important part, however, are the small runic arrays we found, carefully carved on the surface of heftily placed black, tall monoliths. They look extremely surreal, like nothing I have ever seen in my life.
Weiss paused for a moment and stared at Yang. "It sounds like the runes we found in Gloomharrow." "The ones that resonated with your semblance…" Yang simply commented before they continued.
May 24th, 21
There is a series of deep protests from my miners in regards to the abandoned village. I talked with their representatives and they told me nobody wants to go mining before we secure it.
I went down to the mines myself and talked to quite a few of them. A surprising and unexpected outcome was the fact that all miners who seemed to have issues with the place are faunus- they seem to know something, but refuse to tell me. Why?
"Granpa Schnee was really intuitive, wasn't he?" Yang chuckled.
However, I have to get to the bottom of this, even if I must force them to talk. If my men have a problem with their work, it is my duty to help them overcome it.
"He was also really kind and honorable" Weiss added.
May 28th, 21
I finally managed to convince them talk to me. They insist this place was used by old faunus cults who worshiped Grimm. One that belonged to 'The Old Ways' as their legends called it.
They hesitated to admit it, because they are still afraid of humans- not that I blame them. I swore that the place would be sealed and I buried it under a huge mass of stone and rubble.
I only kept a copy of the runes and buried the statues in a place I will not disclose to anyone. Some things are better left untouched.
June 5th, 21
I spent the entire day studying the runes. I was really afraid of what would ever happen if anyone else saw them, so I just recreated them in the basement. Tomorrow, I will try to experiment on them.
A worried look was briefly exchanged between the two girls.
June 6th, 21
This is WRONG! What in the name of Atlas was I thinking?!
I… summoned a Grimm! My semblance, the glyphs I used to combine with dust and manipulate the world around me… I was such a fool and tried to pour it inside the runes I had carved! Why did I do this!
And, Dear Fathers of Humanity! This form… I had killed it. I know it was the same Geist I had killed down in the mine- the one possessing that mass of rocks! But, those accursed arrays… brought it back!
June 9th, 21
This is my final entry here, only serving to explain what happened 3 days ago in a more organized manner.
The runes reacted to my semblance and managed to summon a copy of a Grimm I had killed! After my initial shock, I tried to use this again and, much to my excitement and sorrow, I realized I can now summon copies of any of the Grimm I have slaughtered around Remnant!
This is beyond comprehension and any understanding, but I am not one to falter! This power is not safe for human hands- it must not be shared with any of the poor souls living in Remnant.
I write those words, just in case any of my successors finds it. Just to be safe, I will just erase the runes and never talk about it to anyone! It must be buried with me forever!
Weiss closed the book and stood up. "That explains it… why this sort of thing happened" she exclaimed, staring at Yang. "Grandfather fused old magic with the hereditary family semblance- making it able to perform those summons. He didn't realize this would pass down to us."
Yang scratched her head and exhaled deeply. "The only thing I have to say is this; at least something good came out of this story" she seriously stated. "Are you ok with it though?"
Weiss combed her hair with her left arm and nodded. "I am; it is a little unnerving, but nothing I can't deal with. Let's get out of here. I am a lot curious to see what Ruby and Blake have found."
-o—
Meanwhile,
City of Atlas, Carmel Communications Building, Top floor.
Ruby and Blake both felt a mixture of sadness and pity as they stepped out of the elevator and came face to face with both Peros Bishop and Wenge Knight.
Both men seemed even worse than they did in their press conference, deep wrinkles and grey hair visible even in the younger man's face.
They were finely dressed and seemed to carry no weapons on them, like they had promised. "Are you two alone?" Blake asked, trying to hide the sadness from her voice.
"There is nobody in the building to see us, as we discussed- only the night guards and they are on the lower floor at this moment. They will not come by until at least half an hour has passed" Wenge replied.
"Let's get this over with as fast as possible then" Ruby started walking "I am sure you don't want to see us more than necessary after all that have happened" she sent them a firm, yet courteous look.
"You are quite the gentle person Ms. Rose" Peros told her, leading all of them inside Sophia Carmel's former office. "We are completely aware of our part in this as much as our Lady's" he stated.
Blake sat on the PC and turned it on. "I just wanted to say; all of team RWBY is sorry for your loss. We really wish things would have turned out better than that" the red-caped girl explained.
"We are grateful for your kind words- and for giving us both a chance to make amends for our mistakes" the tanned man replied, as Blake typed 'Bruhmer' on the screen.
"So, you are staying in this place?" Ruby continued her questions. "The Atlas military basically sentenced us to and besides that we have both decided to try helping all the employees here after the SDC takes over."
"That is commendable" silver eyes narrowed in acceptance. "I wish you the best of luck with that. Weiss' father is one of a kind and that is me going easy on him" Blake added, waiting for the files to open.
"We deserve whatever comes in our way" Peros exclaimed. "Every day spending with that man will be a reminder of our sins and of the fact that someone we loved dearly paid for them" he continued.
Ruby wanted to argue that Sophia Carmel was the major sinner in this whole story, but she was cut off by Blake's cry "found the information! And it seems really useful!"
"What is it about?" Ruby asked her friend. "It seems Ms. Carmel was trying to analyze in secret the ingredients of the concoction Alizar used in Grimmwater and she intended to use on Alginos" she explained.
Silver eyes opened as the brunette stared at the two men "did you know about this?" Both nodded "we never saw the results; they were directly sent to this PC, but we knew she was trying to do that."
Blake took out a data chip and plugged it in, starting to download the files "Weiss' subordinates in the lab will definitely appreciate this" she commented after finishing the download and deleting the PC files.
"Are we done here?" Ruby asked her, earning a quick nod. "Thank you once more" she addressed the two men again. "I hope you manage to be well for the rest of the journey" they smiled at them.
"As I said, you are both too kind" Wenge forced a smile. "But I have to return the thanks. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to bury her where she belongs" he curtly bowed.
After the exchange of pleasantries, both girls turned away to leave, but were stopped by Peros' voice. "Oh, I almost forgot; there is something else you may be interested in" he told them.
"And what would that be?" Blake's eyes narrowed. "When Fenris sent us the threatening video, he did mention a person who seemed to be related to the production of this concoction" he explained.
Deep yellow and silver opened wide, both girls visibly interested. "Do you remember the name?" the cat-girl blurted. "Oh yes" Wenge was the one who replied.
"It was the name of a Professor- I think he called him Professor Azure."