Pariah
Chapter 1
Legacy
Jacques Schnee stood in the hospital waiting room as his wife was giving birth to his first son. As he looked outside of the window, his gaze fell onto the city of Atlas. His home. The was not much to see, however. For only white clouded his vision as the current blizzard raged through Atlas and Mantle. Normally Jaques wasn't a happy man… not at all. At least that is what he wouldn't describe himself as.
Happy.
A strange emotion to be sure. He wasn't happy when he married his wife, Willow. Even though he would not show this side to her. His charade of a loving husband needed to stand for a few years longer until all assets were under his firm grasp. For all he sought were the Schnee family name and all of the power and influence it bore. He certainly wasn't happy when his first child, Winter, turned out to be a girl. Even though his three-year-old daughter showed promising signs, it would not matter in the end. But in time even she would have her uses. For only a boy can ever truly be the heir and carry his legacy. His company, the SDC. His pride, his jewel, and the culmination of all of his hard work. He may not be the founder of it. But he most certainly molded it to the point where now stands today. And now with the birth of his first son mere moments away, his legacy may live on with his eventual passing. Truly a most joyous day indeed.
The many days of sickness that plagued his wife during her pregnancy, worried him, for the security his future heir would establish for the Schnee name. He however would try and maintain a suitable distance from her violet episodes, where she would throw up for hours. He would always find excuses as to why he could not be by her side. Even the doctors were concerned about her health. In the end, his son would be delivered tonight. A blessing to be sure. He would play his part as the concerned husband as best he could. And his wife would believe as she did the many times before. Because all that mattered as of tonight was his second child.
His son.
Wolfe. Yes, Wolfe Schnee. A fitting name.
Tonight he would most definitely drink from one of his finest Scotch bottles he would save in his office. A joyous day indeed. The next step in securing his future was achieved.
Jaques smiled in content as he watched the blizzard unfold in all its fury in front of him. Despite their current weather predicament he just couldn't help but simply be… happy.
"Mr. Schnee?" he was brought out of his musings by the nurse who consulted him earlier.
"Yes?" his curt and emotionless reply halted her for a short moment.
"Your son has breathed his first breath and is currently being taken for some tests. But all in all your son healthy." She informed him dutifully. "You may visit your wife."
"Very good." Is all he said to her as his gaze once again fell onto the blizzard that raged outside of the hospital. His wife could wait a few moments longer.
"Jaques." His wife called out to him with a small smile as he entered her room hours later. In the crook of her arm, she was holding their son. His son. She looked exhausted, and yet her light blue eyes shone with motherly pride. More so than after the birth of their daughter, Winter. He sat down in a chair beside her, holding her hand.
"Willow, I am sorry I couldn't make it in time." A note of regret slipped into his voice, which did not go unnoticed by his wife. "How are you feeling?"
"Don't worry about me and don't beat yourself up too hard." She said, "I know that the company takes up the majority of your time."
He finally looked towards his son. He expected his child to sleep after being born, but instead, he found himself staring into light blue eyes, which regarded him curiously. But instead of feeling elation, a sudden wave of immense uneasy washed over him. It was as if his child were directly looking into his soul. It took all of his self-control to not shudder at the sight. These feelings couldn't possibly come from his son. Such notions were simply preposterous.
"I wish it weren't so." He finally replied, taking control of his senses once more. "Not only have I missed the birth of Winter but now our son as well."
Before Willow could say more they were interrupted by his wife's doctor.
"Doctor Fass," Jaques said, "I take it that our son is in healthy condition?"
"At first glance, yes." The note of uneasy was not missed by Jaques, nor Willow.
"Please Doctor, is there something wrong with our child?" Willow asked, already dreading the answer.
"Unfortunately, there is." Their doctor finally said. "We have determined that your child was born with a very rare condition. Statistically speaking there is a one in a billion chance for a child to be born with said condition."
"And what condition are you talking about exactly, Doctor Fass?" Jaques was on edge. His heir to the company would be born impure. First, his wife delivers him a daughter, and now… this?
"I am afraid your son has been inflicted by the pariah gene, Mr. and Mrs. Schnee" Their doctor finally revealed. "The feeling of extreme unease that you might have noticed while in your son's presence is in direct correlation to the pariah gene."
Their eyes went wide in shock. The pariah gene? His son was born without a soul? Born an abomination? His child? His son? He has heard of the pariah gene, the people born without a soul. Their existence a stain on everything they hold dear. A danger to all within their society. This was a nightmare.
"There must be a cure, a way to reverse this gene?" Willow desperately tried to reason. "Please tell me there is a way to help my son, Doctor Fass!"
"If there was, it is still unknown to us." He answered her. "I'm afraid that we cannot help your son."
The silence that followed was suffocating. Willow was openly crying by the admission.
"Unfortunately, I have to report this discovery to the proper authorities in Atlas," the doctor concluded.
"What?" Willow asked horrified. "What will happen to him?"
Doctor Fass appeared remorseful, saddened even.
"What will happen to my son!?" she demanded to know once more.
"I do not know." He finally said. "Those born with this particular gene are taken away and never heard or seen from again. I'm terribly sorry Mr. and Mrs. Schnee."
How revolting. His own son was born even inferior to the Faunus. An animal. The public must not, under any circumstances, receive this information. This child, one way or another, must vanish from the face of Remnant. Nobody could know of its existence. Such a stain on the family name could not be allowed to exist.
And all who knew had to die with it.
Before their doctor could leave, Jaques's hand clasped his shoulder.
"Doctor Fass, I would like to have a minute of your time." The tone in Jaques's voice left no room for argument.
He will not allow the legacy of the Schnee name to be tainted by the existence of this freak of nature.
