Interlude II: Failsafes and Plans
AN: You guys seem to be pretty hungry for another Remnant interlude, so here you go. Hope you guys enjoy it, along with the regular chapter!
SDC Manor
"Take. The. Girl!"
Willow looked on in horror, as the Hound showed the face of a man with silver eyes. Advancing on her daughter's team of Huntresses, the Hound showed no signs of stopping.
Suddenly, a big creak sounded, as if stone was being pushed.
The Hound barely had any time to react before a statue came tumbling down. The culprit behind the statue's descent stood up, revealing itself to be a humanoid helmeted droid the color of white. Blue lines crossed the droid's body, one in particular showing a soundwave across it's helmet.
"Mockery: Is this what the brightest generation of Hunters and Huntresses have to offer? My circuits feel something almost akin to human disappointment."
Willow shook her head, trying to clear away the shock from her mind.
"Who...What...are you?"
"Introduction: I am Guardian. I was created by Master Whitley Schnee in case the defenses of the Schnee Manor were ever breached. I was activated as soon as my sensors detected that the walls of the manor were destroyed."
"And what is your purpose?"
"Clarification: My programming states that I am to defend the Schnee family and manor in case of attack. My purpose will only end once Master Schnee deactivates me."
Willow sucked in a deep breath. It was hard to admit, even now, but it needed to be said.
"Guardian, Whitley...He's dead."
"Objection: Mistress Willow Schnee, if this is your idea of a joke, it is not very amusing."
"It's not. I'm sorry, Guardian. My son is gone. He...killed himself." Willow whispered. The horror of the deed seemed far more real to her when she said it out loud.
"Depressed Statement: My programming has been altered. Command of me now falls to you, Mistress Schnee."
Willow sucked in another breath. "Guardian, can you fight the Grimm?"
"Informative Statement: I can do even better than that, Mistress Schnee. I can activate Whitley's Emergency Evacuation Protocols. He meant for this option to be utilized for the Faunus in the SDC mines if human supremacists tried to enslave them again once their work was automated, to be activated on his command. Alternatively, he has programmed me to utilize this option should a Grimm incursion cause an invasion of the Schnee Manor. Master Schnee told me that further details of his plan can be found in his diary, if anything happened to him. Question: Would you like me to activate it?"
Willow nodded. "We need to save as many as we can. Mantle may be a lost cause."
"Statement: Emergency Evacuation Activated. Question: What else would Mistress Schnee ask of me?"
"Look after Weiss. I...do not wish to lose her. Not now. Not after everything that's happened."
The droid nodded, before following Team R.W.B.Y. Willow dug out the small device in her pocket, the cursive script of the "Memoirs" seemingly taunting her cowardice, both in the past and in the present.
Later that Night
"I don't know what I've done to deserve such a fate...but at least I can end things on my own terms. That is at least something no one can take away from me. Still, I cannot help but wonder, if I will have a final chance to patch things up with what is left of my family, or will that too be doomed to fail as well, like I have always done."
The diary closed itself, and with it, the last image of her son. Willow stood very still. All she could do was stare at the wall where her son's hologram was.
Slowly, she got up, a haze falling in her vision. One moment, she had been staring at the wall. The next, she found herself holding a shot glass filled with wine, stirring it the way she usually liked it. She found herself watching the drink, staring at it hungrily.
Just one sip. One to make the pain go away.
Willow slowly put it up to her lips, but as it made contact, she found herself throwing the glass to the side. One sip would make the pain go away, but it would also take away the thoughts of the son she'd failed. Was she really going to drink? Now, after her baby boy confessed that he believed she would murder him because of it?
Enraged, Willow threw the bottle at the wall, seeing the liquid trickling down and forming a stain. Willow slowly slid down next to her bedframe, covering her face as tears began to fall from her eyes.
She wanted her boy back, but he was gone. Dead. Just like her father, her mother, and both of her brothers.
And this time, it was her fault.
Next Morning
Willow's muscles ached and stung whenever she moved. Her stomach felt like it was trying to kick itself out of her body, but despite that, she still resisted the urge to drink.
"Mother? Are you alright?" She heard Weiss asking.
"I'm fine, Weiss. I'm just...dealing with the aftereffects of my bad habits the past decade."
Willow chuckled a bit at that, before trailing off.
Weiss sighed, before sitting down on the table next to her mother.
"Are you truly alright, Mother?"
Willow tried to respond, but the words got caught in her throat as her eyes looked down on the table, locking on to her son's diary. Her confirmation instead turned into a denial.
"No." she replied, hoarsely.
"I had a feeling." Weiss said, following her mother's eyes to the diary. She folded her hands. "I felt terrible after watching that diary, as well. Part of me wishes I'd never seen it. Part of me is glad I did. I never would have realized the depths of my failures if I didn't."
Willow shook her head. "You didn't fail him, Weiss. I did. I was his mother, and he feared for his life whenever he was around me. I was no better than the man I married." She paused, before chuckling humorlessly. "No. I suppose I was even worse. For all the bad Jacques did, I don't think you ever had to fear for your life around him."
Weiss sighed. "We both failed him, Mother. I was so angry at Father that I couldn't help but direct it at Whitley. I saw him as the stand in for the man that tried to control me, and now my little brother is dead."
The two women stared at the disk a little bit longer, both wishing that they could turn back time to see the boy that had departed from this world too soon.
AN: So, anyone notice who Guardian is modeled after?
In my defence, I love HK, and I wanted to use an HK for Whitley's personal defence droid. Only problem was that I didn't see Whitley wanting a personal assassin droid, so I just decided to name him Guardian.
The next Remnant interlude (whenever I write it up) will feature Winter, and will conclude all Remnant chapters from that point on.
