"You never got over it did you?"
"Got over what?"
"You know what…"
"Well, I could never keep secrets from you…"
"You know we missed Valentine's day… " Blake said as she sat next to Weiss while the pair watched TV in her family's rec room
Weiss leaned back in her seat on the couch they were both sharing and rubbed her sore ankle "Yeah…"
Blake felt the tension inside of the room as it ate away at her from the inside, she could tell just by looking at her that Weiss was hurting deeply from what happened to her sister. Blake, however, had no idea how to help Weiss through it though.
"How in the hell do I even talk to her about it. Despite what anyone says I had a part to play in creating Adam…" Blake mused to herself as she stared at the TV in the late evening. Blake turned over to the ornate wall clock to check the time, it was barely seven Pm, February sixteenth…
"Uh, did you want to do anything? I could go hook up the PlayStation if you want…." Blake asked her girlfriend..
Weiss mostly just grunted and kept staring off into space. Just looking at her twisted Blakes guts into knots. "She's like a damn shell, It's almost like she's not home anymore. Dammit it all to hell, how do I even begin to fix this mess?"
Blake stood up and told Weiss "Hey, I'll be back… Or you know just kind of hunt me down if you need anything okay?"
Weiss nodded and looked at Blake with what blake saw as a cold indifferent expression and just said "Okay…" before she went back to staring at the TV.
Blake walked out of the room with her drink and walked the roughly three minutes it took to get to the guest room where she was staying. Blake walked over and sat down at the desk her laptop was sitting and went online to see if she could catch anyone on. By sheer coincidence, she happened to catch Yang logging on as well. Black quickly double-clicked on her name and started typing.
BLACKCAT42: Yang, we need to talk!
BLONDEBOMBSHELL83: Well I was just logging on to chat with Nora for a minute but yeah what's up?
BLACKCAT42: I need advice about how to try and help Weiss.
BLONDEBOMBSHELL83: Ah jeez yeah, is she still shut down?
BLACKCAT42: Yeah she only really moves around to eat and do homework otherwise she's not there at all.
BLONDEBOMBSHELL83: Well she has a pretty good excuse to be kinda checked out, you heard what the Winter's boyfriend said at the time, Weiss had heard all of what was done to her sister, and it must have been a hell of a lot…
BLACKCAT42: What the hell can I do for her right now?
BLONDEBOMBSHELL83: Be near her, maybe try to poke her every once in a while, she's going to be mentally on lockdown for a while I'd bet.
BLACKCAT42: Dammit it all to hell… I only had…
BLONDEBOMBSHELL83: If only you had done what? Died in her sister's place? Let Adam rape and murder you? What could you have done to have prevented this?
BLACKCAT42:: I don't fucking know okay?
BLONDEBOMBSHELL83: Then why are you so hellbent on taking the blame for Adam?!
Blake closed the laptop and screamed in frustration as she grabbed at her hair… She sat there sobbing for a few moments, "Because of me, all of this happened because Adam wanted me!" Blake slammed her fist into the desk with a hard and less than satisfying sounding thud.
"If I just gave myself up, if I just went to confront him… Winter would be alive, Jaune wouldn't be on death's door with only Ruby looking over him! Maybe Scarlet would still be alive!" Blake sobbed out "It's my fucking fault!"
Blake was torn from her internal rage when she heard a knocking on the door. Blake's head snapped over to the person standing there to see Weiss's father standing in the doorway. "Ms. Belladonna?"
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…." Blake sobbed out looking at the floor.
"Well, I hope you're only trying to apologize for interrupting my Wheel of Fortune time or we might have to have some words, young lady." Jacques Schnee said as he stepped into the room and sat down on the guest bed looking at her.
Blake found herself at such a loss for words she actually had tilted her head in confusion "I'm sorry?"
"Hey, I'll have you know I take my game shows very seriously, tonight is a rerun though so I'll forgive for you it this time," Jacques said as he put on a smirk for Blake's benefit.
"The most powerful man in this town, and he watches game shows…" Blake said with a half-hearted scoff.
"Not the most powerful man Ms. Belladonna, just the one with the most money," Jacques said with a chuckle. "I guess I can understand why most people make that mistake though."
Blake stifled a chuckle "What's next you confess your love for the Jerry Springer show?"
"Actually I'm more partial to Maury, the paternity test episodes can be a riot sometimes" Jacques Schnee, the richest man in town, confessed to Blake Belladonna, the daughter of a rancher and a farmer.
Blake lost her ability to keep her laughter in check and broke out laughing as Jacques did his best impression of the talk show host with a sheet of paper "Ms. Belladonna, you are not the father" with a hearty laugh.
Once Blake's laughter died down Jacques got right to the point "Now I might be getting old but it sounds a lot like you're blaming yourself for my daughter's death, is that correct?"
Blake froze up and put a hand to her chest as Jaques kept talking. "I mean I can't imagine the burden, the weight you're carrying on yourself."
"Sir I-" Blake started to say
"How old are you Blake?" Jacques asked.
"I'm sorry sir, I'm sixteen," Blake answered not making eye contact.
"I see, that is a rather young age to try to carry the responsibility of the entire world on your shoulders." Mr. Schnee said.
Jacques took her confusion as an invitation to keep going. "Has Weiss ever mentioned her uncle to you?"
"I… I can't recall her bringing one up sir," Blake answered
"That's understandable, her uncle was two years younger than me, played college football, had a strong sense of patriotism and a desire to serve his country," Jacques said almost wistfully.
"I guess I'm not following you, sir…" Blake stammered out.
"My father was grooming us both to one day take over his company. Nicholas was a real asshole if you don't mind me saying so." Jacques declared "My brother never wanted any part of that, he wanted to be a soldier, to be a hero to his country more than anything…"
Blake could see the discomfort the elder Schnee was experiencing. "Our father wanted none of it, would hear none of it. He would say 'we Schnee's are not meant to fight and die for a flag' which to be honest is a rather barbaric thing to tell your kids."
"I… I can't imagine my father saying anything like that to us." Blake chimed in.
"That's because your father is a man worth respecting Ms. Blake," Jacques said in reply. "So there we were, my brother wanted to join the military, and my father was dead set against it during a time in my life that I frankly despised the man."
Blake blinked for a few moments "So what happened?"
"I did what any good brother should do, I encouraged my brother to follow his dreams, I sold him on the fact that maybe doing a few years in the military would be good for him, he would come back a stronger and better man than me." Jacques said "Truthfully I never wanted to run this company, I wanted a simpler life. That's why I never tried to groom my daughters to take over for me once I'm gone, though Weiss had voiced an interest in it in the past…"
"Yeah…" Blake said.
"My brother never came back from Vietnam…" Jacques said rather factually.
Blake stopped dead and froze up like a statue. "He… Never did?"
"No, my dear, my brother was simply swallowed by the jungle to never be seen again." Jacques. "Officially he's considered missing in action, but that somehow implies my brother is going to walk out of the jungle with a bone through his nostrils and an attractive Vietnamese bride. Maybe that's true and maybe he's a happy old man with a family in another country."
Jacques shrugged "Or more than likely, he died in that jungle and his body was never recovered."
"I'm so sorry sir…" Blake said.
"So of course, with only one living son, my father doubled down on me to take over the company, a fortune that was supposed to be split two ways fell completely in my lap." Jacques scoffed "Blood money really…"
Blake was silent as the weight of Jacques' words pressed down on her.
"You can see where I'm going here? I had, in effect, encouraged my brother to go off to his death in a war our country didn't have a stake in. A cause that I didn't believe in for a single second, but my brother felt incredibly strongly about." Jacques "I'm a very generous man with my fortune, I pay me workers in this town far more than anyone else would pay for their positions. The man sweeping my floors could raise his family off the wages he makes me work comfortably. I can throw thousands of dollars into investing in advanced leg braces and the machines needed to create them for my daughter." Jacques paused and painted a dour look on his face. "I can even afford to, hell, with the change I find in my couch cushions, pay for Jaune Arc's medical care. Not just because I can, or even because it's the right thing to do."
Jacques nodded his head for a moment with a warm smile "It's because it's what my brother would have done."
Blake finally found the words she wanted to say "You feel guilty for your brother's death… You blame yourself for it."
"I very much do yes," Jacques said to the young Belladonna girl.
"That's.. That's completely ridiculous, you didn't encourage your brother to serve because you wanted him dead, you couldn't see the future or anything like that! Where in the hell did you ever get that idea?" Blake said louder than she intended.
Jacques smiled "I wish I knew you when I was a younger man, Ms. Belladonna. But I agree it does sound almost silly now later in life doesn't it?" Jacques smiled and said "At the time though it was the only thought my grief addled mind could accept. I encouraged my brother to join the army against our father's wishes, and he died for it."
"I think I understand…" Blake said.
"I was told that son of a bitch hurt you gravely is that correct?" Jacques stated, "That in an act of unquestionable will you reached out for the life preserver at a time you were ready to lay down and drown yes?"
"I… Guess that's a really overdramatic way of putting it… but I guess Jaune kinda did reach out with a hand, and I grabbed it when I was scared shitless to do so." Blake said.
"I also understand that your in no way able to see the future, is it safe to assume that when the scum was arrested you felt that it was the end of it?" Jacques asked.
"Yes… I felt like I was free." Blake answered
"Then allow me to ask the question, that I wished someone asked me, why are you blaming yourself for my daughter's death?" Jacques asked.
"I… I don't know," Blake said….
"Do we blame a car manufacture when a drunk driver kills someone?" Jacques asked
"No, of course, we don't? We blame the driver." Blake replied.
"When someone fires a gun and hits the wrong person, do we blame the shooter? Or the target he missed?" Jacques asked with a sense of determination.
"No… We blame the shooter…" Blake said.
"Adam was the shooter, you were his target, and he missed and killed my daughter…" Jacques said. "I don't blame you any more than I blame the Ford motor company for almost taking my daughter's legs from her."
"I think I understand now sir…" Blake said.
"Excellent, I'm glad I could help clear things up, now, you're going to follow me into the kitchen and you're going to help me cook up a few plates of Fettuccine Alfredo. It happens to be my daughter's favorite comfort dish and I've been looking forward to teaching someone to make it for a long time." Jacques said.
"Uh, yes sir," Blake said as she stood up and followed Jacques out and towards the kitchen.
Boy I bet when you all saw down you didn't expect a bit of backstory of one of the most hated characters in show canon, Jacques Schnee is AQMW is a very different kind of character, a man of strong moral integrity, and a genuine love of his children, which apparently extends at the moment to Blake. The last bit of this chapter is a real important moment, now I normally leave things up to interpretation, but Jacques is effectively teaching Blake, how to take care of his daughter. Which as a dad myself, is a powerful thing to teach someone who you know will do right by your child.
So yeah, this chapter was a one of growth and recovery for Blake, not the only chapter I'm aiming to give her, but a powerful kick in the ass in the right direction from someone who's walked in her shoes.
So a bit of an aside, this chapter, all close to 2200 words of it was written in a single unbroken sitting with only a couple breaks to chat with friends and be a dad to my kids. That's how invested I got writing this chapter. I guess in a weird way, I slip very easy into writing the parents of the various characters in this story so it all flowed out easily enough.
Dragonlord, I'm glad to see you enjoyed the last couple chapters, yeah a big part of the orignal problems between Summer and Ruby was the inability to easily communicate with each other. I recall one chapter actually involved Summer and Ruby having a "Loud" Argument where Ruby and summer argued over Ruby's refusal to use her notepad to communicate with her mother. Actually that was around chapter 22 or so... which was fifty chapters ago...
Hey Sansman, thanks for commenting two chapters ago, yeah we all get to hold out hope that Jaune will come through okay!
Malkor, I'm still not fully decided as to how much proper talking Jaune would be able to perform going forward if he wakes up, I got about eight chapters to decide either way I guess, unfortunately, while I was researching the Cochlear implants for Ruby I was also looking at Enchroma glasses for Jaune, and unfortunately the technology just didn't really come about until 2002 and they become commercially available until 2012. So well outside of the scope of this tale.
Chinaluv I hope I managed to scratch that Blake itch with this chapter for you!
Beowolf, yeah I'll tell you what I really can't wait for covid to burn itself out soon, working from home was fun at first but now I really just miss going out of the house in general.
Which leads to Retrorque, I know your probably tired of hearing it, and I don't know what you do for a living but thank you for doing whatever it is, I just hope your able to get some kind of PPE so you don't get sick.
And with that, I want to as always thank all of you for taking the time to read and or drop a comment, and I hope you all have a great rest of your day, See you all next time!
