-Three Years Ago; Vale's Apartment 3G-
Destiny just couldn't seem to get the flower out of her head. That morning she found herself staring at the strange little flower she had found just last night outside by her window, just… Thinking…
That's all she thought about that morning, both the flower and the story that had always been her mother's favorite. Could this flower really be an Efah? The same flower that Widow had grown in her garden? It looked exactly like it, sure, though… She didn't know. It was only a fairytale, she told herself. Fairytales couldn't be real… Could it?
The only thing she got was more questions in her head, all which were left unanswered.
Destiny couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"... It might just be a coincidence…" Destiny said said to herself, "... I hope it is…"
Destiny heard her stomach let out a growl; she placed her hand over her stomach. "I better go get something to eat…" She said, "... I wonder if dad came back home last night. I could go for some toasts and an omelet…"
Destiny got up from her bed and carried the bag of medicine with her. She stepped out of the room and walked down the hall. She noticed that her father's room door was opened slightly. She approached the room and opened even more, and saw her father Roman fast asleep on the king sized bed, answering her question from before. His hat was on the floor and his jacket had been taken off lazily and his gloves and scarf were thrown onto the dresser by the bed, and his Melodic Cudgel was on the floor; she could tell that he had a long night.
After Destiny had picked up the cane, placing it against the closet door, being very careful not to turn off the safety, she walked over to her father's bedside; standing on her tiptoes. She poked at his cheek, earning a groan from him.
"Daddy?" Destiny said as she started to shake him slightly, "Daddy wake up."
He groaned again as he turned over on his side.
He's really had a long night, she thought to herself.
Destiny climbed up on the bed; struggling to do so, as to not drop the bag of medicine. She crawled onto the bed and practically flopped on him, earning yet another groan from her dad. She started to slam her hands on the bed as she kicked up her legs just to create some movement as he let out more groans.
"Come daddy! Get up!" Destiny said, making her hands into fists, "Wake up daddy! Time to get up now! It's morning!"
Just as she did this, she didn't realize that his hand had started to move. She had only just noticed this, when she suddenly felt fingers run from her stomach to under her arms. She started to laugh as she had just now realized that she was being tickled.
"You think you could get the jump on me?" Roman said using his other hand.
"AHAHAHA-NO STOP-HAHAHAHA!" Destiny said not being able to control her laughter.
Roman chuckled as he stopped tickling her; Destiny caught her breath. She sat up on the bed and sat pretzel style while Roman sat himself up. "Morning Princess." Roman said, "I see that someone's doing better."
After Destiny caught her breath she said to her father, "Were you just pretending to sleep?"
"Well I was actually asleep until you poked my cheek." Roman replied before he went to pinch her cheek lightly, "Were you trying to be sneaky like your father?"
Destiny laughed as she playfully hit his hand away, "Maybe I was." She said with an innocent smile. Roman soon placed his hand on her forehead. "Looks like your fever finally broke." Roman said, "That's good news for us."
Destiny tilted her head curiously at that, "How come?"
Roman soon went to the side of the bed now removing his white jacket, "I'm glad you asked dearie." Roman said to her with a smile, "Because today, you and I are gonna have a Family Fun Day today!"
Destiny had a gleeful smile on her face at the sound of that, "Really?" She said.
"You bet ya Princess." Roman said to her, "I've got some time to kill, and I would much rather spend it with you today."
Destiny couldn't but jump in bed at that, "YAY! HOORAY! FAMILY FUN DAY!"
"Alright, alright, ya little rascal." Roman said taking her in his arm, "Come here you."
Destiny had gotten comfortable in his lap, placing her hands over his.
"We can go anywhere you want in Vale today, just name it." Roman said to her.
Destiny thought of a place, "Yesterday on TV, I heard something about a fair in the park. Can we go there today?"
"Consider it done Princess." Roman said kissing the top of her head, "Just you and me at the fair all day. Just remember to stay close while we're there alright?"
"I know daddy." Destiny said, "And I'll avoid talking to strangers."
"Good girl." He said, lifting her up off his lap, "Now how about I make us some breakfast?"
"Toast and omelettes please!" Destiny said.
"You got it, go wash up." Roman said getting up from his bed. Destiny nodded her head with a smile. While he went to the kitchen, Destiny made her way to the bathroom just down the hall. However she soon stopped in her tracks when she noticed something peculiar in her room. She looked back in her room and noticed that the flower that she had in her room, had already begun to wilt.
(Opening Theme: Let's Just Live Performed by Casey Lee Williams)
-Present; Atlas, Schnee Mansion-
Weiss sat in her room looking at the airships that was flying by just outside to where ever they were designated to go. She couldn't help but reminiscence on the days back at Beacon where she and the rest of teammates just felt… Whole. She just thought about the days where Beacon was actually alive, and when she was with her team, and her partner Ruby. Sure, she didn't become the leader, but she came to accept it overtime.
For a moment, she turned to her hands which had rested on her lap. She was eyeing a white and a light blue bracelet that was slightly covered in a gray color, recalling who was the one who had made it for her.
Destiny.
She and her teammates had gotten them from her as victory bracelets after the first round in the Vytal Festival Tournament. Even after the doubles rounds between Neon and Flynt she surprisingly never got it cleaned, she had just kept it like it was a part of it to begin with. It just held too many memories despite it being only a short time.
Honestly she was worried, not only for her teammates but for the child as well. When she had gotten to the safe zone she was as shocked as everyone else that knew Destiny to hear that she had suddenly gone missing. It both worried and scared her. Was she alive? Was she dead? Was she back with Roman? Was she taken?
All the questions kept coming up, and all were left unanswered. That was the thought that scared her most.
She was soon snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see that it was two young thirteen year old girls. One had gray streaks on her white hair that was tied into a pair of small low pigtails resting on her shoulders tied with blue bands; her eyes were light blue and dark blue and on her head she had red headband. She wore a blue jean jacket and a pair of brown short pants with blue leggings, and a fingerless green gloves with a small kitten face on it, and she wore a pair of black sneakers.
The other had her white hair with gray streaks resting on her shoulders with a red ribbon tying back a small ponytail behind her head. She had the same kind of eyes and had freckles on both of her cheeks. She wore a blue dress with a ribbon and white sleeves.
Weiss recognized them to be the twins, her younger sister's, Van (Girl with long hair) and Nilla Schnee (Girl with low pigtails).
They both looked excited about something; what were they happy about?
"Weiss! Weiss!" Nilla said with a big smile while jumping in place, "Van and I finally did it! We finally made them dance, you wanna see?"
Oh so that's what it is, Weiss thought in her head. Weiss let out a small smile as she said, "Alright, show me."
Nilla nodded with a smile and Van nodded while she smiled. Nilla took out a CD player from within her jacket, and a bag of marbles handing a second bag over to Van. She sat the CD player on the table and plugged it into the speaker, before playing a song; it was soft and slow song.
Reaching into the bag they each pulled out three small marbles; Nilla's marbles were marked with snowflakes while Van's was marked with flames. They both kneeled and allowed them to roll on the floor, far part from each other. They stood up, and with simple movements of their fingers a total of six glyphs appeared where the marbles had stopped; three glyphs were white, while the three others were blue. Mist appeared around them and before Weiss knew it, there were small ice sculptures and figures made from fire the size of toys appeared.
All six of them were in the form of ballet dancers. They all danced in sync with the song that was currently playing on the CD player, while Van Nilla's eyes were closed shut. Weiss had always been impressed by their abilities. She could see that they took a lot after their mother. They were already at such a young age and already they had such concentration on their glyphs.
Weiss was proud of them, and why wouldn't she be? They were really improving the last time she saw them, and that was before she left for Beacon.
After the song had ended, the ice sculptures fire figures had taken a bow, and stood up, just staying in place as they were when they were first formed while the fire figures formed back into marbles.
Weiss clapped as Van and Nilla stood up, and they bowed their heads.
"Did you really like it Weiss?" Nilla said.
"Did you?" Van said.
"Of course." Weiss said with a small smile, "You've both really improved since this last year."
Van and Nilla's smile disappeared from their faces and they looked to each other, before turning back to Weiss.
"What?" Weiss said noticing the look on their faces.
"Nothing, it's just… You didn't sound impressed." Van said.
Nilla tilted her head as she asked with concern, "Is everything okay Weiss?"
"What makes you say that?" Weiss asked.
Nilla picked up the ice figures and placed them on the table, while Van pulled over two chairs just in front of Weiss; They both took a seat. "Well… You haven't been like yourself since you came back with Father. You mostly spend your time here in your room." Van said, "Are you sure you're okay?"
Weiss didn't answer, she just turned attention over to the window.
"Weiss…" Nilla said, "If you're sad, we can cheer you up. Just tell us what's wrong."
Weiss looked to the both of them, before letting out a sigh. "I appreciate you both wanting to help, but no offense… You've just turned thirteen, and you're both still children… I don't know if you would… Understand."
Van and Nilla placed their hands over her own, "We want to try to understand. Please?" Nilla said.
"We don't want you to feel sad Weiss." Van said "If you tell us, than we'll understand."
Weiss looked into their different shades of blue eyes; that concern, it reminded her of Ruby, from back when they first discovered Blake's… Secret. She showed nothing but concern for when her teammate just ran and when she herself had doubts about Blake at first. How could she say no to a pair of faces like that?
However just before she could say anything, there was a knock at the door.
"Yes?" Weiss said.
A butler by the name of Klein opened the door and stepped inside. "Pardon the interruption Miss Schnee." He said to Weiss in particular, "But your father wishes to speak with you."
"... Thank you Klien." Weiss said, before turning back to the twins, "Don't worry, I promise I'll tell you both later."
"... Okay." Nilla said slightly nodding her head.
"Good luck with Father." Van said.
With that, Weiss stood up from her seat and walked out the door with Klien. Curious to see what their father wanted to say to her, they followed silently behind Weiss, making sure that she didn't know that she was being followed.
"Do you believe in destiny?"
"Yes."
"... Jaune…"
"PYRRHA!"
"Ruby… I'm sorry…"
Ruby let out a gasp as her eyes had shot opened eyes, finding that it was still early in the morning. Over and over again she had this dream with months, all coming to an end after a person who had apologized to her, though the voice belonged to someone she couldn't recognize.
She knew it belonged to a girl, but she swears that she heard it somewhere before, she just couldn't remember where.
She sat herself up from her sleeping only to see that everyone else was sound asleep in their sleeping bags. All except Roman who was just resting against a tree with his bowler hat covering his face. Ruby let out a sigh as she stood up from where she slept, to stretch. Though that's when she saw that someone was missing from team CRMS; that would be their leader, Cristal.
Ruby looked around wondering where she could've gone to, but soon got her answer to where she was, when she heard someone say, "Nice to see you up and about."
Ruby turned and saw Cristal walking beside Senka.
"Hey there Cristal." Ruby said, "You're up early."
"I like early mornings like this." Cristal said, "And Senka here wanted an early morning flight. What are you doing up early?"
Ruby rubbed the back of her head as she replied, "Well… Uh… I like… Early mornings too! You know what they say, the early bird get's the worm!"
Cristal just gave a quizzical look to that, "That's not what I've been hearing from Melody. From she's told me you like to sleep in."
"Oh… She told you that huh…?" Ruby said, holding her head as though she was in pain.
Cristal's expression changed to concern, "There something bothering you, isn't it?"
Ruby didn't say anything, all she did was looked to her feet as she stood there awkwardly. "You know if you want to…" Cristal said, "... You can tell me. Just one leader to another. And even if you want, I won't say anything to the others."
Ruby let out a sigh, and looked to Cristal before saying with a reassuring smile, "Thanks, I'll keep that mind, I'll let you know when I'm ready to talk."
Cristal nodded slightly, still having a look of concern on her face, "Alright. It's up to you."
-Later-
After the others had woken and a quick meal, they continued down the path to Shion village to find an airship as planned. They had manage to find the map the other day buried in all of the stuff that they could carry in Nora's bag; turns out she really did have it.
Ruby currently lead the group with the Grimm Griffon Senka walking beside them while holding the map in her hands; though she was having a hard time seeing where they were exactly.
"Alright let's see…" Ruby said, thinking aloud, "Uh-huh… Alrighty… Uh…"
"Well? Any luck with it?" Neo asked, twirling her umbrella she had over her head.
Ruby slumped over as she replied, "I think we're lost."
"We're not lost." Jaune said looking over the map, "The next town is Shion. My family used to visit there all the time."
"That must've been nice for you." Scout said, "I used to go their when I was still staying with teacher, though we'd usually stop by there to get the usual herbs. We couldn't stay that long."
"That's a shame, maybe we can see all the sights once we're there." Jaune said.
"If we have the time for it." Roman said.
"Hold on, when you say family, you mean your whole family?" Melody said.
"Didn't you say, you had like… Eight sisters or something?" Rosario asked.
"Seven actually." Jaune said to Rosario. Ruby couldn't help but giggle at that. "You know that does explain a lot." Nora said.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Jaune asked.
"What exactly did you do in the village?" Cristal asked.
"I'd like to know that myself." Ruby said.
"Oh all sorts of things!" Jaune said showing Ruby and Cristal where exactly they would go on the map, "Over here is where there's a great hiking trail, and over here is where we all went camping. I got to have my own tent because I was special!"
"Special?" Ruby said with a quizzical look.
"That, and so my sisters would stop braiding my hair." Jaune added.
"You didn't like the look?" Neo asked.
"Yeah they just kept doing pigtails." Jaune replied, "Personally I think I'm more of a "warrior's wolftail" kind of guy, you know like what Roman has." Everyone was taken back by what Jaune had said. Who even uses that term, they all thought in unison.
"I think the word your looking for is a ponytail Arky." Roman said to him.
"I know what I said." Jaune said with a smile.
Scout soon let out a horrified gasp, and soon the others except for Jaune and Ruby realized why; Ren seem to have tensed up. "Uh… Guys…" Nora said.
"What?" Jaune said.
Ruby and Jaune picked up their heads and what they saw in front of them had horrified them.
"Good God…" Was all Rosario could say.
Right in front of them, the village of Shion that was once filled with life, was now in ruins, colored in nothing but gray from the flames that had died down. Not a single peep in the village; dead bodies laid on the ground on the ground, most of them on the side of the road each one more grotesque than the last. The whole group quickly ran inside the village with Ren tossing his bag to the side as he walked ahead of the group.
"Stay sharp!" Cristal said to the group, "There maybe survivors!"
"Guys, over here!" They heard Ren call out.
They ran over to where Ren was. He was beside a man wearing armor and a weapon at his side. His hand was over a wound on his abdomen that was fresh and he was propped up against the wall. "A Huntsman!" Ruby said.
Melody ran over to the Huntsman side along wit Scout. "Can you do anything?" Melody asked Scout.
"I'll do what I can." Scout said; she placed her bag to the side and took out a rag cloth before she started to apply pressure on the wound.
As she did this, Roman went over to the man and kneeled in front of him. "What happened here?" He asked, "Who killed all these people?"
The Huntsman coughed, and with a raspy voice he replied, "Bandits… A… Whole tribe… And, with all the panic…"
"Grimm…" Ren had finished for the Huntsman.
Roman looked to the man's wound that Scout was struggling to stop bleeding. He had seen this kind of wound inflicted before, and he knew the man before his eyes didn't have long. He soon heard Ruby say to the group, "Alright, we can get him to the next village over, and find a doctor there!"
"Senka can carry him on his back!" Jaune suggested.
Senka let out a questioning squawk at that as he tilted his head.
"Think he'll be okay with it?" Melody asked Cristal.
"He might not be at first, but he'll do it nonetheless." Cristal said.
Senka growled at her, speaking to Cristal. She turned and said, "Well like it or not, you're gonna have to live with it."
"Don't even bother. It's not going to matter in the end." Roman said, standing up turning to them, "He won't survive the trip."
"Roman, you can't just say that!" Ruby said to the former criminal, "You don't know that for sure!"
"Red, look at him." Roman said to her sternly, "I've seen this kind of thing before. That bleeding won't stop anytime soon. He won't last."
"No you're wrong!" Jaune denied, "He'll make it! I'm sure of it!"
"If we can get him to the village fast enough, he'll have a chance!" Melody said.
"Guys, Roman has a point." Neo said, "Like he said, he won't last the trip."
"Maybe they're right." Nora said, "I don't know if he'll even make it."
"He will." Jaune said to Nora, "He has to."
"We can increase his chances, if we leave here right away." Cristal said.
"You're right!" Ruby said to Cristal, "I can run ahead and look for help!"
"Red-" Roman said before getting cut off by her. "Don't say he won't make it, cause he will!" Ruby said with determination and slight anger towards him.
"You guys…" They heard Rosario said getting all of their attention, "It's too late…"
There eyes fell upon the Huntsmen, who showed no signs of movement, yet his eyes were open slightly; they saw that he wasn't even breathing. "You mean he's…?" Melody said to Rosario.
All she did in reply was nod her head, her expression filled with solemn. Scout reached over the Huntsman's eyes, placing her fingers on his lids; with a simple gently movement, shut the Huntsman's eyes, and it looked as though he was sleeping peacefully. Finally she spoke up, "There was too much blood… I couldn't stop it in time… There was nothing I could do…"
Everyone grew silent, not saying a word as they silently mourned for the Huntsmen. Frosty jumped from Melody's and beside the now lifeless Huntsmen. He sniffed, his hand before sitting; tilting his head back, he had started to howl, as if he was mourning for the Huntsmen as well. Senka on the other hand bowed his head.
Finally after what had seemed like hours, Ren spoke up to the group, as he walked past them, "We should go, it's not safe here."
"Ren…" Nora said, before catching up with him.
"We can't just… Leave him here." Scout said, "We should at least bury him."
"I don't think that's a good idea." Rosario said, "We shouldn't stay here for too long."
"But… He's a Huntsman." Ruby said, "We can't leave him like this. It wouldn't be right."
"But the Bandits, or Grimm could come back." Neo said, "We should really-"
"No." Roman said cutting Neo off, "Red, and Foxy are right. We should bury him. He's a Huntsman after all, he doesn't deserve to be left out here to rot."
"Roman…" Neo said, her pink and brown eyes changing to white, as her face was filled with worry.
Roman ignored the look on Neo's face as he turned to the group, "Some of you can look around town to see if you can find any shovels or at the very least things that could be used for digging, while Neo and I look for a spot to bury him. Meet back here once you're finished."
Ruby, Jaune, and the members from team CRMS looked to one another, all of them equally surprised that Roman was suddenly taking charge of this situation. "Alright." Cristal said speaking up, "You heard him. Let's start looking around, but be on your guard, there could still be Grimm left."
With one last glance to each other, they nodded their heads before splitting up in the desolated village, while Roman and Neo stood next to the Huntsman. Neo's eyes were still white as she looked over to Roman.
"Are you okay?" Neo asked, noticing the certain look in his eyes as he looked upon the village once more; his eyes looked saddened when he look towards a man and a woman, hand in hand covered in blood just a few feet from where they were standing.
He didn't reply to her question when he just turned and walked. "Let's go Neo." He said walking ahead. Neo had just stayed silent as she walked just behind him.
Ruby watched as Roman and Neo headed in the opposite direction, showing a look of worry when she saw the look in his eyes. She remembered the story that Destiny had told her and her friends, to when she lost her mother, to when she lost everything that would've lead to a normal life at a young age. She could only imagine the pain that Roman was going through looking around this once lively village. She couldn't help but feel worry as Neo had did for him.
She was worried for everyone really.
She turned her attention over to Jaune when she noticed his expression saddened as well.
"Jaune? Are you alright?" Ruby asked with concern.
Jaune let out a sigh as he replied, "... I'm just tired of losing everything…"
-Atlas; Schnee Mansion-
Weiss didn't know how many times she found herself walking through the enormous halls of her home, always going to her father whenever he needed to talk with her. Everyday of her life, for as long as she remembered, was like living her life as if she was in a doll house. Always being told what to do, always doing what was best for the family name. But was it really?
Since she had come back, she didn't know what to think anymore. All Weiss thought about what happened months prior. She had forgotten what it was like to be back home again, since she had mostly kept isolated. Though being here back at home, just brought back, memories of her just having most of her childhood life like a dollhouse. She just hoped that her sisters, the twins didn't have to go through it while she was away.
As Weiss approached her father's office, she was greeted at the sound of a familiar voice just in front of her.
"Good afternoon sister." The voice said.
Weiss picked up her head, and saw that it was her brother, by the name of Whitley. He was tall and slender, having short white hair and light blue eyes like hers. He wore a white short sleeved collared shirt with a black tie and a vest, wearing a pair of dark blue pants with a pair of black shoes.
"A pleasure to see you out of your room for a change." Whitely said to her.
"Hello Whitely." Weiss said, as she walked around him before turning to him, "You're in a cheery mood today."
"Klein made crepes for breakfast." He said with a smile as he placed his hands behind his back.
"What do you want?" Weiss asked him.
"I heard Father shouting with someone in his study earlier." Whitley replied.
"Is it Mother?"
"No, she's out drinking in the garden. I think it was a man."
Whitely's expression changed to a look of concern, "I just wanted to warn you. I had heard he asked to speak with you."
"... I'll be fine." Weiss said rubbing her elbow.
"I know you will." Whitely said to his sister, "You're strong… Like Winter. It's no wonder Van and Nilla look up to you and her."
Weiss gave a confused look to him, finding it strange for him to mention their older sister's name without cringing. "You never liked Winter." Weiss pointed out.
"True…" Whitely replied, "But you can't deny her resolve."
"You seem… Different."
"And you've been gone. I'll have you know that I didn't stop growing while you were at Beacon."
Whitley turned and walked down the hall. "Anyway, good luck with Father." He said. Weiss watched as her brother had gotten further and further away. "... Thank you." Weiss said, playing with bracelet that was on her wrist.
She went over to the door to her Father's story, though as Whitely had said, she had heard yelling from within the room. Two people arguing from the sound of it.
"... I'm not talking about the good of my company; I'm talking about the future of Atlas, our entire Kingdom!"
"That is a load of garbage and you know it."
"I beg your pardon!?"
Weiss opened the door slightly and saw her father, and Ironwood in the room, both of them arguing with one another, she stepped into the room silently, as they continued with their argument.
"Jacques!" Ironwood said, "Will you please, just hear me out?"
Weiss's father, by the name of Jacques, slammed his drink on the table roughly as he sat back in his chair. "You are a trusted friend and ally to this family, James…" Jacques said, "... But what you're suggesting is absurd!"
"You are blowing it out of proportion." Ironwood said.
Jacques stood up from his seat as he yelled, "THE COUNCIL WILL NEVER AGREE TO IT!"
"You forget…" Ironwood said standing up from his seat as well, "I hold two seats on the council."
"Your Dust embargo has already cost me millions! I can promise you, I haven't forgotten!"
"So this IS about you."
Weiss was startled when the door was closed shut quite loudly. When she saw that her father and Ironwood looked over in her direction, she put her hands behind her back, and stood straight. "Miss Schnee!" Ironwood said while bowing his head, "My apologies, I should've been gone by now."
"No, no, it's okay." Weiss reassured him.
Ironwood turned over to Jacques, "We'll continue this another time."
"Indeed." Jacques said, "Klein can show you out."
"That won't be necessary." Ironwood said, "I know the way. Until next time Jacques."
Ironwood walked over to the door and Weiss moved out of the way so that Ironwood can go through. He turned to her and said, "Please know that you'll always have a home at Atlas Academy, Miss Schnee. We'll be back in session before you know it."
With that Ironwood took his leave leaving only her and Jacques the only ones in the study.
"Did you forget your manners while you were away?" Jacques asked.
Weiss turned to him, "No Father. I'm sorry."
"Can you believe that there are still people in the world that blame Atlas for what happened at Beacon?" Jacques said walking over to his desk, "To Vale?"
"Well… They weren't there." Weiss said following her father.
Jacques sat down at the desk and turned in his chair, his back to Weiss. "It's a wonder he wasn't stripped of his rank. I suppose the council trusts him, for better or worse."
"... I trust him." Weiss said to her father.
Jacques let out a sigh and turned it to his daughter, "Thanks to him Atlas is forbidden from exporting Dust to other Kingdoms. "A precautionary measure" as he puts it, "until we're certain nobody is going to declare war". How anyone could possibly find that to be sound logic is beyond me. Which is why the Schnee Dust Company will be holding a charity concert in the coming weeks."
Weiss expression perked up at that, mostly surprised that her father had suggested something like that.
"We need to show the people of Remnant that we're on their side." Jacques explained. "That we're on their side. That we're all victims of the fall of Beacon."
"That's… Wonderful news!" Weiss said with an honest smile.
"I know." Jacques said, "And I think it would make a lot of people happy… If you performed at the event."
Weiss's expression fell from her face, "Excuse me?"
"Many forgot that you were there." Jacques said, "My own daughter, a Schnee, on the grounds, defending another Kingdom! We need to remind them, and show them that the Schnee family is as strong as ever!"
"Are you asking me if I would like to sing… Or telling me?"
"I think it would make a lot of people happy."
Weiss looked into her father's gaze before letting out a sigh, "I'll start practicing."
"That's… My girl." Jaques said with a smile.
With that said, Weiss left the room silently. She opened the door and shut it behind her, that's when she noticed the twins were just standing outside of the door. They both equally had sad looks on their faces.
"Father's making you sing again, isn't he?" Van asked.
"No, no it's nothing like that." Weiss had tried to reassure them, though they saw through her lie.
"But it's true…" Nilla said softly, "... Isn't it? It's not fair… Doesn't father know what you've been through? True, we may not know exactly…"
Van said, "But he definitely doesn't."
Weiss let out a sigh, as she just hugged the two of them, and the twins hugged their sister back.
"Coffe Miss Schnee?"
The three sisters turned and saw that it was Klien holding a tray with three cups; they broke of the hug. "I always find he keeps his study dreadful cold." Klein said to Weiss with a smile.
Weiss took the mug that was in the middle, "Thank you Klien." Weiss said.
Klein nodded, and he held the tray in front of the twins. "Here you are Miss Van, Miss Nilla." He said with a friendly smile, "Hot chocolate just made the way you both like it."
"Klein thank you." Van said taking the mug.
"Awesome!" Nilla said, getting the mug from the tray.
They took a sip from the mug, and Klein noticed the look on Weiss's face, having been down after having the conversation with her father. Klein knew a a way to cheer her up.
"You know what I think?" Klein said, putting his tray in front if his face. When he removed the tray from his face, his eyes had turned from brown to red.
"I think it's just to balance out all his hot air." He spoke with a gruff accent.
The twins giggled and Weiss smiled. "Klein!" Weiss whispered, turning to door making sure their father didn't hear anything. Weiss started to giggle as did Klein. He than let out a sneeze and his eyes changed to blue.
"Uh, apologies ma'am." Klein spoke with a high pitch voice.
He pretended to sneeze again, and the three girls giggled as Klein wiggled his mustache. His eyes changed to yellow, "Ah, there's my happy little snowflake."
"Do you feel better now Weiss?" Nilla asked her sister.
Weiss smiled and nodded to the young girl before looking back up to their butler.
"Thank you Klein." Weiss said with a smile.
-Meanwhile-
"Jaune…"
"Get up!"
"Jaune…"
"If you don't move now they're going to die! Get up and fight for those that are still standing!"
"Jaune!"
Ruby awoke after yet another dream, this one being different from the rest; she soon found that it was late at night, and everyone was sound asleep. Finding it was still so late, she had decided to go back to sleep until…
"Jaune."
Ruby sat herself up when she heard Pyrrha's voice; though she knew it was impossible. When she looked around she saw everyone was asleep in their sleeping bags as usually, though Cristal was sleeping against Senka, who was curled up against her as he hummed softly. Though she found Jaune missing from his sleeping bag and Roman was missing from where they usually slept. She heard Pyrrha call out his name again and she had followed the sound deep within the trees as fireflies flew all around, one just landing on her finger.
Than, from behind the tree she saw Jaune, armed with his sword and shield. Not wanting to be seen she took cover just behind a tree nearby.
Just in front of Jaune as he swung his sword was his scroll, sitting on a stop. On the scroll it had a recording of a girl with familiar red hair.
It was of Pyrrha.
"Alright Jaune." Pyrrha said in the video, "Now just like we practiced. Follow these instructions. Shield up."
Jaune lifted his shield up as Pyrrha said.
"Keep your grip tight."
He tightened his grip on his sword.
"Don't forget to keep your right foot forward."
Jaune kept his right foot in place, since he hadn't forgotten.
"Ready?... Go!"
Jaune swung his sword, cutting the air as if their was an enemy their.
"Again!"
He moved forward with his opposite foot and swung his sword again.
"And again."
Jaune took one final swing and the grass in front of him, moved again. After that he took deep breaths, after he had taken three powerful swings.
Pyrrha in the video giggled, "Alright, now assuming you haven't cheated, we can take a break."
Jaune turned his attention over to the video. "I know this can be frustrating…" Pyrrha said, "... And it can feel like so much effort to progress such a small amount, but I want you to know that I'm proud of you. I've never met someone so determined to better themselves. You've grown so much since we started training. And I know this is just the beginning."
Pyrrha looked away from the camera, her face turning slightly red, "Jaune, I… I…" Pyrrha had turned back to the camera, with a smile on her face; she placed her hands over her chest "I just want you to know that I'm happy to be a part of your life. No matter what happens… I'll always be here for you Jaune."
"Pyra! Pyra!" A familiar said coming over the video.
A little twelve year old with a familiar color of magenta and her bangs being partly orange with a black eye patch over her right eye came into view; she jumped onto Pyrrha's back and the teenage girl help but laugh. Jaune cracked a small smile when Destiny came into view.
"I found you Pyra!" Destiny said, as she kicked her legs behind her.
"You certainly did." Pyrrha said with a smile gripping the child's hands.
"Everyone's waiting for you so we can head to the stadium. The singles round start today you know, and you could be picked!" Destiny said to her.
"Don't worry I remembered." Pyrrha reassured Destiny, "We shouldn't keep them waiting."
Destiny nodded before she noticed the camera on the scroll going. "Oh, I'm sorry." Destiny said in the video to Pyrrha, "Were you recording something? Did I interrupt?"
Pyrrha gave a reassuring smile and shook her head, "I was recording. But don't worry, I'm all finished now."
"What were you recording?" Destiny asked.
Pyrrha lifted Destiny up off of her back, and placed her on the ground.
"That's a little secret. But since your good with keeping secrets, I'll tell you about it later." She said to the child.
Destiny held out her pinky, "Pinky promise?"
Pyrrha held out her pinky finger on the opposite hand, and let it intertwine with her's, "Pinky promise."
With that, Pyrrha turned her attention over to the camera and pressed the button on the scroll and the video came to an end. Though it wasn't a second later when the video just rewinded itself, back to the beginning.
She repeated the same words as she did before when she had started the recording. Just as Jaune started to do what he did before, a hand reached out and suddenly paused the video. Jaune looked and it had turned out the person was Roman.
"You know Arky…" He said, "... If you're going to just be out here and reminisce, the least you could do is be sensible about it."
"Roman." Jaune said, "What are you doing up this late?"
"Couldn't sleep, and I thought, what the hell, I might as well take an evening stroll to take my mind off a few things." Roman said, "May I?"
Jaune wondered what he meant, but realized he had meant his scroll. "Oh, go ahead." Jaune said.
Roman took the scroll from the stump and looked at the video. Though he looked at the still image of Pyrrha, fast forwarding all the way to the near end, just when Destiny came into the video. "So… This is Pyrrha Nikos huh?" Roman said, though really he didn't expect Jaune to answer, "The one many claimed to be an Invincible Girl. I've heard about her reputation, and a little from Red. She tells me that Destiny and her were like best friends when you were taking care of her."
Jaune had said to him, "Yeah, well, most of us were busy finishing up the preparations of the Vytal Festival, and she mostly volunteered to look after her while the rest of us helped out."
Roman chuckled slightly, "She even gave her a nickname. Pyra… Funny I didn't think that trait of mine would rub off on her. Here I thought she take more after her…" His words just trailed off, and Jaune gave a sort of confused look before he put together why.
Roman cleared his throat when there was the awkward silence between them. "Though… Just from hearing this from the video, I can tell that she meant a lot to you too."
Jaune said nothing to Roman this time; he just looked away.
"Your torn up about what happened to her." Roman said, "And why wouldn't you be? From what Red's told me about her, she's just… Amazing she would say; but in truth that's just from her point of view. Your teammates on the other hand told me, you were especially close to her."
"She… Was the first person to ever believe in me when I first started at Beacon." Jaune said to him, "... Even when I didn't deserve it she was always there for me. And… I guess, I just can't seem to let go of it all you know?"
Roman slightly chuckled at that, "You know, it's kind of funny. Everytime you or any of your other friends mention Pyrrha, it makes me think back to my wife. Honestly she reminds me a lot of how Trinity was. I assume my daughter told you about her, when you were looking after her?"
Jaune replied, "Yeah, she was her mom, and from what she told us, she looks up to her and loves her as much as she loves you as a parent. Even though she can't remember her."
"That's thanks to the stories I bring up about her every now and again." He said, "But I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, just a little something between us."
Jaune tilted his in confusion wondering what he meant by that exactly.
Roman started to explain, "Back when there was still the trust between the kingdoms, I used to think that people, us human beings in general weren't trustworthy. They would always tell lies just to save their own skin; or worse they would do it out of their own entertainment just to see the person's reaction. Hell everyday I would tell myself that everyone, were the worst. I even found days when I just hated myself for being one of those people, because of the people I grew up with as a kid, where I unfortunately spent most of my childhood. But… My perspective on how I looked at the world changed when I met a certain girl with magenta hair, and eyes that I swear, I thought they were made of amethyst. She, like your friend saw a side in me, that I didn't even know I had. She pretty much showed me that not all people in the world were liars, were cowards, or just were for a lack of better word, monsters. They were people that were like her, people that were decent, honest, and had would never give up, and would always do what she can to help, even to people like me that didn't deserve it. It's what made me fall in love with her to begin with."
"Whoa…" Jaune said to Roman stunned to hear all this, "... That's just… Amazing… I can see why Destiny loves her."
Roman looked over to Jaune before placing the scroll back onto the stump, "... Point I'm trying to make here Arky, is… That people like my wife… People, like Pyrrha are not ones that tend to stay forgotten. Even with Trinity gone… I still love her, as much as I did when she was still around. Not a day goes by when I wished that she was still here with me, to see our little girl grow up one day. We can't forget people we love, but we can move on from it. Sooner or later, you'll have to learn to move on from this as well, even if you don't want to."
Jaune looked to Roman before he looked back to his scroll, with the still image of Pyrrha and Destiny, though really he was looking at Pyrrha in particular. Jaune let out a sigh as he said to Roman, "Thanks, I appreciate it, really."
Roman walked by him, before patting him on the shoulder, "Try not to stay up to late Arky."
Ruby who had watched the whole thing couldn't but smile, at the conversation that the two of them had, though she couldn't help but still worry for Jaune as he had gone back to doing what was doing before Roman had interrupted him. She knew he was still torn about what had happened to Pyrrha; she just wish she could find a way to help him.
"Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to eavesdrop Red?"
Ruby jumped and saw that Roman was standing next to her.
"How long have you been listening?" Roman asked her.
"A while." Ruby replied softly not wanting Jaune to hear them.
"We had better get back to the campsite to get some rest." Roman said.
"What about Jaune?" She asked.
"Don't worry about him." Roman reassured her, "He'll catch up."
Ruby nodded, taking one last glance back over to Jaune, she walked alongside Roman. She let out a slight giggle. "What?" Roman asked with a quizzical expression, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, it's just that I didn't know you were one to give advice." Ruby said to him with a smile.
Roman turned away, from Ruby and she noticed that his face was slightly red from embarrassment; Ruby couldn't help but giggle a bit more.
"You know something… You've changed in a good way these last months we've been out here." Ruby said to him, giving him an affectionate nudge with her elbow.
"What can I say Red?" Roman said, "Not everyone stays the same."
-Three Years Ago; Vale Main Square Evening-
All was lively in the main square of Vale. Everyone that had attended were either at the stands or on one of the rides that was provided. Roman wearing a casual dark blue shirt, with gray jean pants with his hair not being curled, and not wearing the usual eye makeup, was walking with the crowd with his daughter piggyback riding, since she felt a bit sleepy.
It was just nearing the end of the day and they were just making their way out of the fair; he held a bag of prizes that they had one from one of the various game stands.
As Destiny rode on his back, she was holding a photograph with recent handwriting that had read "Me and Daddy on Family Fun Day"
"Did you have fun today?" Roman asked her as he continued to walk through the crowd.
Destiny nodded her head sleepily, "I had a lot of fun today… Thank you…"
"Anything for you Princess." Roman said.
Destiny nuzzled her face in the back of his neck as she held onto the picture.
"I wish we could have more days like this one…" Destiny said to him.
Roman let out a sigh, "... One day we will, Princess."
Destiny rubbed her eyes, as she let out a yawn. "Dad? Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, what is it?" Roman asked.
"... How come…" Destiny said before yawning again, "... How come, the people you meet with at home, don't know about me…? Even when it's nice people, you tell me to stay in my room and play quietly… Why do I have to hide?"
Roman honestly didn't know how to answer that. He didn't tell her the truth about what had happened to her mother, but how could he tell her? He knew one of these days he had to tell her the whole truth about her mom, about where she had gotten her eye. Since she had turned five she was always lead to believe that she was simply born with her strange eye. He didn't know how to tell her, but he knew one day he would have to tell her one day, but just not now.
"... It's simple really." Roman said to her, "... You're my little secret."
"Secret?"
"... Yeah, secrets are meant to be kept precious and treasure. You're my treasure Destiny. I'll always keep you safe."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Destiny let out a smile, as she fell asleep, on his back. Roman patted her head as she made herself comfortable.
"Seems like you two had a good time."
Roman's attention was drawn when he heard a familiar voice. Turned out it was Neo, in black hair and green eyes, holding a bag of groceries and such. "Neo." He said, "Planning on making food for us again?"
"Well, you barely have enough in your fridge, that and half of it is expired by now." Neo replied, "Where would you be without me honestly?" Roman shrugged his shoulders, as he chuckled. Neo placed her hand on Destiny's head and ruffled her hair a bit; all she did was move her head slightly and Neo couldn't help but chuckle.
"... She's a real good kid." Neo said, "... She's the spitting image of your wife that's for sure."
"Yeah." Roman said, "She is. She would've loved today; all the games the rides, everything really. I just wish I could do more for my little girl."
Neo looked Roman with a worried look, "You know, you can't keep Trinity's secret from her forever. You know as well as I do that one of these days your gonna have to tell her."
"... I know I do." Roman replied, "But how can I tell her? She's only a child."
"We were all children once Roman." Neo said, "... But we do eventually grow into adults. Sooner or later she has to know the truth."
Roman looked to Neo, before turning his head slightly over to Destiny who was still sound asleep. At the thought of Trinity's secret, he didn't know exactly how he would explain to her. Where would he even start? The reason… The real reason to why she ran from home. How would he even explain it to his daughter, THEIR own daughter?
He let out a sigh before saying to Neo, "... One day I will just not now. I just want her to be a kid a little while longer. I want to make sure that she has a life that neither me, or Trinity never got to have."
"I understand that." Neo said to her, "But… Secrets can't be stay hidden forever. Don't forget that."
"I won't." Roman said.
Neo nodded slightly, as they walked down the block back to the apartments; both of them equally unaware that a certain black and white owl was watching them, eyeing the child on Roman's back in particular.
(Ending Theme: Soul Eater Ending 2-Style Performed by Nishino Kana)