Hello everyone, good to see you all again. Thanks for sticking with me, hope you enjoy the Chapter!

Family Names

"By soaking the thread in the Dust the powdered type of course, it is possible to stitch the dust into any article of clothing, and while some believe that certain symbols change the property of the dust. None of the Atlas researchers or scientist have proven this true or false. Frankly, I find the superstition to be preposterous." Weiss joked covering her smile with one hand as she look to Corvo, who let out a polite chuckle for her. "Right superstition." Corvo replied thinking back to how he used to see the world in the same way. The Outsider, magic, witches all he thought to be superstitions, yet the mark on his hand coursed with power, and he did not want to know how many gutters and pits he crawl through for a bone charm or artifact. Taking a sip from her cup Weiss then continue her explanation of the positive and negative side of lining clothes with Dust.

Corvo was very grateful to the Heiress, she was very knowledgeable about Dust, filling in the ten-year gap from Summer's memories. She accepted his request after a bit of awkwardness after her quick reply. Stumbling for words but years of social training kicked in for her to gain control of herself with little trouble. She invited him to a small dinner were they could talk in peace while getting refreshments. A long the trip Corvo led the conversation for Weiss to talk more about herself. A little trick he picked up early in his service as protector, people of status liked the sound of their own voice. She explained her desire to be a huntress, not pleased with how some planned her future for her. The main reason she was attending Beacon over the school back home was to spread her wings than be trapped in a glass cage.

Corvo had to suppress a laugh. Weiss reminded him so much of his daughter, especially that stubbornness to be her own person. Yet behind it all was a child hoping not to fall as they moved forward. It was a burden few knew or cared.

He had seen the same signs on Emily when she received the title as Empress; she was too young for the proper succession to take place as she was forced to enter the world of politics and leadership. Jessamine tried to protect their daughter as long as possible. Yet, that time was short for Emily. Sadly she was robbed the luxury of her childhood and mother. She barely took hold of her hand before it was ripped away. Besides Corvo, there were few adults that supported her.

Many of the nobles below her rebelled in private, never taking her word or action as anything but that of a child guessing how to be a leader. Each success she earned was ignored, while each failure was put on a pedestal for all to see and judge. It took all of his restraint to not get involved, but he could only protect her from physical threats.

Looking back to Weiss, the girl was reviewing the different quality of Dust. How or why the grade of the mineral changed its price or effectiveness when used. Eyeing the vial in her hand it shown the symbol of the SDC. Corvo did not know much about the Schnee family but the few whispers he heard was of their influence and power with their reach in almost every part of society. Yet some cursed their name while others praised them. It was all too similar a scene for Corvo, while Emily had ties to the throne by blood other children of noble houses carried the weight of the names they were born with. Many of the children were denied to be themselves, the families grooming them to not be disappointments ignoring how this effected the child.

Corvo pushed the thoughts aside as Weiss was now going over the different ways to contain and transport Dust, both crystal and powered forms. Although while showing a red vial seal it looked like it was still loose. But before Corvo could warn her.

~BZZZT~ ~BZZZZT~

The words in Weiss's mouth died as she looked to the scroll on the table. For a moment Corvo could see the debate in her head to answer or ignore it, but with another chime she reached for it. Reading the name she put on a fake smile. "If you could excuse me, but I need to take this. I'll be just a moment."

Corvo smiled back waving for her to take the call. She mouthed a "thank you" than walked away to talk. He could not make out most of it but judging by the tension in her body as the conversation continued it was not a pleasant one. When she turned back to the table she looked more tired, a little defeated. Taking her seat and cup in hand she took a long sip before roughly placing it back on the coaster with a sigh.

"You okay?" Corvo asked hoping to not get involved again. While Weiss reminded him of his daughter, he wanted to keep some distance to not get attached, he already had one girl to look after, two if he were to count Ruby's sister.

She flinched at his voice, forgetting he was there. "Y-yes, everything is fine." She paused to take a breath and force a smile. "It was just my brother, it turns out that he found out what had happened at the shop as was just concerned for my.. safety in the city." Corvo raised an eyebrow at that as the way Weiss had talked to her brother it was anything but concern. "Please, let's ignore that and continue were we left off before we were interrupted."

Corvo looked at the girl, her fake smile pained his heart. Chiding himself as he got involved. "You know Weiss, you reminded me of someone. Full of pride for her name, yet weighted down by it." Weiss cocked her head to the side with a confused look. "She was a girl a few years younger than you. But she was the child of a leader, and being her heir she had a lot of expectations placed on her from birth." Weiss relaxed her body as she gave her attention to the story. "Her parents wanted more for her, but she did not let her name define who she was. She was cleaver, with a thirst for adventure and a little bit cheeky. Her mother was happy to let her be her own person, but… " Weiss waited for him to continue.

Corvo paused looking down that his hands. "But, fate had other plans. Her mother passed away, leaving her child to be the next leader. Still too young a "council" was put in place to help her rule till she was of age. What shocked her most was how people changed when they looked at her. She could no longer be herself, she had to be someone else. People were expecting her to be someone else."

Weiss frowned looking away as his words reminded her of home. Taking a sip of her tea she asked, "How did she coup with the change?"

Corvo smiled, "She didn't."

Weiss chocked on her drink, covering her mouth as she tried to stop coughing to speak again.

He chuckled guess what she wanted to ask. "She refused to be someone she was not. She would follow the example of her mother but not be her. She still took pride in who she was and what she would be. You can uphold a title and a family name without changing who you are."

Weiss stared down at her tea seeing her reflection in the liquid, Corvo watched as she frowned at it. Looking back to him with a spark behind her eyes.

She was about to speak when her scroll called again with the same tone. This time she did not hesitate to pick it up. She smirk as she looked at the screen. "If you excuse me again but I will deal with this annoyance."

With a smile Corvo nod to her, downing the rest of his tea as Weiss walked away. Speaking first and probably cutting her brother off not allowing him to speak. He almost pitied the poor soul as the Heiress gave him an ear full.

Checking the clock on the wall it was quarter past Five. While he was enjoying Weiss's company he had an appointment with a certain theft and info broker. Leaving his tab on the table Corvo wrote a small note about having business to attend too. Wishing her luck, in her choices and a reminded to be herself, hopefully not too much as she might be a bit abrasive to some. He dropped the note in front of Weiss's chair and left.

-Break-

After telling where her brother could stick his nose after he tried to pressure her back to Atlas, Weiss felt a weight leave her chest as she was more confident with the choices she made. Turning back she saw her companion has missing. Getting to the table a few lien were on it, with a note addressed to her. A little sore about the sudden departure she understood he had his own schedule and was glad for the parting words he left reassuring her.

Her scroll chimed, rolling her eyes expecting her brother again. But to her pleasant surprise the face of Klein Sieben came to the screen. It was only a message but she treasured any conversation with her caretaker. More so as he told of how her brother tried to get their farther to take his side after there talk apparently backfired on him. How Whitley insulted the family name wailing to him with his tail between his legs after losing the argument. Weiss felt guilty as Whitley would no doubt take his frustration out on poor Klein but he assured her that it was worth it to put the whelp in his place.

With renewed confidence, Weiss made her way out to the streets. With the sun setting in the sky it washed it light over the prodigious school in the distance. Admiring its beauty she readied herself for her time in Beacon positive that should would be picked to lead a team and guide them to the top of both academics and rank.

Well its been awhile, In case you did not know I made a few edits to the last two chapters so check those out. Writers block was a bitch for this chapter, the tale as old as time were you stare at a word doc for hours when you have the time but only have the ideas flow when you got shit to get done. Or you do write something only to feel like its not good enough or that you should change it. A good art friend of mine has this problem so I used to rag on her about not posting anything and have her call me up to double check her work only for her to start all over again. But as its my turn. She is all to happy to rub it in.

Good news as my collage finals are almost here so more free time with school being over and more anxiety over what I'm gonna do with my life. But to quote my new favorite saying from Friday Knight.

I'll burn that bridge when i get to it.

Big love to those that comment or review. Thank you all for reading!