The Shadow of Fire
Chapter 22: Bonjour Weiss Schnee
Weiss and gang had one goal in mind at the moment: securing the area and locking down all assets.
And that's what Ruby had called it; however it was just a routine trip to the arts and crafts store nearby in the shopping district of Vale. After all, it's hard to do a project when all your poster board was burnt up by fires.
The tension from the Geist incident radiated around the group as they walked around the sidewalks, pushing Ruby along. The team walked in silence, save for Yang who was talking up a storm.
"~And so I said, "Just cause in pretty, doesn't mean that I'm dumb." Then she said-"
"Yang, dear, can we save this for later?" Blake asked quietly, reading a book as they walked along, pushing Ruby with her other, free hand.
"Huh? Oh, sure Blakey." She said simply, kicking a soda can across the ground. "So how much further till we reach the shops?" The busty brawler asked Ruby and Co.
"Well," Weiss began, flicking though her new scroll. "We need to pick up poster board, markers, pens, pencils, paper, post notes, and a few other things." She began, closing the scroll, turning to the group. "We can also pick up milk and groceries while we are here."
"In that case, wouldn't it be best to split into separate groups?" Blake suggested. "I can take Ruby to the art store, you can go get coffee ingredients, and Yang can handle the bulk of the groceries."
"That seems fair. All in favor?" Weiss asked the team.
All hands rose up, Weiss nodding in approval. "Let's all meet here in two hours okay?"
"Got it." Yang said, walking off towards the market place.
"Alright, you stay safe." Blake said, rolling Ruby along.
"Bye Weiss!" Ruby chirped, waving back at the heiress.
Weiss couldn't help but smile and wave back, Ruby may be a complete and utter dolt, but she was her dolt.
Weiss began walking towards the coffee shop, the best one in town that she knew of, ready to purchase her goods and possibly have time for a little bit of shopping for herself, Gods know she deserves it. After regaining her ability to walk without her crutches by connecting Glyphs to her boots, she felt she deserved a reward for her genius.
As Weiss rounded the corner to the shop, she was met with what felt like a running brick wall and 30 pounds of breasts.
Weiss tumbled down to the sidewalk with a thud, rubbing her aching head as she sat on the pavement.
"AH! Je suis désolée!" A woman shrieked out above her, sounding strangely similar to Weiss's own voice.
Expecting to see Yang attempting to prank her and ditch her duties, Weiss was surprised to be met with an exact replica of herself.
Well, exact would be exaggerating.
The woman before Weiss was easily 6'2, Weiss's desired height since she stopped growing taller. The woman also had a very large chest. While not as big as Yang's, the perfect size in Weiss's opinion. They looked great on... well, herself. She also had longer hair, put up in her famous hairstyle, her scar on her eye missing. The strange woman also had Weiss's own outfit on, her famous combat attire.
Weiss blinked.
"Weiss Schnee?" The woman spoke in her odd accent.
Weiss nodded slowly.
The woman clapped her hands together in utter glee, giggling like a maniac.
"Ah! Bonjour! Commont Ça va?" The woman asked with the largest smile on her face.
Weiss raised an eyebrow at the woman, not having a clue as to what she said, or the language that she was speaking in.
"Uh... Yes?"
The woman blinked a few times before coming to understand the situation.
"Ah! You must excuse me. Je... I don't use anglais, English, very often." She said in her thick accent once more. "I mean to say... uh... How are you, mademoiselle?"
Weiss blinked once more.
"Um... Good?"
"Ah! Parfaite!" The woman said, clapping her hands together once more. "Come come, you MUST have tea with me! It will be so much fun!"
And with that, the mysterious woman dragged Weiss down the streets of Vale.
As Blake pushed Ruby along the sidewalks of Vale, passing fellow citizens as they went along with their simple lives, Ruby suddenly tensed up.
"Hey Blake?" The Faunus teen asked, her ears perking up.
"Yes Ruby?" Blake asked, placing a book mark in her book and setting it in her purse.
"Did you hear that laughter?" Ruby asked. "Sounded like Weiss."
"Hm... Yes, I heard it too. But this is Weiss we are talking about." Blake stated, pushing Ruby along. "She never sounds that happy. Must be the wind playing tricks on our minds."
"Eh, you're probably right." Ruby said relaxing back in her wheel chair.
Weiss couldn't even begin to describe how odd this situation was.
Her she was, sitting down for tea with herself, or at least an older version of herself.
The woman took a long sip of her tea, giggling as she set it down and locked eyes with Weiss.
"Something bothering you, mademoiselle?" The woman asked, signaling a waiter to come over.
"Actually, there is one thing." Weiss admitted, choosing her words carefully.
"Oh?" The woman said as the waiter re-filled her cup before walking off. "And what would that be young one?"
"Uh... How do I say this..." Weiss said slowly, biting the inside of her cheek. "Are you an uh, another God?"
"A God?" The woman asked, taking another sip. "Oh no no no, I am not..."
"Oh thank the Gods."
"I am a Déesse, a... Goddess." The woman added, smiling at the girl before her.
Weiss face palmed. "Why are you all so interested in me?" She asked herself out loud.
"Because you amuse us, you are intéressante, interesting to us. Me especially."
"And you are?" Weiss asked.
"Your future, my dear, and your potential." The woman said happily. "I am Aphrodite, Goddess of Love."
"Of love?" Weiss echoed, raising and eyebrow.
"Oui, indeed my dear." Aphrodite chirped happily.
"So, you must be the weakest of the Gods then I assume?"
"EXCUSEZ-MOI?!" Aphrodite screeched at the girl, causing Weiss to jump a little in her chair.
'Uh oh.' The heiress thought. 'This couldn't be good.'
Ruby smiled slightly as her ears flickered around upon her mop of crimson hair, giggling slightly.
"What is it?" Blake asked as they exited the art store, the bags stacked upon Ruby's lap.
"Nothing, just like traveling around Vale, it's so calm." Ruby replied, smiling up at the other Faunus.
Blake couldn't help but smile slightly back at the girl; Ruby was indeed adorable.
"You know something Ruby," Blake began, pushing the girl along. "It's always good to have another Faunus around. Makes me feel... safe, I guess is a word for it." Blake explained down to the wheelchair confined girl.
"Huh?" Ruby sounded, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, it reminds me of my old friends back in the White Fang, before we were called killers. A few pals of mine, we all looked out for one another, so in a city where people judge you by your race, it's nice to have someone to talk to about these things." Blake explained to Ruby, smiling a little as old memories flashed by her eyesight.
Ruby looked forward, smiling as a few kids ran by. "Anytime Blake, you're a good friend, and I'd rather be killed than let you feel uncomfortable around your team." She said with a smile, patting her bags. "Onward to the extraction point Blake!" Ruby chirped out, giggling after.
"Right away, my leader." Blake added on, pushing the girl along.
"Now now... Let's not get hasty." Weiss said softly, scooting back in her chair a tad.
"How DARE you call me weak!" Aphrodite screeched out, her eyes glowing an angry pink color.
"Well... I just meant it in a way of what powers you would have." Weiss said quickly, gulping visibly. "I wouldn't dare question your power."
Aphrodite's eyes looked blank for a moment, the color turning back to the icy blue that Weiss had, her face scrunched in confusion.
"I... What?" Aphrodite asked, blinking a few times, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
The woman's mouth formed an O shape, coming to realization. "Ah, I seem to take after your personality as well as your looks..." She grumbled to herself. "And here I thought you were... gentile all the time... Bof, c'est... in the past now." She spoke to herself, leaving Weiss to her own confusion.
"Are you okay?" Weiss asked, scooting back a little closer.
"Ah, sorry my dear. Things are off in the home of the Gods." She said softy, rubbing her temples. "Mild headaches, happens when you have much on your plate, but nothing as bad as my brothers, he's... a bit crazy as of late."
"Let me guess... Dagonus?" Weiss suggested, a waiter walked over and delivered Weiss a bag of coffee ingredients before walking off.
"You're a clever girl..." The Goddess stated, taking a sip of her tea. "Et tres belle." She said simply, smiling at Weiss.
'Well this is very awkward.' Weiss thought to herself, taking a sip of her own drink.
"Any who, I am guessing that you are wondering why I... Um... What's that word again...?" Aphrodite bit her lip slightly, eyebrows scrunched in thought.
"Brought me here?" Weiss suggested, amazed that even Ruby knew more English than this woman.
"That's it. So, are you?" She asked, head tilted to the side.
Weiss though for a moment, thinking hard. As a Schnee, she was taught to never be wrong, always know the answer, and to know all information.
"Talk about beauty?" Weiss suggested, confident in her answer.
"Nope."
Weiss's eye twitched.
"Excuse me?"
"I said nope." Aphrodite said simply. "You're incorrect."
Weiss was baffled, how could SHE be wrong. Weiss grumbled under her breath, something along the lines of her probably not being far off.
"It's about a little wolf." The woman chirped, followed by mild giggling.
"Ruby?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow. "But then wouldn't you want her here as well?"
"Well than I couldn't have a word with you about anything personal." She said giggling, taking another sip of tea.
"Okay... So what exactly do you want to know?" Weiss asked calmly, Ruby was sort of a hard topic as of late.
"How are you liking my present for you?"
Weiss frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Ruby, of course."
"I... I don't understand." Weiss said slowly, her mind at work, trying to decipher Aphrodite's words.
"I engineered your love Weiss, it's what I do." Aphrodite said simply, as if it wasn't anything important.
"... What are you saying..."
"Your feelings for her are because of my personal interfering. How you just suddenly felt the urge to like her, be nice to Faunus out of your own "free will," and how you constantly put yourself under her, unlike during your first year at Beacon." She rambled on. "Doesn't all that seem sudden... Or odd?"
Weiss looked down at her drink, face blank. Her feelings for Ruby... how could they be false? Was her soul really that easily tricked? Did the Goddess find fun in this? Did Orion know? These thoughts flew through Weiss's mind, refusing to come up with a logical answer.
"It is odd, correct?" She asked once more.
"... Yes..." Weiss said, mouth dry.
"You're mad at me, right?"
Weiss crunched her napkins in her hands, nails tearing into the fabric.
"Why wouldn't I be... you're telling me that my life with Ruby is fake, a dream..."
"And?"
Weiss glared at the woman. "I love her, no matter what you say. Faunus or not, dork or not, she is mine." Weiss growled, shooting bullets into Aphrodite with her icy blue eyes.
"You are wrong. I am in charge of my own destiny, and I love her more than anything, even if you hadn't interfered, I would still love her. Because deep down, she has always been the one for me." Weiss coldly stated, not finished yet. "And I won't be ordered around my love life by some copycat who thinks she's all that and more." Weiss finished, taking a deep breath.
A few moments of complete silence passed, not one sound was heard.
"I see..." Aphrodite said calmly, meeting Weiss's eyes. "I see that Orion was right."
Weiss blinked.
"Huh?"
"You see, he told be about how your love has naturally sprouted better than any one that I could create, so I wanted to see what would happen if I told you that I created a false love for you."
"And?"
"And I've come to realize that you do love her, and regardless of my help, you always will." She said with a small, friendly smile. "Wow, I'm learning to speak english naturally faster than I had anticipated." She added, thinking out loud.
"So it was a trick?" Weiss asked nervously. After all, she had just yelled at a omnipotent being.
"Love is deceptive. Once you realize that, you are invincible." Aphrodite explained calmly, smiling a little wider. "No hard feelings?"
"I... I don't know..." Weiss trailed off, not sure what to say. This day has been too much to handle.
"Here." Aphrodite said, pressing diamond ring into Weiss's hands. "A gift. If you ever need the power of love by your side, tap it three times, I'll be right over."
"Wow... I... Thank you." Weiss said, baffled. How was it that she was so popular among the Gods?
"No problem." She said with a giggle. "Have fun with your Faunus, while you can..." She said as she placed a few Lein bills on the table and went to leave.
"Wait!" Weiss called out, stumbling out of her seat. "What do you mean?"
Aphrodite turned and grinned. "I'm sure Yang will let you know about something important soon. After it is handled, I promise a few months of free time." She said chuckling to herself as if it were a private joke. "That's all I can promise. I foresee that you will do great things, Weiss. Just remember one thing: Love conquers all."
And with that, the Goddess left Weiss baffled and alone, many thoughts clouding her mind.
Meanwhile
Yang whistled to herself as she carried her bag of groceries, on her way to the local liquor store. After all, Yang loves to party, and alcohol makes it even more fun. For her at least, not for anyone else.
Yang suddenly stumbled over something solid, nearly falling over in the process. As she turned to yell at the piece of trash that she had assumed she had stepped on, her words were caught in her throat.
A body of a man laid before her, dead as dead can be.
Yang looked around the area and found the remains of a fight, bodies and broken glass everywhere.
The teen quickly picked her scroll from her purse and dialed Blake's number.
"Hey, find Weiss..." She said, plucking up a pair of black sunglasses.
Orion's, and they were broken.
"We've got a problem."
A/N: Hey guys… I've got some bad news. My uncle passed away recently and I will be very busy with that, so I will not be sure the next time that I can update. Maybe tomorrow, maybe a week. I'm not sure… just enjoy this; at least you all can be happy. See you all soon.