Weiss Schnee

Ruby was in bed, her soft breathing indicating that she was asleep.

"Good... she needs her rest after today..."

Everything had taken a turn after the training... even the weather outside seemed to reflect that. The storm raged like it was trying to break into the castle, it was already night so it would have been hard enough to see... but the rain was so thick you couldn't see more then a few metres in front of you out there.

There room was quiet besides the sound of the wind and droplets of water trying to break there way in through the windows and balcony door.

Weiss sighed as she stared at the top of the bed above them... she hadnt brushed her hair or even washed up before bed...

That was fine right? She could go one night without it-

"Eirwen probably never did."

She carefully got out of bed with a sigh. She was still jealous.

"First I was jealous of Penny... a girl that as far as I'm aware isn't attracted to anyone... and now I'm jealous of Eirwen Schnee... my most likely very dead ancestor."

She glanced at Ruby's sleeping figure as she stood, the girl was sleeping peacefully... unaware of the world anymore.

She hadnt calmed down since the training earlier... her little nap apparently being her worst dream so far... but not because of its subject matter. Ruby was convinced that she was playing Rory in his memories rather then just experiencing them now... and it was freaking her out.

It was freaking Weiss out too.

If Ruby actually was Rory in these memories... it meant they could do more damage then Weiss thought. The difference between acting out a memory because you're remembering it, and acting out a memory because you're there...

"I'll be back in a little bit..." She whispered the words to her sleeping wife, and quietly moved to the bathroom.

For now... she could deal with her own weird mental problems... If only Ruby's were as simple as a little jealously... or not being able to sleep without brushing her hair...

She went through it quickly, a process she had been through a thousand times, she was out of the bathroom in only ten minutes. Next was her hair, her brush was at her desk in there room but she wouldn't have to worry about turning the lights on.

The whole having night vision thing was pretty helpful... all her senses were stronger now. Sight, smell, hearing.

She was humming a soft tune as she brushed her hair, one her buttler had sung to her all the time growing up... it wasnt like her mother was there to sing for her or brush her hair...

"I should really call Klein..."

Changing her train of thought, she focused on Ruby again.

Or rather, her dreams. Those memories... Rory.

She had frankly moved past asking why this was happening... she was curious about other things at the moment.

"The stories Ruby told me about her memories... how Rory acts... his relationship with Eirwen..."

The first Rose Dragon was meant to hate Dragons... and probably Schnee's too. It didnt add up... at least... not yet.

What happened to him to change him into the creature that slaughtered her family...? Why did he make the Dragon Slayer...?

She couldn't help but feel bad for him... she could guess as things were that something bad was going to happen to change him drastically... and... Ruby was going to have to experience that.

"...Rory... what happened to you...?" Her words were barely a whisper.

She sighed as she continued, focusing instead on brushing her hair. This could wait till tommorow... she needed to rest as well.

She put the brush down as she finished and stood, turning to move to the bed-

A figure stood by there bedside table, and the bed was now empty, it took a second for Weiss to calm down at the sudden surprise.

"Ruby? Did I wake you?"

Ruby Schnee

"Eirwen, are you absolutely sure about-"

"I'm home!!" Apparently she was.

Eirwen's voice rung throughout the... empty foyer. Huh... Rory had expected there to be someone waiting for them...

"Wait..."

"Eirwen... they do know we're coming right...?" He turned to her slowly and the guilt that spread across her face was enough for him to gleam his answer. "Great..."

"I'm sure it'll be-"

"My lady, you're home-!" A man with pure white hair and light blue eyes stepped into the foyer, his words stopped as he saw Rory. His eyes flicked between them and he quickly adjusted himself to stand proud. "You have a... guest?"

"Subtle..."

The man was dressed in clothing that could only be described as expensive. So expensive that Rory had to question if the man ever just walked around in solid gold.

Rory's own suit looked poor compared to the mans own pure white one.

Rory almost sighed... but his manners demanded he at least try and see this through without insulting anyone.

"Regi! Where's little Nicholas?" Eirwen greeted the man with a smile, speaking to him like it was an incredibly casual situation...

"Regi... Reginald Schnee..."

The King of Atlas...

"Oh... fuck."

The mans expression faltered a little as he sighed.

"I wish you'd view any of my other children with such happiness..."

"When they all stop being little shits, I'll start liking them." She huffed and crossed her arms.

Rory glanced between them... this was the king right...? Was he supposed to be bowing...?

"So, who is this-" His words were interrupted by Eirwens sudden jolt... did she forget Rory was here?

"Oh! This is Rory Rose-" She wrapped her arm around his with a smile. "My partner." Rory wanted to groan with discomfort...

"Your... partner... like a... lab partner...?" The kings hopes were just that...

"I apologise for you not being informed, your grace." Rory bowed his head a little and Eirwen smacked his arm playfully... playfully as in it hurt a little but didn't send him flying.

"You don't need to speak like that Rory."

"It's... fine... Mr Rose." The King was... uncomfortable with this situation.

Rory could understand... after all, his daughter had shown up with-

"Wait... who is Eirwen in the Schnee family..?"

He had assumed princess... but... judging from the kings reaction so far...

"My lady!" A flood of snow moved into the room and formed into a person sporting the signature Schnee features. "You've returned-! Who's this?"

Rory sighed...

"This is gonna be a long night..."

Not all Schnee's stayed at the castle.

Currently, the keep housed 7 Schnee's.

The King, his wife, his three children, his brother, and his grandmother. Not counting Eirwen.

Which lead into another problem... as he was introduced to every Schnee... they all addressed Eirwen in the same way.

"My lady... my lady... my lady..."

Who is she...? Why had this never come up before? Did she keep this from him on purpose?

They sat in the dining room now... well, one of them. The long hall featured a table that could probably hold fifty people, and of course everything was painted either light blue, white, or made of a lovely dark wood.

Schnee's really are consistent with there colour palate.

The King sat at the head of the table, the Queen was next to him down one side, and there children were next, with his grandmother last at that side.

Eirwen was sitting at the kings other side, with Rory next to her.

"So, Mr Rose. What do you do?" Funnily enough the King himself was the one addressing him with the most kindness... the others?

"Probably shovels horse cra-" A smack rung through the room as the Queen slapped her son, Charles Schnee.

"That is no way to treat Lady Eirwen's guest!" Her voice was prim and proper... only mostly dripping with posh. Elizabeth seemed quite uptight...

"No matter how simple he looks." A comment from there daughter, Violet Schnee... so named for her Purple eyes... she was the only one with a different Affinity from the rest of them.

"Can we all allow our guest to speak?" The King didn't register his daughters comment... neither did his wife.

Still, the stage was set now for Rory to talk... so...

"I'm a student at the academy for now. I hope to construct magic items in the future." A simple answer.

"Oh, he's quite the young one."

"Speak for yourself!!"

The apparent matriarch of the Schnee's as far as Rory could tell... Gwenllian Schnee... The kings Grandmother... that looked younger then the Queen... not by much but... still noticeable.

All of them looked around the same age baring the Queen and Nicholas... the kings youngest son and the only human in the room baring Rory, of course, the young boy was likely less then half Rory's age.

The Queen had married into the family, she had become a Dragon at around thirty years old... the rest of them looked much closer to twenty.

"If the Queen is a Dragon now... how is Nicholas a human..?"

"I have to agree... how old are you?" The Queen raised an eyebrow and Rory tried his best to smile.

"I'm twenty-two, your Grace." His smile wavered as everyone else at the table reacted.

"Should we remove the wine from your reach or-" The King appeared nervous as he spoke.

"Rory is human." Eirwen had spoken up for the first time since they sat. She had been too busy devouring her meal... it was definitely better then the food at the campus.

"I see." The King nodded and continued eating like it didn't matter... Rory had to fight to keep his view away from the eldest prince... the man was glaring him down.

"Human huh."

"Yeah he dosent like me."

"Charles-"

"No, Mother. Is it not most likely that this Human is simply trying to become a Dragon!?"

"Pretty sure your mother did that buddy..."

"Probably more likely wants our money..." Violet seemed to be a rather soft spoken individual.

"Enough. I trust that Lady Eirwen is more then capable of judging her partner on her own." The King hadn't moved his sight from his plate... was steak really that interesting?

Rory wanted so badly to ask about the human prince... he was way too curious...

"But that would be incredibly rude..."

Still, he was smart. Surely he could figure it out.

He worked on it in his head while answering some more questions.

What did his family do? Pretty boring... they just made magic clothes.

Did he have any siblings? Sure, his older brother had just gotten married as well... they were actually thinking of moving to a small island near Vale.

He started to zone it out, answering automatically as he thought at the problem.

The King was a Dragon... the Queen had to have been a Dragon when this prince was born... so... logically, one of them must not actually be the prince's parent-

"Ohhhh..."

Yikes.

And he was a proper prince too...? Where was his real mother? There's no way the King would allow him to be here if the Queen had made the blunder...

"Is there anything you wish to know, Mr Rose?" Gwen spoke with a... well, he didn't want to call it a sultry voice... but, it was probably what she was attempting.

"I... actually... I'm not sure how Eirwen is exactly... related to the Schnee family." May aswell just ask while he was curious.

"You... don't know-?" Gwen was interrupted as Eirwen stood. The girl let out a sigh and leaned her head back, eyeing the rest of the people at the table.

"I need to speak with Rory. Everyone out." She pointed to the doorway... as if they didn't know how to find it.

They probably could have just... gone out to the balcony or something to chat... Eirwen didn't have to command so many members of the Schnee family to leave the room... including the King...!

But the weirdest part... was they all stood one by one, and left without a word of complaint.

Rory watched with an equal amount of both confusion and worry as they all left... Eirwen was still standing and he couldn't see her face. She only dropped her hand back to her side after the door closed behind the last of them.

She let out a gentle sigh and turned to him with a soft smile.

"So... you wanna know who I am?"

"I... no." The confusion that spread over her face was enough to make him smile. "I know who you are Eirwen... I want to know what your hiding from me."

She nodded and sat once more, turning her chair to face him.

"That's fair I suppose..." She mulled over her thoughts for a moment... then nodded. "Ok... here goes... Reginald Schnee is my descendant." He blinked. Sure he had figured that she was probably older then Gwen by how they were acting but... descendant implied- "I'm over two thousand years old."

"Oh... Well... you look great." She smiled gently at that... he couldn't join in.

She was a Dragon... she lived forever... he knew that... so it shouldn't bother him... it shouldn't..!

"Then... why does it..."

"How much older then that exaclty...?"

She shook her head.

"I don't actually know... I was born before the Erasure Ritual. My memories of before that are hazy at best..." That made sense...

No one can recall why exactly... two thousand years ago, many great Wizards banded together... and wiped history. They performed a great Ritual and used as much magic as they could muster to burn away all history, memories, and knowledge of the time before that moment.

Only a few things had been kept from that time... certain people who had been alive before then had kept certain memories... the fact of the Schnee's discovering the Dragon Formula had survived... and of course... the four great Relics.

"I only have a few vivid memories... I was one of the people involved in casting the ritual to erase history... and..." She looked away. "I was one of the first Dragons. My older sister... she found the Formula."

"...I see."

"I know its a lot to take in-"

He raised his hand.

"Eirwen I... I'm confused about a lot of things... a lot of things... but only one thing matters to me right now." She tilted her head. "Do you actually care about me...? Having been alive for this long... surely you've had plenty of-"

She interrupted his words with a gentle kiss... it hadn't been there first, hell they'd done way more then kiss but... this one felt special.

She pulled away with a gentle smile.

"I've been with one person before you, and that was before the erasure. The only things i can remember about him are the fact that it was an arranged marriage, and I hated him." She was being very blunt about this... "That's why I didn't let him become a Dragon... I knew... eventually... I'd find someone worth loving."

Rory felt his throat dry... but he had to say the words... he had to ask.

"And... am... am I...-?"

She rested her forehead on his and closed her eyes with another smile.

"You are. And you were worth the wait."

"I didn't know I'd love in my life Eirwen... you were a surprise... but..."

He hugged her tightly.

"I'll never let you go. You don't have to wait anymore."

Silver eyes slowly opened... this time... with tears.

Her eyes... no... that didn't feel right... his eyes..? Not right either...

Their eyes were filled with tears.

That memory had been too much... but why was it so painful to recall...?

They had two sets of memories burning into their head... one of them had caused them this pain... the other... the other felt... right maybe...?

They weren't sure... they needed an answer-

"...Rory... what happened to you...?" Her words were barely a whisper. Distant somewhere else in the room.

"Was that... Eirwen from his memories... or Weiss from hers...?"

Well... it didn't matter which voice it was...

After all, she had said a name.

That was the answer they needed.

No...

Rory Rose

That was the answer he needed.