"It's been a long time. How have you been?" – GLADOS, Portal 2

Here's Chapter 17 of RWBY: Necrophobia. Enjoy.

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Ruby glanced at the time on her scroll. She'd been checking it again and again as team RWBY sat on a bench near one of the Bullhead docking bays.

"Ruby, if you check the clock every five seconds, you're going to keep seeing that only five seconds have passed." Yang said, resting her elbow on the bench's armrest.

"I know that." Ruby responded. "But they should have been back by now…"

"Ruby," Blake said, raising an eyebrow. "did Glynda give you a time, or did you just guess when they would arrive?

"Uhh…She didn't actually say…" Ruby answered. There was silence as Ruby looked to her left and her right. On either side of her, her teammates were staring at her. Blushing with embarrassment, Ruby flipped her hood over her head, covering her face.

A minute later, Ruby felt someone shaking her shoulder. She pulled her hood back to see Yang pointing at an incoming Bullhead. The ship was beginning its decent onto the landing platform. Blake was already moving to the platform, her eyes never leaving the ship. Ruby sprinted over, leaving her sister to wave a cloud of rose petals out of her face.

The Bullhead's engines kicked dust off the platform as the ship began to land. Ruby held her arm over her eyes, trying to keep the rushing air from blinding her. As the landing gear deployed, the ship's doors began to slide open. As the other two caught up with her, Ruby squeed as she saw her partner's signature white hair become visible. As the Bullhead finally touched down, all of team RWBY could finally see their long absent teammate.

Weiss was sitting silently, hands in her lap, eyes looking down. She was dressed in her usual attire. As the doors opened, Weiss kept her face forward. When she heard Ruby, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She slowly exhaled, then turned to look at her team. She gave a small, clearly forced smile.

As the Bullhead's landing ramp extended downward*, Weiss slowly stood up, giving her team a small, awkward wave. She started descending down the ramp, and it was quickly made apparent that she was not alone. Weiss was walking off the ramp and towards the girls with Glynda and-

"Miss Altheda?" Blake heard Ruby ask the psychiatrist, whom had stepped off the Bullhead ramp with their teammate and teacher. "What are you doing here?"


"So, you want me to help with her treatment?" Blake's confusion was apparent in both her tone and her expression. Team RWBY and company were currently in Glynda's office, seated around a large table. "I-I'm sorry, but I don't know the first thing about psychology. I don't see how I could help-"

"Her reaction to you was unprecedented. And an undeniable positive." Altheda explained, leaning forward in her chair. "Needless to say, I'm keen to see if we can keep such results consistent."

Weiss mainly kept her head down, occasionally looking up at her teammates, but she would quickly move her eyes to her hands in her lap. Her face was tinged red with Blake assumed to be embarrassment, and the heiress hadn't spoken a word yet.

But at least that…That look in her eyes was absent. She still wasn't the Weiss Schnee they all knew and loved…but she seemed much closer to herself than when they'd last seen her. And no half-crazed ramblings under her breath had to be at least some progress, right?

Ruby raised her hand. Blake heard Glynda give a small chuckle under her breath before their professor spoke. "Yes Miss Rose?"

"So…" Ruby began, sounding nervous. "If Weiss is now partnered with Blake, are we still team RWBY? Or…are we all going to be moved to other-"

"Weiss is still your partner and teammate Ruby." Glynda clarified. "Do not misunderstand, team RWBY is not being disbanded; rather, some temporary accommodations are being made for the present circumstances. This includes a slight shuffling of active partnerships."

"So it looks like it's just gonna be you and me for a bit sis!" Yang cheered in an attempt to lighten the mood, pulling her sister into a side hug.

"Not quite Miss Long."

"And now I'm confused too."

"During your careers as huntresses, there will invariably be times where you will have to split from your team and work with those you are unfamiliar with." Glynda elaborated. "And given the rather unusual circumstances we've found ourselves in, I believe that this would be a good time for your team to learn this lesson. I've arranged for some of your upperclassmen to act as your temporary partners for the time being. They will come to your dorm later today."

"And…" All eyes turned towards the heiress. She shuffled awkwardly in her chair, making brief eye contact with Glynda before adverting her gaze towards the floor once more. "Are they…going to know…"

"They've been told that you're switching partners, but I have not told them about the reasons why." Glynda assured Weiss. "Since they will be primarily with Ruby and Yang, I doubt you will have much interaction with them. But with that said, you are free to tell them at your discretion Weiss."

A small but fading smile appeared on the heiress's face as she gave a silent thanks to their professor. Her eyes finally staying off the ground, for the first time since the conversation began.

"Though, I suspect that we best address the elephant in the room." Glynda redirected her attention to the psychiatrist. "What about practicing with her weapon? It is a vital part of her training, after all."

And once again, Weiss looked away from the room's occupants, eyes gliding along the floor. Her face was back to tinging red.

"…I'd prefer not at all, but that's not really practical at a Huntsman Academy, now is it?" Altheda thought for a moment, before letting out a sigh. "Definitely not for the first few days, while we try and see if Miss Belladonna has a positive impact on her recovery. After that… As long as she's under strict supervision any time she has her weapon in hand. And her weapon does not leave the training ground."

"And mission deployments?"

"Not happening." Altheda's response was as quick as it was firm. "No time soon at the very least."

Blake noticed as Weiss gave a small nod at the statement, though she wasn't sure if her traumatized teammate was agreeing with the idea, or had merely signaled that she'd already resigned herself to the notion. Either way, Blake could help but frown at Weiss's situation. Her attention was drawn back to the doctor as she handed Blake a small notebook.

"Please keep a daily log of any of her notable symptoms." The psychiatrist then turned towards her patient. "And please, do not hesitate to inform her of any symptomatic thoughts or compulsions that you may have. We need to know what's going on in your head as best we can." Altheda stared at Weiss for a moment, as the girl had raised her gaze off the floor to meet the mental worker.

Weiss gave a small, "Yes Ma'am." She then stood up, and began to walk towards the exit. She turned back towards her team, and gave a very small, yet warm smile. "Are you three coming?"

Blake nodded in unison with Yang and Ruby, the latter of the three likely having to restrain her own smile at finally having her friend back home. Weiss pressed the call button as they all walked over to the sliding doors. And then Team RWBY, finally reunited, stepped into the elevator.


Altheda waited until the girls' elevator had likely gone down several floors before she spoke again.

"Thank you for agreeing to go along with this Miss Goodwitch."

"You're welcome. Though I must admit, Miss Belladonna isn't alone in wondering if this will truly be helpful for Miss Schnee."

Altheda threw her hands up in the air. "Honestly, this is more a shot in the dark than anything else. Just, hoping that whatever it is about that girl that snapped Weiss back to her senses keeps happening. We still don't know how she came to her senses all those years ago, or what it is about Belladonna that brought her back to her senses so quickly this time. But at the very least, we know she was involved in it somehow."

"I can't imagine this is how you expected to meet your old ward again."

"To brutally honest, I had been hoping that Weiss and I would never see each other again." Altheda sighed. "But I guess neither of us would be that fortunate."

"That seems like a harsh way to think about one of your patients."

"Well, she has tried to kill me in the past, so it's not the best bond between us." Altheda moved a hand to rub her shoulder. "I don't hold it against her personally, she was out of her mind, but…It leaves an impression on a person." Altheda gave a dark chuckle. "Literally in this case, small scar on my collar bone where she stabbed me when she was ten, I think."

"And you still think that having her return to Beacon is in everyone's best interests?" Glynda questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Quite frankly, if what I've read about the Schnee family semblance has any merit to it, I think the safest thing for all of us is that she's here. Your students are training to become huntsman, I assume with active auras and basic combat experience. That's more than we have back at the asylum."

"…I'm afraid I must request you clarify that statement." Glynda stated. Altheda remained silent for a moment.

"Can I just be blunt?" Glynda nodded and the psychiatrist let out a weary sigh. "If she were to attempt to attack someone, I'd rather she'd be surrounded by those who can adequately protect themselves."

"You didn't seem to have this mindset when we first talked." Glynda observed, thinking back to when she'd given the asylum a rather agitated late night call, demanding to know why they had her student, and why they'd taken the huntress-in-training without any form of notice to her.

"That was before I found out she had an active semblance. Do you remember what her answer was when I asked her about her reaction to Belladonna the other day? Weiss claimed no memory of using her semblance while in that state, so I have to presume that it's something that she might be capable of using in future episodes. And quite frankly, I don't think that's something we're equipped to handle."

"Your facility is one of the best in the world."

"Yeah? Well, it's a shockingly small world." Altheda snapped back angrily. She took a breath, calming herself before continuing. "My apologies, that was uncalled for. I'm just…when you work in a field like mine, you start to get a sense of how boxed in mankind is on its own planet."

"You don't think a Huntress ever comes to realize the same?"

"I think a Huntress forgets that not everyone can walk outside their kingdom's walls and ensure their own survival. And if Weiss is equipped in such as way, and none of the Asylum staff are-"

Glynda raised her palm towards Altheda as she cut off the psychiatrist. "I think I get your point now. Both of them. Though, I still feel the need to ask, if Miss Schnee can be considered so dangerous, is there not another facility she could be sent to?"

Altheda let out a weary sigh. "Unfortunately not. Because you were right; The Vale Psychiatric Asylum is the best in the world. Though as much as I would like to say it's because of our quality of care, there's not much competition for that title. As far as I know, Mistral's competent enough with low-risk patients, even at higher volumes, but Weiss certainly isn't in that category. Vacuo doesn't even have mental health facilities, and ironically, they have the lowest number of mental cases out of all the kingdoms, which has never made any sense to me. And I don't even know what the deal is with whatever they have at Atlas, but given what happened last time, I can only guess their either underequipped, or bloody incompetent."

"Last time?" Glynda raised an eyebrow.

"Early on, her father wanted her closer to home, so we shipped her off to a facility in Atlas. Few months later, that facility sent her back to us, just as bad as when she was first brought to our doorstep. And all of this was still before she found her semblance."

"Miss Schnee can't be the only…" Glynda paused as she tried to find the word. "volatile patient whose semblance has been unlocked."

"Yeah, well, that's the thing about her family; Prior to Dust mining, having a hereditary semblance what the Schnee family was known for. As such, theirs is one of the only semblances that actually has public records about what it does." Altheda explained. "And after some through research into it, I have to say, the family semblance is freaking absurd! Borderline magic, there's so many applications and uses."

The doctor walked over to the window of Glynda's office, not really looking at anything as she gazed out of it.

"Those glyphs are like a Swiss army knife: physical platforms, force redirection, Dust manipulation, fu-freaking time manipulation!" Altheda panted heavily for a moment, took a deep breath. She resumed speaking, although at a notably slower and less frantic pace. "And the one ability that unsettled me the most to learn of was 'Construct Creation'; not its official title, but there's not much publicly listed for that one."

"I believe I may be familiar with the ability you're referring to…" Glynda thought for a moment. "I believe Winter Schnee referred to it as 'Summoning'; there was something about only being able to draw upon prior foes one has bested, but I never did look into the specifics of her semblance."

Glynda noticed the psychologist visibly relax as Altheda asked her next question. "You've met her sister?"

"In passing, once or twice. Though I have seen her use the ability in question."

"And is there some sort of process or prerequisite needed to add these 'foes' to her Construct Summoning?" Glynda noticed a hint of urgency in Altheda's tone.

"I don't believe so no." Glynda answered. "But I cannot say so with certainty. If knowledge of her semblance and capabilities is vital, I would suggest getting in contact with Winter Schnee."

"Yeah," Altheda let out a heavy breath. "Yeah. Definitely putting that on the itinerary. Definitely need to know how it works, prerequisites for using it. Hope there's a lot."

"If I may inquire," Glynda began, while also pulling out her scroll to forward the Atlas Operative's information to Altheda. "Why do you seem so hung up on her Summoning ability? To my knowledge, she has yet to be able to perform technique at all, but you seem very concerned about the mere possibility of it."

Altheda stared at Glynda, with a hint of either bemusement or disbelief in her eyes. "…Is that a joke? I did show you her old crayon drawings from when she was in our care during her adolescence, right? The ones of people with too many or too few limbs, with anatomically correct organs dangling out of open chest cavities, right?"

"You did." Glynda stated, suppressing a shutter. It had not been the most pleasant way to learn that Schnee had a natural talent for artistic detail.

"I've been disturbed at the things she drew and thinks she saw when her age was still in the single digits." Altheda elaborated. "So please forgive me, if I seem overly concerned by the notion that she may be able to physically manifest those nightmares that haunt her dreams."

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*That airship is where I got writers block so long ago; I could not figure out how to word that ship landing. Then stuff came up, then went to college for a few years, graduated, got a job, and still had this story sitting in the back of my mind the entire time.

For those of you just joining us, (first off, welcome to the story, nice to have you here) the last time I updated this story was 11/11/16, and its 2023 now. And if any of you recall, I mentioned back in chapter 2 that I had a rough story outline. I have not updated that outline since then, but I never actually got to the end of that outline either; just a severe case of writer's block. But season nine of RWBY and the Dead Space Remake helped to renew my passion for both. (I want to at least reach that point in my outline and then see where I want to go with this story. Still no ending in mind, but I do have several "arcs" I'm mulling over in my head.)

I'm also considering/planning on a Madoka Magica and Dead Space crossover similar to this story if (I ever get around to it and if) anyone here would be interested. Just my usual of taking the Marker, throwing it into another story, and watching the pandemonium slowly unfold.

Well, as I quoted at the start, it's been a long time, so please fav, follow, and/or leave a review to let me know what you thought (or if my writing has changed in a notable way). If you already have: Thank you!