Weiss Schnee
"-So, while... yes, the child does serve as a-" On the one hand, Weiss had certainly been to more difficult to navigate meetings... any and all interactions with her father came to mind. But on the other? This was way too boring. The Queen had spent years getting practice and learning how to navigate a conversation with dignity and absolute control... these cousins of Jaune's clearly weren't in the same league as her.
All of their arguments circled back and constantly tried to reiterate the fact that Neo wasnt an acceptable heir... yet they were unable to actually provide any good points as to why that was the case.
"-We must have a strong and proud leader to our great family-"
"And who would be stronger then a Dragon?" Her question was accompanied by a raised eyebrow, and her commandment of the room had everyone else quiet while she spoke. "Not to mention one raised and trained by Lady Nikos." Technically Pyrrha and Jaune werent married yet so she wasn't a Lady, but no one would question using 'lord' or 'lady' to address a Harbinger. "Besides, Lady Saphron already has a son. His line will be more then capable of passing on the power of the Hero... unless you believe he will be unable to awaken?" Jaune had been the first boy in the main line for a long time... but his birth had seemingly broken that curse, if his nephew was anything to go off of.
That question made Saphron eyedown that particular individual, and now that he had pressure from both sides he backed down and looked as defeated as he needed to be. Weiss mentally marked that down as a tally... so far she had defeated seven of them like this with just her words alone. Not that any of them were actually stupid enough to challenge her to a fight... well, a physical one anyway.
"I believe we can all come to an understanding-" Another one spoke up, this man didn't even seem to have the Hero's blood, instead having married into the family. It only took Weiss ten minutes to make him give up, the quickest time so far.
"Does anyone else wish to discuss?" A challenge no one dared rise to anymore, and she gave them a good few minutes to think about it before continuing. "Then I shall reiterate. Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos shall be wed and adopt the child, per my command." Without another word, she stood and took her leave, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.
"Bunch of vultures... though, still nowhere near as bad as Schnees..."
Weiss was back at the castle sooner then she realised, the trip not exaclty being a long one. The Arc home was in the noble district, but it was certainly on the richer side of things, in truth, there was a good chance that most of the members of the family individually had more money then Yang and Blake. Jaune was now properly set to inherit the vast majority of the family's wealth, and in becoming a Lord, Weiss would have to start thinking up a role that she could give him to keep his loyalty.
"Though... Ruby has probably secured their loyalty pretty well with that child."
A soft smirk spread across her face as she entered the castle. Weiss knew exaclty what parenthood did to someone, and those two in particular? She had no doubt that they'd take to it just as well as Ruby did, if not better.
"Dammit!" She stopped just in front of the door to the training room, a yell of frustration coming from inside and belonging to a voice she recognised well.
"Argus?" Her voice was calm and comforting as she stepped in, getting a good idea of the situation just from what she saw. Her son was surrounded by piles upon piles of Dust, most of it being Ice, though there were a few Fire crystals as well... She flagged down a passing maid and asked them to fetch someone to move all of the spare Dust to storage. "You ok?" Her voice remained tender as she approached the boy, a guard or two entering after her with a wheelbarrow.
"Yeah... just..." His voice trailed off and gave way to groans of frustration. The boy sat cross-legged in the middle of all the Dust, his hands clasped together and his face tightened in concentration. "I can't... do it..."
Sitting next to her son, Weiss racked her brain for a moment to try and figure out exaclty what 'it' was... her best guess...? "Are you trying to make different kinds of Dust?"
"No... well... yes...?" Shaking hands finally dropped and he let out a sigh as he stopped concentrating. "Fire Dust... it's... it's so slow..."
"What do you mean?"
"Well..." He casually held one hand up, a decently sized crystal of Ice Dust forming in his palm over the course of ten seconds. "That's really fast... but..." Both hands clasped together again, and the Prince focused once again. Weiss waited patiently, not saying anything or pressuring him at all over the course of ten minutes, in which a Fire Dust crystal formed of the same size as the previous Ice crystal. "See...?"
"Well..." A hand rested on her chin as she tried to think it through... in truth, Ruby would probably have a better idea then she would. "You do have an Affinity for Ice magic... perhaps you just need more practice to increase your speed for other kinds?" She gave a patient and gentle smile, but her idea didn't spark the hope she wanted it to.
"Yay... more practice..." Weiss didn't need to be a genius to detect that much sarcasm, and he seemed to realise that immediately. "I... I don't really... want... to-"
He was interrupted immediately, her arms wrapping around the boy and pulling him into a tight hug. "Then you don't have to. Argus... if you don't want to be a fighter, or even a Wizard... then you don't have to. You're powerful, but if you have no wish to use it, then that's your choice."
"Are... are you sure...?" She didn't hesitate in nodding. "I just... this is special... right...?"
"Argus. Trust me, you're not the only member of this family that dosent use their power." Weiss herself could easily match Yang in power if she actually put in the effort to get a better summon... and Ruby? Well, she hadn't even made a proper weapon yet. One she didn't consider a failure anyway.
"Ok..." He wasn't totally convinced yet... but that was something she was going to work on.
"Now, we need to go see if you have some suitable clothes for the wedding."
"Wedding??"
"Yep. Pyrrha and Jaune."
"Ohhhhh... about time."
Weiss had been here before. Twice in fact... and both times as the bride to be. One of said times with the same groom as today... Probably something she should refrain from mentioning.
"Oh who am I kidding... Yang will mention it anyway..."
A sigh escaped her lips, which managed to turn all eyes in the room onto her. After a brief stammer, she managed to deflect the accusations and everyone's attention turned back to the bride. Pyrrha looked lovely today, her dress the classic white for the occasion, and her hair down with some beautiful braids... honestly, Weiss found herself growing jealous of the woman's body yet again.
"Though... I suppose Ruby never complains about my body... quite the opposite infact."
She sat with those thoughts for a moment, and layed out some adult plans for her wife once she was alone with her. Weiss managed to avoid drooling while thinking about that, but her attention was soon stolen by some small complaints coming from Yang's arms.
"C'mon... calm down... why are you so much more fussy then my kids were??" The blonde beauty looked incredibly uncomfortable with the baby in her arms... though, Neo actually looked more uncomfortable then she did.
"I would've thought that you'd be great with kids." Weiss leaned over and smirked, she loved taking every opportunity possible to tease Yang in return for all the teasing she recieved from the blonde.
"I am great with kids..." She averted her eyes. "...Just not too great with kids that have stabbed me through the heart..."
"...Yang-"
"Neo? You ok?" Yang didn't argue or struggle for a second as Pyrrha took the baby. Even all done up for her wedding day, she still handled her new child like a pro.
"It's only been a few weeks..."
Weiss found herself yet again growing jealous of her.
"I think she's hungry..." The mother and child stepped away, moving over to one of the tables that would hopefully have something for the apparently hungry baby. Meanwhile, Weiss shuffled closer to Yang.
"You ok?"
"Yeah... I'm-" Her voice hitched, hesitation stopping her... until she sighed. "I will be... I just need a minute."
"Maybe her holding Neo isn't a great idea..."
"Oh! I think it's time." Pyrrha sounded excited, her voice a bit higher then it usually went. "Yang, could you take Neo?"
"I'll hold her." Weiss cut in and took the baby before Yang had a chance, and luckily the blonde didn't fight her on that.
"Well... its time for a wedding."
The ceremony was beautiful, but overall Weiss felt it pass by without a hint of hesitation or time to stop and think. Pyrrha and Jaune had practically thrown themselves at eachother the first chance they got, and she doubted any wedding had ever ended faster. Afterwards, at the reception, the party was wonderful and only a little chaotic. Argus and Jasper were playing somewhere while some of the older kids tried their best to steal some of the cake. Blake was doing her best to make sure Yang didn't lose her clothes after drinking too much, and the royal couple?
Weiss was relaxing, sitting calmly at one of the tables with the love of her life next to her. They sat at a ninty degree angle to eachother, though Weiss's eyes were constantly looking at Ruby.
"Hey, Weiss?"
She would never get tired of hearing Ruby's voice say her name. "Yes?"
"Have you... felt the last few years?"
"What do you mean?"
"I dunno... I guess... Life has felt so fast lately. Like it's all just breezing past."
"That isn't a bad thing." Her hand moved over and gently rested on Ruby's own. "If we're happy... at peace... content... then of course it'll feel like time passes by in a blink."
"Yeah but... it's... more then that, right?"
"Maybe... I don't really think about it much-"
"Oh, Ozpin! I didn't know you were coming." Ruby's eyes flicked past Weiss, so the Queen followed her wifes gaze and settled her vision on the... old man. He really had changed a lot in such a short period of time.
"I wasn't going to... but, I have news I must share with her Majesty." He leaned down, and Weiss tilted her head to allow him to whisper easier. "We recieved a declaration from Vacuo... they have declared war on Vale."
She blinked. There was an odd feeling welling up inside of her, one she hadn't felt in a long time. A rush, or pulse passed through her, and Weiss suddenly became incredibly aware of her surroundings. Her beautiful dress that matched the colour of her eyes, Ruby's own red dress that could almost resemble a suit if you just looked at the top half... the tables covered in gourmet food and some lovely fabrics... flowers all over the venue, splashes of white and yellow colour that caught the light perfectly from all directions... Ornately carved stone everywhere she looked, and look around she did. Her eyes were frantic, whipping in every direction near constantly as she soaked all of it in... as her perception slowed down, as time resumed as normal... as her life came off of fast-forward.
Her memories flooded with the last four years, all of it hitting her at once seemingly now that all the peace of the moment before left her.
"Argus..." Her voice was almost a whimper, eyes frantically looking around for the boy before she turned to Ruby instead, those same light blue orbs now pleading for her wifes help. Ruby didn't need any more instruction, standing immediately and heading into the crowd to find the Prince. "Has..." A gulp interrupted her words... her mouth felt so dry. "Has Mistral...?"
"We've not yet recieved word from them... but I no doubt expect a declaration soon." Ozpin was calm, or perhaps he just lacked the energy to get worked up at the moment. She got a better look at him... he truly did like so much more frail then he used too. His hair had thinned a little, and his signature cane now bore much more of his weight as he stood.
"Has my brother been made aware of this?" Whitley and Atlas's fleet were their best chance of ending this quickly...
"Not yet. We needed your command first."
"Well, you have it. Return to the castle, I'll soon join you." Weiss stood taller, assuming a proper stance. She needed Ruby and Argus first. There was very little chance of either of them being in danger... yet. But she needed them close anyway... for strength, if nothing else.
"As you command." Ozpin began to shuffle away... and Weiss was once again struck by the slowness of it. She hadnt been made aware of how fast life had been moving... of how many days just melded together and how much time she had lost... It was like listening to a song over and over faster then it was meant to be played, then being struck with how long it took when listening to it as normal.
She felt her breath hitch... years ago, she had asked herself a question... and finally, she feared that the answer was in front of her.
"Is this the downside of an eternal life...?"
Infinite time... but all of it passing in a blur.
Someone Else
"Shit... shit... shit... shit!!"
It was ok... she could handle this... she could fix this... it was only the worst possible circumstance, she could definitely handle it.
Oh who was she kidding, first Neo ran off and got herself captured and... changed... and in her panic at the news of it, she finally gave Carmine the go ahead.
Deep breaths, calming breaths, she had to relax... she had to breath... and calm down. There was a way to fix this... she just... had to make a call.
Cinder wasn't having the best day.
The sound of her heels clacking against the ground was enough to put everyone on edge. They could recognise the sound of her anger easy enough, but this was a new type of walk... she was upset sure, but in her heart... her soul... she also felt fear. The walk to the Scrying Orb seemed to draw on for way too long, but also somehow not long enough. She could name a thousand things she would do to not have to make this call... and yet, none of them would solve the situation.
Her hand rested on the large Orb... and she whispered a name.
The Orb glazed for a moment, before the image of a man appeared. Actually, multiple men... all three of them were present. As if things couldn't have gotten worse.
"I... I have unforunate news. Neo... our altered Hydr-"
"We know who Neo is." An accent that dripped with class and authority came from the Orb and cut her off without a moment of hesitation... out of all of them, she probably feared him the least... but there was still fear there.
"... The little shit escaped... it went and attacked Vale without my command or backup and-"
"It got captured?! Hah! Not that it matters... they've been captured before... riiight?" This one was nearly the opposite of the previous. His voice was like nails on a chalkboard, and everything from his mannerisms to the way he talked made him sound crazy. She feared him a bit more then the last...
"It..." This was the part she struggled with. Cinder, a Demon that had lived for over a thousand years... resembled a child prepared to be scolded... in front of these three who each hadn't seen five hundred years. "It's worse... they were hit with the Abaddon Curse... our work has been reset, and they've been fully taken by Vale's forces-"
"Cinder." She stopped talking immediately. This one... this one she feared most. His voice was strong, there was no other way to describe it... and is if to make matters even more embarrassing for her... this one... this man... he wasn't even a hundred years old. "I told you before. If you need help, you need only ask."
Her mouth went dry... her voice hitched... she trembled a bit as she felt his intimidating presence... even from so far away... "I... I need help... Hazel."
He didn't smirk, or even emote at all. Instead, he just asked her for the exact details of the situation... and once she had finished explaining all of it... did he finally say something again.
"Very well. I'll provide support to Vacuo then."