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Omake: Ice Queen

"Okay Weiss. Focus. You can do this. You have done this. Preparations are complete and have been checked by multiple parties."

A pause.

The revolving chamber of Myrtenaster was soon cracked open and a discerning eye ran over every inch of the mechanism. Despite not finding a hair out of place, literally, the heiress was still with half a mind not to proceed. The headmaster had raised a good point in potentially equalizing the fight against Salem and Weiss volunteered since she had the prior experience — Get over it Ruby! — despite the strident objections from half of her team hoping to try it for themselves. The adults were already debating how one might send a summoned being back non-violently and the majoring consensus was to simply let Weiss run out of aura and see if they vanish once all was said and done.

Precautions were set and another training room excluded for their personal use, guarded by members of both Beacon and Atlas just outside the door and ready to respond at a moment's notice while Ozpin and her sister were in attendance. There was a general worry that too many bodies might set off the summon, given how well things had gone last time when Jaune had witnessed all the familiar faces. Weiss inhaled deeply and allowed her semblance to initiate, aura flowing between her hand and the family pendant as her glyph reappeared like clockwork under the watchful eyes of those with the greatest experience concerning both magic and summoning. Everything was running smoothly. Her aura dipped. A faint sheen of particles appeared in the air.

And then things…glitched.

Beneath her glyph a second circle appeared, rippling into existence in a wave of rainbow-colored lightning. The chalky, elaborate glyph slightly resembled her own and began to glow the stronger and faster her own semblance spooled. The white of her aura flared unexpectedly and a frigid wind blasted through the room from nothing, sending goosebumps up and down Weiss' legs. The light intensified. Cloudy mist coalesced above the wooden flooring before a ghostly body phased into view. Weiss bit her lip in irritation and perhaps a little bit of fear at the thought of somehow calling the Rusted Knight once more; hoarfrost crept along the ground before a bolt of energy blasted towards the ceiling, dispersing the gathered mist.

It wasn't Jaune, thankfully.

Three sets of eyes turned to the young woman standing within the elaborate circle now burned into the floorboards. Before them all she started to gently float a few inches above the ground without visible support. The exquisite white dress looked to be made from a shimmery material woven with Dust, icy crystals shrinking and growing in a never ending loop along her billowy, detached sleeves. The second Weiss' ponytail was now a thick braid, and much to the original's immediate consternation her skin was flawless…not a hint of a scar. Lastly Myrtenaster, or what was assumed to be the weapon, was vastly different as it too floated next to its owner. Longer and taller with the point facing downward, the rotating Dust chamber was wider and more rounded acting as the head but with no handle in sight. It sparkled with both powdered Dust and inlaid gems. Honestly it looked like some sort of strange staff.

The other Weiss crossed her legs rather casually as she took in the room with an eyebrow raised, decidedly unimpressed if her expression was anything to go by. Not even the appearance of herself seemed to rattle the summon. After a few moments of observation the second Myrtenaster trailed along as she crooked a finger for it to follow when the Servant glided out of the circle, crystalline heels tapping against the floor with the sound of crackling ice. The new Weiss dipped into a gracious curtsy before standing upright with blue eyes locked against identical, if quite wide, blue.

"Well, I suppose it could have been worse. I am Caster, and all will bow before the might of Dust unleashed. Shall I begin preparations Master?"

"...what? Y…you're me? What are you? Preparations for what?"

The Servant sniffed, lips quirking downward as Weiss remained in shock.

"What am I? What are you? A Huntress?" The girl clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Of course you are. At least tell me you've properly educated yourself on the intricacies of Dust then."

"Uh, duh! I am the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company!"

"Are you? Father wouldn't allow just anyone to take over to tarnish all his hard work," the ethereal Schnee stated with a mocking emphasis on the last two words. "This clearly isn't Atlas, and if you managed to get away, then whatever you think is the truth is unequivocally wrong. Even I…." She trailed off before the faint dip in her expression smoothed itself out. "Call yourself the next to lead the SDC all you like. The moment he no longer finds it necessary to keep up the charade the truth will come out and you'll be cast aside for the one who never disobeyed him."

The Servant's gaze had turned to a hard-eyed Winter. Though nothing else was said, the unspoken implication was loud and clear.

Weiss had no words. She tried to argue, to deny her double's words, and yet how long had the young Schnee held that doubt in her heart? The stray intrusive thoughts concerning how long she could continue to hold that title while simultaneously ignoring the man who held all the power to make such a thing happen? Whitley…she had to be talking about Whitley.

As they grew and the obvious cracks in their family dynamic became fissures, their youngest brother was the one who never spoke out of turn. Who never talked back. Who always agreed with Jacques, and wanted to emulate the man who seemingly had the sense to go far in life.

A voice cut through the haze that threatened to consume the girl. Ozpin had cleared his throat quite loudly.

"You are…Caster, is that right?"

"Indeed."

"My, that's quite a bit of magical energy you've collected for yourself. I assume then it isn't just a title."

"That is correct. It's almost insulting to feel the pittance you seem to hold within yourself though."

Ozpin chuckled wryly. "Yes…magic here isn't what it used to be and I possess my own issues regarding the power. Nonetheless, you are now bonded with Ms. Schnee correct?"

The snowflake had reappeared on the back of Weiss' left hand. Unlike the one forged with the Rusted Knight, this was the complete Schnee emblem but with an additional red ring turning the detached outer points into a singular mass. What was it with the symbols being divided into thirds?

"Yes," Caster said simply.

"You are here because we require help in ending a great threat."

"Oh I know. Upon proper completion of the summoning I was granted a hefty amount of knowledge regarding this world and its intricacies. And if I was to browse through a history book pertaining to the past of this Remnant, I'm certain there are consistencies that crop up between this world and my own that I can easily match up. Salem was actually a well-known facet of the world, like the boogeyman who could show up at a moment's notice and wipe out a random town on a whim…and given your expression, I'm now believing that is not the case here."

"...no. She remains in the shadows seeking to destabilize the kingdoms through her underlings."

Caster scoffed and snapped her fingers. A glyph appeared beneath her feet, and from there the floor seemingly rippled outwards in a flash of color. The three natives jumped as the wave moved underfoot and a tingle ran up their legs.

"Then I best not waste anymore time. You don't need this room for anything do you? Workshops always take so much time to set up, and the quicker I finish all the prep work the quicker we can finish up here and I can return to the experiments I left behind."

Ozpin felt some of the magic now coating the air drain away, and a simple wooden table laden with standardized Dust fixtures appeared from thin air. Empty vials, alembics, beakers, a mortar and pestle…rather primitive given the advancements in scientific equipment but the second Weiss was already turning one of the glass tubes around and studying it with a critical eye. "Do you require anything that won't simply pop into existence?" the headmaster asked, keeping his disbelief to a minimum. Magic as he knew it certainly didn't work like that. Caster smirked.

"Dust. And lots of it." She then turned to Weiss. "Join me if you would Master — two heads are better than one, and I may require assistance. If I can learn it all then so can you. Oh…Winter, you can join as well if you wish," the Servant finished with a softer tone. Winter smiled softly; it seemed her counterpart from wherever this Weiss came from was still a fixture of the girl's life.

"Thank you. I shall."

"What exactly are we doing?" Weiss questioned, and something overcame Caster's features almost immediately. She spread her arms wide, droplets of crystalline ice dripping from the faint cloud of frost surrounding her limbs which vanished the moment they hit the floor. A wide smile, so unlike anything Weiss had ever produced before hijacked the summon's face, and she sighed in abject ecstasy. A primitive, instinctual fear crawled up the spines of every other person present concerning the sudden dramatic change in the young woman's stature.

"Salem is an existence touched by primordial, timeless concepts whose origins are far above mere mortals! Ultimate beings from another plane of existence that call themselves gods! And the only thing that can truly combat something that transcends humanity, is with something else that transcends humanity! And that…with a Mystery so ancient and mind-boggling we just accept it appeared one day out of the blue with no prior historical note…is what we call Dust!"

Caster giggled. After her outburst, the cutesy noise was rather disturbing.

"After all…Dust can be activated by aura, by the soul! Something intangible and inherent to living beings. How strange. Now…I wonder why that is?" The sudden burst of madness passed and Caster lowered her arms. The chill in the air receded. She wiped her hand along the top of the table as if spreading a deck of cards, and a thick leather tome appeared in a flash of light. "Let's get to it ladies."

Second summon down. First Archer, now Caster.

This Weiss is someone that spent all her time studying up on Dust instead of training to become a Huntress, and clearly things went off the rails since there's Fate lore thrown into the mix. Did she accidentally encounter an Outer God like a Foreigner? Who knows.

That bit of lore was added last minute as I was writing it up, so it's a possibility. If you're not caught up on RWBY, in V9 we learned the Gods of Light and Darkness were born in the Ever After which is its own crazy thing that's just sort of connected to Remnant (which was in turn created by those two), so I feel like Lovecraftian/Bloodborne-esque multi-layered ascended planes of existence watched by ancient beings (the Blacksmith?) wouldn't be entirely strange to see in the RWBYverse.

Next summon I get to will be Blake eventually and…it's not going to be a happy one, I'll tell you that.