chapter2: Not A Princess

Weiss Schnee

This was all Ruby's fault.

Be nice to them, Weiss, I could almost hear her say. Don't just cut them up. Violence is not

the answer. Especially if they're nice to you.

After I ran into that man, he got very excited for some reason. I asked and he thought I was

some kind of princess. I explained that it was actually heiress, and he apologized that he

didn't know the word. He said he could give me food and shelter but that he wanted me to

help them with something first. I was disoriented, I was confused, and I made the mistake of

accepting help.

And that's how I ended up being in some kind of ridiculous video. These imbeciles were

some kind of rebels, only I had no idea what they were rebelling against. Something

something West and East. They must be from some strange place in the corner of the world

to have Valic that bad. I had met many people from all the kingdoms, and I had never heard

it butchered like that.

I still had no idea where I was. I tried asking, but I don't think they understood, because the

only answers I got were Donetsk, Donbass, Novorossiya, and a more reluctant Ukraine. I

considered myself reasonably learned in the regions of the world, and I had never heard of

any of those. I had tried looking for flags or signs, but I didn't see any I recognized. I

couldn't even read most of the signs- they were in some alphabet I'd never seen before.

I had no idea who these people were, either. Again, they spoke a language I couldn't

understand or recognize. The three who were making the video looked military, but they

could be some kind of rebels or criminals. They said they were part of some kind of

Donbass People's Militia, which could be an actual military or a paramilitary group. I had

never heard of it before, in any case.

I could get answers if I wanted to, and I should have. But because of Ruby and her crazy

attitude, which had somehow rubbed off on me, I was being passive and not assertive. I just

followed those imbeciles into this bombed-out ruin of a building. Apparently they had done

something wrong that their superiors didn't like.

Well, that was a surprise.

No matter how disoriented I was, no matter how confused I was, no matter how much Ruby

had influenced me, I was still Weiss Schnee. Back straight, chin up, perfect steps. I ignored

the lecherous- and confused- gazes. I am above these peasants.

Confidence. Show it, even if you don't have it. One of the men waved me into a small but

relatively clean room. I strode in, and he shut the door behind me.

The room was bare except for a desk- no, it was actually a folding table. It was covered in

papers and some kind of computer device as if it was a desk. Standing to one side was a

man, perhaps in his thirties, loosely clutching a rifle. Sitting behind the desk was an older

man who looked like he needed a shave. Both were wearing military clothing.

"I am sorry for my, how you say, follower," the man behind the desk began.

"You better be," I snapped. "Do you have any idea what they made me do?"

"The video, you mean?"

"What did you think I meant?"

"Well, you are beautiful girl, and they are young men..." He shrugged.

Oh, that. Of course. Pig. "I can handle myself, thank you. If they tried anything, we wouldn't

be having this conversation."

"I suppose not. Unfortunately, video cannot be taken down once is on Internet- you

understand, of course. But we tell them, is not our video, is fake. So some are excite and

see, but most do not see now. Because no point."

"Good," I snapped. This man had better Valic, but it was still awful. Where did he learn to

talk? What he said didn't make any sense, but I suppose he had taken care of the matter to

the best of his ability.

I was being awfully generous. Ruby would be proud. Wherever she was.

The man nodded. "Once again, I am sorry. Those man, are good spirit, fighting spirit, very

patriotic, but not so smart. How American say? Heart in right place, but mind not so much."

He paused. "So, what is name?"

"Weiss," I replied curtly. I decided to hold off on dropping the Schnee name for now. It

could get me out of trouble, or into more trouble. I had to know which as soon as possible.

"Ah!" he said, and stuttered, "Sind sie Deutsch?"

I don't think that was Valic. "I have no idea what you just said."

A slightly embarassed look crossed his face. "I am sorry, my German is bad. My English is

bad also, but is better, yes?"

"I suppose," I allowed, Ruby's influence still negatively affecting me.

"I am Alexey," he introduced himself, standing up and extending his hand.

I reluctantly took it. His grip was surprisingly weak considering his size.

Alexey sat down and explained, "I am leader of local, uh, militia here. We fight for

Novorossiya, wish to separate from Ukraine. Want to be with Russia- well, I am sure you

hear plenty on news. You are from West, yes?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Well, I just say, is not simple, is not uh, black and white as Western media portray. I am

sure they say Ukraine good, Russia bad, but is lies. We are more Russia than Ukraine, not

want to be West. Understand?"

"No."

Before he could continue, the other man interrupted, "Weiss. Is first name or family name?"

His accent was even worse. I think that was curiosity, but it was hard to tell.

"That's my name," I replied, emphasizing the my part. I didn't know of any families named

Weiss, but maybe there was some unimportant one out in the middle of nowhere.

"And family?"

"Why should I tell you?"

He shrugged. "Am curious. Is too secret, you are important family?"

"Fine. It's Schnee." As soon as I finished, the man burst out laughing. I glared at him.

He said something to Alexey in the strange language, and he nodded before glaring at me.

"Dmitri say you are cartoon character of Japan."

I matched his glare. "I'm nobody's cartoon character."

The other man- Dmitri- said something again in that horrible language, and then handed

Alexey what looked like a scroll. He showed some pictures I couldn't make out from my

angle, describing them in that weird language.

Alexey turned back to me and asked with an edge to his voice, "So, what is real name? I say

you not sound German, but I am not good with accent also."

"I am Weiss Schnee," I replied firmly. "I'm not an imitator, I'm the real heiress to the Schnee

Dust Company. Happy?"

Quietly, I moved my hand closer to Myrtenaster. I had a bad feeling about these men, but at

the same time I was confused. People have gone after me trying to hurt the Schnee Dust

Company. But these men didn't seem to care.

"Impossible!" Dmitri insisted, to my surprise.

I'd never encountered a situation where people had insisted I wasn't Weiss Schnee before. I'd

had to convince people I wasn't in the past (to varying degrees of success), but I'd never had

to convince them I was.

Maybe I should have just said no, I wasn't, I was just some random person off the street.

"You are this Weiss Schnee?" he asked, showing me the scroll.

There was picture of me on the screen. It looked like someone's drawing, or maybe a

computer model, of, well, me. "It's not the best art I've seen, but that's me."

"You are not real," Dmitri insisted. "Weiss Schnee is cartoon from Japan. I know, my, uh,

my-"

"Daughter," Alexey suggested.

"Yes, daughter love show." He tapped the scroll. "This is show!"

The two men exchanged rapid fire... whatever that language was.

Finally, Alexey sighed. "I do not know if you are not right in mind, if you are joke, or

something else. In all, does not matter. I apologize for actions of men, and I apologize that I

must do this. I cannot do anything for you. I feel bad about, but I must let you onto street,

you fend for self, survive."

What? "Okay?"

Alexey extended his hand again. "Such is war. You head back to-"

He was cut off by an armed man bursting into the room, shouting something in their

language. Alexey's face turned from neutral to worried to intense. He stood up and headed

toward the door.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"Is attack. Supposed to be ceasefire, but some volunteer zealous and keep fight. Dmitri take

you to shelter." He motioned toward the other man.

"Come. Quickly." Dmitri had his weapon out and he looked serious, but he moved like an

amateur. Keeping one hand on Myrtenaster, I followed him through the hallway and out of

the building.

I walked into a warzone. There was shouting all around, men- soldiers, I guess- running

toward sandbags, walls, and bits of rubble. Staccato gunfire filled the air, though it sounded

a little bit odd, not like any of the weapons I had used. I saw vehicles approaching, with men

beside them shooting at us- well, the people I was with, anyway. There was a loud bang, and

part of the building exploded outward. Someone had a big gun.

We ran toward a stone wall. As soon as we were close, Dmitri grabbed me roughly and

pulled me down, and started crawling along the stone wall. I'm not sure why- we would be

much better off just getting off the battlefield as quickly as possible.

I had no idea who was fighting who. For all I knew, Dmitri could be one of the bad guys.

They sounded like they were trying to do something good, but I knew all too well where

that could lead. I couldn't get involved here. I couldn't fight on anyone's side. That was

something Ruby and I could agree on.

Still, I drew Myrtenaster, gripping it properly with my left hand. Dmitri looked at me,

confused. "Sword will do you-"

Suddenly, the wall beside us exploded, hammering my Aura and throwing me violently into

the street. I admit, that hurt. I forced the pain and disorientation away and stood up.

I looked over to where Dmitri should have been and suppressed the urge to vomit. All that

was left was a bloody mess. Why didn't that dunce use his Aura? He did have it unlocked,

right? What kind of fighter didn't? I forced the niggled veins of pity away. It was not my

concern.

I had to get away from the battle. There were more vehicles and men approaching down the

street from the same direction as the others, but the other way looked clear apart from the

rubble and wreckage. I clipped Myrtenaster back onto my hip and sprinted down that

direction.

Three armed men, wearing different uniforms than the ones I had seen before burst out onto

the street, rifles at the ready. One of them, probably their leader, shouted, "Stij!"

I ignored him and kept going. The leader pointed his weapon at me and repeated, "Stij!

Stop!"

"No." I refused, continuing to walk toward them. I suppose I was tired of dealing with

uncooperative idiots.

"You stupid girl!" The man waved his gun again. "We have gun!"

I tried to keep going, past them to... somewhere. I didn't know where to go, but I was not

going to repeat my previous mistake. A stranger in a strange land does not make friends with

the locals. Suddenly, there was a burst of gunfire, and bits of the street exploded in front of

me.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I asked irritably, trying to ignore the fact that he just

shot at me. It was a warning shot, but still.

The leader said something angrily to one of the other men in that strange language, then said

to me, "You are girl in propaganda video, yes? You must come."

"Why?" I asked, stepping forward.

Very quickly, three things happened. One of the men raised his gun and shot right at me.

Nerves, I suppose. He missed, but before he could try again- if that was what he was trying

to do- I raised Myrtenaster and drove the it into him.

I didn't let the fact that Myrtenaster was covered in blood when I pulled it out of his chest

bother me, even though it did bother me.

The other two tried backing away, but I was faster. One of the men managed to get off a

burst in my general direction before I cut his chest open. He desperately grabbed for his

insides as they spilled out. That was new, that was disgusting, that was sickening, and I

didn't have time to think about it.

These men couldn't be soldiers. Their guns were useless, they didn't have unlocked Aura,

and they were incompetent. The last man, the leader, dropped his gun and raised his hands.

I pointed Myrtenaster at him, the tip almost, but not quite, touching his throat. "Explain

yourself."

"I am Ukraine soldier!" he explained desperately. I noticed now that his accent was different

than the other men I had met, though only slightly. "Do not know who you are, just have

order, yes, order to get! Please, can talk!"

I sighed. I was in the middle of a war, in a place I had never heard of, with a man I knew

nothing about at the end of my rapier. I couldn't place it, but everything seemed different.

And when I tried to think of how I got here, I couldn't even remember that. Could this get

any worse?

My stomach rumbled. Oh, right, I guess it could.

This was all Ruby's fault.