Author's Notes
Do you know how hard I had to fight to creative team here at RatCrimes to write another Weiss goose equivalency chapter? The things I do for this best girl…
Of course this site's view-counting system dies the literal day I post a new fic. I have no idea if anyone's even read this aside from 5 follows, 2 favs, and 1 comment (at time of writing).
Happy rats, and don't do crime!
Chapter 2 – Seagull
In which Weiss Schnee's close friends and family size has a net-zero change.
"Mr. Schnee, would you care to comment on –"
"Mr. Schnee, Mr. Schnee, do –"
"Mr. Schnee, what is your impression of your wife's –"
"Mr. Schnee, is Nicholas Schnee aware that his own –"
"Mr. Schnee –"
Jacques cleared his throat, and the frenzied reporters silenced themselves, all hoping to clearly hear his statement on the matter. As much as he enjoyed finally being in the well-deserved limelight for once, he couldn't say he appreciated the braying of these donkeys.
The Faunus may be animals, but journalists are no better.
He leaned in, not approaching the closest microphone but the one with the most recognizable network's logo on the side. "I'm pleased to announce the birth of a healthy baby girl. My darling wife and I have elected upon the name Weiss, to celebrate our heritage as citizens of the fine continent of Solitas."
It burned him inside, to not be able to say Atlas, but he now needed to declare himself for the people of Mantle as well. He'd tied himself to this new social premise of his, and it was too late to back down now.
"Mr. Schnee, we've heard unconfirmed rumors of an affair involving –"
"An affair?" Jacques stepped back, insulted. "How dare you imply such behavior! I'd never debase myself and my marriage vows in such a…such a…never!"
Another reporter stepped in, pushing back the first. "Mr. Schnee, it's actually your wife who's –"
"Preposterous!" he raged. "I've half a mind to sue you for slander…and if any among you dare to print these wicked aspersions, I'll have a whole mind to sue you for libel!"
"But according to the photographs, the baby is –"
"Weiss," Jacques corrected.
"According to photographs, Weiss Schnee is…a Faunus."
Jacques blinked. "Yes, quite so."
He nodded curtly, as he'd done in front of a mirror numerous times to assure his reactions were precisely what image he wished to portray – confusion over why this would be an issue.
The media hounds were silent for a moment, all likely having prepared their questions for a ruthless tantrum and not calm acceptance.
"How would that imply infidelity?" he asked, as if trying to follow along with their thought processes was a struggle for him.
"W-Well," one brave soul began, damming herself by not obeying the cowardice that warned the other circus-clowns to not speak. "A Faunus baby implies a Faunus father."
Again, Jacques performed his nod of manufactured innocence. "Yes. A father of Faunus heritage."
"A-And…as you are…n-not…"
The reporter faltered off, unwilling to go all the way into what she soon figured out was a losing battle. Jacques Schnee was in control here, and to push further was to fall deeper into his trap.
The larger news network's anchor figured it out sooner, eyes widening with excitement at being the first. "Mr. Schnee, are you saying that you are part Faunus?"
He could hear in their voice the eager grin that wasn't on their face. Even if they didn't believe their own question in the slightest, they were pleased at being the one who got to ask it and seemed more than happy to participate in the playacting.
"Yes, of course. On my mother's side."
A second passed, followed by a veritable explosion of question.
"Mr. Schnee, how long have the Schnees been aware of your Faunus side?"
"Mr. Schnee, was this information withheld to avoid workplace discrimination?"
"Mr. Schnee, is your wife also part Faunus?"
"Mr. Schnee, do you have a comment on allegations of unfair working conditions for the Faunus in the SDME?"
It was the same moment as when he'd exited the hospital for the staged recreation of Weiss' birth, only with different words being spoken. All of the reporters desperately pushed forward, each bumping into one another with reckless haste.
Jacques once again cleared his throat, but even more questions continued to pour in.
"Mr. Schnee, is Jacques Gelé your real name?"
"Mr. Schnee, how will this affect any contracts between the SDME and the Atlesian military?"
"Mr. Schnee, what is your animal trait?"
"Mr. Schnee, would you care to comment on the situation in your ancestral homeland of Menagerie?"
"Gentlemen! Gentlemen, please!" Jacques bellowed, making sure to keep his shouting voice only reasonably loud. He could imagine the headlines if he lost his cool for even a second – Rabid Faunus Jacques Schnee's Secrets Revealed During Public Mental Breakdown.
"To answer your questions as best I can: I am half-Faunus on my mother's side, though it would appear as though her beautiful wings skipped a generation and passed on to my beloved daughter Weiss. Or perhaps they're simply too gorgeous a sight to behold for a plain man my such as myself to bear." He adjusted his tie. "And we are now the SDC, no longer the SDME."
The reporter of a smaller news outlet, one far hungrier for a scoop and more willing to risk himself, spoke up. "Mr. Schnee, this is the first we've ever heard of this. How would you respond to allegations that this Faunus heritage is fabricated in order to cover up –"
"I'm most curious as to how these allegations have come up when you seem to have only heard of my family's Faunus history in this very interview. But anyhow, I do not, nor have I ever attempted to withhold this information. In fact, several of my close friends and I have frequently discussed it over dinner. And to address the thinly veiled racism in many of your queries, I am proud of my heritage. In the future, I would advise you refrain from, as they put it, 'saying the quiet parts out loud.'"
"The SDC has long been criticized for Faunus rights violations –"
"My company is well known for being the most accepting Dust mining and refinery for Faunus and humans alike. This is common knowledge; I suggest you open your eyes."
That part was entirely true…in the present. And as the SDC was registered under a different trade name at the Bureau of Atlesian Business, any complaints that Jacques' SDME sustained were now barely available to the public. The information still existed, but the average Atlesian rarely cared enough to perform investigative research beyond simply typing their query into a search engine and clicking on the first result. Even a journalist would have to dig through mountains of silt to find a single nugget of gold.
Still, the imbecile clearly didn't know when to back down and pushed even further. "But it's common knowledge that Faunus and human interbreeding does not –"
"INTER– HOW DARE YOU?" Jacques cut off with a roar. The reporter was certain to receive the attention he desired, but not in the way he wished. "HOW…ahem."
Jacques cleared his throat and clenched his fists. He'd also rehearsed this, careful to keep in on the side of righteous indignation and not Faunus savagery. Clearly rehearsed lines with the finest Atlesian vocabulary would be essential, as would careful control of his enunciation. No wild arm waving or emotional shouting – Jacques was sure to keep his hands by his sides, aside from an initial accusatory point in the man's direction.
"You, sir, represent everything fouled that the once-proud institution of news media has become. You, a human, hide behind a thin veneer of manufactured care for the Faunus, citing baseless allegations of discrimination, only then to immediately question my experience with nothing but recreant assumptions and cowardly conjecture. And if that was not sufficient, you speak of my people, of my late mother and my newborn infant daughter, as though we're a different species altogether. Interbreeding! I would ask you to explore your own prejudices before you ever dare to use such language again…though, given how quickly your 'interviewing tactics' devolved into bigotry, I'd say you might well be a lost cause on that front."
The man was taken aback, for now the other news agencies were filming this, filming him. It was no longer an interview of Jacques Schnee for the headlines, but a shocking battle between Jacques Schnee and the racist reporter from a small news agency who'd called into question his Faunus background.
It helped that Jacques had ensured the agency's more experienced anchor was unavailable to attend this interview, thus forcing his relatively new counterpart to fill in while he sorted out the sudden and unexpected theft of his automobile with the police.
The semi-cowed reporter rushed to take out his scroll as another deluge of questions were sent Jacques' way. After a few moments of thumbing the screen, he pushed it out towards the businessman.
"Y-You can't be Faunus." He was desperate here and also probably rendered irrational by fear of his career being ruined. The man's only recourse in this situation was to 'win' – to prove in front of the crowd that he'd been right and Jacques was wrong. "This study, from the Journal of the Atlesian Academy, is proof that Faunus traits can't skip a generation."
Jacques snatched the man's phone and glanced over it. It was in moments like these that he was fortunate for his own genius. A little preparation went a long way.
"Ah, the study by Namarada and Hoggs. Famously, or rather infamously, discredited three years ago, if I recall correctly." He pocketed the scroll and turned away. "Please think before you spread misinformation next time, young man. There can be real world consequences to yellow journalism."
Perhaps the young reporter would point out that the publication he'd pulled up was not the discredited work by Namarada and Hoggs but actually an entirely factual work that took place last year, but few would care for the words of a man painted racist in front of a large audience. No one but Jacques himself had actually seen the article, so there would be no way for them to know.
The sequence of events would be inevitable – most would take him at his word, and anyone curious enough would look up the history of the scientists Jacques had mentioned, find out that they were in fact discredited, and assume that it truly was a blatant attempt at misinformation. Jacques had already made generous donations to several leading academics research Faunus genetics under the never-stated-but-clearly-implied assumption that their works would support his fictitious narrative that Faunus could produce human children and vice versa. He'd additionally hired several Faunus and humans to appear in minor news stories as pretend relatives – small fluff pieces mostly, guaranteed to attract enough attention to subtly reinforce the notion that interbreeding could produce non-Faunus offspring. It wasn't difficult to get the ear of the media; all one needed to do was perform some minor notable act like being victim of an interesting crime or win some neighborhood-level competition and have a friend call it in.
While it was impossible for people to know a 'half-Faunus' in real life, it wasn't impossible for people to believe they were just some infrequent occurrence, a genetic mishap, and assume that they simply hadn't had the fortune of encountering one yet. The public believed not what it wanted to believe but what it was fed.
The large pantherine beast of a Faunus stretched out a hand.
Jacques bit down on his discomfort and reluctantly took it. Not showing that disdain, mind you, but feeling it just the same.
"Mr. Schnee. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He glanced down at the winged child hiding behind her father's legs. "And young Weiss, too."
"Likewise, Mr. Belladonna. Or is it Chief?"
"Mister will do fine," smiled the Faunus. "Or chieftain. I'm not picky."
Jacques smiled sweetly at the family behind the tribe leader. "And who might these darlings be?"
Belladonna gestured to his wife. "Kali, my wife. We're both leaders of the White Fang, though she manages far more of it in terms of both mission and day-to-day."
Without letting his air of pleasantry drop, Jacques raised an eyebrow.
"Kali has a much better head on her shoulders than me," he bellowed, laughing as he patted the Faunus woman on the back.
"Oh, Ghir's just being modest," said Belladonna's wife. "The island of Menagerie's management takes up much of his time. But yes, I do believe I will be working with you more frequently."
Excellent. So not only was he going to have to collaborate with a Faunus, but a female. Jacques almost felt like he might be starting to have second thoughts about this whole thing.
"And who might this darling little kitten be?" Jacques asked, reaching out towards the child of similar age in its mother's arms.
"Blake," answered Belladonna and Belladonna's wife at the same time. Both hiccupped at having spoken over the other, then smiled lovingly in one another's eyes.
I do wonder if it's perhaps a stroke of luck that it's Belladonna's wife I'm to be working with and not the man himself. He reminds me far too much of Nicholas.
The old man's health was declining, a side effect of the mining and dangerous huntsman missions he did in his youth, but he still exerted a far greater degree of influence on Jacques' world than desirable. If anything, his weakness now made him an even more sympathetic figure among the tabloids and newsreels that already adored him.
That said, Jacques' own image was still improving. It was taking herculean effort to do so, but his progress was paying off. Like his father-in-law, he was being seen by more and more of Atlas as a fatherly figure, the trustworthy king with a heart of gold full of care for his subjects. It was far more work than other members of his dining club had to invest, as Jacques needed to genuinely spend his fortunes on meaningless PR drivel like charities and community service work (and even political lobbying for antidiscrimination laws), but SDC profits were also in record highs after each and every marketing campaign to showcase his humility and generosity. More and more people were calling for Faunus enfranchisement, meaning that his choice to jump on the bandwagon early had proven it the perfect opportunity.
It wasn't all trials of effort, though. The rewards were trickling in. Montfranc and Hue were already destitute, having been forced to sell their business empires during bad years (made worse by lawsuits based on laws Jacques himself had helped push), and it was said that Yujinara was on the verge of bankruptcy, his workforce having left during a strike and never returned. Jacques had doubled the number of mines he ran by employing them.
"Shall we begin discussions?" said Jacques, gesturing to his office.
Belladonna's wife nodded. "We look forward to a fruitful relationship."
"I'll see to the children," said Belladonna, accepting Bloke from his woman. "Please, don't wait up – Kali's input will be infinitely more valuable than mine."
Jacques felt himself despising this whipped excuse for a man even more, but negotiations with unpleasant men (and now women, he supposed) were frequent in the industry. Every buyer or seller was an enemy, after all, whether or not they made that clear.
Weiss had never seen another Faunus before. Father had warned her to be as cautious as she could when around any of the others, but he always paid special attention to warning her about the Faunus.
And now, the first ones she ever met were cats! Oh, it was super scary. Cats were supposed to chase birds, like that big tall one who always tried to drop a brick on the head of the small yellow bird in the cartoons. Weiss folded back her wings slightly, hoping that perhaps they hadn't seen them and would think her a…a…a fish Faunus!
Except cats eat fish too! Weiss thought with a squeal.
The big cat man seemed to notice her fear and backed up slightly. "Don't worry. We're friends of your father, young lady."
Oh, Weiss seriously doubted that. Father's smile, as he abandoned Weiss to the hunters to talk to the cat lady, was his not-around-friends smile. Of course, he rarely ever wore any other smile when they left the manor, but still…
"H-Hello, and welcome." Weiss curtsied, hoping that if she behaved, Father might finish up his work faster and come back out to rescue her from the cat people. "My name is Weiss Schnee."
To her surprise, the humungous cat man who had to be at least one-hundred times her size lowered his entire body in an elegant bow, even going on one knee. "An honor to meet you, Miss Schnee." He set down the smaller cat girl in front of him, then rose. "My name is Blake Belladonna, and this is my father Ghira."
"Daaaaaaddddddd!" squeaked the littler cat, so shrill that Weiss actually jumped back.
"Oh, my apologies," he said with a roar of laughter and a pat of his belly. "I seem to have gotten mixed up. I'm Ghira Belladonna, this is my daughter Weiss Schnee, and you're Blake." He pointed at Weiss for the last one.
"Oh my goooods," groaned the girl, who Weiss still wasn't sure the name of.
The big one smiled playfully and stuck out his tongue.
The small cat approached Weiss and stuck out a hand. "I'm Gh…grrrrr. I'm Blake Belladonna. You're Weiss, right?"
"W-Who told you that?" Weiss asked, alarmed.
"Um…you did. And my dad. And your dad." Blake looked over in the direction of Father's study. "That was your dad, right?"
Weiss nodded. No matter what her father told her in private, he'd always ended those talks by reinforcing the importance of never publicly questioning their relation to one another.
"Our parents are going to be working together a lot, so let's be friends, 'kay?"
Weiss nodded, but before her head was even back up, the cat pounced on her. She let out a small shriek of fear, but when no teeth sank into her neck or claws into her delicate wings, she realized it was not an attack but a…hug?
"Blake!" the father said chidingly. "What have we always said about respecting other's boundaries?"
Blake detached herself from Weiss quickly, then looked back at her father sheepishly. "S-Sorry, dad."
"It's not me you should be apologizing to."
Blake turned back to Weiss. "S-Sorry. Is it okay if I give you a hug?"
Weiss just stared back, not sure what she was supposed to say.
"That's okay. Maybe we can hug more when we're better friends. But for now, do you want to play together?"
Again, Weiss just stared back.
"Well," said the father, Ghi-something. "It seems like you two are all set, so I'm going to join your mother and Mr. Schnee. Just shout if you need anything, alright, Blake?"
"I…I could use an ice cream cone…"
He tussled her hair and said nothing, then went over to Father's study. The door opened, and he walked in, leaving Weiss all alone with Blake.
"So," said the Faunus, gazing about the sitting room in which they'd met. "What do you like to do for fun?"
As much as every instinct of Weiss' was to turn and run for Winter or Klein, she knew that Father would be really upset if she did that. He expected her to occupy this Faunus child while he conducted business with her white tooth parents.
"We…could study together?" offered Weiss.
"We could, but I was kind of hoping to have some fun." The cat Faunus grinned at Weiss. "Do you have any games or toys?"
Weiss shook her head.
"…no? You don't?"
Okay, Weiss really had no idea why the Faunus sounded so unsure about this when Weiss had been clear about it. Did she not shake her head for no where she came from?
"Hey, where do you come from?" Weiss asked before she could think.
Blake looked at her for a second before smiling proudly. "I'm from Menagerie. It's this super cool beach place where there's sun and sand and the ocean all around in every direction…which is great because that means we never run out of fish."
"I like fish," Weiss said weakly.
Fish, which was easily Weiss' favorite food, was something she was only allowed to have at the manor. Father often said that eating it in public might cause people to realize she was part seagull, which were apparently disgusting birds. Weiss hated the idea that someone might think her wings came from some gross dirty bird (rats with wings, some called them) that didn't even live in Atlas, so she agreed to be his little swan whenever they went out.
It wasn't bad, though. Father didn't really care what Weiss ate when no one was watching…he didn't care what she did most of the time, as long as she performed to his expectations in public and in her studies…so the cooks always gave her exactly what she asked for. Which was always fish.
"Do you? I do too! Mom is teaching me how to catch the Menagerian tuna that swim along our shores, but she says I'm too little to go out diving and might get swept away by sea currents, so it's mostly just watching from afar." Blake folded her arms and puffed out her cheeks. "I'm plenty big…"
Weiss listened intently, memorizing key details as Father had said any good businessman should…or businesswoman in Weiss' case, thought Father never said that.
She mentioned sea currents…is it okay for me to ask?
Weiss cleared her throat. "Um…Miss Bellona."
Blake's smile creaked. "It's Belladonna, but yeah?" She unfolded her arms and turned to listen to Weiss.
"Miss Beddanolla…do you…have you ever seen a seagull?"
"A seagull?" Blake blinked at Weiss in confusion. "Why?"
"N-Never mind." Weiss felt her cheeks redden. "Let's talk about something else."
"Um…okay. But I have seen seagulls, if you're interested."
Weiss was. "What do they look like? Are they evil? Do they hurt people?" The way father spoke of them as something to be avoided at all costs, one might have thought seagulls were Grimm.
"Evil? No, they're not evil."
Weiss perked up.
"But they are nuisances."
"O-Oh."
Blake's entire tone changed when Weiss' face fell. "B-But they're actually, uh, cool in some ways too. Cuz, like…oh, they can swim and fly! That's one more thing than I can do. And they also are one of the most common birds at the beach, so they must be pretty good at birding if they're that common. Also, they have these neat white wings that…"
Blake's head tilted slightly, and Weiss wondered if she'd done something wrong. Blake was staring at her without looking away, and it was kind of making Weiss feel self-conscious.
"Wings that…"
Weiss looked over her shoulder, following Blake's eyes when she trailed off.
"Oh no," Weiss whispered quietly to herself.
Her wings, the ones that identified her as a bird Faunus, were clearly outstretched, and Blake had seen them. Not only had Weiss openly been asking about seagulls (a dead giveaway), but she'd revealed herself as a bird – the natural prey of cats!
"I-I can explain!"
"They're so pretty!" Blake reached out a hand, clearly intent on grabbing herself a fistful of feathers, but she stopped at the last moment. "Oh, right. Can I touch?"
Weiss didn't want to let her, but Father had said that she could never show any weakness when her wings were brought up. Even the slightest amount of shame in public could suggest that Weiss was privately berated for them, which would reflect poorly on her father. She wasn't sure if not letting Blake touch them counted as shame, but she didn't want to take the risk.
Weiss reached her wing forward and bit back her discomfort as Blake rubbed the feathers the wrong way. It was just a little pain, something Weiss could grin and bear if she tried hard enough, so there was no reason to –
"Am I petting them right? You don't look okay, Weiss."
Weiss forced herself to nod. "M'fine." Realizing she'd mumbled, she quickly corrected, "I am fine."
"You don't look fine…Weiss, if I'm doing something wrong, you can tell me, and I can fix it. Or I can just stop petting, if that'd be better."
"Wrong way," Weiss eked out, eyes closed in embarrassment.
The pain went away as Blake reversed course. "Sorry about that. I should've known better…I've seen plenty of other Faunus who get upset when you rub their tails the wrong way."
Weiss couldn't help herself. "Other Faunus?"
"Menagerie's the island of Faunus," Blake said, her eyes sparkling as she described her home.
"It is?" Weiss asked, unable to restrain her curiosity. "As wonderful as you describe?"
Weiss had mostly only interacted with other humans. Father said she would eventually need to liaise with other Faunus for outreach purposes (whatever that meant), but for the time being, she was still being prepared for those kinds of things.
"It's amazing!" Blake gushed. "There's Faunus everywhere. I've been all around the world, to the jungles in Mistral and the desert in Vacuo, and no place in the world even comes close to Menagerie!"
Blake glanced at Weiss, then suddenly froze up.
"Er, uh, that's not to say that Atlas is bad or something…I'm sure the cold and snow is just…uh, lovely!"
"It's not," Weiss said, a sour note in her voice. She was a daughter of Atlas and a patriotic one at that, but only because Father told her to be, not out of any true love for the cold. "I hope I can visit Menagerie one day."
"You will."
Weiss smiled. "You bet!"
"No, I mean, you for sure will. Our parents work together now, so you'll probably be there at least once or twice. Maybe a lot, but it's impossible to say."
"Father works with a lot of people," Weiss scowled bitterly. Blake's father was just another businessman operating out of a different kingdom. It wasn't as though the Schnees were going to up and fly across the world just to visit some…some…
"What do your parents sell again?" Weiss asked. "Dentist stuff or something?"
"They don't sell stuff," Blake said. "They're the leaders of the White Fang."
Weiss had never heard of that company. "What's that?"
Weiss' father emerged from his study, shaking Miss Kali's and Mr. Ghira's hand and bidding them farewell. He wished them the best of luck, promised to get back to them with the materials they requested, and thanked them for a prosperous meeting.
Weiss waved goodbye to Blake, though both of their parents ensured the duo that they would be seeing plenty more of one another in the future.
I hope so, Weiss thought. She was nice. Kind of like Winter, but she never looked at me like I was smaller than her in that way Winter sometimes does when I ask her a stupid question.
"Come along, Weiss," Father demanded as Klein saw the Bendalonas to the exit of the manor.
Weiss followed her father to her own bedroom, where he gestured to her bed. She sat down on the foot of it.
"I'll use your washroom for but a moment, and then I shall return to discuss our visitors."
Weiss nodded, reviewing in her head the typical types of questions he asked. Father stepped into the walk-in bathroom that was just opposite the main door to her room, so Weiss leaned slightly forward so that she could see him.
He was scrubbing his hands quite thoroughly.
Weiss leaned back, not caring to be spotted watching him in the event that he looked up from the mirror. Instead, she pictured the beaches of Menagerie, with so many fish exploding out of the ocean that you could reach out from the shore and simply pluck one out. It sounded like a paradise, the kind of place Weiss would be thrilled to live at. A place where seagulls were common.
Father finished cleaning his hands in her sink after about roughly ten or fifteen minutes, then exited the washroom as he ran a finger along his towels. "The child. What did you speak of?"
Weiss did her best to recite Blake's description of Menagerie, the Faunus that lived there, the White Fang that her parents ran from there, and anything else she could. She carefully omitted any talk that related to her own wings.
At the end of it, Father nodded. "Excellent. She spoke truthfully; we shall, in all likelihood, be forced to travel to her homeland at some point." He noticed her eyes widen. "Not today, but certainly in the future. Weiss, you need to understand that this is not like the other businessmen that I introduce you to. Belladonna and Belladonna's wife are going to be woven into the framework of the SDC to the point that our images shall eventually be indistinguishable."
"They're going to take over the company?" Weiss asked, minor horror in her voice. Weiss may have been the lowest of the Schnees, being their only full-blooded Faunus, but she was a Schnee just the same, and the idea of her sister being stripped of her birthright sounded dreadful.
Even if it was Blake in her place.
"No." Father's eyes flared with fury at the mere insinuation of it, but he didn't seem to look at Weiss as they did. "Never. But we shall be their principal sponsors and they our biggest allies in the upcoming conflicts."
Weiss knew better than to interrupt, so she simply waited for Father to explain which conflicts he was talking about.
He knelt down in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Weiss, you are a Faunus. That makes you less."
Weiss nodded, steadying her breathing.
"But with the aid of Belladonna and his wife, that may change. That is my goal; to ensure that even the Faunus of the Schnee family are elevated above those who deserve to be beneath us. Faunus or not, you are my daughter, and that affords you greater prestige than any man, woman, or animal on Remnant."
That…
That was…
Weiss leapt out of bed and rushed to give her father a hug. He'd never said anything so nice to her in the past, and she was so happy that he'd finally acknowledge her as a –
"Oh, right. Um, may I have permission to hug you, Father?"
Father rolled his eyes and exited from the embrace.
"If this was an influence of Belladonna's offspring, please do your best to rise above it, Weiss. You are a Schnee. Forgiveness is something we grant others, not the reverse. And you do not ask permission. You take it."
Nicholas Schnee died at the age of 53.
Tears were shed, though none by Jacques. He offered fair words at the funeral, pleased that he'd finally escaped his father-in-law's influence but equally perturbed that the vultures circling his company would now feel there was an exploitable weakness present.
Perhaps, now that Nicholas was gone and Willow more powerless than ever before, Jacques might've felt confident enough to have Weiss removed, but he knew it would be a mistake. He'd invested too much into the image of a kind, doting father who accepted his 'full-blooded' Faunus daughter to back out now. If he attempted to bring back the mines back to optimal efficiency, he'd lose all his goodwill with the new age folks, and the old money would never accept him back after the devastating damages he'd inflicted by turning his back on them.
It wasn't as though he needed to anyways. Higher paid Faunus stimulated the economy, presenting new markets. He paid them more to mine his Dust, and in turn they purchased appliances that ran on the very same Dust using the very same lien; little of that money truly exited Jacques' pocket. The SDC no longer needed to worry about the SDME's openness to litigation from Faunus rights groups; it now commanded many of those groups, albeit behind the scenes.
There was one change he could implement, though, now that Nicholas was gone. He would need to wait a suitable amount of time, but after it, none would ever call Weiss an illegitimate bastard or Jacques oblivious to his wife's dalliances again.
About half a year after her grandfather died, Winter left for the military, and everything changed.
Save for Klein and her parents, Weiss was now alone in the manor. Despite being a lavish mansion, the belongings on the shelves and suits of armor adorning the walls offered little comfort to a small child in need of companionship. It was still too early into Father's partnership to actually work with the Belladonnas in person, so Blake was merely her pen pal.
Weiss found herself struggling to remain upbeat in times like this. It was one thing to put on a face when they went out in public, but in the privacy of her own room, she found herself throwing all of her time into her studies simply to pass the long hours.
Marathon sessions of reading, writing, arithmetic, studying, and reviewing the work her tutors assigned her swirled together with the loneliness that plagued her mind, resulting in Weiss beginning to suffer from fitful sleep. It was nothing traumatic like the chronic nightmares that plagued her in her early youth but merely the effect of her brain being stuck in the on position when she went to bed. Equations, quotations, vocabulary, and historic dates swirled around in her head and refused to go away until exhaustion overcame her.
Klein helped every night without fail, never forgetting a single night's calming lullaby or warm glass of milk (his signature coffee would have only exacerbated the issue), but Weiss categorically refused to drag him out of bed when she awoke from her own, not after everything he did to accommodate her.
Thus, when she awoke from her slumber, Weiss instead chose to visit her mother tonight, in hopes that she might be able to help Weiss return to dreamland.
Mother had taken Grandfather's death particularly hard, but Weiss was sure she would be able to make time for her daughter if asked. She was Weiss' mother, after all.
The dark path through the winding corridors of the manner nearly threatened to get Weiss lost at some points. She never knew why there had to be such great distances between her room and her parents, or between her room and Win–
Weiss maintained her composure. Winter, her sister who had abandoned her, would not make her cry any more. She only had power over Weiss if Weiss handed it to her. That was what Father had told her when Winter had announced her departure and disappeared in the same day.
Weiss was now sole heiress to the SDC, a title she was torn between despising or accepting out of spite. Winter was supposed to be the future CEO, at which point Weiss would join at her side as her loyal sister and greatest ally, but now that future had been ripped away. Instead, Weiss would be the one at the helm of the ship, all alone as her sister played soldier with Major Ironwood and her huntress team…
I will not cry. I will not. I am a Schnee, and Schnees do not shed tears.
She arrived at her parent's door just in time, as the dam was moments away from breaking if she'd been forced to spend any more time alone with her tempest of negative thoughts.
Weiss considered knocking to announce her presence and awaken her parents, but she could see the light on through the door, meaning her parents were still awake at this late hour. Gently reaching the knob to not cause a stir, Weiss peaked inside.
Her parents were awake, and they…weren't alone. Weiss felt a shiver run down her spine as she took in the scene before her.
Father stood facing a window, holding a drink to his lips occasionally. He was turned away from both his and mother's bed and Weiss at the door.
Mother was in bed, without any clothes on for some reason. There was also a winged man in the bed with her who also didn't have on any clothes, and they were moving, and…
Weiss stayed quiet and leaned forward a little to see more of the room. With Father's back to her and mother distracted by the man on top of her, neither of them even noticed Weiss.
There were actually three men standing on the opposite side of the bed. Weiss couldn't see them all that clearly, given that she was attempting to remain small and out of sight, but she could see one thing well enough.
They all had…
Weiss felt another shiver.
…wings. White wings. Different than hers in shape and shading, but all white wings.
The man who was with mother made a bunch of noise and shifted around a bunch. Mother remained silent, until he climbed away from her and out of the bed.
"Are we done?" asked Weiss' mother, her voice empty.
"No," said Weiss' father.
Neither of them even noticed Weiss watching from the partially ajar doorway.
"Jacques, you…you can't…"
"I can leave, Willow. Would you prefer that?"
Mother grew silent at that. Another man took off his shirt and began to fiddle with his belt.
"Jacques, there's no more need. The first would be enough."
"We must be sure," Father said, taking another drink. "I know not what aberration caused your and my child to develop a Faunus trait, but I refused to count on it a second time. In vitro requires a clinic, meaning a paper trail – out of the question. Fret not, though. After this is done, you shall never have to do this again."
"You don't need to be here. Please, just walk out that door so that you don't have to…to see me so."
Weiss pulled back a little, careful not to make any sudden movement that would draw attention to her. Mother and Father were focused on one another and didn't even seem to notice her.
"You'd stop the second I left the room."
Weiss heard the bed creak as Willow sat up. "I'm your wife! You can't make me do this!"
"I'm not making you do this. Weiss is."
Weiss froze. Her name, her fault…and mother sounded so unhappy. Was it because of Weiss? Did she do something wrong, and now her parents were arguing? They'd argued before, but it never had sounded this hateful.
"If you birth a human child, the world will keep spinning. But if the next is a Faunus with the same or similar wings, her future will be made only more secure."
A moment passed between the two in silence. Weiss leaned forward a little bit and saw her mother lying back down from her seated position on the bed.
"F-For Weiss?" came a weak voice.
"For Weiss," responded a more sure one.
"And then no more?"
"And then no more."
"Okay. I love you, Jacques."
There was another silence.
"J-Jacques? I love you so much, my heart. Do…Do you…"
The winged Faunus man had finished taking off his pants and was now in his undergarments at the side of the bed. "Ummmmm…Mr. Schnee, s-should I…how should I…"
"Proceed," said Father.
"Yes, just get it over with," Mother grumbled, sounding irate. "Fucking animal."
Weiss backed away from the room as the man climbed atop her mother and ran all the way back to her room, not caring about making a racket. Who cared if she woke up a servant or two when she'd…when her parents were arguing because of…
Only when she was wrapped up in sheets with her face buried into the pillow that Weiss trusted herself enough to speak.
"Was that my fault? Did I make them do that?"
It was. Father had said it, and he never lied. Even Mother had been convinced by the explanation, accepting it without issue.
She was a seagull, and they were evil nuisances that ruined other people's lives.
Whitley Schnee was born in the early months of the next year, a bouncing baby Faunus with two beautiful white swan wings to match his swan sister's. A perfect heir to one day replace Weiss as she herself had replaced Winter along the line of succession.
Willow Schnee made a failed attempt to take her life shortly thereafter. Postpartum depression, the doctors explained.
Weiss' mother never looked at her the same.
Next Chapter: Ropa Gigas
In which Weiss Schnee must prove that she can uphold the Schnee legacy.
Author's Notes
Man, I'm so glad I wrote a fluff fic for once instead of something heavy or dark like I usually do. I'm such a good author of varied talents.
(nah she gonna be immediately ok next chapter we cool fam stow yer pitchforks and shit)
As for the summary:
Plus one Blake.
Plus one Kali.
Minus one Nicholas.
Minus one Winter.
Plus one Whitley.
Minus one Willow.
No net change. RIP.
Just to be clear, Jacques and Willow aren't getting up to some kinky shit or something. Jacques is essentially paying men to rape his wife, because what I just wrote was not consensual even though Willow said yes. This fic won't have anything as heavy as that again, aside from some typical RWBY-esque violence.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!