Disclaimer: no I'm still just a broke college boy
Atlas Memorial
City of Atlas
Kingdom of Atlas
September 20th
80 A.G.W.
Whitley was regretting his rescue, as he wished he was back on the island. The clean and sterilized white walls of the Doctors' office were making him stir crazy and bored out of his mind. The white of the Doctor's office used to make him feel like he was at home because that kind of white is everywhere throughout the community of the City of Atlas, the council having decided to keep the City white and clean, and instead shove all the dirt, crime, filth and anything that would be unsavory away and making the City of Mantle deal with it.
The thoughts of what the kingdom had done to its former capital, crossed Whitleys mind, causing him to frown as the tapping of his foot on the floor of the Doctors Office was his only companion. The tapping continued, as he was left to his own devices, mind racing, the three years upon the island, causing him to never be able to fully relax, he instead hyper fixated on the walls, straining his ears he was able to make out the doctor in the next room telling his butler Klein about his injuries. That thought makes Whitley frown as he considers the implications, only the Butler cared enough to come and visit him after his disappearance, not his Mother, neither of his two sisters, only the Butler cared enough.
As Whitley stewed in his confusion, a look of disgruntlement and anger crossed his face. Klein turned his attention to the doctor, a shorter man, Klein looked down on the doctor, as the man rummaged around the papers and files on his desk, before catching the black sheets he was looking for. "As you can see here, Mr. Sieban." The doctor says as he lifts the black sheets up to the white screen, as he does the black blocks out a lot of the light, highlighting the image of bones left visible. "His left arm was broken cleanly here and there." The doctor continued as he raised his hand to highlight the improperly healed fractures upon his arm. "And it's not only this." The doctor continued as he placed new X-rays on the screen. This one instead reveals Whitley's skull, showing fractures at the base of the back of his head. "There's even more than that Mr. Sieban." Lifting his hand to show the countless stacks of black papers, Klein's face pales as the thought of what that means crosses his mind.
"And what does this mean, Doctor Azure." Concern was evident in his voice, while he also was attempting to latch onto some type of hope, even if he knew it was probably just wishful thinking.
The doctor's face grew serious, a look that plummeted Klein's heart even more. "What I'm trying to say, Mr. Seiban is this." The doctor pauses as he tries to find the words to best describe the situation. "The teen you lost on that wreck all those years ago, isn't the man who had returned."
As Doctor Azure continued to tell Klein about the changes to his body and speculate about what occurred to him on the island Whitley focused on the small screen in the corner of the waiting room of the doctor's office. The screen normally showing the Atlesian News has been changed, probably in some type of respect to Whitley himself. Nothing better than constantly seeing his face every time he booted up anything even three years later and the missing billionaire and his son were on a loop in the Atlesian Media. Whitley was almost happy with his decision to not announce his return from the dead yet, as the media would've had a field day with the return.
But with the current scene showing on the screen, Whitley almost wished it was showing his face every time he looked at it. Instead, the uneasiness he felt all those years ago when he first ended up on the island came rushing back to him, as on the screen they're showing nothing but storms. Grabbing the handles of the chair he was sitting in, the man breathed in and out, attempting to relax his body, sadly instead the memories come back to him, replaying vividly in his head, like a movie on repeat, and the man is helpless to do nothing but succumb to them.
Crystal Glider
Mầt Archipelago
Eastern Coast of Anima
Kingdom of Mistral
August 7th
77 A.G.W.
The rocking of the ship made Whitley feel sick to his stomach, the churning waters of the sea, being amplified by the storm turning overhead only made him feel worse. The queasiness of his stomach was only somewhat settled by the bread the teen had to force himself to finish.
Barely managing to scarf the food down, Whitley moaned as the food churned in his stomach along with the rocking of the boat. He turns his attention towards the man who gave him the advice, his father's bodyguard Hackett.
The man towered over Whitley, who even though he was 14 barely was up to the man's chest. His scar-adorned face showed his skill and history of conflict, namely in his actions guarding and running the Schnee Company Mines.
"I thought you told me bread would help me?" The teen whined, pitifully at the man who was staring him down.
Chuckling Hackett shakes his head in disbelief at the teen. "I said something light like crackers would be able to help you, not half a loaf of bread." The bigger man slaps the teen on the back, doing nothing but making the teen almost fly over the railing.
As the two stand there, Whitley on the verge of being sick from the boat rocking, and Hacket smiling a grin, taking in deep breaths and exhaling the salt air, the man felt alive for the first time in years. Probably for the first time since taking the bodyguard job over the owner of the Schnee Dust Company and his family, even with the teen's attitude and spoiled behavior.
"I just don't get it," Whitley says in between his gasps, the teen finally settling in with the rocking of the boat, as the storm somewhat settled around them as the boat sailed into the eye of the storm. "Why would my dad want me to come on this trip?" His confusion is evident.
The question makes Hackett pause for a second, he turns and looks the teen up and down, fully taking him in. The teen looks like his father in skin tone and hair color only. Where Jacques himself stood with pride and carried himself with power that one gains with the position of power, such as being the CEO of the Whitley himself was very different in posture. He stood more with a slouch as if he was second-guessing every one of his actions, something that would make anyone attempting to use the teen happy.
Hackett momentarily and involuntarily grinned at the thought, while he had issues with Jacques, the teen while annoying was one Hackett could work with. Feeling the grin he quickly replaced it with a look of faux concern. "You're the heir to the company Whitley, after what your sisters did to your father, you're the heir, you're the silver child." He finishes out with a little pun, slightly chuckling to himself at his pun, attempting to use humor to placate the child.
Hackett and his attempt at humor went over Whitley's head, as the teen immediately looked angry at the mention of his sisters. The boiling of his blood makes the teen see red, and ignore the look on Hackett's face, the man having never seen such anger before on the young heir.
"Don't mention them to me." Whitely spits out. The venom in his voice made Hackett pause for a moment. He'd never seen such vitriol from the teen before.
As Hackett was preparing to open his mouth, a sudden crashing of thunder roared from above, as the boat began to be pelted by rogue waves. Cupping his hands over his mouth the bodyguard was opening his mouth, preparing to help get Whitley inside. But just as the noise was about to come out, the sudden slamming of a door drew his attention away from the teen.
Jacques Schnee was not a man to be trifled with anywhere in the world of Remnant. And especially not when his face was blood red. The red was made even more prominent from the pale white of Jacques' skin normally, mixed with the white of his suit coat. "Hackett!" He screams out, his normally calm and collected voice thrown out the window as rage fills the air between the three people.
Hearing the rage coming from his boss Hackett instinctively grabs his pistol, tucked into the holster within his suit, and he hides it behind his back. The only sign of him grabbing the gun was the audible click of him taking off the safety and pulling down on the hammer of his revolver cocking the pistol. Well, it would've been audible if it wasn't for the raging storm overheard.
The bodyguard though, in total contrast to his actions, instead smiled, having already grown used to the faux smile constantly covering his face. "Yes, Mr. Schnee." He greeted back politely, his voice never wavering or showing any hint of his true actions.
"What the hell is this?" Jacques asked as he threw a stack of papers at the bodyguard, most of them being blown overboard by the wind or destroyed by the rain. But a few papers despite the conductions found their mark as they landed against Hackett's chest. Intrigue plauged the bodyguard as he used his free hand to grab the papers thrown at them. Even just glancing at them his fears were concerned.
Opening his mouth to explain the situation Hackett is interrupted by the CEO who is marching closer to him. "You tried stealing 14 million Lien from me, and expected me not to notice?" The billionaire scoffs as he asks the redundant question.
"14 million Lien Jacques." The bodyguard snapped back as he threw the papers into the wind, watching for a moment as like the ones earlier they too were blown over the railing and into the deep unforgiving sea. "You wouldn't have missed it." The bodyguard continued as he stepped closer to Jacques, attempting to close some of the distance between the two men.
"It was you," Whitley muttered out loud, surprising both men as they had forgotten the teen was even around. "You're the one who got the investigations called on us. The shutting down of some of the Faunus dust mines." Whitley's eyes snapped open and a look of betrayal crossed his face. "It was all a big trick wasn't it?" The teenager asked, pride filling some of his voice as he started to put some of the recent family struggles to light.
"Huh. Kid, you're smarter than you look." Hackett spoke, a lack of words was evident as he turned towards the heir, a strange mixture of emotions crossed his face, but the one that was the most startling was a look of pride. But the pride quickly turned to anger as he turned back towards Jacques. "You were never supposed to have missed it, I would take it and then be gone in the wind." Hackett quickly pulls the gun out from behind his back and points it at Jacques' chest. "And I'd never once again have to take an order from you, your drunk alcoholic wife, or your spoiled brat of a son ever again."
With Hackett's attention fully on his father, Whitley's eyes widened and he began to frantically search around the deck. Locking onto an old bow, normally hanging as a decoration within Jacques's quarters, the bow must've been knocked loose in the storm, as it sat instead a few feet away from the door that Jacques just stormed through.
Blind to the teens' actions Hackett continued to glare at Jacques. "I'm actually glad you forced yourself onto this boat Jacques." Hackett began as he steadied his grip on the gun. "Killing you will make all the years of pain and bullshit you put me through worth it." Not even giving the man a chance to respond Hackett pulls the trigger on his revolver, the bullet piercing through the air found its mark. The red of Jacques's face was now the second most red part of him, as blood began to flow out of his bullet hole, staining his white jacket. Not even allowing Jacques to fall, Hackett let out a second round into the chest, this one going straight through the heart of the billionaire.
Jacques falls to the door with a thud, the rain washing the blood down the deck of the boat and crashing into Whitley's shoes. Knowing he had to do something Whitley found his best course of action, something he thought his father would have enjoyed as well. The act of self-preservation. Closing his eyes the teen muttered a quick prayer to the Twin Brothers Whitley launched himself. Having gotten lucky with a wave he gained extra momentum as he threw himself towards the bow, which he grabbed and shakily began to pick up, having not used a bow in years since his father gave up trying to teach him. A fact that he hoped Hackett wouldn't know.
"A bow really Whitley? What are you going to do, shoot me?" Hackett asked, a mocking tone taking over. "We're 500 miles from the nearest city or even settlement. And you don't know how to pilot a boat."
"I've been told I can be a fast learner." Whitley quips back, trying to avoid the fact he was standing in his father's blood. "Now just keep your hands where I can see them." The teen attempted to steady his voice and calm his nerves.
"Look at yourself," Hackett calls out, as he pulls down on the hammer of his revolver. The click signaled he wasn't in a mood to mess around. "You're not Robin Hood." He adds, referring to the old Valean legend of the man who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. "You're barely even a teenager, you're more like the boy who never grew up because you never had to." Hackett was now alluding to Peter Pan, the old children's story about the boy who never wanted to grow up. "You don't give a damn about anyone else, because you always had daddy's money to save you. While the rest of us had to work for a living, you grew up in luxury, no one ever being able to say no to you, except for your sisters."
The mention of his sisters once again had the teenager seeing red. Shouting at Hackett he lowers the bow to his side as he steps towards the man, his anger not allowing him to focus on the gun, just on the insult he had received. "What!" He yells over the storm, the winds whipping around them like crazy. "Is this what it's about? Do you think we owe you or something? Well if you want a piece come and take it!"
The teenager just as fast as he began to get closer to Hackett he quickly stopped in his place, as Hackett raised the gun and held it between the eyes of the teenager. "What a temper on you." That is all the man says as Whitley freezes in place.
"You won't do it." Whitley gambles, as he notices a slight hesitation in the actions of the former bodyguard. "You've been trying to work the nerve up probably since we left port." He continues attempting to get inside the man's head. "Well this isn't a dust mine, and I'm not some helpless Faunus child." Whitley steps closer to the gun, basically pressing his forehead against the muzzle of it. "I'm your friend"
"Yeah." Hackett agrees, having always enjoyed the heirs' company the most of the Schnee Clan. "Turn around." He orders, attempting not to look the teenager in the face.
"No." The teenager stands defiant. "If you're going to kill me, if you're going to take all that money. Then you're going to look me in the eyes while you do it. And I don't think you're that cold-blooded, you're not a part of The White Fang." The teen counters as he stares Hackett in the eye. The pale blue of the teenager's eyes pierced into the man's soul.
"You're right." Hackett concedes.
For a brief moment, Whitley thought he was safe as he saw Hackett lowering the gun. The moment of peace was the last thing he felt, because as quickly as he had lowered it Hackett brought it up again, and instead smashed the gun into the teenager's temple. Whitley quickly crumpled to the floor, the bow lying forgotten next to him.
Reaching into his pocket the man pulls out his scroll. "It's done." He speaks into it, silently hoping the communications tower is reaching as far as the sea.
"And the Schnees?" The woman's voice crinkles back to him, cutting in and out due to the weak connection.
"Dead," Hackett confirms, looking angrily at the bodies of the two members of the richest family in Atlas. "Now where's the bullhead, I need help getting to the island."
"It'll come in due time Hackett, it's on its way." The woman cuts in, anger quickly filling her voice as she sounds not pleased with his demands. "And make sure you put more bullets into both of them before you dispose of the body. They're your mess Hackett, they're your responsibility." The woman then quickly cuts communication with Hackett leaving him standing angrily scroll still in hand.
"Bitch." He mutters to himself, shoving the scroll back into the jacket of his suit. Turning towards Jacques he lets out two more rounds into the man, this time piercing the gap between his eyes and going straight into the brain. An action that gives Hackett more satisfaction than he would care to truly admit.
He then turns to Whitley, raising the gun to shoot the teenager, his hand shakes for a few moments before he lowers it, a look of remorse crossing his face. "Damn it." He says. "Looks like you were right after all, I'm not that cold kid." He grabs Whitley by his shirt and begins to hold him over. "But the sea is." Then Hackett drops the body and pushes the kid overboard, watching as the sea's churning waves quickly pull him under. "Sorry kid," Hackett says out loud, a sense of remorse in his voice. "But business is just business."
Atlas Memorial
City of Atlas
Kingdom of Atlas
September 20th
80 A.G.W.
The sudden shaking of Whitley's shoulder broke the boy out of his memories, the concerned face of Klein was the first thing the man saw when his vision readjusted. "Master Whitley?" The concern is immediately evident in the butler's voice, his eyes shone a light brown. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Whitley says uncertainty, his voice wavering as he replayed the death of his father in his head again. "I mean yes Klein, everything's alright." He then begins to stand, something which makes the butler quickly hurry over attempting to help the man, the X-rays fresh in his head.
"Let me help you, Master Whitley." The butler says attempting to help the man up, something which Whitley himself was quick to refuse.
"I'm fine Klein." The man snaps, shaking off the offer from the man, hurt and concern shown across the butler's face as he is scolded by Whitley. Quickly realizing his folly Whitley immediately begins to apologize. "Sorry Klein, I just don't want to feel like a burden on you."
The apology broke something inside the butler. While he had heard about and seen the injuries that Whitley dealt with on the island, the apology was what truly showed the changes within the man. "It's no problem at all, Master Whitley." Feeling the mood shifting Klein closed his eyes, the shifting feeling behind his eyes never was fully pleasant but was something he'd always use as a gift. Opening his eyes his once light brown eyes were instead yellow. "It's so good to have you back Master." The man's tone shifted as well, becoming lighter and more cheerful, clearly an attempt at changing the mood.
Appreciating the gesture Whitley gives the man a kind smile before a look of concern crosses his face. "Klein it's good to be back, but are you okay?" The man asked, with a tone that surprised the butler. "I mean I know doing that causes you pain, you don't have to do that for me."
The butler smiles at the man as they reach the limo, grabbing the door he opens it and motions for the man to get it. "I appreciate your concern Master Whitley, but the pain it causes me is nothing as long as I make sure you're okay."
"Thank you Klein, now can we go back to the Manor, it's been a long day of tests." The Schnee says as he gets into the back of the limo. The action brings back memories of his childhood.
"But sir, we're supposed to announce your return at the courthouse." The butler spoke but he saw the distant look in the man's face. He conceded his point, still worried about the man who returned from the island. "Nevermind, we can always do that tomorrow, back to the manor it is."
Sup Nerds, told yall this was coming. Hope you enjoy it, I always accept reviews as long as they're constructive. Or if you just want to stroke my ego.
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