Authors note: Haha this chapter should show some fun stuff, this sorta begins Whitley's story arc for this story too.
i did have a full plan for Whitley, since Whitley is the only family member Jacques can truly build a bond with now. as such he's the only one Jacques can be more direct and hands on with, especially with how apprehensive and unsure Whitley usually is. so, Jacques intends to fully support him and push whitley towards the life the boy wanted to lead. a Hunter's life.
Jacques had been trying to enter his Mindscape' for quite some time, he'd probably been at this every day for the past week. But he hasn't made much progress at all, he needed to succeed If he wanted to protect his children. Winter and Weiss were strong, he was sure of that. But Whitley… with what's to come, Whitley will need someone to keep him safe. Jacques will become that figure, for as long as his weary body will allow him to keep moving. He will protect his children, no matter what. Though Jacques was done with his attempt for the day, it'd been a few hours. He'd need something to eat, so he simply got to his feet. Leaving the room, before starting to walk through the halls. Eventually he noticed Whitley, his one and only son. The boy visibly paused when seeing Jacques, almost tensing up.
"Ah, Whitley. My boy, come here for a second. I'd like to have a word with you" Jacques would gesture to the other, smiling a little as he saw his son approaching. Apprehensive as they may have been about it, Jacques just calmly watching.
"Yes father? I've been studying etiquette like you asked, I'm sorry if it isn't good enou-" Whitley almost seemed like he was going to cry, but Jacques simply stopped him from speaking by placing a hand on the boy's head. Ruffling his hair affectionately, it'd been so long since Jacques showed any care or love to his children. That mistake, he'd never make it again.
"No my boy, you've been doing better than even I could've imagined. But let me ask you this, my son. Are you doing this because you want to? Or just to appease me? Because I do not need you to appease me, no. I need my son to be what they want to be, don't just blindly follow what I say. Make me proud, by taking your own path in this world. Cast aside this company, it's nothing but a prison to you. Show me the potential you truly have, you're my son. If there's one thing you'll always be, it's that" Jacques spoke, his tone filled with confidence. Just watching the boy staring up at him, hanging onto every word he was saying.
"Father… I wouldn't know where to start, and… you were so against Weiss's dreams. What makes me different?" Whitley asked, you see. Much like his older sisters, Whitley had always looked up to Nicholas schnee. A great man, and an even greater hunter. Wanting to follow his grandfather's oath, Jacques had always forbidden it. Until now, but why? Why did he choose to allow Weiss to detest him, yet actively show support for Whitley? Simple, Whitley never hated him. He didn't have that hate driving him like Weiss, so… Jacques would show that he supports Whitley's dream. So that the boy will actually pursue it.
"Weiss detests me, Whitley. She is driven by her hatred of me. I've been a terrible father, that much I can admit. Yet through all of that, you never once truly hated me. Your sisters and mother very much do now, but you still held out a sense of hope. Hope that we could be a family again, I don't see why I shouldn't reward you for that. You may follow your dreams, become a hunter or whatever you choose to be. Because no matter what you'll do great, you're Whitley schnee. The greatest creation of Jacques schnee, throughout his entire life of business." Jacques spoke, looking over his shoulder at Whitley. Watching the boy shake a bit from emotion, noticing the boy tearing up.
"Come with me, my son. There's something I would like to show you, something that will help you on your journey. I can't show support to Weiss, because of her hatred for me. As much as I may want to do so, I can only do it from afar. But with you? I'll take a hands on approach, I'll make you the greatest schnee this family has ever seen. I'll make sure Nicholas would be proud of you" Jacques would begin leading Whitley along with him, snatching a sandwich from a passing cart a servant was pushing. Thanking them before he began eating it, swiping his CEO card on the door to the room he'd been training in.
"Father? Isn't this the room you told me to never go near?" Whitley asked, to which Jacques simply nodded and stepped inside. Followed by Whitley, the door closing behind them both with a hiss.
"Welcome Whitley, to the room housing all of the schnee families hunting knowledge throughout the years. Only the CEO can enter here, however I've changed that tradition in order to support your dreams. Because your future is more important to me than some old tradition, you'll need these" Jacques would hand Whitley a few books on aura, Grimm species, dust uses and even weapon crafting.
"you'll want to unlock your aura I'm sure, I can have one of the security guards do it. Or I can… contact ironwood personally, to request that he do so. Once you have your aura unlocked, then the real journey begins. If you so wish, I will enroll you into combat school so that you can properly train and gain experience. I do not expect you to place the top of your class, that would be foolish. But try your hardest at everything, get good test scores. If you do well enough, I will see to it that you get into atlas academy properly" Jacques put the proposal out there, seeing Whitley's face genuinely light up in joy for the first time in so many years. Jacques' heart felt heavy, painful as he looked at that expression. To think he had been so stupid, ruining the lives of his own children because of his greed. He can't salvage things with willow, weiss and winter. But for as long as he's breathing, he will be the greatest father Whitley could hope for. He will protect this last familial bond he has, he'll be a father Whitley can truly love and look on with pride. Even if such a thing were to end his life, he would still push towards it. He's died once already after all, death no longer scares him.
"You'd really do that for me? Really!?" Something about the excitement in Whitley's voice made the father feel good, seeing the boy so happy for once. It truly made him feel a sense of joy himself, a small smile across his face.
"Of course my boy, for as much as I may want to keep you and Weiss here within the nest. So that I may protect you both, that's just not something I can realistically do. Weiss would never listen anyway, I can't salvage the relationship I once had with her. But I can with you, and I will try my best to do so. So, I'll support your aspirations for being a hunter. I'll contact ironwood to have him unlock your aura, then I'll see to getting you a weapon you would like" Jacques responded without a second thought, letting out a small 'oof' when a body slammed into his. Whitley was hugging him, for the first time in who knows how many years Jacques was hugged by one of his children. The man couldn't help but allow tears to fall from his eyes, calmly returning the hug his son was giving him. As he silently sat there crying, from the joy of the hug and the regret of everything he had done before in his past life. Is this what he missed out on by being so greedy and selfish? Did he truly miss out on moments of joy like this? Oh what a sad life you had led Jacques schnee, what a pitiful life indeed.
"You may return to your room now, my son. I'll need to make that call to ironwood after all, I hope you can wait a little longer to unlock your aura. Since unfortunately I cannot do so for you" Jacques did actually seem to regret the fact he couldn't do so, if he'd become a hunter he could've but when it got tough when he was a child. He simply ran away from it all, abandoning thoughts of that life to instead live lavishly and easily. But knowing what was to come? His resolve was steeled, in the next few years Jacques would become the hunter he hadn't been able to become in the past… and he'd make sure his family had the necessary strength too.
"Thank you… fa- no… thank you, dad" Whitley smiled at Jacques before leaving the room, leaving Jacques frozen in shock. He had always made his children use etiquette, calling him father instead of dad. Well, ever since Nicholas died at least. But hearing Whitley call him dad again… something about it just filled him with joy, something so simple. Yet here he was, completely full of joy because of it. Once he was sure Whitley was far enough away, Jacques would pull out his scroll. Dialling the number of a certain general, before pressing the call button. Seeing the general's face pop up when he answered the call.
"What do you want, Jacques? If this is about increasing dust prices again… it's already hard for people to afford it as is" James sounded annoyed as he said that, though Jacques simply shook his head at the idea.
"Not at all, in fact I think we should lower the price. Sure profits may go down, but more people with access to dust means more customers and better security all around doesn't it?" Jacques spoke, James seemed completely shell shocked by the idea. Jacques schnee of all people, taking a hit to his profits in order to supply more people? It doesn't make any sense to the general, Jacques had never done so before even during times of crisis.
"What do you really want, Jacques? I'm sure there's a condition to this" James asked again, voice completely serious. Jacques just chuckled a bit at that, ever prescriptive the man was.
"Yes there's a condition, you know me all too well. It's nothing major, I want you to come by the manor to unlock Whitley's aura. I've decided to allow him to become a hunter, perhaps it will help him find the man he wants to be. On top of that, would you be opposed to mentoring Weiss? Don't tell her I told you to do it though, she resents me. She'd think I was trying to hinder her progress, so she wouldn't listen to you. No, pretend you're doing it in secret. Behind my back, that way she'll fully listen to your teachings" Jacques asked seriously, James again seemed shocked. But also like he didn't believe it in the slightest.
"Really Jacques? You? Allowing them to become hunters? I doubt that, this is another bid for political power isn't it?" James asked, an underlying cold tone to his voice. Jacques was hurt, but he knew that's likely how it seemed.
"No James, it has nothing to do with political power. I could care less what those pompous council jack offs think of me, useless bunch they are. I'll wire some funds to your account, use it to train Weiss… I'll wire an extra amount too. Use that to update the firewall on atlas tech, watts left recently did he not? Wouldn't want Him to still have access if he returns correct? So, scrub the systems clean of his influence. Just to be safe" Jacques knew how risky this was, I mean he was basically changing a massive event from the future by doing this. Painting a huge target on his back by doing so, however… he knew it was for the better.
"How did you know watts left? We didn't even announce that to the public… you have a point though, we'll investigate the security systems for anything suspicious" James responded, seeming a bit disturbed by the fact Jacques knew about watts. What else did the schnee CEO know that he hadn't told anyway? However his expression shifted when the money was wired to his account, the general would have a lot of money to use to fix the security that's for sure. The atlas council barely gave the military any funding, yet they were still so advanced. Jacques however usually never gave any money to the military, with good reason. He's quite easily the richest man in remnant, richer than all the other council members combined multiple times over. He'd just given James the equivalent of about a decade of council funding, and for what? Just in exchange for training his daughter and unlocking his son's aura?
"The world is a very dangerous place James, use that money well and atlas will be safe for many years to come. You cannot allow anyone to know I did this James, the world must always hate Jacques schnee. That's just how it is, no matter what actions I take. I beg you, do not let anyone know. Allow them to hate me, target me. All of it, do it all so that my children do not have that target placed upon them. I'll be the giant pillar of a target, the distraction. To keep attention off of my children, so they may take their own path. Much like winter did. The greatest hero the world ever knows, is the hero that no one knows ever existed" Jacques spoke softly at the end, smiling. James still seemed shocked, but actually allowed himself to smile for once. Because Jacques had proven this wasn't to gain favour, after all he was asking that no one be informed of his good actions. He's willing to paint himself as the villain, so that his children can become the heroes.
"What happened to you Jacques? You're different now, very different… you almost.. remind me of your old self." James asked, making Jacques pause in consideration before he just chuckles a bit.
"You could say that I was reborn in a sense, I had a change of heart. I guess I had a dream, and saw what would happen if I stayed the same. After seeing something like that? It's only natural I try to change things" Jacques spoke before saying goodbye to James, ending the call before putting his scroll in his pocket. Smiling slightly.
He'd take his first step towards changing his fate now, not only that. But he had allowed Whitley to take a step into the life the boy wanted, and Jacques couldn't be more proud.