Atonement XIV Part 6

"So, you both are criminals, one an assassin and the other who sold his kingdom out to criminals and even tried to sell his own daughter to save his own skin." Willow's tone had taken a very sharp tone.

Calm, yet cold.

Ansem stayed behind, wisely stepping out of his wife's way. Willow Schnee was not just unhappy; she was downright furious and highly murderous toward the scummy parents who had sold off their daughter to that horrible excuse of a man Corneo.

"If-If-If you do anything to us, then the council will-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Jimmy was cut off as his body was suddenly encased in ice, leaving only his head.

"I don't care what you think you can get away. The only thing you're not getting away with is what you almost tried to do to your daughter." Willow stated sharply.

Carmel pulled out a hidden knife from her side hip, moving behind Willow to stab her in the back...

Except the matriarch of the Schnee family was faster, twisting and breaking Carmel's wrist and she screamed and ice appeared, reaching to her elbow while getting colder by the second even after Willow released her.

"An attempt to kill is a good reason for me to defend myself and disable you to not do that again and be thankful all you possess is a freezer burn. Your husband is just in case, just leaving immobile for the meantime. So, you better stay there and don't make anything else worse for yourself either." Willow demanded. "You both will cooperate and help the Huntsman here save the daughter you tried to bargain away, or jail will be the least of your worries."

Meanwhile, Qrow was silent, staring in silent awe and even a little fear of Willow's actions.

How she gracefully moved and easily incapacitated the Vanille couple with little movement.

The glare though…

He had seen it before.

Replace Willow's white hair with blue and her eyes a little darker in shade and they would look exactly like…

'Oh man, she really is her daughter.' Qrow had a slight shiver now.

"You." Willow said, turning to face Qrow, shaking him from his musings.

"Yes?"

"Perhaps you would like to help find the poor young lady that these two selfishly abandoned." Willow offered with a small smile.

Oh yeah, she was definitely her daughter.

"Ah, Qrow. I heard you were in town."

Qrow strolled into Professor Ozpin's office and plopped himself right on the chair, not even bothering to wait for Ozpin to invite him to sit down. "I would be back in patch by now but I got called in to look at something. A personal favor for you know who."

"Oh? What did she ask? And does have anything to do with tonight's news?" Ozpin asked, holding up his Scroll for Qrow to see.

Private School Burned Down

Discovered as a front for a Mistralian Crime Syndicate

Vanille Family Arrested

"That might not even cover half." Qrow rolled his eyes. "You remember how we looked into the organized crime of Vale a few years ago?"

"I do." Ozpin nodded. "We suspected that an illegal distribution of Dust was being used to keep certain parties in power and making any connected parties obscenely rich."

"Turns out we were right on the money. Jimmy Vanille was helping Hei Xiong illegally smuggle Dust into Vale and turned a blind eye as long as he was paid handsomely for it." Qrow sighed.

"So, he was involved after all."

"More than that. His wife turned out to be an agent of the Spiders, the Malachite family from Mistral." Qrow continued, taking out his flask.

"Oh dear…I thought you stopped with that." Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"Special occasion, Oz. I may not bring bad luck anymore, but this job is still going to turn my hair grey faster than yours did." Qrow retorted, taking a sip.

"Oh really?" Ozpin smiled. "I am sure it will be a loss to all the women of Remnant."

"You know it." Qrow put his flask away. "They tried to sell their own daughter to Don Corneo."

Ozpin's eyes went wide. "Oh dear. Is she all right?"

"Not sure, she vanished before I got there with the police…Coreno was questioned…by Willow Schnee." Qrow answered. "She's definitely her daughter."

"Her daughter in a past life, Qrow. It's not an easy subject to approach." Ozpin cautioned. "Did they learn anything?"

"Here's the kicker: Jimmy's daughter is a member of the Gullwings."

Ozpin paused as he considered this information. "So that's how they did it."

"Huh?"

"The Gullwings seemed to have intimate knowledge of Vale's upper class and elite families, almost to the point that they had to be considered a member of those families. Jimmy's daughter would be familiar enough with how these families think and act to know the best course of actions of how to steal from them without being seen." Ozpin reasoned.

"I remember hearing a case about her a few years ago that pointed us to Jimmy in the beginning. His kid seemingly assaulted someone, but Jimmy just had the cops drop her back at the Vanille residence and he probably paid them not to press charges." Qrow continued and sighed. "And there's more."

"Oh?"

"We got a tip where Jimmy was keeping his little nest egg, and you'll never guess where it was."

"Well," Ozpin leaned back in his chair, a twinkle in his eye. "Since I'll never guess you might as well tell me."

"Under his daughter's bed. Unmarked and pure Fire Dust crystals."

Ozpin looked like he nearly sputtered. "…Un-Under his daughter's bed."

"Yup."

"I am torn between clapping my hands to applaud Mr. Vanille for his creative idea or to clap him on the head for endangering his own child." Ozpin shook his head. "How much?"

"Millions worth."

"So, we have the Vanille on charges of corruption, abuse, child endangerment and those are just off the top of my head." Ozpin sighed. "To think, I was anticipating a rather slow and uneventful month."

"You and me both, Oz. You and me both."

"RUINED! WE ARE RUINED! HOW COULD YOU WORK WITH THE SPIDERS!"

"I did it for the same reason as you! For our family! Hei Xiong and Malachite would wipe each other out and we would take over as the new crime syndicate! You're the one who thought it was a good idea to smuggle Dust and hide it in our daughter's bedroom!"

"And you were the one who suggested sending Trivia to the Spider school in the first place!"

For Jimmy Vanille, everything had gone wrong for him.

Power and prestige?

Gone.

Wealth and riches?

Gone?

Status and power?

All of it…

Gone.

His suit had been frozen by Willow Schnee, having been traded out for an orange prison jumpsuit that only furthered his humiliation. Carmel's arm was in a cast, her white dress having been replaced by a prison suit as well with her hair free from its bun, falling unevenly down her back. The Spiders had been sent running back to Mistral but that was not likely to be the end of the story.

Not when Hei Xiong would be gunning for them both now.

Don Corneo had reneged on their deal, taking their ungrateful daughter with him anyway. Whatever happened to her, they didn't know or cared.

The reputation of the family was more important.

Too bad for them, they failed to realize that in trying to protect their family image, their selfishness was what destroyed it.

Neo's Neo

A Glance into the World of Delicious Sweets

Wonder what delicious sweets are out there, just waiting to be sampled? Look no further, for I, Neopolitan am here to bring you the latest scoop on all the delicious treats that one would kill to have.

(And I mean literally kill if you are a true connoisseur of the sweets.)

Today we are reviewing the sweets provided by the Schnee Million Dreams service.

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First off, we have the Bueno Volcano:

This flavor consists of three scoops of vanilla and a mound of chocolate ice cream served in a steel sauce boat, topped with a pepper infused curry styled to resemble lava erupting from a volcano.

Review: A daring new veggie ice cream that's both healthy AND spicy. Only people who are able to handle the heat should try this bad boy.

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Next, we have the Snow Bear:

This flavor is made up of a molded set of brown sesame and white tofu ice cream, shaped into a polar bear wearing a parka with its ears sticking out, and a popsicle stick at the bottom.

Review: A healthy, tofu-flavored ice cream shaped just like a polar bear. First off, my mind is blown by the fact that someone could actually put tofu in ice cream. Like, how can they actually work together and taste soooooooooooooooooooo good. I almost didn't try it, but ice cream is ice cream and the bear is just SO cute!

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Onto the Spark Lemon:

This flavor is held at the bottom half of a lemon, with the ice cream itself swirled with a lemon streak, a slice of a lemon placed in it, and two lightning bolts opposite the slice.

Review: A lemon ice cream whose sour power will have you wincing in joy. You ever imagine an ice cream sitting on top of the bottom half of a lemon? Because I sure didn't! The taste was so good and yet so sour I thought my lips were going to be sucked right into my mouth, but it was soooooooo good!

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Now we have the Royal Berry:

This flavor is a cone of red raspberry ice cream, wrapped in a decorative paper, filled with whipped cream, and topped with two berries, a plastic heart-shaped tiara, and two round pieces of chocolate, resembling a cute mouse.

Review: A raspberry ice cream with a hint of sour hiding under all that sweet. It's so cute! It's like someone drew an image of a mouse dressed a princess or a queen and did it with ice cream of all things!

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Here we have the Sugary Skies:

This flavor consists of a rainbow-colored ice cream puffing out into three prongs like cotton candy, decorated with stars (two on the sides, three in the middle) and a trio of airplanes, making the ice cream the planes' 'exhaust', all held together on a stick.

Review: A fluffy, fun-filled cross between cotton candy and ice cream. You got to wonder if the people who make this stuff are not somehow high on all the sugar and are just making up the first thing they come to mind because it is amazing and crazy they make this stuff but I certainly am not complaining!

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And here's the Vanilla Glitz

This flavor consists of three scoops of vanilla in a glass dish, sprinkled with various colored gems.

Review: Vanilla ice cream studded with tons of gemstones. Chew carefully! It's so sparkly, it's like a treasure waiting for you in some ancient lost temple and the taste is like something out of ancient times, delicious and rich at the same time!

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Now we rock with the Rockin' Crunch:

This flavor is a bar of ice cream with a chocolate shell, forming a star-shaped crack, with nuts present in the shell, all held on a stick that resembles a knight's armor.

Review: A bittersweet, nut-covered ice cream with a sophisticated taste. As a lover of chocolate myself, I give this two thumbs-up.

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Onto the Big Bad Pete:

This flavor is made up of three different colored servings of chestnut-flavored icecream, held in a glass bowl emblazoned with a 'P,' and topped with two pieces of a chestnut resembling ears, a mound of chocolate resembling a nose and hair, two marshmallows resembling teeth, and a spoon coming out of the dish.

Review: An unusually shaped ice cream with a chestnut flavor. Whoever made this must have been thinking of some cartoon character when they were a kid.

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Here we have the Honey Bunny:

This flavor is a cone of apple ice cream with two bunny ears coming out and drips of honey on the left ear, with three on the main scoop resembling the rabbit's eyes and nose.

Review: An adorable apple and honey ice cream shaped just like a bunny. I can honestly this combines the words sweet and adorable into one, bringing ice cream and honey together into delicious harmony.

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Now we have the Goofy Parfait:

This flavor consists of small red, blue, and green scoops of ice cream with a taller swirl of rainbow sherbet in the center, all served in a parfait glass, topped with a dollop of orange ice cream and decorated with two mounds of chocolate dripping down the sides of the glass, two wafers, two slices of apple, a black cherry in front, and three sticks of Pocky underneath the dollop, all making it resemble a cartoon dog of some kind.

Review: A sundae-style ice cream piled up to look like what I hope is a cartoon dog or there is a new breed that I have never heard of. Still, this one is extra popular in Mistral and it's easy to understand why with just one taste.

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Hope you like double the flavor with the Double Crunch:

his flavor is an assortment of strawberries, kiwis, mangos, bananas, and cherries served in a waffle bowl with a scoop of fruit flavored ice cream in the middle, covered at the bottom with a red chocolate shell, two chocolate key shaped swords in the back, a small plastic Crown on top, and two round pieces of chocolate, making it resemble a king mouse of all things.

Review: A mixed ice cream so full of fruit, you might just go a little bananas. All I can say is if there was a king of the mice, this would be his favorite desert.

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Coming up on the Fabracadabra:

This flavor is served in a gold trophy-like dish with three scoops of green, blue, and red ice cream.

Review: An ice cream topped with the magic of three fruit flavors. And I assure you, the taste is so magical it's like being in a whole new world.

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Now it's time to set sail with the Donald Fizz:

This flavor resembles a bar of sea-salt ice cream, with a yellow bill in front and topped with a sailor' hat, making it look like a cute little duck.

Review: A fizzy ice cream that bears a charming resemblance to a duck that would look adorable in a sailor's costume.

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And the last on our list is the Daisy Sorbet:

This flavor is made up of a big scoop of grape sorbet in the center, surrounded by smaller scoops of blue and cyan sorbet, served in a lilac-colored dish and topped with a bow, a plastic treble clef, a plastic eighth note, and a yellow bill in front. The name of the flavor refers to its resemblance to what I guess to be the Queen of the Ducks.

Review: A grape-flavored sorbet is the main ingredient in this delectable dessert. Seriously, it looks something out of a cartoon, resembling a literal queen of ducks.

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And that everyone is it today for Neo's Neo Column. Be sure to subscribe to next week as we delve into the magical world of delicious cakes.

Ansem was quite pleased by the review column of the ice cream subsidiary branch of his company. It was quite detailed and clearly the person who wrote the article was someone who had too much love for sweets.

Oh well, everyone had their vices.

Right now, however, he was more focused waiting in the courthouse with his wife as Jimmy and Carmel Vanille were brought out of the police car, handcuffed and led into the courthouse. The trial would begin not long after, himself and Willow called upon as witnesses to deliver their own testimony.

It was mid-way through the trial when the prosecutor was approached by a guard who whispered in his ear, looking surprised before nodding. "Your Honor, a late witness has arrived and wishes to deliver their testimony."

"Can this not wait?" The judge asked.

"I'm afraid not, Your Honor. It is a key witness." The prosecutor answered.

"…Very well, call your witness."

"The prosecution calls Trivia Vanille to the stand."

Ansem raised an eyebrow while Jimmy and Carmel looked shocked as the doors opened to reveal Neo herself, dressed in her Gullwing outfit(her normal one) with her hair in its pink and brown state. She strolled forward, not even looking her parents in the eye as she took the stand.

"State your name for the record please." The prosecutor requested.

"She can't speak! She's mute for Brother's sake!" Jimmy shouted, standing up, only to pushed back down by the guard behind him.

"Jimmy Vanille, you will remain silent or be held in contempt." The judge warned the former councilor harsly.

Neo leaned forward with a smile and opened her mouth. "Neopolitan."

Her parents looked flabbergasted while the prosecutor faced her. "I was under the impression that you are Trivia Vanille, daughter of Jimmy and Carmel Vanille."

"I discarded that name when I ran away, pretty much disowning those two." Neo answered calmly, sitting back in her seat. "So even if it's still officially my name, I don't use it."

"You have troubles with your parents…Miss Neo?" The prosecutor asked carefully.

"That would be an understatement. Neither of them were ever very good parents to me." Neo scoffed. "They kept me locked up in their house, barely paid any attention to me unless I did something they didn't like which was nearly all the time and kept going on and on about being normal even though how they acted was never normal, especially with hiding piles of Fire Dust under my bed."

"So, you knew about the Dust." The prosecutor clarified while Jimmy paled.

"Knew it? It's how I was able to run away in the first place. My sisters and I found it, took and sold a bunch to get enough money to sneak out and find somewhere else to live." Neo answered to which Jimmy and Carmel looked appalled at. "I never looked back, and I was honestly surprised they actually hired someone to track me down…Only to be sent to a boarding school to be trained into their attack dog. Then they had the nerve to sell me to a crime boss, not the one who is my godfather but the one who makes a living out of taking a bride one day and feeding her to his pet Grimm in the sewers the next day if she doesn't meet his standards in bed. All because I wasn't born normal to them, my hair, my eyes and the fact until now I couldn't talk because my vocal cords were damaged."

"THAT'S A LIE!" Jimmy stood up, shouting and pointing at his daughter. "YOU'VE BEEN KEEPING YOUR MOUTH SHUT, MOCKING YOUR MOTHER AND I FOR YEARS!"

"Have you ever heard me cry, Papa?" Neo retorted, rolling her eyes. "If I could talk, why didn't you ever hear my cries as a bawling little baby? You couldn't accept I was mute, a defect, a blight on your perfect image as a normal family. Funny what you consider normal, given your wife is a confirmed spy for a foreign kingdom and you sold out the kingdom you were supposed to be protecting to criminals. That's your idea of a perfectly, normal family?"

"You…" Jimmy snarled as he was forced to sit back down…his eyes starting to turn yellow.

Ansem turned to look Jimmy, noticing a black and purple fog beginning to surround his body. 'Uh oh.'

"I hate you! I hate that you do everything to spite us! I wish we'd left you on that spec of dirt and pretended you were never born!" Jimmy Vanille shouted as the black fog expanded. "I WISH YOU HAD BURNED IN THAT FIRE!"

The black fog exploded around him, engulfing his wife who let out one final scream that echoed in the courtroom as everyone else fled in terror.

Ansem shook his head, sadly watching as the Darkness consumed Jimmy Vanille and his wife.

What emerged from it was a giant snowman with a snowy white body with blue buttons on its abdomen. It had two blue heads, one shaped like a man while the other was shaped like a woman with yellow eyes, a red zigzag mouth and a carrot for a nose. It wore a cyan pail for a hat on both heads, with light brown antlers on either side of the pail.

Its gloves and scarf were dark pink, and its scarf had a yellow button. It also wore green ice skates with yellow laces. The blades of its ice skates were cyan. There was a heart shaped hole on its chest, symbolizing the loss of heart for the two beings it once was.

Jimmy and Carmel Vanille had become a Heartless.