Weiss didn't buy it. It was to.. neat.

The idea of a greater evil, the enemy of Remnant. The mother of Grimm. The world could never be that simple.

She sat in one of the many armchairs as the group talked. Jaune, no, for the moment he was Ozpin, stood in the center of the room as he spun his tales.

Nora seemed to take the information in her stride, bounding around the room and enthusiastically babbling about what she could do with the maiden powers if she had them. Ren seemed to take a more reserved approach, stopping Ozpin every few minutes to clarify something or ask a question.

Weiss liked Ren, not that they had spoken much. Even if their priorities were different he seemed as skeptical as she was.

What were her priorities, actually? A month ago she would have said her team, or perhaps just the opposite of whatever her father wanted. With her partner gone, things had changed- and ignoring Jacques was becoming increasingly difficult.

She missed Blake and Yang. The pair were as much family to her as Ruby had been. Weiss had been unconscious when the airship came for her, knocked out by the blast that she was told destroyed Beacon tower. According to JNR, the two remaining members of her team were alive; though Yang had been grief-stricken and Blake.. well Blake had just been stabbed. When she finally had the presence of mind to send people out looking, nobody could find trace of either of them.

It was infuriating.

She wasn't an idiot. She knew suppressing her emotions was unhealthy, but what else could be done? With the world as it was, there was hardly time to focus on something as trivial as personal trauma. Individuals, including herself, were insignificant. The 'Ice Queen' simply had more important things to worry about.

The apparent existence of magic, for example. While she was skeptical of Ozpin's story there were still things that clicked into place a little too nicely for it to be entirely false.

So there was a secret war happening for the fate of Remanent, and her father was building an army. That left Weiss in a rather unique position. Even indirectly, Jacques had the right idea. The force of student huntsmen stationed at the Schnee manor was an invaluable resource, it was just a matter of using them correctly.

Ozpin was powerful, and she didn't believe for a moment that his possession of Jaune was a coincidence.

"Miss Schnee?" She jumped. Oum that was strange, his voice got considerably deeper whenever the Professor was in control. "Are you well? You seem very quiet."

Weiss nodded quickly, shifting in her seat. "I was just taking it all in."

"Of course." He held his hands behind his back in such an un-Jaune way. "This can't be easy to accept."

"No, it fits." She looked him dead in the eye. "And I can't discredit what you've done to Jaune."

"I suppose you're right." Ozpin gave a small laugh, "Though I assure you, I can't take control unless he allows it."

"Your auras are separate then?"

"Indeed. Think of my power as a well he can draw upon if his own is ever depleted."

Weiss nodded, filing away the information as the beginnings of a plan began to form in her mind. Well, it wasn't a plan per se. It was insurance. Ozpin was powerful, and he was hiding things- That made him a threat.

Her father was a monster, but his tactics were sound. The Schnee family didn't have a monopoly over the Dust industry by coincidence after all. They always covered their backs.

The heiress coughed. "I'd.. prefer to hear it from Jaune if you don't mind."

Ozpin nodded and a second later there was a flash in his eyes as something visibly shifted. Jaune stumbled for a moment before regaining his balance, looking at her with huge, idiotic eyes. His expression was sheepish; the sort of face you'd make after being caught skipping class, not hosting an immortal wizard.

What an absolute dolt.

"So uh.. yeah. What he said. I'm still figuring it out, but I can see his memories and he can see mine.." The blond scratched the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "I know what I was doing wrong in training now- well, I was doing a lot of things wrong in training. You all probably knew that though, it seems so obvious now that all this knowledge is suddenly just-" he gestured broadly at his head, "Here."

Interesting. Weiss nodded and stood up. The others called to her but she made her excuses and stalked quickly out into the hallway. Her scroll was already in her hand as she hastily typed out a number and put the device to her ear.

"Good evening, this is the Schnee-"

"This is Weiss."

"Ah." The voice on the other end became irritatingly nervous. "How can I help you, ma'am?"

"I require some files from the Atlas scientific databases, can you get those for me?"

"Which files you need?"

"Information regarding Penny Polendina, specifically any documents detailing her creation and maintenance."

There was a pause. "I'm sorry Miss Schnee, those documents are highly classified and-"

"I told you who I was, didn't I? Or are you just a fool who forgets who they're speaking to halfway through a conversation? I wasn't making a request, that was an order. Unless you want to get my father on the line?"

Wiess held her breath. Jacques's habit of firing anyone who wasted his time was common knowledge throughout the company.

"I.. Of course. Apologies Miss Schnee."

Click.

The heiress hung up and slumped against the wall.

Always cover your back.

(She just hoped it wouldn't be necessary.)

A.N. Like the new cover art? The website squished it a bit but I'm still rather proud :)

D iscord . gg (slash) v5HHnpS