Chapter 76: Studious Purple
" Silva, wake up."
I heard someone call for me and ignored them in favor of sleeping longer. I soon found myself being shaken awake while called for, and I groaned.
" Silva Branwen, wake up."
" What?!"
I opened my eyes and saw an unfamiliar room, then recalled that I was stuck at Atlas Academy for the time being. As I rubbed my eyes and yawned, I saw my roommate, Winter Schnee, looking at me sternly. I asked her, wondering why she decided to wake me up.
" Why did you make me wake up with you?"
The ice queen told me in a cool tone.
" The general wants you to attend my classes with me."
I blinked once, then twice, and asked, feeling dumbfounded.
" He wants me to what?!"
Winter took out a paper to show me her orders from Tindick, and a sheet of the document stated.
[ During Silva Branwen's stay in Atlas Academy, he will be considered a guest student for the time being, and Specialist-in-training Winter Schnee will be serving as Silva Branwen's guide and minder for the duration of his stay. Any questions about handling Silva Branwen should be directed to General James Ironwood.
By the orders of
General James Ironwood ]
F*cking overgrown robot with barely a heart, James "Tindick" Ironwood. I could already guess he is doing this in an effort to change my mind about attending Beacon over Atlas. I did not sign up to be a freaking student! I huffed in annoyance and considered just disappearing right off the bat under Tindick's nose, but that would put Winter in an awkward position, and I don't want to do that to her. I let out a big sigh and asked my roommate.
" What are your thoughts on the matter, Winter?"
" Orders are orders."
Winter replied curtly, and I rephrased my question.
" What I mean is, how do you feel about being essentially a babysitter?"
The ice queen pursed her lips and, after a moment, answered.
" It doesn't matter how I feel."
" That's where you are wrong."
Winter raised an eyebrow at my reply, and I expanded on it.
" Winter Schnee, whether or not you become a soldier does not make you a blindly obedient drone that operates off of pure logic and reason. Suppressing your emotions is never recommended or a good thing in the end, as that's what separates us from machines and other people. So I ask you again, how do you feel about the matter at hand?"
The reason I am getting into this now is that I am trying to plant a seed of doubt beforehand in case, regardless of my actions against Salem in the future that James Ironwood goes off on the deep end, if the plot or the certain fate of others still exists. Plus, I honestly want to get closer to the girl in front of me as both she and Weiss have strong wills to defy their father, which I sincerely admire. Winter looked at me, stunned by my little speech, and after shaking herself out of her stupor, she asked me.
" Do you have something against the General?"
" I have a good reason not to place any trust in him."
The ice queen looked at me and silently inquired what my reason was, and I told her.
" His Semblance Mettle is the biggest reason why I do not have any faith in him because, essentially, even if his heart is in the right place, he can flat out ignore it and go for the most efficient and logical method to fulfill his goals which might not be the right choice in the first place as that makes him no different from a machine. Plus, with his Semblance, he is far more likely to ignore the advice of others in favor of his own thoughts on handling certain matters."
Winter looked lost in thought at what I said, and I told her.
" This is just my opinion on the general, so you take it with a grain of salt and form your own thoughts on him, but for now, we might as well head to class."
The ice queen pulled herself from her wandering mind and said.
" Very well then."
***
Weiss Schnee felt lost at what to do with her father missing, even taking a leave of absence from Noblesse Oblige Academy. While she is aware of the kind of man he is, she still worries about him as he is still her father in the end. The Schnee heiress continued to balance her Huntress training and the other classes Jacques wanted her to attend despite the workload pressuring her at all times with barely a moment to relax. As she studied Grimmology along with business practices, a knock came on her door, then the voice of Klein, the head butler, called out to her.
" Miss Weiss, may I come in?"
" Certainly Klein."
The butler came in and brought his young mistress some coffee to help warm her up, along with some apple danishes. Weiss smiled at her father figure's thoughtfulness and thanked him.
" Thank you, Klein."
" Anytime, my happy little snowflake."
The Schnee heiress felt closer to her butler than anyone else aside from her elder sister, which speaks volumes of how Jacques handled his home life. As Weiss furiously studied, Klein looked at her with worry and suggested.
" Young Miss, maybe you should to a moment to relax considering the current situation with the master missing."
The Schnee heiress considers the suggestion for a moment and asks the butler.
" What do you think of the chances of my father's return?"
" There is too little information even to provide an educated guess, Young Miss. Although considering there haven't been any ransom requests, I am not optimistic on his return."
Weiss felt a very slight ache in her heart at never seeing her father again. Still, it was barely noticeable as she was all too familiar with her father's manipulative and egotistical nature to feel any sort of true bond with him as she knew his actions had changed what the Schnee name meant from her grandfather's time. His grey legal practices are borderline black at times, and she knew part of the reason behind the recent Grimm invasion was because of her father giving out his theory on how the faunus were behind the recent troubles.
Klein then provided Weiss with some good news next.
" Even if the master doesn't return, the family is in good hands. The mistress has been actively trying to keep everything running and has managed to work with the SDC board of directors and everything."
" Mother?"
The Schnee heiress briefly considered that maybe her mother had a hand in her father's disappearance but quickly discarded that thought as she knew that Willow had no means of dealing with Jacques considering he controlled everything in the family. Weiss decided to follow the advice of her butler and relax for a bit. After Klein left, she turned on her TV and watched a replay of the Mistral Regional Cup finals.
***
I am officially bored out of my freaking mind! With the classes I attended along with Winter, I did manage to touch every teacher and use Soul Archive on them to make copies of their memories so I could pass the class with flying colors if I had to, and maybe in the future, tutor Winter but they still bored me to no end. Thankfully it's lunchtime, and my roommate leads me to the mess hall. As I looked at the selection of food, I felt my time in Mistral influenced my tastes as everything looked like bland slop. No, correction! Everything is bland slop that has nutritional value and little else!
I need to see if I can bring in at least a microwave, toaster oven, or even an air fryer back to the dorm room to make something that actually has taste. As I try to stomach the slop in front of me, which enforces my desire to cook something for myself and maybe Winter as well if she asks, some blonde guy walks up to us and says.
" How you have Schnee fallen, having to lead around some animal without a leash."
Wow, not even a full day has passed, and I met my first racist student today. Well, whatever, he can run his mouth all he wants to, but if he tries to get physical, then I will make an example out of him or, maybe better yet, use him as an excuse to get out of being a guest student. I really hope he escalates things quickly, as a fight sounds appealing right now. Winter greets the guy without looking at him.
" Hello, Lit."
" What too good to look me in the eye, Schnee?"
The guy mocks, but Winter continues to ignore him, and he looks at me and then grins with malice. It seems like I might be getting my fight. He walks up to me and places his hand on my shoulder, and tries to squeeze it before speaking to me, but I interrupt him.
" Sorry, while you seem lonely, I don't swing that way, and even if I did, you are not my type."
The guy named Lit gapes at me, and Winter chokes a bit on her food and quickly downs her drink. The guy was making an impression of a goldfish by opening and closing his mouth without saying anything, and I told him in my most polite tone.
" Can you please not touch me. As I told you, I don't swing that way."
I pushed his hand away, and Winter looked at me, astonished. The guy name Lit's face grew red, either from embarrassment or anger, not that I care, and he growled.
" You worthless-!"
I stood up and towered over him, then continued my fake misunderstanding.
" Listen, I know I am an attractive guy, but you really shouldn't force your feelings on to others. I'm sure someone will come to accept... whatever the heck you are and maybe at least tolerate you."
I said the last bit of my sentence with a look of disgust, like I thought of him as a cockroach. The pure fury he displayed on his face made me feel satisfied, and he bellowed.
" YOU D*MN ANIMAL DARE TO DISRESPECT YOUR BETTERS!"
" You really shouldn't put your kinks on display like that as that can be a serious turn-off for others."
He lost it and threw a punch at me, and I didn't dodge or block it, but it wasn't strong enough for me to take him seriously because, with my Aura, I didn't feel a thing. I grinned as I now had an excuse. With his fist still connected to my chest as he didn't aim for my face, I used Dark Wrath to cover myself in the violent, dark energy. It burned his fist like acid, making him yelp in pain. As he looked at my dark-clad form, he looked a bit intimidated but put a show of bravado.
" As that suppose to scare me, you dumb beast."
I continued to grin under my dark-clad form and immediately sent him flying to the ceiling of the mess hall. I moved too fast for him to defend himself, and I then leaped after him. I quickly grabbed him and threw him back to the floor. I mounted on top of him with my knees against his arms and tore into him with my claws until his Aura broke. I placed my paw on his face and burned him enough to leave a mark but not a scar, as that would be a step too far. I got off him, and he rolled around in agony at the damage I had done to him.
Winter looked exasperated at my actions and complained to me with a grievance in her voice.
" Do you have any idea what you have done?"
" Enlighten me."
I asked the ice queen as I turned off my Semblance, and she sighed and then explained.
" Inflicting serious harm on a fellow student can result in an extended stay in an isolation cell if not worse."
An isolation cell doesn't sound bad as they can't contain me, thanks to Door to Darkness; plus, depending on the security, I could have the perfect alibi for when I need or want to sneak off. An announcement went off on the intercom system.
" Specialist-in-training Winter Schnee and Guest Student Silva Branwen, report to the headmaster's office!"
Winter looked worried at being called out, so I told her.
" Don't worry; I am the one in trouble here, so you will probably at most get a slap on the wrist for being unable to stop me."
She sighed and curtly told me.
" Let's go."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone