All Of Me

Chapter 5, Part Two

Fifty minutes had passed since the party started. Weiss sat by herself at a table, drinking a bit of wine. She observed the guests with an attention that would put a cat to shame.

All of them were masked figures. Not only in this ball, but in life in general. People in Atlas had such a big wish to impress others that they hid themselves behind masks and locked their true personalities down the depths of their consciousness. And Weiss had been like that her whole life until going to Beacon, where she learned how it actually is to not only be a human being, but also to be humane.

Weiss heard somebody clearing their throat and looked up. Whitley. "Hello, sister. I see you're all alone here. Mind some company?" The younger Schnee smiled. He was dressed in a all white suit, just like their father. The only difference was the red bow tie and the equally red with white and Black details. Their father, on the other hand, had a black necktie and a white with black details mask.

"Thank you, Whitley. But I refuse."

"Hm. I thought you would like to have your family near you after being away for so long," the boy said in a clearly fake hurt voice. "Anyway, father requests your presence. It seems he wants you to… Meet somebody."

Weiss nodded and got up. She accompanied Whitley and noticed then a small crowd formed as they approached the place where their father was. She wondered what was causing such a commotion. They walked past the crowd and saw the apparent reason of the amount of people there. Standing in front of her father was a woman dressed in a red, long dress with black high heels and a black mask with rubies all over it. Her wavy brown hair cascaded down her back.

But what caught Weiss' and the crowd's attention wasn't the woman, but the one standing by her side. He was a tall young man, probably two years older than Weiss. His black hair was back and held there by hair gel, clearly with no excess, just enough to make him look formal. There only two rebel strands dropping on his forehead. The black mask has white edges and some diamonds. His cheeks and lips were exposed and Weiss could see soft blue eyes through the mask. He was dressed all in black, but a white necktie contrasted with it all.

It wasn't the young adult's good looks that made the crowd of people watch him either. It was the pair of panther ears set on his head. He was a Faunus. A Faunus in the Schnee Manor. A Faunus at a Schnee ball. A Faunus.

Weiss walked closer and stepped beside her father and in front of the mysterious panther Faunus. They looked at each other for some time, the black haired one keeping a straight face while the heiress held a curious expression behind her mask. Who is this? And just- Why can't I stop staring at him?! Imprudent little…

Weiss huffed and looked away, making a puzzled look spread through the light blue eyes. Then, the seriousness was back. Jacques cleared his throat, making the attention go to him. "Well, my daughter, I want you to meet Angelina Scarlet, the CEO of the emerging Scarlet Dust Company, that curiously," the white haired man said. "Shares the same initials as ours."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Schnee." The woman bowed and smiled.

"Equally, Mrs. Scarlet." Weiss bowed back. She smiled back to the woman softly before her attention was back to the Faunus standing beside her. That make the CEO chuckle.

"This is Daniel, my new official bodyguard."

This time, the panther Faunus bowed, putting a hand against his chest as he did so. "I'm honoured to meet you, Mr. and Ms. Schnee."

Mr. Schnee ignored Daniel completely, only flashing him a disgusted look before turning to Angelina. "I am impressed that somebody would trust such a beast to have their security. I wouldn't trust him with a blindfold covering his eyes and a dagger in my hand." The man said, causing light giggles around the hall. Weiss almost said something in the defense of the young man, who got his head down and his ears flattened against his skull in a failed attempt to hide his heritage, a look of shame striking his eyes, that were now a bit darker with the less lighting.