The Bloodstained Rose

What is home?

Weiss returned home alone after sunset. The city was lighting up and Vale seemed like a scene from a romantic movie.

The streetlights setting the pavement aglow, the people walking around surrounded by their loved ones, the scent of scrumptious dinner wafting from several places at once, and soft romantic music heard from a park. It really was a nice place to have a walk but the heiress didn't stay long to watch the scenery.

She slid in the car and requested to be driven home in her spacious vehicle. It irked her that the little things from the past week with her new companions already became normal to her. Now, they weren't there.

Like how in every car ride, Ruby requests to play the latest songs at the stereo as she played new games in her new scroll. How Weiss always hears the smallest movements from Ruby during car rides, and how ridiculous the driver and Ruby would sing along the old songs from half a century ago.

Now, the silence was her only acquaintance in the ride. It was an unwelcomed familiarity as she watched the scenery of the city pass by.

"Darwin, play some songs." She finally requested as she closed her eyes and tried concentrating on something else. Soft pop songs she recognized started playing. The filled felt better, relaxing, and soothing. Not long after, she had drifted to sleep.

Upon arriving home, she asked her things to be arranged in her closet and waived dinner. No questions were asked. Weiss was left alone to her devices as she wandered around the mansion.

The estate could easily accommodate several families but the presence of those who came before her was enough. Their hard cold eyes like her mother and father's, their stiff and formal stands on paintings, photographs, and statues showed how the Schnees have maintained their elegance and regality through centuries.

Rumor even has it that they were descendants of royal blood from centuries ago. That wasn't hard to believe. The paintings were more proof than needed for an ordinary person. She continued on around to the upper floor, looking for nothing in particular.

She recalled a little story that her mother told her. That the Schnee family have resided in Vale centuries ago because of the ports, the life, and the rich warmth of the sun in the summer. "To thaw the cold of the north from Atlas" she would say. It's the same mansion she currently calls home. It remained there and was restored over and over again, now it's standing as one of the oldest structures in Vale.

It was a small palace compared to their place in Atlas which was practically a castle. This place seemed better. It felt more of a home to her even if none of her family was there. She found comfort in a smaller place to pace around. No extra pair of eyes to watch her every movement.

Weiss surprisingly found a pair of doors that looked antiquated. The knobs were made of brass with the wooden door and frame sculpted ornately. The entryway looked untouched since its establishment despite the numerous times the house had been renovated. It just made her more curious.

She cautiously opened the huge doors and entered the room. The air hung cold with must, dust, and crust. The room was dark but with a flick of a switch, the room was illuminated with chandeliers of yellow light. The walls have been lined with shelves of wood and metal. Some old, some new.

Weiss walked in deep into what seem to be the archives, her fingers touching the books and parchment scrolls lightly. Her eyes lit up as she disturbed them from their places, feeling history literally at her fingertips.

She would have kept going further but a scroll fell out of its place. The tie it has been held with had unraveled, the parchment opening and revealing what's inside. Weiss turned around to check what had fallen, picking the paper up gingerly like it was a thin glass that might break from touch.