Hidden Purple

Willow Schnee was surprised by her unseen benefactor's efficiency at information gathering and dealing with Jacques. The instant the fake Schnee was spirited away, the invisible and unknown ally provided her with immense amounts of information plus a monitor system on various people likey to try and absorb the Schnee Dust Company and Schnee family. While out of practice with business and such, she retained the lessons her father taught her before marrying Jacques. Willow went over the information given to her and was surprised at how the company ran under Jacques's leadership as it was fundamentally different than Nicholas Schnee's methods.

For one, all workers, mostly faunus, were paid a pitiful amount for the dangerous work involved with Dust mining, and the punishments dealt to the workers made her sick. Branding, whipping, and even public humiliation were dealt out when any faunus dared to step even a toe out of line. It really stuck to Willow Schnee that she married an amoral monster that would do anything for his personal benefit. The Schnee matriarch desperately wanted to drink but controlled herself as things were a precarious situation with the fake Schnee's disappearance.

The rivals of Jacques, whether politically or economically, were making subtle preparations to usurp his assets which included the Schnee family's foundation. Willow's unseen ally provided her with the necessary information to contact and control the fake Schnee's PR team, lawyers, and political partners. The Schnee matriarch sighed as she made the preparations required to counter any move against the Schnee family and take the reigns after all these years. Willow vowed to herself that she would restore the Schnee family to its former glory after the damage Jacques had done.

***

Pyrrha Nikos was practicing a new method to improve her control over Semblance Polarity with a way Silva suggested to her before. Using painted iron sand to make mosaics, she is currently only using black and white colors to start with before increasing the variety of colors as she gets better. The polite spartan never tried to express herself in an artistic manner before deciding that she wanted to be a Huntress no matter what. She sat in her room and tried to make a simple mosaic with various shapes.

Pyrrha's mother, Scarlet, a woman with the same colored eyes as Pyrrha and with red hair that was a shade darker than her daughter's and same skin tone, entered the room with some snacks as her daughter practiced, and the polite spartan greeted her with an affectionate smile.

" Hello, mom."

" Hello, dear. I just came up to check up on you and see if you were getting hungry."

Scarlet sets the snacks down on Pyrrha's desk and sees her makeshift mosaic on the floor, then asks.

" What are you up to, dear?"

" Just trying a new training method a... friend suggested."

Pyrrha felt calling Silva an acquaintance didn't fit but calling him a friend also didn't feel quite right either, as she barely knew him. Her mother raised an eyebrow questionably and asked.

" Oh, and who is this new friend of yours?"

Scarlet picked up her daughter's hesitation and figured the person that made the suggestion to her was new as this didn't happen before. Not that Pyrrha didn't have people she called friends at this point in time, but the polite spartan already knew what kind of Huntress she wanted to be and researched and worked towards that as her goal. Pyrrha told her mother.

" You know him. He's the one I fought in the finals at the regional cup."

" Oh! That boy with the unusual name?!"

The polite spartan scratched her cheek as she told her mother the truth.

" Actually, his real name is Silva, and he used that fake name as a joke."

Scarlet smiled at her daughter sweetly and commented with an amused smile as she got the joke when she first heard it.

" I figured that name was a fake considering what it sounded like when it was spoken out loud; he must have gotten quite a few giggles out of his mischief."

" What do you mean, mom?"

Pyrrha asked as she only thought the fake name Silva used was only unusual, and her mother whispered into her daughter's ear the meaning behind the name. Pyrrha blushed in embarrassment as she realized when she thought of the name Mai Bals Itches so seriously as she replayed the fight in the finals in her mind. Scarlet chuckled at her daughter's reaction and left her alone in her thoughts. The polite spartan did not understand why anyone would enter with such a... vulgar name for laughs and made a mental note to herself to ask Silva why he did that in the first place.

***

My name is Silva Branwen, and right now, I am in the headmaster's office at Atlas Academy, facing James Ironwood with Uncle Qrow and Winter right next to me. Tindick was going to give me my first assignment to avoid being tried in Atlesian courts of law as payment. The general started his briefing on the mission.

" Now Silva, Qrow, and Schnee, as you may have heard, Jacques Schnee has gone missing, and while he's..."

" A massive pr*ck?"

Qrow filled in on James's sentence, which made me smile, and even Winter's lips twitched upward for a moment in the corner of my eye. The general cleared his throat and used a far more polite way to address the fake Schnee.

" Less than pleasant to deal with, he is vital to Atlas's economy despite his questionable practices, and it is concerning that there have been no ransoms or demands being made for his return. So I want him found as soon as possible."

While Tindick may be saying that he is actually hoping Jacques doesn't return as, thanks to my massacre at the auction, he has a good chance of taking over the political faction in Atlas that wants the faunus to stay right where they are, at human's feet which opposes his own beliefs. Winter looked reluctant to try actually to help her father, but she ultimately complied.

" Yes, General!"

After Winter's salute, Qrow asked James.

" Jimmy, what about our previous case?"

The General sighed and said.

" We aren't making any headway despite the weeks of investigation, so this may very well become a cold case, and because of the frequency of these recent incidents, my analyses in the criminal investigation department think there is a slight chance that Jacques's disappearance might be related to the previous cases. So while my team works on their end of the investigation of the massacre and assault of the science community, I want you to see if my analyses are correct or if it is a separate matter."

Qrow looked annoyed as he took a sip from his flask and said.

" Fine, Jimmy, but we aren't getting anywhere so in the other cases far, and if the pr*ck got taken by the same group or guy as the previous cases, then he might no longer be part of this world."

" I am aware, Qrow, but the investigation needs to be done regardless, if only for appearance's sake."

My uncle muttered while looking disgruntled.

" Freaking politics..."

He walked off and told Winter and me.

" Snowball, ice queen, come on, we have a nuisance to find."

I shrugged, not really caring about the mission as I am sure no one will find Jacques anytime soon as I got all my bases covered. I looked towards Winter and asked, feeling a bit concerned about her well-being.

" Are you going to be alright?"

She curtly and sternly replied.

" I'm fine."

Seeing that she wasn't in a good mood, I gave her some space for now as this investigation won't end soon.