Prologue

I had made the most important epiphany of my life on my eleventh birthday. 

It was a lavish affair, all things told. My mother, siblings and various children of relatively rich families had been seated in a large ornate table. The cake could’ve been mistaken for a bouncy castle. The presents were as abundant as sand on a shore. Yet, there was one thing I notably didn’t have.

My father.

From that observation my mind jumped to what could possibly be keeping him from my party. Perhaps it was a business meeting, an emergency in the company, or even him just using the excuse of my birthday just to take the day off. In the end though, did the reason really matter?

My reverie was only slightly broken by the chanting of the random assortment of children and my siblings. It was time for me to blow out the candles. As I bent down to blow out the candles and make my wish, that’s when it hit me. The exact moment I realized my wish was going to be the same as last years.

He didn’t love me.

Throughout most of my entire life I was taught to suppress my emotions. To bottle them up and smooth it over with a more pleasing plaster. However, I was still but a child. Emotional maturity isn’t something you can just slip a kid out of, despite the contrary opinions of my father. So, in my little revelation amid the applause I did what all children are well known for. I cried.

It was simple to simply pass it off as ‘happiness’ for the party. Everyone seemed to buy it, including my mother who probably took to it too quickly. It was practically a requirement in the Schnee household to immediately mask your emotions.

After the party was over and everyone headed home or to their rooms, I was ambushed by my eldest sister, Winter. It was surprising, as we hadn’t exactly truly talked in a long time. Of course, there was the small comments at the dinner table, but they were meaningless. It was something to engage in so as to not focus on the overwhelming silence that threatened to make us all go crazy.

The servants nearby were dismissed by her, as she wanted to talk to me in private. This was when she revealed to me that I didn’t fool everyone. She knew the reason I teared up simply because it was the same reason she teared up three years ago on her birthday.

Despite not being the most…emotionally supportive sister there was, she still comforted me as I released the rest of my bottled-up feelings. Well, not all of them of course. Releasing your seething anger on someone who’s trying to comfort you isn’t exactly a good way to go about it.

Afterwards she told me her plan. She’s been training in secret to go to Atlas Academy once she’s old enough. She doesn’t want to stick around and be used as a pawn by father. She recommended that I do the same. Of course, at this point I was dead tired, and told her I’d think about it after I went to bed.

The next day I proceeded to think about her plan. If the only goal was to stick it to father and leave, then it was a good plan. That’s not the only thing that’s on the line though. Who would care for Weiss? Whitley? Mother? There needs to be someone that’d comfort them once they realize it and afterwards.

Also, I wasn’t athletic. I was slender, but that was about it. My hands were small, my stamina was lackluster, and I was always picked last for dodgeball. Not that I’ve ever even played dodgeball before.

If I was to think of the family, I would need a different plan. If we were being completely honest, that wasn’t all. That was only half of the reason why I couldn’t leave and never look back.

And so, I asked Winter a question.

…And she left.