The Beginning

In a waiting room within the famed Schnee Dust Company Headquarters, a well-dressed 18-year-old man wearing a black suit and gold sunglasses would be seen making the most important decision of his life: what flavor of gum should he chew?

"I dunno...what do you think, Tommy? I can call you Tommy, right?" The 18-year-old would ask as he turned to his "babysitter", a Schnee Dust Security Guard. "Strawberry or blueberry?"

The Security Guard would remain silent, only looking forward.

"Not much of a conversationalist? I respect that." The man would say before un-doing the wrapper for the blueberry gum, before placing the gum in his mouth as he began to chew. 

*Ding*

The door closest to the security guard would open as a neatly dressed 17-year-old would appear, causing the 18-year-old to turn his head before smiling.

 "If it isn't Weiss Schnee herself, heir to the throne of Atlas, perfectionist extraordinaire, bachelorette of the Schnee Dynasty, and most likely to have an aneurism over a tilted painting portrait." The man would say with a sly grin as the white-haired girl only rolled her eyes.

"Malachi (Ma-la-kai) Warren, and to think you are not sleeping in a ditch with a bottle of booze in your hand." Weiss would say in a sarcastic and maybe even condescending manner as the man rose from his seat, his gold glasses shining in the rather lightly dimmed room.

"Oho, if I didn't know better, I would've assumed that was a compliment, Ms Schnee. Was the press so wrong about you?" Malachi would say with a cheeky grin as Weiss would sigh before looking at her security guard.

"My apologies, I commend you for your restraint in dealing with this buffoon, and will be taking him off your hands." Weiss would say before motioning with her head for Malachi to follow. 

The security guard would only nod as Malachi grinned.

 "Finally! And to think I was going to have to start telling my dad jokes." Malachi would say as he approached Weiss.

The silver-haired Schnee heir would open the door and walk out, as Malachi would stuff the unopened strawberry gum into the security guard's pocket before following.

The duo would walk down the large hallways of Schnee HQ, passing by various business workers, interns, lawyers, security personnel, robots, military officials, and even politicians. Malachi would let a whistle escape his mouth before looking at Weiss.

"You guys are busy today." 

"Father is preparing to unveil 'the shining jewel of Atlas' during the ceremony tonight, the same ceremony that your family was invited to, but still hasn't RSVP for." Weiss would explain before shooting a glare at Malachi as he shrugged.

"Must've gotten lost in the mail, we are busy people after all." Malachi would say as he fidgeted with his watch while avoiding a formation of robots. "What's this shining jewel? Never came up on your company's newspaper." 

Weiss would point to herself as Malachi would scoff.

"What? Who else could be the jewel of Atlas?" Weiss would question as Malachi started to laugh.

"Weiss! You are many things, but shining is not one of them!" 

Weiss would sharply turn as Malachi stopped laughing but still had a smirk on his face.

"I am going to Beacon." Weiss would blankly say as Malachi's smirk turned into one of confusion. "So Father is going to announce this to everyone at the party."

The two would stare at each other for a moment. The world seemed to slow down as the continued flow of workers would walk passed, some acknowledging Weiss with a simple "Good morning, Heiress" or even a "How's the weather, Ms. Schnee" even though the weather is normally cold 24/7. Even then, Weiss would ignore them, her attention only fixating on the golden glasses of Malachi.

"Listen, I know that-"

"WOW! BEACON ACADEMY!? THAT'S HUGE!" Malachi would shout before taking off his glasses. "Ice cube, you have just risen above my very little expectations of you."

"Thank you?" Weiss would welcome, although unsure if this was an insult or a genuine compliment. She expected Malachi to question her decision, maybe make fun of her for choosing a school that is not as rich as Haven, poor as Shade, or even staying close to home and following her sister's footsteps like Atlas. 

The 18-year-old would take a step back before looking at Weiss up and down. 

"Wow...a huntress...Weiss. Oh, just wait until my mom hears about this, she is going to be jumping around for a week straight!" Malachi would say awe-struck with a smile as Weiss would lift a finger to catch a tear that was about to fall from her face.

Malachi was so happy for Weiss, that he didn't notice that Weiss was doing her best to not tear up in front of her friend, or the individual behind him.

Ahem

The duo would turn as Weiss would immediately straighten up as the man spoke.

"Weiss, I thought I told you to bring Mr Warren into my office. What took you so long?" Jacque Schnee, the current CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, would ask.

"I was just telling him the news about my admittance to Beacon Academy, father." Weiss would say looking down as Jacque scoffed.

"Mr Warren, I apologize for the delay that my daughter might've caused you, but I will be walking you to my office myself."

Malachi would put back on his glasses.

"No problem, sir. Not like I planned on arriving at your meeting on time anyway. And I do see the value of talking to a fellow heir; to catch up, don't ya think?" Malachi would question as he started to walk in the direction of Jacque's office before turning. "You coming, old man?"

Jacque would send a glare towards Weiss before following Malachi. The heiress would touch the scar over her eye before walking in the complete opposite direction. 

"...Beacon Academy.....huh..." Malachi would think before entering the office as the door closed behind him. 

Jacque would take a seat on his silver chair that seemed to resemble a throne, while Malachi sat on a wooden chair with swirly gold accents engraved in it. 

"Comfortable, heir?" Jacque would ask as he picked up a datapad, while Malachi grabbed his datapad.

"Like a baby fresh out of his mother's womb." Malachi would answer before shooting a smirk at Jacque. "Speaking about mother, how is the wife? I was hoping that Willow would visit the kid she used to babysit."

The father of Weiss would inhale before exhaling.

"Focus your attention to the first graph."

And the business dealings between the Warrens and Schnees start-up once again. 

Author note: Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my prologue! If you have any questions about what transpired during the first of many chapters please put your questions in the comment and I'll respond as soon as I see it!