Strange Mirror

The bell above the door clanged, though Blake had her back to whoever came in. “I’ll be with you in just a moment!” She was currently cleaning the espresso machine after a particularly messy order. However, Weiss tugged at her shirt, making her turn around. “Hello and welcome to The—” Blake stopped dead in her tracks and understood why Weiss had tugged at her shirt. She stared in a mirror. A short-haired Weiss Schnee, two kids, and…andherselfstared back at her. The kids wereclearlya cross between herself and Weiss while Weiss and the other Blake were clearly middle aged. “Well, this is awkward,” the older Weiss said with a chuckle. “I thought this place seemed unusual…” the older Blake said. Her eyes fell on technomancer Weiss who looked down. “Who are you…?” “Weiss Schnee.” Technomancer Weiss’ voice was quiet. Older Blake frowned. “Your aura spark is nothing like my Weiss’.” “That’s because she’s from another dimension entirely,” Blake said. “She is Weiss, but not from this world.” She rubbed her forehead. This was such a headache. She had never expected to run intoherselflike this, letaloneone married to Weiss Schnee. It was one thing for her to employ an alternate version of Weiss; it was another to bemarriedto a Schnee. She hated this entire setup. The kids shared the aura spark combination and evenlookedthe part. One had white hair and blue eyes, and the other had black hair and blue eyes. Both had Blake’s cat ears on top of their heads. “And I thought dealing with Salem was bad enough…” Older Blake said with a sigh, then looked at Blake. “I never thought I’d see myself running a café…” Blake shrugged. “It was what I wanted to do. Would you like anything?” The family looked at the menu and Older Blake ordered for them. Addy and Celica still weren’t trained on front of house fully yet, so it was entirely on Blake to handle things. The two women did watch her while she explained how to brew everything and how to extract the best flavor. “Who are they?” Older Blake asked. “I’m Addy.” “I’m Celica.” The two women gave hesitant smiles to older Blake. “What are you doing here?” Older Blake asked. Celica frowned. “We’re being trained on drink service while Hubert and Edelgard take care of meal orders. Blake still has…a lot to teach us though.” Addy nodded. “And this is my first job ever…” Neither of them had really opened up to Blake yet, so she didn’t know their histories. But then again, this was Blake’s first job too, unless one counted the freelance translation services that she’d been doing to earn money to open up the café… Older Weiss looked at Older Blake and chuckled. “That definitely soundsverylike you, to have high standards for a café.” Older Blake’s ears went down and her cheeks reddened. “I could see you running a café if you hadn’t come to Beacon. You just love teasomuch.” “That’s why I started it,” Blake said while she brewed. “To bring happiness and warmth to people, to offer unique experiences that can only come from an expertly brewed cup of tea or coffee.” She really was glad she had chosen to open this café… She was meeting so many people she never would have otherwise. So much went into brewing the perfect cup. She knew Addy and Celica would need to practice, but right now, she was just having them observe. She was glad to be able to help people in need, though… Addy, Celica, Hubert, Edelgard, and Weiss all had great need of a place to heal and recover from their various issues. “That’sdefinitelylike you,” Older Weiss teased to Older Blake again. “Who are the kids?” Blake asked. “Oh, uh, Aleka Schnee and Vera Belladonna,” Older Weiss explained. If she had doubted it before, she sure as hell didn’t now. This was definitely annoying. She couldn’t imagine having kids with aSchneefrom her own world. But this Weiss was definitely…more relaxed than she had imagined a Schnee would be. It was one thing when the Schnee wasn’t from Remnant… It was when she was. “You look doubtful.” “I justneverexpectedanyversion of myself to end up with a Schnee,” Blake admitted. The pair glanced at each other, flushing slightly. “Yeah, I can’t say I ever saw it coming either, but we couldn’t be happier with each other,” Older Blake said. “We love each other a ton.” Blake nodded a bit and slid the mugs across the table. “Well, here you go.” The white-haired one—the one she assumed to be Aleka—picked up her mug as did the black-haired one—the one she assumed to be Vera. “What made you choose Beacon?” she asked. She assumed they were at least the same person, simply taking diverging paths. Her aura spark was nowherenearas scarred as Blake’s own one was… There was some scarring which indicated past trauma, but it had been healed pretty well. “I wanted to atone for my past crimes,” Older Blake said. “And I figured helping people and protecting them as a Huntress would be my best bet. Though my path didn’t necessarily take that path in the way I intended…” She took a sip from her coffee. “Delightful cup. I only came into coffee much later in life.” Blake nodded. “I had to learn a lot to learn to properly brew coffee. I already knew tea pretty well, but I had to start from scratch with coffee.” She sighed, her ears drooping. “I just didn’t think Icouldatone for my crimes, so I chose this route instead… I thought I could maybe helphealsouls in my own way, not just harm and kill bodies.” Yeah, they were definitely the same person that had just taken diverging paths. They both knew what crimes they had committed. The two girls looked up curiously, but Older Blake’s look hushed any unspoken questions they had. Apparently she hadn’t told them about the White Fang quite yet. “I had to learn both teaandcoffee…” Older Weiss said. She looked at technomancer Weiss. “What does she do if Addy and Celica do front of house?” “I’m the cashier,” technomancer Weiss said. She looked down at her lap. Even now, a month or so on, it was apparent how weak she was and she remained incredibly thin. She covered everything up as best she could with the modest blouses, dresses, and pants, but her gaunt cheeks, sunken eyes, and bony hands made it apparent how thin she was from her months of starvation. Blake didn’t begrudge her anything of course… “Huh, weird to think of a Schnee as a cashier…” Older Weiss looked at her then shrugged. “As long as you’re compensated fairly.” “I am,” technomancer Weiss said. Older Weiss nodded. “I mean I wouldn’t expect anything less from Blake. She’s not the type to shortchange people.” She finished up her little espresso and put the tiny cup back on the counter. “How many employees you got?” “Addy, Celica, Weiss, Edelgard, and Hubert,” Blake said. “We all negotiated everything and they agreed to their rates.” It was definitely a bit of a financial strain on her to have that many employees, but it did cut down on stress for her as well. She didn’t have to rush to try to make food on demand as well as drinks. She was still making all the drinks herself since Addy and Celica justhad notmastered it yet. They weren’t up to her own personal standards, so she didn’t want to let them serve customers their below-par drinks. They were getting better bit by bit, but they still had a decent way to go before Blake truly let them take over the café. “Interesting names,” Older Blake said. Blake shrugged. “They’re all from different dimensions. Though Hubert, Edelgard, and Weiss are all from the same planet.” That was still a shock to her system, but having someone that understood what she’d been through was definitely a comfort to Weiss and she knew it. Edelgard and Weiss had grown decently close in the interim since they’d arrived at the café and taken up residence here. “I guess that does make sense,” Older Blake said. “I’ve just never heard any names like them before.” Blake nodded. “Same. But it is what it is.” She looked at Addy and Celica. “Yeah, that is true. It’s not like you get to be choosy when you’re hiring people that don’t officially exist.” Older Blake paused. “Though…how do you get them to be paid and such?” “Oh, Anna took care of it. Theydoofficially exist as far as the government is concerned.” Blake gave a wry smile. Yeah, as far as the government were concerned, theydidexist. She could’ve easily hacked them their own IDs and everything herself, but Anna had taken care of it. That would’ve beenseveralrather late nights for her when shedesperatelyneeded every iota of sleep she could get. The café hours were long and she woke up early to make sure everything was sorted and taken care of for the day as well as cook for herself, Weiss, Celica, and Althea. At least Inferro could get all his nutrients from a premade, commercial diet. Older Blake finished up with her mug and put it on the counter, sliding it across. The two girls did the same. Older Blake smiled. “Well, thanks for humoring us, but we do need to get on the road. We really just needed some fuel first thing.” Blake nodded and smiled. “No problem. See you later.” The family left the café, leaving the workers to clean up and take time for themselves.