RWBY: The Stepmother

Chapter 22: Not My Mother

After the sudden flash of light went away, Qrow rapidly blinked his eyes. Where did that come from? Eventually, he regained his vision. One thing he quickly realized upon recovering his eyesight was that the monster from before was now gone. In its place was the strange and creepy woman from earlier, only she didn't look as threatening anymore, considering she was now lying face down in a puddle of pitch black goop. Qrow was so disoriented by the flash of white light that for a moment, he couldn't even remember what had just happened.

Then, he heard one of the kids gasp. He looked down and saw Summer in almost the same position as Mother, only she was facing up, her torso was practically disemboweled, and the puddle she was laying in was dark red instead of black. Not only that, small rivers of that same liquid were streaming down her cheeks from her eyes, which were now red and bloodshot from... whatever had just happened. The air stank of copper. Blood. Having grown up in a tribe of bandits since he was an infant, Qrow was no stranger to blood. He just never anticipated that he would see it pouring out from a gaping hole in the torso of one of his friends.

"Oh, shit! Summer!," he cried, kneeling down next to her. His first instinct was to put pressure on the wound, but... the wound was huge! It was a literal hole in her body, exposing her bones and some of her internal organs. Summer was quickly growing pale. She was not going to last long, considering how much blood she was losing. "Q... Qrow," she croaked out, grabbing at the air with her hands. Her eyes seemed to be staring straight up at the ceiling, but in reality, they were not staring at anything. The ancient power she had inexplicably unlocked, though it saved her friends from certain death, left her completely blind. "I-I can't see anything. What happened?," she asked. "Your eyes," Qrow answered shakily. "They did that... that weird light thing again... You okay, Sum?" It was stupid question, he knew it. Of course Summer was not okay. She was dying. "I-I... I... could be doing a little better," said Summer.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, Summer, I should've moved, but I didn't and you had to take the hit for me, fucking hell, why didn't I move...!" Qrow would've kept on babbling if Summer didn't find his hand and squeeze it tightly. "Qrow... It's okay...," she said hoarsely. Qrow just shook his head over and over again, too choked up by his own tears to say anything. The two children were not faring any better. Both of them were absolutely distraught by what they were seeing. "M-M-Miss Summer?," Weiss stammered, her voice barely beyond a whisper. Winter hastily wiped her eyes dry and grabbed onto her sister's hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Qrow...," said Summer, growing weaker by the second. "Tell Tai... that I'm..." Before she could finish her sentence, she drew her last breath as she let go of Qrow's hand, slumping to the floor, lifeless.

Qrow buried his face in his hands and said nothing. Weiss and Winter stood behind him, not saying anything either. Suddenly, they heard movement. They looked up and saw Mother slowly coming to. She lifted her head from the black puddle and stared at them. The permanent smile on her face was now gone, replaced with a pained grimace. She locked eyes with Weiss. She reached out to her. "Weiss," she spoke, sounding like she was in genuine agony. "My... little... Snow Angel... Help me. Please. Won't you help your poor mother?"

Suddenly, Weiss was gripped by rage, rage that she had never felt before, even on her worst days. All the fear and terror that she once felt had evaporated. Mother was to blame for all of this death! And now she was begging her for help? Begging the family that she had tortured for so long to come to her aid? Before she knew what she was doing, she reached behind her and took out a rapier that was strapped to her back the whole time. Her beloved Myrtenaster, the weapon that she chose for herself all the way back when she was still planning on becoming a Huntress. Before all the chaos started, she secretly took it with her, thinking she might have to use it soon. That time was now. "I am not your Snow Angel," she growled, barely recognizing the voice that came out of her mouth. "And you are not..." She roughly pulled away from Winter and marched up to Mother. "My." She stopped in front of her and raised Myrtenaster above her head. "MOTHER!" She thrust her rapier into Mother's head as hard as she could.