Qrow.

Chapter 39 | Runt

A/N: While doing research for a small part of this chapter I ran across this picture and thought I'd add it bc I'm a cruel bitch and wanted to make your hearts break more. JUST LOOK HOW CUTE IT FREAKING IS. Also I've been super into Fairytail lately so you're going to see a few references in this chapter. 

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Many, many, many years ago - Crystal Heights, Hell

For being built in a notoriously scolding hot realm, the Marécage Manor always seemed so cold you could see your breath. One step outside and it was Texas in July. Somehow, when you passed over that threshold, you were suddenly in a walk in freezer. The family hadn't seemed to mind and the servants learned to live with it. After all, if you were working for one of the most feared families around, you'd learn to accept a lot of shit as is.

It was utterly quiet. You could hear a pin drop. That was just the way the head of the house preferred it. He was happiest when all he could hear was a pen gliding over paper. As for the two oldest children of the estate, they took wished to have pure silence as they tended to their studies. 

Apollo sat across from his brother with a novel clutched in his hands. Lumi kept a book open on the table, writing notes in his journal. They enjoyed the sanctity of the library. In here, the help didn't bother them and they were safe from their younger siblings. Well, typically they were. The oldest brother became noticeably distressed when the squeak of a bat busting through the door disrupted him.

"Thursday!" He yelled threateningly, "Thursday! Come get your idiotic pet!"

The younger demon stumbled through the halls as he chased after his bat. "Coffee! Coffee settle down! Please, you're going to make them even more mad at me!" He begged of his companion.

In a panic, the bat continued to freak out. It couldn't fly quite right and crash landed onto the table, knocking over all the textbooks. Aside from the mess, they'd both just lost their place in the extensively long novels. Lumi angrily snatched the bat and made it squeak even more. He noticed a tear in the creature's wing.

"What happened?" He demanded to know.

"It was Cromwell! His dumb crocodile bit Coffee!" Thursday replied.

Apollo gazed beyond him, seeing their youngest brother in the entrance. He was the runt of the family, standing only about two and a half feet tall at the moment. Though his skin was naturally scales, his family forced him to look "normal". His dark green hair fell over his pale skin. All his clothes were once his brothers, meaning they didn't fit him right. A baggy pair of old overalls hung off of him. 

In the crook of his arm, a very small baby crocodile rested. He was the runt of his own litter, abandoned by his mother. That was something a young Croc could relate to. He cared for that animal more than his own family, he swore. Timidly, he shuffled his way towards his oldest brother.

"Is that true, Cromwell?" Apollo asked. 

"Happy didn't mean it, I swear!" He desperately replied, "He's really sorry! I am too!"

"I think he's caused enough trouble." He said.

With tears in his eyes, the small demon shook his head, "No, no! He'll be good from now on, I promise! Please, don't take him away!"

"That's enough!" Lumi snapped. He extended his hand out to his youngest brother, "Hand him over."

Croc jumped back with his best friend whining in his arms. "Please, Lumi! Please, don't hurt him! Please! I'm so sorry!"

He was no match for his older brother's matured strength. Lumi grabbed him by his arm and yanked him closer. No matter how many tears he'd shed over the topic, he wasn't going to get any leniency. After all, they'd warned him multiple times now to get Happy's biting habits under control. Lumi mercilessly ripped the baby crocodile from his arms.