In the empty courtroom, on the judge's seat, sat Weiss Schnee, accompanied by a few neatly stacked papers. Her perfect posture finally began to crack after a few long hours of sitting in that chair writing evidences about a certain abuse that a man had been doing to his own wife and child. A man named Jacques Schnee, to be more precise.
But the silver-haired girl wouldn't stop working even after her shoulder started to sting. It was only when she got a migraine did she close her eyes and took a deep breath.
She rubbed her temple in tiredness, and lightly stretched her body, relieved when she heard a faint pop coming from her shoulder.
The 23 years old woman grabbed her phone and checked the news, not surprised by what was being displayed on the front page.
'The Politician and BusinessMan Mr. Schnee sued by His Own Daughter?!' The title read, and below it was a picture of her father being handcuffed and practically dragged out of his large house unlike a castle.
Interested, the woman decided to read what the public thought about her supposed crazy act.
'The beloved, charming, and famous politician Jacques Schnee has been suspected of psychically abusing his wife. But, what shocked everyone the most was that his second daughter, Weiss Schnee, was the one who demanded his arrest and is currently working on her case against him.'
She turned her phone off, not wanting to know more about what the public thought about her action. It was painful enough that she actually did it, she didn't want to hurt even more by reading how the public viewed her.
Suddenly, the door slammed open to reveal another silver-haired girl, only with shorter hair.
"Weiss!" Screamed Winter as she ran towards said girl through the large empty room.
Her heels clicked loudly with every step she took and the younger girl wondered how she hadn't fell down yet.
They met face-to-face, the older girl towering over her.
Weiss remained silent, knowing that when her sister was angry, she shouldn't say anything even while her baby blue eyes were locked with her sister's darker ones.
"What are you doing?" Winter demanded, her hand clenching into a fist.
Weiss replied simply, "Justice," and was slapped by her own sister, sending a loud echoing noise throughout the room.
"Do not attempt to make an excuse!" The older girl spat.
No words came out of the younger girl's mouth as she kept her face to her side. She did predict that her sister would be angry, but she didn't realise the older sibling would hurt her.
"Tell me the truth; Why did you sue Father?!" Winter asked, her voice trembling with fury.
Weiss replied, her voice cold and emotionless, "I'm just sick of everything."
"Oh, you're sick of everything, the world is always against you, nobody loves you," she said dramatically, "Is that what this is about? To gain some fucking attention!?"
Then she clapped her hands, grinning sarcastically as she said, "Bravo, Sister! You really are a genius!"
"He hurt my mother! Our mother, Winter," Weiss growled, failing to stay calm and collected.
"Yes but he loves you! Weiss, he's your father! And you're his daughter," her sister stated, her tone sounding desperate.
In response, said girl sneered, "Please, I'm nothing more than a trophy to him. He may love you and Whitley but he view me as nothing but a tool for his fame."
The older girl's eyes widened, shocked by the statement. It was then did the younger girl realised what she had revealed to her sister.
"What are you saying?" Winter asked.
Weiss sighed, "Do… Do you think that I want to be a professional singer?" She asked, not knowing where else she should start.
Before Sabrina could even reply, she continued, "No. I don't. I only told him that I want to learn how to sing. I didn't ask him to buy me a fucking 10 million-advanced song lessons!"
The younger girl felt her throat getting dry and her eyes watering, but she didn't stop talking. She knew this was the only opportunity for her to speak the truth, whether she wanted to or not.
"And do you think he knows that I once defeat Pyrrha Nikos? Or the fact that I used to be a Straight-A student?! Of course he doesn't! He only acknowledges me when I do things that interests him! Like being the best at class, or having wide knowledge about dust, or being an obedient daughter! That's all he cares about!"
It was only then did Weiss realised she was crying. When she finally looked at her sister's dark blue eyes, she didn't see a single trace of hatred anymore. Instead she saw a deep longing empathy.
"Weiss… I… I have no idea," she tried to reason.
But the younger girl knew it was useless for her sister to apologise, "Don't! It's not like I ever tell you about this before."
"You and Whitley had it easy, you guys are nothing like him… Meanwhile I'm practically his reflection… That's why Mother always yells at me for no apparent reason… I remind her too much of him…" Her voice became softer, filled with guilt.
"You know Dad loves you, right?" Winter asked, her voice calmer and more motherly than before.
Weiss chuckled sadly, "That doesn't mean he didn't hurt me."
Sound failed to come out of Sabrina's mouth. She then realised that words won't heal the pain her sister had felt for a very long time. So, instead she chose to hug the younger sibling. The rare display of affection rendering the younger sibling speechless.
"Please, Weiss… Don't do this, just, talk to him…"
"I can't, Winter," she whimpered, "Words aren't going to get through that thick skull of his. I need to do this for both me and Mom."
They stayed like that for what felt like hours, until the older girl finally spoke, "Everyone's gonna think you're a monster… You know that, right?"
"I am," the younger girl responded weakly.
"No, you're not," Winter quickly and firmly said, which only caused her to chuckle again.
"Winter. I am going to ruin my own dad's life simply because of an old grudge. If I'm not a monster, then what am I?"
"A hero."
"What?" The younger girl questioned.
"You're a hero, Weiss. A person who saved Mother from a broken marriage."
For a moment, the girl did believe what her older sister said was true. But, when she remembered how wide her grin was when she saw her father's look when she arrested him, she knew she was no hero, no matter how much she wished to be.
"No. You're wrong. If I am a hero I would've just talk to him like you said. I should've convinced Mother to break up with him. If I truly am a good person, I wouldn't involve the police with this," Weiss said grimly.
Winter wanted to deny it, she didn't want her sister to feel like she wasn't a good person.
But how could a simple girl deny the cold harsh truth that was reality?
"This… This is just me wanting to see him suffer for what he did to me, Winter… This is anything but justice…"
At loss for words, the older sibling asked, "Why do you hate him so much?"
Weiss sighed, knowing that her sister would eventually ask that question, "I don't hate him, I just… Despise his ways."
"What do you mean?" Her sister asked as her brows furrowed.
"He is a weak man pretending to have power," The younger girl growled, making the older girl flinched at her sudden aggressive words.
"He pretends to have pride when all he has is a big ego," she continued, her tone growing darker and more sinister, not unlike a lion roaring at it's predator.
"He told everyone what he's doing is justice-"
"Just like what you're doing," Winter stated, not allowing her to continue further on.
Weiss's crystal blue eyes widen, she instantly slammed her hand onto her desk in frustration, silencing the older girl.
"And I hate it!" She shouted.
They dwelled in the silence for a few moments. Winter spoke no word because she didn't want to say the wrong things and eventually maddening her sister even more. But Weiss didn't say anything simply because she too was shocked by what she just did.
But, eventually, it was the younger girl who spoke first.
"I hate how much I'm so similar to him… I tried, Winter, I really tried to change, but… This is just… Who I really am…."
"Does this mean you hate him?" She asked for the second time.
"I… I don't love him," The young sibling could only confirm.
And for the final time, Winter asked again, "Are you really going to do this?"
"Yes, if being a monster is all it takes to stop my mom from getting hurt, then I'll gladly do it," despite her strong posture and confident display of words, the older sister could see that she was holding back the tears.
"Please, just… just don't tell Mother about this… I don't want her to think this is all her fault…" she finally said, breaking her act.
The older girl looked to her side, "Our family's going to fall apart because of this…" She said.
"Please, this is never a family, and it never will be," Weiss half-whimpered and half-scoffed.
A buzzing noise came from the older girl's purse. Winter immediately grabbed her phone and read a message from it. And judging from how she looked, the younger sibling guessed that it was important.
"I… I need to go… But before I do, I only have one last question…" The older girl spoke.
"What is it, Winter?" The Weiss replied curtly.
"Instead of just being a hero, or just being a monster… Why can't you be both?" Winter asked as a small grin formed on her lips.
"What? How is that even possible?" The younger girl asked, being the more realistic person of the two sibling.
"I personally think it's possible. By saving Mom's life, you're a hero. But by ruining Dad's life, you're a monster."
Weiss was speechless as she saw her sister shot her a rare warm smile.
"You're both a hero and a monster."
The younger sister finally found her voice, quiet and honest, "I… I like that…"
Winter gave her sister one last hug before she walked towards the exit, stopping only to look at the young girl one last time as she said, "I love you, whether you're a hero or a monster, you'll always be my sister."
And then she left without hearing Weiss saying one word.
"Goodbye."
Author's Note : Okay, I have no idea what I'm doing when I write this. Go easy on me, okay? I write this in less than a day. This wasn't meant to be a fan fiction, but then I thought, "Eh, why not?" And simply change the names of the characters.
In case you're wondering about the original story… Weiss was supposed to be me, which is why it's called "Father Issues"…
Please don't... Don't ask any questions, I won't be able to answer them. I have no idea, I just, I just have no idea whatsoever.