RWBY: Team CRML

Chapter 33

Years ago, Marek

Running into the house from playing outside, Marek nearly knocked over his mother by running into her. "Marek, sweetie." the woman knelt down to Marek's eye level. Her purple eyes stared into his. "You're all dirty."

His face had a bit of dry dirt and his clothes were covered. Licking her thumb, Marek's mom wiped some of the dirt away. "Come with me." the older woman stood up and led him to the bathroom. Grabbing a rag, she got it damp with warm water before heading back out to the living room. Having her son sit on the couch, his mother knelt down and began cleaning his face.

"Moooom!" Marek whined.

"This'll only take a second and then you can go back out and play." she replied.

Sitting still, his mother finished cleaning his face. "Okay. All better."

Marek jumped down from the couch and ran to the door, only for him to stop as it opened. A man, Wes, walked into the house, he had short spiky blonde hair with a set of sky blue eyes, and behind him was a little girl. Mist.

"Back already?" the woman asked. "That was fast."

"You know me, Lil." Wes said. "Plus, Mist wanted to hurry back to her things."

Mist looked from her father to mother before heading off to her room. "So, how was your mission?"

"It went smoothly." he replied. "But I need to talk to you."

Lil looked to her son. "Why don't you go to your room for a bit?"

Marek looked between his two parents before heading off to his room.

Mist was laying down in her bed, reading a book. Yawning, Marek crawled into his bed and stared at the ceiling.

Hours later

Bursting through the front door, Lil rushed down the hall and into her kids' room. "Mist! Marek! Get up,

we have to go!"

Mist and Marek both began to stir. She picked Mist up as their father rushed into the room. He grabbed Marek and they carried their kids into the living room. "What's going on?" Mist asked, confused and a bit shaken.

"You don't have to worry about that." Lil told her.

Running outside, the village was in chaos. People were running and screaming.

Looking around, Marek saw the source of the panic. "Monsters..."

Grimm were attacking the village. People were slaughtered while they tried to escape.

Running by countless people, Lil and Wes only focused on getting their kids to safety. Heading for the exit of the village, they heard an ear piercing screech causing them to fall to their knees. This screech came from none other than a Nuckelavee. Their kids began to cry from the pain in their ears.

Fighting through it, the two parents made it out of the village. Looking back, multiple buildings were burning. "Keep moving." Wes told his wife. "We can-"

He stopped as he saw a woman standing in the road. This woman has snow white skin and hair. Red veins, with matching eyes and black sclera. This woman is Salem.

Upon seeing her, Lil and Wes immediately shielded their kids. "Who are you?"

The woman looked at the two of them, giving a soft smile.

Minutes later

Mist and Marek stood in the center of the road along with Salem. Kneeling down, Salem looked at the two kids. "What're your names?" she asked.

"Marek."

"Mist."

"Well, Marek, Mist, how would you two like to come with me?" she asked. "I can keep you two safe. You'll never know fear."

Mist and Marek both shared a quick glance. "But...our parents will worry."

"Don't worry." Salem gently caressed Mist's cheek. "I can help you forget about them." a dark shadow ran down Salem's arm and into her hand. From there, it spread across Mist's cheek before fading.

Looking up at the woman standing in front of her, Mist smiled. "Mom?"

Turning to Marek, Salem did the same thing, locking away his memories of his parents and replacing them with fake ones of her. "Want to go home?" Salem asked.

The two kids nodded in reply.

As Salem led her 'kids' to their 'home' Lil and Wes' bodies lay lifelessly on the dirt road.

Present day

Falling onto his back as his memories returned, Marek felt like he couldn't breathe, overwhelmed by it all. Placing his hands over his face, tears began to well up in his eyes.

Wiping the tears away, Marek got to his feet. Stumbling out of the door and into the hallway, Marek could barely keep himself standing. Leaning against the wall as he walked into the living room, Marek stumbled to the front door.

Walking down the steps of the porch, Marek fell to his knees. Overwhelmed, tears began streaming down his face as he clenched his fists. His eyes glowed red as Marek got back to his feet. "Salem!"

Hearing a loud screech coming from the woods, Marek turned his head in the direction. "Marek!" Ruby and Jaune rushed over to him while still carrying Qrow.

"Did you hear that?!" Jaune asked.

"What was that?!"

Hearing footsteps run up behind them, they turned around to see Ren and Nora rush towards them. Ren fell to his knees as the Nuckelavee Grimm walked through the trees and into the village.

The five of them looked to the Grimm as it stared at them.

End of chapter 33