Chapter Text
Losing someone was an inevitable, but it was sentient life’s greatest flaw to ignore that and get attached to those close to us. Everyone was alone in the end, but there was too much stubbornness to abandon those bonds. Tales told through the ages described the reasoning behind such things, almost as if making excuses, but hardly anybody took them seriously. Whether it be a curse or mistake early in their survival, people made up stories to lessen the hurt of loss.
And, for Neo, she had never believed the stories until Red had opened her parasol on that airship, sending her into the sky. The Nevermores, fortunately, were focused more on Roman’s anger, so she was able to float to safety unmolested. But it didn’t change the fact that she saw the ship crashing, Red escaping with her scythe, as the one man she was loyal to went down with the airship. Even for someone with as much blood on her hands as her, it cut deep – deeper than she expected it to. Never had Neo wanted to scream in grief, but unfortunately she was incapable of that, so she just covered her mouth as she sobbed. He couldn’t have survived.
Eventually, she felt her feet touch solid ground, but it didn’t register to her. It didn’t matter to her, and for some time she almost wished her parasol would have failed. At least it would make things easier, not having to feel grief. It was an emotion she had avoided so long, but now he was dead. Her legs gave out, and she fell to her knees as she looked to the sky. The ship was gone, but she expected Roman to appear somehow, anywhere. He always got out of the stickiest situations, with that cocky grin and a wisecrack to let off. And it made her laugh.
Eventually, her crying wore herself out, and she registered where she had landed, taking deep breaths to calm herself. She was in Vale, and Grimm were still attacking. Getting to safety was her first priority. A quick scan brought a little Dust shop into sight – From Dust to Dawn – and she ran to it, a side kick breaking the plywood where the door once was. It was luckily empty, and it was just a matter of using her Semblance to make it seem that the wood was still there, as she slumped next to it. The small twinge in her gut reminded her that Roman had mentioned hitting this shop first, but she pushed the emotion down and tried to relax.
I have to get out of here. I have to run.
Part of her didn’t want to. But that’s not what Roman would do. She would survive.
A few weeks had passed by since Vale had been invaded by Grimm, but Neo had been long gone, fleeing from village to decimated village. It was a poor way of life to live, but to her, it was unfortunately familiar. She had no direction or motive for running, except to get away from all that. From Cinder, from Vale, from what she considered home for so long. She had to stop every day or two to rest, but for now, she had survived with minimal Grimm attention. The large dragon seemed to be drawing them all to Beacon, and she was thankful for that.
Her nights when she rested were filled with tears and grief, but also contemplation when she had no tears left to expend. Desperately, she wanted to blame others. Little Red, Cinder, herself. Someone was at fault for Roman’s death, and she wanted revenge.
Her dreams were of him, that softer side of him she seemed to bring out. When he found her dirty and hungry on the streets of Vale, the soft words he spoke.
Hey kid, I won’t hurt you. You look hungry.
Everybody only saw the bad in him, but he had potential to be good, she was the prime example of it. He just made poor choices, and got in with the wrong people. He learned fast not to backtalk Cinder Fall, and even faster that she was not to be crossed. There was no telling her no, but her showing up had ruined everything. Neo held a lot of rage towards her, but her thoughts always came back to one factor.
Little Red. She was a much easier target, and in her eyes, was also responsible for Roman dying. Just a small stab, and there would be revenge and closure. Roman deserved at least that. As she laid back, she pulled her Scroll out, having been able to charge it in a partially standing building. The network was completely down, but she still had Cinder’s intel files, including information on the students. She flicked through until that familiar face came up. Ruby Rose, home in Patch, sister to Yang Xiao Long. Second year, semblance: super speed.
She knew the rest, but the other name piqued her curiosity, and she opened the file on the other name, shocked when a familiar face greeted her. The girl on the train, the blonde bimbo. A respectable fighter, but the one that got away. She had almost killed her in cold blood, to protect Roman from her, and she felt no guilt. Why would she have to? Her killing was for the better, to her. After all, it had only been three people, and almost four. But she knew this face, and another emotion surfaced.
She wanted resolution. She had a score to settle with the blonde.
For a long time, she had nobody to look up to and admire. Her mother was that when she was younger, but she had died when Neo was rather young. Her father, on the other hand, wasn’t the best person, but he never beat her or anything. Just neglected. Still, she lived a lot of her childhood in solitude, learning from her books that she coveted. There were a few she liked, books on dance mainly, and she taught herself from those. There were also books on Grimm and Hunters, but those weren’t required to teach her to defend her home.
But things never went as perfectly as they did in those stories, and waking up to the fire was the worst day of Neo’s life. The house had already been burning when the smoke woke her up. She was greeted to the sight of her father taking her in his arms, wrapping her in a blanket, and running through the halls of their house. The stairs down were already burning, and she screamed and cried as her father ran down them. Her blanket kept her safe for most the time, but by the time her father emerged from the house, the blanket covering her had ignited, and he couldn’t pat it out in time. The people told her at the hospital that her throat had sustained significant harm, but wouldn’t tell her where her father was. She had to find out on her own that he hadn’t made it through the injuries. He had died doing the first and last selfless thing for his only daughter.
Foster home after foster home took her in, but nobody seemed prepared to deal with a mute child. She wasn’t completely mute, but the damage made talking difficult on her. She preferred being mute, anyways. It made it easier to cope with the losses she had faced. Family after family turned her away for different reasons, whether it be her reluctance to speak, or just the emotional baggage she brought along. Eventually it just became too much for her, and she ran. Ran and never looked back. Sometimes she would wonder if her choice was right, as she sat begging for food, silent as her scarf hid those shameful scars. But by no means was it easy for the girl, and she often found herself skipping town to move to the next. Until, in Vale, she heard the first kind words she took to heart.
“Hey kid, I won’t hurt you. You look hungry.”
She had gotten on the bad side of a local street gang, stealing food from one of the bakeries they protected. It took some running around, but she thought she had lost them until she ran headfirst into a white coat. Bouncing off, she heard those words, and looked up to a red-headed man holding a cane, looking down at them. She watched as he used the end of the cane to open her coat, showing the bread she had stored away, and shook his head with a tut.
“Stealing from big bad boys will get you killed, kiddo. Luckily, you’re not dealing with any of them… Yet. Come with me, and they won’t get you.”
She found him snatching her bag of bread, and then he began walking away. Neo tried to resist following him, but he stopped and turned, shaking the bag. With a small scowl, she stomped after him, pulling the scarf closer to her. The man smiled, and led her on, deeper into the city.
---
“You’re awfully quiet. As usual, of course. Do you even talk?”
It had been a few days since Roman had taken her to his flat, setting up a small bed for her on his couch. Intentions were made clear that she could come and go as she pleased, and at first she did, but for some reason, she was drawn back. He had plenty of food, all she was welcome to, and it was wonderful. He asked her questions here and there, but otherwise left her to her own devices, doing whatever it was that he did. However, tonight he seemed to be off, and offered to take her out to get actual food.
To answer his question, she shrugged and took another bite of the noodles, washing them down with a drink of milk. The noodle shop was one of the better places she’d eaten lately, but on the bright side, she didn’t have to steal it. Roman was the type to eat generously, and the Lien he gave to her to use signified some degree of wealth.
“Eh, suit yourself. Though I still haven’t caught your name, and the voice thing makes that hard. Can you show me?”
A quick look around led to another shrug, but then she looked out the window, seeing an ice cream stand across the way, and she pointed at it, then to herself.
“Ice cream? That’s a weird name.”
Another shake of her head, and she looked up at him, trying to clear out her throat. It had been a while since she’d had to talk, so it took a bit of warming up, but scratchily, she said her name.
“I-I’m Neo…”
Brown eyes flitted down after she spoke, holding her scarf around her. She was scared of judgment, scared he might abandon her like all the others had. It came as a shock when she heard Roman put his bowl down, and ruffle her hair.
“It’s a good name. I’ll buy you a cone on the way out.”
---
“Come on, your dad never taught you to use Aura? That’s cold, even by my standards.”
She had learned what Roman did. Petty theft, bodyguarding, Grimm extermination. Dirty work others wanted him to do. It wasn’t all legal, but he had explained it to her simply. He wasn’t a bad person, just a good person that did bad things. And she accepted that, because he accepted her.
Still, training with him was a bitch. She had chosen her weapon personally, a parasol with a thin blade hidden inside, infused with Dust so it could tank heavy hits. He’d bought her a matching outfit, and she loved it. But it was a matter of unlocking her Aura and Semblance, which was much easier said than done.
“Alright, again! Come at me.”
She knew from last time to start defending herself, and the energy blot exploded around her open parasol, before she darted in, parasol meeting cane in a clash of weapons. They traded a flurry of blows, before Neo ducked under his swing and hooked his ankle, pulling back. She didn’t expect him to swing down, though, and moved out of the way of his cane before he pulled the trigger. However, he kept his target where she was, and surprise covered her face when she saw a mirror image of herself shatter as the bullet hit it. Roman was obviously caught off guard, too, and he looked around, getting up.
“Neo? You okay?”
With a gasp, she realized she was holding onto something, and he couldn’t see her. She let go of the strange feeling, and shimmered back into sight, surprise on her face. She went to apologize, clearing her throat, but was caught off guard in a big hug by the redhead.
“You did it, Neo! You finally got it. You… Your eyes changed?”
She blinked, and tilted her head.
“Changed?”
It came out raspy, but shocked. Running over to the closest mirror she could find, she noted that with every blink, her eyes shifted colors. With a small laugh, she tried to do it at will, and found her new power listening to her. At a thought, a perfect copy of herself appeared behind her, but it shattered within seconds of being made.
A low whistle came from Roman, as he peeked around the corner.
“Illusions, eh? That’s a new one, but it fits you, kiddo. Let’s see if we can work on it.”
---
The day Neo found out Roman was in the business of crime was also the day Neo realized how much the man meant to her.
That day had marked the anniversary of him finding her and taking her in, and they were celebrating with a special dinner, made by the redhead herself. Neo eagerly helped him cook, her smile ever present. She didn’t know why, but simple things like this made her happy.
“Hey Neo, grab the eggs, will you?”
The past few months, she’d finally showed the scars to Roman, and he understood her reluctance to speak. Fortunately, he was able to weasel speech therapy out for her, but full sentences were hard, so they began learning sign language together. Neither had a strong grasp on the subject, but it made communication easier.
Looking in the fridge, her smile diminished as she noted their lack of eggs. Without looking, her hand signed to him.
<<We’re out. Need more.>>
“Damn… Alright, I’ll see if the store is still open…”
Scroll flickered to life as Roman pulled up the net, but a notification caught his interest, and he opened it, eyes narrowing at the message.
“The boys need me now, of all times? How inconvenient… I’ve got to run and do this errand, can you get eggs?”
She nodded and took the Lien he held out to her, grabbing her coat and pulling it around to her. They began to walk out, but right before the door, she held her arms out to him, not needing to sign to show her intention. He chuckled, and ruffled her hair, before picking her up in a hug.
“You’re a good kid, Neo. I’m glad I found you.”
She froze at those words, and lightly shook as tears formed in her eyes. Those words were what she had always wished her father would say to her. She wanted to be praised, loved, and Roman was giving it. He, however, seemed concerned at her silent sobs, but her burying her face into his chest showed what was going on.
His hand came up to stroke her bi-colored hair, and he rocked her.
“There there, it’s okay. If you want, you can come with me. The boys know you, the little ice cream queen.”
She couldn’t help but silently laugh at his dumb nickname for her, and looked up, smiling, as she cleared her throat.
“Thanks, Roman…”
---
“Of all the days you could have us being attacked, it had to be this one? Idiots!”
They were all hiding behind crates in the warehouse Roman worked out of, as another rival street gang fired upon them. Roman would occasionally pop up to fire off a charge, Neo soon following to block any counters. Still, it looked bad.
It had been fine when they got there, nothing suspicious. But when Neo spotted a room left ajar, she noticed somebody tied up in there. Naivety got the best of her, and she slinked off, opening the door. Out of pity, she freed the man, wanting to ask what he was doing there, but he ran instead, fast enough to escape and get his men. And they wanted revenge.
Angry signing came from Neo as they hid.
<<Why was he tied up? What’s going on?>>
“Long story short: people need Dust, they can’t always get it legally. I smuggle it. Good people doing bad things, right?”
<<How long?>>
“Longer than you’ve been alive, dear. Now quiet down and help!”
Help. Oh, she would help alright. A blink of her eyes turned them white, and she began drawing the thin blade from her parasol, catching Roman’s attention.
“What are you doi-“
He watched as Neo seemingly stood up, but remained crouching at the same time. With a finger to her lips, she vanished, and her double took the shot meant for her as she ran off, invisible to all. The illusion didn’t last long, though, and she hid behind a crate, thinking up another illusion. Grimm wouldn’t work, but… That was it.
Behind the men, the sound of sirens came, causing both gangs to freeze.
“Stop where you are, hands up!”
Naturally, the leader of the rival gang lived by the fight or die motto. He shot at the illusionary police, but was baffled when the illusion shattered. By the time he realized the trick, Neo had already walked behind the five, blade whipping as they turned.
Five men fell as she fought them all, using illusions to feint, then land those shallow cuts on them. Any retaliation was stopped by a precise shot from Roman, and before long, the last one fell to his knees. And Neo smiled, almost as big as when Roman had held her earlier.
<<I want in.>>
A stunned silence overtook the room, besides the moans of the injured, as Neo kicked their weapons away. Roman processed it, then shook his head with a sigh.
“With a performance like that, it’d almost be a crime to say no. Fine, you’re in, partner. Make the most of it.”