Neopolitan: On Ice
Sequel to Neopolitan: The Beginning
It had been years since Cinder took in Neo as her own. Overtime, the pint sized mute had become Cinder's right hand assassin. Cute, smart, untouchable. By now, Mercury, Emerald, and even Roman and Adam had joined the group, and Neo quickly became acquainted with them all. She had no issues with them, and it was actually kinda nice.
Even though they were all evil.
But the ice cream girl didn't care. They were her family. And family always stick together.
Tonight was a chilly winter night somewhere in Remnant. Cinder had already attacked Amber by this point, and Neo was quite happy that Cinder was getting what she wanted.
But she felt it wasn't something she deserved.
Regardless, she did her best to smile. They were in a field. Cinder was getting used to her new powers. Mercury was fixing his legs. And Emerald was resting up. Neo had gotten bored of watching Cinder set trees on fire and walked off to go find something to do.
Behind her were various dead Grimm. No surprise there. She looked around and noticed something odd. Or rather, even more odd than she knew.
It was a flower. A daisy to be exact.
And it was frozen.
Neo inspected the frozen flower, wondering who or even what could have caused something like this. She looked around, but didn't see anyone. She decided to leave the flower alone and stood up.
And that's when she saw it.
A trail of ice, leading deeper into the forest.
Neo looked back at where the others were, then decided to follow the path ahead of her. It was eerily quiet, not even the Grimm were around. She followed it to a frozen cave and gripped her umbrella tightly. Neo walked inside and looked around. Not much to look at. A few bits of ice hanging from the ceiling, a partially frozen and very small pool of water gathered up in an indentation in the rock, a pot with a small fire underneath...
Wait, a pot?
And active fire?
She walked over and inspected it. There was some kind of stew being made inside. And it smelled delicious. The fire was very warm as well. Next thing she knew, she had something hard, cold, and painful being pressed into her back.
"Who are you? Why are you here? Are you with the woman who attacked Amber?"
Neo was surprised. The woman had such a beautiful voice. But what was most surprising was that she managed to sneak up on Neo without being noticed. The woman took her umbrella away. "I'll ask again. Are you with that woman who attacked Amber?" Neo nodded, then pulled out a notebook and pen and wrote "I can't speak."
"I'm sorry about that...wait...hmm, I see." Neo looked at the woman confusedly. She let her go, and walked into a side cave quickly. Neo looked around. She wasn't gonna leave without her umbrella. But lucky for her, the woman returned and gave her the umbrella back. "You may not know it yet little one, but you're meant for something much greater than what your supposed leader has planned. Don't look at it until you return to wherever you're staying. There's something inside your umbrella that I want you to look at. I don't know who you are, and you don't know who I am, but I can at least help you, assuming you accept my help. No go. You're being called, and I can't be found just yet. I'll find you if you accept my proposal, and only when you're ready." Neo nodded and left. She ran out and looked back, but when she did, the entire cave was gone.
"Neo! There you are!" Emerald ran up to her. "You shouldn't run off like that. We've been looking all over for you. Come on, we're going back to town." Neo nodded and they left.
Later that night, Neo retired to her room. If there was one thing the others knew about her, it's that you never mess with a sleepy Neo. Unless you want to nearly die. Roman found that out the hard way. But she wasn't really tired. She was curious. She opened up her umbrella and a small package fell out. Interested, she picked it up and opened it. Her jaw dropped when she saw what was inside.
A small set of earrings. Both were pure white and looked like angel wings. She pulled them out and underneath was a small note. She set the box aside and opened up the folded paper. It read, "Put these on. I'll find you." She looked at the earrings and put them on. It hurt a bit, but they got in with ease. She looked in the mirror and smiled. They looked kinda cute. It was then that she saw the woman behind her in the mirror. She quickly turned around and sure enough, there she was. "It seems you are interested. That's good. That means you found me before you were completely corrupted." She extended her hand to Neo and smiled warmly. "Come with me." Neo was reluctant at first, but she walked over and took her hand. It was warm. Before she could blink, they were in a field of flowers. Neo's jaw dropped. It was so beautiful!
The woman finally removed her hood. She looked even more beautiful than before! Soft, light blue eyes, long, silvery hair, and a skin complexion that Neo had only seen from Weiss Schnee. But the woman wasn't a Schnee.
Neo knew who it was.
It was the Winter Maiden.
"I take it you already know who I am. Yes, it's me, the Winter Maiden, Snow." She bowed elegantly. "What's your name?" Neo pulled out her pen and paper and wrote "Neo." "Neo. Cute name for a cute girl. Do you know why I brought you here?" Neo shook her head. "It's simple really. You already know that when a Maiden dies, their power goes to the last person they think of. Unless its a guy, then it goes to a random person. I saw what happened to Amber. I know how strong Cinder will become. That's why I brought you here. Why I picked you." Neo looked at her confused.
"I want you to kill me, take my power, and defeat Cinder."
Neo was shocked by her request. She only killed if they deserved it, was part of the mission, or they got in her way. And Snow was none of those. Neo shook her head, unable to accept the request. "Neo please. I know you can do it. You have the ability to stop her before this goes wrong. With my help, you'll also have the power to do so. Please." She pulled out a dagger and handed it to Neo. She reluctantly took it and looked up at her, tears streaming down Neo's face. "Don't worry. Everything will be ok. I'll be there for and with you the entire way." Neo nodded, and stabbed Snow in the stomach, twisting the blade just right so that she would die. Snow winced, coughed up some blood, and dropped to her knees, looking up at Neo...with a smile. "Thank you Neo. I know...you'll do the...right thing...good...bye..." She fell over, the flowers around them freezing over. Neo cried. It wasn't something she did normally, but then again, this wasn't a normal situation. She held Snow's dead body close and eventually cried herself asleep.
By the time she awoke, she was back in her room, and it was morning. She looked at herself. She didn't look any different, but she could tell she felt different. But the feeling was...indescribable. It was like she was two people, yet only one person. She jumped when she heard the knock on the door. "Neo! Rise and shine! We're heading to Beacon soon!" Neo shook her head and gathered her things. She activated her disguise, grabbed her umbrella, and left.
With a smile on her face.
And a power she knew she would have to learn to use properly.