Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long. :/ I'll say the same thing I did in the last Starting at Checkmate update: Depression and college are a bitch. I think I'm back to normal though, so I'm gonna try to get back on a more regular schedule. I know I say that a lot, but I actually mean it this time. :P Oh, and make sure you read the note at the end. I've got some big news.
Chapter 7: From Dreams to Nightmares
Three months went by, and the school year was passing by just as expected. Without any new distractions, students were finally able to focus on the work and classes at hand. A few new precautions and regulations were put in place to make sure that missions would be safer in the future, and it looked like the semester's rough start was well and truly in the past.
For Neo, those three months went by in a much different way. School came first, but the most exciting part of every day was getting back to the room and getting to look at her belly in the mirror. Normally, it wouldn't be obvious at this point that someone was pregnant, but with Neo being so small, and having twins, she was very clearly showing. The bump wasn't huge, but it only took one look to know that she was pregnant. It was strange, but as worried as she was, seeing herself slowly getting bigger gave her a warm sense of satisfaction, knowing that her children were growing inside her.
Her and Weiss' relationship had been a little strained for a while, but they'd finally gotten to a point where they were both comfortable with what was happening, and were happy to support each other the entire way. Weiss was still a little on the fence about what was going to happen in the end, but that was alright. Neo didn't know how all of this was going to pan out either, but that was half the adventure. All that mattered to her was that they were still together, they were happy, and they were ready to face this together.
On the opposite side of that spectrum was Mercury, and it was starting to make Neo worry. He'd been going through cycles of depression ever since meeting with Lexy and Tusk, and it was fairly obvious why. Ironwood had decided to have him act as their informant, having him work alongside Cinder again in the hopes of discovering where she was and what she was up to. Mercury made sure to keep his hands clean, but that seemed to be where the problem was stemming from. As much as he tried to avoid it, he couldn't deny that he liked being a bad guy.
"What do I do?" Mercury asked, sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. It was just after classes, and he and Neo had gone back to their dorm room to talk in private. Neo sat beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him. "I don't know if I can keep being Ironwood's informant. I thought I could just play along, but... I like helping them. I like being an outlaw again."
Neo frowned, "Are you saying... you want to go back to Cinder?" She'd had her suspicions for the past few months, but she didn't want to believe that it was true.
"I-I... I don't know... No, I don't, but... this is making me remember why I didn't leave her earlier. This is the life I've always lived, that I've always loved. I still love it..."
"What about us?" Neo ventured, lightly shaking her friend's shoulder. "What about Em? Or RWBY? Or JNPR? Or Scarlet?"
Mercury only grew more frustrated, especially after the mention of his boyfriend's name. Their date had gone incredibly well, and they were officially a couple now. It was rare to see Mercury act as happy as he did when he was with Scarlet. Through all of his struggles, Neo could see that Scarlet was near the top in Mercury's list of things keeping him sane.
He sighed, "I do love you guys. It's not like I wanna abandon you, but I can't get away from this. I can't shake the thoughts of going back to how it all used to be. I'm pissed cuz I wanna go back, but I don't know if I can really be a good guy, and I wanna stay with you and Em, and... I don't know. I DON'T KNOW! I don't know anymore. I feel like I'm ready to just explode and have a complete mental breakdown."
"You need to tell Ozpin," Neo suggested. "Or Ironwood, or someone. Maybe tell Cinder you wanna be less involved because you think we're getting suspicious?"
"That's the thing, though. I don't want to stop," Mercury angrily replied. He stood up and ran his hands through his hair, growling across the room at nothing before letting out a frustrated scream. "I wish... I don't even know what I'm wishing for anymore... I wish things made sense again. I wish I could just be happy being here with you guys."
Neo stood up and wrapped him in a tight hug, "I'm here for you, Merc. Hey, I've got an idea. Maybe we could go to the mall this weekend and have that stealing contest you wanted to have with Em. Think that'd help hold you over?"
"Maybe," he laughed, hugging back. "Thanks, Neo. I don't know what I'd do without you. And honestly, that's what scares me the most. Sometimes I feel like you and Em are the only reason I come back from these missions instead of just saying fuck it and following Tusk and Lexy back."
"I understand," Neo sarcastically replied, huffing and turning away. "I'm not crazy enough anymore, so you want Lexy instead. I'm sure Tusk is good eye candy too."
Mercury grinned and rolled his eyes, "Yup, you caught me. Scarlet is cool and all, but you can't beat a man whose arm can vibrate."
"Oh come on! Really? You had to go there?" Neo recoiled in disgust.
He laughed and shrugged, and they kept chatting and laughing until the rest of their friends got home as well. As much as Mercury needed the pick-me-up, Neo needed one just as much. She and Weiss had said that they would call Weiss' mother this afternoon to talk, and Neo was ready to freak out. Granted, the heiress' mom had been a lot nicer later, and it seemed like she did want to try to get along, but they hadn't actually spoken to each other since that night at Weiss' house. Everything since then had been through voicemails from missed calls and texts, so having an face-to-face chat had Neo somewhat on edge.
"Relax," Weiss smiled as the walked to the library to make the call. "She's been really friendly lately, so what's there to worry about?"
Neo grumbled a few words under her breath before speaking in an audible volume, "Everything. I get that she's being nice when she can't actually see me and can think out her responses, but that could change in a call."
"She's not going to yell if that's what you're worried about. I've been talking to my dad about it, and he says that she's been coming around a lot from what he can tell. Sure, maybe she isn't exactly a hundred percent on board yet, but it sounds like she'll get there eventually."
"Eventually..." Neo sighed.
They arrived and got into one of the video booths, and Weiss dialed the number. It connected almost instantly since her mother was waiting for them, and soon a white-haired woman appeared on the screen, bearing a near exact resemblance to her.
"Hi, mom," Weiss greeted the woman, a nervous smile forming across her lips.
Her mother smiled back, "Hello, Weiss. Hello, Neo. How're you?"
"H-Hi, Mrs. Schnee," Neo stuttered. She hadn't expected to be acknowledged until Weiss mentioned her, or at least until she spoke on her own. "W-We're doing pretty well. What about you?"
"I'm alright, thank you for asking. So... I'm actually not sure where to start here."
Weiss crossed her arms, "Well, I suppose we could start with an apology. Not just from you, from everyone. We've all handled this poorly."
"You haven't," Neo smiled. "You've been really mature through all of it, at least I think so. Me on the other hand... That's questionable. I guess I'll be the first to say sorry. Actually, wait. Beo, get out here and apologise. You were the one who exploded."
'Ugh, fine, but this is the only time I'm ever coming out to say sorry.'
Neo's pupils suddenly dilated, and she tightly shut her eyes while the two of them switched places. It felt a little different than before, possibly because it'd been so long, but nonetheless it wasn't painful. Her eyes changed colors a few times as she opened them again and blinked a few times, then started to grin. "Sup?" Beo asked, looking between Weiss and her mother.
'Don't be an ass,' Neo growled.
Beo ignored her and started her apology, "Okay, um... Sorry about blowing up on you last time we met. I'm not gonna pretend that you didn't ask for it, but still, I'm sorry."
Neo groaned, 'I should've thought this through more...'
"I suppose I did," Weiss' mother replied, catching Weiss and Beo by surprise. "It's not easy to let go of beliefs you've held your whole life. Even so, I should've taken the time to think more about it. Even if I didn't approve, seeing Weiss as happy as she is with you should've been enough for me to hold my tongue. As long as you're happy together, I'm happy for you."
Beo went to speak, but Neo didn't need hear the start to know that it was a bad idea. She quickly made the transition back, and smiled at the screen, "Thank you. That means a lot from you."
'Rude,' Beo huffed.
"That went better than expected," Weiss said as she took Neo's hand. "Thank you for being mature. Both of you."
Her mother nodded, "Of course. Now then, let's move on to something more cheerful. Neo, how're you feeling? If you're anything like I was with Weiss at three months, I'd imagine not well."
"I feel okay, actually," Neo giggled. She hadn't thought much about it before, but apart from the first few weeks after her discovering that she was pregnant, she'd been feeling fairly normal. "Cravings are hitting me like a train, but the morning sickness and stuff have been pretty tame."
"I know that feeling. Anything in particular or just whatever hits you at the time?"
"Fucking burritos," Neo groaned, leaning back in her chair. "I can't even walk past a sign without my mouth watering. That and ice cream, but I ate a ton of ice cream before anyway."
"Ice cream with pickles," Weiss added with a grin.
The three of them started chatting, and Neo was floored at how friendly Weiss' mother was being. It felt odd, and she was suspicious at the beginning, but it wasn't long before that feeling faded. They were talking, laughing, sharing stories, and it brought out a new feeling that she hadn't expected. Having Weiss' mother talking to them like a mom reminded her of how Cinder was when she was little, but better. For the first time, she felt like she was talking to someone that could be considered a real mother figure in her life.
An hour passed before they knew it, and Weiss' mother gasped when she noticed the time. "Well, I should probably let you go," she said. "It sounds like you've got plenty of study to do. I expect A's if you've got time for all these dates."
Weiss groaned and put her head in her hands, "Okay, mom... Goodnight."
"Goodnight, dear. You too, Neo."
"G'night," Neo smiled. "I'm really glad we had this call."
"So am I," Weiss' mother replied.
They hung up, and Weiss gave a sigh of relief before turning to Neo with a wide smile. "That went a lot better than expected. I was sure that you or Beo would start a shouting match eventually."
"You give me so little credit," Neo giggled. She wasn't going to admit that Weiss was right about it for Beo though. "Wow, that really was a long call. We've still got some daylight left though. Wanna go get ice cream or something?"
"Maybe you should cut back on the ice cream," Weiss half joked and half meant seriously.
Neo gave an innocent shrug, "Hey, I'm just eating what the babies are telling me to. Can't argue with them."
Weiss rolled her eyes, but knew she couldn't argue in any way that would work. They started walking to the dining commons, and even the weather seemed to reflect their shared good mood. The sun was starting to set, casting a warm orange glow over the freshly-dusted campus. It was still snowing a little, but most of the powder had fallen during their call. Neo giggled the entire way, catching snowflakes on her tongue and getting amused looks from Weiss. It was a beautiful evening, a perfect ending to a great day.
The heat had been cranked up in the building from the cold weather, so they quickly found a table and set their jackets on the backs of their chairs. Neo dashed over to the dessert line and immediately started filling a huge bowl of chocolate ice cream. She added nearly every topping they offered, then went to the salad bar to add some tomatoes and peppers. Weiss shook her head when she saw what her girlfriend had returned with, "Okay, what the actual fuck?"
"I don't know what you mean," Neo chuckled, then started shoveling the concoction into her mouth.
"Slow down! You'll give the babies diabetes before they're even born if you eat that fast!"
Neo shot an amused glare across the table, "Fine, but only if you agree not to make fun of me for what I put on my food anymore."
"Deal," Weiss smiled. "So is there anything you want to talk about? Anything we've been forgetting about?"
Neo thought for a moment, running through anything they might have missed earlier. Nothing came to mind, and she was about to shrug the question off, but then her eyes lit up as an idea crossed her mind. "Names," she beamed. "I'm three months pregnant, and we haven't even mentioned names yet."
"Huh... I guess you're right. Well, have you thought of any?"
Neo gave a so-so wave with her hand, "Little bit? I've had some names in mind for my kids since I was, like, thirteen."
"Hey, here's a good thing about having twins," Weiss chuckled, the first time Neo had seen her do so when talking about the pregnancy. "We can each name the one that looks most like us."
"That's a great idea! I get the feeling that the split will be pretty obvious though, if the whole aura thing works as predictably as I think it will. So do you have any names in mind?"
"Yes, but you should go first," the heiress replied, happy to buy herself some time.
Neo giggled, "Alright, um... I like the name Vanilla for a girl, or maybe Mint. For a boy... I'm actually not sure. Napoleon? See, because I'm named after ice cream, and Napoleon is ice cream... Gonna be honest, I'm kinda banking on it being a girl."
"I could see that," Weiss laughed, rolling her eyes. "I guess that means it's my turn. Um... Glacia would be really pretty for a girl. I like gemstone names too, like Sapphire and Diamond. If it's a boy, I'd probably name him after my grandfather, Azure."
"That's really sweet," Neo smiled.
'Hey, don't I get a say in this?' Beo laughed in the back of Neo's mind. 'Beo Junior is a pretty awesome name. Just saying.'
"Shut up," Neo chuckled, shaking her head and getting an odd look from Weiss. "Sorry. That was aimed at Beo, not you."
They both stopped to laugh for a moment, then turned back to look at each other. They both had a certain twinkle in their eyes, and both seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Neo, we're gonna be parents," Weiss blushed, breaking from her usual, proper grammar for a split second. "We're really going to be parents."
Neo started to grin, "Are you just now coming to that realisation? I've been pretty aware for a while now."
"Oh hush. You know what I mean though. I guess it's finally sinking in for me."
"That's good, right?" Neo ventured. The conversation had been going really well up until now, and she knew that this could be the point where it could all go south. Weiss' cheerful mood until now made her hopeful, but that wasn't a guarantee.
The heiress smiled and reached across the table to rest her hand on Neo's belly, "Yeah, it is. I'm sorry that it took me so long, but I can finally say that I'm actually really excited. I didn't think I'd ever be ready to be a mom this early, but... I am. Granted, it could be because I'm not the one who's pregnant, but still."
"Good, I'm glad," Neo replied, putting her hand on top of her girlfriend's. "I love you, Weiss."
"I love you more," the heiress said, blushing.
"Not possible, but I'll remember that for the next time I fuck something up really badly. So what else do you wanna do tonight?"
The answer to that question turned out to be as simple as watching a movie in team RWBY's room and snuggling in Weiss' bed. It was a Tuesday, though, so they couldn't stay up too late with their early lectures the next morning. Neo wasn't as concerned about it as Weiss was, but luckily the heiress had all but mastered the art of getting Neo to listen to her by now.
They said goodnight, and Neo went back to her room to shower and get ready for bed. Today felt like one of the most perfect days she'd had in a long time, and it was a little sad to hear that it had to end so soon. After drying off and putting on her pajamas, she hastily brushed her teeth and jumped into bed. Her hope was that her dreams tonight would be as wonderful as the day had been, and that was the thought she held as she drifted off to sleep.
In her dream, Neo found herself walking down a dark corridor in the old warehouse. She went through a set of double doors and arrived in an open room with Cinder on one side, and a group of three nervous-looking men on the other. There was a fourth man on her knees beside Cinder, dressed the same as the other three, with his hands and feet bound, as well as having a piece of duct tape over his mouth.
Cinder grinned as Neo entered, "Ahh, good. We can finally get started now."
"Make it quick," Neo yawned, taking her stop behind the captive men.
"P-Please," one of the other men stammered, his hands shaking as he spoke. "The shipment was delayed. We-"
"Save your excuses," Cinder interrupted. "I gave you ten thousand Lien to bring six truckloads of Dust here. That was our deal. But, I see no Dust, and you've spent all of that money. What am I supposed to do?"
Another of the men spoke up, "We just need another day. The convoy we were targeting got held up. We can get it tomorrow, and you'll have your Dust."
"Or you'll just run," Neo gladly pointed out.
Cinder nodded, "Precisely. We had a deal, and you didn't hold up your end. I didn't specific where to get the Dust from, I simply asked for an amount. When you accepted my money, you agreed to have that amount here by noon."
"I'm sorry," the first man ventured in a panicked voice. "We fucked up, okay? It happens to everyone. It won't happen again, I swear."
"You're right. It won't. But, that still leaves the issue of what to do right now. Can you repay me for the money I lent you?"
The third man nervously gulped, "N-No... If you give us until-"
"Silence!" Cinder hissed, then turned to Neo. "Make sure they understand how well I tolerate failure."
Neo grinned and gave a nod, looking down at the helpless man in front of her. She could see the fear in his eyes, the sweat dripping from his brow, and it was almost enough to sate her. Almost. She pulled her sword from her umbrella before anyone could react, and slit the man's throat in one fluid motion. His muffled screams came through, but didn't last long. He flailed on the ground in a growing pool of red until his cries turned to shallow gasps, his frantic attempts to free himself turned to slow twitches, then he went limp.
An evil smile spread across Cinder's lips as she watched. When the struggle ended, she looked back over at the three terrified men who'd just watched their friend die. "I take it we understand each other now? If the shipment is not here by this time tomorrow night, then you'd pray that I never see you again. Are we clear?"
The men all nodded, each taking a step back. "Y-Yes," they all said at once.
"Actually, on second thought..." Cinder continued after a brief moment of thought. "I don't think this is really working out. Neo, if you would, please?"
Neo suddenly sat upright in her bed, the last image from her dream being her advancing on the men. She took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead, thankful that it hadn't been real. She quietly got up and went to the bathroom to get a drink of water, then curled back up in bed in the hope of quickly falling back asleep. That wasn't the case though, and she lay there for what felt like hours while her nightmare wouldn't leave her mind, until her exhaustion finally won out.
'That was... weird...'Neo thought as she fell back asleep. 'I haven't had a nightmare like that in a while…'
Morning eventually came, and Neo tried her best to pay attention in class. The dream lingered though, burned into her memory, looping over and over. It wasn't like she'd never had nightmares like this before, but this one was hitting her hard for some reason. She didn't take a single note during any of her classes, or pay the slightest bit of attention toward the end of the day. Her one saving grace was combat training, since she couldn't fight and didn't need to be focused, but that also left her with a full block of time to be alone with her thoughts. By the time class was only half over, she was already ready to scream.
She sighed, 'Yo, Beo, any chance you can fuck around in there so I stop remembering that dream?'
'I wish,' Beo groaned. 'I keep seeing it too. I'm sure it's messing with you more than it is with me, but I agree that it's getting on my nerves. I'll see if I can figure something out.'
A few minutes passed, but nothing changed. The haunting image of the man's terrified face wouldn't go away. Neo shuttered, 'Oh my God... Beo, is that really what we were like? I know it was usually you doing the dirty work, but...'
'Yeah, we were... Well, I that's not entirely true. I was always like that, and still am to some extent. You were always the good one.'
'Some extent?' Neo asked.
'Okay, fine, I'm still that way,' Beo sighed. 'That's most of why I don't wanna have control anymore. We've got a great life now, and I know that I'm gonna fuck it up eventually. I'm happy in here, and you're happy out there, so it works. I was fine talking to Weiss' mom for a minute cuz I couldn't see much going wrong, but even you saw how fast I would've gotten carried away.'
Neo frowned, somewhat noticeably to the people around her, 'But that's not fair to you.'
'Really, it's fine. Call if you need me to eviscerate someone, but otherwise I'm good I'm here.'
She wanted to argue, but a tap on her shoulder caught her attention before she could. "You okay?" Emerald asked. "You look really down."
Neo rubbed her eyes and nodded, "Yeah, just had a bad dream last night. It was about Cinder and killing people and shit. Not fun."
"Sounds fun to me," Mercury added, getting glares from his teammates.
Emerald shook her head, then turned back to Neo with a comforting smile, "Do you wanna talk about it?"
"Nah, I'm okay," Neo replied. "I was just talking to Beo about it. It'll probably pass soon."
It didn't pass though, and the dream continued to stay in her mind for the rest of the day. Even after classes were over, and afternoon turned to evening, she still couldn't unsee what she'd done. Team RWBY, JNPR, and NEMP got together for dinner like they usually did, and it was clear that Neo was very out of it. Weiss suggested that she go take a nap after dinner to see if getting some sleep would help, and Neo was more than happy to try. She flopped into bed the moment she got back from the dining hall, and was out in seconds.
"Hmmrph..." Neo grumbled some unknown amount of time later as she woke up and stretched. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked over to the clock. "Just after eight o'clock... I guess that's not bad."
"How do you feel?" Emerald asked from across the room, startling her leader.
Neo sat up and yawned, and noticed that the dream wasn't in her mind anymore. She could still very easily recall it, but it wasn't there nagging at her like it had before. "Um... I feel a little better, actually. So what've you been up to while I was asleep?"
"Not much," Emerald shrugged. "Mostly playing games on my scroll. Penny's over with Ruby, and Mercury is out doing some extra sparring matches with Blake and Nora. I think Coco is with them too, or maybe it's Yatsuhashi. Wanna go hang with everyone else?"
Neo happily nodded, and the two of them went across the hall to team RWBY's room. Everyone there had just started a Cards Against Remnant game, which they were very eager to jump in on. Weiss looked happy to see Neo smiling as she sat down, and Neo explained that she was feeling better. The game made sure to help with her mood as well, and an hour later, she had all but forgotten about her nightmare.
"Okay, this could be for the win," Jaune said, picking up the pile of white cards he'd been given. "Okay, 'What is in Oobleck's coffee?' We have... cocaine, literally shit, tentacle Grimm-"
"Wait, what?" Ruby laughed, falling backwards. "What the hell are tentacle Grimm?"
Yang grinned, "Lots of fun. Keep going, Jaune. I want my win!"
"You need four more to win," Penny pointed out. "It's Neo and Ren that only need one more."
"May I continue?" Jaune asked, getting nods and grins from everyone. "Where was I? Right, right... Tentacle Grimm, whatever they're serving in the Haven cafeteria, incest, old chewing gum, the biggest Faunus dick, or bukkake... Wow, this is a tough one."
"Is it though?" Yang asked with a wink.
Jaune thought for a moment, "Hmm... I'm gonna have to go with tentacle Grimm, because I like the idea of him turning around to take a sip and just having tentacles explode from the cup."
"Then that means I win," Ren smiled, taking the black card and adding it to his pile. "Good game, everyone."
"BULLSHIT!" Yang exclaimed. "How did the biggest Faunus dick NOT win?"
Pyrrha chuckled, "If I were you, I'd be more concerned with the fact that Ren won out of all of us. No offense, Ren, but this doesn't seem like your kind of game."
He shrugged, "Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I can't have a dirty mind."
"We need Merc in on the next game," Emerald said, checking the time. "Nora too. By the way, when did they say they're getting back? It's after nine. They've been gone for almost three hours."
"I'll call Blake," Yang said as she pulled out her scroll. She tapped on Blake's contact and held it up to her ear for a few moments, then pulled it away with a confused look. "Voicemail. Maybe she's still sparring?"
Ren tried calling Nora and got her voicemail as well, as did Neo when she called Mercury, and Emerald with Coco. Emerald shrugged, "Maybe we should go check on them? I find it hard to believe that they've spent this entire time out there and are still sparring."
"On it," Ruby said, and disappeared in a cloud of red. She was back a minute later with an even more confused look than before. "They're not at the sparring fields. Did they say that they were going somewhere else afterwards?"
"Not that I remember," Jaune replied, starting to look a little worried. "We should probably go look for them."
Everyone nodded, and split up to check anywhere they thought their friends would've gone. The teams met up at the fountain in front of the school, but none of them had found anything. They weren't in the dining hall, the library, the gardens, the hospital, or anywhere else on campus that they could think to look. It was almost ten o'clock, and the level of worry among the group was growing higher and higher. They tried calling again, but still didn't get a reply.
"What the fuck?" Yang finally said, looking around and off into the distance. "Did they go into town and all forget their phones? Why wouldn't they tell us where they were going?"
Neo shrugged, "I have no idea. Should we go ask Ozpin if he can locate them? Or can we do it on our own?"
"We can't," Emerald replied, shaking her head. "I've tried. We can only monitor aura and stuff. Only teachers can see locations, but only with the headmaster's permission. We should go see him."
BIG NEWS! So, if you've looked at my profile picture here, or follow my Facebook or page, you'll see a new face. That would be the face of none other than Vanilla Schnee. (; I've been asked how far I plan to continue A Neo Outlook on Life, and I think you'll like the answer. As it stands, I have up through A Neo Outlook on Life V planned out in my head, so yeah, that far. I know that there's no way I'll be able to make it to the end of this story to start teasing things, so I'm just gonna start doing it now. After every chapter, there'll be a new tease of something on both my Facebook and page for everyone to see, (links on my profile here) so be sure you check them out! I'll put a reminder at the ends of chapters to remind you. This chapter's tease is Vanilla, so stay tuned to see who and what come next. (; Oh, and speaking of what comes next, I hope you're ready for the next few chapters...
If you'd like to help support me, there's a donation link and link to my page on my profile. Your support is helping me toward my goal of writing full time. (: Thank you to my amazing Patrons:
Mike Zembruski
Kenseilon
Ryan Hoogerdijk
Francis Lafontaine
Nhat Pham
You're the best! ❤️
