Thanks to TehGramerPolise for helping with this chapter.
The medical facility was located in a small outpost a little ways outside of Mantle; I rented a room in a small inn that was there. However I rarely ever so much as step foot inside it, instead choosing to stay by Neo's side.
She went in and out of consciousness, slowly gaining strength over time. Doctor Treant had been correct in that regard; the second surgery so soon after the first had severely sapped her strength.
Each time she did wake up, I walked on eggshells, dreading that I would set off another episode. However, no such event ever occurred, much to my relief, and Neo never made a point of it. The first several times she woke up, I would offer her some water and light food that the nurses provided. She would eat and drink with ravenous intensity before falling right back asleep.
After a couple of weeks however, she was able to stay awake for longer periods of time. The first time she did so, she had stared down with wide eyes at her hands, her breathing growing fast and panicked.
"Neo." I had called softly, and when there was no response I put a hand carefully on her shoulder.
She had stiffened and turned towards me, but as her mismatched eyes fell upon me, all of the tension vanished. She had given me a small smile and placed her hand upon mine, giving it a small squeeze. The action had then seemed to take something out of her and moments later she had fallen back into the bed, fast asleep.
It wasn't too long after that that she was discharged. Doctor Treant had given the news while giving me pointed looks; the bruises still faintly visible from when I had threatened him. I made sure to include a generous amount of lien along with the usual payment.
Lusban picked us up in a Bullhead; bringing us back to the Laisren Estate. Neo was more or less awake for the most of it. She sat in her seat, her eyes glued to the window as she watched the clouds and snow covered ground pass by. It was only when we arrived at the city outskirts that she finally seemed to lose interest, falling into a doze.
I frowned as we arrived at the mansion and circled in for landing. I had been dreading seeing a mob at the gates as journalists of every stripe demanded to be let in; instead, the scene was quiet, peaceful even.
I didn't question the strange miracle as I led Neo towards the mansion. As we approached, the doors burst open and what seemed like a torrent of people came out to greet us.
Belatedly, I realized that it was my household servants. They surrounded us, and before I knew it, we had been swept inside.
I had always somewhat suspected that the servants adored Neo. While they always treated me with the utmost respect (I wouldn't have accepted anything less.) There was always kind of a relaxed and jovial atmosphere around them whenever Neo was around that simply wasn't present for me.
Now I had it confirmed as they absolutely doted on her, doing everything in their power to attend to every single need and want. It felt like we were being attended by a swarm, with individual members coming and going to perform different tasks. Long gone were the days were they whispered about her eyes and bad luck and even in the bleak mood that had fallen upon me, it warmed my heart to see them care for her with such obvious sincerity. They had already set up a bedroom, meticulously cleaned, with a vase of fresh flowers on a nightstand.
Finally, as quickly as they had appeared, they vanished, leaving us alone in the bedroom with a silver bell to call them back if need be. I sank down into the large chair they had left for me to sit by her side, feeling slightly overwhelmed. Neo had maintained the same, blank expression throughout the whole experience; she barely glanced at the men and women who had surrounded her and as soon as she was in the bed, she fell asleep again. Leaving me alone with my thoughts.
There was a polite knock at the door and it opened to reveal Lusban, "Baron Laisren," He said quietly, he held out a scroll, "For you."
I accepted with a nod, and the man bowed before leaving the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.
I turned on the scroll and my eyes widened to see the sheer amount of messages that had been left. I opened it and skimmed through them.
Predictably all of them were variations of condolences, apologies, offers to help. So many from so many people that my eyes swam as I mindlessly scrolled through them in an endless stream. I knew that I should reply to them, to use it as an opportunity; however, even the thought of it filled me with an indescribable weariness. With a weary hand, I simply deleted them all before putting the scroll next to me.
After all, they had all been right there at the auction, and none of them had helped me. My mind cast back to that day, so long ago where Cola and I had talked of strength. About how I had stated that strength was the ability to protect those closest to me.
How weak then was the strength that all my politicking, all of my scheming given me? That I hadn't been able to protect the person closest to me?
Neo's strength continued to return, however she did not leave the bed, instead simply sitting up and staying there. Sometimes she would stare at her hands, other times the wall or the ceiling. The only times she would react would be when I was there, and even then she would simply sit there by my side; eating whatever I gave her with the same intensity as though she was starving.
I had hesitantly tried to draw her into conversation; at first she had tried, but would eventually grow frustrated as she failed to adequately communicate. I had given her a scroll to write and type on, but she seemed to find it clumsy and eventually just gave up. Eventually she fell into a dark mood and would simply turn away whenever I tried, obviously frustrated.
Several days later, I was walking towards Neo's room with a slight spring in my step, carrying a book on sign language that I hoped could help her communicate and begin to draw her out of her malaise. However, as I got closer I smelled something that made bile rise into my throat.
The smell of blood… a lot of it.
I fell into a sprint, dashing down the hall and slamming the door to Neo's room open.
On the carpet at the base of the bed was one of the servants, an older man whose name I couldn't remember. Fall on the ground next to him was a tray of various sweets, several of which I knew were Neo's favorite.
His belly had been split open, his guts spilling out in a gory mess. His eyes were wide, sightlessly staring at the ceiling. His mouth open in a small 'o' of surprise.
Crouching over him was Neo, a shard of sharp ceramic shard rising and falling rhythmically to stab the man's corpse over and over; oblivious to my presence. To the side I could the shattered remains of the vase, the flowers scattered everywhere.
"Neo." I said, my voice coming out in a whisper.
She cocked her head to look at me and her eyes opened wide as she saw me standing in the doorway.
"What in the world?" I breathed, "Have you done?"
She recoiled slightly at the words her eyes uncertain and fearful as I closed the door behind me my mind whirling. If I just called the Cleaners then someone would see them arriving, that is unless I was careful about it. I could send Lusban to pick them up at a rendezvous in a Bullhead. I nodded to myself and pulled out my scroll, "Lusban." I said as his face came up on the screen, "There's been an… incident, contact the Cleaners, I need them brought to the manor as discreetly as possible. Neutral location to here; is that understood?"
He nodded, "Yes sir." He hesitated, "Sir, I don't know how it took this long, but there are a mob of journalists at the gates demanding that you speak with them. Shall I let them in for a conference?"
A bitter fury rose up inside me, "No, tell those vultures they can go to hell!" I snapped and I hung up.
I crossed the room to a chair and practically fell into it, staring at the corpse, the smell finally hit me full on and I gagged, covering my mouth and nose.
Then I heard a small sniffle, I turned my gaze to see Neo hugging her knees, rocking back and forth. Tears were running down her cheeks as she choked out another small sob.
I felt a lump in my throat as I stood up, "Neo," I said gently.
She shook her head and buried her face into her arms and continued to cry.
I stood there for a moment, completely at a loss. Then I crossed the room to sit down by her side, she shifted slightly away and I bit my lip as I considered what to do.
"Yay ye bird," I sang softly, "Ye Firebird. How high above you fly."
Neo crying stopped and she looked up at me, her hair a wild mess and her face still wet from tears. I scooted closer and wrapped my arm gently around her.
"On wings of fire, you set my heart aflame. Firebird shine in the sky and set it all afire."
I continued to sing softly, Neo slowly relaxing in my arms, "...The Grimm will run, and the dark will be gone. Firebird come and bring your fire."
Neo slowly leaned up against me, her eyes closing as I reached the closing verses, "Firebird, ye Firebird, how high above you fly. When the nights are long and hope is gone, come and bring your fire."
I trailed off and Neo began breathing softly, her chest rising and falling, her face at calm as she fell into a peaceful sleep.
It was a peace that I mourned that I couldn't share, my thoughts on the corpse cooling on the floor behind us.
The nature of Neo's recovery changed drastically after that incident. While I was able to come up with a cover story about the servant's disappearance: citing sudden heart problems and family in Mistral; certainly my sudden announcements that servants were not allowed to see Neo without my presence had to have raised some eyebrows.
The end result was that I felt like I was under siege. Every time I left Neo's room I felt an itch on the back of my neck that I couldn't scratch. Every single person that I passed was a potential informant. The strain wore down on me, making the effort of keeping a composed front a daily burden.
The feeling got bad enough that I deliberately left the scroll Lusban had handed to me in my study on the other side of the mansion. As whenever it made so much as a single sound I could practically feel the outside world crushing inward on me.
The only place where the feeling abated was in Neo's room, every trace of the murder having been scrubbed clean. That being said, being with her had its own issues. Most notably was the wall that had come between us ever since the incident with the servant. It was a nebulous thing, but still stubbornly solid, making every attempt at conversation wither and die. I eventually just took to reading aloud from the Tale of the Four Knights- a desperate grab at a common thread that connected us. However, each time she merely turned away, unwilling to even so much as look in my direction. The only time we really ever interacted with each other was when I was giving her the medicine that Doctor Treant had prescribed. It was a strong smelling syrup that was meant to prevent any infections from occurring.
Thus it was on the final day that I almost dreaded the ending of the routine. Just as I had every day, I quickly retrieved it from my study. As I was getting the bottle out of the cabinet however, the scroll I had left on the desk suddenly rang, causing me to jump. I glowered at the device as I measured out the medicine into a small cup. The device finally fell silent as I put the bottle back, and I looked over to see who had called.
I frowned slightly to see that a message had been left, and felt a spark of curiosity as I saw that it was Camille's number. However shrugged it off as I closed the cabinet door and left the study, embracing the increasingly familiar indifference that settled around my shoulders.
I hastily made my way back to Neo's room, dreading as always that I would run into any of the servants. I breathed a sigh of relief as I arrived without any such meeting and knocked on the door and entered, "Alright Neo, time for you medicine." I began to announce, much as I had always done.
However the words died in my throat as I saw that Neo's bed was empty.
My heart began to beat faster in a panic, had Neo escaped? If so, where had she gone? I would have to evacuate the servants… maybe claim a malfunction in the power array? Anything to avoid another incident.
Even as my mind raced however, something made me pause. I blinked and then followed some instinct that made me look under the bed.
Neo's mismatched eyes glared out from under it, her face creased into a fierce scowl that I would have found comical if my heart still hadn't been beating so quickly.
"Neo?" I called, and knelt down, causing her to scoot backward. I felt relief wash over me as that movement confirmed that it wasn't an illusion from her Semblance, "What are you doing down there?"
Her eyes went pointedly to the small cup of medicine in my hand.
I lifted an eyebrow, "Seriously? You know this is the last time you have to take it, right?"
She simply scooted back a little further in response.
"Neo, this is to make sure you keep getting better." I told her patiently, "There's no point in taking it all of the times before if you skip out on the last day, come out here."
She stuck out her tongue and shook her head.
I leaned back more than a little bewildered, she was acting like a little kid, then suddenly I grinned. If she was going to act like a little kid, I was going to solve this how I would with a little kid.
"Well then, I guess you won't be able to eat any of the ice cream I got to celebrate." I said loudly, "It'll be tough for me to eat it all by myself, but I guess I'll have to manage."
There was a poignant pause, and suddenly Neo appeared, sitting up in front of me. She was still scowling, but she had a hand held out.
I did my best not to gloat as I passed the cup into her hand, but couldn't manage to wipe the wide smile off of my face.
The next moment I was coughing and spluttering as I tried to wipe the sticky medicine off of my face. Neo having long since disappeared back under the bed.
"That's it." I growled, I stood up and grabbed Melodic Cudgel from where it was resting on the wall, I loaded in a round and then felt prone, and fired.
The web round shot cleanly under the bed, exploding over Neo as she lay on the ground. She struggled for a moment, her eyes full of anger as she strained against the bonds. The next moment the after image under the bed shattered. I was already on my knees and aiming by the time she had teleported on top of the bed and I fired again.
The web round slammed against her chest and knocked her down onto the bed, sticking her to the covers. Before I could reload she had teleported in front of me, lunging forward and knocking me flat on my back. We began struggling there for a moment, turning this way and that as she tried to yank Melodic Cudgel out of my hands.
I don't know when I started, but suddenly I found myself laughing. Neo froze as she heard the sound, her eyes full of confusion. Then slowly a smile spread over her own face and she shook her head ruefully.
I took that momentary distraction to throw her off and fire another web round, sticking her to the floor as I rolled away and back to my feet.
She blinked a couple of times in shock and then glared up at me. I saw her face screw up in concentration, and her form blurred a little, but she didn't teleport and I knew then that she had run out of Aura.
I grinned as her glare intensified, "1-0." I told her.
She rolled her eyes, but a wide smile came across her face. In that moment, I could feel the wall of tension that had been present for so long evaporate into nothingness and my heart soared with happiness.
I opened my mouth to say something when the door was blown off its hinges,slamming down onto the ground in a thunderous roar.
