Author's Notes: I'm really sorry if the formatting for this chapter is screwed up. If it doesn't come out right, I'll do my best to fix it. This wouldn't be a problem if I were using my own computer.
Come Back to Me: Chapter 11
Neo had expected close to no coding left in the matrix. Indeed, there was close to none, but random streams of coding ran wild across his line of vision. It looked as if the Merovingian had stopped running. He was waiting in the shadows of nothingness that was once the matrix. It was to his home advantage, and traps lie ahead in the dark gloom. There was no air left, no oxygen, Neo breathed. He breathed in the sweetness of having finally reached his goal. As long as the lived, the y had won.
The streamline of coding had increased now. They were starting to form actually bits of objects now, and it seemed as if they were closing in on the Merovingian. They would have to break the coding down section by section, but it would insure that they would never have to go into the matrix again.
It was nearly over.
Neo grinned.
The chateau's coding had been changed, yes, but it was still the chateau in all of its magnificent grandeur. This time, there would be no hidden doorways, no places to hide. It was a fight to the finish, and there would no more matrixes to live through. It was at the end of all things.
The polished door shone innocently in barren waste. Knocking was fruitless in this stage of survival, so they strode into the building with army boots clacking on the freshly polished floor. They paid no heed to the skid marks left in their wake. They had been expecting an entrance hall with majestic chandeliers gracing the wing. They hadn't expected to find several locked doors as soon as they entered the building.
"How good were you at gambling, Neo," Trinity asked as she ran her hand along the first door. Some of the finish chipped off under her sharp nails.
"Gambling was a game that got you killed in New York City," Neo answered as he studied the coding of each door. The Merovinigian only knew that he could stop in mid-air and fight several men at once. Who said it had anything to do with the coding of the matrix? By law, there shouldn't even be any coding left in the matrix, but the Merovinigian has once again eluded their grasp.
Neo stuck has hand through the coding of the door. It didn't hurt; why should it? It was only coding. He felt the lock click into place, and he removed his hand. He followed Trinity in through the door. Neo found himself in the same hallway as when they walked in a few months ago. The double staircase had been repaired, and the bodies had been removed, but it was still the same hallway. He nodded to Trinity as he took a few steps up the left staircase. Trinity took the right staircase, but he got the brunt of the blast.
Fire and bullets reigned down on them from all directions but the center. With little more than a thought, Neo had stopped most of the fire, and a few of the bullets. Trinity had flipped over the rail at some point to come face to face Persephone. Persephone was holding a silver handgun to center of Trinity's forehead with an absolute steady hand. Trinity took the momentary precision force Persephone's arm up to make a clean break.
Persephone clawed the right side of Trinity's face with her good arm, and kicked out beneath her. Trinity suspended herself above the ground and kicked Persephone back into the far wall. Persephone seemed to fade back into the wall. A click behind her made Trinity freeze. "I see you've met my twin, Trinity," Persephone voice came from behind her.
"I didn't think you would brave enough to face me yourself, Persephone," Trinity set up.
"Oh? Well, you have limited resources, and I'm holding a gun to your head. What would Neo do if my finger slipped…" Persephone's slid down to the trigger release. Persephone didn't get a chance to touch the trigger as she was lifted into the air at Neo's eye level. Neo tossed Persephone's gun back down to Trinity. He released Persephone, and walked through the next hall.
"Don't even think about it," Trinity ordered as Persephone rose to go after Neo. She held her arm at a perfect parallel to the floor as she aimed as Persephone's heart. It was an impossible shot to miss.
"Bitch," Persephone growled as she circled Trinity. Trinity moved in sync with her.
"Only to people who touch my man," Trinity snarled back. It took every effort she had not to shoot Persephone on the spot. She needed to buy Neo time.
"What would happen if he falls in love with someone more worthy of him," Persephone smirked as Trinity visibly went rigid.
"How very thoughtful of you," Trinity voiced laced sarcasm as she lunged at Persephone. The gun seemed to have disappeared as Trinity used to a right upper cut to dislodge Persephone's jawbone. Persephone snarled as she dove for Trinity's exposed neck with her nails. Trinity caught Persephone in the kneecaps, and sent them both crashing to the floor.
Trinity pinned Persephone to the ground with one arm, and caught Persephone's twin in the chest with the one. Persephone's eyes rolled back into her head as her skull made sharp contact with the floor. Persephone's twin writhed beneath her, and Trinity let go of Persephone to face the carbon copy. She flipped the twin up, and pinned her against the far wall.
"Who are you?" Trinity seethed. Inside, she was enjoying every second of this physical torture to any replica of Persephone.
"None of your damn business," the twin snapped. Trinity pulled sharply on the intricately braided hair. The twin silently cried out in pain.
"Wrong answer," Trinity answered pleasantly as she pulled just a little harder.
"Persephone's sister Iris," the dark haired girl cried. Trinity let go of the girl, and shoved her out of the way.
"Get out of here before the whole place collapses," Trinity growled as she stalked after Neo. There were only a hundred ways he could have gone. Sounds of dragging could be heard behind Trinity as Iris tried to move Persephone. Foolish girl, neither one of them would get out alive at that pace. Trinity surveyed the damaged as she stepped over another body.
Columns were lying in chunks scattered across the floor. Several victims of Neo littered the ground where they had tried to attack him all at once. It seemed as if Neo had to dodge flying curved daggers, swords, and bullets all at the same time. Trinity shook her head as she left the scene as it was. The gateway to the next scene was in shambles from the floor to the ceiling. If they had been trying to hide it from Neo, they didn't do a very good job at it.
The next hallway had been left relatively in one piece. There were a few torn paintings where and there, but everything was lacking the carnage. High marble columns were still standing tall, and the floor lacked every once of rubble. The next entranceway seemed to barely be left standing in comparison.
Trinity saw the room itself before she saw Neo and the Merovingian. It was not too when the destruction of the place filled the very essence of the air. Computers and wires trailed the ground where they had hit. It seemed as if someone had been tossed into a few of the computers. Seeing the crisscross trails of blood on the Merovingian's back didn't surprise her at all. Sparks flew up along the wires as she stealthily made her way over the two fighters.
The Merovingian had been taking the most of the fight. A trickle of blood creased his forehead with what looked to have been dried blood on his scalp. The place just above his right knee was at an odd angle, and along with the deep gashes on his back, shallower gashes marred his sculpted arms. They seemed to be perfectly in their medieval sword dance.
It was more of a waltz than an actually dance these days. Neo's feet crossed each other as he somersaulted off the perfect balanced table. Seconds later, the table had been cut perfectly in two by the Merovingian's sword. Neo drop kicked the Merovingian, but lost his timing in the process. The wounds from earlier caught up to Trinity as she slid down against one of the desks in blinding pain.
Neo shifted just in time to avoid landing on a particularly sharp piece on monitor glass, but the Merovingian wasn't so lucky. He landed hard on CPU, and a piece a thick metal went sharply into his side. He cried out in agony as Trinity crawled to Neo. Her old wounds hadn't completely recovered, and she hadn't noticed in the fight with Persephone because she had been hell-bent on revenge. It had caught up to her now.
Trinity collapsed on Neo in complete debility as he attempted to cover up some severe burns on his arms. She sighed in frustration at seeing glimpses of his wounds. "Did you really think you could hide these from me, Neo?" She laid her head down on his chest as one of the walls shattered around them. Bits of plaster graced Trinity's and Neo's hair.
"No?" he smiled guiltily at her. She sighed against him.
"Neo, let's go home."
As it turned out, Morpheus had found out about their little escapade. Morpheus lectured them as Link poured a salve on Neo's burns. Trinity was wrapped up tight in a blanket, but she was still shivering with cold. Her fever had gone down, and the gashes on her body had turned a light pink. Not too many of the wounds had been reopened.
"What the hell did you think you were doing? What would we have done if my first command and best soldier had gotten themselves killed?" Morpheus asked in a dangerously soft voice. Trinity had only heard that tone once before, and it made her flinch in knowing what was to come.
"We took care of the rest of the problems in the matrix, Morpheus. Now that we know everyone's locations, we can build up their muscles again," Neo responded quietly. He hadn't been the subject to one of these arguments before, but he had heard others who had.
"Morpheus, how long until we get to the fields," Trinity questioned enervated. At he wasn't yelling. Yelling would have made the pounding in her head ten times worse than it was already. Link glanced at her with something akin to sympathy.
Morpheus' shoulders sagged in defeat. The lecture would have no affect on two people who had undergone physical abuse for extended periods of time. "We'll arrive in about half a days time. Get some sleep you two. We'll need you healthy when we arrive."
Her body protested as she leaned on Link for support. Neo goaned as his wounds scraped against the cloth of his shirt. They had survived this war, and they would survive a few minor injuries. On her way out, Trinity hesitantly put her hand on Morpheus' shoulder. "You've done all that you could. Niobe doesn't want you to live the rest of your life in regret. Mourn her and move on, but never forget." Morpheus nodded to her. It was an end to a revolution, but it was the beginning of new civilization. Of new life.
Notes: *crosses fingers* Did I lose anybody? I always lost someone on action scenes in my other fanfictions. I hope not, but tell me if I did. I only have the epilogue to write, and it's so depressing! I don't want this story to end! Well, at least I finished it before Revolutions came out. I finally met a deadline.
Responses:
Midnight's Trinity: I'm depressed just by the fact that its going to end on November 5th. I want it to keep going so much! My fic started out depressing, became even more depressing, then completely went kick ass, and now its going to be happy.
Divamercury: I've rhymed without knowing it before. It's a kinda strange feeling, isn't it? This one got out much faster than the last, but it's almost over! I'm not an emotional person usually, but I have a feeling I'm going to cry when this story is over. Maybe not, but I will cry when the matrix trilogy ends.
Sunglasses-At-Night: Wish you could asked for more earlier. It's unfortunately almost over.
Satiana: I was going to give those lines to Neo, but I didn't want my favorite character to be left out on all of the fun. It just fit her a little better than it did Neo.
LadyAlexis384: The song fit in with my depressed mood that day. See why you shouldn't write when you're depressed? You end up killing off characters that didn't do anything to you. Bad days for writing. I should've written something under Harry Potter and killed off Draco. That would've made my day.
Lovewildfire: I hope you liked this chapter. Stop, I don't want it to end! No!!!!!
Ella: Yeah, I don't like having crossovers though. There is actually a roleplaying thread that I've read before that has middle earth as the matrix. Trinity will live on forever if I have anything to say about it. Ok, so I don't, but she'll live in all of my fanfictions.
Aquarian Wind: I write good action? Wow, that's the first time I've heard that. Usually, people tell me that I rush things too much. Thanks! Gotta love Trinity's ass kicking.