Cyan-Snake : Raven most likely got her powers around 10 years before the show and we're currently 4 years before the show, so even if they do meet, Raven would have her maiden powers already.
MasterBlade47 : You're about 2-3 arcs too early to worry about Neo figuring out who to blame for Roman's death.
All of Neo's belongings were either in her jacket or at Roman's home, so she was left with absolutly nothing except the clothes on her back. She had even lost Silence.
So when it was time for her to get on an airship for Mistral, curtesy of Junior who had kindly paid for the trip, she had to go to another big settlement on foot first just in case Ozpin or one of the teachers was looking for her in Vale.
Once she was in the airship though, she could finally sit down and relax.
The trip was mostly uneventful, save the few grimms the airship's defenses could easily deal with, and in a few days she landed in Mistral.
The airport there was packed, much more than Vale's ever was. But at the same time, the building was a lot smaller. Neo looked around. Junior had told her that a certain little miss Malachite, the one that was going to take care of her, was supposed to be waiting for her here.
He had described her as a strong woman usually wearing a purple and white dress, but Neo knew fully well strong usually meant fat in this context.
Having spent so much time with Silence, Neo felt a bit defenseless while navigating through the thick crowd. She was afraid too. Where should she go ? What if she passed next to miss Malachite without knowing it ? What if she took too long to find her and she left ?
Lost in her thoughts within the crowd, it was only a matter of time before Neo bumped into something, which sent her sprawling on the floor.
" Hey Mil, Do you think it's her ? " asked a snarky voice.
" A klutz like her ? No way Mel." said a second, similar, voice.
" Uncle Hei did say she looked like neapolitan ice-cream, although I don't see how she can be called cute." said the first voice.
" Yeah, we're much cuter." added the second.
Neo got herself back up, and saw the two girls that were talking about her. They looked exactly the same, wearing tight black jeans and black shirts with 'Bitching Bad' written on them, the 'Bi' and 'Ba' framed with small numbers next to it. The only difference between the two was the design of the hairpins they wore. One was a white flower and the other was a red feather.
They were both a bit taller than her, which Neo quickly understood once they stood close to her. However, the lack of style and originality in their outfits made Neo smirk. She had spent most of her life surrounded by Huntsmen and Huntresses, and just like Roman they all paid a lot of attention to their style, so it was really important to her.
" Is she mocking us Mel ? " asked the one with the feather.
" I'm pretty sure she is Mil." answered the one with the flower.
Neo smirked some more and placed a hand on her hip. She might be only twelve, but she had started developping in all the right places - if only just a bit - unlike the two girls in front of her. And she planned on flaunting whatever advantage she could.
" Yup. She's mocking us." the two said in unison as they cracked their fists to try and look intimidating.
Neo snorted. The two were probably younger than her, and she had yet to meet a kid at that age that had already unlocked their aura, even less one that could stand a chance against her.
The two girls wanted to punch Neo, but were stopped when they were grabbed by the collar by a strong woman in purple.
" What did I tell you two about causing trouble ? " she asked with authority.
" Not to..." answered the two girls.
Neo chuckled, and took the time to observe the three.
Name : Ashanka Malachite
Age : 41
Level : 0 (-%)
Class : N/A
Path : N/A
Title : Little Miss Muffet [She weaves her web unbeknownst to everyone. Remove all passive tests that should be done against her]
HP : 12/12
AP : LOCKED
STR : 11
CON : 12
DEX : 10
INT : 13
WIS : 16
CHA : 14
Semblance : N/A
Status effects :
N/A
Defenses :
CA : 11
For : 12
Ref : 12
Will : 14
Neo shuddered a bit at her title. Most of the time she could tell if someone was saying nonsense or getting close to her thanks to those passive tests. No passive tests meant she had to be wary of the woman at all times.
Name : Miltiades Malachite
Age : 11
Level : 0 (-%)
Class : N/A
Path : N/A
Title : The Best Twin.
HP : 7/7
AP : LOCKED
STR : 8
CON : 7
DEX : 11
INT : 8
WIS : 9
CHA : 10
Semblance : N/A
Status effect :
N/A
Defenses :
CA : 10
For : 10
Ref : 11
Will : 11
(--)
Name : Melanie Malachite
Age : 11
Level : 0 (-%)
Class : N/A
Path : N/A
Title : The Better Twin.
HP : 7/7
AP : LOCKED
STR : 8
CON : 7
DEX : 11
INT : 9
WIS : 8
CHA : 10
Semblance : N/A
Status effect :
N/A
Defenses :
CA : 10
For : 10
Ref : 11
Will : 11
" So you're the little monster Hei wants me to take care of ? " said the woman, Ashanka, " I see you've met my little terrors, Melanie and Miltiades."
Neo nodded while the twins pouted as they were slowly put back down on the ground. Then, she pointed at miss Malachite and cocked her head to the side.
" Me ? Everyone calls me Lil' Miss Malachite, or simply Malachite, although from what I know you won't be able to." she answered.
Neo shrugged. It was always nice to know people's names, even if she couldn't call them.
Malachite led Neo around Mistral, the twins whispering as they followed behind them. Eventually, they stopped in front of a bar.
" This is my business." explained Lil' Miss Malachite, " And also where I live with my girls."
She opened the door, walked behind the counter and grabbed the keys to one of the rooms.
" I know kids your age start to want their independance, and I'd honestly rather not have the three of you all sleep in the same room, so you can take one of the rooms." said Malachite, throwing the keys to Neo, " Granted, I'll be expecting you to work to pay for it though."
Neo grabbed the keys and nodded with a smile. She had her own room, just for herself, and was expected to pay for it herself ! She was officially a grown up !
" And if the room isn't properly cleaned I'll kick you out." warned Malachite.
Neo pouted. Not because she didn't want to clean her room, but because she was the one doing the most of the cleaning when she had been living with Roman and felt insulted that anyone would think she couldn't clean after herself.
" Hey ! Not fair ! " shouted Miltiades.
" Yeah ! Why can't I be the one with my own room and Neo bunk with Mil." added Melanie.
" Yeah ! Wait no. I should be the one to have my own room ! " countered Miltiades.
The two started bickering until Malachite stepped in.
" Shut up ! Both of you ! " she shouted, " You two don't get your own rooms because you don't have the time to work for it. You have school."
The twins cowered for a bit before what their mother had just said clicked into their minds.
" Why doesn't she have to go to school ? " they both shouted in unison.
" Because, little Neo here has passed her end of scholarity exams last Fruitidor." said Malachite.
Neo puffed her chest and stood on her toes, trying to proudly tower over the twins, which were both still taller than her.
" What's an end of scholarity exam ? " asked Melanie.
" It's for kids who get home-schooled to prove they know as much as any other 16 year old, the age at which school isn't mandatory anymore." explained Malachite.
" What's home-schooled ? " asked Miltiades.
" It means they were taught everything you see in class, but at home, without their friends." said Malachite.
The twins nodded pensively, trying to determine if stopping school at twelve was worth going through classes without their friends.
" Don't even think about it." said Malachite, " Neo had all the teachers at Beacon to teach her. I can't get you anything near what she had."
The twins pouted, while Neo started thinking on how Lil' Miss Malachite seemed to know so much about her.
" Neo. Dinner is served from 6 to 9 p.m., breakfast from 6 to 9 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Anytime outside of that and you won't be served. Is that clear ? " asked Malachite.
Neo nodded, tense.
" First month is free, but I expect you to find a job during that time. If you don't, I'll kick you out. Clear ? " asked Malachite.
Neo nodded again, tenser. Then Malachite threw her a wallet. Upon opening it, Neo saw some lien in it.
" I know you don't have anything left, so buy yourself some clothes and other necessities. The twins can show you around." she said.
Neo smiled and nodded, putting the wallet in one of her few remaining pockets. The twins then reluctantly lead her out. Once far enough from the bar, the twins looked at each other, nodded, and ran, leaving Neo alone in the streets.
Neo raised an eyebrow and smirked. Seems the twins didn't like her very much, but she didn't care, and the way they thought they could lose her even if she really wanted to find them was cute.
Neo skipped happily through the city, taking in the sights as she looked for the most likely place to find the shops she wanted. It wasn't long until she found them and bought what she needed, although she did have to pickpocket some change for the last few items she wanted.
Once her shopping spree over, Neo went back to the lower districts where the bar was located, all while carrying the multiple bags where her stuff was in.
Miltiades looked at Melanie.
" Do you think she's following us ? " she asked.
" I don't see her. Want to go on a roof and check ? " answered Melanie.
Miltiades nodded and the two made their way to the top of a nearby building. From up there, they easily spotted Neo skipping through the streets.
" She's not even a little bothered by it ? " said Miltiades, offended.
" It's like she's better off without us." added Melanie.
The two girls didn't need to speak as they both started following Neo around the city. They had originally planned on pranking some random people around the lower district, but now their ego was bruised and demanded retribution.
They were surprised when they realized Neo was going straight towards the merchant district. In reality, Neo was simply going towards the center of the city, as she had realized that the city was built around the mountain and the center seemed to hold the most expensive looking building.
She figured that, if she wanted to find where the shops were most likely to be, it would be between the upper and lower districts, where there was the most money to be made.
It represented well the difference between the two Kingdoms. Where Vale was built around it's people needs, with the commerces at it's center, Mistral was built around it's center of power, and the school at the top of the mountain.
The twins followed Neo through the merchant district as she went from one shop to another and bought several items. Her bags started piling up so high that she ended up bumping into someone. The twins laughed as they saw Neo scramble to gather her bags and bow to the rich man she had bumped into.
They didn't quite understand why the man was being nice to Neo though. When they bumped into someone rich they'd get shouted at or even insulted. Was Neo just that lucky with the people she met ?
Not really. Neo, however, with the way she dressed and her large pile of bags, along with the fact that she was currently near the upper side of the district, looked more like a rich girl that wanted to prove herself by shopping on her own than someone living in the slums.
The last thing the man would expect was for the little girl in front of him to subtly pocket his wallet while he helped her.
Neo went back on her shopping spree, and the twins followed, thinking about how they would prank her. The evening seemed endless, but eventually Neo started walking towards their home.
The twins smirked, and rushed ahead of Neo to prepare their nefarious scheme. The path Neo was taking would go near a homeless den, and if they managed to trip her and make her drop her bags, they would quickly be stolen by the desperate people inhabiting it.
They thought on how to achieve it, and eventually decided that one of them would bait Neo while the other would rush to bump into her. Simple, yet effective.
Neo arrived near the spot where the twins had set up their plan, and Melanie greeted her with a wave.
Neo smiled and waved back, carrying all her bags on one hand. Miltiades chose that moment to dash in and tackle her.
Neo dodged easily, the bags swaying only slightly. She grinning and tripped Miltiades up, who was sent sprawling on the ground.
The shock of being so easily ridiculed by a kid barely older than her made Miltiades forget the pain from the bruises she now had. Melanie, on the other hand, had her mouth hanging open.
Neo continued on her way, a large grin on her face. She really liked to show off like this.
This was the moment Melanie chose to activate one of the traps the twins had hidden throughout the lower district. A small log started swinging right in the direction of Neo's pile of bags.
Neo threw her bags in the air, making them dodge the log, before catching them one by one as the fell back towards the ground. Her actions looked like a dance to the Malachite sisters.
As she caught the last bag, Neo twirled and ended her show with a bow towards the twins. She was really proud of herself and walked towards the bar.
The twins, on the other hand, were flabbergasted by Neo's performance, and just stayed there unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Little Miss Malachite was surprised when Neo walked into the bar with her loads of bags.
" I don't think I gave you enough money to buy all of this." said Malachite, " How ? "
Neo smirked and showed her the two wallets, the one Malachite had given her and the one she stole. Neo then threw the wallet she stole to the woman. Malachite smiled as she caught the empty, but very expensive, wallet.
" Nice catch kid." said the woman, " Seems you already found what job you'll do."
Neo looked insulted at the idea. The great her ? Reduced to a simple pick-pocket ? No way. She huffed and puffed and shook her head fervently.
" Suit yourself." said Malachite, " But there isn't much work a kid can do, even down here."
Neo rolled her eyes and pointed towards her goons.
" If you want to work for me I can probably send you on errands, but you'll have to work hard if you want to pay the bills." said Malachite.
Neo shook her head and pointed again, this time making sure Little Miss Malachite understood that she was talking about the higher ranking goons. Those that were either bodyguards or hitsmen. No matter how much she had tried to give herself some semblence of morality or how much she regretted tried to kill Ann, she still loving fighting, maiming, and killing people.
Little Miss Malachite laughed at the idea.
" I don't care how good you think you are." she said, " I'm not going to give any important jobs to a new member, much less a child."
Neo frowned and gestured for a fight with Little Miss Malachite's bodyguards. She had observed earlier that not a single one of her goons had aura, so they were all level 0 while she was already level 11. Even without her weapon and while holding her bags, it would be an easy fight.
" I said no." insisted Malachite, " I am not letting a kid fight."
Neo pouted. She didn't want to do something small or boring, but last time she had tried to get money on her own, she had been caught by Ozpin, and that was over six years ago. If she wanted to work for a living, she'd rather follow someone else than try to do it on her own.
At that moment, the twins barged into the bar, surrounded Neo and grabbed her.
" You were sooo awesome ! " shouted Miltiades.
" You have to teach us ! " shouted Melanie.
Neo cringed as her ears were ringing, while Little Miss Malachite smirked.
" Now that's a good idea. Since you've passed on all subjects already, how about you tutor my girls ? " she offered, " They really need to improve."
The twins paled at their mother's idea. They wanted to learn how to be as badass as Neo had been, not boring stuff like History or Maths.
Neo wasn't liking it either, but something in Malachite's eyes told her that refusing wasn't an option.
" Let's do it like this." she offered, " Your living expenses here should mount up to 700 lien per month. I'll give you that much if the twins both get an average grade of 50% and add or remove 100 lien for every 5% they get above or below 50%."
Neo sighed but nodded. She had aced her final exams last year. How hard was it to get two girls to understand half of what they're learning right.
Neo felt like murdering someone.
The twins weren't stupid, but they didn't pay any attention to their lessons and never did any of their homework, as they prefered to spend their time playing and pranking people, including their teachers who were greatly annoyed at them.
Their traps proved to be ingenious, and they were smart enough to realize that if they pranked their teachers outside of school then they couldn't be given detention for it.
But none of that was used at school, and thus the twins grades rarely went above 20%. Neo was banging her head trying to find a solution while the twins complained, the three of them in the twins' room.
" This sucks." said Melanie, " We wanted you to teach us how to move like you did back in the streets, not this."
" Yeah ! Let's drop this and go outside." said Miltiades, " You can teach us the interesting stuff instead."
Neo shook her head and pointed at their homework. It was unfortunate, but this was her job now, and she needed to do it right if she wanted to keep staying here.
" Work first, fun later. You're sounding like our mom." complained Melanie.
" This sucks. You suck." added Miltiades.
Hearing this, Neo got an idea. She smiled and shook her head at the twins, before taking a piece of paper and writing something down.
I want you to have good grades so I can pay for living here, and you want to learn how to act as cool as I did, so let's make a trade.
If you do your homework, I'll teach you what I know, and the higher your grades will be at the end of the month, the more fun stuff I'll teach you.
Deal ?
The twins read her note, then went together in a corner of the room to whisper and discuss the idea. After a bit they came back to Neo.
" Deal." they said at the same time.
" But can you help us with it ? " asked Miltiades.
" We kind of don't know what it's all about." admitted Melanie.
Neo nodded. That was her job after all.
Months went on and the twin's grades soared. Now that they actually tried, they got consistantly between 60 to 70%, Melanie doing a bit better in Maths and Science classes while Miltiades did better in Geography and English classes.
Both still hated History, much to Neo's incomprehension as that was her favorite subject. To her, it was like reading one of her fairytales, but with real events this time.
Finally, for Sports, while the twins had always been decent, now that Neo had showed them how fit they had to be to come even close to being as good as her, the twins were near the top of their classes, and kept improving as they trained with Neo.
Neo had almost lost the two girls when she wanted to first train them by making them focus on the basics before they could do anything fun.
The twins had not appreciated that, far from it, and immediatly gave up. Neo had then thought for days before coming up with a training plan that would suit the twins.
She would teach them to do something cool, but completly ineffective. This would mean they had to train less before acheiving it, and would allow them to feel the rewards quickly.
This proved to be exactly what the twins needed, and as they slowly improved Neo could find many, many cool moves to teach them and keep them interested.
Moreover, now that the twins actually had decent grades, they showed them proudly and were even praised by their mother. Which only increased their interest in working for better grades.
Finally, Neo had gotten enough money from this to buy the last parts she needed and borrow the use of a mechashift forge for a few days.
Neo looked proudly at her creation. She had worked day and night for almost a week to finish this, and she couldn't be happier.
She grabbed the handle of her new weapon and gave it a few swings. It wasn't as silent as, well, Silence, but it was more than enough.
She then tested the mechashift system, going through several of the canopies that were stored inside, each being weaved with a different kind of Dust.
Satisfied with it, she pushed another button, unlocking the hidden blade inside and pulling it out.
Neo grinned. Her last weapon was Silence. This one shall be Hush.
Hush : An inconspicuous mechashift weapon made with your own sweat, blood and tears.
Proficiency bonus : 3
Shield bonus : 2 to AC
Enhancement : 3 to attacks and damage
Melee damage : 2d4
Skills :
Illusion canopy[Your canopy is filled with Illusion Dust, allowing you to use its effects whenever you want. Aproximately 50 uses left]
Shifting canopy[You can activate this at any time to switch your canopy and allow you to use another type of Dust]
Custom made[This weapon was made for you. Uses Dexterity instead of Strength to attack]
" So you are saying Ozpin is scared of a little girl ? " asked an eerie voice belonging to an even eerier woman, " And that she was seen in Mistral ? "
The woman was sitting in a throne at the end of a table, where two other chairs were filled and a man stood at the opposite of her.
" Yes ma'am." answered the man in front of her, a dark-haired man wearing a suit and sporting an electrifying mustache, " Our friend in Mistral believes that your inactivity as of late has made Ozpin shift his attention towards our potential allies."
" A young girl capable of such carnage would certainly make an interesting ally." said the grimm queen, before turning towards another man, with a scorpion tale and a sick grin as he played with his fingers, " She reminds me of you Tyrian, don't you think ? "
" My Queen ? " asked the man, worried that she might be planning to replace him.
" Do not be worried Tyrian." said the woman, " You have served me well so far, and I see no need to replace you. Yet."
The faunus shuddered at the implication, but kept grinning anyway.
" Should I bring her to you my Queen ? " he asked, eager to prove himself even more.
" Mmmmh... It could prove interesting." she thought out loud.
A voice then rose up from the last person in the room.
" How about I try to convince her to join her first ? " asked a girl that looked only a year or two older than Neo, " She's almost the same age as me, I could easily approach her as a friend."
" I am not sure." said the grimm woman, " It would be quite a setback if we were to lose our maiden so soon before our strike."
" Please." pleaded the dark-haired girl, " I want to prove that I'm worthy of weilding those powers, that I'm worthy of serving you."
The woman smiled. It was supposed to show genuine care, but it still gave off an eerie feeling.
" You do have to gain experience outside of this castle." wondered the woman, " Agreed. You shall go to Mistral and find this girl. Befriend her, and find out if she is worth bringing in. If she is, you'll attempt to convince her to join us."
" I won't let you down ! " shouted the girl before running out of the room.
" Watts." called the woman, " Go with her. You'll keep meeting with our friend and protect her while she stays there"
" Yes ma'am." said the man.
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 12
Level : 11 (1%)
Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]
Path : Me, myself and I [You live for yourself first and foremost, no matter what pain you might cause others]
Title : The Gamer
HP : 10/10
AP : UNUSABLE
STR : 11
CON : 10
DEX : 17
INT : 20
WIS : 12
CHA : 16
Semblance : The Gamer
Status effects :
Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transfered to your aura]
Fighting for your life [Your aura behaved in the only way that would let you survive, and will continue to do so until you overcome your trauma. You cannot use aura, but you can will any item you wield for it to reflect 100% of any attack that hits it]
Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]
Defenses :
AC : 22(26)
For : 17
Ref : 22
Will : 20