"Please state your name." Glynda stated pressing the record button on the video camera.

The blonde dog faunus leaned back in his seat. "Is this really necessary?" He asked dismissively. "I've worked with you and Oz' for years now." He defended.

"It's merely for documentation purposes." Glynda explained sitting down across from the man.

He sighed and spoke his name. "Dr. Braden Bright, I'm a huntsmen psychologist." He stated the obvious information with a huff.

"Now then…" Glynda started happy that he had complied. "Let's begin."

"Begin what?" The doctor asked throwing his arms up. "I get a message from Ozpin that he needed to have a meeting with me, and I end up having to talk to you, and I still don't know why I'm here by the way." He listed very annoyed.

The huntress across from him, while annoyed by being interrupted, understood why the doctor was annoyed. He was without a doubt the best psychologist working at Beacon and maybe all of Vale. He enjoyed helping people and forcing him into a meeting meant he had to spend less time with his patients.

"This meeting is about one of your patients Dr. Bright. Ozpin is looking for an update on her progress under your treatment."

"And he couldn't interview me because…?" The doctor trailed off hoping Glynda would finish his statement.

"A very pressing matter has come to his attention, and he needed to take care of it immediately." She explained, her mind wandering to the new defectors from Cinder that had walked into her bosses office a week ago.

The doctor nodded, pleased with the answer. Glynda could say whatever she wanted about the doctor, but she couldn't deny that he was sensible.

"So then!" He started slapping his knees. "Which one of my patients?" He asked with a wide smile.

"The one you keep off record." The huntress stated coldly.

"Ah…" Dr. Bright breathed out in understanding. He took a second to clear his throat and changing his tone from joking to clinical. "Her name his Neopolitan Torchwick. Although she does not go by either of those names anymore. She simply goes by Neo." He started.

"I know, I wanted to ask about a change you made to her file." Glynda stated pulling out a file with Neo's face clipped on to the front. "You recently removed her diagnosis of being a psychopath citing a 'False Diagnosis'." The huntress read aloud.

"Yes!" The doctor responded proudly.

"You also took her off the medication you prescribed her." She went further.

"Also, yes!" The doctor answered just as proud as the last time.

"Why did you feel the need to do this?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Many reasons…" The doctor started trying to recall them all. "All of the 'off record' patients you and Oz send my way always fall into a similar category. Violent, narcissistic, no feelings of guilt or remorse, and a disregard of all life including their own. You know the types." Glynda nodded in response. "While it may seem that Neo fits into that description at a passing glance, but that can't be farther than the truth when you dig a little deeper." He began to become more animated, with his hands moving around more.

"Please explain." Glynda said starting to take notes of what the doctor was saying.

"There are many layers as to why Neo doesn't fit this description, but for brevity I will give you the short and simple version." He started. "People with the condition that Neo is suspected to have tend to suffer from increased feelings of violence and anger, many of the patients I saw tend to use anger as the solution to many of their problems. Neo on the other hand rarely gets angry and prefers using logic and reasoning to solve her problems."

"Has she ever shown anger while under your care?" Glynda asked.

"Once." He answered. "We were discussing her childhood with Roman Torchwick." He hesitated for a moment. "The time we were discussing was Scarlet's first mission with Roman and Neo."

"What happened." The blonde huntress asked a little apprehensive.

The doctor let out a heavy sigh. "At the time Scarlet was eleven years old and Neo was sixteen. They were on a job to rob a shipping container full of weapons from Atlas. Scarlet was supposed to be on lookout but failed to spot a guard approaching. This oversight nearly cost them the mission and as punishment for Scarlet's failure Roman began beating the girl." The doctor's tone was clearly uncomfortable with this topic and given Glynda's face so was she. "Scarlet ended up with several broken ribs, her left arm shattered and a crack in her skull. He made sure not to damage her legs as that would impede the effectiveness of her semblance."

Glynda made a note to talk about this encounter with Scarlet. It might be the reason the girl was right-handed while everyone else on her mother's side was left-handed including Ruby. She pushed the theory out of her head and looked back at the doctor. "What happened next." She asked.

"Well, the sisters had begun to grow closer at the time do to Scarlet running away a few months prior." Glynda tried not to show shock at the sudden statement, she never knew that Scarlet had tried to run away at some point. "Neo grew enraged at her father and proceeded to attack him with her weapon. She didn't give any details other than he was far worse off that her sister. Neo then bought a two-bedroom apartment and moved out taking Scarlet with her. Scarlet has since moved out herself, but Neo stayed with her apartment."

"Were than any other examples of this?" The huntress asked.

"Not to my knowledge, no." He answered. Glynda nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"All of the patients that you've sent to me have had a large image of themselves. Some thinking themselves larger than life or having a god complex. Neo is nothing like that, in fact it would be better to describe her as the opposite. She has an exceptionally low image to herself and struggles with self-esteem issues. I have been trying to help her through this and have been making plenty of progress. One thing I suggested was of her to write her thoughts in a journal and read them back to me during our sessions." He finished with a small chirp and a hopeful smile.

Glynda made another note in her notebook and looked back at the doctor.

"But the real nail in the coffin is her views on human life and remorse."

"I thought that people with her condition didn't have either of those." The huntress stated with a raised eyebrow.

"They don't." The doctor confirmed. "It is true that she has killed people in the past, but it's her reason for killing them that I find interesting. It may also explain why my colleague that diagnosed Neo all those years ago came to the conclusion they did."

"Please explain…" Glynda said intrigued on how the doctor came to his conclusion.

"When you look at her file you will see that she did give a reason for murder." He pointed out.

"Yes…" Glynda said opening the file and turning to the right page. "She said that they were, and I quote, "Bad people that needed to be put down.'" She read aloud.

"Exactly!" The doctor exclaimed surprisingly happy. "I asked her about this in one of our sessions and she elaborated on her answer." He paused for a moment, mostly for dramatic effect. "In her own words, by killing those men she could make the world a better place.' Now where have you heard a phrase like that before." He asked.

"In the military." The huntress mumbled to herself. "I've even met a few hunters use that phrase before after bandit raids."

"You see Glynda, Neo didn't kill those people because she wanted to, she did it because she was told to. Furthermore, to my theory, she had to justify their deaths to herself, weather knowingly or not. People with her condition wouldn't have to do that!" He emphasized his point with several hand gestures as he spoke. "She's not a psychopath Glynda, she's a girl that is struggling with her past by shutting it out and it manifested in symptoms similar to forms of psychosis."

"I think I understand." She said making a final note in her book and closing it. "Any new developments in her treatment?" She asked with a lighter tone.

"Yes…" The doctor's face shifted to one of confusion and intrigue. "The other day I ran into Neo in Vale, she was with her sister. I asked them how their day was going and the normal formalities." He said with a smile. "And then Neo had to use the restroom, after she left Scarlet pulled me aside and asked me something interesting."

"What did she asked?" Glynda said reaching for her pencil again.

"She asked me if Neo had spoken to me about her childhood before Torchwick." He paused for a moment. "I of course told her that Neo didn't remember her birth parents or her life before being taken in by the criminal."

"Is that all…?" Glynda asked a little confused about why the doctor thought it important enough to bring it up.

"Scarlet said that Neo had made an unusual comment about her past a couple weeks earlier that contradicted that story."

"So, you think she's hiding something?"

"Unfortunately, I do. I know that Neo has good reason to, and I will let her come to me about it rather than force the issue." His tone became lighter at the end of his sentence.

"Thank you for your time doctor." Glynda said getting up from the table. "You can return to your office now." She motioned to the door at the back of the room.

"It's no problem." He started to make his way to the door before turning around. "Hey just so you know, if you can't get Torchwick on robbery charges, than I would be more than happy to testify for a child abuse and kidnapping charge." He stated in a stern cold tone.

"Trust me doctor that call is only a few months away." Glynda said in a similar tone. Torchwick was dead to right with the robbery charges, but the Vale justice system was going to throw every charge imaginable at the man hoping to lock him up for several lifetimes.

Several loud knocks reverberated down the hallway followed by a shout. "Neo if you don't open up, I'm going to kick your door down!" Scarlet was furious at her adopted sister. They had made plans to meet up at an ice-cream parlor, but Neo never showed up and was now avoiding Scarlet's calls and texts.

"Ma'am I'm going to have to ask you to leave." A male voice spoke up from behind Scarlet.

She eyed him up and down and figured he was the manager of the apartment complex. "This doesn't concern you." Scarlet growled in a cold tone sharpening her glare.

The man took a step back clearly intimidated by the teenager. "I'm sorry, but you're disturbing the other residents. I can leave a message for the tenant, but I need you to leave before I call the police." He warned sounding a little shaky.

"Fine…" Scarlet mumbled. She took a step away from the door and brought her leg up and kick the door down with her boot sending slinters from the door frame flying in all directions.

The manager looked stunned and stumbled out a few incoherent words. "I'll pay for it." Scarlet stated dismissively, her tone still full of anger, as she walked inside the apartment.

Scarlet made a beeline for Neo's bedroom and found it empty with the bed neatly made. She then exited the room and started to do a once over of the apartment.

"Ma'am I'm going to call the police, this is breaking and entering!" The manager shouted at her.

"Go ahead I work for them." Scarlet said passing by the man and walking into Neo's kitchen finding several empty ice cream containers.

"Well, you still can't trespass on this person's property!"

"She's my sister." Scarlet replied walking over to the spare bedroom that she once lived in. She stepped inside and was mildly surprised that the room looked largely the same from when Scarlet moved out when she was fifteen.

"You two don't look related…"

"Ever heard of adoption?" Scarlet asked passing the man again, briefly entertaining the idea of knocking him out.

"Why are you even here!" The man nearly shouted at Scarlet earning a death glare by doing so.

"It's her birthday." Scarlet vaguely answered getting an idea. She went back into Neo's bedroom and reached under the mattress on one side and felt around. Coming up empty she moved to the other side.

"So, you're hunting your sister down because it's her birthday?"

"No, she skipped our meeting." Scarlet responded feeling the outline of a book. She pulled it out and saw that it seemed to be a journal of sorts. She flipped it open to the book-marked page seeing a short note circled at the bottom.

'Terminal 9, 4:30 PM, stop number 17. Just to check.'

Scarlet checked her watch and saw that she only had half an hour to catch up with her sister. She gritted her teeth and growled under her breath. She tossed the book aside and opened Neo's closet and pulled out a travel bag from the back unzipping it.

"She took her weapon…" Scarlet muttered to herself. "What are you hiding Neo?" Scarlet than fished around in the bag and pulled out a combat knife and a Desert Eagle pistol with several spare mags. She quickly loaded the gun and flicked the safety on.

"Why does she have that? Better yet why are you taking them!?" The manager yelled at Scarlet.

Scarlet wheeled around to face the man pressing the tip of the knife against his chest. "None of your damn business." She threatened with a murderous glare. She then pushed past him and was about to leave before pulling out her wallet and putting several bills on the table. "For the door." She coldly stated as she fixed the holster for the pistol to her hip.

She quickly strapped the holster for the knife to her shoulder and sped down to the train station. When she arrived, she pulled her black cloak over her new weapons and pulled out one of her many fake licenses, this one being a huntress license.

As expected she was stopped by security on her way inside. "Stop right there." The clearly tired and over worked man ordered. "Do you have a license for your weapons." She handed him the license without a word.

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a card reader of some sort. "What's that for?" Scarlet asked anxiety flaring inside her.

"Just to make sure that you're authentic." He said with a yawn.

Scarlet knew the jig was up as soon as he swiped the card down. She would be arrested and might be able to get out thanks to her connections with Ozpin, but she would miss her sister's departure to wherever she was running off to. Her posture shrank slightly as she looked into the station seeing lines of people boarding the trains.

"All right you're clear to go." The man said handing her back the fake license.

"I am…" Scarlet breathed out in both confusion and relief.

"Yep." The man answered turning the screen around. Scarlet saw the green checkmark with a small stamp that read 'From the desk of Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy.'

"Sorry, it's my first mission out of Vale…" She lied.

"It's no problem. Go keep the world safe." He absent mindedly stated almost as if reading off a script.

"I don't need a ticket?" Scarlet cursed herself out for asking the question as soon as it left her mouth.

"No. Huntsmen ride for free."

Scarlet didn't respond and sped into the train station brushing past everyone in her way. She scanned around until she found the ninth terminal with only a few minutes to spare. She quickly hopped onto the final car in the line and pulled her cloak tighter around her to fully conceal her weapons.

She poked her head into the back car and scanned everyone inside. Scarlet's eyes fell on a short woman in the very back with long black pigtails and vibrant green eyes looking out the window lost in her own head. "Gotcha." Scarlet muttered to herself.

Scarlet moved back to the girl and flopped down into the seat startling her out of her thoughts. "So!" Scarlet chirped. "Where are we going?"

The girl blinked and her green eyes changed to brown and pink respectively. Neo stared at Scarlet in a mixture of shock, confusion, and annoyance.

Scarlet giggled slightly. "If you're wondering how I found you…" She trailed off. "Let's just say I have my ways." Scarlet said with a smug smile.

"That's my line." Neo muttered. She took a deep breath and looked her sister in the eyes. "You shouldn't be here. Go home, spend time with Ruby or Yang." She nearly demanded.

"I will once you tell me where on Remnant you're running off to?!" Scarlet retorted.

"That's not your problem." Neo stubbornly put.

"Neo you're my sister, it is my problem!" Scarlet whisper yelled not trying to attract any other passengers attention.

"I'll tell you when I get back!" Neo started to raise her voice.

The floor below them suddenly jerked forward and a voice came over the PA system telling the passengers that they had departed the station.

Scarlet leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Well, it seems fate has other plans." She teased. Neo groaned and leaned back in her seat as well. "So where are we going?" Scarlet asked again.

"A small town on the border of Vale and Mistral." Neo sighed.

"That's hours away. Why do you want to go all the way out there?" The silver eyed girl asked.

"I… I have my reasons." Neo avoided.

"You can't keep this up forever Neo. You're going to need to tell me when we get there anyway." Scarlet explained in a logical tone.

Neo grumbled slightly under her breath. As much as she wanted to not tell Scarlet the truth, she couldn't argue with her sister's logic. She took a long, slow, deep breath, and adverted her eyes to out the window. "Do you remember the time we came up with my nickname?" She asked.

"Of course, I do." Scarlet answered. "I was really little back then, maybe four or five." Scarlet tried to recall the details with a warm smile painted across her face. "Roman was stuck at home because there was a heavy storm. I was terrified by the thunder, and you tried to help me by giving me ice cream."

"It did help right?" Neo cut in randomly looking back at Scarlet, a small smile on her face as well.

"Honestly I would have preferred a stuffed animal." Scarlet responded with a giggle.

"If I remember right." Neo started again. "I gave you Neapolitan ice cream, and you said it looked like me."

"I then began to butcher the pronunciation and settled on calling you Nea…" Scarlet's sentence was quickly cut off by her sister.

"Which I quickly shot down and told you to call me Neo." She finished, now fully facing her sister.

"It's strange." Scarlet muttered to herself. "I swear, now that I remember, Roman used to call you something before that day." She paused for a moment trying to recall.

"Trivia…" Neo stated glumly.

"…Yeah" Scarlet breathed out. "Why did he call you that?" Scarlet asked with a raised eyebrow.

Neo nodded. "Because" Neo paused to take a breath. "My real name is Trivia Vanille…" She stated in a cold detached voice, her eyes became glued to the floor.

"Vanille!" Scarlet nearly shouted. Her sudden uproar drew the attention of a few passengers. Scarlet leaned in close to her sister and started to whisper. "You're the heiress of the second largest dust company on the planet!?"

"Unfortunately… I am." Neo confirmed.

Scarlet stumbled over her words at the revelation. "You-You… You lied to me, my whole life!" She spat out in a whisper yell.

"I'm sorry!" Neo quickly pleaded, a little louder than she would have liked.

"I have so many questions for you right now!" Scarlet stated, her voice slightly frustrated at her sister.

Neo shrank in her seat as Scarlet glared at her.

"What do I even call you now, Neo or Trivia?" Scarlet started.

"Neo… I gave up on calling myself Trivia a long time ago." Neo responded quietly.

The train slowly came to a stop and the doors opened. Most of the people in their car stood from their seats and exited the train. The doors closed and the train slowly started to regain speed.

"You haven't been lying to me about anything else?" Scarlet asked crossing her arms, her glare remaining firm.

Neo furiously shook her head. "This is the only thing I have ever lied about. I swear." Neo sounded greatly offended at herself for lying to her sister for all these years.

Scarlet mulled over her questions in her head picking the correct order to ask them in. "Vanille Industries is one of the largest companies on the face of Remanent, they practically control Mistral. They only take a backseat to the Schnee Dust Company, and even then the rivalry between the two of them is legendary." Scarlet was getting off track, she quickly brought her thoughts back to the matter at hand. "Why did you run away from them?"

Neo's face distorted into disgust and hatred, a look she only used when talking about Roman. "I was a political tool to my parents. All they cared about was if I was smart enough to take over the company. I rarely saw them to begin with, and when I did they only talked about business." Neo took a pause to look back out the window.

She was lost in the cold depressing memories of her young childhood in that mansion. She was pulled out of her head by Scarlet placing a hand on her shoulder. Neo sighed and continued.

"One day the house caught on fire, and I took a chance to escape it all. I ran for what felt like days, but it was most likely only a few hours. I collapsed from exhaustion in an alley somewhere, and then this man with a cane comes up to me and asks if I'm okay. He takes me back to his place and gives me food and clean clothes, and I make the mistake of saying I would follow him to the ends of the earth. He tells me his name is Roman Torchwick and that he was a criminal. Looking back, I realize the only reason he took me to his place was because he didn't want a dead kid on his record. A few months later we go to this small island to make a deal with an old friend of his. We finished the deal, and I went for a walk in the woods, next thing I know this massive Beowolf comes charging out of nowhere. Roman shot the thing down and inside its jaws was an infant wailing as loud as it could." Neo turned to look Scarlet in the eyes, the remnants of a somber smile on her face. "I'm sure you know the rest."

Scarlet didn't say anything and pulled Neo into a hug. She rubbed her older sister's back as silent tears soaked into her clothing.

"Why go back…?" Scarlet asked in a low voice.

"Because… as much as I hate it, they are my family. After seeing how your family came back together I realized something." Neo broke the hug and centered herself, calming her emotions. "I can't fully heal my scars until I confront them at the source. I'm not sure what is going to happen when I get there… my plan was just to quickly visit and check on them." Neo finished, her emotions trying to bubble back up to the surface. "I'm sorry for not telling you I was doing this, and for lying to you."

"Neo I'm not mad that you lied to me." Scarlet stated wiping away Neo's tears with her sleeve. "I am upset that you didn't think about telling me about this sooner. I let you be there when I met my father for god's sake. You should have told me." Scarlet chastised in a soft tone.

"I'm sorry." Neo mumbled.

The train came to a stop again and the doors opened. This time their train car was nearly emptied entirely, save for a couple of people.

"Two stops down, fifteen to go." Scarlet chirped pulling Neo close to her, resting Neo's head on her shoulder.

The two of them didn't say much to each other for the rest of the ride. When the train finally came to a stop at their stop the two sisters rose from their seats and exited the locomotive. Neo pulled up a map of the area and plotted a course to take them to her family's manor.

"So how far is your families place?" Scarlet asked looking over Neo's shoulder at her scroll.

"What time is it?" Neo responded with a question.

"Five-thirtyish." Scarlet answered.

Neo rubbed her chin for a second. "We will get there around ten if we rent a car."

"Great! Let's get going." Scarlet said walking out of the station not checking if Neo was following her.

"You do realize that it's five hours away?" Neo sighed.

"We just spent six on the train." Scarlet pointed out.

"Fair enough…"

The two sisters stood outside of the gates to the Vanille manor starring up at the copper barred gate with a large 'V' worked into the center. The manor itself was sat in the center of the woods hours away from any city or town.

Scarlet whistled as she leaned back onto the car they rented back in town. "Talk about self-important…" She mocked staring at the large gate.

"Just wait till you see the inside. Family portraits everywhere." Neo said as she approached the gate.

"So how do we get in?" Scarlet asked following behind her sister.

Neo eyed the bronze gate and the spiked fence that it was connected to. "We could always jump the fence." She suggested.

"Sounds like a plan!" Scarlet proclaimed as she backed up getting into a running stance.

She sped forward leaving black rose petals in her wake. She leapt into the air stepping onto a pole halfway up the fence and using her strength and momentum she kicked off the bar clearing the spikes by several feet. She flipped midair and landed in a crouch. She turned back to Neo on the other side of the fence and gave her a sarcastic bow.

Neo got a running start and was able to grab onto the bar that Scarlet had kicked off from. She used her strength to pull herself up and stood on the bar, her body flush against the bronze fence. She then back flipped onto a tree branch above her and kicked off from it flipping over the spikes, clearing them by a hair. She landed gracefully next to her sister with a smug smile on her face.

"Show off…" Scarlet teased.

"Well, I don't have super speed like you." Neo defended.

Scarlet shrugged it off and started walking in the direction of the mansion shortly being followed by Neo. As they walked the large building slowly came into view. It was a large imposing four story building with gothic architecture. The front extended far out from the main building with several rooms stacked on top of it giving a staircase like effect. The right wing had half a dozen chimneys poking out at random angles. The left wing had one large chimney sticking out of the back and a small cement road leading underground. The whole building tapered upwards, with each floor slightly smaller than the one below it, all leading to a large tower with a glass viewing room. Halfway up the tower was a large 'V' made of what looked like bronze.

"Holy shit…" Scarlet breathed out staring up at the building.

"It's changed a lot." Neo mumbled. "I don't remember a tower."

"So…" Scarlet started pulling her attention away from the structure. "How do we get in?"

Neo tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

Scarlet groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "We can't just walked up to the front door and be like 'Here's your long-lost daughter you thought died seventeen years ago!'" She pointed out.

"I guess you have a point." Neo mumbled. Neo watched as two women in maid outfits walked out of a side door near the underground entrance. "I have an idea."

"This is the worst idea… you have ever had." Scarlet stated looking herself in the mirror. Neo had used her semblance to make their normal clothes look like the same outfits she had seen on the girls from earlier, who were currently passed out in the cleaning closet of the bathroom they were locked in.

"They're not even real. Why are you complaining?" Neo asked making sure her eyes were the same color.

"Because I look ridiculous!" Scarlet shouted.

"Calm down, it's only for a few hours." Neo said patting Scarlet on the shoulder.

Scarlet groaned and turned around to face Neo. "So now what? Do we look around and see if we can find your parents?"

"I guess… I just want to ask them a few questions and then we can leave."

"What do you want to ask?" Scarlet asked without thinking.

"I'm… not sure. I guess I was going to ask about what they've done since I ran away."

"Neo you only talk openly around me and your therapist." Scarlet stated clearly concerned. "How are you going to ask them any of that?"

Neo froze for a moment. Scarlet was right. She could barely speak in front of Roman, or Ozpin, and the only reason she was able to speak around Ruby was because she looked like Scarlet.

A sudden knock and voice at the door broke Neo's thoughts and the silence. "Is everything okay in there?" A man's voice spoke up.

"Everything's fine!" Scarlet answered grabbing Neo by the wrist. "You can do it sis.' I know you can." Scarlet said with the warmest smile Neo had ever seen on the girl.

Neo nodded and followed her sister out of the bathroom. Outside was a tall thin man with a large mustache in a suit and bowtie. "Can we help you sir?" Scarlet asked.

"The Masters are preparing for bed." He stated coldly.

"Cool…" Scarlet responded not sure why they needed to know that.

"Well… aren't you going to do your job?!" The man loudly asked clearly irritated.

"…Yes?" Scarlet awkwardly said slowly backing away from the man.

"Damn chamber maids, keep getting dumber." He grumbled under his breath.

A smug smile spread on Scarlet's face as she grabbed Neo's hand and started to run down the hall.

"Where are we going?!" Neo yelped.

"That guy said we were chamber maids. That means we take care of the bedrooms!" Scarlet informed as they reached the top of a staircase.

A pit of anxiety formed in Neo's stomach. She wasn't sure how she was going to talk, or meet, her parents, but now a concreate opportunity had presented itself. The reality of her situation hit the girl like a freight train as she continued to run down the hallway. She swallowed down her fear and attempted to steel her nerves.

Neo didn't even notice, but she was currently standing outside of her parents' bedroom with Scarlet staring back at her looking concerned. "You okay Neo?" She asked. "You're looking really pale."

"Fine…" Neo choked out. She took a deep breath, "Open it."

Scarlet nodded and twisted the handle and pushed the door open. Neo stood there as still as a statue as her eyes scanned the room. Sitting up in bed reading a book was her mother. She was short just like Neo and had dark brown eyes and greying hair. Sitting at the tip of her nose were her reading glasses, Neo remembered them clearly, mostly because she found it funny when they slipped off her mother's nose.

Sitting at a desk typing away on a computer was her father. Neo remembered him being a little taller, but it had been seventeen years. His hair was completely grey and was starting to thin. He had the same dark brown eyes as Neo's left one.

He turned to face the two sisters. "Ah, a little late tonight." He said with a miniscule chuckle. "We need a few more blankets." He ordered gesturing towards the bed.

"Sure thing." Scarlet said turning around and leaning into Neo's ear. "You got this sis.' Good luck." With that Scarlet walked out of the room closing the door behind her.

Neo was shaking with fear as she looked her father in the eyes.

"You're not the normal girl that comes here." He said walking closer to her with a glass of expensive whiskey in his hand. "My, you're shaking!" He said suddenly concerned, Neo saw her mom perk up at the statement. "Are you alright?"

Neo could barely breathe as she stared at the man. She didn't know why, but he suddenly gasped and dropped his glass sending shards and whiskey in all directions. She then took notice to her wavering aura; he could see her true eye colors.

"Is everything okay Jimmy?" Neo's mom asked standing up. It didn't take long for her to see Neo's eyes and let out a gasp of her own, although hers was accompanied by a wave of tears.

"T-T-Tr… Trivia…?" Her dad choked out.

Neo slowly nodded.

Neo was suddenly grappled by her mom hugging her as tight as she could. "My baby…" She whispered into her shoulder.

"What happened to you? Where did you go? Why are you back?" Her father bombarded her with questions.

Neo didn't answer and let tears run down her face as she hugged her mother back.

"You're alive." Her mom repeated over and over again.

Neo opened her mouth to say something, but the words were caught in her throat. Instead of speaking she let out a choked gasp of air.

Her father knelt down to her height and cupped her face with his hand wiping away her tears with his thumb. "You don't need to speak." He said softly.

Neo smiled warmly.

A loud gunshot rung through the halls of the manor shocking Neo out of her emotional daze. She knew the gun that made that sound; the desert eagle pistol that Scarlet had taken from her stash.

Neo broke from her mother's grasp and sprinted down the hallway towards the sound of the gunshot. She rounded a corner and saw a large open entrance hall with two staircases leading down to the ground floor. At the center of the room was Scarlet aiming her pistol, the barrel still smoking, at a man who was bleeding from the arm. Surrounding Scarlet were many armed men with automatic rifles pointed straight at her.

Neo jumped over the railing and pushed past the men circling her sister. She skidded to a stop in front of Scarlet blocking the men from her sister.

"PUT THOSE RIFLES DOWN THAT'S MY DAUGHTER YOU'RE AIMING AT!" Neo's father ordered running down the stairs.

Neo turned back to Scarlet. "What the hell happened?!" She whisper yelled.

"That bastard threw his hand over my mouth and started groping me." Scarlet quickly explained. "I think my reaction was appropriate." She stated holstering her pistol.

Neo lightly shrugged in agreement. She had done something similar once, only the man died from multiple stab wounds. At least Scarlet had only wounded him.

Neo's parents pushed past the armed men and slowly approached their daughter. "Trivia, back away from the girl so these men can take her away." Her mom said extending an open hand.

"Who are you?" Her dad asked firmly.

"I'm Neo's sister." Scarlet stated proudly.

Neo's parents exchanged looks. "Who is Neo?" Her dad asked, now sounding frustrated.

Neo raised her hand and pointed down at herself.

"Trivia what does that mean?" Her mom asked stepping closer.

"It means…" Scarlet started stepping forward, only to be cut off by Neo's dad.

"Keep your mouth shut criminal!" He ordered. "Trivia come here!" He demanded.

Neo looked at her father, and then back at her adopted sister. As she stared into Scarlet's silver eyes she felt somewhat angry at her father's words. She stepped slightly to the side and motioned for Scarlet to take the stage.

Scarlet quickly stepped forward and continued talking. "It means she no longer goes by Trivia. Her name is Neopolitan now, but everyone just calls her Neo. She's also my big sister."

"Lies!" The man proclaimed. "What do you know about my daughter!"

"Probably more than you because I spent all sixteen years of my life with her." Scarlet shot back with her usual sarcastic tone.

"I said be quiet!" The man yelled back. "How can you two possibly be sisters!"

"Because we were raised together." Scarlet stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Granted, it was by a sociopathic criminal that abused us and forced us to help him on his robberies, but we are still sisters."

"Trivia." Her mom's soft voice spoke up. "You can leave that life behind and come back and live with us." She started to slowly approach the sisters. With each word she spoke Neo's blood began to boil. "We can give you everything you've ever wanted. Money, fame, family, and even a husband. You don't have to protect that girl." She slowly listed.

Scarlet felt the pistol leave her holster and a loud gunshot rang out in the room shortly followed by a massive crash and glass shattering. Scarlet opened her eyes to see Neo with the pistol in her hand aiming towards where a large glass chandelier once hung. It now was sprawled on the floor, glass shards showering the area reflecting light every which way nearly blinding Scarlet.

"Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth." Neo spat, her voice overflowing with rage and venom.

Her parents stood shocked. Seventeen years without their daughter only for these to be the first words she chooses to say to them.

"My name is not 'Trivia Vanille' anymore. It hasn't been since I ran away when that fire started. My name is Neo now. As far as you two should be concerned; Trivia died in that fire." Neo said lowering the gun, and with her free hand she snapped her fingers and the maid disguises on her and Scarlet shattered like glass revealing their hunter uniforms.

"All you two ever cared about is the company. Even now that's all you can think about! Did you ever think that I wanted nothing to do with all of this!?" Neo yelled gesturing to the whole room. "The only reason that I came back in the first place was because I thought there was a chance that I had made the wrong decision, and a chance that the two of you would change."

The parental figures stood as still as status, the glass on the floor reflecting their stunned expressions.

"And for a moment I thought I was right. That I shouldn't have left. But then you try to convince me to leave my sister behind so you can throw her in prison!" Neo shouted waving her gun around, putting everyone on edge.

"Trivia we are your family. She is nothing but a criminal. I saw it on the news, the two of you were raised by Roman Torchwick, but you came back to us. She is just here to drag you back there!" Her mom pleaded only to be cut off by a bullet whizzing past her face and embedding itself in an old family portrait of Neo when she was little.

"You are not my family." Neo growled. She grabbed Scarlet by the hand. "Scarlet is my family. Unlike the two of you she actually cares about me. She tracked me down after I missed a meet up we had and stuck by me every second of the way to your bedroom door." Neo paused to wipe away tears that had suddenly started to fall from her eyes. "You two gave up searching for me after a week." She spat at them.

"Trivia you don't know what you're talking about. Just put the gun down and come over here." He father pleaded.

"I've made my decision." Neo stated coldly. "James and Carmel Vanille. I bid you adieu." Neo snapped her fingers and both her and Scarlet were gone. Shattered like glass.

The room fell silent only to be broken by Carmel's wailing sobs, and James' orders to find his daughter.

"That was… really heavy Neo." Scarlet mumbled as she open the car door.

"I know." Neo responded. "But I feel better having done it." She finished getting into the car.

"I'm glad." Scarlet said getting in herself.

Neo smiled and leaned back in her seat. "I finally feel like I know who I am." She said looking at her hands. "Which is why I want to ask you something important." Neo said looking over at her sister.

"Sure, what is it Neo?" Scarlet asked intrigued.

"Is it okay… if I take your last name?" Neo asked with a small smile.

Scarlet was stunned for a moment. "You want to be Neopolitan Rose?" She asked earning a nod from her sister. "I don't see why not…" Scarlet responded scratching the back of her neck.

Neo's smile widened and she tackled Scarlet in a tight hug. "Oh, one last thing!" Neo exclaimed pulling back. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again her dark brown eye was gone, replaced by a bright silver one. "How do I look?" She asked with a giggle.

"That's going to take some getting used to." Scarlet muttered thoroughly weirded out.

"Come on let's go home."

"Sounds like a plan."

Neo's eyes fluttered open as she rolled over on Scarlet's couch. She yawned and starched her arms out. She reached over and checked her scroll and saw it was nearly one in the afternoon. "That's what I get for missing a day of sleep." She chastised to herself. She was glad Scarlet was willing to spare her couch after the emotionally draining day she had.

She sat upright and shrugged off the spare blanket she was given. She stood upright feeling slightly sore from sleeping on the couch.

"Mornin' sleepy head!" Scarlet's voice chirped from behind Neo. Neo turned around and saw Scarlet leaning in the doorframe of her bedroom with a bright smile on her face. "That new eye is still weirding me out." She mumbled.

"Good morning to you too Scarlet." Neo responded stretching again.

Scarlet left the doorframe and walked back into her bedroom. Neo could hear the faint sounds of rummaging before Scarlet returned with a long box wrapped in colorful paper.

"Happy twenty-second big sis." Scarlet said giving Neo the box.

Neo accepted the gift and sat back down on the couch placing her present on the table in front of her. She slowly began peeling the paper away revealing a long matte silver case. She turned the case onto its side and unclasped the locks. She opened the case and was met by… an umbrella.

"I already have one of these." Neo half joked.

Scarlet sat down next to Neo and threw her legs up on the table as she leaned back. "Take a closer look." She instructed.

Neo removed the umbrella from its case and examined it closer. It looked similar to her old one, but this one had a slightly bulkier shaft and handle. Neo's eyes then fell on two buttons hidden in the curved grip. She cautiously pressed one and the parasol suddenly collapsed down closer to the grip and a long thin blade extended upwards.

Neo looked back at Scarlet with pure glee in her eyes. "There's still more!" Scarlet teased with a giggle.

Neo pressed the button again and the blade retracted, and the parasol returned to its natural position. Pressing the final button, Neo watched as the parasol once again collapsed down closer to the grip, but this time a short gun barrel extended outwards. A trigger popped out in the grip and two openings in the bulky shaft: one for loading ammo, the other for ejecting spent casings.

"It's a shotgun." Scarlet explained. "Hope you like it." Scarlet said standing up.

"I love it!" Neo exclaimed jumping up. "Does it have a name?" She asked.

"No." Scarlet responded. "Thought you could giver her a name." She said walking into the kitchen and opening her fridge pulling out eggs and bacon.

Neo sat back down on the couch and held her new weapon in her hands. She eyed it up and down admiring the craftsmanship. Scarlet was one hell of a prodigy when it came to weapon design.

"A name…" she mumbled to herself. She needed a name fitting a weapon with this level of work put into it, and one worthy of being wielded by her. "I think I got it." She muttered.

"So, what did you come up with?" Scarlet asked placing a plate of eggs, bacon and toast in front of her sister.

"Harlequin."

"A beautiful name." Scarlet complimented.

Neo took a small bite of the eggs. "Thank you for the food." She said smiling.

"It's no problem." Scarlet shrugged off. She reached over and pulled Neo into a sideways hug. "I love you Neo." She said taking a bite of bacon.

Neo laughed and hugged her sister back. "I love you too Scarlet."

Next Chapter; The Petal VS The Thorn

Ten chapters... (technically more.) I can hardly believe that I have made it this far, and I find it harder to believe that all of you have made it this far as well. I find it baffling to think that somewhere in the world (Mostly in the United States) there are people enjoying the things I write. Anyway enough of the sappy crap.

I thought I would take this milestone and give a little backstory on how this story came to be. I got the idea for this story from a few sources, one of which being my other story The Tales of AMBR (Which I have mentioned a few times over here). The main character of that story was a twin, and a major part of her backstory was her twin being murdered. At some point I had the idea of applying that story line to Ruby, so I did some looking around and I only found a few stories that fell under the 'Ruby Twin' category, and one of them had incest porn in it (I wish I was kidding).

The first draft of the story was going to be much, much, much darker than what I ended up with. At the time I was reading a story called 'The Red Queen' by Dravyn LeCrux (Basically Ruby is nearly killed by her friends and she turns evil), and I wanted to make an evil version of Ruby, and combing it with my twin idea; I was planning on having Ruby being a secret psychopath, and Scarlet (Who didn't have a name yet at this point) being a megalomaniac that worked for Cinder. I dropped that idea pretty quickly because, I was nowhere near the skill level to write characters with that much complexity, hell I still don't think I'm good enough.

The next draft was fairly similar to what we have now. The only real difference was that I wanted Scarlet to be the opposite from Ruby in everyway, including design. At this moment in time Scarlet's name was Sapphire, and she had a completely blue design. I went with this idea for a while until I got the idea for the twins to be confused for one another, and that's when Sapphire died and Scarlet was born. I ended up creating the plot and rough draft for the first chapter of this story in one ADHD fueled week.

When I started writing this story I had no real idea of where I was going to be taking this, let alone how far I was going to go. Now though, I have a really good idea of where I want this story to go, and I want to see it all the way through to the end. I do have other ideas for stories that I want to write, like a Ruby is a Grimm Faunas story, and a crossover for Hollow Knight and Undertale (Two of my favorite games). I also want to at some point go back and reboot Tales of AMBR since its my first story and I was, for lack of better term, shit at writing.

Anyway, enough out of me. Farewell for now!