You don't scare me, Neo thinks as her heartbeat picks up with her breathing. Every instinct screams to run, but she watches it with one foot flat on the water.
You don't-
;;;
Neo drops.
Morning of the First Day: 78 Hours Remaining
;;;
The fairy trapped in the burlap sack struggles futilely. With a skip in her step and an award-winning smile, it's thrown inside the giant's fountain.
Wiping her hands of the problem, the woman cheerfully gets ready to smackdown the guard at the nearest exit. She said she'd help the woman gain her form again, not that she'd stick around. Neo really isn't in the mood to be dealing with people. Or evading them. No one's around to hear her quick whap with the umbrella except another guard, but she's long gone into the wild area beyond.
Now, some people may see a path's name is Milk Road and laugh. Others may go down said road and find more stone tablets and time-teller rocks, and the weird green creeper flying by a balloon in his pants. Neo – she can't exactly read the language – is not laughing. Especially not when the only open path leads her to two men eyeing her like the next bank robbery.
Neo smiles and swings her umbrella up onto her shoulder. She may not be smooth like Roman, but she understands thief. It's turned out to be a rather… universal language.
"You lost, lass?" one drawls
"Maybe she wants to race," says the other.
"Not without a horse she can't."
Neo grins. Waves. Turns away. She'll need to come back when she understands the world better. Maybe have some incentive to bring them on as lackies. She always disagreed with Roman's need to include other people in their dealings, but some backup would be nice.
She twirls the umbrella, knocking the clay from her boots.
It might make her a hypocrite, but it's not worth losing sleep over. Neo doesn't trust anyone here, but she trusts everyone has a price. Maybe a test to see if those guys can steal from the pirates as well, then they'd be worth her time.
"Ah, sorry Ms." The man pickaxing the large boulder stops at her approach. "Someone was up to some no-good business and blocked the road to Romani Ranch. I'm sorry. I'll remove it quickly."
Neo purses her lips at the mention of a ranch – it's a little too similar to d̶o̷̡͘n̢̧'̴҉͞t ̶́t͡h̴͏͞i̸̧n͏̧k͞ ̴͢a̧b̛o̢̢ų̕t̷ ̀i͝t͘͜ – while she steps back. Some people face an impassible object and try to find their own way through. Why do that when it's possible to go around it?
Neo jumps. Opens her umbrella and glides easily to the dirt. Continues on like she didn't just blow the mind of the man spending his next three days trying to crack open the rock.
Everything is as normal as these last few days have gone. All up until she reaches the ranch entrance. Here, Neo pauses and-
Best not to think about it.
-breathes a little unevenly as she strides forward like she own's the place. Rolling hills, green and spacious. There's room for plenty of things on the property, but it's too bare. There is a single, angry dog that takes one look at her and runs away with its tail between its legs. She follows it to a house where a strange balloon floats up and down.
Neo catches and snaps the arrow flying past it in one smooth motion.
"No!" wails a… a reddening-orange haired girl with Roman's chin. Neo is frozen, wondering… well, this is just a gender swapped little Roman in front of her. With blue eyes instead of green. It hurts to think that maybe Roman- but no. No, it can't be true. She would have known, and he's still in Remnant. He wasn't isekai-ed too. "My arrow! Why did you do that!"
Goodness, the kid even whines like he used to. Neo shuts down the hurt and rage, mimes the arrow hitting her so deadpanned that the child apologizes.
"I am Romani," says female kid Roman. Neo holds strong until, "I was given the same name as the ranch."
Neo keeps smiling, umbrella tip out and tearing a hole in the ground unnoticeable to the child. Stupid Roman, stupid world. The onslaught of memories and fears suck, but at least the ranch wasn't named Torchwick. She would have had to start searching for his grave and necromantic techniques, all so she'd be able to kill him herself.
The final nail, that this is either Roman's descendant or a truly awful afterlife penance, is that when baby Roman asks for her name and the woman signs back-
"Neo!" baby Roman smiles and cheers. Only the umbrella keeps the woman standing. "Like the special ice cream big sis makes! You look like the colours! I'm calling you Neopolitan."
Just rip her heart out, why don't you?
"You…" big wide eyes, blue not green, "You're strong and fast! You could help Romani! Tonight…" baby Roman clenches her hands around her bow, strange pointed ears twitching. "They are coming… They come at night… every year when the carnival approaches… They come riding in a bright shining ball. A whole lot of them come down…"
But Neo's flashbacks are dark. Grimm, not whatever the child describes. Neo isn't a hero, isn't helpful, but even she knows what the end results will be. Can see too clearly how this tiny Roman isn't experienced enough to handle creatures stalking the night. And she can't- Neo can't-
"My older sister won't believe me…"
Neo signs, I'll help.
The girl doesn't understand it, so she mimics punching. Motions to the bow. Tiny Roman lights up.
So Neopolitan gets the instructions, shows and teaches the kid some self-defence. All knowing full well that this will be erased in the next reset. That's the worst, it will all be erased. She can't stop baby Roman from being traumatized every time, but at least once let the girl have a safe night.
Neo will not be returning here. Not ever, if it can be helped. Too many memories she doesn't want to relive.
But if Romani looks like Roman, the older sister Cremia looks like an orange haired version of his mother. Neo sticks around only long enough to destroy the hope that the way to town is open. Then she does a perimeter, freaking out where no one can see.
It is too soon for her to think Roman might be dead, but it's time to start the doubt. The airship exploded, he hasn't made noise or responded to her writings, and with this either being another world or the afterlife… either he's dead or Neo is.
It's been a while since she's felt pain like this. Only this time, she is well and truly alone.
This time, Neo will have to pull herself out.
This. Sucks.
;;;
The little girl runs into the barn at two in the morning. Neo sits on the crate outside, bored. Really, really bored with an anxious need for violence running under her skin. She wants to move. To stay still means to think more on the situation, and she's already a mess under the carefully crafted illusion.
It takes. Thirty. Minutes. The ball of light the girl talked about comes from the sky and drops off creatures with long clawing hands. Skeletal in appearance, hovering, drifting their way towards the barn. Beams of light coming from their eyes, groans and cackles from their throats.
Neo. Feels. Rage.
Their moans do not chill her. Their screams cannot stop her. The woman is filled with sick, gleeful anger as she destroys the monsters – the not Grimm – with all the pent-up aggression of reliving some of the worst moments in her life. In her eyes, these are not just monsters.
They are Apathy.
And they stand no chance against her.
Dawn comes and takes the things. In the coming rays of light, Neo still isn't sure what these creatures are. Continues her attack even while the ball of light comes down and grabs its monsters. Eyes switch to white and brown as it almost blinds her, taking back the last reappearing victim.
Baby Roman opens the barn doors and cheers. She races across hills and fields to where Neo stands, huffing with simmering rage. The attack on her leg startles her, the umbrella stopping mere inches away from the girl.
"Thank you!" is all Neo manages to catch from the screaming praise against her leg. The woman pries tiny Roman off by the back of her dress, setting her down with thin lips. She refuses the girl's empty bottle reward, and baby Roman nods a bit more serious. She turns to go wake her sister but pauses at the last second. "See you later… Ms. Hero."
And Neo, absolutely done with all these emotions, books it out of the ranch before any other reminders of her past crop up.
Maybe it's time to search the other side of this world. Surely it can't be as awful as this place.
A/N: Thank you for reading! A really big thank-you to Shadyside for your review! The support means a lot.
I hope everyone has a fantastic day
