First things first: I don't know if anyone got an email notification about Ch.17 being released due to FF email weirdness at times since I didn't get a notification myself. So if some of you haven't read it yet, go back and read it first since it builds into this chapter. DO IT NAOW.
In other news, I actually thought I had been late on this update until I realized that it was just earlier last week that I had posted the last chapter to this story. Go figure, I guess. I'll take a win in that basket since I had been distracted earlier this week with getting my Dark Souls board game out of its packaging since it arrived back on...I think it was Monday since I opened it back on Wednesday on my last day off and I worked on way, that random word aside, I hope you guys like this chapter as I loved writing this last two-parter for the sake of some world-building for the sake of the story for later on. Until the next update, enjoy yourselves!
Frost's eyes wandered as he followed after the vision of his parents and younger self down the road through the village. His memories of the town had been so thoroughly tarnished by the horrid thoughts of the destruction and agony caused by the Grimm that he had forgotten how pleasant and serene it had been before it had collapsed. Tears welled up in his eyes as the pleasant feelings of a life free of pain and torture once again came to mind, of a time when he still had a family that cared for him and was always there for him. His sad smile lifted as the tears slowly descended down his cheeks and he turned his eyes back to face the memory he had been following.
And his breath hitched.
Neo and Emerald continued walking down the streets of Atlas in search of some clue as to where they could find either Weiss or the Atlas Military Headquarters. Despite being places that should stand out given their importance, the city of Atlas itself had buildings that were so similar and plain that finding anything at all was a challenge. Even if they were buildings that were likely to be larger and more ostentatious, the fact that every building had the same shades of white and gray it made it very difficult not to start blending shapes together into one giant blob of buildings.
Thankfully, that didn't stop signs and notices to be something that stood out against the buildings as they came across a large billboard announcing an event to be held at the Schnee mansion. Upon reading what the event was to be however, the two of them grimaced at what was likely to be a trying experience even if it did offer them an opportunity to gain precious intel or even come face-to-face with any of the people they were looking for.
"I mean, it works…" Emerald's voice held the same regret her face did as she spoke, "…I think we may have to use some sort of disguise to get in though. I doubt that what we have on us is going to be considered formal attire for something like this."
Neo's face twisted as she struggled to find the words to respond to Emerald's statement before finally coming up with something. "You're right I suppose…but…really? A gala? To celebrate the independence and safety of Atlas? It's like they're trying to outright ignore what happened in Vale or that they're doing it out of spite since Vale sided against them in the Great War despite it being their very king that saved everyone's sorry butts."
"From what I heard working with Cinder, Atlas has always been a kingdom proud of its own accomplishments and never really acknowledging to the other kingdoms of the contributions they've made to society. I guess that was one thing that wasn't a complete lie." Emerald frowned in disappointment at finding that Cinder had at least been honest about one thing amidst all of the lies about doing things for the benefit of the people of Remnant. Destroying the capital of a kingdom didn't accomplish anything but collapse the entire structure of a place that had once been a safe haven for so many.
"I guess we'll have to go do some clothes shopping." Neo stated, snapping Emerald out of her chain of thought. "As much as I can use my Semblance to change my own appearance, I can't exactly do the same to others. Plus we'll need to get a suit or something for Frost, despite his protests at wearing anything fancy."
Emerald nodded in agreement as the two walked off to find a nearby clothing store to prepare for the event. A smirk rose on her face as a clever thought crossed her mind, her eyes briefly angling to look at Neo for a brief moment before turning back to the front as they looked around.
Frost's mouth hung open as he looked at what stood before him.
His old home, in pristine condition, with a few trees in the yard that gently swayed in the wind. A pair of small white rosebushes sat neatly cared for just on the two sides of the front door, the petals almost shining in the light of day as it reflected off of the small drops of dew that lay upon them. That alone had him surprised, but it was not what had him in shock.
No, it was the sight of a woman with long champagne pink hair standing next to a young girl. A young girl…that just so happened to look like a younger version of Neo with her normal her normal pink and brown hair in separate pigtails.
Frost's mouth flapped open and closed as he was unable to find words for what he saw in front of him. As far as his memories had told him, he had only first met Neo shortly after the attack on the village as they had been taken with everyone else that had gotten to safety from the attack before being taken to Vale to find new homes and work in the big city. But this scene told him otherwise unless it was just an overly detailed dream. But no, this felt too familiar to be anything but a past memory.
The younger version of himself motioned to his father to let him down, to which he was and promptly walked over to Neo before taking her hand and going around the house to the backyard to likely go play. Frost would have stayed to try and hear words from his parents and who was likely Neo's mother or even to etch further in his mind they're exact appearance, but he felt his feet drawn in the direction that his and Neo's younger selves had gone, and thus he followed after them into the backyard.
His eyes roamed around the rather plain area as he looked at the bushes and plants that had naturally grown around the area. His head quickly spun around as he suddenly heard the sounds of children laughing, finally hearing a sound again as he faced the younger children playing on a pair of swings hanging from a sturdy tree branch. Why could he suddenly hear things now, when the entire time he had gone from noticing his family to now he had been unable to properly hear anything? He was not given much time to think on that as he heard the kids begin to talk to each other, his ears picking up what they were saying as though he were directly next to them. Supposedly, this was a younger version of himself so if this was a memory then it made sense that his brain would recall what Neo had said to him he supposed.
"Did your dad just get back today?" The younger version of Neo asked Frost's child self. Frost fought to hold back a gleeful laugh at how squeaky her voice used to sound. If he could remember this when he woke up he was not letting her live that down.
"Most likely." His younger self replied. At that moment Frost's desire to bring up Neo's squeaky voice died as he heard his own prepubescent voice sound through his ears. Maybe that was a thought best kept to himself. "I mean, every time he gets back from visiting Vale he comes right back to find me and mom before we go home. I don't know how she always knows when he gets back though. You'd think that she could just wait for him to come to the house, but every time we go out to meet him halfway through town since he has to arrive from the other side."
"Does it really matter though? You both always seem so happy when he gets back…" Neo was silent for a moment as the two of them kept swinging before she mumbled out a few words more. "…I wish my mom and I had that…"
Young Frost immediately skidded to a stop as he planted both feet firmly into the ground to stop his forward momentum as he turned to face Neo with a straight face. "Hey. I already told you before; you don't need to get sad about that again. You dad may have died a few years ago defending the town from a pack of Grimm, but you and your mom still have me and my family, remember? The four of them were all part of a team back in Mistral before they came here for a "change in lifestyle" I think was the way my mom put it. He's a hero, and no one in town will ever let that be forgotten."
"I know. I just wish it hadn't been him that had to be the hero if that's what it meant." Neo said as a pair of tears fell from her eyes.
Frost's heart clenched in his chest at the sight of a younger version of Neo in such a sad state, as well as him forgetting who his and Neo's parents had used to be. He had a lot to apologize for when he saw her after waking up, that much was certain. But apparently his younger self wasn't done as he hopped down from his own swing and stood in front of Neo's to stop her from swinging. His eyebrow rose as he tried to remember what he had done in this moment and why he was suddenly getting such a warm feeling in his chest.
"Then I'll make sure that a hero isn't someone that has to sacrifice themselves to protect others. I'll make sure that no one has to die from a Grimm attack ever again!"
Neo raised an eyebrow inquisitively at Frost's outburst. "And how are you going to do that without a Semblance like Huntsman use to fight them?"
"I just haven't learned what mine is yet, but I'll figure it out soon! My dad said that someday soon he's going to unlock my Aura so that he can start training me to fight and help people!"
Neo smiled somewhat at Frost's determined expression as he stood with a heroic pose with fists on his hips as he stood in front of her. Then, to both of the Frost's surprise, she leaned forward before giving his younger self a light peck on the cheek before rushing away with a bright blush on her face that matched the one of his younger self.
Frost's mind raced as he processed what he had just seen. A younger version of him had just proclaimed his desire to be a Huntsman, something he had also done after the village had fallen to Grimm. It seemed as though that the one thing that had stuck in his mind was his desire to stop the Grimm, but the reasoning had been twisted in his mind from all of the pain that the attack had caused. He had even forgotten about being friends with Neo growing up before everything had happened, and forgetting what their parents had looked like, even from the brief glimpses he had gotten from them. But most of all…he had forgotten just how close their two families had been.
His eyes slowly opened as he lay on a bed of tossed sheets and a pillow wet with some of his own tears. He slowly got up and turned so that he was sat across the side of the bed, his back hunched as his arms hung across his legs in a thoughtful pose. After a few moments of thinking to himself, he calmly got up without a sound and fixed the sheets on the bed before leaving the room to return to his own to get cleaned up after his extended rest.
Hopefully, he would have time to think for a bit in the shower before Neo and Emerald got back and came knocking on his door.
After a couple hours of torturous attempts at trying on dresses before finally coming to a conclusion, Neo and Emerald finished their return to the inn they were currently staying at, Neo grumbling slightly to herself while Emerald carried a satisfied grin on her face as the two carried separate bags up the stairs to their room.
"Why did you have to be so stubborn about getting me to try on dresses as well? I already said that I can just make something up with my Semblance instead of having to pay for it." Neo remarked to Emerald as the two hung their individual dresses in the closet that was in their room.
"Because, and I explained this at the store, if you want something that makes you look good you should trust the opinions of those around you as well when doing it because otherwise you'll just go with something decent based on your own choices. Unless you're a total spotlight hog in which case you'll go overboard in how it looks." Emerald stated matter-of-factly. "I'm not saying that you aren't good with your illusions and appearance changes, but they're always so plain and blend in with a crowd. You need something that fits you better than a disguise is something that just looks good."
"…I still hate you." Neo replied as the two calmly left their room before going next door to Frost's to knock on the door to see if he was there.
"Come in." Frost's voice sounded from further inside the room as the two looked at each other strangely before Emerald reached for the handle to open it and found it unlocked. As the two entered, they found that the room was oddly empty until Neo pointed out the slightly waving curtain coming from the other side of the room, signaling that Frost was out on the balcony overlooking the town.
As the two calmly walked over to the open doorway, they both stepped out to see Frost in an oddly calm manor looking up towards the sky with both arms crossed over the railing of the balcony. His eyes turned slightly, acknowledging their presence before he returned to looking out over the buildings and environment they were currently in. Neo and Emerald both looked at each other with a continued confusion before shrugging and moving to stand over the balcony in a similar manner.
"You know…" Frost started slowly, the other two looking over to see what he was about to say. "…this town is really bland. It could use something to make it stand out more. There's too many buildings and not even nature. I wonder if it's why Weiss was always so short-tempered at Beacon for a while."
"I mean, anyone looking at this day in and day out would get pretty bored. Might explain why everyone's so quiet in the streets compared to Vale at least." Emerald offhandedly remarked as Frost's mouth curved upwards somewhat at the comment. "Plus white and gray are just boring colours."
"White's not that bad of a colour if it's used right." Frost commented. "I mean take roses for example. The red ones are so common that a white one is almost rare in comparison depending on where you are. Even some here and there to match the colours of the buildings wouldn't be bad."
Neo's eyes didn't leave Frost's face as he spoke, her eyes focused as he continued talking. Emerald nearly made mention of it, had Neo not interrupted her by swatting her hand as it raised and gestured her to look at Frost as well. As she did, she too noticed what Neo was so fixated on.
The far off look in Frost's eyes, as well as the lone tear falling down his face.
"Maybe some white rosebushes here and there…and they could use a park for the younger kids so they don't grow up in such a bland environment. But then they'd need something to play on as well…maybe a swing set or something." Neo whirled to talk to Emerald in hushed tones as she yanked the green-haired girl down to whisper closer to her ear.
"I don't know what's going on, but he is describing in perfect detail his home back from when we were kids in the village. I don't know what's going on." Neo stated worriedly to Emerald.
"Maybe he's finally remembering something? I mean you did say this was years ago and it was bound to happen eventually that he'd remember something."
"But why now? What happened that he would suddenly start describing those things unless he did remember something?"
Frost's voice broke through to their hushed conversation. "Maybe it's because Emerald's right. Maybe I did remember."
Neo turned to face Frost with a look of shock and relief. "How much?"
"Not everything, not yet at least." Frost smiled as he pulled Neo into a hug. "But I remembered enough. Neo, I am so sorry that I forgot about our families and our past. Not only was it an insult to their memory but it was rude of me to just forget all of the time we had spent growing up together. I promise that from now on, it'll be about protecting people again, not about aimlessly destroying the Grimm like it has been for the last few years. That's not what the team out parents came from stood for. And it won't be what I stand for either. Not after today."
Neo's smile grew to nearly bursting as tears welled up in her eyes before she buried her face in Frost's chest, her arms wrapping tighter around him as she fought to strengthen the hug she was already in. After so long, the Frost she had known was starting to come back.
And she'd never been happier in her life because of it.
