Chapter Seventeen: Dreamshatter.
"Ah, welcome, Miss Politan. Please, have a seat." Ozpin smiled, before gesturing for her to sit down opposite him. Neo was always astonished at the sight of the headmaster's office because there was always something to look at. Last time, it was the floor. This time, it was the ceiling. Whilst the floor was flat and one could see giant cogs through the glass floor, the ceiling was simply a giant construct of gears, springs and swinging pendulums. And yet, the unrelenting sound of clangs and clicks which one would expect to hear was mostly silenced, somehow. If anything, it had been reduced to a pleasant white noise which filled the air and blotted out the awkward silence of not uttering a verbal response.
Whilst she could have said something with her gloves, she didn't like to use them very often. The words may have been hers, but the voice was not, nor could it ever truly be. Signing or writing was always more comfortable for her since it was what she was most accustomed to. She only used the sign-to-speech technology when it was absolutely needed.
Either way, she took a seat in front of Ozpin and his impressive desk which had been completely covered with various reports, documents, and stationery. He picked one up, seemingly at random, and began to skim through it, reading certain sections aloud under his breath but intentionally audible. "Let's see… Incident took place last night at eight thirty-two PM, there were thirty-three detained suspects, believed to be five vigilantes involved in bringing them to justice, witnesses claim that a low-flying missile struck an enemy Bullhead, and renowned dust thief Roman Torchwick is now in the custody of the Atlesian Military, at the request of James Ironwood who intends to conduct his interrogation, personally." He stated, before adjusting his spectacles and peering down at Neo, who sat defiantly upright and met his gaze fully. "I must admit…when I came up with the idea of rocket-propelled lockers, I wasn't exactly expecting to have accidentally invented a boarding missile." He smirked, and Neo silently chuckled alongside him. To be honest, she hadn't expected to crash into the exact place she needed to be, either.
"Now then, I understand that you have some business with me. I shan't keep you waiting so please make your request heard." Ozpin smiled, before realising too late that he'd tripped over his phrases again and said something which could have been considered offensive. Of course, Neo may have been the Queen of Ice Cream, but she was no snowflake, so she just snickered at the choice of wording, before removing her hat with a twirling flourish, reached her whole arm inside like a magician and withdrew a simple sheet of paper. She placed it upon his desk and slid it towards him, before flipping her hat back onto her head.
"'…Would you allow me to visit Roman Torchwick? I have questions for him, which only he can answer.'" He spoke, reading out Neo's note before placing it to one side, in order to properly address Neo's concerns and look her in her mismatched eyes. "I have no problems with it. You were, after all, the one to bring him down, so I'd say you've earned that much. However, it is… unfortunately, out of my jurisdiction for the moment." He admitted, sighing a little.
Neo raised an eyebrow. This man basically controlled everything which went on in Vale, both in public and from the shadows. He runs the school which teaches pupils how to become more powerful than the police force in various ways, has ties to all four major kingdoms of the realm and is close personal friends with just about every prominent member of…well, just about everything, and he couldn't pull a couple of strings to arrange a meeting between herself and the criminal which she had literally just brought the police on a platter last night?
Neo's face reflexively fell a little, and the two shared the same disappointed exhale. A foreboding silence wrapped the two in the moment, stuck listening to the ominous chimes, tittering and clanks of the impossibly large clock tower.
"That being said…" Ozpin continued, "I'd be happy to have a word to General Ironwood about it on your behalf. I cannot promise results, but I'm sure he'll understand."
Neo had kinda toned him out a little at that point. Frankly, she stopped having high hopes as soon as Ozpin mentioned that the person who had final say on letting a child have a conversation with an inmate with a history of violent armed robbery, was Mister Do-you-really-think-children-can-win-a-war? Naturally, the answer to that question is: 'we will, if you won't.'
Speaking of the devil…guess who just arrived on scene?
"You'll have a word to me about what, exactly?" Spoke a firm and assertive voice from behind her, as the elevator door opened, revealing the tall and muscular figure of General Ironwood. He wore the usual Atlas colour in the form of an overcoat and a pair of combat trousers. His black hair was swept to one side, and his robotic prosthetics were effortlessly hidden by simply wearing a white glove over his right hand.
"James, what a…welcome surprise. I wasn't aware you were coming… or planning on coming in without knocking." Ozpin grumbled, before deciding to quickly change the subject to address his question, before the man could interject. "If you recall, we recently had to deal with a certain…event. Specifically, the capture of a rather unsavoury individual."
"You mean Torchwick? The Schnee family have been particularly vocal about giving him the death sentence." He spoke, monotone.
"Miss Politan, here, had a large hand in his capture. In fact, I would daresay that, were it not for her, he'd have surely gotten away, according to the reports." Ozpin smiled, gesturing to the ice-cream-coloured girl who had been sitting comfortably on the chair in front of him. Neo calmly tipped her hat to Ironwood on the outside, as she inwardly flipped him the bird.
"Miss Politan, was it? You have my thanks. As a result of your bravery, you have done the world a great service. With him off the streets, the dust trade can prosper once again, and you've put an end to what could have potentially been a calamity if he ever decided to do anything with that stolen dust." Ironwood stated, placing a firm hand upon her shoulder. It took everything in her to stop herself from batting it off of her.
"She has asked for a small favour, actually, which is why she came to me." Ozpin stated, getting back on track, and seeing the discomfort slowly manifest on the girl's face. When James' eyebrow raised, he continued. "She wants to visit Roman, since she had some important questions which, supposedly, only he can give answers to. Since she was the one pivotal to his capture, I think we owe her that much."
"Absolutely not. It was bad enough that children were involved in this incident at all. To continue to expose children to danger would be an inexcusable lapse of judgement." Ironwood frowned. "Have you not considered that the man would stop at nothing to get his hands upon the one responsible for his incarceration? To dangle that opportunity in front of him could lead to dire straits for everyone involved."
Neo took a deep breath and prepared to be involved in an argument between adults, whilst she could do nothing but watch the back and forth. Admittedly, both had reasonable arguments, but just as amicable solutions to present.
"In case you'd forgotten, Miss Politan is quite capable of defending herself, and Roman is safely contained within a holding cell, with police on standby. There will be no chance of danger." Ozpin responded.
"There is always a chance of danger. There is no task which is entirely risk-free, especially when it comes to violent criminals. Maybe she should just tell me the questions which she wanted to ask, and I'll ask them on her behalf. Would that be acceptable, Miss Politan?"
Urgh… that nickname had no place being on his lips. Ozpin could at least say it in a charming and endearing way, but when Ironwood said it, it just sounded like he was trying to coax her into an alleyway with the promise of cookies and ice cream. In regard to his question, of course, there was no way in hell that she was going to tell him, of all people, what questions she wanted answered, let alone find out the answers to those questions. Sure, it might be wise to inform Ozpin and Ironwood as to the incoming moves of their enemies, but the only reason why her plans to counter them would work was because only she knew about them. If she spread the news of what the enemy was going to do, there would be a non-zero chance that they redirect efforts into something else which she would have no way of knowing about. In short, only she could stop the plans of that witch.
As such, Ozpin was surprised to see Neo shake her head in response to Ironwood's seemingly reasonable offer. James was even more stunned, however.
"No? Why not?" Ozpin asked, his voice alight with genuine confusion.
Neo calmly pulled out her notepad and pen and wrote with her stylish, cursive writing: 'Private.'
"Well…in that case, I take it that you'd also not want anyone else in the room when you ask your questions?" James asked. Neo nodded. Both of the elders sighed in silent contemplation.
"…I believe we've reached a stalemate, then." Ironwood groaned. "Look, I'll forward Ozpin the transcriptions of my interrogation with him, and he can send them to you. You may not get the answers you were looking for, but you will get the compensation you deserve, without the risks involved. Hopefully, that's acceptable."
Neo took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, before standing up and tipping her hat to the pair of them in farewell. There was no point trying to argue with stubborn adults who were dead set into believing that grownups should have to do everything. Sure, she, herself, was an adult but she couldn't divulge that information without revealing that she had lied on legal documentation.
When she had left, the two shared a moment of thought, before Ozpin took a sip from a fresh mug of cocoa and spoke.
"You're suspicious of her, aren't you?"
When Neo arrived back in her room, she didn't bother greeting her teammates and, instead, rushed to her little room and laid down on her bed in a moment of apathy. Why did she bother? Why did she risk everything on the authorities? They couldn't be trusted to deliver a package on time, so how in all of Remnant did she expect them to know how to properly handle a criminal? She should have just hijacked the Bullhead and interrogated him on board where there'd be no witnesses alive to tell tales. Alas, she tried to rely on someone else and had, ultimately, been failed.
She reached between her pillow and her mattress and withdrew a small journal, which had been chained and padlocked closed. With an elegant flick of the wrist, the chains fell to the soft duvet below. She brushed through the pages of her hidden journal, where she recorded each day which she had spent on Remnant thus far. It contained her thoughts, feelings, events and, most importantly, her plans. At the back of the book, she had detailed a list of key events which she had vague memories of from the future. From the dust heists to the mass evacuation to Vacuo.
She'd also begun to detail her dreams and their potential meanings. Recently, most of her dreams had been nightmares about her past come to manifest in horrific form. It was worrying to think that those incubuses also appeared in physical form which others could see if they were in her room.
Why did she have this journal, instead of only using her scroll? Scrolls could be hacked. And in a world where technology runs rampant, everyone forgets the archaic roots which they once sprung from. Plus, having a space to doodle and draw things out with physical implements was oddly reassuring. Like grounding yourself in reality, instead of immersing yourself in screens.
She made a quick record of her day thus far, noting her frustration about Ironwood ruining her plans in particular, before locking her book up and hiding it once again. She couldn't be bothered to do anything else that day, so she just decided to call it an early night.
"What's the matter, Neo? Not feeling yourself?" A male voice asked from behind her. Neo opened a single eye, expecting to see Oberon. Maybe Ozpin. To her shock and horror, it was someone else. White coat. Red inner trim. Black shoes and trousers. Fiery orange hair swept over one emerald eye. And the matching hat and neck scarf in all its pristine glory. Roman Torchwick.
Reflexively, Neo kicked him in the chin and felt him immediately shatter. Just her semblance playing tricks on her again. She was sitting up, now, but he was sat next to her all of a sudden, making her jump in shock and stumble backwards, almost falling off the bed in the process.
"What? Are you not elated to see your partner in crime again? Face it, kid, you can't live without me." He smirked, reaching a gloved hand over to her, whilst she batted it away, annoyed that she couldn't beat up her own invasive thoughts. "Oh, don't be so difficult." He chuckled, before laying down in her bed and continuing to speak. "Just because you lost me once doesn't mean I'm gone forever, you know? In fact, you've got a golden opportunity right there on your lap. I'm not the real deal; that much you know, but there is the real deal out there. In fact, you know exactly where he is, don't you?"
Neo just shot the illusionary man a glare which could've killed him, and it technically did because he disintegrated, only to reappear behind her, whispering into her ear.
"Wasn't the only reason you helped capture him to begin with so you could find out more? Now that you know that the people whom you'd put your trust in have failed you, there's no point in him staying there, is there? Don't you remember the General saying that the Schnees want him dead? You don't want his blood on your hands, do you?" He smirked. "Then you'll never get those juicy answers of yours…"
Stop it. Stop it right now.
"Look inside yourself. You're not cut out for this. You hate this place. The only reason you're still here is because of the food. Beacon Academy can't give you anything that you couldn't take for yourself if you had wanted to, could it? Is this really how you want to live?"
I said stop. You have no right to tell me how to live. I have friends here.
"Ha! Friends, huh? You don't care for them. They're just tools to you. Means to an end. Oberon's a control freak with an unhealthy fetish for knowledge. Thea's just a blind girl whose always ruined your perfect illusions and been a threat to your real plans. And don't get me started on Rylee. You know nothing about them! Me, on the other hand… I'm dashingly handsome, a strategic mastermind, and the greatest thief known to Vale. You know for a fact that I only got caught because of your premonition and incredible luck and timing. We could really make something special together, now that you've unlocked the full power of your semblance, you know?"
Shut. Up. I don't want to hear it!
"Because you know I'm right, don't you? Here's a new plan. You already know which side of history is coming out on top, don't you, Neo? That witch is immortal. Get it? Immortal: Cannot. Be. Killed. If you can't beat them, what do you do, princess?!"
She shoved him back, and he disappeared into glass shards. A sense of dread ran across her which made her blood run cold. She turned around and saw a small tea party where the exit to her room should have been. A golden, triangular table stood in the centre of the room, with a spotlight beaming down from above, making everything else blackened out by comparison to its light. Sitting at the table was Cinder Fall, Adam Tauros, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, Tyrian Callows, Hazel Rainart and, lastly, Roman Torchwick who sat on the table, itself, sliding the last remaining seat towards Neo with his foot.
"You join them, of course."
No. No, I don't want to do that! I want to be the best I can be! I have to. I have to! Get it?! I need to save this world! Do the lives of the people mean nothing to you?!
"You have to, huh? And tell me, who told you that? Your scroll, right? What a reliable source of information! Some kid could have written that, you know! Don't tell me you're going to try and cling to some lousy moral code that you made up two weeks ago! You know damn well what you are. What you're made to do. What you want to do. You never wanted to cling to morality! You wanted to go out there, take what's yours and live in the life of luxury as spoiled royalty!" He growled, tossing a teacup at Neo, with it splattering on the floor in front of her. She peered into the reflection of the flowing, translucent rainbow liquid, only to see the pale face and glowing, red eyes of Salem, herself.
"She's out there, too. Somewhere. Waiting. Listening. And always watching. So you can be on your best behaviour, guarding your pen of sheep like a sheepdog… or you can forsake your sacrificial lambs and live free of your responsibilities, burdens and, of course, those loathsome morals of yours. You can do whatever you want. But the clock is ticking. And ticking. Just ticking away…" He spoke.
And, as she stared in horror, the figure emerged from that tea stain and began to shift and morph and grow, turning into a multi-eyed demon with wings, claws, and a sinister, ever-growing maw of needle-like fangs. It lunged at her…and everything faded to black.
She awoke with a start, sitting up in bed in a cold sweat. Neo reached into her pocket and withdrew her scroll. What time was it? How long was she out for? As she pondered those questions, she saw her own face reflected back at her in the luminous screen.
Her face was split down the centre with a look of pure panic and fright on the right. The left, a sickening, malevolent grin, and a villainous gleam in her eye. It lasted for a moment before it fragmented, revealing only her terrified face. Her eyes and hair had turned white with despair. Neo's eyes brimmed with tears, and she began to break down into a crying fit. Life had not been fair to her.
Was this a life at all? Or was it simply a living death?
