Prologue: Epiphany.

Burning. That was the feeling which overwhelmed her as soon as she returned to her senses. Burning from within. Like her lungs were on fire and her eyes were trying to douse the flames. A multicoloured hue of fog surrounded her on all sides, completely boxing her in and stopping her from seeing anything except the floor and herself. Alas, she had not the time to consider her options – she just picked a direction and ran.

Light flooded her vision as she scrambled forwards, but she hadn't the time to process it before she collapsed to the floor in a heap. The floor was wooden…but oddly golden. Maybe that was just a hallucination from the weird rainbow smoke which had previously resided within her. On closer inspection, it looked like the centre of an oak tree. As if someone had hewn a massive tree directly across the middle, and we were now standing – or prostrating, in her case, – upon it. It was only then that Neo realised that this burning in her chest was twofold. The first source was obvious – that smoke which she had breathed in. The second was…the lingering remnants of powerful emotions.

Things which she had long desired. People she had longed to see again. Words which she had wanted to say. Flashes of people. Cinder. Ruby. Roman… Her parents… A ceaseless kaleidoscope of images which blurred and overlapped and then…dissolved in her mind as she coughed out the last of the peculiar rainbow mist.

Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, Neo could not recall much. Similar to the spinning images in her head, her consciousness ebbed and flowed. She remembered an oddly coloured cat. Suddenly, a much larger cat which sported a new, black, and white colour scheme. Laughing… And then a fight in which the cat was ultimately winning. Clashes of white and black against yellow, black, white, and gold. Despite being outnumbered, the cat was clearly winning the exchange.

And then, suddenly, a flash of red burst into the scene. At first, Neo was unsure if she had somehow sustained a head injury despite being a safe distance away from the ongoing brawl. And then, she realised that it was not she who had become stained with red – it was the battle, itself. Another brawler had joined the fray – her old nemesis, Little Red.

But how? She had watched the tree swallow her whole, shortly after she drank that gods-forsaken tea. Watching her fall into the sudden crevice below was…not therapeutic like she had first envisioned it. In fact, replaying that scene in her head was giving her a headache. It was that single defining moment which shattered two different people completely. Little Red herself, and…well…herself. Neopolitan. Or Trivia Vanille, if we want to be specific as much as we want to cling to the past.

Finally, everything stopped spinning. She reached for Hush – her beloved parasol, weapon, and companion – and used it as a walking cane in order to pull herself up to her feet. By now, the fight was already over. She watched as Ruby and her friends raced around a globe of glyphs, pummelling the poor cat in the centre as they passed, before finishing him off with a colossal multi-attack which sent the mischievous feline into the ground, leaving a crater in the woodwork. The smoke cleared and laying defeated was that infernal cat, sporting its typical purple and cyan colours. It spoke in an unnatural, deep, and dark tone of voice as if it were truly a demon or some kind of Grimm.

"You're broken!" He spoke, before his voice diminished into his usual tone. "You ruin everything you touch! I called humans…WEAK! CONFUSED! INCOMPLETE!" He cried.

"You're wrong," spoke that 'Ice Queen.' Neo still didn't like that one; she was the queen of Ice Cream, so it was only natural that an invisible rivalry was there. Plus, she punted Neo through a big door whilst surfing on a bunch of circles way back before they all fell down into fairytale land. Not cool.

"She's never been any of those things," added the yellow tomboy. All Neo remembered of her was how she styled on her in that tube train. Ah, good times.

"That's why we follow her," concluded the black cat. In truth, Roman always dealt with her… so…

"We're going to Remnant," stated Ruby as she and the others walked past the cat and towards the giant door. "And you're staying here."

The cat hissed and narrowed its eyes as it growled in anger. Scampering to its feet, it quickly nestled into a pouncing position… It leapt at Little Red, but Neo certainly wasn't planning to let it even attempt to do…whatever it was trying to do. Whilst Team Friendship over there was prattling on about why their fearless leader, Little Miss I-Don't-Want-To-Be-Me-Anymore, was not – nor has ever been – weak, confused, or incomplete, Neo had finally gotten to her feet. The cat was quickly caught, but not by Neo. Rather, by one of the Jabberwockies which Neo had created with her semblance. That damn cat would not get off lightly for exploiting her moment of weakness in order to turn her into a fleshy puppet. As much as she was okay with being a cat girl from time to time, that was her thing. And the weird thing about jumping in her mouth was also most certainly not okay, either. He was just lucky that Neo didn't suddenly have the urge to cough up a hairball, else she probably would have stalled his execution until he begged for death. Alas…she just wanted it to be over, so she nonchalantly gave the silent command to kill.

"NO! OH NO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Screamed the cat as it was dogpiled and devoured by those surprisingly realistic illusions of hers. The shrieks were only covered by the growls of the jabberwockies and the sound of flesh being torn. The girl didn't even bother to look at Team Friendship's horrified faces as they watched the cat get torn apart limb-by-limb, piece-by-piece, whisker-by-whisker. She just maintained that insidious scowl of hers as she pointed that parasol with malice. And…just as soon as the deed was done…felt her eyes roll backwards as she lost her footing and collapsed to the ground, dropping Hush as she lost consciousness for a moment.

As it so happens, summoning a group of murderous savages to eviscerate your enemies in a moment of rage (whilst only just regaining consciousness) was a rather draining process which was likely to use up most of your remaining strength. Who knew?

Apparently, Neo falling over was enough of a reason for the group of wannabe heroes to have a big group hug whilst the mute shortstack stumbled back up onto her feet, seeing Little Red hesitating slightly, before being engulfed by her friends. The joy on their faces was palpable. It was easy to see why they were so elated; a friend who was gone has now returned. The way home stood waiting. And Neo… well… she was just there.

A solemn expression had manifested on her face whilst she wasn't looking.

"To have what they have…" spoke a familiar voice. Her own semblance was beginning to find new ways to sneak up on her, it would seem. Her mentor, father figure and partner-in-crime wandered beside her, still sporting his dashing bowler hat and coat. "What a thing, huh?" He took the words right out of her mouth, then watched as she turned away from the festivities and wandered towards the edge of the tree. She found herself looking upwards at first…before her gaze turned downwards, and she found herself staring into the dark abyss of rainbow leaves and the foreboding branches which bore them. An ominous chill rushed down her spine as a dark wind briefly fluttered in the breeze.

Though Neo was there, her thoughts were far, far away. She thought about everything. Her life. Her misdeeds. Her…irredeemable actions. She had set out for revenge against the one who slew her mentor and yet…as soon as she finally got everything she wanted, she realised that it wasn't what she wanted at all. She still remembered it well. What it feels like to be so…hollow. Like your life is devoid of purpose all of a sudden. Neo had no friends to return to. No family. Not even a job. She was just a criminal who had devoted it all to the pursuit of revenge which she never even honestly wanted to begin with. Like Roman said…maybe that desire for revenge was actually jealousy of her camaraderie. The only reason to go back which she could think of was Cinder. That harlot was also to blame for Roman's death. And yet…she now knew that revenge was pointless.

Neo had staked everything on it because, in her delusional mindset, it would somehow bring Roman back. But, of course, deep in her soul…she always knew that was never going to be a thing. She just remembered that fact when it was far too late.

Then, she thought about that girl. Ruby Rose. She'd hated her guts for so long. She always interfered with her plans and then made off with the one thing which Neo had ever wanted or had. Always preaching about doing the right thing or trying to save everyone. When Neo subjected her to that terrible tea party, it had felt cathartic to finally say what she was thinking – even from a third person perspective. It felt even better when she saw how her face twisted in horror, depression and then… reluctant acceptance. But that final moment shattered Neo almost as much as it had shattered Ruby.

But now…

"So…that's it, then?" asked Roman. It was only natural that he knew what Neo was thinking. Well…he was technically a part of her, now, even if he was only a living memory which had begun to haunt her. She sighed…and turned to face him. It was a face which she had loved for an exceedingly long time. She just wanted to see it one more time before… If only it was real.

He sighed softly, leaning into her touch which she had extended without thinking. The hand on his cheek pressed gently against him. His smile was warm…but apologetic. "Yeah…I know… I'm not real." As the words left his mouth, he began to dissolve into the familiar pink fragments of her semblance. Those tiny pink shapes fluttered briefly in the breeze…before fading away. Forever.

Neo drew another deep breath as she now found herself looking at the mismatched group of colours who had stopped their embracing party to look at her, as if she were a wasp on the wall. The silence was soon broken by the only man amongst them. The bearded, rust-covered knight which stuck out like a sore thumb when surrounded by the young women of Team RWBY.

"What about her?" He asked, clearly referring to Neo, as if she didn't just have a ground-breaking moment of self-revelation a moment ago. Maybe he thought that she was stupid enough – or bold enough – to want to fight them or something.

It took everything in her to force a gentle smile, point her parasol at the group, take off her hat with a flourishing curtsy… and then jump backwards off the edge of the tree, parasol extending to slow her fall. She didn't even realise the group had rushed to the edge to watch her descend. Just heard the parting words from her former adversary.

"…She'll find herself…one way or another."

Chapter One: Purgatory.

When Neo opened her eyes, after being swallowed whole by the surprisingly menacing rainbow tree, her eyes fluttered around in disbelief. It was like a dark, starry sky with an odd greenish hue across the horizon. If you could even call it a horizon. There was no landscape. Just green wisps which floated around in the air. No sound, either. Except… the distant sound of metal against metal. Not a rhythm of battle, like Neo was used to hearing that sound in, but rather a beat. A continuous. Monotone. Repetitive. Sound. Of metal against metal.

Part of her wanted to try and catch one of the wisps…but she didn't want to try and push her luck when she was already trying to get a second chance in life. She found herself just…walking towards that noise, unable to really explain why. Was it curiosity? Or desperation? Perhaps both.

Before she knew it, however, she found herself looking at a strange, humanoid figure. They seemed to be comprised of metal scraps and bandages, but there was also a strange wooden branch which inexplicably dug its twig-like branches into its spine and shoulder. Stringlike hair was untidily contained by a headband, and it swung a hammer against, assumedly, an anvil in front of her. Neo wasn't certain because the blacksmith stood between her and their creation in the making.

Then, both of them stopped at roughly the same time. Neo stopped walking forwards as the strange blacksmith stopped bringing down their hammer. With a pair of tongs in its left hand, it raised a glowing, metallic blade. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was one of their newest creations in the making, and the glow of the blade was due to the heat of the forge, as opposed to any magical nature. They spoke with a feminine, but oddly astral and dronelike, voice.

"Neopolitan. You are right on time."

Naturally, Neo did not reply. She couldn't break the silence which had loomed over her ever since she was born. Instead, she stood there in awe for a moment, before offering a simple curtsy as a sign of respect.

"Fear not. I know you're not a talker. In truth, I prefer not talking at all in comparison to those who speak in riddle." The Blacksmith placed down her tools and glowing blade upon the anvil, before turning to face her. Their face was metallic, but her mouth moved as if it were flesh. Their eyes were empty…but certainly not soulless. A pair of chains dangled from her head like two out-of-place strands of hair. "I am sure that you are concerned about your future. Miss Rose was under the impression that she was going to die when she arrived. But…I sense that you have a greater understanding of the tree than she does."

Neo nodded, slowly. In truth, she didn't know much about the tree. Like Ruby, she thought the tree – and ascension as a whole – was just a fancy way of saying 'death' until only recently. However, the details were lost on her. Her rival had emerged from the tree with a new resolve to fight anew; a far cry from the sad, broken wreck which Neo had left her as.

"Unlike her, however…I sense that you already know what you want to become." The woman continued, before stepping forward. Neo and the woman were now not far apart from each other, and it only served to prove how much taller this metal entity was in comparison to her. She was at least two heads taller than the mute, and much broader too.

Neo wondered how this woman could determine so much about her when she hadn't said anything, or even tried to convey her message. To her surprise, that question was soon answered as a series of green wisps floated past the two of them.

"I read volumes in the words you don't speak. I may not exactly read your mind…but I can feel what you desire. I want you to close your eyes…and focus on what you truly want. Then, when you are ready, open your eyes," the blacksmith instructed. Neo diligently obeyed.

A torrent of passions flooded her head in an instant. Dust. Riches. Power. But, in spite of all of those tempting offers, she knew she didn't truly desire any of that. If power were all that Neo really wanted, she would have taken over the Ever After as soon as Little Red was out of the picture. But instead, the vacuum of purpose had sucked everything away, leaving her bare and vulnerable. That vulnerability was exploited by a certain hellspawn of a feline.

What Neo genuinely wanted…was to let go. To get rid of her past regrets for good. Move on from her troubled life and finally be able to just…be herself. Whoever that was. She didn't want to be tethered down to the legacy of her partner anymore. Didn't want to have nightmares every night because she was too dependent on someone who could no longer guide her. Didn't want to chase revenge anymore. It just left her so…empty. If such a thing had destroyed her with Ruby, she knew it would happen again with Cinder. She wanted…to start over.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a position all too familiar. And yet…it was different to how she remembered it.

Ruby Rose, hanging off the side of the airship, clutching onto her oversized scythe. Roman Torchwick, standing over her… pitying her. And her. Standing by his side. And she saw all of it from a new perspective. As such, she quite literally saw herself.

"I may be a gambling man, but I know there's some bets you just don't take." Roman spoke as Neo watched herself smirking a villainous sneer. The needle-like point of Hush extended and sparked across the metallic hull of the ship as Neo stepped closer to Ruby, before holding the point to her neck.

"Like it or not, the people who've hired me are going to change the world. You can't stop 'em. I can't stop 'em. You know the ol' saying… If you can't beat 'em…-!"

And then, time slowed down as she saw Ruby pull herself up and extend Hush, causing the winds of the ship to yank Past-Neo off the side of the ship and begin careening down into the Grimm-infested skies below, whilst all Past-Neo could do was gasp in surprise and hold on tight.

"NEOOO!" Roman cried as he watched her partner-in-crime fly off the ship and begin descending downwards, helplessly.

"I don't care what you say!" Ruby shouted as she pulled herself up onto the ship whilst Roman had been distracted. "We will stop them! And I will stop you! BET ON THAT!" She dashed forwards, flower petals in the breeze as she raised her fists. Roman fired a blast of dust from his cane, The Melodic Cudgel, caught it with the curved handle and then sent it out in a shockwave which caught Ruby in its arc.

Filled with rage, he dashed forwards, uppercutting Ruby with the cane, then jabbing her with the end in her stomach, before firing once again at point-blank whilst Neo couldn't bear to watch. Ruby landed hard on her back and couldn't bring herself to stand up immediately.

"You've got spirit, Red. But this is the REAL WORLD!" Roman cried, stepping forwards and beating her back down to the ground. "The real world is COLD!" He continued, raising his cudgel to bludgeon Ruby with. "The real world doesn't care about SPIRIT!" He lifted the cane again, but Ruby kicked him in the shin, making him recoil back with a grunt.

"You wanna be a hero?! Then play the part and DIE LIKE EVERY OTHER HUNTSMAN IN HISTORY!" He bellowed, looming over Ruby who could only just bring herself to stand. Grimm continued to circle overhead, drawn in by the sudden, sour emotions. Roman continued to batter Ruby as if she were a golf ball and his cudgel was his golf club.

Ruby began crawling backwards, battered and bruised… but still, Neo watched as Roman continued his speech.

"As for me…I'll do what I do best! Lie. Steal! Cheat! AND SURVIVE!"

However, no sooner had he finished that sentence, a massive Griffon swooped down and engulfed him in its beak, swallowed, and unleashed a deafening roar. It charged at Ruby, who managed to kick it into the cockpit of the airship, engulfing the majority of the ship in a large explosion which Ruby was lucky to survive at all.

And then, the vision faded away and Neo was left staring at the very weapon her partner once used. His Melodic Cudgel. It stood in an ornate, glass casing, just floating in the air in front of her. She could hardly look at it, though. It carried too many memories. In truth, see Roman's last moments had finally given her some closure. However, all it did was cement those awful feelings of regret.

Ruby Rose, though she was fighting against them, had not been the cause of Roman's death. The girl had merely been defending her life – no different to what the two had been doing when threatened by an Immortal Witch to do their bidding or be torn apart by angry Grimm. She had imagined that Ruby had managed to get a lucky shot off or decapitate him whilst he was grieving the loss of Neo. Much like she was grieving him, now.

Ruby was innocent. Always had been. And Neo had done such terrible, unforgivable things to her. She had driven the girl into what both of them had thought to be suicide… because of a crime for which she was not to blame. She should have listened to her when Ruby pronounced her disbelief when it became clear that Neo still had unresolved problems with her. Little Red was too determined to be the hero. Killing people wasn't what heroes would do. Even if she had killed Roman, Neo knew it would have been far more in character for her to try and make amends. Just as she said, Neo had wasted her time. So long. So, so long, she had striven for revenge. To the point that nothing else mattered.

Neo felt her lips quivering involuntarily. Her eyes beginning to tear up. Her knees beginning to shake. And yet, she covered it up with her semblance just as reflexively as ever. She had been so used to hiding her feelings from everyone that she now did it without realising it. As soon as she looked down to see her hands weren't trembling, she turned off her semblance and looked at herself in the reflection of the glass casing.

For the first time in a long, long time, she beheld the sight of a sad, scared young woman who had caused more harm than good in her quest to finally get even. Her eyes were white with fear, and tears were freely running down her face in two separate streams. Then her legs failed her, and she collapsed onto her knees and began to cry. She heard the closest thing to her own voice, and it was the sound of her ugly crying at the sight of herself.

She then felt a hand upon her shoulder, but she knew that it could only have been the blacksmith trying to comfort her. Neo had expected her to say something reassuring but, instead, they just let her cry it out. When she had finally dried her own tears, she looked like a total wreck. Her makeup was ruined, her hands and nose were covered in mucus and her eyes were red and puffy. She turned to the blacksmith, thinking only one thing.

'Do I even deserve a second chance?'

"Of course." The blacksmith replied, as if she had read her mind again. "Ascension is for everyone, no matter how lacking they believe themselves to be. You may have done some terrible things. But that does not mean that you are a terrible person. The fact that you show remorse for your actions is proof enough of that."

'Ruby came back as herself…do I have the same option?' Her eyes must have shown her thoughts again because the blacksmith just nodded. 'Can I change some things about myself?'

"That depends on what you wish to change," the blacksmith replied. Neo had already figured out that the metal woman was definitely reading her thoughts but, in truth, she didn't really care. If anything, it made communicating easier. If there was anyone that she wanted to be able to effectively communicate with, it would be the person directly in charge of what comes after death.

'I…cannot move on with the weight of my past upon my shoulders. Could you…make me forget my trauma?' She thought, selfishly.

"Such a thing is possible, but I warn you that it comes with a great cost. Taking absolutely everything would make you an infant in the body of an adult. Unless, of course, you wish to simply be reborn from nothing."

Neo shook her head. She wanted to be fixed. Not remade.

'Can I give a list of memories I want to keep? Or experience from this life to transfer over to the next?' She asked, internally.

"That would be best if you intend to keep your current form. Take your time and be sure not to forget anything. Such would be a cruel irony." The blacksmith offered her a handkerchief and Neo accepted gratefully. After drying her face and hands, Neo took out her scroll and began to type out the things which she wanted to remember.

- My combat skills.

- My current knowledge of the world of Remnant.

- My understanding of language and forms of communication.

- My current knowledge of technology.

- My personal details. (Name, age, birthday, etc.)

She looked over her list a few times, just to make sure that there wasn't anything that she was missing. It pained her to not write various parts of her past into the list, but having no memories would be better than fragmented memories. It was especially painful to choose to forget Roman, as if he meant nothing to her, but the opposite was true. It was because he meant the world to her that she had to let him go. She couldn't do it by herself, so forcefully cutting him from her memories felt like the only option if she ever wanted to live a normal life. Neo was certain that Roman would forgive her if he were still watching from on high.

She looked down at the list again…and added one last thing.

- Remember to tell Ruby Rose that I'm sorry.

Satisfied with the list, she showed it to the blacksmith who read each point carefully.

"You want a completely fresh start, don't you?" She asked, smiling at the last bullet point. "Then I think I have just the thing for you…"

Neo blinked in surprise. Or confusion. Just the thing? What in Remnant could she have in mind?

"Are you aware of the existence of parallel worlds?" She asked. Neo neither shook her head, nor nodded it. She only knew it as a theory, but to know such things actually existed was new to her. "If I return you to your home dimension, you will be tried and persecuted for crimes you committed in your past. Crimes which you will no longer have any recollection of. Amnesia is not a defence which can get you pardoned, and legal fees are pricey. Even if you manage to avoid serving prison time, your name will forever be tarnished by what you were accused of. If I put you back before those crimes were committed, history would not play out as it did and, as such, you would be wiped from existence. In order to give you the fair chance at life which you desire, I will put you in a dimension which runs as closely parallel to the world you came from as possible. Because you are not native to said dimension by technicality, you will not be at risk of being purged from existence just by being there. You will see lots of events play out similarly to how they did in your home dimension. However, now you have the agency to see it all from a new perspective. Will you fight for justice? Or will you go back to your criminal roots? It is not my position to interfere."

Neo was, to put it in the simplest terms imaginable, mind blown. Parallel dimensions? Purged from existence? Amnesia is not a pardonable defence? Oh, wait. She knew that last one, already. But still, it was a lot to take in. And this deal seemed too good to be true. Was she really okay with just avoiding punishment for all of her past atrocities? Not entirely. It would not feel right to evade justice for her crimes but, at the same time, she could not have the fresh start she desired if she accepted punishment. Unless…she made up for those mistakes in her new life. For every life she took in her past, she would save twice as many in this life. That would be her goal.

To the blacksmith, she nodded in agreement, but held up a finger as if to tell her to wait one moment, before adding one last thing to the list of things to remember.

- Be the best person you can be.

"That's a noble goal. One I am certain that you will achieve."

Those words were the last thing Neo remembered. At least…it used to be.