Roman's Angels VIII

I will shatter your dreams and illusions

And everyone will see you for who you really

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight is a special night. A night of happiness for my family that I am glad you could all attend to see." Jimmy began. "First off, I would like to extend a warm welcome to some potential new friends from out of town."

Jimmy gestured down to a man dressed in a white tuxedo, blond hair that was neatly combed back and well-trimmed beard. His arm was interlinked with a woman wearing a dark blue evening gown.

Ansem Schnee and his wife.

Maybe that's the big celebration they were talking about. A chance to mooch off of some other suckers they had sweet talked.

"And warm welcome home to my daughter," Jimmy then gestured to Neo who stared back with a surprised face since he never allowed her to attend these parties before. "Celebrating not only a chance to meet new friends but to celebrate her engagement."

Neo's eyes were then so wide they could have fallen out.

Engagement?!

Neo spent the next few minutes trying to process what had been said. The weird dream she thought she was having had quickly become a nightmare.

'Engagement?! I am getting put in an arranged marriage?! And who could it be they're trying to set me up with? It must be someone from the Xiong family gang and they're trying this pay off their debts.' Neo thought to herself.

She doesn't know which was worse: being locked in her room where she spent her entire childhood or getting hitched by a random guy that she does not have any interest in being with. She looked over the crowd as they applauded her, not even knowing her or taking note of the surprised look on her face.

Couldn't they figure out she had no clue what was going on?

She noticed a few newcomers, including the subject of an earlier debate: the Schnee family, specifically the patriarch himself. Ansem Schnee looked rather handsome in his white tuxedo with a red scarf that added a sense of elegance and nobility to his neatly combed hair and trimmed beard. His wife, Willow looked beautiful in her blue dress and decorated with jewelry expected of someone like her. They had two kids: a teenage girl several years younger than Neo wearing a white formal dress and a younger boy who was admittedly cut but she doubted he was at the legal age for marriage.

If she had someone been paired up with a Schnee kid she might have considered playing this game her parents had forced her into but from their looks, they knew nothing about this so-called engagement. For now, she was forced to play the nice, obedient daughter as her parents led her along the room, mingling with the guests.

'Take a deep breath, Neo. Just wait for your opportunity.' Neo did as she told herself. 'Roman and the others will be sure to follow up on their parts of the plan.'

'Because…I trust them….And because they remind me of someone…I had to say goodbye to.'

"Okay, we get in, get the information and get out." Yuna whispered to the girls as they approached Lady Browning's Preparatory for Girls.

For the last time.

"Fine by me. I've wanted to burn this place down since the day we followed Neo here." Paine shrugged, hoisting her sword over her shoulder.

"Me too." Rikku nodded eagerly.

Paine activate her Semblance and she and Rikku vanished into Yuna's shadow as she walked onto school ground, walking to the entrance and was surprised to see Beatrix Browning along with Manda Rin and the Malachite Sisters already waiting for her.

"Miss Yuna, excellent. We've been waiting for you." Beatrix began, throwing a stern look at the young woman. "Where are your friends?"

"Which ones? I have plenty of friends." Yuna wondered aloud. "You might want to narrow down the list, Headmistress."

"Answer the question!" Rin barked but Beatrix raised a hand, silencing her.

"I speak of Rikku and Paine, your partners in crime." Beatrix clarified.

"Oh?" Yuna raised an eyebrow. "Just the two? Last I checked, I had three partners in crime."

"Not for long." Melanie Malachite spoke up. "Not after tonight."

"Really? Is that so?" Yuna carefully asked. "And why is that?"

"It is because we know you along with Miss Paine and Rikku are the Gullwings and Miss Vanille was your latest recruit." Beatrix answered. "It was clever of you to get into my school using forged transcripts which I allowed because I believed you would be useful. However, my colleagues have determined you have interfered with our work for the last time."

"And we're itching for payback for that night." Militia stepped forward. "And for all the headaches you gave us here."

"Please, don't make me laugh." Yuna remarked. "You two waltzed into this school like you owned, made Neo's life more miserable than ever because of her petty excuse for parents and then you had the gall to try acting friendly with her because she showed herself to be a good fighter…Actually, she's even better than the two of you combined thanks to us teaching her long before she got sent to this dump."

Beatrix scowled. "I see my classes failed to install proper discipline into you, Miss Yuna."

"Oh, I sat through your classes and heard every little thing, Headmistress and what I learned the most about it is that it's all fake: this school, the classes, even you." Yuna retorted. "Just a mask for a gang to get its grubby little paws into another kingdom. Which is why I only came back here to let you know…we're quitting. Me, Rikku, Paine and Neo."

"You are quitting?" Beatrix raised an eyebrow.

"We hated this farce of a school the moment we stepped through the door but we played along for Neo's sake until we could get her out of her and out from her wretched family's thumb for good." Yuna smiled. "And tonight, this school and everything you've built is going down."

"I've heard enough." Beatrix turned away. "Rin, be sure to leave her still breathing. Malachite will have use for her."

"My pleasure."

Yuna smiled as Rin stepped forward. "By the way, did any of you ever care to guess what my Semblance is?"

Rin stopped and paused for a second. "You never showed you had a Semblance."

"Because I wanted to surprise you." Yuna held up her hand and pillar of light exploded around her, forcing the Headmistress, the teachers and the students back.

When the light faded, Yuna was now wearing a flower-patterned hakama, black boots, a black spaghetti-string camisole under a white sash that wrapped around her neck and over her chest and a yellow-colored obi with a chocho musubi knot and decorative obidome to clinch the cords. Two separate kimono-like pink and white sleeves covered her arms and completed the look. She carried a staff that resembled ones used by monks from Mistral. She pointed her staff downwards at her side as she slowly approached.

"Your Semblance…is to change your clothes?" Rin questioned, holding her fire sword ready.

Yuna smiled. "Well, partially. These clothes just happen appear when I use my Semblance. They are ceremonial for what I am about to do."

With that, Yuna brought her staff up, over her head and back down, the golden circled crest at the top just barely touching the ground that left a line light, following the staff's movements.

"My Semblance is not an ordinary one. Some people get faster, some people stronger, others on the other hand…" Yuna brought her staff back up and a flash of light appeared over her. "They can summon one's own dreams into reality!"

With that, in a flash of light appeared two strange creatures. One of them resembled a unicorn with black skin, white hair, light blue eyes and a bronzed hooked horn on its forehead. The other was a tall blue, scantily clad woman with light blue skin, dark blue hair twisted into braids and clawed feet and hands.

Needless to say, the onlookers were shocked.

Melanie stuttered as she stepped back. "Sh-She can summon?!"

"Impossible! She's not a Schnee!" Militia exclaimed.

"You're right, I'm not." Yuna replied with a smile. "These are not like the summons of the Schnee family. My Semblance allows me to summon my familiars to aid me in battle. Each familiar I have represents an elemental nature much like Dust: Fire, Ice, Lightning and Wind. My two familiars here, Ixion and Shiva both represent Lightning and Ice. Like so."

Shiva hopped onto Ixion's back and charged forward, firing ice at the surrounding staff and students who all cried out in fear, ducking for cover. The ice shards impacted the walls of the academy while Ixion let loose a blast of lightning that blasted through the walls. Many of the students dropped their weapons and fled, screaming while the Malachite Sisters just stared in shock and fear as Yuna casually strolled forward.

Yuna simply walked past the two, barely sparing them a glance. "You thought you had us where you wanted us but you were wrong. The both of you better run back to your mother now and let her know how bad an idea it is to mess with the Gullwings."

Lady Beatrix on the other hand was still in shock as her school fell under attack by the two…creatures that were blasting and freezing as Yuna walked into the entrance, her shadow touching the shadow of the building.

"Paine, Rikku, go."

Traveling through the shadows inside the building, Paine and Rikku made their way into the Room with the help of Paine's Semblance. Once inside, they both emerged from the dark floor and Paine hooked her Scroll up to the main computer.

"Information has been collected and is being sent to the right people." Paine said with a smile while Rikku pumped a fist behind her.

Just as Roman emerged from Junior's Club, he was greeted with the sight of Lil' Miss Malachite and her goons surrounding him.

"Hello, Roman." Lil' Miss Malachite greeted.

Roman immediately aimed and fired the built-in gun section of his cane but Malachite easily knocked into the sky above with a mere swat of her fan.

"Now is that any way to greet an old friend?" Lil' Miss asked sarcastically as the Spiders moved in slowly, keeping their guns trained on Torchwick. "It must be my lucky day. I get to deal with both traitors at once. Assuming DiZ is still inside."

'That mummy bastard!' Roman grit his teeth. 'Did he know Malachite was coming here?!'

"Well, we'll find out soon enough." Lil' Miss said, holding her fan close to her face.

"What do you want?" Roman demanded.

"I want everything." Lil' Miss answered. "Starting with what you owe me."

"I spent all your money and even if I hadn't I wouldn't give it back."

"I'm not talking about money, dear. You what I value most: information and loyalty." Lil' Miss replied.

"I'm surprised you came all this way just for me." Roman carefully looked around.

Maybe if he caused enough of a ruckus, someone would call the police and they could force Lil' Miss and her goons to retreat. He held his cane tightly as his hand began to glow orange.

"You have an inflated ego. I had other business here but like you used to say, 'If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.' See, I have learned something from you just as you've learned from me." Lil' Miss brought her fan to her face. "We really did have some good times together."

"We sure did. Maybe I might be interested in putting the old team back together. We can go in and kill that red mummy who might have set me up again." Roman proposed. "What do you say?"

"There was a time when I might have welcomed an offer like that, but I think it's clear you aren't a good team player, and you don't sharing. Neither do I." Lil' Miss admitted. "However, I'm not going to kill you here."

"You're not?" Roman asked, hiding his relief.

"You're coming back to Mistral with me first. I have a whole room ready for you back hime."

Roman assumed his battle stance. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"There's a time and a place for violence, but sometimes there's an easier way." Lil' Miss snapped her fan shut and a woman appeared behind her with a couple of Spider henchmen.

"Honey?" Roman blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey Torch." Honey greeted. "It was nice to catch up with you a few months ago." She tipped her head to Lil' Miss. "I forgot to mention, she gave me a loan to open the Harmony Club."

"And it's coming due." Roman narrowed his eyes.

As he saw Lil' Miss and the Spider goons stuff earplugs into their ears, that' when he made his move. Roman held up his cane and pulled the trigger again, again and again. Oddly enough, not projectiles shot out but orbs of red light hovered in the air in front of Roman, all pointed in every direction where there was a Spider goon.

"What the-" Lil' Miss's eyes went wide.

"A neat trick that mummy taught me with my Semblance!" Roman snapped his fingers and the projectiles shot at all their targets, taking advantage of the surprise he had gained by using his Semblance in such a manner.

The Spider henchman were either hit or forced to duck while Lil' Miss knocked one shot away while another flew past her…

"AAH!" And hit Honey Wine.

Luckily her Aura protected her, but she was sent flying into a building on the other side of the street. Lil' Miss gritted her teeth as she lowered her fan, seeing Roman had vanished, taking off in the confusion.

"After him!"

Neo was left with no choice but to play along, socializing with her parents as they kept her close while they mingled with the party guests. Neo had never been allowed to attend these parties, always locked up in her room, away from where anyone could see her and prevent her from potentially embarrassing her parents and the family name.

Funny how they seem to think she is the embarrassment.

"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Vanille."

Neo was stopped by her mother's hands on her shoulders whilst her father greeted the man who spoke. "Ah, Ansem Schnee. It's an honor to meet you."

Ansem Schnee.

The man who had been Roman's target before he broke away from the Spiders. She looked at him, seeing his white tuxedo with a violet bow tie. His blond hair was slicked back and neatly combed in a manner that said he had put some extra effort into getting all gussied up for this party. His mustache and goatee were neatly trimmed as well but what was unique about him were his orange eyes.

Now, Neo couldn't say that as abnormal, given she had one natural pink eye that she inherited from her mother, but orange was certainly an eye color she never really expected to see. Still, he carried himself in the same manner as an aristocrat as her father, but Ansem did it more grandly. She could almost feel the air of wisdom surrounding him that let her know that this man was obviously smart, possibly smarter than everyone else in the whole room. He looked at her with a charming but peaceful smile, the kind that almost made her want to feel at ease and she certainly knew how to act all relaxed as she immediately curtsied to him.

"My wife and I thought we should offer our congratulations to your daughter in her engagement."

Neo soured but kept it hidden. 'He just had to bring that up.'

"Yes, thank you." Jimmy immediately spoke before turning to Willow. "Ah, Mrs. Schnee. It is an honor to have you here as well. We hope you and your husband will enjoy the party."

"I am sure we and our children will."

Neo glanced at Ansem's wife, and she had to admit, the woman was downright gorgeous. Wearing a blue flowing gown with the usual make-up and jewelry but this woman…she moved with the elegance and grace that put her own mother to shame.

Not to mention she looked like she was in her late twenties or early thirties which was either the result of damn good genes, some sort of secret beauty method or that Schnee Semblance included eternal youth. She had a pleasant smile on her face that was both beautiful and professional, like she knew that Neo's parents were more interested in her family's business and not in making friends with her and her husband. There was something else, the woman carried herself in a manner that showed she was more than just a rich brat born with a silver spoon up her rear end.

Neo could see it in the way she moved, even while formally dressed.

Willow Schnee was a warrior, a Huntress and a damn scary one at that.

One Neo wouldn't want to end up fighting.

Then there were the two children with them. Children was a bit of stretch since the eldest one, Weiss Schnee if she remembered correctly was only a few years younger than her. She sure took after her mother in appearance, making it hard to see if there was resemblance to her father at all.

Those Schnee genes must be really strong.

She definitely had been trained given the athletic build she had but not enough to take away the grace and beauty of a young lady born into privilege much like Neo herself. The boy, Whitely Neo would once again admit to being a bit of a cutie. Again, if he was her so-called betrothed, she might have considered playing along in whatever game her parents were playing but knowing them she was not that lucky.

She was never that lucky.

They were both cordial to her and she responded in kind, even if she couldn't speak. Her parents, specifically her father made up some flimsy excuse on her being too shy and overwhelmed to speak.

Idiot.

Ansem and Willow conversed with her parents, allowing her a bit of room to have her own socializing with the Schnee kids. She knew her mother was watching her carefully as she made a few hand signs.

"Ah, sign language." Whitely spoke in recognition much to Neo's surprise. "I take it there is a little more than simply shyness."

Neo simply nodded, making a few hand signs. You know sign language?

"Of course." Weiss nodded. "Our father has taken great care to educate us in a variety of useful topics."

Neo blinked. Really?

"Really." Whitely nodded with a charming smile. "I know most families of the so-called elites like to hire private tutors and schools, but our father is a bit different in that regard. He personally saw to our education when we began and even now likes to make sure we remember every little thing he taught us."

Huh, that was more than anything her own father ever did.

"Sign language was a bit of a surprise, but it was a welcome one." Weiss agreed. "Where did you learn sign language?"

Neo smiled briefly. My sisters.

"Sisters?" Whitely and Wiess looked surprised as Whitely voice their confusion. "We were under the impression you were an only child."

"She is." Carmille cut in. "She has a rather overactive imagination."

Neo scowled at her and she subtly returned it with one of her own. Weiss and Whitely seemed to pick up the tension between mother and daughter and carefully excused themselves.

"Come along, dear." Carmille whispered, leading Neo up the stairs.

"Don Corneo, as promised, your new bride."

Neo's eyes went wide in shock and revulsion at the sight of her so-called betrothed. She had been dragged into the dining room away from the party by her mother, presumably to meet whoever she had been engaged to.

Why couldn't it have been the Schnee boy?

Her 'betrothed' happened to be a crime lord and was a middle-aged man with a short and portly build. He had fair skin, sports a thin mustache, and blond hair shaved on the sides. He had the word 'Love' tattooed on the side of his head. He wore a red, three-quarter length coat with fur trim on the collar and cuffs, an open white pocketed-buttoned shirt, blue jeans, a dark brown buckled belt, and white dress shoes. He also wore an assortment of jewelry, including stud earrings, a medallion necklace, and several rings on his fingers.

The man turned and lecherously gazed at her, smiling. "Hello my dear."

Neo took a step back but her mother grabbed her by the shoulders and she felt a jab in the back of her neck. Neo's entire world spun before blacking out.