Roman's Angels XII(Finale)
Climb the tallest mountain on Earth,
Reach the peak of Heaven,
Fall to the deepest, dark Abyss,
I will travel all these paths, without fear or regret,
As long as I can be with you
"Especially now with her parents locked up for their crimes."
Roman narrowed his eyes. "So, this was about locking her parents up, huh? Well, given what Neo's told me I can't fault you for that."
"Jimmy and Carmel Vanille represent the very antithesis of my beliefs. A perfect couple when it comes to lies and delusions. Vale will be better with them both behind bars." DiZ stated.
"Oh, so you're big on family." Roman noted with a sly grin.
DiZ simply stared at him. "Making a list now, Roman? I didn't think you were that petty."
Roman scoffed, lowering his cane. "I suppose not since if I did find anyone connected with you, you might be even more insufferable if I tried. But don't mistake this for-Oh crap!"
Roman suddenly ducked behind his console, making DiZ raise an eyebrow. He slowly peeked up over the console, seeing Roman crouched down on the ground.
"Something wrong?" DiZ asked slowly with an intrigued face.
"Look at the door, nitwit." Roman harshly whispered.
DiZ turned and saw two police officers speaking to the owner of the store. "Ah, she must have called the cops as soon as she noticed us."
"And this is why I stick to poker." Roman retorted. "Just shut up and we can sneak out."
DiZ, however, had other plans. "…Well, Roman Torchwick!" He called out loudly so that everyone could hear him. "It's time we got to work with our next dastardly plan!"
Roman shot up, glaring at DiZ. "What's wrong with you?! Are you a complete mental case?! Shut-up, damn it!"
"There they are!"
"Halt! You two are under arrest!"
Roman bolted for the rear exit, leaving DiZ by himself, not caring if the masked man was arrested or not.
Roman knew he wasn't lucky enough for his old partner to end up arrested and unmasked by the police.
…
…
…
"I've been having these really strange thoughts lately…Like is any of this for real? Or not?"
Years ago, Neo remembered having a strange dream. It happened after her sisters had come into her life. It was so strange and yet after she had experienced, she had felt…
Different.
Like she had become more whole than ever before.
Still, the dream was unlike anything she had experienced.
The last thing she remembered before that weird dream was a flash of light…and then she was falling. She didn't have a chance to scream when she suddenly landed in water with loud splash. She thought she was going to die but instead she didn't feel a thing and managed to stand up without her clothes and hair dripping. She looked up and was surprised to see her home, her old home with her parents and sisters standing in front of the door, all of them looking at her.
"Yuna, Rikku, Paine?" She managed to utter.
"What are you afraid of?" Yuna suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
"What are you afraid of?" Yuna repeated, a strange calm look on her face.
"Why do I have to be afraid of anything?" Neo asked.
"Everyone is afraid of something. They may say otherwise but they all fear something and they never move past it until they confront it."
Neo narrowed her eyes. "Okay, you're not my sisters or even my parents. My sisters know me and my deadbeat parents wouldn't give a hoot."
"Wise as always, Neo." Yuna chuckled. "But you never answered the question."
"…I'm afraid of being alone and never being accepted." Neo threw a harsh look at her parents. "Like how you never accepted me."
Her parents just stared blankly.
"Is that so bad?" Yuna asked.
"Yeah, who cares what people think of you?" Rikku said next.
"Shouldn't the only opinion that matters to you is your own?" Paine asked.
"…I don't care what others think of me. If they think I'm strange it's just because they're just envious and are scared of my talents." Neo retorted, looking at Paine. "That's what you told me."
Paine smiled.
"Now tell me what's going on."
"Very well." They all said at the same time just as another bright light blinded her.
Neo closed her eyes and seemed to fall backwards. The odd thing was that she did not fall back onto the ground. All she could feel was herself falling through what looked like a dark void that she saw when she opened her eyes. She tried to cry out, but she couldn't hear herself.
Had she gone mute again?
In fact, she couldn't hear anything at all. All she could do was continue to fall through the black void she somehow ended up in, even though there was no logical explanation of how she got there.
SPLASH!
Just when she thought they were going to fall forever she suddenly felt the cool sensation of water along with a splashing sound filling her ears as she landed in the water. She tried to swim back up to the surface but to her shock they were still seemingly falling or sinking to the dark bottom of the sea she had landed in. She struggled and struggled while trying to hold her breath for as long as possible, until she couldn't. The released air came out in the form of bubbles, and she realized she was about to drown.
Except she didn't.
She finally reached the bottom of the dark abyss she had found herself in and to her shock the water vanished, allowing her to breathe fresh air. A light flashed in the center under her, blinding her for a second before white doves flew out from the light. As the light expanded outward more white birds flew up from the grounds with it, moving past the teens, showing colors such as pink, white, brown, yellow, orange, blue and black until it stopped, revealing a large platform with what looked look like a giant mural.
"Whoa!" Neo's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. "Is that…me?"
Not just her.
Neo was in the middle of the mural, surrounded by a pattern of colors consisting mostly of her signature colors: pink, white and brown. Four small circle portraits circled around her head, showing her sisters. In between the portraits was the emblem of Lady Browning's Preparatory Academy for Girls that she had adopted as her own: a triple tomoe emblem, a mitsudomoe.
Curiously, the three tomoes were colored differently: pink, orange and black and pointed in the directions of her sisters. Pink for Yuna, orange for Rikku and black for Paine.
So much to do...
Neo stopped when she heard what she thought was a mysterious voice whispering into her ears even though no one actually spoke.
So little time...
Neo nervously looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.
Take your time, don't be afraid. The door hasn't been unlocked. There is still time
Neo looked back and forth but she couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. In fact, she didn't actually believe there really was a voice. She thought she was dreaming but to be honest she just knew that all of this real.
"What door? Who are you?"
I am that which lies within
"Right. That helps a lot." Neo sarcastically replied. "Can you tell us where we are? Why are we here?"
You have dived into that which lies within
"...Right, questions are a waste of time. Got it." Neo raised her hands as if she was surrendering.
Now, step forward
Neo raised an eyebrow. "Why should I?"
Can you do it?
"Take a step forward? Easy!" Neo scoffed and did so, stepping into the middle of the mural. "Now what?"
Three have been chosen and three paths lay before you. Great power sleeps within you, the path you choose will help give it form and give you strength
"Three paths." Neo looked down at the mural again, specifically her emblem that connected with her sisters.
She noticed feathery wings behind Yuna and Paine's bat like wings.
Choose well
Neo looked in between the weapons.
Do you choose the path of warrior, invincible courage and strength?
The sword glowed brightly.
The path of the protector, unmatched defense and fortitude?
The shield was illuminated next.
Or the path of mystic, inner strength and knowledge?
The staff was the last to glow brightly.
Three weapons, three paths and it almost seemed like her sisters were somehow connected with her sisters. Yuna's portrait made her look like an angel, Rikku looked normal and Paine, well she was always a bit of a devil if Neo could admit. She thought back to the Tale of the Brothers and wondered if there was some deeper meaning.
Light for Yuna.
Rikku had no wings, so maybe she was supposed to represent a form of balance.
And Darkness for Paine.
Heaven, Earth and Hell.
She looked between the three weapons and saw they represented their own paths as well. Well, she was skilled, but she didn't seek out fights like a warrior did. She was smart but she wasn't into that whole mystic stuff.
If she wanted to get out of here, she would have to pick.
So, she picked out the shield.
The path of the protector has been chosen. What will you give up in exchange?
"What will I give up?" Neo looked between the sword and the staff. "I think I'll give up...the warrior. I'm good at fighting but I'm not a brawler."
Very well. You have given up the power of the warrior. Now the final member of the trinity must choose their path
She looked down at the painting of herself and up at the darkness surrounding them. "If you're showing this then you obviously think you know which one I'll pick."
The mural represents the connection that has been forged between your hearts. It does not represent the path you choose; only the path you represent.
"So now what?"
The next test is ahead of you. All you must do is take the first step
A series of stairs appeared in front of Neo, leading up into the darkened sky above. She sighed and began walking up the stairs. The climb lasted for three whole minutes before they walked up to another platform with a mural much like the first one.
This one was very different.
It was primarily made of light shades of beige, showing her as a little girl with her parents on either side, both of them showing looks indifference as they held her while she looked sad, her hair completely brown and a context lens over her pink eye. This was her childhood her entirely, her parents completely indifferent to their daughter who felt unwanted and unloved. This was her life before her sisters came and changed her world for the better.
Prepare yourselves. You will need to be strong for the trials
Something emerged from the pillar of darkness but at first it was hard to tell what it was before the pillar vanished. It looked like a small, completely black monster with pointed antennas, twitching limbs and bright yellow eyes that stared at the teens. Neo shivered for a second because the stare was so intense; they felt like small mice staring at the predator that found its next meal.
Heartless, the manifestation of darkness that lies within all things
More insect like monsters appeared and moved towards Neo. Readying herself, Neo moved to pull out her parasol…Only to remember it wasn't here for some reason. All that she was a shield.
Sighing and realizing she had no choice; Neo raised the shield as the first Heartless attacked and blocked the claws with her shield. She swung her arm out and sent the creature flying back and it splattered into a black puddle as it hit the floor. Neo dashed around, bashing the Heartless with her shield while dodging their attempts to attack her. Neo let out a shout as she charged through any Heartless with her shield, knocking them down and leaving them dissolve into nothing.
You have a strong heart. Few have made it past this part of the trial
A second set of stairs appeared before them.
"Before I go, what exactly were those things? You said they were Heartless? What are they?" Neo asked.
They are the embodiment of the darkness found in all beings. Hatred, anger, sorrow, pride, envy, greed, pride, and fear. They are part of existence but there are those who become so steeped in darkness that they lose themselves
"You mean those were..." Neo started, her eyes going wide at the implications.
Do not mourn them. They were nothing more than images created to test the strength of your hearts. Be wary as the true Heartless are stronger and they never travel alone in their journey to overwhelm the light.
"Okay. Now what?" Neo prompted.
The last test...
"Cool. Let's get this over with." Neo started up the stairs.
The trip was just as uneventful as the previous trip. When she reached the platform she saw it was different from the other ones. It was of three armored figures holding weapons that were oddly shaped like keys with an image of the world with a heart in the center behind them. One was dressed in green and gold armor, the other wore bronze and gold, and the last was silver and blue.
A Gold Knight, a Bronze Knight and a Silver Knight.
"This is different, even from the other two." Neo said, looking over the mural. "I don't know what to make of this..."
The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes.
Neo spun around and saw her shadow growing bigger and longer before it somehow pulled itself out of the ground and formed into a giant monstrous cat that stood on its hind legs and had a much closer appearance to a lynx. Their claws grew very large and sharp, and rather than polygonal checkerboard patterning, they gained white stripes with a heart shaped hole in the chest. The monster cat let out a demonic roar as Neo stepped back with widened eyes and her jaw nearly dropping to the ground.
Furious Cat, a manifestation of the darkness within worlds. Drawn to the most powerful hearts and only appear when a world is on the brink of being swallowed in darkness
It seemed to be an apt name for the monster in front of her.
"Am I supposed to fight this thing?" Neo looked down at the shield she had. "With just a shield?!"
She almost had no time to react as the Furious Cat swung its arm at Neo who held up her shield and tried to block the attack, but it sent her flying across the platform. The Furious Cat lifted its giant hand up into the air, forming it into a tight fist and slammed it into the center of the platform. A swirling portal of darkness surrounded it and released more imp like Heartless that scuttled towards Neo as she managed to stand back up.
'This is crazy. How am I supposed to fight this?' She thought as she quickly bashed away the Shadows that came her way. 'All I have is a stupid shield and my…Semblance?'
Maybe she could make use of it here.
'Please, please, please work.' Neo thought as she tried to use her Semblance here in this crazy place.
Only nothing happened.
'Come on!' Neo complained before she had to move.
The Furious Cat tried attacking her again but this time she was ready and dodged it easily. Her Huntress training allowed her to easily dodge the incoming attacks, even if for some reason she couldn't use her Semblance. The monster kept trying to slam its fists down on the annoying human and she managed to dodge every strike. Finally, Neo had enough and launched himself at the right fist as it missed her and slammed her shield into it.
The Furious Cat roared and swept its fist at Neo, knocking her back. Neo grunted as she slid back along the mural but managed to get back up. This was getting her nowhere. She wasn't hurting it enough to do any damage and it was getting really annoyed with her.
If something was not done soon then she would be hurt or worse, killed. She held up her shield and looked at it. She didn't know why she thought it would do any damage; it didn't even have a sharp blade.
But according to that stupid voice it was a weapon, and it was a weapon for power inside of her.
"This is so stupid." She muttered as she looked up at the Furious Cat. "But here goes."
Gripping the shield tightly she threw it with all of her might. It sailed through air and actually embedded itself into the Furious Cat's right eye. The beast let out a scream as it fell over from the sudden pain. Neo ran and jumped up, pulling the shield out of the monster's eye and then swung it down with all her might into its forehead earning one final scream before it dissolved into fumes of darkness that vanished a second later.
"That was close." Neo sighed in relief. "I don't even know how I did that." She examined the shield in her hand. "There's nothing sharp enough to have done that and I wasn't that strong."
Do not be afraid. You have succeeded
Neo looked up when she heard the voice again. "Yeah, I did. But what is this about? Did my sisters set up this up?"
The trial was not made by any mortal or fairy. A conduit was used to force you all to undertake this trial
"So why? Why do this to me?"
You survived because of the strength of your heart, that is what makes your weapon powerful and that power will unlock the greatest weapon of all. But be warned, this power cannot be given back. Remember the lessons of this trial and stay true to the light within and you will be able to do great things.
The platform began to break apart.
"What's happening now?!" Neo cried as she took a step back.
Always remember that it is darkest before dawn
The platform shattered and Neo screamed as she fell into the darkness.
When that dream was over, Neo remembered waking up in the cabin she and her sisters had found on Patch and were living at while hiding from her parents. She never told her sisters about and had honestly forgotten about it until now.
Though, perhaps it was time to find out what that dream was all about.
Neo emerged from her room, seeing her sisters in the living room of the apartment and had a feeling of what they were talking about.
So, she cleared her throat, the three looked at her with Yuna and Rikku jumping in surprise. "Ah, Neo!"
"Am I interrupting anything?" Neo asked, still unsure if she was actually speaking and with her own voice to boot.
"Nothing really." Paine picked up a magazine and looked it over.
Neo looked between her fairy sisters, the three of them having been the only family she had for as long as she had known. They had come to her when she was little and lonely, neglected by her parents who focused more on…whatever it is they thought that made them look normal.
"So, you guys know what happened to me?" Neo asked, just getting to the point. "I know you three know."
The three sisters shared a look before nodding to which Yuna began to speak. "Well, Neo, it's a spectacular thing you did back there. We always knew you were strong but we never expected you would actually awaken a Keyblade."
"Is that what the weapon is called?" Neo asked.
"Yeah." Paine nodded as she answered. "They're supposedly pretty rare and they can unlock anything, even hearts from what we have heard."
"Unlock…hearts?" Neo raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, we have no idea what that means either." Rikku admitted. "What we do know is that with a Keyblade, we'll be able to find even more treasure!"
"Oh yeah! That can unlock anything, even any vault we find!" Yuna pumped a fist in the air.
Even Paine smirked at the idea.
"More treasure huh?" Neo mused and smiled. "So how do I get it back? It vanished after I killed that Grimm."
Yuna shrugged. "Summon it."
Neo raised an eyebrow, not sure what she meant but she guessed it might similar to how she would summon something with her Semblance. So, she held out her hand tried to…
In a flash of light, her Keyblade had appeared in her hand.
Neo blinked as she looked over her new weapon. "…Neat."
"Just so you know, the Keyblade is a super dangerous weapon from what we've heard so you can't go around telling people you got one or they might try to take it." Yuna pointed out. "We've met a few before they were always dealing with all sorts of monsters and nutjobs that tried to kill them and take their Keyblades."
Neo frowned but shrugged as she let go of her Keyblade and watched as it vanished. "That's fair. I still like my Hush anyways."
"So, what will you do now?" Paine asked.
Neo thought it before she took out her Scroll and showed her sisters the news article.
Jimmy and Carmel Vanille Appearing in Court on Friday
"So, they're getting their just desserts, huh?" Paine mused. "About time if you ask me."
"Yeah. Those two made your life miserable for the stupidest reasons while trying look all nice and proper." Rikku scoffed.
"I'm thinking of going there." Neo said honestly.
The three stared at her.
"Okay, why? You don't owe them anything." Paine commented.
"I'm not going to defend them…I'm going to say goodbye." Neo said honestly and sighed. "Yeah, they made my life miserable. They kept me isolated, never let me out into the world and barely looked at me just because I wasn't 'normal'. Well, now that I have my own voice finally, I think I owe them this one time to speak to them with this voice and let them know exactly how I feel before I say goodbye to them forever."
"The prosecution calls Trivia Vanille to the stand."
Jimmy and Carmel looked shocked as the doors opened to reveal Neo herself, dressed in her Gullwing outfit(her normal one) with her hair in its pink and brown state. She strolled forward, not even looking her parents in the eye as she took the stand.
"State your name for the record please." The prosecutor requested.
"She can't speak! She's mute for Brother's sake!" Jimmy shouted, standing up, only to pushed back down by the guard behind him.
"Jimmy Vanille, you will remain silent or be held in contempt." The judge warned the former councilor harsly.
Neo leaned forward with a smile and opened her mouth. "Neopolitan."
Her parents looked flabbergasted while the prosecutor faced her. "I was under the impression that you are Trivia Vanille, daughter of Jimmy and Carmel Vanille."
"I discarded that name when I ran away, pretty much disowning those two." Neo answered calmly, sitting back in her seat. "So even if it's still officially my name, I don't use it."
"You have troubles with your parents…Miss Neo?" The prosecutor asked carefully.
"That would be an understatement. Neither of them were ever very good parents to me." Neo scoffed. "They kept me locked up in their house, barely paid any attention to me unless I did something they didn't like which was nearly all the time and kept going on and on about being normal even though how they acted was never normal, especially with hiding piles of Fire Dust under my bed."
"So, you knew about the Dust." The prosecutor clarified while Jimmy paled.
"Knew it? It's how I was able to run away in the first place. My sisters and I found it, took and sold a bunch to get enough money to sneak out and find somewhere else to live." Neo answered to which Jimmy and Carmel looked appalled at. "I never looked back, and I was honestly surprised they actually hired someone to track me down…Only to be sent to a boarding school to be trained into their attack dog. Then they had the nerve to sell me to a crime boss, not the one who is my godfather but the one who makes a living out of taking a bride one day and feeding her to his pet Grimm in the sewers the next day if she doesn't meet his standards in bed. All because I wasn't born normal to them, my hair, my eyes and the fact until now I couldn't talk because my vocal cords were damaged."
"THAT'S A LIE!" Jimmy stood up, shouting and pointing at his daughter. "YOU'VE BEEN KEEPING YOUR MOUTH SHUT, MOCKING YOUR MOTHER AND I FOR YEARS!"
"Have you ever heard me cry, Papa?" Neo retorted, rolling her eyes. "If I could talk, why didn't you ever hear my cries as a bawling little baby? You couldn't accept I was mute, a defect, a blight on your perfect image as a normal family. Funny what you consider normal, given your wife is a confirmed spy for a foreign kingdom and you sold out the kingdom you were supposed to be protecting to criminals. That's your idea of a perfectly, normal family?"
"You…" Jimmy snarled as he was forced to sit back down…his eyes starting to turn yellow. "I hate you! I hate that you do everything to spite us! I wish we'd left you on that spec of dirt and pretended you were never born!" Jimmy Vanille shouted as the black fog expanded. "I WISH YOU HAD BURNED IN THAT FIRE!"
The black fog exploded around him, engulfing his wife who let out one final scream that echoed in the courtroom as everyone else fled in terror.
What emerged from it was a giant snowman with a snowy white body with blue buttons on its abdomen. It had two blue heads, one shaped like a man while the other was shaped like a woman with yellow eyes, a red zigzag mouth and a carrot for a nose. It wore a cyan pail for a hat on both heads, with light brown antlers on either side of the pail.
Its gloves and scarf were dark pink, and its scarf had a yellow button. It also wore green ice skates with yellow laces. The blades of its ice skates were cyan. There was a heart shaped hole on its chest, symbolizing the loss of heart for the two being it once was.
Jimmy and Carmel Vanille had become a Heartless.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
This was heard from practically everyone in the courthouse as people rushed out of the seats, ran through the doors while screaming their very lungs out at sight of the monster that had taken the place of the two former members of Vale's elite. Luckily for them, however, the Heartless was not focused on them.
It was focused only one person.
Neo stared up with widened eyes, seeing her parents turning into a literal monster right before her very eyes. The two faces looked down at her, yellow eyes seemingly burning with hate as it raised one hand above and swung it down…
There was a flash of black light and the monster's first was stopped.
"Move, child!" Neo blinked, looking over her shoulder to see none other than Willow Schnee with her hand outstretched.
She had conjured a black glyph that had caught the monster's fist. Ansem stood up behind her, eyes narrowing at the sight of the Heartless standing before them.
"Abominable Snow Couple." The Schnee Patriarch muttered.
The Snow Couple Heartless, born from the hearts of two people who wanted to be the perfect picture of an elite, looking family but in truth both were abominable in their hearts, cold as ice to the child they were supposed to love, so their darkness took on a form that suited them perfectly. He looked to Neo who was still silently shocked over what had happened which he could not blame her for.
Still, they couldn't afford to be distracted.
He looked back as his wife charged the Abominable Snow Couple, revealing her rapier in hand and scored a hit on the Heartless. However, by nature Heartless were immune to almost all weapons except for one. Still, the Abominable Snow Couple tried to swat her away, but Willow easily evaded, glyphs appearing along the ground in front of her, allowing her to move fast and gracefully as if she was skating on ice. She moved behind the Snow Couple and delivered several strikes to its back.
The Snow Couple raised its leg, revealing its own skate blade and slashed at her, unleashing a wave of ice on her. Willow raised her sword as it flashed red, and a glyph appeared in front her. She let out a battle cry as she swung her sword, releasing a wave of fire that cancelled out the ice attack. Willow summoned another glyph underneath her that resembled a clock with the hands moving fast.
Her eyes flashed and suddenly she was shooting at the Snow Couple with speed too fast to be seen by the human eye. Glyphs appeared all around the Snow Couple as Willow slashed around its body, making contact with one glyph that launched her at the Heartless before she made contact with another glyph, repeating the process over and over again.
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
The Abominable Snow Couple leaned forward, seemingly groaning in pain as Willow landed in front of it. She made a gesture with her fingers as a new glyph appeared behind her, revealing a white gloating creature that resembled a Grimm.
A Boarbatusk to be precise.
It grew in size compared to that of a normal Boarbatusk before charging at the Snow Couple, curling itself up and spinning like a wheel and rolled at the Snow Couple, striking it head on and sending it crashing into the back wall of the room.
CRASH!
The Grimm summon vanished on impact, leaving white falling particles in its wake but the Heartless remained. It stood up, shaking the debris off and skid along the ground straight at Willow almost as fast as she had been with her time glyph.
CRASH!
Luckily, she could use said time glyph to get out of the way before the Snow Couple could hit her. She turned around to see the Snow Couple getting up from the hole in the wall they had made. Just as it was about to attack again, it paused suddenly, looking confused.
Willow raised an eyebrow, wondering what had happened.
Then there was a flash and the Heartless had been knocked down. Neo somersaulted through the air and landed next to Willow, holding a strange weapon in her hand. It was comprised of multiple scoops of ice cream stacked inside a clear bowl; four scoops in total colored bubblegum pink, creamy butterscotch, chocolate, strawberry pink and white and vanilla with sprinkles and the teeth were comprised of three orange slices. The hand guard was formed by two soft-serve ice cream cones on either side, connected by several metal ice cream scoopers.
The Keychain that hung from the hilt was made of ice cream cones with a sundae as the token.
Willow's eyes widened as she noticed something familiar about the weapon and then noticed something around Neo's neck.
Neo watched as the Abominable Snow Couple slowly stood up, staring at it with a frown. She clenched her new weapon tightly in one hand.
"Are you…going to fight?" Willow slowly asked.
"That's why I'm here, aren't I?" Neo dryly asked.
"Even though that thing is…was your parents?"
"…" Neo's features were hidden since her back was turned to Willow. "You love your kids right?"
Willow raised an eyebrow. "…Of course."
"When they were little, did you sing songs to them? Did you tell them every fairy tale you could think of? Did you comfort them when they had nightmares and let them sleep with you in your bed, holding you so the monsters wouldn't get them?" Neo asked as the Snow Couple stood back up.
"…Yes." Willow carefully answered with a nod.
"…Mine never did." Neo said simply as the Abominable Snow Couple approached, its feet making stomping sounds.
Willow raised both eyebrows but she had an understanding look on her face before she glared at the Heartless that used to be both of the girl's parents.
STOMP!
"They didn't care I had nightmares when I was little."
STOMP!
"They never read me a single story when I asked them. They thought fairy tales or even children's stories in general were just…meaningless trash cooked up by people with overactive imaginations."
STOMP!
"When they hugged me, it was more like I was something they owned, not their kid."
STOMP!
"All they ever gave me was meaningless junk to keep me from bothering them, never allowing me to go outside or to find any friends."
STOMP!
"They even hid Fire Dust under my bed, not caring at all that I was in danger." Neo looked up at the Abominable Snow Couple. "They may have made me…But they were never my parents."
The Snow Couple raised its hand to flatten them both, but Neo shattered and Willow dashed aside, using her time glyphs.
(Info: Defeat the Abominable Snow Couple)
(Kingdom Hearts OST A Fight To The Death Starts)
The Snow Couple turned its heads to see Neo running up its left arm, running straight for one of its heads. The Snow Couple tried to swat with its other hand but Neo shattered, confusing it. It looked up to see Neo swinging her Keyblade down on the female head.
"You locked me up, never letting me out unless it was to somehow benefit your image." Neo snarked.
She fell down its back, twisting her body and delivered several slashes before landing on her feet. The Snow Couple tried to stomp on her but she shattered again.
"You hated my Semblance just for fact you thought it wasn't normal." The Snow Couple turned its heads to see Neo standing several feet away, glaring at it. "Even though practically everyone has a Semblance. The two of you never had the brains to figure out what yours was."
The Snow Couple shot at her, using its ice skates to move as fast as a train.
However, a black glyph appeared in front of Neo, expanding until it was large enough to encompass the entire Heartless as it skidded right into the glyph.
"Funny, the lady of the family you were trying to suck up to has her own Semblance and I doubt you had the balls to call her a 'freak' or a 'witch'." Neo scoffed before she jumped up and delivered a slash right to the chest.
SLASH!
CRASH!
The Snow Couple crashed into the wall again as Neo landed on the ground. "By the way, Mama. I used to think about my Semblance 'Overactive Imagination' as you put it, but my sisters thought it was too on the nose, not to mention it would mean I actually agreed with you. Plus in hindsight, 'Overactive Imagination' is kind of lame."
The Snow Couple staggered back onto its feet.
"The name of my Semblance which I have used every day since you told me to stop using it is called 'Though the Looking Glass'." Neo smiled.
The Snow Couple let out a roar as it jumped up into the air, spinning its body and sending waves of ice down onto the combatants below. Willow used the Fire Dust in her sword to protect herself but Neo had no time to react as she ended up frozen head to toe.
As the Snow Couple fell to her, her mind continued to race, flashing with all the times her parents neglected.
'You forced your so-called rich diet on me, almost starving me. I was lucky enough my sisters snuck food to me so I could actually grow.'
The shadow of the monster engulfed her.
'You tracked me down after I ran away and just sent me to that school, saying it would teach me respect.'
Willow tried to help but the Snow Couple was falling too fast for her glyphs to repel.
'You just dumped a bunch of meaningless trinkets on me, just to keep me out of your hair.'
As the monster was almost on top of her.
'You never loved me and even if you did…'
Neo's form suddenly began to pulse.
'It was only for the sake of your image!'
Just as the Snow Couple was about to land on her, Neo's form exploded in a flash purple light. The Snow Couple was blasted up into the ceiling as the ice around Neo shattered. Willow's eyes widened as she watched Neo step out of the ice, a strange mask covering her face. It was a grey, metallic mask that covered her face, and two sets of horns sprouted from the back of her cranium and lower skull.
Her weapon had vanished while her arms and legs began to grow long and slender with her fingers growing into bone-like claws.
(Kingdom Hearts OST A Fight To The Death Ends)
(Kingdom Hearts OST Squirming Evil Starts)
As the Abominable Snow Couple fell back down, Neo looked up despite the mask covering her eyes. She suddenly shot up, delivering slash after slash to the monster that was once her parents.
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
Just as the Snow Couple was about to crash into the ground, Neo shot up over her, her mask vanishing while her Keyblade returned to her hands. She angled down and stabbed her Keyblade right into the monster's chest, stabbing right above the heart shaped hole.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Abominable Snow Couple's heads howled in pain.
(Kingdom Hearts OST Squirming Evil Ends)
Neo pushed her Keyblade deeper into the Couple's chest. 'There was once upon a time I did love you…And I think you did love me…I would have given anything to be given just a bit of that back.'
There was flash of light and the Abominable Snow Couple let out one final screen before its body began to dissolve.
'But you threw that all away just to play a big pretend game.' Neo landed on the ground and watched solemnly as the Heartless died. "You know, I didn't come here today to mock you…I came to say goodbye."
The Heartless managed to look at her with both faces.
"I figured now that I could finally speak, I owed you this one time, where I would speak and tell you exactly how I feel about how you treated me. Even if you somehow expected me to be grateful for the fact that you isolated me, locked me up, barely fed me, and cared more about your image as a family then actually being a family." Neo shook her head and turned away. "Not that you would ever admit you were ever wrong in the first place. But I guess it doesn't matter now. Goodbye, Mama and Papa. I did love you once upon a time."
Neo began walking away as the Abominable Snow Couple finally faded with two pink hearts rising up and vanishing into the air.
She was free now.
As far as she was concerned, Trivia Vanille left and never came back. Neopolitan was the only one left. With her parents gone, she didn't have anything or anyone to run away from anymore. As she stepped out of the courthouse, she could hear the sirens in the distance. She easily blended into the crowd and vanished from sight.
The door opened and Neo saw her sisters and Roman waiting for her, the TV on and showing the demolished courthouse.
"Neo, hey." Roman stood up. "You're okay."
Neo nodded as she closed the door behind her.
"What happened?" Yuna asked.
Neo sat down and slowly explained what had happened and what she had to do. She looked at her sisters for an explanation.
"Sounds like they turned into a Heartless." Yuna finally said.
"And what is a Heartless?" Roman asked.
"Creatures aligned with Darkness, literal and physical manifestations of the darkness within people's hearts and they appear when someone loses their Heart." Paine explained. "And by Heart, I don't mean the organ. I mean, the essence of a person that makes them unique. Neo's parents gave into the darkness and so they became a Heartless."
"Okay, I'm following so far. You're saying they turned into a monster, basically." Roman remarked. "A sort of lingering spirit when someone dies."
"Basically." Rikku shrugged.
"Not exactly but it's understandable you'd think that, Roman." Paine shrugged. "The bottom line, Neo's parents turned into a Heartless because they gave into the darkness of their hearts and that means everything bad about them was amplified a dozen times."
"So, it's important you keep your ego in check about certain things, Roman." Yuna remarked with a small smile. "And not to lose your temper so much."
"I see…Well, there's no need to fret about that, girls. I'm as cool as they come." Roman remarked, a hand his chest. "But what about Neo's weapon that she used."
"It's called a Keyblade." Yuna answered.
"Key…blade." Roman softly echoed.
"It may sound strange, Roman but the Keyblade happens to be the mightiest weapon you can imagine. They are very rare, and we only know a handful of people who have ever used them." Rikku continued, leaning back on the couch.
"So, what makes them so special?" Roman asked, skeptically.
"Well, from what we know, the Keyblades are aligned with either Light or Darkness and each Keyblade shows what kind of heart they are attuned to." Yuna pointed at Neo. "Your Keyblade, Neo, is called Sweetstack. Doesn't look like a Keyblade aligned with Darkness."
Neo raised an eyebrow. "So, I'm a goodie person? Because I might have to chat with whoever set this system up."
"Light and Darkness doesn't mean good or bad, Neo." Yuna replied. "Look at us. We don't like the Darkness but even if we use the Light, we're not…you know…"
"Goodie, goodie, Huntsmen." Roman offered.
"Yeah, that." Yuna nodded with a smile. "And a Keyblade can only be used by someone with a strong Heart. Well, we're not surprised that Neo has one. You endured years of your parents' abuse, and you found the strength to leave them and then stand up to them. They on the other hand, had no strength in keeping themselves from succumbing to darkness. It's also another thing to note: Heartless fear the Keyblade."
"Fear it?" Roman asked.
"Only a strong heart can slay a Heartless and the Keyblade allows them to do just that." Yuna explained. "That's how Neo took down the Heartless at the courthouse."
That's right.
Neo killed the monster…that used to be her parents.
Roman paused. "You all right, Neo?"
Instead of answering with her voice, Neo simply shrugged. She didn't know if she was all right, even if she felt free now. Mama and Papa became a monster because of their ambition, the only thing they had truly cared for.
And had been killed by their own daughter.
"You know, I lost my parents when I was younger than you and I turned out okay." Roman said lightly.
Paine shook her head as Yuna and Rikku approached Neo…
And hugged her tightly.
"It's okay, Neo." Yuna whispered in her little sister's ear. "You didn't kill them. You just…set them free. That makes you better than they ever were."
Neo hugged her sisters back.
Paine stepped up and walked over, sharing in the hug between sisters while Roman watched on.
Paine caught a lock of Neo's hair. "Nice new look."
Neo saw the lock, seeing it had turned white.
Why would she have done with her Semblance?
Paine dropped it and continued hugging her. "We're here for you, sis. We're here."
Neo closed her eyes and basked in the warmth her sisters offered her. Even if she wasn't fine now, she knew she would be.
As long as she was with her sisters, her new family, she would be okay.
She was not Trivia Vanille anymore.
She was Neopolitan, a member of the Gullwings, the greatest treasure hunters on Remnant, partner to Roman Torchwick.
Nothing else mattered.