It was dark.
Trivia couldn't see anything, much less hear something other than the tearing of her silent cry.
She was alone and scared, feeling as if she had a bunch of grotesque things wrapped around her body that prevented her from moving.
She hated this; this feeling of imprisonment that came right after her parents' rejection and punishment.
A pattern that repeated itself like an endless cycle.
Why?
She couldn't understand.
Why did they do this to her?
Just because she wasn't like the other kids?
It wasn't her fault she was born like this.
Unfortunately, the looks of disappointment her parents got every time they looked at her said otherwise.
To them, where all that mattered was keeping their family's reputation intact, Trivia was to blame...for being defective; a permanent blemish that couldn't be removed, but that they pretended didn't exist most of the time.
Trivia wished she could escape from it all...to a place where she would never be forced to be alone crying in the dark again.
Something that only existed in her most incredible fantasies.
Then, as if in an answer to her deepest and most desperate wish, something changed.
Someone who accepted her just the way she was, wasn't ashamed or considered her defective, and could create light; a very beautiful and colorful one, just like the ice cream she loved to eat on the sly, appeared to give her a semblance of happiness she had long coveted.
That was Neopolitan.
For the first time, Trivia had a friend with whom she could play and smile, even when nothing else had changed, and lose herself in her Overactive Imagination.
Just what Trivia wanted most in this world.
A pity that the same couldn't be said for her parents.
After all, she was becoming more and more undisciplined in following Neopolitan; something very different from the little puppet they wanted to have.
Only, Trivia didn't care for what they wanted, because they didn't care about her either.
At least, that's what she came to believe after a while.
Then, before she knew it, more and more Neopolitan became all she needed.
Reputation, money, and...family, the things that made her parents the way they were, had no meaning in her little eyes.
Yes, Trivia had another dream in mind, a very simple and trivial one of being accepted, free, and recognized as a person.
If her supposed family was unable to give her that, then Trivia would follow Neopolitan, no matter what.
So she did... until Neopolitan was destroyed by her mother in a moment of rage fueled by her constant indiscipline.
Her only friend, someone she could truly call family and her only source of light in the midst of this nightmare had ceased to exist.
Except that, in the midst of the despair that consumed her, Trivia discovered that something inside her had also broken.
Or rather, it had broken free.
Neopolitan hadn't disappeared, she still existed within her.
Later, Trivia discovered that this imaginary friend was much more than that; that Neopolitan was actually a physical manifestation of all her deepest desires.
Her ideal self.
Yet even as she discovered herself, one thing remained unchanged.
Her loneliness.
Even when surrounded by people, Trivia felt alone and isolated, with the feeling of not belonging always present.
Which explained why she always returned home, even when she didn't want to.
While Trivia longed for freedom, without having a goal or someone by her side to follow, she had nothing.
Yes, Trivia...or rather Neo, just didn't want to be alone anymore.
Then there was Roman, someone wild who didn't give a damn about the rules and was just like Neopolitan, but with a difference.
He was real.
The freedom he offered her wasn't absolute, but it was much more than she ever had in the Vanille mansion.
Sure, he was trying to use her, but it didn't matter because she was also doing the same with him; to have what she wanted most.
Someone who saw value in her, accepted her just the way she was, and praised her efforts, no matter how small.
That was all she wanted and needed.
Reason why Neo couldn't afford to lose Roman. Because, without him, she would have nothing left now that her family was dead.
The result of her inconsequential choices and actions.
Yes, that's right.
She understands now.
The adoration that Trivia had, either for Neopolitan or for Roman, to the point that she found herself unable to live without them, came from the fear of ending up rejected by everyone else in this world, alone and empty again.
Even more so now that she was a criminal, destined to be locked up in a small, dark room just like the one where she had spent most of her childhood.
That in case death didn't come to her first.
It wasn't for nothing that she was so obsessed with taking revenge against someone who might as well be a god; for the slightest chance she had of saving Roman from his condition and at the same time having an impossible goal that would keep her moving forward even alone.
But then what?
Trivia hadn't thought about that.
About certain outcomes.
What else would she do if she didn't end up dead in this quest for revenge?
Especially if Roman never woke up again?
Merely cogitating on that made the fear of uncertainty that loneliness represented force her back to reality.
Or plunge her into a nightmare for good, if these white snakes coiled around her body, hissing close to her face as they stared at her with their golden eyes, meant that much.
But, as incredible as it may seem, none of that mattered when compared to where she was and with whom.
Once again, Uchiha Sasuke stood before her. The difference, however, would be the frightening fact that he was awake.
Knowing this made her heart sink and her body begins to tremble.
It was the end.
Just like what he did with those Grimm, she would be killed in an instant like an insect.
Neo didn't even have to worry about being Trivia again because she would be even less than that soon; nothing but a corpse.
Yes, in death she would be nothing, and perhaps it was for the best.
That way, she would never have to feel that despair again.
At least, that's what she wanted to believe.
The truth, however, couldn't be more different.
Her mismatched colorful eyes filled with water as long-forgotten fear took over.
Because, deep down, she didn't want to die, even more so like this, without being able to fight back.
Neo didn't want to be the small, weak Trivia Vanille in her final moments.
Simple as that.
Except, she lacked the determination to fight.
Neo didn't have enough hatred, only fear.
In the midst of this despair that made her eyes water with tears, the second time in Sasuke's presence, Neo eventually noticed the presence of another person in this room; someone she would recognize anywhere.
The doctor who was supposed to be taking care of Roman!
Her body shuddered for a different reason, as she remembered something that should have been more than obvious.
These two knew each other!
Otherwise, how could this old man know so much about Sasuke when no one else did?!
Neo was so blinded by her revenge that she didn't even stop to think about it!
That damned old man must be eating out of Sasuke's hand and told him everything!
What about Roman then?!
Suddenly, the thought of this bastard being there to get rid of a loose end made her frightened heart inflate with what she needed most:
Hate born out of despair.
Neo couldn't let Roman be executed!
That if he wasn't already dead, and the mere thought of the possibility was what made Neo have her teeth sink into the flesh of one of these things wrapped around her body to feel the grotesque taste of blood filling her mouth.
This was the last chance Neo had to attack Sasuke while he was still distracted!
Reacting accordingly, her Aura flashed over her body as her fear and anger grew to help her kill more of these things.
Unfortunately, her actions were anything but subtle and didn't go unnoticed.
That damned doctor noticed and warned his master immediately, just like the fucking puppy he was!
It wasn't long before Neo found herself facing Uchiha Sasuke once more, but this time was very different from the first.
No one there was smiling.
Except, their eyes still shared the same mutual feeling.
Hatred.
A second after this god of death instructed his puppy to take care of that bitch Winter who was still alive, the scene changed completely in less than a blink of an eye and Neo felt pain as she hit the rooftop of an unknown building. Soon after, the snakes that were holding her down, even the ones she believed she had killed by tearing off pieces with her teeth, loosened to let her move freely again.
A minimal demonstration of power and of how much Uchiha Sasuke disregarded her as a threat.
Even more troubling than that was seeing these snakes become one in the middle of the way, a much larger one, before climbing up Sasuke's half-naked, bloodied body and lingering there, hissing beside his face where now two pairs of eyes were glowing at her.
Such an unreal change only served to confirm what a monster this boy really was.
Yes, perhaps Neo was nothing more than food for this snake-like freak if that bastard so decided.
The mere thought of such a fate that went beyond sadism made Neo shiver again, knowing that she alone could do nothing.
"What's wrong?" Sasuke made this girl take a step back from just hearing his voice; her instincts screaming danger, just as it should be. "Where did all that hatred from before go?" he made his snake disappear into a subtle cloud of white smoke before deciding to move closer, only for this girl to become even more frightened and retreat accordingly. "Hmph, and to think it was a scaredy cat like you who left Winter in that state."
Through his eyes, he knew that this resentful girl was relatively strong for the standard of this world, but she should still be vastly inferior to Winter in almost everything.
In that case, the result of that fight should have been the opposite of what happened.
Under normal circumstances, at least.
Not only was Sasuke unaware of this girl's Semblance, but Winter also had to fight while putting her life at risk by protecting someone else.
Even with that disadvantage, other than fighting to save rather than kill, Winter emerged victorious and did a number on this girl in the process, if her haggard and bloodied state meant that much.
Really, Winter Schnee was quite a woman, just like Weiss, and Sasuke found himself questioning whether he was worthy of her or any of the other girls he had met since coming into this world, much less all of them.
A possibility that a version of him, untouched by hatred, brought up in that dream to stir him deeply.
As for Neo, she had her emotions on edge from being put up against a wall like that, retreating as death approached her step by step.
The weight might be different, but this felt awfully familiar, and not in a good way; for she was scared again like a helpless little girl...
Always alone and weak.
Neo hated this!
Clenching her fists until they turned white, her Aura pulsed through her body to transform her into her true appearance long since abandoned.
That gained Sasuke's attention; this unexpected change.
The fact that things never change!
Blood fell from her fight-wounded lips from before that she clenched between her teeth in anger, soon being healed by a sudden wave of power that pulsed like a living heart full of pain to manifest Roman's form over her.
Sasuke had his eyes wide open and stopped in his tracks completely, realization hitting him with answers to many of his questions.
Because she was still so pathetic!
Power fueled by the uncertainty that took the form of her mother, someone she had once loved and believed loved her even if very little.
Only as Trivia had always been!
Her fear looked like her father who was nothing but her greatest trauma; the reason she became this way, always going after those who were weaker to have the same power he had over her.
Neo wanted to scream to the heavens but even that she couldn't do!
The rage that made her become the very god before her; someone that threatened to take what little she still had in this cursed world.
Neo had enough of all this!
Her Aura waved over her body one last time along with her Semblance to reveal her appearance as Neopolitan, her ideal self, before spreading around her to manifest the deepest desire of her soul!
Sasuke could only watch in silence as seven exact copies of this girl manifested around her, not knowing what else to do.
This girl who just went through a turbulence of emotions and became stronger because of it, almost as if she were an Uchiha, to the point that Sasuke could feel everything and sympathize to some extent, knew that thief in white that he killed along with that woman in red.
Neo, he remembers hearing this name in that man's last breath and couldn't help but have a solemn look on his face as he focused on this girl. It's not for nothing that she hates me so much...
Just as it was with him for most of his life, revenge was what motivated this girl even with all the odds being against her.
Fuck... Sasuke wasn't one to curse like that; his mother had raised him better than this. Still, he couldn't help but do it again. Fuck!
Anger was there to justify such a reaction along with the hypocrisy of his response and actions.
Because, in his eyes, Itachi was the only person truly deserving of the title of Hokage; someone whose only flaw was to let his feelings get the better of him and spare his little brother's life, thus allowing the hatred to spread.
Even knowing this, there he was, feeding the cycle of hatred in another world.
What now? Was the question that wouldn't shut up in his mind troubled by this revelation. Do I kill her too?
That was the initial plan; his revenge for what she had done to Winter.
Torture, break, and then kill.
A very Uchiha way of doing things.
But now, Sasuke didn't want to do that anymore; he couldn't, for more reasons than he could say.
And even if he ignored everything that was holding him back and decided to go through with his initial plans, what would happen next? Who would come to him seeking revenge for her?
Would Sasuke keep killing until there was no one left?
What kind of peace would that be?
That was if the act of committing genocide could be remotely described as such.
In my place, what would Naruto do? He couldn't help but think of that optimistic friend of his and remember the time they met after he got rid of that Danzou trash when Sasuke was at his worst. He would accept the hatred of his enemy...or friend, in our case. Something similar to what he intended to do to his own world, but different; either in scale or in the intent behind the act. And to think that the day would come when I would seek a solution amidst the irritating nonsense of that loser.
Things really have changed.
Yes, I'm not the same anymore, Sasuke recognized and accepted that, amazingly enough, or this girl would be being reduced to nothing by black flames at this point by now. Except, I'll deal with her hatred in my own way.
Be it for better or worse.
As for Neo, she was reveling in her power and what she could do now.
Even her weapon, which must have been left at Beacon or was with this bastard, materialized in her hands with a mere thought and in a way that didn't remind her of her fragile illusions at all.
It was solid; almost real, just like these copies of her!
Her Semblance evolved on a completely different level!
A phenomenon so rare that it was considered a myth!
Neo just made history and suddenly everything seemed possible!
Only... this demonstration of power didn't achieve the desired effect.
Quite the opposite, where the momentary shock didn't last, and what Sasuke had to say to her almost made her confidence crumble just like her fragile illusions from before.
The truth tended to have that kind of devastating effect.
"Copies of yourself?" Sasuke couldn't help but smile a little because of the irony before him; someone who was walking his path of vengeance and had a similar ability to that of Naruto. In that case, what other characteristics does she share with us? There was a very striking one in mind and Sasuke changed his expression completely, turning serious. "Let me guess," he disappeared and in the next second he was face to face with this girl, much to her dismay, "it's a Semblance that only covers up your loneliness?"
Harsh words he intended to use against Naruto, certain that it would provide him with an opening during his fight with him, but that seemed appropriate for this occasion as well.
To confirm something he felt coming from this girl, but which he preferred to ignore until now.
As expected, she is just like us, Sasuke defined based on her reaction, and that helped in the decision he made by focusing on these mismatched eyes that reminded him of his own and overflowed with emotion; with sadness. You're not going to die today, Neo.
Quite the contrary.
On this day, Sasuke would change her life completely.
Yeah, that's right.
Destroy to Rebuild.
Just the way his revolution should be.
I usually avoid answering reviewers because I don't like discussions, even though I've started some on my own in the past, or faking the length of the fic. Like, it says there are over 220000 words written and I like to think that 200000 of that is really just the content of the fic and around 20000 words are my author notes. However, there are fics where the author spends half the chapter answering questions and arguing with reviewers, making that out of 200000 words, almost half of what was written, become...irrelevant and disappointing to the vast majority who are just there to read and expected much more than what was promised.
That aside, I want to address the same issue I've talked about before, several times, but more in-depth.
The pacing of this fic.
First of all, my writing style. Over time, after writing and reading a lot, people define their own taste. I, for example, hate to see things like: he said, she replied, he smiled, she snorted, he scoffed, she cried... Like, what the hell? That's empty and lazy writing, which I get angry to see.
What are the characters thinking? What is their opinion? Why are they acting the way they are?
That's why I focus so much on characters, but unfortunately, that's not easy to do and it leads to a slower pace of progress, but my writing style isn't the only reason.
Free time.
I work all day and only have a few free hours, many of which I spend on other tasks that living alone brings, so I only write what I can when I can, more on weekends (which is why I'm making this note today, a Saturday, in the first place).
Like, to give you an idea, I have dozens of games bought that I want to play but can't because I know it'll take my attention away from what matters(Elden Ring did that) and screw with my schedule.
It sucks.
Another reason for fic being slow like this is just regret. For those who don't remember or don't know, this fic is a new version, completely different I must say, of one I wrote before: Eyes that Reflect the Soul.
In that other version, the fic progressed much faster than this one, but even so, the gods who only read and complain were not satisfied and wanted more, as always. I, like a good little fool, decided to comply with their demands and threw away about twenty pages of notes and planning by rushing the plot and basically destroying the fic I had put so much effort into writing; a lot of effort, as it was the first time I had tried to write in another language.
For that reason, I promised myself that I would never do this idiotic thing of trying to please other people again.
In short, the fic is slow, almost stopping?
So what?
I already said that I was going to write what I want, at my pace, and I intend to keep that up until the end.
It's not my fault that you guys don't read my notes, forgot what I said, or chose to ignore my words.
Destroy to Rebuild is not even halfway done and I will finish this fic, following my pace, no matter how long that takes to happen.
To all who are patient and review without pressuring me, I thank you.
That's all, so as always, don't forget to review, and if you want to support me and read ahead take a look at my P t r & on (slash) Bertoti
The next one will be out by the end of the month.
Until then.