Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Meeting Roman~.

— P.O.V Neo —

As I looked down to my unconscious and still slightly shivering sister cradled in my arms, I could only hold her tighter in worry.

 

‘That was very dumb of you, Neo! Damn it! I knew she was having problems being near people, but I still pushed her. To a damn city no less…’

 

I raised a hand and lightly caressed her cheeks to wipe away the black tears with my thumb.

 

‘She has changed so much because of those damned pools, but she is still my sister. And I almost lost her again because of my haste. FUCK!’

 

As I watched the black cracks that had appeared to spread out of the corner of her eyes slowly “mend” and recede, I could only berate myself. Noticing the glow that was now constantly around my sister was also calming down from a wildly shifting rainbow to a dull grey, I released a deep sigh.

 

I just sat there hugging my sister for dear life for several minutes. All the while I was raging at myself in my head for such a… fuck up. Tears started to slowly drip from my eyes as it sunk in.

 

‘I can’t lose you, Neo. I can’t. It would break me as much I know it would break you. I am so, so sorry.’

 

Rubbing the tears away with the sleeve of my shirt, I reached into my pocket to get my scroll out. Trying very hard not to disturb my sister, even though it was painfully clear she would be knocked out for a while, I sent a text message to Roman.

 

Neo: ~Roman, I need you to come to the outskirts of the city. It’s important.~

 

Setting my scroll down, I got myself in a much more comfortable position near a tree as I rested against it. While I was carefully moving my sister to rest her head on my lap, my scroll pinged.

 

Using my Semblance to lightly throw my scroll to me, I opened it up and as expected it was Roman.

 

Roman: ~I need a bit more than that for directions, Neo.~

 

Rolling my eyes at my own forgetfulness, I responded with a tiny bit of irritation.

 

Neo: ~North, a bit into the tree line. My sister is very hurt, and we can’t enter the city. It’s bad Roman, really bad.~

 

Roman: ~Shit. Alright, I’ll be there in a few minutes. What happened?~

 

I then went on to explain what happened to us while we were patrolling that bitch’s land. Even now I am still surprised we actually ran into some hunters. No one ever goes to the dark lands but Salem's lackeys, no one.

 

I waited patiently, if not with a bit of trepidation, after I was done explaining what happened for Roman to respond. I trusted him a lot, but this was a lot to take in. As much as it would hurt me if he abandoned us, I would understand.

 

‘Not that I would forgive-’

 

A ping interrupted my dark thought, and I hurriedly read the message.

 

Roman: ~Well. Fuck. Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can. I was going to bring some goons, but it sounds like the less people around her right now, the better.~

 

A small smile made its way onto my face at his reply. Still though, I’ll be cautious when he arrives. He might be understanding right now, but that can very well change when he sees her for real, and feels the aura she projects.

 

At that thought I look down at my sister, who is now calmly sleeping as it seems in my arms. My eyes trail down her new form to the parts that are touching the ground. You have to really look closely, but if you do you can see her new barrier shimmering ever so slightly as the grass tries to touch her.

 

‘I don’t know why none of your new powers work on or against me, Neo, but I am glad. Never feeling the warmth of your hand in mine would be a tragedy.’

 

Her new abilities were a complete mystery to me. Naturally, she had the expected Grimm “powers” but these barriers she can now form are just weird. They are clearly not a Semblance, nor is this glow around here Aura. After all…

 

‘Grimm are known to be soulless…’

 

I leaned down and kissed my sister's forehead.

 

‘Even if you are soulless, you’re still my sister Neo. I wasn’t lying when I said I would become a monster to stay with you. If you truly lost your soul, and I have to lose mine to stay with you… then so be it.’

 

Another ping from my scroll broke me from my thoughts.

 

Roman: ~I am near the tree line now. Turn on the tracker on Hush we had installed, but only for a few seconds. That’s all I’ll need.~

 

Putting my scroll down and reaching for my weapon that was laying beside us, I pushed a button that was near the curve of the handle. Counting to 5, I pushed it again to turn off the beacon.

 

About five minutes later, I heard some rustling in the brush before Roman stumbled out and into the small clearing we were in. He looked at me, and then down at my sister in shock.

 

(Source: https://rwby.fandom.com/wiki/Roman_Torchwick)

 

Roman: “Well, fuck. That is… wow. Yeah, the feeling she gives off is crazy Neo.”

 

He frowned a bit while tilting his head to the side.

 

Roman: “It’s… unnatural. More so than when a regular Grimm is near. Unsettling is another word I would use. But, I don’t feel the need to attack her like those others did as you described. But, I can understand why they would.”

 

I nodded my head at that as he approached us. When he was standing over us, I won’t lie I was worried he might still try to attack her. Though, if the barrier that is around her is anything like the one she can create he’d have no hope in hurting her.

 

Noticing my tense mood, he shook his head and squatted down so he was eye level with me.

 

Roman: “Relax Neo. I am not going to attack either of you. We’ve known each other for how long now? Sure, Neopolitan is… different. But she, by your word, is still herself. So I see no reason to attack. I’m not a hunter after all.”

 

I nodded my head as I relaxed, looked down at my sister, and ran my hand through her now black and greyish white hair.

 

‘I’ll miss how we used to look exactly alike. It was a pride we both shared.’

 

Hearing Roman sigh, I looked up at him with my head tilted.

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Roman: “We clearly can’t bring her into the city. The emotions of all the people would destroy her by the sounds of it. So, we’ll need to go to one of my bases that’s out of the way. We should just treat this like a new Semblance. Slowly get her used to sensing emotions and have her gain mastery over it.”

 

I nodded my head in agreement. My sister needs to control her new abilities, and not just her empathic part.

 

‘You have changed so much, Sis. And not just in terms of looks. You are no longer the “helpless Neo version” you liked to joke about. I just wish your increase in power didn’t have such a steep cost…’

 

Using my Semblance to create some words floating in the air I asked Roman if he had an area already.

 

Roman: “I do, yeah. It’s one of the bases we used a few years back. It’s all but forgotten, and may need to be cleaned up some. But it should work fine all the same.”

 

He sighed, and fell on his butt while he took off his hat to scratch his head a few times.

 

Roman: “As you know that other agent of Salem’s, Cinder, has us stealing Dust for some reason or another. We have a heist planned for tonight, and I was going to ask you two to help, but… well. Fuck. Speaking of Salem, does she know?”

 

Neo: ~She shouldn’t. But, we were in her land when this happened. And it’s just as likely she was able to see what happened through one of her Grimm.~

 

He sighed again and leaned back on his arms to look at the sky.

 

Roman: “Those two scare the fuck out of me, Neo. I don’t know how the two of you got chained to them, but it's very likely that chain will get you killed one day.”

 

I nodded my head as I replied, ~Yes, on that we agree. My sister and I were planning to leave her “employ” one day, but well… this happened. So, now is as good as a time as any.~

 

Roman nodded his head at that, while he stood up and dusted himself off.

 

Roman: “Good. I was worried you trusted them, even a bit.”

 

I shook my head in total denial.

 

Neo: ~No, never. While I could get along with Cinder, she is a total fanatic for Salem.~

 

Roman: “Gotcha. Alright, let’s head back to your bullhead, and then to the hideout you two will be using. Think sleeping beauty will wake up anytime soon?”

 

I shrugged my shoulders before I picked up my sister in the legendary princess carry. A small smile appears on my lips as I remember how she used to blush lightly whenever I held her like this.

 

As I started to lead us back to the bullhead, Roman spoke up.

 

Roman: “The silver lining to this horrible event is that when, and that’s a when not an if, she gets used to all the changes that happened to her she'll come out of this stronger. The not so hidden look of worry and disappointment on her face whenever you had to leave on a combat mission solo tugged at my heartstrings. I can only imagine how the two of you felt.”

 

I nodded my head at that.

 

Neo: ~Yea, she hated being so weak. She would always blame herself whenever I came back with some wounds. And I hated myself for causing such worry to her. But she is likely much stronger than I am now. But the cost of her new power was steep…. Maybe too steep.~

 

Roman: “Maybe. But I know you two were more than alike in just looks. She’ll pull through.”

 

Neo: ~I really hope so.~

 

After that, he went silent as we continued our walk through the dense forest. Sometime later we had finally reached the bullhead, but there was an unexpected surprise waiting for us near the door of the vehicle.

 

As we came to a stop, Roman spoke softly as he tensed up a bit.

 

Roman: “What’s a Beowolf doing chilling around your bullhead? They don’t normally stick around like this do they?”

 

I shook my head and narrowed my eyes while looking at the creature.

 

‘Maybe that is the one we gave pets too?’

 

To me, all the Grimm pretty much looked the same if they were part of the same subspecies. But, it was most certainly not normal for a Grimm to be laying down and “sleeping” next to a bullhead. As far as I knew Grimm never slept and were always on the move, hunting for the next Human or Faunus.

 

I was about to tell Roman to get ready to kill it if it acted up when we approached, but it suddenly raised its head and looked directly at us. The three of us just stared at each other for several seconds before it huffed and stood up. It gave us one last look, before it howled and ran off somewhere.

 

Roman: “So, that happened.”

 

Neo: ~Yea… Whatever, let’s get going. I want to put Neo in a comfy bed already.~

 

Roman: “You got it. There should be a bed at the hideout we’re going to…”

 

I turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised accusingly. He had the decency to smile slyly at my stare.

 

Roman: “Like I said, it’s been abandoned for several years, Neo. But, if there isn’t a bed for Neopolitan there, I swear I’ll get one okay? Please stop giving me that look.”

 

I kept my stare on him for a few seconds to make him sweat, before I smiled brightly at him and went over to the bullhead. As I used my Semblance to open the door I heard Roman mumble to himself.

 

Roman: “Good to see this didn’t change her. Hope the same could be said for Neopolitan…”

 

As I got in the bullhead and sat down in the back, I set my sister's head back down onto my lap.

 

‘She’s changed, but she’s still my sister at her core. I still feel the love she has for me over our link. If anything, it’s only gotten stronger.’

 

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall of the bullhead while running my fingers through her hair. Moments later, it started up and we were off to wherever Roman's hideout was.