Eclipse - Act 4 - Cycle's End

Chapter 17 - Round 2

Neo

She was sitting on the sofa, one leg resting on the arm of the couch, kicking it back and forth absentmindedly, staring up at the ceiling. She was alone for now, only with her hallucinations to keep her company. She huffed, rolling her eyes out of boredom. The Pink Haired Neo suddenly appeared on the floor underneath her.

"I'm booooored." She groaned, making Neo roll her eyes. "Can't we go kill something?"

"Stop it. We gotta be good for now. Can't get Little Red if we start causing trouble now, can we?" Roman asked her, standing beside the sofa, leant against the back and gently touching Neo's arm. She smiled, but couldn't feel the warmth of his hand like she remembered so fondly, oh how she missed him.

But then a dark chuckle emerged from the corner, getting her attention. "Oh, crap... not him..." Roman actually sounded afraid when he saw the dark silhouette stood in the darkness, his head hanging down with his hat hiding his face. Neo turned and rolled around, not facing that dark corner which watched her. Roman walked around and sat down on the edge of the chair, protective of his cherished little Neo.

The Pink Haired Girl, on the other hand, rolled around and sat upright, crossing her legs together and resting her arms on her knees. "Hey creep, get the hell out of her head, why don'tcha? This is a place for those who actually care about her... not a monster like you." She hissed.

He remained silent, but did not leave, until he chuckled once again, lifting his head slightly, revealing his blood-red eyes. "Oh... I'm a monster am I?" He asked, his voice terrifyingly familiar to her, and to many... Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long most of all. He did not move as he stared at her, but Roman tightened his grip on Melodic Cudgel, never breaking his glare. "Well, I guess it takes one to know one, doesn't it? Trivia Vanille?" asked Jackdaw Branwen.

He emerged from the shadows, taking off his top hat and bowing theatrically to her, a mad grin carved across his face.

"Gods I hate him." The Pink Haired Girl sighed, rolling her eyes.

"And yet here I stand." Jackdaw said, flipping the hat around and putting it back on his head with little effort. He held his metal arms behind his back as he approached her, walking around the Deacon's Office. "Fine threads this Deacon has... and he clearly has taken some inspiration from me, hasn't he?" He said, touching the cybernetic forearms. "Grave Dust Printers in his arms, the whole nine yards. Of course, I never needed a mask to get by... merely a coward's way."

"Say what you're gonna say and leave her alone." Roman demanded.

"Y'know, Trivia, how long are you gonna hide behind these illusions? You know that the two of us aren't really here, right? We're both looooong dead... and this one? Your cherished Imaginary Friend given life? Well... that might just be the saddest one of them all. You're alone... filling your life with nothing but violence." Jackdaw said, walking back and forth, forming his bladed feathers from his arms, letting the light reflect off their sharpened edges.

Neo refused to face the shadow from her past, but he also refused to leave her. "How long will you keep on killing people and claim it is justice? You slaughtered so many men and women because you believed it was honouring your dead lover?" He mocked.

"So did you." Roman replied harshly.

"True... I did... and then I took the blame for a murder which wasn't even my own... because I never would've harmed a hair on Summer's head... for she was my best friend." Jackdaw stated, clenching his hand into a fist. It was clear that she had been thinking about Jackdaw a lot recently, perhaps even more considering all the people she had been killing.

Jackdaw walked around the large sofa, and stood behind the back of it, staring down at Neo, who was pressing her face into a cushion, trying to push him out. "I saw it in you when I found the two of you little runts all those years ago... my legacy. You can ignore me as much as you want... but you do not differ from me, Trivia. You and I are both wild killers... and nothing you can do will ever change that." He whispered directly into her ear.