Neo was standing in a room he had just entered, a girl with long brown hair to the middle of her back and a pale complexion sitting on a white bed lit by a soft orange light. He shut the door behind him, smiling at her as he slipped a bag off of his shoulder and dropped it to the ground. She stood, shorter than him in height but grinning up at him all the same. Coming forward, she pressed her hands against his chest and leaned on him, looking into his red eyes.
"Hey, Fleur," He said quietly, wrapping his arms around her loosely and rocking side to side slightly.
"Neo," She murmured. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too," He answered, looking deep into her green eyes. She was beautiful to him - perfect in every way possible.
They stared into each other's eyes for a long time, wrapped in a soft blanket of endless love until she spoke. "I want to kiss you."
"You know you can't, Fleur," He chuckled softly.
"I can't resist you, Neo," She said, looking deep into his gaze. "I want to touch your skin. I want to feel your lips against mine."
"Fleur…"
He suddenly found himself leaning in, some sort of magnetic force pulling him towards her. The worst part was she was coming closer as well. Alas, he let go of her, pushing past her with a sigh. She turned, saying his name softly, and he looked at her with a sad expression on his face.
"How can we do this?" He asked desperately. "I love you, but… We can't do this. We're only tormenting each other with this relationship."
"I don't care," She replied, walking briskly towards him and hugging him tightly. "I love you - even if I can't touch you, ever, I'll always love you, Neo."
He wrapped his arms around her again, sighing, but she disappeared in a puff of black smoke. He twitched, looking down at his hands as blood pooled from the creases. The room slowly disappeared and everything turned black. A gunshot rang through his mind, a yell as he saw himself grabbing a man and snapping his neck.
His vision turned back to the one he knew as Fleur, except he saw he was holding her in his lap. Water was at his feet, black and shapeless. Her stomach was bleeding, a bullet wound through her skin. Suddenly, he was the Neo holding her. She was looking in his eyes desperately, in pain.
"Fleur…"
"Nathan," She murmured with the last of her breath, the scenes of them together flying around like television screens. Sitting on a roof in front of a sunset with her head on his shoulder, watching the stars in a dingy backyard, driving downtown while laughing at ridiculous billboards, riding a bus as he held a handle above and she used his arm. They started to blur together.
"Kiss me."
Her last words rang through his ears, and with tears in his gaze, he leaned down against his dying lover, and placed his lips against hers. Her life was taken quickly, her skin turning black as he sucked away her last few heartbeats. It was her last wish, but guilt still dug its cold claws in his back.
"Murderer."
He opened his eyes, standing in the middle of the water. It was rising to his ankles, knees, waist.
"Murderer."
Someone was talking, faintly, as he tried to pull away from the black liquid.
"Murderer."
Abdomen, shoulders, chin.
"Murderer!"
Pain spiked in his back, like something lashing across, and screamed before the water filled his mouth.
(¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.-> 🖋 <-.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯)
Neo jolted awake as he suddenly felt weightless, only to feel the couch and catch himself in confusion. He struggled for a moment, only to sit up and look around in a wonder. He was back in Quilliene's room - she was sitting up in her bed, watching him, raising an eyebrow as he examined the room.
Right, He thought to himself. I'm… here.
"Are you alright?" The queen asked.
Neo looked at her, then down to his bandaged arm. He sat up fully. "In what way?"
"...Any way," She answered.
"Yes," He responded. "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine," She mused.
Neo didn't say a word, his eyes travelling to the floor. For once, he was completely still and silent, not answering Quilliene. It had been a little over twenty four hours since their incident, a bit past noon on the first day of their healing process. The doctor informed them both they would be fine, but they would need time to rest.
"I could hear you in your sleep," She broke the quiet. "Saying… something."
"I talk in my sleep sometimes," Neo said, leaning back against the couch with a sigh. "Part of the reason why I hate sleeping."
Quilliene nodded slightly. "I understand." A pause came. "Who is Fleur?"
Neo stopped, still leaning back and staring at the ceiling. He said nothing for the longest time, then sat forward. "You hungry? I was thinking about getting food."
"I…" She hung her mouth open for a moment, then frowned. "You aren't answering my question."
"It's…" He stopped, then ran his gloved fingers through his hair. "Nothing. No one. It's not important."
"Nathan, you can tell me-"
"Don't call me that," Neo suddenly snapped, glaring at her harshly. When she flinched, he immediately softened and looked away. "...Sorry."
"Sorry?" Quilliene hissed. "I think yelling at your queen deserves more than a half-hearted apology." Neo remained silent. "Oh, now I got you to be quiet. I guess you're not always up for conversation - perhaps you can talk to Fleur instead of me, hm?"
"I'm just thinking," Neo said quietly, keeping his head down.
"You should be thinking about the person you're interacting with, not some Fleur," She seethed.
"I see you're back to your regular daily argumentative personality," Neo mumbled, before rising to his feet. "I'll be going, then. Let me know when you're done with your tantrum."
"Excuse me?" She growled. "I am not having a tantrum, I am- Hey!"
Neo simply ignored her as he walked towards the door, grasping the handle and opening it. He didn't answer her yells for him to come back or respond as he exited the room, slamming the entrance shut behind him. He stood there for a moment, rubbing his face, wincing as he lifted his still injured arm. Why was she being so aggressive? Had he not just saved her life?
Shaking his head, he started walking down the hall, not stopping as he reached the stairs and started to descend. He ignored the stares he received from the guards and maids and butlers as he passed them, not minding the looks of distrust or hatred. He was used to it. He turned as he entered the main floor, heading for the throne room. He stared at the two tall doors before he entered, pressing them out of his way and wincing slightly with the effort.
The place was pristine. The floor was a dark purple carpet, a matching darker curtain behind the two thrones that sat on at least fifty small steps up from the rest of the floor. No chairs for princesses and princes sat at the sides, since there were none besides Quilliene - and she was no princess anymore. A painting to the left depicted two people, a male and a female, who resembled similarities to Quilliene. Mocha skin, brown eyes, and the woman had braided black hair. Just like her daughter. Neo walked towards the painting, hands in his pockets, as he looked up to the two persons depicted.
"Why did you give me an option?" He spoke slowly.
"Why didn't you just let me rot in chains?" His eyes travelled to the thrones.
"You should have known better," He sighed.
"I can't protect her. Raemith was right - I'll always just be a killer." His eyes raised to the painting again, to the king who simply stared at him in silence.
He chuckled. "You chose the wrong person to protect your daughter."