While we were both looting the dead hunters for all they had, my sister's voice sounded out in my mind.

 

Neo: ‘Do you want to talk about the feelings you were going through while we attacked, Sis?’

 

Looking up from the man I had disembowelled, I gave a nod to her.

 

Neopolitan: ‘Sure, Sis. It was… strange. When we were hiding and they suddenly somehow noticed us and then looked right at me, I was startled. But then, all of the emotions they were emitting suddenly changed to hatred and rage at me. Add the look of wanting to kill me like I was nothing but garbage, something in me snapped.’

 

I could hear my sister hum in acknowledgement in my mind before I continued.

 

Neopolitan: ‘It was like an all consuming need to kill had taken over me when I was hit with such emotions and intent.’

 

I stopped what I was doing and just slumped down on to my knees while slouching forward. Tears started to pool in my eyes and my aura turned into a deep blue. My sister was quick to notice this, and rushed to embrace me.

 

While she was hugging me, I silently sobbed lightly while I confided in her.

 

Neopolitan: ‘Sister, I am scared of what I felt when I killed these two people. It felt like… well, I can’t remember! But it felt wonderful! Like I was on cloud nine! And that worries me greatly!!’

 

My sister started to rub my back and pat my head as she gripped me tighter in the hug.

 

Neo: ‘There, there. Sis. Shhh, it’s fine.’

 

I shook my head and said, ‘Is it though!? I took pleasure in killing them, Sister! I am becoming a monster…’

 

Neo: ‘No, no no. You’re not, Sister. Never call yourself that, please. You’ve changed, yes. But you’re not a monster!’

 

She leaned out of the hug and said, ‘Look at me, Sis.’

 

Bringing my head up I looked into her eyes as she smiled warmly at me.

 

Neo: ‘You’re not a monster, Neopolitan. You’re my sister. My family. Even if the world will turn against you because of how you have changed, I will always be there. Us against the world, like it has always been! If you are a monster, then I will become one as well.’

 

Smiling behind my mask, I hugged my sister tightly as I said, ‘I love you, Sis. Thank you.’

 

I felt her nod and say she loved me too as she hugged me back. We stayed like this for several minutes as my glow went from a deep blue to its normal grey as I calmed down.

 

Neo: ‘Feeling better?’

 

I broke the hug and gave her a nod, ‘I am, thank you, Sis.’

 

She gave me a smile and stood up while brushing the dirt off her pants.

 

Neo: ‘Like I said, Sis. I’ll always be there for you, as you were always there for me. Not even the Grimm Pool was able to take you from me! Together for life!’

 

She reached down with her hand to help me up, and as I took her hand I nodded with a smile.

 

Neopolitan: ‘Together for life!’

 

Smiling, she said, ‘Now, let’s finish looting these losers. We have a long way to go.’

 

She walked back to one of the corpses she was looting before I had my mini melt down before she spoke up again.

 

Neo: ‘Right, another thing, Sis. They somehow were able to sense you, that was clear. I think we should sneak near one of the towns that are on the way to Vale and confirm if everyone can sense you. Or if it’s just strong hunters.’

 

I nodded my head to her idea as I was looting one of the tents I had entered. The place was filled with a several weird coloured crystals and a few food rations and the like. I was curious what these crystals were so I asked my sister.

 

Neo: ‘Sounds like Crystal Dust, Sis. Good find! What colours are there?’

 

Neopolitan: ‘Dust? What is Dust? As for colours, there are a few red  green, and blue crystals.’

 

Neo: ‘A simplified version of Dust is that it’s an energy source, as well as an enhancer for attacks fueled with Aura. What you have found would be fire, wind and ice/water Dust crystals. Be careful of them though, Sis. They can be unstable if handled improperly and explode in an elemental effect.’

 

I hummed in acknowledgement as I brought a fire Dust crystal up to my face. Looking at it intently, it had a nice shine to it, and was quite pretty. Out of curiosity I gave it a sniff, and it smelled like something spicy.

 

My curiosity got the better of me even more, and I was wondering what it would taste like. Frowning in thought as I was wondering how I would take off my mask, it suddenly melted away like it was water.

 

The sudden disappearance caused me to silently yelp as I was startled. Filing that as something else to check after I was done with my little experiment, I lifted the fire Dust crystal to my mouth and went to chomp down on it.

 

Much to my surprise though, I couldn't. When the crystal was close to entering my mouth, I noticed a shimmer of orange and teal spread out from where the crystal was stopped.

 

Tiling my head in confusion, I tried to eat the crystal again, only for it to once again tap against something in front of my mouth. Getting a bit upset, I instead tried to lick the crystal, but once again there was a shimmer of colour across my tongue as it was about to touch. I looked closely at my hand holding the crystal, and I could see very small shimmers of colour where my hand was touching the crystal.

 

The glow around me turned light pink and orange as I huffed in annoyance.

 

Neopolitan: ‘Sis, I can’t eat this fire Dust crystal. Something is preventing me from-’

 

Neo: ‘Why are you trying to eat a Dust crystal?! That’s VERY dangerous!!’

 

I then heard some shuffling and then my sister entered the tent I was in with a worried look on her face. She froze for a second when she saw me sitting on the ground with a Dust crystal in hand and my mask off.

 

Neo: ‘Nice teeth~. Ah! No, bad Neo! Why are you trying to eat a Dust crystal?! Dust is very volatile as I said, Sis. Eating runs the risk of it detonating, among other things. So, please stop trying to eat it.’

 

Nodding my head in understanding I said, ‘Okay. But, I can’t eat it even if I wanted to. Watch.’

 

While she looked on in curiosity, I brought the crystal to my opened mouth again. And once again, there was a ripple of colour as it touched something just in front of me.

 

Neo: ‘Huh. It looks exactly like what happened when those hunters were trying to hurt you. Your barrier is blocking the crystal.’

 

My eyes opened wider as I facepalmed myself.

 

Neopolitan: ‘Right, I have a barrier. I already forgot about it. Well, it’s a good thing I don’t need to eat… right? As a Grimm, I don’t need to eat? Otherwise I think I’ll end up starving to death if NOTHING can get past my barrier…’

 

My sister’s giggle echoed in my mind before she answered, ‘Yes, Grimm don’t eat. But you’re not a normal case. But since you have other Grimm powers, I think it might be a safe bet you also do not need to eat or drink anymore.’

 

Nodding my head, I suddenly frown.

 

Neopolitan: ‘While that is nice, I’ll never be able to eat any fancy food again! No, I like ice cream!’

 

I could tell my sister was trying not to laugh at my plight, so I just huffed and gently put the fire crystal back in the case I had found it. Zipping it all up, I brought it over to a backpack I had found and stuffed them inside.

 

The voice of my sister resounded in my mind with mirth as she said, ‘Well, maybe you can train on that barrier, and lower it to eat ice cream?’

 

I instantly responded with absolute certainty, ‘I can’t train it, it’s a passive that I will never be able to control.’

 

I froze at the sound of absolute certainty in my “voice” when I finished speaking. Looking over at my sister, she too had a confused look as one of her eyebrows was raised.

 

Neo: ‘You sound very sure of that, Sis. How come?’

 

Neopolitan: ‘I… I don’t know. Just, something is telling me that this barrier will never come down for the rest of my existence.’

 

Neo: ‘“Existence?” Not life?’

 

Giving her a slow nod, I was positively glowing with an orange and teal mixture. My sister just shrugged her shoulders and started to leave the tent.

 

Neo: ‘Another mystery to solve it seems, Sis! Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out~.’

 

Nodding to myself, I finished packing up the backpack I had stolen and filled with loot. Swinging it onto my back I noticed a shimmer of colour again as it settled in place as it touched my barrier.

 

I suddenly remembered my mask was no longer on, and with a bit of focus, it returned on my face. The way it left and reformed on my face reminded me of Venom.

 

My movements stilled as that thought crossed my mind.

 

‘Venom? What is a Venom…’

 

I started walking again as I was frowning deep in thought. Leaving the tent, I walked over to my sister and asked her if she knew.

 

Neo: ‘Venom? You mean poison?’

 

Shaking my head in confusion my glow turned light pink and a light blue. I dismissed my mask, and resummoned it a few times to try and show what I meant.

 

Neopolitan: ‘When my mask leaves and reforms on my face, it reminds me of “Venom.” But I have no idea what, or maybe who, that is.’

 

My sister joined me in frowning as we tried to think of what “Venom” was. But after a few minutes we both had to give up, as we had no idea. And no matter what I tried, nothing more would come of the thought. 

 

My glow lost the light blue, and got a bit darker pink as I said, ‘This is annoying, Sis. To not have all my memories!’

 

My sister gave me an understanding smile and said, ‘I get it, Sis. But, all we can do is move on, and try to figure it out together. One mystery at a time~.’

 

Releasing a sigh, I could only nod in acceptance towards the situation.

 

Neopolitan: ‘You’re right, Sis. Do we have everything we can carry?’

 

She narrowed her eyes a little as she did a quick scan of the camp and slowly nodded her head.

 

Neo: ‘I think so, yeah. They didn’t have a lot of goodies for us to take. Those Dust crystals, and the rations I found being the highlight. They only had about 10,000 Lien on them in total as well.’

 

She held up two white Lien cards, and then motioned for me to put them into my backpack. Taking the cards she spoke up again as I was putting them away.

 

Neo: ‘We have enough for a garbage class train ride. We’ll need to steal more for anything fancier or faster. But before we even look into that, we need to see how other people react if you’re around. I am worried you might have an “air” about you that I can’t sense since we’re family.’

 

I nodded my head as I finished tucking away the money. She grabbed my hand after I had put on the backpack again, and started to lead us away. I made note though, that when she grabbed me, there was no ripple of colour.

 

Neopolitan: ‘Sister. You’re able to touch me.’

 

She turned around a bit to look at me with confusion when she said, ‘Yea? Of cour— oh. OH!’

 

She stopped and looked down at our hands. Indeed, there was nothing indicating my barrier was resisting or keeping her touch out. Glowing in a bright orange and teal, I look at my sister with a smile and cheerful eyes.

 

Neopolitan: ‘If I could only ever touch one thing, ever again, I am glad it’s you, Sis. Never feeling your warmth or hugs would crush me.’

 

She facepalmed herself, and then smiled at me and pulled me into a hug.

 

Neo: ‘We were too caught up with what was going on to ever notice. Your barrier has never once activated when I went to hug or touch you. I am happy I can still hold my precious sister like this.’

 

Nodding my head, we hugged for a few more seconds before she grabbed my hand again and restarted leading us.

 

Neo: ‘A lot has happened in the past few hours, Sis. But with each other, I know we’ll get through this. We always do.’

 

As she led us through the forest, I looked down at our joined hands.

 

‘I am glad I am not alone for this, or I am sure I would break. I am blessed to have such a sister as her.’