The falling dust was threatening to blur Neo's vision as she ran across the tarnished battlefield, her blood leaving a trail like bread crumbs from a fairytale. All of the anxiety coursing through her veins, keeping her afloat.

It wasn't smart, what she was doing, but she didn't care. If it meant finding him, she would do anything. But the fear clung to her. What if he was gone? It was suffocating.

Neo pushed the saddened conviction out of her head the best she could, even if it did linger at the corner of her thoughts, she would find him. This couldn't be the end of his fruitful career. There was so much going for them once they were through with that bitch Cinder's blackmailing. The witch of a human being, her ashen-black hair and her Dust infused crimson dress painted her of hellspawn incarnate. It was terrifying when she was angered. The gold gilding screamed like molten lava when her semblance was initiated. It was intimidating enough to push Roman to do her bidding. That's why they were here in the first place.

Her tunnel visioned attitude seemingly kept her on track, it was barely tackling her, the fatigue was felt everywhere. Now was the time she could push through. The inevitable would happen regardless, Neo was merely prolonging it.

Because, although miraculously Neo had been able to nullify the pain of her injuries, it wasn't meant to last.

She stumbled not once, not twice, but more than she could inactively count before the Control ship came into view. Neo stopped in her tracks. Her hands clinging to her wound as fresh pain began ebbing back, both mentally and physically. Her anxiety remained intoxicating her bloodstream.

The ship was in pieces everywhere.

It was camouflaged in the rubble from its crash. And smoke veiled the destruction. The hope of finding Roman was becoming smaller with each sullen step she took into the metal graveyard. Now that she was here, she didn't know where to start. There wasn't even the slightest chance that he could still be alive after she had rambled about, moving from one hunk of wreckage to the next.

She wiped away her tears with the backs of her gloved hands, because the palms were soaked with her blood. Neo lastly approached the carcass of the cleaved airship's stern, ducking under a large metal canopy with wires and skeletal bars protruding from the rip, it used to be the housing of the ship. Now the shadowy darkness had truly come. It invited Neo to continue hobbling deeper into its dimly illuminated interior.

The primary building which caught the falling airship and tore it in two still remained standing, however, the ship had barrelled past it and farther, the smaller apartment catching the torpedo of a bow. It gouged through its residential gut, creating an unsupported tunnel that ran deep.

It was difficult for Neo to see more than an arm's length in front of her, but there was dim pulsating light up ahead that was attracting her, like a compass that gave direction to her search. She didn't sense any abnormalities in the darkness surrounding her, particulalry noise as that was all she could percieve, there were no Grimm in the cavernous tunnel yet. And the building wasn't going to crush her, as it remained silent despite it looking like a tornado hit.

Neo passed in-between what used to be a counter. Several pieces of wooden furniture were ignited with growing flames, soaked from some flammable substance. It reeked of it. And alcohol from the bar that no longer contained filled bottles of liqour. The glass and other things crunched beneath her boots.

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Except for a single bottle that was scratched and knicked to oblivion. Its rose contents remained placid and undisturbed, the bottle laying on its cylindrical side, rolled up against a wooden beam in the cavity of the back wall. She didn't have to second guess herself while her glassy eyes remained in a depressed trance, fixated on the bottle that would take the edge of off her current condition.

Neo couldn't muster the strength to lean over and pick it up. She stood there next to it, just staring down at the ugly bottle that had once been something memorable of the top shelf.

Her breathing was paining, and the howls of Grimm came from somewhere outside, them finally drawn to the area, maybe from her own anguish, maybe from Roman's desperation. The Grimm feed on negative emotion. And there was a lot of it sourcing from a single person.

She grimaced as she stuck her foot out, getting it underneath the glass bottle, and was trying to bring it up by balancing it against the wood wall. It was slowly inching its way into her arms' length, for her to reach out and snatch it.

Which she did when she pulled her leg inwards, sending the bottle into the open space in front of her.

Bloody marks made their way onto the glass, seeping into the many scratches. The cap popped off when she barely twisted it, barely startling her with its echoing pop, the bubbly liquid beginning to fizz out and wetting the floor. Joining the amber innards of its alcoholic comrades.

Neo put the bottle to her lips and took a swig of the champagne. It burned going down, stinging her throat. She coughed and a trickle spilled out of her lips. It could've been blood or the beverage, but she couldn't feel a difference the way she was now. But she shortly took another drink while she started again slowly down the channel, the air becoming thicker from the powdered building.

The farther she went in it deepened, the air becoming cooler as well. Not so much as to make her exposed skin prickle, as the fires from the room behind hadn't penetrated this deep into the crash site. And she migrated inwards, away from its added warmth to the cool of the night.

Even though she was herself chilly, the alcohol was gently warming her, keeping her throat moist when she was inhaling harmful amounts of dust. Neo was beginning to be distanced from her consciousness. The added effect of the liquor was settling her anxiety, and letting her breathe a little easier. So many images fluttered through her mind, some about the light that was just up ahead, and others were more centered around a particular individual.

Roman.

Neo envisioned coming across Roman once she passed into the ship, him waiting for her. Poising above the defeated huntress known as Ruby. Him laughing as she stumbled up to him. His cane propped up next to hat as he was laying relaxed on the control console.

Roman hopping down from his metal perch to embrace Neo, him accepting her weight as she collapsed into his very much alive and protective arms. Him telling her that it was all over. That they were safe together. They were done and could finally go home together. Together; the both of them.

It was a sweet thought. In her mind, one that would fix everything.

The end of the musty cavernous channel was in front of her, and the slow pulsating light was sneaking out of a large metal doorway a few steps pass the halved hull. And Roman would be just a few steps ahead, waiting just for her.

A few of the ship's wings were jutting out from the walls of the earthen tunnel. Metal cross beams that appeared to be strengthening the recent structure in the ground.

The bottle in her hands was dropped. It finally deciding to give up its endurance and shattering as it hit a sharp rock. It didn't bleed into the dirt. It's contents were depleted, Neo was wiping her mouth on her pale jacket's sleeve. Maybe now she could finally let it all go, she was safe now.

Neo muddled forward, the dirt beneath her transitioning to the polished metal of the Atlesian ship. The red light washed over her periodically as she faced the open doorframe. This was the end of her journey. She hesitated. Her legs were threatening to collapse. She took a weak step past the boundary. Thoughts hadn't been forming clearly anymore for Neo. She crossed into the room. The lengthy control panel was crushed and fried, from crumpling when it crashed. She turned the corner. There was ashen dust coating the landing like black snow.

She saw Roman.