Neo's eyes shot open. Distant gunfire, to the right of her, pierced through the heavy atmosphere of the already ravaged Vale outskirts.

She lay there motionless while she regained her senses at a snails pace, haven being flung from an airborne Grimm while still several stories high.

Neo's eyes finally focused, pin-pointing through the gaping hole in the wall, on to the likewise crumbling building across the street from her. The place where she landed reeked of wet coins. It was also wet, she noticed after more seconds had passed.

Neo tried to move her arms first, so she could haul herself up. They twitched beside her but didn't move more. She knew that her fall would take a toll on her Aura, but she hadn't considered it being enough to shatter it like a mirror.

The disheartening thought of being paralyzed in the middle of a war-zone sent shivers down Neo's dampened back, which ironically, disproved that negative emotion. But still reminded her that she was, at the moment, temporarily down for the count.

The concrete behind her clacked as tiny bits jumped and skittered across. "Well, what do we seem to have here?" Said a husky voice coming behind Neo, his footsteps crunching the remnants of the broken building.

Neo's eyes trailed up towards the voice. A little bit of hope fluttered in her insides as she recognized that voice; Mercury.

He looked her up and down before speaking again, "jeez, what happened to you?" His sleek silver hair and jacket reflected the moonlight that was invading from several holes in the roof, one right above where Neo landed.

Mercury hopped over the small wall of concrete separating them, sending a flurry of dust into the air. They were in what used to be a bakery. The splintered sign of the establishment was no more than a meter behind Mercury's figure.

Mercury looked shocked when he finally got a good look of Neo, his eyebrow raising noticeably. Neo wasn't in any significant pain, but she was doubting how bad she was actually hurt from the impact.

He dusted off his uncreased slate gray and black two-tone partial-zip jacket before walking up to Neo's side and placing his arms under her back and shoulders in an attempt to gather Neo from the rubble.

She grunted as mild pain erupted from her ribs where Mercury's arm brushed against. Neo elbowed him away harshly. He recoiled drawing his hands back.

"Hey!" Mercury exclaimed in confusion. "You want help or n—oh, that's not great," Mercury whispered the last bit under his breath, but his voice was loud enough for her to hear since it echoed amongst the ravaged terrain of the once bakery.

He remained stuck in concentration, and un-mocked concern, for what felt like minutes. His eyes glancing from Neo to the environment around him. She wasn't sure what he was contemplating. Mercury appeared to come to a consensus.

"Stay put-tight for a bit and I'll be right back, although I doubt you'd be going any where in your current state," Mercury said with a hint of his characteristic sadistic humor. Neo wasn't humored.

"You're going to need something to bandage you up." Mercury said. "Good as new," he said more so to break the awkward silence than to reassure Neo.

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He stood up and walked out of her line of sight with a casual flick of his hand over his shoulder. She figured he was probably going to raid a nearby shop for makeshift medical supplies.

Neo could feel the dampness beginning to spread towards her hips, which wasn't a telltale sign of wellbeing nor recovery.

It's been enough time for Neo to edge off the shock because she was able to move her limbs, she was going to try to get up again. She had to as she didn't plan on sticking around any longer for fate to have another go at her life.

Neo took a deep breath in preparation for abiding the pain that would soon follow. Only, she couldn't, which sent her into a coughing fit that rattled her, inflaming the burning pain which was creeping back from the numbness.

She gritted her teeth, pushing with her elbows she lifted herself onto her side, grimacing through the pain, and then to her knees until she was looking at the dark stain of blood left behind on the sharp, rigid stone. Neo gasped from lack of air and the sudden resurgence of pain now centered in her back.

The Aura she still had left wasn't recovering fast enough. Neo growled as she picked up her leg and kneeled onto a foot. Her knuckles fought against the roughness of the stone and debris as she slowly hauled her torso up on teetering knees. With a final strain, Neo straightened her back.

Neo muffled a cry and doubled over in pain and nearly fell back down, but managed to attatch herself to the horizontal stone pillar nearby. Her depleted aura faltered from the new stress but held. Neo collapsed her weight onto the counter and rested until her breathing evened. Neo took this time to process the number of events that took place.

She was seperated from Roman who was still on the Atlesian Control Ship. A Grimm attacked her midair but she jumped it in order to land safely but was thrown when another Grimm attacked them both. She crashed through the building and blacked out on impact and appears to have a gaping wound on her back that probably needs immediate attention as the injury continued to bleed rather concernedly down her back.

Fsswoooo. The whistle catching her attention, Neo looked up from her perch towards where the roar was exponentially multiplying from. Her eyes widening as she witnessed the Atlesian Control Ship descending into Vale, illuminating the city, Neo's horror stricken face; as it approached with its dancing flames from within.

"..." was all that escaped Neo's frantic mouth as the titan of a ship hammered into standing buildings several blocks away from her, undoubtedly killing anyone, Roman, who was aboard that aircraft, if they hadn't already succumbed to the hellish fire.

The shockwave from the impact and the exploding fuel reserves rattled everything in at least a kilometer's vicinity. Neo secured herself in place, but she was falling apart inside as badly as the miserable buildings around her.

Neo was panicking. She couldn't get ahold of herself. Tears were starting to spill down her cheeks. The hyperventilating was building. Coupled with her injury, it was was preventing her from taking in breaths. Her clothes were too restricting, caging her lungs from expanding and drawing in air; she couldn't breathe. Where was Roman? Darkness was starting to buzz the corners of her vision.

Neo's fingers panicked to unbutton the corset encompassing her torso in hopes of relieving her physiological torture. She couldn't get it off because her hands were shaking up a storm, conflicting with her futile efforts. Neo collapsed onto the filthy floor, her movements slowing.

She thrusted her hand down into her boot, her final resort before she succumbed, her fingers feeling for the clasp that secured the boot knife in its place.

She felt the clasp and yanked the knife out of there, oblivious to the freshly bleeding cut along her ankle.

With a quick motion Neo ran the knife under the corset, tearing through it in moments. Her sobs shuddered her hurting body. She ripped the corset off flinging it across the room, exposing her dangerously bruised ribs and stomach beneath the black crop-top; the corset landed with a hollow thump against the far wall.

Neo firmly held the five-inch blade with both hands. As the howls of Grimm reverberated through her bones, her pain miraculously began to subside. Her lungs were taking in the musty air of Vale, after refusing her for so long.

Neo stood up, freshly numbed by her own disguise of mental torpidity, and ran towards the wreck.

Lying discarded and disregarded for on the dusty floor, away from all the commotion, was Neo's Scroll, her form of communication. The shattered screen lit up.