The wolf's bloody path

chapter 9

All four at the table had fallen into a dead silence.

'hallucinations? But... what does he see? And why does it make him so panicked?' Weiss had a similar train of thought but neo was most perplexed.

'hallucinations? Could they be similar to when my imaginary friend was just an external representation of my desires?' Neo had suspicions and they could be close.

Hans most definitely wanted his little sister back. But, to say it was his desires being externalised... would be going too far.

"details would be appreciated." This broke the two girls trains of thought and made hans visibly uncomfortable to the point he started to type with shaky hands and erratic breathing.

"do you know what its like to murder your own parents? To watch the light fade from their eyes as they die? To kill them with your own bare hands?" The mans face was blank as always. Not a single crack in the mask, while his face did not betray him, his hands did. The shaking wouldn't go unnoticed.

Ruby and weiss were speechless.

"I'll give you time to think on that. If you choose to avoid me, I won't blame you." The guilt ridden man put his coat back on, and walked away without another word.

'He didnt even touch his ice cream...'  The short women looked to the taller duo.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't tell anyone about what he said. That look he had tells me he had no choice."

"honestly, he's done good things so far... so to hear him admit to doing something so horrifying while scared and nervous... its hard to believe he had a choice in the matter." Weiss nodded her head in agreement with her leader.

"it is hard to believe and its obvious he's haunted by it. That much is easy to tell. But, it seems like he's also afraid. Afraid to..."

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"trust. Isn't that right, big brother? After all that happened in millennium, you've been craving for someone, anyone... that you can trust." The captain growled at the hallucination.

'I can't do anything to a hallucinations, but, it's quite easy to tell now... this isn't lina. I remember vividly... lina never blamed me, for anything. She always took the blame for her actions, never accused anyone... even if they were in the wrong. But this hallucination, she taunts and reminds me of my guilt.' That was when hans started to question his choices as he headed back to beacon.

'...why did I tell them? Was I truly that desperate? What will they think of me now?' A buzz could be heard from his scroll and he took it out.

'a message from neo...' He opened the message and the shock from what he read was immense.

You shouldn't feel so alone in this. And, since you trusted the three of us with that secret of yours, I shall trust you with one of mine. I killed both of my parents. While accidental, I still killed them. I was to use an explosion as a distraction so that I could get away... but, they died. The white in my hair has been there since I realised that.

The lonely man stood there in complete shock, amazed by her trust in him.

Thank you neo. Thank you for trusting me with this. I won't forget this, neo.

Neo smiled softly at his gratitude. Slipping her scroll away just before she got home.

"you seem happy." She turned to her adoptive father.

"yes, I'm very happy. I finally got something off my chest!" Roman smiled softly at his daughter.

"that's good neo. Now, a word of advice. Whoever made you that happy, don't let go of them easily. I did that... I've regretted it ever since. If they can make you that happy, i approve." After that, neo was positively glowing.