His body too weak to resist, it gives up to the momentum of the swing and Neo lets go of the sword. He falls headlong and slides down to the side while getting into the circle of the flowers again.
He takes a breather and looks up to see if the snake is dead.
Panting, he coughs up some blood.
He hears footsteps and looks in the direction of Charlotte's head. He sees a Hyena sprinting towards it.
He looks at his sword that he discarded a moment ago and then at Charlotte's head again. Gritting his teeth against the immense pain in his legs, he pushes himself one last time and jumps towards Charlotte's head, covering it and protecting it with his body.
He looks at the Hyena and his brain tries to think of anything he can do as the Hyena advances towards them.
It takes another step.
Flare!
The Hyena shrieks in pain as it's set of fire in pink flames after stepping on one of the flowers inside the barrier. Neo's eyes stay focused on it until the Hyena falls down, writhing in pain and then dying.
He then looks at the flowers and notices that another has bloomed in place of the one that was set afire.
"Thanks!" he says, falling to the side and his body finally relaxes as he lays down on his back.
. . .
Neo recalls Arcat telling him, "Food is usually a luxury that we can survive without. But if you consume it after sustaining an injury or damage, it will help you recover at a faster pace."
"I can't spend any points for a while though," mutters Neo, thinking about what to do.
Looking up, he notes that the lights have disappeared, he then looks at the dead Hyena and then at his great sword.
With his weak body, he gets up and walks towards the sword and picks it up, he then drags it slowly towards the Hyena.
Neo sighs, "Here goes,"
. . .
Opening her eyes slowly, the first things she senses are the sounds of eating behind her, and the smell of something cooked.
She also senses that she still can't feel her body.
"I am still a severed head," murmurs Charlotte.
. . .
"Yes," responds a voice that she recognizes as Neo's.
"Why do I feel no pain?" asks Charlotte.
Neo glances at the flowers surrounding them while eating the cooked meat.
"The Female One did something to you so you could feel no pain. Also, the flowers you see in front of you surround us fully in a circle to protect us," explains Neo.
"Where is One? Why didn't they help us get back?"
Neo bites down on meat and chews, "Something showed up that they got into a fight with, most probably. I don't know much after we fell off the mountain,"
"Something? What was it?"
". . . No idea but I call it Incarnate,"
"Incarnate. . ." muses Charlotte, "By the way, did you try contacting Arcat or Adora?"
Neo shakes his head, "I don't have access to the points right now, can you contact them?"
"System," calls Charlotte.
"Contacting them would be impossible," she informs him.
"Why?"
". . . We only have one point in the balance at the moment,"
Neo's eyes widen, "What happened to all the points accumulated? There were so many! Could it be only from the bomb?"
". . . Maybe Adora and Arcat had to use them, who knows,"
. . . Maybe there could have been a hundred and one points, laments Neo momentarily.
. . .
"I am surprised you are calm that you are still severed," remarks Neo.
". . . The time you saw me on a plate wasn't the first time that I woke up. Though, it was the definitely the worst by far . . . I can do with being a severed head, as long as there is no pain. No more pain. No more . . . no more . . . no more . . . no more . . ." sobs Charlotte, tears dripping down her face.
Neo look at her . . . and drops his food. He stands up and walks slowly towards Charlotte's head, that's crying and facing the other direction. He stops as he reaches her, looks down for a moment and takes a breath in.
He reaches down and picks up Charlotte's head gently and carefully with his two bloodied and bruised hands. He then sits down and holds her head close as she continues to cry.
. . .
Feeling the comfort, Neo breaks the silence, "What happened to the rest of your body?"
". . . I can still feel the connection to an extent with my body. It's weird, the first time I woke up though, he had me see all my limbs cut off my body, he probably hid them somewhere behind locks. That's why they can't reach me," rasps Charlotte.
". . . Why isn't your head traveling towards them then? Shouldn't it do so until it reaches them after a period of time during recovery?"
". . . How do you know all this?"
"Arcat taught me," says Neo.
"I see . . . I don't know honestly. This is the first time something like this has ever happened to me. Maybe it will take more time or maybe something is stopping me?"
"Well, anyway, we need to find your body," says Neo. He looks behind him and one of the jellyfish like flying creatures that act as a source of light is getting close, illuminating the place more.
Neo's brain gives him an epiphany as he reaches for his pocket, holding Charlotte's head with one hand.
"What is it?" asks Charlotte.
"One second, Charlotte,"
Oh, it's there!
Neo pulls out a compass, making sure Charlotte doesn't see what he is pulling out as she is still facing away. He opens it and looks at the direction it's pointing in.
"I can find the rest of your body,"
"What? How?" asks Charlotte.
Conflicted, Neo can't utter words and only makes sounds. He doesn't know whether to lie to her or not.
Each time a part of him is about to win and he is about to win, the pendulum swings to the other side and he stops, and vice versa.
Sensing his hesitation, Charlotte decides to put him out of his misery, "You don't have to tell me now, you can do it later,"
". . . Alright," mumbles Neo.
. . .
Neo turns around and sees his great sword. He leaves Charlotte's head for a second to go get it back, sheathes it and holds it with his right hand.
He stands up, carries Charlotte's head with his left arm and starts walking, falling in the direction that the compass in his right hand is pointing him in.
They walk in silence, and after a short while, he hears the sound of running water and spies a lake of water connecting between two ends of a river nearby on their way. Glancing down at himself and at Charlotte's head, Neo decides to stop by to wash off all the blood off him and Charlotte.
He touches the water to make sure nothing is strange about it, and then takes a small sip. After a while, he drinks some more when nothing happens.
He washes his hands first, then Charlotte's head, then jumps in the water to wash up the rest of his body.
. . .
Looking at him walking the river, Charlotte contemplates back on her conversation with Adora when she visited her that one time in her room.
. . .
While washing up, Neo glances up and notices that the lights are back in the void above.
"Charlotte! You must check this out!" he exclaims, grabbing her and laying her head gently in the water so it floats on the surface face up. Her dark curly hair float about as her eyes widen at sight she is witnessing.
"What? What are they?" asks Charlotte.
". . . No idea," says Neo as he looks up.
Charlotte's eyes move towards Neo.
. . .
Zooming out, there is a scope pointing at them and an eye behind it.
. . .
"Found you," murmurs Aayn, cracking a smile.