That night, Neo dreamt of the day he entered the SS-Class Dungeon.
He and a hundred and twenty others stood behind the President of the Federation who praised them and promised them many things for taking the bold step of saving the planet.
News vans had been everywhere, reporters and fans crowded the entrance of the Dungeon.
Neo had felt like throwing up because of a creeping fear he tried to ignore. The fear of regret.
His family caused a commotion when they got to the site. They had seen Neo's face on the news and realized that he was actually a part of the mission.
Neo's mother broke through the barricade that stood between the heroes and the populace.
"Please, Baby. You don't have to do this. Come back home with me, please."
She cupped his face with her hands, tears streaking down her cheeks. It was one of the most tragic sights Neo had ever witnessed.
Yet, Neo forced his expression to remain cold.
"Go back home, Mother." He grabbed her wrists and removed her hands from his face.
"Baby, please…"
"You know I can't go with you. You know it." Neo said to his mother.
Anyone else could be replaced in the mission, but not Neo. He was the core of the operation.
His sister and father also broke through the barricade. His sister begged him to stay home only for a little while, then go into the dungeon. He didn't need to join the mission immediately.
His father was the only person who didn't question his decision because he already knew. He knew that nothing would change Neo's mind. His father whom he had never seen cry before had the most reddened and swollen eyes.
The Star City Security Department had to tear his family off him. But they never stopped begging him to come back home with them.
Even as the countdown began to enter the dungeon. Neo hadn't said goodbye to them even once.
He was the first to look away and the last to enter the dungeon. He had enough time to hug his family like the other hunters did. Enough time to apologize and promise to make it up to them when he made it back.
Yet, he did nothing like that.
It was for the best, though. If he had even let himself be swayed by his family for a single second, he wouldn't have gone into the dungeon.
Neo woke up to a foreign sensation on his skin.
Bryce was quick to retract his hand that had been touching Neo's face. His white porcelain skin flushed with a pale shade of pink.
"What are you doing?" Neo rushed into a defence position, highly alert.
"You were asleep for so long… I just wanted to make sure you'd wake up…" Bryce answered softly, his voice tinged with guilt.
Neo had felt a gentle caress on his cheek, not a tap to wake him up.
"Don't do it again." Neo warned, not up to the task of being stressed out by Bryce's weirdness first thing.
"I was just worried you wouldn't wake up again… like last time when you… " Bryce mumbled so low that most of his words sounded incoherent to Neo's ears.
Neo didn't act like he cared about Bryce's worries. He stood up and made the bed, then asked, "Has my family reached out?"
Before going to sleep the previous night, Bryce had reassured Neo that he would get in touch with his family so they could reunite.
"Ahh, yes. Your sister called this morning but you were sound asleep so I didn't disturb you." Bryce said.
"My sister," Neo repeated.
The image of his older sister formed in his mind. Tessa was six years older than him. She was neither a hunter nor a restorer, but an omega. Just like him.
"Call her again. I want to talk to her." The words came out as a command instead of a request from Neo's mouth.
Bryce didn't take any offense in being treated like a subordinate as he nodded his head and brought out his terminal to make the call.
Neo's fingers went numb with anxiety.
What would his sister say? Would she miss him? Rebuke him? Cut off ties with him?
Neo wouldn't blame her if she did any of the latter two. He deserved it. He was a terrible brother.
"It's a holographic call." Bryce announced, setting his phone on the bed.
Neo looked at Bryce and saw there was a small smile on his lips.
"I'll give Senior privacy for now." He said, scratching the back of his neck.
Then he walked out of the room. Almost immediately, a half 3D form of Tessa took shape.
Neo's breath was caught.
His older sister whom people would often mistake as his twin no longer looked like she was the same age as him.
Faint wrinkle lines marked her forehead and her smile lines were more pronounced. Tessa looked so much like their mother, only missing the soft blue eyes that neither of her children inherited.
"Neo…" she called out to him.
Neo's body moved before his brain. He wrapped his arms around the hologram like it was real. The hug was everything and more. He could even make out Tessa's signature pineapple scent.
Her arms were wound tight around his body like he would slip away any second.
"I missed you."
"I'm sorry."
Tessa and Neo spoke at the same time, respectively with cracked voices. Neo was the first to slip out of the hug to take a better look at his sister's face.
"I…" Neo choked up. "I regret it."
Tessa didn't ask what he regretted. She didn't even question him further, only saying, "I understand."
That was how Tessa was—she could understand everything without being told.
Neo truly missed her.
"You succeeded and you're alive," Tessa said softly. "That's all that matters now."