Disclamer: I do not own anything by Rooster Teeth or its associates
Pyrrha heard someone call her name. She quickly looked around at what appeared to a waiting room where she was sitting. It was a small carpeted room with a fish tank at one end of the room and a receptionist's desk on the other with chairs lining the sides. Other people were sitting in the room as well, just sitting there looking blankly off into space. How had she gotten here? Where was "here" anyway?
"Pyrrah Nikos?" called a woman who was standing off to side of the desk holding open a wooden door with one foot. She wore what appeared to be blue hospital scrubs and holding a large scroll, clearly checking the name she had called out once more.
"Y-yes?" Pyrrha hesitantly answered clearing her throat as she did so, if felt like she hadn't spoken in a very long time.
"Ah yes there you are. Please come this way the doctor will see you now dear" the woman called beckoning for Pyrrha to follow her through the door.
Pyrrha slowly stood up, wincing slightly as her back and knees cried out in protest as she did so. She must have been sitting for quite a long time if she was this stiff. Pyrrha shook her head trying to clear it as she made her way up to the woman who was waiting patiently. The woman smiled knowingly as she held open the door for Pyrrha. Pyrrha followed the woman in to a white colored hallway as the door swung shut behind them.
"This way please the doctor will be seeing you in exam room eleven." said the nurse as she started walking down the hallway. Her shoes clacking slightly on the white tile.
Pyrrha followed the nurse even as she tried to remember how she had gotten here. She remembered fighting in the arena against... someone and then a feeling of despair followed closely by a feeling of resignation. Had she lost her match in the arena? Pyrrha shook her head once more trying clear some of the fuzziness that was clouding her memories.
"Excuse me? Can you tell me how I got here? I don't seem to remember coming here. Did I hit my head during the match?" asked Pyrrha trying to make some sense of why she was in a doctor's office.
"Don't worry the doctor will explain everything when he sees you" said the nurse as she continued to walk down the hallway passing doorways with small gold numbers sunk into the tops of the door frames. "Ah here we are" said the nurse pushing open the door with the number eleven above it.
Inside was the normal metal examining table with the built in scanner and other monitoring equipment built into it. The white tile continued into the room while the walls changed to a calming beige with a darker bronze making large swirls randomly throughout the paint. A stool was off to one side of the room next to a large built in computer screen that took up a good portion of that wall.
"Please take a seat on the table. The doctor will be in shortly." said the nurse as she went over to the screen and proceeded to type in Pyrrha's name into the computer along with appeared to be a random string of numbers at least twenty characters long.
Pyrrha moved closer to the table about to follow the nurse's orders when she realized that she was still in her armor with Miló and Akoúo̱ still strapped to her back.
"Do I need to chan...ge?" Pyrrha trailed off as she noticed that the nurse was no longer in the room. "I guess not" Pyrrha muttered to herself as pulled her weapons off her back and set them within arm's reach as she took a seat on the table.
As Pyrrha sat waiting for the doctor she continued to try to remember what happened during the match but for the life of her she couldn't seem to remember. She closed her eyes trying to relax as she concentrated on the events leading up to the match. She started to see flashes of the match, a sword, red hair, and a female voice. "PYRRHA!" Pyrrha jerked upright eyes wide as she remembered Ruby's voice screaming her name.
"Ah Miss. Nikos welcome back" came a soothing male voice from beside her.
Pyrrha quickly looked to the side to see a man in his mid-twenties or so sitting upon the stool by the computer. He had dark hair with topaz eyes slightly obscured behind dark wire frame glasses. He wore a white coat with the front open exposing his black shirt and pants underneath.
He seem to study her a second over the top of his glasses before starting to talk.
"How are you doing today? Are you in any pain?" he asked leaning slightly toward her looking for any noticeable indications.
"...No I'm not in any pain that I'm aware of. And other than not remembering how I got here or where here is, I'm doing just fine" responded Pyrrha trying her hardest not to sound as frustrated as she was.
"Yes the memory loss can be quite trying for most patients but we've found it as a whole more beneficial than the alternative." He hesitated a moment a Pyrrha stiffened and her hand twitched to the side where her weapons were. The doctor let out a small sigh. "Let's cut to the chase shall we. Looking over your file I believe that you can handle the truth about what happened." Pyrrha's hand stilled as looked him in the eyes to determine if he was lying.
He continued to meet her eyes as he slowly leaned back up against the wall trying to appear as non-threating as possible. He studied Pyrrha for another moment before nodding and breaking eye contact.
"To put it bluntly. You died" he stated, once more making eye contact.
Pyrrha froze as she tried to comprehend the words the man had just spoken. Loosing focus on the man's face she felt a chill crawl up her spin as she turned the words over in her head.
"I... died...?" she questioned looking the man once more in the eyes. Still making eye contact the man nodded. Pyrrha felt the breath leave her as she found only true in the man's eyes. She felt her stomach drop and stopped being able to fill her fingers.
"How... how did I die? Did I die during the match? Is that why I can't remember it?" Pyrrha questioned rapidly barely being understandable towards the end.
The man studied Pyrrha quite closely for a second or two as she took rapid shuddering breaths as she tried to recover.
"No, you did not die during the match. You were killed by the same woman that stole the powers of the Fall Maiden Amber. Amber was killed shortly before you were and had what remained of her powers taken by the same woman. You were killed fighting the new Fall Maiden even if she gained her power by despicable means" the man explained to the recovering Pyrrha.
"Then why is my memory of the match gone. Why would you remove those memories if they didn't have anything to do with my death" asked Pyrrha trying to at least grab on to something that made a bit of sense.
"During the final you faced Penny Polendina from Atlas" as he spoke the screen next to him started playing a video of the match. "Cinder Fall, the woman who took the powers of the Fall Maiden, had an accomplice, Emerald Sustrai, who can manipulate perception, place an illusion on you during the match." Pyrrha continued to watch her match against Penny and as she saw the illusion take place cried out a warning towards the screen. "You overpowered your semblance killing Miss. Polendina, who was an advanced android created by Atlas to fight Grimm" the man continued as Pyrrha watched in shock as her past-self destroyed one of Ruby's best friends and had it broadcast live around the world.
"As you can imagine this was quite the shock to your system. A choice was made to remove those memories until you had time to process those memories along with those of your death as it was only a short period of time between events" the man explained in a kindly tone. The video had stopped playing and was frozen on a blank screen. The man waited quietly as Pyrrha processed the video and the new information.
"Yang" Pyrrha suddenly whispered as her brain finally caught up to the implications of Emerald's powers.
The man cocked he head slightly as he studied her. "Yes, Miss Xiao Long was also manipulated by Emerald during her match in order to make Cinder Fall's next move more believable" as he finished speaking the video of the fight resumed as Cinder wove a version of events that made the people of Vale doubt their leaders and despair at the thought of a war that would destroy their homes. Pyrrha watched on in horror as the citizens dark thoughts drew Grimm by hundreds to Vale and Beacon's doorsteps. The video continued to play as Ruby saved Pyrrha's past-self from a Grimm that had broken into the arena.
"How did they stop it? How did they beat back the Grimm?" Pyrrha asked as she continued to watch video as the monstrous Grimm burst out of the mountain near Vale and flew towards the city.
The man remained quiet.
"They did beat it back didn't they?" Pyrrha pleaded with the man. "They made it out. They had to have made it out! Tell me they made it out!" Pyrrha shouted at the man, begging for her friends to have made it out of Vale.
"They did make it out. But, not without consequences. Miss Xiao Long lost her right arm trying to save her partner Blake Belladonna. Miss Belladonna having suffered a stab wound to abdomen at the hands of her former friend Adam Taurus went into self-exile as she blamed herself for Miss Long's crippled state at the hands of Mr. Taurus. Weiss Schnee's father collected her after the battle taking her back to Atlas before tensions erupt into civil war as the rest of the world saw Atlas' army attack with the Grimm to destroy Vale. Your teammates were effected greatly by your death and have yet to recover from it. Physically they did not suffer debilitating injuries. Most other teams made it out of Vale safely and are currently regrouping in Mistral." the man paused waiting for Pyrrha to calm down now knowing that most of her friends made it out of Vale okay.
"And Ruby? You didn't mention Ruby." Pyrrha asked partially dreading the answer but also somewhat relived that Jaune and her team made it out unscathed for the most part. Well except for herself of course.
"Miss Rose's fate is tied somewhat to your own. It would be better for you to view it for yourself" as he finished speaking the video resumed playing from where it had paused during Pyrrha's breakdown. She watched on silently as he past-self tried to obtain the Fall Maiden's powers. She also breathed a huge sigh of relief as she and Jaune made it out of the Vault unhindered by Cinder. She brought her hands to her lips as she witnessed herself kiss Jaune before sending him in the locker to safety. She looked on sadly as her past-self went knowingly to her destiny. She wished things had turned out differently but she agreed with her past-self's decision to face Cinder and try to stop the monstrous Grimm. As she watched herself fight Cinder she couldn't help being a little proud of how she fought even if she failed to win the fight. She gasped when she saw that Ruby had witnessed her death and incineration at the hands of Cinder. And as the video went white at the hands of Ruby's new power Pyrrha closed her eyes and silently wept for Ruby and Jaune knowing her would hurt them the most. Pyrrha continued to weep into as thoughts turned to her not being able to see them, to tell them she was okay, that she had accepted her fate willingly and without hesitation.
The man looked on as Pyrrha wept into her hands not willing to break her out of her grief just yet. The man knew Pyrrha needed to grieve not just for her teammates and friends but also for herself and the future she might have had.
The man waited for Pyrrha's tears to stop before talking. To Pyrrha it had seemed like hours and hours that she had been crying but when she looked up the man was still in the same position as when she had begun. Pyrrha desperately tried to wipe away what remained of her tears from red and raw tear stained cheeks.
"It is okay to grieve Miss. Nikos everyone needs time to accept what fate has dealt them and you have done better than most. Your friends and teammates survived because you decided to accept your destiny. If you had not gone to your destiny Miss. Rose would not have activated her power and many more citizens of Vale would have perished in the onslaught. As it is Vale has fallen but the many of the people who escaped, escaped because of you and Miss. Rose and that is something to be proud of." Pyrrha nodded silently as she continued to wipe tears away that leaked down the side of her face.
"Thank you" Pyrrha choked out after finally calming her tears and clearing her throat.
"Now it is time. It is time to move on, it is time for you to get some rest" the man smiled at her holding out his hand for her to take.
"What happens now?" Pyrrha asked hesitantly. She took the man's hand and slowly got to her feet. She reached out to grab Miló and Akoúo̱ but turned look at the man before doing so. He just nodded smiling as he gestured for her to take them with her.
"Now? Now it is entirely up to you. You could go and explore the universe if you wish moving from planet to planet to explore to discover whatever you wish. You could rejoin the Cycle, to reincarnate back into the world you just left becoming a new person, to live, to love, to die an entirely new life. Time is whatever you perceive it to be here. Many wait for their loved ones to join them here, to live what they could not below, to love who they could not below, to have children that they could not below before they and their loved ones tire of this existence and return to the Cycle. Others watch the world below how it changes, how it evolves, how the universe works, all of that is available to them. Others watch the goings on of mortals, their friends, their families, their descendants, or even someone that just strikes their fancy until they like the others tire and return to the Cycle." The man explained never letting the grin leave his face.
"Can you do all that as well?" Pyrrha asked suddenly wondering who or what the man who was guiding her was.
The man laughed at her question and just nodded.
"Yes I could do all of those things if I wished but I have not tired of this existence yet. I found purpose in guiding those that have passed on to wonders that await them. To help them transition to this existence and in time help them on back into the Cycle knowing that I might see them again one day."
"So not a doctor then?" asked Pyrrha glancing at his outfit.
He chuckled lightly, "Not a doctor, no. You might call us 'Reapers' if you will." He said lightly rolling his eyes at the name. "We take souls that have been 'Reaped' and help them adjust and accept that they have died. Most are not as accepting as you are. Many try to deny it, to bargain with, or even to attack their Reaper. Children can be especially difficult to help as they cannot understand what has happened. More often than not we wait for either a friend or family member to pass on the help them transition. It can be difficult to help them but most of us find it more rewarding in a way that most other things up here simply aren't."
Pyrrha nodded in understanding. "So why are we in a doctor's office?" Pyrrha finally asked since this was where souls are meant to transition to their next existence.
The man just smiled at her knowingly.
"It's for me isn't it?" groaned out Pyrrha. "You determined that this would help me transition easier just like removing my memories of the match would help me transition."
"Yes, you are correct just like those people out in the waiting room it was determined that this setting would be the most beneficial to help you move on. And judging by how well you are taking it, this was the right call. Soon your memories of the final match will return as well as your confrontation with Cinder now that you are prepared to deal with them. Now I think it's about time to see to my next patient" he told her gently still smiling lightly.
They moved towards the door Pyrrha still gripping his hand. As he moved to open the door Pyrrha's grip suddenly increased.
"Wait! What is beyond that door? It isn't a hallway anymore is it?" questioned Pyrrha nervously.
"No, it's not a hallway anymore. It will be your area. It will become whatever you want it to be. It could be a busy city street, or a clearing in the woods, or even just a plain white room waiting to take on whatever suits your fancy. If you wish for company just think of who you want to see and they will appear if they can. If someone requests your presences you will know and can visit them when you are ready. If you want to explore the universe it will show you its wonders. And if you decide to return to the Cycle it can take you there as well" explained the man.
"Now take care Pyrrha Nikos for even as your past life has come to an end this one is just beginning. Just remember you are who you choose to be in this existence and in the next."
The man released Pyrrha's hand and pulled the door open. Pyrrha tried to see what was on the other side but couldn't make anything out as everything was bathed in white light. Pyrrha looked at the man holding to door open for her. He smiled encouragingly at her. Pyrrha hesitantly smiled back.
"Thank you"
Pyrrha stepped though the doorway.
A/N: This started out as a one-shot for a time travel fic for Pyrrha to go back and change her destiny. It ended up as something quite different. I might add a second part to do just that but as it stands I'm happy with it.
Since this is my first fanfic I've ever written I don't know what to say other than enjoy it or don't. It was written for me by me I just thought you might like it.