"Salutations yet again, Pyrrha Nikos!" a sweet female voice composed of pure enthusiasm sang. "It's sensational seeing you again so soon! And here, of all places!"

Pyrrha's eyes snapped open and she reflexively grabbed at her chest where, only an instant before, she had endured the worst pain of her life. She was laying on her back on the ground which was covered in grass, she realized, quickly sitting up and assuming the fighting stance she could from this vulnerable position. She had to be ready for the next attack, which may have come at any time. She had thought she was finished, but perhaps she wasn't. She had to be ready.

But where exactly was she?

Blinking, Pyrrha looked around, finding herself under a bright, cloudless sky in a wide open field as far as the eye could see with rolling hills and pleasant, wonderfully green grass that was just long enough to blow slightly in the mild breeze. The grass tickled the exposed skin on her thighs as Pyrrha slowly massaged her chest, which wasn't even slightly in pain anymore.

"Are you okay...?" the voice asked, inquisitively.

Pyrrha whirled to her left and the speaker came into view, standing not three feet from her.

It was Penny Polendina, who smiled widely and gave an animated wave of greeting.

That didn't make any sense whatsoever. Penny was... gone. Pyrrha knew full well that she had done that herself, even if she hadn't meant to. It was a fact and a thought that Pyrrha had been steadfastly ignoring; she had a lot of important things on her mind and she didn't exactly want to dwell on what she had just done to Penny.

But now, there Penny was.

"Penny...?" Pyrrha said quietly, barely able to suppress a gasp.

Penny looked overjoyed. "That is correct!"

"But..." Pyrrha said, clambering to find the words. "That doesn't make any sense... I... I killed you..."

"That was the conclusion I came to as well," Penny proclaimed, utterly unperturbed.

"Then that means..." Pyrrha said, trailing off, the memories of her final battle and last moments finally catching up to her and impacting her soul with the force of an avalanche.

"Yes, that means we are both dead," Penny finished for her, still sounding remarkably unconcerned. "At least, that's what I think."

Tears began forming in Pyrrha's eyes. She had failed. She had failed everyone. She could have made all of the difference but she hadn't helped or saved anyone. The tears began streaming down her cheeks and she buried her face in her hands, suddenly sobbing.

Nothing she had done had mattered. She hadn't made a single difference. In the end, she had changed not a single thing. She was supposed to be able to help everyone, but she had utterly and entirely let them all down.

For the first time, Penny looked shocked. "Oh, no! Don't cry, Pyrrha Nikos!" She flailed her hands about dramatically, obviously unsure how to even begin providing comfort for the crying girl.

Thankfully, Pyrrha had always possessed a stoic demeanor and she was able to get her crying under control. She wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled them close to her body, keeping her eyes shut and breathing in the pristinely clean air deeply, over and over, trying to focus her mind and recover her composure.

Penny, unsure of what to say, looked on as she nervously played with her hands and clutched at her dress.

Pyrrha knew she was dead; she knew it. Her opponent, that awful woman, had killed her. So, where was she and what was happening?

Raising her head and opening her eyes, Pyrrha surveyed the wide open field with rolling hills and flowing grass until her eyes came to rest on Penny, who looked stunningly concerned about her.

"Are you all right?" Penny asked quietly.

"...Yes," Pyrrha finally responded, focusing her thoughts on Penny. "Penny... I'm so sorry about what I did to you..."

Penny cocked her head. "Why?"

Pyrrha blinked. "Because I didn't mean to..."

"Oh, I know that," Penny said simply. "I could tell that it wasn't your intention to hurt me."

"But how could you..." Pyrrha trailed off, the overwhelming feeling of guilt now emanating from her chest like radiation.

"I had always hoped that we would meet in battle during the tournament," Penny said, balling her right hand into a fist and punching it into her other hand. "I studied many, many hours of any combat footage I could find of you."

Pyrrha just stared, entirely unsure of what to make of this.

"There was a look that you gave me right before I woke up here," Penny continued. "It was an expression I had never seen from you in any of your battles that I studied. You looked surprised. You maybe even looked a little scared. I knew immediately that you hadn't meant to hurt me."

"I..." Pyrrha said. "Suddenly, you had hundreds, maybe even thousands of swords. I didn't know what to do; I just... reacted."

Penny cocked her head and stared, confused, for a moment before breaking out in a burst of melodious laughter. "Oh, nonsense, Pyrrha Nikos! I don't have nearly that many of them!"

"But..." Pyrrha trailed off. "I saw them..."

Now Penny looked fascinated and excited, like she was confronted with a mysterious puzzle that she would take great satisfaction in solving.

"That is most interesting!" she exclaimed. "I wonder what could have caused that." She raised her hand to her chin and massaged it with her thumb and pointer finger, looking into the distance and thinking for a moment.

"Perhaps we'll never know," she finally added, shrugging. "It was an accident, though, I'm sure... What happened to you, Pyrrha Nikos? Why are you here?"

"I..." Pyrrha looked away, not at all ready to talk about her failure. "I just... Couldn't do it."

Penny cocked her head yet again. "We can always talk about it later, if you'd like."

"Maybe," Pyrrha said, shaking her head slightly. "Where are we? Do you know?"

"I certainly do not!" Penny responded excitedly. "I've been here for a little while, I suppose. I woke up and I've been walking in this direction and then I found you!"

Was this the afterlife? Pyrrha look around yet again, trying to focus her eyes on the farthest point away from her as she could. No matter where she looked, or how far she tried to see, the rolling hills of grass continued on for what seemed like infinity. Was this what happened when one died? Was here where people ended up? What was this place and what were they all supposed to accomplish here?

Then, another thought hit her, one that she was genuinely surprised and terribly upset hadn't occurred to her until just now. She felt the tears well in her eyes again.

"Juane..." she whispered. "I'm so sorry..."

"Juane, Ruby's friend?" Penny asked. "From your team?"

"Yes." Pyrrha wiped the newly formed tears from her eyes.

"Was he your friend, too?"

"Yes," Pyrrha repeated. "Though, I had always hoped..." She trailed off again.

"We don't have to talk about that now, either," Penny said firmly, shaking her head. "Say, Pyrrha Nikos, would you like to be my friend? I don't have many of them and I always wanted to make more."

"Why would you want to be my friend?" Pyrrha asked, surprised. "After what I've done to you?"

"Because you didn't mean to, of course!" Penny threw her arms out in an incredibly over exaggerated shrug. "Plus, I suppose under the circumstances it's okay to tell you... I'm not a real girl."

This was yet another thought that hadn't occurred to Pyrrha in a little while. She had seen perfectly well what had happened to Penny and what the ultimate result was. Penny was, of course, a robot.

But then that only led to yet another question.

"If you're not a real girl," Pyrrha asked, "then how are you here...?"

Looking profoundly surprised, Penny thought about this revelation for a few moments. "Well, I am the first synthetic person that can generate an aura," she said. "How interesting!"

"Then, I'd say you're real enough." Pyrrha almost smiled for a brief moment, before she frowned instead, suddenly despondent and looked away. This wasn't lost on Penny.

"I don't blame you!" Penny stated loudly, yet reassuringly. "You didn't mean to hurt me, correct?"

"Of course I didn't!" Pyrrha exclaimed, horrified.

"Then don't worry about it! I'm certainly not upset."

Penny extended her right hand. "So, would you like to be friends, Pyrrha Nikos?"

Staring at Penny's tiny offered hand for a few moments, debating, Pyrrha finally accepted it and the smaller girl effortlessly helped her to her feet.

Pyrrha felt dizzy for a few moments, as she adjusted to all of this new unknown. Before too long, the dizziness cleared and the correct path to take was obvious to her.

"Yes, Penny. Of course I'll be your friend. Call me Pyrrha. Just Pyrrha."

Penny gasped, smiling ear to ear before she embraced Pyrrha, hugging her more tightly than she could have imagined possible.

"That is sensational!" she sang, over-enunciating the syllables of the final word.

Letting Pyrrha go, she smiled up at her. "Well, what would you like to do now, new friend Pyrrha?"

"I don't know..." Pyrrha said softly, looking around her. Neither she nor Penny seemed to have their weapons, though their attire remained unchanged.

Looking around once more at the flowing fields and hills of grass, Pyrrha realized that she had a lot of thinking to do. She already missed everyone; her friends, her team... And Juane most especially. But, there was nothing more she could do now about any of that, it seemed.

Wiping away another tear as soon it formed, she knew that she had to look forward to discovering whatever this place was and figuring out what her purpose here might be.

Was this where she was meant to be all along?

"Penny..." Pyrrha began. "Do you believe in destiny?"

"I'm not at all sure," the orange haired girl responded, thinking for a bit. "But I would like to know all of your thoughts and opinions on the subject, new friend!"

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Pyrrha spotted movement. Spinning her head slightly, she saw a figure appear in the distance.

Seeing this sudden move from her new friend, Penny followed Pyrrha's gaze and she too saw the person.

Grinning again, Penny began waving vigorously. "Salutations, mysterious stranger!" she called joyously.

After a few moments, Pyrrha recognized who it was.

"That's the Fall Maiden," she stated, stunned.

Penny spun to face her. "Oh, you know her? That's wonderful!"

Turning back to the Fall Maiden, who was rapidly approaching them, Penny waved again. "Salutations, Fall Maiden!"

Then, turning back to Pyrrha yet again, Penny smiled even wider, if such a concept were even possible. "It looks like she wants to speak with us! Come on, new friend, let's go!"

Pyrrha understood perfectly that she and Penny were dead. She understood that she would likely never see Juane or any of her other friends ever again. But now, she had to know what her purpose here was. She glanced at Penny, who was beginning to move towards to Fall Maiden gesturing enthusiastically for her to follow.

So she did.

Pyrrha had so many new questions now and she was determined to discover the answers to them. She owed everyone that much, at least. She owed Penny that much. Maybe she even owed it to herself.

Together, Pyrrha and Penny began walking through the grass towards the Fall Maiden, with Penny talking rapidly and excitedly the whole way.

Author's Note:

I love these characters. Penny is my absolute favorite character on the show and Pyrrha was high on the list of favorites as well. I was utterly heartbroken and devastated when they both died. So, I thought of this simple little story as a method of meditation on something that actually really affected me. Even if they bring Penny back in the show, which is a possibility, that doesn't matter to me in the context of this story. Hope you enjoyed it and maybe even took some form of comfort from it. I know I did by writing it.
I should also mention I had Dead To The World, by Röyksopp on repeat when I wrote it.