It started like any other recent day.
Wake up, get dressed, wake the rest of the family, then wait by the front door for any word.
Maybe do some knitting, or practically anything to occupy her mind, waiting for her to call.
Ever since the horrific news footage of the destruction of Vale, then the TV network going down, not much else could be done.
She knew the chances of electronic contact was slim to none, but still kept her scroll nearby at all times, just in case.
Her husband had gone out for the few days following the attack, but he couldn't find any official news on the city.
Some said it was a hoax, some said the White Fang and Atlas had teamed up to subjugate Vale, others said the Hunters, Atlesian mechs, Atlesian human soldiers, White Fang faunus, and later, Grimm all had a free for all within said city.
But since the tower was destroyed, all the radios, cell service, even the emergency broadcast radio was silent.
She sighed. She seemed to think of the same things over and over, continually making her more and more anxious.
Her daughter was strong. One of the strongest in her class, no doubt from what she'd written home about.
'There's no way…' She began, then mentally slapped herself, 'I can't think like that. OF course she's okay. She's a Nikos. She's destined for victory.' She reassured herself.
Just then, a knock at the door startled her from her thoughts, causing her to jump out of the chair and look out the window.
She was mildly disappointed. It wasn't her daughter, just some blonde kid with ripped jeans and black hoodie.
Being the gracious hostess, Thetia Nikos opened the door, but only a crack.
"Hello… Is this the Nikos residence?" The boy asked, sounding a little nervous.
Thetia was no fool. With communication systems down, raiders and other criminals had free reign of the area.
"W=who wants to know?" she answered, peeking through the crack.
She saw three more figures standing a distance away.
Two girls and a boy, none with visible weapons.
The blonde boy, however, had a very visible sword and shieth hanging at his side.
"I-I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc… I… May I speak with you?"
"…No… there are criminals around, how do I know you're not a killer?"
He visibly winced, but stammered an explanation, "I knew your daughter. I… We… She… mmm" he mumbled something, "My teammate." He reached into his pocket and took a photo from his wallet.
She opened the door wider, squinting at the picture.
Four faces smiled back at her, Jaune, Pyrrha, and the two people behind the boy, though the male in green not as wide.
Her husband piped up from the kitchen, "Thetia, did someone mention Pyrrha?"
"What? Yes, dear!" Thetia called back, and opened the door, "You better come in! Where is she?"
Jaune and the others walked in silently, and followed the elder Nikos' motions to sit down in the living room.
Their silence disturbed her. Why didn't they talk right away?
Jaune stood up when Py walked in, shook his hand, then sat back down.
"You must be her father… I can see where she got… her looks." He said, his voice catching.
"Yeah, yeah… it's really her mother she takes after… To what do I owe this pleasure?" Py asked, always the people person.
Moments of silence passed, and Jaune seemed to visibly deflate, looking back at his friends, then to the Nikos couple.
He stood, slowly, visibly and audibly gulped, and began to talk in a wavering voice, "Ms. And Mr. Nikos, I am Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR, Ren and Nora are my teammates, and your daughter… was my partner." He motioned to the boy and pink girl…
'Wait…' something plummeted in Thetia's stomach… why hadn't he said her name?
He continued before she could think more, "Ms. And Mr. Nikos… I…" His voice cracked heavily, "…am so sorry."
The boy sank to his knees, tears forming in his eyes.
Silence reigned for a good five minutes.
"What… exactly… are you saying?" Py asked, his voice low and angry.
The blonde reached around for his backpack, and pulled something from its depths.
It was round and wrapped in a red and gold cloth, which he slowly, almost reverently unwrapped.
A bronze headdress.
Thetia stared at the object. She recognized it right away. It was her grandmothers. She'd given it to Pyrrha just before her daughter left for Beacon. She knew Pyrrha would die rather than parting with the gift… but if it was here now…
The now sobbing boy bowed his head, offering the headdress like a sacrifice to the two parents.
Py, for once in his life, was speechless. He too recognized the heirloom.
"What? No…. nononononononnonoNONONONONONONO" Thetia began to wail, the full weight of realization hitting her like a bus.
She screamed.
It was as though someone had slowly ripped a physical hole in her heart, then cauterized it with a rusty branding iron.
"MY DAUGHTER! JOY OF MY LIFE!" She screamed, writhing with literal pain.
She felt strong arms lift her, squeezing lightly. Py, her husband, had picked her up, and held her to him… but for once, she felt no warmth, no love, only deep, void-like cold.
Her steadfast husband, who'd never shed a tear in his life, sobbed into her shoulder. It was inhuman. The pain was unimaginable.
Losing a daughter was something she wouldn't have wished on the deadliest, most sadistic creature.
She felt Py carry her up the stairs into the bedroom, and leave her on the bed, then lost consciousness.
-Jaune POV-
Jaune could only stare in shock as Thetia Nikos writhed in agony. Her husband was at her side at a speed that rivaled Ruby's. They embraced for a good while, before Py looked at him.
"We… will talk. Don't go." He said, not angrily, but not exactly happily, either.
He carried his wife upstairs, then returned, sitting back down, though kept a tense posture.
"How?" he asked, "Don't leave anything out. I want to hear all of it. Even… the gory details." He spoke in a slow, somewhat uneven tone.
Jaune was surprised. He certainly wouldn't want to hear something like this… but… everyone dealt with grief differently… He'd have given anything not to relive that night, however.
He slowly explained how Cinder had tricked Pyrrha into killing Penny, thus causing Grimm to flood the city.
Ruby took over, explaining how Torchwick and the multicolored girl had hijacked a Mech control ship and caused the mechanical mutiny.
Nora sadly explained how Pyrrha was worn out after fighting hundreds of Grimm and Mechs in the school courtyard and how Ozpin had randomly shown up, drawing Jaune and Pyrrha away from the fight.
Jaune took over, and explained how he'd led them to a vault containing some kind of aura machine, and how Cinder had followed them.
"She shot an arrow… and killed the other girl…" Jaune stopped, a look of rage malforming his features, "WHY DIDN'T I JUST KEEP GUARD? If I'd have done that, then Ozpin might have been able to do something!?" He ranted.
Ruby jumped to his side, stroking his back soothingly.
"Jaune… you said Pyrrha was screaming… I would have done the same in your position…" she whispered into his ear.
He was able to calm down, eventually, and continue the story.
"After that, Ozpin told us to leave… since Cinder had all the weird firepower now, and told us to go get help… then, in the courtyard… we saw Cinder fly up to the top of the tower… and Pyrrha was gonna go after her… and… she…" he stopped.
He hadn't told anyone what happened after that before… but he felt like they needed to know.
He couldn't imagine the kind of pain her parents were going through right now… but likewise they couldn't understand his pain.
They'd loved her all her life, and she loved them back equally, if not more.
He didn't have that luxury. He'd only known of her affections for a short time… it gave him hope, a strong burst of hope and trust that was brutally taken away after only an hour or two… He felt they needed to know, however, and pushed on.
"She… kissed me. I… never knew how she felt about me… and here I was asking her for advice on other women…" he said, berating himself once again, and once again, Ruby stroked his back, whispering reassurances to him.
Ruby took over, "Well, sir, Jaune called us after he crashlanded in a locker… she'd apparently forced him into one and sent it away… but he was begging us to save her… so we went after her. Weiss, my teammate, set gravity glyphs up the entire side of the tower, and I ran up…" It was Ruby's turn to tear up, "when I got to the top… I saw them… Cinder standing over her, with her stupid bow… and… I'm sorry, I can't…" Ruby said, breaking down.
Py saw it though. His semblance, though mostly unwanted most of the time, was to see the foremost memory of people he focused on.
He saw what Cinder did to his dear daughter, and had to force back the rising bile that built up in his throat.
He hated that bitch… and he hated these children. He liked to consider himself a reasonable man… but he couldn't help but despise them. They'd come into his house, and dared talk to him of his daughters death… even though he asked, he'd almost wished they'd said they didn't know.
"I see… I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave… I know it is none of your faults, none at all, but… I can't even look at you right now…" He rose, pointing to the door, then left the room, climbing back up to his wife.
It would take some time for them to… even consider the possibility of healing. He knew they would always have a hole in their hearts, but he had a saying. They could mourn for a while, mourn for as long as necessary, but they needed to do one thing. The one saying that, like the headpiece, was an ancient family heirloom.
"Keep moving forward."
A/N: Please Read, Like, and Review!