My little attempt at creating a past for everyone's favorite crimson champion. I haven't really seen anyone else try to explore Pyrrha's past way back when she was in Mistral in detail. For this I went to Greek mythology, everyone knows that Pyrrha is based Achilles, that (in)famous fighter from the Trojan War.
This fic is primarily drama, I'm trying to develop a backstory for Pyrrha, maybe give reasons for the things she does and her motivation for doing so.
With that idea in mind, I set out to try to create a whole cast of OCs, nearly all of them based on some character from the Iliad and the alternate Greco-Roman mythologies surrounding the war. Hopefully those of who are well versed in the Trojan cycle will be enjoy the various references I've tried to put into the story.
"Jump Ruby!" Jaune screamed as Ruby activated her semblance and dashed towards the edge of the cliff, a horde of Grimm on her heels. As she reached the edge, she jumped with all her might and fired several shots from crescent rose, the recoil propelling her upwards…
Just far enough to be caught by Jaune and pulled into the bullhead that was leaving the area.
"Oh man, that was close!" Ruby gasped out as she fell on the floor of the bullhead.
"Yeah, thank goodness we made it." Jaune sat down with his head in his hands.
"You guys are some lucky bastards I'll give you that." Scarlet smiled.
"Yeah thank goodness we answered your call, who knows what might've happened if we didn't." Sun nodded, Team RNJR smiled at Team SSSN.
Finally, after what had seemed like an eternity on the road, place to place, village to village, fighting Grimm on and off, getting lost on occasion, long nights spent crying in memory of their fallen friend.
They were finally on their way to Haven Academy.
"So what can we do for you guys? Need a shower or food or a place to sleep or something?" Sun grinned.
"Yeah…actually," Jaune took a golden circlet out of his satchel bag as he tried not to heave, "we were wondering if you knew anyone who would've known Pyrrha well before she came to Beacon, something to pass on to them."
"Er…well…" Sun scratched his head, "any ideas guys?" He looked at the rest of the team.
"I suppose you could look for her old mentor, Pallas Minerva." Neptune replied with a shrug.
"Of course! I don't know Pyrrha well but I do know she trained under Pallas Minerva for a while." Sun nodded.
"Who's she?"
"Ruby let me just tell you straight that she is a goddess in mortal form, she is Mistral's single greatest Grimm slayer and teacher, every one of her students is like, some Grimm-slaying badass that can fight like ten thousand Grimm in a day and come out none the worse for the wear." Sun nodded sagely and folded his arms.
"Whoa." Ruby went wide-eyed at that.
"You're not just blowing hot air at us are you?" Jaune gave a skeptical look and then went quite green.
"Nope!" Sun shook his head, "You'll believe it when you see it for yourself."
Not too long later, the bullhead touched down at a landing pad in Haven, both Teams exited the craft with Jaune leaning on Ruby for support. The instant his feet touched solid ground he dashed over to a nearby trash can and dry-heaved into it, his stomach being empty from a lack of food out in the wilderness. At the same time, the rest of Team RNJR took in the sights.
Unlike Beacon Academy which had been built at the edge of a cliff, Haven had been built into the side of a large mountain range with the CCT peeking out over the top of the range, compared to Beacon; Haven more resembled a towering castle in its appearance. It even had a long wall that appeared to have battlements at the top surrounding the entire place.
"Welcome to Haven Academy." Sun turned to look at them and threw his arms out in a welcoming gesture. Team RNJR's eyes were wide with awe as they looked around them.
"Come on, we'll take you to the Professor, she's probably watching over a bunch of sparring sessions now." Sun gestured for them to follow, they walked through several open corridors and past several structures before they came upon an open-air space where several students were sparring with one another. At one side they found who they were looking for.
Pallas Minerva wore long white robes around her that exposed her arms; she had long, curly brown hair and had a face that –although clearly worn from time and battle- radiated wisdom and strength. She was watching over several students sparring with each other in the large space.
"Professor Minerva!" Sun called out as they approached, she turned her head to regard them.
"Is there something you need Mr. Wukong?" She gave a faint smile.
"Yeah," Sun gestured to Team RNJR, "these guys are friends of mine from Vale, they came here on their own after Beacon fell, and they ah…have some bad news." Sun gave a look.
"Ah, so these are the hunters that escaped from Vale, it is a wonder that you have made it so far and so well on this long journey away from your home, I daresay that it is a pleasure to host you here, though I believe we both wish it were under better circumstances." Minerva greeted with a bow of her head.
"The pleasure is ours Professor Minerva, thanks for having us." Ruby gave a little nod in acknowledgement.
"And what tidings do you bring here from Vale? I doubt that you come to us as mere messengers, the last that I heard from Mr. Wukong here was grim news indeed."
"Yeah, that was a madhouse." Sun shivered a little.
Jaune explained as best as he could the events of that night after the tournament, the battle of Beacon, the vault, Cinder receiving the Fall maiden's power, ending with Pyrrha chasing her to the top of the tower and to her death. Ruby, Ren and Nora filled in the various parts as best as they could with Team SSSN adding in their own experiences, throughout their explanation Minerva maintained a mostly impassive face, only merely nodding appropriately at various points in their story.
"Ah I see…" Minerva paused as a solemn expression passed over her face, "well this is…troubling news indeed, I had hoped in the aftermath of her battle with that strange android that she would find her own way out of the chaos, rather than get sucked into it." The aged woman sighed and turned away.
"And so what will you do now hunters of Vale? I can offer temporary lodgings if you wish." She said.
"We were actually hoping to find any hints as to the whereabouts or her killers, we know they came to Vale disguised as Haven students, that and…return this to her family or any friends she had, maybe give her a proper funeral." Jaune fingered the tiara.
Minerva nodded, "I will look into the matter for you, as for Pyrrha…well…" The woman sighed, "if you knew Pyrrha then you must've known that she had few to no friends here, the pedestal on which others placed her was high indeed, and yet…" She trailed off again and had a thoughtful look on her face.
"Yes," She furrowed her brow, "if there is anyone who at least deserves to know of her fate than he of all the people she ever knew deserves it."
"Who's he?" Ruby asked.
"You'll find out soon enough little rose, Ms. Altan come over here for a moment!" Minerva called out to a dark-skinned blonde off in one corner; she stopped what she was doing at that moment and quickly made her way over to the group.
"You called ma'am?" Arslan said.
"Yes, I need you to find me everyone's favorite student." Minerva deadpanned.
"That guy?" Arslan made a disgusted face on hearing that, "What're you looking for him for ma'am?" she asked as Team SSSN rapidly disappeared from the scene without anyone noticing.
"It is not I that is looking for him Ms. Altan, rather they are." Minerva gestured to Team RNJR, Ruby's eyes lit up.
"Hey, aren't you the…" She scratched her head to try and remember where she had seen Arslan before.
"The one you faced at Vytal? That's me Arslan Altan, it's good to see you again Ruby, I'm sorry we couldn't do more to save Beacon." She nodded apologetically.
"It's alright, what's done is done." Ruby smiled back.
"Getting back to the matter at hand Ms. Altan, they have brought grave news to Mistral," Minerva sighed sadly, Arslan raised her eyebrows and waited for an explanation, "Pyrrha Nikos, champion of our kingdom, fell in battle against the accursed witch who ruined the tournament." Minerva finished.
"I…see…" Arslan hung her head, "well if our champion is gone then what happens now?"
"Well with the CCT down it fell to us to bring the news back and try the hunt for her killer here in Mistral, do you know of any close acquaintances she had?" Ren asked.
"Well like I said there is just one left who could claim to have known her on a personal basis." Minerva gave a look at Arslan, who promptly took a step back and raised her hands, the look of disgust returning.
"Hold on a minute ma'am, as much as I would love to a help, I fail to see how-"
"If there is someone who would yet mourn her truly for the person she was, then there are no others save for him and her family." Minerva replied tersely.
"But…do I have to?" Arslan hung her head and clenched her fist; Minerva put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"If there is anyone who deserves to know her fate, it is he. Go now, find Argent and bring him here."
"Why don't you just call him yourself?" Arslan rolled her eyes.
"Because it is quite likely that he has gone to take a nap somewhere outside the academy grounds and therefore, it is most unlikely that he would answer any call from anyone, so go on then." Minerva returned the eye roll.
"Fine, but I'll need backup, hey Bolin! Reese! Nadir! Get your butts over here!" Arslan called out. And very quickly, the other three members of Team ABRN were in front of her.
"Present and accounted for leader." Reese nodded.
"Right for today, we…need…to…go…find…" Arslan forced out every single word out of her mouth, and then gave a strong inhale to get ready to force out the name that was groaned out everywhere in Haven.
"Find…?" Reese raised an eyebrow.
"Argent." Arslan let out in a single short gasp, and instantly BRN was in uproar.
"OH NUTS TO THAT!" Reese shouted.
"A most troubling prospect." Nadir nodded in agreement.
"Is there nothing better to do?" Bolin asked with a heavy sigh.
"Alright calm yourselves all of you! At this instant!" With those words Minerva quelled the momentary racket, "Pyrrha Nikos has perished in battle, dying to try and buy time to save more lives, if anything, her comrade at least deserves to know of her fate."
"Is he even her comrade? No offense ma'am but I never got the sense they were close in any way." Reese raised her arms.
Minerva sighed loudly, "Look, I know I've asked a lot of you for him Arslan, but please just at least do this one thing, not for me or him but in the memory of our champion."
Arslan gave a dejected look and a sigh of resignation, "alright ma'am, come along guys, let's look for that guy." And so with a loud and exaggerated groan from Reese and an equally loud and exaggerated sigh from Bolin, the group set off to search for the one called Argent.
"Hey where did Team SSSN go?" Ruby asked, looking around for them.
"Probably ran for it the instant they figured out what we were doing." Arslan snorted.
"So who is this Argent person? I don't think Pyrrha ever mentioned him, is he like her…err…boyfriend or something?" Ruby asked, Jaune twitched a little at the word 'boyfriend'.
"That's what celebrity gossip would have you believe, Argent Evnooú is first and foremost Pyrrha Nikos' primary rival in the Mistral Regional Tournament, so whether or not they were closer than that is a matter for him to explain." Arslan replied.
"Rival? Wait how come we're just learning of this?" Nora wondered.
"Well you know what they say," Bolin shrugged, "no one ever remembers second-best."
"No I mean like, how come Pyrrha never mentioned him? Like ever?" Nora corrected.
"Who knows? Maybe he's a bad memory she'd rather not ever bring up in front of other people, I mean I certainly wish he was nothing but a bad memory." Reese shook her head.
"If he's such a horrible person how do you know him anyway?" Jaune questioned.
"We have a working relationship with him; he has no team of his own so he usually goes on joint team missions with others, most can't stand him though, Professor Pallas attaches him to other teams so that he can still make the grade" Bolin explained, "he seems to be nicer to us on a whole though, so I guess that works for us?" He shrugged.
"Is he that bad? And how can you go on joint team missions with one other person?"
"Cuz he's a whole team on his own, he's that damn good. And he's got an attitude about him that damn near no one can put up with." Reese complained.
"A whole team huh?" Jaune looked downcast, recalling the time when Pyrrha had faced Team CRDL on her own. It had only been months and yet it felt like several lifetimes had passed since those days that they would never have back.
"He used to owe us a few favors here and there for us allowing him to piggyback on some of our missions; it was the foundation of our working relationship, so he should at least listen to me." Arslan stated.
"I thought it was just because he liked Reese." Bolin remarked.
"Aw shut up Bolin! As if I'd ever like that sort of person back." Reese protested and stuck her tongue out.
They fell into a comfortable silence as they walked. Eventually, they reached and passed the courtyard, exiting the academy grounds and into a wooded area, a river ran by the side of the academy, and a cool breeze blew through the area. It was a peaceful and serene sight; it certainly reminded Team RNJR of their own Beacon Academy in Vale, now little more than a pile of ruins in the aftermath of the battle.
"Y'know as much as we kinda hate the guy, you gotta admit he has good taste, I can see why he takes naps out here." Reese noted.
"Yes, the area where our academy was chosen to be built was meant to be a place was calm and serenity, a haven and a sanctuary for those seeking a place far from any kind of conflict or chaos." Nadir smiled.
"He can't be that bad a person if he likes the peace and quiet, I mean even if he is a major jerk or something I can't see how a bad person would like this place." Ruby commented.
"It's the other way around Ruby; it's a place like this that can make even a person like him enjoy it." Nadir corrected.
"Well regardless of all that, I think I see him." Arslan pointed out a lone figure in the distance.
It was a tranquil scene, the man wore the standard uniform of Haven academy, he was lying down on his back on the short slope of the embankment in the shade of a large tree. Below him the river went by at an even pace, a muted rushing of water. The trees rustled a little from the wind blowing, leaves falling down over the group.
It was a near picture perfect scene.
As they drew nearer to the man, Arslan spoke, "Let me go first, he doesn't take all that kindly to any random strangers trying to talk to him so I'll try and…well…I guess 'soften' is a little weird but you get my point?" She looked at them.
Ruby nodded, "sure, we'll just wait for you here."
"Hey get up you lazy asshole, you've got some visitors." Arslan walked up to the man and stopped a little distance away, folded her arms and spoke to the man. To Team RNJR's surprise the man turned on his side away from Arslan with an annoyed growl.
"Go the fuck away Arslan, I already paid you back your fifty lien." He answered with no small amount of irritation in his voice.
"Didn't you hear me you idiot? It's not me that's here for you today, you've got visitors." Arslan strongly emphasized the last word in her sentence.
"I don't recall hiring you as a secretary, but would you kindly tell them to go away for me? I'm not taking challengers today." He talked right back without so much as a pause between the two. As the two went back and forth a few times, meanwhile the rest of the group stayed a short distance away, remaining within total earshot of their conversation.
"Whoa he…he doesn't seem very friendly." Ruby frowned upon hearing the exchange.
"No, he's not," Bolin sighed, "On the other hand besides family, I don't think anyone else can claim to be as close to Pyrrha as he is, or rather was."
"I find it hard to believe that a person like that could be close to Pyrrha." Jaune snorted.
"Yes it does seem strange; I suppose in the course of your stay here you may very well end up digging up old skeletons in dusty closets." Nadir smirked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jaune railed on Nadir who merely gave him a look.
"I'm saying that you might end up finding things you might not have wished to find, Pyrrha Nikos may have been a public figure but she kept her private life closely guarded, I doubt if even you can say you truly know her at all." Was the reply, Jaune looked away, it was kind of true in that regard, Pyrrha had only been his partner for a couple of months before the fall of beacon, in that time…what had he learned about her? That she did not like being put on a pedestal, that is had isolated her, and that she believed in destiny as a goal to be worked towards…which got her killed by that flaming bitch.
"Arslan seems to be keeping her distance though." Ren noted.
"Yeah well, I mean he is a very dangerous person, I wouldn't go even as near to him as our leader is now." Reese shrugged.
"Dangerous how? Like dangerous as in, could be a threat to our lives dangerous or dangerous like cool dangerous?" Nora asked.
"How 'bout, dangerous like the only person who ever put Pyrrha Nikos on her ass in a fight?" Reese raised her eyebrows and looked at Nora, Team RNJR stared at her for a moment before she continued, "dangerous like if Pyrrha Nikos is the 'invincible girl' then Argent Evnooú is the 'favored of the gods', dangerous like before Pyrrha Nikos was the invincible girl he broke then three-time champion Mars' record and threw him out…in the quarter-finals." Reese seemed to shudder a little.
"Wait, which regional tournament would this have been?" Ruby asked.
"The one where Pyrrha started her winning streak of course," Reese replied airily, "they faced off against each other in the finals. If I recall correctly it was a battle for the ages, Pyrrha won obviously, but it was such a close fight those who can still remember it think it might've been a draw instead." Reese took a breath, "I've seen some of the replays and I can tell it was spectacular watching the two go at it."
"Whoa, he must be a very strong fighter." Ruby responded with awe, even Jaune gave a bit of a hard gulp at that, Pyrrha had put him down more times than he cared to count in their long training sessions together, and then there was her four-on-one fight with Team CRDL, and also her match with Penny, for someone else to be capable of putting her down in turn, it immediately spoke volumes of their capability to them as people who had already witnessed Pyrrha's skill.
"It was the biggest upset in the history of the tournament," Bolin nodded, "at the time Mars had been the favorite to win the tournament, I remember people everywhere thought that there was no way some upstart children were going to fight in the finals, while those are all old memories now, some still believe Pyrrha might not have won the tournament if Argent hadn't put Aerite down first."
"Yes yes for the five millionth time I heard you so please just go away and let me enjoy the peace and quiet." They turned back to watch Arslan and Argent, Argent maintained a completely dismissive tone in his voice as he made a shooing motion with one hand.
"I just said Pyrrha Nikos is dead and her friends are here, did you not even care at all?" Arslan growled indignantly as she grit her teeth, as always Argent was the most impossible man in the whole of Remnant, the world could be falling apart at the seams and he would be more concerned with finding a place to sleep.
"Yes yes," He waved her off, "I'll give a damn about them and her some other day now leave me in peace." So saying he lifted a book from his side, opened it to a random page and put it on his face. Arslan's eyebrow verily twitched, but she clawed herself down to calmness and stormed back to the group.
"Well I give up," Arslan threw her hands up into the air and looked apologetically at Team RNJR, "sorry but I don't think he's in a talking mood at the moment." She gave a weak smile.
"Why didn't he react when you said it was about Pyrrha? Aren't they supposed to be close?" Ruby lifted an eyebrow.
"They're as close as rivals are close Ruby, I don't think he believed me, or maybe he genuinely doesn't care anymore, who knows? I think maybe we should wait a while before-"
"Wait a while? For what?" Jaune asked in an annoyed tone, he was getting sick of the strange dissonance in his head. Pyrrha, kind, humble, all-loving Pyrrha was a companion to this cocky, arrogant, and downright rude man? It did not make the least amount of sense to him, there was no way in hell Pyrrha could have been a friend to this…this person.
So with that thought in mind, he stormed right up to Argent, who had seemingly gone right back to sleep once Arslan had left.
"Jaune what're you doing?" Ruby asked in a shocked tone.
"Hey! What do you think you're-" Arslan tried to stop him but Jaune shoved her right away and stopped right in front of Argent.
"Do you believe in destiny?" Jaune hissed out angrily as he glared at the lackadaisical man who had seemingly gone right back to sleep in front of all of them.
Instantly, the mood changed.
To everyone's complete surprise, in response Argent then proceeded to raise one hand, gripped the book tightly and lifted it of his face just enough so that everyone could see him return Jaune's glare with an even fiercer one. Jaune himself was surprised by the reaction but would not falter as Argent finally pulled the book from his face after a moment and stared right at Jaune, light brown eyes boring holes into blue ones.
"I hate that thing the most." He spat back with a voice full of venom and fury.
The fandom loves to portray Pyrrha as the Goddess of Victory, this hasn't always sat well with me, so I went and decided to portray the actual goddess of victory.
Pallas Minerva's identity is of course incredibly obvious, none other than the Greek Goddess of Wisdom Athena (Sometimes called Pallas Athena, Nike Athena etc.).
I'd say that Argent's mythological basis is pretty obvious with the hints that I have given, but only for anyone with a better than passing knowledge of the Iliad, you'd probably need to be an enthusiast at least to be able to figure him out, this is because compared to those around him this guy is pretty obscure, but I'm sure someone will figure it out. I can't possibly be the only Greek Mythology enthusiast in the fandom.
That said, I look forward to seeing you guys guess his identity.
All your reviews, favs and follows are appreciated!