An AU where Pyrrha gets to live a little longer. As a last-ditch effort, she goes to... Weiss? Plot by the admin of the RWBY Academy Facebook page, Weiss. Rated T for Terribly-sorry for-y'all-to-experience Pyrrha's-death-again.
I've altered it to make more sense into the story.
Experimenting with 3rd person perspectives and POV shifts, since I mostly write in 1st person.
"Do you believe in destiny?"
Cinder frowned, narrowing her eyes.
"Yes," she said with utmost certainty.
Cinder stood back up and formed an obsidian bow and arrow again. She pulled the arrow back, lowering the bow to aim at her weakened opponent.
Pyrrha was absolutely frightened; her breathing erratic. Several thoughts flooded her mind. Escape was the primal. She wanted to run. She wanted to dodge the arrow and beat that monster of a woman. But she wanted to win. She wanted to see her dead, for everything she caused.
Yet, her logical mind said otherwise. She couldn't win. She was out of aura. Out of energy. It ached all around. She couldn't move. Her body wouldn't let her.
So much for the 'invincible girl'.
Pyrrha closed her eyes, accepting the fate that awaited her. The arrow loosened. Fate toyed with her as time slowed to a crawl. Pyrrha took that time to think about her crush. Her lover. The sensation of his lips upon hers. She could almost feel the touch they had. One last thought came to her mind.
I love you, Jaune.
Time resumed, and Pyrrha felt as if hot magma was poured into her chest, followed by stinging pain. It was too much to take. A short gasp managed to escape her lips before she sunk into oblivion.
Cinder walked away from the dying body with pride, twirling said body's crown. A slow, torturous death for the so-called 'invincible girl'. She chuckled. How fitting.
She then grabbed her scroll - which was tightly placed in a melted crack and encased in her obsidian for good measure - and pressed a couple of buttons. She reviewed the footage and smiled.
"Two souvenirs for my master plan," she hummed, keeping her scroll back into her pocket. Salem would highly praise her. Watts wouldn't have anything to say.
She hopped off the tower, using the - no - her maiden powers to descend to the ground floor. The Dragon Grimm followed close behind her, flapping its mighty wings.
Suddenly, a bullet rocketed towards her mid-flight. She deflected it with ease. She looked down at her assailant. Red, as what Roman Torchwick called her. Behind her was the Schnee heiress, keeping the Grimm at bay with an open dome of ice. She knew it wouldn't hold for long. Red kept shooting at her.
Cinder smirked. Such futile attempts. She incinerated all of them at once and landed inside the ice dome, purposefully melting some of it. The Grimm Dragon landed in a more unfashionable way, trying to land on the ice crystals, cracking them, but then decided that the ground was a better platform instead.
"Stay," commanded Cinder. The Dragon obliged, somewhat subdued. The Grimm continued using whatever they could to make their way in. The Dragon did nothing but watch, like a puppy awaiting commands from its master. How adorable.
Red made a battle cry and charged at Cinder; her sniper now transformed into a scythe. Cinder blocked it with Pyrrha's crown. Red's silver eyes widened in shock. She immediately recoiled back to her original position. Her weapon was still aimed at Cinder, albeit with shaking hands.
"Where's Pyrrha!? What did you do to her!?" she screamed, on the verge of tears.
"Don't you worry, child. She is merely enjoying her death." Cinder then placed the crown on her head, relishing the moment of being Queen. Oh, how she always wanted to be one.
"W-what?"
"Do you need proof?"
Before waiting for a reply, Cinder tossed her scroll right in front of Red's feet. It replayed the last part of the battle in full volume. Again. And again. Looping.
"No..." Red breathed weakly, dropping to her knees. Cinder grinned sadistically.
"Ruby! What happened? What did she say to you? Ugh..." Cracks were eating away Weiss' prison of ice. She stabbed her weapon into the ground again. More chunks of ice surrounded them, closer this time.
"Pyrrha... No... Not her too..." Red sobbed uncontrollably, hugging her small frame in small breaths.
Good, Cinder thought. Let her suffer. Let them all know that their star pupil — Ozpin's star pupil — was nothing compared to her.
But then...
"PYRRHA!"
White wing-like lights gushed out of the girl's eyes. It was blinding. Painful. She couldn't think straight. Her consciousness was fading. The Grimm Dragon screeched as if it was in pain. She thought she heard the Schnee say something. Only one word slipped out of her mouth; shock overcoming her very body.
"WHAT!?"
Pyrrha was awakened by a piercing roar. Her eyes snapped open, but it was blinded by a brilliant white light. She instinctively shut them.
This must be it. It's the afterlife. She was dead.
But when she opened her eyes, after some adjustments to her vision, she was at the same place where she 'died'. It was quiet. Too quiet. Where was all the Grimm? What happened while she was out?
Pyrrha took her 'first' breath of air, but that was a mistake. Her chest stung and burned. She collapsed again onto the floor; her back now facing the sky.
She felt something sharp on her hands. She looked down. Glass fragments. The arrow was gone, she realized. Its remains left cuts on her palms. They weren't healing. Her aura was out. Something was preventing it from healing. The burning sensation in her chest was still there.
Pyrrha painfully pieced the glass together to vaguely make out her reflection. She saw orange glowing cracks sprouting from the middle of her chest, where the arrow was shot. Even her breastplates were cracking along. There was no blood leaking. It was agonizing. Every breath. Every movement. It flared up her entire body.
What in Remnant did that woman do?
She was dying. That was certain. But what should she do when she's at death's door? Lay there? No! She needed to get out of here. But where?
Jaune? No, she had already said her goodbyes to him. She didn't want to break his heart yet another time. The rest of her team? Hell if she knows where they were. Team RWBY? Don't know.
Carved instinct told her anywhere but here. So she did. She staggered towards the longer third of Miló and intact Akoúo ̱ and used the spear as a walking stick. She made the mistake of rushing, which caused the cracks to quicken its process, stretching it to her entire torso. Pyrrha immediately stopped, and carefully took smaller, slower steps. It was still cracking, but it wasn't as fast as before. Rather, it was extremely slow. She immediately understood how it works.
She eyed down at the entrance she had used to get to Cinder. The elevator was blown to bits. All that's left was a giant hole. There were no stairs. Funny how the school didn't implement them for emergencies. She dragged a few debris down to the hole with her foot and strained her ears to listen.
Nothing. No sound. Not even a single thud. Pyrrha's choices slimmed to a mere one. There was no other way to go down. She had no sharp objects to climb down, and even if she did, she lacked the strength to do so. It was going to be quite the drop.
She had done this before. But now she didn't even have Aura to protect her. She can't complain in this situation.
Have to position it right. Calculate the angles. Analyze the trajectory. Ignore the pain.
She nodded. It should work. Maybe. Probably. Placing Akoúo behind the edge of the hole, she squeezed her entire body onto it, locking herself into place with her feet in the handle and slowly moving the shield forward with Miló on her master hand.
Pyrrha chuckled dryly. Who knew that one of her side hobbies could potentially save her from this situation.
She looked down. Only one more push. One small nudge forward to either plunge to her death or find someone to save her. Honestly, she had no idea whether anyone even knows what this was. But somehow, deep inside, she felt... hopeful.
It was... strange. Her thoughts were usually not like this. Nevertheless, she clutched on to that glimmer, distracting herself with calculations and strategies. And with that resolve, Pyrrha moved forward, and skid down into the abyss.
The moment gravity pulled her down, the first action she wanted was to balance her own weight, not immediately throw up. But she did. Toxic waste spilled out of her mouth, robbing away her eyesight.
She never expected the pressure to be that strong without aura. She had already miscalculated.
Pyrrha felt the cracks creeping further. She had to stop. No, she had to slow down. With all the strength her right arm could muster, she stabbed Akoúō into solid surface.
For a split second, she stopped accelerating. Arm fully outstretched, feet still locked in shield. There was a loud sizzle. Her right arm felt numb. Then, she was falling down again.
It took Pyrrha far too long to realize what had happened. She couldn't feel it. She didn't want to believe it. Yet, she had to see to believe. While wiping off the bile-stained on her face with her other hand, a few thoughts swam on her mind.
Maybe it wasn't that bad. Maybe it was just my imagination. Maybe everything was a dream. Maybe it's okay.
She turned right. Her right arm was gone. Vanished. Red speckles of light protruded out of her once-attached arm, smelling of smoke.
She couldn't hold it in anymore. The fear she had withheld burst forth.
Pyrrha screamed.
But she didn't have the luxury of screaming her heart out. Gravity cut her off, striking her legs onto the ground. She choked out a gasp. Another sizzle, but louder this time. She was hugging the floor in the next instant. Her body was severely burning up. Tears leaked out uncontrollably.
She wanted to die. She wanted to just lie there and let her body vanish. She wanted it all to stop. But she couldn't. Every breath was met with searing pain. Every painful moment fueled her will to live. She didn't like it at all. Why was destiny so cruel to her?
"Help... Please help me..." It was her voice. The voice of Pyrrha Nikos. Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl. Pyrrha Nikos, the prodigy. Pyrrha Nikos, the one who fell in love with Jaune Arc.
Jaune Arc. Jaune.
Oh no.
What if Jaune saw her in this state? What would happen to him? He would... He would die. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally.
No. She didn't want Jaune to be a walking corpse.
No. She wanted him to have a happy life. She had to make herself useful to him. She can't let her own death destroy him.
Yes. She had to make her life worth it.
Yes. She had to die in a way to help Jaune. But how?
Pyrrha squeezed out her memories of Beacon, trying her utmost best to remember... There!
The information she had read. The conversation she had. With Weiss. Weiss was the catalyst. She needed to find Weiss. Pyrrha now had a clear goal in mind; one that would potentially save everyone.
Driven by determination, she dragged her body forward. The ground was full of rubble, but she forcibly ignored them and the cracks. She had to get to Weiss. She must.
Her vision was blurred, but she didn't care. As long as she finds a stark white figure.
But Pyrrha didn't even need to find her. Destiny showed her the light. Weiss was in front. Far away, but visible. Then, a flash of pastel green appeared beside Weiss. It went past her and towards a dark red figure, dragging it away. They both disappeared out of sight.
She wanted to call Weiss, to grab her attention, but the cracks spread further when she tried; stretching around her throat. She could feel it peeling off. Not skin, but flesh. Pieces of them, scattering away.
Silent crawling it was.
Was supposed to be a one-shot, but ideas keep expanding, so changes and adjustments had to be made.
TL; DR: Wrote too much.