The time finally came when they would have to retire to bed. The journey to Mistral and the fight with a creature such as a Nucklevee was taxing on RNJR and they wanted to rest before speaking with the Haven Headmaster, Leonardo Lionheart, in the morning.
Pyrrha, however, didn't sleep. She hadn't slept in such a long time, she stopped trying. When she tried to go back, it lead to her tossing and turning in her bed. The bed creaked as she twitched and grasped her blanket tight in her hands. Finally she snapped her eyes open and gasped, her hands tearing apart the blanket.
After she stared at the tear she made in the blanket she sat up and looked around. Her room was completely quiet and empty, all her belongings strewn in a heap next to her bed. All, except her ring.
The bed was too soft, her room too cold, her sleepwear too smooth. After what seemed like an hour of deathly, conscious stillness, she left her room.
She passed by several rooms, where everyone else was sleeping. She passed Nora's room, who was snoring like a sailor, and passed Ren's, which was right next to hers.
She stopped at Jaune's room, opening it just a crack, just enough to get a look. Jaune was sleeping peacefully in his bed, a smile could faintly be seen on his face. He still wore the light blue rabbit onesie he wore to bed. Pyrrha couldn't help but stifle a fond chuckle. Jaune then began shivering, prompting Pyrrha to quickly but gently shut the door.
She went downstairs, looking for a room that had what she was looking for, something she could only get back there, in Lothric. Finally she found it: a fireplace. She opened the glass case, put in a red Dust crystal in a crucible in the back of the fireplace before putting a Schnee © brand synthetic log in place.
"Wait, do I take the wrapping off?" she pondered, before ignoring the issue and concentrated on the switch for the fireplace, hesitantly turning the knob. The red crystal she put in place began to glow softly, and as she turned it, eventually the log caught on fire, engulfing it in warm, comforting flames. Or at least, as much as it could manage with what it was.
Pyrrha stared into it, eventually crossing her legs and sitting down directly in front of it. Being this close to the flame would be almost intolerable for anyone else, even with Aura, just the heat itself was uncomfortable. But for Pyrrha, this was as close to the old feeling of warmth and calm she could get. The warmth and calm of a bonfire.
"The city of Mistral…" Qrow said with a gravelly voice.
"Uggh, it's about time!" Nora piped.
All 6 were walking down a road in one of the mountains, having left the house they were staying in some time ago.
"Whose idea was it to walk again?" Nora whined.
"Well" Ren began to speak, "we did face many obstacles. Broken airships, destroyed settlements…"
"Or you know," Jaune said, "all those people and monsters that tried to murder us."
Pyrrha's head lowered slightly, her eyes focusing on the small amount of her breastplate she could see, nicked and scratched over the vast amount of time she spent in the other place. "Well, nothing out of the ordinary there" Pyrrha quipped, managing a weak smile.
"Yeah," Ruby smiled, "only one of us nearly died."
Qrow turned to Ruby with a grin on his face. "Hey!"
Nora did the same to Ren, who similarly defended himself. Jaune also turned to Pyrrha, but Pyrrha only nervously scratched the back of her head. Finally they reached the end of the passage, and in front of them was a giant pair of doors. "So," Jaune said, looking away from Pyrrha somewhat nervous, "how far from Haven Academy?"
"Almost there, but I figured I'd take you kids on the scenic route." Qrow walked up to the double doors and pushed them open. Rays of sunlight pouring into the hill, temporarily blinding them. Pyrrha put a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, but lowered it and saw...Lothric Castle's high wall, dilapidated and ruined, the sky a blood red-orange color, with hints of the old yellow green sky it once had, torn banners fluttering in the breeze. Up above it all, was the sun, blackened and surrounded by a burning orange ring.
"Wow!" Ruby gasped in gleeful awe. Pyrrha turned to her before double-taking to what she was seeing before. The sky was bright blue and the sun was gold and searing up ahead. Below them was a bustling market, smiles being seen on them from the telescope on the platform they stood on, the entire city being flanked the verdurous mountains, one of which they came from, the one on the other side having a flowing blue waterfall, which cascaded down in front of several houses built to the side.
Pyrrha breathed a sigh of relief, putting a hand to her head and giving a panting laugh.
"This...is...awesome!" Ruby cried out again, alternating from gushing over the city with her eyes and gushing over the city with the telescope. "Oh my gosh! Look at all the weapons!"
Jaune himself was in awe of the city. "They really made the most out of these mountains."
"Every inch." Qrow said. "Stay away from the lower levels, though. The higher up you go, the nicer it is."
"And we're going up!" Nora declared pointing up as she did. After holding her position for several seconds with no reaction from anyone, she pouted at Ren, who promptly pulled the switch to activate the platform. The platform shook and began to move up the mountain.
Haven Academy was...quiet, deserted. Lifeless. Of course, Pyrrha had seen more dead lands than this, full of ash, fire, burning snow, and sometimes nothing at all. Haven still had lush green grass and oxygen in the air, but the fact that it did have those things made it all so...strange. It's as though everyone in the school disappeared hours before they arrived.
"We made it." Ruby breathed a sigh of relief, oblivious to the emptiness of the campus.
RNJR walked forward, but Qrow and Pyrrha stopped and looked around. "You feel it too huh?" Qrow said to her.
Pyrrha nodded. "It's not right. Where is everyone?"
"Well I guess school isn't really in session. Maybe that's it?" Ren said to the other three as they walked around looking for signs of life.
Qrow was lost in thought. "No, this isn't right at all. Come on." Qrow then began running to the office building, with the others following behind him.
They burst into the hall, which was just as empty, with barely any ambience to speak of. He continued running until he got to the end of the hall, reaching a pair of wooden doors. Qrow stopped the others and drew his greatsword. "Get ready, there could be trouble."
The others drew their weapons, including Pyrrha, unsheathing her broadsword and readying her shield. Qrow immediately kicked the door open, revealing a grey bearded man just behind it, who threw up his hands and screamed in shock, sending Qrow off balance and falling on his behind. Ruby, Jaune, and Nora screamed in shock as well while Ren stared concerned and Pyrrha tensed up and gritted her teeth. Every instinct she had was to start swinging before he could get too close, but she concentrated every muscle to remain still.
Left on his own, the man lost his balance and almost fainted in surprise.
"Uh, Professor Lionheart?"
Both men sat up, with Lionheart breathing an oxygen deprived sigh. "Qrow! For crying out loud, you almost scared me half to death."
Qrow was indignant and stood up. "Me? Why weren't you waiting by the entrance?"
Professor Lionheart was confused, but on checking his pocket-watch, he ended up giving a sheepish smile. "Oh, right. Apologies. I guess time slipped away from me. Ah, you must be the students Qrow mentioned."
Ruby smiled and playfully readied a loose salute. "Ruby Rose."
"Lie Ren"
"Nora Valkyrie"
"Jaune Arc"
And then all eyes were on the girl with battered armor and short, rough red hair with soft but weary green eyes. "Pyrrha Nikos" she finally said.
Lionheart's eyes went wide and his jaw quivered and lowered. "Y-you are...but I had heard, q-Qrow, you said she'd…"
Pyrrha's face twisted and she looked away from Lionheart. She clenched her left fist softly, the hand that wore the ring.
"Hey hey hey! Focus!" Qrow said, catching Lionheart before he fainted again. "Where is the rest of the staff?"
"But she's… and walking around-"
"Leo! Who's guarding the relic!?"
"Qrow, the children…" Lionheart said in a hushed whisper, double taking with his eyes at RNJR and twice with Pyrrha.
"Already know."
"Umm," Pyrrha raised her hand. "Relics?"
"Most already know. I filled them in. What do you mean the staff is away?"
"You...filled them in?" Lionheart repeated in an astonished whisper.
"So, is this not at all going like anyone thought it would?"
Lionheart's office was warm and inviting in its autumn color, with the musk of dust particles from the books in the room. Ren and Nora sat together on a couch with a table, clearly meant for guests such as themselves. It contrasted with Professor Ozpin's cold, yet brilliant and awe inspiring office. This seemed like a house, that an old man had lived and worked in for so long. It was-
Pyrrha snapped her head to the back of the room. Her eyes were wide and darting around. Her Darksign was freezing and cut into her skin.
"I have to say Qrow, this all seems reckless, even for you" Lionheart said. Pyrrha drowned them out, focusing on finding where the feeling was coming from. Jaune noticed her soft panic and looked to her, trying to follow her gaze.
"What is it?"
"I-there's-"
"There was nothing to check in about before the fall of Beacon, but since that day, Mistral has been in chaos!" they heard Lionheart shout, snapping Pyrrha out of her gaze. He was standing from his chair fists clenched and staring at Qrow, though not quite staring him down. "Vale wasn't the only kingdom to suffer that night. Everyone was watching. Every house in every kingdom saw that poor girl-"
Lionheart stopped however, remembering Pyrrha was in the room. Pyrrha began walking slowly to the door, stopping halfway to it, only needing space. She couldn't see it, but Ruby looked pained at Pyrrha, remembering needing to save her from Grimm because she couldn't move.
"And" Lionheart continued, "on top of everything, we still don't know where the Spring Maiden is."
Pyrrha immediately turned around and looked at Lionheart, who was sitting at his desk again.
"All the more reason we need huntsmen and huntresses here!" Qrow said, his impatience growing.
Ruby shook herself from her stillness in the middle of this conversation and went in between Qrow and Lionheart. "Ok ok, things are bad, they're bad. But we can figure this out."
Pyrrha couldn't help but sigh, albeit somewhat fondly. She didn't exactly know why, but she felt like keeping it that way.
"Why is the Spring Maiden important?"
"The Maidens," Pyrrha began saying, walking back to the center of the room, "are individuals with extraordinary, and magical, power, able to control the elements without the use of aura," she explained to Ruby, "and that woman who...I fought, Cinder Fall, is one of them now."
"That's...half of it I suppose." Said Lionheart, twiddling his fingers.
"...What do you-" Pyrrha snapped her head once more to the sides and back of the room as the Darksign froze on her back.
After a pause as the rest of the room saw Pyrrha's strange behavior, Lionheart continued. "The four Maidens each have the power to perform feats of magic, but they are also the only ones able to access the Relics."
"And Cinder is one of them? Like Pyrrha said?" Jaune questioned. "Then where is she? She came with Emerald and Mercury from Haven. Do you have anything on them?"
"We pulled their files after the fall of Beacon. Nothing but lies and forgeries."
Pyrrha stepped forward, "But maybe there is something there, clues or a loose thread, maybe?" Qrow then tried putting a hand on her shoulder, but Pyrrha lightly pushed his hand away before he could set it. "There should be something we could find. If she's allowed to walk free, she could cause further destruction. If we just can find something, anything, p-" The Darksign froze again, and she began breathing heavily from the shock of being interrupted by it mid-sentence. However, as she looked behind her, she saw the surprised faces of Ren, Nora and Ruby, while Jaune looked saddened as well.
Qrow however had a steeled, almost unreadable expression, and she was unable to differentiate it from his usual gruffness. When she turned back, Lionheart was taken aback as well, but calmed down and stood up. "I...think we should return when things have...calmed down a bit."
Qrow gave a small look at Pyrrha before sighing. "Alright." Lionheart sat back down, but Qrow shoved his scroll in his face. "We aren't finished Leo. Local Comms are still up. Call you later." He backed away and motioned for the others to come with him.
Ruby stopped at the door as she was about to leave. "It was...good to meet you professor…" she meekly said.
Professor Lionheart was a bit stunned, but gave a nervous smile. "Likewise."
The group left, but Pyrrha made a small look back to the office before the doors closed.
The holographic display hummed to life, and a shimmering blue 'W' erupted from the desk.
"I...I'm sorry, I couldn't-"
'W' cut him off. "That girl," he said. "She knows something, or feels something. Who did you say she was?"
"She is, or was or, I-...Her name is Pyrrha Nikos."
"Hmm," W said, "now where have I heard that name before? We definitely must tell her about this."
"B-but, so soon? They just-"
"Oh and Leo, do practice on your improvisational skills. You got lucky this time."
The holographic W disappeared, leaving Lionheart alone.
The living room was eerily quiet, everyone too nervous to say anything. Ruby had gone to another room to read some comic books. Pyrrha sat still on one chair, fiddling with her ring, while Jaune sat nervous on the couch opposite of her.
"So…" Jaune spoke, nervously and cautiously, "what happened in there? What was all that? Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha didn't answer at first, still twisting her ring and looking down. "I...I was just...I just wanted to know where they went is all."
"I didn't meant that. What was getting you so worked up in there?"
"It…" she trailed, trying to find words somewhere in her brain. "It was this feeling I got. It felt like...It felt as though someone was going to come up behind us and stab me."
Jaune's eyes widened but lowered. He seemed to twist his face around, just wondering what to say next. "What happened to you?"
Pyrrha jerked her head upward to face Jaune. "What?"
"Everyone said you were dead, Ruby even told me he saw you get an arrow in the chest. You were gone...and now you're back, and you've changed." Pyrrha looked away from Jaune and stared, crestfallen, at the end table next to her. "Pyrrha...I just….I just want to know if you're ok."
Pyrrha looked into Jaune's eyes, which were full of desperate compassion and pleading. She knew he was telling the truth, she knew he wanted to help. She just wanted to know if that was enough.
"I-"
A knock came at the door, interrupting her. Jaune looked to Pyrrha and then got up to answer the door. When opening it revealed a small teen boy, bashfully holding his hands below his waist.
"Can I...help you?" Jaune asked when the boy kept standing there, looking at the ground not saying anything.
"Uhh... yeah. Is there a Ruby Rose?"
Ren and Nora stood up, surprisingly alarmed from such an innocuous question coming from a normal looking boy. "Why?" Nora asked.
"Well-"
"I found him!" Qrow cried out, an audacious grin on his face as he pulled himself to the boy's side. He then shambled into the house, cackling as though he had some sort of fever.
"I think her uncle could use a little help." The boy said, somewhat embarrassed by Qrow's stupor.
"Whoah, ugh." Qrow immediately stumbled and flopped on the couch Jaune abandoned just earlier, relaxing into near unconsciousness. "Oooh, I found him"
"What is going on here!?" cried a voice. Ruby then revealed herself, storming down to the living room to investigate the noise. "Can't a girl read her comic books in peace!?" A burp from Qrow quickly got the girl's attention. Her hand went to her face as she sighed, "Qrow, did you get drunk again?"
"Mmmaybe" Qrow spilled out, still smiling while shielding his eyes with his arm.
The boy slowly approached, his eyes widened in surprise and awe. "You have...silver eyes…"
Ruby looked at the boy, curious at what he said. "Who...are you?"
This elicited a chuckle from Qrow as the boy shifted himself, preparing to speak. "Well, my name is Oscar Pine-"
"Wait for it…" Qrow said, raising his index finger while still reclining on the couch.
"But you may know me as...Professor Ozpin?"
Everyone in the room gasped at this news, except for Pyrrha, who stared wide-eyed at this boy, Oscar. She realized how little she thought of Ozpin when she was in Lothric, what had happened in the vault below Beacon, or his involvement in it. But somehow, for some reason, she suddenly wanted to know. And wanted to know if he understood what she had to go through because of it. In any event, Pyrrha Nikos didn't move a muscle.
Author's Notes: Another late chapter, and not even for the main series. I'll be honest, this might be more common. I hope to do more and complete things regularly (there honestly isn't much left in Invincible Girl), but I cannot promise they'll come as regularly.
I will not ditch any series I do though, past, present, or future. I won't be that fanfic author who up and dies (or at least, their fic dies, hopefully) before their story is complete. It's just I'm a bit slow when it comes down to it.
Still, I hope you like this chapter and tell me how good or shit it is. As a consolation, I'm also adding a scene from the next chapter. Here ya go.
Going to bed was merely an excuse, just to get away from everything. In truth, Pyrrha still couldn't sleep. She didn't know whether it was because of mundane problems, whether it was from the bad memories she still had, or if it was from her...condition. Either way, she curled before the fire, the only thing that had brought her comfort so far it seemed. She was absorbed by the fire, staring at it intently, almost wanting to see something in the blaze.
"What's that?" she heard a gravelly voice behind him. She turned around, seeing Qrow, holding a coffee cup in his hand, adorned on his face were the heavy eyes people wore when it was early in the morning.
He took a sip from the mug and sat down on a chair behind her. "What do you mean?" she asked him.
"That circle on your back. The glowing one."
Pyrrha widened her eyes, looking away from him. "It's...It's just a scar…" she said, knowing in her head just how weak the lie was.
"Some scar" Qrow snarked, taking another sip from his cup.
"Why do you want to know?" She snapped at him.
"I've seen that look everywhere on Remnant. I saw it on people who've lost everything, usually to Grimm. I've even seen it on students of mine." He leaned forward to Pyrrha. "You show up from the grave with strange armor, acting jumpy, and with a glowing orange scar on your back, and you don't seem to be wanting to share."
"Do I have to?" she said, not turning away from the fire.
"No. But you do have a choice. Either tell your team, and let them help you. Or, keep pretending it didn't happen."
Qrow got up and began to leave. However Pyrrha stood up and turned to Qrow. "Qrow...why are you telling me this?"
Qrow stopped and sighed. He turned around and looked her in the eyes. "Because whatever happened to you while you were gone, happened."