Lost to Dust

by Brandocko

The sequel to Fates Collide. Team RWBY finishes up their second year at Beacon. Each embarks on their own adventures between the kingdoms of Vale and Apocrypha. While new threats start to appear, new friends are made along the way. Who will become the ones to defy fate, or to just become lost to dust? I do not own RWBY nor any Fate series.

30. Chapter 27 - Friends

AN: Hey everyone, I have the next chapter here. Thank you for all the support this series has gotten here and on Tv Tropes. This chapter was a lot of cool dialogue and perspective. We finally learn the aftermath of the battle, and who will live to see another chapter. Hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a review with your comments and questions, and have a nice day.

Chapter 27 –Friends

Cinder.

At a gas station, Yu refilled their vehicle as Chloe rested in the back seat. Cinder walked out of the store with a bottle of water, glancing back at Vitch talking to the nervous cashier with a slight smile and forward lean. The Fall Maiden took a sip of water as she made her way back to the vehicle.

However, her scroll began to ring as she was halfway. In taking it out of her left pocket, she smirked at the caller, "Well, I was expecting a text over a call." Cinder responded, "You must have gotten yourself in hot water now, Neo."

"…Cinder," A voice answer, one that caused the Fall Maiden to have a look of dread, "We need to talk." Archer said as Cinder dropped the water bottle.

"S-Shirou!?" Cinder said before noticing Chloe waking up in the backseat of the vehicle. The Fall Maiden then ran to hide behind the corner wall of the gas station store, "Why do you have Neo's scroll?"

"Look, I can't explain everything right now," Archer said in a hurried voice, "Do you remember the person you showed me to convince me BB was also an android?"

"You mean Penny?" Cinder responded.

"She's about to die." Archer replied, causing Cinder to be speechless for a second, "She entered Ruby's reality marble and left in a state of perpetual torment." He said as Cinder leaned against the wall, "It's like you said, she's deleting herself."

"If that's true, then I know who Ruby's reality marble made for Penny." Cinder said as she looked up at the blue sky, "April Cotton. That's the only way Penny would have learned of her past."

"You're the only one I know who knew about that project, what they did to April and Sakura," Archer said with a slight pause at the last word, "Do you know how we can save Penny?"

"Shirou, those files only mentioned the failed cased and the handful of successes like Penny. Atlas did what they could to make sure the original's identity would never be mentioned to the androids. It was all to avoid this situation." Cinder said as silence fell between the two, "I'm sorry, but I don't think she can be saved." She said before closing her eyes, seeing the image of the white Sakura for a second. In opening her eyes, an idea came to her mind, "Wait! Do you know what the apparition of April Cotton did to Penny?"

"N-no," Archer responded in an unsure voice, "She was only sent there for a minute before Ruby passed out."

"If that's true, Penny might have only seen April and realized the truth." Cinder inferred, "April didn't touch Penny, she couldn't have had enough time."

"What are you getting at?" Archer asked.

"…I never told you this." Cinder said with slight hesitation in her voice, "During Grand Order, I was sent back into Ruby's reality marble. There, I killed the apparition of Sakura."

"You what!?" Archer said with rage filling in his voice.

"But before she could fade away, her essence merged with my body." Cinder quickly added on, "In doing so, she made me immune to Grimm and allowed me to fully inherit the Fall Maiden Powers." She said as she could hear Archer gasping over the scroll, "One more thing, after I killed her…she thanked me."

"…" Archer remained quiet as he listened.

"To this day, I still don't know exactly why she said that to me." Cinder said, "I can't guarantee this will work, but you should bring Penny back into Ruby's reality marble." She said before sighing, "I still don't care for that red hooded girl, but her apparitions do have the ability to help people regain something," The Fall Maiden said before feeling her neck, "Others can be deadly…I don't know which one April will be, but it is the only way I can think of to save Penny."

"I see," Archer responded as a small pause when between the two, "One more thing, regarding Neo…" He said as Cinder listened, "What would have happened if she said no to you after she was ordered to kill BB?"

"Neo," Cinder said before sighing, remembering the event from a year ago. The conversation the two had as the mute girl received the file, "She didn't say no when I gave her the order. She did any task I gave her without complaint." Cinder said as Neo walked away with a smirk, "Neo didn't have to fear for her safety, she was confident in her ability to get away if needed." Cinder said before she saw the same smirk on Neo's face, but a look of worry in her multicolored eyes, "But she knew the person she cared about was still on our side. And if she said no, it would make things worse for her friend as well. To protect him, Neo only gave herself one choice when I asked of her."

"I understand," Archer responded, closing his eyes before adding on, "Cinder, is the same true for you?"

"…You need to hurry, Shirou." Cinder said as she moved the scroll away from her ear, "You have to be the hero." She said before hanging up, "I have to be the villain." She before closing her eyes for a second, then looked up at the blue sky again, "That is how it has to be." She then looked back at her scroll, seeing the number. After imputing a code, a message appeared, Scroll Location Pinpointed. The message read as the set of quadrantes appeared. She sighed before putting her scroll away, walking out from the corner.

At the same time. Vitch exited the store while cleaning blood from her lips. In looking down, she saw the discarded bottle of water. She turned with a see Cinder walking towards the vehicle, a smirk on the killer faunus' face, "Lost something?" Vitch asked, but Cinder did not break her stride.

"Let's just go." Cinder responded before entering the back seat of the vehicle. Chloe looked at her in confusion, seeing the Fall Maiden wipe something away from her eyes.

Archer.

Archer looked at the scroll in his hands before closing it. He turned back to see Mordred holding unto a convulsing Penny's right hand, "It's like she's having a seizure." Mordred said as she looked up to the red mantel hero, "What did she say?"

"We need to bring Penny into Ruby's reality marble," Archer said before making his way to the red-hooded girl. Mordred nodded before picking up Penny, slightly struggling due to the Atlas Android's weight.

After reaching Ruby, the two found the girl still unconscious in the pool of Neo's blood, "This isn't good." Mordred responded, "We need to wake her up, fast." She said as Archer knelt, slightly shaking the red-hooded girl. However, Ruby's eyes only twitched, never fully opening. Mordred looked to Penny, the Atlas Android's body slowing down as the sparks started to fade, "Damnit, this is taking too long!" Mordred said before having an idea. She tossed Penny to Archer, who barely managed to catch such a heavy girl. He then looked to see The Knight of Rebellion picking up Ruby by the head, her hands on each side of the skull, "…Sorry." Mordred muttered before skull bashing the red-hooded girl.

In an instant, Ruby's eyes shot open. A tear of pain formed in the corners before a silver light emerged. The light encompassed the area as Archer and Mordred braced themselves. A few seconds later, they look around to discover themselves inside the blank white void, "OOOOOOOOUCH!" Ruby wheezed as she felt her throbbing forehead, her hands covering the new red imprint, "Yikes Mordred, why do you even need a helmet?"

"Hey, I said sorry." Mordred quickly retorted, "It was the only way to quickly get us to your reality marble."

"I'm not a jukebox you can just-" Ruby was saying in offense before seeing her android friend, "Penny!" She called out upon seeing her shuddering body and black eyes, "What happened to her?"

Before Archer could explain, his eyes focused on someone. Ruby and Mordred turned to see who he was looking at, causing them to also enter a speechless state. Standing before them was the apparition for Penny, "April Cotton?" Archer asked with the girl nodding, then pointing to the Atlas Android. He then walked past the two girls before placing Penny on the floor in front of the apparition.

Archer took a few steps back as Mordred and Ruby were still confused. April looked down at Penny, who was barely convulsing with the last of her energy. The apparition then knelt, placing her left hand over Penny's black eyes. The three onlookers saw April's green eyes close, a smile on her face formed before her body faded into a cloud of white dust.

The particles fell onto Penny's body, causing her to glow in a light green aura. Ruby eyes widened in shock as the metallic appendages started to repair. Even the Atlas Android's clothes were good as new, her body back to its normal state. Mordred looked to Penny's eyes, now seeing them closed. However, after the aura faded, her eyes slowly opened, the green color had returned, "…Huh?" Penny said before sitting up, "What hap-"

"PENNY!" Ruby and Mordred said at the same time, hugging the Atlas Android.

"Eh?" Penny responded in confusion.

"We thought we were going to lose you," Mordred said as tears ran down her face.

"But, I'm still here." Penny responded with a smile forming, "I feel fine." As the two girls let go of the atlas android, she looked down at her hands, "It's hard for me to describe, but for the first time," She said while moving her fingers, them looking to the group, "I feel real."

"Do you know?" Archer asked, "Who you were before?"

"Yes, April Cotton." Penny said with Archer having a slight look of shock, "At the age of seventeen, I had my podcast where I reviewed all sorts of novels, movies, and plays." She said with the red mantle hero's expression changing to confusion, "The debates got pretty heated, even though I was just talking to myself back then. I remember those discussions going on for hours." Suddenly, Archer realized how April had as much material to work with as Sakura did for the program.

"Wait a second," Ruby interject, "The way you're talking now." She said as she pointed to where the apparition once was, "Are you saying you were that girl April Cotton?" Penny nodded while Ruby's eyes widened, "Then…how!?"

"Before the Atlas program, I got into a car accident that left my parents died and me in the hospital." Penny answered, "The atlas doctors said I was mostly likely not going to make it either, but that I might have had a chance if I agreed to partake in a program." She said with a remorseful in her voice, "That was when April Cotton's life ended and Penny Polendina's began." The Atlas android closed her eyes, "Before, we were two individuals who would never learn of the existence of the other." Opened her eyes and smile now more hopeful, "Now, I just made a new friend that I feel I have known my whole life."

"That's great Penny, but…" Mordred said with her smile fading, "Neo was your friend also."

"Neo…" Penny said with slight anger forming, "She was not my friend."

"Why Penny?" Ruby pleaded, "Why did you kill her?"

"You want to know why?" Penny turned to the red hooded girl with a glare, "She killed-" Suddenly, she stopped speaking mid-sentence, transfixed on someone behind Ruby. Mordred had a look of confusion at the sight, while Archer gasped. Ruby turned around to see a girl she thought she saw before in her reality marble. An apparition with look hair that had a faint purple hue and a red ribbon in it. She stood with her hands on her hips, wearing a white long coat over a top and skirt. The apparition smirked as she winked, showing off her purple eyes, causing Penny's to light up in excitement, "BB!" Penny shouted before lunging forward, her thrusting activating in the bottom of her feet. She crashed into Ruby while hugging Penny, trapping the red hooded girl between the two, "I have missed you so much!"

"That's BB!? I thought you said she was an android." Mordred commented in shock, "You're telling me that the ghost of a robot?"

"What Ruby makes with her reality marble are the memories of the individual in the form of an apparition." Archer answered the Knight of Rebellion, "It doesn't matter what the individual was, so long as it was someone the one who entered this space had loved and lost." He said with a look of sorrow in his eyes towards the sight of BB, reminding him of her. Mordred remained silent, giving a single nod to him. In the distance, the apparition of the King of Knight watched her daughter, remaining hidden in the void of white.

"BB, I knew I could see you in here." Penny said as she hugged the apparition tighter, "You were my only friend." In hearing those words, BB slowly loosened her grip. In confusion, Penny saw the apparition shaking her head from side to side, "What? What do you mean no?" The Atlas Android said as BB lips moved as if she was talking, "…You have more friends than you realize?" Penny repeated.

Suddenly, a voice was heard from between the two, "…Help…" Penny looked down to see Ruby, her body and face smushed between the two.

"Oh, Ruby, I almost forget you where there!" Penny said as she pulled out of her hug from BB, freeing the red hooded girl, "BB's right, you are my friend as well." She said as Ruby was wheezing, "You two haven't even been introduced yet. Ruby, this is BB. BB, this is Ruby." However, as Penny looked to the apparition, a single word was spoken without noise, "More?" Penny repeated as BB nodded, "Who else?"

"I'm your friend!" Mordred called out, "Same for Gray too." She added, but Penny only scowled at the Knight of Rebellion, "Hey, we may have only known each other for a few days, but we're a team!" Mordred responded, but Penny ignored with a turned head and a pout.

However, the two looked to see BB smiling and giggling, despite no sound coming out. She then raised her right hand and extended her index finger, "One more?" Penny interpreted as BB nodded, "Who...Zwei?" She asked before the apparition mouthed the answer, causing a look of shock on her face, "Neo!?" Penny gasped before scowling, "How could you want me to be friends with the one who killed you!?"

"Penny," Archer spoke up, "Neo was ordered to kill BB by someone else, it wasn't her choice to do it." He said with the others looking to him, "If she didn't follow the order, it would have meant something bad would happen to her or those she cared about."

"What?" Penny responded, unable to say anything for a second. Suddenly, the Atlas android knew how to respond, "Still, why did it have to be BB?" She asked the red mantle hero, "Why did my friend have to die?"

"…" This time, Archer did not respond. He knew he could say it was Cinder's fault, that she is the one who gave Neo the order, that she was the one who Penny should focus her hatred on. However, in his heart, Shirou knew that was not true. That someone else was to blame, "…It was my fault." He said with Penny gasping, "Because BB was formally Sakura. Every time I saw her, I felt like I was reliving my friend's death."

"Friend's death?" Penny repeated, then looked to BB, "You were Sakura?" She said with BB nodding.

"Without my knowledge, it was decided that the only way for me to move on, was for BB to be eliminated. That was the order Neo was given." Archer responded, then had a focused gaze on the atlas android, "The root of all the hatred you feel, it all leads back to me." He then closed his eyes, "I'm the reason BB is dead."

Mordred and Ruby remained speechless as they watched. However, the Kight of Rebellion remembered the next event in this situation before. She turned to Penny, ready to spawn Clarent. But this time, Penny had summoned her swords. She looked at Archer, his stance defenseless, his fate in her hands if she wanted it. She had let her revenge take hold before, but this time was different, "You lost your friend…" Penny said as she started to look to BB, "But…seeing her again did not make you happy?"

Archer then opened his eyes, looking down in the white void, "At first, I was happy. I thought Sakura was back." He said before Penny turned back to him, "But, once I learned the truth, I realized again that Sakura had died for good. This time, the realization felt like a knife twisting in an already open wound."

"I…" Penny could not respond before looking to the apparition, "BB, what do I do?" She asked with the apparition not saying a word, "Tell me, how do I deal with this!? I…I…I don't know what to do now!" She said before turning back to Archer, "He is the real reason you had to die…But he did nothing to hurt you. He was the one who was hurt by losing a friend as well." The Atlas Android said before grabbing her own head, "I don't know what do, I don't want to hurt him like I hurt Neo…But…Neo only did what she did for her friends." Suddenly, Penny's eyes widened. The Atlas Android remembered back to the moment right after she was stuck in the ground. The words she ignored before, she now heard, "I'm sorry." Penny said Neo's words, causing Penny to fall to her knees, "She didn't want to hurt me…she was my friend." She said as Ruby and Mordred looked down in sorrow, "I killed one of my friends." She said as shut her eyes in pain, "AAAAAAAAAA!" Penny cried, while no tears came out, her voice echoed through the entire void.

"Penny…" Ruby said before stubbing, "I…I can't hold my reality marble any longer in my condition."

"We have to go back." Mordred continued, "We can't stay here forever."

"I-I can't go back, not after what I've done" Penny pleaded, "Can't I just stay here?"

"It doesn't work that way." Ruby responded, "I'm sorry, but as soon as I end my reality marble, we all go back to the real world."

"But…" Penny pleaded again, "…What am I supposed to do when I see her body?" She said as Archer walked up to her, placing his right hand on her shoulder.

"Penny, you can't hide from this." Archer said as he looked Penny in the eyes, "No matter the mistakes you've made, you have to face them and move forwards. No matter how scary it may be, it's the right thing to do."

After a silence filling the void, Penny realized what Archer was saying as the truth. She nodded before looking to Ruby, "Okay…we can go." She said with Ruby nodding, her eyes starting to glow silver. As they were encompassed in the light, Penny turned back to BB one last time, "Goodbye." She said with sorrow as the apparition waved.

Back in the landing area, the four reappeared where they once vanished. Penny slowly stood up, letting out a sigh as she closed her eyes. She knew turning around would reveal the scene she dreaded most, but also knew it was something she had to face. In a swift action, she turned around toward the body, then opened the right eye a small bit.

However, while she saw a large pool of blood, there was no corpse laid to rest. In opening both eyes, Penny scanned the area. Suddenly, Ruby gasped and pointed, "Look!" She called with Penny's attention to the sight. In the not so far distance, Gray was helping a teammate walk, one who had sustained near-fatal injuries. She gave this teammate her shoulder as they walked away.

"NEO!" Penny screamed out before gaining the attention of her two teammates, "YOU'RE ALIVE!" She shouted before blasting off towards them. Gray and Neo turned around just in time for the Atlas Android to hug the mute girl. Neo's eyes turned white as she looked at Penny, but then went from panic to confusion, "I thought I killed you, I thought I killed a friend!" Penny said as her face looked as if she was tearing up, "I…. AAAAAAAA!" She cried as she hugged Neo close, causing the mute girl's bones to slightly crunch.

Gray tried to help pull the two apart. Ruby and Mordred ran to aid the grey hooded girl. However, Archer remained speechless at the sight. Suddenly, he heard a voice from behind. "Whoa, that was close!" Archer turned to see it was Irisviel, stretching her arms and back, "Looks like you finally got back with Penny in one piece." She said before smirking, "I'm glad I could do the same with Neo."

"You saved her life?" Archer responded, "How? She had her throat slit while already having lost a lot of blood!?"

"Did you underestimate your mother's healing ability?" Irisviel responded before looking over to Penny finally letting go of Neo, "She was close to dying. If I was even a few seconds slower, she would have fully bled out." She said as her confident demeanor faded. As the four girls looked at Neo's neck, they noticed a visible scar remaining. As Neo opened her mouth to speak…However… "I had to close the wound fast, before I could fully heal her thyroid and other muscles correctly." Neo could not get out one syllable without needing to close her mouth from the pain, "She may have been mute, but that girl will never be able to talk again." Irisviel said as Neo tried to force a giggle, but even that was a noise she could not make any more without pain.

"Neo…" Penny said as she looked at the mute girl, "I'm so sorry, I should have let you explain the situation before." She said before hanging her head low, "I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore."

Neo changed the orientation of her eye colors before noticing Archer walking up to them, "Well, you're more resistant than I thought." He said before reaching into his pocket, taking out a scroll, "Here is this back. Sorry I kept it for longer than I said." Archer gave back the scroll as Neo nodded.

As the red mantle hero walked away, Neo began to type. After she finished, the mute girl held her scroll in front of Penny, who gasped upon reading it aloud, "I forgive you." The atlas android said as she turned back to Neo, who smiled, "Y-you will!?" She asked with her nodding, "W-why, I was trying to kill you, I cut your throat, I-" She was saying as Neo typed, then showed her a new message, "You had one thing and I took it away from you. I understand how that would make you feel like killing me." Penny read as Neo showed more of the text, "But we have more than one thing now. We have each other. We have our friends. We have our team." Penny read as Neo searched for an older text, showing it for Penny to read as well, "Penny is my teammate," The Atlas Android read as her eyes wanted to shed tears, "I will not hurt her." Penny read as she extended her arms, "Oh Neo!" The atlas android cried as she hugged the mute girl again. This time, she knew to hold back for her friend's safety. Mordred and Gray smiled before joining in on the team hug.

Ruby stepped back from the four. Instead, she noticed the rest of her team in the distance, running to them. Anastasia spoke first to the red hooded girl, "Ruby, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? After all," Ruby responded before looking back to Team MGNP, a smile on her face, "This time, everything worked out time."

AN: There you go, both girls managed to live in the end. Penny regained her humanity and realized the truth of who Neo is to her, a friend. I do like that Archer does not blame Cinder here, because he knows that he is the reason BB was even made a target in the first place. And Neo, who it was a big debate if she does die right here, manages to hang on by a thread. However, her throat is damaged beyond healing and she has forever lost her voice. May not seem like much, considering it is Neo, but that doesn't take away from losing the ability to speak even if you don't talk. In the end, Team MGNP is still whole. This saga had a happy ending, but will the next one be the same? That is all for now, thanks for reading, and hope to see you in the next chapter.