It was after the ball, which Pyrrha had thought was rather fun. Jaune hadn't asked her, of course, even as much as Pyrrha had hoped he would change his mind. Still, it had been fun. Emerald had insisted that they go as friends.
And they'd spent the night with Yang and Nora as they had a drinking competition. They'd all danced with each other. It had been nice.
Then it had all gone downhill.
In the middle of the night, there had been a news segment that Vale's CCT had been broken into. No one had gotten seriously hurt, and the attacker hadn't taken anything. It was unsettling all the same.
Then Pyrrha had been called into Ozpin's office for an urgent matter. She had been still in her ball gown, having had no time to change.
Now, she was in the hall, mind whirling with heavy knowledge. She was so lost. The Grimm had a leader? Magical maidens?
She hadn't wanted this. She had just been a tournament fighter, a little better than her peers, but she had wanted away from that. She didn't want to be special.
She wanted to be Just Pyrrha. Not Pyrrha the Invincible Girl, not Pyrrha, the Fall Maiden, savior of Remnant.
And that was if the operation went correctly. What if it went wrong? Doctor Polentina had said there was a chance Amber's persona would fuse with Pyrrha's, changing her. That sounded terrifying.
But what choice did she have? She had seen that girl in the tube, the previous Fall Maiden. That might be her friends. Pyrrha thought of Nora, or Ruby, or Yang, comatose because she had been too selfish. She was the only choice, Pyrrha realized.
It could be no one else. Not if she wanted to save her friends. It was her duty.
"Pyrrha? Are you all right?"
Pyrrha looked up and saw Emerald staring concernedly down at her.
"Y-yes." Pyrrha sighed. "No, I have a lot to think about. This night started off so simple, and now it's like this."
"Tell me." Emerald's voice was kind, bereft of any deception. "Let it out, you'll feel better."
"Ozpin said to keep it a secret. I am sorry, Emerald. I really would like to tell you. I just can't." Pyrrha felt even worse for having to keep a secret to her friends. They had been nothing but honest to her, treating her as they would any other friend.
Fortunately, Emerald didn't seem angry. "No worries. Maybe just tell me the general situation, and how that makes you feel. I used to do this for some friends back in Haven. It helps more than you think."
Pyrrha let out a breath. "Okay." And she told her, how she had been chosen for something, how she didn't want to do it, but if she didn't her friends would have to suffer, and she didn't want that.
Emerald listened to it all, inwardly growing more and more concerned, even if she didn't know why.
"You don't do have to do it if you don't want to," she said, and mentally kicked herself. What are you doing, Em? This is your first lead in a week; if she says no that means you have to start over from square one! But she continued. "Sometimes you have to think about yourself, Pyrrha. You're too nice. If you don't want to do it, don't."
Pyrrha smiled suddenly, like a bright flower suddenly blossoming. "Thanks, Emerald. That helped. More than you can believe."
Pyrrha got up and strode away. Emerald noted the direction she was going in, and her new determined gait, biting her lip.
Pyrrha smiled to herself. She was thankful she had such good friends who cared for her. And that was why she had to protect them all the more. She'd made her decision.
XXXXXXXXX
Neo stumbled along. She was a little drunk. She didn't drink alcohol, but Junior's had that alcoholic ice cream that Miltia and Melanie had bought for her a while back. It was good. She may have had too much.
The past few days had been strange for Neo. Ever since the incident, Neo had been so angry, angry for revenge, and determined to end it all, to keep her friends out of it, to kill Cinder herself.
But now she was just tired. She'd snuck out earlier in the night to watch Jaune at the school dance through one of the higher windows in the balcony. He was a good dancer. Neo imagined that he would have twirled her through the air and caught her. They would have been such great dance partners. She watched Jaune smile and talk to his, their, friends, and her heart seized. What was the point of this self-imposed exile, anyway?
She saw Jaune break away to use the restroom and did something she would probably later regret.
She trapped against a wall with her legs and then hugged him, and then kissed him, wrapping her arms around his waist, marking his warmth into her memories.
"Neo, what-I-"
Neo wrapped her legs around him and silenced him with her lips. Their tongues met, coiled, and danced. It was a warm, blissful feeling. Neo grew warm in her whole body and she hugged him tighter.
Finally, they broke away, both breathless.
Jaune finally spoke. "Neo," he whispered. "Don't go."
Neo just nestled her head into his neck, taking comfort in his embrace. Her breaths shuddered.
"Hey! Who are you? Let me see your ID. Hey, you in the pink and white!"
It was an Atlas soldier coming around the corner. He must have recognized her.
She brought out a scroll and sent Jaune a message. I'm sorry. Can we talk later?
When she looked back up, she saw the most radiant beam of a smile on his face, such that it warmed up her own heart. She shot him back an embarrassed smirk and disappeared.
Now she was wandering the streets, a giddy smile on her face. Jaune didn't hate her! He still liked her! She'd even gone to drink (ie eat alcoholic ice cream) with Miltia and Melanie at Junior's place for the first time in a month. She had originally avoided The Club because of all the memories, but she had found new footing with her encounter with Jaune. It had also given her courage to do something she had wanted to do for over a week.
She teleported, and arrived in a familiar place. The cave structures loomed, and the air was stale. Mountain Glenn was as desolate as ever. The empty train tracks were ahead, and she walked along them to her destination.
She stumbled over a rock and accidentally dodged a wandering Ursa. Somehow this confused the Ursa and it also tripped over the tracks. Neo ended up sitting on top of its neck. She tried stabbing it in the eye, missed, and ended up pushing Hush through its mouth and out the back of its head. That worked. Phew, mission accomplished, if the black smoke residue meant anything.
Neo was in no fighting shape. Never again would she get drunk off ice cream, she decided, but then thought again. That ice cream had been so good. Moderation was key, Neo decided, then vetoed again. Fuck that. Ice cream was the food of the gods. It deserved to be eaten on sight, smell or touch.
It was with thoughts like this that she reached a tract of tracks that was marred with flames and blackened rock. Neo sobered up instantly. There was a black bowler hat beside the tracks. She put it on reverentially, and promptly experienced the strangest event she had to date.
A voice rang inside her head. "About damn time Neo! I've been waiting out here for a week. A week without-!"
Neo took the hat off. Silence reigned. A cricket Grimm chirped. Slowly, Neo slid the hat back on.
"-you dare take me off again, young lady! Seriously, how could you leave your old man out here without even checking on him once!"
Neo blinked. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but listened dutifully anyway.
"Here I thought I was being smart going into the hat. She's always loved the hat, I thought. She'd never leave without the hat, I thought. Oh, how wrong I was. You forgot about the hat, didn't you? Admit it! Geez, Neo where did I go wrong in raising you? Was it the ice cream? I must have spoiled you too much!"
No! Neo's eyes widened. Not the ice cream! Keep the ice cream out of this!
"Wow. So that gets a reaction out of you, huh. Guess I know now who's really in your heart. Jaune lost out to Ice Cream-chan, didn't he? Guess he didn't really have a chance. First loves are hard to beat, after all." The hat paused for a beat. Neo took a moment to form her thoughts.
Who are you? And, Neo blushed but tried to cover it up, how do you know about me and Jaune?
The hat was silent. "Neo, really, you can't recognize your old man? I'm hurt, really." The hat sniffled, then it glowed, and out shot a transparent figure, one so familiar that it made Neo's heart seize.
That orange hair, that white coat.
Roman Torchwick grinned cockily. "It's good to see you again, Neo."