Surprise in this chapter; that's all I'm saying ;)
In all honesty, Pyrrha thought, it would be a long time before she got completely used to being an Aura ghost. She could still probably do everything she could as a human, but the feelings, the sensations…they were a lot more raw now, so to speak. It probably made sense – she was interacting with the world without the shell of her body to dull them.
Per Obi-Wan's advice, Pyrrha had spent the last however-long it was shifting through her memories, trying to find anything that would clue her as to what had really happened. The former Jedi Master's speculations shook the girl to the core, and the more she thought about them, the more she found herself agreeing.
There were so many better candidates – team CFVY (after everything that'd transpired, Pyrrha really doubted their loss to Mercury Black in one of qualifying matches was even remotely legitimate), even third year teams BRGT and ROKK, both of which had female Huntresses with some of the highest scores in Combat Class.
Sure, she may have been the Invincible Girl, but she was just a first year; and controlled tournament matches weren't exactly a good alternative for real-world experience – experience that those same teams would have in droves. Had the Headmaster himself been blinded by her tournament persona?
He had to have been, else he'd realize she was a poor choice. In a moment of contemplation after Obi-Wan's departure, Pyrrha realized something: her Semblance…she didn't even realize how much she'd been using it. Quietly boosting the velocity of Miló to making sure it would hit the opponent hard; slowing down the opponent's weapon (made of metal, naturally) or redirecting it just a tiny bit, just enough to slip past the strike, or catch it on Akoúo; slightly affecting the opponent's armor to slow them down, or throw them off balance, and so on, and so forth.
Always just a tiny bit – to keep her Semblance hidden, to keep The Invincible Girl as untouchable as ever. The reality of what tournament matches were – a pretty show to keep the population's spirits up – had done that to her, and the habit hadn't changed much after coming to Beacon – the persona had to be kept up. The Grimm were predictable, and the human opponents always had at least some metal on their bodies for Pyrrha to exploit. Unwittingly, her Semblance – her greatest hidden strength - became a crutch. All of those little moments of using Polarity to make sure the opponent missed, or to make sure she did not – they were like little screws, holding her combat plan together.
But then came Cinder Fall, the Usurper Maiden. Perhaps they were equals in combat at first, Pyrrha mused, but then she tried to use Polarity…only to realize that Cinder's weapons, intentionally or not, held a perfect counter to her Semblance. Her crutch had been cut in half, the little screws holding her together had been removed all at once – and just like that, the Invincible Girl crumbled; first figuratively, then literally.
It was a rather eye-opening occasion, to say the least. Obi-Wan either didn't know it, but in that regard, her own negligence was the reason for her downfall; Pyrrha, too, was at fault. But then again, that only added more reason to pick somebody else. Why was it that she was the one to be chosen? The girl couldn't make much sense of it.
She couldn't make much sense of a lot of things: like why the Atlesian Paladins had gone rogue; or why the White Fang, of all the things, were part of the attack; or even how the Fire Witch managed to infiltrate the school as a student (sure, Jaune's transcripts were still a thing, but at least he looked the right age, she thought); it was just more fuel to add to the fire of her Headmaster's presumed incompetence.
In the end, all that was left for Pyrrha was to make peace with her shortcomings, and hope that something in her current situation would change soon – Brothers as her witnesses, she had no desire to stay cooped up in this white void for all eternity, even with Obi-Wan as company.
Thankfully, she didn't have to wait for said company too long. A sheen in the air appeared before her, quickly taking a familiar shape.
"Hello there!" Obi-Wan waved at her.
"Hello again!" Pyrrha waved back. "How are you doing?"
"Better than I have in years, to be honest. Everything's coming together splendidly. You yourself look much better than the last time – apologies for that once again – but I still extend the same question to you."
"Oh." Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders. "Pretty well, all things considered. But this place isn't much for action in the first place, so…" She tilted her head a bit. "I'd like to hear some more of your adventures down below, if you wouldn't mind."
"Oh not at all, milady," Obi-Wan smiled in response. "Now, I can't say how long it has been up here, compared to the mortal world – not too long, hopefully – so I'll ask you if you remember what had happened during our last talk, right before I left."
"I do. It's not like there is anything interesting here to make me forget it." Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders again. "We were talking, and you sense some disturbance in your Force, and next thing we both know is your genocidal apprentice has become good again. Correct?"
Obi-Wan chuckled at that. "Quite so. An apt description."
"Indeed; my memory can't have gone that bad, right? Now, I would say I'm dying to hear your side of things, but..."
Pyrrha was started my the Jedi's boisterous laugh: "Oh my, you're in a really good mood today I see!"
The girl smiled. "Your pep talk did help me, I guess. Thank you once again for that, by the way."
Obi-Wan accepted the gratitude with a curt nod. "Well, no sense in dragging things out now, correct?" With Pyrrha's own nod as a permission, he continued: "So in essence, what had happened was that Anakin's son, Luke, had gone on to confront the Emperor Palpatine, with Anakin, who was…effectively still Darth Vader at that time.
"Unfortunately, the battle hadn't ended in the youngest Skywalker's favor. While he was actually able to defeat Vader, his refusal to…finish the job and let the Dark Side consume him as it did his father drove the Emperor mad and prompted him to assault and nearly kill Luke."
"But…he lived, right?"
"My dear, had young Luke truly died in that encounter I'd have not been as upbeat as I am now, now would I?" Obi-Wan smirked slightly. "No, Luke had managed to live, but only just because the Emperor saw it fit to be sadistic and prolong the his suffering."
"Just like you did.." Pyrrha breathed out and instantly cringed.
The Jedi flinched as well. "Well, you aren't exactly wrong, are you?" he heaved a sigh. "I had done the same thing myself and doomed the Galaxy to the long decades of oppression. It's quite ironic, then, that the same thing was what ultimately saved us all in the end as well."
Obi-Wan slowly hovered down. "The Emperor, seemingly, had decided to indulge in the show of supremacy so typical of the Sith and tortured young Skywalker – right in front of the Darth Vader's eyes, I've been told. I suppose that is what it finally took to pull my former pupil back to the Light Side – seeing his own blood and kin being killed slowly and painfully," the Jedi concluded.
"Huh. Talk about parental instinct."
"Hmph. You may be right. Whatever the true reason was, it prompted Anakin into action. Somehow, he'd managed to kill the Emperor on his own; unfortunately, it seems like his life-support suit had been damaged in the process, and he perished not long after. And…" Obi-Wan paused, reluctance written clear across his ghostly face, "…I will not lie to you, Pyrrha – I managed to fail him once again."
Pyrrha furrowed her brows. "You'll have to explain that to me. Were you supposed to help him stay alive?"
"No, not really. The only thing that would have helped him stay among the living at that point was an emergency team of repair bots to work on his damaged life-support suit – and even that is a stretch, I might add. I was supposed to be there during his passing to help him become one with the Force; or prevent him from doing so, actually."
Pyrrha's confused expression told Obi-Wan that he needed to keep going. "Without going into too much detail, only disciples of the Light Side will ever be able to separate their consciousness from the Oneness of the Force as I did. And Anakin, though he'd embraced the Light Side at last, had been so tainted by the decades of Dark Side influence, it would have been impossible for the lad to do so on his own. He would have become inseparable from the Force – a supremely powerful, yet unconscious presence. And so much would be lost," he finished.
"But what were you doing then?"
"Talking to you."
Pyrrha recoiled back.
"Do you remember back then, when I felt a "disturbance" in the Force the first time?" The Jedi Master spoke again, his face impassive. "That had been the Emperor's death. I should have been on my way all the way back then. The second – much stronger one – had been the death of Anakin, and only that had prompted me into action.
"However, by the time I got there, Anakin was already gone in spirit."
Pyrrha covered her mouth in horror. "Oh Brothers…I'm…I'm so sorry, Obi-Wan.."
"You have a thing for apologizing, don't you?" Obi-Wan replied calmly.
His nonchalance stunned the redhead. "What- of course I'm going to apologize! You were talking to me when you should've been leaving! I held you back with my…my…" she couldn't find the words, throwing her hands up in frustration.
Her companion frowned. "Indeed I should have been leaving instead of talking to you. With all due respect, milady, I doubt you have a decent enough knowledge of the Force to realize how significant each and every single one of those ripples, those disturbances are, no matter how small or big; something that I understand very well. As such, this mistake rests solely on my shoulders."
"But…I…"
"Senseless and ceaseless blame-shifting is a pointless endeavor, Pyrrha," Obi-Wan interrupted her. "Besides, you didn't let me finish – Anakin's consciousness was still guided to ascension, even if not by my own words and deeds."
The girl was taken aback. "Oh? Oh! I'm so-"
"Don't say it please," the Force Ghost stopped her with an amused expression.
Pyrrha took a moment to realize what he'd been talking about. "Wow…I didn't even notice." Looking at Obi-Wan, she couldn't help but crack a smile herself. "I guess I do apologize a bit too much, don't I?"
She only got a half-hearted headshake in response. "We do have our own faults, each and every one of us."
"That's true." The girl nodded. "So…" she drawled, unsure how to ask her question, "..who was it that ascended Anakin? Was it your master?"
"Qui-Gon? I'm afraid not. His manifestation would be unnoticeable by any Dark Side user, and Anakin still fell under that category. No, it was a fellow Jedi Master and achiever of the same state as I – Master Yoda. He had been much more…vigilant and had got there in time to help Anakin preserve his Self while becoming one with the Force."
"So he's fine?"
"Well," Obi-Wan made a show of stroking his beard, "in a physical sense, all of us defy the usual definitions of normalcy? As for his mental wellbeing – there's…still a long way to go, I suppose, though witnessing his own son being able to celebrate with his allies after dying in his hands did lift his spirit, if nothing else."
"I'm happy for all of you, then."
And Pyrrha was, really; it was, after all, a relatively happy ending to an egregious tale and a proper closure for people who really deserved it. Yet that elation didn't last long when the champion thought on her own circumstances – her being forced to leave everything and everyone behind. How would team JN(P)R deal with her death? How would Jaune? Or team RWBY? What would they do afterwards?
The happiness Pyrrha felt moments ago was now marred by the caustic taste of envy. Deep down, she knew it was foolish and petty, but it couldn't be helped: she envied Obi-Wan and his apprentice, because they both had seen the ending, the outcome to their own tales, received closure – closure she wasn't going to get herself, stuck in this white void.
With a heavy heart, Pyrrha decided to tell Obi-Wan about it. "It must be nice, being able to return," she voiced, her expression souring.
The Jedi had already picked up that something was amiss. "Is something else troubling you?" he inquired as Pyrrha looked away, gathering her resolve.
"I'm…I'm just…I'm jealous of you, okay?" Facing Obi-Wan again and seeing that he wasn't about to interrupt her, she continued: "You get to go back, see the world go on. You- you got to know what happened after your demise. AND I HAVE NOTHING!" she shouted suddenly, getting up on her feet.
"You told me to think on it; to think of any conceivable way my death could have turned out to be positive," Pyrrha continued her tirade, pacing back and forth. "I tried, believe me, I tried. But of the last things I remember, nothing makes any sense! I could be making positive assumptions, yes, but only if there was anything positive to begin with! Instead, everything had gone to…to shit!" she forced the word out, taking a moment to cool down.
"I can't know if my friends are okay. Can't know if Jaune is okay. I can't know how my family is holding up. I can't know if Vale is still standing. I can never know if my sacrifice" she spat the word out, "was worth anything at all. I am stuck whereever here for Brothers knows how long!" Pyrrha finished on a miserable note, sitting back down and resting her face on her knees.
"Oh, my dear girl…" Obi-Wan sighed solemnly, "it breaks my heart that I cannot help you. This barrier between us isn't receptible to any Force influence in the slightest. But…atleast you have me for companionship?" he finished awkwardly.
"I do. Until you get bored of me, at least…" Pyrrha muttered darkly.
It was obvious to the Jedi the girl was getting stuck in a rut again. "Hey! Pyrrha! Snap out of it! Look- look at me!" he shouted to his dejected companion, getting her attention again. "I'm not going anywhere," he continued with a much more gentle voice. "The newer generation has the reins now – there's not much left for me to do besides checking on the situation once in a while. I am not going anywhere, okay? I promise you I'll stay by your side. If your own world is so completely off limits, I may even start indoctrinating you to my own - we have all the time needed now. There's so much to cover!"
Listening to Obi-Wan, Pyrrha slowly perked back up. If this was her ultimate Destiny – to be stuck in some timeless, motionless hell – then eventually, for her own good, she'd have to come to terms with it; and with Obi-Wan by her side…perhaps, she could find that acceptance much sooner.
"That…doesn't sound too bad, actually," she finally said, giving her companion a slight, heartfelt smile.
Said companion was relieved to get Pyrrha back in relatively good spirits. "See? That's the attitude, milady! I shall never get bored of speaking with you. And if it's you who grows tired, well, I can always bring An-"
Obi-Wan was interrupted by a strange sound emanating from what seemed to be a strange…wormhole? behind Pyrrha. All relief gone and his mind on full alert, Obi-Wan warned the girl: "Pyrrha, behind you! Be careful!"
He needn't have bothered – Pyrrha was already on her feet and in her unarmed stance, also on alert and ready to defend herself. They both quietly observed as the wormhole slowly expanded, before finally stopping.
Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, but couldn't see anything around or within the dark, starry void of the wormhole. Suddenly, it started glowing brightly, the sheen so strong the champion had to cover her eyes.
"Obi-Wan!" she shouted "Can you see anything?"
"I'm good, Pyrrha!" came Obi-Wan's voice. "The flash didn't blind me, I can see perfectly. It's still just glowing, so stay on your g- Wait!" he interrupted himself with clear urgency. "I see something coming out of this thing! Stay on alert!"
As soon as Obi-Wan had warned her of possible impending danger, Pyrrha took a risk and decided to look. Despite all the brightness, she could just barely make out a humanoid looking figure coming out, with a hand covering its head just like her. As the figure slowly walked closer and the brightness died down, she could observe that it was, seemingly, an Aura Ghost, just like her, only with a bright orange hue compared to her blood red, until it was finally close enough for Pyyrha to see its head and-
"Wha- TORCHWICK?"
"Fancy seeing you here, Carrot-top."
Pyrrha was beyond flabbergasted. "How the- the fu-"
"Tch, tch, tch," Torchwick cut her off, wiggling his index finger, as if he was a parent scolding her, "swearing? Not a good look for you, Nikos. Aren't you hero types s'pposed to be all good, huh?"
"Don't interrupt me! What are you doing here? Hold on," the girl's eyes widened, " you're dead too?!"
The booming sound of Obi-Wan's shout interrupted them both: "Pyrrha, get back!". As Pyrrha backed away, he turned his gaze to the newcomer. "Identify yourself, interloper!"
"Ooo, got some fancy words in your vocabulary, huh?" said interloper shot back as he walked close to the barrier. "Well, chum, if you so must know, name's Roman Torchwick – gambler, entrepreneur, philanthropist and a genius, master thief – all in one package! You better remember that."
Obi-Wan raised his brows. "Okay. Are you also an inter-planetary smuggler with a weird sidekick teammate?"
Roman looked back to Pyrrha, who was still observing him intently, body coiled to strike at a moment's notice, then turned back to the Jedi and cupped his chin. "Well…can't say I worked my way so high as to do smuggling inbetween planets…although, you can probably count all Four Kingdoms as such, since they all are pretty much separate worlds with their own shades of crazy. And ya got me right on the sidekick part, though she's not here."
Torchwick then mumbled something to himself that, to Obi-Wan, sounded like "hope she doesn't get here", then made a show of taking a cigar out of his empty lips, before realizing his mistake. "Ah, shit.."
Turning to face the Jedi again, the criminal spoke: "Why'd you ask that, anyway?"
"Ah, it's just that, very coincidentally" Obi-Wan quietly gave a pointed look to Pyrrha, whose eyes went wide, "happened to know a fellow just like you. "
"Friend," Roman spoke evenly to mask his anger, "there are none like me."
"If you say so," the ghost returned, clearly not taking his statement too seriously. "However, I must ask the same question dear Pyrrha asked you not long ago: what are you doing here? What are your goals?"
"Really now? And how is any of it your business?" Torchwick quipped back.
"He's been with me ever since I ended up in this place!" for the first time since the start of the conversation Pyrrha spoke up, prompting Roman to face her. "Was it not for him, I may very well have gone mad."
"Oh? So you'd be content with staying in this place forever, then?" the criminal tilted his head. "Because I have a better proposition."
"As if I would hear any proposition from a thief!"
"If you haven't noticed, Red Number Two, there isn't a whole lot of freaking anything for me to try and steal around here!" Roman shouted back angrily. "So why don't you and your ghostly friend from another universe calm down, sit your ghostly backsides down and listen to the perfectly reasonable things I have to offer?"
"Woah. Hold your hyperdrive. How do you know I'm from another universe?" came the Jedi Master's voice from beyond the barrier.
"Cause I was in the same situation as little miss Champion here," Roman said, turning to Obi-Wan and pointing his thumb back vaguely in Pyrrha's direction. "Now settle down and start listening, because both of us are on a clock!"
Reluctantly, they obeyed and Pyrrha came closer to Torchwick, though she still kept at a distance and ready for a fight.
"Now," he started, "after the Little Red Rose ended up getting me whacked, I-"
"WHAT?" immediately came Pyrrha's indignant shout. "Rose? Ruby Rose?"
"Why yes, Carrot-top, it was the hero Ruby Rose who got me into this place, what of it?"
"I knew it! You're lying right off the bat, Ruby would never do this?"
Roman snarled. "Oh, that's how it is then? Well excuse me for being effectively naked in here and not bringing my clothes that are full of holes and mucus as a result of me getting chomped and eaten alive by a freaking Grimm with Little fucking Red watching and not doing a thing about it!" he exploded, startling Pyrrha and forcing her to take a few steps back.
"B-but- how-"
"And that is all beside the point, mind you," the thief continued, his voice back to its usual smug self, with only hints of earlier anger. "As much as I would've enjoyed seeing the Red Hood getting the same treatment, that's not what this is all about. Now," he looked back between his fellow ghosts, "any more dumb questions?"
As Pyrrha shook "no", Obi-Wan responded: "I don't have a very gold impression of you now, sir, but," he turned to Pyrrha "perhaps if weclet him speak without any...disruptions, he'll be gone out of our hair more quickly."
Roman nodded. "Oh yeah, I'll be gone, but so will she and we will be on-"
"That's out of the question."
Torchwick raised a brow. " Didn't you just tell her to listen to me? And I thought I was a hypocrite." Seeing the stern expression on Obi-Wan's face, he shook his head." Alright. Let me ask you another question then, Mr. No Name."
"It's Obi-Wan Kenobi"
"Okay then, Mr. Bee One, you want to keep Big Red forever here? Without giving her a chance to go into the afterlife?" the Jedi's eyes went wide at that, and unbeknownst to the thief, so did Pyrrha's.
"Wait, Obi-Wan," came the girl's meek voice, "we really should let him speak."
The thief rolled his eyes, "Ah, so I should have started with that. You people could seriously do with some manners and patience."
Clearing his throat - there wasn't really any need for it, it was probably just a force of habit - Torchwick began explaining: "Alright, so the gist is this: after Ruby freaking Rose set up my death in a spectacularly humiliating way, I woke in a void exactly like this one, 'cept there was no weird swirling shtick like the one Mr. Bee Boy Scout's floating in," he pointed towards the vortex. "There was a guy though, behind a barrier - another Roman as things turned out, also dead, also from another universe though he kept on rambling about some weird "bowling" game and I couldn't freaking listen to him; so at least you two got really chummy with one another, I'll give you that.
"Anyway," he continued, "not long after that a portal thing like the one we have here opened up at my place, and out comes a really brightly glowing fella who introduces himself as "Oum, Apostle of the God of Light."
"What?" came Pyrrha's confused outburst.
"Exactly, fucking what. The Gods are real, kid, so welcome to the club."
"And what has this supposed "Apostle" told you, then?" came Obi-Wan's guarded question.
"Well," replied Roman, "without all of the mind-numbing theological crap, the gist is this: something got screwed up super bad, so the people dying on Remnant aren't actually getting sent into the God of Light's governed after-life, and instead they get thrown into this void, which looks like it almost-connects to other realms; so there's actually God-doesn't-know how many people stuck in places exactly like these, either on their own or with some other dead extradimensional chuds to keep them company."
"In terms of metaphysicality, this sounds extremely far-fetched," spoke Obi-Wan
"And that swirling shit behind you isn't?" Torchwick shot back in a deadpan voice.
"It's actually perfectly explainable-"
"Yeah, yeah, and so is all of this, with enough time, which we have less and less of because somebody is keen on interrupting me," Roman growled. "In any case, because there are apparently a lot of these undead stragglers and because I was the first one he could reach, this Oum guy asked for my help in making contact with the rest of them and making sure we all go to the La-La-Land safe and secure. So here I am riding on a glorified fetch quest," he spread his arms wide, then pointed to Pyrrha, "and you will be too, cause the more people spread the message, the faster it will be spread and all that; and after that's done we get to enjoy the afterlife. There. Any questions?"
"I don't know..." Pyrrha hesitated, "this really sound too far-fetched.."
"...for crying out loud, Carrot-top, use your head! What have I got to lie to you about?! We're going to the same place anyways - if it's going go be complete ass, then we'll both be dealing with it!
"I..." the girl was still reluctant. She turned to her Jedi friend. "I...think I need some help with this, Obi-Wan," she said, primpting an annoyed eye roll from Roman.
The Jedi looked lost in thought. Finally, after some time, he spoke: "I have dealt with many scumbags and sleazebags throughout my life," that declaration earned him a glare from Torchwick, who, however, made no move to disprove it, "but...since his wellbeing depends on him telling the truth, I believe you can trust him, Pyrrha."
"Ha! Thank you!" the criminal out his hands in a mock prayer. "Atleast ONE of you has had a breakthrough of common sense! You're still a chum, but you have my thanks." He then looked over to Pyrrha, who still didn't seem wholly convinced and heaved an explosive sigh.
"Come on and agree already so we can be on our merry way to freaking Heaven! I'm almost dying for the second time to find out what's been happening on Remnant."
Those words broke the girl from he indecisive stupor. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Oh, right, I forgot to say. The apostle asshole said that those in afterlife would be able to watch Remnant as spirits and so on and so forth, which is good for me, cause I really need to check how Neo's doing," for the first time, there was genuine concern in the criminal's voice, "and I imagine you'll want to know how your little band of heroes is doing, especially the Arc boytoy. Or more probably you'll meet them in the afterlife too for a dose of touchy-feely reunion and all that sort of crap," he finished speaking.
Pyrrha looked Obi-Wan in the eyes, an unspoken agreement passing between them. "Alright, I'll...I'll go with you," she finally conceded.
"Beautiful! Splendid! And it only took us three times the required time to reach this point!" Roman spoke in a sarcastic tone. "I am itching to get out of this stupid void, so hurry up, Nikos!"
"Wait...if we're leaving, I would like to say my goodbyes."
Roman rolled his eyes, but allowed it walking away and coming to a halt next to the portal as Pyrrha got close to the barrier separating her and Obi-Wan.
"I guess this is it then. Time for goodbyes," the Jedi spoke up first.
"I guess it is," Pyrrha agreed with a nod. "Thank you Obi-Wan, for...everything really. I would have been an absolute mess without you."
"Of course my dear. I would have liked to get to know you even better, of course, but this way is better for you."
"For me, maybe; but what about you?" Pyrrha asked.
"I still have my duty to the Galaxy to fulfill, future generations to guide; and it is not like I will be toiling away alone - my apprentice will be by my side. Amd if your friends are still alive, and the criminal was correct, then you can fulfill the same role - overseeing them on whatever journeys they choose to embark, quietly guide them."
"I...suppose you're right, but only time will tell."
"It will, dear Pyrrha. You should go now - Mr. Torchwick is looking to be quite annoyed, and I'd rather spare us both from listening to another one of his tirades if I can help it," both of them shared a genuine chuckle at that.
Pyrrha managed a bittersweet smile. "Alright...goodbye, Obi-Wan, and thank you for being here for me."
Obi-Wan's smile was no less bittersweet. "Goodbye, Pyrrha Nikos. May the Force be with you and your comrades."
With that, Pyrrha turned around and began walking towards the portal.
"Finally," Roman butted in as he saw the girl getting closer. "Listen, Carrot-top, I got no idea what's gonna happen beyond this portal, but if, and it's a big if, you stumble across a shortstack girl with brown-pink hair and eyes, tell her that you've seen me and- wait, are you even listening?!"
The champion shook "no" with her head as she approached the portal, turned around to face Obi-Wan, waved her hand and smiled one last time, ignoring Roman's indignant curses all the while.
He waved back.
Obi-Wan Kenobi watched as both the girl and, after facepalming himself, the thief disappeared into the portal. He watched as the portal itself slowly closed and disappeared, the space around ending up looking completely untouched.
Then he sighed and disappeared back into the endless flow of the Cosmic Force. There was still much to be done for the good of the Galaxy.
He hoped Pyrrha's afterlife would not require another Obi-Wan figure to help the girl get through eternity.
And it's done. Finally.
Originally planned another direction for this chapter, but that didn't go anywhere, no matter how many times I tried making it so. Perhaps it will be an omake in the future, if I fix and polish the idea, but right now? The story's reached its' end. Hope you enjoyed the ride.
Also Roman practically wrote himself. Super fun character to write, and easy too, unlike the other two.
EDIT 2021-05-02: Bug fixes. Misspelling bugs, that is.