" —that's the short version, anyway." she finished with the kind of exhausted sigh that only came from familiarity and repetition. Pyrrha Nikos—Nikki to her friends—had told this story one too many times.
She hated not being able to ever truly move on from it. And she hated that seemingly everyone wanted to know her life so intimately. Mostly, she hated herself for that resentment. All the people who asked weren't purposefully doing so to hurt her. They didn't know that every question felt like an arrow through the heart. They were just confused, or concerned, or sometimes they were drunk and she couldn't very well blame them for that; Nine times out of ten she was the one supplying the drinks.
Those who had simply accepted the return of The Invincible Girl without question were few and far between. Ironically, they had often been the ones Nikki had most wanted to react. Friends and family from literally another life who in this life didn't know her. Not that she could necessarily blame a dead teenager for never taking the time to befriend, or even meet in some cases, a scattering of people she would have had nothing in common with. But still Nikki found herself doing exactly that sometimes, which did nothing but add to the self-loathing.
Nikki, it seemed, was her own worst enemy these days.
She'd had not-herself worst enemies once. Several at once actually, depending on when you asked her. Her mother had been her worst enemy the day Nikki had been forbidden from attending combat school. Jay Blue had been her worst enemy during her first year at Beacon Academy, blackmailing Nikki like he had. Princess Gretchin had been Nikki's worst enemy the day she had betrayed Queen Saloma and brought Beacon Academy to ruin. On the same day Neptune Vasilias had also began his tenure as her worst enemy, atop Beacon Tower, with the murder of one of the most important people in Nikki's life: Jaune Arc. Finally, Ozma, the mastermind behind it all, had been her worst enemy from the day she had learned his name, until the day he had breathed his last.
Nikki had lost friends and family to see that list cleared. Especially when her world was judged by the gods themselves. She preferred not trying to balance those scales. Whether it was raw chance or divine intervention, Nikki never saw the gavel swing. She was given another chance, another world. This time without an endless war between nations and a mad wizard. A World without the Knights. A World with Jaune Arc.
Too bad he wasn't Nikki's Jaune.
He tried to be, just like Nikki had tried to be his Pyrrha, but that wasn't who they were. Not really. He still knew her in a more intimate form than anyone save maybe Lie or Val ever would. Nikki and Jaune still meshed so well in combat that it appeared they both had trained the other from basics—Which technically, they had.—knowing just when to duck or swing so that they fought as a single, inseparable entity. Nikki loved those synchronized moments, but she refused to live inside them or for them. She loved her best friend and partner, too. Family didn't give two shits about reality-altering magic like that.
There was a sizeable gap between Cinder Fall and reality though. One that seemed to be widening alongside her eyes as Nikki had told her story.
Cinder responded, after a moment's pause, with all of the poise and confidence Nikki expected. Her face a composed neutrality, born of years beneath her mother's strict gaze and living in the unforgiving circles of Mistrali nobility. "Excuse me?"
Right, Nikki reminded herself. Not Ash, Cinder.
"Cinder," Ren sighed. His tone like a tired parent berating a child old enough to know better.
Holding her hand out in the multiversal gesture of 'Bitch what?' Cinder looked incredulously back at Ren. "How else am I supposed to respond to a story like that? The Magic part of it I can accept; creating something like life was basically the Relic of Creations's whole thing when Polendina had it. Maidens, you can essentially make a new person with Dust. Give a Relic a boost and, yeah, alright, skip some steps in that process. No problem—"
"Cinder!" Jaune this time, more angry than disappointed.
"—but I draw the line at alternate timelines. What, did the gods just casually make an infinite number of worlds? Please tell me this is all some elaborate prank. I can accept you four just wanting to make me feel like shit for my life choices, but this is too far. Maybe if you were, I don't know, me, this would be reasonabl—…"
Cinder was finally silenced from her rant by a pink-haired Nora glaring at her with such sheer maternal disapproval that she could probably have sent the Grimm themselves to bed without dinner. "Cinder!" was the only word from Nora's mouth, barked loudly and clearly. A single word promising retribution of the highest order.
For her part, Cinder reacted in much the same way Ash had when Queen Saloma had berated her. Shutting her mouth so quickly her teeth clicked, and bowing her head ever so slightly. Nikki couldn't see it, but she knew from pseudo-experience Cinder's eye was trying to burn a hole through the floor with righteous anger.
Nikki mentally warred with herself for a moment before a course of action came out as the clear winner. It was a risky choice, but no matter how much it might hurt to lose this gamble, not trying would wear away at Nikki until the day she died. Nikki could take the pain of defeat, but she refused to go down without trying.
So, Nikki stood from her chair and began to approach at a comfortable pace. She knew she was in no danger, and a slow crossing would portray fear of Cinder. Approaching quickly would be a sign of aggression. She settled herself onto the coffee table before putting the riskier part of her plan into motion.
"Cinder," she began, softly offering her hand towards the brooding doppelganger of her old mentor. "I won't claim to understand you; a lifetime of differences separate the Cinder in front of me from the Ash I knew. But if I've learned one thing since being caught up in all of this—real or fabricated—it's that so little of it matters. I miss the family I knew, yes, but living in the past won't help anyone. My family here, now, needs help. In a twisted, confusing way, the memory of someone so very like you counts among that old family. Will… can you please try to accept my help? It doesn't have to be now. It doesn't have to be next month. I'm not asking you to be the friend I lost, but will you at least let me be a friend?"
The room was tense, but at least it wasn't from implied violence anymore. Jaune was standing just off the wall, his hands raising and lowering like he wasn't quite sure what he should be doing with them. Ren and Nora had stayed sitting, their hands clasped together—they knew what this all meant to Nikki, and how much Cinder's answer could hurt, but had promised to let it happen one way or another.
Cinder for her part had raised her eye from the ground as Nikki had spoken. First to Nikki's outstretched hand, and then her face. Cinder's brow was furrowed by the end, her scarred face clearly showing her confusion. Her hands hadn't budged from her lap. "Ignoring if what you told me is real or fake—"
"It's real to me. I don't—"
"—ignoring that. You told a fantastical story involving so many familiar names and twisted versions of events. But I can't help but notice that I, or rather Ash, didn't really come up. She was mentioned all of twice, and you definitely put a lot of weight behind that name; more than I ever have, certainly. So, that begs the question: Why? Why blindside me with The Grim Pact? Why go through all this—" Cinder gestured towards the room. "—for someone who reminds you of a footnote in your personal history?"
That… was a question Nikki really should have seen coming. Should have payed more attention across every twist of the arrow that was retelling her story. Because Ash wasn't a footnote to Nikki, she was closer to the paper Nikki's story was printed on. Her presence had always been there, so much so that Nikki stopped noting when it was.
Cinder, so much like her counterpart, refused to let up or let the topic go. "Pyrrha. Nikki. Whatever you want to call yourself. Who was Ash Vermillion to you? Because to me she's a scared little girl who died the day her family did, at the hands of the Grimm. Powerless, scared and alone. A fate I have fought tooth and nail to never share with her."
Ash Vermillion had been the color of her namesake in Nikki's life. A burning flame of hope and inspiration. A prism which reflected the very stuff of life onto those around her and drove them to greatness. The very idea that her impact had been reduced to a single mention of her name… Nikki couldn't abide by a world so empty of the woman. So unaware of what it lacked.
"Ash was… she was Red. As silly as it sounds. A world without red lacks so much passion and warmth. Without red we'd have no orange. No purple. No rich browns of wood or soil. Fire would be limited to mostly tints of yellow. Your clothes, and my hair would just be shades of grey or maybe green. Skin would never blush pink. Bruises would be ugly, dull blue stains. Blood would just be an odd sludge dripping from wounds."
"Poetic," Cinder snarked. "But not what I asked."
She was right, Cinder hadn't asked what Ash symbolized. "I'm sorry, you're right. Ash Vermillion was… she was my Pyrrha Nikos. A celebrity, undesiring of her fame, and all too willing to be the one to dive headfirst into danger to fulfil her self-imposed destiny."
Cinder cast a wary glance at the others surrounding her. "I'd make a comment about that, but something tells me no tradition on Remnant would do much to stop Nora from making me more of a cripple if I did."
Nora's narrowed eyes agreed with Cinder.
"She was deeply afraid of the same things you are, powerlessness, solitude, cowardice. All things she found refuge from in her team—her family. She loved them so completely, and would do anything to protect them."
Nora finally reached her limit, and barked out a single lonely laugh. "Are you sure you're talking about Cinder?" Earning her an incredulous look from Nikki.
Despite the interruption, Cinder didn't even flinch at the accusation. Instead, she leaned back against the couch and… relaxed. "I'd argue, but I really can't disagree with her there. Admittedly I've been proven wrong on the whole 'friends make you weak' stance. Historically so. But have you met Mercury and Emerald? About the only 'love' between the three of us is an ironic 'MOM' tattoo and an unironic delusion of me being an actual mother figure."
"I've always known, but now I know. You are a bitch," Nora retorted.
Cinder cackled at the accusation. "The baddest you'll ever meet."
"Well you're certainly bad at being one," Ren replied. And just like that Nikki's read of the tension in the room was flipped on its head. "At least put some effort into your next attempt. 'Dead Pyrrha' jokes, really? Nikki was right, you do need help. Your routine is as worn out as Jaune's mother."
"Hey!"
"Eight. Kids."
"...Fair." Jaune accepted with a sigh. After less than a second though, his face morphed from mock defeat into a devilish grin. "But hey, I can prove Cinder's a dirty, dirty liar."
"Oh can you now? Shouldn't be too hard, I lie quite a bit." Cinder was egging him on.
Nikki knew this group had a problematic history, sure, but she had no idea how they had moved from what she thought was genuine hatred to… she wasn't sure what was going on. One minute Nora was being held back by Ren, his semblance likely working overtime.
The next?
"Mmm, I don't know, you were pretty honest with a few drinks in you. Your dad's name was Maple. You first wanted to sing to impress a classmate—or his twin sister, you liked them both. And I don't know if it was love, but you and Emerald definitely shared something," Jaune said, comically wagging his eyebrows.
Cinder's face whipped around to Jaune, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I'm all for airing out our dirty little secret, Mister Arc, but you don't have to lie to make a point," she said. "Unless you mean I was as good as two women at once," Cinder practically purred, her demeanor shifting towards the feline.
Ren rolled his eyes. "I would tell you two to get a room, but this is your house, Jaune. They're all your rooms."
"Well, they're not all mine—"
Nikki, at last, found her voice. "I… I don't… what?" she said, the words stumbling out like last round had just been called at their favorite bar.
"Oh, uh, we both own the house, so some of the rooms are yours. You know?" Jaune explained, helpfully but also entirely misguided.
"No. How are you all so… calm about all this? You sound like old friends from school, not like you've literally tried to kill each other! Cinder literally killed one of your best friends, and probably countless others." Nikki was sure Jaune Nora and Ren loathed Cinder. She'd made sure The Grim Pact existed on this Remnant before asking Ren to invoke it tonight. "I thought I was going to have to keep you all from poisoning her food tonight or something. She's your Worst Enemy! How are you this relaxed around each other?"
Jaune looked at Nikki with befuddlement. "Worst enemy? I mean, sure, she's done some heinous things—
"She's definitely in the top ten," Nora injected
"—but she's nowhere near the worst."
Ren sagely nodded his affirmation. "The lack of human or Faunus trafficking really knocks her down a few places. Killing another sapient being is an awful waste, and far too common in our line of work. Whether that means premeditated murder, or self-defensive manslaughter. Cinder has shown, if not remorse for her past actions, at least regret where they led and a willingness to change going forward. We don't necessarily like her, but hatred is toxic like few other things."
"You said it yourself, living in the past doesn't help. Cinder was bad, we were kids, and we did—probably still do, if I'm being honest—hate each other. Like Ren said earlier: she's been granted amnesty, not forgiveness."
"Not that I asked for either one."
"Besides, Renny's personal superpower is literally suppressing emotions," Nora piped in. "If you think the three of us can't read Cinder's whole 'I hate myself, wish I'd tried this all sooner, and hate that I ever fell for Salem's empty promises' mood like a bargain bin romance novel…."
Nikki was still having a hard time understanding this. A worst enemy was supposed to be utterly despised, your every waking moment used to strike them from your list. Not… "I thought you all needed my help. That I would get you all to the table, so to speak. That I would have to get all of you to see the reasonable side of things."
Cinder's brow raised in almost-admiration. "Wow. I've got one Alpha of an ego, but that's next level. Did your Remnant not have therapists? I can't call mine amazing, but I can get you his number if you need it."
This night hadn't gone anything like Nikki expected. There were no attempts at revenge, or heated words exchanged. Cinder really was so very different from Ash. This world had been Nikki's home for close to two decades, but it felt like she knew so little about how it all worked. She still felt so alien here sometimes.
Nikki let out a long, tired sigh. The kind that only came after a realization truly rocked one's world. Like coming up for air in a tumultuous sea trying its best to drown you, and finding a rescue boat had found you.
Cinder had already moved on. "So Jaune, you were joking about the drunk threesome, right?"
A/N:
Happy 4th, Happy Con Weekend (like RTX, where I was), Happy whatever reason you feel deserves some cheering!
Yaaaay! Nikki chapter. had to get my local Pyrrha main deTimber to help me get her voice just right.
WhatOtherPlanet/YellHead, as always giving that good Beta work
Feedback is loved and appreciated, your left heel is looking nice this week.