The Pyrrhaific Cycle, a rwby fanfic

Do you believe in destiny?

Words are the building blocks of the written word, as is the fabric of all realities big and small. Yet in many universes, in all multiverses and omniverses alike, the concept of destiny has been invoked in many forms across all timelines.

For a small portion of the omniverse…within the boundaries of the RWBYverse itself, the word, destiny, is ingrained into its very ichor since its inception.

The Fall of Magic, the Rise of the Faunus, the Great War, the Faunus Rights Revolution, the Fall of Vale, the Fall of Atlas…the birth of Salem, all these events from the smallest to the most destructive of catastrophes were designed and birthed by the will of unmanaged and fundamentally flawed destiny.

Yet, no matter how flawed or how 'pretentious' the notion of destiny can be…sometimes, it can be seen as hopeful in the eyes of those destiny favors, for good or ill.

In many timelines, the name Pyrrha Nikos brings to mind many titles.

Champion, Partner, Invincible Girl, Pride of Mistral, Idol, Role Model, Pumpkin Pete Mascot, Fall Maiden, Killer, Heroine…First Love.

Yet for all of the titles and admiration she has brought….she is just a girl that never had a good walk in life.

Forced to smile to keep her brand and recognition alive, fearful of her semblance getting discovered to the point of being unable to express herself through that semi tangible portion of her 'soul', unable to properly interact with others without being seen as a 'goddess' or 'a celebrity', unable to say no to anyone's problems out of courtesy, and unable to save the day or even return to her partner….all these things, all these regrets permeates across all known version of the P of Team JNPR and, in some cases, define her.

A sad fate for one that meant well in the grand scheme of things…yet even then, sometimes, across all timelines, things have a way of changing for better or for worse.

Some timelines show the results of happier fates, ranging from surviving her final battle to never facing said battle at all.

Other timelines with hate fueled within the foundations of those select narrative threats show a much different fate, to die before her time, to lack her partner and thus any sensation of 'normalic', to be turned into the monster that Vytal fears, to even, in rare circumstances even beyond the control of its deadbeat creators, become the universe's punching bag and granted every single death and misfortune imaginable…for no other reason then the machinations of some elder god or something of that nature.

One or the other, to be blessed with longevity, die a heroine or suffer a fate worse than death. An endless pendulum of choices made in part from the Nikos line and in part the words of destiny, cruel mistress to all.

The black screen slowly became illuminated by an orange glow, the faint outline of several large letters visible in the center of the screen.

Yet, what if that clockwork system of fate was 'retooled'?

As the light bathed the screen in bright orange hues, a bright metallic gold plated room with marble columns, a circular domed ceiling, several half circular shields of pure silver with the Τ symbol emblazoned in their centers hanging from the walls, and silver triangular lamps blazing with light black fire hanging from the columns' sides by strings of bronze, became visible to all as the vague outlines of the letters became obscured by lamp light.

What if the death of one didn't bring the darkness or the light of altered fates?

The camera zoomed all across the golden temple complex, revealing several orange and black mosaic frescos on the walls and ceiling, each one depicting a woman in bronze armor positioned in various poses, both laxed or battle ready.

From conversing with various male and female individuals and waving to a crowd of thousands in a massive circular coliseum to battling against massive monsters and various individuals with weapons ranging from simple long swords to burning fireballs, each fresco seemingly 'moving' akin to a film strand at a relatively fast speed.

What if fate had a tinge of mercy upon her favorite Remnant champion?

As the scenes, ranging from the woman in bronze fighting against a giant draconic entity of black and white to an intimate moment between her and a man holding a sword and shield of yellow, continued to play out in front of the camera itself, the gold plating began to slowly rust, oxidized into a black mass of 'mold' that spread from the sides and began to consume the frescos, the shine of the room growing dimmer and dimmer with every passing second.

SCRUNCH!

CRACK!

What if the Champion of Mistral had a second chance?

SCRUNCH!

CRACK!

The black 'rot' continued to spread across the temple, covering everything in its path, the camera began to zoom closer towards the center of the room, the burning torch light dimming with every passing second.

CRACK!

SCRUNCH!

CRACK!

Yet, as the darkness began to extinguish the light, the faint outlines of several large letters became practically visible for a brief moment before the umbra overtook them as well.

What if….destiny could be changed for the…weird? Eh? Is that right? Oh well….

FFFFFFFLLLLAAAAAAASSSSHHH!

But as the darkness blotted out the entire scene itself, a bright orange light erupted from the center of the scene, dissipating the darkness and illuminating the entire temple, the golden plating blinding the frescos and columns in the process….only for the camera to zoom quickly towards the temple's center where a ninety story tall silver and gold statue of a warrior woman stood erect in a praying gesture.

And within her outstretched palms, facing the domed ceiling above, were a set of bronze letters that shone brightly, akin to glowing supernovas.

The Pyrrhaific Cycle

CRACK!

Large purple cracks began to form across the letters as the statue's eyes glowed pure red, seemingly burning with 'fire' as the palms glowed the same color as the eyes, moving across the letters like a small bonfire.

So, let's see the beginning of the heroine's journey towards self redemption and possibly self improvement in this new cycle of epic heroism!

CRACK!

SHATTER!

KABOOM!

Within the span of a few seconds, the letters exploded in a brilliant display of red, purple and orange light as the screen was blinded by this unnatural explosion, only for the light to suddenly swirl around like a small galaxy, moving faster and faster, smaller and smaller until-

BOOOOOOOM!

It imploded into itself, its remains taking the form of a small red and bronze book sporting a red spear overlapping a circular red shield emblem on its spine, which slowly opened its pages for the world to see.

The Pyrrhaific Cycle: Chapter Zero, Nikos Restart.

Xxxxxxx

-Remnant, Sanus, Vale, Beacon Academy, Beacon Tower-

"RRRRRROOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR!"

The cries of monsters, the distant explosive power of gunfire, the rising pillars of smoke and flames.

All paint a picture of the current world, wartorn and on the brink of ruin…once the capital of the Kingdom of Vale, now invaded by the Creatures of Grimm and the unexpected assistance of hijacked Atlasian robots and a more vicious sect of the White Fang.

BAM!

The sound of airship cannons echoed from several miles away from the now crumbling academy, the massive Wyvern Grimm clinging to the sides of its tallest tower like an aggressive vampire bat, the emerald green and white remains of the upper story and its internal CCT System's components burning away on the ground below.

Glass, cogs and miscellaneous debris littered the sides of the now open and exposed 'arena', formerly the office of the now deceased Headmaster Ozpin, as the shattered moon loomed in the sky, unaffected by the carnage below.

Heavy breathing, filled with pain and near exhaustion, could be heard as the camera moved towards the center of the destroyed office, revealing two figures, one draped in red and gold while the other was kneeling on their knees in agony.

This figure, a tall muscular fair skinned woman with long waist length red hair in a ponytail that curled slightly into a loose ringlet, green eyes, light green eyeshadow around the far upper corners of her eyes, a D cup chest and small ass, wearing a brown overbust corset with a vertical strip of light brown in the center, a elastic black A-line mini skirt, brown opera-length gloves, a red ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt, a small circular bronze plate on her right hip with an etched spear shaped emblem in its center, two brown pouches on the left hip, a black belt, a bronze circlet with small green teardrop shaped emeralds attached to thin bronze chains, a large bronze gorget, a bronze bracelet on the upper left arm, a bronze bracer on the lower left arm, bronze mid-thigh length greaves, bronze mid-thigh length cuisses and brown bronze trimmed mid-calf high-heeled boots, hissed in pain as she felt the warm sensation of blood within her right boot, the indicator of a grievous wound made by her looming opponent.

This was Pyrrha Nikos, Champion of Mistral, sponsor of numerous businesses, member of Team JNPR, and formerly the ideal host of the Fall Maiden's power….until this woman, Cinder Fall, dashed that idea out the window like a bull in an explosives factory.

All the chaos, all the pain and destruction, all originating from Cinder's web of chaos.

"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours." the false Maiden said with a smirk as she knelt down and lifted the red head's chin with her right hand, all in an effort to stare at her eyes like a predatory conqueror. "But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined."

Arrogance, so much arrogance that it would fill an entire pool with its venomous slime. These were the thoughts that Pyrrha had for this woman, who entered Beacon Academy, tricked everyone into seeing her team as legitimate, and created this…chaos all to spite the good work of the Huntsmen and for what? A magic power? Something that could've been taken any other way…yet this woman chose the path of destruction.

'She is no better than a Grimm, mindless and lacking any proper thinking. She will only destroy, never protect.' the Huntress thought maliciously before pushing her chin away and sat up, giving Cinder a determined glare. "Do you believe in destiny?"

"Yes." the woman said, her frown more apparent than before as her eyes narrowed in anger.

As Pyrrha's eyes began to close, she noticed the world was slowing, moving as if at a snail's pace, as Cinder's arms and hands seemed to move as if they were in a sea of concrete.

'Do you believe in destiny? Heh, a dumb line for a warrior on her last legs.' she thought to herself, waiting for the inevitable end to her story, for her options were gone.

Her aura…shattered.

Her weapons…melted and/or lost.

Her legs…bleeding out from an obsidian made arrow to her tendon.

A thousand ways to escape, to kill her opponent, all gone because she allowed herself to be spooked by a Grimm. A creature she had been trained since early childhood to kill and destroy on sight, something that no sponsor or bloodsport would erase from her marrow.

A sign of weakness…a sign of failure in Huntsmen society that she…had made.

And it cost her, her life.

Yet as she began to embrace the end of her short existence, memories began to play in her head, each one as vivid as a high quality film.

Her first day at Beacon, her youth in Argus, her Signal Academy days, her many promotions, her…distaste for Pumpkin Petes, her first time training with Miló and Akoúo̱, her first encounter with her partner, her first battle with Team JNPR, Forever Falls, the Beacon Dance and her dance routine with her entire team, her mission to stop Doctor Merlot…which for some reason was hazy and fluctuate between her going into battle in her normal attire or her pajamas, the Vytal Festival, the introduction to the Fall Maiden, so many memories…all made with love and hate…yet, it was not these memories that made her soul empty.

Instead…it was all involving her friends, her…makeshift family.

The laughter of Nora.

The stoic calm of Ren.

And…the inner strength of Jaune…her Jaune.

The times they fought, the times they laughed, the times they confided with each other, the times where they made up and worked together for the sake of the team and of others. So many memories…so many…regrets.

So many times she could've changed the results…dashed away because she thought they were the 'right thing to do'. So many 'what ifs' that might've done more good than harm.

What if she was more open with her emotions?

What if she had been more stern in her actions?

What if she chose to be a normal girl instead of an apologetic mess?

What if she was more connected to her team?

What if she decided to let her team in on the secrets of Beacon?

What if…..what if she was more upfront and decisive to Jaune?

What if….

What if…..

What if?

'I should've done more for my team, for Jaune. But…instead, I pushed them away and instead of becoming the Huntress they needed….I failed them.' the red head thought as the sound of a glass bow string echoed in her eardrums. 'I'm going to die here, facing a bitch that ruined everything and, soon, my name will be synonymous with murder and martyrdom.'

Wooooooiiiiiisssshhhh!

'I chose to follow this path…I chose to let myself become the puppet for…destiny's game. For Ozpin's plans…I chose to become the symbol, not the girl.'

CLANG!

SQUISH!

"AH!" Pyrrha gasped in pain as she looked down for a moment, seeing an obsidian arrow embedded directly in the center of her chest as a red hue formed from the spot, an indication that something….wasn't right. 'Gods that hurts! No…I must not let her take satisfaction!'

As the False Maiden moved closer to her opponent, her movement still slower than a snail's pace, Pyrrha saw the amber eyed woman's right hand glowing a bright orange color, the signature hue of the Fall Maiden's stolen power, and in a single moment…felt shame and regret for all her past deeds and mistakes all at once.

Yet, before the sensation of flames akin to the surface of the sun surged through her entire body like a thunderbolt, a single line of thought passed through her neurons…the final 'words' of a fallen warrior.

'Jaune…I wish that I told you how I felt…and had taken you up on another dance…my partner…' Pyrrha thought before her body glowed with orange energy, her eyes quickly closing as the world became silent and the void consumed her forevermore.

(Elsewhere)

-Unknown location-

SPLASH!

"CAW! CAW!"

The sound of crashing waves and the chatter of seagulls quickly broke the silence of the void, or something akin to a void in her mind, as Pyrrha opened her eyes, revealing a large expanse of white sand dotting the edge of a vast ocean, multiple palm trees and other jungle foliage dotting the internal portions of the 'island' as she felt….confused.

For wasn't she supposed to be in Vale, a temperate coastal city?

"What….the?" she muttered while looking around, the sun's rays hitting her skin like tiny form covered darts. "Where…where am I? And why do I feel exposed?"

WOOOSH!

A sudden cold chill ran down her spine as she rubbed her shoulders with her hands…only to discover that she wasn't wearing her gloves, or even her normal clothes.

For, when she looked at her reflection in the nearby shallow water, she saw that she was wearing a crimson red bikini top and bottom with gold lining on the sides and a long red trail going down her ass to her upper knees, her emblem emblazoned on the lower right breast as the former champion's eyes widened in shock.

"H-HOW!? How did I get into this swimsuit!? Where am I!?" She yelled in utter confusion, the waves splashing against her bare feet as she failed to notice a tall red extremely long sleeved cloaked figure standing right next to her, holding a silver glass of martini in their right hand, obscured by the long sleeve.

"You just appeared in that attire." the hooded figure said, their face obscured as Pyrrha jumped back in surprise and was seemingly attempting to grab something off her back. "Woah, relax. I'm not a threat and before you go all murder happy on me, no you don't have any weapons here nor the ability to use your semblance. It's kinda a part of the whole…you know. Ahem…want some martini?"

"N-No thanks. Sorry…um…who are you? Where am I and what do you mean I can't use my semblance!?" Pyrrha said, her tone fluctuating from calm to panicking in an instant.

"Name's Omni. I'm a god." they said with a calm voice as Pyrrha blinked in disbelief at his words. "And yes, you can't use your semblance. It's kin-"

"You? A god? Like the Brothers Grimm?"

"Do NOT mistake me for those crackpot gods!" the deity said with a frown. "I have more power in my fingertips than those idiots and to be frank with you, being placed in the same category as them is just insulting."

"Oh, sorry. Wait, if you're a god…what are you supposed to do? And why hasn't anyone learned of you? At all….wait, why am I asking these questions!? I need to get off this island! I need to stop the invasion!" Pyrrha said with wide eyes before attempting to jump into the sea, only to land back on shore due to a red portal appearing right near the god's left side. "Eh!? What the-"

"I'm a god of time and space, not native to your reality and Pyrrha, please don't do that again. The sea looks nice but it's actually the amalgamation of lost souls and other unnecessary elements too complex for your Remnanti mind to handle." Omni said with a sigh as they threw the glass of martini away, the glass vanishing into a red portal in the process. "So just calm down and relax."

"Relax? RELAX!? There is an invasion going on and Jaune-"

"Is fine." the deity interrupted, their tone filled with annoyance at the woman's troubled state. "He's fine. But your time is done there."

"No! It's not! I must stop that evil bitch before more people die by her hands! I need to save the people of Vale!" Pyrrha yelled while Omni placed an arm on her left shoulder, a sub-zero chill running down her spine as she felt….sadness overtaking her previously confident self.

"Vale fell. The Grimm have taken over." Omni said with a heavy sigh, Pyrrha's eyes widening in horror. "And you, Pyrrha Nikos, are dead."

SPLASH!

"I'm….I'm...dead?" Pyrrha muttered as her knees began to buckle, her memories slowly returning as the god patted her shoulder lightly.

"Yes. Burned by magic flames until nothing but your soul remained. Thankful I brought you here before you joined the Afterverse, or it would've been….not so pleasant given the gray goo and all." the deity said while Pyrrha fell to her knees. "Take your time. It's always hard to recall one's death, especially a recent and traumatic death like yours."

"I….I…..oh gods….oh gods…." she muttered while tears formed in her eyes, her mind realizing that her 'dream', her 'nightmare' was real and that now she could do nothing for her team...nothing for all the innocent people back in the land of the living….nothing for her partner.

And that….broke her.

"Oh….Oh gods….." Pyrrha muttered before gripping the sand with her hands, letting loose a series of cries and sobs that had been repressed for a very long time, possibly since her Signal days, her negative emotions finally released from their restraints at last.

'...a broken soul from a broken world. A sad fate for one that never had the chance to grow, only to suffer at the mercy of martyrdom and shortsighted goals.' Omni thought while allowing the girl to cry her heart out to the world. 'I sympathize with you, I pity you and….I must judge you, for soon...the choice will be made and you will make that choice. But for now, release your sadness and regret. Let yourself be what I can't not be...'

SPLASH!

'Human.' Omni thought sadly as Pyrrha leaned towards the sands, her face getting covered in wet sand and salt water as she embraced the pain, suffering and regret of her mortal life.

(Several minutes later)

SPLASH!

The waves splashed against Pyrrha's knees as she, her face covered in sand and her eyes red from her emotional outburst, looked into the distance, the waves enticing her a little as Omni stood next to her, a towel appearing from his right sleeve.

"Feeling better." he said while moving their arm near her face, causing her to turn to him, having recognized his masculine tone a few minutes into her crying fit, and took the towel from him.

"Thanks….sorry. It's….It's just so…."

"I know. This happens with every soul that learns of their death." Omni said with a comforting tone. "Some go mad, others deny that possibility while others, like yourself, break down. Trust me, you aren't the only one that goes through this."

SPLASH!

"...so I'm really dead?" Pyrrha said while wiping the towel over her face.

"Yes."

"And I…I can't return home…ever?"

"Mmmmm. It depends." Omni said while helping Pyrrha to her feet, his robes getting drenched by the salty seawater in the process. "Are you feeling alright or do you want to wait for the truth? We have literally the rest of eternity to wait."

"...I'm sorry. But…I want to know why I'm here and…I don't want to just mope around on this beach for eternity." Pyrrha said while sighing a little. "Please, elaborate on that 'it depends' part."

"Glady, just need to do something first." He said while raising his arms up.

ZOOOOOOP!

PLOP!

CRASH!

And caused a portal to open up on the other side of the beach as a large wooden shack with a yellow straw roof crashed into the sand and sank a few inches into the light colored deposits.

"There, a nice shady spot for us." Omni said while lowering his arms and began walking towards the shack. "Follow me and we will discuss stuff on the way there."

Pyrrha blinked before following after him, the waves splashing against her feet every so often as she walked besides the 'god's' left side.

SPLASH!

"So….what is this place? The…Afterverse?"

"No." Omni said while shaking his head. "The Afterverse is a realm of gray goop and wandering souls that turn INTO the goop. Not a pleasant place but it is connected to all known timelines so it's unfortunate the Twin Gods just lumped them all together for the 'sake of it' but I digress. This is a small pocket reality between the realms of the living and the Afterverse. You can call it anything really but I prefer the name 'Endless Beach Purgatory'."

"Oh….I see." She said while feeling a little disappointed about the idea of an 'afterlife full of gray goop', given the fact she and everyone else on Remnant thought the afterlife was….more pleasant, a realm of eternal happiness or something like that.

"As for how you got here, I brought you here." he said calmly. "Usually most souls from the RWBYverse don't come here, especially from pivotal points in their histories. It's always to the Afterverse or wandering around the mortal plane as a ghost."

"RWBY...what?"

"RWBYverse, the entire reality you came from. A collection of timelines that go on into infinity, like your timeline, Dimension 302- 11 TPCPNRWBY."

"And…it's named after Team RWBY?"

"Yep. Don't ask me why that is but it's fun to say. RWBYverse, RWBYverse, RWBYverse, RWBYverse. Yeah, fun to say as a tongue twister." Omni chuckled while Pyrrha blinked in disbelief, given the fact a different team from Beacon had the 'honor' of 'naming' an entire reality. "But the reason I brought you here is simple, I'm here to grant your wish."

"Eh?" She said while seeing the 'god' walking into the shack, which had only a simple circular wooden table and two white foldable chairs inside, and sat on the chair to her left. "My wish?"

"Yeah, your wish." He said while beckoning the Huntress over to the opposite chair with his left arm. "The one where you wanted 'another dance' with life, with Jaune Arc."

"How-"

"I'm a god of time, space, alternative paths and, a lesser known part of my lore, keeper of the dead. Meaning I have the ability to take, commune, and destroy a soul. It was pretty easy for me to 'hear' your final thoughts and oh boy, you were quite the foul mouth. But given the fact it was Cinder Fall, your killer, that's a fair response." Omni interrupted while watching Pyrrha walk over to the chair and, with some hesitation, sat down on the plastic folding chair. "And it's rather easy for me to resurrect you….but."

"But what?"

"I can't exactly return you to life. At all."

"...WHAT!?"

"Yeah, you can't return to your timeline, at all. You died, meaning if I were to bring you back it wouldn't work out. After all, Cinder BURNED you into atomic dust, no existing body means no return. That and two things would happen if I did make that choice." he said while crossing his arms. "Either one, you do return to life and have to live an existence where you, the so-called 'Killer of Penny Polindina' and the 'Destroyer of Vale' would be hounded by people calling you a monster for the rest of your life, with the guilt of failure and regret eating away at your heart until you die a lonely death."

Pyrrha's blood ran cold at Omni's words as she felt like that particular scenario was correct, given her 'murder' of an Atlasian Huntress on live Scroll vision would turn her supporters into anti Nikos bashers, who might use her as a scapegoat for Vale's sudden invasion instead of the intended person, Cinder Fall.

"Or two, your sudden resurrection would destabilize the timeline and destroy it in a temporal explosion due to the sudden introduction to already destroyed atomic matter. Either one works, but the second one is more likely, given it's akin to a paradox. Introducing an already dead person without a clear form leads to…a lot of complications, especially for a pivotal point in your timeline's history. I mean look at Salem and Ozma, they had a similar event happen and by god, I'm still surprised that Ozma's continual 'pop goes the weasel' resurrections didn't cause the timeline to explode like a fuc-"

"Ozma? Salem? What are you talking about?"

"Right, Ozpin never told you about his past. Right….strap in, it's a crazy CRAZY history lesson from a time long before you were ever born." Omni said while pulling out a massive red, white, black and yellow tome with the words 'A Dummy's History of Remnant: Volumes 1-?' on the front from his left sleeve and opening it, causing dust to go flying into the air.

'Oh no.' Pyrrha thought with dread as she felt like a class with Professor Oobleck would be more preferable compared to the lesson to come.

(Several 'hours' later)

"And that's how a single lie destroyed not only a kingdom, but also ruined everything in Remnant's ongoing future. The end." Omni said while closing the book, the sun outside the shack still fixated in the center of the sky, as Pyrrha stared at the deity with a very pale disposition, her eyes seemingly bugged eyed from shock. "Any questions?"

"..."

"Um? Pyrrha?"

"..."

"Still in there?"

"..."

'Oh dear, I think I might've said too much. Should've done the whole 'Jaune Arc' brand of telling….mmm, I wonder how he's doing? I did leave him in the middle of the void with an evil Ruby….better get back to his story, right after this one.' Omni thought before pulling out an air horn from a red portal and smirked under his hood.

BBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

"AH!" Pyrrha screamed as she fell off her chain and onto her back. "Ow!"

"Sorry about that, I had to make sure you were still conscious."

"Ow…that was painful…" the Huntress groaned in pain while shaking her head and stood up. "Ugh….all that….information, that really…ow."

"It happened and your death, in some small part, was because of their little war across the centuries."

"...still hard to imagine. The Huntress occupation, the history of Remnant, all made at the cost of a long destroyed world. I mean…to think I was going to become the Fall Maiden for the sake of Remnant, not knowing I was just a pawn in…their feud." Pyrrha muttered while taking a heavy sigh. "Yet, it's still amazing to learn the truth….even if I'm trying to wrap my head around everything you just said."

"Figured. Knowing the truth is harder than accepting a lie, especially a truth that is stranger than fiction but I digress." the deity sighed. "Since you know the true history, it's a good idea to learn of the inner workings of the RWBYverse, so that you have an inkling about the reason for your appearance here. Relax, it won't be another long winded lesson, I'm not that cruel."

"Still not used to the name." Pyrrha said while taking a seat on the chair, after she picked it up with her left hand that is.

"Understandable, but I've heard even worse names for a universe, heck a multiverse in some cases."

"Like?"

"There is a reality, or verse as I refer to them, as the Penguinverse. A whole reality full of penguins, no joke, it's just full of waddling sea birds. And the name isn't even unique, just the word verse slapped onto the name of the bird. Now if it was called the Sphenisciverse then it would be unique, but NO it's just the normal name and that's it." Omni groaned while Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at him.

'Ok….not weird at all.' she thought while trying not to make any annoyed expressions, and failed as Omni took notice of her slight eye twitches.

"I get it, it's dumb but someone has to call it out." he sighed while shaking his head in annoyance. "Anyway, the RWBYverse. To spell it out, the RWBYverse is the entire omniverse that the God of Light created at the beginning of known time, a project created way before Remnant even existed and LONG before humanity was made. During a time of war between creation and destruction, which all started from the God of Darkness' unbelievable envy towards the other sibling."

'That sounds….akin to the 'true' history he told me. The Brothers Grimm are….like squabbling birds more than anything really.' Pyrrha thought with a sweatdrop as Omni continued to talk to the recently deceased Huntress.

"The RWBYverse is the first reaction and everything else is just extensions of that creation. As part of that idea of 'creation and balance is never ending', the entire verse IS infinite with lots of timelines popping in and out of existence, each one more unique than the last. Some are closer to your own interpretation of linear time but with slight differences, others are so drastic that it's unbelievable to anyone OUTSIDE that particular timeline. Heck, some timelines intersect with other omniverses or other outside timelines to create new ones, with some of the more 'advanced' or 'weird' timelines having organizations or certain individuals hopping across other timelines….although those are another can of worms that I'm not going to divulge into." Omni said with a sigh, rubbing the inside of his hood with both sleeves. "A massive headache that doesn't account for it's sister verse."

"Sister verse?"

"...the God of Darkness created a copy during that age of war. A predatory verse that was designed to weaponize Remnant's fears, wrong choices and the occasional outside influence to create dark versions of the RWBYverse that can destroy it. A dark parody that somehow went out of control, getting itself sealed behind a silver gate and locked behind purple chains. That reality is in the darkness of all timelines and, if ever unleashed, will end the RWBYverse itself." Omni said grimly. "Most dark realities in the RWBYverse hold a sliver of hope, but sometimes those timelines fall into the Ruinverse if there is no hope at all. For the Ruinverse is a hopeless verse that creates, destroys, breaks down and destabilizes everyone and everything that falls into it. Humans, gods, faunus, machines, you name it, there is a timeline that encompasses that scenario."

"...gods."

"Exactly. And it also extends to certain points of your timeline. Like an even worse Fall of Vale for example, it's very popular."

"But why tell me about that…dark verse? What does it have to do with me?" Pyrrha asked with confusion while feeling sickened about the Ruinverse's mere existence, an entire 'omniverse' of bad choices.

Something she had in spades….and that terrified her.

'With all my failures I…I wouldn't be surprised that a darker outcome would exist somewhere….gods, I should've done more. I should've been more active.'

"Ah that. It's part of the offer I'm willing to give you." the deity said with a chuckle. "Either you go to the Afterverse and leave all your regrets and sadness at the door for the well earned eternal peace you wanted for years or….you take a job offer that hasn't been taken in a few million years."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at this while feeling slightly tempted at the idea of 'eternal peace', yet felt shame at the very notion of walking away from everything she had shouldered on her back for the better part of a decade.

After all, even if she failed to stop Cinder and return to her team, she was still a Huntress that would help others, even if it…well, killed her, and walking away from all responsibility, even after becoming an incorporeal being, wasn't in her nature.

That and…she just couldn't let go of her mistakes, ever.

'A world without my friends…without Jaune, that's not for me.' she thought with sadness before lightly clenching her hands. "What is the job offer?"

"Mmmm, are you sure you want-"

"Omni. The very idea of peace without my friends is wrong. I…I have lived through a lot, hurt a lot of people and left my team in shambles. As much as the Afterverse sounds appealing, even with the gray goop, I can't stop worrying about others. I'm selfless, to the point that….I just hurt myself, and I just can't see myself acting like a coward."

"Having peace isn't cowardness."

"It is to me. I left my team alone, I let Cinder destroy Vale and I failed everyone that saw me as a heroine. I…I have a lot of regrets, a lot of mistakes and…I don't see the Afterverse option as the way for my legacy to end." Pyrrha said while trying to act strong, despite the lone tear falling down her left cheek. "I want to fix my mistakes, to act on my own volition instead of the wills of others. I want to be me, not the symbol of Mistral, but me. Pyrrha Nikos, the partner of Jaune, the girl behind the mask. I want to change, to fix myself and….if this job offer helps with that endeavor…then I will serve penance for my grave mistakes."

"...I see. But I must tell you this now. It's not a penance, nor is it a punishment. Life sometimes has unexpected outcomes, many preventable but those that make the choice don't know how everything plays out until it's too late." Omni said with a sad, yet comforting tone. "You keeping the Maiden stuff a secret, the Fall of Vale, Penny's abrupt assassination, your death. All of that could've been prevented but how could you have known? How could anyone have known what would happen? Mistakes and bad choices can occur, same with the good ones, but that's the thing. Life isn't a set of good or bad choices, it's a web of options that can create a multitude of different outcomes and that, while disheartening, is the truth. The story of life is complex, just like you. Knowing the second option isn't what life is about or how to prevent something that might happen, it's how you deal with the now and how you perceive through it all, the good and the bad, that makes life unique and memorable."

The room became silent as Pyrrha stared at the deity with realization, his words seemingly having an effect on her as the sound of gulls echoed in the distance.

"..."

"Sorry. Sometimes I try to be more philosophical with my guests." Omni said with an apologetic tone. "I'm not trying to push anything on you, just….give you some advice."

"No, I should be the one apologizing." Pyrrha said with a smile, although she did instinctively try to get up and wave her arms out in an apologetic manner. "I allowed my frustrations to become center stage, I wasn't trying to imply that the job was a form of penance and that it would somehow erase my mistakes. It's just…I'm the product of fame and personal regrets, it's hard to let go of all of that, especially when I still want to return home and make things right. I know you said it would destroy the world but…I really want to see everyone again, have some form of closure….and just…."

"See Jaune again?"

"...yes, yes I do."

"It's fine Pyrrha, it's only human to feel like that." Omni said with a nod. "Besides, the offer does have something that might help mitigate those feelings, at least for a little bit."

"...which is?

"If you take the offer and do a good job at it, to the best of your abilities, you can return to your timeline once a year to check up on things."

CRASH!

The chair fell down onto the wooden floor with a heavy thud as Pyrrha stood up in shock, her eyes wide with absolute shock.

"WHAT!?"

"Well, yeah. You can't stay in your timeline for a long period of time but being there once a year won't destroy your reality at all." Omni said while a little surprised by Pyrrha's sudden outburst of energy. 'Was it too soon?'

"You could do that!? Just why didn't you mention that DURING the whole 'my very existence would destroy the world' talk!?"

"Because I didn't want to get your hopes up too much. You were kinda…and still are, wanting to return to life and, if you did learn before we started talking, it would've been you trying to claw and scratch me into oblivion to escape this place." Omni said with a grumble. "Besides, that is a reward for your efforts, not a 'get out of jail free' card. I do NOT reward others for doing nothing, especially those that act spoiled or irrational to the wider picture at hand."

"...still, it would've been nice to know beforehand."

"Understandable, but as for the nature of your job." the deity said while Pyrrha picked up the chair and sat back down on it. "It's simple. I want you to go into the RWBYverse and hunt down cracks between the RWBYverse and the Ruinverse, which do occur every so often when a timeline from both verses intersect with each other, and defend any timeline you find yourself in from these threats and anything else that occurs there."

"Ok, that sounds simple-"

"But!" Omni interrupted with a slight chuckle. "You won't be doing this in a physical body, instead you will be taking the 'Ozma approach', but with extra features."

"...eh?"

Omni sighed while facepalming a little. "Right, was vague as hell that time. Ok, I'm going to be frank with you Pyrrha. The Twin Gods fucked up a lot, but the God of Light's idea for a reincarnation cycle for Ozma was sound….on paper that is. The major problem, besides the random nature of the host selection process, is that he never holds onto the knowledge and skills of the host. Yes, he HAS knowledge of the past but none of the personal history or memories, they always get absorbed or overridden eventually, which is not good if you want a person that 'saves' Remnant and 'unites' them to stay grounded in reality. That and he never gets to keep any of his unique host's skills, not that it would help in the long run but at least have SOMETHING besides a dwindling magic soul and the knowledge of the world to overcome Salem, who has the same powers and KNOWS your tactics!"

"Um…ok?"

"Sorry, I got off tangent. To sum it up, I'm going to grant you a similar power as Ozma, but improved. Like a Reincarnation 2.0 situation, and unlike that older system, your hosts will be alternative versions of you."

"...oh." Pyrrha said while feeling slightly disappointed for some reason. "So just other mes. Ok…Ok." 'DRAT! I wanted to go into Jaune's body!'

"Hoping to be 'one' with Jaune?" Omni teased as the Huntress' face turned bright red, her hair becoming duller in comparison.

"N-N-N-NO!"

"Relax, I'm just teasing ya." the deity chuckled. "So yeah, you will be the one entering hosts this time. But unlike Ozma, you have a few tricks up your sleeves."

"Which are…what exactly?" 'I can't believe he saw through me like that! Ooooh! This is so embarrassing! Even worse than having to deal with Weiss Schnee all the time!'

Omni smirked under his hood while snapping his fingers.

ZOOOOOP!

And caused a red portal to appear right behind the table, dropping a large blackboard with green chalk on the front side, onto the wooden floor as a diagram of two identical Pyrrha Nikos, all crudely drawn, was shown on the dark green slate board.

"The new power is called Aileni Arwr, it's like magic but less tired to anything and more like a very advanced semblance. It has a few abilities but some of them will have to be discovered as time goes on. However, it does have four main abilities that will make you the bee's knees to anyone else, discounting the fact you also have your memories but I'm getting ahead of myself. The first ability allows you to, besides keeping your memories and skills, will allow you to keep the accumulated knowledge, abilities and unique skills of all your hosts after leaving the body."

"...um, what?"

"You have the ability to gain all the skills and powers of the host after you leave them, be it willingly or just because you died. So say the current host has very good cooking skills or the ability to fire lasers from their eyes, you get all of that and everything else." Omni said with a shrug. "That way you don't have to learn from scratch afterwards."

"But how? I'm a spirit in a body, what purpose does that even entail for me?"

"Well, you can temporarily grant the host all of that knowledge and powers during dire situations, but it's temporary due to the fact too many powers in a single body tends to cause grave injuries." Omni sweatdropped. "The second ability is unique. In times of crisis or negative events in the host's life, you can become a spirit in that timeline, with limited abilities from the first skill….however, you can only touch them, they can't see you, hear you, smell you or even taste you at all. Only the host can see you and that's rare since well….seeing yourself as a ghost can be terrifying to some."

"True. I kinda understand those abilities." 'To a point.'

"So yeah, you become a guardian angel for times of trouble. The third ability is to choose your next host, even when in a current host. I added that one so you weren't stuck in a host you don't like. However, you can only do it four times per rejection or death otherwise it's a randomized factor like Ozma. Can't be helped, this is reincarnation not a dine and dash."

'Weird analogy but I kinda get it. I mean if I was stuck in…a host, I mean a 'me' that was populated by Nora's….oh gods…..that's kinda terrifying. Sorry Nora, but you are kinda…terrifying sometimes.'

"And the final ability and, to me, the most annoying. The ability to master any skill and power."

"Mmmm, sounds like something Jaune would want, given he…wants to be a great Hunter."

"So true, so true. But I allowed this ability to exist not to make you OP, god that would make your 'job' boring after a while." the deity groaned. "I allowed you to have this skill so you can gradually learn the skills and powers on your own. To gradually become the badass is way better in my opinion than just being granted the powers of a god."

Pyrrha nodded while wholeheartedly agreeing with his words, given she trained for a long time to get her 'Champion of Mistral' title and knew the value of hard work. "Wait. Learn the skills? How? I'm going to be in someone's body, how can I train?"

"Simple." Omni said while getting up from his chair, throwing the tome off his lap and into a portal in the process, as he walked towards the door. "You will be training with me."

"...eh!?" Pyrrha cried out in shock as she got up and followed the hooded figure out of the shack. "You, a god, are going to train me?"

"Yep. Every time you die or are ejected from the host you will return to the Endless Beach Purgatory, where I will be here tending to things." 'And having a good time. Yui has no idea this place exists so no insane water fights!'

As Pyrrha stepped onto the warm sand, the wind blowing against her hair and face, she noticed that the shack was sinking into the ground at an alarming rate as it quickly vanished into the white sand, leaving nothing in its wake.

"Don't worry. The sand sometimes cleans up after itself, keeps the beach nice and clean from 'unfamiliar' materials like that shack. Came from another reality so the beach 'disposed' of the materials before it 'contaminated' something." Omni said while looking out into the distance. "So, you understand your new job, if you choose to accept it that is?"

"To go into different versions of myself and…save the day?"

"That's part of it. You have to stop the Ruinverse from gaining a stronghold in the RWBYverse, help the host with their issues, and, this is a biggy, you have to show compassion." Omni said with a hidden smile. "You have to be the best you in the 'Pyrrhaverse', yes you can change and all, but don't lose sight of your inner qualities that make you, you. Do that and you can visit your reality for a single day a year. Heck, you can do anything at that point, look at the news, kill some Grimm, watch Jaune sleeping, anything as long as it's for a single day."

"I-I wouldn't watch him sleep!" Pyrrha stuttered in shock, making Omni chuckle. "S-Stop laughing!"

"I can't help it, you're just so silly sometimes." he chuckled before calming down. "Ahem. Right, if you accept this job but fail to do anything other than the required tasks, well, you will forever be barred from your timeline and the Afterverse, unable to see Jaune or anyone else ever again. Do you understand?"

"..."

"Take your time-"

"I accept." the Huntress interrupted with a serious glance, seemingly accepting the fate of Ozma in the process. "I know that I have a lot of baggage, rightfully so, but I want to change, to grow into a better me than the one before. If this journey will help me accept my mistakes, give some form of closure and allow me to see my team…and Jaune again, I will gladly take up arms against all forces, from both 'verses', and become a hero in my own image, not as the Champion but as the Huntress. Omni, god of time and space, I, Pyrrha Nikos, accept the power of the Aileni Arwr as my own."

Omni 'blinked' while staring into Pyrrha's confident eyes, only to sigh a little and nod in agreement. "Very well, but know this Pyrrha Nikos. The Ruinverse thrives with darkness and you, a bring that escaped their fate, is a tantalizing 'meal' to corrupt. Many versions of you have fallen to that 'great darkness', many of them either more powerful or weaker than you are now. If you choose this path, the Ruinverse will hound you like a hungry predator, never resting nor relenting until it drags you screaming into the darkness that spawned it. Once it finds you, you must not fail. You must keep that darkness from both the RWBYverse and from your own heart, lest both of you fall into ruin."

"I still accept the task, for I am the P of Team JNPR, we might be less destructive than Team RWBY-"

"True."

"But we still protect the world nonetheless, and I will protect all timelines with my life…even if I'm technically dead and using a host, nevermind! I will take the job, the mission, and be the best me out there, no matter the hardships or trauma. I, Pyrrha Nikos, will bring peace to the RWBYverse no matter the cost and redeem myself from my failings."

"..." the deity blinked while Pyrrha, noticing his confused silence, lost her confidence constantly and bowed her head a little.

"I'm sorry!"

"Relax, you were just passionate. Nothing wrong with a little speech to motivate you." Omni said while raising his left arm up, revealing a strange glowing orange ball of 'burning' plasma-like energy with an intersecting black double infinity emblem in its center, from within the sleeves and held in place by…a pitch black three clawed hand that gave the Huntress the shivers. "This orb contains the Aileni Arwr. Take it and walk the Path of Samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth."

Sissle.

Looking upon the 'burning' orb with some hesitation, Pyrrha took a deep breath and moved her right hand towards the orb, the 'flames' licking against her fingertips as she grasped the almost mystical object tightly.

CRACK!

SHATTER!

And shattered it into a million tiny pieces, the flames erupting from the palm as her body glowed with a bright 'aura' before vanishing into her body, the orb's emblem appearing on her neck for a brief second before fading away into nothingness.

"The power…." Pyrrha muttered while feeling a little stronger than before, as if she had pushed a miniature sun into her body, and flexed her right hand a few times as Omni turned towards the shack's former location. "It was….amazing."

"That is the nature of power. It seems great at first but like a drug, it can corrupt the person and, in the case of Cinder, transforms them into entities that only seek power for the rush. The secret to keeping power in check is to know discipline and this simple fact. Only those that do not seek power gain the power they desire."

Pyrrha gripped her hand tightly for a moment, thinking back to the woman that slayed her for power, and sighed. "I will keep that fact to heart. I will not fall for the allure of power like her." 'I will never become that bitch, not now, not ever!'

Omni nodded before raising his arms outwards and snapped his fingers.

ZOOOOP!

Which caused nine red portals to appear on the sandy ground as nine large bronze colored wooden doors erupted from the black centers and stood erect in front of the human and deity, each one with a silver knob and a unique black emblem on their centers.

The first door had a single ellipsis eye-like symbol with three lines going down the sides.

The second door had a long staff-like symbol with the initials 'RCO' under it.

The third door had a broken spear symbol with a single 'N' rising from the middle of the broken spear as the words 'Tropus Proditionis Solveret' were etched around the spear.

The fourth door had a flowering rose-like symbol with three snarling wolf heads on the sides and front of it.

The fifth door had a mouthless humanoid head-like symbol with six horns, two curved ram horns and four elk-like antlers, on the sides and forehead as two small deer-like ears went down the sides of the jawline.

The sixth door had a three pronged rocket symbol with a strange 'slime' oozing from the cockpit as a single tendril wrapped around the rocket's sides.

The seventh door had a cracked circlet symbol with trails of 'smoke' leaking from the crack as a pair of triangular eyes lined the sides of the circlet.

The eighth door had a large clock gear symbol with two spears in an 'X' formation in the center and a smaller gear behind the spears.

And finally, the ninth door had a circular shield symbol with a spear jutting out of the right side with the word 'Proto' etched on the spear's tip.

"What are those?" Pyrrha asked in confusion.

"These are doors to the alternative timelines, each one a very specific version of you. Once you go through one, you enter their mind and will be there until the host dies or you choose to leave. However." Omni said while turning to face the Huntress. "You can only pick one door at a time. That and you can't go into new ones until the nine current doors are done with."

"What if I don't like the options?"

"...you got a point. Tell you what, every three doors-"

"No."

"Mmmm….every two-"

"No."

"Fine, every time a door is used up another one will take its place. BUT! In order to USE the new doors, you need to finish the other eight. Got it?"

"Alright. That I can deal with." Pyrrha said with a nod. 'Plus I can weigh my options later instead of just going in blindly to the current doors, I mean what if they are….terrible realities? Or worse yet, boring….oh great now I'm thinking like Nora!'

"So which one will you choose first? Door one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight or nine?"

"...mmmmm." she muttered while rubbing her chin, looking at each of the doors and their symbols before pointing to the first one. "That one."

"Huh, I'd thought you would pick the second one. Ok. I will be waiting here until you return." he said while watching Pyrrha walking towards the door, only to raise his hands in realization. "WAIT!"

"What?"

"I forgot to give you something." he said while snapping his fingers.

ZOOOP!

And lo, as the red portal fell on top of the Huntress and vanished upon hitting the sand, the girl realized that she was in her original clothes, her weapons attached to her back and returned to their full, not melted, state from before her battle with Cinder.

"Can't have you walking around without your attire and weapons. Consider that a gift from me to you." the deity said with a hidden smirk.

"Thank you…thank you." she said with a smile, her confidence renewed as she moved her left hand towards the knob and turned it.

CREAK!

CLANK!

FFFFFFFFLLLLAAAASSSSHHHHHHH!

As the door slowly opened, a bright white light began to fill the screen as Pyrrha smiled to herself.

'Ren. Nora. Jaune….I promise to come back, even if it takes a little longer than expected.' she thought before walking into the door, her silhouette gradually absorbed by the brightness as everything faded into white. 'I promised you all….another dance after all.'

Xxxxxxx

Name/Designation Title: Pyrrha Nikos (The Pyrrhaific Cycle Pyrrha Nikos- TPCPNRWBY)

Age: 17 (At the time of 'death')

Affiliation: Good

Dimension: 302- 11 TPCPNRWBY

Abilities: Enhanced strength, speed, durability, agility, and endurance, javelin handling and knowledge, rifle handling and knowledge, shield handling and knowledge, swordsmanship skills and knowledge, high aura pool, Huntress skills and knowledge, pin point accuracy, hand to hand combat skills and knowledge, aura handling and knowledge (limited), Miló and Akoúo̱ handling and knowledge, Aileni Arwr handling and knowledge (allows the user to 'reincarnate' into different versions of the user with all the accumulated memories and skills of the user and their other selves available with each use. Data is limited however on this particular ability and its unknown if there are other abilities that are hidden in this one unique skill), astral projection (via Aileni Arwr, limited to certain negative or life threatening events in the host's life with limited physical interaction), power/knowledge absorption and containment (via Aileni Arwr, allows the user to keep all the powers, abilities and unique traits of all other hosts upon leaving the vessel. All abilities become available to the user even in astral form, although limited, and allows the user to temporarily grant the current host said abilities in dire circumstances.), body/vessel selection (via Aileni Arwr, allows the user to choose any host to occupy during the death or ejection from a current host but for four times per death/ejection. Otherwise, the process is randomized in the [REDACTED].), skill and knowledge masterly (via Aileni Arwr, requires training in the [REDACTED] for the ability to reach 'master' rank and is extremely gradual, not fast acting.).

Semblance(s): Polarity

Bio: In this timeline, the events of the Fall of Vale would wrap up in a similar vein as canon, with the death of one Pyrrha Nikos bringing about the collapse of the Kingdom of Vale and the complete dissolution of the Kingdoms as a result. Yet, in those last moments….the Champion of Mistral would reflect upon her own life and the choices she would make along the way, how she failed to gain confidence and was unable to make any meaningful decisions on her own…to never escape the machinations of others and become her own person instead of the symbol Remnant knew and needed in their darkest hour. In essence, she regrets not doing more for her friends and for Jaune Arc, the only one that saw her as a girl instead of a symbol of peak Huntress status, and this, combined with her frustrations of never achieving the peace she wanted with Team JNPR caused her to wish for 'another dance' just before her body was erased from existence itself. The end of one story….and the beginning of another. [ERROR! DATA EXPUNGED! CODE: LAHKESIS! PROCEED TO DATA OBSERVATION!]