FAREWELL, BEACON

The streets leading up to Ozpin's tower was empty, with all the commotion and chaos happening all over the kingdom, the silence in these streets are a welcome change of pace. I wouldn't say it's comforting, but to able to think without the screams... I sorely needed this. I tap my back pocket checking to see what all I have left in the upcoming fight, though I don't really think it'd matter at all.

"Three knives, one sword hilt, the good ol' grappling gun, aaaand an adrenaline shot. Sweet."

Definitely not enough to kill Cinder, but I'll manage to get Pyrrha away with this at least. If not the both of us, then her at least. I'm just about dead anyways.

I run towards the entrance, dragging my feet and limping in between. I place my hands on my thighs to catch my breath, as I struggle to walk inside the building. Thankfully, even in my pathetic state, I was able to catch up to Pyrrha, who just about to board the elevator.

"HEY!"

She looked back, the shock in her face was evident.

"Got room for another in that joint?"

Pyrrha gasped and rushed towards me, catching me before I collapsed on the ground.

"Ezra! You're bleeding!"

I shook my head and chuckled, trying to brush her worries away.

"It's not mine."

It's Yang's...

"I'm okay. Pyrrha listen, you can't take on Cinder alone-"

Seemingly knowing what I was about to say, Pyrrha stopped me halfway.

"Ezra please don't stop me, I have to do this."

"Do what Pyrrha? Die!?"

"TRY! I have to try Ezra, the same way you're trying to right your mistakes."

That's a bit of a low blow, knowing full well that I can't say no to that reasoning, because I that's exactly what I'm doing right now. Still, this puts me in a bit of a dilemma. That adrenaline shot in my back pocket should be enough to jolt my body, and allow me to fight for three minutes max, maybe five if I really push it. Question is, do I use it now to stop Pyrrha or Cinder.

"Dammit Pyrrha. Stop, you have people waiting for you. Me... my life is over. Let me take on Cinder and stop her. Go and save yourself."

I place my hand on her shoulder and used it as a crutch to stand up. Pyrrha held me by my arms and stared at me somberly.

"Ezra, you're in no shape to fight right now, let alone win. You go up there, and all you'll be asking for is defeat and death."

I scoff at what she said.

"And you have a better chance than me?"

"YES! In your current state, yes I most certainly do."

I pull out a syringed out of my pocket and waved it right in front of her face.

"This baby right here, a special concoction that'll give me the boost I need to fight."

A look of concerned draped over her face.

"Whaa- what is that?"

"It's just adrenaline, relax. It's works better to me compared to other people thanks to my semblance. Raising my body heat can triple its effects. I can use it right now to stop you, or I can use it to stop Cinder."

She wrapped her hand around mine that was holding the syringe and gently pushed it down.

"That's dangerous Ezra, that can kill you."

I close my eyes and tilted my head down.

"I told Yang, you know. Before Cinder outed me in the intercoms I mean. She... reacted the way I knew she was going to."

Pyrrha sighed and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Oh Ezra..."

"She lost it, she wasn't in her right mind and she made poor choices. Poor choices because of what I did to her, choices that placed in her in a situation where I don't know if she's even going to make it. Pyrrha... I- if I die, I probably deserve it."

She tightened her grip on my shoulders and began to reason with me.

"Ezra, you're just looking for a reason to die. That's no different than running away. You need to find a way to correct your mistakes and redeem yourself."

Tears began to well up my eyes once more.

"What do you think I'm doing. Please Pyrrha, as one of the few people that actually still believes in me, let me save you. I owe that to you."

Pyrrha smirked in response.

"Yeah, I know. You owe me. Then allow me this one final act. To save Beacon... everyone... if not alone, then together."

It would seem that no matter where I go this night, I'm greeted with nothing but defeat. I tried my best to bargain with her, but I guess this compromise is the best I'm going to get out of her.

"Okay, Pyrrha. We'll do it your way. Promise me, you won't do anything stupid, and if it came down to it, we'll ditch alright?"

She nodded with a face full of resolve. Someone with that kind of determination in their face don't have it in them to do things halfheartedly. I knew deep down that she was lying. One of us is going to die tonight, and I'll do everything in power to make sure it's not her.

Pyrrha and I made our way to the broken elevator. I slam my back against its walls, sliding down on my buttocks, as Pyrrha began to close her eyes and concentrate. The elevator began to shake softly at first, before it rattled more and more violently. Soon, the elevator we were in came up rocketing up to the top.

"Might wanna use that juice you have in your hand right now."

I stare at the syringe in my hand, and grasped it tightly.

"Waaaay ahead of you."

I took a deep breath and stabbed the needle straight through my thigh.

"AAAAH!"

I began to increase my body heat, as my heart began to beat out of control. I fell down on the ground in pain, my whole body shaking and mouthing drooling uncontrollably. Pyrrha looked back with concern, but she could do nothing but yell or else we would both fall to our deaths.

I clench my fist trying to gain some form of control, some form of way to focus my senses. I stare deeply into my fist, almost in rage till everything inside me began to settle down.

"HA! HA! HA!"

This thing is wonderful, every scratch and bruise in my body still hurts like hell, but I feel rejuvenated, like I can all of a sudden sprint a marathon. I twitched my hands then began touching my limbs frantically, trying to look for anything wrong outside of my heart that's still beating unbelievably fast.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Pyrrha, still concerned, nodded and then loosened her arms. She picked up her weapons before forcing the door open. Cautiously we marched forward towards Cinder who was busy talking and caressing the massive grimm atop Ozpin's office.

"Shhh... This is your home now."

She softly whispered.

Before Cinder could acknowledge our presence, Pyrrha launched her spear towards her which Cinder easily avoided. She followed it up by combining her shield with her semblance to ram herself towards Cinder, before vaulting backwards to me.

"Heh."

Unimpressed, Cinder elegantly floated in the air and waved her arms, summoning a torrent of flames towards us. I had no choice but to roll opposite of Pyrrha to divide her attention. Cinder opted to focus her attention on Pyrrha, sending a barrage of flamethrower attacks her way. Pyrrha acrobatically dodged each strike that was sent her way, except for the last one, which she was forced to duck down and hide behind her shield as Cinder's flames grew stronger.

"Right here!"

I threw one kunai at her, forcing her to look my way before I summoned my katana and charged at her. Cinder smirked at me, and accepted my challenge, parrying and dodging my slashes with her bare hands. I pressured her enough to make sure she was solely focused on me, or at so I thought.

"Cute."

Pyrrha snuck from behind and slashed her sword down, in perfect unison with my strike, but just as our hits were about to land, Cinder grabbed both our blades by with her palms like it was nothing. I stare at her in the eye as flames began to ooze around her eye sockets. This must be the power of the maidens. I watch as my blade began to melt in her hands while Pyrrha's began to shake. Cinder took advantage of my confusion and kicked me straight in my gut, sending me halfway across the room.

"GAH!"

She quickly turned around and did the same to Pyrrha, again, choosing to rush her instead of me, like I was nothing more than an afterthought. Cinder summoned flames underneath her hands boosting her speed immensely, but Pyrrha was able to perfectly time her assault, grappling her just before they collided to each other, and slamming Cinder against the floor.

Cinder quickly shrugged it off and backflipped away. In her arrogance, she failed to notice that I've already frozen the floor beneath her, causing her to slip. Seeing a small window of opportunity, Pyrrha sent her spear flying towards Cinder, then her shield, but she still someone managed to parry both. As Cinder fell on the ground, I vaulted towards her with Penny's sword firmly in my hands, and its tip pointed squarely on Cinder's heart.

"HIYA!"

But Cinder easily rolled away, just in time for me to barely scrape her, shattering the frozen ground and creating a thick mist that engulfed the room. Without giving her time to recover, I went on the offensive once more, slashing and striking as she's backing away. Soon after, Pyrrha jumped in with her spear fully extended.

Maybe it's because of all those times I've spent with Pyrrha talking about my romantic mishaps, or maybe it was all those times I sparred with her, or maybe it's just because of that one fight where Yang was cheering her loudest that I feel totally in sync with Pyrrha. Each strike perfectly complemented one another, our movements were smooth and coordinated even without talking, like we were reading each other's mind. Every move I made, Pyrrha knew best what to compliment it with, and the same goes for her.

I duck down and slashed at her legs, while Pyrrha went for the neck. Pyrrha attacks the front, I flank the back. We were perfect in our teamwork, and even with her maiden powers, we were pressuring Cinder to almost her breaking point. But the two of us aren't naive. This dreadful night has gone on too long for us to think that this momentum will carry us straight to victory.

"Ezra!"

I nodded and rolled forward, dodging Cinder's fire blast. I swung my foot sideways in a sweeping motion, knocking Cinder off her legs as Pyrrha tackled her to the ground. I threw Penny's blade at them, with Pyrrha using her semblance to grab it.

When the smoke cleared, Cinder was on her knees, Pyrrha behind. She had one hand wrapped her neck, choking her while the other tightly gripping Penny's blade closer to Cinder's her face. Cinder desperately held on to the sword, both hands shaking trying to yank off her.

"We're so close."

I leap towards them and jammed my gauntlet on the other side of the blade and pushed it towards Cinder. The pain coursing through my body was excruciating, and I can feel the effects of the adrenaline wearing off, but with this blade so close to Cinder's face, I just need to hold on just a little longer.

"C'mon Ezra! Just a... little... more!"

Hearing these words come out of Pyrrha's mouth, Cinder forced a laugh.

"HA! You think you have a chance?"

Cinder's hands began to glow red, as flames began to emanate around the blade. The grip she had slowly began to tighten, melting it to the point of breaking. Before me and Pyrrha could improvise a plan, a blood curling screech echoed in the office. Mine and Pyrrha's gaze shifted towards the windows, and was greeted by a massive dragon charging our way.

Unable to decide whether to let Cinder go and dodge the dragon, or take the hit and kill Cinder, she used our indecisiveness against us, as slammed her knee to my face, and elbowed Pyrrha in the stomach. The ground suddenly began to shake, as the impact from the dragon's attack chopped the roof right off. With debris falling from the sky, I had no choice but to curl my body, put my arms over my face and hope for the best.

As the dust began to settle, I was greeted by the sight of Pyrrha, crawling towards her shield while Cinder floated on top of us. I began to push the massive debris pinning me down, as Cinder and Pyrrha began to clash once more, but exhaustion was starting to take it's toll on Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha!... Hold on... I'm coming!"

I desperately pushed and shoved as much as I can, watching Pyrrha lift all the massive gears that used to be connected to the clocktower with her semblance. Even Cinder was surprised with the feat. In a single stroke, Pyrrha pinned Cinder down, stacking each gear on top of the other.

But even that wasn't enough...

It started small... embers at first, before the flames started morph into a massive explosion that sent all of the debris on top of her flying. One of them unfortunately hit Pyrrha straight in the chest, smacking her around and breaking her aura.

"PYRRHA!"

With the last of debris that was pinning my leg gone, I run towards Cinder, but the dragon grimm flew by once more, scrapping his claws against the floor, barely missing me. The impact shattered the ground in two, sending me sliding down to the bottom, but not before I extended my talons and lodged it on the floor. I barely hung in there with my half body pointed down at the abyss below. I helplessly watched Cinder manifest a bow and arrow, cocking her arms back and shooting it at Pyrrha.

In a panic, Pyrrha threw her shield at Cinder, but she cleverly dismantled her arrow, dodging her strike before recreating it immediately after it cleanly passed it. I watched in horror as the arrow hit Pyrrha in her ankle, knocking her to the ground.

"AAAAHH!"

NO!

Cinder began to circle Pyrrha menacingly, the grin in her face struck fear deep into my heart.

"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours. But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined."

Once more, Cinder conjured her bow and arrow, aiming it squarely on Pyrrha's chest. NO! It can't end like this. I pull my grappling gun out of my belt and carefully aimed it at the circling dragon. As his massive underbelly passed by, I fire my grappling gun at it, and pulled myself up, catapulting me towards Cinder.

I tensed my shoulders and rammed it against her as hard as I can, then quickly threw my remaining kunai at her before she could recover. Of course, she was able to block it easily. Cinder smiled at me curiously. I can see it in her face, the look of victory. With Pyrrha down and out, she has time to play with me, mock me, and revel in my misery.

"I've been meaning to get rid of you for a while now OWL! I was really hoping your 'friends' would do it for me, but I guess you can't expect children to do dirty work like this."

She conjured up a sword and ran towards me. A made a beeline to Pyrrha's shield, sliding towards it to dodge the bulldozing Cinder's strike. I rolled to the side once more, expecting her to slam her sword at me which I correctly predicted. I quickly stood up and clamped Pyrrha's shield in my gauntlet then swiped at Cinder's face.

The impact was so profound that she spun a full turn in the air before she even hit the ground.

"Screw you, Cinder."

Her eyes began to gush out flames, her smile now wiped clean and replaced with a nasty scowl. Cinder flicked her hands, creating an explosion that launched her my way, as we began to trade blows once more.

"You've out grown your usefulness OWL!"

"OH I've fulfilled my end Cinder!"

I angrily swung at her with my talons, sneaking in a couple of shots from the guns on my gauntlet, but none of it was enough to even scratch Cinder. She was simply on top her game. This was nothing more than child's play to her, while my strength slowly faded away. I no longer have the capability to use my semblance, but still I fight on.

"I've always, ALWAYS fulfilled my end! Even unwillingly!"

Her strikes felt heavier and faster than mine, on top of all that, the heat from her semblance... from her maiden powers was draining all of the vitality out of me.

"You were a good sport, OWL. Good thing I trusted Roman's instincts about you. I needed a scapegoat, and you were much easier to manipulate than Torchwick. Surprising, seeing as how you're more famous than he is, but you are right! You did your job splendidly! You were the perfect scapegoat!"

It wouldn't be very long after that that my exhaustion would finally catch up to me. Out of nowhere, my knees began to buckle, knocking me off balance. Cinder took that chance to blast me with an insane amount of flames, pinning me against one of the few pillars still standing. Little sparks of blue light began to glow momentarily, before fluttering away into the darkness, the color of my aura breaking.

My vision began to sporadically fade in and out as Cinder slowly waltz my way.

"I'll admit, your persistence is admirable. Annoying, but tenacious.. for a moment I thought you could actually do it. Foil my plans. Thank Remnant you're just as naive as your so called friends."

She stopped a couple feet away, and squinted her eyes while I desperately gasp for air.

"You've interfered for the last time OWL. If you wanna die so badly, then fine. I'll kill you before I kill that star pupil over there, so say your goodbyes."

She smiled and conjured her bow and arrow once more. Cinder pulled her arms back, making sure to set her aim as best she could. Not that it matters, all I can do now is squirm, and from this distance? I doubt she'd miss the killing blow.

"Goodbye, OWL. Or should I say Ezra."

Cinder took a deep breath and loosened her grip on her arrow. I close my eyes, as I waited for my death. I thought to myself how awful it is to not be able to correct my mistakes, how awful it is that I've cause so much pain to the people that I loved. I looked back in my mind the choices I've made these past couple months and asked myself how did it come to this?

I know I have no right to spare myself from the guilt, but right now, it's just me. I can spare myself some sort of happiness without being judged.

So in my final thoughts, I chose to think of her golden hair, her fair white skin, her fierce lilac eyes, her headstrong personality, and her smile that gave me so much joy that my heart cannot possibly contain all of it. The woman I love: Yang Xiao Long.

"I'm sorry, Yang."

The moment those words escaped my mouth, I felt it, the pressure pushing against my chest. I even heard the arrow making contact, hear the blood coming out... but there was no pain.

I open my eyes, curiosity getting the better of me. I- I should have kept them shut.

On top of my lap laid Pyrrha, with an arrow sticking straight out of her heart. My eyes began to widen, and every inch of my body began to shake in shock. My jaws began to drop and move, but no words came out. Every inch of me was screaming, but again, no sound came out. It was almost as if I had to force it out... a cry so horrible, I didn't even know I can make it.

"aaaaaaaa... AAAAAAAAHHHH! PYRRRRHA!"

I wrap my arms around her and began cradling her, as blood began to spurt out of her mouth.

"I got... I got you, you'll be alright."

Clearly in pain, Pyrrha forced a smile a way. The light in her emerald eyes, slowly began to fade.

"D-... bel..- d..s-ny"

I gritted my teeth with tears rolling out my eyes. I resolve myself to lower my ears close to her face, and hear her final words. A million thoughts ran into my head in that split second, hesitation beginning to creep inside my body, all because of the looming question that I've now just started to think about. Does she too, resent me now as well?

"Do you believe... in destiny?"

I couldn't answer her. I raised her head close to mine, and hugged her as tightly as I could.

"No, don't die Pyrrha."

"Never forget... Ezra... never... forget. Your dest-"

Before she could finish her words, her body began to dissipate, crumbling down into tiny embers that slowly scattered and faded away from the feet up till nothing was left of her in my arms but her clothes. I look up at a grinning Cinder, the both of us knowing what's about to happen next. How could I not, I just saw it happen to Pyrrha... Before she could make her move however, an unassuming voice appeared out of nowhere.

"P-Pyrrha?"

Ruby...? No! What's she doing here?

"Ruby no get away!"

Ruby's breathing began to turn erratic as the realization of what happen to Pyrrha began to dawn on her. She shook her head in denial before yelling at the top her lungs.

"PYRRRRHHHAAAA!"

It was then that a stream of white light began to spurt out of her eyes, its glow quickly increasing in size and brightness. My eyes too began to hurt. It started from the back of my head, slowly making its way to the front. I can feel some sort of energy, some sort of light wanting to come out so badly that it began to burn my contact lenses. I didn't even had the chance to think about taking them off, my hand damn near scraped it off without a thought, and as soon as I did, my whole vision was engulfed in nothing but a white light.

"WHAT!?"

That was all I remember. When I came to, the dragon was frozen in stone, Ruby was passed out, Cinder was gone, my eyes absolutely burning still, and Pyrrha's... still dead.

"DAMN IT ALL!"

I punch the ground as hard as I could. How else was I to let out my frustrations. I quickly wiped away my tears, as it was only irritating whatever it was that happened to... my eyes... and Ruby's. I try to calm myself as best I can, swiveling my head back and forth, trying to asses the situation till I locked eyes with Pyrrha's shield. In it was a reflection of myself, staring back at me.

"Destiny... that was what you were trying to say right?"

I grab Pyrrha's skirt and made a makeshift backpack, storing whatever gear she left in this world in it. Once all that was done, I shifted my attention to Ruby, who was still passed out.

"Ruby... what do you- what did we do?"

Brushing that thought to the side, I carried Ruby on top of my shoulders, and painstakingly rappelled down the tower. The fact that we both made it down was nothing short of a miracle. At the bottom was Weiss, patiently waiting for us... well, for Ruby.

"RUBY! EZRA!"

Weiss used her gravity glyph to slowly bring us down.

"Is she okay!? What happened?"

Weiss frantically grabbed Ruby off of me and gently cradled her in her arms, as we both fell in our knees.

"I- uh... I don't exactly know, but I think she's gonna be okay."

Weiss pushed Ruby's hair to the side and placed her cheeks on top of her forehead, and hugged her. She sighed in relief then looked at me confused.

"Ezra what happened?"

I don't have it me anymore to explain the whole thing, everything that happened tonight was far too exhausting, physically and emotionally. I tilted my head sideways, and looked away as I broke the news to her.

"Weiss... we lost Pyrrha."

Tears began to well up in her eyes, as she began to sob. She placed her hand on her mouth in shock, as she stared at me in disbelief, hoping to find any hint of a lie. Unfortunately for her, she won't find it from me, not anymore. I'm done lying. It was in that stare that she realized I wasn't wearing my Beacon uniform.

"So it's true... you are OWL. I didn't want to believe it. Ezra?"

Left with no choice, I said the words she was dreading to hear.

"Yes. I am OWL... most of what you heard are true, some aren't. The important thing is..."

I lookes at Weiss' heartbroken face, and the innocently sleeping Ruby and couldn't bring myself to justify my mistakes.

"I-it doesn't matter... bottom-line is I betrayed you all. Weiss I'm-"

"DON'T!"

Her sobs continued to echo in the darkness, as she tightened her embrace on Ruby.

"Don't say it Ezra! Don't, please! If you're going to say what I think you're going to say, then don't. Please."

She cried a little harder and painfully forced the next words out of her mouth.

"Don't say you're sorry... cause I might forgive you, and we both know you don't deserve it."

I could do nothing but look down on the ground in defeat.

"They're over here! Survivors!"

A crowd of Atlesian Police Officers started to come to view from the distance. I brace myself, fully expecting to get tackled and cuffed but Weiss started to whisper something to me.

"go."

"What?"

"I said go."

She raised her head at me and started yelling, commanding me to move.

"GO, EZRA!"

That was all it took to force my body into action. It started off as a crawl, then to a walk, then a jog, and before I knew it, I was running. It was as if Weiss' voice gave me an extra can of energy I needed to get away. I look back once Weiss and the officers faded away into the distance, looking back at the city that gave me a chance for a better future, the city that thought me how to love, the city that gave me hope.

Everything that I thought I could never have was born here, only fitting that all of it would die here too.

"Farewell, Beacon."