A/N: Two chapters in one day?! Who would've thought? Anyways, here's the second half of the last chapter - I hope you can see why I had to split this behemoth of a chapter. Please let me know what you think! I love hearing from you all :D
Laws of Attraction
The moment the call was made, Fox was running towards her. If she didn't move quick, the match would be over.
Bending her knees, Pyrrha drew up her strength and launched herself forward, blade and shield ready for the incoming attack. They met in a blur of fiery metal at center-stage, the strength of his blows rippling through her body as his long twin blades met Miló. Before she could even react, he withdrew his blades.
Just as suddenly, he continued to strike at her, combining his jabs with an array of kicks and punches aimed at her stomach and knees. A few of his attacks managed to catch her, landing on her bracers and on Akoúo; unfortunately, his speed was hard to match at the start. Some strikes of his twin blades managed to mar the unprotected skin on her shoulders and cheeks. Thankfully, she never even registered the pain, as the cuts never lingered long enough before her Aura flew in to heal the wounds.
Pyrrha was unfazed. Throwing her whole being into the fight, she responded with blows just as swift as his, keeping her focus on his feet. Pivoting around his movements, she quickly learned his rhythms and soon was dancing around his lightning-fast blades, watching for the perfect opportunity to strike. A brief opening caught her eye, and she immediately brought Akoúo up above her head. She ducked and thrust her sword at his open guard- but just as quickly as he was there, Fox suddenly leapt back, pushing Pyrrha away. She lithely flipped in the air and landed low to the ground before straightening up once more, cracking her neck and straightening her shoulders.
Fox stood in front of her a few metres away, watching impassively with those cold, pale eyes. "She's strong," he murmured, barely loud enough for Pyrrha to hear.
However, her attention was quickly stolen away by the graceful form strutting up to Fox's side. "Is that right?" Coco drawled, tilting her sunglasses down momentarily to inspect Pyrrha. Although they were the same height, and Pyrrha was visibly more built and muscular that she was, the redhead couldn't help but feel the sheer weight of Coco's stage presence as the older girl propped a hand upon her hip, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Then this might be fun, huh?"
"No maiming," Fox said blankly.
The comment elicited a hearty laugh from the other girl. "Oh, of course not! I wouldn't want to do that on her first fight!" As she spoke, Coco began to stalk towards Pyrrha, handbag still slung over the top of her shoulder. "After all, I don't get to do these demos ever- it's always you and Velvet. I don't want to give a reason to the professors for not inviting me back." With a coy wink towards Fox, she left him behind, slowly picking up speed towards the redhead.
Pyrrha narrowed her eyes. She's slower than him, she thought to herself, watching the other girl break out into a sprint towards her. She's fast, but still slower than him. I'll take the hit, then push her back. She pulled Akoúo up, ready to block the incoming blow.
As she ran forward, Coco leapt into the air, spinning her bag on her finger before gripping tightly onto the handle. "Sorry, freshie," she called, and with an airborne tuck-and-roll, Coco swung her bag with all her might against Akoúo.
Instantly, Pyrrha regretted underestimating the elder. The impact sent shockwaves of pain through her arm, her Aura rushing forward and knitting together the fracture which had definitely formed in her forearm. The handbag was still resting upon her shield, weighing what felt like an absolute ton. Thrusting her Semblance forward, she willed Akoúo to maintain its shape, not crumbling under the immense pressure.
Shifting her weight, Pyrrha threw her left leg out in a spinning kick. Caught off guard, the elder was thrown a few feet towards the edge of the stage as Pyrrha's blow landed upon Coco's side. The brunette hopped backwards as she regained her balance, holding her bag back over her shoulder. "Ooh, she's still going. I like her," Coco giggled, voice sultry.
How powerful is she? Pyrrha gasped internally, marvelling at the other's strength. There wasn't any fear in her, though- with the strength of her opponents verified and the ache in her arm healed, she cast a cursory look at the projector screen. Barely a dent had been made in her Aura bar.
Unlike Pyrrha, Coco's bar had already been depleted from the kick farther than Pyrrha's had been. She may be strong, but she's got no stamina, the redhead realized, keeping her expression neutral. Her eyes followed her two opponents carefully. This will be fine.
Shaking out her shield arm, she took a step towards the pair. Fox was instantly before her. However, this time, she was ready- she flew backwards, triggering Miló into a rifle and pumping round after round into the man. He immediately retreated, dodging her bullets when he could and blocking them with quick swipes of his blade when he couldn't. While he was busy, she kicked off from the ground again and ran to overtake him, throwing Akoúo towards him like a discus.
Distracted by the shield, Coco lost track of the redhead's movements as Pyrrha threw her javelin towards the brunette. The elder girl was barely able to bring her bag up to block the blade, sending Miló spiralling towards the rafters.
As the discus flew, Fox held both blades up to cover his face on instinct. The shield rebounded off of him and into the air, just like Miló had off of Coco – however, he wasn't expecting another quick assault. Pyrrha landed before him, spun around, threw her hands to the ground and shot her leg up and backwards beneath his guard, her heel catching his chin and knocking the boy into the air.
Sweeping her leg in a circle, Pyrrha caught Coco's high heeled boots with hers and dragged the older girl down onto the ground with a yelp. Rolling forward to get out of the range of Coco's mighty bag, the redhead coiled her feet below her and shot upwards into the air, catching Miló as it descended from the rafters. Spinning the polearm in her hands, she built up her momentum and crashed the butt of the weapon onto Coco's stomach, knocking the air out of the brunette.
Immediately, Professor Goodwitch called, "And that ends the match!"
Pyrrha stood up slowly, catching Akoúo as it finally descended from the ceiling after rebounding off of Fox's blades earlier. She tucked away her weapons and sighed, allowing her shoulders to relax, the mask slipping off. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Coco's Aura meter hovering just below the halfway mark, and Fox's just past the first third. She had won the match.
Extending a hand towards Coco, she murmured, "Are you alright?"
The older girl chuckled, pulling her sunglasses off her face to look Pyrrha in the eyes. "That- was- great," she replied, trying to hide the fact that she was still wheezing slightly from Pyrrha's blow. Her eyes were shining with excitement and approval, and she took Pyrrha's hand without complaint. As she stood, brushing off her clothes, Coco added, "I'm impressed- you really are good, Pyrrha."
Pyrrha paused for a moment, wide-eyed. She had not been expecting the positive energy exuded by the cool, confident figure before her. "Well… thank you," she said sincerely. "I enjoyed our match as well." Leaning down, she grabbed the handle of Coco's handbag and picked it up- or, at least, tried. Although she tugged at the handle, it was almost as if the bag weighed a literal ton, as she couldn't even lift it off the ground.
"Ah, don't worry about it," Coco said bluntly. "It's too heavy for you. Too heavy for anyone, really." And yet, the girl picked up her purse without so much as a pause and slung the long shoulder strap over one shoulder.
The redhead blinked at her, but soon felt a smile growing in response. "I'll keep that in mind," she giggled, taking a step back.
As they stood together, Fox approached them without a word- but before she could say anything, his pale eyes creased slightly, a small, approving smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "You'll do fine here," he stated in a low voice, his words warming Pyrrha up.
Coco waved to Professor Goodwitch, who had re-entered the stage again. "We'll be off!" she called.
The professor nodded bemusedly. "Watch your guard, Mr. Alistair. You should've been able to block that blow." Fox nodded sagely, so she turned her attention towards Coco. "Work on your speed, Miss Adel," she chided. "Clearly, your strength is unparalleled, but you're far from perfect."
Tossing her hair out of her eyes and slipping her sunglasses back on, the girl replied, "I'll keep that in mind." With that, she turned on her heel and stalked off the stage, but not before slapping Fox lightly on his behind to get him to follow her. The dark-skinned boy's ears tinged red to match his hair, but he kept his face neutral as he followed obediently after her.
Proudly, Professor Goodwitch smiled at Pyrrha, beckoning her over. "That was an excellent display, Miss Nikos," she said, ignoring Coco and Fox's silly exit. "I look forward to seeing how else you can grow. Admittedly, I was not expecting you to take down both of them so simply."
Pyrrha ducked her head, forcing the same awkward smile on her face that she always wore during award ceremonies. "It was nothing," she brushed off the compliment. "They're both very strong, and I was lucky."
"Nonsense," the professor tutted. Turning to face the rest of the students, she announced, "I hope you understood the correlation between battle strength of Aura levels, class. Any questions?" When no one raised their hands, she said, "And that concludes today's session. Normally, these will run for up to two hours- look to your Scroll for future schedules. However, as this marks the end of your first week here, we shall let you go for the weekend."
The room erupted into cheers, but they were quickly silenced by Professor Goodwitch's raised hand. "Keep up on your studies and your training," she advised sagely. "If you frolic too much, you will suffer for it."
A slightly less enthusiastic cheer emerged from the students, and they all began making their way out of the room.
Turning to Pyrrha, the blonde woman said, "Enjoy your weekend, Miss Nikos. You've earned a rest."
However, Pyrrha didn't respond, her eyes transfixed upon the shapeless figures filing out of the seats, still hidden by the darkness, still blocked out by the stage lights which blinded her.
She couldn't see anyone- but she could feel all their eyes still upon her.
The moment she had slipped her battle mask on, she had forgotten about the audience, just as she always did- but standing there, now, she was suddenly overwhelmed by their presence, by their watchful eyes, their judging gazes. She was suddenly hyperaware of their voices. The students casually spoke to one another as they walked along, and Pyrrha was able to make out some of their words. "Did you see that?" "She really is that good!" "Well, who the hell does she think she is?"
"What's the point of even trying to improve if she's already like that?"
Her heart leapt up into her throat, and she tried to close her eyes, to breathe, to calm herself down- just breathe, Pyrrha- in, out, 1, 2-
But it didn't work. Her breaths became more and more ragged, chest heaving slightly, eyes glassing over as she dropped her gaze to the floor. Her palms felt sweaty, trapped in her long, elbow-length gloves, and she could practically hear the clanking of her greaves as they hit one another due to her trembling knees. Her head began to swim, and soon, all she could focus on was the eyes, the eyes everywhere-
I'm going to die like this.
The sudden helplessness which washed over her was indescribable.
"Jaune? Jaune?" she called out weakly, forcing herself to stand up straight despite the terror now freely flooding her veins. "Nora? Nora, where are you? Ren, are you there?" Because she couldn't see them, couldn't find them in the blinding light. She could barely even hear her own voice, over the roaring sensation that had suddenly overpowered all other sound in her ears. Shaking like a leaf in the wind, she trotted towards the edge of the stage, nearly falling down the steps and twisting an ankle in her heels.
But no one replied, the other students still slowly making their way out of the stands. She was alone.
Just like always. This is what you get.
She had never felt this level of fear, of dread, of sheer terror that was filling her up from toe to head. It was as if someone had turned the faucet that let out her anxieties all the way, and they refused to close it again. Her tongue was thick in her mouth, and with her head drowning in the sensory overload, she didn't know what to do.
It suddenly all grew to be too much to bear, and before she knew it, she was sprinting out of the amphitheatre, rushing to the bathroom to hide the tears which were so inexplicably falling from her eyes. In the distance, she could vaguely hear the others – Ruby, Nora, Ren – calling her from behind, but all she knew was that she needed to get away. Away from the rushing wind that echoed in her head, the spotlight- away from everything.
By the time her breathing had settled down and the tears had been wiped away, nearly half an hour had passed with her perched upon the edge of her bed, still in her combat clothes. Her entire body was numb, and weariness filled her from head to toe. In some part of her mind, it was driving her mad- but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
"Pyrrha?" a soft voice asked.
Startled, the redhead looked up, only to see Jaune's concerned face looking at her. There was no longer any of the frustration nor resentment he had worn earlier after their encounter with Cardin. Instead, all she could see in his eyes now was concern.
"Hey, Jaune," she replied wearily.
Awkwardly, Jaune picked his way to sit beside her. She could sense his hesitation, his confusion. "We saw you run off. We thought you were hurt. I'm… I'm glad you're okay."
Her voice hitched in her throat. "I'm fine, Jaune," she whispered at last, trying to force a smile back onto her face. "I just… needed to use the bathroom is all."
"You could've changed your armor if that was the case," Jaune pointed out, but he wasn't laughing like usual. Instead, his tone was somber as he added, "You should've picked up your Scroll."
At that, Pyrrha pulled out her Scroll, opening up the screen lengthwise. Just as he had said, numerous missed calls flooded her history from the rest of Team JNPR. "Sorry," she said sincerely. "I was just thinking."
"I uh… I see," Jaune replied lamely. However, he didn't continue speaking, and the two of them sat in awkward silence for a few minutes.
Finally, Jaune groaned, dragging Pyrrha's attention away from the close inspection of her greaves she had been performing in order to avoid conversation. "What is it?" she asked, feeling numb, exhausted from the panic that had wracked her system earlier.
Jaune ran his fingers through his hair, stumbling to find the right words. At last, he admitted, "Look, Pyrrha- Nora told me that you seemed really bummed out after Oobleck's class. After, y'know, Cardin."
Pyrrha sighed, brushing her bangs above her eyes. The confrontation with Cardin felt like it had happened eons before, after the anxiety she had just experienced. "Look, Jaune," she murmured, squinting as she tried to recall the situation she had seen only a few hours earlier, "Cardin wasn't being nice to you. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"I know, Pyrrha," Jaune conceded helplessly. "I just… look. I have seven sisters, right? No one talked about fighting, or becoming warriors- that was stuff that is only really done by the guys in my family. Every man is a fighter, but none of the women are, so I didn't grow up hearing about combat. And, I guess…"
Pyrrha glanced over to him, unsure of where he was going with his story. "You guess…?"
"I guess I was just really embarrassed, okay?" he finally admitted, swinging his legs off the edge of her bed distractedly. "I never realized just how little I knew."
The redhead relaxed a little as Jaune rambled on. He's finally being a bit honest, she thought, willing herself to focus upon the present conversation and not the terrifying incident she had experienced less than an hour earlier. "Well, that's why we're here, right? To learn."
"Yeah," Jaune agreed, meeting her eyes at last, a warm smile on his lips. "I'll learn it all."
"Exactly. So don't worry about what others say, okay?" she added.
He let out a little chuckle, the first one she'd heard from him since the weapons class. It warmed her heart, just a bit. "Says the girl who made all of us worry so much today!" he scolded, throwing his hands up in the air. Hopping to his feet, he grabbed her hand and dragged her up as well. "Now go on, get changed! They're apparently serving cake today as dessert."
Pyrrha watched his expression carefully. Is he serious? He's no longer angry? A small part of her was still doubtful, still confused- why had he really been so upset about her interference? He hadn't explained that at all, and the concern still gnawed at her heart.
And the panic she had felt earlier… how could she ever explain it if it happened again? How could she ever face it, if it happened again?
It won't, she told herself stubbornly. It won't. That was a moment of weakness. I can handle it- after all, I am Pyrrha Nikos.
I am Pyrrha Nikos.
And yet, despite repeating that mantra all the way to the dining hall with Jaune, she didn't feel as comforted as she would've liked.