"Ruby Rose" Ozpin looked down at the excitable young girl in front of him, face unreadable. "You have silver eyes."
What suffering will befall you because of it?
Pyrrha had known this would be a suicide mission. It was why despite his protests she had sent Jaune away. The way he had screamed her name broke the young huntress's heart, but he would get over it. All of them would. With any luck they would all go on to live long, happy lives.
The pain in her ankle made thinking of anything else difficult. She watched with resignation as the bowstring drew back, arrow pointed to her chest. All that could be done now was to die with dignity, Pyrrha realized.
She looked up, glaring at the woman who had ruined everything. Every part of her felt like it was burning, her armor melted and her weapons scattered out of reach. This was the end.
Her voice was raspy as she choked out her last words, a whisper of a question. "..Do you believe in destiny?"
Cinder smiled, victory written across her face as she opened her mouth to answer- only to be interrupted by a thunderous scream.
Ruby Rose flew to the top of Beacon tower in a swirl of petals, already grief-stricken and exhausted. When she saw her friend moments from death, it broke her. Sliver energy exploded from her tiny body as something very, very old awoke. Raw power tore through stone like paper as she screamed in primordial rage.
Pyrrha watched as Cinder whirled to create a fiery barrier, countering the wave of negative energy. The two forces clashed, and she found herself almost hoping that the shield would hold. There was something so destructive about the way silver tendrils seeped from Ruby. The power felt almost Grimm in nature.
Despite the deafening combat around her, the 'invincible girl' just wanted to collapse and let her shattered aura do its job. The black splotches in her vision were getting wider, and she suddenly noticed that her head was lying against cold stone. She should help... she.. she should...
A boom echoed across the tower as fire and magic exploded outwards in a searing blast.
Then, everything went black.
When Pyrrha finally regained consciousness, the pain had dimmed to a dull throb. She felt drained. Her limbs were too heavy to move and bright, artificial light shone into her eyes. Groaning, she tried to shift her face away. A hand firmly pushed her back, and a distracted Atlesian voice muttered above her. "Say there, please. I'm almost done."
Not in any position to disobey, she went limp and a moment later the light turned off.
"Thank you" a tall, tan-skinned man with a rather large mustache was fiddling with a set of tools by her bed.
With what little she could see in her field of vision, Pyrrha was at the far end of a lab room. Various jars lined the wall, filled with strange dark blotches that seemed to pulse in the corner of her eye. She glanced back to the man, who was now looking at her seemingly waiting for a reaction.
"Where's my team?" The huntress's voice was strained, even breathing brought painful movement against scorched flesh. Still, she had to know if they had got to safety.
"On an airship by now, I imagine"
"How long was I out?"
"Two days."
She frowned. "But then, my aura-"
"I'm afraid we had to put blockers on it." He didn't sound particularly sorry.
Pyrrha tensed, splaying a hand out toward some of the more metallic looking equipment. Nothing happened.
The man hummed, "your semblance as well"
She glared.
He didn't seem to care much, turning away to swipe skeletal fingers at a wide array of screens. He twirled his silly mustache as he worked.
Pyrrha tried to push herself up onto her knees, but found there was no feeling below her waist. She yelped as her arms refused to support the weight and she flopped back down to the mattress. That was odd, but not entirely unexpected. Carefully peeled away bandages, she bit her lip to stop herself from screaming. Tendrils reaching up to her thighs; white armor affixed to black skin.
Grimm. Her legs were Grimm. She stopped breathing and reached down a shaking hand to touch the plating. It was rough, like uncut stone. Somehow feeling it made everything more real. Panic began to set in, and she felt dizzy. Her eyes shot around the room, the things in the jars, they were Grimm too. Her breathing quickened. No armor; no weapons or aura. She couldn't stand, let alone fight her way out. And what good was Pyrrha Nikos if she couldn't fight?
"Give me your arm." Her desperate thoughts were interrupted by the Atlesian man, who was now pointing a syringe at her.
"No!" she scrambled to the far wall, moving as fast as her injuries would allow. Curling into herself, she didn't break eye contact. Even that small burst of movement had left her exhausted. "don't touch me."
"You are going to want this," the man raised an eyebrow, "the alternative is far more painful."
Pyrrha said nothing, her long hair clinging to her face.
He waited.
The silence became too much to bear.
"...Who are you?" She hated how her voice shook.
"Doctor Arthur Watts, if you must know. Now will you please give me your arm," he scowled. "I have far more interesting things to be doing right now."
There was a pause. She was in no condition to resist if he forced her. Hesitantly, she tried to relax and let him take her wrist in his hand. Injections were always strange. The experience of something going further into your skin than it should was not a pleasant one.
Watts wiped the needle and placed it somewhere out of reach. Without even a parting glance he walked out of the small laboratory, saying nothing but a curt "don't knock anything over." before closing the door.
Pyrrha was alone. It felt surreal, sitting on the floor of this laboratory. She felt like she should get up and run, fight her way out if necessary. But that wasn't an option with legs that were dead weight, and muscles that strained at the slightest movement. With no headpiece to hold it in place, her hair fell messily across the floor.
Despite the pedestal she was put upon, Pyrrha was still a seventeen-year-old girl. With nobody left to watch, she broke down. Hands over her head and sobbing, she wondered if Jaune even knew she was alive. So much had happened in such a short period. She couldn't even begin to process it all.
Penny. Robot or not, she had torn that poor girl in half with her semblance. She could never take that back. Ripping metal and horrified screams replayed in her head. Grimm flooding the Colosseum. She drew in a shaky breath. Maybe these people were right to block her aura.
Minutes passed, or maybe hours.
The sound of tapping feet pulled Pyrrha from her thoughts. She looked up to meet vivid red eyes; green hair and olive skin.
She jumped up- or tried to. It was more of an alarmed jolt into a sitting position. "What are you doing here?!"
"My job." Emerald leaned against the wall, raising her eyebrows. "Surprisingly."
So this was the same organization that caused the fall of Beacon. That made things.. Worse, to say the least. Her eyes widened as realisation set in.
"You made me-" Pyrrha choked on her words, bile rising in her throat. "You made me kill Penny."
The green haired girl shrugged, "It was a machine. Atlas has probably already flown down to grab its chip or whatever."
"She wasn't just a machine"
"And what would you call it? It certainly wasn't human."
She reached forward to slap her and Emerald scowled, catching the approaching blow with little effort.
"I-" Pyrrha flinched back, suddenly aware of the imbalance in power.
The illusionist frowned. She wasn't one to enjoy beating down on people unnecessarily. This interaction wasn't going the way she had planned.
"Look, I'm sorry okay? It's easier not to think of it-her as human. It wasn't my idea to get you to do that. I'll leave you alone, I just.." She breathed, running a hand down her face. "I need to know what happened on that tower first. How did she die? It wasn't you, I saw the explosion but.."
Pyrrha turned away, hands clasped to stop them from shaking. She hadn't noticed how tired the other woman seemed until now. If the bags under the thief's eyes were any indication, she hadn't slept in days. "It was Ruby. I-I don't know how she did it, I was barely conscious at the time, but- There was silver everywhere, then they were both screaming- and.. I don't know. I passed out soon after."
"Fuck." Emerald sat down. "There's nobody left to blame, then."
She looked so defeated, and the genuine grief in her voice was no illusion. The redhead couldn't hold onto her resentment; it appeared both of them had been manipulated into things they didn't truly want.
"I'm going to leave." Emerald finally broke the silence, sounding firm in her decision. "It might take me a few days to get ready, but there's an old train station about a mile from here. You could come too, if you wanted."
Pyrrha nodded.
A moment after footsteps echoed along the corridor. The thief stood up and activated her semblance, hiding from view. A second later, the door opened and closed by itself.
She was alone again, for the moment.
Pyrrha pulled a blanket over her legs.
A.N. This is a post volume 3 fanfic, the outline of which was finalised halfway through volume 4. As such there have been major changes to the lore, everything from Hazel's motivation to the origin of silver eyes has a different explanation here.
Expect an update every other wednesday, at least until the UK shutdown is over.
Please leave a review, just a couple of words from you will make the hours I spend writing worthwhile.
Thank you for reading and I'll see you in two weeks.