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To Thrive and be Victorious

CHAPTER 13

The elevator ride to the tower's lowest level was nearly silent with the only sound being made apart from the elevator running being our heavy breathing. My heart pounded with uncertainty as I wondered what Ozpin was intending to do this time. I had every right to be skeptical about whatever Ozpin is trying, but he was still our best lead in stopping Cinder, and I just wanted this to be over soon.

Suddenly, Ozpin spoke up and revealed something that seemed to be of great importance. It was a welcome interjection because he was at least able to explain a part of what was happening.

"Jaune, Pyrrha," Ozpin said, turning to us as we listened attentively. "There is something I need to tell you. There is a relic hidden in each academy, including one here at Beacon. I don't have time to go into detail about them, but all you need to know is that they hold great power and must never fall into the hands of our adversaries. If they do, the consequences would be catastrophic."

Somehow the idea of an important artifact hiding somewhere in the academy wasn't too surprising. Regardless, it at least gave me a better understanding of why the academy was being besieged but it still didn't explain Pyrrha's significance in all of this.

"Pyrrha, I originally intended to inform you this after the tournament," Ozpin continued as he turned toward her. "The Maiden's powers are only a part of what the Forces of Chaos are after. We cannot let her have either one of them and especially not both. So prepare yourself."

"Chaos?" I asked. I knew what that word meant but I was still trying to figure out what it was in this context especially since Merlot had emphasized that very word when he mentioned it to me.

"Mr. Arc, I know you are still trying to understand the situation at hand, but as of this moment, I need you to stay focused and follow my instructions. You will get your answers soon enough," Ozpin stated. "Keep in mind that this is a secret known only to me and the upper staff members. Do not tell anyone else about this without my permission. Understood?"

We both silently nodded. Ozpin turned back to the elevator door and we waited a few more seconds before arriving at a deep underground floor.

When the elevator door opened, I was greeted with a long, sparsely lit hallway, illuminated by what I would describe to be green candles hanging on the walls. "What is this place?" I asked, looking around as we rushed out of the elevator.

"It's a type of vault," Pyrrha answered, indicating that this wasn't the first time she visited this place.

"You've been here before?" I asked. She didn't seem eager to answer, instead just looking forward and continuing to run down the long passageway. Was this why Pyrrha had been acting strange in recent days? I wondered. There were so many questions running through my head that I knew wouldn't be answered until later.

More questions arose when we reached the end of the hallway. I saw what appeared to be some kind of machine that was connected to two pods, one of which was empty and the other occupied by a mysterious, injured woman who was about our age.

"Jaune—" Pyrrha started, as if she was trying to explain something to me, but Ozpin called out to her.

"Pyrrha, get to the pods!"

She looked apologetically at me before complying. By this point, I was fed up with being kept in the dark for too long and demanded an immediate explanation. "Professor, what is this? What are you planning to do with her?"

The ground shook, causing all three of us to look up before Ozpin replied. "As I stated before, you will figure it out eventually, Mr. Arc. For now, I need you to stand guard here!"

I grumbled at him before I pulled out my weapons and watched over the hallway. There was nothing else I could do aside from eavesdropping on Ozpin and Pyrrha as I guard them.

"What do we do now?" Pyrrha asked.

"We do nothing," Ozpin opened the empty pod. I was tempted to look back and ask him what he meant by that, but he continued before I could. "Miss Nikos, you have a choice to make."

Following a brief pause, I heard Pyrrha enter the pod before it closed.

The ground shook again, making it clear that the situation outside was deteriorating and that we needed to hurry. I hoped that whatever Ozpin had planned would be worth it.

"Are you ready?" Ozpin asked. "I… I need to hear you say it."

"Yes," Pyrrha answered after another moment of hesitation.

"Thank you, Miss Nikos."

With that, Ozpin activated the machine with Pyrrha inside one of the pods. I tried to focus on guarding the hallway, but I suddenly heard Pyrrha screaming from within her pod.

"Pyrrha!" I turned back to check on her. Both she and the other girl's energy glowed gold, along with the tubes that were attached to the machine. Being too concerned for her welfare, I was unable to maintain my self-control and moved closer to get a better look. As I did, I saw the other girl's remaining strength fade away.

"I'm… so sorry," Ozpin murmured.

I felt my senses itch a second later. I quickly turned back to the hallway and saw Cinder walking towards us, holding a bow and arrow. I tried to move as fast as I could, aiming my pistol at her and firing as many shots as possible, hoping that one of them would hit her.

Unfortunately, she was able to avoid the lasers by throwing herself to the wall on her left and then jumping from it. As she was in mid-air, she launched an arrow toward the girl inside the other tube. The arrow pierced through the glass and struck the girl in the chest.

The machine started beeping as the girl in the pod drew her last breath. The candles in the hallway were suddenly extinguished, leaving us in a dimly lit room. The glowing energy that was being transferred to Pyrrha from the other girl through the machine then flowed to Cinder.

After absorbing the energy, Cinder's amber eyes flickered with flames and her body began to glow orange. She floated in the air surrounded by bright orange particles. It was clear to me, even without understanding the full situation, that this was not a good development.

I raised my gun and repeatedly opened fire at her again, only for it to be deflected by the swirls of thick flames in front of her. "I knew I should have killed you when I had the chance. You never cease to be an annoyance," Cinder said to me as she hovered in the air. "No matter, killing you with my new powers will be satisfying."

Ozpin stepped forward, confronting her as he gripped his cane. "Over my dead body."

Pyrrha broke out of her pod, throwing herself outside before Ozpin held her back. "Both of you, get out of here! Find Glynda, Qrow, and Ironwood, and bring them here as soon as you can! She must never get the relic!"

"But what about you professor!" Pyrrha insisted.

"Do not worry about me! Now hurry, I will hold her off for as long as I can!" Ozpin said to both of us before hurling himself into Cinder, assaulting her with rapid strikes with her cane while giving us the chance to escape. Cinder fought back with nothing but fire in her hands, throwing fireballs at Ozpin every time she sprung back.

Pyrrha and I tentatively complied with his order and sprinted toward the elevator, not wanting to waste the opportunity to evade a dangerous woman who now possessed unpredictable power. While I may have trouble trusting him, he was the only one who knew about the powers that Cinder wielded, and it would have been foolish for me not to listen to him.

The elevator opened. Pyrrha got in first while I took one last glance at Ozpin battling Cinder. He was struggling to push his cane against her before he noticed me standing in front of the elevator. "Just… run!" He yelled across the room as he continued to push.

Those were the last words I heard from him that night. Cinder was able to shove him back, forcing Ozpin to slither the floor to maintain balance. Taking our chance to retreat, I quickly got in the elevator and pressed the button that would take us back to the ground floor of the tower, closing the door before the fireballs could hit us.

For all my life, I have been running away from many things I never wanted to face, sometimes even going as far as attempting to abandon people who needed my help. But not like this…

The courtyard was empty by the time we emerged from the tower, save for several robot parts scattered on the floor and a few lockers that had landed. It went without saying that the odds weren't particularly looking good for Beacon.

Remembering what Ozpin told us, we needed to contact the other higher staff members and tell them to get to the tower before it was too late. It was the only remaining action we could take to help and maybe turn this thing around.

"Pyrrha, I don't have my scroll with me. You think you can call Miss Goodwitch and—" I noticed that she was staring back at the tower. "Pyrrha?"

I called her name again and this time, she was able to respond. "What was all of that?" I asked, needing to know what was going on with the power that Cinder had taken from the girl in the vault, what Ozpin had intended to do with it, and why she was involved.

She glanced down and tried to answer, "I…"

Just then, an eruption came from the tower. The sound of something launching toward the top of the building followed. It was undoubtedly Cinder using her newfound powers to lift herself upward. This also meant one thing: Ozpin had been defeated.

"This...This can't be happening," I muttered, unsure if Ozpin was dead or if he was bleeding out. The only thing I knew for certain was that we needed to follow his instructions and ensure that his sacrifice wasn't in vain.

"The relic…" Pyrrha suddenly said. "Jaune, you must get out of here!" She handed me her scroll. "Here, take my scroll! Call anyone you need, just get to Vale and call for help!"

I stared at her in shock, fearing that she was about to do what I was thinking. "What? You're not going to..."

"I have to do this," she asserted, confirming my worries. "There's no time. She needs to be stopped. It's bad enough that she has the full maiden powers; I can't let her have the relic as well."

"Are you serious right now? You already saw how powerful she is! Pyrrha, Ozpin could be dead! I'm not going to let you throw your own life away!" I said. Cinder was a foe unlike any other, harnessing a kind of power we didn't fully understand. I knew that Pyrrha being an undefeated, talented fighter wasn't enough to help us turn the odds against her.

"But what else do you think I'm supposed to do? I can't just let her go rampant and do nothing about it," she replied stubbornly.

"We just have to do what Ozpin told us, call the professors and let them figure it out. They're probably the only ones who know how to deal with this," I pointed out while scrolling through Pyrrha's contract page, trying to find a staff number. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

I attempted to grab her hand as I tried to run out of the courtyard, only for her to shake it away as she stood still. "No, they won't be able to make it until it's too late. Someone needs to hold her off. This is the moment I have been training for, after all those championships I took to prove myself. I need to do my duty as a Huntress, to put others before myself. Whatever happens to me, I'm not letting her have the chance."

Her misplaced persistence irritated me, it was far worse than Blake's. She was only coming off as reckless and I wasn't taking the chance of her getting killed on what would very likely be her first real defeat. "You're getting too ahead of yourself, Pyrrha! Too many people are dying and I don't want you to become one of them. I'm not going to bet your life on this. If Ozpin couldn't stop her then what makes you think you could?! Is it because you've never lost before, is that it?!" I practically yelled, my frustration with the situation getting the best of me.

Afterward, I saw her staring at me in shock. I didn't realize I was going too far until I saw the hurt in her eyes. I wanted to protect her and this was the only way I knew how at the time. "Pyrrha, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

Before I could notice it, she pulled me into a tight and comforting embrace and then moved to kiss me, chaste but passionate, mitigating my worries for a brief moment. But it was all short-lived.

She sobbed after letting go of my lips. "You believe in me, don't you?"

"Pyrrha…" I muttered, not knowing what to answer. "Please don't do this."

"I'm sorry, Jaune," she pressed her forehead toward mine. "But Ozpin chose me for a reason. I have to follow my duty. My destiny..."

"Pyrrha, please!" I begged, tears streaming down my face as I held onto her shoulders. "I don't want to lose you! What if you die?! What if you can't hold her off?!"

"I have to," she wept. "I'm not happy that I have to do this, Jaune. This is what I was afraid of. That whatever happens after this, we might never see each other again."

Hearing her say that hurt me, I never thought I would hear her utter those kinds of words. "Don't say that! This doesn't have to end that way! There's still life ahead of us together."

"Maybe. But even if I lived… Even if I were able to inherit the maiden's powers, could we still have a life together?" she asked.

I looked up at her, puzzled by her remark. "Pyrrha, what are you talking about?" I knew it had something to do with the powers Cinder took from the girl in the pod, but whatever it was, I didn't know what to answer.

"You'll understand," she sighed. "I've made my decision. You need to find the professors while I try to stop her. We're running out of time," she said, taking a deep breath. "I wish it didn't have to come down to this."

"Pyrrha…" I muttered, not wanting to let her go.

"I'm doing this for you. No matter what happens, always remember that I'm grateful for everything you did for me. I cherish our moments together. I love you and I always will."

The next thing I felt was her using her polarity to grab onto my armor before she hurled me as far away from the courtyard as possible. "PYRRHA!"

My back hit the wall near outside the academy's amphitheater area while my aura protected me from being seriously injured. She was well aware that I would land unharmed.

I panted before I fell from the wall and landed on my feet. I kept looking forward and watched her enter the tower. The ground shook once again and I heard a roar from the sky before looking up and seeing some kind of Grimm dragon closing into the tower. It was four times bigger than a Nevermore and it was dropping black liquid to the ground that spawned Grimm. The dragon perched on one of the arches in the tower, making another screech before climbing to the top.

This was not good, I thought. Pyrrha wouldn't be able to handle both of them at once. I knew I had to do something. The tower was only a hundred yards away from where I landed on a straight path. So I decided to head there as soon as possible. I wasn't entirely sure if I should help her fight off Cinder or get her out of there, but one way or the other, I was determined to make sure she gets out alive.

I unsheathed my sword while holding Pyrrha's scroll, as I stormed the tower. I searched through the contacts only to find out that it had none of the professors' numbers and the emergency call for the teachers was out of order, so I quickly tried to call my teammates instead.

Since I dialed Ren's scroll, I didn't expect Ruby would be the one to answer. "Jaune, are you still okay?"

"Ruby? Where's Ren and Nora?" I replied.

"They're trying to recover from fighting the robots so I'm calling for them. Where are you right now?"

I glossed over that last question and went straight to the point. "Listen, you need to find Miss Goodwitch, General Ironwood, and Qrow and tell them to get to Beacon Tower as soon as possible!"

"What's happening?"

"Pyrrha is going after Cinder at the top of the tower, she doesn't stand a chance!" I said, slashing and killing a few Grimm along the way.

"What?!"

"I don't have time to explain everything! You need to find them now!"

"What about you?"

That's what I was worried about myself. On any other day, I would have taken this chance to get away and live, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that anymore, not when the person I love is in great danger. For once in my life, I found myself putting my life on the line to save someone selflessly.

I thought maybe this was the time to be the hero that everyone saw me as. I could have cared less about myself anymore, I had to do it for Pyrrha. As much as I was afraid that it might not go well, I had to try. I couldn't bring myself to be the coward I was for this occasion.

"I don't know what will happen to me, but I have to save Pyrrha!"

"Jaune…"

"Don't worry about me, just please hurry!"

"Jaune—!" I cut off the call as I finally arrived at the tower's entrance. I had enough faith in Ruby to know that she'll get the professors in time, I only needed to hope for the best.

I barged into the lobby and immediately went straight to the nearest elevator, only to discover that one of them had its doors torn open leading into nothing but its shaft without any cabs. My only other option was to use the other elevator which appeared to be functional.

In a state of urgency, I repeatedly pressed the button to call the elevator at a rapid pace, desperately hoping that it would arrive as fast as possible. "Come on, come on! Please Gods!"

Suddenly, the ground shook once again as I heard something collapse above the tower. The next thing I heard was the elevator cab dropping down as it fell past me while the doors remained shut. It eventually crashed to the last level with a loud thud. "Dammit!" I slammed the door in frustration.

Not wanting to give up, I scanned the tower for another way to get to the top of the tower. I could use the stairs, but it was very impractical and it would be too late before I'd be able to get halfway up. As I was about to lose hope, I remembered the scattered lockers outside the tower, and it gave me an idea.

Cardin was able to trap me inside mine before, proving that it was spacious enough for me to fit in. So I thought that maybe it could launch itself to its destination while I was inside it. I wasn't fully sure about it though, I never saw anyone else try it, nor was I positive that it would work. But I was on a verge of desperation, with everything that was happening, it was a risk worth taking.

I ran outside and discovered that the tower's roof was knocked over to the ground, along with the CCT's transmitter. While it did make me more worried, I had to keep moving. I scoped out the several landed lockers in the courtyard before remembering that I didn't have any access to any of them. However, I was still able to use Pyrrha's scroll to summon mine, all I had to do was put in my locker's launch code.

My locker shortly arrived after I summoned it, smashing into the pavement in front of the tower's exit. Its doors automatically opened and I wasted no time hurling myself inside it. I began to recall what it was like to be trapped in these things again and it was ironic that I'm putting myself into this willingly this time.

I took one deep breath before setting the locker's destination and initiating its launch. The locker door closed in front of me as it began blasting off into the air.

The ride was very brief, only lasting a few seconds before it dropped to the top of the tower. It was nonetheless tensing and nauseating as I had to spend the rest of the duration screaming while firmly gripping the locker's handle. When the locker landed forcefully on its spot, I had to suffer the impact that would have crippled me without my aura. But this was what I was willing to go through to save Pyrrha's life.

I lurched out after the locker opened, revealing myself to Cinder and Pyrrha who both turned to me. I looked around and saw that the roof was destroyed. "Pyrrha…" I said after quickly recovering from the after-effects of my locker's collision.

She was kneeling in pain before Cinder who was holding a black bow. Pyrrha was bruised, her aura was noticeably flickering. Seeing this made me even more worried for her safety. I knew I had to make sure she gets out of there before Cinder harms her any further.

"Jaune?" she breathed out, glancing at me as she continued to confront Cinder, who also ceased all of her activities to gaze at me.

"Pyrrha…" I stepped closer with the Crocea Mors at hand. I've come to get you out of here."

"Jaune, you need to leave! She will destroy you!" She warned.

I quickly recovered back to my strength. "Not without you! I am not leaving you behind!"

"So you finally decided to show up," Cinder smirked, walking toward me as her bow faded away and flames ignited on both of her palms. "I suppose this saves me the trouble of having to hunt you down when I'm done."

I immediately drew my pistol and fired at her only for her to dash around to my side, leaving a trail of fire before she expelled a stream of flames toward me. I was able to pull out and expand my shield and block her attack. I leaped back to reevaluate my plan of attack, realizing that even my lasers won't be quick enough to hit her and that I should keep my defenses up at the moment as her flames were very much lethal.

With her power, I knew a battle for attrition would only be one-sided. If Pyrrha couldn't stop her, then it's unlikely that I would. At the very least, I could only hope we could hold the area long enough for help to arrive.

"Jaune…" Pyrrha said as she. "She must never get the relic…!"

If this relic did have immense power as Ozpin mentioned then I cannot imagine Cinder having it when she already has something that can make her a person of mass destruction. "Don't worry, Pyrrha. I'll stay with you until you're safe!"

I never thought I would be willing to stand my own ground against an opponent I had no chance of winning against. But I was doing it all for Pyrrha's sake. I faced hell before, and I had to accept the fact that I had to face it again if it meant saving the one I truly loved.

Cinder summoned two fireballs, throwing both of them toward me. I kept my shield raised as I zigzagged toward her until I was at melee range. I swung my sword, only for her to step to her left. So I bashed my shield toward her, managing to stagger her. I sliced her a few times with my sword, and then shoved my shield to her face, flipping her down before quickly recovering.

This proved that while Cinder was very powerful, she wasn't invulnerable. Unfortunately, this act of defiance had caused her to be even more unyielding. She wiped her chin. "Now you've got me all worked up," and flames burst from her, knocking me back slightly. As I returned my gaze toward her, she was floating in the air as flames came out of her eyes.

I raised my shield as she continued to hurl more fireballs at me. I was able to block them, but when she casted an exploding fireball, it was able to push me hard enough that I lost balance. Following that, she cast a trail of flames toward me and used it to hurl me into the air. She casted another exploding fireball above me, making me fall back to the trail of fire after it bursted, draining a significant amount of my otherwise large aura.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out.

Hearing her voice only made me more determined to defeat Cinder. Sad to say, it wouldn't be enough to turn the tide of the fight. When I tried standing back up, I noticed her casting a large fireball above me. I rolled out of there before it dropped.

Cinder continued to shoot fireballs at me. I got up, thankfully still possessing plenty of aura at the moment. I quickly grabbed my pistol, firing at her as she was floating in the air. She was able to avoid all but one of the shots I took, infuriating her even more.

She began conjuring up a large flame with both of her hands. I switched my left hand to my shield again in anticipation before she blasted a large stream of fire toward me. I tried to push back, deflecting the fire with my shield as it enlarged and grew more intense with each passing second, and eventually, it became too much for me to handle as it was able to push me back to the floor.

"Stop! Do whatever you want with me, just let him go!" Pyrrha begged as she watched from the side.

"No! Pyrrha, find a way to get out of here while you still can!" I yelled trying to get back up before getting hit by another fireball.

My aura put the flames out but I could feel that it was running scarce. Nonetheless, even with my fleeting strength, I was still fixed on holding myself against Cinder until I knew that Pyrrha was safe. Die if I have to.

"Pathetic brat. Why won't you just die already?!" Cinder screamed in frustration as I continued to fight back persistently.

I pushed myself up, gripping my sword furiously as I tried to muster all my pent-up rage for the sake of my partner. I took out my gun again, firing at her repeatedly, making her dodge the shots before she lunged forward toward me. I switched my left hand back to my shield as Cinder bursted into flames while she landed near the front of me.

I was pushed back but I was able to block the explosion with my shield. I then stormed toward Cinder, screaming at the top of my lungs and I kept swinging my sword at her. I attacked her as fast as I could but despite all my efforts, I could barely fight back. By that point, she was no longer taking half-measures. She was able to avoid my attacks swiftly and was even able to grab the blade of my sword and swiped it away from me.

Even though I was able to take her on initially, she was too fast and too powerful. What I was fighting was no Grimm or human, she was something else, something I was not prepared for. I was facing a threat with powers that were too intense and I didn't have anything to use to my advantage. None of the things that helped me before could help me at that moment. In the end, I could barely even stand up against her.

Cinder then cast a fire swirling rapidly around her, attacking me with it as I tried blocking it with my shield. She engulfed herself with a bursting flame and blasted me away. For the first time in a long while, I feel all of my aura get depleted after the last of it was shattered by one of the debris back colliding against it.

My eyes opened. I was sitting behind the debris I landed on and my shield was lying on the floor a few feet away. I felt very sore, barely being able to move without hurting myself.

"Finally." I saw Cinder sneering in front of me and I still had enough vigor to draw my pistol from my holster and aim it at her, but Cinder was able to notice it before I could squeeze the trigger and threw a fireball on my left arm, knocking my pistol off my hand and disarming me once more while I felt my hand burn.

"What's the matter? Am I not making you angry enough? Such a shame after everything I heard about you. Oh well, at least you're no longer a threat. You have been an annoyance for far too long." She dropped my sword for a moment before a black bow formed on her hand again. She used it to aim at me and shot an arrow at my shoulder, making me scream in pain.

"NO!" Pyrrha cried. "That's enough! Please… stop!"

Cinder began laughing menacingly, picking up my sword as she continued to deride me. "What did you think was going to happen? Did you honestly believe you could stop me? Pathetic. Oh Arcs, always trying to be heroes. In the end, you're nothing but Ozpin's glorified lap dogs. Yes, that's what you are, a dog. A poor little puppy thinking he could be more than just that, and you'll die like one."

I looked at Pyrrha lying on the ground on the side as I tried to reach out my arm to her. "P-Pyrrha…" I could see tears coming out of her eyes.

Cinder grabbed my shield with her free hand, collapsing it to its sheath form before she gripped it hard enough to crush it into two halves. I'm sorry, Mom, I guess I couldn't protect your shield the same way it protected me for all these months.

She threw both of the pieces away as if it was nothing and then took time to examine my sword that she was holding with her other hand. "The Crocea Mors. The sword that was once the sword of kings. I never thought it would be so easy to kill an Arc so let's make this a little more poetic, shall we?"

Cinder began approaching me with malicious intent. As she went close enough, she thrust my sword toward my torso. I closed my eyes before I heard something pierce in front of me… and it wasn't my stomach.

My eyes dilated in horror after I opened them to witness Pyrrha standing in front of me, impaled by my own sword as Cinder wielded it. At that moment, my breath paused and I could hear my heart pounding rapidly like never before.

"So you choose to die like this instead." Cinder frowned, staring at Pyrrha for a few moments before smirking once more. "So be it."

She pulled my sword from Pyrrha's chest. I saw that red glowing particles of her aura were coming out from her stab wound before she collapsed to my lap. Her dying eyes looked at me at my own as she was drawing her last breaths. "Jaune…"

"No…! Pyrrha…!" I whimpered, my tears were dropping into her body while particles of her aura continued emitting from her stab wound.

"I… love… you…" she placed a hand on my cheek, doing her best to give me one last smile.

Cinder walked in and touched Pyrrha's head as she held her crown. Pyrrha's body flashed, glowing orange the second before she disintegrated. I felt her weight on my lap disappear after particles of her emitted into the sky.

"Pyrrha. No... No-no-no-no! Please don't do this to me. I don't want you to—!" I puffed as I tried reaching for the embers of her body as they flew away, only to grimace as I felt the pain from the arrow that was pierced my shoulder. After that, she was just gone. Her body disappeared. The only thing left of her was her crown which was at the hands of Cinder. "Don't leave me…"

I was in a desperate state of denial. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I was begging that this was all just a cruel nightmare and that I needed to wake up. But sadly, it wasn't. The woman I loved. The woman I trained with. The woman I fought with. The woman who stuck with me through this past year… was dead. Killed by my own weapon no less... because she was trying to protect me… when I failed to protect her.

"Pyrrha…" I watched the last embers fade away before I heard Cinder talk once again.

"Oh, young love. Such a tragedy. Don't worry, I'll make sure that you'll join her shortly," Cinder said as she inspected Pyrrha's crown before looking back at me. "I remember her asking me something before you came in; She asked if I believe in destiny. Well, let me tell you. Yes, I do believe in destiny. I do believe it is waiting for me right here. And it appears she found hers too."

I could feel my blood boil just by hearing her voice alone, but I was too weak, too broken to do anything. I was essentially stuck sitting there. As much as I wanted to make her pay, there was nothing I could do. Even if I did have enough strength to retaliate, let alone stop her, it won't bring Pyrrha back.

"What about you?" she stared at me before she shook her head and chuckled. "Why am I even asking you? I don't think it matters at all. You are already hailed as a hero like your forefathers, so at least you'll die being known as one. That is until the world moves on and forget about you."

The Grimm Dragon flew in and stood behind Cinder. Snarling at me as it felt all of my misery. Though it felt like it was also sensing something else on the tower that I couldn't wrap my head around. Not that it mattered to me. By that point, I lost all hope and I was more or less waiting for Cinder to just end it all. I wasn't even bothered by the thought of dying anymore.

"Have nothing to say? Fine, let's get this over with," she continued holding my sword. "This is only the end of the beginning, be grateful you don't have to witness the rest."

She lifted my chin and put the blade on my throat. I was still speechless, not able to make my final words. The only thing I could do was accept my fate and reflect on my life. After everything I've been through, it all came down to this. I've not only failed myself but I failed everyone. My friends, my family, and everyone who looked up to me. I was going to die as something I wasn't, something which I always tried to avoid ever since the beginning. I never wanted this.

"Good night, white knight."

I braced myself for my own demise, preparing for the Crocea's Mors blade to slice through my throat as I was about to draw what I thought to be my last breath. That was when I suddenly heard a familiar voice cry.

"NOOOOO!"

What followed was a bright light that suddenly flashed before my very eyes as Cinder and the Grimm dragon both screamed in agony. At that point, I no longer felt my sword on my throat but I felt my consciousness fade after the white light blinded my vision.

"Ruby…?"