Jaune had run as far and fast as his battered legs could carry him. Where he was going, he didn't know. All he knew was that it was up an endless flight of floating stairs that circled around like the stairway of a tower. Below him, a certain darkness began to engulf the unreachable dark blue abyss as well as the stairs. The darkness was creeping up behind him much faster than he could run. He didn't look behind to notice the dark black flames that quickly followed closer and closer behind him. Up ahead, Jaune finally found the end to the stairway. There was a pair large white doors. With nowhere else to go, Jaune raced past the last step and rammed the heavy doors with his shoulder. He made it just in time as the dark flames collided with the closing doors.
"OU-Ho-Ho-Ho-Ch", Jaune whined as he collapsed on his side from the impact of the door.
Hitting the doors was rough enough, but collapsing onto the floor sent a really nasty jolt throughout his entire side. Still, he didn't stay down for long. The young hunter sat up to get a look at his surroundings. Everything was a bright white. The kind of bright white where you almost needed to squint to see just a few feet ahead of you.
"Where am I", Jaune asked.
After a quick scope, Jaune found a large silk sheeted bed, fire place with a small burning flame, a stool in front of dresser and mirror, and even a large grandfather clock that had all of its hands pointed at twelve. What Jaune saw next was what made his eyes widen, and left his mouth agape. Facing a window to look out into the endless abyss and the broken moon was a woman in a white roman style dress, and a head full of fiery red hair. The woman became aware of his presence and turned around. A pair of familiar green eyes met his widened blue orbs.
"P-Pyrrha", Jaune said at last.
"Hello again", Pyrrha said with a sad smile.
"Pyrrha", Jaune climbed to his feet, almost tripping in the process, and ran for Pyrrha.
The distance between them was oh so very short, and it kept getting shorter and shorter. However, almost as if a cruel fate or destiny was present, the black flames burst in through the doors. It reached out and grabbed a hold of Jaune, just when he was less than five feet away from her. Jaune fought the flames a good two feet, but it soon prevailed over his body.
"Pyrrha! Pyrrha, C'mon! Take My Hand Pyrrha", Jaune reached out to her as the flames slowly started to pull him and eat away at his being.
"I can't Jaune", Pyrrha said with a sad face. "I'm stuck between the world of remnant and the afterlife."
Jaune still tried to fight to reach her, but the flames now had him at the door's entrance.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could go with you, but I can't. It was good to see you again Jaune", Pyrrha said with a sad, forced smile.
Although the flames didn't hurt Jaune as it slowly incinerated his body, his heart felt like it was slowly deteriorating. He struggled on with a tear running down the only eye the flame hadn't reached yet. With his last cries, the door shut, and Pyrrha was left alone once again. She stared back at the door where her loved one had done the impossible and found her again. With a heavy sigh, Pyrrha closed her eyes and slightly tilted her head downwards. Reaching Pyrrha was nothing short of a miracle, but what Jaune did next was beyond a miracle. The door burst open again with an arm grabbing the side and a bright yellow aura emitting from the entrance. Pyrrha looked up with a gasp. She needed to shield her eyes from the yellow aura Jaune emitted, despite being in a bright white room for a long period of time.
"Pyrrha! Look at me", Jaune yelled as his grip on the door remained, and his aura delayed the flames from consuming him. "I promise! Someday soon, I'll bring you home!"
Pyrrha's mouth slightly opened with another gasp. He was so determined to save Pyrrha, and it touched her somewhere in her head. Her feelings for him had not changed even after death, and Jaune's feelings for Pyrrha hadn't changed either. The pull began to overpower his grip, and he was once again pulled back, but not before saying more last words to Pyrrha.
"I found you once, I'll find you again! Just you wait P-Money", Jaune said as he pointed at her. "Wait For Me!"
The last thing he saw before the door shut, was Pyrrha's as she moved the hand blocking her eyes, to it making a fist over her heart. She was smiling, with tears in her eyes before they fell to her cheeks. The darkness soon consumed Jaune's vision.
The Arc's vision returned suddenly with three familiar faces surrounding him.
"Jaune", Ren, Nora, and Ruby called all at once as he burst wake.
"Jaune, what happened", Ruby asked him as he began to regather his bearings.
He honestly didn't know what happened. He looked at himself to be sure the flames weren't consuming him anymore, and all around him to make sure this was the world of remnant. He then made eye contact with all of them, one at a time.
"Jaune, are you feeelin alright", Nora asked.
Jaune still said nothing as looked up at the broken moon. Remembering the view from Pyrrha's window, Jaune grew a determined look upon his face. He stood up on his own two feet, taking one last glance at the moon before marching forward.
Ren, Jaune, and Nora watched him walk before he called to them.
"C'mon everyone, our girl in the tower is waiting for us", Jaune said as he marched on without them.
The three looked at each other in confusion, getting a shrug with open hands from Ren. What did Jaune mean by that? Where did this sudden determination come from all of a sudden? Whatever happened and whatever was going on, they all grabbed their weapons and jogged after the newly determined Jaune.
And que "Let It Out", by Miho Fukuhara (Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Ending 2). This was kinda sad for me to write, but it was one of the last things I can do to hope that Arkos can still happen, or that we'll see Pyrrha again. I'm not gonna whine or spread all my theories, I'll do all that on Tumblr. For this chapter, I still used the story "The Girl In The Tower", like I mentioned from the previous chapter. For this chapter, I did something like the scene from Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood where Ed finds Al's body. I could totally imagine an Arkos version of that happening, canonized of not.
I also had a little help from Kingdom Hearts for this. I've honestly never played Kingdom Hearts, but I saw an AMV where Sora is running up some circling stairs with Goofy and Donald. I also saw a scene where Sora made it through the doors where a girl was waiting for him. Sadly, everything kinda shattered and he fell as she watched from above. You all who actually know Kingdom Hearats know what I'm talking. Sorry for not knowing the names of the scenes. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this. I
I'll try to write more soon. I want to update my Senran Kagura fic, but I'm having some major writer's blog for that one. So, take care everyone. Comment, favorite, PM, and all that good stuff.