Author's Notes:
-Writing this chapter was not easy. I hope I don't find myself saying that too often, as I genuinely love writing. Sometimes it's hard to find inspiration.
-Originally I was going to write out the chapter title in its acronym form, but I thought it looked weird (and I wasn't sure if the website would allow for periods to be in the chapter title box), so I wrote it out fully.
-To all those suffering the effects of the recent Canadian wildfires (both near and far), my deepest sympathies and I hope that this mess will be all over soon. (Poor air quality is a real problem, even for states farther away…)
-This may also be the shortest chapter of EL, so… let's get on with it.
The scene started with darkness. Within the darkness, a voice was heard, echoing as if through a tunnel.
"Pyrrha… Pyrrha…" a female voice spoke. "Please… turn back."
The scene turned from darkness into the desolate village of Kuroyuri. Pyrrha found herself standing in the village, not too far from where she, team AVNRR, and Qrow all fought against the Trojan Alliance leaders, Tyrian, and the Nuckelavee. Only the village didn't appear to be destroyed. It was as if the destruction that Nuckelavee had caused ten years ago… had never really happened.
Pyrrha blinked in sorrowful disbelief. "Kuroyuri?"
"You don't remember this forsaken town?" a shadow from behind spoke. "Or is it that you just don't want to?"
The Mistralian warrior turned to see the woman she had killed. "Alva Parker?"
Alva Parker looked the same as she ever did, only now she appeared to be in the form of a red specter, reflecting the color of her aura.
"I suppose you thought you'd never see me again. Some say that death is the end. But in some ways, they're all wrong. Death is the beginning. The beginning of the path of darkness."
Pyrrha looked around frantically, wondering if she truly was alone. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here!"
Alva laughed in response for a solid ten seconds before retaliating, "I could say the same thing about you. You were supposed to die that day! But you had to defy fate. And defy it you did, but at what cost?" She folded her arms with a condensing sneer. "You're a murderer!"
"No, no I'm not! I…"
"You lie!" Alva's ghost interrupted. "You killed me. If you hadn't, I wouldn't be in this ghostly form. Are you truly any better than me?"
Pyrrha didn't answer. She couldn't answer. And even if she could, what could she say?
"Some say that death is the end, but I say it is the beginning. It is the beginning of the end… for you!"
Suddenly Kuroyuri was lit ablaze, akin to the night that the village fell.
A different voice, one with even more malice, declared, "You deserve to burn."
A gasp was heard as the voice of Cinder Fall spoke and replaced the specter of Alva. The Fall Maiden, her eyes flaring in power, conjured fire that surrounded the Mistralian warrior. Pyrrha backed away, only to find her back close to the wall of fire. The wall of fire vanished and before she knew it, she was bound to a large pyre. Cinder transformed the glass swords into a bow before lighting the tip of an arrow with her powers. The flaming arrow was aimed at her feet, setting the pyre ablaze as the malicious maiden smirked.
Pyrrha wanted to scream, but no sound would come out. Orange flames burned brightly as the fire scorched her ankles, peeling away at her skin as black smoke invaded her lungs.
As the smoke engulfed her, Pyrrha tried to break free of her bondage, only to fall unconscious as the screen turned black.
"You will burn." Alva and Cinder declared in unison.
With this declaration, Pyrrha woke up, lurching up from the bed in fear. Coming to her senses, she found herself safe in her room, and blinked upon seeing the numbers on the alarm clock; 3:45am.
Tossing the covers from her bed, she rose and walked a few steps to a nearby table where a half-empty glass of water rested. She took a few sips of water before setting the glass down. As she stood in somber silence, her red nightgown was shown to be slightly faded in its hue.
Every night… I have woken up from a nightmare like this. Is this what unfathomable guilt feels like? Or is Cinder somehow haunting me?
The red-haired warrior looked around her room- Cinder was nowhere to be found. She returned to her bed, tucking her sheet over her legs.
If I can't face the past, how can I face her in the future?
She gave out a soft sigh as she laid her head back on her pillow.
Hopefully Jaune is having better sleep than I am…
Jaune was not doing any better. His eyes were closed, but clenched in intensity.
As the camera faded away to show his dreamscape, Jaune was shown within a small mountainous area in the kingdom of Vale. He knew this area all too well; this was where their first prisoner had escaped, knocked out Pyrrha, Nora and Ruby and tried to kill all of them. But he was gone now- so why was there a chill in the air? A feeling that he was being watched?
He stood before the ridge, his sword and shield at the ready.
"I know you're out there! Whoever you are!" Jaune called out, his voice slightly echoing. "Show yourself!"
A figure emerged from a forest and had a yellow-gold aura to him, showing his status as a ghost.
"Hello there, Jaune Arc. Remember me?"
He blinked in horror. "Professor Mustard?"
The ghost of the former Beacon Academy teacher smirked. "I'm surprised you remember me. You never had any classes with me. Or is it that you only remember me because of how I wanted to expose you for all of your sins?"
Jaune softly gasped, but did not say a word. Why couldn't he speak?
"Or is it because you killed me? Your sister Rouge was right about you all along- you don't deserve your position. Not even after all the times you tried to play the role of 'Hero'."
"But I am a hero!" Jaune retaliated. "I've saved several lives! I've defeated monsters! And what did you do?! You tried to kill Pyrrha, who's not only the love of my life, but also a beloved heroine!"
Professor Mustard folded his arms, with a mocking smirk of disbelief. "Oh really? And what do you think the other person you killed would say about you being a 'hero'? Kiaran?"
The scene seemed to switch to Kuroyuri, only to have both the forest and the destroyed village blur into one landscape, divided only by a glowing line of white light. .
Jaune saw the second man he killed before him. "Kiaran Burrow?"
His blue aura reflected his ghostly state. "You really are something else. I was willing to spare you and most of your friends, and yet you still killed me. And the way you killed me was brutal. You used your big fucking sword and sliced me down the middle. You should have died at Alva's hands!"
"Stop it. You were trying to murder us!"
"But you are truly any better than us?"
These words made Jaune falter.
Without warning, both Mustard and Kiaran had swords in their hands and slashed Jaune across the chest, forming an X-pattern.
"How does it feel to be stabbed?" the first one asked.
"Not so fun, is it?" the second gave his answer.
"You're a monster, Jaune Arc!" Mustard and Kiaran declared in unison.
A phantom sword with an orange glow appeared behind him, stabbing him in the chest, nearing the heart but barely missing it.
Air ripped through his lungs, making it feel like his entire blood flow was set on fire. He tried to move forward, and fight back, but his legs were lead.
"You're not the hero the world needs. You will fail when it matters most."
"And when you do, what will be left?"
"Nothing!" they declared. "Nothing at all!"
His dead self collapsed to the ground.
Jaune woke up, breathing in terror. He groaned into his pillow.
Gosh damn it… Am I ever going to sleep again?
All the while, Maria Calavera softly groaned. The room was nearly dark, save for the moonlight pouring in from a window high above her.
Her mechanical eyes examined the room. The blueish tint made the dark room seem a little brighter. Her normal outfit was laid on a chair, with a nearby coat rack hanging up her cloak.
The camera shifted back to third-person view. She tossed off the covers with a sigh. Her chiffon nightgown was once blue, but most of the color had faded over time. The sheets and covers that she slept in were in much better condition.
But this was not a night of sleep. With a muted sigh, she put on some white slippers and exited the room, going down a hallway to a kitchen.
She looked around for a step-stool to use. Upon finding one nearby one of the cabinets, she moved it to an overhead pantry. With two steps, she elevated herself, opened the high-up cabinet and took out a box with tea bags. Upon finding a flavor she liked, she smiled and began heating up some water in a pot.
"What's wrong?"
Maria was startled at first, but upon turning around to see the same red haired woman who greeted her, she calmed down. "I can't sleep."
The woman tilted her head to her. "Restless, can't fall asleep kind of can't-sleep, or woke up but can't go back to sleep?"
Maria poured some of the boiling water into a mug. "The former."
"Something on your mind?"
She opened the package and put a tea bag into it. "You don't even know the half of it."
The woman briefly mused to herself. "Anything you want to tell me?"
"Nothing I haven't already said before." the old woman answered as she retrieved a spoon and began walking further away from her.
"It might help you feel better."
By this point, Maria was already sitting at a table, her mug placed on a coaster.
"I feel that I've been drifting along for so long. I've hidden myself in many areas, sometimes traveling the world, sometimes trying to help out when I can. Yet… I fear I haven't done enough to help this world."
The woman gave her a gentle hug from behind, surprising her. "Oh, Maria, you've done more than enough. You saved countless lives, destroyed many Grimm, even caught a few criminals here and there."
"But that was ages ago. In another time, another life. Maria Calvera is little more than a coward, and The Grim Reaper died long ago. Honestly, I'm surprised you're willing to help me. You owe me nothing. The only reason you know me, and have extended your hand to me, was because I was friends with your mother. May she rest in peace."
The middle-aged woman looked at her tentatively. "Do you regret not being there for her funeral?"
"That is… one of the regrets I have." Maria admitted.
"Maria… I know this is hard for you, but please, stop berating yourself. For all the bad things that have happened, you still have me, and many of your other friends and allies, both old and new. You are not alone. Not by a long shot."
Maria was too stunned to answer at first, but eventually spoke, "Mrs. David… Thank you, for everything."
Mrs. David smiled. "I told you that you can call me Wendy."
"Right. Why do I always forget that?"
Wendy did not respond. Maria looked back at Wendy as the latter spoke while filling a water glass, "And who knows? Maybe while you're here, you'll find someone in need of your guidance."
"And perhaps your son will come home."
Wendy sat down next to her. "Here's to hoping."
The two clinked glasses and drank.