Pyrrha felt sick as she watched the screen, the world spinning violently as she struggled to keep from throwing up. Yang had… no, that wasn't right. She knew what she saw and yet she didn't believe it, she knew Yang hadn't done it. There was no doubt about that in her mind.

But… how did she know that?

The screen cut to black and a moment later Pyrrha closed her eyes, attempting to think through the pain.

Something was wrong. She had…

Pyrrha racked her mind for what it was, but came up empty. She felt so sick to her stomach. She felt like she had made a mistake of some kind. The kind you couldn't just take back or fix.

Pyrrha fell to her knees as she felt a wave of emotion wash over her.

Wait… she hadn't been standing, had she?

No, she'd been in bed, in the nur-

Her body shook violently, pain shocking her out of her thoughts. Eyes opening to see the horror before her.

Penny's dull eyes looking at her from the otherside of the arena.

Pyrrha starred in shock, mouth hung open, as she brought a hand to her face. The tears streaming down her face.

She'd killed Penny.

But… she hadn't even fought yet she cou-

"This is not a tragedy," A voice rang out over the intercom system. "This was not an accident."

Pyrrha pulled her hand away from her face, looking down into her palm as she failed to prevent them shaking. She'd killed Penny, sliced her open with her own wires, revealing circuits and metal supports.

"This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be your guardians... but are nothing more than men."

She knew that voice, but also those words. They were familiar to her but… she also knew she'd never heard them before. The conflicting thoughts were accompanied by pain, only this time she focused on them.

She had heard those words before, but where?

"Our academies headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to claim both."

Pyrrha looked up from her hand, staring at the screen the recording played over. She'd heard those words in her dreams. She had seen this before.

But why couldn't she remember?

She struggled to her feet, despite how her body resisted her. She had to find the headmaster, to get to the vault. If they hurried they could give her the powers she needed to win. If they hurried, she could still save her friends.

"So I ask you, when the first shots are fired… Who do you think you can trust?"

There was a moment of silence before the alarms started to blare. The people panicked in an instant, only serving to make matters worse. The dome above the arena gave out almost immediately, Grimm pouring down onto the arena.

Pyrrha reached for her weapon, preparing for a fight. She hesitated however, already hearing the sound of feet as more students and Hunters joined her.

It was clear that the battle had already begun to turn in their favour, there were simply too many students, who were together able to gradually push theGrimm back. Most of the civilians would have made it to the docks as well, the Grimm being held back by them.

Pyrrha knew that, she also knew she had to find the headmaster. Scanning the battlefield she saw no sign of him. She looked over to the entrance way on the side of the arena. There would be a stair well there that would allow her to make it to the docks quickly.

With the battle practically won, she moved, sparring a momentary glance back to the girl she had killed, before focusing on the present. Just because she couldn't save Penny didn't mean that she couldn't save anyone else. Her team joined her a moment later, and she explained her plan. They agreed for the most part, trusting her to have a reason, and nodded.

A part of her wanted to tell them to stay and fight in the arena, that she had to do this alone, but a louder part warned her against it and she listened. Her team following closely behind, she made her way to the entrance.

They were mostly unchallenged on the way and what few Grimm tried to slow them down didn't last long. When they crossed the threshold to the staging area she was quick to move to the doorway on the side.

She wrenched the door open, only to see a long dark hallway. Had she been mistaken? SHe could have sworn there was a stairwell...

"Pyrrha, it's this way." Jaune spoke from behind her. She turned to see him holding open a door she hadn't noticed.

It… didn't matter. She shook her head and allowed them to lead, following closely behind and trying to compose herself. Jaune kept looking back to her, the concern on his face was both heartwarming and breaking. She could see the doubt mixed in, but in the end he trusted her to hold herself together.

She wished she could share his confidence, even if it was a lie, but her mind was in turmoil. It felt as if the world was spinning and she struggled to run in a straight line. Her head ached and her eyes burned but she pushed on.

The stairwell slowly gave way to an open area and she could just make out the sight of the Bullheads taking off in the distance, the last of the civilians hopefully being ushered to safety.

She also heard the telltale sound of combat as Grimm attacked whoever they could find, the gunfire, screaming, and urgent orders reverberating like a chilling echo down the hallway. Her team had already moved to help by the time she noticed there was even a threat. She shook her head once more in an attempt to focus.

She had to hurry or else… or else… she didn't know. Despite how knotted her stomach was, despite the anxiety that tore at her, she didn't know what she was so afraid of.

"Pyrrha?" She heard a distant voice.

Then, the world stopped spinning. The sudden stillness of it brought her to her knees as she struggled to breath. Her lungs burning in her chest.

"Pyrrha!" She heard the faint sound of someone approaching as a hand clasped her shoulder. She looked up, despite the pain she was in, and saw silver eyes filled with tears looking back. "What's wrong!?"

"N-nothing," Pyrrha shook her head, the pain slowly fading away. "I-I'm fine." Ruby didn't believe the lie, it was clear by the way she looked her over. The younger huntress reached into one of her pouches, pulling out a small cloth before bringing it to Pyrrha's nose.

It came away red.

"Pyrrha you need t-"

"Find the headmaster." Pyrrha slowly started to rise, feeling her muscles ache against it. She wanted nothing more than to sit there and rest, but she had to keep moving. Thankfully, her friend offered her support as she stood. "We have to make it to Beacon."

"I don't think you should go." Ruby's voice was quiet with a tinge of fear. "I… I have a bad feeling about it. You should stay here."

For a moment, Pyrrha considered it. If only because of how sure Ruby sounded. In the end, however, she had no choice. Ruby seemed to realize that and stepped back, holstering Crescent Rose and trying for a smile, it never reached her eyes.

"I guess we'll just have to go with you."

Pyrrha nodded, before looking back towards one of the landing pads that still had a Bullhead.

"Where…" Pyrrha's voice was weak, unsure, as she tried to think. She had gone off in search of the headmaster, along with her team. They… they had found him?

They had, and he'd taken them back to Beacon. She knew that but… why couldn't she rem-

"Miss Nikos, I have to ask, are you sure about this?"

Pyrrha looked over her shoulder, seeing the headmaster standing by the elevator they had just come down. Jaune stood to the side quietly, it was clear he wanted to ask what they were talking about but he remained silent.

She wished he hadn't, if only to buy her more time to think.

His words brought her mind back to the task at hand and what they were about to do, namely the consequences. All confusion tossed aside as she struggled to make her choice.

Struggled to speak. In the end, however, the choice was easy.

"Yes… I'm sure." The headmaster waited a moment before looking past her.

It was the only way.

As she looked in the direction the Headmaster did she could see something at the end of the hall. The current fall maiden, or what was left of her, was already set in the machine. She swallowed her fear, wishing that more of her team were here and stepped forward.

She stepped up into the machine and closed her eyes, hoping that it would be over quickly. A moment later all she could feel was pain, as if a blazing fire had wrapped itself around her body and was burning her nerves all at once.

For a moment she fought the urge to scream, until even that was impossible. She couldn't hear her voice over the sound of her heart beat or the wiring of technology she couldn't even begin to understand.

Despite this pain however, one thought was going through her mind.

Something is going to go wrong.

It wasn't a question, or fear. There was no doubt in her mind of its truth. Something was about to go wrong, but what?

She cracked her eyes open, fighting the pain long enough to see the danger. The threat had already drawn her bow, arrow set to fly. She looked to Jaune, seeing that his back was turned, eyes locked on her. She tried to warn him, tried to say something, but the pain made it impossible to speak.

The arrow was released and a moment later the pain stopped. The transfer of power along with it.

The glass opened up and Pyrrha stumbled out, falling onto her hands and knees but struggling for her weapon. Jaune was at her side, eyes locked on the entrance, as he helped her up.

By the time she was able to look up, the headmaster had already stepped in between them and the wo… Cinder, she recognised her assailant now. Though Pyrrha didn't think she had ever heard her name before, yet somehow she knew.

"Go." The headmaster didn't look away from her, keeping his back to them as he tapped his cane on the ground. "I shall deal with her. In the meantime, you two need to flee."

She didn't argue, instead, she nodded to Jaune. The headmaster stepped forward, a moment later he was engaging Cinder. Offering them the distraction they needed to escape. Even though she couldn't see it, the roaring of magical flames and the heat on her back offering a disturbing mental image of what might be behind them.

As they made it to the elevator Pyrrha looked back to see the headmaster. Their fight was difficult to trace, Ozpin moving faster than almost any fighter she had ever seen. He was skilled, as was befitting of a headmaster, but there was something else there, something deeply unusual about how he moved. As the doors of the elevator closed before her, she had a terrible feeling that even with Ozpin's skills, the battle had been decided even before it had started.

She only wished she could have done something to change how it went.

In the end, they ran. When the elevator finally stopped, they stepped out into the school. Jaune seemed to hesitate, unsure of where to go, and left that choice up to her.

The headmaster had told her to run, and that was precisely what she had planned. Part of her wanted to stay and fight, a quiet voice whispering about what was right and how she should put the world before herself, but she couldn't do it.

She wasn't willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good.

Pyrrha spared a glance for the tower before turning away. She could hear Jaune following her and she let his presence ease her fear. Despite how the distance between them and the tower grew, her fear did not subside.

She rounded the corner of one of the buildings and froze. She could see the entrance to the tower. They had somehow gotten closer, despite her best efforts.

Pyrrha looked back, seeing the street they had come from lead off into the distance. It was a straight road and yet it had somehow led her back here.

Or had she led herself there?

"Pyrrha, what are you doing?" Jaune stepped past her onto the open road. He looked at her for a moment before looking at the tower.

"Go to Vale, call for help." Her voice shook as she tried to find the strength to say what had to be done. She wanted nothing more than to run, to flee and live to fight another day, but… she couldn't do that either. In the end, she could never turn away from a fight.

She knew the right thing to do. She only wished she had the strength to turn away, but as she closed her eyes, her choice was made. Even though the odds were so far out of her favor, and the battle would be so one-sided, she would not turn and run any longer.

"No, you can't be serious!" Jaune turned to face her. "You saw how powerful she is. Pyrrha, you can't. I won't let yo-"

She pulled him close, doing what she wished she'd had the courage to do months ago. Had she done it, perhaps she would have the courage to run now.

His lips locked with hers… It was everything she had wanted. The emotion behind it was sad however, the knowledge that this was goodbye. Even if she could bring herself to say those words.

Her heart broke as she shoved him backwards, sealing him away. She ignored what he said, even as he cried out for her to stop. A moment later, the locker was flying off into the distance.

Pyrrha watched it go until it was but a spec in the distance, then turned back to the tower. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, then took another when it didn't work. After she had gathered herself, she began the jog back towards the tower.

Pyrrha cried out in pain, falling to the ground. She tried to stand, only for her strength to give out. She opened her eyes, the darkness that surrounded her seemed to give away to reveal Cinder.

"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours."

She had failed, and now she was going to die. Her mind raced as she tried to find something, anything that she could do to continue the fight, but her mind came up blank, she had lost.

Pyrrha heard the women's heels approach as she circled her, stepping in front of her before kneeling down.

"But take comfort in knowing," Cinder placed her hand under Pyrrha's chin, lifting her head up to look into her eyes. "that I will use it in ways you never could have imagined."

She looked into eyes that burned with a fire that would consume everything. She looked into the eyes of the woman that was going to kill her.

That had killed her.

Pyrrha's eyes slowly grew wide, realization dawning on her. She had done this before, she had seen it all.

In her dreams.

Do you believe in destiny?

Those had been the words she asked, the final words she spoke before… Cinder stepped back, summoning her bow and drawing the string back.

She was going to die. Pyrrha knew that, not just from the situation she found herself in, but from experience.

Pyrrha could only watch. This had all happened before… and she had failed then too. She was going to be killed because that was what had happened last time. As her death watched her, Pyrrha turned to look at the edge.

Ruby would arrive just after, just in time to watch her die…

"Do you believe in destiny?"

Pyrrha turned back, just as the arrow hit her chest.

Pyrrha sat up in a start, breathing heavily as she tried to process what was happening. She looked around her room but saw nothing. The darkness slowly receded as her eyes adjusted to the light. She stood as quickly as she could, rushing to the bathroom to try and stop herself from waking her team.

She paused, spearring a glance back to see that they were all soundly asleep in their beds. She wasn't sure why, but the knowledge that they were safe reassured her. Despite that they hadn't been in danger.

As she stepped into the small bathroom, she closed the door and turned the light on. She nearly didn't recognize herself in the mirror.

She was covered in sweat, face red from exhaustion and her eyes looked bloodshot. She raised one of her hands to her forehead to wipe away the sweat.

Despite her best effort, she couldn't stop shaking. Not just her hands, but her whole body. She tried to breathe but she couldn't keep herself calm.

She had died… despite her best efforts, despite how hard she had fought, she had died.

She had failed.

Pyrrha tried once more to calm herself. It was just a dream, albeit a realistic one.

Was it?

O-of course it was. Just a bad dream, that was all. It… it had to be. She wasn't a child, she knew that dreams were not real. If she could just get over the fear she would be fine.

Despite the logic of it, her body wouldn't calm down, and as she watched her reflection in the mirror she couldn't help but notice how it almost seemed to smile. The grin was not one of reassurance, but gave off a hint of something more insideous, something demented. She stepped away from the mirror, unwilling to turn her back until the light was off.

It was just a dream... She reassured herself, even as she laid back down to sleep, well aware that after that, no rest would come to her for the rest of the night.

It was all just a dream...

In spite of the adrenaline in her head, the soft breathing of her teammates acted as something reassuring, eventually lulling her back to sleep.

Authors Note: This story is a bit of a trip to write, but hopefully everything will make sense in time. I'm pretty sure most of you will have figured it out after reading this chapter but… well, we'll have to see. Seriously looking forward to reading the reviews on this one.

In the end, I hope you enjoyed and as always I encourage you to review and let me know what you think. Even if its a simple "hey, I liked this" or "hey, I hate this" that helps me make adjustments and make it better in the future.

Sincerely SE