CHAPTER VII:

Remembrance

—"It can't be... it's her?" Pyrrha, inside the body of Saori, just saw the image of Cinder... and she knew she couldn't be wrong about that. It was Cinder... She was right! She had found Cinder. But... Why was she there? Why was she in Japan too right now?

"Nanami Tamaki" was the real name of that person. But the hair, the eyes, the shape of her face, she could pass easily for Cinder's sister

That changed nothing for Pyrrha. It was Cinder... or at least, it was someone that looked too much like her. Pyrrha had seen Cinder before, she was sure of it. And now she had seen another person that looked way too much like her. What was going on here? Was it just a really big coincidence? Or was it something else?

Pyrrha's sense of justice just activated, if this criminal looked like Cinder Fall, she had just one more reason to put her behind bars. She printed her profile and faxed it to the Main Headquarters... Tamaki had to be stopped ASAP. That was a very smart decision... Yet, she wasn't sure if that was really the right move for now.

Because yes, she wanted to put her and this band of thieves behind bars... but right now she had another mission... and this mission was one that was crucial for her, for everything that she had ever experienced before as Pyrrha, as a student at Beacon.

Was she really doing the right thing?

—"Right... this has to be just a coincidence..." She had to believe that. Because that was what made sense. It had to be a coincidence for sure. She looked a lot like Cinder, of course... but it was just a coincidence. She would keep telling that to herself, as much as she could, since anything else was just... too much to handle.

Pyrrha Nikos entered her bedroom. Wondering if the Main Headquarters received her alert about Tamaki. She was wondering if they had received that fax... She needed to keep her cool. She couldn't get too excited or else it would just be hard to handle everything. It was late... and right now she was pretty tired, even if she was so awake in her mind. She tried to get that fax about Tamaki off her mind... and tried to get some sleep. She had to forget about Tamaki for now. It was already late. It was already time to rest. She needed to sleep.

Pyrrha started to dream. She was in a forest back in Remnant...

She approached a stream to drink some water, she looked at her reflection, she was Pyrrha Nikos again, everything was back on its place, her big round green eyes, her smooth red hair, the ponytail, everything...

It was a dream... She was back... in that other life. Pyrrha was happy, now. She was drinking water, and she had Miló and Akouo on her side... this was a perfect moment. But... It was still a dream. She was still in this body again. She was still Saori. Why was this happening at all? Was it a dream? But in that dream, she felt more awake than she had been before... How could she explain it? Why was she even dreaming that?

—"Miss Nikos. I'm glad to see you again" She heard the familiar voice of Professor Ozpin from the other side of the river

Pyrrha turned around to look. There he was... Professor Ozpin was there. He smiled at her... and he seemed so happy. Pyrrha smiled too.

—"Professor..." is that you? "I... I thought I would never see you again."

She could feel so many emotions inside of her soul right now... she felt happy... and yet, she felt a strange sadness too... Why?

—"The universe reunited our souls once more, my student" Said Oz before sipping his signature chocolate cup.

She smiled... and she started walking towards him.

—"Professor... is that true? Our souls... they... are reunited?!"

She felt so happy... and yet, still a bit confused. "How... how is it possible?"

She just wanted some explanation. She needed to know what was going on...

—"As you may remember. Cinder Fall killed us both in Beacon Academy. But just our physical bodies. I'm now reborn as another Remnant inhabitant. So did you somewhere else in the universe"

—"So... we can meet again... in those new bodies?"

She felt so confused, yet... she knew that was true. She was Saori, but she was also Pyrrha... and her soul was trapped in that new body.

—"Why me? Why was I chosen?" she asked with tears in her eyes... She wanted answers. Yet, she was just asking for something that she could never know.

—"This is indeed a disturbing universe" Answered Ozpin "Maybe the God of Light gave you another chance to protect people. But not in Remnant. Tell me, you're still a warrior of some kind in your new home, am I right?"

She was quiet for a moment... and then, she nodded.

—"Yes... I am still a warrior... but... where is my home now? My friends, my family... what will happen to them now?"

Pyrrha felt so lost... so confused... she still didn't know the truth about so much.

She was a bit sad too... and she hoped she could find some answers.

Yet, she knew that her life was completely different before, and that she was probably not supposed to even think about Remnant now... because she was on Earth.

—"I will watch over them in Remnant. I will find them and join them on their quest to bring peace to our world. But in my new form" he said as he temporarily took the appearance of a young boy, maybe even younger than Ruby, he was wearing the typical attire of a Mistral farmer, had tanned skin, black messy hair and a lot of freckles on his face... that would be professor Ozpin in his new life? This world was just full of mysteries for her.

Nikos felt even more shocked now. She had never expected that... and yet, she felt so happy to hear it. Because she knew that she had to move on too.

—"Will... I see you again?" she asked. "Is that possible?"

—"I promise. Miss Nikos. But you'll have to promise me back, that you will protect the innocent of your new world like you did here in Remnant. When I selected you as our guardian before tragedy severed our lives"

Pyrrha was quiet for a moment. She looked at professor Ozpin, and she nodded.

—"I promise to protect Earth like I did Remnant"

It all made sense to her now. She had a new purpose in this life... maybe that was the reason why she was in this world. Maybe... just maybe... she was supposed to protect the world now.

—"I will protect them..." she said, with a smile.

Ozpin smiled back and the dream started to fade away. Pyrrha Nikos woke up with the alarm clock sound. She took a shower and got dressed on Saori's uniform getting ready to work

"I'm still a defender" She was still a defender... and a new life was waiting for her.