Pyrrha Nikos felt like all her luck had run out. Or did the gods or whatever powers that be just hate her? Destiny was so cruel to her.
Destiny... what is destiny even? I thought I knew... But now... I don't know what to do... Everyone seems to hate me. Everyone believes I'm a murder. I can't even forgive myself, even though I know it's not my fault. If I was dead, would people actually remember me as a hero? Am I better off dead? I mean, I've been forced to hide myself from the world underneath this cloak, and I've lost everything except for my life. My boyfriend (he's not with me anymore), my teammates and friends have gone their own separate ways, my parents are dead, and my brother is missing. He could be anywhere by now. My confidence, my optimism, my hopes and dreams, and even my pride, which I never cared much about, all gone. No way to defeat the evil that caused this...
I was once thought of as the 'Invincible Girl' by most of society, and sometimes I wanted to believe them. But even then, I know that it's not true. I never once fell into the ruse of believing what everyone thinks I am. Or thought I was. I'm not invincible. I know this. They thought I was strong, but in reality, I'm just weak. And the fact that I couldn't defeat Cinder only further proves how I'm not the Invincible Girl. Not to mention that Emerald and Mercury got away during the confrontation with the duo at Beacon. I don't know how I managed to survive the Fall of Beacon. What is destiny? Do I even have one? It seems that I don't. Destiny... Destiny doesn't exist.
These were some of the many thoughts that came to her head as she walked for hours, away from the city of Mistral that she once called home, and before she knew it, day turned to night. But to Pyrrha, the night that surrounded her was endless. She wanted some source of light, some small fragment of hope, some new destiny to believe in, but there was nothing left. If someone was to ask her if she believed in destiny a year ago, she would have answered 'yes'. Now, she would just sadly turn away and say, 'No, I don't. Destiny doesn't exist.' Was she doomed to failure this whole time? She honestly believed she was supposed to die and go out as a hero, but she survived. Some say that you either died as a hero, or lived long enough to see yourself become a villain. She wasn't a hero, yet she wasn't a villain. She was nothing.
I'm not a hero, yet I'm not a villain either. What am I? Who am I even?
But really, after all that had happened, what else was she to believe?
As she came to a clearing in the forest, she picked a place to set up her tent and sleeping bag. She crawled into her tent, took off her cloak and gloves, buried herself under her sleeping bag, and sobbed into her pillow. She cried herself to sleep that night. But it wasn't the first time since the fall of Beacon.
The dream began with her surrounded in a dark space and a voice saying in a soft, eerie whisper, "Doesn't it hurt? Doesn't it sting? Doesn't it burn?"
Pyrrha knew that voice. She felt her heart pounding in her chest. Sweat slowly formed across her forehead. Her mind began spinning rapidly. No... It can't be...
She saw several visions flash by her; Jaune was all alone in a forest at night, training in solitude, using the video of Pyrrha teaching him how to use his sword. As he swung his sword, he broke down into tears... "Pyrrha..."
The next one showed him standing before Cinder with her obsidian scimitar on her shoulder. Jaune stood before the evil maiden, enraged with tears streaming down his face.
"What is wrong with you? How can you be so broken inside... to take so many lives, and then come here and rub it in our faces like it's something to be proud of?! All with that damn smile on your face!" Jaune exclaimed. "I'm gonna make you pay for what you did! Do you hear me?!" Silence. "Well?! SAY SOMETHING!"
After a moment of silence, she asked him, "Who are you again?"
Acting on impulse, he ran and swung his sword towards her, only for her sword to glow with orange flickering energy and stab Jaune right in the gut, shattering his aura before the Arc warrior fell on his knees, collapsing face forward, lying in a pool of blood. Pyrrha wanted to scream, but she couldn't find her voice.
The third and final vision showed Amber having her powers drained by a younger version of Cinder with a strange glove and then being assassinated upon reawakening, but Pyrrha actually was there to see the final end of the previous fall maiden, as well as Cinder's rise to power. The visions ended as quickly as they began. The same voice from before spoke again, "It does burn, doesn't it?" A shadow slowly manifested before becoming physical and tangible. The fall maiden stood before her, orange energy glowing around her eyes as she smirked.
"Cinder..." she spoke in fear.
"You're nothing but a murderess! You deserve to perish!"
She suddenly felt an arrow puncture through her chest, slowly sucking the air out of her lungs. She didn't even see the evil maiden firing the arrow at her, but how? What was happening? "No... no... that's not... true!" she choked in between gasps.
"Is it, Pyrrha Nikos?" Cinder asked. "Do you really believe you're destined for great things? To be a huntress? To be a heroine? To be a maiden?" Pyrrha gave her a sad silent stare. "Here's the answer you're obviously missing; you aren't. You were supposed to die at the top of the tower. So now, you will face your real destiny and die in agony!"
The suffocation stopped before she felt herself falling apart. She fell to her knees and watched in horror, helpless as her hands and legs were engulfed in orange energy, soon spreading to her energy body and disintegrating her from the inside out. She grasped her hands to her head and screamed, but no one could hear her. "No... no... NO!" She found herself dissolving into ashes. "Ahhh!"
She collapsed. And then, there was nothing but darkness.
Back at the Schnee Family Manor, Weiss was speaking with her mother, trying to seek advice from her.
"And that's what happened." Weiss finished.
Willow looked at her daughter, a tear in her eye. "Oh my gosh..."
While Klein hung his head despondently as Weiss renarrated the fall of Beacon Academy, Estelle started sobbing softly to herself, blowing her nose into her handkerchief. Weiss looked at the grieving duo. But no matter how many times they heard the story, there were never enough tears to compensate for every life lost in the attack.
"I don't understand..." Mama Schnee sniffed. "How could they blame uuuussss?" She started sobbing uncontrollably.
"I know... it hurts... And you wanna know what's worse? Some people from Atlas blame Ironwood for the calamity with the robots. It doesn't make sense..."
She continued sobbing, throwing herself back onto the chair. "This is all too much." She looked to the corner, seeing the servants and then snapped her fingers. "Estelle, retrieve for me another bottle of Merlot."
The maid responded, "Right away, ma'm." But she didn't look very happy about it. Klein sighed in quiet lament.
"Tell me... mother... what should I do?"
"I don't believe there's anything we can do." She turned away, looking at the mountaintops. "The world is changing before our own eyes. I don't think there's anything any of us can do to change the past, or the present. We're walking into a grim future."
"Are you sure you're not just saying that because of...?" Weiss began.
"Yes, I'm sure!" she suddenly snapped. Estelle returned with the wine bottle, and, somewhat reluctantly, handed it to her. Using a special ring on her right hand, she opened the bottle and poured herself a glass and took a few sips. "Don't worry... This is my last one." She chuckled.
Despite her bold and optimistic claim, Weiss and the servants did not feel reassured at all. The trio left sadly, feeling there was nothing they could do. They went back inside, shutting the glass double door behind them.
Weiss threw her back against the nearest wall. "Why do I feel even worse now than when I first came to her?"
Estelle sighed. "This is bad. Really bad."
"Thanks for stating the obvious." Klein said sadly with a hint of sarcasm, his eyes turning red. He then realized his mistake as Estelle's grim expression was worsened with her looking at the floor. His eyes turned back to normal. "Oh sorry."
"It's alright." Estelle smiled. "Still, I suppose it could be worse."
"I don't know." Weiss said, looking down. "It feels like we've hit rock rock bottom."
"Are you sure?" Klein asked her.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it can't get worse."
The two went off in separate directions, leaving Estelle to herself and her thoughts. She went back to her room and shut the door before going to her desk and looking at the last letter she received last week, written three weeks ago.
Why hasn't she answered me yet? What's happening?
The next thing Pyrrha knew, her brain felt fuzzy. She felt herself wrapped in warm energy, like she was on a cloud. She felt a bright intense light on her eyes, causing her to wake up before the beam of green light faded into nothing. She was surrounded in a place of white light around her. Puddles of light, warm air that wasn't overly hot, dry or suffocating, this tranquil atmosphere that seems like it could fade it any moment. It seemed so surreal... So... unreal. Where was she?
"Am I dead?" she asked.
"You're not dead." a familiar voice answered. She turned around to see an orange-haired girl with a pink bow, undamaged in any way. "Quite far from it."
Pyrrha felt herself tear up. "Penny?" She looked at her, nodding up and down. The red-haired warrior blinked twice. "How is this possible? Is this... a mirage?"
"No. I'm here, as a spirit in your dreams. But not for long."
She ran to the robotic girl and hugged her, sobbing onto the left shoulder of her metal body. "Penny... I'm so sorry... I never meant for this to happen."
"It's okay. I know. And I know it's not your fault." She looked at Pyrrha's sad eyes. "I heard the promise you made upon claiming my swords as your own. That's really sweet and sincere of you to say."
"I know... but... I fear that I can't stop her. I don't know what to do..." The tears fell down the warrior's face. "I'm lost and confused. My teammates... my friends... my family... in one way or another... are gone..."
The robot girl gasped. "They're not... dead, are they?"
"No. Not all of them." She sniffed. "My parents are dead. My brother is missing..." The gladiator girl wiped away her tears. "My friends and teammates are alive. But they're not with me right now." She turned away sadly. "I'm all alone."
"You're not alone."
The fallen warrior turned back to the little girl. "And how do you know that?"
"Because they're still in your heart, and I'm sure that one day, you'll see them again."
"Penny... tell me something..." Pyrrha said, tears still in her eyes, slowly falling down her face. "If you were in my shoes right now, what would you do?"
Penny blinked. "You're asking me for advice?"
"Yeah... I mean... I have every reason to give up, but I know I can't..."
"Well... If I were you, I would travel around the kingdom. Go from one city to another. Continue doing good deeds. Maybe you'll find out more about yourself and find not only your missing brother, but your destiny as well."
Pyrrha hung her head in sorrow and turned away. "I don't even believe in destiny anymore. I feel like I shouldn't even be alive. I'm just... dead inside." She looked at her fallen friend ruefully. "Tell me, Penny, is there a different way to die?"
"I... don't know..." She hesitantly answered. "But don't give up, Pyrrha. Now more than ever, the world needs you."
Pyrrha blinked. "You really think so?"
"I know so." Penny's form began to flicker. "My time here is almost up. I'm afraid I must go. But before I leave, I want you to remember these words; 'It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.'"
Her spirit slowly vanished, fading with the wind. Pyrrha ran after it. "No, wait! Penny! Penny!"
She woke up, gasping for air. She felt a little more alive. Things might have been bad, but they would get better. Somehow. "Penny..." She sniffed, putting her hands to her heart. "Thank you."
The girl crawled out of her tent. The sun was rising, illuminating the land. As the orange and small patches of yellow colors printed the sky, peering through the few clouds, she felt the warmth of the sun on her face as she stood up, briefly smiling for a moment. A small fire, a tiny fragment of renewed hope, warmed up her heart and cast a small light into the world. It wasn't going to be easy moving on, but she told herself that everything would be okay in the end.
I'll be okay.
She got out her cloak and gloves and put them back on. It was a new day, and with it, came a new opportunity to make things right. But she had so many questions to answer; What would she do? Where would she go? And who was she?
I've never really been myself to begin with. I've been an object, loved and revered from afar, unable to reveal how I really feel inside. I couldn't save myself. She put her hood up. But maybe I can save everyone else.