Chapter Text
She burned brightly, but all fires died.
Her eyes refused to open for a moment, her heart did not beat… but then, with startling clarity it did. Awareness came to her in the office space where she… died.
No, she didn't of course she didn't, how could she be here if she was dead? Though the office was a mess… in fact, looking outside to the gray, blasted wasteland that was Beacon was…
Grimm. Lots and lots of Grimm, wandering around, gathered like army-units in one of Jaune's video games. And in the center was a strange statue of some sort of monstrous grimm with a parody of a human woman attached to it… and then there was that… dragon.
She stepped back. No. No, that wasn't right. She was fighting… where was she?
Ozpin's office. It was wrecked. Ignore the outside, she decided. Don't think about it. Don't think about it… In and out, breathe…
She looked around for her weapons. She needed to move; the woman could be back. And she'd die again. That power, the power of the Maiden it-
"What the-?!"
She turned to see… a monster, who looked just as surprised to see her as well. A Four-armed giant, taller than any man Pyrrha had ever met, broad-shouldered and covered in armor, save for his head which exposed a mane of black hair that surrounded a face of scars. Two red eyes peered at her in shock, before he growled.
"What… how did-"
Time seemed to slow around Pyrrha. She had a few options to turn to, without her weapons. She wasn't going to let this thing touch her if she could help it, and with no weapons a fight was out… leaving her with Jaune's Secret technique.
Running.
—-
Walach thought of himself as a very hard-working individual. He had finally taken Vale… sure he mostly took advantage of this Cinder Girl, and sure he was supposed to be finding the Relic but… well he wasn't having luck on that, and his slaves/victims were barely controlled (He was on record for ten 'morale improvements' a day. Their morale was not improving, but his was considerably) but to see the girl who he was fairly sure he had just thrown into a Grimm Pool not five minutes ago in his new office (Still being cleaned) and then just running past him gave him pause.
And then he realized what had just happened.
—-
Pyrrha ran. Trying to find anything. She couldn't find Milo or Akouo, her scroll, or anything else. It was like they were never here at all…
The school had become a warzone, she could barely tell where she was going, all she needed to do was get out. Get out of Beacon and out of Vale. Ignore the damage, ignore the sounds, if it didn't help her in the moment it was useless…
Or die again.
She didn't stop; she could hear It, chasing after her. The Grimm Man, something that by all rights couldn't be possible, it SHOULDN'T be possible… it talked, it moved it… looked like a person but couldn't be because it's a GRIMM, a soulless monster… What HAPPENED?!
She hid in the hallway as the Dark mass appeared behind her, searching with crimson, soulless eyes. "Come out now, surely you don't think you could kill the Tyrant of Vale that easily, child."
She didn't dare look out of her cover, just waiting for it to go away.
"What do you even hope to accomplish against me? You've lost. The Vale is MINE… or perhaps you're looking for that Relic?"
Pyrrha didn't respond. Just go away just go away just go away…
The Tyrant laughed. "Fine then. Play your games, if you must… but I suspect you will not leave this place alive. I merely need to wait."
The footsteps began to turn, and once they were out of earshot… and a few minutes after that just to be safe.
She was not having a good day, she realized bitterly. THAT area where she was… shot hurt. It hurt so much… she just needed to keep going and going.
Find a weapon, and leave.
That was all she needed to do.
—-
It wasn't an Atelsian knight.
Pyrrha knew what one looked like, it didn't look like this… slim. It didn't look this rounded either… it looked a decade ahead of the ones that… turned on the city…
She took the gun though and anything else that was useful. Not enough ammunition to make a dent in the horde, but enough to buy time… which was what she needed. It was all she needed to make it. That had to be…
She took a breath. Her heart was pounding. She was going to die again, but she couldn't. Not here, not again.
She checked its ammunition; luckily whoever took it down left her with plenty to use, and its blades would make a good knife, though she hoped that she could just avoid the grimm… unlikely as it was with her… current mental state.
Her mind flickered back at Penny to the… person she murdered… Was she… reduced to scrap too?
No, focus on survival, Pyrrha rose to her feet. Just don't think for the moment, just survive…
She found a hole blown into the side of the school and checked behind the wall; there weren't any grimm, but she saw that army… Was the human-looking Grimm an alpha? Or were they drawn to the statues? When did they even have the time to set them up? All these thoughts… and none of them are relevant.
Breathe, she just… needed to breathe. Everything would be fine… it had to be fine…
—-
It wasn't fine. She was chased by beowolfs, boarbatusks, and every single one she took down was replaced by ten more. Worse still was that she was being watched, but that was to be expected when fighting your way through hordes of blood-thirsty monsters; the current problem was that she knew they were waiting for the ammunition to run out, running her ragged before they moved in for the kill.
But they needed to catch her first. She tried to avoid taxing her Aura or her Semblance too much, creating blockages when she could, but it only slowed them down. Yet that also played into the game; just to tire her out.
A trumpeting noise that evoked a dread that Pyrrha hadn't felt since the moment she awoke signaled the destruction of a small building, the Goliath that uttered it roaring.
This was it…
But they didn't charge her, no they surrounded her, red eyes gleaming as from beneath the shadow of the Goliath the Grimm Man, the Tyrant, came.
"Well, you gave them a merry chase, didn't you? Now then, I believe you do owe me some explanations."
"What the hell are you?!"
He smiled in amusement. "Walach is my name, and I believe I already told you I am the Tyrant of Vale… now then, why don't you tell me yours?"
It had a sense of self? Pyrrha was at a loss looking at the four-armed monster before her, the Alpha that led so many more 'natural', slavering monstrosities around her. Walach frowned, pulling out two large, writhing great swords. "I will not ask again."
"P-pyrrha!" She sputtered, her gun still pointed at the Grimm. "Don't come any closer or-"
"Or what? You were dead the moment you stepped into my office." He grinned, the Grimm coming closer as the twin great swords were twirled in his arms. "I suppose it's time you got caught up."
He swung down the blade, which met the bitter metal of the Knight's gun. With quick-thinking she pushed with her semblance, knocking the blade out of his hands as Pyrrha managed to grab it… it wasn't metal.
It's touch was cold, it was more a hunk of bone it growled, rumbling and fighting her every step of the way. It was with cold horror she realized that this was a Grimm as well, but she had nothing else now, aside from a knife.
Walach roared and slashed again… and that's when the cavalry arrived.
A White-haired woman struck from behind Walach, a large hunting dagger at his neck, but the Aura- Which only made Pyrrha's eyes widen wider- protected him as he shoved the woman aside.
"Pyrrha!"
She turned, only to see a purple-haired woman fly in and use her tonfas against Walach, who was backing away in annoyance.
They were huntresses.. At least in training, but how did they know her name? She'd have remembered seeing the two of them, but she dropped the grimm blade and was handed an emergency pistol but the girl. "Thank the gods, I thought you were dead!" the purple gril grinned… showing off her faunus trait of mandibles, just in front of her teeth.
"T-thank you."
"Don't thank us yet," The White-haired girl appeared behind her. "We need to get moving, Bruce and Senna should be clearing a way out… how did you get this far in anyways?"
"I don't know…"
"Don't pressure her, we should be happy she's alive-"
"Not for much longer!"
Walach recovered and attempted to kill the trio, but Khazi just grabbed them and went onto the back of the Goliath, activating her own Semblance to just float them over, though she struggled with the weight.
From her leap, Pyrrha saw the world below her and the other two of their team, who were cutting through the horde who were slowly breaking their encirclement and fighting, thought the large, gray huntsman was doing an admirable job at slaying them.
"Can you make it?"
Khazi huffed, but nodded. "I can try… we don't have a choice!" She yelped as the Goliath began to shake trying to shake them off, but with a quick leap she managed to carry them to the pathway…
"Pyrrha, you're alive!"
The white-haired growled. "Guys celebrate later-!"
"I'm getting really tired of this game."
Walach appeared at the other end of the pathway. "Really? Letting the animals face me? What is it about this girl that has all of you so eager to die?"
"Silence, abomination!" Khazi's voice was raw with hatred, her eyes looking crazed. "You'll pay for everything you've done."
Walach rolled his eyes, slowly approaching. "I've been told this little speech before. It wasn't any better when Ozymandias said it." He shrugged, and a strange part of Pyrrha's mind minded how it worked with four shoulders. "Kill them! Raise them!"
Pyrrha was going to die here, she realized, but she wouldn't give the Grimm the satisfaction of dying without a fight, even with these strangers.
The hordes just kept coming at them, while Walach watched. Pyrrha did all she could, but the five of them were pinned. Walach approached then, his smile wide as he lifted his great sword.
Let me help you.
Pyrrha felt a burning sensation in her heart, one that followed through the rest of her body. It felt… distinct, yet familiar. Walach stepped back. "What on-"
Pyrrha felt her body burst with power, not like she fell against Cinder. Instead she rose and in the distance to her senses a Dragon roared.
—-
Here it was peaceful… a proper afterlife.
One moment she had vanished after a brutal death and the next… she was here.
She couldn't even feel sorrow at her own death… it was so distant to her now. It was almost insignificant. She laid on a grassy meadow with autumn wind blowing in the breeze. She lived, she died, now she waited.
"Miss Nikos?"
Pyrrha lazily turned to see a young girl, blonde hair on her head and gleaming, golden eyes, wearing a brown sundress. She couldn't have been older then six and yet Pyrrha felt she was of some importance.
"Yes? Who are you?"
"Ah, my name is Medea. It's been a while since I used it though… I uh… I don't talk much. Mama and Daddy told me not to talk to strangers, but you're not a stranger."
She fumbled her thumbs. "Uh… I-I'm sorry my power went to her."
Pyrrha looked to an endless sky. "It's nothing important… it's not your fault."
"I know but… I want to make it up to you. Please…"
"I'm gone… the world will move on without me."
Medea nodded, thinking for a moment. "You can stay here if you want, until you're forgotten and sent back into your world again… But I can send you to another. Please? I need you for this…"
Pyrrha's face softened as she looked back at the girl. "I already failed my world…"
"You won't fail this one." the child insisted. "Please I… I want to do something good. It's no fun being stuck here, not when my family isn't here, just watching the world get worse… didn't you want to be a hero?" She huffed, crossing her arms. "My father was a hero, and he told me that means you can't rest until the world is safe."
"... Will I see Jaune again? Nora? Ren?"
"I promise on my magic that you will." She replied.
—--
Pyrrha hated the makeshift lights in the medical tent as she woke up; her dream faded into memory, which faded into nothing. She remembered a child's laughter…
"Pyrrha?
Her head turned, her body refusing to rise. "P-professor Goodwitch?"
The professor was not in her best, though given the outside was a warzone Pyrrha didn't blame her. Still she looked remarkably composed given what she knew, though her smile betrayed her stoic demeanor.
"I think we're past the formalities…" She sighed, taking a seat next to her. "I'm just happy that you're safe, and the powers of the Maiden are-"
Pyrrha's face fell. "I… I'm sorry, It didn't work. Cinder murdered her before the transfer could take place…."
Goodwitch's eyebrow was raised. "A-are you sure? Then… how did you save team BRKS?"
Pyrrha thought back to that power… but her mind was scrambled. 'I-I don't… I don't know. I saw her die Professor, and Cinder-"
Pyrrha hesitated. "She… She killed me…"
—-
"Hello hello! I'm not disturbing you, am I?"
Pyrrha turned to see Khazi, as she had learned from Professor Goodwitch. She helped to prop up a table for her and set Pyrrha's meal in front of her. "The Good Witch thought you could use some food after today, though with what happened are you sure you're not related to her? That was some magic!"
"It wasn't… I don't know what that was."
Khazi frowned. "Well… you did good, either way. Don't beat yourself up too hard; that's the grimm's job."
"Not in the mood for jokes…"
Khazi nodded. "Sorry Sorry it's just… ugh Rengara is a lot better at this serious talk thingy… look I just wanted to check up on you. I gathered you don't exactly remember us, and something weird is going on… well, magic, and whatever I thought you might wanna talk about it?"
Pyrrha paused, trying to find the right words. "Yeah, I do but… I thought it might just be a panic attack, the last thing I remember was… being killed… I never saw a man like that."
"It wasn't a man." Khazi interrupted. "That was a Grimm. Don't worry, no one knows what they are either… 'cept for people like the Good Witch."
"You know that's her surname, right?"
Khazi ignored her. "Point is, he's not a human, not blessed by the Animal God like us Faunus are, so he's a grimm. And hopefully he's dead, and you killed him, so don't worry. Everyone's brains are scrambled since the Fall… we've been here, helping you guys out, but… we're leaving tomorrow."
She scratched her head. "Had to help, didn't wanna be stuck here with a buncha old timers when my new friends needed saving, plus, Black Claw is like a gazjillion miles from here."
"Black Claw?"
"The Academy on Menagerie." She explained. "Wow you must have really hit your head hard…"
Pyrrha took a breath. "What about me?"
"Oh, uh, she says you're going to Patch? Your teammates are waiting for you there."
Pyrrha's heart froze as she heard the words. Jaune, Nora, Ren… they made it!
Khazi grinned. "Jauney is fun to mess with, but he should know I wouldn't lie to him about this… we were… really worried about you."
There was a solemn silence there. "... if it means anything Pyrrha… I prayed to the Animal God for your safety. He's supposed to protect us faunus alone but… well…" She grinned. "I'm glad they saved you too, or maybe it was his Brothers? Who knows…"
Pyrrha smiled. "Thank you…"
"Don't mention it… just holler if you need me, I need to annoy Rengara before she thinks I stopped being her best friend. If you ever visit Menagerie, just look up Khazi Vivi!"
Pyrrha watched the girl as she left… then began to eat, her stomach demanding it. She had a life here, it seems… and good friends. But… it wasn't quite hers. Her talk with Glynda illuminated that quite clearly…
Or maybe… maybe Khazi was right, the trauma of… everything was just overwhelming…
—-
As Pyrrha knew all too well.
She gazed at the broken moon and felt… a pull. Somewhere in the distance, near Beacon… Near Vale.
"Mrs. Rose?"
"You can call me Summer." the other Grimm said with minor amusement. "No need to be so formal."
"I just… I just felt something in Beacon… in Vale." She said, trying to gather the courage to say it. "Should we-"
Summer shook her head. "It's a temptation… it will pass."
"But what if they need help?"
Summer sighed. "... Just rest here. If we do anything we'll both be killed… or worse, we'll kill them. This is the only way for us to live as… 'good Grimm…'
The Grimm, draconic Pyrrha looked to her only… ally she supposed and nodded. "I just…"
"There are worse things than death… we need to keep away from them, and if they find us… so be it. I miss them too…. I don't want to become a monster."
—--
Walach had been set aflame before. He was lucky, he realized. His Semblance allowed him to escape at the cost of his lower left arm.
But it burned…
But he had a report to make… There was a Maiden here. It seems that Cinder wasn't as through as she thought… and perhaps he could use that to his advantage…