Chapter 7

"Let us know as soon as you arrive!"

Her mother squeezed her tightly, even more so than Pyrrha's last time leaving the house. From the pile of bags around her feet though Pyrrha could understand. It was the same reaction her parents had had the first-time round. She wondered what they had felt when she never came back from Beacon.

Pyrrha hugged her mother even more tightly and reached out to pull her father into the hug as well. He'd been trying to be polite by letting them have their moment, but Pyrrha didn't want a single moment to go by where she regretted not having shown her parents the love she felt for them.

She heard the sound of photo's being snapped and looked out to see Azuli putting her scroll away, not trying at all to hide the mirth on her face.

"If there's one last memory I needed before you leave us, I think it's this one." Pyrrha smiled and pulled away from her parents, walking up to her agent who opened her arms for a lighter hug as well. "You keep yourself safe kiddo. Let me know if you ever need anything."

"Thank you Azuli. Sorry I wasn't always the best client you had." Memories of all the times she'd gotten herself in trouble by saying the wrong thing, even in spite of Azuli's teaching passed through her mind.

"Hey, you were a kid, mistakes happen." Azuli pulled away from the embrace to look at her. "Besides, that life was never the one for you anyway. I think Huntress life will suit you just fine though."

Pyrrha looked away to hide her grimace. There would be no Huntress life if she didn't accomplish her mission. "Thanks Azuli. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Already have a couple interviews lined up, not teenage celebrities this time thankfully." She sighed dramatically. "Dealing with hormonal teenage girls, I don't know how parents do it."

Pyrrha giggled. In spite of the way some viewed her, Pyrrha had herself been subject to just as many moments of teenage hormones as everyone else. "For what it's worth, I think you did well."

There was a flinch in Azuli as she tried to hide the sudden wave of emotions she felt, and Pyrrha was sure she'd even seen a tear in her eye before it was quickly blinked away. Azuli pulled her in for another squeeze before letting her go.

"Alright kid, time for you to go. Don't want to miss your airship now do you?"

Pyrrha sighed and picked up her things. "No, no I don't."

Her mother gave her a kiss on the cheek, and her father ruffled her hair as she said farewell to them.

The procedure was the same as her trip to Atlas, though this time she'd had much more luggage bags coming with her. The airship she was taking was one designed more so for heavy haul, and so there was plenty of room for her belongings, though the ride itself wouldn't be as comfortable as her last trip. Getting through security and onto the ship, Pyrrha found herself hit by a wave of nostalgia as she recognised that it was not just similar, it was the same ship she'd taken when leaving for Beacon the first time around.

It had the same ID number, it looked the same, even her seat number was the same. As she walked through to find her chair, she looked around at the passengers. Very few had stood out to her memories, but there were a few familiarities that hit her. The couple that had clearly been vacationing with their two young children, struggling to contain the kids excitement and get them into their seats. The small group of people in high visibility gear, apparently doing some kind of long-distance work roster. Sat in the exit row was someone who was clearly a Huntsman judging from their outfit and demeanour, the ships security no doubt, not that anything had happened before.

She sat in her seat, just as she done before, and contemplated how different things were this time. Weiss should take her training a bit more seriously and be better prepared for the fight to come. Pyrrha herself had pushed herself harder and trained better specifically for her showdown with Cinder. As soon as she arrived, she would find Ozpin and tell him everything. Then, when everything else went to plan, she would find Jaune, her Jaune, and she wouldn't hesitate as she had before.

The boarding process continued and Pyrrha slipped two tablets into her mouth. A drink of water and a brief period later, and the world blurred and darkness creeped into her eyes. Pyrrha shut her eyes and let the fog of sleep take her away. For soon, she would be in Vale.

_/\_TIG_/\_

The arrival into Vale itself began to send Pyrrha's heart pounding. She woke up drearily as ever, and it wasn't until she was off the airship and had collected her things did the realisation sink in for her.

Vale…

The last time she had seen it, it was burning. Grimm flooded the streets and the skies, Huntsman and Huntresses fighting for their lives and for the city. Rogue machines fired on all they could see. White Fang ran rampant through the halls, exacting their revenge on the innocent. But not now.

Now, Vale was bustling. The streets were filled with cars travelling without a care, and the sunny blue sky was the same as any other. Just an ordinary, beautiful day. The connecting flight from the Vale airport to Beacon gave Pyrrha time to prepare herself. It was customary to wear their combat attire when arriving, given no school uniforms had been provided yet and their luggage would be taken directly into the school. As a result, the airships did have rooms on board for changing clothes. It was perhaps not the intention of those rooms however, that one could use them to hide away for the entire flight.

It wasn't a long trip, yet Pyrrha took every moment inside of the room trying to mentally ready herself. Her ship didn't have anyone she'd recognised, a small mercy that would soon be dashed, as she knew they were coming in to land soon.

"Now arriving at Beacon Academy." The automated voice said, and Pyrrha took a deep breath. It was time to face the music, there was no more time to waste.

She opened the changing room door to a busy hallway, passengers walking past quickly as they disembarked. Not just students, though most were, but also plenty of workers who would be needed now that the school semester was starting again. Pyrrha deliberately let them all go first, waiting until she was last before walking towards the exit herself.

She dropped her last bag off with the rest of the luggage, took a deep breath, and stepped out.

Sunlight hit her eyes, but even that couldn't blind her from the beauty of the school itself. Magnificent in its design, and its grandeur so inspiring for the future they could all have. How childish it all now seemed. There was no inspiration from the building itself for her, but there was as she looked around at the people themselves. She would keep them safe, she swore it.

And as her eyes roamed around the people she promised to protect, her heart began to skip a beat. Familiar faces, she could see them now. Walking along one of the main paths was her teammates, Nora and Ren walking side by side, Nora talking excitedly as she danced around and pointed at everything. Coco Adel was sat with her team, chatting amongst themselves as they looked over the new members of Beacon Academy. She saw Cardin Winchester walking by his lonesome, not yet looking as arrogant as he would, and in spite of herself she was even happy to see him. She caught a brief glimpse of Blake as she pointedly veered away from Weiss, who was pushing a big trolley of bags. Ruby was there, Yang off in the distance watching her sister as she pretended to be talking with others. And there…

There he was.

Tall. Golden. And looking utterly lost, was Jaune. Her fingers touched to her lips, the rush of memory of their parting kiss flowing through her. He would meet Ruby soon, and then they would all make their way to the presentation. She watched him from afar, and felt the call to move, to go up and just introduce herself. But she would wait. Let him meet Ruby first, the girl needed a good friend like Jaune in her life.

So, she moved towards the academy like everyone else, not even needing to follow the crowd as she instinctively knew where to go. Though her eyes watched him constantly until he came up to Ruby and they met one another for the first time. And then she pulled her eyes away, walking into the academy itself.

Only a few weeks since she had last been in these halls, yet she'd missed them dearly. So many memories flooded her as she walked by classrooms and lockers. So many memories, and so many regrets. She'd spent her days like a child. Complaining about schoolwork, and playing silly games, she hadn't known or understood the danger that had been coming for them. Making her way into the main hall, she was surrounded by students. Many she knew, many she had never seen again, those who had failed the initiation process and had to leave. Many knew her however, and she could still pick out those who saw and recognised her. She'd longed to be free from her reputation, free from recognition, now she found herself too apathetic to care about it. Let them talk about her if they wanted, she only cared about her team.

"Pyrrha!" Weiss' happy voice surprised her, the girl almost dancing up to her from behind. "It's so good to see you."

"You as well." Weiss looked overjoyed to the point she thought she might get pulled into a hug. "How was your trip? I haven't seen you since our um… spar."

"Uneventful, but peaceful. I apologise for not seeing you afterwards, I had rehearsals for my performance the next day."

"I saw it, you were very good." Weiss preened slightly, even though Pyrrha was certain it wasn't a new compliment for her. "Though afterwards, I didn't see you again even then. You seemed to speak with your father and then…"

Pyrrha cut herself off as Weiss looked away in mild shame. "I- yes… father did not approve of my song choices. But I was happy to see you in the crowd!" The change was unsubtle but seemed genuine. "I hope that you enjoyed the performance. The acoustics weren't perfect, we had a few issues with some of the speakers not syncing correctly, and I tried to get them fixed in time but- anyway, I hope you enjoyed it."

Relief had built in Pyrrha's heart. Winter may have said that Weiss was fine with how violent their spar had become, but to see Weiss not only unbothered about the spar, but more anxious about the performance was a good sign.

"I loved it. You did really well."

Weiss preened once again and opened her mouth to speak before being interrupted by the sound of microphone feedback. Their attention turned to the stage where Ozpin had took his place, ready to speak to his latest round of students. He looked so different now to when she'd first seen him, the context of what he managed and the secret that lay in the school basement. He'd seemed slightly off balance when first giving this speech, was it because of Amber? Had her attack been recent?

"I'll...keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." Pyrrha thought of all the people in Vale, all those that they had failed to keep safe when the Grimm attacked by not being ready. "But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Yes, and the first step she would take. She watched as he walked off stage, Miss Goodwitch taking his place to read out basic orientation information. She had heard it all before, and her focus was on the man himself now. Looking around, she saw Weiss watching on in rapt attention and saw her chance to slip away without a fuss. Taking subtle but determined steps through the crowd to leave at the side.

She'd seen him walk down the hall and knew the path already, knowing he was heading straight towards the elevator that would lead to his office. Once out of the crowd, she began to quick walk down, determined to catch up to the man but not quite willing to break into sprint just yet.

As she turned the corner, she saw the elevator doors open and Ozpin stepped inside with a sigh. He wasn't paying attention as he did so, and Pyrrha quickly ran to get inside just as the doors shut behind her. Rounding on her, he eyed her at first with a defensive flinch, before relaxing as he recognised her.

"Miss Nikos, shouldn't you be attending orientation with the rest of the new students?"

The elevator began to move, Ozpin having already set his office as the destination. He reached out to stop it, but Pyrrha grabbed his hand before he could.

"Sorry Professor, but I really needed to speak with you privately." She let go of his hand and he looked at her suspiciously, but relented, allowing the elevator to continue its travels.

"I see. Listen Miss Nikos now isn't really the best time. If you had something urgent, I'm sure Professor Goodwitch would be willing to listen to any concerns you may have."

"I can't speak to her, I have to speak to you." He said nothing, waiting for her to explain and forcing her to awkwardly lean in with a conspiratorial whisper. "In private." She made a pointing motion towards the small elevator camera.

"Miss Nikos, if it is privacy you need then perhaps we would be best arranging for an appointment." The doors opened and he stepped out into his office. "My private office still has camera's if you're afraid of saying something confidential-" He gestured towards a camera on the wall, one which immediately crumpled as Pyrrha destroyed it with her polarity.

He turned to her, suspicion levels now reaching a defensive hostility in spite of her sheepish look. So she took a deep breath, and began her carefully prepared explanation.

"I'm from the future!" The words came flying from her mouth as all that she had bottled up completely overrode the sensible argument she'd been preparing. "Beacon was attacked by Grimm because of this woman called Cinder Fall, and she killed you and she killed me and I woke up back in time in my bed before any of this happened and you run some kind of secret club with the teachers here and General Ironwood is in on it too and you all worked together to keep a woman alive in the basement after she was attacked because she's something called a Maiden who has magic powers like in that fairytale about The Story Of The Seasons and you tried to give those powers to me but Cinder attacked us instead and she took all of the power for herself and then she killed you and she killed me and now I'm here!"

Pyrrha panted as her ramblings came to an end. Trying to catch her breath, she watched Ozpin for any sign that he believed her, or was considering her words, or even if he just thought she was insane. Instead, he simply stood and stared at her completely still. The ticking of the clock hands in his office were almost as loud as the beating of her suddenly thumping heart as the seconds passed by, Ozpin not doing anything. Until finally, he began to move.

He hung his head slightly in ponderance, walked away to sit in his office chair, cleared his throat, and then he spoke.

"Ok."

Pyrrha waited for more to come, before flailing her arms helplessly. "Ok!? Cinder's going to kill us and take the powers of the maiden you're keeping in the basement! I'm telling you the truth, honest! I know I might sound crazy but I really am from the future!" He nodded his head, listening to her speak yet not seeming to fully register what she was saying for a long time.

"Ok. Ok, you're from the future." He spoke carefully, almost sounding patronizing but there was enough sincerity in his voice that she allowed herself the slightest confidence that he believed her. "In the future, you died, and I died, after fighting someone called Cinder Fall, who led an army of Grimm to attack Beacon."

She nodded her head vigorously. "It was at the Vytal Tournament, and it wasn't just Beacon it was all of Vale as well. She did something to hack Atlas' robots, and the White Fang were attacking too, they were letting Grimm loose in the streets. Everything was on fire, and people were dying, and there was a dragon!"

She stopped, beginning to hyperventilate as it all became too much. She dropped to the floor, trying to steady her breathing, all the while under the watchful eyes of Ozpin.

"Tell me Miss Nikos, does the name Salem mean anything to you?"

"What? No, I don't know any Salem. There's Cinder Fall, and she had two teammates, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Blake, they all claimed to be from Haven Academy. And I think they were in league with Roman Torchwick, who has some kind of very short sidekick, and they're all working with the White Fang somehow, but really Cinder is the one who was in charge of everything! Roman is stealing dust for the White Fang, I think, and they have some kind of big mech that they stole from Atlas, and they tried to crash a train from Mountain Glenn into the city and unleash the Grimm through the tunnels."

It was a rambling, incoherent mess, but she spoke every word with complete sincerity and more than a little desperation. Since the moment she had come to terms with what had happened to her, she had been desperate to share her past with someone, and Ozpin was the most likely person she could think of to believe her. If he didn't, if she was really going to be forced to carry this burden by herself…

"Okay." Ozpin finally interrupted, leaning forwards in his desk to truly listen to her. "Tell me everything."