Chapter 8

"…and I tried, I really tried." Pyrrha sat in a haze, present in the office but her mind seeing only the ruins in her fight. "But she put an arrow through my ankle, and then I-I… she asked me if I believed in destiny." She let out a pathetic, whimpering laugh as she held her head in her hands. "I died. I felt it, every moment of it… it hurt so much."

She cradled in on herself, clutching her stomach as she remembered how the fire had burned through her body, scorching her from the inside out. Ozpin pushed a mug of hot chocolate into her hands as he knelt down in front of her. The drink was deeply appreciated, Pyrrha had been talking for hours and her throat was beyond sore. As she swallowed the liquid she felt another final wave of exhaustion wash over her and looked to Ozpin. He had been listening to her speak intently for hours, asking some questions here and there but really listening to her.

"Then I was awake at home."

"Mhm, tell me. Before you woke up, when you travelled, did you see anything? Anyone?"

It was perhaps the only question Ozpin had been repeatedly asking in different forms, whether or not she'd seen any cause for why she had returned from the dad. Pyrrha shook her head just as she had every other time he'd asked similar questions. "No, nothing. One moment I was dying and then the next… here."

He leaned back in his chair, the one he'd pulled out from behind his desk to put in front of her. His hand went to his chin as he contemplated all that she had said in silence. For Ozpin, all that she had told him had seemed impossible. Countless years he had lived and never once had he seen or heard anything like this before. It didn't even seem possible for magic to be the answer as he'd known the extent of what magic could do, and time travel just wasn't it. A semblance of such magnitude also seemed impossible, especially when Pyrrha had just demonstrated her actual semblance when she came into his office. The sparking wreck of the camera had prompted a call from the IT department, but he had assured them it was all fine.

Had the gods interfered? Had they considered him a failure and returned? Surely though there would have been some sign, some proof that the gods were changing the rules of their return. But Ozpin had known that returning from the dead was possible, he had experienced it himself after all, and he had felt much the same as Pyrrha had. His first death, it had hurt, he'd been scared, and then he'd been back alive.

There were two possibilities in his mind, either the gods had enacted some kind of plan with Pyrrha Nikos, or she was lying. The thought of deception had been present with him since she began to tell her tale, how could it not be given what she was saying. But there was too much that left him unsure.

Her tale was detailed, very detailed. Full of the small minor tid-bits that were consistent with the way people spoke when remembering their past, not telling a story. The small tangents, the flux of emotions on her face as she spoke, how each reaction was consistent with what caused it. Pyrrha hadn't been paying attention, but Ozpin had been watching her thoroughly as he detailed down everything she said, a book quickly becoming full of everything she said of note. By the end of it, he'd started becoming more and more hopeful that she was making it all up, that he hadn't failed his mission so badly as to see Beacon fall.

White Fang in the city and in Mountain Glenn, preparing for an attack.

Atlas forces sabotaged from within and turned on their creators.

His small force of Huntsman and Huntresses the only bulwark against such a force.

Vale had disbanded its military forces long ago, redirecting funds into police and Huntsman training and recruitment. The results had generally been positive, with crime relatively low compared to many other kingdoms, more public spending had increased the quality of life to reduce Grimm attacks and interest, and their Huntsman forces were regularly being regarded as some of the best. As he considered the events to come however, he did find a small part of him wishing he hadn't been such a proponent of the military disarmament in that lifetime.

"You've given me a lot to think about Pyrrha."

The words snapped her out of trance, and she looked to him desperately. "You believe me then? You understand what happened to me?"

"Regrettably, I believe you." Life would have been so much simpler if he didn't though, and so many lives of this eternal war had him longing for even just one life of true rest. "I have a lot of work to do though, I'll need to verify anything I can from what you've told me."

The easiest to start with was following up on this Cinder Fall woman. If she was claiming to be a student from Haven then he could access the records there without issue. Specific details weren't available without request, but names and faces were accessible by any school across Remnant. He had a description of the woman from Pyrrha, and she had been very thorough, the same went for her teammates.

"What else can I do? What's next?"

Relieved at having been believed, Pyrrha now looked eager to act. He understood why, from her perspective she had finally gotten chance to act on her murderer and didn't want to lose her opportunity. He held out a hand to settle her, however.

"As I said, I need to verify some of this information. Once I know more, then we can devise a plan and take the next steps. But first-" he held up his hand again as she immediately began to protest, "first I want you to return to the main hall. Rejoin the other students, have some dinner, maybe seek out your former teammates if you so wish, but rest. If people ask you where you were, you can tell them we needed to discuss your scholarship. Get a full night of sleep, tomorrow is initiation."

Another demonstration of her knowledge had been that she'd known exactly what it entailed, even knowing the specific Grimm that they were likely to face. Though the death stalker trapped in a cave was one they hadn't specifically known about. If it showed where she said, then that would be yet another validation of her tale.

Pyrrha relented, sighing as she accepted his words. When she stood, much of the anxious energy she had entered with had left her, now replaced with a slightly upbeat attitude at knowing she would soon reform her team. She left the room with a farewell, leaving Ozpin to take one satisfying moment to sag in his chair and let out a miserable whine.

Seconds passed as he allowed himself the peace of delaying the mountain of work he would have to go through, before he begrudgingly rose and headed to his desk. Countless lifetimes of practice, and especially living through multiple technological leaps had given Ozpin a deft hand at multi-tasking with computers. On one hand he immediately began to search through student registries at Haven whilst the other began to connect a call to Atlas. Ever the late-night worker, the call was answered within moments.

"Ozpin, how can I help?"

"James, I've had a few developments regarding our recently wounded student. When are you next coming to Vale, I might need you to bring your trip forward."

_/\_TIG_/\_

Dinner had mostly finished serving by the time Pyrrha arrived in the cafeteria. There were a few people left, mostly those in small groups who had already started to become friends, or some who had clearly been late to eat and were rushing through their plate of food. Pyrrha went and picked a few different items, though for all that she was quite late she was not feeling very hungry and only ate a small amount. Most everyone had already moved to the main forum where they would all be sleeping on the floor for the night in bedrolls, an experience that while not pleasant for the sleep, would give Pyrrha a chance to do what she was truly hoping for.

Before she went to the forum, she sat down with her food in the corner and pulled out her scroll, mindlessly chewing with one hand while the other conducted her research.

How to flirt with boys.

With so much of her focus being on developing her skills to kill Cinder, a constant thought in the back of her mind that she hadn't had chance to deal with was Jaune. She didn't want to lose her chance to make him hers, but she'd also spent the entire time with him pining uselessly from afar before kissing him and then running off to be killed. That had obviously not worked, and she wouldn't be repeating that.

The kiss had perhaps made him see her, but now she was a stranger, and she strongly doubted he would be receptive to her sexually assaulting him without even introducing herself. So she turned to the online world for help, and was left wanting.

Laugh at his jokes and tell him he's funny, compliment the way he dressed and give him sly looks. She'd done all that, or tried to at least, and he hadn't noticed a single thing. Some suggestions she read were to just say she was attracted to him and wanted to date, which was obviously ridiculous. If she was going to be bolder, which she was, then she at least needed to lay some groundwork. Cute or not, had Jaune just asked her out the first time she'd seen him, she would have turned him down.

Then there was the advice about looking attractive for me. How to do the right makeup and hairstyles to accent her features, the right bra to make her bust look bigger, or the clothes that showed off her legs. That was all completely useless for her. Azuli had given her many extensive, and thoroughly gross lessons, about how she was being constantly sexualised whether she wanted to be or not, and she knew how to look attractive. Pyrrha was also not an idiot. She was a young woman, with smooth skin, who was in incredible shape, and blessed with beautiful red hair. Confidence in her appearance was not an issue, even if confidence to act had been.

Look pretty and be subtle had failed her last time, but she didn't exactly have much of a master plan this time either. Look pretty and compliment more? She hung her head and groaned. Maybe she should act like Yang, and just walk up to him in the most breast accentuating outfit she had and call him hot. The idea was not without merit. Pyrrha had heard from many men and more than a few women how attractive they found Yang. Big boobs was a common reason why, but so too was her attitude. Yang was fun, playful, friendly, all the things that Pyrrha really hadn't been when interacting with Jaune. Years of creeps hitting on her and social isolation had left her rather stunted, and always defaulting to the much more simple, polite.

That was Pyrrha. Nice, polite, boring old Pyrrha, good to look at but not interesting enough to stand out.

If there was ever a comparison between Pyrrha and Yang, she didn't imagine everyone being more interested in the blonde. Though now that she thought about it, she hadn't actually seen Yang ever carry her flirtations past a friendly wink. The idea that Yang was just as romantically inept as her put a slight smile on her face, but did nothing to assuage her actual concerns.

Frustrated, she stood from the table with determination and walked towards the forum, ready to show the confident and bold Pyrrha she built in her head. Then returned after a moment to put her tray away, as the confident and bold Pyrrha was not someone who was rude to the cafeteria workers.

The forum was filled with the sounds of general chatter, it not being late enough yet for people to be going down for bed. Some had begun to change into their pyjamas though, and Pyrrha considered doing the same, though the worry that her nerves would fail her drove her forwards. So she walked through the forum, ostensibly looking for an area to lay down her things but mainly in search of Jaune. She spotted Ren and Nora setting up, Yang was taking a spot for her and her sister. Blake was against the wall having just started to read her book, and Weiss was…

"Pyrrha! Over here!"

Weiss waved merrily to Pyrrha, signalling for her to come over. Inwardly, Pyrrha grimaced, though outwardly she put on a friendly smile and walked over. She hadn't planned for this, but Weiss had seen Pyrrha see her invitation, so it wasn't like she could ignore her without hurting the girls feeling. Besides, maybe she could find a place to sit and watch for Jaune.

"Where were you? You just disappeared during the speech."

Pyrrha dropped her bags by Weiss', surprised at how relatively few the woman had despite the amount she'd arrived with. "Sorry, I had to catch up with Professor Ozpin to discuss my scholarship. Did I miss anything?"

Weiss recited all that had happened since Pyrrha left, though the girl listened only passively, having experienced all of it once already and remembering it well. She instead spent her time looking around the room for Jaune, glancing from face to face. The crowd seemed to never show what she desired, and she was beginning to lose hope until finally, he was there.

"-and I asked when the lockers are serviced but then Miss Goodwitch said- Pyrrha? Are you listening?"

"Hm?" Pyrrha finally noticed Weiss' prodding and looked at her, breaking away from the golden-haired man she's finally seen in the distance.

"What were you looking at?"

"Just um, looking at the other new students. I didn't see them earlier."

Weiss scoffed. "Frankly, I'm not impressed. No-one here seems as mature as I had hoped, or as impressive. They all seem so… childlike."

Pyrrha snorted. "I think they'll surprise you Weiss. I think the people here, when it comes to it, can rise to the occasion."

She knew she would. She would have to, her life and everyone else's depended on it. But until then, Pyrrha would savour her opportunity to sink her claws into her man. She looked back towards him, only for him to have disappeared once again into the crowd. Moving from her things, she scanned the room again for him. Weiss joined her a moment later.

"You want to go get changed? Ok then, I think that's where everyone else has gone too."

Weiss began to lead her towards the changing rooms, Pyrrha following distractedly but without resistance. She couldn't see Jaune anymore, so perhaps he had gone to get changed too.

The women's changing rooms were beginning to fill up with the other girls getting changed for the night, and Pyrrha was bombarded by a rainbow of colourful pyjamas. As Pyrrha undressed, she began to realise the first issue she was going to face. Her pyjamas were ugly. It wasn't new to her, but she'd never really put too much thought into what she wore, and despite what people thought she found the flannel button up shirt and pants to be comfy. Her pyjamas were not exactly designed for seduction, given she was going to be sharing a room with three other people, and before that a forum full of strangers.

Though as she glanced around, she couldn't help but feel somewhat envious of other people's selections. Shorts and t-shirts were common, and while modest Pyrrha felt it was something she could have used to look more attractive. She didn't need to go to the extent of something like Blake's shockingly short yukata, but even Weiss' boring nightie was more interesting than hers. She needed to make a change.

With a quick tug of polarity, she borrowed a pair of scissors from someone without asking and began to cut the pants into shorts. There was some slight fraying, but nothing too bad and at least now she had something that showed off her legs. She undid another button from usual to show off some more cleavage, then set to work with what other tools she had at hand. A touch of makeup to accent her eyes, and a spritz of perfume to give her a nicer smell. She eyed herself in one of the mirrors.

It wasn't perfect, but it was a damn sight better than before, and now operation seduce the golden dork had at least a small chance at success. Weiss looked at her a little strangely when they finally left the changing rooms, but chose not to comment, either out of politeness or perhaps even understanding. Though she highly doubted Weiss would understand if she knew who she was dressing up for.

Once again, Pyrrha couldn't find Jaune amongst the crowd as they returned to their sleeping bags.

"I know it's rather silly to say Pyrrha, but I'm actually excited for tomorrow." Weiss said, prompting Pyrrha to start paying attention to her once again. "Tomorrow morning will be initiation, a chance to demonstrate my skills to the staff here and represent the Schnee name in the ranks of Huntresses of Beacon. I wonder how team leaders will be chosen, maybe by vote within the team? I know you and I could be a great team, but I don't know about anyone else here. I'll have to take charge and whip them into shape."

Pyrrha hid a roll of her eyes before she spoke. "I'm sure the initiation will be something quite unexpected. And who knows, maybe your teammates will teach you some things."

Weiss stifled her instant dismissal, though it was clear she didn't agree with her. "I'll admit, there are some areas I'm not fully educated in. Though if the people here are anything like the child who almost blew up my dust supply this morning, I think it'll be quite clear that they can't teach me anything."

Pyrrha's eyes instinctively flicked towards Ruby, who was laid by Yang and writing a letter as the latter eyed the boys shamelessly. She'd admit, when she'd first been in the forum there had been a small part of her that had enjoyed the view of the opposite sex, many of the boys here were taking the chance to show off their bodies to the room full of women, and Yang was not the only one enjoying the show. Pyrrha however, was perhaps the only one excited when Jaune came in, strutting his stuff in his baby blue onesie. He looked ridiculous, with his big goofy smile trying to mimic the confidence he saw around him to the unimpressed dismissals of the other girls.

Fools, they didn't know what they were missing.

Pyrrha had been swooning for so long she didn't even realise Weiss was talking until she suddenly stood in anger, walking off towards Ruby, Yang, and Blake to tell off the former about the noise she was making. Pyrrha took her chance to make her move.

Jaune had picked a spot not near anyone she knew, those around him already trying to go off to sleep or distracted on their scrolls. It was a little awkward as she walked up to him, stood idly by, and then cleared her throat.

"Oh, uh, hello?"

Hearing his crackly voice almost had her legs shaking. "H-hi, I'm Pyrrha. I um, I like your onesie."

"Thanks! One of my sisters bought it for me, said it would be a hit with the ladies." Ah yes, Jaune's attempt at being smooth. While she loved him, Pyrrha was glad to admit she was happier when he had dropped that little faze. He stood and held out his hand to shake. "I'm Jaune. Short sweet, ladies love it."

She couldn't quite stifle the laugh as she shook his hand happily. "I'm Pyrrha, it's nice to meet you. I- uh…" Words failed her. All the mental preparations she'd made ground to a halt as she finally stood before him. How was it that for all her time spent with Jaune as the person she could talk to most comfortably, the moment she decided to finally flirt that she forgot how to speak. "So, you decided to become a Huntsman like the rest of us, I'm sure you must be very strong. I look forward to seeing what you can do tomorrow!" She flicked her hair and tried to look at him in a seductive way.

She'd meant her words to be supportive, but Jaune's quickly panicked eyes told Pyrrha the mistake that she'd made. At this point in time, Jaune was very paranoid about the fact that he had forged his transcripts and didn't know what he was doing. He didn't even understand aura.

"Uh, um yes, very strong. Sorry I have to go to sleep now."

He quickly turned and threw himself into his sleeping bag, leaving Pyrrha to make the awkward walk of shame back to her own sleeping bag. She arrived back just as Weiss returned, huffing at the outcome of her conversation.

"I can't believe that girl just blew out the candle when I was in the middle of making a point about their noise. Honestly, the rudeness, some of us want to sleep after all."

Pyrrha ignored her and climbed inside her bag, the cold on her legs not bothering her as much as the foot she'd stuck in her mouth. Ok, so her first step had failed, there was always tomorrow.

"I mean really, people need to be considerate of the others in the room, I don't know how she's going to survive on a team of four if she can't pay attention to the people around her."

Pyrrha slipped a pair of tablets into her mouth and closed her eyes, willing herself pleasant dreams about the day to come. A walk through the forest, just her and Jaune. Plenty of time to make a better impression, and the slaughter of some Grimm would let her burn off any stress energy she might have.

Oh yes, tomorrow was going to fix everything.