36"And lo..! Two brothers shalt ascend to whence they came, and shalt returneth to impart judgement at which hour the time cometh. In their stead, those gents leaveth relics of power, to maintain the boons of balance and prosperity bestowed upon humanity. So sayeth the Brothers of Light and Dark." And the Brothers went hither.
Of course, another deity had different plans.
Despite all the death and destruction taking place around him, Jaune only had thoughts for one person. Even as he fought through the hordes of Grimm looking for allies or friends, his mind was never truly at rest, not even allowing him to sink into a battle trance.
Mentally, he berated himself. How could he have been so blind? Everything he had ever wanted in a girl, all those qualities he never knew he needed, Pyrrha exemplified all of them. And to think - she returned those feelings! And now she was up there on Beacon Tower, alone, facing an opponent who vastly outmatched her in power and experience.
He fell to his knees. Jaune was not an extremely devout person, but he, like most others, gave credit where credit was due, and prayed to the Brothers and Oum occasionally.
He prayed now.
"Someone, anyone, please… Help her. I've never asked you for anything before, but if you exist, please, save her."
The Brothers did not hear him. Oum did not hear him.
However, someone did.
She couldn't breath.
Maybe it was because of the arrow in her chest. She attempted to breathe in air but her lungs were filled with ashes.
She couldn't breath.
The woman - Cinder - smirked as she calmly walked towards the champion. To claim her destiny, Pyrrha thought ruefully. And she couldn't do anything to stop her from approaching, only continuing to struggle for her waning life.
She couldn't breath.
And then she could.
The pseudo-Fall Maiden found herself in a white void, empty, except for one being, shrouded in a light so blinding she had to avert her eyes.
"Maiden Fair."
The light seemed to lessen, and the power of the Fall Maiden's power resonated within her. "Who are you?" she asked in awe. "Are you the God of Light? Oum?" She faltered. "Am I... am I dead?"
"Yes."
Pyrrha let out an amalgamation of a sigh and a sob. "Gods, I… I didn't even get to say goodbye…" She chuckled bitterly. "I suppose I didn't give Jaune a chance to either, did I?"
The deity was silent, seeming staring in her direction, and, somehow, she sensed an emotion radiating from it.
Pity.
And… pride?
"You care for He who is Pure of Heart," the deity's voice seemed to echo around the void, and Pyrrha nodded tenderly. "He… means the world to me."
"And you are the world to him. Even now, he prays for your safety, your triumph," came the response, and her heart both melted and cracked simultaneously. Even after what she did, pushing him away, he still wished for her to come back safe. She fell to her knees and bowed her head. "...It doesn't matter to me, I suppose. Shall I go to Heaven, if there is one?"
"No."
Pyrrha's shoulders began to tremble. "I- I suppose not. I f- failed. Failures… don't get to have peace, do they?"
"That is not my intent, unless you wish it."
Pyrrha looked up in shock, and, in the back of her mind, she noted that the god had wings.
"I intend to return Pure of Heart's world to him," the deity spoke, and Pyrrha's heart soared despite her best efforts. He couldn't possibly mean-
"You, Maiden Fair, are his world."
There was a bright flash of orange, and silver, and suddenly she could breath.
Cinder didn't understand. She killed her, that red-haired champion, so the Fall Maiden's power should have reverted to her. She should be reveling in its power, power that she had worked for, that she had earned.
Yet she felt nothing, and it infuriated her to no end. She growled as she crushed the circlet in her hand.
Hearing a sob, she turned to find the silver-eyed brat (her master had mentioned something about silver eyes a while ago) kneeling amongst the rubble of the tower, crying as she stared at the ruined bronze circlet in her hand.
Ah. She must have been a friend of hers. How unfortunate for her. Mentally, she beckoned the Grimm dragon forward, having no qualms about letting it devour the mourning girl. Pets deserved treats for their good work, after all.
The Grimm would have done as she bid, but Cinder would never know. A bright flash of light sprung into existence above the tower, shining like a second sun. She glared at it, then her eyes widened. That power, it's-
And, for an instant, she felt it; the full powers of the Maiden, unrestrained and at its peak, the power that should be hers, before half of it was cruelly stripped away again, visible only by wisps of flames that consumed the circlet.
Cinder had no time to react, not even to rage as her goal escaped her grasp, seeing as two things happened that would change Remnant forever more..
One; the girl, having seen the last remnant of her friend consumed by fire, broke, and screamed, and a silver light emanated from her eyes.
"WHAT?!"
The second thing, the thing that threw her master's plans for Beacon into a burning fire, the thing she did not have the opportunity to see as she fell from the tower, arm and half her upper-left face gone, was the phoenix that tackled the Grimm dragon off the tower.
Gnawing and thrashing at its enemy, the Grimm dragon roared.
And Ho-Oh screeched back.