Chapter Text
POV Penny
Everything hurt.
Only for a moment, but the pain was quite severe.
And then, nothing.
Is this what death feels like?
It’s not pleasant at all, not a final release before a peaceful slumber.
All it is, is pure terror.
Pure terror, and the constant feeling of emptiness.
Emptiness perfectly encapsulated by the blank void I find myself currently residing in.
What might somehow be worse than the emptiness, the feeling of dread for those still left to face Cinder. Hopefully they can make it out, and hopefully the power of the Winter Maiden successfully went to Winter.
If they did, if Winter got the power, then I can at least rest easy knowing that I was able to keep Cinder’s hands away from it.
Hopefully Jaune won’t be to upset if he made it out.
I can imagine that doing what I asked him to do would be very hard for him.
It was hard for me to ask him, I didn’t want to die….. but I had to.
There was so much more I wished to do as a human…. But…. If Ruby wasn’t there, would it really matter?
Maybe I’ll see her again wherever I’m going now. Hopefully Yang and Blake are there too. Maybe even Pyrrha, I want to properly relieve her of any guilt she may have from the accident at the Vytal Festival.
Mostly I just want to see Ruby…. There was so much I wanted to do with her….. so much I needed to tell her.
I hope I can at least-
Oh, there’s a light now, a bright green light against the white of this void.
It’s rather blinding actually. My human eyes are far more sensitive than my previous optics.
I suppose the one negative to being a human, I’m far less robust in construction.
Is the light getting closer or are my eyes just that sensitive?
No, it’s definitely getting closer.
Is this the gods welcoming me to the afterlife?
What is this weird feeling? I feel like I’m being…. taken apart… but it doesn’t hurt at all…. It feels…. Weirdly nice.
What doesn’t feel nice is the sudden impact against a solid surface I feel.
If you keep your aura in heaven, that likely put a dent in mine.
Huh…. The ground feels very soft… not quite like the snow of Atlas…. More like sand.
Well, I’ve never actually felt sand, but this is what I imagine that sand would feel like. Coarse, rough, but still easily malleable, a blanket of tiny, hard particles that make up one large soft blanket.
I find my limbs moving around, spreading further away from my body in order to feel more of the sand.
Huh…. My arms and legs feel heavier than I remember.
Eventually, I find the weight of my torso lifting upwards to look in front of me.
The first thing that catches my now open eyes… is my HUD….. huh….
Looking down slightly, I can see my rocket propulsion boots have once again formed around my legs……
Ok then……
Well….. I suppose I need to test it now.
Raising my right hand, I curl it into a fist, and swing it towards my head.
The familiar clanging of metal against metal confirms what I’ve come to think.
I’ve been returned to my robotic body.
That is a bit…. Odd… though I suppose returning to one’s original form when passing to the afterlife isn’t out of the realm of possibility, it seems appropriately poetic.
I suppose I should run a diagnostic to make sure that fall didn’t damage anything.
-Flight Systems:Undamaged but lacking sufficient power.
-Long Range Scanners:Undamaged but lacking sufficient power
-Energy Projection:Undamaged but lacking sufficient power
-Weapon Systems:Fully operational
-Aura Generation:Fully operational
-Optical Systems:Fully operational
-Audial Systems:Fully operational
-Contact Sensors:Fully operational
-Primary Life Core:Fully operational
-Would you like to run a secondary systems diagnostic? Y/N
N-no, N, I can do that later. What I’m more hung up on is my diagnostic stating that my Life Core is still operating….. that means that I’m still alive to some extent….
W-whatever… I should get a good idea of the area.
Looking around to take in the sights, I can see that I am indeed on a bright sandy beach, the sounds of water takes up my audial sensors. Turning to my left, I see the large body of water, glistening bright orange from the similarly colored sky.
Looking up, I can see a bright sun illuminating this land.
It so far seems very similar to Remnant, just very…. Orange.
Turning in the opposite direction, I can spy a rather large forest…. Or perhaps it’s a jungle.
Maybe I can find something within it.
Though maneuvering my way through the flora may be a slight inconvenience. Fortunately, my Weapon Systems seem to be fully functional, meaning that my Floating Array can still be deployed.
Walking towards the dense greenery, I begin looking beyond the initial tree line. All I can see are more and more trees.
I call upon my Floating Array, ejecting all twelve swords from my backpack.
And then, I send them spiraling into the trees, cutting several of them down.
I hope the residents don’t mind me clearing a path.
Making my way further into the trees, I find…. Even more trees. Oh well, hopefully I’ll be able to find a clearing soon enough.
Eventually, while swinging my array towards another set of trees, one of the swords finds itself stabbed into the bark of a tree.
Oh, I suppose I’ll have to remove it.
I recall the other eleven swords to my backpack and make my way over to the one that found itself stuck.
Getting a firm grip on the handle, I begin to pull.
It is really jammed in there, wow.
After a lot of effort, and a lot of straining, I finally manage to force the blade free from its wooden prison.
Only for the force of the pull to knock me down onto my back, launching the blade backwards behind me.
I can hear it impale itself into another tree.
What I can also hear, is a familiar voice expressing concern over it.
“W-where? Huh!?”
Weiss?!
Turning towards the direction that my sword went, I spot a path clearing in the midst of the trees.
Standing on that path, are Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna.
Almost immediately, I find myself practically flying towards them.
“WEISS! BLAKE!”
Both of them quickly turn to me, though not fast enough to do anything about the tackle hug they find themselves in.
“P-PENNY?!”
Weiss seems rather shocked…. Oh… right….. she was there when Jaune…..
“Penny, you’re here too?”
Blake speaks up as well.
“OOOOH, IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE THE BOTH OF YOU, I WAS BEGINNING TO WORRY THAT I WAS ALONE HERE!”
“P-Penny, please, let go, you’re hurting us!”
Oh, right. Weiss’ declaration snaps me back to… I suppose it’s still reality. I let the two go from my embrace, and rise to my knees.
“O-oh, Weiss, I…. Need to ask… after…. After I-“
“First, I need to ask you a question… HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!?”
Blake side-eyes Weiss with a very concerned expression.
“Weiss?”
“O-oh…. Right…. You wouldn’t… she…..”
“I died during the battle.”
Blake completely freezes at that.
“Pardon?”
“Yes…. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m…. Apparently alive according to my diagnostics…. And I’m also curious as to how I’ve found myself returned to my mechanical body.”
Blake seems rather upset by the revelation that I have again found myself in my mechanical form.
“O-oh… you’ve gone back to being a robot… I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright Blake, I believe we have…. More pressing matters to dissect at the moment.”
Weiss stands up, and stares off at the bright orange sky.
“Yeah, like…. Where are we?”
That is a rather good question.
Blake and I both stand up beside Weiss, taking in the brightly colored scenery.
Something tells me that this will be one very interesting adventure.