Destiny No More

Chapter 39

Pyrrha stumbled around a corner, breathing heavily as she quickly pushed herself up against the wall in an attempt to hide; listening carefully she tried to make out any sign of her pursuer. Between the sound of the rain and her own breathing however, she couldn't make anything out.

Despite the relative silence she didn't allow herself to relax. Keeping her back pressed against the wall, she slowly moved farther from the corner and towards the other side of the alleyway. With the storm and lack of maintenance to the area it was especially dark, a fact that her pursuer was no doubt going to take advantage of. Being a faunus it was likely that he would have night vision, meaning it was just one more advantage he had over her.

The pain in her ankle served as a constant reminder of her own vulnerability, having to keep her weight off of it for as long as possible. She wasn't sure how far she had run, although she could no longer see the church, and she certainly didn't recognize any of the surrounding area.

Callows had been right behind her at one point, and she had thought he was about to catch her, but when she had looked back he was seemingly no longer there. She had kept running for a time, glancing over her shoulder to see that she wasn't being followed anymore. There had been a momentary spike of fear that he had turned back to go after Taiyang and she had considered turning back to help him.

Once she had stopped running however, Callows had emerged from the darkness, lunging out at her with his weapon forward. She had managed to dodge, just barely, but he didn't attempt to attack her again, simply disappearing into the darkness once more. He had laughed endlessly for several minutes after that, the horrifying sound echoing through the streets wherever she ran.

It had eventually grown fainter however, more distant, and she had allowed herself a moment to pause. He had lunged out at her once more, and this time she had been unable to fully avoid him. He had managed a cut on her arm and, though it was ultimately small, she was certain it had been his tail that had done it.

Within a few minutes her arm had begun to ache, before shaking beyond her control. Clutching it to her chest she had carried on. That was when she realized what was happening, why her attacker hadn't killed her and was simply content to let her desperately run around the streets of Mistral; it was all a game to him. Whenever she slowed or winced audibly in pain, whenever her arm began to shake, his laughter would reemerge; always just out of sight.

She hadn't seen him for several minutes now, but she wasn't going to fall for that again. If this truly was just a game to him, then that meant she had his interest, and that was enough to keep him away from the church while her only hope for survival was currently fighting for his own life.

It was a cruel joke, but Pyrrha had grown used to those. Her life had almost been reduced to nothing more than that these days. Be it Ozpin or Salem, she was just a plaything to them.

Pyrrha shook her head, carefully trying to fight past the dizziness and a growing fog that had been building up in her mind. Pushing off the wall, she stepped out from the alleyway she had been hiding in, stumbling forward for a few steps before falling to her knees. She attempted to stand but something hard hit her back, pushing her face down into the mud.

"Giving up already?" The mad voice laughed, Pyrrha tried to turn to face him but he pushed down harder on her back; holding her in place. "I see now why you don't deserve our Queen's gift!"

Pyrrha pushed up with all the strength she could muster, managing to do so with surprising ease. Frantically turning around, she only saw the dark alleyway she had emerged from. Scrambling to her feet she began limping in the opposite direction. She could still hear the faint sound of laughter echoing but she couldn't pinpoint any discernible direction for it, almost as if it were coming from everywhere at once.