The Knights of Grimm - Act 3 - Shattered Memory

Chapter 43 - A Leaf's Redemption

"I know...but he has been able to trick us before. I'm not accusing you of anything yet, but I am still suspicious of you. I never did see the face of the Onyx Phantom, only her eyes and her body, that was it. Could have been anybody." He explains, and Pyrrha thinks, and she still does not have any recollection of ever killing his team.

"I promise you – I did not do it." She speaks with determination, but it sounds more like she hopes that this is the case. At the end of the day, none of them really know if it was her or even if it was Neo. They do not actually know for certain when Neo started the whole masquerade of the Onyx Phantom for Vir Nominis Umbra and the Knights of Grimm. "But...how can you be certain that you trust Cinder?" Pyrrha asks him now, and he sighs, rolling his eyes.

Showing the exact opposite side of what he just did to her, being quite hypocritical in his view on these matters. He will show such suspicion towards Pyrrha and the Onyx Phantom links to his team being murdered, but he will shove away her concerns of his sister.

Despite the fact her evidence is stronger than his.

"Pyrrha..." He sighs.

"She murdered me, destroyed Beacon and caused Penny to die. Caused Yang to lose her arm." She states, and he suddenly gives her a bone chilling stare, head twisting round to meet hers so fast that it makes her stop her sentence in her tracks.

"That...was Adam...not my sister." He growls with anger.

"Wasn't it? She brought him into the battle, if it weren't for her making a deal with him she could still have both of her arms." Pyrrha boldly states, which could have been a risky move. Especially when Kassius suddenly springs up from where he leant, fists clenched tight and she can see the flickers of red behind his amber eyes.

"Pyrrha!" He suddenly yells with rage, raising his metal finger to point at her. "You are treading on some...mighty thin ice here." He snarls with gritted teeth. Pyrrha is wise to back down, Kassius has mercy but she has heard the stories of Mr Hyde. She heard the roars he made in the Emerald Forest when he brawled with Kannix and what he did to Adam when he just saw him in Raven's hideout.

Despite that he changed sides.

Pyrrha cools off, stepping back from him slowly. "I'm sorry...I went too far." She apologises, Kassius eventually cools off and he shuts his eyes, pushing Mr Hyde back so then he can calm down as well.

"She has suffered more than you can imagine." Kassius states, sitting down on the fountain edge beside his stetson.

"I dunno, I can imagine quite a lot." Pyrrha shrugs, some of things that Vir Nominis Umbra showed her, did to her and forced her to experience by watching others in agony. Those memories will never leave her, and will never leave Jaune from what they both experienced.

"I'm sure you can, and I am hoping that you can sympathise with her on that." Kassius says. Pyrrha shakes her head as she stands there.

"Do you really think I can sympathise with my murderer?" She questions.

"She is trying to redeem herself for her sins, better than what most people hope to do." Kassius says, picking up his stetson as he bats some of the dirt from the crown of it. He then fits it onto his head as he looks at her. "And besides, she was in a very similar position as you after all." Kassius points out.

"How so?" She inquires.

"She was under the eye of Salem, her Small Council...and unknowingly under the eyes of the Knights of Grimm and even worse, Vir Nominis Umbra." Kassius explains, a chilling thing to think of, the idea that there are worse monsters watching every step you take, and listening to every breath and every thought. "What else could she have done after you went on your little suicide run?"