Chapter 1
Jaune Arc let out a groan as he slowly allowed himself to slide down the short wall he was taking cover behind. He let out a hacking cough into his hand and looked grimly at the scarlet liquid that now stained it. Distantly, he could hear the sounds of approaching Grimm.
He let his head fall back against the crumbling wall behind him. His body ached all over, numerous cuts and bruises covered his body from end to end. He was tired. So tired. Gazing up at the shattered moon, Jaune allowed himself a brief moment of respite.
Closing his eyes, Jaune could do nothing but listen to the howls and barks of the Grimm that were growing ever closer.
This was it then. There was nowhere left to run. Nowhere left to hide.
He was going to die.
The thought should have filled him with terror, but all he could muster up was a weak feeling of relief. His fight was over. No more sleepless nights, no more endless battles, no more senseless violence. He was finished.
Well not quite finished, Jaune thought ruefully.
He still had enough fight in him for one last battle. One final effort.
She would want to finish him herself. He was certain of that. For all her great skills and powers, she was still a slave to her own desire to see him laid low before her feet. He had earned that much from her.
That was fine with him. If today was truly his last day on Remnant, he would use every last drop of Aura in his body to make sure that she came with him.
Cinder.
Just thinking of the name filled him with unending rage. All the things she'd done, all the people she'd killed. His friends. His team. His family. His world.
No more.
Tonight would be their end. Both of them. One final battle to decide the fate of what was left of Remnant.
Torn muscles protested as he lifted himself upward to peer over the crumbling wall of the dilapidated building he called home. They were nearly upon him now. An unending sea of Grimm all around him as far as the eye could see. Letting out a grunt, Jaune lifted himself to his feet.
Taking a deep breath, Jaune called out in a voice that rang across the countryside.
"Cinder! Come out and face me! I know you're out there!"
An eerie silence descended across the land as a flaming red figure emerged from the amorphous black sea of Grimm and rose up to meet him.
She was coming.
Jaune stepped back from the edge of wall and waited for his greatest enemy to appear before him.
Cinder Fall rose up over the walls and landed with only the soft click of her heels to signal her arrival. She wore the same red dress as she had all those years ago. Her amber eyes were alight with the flames of the Fall Maiden. She was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful women he'd ever set eyes upon.
The sight of her turned his stomach.
"Hello again Jaune."
She stood across from him now, seemingly unconcerned with the coming battle.
Jaune drew Crocea Mors from his back with a slithering rasp. He wouldn't allow himself to be baited into a conversation today. Their chats never ended well for him anyway.
Ruby lips pouted in dissatisfaction.
"What? No promises of vengeance? No rage filled diatribes? I had hoped that you would give me more entertainment."
"Not tonight."
Cinder Fall sighed, brushing a stray raven lock of hair away from her face.
"Such a shame. It appears you've matured since we last crossed paths. I seem to remember you being much more vocal after I burned your teammate alive."
Jaune bared his teeth.
"Oh how he screamed Jaune. I made sure I took my time after all the trouble you two caused me in Vacuo. I started with his feet and worked my way up. You'd be proud of how strong he was. How long he held out waiting for a rescue that would never come. What was his name? Ran? Run?"
"Ren." Jaune bit out through clenched teeth.
Cinder smirked, her ruby lips curling up as she continued to taunt him.
"Ah. That's right. You'll have to forgive me. I've killed so many of your friends now I'm afraid they all begin to blend together. You understand."
"You won't kill another. This ends here. Tonight."
Cinder laughed.
"There's the Jaune Arc I know! For a moment I feared that you were lost to me. I do so enjoy our little chats."
"Enough!" Jaune yelled out, his patience exhausted.
He raised Crocea Mors in challenge.
"You've taken them all from me now, but I won't let their deaths go unpunished! I don't care if it kills me! I'll fight you to the ends of Remnant if I have to! You'll pay for your crimes, in this world or the next!"
Cinder simply smiled, her expression unconcerned.
Jaune's thoughts went to his friends. They were all gone now. Never again would he hear their laughter or touch them with his hands.
Because of this…thing that had caused it all. The Fall of Beacon. The death of his friends. The end of Remnant as he knew it. The leather of Jaune's gloves creaked as he tightened his grip on Crocea Mors. He would end this. He had to. There was no one else left.
Jaune charged.
Cinder smiled.
He was upon her in an instant, bringing Crocea Mors down in an overhead slash. A wicked black blade flashed out and countered his opening strike. Already she was moving to flank him, her lighter form allowing her more mobility than his heavy armor. Her blade was like lighting, always striking where he least expected it. Torn muscles howled in agony as he struggled to keep up with the pace of the duel. Jaune caught her blade across his shield and quickly bashed it forward in order to gain some breathing room.
Faster than expected, Cinder recovered and sent a gout of flame roaring down at him, forcing Jaune to block and obscure his vision as the flames washed over his shield. Sensing danger, Jaune spun on his heel in order to intercept the blow that he knew from experience was coming for his back. Sparks flashed as he caught her blade across Crocea Mors at the last possible second. Jaune wrenched his blade free of the deadlock and sent a series of powerful strikes at Cinder, hoping to use what remained of his flagging strength to end the fight quickly.
Cinder spun her blade and deflected one of his heavy blows, making him momentarily lose his balance and causing him to stumble forward where Cinder's blade was waiting. Thinking fast, Jaune threw himself into a roll and came up just in time to deflect a blow that would have surely removed his head from his shoulders.
Storming to his feet, Jaune roared his defiance and charged once again, knowing that the true danger in this fight laid in Cinder's Maiden powers. He couldn't allow her to create distance or the fight would be over in an instant. He struck low, attempting to disembowel her with a quick slash of his blade only to have his blow turned aside with a deft flick of her sword.
He was forced to bring his shield up once again to deflect a barrage of strikes from Cinder. They were impossibly fast but he managed to survive the onslaught, if barely. Cinder darted to his left and sent a slash high and to the right. Jaune ducked under the blow and quickly stepped into Cinder's guard. Her eyes narrowed and they locked blades once again.
Knowing that he couldn't last like this much longer, Jaune rained down a heavy storm of blows, seeking to knock his opponent off balance. Cinder replied in kind, sending out a salvo of flaming darts that Jaune was just barely able to deflect off the back of his shield.
Jaune sensed an opening in her guard and rushed forward to take advantage, knocking her blade aside and pouring Aura into his fist as he cocked it back before throwing a heavy haymaker that Yang would have been proud off.
The punch connected with Cinder's jaw with all the power of a charging Boartusk. Cinder's head snapped back violently and caused her to let out a gasp of pain.
Cinder spat out blood and teeth.
Jaune smiled.
Cinder glared.
"You dare!"
"I've been waiting to do that for a long time you bitch. You feel that pain? That's Ren. And all my other friends you killed!"
Cinder sneered at him. "You are nothing! You will die in agony like all your other little friends. They were stronger than you and they all fell before my feet like the vermin they were!"
She rose into the sky and formed a conflagration of fire around her body before pooling her Aura into her hands for a devastating final attack.
"What hope do you have against the Fall Maiden? This is the end for you Arc! Become nothing!"
And then fire rained down upon him.
Time slowed.
Jaune poured all of his remaining Aura into his shield and leapt into the oncoming firestorm.
His glowing white shield met Cinder's inferno and deflected the fire around him. He could feel his skin blistering from the intense heat all around him as he cut through the blaze. Knowing that this was his only chance, Jaune spun Crocea Mors into a reverse grip just as he broke through the end of the firestorm.
And then buried it in Cinder breast.
He looked up into shocked amber eyes and could just make out the word "impossible." on her lips.
"Become nothing you bitch."
And the light faded from her eyes.
Jaune fell back to the ground with a mighty crash, lacking the Aura to soften his fall. He back exploded with pain but nothing could remove the blood filled smile from his face.
It was over. He'd done it.
His vision darkened at the edges and he knew then that he too was finished. He'd spent all of his remaining Aura to get through that last attack. That was fine with him. There was nothing left for him on Remnant anyway. Just regrets and broken promises.
As his world faded to black, Jaune wished that he could see his friends one last time…
There was something gently lapping at the edges of Jaune's mind. It was like a gentle breeze blowing through the leaves. Impossible to perceive with your eyes, but still undoubtedly present on your skin. Soft light filled Jaune's vision and gradually consciousness returned to him, wrapping him in its embrace like an old friend.
The first thing that Jaune noticed when he awoke was the comfortable chair that he was sitting in. That and the heavenly smell of freshly brewed coffee. Sitting just across from him was Headmaster Ozpin, calmly sipping his ever present beverage of choice.
"Welcome back Mr. Arc. Well done. Well done indeed."
Stunned, Jaune could only stare into Ozpin's smiling brown eyes. This was impossible. He looked exactly as he remembered him all those years ago. Tousled silver hair, piercing brown eyes behind shaded spectacles, and the same mug of coffee with Beacons sigil proudly etched upon it. And yet…
"But you're dead," said Jaune.
"Oh yes," said Ozpin matter-of-factly.
"Then…I'm dead too?"
"Ah," said Ozpin, smiling still more broadly. "That is the question, isn't it Mr. Arc? Personally, I think not."
They looked at each other, the Headmaster still smiling softly.
"Not?" repeated Jaune.
"Not," said Ozpin.
Jaune leaned back into the plush seat utterly spent.
"I killed Cinder?"
"You did," said Ozpin, nodding.
"Good."
Jaune finally allowed himself to relax.
"Is it over, at last?" Jaune asked Ozpin, and his voice sounded tired even to his own ears.
Ozpin's eyes seemed to dim slightly at that.
"Mr. Arc, what I ask of you now will seem impossibly cruel. I wish for you to go back and set things right."
"Go back where?"
"Where else but the beginning Mr. Arc? I would send you back to the day before the initiation. But only if you wish to go."
"I have a choice?" asked Jaune.
"Oh yes," Ozpin smiled at him again. "There is always a choice."
"And what if I refuse?"
"You'll go On." Said Ozpin simply.
"And if I accept I'll see my friends again?" Jaune asked hopefully.
"Just as you remember them."
"But Cinder and the rest will come back as well," Jaune said morosely.
"I'm afraid so Mr. Arc," Ozpin said sadly.
"I gave everything I had to defeat Cinder. One last battle. One final effort. And now you're asking me to do it all again. Risk my friend's lives again. I won Headmaster. It cost me everything I loved, but I won. In those final moments I was at peace knowing that it was over. Why take that from me?"
Jaune looked up into Ozpin's eyes and saw only sadness and regret in them.
"Because I have a duty not just to the students of Beacon Academy but to all of Remnant Mr. Arc."
And for the first time when Jaune looked at Ozpin's face he did not recognize him.
"You aren't Ozpin," Jaune said simply. "Who are you?"
The man who was not Ozpin spoke softly now. "Indeed, I am not your Headmaster. I was here before the world began and I will still be here after the world ends. I have been called many names throughout history, but I find myself partial to Remnant. I have given you the ability to set things right because I have judged that the world has been wronged. I know that what I ask of you is an impossible choice, but I still ask that you make it."
Jaune stared.
"Your choice, Mr. Arc?"
"I'll do it."
A/N: Lots of inspiration drawn from chapter 35 of the Deathly Hallows. Still deciding if this should be a full story or just a one off. Let me know what you think!