This is something I've been toying with in my head. It probably deserves a longer story, but I'm just putting this out here because I need to release it so I can move on with A Stitch in Time. This is not a happy story, and I think it plays with some things I thought could be possible with the current state of canon, though I don't expect the story to be like this at all.
I wrote the original version of this two days ago, and FFN ate it. Like always, this isn't nearly as good. I hope you enjoy it anyway.
It's also a mature story; people will talk about death, murder, and sex. If that's an issue for you, go back now.
02/27/17 edit: Just some fixes for grammar/spelling issues. This was originally intended as a one-shot but I might write bits and pieces of the story as I feel the muse.
Beacon Ruins, fifteen years after the fall of Beacon
Ruby found the ruins creepy, even without the grimm that had overrun it the last time she saw it. There were no animals or other signs of life; just dust and a howling wind. The trees and grass were long dead, the fountains dry and cracked, the pillars fallen; battle scars where everywhere. Left over atlas mechanical units lay in pieces in various places where the defenders had destroyed them, or where the grimm had torn them apart once Ruby had shut them down by stopping Torchwick.
She hated thinking about that carrot topped asshole.
The reaper wasn't sure why she'd come; Jaune had invited her, of course. That's why she was here, but given their history... she knew it wasn't smart. Still, he'd never harmed them even if he had betrayed them.
One moment she was alone, her head swinging back and forth looking at the destruction and being wary, Crescent Rose drawn and read, and the next he stood in front of her, a simple golden crown with an odd Gem set in it on his brow. The gem glowed with a light that appeared to move inside it. He still wore the same war-torn armor that he'd obtained with them when they'd journeyed to Mistral together, all those years ago. It was dirty and scratched, but the armor had held against all the abuse he'd put it through. On his left arm was Crocea Mors, undrawn, the handle at his wrist for an easy draw. She'd seen him do it; the scabbard would rotate and shift right into the shield, the emblem of Pyrrha at the bottom under the twin crescents of the Arc family logo. On his waist was still the remainder of Pyrrha's red sash, the spear and shield emblem she'd worn faithfully reproduced. It was something he'd added when he left them.
Neither spoke to the other; Ruby was prepared for a fight, but Jaune appeared to be calm; perhaps he was even reticent. Finally he spoke. "Thank you for coming, Ruby. You kept me waiting."
"I wasn't going to come. After Atlas you just... disappeared. Back to Salem I guess, though that portal." He sighed. "Yeah, I guess I did."
When he didn't say anything else, she asked him the question she'd wanted to know, more than anything else. "Why? Why would you do this to us, Jaune? Why did you betray us, betray humanity? Betray me!"
He turned his eyes away from her. "Why would you betray Pyrrha like this?" Then his eyes turned back, an angry blaze in them. "Don't say that. I did betray you. I did all those other things. But I never betrayed her; I could never betray her."
He'd changed on that trip to Mistral, after Pyrrha's death. Sullen and quiet, he'd worked well with the remnants of his team and her. She'd found him, sad and angry, practicing to Pyrrha's voice, and realized that whatever else he'd been telling them, he wasn't over his redhaired partner. But after their affair in Mistral, after betraying them to Watts and helping the man escape with the artifact from there... how could he still love Pyrrha? How could he claim to still honor her with how he'd acted.
"You helped Watts. We had him."
His eyes looked less intense. "I did what I had to do. He would have killed you."
"Oh, so you did it for us? Is that what you're saying?"
He shook his head. "No. I wouldn't have let him hurt you if I could help it, and I didn't, but I didn't do it for you. You or the others."
"And... and did you just use me then? Use me to help that creep?"
He looked remorseful. "Nothing I did with you was about... Ruby, I was messed up. I wasn't ready for a relationship but... neither were you and it just happened. It was the only happy part of my life. It's been the only happiness in my whole, miserable life."
"I lost the baby." A tear fell from her eye; it still did whenever she thought about it, even all this time later, even after what he'd done. "I know. I mourned. I felt guilty for so long about..." She interrupted him. "You should. I blame you."
He sighed again, but said nothing. She asked him again. "Why, Jaune. I think you owe it to me to tell me. Everything you've done has been confusing and it hurts so much."
"Do you remember our trip to Mistral? Remember Tyrian?" She nodded. "Well, then you remember Qrow getting stung, and the story he told us after."
"That's why? Because you were mad at him about Pyrrha?"
He looked at her. "I was angry, but no. He told us about the maidens, but you do you remember what else he told us?" Jaune waited, then continued when she didn't respond. "He told us about two brother gods; one of creation and the other of destruction. How they created life and the grimm and eventually created mankind together?" She nodded, remembering that part of the story. "Well, he talked about four artifacts. Creation, Destruction, Wisdom, and Choice. Remember? He told us that Salem wanted them, so she could reshape Remnant into what she wanted. That's what made me do what I've done.
"You couldn't have wanted to help Salem destroy the world. I know you hated him, but..."
"I didn't Ruby. I was mad, but I... if those artifacts could change the world for Salem, what could they do for me?"
Ruby got angry. "Power? You wanted power?"
He hesitated, then nodded. "I needed it. For Pyrrha." She was stunned.
"I helped Watts get the artifact of creation from Mistral. That helped get me in with Salem's group. I figured they had a better chance of getting the artifacts than we would if I told you my plan, and I think I was right. They took me to Vacuo, where I helped them get the artifact of choice. I... I couldn't let Adam kill Yang or Blake..."
She remembered. It was still very odd. They'd never seen Tyrian again, but Watts had been there. So had the white fang, fighting to take control of the kingdom, which had a larger than average faunus population. And at the head of the fang had been Adam Taurus, still thirsting to hurt Blake by killing the ones she cared about. Just when Adam had been about to kill Yang in front of Blake, Jaune's blade had run him through the heart. She remembered Adam's shocked face, matched by Watts, who turned to run only to be cloven nearly in half by a return swing of Crocea Mors, glowing white with Jaune's aura. Then, instead of returning to them, Jaune had picked up the artifact from Watt's corpse and left through another portal, alone.
"I took it back to Salem. She was angry about Watts, but Cinder was thrilled. I had to... I had to keep them from being suspicious. When she came onto me, I played along because I'd already killed Tyrian when I first arrived." Ruby hadn't known; Jaune had killed so many of them. "So yeah, I fucked her. And when we were there in Atlas, taking the artifact of wisdom, and she threw it in your face, I could see the hurt and betrayal on your face. But she... she went to kill you and I couldn't let her. I couldn't Ruby. I may not deserve your friendship or your forgiveness or your love, but I still care about you. All of you really, but you especially." Jaune had decapitated her from behind. Hazel had been their distraction and by then team RWBY was much more capable; it'd been over a decade since Vacuo - just a few weeks ago in fact. Ruby had stayed to bury Ren and Nora, who'd fallen fighting that brutish faunus Hazel before they'd killed him, then went back with Yang to Patch after Blake married Sun and Weiss married Neptune. She wasn't going to come. Jaune had invited her to meet him a week later in Beacon's ruins before leaving with the artifact through the portal when she'd tried to stop him there, but she had planned to let him rot. Atlas hadn't fallen, but Vacuo and Mistral were gone thanks to what he helped do. Millions had died as a consequence.
"Why are we here, Jaune. I get it. You spent a decade fucking that slut and then killed her to save me. I guess I'm supposed to be grateful? Fall back into your arms like a dimwitted teenager with a crush and a need to help her friend get over his depression?"
Jaune opened his left hand. In it lay three other gems like the one in the crown on his head. "Did you ever here about the last battle of the great war? The color war?" She nodded, looking between his hand, the crown, and his face. "The king of value strode out onto the battlefield and ended the war with just a sword and a shield, wearing a crown. This crown. This sword and this shield. He was my great grandfather." She gasped.
"The king of Vale was offered the rule of Remnant at the end of the war, but my ancestor was tired. Tired of the killing and telling people what to do. So he made the council, then he locked this crown - the real weapon used in that terrible battle, in Beacon's vault. In a vault that only one of his bloodline could open. It's why Cinder didn't get the artifact when she was here; she was originally here for that but couldn't get it. I knew, because the story had been passed down to us. At any time, we could go to Beacon, get the crown, and take up the mantle as ruler of Remnant. No Arc - that's the name he took when he stepped down from rule - no Arc has ever done that. We never wanted to rule over other people. Ruby, I still don't. I just... I need the artifact that's in the crown. The artifact of destruction. The last of the four."
She looked at him, this time whispering. "Why?"
"Because with them, I can remake Remnant into what I think it should be. Salem wanted them so she could distort and destroy humanity. Instead I killed her. My lineage was what got Watts to take me on; he knew why Cinder didn't have the artifact and he knew Salem would want me because I could get it. I played her, and him, to get what I wanted. When Cinder made me her lover, she was under the impression we were going to use the artifacts ourselves; I was her key to taking power from Salem. I let her believe what she wanted to believe, the way I let Salem believe I was loyal to her and betraying Cinder. Everything I did, was so I could get these four gems, and make a wish. I'm going to bring Pyrrha back. I'm going to make it so Beacon never falls and Pyrrha lives. I'm going to change history for the better. Mistral and Vacuo will never fall. I... I asked you here because I thought you deserved to know, even though you won't remember."
She looked at him. It should be his moment of triumph, and if what she heard him say was true, he was going to fix everything that had gone wrong. But looking at his face, all he seemed was sad. "If you've won, and everything's going to be okay and no one will remember, why are you so sad, Jaune?"
He looked up into her eyes. "The artifact of wisdom... it can tell you how to make the wish. And there's a price. Power should never come without one, you know? It's a safety mechanism, from those two gods, to make sure that whatever wish is made is really important. The person who makes the wish, has to pay the price."
Ruby put her weapon away, then walked up to the only man she'd ever loved, even though she hated him, and kissed him. "I guess this is goodbye then."
"Yeah. Have a nice life, Ruby. I'm sorry." She stepped back, and his Aura flared. The gems in his palm rose up into a diamond shape around the artifact of destruction in his crown, at his forehead.
"In tribute to the gods of creation and destruction, here my plea. Grant me this wish, that I might make your world better through it. I freely accept the price, without reservation. No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his brother."
Her eyes bugged out. "Jaune, no! Wait!" The gems flashed, and reality unspun, reverting back to an earlier time.
Pyrrha came upon a group of beowolves, slaughtering them with ease. There on the ground lay his mangled corpse. She could tell by the sword - a fine weapon if quite simple. James... Jaune had been his name. He was cute and she'd hoped that maybe they could have been partners and friends, maybe more some day. She picked up the blade, slipping it into her sash. The boy hadn't been prepared, didn't have a landing strategy, and while she'd originally planned to use Milo to save him, she'd fretted at the last minute about missing and killing him instead, and now she saw the result.
"I'm sorry, Jaune. I'll... I'll never hesitate to help again. I swear it to you." Later she would discover that the rest of his family, the Arc family, was also dead. He'd been an orphan. With no one to return the blade to, she'd incorporate it into her armor and weapons, both as a symbol to remember him and her vow, and also because it was of extraordinary quality. She never married or had children, but she lived a long life, fighting grimm until dying as an instructor at Beacon herself.
The first thing I remember thinking after hearing about the artifacts, other than they were more deus ex machina BS, was why wouldn't Jaune want them to save Pyrrha? And the first thing I thought of when that World of Remnant video about the color war happened was that the king of Vale went out with a simple sword and shield; like the statue in front of Beacon in Vale, which has often been remarked as looking like Jaune's sword and shield.
So yeah, I think Crocea Mors was the king of Vale's blade, that the ancestor who was a great warrior that Jaune refers to was the king of vale, and that the crown had an artifact in it, which is how the king won when Atlas and Mistral had superior technology and numbers. And it made sense to me that if that happened, the artifact was likely the artifact of destruction. Atlas' tech advantage could be because of the artifact of Wisdon. The other two I just sort pulled out of my ass; Mistral seems more creative, culturally, and Vacuo seems to be more about choice.
And we know from Qrow's story that what Salem really wants is the artifacts, and that seems to be backed up by Raven asking about it in the bar, and Salem asking about it as well. The artifact in Beacon is still in Beacon; makes sense to me that if it was in the crown they have it locked up, maybe in a way that only someone like Jaune could get it out. Maybe Jaune doesn't even know he's royalty.
Or maybe my theory is full of holes and doesn't work. But, it's the basis for this story, and why it wouldn't get out of my head until I wrote it out. I also like the idea of an angry and devious Jaune, manipulating people, including the bad guys, into getting him what he wants, not so he can rule or benefit, but so he can bring back the woman he loves.
And because I'm me and I hate happiness, Jaune had to die at the end. Love is always twinned with Sacrifice, I think.
It's been pointed out to me that the King of Vale went out onto the battlefield with a sword and a scepter. I went back and checked and that's what's said. I like my version better, so I'm not going to change it. Also, if you like this story and want to do something with it or elements of it, feel free. Not only do I not own RWBY, but I'm not even sure my theory is original. I would like to see more stories about Jaune trying to get the artifacts so he could bring Pyrrha back. If you do something close to that, I'd appreciate it if you left me a review or a note so I could look at your story myself.