Jaune saw Cinder's bow raise and quickly raised his shield, not a second too late as the bone-jarring impact of the arrow against his shield sent him skidding several feet backwards. Slamming is aura-enhanced blade into the ground, he brought himself to a stop. He took a deep breath, feeling his heart pounding inside his chest. One. Two. Three. A second arrow soared through the air, and this time, Jaune sidestepped it and rushed towards Cinder. The feeling of the flames biting at his feet, the sight of Ruby fighting Salem with her silver eyes, the screams of thousands of huntsmen and huntresses dying to the Grimm horde, and the taste of bitter blood in his mouth all faded out of existence. It was just him, and her. Her cocky grin beckoned him forward, and he wasn't going to keep her waiting. He ran towards her, sword raised, knowing the futility of his charge. Cinder's eyes glowed momentarily, Jaune's only warning before a massive fireball consumed him, slamming him back into the dirt.
Pyrrha's murderer sauntered over to his fallen form. Jaune quickly pushed himself to his feet, glaring at the monster over his shield. That's when she began to laugh. "Your defiance of destiny is amusing. You stand no chance against me, yet here you are. Your far superior partner couldn't even touch me. What makes you think that you, someone who has always been far less talented than everyone else around you, stand a chance against me?"
Jaune slowly moved closer towards her, ignoring the pain he felt coursing through his body. "Destiny… doesn't exist. Maybe I can't beat you, but I don't accept that. Right here, right now, I need to beat you. So I will. My friends are counting on me. Pyrrha is counting on me."
Cinder narrowed her eyes, transforming her bow into two dual blades, lowering her stance. "I remember when I first saw you at Beacon. You were pitifully weak, incredibly naive, and utterly thickheaded. Not much has changed since then. That Pyrrha girl really did have a bad taste."
Jaune felt something snap inside his heart. He remembered her smile, her laugh, her love. Their late night training sessions on the rooftop. Her dress on the night of the dance. Her expression through the gaps in the locker as she sent him away before she went to confront Cinder. His grip on his sword tightened. "You can insult me all you like… but don't you say a word about Pyrrha." His voice came out in a rasp, deadly quiet.
Pyrrha's killer smirked. "Such a foolish, emotional boy. So weak. You're a disgrace to Pyrrha- to all of them. Your life has been one of failure, and your death here will only emphasize that fact. Fight me all you wish, boy, but you can't turn the tides of destiny."
Jaune didn't move, and the world that consisted of him and her went silent. Other sounds and sights slowly came back into existence. Ruby and Qrow taking on Salem together. Weiss and Neptune fighting back-to-back, surrounded by White Fang. Blake and Yang using their teamwork to defeat Adam Taurus. "Destiny doesn't exist. Everyone individually makes their own choices in life. The combination of these choices result in one's fate. We control our own destiny." Moving quickly, Jaune transformed his sword into a greatsword and charged Cinder once more. Fire shot towards him, and Jaune pivoted to the left, barely dodging the flames before continuing his mad rush towards his enemy. "Pyrrha made the choice to fight you at the top of the tower, to accept the power of the Maiden, to attend Beacon. She was always in control of her actions, not some abstract force. Just like you made the choice to murder innocents, to destroy Beacon and to side with the Grimm." He ducked under another blast of flame and cut upwards, sending Cinder flying backwards and extinguishing the flames for the moment. Jaune pushed his advantage, landing several more hits before she sent him flying backwards with flames once more.
She snarled at him, blood trickling down her forehead. Her aura was low, just like his. "Salem chose me, out of all the others! I WAS DESTINED TO BE THE MAIDEN."
"You weren't."
"It was my destiny to kill Ozpin and orchestrate the fall of Beacon!"
"It wasn't."
Anger surged in her eyes and she let out blast after blast of flame. No longer having room to evade, Jaune switched back to his regular sword and deployed his shield, letting his shield absorb the worst of the heat. It wasn't enough. He felt his aura give way, his skin melt, so with one last scream, he lifted his sword above his head and threw it towards Pyrrha's murderer, hearing a sickening sound and a gurgled scream as the fires stopped for good. All went silent once more. Jaune took a deep breath, closing his eyes. One. Two. Three. He opened his eyes again, not processing the sight in front of him.
Less than a fifty feet from him laid the lifeless form of Cinder, the object in which he had focused so much of his hate on for so long. Her eyes hollow, Crocea Mors imbedded in her chest, the confident expression gone from her face. In death, she almost looked pained… scared.
The battle raged on around him. Pyrrha had finally been avenged. For the first time in years, he finally felt at peace. His heart calmed momentarily before slowly, the pain began to sink in. Jaune looked down at his arms and legs, seeing blackened skin and bone, and he sunk to his knees. His heart began to slow, and his eyesight began to flicker as he fell on his back, looking upwards at the sky. It was pitch black- only a few stars shined through the clouds. The world died around him once more, and it was only him, and the glowing lights above.
His life had been a series of choices. He remembered the day he went to Junior's bar asking for fake transcripts for Beacon. He had been so young, so desperate to be a hero. He had been naive, stupid to believe he could match hunters and huntresses who had been training for their entire lives.
He remembered his initial pursuit of Weiss. Despite her constant rejections, he had continued to pursue her. Maybe it was because he refused to accept the fact that he would never be good enough for her. But how could he be good enough for her, when he wasn't even good enough for himself?
He remembered Cardin's relentless bullying. How easily he had submitted to his will, the weak giving way to the strong. Only when Cardin threatened Pyrrha did he finally break free of his control. Why did it have to come to that?
He remembered his dance with Pyrrha, the contagious smile that had been on her face. When he had taken her in his arms, he had finally realized that she was the one. How had it taken him that long?
He remembered Pyrrha's death, the Fall of Beacon, Team RNJR, the battles against Salem. He had made his own choices, he had chosen his own destiny. Destiny had no control over him. All of his mistakes were his own. Despite everything, he regretted nothing. Far away, he heard a soft voice whisper:
Do you believe in destiny?
A/N: This piece just came to me as I was rewatching Volume Three today and wrote it within a couple of hours. I hope you all enjoyed!