Author's Note:

So, I kind of forgot that the Fall of Beacon was during the Festival, and classes aren't really going on during that time. Ah well, suspense of disbelief, eh? Also, I'm not really of the belief that Jaune's semblance is basically slaughter everything while time stands still. That just kind of came to me as I was writing it (and totally ripped off from The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind). I personally believe that his semblance is something almost akin to Bella's ability in Twilight. The mind shield/projected shield thing. I suppose that's a different conversation, though.

Glints of steel flashed in the firelight as arcs of blood sprayed across the clearing. There were various shouts and yells from everyone around him, but he never noticed. He was transfixed, lost to the dance with death. Some tried to thrust their blades at him, but he parried them easily. Some attempted to shoot him from the edges of the clearing, but he deflected their projectiles. In this moment, time was his to command. He was powerful. He was unstoppable.

A figure rushed him, and he lashed out. Never hesitating. Lost to the lust that filled his vision, he knew one thing; kill or be killed.

It was easy. The figure never attempted to block his attack. They just charged directly into the blade, realizing their mistake at the last second. Realizing his mistake at the last second. Surprise filled her silver eyes as he drove his blade through her midsection. The same silver eyes he'd fallen for after Pyrrha's death. The same silver eyes that he thought he'd lost once before.

Shock woke him from his vengeful wrath as he let go of the hilt of his blade, still lodged in Ruby's torso. He took a step back, unwilling to believe what he'd just done, and looked around at the clearing.

Around him, there were bodies upon bodies, just like that one fateful night, but there was something different this time. What he was looking at were his friends, all mercilessly slaughtered by his hand.

He could see Ren; his hand cut off and stabbed through the heart. Nora was nearby, holding Ren's severed hand, her chest also pierced. The rest of team RWBY lay among the bodies, as well as some of the teachers of Beacon, Qrow Branwen, the Belladonnas, his sisters, all bloody, stabbed, and sliced.

Jaune felt sick.

As he looked around in shock and horror, he heard a voice. Ruby's voice. "Do you believe in destiny?"

As if he'd been pushed off a tall building, he suddenly felt like he was falling. Falling into complete blackness, with no sound but the blood rushing in his ears.

Jaune started awake with a gasp.

"Jaune? Are you okay?" A voice asked from near the window. A familiar voice. One that brought many emotions to the surface.

As he slowly sat up, he looked over and saw Pyrrha standing there, worry written across her face. "You were muttering in your sleep. Something about Ruby. Is everything alright?"

He simply stared at her, not wanting to blink lest she disappear. She was every bit as beautiful as he remembered. It was a couple moments before he realized that there were tears in his eyes, stirred by emotions long forgotten.

"I-I'm fine." He said as he wiped away the tears that had threatened to spill over. His head was an absolute mess of emotions and muddy thoughts. Why was he here? How was Pyrrha here? Was this a dream too? And what happened to Ruby? Last he remembered, they were at their wedding, then Ruby had freaked and they started running. Everything happened so fast that he barely had time to activate his semblance right before Ruby grabbed him. In that instance, he only saw a single glass bow lying halfway out of a shadow that was at the edge of the stage, before it faded to dust. Cinder…

His face hardened as he thought of that bitch. She'd taken happiness from him not once now, but twice. He would have his revenge.

"Jaune…" He looked up at Pyrrha, who was now showing concern for a different reason. She'd never seen such hatred in Jaune's eyes. He never had any reason to hate. He was as innocent as they come. A little naïve because of it, but she thought it was adorable. Not to mention, she was the first person to actually treat her like a normal person, rather than put her up on a pedestal like most did.

His face softened as he saw her again. "I'm not fine. So much has happened, and I'm not sure where to start."

"What do you mean? You haven't gone anywhere in the last 12 hours. How could a lot have happened?" Pyrrha asked, completely perplexed. She still wore a face of concern for her teammate.

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Well, about an hour ago, I was getting ready for my wedding. Now I'm here."

"Your wedding?"

"Yeah. Ruby and I were going to get married. We'd spent a lot of time together over the last couple years after… Well, after something incredibly bad happened."

At this, Pyrrha's face fell. "Oh…" was all she said.

There was a moment of silence between the two, neither of them looking at the other before Jaune broke the silence.

"When is it?"

"When is what?" replied Pyrrha, still apparently crestfallen.

"No, what day is it? How long before the Vytal festival?" Jaune almost seemed desperate.

"The Vytal festival has already begun. We've already done the team fight and the pairs fight. Remember? We voted for me to go into the one on one round."

Jaune looked at her with an intensity she'd never seen. When he spoke, it wasn't harsh, but firm and confident. Definitely different than she'd ever heard him before.

"Pyrrha, I don't want you to go into that ring tomorrow. I don't want you anywhere near the arena, or even at Beacon for that matter. You need to leave."

Pyrrha was immediately taken aback by the abrasiveness of his words. It almost felt like he was telling her off like a parent would a child. She couldn't imagine why he wouldn't want her to fight. She was really good at it. In fact, she was very likely to be the best in the school. Before she could ask him why, he muttered to himself, but she was barely able to pick it up.

"I can't lose you again…"

She noticed his face was ashen in color, and there was nothing but sorrow on his face. This was the point that Pyrrha realized that this, in fact, was not the Jaune she knew. This was a Jaune that had seen some pretty messed up things, and had lived to tell about it. She didn't know how it was possible, but she was sure that he'd traveled back in time. At that moment, she decided she needed some air. In a couple strides, she crossed the room to the door that led to the hallway.

As she opened the door, she came face to face with Ruby, her hand still poised, as if she were going to knock. She watched as Ruby took in her face, and looked past her to Jaune, who still sat motionless, staring at the wall.

In a blur of rose petals, Ruby disappeared back into her own dorm room, and Pyrrha could hear her soft crying. Still in a shocked stupor, Pyrrha stood in the doorway for a minute or two before remembering that she needed air, and ran to the spot on the roof where Jaune and her trained. She needed time to think. About Jaune. About the implications of becoming the fall maiden. About the fact that Jaune had somehow managed to time travel from a future where he apparently was about to get married to Ruby. That one hurt the most…

As she sat there, staring out into the sky, a vision hit her.

She was standing on the top of Beacon Academy, above the headmaster's office. Her sword and shield were in hand. Suddenly, a woman she'd never seen before stepped out from behind one of the many low walls around the edge of the roof. Seemingly without moving her lips, speaking directly into Pyrrha's mind, a voice said, "Do you believe in destiny?" As Pyrrha heard this, the woman's eyes glowed a bright orange and flame enveloped Pyrrha, immediately consuming her vision.

The last thing she heard before her world faded to black was, "You don't deserve this power."

WELL. About time, dontcha think? Sorry guys. I've been busy with my job IRL, and designing a D&D campaign for my friends, and writing a script for a thing my buddy and I are planning on filming, and designing a videogame that I want to create, and, and, and… I've got a lot of projects I'm working on atm, really. Part of the reason this chapter is so short.

AT ANY RATE… That's one helluva chapter, yeah? I rather like writing dream sequences, I find. Feels a bit more liberating, and easier to toy with emotions that way. So, I've figured out how I'm going to end this story, and I know about 80% of the fandom is going to hate it *gleeful maniacal laughter*. I WILL DESTROY ALL THAT YOU HOLD DEAR. Anyway, here's to another like 5 months before I update this, eh?