DISCLAIMER: I own nothing related to RWBY
Pyrrha sits across from Ozpin in his office, with Qrow leaning against a column in the back of the room. "Congratulations on your victory in the doubles round. It comes as no surprise that they've chosen you to move on to the final round of the tournament. Your performance was exemplary."
"Thank you, professor." Pyrrha humbly replies. "But I would have never made it this far without my teammates." 'Jaune should be here, not me.'
"Personally, I disagree. Aside from that Jaune Arc fellow, I think it goes the other way around." Qrow scoffs with his arms crossed.
Pyrrha turns around and gets up from her seat. With a slightly hostile tone she asks, "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been introduced."
"Name's Qrow," he grunts.
Ozpin mentally sighs. "Qrow is a trusted colleague of mine."
"Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why have you called me here?" Pyrrha asks.
Smiling, Ozpin gestures to the chair. "Please, take a seat." After she does, he leans back and puts his fingers up to his lips. "Tell me. What is your favorite fairy tale?"
Understandably, Pyrrha is caught off guard by this seemingly random question. "I-I'm... sorry?"
"Fairy tales. Stories from your childhood. Surely you must remember some of them."
While still put off by the question, Pyrrha reminisces, "Well... there's the Tale of the Two Brothers, The Shallow Sea, The Girl in the Tower..."
Ozpin leans forward with an intent gaze. "What about The Story of the Seasons?"
"Well, of course! A callous old man, who refuses to leave his home, is visited by four traveling sisters. The first understands his reclusive nature and urges him to spend his time in solitude to reflect and meditate. The second brings him fruits and flowers, tending to his crops and revitalizing his garden. The third warms the man's heart, convincing him to step outside and embrace the world around him. And the fourth begs him to look at all that he has, and be thankful. In return for their kindness, the man grants the sisters incredible powers, so that they may continue to help others all over the world. They graciously accept, and promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant 'til the end of days. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall; the four maidens." Pyrrha's eyes soften. "My mother loves that story."
With a distant look in his eyes, Ozpin asks, "Would you believe me if I told you that one's been around since I was a boy?"
Pyrrha laughs, "You're not that old, professor."
Ozpin turns deadly serious. "Well, would you believe me if I told you it was true?"
"I beg your pardon?" Pyrrha lets out an uneasy chuckle.
"What if I told you that there were four maidens existing in this world, that would wield such tremendous power, without Dust?
"You mean... like a Semblance?" Pyrrha tries to make sense of all this.
Ozpin gives a small smile. "Like magic."
Pyrrha looks down in befuddlement. "Yeah... First time hearing this, it's pretty crazy." Qrow comments.
"Why... why are you tell me this?" Pyrrha struggles with her words.
Standing up, Ozpin gazes out his windows, being bombarded by heavy rain. "We are tell you this, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe you are to be next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers."
Eyes widened, she realizes. "We?"
The elevator door opens, revealing Glynda Goodwitch and James Ironwood.
Fixing his tie, Ironwood says, "Sorry we're late."
Jaune remains seated as still as a statue on top of the plateau. Paying no heed to the wind and rain, his expression is calm and unchanging. Meanwhile, the thick clouds above him churn and roll like boiling water, becoming denser with every passing moment.
A red portal manifests beside Jaune, and Raven walks out.
'Where am I? What is this?' Raven looks around her, noting the trees and Beacon Tower glowing in the distance.
'This is the Emerald Forest. What is Jaune Arc doing all the way out here?'
A guttural thunderclap causes Raven to flinch and look up into the sky. She blinks through the rain hitting her eyes. 'Those clouds are... not normal. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they're alive.'
Her head tilts back down and locks onto Jaune, who, so far, has shown no reaction to Raven's arrival.
A wisp of white air escapes his mouth as he breathes out and opens his eyes.
Raven involuntarily reaches for her weapon and takes a step back. 'Those are the eyes of a warrior. Someone fully prepared to face death.'
Jaune slowly pushes himself onto his feet and impassively looks up to the malestrom forming above.
'It's finally time.'
"Raven," He addresses her without looking. "I strongly advise you move far away. Otherwise, you will get caught up in what's about to happen and die."
An ominous and deafening crackle ripples through the air, prompting Raven to sprint to the edge of the plateau. Without questioning the authenticity of Jaune's claim, she jumps and morphs into her bird form. She'd survived this long outside of the Kingdoms' protections largely because of her instincts. And right now, her instincts are screaming at her to get away from the plateau Jaune Arc is standing upon.
Her senses finally begin to calm down once she is several hundred meters away. She lands on top of the forest canopy.
'What the hell is going on? What is this?!'
An enormous spiraling maelstrom of dark red materializes above the plateau. While swelling and shrinking like a beating heart, serpentine electric sparks weave in and out of the spiraling arms, eventually reaching the center and getting swallowed by the maelstrom eye. Then in an instant, the air on and above the plateau turns silent and the rain and winds dare not trespass.
The 3-in-9 Heavenly Tribulation has officially begun!
Jaune calmly regards the contorting and twisting clouds.
'The first strike is the weakest.' His hands remain by his sides, making no move to draw Crocea Mors from his back.
'My progress is meaningless if I have to rely on my sword to deal with the first strike.'
An invisible pressure falls down upon the plateau and onto Jaune. The air visibly distorts and squirms as the Tribulation Cloud prepares its strike. With a thunderous boom, a yellow bolt of lightning cuts through the silence and shoots straight down towards Jaune's head.
Eyes shining with anticipation, Jaune spreads his arms out as a challenge to the Heavens.
'Come!'
Putting up no resistance, Jaune baptizes himself in the pillar of lightning enveloping his body. His physique, strengthened through his daily body tempering exercises and bolstered by the Black Tortoise, takes in the energy with ease. A series of crackling noises erupt from his body, the result of the energy coursing through his bones, muscles, and organs. Taking a deep breath, Jaune concentrates to absorb as much of the energy as possible into himself.
A few moments later, the light emitted from the strike dies down, darkening the sky once more. In the center of the small crater, Jaune remains standing with tendrils of electrical energy skipping across his body. As he lets out a deep breath, he opens his eyes and sends an arrogant smile to the Tribulation clouds above. The first strike has successfully been overcome.
The millions of viewers and those watching in Colosseum gasp in horror as they witness Yang Xiao Long ruthlessly attack her downed and defenseless opponent without provocation.
"My leg! My LEG!" Mercury sobs in pain while grasping his injured leg.
"Yeah, well that's what you get for-"
"Yang Xiao Long. You will stand down immediately!" Several Atlesian Knight 200s and Atlas military personnel surround her with their guns trained onto her.
Yang looks around in confusion. "What?! Why?" She demands.
Mercury cries hysterically, "Why'd she do that?! Why would she attack me?!"
'What?...' Yang's eyes widen as she finally looks up at the screens. The replay footage shows Yang circling Mercury, who is crouched on the ground exhausted. Then she suddenly shoots him in the leg with her weapon.
'B-but that's not what-' She turns her gaze to Blake, Weiss, and Ruby. Tears threaten to escape when she sees their wide-eyed, terrified expressions. As if to rub salt into the wound, a deafening clap of thunder echoes through the skies, illuminating the horrified faces of the audience for Yang to see.
Cinder smirks in her seat. 'Even this storm is on my side. Destiny seems to be favoring me.'
*** In the waiting room of Amity Arena ***
Ironwood sighs tiredly, "You all seem like good students, and the staff here at Beacon are fully aware that you would never lash out the way you did... under normal circumstances. What I believe and hope this to be is nothing more than the result of stress and adrenaline. When you're out on the battlefield, your judgement can become clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that simply aren't there. Even after the fight is past..."
"But I wasn't-" Yang starts.
"That's enough. The sad truth is, whether it was an accident or an assault, it doesn't matter at this point. The world, millions, saw you attack an innocent and defenseless student. They've already drawn their own conclusions. And it's my job to inform you that... you are disqualified." Ironwood says nothing more and leaves the room.
"You guys believe me," Yang looks to her team with desperation and plea. "Right?"
"Duh!" Ruby responds.
Weiss shakes her head. "You're hotheaded, but you're not ruthless brute."
Blake remains silent, earning a look from the other three. "I want to believe you... but it's difficult."
Taking a deep breath, she continues. "My mentor, Adam, changed in ways I thought was impossible. It wasn't in an instant, but gradual. Little choices that began to pile up. At first they were accidents, then it was self-defense, then it became ruthless. All for the sake of the cause. I'm sorry but this is all just... very familiar."
Yang looks down at her feet, tears threatening to leak out.
"But..." Yang looks up. "no two people are the same. You've never done or shown any kind of behavior like this in the past, so it would be unfair of me to judge you based on my own experienced. I will trust you, but first, please, look me in the eyes and tell me that he attacked you first."
Without a doubt in her voice, Yang looks directly into Blake's feline eyes and calmly replies, "I saw him attack me, so I attacked back."
Blake smiles in relief.
Yang lets out an exhausted and depressed sigh. "I still don't know what happened out there. But... I'd like to stay here for the rest of the matches, if that's okay."
Ruby, Weiss, and Blake silently take their seats around Yang, and watch the upcoming match of Pyrrha vs Penny.
Jaune reaches up and draws Crocea Mors in a smooth, singular motion, creating an arc of silver in the air.
Meanwhile, Raven is watching this scene unfold, feeling as if she's losing her mind.
'Insane. This is insane. Whatever that bold of lightning was would have drained at least 90% of my Aura reserves. But he's standing there as if nothing happened?!' Her eyes widen further at Jaune's actions.
'Why did he draw his sword?' The malestrom coils and rumbles with even greater ferocity than before, and Raven feels her hair starting to raise and stand on their ends.
'There's more?!'
A pillar-sized bolt of red colored energy snakes inward towards the center of the Tribulation clouds. Without further warning, it strikes down like a viper, headed towards Jaune's head.
As the red bolt snakes its way down the skies, Jaune silently siphons Aura through his Black Tortoise sigil from his dantian, and infuses the essence into Crocea Mors. The sword now glowing with a dark blue sheen, Jaune swings it upwards and meets the bolt with the flat side of the blade.
The moment he makes contact, a burst of blue light engulfs the area, and an illusionary tortoise entwined with a snake envelops Jaune for a split instant. The red bolt disperse around him, like rain hitting an umbrella, devastating the ground surrounding Jaune with foot deep craters.
Jaune lets out a grunt as the strike concludes. The smell of burnt clothes and ozone fills his nostrils, and his breath is slightly quickened from its normal steady pace.
'A red bolt. Those are normally reserved for the 6-in-9 Heavenly Tribulation.' Jaune narrows his eyes. 'If that's the case, then what will be the third and final bolt?'
He glances down at Crocea Mors, which now has several hairline fractures marring its surface. 'Please hang in there.'
A catastrophic thunderous explosion sounds through the air as the audience stares in confusion. One of the contestants, Penny Polendina, was torn apart by Pyrrha Nikos, and is revealed to be a robot. A single thought runs through the minds of the viewers and audience.
'What the hell is going on?!'
Pyrrha stares at Penny's remains in abject horror, eyes wide, and mouth agape. Her mind nears the brink of collapse.
'Those sword from before weren't real. Does that mean this is not real? She looks like a robot, but what if I'm just hallucinating again?!'
The screens suddenly switch to an ominous red background with a black queen chess piece in the center. A sultry voice begins to speak to the world as it watches the events unfolding.
"This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."
Ironwood grimaces and grits his teeth. 'I thought my technicians cleared out any traces of the virus!' He shakes his head, dismissing those thoughts as it is a waste of time. He rises from his seat and marches up the steps.
"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither."
In the waiting room, Ruby sobs with tears streaming down her face, while Yang embraces her, attempting to comfort her in any way she can. Blake and Weiss are shocked by the revelation that Penny was an artificial lifeform, a robot.
"She's a robot?..." Yang whispers to herself.
Ruby rapidly shakes her head while in Yang's embrace.
"She's real!" She hiccups. "She had a soul, and now she's-"
Ruby chokes on her tears, unable to finish her sentence.
"Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace if fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable. Out kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?"
The screen cuts to static. As silence has completely overtaken the Colosseum, the automated system jolts everyone out from shock, to erupt into panic.
"Grimm attack imminent. Level 9. Grimm attack imminent. Level 9. Please find the nearest exit in a calmly manner."
The Tribulation cloud churns and rolls as it builds up energy for its third energy bolt. A blood red bolt of pure energy frantically flickers among the clouds as it spirals towards the center.
'That's a peak level red bolt!'
Without a second thought, Jaune furiously rotates his cultivation base, bringing out as much Black Tortoise essence as possible within the small amount of time left before the bolt strikes. With a roar like explosion, the blood red thunderbolt spirals downwards like a raging dragon with its maw open. Jaune swings Crocea Mors with a defiant roar. A black-blue image of a tortoise flashes around Jaune's body and hisses as it takes on the earth shattering blow. Jaune's body shudders and shakes as the impact quakes the entire mountain top. A sharp crack sounds out as part of his defense shatters, and as if the lightning were alive, a portion of it snakes through the opening and directly strikes the shoulder of Jaune's sword arm.
The hit causes Jaune to involuntarily take a step back as he coughs up a mouthful of blood. With his teeth stained red, Jaune grunts and holds his stance, refusing to budge his sword. As he endure what feels like hours, the pressure coming down upon him finally disappears and silence overtakes the plateau once more. With ragged breathes, Jaune falls onto a knee with Crocea Mors stabbed into the ground as support. With a tired eye, he looks over his weapon, now cracked with multiple fragments missing. With some pity in his eyes he lets out a breath of relief.
'It's done.'
A sudden rumble in the sky causes Jaune's head to jerk up in shock. With wide eyes and mouth, he watches the Tribulation clouds, not dispersing as expected, but churning once more, signaling that it is gathering strength for another strike. Madness flashes across his eyes as Jaune processes what's happening. An uncharacteristic maniacal laugh escapes from his mouth and he bitterly laughs.
"So the Heavens will honor me by breaking the rules? Do you think you can do such a thing without paying the price?!" He roars to the skies. "Two can play at that game!"
Jaune rotates and condenses White Tiger essence and infused it into Crocea Mors, now glowing white and yellow. As the Tribulation clouds continuously roll, Jaune stands up and arches backwards like a bow drawn taut. Aiming Crocea Mors into the sky as the arrow, he roars and throws it into the sky. The sword streaks up the sky as a white beam, and the image of a white tiger lets out a majestic roar as it pierces the direct center of the unprepared Tribulation clouds.
A shockwave ripples through the skies and the clouds howl, enraged by Jaune's action. The clouds bubble and surge to spit out the power it had managed to gather, before they disperse into nothingness with a ghostly scream. Unlike the previous three strikes, the power the clouds had spit out is a tiny wisp of misty purple flame.
Jaune reaches out and catches the broken pieces of Crocea Mors falling from the sky, and gives a vicious smile to the flame coming down upon him.
'Divine flames! A peak level red bolt would have sufficed, but this is even better!'
Mustering the last of his reserves, Jaune extends his arms out, holding his broken weapon towards the approaching flame. A black and blue illusion of the furnace forms around Crocea Mors and captures the wisp of divine flame within. The turtle shaped furnace violently vibrates, as if a wild animal were thrashing within, trying to escape. As small cracks form along the surface of the furnace, the minuscule waves of energy escaping lash Jaune across his already exhausted body, bloodying and burning him. Despite the mouthfuls of blood escaping his mouth, Jaune shows no fear within his eyes and keeps a firm hold of his furnace.
With a final roar, the trashing stops, and Jaune drops his arms to his sides in utter exhaustion. He falls backwards onto his back and into the pool of blood on the ground. The barely intact furnace above him fades away, revealing a reforged Crocea Mors in all its glory. Its appearance has changed from before, its crossguard no longer present, and the blade width thinner at 3 fingers wide. The weapon possesses an otherworldy glow, and it seemingly hums in joy as it circles above Jaune, celebrating its birth. From the cosmos, a pillar of energy descends upon Jaune, enveloping him within a cocoon of light and energy, transcending him from Houtian to a Xiantian level lifeform.
Far away in the distance, Raven sees Jaune fall onto a knee after a blood red lightning bolt strikes him. At this point, Raven is far beyond being shocked even further, and is just taking everything in for what it is. She witnesses Jaune look up to the sky in shock as those ominous clouds rumble.
'Was he expecting it to be over after that previous bolt of lightning?'
Her eyes widen as Jaune maniacally laughs, then roars as white beam pierces into the sky. The resulting shockwave nearly causes Raven to lose her balance, and she catches a brief flash of light above Jaune's head. The sound of an otherworldy enraged howl fills the air for several moments, before the light fades and Jaune collapses onto his back.
'Did he do it? Or is he dead?'
Raven stares intently, then finally notices a sword floating in midair above Jaune. Her mind begins to race.
'A flying sword? Magic? A Relic?!' She grits her teeth and takes flight towards the plateau.
Jaune curls into a fetal position as the warm energy envelops hims like a soft blanket. With every breath, the energy surges through his body, rejuvenating and repairing the damage taken during the Tribulation. His muscles tighten and condense like steel cords. His bones harden to become like iron. The organs expel their impurities and strengthen in vitality. The old skin peels away, revealing new jade like skin, glowing with a certain luster, like a newborn infant. As the energy makes its way into his dantian, his previously limited divine sense expands in size, now passively covering a large portion of the Emerald Force. Jaune's mind sharpens to accommodate the improvement to his divine sense. The sea of Aura within his dantian condenses in size and solidifies into a a massive pillar, representing the beginning stages of Xiantian. His sea has successfully metamorphosed into a foundation establishment for his future path.
As Raven lands on the edge of the plateau, the cocoon of light gets fully absorbed into Jaune, revealing his form slowly floating down to the ground. With a silent tap, his feet land on the ground, and he opens his eyes. With a small gesture of his hand, Crocea Mors sings in joy as it settled into the palm of Jaune's hand. With his other hand, he delicately caresses the length of the blade with his fingertips.
'My natal weapon...'
With a thought, the sword visibly shrinks in size and disappears into Jaune's body, hovering within his dantian. Jaune turns his head towards Beacon Tower and his eyes slightly narrow with concern. The Grimm within the Emerald Forest have grown restless, and several hordes of them are heading straight towards Beacon Academy.
"Raven," Jaune says without looking back at the woman.
Raven remains deathly still and silent. Her hand placed on her sword, ready to draw at a moment's notice.
"Beacon is in danger, which means Yang is in danger."
Raven slightly flinches at Jaune's remark. Of course she knows that.
Jaune silently floats up several feet into the air, his tattered and burnt clothes swaying around him. He sighs, "I do not have time to deal with whatever you're here for."
As he begins to fly towards Beacon, he turns his head towards Raven with impassive eyes.
"In the end, we all have to make our own choices. The question is, what will be yours?"
Without bothering to wait for a response, Jaune blurs as he bursts with speed, flying rapidly towards the city and Beacon.
As Raven watches Jaune's back become smaller in the distance, she remains standing alone on the plateau, her expression hidden under the shadow of her hair.