Okay, so, this story is now going to be updated on Saturdays – which means that yes, you get a double whammy this week. In two weeks on this Tuesday however, there won't be any chapter as I'll be prepping my new story. I don't actually have one picked yet. I am considering between a couple with a friend of mine. One is an SCP-based idea surrounding a hidden world kind of vibe and Ruby and Jaune as anomaly hunters, and the other is actually a possible Cardin-centric story surrounding the idea of toxic masculinity, the effects it has on a person and how difficult it can be to make them realise their feelings for a certain dorky and effeminate blonde.

Neither is confirmed yet and it could be something entirely different.

Anyway, update today and the next chapter of this will be on this Saturday.


Cover Art: Curbizzle

Chapter 2


"So, that's the story. It's different from my world." Knight leaned back and sighed softly. "Different in some ways. Salem remains the enemy, however. I suppose some things never change."

"That's it?" Yang yelled. "You find out our headmaster, our teacher, is a literal immortal, that gods are real and that there's some crazy ex-wife in charge of them all, and this is your reaction!?"

Knight opened one eye to regard her. "Yes."

Yang made a garbled noise. Ruby didn't blame her. The story Ozpin told was as crazy as it was shocking. The fact it had all been kept a secret so long was even more so. If it wasn't for the weird chocolate, ice-cream and caramel thing she was drinking through a straw, she might have joined her sister in shouting. As it was, Ruby was marvelling at the simple act of enjoying coffee for the first time in her life.

"You're entirely too relaxed about this." Weiss said. "You could afford to worry at least a little."

"Worrying won't help us best her." Knight said. "Besides, I've faced worse."

Ruby preened a little. This was her Jaune, and he was so cool and calm and badass that she just wanted to squeal. He was everything a huntsman was supposed to be. Brave, strong, confident and super cool.

"Do the rest of you feel the same?" Weiss asked the assorted Jaunes. "Are you all this blasé?"

"I never faced or knew a Salem." Leviathan said from beside Yang. He was drinking a simple, plain coffee and he looked oddly into it. Almost excited to be drinking at all. "The name really doesn't mean anything to me."

"The same for me," Hunter said. He hadn't touched his drink and was still glowering sulkily at them. "But that's no surprise. The only one I recognise here is Ren."

"And you?" Weiss asked the Jaune in a green apron, who just seemed content with mixing and serving them. He looked up from a set of three kettles he'd somehow commandeered, tilted his head and smiled brightly with his eyes closed.

"I knew of her."

"You did!? A barista of all people knew the truth?"

"Ah, I didn't know all the things Ozpin said, but I knew of her. You meet a lot of people in the service industry. Another drink, Mr Ozpin?" he asked, bringing a fresh pot up. The headmaster nodded and let Barista pour his cup full.

Maybe they were taking it so well because this wasn't their world. For some of them, like Knight, everything was different, while Hunter didn't even know most of them. Salem wasn't a threat to them other than in this competition. It was to them, though. Ruby felt nervous and was convinced she wasn't the only one. Team JNPR were unusually quiet, especially Nora and Jaune – though he kept looking at his counterparts with an almost miserable look on his face.

"This is all kinds of messed up." Coco said. "Even before we get into all of these guys duking it out to the death. Where's the last one by the way? Miss Goodwitch went looking for him half an hour ago."

Everyone looked to Pyrrha, who shrank back. "W-Why is it my fault? I couldn't force hm to stay."

"He wants to stay out of it." Ren said. "I say we let him."

"We can't afford to let anyone sit this out." Ozpin interrupted. "Unless you forgot that Salem also has representatives of her own. I can assure you she will not hesitate to throw them at us. We need to assess our respective strengths, identify how best we can work together and then formulate a plan of action."

Ruby bobbed her head quickly, liking the idea. That was why Ozpin was a teacher and they were students. He knew how to plan things. Looking around, she saw almost everyone else in agreement, even Knight. The only one not nodding was Hunter. He didn't complain however and didn't make sound nor indication that he was against the idea. He must have been the strong and silent type.

The light above the elevator blinked on and Ozpin held up a hand to forestall them. They waited in silence as the carriage slowly rose up to the head of the tower and opened. Miss Goodwitch strode in with a fierce scowl on her face. Behind her, floated a Jaune Arc – or Fate as Jinn called him. He was suspended in the air but looked remarkably calm about it. He had hooked a hand behind his head like he was resting on a cushion and… was that…

"Is that a cigarette?" Blake asked the question with a scrunched-up nose.

Jaune `Fate` Arc answered by removing the thin roll from between his lips and blowing out a long puff of smoke. Then, as if to spite her, he said, "No."

"Yes, it is. I have eyes."

"Why ask in the first place if you already know the answer?"

Miss Goodwitch's scowl only deepened. She stalked forward, drew out a chair beside Pyrrha and forced Fate down into it via her Semblance, then pushed the chair under the table so he couldn't escape. To make it even worse, she stood behind him, blocking off any exit. If it were her, Ruby would have felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Fate merely sighed, hooked one leg over his knee and placed the cigarette back between his lips.

"Smoking is an unhealthy habit," Ozpin said. Fate chuckled around it. When it was clear Fate wasn't going to respond or put it out, the headmaster continued. "I had just finished explaining the origin of Salem and her stake in this competition. I'll repeat again for your benefit-"

"No need. I don't care."

"It's important you understand what is at stake."

"It really isn't. This isn't my world. It's not any of our worlds. Anything specific to this world might as well be meaningless in ours. And besides, knowing the why someone is going to come and kill us won't change the fact they are."

He… had a point? Ruby felt it might be wrong to agree with him, but it was obvious he didn't want any part of this. I guess he wasn't brought here by choice. I'm just glad my Knight is willing to fight.

"I'll leave filling him in to you, Miss Nikos." Ozpin told Pyrrha. "Our main goal now should be on explaining your capabilities and unique strengths so we can decide how best to co-operate."

"I agree." Knight said. "I will-"

"You can't possibly be this naïve…"

All eyes turned to Fate again, this time with no shortage of annoyed expressions. Yang and Blake were outright scowling at him, while Pyrrha looked absolutely mortified that it was her companion who was acting out so much. As if it wasn't bad enough Jaune blew off a meeting and started smoking, now he was outright calling out the headmaster.

She got that he was upset, but this amount of backtalk just made him seem churlish, and that wasn't the kind of word Ruby normally used. Does he hate Ozpin that much? Is he that upset to be here?

"Is there another problem, Mr Fate?" Ozpin asked politely.

"Fate, huh? I guess that fits. And no, there's no problem. Not from your point of view anyway. Knowing all our abilities will make it a lot easier for you to kill us when we're not needed anymore."

Ruby gasped.

"I assure you we're on the same side-"

"Are we?" Fate cocked his head to the side and smiled. It was neither a happy nor pleasant smile. "Because the last I checked, only one of us gets to win this lovely little show. Only one of us gets to have our world fixed." He let his eyes drift over Knight, Barista, Hunter and Leviathan in turn. "You might all be willing to work together like a happy little family now, but what happens when the other side starts to lose members? What do you think will happen when victory looks like it's in the bag, but you start to wonder if Knight over here can be taken down in a fair fight?"

Knight sat taller. Stronger. It only made him all the more imposing in his armour, and Ruby wasn't blind to the way Hunter and Leviathan narrowed their eyes at him. Maybe she was being arrogant, but she felt like Knight was the strongest. The one to beat…

"Wouldn't it be easy to miss your opponent in the heat of battle and put an arrow in his back?" Fate said to Hunter. "Or a bullet. Who could blame you? It gets hectic in combat sometimes. Friendly fire happens."

"Are you suggesting we would all turn on one another?" Pyrrha asked.

"Are you saying we wouldn't?" Fate asked back. "Ozpin only needs his side to win. It doesn't matter to him who does specifically. But to us, well, I'm sure there will be plenty of us with something we'd like to change about our world. You, Knight?"

"I would never take a wish from a God. That way lays disaster." He closed his eyes firmly. "I will forfeit my prize."

"Generous of you. But then, maybe you're just saying that to make us let our guard down. Keep us from stabbing you in the back. How about you, Leviathan? Lost anything in your world? Something you'd kill for a chance to change?"

Leviathan didn't answer. His eyes shifted to the left, to Yang maybe, but he looked back and said nothing. Ruby wasn't sure if that was good or bad. No one did. Fate chuckled to himself and leaned back, content in his petty little victory.

"Only a fool would give away all their secrets here. To potential enemies no less. It's only a matter of time until we're expected to fight one another, isn't it? To murder one another. But then, maybe Ozpin has his own agenda in this…"

For a moment, Ruby felt the world teeter. Knight was adamant and unconvinced, but it looked like the others might be swayed. Leviathan had pushed his chair back slightly, and he was staring at Knight and Fate with equal suspicion. Hunter looked down at the cup of coffee Barista had provided him, grimaced, and pushed it away as if it might be poisoned.

And it could have been, couldn't it? Barista was by his own word a simple coffee shop owner. He couldn't fight, and unless he wanted to die then he had to find a way to beat a whole load of other versions of himself who did have training. Slipping something in a drink was probably his only hope of standing a chance against someone like Knight. Ruby looked around nervously, wondering if this whole thing would fall apart before it even had a chance.

Ozpin didn't let it.

"Hardly, Mr Fate. I have no champion. No stake in this war other than the protection of humanity. I do what I do to protect the people of Remnant, and I am asking you all to please do the same."

"I stand by Ozpin." Knight threw in his support. "And I shall begin. I am a Blacksmith Class with a speciality allowing me to change my Class to Weaponmaster. I am over level one hundred, with high stats unsurpassed by many in my world. I can forge weapons, burn with a touch and dispel magical enchantments with the swing of a sword. I am a competent Hero. One of the best in my world."

Ruby's eyes sparkled.

"Levels?" Jaune – the real Jaune – asked incredulously. "You're a video game character!?"

Knight frowned. "My world is very real. The struggles we faced were no game and I won't abide them being referred to as such."

"S-Sorry. I didn't mean it like that-"

"I'll show you later!" Ruby assured Knight and Jaune both. If he was like a game then she had a few RPG's she could show him so he knew what Jaune meant. The idea of living in a world ruled by those mechanics sounded so cool. Maybe Knight could tell her stories about his adventure. Maybe they all had stories to tell about their worlds.

"As broken as he is naïve," Fate said. "Ha. I was right to bow out of this shitshow if you're a representation of what we're supposed to go up against. Let me guess, you have stats like Strength and Dexterity?"

Knight nodded. "I do."

"Let's test it. Lift this desk for us."

"That's not ne-" Ozpin's words died a strangled death as Knight reached out with two hands and picked up the huge desk Ozpin was sat at. It was an expensive thing made of solid wood and edged with metal, and it probably weighed more than Ruby did. Knight didn't heft it with straining muscles or a nearly broken back either. He picked it up like you might a chair. "O-Oh my," Ozpin said, watching as Knight raised it above his head, then balanced it on a single hand, before gently placing it down again. "That is… quite the feat of strength, Mr Knight…"

Yang obviously couldn't leave it at that. Not Yang Xiao-Long. She stood up and tried to budge it, only managed to scrape it across the floor. She looked to Blake, who sighed but gave in, stood and moved to the other side so they could lift it between them. Even then, they only managed to get it an inch or two off the floor, and it was obvious they were straining to keep it suspended. Blake let it fall first with a pained gasp, rattling the mugs on top.

"Ha ha ha!" Fate was laughing. "Screwed before we even had a chance. Story of my fucking eternity. Oh, this is great. Well, a good job I'm not fighting. I can't. Not against a monster like that."

"Come now." Ozpin tried. "Surely you must have some skill that makes you unique. Jinn referred to you as Fate. That is no small moniker."

"It refers to the fact I'm Fate's bitch. I sure as hell don't control it."

He wouldn't respond even to Pyrrha's prodding, only laughing bitterly to himself. It got so bad that they all gave up, turning to the next Jaune in the room. Barista smiled. "I'm a barista. I make coffee. That's it. I'm not huntsman-trained and I can barely use my aura."

"Dead men walking!" Fate laughed. "We're both of us dead men walking."

"I'm a hunter." Hunter said. "I told you that before. I hunt animals for meat and fur, and I scout the Grimmlands to make sure our settlement isn't in the line of danger. I'm good with a bow but I won't use it on a human being."

"Can you track our quarry?" Ren asked. "That might be useful."

"No."

Nora burst in. "Why not?"

"Because I track animals and Grimm in the wilderness. Not people in a city filled with hundreds of thousands of other people. It's not the same thing. I wouldn't know where to start, what to look for or how to go about it." He sighed harshly. "Don't count on me. If this were the wildlands I could help, but I'm out my element."

"That's three for three on being useless," Yang groaned. "What about you?" she asked her Jaune. "With a name like Leviathan, you have to be pretty tough. Right? C'mon, you're my Jaune. You have to be a badass!"

"Ahah." Leviathan laughed good-naturedly. He out of all of them reminded her of her best friend the most in personality. There was an odd light to his eyes, but it was more like the colours were a little off rather than some hidden emotion. They glowed a little, like a light was shining far, far behind them and she was only seeing the beam. That could have just been some unique trait of his world. "I'm afraid I'm nothing too special either. I can control water." He emphasised it by moving a finger over a nearby kettle. Hot water came out in a narrow ribbon-like consistency, twisted in the air and formed a perfect circle. "I can use it to help fight and I guess I'm alright at it."

"Hydrokinesis." Ozpin leaned in with clear interest. "That is a rather unique Semblance."

"Semblance…?"

"A power intrinsic to each person. Aura?" he tried when Leviathan looked none the wiser. "The manifestation of the soul? It is what we use to shield ourselves from harm. You do have aura, do you not?"

Well duh. He had to.

"You use your souls to block damage?" Leviathan sounded as appalled by the idea as Ozpin did by the idea Leviathan might not have it. "That's… insane. Wrong!" he added with a frown. "Souls aren't fuel to be used and thrown away, despite what some might think…"

Fuel? What was he talking about and why did he look so angry? It was like a flip had been switched with the way he was glaring at Ozpin. For his part, the headmaster remained calm.

"A cultural difference of our worlds perhaps. I assure you aura is a regenerating resource here – no one can ever lose their soul tanking damage with it. At worst, it ceases to protect you when it is low. It is literally impossible to run out of aura excepting by death."

Leviathan untensed. "It's not taken away…?"

"No. Never. We train our children to utilise it to their protection. The fact you don't have any is concerning. Dangerous, even. You would fall to a single blade or bullet."

The thought alone was staggering. Ruby could barely fathom it after spending her whole life training with aura. It was just what everyone had. She swung a scythe around in spars and had never given her friends or classmates in Signal worse than a bruise. The idea of slicing through someone's body with a single slash was… it was wrong. Disgusting. Terrifying. Judging from the expressions around the table, she wasn't the only one to feel that way.

"W-We can unlock his aura, right?" Yang asked. "We have to."

"Of course. It may take him time to learn how to use it, but any is better than none." He reached out a hand. "If you will place your hand in mine. I assure you this is a safe and painless procedure. I have done it a thousand times before in my numerous lifetimes. I am quite experienced."

Yang gave Leviathan a thumbs up for assurance. He nodded and took the headmaster's hand, seemingly curious himself. The headmaster closed his eyes. Ruby had seen and heard people unlocking aura and it normally involved a chant. Normally. Ozpin seemed to break all the rules, only concentrating for a few short moments.

Those moments soon stretched on.

Seconds ticked by. Almost a minute. It wasn't that long a time, but it felt longer when they were all waiting for something. Eventually, Ozpin opened his eyes and pulled his hand back. "I do not understand," he said weakly. Fatigued. "I… I cannot find your soul."

Blake gaped. "He doesn't have a soul!?"

"He's a ghost!" Nora accused. Ren hit her arm.

"No. No. He has a soul. I… I'm sure of it. I can feel it… distantly." He fell back in his chair, wiped a hand across his forehead and reached for his mug with a shaking hand. Barista quickly helped him to it. "It felt as though it were far away from here. Out of reach. Deep. Swallowed beneath an ocean. It is large, too. A larger aura than I have ever felt." Ozpin touched his head and frowned. "Dripping. Like a leaky tap. By the Brother Gods, I can still hear it dripping away."

"Not at all ominous." Coco said. She eyed Leviathan warily. "Got an explanation for that one, water boy?"

Leviathan's eyes flicked to Fate's a second before he answered. "No." He smiled awkwardly, laughed, and rubbed his head just like their Jaune would. "Sorry, but I've got nothing. Maybe the ocean thing relates to my Hydrokinesis. Or maybe it's just because my soul has been pulled from a long way away. It could be that you're not able to unlock the auras of any of us that don't already. That'd make sense, wouldn't it? Especially if aura doesn't exist where I'm from."

"You have no idea what caused this then?" Yang asked him.

"Nope. Sorry."

"A difference of worlds then," Ozpin said. "It makes as much sense as anything. I'm pleased to see you all willing to cooperate and share this information either way. I do believe we've proven our friend here wrong."

Fate. He was still laughing softly to himself, and Ozpin's comment only seemed to amuse him all the more. How was he this cynical? The Jaune she knew and called friend was so nice and sweet and… and dumb. Nice dumb. This version of Jaune reminded her of Cardin, except that Cardin wasn't half as good at knowing how to put people down.

"Did you not hear me?" Fate asked. "I'm not fighting. I'm not competing. You don't need to know what I can do."

"Trying to hide something?" Leviathan asked.

"You might think he was trying to get an advantage over us." Hunter said, running his finger over the untouched mug before him. "People fear that which is unknown. It might prompt hasty action."

That brought the laughter to a halt. It sounded like a threat. Probably because it was. They were threatening to team up against him unless he spilled the beans. That didn't sound fair, but then he could well be hiding his strength in preparation to do the same to them. Fate looked between Leviathan and Hunter with narrowed eyes, and whatever he saw was enough to make him surrender.

"Tch. I guess you're right. Being all mysterious now is just going to make it look like I'm the bad guy." He sighed again, this time with a little theatrical despair. "Might as well prove how little a threat I am. I am Jaune Arc, cursed by fate. My story, my gimmick if you want to call it that, is that I'm cursed to live the same period over and over and over again."

Ozpin stood. "You're immortal?" he hissed. Having heard his story, Ruby understood why he was so shocked. "You were cursed by the Gods?"

"Dunno about that. I never learned about those in my numerous lives. Having heard all this, that's probably the case. When I die, I go back to the start of Beacon. I live it again, trying new things, only to die again and go back. Over and over, again and again, an endless cycle."

"Time travel…" Pyrrha whispered in awe.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Yang crowed and pointed at him. "If you've been living so long you must be one of the strongest people here!"

Fate barked a laugh. "Ha! You'd think, wouldn't you? Problem is, only my memories go back each time. All that training, all that muscle memory and hard work? Gone. I'm brought back to square one, and square one is a worthless, gangly little runt who attending Beacon without any training or even his aura unlocked." He pointed to Jaune, who shrank back behind Pyrrha. "So, no. While I might have the experience of a thousand years or more, none of it is going to be a bit of use here."

"Experience is wisdom." Ozpin said. "It is strength. You must have quite the pool of knowledge to draw from living so many varied lifetimes."

"General experience, sure. I'm a little too specialised for that."

Weiss frowned and asked, "Specialised how?"

"I'm specialised in an exact period of Beacon's history. If you want to know how to win the Vytal Tournament, I'm your man. I know every competitor's fighting style by heart. I know their every move, their every Semblance. If you want to know the best way to break a student's heart, I can tell you." Fate leaned back and closed his eyes. "All of that comes from future knowledge. Knowledge that's about to become useless because things are changing. I have no idea how to fight other versions of myself, least of all some overpowered monster like his highness over there. Take all my knowledge away and I'm an untrained, unprepared Jaune." He clenched his teeth over his cigarette. "Worth less than any other student in this accursed place."

It was a lot to stomach. A version of her friend who kept re-living Beacon? That sounded so weird. Did that mean he'd known her for hundreds or thousands of years? If so, why was he so angry all the time?

"Beacon is an accursed place, is it?" Miss Goodwitch asked quietly. "Most do not refer to this establishment as such or have such ill memories of their time here."

"Heh. Well, most don't study here for nigh on two thousand years. To be fair, I loved it once. Probably." He frowned to himself. "Hard to remember if I'm being honest. It was so long ago I can barely remember what my first time was like. Since then, it's on constant repeat."

"I suppose anything would be boring if you've done it enough times," Miss Goodwitch said. "You are desensitised."

"Heh. Tell me about it. I can recite your lesson plans for the next twelve months off by heart. Right now, though, I've been brought along near the start. I have aura, but I'm not much stronger than the idiot over there."

His thumb pointed to their Jaune, who bristled. "I-I'm plenty strong!"

Fate's eyes lit up but Pyrrha quickly stepped in. "Let's not start insulting one another. You obviously see Beacon very differently to us. Let's leave it at that."

"Spoilsport. Alright." Fate snorted. "Honestly, it sounds like the only two who can fight worth beans are you two." He pointed to Knight and Leviathan. "And even then, it's mostly him who has a chance." Knight. "That's probably something to do with the so-called balance Jinn mentioned. Ozpin over here gets quality in his highness, so that's balanced out with the rest of us being as good as worthless."

"We shouldn't discount anyone's strengths," Ozpin began.

"I'm not. I'm being honest and I know my capabilities better than most. Do any of the others disagree with me?"

"I don't." Hunter answered curtly. "My only ability is to shoot an arrow. Anyone with aura will be impervious to that."

"I can't even do that," Barista said. "I'm a civilian. Yang once broke my arm shaking me too hard."

Yang blanched. "I-I did!?"

"Not you." He smiled at her. "My Yang. It was an accident and she more than made it up to me. Don't worry."

"I can fight." Leviathan said slowly. "I will fight…"

Ozpin breathed out, relieved that someone would. Given it was their whole world at stake, Ruby was hoping Pyrrha might be able to get through to Fate on that.

"I have already said I shall." Knight said. "And I will give up my prize to anyone who wishes it. If you fight with us, Fate, I will give it to you. If you're so certain I'll win, it would be best to side with me. No?"

Fate looked interested. For a second, he almost looked hungry. Desperate. Then his eyes flicked to Leviathan, equally tense, and he sat back again. "You should offer that to him instead," Fate said, pointing. "It'll help you work together. I'm fine. Benefit of being functionally immortal is that I'll find a way out of my curse eventually. It's just a matter of time."

"I'll take you up on the offer." Leviathan said. "I want that wish."

And just like that, the conversation was over. Out of the various Jaune's here, almost all limited combat potential, Leviathan was the one who wanted Knight's compromise. He was the strongest of Fate, Hunter, Barista and himself, and so the other three were made to bow out.

Leviathan really wants that wish, Ruby thought. Knight didn't, but Leviathan acted like he was more here for the prize than to save Remnant, while the others had given up entirely. I wonder what it is he wants. Does Knight really not want anything? Is Fate giving up on his chance that quickly?

And if there were other iterations of Jaune Arc out there, what did they want? And how far would they be willing to go to achieve it…?

/-/

"Arghhhh!"

Jaune Arc screamed in pain as Jaune Arc drove a knife into his chest. Blood flowed as his ribcage caved in, shattering in one dreadful instant. Blue eyes widened, lips parted and then, with a rattling, bloody gurgle, Jaune Arc toppled backwards.

"Cease!" a woman shouted. Demanded. "Cease!"

Boots hammered across flagstone floor and a hand gripped the attacker by the scruff of his neck, hauled him back and then threw him away. The Jaune landed badly, skidding across the floor as a bloodstained knife clattered away. The new figure fell to one knee, his white, military-style overcoat bunching up around black boots as he bent over to touch one hand to the fallen teen. A bunched-up, faded-brown scarf covered his mouth and jaw, but his eyes were narrowed and creased with concern.

The Jaune on the floor gurgled "C-Cinder… W-Why…?"

The wound was too big to do anything with. Directly over the heart, having cut through arteries and with his ribs broken. The Jaune Arc's eyes misted over and rolled upward, as the one above him reached down and gently closed his eyes. "He's gone," he said. Before their eyes, the body dissolved into motes of blue and white light, not unlike a Grimm fading away. The Jaune stood, eyes clenched shut. "He's dead."

Salem snarled angrily and pushed up from her stone throne. "Cinder!" she hissed. "This was to be training – a show of strength! You have already robbed us of one of our combatants!"

"It was an accident." Cinder was over by her Jaune, who stumbled to his feet. The boy's face was shadowed, his hand covered with blood. As he looked up, his eyes swirled with a myriad of bright colours. "A poorly timed parry on his part and a bad interaction. Null warned us what his Semblance could do."

"I'm sorry." Null said dully. "I didn't mean to."

"Lies." The Jaune in the centre of the ring snarled and drew his sword, pointing it at the teen. "This was no mistake. This was murder."

Cinder laughed darkly. "Don't be foolish. Ash agreed to the duel. Tyrian didn't say no. If anything, this is just proof we should be careful about Semblance interactions. I think it best Null avoid sparring with anyone else." Her eyes glinted. "For their own safety."

The Jaune trembled. "You damn-"

"Ashari." Salem spoke, and the taller, older man let his sword drop. He glared back at the woman atop her throne, the sheer lack of respect at odds with everyone else in the hall. "Stand down. Further bloodshed won't bring Tyrian's champion back. It appears he was too weak to be of much use anyway."

Tyrian's head fell, shame for having failed his goddess far outweighing any grief for the loss of his champion. Jaune Ashari sneered and sheathed his weapon, turned, and faced the Queen of the Grimm. "I don't follow your orders."

"Blasphemer!"

"Tyrian." Salem stopped him with a hand. Her eyes remained on the grown man before her. "The Ashari once served me. Think carefully before deciding otherwise. I might think it safer to remove you than worry about a betrayal in that case. You do not fear me. I see it. But…" Her lips curved upward. "As dear Jinn explained, your presence here is contingent on your anchor. Do not force me to take action against her."

Off in the corner of the room, behind Cinder and beside her taller companion, Emerald Sustrai stiffened. Her reddish eyes glared at Ashari, demanding compliance.

"You should be wary of making threats like that." Jaune Ashari whispered. "I slew the Salem of my world." His eyes hardened. "And I've slain the Salem of another. I could make it a third."

A bold claim. One that was said with clear confidence. Hazel, Watts, and Tyrian tensed, while Cinder, still beside her champion, smiled darkly. It was suicide for one man to make such a threat surrounded by enemies, and yet the oldest of the Jaune's assembled did so without fear. His left hand had fallen to the pommel of his sword, while his right hung beneath his coat, out of sight.

Salem rose to an impressive height. Her black and red eyes darkening as red veins bulged across her face. "You dare-"

"Alright. Alright!" Another figure strode from the shadows behind Salem's throne. Pure white skin, ash grey hair and blackened eyes with red irises. He was a male mirror to the woman in black, and as he moved into the light his Grimm features only became starker. Despite that, in contrast to everything the Grimm represented, he wore a genial, almost tired smile. "There's no need to start fighting over this. Ashari is right to be upset over Null killing Ash, and there's no reason to threaten Emerald, mother."

Salem stepped away from her progeny and glared at him. "Do not call me that! I am not your mother."

Jaune Salem Arc as he had introduced himself only laughed. He'd been the biggest shock to them all, not only in appearance, heritage, and abilities, but also in personality. It was hard not to accept what he was when he looked as he did, and with the abilities he'd shown off, but there had been far more confusion as to his attitude. He was far too friendly for being half Grimm.

"You're still my mom even if you didn't give birth to me this time." He smiled adoringly at the woman who sneered back and looked away. "But that's not important for now. Ashari, mother won't harm your anchor. Please put your sword away. We've already lost one of us and there's no point in losing another. As for you, mother, please calm down. He's just troubled by what happened. I'm sure we all are."

Jaune Ashari regarded the Grimm hybrid for a few long seconds, grunted and sheathed his weapon. Behind him, Tyrian and Hazel did the same. His work done, Grimm Jaune smiled at his mother, stepped aside, and gestured for her to take the floor again.

Before she did, Cinder spoke up. "Is it wise to let him live at all? He's already shown he doesn't want to work with us. Between Null and Grimm, we already have two champions more than capable of defeating Ozpin's. I won't feel safe having someone with split loyalties at my back."

"That's ironic coming from you," Ashari said.

"No." Salem ordered. "Your foolishness has cost us one already. All I care for is our side winning this cursed competition. I do not care who or how, and I won't cut out forces down by a third for your paranoia." Salem glared both at Cinder and Ashari. "He is capable."

"We don't even know if he is!" Cinder said. "He hasn't told us anything about himself other than that he's lived a long time and he's travelled between worlds. And now that he claims to have killed you. Have him face Grimm and let us test him properly."

"That desperate to see my strengths and weaknesses?" Ashari asked mockingly. "Be careful, Cinder. Your ambition is showing."

"I am loyal to-"

"Enough!" Salem roared. "I have had enough. I care not for your petty games, your arguments or your problems. This is a war! You will work together to defeat Ozpin or I will personally kill each and every one of you. Grimm!" she snapped.

"I prefer Sheep-"

"Grimm!" Salem hissed, and that was the end of it. "You will accompany them to Vale. You are to be my eyes and mouth there. You have shown yourself capable of summoning and commanding my Grimm, so you can create a Seer if you need to contact me. Keep Cinder and Ashari in line however you need to."

Grimm Jaune sighed. "Yes mother."

"Do not-" Salem shook her head and turned away. "This discussion is over. You have your jobs. I want every other version of Jaune Arc dead before the month is through. I want Ozpin bested. Do not fail me."

With that final remark and a swish of her dress, Salem disappeared into an adjoining room, leaving them behind. Tyrian, Hazel and Watts excused themselves, while Cinder and Null shared quiet words and did the same. Emerald made to follow, only for Cinder to stop her. "You should spend time with your champion," she said. "He doesn't seem to get on with mine, so we'd best keep them apart for now. Until you have better control over him."

"B-But-"

"That's final, Emerald. Come Mercury. Attend to me."

Mercury nodded and followed, ducking his head to Emerald and winking as he did. The smaller girl watched them go, clasping her hands tightly at her side. Grimm Jaune watched silently as she stomped up to a man easily twice her age, who knelt almost without thinking, dropping to one knee so that he was on a level with her.

The sharp slap of flesh on flesh made Grimm wince.

"How could you!?" Emerald shrieked. "You ruined everything!"

The man who reminded Grimm so much of his father rubbed his jaw with one hand. "Emerald…" he said softly. Too softly. He received another vicious slap for it.

"No! I thought this would be good! I thought I'd finally be useful!" Another slap. Another crack of skin on skin. "I thought that with a champion on my side, Cinder would finally pay attention to me!"

Ashari weathered the storm without words, letting Emerald slap him twice with her right hand, then switch to her left when it started hurting. He remained implacable, taking every blow without complaint where Grimm would have backed off long ago. If only to stop her breaking her hand.

"You're useless!" Emerald screamed. "You won't even tell us what you can do!"

"I would tell you," Ashari said, "If you wouldn't run straight to Cinder and tell her. You realise she had Null murder Ash. He loved her – he loved her with all his heart – and she had him killed."

"It was an accident!"

"You're not fool enough to believe that, Emmy. I know you're not."

"Don't call me that! You… You…" Emerald closed her eyes and slapped him one last time, for all the good it did. "You're nothing!" she accused him. "You're nothing to me, you're nothing to Cinder and you're nothing to any of us! You're just a tool! And if you won't help me help Cinder, I'll throw you away like one!"

Ashari reached out and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "If you throw me away, I'll just keep coming back. You won't be rid of me so easily, Emerald. I promise you that."

Emerald stood there, stunned. After a long moment she yanked her shoulder away, turned her back and stormed out the room. When Ashari made to follow she shouted "Don't! I don't want to see you! J-Just leave me alone!"

The door slammed shut behind her.

"Ahhh." Ashari sighed and rose to his full height. While the barrage of attacks hadn't bothered him any, it almost seemed like her words had done more damage. "Not quite how I wanted that to go," he admitted. Grimm cleared his throat. "You're still here, huh? Come to make your own threats?"

"No." Grimm stepped up and offered his hand. "I wanted to apologise on my mother's behalf. She shouldn't have threatened Emerald. Especially not when the poor girl didn't do anything."

Blue eyes met red and the Ashari chuckled. "I can't believe out of every version of myself I've met so far, the one who is half Grimm is the most approachable. That says something about us, doesn't it?"

Grimm smiled as the older man shook his hand. Ashari had a strong grip. Confident and firm. "I guess it does. I'm not exactly comfortable with all this. This game of the Gods. It doesn't feel right. They're involving innocents in this war between mom and Ozpin."

"It isn't right. That won't stop them making us fight."

"I don't want to fight you." Grimm said. "I do not want to kill anyone."

"Then let's not. Problem is, that's only the two of us. Null wants to fight. He wants to win. I can see in his eyes just how desperate he is. Desperate enough to kill someone who would have loyally followed Cinder just because he might become competition." Ashari glanced the way Null and Cinder had gone with narrowed eyes. "And he's partnered with the one person who would encourage that. Don't tell me you think Ash's death was an accident."

"No. Null killed him."

"Likely on Cinder's orders."

"It could have been him working on his own," Grimm pointed out. "Cinder may just have covered for him. I didn't know it was going to happen. I would have stepped in if I did. You moved quickly," he added. "The shock hadn't even sunken into me by the time you had him away. You must have lived a hard life." Ashari grunted noncommittally. "The way you reacted to Emerald isn't what I would have expected. Is she someone you knew in your world?"

"You don't need to know."

"Forgive me." Grimm bowed his head. "I shouldn't have asked. I wanted to ask something else instead. We're going to be headed to Vale. Mother wants us to kill our other selves. I'm… not sure what to think about that. If they're like us then they don't belong in this world and it won't really be killing them. They'll also be trying to kill us as well. Especially me. I don't think they'll see me being half Grimm and be willing to talk things out."

"Are you asking if I can kill myself?" Ashari asked. "Or are you asking for advice?"

"A bit of both. You… You remind me of dad. Is Nicholas your father too?"

"He is. I almost dread to ask how he ended up banging the Queen of the Grimm. Tell me later," he said when Grimm opened his mouth. "What's your question? I have all the time in the world to answer since Emerald doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Well… it's about this war…"

/-/

"You're as powerful as you told me you would be," Cinder told Null. Her eyes sparkled and her lips had peeled back to show teeth. "A Semblance that cuts through Semblances, that cuts through aura. If that's what you could achieve with a knife, I can't wait to see what a gun can do."

"It goes both ways." Null said. "I'm as vulnerable as them when I use it."

"But you know when it will happen. You can choose your moment."

Null nodded.

He was perfect. If this was to become a deathmatch between equals then what could be better than the one thing every huntsman relied on? It didn't matter how strong these other versions of him were, her champion could approach them in their darkest moment, drop every protection they had and place a bullet in the back of their head. He was the perfect killer. Better still, he was just as ruthless as she.

There hadn't been any arguments when she suggested he off Ash. The boy might have been loyal to her out of some misplaced affection but he was still Tyrian's champion. Tyrian would have been a problem with his obsessive fanaticism. Null hadn't even argued; he seemed just as keen as she to trim the competition.

"I take it you won't have any problems killing other versions of yourself."

"None. I'm in this for me."

"And your friends?" she asked. "Sometimes it might be better to strike at one of these anchors than risk facing an unknown. You won't hesitate when it comes to killing off someone's anchor, will you?"

"That won't be a problem. I need that wish. I'll do anything to get it."

"Even if it means killing every anyone that gets in our way?"

"They're not my people." Null said softly. "They're not from my world. I will bring my family back. I will save them." His eyes flickered with strange colours and shapes, glowing a mix of gold, blue and green. "If that means I need to get my hands dirty, so be it. I'll kill them all."

Cinder purred quietly to herself. He really was perfect.

This war is mine…


So, we have our first fatality – if you don't consider From Beyond Jaune, who didn't technically die in the war. Stress Relief Jaune has fallen. Alas, his love for Cinder didn't help him any in the face of her ambition here. Just to confirm if it wasn't clear, White Sheep is bonded to Salem, Relic to Emerald and Null to Cinder.

These are not the only Jaune's in play. There are obviously a couple more who won't necessarily be revealed until they make their appearances for the first time. Some will have bigger roles than others.


Next Chapter: 20th (Saturday)

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur