Sorry this one took awhile, but it was just a real pain to write, on the grounds that I was really busy and working on my other stories, college, and other neat stuff. Anyways here we go.
Anyways, I do not own RWBY, Restart was not written by me, so here we go.
"So how do we move on after watching Sun and Neptune Jam a satellite dish with raspberry jam?" Yang asked as they weren't expecting that.
"I don't know, honestly I still can't believe it happened." Ruby just thought it seemed so ridiculous.
"Do you think it would work?" Nora asked as she was curious.
"Not in the way they show, the Jam would have to get into the circuits, the resulting moisture would cause damage to the inner components, and could possibly be enough to jam it, but not likely." Ozpin threw in.
They say that when you die your entire life flashes right before your eyes. That every moment you remember and don't remember passes right by and you wonder what you had done in the past. All the mistakes you have made, all the happiest moments that you've ever experienced and all sadness that came with it.
"Oh no…..this is going to be depressing isn't it?" Ruby really didn't want to watch another depressing reality.
"I think we should prepare for the worse…" Weiss said as she had a bad feeling about this.
...But Jaune was pretty it wasn't supposed to work like this right?
For some bizarre and really, really weird reason, Jaune was remembering the time he was a baby? Completely weird and random he knew, but honestly he had no idea what to make of it. This couldn't be real he had thought to himself, that there was no way that he was somehow back at the moment of his birth, with twenty-seven years of memories stored in his head. There was just no way that any of this was real...
'I'll say it again...WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE!'baby Jaune thought to himself as he looked up at the looks of love and devotion from both his parents.
"WAIT! WHAT?!" Sun yelled out as he noticed Jaune was a baby.
"OMG! JAUNE IS SO CUTE!" That surprisingly came from Weiss.
"Daawww, he's such a cute baby!" Ruby said as she cooed over the Wee Baby Jaune.
"Mr. Arc was a cute child…" Goodwitch honestly found her motherly instincts kicking in.
It had been only a few hours since he was 'born' and already the young child was having a mini freak-out. One moment he was dying in the forever falls forest twenty-seven years in the future, the next he was back at the moment of his birth, and as you can imagine Jaune was taking it.
'What the fuck! What the fuck! What the actual fuck is going on here!?'In a way that only Jaune Arc would take it, having no idea what was going on. 'Ok, ok let's analyse this situation very carefully and very logically...I am a baby...'
"Wow, does anyone find it weird that we can hear his internal dialogue?" Ruby said as Yang had a weird look on her face.
"It's kind of weird to hear a baby swear…" She said as it was a bit uncomfortable.
"Well, he's only swearing in his mind, HEY! Wait a minute!" Weiss had a sudden realization.
"Why is he a baby?! Why was he sent back in time?! What is going on?!" She suddenly felt very confused.
"Actually, yeah that doesn't make a lot of sense…" Qrow was confused.
"Perhaps his semblance has something to do with time travel? Possibly crossing over into his own timeline and displacing him into a separate timeline where he has conscious thought?" Ozpin asked as everyone looked at him.
"Huh?" Yang was confused by the mumbo jumbo.
'...'
'...'
'Nope! I can't think of anything that can possibly explain this! How the hell am I a baby? How the hell am I alive? How is my family alive? And why can't I control these stupid little arms!'Baby Jaune thought to himself as he waved his tiny arms around aimlessly, to which his parents just found adorable.
"Oh look at that Diane, our son is so happy to see us!" Roland said as Diane held her son in her arms as she smiled down at her baby boy.
'No, you imbecile! I'm trying to understand what the hell is going on here!'Jaune tired to say but what actually came out was gurgles and awes. The usual language that babies said before they learn how to use their vocal cords.
"Awwww, its so cute to see him so angry." Coco said as she had to admit, it was kind of funny, but also weird.
"It's kind of like a comedy movie here." Qrow said as this was like the set up to a comedy.
"Are we watching a Vel brooks here?" Blake asked.
"Possibly." Ozpin added on.
"Oh, that is so cute~! Honey go and fetch the camera!" Diane said as she gushed over her newly born son, or in Jaune's case rebirth, as his father left to fetch a camera. Jaune would have slapped his forehead if, he could properly control his arms. But seeing as he had no ability to control his arms whatsoever for the next five years or so, he simply screamed internally.
"AHHHHHHH!" After he was done with his initial freak-out, Jaune was finally able to calm down as he tried to understand his current predicament, or, at least, attempt to understand what the hell was going on.
'...Ok, let's think about this very carefully. H-how am 'I even alive right now? The last thing I remember was dragging my body across the forest floor before I died killing the Grimm King and then...that's it, nothing else happened? I can't even remember what happened after that?' Jaune had stopped his thinking as he tried to get a grasp on the situation.
"Oh damn…brutal." Yang said as they heard the backstory.
"So…he was dying, but he went back in time?" Ruby asked as she didn't want to picture him dying.
"But how?" Blake asked as something wasn't right.
"I would have to agree with the headmaster here and say it was some sort of time traveling semblance." Ren said as that seemed to make the most sense.
"But why would a time traveling semblance deage him with all of his memories intact?" Pyrrha asked as some of this didn't make sense.
'What the heck is going on? H-how can any of this be real? Am I dead? Am I in heaven or hell? What is going on here?'he was positioned slightly as his parents smiled down at him; completely unaware of the dilemma their 'newborn' child was going through.
'All I can remember is dying and then waking up in my mother's arms just as I've been bor-!'
"Huh, why did he stop?" Ruby asked as Ozpin was explaining the situation.
"Well, he's probably shocked by the fact he has been sent back in time, as for his semblance and why he would be sent back in time with his memories intact, its rather simple, not only does he have time to change the future, but he also has the knowledge of the future to help him along." Ozpin explained between sips of coffee.
Jaune stopped as he turned his small head up to his mother as she smiled down at him, his father right beside her as he smiled brightly at his newborn son. Looks of love and devotion were evident as they gazed into the eyes of their newborn son.
The exact same looks he had received when he was a child...
It was at that moment that a sudden realisation hit him as he realised that he was in his mother's arms, his dead mother's arms. And the person beside her was his father, who died the same year the Grimm King rose to power. He remembered trying to save his family when everything began to fall into ruin, only to return home to find his village destroyed and his family killed by the Grimm.
He had to watch in horror as the Grimm feasted on his family's remains and witnessed his family perish to the Grimm.
"Oh….Oh dear…" Goodwitch said as she now realized why he stopped.
"This is the first time he's seen them in years…" Blake said as she realized it had to be…strange for him.
"His entire family is dead, but now they're back, how do you deal with that?" Weiss asked as Ruby spoke up.
"Not easily…after all, after the pain of losing them, how do you deal with the fact you get a second chance?" She said as she wasn't sure what she would do if she saw her dead mom again.
On that day all, he could remember nothing but a blinding fury as he had slaughtered every single Grimm in the village. It wasn't until Ren and Nord had to forcibly hold him down until he stopped his rampage. It was the first time he ever felt true anger for the Grimm. And the first time he had ever felt true despair and the feeling of being alone in the world, had it not been for Ruby's gentle embrace that saved him from insanity.
But it was not the last time he would ever feel this despair. But right now at this moment, he realised a very crucial fact. His parents were alive...
"He killed every single Grimm?" Ren was honestly shocked.
"Something tells me if Jaune was angry enough, he could destroy the world." Pyrrha was honestly a little intimidated.
"But, Jaune would never go THAT insane, right? I mean, he seems like a gentle guy." Neptune remembered the boy who helped him with his dancing problem.
"Well, as the saying goes…Demons run when a good man goes to war…." Ozpin said as everyone shivered at that.
Small tears built up in his eyes as his small heart ached at the sight of his parents. At that moment, he didn't care that he was an infant right now, or if this place was heaven or hell. He was just so happy to see his parents again alive and well. His parents looked concerned as their newborn son cried small tears from his eyes.
"Honey? What's wrong with Jaune is he alright?" Roland asked as he was concerned that his son was crying. Diane had no clue either but did her best to comfort her son.
"Shhh its ok little one mummy's here, there's no reason to cry now," she whispered softly to him as Jaune continued to cry into his mother's chest. A many a mix of emotions entered the young boy's heart as his mother's embrace comforted him. And for the first time in so many years...
He was at peace...
"Holy shit…." Yang couldn't believe how emotional this was getting.
"Its kind of heartwarming…" Ruby said noticing how little Jaune was being cradled by his mother.
"Can't imagine how that would feel after experiencing years of war…" Blake said to herself.
"One thing is for sure….it can't be easy for Mr. Arc…" Ozpin knew there was one issue that still needed to be addressed.
The Gilded Arc Tavern - Home of the Arc Family
"Well son! Welcome to your new home!" Roland exclaimed as he and his wife walked in with their newborn son. While Jaune only took in the sight of the home he was already accustomed to.
It had been roughly a few hours since the family had left the hospital and returned to the small tavern that was owned by his family, a small tavern located in the swamps west of Mistral. It was a small tavern mostly frequented by hunters and huntresses alike to rest their weary bodies. His father worked as the bartender while his mother would work as the waitress.
"Wow, they live in a tavern?" Nora asked as she wasn't expecting that.
"This sounds like something out of Towers and Grimms." Ruby said remembereing the game that was a Remnant version of DnD.
"I can't imagine a Tavern would be a suitable place to raise children." Goodwitch didn't know what to think of all the possible alcoholics who would visit.
Now most husbands would be worried about their wives working as a barmaid in a rather short skirt in a tavern full of weary and rough housing hoodlums...but clearly you've never met Diane Arc. Anyone tried to touch her in an inappropriate way, would find his or her ass thrown straight out of the bar. Literally thrown out of the bar and not by his father I might add...
Also through a wall.
"Daaaayyyuuuummm, Mama Arc is a bad ass!" Coco said as she was honestly impressed.
"His mother certainly sounds…impressive." Pyrrha really wanted to meet the woman now.
"Sounds like my kind of friend!" Nora got super excited.
"….I'm strangely turned on right now…" Sun whispered to himself.
You see both his parents were retired hunters, who retired after a lengthy career and from graduating their respective academies. Roland graduating from Beacon Academy in Vale, while Diane graduated from Haven Academy in Mistral some twenty odd years ago.
The two of them had met each other during the Vytal Festival when they were pitted against each other in a one-on-one match. The two fought with all of their heart and feelings until it ended in a double knockout. After which the two met each other on more than one occasion and developed a powerful love for each other. And after a lengthy career together, the two had decided to retire and raise a family together.
"Awwww, that's so sweet!" Velvet said as everyone looked at her.
"A double knockout is sweet?" Ozpin asked as she nodded.
"Well you have to admit, the results of the fight were sweet! They had a family together!" She tried to defend herself.
"Well, that's how I hoped to meet a guy, I like it when he can kick my ass in the ring." Yang said as she didn't want any wimps.
Originally Roland was from Vale but had decided to move to Mistral to be with the one he loved. But that is a story for another time as we return our focus to Jaune as he looked around the home that gave him old nostalgic feelings of both happiness and sorrow.
He remembered during the war that his home had become a temporary base for the resistance after they finished burying his family out in the backyard. It was one of the most traumatic experiences he had ever felt during that dark time. Being back in the same home again with his family had a surreal feeling to it as if his mind was trying to grasp the reality of it. He was home...and his family was alive.
"Oh no, now we're getting back into the depressing stuff…" Ruby slumped down at that.
"What makes you say that?" Weiss asked.
"He's remembering that in his time, his family is dead." Ozpin finished.
"Oh damn." Sun said to himself.
"Kids! Come down and meet your new baby brother!" Roland called out as seven sets of footsteps could be heard bolting down the stairs. A strong pang hit his heart as he saw the seven faces of his sister.
"Kids this is your new baby brother Jaune, he is very excited to meet you all," Roland said as all of the children gathered around their mother as she sat in one of the taverns chairs. Each child crowded around, as they wanted to see the new child that was born into the family.
The first face that Jaune saw was Adele Arc, who was his oldest sister and was currently sixteen years old, she was a girl with bright blond hair and piercing blue eyes. She was the oldest and thus the most mature member of the Arc Siblings.
"Oh! Look how cute he is!" Adele squealed as she played with one of Jaune's little hands...Well except when it came to babies and anything remotely cute, then she turns into a squealing 'cute-a-holic' as described by her sisters and Jaune.
"You know, I want to laugh at how they squeal over Jaune, but I can't help but feel a little sad over what happens to them." Velvet said as her ears were drooping down.
"Maybe it will turn out different? Maybe he'll be overwhelmed with happiness!" Ruby was trying to stay positive.
"After seeing them die and now being back in infant form with all of his memories intact, probably not." Ozpin was just being logical.
"I know right!" his second sister Bianca Arc said as she smiled down at baby Jaune. Bianca Arc was a girl with light brown hair similar to her mothers but had her father's blue eyes and was fourteen years old. She has what Jaune considered a bookworm, as she spent most of her time reading from the family library.
"Let us see! Let us see!" two voices said simultaneously as seven-year-olds Caroline and Cateline Arc jumped up and down around their parents. They were the twins of the family and were both similar and very different at the same time. With Caroline having brown hair and blue eyes while Cateline had blond hair and green eyes.
"Damn, I know he said he had seven sisters, but this is crazy." Pyrrha knew about his family, but seeing them in person was a weird experience.
"Seven sisters? Damn, he lives in the estrogen ocean." Qrow said as everyone glared at him.
"Whats wrong with that?" Coco asked.
"Come on, if you're the youngest with a family full of sisters, chances are you're going to be the one used as a doll." Qrow was just being honest.
No one liked being their older sisters play toy….it sucked…
He would know…..Damn it Raven.
"OH! He is so cute~! Honorine! Honorine! Look!" the twins said as Honorine Arc at the age of twelve years old looked at her 'cute' baby brother.
"Yes, yes I see him and him his very cute you two," she said as she smiled at her sisters.
Honorine Arc was the most serious of the Arc family, as she believed in honour and self-discipline, as she also inherited most of her mother features. She was also the only one to make sure that the twins didn't blow up anything during playtime.
"Honorine…..thats a name I've never heard of." Ozpin said as that was an odd name.
"Weird, she's really honorable, and her name has Honor in it, damn talk about being good at naming your kids." Qrow took another swig of whiskey.
"...He's kind of small isn't he?" Leone Arc said as she touched Jaune's chubby little cheek. Leon Arc his sister at the age of six said as she continued to poke at Jaune's cheek, something that Jaune didn't like at that point.
"Well, of course, he is Leone, that's what babies are at this stage. Even you were this small once," Her mother said warmly as Leone shook her head.
"No way! I was way bigger than him!" she said as she pointed at Jaune as he chuckled internally at the sight of his older sister. Then a small bundle of blond hair peeked from behind Roland as she gazed cautiously at the baby.
"Wow, this is really cute." Yang had to admit, this was making her feel all mushy inside.
"Yeah, makes you completely forget that they're going to die." Blake said as everyone glared at her.
"Really Blake? The cyanide and razor blades are back in the dorm if you need them." Weiss said as Blake was being a real buzz kill.
"Sorry."
"Lucie come and say hello to your baby brother," Diane said as everyone turned to the small girl. Lucie Arc had her father's blond hair but had emerald coloured eyes. She was only five years older than Jaune, but he could already see the shy nature that she was born with, seeing as she hid behind her father's leg.
"Come on sweetie, this is you new baby brother, don't worry he's not going to bite," the man said as he picked her up and placed her on his lap as the small girl looked at the small bundle that was Jaune.
"Oh my gosh, his sister is so adorable." Ruby said as she looked so shy.
"Hey Vel! I think we found a mini you!" Coco said as Velvet blushed.
"Uhm, wouldn't she technically be older than me?" Velvet pointed out the change in timeline.
"Oh…yeah….way to ruin my joke V."
"H-Hello," she said as she hid slightly under her father's arm as he chuckled slightly, as he ushered her forward to get a look at her new baby brother. She grew, even more, timid as she saw him gazing at her with a curious gaze.
"Eek!" she said as she quickly hid under her father's arm as the peeked back at the boy to seem him grow a sad look on his face. Jaune, however, was looking more curious because of how surreal this all was.
'It still feels so strange...being here...with them, with everything appearing like nothing has happened...'Memories of their deaths passed through his mind as small tears began to build in his eyes as looked at his family, happy and alive.
"AH! OH NO! I MADE HIM CRY!" Lucie shouted as she hid behind Roland as his mother panicked slightly as she attempted to stop her son from crying. Jaune instantly stopped crying as he realised that he was causing a scene.
"Way to go vomit boy!" Yang wanted to laugh, but in all honesty this was a very serious moment.
"Gosh, baby crying is the worse…" Qrow said as Ruby and Yang looked at him.
"Wait, you helped Dad raise us, you should be used to hearing babies cry." Ruby pointed out as Qrow grumbled.
"Yeah, but it doesn't mean I like crying, you both were annoying as hell when you cried." Especially since Qrow was hungover a lot during their childhoods.
'Crap that's not good! Quick! Got to do something cute!'Jaune thought as he managed to reign in his tears as he started waving his arms around and gurgle out some strange nonsense, all while trying to motion for Lucie to come closer.
Diane sighed a breath of relief as she ushered Lucie over "Look, dear, he is fine, he was just startled that's all. See he actually wants you to come closer" she said as Jaune tried to motion for her to come closer. Lucie slowly moved to her new baby brother as she reached out a hand to grasp his own. Jaune made a cute giggling sound as Lucie smiled at this and turned to her parents.
"Awwwwww…" Was the collection sound the females of the group made.
Yes Even Goodwitch.
"Are our babies going to be that cute one day?" Pyrrha asked before she slapped her hands over her mouth.
"Uh oh! Pyrrha getting a little bit of baby fever!" Yang teased as Pyrrha averted her eyes from everyone.
"SHUT UP!"
"Look he is smiling!" she said excitingly as her parents smiled at their children reacting to their new baby brother. It was a warm and touching scene that anyone watching it would find a sense of warmth and happiness from the family. Jaune sighed a breath of relief as he looked back at his family that was gushing over his younger form, taking the moment to truly enjoy the sight of his family happy and alive.
However there was one thought that clawed at the in the farthest corner of his mind, the same dark truth continued to creep into his subconscious...
They are all going to die
"Damn it, just as it was starting to get a little lighthearted, we go back to this…." Weiss said as she really didn't like how depressing these realities were.
"Hate to tell you kid, but sadness is much more prominent than Happiness." Qrow knew from experience.
So…much….experience.
Seventeen years from now all of them were going to die when Cinder and Salem would begin their plan to summon the Grimm King from his slumber. And then the world would be consumed by darkness, as everything he would ever know and love become swallowed up by the jaws of the Grimm.
Unless he could change the future...
"Is that possible?" Goodwitch asked as she always saw time as a strict progression that could not be changed.
"With advanced knowledge of the past, of course, I doubt time is such a fixed measure that it cannot be manipulated." Ozpin stated.
"But how could he change the future? He's just one man, a man with an extraordinary task, but even if he was to tell anyone about his mission, no one would believe him." Goodwitch remarked.
"Sometimes you just have to have faith that things can get better." Ozpin knew that you couldn't always look to the future and expect things to automatically be better, you had to work for it.
'If this really is the 'past' and things play out like they did in the 'future', then this could be my chance to change everything! I could stop her! I will stop her! And I promise that no one will suffer that horrible future, even if my life depended on it!'Jaune thought to himself as he steeled himself for what is to come. And prevent the future that would destroy them all...
'I will stop you Cinder...count on it'Jaune thought to himself as for what he need to do. Suddenly Jaune felt something strange rumbling in his stomach as an all too familiar feeling was coming to him.
"What feeling?" Ruby asked.
"Oh no! NO WAY!" Yang was suddenly getting excited.
"What? Whats going on?" Weiss asked.
"Well, a strange gurgling in the stomach…and he's a baby….that means-" Even Qrow was about to laugh.
'...No, Oh no! No! No! NO! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING! PLEASE ANYTHING BU-!' Leone sniffed the air as she and her others sisters instantly pinched their noses and backed from the baby.
"EW! JAUNE DID A NASTY!" Leone said as they all backed away from the baby while Diane only chuckled at their behaviour. Roland had to pinch his nose as well when he caught a whiff of the foul smell.
"Whew! That is a ripper! I think Jaune might need a change huh Diane?" he said as the mother only rolled her eyes at her husband, as she got ready to change Jaune. For Jaune on the other hand, It was one of the most embarrassing experience he had ever faced in his life. One that he would take to his grave...
'Yang must never hear about this...ever!'
"….." Silence regined amongst the group.
And then they processed the information….
"BWA HA HA HA HA HA!" Yang was the first to start laughing.
And then Pyrrha, followed by Ren and Nora, and then everyone contributed.
"Oh Vomit boy! I am going to give you SOOO much 'crap' for this." Everyone groaned as she managed to sneak a pun in.
"DAMN IT BARB!" Her dad's voice rang out.
"What the?" Where did that come from?
"Jaune went poo!" Nora yelled as she couldn't help but laugh.
Later that night as Jaune lay awake in his crib as he looked up at the mobile, as the small images of knights and dragons spun around to entertain the child. But this did not distract Jaune as he merely stared up at the ceiling, the day's events still playing in his mind and the memory of his final moments.
He could still feel the moment the Grimm King tore his arm from his body, sliced into his chest and plunged its teeth into his leg. But now here he lay as a small baby, with all of his limbs intact and the last ten years of the war still burned into his head.
"And right back into sadness land." Ruby said as that was a tonal shift.
"Hey at least we got to see him crap himself." Yang was still chuckling at that.
"In his defense though, he was just an infant." Weiss said that as she couldn't imagine the embarassment if he was an adult and that happened.
"Getting defensive over your boyfriend?" Nora teased.
"Please, we're just friends." Weiss was okay with admitting that.
Believe it or not, Jaune was fun to hang out with when he wasn't being a total nerdy flirt…gods that got annoying.
He still had no idea how he was alive, how was it that he travelled back to the moment of his birth and was given a second chance. All that mattered to him was getting stronger and finding a way to prevent the events that were to come...
'The only question is how? How am I supposed to stop anything when I'm just a baby?' he stopped his train of thought as he looked up at the mobile that slowly turned above his crib.
"You know, it's a little weird, can you imagine being stuck as a baby but being able to remember it?" Coco asked as it seemed unbelievable.
"You would think his motor skills would be better, He does have the mental state of an adult, but somehow his physical development isn't far superior to those his age." Ozpin was pondering that.
"Well, his mind may be advanced, but that doesn't necessarily mean his body is, he's still a newborn, and at that time you haven't developed any motor skills, while he may have the knowledge on how to perform certain actions, it doesn't matter because he physically isn't capable of it yet, Oum knows, newborns can't even hold their heads up without support due to the neck muscles not being developed." Goodwitch explained something she read in a basic motherhood book.
"Wow, why do you know so much about this?" Yang was surprised.
"I used to be a babysitter." Okay now that was surprising.
'Still...it is good to see them all alive again, does this mean that that all my other friends are alive as well? Or is it because I travelled back in time, I've alerted the space-time continuum so that they were never born, or does that mean I'm-Argh! This is so confusing!' baby Jaune thought to himself as he lay in his crib.
"I agree with the wee baby Jaune, time travel is messed up." Nora said as she couldn't imagine how he must have felt.
"But, why would him traveling back in time prevent any of us from being born?" Ruby asked.
"Well, if you make a big enough disruption in the timeline, it could make minor changes, for example, you might have been born a boy." Weiss saw a tv show like this one.
"Huh, what would I be like if I was a boy?" Ruby was honestly curious.
"I don't know, but Big sister would still be around to tease you!" Yang gave her sister a noogie.
'You know what this is just too confusing, I better get some sleep before anyone grows suspicious...but when was the last time I got some sleep?' his eyes grew heavy as his body began to relax into the soft mattress of his crib, his mind wandering back to a time he long wished to forget...
"Hmm, you know, do you think Jaune would be placed into advanced classes in school because he already has knowledge far ahead of his years?" Weiss asked.
"Possibly, why do you ask?" Goodwitch was curious.
"Well, because he could change the timeline like that, if he's so smart, he could easily test ahead, possibly get into a junior combat school earlier, make his way to Beacon at a younger age, and he might not be a part of Team JNPR, so he may not meet any of us." Weiss said as everyone was a little worried.
"I am certain Mr. Arc would hold himself back, after all, he does want to see his friends again." Ozpin knew a man who lost everything would not give up the chance to see his dear friends again.
Oum knows what he would give to see his fallen friends…
Three Months later
It was another busy day at the Gilded Arc, as the small tavern was bustling with small business. Some of them were traveling merchants from the main cities while others were guardsmen relaxing from patrolling around the village, making sure that no Grimm would come in and attack the villagers. Just another peaceful day in the village as they went about their daily lives.
Jaune, however, was seated in his mother's lap as some of her friends chatted about her newborn son.
"I'm sorry, its just so weird to look at Baby Jaune and think of him as an adult." Nora couldn't take it seriously.
"Well he isn't, at least not physically." Weiss reminded them.
"Still, it's odd, we're seeing Jaune in a completely different manner….." Blake was honestly shocked.
"So how's the new baby boy Diane? Giving you much trouble?" a woman named Lois asked, who worked as a barmaid for the tavern. She was a woman in her early twenties with light green hair and soft pale skin, who had often looked after Jaune when he was a child back in the alternate timeline.
"Yeah it mustn't be easy raising as many kids as you have, I mean seven is a lot but eight? That's just insane" another woman by the name of Lily said as she rested her arms on the counter top. She was the local teacher at the school in the village and was in her earlier thirties. And was the proud mother of two kids, whom Jaune would become friends with before he left for Beacon.
"Dang, I still can't believe his Mom had eight kids." Yang honestly couldn't imagine pushing that many kids out.
"Yeah, is that why your moms stopped at one?" Coco said as Ruby and Yang glared.
"Hey! Mom said I was perfect enough!" Ruby pouted and stuck her tongue out.
"Uhm…" Yang wanted to tell Ruby the truth.
While Summer did love Ruby with all of her heart…she also threatened to rip off Taiyang's dick if he didn't get a vasectomy…
So yeah, the pain was bad.
Diane only chuckled as he bounced Jaune on her knee.
"Yes I will admit raising eight kids is a bit of a challenge...but Jaune seems to be different from his sisters?" the woman raised an eyebrow as they leant in closer.
"He never calls out at night like his sisters did, so we get a good amount of sleep in, and he only ever calls out when he needs a change or feeding. Other then that he's just a very well behaved baby boy" she said as she cuddled her son to her chest.
"Man, what Mom would have given for that!" Ruby said as the rest of the group thought back on it.
Blake's mom loved her, but according to her mom, her cries sounded like a kitten was being tortured, so naturally her mother was always worried something happened to Blake.
Yang, well according to Taiyang, she broke her crib a few times crying out, even when she was a baby she was strong for her age.
Weiss..well they had handmaidens to help.
Ruby, well Summer didn't always get enough sleep.
Pyrrha's father never got any sleep because Pyrrha could cry her lungs out when she was an infant.
Ren was pretty tranquil.
"Although at first he kind of shied away when I tried to breastfeed him for the first time. But I was able to coax him into feeding after some effort, but he still has this blush on his face whenever I do it, that's the only strange thing about him" Jaune instantly blushed at this as he was pressed against her bosom.
'Please don't remind me of the breastfeeding, it's really awkward when you have the mind and memory of a twenty-seven-year-old and you have to be forced to be...'feed'...from your own mother'Jaune thought to himself before his father walked over to them.
"Eeewwwww…." Ruby said as Yang looked at her.
"Relax Ruby, its just part of being a mother." She said as Ruby nodded.
"I get it, but he still has the mind of a twenty seven year old, having to put your mothers boobie in your mouth would be weird!" Ruby certainly wouldn't want to do it if she had full consciousness as a baby.
It would just be awkward.
"Wow…lucky bastard…" Qrow said out loud.
"YUCK! UNCLE QROW!"
"Hey! How are my two favourite people?" Roland said cheerfully as he kissed his wife on the lips and rustled the small amount of blond hair on his son's head.
'I'd be fine if you'd stop rustling my hair like that dad!'Jaune said to himself, even though he knew no one could understand him.
"We're good honey, I was just telling the girls how Jaune has been a little odd since birth" Roland raised an eyebrow before he just scoffed and smiled.
"If by odd, you mean he's mentally twenty seven, then we agree." Ozpin took a swig of coffee.
"Odd? More like completely insane." Goodwitch pushed her glasses up.
"Does anyone find it funny the way Jaune gets frustrated with his dad?" Ruby asked as it was kind of cute.
"I wouldn't be too worried about him, Jaune is an Arc after all and an Arc is always full of surprises," he said with a laugh as he played with one of his son's little hands.
'You have no idea dad'Jaune thought to himself as he chuckled internally at the irony of what his father had just said. Roland stopped as he heard the tavern door open and he becomes serious.
"Huh? Whats going on? Why does he look so stern?" Coco asked as that was another tonal shift.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it must not be good." Ozpin had a bad feeling about this.
'Dad?'Jaune though as he turned his head over to the door, to see what had caused his normally cheerful father to become so serious. And what he saw made his eyes widen in disbelief as his mind tried to process what he saw.
'No way...' Standing in the door was the last person Jaune ever expected to see...ever.
The man was tall with silver hair and wore shaded glass spectacles with a dark-green scarf that had a small purple cross-shaped emblem on it. His outfit mostly consisted of an unzipped black suit over a buttoned vest and green undershirt. He also wears black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants. And by his side was a silver ornate cane with small clockwork mechanism hidden in the center. This man was none other than the Headmaster of Beacon Academy and a mentor to Jaune during his Beacon days.
"Not good alright." Ozpin said to himself.
"Why would your arrival be a bad thing?" Ruby asked.
"Well, lets just say I have a habit of being involved in some rather….destructive practices." Ozpin was reminded of his duties as a secret keeper for the Maidens.
Ozpin...The Emerald Wizard of Beacon. The man smiled politely as he walked across the tavern until he came face to face with his father, "Hello Roland it's good to see you again" the man spoke as he shook his father hand. The man nodded as he shook the man's hand.
"Ozpin...it's good to see you too old friend, I heard you became the new Headmaster at Beacon. Never thought I would see you in the teaching position? Seeing as you usually never listened to our old headmaster" the man chuckled slightly as he leant against the counter.
"Wow, Ozpin was a pain in the ass student?" Yang said as Goodwitch slapped the back of her head.
"Be respectful." She huffed out as Ozpin chuckled.
"No, the girl is right, I was a pain in the ass." He remembered back on those days…
Oh wonderful times…Too bad they were over.
"I agree, but I felt as if I had a responsibility to lead the next generation of hunters and Huntresses into the future." He turned to smile at Diane as bowed slightly. "Its good to see you again Diane," he said as the woman nodded.
"It's good to see you too Ozpin," she said as she adjusted her son in her arms. The man looked down to the small child in her arms.
"And who is this little one?" the man said as he looked directly into the babies eyes. His eyes then narrowed as he saw a faint glint in the child's eyes, a glint the man was almost familiar with.
"Ooooooh Foreshadowing!" Nora yelled out.
"Nora will you please calm down?" Ren asked quietly.
"Sorry."
"This is Jaune, he is our newest addition to the family, isn't he just the cutest?" Diane said happily as she hugged her baby boy to her chest, even as the man continued to look into the baby's blue eyes.
"Yes...adorable," the man said as he pondered what he had seen.
"Not to be rude or anything...but what are you doing here?" Roland asked as the man shook the thought away as he looked back up and merely shrugged at the man.
"Yeah, seems like you just showed up out of nowhere." Ruby said as she didn't understand the reason.
"I don't know, but something tells me its going to be important." Even Ozpin at this point had no idea why he was there.
"Can't old friends ever meet without there being a reason?" the man said as Roland shook his head.
"With you, there is always a reason..." Ozpin sighed as he gestured to the back of the Tavern.
"Can we speak in private?" Roland glanced at his wife as she nodded and was about to get up when one of the other waitresses walked over to her.
"Well that's not good…" Qrow said as private meant secrets were about to be let out.
"Maybe its nothing too bad." Ruby was trying to be optimistic.
"I don't know, something is about to go down…" Even Yang was paranoid.
"Diane we're having some trouble with...'him' again," she said with a strained voice as they looked over to a balding man as he laid face first on the table, with a lot of mugs decorating his head. "Can you please help?" she asked as the woman only sighed as she nodded.
"Roland can you look after Jaune, I just need to take care of...'him'...again. Be back soon," she said with a sweet but darkly voice as she marched over to the table. Roland only nodded as his wife cracked her knuckles along the way.
"Wow…Jaune's Mom is scary…" Nora said as she was worried.
"Man, no wonder Jaune seemed so intimidated when he spoke of the times he got punished as a kid…" Ren said as his mom was not to be trifled with.
"I wonder who the balding guy is?" Coco asked.
"Probably the town drunk."
Roland turned to Ozpin as the man stared curiously at the scene "I hope you don't mind that Jaune will be with us?" he said as the baby merely looked up at the adults curiously.
Ozpin stared for a moment before he shook his head, "No I don't mind, it not like he'll remember this anyway?" he said as Jaune chuckled internally at this.
'That's right, pay no attention to the baby with the mind of a twenty-seven-year-old'
"Is this still serious, or can we laugh?" Nora asked as she didn't know what to think.
"I…think we can?" Pyrrha didn't know what to think.
"One thing is for sure, Jaune is about to get some juicy details." Yang had her arms crossed.
Ozpin was worried about what his other self would say, maybe he would say something that would be classified.
The two men walked to the back of the tavern, right in Roland's main study as he looked around to make sure no one was following before he pushed a small button in the shape of the Arc family crest. Causing a small section of the wall to open up revealing a long staircase leading down to a secret basement.
Jaune, however, was already aware of this when he had discovered it in the 'alternate timeline' what he had not known, was that Ozpin had met his father sometime after his birth. Maybe that was why he never kicked him out of school, even when he knew of his false transcripts?
"Why do they have a secret passageway?" Weiss asked.
"Secrets." Ozpin stated as simply as he could.
"What kind of secrets?" Ruby asked.
"Ones that shouldn't be said outloud."
The two men continued to walk down the staircase until they reached a large room, filled to the brim with all sorts of books and scrolls, with a small fireplace and two ornate chairs. Roland sat down as he held Jaune in his arms while Ozpin used a small dust crystal to light the fireplace as the soft glow illuminated the room as Ozpin faced away from the man and child.
"Now...what is it you wanted to speak about?" Roland asked as Ozpin sighed and turned his head to look at his friend.
"Before I tell you this, let me ask you something...what is your favourite fairytale?" the man said seriously as Roland only groaned at this.
"Damn it! You always do this Ozzy! Whenever you're about to tell something bad, you always open up with a seemingly meaningless story, that actually isn't as meaningless as it seems..." Ozpin raised an eyebrow at this as he looked to the man.
"Did he just call him Ozzy?" Nora asked as everyone deadpanned.
"Ozpin is probably about to drop a bomb on them, and you're worried about his nickname being Ozzy?" Weiss asked the sugar high girl.
"It's a funny nickname."
"It's just like back at Beacon when you went on that panty raid with Qrow and I ended up the one being beaten up by Glynda, Raven and Summer! At the same time! And I wasn't even a part of it!" he exclaimed as Ozpin chuckled slightly at this while Jaune stared up in shock.
'Wow...Ozpin was a rebel?'
"WHAT?!" Glynda was furious.
"N-Now Now Glynda…that was years ago!" Ozpin tried to defend himself.
The ass beating he got afterwards would be talked about by the students for years.
"Why would anyone want to steal panties?" Ruby asked as Nora looked just as confused.
"It's not like they could wear them?" Nora was just as confused.
Ozpin chuckled at this as he sat down "Yes I do tend to do that, and I did apologise...after they beat you up" Roland glared for a little before he chuckled as well. Ozpin then looked seriously as he fiddled with the cane in his hands.
"But back to the matter at hand...do you know the Story of the Four Seasons?" Jaune perked up at this as his father raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah I'm familiar with the story, I tell it to my girls every night before they go to bed. An Old man is visited by four women, each representing a different season and manages to urge the old man out of his hut. He then bestows upon them great power for their kindness and they go spread it amongst the people, but what does this have to do with..." he stopped as he received a single look from the man, that told him everything.
"Oh no," he grasped his head in his hand while his son looked up at him with innocent eyes. "They're real aren't they?" Ozpin nodded as he looked at the face of his friend.
"Bullshit!" Coco yelled out.
"Coco!" Velvet couldn't believe the vulgarity.
"Oh come on! Do you really expect us to believe that a fairy tale is true?" Coco couldn't believe it.
The very idea was ridiculous as hell!
"Yes, due to my new position I was granted the knowledge of their existence. They are very real Roland, and possess amazing powers that are not like magic, but actually magic" he sighed as Roland leaned back in his chair and held his son.
"Son of a bitch." Coco muttered under her breath.
"Well at least we know that isn't true here….right?" Coco looked at Ozpin who remained silent.
"No way…." Coco went into silence….Ozpin choosing not to speak about it was proof enough.
"Who else knows?"
"Only myself, Qrow and Glynda. Port and Bart have no idea what's going on, but they will be told soon enough." Ozpin said as the Roland looked at the silver haired man.
"Why are you telling me this Ozzy? Why have you come all the way out here to tell me something that seems like a big secret, one that I'm not supposed to know?" Roland levelled his gaze as he looked at the man.
"What is it you're not telling me?" Ozpin sighed as he stood up and rested his arm against the fireplace as he looked at the large portrait above the fireplace and looked back at his friend.
"I agree, why tell a retired huntsman? One who is trying to get out of the game?" Weiss didn't understand the logic.
"Obviously he trusts Mr. Arc, enough to tell him the truth about…these maidens." Qrow honestly didn't know what to think, he knew, but now so did everyone else.
"Something tells me this will not end well.
"I believe there is someone who's planning to steal a maidens power" Roland widened his eyes slightly at this.
"What?"
"Qrow has reasons to believe that someone from the past is planning to steal the power of a Maiden and use it for nefarious means. He has reasons to believe that its a remnant of the Supersessionists" Roland shook his head at this as he stood up with his son.
"Supersessionists?" Ruby asked as she had never heard the tale.
(I've never seen World of Remnant, so I have no idea whats going on if this is canon or not)
"Doesn't sound familiar to me…must be another secret we won't know about…" Blake was sick of the secrets.
Then again, she was a former terrorist hiding in a school, maybe she could let it slide.
"That's impossible and you know it, all the Supersessionists died at Wind Gate. My grandfather led the charge himself and he made sure that there were no Supersessionists left" Jaune, however, looked down at this, as he knew that wasn't true.
'Not all of them...' Ozpin shook his head at this as he walked around the room "Qrow said it was just a hunch, but I don't like to take chances...which is why I've actually come here today" he turned to the man as he pointed to the large crest on the floor.
"Great, so now we have a shadowy organization that's coming back from the dead." Sun couldn't believe this.
"This is starting to sound like something out of Game of Thrones." Ruby said as Weiss gave her a look.
"You watch Game of Thrones?" Weiss was honestly surprised.
"I did…until the red wedding….I don't know why it felt so….personal." She honestly didn't know why.
Why did it feel so familiar?
"A long time ago people would look at this crest and would be filled with hope that an Arc was protecting them. Even back at the Academy people would look up to you and feel safe that you were watching out for them..." Roland looked down at his son as his eyes drifted off into memory.
"You and Diane were once the strongest hunters in the world, so strong that the council even considered you to be the Headmaster at Beacon...until you turned them down and retired" Jaune's eyes widened slightly at this as he looked up to his father, seeing him in a completely different light.
"Wait, Jaune's dad was almost a headmaster?" Weiss couldn't believe it.
"Not in our universe, but in this one….it's certainly possible that he could have been teaching you." Ozpin didn't know enough about the Arcs.
He knew enough about their lineage to give Jaune a pass when his transcripts were fake. If Jaune was anything like his ancestors, then he would be a force to be reckoned with in time.
"That was a lifetime ago Ozpin, I'm no longer that warrior anymore and neither is my wife. We've settled down and raised a family, I can't expose them to stuff like that anymore, especially after what happened twenty years ago...I'm sorry" Ozpin sighed as he looked to his friend.
"I know you've put down you blade for your family and I know that you'd never want to put them in harms way. But Roland there is something coming this way and I fear that the Kingdoms won't be able to survive this time. I need as many allies as I can get...I need my friend's help." Ozpin seemed to almost plead as the man only looked down as he shook his head.
"I've never seen Oz look so desperate." Qrow couldn't believe it.
Ozpin had his moments of doubt, but he never would display them so openly. People made mistakes, but to show weakness when people were depending on you was a mistake, Jaune's dad must have been one hell of a man for Ozpin to almost plead for his help.
"I'm sorry...but my answer is no" Ozpin stood still as Roland looked back up "I need to think of my family and what is best for them, I hope you can understand" Ozpin stood up as he began to walk out the room.
"I understand old friend and I'm sorry that I tried to force you back into a life you've worked so hard to get out of..." he placed a hand on his shoulder as he prepared to leave.
"Damn….Jaune's dad is really determined not to let his family go down that road." Yang said as the atmosphere turned grim.
"And in the end it didn't mean anything, from what we can guess, Mr. Arc's world was nothing short of horrible." Ozpin said as Jaune came from a world where everyone he ever loved had died.
It was a fate no man should be forced to live.
"If you ever do change your mind let me know...until then I wish you good health upon you and your family" Ozpin then walked away as Roland sighed and looked down to his baby boy. The boy looked up to his father as the man only smiled and hugged the child to his chest.
"Don't worry Jaune, I'm never going to let you experience the things I've been through. I will always be here to protect you, always..." the man said as he began to walk up the winding stair.
"I'm sorry Roland…but he will experience what you have experienced, only he will go through something even worse…" Ozpin had never felt guilt this bad before.
It was like he was watching his mistakes unfold, and he could do nothing to stop them. That it was a set course of action that could not be changed no matter what happened in life.
Everything was doomed right from the start.
Jaune, on the other hand, was looking at his father as he felt a feeling of guilt in his chest,'If only you knew what was coming dad, if only you knew that you don't have the strength to protect us all...' he looked at his father's face as he saw the man's smiling face. 'I can understand where you're coming from, but after what I've seen, I wish you there to help me...'his heart ached at the mere thought of Pyrrha and her smiling face.
"Damn…" Everyone was reminded about what was going to happen.
Pyrrha dies….
Team RWBY dies….
Ozpin dies….
Glynda…
Bart…
Everyone….everyone they ever loved, all gone in the blink of an eye.
With only John to live to see the end of his days. And to die with no one there to mourn. On a dead planet overrun with Grimm.
Which led back to Pyrrha's final moments as he still to this day, blamed himself for not stopping her and letting her face her doom. He managed to shake the thoughts from his head as he looked up at his father with pure determination in his eyes.
'Which is why I hope you can forgive me for what I need to do in the future, and hope you understand why I need to do it. Because this time I'm not going to fail...' the light at the end of the stairway shines as they walking back into the tavern.
'I'm going to protect you all'Jaune thought to himself as his eyes burned with a fire to protect all that he held precious.
"You carry the fate of us all Jaune…." Ozpin said as everyone stood up.
"We'll be there to help…every step of the way." Pyrrha was determined not to let this future become their own.
"Well, so here we go, trying to save the world, certainty of death and a small chance of success…." Sun said as he lifted his head up.
"What are we waiting for?"
"GET OUT OF MY TAVERN! YOU DRUNKEN OAF!" a second later and the drunk man was picked up by his mother and was literally thrown out of the tavern as the brunette mother yelled out to the door. "AND STAY OUT!" she yelled Jaune and Roland spare a quick glance to each other as they gulped slightly.
"Your mother can be quite scary when she wants to be huh son?" he said as baby Jaune could only giggle at that.
"Annnddd that moments gone." Yang said as that kind of killed the mood.
"Woah, His mom IS scary." Qrow couldn't help but feel a tiny bit aroused.
Meanwhile back in Beacon, Jaune had a sudden urge to murder a crow. He didn't know why.
"But she is a bad ass." Coco was impressed.
"Damn, if Jaune grows to be as strong as his mom, I do not want to mess with him." Neptune whistled at his mom's strength.
Seriously, she was scary strong.
'You have no idea'
Meanwhile away from the tavern, Ozpin continued to walk to his personal shuttle before he stopped and looked back at the tavern of his oldest friend. He had accepted his friend's decision, and would not pester him again. But something else was gnawing at him, as he looked back at the tavern, something that he just couldn't put his finger on. And that thought lay in the small child that had a fire in his eyes that made him curious about the boy.
Extremely curious
"You don't think he knows, do you?" Ruby asked as everyone gave her a look.
"How could he possibly know that Jaune is a time traveler in a newborns body?" Goodwitch asked as Ruby shrugged.
"Well he could certainly tell something was up with the wee baby Jaune." Nora said as Yang looked confused.
"Why do you keep calling him the wee baby Jaune?" Where did that come from?
"Because it's a funny name!"
'Interesting...'he thought as he walked into his shuttle. The shuttle door closing as he looked back at the tavern one last time.
'Very interesting indeed'
And with that the shuttle took off as the gears of destiny began to turn again, this time in a new direction. One where the fate of the whole world rested on the shoulders of a man who had lost everything...
But gained a second chance.
"Well…at least it ended on a somewhat happy note." Team RWBY was sort of relieved.
"But there is always potential for something worse…." Ozpin looked to the two teams.
"No matter how easy things must be, or how many chances we may get, we must never lose sight of what we're fighting for, lest we fall into the pits of despair, and we end up like Mr. Arc there…"