Sup guys? Welcome to A Gods Return. Now, this story is only a one-shot that's been in my head for a while now. Won't explain too much other than saying that it will have a few things from the God of War games. Both past and current. So without further due, I hope you enjoy.
Before Remnant, the world he grew up in was called Earth.
Before the Two Brothers, there were many gods in different Pantheons, all around the world. From Greek, to Norse, to Celtic, to Japanese, to Egyptian. And then, the brothers appeared.
He was forced to watch as humanity became extinct over and over again as his own disdain for the gods found a way to claw itself from inside of him, every time he went to a world that was ruled by gods.
Every time he changed location, the gods would recognize that he wasn't a god from their Pantheon, and were very aggressive towards him if they crossed paths with him. As such, he was forced to slay them.
His own disdain started when the former God of War, Ares tricked him into burning down a village, not knowing that the god teleported his wife and child from their home in Sparta. In his blind rage, he killed both members of his family, only noticing once his daughter screamed as he cut through her.
The Oracle of the village cursed him, imbuing his wife's and daughter's ashes into his skin, thus giving him the name to the populous of Greece as The Ghost of Sparta. He then set out on a journey to kill Ares and avenge his family, as the rest of the gods tasked him as well. With Athena's and the rest of the god's guidance, he managed to kill Ares and claim the throne for himself.
Years later, he was tricked once more by the gods and was killed by Zeus, the Father of all Greek gods. After help from the Titan Gaia, he fought his way from hell and back into the world of the living. After a large journey, he managed to kill The Sisters of Fate and traveled back in time to change his fate. After a brawl with Zeus, he emerged victorious. Before he could deliver the final blow, Athena pushes the god away and took the killing blow for him, causing Zeus to flee and for Athena to die.
After gathering the Titans, they marched towards Mount Olympus where the final battle begun. All in all, it ended with Jaune's victory, but the total destruction of the Greek world.
Athena, in her Astral-Ghost state tried to take the power he took from Pandora's Box, so she could rebuild the world and become its only god. Jaune had other plans. Using the Blade of Olympus, he stabbed himself and gave the power of Hope to the world in order to rebuild itself, no longer being slaves of the gods.
He survived the injury due to his own godly powers and managed to escape the ruined world of Greece.
Years passed, and Jaune found love with another woman in the Norse region of the world, named Faye. They had a son named Atreus, whose Scandinavian name was Loki. After Faye's death, Jaune and Atreus wanted to grant Faye's last wish, to spread her ashes at the highest point in the entire Norse realm. But not before a few run-ins with Baldur and Thor's sons, Magni and Modi.
Jaune wanted nothing to do with killing gods. He saw what it did to Greece and he didn't want another world ruined by his own anger towards the gods. But, fighting and killing Baldur, Magni and Modi put a large dent in those plans. And so, with the beginning of Ragnarök, Jaune once again came out victorious with the war against the gods, but victory came at a heavy price.
The loss of his son, Atreus.
That was the final nail in the coffin for Jaune. After killing Odin in his rage, he vowed that all gods must meet the same fate.
And he delivered on that promise.
Humanity rebuild itself over the years, now with no gods ruling over them. Jaune being the exception, but chose not to rule, but live as a simple man. As the years went by, Humanity went extinct once more due to a large meteor striking the Earth, leaving Jaune alone once more.
And that's where he entered the current events.
Jaune kept a close eye on both the Brothers, but didn't involve, nor make his presence known unless absolutely necessary. He watched as the older Brother created Humanity once more, and the young Brother created the creatures of Grimm to fight against them.
Then Salem happened. Humanity was extinct due to them betraying the gods after Salem manipulated most of Remnants Kings and Queens into taking the fight against the Brothers, using her immortality as a crutch. The Dark Brother absorbed every attack that was sent his way and eradicated Humanity to ashes with a single blast. Salem survived, Jaune as well, coming out with heavy injuries. After a while, Humanity came back, with another breed knows as the Faunus.
After many years, Jaune's journey began once more.
Using his own godly powers, he created his own set of humans, known as the Arcs. He blessed them to be brave and strong warriors, all with large Aura reserves to boast. After many Arcs came and went, he decided to take the chance to become a warrior in his own right once more. Only this time, it would be as a normal human.
So, when Nicholas and Juniper Arc made a baby boy, named after him as well, he decided to act. He transferred his soul into the boy, but didn't take over. He let the boy live his life, despite the many wrong choices he made. Get fake transcripts, go to Beacon, gain friends and become a 'hero'.
After Beacon fell and Pyrrha died, Jaune contemplated in taking over, but chose against it for now. After learning about Salem, not that he didn't know about her already, he made the decision that he'd get involved when they come across Salem. After Ironwood declaring Martial Law and putting a warrant in the arrest of Team RWBY and JNR plus Qrow, Jaune decided it was the time to act.
"So… what do we do now?" Nora asked, looking at everyone inside the Bullhead.
Ren stayed silent, sitting on the metal floor of the Bullhead with his hands on his head.
Jaune stayed silent as well, with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, his head lowered a bit.
"We can't just leave Mantle's people to die. We have to do something, anything." Blake said, crossing her arms and frowning in thought.
"Seems like dear Ironwood isn't too keen on letting that happen." Yang spoke sarcastically.
"Still, we have to do something. We don't have the time to sit and wait. I say we go back to Mantle and evacuate as many people as we can before Salem arrives." Ruby said, determination burning in her silver eyes.
"I don't know… Ironwood's soldiers could still be inside the city. If we are going to do this, then we need to do it carefully and stealthily." Weiss added her own two cents.
"Plus, we don't know where we'll take them afterwards. What do you think Ren?" Nora asked her boyfriend.
Ren's only response was a grunt which caused Nora to frown. She was going to have a long talk with him later.
"Fine then. Jaune, what do you think?" Nora turned to her leader this time.
Jaune raised his head slightly and opened his eyes, looking at Nora who squeaked in surprise.
His eyes were no longer blue. Now, they were hazel gold.
"Umm, Jaune… Why are your eyes a different color?" Nora asked as his gaze bore into her soul. It made her feel a bit unsettled, which was a weird feeling when it came to her leader.
The rest of the group heard Nora's question and were surprised to see that she was right.
Jaune, the God Jaune, scowled at the question.
"My eyes are not what we are discussing. We should focus on what we are doing next." Jaune said in a voice that left no room for further questions.
"Okay… do you have anything to say about the plan? I mean, you are the best strategist out of all of us…" Yang asked, feeling a bit nervous with how Jaune sounded.
"If you wish to create a plan, then you do not need my say in the matter. You have already built and laid the foundations. The only thing that is left is for you to act upon it." Jaune said, his voice changing from the normal light and friendly voice to a booming, commanding and deep one, with a noticeable rasp to it.
"Okay, something is definitely wrong here. Are we talking to the same Jaune Arc or are we talking to someone else entirely?" Weiss asked, standing up and pointing her weapon at Jaune, causing everyone to panic for a moment.
"Woah, woah, woah there Weiss. Let's calm down and put the weapons away for now. I'm sure Jaune has a reasonable explanation for this." Ruby said, putting a hand over Weiss' hand, shooting Jaune a pleading look to explain himself.
Jaune grunted.
"Very astute observation, girl. You are talking to Jaune, just not the one you knew all along."
Silence hang in the Bullhead.
"Umm… care to expand on that or…?" Yang asked.
"Now is not the time for this. We are closing in on Mantle. You four, you will do what you have already planned. The two of you will assist them in the matter." Jaune commanded.
"But, what about you?" Nora asked, worried about who was possessing her leader.
"I… Have to dig up a past I swore, would stay buried. I will join you once I retrieve it." Jaune said, closing his eyes and unconsciously rubbing his forearms softly.
"Still, it would be best if someone went with you. How about Ren goes with you and you two join us later?" Nora suggested.
"With how he is acting, I have no doubt that the Grimm will be all over us. No, it is better if I go alone. I won't be long." Jaune said, leaving no room for argument and for Ren to glare at him, but said nothing.
"Well… if you're sure Jaune. But, there will be an explanation later." Ruby said.
"Hmm… Very well."
The group sat in silence as the approached Mantle once more. Jaune closed his eyes and let his mind travel to the past, but in doing so he felt resentment rise from inside him, knowing the reason for it as well.
"Athena…" He raised his head and opened his eyes once more, seeing the Astral-Ghost like form of Athena sitting across from his with her hands folded on her lap. Jaune glared at her, clear hatred flashing in his eyes, but with a deep breath he managed to calm himself down enough as to not make a scene in the Bullhead.
"Get out of my head." He whispered, but to his ears it felt like he was talking loud enough.
She frowned but said nothing. He blinked once and she was gone.
"Huh? You say something?" Nora asked.
Jaune only shook his head and sighed.
Nora shrugged and left it at that.
Jaune made his way towards the house he bought one hundred years back, where he buried his past in. He tried to preserve his old cabin, but after the years went by it collapsed on itself. The house thankfully wasn't too far away from where they landed so it wouldn't be a long walk.
When he arrived, he saw that the house was still standing, even after the years he left it alone. He also made sure that his secret was well hidden, in case any straggler broke in. Whilst there were profanity and graffiti written on the walls, the house didn't appear to have any broken windows or any sign of breaking in.
He walked up to the front door and kicked it, forcing it open. He looked around in the darkened room and walked inside, walking towards a dusty old carpet. He picked it up and threw it away, revealing a stone trap door underneath. Using his strength, he opened the trap door and reached inside, grabbing and pulling out a red cloth with gold Ancient Greek markings. He set it down on the floor and sighed, rubbing his forearms once more.
He took off his gauntlets and slowly unwrapped the cloth, revealing a twin pair of curved blades attached to chains. Jaune slowly edged his hand closer to one of the blades and softly trailed his fingers over it. He removed his hand and brought both hands closer, seeing them shake in fear given that he had to use these cursed blades.
With a shaky sigh and closing his hands into fists tightly, Jaune forced himself to remain calm. He needed to be brave.
He grabbed one of the blades chains and started to wrap them around his forearms once more.
"There is nowhere you can hide, Spartan."
From the edge of his vision, he could see Athena standing in the doorway. Jaune ignored the former Goddess and continued to wrap the chains around his forearms. It wouldn't be the first time she said those words to him. She was just an illusion, not the real one. She disappeared centuries ago.
"Put as much distance between you and the truth as you want. It changes nothing. Pretend to be everything you are not. A leader. A friend… A father."
Despite hearing that before, albeit a bit changed, he couldn't help himself to turn and glare at her for a short moment, before resuming in wrapping the chains.
"But there is one, unavoidable truth you will never escape. You cannot change. You will always be…"
Jaune finished wrapping the chains around his arms and grabbed the wooden pommels of the blades. On contact the blades came to life, fire bursting through the jagged teeth that connected the blades to the pommels.
He could feel it coming back to him.
"A monster."
"I know. But I am your monster no longer."
Jaune stood up and slowly walked towards the exit, the blades still on fire and giving him an intimidating aura. Once he walked through Athena, she disappeared once again.
"Now then… Time to show the false Goddess what a real god can do. And by the end of it…" Jaune walked forwards, twirling one of the blades around, the chain now red from the heat and the flames of the sword only burning brighter.
"There will be only chaos."
And that's about it folks. Tell me if you enjoyed or not. If you've read my other story, Whatever the Cost, then an update will be coming soon. If you haven't, go and give it a try. So until next time lads.