(A/N): Hello everyone, Yakom here with another chapter of 'Rubrum Mors'. I don't have much to say aside from the fact that you should be expecting another chapter of 'It's Not Smut!' soon. Also, major Xenoblade spoilers for anyone who hasn't played past the final fight with Egil.
Jaune winced as he sat up, he was on a hospital bed.
"Good to see you up Mr. Arc," Ozpin said, standing by his side. He was holding a strange blade, the blade Jaune almost died using. "What is this strange blade? I don't think I've seen such a thing." Jaune felt that a lie.
"I don't know, but it gave me power. I do believe it bestowed upon me the power of foresight, and an Australian accent." Jaune murmured. His mind overclocked in thought.
"Now, I do remember reading about such a blade. The Monad, no, the Monado I think it was refered to as."
"The Monado..." Jaune looked down to it. Its intracate pommel, to its multi-layered plexi-glass centerpiece, to the blade itself.
"Yes, a blade that can manipulate the very fabric of our existence, Aura. However, they seemed to refer to it as ether."
"Ether? The Monado can control it?" Jaune thought, if this blade could manipulate such a powerful energy, what could he do with it? This power, was it right for him?
"Now, on said reading material, I had read that it manipulates ether to simulate the power of common grimm. Monado Arts were what they were called." Ozpin knew too much for this to be just textbook research.
"You seem awfully versed with this subject, is there something I don't know?" Jaune probed, he need to know what was going on.
"Yes there is a lot you don't know, but there are two things I will explain. One, the Monado is a sword that bends dimensions. Technically, it doesn't even exist on the physical plane, but rather an astral plane. Because of this, it conforms to the laws of our world. It no longer controls ether, instead it controls aura. Also, it kills grimm, unlike most blades that scatter a grimms' energy for it to be recreated. For in the world it comes from, there exists a similar threat by a simple name. The Mechon." Ozpin paused for Jaune.
"The second thing you mentioned? I feel it's important for me to know." It was.
"Jaune, you are the sole heir to the Monado and the reincarnation of the man who created it, Zanza," Jaune's heart dropped, this blade was his. A blade that could rip the very fabric of space, and let him weave the fabric of time to his own will. Could he really control such a power. "However, it is sad to say that this circumstance has made me reveal something you shouldn't know."
"What!? Tell me!" Jaune pleaded, he needed to know what was so unfortunate about his fate. But he soon realized that he had none.
"You - Jaune Arc - do not exist." Ozpin deadpanned. That isn't right, right? Jaune couldn't believe what he had heard. What does it mean!?
That meant that everything he'd ever done was all a fabrication? A figment of his non-existent imagination.
"However, you are real. Everything you've ever done is not a lie. But Jaune Arc is. You are but a corpse, and in you lies the power of Zanza. He has given you new life." Ozpin was fairly knowledgeable about this, but how.
"How do you know so much?"
"I have once wielded this blade, but now it's yours." Ozpin dropped the blade unto Jaune's lap.
Jaune slowly wrapped his right hand around the hilt and his left hand around the pommel. He raised the blade over his head and released the light beam.
"I will teach you it's power." Ozpin said.
Yes, this is what Jaune wanted, needed. He needed to be needed by others. It was the only reason he fought, to protect those he loved. Like Pyrrah, Weiss, Yang, Nora, Ren, Blake an-. Blake! Ruby!
"Sir, are Blake and Ruby okay!?" Jaune panicked, why are they only just coming to mind? Oum I'm an asshole.
He stood quickly, the Monado's blade smacking the ground. The Monado reacted violently, the hard-light blade extending and a blue kanji lighting the centerpiece to the Monado. Surrounded in a blue aura, Jaune was no longer in the room. He was down the hall and in another room, Ruby's room. Jaune would have reacted to what had happened, but he had other priorities. Snapping the Monado to his back via some twisted metal protruding from his damaged armor. He pulled Ruby to him and cradled her in his arms.
"Ruby wake up!" He said, his voice cracking. He was in the pain of sorrow, he let this happen. He let tears flow freely from his face
"Jaune...?" Ruby murmured, her eyes opening to see Jaune. "Hey Jaune, don't cry." She said weakly.
"Why wouldn't I, you got hurt because I wasn't strong enough." Jaune whispered.
"And you think crying will make you strong? Jaune, promise me that you'll never cry over me again." Ruby ask that simple thing from him. It pained her to watch him cry. Something she'd never seen from him.
"I... I promise." He promised, and an Arc never goes back on their word.
"Were you all waiting for me to wake?" You all? Jaune's thoughts guided his tear-stained eyes to the rest of team RWBY and JNPR behind them. Some of them sported tears of their own from the heartfelt moment.
"Jaune? Are you okay? Ozpin wouldn't let us see you." Blake asked.
"For good reason," Ozpin said. "Until Shulk, er, Jaune can control the Monado, he is a dangerous hazard to your health." Ozpin said.
"What? Really?" Jaune asked, he didn't want to hurt those he vowed to protect.
"Ha! Nah, in this state the Monado can't hurt people. The blade will just bounce off the skin like rubber," Ozpin chuckled a bit, much to Jaune's dismay. "That said, I believe that you have already learned a few Monado arts. Ones that we will now practice to perfect." Ozpin said, directing Jaune out of the room. "I wish you all good day."
"Wait I ne-"
"I said good day!" Ozpin slammed the door. Everyone heard on the other side 'I've always wanted to do that' before the steps faded.