Once again
"We meet again, Ambrosius."
Ozma, good to see you still kicking, how's the wife.
"Very funny, I came here to use Creation-" Ozpin was shushed off.
No no no, me first, or technically the brothers. They have a message for you.
"W- what?" blood drained from Oscar's face, thousands of years have passed, and they never made an effort to contact him, but now?
Yes, they are not so pleased with your action, or more like the inaction of them.
Oscar's face paled even more, this, this could mean the end of them all. If the brothers were unhappy with him, they'll simply doom him more.
You see, after you refused to use the Relics and bring them back, they were furious, but time was on your side, and they accepted you trying to stop your wife without them.
Ozpin relaxed after hearing this, he knew they would be angry, and he prayed they stick to their words and not come back without the Relics, but now…
"So what do they want now?" he asked, trying not to sound annoyed.
Oh, well you see, an individual decided to go against the brothers, thinking so arrogant of himself to defy the gods in the attempt to disturb the balance.
Ozpin hummed, but he was worried. The last person to go against the brothers laws was Salem herself, which resulted in quite literally the end of humanity.
"So they want me to stop them? Or what exactly?" he asked.
To some point, see, this person, much like your wife, tricked a god outside our world, a world even beyond the Relics, and he's planning to destroy everything that you, humanity, and the brothers worked for.
Ozpin cursed, "this again, who's foolish enough to not only make a deal with creatures like the brothers, but to trick them too? Now it's only a matter of time before the new god caught on and come for revenge."
"Can you tell me who's the individual, maybe I can talk some sense into him and stop him?" he tried.
I'm afraid this is not what the brothers want. They want you to eliminate him, to send him directly to the brothers so they can punish him.
Ozpin walked around thinking, everything was still frozen, he saw how James held Fria close before her last moment, how miss Rose was looking his way, waiting for the Relic to activate.
He looked at the entryway, where's Salem agents just gone from.
Of course, this individual is quite dangerous, he knows what's going to happen from the future, and have acquired powers beyond this world, so the brother of darkness decided to give your magic back, if you could catch the people who you gave them too.
"Wait, you mean I can get my power back?" that was amazing, if he can get rid of the Maidens, then Salem won't get the Relics.
And as a reward, the brothers decided to retire you from your duty.
Oscar's head shot up.
"You mean…?" he dared to hope, and with a nod from Ambrosius, he fell to his knees.
How long has he been in this hell, watching as his lover turned into a monster, a monster that he needed to kill.
How many loved ones he lost, how many families has he build only to lose in front of him. Again, and again and again.
He took over millions of peoples, he destroyed families, build ones. He created villages, countries, kingdoms, united the world, built schools, raised children who fought for him and grew older and died.
Yet he was still here, fighting the good fight.
"What about Salem?" he asked, after a moment of clarity.
Her fate is unchanged, until she understands the lesson the brothers wanted her to learn, she will still live.
Can he? Can he abandon his duties for the break he desperately needed?
"I say you should take it." The owner of the body spoke.
"Oscar?"
"Don't get me wrong, Oz, I do like you, but you deserve this, we can do this." Tears fell from Ozpin, he knew he could count on team RWBY and the rest, and JNPR did grow a lot since their lost.
"What do you want me to do?" He asked, a small smile appearing.
Bring Jaune of Arc to justice, eliminate Jaune Arc for daring to challenge and threatening a god.
Even though the world was still, Ozpin felt like hours ticked by while he stood still in shock.
"W- What?"
Jaune of Arc, he made a deal with another entity to go back in time to save his so-called friends, then dared to challenge the brothers, after they generously offered him to stay in exchange he disposes of the weapon.
"Weapon?" that got Ozpin's attention.
Correct, that entity equipped him with a dangerous weapon that can destroy all of Remnant. I imagine it even threaten the brothers themselves. But you didn't hear that from me.
Ozpin's head was a mess, it kinda made sense now. For a while now, Jaune Arc improved a lot, taking charge and defusing situations with ease, which made sense if he lived through them all.
"Why?" it was the question on his mind, surely he knew about his story, about Salem, and knew how badly can it be if you interacted with a creature like the brothers.
Well, to stop Salem I suppose, no one knows what happened in his future, not even the brothers, which makes him dangerous. So you need to stop him.
"We can't do that, we can't kill Jaune." Oscar protested.
I'll leave you two alone for a while, I know what you wanted to do, I already made her back as new.
The spirit of Creation said, leaving him alone for a while.
And after that, time will continue as normal.
"Ozpin please, I know what I just said, but we can't kill our friends for this."
Ozpin's anger started to form, there was no way Jaune did not know what happened to Salem, he knew the risks and took them anyway.
"Friends? Oscar, Jaune Arc is about to walk Salem's path, and if she gets a hold of that weapon, then Remnant is gone." He stated through gritted teeth.
"And you trust them? The brothers, who cursed you to do this?"
"I can rest Oscar, do you know how many families I ended, how many children died because of my actions. What one more in a face of millions." Ozpin said, making up his mind.
"Where's Jaune Arc Oscar?" a chill ran down his body, he supposed it was because of Oscar.
"…No." The answer came loud.
"You know I can dig in your memories Oscar, just tell me."
"Remember when Jaune told us the truth about you." Ozpin remembered, it was another sign that he changed, but he didn't notice it.
"I felt you slip away for a second there, you were trying to hide deep inside." Ozpin caught on himself.
"OSCAR." It was futile, Oscar already went deep inside his own mind.
"That child." Ozpin said angrily, he didn't know what was at stake, he didn't know what it actually meant. He needed to find Jaune Arc now.
Ozpin felt the air change again, time resumed as normal, he felt the people behind him move, but he didn't face them.
"Miss Rose, where's Jaune Arc?"
/-/
Jaune did not quite register what his previous partner said, he stood up limply to meet her eyes.
Green emerald met ocean blue, the glow he saw just a few moments was gone, and now he saw the tears in her eyes.
"P- Pyrrha?" he wasn't sure if he died or not, seeing Pyrrha again same as he remembered her, same as the day of the fall. With just one exception.
"Jaune." One second Pyrrha stood in front of him, the next she was on him, her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him close.
He embraced the hug, his arms tightening around her, he buried his face into her shoulder, tears falling.
"It's you, it's really you, why? How?" he asked between tears.
"It's a long story, but for now, I'm here to save you." She assured him.
"Save me? From what?" he pulled back, meeting her eyes with confusion.
"From you, or I'll have to kill you." She said, while her eyes started to glow a faint green again.
The words froze Jaune, same as Weiss, who was supporting Qrow after he got poisoned, while Winter stood to the side on her scroll.
"Dammit, I just got a message from the General, Emerald and her team attacked the maiden and stole half of the power, and Oscar is a wanted criminal now. The General asked to escort you back, Jaune." Winter met his eyes.
"Wait, why is Oscar a wanted criminal, what the hell happened?" Qrow asked.
"I'll explain the details on the way back, for now…" Winter trailed off, eyeing the champion warily.
"It's better if I explain when we meet back with everyone, I have some idea of the situation with Salem." Pyrrha said, finally pulling back from the embrace, Jaune immediately felt cold.
"Let's go then, Whitley and Mother will take care of the rest here." Winter said, gesturing for them to follow her.
/-/
"We will be safe here for a while, at least, until things calm down." Mercury said, glancing through the windows shades outside, where an armed squad were searching.
"I didn't get all of the power." Emerald complained, testing her new-found power.
"At least we got it, if Tyrian was there, we would have got the maiden and the Relic, and if we were lucky we might have gotten the other one." Mercury complained.
"Would Hazel be ok?"
"He's a big guy, he probably already found a way out and is waiting for us. I'm still sore we didn't get the Relic, we could have totally got it."
"I assure you, you wouldn't be able to get anything, especially when I was there, but I guess it's your lucky day." The voice that came from behind startled him.
Oscar pine, or Ozpin stood behind him, he cursed and immediately tried to kick him, however, a strange force stopped his leg midair.
"I came here to talk." He said calmly.
"The hell do you want?" Mercury eyed him warily.
"I want you to take me to Salem, we need to talk." They exchanged looks. She did order the capture of Ozpin if they could, but it wasn't a high order.
"It could be a trap." Mercury warned.
"I can give you my weapon and the Relic if it would make it easier for you." He said, offering the cane. Mercury took it hesitantly.
"How did you find us.?" Emerald asked, her eye was enveloped with red fire.
"Simple, you have a part of my power, the maiden power, and I can sense it." Which mean they could never hide from him, Emerald Scowled.
She moved and tied up both his hands and legs, while Mercury made sure he wouldn't be able to scream for help or had any tracker on him.
"Guess it's time to face the boss."
/-/
The bullhead ride back was awkward in Weiss's opinion.
When she asked Jaune out to meet her parents, she thought it would end by them holding hands, or having a kiss before saying goodbye. Not (technically) his dead ex showing up from nowhere to take him from her.
Sure, Weiss was over the moon by the fact her friend survival, but the fact she was stuck to Jaune talking to him just like they did back to Beacon annoyed her just a little bit.
What really annoyed her was the unconscious body of Qrow leaning on her, after they used the antidote, he fell asleep from the exhaustion. His immune system must've been running to save him.
"So they're finally together together?" Pyrrha asked, her adoring eyes on Jaune, she couldn't blame the girl, after she finally saw what Pyrrha saw in him.
"Yep, I totally won by the way, they just got together. About a week ago, so you owe me." He grinned at her, and she laughed softly.
"I don't think that's fair, they both were pretty shocked with my death, I bet that stopped any progress they made." Pyrrha countered, not noticing how Jaune froze on the mention of her death.
"Pyrrha, how are you here?" He asked, finally showing the worry he felt, and she only looked away.
"I told you, I'll tell you everything when we meet back with the others." Which reminded Weiss.
"Jaune, you said you're going to explain what happened there." Weiss pointed out.
"Yeah, right, I forgot with how Pyrrha came back and everything. So, what do you want to know?" He asked her, she gave him a flat look and he caved.
"So, I'm not from this-" Pyrrha's hand covered his mouth, stopping him.
"How about we also talk about this with the others, I'm sure Ozma would really appreciate it." Pyrrha said, her eyes glowing green.
"Oh come on Pyrrha." Weiss complained.
"Come on Weiss, we're almost there anyway." She said.
"But before meeting with RWBY and Ironwood, I want to see someone else."
/-/
"Coming." A knock on the door forced Ren to get up and open it, Nora couldn't do it, or wouldn't, wanting to be treated like a princess now.
"Who is-" he trailed off, seeing the glimmer of red hair in front of him
"Hey Ren, long time no see, did I interrupt something between you two, or are you still not together together." Pyrrha asked, a teasing smile on her face, which was rare for the champion.
"P- Pyrrha." He whispered, eyes tracing up and down to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Emerald." He hissed, eyes narrowing, which threw Pyrrha into panic mode.
"No Ren it's me, remember when you told me you wanted to confess to Nora after the festival." She waved her hand in the air frantically and Ren stopped, the only person who knew that was the real Pyrrha.
"Hey, you knew and made the bet with me." Jaune complained from behind.
She gave him an apologetic smile, when she suddenly felt Ren's body crashing into her, her arm came behind him, holding him tight.
"We lost you." The normally calm Ren, broke down on Pyrrha's shoulder, she patted his back.
"I know, and I'm sorry, I missed you too." He pulled away, meeting her eyes.
"Ren, who's this?" Ren stepped to the side, allowing Nora to see her teammates.
Nora stopped working, that's what Jaune thought as Nora saw Pyrrha and froze in place.
Nora's mouth opened and closed without any words leaving it, Pyrrha didn't allow any as she rushed in and took Nora into her arms, embracing her in a tight hug.
Nora's eyes widened, she looked down at the red hair, at the armor and clothes the person who hugged her wore. It took her a few seconds until she returned the hug and tears fell off.
It wasn't like the movies, it was raw, painful, crying, but it had relief in it, and Jaune smiled.
/-/
Team JNPR, finally back together, walked alongside Weiss and Winter to General Ironwood's office.
When they landed, Qrow was sent to the medical wing, while Winter told them what she knew.
Emerald, Mercury and Hazel attacked and stole half of the maiden powers, then Ozpin turned traitor and stole the rest to himself, even going as far as fighting and beating team RWBY, they still needed to talk to the General to get the full story to what happened, and Weiss was itching to know what he and Pyrrha had to say. Jaune did too, to be honest.
From the moment they got on the bullhead to this point, Jaune was terrified.
It was bad enough that he had to use his powers in front of Weiss and Winter, but now Pyrrha showed up.
Pyrrha, his partner, who she had feelings for him, who died at Beacon, showed up again to save their lives. Only to tell him she was here to kill him.
Jaune dreaded the coming conversation, not only because he now had to tell everyone he was from the future, but also for putting Oscar in the point where he's the enemy alongside Salem.
They walked into the General's office, the sign of battle was apparent on most of them.
Both Ironwood and Ruby had bandages covering their arms and head, while Yang and Blake had little bruises on their bodies.
What surprised him was the tall blonde guy there, he knew it was Ruby's father, he already met him after the fall.
"Where's Qrow?" his eye's widened at the last person he saw, Raven, she helped them after they left the everafter, but it was a little late, as the whole world was about to end.
"He's recovering, he got poisoned." His words got everyone's attention, and they finally noticed the bruises on Jaune, Weiss and Winter's faces.
"Winter, report." Ironwood said firmly.
"Sir, as you requested, I kept an eye on Jaune Arc and protected him, as you suspected, a strange grimm with unusual high intelligence tried to kidnap him, alongside Tyrian Callows." She saw the shock look they gave her.
"We survived thanks to Pyrrha's intervention." She stated, then realized no one talked or introduced the new arrival.
She looked behind her and saw Pyrrha hiding behind her team, they shared a smile, and with a nod she stepped forward.
Everyone was shocked on seeing Pyrrha Nikos alive, it was a sight to be seen.
"P- Pyrrha?" Ruby was the first on her, giving her old friend a crushing hug.
"Hey rubes?" she simply said, returning the hug.
"I- I saw you die, I wasn't fast enough to save you, I couldn't save you, I'm sorry." Pyrrha ruffled Ruby's hair.
"It wasn't your fault Ruby, I was the idiot that jumped in without backup, or sending my backup in a rocket locker." She chuckled at the last part.
Blake and Yang came next, both tears in their eyes, both with grateful smiles that they saw their friend again.
Green eyes met Green, as Pyrrha met with her previous opponent, Penny.
"Pyrrha." Penny gave her a sweet smile, and Pyrrha looked guilty.
"I'm sorry for what happened then." Pyrrha apologize, her eyes on the floor.
"It's ok, we all have been tricked then, besides, now I have a fully human body, so you won't be able to do that again." Penny laughed and before Pyrrha knew it, Penny had her in a tight hug, and she returned it.
"I'm really happy for this reunion, and I'm glad you're alive miss Nikos. But you died in Beacon, and now you're here, and I dread to know why the Relic of choice is on your head." Everyone eyes glance to the crown on Pyrrha's head.
The Crown was made of gears, they didn't turn, and it looked like her old headpiece that he barely noticed it.
"Yes General, this is the Relic of choice, and now that's everyone important here, I can explain why I'm here, I'll do that, after jaune tell us the truth." All eyes turned to him, he met each of them.
Ironwood gave him an apologetic smile, while Ruby nodded her head in support, he knew at least, they would stand with him.
So he told them.
He told them what happened after Haven, what happened in Argus.
He saw the look of disgust Yang and Blake gave him, he couldn't blame them.
He told them what happened in Atlas, how it all ended. Then all eyes turned to Ironwood, who shook his head in shame.
He told them how they planned to save Atlas, how they used the Relic to save the people, they made it to the bridge, and how…
His hand started to shake, the feeling of blade piercing through flesh still in his mind.
Ruby touched his hand, he looked up to see her nod in support.
"It was me, Weiss and Penny fighting alone, Cinder gave Penny a fatal blow, I tried to heal her but to no use, she then asked me to…" He couldn't finish, he couldn't live that nightmare again.
"Thank you Jaune." He looked up and saw Penny smiling at him.
"By your expression, I see you fulfilled my request, thank you. And thank you for giving me this body, without you, I wouldn't be here today."
Tears formed in his eyes and threatened to fall, Penny walked closer and held him close with a hug.
"Thank you, Penny." He managed out. It took him few minutes to regain his composure to continue.
He told them about what happened in the everafter, told them how they met the Tree and how she sent them back.
Pyrrha looked tense at the knowledge, while Nora teased him about being the Rusted knight.
He told them how Vacuo fell, how the summer maiden with the sword of destruction saved them, how they gathered what forces they still had and launched while final attack that resulted in everyone's death.
"I woke up back in the everafter, in the Tree, she told me I can save everyone, and sent me back." he looked to Ruby and Ironwood, they both understood it and kept their mouths shut.
"So we lost and all we get is you." Yang said, not hiding her glare.
"Yang-"
"No Ruby, he doesn't have the right to come back and decide what's right and what's not." She sent a glare to Ruby, who backed off.
"Tell me right now Jaune, did you spare Adam because you saw good in him or because you were so pathetic that you needed to save someone?" her face was so close to his so he won't avoid her red eyes.
"I- I'm not sure, I'm sorry." He looked down in shame.
"I thought I was going mad, I thought I became her-" she pointed at Raven." I thought I lost myself so much, that my friends had to pull me back up, do you know how that felt, to be a monster while thinking you were in the right? Then you come in and tell me you don't even know if he would stop killing if we let him live, you gambled our lives for this."
"You couldn't save Penny, hack, you couldn't save any of us, not even yourself, then you act high and mighty when I was about to do the same thing you did to Cinder." Raven watch half amused, half curious if Yang would start a fight.
"You came back, no plan, no idea what to do, then decided to spare the worst person on Remnant, what's next? You spare Salem? You got your revenge for Pyrrha, what about me? What about this." She lifted her right mechanical arm. The guilty look didn't satisfy her.
Yang walked out, tears in her eyes, followed by Blake, who glared daggers at him.
"I'm sorry." Ruby said.
"She's right, I did that on a wimp, on a gut feeling. What if I was wrong, what if when I amplified him, he turned and cut all of us in half." Sure, he knew now he wouldn't do that, but back then he didn't know.
"I think we need time to process this." Weiss said slowly.
"No, we are not done yet." Pyrrha said, she had a pained look on her face, while her eyes glowed bright green.
"You have a weapon that can destroy Remnant, hand it over and the brothers won't let me kill you." Pyrrha stated.
"How about we start from the beginning?" Ruby suggested.
"Yeah, sorry." Pyrrha sounded embarrassed but didn't look it. "Well I was revived by the brothers to kill Jaune, I convinced them to let me talk to you, and if I fail I'll fall back to their plan." She explained.
"So if Jaune doesn't stop…"
"I need to kill him." They all stared at Pyrrha, her eyes shining with green light as her pained expression morphed to agony.
"Then what are you suggesting miss Nikos, much like yourself, Ozpin was also tasked with killing Jaune." Ironwood said.
"Wait, what?"
"Right, the report, I'll give it to you later, the important part is that after Ozpin used the Relic he somehow discovered you, he stole half the maiden power and ran with the Relic." Jaune cursed.
"I won't allow him, I'll keep Jaune alive, and I won't let the brothers make me kill him, I'll convince him." Pyrrha looked hopeful.
"I'm sorry Pyrrha, I lost so much to stop here."
"I have time, I'll convince you." She smiled at him.
"Good work everyone, Rose and Arc, stay, Weiss, if you mind showing miss Nikos the place, she's with us for now at least, I trust you can keep the Relic safe?" He looked at Pyrrha, who nodded ,Ren and Nora followed behind too.
"Winter, take Penny to the medical wing to check on her, I didn't have the chance to see it myself." Winter saluted and left while Penny following behind her.
"What about us?" Tai asked, finally standing up from his chair at the corner, he eyed Jaune critically.
"If you want to stay and help us with what's coming, then I'll have Winter to show you to a room for yourself and your…" Ironwood trailed off.
"Ex wife." Tai and Raven said in unison.
"Thank you, after what we just heard. I think we're gonna stick here for a while." Raven nodded.
"If what the kid said was true, then I imagine we need all the help we can get, especially a maiden." She glanced at Ruby and gave her a small smile.
"When you have time, call me, I'll show you how to use your powers effectively." they left after that, leaving the three alone.
After few minutes of silence, Ironwood spoke.
"Forgive me for those words, but this is a clusterfuck of a situation." They both winced at the General's curse.
"We didn't only get attacked, but we lost humanity greatest protector, we lost the staff of Creation, and a dead student revived by Gods to kill her partner." He pulled a bottle of vodka and three shot glasses.
"Sir we don't-"
"Thanks." Ruby immediately grabbed the first one and drunk it in one motion, she immediately regretted it, coughing like a madman.
"D- Dammit, uncle Qrow, how do you make it look easy." She complained. The General offered her a cup of water, which she accepted.
"Thanks." Jaune clicked his shot with Ironwood and down it, he held slightly better than Ruby, yet he appreciated the water cup.
"So now, after this awful trip for you two." He chuckled at the glares he received.
His hand moved under the desk again, both of them groaned until they saw what he brought, Jaune knew immediately what it was.
"Is that?" Ruby asked.
"It's the leaves." Jaune answered.
"Correct, as you asked, bullets for Crescent Rose, we only managed to make two. And a liquid one." Jaune recognized from the tea Neo gave to Ruby.
"It's not much, but we can work with it." Jaune finally said.
"How long would Nikos be on our side?" Ironwood asked.
"I- I'm not sure, something felt off about her, we can talk like old times, but when the brothers are mentioned, her eyes became greener than usual." He said.
"What about Ozpin, did you find him?" Ruby asked.
"No, and Salem's agents also disappeared without a trace." He sighed.
"On a happier news, I'm happy to announce that our system are completely changed, Watts won't be able to crack our security, and if he tries, I'll have his location in a matter of minutes." Ironwood scroll buzzed for a second, he looked at it and smiled.
"Looks like the Ace-Ops are coming back with the item of interest." Jaune smiled.
"Great, Salem doesn't have much left to defend her, the sooner we deal with her, the sooner we can stop Pyrrha and Ozpin."
Note: nothing much, I love the chapter where I can write emotion scenes, which is why Curse of time was my fav fic to write, although I definitely need to rewrite it because of grammar mistakes I made.
Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, not much fight compare to the last one but hey, we got JNPR back.
Please leave a review, I very much appreciate all the reviews form the last chapter, really made me smile.
Free Palestine.
And goodbye.