"The Tale Of Jaune Arc" : An ArKos fanfic! (AU)

The Tale Of Revelations (Part 2)

Jaune's shaky hand slowly reached out towards Nora. His eyes widened as his hand came closer. He suddenly jerked his hand away, almost feeling.... somehow unworthy to even come closer to his friend. 

He was losing it. Every thought in his mind was that he was responsible, that even if she'd been healed, it would still be his fault. Everything was his fault. Always. 

Unbeknownst to Jaune, a dark color was leaking into his left eye, slowly crawling and consuming it. Another tear fell as his mind fell even further into his negative state. The darkness had consumer his entire left eye now. 

Deep within his mind, he knew that Nora would die if she didn't receive help. He knew that if she died, it would be his fault and he'd lose not only Nora, but Ren as well. Then he'd be all alone again. 

His arms wrapped around his head, unable to process anything at all. 

 "I can't do this." Jaune said as he suddenly began sobbing. 

"Yes, you can." A voice in Jaune's mind said to him. Suddenly, as if magic was involved, the darkness that had been creeping it's way throughout all of his eyes suddenly halted. His sobbing slowed down, his senses focusing around him. No one was near, besides Nora of course. 

But what surprised Jaune the most was that the voice he had heard came from someone who couldn't have possibly said anything to him at all at that point in time. 

"Pyrrha!?" Jaune exclaimed.

---

Ren leaped from the bullhead, landing in the plain that was surrounded by a forest. From the air, his sharp eyes had spotted a blood trail heading into the forest. He quickly followed the trail, eventually finding Nora's body. 

Her wounds had been healed, supposedly. The blood was most likely hers as there was no corpse near and Grimm blood evaporates when it comes into contact with the air. 

"Nora!" Ren shouted as he knelt down beside her. She was unresponsive, but Ren knew she was fine. 

Mainly because she was snoring soundly, something she only ever did when she was utterly comfortable. 

"Nora." Ren said as tears  suddenly swarmed his vision. The sound of a stick breaking suddenly caught his attention. Within a fraction of a second, Ren had pointed Stormflower at the sound only to find Jaune. 

"Jaune!?" Ren exclaimed. In Jaune's hands was his bloodied shirt. It took Ren only a moment to connect things in his mind. Jaune's bloodied shirt yet untouched body, Nora's wounds missing despite the blood trail. 

"Hey Ren. Been a while, huh?" Jaune greeted. 

"What happened here?" Ren demanded. 

"I..." Jaune paused, closing his eyes. 

"I don't know. When I got here, she was unconscious and bleeding. I used my aura to heal her and then my shirt to clean up the blood on her. I just came back from an Atlisian military camp that was completely destroyed by the Grimm." Jaune replied. The last half of his statement was true. He had gone back to the military camp, but he knew exactly what had happened. As the sun rose, his memories had returned. He remembered it all, his attacks on Nora, the sound of her bones breaking underneath his grip, but what stood out to him the most was that, besides a few yelps of pain, she was only asking him to stop. She didn't even defend herself. 

She had just wanted to talk. 

"You left her alone!?" Ren seethed. 

"Please, just take her and go. I'm not sure if I healed her entirely." Jaune said, much to Ren's confusion.

"You don't want to come back with us?" Ren asked. Jaune shook his head. 

"I'm beyond saving." Jaune said as he turned away from Ren. 

"What do yo-" Ren started before the intruder's words suddenly returned to him. 

"Having more than one person around will... make things catastrophic." 

"What happened to you, Jaune!?" 

"I... I'm not sure." Ren glared at him before tossing a scroll at him. 

"Nora and I are the only contacts on that scroll. It's an older version that I used. Keep it." Ren said. 

"Thanks." Jaune said as he glanced at the scroll. 

"One more thing Jaune." Ren said as he lifted Nora, carrying her bridal style. 

"What?" 

"Your mother payed us a visit." Ren said noncholantly. 

"What!?" Jaune said as his head shot upwards. 

---

Salem smiled. Everything was going according to plan. Then again, it always did. 

Soon, Jaune would destroy Atlas. Every kingdom and every human would be under her beck and whim. 

And all it took was reminding Jaune of his mother. 

As long as she didn't interfere, everything would be fine. Her plan would completely overturn Atlas, however if the witch ever appeared once more her plan would be foiled.

Speaking of the witch, should Glynda Goodwitch ever appear she would have to deal with her herself. 

However even she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to take on the Goddess of Space and Time. 

---

"What do you mean by that!?" Jaune shouted. 

"She fooled me. Disguised herself as Nora, sent Nora to you, and then fought with me." Ren said, revealing a bruise on his right arm. 

"That can't be." 

"Why?" 

"Because I buried my mom years ago." 

"So who attacked us then?"