Blood.

That would be an accurate way of describing the scenery. Lots of blood scattered all over the ruins of a sacred hall. All over the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling is painted by this unmistakable scarlet, the stench of metal and decay everywhere, and in the center of this blood drenched hall were two individuals.

Two people, also drenched in the vile red liquid, had their blades drawn, ready to lunge at the target in front of them.

The two opponents stared into the eyes of each other, violent blood red orbs in a sea of ebony sclera stared at the silvery white eyes of the other. Their clothes torn, ragged, and bleached with blood. Both combatants stared and waited for the exact moment to strike.

"Why?" asked the male. "Why did it have to come to this, Ruby? When did you lose your way?"

"Silly Jaune... this is my way. I just haven't noticed it until I killed that cinder girl. You should know, you watched the whole spectacle." the girl named Ruby answered.

"That doesn't explain why you killed everything! What happened to the sweet innocent girl we all knew?"

"That girl is DEAD! Just like those weak beings you call friends, and soon you'll be joining them." as Ruby said this, her voice was getting more and more warped and demonic.

"Stop it Ruby, I know you're still in there! This isn't you, it's Salem that's controlling you."

"I just told you that girl is gone. I may have failed in controlling Cinder, but this girl is a lot more... persuasive."

"All the more reason to stop you here and now!"

One second she was staring at the male in front of her, and before she finished a blink Jaune was nearly in front of her, ready for a downward slash. Leaping out of the way just in time, Ruby readied her scythe.

"Why'd you do it Salem!? Why did you force Ruby to kill everyone?! Even her own sister... what was the point?" Jaune demanded as he rushed forward again.

"This world belongs to darkness. The more malevolence is spread, the more this world becomes mine. And there's plenty of said malevolence when people die, even more so from those they cared about. And there's just a certain satisfactory to betrayal that I find delicious." at this point Ruby's voice was replaced by another woman's voice entirely.

"So all of this was some sick way to get you off?! You're an insane bitch!"

"Such vulgar language boy! That's a bad word to say Jauney." Ruby said in her original voice.

"Don't even try to trick me Salem. I'm taking Ruby back! one way or another!" Jaune's hand glowed white, then the light seeped through his arm, and poured into his blade, which in turn extended into a two handed claymore.

"My, my. It's not every day I see aura manipulation of this caliber." the demonic voice returned. "How exactly did you have time to develop this little trick of yours?"

"I had time to learn a couple of things on my way here, such as..." suddenly Jaune faded into a blur.

Behind her, the male slowly sheathed his sword, not looking back at the foe he cut down. "How to do that."

Screams of pain and agony erupted and echoed throughout the hall. The lone male turned around to see his opponent on one knee, gasping in pain.

"That was a cheap shot, and I was caught off guard. Something that won't happen aga-" she dodged another swing and retorted with a roundhouse kick.

"You villains just don't shut up, do you? If video games have taught me anything, especially a certain game that I won't mention, it's that you always take an opening."

"You... YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME!?"

"Might as well be. That goal is simple. Kill the final boss-" Jaune raises his hand and the white glow of his aura appeared again. "...and I win." the glow intensifies, then compressed into a tightly packed star, and with a slight push, Jaune launched it.

She managed to dodge the star, only to get blasted by another one. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to dodge that one, and crashed into one of the pillars of the hall.

I am so glad I mastered that move, I didn't need that to backfire... he thought.

"That was for Ren!" Jaune rushed to Ruby and decked her full force in her stomach, making her cough up blood. "That was for Nora!"

"Why...WHY... WHY WON'T YOU DIE!?" Ruby kicked Jaune away and reached for her scythe that she dropped earlier. With her murder weapon in tow, she rushed forward, closing the distance she made from her earlier kick.

Inches before she hit her target, she felt a powerful force repel her, or specifically her scythe. The scythe tried to fly away from her arms with her struggling to handle it. She turned to Jaune, and found that his hand was outstretched towards her. He was the one who is making her scythe fly off.

"How are you doing this!?" she screamed. "You never had a semblance that does this! How are..."

"Pyrrha." he cut her off.

"Pyrrha? The girl that Cinder killed? What does she have to do with... no... nononono you didn't. You couldn't have..."

"I don't know how... but I do know that she is always beside me."

(Flashback)

A younger Jaune was looking around in the ruins of beacon, specifically, his old teams dorm room. He had discovered that there were some secrets that survived, and was hidden behind the rubble. Some secrets were the hidden entrance to the catacombs below the destroyed school, and an old tome hidden in what used to be Ozpin's old office, which he left, thinking that it was not important.

He later discovered the room he was searching for, or at least what's left of it. The room was completely ravaged. After several minutes of him digging through the remains, he nearly came up with nothing, but he then noticed a tiny black case, hidden under the floor. He collected the cased and looked inside.

Inside the case was a star shaped locket with his family sign on one side, and his partner's sign on the other side.

"This was probably Pyrrha's work. It has her sign on it." said Jaune.

Yes, it was, and it was for you... a female's voice echoed in his head.

"WH-what was that?! Show yourself!"

I wanted to give this to you to show you how much I love you. But I knew that it wasn't complete... so I gave everything into making this. My heart, my soul, and all of my love, all inside this one little locket. My dear Jaune... I love you, and I hope that we could be together soon...

"P-Pyrrha? Pyrrha is that you?! Wait don't go! I don't want you to... leave me again..." Jaune started to sob uncontrollably.

Hush now Jaune... my time is short, but remember this... with these gifts, I will always be with you... in heart and soul... goodbye... my lovely... Jaune...

The voice disappeared, and the locket opened up, revealing a floating heart the same size as his hand, that was glowing in a dark red. The heart slowly moved towards his chest, and slowly flowed inside him. Inside, the heart touched his white heart, and both merged together, emitting sparks everywhere.

When Jaune snapped out of his stupor, he looked overhead just in time to find that some of the roof broke off, and was heading down with the intent of squishing Jaune. He let instincts take over, and raised his hands to stop his inevitable demise.

Only it never came...

He opened his eyes slightly, only to look in shock when the ceiling was floating inches from his head. Upon closer looking, he noticed that there were metal pipes connected in there, and they were glowing a faint red. His eyes slowly drifted to his hands and found that they too were glowing the same color.

"How is this possible?" he asked himself. After a full minute of thinking, he decided to leave it be, unknowing of the silhouette of a certain Spartan's shadow phasing into his own as he walked away.

(Flashback end)

"You...you did a soul resonance... by ACCIDENT!?" Ruby/Salem was screaming now.

"Soul resonance... so that's what it's called. Well whatever it is, I now have Pyrrha with me because of it, and with both of our souls combined, I will defeat you!"

"Impossible! The only ones who can resonate with a soul these days are the calamity eaters, the silver angel, and... Light...bearers..." Salem/Ruby was starting to appear hesitant, but unfortunately for her, Jaune caught on.

"Light bearers, huh? Just the name drives you up a wall... I wonder if I'm one of these bearers. Well then, shall we test that?" Jaune advanced towards her, while Ruby/Salem was instinctively stepping back.

"No...No...nonononoNO Impossible! All of the Light bearers died out in the invasion of Arcadia!"

"Too bad my family went to vale for a few weeks before that tragedy, by the way, that's kind of a dick move you know?"

"S-stay away from m-me! Stay b-back... "

"My my, do I spy a touch of fear in your voice? I did didn't I? This light bearer stuff must be pretty powerful if is making you piss your pants."

"D-damn...DAMN YOU!" she tried to attack with an overhead slice.

Miss

"What's wrong Salem? Ran out of quips to lash out at me?" Jaune asked as he dodged the obvious attack.

Miss

"Or is it that you've finally experienced true fear? I can never really tell..."

Miss

Miss

Miss

"Huh, never knew the creator of fear and calamity could feel fear. How's your own medicine taste?"

"SHUT UP!"

Miss

Miss

Miss...Miss...Miss...Miss...Miss...

"Well I think it's about time to end this. this is just getting sad now..." after the next dodge, Jaune jabbed Salem/Ruby in the face, " that's for Weiss..." a kick to the crotch, "that's for Blake..." a sucker punch to the face that's launched her into the air, "that's for yang..." a forceful drop kick followed, sending her crashing face first into the floor, a crater forming underneath. "This feels nostalgic, huh crater face? That was for everyone you killed in this little game of yours..." a white sphere formed in Jaune's hands, though he didn't notice it. "This ends now Salem!"

"D-damn...DAMN YOU!" Salem screamed as she coughed up blood. Black aura slowly formed around her and compressed into a black orb, slowly expanding into a reptilian shape.

"This is for both Ruby and Pyrrha, now take all of this!" the sphere now expanded into a large 4 pointed star, easily being ten times his size. "Everyone who died at your hands, all of those who suffered because of you, all of that will come back full force! Prepare for your RETRIBUTION!"

"DIE!" both said simultaneously. Salem launched her final attack, while Jaune threw the star of light. Both clashed and struggled for what felt like eternity, but seconds later, the shuriken gradually overpowered the dragon shaped blast. Before she even had a chance to realize it, the light shuriken sliced through her blast, utterly destroying it, and hit its intended mark...

BOOM!

The result was an explosion that destroyed most of the hall behind her. Jaune landed on the ground with a thud, savoring the silence that echoed the now decimated hall, until he heard a small whisper. A whisper that sounded a lot louder to him

"t-thank you..." said the voice, and with that final breath, she fazed away, leaving behind rose petals, black dust, and a glowing red heart.

Soon after, the heart began to fade as well. But it was for naught, for the male scooped up the soul and rested it against his chest. The red heart phased into his body and took refuge in his heart like the first heart did.

"It's okay rubes, you're safe now." Said the male, and he continued to the end of the hallway, exiting where a worn down door was once was.

Little did he know that a shadow of a mysterious figure followed afterwards...

"Come on out, I know you're there who ever you are." The male announced.

Jaune Arc... is that really a way to greet your superior?

"... what the... who are you! And what do you mean by superior?!" the now named Jaune exclaimed.

You mean you really don't remember my voice? You sir have a failing memory, something that might be beneficial to you.

"Alright cut the crap, man. I don't know what you're on, but I'm not going to stand here and take your insults. I have a world to rebuild."

Before you go, answer me this; if there were a way to stop this before it began, would you take it?

"...yeah, why?"

And what would you say if I told you that I know that way and how to execute it?

"what are you-... *sigh* I'm listening."

...well I might as well tell you this now because I heard you don't pay attention well...

"Hey!"

Mr. Arc, in case you don't remember me, I am your headmaster, or was the headmaster by the looks of it

"WHAT! No way! I heard what happened to you! Ozpin's dead."

But what you don't know was that he had a curse on him. I have a curse on myself. As long as negativity and malevolence exists, then I cannot truly die normally. I'm one of few people who are unwillingly linked to an old prophecy, and you just destroyed the only other person with the capability to lift my curse and finally put me to rest.

"Okay, hold up, I have so many questions right now. What do you mean 'can't die'? And don't get me wrong, I still have doubts, but why do you sound... younger for some reason?"

I had to reach you some way, luckily I had a little help...

A teenage boy emerges from the shadows, wearing a dark emerald trench coat, black slacks and dress shirt, and silver hair.

I can assume that you've met Oscar Pine, am I correct?

"Hello Jaune." Oscar greeted.

"Oscar?! wait... before, you had a different voice... did-"

No I haven't possessed him. My body may have died, but my soul went into another.

"Um... Alright, not the craziest thing I've ever seen. So what is your special way?"

Have you ever heard of Null dust?

"No."

Null dust is an extremely rare type of dust that's theoretically lost to time. However I know what it is and how to get it. It is said that Null dust was the most powerful of all the types since it can not only amplify normal dust significantly, but by itself, it has the power over time and space. Most couldn't find this dust from mines and other normal methods, the dust can only be created by a total of two or more different souls.

"So that's why you're telling me this, because I have ruby's soul?"

Precisely, now if you want to do this time reversing method, you must acquire a total of 8 souls, so you will need 6 more...

"Make those five more souls. I have another one."

Really, Might I ask who?

"I have Pyrrha's. Salem was flipping out over something called soul resonance."

... Soul resonance...so you must be a light bearer then. It's been a while since I've met one of them.

"That reminds me. How do you know all of this? And if you know all this crazy shit, then why the hell haven't you done anything about it?"

Two reasons. First, I read about it in an ancient tome that I discovered long before I even became headmaster. it explains everything from an era before dust was discovered, in there was an alternate method on killing Grimm, but only three families could safely use this method. Most others who attempted that method either died, got corrupted, or warped into a monster far more deadly than the Grimm. The second reason; if I did any of this, then the timeline would've been in jeopardy again, and that's just putting it lightly.

"Again? You know what, that's for later... okay another question. What are the three families, and if you are, then which one are you?"

The three families were the light, dark, and balance. The light bearers, the calamity eaters, which I am, and the silver eyed angels to be precise. Each has something that can let others identify them. Light bearers have large auras and glowing white eyes, the silver angels are always female and their eyes are silver, and calamity eaters have a mark somewhere on our bodies. Unfortunately I may have passed it on to poor Oscar here, meaning he now shares the burden of my curse.

"Hey it's not that bad. I just need to add some flavor into the Grimm." Oscar reassured

"Wait, what?!"

Yes Jaune I eat Grimm. They serve as an alternative for what we usually feast on.

"How... why... wha..."

I have to have some private time where I satisfy my curse's hunger.

"...okay moving on...where's the mark?"

Oscar, turn around and take off your coat please.

"Oh, um o-okay." when he took it off, Jaune could see a blackish purple symbol consisting of Nine pentagrams, each one having slight differences.

"Huh, you know you could've just passed it off as a badass tattoo or something ri-"

Jaune you're testing my patience. Do you want to perform the reset or not!?

"Okay, okay! So... how do I do this... reset?"

You must absorb all of the other souls. That will grant you the ability to make the Null dust needed for the technique to work.

"Wait, so that's it? I don't do some satanic ritual or something?"

No, the dust is the product of the resonance between the combined souls. The stronger the bonds, the more you can create.

"Wait, how am I going to do this? I only have a total of three souls." Jaune realized.

"Don't worry, that's why we brought these with us." Oscar pulled out a large container behind him, inside contains five glowing hearts of different colors, floating around the glass.

In this tube contains the souls of Ms. Xiao-long, Schnee, Belladonna, Valkyrie, and Mr. Lie. Before they died, Salem left, not knowing that we were not far behind, we managed to save your friends just before they actually died... and before you ask Jaune, a person only dies when their soul fades away, the body doesn't really matter

"Oh... well then here goes... one more question? is there anything I should know off before I do this?" Jaune asked.

Well there are a few side effects to the reset, but they're only minor, however I can't guarantee exactly when you'll be sent back. Also, beware of multiple resets, it creates paradoxes, however my last gift will probably aid you with that. Oscar, the tome.

"Oh right... its right... here." Oscar fished out a thick, notebook sized book from his coat, and handed it to Jaune.

"Alright, I think I'm set." he walks over to the five hearts, and opened the lid, peering inside. "Hey, everyone. Long time no see... now the whole gang's back together..." and now Jaune practically sobbed over the five souls, which made them float upwards to the sobbing blonde's chest. "with all of your help..." the purple heart phased in, "we could do this all over again..." the green and orange hearts phased in after the purple one, "except this time, I'll make everything right..." the yellow heart phased in, "and i promise that this time, our ending will be a happy one." the pale blue heart phased in last, and with that a white light enveloped Jaune.

When the light died down, and when it did, Jaune emerged as a new person. His hair grew into a long ponytail that reached his thighs, but rolled around his neck as if it were a scarf, his torn clothing replaced with a black, sleeveless jacket, a white whirt with his insignia in the middle, pants that reach towards his knees, which are covered by black leg guards black sandals completed the look, which made him take a resemblance to a ninja, and his sword and shield/sheath was on his back. But the most noticeable things were the pair of rainbow colored angel wings on his back, the two crescents of the same colors forming a double halo above his head, and his eyes, which had a pitch black void of scleroses with pure white pupils illuminating the voids of his eyes.

"So this is the power of soul resonance? It feels... nice, like a group hug."

"Jaune, is that you?!" Oscar rose out of his stupor.

yes, that's Jaune, now Jaune, listen to what I'm about to say, when you reset, try to find me, and tell him that the game has reset. He'll take over from there. Now repeat after me. pater et mater, spatium temporis in nomine meo petetis, et non avertet faciem terrae in Apocalypsi, et quod habet auferetur ab impiis animam mundi casus inferioribus auxilio. reset hoc abs te ...

"pater et mater, spatium temporis in nomine meo petetis, et non avertet faciem terrae in Apocalypsi, et quod habet auferetur ab impiis animam mundi casus inferioribus auxilio. reset hoc abs te ..." when the last word escaped his mouth, a giant glyph with a clock symbol appeared below his feet. The clock hands going counter-clockwise at blinding speeds, and everything went white. Before everything phased to black, Jaune heard one last thing from Ozpin.

Please don't commit the same mistakes I did, you only have one chance...

Ugh... what... happened? Why do I feel... wait, someone's talking

"... Congratulations... beautiful... joy..."

"Our beautiful twins..."

...wait...TWINS!

and that's it folks. i read a review from a guest named lightningstrife, and he gave me the constructive criticism i needed. so i plan on combing through the chapters to make them better, i have more art content on my tumblr page called shakalos, so if you want to see more, then you can go over there.

and with that, i'll see you all in the next chapter.

TBC...