Porting this over from SB. This is compatible with the Glynda timeline.
Keeping His Word
Glynda Goodwitch knew that Jaune Arc was dead. She knew it as soon as she saw the profound sadness on Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie's faces when they greeted her at Atlas Academy's landing pads. The feeling was only confirmed when she saw the despair in Ruby Rose's eyes when the normally energetic young woman took her aside to tell her what happened. It was a cold feeling that crept up from her stomach to ensnare her heart in icy thorns. She wasn't sure what it was just yet. Not quite grief, or sadness, or fury. But something that had elements of all three.
"I'm not sure how much anyone told you," Ruby began, her eyes averted. "But, w-we were... we were-"
The young woman's face crumpled and the tears she'd been holding back finally spilled free. "I-I'm so sorry Professor! I pr-promised I'd keep him safe and I failed you! I'm s-so-" Her sobs were muffled by Glynda's embrace.
The Professor had never been the maternal type but even she couldn't help but comfort the crying young woman. "Shhhh, Ms. Rose. It's not your fault. I should never have made you promise that. I knew exactly the kind of self-sacrificing fool that Jaune was. It's not your fault."
The girl cried for a while longer, and Glynda briefly felt resentment that she wasn't free to cry in the same way. It seemed that there were a lot of things that Glynda resented. The fact that she had been left with the mess of rebuilding Beacon after it had been reclaimed from the Grimm. The fact that Leo Lionheart turned out to be a traitor and James Ironwood had died and Theodore was still holed up in Shade and Qrow was useless, leaving her in charge of their little conspiracy by default. The fact that Oz, a man she had trusted implicitly for the majority of her life, had been lying to them about Salem and was now in the body of a child who could barely use his knowledge or powers. The fact that she had been forced to hide her relationship with the man she loved because of her station.
The fact that the love of her life was gone and she couldn't allow herself to break down into tears like she so desperately wanted to.
Ruby's sobbing subsided a few minutes later and Glynda offered her a handkerchief while using her Semblance to clean the front of her shirt. Jaune had always found it amazing that she had fine enough control over her Telekinesis to use it for cleaning clothes.
"T-thank you, Professor," Team RWBY's leader hiccuped, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have done more."
"I know you, Ruby Rose," Glynda intoned. "And you're likely taking on more blame than you deserve."
"It doesn't feel like it," the little reaper replied gloomily.
"In that case, tell me what happened," the older Huntress ordered. "And I will decide."
The tale that Ruby spun was harrowing, a desperate battle to save the Kingdom from the forces of Salem. How James had led the airfleet in a desperate defense against the invading Grimm in order to buy time for Mantle to be evacuated to Atlas. How Penny Polendina had suddenly become the new Winter Maiden, allowing them access to the Staff of Creation. How they used the Staff to create a portal network to ferry the citizens of Mantle directly to Atlas only to be ambushed by Cinder Fall and her followers. How the ensuing battle had pushed their teams to their limits, until it had just been the two Maidens standing, both on their last legs. How the Fall Maiden gained the upper hand and all had seemed lost.
How Jaune, her Jaune, broken and bleeding, had impaled Cinder with the shattered remains of Crocea Mors and taken her with him as he tumbled into the void.
As Ruby finished the story, Glynda found that she was right. Ruby couldn't possibly be responsible for the foolhardy decisions Jaune made, and she told the girl as much.
Ruby's eyes narrowed. "He saved our lives! That wasn't foolhardy at all!"
"Yes, he did," Glynda readily agreed. "That stupid, brave, fool of a man saved all of you because he would give his life in an instant for the people he loved."
Her mind flashed back to that day three years ago when he'd saved her life. When Jaune jumped in front of a blade for her. How, even missing an eye, he'd smiled up at her as she'd clutched him to her chest.
"Worth it," he'd whispered through a mouth full of blood.
She left the memory behind and refocused on the young Huntress before her. "Know this, Ruby Rose. Jaune did what he thought was right and there's nothing you could have done to stop him. Mourn him but do not dishonor his sacrifice by blaming yourself." Glynda's eyes stung with tears she'd never let fall but her voice held steady.
Ruby looked as though she'd break down once more but she rallied herself with admirable control and nodded to the Headmistress. "I-I will! I swear I will."
Glynda gave her a thin, brittle smile. "Good." She turned on her heel, ready to get back to work. The relief forces she'd brought weren't going to lead themselves and she'd be damned before she let General Schnee take command.
"Professor," the young Huntress called out. "I think you might need to-"
"Mourn? Believe me, Miss Rose, I am."
She left, ignoring the way her heart wanted to tear itself in two. Another memory arose, unbidden, of Jaune the night he'd left for Mistral. Of his scarred face and shining blue eye and crooked grin. Of the promise he'd made, to come back to her.
She smiled bitterly and murmured under her breath. "So much for an Arc always keeping his word."
Glynda Goodwitch was about to die.
She could feel the certainty in her bones, just as she could feel the fire of the venom racing through her veins. One hand pressed against the puncture wound in her side, the burning purple liquid oozing from it staining her blouse. The other hung over the shoulders of Ruby Rose as they fled through the cave complex where the Summer Maiden had been hiding.
"Professor, hold on!" The red-cloaked hubtress pleaded as she helped the older woman hobble along. "We're almost there! Just a bit further."
Glynda laughed, letting the hollow sound ring through the cavern. "I.. appreciate... the attempt... Miss Rose," she gasped, before taking a deep breath. "But we both know you're lying. Leave me. I've been poisoned. I'll only slow you down. Get the Maiden out of here."
"No! I won't leave you!" Ruby cried, her face, illuminated by the light from the holes in the cave's ceiling, twisted in anguish. "I won't let anyone else die for me!"
"Miss Rose... Ruby... please."
The girl... no, the young woman, her silver eyes shining with tears, continued to pull Glynda along, steadfastly refusing to leave her behind. "I made a promise! I won't let you die here!" They were almost at the cave entrance; she could hear the whine of the airship's flight systems powering up.
"Oh Ruby," Glynda murmured, raising her hand to caress the younger Huntress's cheek. The poison must have been getting to her, she'd never been the kind to show affection like that.
"Very inspiring, Ruby Rose!" A sibilant voice hissed from behind them and Glynda's heart sank. "Unfortunately, my Goddess would be incredibly displeased with me if I let the two of you go."
"Callows..." The Professor hissed. She didn't need to see the assassin to recognize that voice. "Ruby, you must leave."
"Ah ah ah," the scorpion Faunus chided, his voice moving closer. "I just said 'the two of you.' I'm afraid that-"
Glynda did not care.
"I'm sorry, Ruby," she whispered, and engaged her Semblance once more, powering through the burn of the venom. She grasped the young woman with her mind and, with a mighty exertion, threw her clear of the cave.
Without Ruby's support, Glynda fell to the stone floor with a heavy thump. She could have caught herself, but there was something more important she was using her Semblance for. Tendrils of psychic force wormed through the stone over the mouth of the cave and, with a flicker of thought, the Professor brought it all down.
Ruby's cry of despair upon realizing what Glynda had done tore at her heart.
The collapse of the cave mouth almost deafened her and the resulting dust cloud obscured everything and provoked a coughing fit. Her mouth tasted of iron. She was barely able to see the sunlight pouring through the cavern's skylights. Her vision was starting to dim.
And then something slammed into the puncture wound in her side, finally shattering her Aura and drawing a scream from her throat. Suddenly, she was able to see just fine, the pain and adrenaline driving all the fog away. Callows kicked her again and she just barely avoided vomiting from the agony. Curled up on the ground, she was too weak to defend herself from his attacks.
"Very noble, Professor." Tyrian drawled. "Sacrificing yourself for the greater good. But I'll just chase Rose down once you're dead. Really, I should just go after her right now. You don't have much time left."
Glynda took a ragged breath. And then another one. "You won't," she rasped. She had to keep him distracted, keep him focused here. Every second he wasted was another second Team RWBY and the Maiden could use to get away.
The psychopath tilted his head, curiosity flashing across his face. "I won't what? Find the little bitch and pluck out her eyes?"
A hot flash of fury spiked through her skull, providing some clarity. "You won't leave me to die just like that. You want to see me suffer."
Tyrian smiled. "True. Alas, the commandments of my Goddess take precedence." He raised one of his blade gauntlets. "Apologies, Professor. I don't have time for pleasure today."
Glynda refused to close her eyes, staring her death in its cruel, cruel face. So this was how it ended. Her eyes began to well up but she refused to let the tears fall. She hadn't cried at Jaune's death and she'd be damned if she cried at her own. Instead she smiled, and Tyrian paused.
"Not the most common expression I see on my victim's faces," he said, perplexed. "Got something to be happy about, Professor? Was life really that miserable?"
"You wouldn't understand," Glynda replied.
The assassin tilted his head, pondering the response, before realization illuminated his features. "Ahhh, I see. You have someone on the other side you're eager to see again. Someone you love. I understand."
She scoffed, the sound thin and scratchy. "You're already going to kill me. You don't need to lie to my face."
Tyrian grinned, wide and manic, and clasped his hands over his chest. "Oh, but I do understand! That person who you love, who occupies every corner of your heart, who you would die for, who you would kill for. I know exactly what that's like, Glynda Goodwitch. And, from the bottom of my heart, I hope you two are reunited." He raised his blade once more.
That was when the space behind Tyrian twisted and severed, forming a churning maelstrom of light. The psychopath whirled on his heel, guard raised and tail poised to confront this new threat. The strange and ethereal light collapsed inward into a flat oval, taking on a golden hue in the process. It looked like... a portal.
And out of this glowing portal stepped salvation. The figure was tall and broad-shouldered; a knight clad in rusty metal plate, broken blade and shield in hand. A single vibrant blue eye peered out of the darkened visor, alighting upon her.
Clearly, the venom had hallucinogenic properties because Glynda couldn't come up with a single better explanation for why she was looking at the godsdamned Rusted Knight of all things.
Tyrian seemed to be just as confused. "... I truly do not know how to respond to this."
"Don't worry about it," the armored figure replied, his deep voice echoing out from his helm. "You're not long for this world anyways."
"Oooh, confi-" That was as far as the assassin got before the Knight was upon him.
The ensuing battle was a testament to the skill of its combatants. Back and forth they fought across the cavern, tearing gouges into the floor and walls the just the wake of their attacks. The Rusted Knight kept up with Tyrian and seemed to even exceed him at times. Tyrian was fast, but the Knight was resilient, and more than willing to take a hit or two if it allowed him to land a devastating blow in return. The scorpion Faunus tried multiple times reach out and use his Semblance, but every time the attempt was thwarted by the Knight's careful deflections.
Despite her wounds and the poison, Glynda couldn't help but be absolutely entranced. She knew that Callows was a deadly fighter, one of the best in the world from how Qrow described him, but this Knight clearly matched, if not outmatched, the assassin. Something about his fighting style was oh so familiar. It held hallmarks of some basic sword styles she was familiar with, but refined and polished to near-perfection and deadliness. Like seeing an adorable puppy grow up to be a fearsome wolf.
At no point was the Knight ever on the back foot. At no point did he tire. She could see Callows growing short of breath and slowing down as the fight progressed. He may have been a deadly killer but the Rusted Knight was something else entirely. He took the measure of his opponent, found them wanting, and then, with the utmost care, destroyed them utterly.
The first thing that went was Tyrian's tail, as the Faunus overextended a strike. The Knight pinned the cybernetic limb under his shield arm, struck it twice, breaking the psychopath's aura. The third blow from the broken blade sliced through the metallic scorpion tail entirely, a shower of sparks and purple liquid spraying through the air.
Callows howled and spasmed in pain, leaving himself open for the Knight to take something else: the assassin's eyes. A slash from the broken blade across his face left a bloody ruin behind and only intensified the screaming. Screaming that cut off a moment later as the Knight buried his sword in Tyrian's throat.
It was breathtaking.
Oh, no, that was the poison.
Glynda gasped for air and the Knight was suddenly there. He, ever so gently, took her hand and warmth flowed into her body. She could feel the Knight's soul, his courage, his determination, as it wrapped around her own and bolstered it. Her Aura reformed and replenished, the puncture wound in her side closed, and the burning from the venom subsided.
But it wasn't any of those that left her speechless and stunned.
It was the love. The absolute, unending tide of love that this man, the Rusted Knight, felt for her. An incandescent light summoned from his soul for the express purpose of restoring her.
And in that moment, Glynda knew who was under that helmet. Of the one person who loved her so deeply and truly that he had, apparently, come back from the dead for her.
"Jaune." She whispered, wide green eyes staring into the single azure orb underneath that helm.
"Heya Glyn," the knight replied almost sheepishly, and Glynda could hear the familiar voice of her lover under the echo and gravel. "Sorry I'm late."
That was what he had to say!? He came back from the dead, killed a deranged assassin, saved her life and the first thing out of his mouth was 'Sorry, I'm late!?"
Well, she had known he was an idiot when she fell in love with him so she supposed it was her fault really.
Glynda flared her Semblance, telekinetically pulling herself to her feet. Her savior did the same and the Professor could see that he now towered over her. His shoulders were broader and his limbs thicker, as though he had finally finished growing.
She wasn't sure where to begin. Perhaps with the most pertinent part though.
"Take off your helmet," Glynda ordered, as the emotions within her began to churn. Fear, joy, anger, love, and disbelief went to war within her heart and the only thing she could do try to make sense of what was happening.
The Knight hesitated and icy fear began to win. "Glynda, I'm not so sure-"
"Please," she whispered, cutting him off. "I felt it when you healed me but none of this makes sense. Please Jaune, I need to see it with my own eyes."
"... Okay," he agreed, and began undoing the straps that kept the helmet secured to his head. "It's just... gonna be a bit of a shock."
"Why? What happ-" Glynda trailed off as the Knight's face was revealed.
It was another impossibility heaped on top of the pile. It was definitely Jaune, she was intimately familiar with his face, but changed. His long hair, tied in a warrior's wolf tail, was streaked with white, as was the full beard he now sported on his face. Age lines creased the skin around his mouth and visible eye and new scars crossed his face. A plain red cloth was tied over his missing eye but the other one, despite the weight she could clearly see behind it, shone as vibrantly as it had the day they had parted.
"How? Wha-what happened?" Glynda whispered, her initial shock fading.
Jaune swallowed, his gaze filling with pain and suddenly far away. "I fell. Out of this world and into another one. A place beyond time. I don't know how long I was there. I just knew, one day, that I mistook my own reflection for my father's." Tears began to flow from his remaining eye. "The world I found myself in was... insane. The normal rules of reality just didn't apply there. More than once I thought I was losing my mind. But then I remembered." His gaze refocused on her. "I made a promise. One I almost failed to keep too many times. And that kept me going, every time I though I was lost."
He reached out and took her hand. "I promised I'd come back to you." He smiled a soft smile and whispered, "I did it, Glyn. I made it." The tears flowed steadily and Glynda found that she was crying too.
"I'm sorry it took so long-" He began and Glynda immediately cut him off with a growl.
"Don't you dare apologize!" She clutched his gauntleted hand tightly. "You made it back. That's all that matters."
"But-" this time, she silenced him with a kiss, soft and sweet. He tasted like iron and salt.
"You came back to me, Jaune Arc," she whispered when their lips parted, leaning her forehead against his. "You kept your word."