179

Chapter 179Notes:

Merry Christmas! Start from Chapter 176!

Chapter Text

"There's been no peep out of Salem for months… now I'm starting to understand how Oz must have felt all the time…" Qrow muttered, sitting in the barn that he and Raven used to live in, both him and Oscar sort of on-and-off working to clean up the place- it had been renovated and repaired in the years since the Incident , a clear path blazed between it and the Xiao Long/Rose/Branwen household not more than two or so miles away. 

He remembered those days fondly, when he'd decided to try and make that old home into something he could actually live in even if technically speaking it was, essentially, just the cabin the family used every now and again when they decided to go on a little camping trip in the woods. Ruby had taken to the idea of blazing a trail a little too enthusiastically, ripping up the earth and slicing down trees and splintering the stumps with furious aplomb, playing in the dirt and grass and occasionally picking up random forest animals that she found to show them to the family. 

But that wasn't important now. What was important now was… Oscar. Who was probably going to be living in the house full time until the next semester at Beacon started, at which point he'd commute every now and then to campus whenever he felt he needed to. He wouldn't be alone - Raven had offered to keep watch on him even after coming back fully, and while he didn't entirely trust Raven to be alone with someone that had Ozpin's soul… he had to extend some trust to his sister, probably. 

"He did worry a lot about when Salem was going to attack. This is the most active she's been in decades, apparently. The last time she tried anything was… apparently sending a bunch of assassins to try and take him out?" Oscar shrugged, shaking his head as he fingered a thin lock of white in his hair and frowning as he fluffed a pillow and set it on the couch while Qrow wiped down the thick layer of dust on the dining table. "I hope she doesn't try to kill me."

"Who, Salem or Raven?"

"... Both. Also, that Vernal girl that Raven said she was going to bring over?" Oscar shrugged a little again, then sat down heavily on the newly cleaned couch. Really, there hadn't been much to do with the old barn turned cabin- it had already been refurbished and it was still used every now and again more than once a year, so it was just a matter of clearing out some dust. He shook his head, thinking about the two women he'd be living with- one of whom was Yang's age, the other of whom was Yang's mother. "I'm probably going to have to face it anyway, though. Salem. Right? Because… I'll… be Ozpin one day."

"... Yeah. Sorry, kid." Qrow had no idea what to say- what does one really tell a child who was condemned to having another person's soul slowly take them over? That their days on Remnant were numbered and that they should enjoy their time while they could, that they should spend all their time preparing for their inevitable assimilation into the greater whole that was Ozpin's eternal existence? It wasn't like the man himself was a monster- he deeply regretted every single soul that he reincarnated into, wished that every single one would be his last, remembered their names and carried their memories within his cane. A fresh engraving on the delicate internals every death. The man he knew as Ozpin had an entry in there too, despite being the face that Qrow had known for almost his entire life as a Huntsman now. 

"... Is it… wrong to say that I'm scared of that happening? That… I don't want to be like that?" Oscar asked quietly, looking down at his hands and clothes and grimacing at the realization that his tastes were already starting to shift- from the sturdy, simple work clothes of his life as a farmboy, to something far more extravagant and appropriate to wear as a Huntsman. Maybe soon he'd gain an appreciation for suits and cravats.

…

The predilection towards capes was, oddly, not a thing imposed on him. Everyone knew capes were cool. Duh. 

"No. Honestly, I don't think anyone would disagree with you on this- you were dealt a shit hand, kid. You shouldn't have had to be dragged into this at all," Qrow responded quietly, standing up and moving to sit over by Oscar- the two of them staring blankly at the TV on the wall opposite to them for a solid minute before Qrow shook his head again. "This entire situation is fucked and I promise that the moment everything is over- when we have an idea of what to do, when we know what's going on, that… we'll find a way to fix this. To make sure that Oz gets to rest and that you don't have to lose the rest of your life to a guy that's lived for way too long. Even Oz'd agree to that, I think."

"I would. I'm sorry, Oscar. I am so, deeply sorry for my part in all of this," Ozpin's voice came from Oscar's mouth just then, the faintest glow of his eyes flashing as he spoke before Oscar winced and shook his head.

"Nice to know that the old man literally living rent free in my head is at least sorry about it," he grumbled quietly, sighing as he slumped back down and idly turned on the TV- an older model, it seemed, but one that still worked just fine. He watched mindlessly as the news came on- just a bunch of boring old stuff about traffic jams, thankfully low crime rates, and the fact that the Vytal Festival was moving to Vacuo next year because of the unprecedented interruption to the festivities the previous year. That was nice. Maybe he'd get to participate one day, if he actually kept going with his training. Wasn't like he wanted to go back to the farm, not after he'd already had a taste of life outside that narrow strip of dirt and crops and livestock, not after he'd already gotten into the groove of training to be a proper Huntsman.

If all ended well, Oscar wondered if he'd be able to keep The Long Memory, or if he should consign it to Ozpin's grave, wherever that might be. 

Keep it, a voice whispered in his mind- Ozpin's voice again, coming out of the depth of his soul and giving him a prod of gentle, scholarly approval. As though he were Oscar's teacher or father and not a soul parasite that was eventually going to subsume his existence. Neither Oscar nor Ozpin, but something close to both, but a more perfect fusion of neither.

The thought scared him. Would his voice just go silent one day? Or would he wake up one morning, never hearing Ozpin again until he realized that he was Ozpin now?

The thought was existentially terrifying.

"So… what're you gonna do once the semester starts?" Qrow asked, twirling a pen in one hand that he'd gotten from somewhere, tilting his head as he tried clumsily to change the topic to something less existentially terrible. "Whole lotta nothing to do in this house, unless you wanna spend all your time just watching TV."

"Self study, I guess. Train with what Oz tells me to. Maybe try to pick up something from Raven and Vernal if they're willing? I dunno. I hope they aren't too mean to me… it's not like I could fight back," Oscar mentioned, huffing quietly as he twiddled his thumbs and shook his head a little. "Is it wrong that I kinda wish I could stay with Tai instead?"

"Nah. I'm surprised as you are that Raven offered to keep you company in this shithole of a house, honestly," Qrow shrugged, looking around somewhat awkwardly and making a little huff of discontent at how very clearly the house was just a hastily converted, if rather large, barn. "You don't have to agree, y'know."

"Maybe not, but… I don't know. She seemed kinda… desperate? Like… not in a bad way?" Oscar shrugged again and looked over to Qrow with a bit of trepidation. "More like she really wanted to prove herself that she was committed or… something."

"She's still a huge bitch, you know that right?"

"... Isn't that mostly because you have the most belligerent sibling relationship in the world? I swear, you two have actually tried to kill each other way too many times in the last few weeks…" Oscar grumbled, a flash in his eyes showing that Ozpin agreed… and also that they'd been like that their entire lives- constantly riling each other up to the point of violence and escalating into honor duels that only ended when they either got tired or inevitably got distracted by something else.

"Yeah, well… shut up, kid."

"Pfft- no."

"Ugh. Teenagers."