"Let me get this straight. Magic's real."
"Yeah."
"Ozpin, the guy in my head, is an immortal with the ability to reincarnate in another person's body."
"Correct, Miss Xiao-Long."
"And he's like this because the Brother Gods, who also exist, cursed him because he couldn't stop the Queen of the Grimm, who is also immortal."
"That's the short story."
Yang frowned. "And what does this make me? Just his 100th-something body?"
Taiyang cringed. "... Kinda." He admits, but quickly goes to reassure her. "It's not like Oz is anymore important than you, but-"
"Don't beat around the bush, Taiyang." Glynda says, ever the professional. "What your father is trying to say is that we need Ozpin, now more than ever. Beacon's fallen. The CCT is down. The kingdoms are divided. We were lucky that Miss Rose had frozen the Wyvern back at the tower, otherwise Vale itself would have fallen as well."
"What?"
"Miss Rose has her own secrets, Miss Xiao-Long."
"Don't tell me she's magicky too..."
Ozpin's silence was telling.
"So what, you want me to go find Salem and take her down? I'm not exactly armed and ready." Yang says, waving her stump.
Taiyang hid his smirk at the pun while Goodwitch sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and showing an extraordinary amount of patience.
"Of course we're not asking you to fight Salem yourself. We-" Glynda paused for a moment. "-have no idea what to do." She admits.
"Huh?"
"Funnily enough, we haven't actually... fought Salem." Taiyang butts in. "Sure, Qrow spies on her from time to time-" Uncle Qrow's a spy? "-but all we ever really did was... prepare for the worst."
"I suppose I must take some responsibility for that." Ozpin says, only heard by Yang. "I was always so focused on keeping the peace that I haven't really thought of Salem doing something right under my nose." He sighed. "It was foolish of me to think that I was the only one making a long term plan."
"In other words, we're inexperienced." Glynda says. "Ozpin always said he had a plan if something like this were to happen, although it was vague."
"Well? Do you have a plan?"
"Yes, but may I have the room for the moment? I need to speak to them."
"What do you mean?"
"... I'll be borrowing your body." Sensing Yang's panic, he quickly continues. "It would only be for a moment, and you'll still be around, I'm just... Taking the wheel, as you say."
"... Alright. Don't do anything stupid."
Yang suddenly closed her eyes, and-
-Ozpin opened them, Yang's eyes now a shade of green.
"Oh man, this is weird..." Yang mutters, now a disembodied voice.
"Again, it's only temporary, and I will always ask permission."
Ozpin then looks back to the pair in front of him, and smirks. "Taiyang, Glynda, so good to see you again." Ozpin says, using Yang's voice. It was quite jarring, really. Yang's voice didn't change, but the tone and way of speaking was very Ozpin-like.
"Gah, how do you make hearing my own voice sound weird?"
"It really is you." Glynda says, suddenly leaning into the chair looking much more tired than before.
"Hey... Oz?" Taiyang looks uncomfortable. To be fair to the man, his daughter is now his boss, in some sense. "Oh man, this weird..."
Ozpin chuckles, but then his smile quickly fades. He faces the two of them now, serious. "I must look for the maidens and make sure the relics are still out of Her reach." He explains. "Particularly Knowledge and Destruction, they're the most vulnerable right now."
"That's quite rash." Glynda states. "She wants the relics. The attack on Beacon proves that. Isn't it dangerous?"
"I have to agree Oz. I mean, Knowledge doesn't have any questions for the next hundred years, right?" Taiyang asks, frowning.
"... Yes." Ozpin says after a slight hesitation. "But a hundred years isn't very long for Salem. Anyhow, Destruction doesn't have that sort of limit. We need to make sure that the relics are safe where they are, and move them if they aren't."
"How about us?" Taiyang crosses his arms. "You don't expect us to sit around while you and Yang go off saving the world, right?"
"You and Glynda must stay here." He answers back, looking up at Taiyang. It was hard looking professional while you're shorter. "Beacon still needs to be cleared of the Grimm, and you're two of my finest students. I'll contact Qrow after I..." He looked down on Yang's one hand, clenching it into a fist. "Get into shape."
"Gee, thanks Oz, not insulting at all." Yang says, her tone making it obvious she was joking.
"We both know it's true." Ozpin shoots back, a smirk blooming on Yang's face.
Yang was finally back in her body, lying on her bed. Today was... exhausting.
"What's on your mind?"
Yang stares up on the ceiling. "... I'm not going to be around for long, aren't I?" She mutters quietly, but Ozpin hears it all the same.
"... How did you find out?" He asks, his voice carrying a tinge of guilt.
"Your thoughts are my thoughts, remember? And you always sounded so damn guilty, like you were feeling sorry for me. At first I thought it was because of you butting in my privacy or being apologetic about suddenly being in my head, but now..." Yang trails off. "Does dad know?"
"No one knows how my curse exactly works, just that it's random. So, no." Ozpin was silent for a moment. "Do you want to tell him?"
"Honestly? I have no idea. It'd just worry him to death." She sighed.
"... You're taking this extraordinarily well."
"Maybe it just haven't hit me yet." She laughed hysterically. "I'm basically going to die."
All was quiet for a moment.
"Fuck it." Yang mutters, looking over at the prosthetic beside her bed. "How long do I have?"
"I... don't know. The merge is slow. It depends, really."
"Right." Yang sits up, grabbing the white prosthetic.
"What are you doing?"
"I've wasted too much time, staying here and feeling sorry for myself." She stands up. "I guess me finding out I'm dying was the slap in the face I needed to get up."
She looks at the metal arm in her hand.
"If these are gonna be my last days on Remnant, I might as well make the most of it."
Taiyang was tending to the garden. Goodwitch had left yesterday, still needing to defend Beacon from more Grimm. She did assure him that she'll be back, as soon as the Grimm have been thinned out a bit.
He sighed. While he was glad that Oz was back, he was worried about Yang. Is she ready to fight? Has she recovered enough to fight a war that's been going on for centuries?
He heard the door open as he was watering the sunflowers, and looked over to see Yang, wearing her prosthetic and looking at the metal fingers as she moved it. Blue eyes met lilac.
"You sure you're ready firecracker?" Taiyang smirks, hands on his hips.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Yang smirks back, both metal and flesh fingers curling into a fist.
"Alright then." Taiyang says, going in a fighting stance. "Let's begin."
"... You're not going to tell him, are you?"
"No. I'm not going to tell any of them."