I hope you'll forgive my delay. Adulthood is always complicated, but I will never abandon the sweet taste of adolescence through our beloved fanfics. Please enjoy.
Late at night, Oscar finally came home, tired after a long day at work. His body and aura were spent after a whole day practicing and demonstrating different uses of magic. He crawled upstairs, noting that Aunt May was not in her room. Exhausted, he took a moment to remember that she would spend the night at her boyfriend's house, Beryl Willow. This meant there was no food waiting for him in the fridge and he would have to get his own dinner. Sighing, Oscar placed an order for a nearby restaurant through his scroll while the tub was filled. Soon he sank into the hot water of the bath and allowed himself to relax as his mind wandered.
Six months have passed since the end of the Great War. Autumn came and went, giving way to the cold of winter. Still, Remnant never stopped. Destroyed buildings were repaired and new buildings rose every day. The academys themselves and their huge campus were already more than halfway to their old glory. Houses that lost their former owners in the war now accommodated new families in the face of a strong migration from the outside into the realms.
Oscar himself settled into his position as an academic professor of Magic. His first students returned to their kingdoms, but were immediately replaced by others. Every day they wrote theses about their discoveries of magic. They wrote schoolbooks for future classes that would be compulsory in public education and preparing new teachers.
Even magic was beginning to settle in people's lives. Oscar saw few chimneys spewing smoke, for magical fire had become a common practice. Some workers, on the docks or buildings, carried large loads in the air with ease. Little by little the world adapted to the new way of life.
But accustomed did not mean comfortable. Oscar had imagined that his popularity and his friends would fall over time, but he could not be more wrong. He was often invited (almost pressed) to attend interviews and talk shows. Jaune was stamped on the packaging of a morning cereal and Yang in energy drink commercials. Weiss had become the propaganda girl of her county, being invited to be the face of informational commercials related to magic.
It was a normal life, with daily highs and lows, and yet Oscar felt himself living in a Utopia. For years he doubted that these days of peace would come. He was so sure that he would be one more of Ozma's souls, and to his surprise, he became the last. His sleepy mind wandered into those dark days, sinking into memories.
- Ozpin, how exactly our souls are going to 'combine'?
Oscar admired the view of Atlas, protected from the cold wind that roared outside through the window. It was late at night and everyone was asleep. Only he remained awake, his mind too filled with doubts and insecurities to be able to rest in peace. Then he'd descended into the living room, where he would not disturb his roommates with their mental conversations.
In those moments Oscar could almost see Ospin in his reflection in the glass. His expressions, his moods and even his mental voice became more obvious, more different from his own.
- Like I said, it's a long, exhausting process. - Ozpin said with a resigned, sad sigh.
- But how exactly does it work? - Oscar pressed. Both remained tense for a long moment, while Ozpin chose the words he wanted to say.
- The process of integration begins the moment I reincarnate. The beginning is always the same: fear, doubts, constant concern for one's own sanity. Fortunately, we did not take long in this situation. There was a person, centuries ago, that I could never convince him that he was not crazy. He was completely convinced that some grimm had possessed him. - Oscar trembled at the memories that Ozpin let slip along with those words. - It was dark times. It was believed that discipline and self-flagellation could purge the body of evil and prevent grimms from approaching. I tried to stop him several times from hurting us, but one day he went too far and I was reincarnated again.
- I'm so sorry. - Oscar murmured.
- It was a long time ago, but thank you anyway. - Ozpin made the equivalent of a mental cough to compose himself and continued. - After that, we've reached the 'recognition' phase, so to speak. That's where we are now. We learn about each other. Our desires, dreams and goals, as well as our likes, dislikes and mannerisms. At some point, we will have learned everything we could over each other and our conversations have become less and less frequent. It will not be necessary to ask, for we will already know exactly how the other feels.
- That does not sound too bad. What next? - Ozpin sighed.
- It is at that moment that the assimilation begins. Because our minds are so similar, we end up deciding the same thing without thinking. Our tastes stop colliding: if you do not like coffee, but I absolutely love coffee, over time the stronger feeling will prevail and you would feel my satisfaction in drinking coffee instead of your own distaste. Barriers begin to become thinner and we begin to find it difficult to define where one begins and another ends. - Oscar swallowed, but Ozpin kept talking. - When someone calls your name, I answer the call. The 'you' becomes 'us' in time and then 'we' becomes 'I'. Who controls the body becomes irrelevant, since both would use it in the same way.
- I understand. - Oscar leaned his head against the glass, letting the cold cool his skin. - I always imagined that I would just ... disappear. But now I understand that when you reincarnate again, part of my personality will continue to permeate you.
- Yes. - Ozpin agreed. - I have always reincarnated in similar minds, as the god of light has established, but this does not mean they are same. Like Ozma, I've been a lot more foolish. Like Oswald, I've been completely in love with Remnant's women's love, like Osborne ...
- Wait. - Oscar interrupted, physically spreading his hands so that Ozpin held the reins of the conversation. - You were a casanova?
- Oswald was VERY attached not only to the pleasures of the flesh, but to the adventure of conquering a lady and causing her to fall in love with him. I believe it was the only time I could describe one of my companions as a narcissist. - Ozpin sounded exasperated, and that made Oscar laugh. - I was no stranger to being described as 'gallant' or 'gentleman,' but that was too much. This trait of Oswald was so strong that I think it took another two reincarnations to finally be able to look at a huntress wearing a short skirt without immediately being plagued by libidinous thoughts.
Oscar even pulled the air to question what he meant, just to hear Ozpin's measured and indignant response and have fun with it. But Ozpin's indignation was enough to make his memory grow. Oscar remembered what it was like to be sitting next to a woman close enough to feel the heat of her skin. The euphoria of imagining what kind of expression that stern woman would look at him if he slid his hand under the table and squeezed the firm, soft flesh of her white thigh ...
- Were you THAT kind of guy?! - Oscar exclaimed, suddenly surprised and shamefully excited by the feelings and sensations that the memory passed to him. Adolescents, after all, are easily 'impressionable'. - Thank the gods that you could curb that kind of thinking.
- I could curb that kind of thinking in my next incarnations. Ozpin corrected. Oscar could feel that he was as uncomfortable as himself. - But Oswald was not a man that just think.
- Please do not tell me he really did it...
This time Ozpin purposely pushed the memory back to Oscar. The red and astonished face of a beautiful blonde woman, twisted in fury and outrage. The memory had a sense of satisfaction and victory to take such expression from such a cold woman.
- I hope you guys got a pretty slap for it. - Oscar shook his head.
- A punch, actually. Followed by several others, I must add. This little event gave me control over our body for several weeks, since I refused to talk to Oswald for a few days because of it.
Oscar laughed and they remained in a comfortable feeling for a few moments. But soon Oscar felt that Ozpin was restless. He waited, knowing that soon the former director would say what he had in mind.
- I was analyzing our situation. He finally said carefully. - Integration should have begun, at least in its early stages, but it is not our case. We understand each other, but our thoughts and feelings remain apart most of the time. Personal.
- And you think you know why.
- Yes. Look, never before have so many people at the same time learned of my reincarnation, and few of those who knew have done so before the integration took place. Miss Rose ... - Oscar was startled by the mention of Ruby in the matter. - became careful to refer to both of us and this habit spread to all others.
- You're right. Everyone says 'Good morning Oscar, Ozpin' in the morning. I remember one morning when she was responsible for making breakfast and she handed us a cup of coffee with milk. She said 'I know you do not like Oscar coffee, so I prepared it with milk ...'
- 'So you and Ozpin can reach a middle ground'. - Ozpin completed mentally. - That's exactly the point of my theory. We are constantly being treated as different people, so it is more difficult for our emotions to blend. For example, strong emotions such as admiration and affection would be the first to 'leak' and begin to affect me, but you are managing to keep them almost completely away from me.
- What do you mean by that? - Oscar asked, feeling his own face warm and Ozpin's low-pitched laughter echoed in his head.
"I meant, by my calculations, we do not have to worry about it in the near future.
Oscar awoke from his memories and stepped out of the cold water from the tub. In the end, they never had to worry about losing their identities. Ozpin's memories became his over the years, but even the feelings being so vivid, they never felt as belonging to him. Even if weakened, the barrier that defined the boundaries between Oscar and Ozpin never fell.
The doorbell rang downstairs as Oscar dried, so he just slipped his legs into pajama bottoms and walked downstairs with the towel over his shoulders, still thinking. There was no doubt that Ruby was responsible for remaining faithful to who he was. Whether she treated him as an individual or the fact that he himself so fiercely guarded his feelings for her against Ozpin. Those teenage feelings that had just matured over the years were the one thing Oscar would never share with anyone.
Opening the door, Oscar almost fell back in surprise. Instead of the deliverer a semi frozen Ruby Rose was standing on its mat. She had snow trapped in her hood, sad eyes and a forced smile on her face that made Oscar's heart sink into his chest.
- Hey, Oscar.