Ch. 76 To remove the wizard
Oscar reeled from his outburst against Ozpin. To his credit Oz did stop and retreat into the depths of Oscar's mind.
Not that anyone particularly noticed Oscar's current state. Everyone was too focused on the impossibly happy Qrow, including one set of eyes that no one else noticed.
On top of one of the ceiling beams above the arena, hidden in the shadows, was a spider, one made of metal, its mechanical eyes watching and its microphones listening.
Once Jaune and Qrow finally stopped their spar.
"Jaune?"
"Oh what is it… Oz?"
"Just Oscar right now… Ozpin kinda retreated into the back of our… no, the back of my mind." Jaune frowned at that slip of tongue, but nodded.
"So what do you need?"
"I… ok this is probably going to sound bad. I want to use the question."
Jaune folded his arms.
"You're right, that does sound bad Oz."
Oscar sighed.
"I'm not Oz… not yet anyway and that's why I want to ask the question. I want to get Ozpin out of my head. Permanently. I don't want to become another Oz in the line."
"Is Oz listening right now?"
"I don't believe he is. I… he said something that made me snap out at him and he ran away for now… He's probably aware to some degree but I don't think he's listening, no…"
"Okay, well, I won't let you ask the question… not yet anyway. Ruby and I have been looking into an idea of sorts… well I think we'll have to put our notes together on this and come up with something. Don't get me wrong, you have every right to ask that question, it's just… I'm not certain Oz would let you do whatever Jin suggests. Let me think about it for a while, like a day or two and I'll get back to you on that."
"...you really mean that… you've already been thinking about this?"
Jaune cringed a little at Oscar's hopeful expression. He got it though. To Oscar, every day counted.
"Not… not exactly. It was an idea that we've had for a while. A particular piece of Atlas tech we believe Yang was coerced into using to become half of what she is now…"
"Fall…" Oscar guessed
"Yeah. I think we can do it though. Just… let us think about it for a bit. We have a thing we're doing for headmaster Verdant tomorrow, come find me after that. We'll have something then, and if not it'll become priority number one I promise."
"Jaune?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks…"
"Don't thank me yet. Thank me after we manage to do it."
And with that Jaune left Oscar standing in the arena as he rejoined Ruby and Qrow, quickly mentioning the need to focus on the problem to Ruby before leaving the area entirely.
Unbeknownst to all four of them however, the spider drone scurried elsewhere as well, the hands behind it having heard all.
=O=O=O=
The next day Ruby and Jaune sat in their teams room, getting ready for the task at hand.
"So why do you think the headmaster asked us to do this?" Jaune asked as he tied the laces of his winter boots. It was already spring and he would have to get some new clothes soon, but for today it would still do.
"A few reasons probably… I mean we did kinda come out of nowhere and the rumour mill is hard at work speculating you know…" Ruby answered Jaune's query.
"No I mean, why do this at all, surely the prospective students already here are kinda already dead set on becoming huntsmen, how would our spar deter them or change their mind or whatever he said he wants to achieve?"
"Well it's a make or break thing as I see it. Sure seeing us do battle could break their spirit if they think they could never approach our level, but what happens to them if they believe they can?"
"Oh I get it, so it's an inspiring the troops kinda thing?"
"I mean, yeah? Though I can't help but be a bit nervous…"
"Nervous? Why? You've performed in front of way more people than this."
"It kinda comes down to a chain of power. Almost everyone knows Pyrrha as the Invincible Girl and also knows that Yang is her partner, equal in power. The recordings of them sparring at the gym are all over the net… And then you come in and manage to beat Yang in a public match. People don't really know what I'm capable of, but I'm Yang's sister and your partner, so people assume I'm on par with the both of you…"
"And you are, though I dare say you're more effective against Grimm." Jaune smirked.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"
"That I'm gonna wipe the floor with you unless you give it your all." Jaune patted her on the head as she was still sitting down lacing up her much higher combat boots.
Ruby huffed in annoyance, a fire lit in her eyes, her anxiety gone for the moment.
=O=O=O=
As Jaune entered the arena, he surveyed the young faces around him. It was hard to believe that it has only been a little over a year since he embarked on his own journey to become a huntsman.
As Ruby stood before him, the Crescent Heart of Rose in hand Jaune remembered his first step on his own journey. His spar against his father.
He smiled as he spoke up for all the arena to hear him "Atra Aurora!"
He took his blade in hand with a flourish, the very same movement he used back when he first met Ruby Rose back in the Beacon gardens.
He could see Ruby narrow her eyes as she mouthed the words "Don't you dare." to him.
"I wouldn't dream of it." he mouthed back as their Aura got calibrated to the arena and their profiles showed up on the display above the arena.
A countdown started and both of them took their stance.
The start signal rang out and a timer started counting down, and in that moment both shot forward.
While Ruby's semblance assisted acceleration was a gentle affair, Jaune reached speed through brute force, cracking the ground where he stood.
As the two weapons clashed a clear ringing sound of metal impacting metal resounded through the arena, silencing the crowd. Jaune felt the weight of the impact as Ruby used the gravity dust alloy in her scythe to amplify the force behind it.
Then in a move he was so familiar with she pivoted the blade from his parry and jumped while pulling the trigger. Lunatum Cor Rosae's propelling firing group sounded out and catapulted Ruby into the air.
Jaune smiled as he forced his legs to do the same, jumping to meet her in the air before she could accelerate into her downwards slash.
He could see the surprise on her face as their blades met. Both Jaune and Atra Aurora were bathed in the white gold fire of his Aura.
Suddenly Ruby understood why Jaune fought her with only his first sword. This was Jaune the huntsman at his strongest. It wasn't the clever mechanisms of his weapons that allowed him to meet her blow for blow, it was his Aura. And that was what the prospective students needed to see.
Ruby pulled the trigger multiple times in a row, skillfully manipulating her aura to decrease the weight of her scythe as she spun three hundred and sixty degrees to accelerate her blow, only to increase the weight behind the impact at the last moment.
Jaune had no way to dodge. He could only block with his sword before the force flung him into the ground.
As Ruby landed on her feet gracefully, Jaune rolled on the ground before sticking his sword into the ground and sliding back in a crouch.
As he stood back up, they both used the distance they had to look over and gauge the reaction of the crowd. Ruby smiled as she saw the many wide-eyed people her age talking animatedly about their performance.
Jaune noticed something more important as his eyes met with Oscar's eyes. There was a girl next to him animatedly talking to him, looking over at Oscar periodically. He wanted to be happy for Oscar, but a slight frown made its way onto his face as he realised what may have been the trigger for Oscar forsaking Oz.
When Jaune turned back to Ruby he noted she followed his gaze to Oscar too, a slightly concerned expression marring her face. They nodded to each other and went back to the fight.
This time Jaune made the first move, charging at Ruby. Instead of one large impact, he attempted to outmanoeuvre the larger warscythe. This forced Ruby to switch her weapon into its compact form and parry Jaune's strikes with the bayonet.
That wasn't to say Ruby wasn't doing any damage. In her skilled hands the weapon rang out with gunfire at every opportunity, and though only some hit Jaune, the damage she was able to deal to him was nothing to scoff at.
Despite the Aura monitor showing Jaune as clearly winning, He was losing enough Aura that if she was against a huntsman with a more average aura capacity, she would have won a long time ago.
Finally, as the countdown neared its end, it was time for a flashy finale. With little concern for her remaining Aura Ruby unfurled her weapon and used her semblance to accelerate each individual slash. Jaune meanwhile used his Aura to stand his ground and tank the damage. Despite locking the majority of Ruby's strikes his Aura was declining to the point where it reached just below half of the bar by the time the gong announced the end of their match.
As both bowed and waved to the crowd, Jaune looked over at Oscar. He was smiling, as the girl next to him shook him by the shoulders and asked all sorts of questions.
Jaune too smiled, his determination renewed.
But for now, he'd give Oscar a few hours to enjoy himself. It would be a shame if he lost sight of the goal in pursuit of the means after all.
=O=O=O=
A few hours later Jaune approached Oscar. The bright blue haired girl was nowhere to be seen and Jaune couldn't help but wonder if Oscar spent the time since the exhibition match fruitfully.
"Oscar, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Oh… Me or…Oz?"
Jaune knew what Oscar was getting at. Oz was here, or at least more aware than last time.
"You Oscar, it's about what we talked about earlier, just listen to me for a bit and I'll explain what I know. I think you already know a lot of this but…you should hear it out anyway. Oscar, Oz is slowly killing you. Not intentionally, I get that. But I see it better than the others. Because of my large Aura and my experience with working with souls. I can practically see the two souls within you." Admittedly that was a bit of an exaggeration on Jaune's part, but he could indeed feel them to an extent. "Ozma said you'd eventually merge, I don't think that's the case anymore. Might have been at first but his soul is old and doesn't change easily. Yours does. With every day, every hour you're turning more into him, and he's not getting anymore you that he was when he took residence within you."
"You're right, I think I already knew that. One more reason to hurry up."
Jaune nodded, now understanding the main reason Oscar had. It wasn't a bad reason and Jaune would be a hypocrite if he thought so.
"Okay, here's the important part. I think I might be able to remove Oz from you. Relocate his soul into a different container. Preferably one not occupied by someone else. We already dug up the Atlas tech that can do something similar so this should work."
"How soon." Oscar asked with a seriousness and sense of urgency that didn't fit a boy his age.
"In a few weeks, maybe a month. We already have a plan for the container and we're almost certain we can remove him, now we just have to build it. Though I suppose if we had access to an object with a piece of Ozma's soul it would help."
"I… wait, Ozpin's back. He wants to speak to you." Oscar's expression changed from hopeful to concerned.
"That's fine."
Oscar closed his eyes and when he opened them they had a golden glow to them.
"Are you sure this is wise?" Oz spoke through Oscar.
Jaune took a deep breath, this part was critical. If he couldn't convince Oz to go willingly it could get difficult to accomplish their plans.
"Look, I'm giving you a chance to be housed within a similar receptacle to the one developed by doctor Polendina. I take it you're aware of the nature of his daughter Penny Polendina… This is a chance to not only free Oscar but also prevent you from being crammed into the head of other people for at least a few generations. And once the container breaks it is very likely your curse will consider you dead and just cram your soul into another man. I'm offering you a break from ruining lives."
"It is risky." Oz protested, but there was a want in his voice. Jaune knew he almost had him.
"If we fail you will just reincarnate again. And if you don't then you're finally dead. Your curse would be broken."
"I don't deny that freeing me from my fate is something I desire. But the fate of humanity is on the line here."
One last push.
"So we'd have to take care of ourselves, it's not like you've been all that helpful recently. I don't judge you for what you did. But you have to realise that Salem is a bigger problem now than she used to be. Your methods no longer work. When Beacon fell that was the moment you should have taken this war public."
"And how do you propose I do that?" He was incredulous, yet curious. A good combination, and an opportunity for Jaune to sink his claws in.
"To become what you are. You're a relic from the age of gods. So sell yourself to the public as exactly that. I'll design the receptacle in such a way to mimic the relic of knowledge. We tell the public that it is ancient and that the soul inside it has only recently been uncovered. Then we connect you to an android body. You'll be free to lead the war against the Grimm and Salem out in the open."
"Indeed that might be a plan."
"Then are you on board with being removed from Oscar?"
"Yes."
A victory for Jaune and more importantly Oscar.
"Though, you mentioned a receptacle that already had a piece of me inside… I may have an idea, unfortunately it is not currently in my possession."
=O=O=O=
Author's note:
Admittedly, there is a lot happening kinda at once at this point in the story. There's Jaune's plan for new weapons, Oz and the Relic, Verdant and Haven, the Spiders and Salem's faction, and all of these are kinda happening at once. I've chosen to focus mostly on the stuff Jaune is directly involved in for now though.
The next chapter is going expand on some of the stuff that wasn't in focus this time around.
As for my personal life, I'm house-sitting for my parents currently which made my commute to work significantly longer, but what can you do ey?
But hey if you want to support me you can do so on P a treon . com (slash) OlympianScribe
Anyway I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter: Ch. 77 Bloody curiosity