Chapter 7: Someone Remembers Oz Part 3

Ozpin took a sip of his hot chocolate. He was about to read another boring report when his scroll rang.

"Hey Oz, got a minute?" Said the voice of his one and only field agent. Ozpin mused briefly that he needed someone else not tied to an academy to work for them.

"That depends, how important is this?"

"'We've got memories of the future' important."

Ozpin frowned, now interested.

"Memories of the future? Time travel?" he asked.

"Yeah, something like that."

"How can you be sure?"

"Jimmy here also remembers."

While he has not experienced time travel before, Ozpin was not one to dismiss new claims without verifying them first. Especially when such a claim was done by his inner circle. Thousands of years of experience have only taught him how little he knew about the world.

Ozpin ignored the impossibility that is Ironwood being in the same room as Qrow. There would be time for teasing later.

"I see," said Ozpin as he put down the school's budget report. The purchase of critical supplies and medicine will have to wait as well. "Tell me what you remember."

Qrow told him the events that lead up to the Monstra exploding.

"And that's it, Oz, you remember anything?" Qrow asked. Ozpin could hear someone shuffling their seat next to him.

"Who's with you, Qrow?"

"Would you believe me if I said it was Jimmy's ice queen?"

There were a few indignant shouts in the background.

"No." Said Ozpin. "And why are you revealing dangerous secrets to someone not in the fold?"

Qrow chuckled loudly. "Ha! Me neither. But unless I'm hallucinating, they were definitely at the bar with me."

"Are you telling me–"

"No, no, we're in Jimmy's office now."

Qrow took a drink. "Ice queen senior here also has memories of the future. Not a lot, but enough that she knows about our little group."

Ozpin could hear glass shattering. Qrow must have dodged something thrown by the older Schnee.

"Poor Jimmy got traumatized by his future self shooting a kid with a broken Aura off Atlas." Qrow continued.

"Oscar Pine? The boy that was supposed to be my next incarnation, is that right?" said Ozpin as he took a sip of slightly less hot chocolate.

"Yes…sir," said the General. Ozpin decided not to correct him about calling him 'sir'. "Your death…affected all of us. I could feel my desperation, my isolation. I was scared for the people of Atlas, for myself, for the inevitable when s–, when our enemy got through all my defenses despite everything!"

A glass was slammed on the table.

"I failed them. I failed everyone."

"You have done no such thing, General," Winter offered beside him. "We'll make sure it will never happen."

"I know Winter, I know," replied Ironwood, his voice soft. "I haven't gone mad yet. Not yet. We still have time to avert this."

"Yes, we will make sure such a future will not come to pass," assured Ozpin.

"You really don't remember anything, Oz?" Qrow asked.

"I'm afraid not." Ozpin shook his head. "Whatever magic that my next incarnation did to bring your memories back in time, I was not affected by it. Hopefully, this also means that our enemy also does not have memories of the future."

Despite the sudden dread his companions felt, he chuckled.

"Does that mean there are two of me running around, or did the other Oz merge fully with my next incarnation? The researcher in me is now dying to know."

"That reminds me, Oz," said Qrow, his voice suddenly sharp. It has been years since Ozpin heard him this serious.

"Yes?" he asked, but he had a feeling he knew what Qrow was going to ask.

"What's your plan for defeating our enemy?"

It was such a simple question, but it made Ozpin pause.

Even Ironwood and Winter had grown silent behind Qrow.

Ozpin closed his eyes, memories of a question moving to the forefront of his mind.

He took a sip of warm chocolate.

"I assume that was what they told you when you asked them a question?"

"Yeah."

Ozpin smiled. "Well, this is Plan B," he said.

"Are you telling me maintaining the status quo is Plan B?" accused Qrow.

Ozpin shook his head. "No. Tell me Qrow, compared to our world before the Great War, or even the Faunus Rights Revolution, would you consider it better or worse?"

"Why?"

"Just answer."

A pause.

"It's better, I guess."

"And what is my mission from them?"

"Unite humanity and bring the f–, you know what I mean."

The headmaster nodded. "Exactly. In just a few decades, I have managed to accelerate humanity's progress tenfold and bring them closer than ever to unity."

He took a sip of lukewarm chocolate. "Compared to the thousands of years I have lived, that is practically a drop in a bucket."

He could hear Qrow frowning behind the scroll. "But why did future you say he didn't have one?"

"Future me would be correct, technically, since the King of Vale was the one who made this plan. I'm just moving it along," agreed Ozpin.

Qrow, Ironwood, and Winter were quiet. Ozpin sighed.

"I'm sorry, I admit that I have grown complacent these past few incarnations," he said. "I was hoping to give this generation a chance to enjoy their life instead of living in fear of war, but I suppose such hope is no longer possible. I should not have been surprised that our enemy had made such a bold move."

He took another sip of his room temperature chocolate.

"Thank you for telling me this, everyone," he said. "I promise to do you right. This information will not go to waste. Beacon will not fall."

"That's all we're asking, Oz," said Qrow. "No more secrets?"

"Well–"

"Oz…"

"I suppose I could tell you that time one of my incarnations wrote the Kama Sutra–"

"We are fine, Professor!" Shouted Winter from the back.

Ozpin smiled, relishing these rare moments when he didn't have to think of a coming war. He tried to take another sip from his mug, only to find it empty. He stared at it sadly before getting up to refill his mug.

"I'll write everything important in a dossier later." He promised as he walked.

"You mean you'll have Glynda do it for you," replied Qrow. Ironwood snorted behind him.

"I would also be informing her of what we have discussed here. Two birds with one stone," said Ozpin smugly.

"Oh yeah, Oz," added Qrow. "What's Plan A?"

"A direct assault on the enemy with an army of huntsmen."

"That's a terrible idea."

"That's why we're now in Plan B," said Ozpin. He refilled his mug of hot chocolate and started giving orders. "Now Qrow, you and Amber must go to Beacon at once. I'm sure Glynda will appreciate having an assistant."

"About time," said Qrow and Ironwood at the same time. The sudden gasps and sound of moving chairs suggested to Ozpin that they were just as much in shock as he was..

Ozpin chuckled. "Indeed. I will talk to Theodore and monitor Lionheart in the meantime. After that, Qrow, go to Mistral and look for Oscar…"

He paused.

"Actually, change of plan," he said. "Let me talk to James."

"Sir?"

"Perhaps it was best that Operative Schnee is now aware of our mission," he said. "Would you mind if I borrowed her for our cause, General, as another field agent?"

Ozpin could hear James ask Winter if she had ongoing assignments in the background, to which the woman replied no.

"She is available for missions, Sir."

"Good. James, get in contact with Doctor Polendina, we might need his services soon. Operative Schnee, you will look for Oscar Pine in Mistral. You may use my safehouse in the city as your base of operations. Qrow will tell you the details."

"Yes, Sir," said Winter. Qrow chuckled beside her. Ozpin could clearly imagine her shooting him a glare.

"And talk to your sister," added Ozpin. "If you have memories of the future, she might also remember as well."

He could not hear her, but he was certain Winter hesitated.

"Sir, I don't think she needs to learn about this."

"On the contrary, letting her and her friends know will ensure they don't make any reckless decisions in their attempts to help."

Winter still paused. "I–very well, Sir. I will talk with Weiss and her team."

"See that you do. And Qrow, do the same with your nieces."

Ozpin took a sip of his hot chocolate. He stared at the boring reports he was supposed to be signing and with a sigh, started going through them.

"I'm really glad you guys came back," said Jaune over the scroll.

"Of course," Yang grinned as she and Ruby sat on her bed. "You wouldn't survive a single flight without us, vomit boy."

Beside her, Ruby giggled behind her mouth.

"Haha, yeah."

"So you're in Argus right now?"

"That's right," said Jaune. "Terra and Saphron also came back with us."

He paused. "Uh, Terra is pregnant with Adrian again."

Yang and Ruby gasped.

"What?! Is she okay?!" shouted Yang while Ruby pressed her face against her sister's.

"Physically, she's fine. So is the baby," Jaune replied. A pause. "It's just that, uh, well, waking up with your baby inside you when last night he wasn't was pretty shocking."

"No shit, really?" snarked Yang.

"So I'm here to help out around the house until they get back on their feet."

"Do you know anything about raising babies, Jaune?" asked Ruby.

Yang snorted, sympathizing with her fellow older sibling. She and Jaune had traded tips on raising younger sisters before.

"More than you, Rubes. More than you."

Ruby stuck her tongue out.

"Yeah, I raised my two youngest sisters almost all by myself, when mom and dad were away and Cherry and Saphron were busy with school," replied Jaune proudly.

"Huh, and here I thought you had a normal childhood, vomit boy," said Yang.

"Well, as normal as a family with eight sisters and parents who are always away to get enough money to raise them as can be," said Jaune, shrugging.

"That reminds me, Yang," he said. "You also took care of your dad while he was, well…"

"Yeah, why?"

"Right. Breakfast?"

"Porridge, lukewarm."

"Lunch?"

"Hotdogs. Something easy to eat and makes the lunchbox easy to clean."

"Milk bottles?"

"Ruby wasn't a baby when I started raising her, Jaune."

"Oh, right, sorry. Dinner?"

"Tomato soup. Maybe some bread."

"Chores?"

"Give her the simpler ones, make her feel like she's still doing something."

"School and hospital forms?"

"Already signed."

"Laundry?"

"Use unscented wash."

"Clothes?"

"Let her do it herself unless she was feeling particularly stuck that day."

"Music?"

"Heavy metal."

"Movie night?"

"We watched Dust Wars: A New Hope and Vacuo Jones that one time."

"Hugs?"

"Plenty." Said Yang as she did a one-armed hug on her younger sister, who squirmed under her.

Ruby looked back and forth at Yang and the scroll, confused. The two older siblings ignored her.

Jaune hmm'd. "Thanks, Yang. Here, from one older sibling to another, I'll show you a technique for dealing with…"

Yang turned off the scroll's speaker and put the device close to her ear, so that only she could hear what Jaune was saying.

Yang suddenly looked at Ruby, who blinked. Then her mouth split into an ear-splitting grin. She put the scroll back on speaker.

"Sure, no problem," she said.

"Uh, should I be worried?" Ruby asked.

"Nope," said Yang, whose grin betrayed her utterly.

Ruby started to open her mouth before Jaune started to speak again, making her pout.

"Alright, my flight is almost here. Catch you guys later, Nora and Ren are planning to go to Argus in a couple of weeks. They'll be staying in Ozpin's house in Mistral as a stopover, you guys interested?" said Jaune.

"We'll see," said Ruby. "We're still trying to get in contact with Blake. She's still with the White Fang right now."

"And knowing her, she'll try to turn them around, or at least Adam," said Yang, growling when she said the bull faunus' name. Unconsciously, she grabbed her arm.

"What are your ideas so far?" asked Jaune.

"Well, we have to get in contact with her personally since she'll probably have a different scroll. She can contact us, but we haven't heard from her yet," began Ruby.

"Obviously we can't just stroll through there," added Yang. "Adam's no pushover."

"Maybe you can have Qrow kidnap her?" said Jaune.

The two sisters looked at each other.

"That's…a possibility," said Yang.

"Tempting, but we want to get her out with the least amount of problems," said Ruby. "It would be so much better if the White Gan wasn't working with Cinder."

"Hmm, in that case, maybe the Happy Huntresses can help."

Oscar thrust the stick at Pyrrha's side, the girl sidestepping it before launching her own barrage of attacks.

He managed to dodge or parry them all, but as soon as he stepped back he was shot by Milo's rifle configuration.

The beeping on his new scroll told him that his aura was down to the red, and he allowed himself to fall down to the ground.

"You're not half bad for an eleven-year old," remarked Pyrrha as she took deep, controlled breaths. "I was about as good as you when I was your age."

Below her, Oscar gave her a thumbs up before his arm flopped back to the ground while he panted heavily.

"Though he has some of the muscle memory of a professional huntsman, namely myself," said Oz. "His body is not what he was used to. He will need to train it again to regain his former strength."

Pyrrha repeated what Oz said to Oscar.

"Plus….ha…I have to develop new…skills, too…," wheezed Oscar. "I won't get…the rest…of your…muscle…haaaaa…memory…"

"Speaking of, can you remember anything from my past now, Miss Nikos?"

Pyrrha reached into her mind again, and once more came up blank.

She shook her head.

"So…you're not merging…with him…," said Oscar. "Why…is…that…?"

"I have a few theories, but nothing concrete," replied Oz. "The only thing certain is that this was something caused by the time travel method used by the Brother Gods."

Aunt Pine came to the training yard bringing sandwiches and drinks. Oscar sat back up and the two sparring partners gulped down the offered treats greedily.

"This is delicious, Ms. Pine," said Pyrrha.

"The ingredients aren't as fresh as I'd like, but I'm glad it still came out pretty good," the woman smiled.

"Anything that isn't plucked straight from the ground or from the cow's udders isn't fresh enough for her," said Oscar.

The older woman kicked her nephew.

"Hey!"

"As it should be," she said as she walked back inside the house.

Pyrrha sat on the ground next to Oscar. "I still can't believe you two met the Brother Gods," she said.

"Me neither," he replied. "Or the fact that they aren't alone out there. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes…"

"That's me and his guy here," said Pyrrha while she pointed to her head. "I looked in the mirror yesterday and suddenly I had a voice in my head."

"Ha! That happened to me too!" laughed Oscar. "Oz, has that happened to everyone you've possessed?"

"I believe so."

Pyrrha giggled and stood up, offering her hand to Oscar. He took it and stood back up.

"Take a rest. I'll help your aunt with her gun, first, then we'll work with Oz on your magic," she said.

"Miss Nikos, may I borrow your body for a moment?" Oz said suddenly.

Pyrrha blinked. "What?"

"May I–"

"No, I heard you," she said. "You can do that?"

"Temporarily, but admittedly I have yet to try with you," answered Oz. "I promise it won't be long."

Pyrrha was silent, but eventually relented. Her eyes flashed gold, then Oz's signature piercing stare looked at Oscar.

"At least that particular ability of yours remained," remarked Oscar.

"Hmm." Oz tuned out Pyrrha's endless exclamations and questions, focusing on Oscar.

Oscar brought up his fingers and concentrated. Green sparks emanated from it. A second later, it formed into a small sphere.

Oz tapped his chin.

Oscar let the sphere dissipate.

"Yeah, that's like the only spell I know," he said.

"From that time?" Oz asked.

"Yeah."

"Wait, what time?" asked Pyrrha.

"The future, he was shot off Atlas by someone. With his aura broken."

The girl gasped. "Who?!"

"General Ironwood, I'll tell you about it later."

With another flash of gold, Oz returned Pyrrha's body back to her. She blinked owlishly and patted herself all over, sighing in relief when everything seemed in order.

Oscar smiled at her wryly. "You're too nice, you know that?" he said.

"So my classmates tell me."

"Yeah, me too," said Oscar.

Silence.

Eventually, he and Pyrrha dissolved in a fit of giggles.

Oscar took a breath when they finally stopped. "I need to call someone, you said you were going to teach my aunt?"

"All she needs is a little more practice, really." Pyrrha replied. "She's already pretty good. I'll be with her in a few minutes, but go on."

Oscar nodded. He pulled out his scroll and typed the last number that he had acquired before he went back to the past.

In Beacon, Emerald sat in front of Professor Ozpin when her scroll rang. Behind her, Professor Glynda Goodwitch narrowed her eyes.

"Uh, may I get it?" asked Emerald.

"No funny movements, know that you cannot fool the security camera with your semblance."

"Right."

She pulled out her scroll and saw only numbers on the screen. Frowning, she took the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Oscar Pine. Are you Emerald Sustrai?"

"It's you!" she exclaimed, relief washing all over her. "That boy! Are you okay?! Thank the gods you called when you did!"

"Why?"

"I'm currently in a job interview with Professor Ozpin. He's sitting in front of me right now."

Author's Note: I just noticed that more than half of the scenes in this story are people talking on scrolls.