Author's Note: Hello! Time for a new one shot that was supposed to be done and out on Easter but life has been a mafia enforcer's bat to my free time's knees.
I hope you all enjoy!
A harsh wind swept across the airfield as the aircraft rotated the angle of its propellers to facilitate a vertical landing. Five figures quickly disembarked from the aircraft, allowing it to take flight again. Four of figures, wearing military style uniforms with beanies on their heads and scarves wrapped around their faces, marched along happily towards a cluster of buildings next to the airfield. The fifth member of the group was being dragged by two of the others, his dirty civilian clothes and the mask over his eyes signified him as an unwelcome foreign presence.
"After we get this guy to a cell, get yourself some R&R." The lead figure addressed to the other three, their voice was distorted by a voice modifier hidden in the scarf. "We'll have a squad meet up tomorrow at 1300 to go over the enemy tactics and get our training set for the next week. According to the roster, we aren't on the active list until next Tuesday"
"Aye, boss." The distorted response came from the shortest member of his squad. Strands of auburn hair were partially covering her liquid brown eyes. Her size and eye color would normally make her appear adorable, but the light machine gun she carried in her hands tended to sway that judgement in a different direction. "Looks like someone is here for you."
Following his subordinate's gaze he saw a jeep had pulled up and a MP stood next to it.
"Agent Ocean" The man called out to him. "General Rose requests your presence for immediate debriefing."
"I will see you guys tomorrow." The agent called back to his squad, eliciting affirmative responses from the other three.
"What?" Ocean chuckled as he approached the jeep. "Not gonna hold the door open for me?"
The MP merely gave him a short glare before clambering into the driver's seat of the vehicle as the other man got in the passenger seat.
As they drove towards the administrative building, Ocean pulled off his beanie and stuffed it into his pocket, letting his long blue hair fall to the right side of his head. The mohawk cut and blue dye he used in his hair were not the most abnormal style he had seen on the base, but they had a tendency to perturb the rank and file men and women who helped run the base or served as backup on their missions. Following the beanie, he removed the scarf and voice filter they were required to wear on missions, but left his earbuds in. He rarely took those out. They not only allowed for his team to contact him at anytime via radio, but both quieted deafening noises to a more tolerable level and amplified quieter ones. The latter ability had saved him from at least one assassination attempt.
The ride to the building was short and Ocean jump out of the vehicle before it had even stopped moving, waving the MP off as he walk right in the front doors.
"Agent Ocean, welcome back!" The secretary smiled as the man approached the front desk.
"Good morning, ma'am." Ocean replied back earnestly only to receive a glare in return. "Uh.. good morning, miss."
The second response returned the smile to the woman's face. Smiling back, he tried to walk past the desk into the hallway behind it but the door was locked.
"Identification please." The secretary said gently.
"Aww… come on." The man ran his hand through his blue hair before letting it trail down the shaven sides of his head.
It was a game he played every time he went in for a mission briefing or debriefing. The secretary had to enter a unique code to open the front door but could only be entered after the system had verified the ID of the possible entrant. The goal of his game was not actually to get into the building unhindered. It would be a bad idea to genuinely attempt such an act. Beyond the automated defenses, all the employees that worked in secure areas had more combat training than the average soldier.
"You know I can't let you in if you don't have your ID chip."
"Well, maybe if you gave me your phone number I would remember that fact." He smirked. "Or, if you let me take you to dinner."
"That would be ill-advised." Her eyes narrowed. "ID, please?"
"Fiiine…" He pouted back, handing his ID chip the the woman.
"Who would have thought my day would start with a elite operator whining at my desk." The secretary muttered under her breath, either unaware or not caring that the agent's earpieces would be able to pick up her voice. "Look into the retinal scanner." She ordered.
"Yes, ma-miss."
He looked at the screen of the scanner as his information started to appear on the screen when the scanner recognized his eyes. Agents were supposed to read and verify all the information, but he only ever read the first line before pressing the 'Confirm' button. All the first line read was 'Agent Carmine Ocean. Birth name Mark David.' Upon joining with Eyes of Silver he was required to give up all ties to his previous life, including his birth name and be pronounced legally dead. The agency kept record of the name for proper documentational purposes.
"You are cleared for entry, please leave your weapons in locker 6 and remember to pick them up on your way out."
The blue-haired agent quickly made his way to the locker to store his gear. It was times like these that he was able to appreciate the position those who served the agency had; they had the best gear available to them. Unclipping his rifle first and collapsing it into its smaller close quarters form, he placed it on the magnetic plate on the left side of the locker. The rifle originally seemed like a simple bullpup weapon, but was surprised when the instructors showed him how it could transform into more compact form as as well as a longer barreled marksman's rifle that could rival the range and accuracy of the standard sniper's rifle the Vale military equipped their soldiers with. Taking residence in the locker next to the rifle was a series of different non-lethal grenades; smoke, flash, and his personal favorite, a grenade that discharged arcs of electricity capable of incapacitating anyone who was caught in its radius.
Closing the locker and heading for the secured door, he heard the buzz that signified that the door was now unlocked. As he crossed the threshold into the connected hallway he took a moment to make sure his sidearm and melee weapons when fastened securely. Due to his rank, he was permitted to keep them in secure areas. His melee weapons were ones he had designed himself. On his left hip he had a collapsable baton capable of generating an electrical charge and strapped to his chest was a sheathed knife that could extend into a short sword if needed. On his right hip he carried a standard issue sidearm. The basic sidearm was a logical choice as it was easy to repair, maintain, and find ammo for. He never had much reason to use it, but it was important to have a reliable backup.
Focusing on his task, he marched down the hallway until he found the room he was looking for. It was a small room, square in shape with bare, white walls. The only furniture was a small metal table and a handful of chairs. It looked more like a place that you would hold an interrogation than where a formal mission debriefing would take place. Seated in one of the chairs facing the door was a rather thin and wiry looking man with copper eyes, messy grey hair, and holding a rather ornate coffee mug.
"General Rose." Carmine stated clearly as he saluted the older man.
"At ease." The general responded, motioning to the chair in front of him. "Please take a seat."
The agent quickly say down in the cold metal seat closest to him. In the meantime, the general seemed to relax, folding his hands over each other on the table in front of him.
"There will be no need for a detailed debriefing." The older man continued. "I will get the report later. I just need a brief mention of what happened before we move onto another subject."
"Yes, sir." Carmine responded. "The mission went off without a hitch. We dropped into the Twilight Harbingers' compound at the designated area an extracted our target without casualty. Though, when we assaulted the safe room, there was something odd."
"Explain what you mean by odd, Agent Ocean."
"Well, there were two guards stationed outside the safe room that were wearing unusual combat masks with intricate red designs painted on them. They shrugged off a multiple stun grenades and rounds to the chest as if nothing happened. It took considerable firepower to bring them down. We used enough munitions to take out an entire squad, and one of them even survived it."
The general nodded at the information. The older man's face maintained it calm unperturbed demeanor, as if this was something he had been expecting.
"Thank you, Agent Ocean." He replied evenly. "Consider yourself lucky. Those two were Skull Bearers, elite soldiers for the Harbingers. Just one of them has been known to take down entire platoons of soldiers, even while unarmed."
"That's…" The blue-haired man stumbled for his words. "I don't know if that is more incredible or terrifying."
"It's an equal measure of both, I think. We suspected their presence on the compound, that is why your squad was sent. After today, you and your squad mates will be receiving promotions and being transferred."
"Sir?"
The older man chuckled and took a drink out of the coffee mug he was holding.
"Tell me, what do you know about the Harbingers?"
"They are a bunch of misguided fanatics that base their cult off of a fairy tale." The agent spoke without hesitation, his frustration leaking into his voice. "They steal, destroy, and murder. Supposedly in an attempt to bring balance back to the world, hence their ridiculous name."
"What is your personal opinion on their beliefs?"
"I don't know." The agent sighed. "A terrorist group is a terrorist group. Their beliefs don't change the end goal. Even if their beliefs are true and they can 'reshatter' the moon and return an race of extinct mythological creatures that only exist to kill mankind, their goal is only destruction. Yeah, sure. Twilight Harbingers is a catchy name, but isn't Twilight supposed to be a balance of light and dark? They only want power."
"Crude, but true." The general gave a smile to the agent. "As most know, we receive funding from the four nationstates, so we are obligated to help with their run of the mill duties. But, unknown to most, the Eyes of Silver was created solely to combat the Twilight Harbingers. Known to even less people is the fact that this agency was also founded on a fairy tale."
"What, like the maidens and all that jazz?" Carmine scoffed at the implications.
"Everyone goes for the magical girl stories first, don't they?" The general chided back. "Always seems to be a popular idea."
"Hell yeah." The agent paused for a moment, realizing what he just said and who he said it to. "Uh, hell yeah, sir!"
"That's ok. Tell me, have you ever heard of the story 'Three Demons and a Gemstone'?"
"Isn't that a kids tale meant inspire children to do the right thing and forgive those who have wronged them?"
"Yes." The older man looked thoughtful for a bit. "What is the story about?"
"Well, it about three demons; a golden dragon, a shadow beast, and a frost sorceress who are tasked in protecting a gemstone that supposedly had the power to stop mankind's enemies."
"Again, crude but true. Though, that is just reciting a poorly written title. There was nothing demonic about them. It is always intriguing how history remembers some things."
"So, what is the significance?"
The general looked Carmine in the eyes. "I want you to retell the story to me to the best of your knowledge."
"Yes, sir." The agent took a breath to collect his thoughts. Drudging up memories from his childhood, he began to speak. "Since man's first breath on remnant he was hunted by a race of creatures known as the grimm. Nasty beasts, came in all different shapes and sizes. They were drawn to negative emotions such as hate, fear, and anger.
"When man first tried combating the grimm they were still living in small villages with scarce resources, always warring with and plundering their neighbors. Eventually, in a show of solidarity, and the ever growing desire to avoid extinction, mankind banded together and learned to start mastering their negative emotions and make their lives more prosperous. It was through these altruistic actions that mankind learned how to project their soul outwards to protect themselves and their fellow man from the soulless creatures.
"With their newfound kinship, man made progress and improved their lives while fighting a never ending war against the grimm. They gained other allies too, individuals that could harness their souls to fight the grimm and perform feats of magic. Even with this, mankind could only hold the grimm at a standstill. The harder they pushed, the more the grimm pushed back.
"Over time, mankind discovered an array of gemstones that had a power to push the grimm back. That is when man was finally able to establish its four kingdoms. Mankind became more prosperous and started to turn their attention back on themselves. Safety bred arrogance. Mankind forgot its troubles with the dark creatures and began to war among themselves again. The gemstones that guarded mankind's future began to be destroyed either due to fighting caused by the war, or by those who wished the grimm's return.
"Finally, there only remained one gemstone with the power to turn back the tide of grimm. Small and deep red in color. It was ignored by all because of its size and assumed frailty, until it was found by three demons. All three were from different walks of life, but their paths all converged on that one spot. Awash in the purity and the innocence that the gemstone showed them, they vowed to protect it against the forces that conspired against the world and mankind.
"The first demon was a golden dragon. It became the gemstone's sword against the gathering nightmares; its raging fire scorched all that stood in the gemstone's way.
"The second demon was shadow beast. It became the gemstone's cloak against the evils that sought the gemstone out; its darkened shroud whispered deadly secrets to those who wished to subvert the gemstone's task.
"The final demon was an ice sorceress. It became the gemstone's shield against the waves of darkness crashing down; its icey maelstrom froze all who dared harm the precious gemstone.
"The demons worked to fulfill their oaths. They dutifully protected the gemstone as it used its powers to vanquish the evils of the world. As the stone purged the grimm its energy did not recede, nor did it begin to taint as expected. Instead, with every victory, the gemstone became larger, more vibrant, and grew in power. Capable of pushing the grimm back farther and farther.
"The demons found joy and happiness in their task, but this was not to last. During a celebration of peace, those that worshipped the grimm enacted a cunning plan that turned the kingdoms against each other once more. The outcry of anger and pain summoned an ancient grimm behemoth. Fed by the font of negativity, it began to devastate the kingdom where the festivities took place. As the gemstone readied to face the unstoppable foe, its demons joined it at its side bringing the gifts of courage, faith, and passion.
"The fight between the gemstone and the grimm sundered the area around them. The unyielding forces of the grimm and those that worshipped them slowly broke the resolve of the demons. Courage turned to despair, faith to fear, passion to apathy, and the demons fled the battle. In the end, the gemstone was able to vanquish its foe, but at a heavy cost.
"Despite its tribulations, the gemstone continued forward. It still carried the gifts from its demons, even if they had forsaken it. It gathered more allies around it and went forth to regain its power and reclaim peace for mankind. Time passed and victories were accumulated, but while the gemstone still grew in power, it no longer shined as bright as it did before. Hints of taint started to show in it. If a final victory could not be claimed, hope for mankind may be lost forever.
"The gemstone kept moving forward though. Pressing against the grimm threat, drawing ever closer to its goal even as the taint within it grew. Finally, the root of the evil exposed itself. The queen of the grimm made her move against the gemstone in an attempt to break it; revealing her location but felling the few allies the gemstone had remaining. Everything seemed lost, but this was not the end. For the gemstone still had hope, and that hope called out to all those who cared to listen.
"First, the golden dragon returned. It had heard the call and its courage had been renewed. It fires now longer raged and burned, instead they brought warmth and life. Now a guiding light rather than a blazing inferno, it sought to heal and inspire.
"Next the shadow beast returned. Drawn to the dragon's light, for a without a light, a shadow is just darkness. Its faith had been restored by the gemstone's call and now its shadows were no longer were a dark abyss to be feared. Now they gently wrapped the gemstone as a blanket of peace and solitude, it sought to comfort and soothe.
"Finally, the call reached the farthest demon, the frost sorceress. Her passion now revivified, she returned to the gemstone's side. Her frost no longer mercilessly froze those around her. She saw the taint that had infected the gemstone and brought the stone into her own icy heart, promising to never let anything harm it ever again.
"The demons vowed to once again carry on their task that they had direlected. The gemstone forgave the demons and its innocence could shine brightly once again. The bonds between them were unbreakable and the taint was driven out. At last, it was time to march onto the grimm queen's stronghold and end the threat once and for all.
"The final battle was never recorded, but we see the outcome. Courage, Faith, Passion, and Hope. These live on in mankind, allowing us to progress as a race and eternally keep man's enemies at bay."
The agent took a deep breath after he finished speaking. After a moment he looked to the general expectantly, waiting for a response. The older man's gaze was focused on the mug in his hand. After taking another drink of its contents, the general looked at his subordinate.
"The founding story of agency. It convinced enough world leaders to fund us." His gaze shifted upwards from his cup to meet Carmine's eyes. "How much do you think is true?"
"I don't know, sir. I never thought about it." The agent admitted wholeheartedly and without hesitation.
"Very well." The general's reply was perfunctory. "Please, come with me. We need to discuss your promotion, and the new duties associated with it."
Without a gesture of any kind,the general stood and walked out the only door of the room. The agent swiftly rose to follow him. He was familiar with the general's antics by now. The older man had a tendency to be laconic at times and seemed to expect his subordinates to be able to intuit his commands.
Upon exited the room the duo took a left and traveled down the stark corridor until they came across a bank of elevator doors. The elevators were arranged in a manner that allowed people of various different security clearances to reach the secured areas they were authorized to access while limiting the facilities vulnerability to spies and saboteurs. The general approached the farthest elevator, one the agent had never seen anyone use before, and opened it using a combination of his id card, retinal and palm scan, and a passcode. The general beckoned his subordinate to follow.
The anticipation of seeing a new part of the base pulled at Ocean's focus. He almost missed the fact there were no buttons on the interior of the elevators. Before he could inquire the elevator started to move on its own accord. The agent was surprised that they were moving down, rather than up; as far as he knew, this building didn't have a basement.
"Sir?" He started before the general raised his hand to cut the agent off.
"I would rather show you." The general responded. "It will save a lot of time."
The downward trip only lasted half a minute before the elevator slowed to a stop. The doors silently slid open to reveal a long tunnel. The irregular rocky walls suggested that the tunnel was created naturally rather than artificially dug out. Support beams at regular intervals helped reinforce the structural integrity and various utility cables ran the length from the elevator shafts until they tracked around the curve a dozen meters down the walkway.
Brushing past the agent, the general lead the way down the corridor. As Carmine followed, the older man began to speak again.
"What I am about to show you is our most closely guarded secret. If this knowledge is obtained by the Harbingers, then they will most likely succeed in their task."
"Ok, sir. But what does this have to do with my pr…" Carmine's voice trailed off and the finished walking around the bend in the tunnel.
The tunnel opened up into a large natural cavern that had the same support pillars and beams build into the walls. At the entrance to the large room, the utility cables spread out into a web and fed into multiple different sensors and workstations that were manned by scientist garbed in long white cloaks.
"This has everything to do with your next job." General Rose stated the agent. "Tell me, what do you see in the center of the room.
The agent threaded his way past the workstations and the scientist to observe the center of the cavern. What he saw looked like a scene from a fairy tale.
In front of him, completely motionless, were several large misshapen beasts were posed in various different positions. Some looked as though they were caught in the midst of hunting prey, while others looked as they had been recently attacked or killed. All the beast were dark in color and had a white boney armor and spikes of various lengths jutting out of there bodies. The bone covering the beasts' faces looked familiar, almost identical to the masks that the Skull Bearers had been wearing. Four other figures stood mixed in with the creatures.
Three of the figures looked to be young woman in their early twenties. The first of the three figures was a blonde with long flowing hair that looked to be on fire and brilliant red eyes. She was standing in what appeared to be a boxer's stance and was wearing two yellow metal gauntlets. Her eyes and hair weren't the only unusual things about her, her right arm also appeared to be robotic.
The second figure was holding a cleaver in one hand, and spinning a second weapon around her on a ribbon. On the top of her head, hidden among her black tresses were what appeared to be a pair of cat-like ears. The third figure was a pale girl with pure white hair. Considerably shorter and smaller than the other two and holding a rapier in her left hand she seemed to be rigid, as though focusing on something. Large spears of ice formed a barrier between the girl and the nearest beast.
The final of the four figures was and older looking woman with pale skin and wearing ornate robes. Her eyes a red color as well, but she also various red markings on her face as well. Unlike the other three figures, who looked as though they were participating in combat with the creatures, the older woman was facing a font of white energy and was recoiled in fear.
As the agent took a step forward to inspect the font the general called out to him.
"Do not get close to them. They appear to be enveloped in some sort of energy field." The agent hesitated, but the general continued. "Please, tell me what catches your eye the most, and feel free to speak informally"
Carmine returned his focus to the font of energy and was surprised by what he saw. Instead of a machine or construct, the object standing in the middle of the lashes of light was another girl. Slightly younger than the other three and garbed in a red cloak. She appears to be hovering a few inches above the ground and her body was splayed backwards, as though she was in pain. However, what caught his eye most was.
"Silver eyes." The agent said breathlessly.
"Hmmm…?" The general inquired from behind him.
"She has silver eyes."
"Indeed." General Rose agreed. "That young girl there has the name of Ruby Rose. It is from her that my title comes from. The unique coloration of her eyes is a side effect from the power she contained in her. That is why our agency is called Eyes of Silver, and the leader has always assumed the name of Rose. That way our enemies know we are always watching, and we have the power to stop them."
"Who are they?" Carmine asked, without taking his eyes off of Ruby.
"She is the gemstone." The general pointed at the red-cloaked girl before gesturing to the other three. "They are her demons."
"Really, them?"
"Yes." The general responded, pointing to each of the girls in turn. "Yang Xiao Long, the golden dragon, Blake Belladonna, the shadow beast, and Weiss Schnee, the frost sorceress. I told you the story wasn't entirely accurate. Those four girls had formed deeper bonds of friendship then most people could even imagine. Even when entire countries conspired against them, they always remained at each other's side. At their darkest moments, when they were torn from each other, they did all in the power to find their way back, to continue the battle against darkness. We owe them more than we could ever repay."
"So, what happened to them?"
"We aren't entirely sure." The general admitted. "It would appear that when Ruby Rose used her abilities it interacted with a mineral in the rocks. The energy seemed to fuel some sort of temporal displacement field. Our agency has tracked their movements over the centuries since we have located them; they are indeed moving. Almost one thousand years has passed for us. For them however, it will only have seemed like a handful of minutes. We believe we are close to being able to free them, but there is a problem, and that is where you and your squad come in."
"What can we do?"
"You are receiving a promotion to the Huntsman and Huntresses division." General Rose explained. "You will receive the training necessary to use your auras, like in the fairy tales, to combat both the Twilight Harbingers and the grimm they summon."
"They can summon more of these beasts?"
"Yes, and they have been improving their techniques over the last few decades." The general paused and pointed at the older woman. "She becomes more powerful the more grimm that exist. I fear that if too many exist at one time, she will become powerful enough to break free from Ruby's powers."
"Very well, sir. I accept the promotion."
The general chuckled at the agent's comment.
"You didn't have a choice. But if you don't have any more questions, you are dismissed. You and your squad will receive the details of your new positions before shipping off to Menagerie."
"Menagerie? They have refused outside contact for centuries."
"Faunus can be like that." The general smiled slyly, speaking before the agent could ask another question. "You are dismissed."
Now dismissed, the agent quickly made his way back through the tunnel and to the elevator. The short ride up gave him an opportunity to digest the landslide of new information he felt he was being buried in. To be sent out to hunt creatures from a fairy tale seemed to be too bizarre. The idea of meeting faunus too? This had to be a dream.
The elevator doors opened and he walked back towards the entrance. Before he was had reached the door, he was greeted by a familiar face entering the secured area.
"Agent Ocean." The secretary greeted him.
"Miss." Ocean bowed his head slightly. "Aren't you supposed to be on the other side of these doors?"
"A charmer as always, agent. For your information, as of an hour ago I was promoted to the Maiden Tracking and Intelligence division." She smiled, misinterpreting the pensive look on his face for confusion. "You know. Four young girls who have crazy magic powers. I thought that would be something you would already know about."
"Yes, miss. I apologize, I just have a lot on my mind. Congratulations on the promotion though."
The woman gave a slight eye roll before walking past him in the direction he had just come from, the sound of her heels slow fading. He sighed and exited the area, making sure to stop and collect his weapons. Securing his weapons he was about to close the locker when something caught his eye, a small piece of folded paper. He picked it up and carefully unfolded it. It was a short handwritten note with very petite but legible writing.
Sometimes life encourages you to take chances. See you Wednesday at 8 for dinner.
Underneath the writing was a scroll number. He was certain he was dreaming now.
So kindly leave a review or pm and let me know if you liked it, hated it, or if I made an error somewhere!
Or even if this AU warrants another story.
Also, I would like to thank Nekonyaneko coming up with the perfect cult name. And always thanks to XenonRaumzeit for editing this for me.
