Disclaimer

I don't own anything. RWBY is not owned by me. It is owned by talented people. I'm a nobody. Please don't sue me.

Second Case:

Hitting the Books

"Ugh, why did we have to come here?" Ruby grumbled, glaring truculently around the library.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to keep a hold on her temper so as not to be thrown out of Beacon's library the first time she'd actually needed to use it. "We need to do some research."

"Why?"

Weiss sighed. "Do you know exactly what that mystic circle did?"

"Um... something about contacting something in another universe?" Ruby hazarded.

"On another plane, yes," Weiss agreed. Ruby grinned triumphantly until Weiss continued. "But I said 'exactly'. I'm not sure all of the details of the sigil, and those details could be very relevant to the case. Hence, research."

"Fine, but why do I have to be here?" Ruby complained. "I wouldn't know a magic circle from a squared circle."

"First, you need to do some research in records about our missing ship owners," Weiss said. "The coroner confirmed the three partial bodies were the workers, which means that the owners are still missing."

"Fine," Ruby sighed.

Weiss glared at her. "This is a big part of being a detective, Ruby. I shudder to think how you would deal with a white collar crime – pouring through thousands of emails and dozens of ledgers looking for tiny inconsistencies that could lead to a money trail to follow."

"B-but we're in Supernatural Affairs! We don't deal with embezzling."

"And if a cabal of dark mages were operating in the city using some legal organization as a front for their murderous endeavors?"

"Um... ask you to find them?"

Weiss glared. "Go find their records, dolt."

Weiss shook her head, despairing for her partner, before finally taking the time to examine Beacon's library. In addition to a general collection, it had an immense law library, as well as a vast trove of books on various arcane subjects. It was smaller than the Schnee library, but she didn't want to go to her family home if she didn't have to.

Weiss grabbed several old and rare references, before finding an open table and laying the heavy tomes down on it. Time passed quickly, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when someone cleared their throat beside her. "What?"

Ruby yelped, jumping slightly, only to hiss as she burned herself with the coffee she was holding. "Ow... um, coffee?"

Weiss sighed, before giving her partner a slight smile, which made the other woman grin like an idiot. "Thank you."

"So, did you find anything?" Ruby asked, sitting beside her and staring at the pile of books sitting menacingly on the table.

"Not yet," Weiss said. "I'm still trying to narrow down the runic language used. Did you find anything? You did look, right?"

"Of course!" Ruby said, taking a sip from her own coffee. "I pulled their records, and their family records. I just thought we should get some coffee before we worked."

"Thank you," Weiss said, giving her a nod. "Now get researching."

Weiss found herself lost in her work again. She'd never had friends growing up, and much of her life had been consumed by study, either imposed by various private tutors or to satisfy her own curiosity. She enjoyed the work, and she only stopped working when she finally found what she was looking for, only to look up and see a ridiculous sight.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. "Ruby... why are you balancing your coffee cup on your nose?"

Ruby jerked, dropping the cup, although she managed to catch it before it hit the ground. Fortunately it was empty or she would've spilled coffee everywhere. "Sorry, Weiss. I finished going over the records and, um, I guess I got a little bored?"

"You guess?" Weiss asked. "Whatever. What did you find?"

"Oh, um... well, not a whole lot," Ruby said. "It seems like they don't keep the best of records in that neighborhood – the two of them had birth certificates... um, they're actually second cousins! Anyway, I couldn't find much else. They graduated high school, haven't been arrested, own a boat and their homes, pay taxes, you know, normal stuff. Their family is a little weird though."

"How so?"

"Well... they have birth certificates, and um, marriage certificates, but otherwise their parents are even more ghosts than Titus and Shane are," Ruby said. "Not many records at all. They retired years ago, and they don't own any property, or pay any taxes... they don't even collect Social Security anymore. But there aren't any death certificates for them. They just... disappeared from records."

"Coincidence, maybe?" Weiss offered. "Records aren't always complete."

"Maybe... but... all four of them?"

"Hmm... something to consider, although I'm not sure what it could mean," Weiss said.

"Did you find anything?" Ruby asked.

"A start," Weiss said. "I've narrowed down the language of the runes, and that tells me the region and era they were created in. Now I just need to do some historical research and I should be able to figure out the rest."

"Oh... um, what should I do?" Ruby asked.

Weiss pointed a gloved hand at her partner melodramatically. "You... can help me research."

Ruby made a face. "I don't know anything about magic, though..."

"You need to learn," Weiss said, carrying her books back to the shelves to put away.

"I guess," Ruby said, trailing after her. "I am a detective now... and Supernatural Affairs does include, you know, magic junk."

Weiss snorted. "Supernatural Affairs is almost entirely, as you put it, 'magic junk'. That wasn't what I meant, though."

"Huh?"

"I meant that you have a strong aura, Ruby, and you are obviously magically gifted," Weiss said matter of factly. "You need to learn about and nurture your gifts."

"What?" Ruby asked, flabbergasted. "I'm not magical. I'm just a normal girl, with normal knees."

Weiss shook her head. "How many 'normal girls' can make a giant red scythe appear out of thin air when they need one? A scythe that then falls apart in a cloud of red petals when it's no longer required?"

"Um... some?" Ruby hazarded. "Maybe?"

"No, Ruby," Weiss said. "I've never seen anyone capable of doing such a thing. I did some research after the incident, and I couldn't find any records of such a gift. It's very rare, possibly even unique."

"Oh," Ruby said. "Um, if no one else has it, I guess I can't really learn to do anything with it, so why worry about it?"

"Dunce," Weiss said, rolling her eyes. "It's a magical ability. You can be trained to control your natural gifts, and perhaps even learn about more. It's not uncommon for those with one strange power to actually have access to more when they begin to learn how to use it."

"But what if... what if I mess it up," Ruby mumbled. "Isn't magic dangerous?"

"Yes, Ruby, magic is," Weiss said. "But ignoring it won't make your ability go away. Once you first use your power you've awakened it, and ignoring it endangers not only yourself, but those around you."

"Endangers?" Ruby asked.

"Yes. You have a strong aura, and if you don't train it it can act in ways that you don't expect, performing accidental magics that can be very harmful. You need training."

"But what can I do?" Ruby asked. "I can't exactly wait for a Hogwarts letter. Even I know that's just a book."

"True, but then, you have a fully trained mage as a partner," Weiss said with a superior sniff. "I can teach you."

"Really?" Ruby asked. "You'd do that... for me?"

Weiss looked away uncomfortably, feeling her face heat up. She had never seen someone so truly appreciative of her or anything that she offered to do before. It was off putting, yet strangely it made her happy as well. "Of- of course, you dunce. I'm your partner, aren't I?"

"That's right," Ruby grinned. "Thanks Weiss. So what should I do first?"

"First, you're going to help me research," Weiss said pulling several huge books from the shelf. "When you go home tonight practice meditating. I'll start teaching you when you're able to do that."

"Ugh, fine," Ruby whined. "But I don't know what I'm looking for."

"Because I haven't told you yet, dolt! I'll show you what to look for."

When they returned to the table Weiss pulled up the pictures of the crime scene, as well as her notes, and explained exactly what to look for to Ruby. The other detective looked overwhelmed, but with obvious trepidation she cracked open the first leather bound tome and began flipping through it, looking for anything about the magic circle.

Hours passed, and Weiss was starting to get hungry enough to consider taking a break when she finally found what she was looking for. After reading through it she gave a triumphant smirk before clearing her expression. "I found what we were looking for... Ruby?"

Weiss looked over and sighed. At some point Ruby had fallen asleep, her face laying on the ancient tome, drool running from the corner of her mouth. She made tiny little wispy snores, like a small but cute animal. Shaking her head at the irrelevant thoughts Weiss reached over and poked her in the side with the eraser end of her pencil.

"Wha- huh- who... Weiss!" Ruby muttered as she sat up, looking around in frenzied confusion. "I was just reading about... about... um..."

"Unless you speak ancient greek you should probably give up on figuring out what the book is about," Weiss drawled.

"Oh... right," Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head with one hand while chuckling nervously. "Sorry... guess I fell asleep."

"You did," Weiss agreed. "Honestly, I don't know why I thought you'd be helpful."

"I'm sorry, Weiss," Ruby said, looking upset at her partner's statement. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. Really. I'll do better.

"Don't worry about it," Weiss said, unable to keep looking at Ruby when she had such a pathetic expression on her face. "It must be difficult looking for information on a subject you know so little about."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try. I know I'm not what you wanted in a partner, but I think we can be a good team. I'll try harder, and-"

"You're fine," Weiss interrupted.

"Huh?" Ruby asked.

"I said you're fine," Weiss repeated. "Look, I know I can be... difficult. I'll try my best do be a little... nicer... if you work hard to do the job right."

"I will," Ruby agreed. "And you know, you're not that bad, partner. I'm starting to tell the difference between actually mean Weiss and just kinda grumpy Weiss. Kinda grumpy Weiss isn't too bad."

Weiss glared at Ruby, who only gave her a cheeky grin in response. Eventually Weiss huffed and looked back at the books. "I found what I was looking for."

"Really?" Ruby asked.

"The magic circle was designed to contact an ancient Mesopotamian god named Dagon."

"A god?" Ruby asked.

"Yes... quite a few powerful extra-planar entities have referred to themselves as gods throughout history. In actuality Dagon is a demon lord of modest power, well, for a demon lord."

"So what does that mean?"

Weiss pursed her lips together thoughtfully. "Dagon demands human sacrifice, and the circle can be used to channel the energies released when a person is killed directly to it."

"Wait, so... someone sacrificed people to Dagon, what, as a cult religious thing?"

"So it would appear," Weiss agreed. "According to the records that I found, Dagon has been worshipped by small fishing communities since before recorded history. The religion is now proscribed for obvious reasons, but cults have popped up now and then to this day."

"So that means... they were killed by cultists?" Ruby asked.

"It certainly looks that way," Weiss said. "The magic used is obscure enough that I doubt anyone not involved with Dagon would've heard of it, so most likely a cultist. Which means most likely an entire cult is involved, yes."

"Well, the priest said that street used to be a small fishing village before the city surrounded it," Ruby pointed out. "Maybe there's been a secret cult there for a long time!"

"My thoughts exactly," Weiss agreed, picking up the books to put away.

"Just one thing to do then... get lunch!"

Weiss nearly tripped over her own feet in surprise. "Wha- what?"

"We need to eat, Weiss," Ruby said. "I just woke up, and I'm hungry."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "You dunce."

After putting the books away Weiss didn't object any further as they dropped by the small diner that they had eaten at for their first dinner together as partners. They had eaten there off and on over the weeks that they had been working together, and despite putting up pro forma complaints, Weiss always enjoyed the food she was served.

Eventually Ruby stopped eating her pulled pork sandwich and looked up at Weiss with a face covered with barbecue sauce. "Hey Weiss..."

Weiss rolled her eyes, refusing to find the childishness endearing. "Clean your face."

Ruby smiled sheepishly and did so. "I was wondering... were you serious about teaching me magic... stuff."

"Of course," Weiss said with a superior sniff. "A Schnee never promises what they do not intend to deliver."

"And you really aren't gonna teach me anything until I can meditate?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing practical," Weiss said. "Using magic requires certain mindsets, and to enter those in a consistent fashion requires the discipline provided by meditation."

"Huh?"

"Do you know how magic works? What it is?"

"Um... not really. Just that it can do cool stuff by saying words and waving your hands and stuff."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "That's all theatrics. Things people do to put themselves in the correct mindset to perform magic. Fancy magic words and gestures are either showmanship or a crutch, depending on the level of incompetence of the magic user."

Seeing the confusion in Ruby's eyes Weiss placed her fork down, sitting up even straighter as she considered simpler explanations. "I'm not very good at spell based magic, but I've taught myself a few simple cantrips. For example... Ignium."

With that word she snapped her fingers, and from her thumb a tiny tongue of flame appeared, making her thumb burn like a candle. Ruby looked suitably impressed, oohing and ahhing over the simple cantrip.

"Sitim," Weiss said after a long moment, and the flame vanished, leaving no signs that it had ever existed in the first place.

"That's so cool!" Ruby gushed. "Can you really teach me to do stuff like that?"

"If you have the discipline," Weiss said. "Keep in mind, I'm not really a spellcaster – I know a few spells, but if you want to learn about that kind of magic you'll need to speak with someone like Captain Goodwitch. It's not my area of expertise."

"What is your area of expertise? Isn't it necromancy like what you did before? I guess you never really said anything when you did stuff like that though..."

"I was just trying to explain how words aren't actually relevant before you got us off track," Weiss said. "Observe..."

Weiss furrowed her brow, focusing her mind on the spell that she wished to cast. A real spellcaster would have had no trouble with the simple demonstration, but she wasn't lying about it not being her area of expertise. Finally, after a long tense moment flame erupted from her thumb, exactly as it had before.

"See?" she said. "No words, no gestures, no snap of my fingers... none of that is necessary to perform spell magic."

"You took a lot longer to do it though," Ruby said.

"Of course," Weiss agreed. "I'm not much of a spellcaster, and even experts use those things to make performing magic easier. They're a tool to help, but ultimately unnecessary."

"What is needed?"

"Magic is power," Weiss said slowly, gazing at her burning thumb. "All around us, mana flows. It's part of all life, and is part of every universe. It's present in the ground, and the air, and everything else you can imagine.

"The greatest source of mana in our world is the human soul."

"The soul?" Ruby asked.

"Yes," Weiss said, concentrating for a moment to cancel the flame cantrip from her thumb so that she could safely focus on her partner, who was staring at her with rapt attention. "The soul is what makes us uniquely the people we each are. It gives us life, gives us thought, and gives us magic.

"All living things have an aura. It's a field of mana around the body, and it is a projection of the soul, made by it and reflective of it. Magic is ultimately the art of manipulating our aura to cause changes in the world around us."

"So you made your aura turn into fire?" Ruby asked.

Weiss nodded. "Very good. Yes, auras are made of mana, and that spell allowed me to transform a small fraction of that mana into pure flame. Spellcasting is the art of transforming your aura to perform desired magical effects."

"So I have to learn to control my aura to do magic?" Ruby asked.

"Precisely," Weiss agreed. "Which is why you need to learn mediation. You need to have absolute mastery of your mind to perform powerful magics, although you'll find it's not very difficult to use your gift. Still, if you want to do something, you should do it right."

"My gift?"

Weiss frowned. "Sometimes people have certain natural abilities that they can call up without needing to learn them. Your ability to conjure a scythe from nothing is a magical talent that could no doubt be replicated by an expert spellcaster given enough time and effort, but for you it's something that you'll be able to do with ease."

Ruby was quiet for a long moment, and Weiss took advantage of that to finish her meal. "You said you aren't a spellcaster. So... what do you do?"

"There are three kinds of magic," Weiss explained. "Transforming your aura to cause an effect is spellcasting. It's the quickest and flashiest form of magic, and while I know a few simple spells, it's the kind of magic that I'm least proficient with."

"The next kind of magic is binding magic," Weiss said, grabbing a napkin and pulling out a pen. She quickly sketched a complex glyph on the paper. Once she was finished she touched it and pushed her aura into the symbol to activate it, causing a tiny tongue of flame to burn at its center.

"Binding magic uses mystical symbols to channel and control the mana in the world itself," Weiss lectured. "Instead of transforming the mana in my aura into flame, I transformed mana from the world itself into flame."

"Huh," Ruby said, staring enthralled at the fire. "So what's the advantage of binding magic? Why do it if you have to take the time drawing stuff instead of just thinking?"

Weiss nodded in acknowledgment of the good question. "Binding magic has several advantages. First, while my aura was used to trigger the reaction, it doesn't actually use much of it up. Performing many spells in a row burns out your aura, requiring you to rest before you can do magic again. Binding magic doesn't have that limitation – a magical glyph like this, or the circle the cultists drew, will function as long as there is enough ambient mana in the environment to support it."

"So mana can run out? Like, from a place?"

"Yes," Weiss said. "It's quite rare, though. There's a lot of magic in the world, and binders usually perform powerful workings at places where mana flows in greater quantity than other places, called ley lines. Beacon is built on top of a confluence of ley lines, for example."

"So what's the third type of magic?" Ruby asked.

"Invocation," Weiss said. "Invokers channel magic from extra-dimensional sources. It's by far the rarest kind of magic, since it requires a connection between yourself and another plane. Most invokers carefully maintain a magical circle or enchanted object that is bound to another plane to serve as a conduit for their magic."

"Do you have something like that?" Ruby asked.

Weiss hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose so, actually. The Schnee's have an enormous collection of magical artifacts, which includes a variety of conduits. Binding magic is the source of magic items, after all, so it shouldn't be a surprise that my family has made a great many of them over the years. I don't actually need one, though."

"Why not?" Ruby asked.

"I'm a necromancer," Weiss explained. "Necromancy is invocation magic based upon channeling forces from the afterlife into the world of the living. I have a... connection that allows me to serve as my own conduit."

"Wow," Ruby said. "That's amazing."

A dark look passed over Weiss face. "Right. Anyway, we've spoken long enough – we could spend all year discussing magical theory without ever getting anything else done, and we have a case to solve."

Author's Notes

This chapter turned into a bit of a data dump, but I wanted to start laying the groundwork for how my magic system works before we see it used much more. More information will come in the future (like why dust is used), but this covers the basics.