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RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth

Chapter 5: Reflections

The night was quiet. Not that Jefferson was going to complain. Quiet nights meant easy nights. Most nights were like that. Then again, there really wasn't anything worth stealing in this museum. Or maybe there was? Jefferson didn't know. All he knew was that he was in charge of patrolling the south corridor and the central atrium. There were three other guards. One for each cardinal corridor. They would commonly meet in the central atrium on their patrols.

It wasn't exactly the worst job on Remnant, but neither was it the greatest. It was really just boring. He'd been at his patrol for five hours already. Dawn was still a good few hours off. It was just one after all.

He walked into the central atrium. Stevens and Janice were sitting down. No doubt lazing off as they usually did. The only other reliable guard in the museum was Smith. If asked, Jefferson would say that he was the best, Stevens and Janice were only good for keeping employment records for the museum high and Smith was hot. She was also a very kind woman.

A shrill scream and a crash echoed from the east corridor. All three guards turned toward the corridor from which Smith came running. The light of the moon above showed them a rather haggard looking security guard. She was quite disheveled and looked quite fearful. As soon as she saw them, she ran to them.

"We have a break in!" She practically screamed when she reached them.

Jefferson immediately pulled his gun and took cover, aiming his gun down the corridor that Smith had just come from. Stevens and Janice, in a rare act of actually doing their jobs, both pulled weapons as well. Smith ducked behind a trash can and aimed.

A silhouette could be seen moving in the darkness. Smith didn't hesitate and opened fire. In her panicked state, most of the bullets went wild. They did hear a strange thing. A figure walked into the atrium, his left arm over his face.

"Now that wasn't very nice." He spoke in a suave, yet sinister voice with a slight rasp. "That isn't how you should treat your visitors."

The man lowered his arm. Covering his face was an old plague doctor's mask. He wore an impeccably kept black robe over everything else. There a few small exceptions. There were a few holes along his left arm. Out of which light blue crystals seemed to grow. The descriptions were spot on. They were facing off against Doc Harvester.

"SHOOT HIM!" Smith commanded.

The other guards opened fire and the figure he raised his left arm and dove out of the way. The guards tried to keep aim at him, but in the dim light it was quite hard. When he was out of sight, they stopped firing.

"Why do you fight? Surely you realize this is futile?" The Harvester's voice called out.

The guards had circled up and were looking everywhere for their enemy.

"It is sad, I don't usually use one of these, but tonight is a very special exception." Harvester's voice said.

A gun shot rang out from behind a display near the north corridor. Half a second later, Smith cried out in pain as she went down.

"SMITH!" Jefferson cried out in a panic as he dropped to her side to give her first aid.

The bullet had hit her in the stomach, missing most of her major organs. Stevens made his way from cover to cover, slowly inching towards the north corridor. Janice stood over Jefferson and Smith, watching for the insane serial killer.

"GOT YOU NOW, YOU BASTARD!" Stevens yelled as he opened fire on the plague doctor.

Six bullets later, and Stevens shined his light on the body he hit. He saw he emptied his clip into one of the display mannequins. A cold blade pressed against his throat, and with a spurt of blood, sliced through it. There was no pain, nor was there any noise. In his last seconds alive, Stevens paled as he realized what had happened.

"That wasn't very nice." Harvester scolded as Steven's fell to the ground, dead.

Harvester picked up the bleeding body and hoisted it over his shoulder. He walked back into the atrium where the two alive guards and third dying guard were panicking. They would serve a much grander purpose.

With a small burst of wind dust, he threw the guard toward them. His body hit the ground with a sickening splat. Janice screamed in terror and fired two shots at it. Jefferson didn't really react; he was too focused on keeping Smith alive.

"Don't worry." The calm voice of Doc Harvester said from behind them. "Will hurt but a little."

Janice wasn't given a chance to scream. There was no sound as the blade slit her throat and she fell to the ground. She held her hands to her throat as her precious life flowed through her fingers. Jefferson could only watch in horror as his partners were picked off one by one. He gulped as he realized he had no chance of surviving the night.

"Why?" Jefferson muttered.

"Don't take it personally." Harvester said as he stood over Jefferson and a gasping Smith. "Science waits for no man."

Harvester raised his gun and fired into Smith's head. The bullet struck right between the eyes and she stopped moving.

"Besides, if you're lucky. She'll be better than she was before." Harvester continued as he pulled a jagged red and yellow crystal. "A perfect reflection of what she once was."

Doc Harvester deftly kicked Jefferson's pistol away, thus leaving him defenseless. He looked up into the black voids that were Harvester's eyes, the mask thoroughly shrouding his face. Despite that, they almost seemed calming. He looked down at the dust crystal in Doc Harvester's hand. It looked like a crystalized flame.

"From the ashes you will rise." Harvester whispered, his fist closing around the crystal. "A glorious phoenix, greater than you were before."

Jefferson could only stare as Doc Harvester slammed the crystal into his shoulder. The jagged edges of the crystal hooking into his flesh. The black mask no longer exuding a calming presence. All Jefferson felt was fear, and he couldn't even see the face of his killer. He did feel a pulse of aura slam into him.

"This however, will be quite painful as the crystal bleeds you dry to fuel the flames." Doc Harvester said as he walked backwards out of the atrium, back into the darkness of the museum.

The crystal began heating up. Small tongues of flame began to flow from the crystal. One lashed out and burned the floor. Another ignited Smith's body. The fire was spreading uncontrollably. A veritable whirlwind of flame soon engulfed the atrium. The building was illuminated by the bright fires of the crystal.

Jefferson couldn't focus on that though. All he felt was pain. The excruciating burning of his being as it was burned away. He tried to pull the crystal from his shoulder, but it was no use. The pain was too much. He could do nothing but scream as the fires of the crystal burned his life away.

The lashes of fire burned away much of the museum. The automated fire alarms went off as it burned hotter and higher. It might have been a slight problem when the atrium's roof caved in and the fire lit up the night sky. No matter, Harvester watched as his work literally went up in flames. It would take no more than five minutes for the fires to work, and his robe had been specially designed to protect him from the Phoenix.

After two minutes, the fires began to crystalize the atrium. Exhibits turning into unbound dust crystals. It was magnificent. The fire ended about three minutes later. Harvester pulled the sleeve back on his right arm and checked his watch. Noting the time, he gave a quick shrill whistle. Augustus flew into the atrium.

"Response teams will be here in about two minutes. Delay them by five." Harvester commanded the construct.

The construct flew off to perform the duty that Julius had given it. Julius however began his quick inspection of the crime scene. He pulled out a small notepad and took notes of his observations. Much of the room had changed to the same unbound light blue crystals that comprised parts of his body. It was disappointing to see that about thirty percent of the atrium remained unchanged.

Clambering over one of the fallen beams from the ceiling, Julius was able to see the bodies of the human test subjects. One of the bodies, the body of the first man he killed, was imperfect. Parts of his flesh had turned but much of it had not. Sad, but he deserved his fate. The two women had completely crystallized. As he said, if they were lucky, they would come out better than before. Perfect reflections of what they had been. He knelt down to inspect the one he had shot twice.

"No sign of bullet wounds or the bullets." The doctor noted. "A perfect reflection."

No blood could be seen either, just the crystal formations from the Phoenix's Reflection. The only thing that might be considered odd was the formation under the second woman. Blood had leaked from her throat and flowed quite a ways. It all crystallized, but not all of the floor under it had. Unmarred floor could be seen through the translucent blue crystal. Harvester made a special note of that.

He turned to his catalyst. The young man he had stuck the Phoenix' Reflection in. He too had fully changed. His body in a position of pain and his face contorted in an expression of pure unadulterated terror. The details had been preserved quite flawlessly. The fire itself had not crystallized but much of what touched it had.

"Getting closer." Harvester muttered as he jotted down another note.

The sound of sirens drew his attention. He glanced at his watch and smirked. Augustus had delayed them by six minutes, but his time was up. He quickly closed his notepad and pocketed both it and the pen. Then he turned to the crystallized body of his catalyst.

"Can't have them finding the Phoenix." he muttered.

Doc Harvester removed the glove on his left hand. He positioned the crystalline arm right where the shoulder of his catalyst was. The still orange crystal stood out amongst the light blue. The doctor slammed his hand into the shoulder of the crystalline statue and grabbed the Phoenix's Reflection. With a mighty yank, the crystal was pulled free from the rock surrounding it. He pocketed the crystal. Turning back to the statue with a rather not-so-inconspicuous hole in its upper chest, Doc Harvester decided to smash the construct completely. A sad fate for a perfect reflection, but no evidence of the Phoenix must be left. He reared his arm back, and with the help of his semblance, slammed it into the statue of Jefferson. The crystal shattered, pieces flying back from the semblance enhanced force.

With that, Doc Harvester made his exit. He smiled as he climbed out onto the roof. The response teams failed to see him as he left. A glint off to his right drew his attention. Looking at one of the buildings across the street, Doc Harvester glared. Nothing appeared. He shrugged and continued on his way.

The night was good. This day three more people had transcended their humanity.

This night there were two more perfect reflections in Remnant.

…/…

Agreus got up with a sigh. Sadly, sleepless nights weren't all that uncommon for him. The day to day running of the Pyre, Vale, the nightmare that was dealing with another round of Harvester murders. Honestly, the stress was just getting to him. He sighed and got out of bed. He wasn't going to be getting any sleep tonight.

Knowing this, the leader of the Sanguine Pyre dressed himself for a day that still had a good couple of hours before the sun rose. Checking the time showed him that it was three am. Better than some nights. There were some of his restless nights where he got maybe a good half an hour of sleep. Tonight, he had at least gotten two hours. He didn't have insomnia. He just lacked sleep.

Very rarely did one make a comment about it. He had quite adept at hiding his tiredness. The past decade or so had taught him that it was a good skill to have, even if it wasn't the healthiest of habits. It only took him a few minutes to be ready for the day… despite the fact that it was three in the morning.

He made his way down to his office. No one was up yet, as was to be expected. He opened the curtains behind his desk and sat down. Just watching his city. It was quite peaceful. The moon and stars shining overhead as the kingdom slumbered below. The bright lights of the night shone brightly in the sky.

It was a picture of peace. A picture of tranquility. It was nothing more than a facade. A front. The city had a problem. Another round of Harvester murders was the perfect breeding ground for fear. Ozpin and his silly group of guardians seemed content to let their enemies move forward with their plans. And now, according to the chemist, there was a high likelihood of there being another Harvester killer.

Agreus sighed in frustration. At least things weren't all bad. Polls showed that Darius Alister Trent, the newest charismatic, kindhearted politician with a heart of gold, had captured the hearts and minds of the people. He was a shoe in for the council. He was quite the late entry, considering the election was in three months, and people had accused him of cheating, bribery, extortion and other illegal activities. Of course, none of it could be proven. Trent's record was squeaky clean, he cleaned up well.

Agreus smirked as the thoughts of one of his most loyal pawns graduated to the rank of rook. A very powerful play indeed. He was performing well beyond what Agreus had expected from the assassin. Then again, Jeremiah did tell him that Trent was the best. He just had a tendency to talk too much.

The head's gaze wandered over the city. An ominous orange glow from the commercial district. Agreus got up and walked toward the window. It was difficult to tell, but it looked to be a fire. A dust fueled fire. Oh, the curse of not having a pair of binoculars, or a zoom and enhance function on his eyes.

A few seconds of watching the presumed fire was all it took to confirm his suspicions. It was kind of hard to mistake a column of fire whirling into the sky. A veritable tornado of fire. It was massive.

It looked to be originating from the Vale Museum of Huntsmen and Huntresses. The emergency forces would probably already be on their way, but the fire was too odd. It took naught but a couple minutes for the fire whirl to dissipate. Thirty seconds later, he heard a scroll buzzing. The His secretary's scroll. He left his office to find the ringing scroll. His secretary had left it at her desk, just outside his office. The caller ID said Bensin. Agreus picked it up and answered.

"Hello?" Agreus asked.

"Yeah, hi, hello." Bensin's gruff voice came through the speaker. "I don't have much time. We've cordoned off the Huntsmen museum, but Lord Blackflame is going to want to know about this. Send someone down, I don't quite know how to explain what I'm looking at."

Bensin didn't wait for a response as he just hung up. Agreus lowered the scroll. It was an odd call. Then again, Bensin was rather known for quick calls like that. He had yet to actually speak to Agreus personally, but he certainly knew who paid him.

With nothing better to do, Agreus decided that he would check out the museum. See what happened for himself. He made his way to the air docks of Beacon. They were the quickest way from Beacon cliffs into the city, after all. It wasn't long before a bullhead running the night shift arrived to take him down.

The blaring of sirens grew louder as Agreus closed in on the museum. When he was a few blocks away, he began to notice the oddities. Several buildings had black scorch marks on them, as if they had been torched. But the fire had looked relatively stationary. Within a block of the museum was when the oddities really stood out. Most of the damage seemed to be relegated to the atrium. And what a sight the damage was.

Much of the center of the building looked to be… crystalized. Crystal pockmarked the walls. All in all, it was the weirdest arson case he had ever had the pleasure of seeing.

"Bensin, this the guy you waitin' on?" One of the cops called out.

Bensin exited the building and looked Agreus up and down. Agreus watched the detective with a raised eyebrow. He was a middle-aged man at about 50. He wore an old brown trench coat and had a rather well trimmed beard. His eyes were a dull brown, and he reeked of cigar smoke. Then again, that might be more to the fact that he had a lit cigar in his mouth.

"Yeah, he's the guy." Bensin answered when he spotted Agreus's Pyre ring on the zipper of his jacket. "Come on. Let's see if you can tell me more than what these bozos can."

"Hey!" came the indignant shout of one of the officers.

Agreus followed Bensin inside. He quietly noted that Bensin was about half a foot shorter than he was.

"Name and rank?" Bensin asked.

"Excuse me?" Agreus responded.

"You deaf son? I want to know who you are in the Pyre." Bensin repeated with a huff of frustration.

"Oh, well you only had to ask. Agreus Blackflame, head of the Pyre." Agreus answered.

"Ha. You think your funny kid?" Bensin asked. "Now tell me who you really are before I report you to Lord Blackflame."

"Joe, I'm not kidding. I am Agreus Blackflame." Agreus repeated with a snap of his fingers. "And you would do well to remember that."

Bensin's eyes widened a little at the sight of the black fire twirling off Agreus's hand. Agreus snapped his fingers again and the fire vanished.

"My apologies Lord Blackflame. I didn't know that you were up at such an early hour." Bensin hastily apologized.

"Enough. Tell me what we know and perhaps we can move on from this slight against me." Agreus responded.

"Of course, sir." Bensin gulped as he began listing off the facts. "We believe the fire was caused by arson. No clue where the crystal came from. No cops or firefighters have stepped into the atrium. The rest of the building is relatively undamaged. We know there must have been an intruder. The glass casing on one of the exhibits was broken. One of the mannequins has six shots in its chest. Some blood spatter in the halls, but no sign of three of the four guards who worked here."

"How long did it take to response teams reach the museum after the alarms went off?" Agreus asked.

"Almost eleven minutes sir." Bensin began.

"Why? It shouldn't have taken longer than five." Agreus inquired.

"They were stopped." Bensin said.

"By?" Agreus prodded.

"You wouldn't believe me." Bensin muttered.

"Try me, detective Bensin." Agreus said.

"Well… they said they were stopped by a phoenix…" Bensin trailed off.

Agreus turned to the detective, an eyebrow raised. "A phoenix?"

"What other bird do you know that is wreathed in flame?" Bensin questioned.

"Interesting." Agreus muttered to himself as they stepped into the partially, blue crystalized atrium.

What was crystal was solid and flawless. It was easy to recognize some of the exhibits that once stood in the atrium. Even engravings on the bronze plates that survived were preserved in crystal. Other things were a bit more difficult. In the middle of the room, behind some beams that had fallen from the ceiling, were three more interesting sights. Agreus moved closer to them. Two areas where the crystal had risen. The only places where the crystal wasn't flush with the walls or floor were the exhibits, but there was no exhibit where these ones were. There was also an odd bit where the crystal seemed to flow over the floor.

The final interesting sight was the shattered crystal. No other sections of the crystal were even cracked. Agreus knelt next to the scattered rubble and picked up a large chunk of it. It was relatively unremarkable, yet it felt so much like dust, that it was wholly remarkable. On a whim, Agreus sent a pulse of aura through the crystal. It lit up a brilliant blue color.

"What's that?" Bensin asked as he made his way over to Agreus.

"Dust." Agreus answered. "Unbound dust, it has no element. A very rare sight that can only be determined by the effect aura has on it. It only glows blue. And yet…"

"This large room has been turned into unbound dust." Bensin finished.

"Partially, and at least one of our guards, it would seem." Agreus stated as he handed a crystal to Bensin.

Bensin inspected the crystal. It was difficult to tell at first, but after a few seconds of inspection, Bensin saw indentations that looked like a security badge. A badge with a name engraved on it. Jefferson.

"What could have done this?" Bensin asked as he looked back to Agreus.

"That, my good man, is the million-lien question." Agreus answered. "Short answer, I have no idea. Neither I nor the Pyre has ever experienced a phenomena such as this before."

"Bensin?" An officer approached the detective. "We found bullets."

The detective followed the officer elsewhere in the atrium. Agreus continued to look at the crystal. They were human. Two women, every detail flawless preserved. Then even had the badges. On cursory glance, they might not be noticed, but upon closer inspection it was quite obvious. However, it only led to more questions.

"This might interest you." Bensin said as he returned to Agreus.

"What?" Agreus asked standing up.

"Six bullets were found inside one of the mannequins. Specifically, a mannequin dressed as a plague doctor." Bensin answered.

"Hmm. I found the other two guards. Honestly, I don't see how you missed them." Agreus said pointing at the crystalized guards. "You said there were four guards?"

"Yes, our fourth victim… he was found only partially crystallized." Bensin answered.

"Where is he?" Agreus asked.

"Follow me." Bensin said as he left the partially crystallized atrium.

The two walked outside to a body bag with a man on it. Parts of him reflected blue in the dawn light. As they got closer, Agreus got a better view of the guard. Parts of him had been changed into the same unbound dust as the museum. Half his head, his right hand, parts of his sternum, and various other patches around the body. Oddly enough, it was nowhere near perfect. Through the crystal, they could see bones, blood, and sometimes nerves. The transformation was very incomplete.

"3 unique cases." Agreus muttered as he inspected the partially changed body.

He tried to bend the crystal at the elbow. It didn't move. Easy to see why he died then.

"Bensin, we've gotten all the evidence we probably can." An officer called.

"Excellent, I want you to and four other officers to scour a seven-block radius. Find some witnesses. I want to be able to write a screenplay from what you learn. Question everyone, civilians, guards, first responders, anyone who might have seen anything." Bensin ordered.

"Yes sir." The officer responded and took off.

"Bensin, I'm going to need a sample from this man, where crystal meets flesh." Agreus spoke up.

"Sir?" Bensin asked.

"One of the huntsmen under my employ knows an expert dust alchemist. He might be able to shed more light on the situation. I'll also need a sample from one of the guards and the walls." Agreus continued.

"If it's not too much to ask, may I know why, sir?" Bensin asked.

"Yeah. Unbound dust does not form naturally in the wild. It can only be formed through other methods, such as alchemy, and even then, it is incredibly rare. Before now, I've never seen more than 5 grams of the stuff." Agreus explained. "Also, put our broken guard back together. I want to know what makes him so special."

"Officer!" Bensin called to a passing officer.

"Yes sir?" the young woman replied.

"Gather a few others and start sweeping up the broken guard. I want him put back together by the end of the week. Extract a small sample of the crystal from the walls and from the unshattered guards. Got that?" Bensin said.

"How are we supposed to do that?" The woman asked.

"I don't know, get the best jigsaw puzzlers to work on it. I just want it done. If it helps, pulse it with aura, the crystal lights up. Might accentuate the shadows to make fitting the pieces back together easier." Bensin called back.

"Why sir?" the young officer asked.

"Orders from on high, now do your job!" Bensin barked. "Also, bring us a scalpel!"

Agreus chuckled as the officer ran off.

"Rather insubordinate, isn't she?" Agreus asked.

"Not just her. Many of them ask too many questions… but it helps that they are at least competent at their jobs. Vale does hold the record for the lowest crime rates in Remnant." Bensin said, rather proudly.

"It helps that the Pyre pays the gangs to leave the civilians, government and other innocents out of their dealings." Agreus muttered.

"What was that, sir?" Bensin asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about Bensin." Agreus said as the office returned with a scalpel. "Thank you, madam."

Agreus immediately went to work cutting through the flesh of the dead guard. The scalpel sliced right through; however, it wouldn't cut through the unbound dust.

"You got a dagger?" Agreus asked.

Bensin didn't say anything as he unsheathed and handed over a dagger from his belt. Agreus wasted no time in chipping away at the crystal around the cut flesh. In minutes, he had a sizable chunk of crystal and flesh torn away from the guards' shoulder.

"That should do." Agreus said as he bagged and pocketed the chunk.

"That was my favorite knife…" Bensin said as Agreus handed him the now dulled blade.

An officer came up to them with a couple bags. They both had labels. One said wall, the other said guard. Agreus took the bags with a nod.

"What are you going to do now?" Bensin asked.

"I'm going to return to Blackflame Manor. Send these off to a dust alchemist." Agreus responded. "I want updates as you work on this case."

"We don't have much to go off of. If anything, inviting you here has only asked more questions than answered." Bensin said.

"I know." Agreus replied. "And we aren't going to get anywhere further here. Find out what any witnesses know, report it to me. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning."

"Did you see anything, sir?" Bensin asked.

"Yeah, I saw a column. A column of flame rising into the night sky. You might want to expand your search radius." Agreus responded after a second.

"Brilliant." groused Bensin.

"Chin up, detective." Agreus said as he began to walk away. "Isn't this what you live for?"

"Not really." Bensin said.

Agreus just laughed as he continued walking through the city.

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