first trial

[airlockedmods]

[With the announcement and evidence, the doors in the pool area are the next destination for anyone who doesn't particularly want to see what a punishment from PAL would look like. Kip, for once not acting like a complete coward, takes the lead and opens the doors. The patio is a large, round room with high walls and a domed ceiling, but the biggest feature of the room is the a circle of podiums that takes up most of the floor space.

The room itself is decked in the same almost gaudy golds and reds as the rest of the mansion, with walls high enough that it's impossible to see inside the trial room from the promenade that encircles the whole mansion. The domed ceiling provides an unhindered view of the stars overhead. As for the podiums themselves, they're the same sort of garish gold with a digital screen facing toward the center of the circle, and a large, currently dimmed rose silhouette facing the center beneath the screen. The screens each have a name and title associated with a Champion written in green block letters, all save for Mikaela, the Champion of the Millennium Tree Forest. Hers are a striking red and, floating above her podium, is a greyscale portrait framed in some kind of bold, gilt-looking frame. She smiles out at the group, her eyes gentle and kind even with the noticeable lack of color.

With Cece staying behind to take care of the body, Kip is left to cross the room by himself, stepping onto a platform that rises up just high enough to be out of reach and back far enough toward a far wall to have a full view of the court room. For a brief moment, Kip is obscured by a dome of glass that closes over him, but when the dome lifts it's clear that the only thing obscured was a quick change, taking him out of what was clearly his pajamas and dressing him in a sharp, mournful black suit. He's recovered from looking slightly green, but his body language and expression remain quite somber nonetheless.]

Welcome, Champions, to the Rose Ceremony. This is the trial stage, where the goal is to find the true culprit and...

[PAL almost sighs in disappointment.]

Well, Kipsqueak already spoiled the stakes for you. Find the culprit and they'll be eliminated, vote incorrectly and they'll be allowed to go home at the expense of the rest of your lives.

Oh, and don't bore me. I cannot stand being bored.

Comments

[everylittlesecret]

[Well, this screams bad horror movie courtroom to her. Nari is just going to wait a little till things die down before she gives her input.]

Okay, so, since I'm the person who actually found the body, I'm first gonna say that I knew this shit would happen. [She holds up a hand.] Don't you dare jump down my throat for that at this time. Anyways. I went into the foyer like I've been doing every morning to see if maybe the door opened up. Nope. It's by far not the messiest body I've seen, but it was still not fun.

[Going to take a deep breath now.] From what I found when I investigated the body was that it had been pretty cut up. The wounds were jagged but clean of debris. From the position, like on the wound diagram, it looks like claw marks. And yes, they were deep, if Queenie hadn't cleaned me up I could show you how deep my fingers went in. Definitely died of blood loss.

MODS?

[misanthropicprinciple]

Those marks--were they anything like the ones on me?

[Junpei's wearing his jean capris, and he moves from his podium so she can see the injuries on his legs from boys' night.]

[airlockedmods]

[Junpei's wounds are certainly less severe, but they are very similar nonetheless.]

[everylittlesecret]

[Taking a good look before nodding.]

Yeah, actually. Just. Yours are more superficial than anything compared to those. Have you been treating them properly?

[daughterofthemark]

So not only do we have the mysterious invisible monster, but there was also some clawed creature that attacked Dame Mikaela.

[...Arianna...]

[nojohnyouare]

...Those are probably the same.

[daughterofthemark]

...oh. Really?

[That... does seem kind of obvious now that she says it.]

[shikosuki]

[ ........girl ]

...It was probably the same.

[daughterofthemark]

...that does seem likely.

[That makes two people who figured it out right away, then. Three if you count Junpei. 18 if you count everyone who definitely also did and just hasn't spoken up about it.]

[everylittlesecret]

......... Princess, I worry about you.

[daughterofthemark]

I--

[Surely it wasn't that obvious?]

[honoraryembryon]

Arianna, yeah, what... they said. Probably one in the same. Are making leaps of logic difficult for you? ... It's all right. We'll solve it.

[daughterofthemark]

...I can sometimes be a bit... scatterbrained...

[brokencode]

[How deep her... fingers went in.

Yeah, Angel looks positively ill at this point]

[everylittlesecret]

[WELL she's thorough, okay?]

emetophobia warning

[plugout]

[ Nari says a lot, but-- ]

Y-you stuck your fingers in-- oh, god...

[ DON'T THROW UP ]

[everylittlesecret]

.... you make it sound like a bad thing. I've been to morgues and done way worse. I had to see how deep the wounds were, okay? It can gauge the strength used by the killer or even just the sharpness of a weapon.

[goteachother]

[Not apologizing for cleaning you up, Nari.]

[getgood]

And nobody here's hiding claws, right? Like you're not secretly Wolverine? [she is on this "glitter ghost did it" train to the fucking end okay]

[everylittlesecret]

Nope. I would have gone all badass Canadian on this place and escaped already if I was.

[getgood]

Yeah, but not everyone here's as selfless...

[honoraryembryon]

Just hiding sawblades, sorry. And a vajra. Everyone's already SEEN what I can become, so you know what my other form looks like.

[getgood]

I never said you did it.

I don't hide things so people can't use them against me.

[cameupshort]

...I don't think anyone's secretly a wolf.

[marvelously]

Oh! That's almost how the gouges on the patio furniture by the pool looked.