the third investigation

[airlockedmods]

[This week has been an interesting one to say the least. Feelings found, feelings lost, feelings repressed. Just feelings all around in one way or another. But there's always that terrible chance that PAL's motive has had the intended effect.

When the champions are awakened by the morning announcement their original abilities and powers have not been returned to them. It could be a good sign, a sign that they haven't lost another friend, but there's still that sinking feeling of dread that's starting to go hand-in-hand with Fridays.

Time to explore the mansion.]

Comments

[daughterofthemark]

[This morning Arianna feels like practicing with Sir Otamatone, so she'll be heading up to the karaoke bar. Anything out of order there?]

[airlockedmods]

[Other than the Kip-based sin that has occurred, the bar is a safe place.]

[goteachother]

[Queenie is in the kitchen bright and early, prepping coffee and getting ready to take the rather excessive number of muffins she made last night out to the dining room.]

[airlockedmods]

[Get those muffins, Queenie, the kitchen and dining room are corpse-free.]

[desperateprayer]

[ Clarith, like usual, head to the garden. ]

[airlockedmods]

[There are no bodies in the garden.]

[scourgingstars]

[Being human was more difficult than Ardyn remembered. The hangover was more or less gone, but mornings tended to be a foreign concept to the line of Lucis. Still, he ended up in the garden first, checking up on his mother hen of a galaxy pigeon.]

[airlockedmods]

[The pigeons (and garden) are safe and sound. Today's song is this little number.]

[brokencode]

[ There was a bad feeling in Angel's stomach, and the first urge she had was to find those she cared for. Surely, most of them would head to the dining room at some point, right? ]

[airlockedmods]

[oh hey, there's muffins]

[plugout]

[ is there anything up in the newer rest area.... ]

[airlockedmods]

[Nope! It is Untainted by death this time.]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Church is going to do a morning workout in the first floor rest area, because that's a thing he does in the mornings now, and also ignore that feeling of impending doom.]

[airlockedmods]

[The first and third rest areas are clear of bodies! Hurrah~.]

[buddyoldpal]

[ The murder day pattern is starting to show, so Nishitani is up looking for the dead. Any sad stiffs in the death orb zone or whatever it's called? ]

[airlockedmods]

[Wow! This room is smeared with (red) blood!

Also, there is a body on the floor.]

[everylittlesecret]

[Nair is heading to the pool room because maybe swimming might keep her calm today.]

[airlockedmods]

[No corpses in here, swim away, Nari.]

[honoraryembryon]

[ Roland will be in the kitchen today. He seems tired, and a bit hungover. ]

[airlockedmods]

[The kitchen is free and clear and there are muffins in the dining room thanks to Queenie. Go eat something, old man jfc.]

[airlockedmods]

[As P.A.L.'s voice echoes throughout the mansion, those champions who gained or lost powers will find themselves returning to normal.]

Attention, Champions. The Champion Twin and Champion Tactician's bodies have been found. After a short period of investigation, please proceed with Kip to the courtroom for a trial.

CASE FILE

[airlockedmods]

[The Case File will be loaded onto each Champion’s PIP to examine.]


Victim: Prince Takumi of Hoshido


Location of body: Death Orb Zone

Estimated time of death: 5:35 am

Cause of death: Exsanguination

Wound diagram.


[The Case File will be loaded onto each Champion’s PIP to examine.]


Victim: Mary Batson


Location of body: Death Orb Zone

Estimated time of death: Around 5:30 am

Cause of death: Massive Chest Trauma

Wound diagram.

DEATH ORB ZONE

[airlockedmods]

[buddyoldpal]

[ Should Nishitani be on body retrieval duty? No. Is he going to be? Yes. How much blood is he going to get on him for retrieving a dead girl from the foam cube pit, who knows.

Either way, if there's nothing immediately obvious about where she was left, he's going to carefully and (surprisingly) respectfully pull Mary out of the foam pit. Foam ain't got shit on a yakuza. ]

SECOND FLOOR REST AREA

[airlockedmods]

[scourgingstars]

[Right, well. Once he's handed off bandages and Junpei's in far more competent and less demon malaria-plagued hands, what was that sparkle anyway?]

GARDEN

[airlockedmods]

[desperateprayer]

[ Clarith knows the garden. She must have been out of it to miss things earlier. To be fair, she had her mind on the memorials. What happened here and is there anything obvious? She's mostly here to try and relax after the body clusterfuck with Arianna. ]

THIRD FLOOR RESTROOM

[airlockedmods]

[brokencode]

[ With the distraction out of the way and her emotions on high, running away from where all the people are seems to be a great idea. Time to go hide in the bathroom. Or try.

Anything immediately out of place? ]

[goteachother]

[The announcement goes up and Queenie freezes, the tattoos fading from her skin, utterly unnoticed as the tray of coffee cups in her hands tumbles to the floor, shattering all over the entrance to the dining room.]

No... [She hits her knees, ceramic shards digging into her knees and shins but she hardly notices, she's staring at the pip, at Takumi's name...

at that time

If she'd gone to him instead of worrying about these stupid muffins then-]

NO!

[And then she screams hands clasped to her chest and when she runs out of breath she'll just be here, sobbing.]

[honoraryembryon]

[ ... Whoa, he saw that. He's in the kitchen so he wasn't far enough away to not notice, and... god. He heard that announcement, too. So the pattern's continued. Shit. Fuck. Well.

Gotta try to console Queenie. ]

... Queenie?

somewhere that's green

[shikosuki]

[ Choromatsu didn't get far after running away from the body before the urge to break down became too strong for him. So before his legs could give out, he ducked into the third floor's rest area... it might not be an ideal hiding place for someone who wanted to be left alone, but it was something. He stumbled and fell to his knees, quiet for only a moment before releasing a grief-stricken, sobbing scream from the pit of his stomach.

Takumi was his room mate, his friend, but most importantly, without even realizing it for the longest time, he'd become a lot like a brother to him. Treating him that way may have been a coping mechanism for being away from his own own brothers, but even with that aside they both understood each other and could relate to one another, which was something Choromatsu didn't really get from anyone much back home. They had even started sharing a BED like he did with his brothers back home. He doesn't know how to deal with these feelings right now... they may as well have told him that was Todomatsu's body back there. Or Jyushimatsu's. Or Ichimatsu's. Or Karamatsu's. Or...

By the time he's finally finished getting most of it out of his system, he's curled up in a corner of the room, facing the wall and clutching a pillow (that he had used to scream and cry into). He had put on his pastel green hoodie again today and with the hood pulled up over his head he almost blends in perfectly with all the other green shades in the room. His eyes are red, his head's killing him and he sniffles now and then. Otherwise though, he's quiet. Quiet and empty. The only relief he feels is that there doesn't appear to be anymore elemental stuff going on around him. ]

[honoraryembryon]

[ ... So uh, guess who heard about that reaction you had from Nishitani? Roland did. And was asked to come help you! So when he finally locates Choromatsu, seeing him there, he frowns a bit.

How does he approach this...? He knows he's not okay. From what he could tell, those two were close... Takumi is dead and everyone is suffering for it.

But he wants to help. ]

... Choromatsu? ... Sorry if I'm bothering you. I was sent to see if you're... well I don't want to say "okay". I know you're not, but... I figured I'd see anyway.

[scourgingstars]

[Once the investigation was more or less handled, Ardyn came to the dining hall; leaning his head on folded hands with an untouched cup of coffee on the table next to him. He'd gone from an overabundance of emotions to nearly none at all like blowing out a candle; maybe this was what being in shock felt like. Before this week he had been able to hold on to what shreds of distant emotion he still possessed. Knew he felt something, no matter how blurred and deadened it was by the black hatred that he was vessel to.]

[But he couldn't quite reach that right now. He could logically recall the sentiments he had felt only a short while ago--horror at the possibility of an outbreak of Starscourge, anguish and pain at thinking Junpei was dead--but there was nothing so sharp and clear as those emotions now.]

[...Perhaps the one thing Ardyn could find right now was a faint sense of relief, knowing that he was again the only one to bear whatever he'd done to his own body. And that for now, it seemed no more contagious than it had been in the days prior.]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Once Junpei is stable and...in as good a place he can be, given that he's probably going to have to be carried to the courtroom, Church looks nearly half-dead himself from the week he's had, the shock of today.

He slumps into the seat next to Ardyn, waiting for the inevitable, for the doors to open and for all of them to accuse each other of murder until they kill another one of their own. It really will be three dead by the end of this.

And then Ardyn. Church leans his head back, eyes sliding shut. Sleep has not been easy the past few days.]

Didn't think you'd get it back so dramatically.

INVESTIGATION CLOSE

[airlockedmods]

Attention, Champions. The time for investigation has ended and the time for a trial has begun. Report to the pool patio doors with any relevant evidence and wait for the doors to open. Refusal to comply with result in an automatic punishment.

[theoverseen]

[Noticeably for anybody who didn't know that he was with Junpei, Kip doesn't come down to the patio doors.]