THE FIRST INVESTIGATION

[strangerpeople]

THE FIRST INVESTIGATION

[Good Friday morning, everyone!

Ah, the sun is shini--no.

Well, the birds are singi--....no...

It's time to take a shower and--...oh.

It's...the bats are...cute....?




Ok, it's a dreary and miserable morning and everyone is annoyed that they are here and there's an infestation of spiders and creepy happenings and the Stewards are jerks and no one likes this place, ever. Fine. Be that way. So.

What is everyone doing?]

Comments

[silvertongueheir]

[Franciscus is actually looking quite cheerful as he leaves his room. Nothing seems immediately wrong...he's going to head towards the gardens with Hydrangea in tow.]

[strangerpeople]

[After a few seconds in the gardens, Hydrangea's head suddenly jolts up, nose twitching.]

Shay! Shay! Min Shaymin!!

[Then, without warning, he leaps off of Franciscius' shoulder, turning into his Sky Forme as he breaks away.]

[silvertongueheir]

Hydrangea? [Franciscus immediately starts following his panicked Pokemon son.] What's going on?

[strangerpeople]

[The Pokemon stops near the well, where some flowers seem to have been disturbed.]

Shay! Shay!!

[He sounds distressed as he lands.]

[silvertongueheir]

[The well...? Oh no.]

What is it? [He leans down to try and soothe him slightly, while looking around. Is there any blood here? Please, don't let there be a body in the well.]

[strangerpeople]

[No, there is no body in the well.







There is someone lying down near the well, though.

The Shaymin buries its head into Franciscus' chest, letting out distressed shay shaymins.]

[silvertongueheir]

Arceus...no... [He approaches slowly. Who...who is it?]

[strangerpeople]

[One of their own, unfortunately. And probably someone no one wanted dead. Well, almost no one. Someone clearly killed her, judging by her unmoving, unbreathing body.

Osomatsu is going to be devastated.


Atsuko Kagari, The Ursa, is dead.]

[silvertongueheir]

Akko, get up. You-you can't sleep here. [He reaches out to shake her shoulder, as if that will do anything. But it won't. She's not moving. She's dead.

Just like Millium.]

Akko. Akko! [He's screaming now, and he doesn't even realize it.]

WHO DID THIS?

[relieable]

[still in his robe from the Sanctum, Osomatsu comes rushing out to the garden. he heard Franciscus' voice, and he came running...!

oh...

oh...

he takes in the scene, eyes getting wider with each second]

A... Akko-chan...?

[silvertongueheir]

Hydrangea found something wrong in the garden...why? Why would anyone try to kill her? [She was so bright and optimistic about everything...]

[yonosoymaria]

[Osomatsu stops, and behind him Eric almost skids to a halt. That girl, she'd been... he'd meant to talk to her, but... someone took the bait.

He drops the skirts of the robe he's (also) still wearing, and pulls off the mask.]

My God.

[relieable]

[as much as Osomatsu wants to go to her, he knows he can't. he stays back, watching the scene unfold, shaking. he grips Franciscus' shoulder to keep from toppling over.

Akko was so sweet. she did not deserve this. not like any of them did, but, man... whoever did this has just made it to his list]

[silvertongueheir]

[Franciscus lifts a hand to his shoulder, laying it on Osomatsu's and squeezing slightly.]

We'll...find whoever did this. Hunt them down, no matter what.

[He says, as he slowly wipes tears from his eyes.]

[icanhearscreams]

[Jun wanders up behind Eric, slowly. He stares at the body and starts shaking, moving forward before catching himself and leaning against Eric, eyes wide.]

Machi... no...

[yonosoymaria]

[This boy has seen enough death. He was injured besides, and though by some miracle none of those claws had punctured anywhere that would've gone septic he should still be resting. The course of action here is perfectly clear - ]

Jun, if you can hear me, you aren't back there. I'm going to move you, now.

[Eric doesn't sweep Jun up quickly - he's nearly clinging, to bend suddenly might send him off balance entirely - but he's light enough that carrying him is no work at all.]

[icanhearscreams]

[He doesn’t resist when Eric scoops him up, eyes still wide.]

Who got their name called? Who... ?

[He still seems out of it.]

[yonosoymaria]

It's -

[Franciscus had shouted her name, had crumpled and panicked - was Jun asking about something here and framing it as though it were something in that horrid fates' game he'd been involved in? Was that how the damned beetle had told them who'd die next, calling names?]

Miss Kagari, Atsuko. She's been killed.

[icanhearscreams]

... She’s the next pilot and she’s already dead? We’ll have to find another one...

[yonosoymaria]

[Oh, that was the last thing he'd wanted to be right about. The very, very last. Still, if he concentrates on this, he won't think of someone else with dark hair.]

You're away from all that now. You've been wounded, you need to rest.

[Not that it had saved Lucy to do that. She'd died, too, and only four years older than Miss Atsuko.]

[icanhearscreams]

... It’s not me. Someone else is next to die.

[His skin is cold and clammy under Eric’s touch.]

[yonosoymaria]

That's right, it's not you.

[How do you comfort someone in a situation like this? How do you treat shock, again?!]

[icanhearscreams]

Who signed up? Who's part of the contract other than me?

[He's not resisting Eric, at least.]

[incendiarize]

[Arthur has had one bowl of stew in two weeks, so he hits the well a lot. So yeah, he just came for a drink, but then Francisco was screaming.]

Whoa, hey- [...Oh.] Is she...?