THE FIRST VICTIM

[strangerpeople]

THE FIRST VICTIM

[Friday morning is quiet enough.

Everything seems to be normal, as before. Normal and boring, even with the strange things happening around the Depths. After all, no one's killed yet. Why would they? Surely something as ridiculous as a weird fruit and a fleeting promise wouldn't provoke anyone to kill to see if something like that was actually true, right?

Right?

Still, if anyone was worried, they would at least feel justified at being tense. People were told to kill another in return for the safety and life of a loved one, after all. And it included a way out for someone who succeeded in getting away with it. There may be someone more than willing to kill for that chance.

And that's when you don't consider the two empty rooms, one of which was opened and resulted in more strange things happening. And what happened last week? It hasn't been solved, has it? And no one expected that.




Perhaps it's a thought to look around to make sure there's nothing off this morning.

Certainly, it couldn't hurt.]

Comments

[strangerpeople]

[The smell is akin to burns and blood.

It seems to be coming from the...giant pile of daggers just...knocked over in the room. An entire rack of daggers, just all dumped on the floor. It's a shame. A real shame. Who wastes daggers like that?

...oh, there's also something big beneath the giant dump of stabby things.]

[carries_war]

[Welp, since he recognizes that smell, Rubedo just huffs and follows Futaba.]

You should probably let me check this out.

[socialhacktivist]

[...oh. Oh god. Futaba lets out a strangled cry that might alert anyone in the area.

But... but maybe they can still...

Shaking, she tries to uncover the body, as though she might be able to save them.]

[strangerpeople]

[Is it a body?

It is.

The figure beneath is silent and still as they are slowly uncovered. They do not respond even as the daggers are pushed aside.]

[socialhacktivist]

Hey! Hey!!

[Although she's really unsteady, she won't stop until she can identify them and try to check their pulse or shake them or something.]

[carries_war]

[Well, if she wants to do this herself, he might as well help with moving those daggers.]

It smells like whoever's down here is pretty badly burned. Are you sure you wanna see this?

[lightnen]

[ You know, he HAD just been passing by when he heard movement. So he's going to poke his head into the room, raising an eyebrow when he saw both Rubedo and Futaba in here. The smell hadn't gone past him either.

So it made it incredibly easy for him to somewhat slip in without much of a noise, seeing as their focus was on something else. ]

...He's got a point. We can look at it if you don't want to.

[ Hope he's not startling anyone here now.. ]

[socialhacktivist]

[She did jump at first, realizing there were others in the room. But...]

It's... it's fine I... I can handle it.

[This isn't her first shake with death, just... the most up close. Panic has her fighting to push through it though. Because there's still hope... right...?]

[strangerpeople]

[Unfortunately, there is no pulse, once Futaba gets the chance to check it. The body is cold, and whatever compliments and smooth words that may have fallen from their lips upon seeing Futaba are now silent.

There is a sense of chill, terrible chill, like a spider crawling up one's spine, once the body is fully uncovered. There can only be one conclusion:

Laslow, The Spinner, is dead.]

[carries_war]

[Futaba, were you wondering if Rubedo could even make facial expressions? Well, apparently he can, because he's frowning hard.]

Well that sucks. He was nice.

[defriendestration]

HOWDY! ARE WE HAVING A DAGGER PARTY???

[He smelled weirdness and then saw you guys tossing daggers on the way to the library!!]

[carries_war]

[! Oh no precious skelebabby. He gets up from kneeling next to the body to intercept Papyrus at the door.]

N-no, a bunch of stuff just fell, and we were working on cleaning it up!

[Not...entirely a lie...]

[defriendestration]

OH! OK, RUBEDO! YOU SURE YOU DON'T NEED MY HELP?

[carries_war]

Yeah. Um...the stuff's sharp, so I wouldn't want you to get hurt! And I'm used to handling sharp stuff.

[defriendestration]

AH, RUBEDO! YOU ARE SO CONSIDERATE!

WELL, IF YOU WON'T BE NEEDING ME, I'LL JUST BE ON MY WAY!

[socialhacktivist]

Wha--

[She recognizes him pretty quickly. He was the first person she met here after all.]

What the hell... you stupid... idiot...

[Futaba wants to punch him but she knows it's too late for that. But that's not stopping her from getting tears in her eyes.]

Who could have done this...?

[lightnen]

[ Sure enough. It really was someone actually dead, and while he hadn't actually spent time with him? He had a vague idea on who this guy was, and there was no doubt that he was 100% dead as a doornail, making him frown a little in distaste. ]

Tch. As I figured. I knew someone would want out of here bad enough.

[ Killua looked over to Futaba at this point. ]

That's for us to figure out, isn't it?

[socialhacktivist]

...

[What was the point of getting out of here if people died in the process? She can't stand this.

But Killua's right. They have to find the killer.]

Yeah... but... if we do that, then what will happen? No one will be able to trust anyone anymore. I want to avenge him, but...

[A cycle has been started that's bigger than any of them.]

[lightnen]

It's not like we have a choice. We need to find out who killed him and exactly why they decided to make the first move here.

[ What a surprise, though. Killua's almost surprised that it wasn't actually him that'd killed someone first but the reason they wanted them to do it for just wasn't worth it. So the obvious solution left was to find out what - and who - had killed this guy. ]

They gotta have a reason for it.

[pursuitofbeauty]

The funereal bell has Yusuke rushing from his room, dread curdling in his stomach. That sound... it can't be good. He rushes barefoot from his room toward the sound of his fellow captives' voices, hearing Futaba's wavering shock and the calm tones of Rubedo and Killua.

Thank the gods, at least his fellow Thief is alive.

The sight that greets him in the armory stops him short, the color draining from his face. He looks like he's going to sag against the entryway or be sick to his stomach.

"Who... who would...."

[lightnen]

"I'm not sure yet. We're gonna try and figure that out." Killua just answered without thinking; an automatic reflex that came with just speaking his mind.

Normally he didn't care if someone lived or died but finding out who killed this guy meant that they wouldn't be punished for it or something. Like hell he'd let someone else get away with this kinda thing. Though he did soon turn back toward the door and spotted Yusuke who looked like he could collapse at any second.

"...Are you going to be okay?"

[pursuitofbeauty]

"I...."

He wants nothing more than to sink to the floor. He shakes his head, swallowing thickly. He can't seem to take his eyes off Laslow's body. The poor man had been so distraught their first day here, and for him to end up like this....

But then Yusuke remembers Futaba. His wide, sad eyes fix on the poor girl. "Please tell me you weren't the one who found him." She's already seen her mother killed right in front of her, she doesn't need to see any more death.

[socialhacktivist]

Futaba had been quiet for a while now. Things had started to become busier with the ringing of the funeral bell. It was easy to just let the sounds wash over her, eyes stuck on Laslow's unmoving body. He's really dead. Someone here had killed him.

Yusuke's voice is the one that finally rings through to her, through the haze. She blinks and looks up.

He's okay. At least Yusuke's all right. But they're all still in danger. She hates this. She doesn't want to lose anyone else. But if it had been Yusuke... if she'd lost the only friend she had among these strangers... For her it still feels like it's been such a long time since she's had to worry so strongly about losing someone she cares about, even if she knows now that's probably not the case.

"..." Saying nothing probably says it all. She does step closer to him, like she wants to reach out and grab hold of his sleeve but decides not to. But because of that he should have no trouble hearing, under her breath, her say--

"We have to find his killer."

[pursuitofbeauty]

Yusuke swallows and nods, still looking quite sickened at this awful turn of events. After a moment of hesitation, he settles his hand on her hair in an awkward gesture of comfort. He's not accustomed to doing this, but damned if he won't try for his teammate and friend.

"Somehow, this will be made right. Even if he is gone, we can help his spirit find peace."

[carries_war]

[He's a lot more collected than Futaba right now, so he did notice someone poking his head in the door. He gives him a brief glance, then nods at Futaba.]

Okay, if you're sure.

[So let's work on getting all these sharp things moved without cutting ourselves, shall we? While the dog continues to growl.]