CHAPTER 7 ; INVESTIGATION

[themodsgrimm]

The Story Continues... CHAPTER 7 - WEEK 7??? Narrators Remain ; The clock begins to chime, and on the first note, curfew lifts. Your doors swing open, whether you are ready or not. Leaving your room is a blur. The person you fell asleep beside — are they still there? Have they vanished? Were they ever there at all? You can't seem to recall clearly. What you are most aware of is the pervading sense of wrongness in the air, and how you can't hear anything but the chime of the clock. Even the sounds of your own voice and your own footsteps do not reach your ears. By the time the time the clock strikes nine, you know one thing to be true: blood has been spilt. Search the castle carefully — you wouldn't want to miss a single important detail, would you...? Welcome to this week's investigation post! This time, the mods will be providing top-levels for you to search. Please note the Locations page for your reference. Evidence — or lack thereof — will be noted in these threads. We ask that group threads consist of no more than 1-2 characters. After the discovery of the body (or bodies) and any pertinent evidence, an IC announcement concluding the investigation will go up. You are then free to make your own toplevels on this post for any threads you would like to have between the end of the investigation and the start of the trial. If you have any questions, please ask on our Discord server or ping us on plurk. Please direct pings to Britt (bloodthirstiest) and Danielle (entrappings), as they will be taking point on this investigation! Instructions on this week's investigation can be found in a pin in the General chat! full navigation. locations taken (statuses) stories (profiles) info & faq wishing well private conversations

Comments

LABORATORY

[themodsgrimm]

There are three freestanding counters in this laboratory to give people space to work on their experiments. It's hard to tell what some of this equipment does at first glance, unless you're incredibly familiar with scientifc equipment, but it's possible to hazard an educated guess - the one at the center, for example, seems to be used for mixing things, as it has openings to pour liquids into and a spigot at the bottom where one might set a flask. The big pieces of equipment on the other two counters are a mystery, but all three of them seem to have been partially repaired from how rusted over they were when the room was first uncovered. Each counter has a set of three burners, and there are two drawers in each that can be pulled out and rifled through. There is a wicker basket in the southeast corner of the room which contains fire strikers and a wooden supply cabinet in the northwest corner of the room, which does not have a lock.

Also, in the shadows of the back of the room, there's a vaguely humanlike shape standing motionless.

[vigilantics]

[ ha ha well obviously she's gonna check out those fire strikers!!!



no what's going on with that. humanlike shape. sup. ]

[themodsgrimm]

[What is up with that humanlike shape. As she gets closer, she might notice that whoever it is isn't moving...that's weird. Even though the shape is in the shadows, the way it's positioned free standing doesn't seem like it could be a puppet or a corpse.]

[vigilantics]

[ JUST TELL ME WHO IT IS STOP DOING THIS

but steph will... reach over to poke?? whoever it is. ]

Um, hello?

[themodsgrimm]

[I'm trying to build suspense god!!!

Stephanie pokes the mysterious figure. She's poking cold, solid metal.

She'll be able to recognize him, now...how do we even put this.

Fon Master Ion stands before her, a still, golden statue.]

[vigilantics]

What the fuck.

[ what the fuck.

is there. is there anything weird about the castle. other than the obvious IT'S A GIANT GOLDEN STATUE ]

[themodsgrimm]

[He's a twelve year old boy so "giant" is a bit of an over exaggeration. But he looks...his expression looks surprised, or maybe afraid? It's hard to place, exactly, but it's not a happy emotion.]

[vigilantics]

This... is creepy.

[ please don't... be actually ion i swear to god...

okay, is there anything around the statue. ]

sighs deeply

[fonlines]

[ Well, as she looks, there doesn't seem to be too much? But that might just be because before anything else happens, the statue shudders as if alive.

It blinks, suddenly, and Fon Master Ion rouses himself from the gold statue with a sharp gasp and an even sharper expression, gold dust crumbling to pieces around him as he awakens in a soft, sparkling shower of glitter as he falls back into a defensive posture.

Notably, it seems the hand not on his staff seems to be going towards his throat...? ]

I, wait-- [ he hisses out, eyes wide, unseeing--

before he takes into account his surroundings, the person in front of him and just stops, warily. ]

You're not-- who?

[themodsgrimm]

[Surprise! There's nothing on the floor...okay, maybe there's some gold dust, now, but Stephanie might have more luck just talking to him directly, honestly.]

[vigilantics]

[ WHAT THE FUCK ]

I-- Ion?!

[ she has no idea what to say. steph is literally a comic book character and has to deal with fuckers called clayface and she is at a loss for words here. ]
Oh my god, what happened?

[fonlines]

Someone tried to--

[ but he cuts off with something of a surprised expression, mouth opening and closing a few times without actually saying anything. ]

I can't... remember?

[ he looks around, again, as if only now realizing where he is, attempting (with at least some amount of muted frustration) to brush more of the gold dust from his figure even if a surprising amount of it seems to cling to his skin. his eyes are still wide, as if either steph or the laboratory will have answers to give him. ]

I can't remember who it was, or even how I got here...

[themodsgrimm]

[Looking around, no clues pop out that might bring Ion some more clarity. But I'm glad that he gets to be a Single Golden Boy, even if he's not very happy about it.]

[vigilantics]

Someone targeted you?

[ she sounds... very pissed. how dare someone go after her other son when she just lost so many last week!!! ]

You were reaching for your neck...

[fonlines]

[ He still is, actually; the little bit of brushing he was doing was near his shoulders and collar, and his free hand is now resting very closely above the pendant he wears. Around his neck, you know, though when she says that he tenses and deliberately lowers his hand.

But he glances away, confirming that with a non-answer. To the other: ]

Of course they did. [ tone very, very deliberately neutral and flat; ] I'm a hero, after all... wouldn't it only make sense?

[themodsgrimm]

[I got distracted looking at a stick-legged anime boy so really Francy only has herself to blame here.

But anyway,

I'm sorry about all your sons. Please do carry on.]

[vigilantics]

[ i also got distracted my favorite beautiful purple otter loving son it's ok ]

They could have gone for me. [ that's muttered. ] Let's... see what's around here.

[fonlines]

[ lowly, with something that's almost like a laugh behind it if it weren't so wry: ]

I think some people might have disagreed with you on that.

[ he'll brush himself off a little more, and... hm. that's odd. maybe something for later though, if steph needs help looking around. ]

[themodsgrimm]

[Aside from the now-living statue, there's nothing that seems to immediately need investigating. Where would they like to search?]

[vigilantics]

[ she will go inspect one of the counters to see if anything is amiss.

steph is quiet while doing this, but she'll glance over at ion. ]

... how are you doing?

[ he did just. get almost murdered. ]

[fonlines]

Quite honestly? I don't know.

[ he does not have the emotional capacity to process nearly dying, then waking up ???? hours later to investigation, thanks

so of course he tries to dismiss it as if it is something unimportant, even if his breathing is still a little shallow and his voice a little sharp. ]

I would like to have words with whoever they are, but I cannot even recall their face. [ and, well, you know that's out of the norm for ion. ] The only thing I can do, then, is help you look for answers.

[themodsgrimm]

[But...no answers came. There's nothing out of the ordinary on the counters. Please let Ion take a nap.]

[vigilantics]

... why don't we go see what the others have found?

[ ion Concerns her on a good day, so right now this is alarming.

she says this but she's also like. opening all the drawers. just in case. ]

[fonlines]

[ saying one thing but doing another, come on steph.

he supposes he'll help by looking through the basket and cabinet, himself. hopefully the gold doesn't mess anything up further. ]

[themodsgrimm]

[Damn, did anyone feel a chill because it's fucking frosty in here. I almost bolded that but realized that my joke could be taken as some kind of evidence, so, close call. Nothing amiss in the basket, drawers, cabinets...everything is present and accounted for!]