PROLOGUE ; INVESTIGATION

[themodsgrimm]

The Story Continues... PROLOGUE - WEEK 0??? 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 your first investigation post! This time, as it is tutorial week, we will be posting toplevels for searchable locations; moving forward, you will post your own toplevels for locations you wish to searh. Evidence — or lack thereof — will be noted in these threads. We ask that group threads consist of no more than 3-4 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 Danielle (entrappings) and Britt (bloodthirstiest), as we will be taking point on this investigation! full navigation. locations taken (statuses) stories (profiles) info & faq wishing well private conversations

Comments

[doublecrows]

[empathy is not Akechi's strong point]

[he doesn't know how to comfort other people. he doesn't know how to offer soothing words of wisdom, to temper pure anger and grief. he isn't what Jae-ha needs right now, and truthfully? he never will be]

[he watches the display with a dispassionate, detached expression. and before Jae-ha can turn to face him, whenever he is done mourning against the glass door of Gi-Gan's new coffin. . .]

[he takes a step back, turns on his heel, and walks way]

[disclosures]

I mean if somebody is going to murder somebody else, then I'd assume they're going to have some kind of plan.

That ink puddle has been there since the tapestries were up.

[alttitude]

[Cardia plucks at his sleeve and Jae-ha remembers that other people exist -

Other people that might have killed Gi-gan.

- but not Cardia. She wouldn't. He seems to take another moment to inhale, to take the breath into his lungs, and then exhale. Composure, he reminds himself.

So he turns to him, expression tight around the corners of his eyes.]

... miss Cardia?

Ah... Sorry - I didn't mean to scare you.

[alttitude]

[ - her voice reaches, if just barely. His fingers curl into a fist against the glass, but he raises his head. It takes a few seconds that pass like small eternities as he puts the pieces of himself back together, standing up straight and taking a number of quiet breaths.

He still doesn't face her.]

... Out of - what?

[He's.

Clearly fine.]

[alttitude]

[it's good to have that kind of awareness.

it takes time - a few more seconds that border into minutes - but he slowly puts himself back together after his initial outcry. the pain that he feels doesn't subside. it throbs harder in his chest with every passing moment that gi-gan remains in the glass encased in front of him

but he eventually pulls himself away

and stalks past belph as he does

though he manages a small, breezy - ] Apologies.

[his tone does not suit the expression on his face. not at all.]

[axilium]

[...]

Apologies don't suit you.

[is all he says as jae-ha walks by him. he won't follow.]

[alttitude]

[ . . . . the other voices remind him that there's something else. Something else beyond this inherent drive to slam his fist and feet against the glass, as if that'll eventually get it to yield to his will.

He hears Souji, and he straightens. His brow furrows and he wonders silently when the nightmare will end. When will curfew truly break, and when will he meet Gi-gan for breakfast, draw up battle plans for escape from this place.

Jae-ha doesn't turn to Souji. Not yet.]

... must I?

[function]

[ it's fine, she's patient. ]

You can't bring her back.

[ she wasn't programmed to be compassionate. ]

[alttitude]

[Like ice water.

He knew that. He knew that once people die there's no way that they can come back. It's how you remove the trash of the world, how you make sure they never hurt other people, sometimes it really is the only way -

But Gi-gan wasn't like that. Gi-gan never hurt another soul without a greater purpose. She wasn't meant to go. She wasn't meant to go before him.

He doesn't have a response to that but - You don't know how to court a woman, do you? - Gi-gan would never forgive him for raising his voice against a woman trying to help him.

So his feet guide him away when he can't find his voice for anything more than - ]

... excuse me.

[sanguinairy]

[There's a pause, one or two beats of thoughtful consideration, and then:]

You don't have to stay with me, but I think you should at least come.

[He doesn't intend to crowd Jae-ha right now or force himself to endure anyone's presence if he needs time to himself. He won't try any harder than that to make him leave Gi-gan, either - for now, this is the most he figures he can do.]

[function]

[ kind words aren't what he needs to hear, she thinks. he needs to face the reality of the situation, that this really isn't a game. his cold shouldering ends up being a relief.

she lets him go right into their pc. ]

[alttitude]

[ . . . Jae-ha's lips settle into a small, fragile smile.]

... ah, because I'm making a scene, aren't I? And not a particularly beautiful one.

[Even if it's not what Souji intended - that is what Jae-ha hears. So he inhales and exhales just once more, before shaking his head.]

Then - don't worry about me, my friend.

[and with that, he will aim to leave.

grief is so very ugly.]

[discardia]

... You didn't scare me. But I was worried.

[ she's never seen him... lose his composure like that. ]

[alttitude]

... then that's my mistake as well.

[he thinks it's terrible, how heavy his heart must feel if he can't even get any small thrill out of having someone admit that they were worried about him - especially if it's someone as sweet as cardia.

so he turns her hand over in his, then bringing the back of it up to his lips as he places a kiss there]

I beg your pardon, lovely miss Cardia. Remind me to make this up to you later.

[but... later.

because in the next moment his hand slips out of hers as he moves to leave the room.]

[sanguinairy]

[Souji won't hold him back from leaving, though his brow furrows a little. He doesn't know how to handle the kind of fragile he's seen in that smile; for now, he can only back down and wait and hope that Jae-ha doesn't do anything too damaging to himself in his upset.]

[hairbrain]

[ rapunzel's only known gi-gan for a few days, and this loss cuts her to the bone. she can only imagine what it feels like for jae-ha --- who's known her for much, much longer. ]

[ so, yeah, orders aren't coming for jae- ha, but, well, something is coming. it's his death, because rapunzel stabs him!!! just kidding. she's actually just going to fucking hug during the brief moment where he's still. ]

[ she doesn't immediately say anything, either. ]

[alttitude]

[that's not what he expected.

but his arms wrap around the other body instinctively, though more to catch her than to hug back. once he realizes the notion behind the gesture, he relaxes from the tense coil that was curled in his stomach and

places his hand at the top of rapunzel's head, in an attempt to soothe her]

... I'm okay, lovely Rapunzel.

Are you?

[hairbrain]

[ ]

Of course I'm not okay --- and you can't be either, Jae-ha!

[ she's not crying yet but it could happen, watch out. ]