melodiesoflife | Event || Cluedo

( she let his words hang between them for a little while, unmoving. then finally, closed her eyes, grasping the handle of her umbrella in both hands, her grip loose. )

Didn't I warn you not to get involved with the humans? Nothing good ever comes of it. In the end, one of you is always going to suffer, whether it's them, or you. ( and in cases like these... both. )

[ Eventually, he pulls his hand back from Hisui’s corpse It’s only a matter of time before he gets renewed in the Crystal—if at all. It was something that he feared with the Heroes of Light. Some tend to stay in the Crystal while others are completely demolished. He didn’t want Hisui to be one of those people that would never come back. He couldn’t ever forgive himself if that were to happen not that he would right now either. Edna’s words were true but Mikleo still liked humans and he like Sorey he believed in the best of everyone no matter the mistakes. He wasn’t going to be jaded by this. He’ll just have to work harder to prevent it in the future. ]

I’m aware of what you’re trying to say Edna, but it doesn’t change anything for me. I still want to be around them—humans and others.

[ It just hurts when you cause paint to those you care about. ]

I mean, maybe? Considerin' we don't know how people're being mind controlled yet, we can't really jump to any conclu--

[Hang on, is he confessing now?]

Wait, what? Just like that?

( of course he would say something like that. she knew he would, mikleo was just that predictable, as far as she was concerned. predictable and hopeless... knowing that, she carried on. )

They're selfish and short-sighted, always wanting to get more out of their lot in life.

( and finally, as she approached, she raised her collapsed umbrella to poke him in the gut. ) But not even the dumbest of earth-dwellers would be stupid enough to believe you did this on purpose.

...Yeah. I...must have, right? I probably wasn't...

[His head hurts. His head really hurts. But it doesn't matter, because he's convinced he's guilty just because of his guilt complex, because of all the people he's killed. But the evidence is there. Ice, a blade, he doesn't know. He doesn't know, but he does.]

Who else could it have been!? I...dammit, there were ice burns, right? And my hands...

Mary waved her hand, dismissing the apology, "Don't worry. I know you wouldn't. I just worry that some of the others might. Not out of any cruelty but merely because they know we have the "blessing" of coming back. The fact that others have died, civilians, not our own, that's what needs to be remembered."

Looking down at the table, she traced a circle on its surface with her fingertip, leaving behind a soft smudge. "It could be technology. The Herans had Ancient devices in their research facility. One of them began to glow in time with my heart and my own crystal. In my own world there was an ancient device that could control minds. We called it the Apple. It was the first Piece of Eden that the Brotherhood discovered. According to the tales, Mentor Malik and Grand Master Altair cut down their own Master as he used it to turn an entire city against them."

She frowned as she looked back to Saori, "If someone can be made to believe with all their heart what someone wants them to, perhaps it's better for me to remain here until my name has been cleared."

"Well enough." And Jack will see a copy of himself standing there. the movements might be a bit off: Nanami isn't trying to mimic Jack's body language, and she does have a rather different body shape, but the likeness is there.

Right. We need to get all of the pieces first before we can have any hope of success at deductive reasoning. Then we can start crossing out names and possibilities.

[She sits back in her chair, tapping her chin.]

I think it's safe to say that the Heroes of Light themselves are being used as the murder weapons. I suppose it's possible someone with the Overlord job could be controlling them, so we'll keep anyone with that job set on the list. But as for the one who carried out your murder...

[Akane looks up at Santa, then shakes her head.]

I don't know him as well as you do, but it really doesn't seem to match his personality, and the motive seems really shaky. If he wanted to kill a lot of us, the slumber party would have been a good place to carry that out.

[She turns back to the computer, running a search query for Avatar information so she can study up on what they've got.]

Do we know the limits on what powers these Avatars have?

[If Akane has been particularly quiet for the past few minutes, it's only because she's thinking about wendigos. Being from Earth where the legends originated, and being a strong believer in the supernatural, she probably knows more about them than most people. She turns her head to explain.]

The 'wendigo' is a legendary monster, supposedly native to America and Canada. It was believed that they evolved out of people who resorted to cannibalism, and they were often associated with greed, winter, famine, starvation...things like that. The stories originated with the Native American populace. Some people did develop what they called 'wendigo psychosis.' There were quite a few famous cases about it, too.

[But she shouldn't derail the conversation too much. If there was ice, and if Dylas became such a creature for his limit break, then they're that much closer to cracking the case. She turns back to Dylas, and her expression softens.]

There are other forces at play here, Dylas. It's likely that people are being controlled and used as weapons. There would be no way for you to reach your Limit Break on your own otherwise.

[She takes one of those 'hands' and squeezes it gently.]

Anything you can remember might help. And if you were being used, we need to make sure you're protected from the person who's using you. Relax, and try to remember that night.

Ellie paused. There was a faint widening of her eyes, and it was clear that this wasn't the answer she expected. She shot a brief look at Sephiroth to see if his thoughts aligned with hers, before directing her attention back to Jade.

"That narrows things down significantly," she said, swiftly recovering. "It means your attacker could do one of three things: Fly, teleport, or move silently. There are many jobs that allow these things. But I am not certain how accurate teleportation is, that it would allow someone to move directly behind you. I think it can be ruled out. That leaves the other two options, then. There are some advanced jobs that allow for flight, but the Psychic is the only one that may do it without making noise. The Vampire silences movement completely."

Lust's smile stretched further, and her eyes glittered. He'd heard of it, and he knew of its capabilities. That saved her some time. "So it exists in your world as well. That's interesting."

Very interesting indeed.

She turned to take a stroll around the lab, her steps slow and measured with delicate clicks of her high-heeled boots. "It exists in Amestris as well. Alchemy is common there; alchemists with the talent to create the stone, far less common. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across the same legend in this world. And you claim it is within yours now too. The legend is more universal than I imagined. I think that makes it a possibility that the stone may not be a legend after all, don't you?"

Lust pivoted to face him once more. "This is my desire. I was unable to possess the talents of the alchemists in Amestris, but here, the matter is simpler. Help me create it. That is my price." Her head tipped, waves of black hair drifting across her brow to veil her eye. "Do you accept?"

This is toeing onto some fascinatingly dangerous territory. Jack would be lying if he said that there wasn't a part of him that wanted to see if it was possible. But he knows the rules. He has to question her motives, he has to know what it's for.

"Which use of the stone are you after? I have zero interest in the use of the stone." Carefully worded there, Jack. "And, once you have it, can you guarantee that it's not going to fall into anyone else's hands? I would hate to go through all this trouble, only to hand it over to Palitulu or Garland on a silver platter."

"So which is it? Immortality? Wealth? The prestige of making the stone here, when it couldn't be done in your world?" Jack shakes his head. "It almost doesn't matter, but I'm not walking into this with my eyes closed any more than you are."

This woman is no fool. Jack would not be able to talk her off her purpose, no matter what it is. If he doesn't help her, someone else will. And yet. And yet, and yet. He still wants to know.

Even knowing that she was innocent in all of this, even as sure as she could be that she wasn't one of the killers, and especially with the imposing figure the tall man in front of her struck with his stern gaze, Kidd couldn't help but feel that she wasn't in the best of situations. All she could do was trust that the others trusted her more than the situation that they were in, and that there were more clues beyond what she could offer.

"I'm afraid not. All I can say is that they had enough training to take our resident wishful rooftop Hero by surprise and then was able to escape as such. Another Assassin is a likely suspect, but that's not an avenue I like to propose so easily. On the other hand, it's a job available to anyone. Me and mine don't get to decide who gets to use it."

She frowned. It was slightly offensive that the skills were bandied about so easily. On the other hand, given circumstances in this world, it was clear that this was all because there was a Hero in the past with these skills and then died. Frankly, that made all of this worse.

[OOC: Any objections to forward dating this to today? Making some accommodations, so she was probably just crystal for a while longer.]

Rukia was very happy to see Selphie as well, though it might not show right away. As soon as Rukia's gaze settled on Selphie's bandaged arm, she frowned, gently but firmly grasping her elbow to get a better look.

"Where did you get this?" she asked. She wasn't harsh enough to sound demanding, but she highly doubted it came about just from a clumsy spill or an accidental bump. She examined it carefully, frowning, before looking Selphie directly in the eyes as she awaited her housemate's answer.

Rukia looked at Ramza, then nodded. In this matter there was no need for delicacy. Her death had been so swift that she scarcely had any time to register pain or fear. Even if she had, she liked to think of herself as a professional. Nothing could have ever been worse than being devoured alive by a sea of hamsters.

Nothing.

"There was a rabbit," she said. "It seemed unusual to see one in the city, as I was given to believe that they only dwelled in the wilderness. I followed it to the river where it vanished, and I realized it was an illusion. Then I was struck. Beyond that, I remember nothing."

She tipped her head forward with a frown. "...It's strange. When we were pulled to the south, a child was separated from his mother by pursuing a rabbit as well, and she was found dead by the river afterward. It seems too similar to be coincidental." At least, she thought so, but who knew? Maybe people often ran after rabbits and got clobbered and/or killed as a result in this world.

[ He is hopeless, sometimes probably more than Sorey, but they were two peas in a pod in that regard. No matter what, Mikleo wasn't going to change his ways even if Edna did have a point in all of this. He knew she wasn't wrong and he knew she had her reasons. ]

Even so, it's those sort of emotions that make them different. They can adapt and change gradually with the mistakes they make. Even their selfishness is put into play.

[ He clenched his hands tighter as he watched the scene. It was a long shot but he remembered all the others that were involved in this mess and he wasn't afraid to turn himself in. ]

[ Mikleo's whole body jolts to the side at the contact of the pointed umbrella at his side. ]

Ouch! What was that for?!

[ He snapped back at her clearly ticked off but it definitely loosen the amount of tension in the air. ]

That's not the point here.

[ He retorts. That was the last thing he cared about. Even if they judged and blamed him he wouldn't stop them. He knew that he had done wrong. ]

Selphie laughed sheepishly at the request for an explanation. Her elbow was raised for a closer examination and was about to attempt waving it off when she remembered Yuri's words. There wasn't any point in trying to brush it off.

"Well... I was out training the other day and I ran into a monster that was a bit more than I could handle. I managed to dodge a few of the hits but it got me with its tail before I bailed."

One fact was becoming increasingly obvious as the investigation went on turning up leads that didn't lead anywhere; trust no one. Sephiroth himself didn't like to regress to the way of thinking that had once not-so very long ago been his bread and butter. Until his stern facade had creaked open to the possibility of compassion, and allowed some light to brighten the dark cave inside. To think that he'd started to trust more than a handful of people -even not so far as with his life- and the circumstances were giving him reason to withdraw that trust.

Sephiroth shook his head, and hopefully those damnable thoughts away for a while. From within tiredness the last thing he needed was for his overactive imagination to take all reason from him when there were facts in front of him that needed combing through with all the due diligence he could muster.

"I'm starting to believe that it might not be so simple as the Jobs that our so-called 'culprits' are necessarily equipped with. For someone with such a gift at mind control, it's probable that anyone could be made to believe they had such skills even if -within their own mind- they might not."

He curled his arms up over his chest and seemed to retreat further into himself. No, it really wasn't comfortable talking about the extents that mind control may or may not go.

Lust's eyebrows arched sympathetically, and she shook her head with a long-suffering smile. Really, he couldn't guess? All of these things he listed were strictly human desires. What need did she have for wealth, or immortality? Even power held no real appeal to her. He was cautious, and she couldn't blame him for that, but she would have thought it was obvious. Maybe creatures like her just didn't exist in his world.

She returned to him in slow, measured steps, lifting her head as she drew near his shoulder, so she could whisper it in his ear as if it were some great secret.

"All I wish is to be human."

She withdrew, fingers skimming his shoulder as she walked past him and folded her arms. "This world made me mortal. But it is not the same." She approached a console and leaned into it with her hands. "I still lack a soul. If anything, I'm even further from where I wanted to be once I was placed here." She turned to face him, and her countenance was serious. "The Philsopher's Stone has the power to change me back into what I once was. That is why I want it. Are you satisfied?"

"A rabbit?" Ramza repeated. How strange for Rukia to come upon one before the moment of her death. She was so fond of them. He hoped they were not secretly malicious creatures or bad omens.

"So, you think it could be related to what happened then?" He had not heard much about what had happened to the other groups of Heroes while he had been in the bizarre play. "We did not know the river was the scene of the murder. You were found in the Residential District."

As far as he had heard from the other investigators, no one had any idea why the bodies had been moved. "What about cause of death? The...locals who were killed died from wounds inflicted by rocks, but we could not determine causes for the Heroes. The bodies crystallized before we found them."

Rukia frowned thoughtfully. She wasn't angry at Selphie, but she was definitely concerned. Rukia had a habit of ~~bossing~~ mentoring young people and adopting them as her students and friends. "I'm glad you're aware when it's time to retreat, but this concerns me nonetheless. Were you training alone?"

Selphie knew when someone wasn't approving of her actions. She tucked her arm behind her as she admitted defeat. While the perky brunette was used to fighting, it definitely wasn't with a sword. There was so much that she was still getting used to with a sword that perhaps she shouldn't go wandering outside of Aqures Ixen by herself.

"I wasn't expecting a monster like that to get the jump on me," Selphie defended. "I usually stick close to the walls of the city. I guess wandering into one of the forests wasn't the best idea in the world.

"Flynn is gonna kill me..." she ended with a groan and let her head hang in shame. "Oh man... I'm in trouble now."

Edited 2016-07-12 02:40 (UTC)

Rukia nodded her head. "I'm not entirely positive, but I don't believe it was a coincidence either. I do like rabbits, but only those who know me well could say this." It wasn't as if she made a habit of loudly announcing her preferences wherever she went.

...Then again, someone had posted to the quest board last Christmas that she favored them, so who knew?

She blanched, her mouth twisting into displeasure to hear that her corpse had been dumped into a public place like that where even children could see. How thoughtless and crude. "My housemates were not upset with this, I hope?" She picked up the gelatin cup and spoon again, fumbling with it in an attempt to figure out basic packaging.

"Because you should have known better than that," Rukia chided, her voice firm but not angry. "Especially with a murderer moving about. Even an experienced shinigami like myself was not immune, as you see."

So it wasn't as if Rukia were perfect either. She'd thought it would be fine to move about at sunset, as the murders didn't seem to take place until dark. That was incorrect, as she'd discovered.

"If you wish to train, ask me, or one of the others. There's no shortage of us who would be willing to help you. There's the training school as well," she pointed out. "I'm relieved your injury isn't serious."

Event || Cluedo

because you need dis, meebro

no no meebro!! so many nicknames whyyy

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this life chose u

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Re: June 25th, night | Open to investigators, 1on1 and group threads both welcome

Re: June 26th and onward - Crystal Laboratory

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1/2 no it did not. shush!!!

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Totally fine to forward date!

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Thanks!

No problemo! :D

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