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fifth trial
[With the last piece of evidence collected, Heisenberg's voice abruptly comes from everywhere and nowhere once again.]
Ready when you are. Come on up, Apprentices. You know the drill by now.
[Time to get in your weekly cardio climbing all these goddamn stairs again. Per usual, the ascension takes several minutes, with one final door remaining locked than that first time. The shimmer of purple shield magic remains, blocking the apprentices from accessing it but they'll know soon enough if they make it through this trial.
Finally they reach the courtroom door. It's a bit singed and a little splattered with dried blood. You'd think the tower would have eagerly drunk it up...but perhaps someone left it as a message. The door swings open to reveal a small set of steps, leading up to an imposing round chamber with a tapered roof. Twenty podiums stand in a circle in the center, lit brightly from below. Each podium is made of dark metal with a colored crystal matching the individual dorms enclosed on a thick glass dome on top of it. As always, greyed out portraits of the deceased have been added- Olive and Bruno. The courtroom looks completely unharmed from Hubert's attempt on Wednesday.
Heisenberg once again is up on his scaffold. He pulls a gas mask off of his head and runs a hand through his hair, before settling his hat back in its usual place.]
Hope you've brought your best. And all the evidence. You know how this goes by now. Either one person leaves here, or ten of you get the reward of going back down to the Institute.
Better get started.
Ready when you are. Come on up, Apprentices. You know the drill by now.
[Time to get in your weekly cardio climbing all these goddamn stairs again. Per usual, the ascension takes several minutes, with one final door remaining locked than that first time. The shimmer of purple shield magic remains, blocking the apprentices from accessing it but they'll know soon enough if they make it through this trial.
Finally they reach the courtroom door. It's a bit singed and a little splattered with dried blood. You'd think the tower would have eagerly drunk it up...but perhaps someone left it as a message. The door swings open to reveal a small set of steps, leading up to an imposing round chamber with a tapered roof. Twenty podiums stand in a circle in the center, lit brightly from below. Each podium is made of dark metal with a colored crystal matching the individual dorms enclosed on a thick glass dome on top of it. As always, greyed out portraits of the deceased have been added- Olive and Bruno. The courtroom looks completely unharmed from Hubert's attempt on Wednesday.
Heisenberg once again is up on his scaffold. He pulls a gas mask off of his head and runs a hand through his hair, before settling his hat back in its usual place.]
Hope you've brought your best. And all the evidence. You know how this goes by now. Either one person leaves here, or ten of you get the reward of going back down to the Institute.
Better get started.
Autopsy Results
AUTOPSY RESULTS
VICTIM: Bruno Madrigal
CAUSE OF DEATH: A stab wound to the heart
TIME OF DEATH: Between 48 and 72 hours ago
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man good thing he can actually read this stuff now ]
W-Wait, that time of death can't be right can it?
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mods
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storage room evidence
I checked out the storage room.
The first thing I noticed was a piece of emerald hidden under the shelves.
[ He'll take it out for anyone who wants to see it. ]
Under the shelf there was also scattered sand grains from someone sweeping in a hurry. But that's not all, there was some sand and salt in the cracks of the floor as well—none of appearing to be recent.
There's also several handfuls of sand hidden in a box, which was on the back of a shelf. It also happened to be where Bruno has sat behind. There was also some sand stuck in the broom's bristles.
[ He has also taken pictures of the scene before he had grabbed anything, like just in case. ]
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Lounge evidence
I found these two pieces of emerald in the lounge, one stuffed into the cushions of a couch and the other in a pile of ash near the fireplace. It also seemed as though someone had tried to burn a note of some sort in the fireplace... I found a burnt scrap of paper with the words "in the lounge" written on it in handwriting I don't recognize. Unfortunately, that was all that was still legible-- the rest had already burnt up by the time I found it.
[He's got that here with him too if anyone wants to take a look.]
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hey mods
Let me take a look at that.
[The paper is probably too burnt to pinpoint where it came from, but if there's handwriting maybe he'd...
Does the handwriting match Bruno's handwriting?]
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But more importantly I would like to ask the obvious question—if Bruno was dead for so long, who have we been speaking to?
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[That's hard to tell without forensic testing, but he asks anyway, just in case]
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[Uf, welp.
Katsuya begins talking]
As soon as I heard about the state of Bruno's body, I hurried to the dormitory. My intention was to figure out when was the last time Bruno slept on that bed. I didn't find anything conclusive, but I did find a few things we should consider.
First of all, the bed was unmade. I believe someone slept on it recently...although of course that doesn't mean Bruno did so. While I was searching for proof it had been Bruno, I found two objects:
[Having said that, he places on his podium the Cloak of Duplication]
First, this Cloak of Duplication -- as you may remember this changes your appearance and voice to mimic someone of your choice. This cloak is intact and clean, too.
Second, this key. I found it belongs to Bruno's trunk.
[Katsuya places something else on the podium: a bright emerald shard]
Inside, I found this shard, which belongs to one of Bruno's prophecies. I have seen him hold tablets made of something of this color. I also found during my search another prophecy, made of the same material and with generally the same qualities, confirming further this is a piece of a prophecy.
I also found a journal, from which pages seem to have been torn. If any of you found pieces of paper we'll have to consider it may have come from it.
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At the very least I'm sure that the Bruno I spoke to on Sunday was himself. He recognized a toy that belonged to a family member of his, after all.
[ ... ]
How would they even be able to masquerade as Bruno during that explosion aftermath, anyway?
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[Right, that was there too]
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cw: emoto
I wish to assure you all of something first. From my investigation of the body I am sure he was dead before he was placed in the wall. He did not die trapped and helpless. I... thought you all would like to know that.
[he coughs dryly before moving onto the actual evidence.]
As Heisenberg stated with the report, Bruno was stabbed in the chest with a blade around the size and dimensions of a knife. The amount of blood on his clothing suggests he was still alive when the attack happened, but I found no indication that he resisted in any way. I can also say that the state of the body was likely affected by a drying agent of some sort:
[he places the potion bottle on his podium]
Which would be required to be replaced multiple times to do the job. I can only assume this was done both to hide the time of death and the smell. So we currently have no reason to suspect the time of death is any different from what Heisenberg claims even with how desiccated the corpse was.
There was no blood at the scene except what was on the body itself, so we can assume the killing happened elsewhere. I also found blood around his mouth, alongside dried white froth. This froth suggests excessive drooling, vomiting and possibly seizures, all pointing towards some brand of poison. I found sores in his mouth, throat and on his hands that also correlate this conclusion.
Finally, while I searched his body I could not find his compact, so we can assume it was likely taken by his killer.
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We have pieces of one of his prophesies. Has anyone been able to reassemble it?
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I found this one in the chapel. It was on top of the altar.
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Garden
I also found this buried in the garden as well, though it looked much more recently done.
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cw: suicide
cw: suicide
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cw: suicide
cw: suicide
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cw: suicide
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semi cat herd
If you are all quite done...
[Hubert starts to pace as he talks, hands behind his back in a classic military stance. He... doesn't look happy with whatever is going on in his head, unlike he usually does when he gets on the scent]
Looking at the emerald slab it is very possible at this point in time that Bruno was already stabbed as his hand is covering the exact spot of the entry wound. The odds of that happening randomly are unlikly, as a naturally falling hand would more likely rest at the waist.
Also after pondering on the wound I can safely say that killer was skilled with their blade, as it was between two ribs and with an upwards thrust. Hitting the heart and not, say, the lungs? Only a practiced killer could manage that.
Also I can say that if the blade was thrust all the way in it would have just hit the heart if it was close to 9 inches in length, perhaps a bit longer. So we can assume it is that length as someone with a much longer blade would have kept going to ensure his death and a short blade would not have reached.
With this I say we can start making a suspect list.
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Do we know who has swords the right size?
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hands & arms check
[ Felix is going to be looking for irritated skin due to the poison, or for sand underneath people's fingernails in particular.
As far as he's concerned, it can't hurt to check. Gloves can be around, but the hemlock seems potent enough that an accident still could've happened. ]
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Something breaks
A grin none here have ever seen from Loki splits his face. It's all teeth and no remorse. If he were to start cackling manically it would fit the scene perfectly.
But that's time he wouldn't be talking, and he does love to talk. He throws his arms wide]
Of course I killed Bruno! Honestly, it's disgraceful it took you all this long to figure it out. Dear Bert, you were so close, but what? A few tears enough to deter you from pushing to the logical conclusion? Pathetic. And Katsuya? Really? I can't believe you thought a tattle-tale [narc] like that could have held up such a masterful deception for so long! I'm actually a little offended.
Bruno came to me late...Tuesday night, I want to say? Showed me the tablet, thought we could trick the fates by having him pass out next to me, but I knew what it was. That simpering fool actually trusted me to not take the opportunity he practically gift wrapped and placed in my lap.
I had hoped there would be some sort of time limit, you know? Perhaps if the body wasn't discovered within a week I could win by default. So I took Stella's ring and used it to hide his body in the wall of the chapel. The potion was to dry out the body make it harder to find. All I had to do was keep up the charade.
[Here he does chuckle-- a dark, menacing sound.]
You all were so easily fooled! I barely put any effort at all into being him and you ate it up!
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[With all the severity of someone who knows exactly what he's watching:]
Drop the act.
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Voting
You know the part that comes next.
[With a wave of his gloved hand, the podiums of the surviving apprentices all light up with the surviving apprentices' names.]
Vote, and get your goodbyes out of the way.
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> Loki of Asgard
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Re: Voting
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EXECUTION: Tell Me How I'm Supposed to Breathe with No Air [cw: attempted suicide + suffocation]]
The ripple the apprentices have come to know more and more with every trial tears through the courtroom, a feeling of ice cold dread cutting through each and every one of them. It feels different this time, palpable enough that every single one of them feels it cut them to the bone. As if it's growing stronger. The stone tower quakes underfoot, dust rising as the pit opens up and the impenetrable wards appear overtop.
Heisenberg is once again quiet this time around, only leaning back in his chair and pulling down the brim of his hat.]
Let’s make this quick. Shame your illusions can't hide you from this one.
[A streak of black lightning shoots from Loki’s podium crystal and he vanishes just like all the rest.
In the pit, Loki lands hard on his hands and knees. It takes him a moment but he jumps up from where he’d fallen, getting into a low, defensive crouch. On the wall a hidden door slides open and a hulking metal endoskeleton lumbers out, on it’s left hand a more rudimentary version of the golden gauntlet that sits on Loki’s bedside table. Loki tilts his head in an almost curious look. A shimmer of purple-ish magic passes over the endoskeleton, giving it fitting form to Loki himself. The god swallows and, briefly, he looks up at the faces of his fellow apprentices watching from above.
When he doesn’t see Mei a small smile plays across his lips. He will not be the entertainment for whoever this Patron is, not anymore. With a flick of his wrist a dagger appears in his hand and it seems he’s about to plunge it into his own heart, but before he can the hulking purple beast surges forward with surprising speed. It uses Loki’s moment of shock to knock the dagger away and grab him by the throat with its gold gauntleted hand. Loki’s eyes go wide, his hands clawing at the metal, trying to find purchase to loosen the grip. His legs kick frantically as he is hoisted in the air as his eyes go bloodshot and his face begins to turn blue.
The monstrosity squeezes tighter, until a sickening snap reverberates through the courtroom, cutting off the strained gurgling noises that Loki is making. Loki goes limp, his body falling to the floor as the executioner loosens its grip.
Heisenberg flicks his wrist and opens up the teleportation portal for the apprentices to leave, without another word.]
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[When all was said and done, the prophecy shard vanished into his Armiger at a brief touch, and he turned to leave in sharp strides with his whole body held rigidly straight.]
[What was done was done. What mattered is that he survived.]
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