final investigation

[arsholes]

[It's been almost a week since Orthrus' lucky escape. Almost a week, of all calls to Heisenberg going (metaphorically) to voicemail. Almost a week, to rest and recover from the harrowing losses of the previous Friday.

It's been almost a week. And the storms are getting worse.

You know the locked door on the first floor? The one that goes into the center of the tower, right across from the great entry hall doors?

Today, there's a heavy iron key sticking out of the lock. With a familiar crest on the head.

The key is sticky with wet yellow paint, and wetter blood.]

Comments

[twibeast]

[ Now that he can feel them all grabbing on (or at least grabbing on to someone grabbing him) he starts to make himself bigger, going all the way to his actual full Clifford size if he can, and is braced to try and land on his feet. Hopefully it'll at least cushion everyone else, or make this fall a bit shorter. ]

[arsholes]

[A clever move from Orthrus. The fall from the boiler room is less than 30 seconds but the impact could have been devastating for those who are not Clifford-sized.

He's able to land hard on his feet, making the new ground tremble under his weight but there's no sign of this ground cracking. Team Find Out (and Heisenberg) are surrounded by darkness but for the moment things are quiet.]

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

[Mei shivers. She slowly lets go of Orthrus and Baldr, looking around from the former's back. They hear the bundle of supplies breaking apart as it hits the ground below them, and something that's probably a bottle of Foego exploding and fizzing all over the place. Maybe she shouldn't have packed that.]

Everyone okay?

[twibeast]

[ Now that they've landed, he takes a moment to regain his composure before lowering himself down so his stomach touches the floor and everyone can get off if they wish. (Or we can go for a ride on a dog kaiju, he don't care either way.) ]

I am fine, but more worried about the rest of you.

[reresurrected]

[He's just going to cling for the moment, breathing hard. He's got enough self-awareness to know that if he gets off right now, moving is... probably not going to be a thing for at least a little while.]

I am uninjured, at least. Mei-san? Heisenberg-san?

[thealchemist]

[Heisenberg is also on team "staying put on big dog" by virtue of the fact that he can hardly walk.]

No worse than I was. That fucking asshole.

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

[Mei concentrates and creates a tiny fireball that she suspends between her hands to light up the room.]

So he's still watching down here. I guess he would've noticed we were gone... What is this place?

[twibeast]

[ Dog ride time it is then! He stands back up from the ground and peers around with both heads. ]

Either that or realized we freed Heisenberg.

This would be where those snakes-- I mean, "wires" went wouldn't it...?

[arsholes]

[Mei's tiny fireball lights up the room enough for them to see a little bit of the chamber they've fallen into. It's wide enough to fit Orthrus in his larger form, for their words to echo off the walls...and for a sound she's heard before to reach Mei's ears and for a coppery smell to invade all of their noses.

Drip, drip, drip.]

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

[Mei gasps a little, looks around, and raises her voice.]

I've heard you before! You're here with us, right? Can we help you?

[twibeast]

[ ???? ]

Mei? You hear something?

[thealchemist]

...Uh...

[Heisenberg glances around and sees something that makes him suddenly go quiet.]

[reresurrected]

... Heisenberg-san?

[Say something, buddy.]

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

I heard the same thing the night of Wu-san's party! Though it didn't smell like blood then...

[She looks where Heisenberg's looking, as if plot nerfing will suddenly let her see whatever ghost is there.]

Heisenberg-san, you can see them?

1/2

[thealchemist]

...That's not a ghost, kid.

[He points, to the far side of the room.]

2/2 [cw: impalement]

[arsholes]

[As their eyes adjust to the darkness, the other three see what Heisenberg already has: a woman's body, dangling off her feet and impaled on three metal spikes: one through her stomach, a thinner one through her thigh and one through her chest. The dimness of the room and a curtain of short dark hair obscure her face but she is decidedly not moving. A wide circle of white chalk is just barely visible on the floor surrounding her.

Silence hangs in the air except for the drip, drip, drip they can all hear now- fresh blood dripping from the metal to be drunk up by the stone floor.]

cw impalement

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

[Mei goes pale. She claps her hands over her mouth, the fire going out. But she breathes in and, somewhere, gathers the will to light up the room again.]

Wait... Who's she?

cw impalement

[reresurrected]

Is she alive?

[He's already trying to slide down off Orthrus to go check...]

[thealchemist]

...I was wondering why those dreams.

[If Orthrus allows it Heisenberg doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get down, but he will reluctantly disembark if forced.]

[twibeast]

[ Oh fucking hell. ]

Mother of…

[ He takes a step closer, cautious of the circle, and lowers himself so Baldr can get off, though doesn’t force anyone else off yet ]

What dreams? Do you mean the nightmares we had before or…?

[thealchemist]

Yeah. The ones I'd bet we all had, right?

You asked who this was? This was the original culprit. Susan. What you saw in those dreams was her execution.

Get ready to catch her. Don't worry about a healing spell yet, I've got a theory.

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

The ones about the execution! With the poison and the spikes and... Nuadha-san said they might be a message, but we couldn't figure out who from or what it was supposed to mean.

[Mei's just babbling now, shaking as Baldr climbs down, trying to concentrate on lighting the room. That's it, concentrate on the task, just like with Somnus before.]

Original culprit...?

[thealchemist]

...There was a trial run before this all started. I made some rookie mistakes. Scrapped it before it got out of hand. They only had one trial.

[He seems. Kind of reluctant to be admitting this.]

[reresurrected]

[Baldr nods and moves to position himself to catch her when she falls.]

I'm ready whenever you are.

[thealchemist]

[Heisenberg nods.

Then focuses his attention on the metal spikes, and waves his hand.

The iron spikes pull themselves from her body, first the thigh, then the stomach, then the heart. The woman's body drops the short distance into Baldr's arms, seemingly lifeless.]