THIRD TRIAL

[bathymetric]

If you have time for a grisly operation like that, I think you've had all the time you need to gather evidence. Please proceed to the door to the trial room elevator as quickly as possible.

[ Once you arrive, it's the same song and dance as the last two weeks. Angel helps you all get through the vault door and into the elevator, and watches as you all make the slow descent to the dome below. Standing in the elevator is more than a comfortable fit now, even for the largest among you. A few more of you lost and there'll be room enough to pace in here.

But maybe you don't want to think about that.

The dome of the trial room is the same as it's been, the only change the dull red glow coming from the two newly-unoccupied podiums. The screens above flick on, and lower down to make an address. ]

You know the score by now. Find Seteth's killer and you can all go free. Fool them all, killer, and you'll have your life and your reward. Other than that, whatever happens here is between all of you. Call for me if you need anything.

[ The screens rise again, leaving you here.

Welcome to your third trial. ]

Comments

[archboxer]

[Probably the first thing noticeable about Rhea currently is that the long sleeves of her gown are spattered with blood, though, she did have the foresight to wash her hands. It probably has something to do with the bloody cloth (that remarkably looks like part of that hideous dress) in front of her. The Sword of Seiros is leaning against her podium.]

While I did not fully examine his body, I do understand there were some things that need to be explained about it due to Seteth's nature. I cannot say if the answers will be of any use to the investigation, however, I will answer them forthrightly. Ema likely can answer any questions about the wounds found on his body but I must answer any about this.

[She unfolds the bundle and there is a rock laying in it. It's been cleaned, fortunately, but it looks... fancy? However, unlike the picture there's a different symbol on it. One that those that frequent the chapel might remember seeing.]

This is the Crest Stone of Cichol. You could say this is his heart. [Rhea's been doing alright up to this point but she sounds exhausted now.] Cichol, as the profiles state, is Seteth's true name. There is little need for secrets now so -- yes, the reason I know this is that I have a Crest Stone laying in my chest as well. The Crest Stone of Seiros.

[She doesn't say what that means but it can be definitely inferred.]

[hardnosed]

[ It sure can be inferred! And the inference to be made is— ]

Your core is a rock?

[ fuckin nailed it ]

[blackmass]

[cool! hate that!]

...Well. This is quite the development.

[snackooed]

[ Even with two of these under her belt and more than a few experiences testifying in an actual court, there's always something that gives Ema pause when it comes to speaking at the podium like this. She looked uncomfortable last week, but today, the expression on her face is...not quite as confidence inspiring as one would hope. She's trying, but...

Well, let's just say that her investigation didn't go as hot as she'd like, compared to the last two. Which is maybe saying something, compared to last week's game of "Find That Blood". ]

I conducted the investigation of Seteth's body in the water park, with Zerinda supervising. Let's start with what I do know, and get that out of the way: Seteth's body was found relatively high up, near the top of one of the slides in the park, lying on his back. From the placement of his body and the way his blood is moving, I can confirm that his body was not moved from its original position. The spot we found him in is the spot that he died in, and he wasn't dragged up to the top of the slide by the culprit after death.

Now, the cause of death was a...a critical injury to the chest area, scientifically speaking. [ Is that what we're calling it...? ] I was able to find shards of black metal inside that wound, which presumably broke off from the murder weapon. His body was also covered in cuts and scrapes, which Mira has documented for us and can show you upon request. Be sure to thank her for that. The most notable and largest of which would be the cut on his left arm. Additionally, his right hand was covered in splinters, particularly centered around his palm area.

[ That's...well, it wasn't all quite normal, but it is the end of the normal part. ]

Now, onto the unknowns: Seteth, for better or for worse, had a bit of a...unique biology. His body showed no signs of livor mortis, algor mortis, or rigor mortis whatsoever. Even if we found his body as early as fifteen minutes after he was killed, we should have seen early signs, at least some kind of pallor... which leads me to believe that his body doesn't decompose in the same way that a human's does, if it actually decomposes at all. Therefore, unfortunately, it's impossible for me to estimate the time of death. Additionally, as Rhea mentioned, we found a stone in his chest, in the same area where the heart would be located in the human body, and the veins on it seem to indicate that it served a similar function. She's volunteered to answer any questions about that.

I believe that's everything with regard to his body...let's try to consolidate the information that we have, and we'll work from there, but I'm sorry that I couldn't give you much more conclusive than that.

[emberserker]

So shards of whatever the weapon was broke off when he was stabbed. That would indicate that the killer didn't know his heart was a stone, but since only one other person knew, that doesn't solve anything.

[Anna's still in the wetsuit, trailing water into the courtroom, and radiating annoyance -- wait, she's always that last one. She lays a broken training spear on her podium.]

This was stashed floating in the lazy river, but there's no way it's the weapon. This is a training spear, blunted and padded. But it was sliced in half by something sharp -- most likely the murder weapon. Given the splinters you mentioned, Seteth most likely tried to defend himself with this. Unfortunately, I didn't find the other half.

[reallyhatesharks]

Covered in splinters like "punched wood and it exploded" or like "used his hand to shield himself from exploding wood"?

[Feels like maybe there's some difference there.]

[nothingcanstop]

[ There is so, so much of HEY THIS SUCKS going on. Della only barely saw the body this week. She's a little glad she left the room now. ]

Splinters... [ She places the stick she found on her podium. It's...like half a quarterstaff, and it's broken. ] Maybe they came from this. I found it outside the park, near a trail of blood drops, leading from the arcade to the water park.

[archboxer]

About the metal shards... I believe that might have come from striking his crest stone.

[ladygeryon]

[Nira's grabbed a cloth to wrap up the scabbard she found, which she now sets on her podium.]

I found this under one of the arcade machines. There was also blood splattered on the ground near the entrance. I haven't touched it, so it should be fine to dust for fingerprints.

Mods?

[bolderfell]

Can I see that?

[He doesn't need to touch it, just look. Does it look like the sheath that comes with a Letter Opener: Deluxe?]

[mouflon]

Speaking of the arcade machines, a bunch of them were banged up when I checked. And I found... this.

[ Rin holds up the SEGA Bass Fishing controller. It's been practically bisected with what looks like a slice. ]

[valentinus]

...Someone discarded a sword underneath the bar.

It seemed to be damp, and had the tip of it broken.

[ So, y'know. Could be related ]

[snackooed]

[ Oh, if that's all this is gonna take, this is going to be her best day ever-- ]

Oh, may I? May I? Oh, I haven't gotten to do any proper dusting in ages...

[ At the mention of fingerprints, Ema can't help but grin. Could this, at last, be her time? ]

[bolderfell]

Pretty sure Seteth wasn't armed with only his practice lance. I found this in the pool.

[Therion lifts the Ochain Shield and places it on his podium. He points to the battle damage on it.]

This came from something sharp. No way his padded lance would leave a mark on this. We're looking for a sword--and more than that, we're looking for someone good with it.

[valentinus]

...It must be the same sword I found under the bar.

[hardnosed]

[ zero points for guessing the direction Jasper's looking in, absolutely zero points ]

I can understand him having the lance on him. But that? Why would he arm himself if he didn't expect to face an opponent?

[drladysounds]

If a profile says someone likes swords or swordfighting maybe we can narrow it down.

[Hopefully?]

[pimpplan]

They don't really need to be good with a sword, necessarily – any schmuck with one can cause some damage, no matter the experience level.

[ the most dangerous people with tools are the ones who don't know how to use them, or something? ]

Injury check!

[bolderfell]

We won't get anywhere asking questions and hoping everyone will tell the truth. The killer this time has every intention of hiding what they did. Seteth obviously didn't go down without a fight, though, so let's look for what they can't hide: fresh injuries.

[emberserker]

Very well.

[Anna hates this! But the only thing she's got under the wetsuit is a cut on her upper arm -- but it's definitely not fresh. It's scabbed over and looks like it's been there almost a week.]

I was injured on Sunday, that's all; Rhea can attest to that much.

[blackmass]

[Kirei sighed, reluctantly shrugging off his coat and the shirt beneath it, leaving him with only a skintight undershirt.]

[While uninjured, he is both packing heat and has a line of dark red scars from wrist to elbow.]

[archboxer]

[Rhea rolls up a sleeve and like Anna there's a cut on her arm that's old.]

As Anna said, her wound happened on Sunday as did mine.

[pimpplan]

[ Instantly, Zelos's dramatically changes as Rhea tries lunging for him. His eyes widen slightly as his smirk intensifies, much , much less playful than it's been the last few weeks. ]

What, like you didn't expect this? Clearly some of you didn't think to trust me, you should've been smart enough to point it out the instant someone mentioned that it was someone good with a sword.

[ He laughs. ]

After all, someone here had to make a move. Why wouldn't it be me? She and I are after the same thing, anyway.

[nothingcanstop]

[ She continually glances to Rhea, but. It looks like Jasper has that handled for now, so. ]

"She" who, Zelos? Whose greatest desire did the Professor tempt you with?

TIME TO VOTE!

[bathymetric]

Well, I do love to see all of you coming together so, but perhaps I might as well offer?

[ The screens on the podiums light up, showing the familiar voting page. ]

At your leisure, you may go ahead and vote for Seteth's killer. Majority rules, as ever.

[snackooed]

>Zelos Wilder

[ Please, just let it end. ]

EXECUTION - QUE SERA SERA

[bathymetric]

Correct. Though it seems it's been obvious for a little while now.

[ The screens lower, and the room blacks out. It takes a few moments, this time, for the image to cut in on the screen, but when it does this might be the most ambitious production The Professor has put on for one of your killers yet. There’s a whole quaint small town on the screen, the camera passing through it as a light scattering of snow starts to fall. The shot wouldn’t be out of place in a film, albeit a much more heartwarming one than what you know is in store here.

Zelos stands outside an old stone building - it looks like it might be some sort of chapel or cathedral - glancing around with… it’s definitely recognition in his eyes, isn’t it? He’s not alone, either - there are a number of people scattered here, most all looking at him in some mix of shock and… whatever else. Anger, maybe. A woman gasps.

The camera turns just so, and suddenly there’s a woman, certainly not the owner of the high-pitched gasp, standing in front of Zelos now. He… doesn’t seem to know how to respond to her presence here, even as she wraps him in a calm embrace.

The rest of the scene is silent, notable in that there appears to be a woman being wrestled to the ground behind them as some of the other members of the crowd cry out and retreat from whatever the specifics of the incident are. It’s hard to tell - the camera takes sharp focus on Zelos and this woman. ]

... Mother?

[ The woman’s face remains stony, impassive. Then suddenly, blood begins to leak from her mouth, first one small rivulet, then two. Her eyes become glassy, distant. Finally, as the camera turns around her, it’s clear she’s suffered some kind of catastrophic wound to the back. ]

If only…

[ The camera doesn’t pan back to her face, but you do see Zelos’s reaction to it. He tries to back away, but the woman’s grip on him remains tight. ]

... you had never been born.

[ Wherever the blade came from, the splatter into the snow behind Zelos shows it found its mark. The camera hangs just behind the woman still, and the other end of the blade emerges from her back, like the belated cause of the wound.

It’s clear that Zelos Wlder is dead.

The Professor’s voice is… more somber than usual when he addresses you after. No levity, it’s just quiet and even as the lights raise and the elevator opens. ]

You did well, believe it or not.

[emberserker]

...

[Anna turns and walks to the elevator without a word. What else could go wrong today.]