Hi Everyone!
I hope you still remember me, since I'm here to bring all of you a new story. This time we aren't in any AU, just a small variation of the actual canon. The story is set after the events in Lanox, before they travel to Atlas.
Unlike most of my fics, this will not be rated M, but be aware of violence.
I think that's all, enjoy!
When you speak about party, royalty or luxury, the last thing that comes to mind is a land full of raging fire and smelted rocks. However, that would mean that you'd never been in Lanox. Once it was a land filled with demons at the brink of destruction. Thankfully, the heroes known as the El Search Party were there to make a difference, and to help push the demons out of the city for good.
Without the constant menace of the demons, the exotic land flourished in both culture and economy. And most people there would agree that it was all thanks to their diligent leader: Edel. The young master of the most impressive manor in town had been increasing her power over the city ever since the demons were banished. Although her actions made a lot of people happy, rumors of her suspicious actions had been spreading all around the place.
At this time of the year, in an attempt to silence the rumors, Edel decided to throw a big party. Almost everyone in town wanted to assist to the party, but only a few were selected. The best from every household, as expected.
And sadly, the El Search Party was called again to this city. Not to party, but to work.
It rarely rains in Lanox, and when it does, the steam resulting from the water flowing into lava cover the city, giving it a spectral look. A single carriage travelled the streets, going as fast as it could. Two horses pulled it through the rocky road. The cabinet where the travelers were had two oil lanterns hanging in the front, and another two at the back; which barely managed to light the way. They stopped in front of Edel's house, where an old butler dressed in a deep blue suit was waiting for them.. He was tall, bulky and had grey hair. Next to him there was a little girl sitting on a wheelchair. The old butler held an umbrella for the little girl. She was wearing a luxurious black dress. High heels were hiding beneath the dress' long skirt, and her hair, which was usually straightened around her face, was now held high in a bun.
From the carriage emerged a large group of young people. The first one was a young redhead man, dressed in grey armor and red clothing. He was followed by a pretty girl with purple hair, who was wearing a revealing outfit that barely covered her chest and hips. A young blonde man followed them, wearing a white shining armor and carrying a huge cannon on his back. Right after him a tall man with dark skin and a Nasod arm helped a slim elf took off the carriage. And finally, the last traveler, a tall woman with black hair and covering herself with a white and orange robe; exited the carriage.
"Welcome," The butler said once they all formed a line in front of him, even when it was pouring, he didn't seem to be in a hurry to let them in "Your other comrades are already here, please, follow me."
Edel stared in silence; she just looked at the group with her characteristic haughty gaze. Something they were already used to, but that has a new meaning right now.
"Sebastian, I'll go back to the hall, I'll leave them to you," Edel said, once they started heading into the manor.
Edel's house wasn't like they remember it. It was already big when they visited it, but since they were absent, they went overboard with it. Edel's manor was now a three story building with a beautiful façade decorated with black iron and angelic sculptures. Large windows with red velvet blinds spread on both sides of the house. In front of the main gate there was a large garden with several varieties of roses. And surrounding the whole building a tall wall of iron bars adorned with spear like tips.
"Sebastian, if you could make this quick we would be grateful, we already have more pressing matters to attend and you haven't given us any information about why we've been summoned here," Elsword said, walking behind the butler.
When they reached the center of the garden, they could see a group of people at the entrance. Elsword recognized two figures. A girl with red hair dressed in a white coat and another girl with silver hair wearing a black mini dress.
"It was about time you show up," Elesis said the moment the whole group was reunited.
The rest of the people that was already there was a group of men with a black and blue vest. As they were informed they were the recently created Lanox Police corps. An attempt from Lanox citizens to fights against the growing number of criminal organizations that the progress brought to the city. They were asking questions to both Eve and Elesis, and decided to go inside once the rest of the Search Party arrived.
"What's going on Elesis?" Elsword questioned "What was so important to make us come all the way here."
"Something bad Elsword," His sister started to say "I have to accompany those police officers, but Eve here will fill you in."
As she said, she left inside, leaving the confused group with the Nasod Queen.
"Today a party was being celebrated here." Eve started to say, without waiting for any kind of question or greeting from her friends "During the celebration of the party, three guests went missing. While everyone else was still in the dance hall, Edel noticed the three that were missing and headed out to search for them. One hour later, two of the missing guests and Edel herself met at the entrance hall at the same time. And at that moment, as they told us, they found a corpse."
Ara covered her mouth with her hands with a horrified expression. The whole group was disturbed by the news and the air became tense.
"We were requested to come to aid in the investigation, the police already believes they were murdered. Elesis and I weren't allowed to see the corpse yet, though. I guess that is what she's doing right now."
They looked at each other, confused by what they just heard.
"What does that have to do with all of us?" Raven asked "We had more pressing matters to attend, a crime like this can be easily solved by the police."
Elsword looked at Raven, it was clear in his expression that even when he wasn't happy to hear that from him, he knew Raven was right. Calling the entire group out here to investigate a homicide wasn't something important enough to pull them from their other duties.
"I know, and that's were the bad news come," Eve explained "They just told me… It seems that one of the suspects is… Lu."
All of them froze when they heard this.
"Nonsense!" Elsword was the first one to speak "Who the hell said something like that?!"
Everyone else was busy trying to make some sense of all this information. Lu; a murderer? It was true that she was a demon, and that they didn't trust her at first. But they fighter together, and Lu did so much to help the people of this town that hearing that she was being considered a suspect of homicide just wasn't right.
"She's suspected of as well as the other two people who saw the corpse first."
They all looked at the entrance. Elesis was standing there. They headed her way, wanting to get in and take a look at what was going in but she stopped them.
"As you heard, Lu being considered a suspect is the reason we were called here. Apparently they are as pained to admit it as we are to hear it. That's why they gave us this chance. They want some of us to investigate this and found the truth… And… if Lu is the real culprit…"
"She's not!" Elsword said.
"How can we know?" Raven questioned, earning a disapproved look from the whole group.
"What? I'm just saying that things happen. All the time. We can't make early conclusion just because she's our partner."
Nobody said anything. From all of them, Raven was the one who had the most reason to not trust someone even if they were partners.
"So things are like this. We have work to do. Elsword," Elesis commanded "There are people who require our help. There are still lots of people out there that needs help fixing all the trouble the awakening of that demon god caused on the world. But we won't be leaving a friend behind like this, so…"
"Got it, sis," Elsword said, he walked in front of the group and faced them "Alright, you heard her. We are going to split into two groups. One group will stay here and proceed to investigate, and the other will follow me. Now: Eve! You will be leading the investigation group.
Eve nodded acknowledging his order. Elsword looked at her, as if he was trying to find the appropriate words.
"Because… you can do… you know, that thing with lights, lasers and… techy stuff…" He said, still not convinced of his words.
"I can analyze and search things with a precision a human eye couldn't. Is that what you're trying to say?"
"Huh… yes. Now, choose the three members that would stay here with you."
"Aisha, Raven, Chung." Eve said, looking at them face to face as she said their names in quick succession. Seeing that they were already trying to ask why they were chosen she added "I need Aisha here to help me see through any magical trick the perpetrator could have set up. Raven, you have the most experience here with cunning criminals and Chung, I may need your knowledge about guns and ballistics."
Even when she said, the faces the three of them made weren't much reassuring.
"So it's decided. We'll part immediately. Eve, please; get Lu out of this." Elsword said, already heading back to the carriage.
"I'll do, but let me tell you that if she is the real culprit, I won't hesitate about turning her in."
"That's what I'm expecting, but I also expect Lu to not be an assassin. Good luck!"
And they were gone, on their way to help other people.
To be honest, Eve would have preferred to not be burdened with this task. She rather invest her time in rebuilding her people. But, for the time being, there wasn't any other choice.
They were allowed to enter the crime scene. It was the big entrance hall. The room has two hallways on both sides and the stairs to access the second floor. There are two doors on one side and one in the other. The two doors at the left lead to the same dining hall, while the other one leads to a single small room used to receive guests. The hallways go around the whole first floor, and the stairs are high enough hide the second floor from sight. Except for the decorations near the walls and the large brown carpet with Edel's family symbol embroidered in it; the room was basically empty.
The police was scattered across the room, taking notes of everything and placing small signals next to what they believe is evidence. Before they allowed the group to see the victim, a young police officer stopped them.
"I must warn you that it may be a bit grotesque," He said with some hesitation in his voice.
He was probably the youngest of all the police there. Even his uniform was a few sizes bigger than it should be. Although he had a well-groomed beard. They were already used to see corpses, so it wasn't like they would puke or something. Making the young agent to the side, they moved to where the agents gathered.
The victim was lying there. A man dressed in a purple robe with golden embroidery. The agent didn't warn them for nothing, since the whole head of the victim was missing. A small puddle of dried blood was were its head should be. The rest of the body didn't seem to be damaged. Eve kneeled next to the body and check its temperature. It was already cold.
"Where's his head?" She asked to the group of agents.
"We're still looking for it, miss."
"Were you able to identify him?"
"We can't say sure since… well, we can't check his face; but going by the facts, it's most likely to be Pesop, the local alchemist."
Eve remember the name. He was a really weird man that used to cover his face with a bag. He was always acting as if he were happy when he was totally depressed. She couldn't stand his way of behavior, but she has to admit his help was critical when they first arrived at Lanox.
"What about the suspects?" She asked, walking away from the body.
"The three suspects are Steel, the blacksmith, Lady Edel and Lu, your partner. The three of them were missing from the dance hall where all the other guests were when the body was found. According to their versions, the three of them walked in this room at the same time and found the body lying on the floor."
"Why do you believe it was one of them?" Eve questioned.
"This place was under surveillance. The police was patrolling the gardens, the walls around the manor and the dance hall itself. We can assure you nobody from the outside entered the enclosure without a formal invitation to the party."
"And even while you were keeping an eye on things, someone managed to kill someone else," Raven added.
"Well… we were patrolling the outside and the dance hall; nobody should be on the manor during the party. Not even the servants."
"Can you give us the details of what happened here?" Aisha questioned.
"Yes. We were doing our job in the dance hall and we noticed the suspects leaving the room. Steel was the first one to leave, she left an hour before the body was found. Next it was Lu. She left five minutes later than Steel. And then it was Lady Edel. She left just five minutes before the body was found. After that we heard gun fire and, of course, we headed out the dance hall to check what was going on and we found the scene. Steel, Lu and Edel were in this room and the body was already in the floor."
"I see, thanks. You can go back to your duties," Eve said, dismissing the young agent and looking at her teammates "We should start working. Aisha, can you seek traces of magic being used here? Raven, take a look around the house to see if you find something suspicious and Chung, follow me; we're going to question the suspects."
The young agent gave them the location of the suspects. They were in the guests rooms, which were on the second floor. From upstairs you could see the rest of the entrance hall. A railing on both sides of the stairs from where you could look at the lower floor and two more hallways that circled the manor. There weren't any doors there, just a huge painting of Edel's father. An old, classy gentleman with grey hair and expensive clothing.
"Shouldn't we take a look at the body first?" Chung asked, following Eve with a hurried pace.
"The police are already doing that, we can check it after. I want to question the suspects before they had the time to make up excuses."
They arrived at the guests rooms. Two police agents warded the each door. Eve knocked on the first one and she heard the strong voice of the dwarf on the other side.
"Come in."
The guest room was small, yet it was full of the same luxury the rest of the house was. A red soft carpet, a big bed with colorful sheets and a desk full of books of every genre. There was a window, but it was closed shut and there was a key hole, suggesting that it couldn't be opened without a key.
"Greetings. Long time no see both of you," She said, sitting on the bed.
Chung greeted her lively. Steel was wearing some casual clothing they never seen her in. Actually, they have never seen her without her blacksmith's apron. She was wearing a purple dress with shining crystals on the top piece. She even looked cute with those clothes. Eve pulled the chair from the desk and sat in front of Steel.
"It's a shame that we have to see each other again in such conditions," She said, causing Steel to lower her head with a sad expression. "Steel, can you tell us what happened?"
"I've told this story one hundred times already. I went outside the dance hall to have some fresh air, and on my way back I found the corpse. Lu and Edel were there. That's it. I don't get why I'm being accused of killing that guy."
"Can't you give us more details?" Eve asked "You said you went outside for fresh air, but the police said there wasn't anyone in the outside while the party was being held."
"I was going to go outside but since it was raining so much I decided to just walk around the manor for a bit. I just wanted to be alone, I wasn't doing anything bad."
Although her strong attitude could suggest otherwise, Steel was just a kid. It was hard for Eve to imagine her killing someone. But it was a possibility. Especially considering who the victim was.
"Are you aware of the identity of the victim?" Eve questioned.
"The police was saying it was Pesop. They didn't told me, I just overheard it while they took me here."
"If I recall it right, when we first met, Pesop owed you money from the house you're renting him."
"Well, yeah, he always pays late. But it's not like I killed him for that! I don't even rent that place for that many money, and I know he had… issues. But I would rather kick him out instead of killing him."
It was logical. She wouldn't get the money by killing him. But it could be a reason for her to be upset with him anyways. And she couldn't kick him out of the place since she said she knew how many troubles Pesop had. Maybe all these facts caused Steel to have a growing grudge against him over time.
"While you were walking around the manor, you saw anyone else outside the dance hall?"
"Just the police patrolling the gardens through the windows."
"Fine. That will be all for now."
They exited the room, leaving the young girl alone with her tribulations.
"I couldn't make any question," Chung protested.
"What do you wanted to ask?" Eve asked, stopping in front of the next door.
"I don't know… something I guess, since I'm here doing this."
"That's why you didn't make any questions," Eve said, already knocking on the door. Edel's voice was heard on the other side. "Feel free to ask anything though."
Edel's room was pretty much like Steel's. She was sitting on her wheelchair. Already waiting for them. Next to her was her butler Sebastian. Eve pulled the chair from the desk again and sat in front of her. She skipped all the greetings and went straight to the case.
"I need Sebastian to leave."
Sebastian looked at the Nasod with his angry eyes, but Edel gestured for him to leave them alone. The butler exited the room with a grumpy face.
"Tell us your version of the story,"
"I was at the dance hall with everyone else. Since I'm the hostess of this event I was busy talking with everyone invited. I noticed that Steel was missing, and decided to go look for her. I exited the dance hall through the kitchen. All the maids of the house were there tonight, and I need their help to get to the second floor. After that I was searching the house when I arrived at the entrance hall and saw the body."
"Why did you go search for Steel, instead of sending Sebastian or someone else?"
"I've known Steel for a long time now. She's not exactly a party girl. I guessed that once she would find me she would apologize and leave. I just wanted to allow her to do it privately."
"The last time I've been here the only access to the second floor were the stairs at the entrance hall. I'm guessing a new access was built in the kitchens? Why would you, this house's master; go through the kitchens instead of using the ones at the entrance hall?" Eve questioned.
"There was a lot of work to do for the party and I didn't wanted to trouble the maids any more than the necessary."
"Did you see someone else outside the dance halls?"
"Excluding the maids in the kitchens, no."
Eve was already getting up to leave but then Chung decided to make a question.
"Why is there so many police warding the party?"
"We had trouble recently with criminals in town. Since a lot of important people were going to gather here, it would be risky not to take some caution. But honestly, I don't know why I even cared about it. Someone got killed, and they even dare to accuse me. How do they know that it wasn't someone from the outside? They're a bunch of rookies, a criminal could have easily slipped through their patrols."
"There are more vigilance here than what would you need to watch an entire town. Even when they are novices they know how to keep their eyes open. I, too; doubt it was someone from the outside." Eve stated before walking outside the room.
Once outside the room, they walked to the final door. Lu should be on the other side.
"What do you think about them?" Chung asked before Eve knocked on the door.
"Their stories are credible, but that doesn't mean they're out of suspicion. I also doubt they told us all the truth. If Steel left the dance hall to have some fresh air she wouldn't be wandering the place for about an hour. And Edel going herself searching for her doesn't even make sense. She uses her butler for everything. What was Sebastian doing meanwhile to be so busy to not be able to help her?"
Eve was going to knock on the door, but she stopped and turned to face Chung once more.
"Go back to the entrance hall and wait there for me."
"What? No! I want to see Lu too."
"You will either go emotional about her being suspected of or you'll accuse her of being the culprit for being a former demon," Eve said, and before Chung could protest "As I said, just go there and wait for me."
Chung grunted and turned away, walking with his fists tightly closed. For her own good he decided to not bring up a discussion.
Eve knocked on the door. She heard Lu cheerful voice on the other side and entered the room. Identical to the other two, she found Lu sitting on the ground. She was yawning when Eve entered the room. Seeing her she immediately stood up and smiled at her. For anyone else, being stared by those two intense blue starred eyes would be unsettling, but Eve, like most of the members of the El Search Party; has already got used to it.
"Finally! I was starting to think that you would abandon me."
"You won't get rid of Elsword so easily, he made me stay here to cooperate in the investigation just because one of us was in trouble," Eve answered, she made a pause to sigh and added "Alright Lu, tell me your version of the story."
"So, I decided to come to this party. Even when I wasn't properly invited, once Edel saw me on the entrance she decided to allow me and Ciel in. We were partying and all of that and then Edel came to me. She said that she heard strange noises upstairs and asked me if I could go investigate. Of course I told her that it could be anything, like a cat; but she insisted on it. I left the dance hall to check if there was really monsters under Edel's bed."
"Why didn't she ask anybody else? There were police agents all over the place."
"Those pipsqueaks? Pff! Don't make me laugh, Eve. Those idiots wouldn't be able to find their own noses. As I've heard that so called police group was just formed a pair of months ago."
"So Edel asked you to go take a look. Did she said anything else?"
"Nope. Once I successfully verified that there wasn't anything to be afraid of I headed back to the dance hall and then was when I found the dead guy."
"Have you seen someone else while searching the manor?"
"Nope."
"I see. That's all. I'm going to check the body to see what we can find. Lu, let me tell you that even if you're our friend, I won't hesitate in turning you in if you happen to be the culprit," Eve said on her way out the room.
"Pretty and cold blooded, just how I like my favorite Queen," Lu said, earning an exasperated sigh from Eve before leaving.
Once outside the room, Eve chose the larger way to the entrance hall, going the other way around the hallway. Once nobody was around she extended her hands and two blue portals began to appear. Two drones emerged from them and started flying around their master while beeping.
"Moby. Remy. I'll need your assistance for this investigation, ready your analyzing gears."
Hearing this they flew in a circle of joy and moved behind her. Some noises could be heard from both of them as if some of their parts were booting up.
So Lu was asked to go out of the room by Edel. The reason doesn't matter. Why didn't she say so during my questioning? Did she avoided mentioning it on purpose or does she believe that is not important? Maybe she thought Lu wouldn't mention it. But that makes no sense, knowing that Lu is also a suspect she should have expected it.
Her golden eyes colored blue when a stream of data flowed through them reflected on their crystalline surface. Moby and Remy had finished charging their programs and linking with her. She looked at the long hallway in front of her and Moby and Remy synchronized their eyes with her. It has a bit of lag, but information concerning things she put her eyes on began appearing on her eyes.
"Link completed, stand by until further instructions," Eve commanded. Both drones obeyed, they moved behind her shoulders and followed her quietly until the entrance hall.
She finally arrived at the place. Raven and Chung were already there. And Aisha seem to have finished checking the residual magic. She was the first one to report once Eve descended the stairs.
"I haven't detected the use of any kind of magic here. If magic was ever used here it was ages ago. I can only feel the residual fragments of El that all creatures leave behind, but that's all."
"I haven't found anything strange either," Raven added "No furniture recently moved, no signs of fighting of struggling. Marks on the floor, stains on carpets or blinds… nothing. Sebastian has this house really clean, I must say."
"Which means that…" Chung started to say, moving in front of the group "We have been confirmed by the police that three persons left the dance hall and that nobody else entered the building during that time. They also had people on the kitchens so that leaves the maids out too. The only ones that could have done it are the three suspects that we already have…"
"When did Pesop arrived?" Eve suddenly asked. The three of them stared at her perplexed as if that question was something obvious, until they finally realized "If nobody arrived while the three suspects were out of the dance hall and Pesop wasn't already in there, then when did he arrived?"
They stared at each other in silence struggling to find an answer. But it was impossible to find one.
"Have the police lied to us?" Raven questioned.
"I don't think so. As everyone is saying, they just formed a pair of month ago. They are being underestimated and this is what they need to show everyone what they are capable of. Just take a look at how carefully they are inspecting the place," Eve said, gesturing to the group to look around.
It was true; the police officers had searched and examined every bit of the room. There were lots of small sign marking possible evidence. It was like they searched every speck of dust in the room.
"Let's not jump into conclusions. I'll examine the body and we'll speak later. For now, go check the guests. Maybe they'll say something useful," Eve ordered.
This was only getting more and more confusing. Damn Lu, if it weren't for her they wouldn't have to deal with this. But, even if she would deny it if asked; Eve wasn't willing to discover that her partner was a murderer.
I want to thank Demonic for helping me proofreading this chapter :3