Sting opened his eyes upon hearing his alarm clock, his face having no emotion. He'd stayed up half the night again, fearing what could happen when he'd lose his soul mate. Or his soul mate lost him. It was a terrible thought.
Maybe one of them would fall to their death, because Sting wouldn't listen when they'd say "don't let go". Many days, he wondered what his partners sentence was. Others, he thought maybe his sentence was what he would say, and not his partner. He couldn't stand the thought of his soul mate deliberately falling to their death, that gave him even more fear.
But he knew that he could not change his fate, for the Great One had foreseen it... and no one goes against the Great One.
He rolled out of bed, hitting the 'off' button on the clock as he walked by, and slipped into the bathroom. Going through the usual routine he went through every morning, he was ready for the day within twenty minutes. He checked in on his father to make sure he was still alive before silently closing the front door behind him.
Outside, everything was as it normally was. Protesters against the Institute were gathered around a group of guards, picketing peacefully. Compared to the Citadel, this was the least of everyone's worries. Up there, protesters gave their life to their cause, desperately trying to stop the Institute's 'schemes'. They would bomb parts of the Citadel everyday, aiming for attention.
Down on the Lower District, nobody was as violent. Nor did anyone have a lot of money like the higher-up's in the Citadel did. People down on the lower district were kind despite how the Institute stole their jewels every waking hour.
Sting walked past the protesters to the station, where he hopped on Train 29 after showing his identification to the guards near the entrance. Seeing that there weren't any open seats, he grabbed onto the railing above him, sighing out.
The train ride was quiet, giving Sting enough focus to watch the surroundings fly by. He took note of everything he saw. Keys and Knick Knacks, a store owned by Yukino Aguria and Lucy Heartfilia. He knew the two personally and saw them a few times a week. Books Made of Iron, a small library owned by Levy and Gajeel Redfox. He'd met the two a few times, but really only saw them when he needed to do research on a crime. After seeing those two shops, everything began to blur again, his eyes barely catching onto what he was seeing.
The Capital of Tartaros Nation, Fiore, was split into three districts. The lowest was the Lower District, where the middle class citizens lived and worked, unless they worked for the Institute. The Higher District was where the upper class citizens and government officials lived and worked. The Institute District was where the Institute was placed, where the Great One always was, and was always the highlight of the city. From the Higher District to the Institute District, that was called the Citadel. The key areas of the Capital. Each District was stacked on top of one another, connected and spaced apart by a single steel bar that also served as an elevator. Down here on the Lower District, people used trains instead of flying cars like the upper class individuals. Many people believed it was more effective that way.
As the train came to an abrupt stop, Sting hopped off the train, along with several others. Yawning shortly, he walked the short distance to the office, clocked in, and went to his desk.
"On time as usual, Sting." His partner, Natsu, said as he walked up with an extra cup of coffee.
Gratefully, he took the cup, "Of course, but you're early," he raised his eyebrow at him as he took a drink. Natsu scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah... Gray and I got into a fight this morning, so I left early."
Sting rolled his eyes, "What'd you do? Eat the last doughnut?" he asked sarcastically as he sat down and started looking through the files that had been put on his desk.
He heard a mumbled, "yes".
Scoffing and shaking his head, Sting copied each file from paper into the computer in front of him, his eyes constantly darting back and forth. What had finally stopped his eyes, was a case file that involved a few murders. I usually don't get unsolved murder files, he thought, seeing as the only piece of evidence was a reading of extremely high Ethernano particles near where the bodies were found.
He made a frustrated noise before getting up and walking into the Captain's office. "Sir, what the hell is this?" he put the file on the desk in front of his superior, waiting for an answer.
"It's obviously an unsolved case that needs to get solved."
"Sir, there is practically no evidence, and this happened over two months ago. How do you expect me to solve this?" He kept his tone low to refrain from losing his job; Captain Jiemma had a short temper.
"As a Private, you told me that you would solve any case I give you. You'd best own up to your word," Jiemma said, warning him with his eyes.
"Yes, Sir." Storming out of his office, Sting grabbed his coat and the file, telling Natsu to come with.
"We've got a murder to solve, Natsu." he had said once his partner caught up.
"We usually stick to gruesome homicides, what do you mean, we've got a regular murder?" Natsu said, confused.
"We're detectives. We took an oath to solve any and all cases. We have to own up to that." Giving in, Natsu sighed and munched on his doughnut.
"Well, then who's the victim?" he asked.
"There's more than one. Skiadrum Cheney, Grandeeney Marvell, Metallicana Redfox, and your father, Igneel."