13 - LOCKDOWN
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Sylvain
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Hour one: Felix is silent, staring down at the floor with his thinking frown on. I try to engage him in conversation. I am not successful.
Hour two: Felix hasn't moved still.
"You alive, buddy?" I ask.
"Shut up."
Hour three: Are they going to feed us?
Hour four: No, they are not going to feed us. I try yelling but I don't think there is even anyone here. I think they just left us to rot. Maybe that means they are still investigating? That is a good thing, surely. It means we aren't the only suspects. Or are they just trying to starve and madden us enough that we will break and confess? Are they allowed to treat nobility this way?
Hour five: I am starting to abandon hope. Felix notices and breaks out of his daze enough to comfort me. He tries to kiss me but it is pretty clumsy with his hands bound behind his back. He knocks his forehead into mine and curses. After some fumbling around, I manage to kiss him and the taste of his mouth and feeling of his warm breath helps steady and strengthen my spirit. Thank god for Felix.
Hour six: I can't feel my hands. Felix has gone silent again. Spooky silent.
Hour seven: Theorizing begins half-heartedly then dies out. Felix is shaking with anger. I wonder if it is possible for him to grow so full of rage he can break through the metal cuffs. I would not put it past him. It's dangerous to try to tie a cat up. Their tiny bodies can't safely contain strong amounts of rage.
Hour eight: I keep feebly attempting to crack jokes. Felix threatens to strangle me. I am worried he might actually be able to do it even with his hands behind his back. I can't help it, though. This is how I handle anxiety.
Hour nine: I am going out of my mind with the boredom and worry and anger. Felix has not spoken in an eternity and is completely unresponsive. He has that look about him that he did when I arrived here, but worse. I don't know where his mind is but I doubt it is reality. How many hours has he gone now without sleep? Twenty-five? Thirty? I am fairly exhausted myself. I can't imagine how worn out he is, and yet his manic energy keeps him on his feet, wound tight as a spring.
"Fee…"
He doesn't acknowledge me, continuing to pace back and forth until I am about ready to lose it if he takes another step.
Jumping to my feet, I walk over so that when he turns on his heel he comes face to face with me.
"For the love of god, stop," I say. "Talk to me."
"Get out of my way," he growls.
"What are you trying to do? Dig us out by wearing a trench into the floor with your feet?"
"I'm trying to think!" he yells in my face, causing me to stagger back.
What the hell?
He winces. "I'm sorry."
I lean up against the bars and close my eyes, a headache pounding in my forehead. "This is insane. What was the point of arresting us for questioning if they aren't even going to question us?"
Felix walks over and leans against me, tucking his head in the crook of my neck. "I'm sorry," he says again. "I should have made you go home rather than get caught up in all this. I worry that perhaps my reputation was always heading here, that I am too fucked up in the head to avoid this forever. But I could have spared you the shame of being associated with these matters."
I kiss the top of his head. "If I had, I would never have found out that you loved me. That is worth all of this to me."
He lifts his head to look at me and I lean down to press my lips against his - gently at first until all of my pent up emotion rushes out and I kiss him hard and desperately.
Pulling back and panting for breath, he stares up at me and I see tears of frustration in his eyes.
He staggers away with a hoarse cry and resumes his pacing. "I'm going out of my mind! We have to get out of here! We are useless in here!"
My body feels numb and shaky, but I brace myself and kick at the bars. "Hey! HEY!"
No answer.
"I DEMAND TO SPEAK WITH SOMEONE!" I roar, slamming my boot into the bars over and over again until I break a toe and yelp in pain.
The sound of distant voices catches my attention and I hold my breath, listening. Felix stumbles over to me, his whole body tensed warily.
They grow closer, accompanied by footsteps, and my heart leaps as I recognize the deep baritone of one of the voices.
"It's Dimitri," I murmur in shock.
"You have kept them locked up for how long?" Dimitri is saying in a furious, but still calm and kingly tone. "Release them! At once!"
"Your highness, I am under orders from Inspector Agust to-"
"Did you not hear me, officer?"
"Your highness, please…"
"GET YOUR ASS IN HERE AND LET US OUT, BOAR!" Felix hollers.
The door to the jail unlocks and light floods in, blinding us for a moment, for the room had been lit only by a single lantern previously.
As I squint and struggle to adjust to the light, Dimitri's tall silhouette appears in the doorway and rushes over to the cell.
"Unlock this at once, officer!"
"My liege, I-"
Dimitri grabs the lock on the cell door, wrenching it off with his bare hands, which would be slightly terrifying if I were not so relieved to see him.
"Sylvain! Felix! How long have you been in here?" he says.
"All damn night," Felix growls.
Giving up on his orders, the officer comes over and unlocks our handcuffs. As they clatter to the floor, I rub my wrists, my hands tingling painfully as feeling returns to them.
Dimitri seizes me in a hug, crushing me against his chest, and I smile and hug him back.
I hear a feral sort of cry and see Felix lunge at the officer as soon as his cuffs are free, shouting, "Where is Agust? Get him in here immediately!"
"Yes, my lord!" the officer says and flees.
"What are you doing here?" Felix asks Dimitri.
"I came as soon as I received word of what has been happening, although I knew not of your imprisonment. It seems I came just in time. Why have you two been arrested?"
"Food, water, coffee, then explanations," he replies.
"Of course. Let us return to your manor. I have horses outside."
A scattering of officers gather as Dimitri leads us out of the police precinct but none of them are bold enough to challenge us and Felix and I ignore them.
"We didn't send word," Felix says. "How did you find out about all this?"
"I would be a sorry king indeed if I did not know what went on in my own kingdom," Dimitri replies.
"You have spies in my territory?" Felix asks angrily. "You son of a bitch!"
"Ssh," I tell him then turn to Dimitri. "Don't mind him. He's distraught. So how are things in Fhirdiad? How's Byleth?"
"She is well. She sends her love. She would have come with me, but one of us had to stay to tend to things. I am sure Ingrid would have come too, but she is currently on a mission outside Faerghus."
As terribly as I miss Ingrid, I shudder at the thought of her finding us in this situation. "It's good you came alone," I say. "Ingrid would have left us in that cell to rot."
Oliver meets us at the door. "My lord! Thank the goddess you are freed. This entire investigation has been an insulting farce if that inspector thinks for one moment that you-" He breaks off when he sees Dimitri. "Your highness!"
He bows but Dimitri says, "It is just me, Oliver. No need to make a fuss. Would you be so kind as to have some breakfast and tea prepared?"
"Coffee for him," I say, nodding at Felix who is stalking off to his bedroom. "Strong coffee. Thank you, Oliver."
"I will keep guard and wait for the inspector," Dimitri says. "Come find me whenever you are ready for breakfast."
"Thanks." I hug him again and add, "Seriously, thank you. It means a lot that you would ride all the way here just because Fee and I are in a bit of a pickle."
"A 'pickle' seems quite an understatement, Sylvain. I read the reports. Dark things have happened here as of late."
My face falls and I nod. "Very dark. But we will speak of that later."
Once I have freshened up and changed into new clothes, I meet Dimitri in the sitting room that is near to the front door so we can keep an eye out for the inspector. But Agust still has not arrived and Dimitri is sipping a cup of tea with a somber look.
"Where's Fee?" I ask.
"I haven't seen him."
"Huh." I sit down and help myself to some tea and biscuits.
"Why is it that you two are under suspicion?" Dimitri asks.
I tell him everything that has happened, watching as his expression grows more and more concerned.
"I will not leave here until this monster has been found," he says. "However I can help you, I will."
"Thank you. It's good to see you. I've missed you and Byleth. I was gone too long settling all that business up at the border. I'm afraid I've been a bad friend."
He smiles reassuringly at me and says, "It takes more than a year spent apart to damage friendships that have lasted a lifetime. If Felix forgives you, then so shall I. I have missed you too, though."
I realize that it has been at least a quarter of an hour and say, "I'm going to go check on Fee. He needs to come have some breakfast."
"Stay and eat. You need to recover your strength. I will go find him," Dimitri says.
He walks away and I help myself to another serving of food and pour another cup of tea, feeling the warmth and sustenance drive away the weariness of our sleepless night. But in minutes, I hear running footsteps and glance up in alarm as Dimitri bursts back into the room.
"I think he is gone. His door is locked and he isn't responding."
I swear and race to Felix's room. I pound on the door and when there is no answer, I kick it down and lunge into the room. The window is open and Felix's coat and sword are gone.
"Shit! He's gone to the forest. Come on! We need to follow him!" I say.
"Wait, Sylvain," Dimitri says.
I turn around and see him standing beside the table, holding a note.
"'Left early so you couldn't argue with me. Go with Dimitri to figure out why Agust arrested us and if he has any other suspects. I need you to distract him for me so I have time to go search Asmer's house. Ask Dimitri about Morcliff. I'll meet you in the alley behind the eastside church at sunset. Don't come after me. We need to divide and conquer, not waste time following each other around. We don't have much time,'" Dimitri reads.
"Goddamnit, I can't believe he-" I begin but am interrupted by the thud of footsteps swiftly approaching.
"Duke Fraldarius!" Inspector Agust shouts.
I swear under my breath and glance at Dimitri. "Hide the note and say Fee went to search the city chasing a lead he thought of. We need to buy him space to search the woods."
"You want me to lie to a policeman?" Dimitri says.
"Oh for fuck's sake," I mutter.
Agust bursts into the room and stops abruptly when he sees Dimitri. "Your highness," he says with a bow.
"Inspector," Dimitri acknowledges brusquely.
"Is Duke Fraldarius with you? I wish to have a word with him."
"I wish to have a word with you," Dimitri says, staring the inspector down with a firm, commanding look.
I suppose if he is too shit at lying to fool Agust, he can at least play the authority card and refuse to answer his questions.
"I want a full report on the investigation," Dimitri orders. "And an explanation for why Duke Fraldarius and Margrave Gautier were detained without even being questioned."
"The explanation for that is simple, my king," Agust answers. "I needed to buy time. I'm sorry it came at the expense of Margrave Guatier's comfort, but having him and the duke imprisoned meant that the killer could not strike again because he would not be able to frame the duke for the murder. I needed a day to follow a hunch and in return for it, I have a very valuable lead."
"Oh?" I ask.
"I have the killer's accomplice now behind bars."
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Felix
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The soldiers and police have nothing on me as far as knowledge of this forest goes. Sneaking past them is as simple as taking one of the narrow game trails that Sylvain and I used to take when we needed to avoid Ingrid and Glenn.
It's tiring to travel on foot instead of horseback but thankfully the old forester's shack is not as far as the meadow had been. Within an hour, I reach it. My body is stiff and my mind foggy, but I force myself to focus as I begin on one side of the shack and methodically work my way across it.
It is mostly empty, but here and there are stacks of evidence in crates that the police must have determined to be irrelevant. I dig through it, sneezing at the dust and swearing under my breath every so often at the tediousness of the process.
I don't know what I am looking for exactly, but anything that could tie Asmer to Morcliff could work to present a case to Agust that is more than conjecture and an admission of childhood crimes.
I'm not sure I entirely buy Sylvain's theory about Morcliff's son but I have no better one at the moment and the idea of continuing to wander aimlessly through the dark in this matter galls me too much to stay idle and not chase any possible idea we have.
A twinge of guilt strikes my heart at leaving Sylvain behind, but I stand by what I said in my note. We need to be in two places at once and we can't do that together. If danger arises in these woods it might be a little risky for me to handle it alone, given my exhausted state. But I also am fairly certain that until this murderer's plan is complete, he is not going to kill me.
I search the shack exhaustively and find nothing. I guess the police officers were more competent than I gave them credit for being. At least I have smart people in my employ, I suppose. That's somewhat of a relief.
Dust is clinging uncomfortably to my sweaty skin and I leave the shack and walk over to the stream flowing nearby it. After washing my hands and face, I return to search around the shack itself, but aside from muddled footprints there doesn't seem to be anything here either.
"Damn this," I growl. "Damn me."
I can't return empty-handed. I just can't. This needs to end.
Doubling down my efforts, I concentrate harder and continue to search. Finally - finally - my efforts are rewarded when I catch sight of a wilted, shriveled flower stomped into the mud. As I kneel down to study it, I realize apprehensively that it is a trillium, dead from days of being plucked from the ground, but unmistakable nonetheless.
Inside the shack there is a collection of tools and thankfully among them a shovel.
Alright, time to get to work.
Bit by bit I laboriously dig around the flower until my shovel strikes flesh and bone. Feeling sick with the knowledge that yet another one of my citizens has fallen prey to Asmer, I carefully exhume the body until it is exposed enough I can lift it out of its grave.
This one isn't like the fresh corpses left by the murderer for me to find nor is it cleanly decomposed into a skeleton. This corpse is days old and in the early stages of decay. The smell and sight of the writhing holes where maggots are beginning to feast on it makes me stagger back a few steps and gag.
There's nothing in my stomach to throw up but I dry heave for several minutes, my head spinning with dizziness and revulsion. When I have my nausea and horror under control, I force myself to return to the body and examine it better.
It's a man in his early thirties, tall and well-muscled. While alive he would have had the strength and build of a soldier. He is not like the young and vulnerable victims we have found so far. He is naked and his wrists and ankles are bound. I examine them and see the bruises and abrasions where he fought against the bonds.
Gagging again at the stench, I tell myself to stop being a coward and I brush the dirt off his skin enough to see it clearly. All across his body are carved strange designs like symbols and letters in a language I have never seen before. There is no sign of the Fraldarius crest nor the Gautier one.
But dead center in his chest there is a crest of some kind carved, but it isn't any from Fódlan. It has an archaic, occult look to it - a circle with a wreath of leaves or tentacles of some kind surrounding it. And in the middle of the circle is an eye.
Grabbing a piece of paper and pen from my pocket, I copy it down along with some of the more noticeable and intact symbols on his body. Then I write as thorough a description as possible of the man's features - his short-cropped black hair, pale skin, strong jawline and high cheekbones.
Once I am sure I have analyzed all there is to find on the corpse, I fetch a blanket from the shack and cover him in it, dragging him over to the ground under the eaves of the shack where the weather cannot wear him down as much.
Returning to the stream, I scrub my hands and arms vigorously until my skin hurts. Even so, I still feel filthy and ill.
My reflection catches my attention in the rippling water, distorted and eerie. It shifts a bit before my eyes and I swear for a second that it takes on a life of its own and stares back at me. With a shudder, I snap out of my daze and jump to my feet.
Not good. Not good at all. Sleep deprivation is wearing down my senses again. How long can I keep this up? How long can I stay on my feet?
"I'll rest when this is over," I snap at myself and set out back towards the town.
I arrive at our rendezvous spot an hour early and hide behind a stack of broken down crates and dumpsters. Sitting down and leaning up against the wall, I close my eyes and allow myself to rest briefly. I can't afford to sleep but I need to at least get a little of my strength back if I am to carry on.
And carry on I must. A horrible premonition is growing inside me that all of this has suddenly gotten far darker than it already was.
