Chapter 5: Granite Part 2

10:50 A.M. Day Two

First Floor

Foyer

The staff had apparently been watching what was happening(somehow), and with the sound of bells tolling outside had quickly ushered everyone else into the room with the murder victim.

Murder victim.

It was hard for some to take in. Kelley and Sabishī had opted to bury their faces in Gary and Eric's shoulders, respectively, while a rather ruffled-looking Elle and John held each other. Logan was standing next to the door to the Dining Hall, arms folded over his chest, while Brooke and Victoria shared a concerned look. Shawn was pacing along the wall behind everyone, eyes shut tight. Alexis stood alongside Adrien, Teresa, and Clarisse, each sporting varying emotionless looks upon their faces.

"Descanse em paz." The Brazilian said into the empty air. No one chose to comment or question this.

The staff had relocated to the second floor landing (besides Saino and Syd, who'd opted to prepare the way to the trial room citing a lack of relevant skills or knowledge for the case, and Mackenzie who was leaning against the bannister sketching the smashed gargoyle), standing behind the three the participants had met the first night.

Jibo spoke up. "So, as you can see, someone has committed murder." He pulled out his watch, checking it. "You all have until noon to investigate the case, finding any and all relevant evidence, before reconvening in this room. At that point we shall begin the trial. Any questions?"

No one actually spoke, the reality of things still sinking in. Then someone actually did speak up.

"I - I just can't believe it," Harris said from the wall, looking shocked. "… I'm not the first to die here! Yes!" He actually jumped up in the air, arms raised in a cheer as he laughed in almost manic euphoria.

"Dude, seriously?!" Eric asked, incredulous and more than a little angry. Sentiments reflected by a number of people in the room.

"Sorry, sorry," Harris said, not actually sounding sorry at all as he walked into the middle of the room, still giggling, "it's just, when I heard this was a killing game, and me with Ultimate Bad Luck as a talent, I was sure I'd get axed off first. But now, it hasn't happened," he chuckled in relief, throwing his arms out, "I'm still ali-!"

CRASH

He was cut off by the large chandelier (which, until now had been innocuously hanging from the ceiling as most chandeliers do) abruptly falling, crushing him under it's weight and killing him instantly.

To say the others were surprised at this abrupt occurrence would be something of an understatement. Shouts of shock, fear, and surprise rang out from the group, with even the most stoic amongst them unable to keep surprise from showing on their faces. Shawn in particular let out a oddly girlish shriek at the sudden death.

The staff were slightly less reactive.

"Huh," Shiro said, mildly confused as he scratched at his wig, "I could've sworn that thing was secured properly."

"I think he might've jostled the rope loose when he jumped near it a few seconds ago." Mackenzie guessed, flipping to a new page to draw the latest development.

"Eh," Kinsei said from his father's left, "I think we can chalk that up to his own crap luck, and tempting fate like that. Butler!" he snapped his fingers at Sebastian, who stood attentively next to the basement door, "See that this mess is cleaned up. We don't want it interfering with the process."

"Let me finish sketching!" Kenzie called out, drawing furiously, "I don't want to forget anything when I move on to actually painting this out."

"Fine," The Alchemist acquiesced, "wait until the artist is done, then clean the mess up. The rest of you still have a shattered gargoyle to investigate."

"Uh, I think we might need a minute after seeing someone get crushed under a chandelier!" Gary called up incredulously, still holding a shivering banshee in his arms (Victoria had taken up soothingly rubbing her back to try and calm her).

"Hey, you've got plenty of time between now and noon." Kuuma mentioned, smirking down at the participants. "Just don't waste it, or you might not get out of here in one piece." He paused, before chuckling to himself. "Heh, you bastards still might not leave in one piece, but at least you might make it through the next few hours."

On that note, the Mastermind and his assistant departed into the second floor. Shiro moved to stand beside the Painter and watch her work. Sebastian left to acquire tools to clean up the late Bad Luck's intruding presence. Kinsei opted to remain on the landing, watching everyone else. The smirk on his face made it clear he didn't intend to leave anytime soon.

After scowling at the Alchemist (and only getting a wink in response), Victoria gave Kelley (who'd started to calm down somewhat) a reassuring pat on the back, before moving to stand in front of the group. "Ok, I won't just ask if everyone's 'okay', cuz I think we all realize we aren't okay, especially after what just happened. But, we need to focus on the here and now. The dead can be mourned when we have the time available." She looked to everyone in turn. "First thing's first, best we get any alibi's while we're all here. Speaking for myself, I had gone to the back door in the hopes of finding a way of getting through it to the outside. No such luck, I'm afraid."

Brooke followed suit. "Me, Sabishī, and Kelley were in the Billiard's room, talking. Then all of a sudden, Kelley started screaming, wailing like," she looked to the other girl, "well, like a Banshee. I guess that's something she can do."

"Well, didn't you know that?" the Alchemist called from the balcony, tone condescending as Brooke glared in his direction, "according to legends, the banshee wails to signify the imminent death of a family member. I guess the current one can only call as it happens, so not so good a preventative measure for keeping people alive, huh Miss Useless Potato?" He chuckled as Kelley once again became downcast, the accusation of uselessness stinging (not to mention the oddly racist use of the word potato; her family didn't even grow those).

Brooke was having none of this. "Unless you'd like to share anything actually helpful toward solving the case, I'd advocate you leaving now."

"So rude, y'know that Miss America?" Kinsei commented, insulting demeanor unchanging. "But if you want something more pertinent, check you journals, they should've updated by now."

Setting aside their confusion on what the staff member meant, everyone pulled out their respective journals, discovering something new added amongst the pages:

Case File #1

Victim Name: Ryan York

"The victim suffered several severe blows to the head from a blunt object, alongside several other locations."

"Cause of death was massive head trauma."

"The time of death was roughly 10:40 A.M."

"The body was discovered at 10:43 A.M."

"Behold the first of what I'm sure will be many case files. Review it, fill in the blanks, and make it snappy, you've got like an hour or less for this BS." the Alchemist declared, before walking over to the wall next to the second floor door and leaning upon it, seemingly done with his commentary for now.

Scowling, Victoria nonetheless continued her questioning. "Well, as I said earlier, I was at the back door, alone unfortunately, when I heard Kelley scream. Girls, the, uh, file here says Ryan died at 10:40, was that when Kelley started screaming?" At Brooke's shrug/nod (she hadn't really checked the time at the moment), the Mummy continued, "Right, so then, what was everyone else doing at the time of that scream?"

Eric raised a hand, "I was in the library, reading up on some cryptids. The dragon was watching me at the time, though I'm not sure she'd count as a reliable witness given the circumstances."

Elle, scowling slightly, leaned against her lover while raising her own hand. "John and I were having a moment in the dorms when the screams started. We'd only just left the room when that bell started tolling." It was only because of the stakes at hand and for Kelley's sake that she didn't complain about the nature of the interruption (they had just gotten to the best part!).

Logan raised a hand to rub his head. "I'd taken a break from trying to break down the door to head to the Dining Hall. I'd wanted to just try and calm down, maybe see if I could still eat in my state."He gestured toward Victoria. "I'd been unsure of what to do, so I'd stayed in the hall before Victoria and Alexis showed up and I followed them here."

Alexis nodded, "Indeed. I was in the North Hallway, debating whether to explore the Conservatory or the Sanctuary some more before the scream ruined my concentration. I had passed the other exit on the way and Victoria joined up with me as we made for the Foyer. Before that I'd been in the Library for a couple of hours, as Eric and the Librarian could attest."

The Scarecrow stopped pacing for a minute to throw his two cents in. "I'd just gone to my room and stayed there. I didn't leave between breakfast and the scream."

"What, didn't even get hungry?" Teresa asked, curious (why were the corners of her lips twitching?).

Shawn glared at the Sphinx. "Yeah, I actually don't need to eat much these days." His glare shifted to the prehistoric couple. "Though the thin walls in the bedrooms were not helping my mood."

The couple, appropriately, blushed at this comment.

"Yeah, uh," Gary commented awkwardly, "I'd been in my room too. About a couple of minutes before Kelley screamed, I decided to leave - and no, no one was in the common hall that I saw - and look around the house some more. Then the scream hit, it seemed to becoming from the direction I'd been walking, so after it subsided I ran to the Billiards Room and found the girls there."

"He was actually the first to suggest checking the front door, Victoria, since you'd said you were doing something there at breakfast." Sabishī chimed in (a far too innocent smile on her face).

"Really?" Victoria asked, smiling. She turned her gaze to the Egyptologist. "Well, thanks for the concern, Gary."

The boy looked flustered. "I-I just remembered you'd said something and figured we could start there on finding everyone else, or somethin'."

"Anyway," Adrien loudly said, returning to the topic at hand, "I was in the art gallery, looking for some less grotesque art pieces." He deflated somewhat. "It may have been a lost cause."

"The first part's true, at least." The Painter chimed in, having flipped back to her original sketch. "I offered to give him a tour of my paintings of the Kuma-Kuma Land game, I'm especially proud of my rendition of the final death of-"

"BUT I made clear I was uninterested." The Opera Phantom interrupted. "We were both still present when the scream occurred."

Teresa decided to finally chime in for herself. "I was also in my room, finishing up a nice relaxing shower."

As the last to speak, Clarisse was straightforward in her explanation. "I was in my room, ignoring the noises. I'll admit I was slow to respond to the scream, and have no witnesses to back up my claim, though I had no hand in this."

Victoria nodded. "And I don't suppose anyone knows what Harris was doing, exactly?" she asked the group.

"Eh," The Alchemist called from the balcony, having moved back to leaning over the bannister, "I'll throw ya a free one there; the late Bad Luck Boy had nothing to do with the current case. He was in his room the whole time, probably playing with himself thinking about one of the nice racks in the building, when the Irish air-horn started screeching."

"Will you stop insulting people!?" Brooke called out, getting fed up with the purple-haired scum.

"No." Said scum replied, scratching at his cheek with his raised middle finger. "Just remember, someone here's a liar, and it ain't me."

"In any case," Victoria spoke up, getting back to the task at hand, "if that's everyone's alibis, then now we should search for any evidence." She turned to the Cryptozoologist. "Eric, I want you and Sabishī to help me examine the … crime scene, I suppose. Brooke, I want you and Alexis to check around the common hall, see if anything's out of place. I'm pretty sure that mace was from one of the armor sets. Gary, I want you to go with Elle, John, and Clarisse to search the rest of the floor for any potential clues. A discarded note, an out of place trashcan, something to possibly help in this case. The rest of you, help out where you can with the tasks I just outlined, but no one go somewhere alone, not if you can help it. We'll meet back here at noon. Any questions?"

"Just one, actually." Shawn asked, looking skeptical. "Who made you team leader, huh?"

"Well if you have a better idea," Victoria challenged, "then by all means, share with the class."

The Scarecrow opted to remain silent.

"Alright, if there's no more objections, let's get to work!" Clapping her still-gloved hands together, Victoria got the others moving.

Before heading to Ryan's body, however, she walked over to Kelley, who seemed to have recovered from her ordeal and Kinsei's assorted taunts. "Are you okay?" she asked, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

The Irish girl blinked a couple of times, before shaking her head to clear it. "I … I tink I'm fine, ya."

The untransformed Mummy smiled. "Good." She said, patting the girl's shoulder twice. Her expression got serious again as she removed her hand. "Now, I want you to accompany Brooke and Alexis on their search. Think your up for that?"

The Banshee nodded her head. "Ya, I'm good fer it."

"Great." The girls shared a smile, before moving back and on to their respective tasks.

11:20 A.M. Day Two

First Floor

Common Hall

The Floridian girl, the Irish girl, and the Brazilian girl walked into the room. If only that were just the set-up for a lame (and possibly slightly racist?) joke.

"Well, it's like Victoria said," Brooke declared, gesturing at the sole armor suit not holding a weapon, "That mace did come from one of the suits of armor in this room."

"No doubt that's the enire reason they were left there in the first place." Alexis added, nodding in agreement.

"Um, isn't that armor next to Shawn's room?" Kelley asked timidly.

"Hmm, indeed it is. And he was alone the entire time, as well." Alexis noted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Let's not jump to any conclusions yet." Brooke insisted, holding a hand up. "Besides, I doubt a man made of straw could carry one of those things."

"Unless he's stronger than he looks." The Latin-American Mythologist countered.

"How about we just look around, see if anything else is out of place, alright?" The North-American said, getting annoyed. Without waiting for a response she surged forward, looking for anything of note.

Kelley and Alexis shared a glance, before Alexis gestured ahead, allowing Kelley to head forward first. Somewhat surprised, Kelley went forward (smiling slightly despite the circumstances) to check any missed nooks and crannies. For her part, Alexis investigated the other side of the room. Not much else was said for the reminder of their search.

11:30 A.M. Day Two

First Floor

Foyer

Adrien ignored the dead Gargoyle, choosing to instead stare at the crashed chandelier. "To be honest, I'd have thought I'd go out this way." Adrien stated, looking oddly disappointed. "Now the suspense is ruined." He got some dirty looks from that statement, though no one commented otherwise.

"Anything standing out?" Eric asked as Sabishī looked over the body.

"Well, I'm not used to this sort of dead body," the Undertaker responded, "but the main damage is the smashed head. However," she gestured down to the torso, "it wasn't his only injury." Visible at his stomach was a rough, rounded indentation, like something hard had impacted there.

"It doesn't look like it would've be made by the mace-head," Victoria noticed, comparing the relatively smooth indentation with the patterned and vaguely serrated top of the (actually really heavy, how many people here could've lifted this?) discarded mace.

Eric studied the damage, looking around the room as he thought. "I don't want to say anything now," he concluded, getting attention from the other three, "but I am getting some suspicions. Let's keep looking all the same."

11:50 A.M. Day Two

First Floor

Dining Hall

"Well, I can't find anything," Logan announced, arms still folded as he stared round the room. "I didn't see anything out of place when I was here earlier, either, so…"

Clarisse shot a slight glare at the Golem. "Even so, we still need to look over every possible area on this floor that might have something important to it; no stone unturned and all that." She went back to looking under the table for anything that might've gone unseen. "Shawn, can you lift up this chair for me?"

Shawn had just finished inspecting the kitchen with Elle and John (nothing of note, though the couple had opted for a quick apple break while they were in there), and was currently leaning against one of the door frames. "Fine." he sighed. Walking over, he grabbed the chair in question and pulled up.

The chair refused to budge.

Adjusting his grip, he tried again to lift the chair up, grunting from exertion as he did so. Still no luck.

Finally, after failing to lift the wooden chair, he gave up, panting a little. "I … don't think … I can lift … that much … these days." He held his arms out to his sides. "Straw."

Clarisse looked annoyed at this, but sensing no lie from the straw man (she was good at reading people, she would've known dishonesty), she pushed the chair aside with her foot before ducking back down to search.

Shawn looked down at her, a curious and vaguely concerned expression on his face. "Clarisse, I gotta ask: you don't seem too bothered by your talent; did you actually want to become an 'Ultimate Markswoman'?"

Sighing slightly (she'd known this would come eventually), Clarisse stood up, wiping her hands on the back of her jacket. "Actually, yes, I did. And current circumstances aside, I'm actually glad with what I got."

"… Why?!" the incredulous Scarecrow asked/demanded. "Who the heck wants to be good at throwing knives as a high-school talent?!"

There was a moment of silence. "I grew up amongst criminals, mobsters and Swiss immigrants," Clarisse explained. "I learned that I needed to protect myself from a young age, and back home the name of the game," she pulled one of her blades out of it's sheath, "was knife work." She spun the knife in her hand a few times, fast and instinctive. "I'll admit, on my own I was alright; 'good', even. But never 'Ultimate Talent' worthy. When I heard about Hope's Peak, and the AUP with it, I thought it was a chance to get to better prospects." She paused, a slight sigh escaping her lips as she glanced at the knife in her hand. "Maybe it still is." she commented quietly. She glanced back up at Shawn, her face determined. "But I refuse to let innocent people die to get what I want." Spinning, she threw the knife at the far wall, impaling it at a perfect 90 degree angle in the wall. "And I am getting out of here. That's that."

The Scarecrow was stunned. So was the Golem.

Clarisse went to the wall and collected her knife, sheathing it. "You really shouldn't ask questions that you don't actually want the answers to." The Markswoman glanced at the nearest clock. "C'mon, it's almost time to reconvene, and it looks like this place really is clean. Let's go."

12:00 P.M. Day Two

First Floor

Foyer

The time had come.

The inhabitants of the mansion, staff and captive alike, had gathered back in the Foyer as the clock struck twelve. Jibo stood near the door to the basement, flanked by the staff members.

"The time has come, it appears," the Biologist said, glancing at his pocket watch. "I hope you were successful in your investigation, otherwise this Killing Game shall be over before sundown."

Sebastian unlocked the door to the basement, before leading his bosses down the stairs. At the urging of the other staff members, the killing game participants made their way down the stairs as well, followed by the rest of said staff.

They made their way through the torch-lit stone corridors, taking the left path after the stairs. In the distance, they could hear what vaguely sounded like a man screaming and shouting in Spanish (actual Spanish, not Alexis' Portuguese).

"What is that?" Shawn asked from the middle of the group.

"You are to ignore that, it has no relevance to any of you in this game." Jibo demanded from near the front, continuing on without pausing. Without many other options, the group continued on, the screams fading into the distance.

Reaching the end of the path, the group came upon what appeared to be a fairly typical, if not oversized, mausoleum. The only major difference lay in the décor itself. In the center of the room rested a circle with sixteen podiums, but there was also a larger circle with seven podiums encompassing the inner circle. There was spacing between the outer and inner circles to allow for movement. Resting at the front of the room, above the podiums, rested a large marble chair that was raised obscenely high, allowing for view of the rest of the room.

Hesitantly, the group took their designated places at each podium. The collective mood was one of nervousness, discomfort, and some determination. They all knew; one of them was a killer, and they needed to be found.

Before the body count got any higher.

[14 participants remain]

A/N: And there went Daisuke's sole cameo for the story. Also, turns out someone could get a worse deal than the Ultimate Loser: his death at least contributed to the trial. Until next time!