Thank you...*sniff sniff* thank you all...*sniff*...who reviewed for me...you guys should find my responses at the bottom of the page...*sniff*
I have a lot to learn from many authors who reviewed for me. Well, my English isn't getting any better...so, be cautious of my use of English in this chapter too...
Leena fans...don't hate me..._
***
(Third person view...still)
Glenn slowly opened his eyes on the bed. He glanced at the clock in the room; it was 5:47 in the morning. 'Damn, Karsh better not have gone out and told everyone about what Leena and I did last night...' He thought, "Wait, what am I thinking...Karsh is one of the people I trust the most...' Sighing in relief, Glenn reached his hand out for Leena...but found an empty space besides him.
'Wha...' Glenn tried for the second time. Nope, there was nothing beside him; instead, he found only the pillow that was supposedly on Leena's bed. Turning around and checking the messy piles of clothes scattered around his bed, he discovered that Leena's panties and shirt were missing. 'She must have gone to the ladies room,' He thought, 'Oh well, I guess I should get up too...'
Reaching out his arm on the bed, Glenn grabbed his boxers, pants, and a shirt and began dressing under his bed sheet. He had to make sure that nobody in the room saw him exposed, even if it was Karsh.... When he's all set, he tiptoed out of the room, and gently closed the door behind him, trying to not wake Karsh up. Then he went straight to the Main Hall...
"What the..." When Glenn opened the door to the Main Hall and stepped in, he felt some kind of coldness surrounding his feet. The floor of the Main Hall was covered with a massive pool of water...everything is wet... "What happened here...?" He whispered to himself. Then, a familiar looking mermaid came into view not far from where he's standing...
"I-Irenes!!" Glenn exclaimed, and ran towards the collapsed demi-human, fearing the worst. When he got there, he knelt down and turned her over...and immediately felt like throwing up the moment when he saw the expression on her face...
Irenes was dead...and she looked like she was tortured before she died. Her hands clutched to her harp...it was something that she has always carried with her no matter where she went. However, her harp was broken in half, and the strings all seemed to have snapped. When Glenn laid Irenes' body back onto the floor, he turned around, wanting to inform the others, but he only saw another person...a girl, wearing only her panties and a shirt...
"LEENA!" Glenn sprinted towards his fiancée. She was lying on the wet floor, facing the ceiling, and holding a broken pan. When Glenn reached her, he immediately put one hand behind the back of her head and wrapped the other hand around her waist...but Leena seemed expressionless...and more importantly...lifeless. Her face was pale...and her whole body is as cold as...any dead person... "Leena! Leena!!" He shouted her name, hoping that she would wake up if he called her name loud enough.... But no matter how many times Glenn called her name, she never woke up...
"LEENA!!"
She was dead...
~
(Serge's POV)
The breakfast was canceled...well, the whole Main Hall needs to be cleaned up anyway.... I was so shocked to when I heard about Irenes and Leena's death this morning. The first thing that came to my mind was...how Glenn is going to deal with the death of Leena....
His fiancée just died...worse, murdered by one of the people staying in the Manor. It must be so frustrating to know that the killer is somewhere in the Manor...but it's just unclear of who exactly is the murderer...and on top of all that, we're all staying under one roof.... That's...probably why Glenn went into a rage this morning, swinging his two Einlanzers around...saying stuff like he's going to cut the person who killed Leena into pieces...and that he'll make sure the dead body is displayed in Termina so everyone can see...
He was totally out of control...in the end, Karsh, Zoah, and Marcy had to fight him to stop his madness. Doc was quick to inject a tranquilizer into Glenn when he was knocked down...making him go to sleep. The rest of us just watched...it was frightening...the gentleman we all knew...Glenn...turned into a wild beast that morning...no, more like possessed by the devils or something...
It must be very hard for the creatures, too.... They all watched in horror as Glenn behaved like that. Glenn had always played with them...and laughed with them...he's just like their big brother of some sort.... To see him like that...must be a huge shock to every one of them...
~
(Third person view)
Although the Main Hall was cleaned up in time for lunch, everyone was absolutely quiet during lunch...moreover, nobody had any appetite to eat, knowing that the place is the murder site of two of their friends.... The table is just full of food...and nobody even bothered touching the fork or spoon...they all just sat in their chair...staring at the table or someplace else, not speaking a word.
Doc examined both Irenes and Leena's bodies and concluded that a powerful red element is responsible for the death of both Irenes and Leena. Since both victims didn't have any armors or accessories equipped on them at the time of their death, it is easy to kill them just by using a powerful element opposite of their innate color.... Meaning, everyone is now suspecting the red innate people...namely Kid, Orcha, and Draggy. However, Orlha was guarding the door of the privates' room all night, so Orcha and Draggy, who slept in that room, had no chance of leaving the room without notifying her...
That made Kid the only suspect, and once people found enough evidence of some kind, they could send Kid straight to the prison cell in the Manor...or even execute her.
Marcy weeped silently...as she just lost her dearest relative.... Nikki just kept his cool face he always had since Miki's death. Glenn is sleeping peacefully on his bed, thanks to Doc's tranquilizer, and Karsh is now watching over him in his room...just in case he wakes up and decided to end his life as well.... Everyone else...is just plain quiet, even the creatures, which often times are the noisemakers...are silent today.
"People..." Riddle finally broke the silence, "I think I should cancel this party...now..."
Silence.
"If I did not invite all of you...to come here...then..." Large teardrops skidded down her cheek as she sobbed, "...Then...none of this...would have happened...so...it would be best if I let everything end...like this...before any other person is murdered..."
"...I object," A loud and clear voice was heard in the Main Hall, and everyone turned to look at who the speaker is. Surprisingly, it was Kid, "First of all, Lady Riddle, ye did nothing wrong. Second, I really don't think letting a murderer out is a good idea...we have to find out who it is...and third..." She glanced at Serge.
"I agree with Kid," Serge continued for her, thus turning all the attention to him, "I believe the event that happened this morning left enough evidence to indicate who this killer is..."
"Really...?" Riddle whimpered.
Serge just nodded.
~
(Back to Serge's POV)
"Kid, you scare me sometimes..." I told her as we left the Main Hall after lunch, "Also, you're putting a lot...A LOT of pressure on me..."
"Sorry mate...but I jus' don't wanna leave this place with everyone thinking that I'm the one who killed all of 'em...!" Kid pouted, "So, ye think we can figure out who did it?"
"I don't want to sound too harsh, but you know...today's the third day..." I informed her cautiously.
"Yeah...and tomorrow after dinner, this...'party' ends..." She looked down on the floor, depressed, "...Well? Ye got any clues?"
"First things first," I replied, "I need to go check up on Glenn...he has all the information we need, being the first person to arrive at the scene..."
Kid sighed.
~
When we arrived just outside of Karsh's room, I gestured Kid to open the door. She inhaled a deep breath...and opened the door for me.... Once inside, I could see that Glenn woke up already...he just sat up straight on his bed, looking towards the outside through the window.... Everything...looked so peaceful, the room was unusually neat and tidy (later I learned that Karsh had put everything away when Glenn slept through the morning...so to clean up what Leena left behind...). Glenn...lost all his rage from this morning...now he seemed...empty, like a person living without a soul...
I glanced at Karsh, giving him an informative look. He nodded and walked out of the room.
"...Hey Glenn..." I went to him...he's so quiet.... I could sense an uncomfortably gloomy atmosphere. Kid found a chair and sat down, staying as quiet as possible.
"..." Glenn didn't even move his head, he was just silent. It's like he closed himself up.... I sat down on the edge of his bed, back facing him...and an uncomfortable moment of silence plagued the room. Kid nervously gestured me to say something to break the silence.
"Glenn...I need your help...to figure out who murdered Miki, Irenes, and..." I paused, unsure if I should speak any more...
"Leena..." Glenn finished for me, but still didn't turn to face me.... He just sat there, on his bed, deprived of all energy...
It was my turn to be silent.
"...Sure..." Glenn said, and turned around to give me a mild, forced smile...
"Are you okay about this...?"
"Serge...I want to catch this person as much as you do..." Glenn told me, "...It is the least I could do...for Leena..."
I know that Glenn is just pretending to be strong...I can see...that he's holding back his tears as he talked to me. Man, both of his eyes are red...really red...and watery, it seems as if a stream of tears is going to exude any minute. I gave quickly Kid a nod, and she took out a memo and a pen to begin jotting down the important details...
The questioning took no more than ten minutes, but we got as much information as Glenn can offer. Fortunately, he didn't break down into tears or go into another rage or anything...when I was asking him questions...he's just calm and reserved....
Maybe he's too calm...
According to him, the field effect when he went into the Main Hall is all blue...just like Marcy's room. Both Irenes and Leena held their weapon in their hands, but their weapons are broken, and they have different expressions from each other. From Glenn's way of describing what he saw, I could easily imagine that there was a battle between the killer, Irenes, and Leena...so that's probably why the field effect is all blue.... Well, he did say he was sure there was a battle...
Wait, a battle...?
"Something's not right..." I murmured to myself.
"What is it, mate?" Kid asked me.
"Kid...do you remember that day...when you, me, and Leena are about to leave Arni?" I asked her...
"Lemme think..."
~
"Sorry, I can't decide what elements to bring..." Hmm, right, I actually overslept, and since Kid sleeps in another room, she didn't know, "So, you get your elements?"
"They're all in my backpack! Let's go!" Leena said.
~
"THE BACKPACK!" Kid and I shouted at the same time, leaving Glenn staring at us, confused.
"Glenn! Where's Leena's backpack?!" I demanded and got up at the same time, looking desperately to find her backpack. Glenn just pointed at a small, blue bag sitting on the floor near where Kid is sitting...
"Ye mind if I take a look?" Kid asked him, grabbing the bag.
"Not at all..."
I walked toward Kid, and checked the inside of the bag with her.... The elements are neatly stacked in different boxes in the bag; it looked so...neat...so "perfect"...like nobody has opened the bag before...
"Glenn...there was no battle...!" I gritted my teeth, "Someone...someone made it look like there has been battle!"
"But there really isn't!" Kid finished for me.
"What...?"
"Take a look for yourself!" I handed over the small bag to Glenn, and as he check the content of the bag, he immediately came to the same conclusion we did...
"An' Doc said that both of them are killed by a powerful red element..." Kid remembered Doc's words from this morning.
"Yes, that must mean...the killer must be very skilled in using elements..." I added, "A genuine magic user..."
"But that is way too ambiguous, Serge," Glenn raised one of his eyebrows, "There are many people in the Manor who are naturally gifted in the art of spell casting..."
"Also, you have to remember that both Irenes and Leena didn't have any armors or accessories on them..." Kid said.
"Well then, anyone could have easily killed them both..." I said, sighing.
"Then how do you explain the Main Hall being all wet this morning?" Glenn asked me.
"All the facts seemed to point toward a conclusion..." Let me think...Leena doesn't have any elements on her...they both died of a powerful red element... "...The killer blasted Irenes and Leena with a red element, and casted blue elements all over Main Hall to make it look like there has been a battle...."
"In order to achieve that, that person must break Leena's pan and Irenes' harp to make it look real..." Kid continued for me, "...Wait, why is Irenes in the Main Hall? I thought Orlha was guarding the door all the time..."
"She thought it was okay for Irenes to take some fresh air," I answered her question, "Well, I've only asked her to keep an eye on Nikki...so..."
"In any case, we can conclude that whoever did this may be a strong magic user..." Glenn said, clutching his fists hard.
"Yeah...I think..."
~
"Glenn was very cooperative..." Kid told me as we made it back to our room. Karsh went back to watching Glenn and after we're done with what we needed to do. Zoah, however, was nowhere to be found.... I even went to check Orcha's kitchen (of course, with Orcha and Riddle, so they could see that I won't spray the cooking utensils with sleeping pills or anything like that), and just as I suspected, a pan was missing.... Orcha later confirmed that the pan Leena held on to...was indeed the missing pan from the kitchen.
"Kid...listen to me very carefully..." I told her seriously, staring into her eyes.
"W-What's this...all of a sudden...?" Kid stammered.
"From now on...don't trust anybody..." I said to her in a distressed tone, "In a time like this...everyone is a suspect..."
"Serge..."
"I know, but we have to do this...for Glenn...and everyone who died at the hands of this killer..."
"Not even Doc?" She asked me. Sure, Doc was the person who once saved her life...but...
"I don't know...if he was lying...then that means all of my clues are wrong..."
"So...what do ye suggest we do...?"
"We can only bet that Doc is telling the truth..." I said, "...And hopefully, he is...."
"Sigh...why did all of this have to happen...?" Kid lied flat on her bed, arms extends straight to her sides, "Leena, Irenes, Miki, and Sneff...."
"Kid..." I noticed that she'll probably start crying anytime soon, so I immediately grabbed my handkerchief out form my pocket. But, knowing her, she'd just change the subject all of a sudden to avoid a sudden emotional outburst...
"H-hey mate, remember how we went to the S.S. Zelbess a week ago...?" She covered her eyes using one of her arms and rolled to the side, back facing me. Just as I thought, she's trying to change the subject... "How like...we were there watching Sneff performing his magic show...it was so great...with all those special effects and stuff..."
Yeah...special effects...there are "mists" coming from the sides of the stage, making everything look mystical.... Hmm...special effects...I even went to ask Sneff how he did it afterwards...turns out, it's just simple chemistry.... Huh...special effects...Sneff...
Wait.
The S.S. Zelbess was bombed...2 days ago at night...that's when this party started.... Sneff died that night...Miki died the next morning...and...special effects...?
"KID!" I screamed suddenly, making her jump up immediately.
"W-what is it?" Kid turned her head towards me and gave me this confused look.
"I think...I think I just figured out how Miki died..." I whispered to her, making sure that nobody else heard me.
"WHA--" She sat up on her bed and attempted to shout, but was made silent when I covered her mouth with my hand.
"Shh....! Don't draw any unnecessary attention...!" I whispered to her.
"Yer the one who screamed first...!" She whispered back.
"Sorry..." I replied and went to the door.
"Where are ye going?"
"Ask Riddle for some help."
"I thought ye said not to trust anybody!" Kid exclaimed.
"There's no way Riddle is the murderer," I replied, "Ehh, I'll explain everything to you later..."
"I'll come with ye!" She said, getting off the bed.
"No! You're already the prime suspect!" I reminded her, and she seemed to turn all upset at that instant. I heard some sounds coming from the next room, followed by the sound of the door shutting quietly, "...Besides, I think it's better if you pay Glenn a visit..."
"...Why?"
"See for yourself..." I left with those words, and ran straight to Riddle's room...
~
"...Okay, it has been done..." Riddle said to me as we watched her maid hurried out of the room, "But...may I ask...why...?"
"It's a key to determine who the killer is," I said plainly and took a look at the clock in her room, it's about 3:00 in the afternoon, "Do you think we can make it in time before dinner tomorrow?"
"You need not worry..." She replied with a usual smile, "Oh and, since you are here, could you tell Kid...that I need her help...?"
"Yeah?"
~
(Third person view)
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Manor, Kid is standing in front of Karsh's room, thinking of what she would need to say to start up a conversation between her and Glenn...
'Should I cheer him up...? Wait, what is if he's still depressed and won't talk to me...?' Kid thought to herself, 'Arghhhh...what is Serge thinking, wanting me to go talk to Glenn...?'
After a few more minutes of thinking, Kid decided to just go ahead and knock the door.
"Come in," Kid expected Karsh to say that, but instead, she heard Glenn's voice. As she walked in, she noticed that Karsh is nowhere to be found.
"Where's Karsh?" Kid asked.
"He went to patrol around the Manor," Glenn replied, "What? You think I would do something stupid if he is not here?"
"Erh, umm, I guess..."
"Don't worry," Glenn chuckled lightly, "I am not going to kill myself or anything. For heaven's sake, I'm going to live up to my father and brother's legacy!" He seemed to be full of energy, totally opposite of his behavior from the last time Kid and Serge visited him. Glenn is standing and exaggerating the gestures of what a swordsman would do.
"..."
"Aw, don't give me that look, Kid!" Glenn forced a smiled at her, "Don't you worry about me, I'm fine!" He made a forced chuckle.
'Karsh...can't ye see that Glenn is only pretending to be okay...?' Kid thought to herself. No matter how hard Glenn made an effort to pretend that he's gotten over the tragedy, Kid could see through his bad acting skills...she just stared at Glenn, eyes full of sympathy towards the dragoon.
"Wha-what? Kid, I'm fine..." Glenn's gestures died down slowly as he made another pretentious chuckle, "Really...I...I'm..." Now he's just standing idly.
"Glenn..." Kid went up to him and embraced him in her arms, "It's okay...everything's alwright..."
At those words, Glenn couldn't take it anymore. He howled...and sobbed in Kid's warm hug.... Streams of tear ran down his cheeks...
Kid just stood there as Glenn cried in her embrace.
~
5:45. Serge lied on his bed, exhausted. He spent the whole afternoon looking for a particular "thing". He checked the library, every room, even the prison cells that are used to keep the bodies of the dead, but he couldn't find it...anywhere.
'Dammit...I have about 24 hours left to find that thing...' Serge thought, 'I'm sure it's somewhere in the Manor...I need to find that...and one more piece of evidence...'
Just then, Kid came into the room, expressionless.
"So...how's Glenn doing right now?" Serge asked, looking at his roommate.
"Not bad..." That was all Kid could say, "At least he's not gonna kill himself or anything...anymore..."
"Huh...what happened between you two?"
"Nothing." She said coolly.
"Really...? Oh well...Kid, Riddle wanted me to asked you to go help Orcha now in the basement..." Serge told her, "And later serve food during dinner..."
"Eh, why me?" Kid asked.
"She said that it might help you build a better impression for other people," Serge answered, "Because, well, you ARE the only suspect...as of now..."
"...Sure..." She left the room shortly afterwards.
~
Serge was alone in his room after dinner, lying on his bed again...
'The dinner was just as quiet as the lunch today.... Nobody spoke a word...or even made sounds. I had kept an eye on everyone as we all, including Orcha, ate in the Main Hall. Well...everyone ate the same stuff, just like the night before...so now if someone somehow manage to put sleeping pills in the food again...at least we'd all sleep, and nothing would happen.... Well, that is, if someone could get past Luccia, who was guarding the door when Orcha was cooking...' He thought.
'If the food was poisoned, then only Orcha or Kid could have done it.... Wait, what am I thinking...I should trust them both...! What time is it...it's 10:00 already? Hmm...where's Kid...? Right, she has been helping Orcha clean up the tables and his kitchen...'
'...I still can't find that thing even though I've looked everywhere! I should ask Glenn for help...but he went on patrol with Karsh and Zoah.... Maybe tomorrow...' Serge slowly closed his eyes, and felt like drifting to sleep... 'Huh...it's just 10:00...and I'm...'
"Oh no...!" Serge sat up on his bed when, realizing that the food may be induced with sleeping pills again.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Kid came in, exhausted. She looked like she could easily just fall onto her bed and sleep.
"Kid, are you sleepy?" Serge asked nervously.
"Cleaning up isn't that tiring..." Kid replied, "But yeah...I'm falling asleep already..." She collapsed on her bed.
"Damn, someone must have put sleeping pills in our dishes again...!" Serge said.
"Didn't everyone ate the same stuff?" Kid reminded me, "Don't worry...nothing will happen..." She fell asleep soon afterwards.
"I can only hope so..."
***
This is the longest chapter I've done...*collapses*. Well, school starts for me in a few weeks, and I'm kinda busy in the weeks to come just getting ready for school...so I might just finish this fic soon...
Sigh...I'm never going to write a suspense fic again. I've gone back and forth between ideas, thinking and re-thinking what different events would best help Serge run the end smoothly. Yeah, I've planned this whole thing out from the very beginning, and wrote notes and flow chart down...on 3 pages of paper, front and back! But I'd have to say I've added so much stuff unplanned originally...ughhhh.....
Oh, reviewers!! Thank you very, very much! I have to say, Mr. Soulblighter2, that having your review is an honor for me. It must have hurt your eyes reading stuff at this level of English, no? Just to tell ya, it's so hard writing about murder mysteries...
I killed Leena! GabbyGirl, NOW do you still love this fic...? And sorry Dixxy!! But as I've said, I had this whole thing planned out from the very beginning...and Leena's death is one major point...so, sorry! Gomennasai! Duai-Bu-Chi! Je suis désolé! Es tut mirleid! Mi dispiace! Lo siento! (PS: In order from English, that was...Japanese, Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. How did I do it? I happen to have an electronic dictionary on my desk...) Oh, that applies to all you Leena fans...and uh, Gleena fans, too!
And...you thought I'm a girl, Tami?! Oh well, hope you can get past my verbal mistakes that appeared all over the fic.... I'm glad you liked the story, though^^
Lastly, the next chapter should be the end. A major clue is yet to be unveiled... So, bizarre way of thinking, Dixxy? Check the next chapter to find out if you're right or not...^^