Fairy x Adventure

by Magnafeana

In a new era after the Alvarez War, Lucy, Natsu, and the rest of Fairy Tail not only face new challenges but watch as their kids go on new journeys, learn new powers, and battle new enemies and old! Join Luna, Nashi, and the upcoming generation of Mages on Fairy Tail and more on their never-ending adventure!

97. Adventure 097

Disclaimer: I do not own Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail, any work professionally associated with it, nor any pop culture or classical references. All original plots and characters are mine.

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In a land far, far away lies the kingdom of Fiore, a small, peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with Magic found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace. For most, Magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some, however, Magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards. Banded together into magical guilds, they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore. But there is a certain guild in a certain town that soars high above the rest, one from which countless legends have been born. A guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. Its name...is Fairy Tail.

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LAST TIME, on Fairy Adventure, with Jaxton and Tesla's crazy weekend in Zhōnguá coming to a close, it's time for a little relaxation with Justin and Honey's burlesque show. Looks like Nash and Orochi are already relaxing with plans of the future and some good food. Meanwhile, Luna and Lucy have a sweet mother-daughter talk, but when Gale's accidental Hindsight touch shows him Luna's pain, he's at odds about what to do. Meanwhile, Mary Jane's quick errand to the Fernande Household turns a little wild with her migraine somehow bringing Silver and Ena closer together. The Full Moon Festival in Arcticados has us meeting all sorts of Shamans, but when Uki's fallen mentor leaves her a heartfelt letter, it's time for Uki to bring a guest to see the Spirits.

'Dad's right. Change is on the horizon whether we like it or not.'

Let's just hope that these changes are positive ones because we've had enough negativity in this series. And I'll toast to that!

CLINK!

---

"What!"

Erza looked calm behind her desk with two dual contracts in front of her and did not care how incredulous Luke and Gale looked on the other side. "You heard correctly," she informed. "You've both been assigned this mission starting now." She tapped the contracts. "But I suggest you read the case file and terms of the contract before you sign."

"Master, with all due respect, what the Hell?" Gale said in his disbelief. "How were we assigned to a mission together? One that the MCs haven't touched?"

Erza propped her hands as her fingers touched their parallel opposites. "The nature of this case calls for special talent that you both have. It requires you to be as unsuspecting as possible. Sending in adults would render everything pointless. But you two have a keen intellect, steady logic, and a specific set of skills needed."

Luke shook his head. "Master… We're not…" He tried to word it properly. "We wouldn't be the team you need for a mission. Are you sure one of us can't go it alone?"

"No. You both are required." Erza leaned forward and looked at him. "Luke, you have a heavy background in potions, medicine, and Magic. Combined with your demonic prowess, it's crucial you take this job." Her eyes shifted to Gale. "Gale, while you and Luke both have heightened senses, you have trained extensively in the art of tracking and your father's skills of criminology and critical thinking will be more of an asset than you could know." She sat back. "And, of course, Genius has agreed to supply all technical support as he does for special assignments."

"What sort of mission needs all this?" Gale had to ask.

Luke's brow furrowed. "Yeah, and… No offense, Master, but I've only been working with my dad for a few weeks with controlling my powers." His eyes swept to the floor. "I'm not exactly at a level where I can control it. Maybe my dad would be a better match."

"Same here. Ask the Old Man for this." Gale stood up. "You picked the wrong two people."

"I picked right. And I suggest you sit down, Gale." Erza's tone bore warning.

Gale sat back in his seat with a dramatic huff. "I guess I don't understand why us? You gave us those reasons, sure, but our dads would be better candidates than us."

"That might be true, but this mission requires a level of disguise your fathers can't perceive." Erza looked between both boys. "I understand your reservations. This special assignment will be no easy feat. But considering your psychological, skill, critical thinking, and physical evaluations, you both match all the criteria needed for this assignment." Dark mochas sharpened. "I won't lie to you. This special assignment is more of an investigative case that's gotten messy." That was when she dropped the bomb. "This has been ruled as a murder investigation."

Luke frowned. "Shouldn't the Guard be on this?"

"The CID is on this. But if the CID was astute, they would petition this case to the MBI for magical investigative assistance." Erza sat back in her chair. "Unfortunately, this case does not fit the criteria needed for the MBI to step in."

"Was Magic evident at the scene of the crime?" Gale questioned. "If the CID is on this, did they at least do a basic Ether Meter Reading on-site?"

"No," Erza claimed. "The entire town is Spiritless with no records of registered Wizards or Magic Bloodlines. I'm sure Wizards pass through, but none of them have registered in any hotels or otherwise in this town. Which means—"

"The CID scrapped an EMR since they have no magical suspects," Gale completed.

Luke continued in a solemn tone, "And without an EMR giving off an Ether trail, the MBI can't offer any aid. And since it's a Spiritless town, the Council can't justify having an Anti-Magic Unit branch within the Guard department there. The CID would have no suspicion that any sort of Magic was involved in the murder case."

"And even if they did, I doubt the bastards would swallow their pride and request back-up from a nearby unit," Gale grumbled. "Fiore might be a haven for Wizards, but the Guard hates dealing with any MCPs. They'd put the case on ice and the victims wouldn't get justice."

"Well, thankfully, the parents of the victim want justice no matter how they get it," Erza relayed. "The CID has been working on this murder case since the bodies were found two days ago. From what information was given to me, there have been no suspects or primary leads, but the inspectors on the case are insistent they can handle it. The parents aren't convinced."

Gale arched an eyebrow. "So they wanted to hire two…teenagers?"

"They want to hire MPIs," Erza corrected. "Under normal stances, they could contact a local MPI through other resources. However, when an inside source let me know that the MPIs in the area would have up-charged them an outrageous fee for the justice of their children, I volunteered my services." She pushed the contracts closer to them. "Guild Wizards are allowed to operate as MPIs so long as they are not in affiliation, will be or have been in affiliation with the Magic Council for a certain number of years."

"And they chose us?" Luke question, perplexed.

Erza shook her head. "No. I did. As I said before, both of your unique skill set combined with your personalities will make for the perfect candidates for this operation."

Gale's eyes slowly narrowed, and he sat forward to pin her with a deliberate stare. "You're not telling us something about this case," he deemed. "There has to be more of a push for us to go than meets the eye."

Erza met his stare head-on. "You're right. I fully believe that there is more to this murder case than meets the eye, which is why I chose both of you. However"—she heaved a breath—"without the cooperation of the CID, you will not have access to the data and evidence they've collected unless you can negotiate terms. I've spoken with the sergeant, but he was adamant he would not work with us in any capacity and made assurances the parents would see reason to trust due process."

"So we're going in blind," Gale said flatly.

"You'll be going in with limitations, yes," Erza confirmed, "but you have abilities the inspectors don't have that can be better than any evidence they've collected. Your eyes and ears and noses are sharper than theirs and your sensitivity to Magic is critical for this operation if Magic was truly used in the murder. You have what it takes. I wouldn't ask this of you if I felt you were incapable." She paused to let them process. "I'm well-aware this is a lot to take in. This is the second time for you, Gale, on a special assignment and a first for you, Luke. But I wouldn't have chosen you if I didn't find you fit for the job."

Both boys plunged into a heavy silence as they sorted their options.

Gale sighed and took a pen. "Where am I signing?"

Erza pointed. "I've highlighted where you need to sign, but you should read over every word carefully." Her eyes slid to an indecisive Luke. "And you?"

Luke swallowed. "I… I'll do it." He took up the pen and started to skim through the contract. This has a lot of heavy wording in it with a lot of protection on us. I shouldn't be surprised. Sensei told me special assignment contracts come with extensive protection and insurance. His eyes widened after he flipped the page and got to a particular paragraph. "Master…" He looked up at her. "Are you sure this is correct?"

"Yes. I approved over every word of that contract and it will be notarized once you both sign it and sealed by the time you arrive," Erza explained. "Everything listed in the contract will be available for your disposal."

"But…" Luke glanced down at the contract.

"You have nothing to fear. I've made all the necessary arrangements to make sure even with the Guard stacked against you, both of you will have bountiful resources at your disposal. Whether you use them or not is up to you. Now. Your train departs in two hours." Dark mochas glinted. "I suggest you read the contract and the case file thoroughly before then."

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Itsu datte kimi no sono-te wa

Itsu demo sekai o kae reru yo

Tsudzukete ku koto yamecha dame datte

Kon'na mon janaidaro? Susume!

•

Mukuwarenai sono doryoku wa `kabe' o `tobira' ni kaerukara

Kowagarazu ni sa~a nokku shite

It will be OK

Let's go sonosakihe

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

POOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!

KA-CLACK! KA-CLACK! KA-CLACK!

CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA!

The train today was business as usual. The cars had their open coach and the lounge car had mainly businessmen and women inside. The dining cart was still swerving breakfast out this hour and would not be in transition to lunch until eleven-thirty. But Luke and Gale took the passenger car with their own side rooms, closed off with doors and filled with booths and a table between them.

POOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!

KA-CLACK! KA-CLACK! KA-CLACK!

CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA!

Neither had been keen to talk for the duration of their boarding. Gale opted to look out the window while Luke settled on reading a book. But it was Gale who decided enough was enough about this uncomfortable atmosphere and grunted, "Are we going to talk about the case or not?"

"We can do that," Luke quickly agreed. He put a bookmark in his reading and tucked it away while Gale dug out the tablet and L-Cube.

Gale centered the cube on the tablet and tapped the tablet. Holographic images and data populated before their eyes with yearbook pictures of five high schoolers in their last year of school alongside a map of their hometown and a photo of a cabin in the woods and its location.

"Five students were murdered on their spring half-term holiday," Gale noted. "All of them were students of Deutzia Falls High School. Seniors."

"Athletes," Luke pointed out. "It looks like the three guys played lacrosse together and the girls did fall cheerleading, but they all have cross-country as their main factor." He sifted through their photos. "They rented a cabin for their break, but they didn't come back."

"Right. And all we know is that it was a neighbor who had called the Guard," Gale continued. "First responders came in, called in CID, then the trusty inspectors and the coroner ruled it as a group suicide, but the second autopsy reports came back that the killing marks were made by a third party. That's when they ruled this as a murder case."

"And we don't have any access to the reports of the bodies or suspects or anything," Luke sighed.

Gale shook his head. "Nope. From the info Master passed along, the CID is sure as fuck they got all the information they need and they have a lead, which is bullshit since the parents say otherwise. It's been two days since the bodies were found and, with no leads, I'm sure the parents are getting twitchy the CID will say they exhausted their efforts, put this as a cold case, or it could take a year until it's solved." He spun around the pictures in his frustration.

"Do we have warrants for the school, the cabin, and for the parents' homes?" Luke suggested. "I thought that was listed in the contract."

"Yeah, but the school and the parents are voluntarily allowing us to search and seize," Gale said. "So we have allies in our corner who want this case solved."

"But the CID searched and seized evidence, which could lead us with nothing else but crumbs," Luke presumed.

Gale shrugged. "Master said we can figure this out without all the circumstantial evidence, so I guess she doesn't see it as a problem. And between all your studying and with all the shit my dad taught me, we'll be fine."

"Right."

Gale caught Luke looking at the table and could smell the curdled discomfort and unease reeking off Luke. He shut down the cube and put his elbows on the table. He opened his mouth to say something, but he faltered and ruffled his hair instead.

"I'm sorry." Luke was the one to blurt this out. "I know…I shouldn't be around you…" He swallowed and fidgeted. "I-I can stay out of your way. You don't have to see me—"

"Luke, stop." Gale scrubbed his jaw. "Look. We're both assigned to this case, which means we both have to work on it together. Doesn't matter how smart either one of us is. I don't have your background in Magic studies, potions, or medicine and you didn't train as extensively as I did for tracking, psych, and criminology. Whether we like it or not, given how shitty this circumstance is, we'll need to work together."

He sighed when Luke's discomfort lingered and eyed him. I can't feel any of the dominance he hit me with before. Igneel always smelled like he had power. Luke's pretty powerful too, but there's no threat. With Igneel, I kept my head down when he was in a mood. I don't feel that way with Luke. "Luke," he said softly, "don't worry about what happened, okay? Just forget about it. I think we both can agree we've dealt with Igneel."

"That's different," Luke negated as he pushed up his glasses.

Gale had to agree with that with a gesture. "I guess. But it stands. I put up with Igneel's shit for years. I know what he's like. And I know what you're like." He added when Luke shrunk back, "I know when you're in control, you're pretty much one of the nicest guys I've met, even if you're the weirdly shy twin."

"Igneel got all of my parents' extroversion," Luke muttered.

Gale snorted. "Hell yeah he did. But the point stands. We were both getting out of control. I let my instincts get the best of me and so did you. It happens. But we're controlling it." He added in a light quip, "But I don't think I'm ready to spar with you just yet. Not about to let you beat my ass to the ground. I'm embarrassed enough Blondie had to see that and for me to do that again?" He leaned back. "You've got some sick moves."

"Sensei taught me most of what I know," Luke reasoned. "Igneel's a better fighter than me."

"And you're a better fighter than me."

Luke shook his head. "That was when I was out of control."

"Yeah, but I've watched you when you're in control, dude." Gale smirked. "I'm not sure who would win. You're a lot quicker than me, but speed ain't everything." An idea came to him. "Tell you what. You get that Demon power under control and we can have a rematch. No claws. No fangs."

Luke fidgeted, apprehensive. "I-I don't know…"

"Come on… It'll be good. Plus, I need to earn a little cred back," Gale joked. "No offense, but you seriously damaged my reputation by me getting defeated by the nerd."

Luke gave a genuine laugh at that. "I guess I am a nerd." He smiled. "Once I'm better under control, I wouldn't mind a sparring match. I can't promise that I'll go easy on you, but I guess I should let you have a handicap since you're not royalty."

"Oh-ho-ho, what's this? Already trash talking me and we haven't even set a date yet?" Gale slow nodded his approval. "All right. Nerds can trash talk. Good on you. Igneel was never one for trash talk. He did a lot more silent mental mind games, but I guess Demons are just built different." He held out a fist. "Well, Your Majesty, I'll take you on any time, anywhere."

"Sure." Luke showed his fangs. "Just don't get too attached to your ego once a nerd like me destroys it." And he bumped Gale's fist.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Fairy Adventure 097

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The Odd Couple

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あなたのサービスで探偵の妖精。ドラゴンとデーモンが殺人ミステリーを引き受けます。

•

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Have you ever been to one of those towns that was so small that most people would not know what you were talking about unless you spoke about the big city next to it? That was Deutzia Falls. It was a suburban town with low tax rates and the falls were gorgeous alongside the town center that had preserved the original stores and shops from centuries ago. But it felt small even with 3,600 students across the entire school district and everyone was pleased when the town had finally gotten its own small library and recreation center after years of both being on the ballot.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is Deutzia Falls, where our detective murder mystery starts. Deutzia is so known for its illustrious falls that many people flock to do prom and wedding pictures here. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Guard cars were annoying with their sirens and lights, but they were annoying to see regardless of when a Wizard took on a case because they knew that this was going to be difficult to navigate. They had blocked off the remote cabin with personnel going in and out with photos taken and evidence collected. Caution tape had roped off the area, but two detective inspectors on the case squinted their eyes when an SUV came up the long drive. With a shared glance, they came down to meet the car.

Luke and Gale exited the back of the SUV in their Fairy Tail jackets, but Gale knocked on the driver's window. The window rolled down to display Mister Hollifield. Gale leaned against the door and said, "This shouldn't take more than an hour. Are you sure it's okay I called?"

"Not a problem, Sir. My main employer has no need for me for the duration of your special assignment," Mister Hollifield assured. "Take your time. I'll be listening to some soothing classic." He whispered conspiratorially, "And I have a few pounds riding on the Bixbite Bugbears for their match coming up for the preliminaries. Might as well start listening in."

Gale grinned and clapped Mister Hollifield's shoulder. "Good man."

"Hey, kids!"

Luke and Gale looked as the two detectives walked down the drive to greet them in their professional attire and the CID unit jackets and badges and gloves. It was a man-woman pairing and both looked equally disapproving at the sight of both Wizards.

"Look, kids," the man spoke, an average man with average looks, but he looked oddly obsessed with his tie clips. "We get it. You guys had a dare to come see the murder, but the show's over. Run along back to your parents."

Gale barked a laugh. "Ha! Look, adult, we're not here on a dare. We're here on special assignment." He showed his MagID alongside Luke. "Hate to burst that insane ego that must be bigger than your balls, but you're looking at two children here to do your job better. So I suggest you stand aside so we can do our job."

"Ah, what he means to say is that we're the Magic Private Investigators sent on behalf of the victims' parents' request," Luke spoke. "I'm Luke Dragneel and he's Gale Redfox. We're the Fairy Tail Wizards assigned to the case. It's nice to meet you."

Gale snorted at that.

One of the detectives took their IDs and checked for the seal. "It's legit." He exchanged a glance with his partner as he returned the IDs. "They're the Wizards Serg warned us were coming."

⌜CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT – NORTH BLUEMINK GUARD DIVISION 17

Name: Charles Legato

Age: 46

Occupation: Detective Chief Inspector

Likes: remixes Dislikes: weddings

Special Note: Charles might not have a funny bone in his body, but he used to DJ in college!⌟

"Children." She sounded unimpressed with her lavender blouse and pinned-back tight ponytail that did not look good for your scalp. "They sent children." She crossed her arms. "Well, I guess it's true what they say about Wizards. Always ones who enjoy child labor."

⌜CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT – NORTH BLUEMINK GUARD DIVISION 17

Name: Amy Diaz

Age: 39

Occupation: Detective Inspector

Likes: color coordination Dislikes: open windows

Special Note: Amy is known to be a bit of a neat freak, according to her husband, but she claims to have toned down!⌟

Luke stepped in when it looked like Gale was about to unload a scathing retort, "With all due respect, in the eyes of Magic Law, Inspector, we're adult Wizards and have the credentials to prove it." He pulled out a small pocketbook that retained tabs in it and opened it to a page with a highlighted section. "If you need to read the bylaws, you're more than welcome to."

"No. That's not necessary," Amy grumbled. "I'm Inspector Diaz. This is Inspector Legato. We'd say it's a pleasure, but it wasn't our choice to have Wizards step onto our crime scene. And just so you're both aware, our case is still in progress."

"A murder case you should've solved on-site, but it's taken you two days and you have no leads," Gale muttered. "Yeah. You guys have a good grip on this one."

"We're all on the case," Luke reasoned loudly as he adjusted his glasses before Charles could snark something back. "We're not here to overtake it. Our investigation can work together with yours if you'd be willing to share your resources and evidence—"

"Look, kid," Charles cut in. "It's cute twelve-year-olds want to break into the criminal justice scene—"

"I'm fifteen," Luke mumbled.

"—but I suggest you let the actual adults handle this. You know, the legal ones over seventeen," Charles continued to mock. "I'm sure you have your card tricks and I catch the GMGs every year and make my own fantasy GMG team, sure, but, uh…" He bent a little to Luke's level with a fake smile and booped his nose. "This case isn't really something for a child's eyes, between you and me, sport," he murmured in taunt. "But if you want, you two can take a ride in our car and, uh… We'll even let you turn on the lights. How about that?"

Luke muttered, "I don't use a wand."

Gale stepped in. "Luke, it's clear Inspector Asshole wants to swing around his pencil dick and gets off with his inferiority complex. Ignore him. We've got our clearance. We don't need to place nicely-nicely." He clapped Luke's shoulder. "Come on. Let's check out the scene."

"Okay." Luke followed when Gale strode away.

Amy called, "Don't even bother questioning our guys. They aren't yours to get info from."

"Lady, I don't want answers from people who can't even smell that a dog pissed twelve yards upwind," Gale hollered. "Keep your evidence. We'll figure this out without it."

Luke hurried to keep up with Gale and whispered, "Are you sure it was a good idea to antagonize them like that? Maybe if we just talk to them, we might be able to work together."

"They made it clear that their Anti-Magic racists, Luke; I sincerely doubt any amount of talking will make them want to work with us," Gale muttered under his breath as he maneuvered through the cards and all the people. "We've got our warrants, so relax. Master has trust that we can do this without them." He narrowed his eyes when one of the technicians quickly avoided him. "And we'll do just that."

The log cabin was nothing to write home about. The inside was modern to a point, but it maintained a rustic look and feel. The kitchen had been remodeled with a new dishwasher, but the refrigerator was a little older. The fireplace had a bear rug before it. Guard tape had been mapped out with numbered plates where blood was split and the bodies had been found. Technicians and investigators shuffled about as they collected more evidence in their scrubs and jackets. Before Luke and Gale entered, Luke had given Gale and himself shoe scrubs and clinical gloves and they scoped out.

Their nostrils flared, and both wrinkled their nose.

"You smell that?" Gale murmured.

"Yeah." Luke rubbed his nose. "Decomposition never smells pleasant."

He took a deeper sniff while Gale stalked in closer. This scent… Something about the smell in the air smells familiar… He took a closer sniff where the blood was spilled. Blood. Alcohol. He sniffed again. And something else.

He looked up at one of the investigators and asked, "Have you sent samples of blood to your hematologist? Did they notice anything about the potassium and ketones?"

The investigator sent him a look, but ultimately, she ignored him.

Luke sighed. "Guess that answers that."

He studied the blood splattered onto the floor. The stain looks splattered, but the scent in this room. He rolled his shoulder. It smells…so familiar…but I can't understand why. He stood up to look at the tape. Five seniors rented a cabin underneath one of their parents' names. Suicides were ruled as murders upon a further inspection and a second autopsy. The report we were sent blacked out everything except the ruling. He clenched his fists. How are we supposed to solve a case like this?

CLICK-CLICK.

Luke looked beside him to see a skinny man beside him with his camera. The man shot Luke a sheepish look. "Sorry."

"You're fine," Luke assured. "You're with the CID unit?"

"Oh, yeah. But I'm just a tech," the man said with a bit of embarrassment. "I had a bit of a late start and we're low on manpower." He rubbed his neck. "Looks like they already took most of the evidence. My boss is going to get so mad at me for being this late."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Luke inhaled and tried not to wince. Ugh. He overdid it with that lemon-citrus body spray.

The technician took another picture before he sighed sadly. "I can't believe this happened."

Luke tried to acclimate to the strong scent. "Did you know them well?"

"No, but I mean, it's still a shame either way."

Luke sagely nodded. "Yeah, it is." He looked back at the crime scene and swung his head around before he looked at the kitchen and the technicians inside. He danced around the taped scene to step into the kitchen and looked around to see the kitchen was immaculate. Even so, his nose wrinkled a little.

It doesn't matter how clean it is. I can still smell stale, rotten food from somewhere. Maybe the disposal in the sink. He trailed his hand among the kitchen counter. Spring half-term was weeks ago, but the murder was found out two days ago. Kitchen looks clean, but I can smell residual dust. He paused when he hit the stove/oven combination, and it shifted.

A sheepish smile wove on his features at the looks of disapproval. "Sorry," he apologized. "I'll, um…move it back."

He went to shift it when nothing occurred to him. Wait. This shouldn't have moved if I ran into it in the first place. He studied the stove/oven in curiosity. It should've been locked in place with all the wiring. His brow furrowed, and he leaned forward to take a sniff. The oil back here is a few weeks old, but it's normal people don't clean behind the stove. It's cold, though. There should be warmth, but there's no power. He gripped the stove/oven. If I just moved it—

"Hey," one of the technicians snapped. "Don't break the stove, kid! The owner won't be happy about it!"

Luke colored and pushed the stove back in place. "Sorry." He questioned, however, "The owner?"

"Yeah, the owner," the technician muttered. "Doesn't live close by, but he rents out the place."

"Have you gotten into contact with him?" Luke asked.

The technician huffed. "He's been vacationing in the Fioren Isles since December and has gone no-contact since then."

Luke asked, "Is his cabin a hot commodity?"

"Kid, I've got actual work to do. Take your questions somewhere else." The technician continued on with his work.

Luke frowned. If he's confirmed in the isles, that erases him as a suspect. But I wonder how popular his cabin is. If it's constantly being rented out, then the next renters should have noticed weeks ago that five high schoolers had died here or a cleaning service. Then again, their reservation could've been this entire time. But why would they rent out this cabin for weeks if their break was one week? He made up his mind. We need to talk to the parents and get a better outlook on their home life. He stepped away from the kitchen—

• — • — •

Darkness shuttered around him with the stench of earth and contaminated water and old blood. But that stuffy, humid scent of Death breached his nose. Weak nails and bony fingers yearned for his skin as rasps and squeak wails touched his ears—

• — • — •

Luke rubbed his head. What was that? He shook off the dizziness. Was that a memory? Unease set through him and he walked away. I should go find Gale.

°•°•°•°

Gale had wandered down to the basement where not too many technicians lingered. The basement was rustic as all get out with an older Lacrima-Vision and a bathroom that had seen better day, but the bedroom was nice enough with some natural light coming in from the little windows. His nose curled when he sniffed and found the used condoms tied up and blatantly in the trashcan.

"Classy," Gale muttered. He saw a photographer taking some pictures and decided to make conversation. "Hey, you," he called. "Are you the photographer with this unit?"

"What?" The photographer took another picture before he looked at how it turned out. "Oh, yes, I am." He stuck out a gloved hand with a harried smile. "I'm Howard DeMarcus. You must be one of the Wizards the detectives were grumbling about."

⌜CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT – NORTH BLUEMINK GUARD DIVISION 17

Name: Howard DeMarcus

Age: 22

Occupation: Crime Scene Photographer

Likes: sci-fi Dislikes: home movies

Special Note: Howard might work at crime scenes, but he loves taking photos of his cats doing silly things all the time!⌟

Gale shook his hand with a laugh. "Yeah. My partner is upstairs. I'm Gale." He dropped the hand and peeked into the bathroom, but it was dark inside. "What's going on over here?"

"Nothing outside of some shower curtains and some bad shit stains," Howard sighed. He tried to click on the light, but nothing happened. "I guess the lighting is faulty. My guess is the electrical work is a bit shoddier than the advertisement portrayed."

"'Advertisement'?"

"Yeah." Howard hung his camera around his neck as he fumbled for his Compact and selected the « HomeShare » app. He typed and scrolled through until he found the listing and showed it to Gale. "Here, take a look. I doubt the others would've helped you this much." As Gale took the Compact, Howard angled his camera for more photos. "Check out the reviews. This place is listed with five stars." He snorted. "I'm guessing a bunch of them are fake."

"Yeah…" Gale sifted through the reviews. Positive reviews up until February. He tapped through the photos of the listing. And the photos aren't bad either. The people who wrote the reviews are verified. He glanced up when he caught Howard shiver. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. It's just cold in here." Howard took back his Compact when Gale offered. "I better move on to the next room. Nice to meet you, Gale. If you ever drop by the facility, just ask for me." He leaned in to murmur, "Everyone's pissy the parents went behind the sergeant's back and hired MPIs, but I don't blame them. This entire scene has some bad mojo all over it." He yanked free a business card from his pocket and discretely slid to Gale. "Best of luck to you guys."

Gale nodded his appreciation. "Thanks, man."

Howard nodded and wandered off.

Gale pocketed the business card before his gaze swept the basement. Cold, huh? He looked up and down at the doorways. There has to be a laundry room down here, right? When he pushed past a few investigators without a word of pardon, he found a concrete laundry room that had not been touched with the water heater tanks. However, he backed up when he took a breath.

Jesus, the smell of bleach and lemon is disgusting. He sucked it up and went inside. He ignored the newer washer and dryer for the tanks and placed a hand on them. These are freezing cold. They even smell cold. They should at least be warm.

He stood up, frowning. Smell of bleach and lemon isn't too strong for normal people. At least, it's faint enough that no one would question it. He took a deeper sniff and opened his jaw to taste the air. I can't detect any blood. Bleach and lemon normally are used to cover it up, but I should've scented blood. I get whiffs of sweat, but that's it.

"Hey, Gale?"

He turned to see Luke at the door and gestured for him to come closer. Once he did, Gale murmured, "Somethin' ain't right here. Water tanks are freezing cold and the lights aren't working."

"I think the oven was unplugged," Luke whispered. "We should check for power outages that happened recently."

Gale crossed his arms. "Yeah, easy enough to do." He glanced back to make sure they were not overheard. "Something is telling me this murder isn't just an average murder. But whoever the person was did a good job making sure they didn't leave anything behind."

Luke was in agreement. "Considering we're not wanted here, should we leave and come back later?" He watched as Gale sighed and mentioned, "We'll only have to deal with the security officer at night. These inspectors might need daylight, but we don't."

"Yeah, you're right." Gale raked his hands through his hair. "Yeah, we can't really move without the watchdogs on us. Might as well search for evidence else." He patted his stomach. "But I'm fucking starving." He grinned when Luke blanched. "How about we get some food first?"

°•°•°•°

The restaurant was one of those mom-and-pop establishments that everyone who lived in the town knew about, but if you were passing through, you never would have guessed it was there. The carpet was old and the crowd at this time were elders and people who had the day off with two waitresses handling the entire floor and a line cook who looked bored already as he cleaned the station.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is Barbara's Restaurant, popular with the locals for their steak and their legendary bingo nights. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

A Dragon and a Demon Prince had hearty appetites—sue them. Two entrees for them both, a split appetizer, and a large coffee and tea for them respectively were a light snack in comparison to their normal meals (even if Luke was embarrassed by his sizable hunger). Their waitress joked that teenage boys were always hungry.

Oh, she did not know the half of it, did she?

Luke took a bite of his toast. "I don't know how we can eat after seeing a scene like that."

"We've seen worse," Gale reasoned as he inhaled his sausages. Rubies darkened. "Did you notice anything funny about the crime scene?"

Luke sipped his tea with a nod. "Yeah." Another sip. "For a murder scene that allegedly took place sometime between now and the third week of February, there wasn't as much blood as you'd think there would be."

"There was enough blood for those pissants to skate by," Gale muttered.

"Something was off with that blood," Luke said. "The blood was old, but it wasn't as old as it should've been. At least, I could smell that the blood had been low on potassium and high in ketones."

"There were used condoms in the trash can too that smelled a week old," Gale grunted. He took a few gulps of his coffee. "I could smell that much. Shit makes no fucking sense. The murders apparently happened weeks ago, but you have fresh condoms in a trash can?"

"The kitchen had been too recently clean for the murders to have happened too long ago," Luke mentioned. "The scent of dust might have been five days old at the most. And the power—" He paused as Gale thanked the waitress for bringing him more coffee and he declined any additional services. "The power should've been running. I checked the outages in the area for the past month. An outage did happen the second day of their break, but when I called about repairs, a crew had been out there to fix it. They didn't notice anything suspicious and said no one was home."

"So the power had been deliberately cut," Gale figured. "I checked out what happens to utilities between renters. Looks like this house should be under a Revert to Owner Agreement to make sure nothing gets shut off between renters. And that's another thing too." He took out his Compact and slid it to Luke. "I checked out the listing and it's legit. All the reviewers are verified. Had to make an account to see that the listing had been booked up from February to March."

"But the books aren't singular," Luke realized. "Looks like they leave a day in between." His brow furrowed. "But… If other renters were supposed to be in the cabin, how did the neighbor call this in and not the other renters?"

"Or what if this is the same booking by the same person under multiple false names?" Gale theorized. "The only question is why would five high schools fake book themselves for almost an entire month in a cabin in the woods." He snorted as he shoveled some eggs in. "Those condoms make it seem like they were having fun. Or someone was."

"Someone who would have been in the cabin with the victims and not perceived as a threat," Luke murmured in consideration. "Igneel's broken a lot of things growing up and he was a petty thief too. I knew how he made a break-in look flawless. But did you notice the windows?"

Gale nodded. "Yeah. They were the type you had to use the crank."

"Right. The only way to break in a window like that is by breaking it. And none of the doors looked like they had been forced open. Did you see if there was a secret entrance in the basement?"

"There wasn't." Gale frowned as possibilities emerged. "So the victims must have perceived their murders as a non-threat to let them in the house. But when we walked into the house, what struck me as weird was that, for a murder scene, there weren't even signs of struggle."

Luke frowned. "The coffee table was broken."

"I know, but didn't you notice only the coffee table was broken?" Gale asked. "There were five students in that cabin. If the murderer had killed them one at a time, then the other four would have had a chance to freak out and try to save themselves or pissed themselves or drops of swear on the ground. But nothing else had been knocked over or broken and no scents of urine or sweat anywhere."

"A hostage situation?" Luke suggested.

Gale shook his head. "I don't know. It could have been and the murderer could've threatened them into compliance, but for a coffee table to be knocked over, you'd think more things would be broken."

Luke considered everything. "We need to figure out more about the students and their backgrounds. Everything from their grades to their medical history."

Gale arched an eyebrow. "The fuck do we need medical history? You know how hard that's going to be to secure without a plausible warrant?"

"I know, but we're going to need it," Luke insisted. "We need to know more about them and everything about them. Their friends, their enemies, their home lives—everything."

Gale cut into his steak. "Yeah, all right. We'll have to be careful visiting the parents right now with the CID unit crawling around." He nudged Luke. "Why don't we split up and search for clues? You should head down to the school first."

"What about you?"

"I want to see how far I can push the boundary with a brand-new friend I made today," Gale said. "Those fucking inspectors aren't going to let us touch anything they found and I doubt we'll be seeing the bodies since they're being prepped for a funeral. But"—he took out the business card and read it over—"I think my new friend might have all the evidence we're going to need."

°•°•°•°

The high school was one of those schools that was part old and part new. Allow me to explain. 85% of the school was made from brick with old glossy tile and no proper A/C while the other 15% was recently renovated with all new facilities that took out the trailers and those new facilities had been, surprisingly, dedicated to the art and humanities wing rather than the athletics department. At this time of day, seniors who had late-start were coming in while other students headed out for their CCP classes at a nearby Crocus Community College. The Gordost 1 Class was a riot today as the teacher decided to show the students a few silly Giltenan cartoons. GCSE and A-Level prep tutoring in the library was going swimmingly if "swimmingly" was defined as the tutors were grateful their wards stayed awake.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« Deutzia Falls High School is more known for its art programs and academia than its athletics. 1,300 students make up the populace and 500 of those students are in the school marching band. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

To be honest, Luke had seldom been inside a high school and it was a rather awkward experience. Logically, he knew that some of those students were his age, but he was so used to collegiate students and the ruffians of his guildhall that it was a weird experience being around this many teenagers. Igneel would have easily adjusted.

Luke wished he could take out his book and hide.

"Thanks for giving me a tour, Principal Vasquez," Luke appreciated. "And I'm sorry for the intrusion."

"It's not a problem at all. Please call me 'Samantha'." She was one of those women who was obviously beautiful in her youth with her power suit and hoop earrings. "Anything to help push along the investigation." Her eyes saddened. "All of those kids didn't deserve it. They were good kids with bright promising futures." She shook her head. "It was normal for them to skip a day every now and then, but this…"

⌜DEUTZIA FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

Name: Samantha Vasquez

Age: 57

Occupation: Principal

Likes: self-help books Dislikes: fake eyelashes

Special Note: Samantha drives her wife mad with her self-help books, but she makes it up to her with the garden they grow together!⌟

Luke latched onto that. "What do you mean by skipping?" He ducked his head, a little shy. "I'm not much one to skip school, to be honest."

"Good for you. Don't start the habit because it's hard to break," Samantha chuckled. "As I and the students' teacher explained to the inspectors, the kids were good kids, but, like all seniors with that darn 'senioritis', they had days they skipped class. It was nothing serious, and the parents were quick to tell us that their kids were most likely having a mental health day."

"I see…" Luke tucked away that information. "What are their parents like?"

"Oh, fantastic people," Samantha praised. "I've always shaken their hands since they volunteer at a lot of our fundraisers and help with a lot of the event organizing for the students. They were even more involved with the prom fundraisers and I've seen them at almost every game to support their kids. They're honest people and generous donors." She shook her head. "We'll be having a tomorrow to honor the students and their parents will be speaking alongside their friends. You and your partner are more than welcome to attend."

Luke nodded. "We will. Thank you." He slowed to a stop in front of the glass case within the wall to see loads of trophies and framed photos. What this?

"Oh. It looks like you found our academic awards case." Samantha came back around to look in pride at the awards as her hands clasped behind her back. "We've had many bright, young students here at Deutzia. Our debate team and our quiz bowl team have been astounding in the last few years."

"I always wanted to be on a quiz bowl team," Luke mentioned. "It seems like a lot of fun."

"It is." Samantha pointed at a set of photos. "Those teams would be from the previous three years. All of them took their team to the nationals. Wonderful students. I couldn't be prouder."

Luke studied the photos. They all seem like nice people. "Were any of the five students in these clubs?"

"No. They participated in the arts or in athletics, but they were good students academically."

"I see." Luke's eyes lingered on the pictures for a moment. "Can we continue on with the tour?"

"Of course."

As they walked, Luke asked, "I know that the teachers and students have been brought in for questions by the investigators, I'm sure, but would it be okay if I did my own questioning on school property for something like one on ones?"

"Ah. I see the Guard isn't cooperating." Samantha shook her head in disapproval. "The parents let me know they hired magical private investigators. Of course I can set up the one on ones and I'll have the students who volunteered for questioning see if they would be open to another round. The teachers and coaches are no issue."

"Is it too soon to ask for this to happen tomorrow?"

"Not at all. The viewing and the funeral are two days from now. This might be therapeutic for them to speak about this now."

"I promise that I won't cross any boundaries," Luke assured. "Thank you for the opportunity."

Samantha somberly nodded. "Of course, Mister Dragneel. Justice is deserved for those fallen students and if you can deliver it, then we are here to assist in any way we can. Just say the word and we'll do whatever needs doing."

"I appreciate that." Luke's ear pricked, and he slightly turned his head, but he saw no one behind them. A water fountain popped up, and he excused, "Is it okay if I take a drink?"

"Certainly."

"Thank you." Luke went to the water fountain and pressed the button, but as he leaned over, he whispered, "Cullen. Find who was following me." He took a few sips for the performance before he pushed away. "Shall we continue?"

"Right this way."

As Samantha and Luke continued to walk, he glanced over his shoulder to catch the Shadower's departure and slip into the shadows of the school.

I'm not sure why a student is following me, but they reeked of anxiety and guilt. Honeyed ambers darkened. Someone knows something. And they're going to talk.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Fairy Adventure

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The Criminal Investigation Department of Guard Division 17 was adjacent to the Guard building, a two-story building with much space for its administrative needs. Today was a full day at the office with the parking lot nearing full. A few civilians came in and out now and again with petty arrests being made, releases from holding, and unusual claims being taken down and reported. But it helped that the building was in the same square as city hall for residential needs like city taxes, forums, and otherwise.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is North Bluemink's City Square which contains its City Hall, Guard Division, and the district court. Because Deutzia Falls is a small area, while the city does have their own Guard Division, the North Bluemink Criminal Investigation Department has jurisdiction of Deutzia and other cities within the county. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

A single reception—a young thing with pretty pink highlights and an obvious influencer obsession—worked the counter of the Guard Division and looked up when her bell was rung to a dashing fanged grin and stunning eyes. "Oh!" She smiled. "Good day, sir. How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Howard DeMarcus since I was the gracious little brother I am and brought him MgRonald's." A bag and drink were shown to emphasize the point. "Is it okay if I bring it back to him?"

"Oh, you're such a good brother," she praised. She reached for her Communication Lacrima. "Let me just call him to let him know—"

"Is it okay if you don't? I wanted to surprise him." A quick wink. "I told our mom I'd head back to school after my dentist appointment, but I'm sort of delaying it to bring Howard some lunch before I get back. If he finds out I'm here, he'll totally tell our mom first." A playful eye roll. "It's so nice to be the younger brother, I swear."

She giggled. "I think we can make an exception. Let me get you a visitor's badge."

"Thanks, miss."

"No problem." She handed him a sticker he gladly took and pointed down the hall. "You'll want to go all the way down the hall, take a left, then a right, and you should see your brother's office on the left. I'll let the receptionist down there know you're a visitor, so just ring the bell.

"Thank you kindly, miss." The grin widened. "It's been a pleasure." He turned and strode away with his MgRonald's down the hall. The key was confidence. With a walk that was purposeful and your head up, people tended to not ask questions. And it helped that he had a visitor's badge.

Dual doors stopped him, but he hit the buzzer and was let in. The department was not something to ooh and aah over. It was forged of large cubicles and the walls had framed technicians and inspectors and detectives who had done outstanding work alongside pictures with the sergeant and the mayor and other feel-good pictures. The general attire was professional, with blouses and button-downs and ties and blazers. He followed the instructions until he found the office he was looking for. A deep breath had him back in his black hair, and he knocked on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened.

Howard looked up from his work, and a slight grin came over his face. "Well, well. This is certainly a surprise." He checked his watch. "It's normally etiquette to wait three days until you make a house call."

"Sorry." The door closed, and Gale held up the MgRonald's. "I come bringing food as a peace offering."

Howard gestured to the seat before his desk. Pictures and documents were posted everywhere, but he worked on his dual-monitor DAL and accepted the food Gale had brought him. "You're lucky I'm hungry. I've been slaving at editing to send this off to the labs. Thankfully, everything is in-house." He took out the fries, but he issued Gale a curious look. "I take it you need something, but the CID isn't cooperating, so you decided to find the guy who was nicest to you?"

"An oversimplification but yeah," Gale conceded. "Unless there are other photographers I can speak to, you're the only one I can pester about this."

Howard peeked into the bag. "Unfortunately, my only other tech is on vacation with his wife, so it's just me. You did bring me two double quarter-pounders." He munched on a fry. "If you need to look at the photographed evidence, I can show you what I sent to the labs already of the house, but I don't get back the reports on their findings—"

"Not the cabins." Rubies darkened. "The bodies."

Howard slowly set down the fries with a nod. "I understand." He went back to his DAL. As he typed and clicked, he said, "No offense, but I didn't think the MPIs would be kids."

"Neither did we, but here we are," Gale supposed with a shrug.

"Right. Well." Howard swerved one of his monitors to show Gale the images of the bodies. "Here you are."

Gale took a look at the first image. It was one of the boys. His varsity jacket had been slashed, but it was the slight wound on his neck and the awkward angle of his head that had done him in. The next photo showed one of the girls crumpled in the hallway with her throat stabbed. The other three pictures showed them in the living room at the time of their deaths, and Gale observed each and every one of them.

"Do the inspectors have any points on how the murder was committed?" Gale questioned. "Have they recreated the scene?"

Howard sighed. "All I know from asking one of the other inspectors is that they think the murderer was known to the victim was perceived as a non-threat. Once they were, the kids tried to flee, but they were killed."

"What made them rule it as a group suicide?"

"The first autopsy. They found out that an obscene amount of drugs were found in their stomachs and the alcohol. Ruled it as an OD."

"And the wounds? They didn't count those?"

"Originally, they thought the wounds came from the kids themselves, but they're externally inflicted."

Gale nodded and looked at the pictures. Four in the living room and one in the hall with no signs of additional struggle. The cabin didn't have any sweat or urine in the air, which is odd. Looks like the one girl tried to run away, but her body is placed too awkward. She could've just rolled over, but the way her hands are seem unnatural.

He shifted his weight. "Any fingerprints or fluids left behind?"

"Only from the students," Howard said. "No fluids were sampled." He wrinkled his nose. "Speaking of which, I'll have to scrap the bathroom scene."

"Why?"

"Well, the inspectors see the photos first for relevancy. The bathroom scene didn't make the cut since all it shows is someone had a severe case of diarrhea."

Gale grimaced. "Gotcha." He scratched his chin. We really need to sniff out the site tonight. I'll be able to scent any lingering fluids. "Can you tell me about the neighbor?"

Howard thought about it. "All I know is that the neighbor was also renting. Their power went out, so they came over. The door must've been unlocked, and they saw the murder scene."

Which means the murderer was confident enough to leave and not suspect anything would happen. But it makes no sense why they didn't lock the door unless they wanted the bodies found and this entire case makes them jerk off at the glory. But that would mean they have a vendetta against the victims and reveled in their death or they have a thing for wanting recognition. Gale frowned. But if they wanted recognition, why murder in a small town? Sure, small-town murder cases might get broadcasted on occasion, but if it's five teenagers without any famous backgrounds, what sort of recognition do you want? He took out his Compact.

"What's going on?"

"Asking my support something," Gale said in vague.

« Could you find out about unsolved murder cases with double autopsy reports and limit it to small towns within a thirty-kilometer radius. Find out anything about any ghost murderers and if they built a rep »

Gale put away his Compact and asked, "Could I see more pictures?"

"Sure."

Gale watched as the screen went through each picture of evidence collected. Nothing had caught his eye. The clothes had been photographed, the bedrooms, and the living, but nothing stood out to him, much to his annoyance. They came across the deceased bodies again in their steel beds and it was obvious this was taken at the coroner's laboratory. Eyes closed and skin peaky, the bodies had nothing more on them.

"Didn't they find it weird that the bodies didn't have any bruises or anything else?" Gale asked. "It looks like the victims didn't even put up a fight amongst the murderer."

Howard shrugged. "It is strange, but it makes the theory they knew the murderer that much stronger."

But unless they were all murdered at the same time or their reaction time was shit and they couldn't handle what was happening in front of them, I'd assume they would've fought back. There should be more puncture wounds if a knife was used to stab and slit their throats or bruises or something. It makes sense they thought it was a suicide, but with this being a murder… A slow thought came to him.

Gale nodded at the pictures. "How much food do I need to bring in to see the bodies?"

"None because the coroner would never let you in," Howard snorted. "She abhors Wizards right now since her ex-husband cheated on her and got a Magician pregnant. She's been taking every opportunity to talk about it and how she used some sort of seduction charm on him. It's messy as shit."

Gale rolled his eyes. "Great. A Magician is a cheater and I pay the price for it."

"Plus, I think the morticians took the bodies to prep them from the viewing and funeral in two days," Howard mentioned thoughtfully. "You'll be able to see the bodies at the funeral home, but as for seeing them without all the injections and make-up, you're a day too late."

"Fuck." Gale sat back in his chair.

Howard shot Gale a long look and said, "Between you and me, I'd speak with the parents. They're pretty broken up over this—the entire town is—but considering they hired MPIs over the CID handling this case, it has to mean something."

"We'll be talking to the parents soon," Gale said with a wave of his hand. "Right now, they're doing a lot of preparations, so we scheduled to meet with them all at one of their homes tomorrow." He rubbed down his face.

"It makes sense they'd hire MPIs," Howard remarked. "What can't be explained by the CID could've been explained by the MBI." He shook his head. "But it's still weird to think any sort of Magic was involved in this case."

Gale tilted his head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well." Howard checked out of his window to make sure no one was walking past before he leaned in and murmured, "One of the technicians did a discrete EMR for the chief inspector."

That caught Gale's interest. "You're shitting me. What did it say?"

"That's just it. The sergeant apparently said the EMR said Magic wasn't used at all," Howard replied. "It's an unofficial off-the-records EMR, so it's not logged in the report. I only found out on a lunch break and overheard the tech talking about it with another tech. I'm sorry I didn't mention it sooner, but since the EMR came back negative…"

Gale shook his head. "No, I understand."

"It was weird, though," Howard remarked. "The tech said they never did see the results. They took the reading, but they had to report it straight back to the sergeant since he wanted the ruling done quietly."

Gale took this in as he got up, and Howard did as well. "Thanks for all the insight, DeMarcus. I'll keep in touch."

Howard shook his hand with a funny grin. "I guess it is true about Wizards. The way you speak, I felt like I was talking to a twenty-six-year-old. I'm impressed, honestly."

"Don't be. I have a worse mouth than this and it all came from my old man," Gale quipped.

"Who is your father?"

"Oh. I never said my whole name." Gale showed his fang. "I'm Gale Redfox of Fairy Tail. My partner is Luke Dragneel of Fairy Tail."

The way Howard's eyes widened was comical and sparkles were all over him. "Oh my god. Your dad's Black Steel? And his dad is the Dragon King? A-And that makes you…the Geo-Dragon?" Poor man was shaking in excitement. "I watch them every year for the GMGs! This is so incredible! My tech is going to be so jealous I'm meeting Black Steel's son, the Geo-Dragon!" He scrambled around for a pen and fresh paper. "Could I please get your autograph?"

"Sure." Gale chuckled when Howard looked like he wanted to rock back and forth in happiness. "How should I make it out to your tech?"

"Could you make it out to 'Aaron'?" Howard requested in hope. "He's going to flip." He lunged for his Compact. "I have to text him. We've been watching your stats, and he has you down for the Inter-Guild Youth Competition fantasy team." He pointed at one of his photos. "This is my tech and I last year when we went to the GMGs."

Gale finished sighing and handed back the paper to look at the photo. Howard and a brilliant young man with a full of head of hair and obvious muscles were grinning for their photo in front of Domus Flau in front of the Grand Magic Games sign as Howard supported Sabertooth while Aaron was a huge Fairy Tail fan.

Small world. At least there are some Spiritless out there that don't think we're all the bad. He nodded at Howard. "I'll check ya later. I need to go meet up with my partner."

"Oh, of course, of course." Howard offered a rueful smile. "Sorry I couldn't be any more help to you."

"Nah, you were plenty of help." Gale saluted Howard as he reached the door. "Thanks a lot. It was nice to meet you."

"You too!"

°•°•°•°

Gale exited the division building as Mister Hollifield pulled around at the curb. He climbed inside, but he frowned when he could not find Luke. "Are we down a man?" He shut the door and strapped himself in. "I thought we agreed we'd regroup and pull together our efforts."

"Mister Dragneel asked if I could drop him off at the local library and requested we meet him there."

Gale rolled his eyes. "Christ, I really do have a nerd for a partner," he muttered.

Mister Hollifield pulled away from the curb. "Did your interrogation bode well, Mister Redfox?"

Gale looked out the tinted window. "It did," he believed. "We have until they put these kids in the ground to solve the case. My guess is the CID will call it and put the case on the back burner or on ice once that happens, so it's a race against time."

It's nothing new for private off-the-record shit to happen. I'm sure once the sergeant pulls the plug on the case, he'll tell the parents about the EMR to drive it home the CID did everything they could to stop the case. His brow furrowed. But that EMR reading… I feel like I'm missing something about it.

"The sergeant apparently said the EMR said Magic wasn't used at all."

Gale kept playing over the words until…

"The tech said they never did see the results. They took the reading, but they had to report it straight back to the sergeant since he wanted the ruling done quietly."

It slowly clicked for him and his eyes darkened. An EMR reading tracks any high level of Ether. And Ether doesn't come from plain Magic. And if Howard overheard the word "Magic", then there are two possibilities. They used Ether and Magic interchangeably since most Spiritless do so is the first possibility. It's the most plausible. Even Wizards do the same since we're so used to Magic. But as we've seen in the past year…Ether isn't just Magic. And a detective sergeant should be trained in positive and negative Ether energies at base minimum to know the difference. Which leads to the second possibility.

His hands tensed. The sergeant got a positive EMR, but it didn't tick off Magic as the Ether source. Which means, for some reason, the sergeant is aware of the nature of this case. And he's hiding it.

°•°•°•°

The library was brand new with one main floor and a basement. Unlike the town over, it was not that big of a library, but it did have a playful children's section, two study rooms, and a meeting room with back stations. The librarians were women with such sweet depositions and this time of day, the library mainly housed a couple of children with their guardians, a few elderly people, a college student needing to do their essay free from their roommates, and a crotchety person in a wheelchair.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

«This is the Aronia County Library – Deutzia Branch. This library was just built last year to move it out of the decomposing building it was in for over two centuries. It might be small, but the townspeople have made wide contributions to filling the library with books and movies and resources everyone can share. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Luke felt at ease in the comfort of the library with books all around him. He picked out several of his own, and the librarian was kind enough to lend him a study room after he gave her a sweet smile and a few shy words of his love of studying. But the books were nothing for pleasure. Most of the books pertained to medicine. He brought out the book he was reading, another medical journal.

I know I smelt something familiar. There was the blood and the alcohol, but then it was that other scent. He went for a pharmaceutical journal. It was faint, but it was just enough for me to tell that it was medication. Pills are things I can't smell without something breathing in my face right after they've taken them. But the medication had to have been topical or a spray for the scent to cling.

He gripped the frame of his glasses and chanted, "Gale-Force Mode: Activate."

His lens gleamed for a moment.

He flipped through the book with his pupils jerking quickly as he captured every word. I narrowed down my search to the ingredient I smelled, but I need to be sure. I still have to go through medical journals to figure out what I'm searching for. He flipped through another book and another until he found what he was looking for. I knew it. I smelled aluminum chloride. And high concentrations of it only exist in cosmetics, disinfectants, and antiperspirants—but high concentrations of it are in prescriptions.

He thought about it. If it was a prescription antiperspirant, it would've been for hyperhidrosis, I think. He flipped through another book until he paused. Drysol and Xerac AC have aluminum chloride as the active ingredient, but Drysol has over twenty percent concentration. So someone in there had a sweating problem.

He frowned. But there weren't any sweat drops of anything on the ground or the furniture. But there were also too many technicians inside for a clear scent. And the blood was fresh enough for me to scent low potassium and excessive ketones…

He skimmed the books. We really need to get back to the cabin. And I need to look at their medical history. It would be troublesome for an athlete to have hyperhidrosis, but it would make sense they'd be on some strong medication, regardless of the side effects. But the blood… His ears pricked, and he turned as Gale came up and knocked on the door. He reached over and opened up. "Hey."

"Hey." Gale gave the books a cursory glance. "You decided to check out books instead of using the LacriNet?"

Luke blanked. Then he sent Gale a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I guess I prefer books…"

"Nah, it's fine." Gale sat down in front of him. He jerked his chin. "Anything interesting?"

"Sort of." Luke scratched behind his ear. "While we were in the cabin, I smelled something that is most likely prescription antiperspirant, which means someone in that house had hyperhidrosis. And the blood I smelled was low in potassium, but it was high enough in ketones that…"—he showed a page to Gale—"could mean DKA, diabetic ketoacidosis. It's a long shot, but it could mean someone there was a type one diabetic."

"Huh." Gale looked over the paragraph and looked at the symptoms. "Frequent diarrhea is a symptom of diabetes…"

"Yeah." Luke looked up at Gale. "Why?"

Gale scratched his neck. He opened his mouth, but he noticed someone passing by. He murmured low, "Looks like there was a diarrhea situation in the bathroom that's not being counted towards evidence of the murder."

"Really?" Luke thought about this. "Still think we don't need medical history?"

Gale snorted and raised his hands in surrender. "All right, all right, I was wrong, you were right, nerd. Medical history can be useful." He eyed another passerby. "But let's take this to a secure location." He stood up and grabbed some of Luke's books. "There's one more place I want to visit before we check into the hotel."

"Sure." Luke grabbed his book. "Where?"

"I want to pay the neighbor a visit before we set in for the day," Gale determined. "The CID might've asked them questions, but I'm starting to think they asked a lot of the wrong questions."

°•°•°•°

The car ride back to the cabins was a quiet one between Luke, Gale, and Mister Hollifield. The drive in the area proved to be not so strenuous for Mister Hollifield, even with all the narrow curves and odd four-way stops.

"You called the neighbor, and she's okay with this?" Gale wanted to confirm.

Luke nodded. "Yes. Genius was able to provide her information, and she was more than happy to meet with us." He handed Gale his Compact to show the information Genius had given him. "Misses Norma-Jean Benson. She's a widow, seventy-seven, with three cats, and she's a part of the sewing club here."

"Looks like she's pretty healthy, but she has an aid who comes out here who helps at twice a week for a couple of hours," Gale said as he scrolled. "We still don't have access to the witness report?"

"The only thing we can know is that she called the Guard," Luke sighed. "We'll have to figure out the how, why, and when ourselves." He thanked Gale when he returned his Compact. "It is strange that she trekked all the way to the murder site when she's far away."

Gale shrugged as Mister Hollifield turned up the driveway. "I guess we'll figure it all out soon enough."

The cabin was the same as the other, but it had more touches to it of someone who obviously lived there. An old cat had perched on the window, and a smiling woman with a shawl and age spots on her face came out from the door. She offered Gale and Luke a welcoming wave when they exited the car. "Are you the young gentlemen who have come to visit me?"

⌜DEUTZIA FALLS

Name: Norma-Jean Benson

Age: 77

Occupation: Retiree

Likes: knitting tea cozies Dislikes: loud movies

Special Note: Norma-Jean might not have her husband anymore, but she jokes how she can sleep at ease without all his snoring!⌟

Luke flashed her a smile. "Yes, ma'am. It's nice to meet you. I'm Luke Dragneel and this is my partner—" He froze when Norma-Jean pinched his cheek.

"Well, aren't you a cute one?" Norma-Jean cooed. "And with such pretty hair! Dearie, aren't you aware your hair is a girl's color?"

Luke flushed while Gale snickered and drawled, "My partner is a little bit on the feminine side, miss."

"Oh!" Norma-Jean patted Luke's cheek. "My grandson is just like you, dearie, and I support whatever it is you two do with other men." She shuffled into the house. "Why don't you dears come inside? I've made some fresh cookies."

Luke weakly tried to correct," B-But I'm not…"

"We'd love some cookies, ma'am." Gale clapped Luke's back, and the poor confused boy stumbled into the house. He whispered to Luke, "Just let it go. It's not like we'll see her again after this." He took off his shoes and ordered, "And take off your shoes, man, we're in this nice lady's house."

"I…" Luke sighed as he took off his shoes. "Okay…"

The living room had been modernized with plush carpets, loads of cat-friendly plants, and scores of framed photos with all of Norma-Jean's greatest memories. The Lacrima-Vision was on a cinemascope classic movie about a farmer and a cowgirl. One of the old queen cats gracefully draped herself along a couch while another senior cat with a flat face groomed himself in his cat tree.

"Miaow…"

Luke looked down to see an odd cat had arched its back and brushed against him. It did not look like it had fur. Instead, it looked like it was made of shadows and had no solidified mass, yet Luke could feel it brush his leg. Rather than normal feline eyes, it had red globes that showed no hint of pupils.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is a Shadow Cat or also known as a Hellcat. Shadow Cats are endangered since many revere them as bad luck, but they are particularly friendly and sensitive to negativity in any capacity. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

"O-Oh, um…" Luke stroked down the Shadow Cat's spine and a weird sensation fluttered on his fingers, similar to whenever he and Cullen touched hands. "Hello, cat."

The Shadow Cat loudly purred before putting up its front paws onto Luke's pants.

"Oh, Lord Black wants you to pick him up." Norma-Jean came back into the living room with fresh cookies on a tray and cold glasses of milk. "He's been so flighty for the last month, but I'm so happy he's so docile now. He's harmless. Come around, dearies, and Luke, if you'd like, you can pick up Lord Black."

"Sure." Luke scooped up Lord Black into his hands and the Shadow Cat nuzzled his jaw as he came over to sit on one of the sofas. "He really is friendly." He laughed a little when the Shadow Cat offered a love bite and a placating lick.

"I adopted him last year, you see," Norma-Jean explained. She helped herself to some tea. "Poor thing came here all alone and hungry and I had to adopt him. He gets along with my other little darlings so easily and he's been such a devout protector." She smiled when her Shadow Cat rubbed against Luke's shoulder. "Oh, he just adores you!"

"I guess so." Luke thumbed Lord Black's side. He is a Shadow Cat. Can he sense I'm a Demon and that's why he approached me? He blinked when Lord Black stared into his eyes as though he were trying to speak to him. Is he trying to communicate?

"You have a beautiful home, Misses Benson." Gale took a bite of the cookies and groaned. "And your cookies are delicious."

Norma-Jean giggled. "Oh, stop! Nothing more than a simple recipe," she excused. "But I'm happy you liked them. You boys deserve something sweet for having to deal with such a dreadful case." Her laughter fell for sad sobriety. "Oh, those poor children. I can't believe such an awful thing happened to them." She sighed and offered the pair a sad look. "I know why you're here. I'm afraid I won't be that much of a help. The inspectors couldn't get anything good out of me."

"I think you are more valuable than you give yourself credit for, Misses Benson," Gale disagreed gently. He put his Compact onto the coffee table and made sure he was voice recording "If you wouldn't mind, would you be okay explaining everything from the beginning?"

Norma-Jean nodded. "Certainly." A two-beat pause. "Around a few days ago, late at night, the power in my house had gone off," she explained. "I had it repaired, of course, but they said it would be a few hours until they could send out a team when I first called. But I was worried about my cats. Two of them have leukemia and they are highly sensitive to the cold. I had seen up the street my neighbors had power and I was hoping they'd let me stay for a few hours with the cats to keep them warm. But when I arrived…"

Gale filled in when Norma-Jean grew emotional, "When you arrived, you saw those five children were dead."

"Yes." Norma-Jean brought out her handkerchief and dabbed under her eyes. "Poor, little dears."

Luke asked the delicate question, "I know this is upsetting to you, Misses Benson, but… Did you notice anything out of sorts with the neighbors? Any sort of screaming or any unknown cars entering the premises?"

"No." Norma-Jean shook her head. "Not that I can remember. Cars come and go, but I hadn't seen any of them come to the house outside those kids."

"And did you ever meet the kids?" Gale asked. "Did they cause any disturbances?"

"Not at all. Nothing that I can remember," Norma-Jean answered. "The kids were fairly quiet. I hadn't heard any screaming or gunfire or glass breaking or even loud music. They kept to themselves."

Gale nodded slowly. "Misses Benson, you said that the lights were on in the cabin, yes? That's why you went over?"

"That's right."

Luke and Gale exchanged a quick look.

That doesn't make any sense, Luke ruled. The power had been cut and it couldn't have been cut off after the murder, so it had to have been before. But if she saw the lights on, then it's obvious something had been lighting it. For her power to suddenly go off… He shifted and looked down. He saw Cullen break free from his shadow to drift to the window. Cullen?

Gale shifted as Luke got up. "Misses Benson, I'm going to ask you some odd questions. Is that okay?"

"Please, go ahead, "Norma-Jean encouraged.

"Thank you." Gale put his elbows on his thighs and clasped his hands together. "Misses Benson, when the repairmen came, what exactly did they say to you about your power?"

Norma-Jean's brow furrowed as she thought back. "Well… They told me that more than likely a fuse had blown, but the power shouldn't have gone out. Sometimes, power fluctuations happen, though, and that's what they said. They assured me that it shouldn't happen again."

"I see.'" Gale bobbed his head. He semi-glanced over at Luke when he was slow to rise and move away. "And, uh… When you went into the home, Misses Benson, did any sort of smells come off to you as strong?"

"I didn't go too far in, but…" Norma-Jean thought about it. "Well… Maybe the scent of air freshener? I can't remember…"

Luke had one ear to the conversation, but he drifted to the living room window. Cullen had blended in with the shadows, but Luke was aware of the Shadower's location. The queen cat purred upon seeing Luna, pleased, but the Shadow Cat pinned its eyes outside the window. Luke did as well and his eyes drifted to where the Shadow Cat and Cullen had witnessed. He could see up the road that an old man had gone over to the neighboring cabin at the driveway and was taking a smoke in his camouflage jacket as he watched the house.

"I'm sure it's hard to remember a smell when it's been a few days," Gale reasoned as he took another cookie. "But Misses Benson… Did you hear anyone leave the premises? Did you see anything else broken?"

"No, I didn't," Norma-Jean answered. "I saw the bodies, but… I think everything else but that coffee table was fine. I didn't hear much of anything. Oh, but Lord Black was in such a beastly mode."

"Really?" Gale took a bite of his cookie. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Lord Black is my indoor-outdoor cat, and he doesn't mind a little cold weather unlike the other two," Norma-Jean said. "I had let him outside before the power went out and didn't even realize he had come with me to the cabin until I heard him hissing and making a fit behind me. Broke me out of my state and I picked him up and carried him home." She shook her head. "But he's been in such a strange state in and out since I found him."

"Really? Your Shadow Cat?" Shadow Cats are prone to sending darkness and negativity, Gale thought. I'm not sure how animals react to murder, but if it was getting hissy, it might've sensed something dark was cast in that house. "You said your Shadow Cat has been acting strangely on and off?"

Norma-Jean nodded. "Well, yes. A few times a year when the house was rented out—the neighbor's house, I mean—he'd act all strange." A realization hit her. "It was those kids. Every time those kids rent the cabin out, Lord Black would get so agitated and upset."

"Maybe he might've heard things you couldn't," Gale tried to put her at ease. "I know some cats aren't a fan of loud noises or anyone who isn't an adult."

Norma-Jean conceded to that. "You're probably right." She sipped her tea. "He's never been a fan when my grandkids come to visit."

Gale tossed her a charming smile. "Just the same, ma'am. He's just not a kid-friendly kitty is all." He picked up his glass of milk and diverted his dark eyes. But he takes to Luke just fine. Then again, it makes sense a Dark Creature would be purring on a Demon Prince. She found the Shadow Cat a year ago, and he gets upset only when the kids are around. I'll have to cross-reference other renters to see the age range because if he only gets upset by those kids, then something has been wrong with those kids since a year back. He looked up to see Luke staring outside the window in a trance. "Luke?"

Luke blinked. "Sorry. Were you saying something?"

"Nothing." Gale frowned. "Everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I think it's just time for me to call and check on Luna." Luke shot Norma-Jean an apologetic smile. "Sorry to interrupt like this. My little sister is home alone, so I call her every few hours to make sure she's okay since our parents are on vacation."

Questioning was in Gale's eyes while Norma-Jean looked impressed. "No, you're not interrupting at all, dearie! Go ahead and check on your sister. I don't mind speaking to this gentleman here."

"Thanks, miss." Luke avoided Gale's eyes as he tried to put down the Shadow Cat, but Lord Black made a racket and dug his claws into Luke's jacket to keep hold.

Norma-Jean simpered. "You can take Lord Black with you. I don't mind. He's an indoor-outdoor cat, anyway, and you look like a responsible young man."

"Oh, um, thank you." Luke kept Lord Black in his arms as he went to scuff back on his shoes. Opening the door was a bit of a challenge, but he made it outside onto the porch with his eyes honed on the old man. "Cullen."

The Shadower slipped into Luke's shadow.

Luke looked down at the Shadow Cat and murmured, "Do you feel that too?"

Lord Black blinked up at him.

Yeah. We all got a weird feeling. Luke looked at the old man. I can't sense any power in him, so he's not a threat. But still… With a deep breath, he took the plunge and waded down the hilly driveway. His steps were slow and measured with the Shadow Cat tucked into him and he could feel Cullen's protection as a weighted blanket on his body. He walked up the street to casually stand beside the old man and looked at the taped off murder site with the security officer on rotation.

"Damn shame what happened to those kids." The old man wheezed out a long trail of smoke. "They were so young. Too damn young for this."

"No one is too young to be murdered," Luke commented.

The old man showed his denture teeth in his sarcastic smile. "You're right about that, young man. No one is too young for murder." He glanced at Luke as he side-puffed. "So, uh… You and that other boy are here to find the murderer, huh? Ain't you boys a little too young to be solving a murder case?"

"We might be, but I assure you, sir, we're doing everything to solve this case and allow the victims a comfortable rest." Luke shifted when his nose twitched. A scent burned his nose at first, but his heart beat harder. What's happening to me?

"I have no doubt you boys will figure out this mess." The old man took a lengthy drag. "Better than those CID nuts. Assholes have been grilling anyone with half a brain. Looks like they're getting jittery the trail is too cold to figure out this mess."

"Right." Luke felt his eyes burn and the urge to cough, but he kept it to himself. His heart, however, burned, and he turned his head away to hide his reaction. Whatever he's smoking… It smells disgusting. His eyes watered when he accidentally inhaled through his nose, and his head throbbed, unappreciative of this invasion. Ugh… What sort of cigarette is that?

"You okay there, kid?" the old man wondered. "You're lookin' a little sick."

Luke tried to suck it up. "No, I'm fine," he rasped. He turned to the old man. "I'm—"

Smoke billowed in his face—

• — • — •

The rasps and shrieks felt like they had come from another species. Mud and dirt had combined with the stench of rot and piss and dried blood to create a hellish scent that traveled with you in your memories. Claws ripped through throats like paper as skin was torn down, but the blood did not ooze as it should. Teeth chattered and tongue clicked in this horrifying language as deadened fingers scraped him in feeble efforts of a fight, but none could withstand him.

A shadowed man watched over, but the grin on his face was clear. "Do it." A whispered goad. "Do it. Now. Do it!"

• — • — •

Luke sputtered and coughed and accidentally dropped the Shadow Cat.

The old man touched his shoulder. "Are you okay, boy?"

"Yeah," Luke rasped before he coughed again. "I'm—!" More coughing. "I'm fine." He desperately tried to clear his throat, but when nothing worked, he started to stagger away. "I'm sorry, sir. It was nice to meet you."

"You too, boy."

The Shadow Cat hissed and raked its claws in the direction of the man before he scurried away to Luke's side and stuck close to his leg as though worried for him.

The old man watched. "Affected by a little smoke." He took out his cartridge for another cigarette. "Kid must be asthmatic or something." He fiddled for his lighter and lit up his next cigarette. A long drag came. "Or maybe he's just different…" He thumbed over the insignia on his lighter—a bearded Wizard's skeletal head with a Wizard's Hat.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

And then…

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The hotel was nothing special, but it also was not something rundown. It had its charm, even if it was a little dated, and a few of the tenants smelled like smoke. The staff were good people who might not love their jobs, but they nurtured good friendships, so all was well. It was comical to them when two teenagers would always try their hand at getting a hotel room away from their parents, and they had to decline them due to the age limit.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is Hotel Seed located in North Bluemink. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Luke and Gale had a room to themselves with two full beds, and neither of them minded. Jobs tended to hack out any sense of privacy when you partnered with someone unless you were that beastly about your privacy. Both had been warned to travel light and that was what they did.

Dinnertime came soon enough. Gale had been fine chowing down on junk food while Luke was more health-conscious. Gale could tease all he wanted about Luke being a delicate nerd until Luke swiftly rebutted Gale's future pot belly would be all the evidence he would need.

That made Gale pissy, but he shut up about Luke's choice in dinner.

"All right." Gale inhaled three more bites of his burger. "What did you think of the recording?"

Luke twisted the cap off his green tea. "You asked a lot of the right questions," he commented. "I'm not sure what the inspectors asked in their interrogation, but I'm glad you focused on the scents and the oddities that were overlooked." He took a few gulps. "It's convenient that her power went out."

"You thought so too?" Gale asked.

Luke nodded. "Her power goes off, so she does to her neighbor's house for the sake of making sure her two older cats with leukemia can keep warm. All of that sounds legitimate, and I won't deny her concerns."

"She's not a suspect," Gale stated.

"Right. She's not a suspect," Luke agreed. "Power does flicker on and off, which I won't deny, but a fuse randomly blows?"

"She toured me around her house and I took a look at all her sockets," Gale said. "She's pretty conscientious about her electronics and she explained she doesn't have too much plugged in outside standard stuff. I'm not saying it's improbable for a fuse to blow out, but the fact that the repairman was making an educated guess instead of a straight answer makes the cause for her outage suspicious. And the same thing with her cat."

"And that's another thing." Luke shifted. "She said she found the Shadow Cat a year ago, and that he was always getting upset when the victims rented the cabins. But Dark Creatures keep to themselves. A Shadow Cat wouldn't have trekked all this way out for nothing. It had to have felt something to have drawn it here and to have it stick around in such broad daylight."

"I wanted to bring it up." Gale took a mouthful and swallowed. "When I visited that photographer, he let me know the sergeant did an unofficial EMR." He nodded when Luke's eyebrows rose. "Right. He claimed that the EMR had no 'Magic' reading. Or that's what the tech said, so DeMarcus overheard. But here's the thing: Spiritless constantly use 'Ether' and 'Magic' synonymously, which is fine. The tech wouldn't know. But a sergeant of the CID would know the difference. And the fact he did it off-the-record and hadn't released the data makes things suspicious."

"You think that this was a Curse," Luke theorized as his brow furrowed.

"I'm highly suspect. I mean, look at the facts." Gale ticked off a finger for each point he made. "The suicide-turned-murder has no plausible leads. There were no signs of struggle in any regards on the bodies or inside the house…" His eyes narrowed when he caught Luke's contemplation. "What is it?"

"Nothing. It's just…" Luke sighed. "I don't know. When we were first in the cabin…" He shifted, uncomfortable. "I… I think…my powers were acting up."

"No shit." Gale's eyebrows disappeared into his hair. "Are you serious?"

"I mean, I think so," Luke supposed. "It was really quick, though, and I couldn't tell what happened."

Gale processed this as he drank his beer. "That breathes more life into the working theory a Curse is at play. But to prove it was a Curse, we still have a long way to go. The procedures for ruling in a Curse are ridiculous since Curses have a bunch of red tape on them to begin with. We'd need stone-cold proof." He eyed Luke.

Luke saw where this was going and firmly shook his head. "No."

"Luke—"

"I said, 'no'."

Gale paused when he saw a flash of red in Luke's eyes. "It was just to test a theory," he eased. "We don't have to do that."

"I'm not in control enough," Luke said. He found his breathing becoming erratic. "I'm not in control. I can't do it—"

"Then you won't," Gale soothed. "Dude, don't sweat over it. It was just a suggestion, but we have other methods of madness to try, okay?" He could relax the tension in his shoulders when Luke nodded, relieved. "It'd be easier if we could use your demonic powers, but we'll table it." He popped in some fries. "Either way, this murder case is suspect and we need to see those bodies before they're buried in the ground."

"I want the medical records too," Luke put in. "I want to see who was using that medication." He looked at Gale. "When you saw the pictures of the bodies, did any one of them have any notable sweat stains?"

Gale shook his head. "Not that I could see." He cocked his head. "You think the murderer had hyperhidrosis?"

"It's a hunch, so it's not much to go on," Luke pardoned. "But it was weird. The fact that air freshener lingered and the antiperspirant, but it wasn't where the bodies had been that makes me think that the murderer had hyperhidrosis, but I need medical records to confirm. And you mentioned diarrhea too and that the photographer had to trash the photos. But the increased ketones in that blood plus the bathroom could make out to be a diabetic. But it's a flimsy theory with a bunch of assumptions and I'm not a doctor."

Gale bobbed his head. "A theory is a theory, and a lead is a lead. We'll see the parents tomorrow, so we can ask them about medical records tomorrow."

A silence wallowed between them.

"The murderer has to be in this town," Gale stated aloud. "I kept thinking it over. Genius was able to find some cold cases for me, but none of them matched this case. Misses Benson confirmed that the door was unlocked, and that's how she got inside and saw the murder scene. The reason the door could have been unlocked is that the murderer wanted his victims found so he could jerk off to the sick satisfaction of everyone recognizing his glorious purpose to be a killer."

"But why choose a small town?" Luke wondered. "The athletic stats on those kids aren't national level recognized, so it's not that the kids were famous enough for this to be news."

"That's why I crossed out that theory the killer wanted recognition," Gale said. "It makes sense that the killer had a personal vendetta against these victims. But a revenge killing would have meant more wounds, more signs of struggle, and a break-in—"

"Unless the murderer had gained their favor and was unsuspecting to the victims," Luke pointed out. "I'll be interviewing friends and acquaintances of the victims tomorrow to get a better insight if they had any enemies, but the principal assured me that they didn't. But that doesn't mean anything. I'll have to check to see if there were any secret admirers turned stalkers."

Gale agreed with that. "But it would still paint this as a revenge killing which still would mean struggling. But there was none. It brings my theory about a Curse being used with more credibility if you think about that. How would you make sure that all your victims didn't escape you? From a Wizard perspective?"

"Body Restriction Magic."

"Exactly. But, since Magic wasn't founded, you could substitute that for the Chains Curse or a Possession Curse," Gale said. He saw Luke sigh and shake his head and insisted, "Look, I know it's crazy. But you have to admit, between your possible power short-circuit and the Shadow Cat, something strange is going on."

Luke polished off his plate. "Let's finish eating and head out to see the cabin," he said instead of replying to Gale's statement. "We need to get a clear scope of the entire place and sniff it out."

"And we might get lucky tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure word got out that two MPIs were hired to take this case. And if my theory about a Curse being used is right, this will make the murderer nervous they're about to be found out. My guess is that they're aware we aren't as dumb as the CID." Rubies glinted. "And a murderer this elusive will make damn sure they kill every single loose end."

°•°•°•°

Truth be told, things always looked horrid at night. The forest looked scarier as the tree loomed higher and the once-homey cabins you would take a picture of and post to Instagraph looked like murder houses in the night. The two officers assigned to the night watch on the cabin perked up when they saw headlights flashing and an SUV chugging up the driveway.

Mister Hollifield stopped the SUV right behind the car, but he told both boys, "I'll keep the car running."

"Thanks, Mister Hollifield. We appreciate it." Gale got out of the car before Luke and he had no time for the officer trying to look tough and buff. He whipped out his MagID and grunted, "Keep your swinging dick in your paints, petty officer. We're the MPIs on this case." He blew past them with Luke right on his heels.

"Maybe you shouldn't curse at every person you meet," Luke awkwardly suggested.

Gale shot him a look. "Have you met my dad or me? Hell, Igneel might have been a tamed pussy with Janie around, but he was as bad as me not keeping his opinions to himself."

"Yeah." Luke sighed. "Never mind."

Scrubs and gloves on, Gale was the one to enter first with Luke coming in after him. It was easy for a Dragon and a Demon to see into the darkness. With the moon as their light, they needed no other resources. But Gale experimentally flicked the light switch and nothing happened.

"I'm wondering what the point of was of cutting off the power," Gale muttered. "When did the murderer cut it off and why didn't the owner notice anything and send out a repairman?" He kept flicking on the light switch, but nothing would turn on.

Luke stepped further into the cabin, but he was mindful of the tape and the little placards. If we were here sooner, we wouldn't have to deal with scene contamination. No heat normally makes strong orders go stale quicker, but there's cross-scent contamination with all the investigators. He drew in a deep breath. Now that I can identify it, I can still smell the traces of aluminum chloride.

He crouched down for a deep sniff near the taped outlines of the victims. But just like I thought. The scent doesn't linger where the bodies had been lying. And considering that it sticks to clothes and has such a sharp odor, with confirmation of medical history, we can rule out the victims having hyperhidrosis. I didn't smell the prescription from any of the investigators either.

Luke saw Gale wandering down the hallway and called, "Are we sticking together?"

"Yes, we are." Gale shot him a what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you look. "Don't you watch, like, any horror movies? It's always when Mystery Inc splits up and searches for clues in the slaughterhouse that the villains capture Daphne. Come on."

Luke made a face, but he walked. "I'm not Daphne."

"You're right. You're Velma. I'm Daphne. I've got the legs for it. Move your ass."

The first floor of the cabin had two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a closet. Noses in the air and jaws open, Gale and Luke cataloged every scent that could recognize and tucked away a scent that they could not through description. The first bedroom looked like someone had obviously slept in here with clothes haphazardly in a suitcase. It looked to be the room of one of the boys', but it did not breed much evidence. It was the second bedroom that had Luke and Gale take a step back in disgust.

"Someone got busy in here," Gale muttered. He dared to step into the room and his eyes caught more used condoms in the trashcan. "I'm starting to envy the detective dipshits for not being able to smell." He took another experimental sniff. "I don't smell any female fluid though." He snorted. "That's just sad." He gagged when Luke moved closer to the bed. "Dude."

"The prescription scent." Luke inhaled again. "It's strong on the bed."

Gale paused. "You think the murderer raped one of the victims? That could explain the used condoms." His nostrils flared. "I don't smell any blood, though. I can smell the residue of some sweat, but if it was rape, we'd smell sexual fluid and blood." He smelled deeper. "But they might've used a lot of lube instead…"

"Traces of the air freshener scent are in here too," Luke murmured. "The Guard division here doesn't have a canine unit, right?"

"Not that I know of." Gale looked about the bedroom. "If your theory about the murderer having hyperhidrosis is correct, the freshener might have been insurance that their BO didn't stink up the place with a recognizable scent." So the murderer potentially had sex with the victims. Rape could have been a factor.

"That's it, Your Highness. Just like that."

Gale's stomach tensed. Not now. Don't get flamed up about it now. Wait until later. The case first.

He noticed Luke looking out the window and drifted closer. "What's wrong? What's going on?" He looked out the window, but as he drifted closer, his skin itched and his teeth were on edge. The Wild unsheathed its claws. "Someone's out there," he whispered.

Luke continued staring at the window. "Yes."

"The murderer?" Gale theorized. "Either they're plotting to kill everyone here and make a getaway or they're assessing something." When Luke was too quiet, Gale looked over. To his disbelief, a glint of scarlet was in Luke's eyes. Cautiously, he murmured, "Luke… What's out there?"

"I don't know," Luke replied, tone hushed, eyes focused. "But…I can…feel something. Cullen," he called to the Shadower. "Scope the area."

Gale turned his gaze back to the window and caught a glimpse of a fast shadow blending into the darkness. He whispered, "Is it a Warlock?"

"No." Luke's hands barely twitched. "I would sense it. And it's not a Demon either, but it's…"—the red in his eyes increased—"familiar to me…"

Screeches that ended in gags and terminated in silence. Dirt and skin and dried blood beneath claws. Fangs ripping into a throat and feeling sweet relief of tissue and muscle in power jaws.

Luke rolled his head around.

Gale locked his jaw. That power… It's reeking off of Luke again. I need to tread lightly this time. Pissing him off would be suicide. "Do you think that they'll come here tonight and tie up loose ends?"

"No." Luke's nails extended into sharpened claws.

Gale kept still. The Wild made not a sound. A terrorizing predator was emerging, and they had to act like docile prey too boring to kill. He whispered, barely audible, "Why?"

Black dimmed the pink roots of Luke's hair as honeyed amber swallowed into slitted reds. The whisper he gave ran shivers down your spine. "Me."

"Luke—!" Gale staggered back when the shove he got would have given the average man an attack. He hit his head on the wall and a throb made him lose himself for a few seconds, but he shook it off by the time Luke had sprinted out of sight. "Goddammit." Without a second thought, he charged straight after him and his ears caught the bang of the back door. "Fucking dammit!"

Gale ran straight for the backdoor and jetted outside. He paused at the deck when he saw Luke's figure sprint deep into the woods with a speed that would never rival Dash, but it was inhuman. "Fucker really is faster than me." He pushed himself off the deck and throttled full speed into the woods. "Sycaña? Now would be a really good time for wings!" His nose caught Luke's scent trail and the power he left behind and latched onto it.

Dammit. If this murderer does have a Curse, of course it would have triggered an uncontrollable Demon Prince. He'd seek it out and absorb it and kill the host. Gale pushed himself harder. I'm not about to let him turn into a murderer. I promised Igneel I'd watch over Blondie and him. Rubies glinted with a cascade of emerald. And that's what I'm going to do.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Gale looked to his left when large paw steps mucked through the withering snow and slush. A shadow was moving through the forest, but it was at his side rather than hunting him down. He caught the fuzzy outline of a four-legged creature, but when it turned, he saw those deep red eyes and whiskers.

Is that…Misses Benson's Shadow Cat?

Birds scattered and cawed as though in a panic.

Gale gritted his teeth. "Shit." His feet carried him fast to the source with Lord Black the Shadow Cat running alongside him. But both of them slowed to a creep when that overwhelming plague of dominance and darkness hit them and neither had the strength to overcome it. Their steps had to be unhurried and meticulous, like animals crawling submissively to their pack leader for acceptance.

The moon rushed away her clouds to shine down upon the forest.

Gale paused when he saw Luke in the middle of the trees. Black had bled down his hair with pink tips, but his eyes gleamed a maddening sanguine red. His fangs glinted in the moonlight and an angry set in his jaw was visible.

The Wild kept low, head down, on its belly. It remembered its last fight for dominance against this Darkness and it had lost terribly. It would not repeat such a mistake again.

The Shadow Cat broke rank first as it shrunk back to its house cat self. It stalked towards Luke with a low back and low tail, but Luke must have not deemed it as a threat when the Shadow Cat took its chances to wind around his legs, back arched, and tail curled. Cullen was next as he skidded past Gale to stand beside Luke a respectable distance, but Luke took no notice of him.

But when Gale took one more step forward, he froze when those sanguine eyes struck him down with a madness that paralyzed him.

A silence pregnant with tension drenched the woods. Not a bird, not a bug, not a thing in nature made a sound. The moon and the stars waited for blood to be spilled and for another life to be claimed.

Submission reeked from Gale. The Wild had no choice but to exude weakness and submission. It laced embarrassingly thick into the air, bittersweet to Gale, but it would smell sweet and soothing to the Darkness. His eyes fell to the ground. Another act of weakness. A kept gaze would be a declaration of challenge. A fallen gaze was an act of submission. But those eyes kept pinning on him, and that bloodlust and dominance clogged around him.

He whined.

An act of submission.

A Dragon's whine was never as cute and sweet as a dog. A Dragon's whine was throaty and high-pitched like that of a newborn that had no roar of its own. It mimicked one who was reliant on its mother. It showed weakness. It emitted no threat, only the willingness to please and submit.

Silence.

"Ga… Gale?"

Slowly, Gale brought up his eyes to catch the redness in Luke's gaze falling back into honeyed amber. The black in his hair receded for that cherry blossom pink, but Gale rushed forward when he saw Luke waver. Cullen caught him in time, but he passed him to Gale, and the Shadow Cat made a worrying noise.

Luke softly groaned as his eyes closed in pain. "What…? What happened?"

"Something triggered your powers," Gale told him as he held him to his feet. "You couldn't help but react, but for some reason, you stopped."

Luke leaned heavily onto Gale, still weak and confused. "I…stopped?" He rubbed his temple. "I don't…know… Something felt familiar and I just…" He groaned again when a wave of pain hit him.

"Take it easy," Gale urged. "I think we had enough for today."

"But… The case… The murderer…" Luke tried to protest, tone frail. "We have to…catch up…" His head landed on Gale's shoulder when he hissed his anguish.

"Yeah, well, we'll catch them tomorrow. We need to get you back to the hotel." Gale jerked his head at the Shadower. "Cullen? A little help here?" Once Cullen had Luke supported on the other side, Gale and he helped Luke stagger through the forest.

We'll have to be careful from now on, Gale decided. We can't afford Luke to get triggered and kill a suspect. But him being a Demon is the only thing that can figure out the murderer. If he's triggered, he'll lead us right to them. The only question is, how can we make him stop before he kills the murderer?

"Can you…smell that?"

Gale looked down at Luke. "Smell what?"

"I could…smell it…" Luke could barely keep open his eyes. "So familiar, but… I think I smelled…" His head lolled for a moment. "It smelled like…rot and mold…" He groaned again.

Gale prompted, "'And'?"

Luke heaved a breath, but he looked up for those solemn, droopy honeyed ambers to clash with curious rubies. "Death."

And Gale was left to ponder that when Luke's eyes fell shut.

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sugu ni aitai noni aenai

kimi ni sotto chikazuite yuku

honto no koto kikutte kowai keredo

tashikame ni yuku yo

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aitai noni aenai

hibi mo zutto kimi no tame ni waratta no

"arigatou" tte saigo datta tte

kaomisete baby

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Voices of Characters in Order of Appearance

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Erza Fernandes – Colleen Clinkenbeard

Gale Redfox – Greg Cipes

Luke Dragneel – Alan Lee

Mister Hollifield – Simon Pegg

Amy Diaz –

Charles Legato –

Howard DeMarcus –

Samantha Vasquez –

Norma-Jean Benson –

Unnamed Old Man –

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Additional Voices

Opening Narrator – Mary McGlynn

Recap Narrator – Melissa Fahn

Description Narrator – Mary McGlynn

Closing Narrator – Melissa Fahn

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⌜OPENING SONG

⟪ HANDS ⟫

BLUE ENCOUNT

Lyrics by

Junichi Tanabe ⌟

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⌜ENDING SONG

⟪ Long-Distance Train ⟫

Aoi Yamazaki

Lyrics by

Aoi Yamazaki⌟

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Next time, on Fairy Adventure

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Episode 098

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A MAN OF THE CROWD

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SEE YOU IN THE NEXT EPISODE, INSPECTOR…