This will probably be one of the most complicated DDS cases I've ever come up with. This is going to be pretty interesting, I tell you. Dedicated to all the musically-inclined people out there.
I'd like to thank Zephy, first of all, for inspiring me to make this fic about violins, and convincing me to download "The Devil's Trill", a violin piece that truly sparked this idea in me.
Credits go to my English class for all the information I learned about Hell and its interpretation in "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri.
Warning: this fic contains an OC as a new member of Class Q. possible Kyu/Meg pairing. And also be warned of crappy writing and sucky chapters.
Background information on the fic (this is all from my own ideas):
"The Nine Circles of Hell" is a violin concerto of Maestro Maeda, who died precisely when he was putting the last note in the composition. The concerto consists of nine movements, each representing the nine circles that Hell is rumored to contain. Since he died at such an unexpected moment, just when the last note was written, the piece was never played in full. One of his students, a girl named Fumika, attempted, in a show of bravery, to play the entire piece. Tragically, she was found dead the next day in the music room, causing everyone in the school to declare the composition a cursed one.
Class Q, with their musically-talented member, Shizuko (my OC), has come to the Maestro's mansion which doubles as his music school, to investigate the death. As soon as a murder is apparent, and none believe in this theory, Shizuko has taken up the challenge of playing "The Nine Circles of Hell", to prove that it is not a curse that took the life of the student, but a killer. Doing this is a risk to her life and to the lives of Class Q…
Can Kyu and Ryuu combine their incredible deductive minds to solve this case this case and stop the killer before it's too late? Will the Class's lives be in jeopardy? There's only…ONE ANSWER!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.
And sorry for such a long intro. But everything was important….
Chapter 1: A Cursed Concerto
"There's been a what?"
Kyu stared at Mr. Dan, who was looking at him bemusedly from his wheelchair.
"There has been a death at a music school that used to be run by Maestro Maeda," repeated their principal.
"'Used to be'?" echoed Ryuu seriously.
"Yes. Maestro Maeda passed away only a few weeks ago. It was a natural death, since he was getting quite old, and he was suffering from an illness at the time. However, something strange surrounds his death.
"He died peacefully in his room, just as he was putting the very last note in a violin concerto he was composing. He'd been working on it for quite some time, and at the very hour of his death, he finished it.
"The composition was called 'The Nine Circles of Hell'."
Ryuu gave a start, and Shizuko gasped quietly.
Not taking any notice, Principal Dan continued. "That piece was supposed to be the greatest masterpiece of his life. They say it was one reason he kept himself alive, forcing himself just to finish it. The finished concerto consisted of nine different movements that melded into one another smoothly. Each movement captured the very characteristic of each circle of Hell. However, since he died at such an inopportune moment, the entire composition was never played in full."
Class Q looked at each other.
"But this is not the death that you are going to investigate."
"Huh?" said Kinta.
"One of the Maestro's students, Fumika, was found dead in their music room. Several other students found her body in the room. She was holding her violin, as though she had been playing it before she died. Music sheets were scattered around her…and as the students read took a look at what she had been playing, it turned out to be…the Maestro's composition."
Class Q looked stunned.
"This incident has caused most of the students to fall into panic, and declare the music a cursed one. Possibly in their shock, they thought about this idea immediately; what else could they come up with? Fortunately, someone didn't believe in this notion, and alerted the DDS. In light of that request, Class Q, I would like you to go to this music school. I believe your new classmate would be of help to you on this case," said Mr. Dan, motioning to Shizuko, who was sitting in a far corner of the room. "I take it that you're still as gifted with music the same way you did the day you presented yourself to DDS?"
"Of course, sir," she said respectfully.
"All right then. Class Q, are you ready?"
The young detectives stood up as one. "Yes, sir!"
Class Q, having packed and readied for their trip the night before, was now on their way to Maestro Maeda's music school.
"So, since the maestro's died, who's running the school now?" asked Kyu as they walked down a dirt path through a small patch of trees.
"I read about this death in the Obituaries section of the newspaper," said Meg, turning to him. "Somewhere along that, it was mentioned that someone's been put temporarily in charge of the school…"
"Temporarily?" asked Ryuu.
"That's right. Someone named Ms. Minamoto. Aside from being an extremely talented violinist, she's also one of the maestro's old friends. However, there was some dispute between them about who would inherit his master violin. Ms. Minamoto believed that there wasn't a student in the school worthy of it, and that she would keep it until she believed that someone was found…however, the maestro had already come to a decision he wouldn't reveal. He died without telling anyone who the violin would go to."
"Aside from that, I don't think it was only the violin in question. The matter of the school being temporarily held in someone else's care bothers me," said Kazuma.
"Do you think that whoever inherits that violin will be next to take over that school? Under special care by someone of course, until the person is ready," said Kinta thoughtfully.
"That's likely," said Ryuu.
"So that means there's a will of some sort, right?" said Kyu.
"Well, there was a will mentioned," said Meg. "I think this is why Mr. Dan sent us out right away…"
"What makes you say that?" asked Shizuko, adjusting the violin case on her shoulder.
"Well, if my memory serves me right—"
"Which it always does," interrupted Kinta, grinning.
Meg smiled sheepishly, then continued, "Something was mentioned in the paper about the reading of his will. I think it's today."
"What? Really?" said Kyu, surprised.
"Yeah," replied Meg.
"So that's why he wanted us to get on this case quickly. He wanted us to hear what the will contained," said Ryuu.
"Yeah, most likely it's going to be very closely connected to our case."
"Speaking of cases," said Kyu, turning to Shizuko, "Is that your violin case you're carrying, Shizuko?"
"Well, yes," said Shizuko, taking off the strap. She unzipped it, explaining, "This violin case is a bit more modern than the ones most violinists carry." She opened it to reveal a beautiful violin.
The rest of Class Q (with the exception of Ryuu), went "Ooooh" at the sight of the instrument.
Shizuko rolled her eyes toward heaven as Kyu, Kinta and Kazuma, er, admired the violin from all possible angles. At one point it nearly fell, but Kinta caught it just in time. She sighed in relief, then winced moments later as a single high-pitched note resonated from Kyu's clumsy handling.
Suddenly, she frowned, thinking.
"What's the matter?" asked Kyu, handing the violin back.
"Oh. Well, it's just the title of the piece that the maestro composed. 'The Nine Circles of Hell'. And nine movements, blending together in perfect harmony. He really went through a lot to finish it. One could almost assume that he signed a Faustian deal in order to complete his life's work…"
"And that's probably a reason why the rumor about the cursed violin piece began. But considering how many students are probably in that school, I doubt that everyone would believe such a thing…" said Ryuu.
"What's with this 'Nine Circles of Hell' thing anyway? What's it about?" asked Kinta, scratching his head.
"Well, it's based on this book written by an Italian author named Dante," Shizuko began. "The book's called 'The Divine Comedy', and there's a part there that describes Hell…and that part is called 'Inferno'."
"It describes Hell as consisting of nine circles, and as you go deeper into Hell the circles get narrower and narrower, forming an inverted cone-like shape," continued Ryuu, picking up from where Shizuko left off.
"But why the circles? And how can you even get deeper into Hell? I thought it'd be like just one big place," asked Kinta.
"Well, depending on what life you lived on earth, you'd either go into Heaven, Purgatory, or yes, Hell," said Ryuu. "If you ended up in Hell, well, then..."
"You'd end up in a circle of Hell where the sins that you committed on earth would be justified…in other words, you'd get punished for all eternity. And each circle of Hell contains a different breed of sinners, suffering," said Shizuko.
"The First Circle is the least painful," said Ryuu. "But to end up in the ninth…"
"…would be complete torture," finished Shizuko.
"What's in the ninth circle?" asked Kazuma.
"Well, the ninth and final circle contains the worst sinners of all," said Ryuu. "Betrayers and traitors."
"I thought murderers were the worst," said Kyu.
"Well, considering that murderers end up in the seventh circle of Hell, it's pretty bad, too," said Shizuko. "Violent beings end up in the seventh: Violent against themselves, the suicidal; violent against others, killers; and violent against God, blasphemers…"
"Is there a circle of Hell for perverts?" asked Meg pointedly.
"Well, perversion is kind of like an intense want for desires, so they'd end up in the second circle, where the carnal and lustful are," said Ryuu.
"You hear that, Kyu?" said Kinta, grinning widely.
"W-what! But you're the one who really likes to peek on girls!" Kyu protested.
"What about all those times you peeked under Meg's skirt?" said Kazuma.
"What about that time you peeked at her bra size?" said Kyu, turning on Kazuma.
Ryuu and Shizuko looked at each other exasperatedly as Meg turned red, both in anger and complete, utter embarrassment.
"—but anyone could have seen they were polka-dot—"
"—you didn't have to tell the world—"
"—it'd still be your fault, Kyu—"
"—you're the one going to the second circle, Kinta—"
On and on, the argument went, until finally Meg got fed up and whacked all three of them with her duffel bag.
Rants: okay, is this a good start? I hope so…I have to tell you though, I'll probably be taking quite a long while to write the entire story out. Even I don't know how it will end. Expect most of my updates to be during the weekends, if I'm lucky enough to even use the computer…
Please be patient with me everyone…school is such a hassle these days. Writing fanfics really is my only escape from this confusing world of mine…
PLEASE REVIEW!