I'm back! I returned from vacation a few days ago but had to make up a lot of stuff I missed while I was gone. There was hardly any internet and I could only log onto ffnet on my phone. I could keep up with stories I was following, but I couldn't write any of this.
When I'm done with TMMotFTG, I'm posting another multi chapter, although it'll be an AU based off of a music video. It's going to be from a song by Walk off the Earth. The outline is already complete, and five out of expected ten or eleven chapters have already been written, so it'll be wrapped up before maybe even December, as I'll post one chapter every few days!
Also expect a Nalu one-shot to be posted sometimes this week! It's about 800 words long so far with maybe another 500 to go?
Anyway, this is your last chance to review with your guesses. Next chapter, the murderer for each ending will be revealed!
There might be some errors as I proofread this really quickly but wanted to get the chapter out as soon as possible. Sorry!
2:20.
For the few minutes that passed, hardly anyone talked. If there was conversation, it was a feeble suggestion of what to do next. No matter what was said - everything from forcing Freed to disable the runes, to killing Freed to disable the runes, to interrogating the remaining members and waking up Elfman.
"I... why don't we look for Juvia? Maybe she can help us out?" Wendy asked in a very quiet voice. However, there were still several heads that turned to look her.
"No, Wendy," Lucy said. "I don't think we should... that has only resulted in more deaths every time we look for someone. I want Juvia alive as much as you do, but..."
For once and unlike previous times, there was only agreement among the rest of them. No one wanted to look around just to be stabbed. No one wanted for everyone to hear their screams but not be able to save them. No one wanted to be accused of a murderer, just to then die.
But then there was the murders of Master Makarov and Droy - no one had a clue of who had killed Makarov. Droy's death had been in a room with everyone still alive except for Cana, who had been dying at that point. Droy's death had been a sudden one that almost no one had thought to grieve over in their despair for their own lives, except for Levy and Jet.
The situation looked pretty bleak. Split up and be killed? Or, stay together and still be killed.
"We can go into the kitchen," Evergreen said as she rubbed her bare arms. "I'm getting chills just standing out in the open! There's so many openings that the murderer can come from!"
"I guess we could - but remember Droy?" Max replied. Evergreen frowned.
"I still think we should go inta the kitchen!" Bickslow said. "Ever's right - there's more chances for the murderer to come out here, or for one of us to stab and run before we can react. At least in the kitchen, we can make sure the dead don't come backta life and move aroun' like some zombie." That time, Gray frowned at Bickslow's implying of Juvia.
"Fine. Who will go into the kitchen to make sure it's safe?" Freed questioned.
Erza, Gajeel, and Natsu volunteered. The explanation for why they volunteered or were chosen was that they would be able to more quickly if attacked, or be able to take a hit without dying. Jet's name was first suggested, by Carla, although Jet had refused. Although Jet was fast, if he was not expecting the attack then he would be out for the count right away, the speed mage had defended himself.
Although no one blamed Jet for backing out. Everyone made the connection of Jet's best friend dying, being stabbed, in that room. Jet did not want to make a repeat of that situation, but with himself as the dead body with the kitchen knife in his back.
The three left and came back quickly, announcing that the coast was clear with Natsu and Gajeel's dragon noses. By the time everyone had filed into the kitchen and the doors were closed, the time was 2:22.
Levy flipped through her notes and facts, deciding to review them. "Hmm..."
She read each word carefully before announcing to the rest, "I'm going to read out loud what I've figured so far from our investigations and the deaths."
The small crowd faced her silently, and Levy gulped. "I - er... there have been six deaths," she read nervously as she glanced down a few times at the paper. "The six deaths that have occurred have been Master Makarov, Juvia, the traveler, Laxus, Droy, and Cana, in that order. The method of killing has varied from person to person. Starting off from who was killed most recently, or last... would be Cana. Cana was mysteriously poisoned after the investigation started. That means that the murderer purposely targeted and killed Cana. The second to most recent death is Droy, who was stabbed in this room, the kitchen with a knife belonging to said room. The murder occurred in the dark meaning that while the murderer did have an intent to kill, he may have not wanted to kill Droy. The murder happened so fast that no one can be ruled out of killing Droy.
"Laxus," Levy continued with a big breath, throat becoming dry, "Laxus was stabbed. By who, we don't know, but Laxus did know the murderer and most likely vastly underestimated them as Laxus had time to launch an attack before being killed. We heard him scream the beginning of a spell, but it was cut off. That means that he died quickly - or, he bled to death slowly, but was stabbed quickly. The stranger was killed in the same manner in the waiting room. The person who killed the stranger somehow knew about the secret passage, which makes Laxus a suspect - but that would mean that there are more than one killers."
"I sure hope there aren't," Bickslow muttered, interrupting Levy. Levy was almost grateful as she was given a pause in her speech.
Another big breath, and then Levy continued on. "Then, Juvia was killed in the hallway with Makarov's sword - the same sword that killed Laxus. She also knew who the murderer is, or at least had an idea as the rest of her team at the time reported that she'd said she knew. Of course, seeing as they never got a chance to hear her out... well, the first murder was Makarov, occurring two hours and some minutes ago. He was found dead in his office by Mira, and the cause of death was - "
"The cause of death was...?" Freed prompted. Then he turned white.
"Did any of us ever check to see the method of killing Master?" Erza asked.
"N-no..." Levy whispered. "What if... no, we need someone to go check him!"
"This is a chance to find out who killed everyone? I'll go!" Gray said.
"Same here," Mirajane said. Max nodded beside her as Pantherlily swooped down on Gray's shoulders.
"Good," Erza nodded, "You four go - but only bring down the body! Be back in less than a minute - don't waste any time!"
As the four left, Levy was quickly scribbling down any way that Master Makarov could have been killed. It occurred to her that there had been no blood around him, so she wrote down bloodless crimes - some poison, chocking, or a strange magic, for example. Once she was done with her notes, she looked back up and realized that the group had not yet returned.
"It's 2:26. Considering your speech took less than half a minute as you had been speaking so fast," Erza said, "They left at about 2:23 or 2:24. I told them to be less than a minute. They're late."
"Should we go and look for them?" Natsu asked. "'Cause I agree. Master's so tiny, carrying his body would be a job even Gray could've done by himself in half a minute."
"They may have run into trouble," Freed said. "You two go."
Natsu and Erza both agreed but Natsu added, "We should bring someone else - Lucy? You wanna come with us?"
The Fire Dragon Slayer turned around to where he thought Lucy had been standing. "Lucy?"
The Celestial Spirit mage was not there.
"Whoa! When did Lucy leave?" Happy said as he opened the giant fridge, struggling as he did with both paws. "We gotta look for her!"
"Right!" Levy said as she looked around some counters.
The Celestial Spirit mage was not there.
In fact, she wasn't anywhere in the kitchen, Natsu realized as he sniffed the air. What on Earthland?! Hold on - a bunch of scents aren't here anymore! Natsu hadn't been paying attention to who was in the room with him earlier - he had been using all of his brain power and attention span to listen to Levy - but now, he realized that more people were gone from the room.
"Where's Evergreen, Carla, and Wendy?" he growled. "When did they leave?"
"Wha - Evergreen was right next to me!" Lissana cried. "Or, I thought she had been!"
"That's four that are supposed to be here... that aren't here," Jet said, a deep and almost dark frown on his face.
Happy then let out a cry from behind Natsu. Whirling around, Natsu searched the ceiling frantically for his blue cat, but saw no sign of him. The only thing on the wall other than cabinets was a clock, which read 2:28.
"Happy? Happy!" Natsu screamed. "Where'd you go!"
"Who is left in the room?" Erza demanded. "Make sure you aren't blocking my view of anyone!"
They counted - Natsu, Erza, Bickslow, Jet, Gajeel, Lissana, Freed, and Levy were the only ones remaining. Or, less than half of the group that had all been together less than five minutes before.
"Where has everyone gone?" Natsu wondered before finally averting his eyes from above him and looking straight ahead. One guild member stared back at Natsu, with a somber yet steely expression.
Natsu opened his mouth, about to shout (For what? In what? For help? In panic? He didn't know), but similar to Droy's death, the room plunged into darkness.
Seconds later, there was pressure on his back. Natsu wondered if that was how Droy felt at his death - blind, disorientated, and scared of his wits. Then, Natsu realized that the pressure wasn't a knife slicing through him - it was a hand. Somehow, the person had turned off the lights and grabbed him? Or was it someone looking for comfort in the dark?
Either way, Natsu was not taking the risk. He screamed for help, but no one answered with, "I'll help you!" Instead, there were responding yells of panic that were a result of his leading noise. He heard footsteps coming closer - maybe someone was scrambling to free him, scrambling to reach him?
Then the lights flickered back on.
Erza read the clock, as it was the first thing to reach her eyes that she could fully understand without having to blink to adjust her eyesight. 2:29.
There was a gasp from Levy. "Where did everyone go?!"
Titania narrowed her eyes, turned around and studied the room. It was nearly empty. Only a few souls remained... and one of them was not Natsu.
Erza gritted her teeth. "Natsu, Lissana, Jet, and Gajeel are gone, now!"
Bickslow growled, "Where the hell could they have gone at a time like this - plus Ever, Wendy, Cosplay Queen, two of those cats... well, everyone's disappeared!"
Levy shook with horror. "This... this can't be happening! How did they vanish into thin air?"
Then, there was a grunt from Freed, surprising everyone - they had no idea that he could do such an ill-mannered action. "I think I saw one of Lucy's spirits. She has a spirit that can transform into others, or duplicate their appearance... am I right?"
Erza nodded. "Correct: Gemini."
"Well, I saw two of Happy... one that told everyone to hide before being abducted... and one that abducted the first Happy."
The clock chimed 2:30 as Freed uttered his next words.
"I've solved the case."
There are a lot of open ties that will be closed in the next chapter, but if you have a question then please ask it just in case I've made a continuity error! Well, no matter what, please review! There's only one chapter left... it will be longer, depending on the endings' lenghts.
Everything will all be sorted out and explained next chapter, which should be out soon! Possibly Thursday or Friday if I'm lucky, Sunday at the most.