*Author's note: Chapter 2 has arrived! Thank you everyone for sticking with me through chapter 1! Things are about to accelerate into more Grail War stuff pretty quick here. I look forward to your continued support.

Chapter 2.

The Abbe Busoni

I.

Broken, difficult sleep was still sleep, and Louise awoke at least somewhat rested. It was just after six in the morning when Camille woke her younger sister. The winter sky was still quite dark outside the hotel room window, the lack of a proper morning sun stole some of Louise's relief at the night having passed.

Camille indicated the door that lead out into the rest of the hotel. "The noises stopped maybe two hours ago. However I think I heard a new set of foot-steps on the level below us just a few minutes ago. I suggest we get dressed and prepare for the worst. I'm sorry sister, you may have to skip that shower."

Louise sighed inwardly at the thought of having to possibly go the day in her current state. Disregarding her personal discomfort, more worrisome was that they were expected by the church representative, and any presentation less than perfect was unheard of for a Saint-Hermine. She saw few ways around it though and begrudgingly got herself dressed back in the stiff, white, family uniform. Just as the sisters were finished dressing they heard low foot-steps out in the hallway. A quick exchange of glances was all it took for both Saint-Hermine daughters to prep themselves and stand ready for combat. The unknown elements seemed to be working their way slowly towards the girl's room. Soon they could clearly hear the footfalls right outside their door. Louise raised her hand, ready to loose an explosive runestone on the threatening passageway. There was a light, but decisive knock, Louise's arm twitched, but just before she could fling the stones and obliterate the doorway someone spoke in a stern but controlled tone from the other side.

"This is the Paris Police. Is there anyone staying in this room? There has been an incident and we need to speak with any guests staying here. Please answer in the affirmative if there is anyone inside. This is the Paris Police. Please comply."

Louise and Camille were both momentarily dumbstruck. Though neither was sure what to expect, something so mundane was not their first guess. Pocketing her runestones Louise nodded to Camille that she was ready.

"Hello officer. Yes there are two guests in this room. Myself and my younger sister." Camille usually let her pride carry her away, but knew that cooperating with the police would be the easier option right now, especially considering her and Louise had so little information regarding the situation outside. "Please just instruct us in what you would like us to do."

There was a murmur of exchanged words in the hallway before the officer replied. "Very good. I would ask that you please slowly approach your door, unlock it, say that you have done so and then step back ten paces from the door. I will count to five, and then open the door. Myself and another officer will enter the room after that. Please make no sudden moves as we come inside."

"Understood. I am now following through with your instructions." Camille wasn't sure what had happened that had the police so tense but she reassured herself that she would know soon enough. Camille went through the actions as described, and once she had stepped back, called out to the officer that they were ready.

"Very good." The officer said. "Thank you for your compliance. We are now entering the room." A few seconds later the door slowly opened and the face of a tense but composed officer appeared. Though not pointed at the sisters, he had a firearm very visible in his hands, clearly at the ready in case the interaction did not go as smoothly as it had. A female officer entered behind him, both of them taking up positions on either side of the hotel room door. "Good morning mesdames. I apologize for the rather uncouth manner of waking you today. Though, judging by your clothing, it would appear you were perhaps already up and making ready to head out, in which case it may be for the best we arrived before you left."

"And why would that be monsieur?" Louise asked.

"You see, there is a rather startling and unsettling scene in the hallway just outside your room. Well... not your room specifically..." The officer who had been taking the lead trailed off as he looked nervously over his shoulder.

"Throughout most of the hallway actually." The female officer finished for him.

"Yes. And it continues a bit downstairs. It is a crime-scene though, so despite how gruesome it may appear, we can only clean or cover so much of it."

"Officer Brusse." The female officer shot a look at her associate that seemed to be urging him to return to some as yet unspoken point.

"Of course. Yes, excuse me." Holstering his pistol the officer continued. "If it's alright we were hoping you ladies might be able to answer some questions."

"Of course officer." Camille replied. "If there is any way we can be of service just ask. Whatever you need, both Louise and myself are at your disposal." Louise nodded agreement to Camille's words. She was usually more comfortable letting her older sister take the lead in situations like this, though she couldn't recall many times they had to interact with the police growing up.

"Excellent. We appreciate your cooperation. The Juge d'Instruction is downstairs in the lobby and will want to interview you." Once again the officer glanced nervously over his shoulder. "As I said earlier it is a bit, erm, grisly, in the hall. If either of you are of a weaker constitution we could perhaps provide some sort of eye covering for travel between here and the lobby."

Both Camille and Louise were immediately suspicious of someone offering to blind them and take them to an unknown location, but neither showed it on their features.

"I think I speak for both Louise and myself when I say that will be unnecessary. Please, lead the way."

The two officers exchanged nervous glances before leading the sisters out into the hallway. The officer had tried to emphasize the repulsive nature of the scene, and though she kept her composure, Louise could not help but be taken aback by the macabre scene laid out just outside their door. There were streaks of blood slathered across the walls all down the length of the hallway. A long, moist trail of gore wound its way down the whole length of the floor. Something that was bleeding profusely had been dragged from one end all the way to other, where it had then been pulled down the stairs, leaving pools of fluid on each step. The doors of several rooms had been forced open, and as the sisters passed, the scenes in the rooms just beyond the smashed entries were more brutal than that in the hallway. Officers in clean-suits were covering mutilated corpses with tarps and, in some of the more unfortunate cases, seemed to be gathering the hunks of flesh that had at one time been hotel guests. It was taking all of Louise's self-control to not react to the brutality on display. Looking to Camille for support, Louise was amazed that her sister seemed completely unfazed. Not even a single drop of sweat ran down her face, and her features were completely straight and composed. The party of four had to slowly and carefully descend the stairs, the pools of blood and fluid making it rather hazardous.

When they reached the lobby the sisters found the scene less gruesome than upstairs, but just as violent. The glass front doors of the hotel were completely shattered from without. A quick effort to clean had clearly been made, but glass shrapnel still littered the lobby. The front desk was horribly brutalized, the computer, papers, and books were tossed all about, though the strangest damage was that it looked like blades and bludgeons of some kind had been taken to the furniture. Huge gashes and cuts covered the surface of the desk, and other parts of it were caved in, as though some massive weight had been smashed against it. A body lay behind the desk, obscured by a tarp placed over it by the police, a massive pool of blood had spread out from the corpse further than the cloth could cover. A shredded paperback lay next to the body, the cover caught Louise's attention momentarily, looking vaguely familiar.

Before she could give it more thought her attention was taken away by the male officer speaking. "Madame Badeaux, Officer Jimenez and myself have brought some more of the guests for you to interview." A woman in a long black coat looked up from the wreckage on the floor she was bent over and gave Louise and Camille a quick once over, as the sisters did the same for her. Camille cleared her throat, straightened her clothes, and, somehow, tightened her posture more than it already was. Louise immediately recognized a familiar disposition in her sister. Around individuals like Juge Badeaux Camille always seemed to have a harder time putting on her aristocratic airs. Louise had seen her this way only a few times before.

Juge d'Instruction Maria Badeaux was an observant, impatient, decisive, and tired woman. At thirty-three years old she was content with where she was in life, and bizarre, ridiculous cases like this one just complicated the reasonable and predictable life she had built for herself. Her very short, high cut black hair spoke to how she liked to keep things simple and orderly. Her clothing, a charcoal suit that was plain, but of high quality spoke to the reliable predictability that she liked. And her third cup of coffee clutched in her left hand spoke to how much more tiring this day was going to be. Maria Badeaux hated unnecessary complications. Looking at the two young women standing in the lobby, wearing some sort of strange aristocratic uniforms, both of them suspiciously unfazed by the brutality spread out around them, Maria had a sinking feeling this whole thing was going to be very complicated.

"And you are?" Juge Badeaux approached the sisters, her exhaustion making her more curt than she usually was.

Camille, already just a touch flush, stammered for a second. Louise did not falter and took the lead for her slightly flustered sister. "I am Louise Saint-Hermine, and this is my sister Camille Saint-Hermine. We are visiting Paris from Gordes. May I have your introduction?"

"My apologies. I'm a few interviews deep. Going through the formalities has happened a few too many times. I am Maria Badeaux, Juge d'Instruction for Paris. I've been placed in charge of the investigation for this... incident." Maria emphasized her last word with a cursory glance around the lobby and the damage that now decorated it. "You're two of the few survivors we've found. Perhaps it was due to your room being on the far end of the upper floor, but whatever the reason I'm just relieved to find more people alive. So far no one has been able to shed any light on what happened here. I don't suppose either of you know anything do you?"

Louise and Camille hadn't had time to discuss anything like an alibi or cover story. They themselves had done no wrong, but they were both aware of the magical nature of the events that had transpired. However trying to explain the fact that magic of some kind had been involved, that they were both mages, and that that had played into their lack of alarm, let alone their ability to survive the night, was hardly the sort of thing that one said to a Juge d'Instruction and the police. Camille, having had a moment to regain her composure, spoke first while Louise was still deciding a course of action.

"My younger sister here awoke me during the night at one point complaining she had heard some sort of noise in the hallway and asked me to take a look. Of course after a long day of traveling I was in no mood to leave my bed. So I assured her that it was likely just a guest getting some ice or late night snacks from the lobby and insisted she go back to sleep."

"Did you decide to check the hallway yourself?" Maria said, directly her scrutinizing gaze at Louise.

"My sister can be very persuasive in her, curtness, especially when she is tired. Rather than risk inviting her anger I decided my best course of action would be to follow her instructions and try to go back to sleep."

"I see. When-abouts last night did this happen? Do you remember the time at all?"

"Before waking Camille I had glanced at the clock momentarily, I want to say it was maybe just after midnight."

"That falls in line with when some of the other survivors reported hearing a disturbance. Is there anything else? Any other details you remember? Anything from last night?"

"Nothing comes immediately to mind Madame. I'm sorry."

"Its alright," Maria turned to Camille. "You said you had a long day of travel yesterday. What time did you arrive at the hotel last night?"

"We arrived in the afternoon around two. However after checking in here Louise and I went out to get some food and explore Paris a bit. It is our first time here after all."

"Going from Gordes to Paris is a big change. Some sort of business on behalf of your parents? Or perhaps just a sight-seeing trip for the privileged sisters?"

"Business. Madame." Camille said, careful to not let her pride be affected by the Juge's intentionally antagonistic choice of words. "We have business on behalf of our family, though my sister and I are acting as autonomous representatives, not on behalf of our father."

Camille was starting to lose her patience, the meeting with the abbe drawing closer was putting pressure on her and her body language was showing it. Juge Badeaux noticed right away.

"I have to ask these questions. This is clearly a murder investigation after all. Or perhaps you have something else that demands your time? Some pressing appointment?"

"As a matter of fact," Louise stepped in, worried Camille's angered sensibilities could raise the Juge's suspicions. "We do have an appointment with an associate coming up soon. My sister is likely just distracted about the time."

"Be that as it may I have fifteen dead people distracting me. Just one more question. You were out and about yesterday. What time did you arrive back at the hotel last night?"

"We arrived back here just after eight o'clock last night."

"Very well. I trust you will both be in Paris for at least another few days."

"Though the length of our stay is indefinite, my older sister and I should both be here for at least another three to four days."

"You'll have to arrange new lodgings." She said handing Louise a card with her office's information on it. "I ask that you call my office and leave them with the addresses of where you end up staying, so that I can find you if I have any more questions. The two officers who escorted you down will take you back up to gather your belongings. I hope I didn't keep you too long from your extremely important meeting."

"We are grateful madame. I hope we were of some help to your investigation." Louise accompanied the words with a light bowing motion before she and Camille turned to follow the officers back upstairs. Maria Badeaux flipped through her notes. The other surviving guests hadn't reported any disturbances until around two o'clock. She wasn't sure what Louise noticing something so much earlier meant, if anything, but she wasn't fully convinced that it was irrelevant.