A man of the cloth

[She finally straightens, standing up]

No, no one ever expects to find a dead body.

[Phoenix. Goddammit, what happened?]

Thank you for reporting this, and for staying with him. Don't feel like you have to stay--I expect other guards and medics to arrive shortly.

[Another investigation--not like they'd had much luck with the others.]

From:

sixthsinner.livejournal.com

Not like I have somewhere to go--but I don't want to get in your way.

[He pauses before leaving.]

So what happens now?

From:

[Before Bastet can answer, Kazahana bursts in running. She'd caught a glimpse of the victim's name in the elevator while checking for updates, and now...]

Truth!

From:

[Bastet curses under her breath as she whips around to see her friend--of all the medics to respond.]

Kazahana.

[There's really nothing else to say.]

From:

[For once, Kazahana completely ignores Bastet. She heads straight for the body--for Truth--and God help anyone who tries to stop here.]

Truth. Phoenix, no.

[Instinctively, she presses her heads to the hideous wound in his chest. She doesn't even need to concentrate anymore to activate the healing, but for the first time, she can't feel anything in its recipient responding.

The glow is there, but it's not working.]

From:

sixthsinner.livejournal.com

Uh...

[Chapel just stared, not wanting to leave Bastet alone if she needed help with this, but suddenly sure this is not something he's meant to see.]

Should I--?

From:

[Bastet spares Chapel a brief glance]

Go on, it's fine.

[Bastet watches Kazahana try to heal him for a few minutes, then moves next to her, placing her hand over the other woman's.]

Stop. He's already gone.

From:

sixthsinner.livejournal.com

[He watches for a moment longer, then leaves without a word. Not like he could do much anyway.

Poor kid.]

From:

[Kazahana doesn't say anything, and doesn't remove her hands, but she lets the glow fade.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to him. Not to anyone else she loved.

She opens her mouth to try and say something, but nothing happens. There's a burning in her chest that makes it feel like she can't breathe.]

From:

[Bastet keeps her hand on top of Kazahana's. She knows, from bitter experience, that there's nothing anyone can say right now to make Kazahana feel any better.

So she simply sits, letting her friend know without words that's she not alone.]

From:

[She just sits that way for several minutes, trembling and going still again, and slowly the burning cools until she's just numb.

Slowly, she reaches up to touch his cheek, but draws back when her fingers leave blood there.]

He shouldn't be here.

From:

I don't want to move him yet. Not until the initial investigation gets started.

[She hates sounding so clinical, but they needed to gather as much information as they could in order to find out what had happened.

To be honest, they shouldn't even be touching Truth--it will likely interfere with any scent Phoenix will be able to pick up.]

From:

All right.

[She can accept that, because Bastet always knows what she's doing--she can always trust her. And because Truth isn't here anymore, not the Truth she knows.]

...I have to tell Justice.

From:

[She closes her eyes, then nods. God, Justice.]

All right. I'll be here for the time being.

[She's sure Justice or Kazahana or both will be back or at Medical Island soon enough.]

From:

[Shakily, she gets to her feet, but once she's up, she stands strong.

He could come back. But he might not. And nothing will change the fact that he went through this.]

I'll see you soon.

From:

[Phoenix heads out as soon as he sees Bastet's note, crystal be damned. He arrives in time to hear Kazahana's quiet words and rather than intruding on her grief, hangs back in order to assess the whole scene. The stink of spilt blood fills his senses, and for a moment he's back in the memory, back in that world of darkness and death. He squares his jaw, trying to ignore it, and approaches Bastet.]

Hey.

From:

[She looks up as Kazahana leaves and Phoenix approaches, giving her fellow Guard a nod.]

Yo. I know this isn't the night off you'd had in mind.

[She moves back from the body, unsure if he needs the room.]

This is more or less how we found him. Kazahana and I have both touched him, though.

From:

stonyfaced.livejournal.com

[Stoneface jogs through the entrance, his journal clasped tightly in one hand and his map and a pair of extra pants held in another. He slows as he reaches Phoenix and Bastet, tossing his map and the pants aside and exhales heavily.]

Sorry that took so long.

[He takes a look at the body, having not checked the journals since the initial report, and his breath catches in his throat.] Oh--Truth.

[He looks down at it for a moment, free hand fiddling against his side, and raises his head to look at the other Guards.] What's the story? [He pauses, sighs, shakes his head, the stench of blood overpowering and the sound of rushing water from the aquarium seems almost crude to him, considering the circumstances.] Cross that. Is there a story yet?

From:

[Phoenix, having walked over to Truth's body in the time it took for Stoneface to make his arrival, makes a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. Hunkering down, he reaches out to lightly touch the dead man's chest with his fingertips, gently exploring the edge of the wound.]

He's been dead a couple hours at least. Whatever it was did this did it fast and hard. [He tilts his head, sniffs a little.] Can't smell anyone around ain't already named themselves. Chapel, Geranium, you two. The kid.

[He remains crouched by the body for a moment, silent, then stands and turns to face the other two Guards.]

Hole this big couldn't've been made by human means, least not any I know of. [He glances over at Bastet, his expression grim and closed.] You understand what I'm sayin'?

Edited Date: 2009-06-20 11:30 pm (UTC)

From:

[That's right, Stoneface had known him too. Bastet nodded at Phoenix's words, reaching out to lightly touch Truth's face. If there was no scent of another person, then it was probably the Tree again. She'd have to ask Lezard if there were any bits of wood left in the wound when the body was examined.

She looked back at Phoenix, her own face calm and distant.]

I understand.

[She looked around, her attention caught by the box and scattered crayons, the map and other piece of paper, all soaked in blood. If he'd been following a treasure map, perhaps the box of crayons had been his prize? But she hadn't thought any of them ended at the Aquarium. She closed her eyes a moment, squeezing the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.]

Shit.

From:

stonyfaced.livejournal.com

[Stoneface glances at Phoenix sharply, surprised at how the man seems to be able to smell his way through the crime scene. There's something disturbingly familiar about it, and the same something tells him that it's not a good idea to question his sense of smell. He stands directly behind Bastet, staring down at the blood pooling in Truth's chest and can't help but think of Justice, and Blood, and the rest who had known the man.]

Not human, huh. That's another one, then. It's not like the deaths of Fallen and his household, though. [He bends down, now, taking a look at the objects surrounding Truth. What he supposes is their evidence. He looks at Phoenix.] Phoenix, is there any way you can tell if the crayon box belonged to Truth to begin with?

From:

[Phoenix eyes Stoneface for a moment, then glances over at the crayon box and its scattered contents. Many of the crayons have been swallowed by the growing pool of blood. It's not difficult to reach the same conclusion as Bastet: that Truth was following the directions of the map, and was either successful and paid the price, or was brought into a trap already laid.]

Sure, [he mutters, stepping over to the items in question. Crouching down, he carefully picks up the crayon box, holding it between thumb and forefinger at the very edge of the open lid. He sniffs it with the casual noncholance of a man who has grown accustomed to behaving in such a way, and thinks nothing of doing so in front of others. The box smells like wax and cardboard and drying blood, but there's no trace of the personal scent such an object might pick up if used often enough.]

It don't smell like him. If they are his, he didn't use 'em much. Can't say I blame him. [He flips the box over into his hand, examining the design. Looks back up at Stoneface, then over at Bastet.] Pretty sure I've seen writin' in crayon in the journals before, though.

Edited Date: 2009-06-21 02:14 am (UTC)

From:

Then he probably found them here.

[She gingerly takes the corner of the other paper near the map--it's got the thickness of photo paper, but it's ruined and soaked with blood.

Completely unrecognizable. Just like Ran's death. She looks over at Phoenix.]

Yeah. It's been a while, though.

[It's pretty much settled in her mind what's happened here, but this isn't the place to discuss it.]

I'll need to talk to the two of you again--somewhere more secure--after the medics examine him. I'd like Justice to be there, too.

[They were smart enough to get the message--she had additional info, but it wasn't safe to share it here.]

From:

stonyfaced.livejournal.com

[He nods at Phoenix.] I think I remember that. I'll have to look back in the journal. [He pats his lapel pocket, where the journal is kept inside. Then, he mutters,] I wonder where he got them from, then.

[He gets to work examining the perimeter of the aquarium, fingertips scraping idly against the glass tanks as if searching for some sort of hidden dent, some inconspicuous clue that will do nothing to assist them. He stares into the darkened corners, looking for hairs too fine for the naked eye. As he suspects, he finds nothing. When Bastet speaks, he turns his head, nods.]

Got it. If the medics are taking Truth's body, then are we going to take the evidence to a safe place? [He looks at Bastet, gaze obviously questioning: what counts as a safe place?]

From: