Murder Mystery

"Whiskey. Make it snappy."

Monica fell onto the chair at the bar, sighing contentedly as the barkeep moved to get her drink for her. She glanced at the large mirror that had been put up along the back wall behind the bar, reflecting the entire room of the inn. Despite having worn a disguise for the past couple of hours, she still looked exhausted and worn out. Pleasantly so, of course, but still. She reached up and ran her hand over her bald scalp, rubbing it slowly as she tried to decide what to do next. Rory wouldn't recognize her while she looked this way, unless he had memorized the dress she was still wearing. Remembering the sleek, black outfit she groaned and glanced down at it. Oh how she hated to wear such nice, pompous things such as this. She could go change and probably would once she had finished her first drink. Priorities of course.

Somehow, when she had booked her room here (now taken up by the sleeping Rory) she had missed the notice about the murder mystery party that was going to be taking place in under an hour. Dinner had been quickly finished and Monica had dragged her date back her for some private time. Now after that, it was nearing nine thirty and soon the game would begin. The woman was completely unaware of it, nor was she privy to the knowledge that she would soon be joined by someone she should have known.

Monica Belle was one of those that groaned.

Rightfully, she should have been a bit worried. She had left Rory in the room not ten minutes ago, practically in a coma after the session they had both taken part in. In that timespan, someone could have easily snuck inside the room upon seeing her leave and ended his life. And to a point, she did feel a little bad if it was confirmed to be her date. But she wasn't...concerned about it. It was more of a bother; as if to say 'come on, seriously?'. Her whiskey hadn't even gotten to her before the announcement was made. Her eyes snapped to the man who started speaking, a well dressed fellow who stood on the stairs. Beyond noting that he was quite the handsome man, any interest of hers in that was lost the minute he announced the discovery of a body.

But then things got weird. Oddly enough, the man said that each person had been handed a letter upon their arrival and that would provide more information. A letter? What did that have to do with anything in terms of the body? She tore her eyes away from the announcer to look around the room, eyeing the other patrons that had gathered. The strangeness continued, as a fair number of them looked rather excited over the announcement. A few already had their letters in hand. Despite being taken completely by surprise, the gears began to work at lightning speed in the bald-headed woman's head. And when it came to its conclusion, she snerked. "You've got to be kidding me..." She grumbled to herself. A parlor game at the inn; how absolutely idiotic.

And yet, she was already standing up from her chair and twisting away from the bar to approach the man who had made the announcement. She moved quickly, thankful for no shoes, and came to a stop right at the bottom of the stairs. One hand planted itself on her hip as she popped it out and she looked up at the man. "Hey handsome, you missed someone." She informed him, looking at the man with absolutely no recognition for who he was.

Well hello mister charming guard.

Monica didn't show her surprise but she was happily amazed by the man's immediate reaction to her approaching him. Without missing a beat he was apologizing and complimenting her and a somewhat wry smirk tugged at her lips as she looked up at him. "No bother at all. Gives me a chance to come and talk to you." She shot back, watching him as he patted himself down in search of spare letter. Alas they hadn't gifted him with one and it seemed she was out of luck in terms of this 'game'. A bummer...at least until he suggested she take a more direct role, referencing their (or perhaps his) need for more hands on deck. That served only to deepen her smirk. "Direct and hands-on. You must have had some good instincts, since those are two of my favorite things." Whoever this guy was, how familiar he seemed, he certainly was fun to talk to. Made her wonder just how much fun he was looking for...or how hands-on he--

Damnit Monica, knock it off. She took a moment to pull herself back a bit, even as she nodded at Zeke's excusing of himself. There was still a man upstairs that she had brought back and already slept with. Was she that insatiable that she was already hunting for another within an hour? Perhaps a little and this guard was handsome and all. She eyed him carefully as he walked by her, falling into her routine of checking him out when he couldn't see. He calmly swung a tonfa in his hand, the hard weapon making a reverberating whirling sound as it went. How interesting.

Monica decided it was best to return to the bar and finish her drink. It was sitting on the bar, unmolested and practically calling out to her. She padded over to the seat once more and slid onto the stool, wrapping her hand around the cool glass. But just as before, she was robbed of her moment with the comforting liquid. Even as the edge of the glass touched her lips, the handsome guard was talking once more. He was issuing instructions for them to go to the ballroom, much to the delight of most of the patrons. "Alright then..." She sighed as she put the drink down and followed the flowing crowd, blending into them easily despite her abnormal appearance.

Then things got really interesting. The doors slammed shut and the sound of them being locked caused her eyes to narrow slightly. The charmer spoke once more but his news was not in jest or full of excitement. No, there was a coldness to it now as he revealed that a real murder had occurred. Her mind immediately switched from its jovial state to one once more of annoyance. 4B wasn't her room and she let out a small sigh of relief, if only because she was glad she wouldn't have to handle the headache of explaining herself. Though that didn't seem to be the case; Zeke stated that the murderer would be found out before anyone could leave.

Well she didn't really want to stand around and wait. She took the man to be smarter than his other guardly counterparts but still, a lowly guard was just that. It didn't help that one of the patrons, clearly on the verge of panicking, began to accuse the self-same guard of being the murderer. He raised a few fair points and frankly, it was possible. But Monica couldn't abide stupid, baseless accusations without proper evidence.

"Or you can calm the fuck down for one moment and try to think about this rationally." She said, stepping to the front of the crowd and between the accuser and the accused guard. "Has he come near any of you? Are any of your things missing that he could plant as evidence? The last thing any of us need is panic." She waited a moment to look at the shifting faces, each one checking their pockets and pants for missing items. When no one stepped forward to declare anything missing, she snorted and glanced back at the first one to speak up. "So get your panties out of their twist. If it helps, I'll go with him." She turned back to the handsome guard, stepping up close to him. "Direct and hands-on apparently." She said softly in reference to their former conversation, directing him with her eyes to look down. Once he did, she pulled the strap of her dress a bit to the side, exposing the top-half of her right breast. An interesting choice of course but beyond the slight flash, he would certainly make out the guild mark that heralded who she was a part of. Lowly tavern guard or not, they would know what that mark meant.

Truthfully Monica hadn't spoken up to defend the guard out of concern for his well being. He was part of staff so that meant he had to be prepared and trained for such things. She just wanted to stop this accusing man from potentially causing a riot. Because there was a good chance that would result in even more bodies being dropped. They didn't need more blood being spilled -- it would be a pain in the ass at that point.

Still, she did defend the guard because he didn't deserve the finger pointed at him -- at least not yet. He was handsome and certainly had a gentlemanly charm about him but those things could easily be used as weapons by the right person. Only way she could guarantee his innocence was to stick by him and ensure he wasn't the killer. And if he wasn't, then she would have a valuable ally in finding out the culprit. She stepped forward and revealed her mark to him, the yellow tattoo that bore her assignment. It was fairly high up on her breast but still, pulling the strap to reveal its whole shape would give Zeke quite the show. And he looked and he immediately blushed. Oh lord he was precious. Silver-tongued but as innocent as they come. She had to fight back her laugh, morphing it into a small smile.

The guard went to the door and issued a brief order, wanting to keep foot traffic away from the rest of the inn and potentially the crime scene. She followed him without pause, taking a moment to look back at the man that had spoken before she went out through the door. When they had passed through and back to the hallway, the man pulled off his jacket almost instantly. "Well then. Please don't stop on my account." She said with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest as he rolled up the short sleeve on his right arm. That smirk faded quickly into an oval-shaped scoff as she saw the same mark she had shown him.

"Well fuck me. Small world, isn't it?" She said, managing to reign in her shock so she could laugh. "Sorry bout that, Zeke. I don't work a lot with other people so I've literally no damn idea who else is part of the CC. Really too bad if they have guys like you in it." A slight tease but she continued. "I'm Monica, Monica Belle." This made things a lot easier. Though she was prone to work as a lone wolf, having someone else that was part of the Garou Knights would help solve this mystery much faster. He balked immediately as he asked her to the bedroom, realizing rather quickly how he had phrased it. Still precious and it brought a smirk to her lips again.

"We don't need a bedroom if you really want to check out a body." She said, taking a few steps forward to place herself right before him. She held his gaze for a moment longer, her eyes sparkling with unspoken promises before she blinked them away and smiled, a much more innocent look than before. "But we should inspect the dead body before anything else. I can't imagine the uproar from those people back there if we wasted time doing...other things." With that final tease out, she stepped around him and led the way up the stairs, noting in her mind the room. 4B; it only took a short walk to come upon the wooden frame, shut tight and seemingly unbothered and lacking suspicion.

She leaned against the frame and looked back to Zeke. "You take point, I'll cover you." Despite the phrasing, her features showed just how serious she was now taking this.

He had charm but there was a definite innocence about him. As she stepped forward to shamelessly flirt with him, he took a step back and his cheeks turned an even brighter color of rose. She bit back the laugh that tried to rumble out from her throat, not wanting to insult the poor guy. He was a guild mate after all. But of course, he was quick to respond by trying to play it cool and collected. A brave tactic against someone like Monica, who grinned like a cheshire cat. "Mmm neither would I." She responded back with a sly smirk, giving him the opportunity to actually witness her check him out. He was terribly easy -- and fun -- to tease, though admittedly she was sure nothing would come of it. He seemed to inexperienced and while she was all for teaching, more unseasoned lovers tended to form bonds and well...she was not one to form bonds.

Her irrationally strong senses picked up on the coppery smell immediately, the rusty stench that came from blood. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled it, committing it to memory instinctively. As she pressed her back against the door frame and looked back to him, his tonfa was moving once again. It spun around and hummed as it did so and she eyed it quietly, wondering the reason behind it. Zeke spoke of what awaited them inside and admittedly she was impressed he knew so much. Impressed and wary; knowing intimate details like that usually required an inside source. Or a specific kind of magic.

He rapped against the door for some strange reason, citing that the door was locked and the key was inside. Her mouth was already opening, ready to explain that she could get in without having to cause any structural damage. But his foot was already moving, hitting the door with prejudice and precision. It popped off its hinges and almost fell to the ground, caught in a dip by Zeke before he moved it to the side. "Well there sure is a lot more to you than meets the eye." She said with a smirk as she moved inside the room, unfazed by the body lying in the center of it. She bent down over it, her head cocked to the side, as he detailed further about the intricacies of the room. "Single stab wound to be exact. Right to the heart." Monica said, looking over the injury. "But there is plenty of magic that can get around a locked door easily." She didn't feel the need to explain that she could do that exact thing at the moment. "Nearly impossible to stab yourself without doing so via impalement. And I don't see the knife anywhere." She glanced around the room. "Definitely a murder."

And then the floor outside the doorway creaked.

Requip mage was possible. Their weapons were perfectly capable of disappearing after the user had passed. And they were capable of controlling their weapons with their minds, or at least most of them could. She mused over that as Zeke continued, moving past that conclusion and thinking more on an outside culprit. Another party being in the room and leaving seemed more plausible but how they managed to do it without being noticed was another question. More magic? Who knew.

Monica's attention was on the body when Zeke stood back up, appearing having heard the floorboards whine under pressure. She'd picked up on it as well and her magic was already beginning to pool out from her, her connection to the shadows in the room beginning to grow. But the other mage acted first, releasing a chain out from his spinning tonfa to take hold of the intruder. Monica was on her feet, her right hand open and fingers splayed as she instantly got on guard. White, fluttering magic was already pooling around her digits when the intruder was taken ahold of by Zeke.

And look who it was; the man that had gone so far as to accuse her guildmate of being the murderer. "Can never find good help these days. Is it really that hard to keep one asshole in a hall?" She said with a smirk as she walked up beside Zeke, looking at the gripped man. As he stepped back, he continued to throw accusations at them. She remained quiet, keeping her eyes focused on the man even as Zeke broke down the claims with relative ease. So he wasn't a killer then? Interesting...though it made sense, given how he was armed. Problem was that, while that definitely defended him, it didn't exactly do the same for her. If he knew what she was...

As it turned out, Zeke's explanations was enough to send the man running away. Monica watched him, her eyes narrowed slightly before she turned to the man beside her. "Tell me Zeke. If you're the guilty party and you don't want to draw any attention to you, what would you do?" She asked him, giving him a moment to answer before she spoke once more. "If it were me, I'd try and throw blame around quickly, try rile people up so they're not thinking rationally. And I'd definitely double check to make sure the crime scene was clean, even if being investigated."

A single eyebrow arched as she looked at him. "Know where I'm going with this?"

Zeke had a confidence that came out when he was putting pieces together. Monica had to admit; watching him work was actually quite interesting. And a bit tantalizing. He followed her way of thinking with ease, noting he had observed the connection as well. "Mmm you know just how to treat a lady to a good time, Zeke. Being all on the same page with her during a murder investigation." She hummed quietly, her rather serious visage giving way to a more teasing one in an instant. Say what you will about Monica; she knew how to keep the playful atmosphere ripe even under the dread of something as grim as murder.

Her eyes were drawn to the tonfa once more as he began to spin it with the grace and modesty of a practiced wielder. She glanced back at him, her mouth already parting to make an inappropriate comment involving his use of hard tools when he spoke up again, apparently knowing exactly where their main culprit was going. Something about his weapon allowed him to follow people. How very intriguing.

"It's like he's not even trying to cover his innocence anymore." She said with a slight roll of her eyes and a smirk. Idiot criminals would be idiot criminals; too caught up in their lust for domination and success that the overlooked certain things. No doubt this murderer was feeling sure of himself for one reason or another, though why she couldn't figure out. He'd left the hall against their orders, come to an active crime scene with no real motive or explanation and then had once again ignored their words to go off on his own. Whoever this asshole really was, he was definitely making himself more suspicious by the second and Monica had lost her patience with being nice to him. Zeke had handled him before and he done so with the idea of being passive and peaceful. She respected that -- to a point. But now this man was going into another room with a sleeping guest.

It didn't take her long to conclude it must have been her date. She wasn't trying to brag internally but it would be impressive if he was able to wake from the coma she had put him in; he was quite worn out. This made him the perfect target for someone who thought they could get away with another silent murder. But silent killing was Monica's specialty and she knew how to foil it, especially when her target was acting as negligent as this.

"Because of how awful he is at keeping this under wraps? I completely agree." She spouted out after as she took after Zeke, falling into step right behind him. The mage continued to twirl his tonfa in his hand as he went, the sound of it thrumming the air right in front of her. She'd have to save her prior comment until after all this was done and if she had her way, it would be done real damn soon.

She pushed herself a bit harder and passed him by a few feet. As she glanced over her shoulder at him, she tossed him a small smirk and a wink. "I'll take point on this one. Just point me at the door and cover my ass, handsome."

Oh what a dangerous game he was playing.

Monica had raced past Zeke without a moment's hesitation, not one to shy away from showing just how powerful she was. She'd shot him a look and stated she'd take the lead, to make things even when she had offered him point before. Her words had absolutely no connotation of anything explicit or anything, actually being honest and tame for once. But all of that went out the window the minute he even insinuated what he may cover her with. Her feet slammed into the ground and she twisted around to grab him gruffly by the back of his neck. It was not a violent action and he would get that feeling as she leaned in close to him, her lips a breath away from his. "Depends on what you got to offer. I can think of something in particular." Whatever boundaries she had been holding onto were practically gone with that kind of remark and the smirk she flashed him told him so. Because Monica was just the type to interrupt a pursuit or battle or skirmish just to give a little tension to someone, anyone...hell, everyone.

But just as quickly as she had stopped them both, she was off again and assuming he was in pursuit, they would come upon their would-be serial killer. Zeke led off with his magic, knocking the man's dagger out of his hand and causing it to clatter loudly onto the ground. Something beyond that seemed to terrify him, causing the murderer to look about with a crazed look upon his face. Sonic blasts rushed forward and pelted their target, sending him off kilter and stumbling back. It was a perfect opening for Monica, whose right hand snapped out and was engulfed in shimmering white shadow magic. It bobbed once, twice around her forearm before it straightened out into a pointed edge. The bald-headed woman leapt forward and slashed her arm in a diagonal arc, the edge of the blade passing through the man's still outstretched arm that once held the dagger. Her magic passed right through him like it was made up of mere smog but the pained cry that escaped her target's mouth was enough to tell of the damage it had done.

She bounced past him and slid on the wooden floor boards as she cut off his advance, meanwhile putting herself and Zeke on either side of their murderer. He was surrounding, disarmed and damaged now and the grin that came upon Monica's face was downright vicious. "So he may not be a killer but you won't get that same mercy from me. That little cut I just gave you is only the beginning of your troubles, pa-AH!" It was in that moment Monica became away of the vibrations that apparently surrounded her body. They had touched a rather...sensitive spot and her soft cry was a mixture of surprise and...well pleasure. She shook her head and looked over at Zeke, the gears in her head running like crazy before she figured it out. "Oh you vibrate too? You're like a girl's best friend." She said with a grin. "Let's put this guy down quick. I need to pay you back for this little treatment you've wrapped around me."

Magic:

Zeke was unlucky that they had a murderer to chase after. Comments like that had earned other men and women Monica's full attention previously, despite whatever was happening. But unfortunately her interest in taking down this scumbag was greater than her want for him -- for now. So she allowed herself to get close to him and tease him, fully intending on acting upon these flirty, suggestive words between them afterwards. And then she was off, digging into her magic and injuring their quarry so that he couldn't bring himself to grab his knife back. Not that he would have much of a chance; standing between the two of the Knights, he'd have very little time to act before he was assaulted again.

And that was perhaps the most true statement yet. Even as Monica became aware of the vibrations that encapsulated her body, Zeke was acting once more. The murderer was still suffering from the sonic bullets and the shadow blade cutting through him when his legs were taken out from under him. He fell forward rather quickly but that speed was double-timed when her partner darted around and planted his foot right into the man's neck, sending him to the ground and into a state of complete unconsciousness. It happened so fast that even Monica was a bit surprised, standing there with a cool but wide-eyed expression. Chains erupted from Zeke's tonfa and bound the man, making him their prisoner. The other Knight spoke, saying how he believed this man to be the murderer but perhaps not the one that had arranged the entire thing. She agreed; this man seemed too green, too naive to be the true culprit. But thoughts about the murderer were lost the minute he looked back at her and asked about paying him back.

She was on him before perhaps he had time to realize it. She grabbed for his neck in the same way but there was no teasing this time; she planted her lips right on his and kissed him with all the passion and adrenaline that had been kicked up from the short fight. She honestly didn't care that it was near outside the door of the man she had slept with earlier; Zeke's strength and confident attitude had earned him her desire. Oh and how she wanted to escalate things from there, right in the hallway. But she smelled it; an odor that just reeked of ill intent. No doubt he would have sensed it by now as well, since he seemed keen on vibrations. She pulled away with a snarl. "Perfect fucking timing." She said in a breathy, aggravated voice as she turned away from Zeke to face the new person or persons that had decided to approach.

Magic:

Zack Rose.

Now there was a name she hadn't expected to hear. Her annoyance gave way to a look of confusion and she glanced over her shoulder at Zeke. She'd never had the opportunity to see any pictures of Zack Rose so she couldn't do any kind of comparison. But he was well known, even to someone who had been out of the limelight like Monica. He'd been a God of Ishval, a title bestowed on someone whose power was recognized by the Magic Council as one of the strongest in all of Fiore. He'd also been a guild master at some point, though for the life of her she couldn't remember what guild. He was more of a legend now than an actual person and yet...here he was, at least according to this new intruder.

Monica didn't recognize the man as well as Zeke did, as she had only rented a room hours ago and only spent a certain amount of time in there. But perhaps more interesting was how well this new man knew Zeke. Monica's eyes flickered between the hostage boy and the tavern owner as he seemed more than entertained by her fellow Knight's surprise. He demanded the release of the tied up man in exchange for the boy's life. It was bad; Monica's first inclination was to refuse, as releasing their prisoner put them at a disadvantage. Stalemate was better than being handicapped but there was little she could do when Zeke released their captive's chains and tossed him over. She stood there and watched in neutral silence as the mastermind grabbed ahold of his employee and easily slit the bellhop's throat.

Zeke was already moving by the time the knife had traveled the full distance and was planting his foot right in the owner's face. Boy was Zeke pissed! His voice echoed throughout the entire building, his magic intertwining into his volume and speech. She was admittedly taken a little aback by the sudden show of power. If he was a God of Ishval...well, she could understand that now. But Zeke was quickly thrown from his position, standing over their new enemy, and pinned to the ceiling. Her surprise gave way to agitation as the man continued to mock her fellow Knight. Zeke managed to free himself and drop down but his fist missed its target as the man rolled out of the way and popped up to his feet. His attention was fully on Zack it seemed...an idiotic tactic. An aura of magical energy wrapped around her as her right arm begun to pulse with shadowy power. "You talk too fucking much." She hissed before a blast of pure shadow erupted from her hand and shot outwards, striking the man who had mistakenly hopped up close to her. The beam of darkness dissipated nearly as quickly as it had appeared, striking the owner square in the back and dealing him the full brunt of its power.

Magic:

Monica did so enjoy seeing her attacks hit.

Whoever this Valzen person was, whoever they were to Zack's past, didn't really much matter to her. It wasn't putting her current partner into some kind of emotional turmoil or state where he couldn't operate so there was no reason to have much reaction to it. There had been shock but Zeke had quickly recovered and begun his attack without pause. And since Monica was never one to let her ally fight alone, she was quick to jump right in with the strongest magic attack she had. Oh and it hit with such force. The man was flung forward and right towards Zeke, who rolled forward and unleashed a hard and painful kick right to their enemy's jaw. Valzen fumbled up towards the ceiling but was met with a series of metal chains that bound him.

The bald headed woman smirked. "Cold iron, bitch." She muttered under her breath as she let Zeke have his moment, speaking down to his old enemy. She crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the scene play out before them. Clearly the damage they had done to the fairy had done its job and adding the chains in had rendered him near-catatonic. Zeke was gloating a bit but frankly, it only served to attract Monica to him more. She enjoy a man that could bring their enemies down with not only their strength but with their words.

Her eyes followed Zeke as he turned to look at her, stating that he hoped their group, the Garou Knights, were more loyal than the Malkariss. She answered him in the only way she could; she crossed the distance between them and once again planted her mouth on his, tugging his head forward with all the aggression she always had. When she finally pulled away -- several moments later -- she was still smirking. "You got an hour? I'll show you just how loyal I can be." She said softly to him, giving him a half-lidded stare that promised all sorts of things.

Magic: