Good Cop, Bad Cop [Job/Rina]

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Sorano stepped off the train at the station, feeling the soft pressure of Hoshi’s paws land upon her shoulders as her own feet met the solid concrete station floor. Lavanitir Port City, huh? It was a place absolutely screamed Black Rose, the name of the guild that had once resided here, although she hadn’t really been in touch with anyone of that particular group of people in quite a long time. Striding determinedly down the station, she fed her ticket through the machine and stepped out into the hustle and bustle of a port city. The train station, thankfully, was close enough to the middle of the city that the teen could quickly make her way down the streets, only turning at a few blocks to make her way to the police station, where she had been summoned.

It wasn’t at all surprising when she’d been summoned for the job, honestly. The explosion of the ship as it came into the harbor was something guilds all over Fiore had probably heard about, and after a few weeks of constant interrogation and investigation, the authorities had yet to find the one to blame. Once any case in Fiore took this long a period of time, mages were always called in to help. The only thing that Sorano found odd was why they hadn’t called a Black Rose mage, seeing as they would be more familiar to the city. Perhaps it was due to how she was known for her diplomatic skills in solving an issue – she heard this would be an interrogation, anyways. It was something she could probably easily solve with her aural vision and charmed tongue, but it always looked better when she could get the person to ‘fess up with only questions and tricky phrasing.

Well, that and the fact that there was someone whom she would be meeting up with to perform the job together at the station. One of the newer members of their guild, the Rina girl, right? Posing the question to Hoshi, she received an affirmative and opened the swinging door to the station. “Hello there, Sorano Granon, hired mage mercenary from Fairy Tail here for the interrogation,” she said to the reception.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

“Ms. Granon? You’re down in room 23, right there on the left. Good luck with this one, I heard the suspects are all hard to crack.” The redheaded secretary shot a sympathetic look at the younger girl, nodding her down the hallway. Surprisingly, she didn’t express any particular shock at seeing she was so young. Probably she could sense her magical signature, huh. Nodding a thank you to the lady, she turned back at the sudden sound of feet slapping across the pavement outside. She shrugged at the disturbance, then turned to go down the hall. Her feet padded softly over the linoleum, leading her down to the room. Knocking twice, the motion was returned with a tired-sounding “Come on in.”

Sorano turned the handle, stepping cautiously into a brightly lit room with an officer tidying up the tables in front of her on the table. “Ah, hello there. Are you, uh, Miss Sorano Granon?” He paused for a moment after looking up and seeing a teenaged girl standing in the doorway. “You’re the guild master of Fairy Tail?” He blinked in surprise, but nodded back when she made her affirmation known. “Um, okay then, er, the suspects are in the next room, should I call them in for you? How would you like to go about this?”

Considering for a moment, Sorano replied, saying, “I think it would be best to interview them one by one. I’m still waiting for a guildmate to help interrogate them though, so do you mind waiting a bit?” She then dragged a chair over from the wall to the table, sitting down to sift through her tools.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

It was obvious the detective felt rather awkward with Sorano hanging around, as he adjusted his collar, paced around briefly, sat down, and stood up again. Trying to think of some way to break the tension, Sorano just sort of sat there, wishing she had brought Hoshi with her. Usually, the exceed was a great way to open a conversation, Hoshi being far more social than she was, but the feline had wanted to stay at the guild today, finding interrogations too much of a bore. It wasn’t like she would be of much help, either. The exceed was great in combat these days, and a terrific scout, but there would be no combat – only words and other methods of ‘persuasion’ that the exceed wasn’t really up for.

Tapping her foot softly against the floor, both people in the room were greatly relieved at the sound of footsteps pounding into the room, the door opening and letting in a green-haired girl, obviously having rushed here. She quickly apologized about her tardiness, and was quickly followed up by the detective bringing out the first suspect. A teenaged guy with mousy brown hair came out of the room next door, looking scared and uncertain of himself.

“Hello, please take a seat.” Gesturing to the suspect chair at the front of the room, the letter mage’s eyes easily followed his movements across the room. While she was great in diplomatic situations, Sorano really possessed no emotions and was unable to try and ease him into a more comfortable state. That could be either a good or bad thing, but the star of the show here was to be Rina, not her. She would just help where she could for this one. “Why don’t you start, Ms. Everglades?”

Although Sorano hadn’t really interacted much with the older girl besides their first introduction where she’d given her her guild tattoo, she knew that the girl used some sort of nature requip magic. Seeing as requip magic was usually a violent sort of ability, it would be interesting to see whether Rina would utilize words or actions in order to get the guy to say something.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Sorano watched passively from the side, observing the subject as well as Rina’s movements. This person acted very shy and fidgety, but she knew from experience that the shy image could just be an act. There wasn’t enough for her to judge him yet. Her attention was quickly taken away from the teen, however, and directed towards the older mage. Rina revealed a hammer made of flowers, peeling off a petal and handing it to the subject. A comfort tool, hmm? Did it contain some sort of aroma or essence that would cause his tongue to loosen, or mind to muddy? Perhaps a chemical, then, to ease him into a more comfortable state? Rina seemed to be going with a friendly tactic, smiling broadly at the man before warping her weapon away.

Only after easing him into this more comfortable state did she turn to read the case file. Interesting choice of actions… Having skimmed the files before Rina had arrived, Sorano knew the general details of what events were connected to the guy. It was definitely enough to make him seem suspicious, and she was glad that the law enforcement here was good enough to consider all options before just instantly accusing him. Then again, it was a city formerly run by Black Rose… The people were bound to be a level above the rest, right?

In the next moment, Rina’s voice rang out throughout the room, asking the suspect who the person in the footage was. He would answer that it was a mere beggar he had wished to assist. Interesting… But it wasn’t a convincing excuse, was it? While he didn’t flinch, it was difficult to tell in these situations. Good criminals didn’t lie easily. In fact, if this criminal had been good enough, none of these suspects would even be the person. Sending people to ask for an alias from the beggar man, they confirmed that the man was a beggar who has received groceries from the man before them. Still, there were doubts remaining in Sorano’s mind. It was common for there to be accomplices, easily won over with a few coins to hide a person’s tracks. Narrowing her gaze, she zoomed in on the man’s emotions, searching for guilt or suspicious delight. She found none, only trembling relief, which didn’t really tell her anything either way. Rina was, well, she was trusting. She had room to grow, and Sorano was sure she’d get better in time. Leaning over towards, the detective, she whispered in his ear: “Don’t let him go yet. Keep him in that room.” The man raised his eyebrows, but agreed readily.

As the first suspect left the area, the detective gestured in the next one, a pink-haired girl, probably in her twenties wearing black fishnet leggings and generally very little clothing. Her neon hair was done up in a messy ponytail, and her outfit consisted mainly of black and silver. Sorano suspected that the woman probably wore heavy makeup on most days, but came in barefaced for the interrogation. Her eyes slipped over the files again, papers she had spread out all over the table for easier access. “Hello, Miss Ariana Yinh. Let’s hope this interrogation goes along smoothly, yes?”

Ariana, the girl in question sat confidently in the chair, leaning back with her legs crossed. It was obvious that she wasn’t scared by Sorano’s presence. “It will, if you’re willing to cooperate,” she said as a response, the corners of her mouth tilting upwards. Cocky, huh. The letter mage sighed, feeling tired already. So this was the sort of person she was dealing with. “Well, mutual cooperation would always be appreciated. My name is Sorano Granon, and I am a hired mage here to deal with this particular case. I have been instructed to conduct this interrogation…” Here, she tilted her head up from the files, showing the complete and utter lack of emotions within her eyes, before continuing, “through any methods necessary. I am not some legal mage here to bend to your every snarky comment.”

She extracted a pad of paper from the mirror attached to one of the folds in her skirt, and twirled her fingers, manifesting a pencil into existence. The evidence for this lady was based heavily on her previous criminal records, involving breaking into houses, and various attempts at thievery. She was also known to be associated with a black market bomb manufacturer that the government had yet to crack down on as well. The woman had been found running up the beach, wearing a wetsuit and equipped with magical scuba gear on the day of the explosion, and caught by authorities afterwards. How she wasn’t in jail already, though, with her history of sloppy crimes and multiple arrests was beyond Sorano.

“What were you doing that day on the beach?”

The girl smiled, twirling a few strands of pink hair through her painted fingernails. “Rescuing a kitty cat,” she purred, arranging her features neatly into a saddened expression. “I failed, of course, and now I’m being interrogated for attempting to do service to the community. What a pain.” Suddenly, the letter mage tensed, feeling a wave of energy flooding the room around her. It only tickled the edges of her brain due to the resistance to magical influences that she’d built up over the years, but she could see the detective nodding along with the girl’s very weak excuse. “Well then, miss, why did you run away from the scene?”

The girl scowled, looking irritated that Sorano wasn’t buying her story. “Well, look at my files, great mage! I’m a criminal! The lady who owned the cat knew me, and she hates me, like all of them do. She would’ve accused me of killing the cat, wouldn’t she?” Instantly, Sorano knew what trick this girl had, as her thoughts were nudged to focus on the cat issue instead of the bombing. From what she could tell, Ariana was no mage, just a regular human being. Instead, she probably possessed an illegal magical item, one that could manipulate and redirect thoughts. No wonder she’d been able to avoid jail time so easily in the past. Narrowing her gaze, Sorano located the bright spot of energy in her earring, and marched up to the girl.

Ariana’s eyes widened in shock, and she reached up with a shriek to protect her earring. However, Sorano would quickly flip a knife over her knuckles, poising it at the bottom of Ariana’s throat. “Freeze. Hands away from the item.” Instantly, the detective was on his feet, opening his mouth to object. Again, the item’s influence was upon him. “Don’t move, sir. I have this handled.” Blinking in surprise, the detective obediently sat back down, Sorano’s influence overpowering that of the object’s. Carefully, the letter mage would undo the earring, extracting it and placing it within her own palm. She touched the charm on her wrist to the object, hearing audio pop up in her ear on the item’s origins and usages, her own earrings flashing a calm blue. Hearing about the power switch on the back, she easily switched it off. It was a deviously crafted device, designed to cloak its power unless in use, which explained why it could get past all the magic item filters.

“Hmm. Nice find here. Too bad I’ll be confiscating it. Now tell the truth, miss. What happened that day?” Her voice remained as monotonous as ever, and her hand remained stable at the base of Ariana’s throat. Too terrified to play any other tricks, the girl gulped and replied, “I-I swear I didn’t bomb anything, I just, ugh, I just g-got a tip that there was going t-to, um, be an event in the h-harbor, and wanted to steal something f-from some other criminal’s c-capture… I don’t know who did it! I swear!” She sniffled, and Sorano’s vision reassured her that the girl was terrified out of her wits, and not lying. “Alright.” Turning to the detective, she removed the knife, sending it back into its belt. “I don’t know what your laws here are for attempted thievery, but I’m confident she’s not going to escape her jail time this time around.” The man nodded, looking nervous and more than a bit disturbed, before leading her out. Sorano returned to her seat, before crushing the earring beneath her heel. It was too dangerous to remain intact.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Looking up as Rina called in the next suspect, an old female sailor came in, accompanied by an eye patch and a cane. From her expression, it could be seen that she looked pretty pissed off, and her aura matched the look. Rina greeted her pleasantly, in a way that made Sorano wonder why she wasn’t in a legal guild. However, the old woman lashed out angrily at her, refusing to play the nice game. Watching calmly from the side, Sorano witnessed Rina’s retort, then the sudden movement from the old lady. That… That wasn’t the smartest of moves, was it? If this woman was in fact a criminal, she didn’t seem particularly bright. However, she was easily tackled by Rina, who seemed to be skilled in physical combat at least. And then… Oh jeez, really?

Riasing an eyebrow, Sorano watched as Rina seemed to spill out part of her story to the stranger, who complied and smiled as if impressed. She had a personal policy to never let her opponent know much personal information about her, because it could always be used against her. It seemed that Rina’s little spilling of stories calmed the woman down though, so that was okay. The files reported that the woman had a mean streak and her last ship had blown up as well. She was also experienced enough a sailor to have access to plenty of arms dealers – probably the most experienced person on that cargo ship besides the captain himself. It made sense, that was for sure. However, all these suspects made some sense, so who knew what the woman really did?

As expected, the woman was gruff and unapologetic in her responses, refusing to answer them normally. Well, until Rina asked what ship she had sailed on before. It stimulated a sudden laugh from the old sailoress, and she would bark out something about giving them a lesson. “Sadly I couldn’t, before their ship blew up.” Huh? It didn’t sound too much like a confession though…

Rina was getting impatient, from the looks of her aura, and she pulled out a sword made of a beautiful flower. What commenced was a bold and justice-filled speech about how she wouldn’t hurt them, and Sorano raised that eyebrow again. It had been awhile since they’d had someone like Rina in the guild, with how much they had changed. Members who were determined to remain legal had left almost instantly, and those left behind were the tougher ones, the mages who were truly neutral and might even be seen as dark if looked at wit the right eyes. It was like Heero’s age of rule again, when they were still warriors of justice who served the magic council, no matter how chaotically. “Will you please comply now?”

The lady agreed, and the interview continued. “Who is this Robert Jackson?” Ah, yes. A crew member who was reported to have a frosty relationship with the sailor, wasn’t he? The suspect in question reacted violently to his name, spitting on the floor in a gesture of hatred. “I hear he died with that bitch of a mistress on that boat.” Hmm… An old lover, huh? Old people sure had long memories. Barely reacting to the maniacal laughter that rose up from the sailor, she instead turned to Rina who asked if she wanted to continue.

From what the old lady had said so far, she did seem like the likely culprit. However, according to Fioran law, you couldn’t condemn someone without the right evidence or their voluntary confession, and neither was true in this situation. “Did you get your revenge, madam?” Kneeling before the old lady, Sorano cupped her filthy cheek with one pale hand, looking up at her icily. “Did you kill that bastard and his bitch?” Stirring the vengeful anger of the lady with Luna’s abilities, Sorano prompted the woman to confession. Reeling her head upwards, the sailor cackled gleefully.

“Why yes! Of course I did! Haha!”