vatheon | Life's no fun without a good scare

It starts some time around 3am, Tuesday morning. Thin whispers of fog start appearing all throughout Vatheon, creeping through the narrow, winding streets, up the steps, and over the park. It starts in the lower district, but as the night progresses and daylight approaches, it spreads to the other districts as well, growing thicker and thicker as it does. By the morning rolls around, the mist is thick enough that visibility has been compromised greatly, and the temperature seems to have dropped a few degrees, an odd chill filling the air.

And on the walls, there are stains.

They are infrequent at first, just a odd ruddy brown smear and a oddly bright red drop here and there, but the closer to the Plaza, the more numerous they become. There is a large smear across the steps leading up to the Plaza, as if something big was dragged up them. In one place the blood -- for it is blood, there is no deny it at this point -- pools thickly as if whoever was responsible took a casual break there, leaving the poor victim to bleed out on the steps.

On the plaza, the mist is thinner, but that is no relief. Rather, it just functions to make the gruesome scene all the more clearer.

A woman is draped upside down on the coral. Or, well, woman. It was once a woman, certainly, but now it is nothing more than something straight out of a nightmare. The flesh seems to have been torn carelessly from her limbs here and there, showing the white gleam of her bones, her nurse outfit torn as if raked apart by giant claws and her head...

well, it isn't there anymore.

The ground in front of her is smeared with blood as well. But where the previous smears had been accidental, these are deliberate, long lines curving and meeting to spell out

hel pm e

But no help had been forthcoming, clearly. No, it seems that this murder, this brutal murder, was nothing more than a game to whoever did it. The walls of the buildings surrounding the plaza are coated in bloody, spelling out a long string of mocking 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA's and directly in the center, behind the coral.

Who is next?

The notice board seems to have been hit too. The killer did not tear down any of the notices on the board already, but they did cover the entire board with blood-stained sheets of paper, each adorned with the same text over and over and over again.

Chop chop, sweet Charlotte Chop chop till she's dead Chop chop, sweet Charlotte Chop off her hand and head.

For those brave enough to check, no, the poor girl still has both her hands. Was the killer just sloppy, or does this mean this is not Charlotte? So many unanswered questions, more born every passing moment.

Who had done this? Why? Where they going to strike again? And why had nobody heard anything?

[ooc note: Consider this your mingle log. Have fun, go forth, threadjack.

And as a further note, the fog does not seem to be clearing up as the week goes on.

]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Link manages to not aim a slash in the man's direction, and instead gives him a frustrated look. Don't sneak up on heroes like that. :| They're very edgy when surrounded by so much death.]

I'm Link. Who are you?

[Shizuo isn't really concerned about that. He's kind of a special case, as close to indestructible and immune to pain as a human being can get. He narrows his eyes. He's heard of Link from Zelda before, but it doesn't change the fact that talking to someone who looks like Sola is a little weird. Granted Shizuo knows that it is technically Sola who looks like Link, and not the other way around, but details.]

I'm Shizuo.

[He's just going to cut right to the chase here.]

Do you know Zelda?

[For all he knows this is another impostor who thinks he's Link.]

Yes, we met when I first arrived not too long ago.

[Link takes a moment to glance around the area. With all of this fog, a foe could attack at any time and with surprise on its side.]

I'm not her Link, though. I'm... I'm from a different point in time before theirs.

[Shizuo's mind isn't on the fog or even the body. He's a one-track focus kind of guy - he'll get back to thinking about those things in a minute.]

Oh.

[So Zelda had met him - that's good. Though, Shizuo does wonder why she didn't tell him. He had thought that they were back on a good track now that he is able to talk to her without consequence, again...but maybe she's concerned about trusting him.

Or maybe she's just been busy. They were supposed to have cake later that day - maybe she planned on telling him then.]

That's...too bad. But even if you aren't hers, you're still friends and everything right?

[Seriously, how many Links were there running around? Shizuo just wants to make sure he has good intentions and isn't going to go around pestering Zelda in the wrong way like Sola did when he first arrived.]

I would never do anything to hurt her, if that's what you're asking.

[His tone is icy, as if the mere idea of him doing such a thing is too horrible to think about. While this Zelda is not his, it's obvious that he can't help but think of her in that way.

Love is a powerful thing.]

[Ah - good. Shizuo approves of that reaction. He's pretty protective of Zelda himself - even if he's probably caused her more trouble than anything else - and so he's glad to hear that Link is so bothered by the thought of hurting her.]

That was what I was asking.

[He nods.]

Good.

[And as far as he's concerned they can drop that, then. The intimate details of Link's timeline and relationship with Zelda aren't really his business, so he isn't going to pry. Instead, he'll glance around at the foggy and mess of blood and return to worrying about that.]

This is pretty sick. I heard some nasty things about this place when I first got here, but nothing like this has happened in the months that I've been here.

[It was easy to get lulled into a false sense of security. The curses, while not always fun, were nothing compared to this.]

What are both of you doing here?

[Sola's tone is accusatory as he fades out of the fog and into plain sight, obviously deeply shaken but with a determined look on his face.]

Shouldn't you be protecting people? Link, go find Zelda! It's what you're supposed to do. You too, Shizuo! You should be protecting her or Izaya.

[SO AWKWARD. Sheik shifts from his Link-stalking position to take out his SFC.]

Please tell Sola and Link that I am fine and not to worry. And... do not mention that I'm watching.

[Creeeeperrrrr]

What makes you think I haven't been trying to find her?

[No, seriously, it shouldn't be this hard to find a princess in all of this mess. But everyone he's asked either has no idea of who he is talking about or they haven't seen her at all.]

[Sola is kind of right. Standing around isn't doing any good.]

I -

[But his SFC sounds a little alert, so Shizuo interrupts himself to look at it. Ah - a message from Zelda. That's kind of awkward. Shizuo puts it back and tries to be really nonchalant about it.]

Izaya's coming, I've been texting him. And, um, Zelda is fine. So don't worry. I talked to her a little earlier. [That is true, even if he is going off of her most recent text message. Shizuo decides to distract from the moment by reaching in his pockets for his cigarettes.]

Even if you talked with her before that doesn't mean she can't still be in danger. I mean, there's obviously a murderer around!

[Way to state the obvious, Sola. He looks pretty shaken though. It's one thing to fight monsters, but something as gruesome as this... well, he's never encountered it and with a shudder, he hopes he never does again.]

I should find Ion...

Life's no fun without a good scare

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Threadjack~! Sola-> Link -> Shizuo

Half-jack, only Shizuo can see these texts

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