Ten of Them Countdown

[Twelveseal]

Without circumstances known, a victim given, weapons and motives provided, any and all speculation is of the wildest sort. The question of each is whether or not they are a murderer, but shouldn't it be "could they become one"? Ane we still do not know what role this Black Shuck and the paranormal shall play. Arondight? A haunted island? A mysterious castle and a large student body? I sense closed rooms on the horizon, in a setting where we may not know the rules, the very laws of nature themselves...

Prepare for trolling, awesome, and an epic project full of mystery, I say! But let's hold off on judgements just yet... After all, any of them could be a murderer.

Or all of them.

[ItsaRandomUsername]

Oh GOD, the 07th Expnasion vibes are overwhelming in this one.

I LIKE IT. >=D

[RacingeR]

Without circumstances known, a victim given, weapons and motives provided, any and all speculation is of the wildest sort. The question of each is whether or not they are a murderer, but shouldn't it be "could they become one"? Ane we still do not know what role this Black Shuck and the paranormal shall play. Arondight? A haunted island? A mysterious castle and a large student body? I sense closed rooms on the horizon, in a setting where we may not know the rules, the very laws of nature themselves...

Prepare for trolling, awesome, and an epic project full of mystery, I say! But let's hold off on judgements just yet... After all, any of them could be a murderer.

Or all of them.

Hmmm... now, my hint senses are tingling somehow...

I can't barely wait for this to start!

[Gaia]

Miko deserves a sound beating! It would teach her some humility, bwahahaha.

[Optimus]

I'm still confused. Killing someone is relatively easy... Just cut a small vein on the neck and the person is done for in less than a minute. However, murder implies that you had an aforethought of malice when killing said person, which is harder. Who knows, there might be someone who could end up kill other by accident while the murderer happily manages to get past under the radar and keep on scheming.

[Tobias]

Miko deserves a sound beating! It would teach her some humility, bwahahaha.

I think a spanking would work better.


dohoho

[hero]

she is kinda hot, in that "the crazy obviously extends to the bedroom" kind of way.

THAT FEELING

[Blue]

I'm still confused. Killing someone is relatively easy... Just cut a small vein on the neck and the person is done for in less than a minute. However, murder implies that you had an aforethought of malice when killing said person, which is harder. Who knows, there might be someone who could end up kill other by accident while the murderer happily manages to get past under the radar and keep on scheming.

Very much my sentiments. All of them are shown to be capable of rash action and eventually violence. Hell, most of us are. Which is why the calmest sticks out the most. Referring to the first one whom I cannot remember now.

Mostly though, since we still don't know enough, I'm gonna go ahead and wildly say that the answer is yes. To all of them.

[Verg Avesta]

5
Green Fields

A sigh. A deep and a long sigh.

“Finally. That yelling and pounding was starting to get annoying…”

Laura de Verde stood up from one of the pews in the small chapel. She had been sitting there, leaning on the wooden surface, and listening to the outburst of Miko Akasawa from the outside. However, as contrast to the girl who had been outside, Laura’s face could not have been any calmer. She dusted off her nun’s robes, and stretched widely, accompanying that with a yawn.

“Genesis, 49:7. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel. I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel”, Laura muttered, before heading towards the altar. She had been in middle of cleaning the whole thing when that damned brute of a woman had appeared. Perhaps now she would be able to finish her job.

There were lots of people in this school who either hated or feared Laura de Verde. She understood this fact very well. After all, even though she was a first year student, she had been butting heads with Miko Akasawa for her whole school year. To her luck, that woman would leave at the end of this year, so at least some of the peace would be returned.

The faculty would be glad about it too, or so Mr. Sheppard always laughed.

In addition to cleaning the altar, there was also one other thing that Laura cleaned. It was an old, old medieval armor, one which had been on this island for ages. After all, the Tudor Boarding School main building had been built on top of the remains of an ancient castle, one which had been owned by a real knight. This armor was actually that knight’s armor that had been found in the basement. It sported a large shield with a crest featuring three crescent moons and a ship on waves, a large, two-handed sword and a mace that would have been enough to crack the said armor open, if swung with enough force.

Most people said this armor was cursed. Especially that damned Rosalund kept telling how the armor was tied to the unfortunate slaughter-incident that had happened on this island many centuries ago. Apparently, this castle had been a small-yet-happy home for the knight, his family and his closest friends and servants. However, this knight had been harboring a terrible secret. One night, one of the servants was on a nightly walk because he could not get any sleep, and due to a freak accident, happened to witness this terrible, terrible secret. After learning what his dear master was actually doing in the castle every night, the man decided that he would put an end to it.

After that, every night, instead of sleeping, the man conducted a plan that would reveal the knight’s secret without putting any of the others in danger. However, during those nights, the man also began witnessing a large, black dog, stalking him in the night. Night-by-night, the dog became bolder, following him everywhere, ever closer. The dog’s red eyes were always watching on the man, whether day or night.

--------------- And so, one day, the man could not take it anymore. Instead of revealing the secret, he simply chose to kill the knight. After killing him, he took the knight’s armor, and ventured into the night, swearing to kill the black dog.

He never came back. Instead, every night after that, one of the residents of the castle was killed in a horribly brutal manner. Until there was no one left. Indeed, it was as that Christie said…

“Then there were none.”

Laura raised her head after hearing someone speak up. She had not realized that there was someone other in the church than her, but now that she looked, the back door was clearly open. It was her luck that Miko Akasawa was the kind of idiot who did not realize there were two doors to this place.

“……..Oh? Hanna Svartlik? What might you be doing here?” Laura asked, slightly interested. It was strange for the self-appointed “Hero of Justice” to come to visit the chapel like this.

“Nothing much. Just thought to drop by, since that flock of angry birds had disappeared”, Hanna simply answered. She walked over to one of the pews and sat down. Then, he folded her hands and looked at the green-haired girl.

“So? What was that about? You have to admit, that mob outside looked rather interesting, didn’t they?” Hanna asked, to which Laura simply shrugged.

“I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care. As long as they don’t try anything with me, I don’t care how much they yell or make noise”, she answered honestly. This got the interest of Hanna, as she raised her eyebrows.

“Really? Then what would you do if they tried to do anything to you? Or rather……what would you do if Miko Akasawa tried to do anything to you?”

Laura simply scoffed.

“I would break her arms. That should keep her quiet for a while.”

The answer clearly caught at least Hanna by surprise, as her eyes widened a bit, and her mouth hung open. She did not let it show for a long, though, and soon there was the same “know-it-all” face she usually wore.

“………Really? That is an interesting answer. You’re not afraid of Miko Akasawa?” she asked, as if she had not believed what she was hearing.

“Of course not. What is there to be afraid about a pitiful woman like her?” Laura shrugged, as if not understanding the point of the question. “She is flesh and blood too, and she feels pain like anyone else. Fearing a single human being in this life is purely pointless, since they can die just as easily as you can. All you have to do is to make them realize that.”

At this point, Hanna Svartlik did not even try to hide her surprise anymore. She openly stared at Laura, who was still continuing cleaning the armor. The black-haired girl leaned forward, and there was somewhat dangerous smile playing on her lips. The kind of smile that appeared on the faces of those who found a person they really could not get along with.

“You’re starting to sound a quite dangerous person, Ms. Verde. Does this mean I should start preparing myself for eventual clash with you, some day?” she asked, not mincing words.

Laura stopped her cleaning, looked at Hanna Svartlik sternly, and spoke her answer…

“Why? It’s not like you have done anything bad. I have no desire to hurt someone for no reason”, she spoke the truth. “I am a good person, after all.”

There was a long silence after that sentence, which had pretty much overturned the previous, intimidating aura the green-haired girl had given. Hanna Svartlik found herself mouth open for the third time this day, before finally snapping it shut and standing up from the pew. She walked over to the altar, near Laura.

“Really……? That is a relief to hear”, she spoke. “But it’s really our fault, too, you know. The way you speak……it’s easy to give someone the wrong idea that way.”

“I see.”

“Well, take care then, Ms. Verde”, Hanna said and waved goodbye for the other girl. “Hopefully you are the type of person who can stand by her words. After all, it would be a great shame to find out that you were actually just as trigger happy as any normal human being. That would be quite ironic, considering what kind of saint you are playing in here.”

And with those words, she left. Laura de Verde was left alone in the chapel, cleaning the armor that the students whispered to be cursed. The green-haired girl did not even bother to look after Hanna, since there wasn’t really anything to speak between them. Laura did not particularly care about the reason why Hanna had come here in the first place, or why she had left so quickly. She was just another student after all.

“Still…”

The door closed, leaving Laura alone in the chapel.

“I do really hate her kind of people. More than anything in this world.”

Could it be?

Would you believe?

Tell me…

Is she a murderer?

FOUR ARE LEFT

[Twelveseal]

Interesting... I wonder who the victim will be... What the manner of death will be... And perhaps... Do I see a more subtle foreshadowing in one of the more recent posts?

Interesting indeed. I'm looking forward to this, Verg-sensei.

[ItsaRandomUsername]

*still following intently*

[Verg Avesta]

Do I see a more subtle foreshadowing in one of the more recent posts?

You'd be surprised of how much there has been hints of what's to come.

[Twelveseal]

I was going to say something valid here, but I realized that it could be a spoiler if I'm right. And yeah, there's been a lot already, curses, rumors, black dogs and secret messages, interactions between major and minor characters, names dropped... It's quite rich already.

[Blue]

I wonder who Laura was referring to at the end... Hanna or Miko. Hmm...

So... since the armour is on display. That means there isn't a crazy Jason Voorhees running around the island right? ...right? >.>

[Brynhilde]

Since I haven't seen too many of Verg's ingenious plots, I shall keep observing.

[hero]

Stupid finals force me to stay behind!

Will catch up tomorrow.

[Verg Avesta]

4
Orange Sunset

“So how was it, Ms. Hanna?”

On the couch, a girl in slightly different school uniform leaned back and gave a great big yawn. Her eyes looked at Hanna Svartlik, who had just arrived to the room, with a mixture of tranquility and curiosity. The latter gave a somewhat scrutinizing glare at the frilly skirt of the younger girl, but this time, refrained from commenting about it. Instead, she walked over to a chair and slumped down on it, her shoulders drooping like leaves in the rain.

“No luck. Laura de Verde is not the type of person I can easily deal with”, the girl said with a bit of a dejected expression. “What about you, Sara? How was your day?”

Sara Jeanne Copperhill gave an aristocratic laugh and waved one of her hands covered in silk glove. She then put away one annoying, curly, peach-colored strand of hair from her face, and concentrated her orange eyes at Hanna.

“Oh, you know me, Ms. Hanna. I had, once again, the most pleasant day”, she answered, her thick southern accent shining through. “It is mostly thanks to the wonderful people my classmates are.”

“Ugh……sometimes I’m beginning to wonder if they are taking advantage of your overly-good personality”, Hanna said and smiled tiredly. “You’re way too polite for your own good, you know that? You should learn to say “no” sometimes.”

“But that would be impolite of me, would it not?” Sara Jeanne asked, her eyes showing that even thinking of that was a blasphemy. “In this world, being impolite is the first step to the ruination. After all, if everyone can act politely and kindly towards each other, there would not be any troubles in this world.”

“If only it were so easy…”

Hanna let her head rest on top of the table, and gazed outside, where the sun had began to set. Outside, she could see two boys brawling it out. Apparently, the brown-haired one was losing to the one with black hair, and after a while of fighting, they both collapsed to the ground. Both stared at the sky for a while, before bursting into laughter.

“Wow, what a cliché……is this supposed to be some kind of television drama?” Hanna muttered, but was surprised by Sara, who had suddenly appeared next to her, gazing at the scene outside with great interest.

“Is it not wonderful? Those two gentleman are putting their feelings into their fists, and allowing each other to feel them. Ahh……this is youth. This is how young gentlemen should be…” Sara blabbered with a dreamy expression on her face. “With the sunset as their background, they are as if they were out of a painting of sorts.”

“I think it’s just idiotic”, Hanna muttered, before giving a sly look at Sara. “But how about girls? Today, I saw that Miko Akasawa would have liked to beat the crap out of Laura de Verde. Would that be as wonderful?”

“Of course not”, Sara said sternly as she returned to her place. “To think that ladies of their caliber would stoop so low……I am greatly saddened and troubled by such behavior. They are nothing better than a bunch of tomboys if they continue such foolery.”

---------------- It was clear that to Sara Jeanne Copperhill, the world had already assigned places for both men and women.

The two girls continued to enjoy their evening by brewing some tea, and reading the newspapers of the day. The boat that traveled between the main land and the island usually brought the day’s newspapers with them, and today was no exception. Only during the winter, especially on the winter vacation, when the blizzards were heavy, would the boat sometimes have trouble arriving to the island at all. Some of the students who had stayed behind for the whole winter vacation told that there were instances when the boat could not come for three days. Luckily, the school was always prepared for the worst, and there would be enough food for few weeks in the school, in addition to the island having its own well.

But these two had never had the bad luck of being forced to spend their winter vacation on the Tudor Island.

While Sara Jeanne concentrated on the paper, Hanna poured herself some herbal tea, and then walked over to the other girl to pour some in her cup, too. Sara accepted it graciously, before concentrating on her paper, once again. It was like there was something that really piqued her interest, and she kept reading the same article over and over and over again. Hanna smiled a bit, seeing that slightly childlike behavior, before clearing her throat.

“Sara? Did you find something interesting?” she asked. Sara nodded, twice.

“Yes, I certainly did, Ms. Hanna.” Her reply came with a hint of excitement in it.

“Oh, what is that article about then?” Hanna continued her questioning. Sara looked at the title of the article, as if to make sure, and then answered in her usual tone:

“The arsonist who burnt down a school building full of children got dismembered and murdered in the jail just the other day, it seems.”

Hanna froze. The sheer absurd difference between the tone Sara had used, and the topic of the article, was enough to cause a chill go down her spine. Sara directed her eyes once more at Sara, who seemed to be still reading, nonchalantly, with a small smile on her face, the same article over and over again.

“Is that………………..interesting, in your…….opinion?” she forced out a question. Sara nodded.

“It certainly is. It is not often that a scum like that, who has escaped the hand of law to the ridiculous establishment known as prison, gets the ending they deserved. I am even astonished by the fitting brutal and deliciously painful way the other prisoners decided to execute him. They ripped his arms off, before moving to the legs, making sure he lived through the whole process, before finally stabbing him repeatedly in the chest, filling his lungs with blood and letting him dye a slow, agonizing death between dying of blood loss and choking into his own blood. It is almost ironical if you start to think about it, is it not?” Sara Jeanne explained the situation in greater detail.

“And why…..do you think that ending suited him?” Hanna continued. Sara Jeanne looked at her, surprised, as if she was asking stupid question.

“But is that not obvious? He managed to evade the law that is, in its current form, wholly unusable when punishing criminals. Crime is a crime, is it not? It will not go away. You cannot bring back someone who has died, can you not? So why should these scum of the earth be allowed to live, when the ones they killed were not allowed? I do declare that a simple absurdity”, Sara Jeanne answered, never once raising her voice. The way she talked about such things with a voice as calm and tranquil as now was far more frightening than anything else.

But…

But still…….

“So you’re saying that in our times, we should kill those who have killed others? That it would be the only option?” Hanna asked, eyes covered by shadows.

“Yes, that is true. And to those who have inflicted pain and suffering unto others, we should also inflict pain and suffering”, she declared.

Hanna raised her head, meeting the eyes of the girl who had just declared that it would be alright to kill people because they had killed someone. She opened her mouth, and…

“Ha! That’s right! Those kinds of shitty bags of flesh should just die!!”

“Yes, that would be the most logical course of action.”

“Ahahahahaha, die, die!! Die!”

“Fufufufufufu~”

Their laughter went through the door, and echoed in the corridor. And anyone who walked in the corridor, could have never guessed such a happy laughter came from the mouths of two girls, who had just declared that they would be alright in condemning people to death.

Could it be?

Would you believe?

Tell me…

Is she a murderer?



THREE ARE LEFT

[Brynhilde]

Hanna Svartlik hasn't gotten her own piece yet, has she...?

[Hyarion]

Right, I thought she was going to be next too after Green's piece mentioned Black's last name.

That'd be three pieces where Black plays a significant part, maybe even one or two more. I wonder if it's mostly convenience, or if she actually does play a larger/different role here?

Though I wouldn't be too surprised if she did. I mean, we may not be in the Nasuverse, but "Heroes of Justice" do tend to hog the spotlight.

...Wait. How is Verg going to do Black's title text?

[RacingeR]

Hmmm... which colours are left, apart from Black?