Hermes stood there, frozen, staring at the corpse as his blood ran cold.
He turned to look at Molly, who was on the floor, staring in horror as pale as a ghost.
During his daze, it seemed like two others had also found the body.
On the opposite side of the body, a tall pale woman with sharp grey eyes and long white hair cascading down her back stood with her hand over her mouth. She was wearing a white fluffy jacket and denim shorts, definitely not someone who belonged in this school environment.
The other person that had arrived came out of the classroom to Hermes' right, it was a man the same height as him, he had dark skin and long grey dreadlocks that covered his eyes. He was wearing a black jacket with white fur along the hood, a strange black captain's hat and matching black jeans.
The man was dazed too, his mouth agape, revealing a set of sharp teeth, distracting Hermes from the corpse for a brief moment before he turned his attention back to the matter.
He walked closer, the stench of blood invading his nose as his heart pounded in his chest.
However, the closer he got to the corpse, the more calm he became. Which was very strange, this didn't escape Hermes' mind, but he would worry about it later.
He turned around again, to see if anyone else had arrived and saw Slim looking over at the corpse with a hint of interest before turning away and muttering. "Nevermind, they were weird looking anyway."
Hermes shook his head and knelt down beside the corpse, not bothering to check for a pulse or even to close the ugly woman's eyes.
He did however, feel a strange pull, like something was influencing him into touching the corpse.
And so, he outstretched his hand and placed his palm on the only place that wasn't drenched in blood. The back of the woman's head.
And when he did, a bell suddenly rang from every single speaker in the building, making everyone flinch.
And then, a familiar childish voice followed.
"Ahem… A body has been discovered. Hermes has found Rage's corpse!"
It was at this moment that more people started to arrive, Hermes saw Reaper arrive as well as the guy who had his arm removed.
"Let's start our first investigation. You'll be able to find information about the case in the tablet you have been given."
Meaka's voice gave them all that last bit of information before going silent again.
Hermes quickly understood, pulling out the device that had displayed his ultimate beforehand.
The device displayed a new set of information.
—
Time of death : 11:00 - 13:54
Location : Hallway
Cause of Death : Multiple Wounds
—
However, when Hermes looked back at the body, his eyes suddenly glistened.
His black pupils constricted and changed into a bright white.
The change was so subtle that no one was able to see, maybe it was because they were more focused on the corpse, but Hermes was glad no one saw.
But what he could see…
Hermes' vision shifted, the world turned monochrome and it was as if time rewound itself.
His eyes narrowed as he saw Rage carefully rummaging through the drawers all by herself.
It was a moment later that a figure appeared from the corner leading to reception.
Rage looked at the figure and shifted uncomfortably, Hermes knew the girl was shy, so he didn't know whether or not it was because the figure had done something or that she was just really shy.
Either way, the figure approached her, making Rage seem even more uncomfortable.
And then—
The figure pulled out what looked to be a knife and plunged it into Rage's stomach.
Hermes watched in horror as he saw the woman's eyes widen and then soften as she apparently lost consciousness.
The figure stabbed once, then another time above, then another time in her chest before stabbing once more in her throat before quickly backing up so as to not get drenched in blood.
The figure stabbed back and shook the blood off the knife, looking around as if waiting for something to happen.
And then, something did happen.
The doors leading to the gymnasium suddenly creaked open, making the figure step back, knowing they were about to get caught.
But then…
*CLICK!*
Everything went dark.
Hermes' gaze narrowed again. 'It's like… the killer knew the blackout would happen, it's like the killer used the blackout to escape after committing the murder. But how? And why? If the killer had a weapon, couldn't they have just caused the blackout and been done with it?' He thought, still observing the scene as the murderer ran off towards reception.
'Hm? Could it be… maybe Noobie scared them off? I mean the way he was waving around that gun…' Hermes continued to theorise before suddenly, his pupils returned to black and he was back in the present time.
However, something was different now. Something different about his tablet.
It read…
—
Time of death : 12:57
Location : Hallway
Cause of Death : Knife
—
"Huh… neat." He muttered, glancing around at the slowly growing crowd of people that began to form around the corpse of Rage.
But Hermes' attention was elsewhere, he brushed through the crowd and followed in the direction that the murderer had gone, down the hallway towards the reception.
And when he turned the corner, there it was…
A knife, covered in dark red blood.
"Hmm? Seems you found the weapon, fatty." A familiar voice came from behind Hermes, he didn't need to turn around to tell who it was.
Instead, he simply nodded and replied. "Yes, the weapon was a knife and the time of death was 12:57, I don't think the body was dragged either." He said, finally looking back at Slim, who was leaning on the wall.
"Hm… so it was before the blackout, since that started at 13:00, how come you know all of this?" Slim asked, a strange glint appearing in his one visible eye.
Hermes's gaze narrowed. "It's to do with my ultimate, why do you know exactly when the blackout happened?" He said, making sure to be as vague as possible when talking about his ultimate.
The glint in Slim's eye faded slightly and he sighed. "I used my tablet as a light source. I saw that the black out happened at 13:00 and ended at 13:20. It lasted twenty whole minutes, yet it felt as if only five had passed." He said, looking at Hermes to see if he had gauged anything.
And when Hermes' eyes widened slightly, the glint in Slim's eye reappeared.
"Time… could time be moving faster? We arrived here at 10:00, it's already 14:00, no way four hours has passed… barely one has passed from my perception of time atleast…" Hermes said, glancing up at Slim.
"A clever one, you'll do." Slim said. "Let us work together, Herpes." He continued.
"Her—pes? As in… the disease? My name is Hermes, not Herpes or Fatty. Why would I team up with you? You're kinda rude." Hermes said, a little hurt by the man's words.
Skin rolled his eyes. "Who cares about names, have you also noticed how little we are affected by there being a whole rotting corpse over there? Usually, we should all be throwing up on the floor or something." He said quietly so that only Hermes could hear.
Hermes nodded. "Should we go and talk to the others? Maybe we can get them to reveal their Ultimates." He suggested.
Slim thought for a moment before sighing. "You can do that, I'm going to keep looking around."
"Alright, but how do I know that it wasn't you?" Hermes asked, a hint of suspicion creeping into his voice.
"You don't. You can choose to trust me, I really do not care." Slim said, not even glancing back as he walked off into reception.
Hermes sighed and walked back over to the crowd of people.
He saw that the white haired boy wearing a hospital gown was talking to the dark skinned man that had arrived alongside Hermes.
The white haired boy, Snoiki, said. "It wasn't a knife from kitchen." In a very strong accent, Hermes couldn't tell where he was from, but English was not his first language.
The dark skinned man wearing a captain's hat, named Banshee replied. "Show me the knife then."
Snoiki waved his hands and responded. "There wasn't knife in kitchen, I say! What do you mean show you?" He said, leaning down to be face to face with the man.
Hermes tilted his head, he did see the boy rush into the kitchen like a lunatic at the start.
Banshee's eyes narrowed. "You were in the kitchen, right?"
"Yes." Snoiki responded with a grin.
Banshee mirrored his grin. "So you could've gotten a knife from the kitchen right?"
"That why I saying there was not knife in there." Snoiki said, getting agitated.
Suddenly, Reaper came out of nowhere and agreed with Banshee. "He has a point."
Snoiki started to play with his hair. "I know, but…"
Reaper continued, cutting the boy off. "It makes you look really suspicious, going into the Cafeteria like that and not having a singular weapon."
Hermes' face turned a little sour as he glanced at Reaper. 'That makes this guy look suspicious, now I'm starting to think it's you… Reaper.' He thought to himself before saying aloud. "Yeah…"
Snoiki then looked up at everyone and smiled brightly. "But what if the weapon is not a knife! Then will I be safe? What if it's a hammer? Then what?"
Hermes looked around awkwardly before raising a hand. "It-it actually was a knife." He said with a sigh.
Everyone turned to look at him with their eyebrows raised.
"The murder weapon is around the corner and look at the wounds on the body, there are multiple stab wounds." He said, pointing to the corner and then at the body.
Reaper, Banshee and Snoiki all walked towards the location of the knife while Hermes stayed behind to talk to the others.
The only two people left standing around the body were Molly and the tall, white haired woman that had arrived at the same time as them. Her nametag read…
—
Name - Boo
Ultimate -
—
However, when looking at name tags, he glanced at Molly's and saw that it had changed.
—
Name - Molly
Ultimate - Musician
—
Hermes raised an eyebrow, but didn't pry.
Instead, he noticed that Boo was looking at him and she spoke. "Someone was with me in reception from the start of black out, they are safe."
Klein shook his head slowly. "No… the murder happened before the blackout, it depends on how long they were with you in there for."
"Ah, that makes sense." She said, pulling out a baseball bat covered in nails. "I tried to kill them, but whenever I tried to raise the bat to attack, my body would freeze up. I think that only one person can kill per 'round' as the cat called it." Boo continued.
By this time, Reaper and the others had come back.
"Are you sure? Did you see anyone else, since the murderer seemed to have run to reception." Reaper said, glancing back.
Boo turned her gaze to the man wearing a suit and a bird mask and frowned. "Yeah. I'm sure we were together the whole time. Didn't see anyone come through, because the lights were off. Dick." She said, as if it was obvious.
Reaper coughed awkwardly.
Then, Snoiki spoke again in his strong accent. "I was there, during all of blackout I was in reception."
Reaper turned to Snoiki. "I swear you said you were in the kitchen."
"I was." The white haired man nodded.
"Right… I'm not saying it's you. But it's a very strong possibility." Reaper said with a sigh.
Hermes stared at Reaper, remembering that he was left alone with Noobie for a moment before rushing out of the Gymnasium. 'I think it's this guy, why is he trying so hard to blame others?' He thought.
At that exact moment, Snoiki held his hand up. "I am Snoiki, the Ultimate Seer. I can see where weapons are, so long as they are out in the open. I went to kitchen to grab a knife, but all of them were stuck, I couldn't take them."
Hermes' eyes widened slightly, taken aback by the sudden declaration, but decided this was a pretty good opportunity to voice his opinion.
"I am suspicious of Reaper." He said, staring into the empty black eyes of Reaper's bird mask.
The other man tilted his head. "Me? How come?" He said. Even though his mask covered his face, Hermes really didn't like the way he looked.
However, before Hermes could continue…
"Ehem… Investigation time over… make your way to the trial area."
Meaka's voice rang from the speakers once more, making everyone lose interest in Hermes.
Not having enough time to give his full reasoning, Hermes just awkwardly said. "Intuition…?"