The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere

Abbey House Dining Hall | 6:03 AM | Third Day

Linos looked uneasy about this development, even if he'd probably seen it coming. It wasn't particularly difficult to guess why. As things stood, despite Theo's state, the facts as we understood them - that only him, Seth, Ptolema and Bardiya had been in the kitchen, with nothing else able to pass through Linos's barrier - meant that his testimony could really only have two outcomes.

1) He gave an account that pointed to either Seth or Ptolema - or both - lying about their side of events, or directly implicated them. Or,

2) He gave an account that didn't, and thus, barring any other revelations, implicated himself.

It was a bad spot. I didn't think Theodoros could possibly be a killer, let alone put up such a convincing front of being horrified; frankly, he didn't have the social skills to be subtle. But it was inarguable that he'd been acting suspicious for most of the weekend, especially surronding the other male members of our class. Further, I was biased on account of my memories of him as a little kid, since it's hard to picture someone as a murderer when you can remember them wetting the bed in the room across from you.

Assuming he was innocent, it was also an unfair situation. He didn't look like he was in any state to talk at all.

"Theo," Linos said regardless, his tone gentle. "I'm sorry to do this... But do you think you could tell us what happened in that room?"

I wasn't sure Theo even completely heard him. He continued to stare into the middle distance, his eyes seeming vacant.

"Theo," Linos repeated.

"O-Oh..." Theo finally said, his voice cracking as he turned his head in a stiff motion. "Sorry."

"Theo, I'm sure this is difficult for you, but we're trying to figure out exactly what transpired in the kitchen," Kamrusepa said. "With Bardiya. Since you're our foremost witness, we need you to give us your account."

"Shit, Kam," Seth spoke up, his tone irritated. "Try not to sound like you're putting him on trial."

"I'm sorry, Seth, but in a circumstance such as this, the needs of the group must come first. We are all feeling the weight of what has happened. We are all in danger. We can't afford to prioritize individual comfort."

"It's true," I said, nodding. "...it's not great, but it's true."

Seth gave me a look of disappointment. "C'mon, Su, I thought you at least would have some more empathy."

"That's not fair," I said, my tone turning a little weaker. "This is really scary, you know? I don't want to die here because we haven't learned something important."

"No, I'll--" Theo gulped, like he was choking back something foul, his lips curled into a pained expression. "I can talk about it. I'll... I don't know if it will help, but I can talk about it."

The room fell into an expectant silence at this. His breathing grew heavy and deliberate, like he was trying to pysch himself up before doing something dangerous. ...Actually, that was probably exactly how he felt.

"Take your time," Linos said.

Finally, he scrunched his face up as he took one last sharp intake of air, then begun. "H-Honestly, it all happened so quickly, and it was so dark, I'm not really sure exactly what I saw. I, ah, was kneeling down under the sink near the back of the room, looking for the oil, when I heard the shot and Seth shout something from the other side of the room. By the time I looked up, him and Ptolema were already running out into the dining hall. I stepped over to the door after them once I'd f-found my footing, but it closed on it's own. I think I heard it lock, too..."

"That must've been when the Power was used," Ran said.

Theo nodded hesitantly. "A-Anyway. After that, it was suddenly very dark - the only lights were from under the doorway, and from a little gas lamp Bardiya had pulled out while looking for the main switch. I turned in that direction to call out for him, and... And..."

He winced, biting his lip.

"Take it easy, Theo," Seth said soothingly. "Like your dad said. Take your time."

He took another few deep breaths, then nodded, seeming to steel himself.

"I... Bardiya was right up near the window at the far side of the room, when I turned. I only saw him clearly for a moment before the lamp fell over... But the window was open, and he was staring out of-- No, rather, it almost looked like he was being pulled by something. One of his arms reached out to try and grab hold of something, but there was nothing." He shook his head. "When the light was gone, I tried to call out, but I couldn't hear a sound from my own mouth... Or from anywhere at all. And then, I... I..."

He ran his hands urgently through his hair, as if trying to wipe something off them, and gasped urgently. Mehit, who was sitting next to him, stared wide-eyed.

"I couldn't see well, but it looked like something was... Was feeding on him," he went on. "He kept being pulled out through the window over and over again, and every time, there was more and more blood when he pulled back. I could even feel some of it splatter on my face, see the light reflecting off the puddle... And more than anything, I could smell it. It was like a butcher's shop, but sickly sweet." He shuddered. "E-Eventually, whatever it was let him go, and he slumped down. I'd been too shocked to move up until that point, but realized I needed to help him, so... I tried to step forward. I still couldn't hear my own voice, so I tried to turn his body around. That's when I... That close, I could see..."

"You... Don't have to describe it, or anything," I said, trying to sound soothing. Some of the others nodded.

He shook his head. "His... It just fell apart, right in front of me. Like only the angle had been holding the skin together. It fell all over the floor..." His eyes started to well up, and let he out a pained sob. "After that, I can't even remember. I just know I was banging on the doorway. I had to get out. I've never been so terrified in my entire life. I couldn't even think about trying to s-save him. I just had to get out..."

"That's probably enough, I think, Theo," Linos said, putting a hand on his shoulder as his son fell further into outright tears.

"Yes," Kam said. "I believe we know the rest well enough. ...Though, this has afforded us an unhappy lack of answers."

"Hey, c'mon, lets not be negative," Fang said, with a sympathetic smile. Their upbeat demeanor clashed with the atmosphere even more than usual. "Thanks for telling us all that, Theo. Must've been really tough!"

He nodded weakly.

"So..." Fang said. "Here's what I'm gonna guess. Based on the fact that monsters aren't really, well, real? The easiest way to interpret the account is as somebody attacking Bardiya through the window." They looked in my direction. "Uh, sorry to ask, Su, but was the window open when you looked in the room?"

"Uh, no," I said, twitching a bit at being forced to recall to the image. "It didn't look like it was."

They nodded thoughtfully. "Same for us. Huh, that's kinda confusing..."

"I-I think it might have shut at some point when it was all happening," Theo suggested weakly. "Slid back down when whatever was doing it... Withdrew."

"Why are you so convinced it wasn't a person?" Mehit asked, tense. "Pardon my brusqueness."

He thought about this for a few moments. "I... suppose I'm not, really. I couldn't really tell what was happening at all. It just... It didn't feel like something a human could do..."

Honestly, you didn't have to think about it much to draw the conclusion that Theo's account was, for intents and purposes, pretty useless, even assuming it was entirely the truth. Where you're in near complete blackness and in a dangerous situation, the eyes themselves become unreliable narrators, desperately filling in the blanks based on nothing but scraps of context clues. So from the moment he'd seen Bardiya knock over the lamp... Well, anything could've happened.

About the only thing it told us objectively was the timing of the incantations being cast - the door being locked and the sound being suppressed. But it'd turned out that was right around the time everyone was throwing a fit and casting a load of crap in response to the gunshot. It would have been incredibly easy for anyone to have done it, either within our group, or from outside the building entirely.

Further, it pointed to scenario 2. Despite what he just told us, unless there were complications I wasn't aware of... The story he'd just given was impossible.

"There's something that needs to be cleared up," Ran said. She looked to Linos. "Sir, please tell us in as much detail as you can exactly how your barrier works."

"Good thinking, miss Hoa-Trinh," he said, with a nod. "I'm sure you've pieced some of this together just hearing me cast it so many times by now, but it's a custom incantation I created myself, modifying the Energy-Nullifying Arcana. The base component terminates all motion in anything that comes into contact with it and essentially acts as a brick wall on top of blocking incoming incantations, while the additional one conjures an electromagnetic repelling force, physically damaging any matter that tries to pass through it."

"And you can move and change it's shape while it's active," Ran stated.

"T-To a limited extent," Linos said hesitantly. "It's complicated to manipulate it beyond expansion and contraction, and I can't create outright holes in it without ending and redoing the incantation."

"Do those two effects both apply to stuff that comes into contact from the inside, too?" she added.

"Yes," Linos said, glancing to the side for a moment. "I mean, it would be ideal if it didn't, obviously. But, well... It's sort of hard to get an electromagnetic field to play favorites."

"Wait, uh, I'm kind of confused," Ptolema said, scratching her head. "If it works like that, wouldn't just moving it around damage stuff? Like, when you expanded it to cover the kitchen, shouldn't it have smashed the wall to bits?"

"Mm, well, the energy nullification doesn't actually apply when I move the barrier, so as long as everything I'm expanding it through is motionless already, then it'll just pass through harmlessly. I do have to disable the repulsive component for those times, though--- There's an element of the incantation to give me dynamic control over it."

"Mmmm, hold up a sec," Fang said, rubbing your chin. "You're saying that stuff can pass through the barrier like it's no big deal when you expand or move it around, right? What about a person?" They pointed to him. "If that's a possibility, then this is easy. Somebody could have just been waiting in the shadows of the kitchen for you to expand it, then killed Bardiya once they were inside. They could even still be lurking around somewhere now."

This inspired a few cautious glances around the area, particularly from Ezekiel and Mehit, who jerked their heads around sharply.

"Uh, no," Linos said quickly. "That's not how it works. When I say things have to be motionless for the barrier to pass through them, I mean motionless in the truest sense of the word. Even if a human being stands completely still, there's still a lot of stuff moving around just underneath the skin. If the barrier came into contact with them while they were hiding somewhere, the whole incantation would break on their resistances." He hesitated. "...though, uh, I've never tested it, of course."

"Could they have made themselves really, really still with the Power?" Ptolema asked.

"We already checked for incantations, Ptolema," Kamrusepa reminded her.

"Oh, right," she said. "Uh, sorry. I'm dumb."

"Um, what about a golem...?" Ophelia asked. "Couldn't one of those have been used to kill him? I suppose it would have to still be lying around somewhere within the barrier, but..."

Off to my side, I noticed Lilith mutter something about how stupid a remark this was.

"Golems always have some degree of internal motion too, Ophelia," Kamrusepa explained. "Their mechanics need to constantly stay in motion to prevent them from shutting down, and if they're fully shut down, they can't be reactivated except by a human being, and one who knows what they're doing at that. So any that could have actually done something like this would have been caught, just as much as a being of flesh and blood."

"Unless it was arcane," Ran said.

"Well, yes," Kamrusepa said, raising an eyebrow. "But that would have been detected by your incantation, Ran."

Ran grunted, seeming to be thinking about something.

"Actually, assuming this is all just a standard lockdown, there shouldn't be any golems here to begin with," Linos said. "They all return to the headquarters and the research tower when everything winds down for the night as a matter of course."

"Best not to take that as an 100%, I think," Fang said. "Considering, well-- Y'know. Everything."

"Oh, for certain," Linos said, nodding. "I'm just, well, putting the information out there."

I noticed that Ran, during the exchange of the last few sentences, had pulled out a sheet of parchment from her bag, and seemed to be scribbling some shapes on it. Peering over, I saw that it seemed to be a rough graph of the room we were in and the surrounding ones - that is to say, the kitchen and the conservatory.

"If you don't mind, sir, I'd appreciate if you could draw the extent of your barrier as it currently stands here," Ran said, passing him a different-colored pen. "Since so much seems to be oriented around this, I think it would be good to give everyone some visualization."

"Oh, certainly," he said, taking the pen. "The nature of the math means it's easiest to make it rounded, so it probably didn't quite overlap with the two rooms perfectly... Well, you'll see what I mean. What's important it that it shouldn't alter any of the facts in all this."

He drew, and we looked.

I noticed one thing very quickly.

"Huh. It looks as though there are a couple gaps in the corners of the kitchen," Seth said, before I had a chance to speak.

"Well, yes..." Linos admitted, scratching his cheek. "I'm surprised you didn't notice-- It must've been the lack of light."

"This seems like one of those things that feels like a big deal but isn't a big deal," Fang said, regarding the image with a mixed expression. "I mean, even if you assume somebody would be able to hide in plain sight in those corners somehow-- Actually, did you guys check them? The corners"

"Uhh, I'm pretty sure we gave the room a once-over at the start, yeah," Seth said. "Plus, I think they'd have to be standing on top of an oven if they were in the left one somehow."

"Got it, got it," Fang said, continuing. "Okay, so even assuming against all sense that someone could hide there, it wouldn't exactly change much about the situation. I mean, they couldn't go through the barrier or cast anything. So this seems like kinda a dead end."

It did seem like a dead end, and not just in that regard. No matter how you looked at it, there didn't seem to be room for an outside culprit. No one could get in or out of the barrier.

Which meant--

"Okay, I guess I'm going to have to be the sensible one. As fucking usual," Ezekiel said. "It's obvious what happened here. Theodoros had to have killed him."

The room practically winced at these words, though it varied from person-to-person if the reaction was one of anger or discomfort. Theo himself just looked upset, as if he'd somehow known this was coming.

"Shut the hell up, Ezekiel," Seth said, as if by instinct.

"Tell me how I'm wrong, then," he said confrontationally. "Tell me how else it could have happened. Unless the three of you are all lying about it together."

"I--" Theo muttered, his voice cracking. "I didn't... I'm telling the truth..."

"Oh, waterworks, great," Ezekiel said sardonically. "Yeah, that's a surefire way to prove you're innocent in spite of all the evidence. I bet the rest of the idiots here will eat it up. I swear, if the rest of you knew--"

Seth lurched in his seat, looking about read to punch the other boy in the face, But Ptolema stopped him, grabbing at his arm. "Easy, easy!"

She managed to stop him, but he still grunted and hissed in frustration, then yelled. "How the hell do you this think is making him feel right now, huh? Right after having gone through that?!"

"Hah, what did I just say," Ezekiel muttered bitterly.

"Everyone, please try to calm down," Linos said. His voice was raised compared to normal, and there was a firmness usually absent. "I think it would extremely dangerous to draw any conclusions at this point."

Ezekiel didn't respond to this with words, but his thought process was written plainly in the look of mutinous contempt he gave the older man. You're just saying that because you're his father. We're going to let ourselves all be put in danger because of your naked bias.

"As much as I disagree with the young man's tone," Mehit said, her tone slow and deliberate. "I think... It may be wise to take some precautions. Perhaps we could bind him for the trip."

"I think we should avoid extreme responses," Linos insisted. "There are too many unknowns here--"

"What unknowns, exactly?" Mehit asked. "I am sorry, but the situation seems quite clear-cut to me. Even if his guilt cannot be ascertained absolutely, it is obvious his freedom presents a disproportionate risk."

Linos looked caught off guard. He hesitated, unable to produce what he deemed to be a satisfactory response. His mouth opened, then shut again, his face reddening.

He glanced around, as if hoping someone would speak up in support of him, but the faces that surrounded the table were pained and reserved at best, and doubtful at worst. Even if no one could seriously believe Theodoros was a killer, there wasn't an easy escape from the apparent evidence. Kamrusepa looked like she was probably even in support of the idea.

...and in spite of myself, maybe I was, too. Even if it made Theo feel absolutely awful, it might've been the safest bet if you considered the rational best course.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only concern in place. Linos was the closest thing we had to a leader at present, and the reasons for that were self-evident. Not only was he easily the most powerful arcanist - in the nightmare scenario that one of the inner circle was responsible for what was happening, he was our only shot at defeating them in a way that wouldn't be messy - we were also dependent on his knowledge of the sanctuary to get through any of this. We wouldn't even be able to find the administration chamber without his help.

But people with children are parents before they're anything else. With suspicion falling on his son, I could see Linos choosing Theo over the rest of the group, regardless of what the evidence seemed to suggest.

It was a bad situation.

And if I were the perpetrator, I thought, it'd be exactly what I'd want people to be dealing with.

However, it was at this moment that Fang, who had been leaning back in their chair for the last minute or so, made a dissatisfied hum, and sat up. "Hey, so, I was kinda hoping somebody else would say this... But I feel like you might all be jumping the gun, here? Maybe getting kind of carried away in the moment."

Ezekiel turned sharply towards them. "What? What do you mean?"

"I mean..." They scratched their head. "There's a really obvious way that somebody other than Theo could've done this. The timing sorta adds up, and everything."

"What are you trying to get at, Fang?" Seth asked, a little desperation in his tone. He wanted this, almost visibly. Linos, Ptolema and Ophelia all looked similar, the latter's eyes widening in sudden hope.

"It's easy," they said casually. "Linos had to take his barrier down for a second when we went to investigate the sound, right?" They gestured their hand upward. "Sooo, putting myself in the shoes of the culprit for a second, it seems like what they would've done is just wait outside the window for it to go off, look for a chance, and then lock it. Easy peasy."

What the hell, I thought. That is obvious! Why didn't I think of that!

The sentiment looked like it was shared across the table, with several people shaking their heads with a combination of bafflement and relief. Ezekiel seemed especially taken off guard, frowning to himself and looking away from the group.

"Of course," Linos said, seizing the moment. "That's the obvious conclusion. I apologize-- I should have drawn it sooner."

"Yeah, that's totally obvious!" Ptolema said, nodding enthusiastically. "I can't believe you guys were throwing Theo on the tracks like that."

Theo let out a heavy sigh, though it didn't sound it was exactly one of relief. There was a pained rigidity to it, like he was simply spent, and this had only relieved a fraction of the pressure.

Better than nothing, though.

"It was only two people, Ptolema," Kamrusepa said. "And this is a difficult situation. I don't disagree with the sentiment of what Mehit was saying, even if it was perhaps a little harsh. We must think pragmatically."

Ezekiel rubbed his eyes. "Doing something so complicated to someone in the tiny window the barrier was shut would have been almost impossible," he said. "It's stupid to act like this is suddenly completely resolved. The pistol shot still had to have come from--"

"With this now in mind, I have to apologize," Linos said, talking over him in a firm voice. "This... Likely occurred because I allowed myself to be manipulated by the culprit into giving them a chance to strike. Because of that, the loss of Bardiya's life is completely on my hands." He frowned deeply. "All I can say is that I am truly sorry for having failed, and that I will absolutely not make this mistake again."

It was obvious what was happening here - Linos was trying to establish the matter as resolved, even if it meant admitting culpability.

"Thinking about it, we really did play right into their hands..." Seth said, gritting his teeth. "I don't know if I can let something like that go so easily, even if I fucked up, too. But... Kam's right about one thing. This is all completely fucked. There'll be time to decide who did what and fight about it when the rest of us get out of it alive. And I fucked up too, anyway." He shook his head.

Ran was frowning furtively, her eyes narrow. She kept glancing at Fang.

Is she seeing something I'm not?

"Does this... Mean that the culprit, whomever is doing this... Could still be nearby?" Ophelia asked, her voice anxious. "Outside the building?"

Linos nodded. "That seems very possible, yes." He sighed. "For that reason, I would advice we depart as soon as possible. RIght now, we're practically giving them the run of the entire bioenclosure. They could be setting traps, and if they can turn this into a battle of attrition, that's how they'll get us, since our eris is finite."

"We're seriously not going to bind Theodoros?" Ezekiel asked, looking almost perplexed.. "Even if he wasn't responsible, he's the only meaningful suspect in our group. And it costs us nothing."

"I think it would be for the best if we didn't create a fractious atmosphere in the group right now, mister Ilaadbat," Linos said.

I honestly didn't know who I agreed with-- Or rather, what was right. I looked away from the exchange.

"A 'fractious atmosphere'..." He rubbed his brow, muttering. "This is fucking-- It's fucking absurd. Everyone's just going along with something that could get us killed because it's too uncomfortable to do otherwise. It's insane."

Mehit was looking very withdrawn, her eyes unfocused. She tapped her knuckles against the wood of the table...

"If we follow that sort of thinking..." Ophelia said, with a little more resolution than normal, "We'd end up having to tie up Ptolema and Seth to be safe, too, since they were there and could be lying. Soon, we'd be tying up everyone..."

"I don't want to distrust anybody," Seth said, his tone stubborn. "Even if someone... Somebody here... Really did help kill Bardiya by setting up that trap, so long as we don't know anything, we're just as likely to be fucking ourselves over."

"Mm," Kamrusepa hummed. "Perhaps the best course would be to simply exercise the utmost caution," she said, seeming to return to her original outlook. "There's likely nothing constructive we can accomplish now."

Or, in other words, the best course is to do nothing.

I wasn't sure if she'd been right from the beginning. This conversation hadn't really served us at all, other than conveying that we need to be extra, extra cautious.

Best not to consider the possibility that Kam could be right about something again, I thought. I mean, look what happened the last time you did that.

"In any case, I agree with the grandmaster," she continued, clasping her hands together. "We should depart as soon as possible according to the original plan, while exercising the utmost diligence."

"Yeah, I don't wanna stay here anymore," Ptolema said, frowning deeply. "Just being near where Bardiya is, without being able to... Really do anything for him..." She shook her head. "It's kinda screwing me up."

Seth nodded wordlessly, and gave her a supportive pat on the shoulder.

"I'm sure most of us feel the same way, miss Rheeds," Linos said. "And that being the case, unless there are any objections, let's get ready to depart."

Ezekiel looked profoundly unhappy, looking at the floor like he wanted to spit on it. But he didn't say anything further.

It didn't take us very long to gather ourselves together. I cast my barrier again in addition to Linos's, and a few of the others used some Divination arcana for good measure. Linos started assigning everyone other people to keep their eyes on at all times just in case, both in the interests of making sure no one could be picked off and, unspokenly, that no one could try anything sinister.

Ironically, it was this hustle and bustle - brief as it was - that allowed what happened next to occur. Because it was at this point, as we were making our final preparations, that Ran said something foreboding.

"Hey," she said. "Did you pick up your pistol, sir?"

Linos turned. "Uh, no," he said. "I don't have it."

"Because it's not on the table," she went on, and glanced around. "Did somebody else?

No one spoke up, and seeing the looks of confusion on each others faces, we glanced around the room. The answer, however, quickly became apparent. Because there were two people who hadn't responded.

Mehit was standing by the door, along with her daughter, whose hand she still held tightly-- It looked like she was about to slip out of the door. But when we noticed her, her head turned sharply back in our direction, her eyes wide.

The weapon was clasped in her palm tightly.