Zion was originally an attempt at creating the happiest husbando (for me, obviously), but he just became a character I'm more fond of than others. Then I drew Uni Supasupaiki, originally for a friend of mine, and Hito Faiya was the final addition, just a few days ago. This is a mystery/crime story and there's a bit of blood being mentioned.
Enjoy the story!
└── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──┘└── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──┘└── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──┘
Zion Elliott Parker, better known as Detective Parker, lived a happy life with a fiancée and a son, whom he loved dearly.
When they suddenly disappeared, his world was crushed. The detectives at the police station wouldn't help, so he becomes a detective himself to try and find his family and become whole again.
On his first day on the job, with a box full of his things in hand and a cigarette tucked in his mouth, he meets his two new partners. Uni Supasupaiki, an almost never sad lady wearing a urchin onesie, and Hito Faiya, the aggressive and eccentric. This leaves Zion as the most serious and temperamental of the three.
One night, as he's gathering evidence from a crime scene, a murder in cold blood, he sees something move from the corner of his eye.
Uni was in one area, talking to witnesses, and Hito was in the other section, taking photos and taking anything that could be a murder weapon. This left Zion to look at the victim's body.
He turns around as the shadow disappears. Could it have been his imagination?
A cold breeze slapped him in the face. On a warm, muggy summer night. That cold breeze...chilled Zion to the core.
He puts the sheet back over the victim's face, and walks away from it, meeting Uni and Hito.
"You alright?" Hito asked, "Did the body freak you out or somethin'?"
"No." Zion replied. "I'm good. Just didn't get anymore information from the body. There's no need to look at him anymore."
He then puts a cigarette in his mouth and lights it. "Let's go."
***
When he gets home, he throws himself onto the couch and tries to rest.
...That's when a creak enters his living room.
He immediately pulls out the pistol from his coat pocket and points it at the room entrance.
"Who's there?"
He yells, holding onto the pistol tight and keeping his voice steady.
"I knew I'd find you here." The figure says in a low, deep voice. He steps into view...or well...floats there. His skin was pale and his eyes dripped blood like a leaking faucet, but the victim's fatal wounds were the same.
"Name's Blair. I died...not too long ago." His tone of voice makes Zion even more wary.
"What do you want?" Zion questions harshly.
Blair tilts his head and smiles. "Obviously, I want to tell you who murdered me. It's easier on you, isn't it?'
Zion puts his gun away. "Alright." He sits across from him. "Tell me."
"Well, first things first. I was walking home, enjoying the fresh air of a night like today, when this man came up from behind me and tried to rob me, and when I refused, he shot me point blank in the chest three times. When he found out I was still alive, he..."
He put his thumb onto his neck and swiped across it, mimicking how the knife cut into his throat.
"...he ran off." He finished. "So, you get my version of the story."
"Do you know what the guy looks like?"
"He was definitely an older guy. Dark hair. Blue eyes. Not much else." He pauses, thinking. "Looks about your age, if not older. Didn't know him before, so I didn't get a name."
Zion had a notepad and wrote it down.
"Do you know where he went?"
"He ran up the street, past that alley." Blair closes his eyes to remember.
Zion nods, scribbling everything down in his notebook.
"Thank you for telling me."
"Of course. Anytime, detective Parker. I'll see ya around, maybe."
He waved, and floated through the apartment wall.
Zion looks back at the notes and closes his book, setting it aside for later.
He heads to bed shortly after, ready to start his week. He wakes up at ten. After getting dressed for work, his phone rings. It's the office.
"Zion! Good morning!" Uni greets on the other side of the line. "How's your morning?"
"I'm already tired. You know me." Zion mumbled.
"Right, right. Anyway, I wanted to ask, if you're free today and can come down by the morgue to pick up some paperwork, we could meet up."
"Sure. Give me about fifteen minutes, I'm just about to leave."
"Awesome! Thanks, I'll see you soon!" She hangs up.
As soon as he ends the call, he grabs his notepad, and starts writing down all the possible leads he could take. This includes any leads on Blair's murderer.
Zion arrives at the morgue and knocks on the door, waiting until someone answers. It was Teruka, who wore a white lab coat and had her hair tied up in two pigtails.
"Hey, Zi."
"Uni called and said you had the autopsy report."
"Yes. Come on in."
She opens the door wide and motions for him to come in. "I'll be here if you need anything." Zion enters the room and looks at the examination table, with Blair's corpse on it. A hand gives him medical gloves.
"Don't contaminate the body, Zion."
"Any fingerprints?" Zion asked.
"Multiple on the victim's coat, but none on his body."
Zion noticed blood coming out of Blair's nose and mouth.
"He drowned in his own blood." He murmurs.
"Looks like it." She agrees, looking at the floor.
"Do we know if he was shot first?"
"The bullets barely missed the heart."
"And then they slit his throat to seal the deal."
"Yeah...it seems that way."
Zion stares at Blair for a couple more minutes, before his body's eyes open and he stares back at him with a malicious smile.
"Hey, detective."
This causes Zion to almost scream, before he catches himself.
Blair unpossesses his own body, and laughs at Zion.
"Gotcha."
Zion glares, walks off and takes the file with him. Hito stands outside the lab, waiting for him.
"So, what do we have?"
"He choked to death on his own blood. He was shot first, and his throat slit after." Zion reports. "And luckily there are fingerprints. They just have to be analyzed."
"Sounds like a piece of cake. Guy's an idiot for not wearing gloves."
Hito makes a very sharp turn, drifting onto the street.
"The quicker we get there, the faster we get this done!" Hito yells, picking up speed.
"Yeah, but don't kill us on the way there!" Zion shouts back, gripping tightly on his seatbelt.
By the time Zion arrives at the precinct, he notices Uni already interrogating suspects and witnesses, playing good and bad cop simultaneously.
Zion shakes his head. "She's trying to become a laughing stock." After he says this, he walks in.
"...Now that detective Parker is here, I will make sure that he stays on my good side." Uni says, with a grin on her face.
Zion sighs and shakes his head. "What insights did you get out of them? Anything useful?"
"One witness claims the culprit ran into them as he tried to run, and ran out into the street. Then ran into the alleyway while she dialed 911."
She turns to the man sitting in the chair across from them. Zion also turns, with a slightly intimidating glare, not enough to scare him into silence, but enough to get some answers out of him.
"Where were you when the victim was attacked?"
"I was walking..."
"Can you describe the assailant?"
"About six feet four," the man started.
"Dark hair...probably around 25 years old."
That's exactly what Blair told him last night.
"And he didn't wear gloves..?"
"He didn't." He replied. "I saw him reaching into the guy's pockets after the gunshots. When he pulled something out, I could see his hands. He hadn't noticed me, so I hid behind a building and watched him run off and leave the guy on the road."
"You say you watched him leave?"
"Yes...but he went to the alleyway, and I didn't see him..."
"Okay, thank you very much." Uni says. "Would you like a drink before leaving? Maybe a snack?"
The man shakes his head.
"Have a nice day."
Zion watches him pass through the door, and waits until his figure completely disappears before turning around to face Uni again.
"Alright. What's your theory?" he asked.
"Gunshots came first, then the victim's wallet was stolen, then his throat was slit."
Zion thought for a second.
"Uni, this will sound completely ridiculous, but I think we should speak to a spirit medium."
"A spirit medium? For what?"
"It's a last resort if these fingerprints don't give us a straight answer."
"Where will you get a spirit medium?"
"...I have a friend. She's a paranormal investigator, demonologist, and a spirit medium..."
"Well, hurry and call her up! If we have to choose paranormal, let's do it!'
"I'll do that right now." Zion grabs his phone.
He calls her, and puts the phone on speaker, so she can hear it too.
"Hello?" A familiar voice comes through the receiver.
"Hey, Kemuji..."
"What's up, Zion?" she answered.
"Listen, I need your help."
"With?"
"This murder we just got into, apparently.. We're having trouble finding the culprit and you're our last resort."
Kemuji doesn't respond for a bit and sighs.
"Fine, but only because I'm bored of staying at home and doing this logbook. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Thanks." He quickly disconnected the call. "She agreed."
" That's awesome!" Uni says. "We get to go ghost hunting!"
"Not exactly..." Zion shakes his head. "She's replacing her consciousness with the victim's, and he'll give us answers."
Uni stands up and prances towards the door. "Let's get out of this stuffy box, though."
Coffee smell entered their noses. The three walked into the small kitchen where Hito was making coffee. "Oh hey, Zion," Hito greeted them as he turned to face them.
"Morning. Can we get some coffee?" Hito nodded and grabbed some mugs and poured them their drinks.
The three sat down at the counter and sipped their coffee.
"So, what didja learn? Other than Uni's terrible at good cop bad cop?"
"Not much. That's why we're contacting a spirit medium." Zion replied.
Hito raised his eyebrows and laughed under his breath.
"What?" Zion asked confused.
"Nothing." Hito responds with his smirk still on his lips. "Just that contacting a spirit medium sounds a bit... overboard."
"Don't worry... I've seen her do it." Zion adds.
They both drank their coffee silently, until the doorbell rang. Kemuji walks into the room. She was covered in a light coat despite the warm weather. Her hair was loose and fell to her shoulders. She had a bag in one hand, and her other hand in her pocket.
"What's in the bag?"
"Candles. For the ritual." she says, pulling them out. "His name is Blair, right?"
"Huh? How'd you-" Hito asked.
"I'm a spirit medium. He told me his name before I got here." Kemuji tells. "But let's not talk right now. If you want to find your perpetrator, we'll have to hurry this along."
END OF PART 1