"What is all this?" Everyone marveled at Rufus's room covered in paper, yarn and the whiteboard are full of writing and lines.
"I guess I should start. Do you remember the juice that Leon thought was poisoned?"
"I never noticed the taste, so I wondered how he was able to figure out the recipe changed." Theseus commented.
"The water is filled with a mineral with beneficial properties that maintains the body's PH balance, but it has another less known side effect that only works on someone with an extremely fast metabolism or with certain sensitivity affecting their cognitive ability and gives the drinker fatigue. Everyone drank it but are not affected except two people. Sabina's speed was affected, and her memory wasn't great, and Violet began sleeping more until it landed her in a coma."
"So, it was meant for our two girls. Vivi has sharp sense, but taste is not factored, and Kitty has a fast metabolism due to her speed. This is quite the counter to take them out."
"Is this person targeting ability users like us?"
"Yes, but probably not to kill or kidnap. Otherwise, Violet and Sabina would have died or have gone missing. I found that out when Amaryllis and Melissa were out when these occurred. Mellissa was sent out to her family territory to deal with a plague. Amaryllis doesn't have any special powers compared to Violet, but it is strange that it all started since she left."
"Amaryllis couldn't be the cause of this." Theseus says defensively, "She loves Violet. She risked her life and time for her. If anything, she would probably come straight back and find the guy herself if she could."
"Of course, she wouldn't. In fact, I received a letter from her." He said and showed it around for the others to read, "She sent this to me after hearing news of her being sick. Even afar, she knew something is going on." He then suddenly remembers something. "Oh, and she brought gifts. Amaryllis says that she got it from her travels."
Rufus grabbed a box and opened it to three items. A necklace made of mother of pearl for Nathaniel, A high quality quill made of the feather of a tropical bird for Theseus and a knife decorated in coral for Leon.
Leon looks especially happy with his gift as he unsheathed it. "Nice, I like it."
"These gifts are quite thoughtful." Nathaniel agreed.
"I like it." Theseus turned to Rufus, "What did you get?"
Rufus points at his wrist. There are mother of pearl cuff links.
"There is stuff for the girls as well, so I took the liberty to send them to their homes." Rufus said. "She said to keep on guard and that these items must be with you at all times."
They are mildly surprised to hear this. Since the Ripper was gone, they all stopped underestimating instincts and capabilities. Even just being afar isn't enough to remove her instincts.
"The girls are gone and there is no doubt that the rest of us are next. I got the motive too. It isn't the Ability Users they are after. It's Leon."
He isn't surprised and shrugged, "It's always the prince."
"You are an ability user of world renown. Not to mention, you are a strong warrior. Many people have seen your skills and know our powers. This person knew the right methods to take it down as well. The fact that all of this took place outside of our dorm is suspicious too. I think whoever did this also stole our scrying ball from our meeting room. That would mean that this person doesn't want us to communicate to Amaryllis and likely knew that Amaryllis figured out the Ripper. With her deduction skills, this person would not have the opportunity to strike if caught too early. Think about it. Amaryllis left, Violet has an amazing sixth sense and was taken out first, Melissa's healing powers are gone, and Sabina's legs are useless. This person doesn't want to get caught or take any chances for his real plan to work or any factors to take down his plans. Rather than take us out one by one, it is to take out the ones who would hinder his plans the most which is-"
"Assassinating me." Leon finished and his eyes darken both with excitement and rage, "Whoever this person is, is far too much of a pussy to go after me himself and just keeps using these tricks and going after everyone else. I'll rip him apart when I find him."
"No, you're still safe for now. But I know who's next."
They stare at Nathaniel, and he knows he's next. With his super sight and paralysis inciting ability, he is certainly the next obstacle.
Sabina was attacked though the details as to how it happened is unknown thus, they have no way of figuring out how he is going to be attacked but it is undoubtedly going to be his eyes. They will have to learn how to expect the unexpected from here.
"Now the question is who did it?"
"I don't know who did it BUT I know who didn't." Rufus pulled out the whiteboard and flipped it over revealing names. Some were crossed out and some weren't. "I thought I might get some insight from you guys."
"Lots of people know our powers so that pretty much covers everyone." Leon said.
"But they don't know everything. Let's start with the twins. They both have purification powers, but they have their differences. It is common knowledge that Amaryllis has the weaker ability and has no special ability compared to Violet. Her being the first one out makes sense because she can sense anything amiss, but this person figures out a way to get passed that. That is a mystery."
Nathaniel nodded. "So, you interrogated the chefs, but you crossed out their names."
"They are innocent and the one who added the spiked water was killed so he's not the one."
"Wait what?!" Theseus said, "When did this happen?"
"The professors did their best to hide it. The reason why they are not entirely looking into everyone's case is to figure out who killed the chefs." Leon said, "I would have gotten myself involved if it were for this situation." he huffed. "I would like to solve a case for once."
"Let me guess, they thought the RIpper came back." Nathaniel said.
Rufus nodded in response. "Then came Melissa's dilemma. The plague was timed well. The plague could easily be cured by the purification power, but both are not available. Not long after, Melissa is taken back home. I had to cross out many names here because none of them left the premises."
Theseus looked at the names. "I recognize some of these names. Aren't they-"
"Sabina is the one that is confusing because she couldn't remember anything but by process of elimination, she got injured after curfew."
"We should ask more questions then." Theseus says.
"She can't remember. She woke up with no memory, not enough to recount what happened." Rufus says in disappointment.
"Then that leaves the names that are still not crossed." Theseus says.
"I thought about the scrying ball. It was in a meeting room. Only members of the Conspiracy theory club could get in."
"So, you think it's one of them? That is around fifteen people excluding us." Nathaniel says in disbelief.
"I'm already taking care of that."