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Post by Enzo Fortier on Jan 16, 2019 19:53:25 GMT -8
Enzo was making his usual rounds through the hallways after dinner. Nothing of note had happened this year, so far. Walking the halls had gotten pretty boring, though it had been kind of exciting at first. Occasionally, he'd catch people loitering about near curfew or happen upon a couple necking in a dark corner. Most nights were uneventful, and all he could focus on was how alone he was in the corridors.
This night was no different, so far. Then he heard hurried whispers and saw a flash of light coming from a hall up ahead and to the left. Breaking into a run, he headed toward the disturbance. His shoes skidded on the stone floor when he halted at the junction. Down the way he saw two dark figures turn to regard him then sprint away. He tried to catch up to them, but they were too far ahead and he lost sight of them. Figuring if he couldn't catch them, he'd at least investigate where they had been.
Returning to where he had first spotted them, he noticed a statue had been vandalized. A masquerade mask had been fused to the face, and crimson red paint had apparently been dumped over it. "What the hell?" he gasped, looking down the hall where the culprits had gone then back to the altered statue. Taking out his pad of paper and quill, he quickly scribbled his account of the situation. The sight of the 'bloody', masked figure was giving him the heebie jeebies.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 17, 2019 0:30:26 GMT -8
Gideon happened to be working on his rounds as well when he caught sight of Enzo, standing next to a statue that looked vandalized. He made his way over and nodded toward the statue, "What happened here?" he asked as he walked around the front of it. He kind of winced slightly at the sight of a masquerade mask tacked on for good measure.
"Did you happen upon this or did you see who did it?" he asked, wondering who would vandalize a statue in such a way. It wasn't the style of mischief the Masked Lords got up to. He pulled out his wand and tried to do an unsticking charm, but whoever had done this had put a lot of effort into making sure the mask stuck to the statue. He settled for cleaning up the paint at least, giving it a less macabre appearance.
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Post by Enzo Fortier on Jan 17, 2019 16:31:33 GMT -8
"I heard voices then saw a flash and came running," Enzo said, glancing over at Gideon. "I saw two people over here by the statue before they took off. I lost them around that corner."
He motioned down the hall, watching Gideon clean up the paint. Enzo was going to wait for a teacher or the headmaster to see it before cleaning it up, but at least he had written a description of it, he guessed. Maybe he should start carrying a camera around for such things. "I didn't get a good look at their faces. It was too dark. Well, they were too dark. Like they were wearing shadows, if that makes any sense."
Reaching up, Enzo touched the mask. "What do you think this is all about? Just a halloween prank?" he asked, retracting his hand from the intricately decorated papier mache. Or was it some sort of warning from the Masked Lords, the supposed secret society of which stories were told, especially around Halloween?
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 17, 2019 16:38:27 GMT -8
"Probably," he said as he stowed his wand back into his pocket. "It's probably just some students pretending to be the supposed, 'Masked Lords of Ilvermorny'," he said, using air quotes. He sighed and shook his head, he knew this was too juvenile a prank for the Masked Lords to carry out. Thus the students were imposters, but he couldn't share that information with Enzo.
"In any case, whoever did this has been practicing their sticking charms, because I can't get the mask off," he said. "We'll have to inform one of the teachers and see if they can remove it. It's best we don't leave it this way otherwise it might give the younger students the wrong idea, that pranks like this are acceptable behavior."
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Post by Enzo Fortier on Jan 17, 2019 17:12:45 GMT -8
"Yeah," Enzo rolled his eyes, though he still felt uneasy. Something about it just didn't sit well with him. The mask was skillfully handmade rather than store bought, and very clearly representative of something, or someone, specific. People didn't go to such lengths just for a prank. The design wasn't exactly like anything he'd seen before, given the do-it-yourselfness of it, but it was similar.
"Can do," he said, flipping to a blank page and scribbling something before ripping it out, folding it like a plane, then sending it off in search of a staff member. "The design is interesting, don't you think?" he asked reaching up to trace what looked like a cursive S before taking a look around. It could just be a coincidence. This was the electives hall. Near the choir room. If this was a message to someone, this would be a prime location for the choir to see. Perhaps a jilted ex-lover of a choir member or someone that is displeased with the outcome of an audition? That was reaching, for sure, but he was very concerned for Shelby's safety. If this wasn't the work of the actual Masked Lords, then it was possible someone had a bone to pick with the choir or someone in it.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 17, 2019 17:26:21 GMT -8
Gideon's eyes flicked back up to the masked statue and rubbed his chin with uncertainty, "It certainly looks well made," he said, thinking deeply. "If it's so well made, why use it for a stupid prank like this? It doesn't make any sense." A chill ran over Gideon, as there was a similarity between this mask and the one that Eris wore as Harmonia, but there was stuff wrong with it, like missing details or the coloration of it. He couldn't be sure if that was on purpose, or if whoever made this was sending a message to her. As much as he didn't like being her errand boy, Gideon felt he should at least warn her.
He hid his internal thoughts, hoping they didn't show on his face as he looked over at Enzo. He looked down the familiar corridor, the Choir room wasn't far from the statue. He was getting an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, there was suddenly something very wrong with this prank. "We'll have to keep our eyes open for any more shadowy figures," he said to Enzo. "In any case, hopefully, a teacher can pry off that mask. It's a bit unnerving."
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Post by Enzo Fortier on Jan 17, 2019 20:07:29 GMT -8
Enzo attempted to stand a bit taller, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding once in agreement. "We should let the other prefects know to keep an eye out, too," he said, frowning up at the disturbing mask. "Is that sheet music?"
He stood on his tiptoes, looking at what would be the statue's right hand side. There were words there. Lyrics to the music. Masquerade masks with sheet music were somewhat common, but he didn't think he had ever seen one with lyrics. Perhaps it was all they had access to. Or perhaps it was a 'clue'. The words were too small for him to make out. Gideon was several inches taller, so maybe he could see it better. Plus, he was part of the choir and he'd probably better recognize the lyrics, anyway. Enzo hoped he would be allowed to take a look at the mask after its removal, but he doubted that would happen.
They were faint and far off, but he could hear footsteps coming down the hall. It must've been one of the teachers. That was quick. Unless it wasn't a teacher. But who else would it be? Was one of the culprits coming back to the scene of the crime?
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 17, 2019 20:28:56 GMT -8
Gideon nodded in agreement before Enzo pointed out the sheet music. He frowned deeply, trying to get a closer look at it, but he had to wait for Enzo to move out of the way. Even he had to stand on his tip toes to make out the small print. He squinted as he looked at the lyrics, his frown deepening. This was ultra disturbing, but it was one of the choir's typical songs, but the lyrics were handwritten. "I'm guessing this was meant for someone in the choir," he said, as he dropped back down to his heels.
"It's one of the generic choir songs," he confirmed, wishing he could get the damn thing unstuck so they could get a proper look at it. He was definitely going to have to warn Eris about this, and he didn't look forward to it one bit. He looked over at Enzo as footsteps could be heard before looking around the statue to see who was coming.
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Post by Enzo Fortier on Jan 17, 2019 21:40:13 GMT -8
"Hm. Ms. Nightingale should probably be informed," he said. "It probably is just a harmless Halloween prank, but better to be safe than sorry. At worst, it might be slighted ex, trying to send some kind of message to someone in the choir."
Enzo didn't want Gideon to make fun of him for even believing in the Masked Lords. So many people thought the Masked Lords were a myth made up to frighten scaredy cats, so he didn't mention that it could be a message to or from a Masked Lord. Even if he had wanted to say it, he wouldn't get the chance. The random recipient of his note was now approaching them. He had sent it out to deliver itself to the first staff member it happened upon.
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Post by Ailee McDanna on Jan 19, 2019 17:12:28 GMT -8
Ailee had been walking through the halls, fulfilling her own patrolling duties when the airplane came flying through the air. Easily catching it, she opened it, eyes scanning the short missive quickly before heading off in the right direction. Fortunately for the prefects who had found it, she hadn't been far away, finding them more quickly than they may have expected her to do so.
"Mr. Fortier; Mr. Smith," she acknowledged them both briefly before turning her attention to the graffitied statue which now wore an unusually designed masquerade mask. "Mr. Fortier, you were the first here, according to your note. Is this how it looked when you found it?" The professor asked, glancing at the floor around the statue for anything that the perpetrator may have dropped - going so far as to light her wand to brighten where most people neglected to look.
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Post by Enzo Fortier on Jan 19, 2019 17:27:59 GMT -8
Enzo stood a bit straighter as Professor McDanna approached, almost as if standing at attention. "No, ma'am," he said, glancing at Gideon. "It was covered in red paint. We felt it would be easier to remove while it was still wet."
Whether that was why Gideon had chosen to clean it up or not, he didn't truly know. Enzo simply didn't want to throw him under the bus. If one of them got in trouble for tampering with a crime scene, so to speak, they'd both get in trouble. On the flip side, if one got praised for their quick thinking, the other would, too. Horned Serpents stuck together, even if they weren't close friends.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 19, 2019 17:34:31 GMT -8
Gideon also stood up a little straighter as Professor McDanna approached, nodding in agreement with Enzo, though he wondered briefly why he didn't name him. "It was quite the macabre scene Professor," he added, hoping she got a clearer picture of what it had looked like. "Unfortunately we couldn't get the mask off to study it further, but it seems to have one of the choir's songs written on it. Handwritten lyrics at least," he added, hoping that the teacher could get the mask down as it was really making him uneasy.
He cast his gaze back up at the mask, feeling a shiver going down his spine. He wasn't looking forward to warning Eris, though he wondered if she would een be worried or chalk it up to an obsessed fan, or some other such nonsense.
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Post by Ailee McDanna on Jan 19, 2019 17:46:28 GMT -8
Ailee frowned when they told her that they had cleaned up the paint. "Was it spattered or dumped on the statue? Was it focused on one area of or just dumped over the whole of it as though whoever did it was in a hurry?" She asked, crouching down to run a hand over a single spatter of the paint that had hit the floor. However, it had already dried which lended to their excuse of hastily cleaning it away.
There wasn't much else around the statue so she stood up again, turning her focus to the mask giving it a gentle tug. It was no insult to the young men. For all any of them knew, it could be something spelled so that it could only be removed by an adult or a woman. As Smith was not yet of age, he would not, technically, classify as the former.
She also wanted to ask if they were certain it was, in fact, paint instead of blood but surely they were both old enough to recognize the difference by now. For a moment, she was nearly an actual adult, tempted to ask if there had been any words or symbols written in the liquid. However, both of them would have known to add that in their description.
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Post by Enzo Fortier on Jan 19, 2019 19:39:50 GMT -8
Enzo wasn't a paint splatter expert by any means, but he tried to describe what it looked like. "It looked like someone took a can of paint and poured the whole thing out onto the statue," he said, holding his hands out as if holding a large can and tipping them toward the statue. "Nothing was above the chest, so I guess that's where they poured it."
If they poured it. Also, it could have been aimed at the face, for all he knew, and they had missed. By a lot. He looked over at Gideon, wondering if he had a better description. He didn't recall seeing the culprits holding a paint can, but that didn't mean anything. They could have vanished it or hidden it under their robes. Maybe there was a spell like aguamenti, but for paint.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 19, 2019 19:50:49 GMT -8
Gideon nodded in agreement with Enzo, that's what it looked like to him at least. "Yeah, the paint looked like someone had splattered it across the chest as if it was blood," he said, making a face. "Professor, do you think this is a message for someone in the choir?" he asked. "I mean, it doesn't seem like it was an accident that it was this particular statue, with the lyrics to a song we sing in the choir and the musical theme of the mask itself."
He was curious as to what the teacher would think. "It's possible that they had more planned and Enzo could have scared them off when he gave chase," he thought, tapping his fingers against his bottom lip. "He saw two people who looked obscured in shadow. It's all quite disturbing."
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