Chapter Text
It's another day for Navia. She's in the Headquarters for the Spina Di Rosula. It's like every other day. Monotonous, dull, and all those other words that mean the same thing. She shuffles through the numerous pieces of paperwork on her desk, petty cases, most of them: theft, battery, and such. I mean, they're important cases, don't get me wrong! But she's not very interested in those types of things at the moment.
Navia lets out a deep exhale and leans deep back into her seat. She's tired; it's almost coming up on 10:00 PM at night. But then a certain case file catches her eye.
It's loosely gathered, and only a single paper, reporting an incident unlike every other case file, which is neatly put together with several pages of documentation. This one is uniquely empty. And it stands out heavily.
She sets the others aside and opens it to investigate it herself. It's a case regarding the death of Leyene Statin, a citizen of Poisson and a friend of the Spina. Her body was found floating in the waters of the Fleuve Cendre. The Gardes are slow to respond to anything reported below the city, so Navia might even take dibs if she acts fast enough. She died a few hours ago, so it seems.
An informant reported the case for the Spina in the Cendre. Navia shoots up from her seat immediately. Finally, something that intrigues her and hits close to home. Some spicy family drama, or some underworld dealing. Whatever the case, she'll be on her own.
‘Been a while since I've done some solo investigating. Hopefully this case isn't as boring as the others,’ Navia decides, bringing her Umbrella Canon with her for her own self-defense if push comes to slug-shot for whatever reason. The sun is setting, and dusk has already arrived. She makes her way out of the Spina HQ and onto a trail. She jogs lightly to the Aquabus line and catches one of the last rides to the city of Fontaine. She makes it on board and catches her breath lightly. There weren't too many people on board, to her own relief.
She finds a seat and makes herself as comfortable as she can. She lays her umbrella leaning on the seat next to her and lines up her legs right next to each other. Almost feeling a bit stiff.
‘Hey, you hear about the wardrobe malfunction at the Opera Epiclesis?’ Navia overhears, and she stays close to herself. She doesn't feel in the best mood to gossip right now.
'Archons, yes! Cannot believe Lyney had that happen to him. I honestly feel a bit bad, but I'm glad he worked around it. It was a great performance!’ Navia hears the person respond.
‘Exactly!... and... you hear about the other...’
Navia slowly zones out the two girls talking, and soon enough, every other sound is out of her head.
After about a half-hour ride or so on the waterways, she arrives in the city of Fontaine. She steps off the Aquabus and dusts herself off. She then stretches gently before grabbing her Umbrella and making her way to the elevator down to the transit station. It's a routine she has used to, making a regular commute to Fontaine for cases or just shopping in general.
Leyene Statins' death is strange… her body is still floating within the waters of the Fleuve Cendre, according to the reports retelling. She knows it's crazy to think about, but is this a prelude to the flood? Or is that just silly thinking? She shakes her head free of these thoughts soon enough though.
But, what she was able to gather from the report was that Leyene was there, and now she is in the water. It was swift. There is not much to go on at first, and few clues or pieces of information at the start, but that is a trick of the trade. All she knows is that Leyene is a Fisherman from Poisson, and she came to the Fleuve Cendre for whatever reason, and now she is in the water.
When she arrived at the crime scene, she scanned the area and saw the perimeter. The perimeter was set up by the Gardes, guarding the stairs down to the Fleuve Cendre under the city port, where Leyene's body was found.
A Garde stops Navia as she approaches the area. “You cannot be here; this is a crime scene.” The Garde says as he stands in front of her, noticeably, a few other Gardes are at the scene.
“I know, that's why I'm here,” Navia says as she flashes the Spina Di Rosula emblem at the Garde and walks past the perimeter, ducking her head under the tape.
It looks like the rest of the Gardes have left for whatever reason. She made sure to sidestep a chunk of hair at the top of the stairs. Leyene's body has been retrieved from the water and is currently lying face up on a blanket against the cold steel of the floor. Navia sighs and leans down next to the corpse. Navia quickly takes note of how some of her still-wet hair is disproportionate to the rest and concludes that the hair on the steps belonged to Leyene. Navia assumes that a fight broke out between Leyene and the suspect. But she is unsure. And it's nothing but loosely supported speculation. Aside from that, Leyene looks… fine. No visible bruising, and no blood must have been washed away by the water. And while she is cold now, this must have been recent.
Navia stands up in front of Leyene's body and sighs in frustration at the whole situation. Her mind runs wild with theories, but then, just then, Navia sees the Gardes return to the scene. But someone she did not expect to see with them was… Clorinde? Navia shudders.
“...Clorinde? What a surprise to see you here.” There's a sense of sarcasm laced behind Navia's words as she remarks, putting her hands on her hips. Eyeing her up and down.
Clorinde acknowledges Navia's presence and gives her a simple nod at first before responding in full. "You cannot be here— oh, hello, Mademoiselle Navia. And, of course, I would be; it is my duty to ensure that all citizens of Fontaine are safe. It is a bit surprising to see the Spina Di Rosula here so swiftly.” She says matter-of-factly.
There's something about the fact that Clorinde now refers to her so formally that it just irks Navia the wrong way, even with everything that happened between them. “Oh, really? And how's that going? But, you know, you don't have to call me Mademoiselle. We've known each other for too long for such formalities. Isn't that right, 'Champion Duelist'?" Navia said with a light, sly smile on her face as she teases Clorinde a bit. It felt all too natural for her to do so.
Clorinde herself seems a bit surprised, but that disappears quickly, replaced by her usual professionalism. "If you insist, Navia. I just thought-”
“Shut it.” She snaps her fingers, interrupting Clorinde. “I don't want to hear it. You're here to investigate the murder, aren't you? Well, I'll relay all the evidence I've been able to gather to you and the Gardes. The Spina's a private organization after all. This feels like it should be in your hands.” Navia says, hand on her hip.
“The Fleuve Cendre is a den of crime. The people of the Cendre are sadly caught up in the acts of the evil that lurks; we haven't made any headway in the investigation. I propose we work together.” Clorinde proposes to Navia. She seems a bit apprehensive, almost nervous. Despite her stone-cold face, Navia could tell her emotions underneath her cold exterior. She always can. She isn't sure if she could handle being around her for more than needed ever since… then. But things have been getting better between them. They ate dinner together not too long ago. And it's not like Navia outright despises the other woman. So, she'll give it a shot.
Navia takes a moment of consideration before answering. "Okay. Okay. I can do that. If you have information about the case, please hand it over to me when you or any of the Gardes have the chance. Were there any correlating cases before this? Have suspects been apprehended? Have witnesses given their testimony? We have only begun investigating this case, so having all of that at hand is incredibly important.” She says reserved. Trying to keep her emotional distance, trying to make sure she does not get her feelings caught up in the case. Finding it difficult due to Clorinde being right in front of her.
Clorinde nods, and a small smile appears on her face before fading. “We have a suspect arrested for the time being. He was found drunk in the nearby bar, while everyone else had gone home, including the tender. His name is Maquer De Fille, and we have him in jail for questioning, but he is our only and prime suspect. We also only have two testimonies; others in the area will be questioned. We plan to head back to the Palais Mermonia after all this to reassess all the evidence.”
“I'll accompany you there when the time comes, 'kay?” Navia says, and Clorinde nods. “I'll get you all the evidence available to me as of the moment, one moment.” Clorinde goes to walk off and find one of the Gardes who is holding a beige folder, leaving Navia standing there, still next to the body. Soon enough, she returns with the folder in hand and passes it over to Navia.
“Here,” Clorinde says, as Navia takes it from her hands. She opens the folder containing files and testimony reports. She gives it a quick skim, her calculating eyes roaming over the files and papers.
“Have the Spina agents present follow us back to the Palais Mermonia... Of course, when you need it,” Clorinde said as several detectives from the Garde began to roam the area, looking for clues and investigating the crime scene. After some time, the Gardes who are already present begin to finish things up and prepare to head back, now having formed initial ideas.
“...Ah. About that, it's just me around.” Navia said with a bit of a shaky voice. Her eyes scan the area a bit apprehensively.
Clorinde's eyebrows furrow as her eyes dart around, looking to see if she spotted any Spina Agents before her gaze returns to Navia. “I see. Well, stay close then, okay?” Her voice remains still, but there's this hint of underlying protectiveness that makes Navia chuckles.
“Will do!” Navia said with a smirk as she stood close to Clorinde. It's been a while since they've been this close. It's awkward, sure, but Navia finds herself at ease. It's nice. Far from monotonous or dull.
Just nice.