1 Arc 1: The Curator of Body and Soul (1)

The warm morning light washed over the empty park on Canary Street, named so after one of the city's most prominent mayors. It was a cozy start to a new day. The air was crisp but had within it a tinge of humidity. A last farewell from the rain storm that had visited the city the evening before. Spots of puddles strewn about on the ground, and the dirt was still dark and wet from the beatings that it had taken from the downpour.

A boy no more than sixteen rushed through the empty park. A pen floated beside him at eyes length. Occasionally, it would tremble and move a few degrees clockwise before coming to a stop once more. This was a favorite training technique that the local schools taught to its pupils to practice magic control. The goal was to spin the levitating object in question 360 degrees smoothly, and at a near constant velocity.

Suddenly, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he stopped in surprise. The pen which was near his head dropped to the ground as his attention was captured by what he saw. It was the back of a naked woman. She was kneeling on ground. The soles of her feet pointed upward into the sky. Her upper body leaned slightly to the left and her left shoulder rested lightly on the back rest of a bench. A cloak covered her from head to toe. The droplets on the cloak indicated that it was highly water proof, yet the transparent material left nothing to the imagination. She had a serene expression on her face. Her eyes were closed as if asleep and a faint, but gentle smile graced her lips.

It was then that the student paused once more. He felt a lump form in his throat as he audibly swallowed in distress. Something was wrong, his mind screamed at him. It took several more minutes to determine what it was that his mind had reacted to. The strangeness of the situation was almost too much for him to comprehend. And when he finally processed the information which his eyes had seen, he let out an instinctual, guttural scream.

"This is the second one," A man wearing a brown trench coat and plaited pants said with a sigh. He fingered his badge that was pinned on his chest. "There's no way we can keep this under wraps now".

"Aye," A man in an all-black business attire agreed from behind. He stepped forward, leaned down to take a closer look at the body. "How young do you reckon this one is, Gabriel?"

"Too young," Gabriel responded. "I would be surprise if she was over 20. Do you see anything noteworthy, Satoshi?"

"Not really." Satoshi straighten himself out. "The posture's different but the general idea is the same. The head appears to be cut off and then reattached backwards with the face facing back. The neck wound is sewed close with white threads, and her posture is set in place through steel nails imbedded into her body."

"Its going to be tough trying to find some clues in the area. The rain last night was pretty heavy. I doubt anyone was in the vicinity, and whatever clues might have been left would have likely been washed away by now." Gabriel pointed at the transparent cloak. "Judging by that, I'd say the body was definitely left during the rainfall, unless the killer purposely splashed water on it."

"Any luck with the witness?" Satoshi asked.

"You mean the kid that found the body?" Gabriel shrugged. "He was spooked. I managed to get some cohesive stuff out of him but it's not much. We'll take him down for an official statement of course but I doubt he knows anything."

"That's a shame," Satoshi said as he looked around. "I'm going to see if I can find anything around with magic. Hopefully I can find something that I can use a trace on, or for the clairvoyants back at headquarters to get a read on."

"I'm not holding my breath on that," Gabriel remarked. "We found jack shit for the last one."

"Well," Satoshi glanced down at the body. "At least now we can make a decent guess at the age group that our target is going for. Small sample size but still, it's better than nothing."

"Oh, by the way," Satoshi turned around. "Before I forget, you heard that the tops are planning on making a task squad, right?"

"I've heard some rumblings, sure. Pretty standard procedure if you ask me. What of it?"

"Well, I've put in a recommendation for that newbie. You know, that one. The girl who can read other people's emotions." Satoshi said.

"Her?" Gabriel exclaimed in surprise. "Why? She's inexperienced. She can't fight for shit. I don't think she's ready for this."

"Well, you are right on both accounts. But, her scores back at the Academy were excellent despite her inabilities to fight. Her work in the force so far has been pristine. Granted, we've only given her the minor cases but still, there's definitely potential in her. And if nothing else, her unique ability will be a boon in our operation."

"Just so you know, I'm against this," Gabriel said with some exasperation.

"You worry too much," Satoshi replied with a slight chuckle. "And besides," Satoshi's face darkened, "we can't afford to hold back on this one. It might be a bit of a gamble putting her onboard, but I think it's a reasonable one."