Klingen City PublicSecurity
Official incident report
August 17th - 03:21
A team of public security entered the 'The Fiery Inn' in Klingen's Market district, tasked with tracking down a group of thieves who were in possession of a 'heavenly artifact', the 'Amulet of Flames'.
The group was led by Captain Brabham of the 7th investigation unit. They successfully managed to detain 2 suspects, but couldn't locate the artifact, even after searching the perimeter.
After a successful extraction, the team was ambushed by a resistance strike force, potentially looking for the item themselves.
Although armed with two high-pressure steam rifles, they were unsuccessful in fending off the enemy. From the 10-headed group of operatives, only 3 ended up surviving, including captain Brabham. The captain is currently in critical condition, and he won't be able to return to service for at least 3 months. Both steam rifles were lost in the exchange, together with the suspects.
At the same time, a large scale explosion occurred in the vicinity of 'The Fiery Inn'. At that time, no more operatives were in the vicinity. The cause is still unknown, but it is suspected that the disappearance of the 'Amulet of Flames' might be the reason for the explosion.
The destructive force combined with the flames wiped out 20 buildings in the vicinity, including the inn. At the time of writing, 76 inhabitants had died whilst over 100 more were injured and over 50 missing. It is of great relief that no persons of noble status, politicians or public security officers were harmed during the catastrophe.
In the aftermath, a group of public security officers were found dead near the explosion site. The cause of death were bullet wounds. The culprit is still unknown, but it was confirmed that he had no affiliation with the prior events.
A follow-up investigation has been requested and is currently in progress.
August 20th, 10th year of King Albus, the 1st' rule
Author: Private Morgan, 7th investigation unit
...
August 17th - 3:48
Leo ran. He ran as fast he could run. He was running away. Not only from the cops closing in on him with their wooden batons, but also from himself. He allowed those brutes to capture his friends, no... his family. He had thought to be lucky by managing to escape from their grasp, but even now he didn't seem to remember clearly the events that occurred in the inn. But what he knew was that they had Adry and Jany and were coming for him as well. As he ran further and further away from the inn, the blazing inferno around him seemed to lessen as well. In this mad scramble through the heat, the fiery glow of the amulet was just another flame in the background.
Although his vision became blurry from the tears, he continued to run. He needed to survive. If not for his own sake, then for theirs. He had no destination and the police continued to slowly close in on him.
Just as he turned another corner, his feet became glued to the ground, and he became instantly surrounded by the public security officers, their dogs fiercely lashing out in his direction, only to be held back by their cold iron chains.
One by one, they drew their revolvers, determined to end the life of another poor street boy. There were too many of them anyway.
At the sight of his ending coming nearer, Leo didn't even have the power to fight back. He was trapped, cornered, betrayed by his own two feet and worst of all, alone. Slowly closing his eyes, he awaited the gunshots.
...
As the guns fired, Leo didn't feel anything. "Is this what being dead feels like?" Slowly opening his eyes, he looked down at his still intact body and the officers still with their drawn weapons.
Feeling his heart still rapidly beating in his chest, Leo truly realised that he was indeed still alive.
"So you didn't even lest me rest in peace..."
"There is still so much of this stage left to be explored, or am I mistaken?"
The calm voice from above made Leo come back to his senses. Looking up, a figure clad in a black coat and a jester's mask was floating above him, his heavy black boots being out his arms' reach. Around his body two rings of bullets were slowly rotating in counterclockwise fashion.
The policeman rapidly pointed their weapons at the masked figure, firing shots in rapid succession. But the bullets began to slowly incorporate themselves into the circles, which were getting larger by the second as their speed began to increase exponentially, until Leo could see afterimages.
Suddenly, the floating circles dispersed as red blood began spewing out of the officers' heads as they collapsed simultaneously.
"Wh-who are y-you?"
Judging by his build, Leo could now clearly discern that he was a man of average height and build.
"I go by many names... But for you, I am Teacher."
After a short pause, he continued in the same monotonous voice: "Tomorrow at dawn, head to Dark Iron Street and ask for Richter at the bar, if you want to see your friends again. I will inform you when your classes begin."
Leo nodded silently, afraid of what Teacher would do to him if he decided to fight back.
Without even having time to blink, Teacher disappeared from the scene with a loud bang, leaving behind afterimages. As Leo's vision cleared up, he could see 2 tarot cards lying on the floor.
They were "Temperance" and "The Sun".