The largest Adventurers Guild in the city and arguably one of the largest in the whole World is in Capital City's Central District. Despite its name, it's a 24/7 LGBTQ+ friendly nightclub with live music and dancing all the time. DJs are constantly swapped out every 3 or so hours. A full blown bar and restaurant are also available, one that Luna and Hinata work at part time overnight.
If someone were to look inside, it would look like a mess of neon, lasers, and fog, but to the patrons, this is their home. Despite the volume, it is incredibly comfortable. Lots of plush seating all around. And it's always clean.
This Adventurer's Guild is located in Central Square right across the street from the massive arcade, the one where the fateful duel with Chandra took place two weeks prior.
Luna and Hinata are doing their usual thing on a chaotic Saturday night. Hinata is behind the bar rocking the bartending scene while Luna is walking around and bringing patrons their drinks. It's a loud and obnoxious kind of night in the Adventurer's Guild, but the two of them wouldn't trade it for any of the Worlds. Luna shakes her hips a bit to the beat of the music while serving the drinks, with her tail swaying a bit and Hinata is dancing around while making the drinks, using her innate Bardic Rhythm magic to keep herself steady and her stamina high. It's fun. Work for the two of them is really really fun.
At some point in the night, however, the music stops.
The lights dim.
A single spotlight goes from the entrance to the Guild all the way to the stage as someone walks in. The gender of this person is difficult to tell, but what is apparent is they're rather tall with their face and body covered in what seems to be a cloak of some kind. They eventually arrive on the stage and freeze. Neither Luna nor Hinata are aware of any special guests coming to the Guild tonight. Usually if someone special were to host, they would be aware of it, knowing that patron density will be higher than usual. Sure, the density of the crowds and partygoers is a little higher than usual, but Luna and Hinata just assumed that's because it's Saturday Night. They were warned that, generally, Fridays and Saturdays were much busier than usual.
Regardless, the person does not speak. Their movements are vague and slow. The clothes they wear don't look like the usual clothes that the other DJs wear. It's almost... formal in a way.
As the bar is on the far side from the stage, Luna squints a bit to try and tell any physical details of this unknown being but she's not able to, other than general height being around maybe 6'6"? It's difficult to say. DJ Phantom looks at this person with a tilted head and a confused expression. Speaking into the mic, DJ Phantom asks, "Yo who's this?", then offers the stranger a mic.
The stranger speaks into their mic, but even their voice is seemingly off as if distorted in some way.
"ι αм ѕσяяу ƒσя ιηтєяяυρтιηg, вυт αѕѕιѕтαη¢є ιѕ яєqυιяє∂ ιη тнє συтѕкιятѕ. ιт'ѕ вα¢к. тнє ωι--”
The stranger passes out on the ground. Patrons scream out of terror as the lights turn on. Hinata and Luna book it to the stage to see if the stranger needs first aid, but that's when they notice the trail on the ground. A trail of red blood between the entrance of the Guild to the stage. Bloody footprints. And a pool of blood on the stage itself. "What the fuck is happening?" Luna yells, shivering slightly. "I'm... not sure," Hinata responds as they rush to the stage. On reaching the stranger, they remove the cloak and hood and begin to administer first aid the best they can. Unfortunately, checking their pulse, it's gone. Luna begins CPR while Hinata panics. DJ Phantom fell back away from the scene as spewing sounds come from the backstage area.
"Shit. Hinata, check for ID, I'm gonna call the cops." Luna commands as she heads backstage to get some peace. The crowd in the front are panicked but their phones are out recording the scene, choosing to clout chase instead of calling for help. As soon as Luna heads backstage, she rushes out of the back door and into the alley. The alley is rather silent, the moonless sky peers down from above. The only sounds that can be heard here are the electric buzzing of the various neon signs in the area and the usual commotion from Central Square. "Right." Luna pulls out her cell phone and calls the Agency of Arcane Affairs as they control all of the emergency services in the city. They're the police and they're fire. They're the EMTs. They're the government of this fucking strange world that Luna calls home. To be blunt, the AAA is the law.
Speaking to the dispatcher, she gives a short description of what happened, plus location. She includes the data about the spotlight being shone on them for some unknown reason and the fact that this stranger is dead. She learns that many people have called the AAA about this but she doesn't gain any more information than that. Eventually they hang up on Luna as the sounds of sirens flood the area. Luna uses her Auditory Muffle to reduce the noise in the area before heading back to Hinata.
The club gets cleared out by the police. They're all wearing the same black suit with a small silver badge that shows they're part of the AAA's Criminal Justice department. Hinata and Luna are basically stuck in the club with the police as they get questioned by the police. Interrogation of the event happens throughout the night. Despite what Luna and Hinata say or try to glean, the AAA refuses to give them any information, even if they're the two caretakers for the overnight shift. While Luna had called the cops, Hinata did not find a wallet or an ID on the victim. Moreover, it seems this victim has no fingerprints. Multiple severe burns are on their fingertips and hands. Their hair is black and short, height around 6'6", a somewhat thin and weakened physique, as if they hadn't eaten in days. Their body is scrunched in a bit too. To call this body a body would be a stretch. It’d be closer to a lump of flesh with a cloak on top.
The only somewhat interesting held item to note was a piece of paper in the stranger's breast pocket. A single word written seemingly in blood considering the messiness of the writing and the general color. As Hinata explained this to Luna, her ears flatten while stressed.
Solaire
The police find the note pretty quickly and adds it to their evidence. Some muttering could be heard but even if Luna focused her hypersensitive hearing on them, she can't understand anything aside from, "contact Ms. Wright." For the rest of the night, the two are stuck in the club together. They eventually pass out by the bar falling asleep. The investigators at the scene continue their work in mostly silence. Eventually, the AAA leaves and cordons off the Guild and surrounding it with bright yellow police tape. Events in the Guild are postponed until further notice.