Photo: "The Girl Who Used to be Nothing but Smiles" by me

"You should really learn how to smile a little, it'll help you develop less wrinkles later when you're later. Not that it matters, you already look like you're forty with all of those bags under your eyes," the Ultimate Butler smirked from across the breakfast table as he ate a stick of French toast.

Leo quickly ducked as Nova let out an angry scream and threw her mug of hot coffee across the room at him. "Fuck off for once, you piece of shit, good-for-nothing, homeless servant!"

The mug missed and crashed into the wall, the coffee leaving a steaming stain behind as the shards of the mug shattered everywhere.

Next to him, Brody slowly began to hide behind Leo to avoid the shrapnel. "It's not even 8:00," he whispered frantically to Leo as he attempted to duck under Leo as plates began to fly across the diner. "What did he even do!?"

Leo quickly held up a chair in front of him. "I don't know! I walked in and they were already throwing insults!"

Raymond sighed as he scooched over towards them from his place under the long dining table, where he had been laying there to avoid the crossfire. "I was here this morning. Nova said something and Gin just had to throw a remark. Now it's like this."

Angel smiled nervously as she peeked out from behind a pillar. "Um...can we...please all be friends? And just forgive each other?"

Nova growled as she picked up a chair. "I'll forgive him if he gets on the floor and grovels for his life!"

Gin scoffed as he quickly snatched up a glass of water and took a sip, catching his breath. "As if I would sink so low to grovel in front of someone who clearly has something wrong with her."

A knife flew across the room unexpectedly as Gin's eyes widened in surprise, barely dodging it as it scraped across his cheek.

There was a deathly silence.

Gin slowly pressed his hand against his cheek, his hand coming away with blood as he smiled slightly in amusement. "You finally cracked, hm? That's disappointing. After all that you've gone through, I expected you to have a much higher tolerance of people taunting you."

"That's enough, Gin Amadio," Yumi said sharply as she stood up, dusting off her dress. "This has gone on for too long. You're both like children. I don't care if you hate each other. The very least you could do is to have some common decency and not break out into a fight during breakfast."

Both of them were silent before Cornelia sighed and stood. "Yumi is right. Both of you forget about each other, and let's clean up the mess."

Yumi glowered at everyone before she promptly turned around and walked out of the diner. "Make those two clean it. I refuse to dirty my hands for something that did not involve me."

Cassini nodded as he stood from his seat at a table nearby. "I agree," he said as he fixed his glasses and left after her.

"Those two...pompous as ever," Phoenix sighed quietly. "It's our fault for not stopping it sooner. Let's help out."

Raven nodded as she started to pick up the ceramic shards of the mug from the floor. "Everyone start cleaning. Leo, I think Gin prefers you the most out of the rest of us. You go with him back to his cottage and help get him treated for the cut on his face."

"M-me?" Leo asked, stunned.

Raven sighed as she started to put the broken mug in the trash can. "I would ask Elson, but you said he's still sleeping in your cottage."

"Gay," Cornelia whispered from behind him, smirking.

Leo's eyes widened slightly as he quickly shot up. "Hold up! Nothing happened! He just went into my room after 10:00 and then passed out on my bed from exhaustion."

"Uh huh. Exhaustion from what?" the Ultimate Pilot teased.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Enough, Cornelia. Let Leo go treat Gin. He's starting to drip blood on the floor."

Cornelia pouted. "Fine, fine. I'm gonna go ask Elson about it later, though~" she grinned as Leo puffed his cheeks indignantly and walked out of the diner, Gin trailing behind him.

Leo sighed as he glanced over at Gin, who had a large smirk on his face—at least, a smirk as wide as his cheek would allow him to make. "So, what was that about you sleeping with Elson?"

"A-as if I would let you know! You're the last person I want to hear about this!"

"I mean...the secret is out, isn't it?" Gin's eyes lit up. "So let me in."

Leo frowned as he started to walk faster. "Elson knocked on my door because he was afraid that Dagger would kidnap him. He passed out on my bed literally three minutes after he came inside, so I just let him sleep there. I was on the couch."

Gin pouted slightly, matching his pace. "So boring. Nothing else happened? I'm disappointed. If he had come to my cottage I would've totally—"

"Aaaand that's enough from you," Leo sighed as he stopped in front of Gin's cottage. "Can you open your doors?"

Gin nodded as he reached his free hand over and unlocked the door with a key, bowing. "After you."

"Right..." Leo stepped in, stunned at how tidy the room was. "This is a butler's room, huh?"

"Of course. I also have everything that one would request from me within this room, like food, drinks, towels, etcetera. In other words, this is a hotel within a hotel."

"So...where are your medical supplies? We all have some, right?"

Gin pointed up at the cabinet above the sink. "In there."

"Come with me and wash your cut first."

"Yes, sir," Gin walked into the bathroom before he carefully took his hand off his cheek, blood dripping down the sink.

Leo did his best to not look at the blood going down the drain as he reached into the cabinet and pulled out the medical kit. "You tried to dodge the knife, right?"

"You saw it. It caught me by surprise. I tried but it still got me. Pretty well, might I add. My face is numb," Gin shrugged as he turned on the sink and began to rinse the blood away.

Leo sat down at the edge of the tub, taking out a bottle of rubbing alcohol, a package of cotton swabs, medical tape, and a roll of gauze. "Sit down next to me when the blood stops flowing and I'll cover it up."

Gin nodded, soon sitting down next to Leo on the edge of the tub as he leaned forward.

Leo carefully dipped a cotton swab in the alcohol before he started to apply it. "Hey, let me ask you something."

Gin winced slightly. "What is it?"

"Why do you pick on Nova so much? Did she do something to you?"

The Ultimate Butler shook his head. "Not really. It's just fun to watch her, with her being angry all the time."

"You did mention something about everything that she had gone through. What was that?"

Gin blinked in surprise. "You don't know about her?"

"Uhhhh, I guess not?"

"Nova's father was a well-renowned astronomer. She took after him. From a young age, she participated with a team of scientists to develop the technology and the calculations needed to find a theoretical solar system."

Leo whistled as he pulled away, throwing away the bloody cotton swab before picking up the gauze. "Successful."

"Anyway, during that time, she was rumored to be a very happy girl. She loved stars and planets. She was very eager to learn, and very kind to everyone around her."

"Are you...even talking about the same person?"

"I'm getting there." Gin closed his eyes as Leo carefully taped down a few layers of gauze over the cut. "Then there was the scandal. You must have been aware of it. It was all over the news. The case where a group of adult scientists were rumored to have stolen the work of a young girl in order to claim fame."

"It was that case!?"

"Mhm. As soon as those scientists she worked with thought that they had everything they needed from her in order to find this new theoretical system, they pounced on the opportunity. They stole every bit of it from her and left her to defend herself alone. She was tormented at a young age."

"Is that why you said you thought she could take more taunting than what you were giving her?"

"Of course. She was ridiculed at such a young age. That was around the time she changed. People say it happened in an instant."

Leo began to put everything away. "What happened?"

"The girl who used to be nothing but smiles changed overnight. She was slumped over in her bedroom when she looked at her mirror and decided that, from that day on, she would never trust anyone again. She picked up where she had left off before they had deserted her."

"And that was the big surprise, right? She found the new galaxy first, despite being robbed of everything."

"Afterwards, when she was being recognized for her accomplishments, the same people who had taken everything from her tried to get back on her good side in order to try to gain credit. Do you know what she did?"

Leo stood up and put kit away. "What did she do?"

Gin covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. "She promptly made all of them grovel for her and then publicly humiliated them. In a nutshell, she ruined their careers. But, from that day on, Nova Odom, the Ultimate Astronomer, was never the same again. She works alone, and gets easily angered. That is the result of her pyrrhic victory over the people who tried to bring her down. That's why I wanted to mess around with her when I first found out that she was on this island with us."

"...you're actually despicable."

"Ah, come on, it wasn't to get her to do anything. I just wanted to test just how much of a temper she had."

"...actual garbage."

"Still, that was some reaction, right? Hahahaha! I'm sure that she despises betrayal the most. She would definitely be inclined to murder someone if they decided to betray her."

"...no. Garbage is better than you."

Gin shrugged. "It's so boring here. Someone with a strong personality is the most interesting. And, people like you."

"Me?"

"You."

"How so?"

"You don't have anything special, and that's what's fun," Gin said matter-of-factly.

"Gee, I feel so loved," Leo grumbled.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was kind of messing around."

"Only kind of, huh? Speaking of personalities...how did you get yours? You seem to enjoy taunting others."

"Hmm...if anything, I would say that it comes from the person I serve. He was a trickster, you see. He loved messing around."

"No wonder..."

"Anyway, I'll make this up to you. Would you like me to cook you something?"

"Sure, you're good at making stuff. You can make your favorite dishes."

A smile slowly crept onto Gin's face. "My...favorite dishes, huh?"

Leo smiled nervously, feeling uneasy. "So, what are they?"

"Have you ever heard of Sichuan cuisine? It's a regional cuisine based in China that rests on two crucial pillars of flavor, called 'ma' and 'la'. 'Ma', a type of tingling spice that comes from peppercorns. 'La', which is the Chinese word for spicy. That's what I love to make."

"Why...that?"

"I love to torture people with my food. Their faces are red, they can't stop sweating...yet they can't stop eating it either! It's the best feeling, to know that your food is so good that people would be willing to go through the pain of eating it!"

Leo let out a deep sigh. "I don't know why I didn't guess that sooner."

"So, so, I'll make you try my food now!"

"Ah...on second thought, I'm good. I'm gonna go research at the library more instead." Leo bowed quickly as he started to leave. "But I hope your cut heals soon. And...stay away from Nova."

"As you wish."

Leo let out a deep breath as he opened the door and left, closing it behind him. He walked out and towards the bridge to the second island, finally relaxing once he finished crossing.

"What a terrifying man."

~

There was a surprising person in the library, leaned back in a chair as they read through various newspaper clippings.

"Cassini?"

The Ultimate Explorer looked up from his seat and rose an eyebrow. "Stigmata? What are you doing here?"

"I was going to try to look for more clues."

Cassini scoffed and smiled slightly, pushing up his glasses. "No need. I'm here, so I'll do a better job than you."

Leo frowned slightly. "Come on. Don't be that stiff."

The Ultimate Explorer scowled slightly. "You'll just get in the way."

"Is there anything else I can do?"

Cassini pondered before he tossed the newspapers he had been holding behind him, all of them floating down to the floor. "See all of these papers and books on the floor? These are the ones that I've already gone through. Clean them up."

Leo sighed as he nodded and bent down as he started to pick up the papers around him. "Fine."

"Good. I'm glad you know your place. Make sure you put them in the proper place."

"Right, right."

There was a stifling silence as Leo began to put the papers back in order.

"Allow me to ask you something, Stigmata."

Leo blinked and looked up. "Yeah. What is it?"

"How were you invited to the party?"

"Eh?"

"Don't make me repeat myself. You received an invitation, inviting you to the Belmont's Manor for a special trip and proposal because of your Ultimate Talent. Some people here, I can understand why they would be here. We have the Ultimate Queen. A Train Conductor whose image as a spokesperson single-handedly saved the world's largest train company. A Spirit Medium who has never been wrong about her communications and a world-class Escape Artist. An influential Pop Star and the most popular Fashionista in the world. Me, the Explorer who has braved through frontiers beyond a commoner's wildest imaginations. So, why you? Why you, the Ultimate Sleeper? I find it quite suspicious."

"You make it sound as if I'm completely useless."

"Was I not clear enough? You are. Compared to the rest of the talents here, yours holds much less importance than the others."

"That...hurts."

Cassini closed the newspaper he had been reading and tossed it behind him. "Go get that and hear me out."

Leo sighed as he picked it up. "What more do you have to say?"

"It's your lack of talent that's intriguing. I wonder why you were invited. Perhaps...there's something that they're hiding about you."

Leo's eyes widened slightly. "Hiding?"

"It's just but a hunch. I think that there's something to you, and that's why I want to find out. I'm the Ultimate Explorer. I'm not only limited to physical frontiers. I'm also known for my research. A pioneer for everything. And this is something that I'm going to crack down. Be prepared for it."

"Ah...right. I guess I'll cooperate."

"Very good."

"What is even your judgement for who is useful and who is not? You've consistently said this. I'm not particularly offended. I just want to know why—"

Leo was cut off as the alarm for the announcements rang. As if it was a trained behavior, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

The TV screens came on, Dagger laying on a couch in the back with various empty cans of beer strewn about.

Dagger hiccuped and angrily pounded the coffee table in front of him. "You...you all are so BORING! I wanted some drama, but all you guys give me are possible rumors of people being gay and meaningless fights!"

"H-hey!" Leo protested.

"I have an idea!" Dagger sat up on the couch, leaning forward towards the monitor. "Everyone. Assemble at the casino. I think it's time for you to have some motivation."

Oh no.

Leo swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat.

"Why are you nervous?" Cassini asked as he got up. "Dagger is trying to provoke us once again. Just don't listen to him."

"...the last time we tried that, two people died."

"Trivial. Let's go."

Leo clenched a fist slightly before he followed behind Cassini, the two of them walking into the casino.

Lights. So many lights. So flashy.

Leo was blinded by the brightness of the casino the minute the doors opened. Around them, there were various gambling tables, pool tables, and slot machines lined up in the room.

"How distasteful," Cassini commented as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, switching his normal glass out.

"That's...that's quite extra."

"Be quiet."

Slowly, the others shuffled in, with Cornelia and Phoenix holding Nova back to prevent another attack as soon as Gin sauntered in.

Eve blinked in confusion as she looked around, hiding behind Raymond. "Where is he?"

"Hm?" A head poked out from behind one of the slot machines next to Leo.

Leo looked over and jumped back in surprise. "Dagger!"

Dagger laughed and slammed a hand against the slot machine. "Another loss! How despairingly disappointing!"

Yumi tapped her foot impatiently, crossing her arms. "Talk, Belmont."

Dagger blinked slightly and looked around. "Huh? Serafino isn't here? Why? I wanted to see him!"

"Um...he said he didn't want to come," Aspen murmured. "He hid in Leo's closet and refused to come out."

Why is he still in my room?

Dagger sighed in disappointment. "Fine. Someone go tell him later. But, for now," he suddenly grinned widely, "Allow me to present your next motive!"

There was a silence before Angel quietly whispered, "Dun dun dun..."

"That was the worst thing you could have said," Eve said nervously.

"Just get on with it," Raymond muttered as he sat down on one of the pool tables.

"I like to call this motive 'Sloth!'"

"Sloth?" Aspen asked, tilting his head.

"Named after one of the seven deadly sins, I presume," Raven said as she looked up at Dagger. "Continue to explain."

"It's as the name implies. I will let you indulge in the sin of Sloth. The next murderer will have a great advantage: they will be allowed to request whatever they want of me in regards to the murder, as long as it is within the rules."

"So...as soon as the murder has taken place, you get whatever you want to help yourself out in the trial...so that includes framing someone?"

"Exactly! You can get whatever you would like. If you use it properly..." Dagger grinned. "You can really twist this to work in your favor. It's a free pass for anyone who wants to get off this island."

"One other thing," Raven asked. "As long as it has to do with a murder. That's very specific. That means whoever requests it first...can also make you do their dirty work, correct?"

"Of course! However, I will not carry out everything by myself. You can only request one thing of me. For example, Nova could ask me to kill Gin. However, that is as far as it goes. She will have to dispose of the evidence and create an alibi for herself. And, in the end, if she is caught, it will be her that is punished, as she is the one who created this murder plan."

"Will we know of the command as soon as the trial starts?" Aspen asked.

"No. You will have to figure that out by yourself. Remember: in my trials, everyone is a prosecutor, a defender, and a judge. You guys will argue to get closer to the truth...or give up and let someone get away with murder!"

"As if anyone else would want to murder," Cassini muttered.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Cassini Deleon," Dagger smiled widely. "They may not show it, but the people around you...I wouldn't trust them. What I just proposed is something that is enticing to everyone."

I can't trust anyone?

Slowly, Leo looked at the crowd around him.

There was no eye contact.

Rather, no one could muster up the courage to look at people in the eyes as they thought over Dagger Belmont's deadly proposal.

For the first time, Leo felt as if everyone was out for blood.