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Chapter 3 - The Truth Uncovered

The police station stood silent in the dead of night, its usually bustling corridors eerily empty. A lone figure sat at a desk, the soft glow of a computer screen illuminating his features. Angelo stared blankly at the monitor, his mind far from the mundane paperwork before him.

An incident across town had drawn every available officer away, leaving Angelo behind. Chief Ramirez's words still echoed in his ears: "Stay here, Angelo. We need someone to man the station." The order had come with a pointed look that brooked no argument.

"This is bullshit," Red's voice rang out in Angelo's mind, reacting to his thoughts. "We should be out there, not stuck here pushing papers."

"Perhaps," Blue's calm tone contrasted sharply with Red's agitation, "but orders are orders."

Angelo sighed, rubbing his temples. "Can you two keep it down? I'm trying to focus here."

Angelo's gaze drifted to a bulletin board on the wall, where a bright flyer announced the upcoming New Light Festival. His expression darkened, memories of that fateful night in Ashford flooding back. The sounds of explosions, screams of terror, and the warm, sticky feeling of blood on his hands - all set against the backdrop of cheerful festival decorations. The irony was almost too much to bear.

"The festival preparations seem to be starting earlier each year," Blue's voice echoed in Angelo's mind, his tone neutral as always.

"Yeah. Wonderful," Angelo muttered aloud, his tone bitter.

"Your discomfort with the celebration persists," Blue stated internally. "Perhaps it would be prudent to address these feelings, given the event's significance to our community."

Angelo leaned back in his chair, speaking quietly but audibly in the empty station. "Address what, Blue? That while everyone celebrates our 'independence,' criminals use the chaos to prey on innocent people? That our borders are more vulnerable than ever during the festivities?"

There was a moment of internal silence before Blue responded. "The festival does present unique challenges for law enforcement. However, it also represents hope for many in Luminia."

"Hope?" Angelo snapped. "It's a distraction. One we can't afford in these times."

"That's it, I can't take this anymore," Red's voice cut in internally, his frustration palpable. "I'm going for a walk."

Before Angelo could protest, a wisp of crimson smoke emerged beside him. It swirled and stretched, forming a vaguely humanoid shape before drifting away, seeping through the cracks of a nearby door.

"Red, wait!" Angelo called out, but it was too late. He could feel Red moving through the station, their shared senses allowing him to see through Red's eyes.

"Let him go," Blue advised internally. "Perhaps he'll burn off some energy."

Angelo nodded reluctantly, turning back to his work. But his concentration was short-lived as Red's meandering brought him to a room he'd never seen before.

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Through Red's eyes, Angelo saw rows upon rows of filing cabinets. The archives. Red materialized fully, surrounded by a red aura to emit more light in the dimly lit room.

"Now this is interesting," Red mused aloud, his voice echoing slightly in the cavernous space. He ran a finger along the cabinet labels, leaving a faint trail of crimson energy. "Let's see what secrets this place holds."

"Red, don't," Angelo warned verbally, even though Red was no longer in the same room. The shared connection allowed his words to reach Red regardless of location.

But curiosity had already taken hold. Red pulled open a drawer, the metal scraping loudly in the silence. He began rifling through the files with reckless abandon, the rustle of paper filling the air.

Suddenly, he paused. "Hey, check this out," Red called, his voice tinged with excitement. He pulled out a thick folder, dust motes dancing in the air around it. "Incident report from... 18 years ago? In Ashford. Wait a second..."

Angelo felt his heart skip a beat. Ashford. Eighteen years ago. The time and place his parents died. Through Red's eyes, he scanned the report, his breath catching in his throat.

"Evidence suggests an organized attack... No leads on specific individuals or groups... Lab explosion believed to be intentional..."

The words blurred as tears welled in Angelo's eyes. All these years, he'd believed it was an accident. A tragic mishap in his father's lab. But this... this changed everything.

"Angelo," Blue's voice was uncharacteristically gentle, cutting through the shock. "We need to think about this rationally. This report--"

"Proves that our parents were murdered," Angelo cut him off, his voice trembling with a mix of grief and rage. He stood up abruptly, his chair scraping loudly against the floor.

Back in the archives, Red's face seemed to twitch with barely contained rage, the crimson aura around him intensifying. "Murder," he snarled, his voice low and dangerous. The temperature in the room seemed to drop. "They didn't just die, they were killed. Angelo, we can't let this go. We need to find who did this and make them pay."

Angelo stood frozen at his desk, his mind reeling from the revelation. The silence in the station was deafening, broken only by the sound of his ragged breathing and the distant hum of the air conditioning. After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You're right, Red. We can't let this go. But we need to be smart about this. We need more information."

Blue's calm voice cut through the tension. "We should start by investigating any connections between this incident and other cases. There might be a pattern we're not seeing."

Angelo nodded, his shock slowly giving way to determination. He began walking towards the archives, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridors. "Agreed. But we do this carefully. No one can know what we've found, not yet."

As Angelo entered the dim light of the station's archives, he felt the weight of this revelation settling on his shoulders. Red stood there, the file still in his hands. Blue materialized beside them, his calming presence a stark contrast to Red's agitation.

Angelo took the file from Red, his hands trembling slightly. He read through the report one more time, committing every detail to memory. The search for answers about his parents' death had only just begun, and he knew the path ahead would be challenging.

With determination burning in his eyes, Angelo looked up at Red and Blue. "Whatever it takes, we're going to uncover the truth. And when we do..." He left the sentence unfinished, but the implication was clear.

As they stood there, surrounded by the musty smell of old files and the weight of newfound knowledge, Angelo couldn't help but feel that his life had irrevocably changed. The Angel of Death now had a personal vendetta, and the implications of this discovery would ripple through his future actions, testing his convictions in ways he couldn't yet imagine.

Outside, the sounds of festival preparations could be faintly heard - a stark reminder of the world beyond these walls, oblivious to the earth-shattering revelation that had just occurred. Angelo knew that from this moment on, every New Light Festival would carry a new, darker meaning for him - a reminder not just of Luminia's independence, but of his own quest for justice and the secrets that still lay hidden in the shadows of the past.