Astronomika - Shooting Down Falling Stars (IC)

[Verg Avesta]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

With Mercedes and Lucille having left to explore the rest of the pool building, there was only one thing that needed to be done here at the actual pool hall. Pyry, having dragged Colt's corpse all the way to the edge of the pool, was struggling ever-so-slightly to keep himself and the other boy afloat. However, rolling him over to the pale-colored tiles was another thing entirely, especially from within the water, and that was why he was grateful when Hisa finally hurried on over to help him. This was a two-person job, even for someone as strong as Pyry.

The third person, however... Gradient - the mysterious girl who had no words to speak, had been left behind.

Still, the strange girl had been, luckily enough, distracted for a moment. Before Hisa left to help Pyry, she had handed her the notebook and pen the scarred girl carried with her... first pointing to a page with a simple drawing and then flipping over to a new, empty page and patting it with her hand. Even Gradient, as off-beat as she was, seemed to get what that meant, and now the odd one was busy letting the pen fly all over the pages. There was a concentrated look in her eyes, and from the looks of it, she wouldn't be distracted by what was going on for a while.

--- Which gave the duo of Pyry and Hisa ample time to fish Colt's body out of the water.

It wasn't an easy job (dead bodies were surprisingly heavy) but with Hisa's help, the two finally managed to do it. The brunette boy's corpse smacked onto the tiles and rolled over, and while the scarred girl caught her breath, Pyry dragged himself up from the pool and back to the dry land. His T-shirt and boxers were fully soaked and he looked more mentally exhausted than physically, but still he pressed on. Without a word, Pyry sat next to Colt's body and a look of both anger and melancholy passed by his face. Instinctively he reached out and pressed down Colt's eyelids, letting a small sigh pass by his own lips.

"... Dude... I'm sorry. I should've been there to protect you," Pyry mumbled, sounding like he was in pain. "Especially after what I said I'm... God... I'm so sorry..."

It was clear that though he tried not to show it, these deaths were weighing heavily upon the mind of the lanky athlete. Especially when it came to someone who was, perhaps, his best male friend fom the whole school. That look of self-blame was not surprising, but at the same time it was clearly not the most productive mindset. Even now, Pyry didn't look like he was able to do anything else but to stare at the corpse. Whether to take him outside or do something else... the blonde boy was clearly at a loss.

Which was why it was good that his partner for the moment was much more determined than he was.

Showcasing surprising readiness and willingness to get her hands dirty for the truth, Hisa patted Colt down to see if he was holding any sort of clues that could help them with this mystery. Of course, the boy had been in the water for a long time, as was revealed by the thoroughly soaked wallet that she, at first, fished out. Other than that, his clothes were clearly empty - he carried no suspicious items or possible evidence to help the two catch his killer. Just his clothes and his wallet... and the numerous wounds - some too horrible to look at straight - he had with ihm.

Though, for Hisa, that did reveal something strange.

That locket Colt always had with him...

-------- It was gone.

Nowhere to be found, no matter how well she went over his pockets and clothes.

---

Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

Having left Hisa and Pyry behind, the corridors grew dark and quiet around Lucille and Mercedes as they slowly walked back towards the entrance, and to the various hallways where one could get to the other locations. On the way there were the locker rooms and the showers - both which had a direct access to the pool hall itself, which was why it wasn't a surprise that Mercedes wanted to check those first. Wordlessly the actress opened up the door to the boys' locker room and waltzed in, no longer caring about things such as shame and decency.

It was dark.

Very dark.

Which was why, when Mercedes switched on the flashlight she had been carrying, it became something of a relief. The spotlight from the small piece of machinery scanned the rows and rows of lockers, seeing none of them disturbed. Mercedes even went as far as to check behind them, to the two other "rows" that were against the opposite walls. When she was finally satisfied, the starlet pressed on forward, walking straight towards the actual shower area.

But when the two of them passed through the doorway... she finally began to talk.

"... Whoever, like, killed Colt didn't do it head-on. They must've, like, first attacked him with that knife and then shot him after he fell to the pool," the actress suddenly spoke out. "Knife is a silent weapon, gun's not. So, gun should be last resort. And you saw, like, the bullet wounds right? All grouped around his chest, upper body and head. In other words, like... that was the murderer's best place to shoot. Upper body, chest, head... all things that are, like, exposed when you're struggling in water."

Mercedes explanation was a quiet one, yet it filled the empty shower room with her voice.

"In other words they, like, started with the knife. And if you use knife, you gotta act silent and act fast to get a back wound like Colt did," the starlet continued. "If you act fast, you can't do fancy stuff. Just dash in, stab, pull the knife back. Especially since, like, Colt had another stab wound. Probably... probably because he turned around after the first one took him by surprise. So, if the first stab was instinctive... like, made as fast and as hard as one could, they'd go with whatever was easiest for them."

The flashlight the actress was holding scanned the boys' shower room, revealing nothing but empty stalls and forlorn shadows.

"... And the wound went upwards towards Colt's spine. From below to above. Professional. They wanted to do as much damage as they could Like... if that ain't telling us the culprit's shorter than Colt, I dunno what will," Mercedes concluded, shining he flashlight towards Lucille. "So, here's a trivia question for you, Lucy..."

This was strange.

Since when had Mercedes been this observant?

Since when had she been someone who could make dedutions like this?

Almost like some sort of crime-fighting robot who coldly, calmly and without missing a single thing, analyzed the whole area.

"... Which of our classmates are shorter than Colt?" Mercedes asked, staring straight at her friend, no mercy in he eyes.

Afer all... it was a loaded question.

Almost like a chambered bullet.

[Cheetose]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

With Colt’s body finally out of the water, I took a look over towards the entrance - noting with relief that Gradient was still there - and then knelt down next to the dead body to inspect it more thoroughly. The body itself, however, didn’t reveal a lot more than what already was obvious. First probably came the stab wounds, followed by the bullets, quite likely to properly finish the job. Quite likely spent the whole night face down in the pool…

A rather grim sight...Not so much because of the wounds, but for the fact that it was Colt - someone I met and talked with probably just a few hours before this happened, and while I knew that it wasn’t my fault, the thought that perhaps I could have prevented it somehow lingered at the back of my head.

Moving on with the search, I looked through each and every pocket his clothes had, mainly looking for one specific item - but no matter how much I looked, it wasn’t there. The locket was nowhere to be found, instead, the only thing I managed to find was his soaked wallet.

Rather upsetting.

Why it was gone, if it was because someone took it away, or if it died together with Colt, I didn’t know.

But it was quite likely that I would never even see that item again.

Looking up at Pyry, who still seemed to be quite shaken by the events, I sighed, then, moving over to his side, I gently shook his shoulder.

“Hey,” I said in a soft, somewhat sympathetic voice, “Pull yourself together, big man.”

“What’s done is done, no point lamenting over it. And certainly no point blaming yourself for it. No one really expected this to happen, and in the end, it’s not our fault.”

Letting go of his shoulder, I turned my attention to the wallet and its content.

“We should just focus on trying to avoid a similar end,” I mumbled absentmindedly while fidgeting with the wallet, “and to try and get to the end of this, perhaps. Firstly, his locket is missing. Also...Say, why does this thing say that his name is Colt Barrett?” I continued as I handed a drivers license to Pyry, ”Didn’t he introduce himself as Colton Davin?”

Other than the license, the wallet only had some crumpled and completely wet pieces of paper that looked like receipts, and money - more money than I’ve ever seen in my life.

“He seemed to be rather rich too,” I said while trying to get a rough estimation, “This is, like, 2700$, just kept in a wallet like this.” Folding the money back into the wallet, I looked down on Colt’s corpse once again, “Should hand it over to the police, or try to return it to his family, I suppose.”

Another glance towards the entrance, noting with relief that Gradient was still occupied with drawing.

“Think we can leave him here for now,” I said to Pyry, “it’s good enough enough that he isn’t...in the water anymore. We can bring him out once we are done looking around the place. Or perhaps once the police arrives. But for now, maybe we should check the other parts of the building.”

[Ayakashi]

--- Vivienne Bianchi Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT) Location: Owl's Nest, 3rd Floor Hallway Phase: Morning Phase Weather: Overcast ---

The set of decisions that Vivienne had foretold was logical, but what she had forgotten was that at times Prushka was not the most logical of persons. Indeed, she who had revealed her ability to affect others so easily, uncaring as if wherever there were members of the turn side around... perhaps she should have seen this coming from afar.

What could possibly have spurred Prushka into making this selfless act to give Vivienne an opportunity to escape? What kind of attachment had the little girl developed towards the empty doll, albeit one that that she had repeatedly run into and met? But then children do become attached to their toys...

... she could not afford to ponder upon these matters right now, for there were more important ones at hand -- her plans had been forcibly altered, and that was because of the sudden surge of an emotion.

A terrible emotion, yet one that is the most primal to living beings.

The inevitable companion of danger.

Fear.

It invaded the entirety of her, filled every single empty crevice of her soul. It was fake, indeed, just like back when Prushka had given her excitement, happiness... but this was very different from the bright and lively light she had been bestowed back then. This was no positive emotion, no attempt to psyche her up or encourage her spirits -- this was the weight of terror, shackles that were meant to drag her down into depths of despair.

But what was she fearing? Prushka's fear was being channeled into Vivienne, yet for fear to properly manifest, one needs something to fear -- in this case, it would be Lobos, but somehow, the centerpiece of this terror happened to be Prushka herself... or rather, what took the place of Prushka in Vivienne's eyes.

It was an illusion, a fake reality brought out by fear manifest, but for Vivienne Bianchi, it was the most terrible, real

For fear to materialize, people just have an object to fear. Prushka was definitely passing on her fear of the situation, of Lobo to Vivienne but strangely it was not Lobo that Vivienne had come to be afraid of, rather the source of the Fear itself was Prushka, who now took the form of something very different.

Something that Vivienne had seen before.

The thing that took it all away from her.

Back then she lost it all simply because she stood in its presence, a price to pay for what it told her... but here, it was grasping out at her, or well, what she could understand out of it was grasping at her. It was here to take away the empty remnants that were left... and this, Vivienne did not want.

Indeed, something that she feared more than death -- to lose what little emotions she had left.

"This is... terror?!" the mask exclaimed, as Vivienne's body began to shake uncontrollably. "Curses, she is going mad!"

The mask and Vivienne definitely were not agreeing at this point, or one could say that dream and reality had become so misaligned that one was starting to fade out of existence.

It was in this moment that the masked girl, undoubtedly driven by the fear being channeled into her, went for the nearby window and shattered it with a charge, committing what would seem like a desperate leap from the third floor of the building.

Yet the moment when the gruesome sound of Vivienne Bianchi's body breaking by hitting the ground should have been heard, instead something vaguely similar to sails being spread open could be heard.

Spectral black wings, fading in and out like an ink-like mist had sprouted on her back. She glided at ground level, moving away at high speeds from Owl's Nest, from the source of this 'fear'.

The masked girl seemed to have it all planned along, or perhaps she had just altered her original plan, one that didn't account for Prushka doing what she did. It could be that initially she was thinking of grabbing Prushka and flying away when the hound had appeared, an immediate escape to avoid any form of bloodshed. Direct combat that wasn't decided on her terms after all was not something ideal Vivienne would usually accept if she could.


------

Wiseup! New Spell :

[妖]
Rank:B Element: CurseTarget: SelfDuration: 5 Turns
AP Cost: 25OMPCost: 20
Ayakashi, a general portmanteau term that encompasses an extremely wide spectrum of beasts. Even some divine creatures could be lumped in there -- however, this version of the spell is limited due to Vivienne’s lack of knowledge concerning East Asian Folklore.
Different from the other mask abilities that would let Vivienne emulate a creature’s ability, here instead she channels them through herself to empower her body.

Tengu ver. increases STR and AGI by one Rank (all stats are upgraded in accord), as well as granting wings, giving her flying mov. spd. (double of normal)

[Katie]

Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

Lucille blinked in surprise, her face very briefly betraying her true feelings. Mercedes West, movie star, was giving her a detailed autopsy on the demise of Colt Davin. Not that Lucille had any complaints. If anything, it was a kind of familiar feeling… it reminded her of Sakura, actually.

Now, to answer the question Mercedes had presented…

“Mercy,” Lucille answered, in mock exasperation, “Colt’s taller than most of our class.”

As far as things went, that was the truth. Lucille was absolutely on the taller side of the girls, and having stood next to Colt, she guessed she was just a few inches shorter. Of course, Mercedes probably meant the crime was committed by someone with a more sizeable height difference than that. If there was a significant gap in height, she could probably start from the shortest and move on up from there… until about Elaine’s height, maybe? Even so, this was all rather excessive, Lucille thought. As soon as Mercedes had mentioned it was someone short, a certain person came to mind. Someone who was short and had adequate reason to kill Colt Davin…

There was really only one answer to that considering the information both she and Mercedes had.

“You’re talking about Xylia though, aren’t you?” Lucille’s voice felt awfully loud against the walls. Or perhaps the feeling came about from the severity of her statement. Judgment without knowing the full truth. A paranoid woman who thought everyone was out to get her. Someone who’d been humiliated by Colt just days earlier at breakfast. If it wasn’t her… who else could it be?

And as much as Lucille thought pursuing this train of thought made a lot of sense, the question she had, nagging at her heart, had to be said at some point. And she’d take this brief moment of Mercedes waiting on her answer to say it.

“Before we continue,” Lucille said, a nervousness entering her voice from forcing the matter, “you said you didn’t trust any of them.”

A deep breath. Lucille let it out slowly, but her heart pounded against her chest nonetheless.

“Am I included?”

[Mellon]

Anna Vandemeel
Location: Pinefall High - Campus Grounds
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

"... This school is gonna eat itself alive."

"And like hell am I gonna be 'round when that happens."

The punk-looking boy had clearly come to the same conclusion that Anna herself had. And while his reaction was evidently different from hers, Anna could not blame him for coming to the conclusion that he did. It's not like the small Japanese girl in front of her (or anyone else with her particular brand of eagerness) cared much about finding out the truth or bringing anyone to justice. All she cared about was finding a target for the bloodlust that had consumed her, nothing more.

A hint of irritation flickered in Anna’s ruby eyes, as the small dog went over to Travis and started growling at yet another target.

I wonder if there is anyone that dog wouldn’t growl at in this situation.

“...tch, what a farce.”

“Anna Vandemeel,”

“Did you by any chance spot anything unusual or suspicious on your way here from…wherever? Anything that could hinder the trip to the sheriff’s?”

Anna’s attention was pulled to John Dove’s expressionless face. She had never liked him much if she was completely honest. The needless formality and the way everything he seemed to say felt.. predetermined. Like a vinyl player playing out a memory of an old record. The words are fine, but the will behind those words felt… lacking. Besides, those hollow eyes of his reminded her too much of…

Expressionless, but behind those eyes lay a drive that she had not seen before. Or perhaps it had always been there before and had been simply been brought to fore by what had happened?

“Well, in case it wasn’t abundantly clear from the direction I came from…” A small sigh escaped her lips. “One of the locals suggested that I avoid the roads today. Usually, I really wouldn’t care, but…”

“Today felt bad from the get-go, so I decided to take his word for it and stuck to the woods instead.”

“So, unfortunately, I won’t be able to tell you much about the state on the road. Could be a highway to hell for all I know."

[Daneel Rush]

Location: Pinefall High – Campus Grounds
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“No trouble at all, John, I should have some paper and pen in the glove compartment anyway.”

He nods, stopping his legs before they can lead him away from the group. Upon listening to Elaine’s further musings, he decides.

“Thank you, Elaine. If you will allow me, I will join you on the trip to the sheriff’s.”

He wants the chance to talk a bit further with the girl. About Alexstrasza Lockhart’s end. On the other hand, he remains bothered by his dire instinct, exacerbated by Vandemeel’s admission.

“Well, in case it wasn’t abundantly clear from the direction I came from…one of the locals suggested that I avoid the roads today. Usually, I really wouldn’t care, but…today felt bad from the get-go, so I decided to take his word for it and stuck to the woods instead.”

“Right. It keeps bothering me: in the absence of the faculty and without the ability to make phone calls, the logical course of action is to make the trip to the sheriff’s office ourselves. It is a small town, so it is possible to do so even by foot. It is the very reason I proposed it as a course of action, but now I wonder if somebody else is also counting on at least one of us doing exactly that.”

He cannot stop himself from letting his eyes rest on the blankets covering the corpse.

“I hope I am merely overthinking.”

Indeed, John Dove is putting too much mental effort in things he effectively should deem irrelevant. He did say to himself that he was going to play along with Muse the World for a bit, in the hopes he will eventually get the chance to pursue the one meaningful truth. The problem lies in that stepping outside of the actions and behaviors John has concluded to be “agreeable” based on experience, it becomes harder to maintain the specific image he projects to pretend he can be a normal element of the—hollow—world.

Long story short, at this rate he will be forced to start “playing it by ear” as they (who?) say.



“Elise Marie, Wolff, Gagnon, I’d be grateful if you could…keep an eye on things.”

He hopes they somehow understand that by “things”, he meant mostly Miss Iburi.



“You too, pup, take good care of your partner…not that you need me to tell you that. Now, if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’d like to gather my things. I forgot all about them in the…chaos of the moment.”

Even if he does not need them now, he would like to secure his sketchbook and “Mercy’s book”, left behind on the common area’s couch. Instinctively, his hand reaches inside his pocket to verify yet again that his treasured trinket is still there.

Its cold presence is not nearly as comforting this morning.

[Thalraxal]

Elise Pelltier
Location: Pinefall High - Campus Grounds
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

"... This school is gonna eat itself alive."

"And like hell am I gonna be 'round when that happens."

Some us more literally than others.

Elise eyed Tonkori as he growled at Travis.

"Are we sure this isn't a false positive? Travis and I probably smell an awful lot like Cesarina right now after helping to get her down from the tree."

Elise gestured vaguely at the blood splattered on herself and Travis.

I'm pretty sure that I've got some of her in my hair, and as long as I don't think about it I'll be okay.

"I'm no expert on scent investigations, but I imagine that would make us smell very suspicious.”

“I plea of you, Miss Iburi. Please, please do not act in recklessness. Please do not overestimate yourself and your partner. And please, do not let your actions for the sake of the dead make you forget those still left alive and in need of your help.”

“Our priority really should be finding our other missing classmates and making sure that they're okay. First, we need to make sure they're safe. Second, there's no way we can get clear image of what happened here last night without them. Can't put a puzzle together if you're missing pieces.”

What are we even going to do if we find a suspect? Lock them in their room? Turn this into our own little Stanford Prison Experiment?

Elaine removed her coat, and gave Elise a nod. Elise inspected the numerous cuts along Elaine's arms, at first wincing at the sheer volume of cuts, but her face slowly turning to a frown as she took a closer look at the wounds.

“That must have hurt quite a lot, Elaine. I'm sorry,” said Elise, “They look like they're healing quite nicely, but I don't like the deterioration along the edge of the wounds. That ninja's knife must've been coated with something nasty to do that kind of damage... I'd be worried about the risk of infection there...”

Elise started to rummage through the first aid kit she'd managed to rustle up earlier.

“If it's alright, I'd like to get those wrapped up to reduce the chance of the wounds getting infected,” began Elise as she started to rummage through the first aid kit she'd managed to rustle up earlier, “I'm sure I've got some alcohol wipes and gauze in here...”

“Eh, you might look a bit like a mummy, but it's better safe than sorry, right?”

Coated with something nasty? Hardly. Those wounds look an awful lot like the kind you'd get from a very specific kind of holy weapon used by a very certain kind of person. All in all, that raises far too many worrisome questions... Although it does add a lot of credibility to Elaine's story.

“Elise Marie, Wolff, Gagnon, I’d be grateful if you could…keep an eye on things.”

Elise nodded, with very little doubt that by “things” John meant “Subaru Iburi”.

“Don't worry, John! We'll hold down the fort while you're gone.”

No guarantees that this place won't be on fire by the time you and Elaine get back. Sorry.

[Kuroyuki]

Vier Wolff
Location: Pinefall High - Campus Grounds
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

I took note of the ongoing conversation and decided that there wasn’t much relevant information. Something I could recall later if need be, but at this moment wasn’t useful. So I decided to stay out of the conversation and watch who Tonkori went to next. Which was Travis Gagnon… Which isn’t surprising considering that he flaunts his criminal past openly to us his classmates.

"Are we sure this isn't a false positive? Travis and I probably smell an awful lot like Cesarina right now after helping to get her down from the tree."

“If that’s the case Elise, then Travis should be able to give a decent alibi on why he wasn’t the killer then. I would hurry up, Subaru and Tonkori are getting closer and closer to shoot first and ask questions later.”

I wasn’t threatening Travis, because if Travis didn’t answer there was a high chance of Subaru attacking him on suspicion and his general attitude. And while I am attempting to keep Subaru on target, I’m not exactly going to complain if there was some... collateral damage. Granted, I won’t assist Subaru in causing it.

“Anna Vandemeel. Did you by any chance spot anything unusual or suspicious on your way here from…wherever? Anything that could hinder the trip to the sheriff’s?”

“Well, in case it wasn’t abundantly clear from the direction I came from… One of the locals suggested that I avoid the roads today. Usually, I really wouldn’t care, but… Today felt bad from the get-go, so I decided to take his word for it and stuck to the woods instead. So, unfortunately, I won’t be able to tell you much about the state on the road. Could be a highway to hell for all I know."

With this information, I can draw two hypotheses. First, locals are aware to unnatural changes in the town’s mood despite having no information allowing them to avoid incidents. Alternatively my previous hypothesis could always be in effect and that a portion of the town make those events happen and subtly warn the more normal inhabitants. Second, Anna Vandemeel is used to these forests and has an amicable relationship with locals to receive advice. Possible collaborator or useful help. Potentially involved in that side. Equal parts caution and useful at this time.

“Elise Marie, Wolff, Gagnon, I’d be grateful if you could…keep an eye on things.”

“I’ll keep an eye on her. It’ll cause more issues if she's by herself right now.”

More like you don’t want a murder happy, Japanese priestess starting an inquisition and killing everyone who looks remotely guilty. It’ll just make things easier on the true killer(s) to mask their presence and perform additional killings.

[Verg Avesta]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“Think we can leave him here for now. It’s good enough enough that he isn’t...in the water anymore. We can bring him out once we are done looking around the place. Or perhaps once the police arrives. But for now, maybe we should check the other parts of the building.”

Pyry heaved a forlorn sigh... and nodded. As melancholic he had looked when looking at the dead body of his former friend, the encouragement and comfort given to him by the scarred girl had been enough to pull him - at least momentarily - out of his funk. Blinking few times rapidly, as if to focus himself, Pyry rose back to his feet and glanced towards the doorway where Mercedes and Lucille had disappeared some minutes before, and where Gradient still was - drawing on that notepad handed to her.

"Right. It'll be more useful if we head out there now. Jake is still missing and, I dunno... there's just this odd atmosphere in this whole building," the tall boy replied. "Still... Colt Barrett, huh? That's... odd. Same as him having that much money. I knew Colt was loaded, but... man..."

Pyry narrowed his eyes, rubbing his chin deep in thought.

"Wait... rich... Barrett... and he loved building stuff... and guns..." Pyry muttered to himself, before a look of momentary disbelief spread to his face. "Nah. It couldn't be..."

He motioned for Hisa to walk with him, slowly making his way towards the entrance to the pool hall and where Gradient was waiting. At the same time, he continued talking, handing the ID back to the girl so she could put it in the wallet.

"As for that locket, I have a hunch," Pyry continued, though he spoke with a lower volume. "The thing was clearly from the Turnside... and I'm willing to bet that whatever gave Colt that locket took it back after his death. I mean, even I wasn't able to hold onto it when he handed it to me. I doubt anyone could have stolen it from his corpse. Just seems... unlikely."

As the two walked, they kept attention on the hall itself, peeking behind some areas that were otherwise out of sight. However, they found nothing that hadn't been already obvious. The bloodstains both at the poolside and at the door, the crimson hue of the water, the body that had been wasting away in the pool, and nothing out of the ordinary other than... huh.

"Wait a minute," Pyry suddenly said, looking at Hisa with a raised eyebrow. "Did you happen to see bullet casings anywhere? If Colt was shot here, in the pool, they should have been here somewhere..."

Now that the athlete mentioned it... the casings were quite obviously missing.

"Also, if we're heading out, what place do you wanna check out first?" Pyry asked as he pointed his thumb at the exit. "There's the gym hall, the actual gym, the sauna... and the basement-slash-boiler room. Though Travis and Hwan said the door downstairs was locked."

---

Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“Before we continue, you said you didn’t trust any of them... Am I included?”

A silence.

A long and oppressive silence.

Mercedes hung her head for a moment, looking and searching something from the floor that she would never find, avoiding having to come up with an answer to her friend's question.

But when the silence had finally grown too long, when there was no longer any way to avoid answering, Mercedes lifted her gaze.

"............."

She searched for the right words.

... And she averted her gaze from Lucille, small blushing appearing on her cheeks that was almost invisible in the darkness.

"I-I told you that I'd, like, always have the back of my posse, right? Well, that ain't changed! B-besides, I know you're, like, too much of a square to do anything like that," the starlet answered, doing her best to sound like she wasn't embarrassed to be speaking so frankly. "I... while I might not, like, trust those other morons, at least I know you're a dummy I can trust! A-anyways, whatevah! That's just a stupid question in the first place!"

Turning her head away from Lucille with a loud "Hmph!" and a pout that she did her best to hide, Mercedes let her flashlight scan the shower rooms one last time. However, there was nothing else to see here, nothing else to find her, and thusly the actress stomped out of there - and from the locker rooms - trying her best to act normal. Or rather, trying her best not to show that she had just basically admitted the depth of friendship she felt towards Lucille.

"But yeah, I'm like 200% sure it was that shithead Xylia, the little idiot Prushka or that miniature psycho Subaru," Mercedes answered, turning towards Lucille at the doorway. "They'd fit the best when it comes to, like, what I could see of the crime scene."

Well, at least she was keeping her head in the game...

[Verg Avesta]

Elaine Winters, Elise Pelltier, John Dove, Anna Vandemeel & Vier Wolff
Location: Pinefall High - Campus Grounds
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“I care not for Miss Feroce’s condition, Miss Iburi, nor did I ask for it. What matters is ascertaining when this started. Did Miss Feroce leave this place of her own volition to submit herself for her treatment? Was she taken from her bedroom? Was she intercepted on her way to the site of treatment? At the site? Was she a target of opportunity, or was her torture and death specifically intended? Miss Iburi, know well that I desire nothing else than the truth, for the sake of the late Miss Feroce and that of those who may still be at risk.”

Subaru narrowed her eyes at John, those burning embers flaring up a bit.

"... I do not believe that the Oceandrop Program would have not been in the know of her condition," she answered quite coldly. "Thus I can believe that she was transported to the End's Mercy Hospital under their watch. What happened other than that... that I do not know. And I do not believe anyone else will either, other than the staff of both this school and the hospital."

The words were spoken without true emotion behind them, but it was beginning to become clear that Subaru did not appreciate somebody setting themselves as an "obstacle" for her "investigation". The sense of budding friendship that the girl had clearly felt towards John not that long ago was fading and fast... and this tragedy was to blame for everything.

“Gagnon, I cannot stop you from doing anything, but may I nonetheless ask you to reconsider? Such haste to get away would make you either a primary suspect or a target. Or both. I believe it to be prudent to maintain a unified front, at least until we can get the authorities to take over.”

Travis snorted and rolled his eyes at John.

"And stay in the reach of this pintsized bottle of crazy that's about to overflow? Jesus, man..." the boy replied derisively. "Guilty or innocent, with these two whackjobs around I won't make it to the evening, much less to see the authorities arrive."

"Are we sure this isn't a false positive? Travis and I probably smell an awful lot like Cesarina right now after helping to get her down from the tree. I'm no expert on scent investigations, but I imagine that would make us smell very suspicious.”

Hearing this, Travis nodded and growled back at Tonkori, or at the very least, flashed his teeth at the pup.

"Yeah, for real. We gotta smell of blood and gore thanks to Miss Red-and-Dead over there," Travis replied, looking annoyed. "The dog's word means jack and shit to any of us who were handling her as we took her down. So think about that before you try to stab me or some shit, pipsqueak."

Travis angry words were met with a cold stare from Subaru, one that looked like she wanted to bore a hole through the boy with simply her glare.

“If that’s the case Elise, then Travis should be able to give a decent alibi on why he wasn’t the killer then. I would hurry up, Subaru and Tonkori are getting closer and closer to shoot first and ask questions later.”

That seemed to be a last straw of some sort, and Travis's eyes flashed with anger towards Vier. He practically snarled at her, flipping her a bird while he was at it.

"And if I were you, sunshine, I would hurry up and get that metal rod the fuck outta my ass just because you got into a fight with your little girlfriend," Travis shot back, completely having lost his sense of politeness... if he ever had one. "The only alibi I'm gonna give you, retard, is that I was plowing that blueheaded tart you call your friend. That 'ooo~ so emotionless and robotic' act you got going on might fool others, but I can see right through your sorry ass. You're just being a little bitch because you broke someone's trust!"

The air between Travis, Subaru and Vier was growing close to absolute zero in temperature, looking like something dangerous and deadly was about to start.

“I plea of you, Miss Iburi. Please, please do not act in recklessness. Please do not overestimate yourself and your partner. And please, do not let your actions for the sake of the dead make you forget those still left alive and in need of your help.”

“Our priority really should be finding our other missing classmates and making sure that they're okay. First, we need to make sure they're safe. Second, there's no way we can get clear image of what happened here last night without them. Can't put a puzzle together if you're missing pieces.”

Subaru's eyes turned towards the brunette and the boy, tearing her glare away from Travis and his insults. It took a moment for an answer to form on her lips, and when it eventually did...

"... Then round them up. We need truth, not possible plans of action. I am willing to wait... to a certain point. Use that time well."

It was both an agreement... but also a warning.

They didn't have long until Subaru would take matters into her own hands... whatever that meant.

--- The girl must have been furious to the point of white-hot rage.

“Elise Marie, Wolff, Gagnon, I’d be grateful if you could…keep an eye on things.”

“Don't worry, John! We'll hold down the fort while you're gone.”

“I’ll keep an eye on her. It’ll cause more issues if she's by herself right now.”

Travis scoffed at John's words.

"Right... I'll keep an eye on them alright. Won't let them leave my sight and start putting headshots on people because a fucking animal started barking up the wrong tree," the thug-like boy answered. "Though I'll be doing that from outside the range of a pistol. I know one of these self-righteous fuckers is gonna try to bust a cap between my eyes the moment you and Miss Muscle are gone."

“You too, pup, take good care of your partner…not that you need me to tell you that. Now, if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’d like to gather my things. I forgot all about them in the…chaos of the moment.”

The only answer that John got from Tonkori was a silent stare, as quiet and furious as that of his owner.

That, and...

--- A nod.

[Katie]

Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“…I guess it really was a dumb question,” Lucille said with a relieved laugh. “I feel the same.”

One way or another, it seemed that her relationship with Mercedes was a bit stronger than that of Vier’s and Aleen’s. Thank the Lord for that, too. Without Sakura, Lucille had already felt rather lost navigating this scenario, but it was definitely comforting to know someone had her back. Still, even though this was cleared up, there were plenty of unanswered questions…

Mercedes’s list of suspects made her think about the situation at hand. It was true that Prushka and Subaru also fit the bill, but they seemed to be sorely lacking in terms of motivation to do so. Well, at least the Subaru of yesterday was. The Subaru of today… That was a monster she’d failed to address adequately and could only pray that the others could somehow keep her in check for just a moment.

“Of those three, we only know where Subaru is… but I don’t really think it’s her. Unless it comes out of the blue, there isn’t really a motive… and for something like this, I get the feeling she’d bring Tonkori, and there’d probably be traces of him,” Lucille said, coming to the relative defense of Subaru. It was possible it could be her, owing to her behavior, which must have been rooted in her from the start, but…

“And as for Prushka… That might be true, but Xylia definitely has the kind of personality and the interactions to kill Colt. I think it’s more her than them.” She didn’t know much about Prushka, but she felt as if that wasn’t the right train of thought. In these sorts of mysteries, you had to connect the dots together, didn’t you? And Prushka was a very out of place dot… Compared to Xylia, where everything seemed to line up perfectly. Maybe too perfectly, even.

Lucille sighed. Maybe it was the other two and Xylia was being set up? That’d definitely be a possible scenario, but Lucille was not one for convoluted plans and didn’t want to dwell on this any longer.

Lucille trailed next to Mercedes, watching if anything could lurk in the shadows. While she was dead weight in investigation work… She could at least be a shield for the other girl, for better or worse.

Then, she spoke another question that’d been on her mind.

“How do you know how to give an autopsy like that…?” It was a rather curious sounding voice from Lucille, as if this were her probing into the details of someone’s hobby, hardly reflecting the seriousness of the situation. “I won’t bite if you tell me, promise.”

Lucille had a hunch about this, but she wanted more cards on the table before she bet it all.

[Verg Avesta]

Vivienne Bianchi
Location: Owl's Nest Hotel - Outside
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

Rain of shattered glass fell around Vivienne Bianchi as she spread her spectral wings became unfurled, and she took a dive straight towards the asphalt outside, only to glide harmlessly along it - keeping enough momentum and distance - not to crash. At the same time the remnants of the third floor window hit the pavement behind her, becoming nothing more than hundreds of tiny shards that bounced towards every direction. The phantasmal wings beat the air as the silent girl hurried onwards, driven away from the scene and the hunter thanks to the overwhelming fear that had gripped her... fear that had been created - and been embodied by - the small girl she had been with.

Someone who had done it for the sake of trying to save her friend.

Outside the Owl's Nest Hotel, in the parking lot, Vivienne got a lot better look at the cause so of the strange aura surrounding the building... and she got lot closer to the source, too. Even through her fear she could feel a pounding headache beating at the back of her head, making something clot behind her eyes and making her vision grow blurry. The closer to the spear she flew, the stronger this feeling came, and if she wanted to avoid its true effects... it was best to avoid the spear altogether.

And what a spear it was.

--- Silver, glowing with argent light, radiating an overwhelming presence around it.

An activated Arc Relic of some sort, spreading out its legend through the untold numen it had gathered durings its long life.

A weapon that was much a symbol as it was an instrument of death.

Something that had caused most of the hotel and its inhabitants to fall into a deep state of unconsciousness, apparently.

... But, this wasn't the time to pay too much attention to the source of their troubles.

After all, far behind her, even though she was putting a distance between herself and the hotel...

... Vivienne could hear distant howl of a hunting dog. Nay, a wolf.

---

Prushka
Location: Owl's Nest Hotel - Third Floor
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

"Hm... brave."

That was the first comment that passed from the lips of Lobo, The King of Currumpaw, as he watched one of his preys dash through the window, break it, and glide away... all the while spurred by the aura of fear emanating from the small girl that still remained. A dry grin remained on the man's face as he shook his head, not disapprovingly nor disappointedly... but perhaps in some weird, disheartened way. He wasn't about to tell something cliched like Prushka's courage having moved him, or that he had had a change of heart after seeing this, no... that wasn't in his nature. That much was clear from just one glance. This was a man who had already announced what he was about to do, and he would see it through - one way or another.

So, it was no surprise when his smile fell, and he opened his mouth a second time.

"Brave... but meaningless, in the end," he said again, his eyes moving to look at the monstrous wolf besides him. "... The witch. Get her."

That was the only order given.

That was the only order necessary.

With flames of hunger flaring up in the supernatural beast's eyes it dashed forward, practically jumping into the stairs and sprinting them down. It was moving fast, much faster than any normal could move, taking full advantage of its four legs. Honestly the sight of such a simple, yet efficient hunter jumping into a hunt could have been beautiful... if the target wasn't Vivienne Bianchi. Or...

Or... if another two howls hadn't answered the beast when it let out a chilling sound of a starting hunt.

"Now then... you, Little Lady," Lobo continued, his eyes trained at Prushka and his footfalls ringing loud in the corridor. "You're absolutely right. What I feel, what I want... honestly, it changes nothing. When you get down to it, I'm a right bastard and that's why I do what needs to be done. It doesn't win me any friends, it doesn't win me any praise... but somebody's gotta do it."

Lobo lifted his hand, the one holding the spear, and let the tip of the weapon drag along the wall of the corridor. It let out a screeching sound, even though it was metal meeting wood. However, the reason was clear. It wasn't that the two materials meeting caused sparks to fly or the sound to be made, that would have been impossible. Instead, it was the world screaming in pain as this legend of a weapon, this myth, got to alter reality once more with it mere history and mere presence. At the same time, it made the solid wooden wall warp and undulate after it, creating an illusion almost as if the wall had become water and the trail of the spear was ripples upon its surface.

"Still, I'll take it back. You stayed behind. You want to fight. Commendable. Gotta admit, it's been a while since I've fought one of your kind," the spearman laughed, roughy. "Guess it's gonna be a refresher course. Unless, of course, you've got more bark than you've got bite. I don't hate people who act big or are arrogant... but I loathe those who do it without having anything to back it up. Might makes right, no? Eh, you might be a bit too young to get it..."

There was a whistling sound an a trajectory and path of something like blinding light in shape of a spear was burned into Prushka's retinas. She saw Lobo twirl his weapon around before eventually settling into a stance, holding the spear with both of his hands while it's tip was aimed right to the height of Prushka's throat. Those bestial eyes of the man before her held no mercy within them, and for every second that passed, it was starting to look more and more that he would simply charge forward and impale the tiny girl right then and there.

But he was waiting...

For something...

... Some kind of mark.

"... I wish I'd had just made this quick. Feels wrong to kill someone I just saved..." Lobo muttered to himself.

[Cheetose]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“That’s about what I figured too,” I replied to Pyry’s theory about the locket, “A shame, it was quite the curious object. Wanted to find out more about it, but that won’t likely be a possibility now.”

Felt just like everything else about this place. Way out of reach, yet intriguing enough to get me hooked and not let my mind rest.

“Though…Do you know anything about that thing? Or Colt?” I asked Pyry after remembering the discussion in my room yesterday, “Wouldn’t mind hearing about it, even if you don’t think it’s a likely theory.”

Walking alongside the boy, I scanned the pool area once again, looking for the shell casings in question - or anything else at all - but without much success.

“They must have had way too much time on their hands, being able to clean up like this and all. Makes me wonder what happened to Inacio and Jake...If the killer was aware of them, they wouldn’t have spent so much time erasing their tracks.”

With all the possible outcomes, it was quite hard to guess, and even if there were some that sounded to be more logical to me, I might as well have been completely off.

“Unless those two met their ends too. Sounds kind of unlikely that they managed to escape without being noticed, but...Maybe they weren’t even here at the pool with Colt when it happened. I don’t know.”

Reaching the entrance area, I welcomed Gradient with a small smile - something that felt a bit harder to muster out than usual - and a head pat, as I continued my explanation to Pyry.

“Because of that...I’m not even sure if there is a point to keep looking here. If the killer really got rid of their clues, then we aren’t likely to find much, and if they didn’t, then Lucille and that tramp with the verbal tic will most likely have it covered.”

Turning back to Gradient, I looked at what the girl - even now - was drawing with such enthusiasm, but…

It didn’t seem to make too much sense. Not for me, at the very least.

“Lucille doesn’t seem to be involved with what happened last night, she was sleeping, and the bag should really only have bandaids. Unless she can somehow confuse...You know, that.” I said as I gave my temple a few taps with my index finger, “So I think we can trust them and rely on their cooperation.”

Not much to say about everyone else, though.

Where the hell was Prushka and Vivienne, anyways?

“I’m sort of curious about what’s in the basement, but it probably wouldn’t be the smartest idea to just break the door, and since Hwan said the lock couldn’t be picked...I suppose it will remain a mystery for now.”

Wouldn’t necessarily want to bring Gradient down there anyways.

“So instead we could just head over to the main building, and see what the others are up to. Even if Souma creeps me out so much...Hell, that guy is clearly not normal. Gives me the silent killer vibes, even if I don’t like making assumptions like that about people without a good reason.”

Turning towards the drawing girl once again, I wanted to get the notebook and pen back so that we could get going, but considering how she was still so focused on drawing - whatever that thing was - I just couldn’t interrupt her.

“Well, maybe after Gradient finishes her drawing?"

[Mormarth]

Elaine Winters
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Lobby
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

She grumbled idly as the other girl looked her over, watching her hands as they gently gliding over the wounds she’d gotten the previous night. A lone, quiet hiss of suppressed pain coming at the prodding of a larger cut, still sore.

She met Elise’s eyes silently as she saw her hands come to a quiet stop, Elaine’s lips twitching in a half-aborted smile.

Recognition, hm?

Well, something to keep in mind, but of no consequence right now.

She cast her gaze around the cluster of her fellows steadily, eyes half-focused in distant thought.

“I’d rather not just go ahead and drag everyone in front of an impromptu inquisition, we’re all already on edge. Throwing everyone to be interrogated is… Not the greatest way to engender some trust.”

She frowned.

“That is what’s important right now, not trying to ferret out a killer who may or may not be among us. We need to stick together, because we’re better than beasts.”

She shrugged her coat back on, rolling her shoulders gently, cracking her neck.

Then she looked over at Travis, “I would also appreciate if you could keep an eye on the kid while I’m gone, just see if she’s good.” She grinned, “I’ll spot you some sitter money, if it helps.”

Her eyes passed over the small Shiba and his owner, a frown crossing her face.

Then she pressed on, eyes going back towards the school, “I don’t know exactly why Lockhart was out by herself, maybe if she had someone she could trust, someone could’ve had her back, kept her from getting hurt so much before I could even get there.”

She looked troubled, “And Cesarina, that girl, and Colt, too. They’re all alone. I don’t want anyone else to end up like that. Now’s when we gotta hang together, or we’re all going to hang.”

Then she shuffled in place a moment, the sound of keys jangling.

“John, you ready? I want to start looking for people.”

[Daneel Rush]

Location: Pinefall High Dormitory – Common Area
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast



It does not take long to recover the sketchbook and the leather-bound notebook. Nonetheless, John Dove takes his time. To catch…something. His breath? His mind? Whatever. He feels he needs to “settle down” in some way. The world is trying to pull him into a train without brakes, so he must detach himself before it renders him without a way out.

He thoroughly underestimated the effect of Cesarina Feroce’s death on Subaru Iburi. He knew they were acquainted, but he did not suspect the passing of one would elicit such a…drastic reaction from the other. As for Travis…well, if John could be swayed so easily by defamation and provocation, there would be more than one convicted youth in Pinefall’s First Class. He can only hope Vier Wolff conceals authentic mental fortitude beneath her own mask.

Eventually, inevitably, he walks back outside, sketchbook and notebook under his armpit.



Even John, in all his detachment, can perceive the tension, the simmering hostility brewing here. It feels like he is making a mistake, leaving these three to their devices. However, who could restrain them? Him? John Dove? No way such a thing could ever happen. Perhaps Anna Vandemeel would be more competent at that, but why would she bother?

“Take care,” he says blandly at the four (plus canine). Of themselves? Of each other? What else can he say? What can he do to prevent—

Why even care? For once, I am outside the circle of suspicion, accusation and retaliation. That is an objectively good thing.

John frowns at his own (very logical) trail of thought, but says nothing else to them.



It also feels a bit wrong to leave Elise Marie alone in this situation. He expects nothing from her. In fact, he might in fact be a little worried about her trying anything. On the other hand, this assessment might be more than a little unfair. She can probably take care of herself, if she is careful enough.

“You as well, Elise Marie. I still have to borrow that book.”



Nothing left to be said. Thus, he joins Elaine Winters.

“Let’s go.”

He waits until he is right by her to add in a much fainter voice.

“Let’s try to avoid the most direct route, if at all possible. Just…”

Just what? To be safe? Is John Dove basing his suggestion on a hunch? There is also the fact that, if there is indeed somebody counting on them making that trip, then the ideal place for an ambush would be right outside the campus, where it would be unavoidable. Furthermore, it is physically impossible to reach the sheriff’s department without crossing the town’s main thoroughfare at least once.

Just who are the safer ones here: the ones left behind with (at least) three corpses, or the ones braving the unknown outside the closed, isolated space Pinefall has become?

[Kuroyuki]

Vier Wolff
Location: Pinefall High - Campus Grounds
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

"And if I were you, sunshine, I would hurry up and get that metal rod the fuck outta my ass just because you got into a fight with your little girlfriend. The only alibi I'm gonna give you, retard, is that I was plowing that blueheaded tart you call your friend. That 'ooo~ so emotionless and robotic' act you got going on might fool others, but I can see right through your sorry ass. You're just being a little bitch because you broke someone's trust!"

“Your alibi has been noted. If the other person doesn’t have the same alibi, then I’m sure you already know the potential consequences.”

I turned and looked towards Elise Pelltier. She might know something about Travis Gagnon since she was close to him the other day.

"So since it'll kill him to say a non-provoking alibi, do you have an alibi for him Elise?"

Travis Gagnon was both right and wrong of his assessment of me. I’m not following Subaru Iburi for altruistic reasons or good reasons like bringing justice to the killer. I was just doing it because there was a chance they would target Aleen. An act… that isn’t like me. If I didn’t befriend Aleen, I probably would’ve taken advantage of the situation. Disappear from the school like the many missing right now, then start work on the real reason I was here.

So I definitely wasn’t emotionless. But neither was I as provokable as Travis Gagnon probably wanted… Provided Aleen wasn’t around. This situation is making me consider becoming exactly what I was before and what Aleen thought I was. It sounded easy on paper. Discard your heart so you could get dirty and other people get to stay clean. In actuality, doing it is difficult without heavy indoctrination and brainwashing… But maybe I could temporarily...

"... Then round them up. We need truth, not possible plans of action. I am willing to wait... to a certain point. Use that time well."

My musings stopped when I heard Subaru Iburi’s declaration. So while she’s ready to kill people, it looks like she still has some patience… For now.

"Right... I'll keep an eye on them alright. Won't let them leave my sight and start putting headshots on people because a fucking animal started barking up the wrong tree. Though I'll be doing that from outside the range of a pistol. I know one of these self-righteous fuckers is gonna try to bust a cap between my eyes the moment you and Miss Muscle are gone."

How awfully trusting of you to assume that your biggest issue would be a pistol if we decide to kill you. I’m certain the bigger issue is the fact that you’re outnumbered by one at the very least. Tonkori certainly looks like he can close in on his targets quickly and keep their attention while Subaru Iburi can surprise them or even provide some form of ranged support. Also from my experience, even a rock can be just as deadly as a gun if you just have the strength for it…

[Verg Avesta]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“Well, maybe after Gradient finishes her drawing?"

"Muu..."

Letting out an affirmative, yet more subdued and downplayed sound than usual, Gradient continued scrawling on the notepad that had been handed to her. From the looks of it, she was drawing one triangle after another, making something almost like a messy chainlink out of them that snaked all across the page in a zigzagging pattern. Though something was off of the triangles themselve, with some of them being just a fully covered black shape while others were made up by the white spaces left between those black shapes.

Pyry frowned at the picture, but even the boy couldn't seem to make heads or tails out of it. So, instead, he folded his arms across his chest and turned towards the girl beside him.

"Hrm, gotcha. So Lucille's in the clean. And... well, I guess if she trusts Mercedes, we can sorta believe in her too, though... err, with Mercedes being who she is, it's sorta hard. Though I gotta admit, you've been poking and prodding at her constantly today. What's up with that, Hisa?" Pyry asked, looking slightly concerned. "But, right. Main building it is. I bet someone like Hwan can easily break into an office or two, and with Kean there, who knows... they might find something that'd help us determine where the teachers are. As for Souma though... yeah. He's a strange one. Dangerous one, I think. I'm glad he's helping us out, but I'm sorta expecting a knife in my back any time he's around..."

Chuckling a bit to himself, Pyry took another look at Gradient's drawing... and his eyes widened in a surprise. Though, right afterwards, his brows furrowed in further confusion. The triangles and their patterns had started forming... something... on the paper. It was hard to make out, especially since the "building blocks" of the picture were alternating shapes of triangles, but at the same time... didn't that look like a stylized mouth? A mouth that was open, with sharp teeth, as if the mouth itself was agape... yelling or screaming?

Well, the mysterious girl wasn't finished (currently gripping the pen with her fist and her tongue peeking out of her mouth in a focused look) so there was still some time to kill.

"As for Colt and the locket, well... I have a theory or two. I mean, the name 'Barrett', when combined with the fact that he was interested in guns, and apparently loaded... well, it brings to mind Barrett Firearms Manufacturing. Y'know, the American gun manufacturing company. The guy who founded it became one of the few people in the last 100 years who has invented a gun that was adopted by the US military," Pyry explained, rubbing his chin for a moment. "Which would make them pretty rich... but I dunno. It might be a coincidence, it might be something else, but even if there's some connection between the Barrett family and Colt, it's bound not to be a simple one. So... who the hell knows?"

Heaving a sigh, the blonde athlete shrugged his shoulders and shook his head in an universal sign of "Hell if I know."

"But the locket, now that's... even weirder thing. I dunno much about the turnside and its organizations myself, but Angie did. She was neck deep in that stuff after all. And I remember her mentioning once something to me. I... I think it was after I got cocky, having defeated a descendant of this earth colossus from our myths that, err, that's not important. A-anyways, I got cocky, boasted I could beat anyone, and Angie threw some cold water in my face telling me of this supposed secret organization," Pyry continued, a somewhat amused, somewhat bitter smile floating to his face. "And just keep in mind that this is a conspiracy theory even amongst the people of the turnside. But yeah, allegedly there's this organization where 12 of the most influental and richest leaders from around the world gather and control the planet from the shadows. Mages, church people, mystics, androids, you name it... they're the top dogs of all walks of the supernatural life. Anyways, each of these 12 members have a bodyguard - an individual so powerful they make the archmages of Prague Orloj look like children. And supposedly, each of these bodyguards carries a symbol and a codename..."

Pyry's eyes narrowed as he stared into the darkness of the corridors.

"... Codename and a symbol gotten from one of the Zodiac signs. And that's what these 12 bodyguards are known as... The Zodiacs," Pyry finished, quietly, like recounting a legend. "--- Collectively, The Ecliptic."

For some reason...

The atmosphere of the pool hall had gotten quiet and foreboding...

... Almost like a heavy cloak of distant danger had placed itself on the shoulders of the duo with Pyry's words.

Luckily, though...

"Muuuu!"

The silence was broken when, suddenly, Gradient piped up and proudly shoved the notepad in Hisa's face, almost like a very proud child presenting a picture for their parent to be put up on the fridge. The scarred girl got a face full of a very... abstract... picture. An abstract picture of a face, build completely from white and black triangles, almost like it was viewed through compound eyes of an insect or something. The picture was of a mouth... and a face belong to it. A face with furious, maddened eyes and a screaming eyes, with tears streaking down its face and with its short hair disheveled. A face that seemed to be lit up by something akin to an explosion... or perhaps a nozzle flame of a gun.

A face that was impossible to recognize since it was so surrealistic, but clearly belonged to a girl, or a young woman, with a short hair.

"... W-what the hell...?" Pyry muttered, peering over Hisa's shoulder at the picture.

[Verg Avesta]

Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“How do you know how to give an autopsy like that…? I won’t bite if you tell me, promise.”

Mercedes stayed quiet for a moment, clearly mulling over what she should say and answer to this sort of question. At the same time, she made her way over to the girls' locker room which was their next destination. The door opened with a creak as the two girls entered and closed behind them, leaving them in a momentary darkness where the only source of illumination was Mercedes's flashlight. The cone of light sweepe around the room and the lockers, stopping for a moment to the few of them that were open. Silently the actress headed over to those, to take a look at the inside of the lockers themselves.

But as she rummaged through the empty-looking lockers, the starlet finally spoke.

"... Y'know, I won't be this goddamn gorgeous forever. I'll grow wrinkly, old, fat. I mean, it's not, like, a thought that I like, but it's the truth. Mom used to drill it in my head. Eventually I, like, got it and then it was like... whatevah! If I can't survive with my looks alone, I'll get a backup plan," Mercedes explained quietly. "So I, like, started training my mind. Medical stuff, physics, maths, law, technology, chemistry, history... you name it, really. Like, I had always loathed studying, I didn't really need it, but this time I had to get good. So I did. Like the fuck am I gonna let myself be less than perfect. And since mom had this, like, ri-di-cu-lous library back at home, I had all I needed to read. So I read. Between movie shoots, between meetings with fans, between tours, between training and sports... and eventually, I got like this."

A smile that was both sarcastic and quite bitter floated to Mercedes's lips as she glanced back at Lucille. It was the look of someone who was much, much smarter than she let on - and who had to thusly take daily reactions from those who only saw the cover of the book. Of course, it was a cover that she was very proud of, and knowing Mercedes... she must have even enjoyed the way others treated her, in a sense.

"Ironic, right? Like, the evil alpha bitch cheerleader and movie star is actually smart? Yeah, well, don't let others know. Don't need them to," Mercedes continued, shoving her hand into one of the open lockers. "They can think that I'm a huge asshole or whatevah - it's their loss. And it's not like I have any other role in this life I can play right now. So I'll be the evil alpha bitch and I'll make the lives of nerds a living hell everywhere. Because, like, that's what I'm best at, and that's what I'm suited for. Trying out for another role would just end up in a laughable tragedy."

A victorious smirk appeared on Mercedes's face out of a sudden, and she pulled her hand back.

"Though, once in a while, I don't mind, like, flexing my mental thunder thighs with stuff like this..."

And having said that, she opened her closed fist in front of Lucille, illumating the hand with her flashlight. There, on her hand, were a collection of bullet casings... all clearly from bullets that had been fired numerous times. There were thirteen in total, and judging from where they had been, somebody had quickly hid them in a place where not many would look. However, that wasn't the only interesting thing on Mercedes's palm.

... There was also the liquid, pale goo they were swimming in.

Goo that had something that looked like clumps of hair in it.

"Now then, what the hell's this ooze supposed to be...?" Mercedes quietly wondered.

[Katie]

Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“Oh. That’s really cool.”

Trying to forget that Mercedes had ever said “mental thunder thighs” in a serious sentence, Lucille thought she was a remarkably diligent person, despite her attitude. She still wasn’t particularly sure why she tried to put on a truly unlikeable air when she had plenty of talents and could be admired in her own right that way, but this wasn’t really the situation to bring it up. Instead, she was merely grateful that Mercedes was well-versed in all sorts of topics, because she was absolutely useless. Her role had always been the muscle, and it seemed that even there she might be superfluous…

"Now then, what the hell's this ooze supposed to be...?" Mercedes quietly wondered.

Lucille stared at the goo, but had no idea what it was for. If it could hold hair though, then it probably wasn’t corrosive… and the bullet casings, well, those probably belonged to whomever killed Colt in the first place, but Mercedes probably knew that already. Not something she felt like she could comment on without looking like an idiot, at least. However, something did make her worry, and that the goo’s inexplicable presence felt far too weird for it to merely be a mundane crime.

At least, she hoped so, but the more Mercedes talked the more Lucille felt she was really missing the mark. On the other hand… perhaps there was something to be gained from being more direct? Lucille was hardly certain, but perhaps it was worth a shot.

“The bullet casings are probably the ones from whomever shot Colt,” she said, stating the obvious, “but I wouldn’t know about the goo and stuff…. That’s not my forte at all.”

Ending it off with a lament, Lucille figured she would be truthful about her own expertise, at least. One price of payment for another.

“At least you know useful things… It’s kind of awkward to say this, but I’m only really good at fighting,” Lucille said with a regretful sigh. “Even though I hate it, it’s all I’m really good for.”

Lucille glanced towards the exit, in case anyone tried to sneak up behind them. It was a rather trained reflex at this point, though she was fairly certain if someone did get the jump on them, she’d be caught unaware. Stealth was not one of her good points, and neither was identifying it.

“So if something happens, trust in me, alright? I… I won’t let it happen again.”

Lucille’s determination was easy to see, but that offered no explanation to what “it” was…

[Cheetose]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

“...I’ve no idea,” I said while staring at the weird drawing, “Someone she saw before running away, maybe?”

After I put the notebook away, I gave the girl a head pat - though, at the same time, this drawing just made me even more convinced that I had to find a way to properly communicate with the girl.

“And about Colt...Well, if it really has do with this secret organization, then I have a feeling that it won’t be so easy to find out more about it, especially now that Colt is...gone, along with the locket. Besides...I feel like this incident might not even have to do with his family or the locket...Maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or pissed off some people who are not so stable mentally,” I scratched the back of my head, “could easily imagine in a place like this.”

It felt like it’s been an eternity since the morning.

And even longer since yesterday, when everything still looked a lot more peaceful and calmer, and the life I came here for didn’t feel so far out of reach.

My head was buzzing, and my throat felt dry - I realized that I haven’t even had the time to drink something, let alone to eat...Or get on with everything else that I would rather be doing right now than this.

Crossing my arms, I looked up at the boy - sometimes I forgot just how tall and muscular he was.

“S-still,” I started somewhat awkwardly, lips curling into a small smile, “You gotta tell me some more about this earth colossus some other time. Maybe some other things, too.”

But at the very least, I wanted to ease the situation a bit.

It didn’t have to be quite as grim and oppressive as it was.

“Listening to the sales of the all-powerful Pyry sounds like something I would enjoy.” I said, my smile widening into a grin as I nudged his side.

“But in the meantime, let’s get going, now that Gradient is ready as well.”

Before leaving the building, however, I realized that there was still something that probably would have been appropriate to do in this situation... And as such, I tore a page out of my notebook, quickly scribbled down a message on it - stating that we went to the main building - and left there for the other two girls to see once they return.