Astronomika - Shooting Down Falling Stars (IC)

[Bloble]

Prushka
Location: Abandoned Cabin
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

Just as the situation seems to be escalating - to where, unknown, but certainly someplace nonsensical - the atmosphere is sliced in two.

Cleanly. Painlessly. With clinical precision, by a single word.

"Stop."

It's not like she's angry. She can't be angry. But even so, this stare is...

"...eep!"

More than a little unnerving. Combined with the hand tugging gently at my collar, I feel like a misbehaving child that's one word away from being disciplined. Or perhaps a small dog that's chewed on the wrong pair of shoes and is being lifted up by the scruff of her neck. Certainly, Ahti must feel that same pressure.

Wordlessly, I accept the offered tissue and loudly blow my noise, wiping away the foreboding silence with the thunderous noise. And then, when it's clear...

"S-sorry. And thanks, Vivi."

I turn my eyes back to the angry cat man sitting on the bed in front of me.

"Um, Ahti... how are you feeling right now? Did the medicine work? Is there anything else you need, or...?"

[Mormarth]

Elaine Winters
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

What an interesting character.

I nodded sympathetically at him as he finished his little soliloquy.

"Probably for the best, then. You've probably got better things to do with a handful of cash anyway."

Fix those clothes, you bum.

You're an insult to hobos everywhere!

Two raggedy-ass scarfs, harumph. Not even that cold out, what are you, a bassist in a grunge band?

These Canadians...

I blinked at the gruff young man earnestly, "I don't have to be preening to want to show off my rusty-ass French, even if we're on the wrong side of the continent."

Then I smiled, cheerily, "Plus I think everybody's worth some effort, even if you won't get anything back."

I let the smile drop a little, folding my arms seriously, "But yeah, hospital's got some real weirdness going on there, whole big manhunt going on in the middle of the night all sneaky-like, let alone all the junk we lucked into."

I shook my head, relief showing, "Just glad we managed to pick up little Steph when we did, don't even want to know what might'a happened if they ended up snatching her up. Throw her in some weird isolation tank, load her up with a bunch of shady drugs? Poor thing can barely even speak English, good thing we got Short Round knowin' enough Cantonese to be a go-between."

I dipped my head to Subaru, "Thanks for bein' nice to her, by the way, she's a shy little thing, the glutton, but a real sweetheart."

Then I eyed Alexstrasza, smirking, "You too, firebug."

[Cheetose]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Pool - Basement
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

“W-we’re not dating!”

It was a lot harder to strike back when, deep down in my heart, that is maybe exactly what I wanted.

But even if that’s what I wished for...how exactly would that be possible during this week, or before we reach the end of this mystery? If there will be a next time, and he won’t remember again, where would I even start?

“B-but yeah, I guess we’re even,” I said as I turned back to Pyry, “Though…”

Reaching up - while further elevating myself by standing on my toes - I landed my hand on Pyry’s head, and ruffled his hair too.

If he had the right to do it to me, then so did I!

Though it was certainly a bit harder to achieve.

“Now we’re even.” I said with a wide grin.

[Verg Avesta]

Prushka & Vivienne Bianchi
Location: Abandoned Cabin
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

"Flailing around too much... stitches will get undone..."

Ahti blinked once.

He blinked twice.

"Ah, uh... yes'm..."

And then, he sunk back into the bed, as if taken by surprise by the pressure emanating from the emotionless, yet not, eyes. Perhaps it was some sort of animal instinct that made him realize that this was not something he should start arguing about, and if he were to choose this hill to die on, he might very well actually die - or that was the interpration he got from that glare. Still staring at the taller girl with a mixture of shock and a feeling of "Oh what the Christ is this?", Ahti settled down to half-sitting, half-laying down position and leaned his head on his hand, and elbow on the bed.

"I, uh... yeah, I'll... I'll watch out for the stitches..." Ahti murmured. "Just... stop staring at me like that, it's creepy as fuck..."

The glance he threw towards Prushka seemed to echo this sentiment.

After all, it more or less said: "She's scary as hell."

"Um, Ahti... how are you feeling right now? Did the medicine work? Is there anything else you need, or...?"

The meek question caught the young man a bit unawares, and his brain took a moment to catch up until he broke the staring contest he had going on with Vivienne.

"Oh, uh, I dunno. I mean, I don't feel any different," Ahti answered, glancing down at his bare, bandaged chest. "Or, well, it feels itchy as hell so that's going on, but I dunno if that means the thing is working or not. Just a moment..."

With that, Ahti used one of his hands to peel back the gauzes covering his midsection a bit. He was about to just break them open with his claws, but after glancing at Vivienne for a second, he decided to go at it in a more peaceful way. Slowly, the gauze became undone and the hardened, scarred skin from underneath was being revealed. The eyes of the trio were focus on what lay beyond the white surface, and though they were expecting to see the still rough edges of the wounds and the bare flesh that had been sewn shut or burned shut by Prushka last night...

What awaited them was something quite different.

"--- What the hell?"

Ahti muttered.

Underneath the gauzes, something was going on. Most of the minor wounds that had been easy for Prushka to stitch together had already disappeared completely, with even the string used having been dissolved by what was happening. The skin around and above those wounds was now smooth and almost fresh-looking, more vibrant than the paler, scarred skin that the rest of Ahti's body was. It even glistened a little bit, as if it wasn't just healing of the wounds, but the skin and the flesh had actually been made anew, to the point that the wounds no longer existed in any shape or form - or rather, they had been replaced by healthy variants of those spots that had never been wounded in the first place.

And that was not all.

The more serious wounds... especially the big one at the side of Ahti's stomach that Prushka had cauterized... they were rapidly healed too.

No, not just healed.

The cellular structure of those parts was being regenerated, turning the dead, flayed flesh to a new one, and replacing the burnt, cauterized skin with alive and healthy one. Blood vessels were being reconnected, muscle was being threaded together, the broken bones were being reforged. Before their very eyes, the trio could see the skin itself slowly regenerating, making the wounded area smaller and smaller in the same tempo as the internal damage was being erased. It was like watching a sped-up version of a flower growing, something that should have lasted weeks and month being accelerated so that it would be finished within few hours. A miracle akin to the revival of a phoenix, only on a cellular level and localized on Ahti's recent wounds.

And all around them, now freed from the gauzes...

The shimmering shards and fragments of odic power, like remnants of a shattered glass pane, danced in the air reflecting green light.

The physical manifestation of Odic Power.

Was this... an application of an ESP, stored within a syringe?

"... Uh... yeah..."

Ahti's words broke the bout of silence they had fallen into, gazing at what was going on.

"--- I think it's working."

---

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

Pyry chuckled.

"I guess we are," he said with a grin, before glancing back towards Ru and Gradient. "And yeah, you chuckleheads. We ain't dating... now, anyways. And even if we were, it's none of your beeswax."

Gradient, for some reason, rolled her eyes at the responses they got, like she had still had her doubts. However, after shrugging again and shaking her head, the girl let out a cheerful sound and hurried after Hisa and Pyry. Outside, the sun was slowly climbing up towards the zenith of the sky, which meant that their time was starting to run out. Soon enough it was time for classes again, and whether or not they decided to attend, it still meant that the morning was more or less over.

However, while the three of them were heading out towards the exit, Ru, for some reason, didn't immediately follow. Instead, he stared around the corridor, and the window that showed the campus grounds... and frowned a little bit.

Pyry noticed this and turned around, raising an eyebrow at the younger boy.

"Something wrong?" he asked, and Ru shook his head.

"Nah, bro. Not exactly. It's just..." he searched for the right word for a moment. "... Strange, I guess."

Now both of Pyry's eyebrows were up.

"Strange? What is?"

Ru, in response, gestured vaguely at the building around them.

"Visiting here just got me thinking... you know, back to last night, when I escaped from that monster through the sewers. I ended up here eventually, right? Well, I didn't really think about it back then, but uh..." he stopped again, stroking his chin in thought and frowning. "... When they built this school, do you think they gave the sewers here and overhaul too? Does that make a lick of sense?"

Pyry blinked owlishly.

"Err, what?" he asked.

Ru, on the other hand, simply nodded.

"I mean, from the beach the sewers were older than stick and stone, but here? Around this hilltop? It was all brand spanking new. Bit modern, even," he explained. "And the change wasn't gradual either. First it was all old and filthy, and then, when we got to this area, it was so clean you could fry and egg on those surfaces. And then... I'm pretty sure there were stairs around the place too. Makes me wonder if things hiding down there have an easy access to up here because of that."

A strange sort of silence fell into the corridor - a curious, and bit worried, sort of silence.

"......... Huh," Pyry said.

[Frantic Author]

Elaine Winters & Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Pinefall High - Pool Building
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

My eyes went comically wide and I gasped as Travis accused me of carrying pointy objects on my person. Alas, I was forced to leave my sacrificial daggers and knives at home, as my teacher informed me that nobody in the ordinary world routinely carries weapons at all, and that my books had perhaps been...

A bit misleading. To say the least. I was extremely disappointed, but we must all move forward.

"If anything, it is more of a fantasy novel, yes? New faces in a strange place, surrounded by weird happenstances that none can explain... Does that not sound like the story of a young knight and an innocent - yet mysterious - girl that he happens upon in bizarre circumstances?"

There is something about the hospital. There is something here that I do not understand, and as I take a brief glance at Subaru, I suspect she does not either. This appears to be less of a 'mystery of magic' and more of a 'mundane mystery', or perhaps a 'conspiracy' of sorts. I gave Elaine a smile and a thumbs up as she smirked at me whilst thanking me for my politeness to her... sister? Niece? Stolen child? Midnight snack?

Honestly, manners are confusing sometimes.

"Oh? Well if we want to investigate the hospital, there's always an obvious solution, yes?"

I smiled brightly at them, flashing a quick V.

"We should break in!"

[Thalraxal]

Elise Pelltier
Location: End’s Store & Post
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994
Weather: Overcast

"I don't know about 'Rustfield', love, but there definitely was a man by the name of Devon that stopped by here not too long ago. A week or two, I think? Said he was a lorry driver and was delivering some stuff to, uh... maybe for the McLampets? He bought a compass and a map of the area though, said he wanted to do some hiking while taking a couple of days off in our town. Found it a bit weird, I did, so that's why he stuck to memory. And because of that striking red jacket of his - made him look like the Red Riding Hood! Asked about other stuff too... like some hiking places such as the overlook, and even the old train yard - claimed he was a sucker for that type of stuff. Oh, yes, and then about Ramshack! I didn't know the news of the awful business at that place had spread outside of our town..."

"Now, if he's still in town, love, I bet he can be found at Owl's Nest. That's where all out-of-towners end up unless they have friends or family at Road's End... or a newly-furnished dormitory like you lot. I-I mean, he didn't seem like the type to enjoy the 'atmosphere' of the Country Club."

Elise listened intently as Ms. Popplewell answered her question about the whereabouts of one Devon Rustfield.

A week or two... that mostly fits with Father Milani's timeline of having last heard from Rustfield a week ago. Although it does sound a whole lot like the woods have swallowed him up. Or maybe he ran afoul of the big bad wolf? thought Elise, Still... bright red coat, and he's pretending to be a lorry driver. To be a lorry driver though, he'd actually need a truck to complete the disguise. Especially if he came to town to complete a delivery... bogus or not. That truck should still be around somewhere, right? Might even still be at the Owl's Nest if he was staying there... Maybe Vier even saw it last week? Might be worth asking her if I see her before I get the chance to head up to the Owl's Nest myself? The Owl's Nest was where I'd planned on looking for Rustfield in the first place, besides I still need to check out the library there. Still... the overlook, old train yards, and the Ramshack? Hm..

Elise glanced at one of the many British flags emblazoned on the paraphernalia that littered the End's Store and Post. She considered what Ms. Popplewell had told her, and what she'd gleaned from Muse's first riddle to her.

Muse said that Ms. Popplewell was the last person to see Rustfield. I wonder where he went next? Because there's a good chance he's never left that place.

"Oh! I should probably get a compass too. That might come in handy. I'm rather fond of hiking myself, although I don't intend to stray from the trails," began Elise, "Do you- do you remember what you told Mr. Rustfield about those places? Also, uhm, if you don't mind me asking? What-what awful business happened at the Ramshack? I've never heard anything about that."

Of all the places to scout out... what made the Ramshack stand out as a place worth investigating to him?

"Oh, of course, love! Like I was about to mention a bit earlier, I could definitely use more carriers in here. And it's pretty easy job, so you can just help out when you can. If you know Zane then that's even better, since he's more or less responsible for organizing that stuff! Other than that... well, I know Owl's Nest needs people. Same with Spade Queen, I suppose, though... I don't know if that's the right type of work for teenagers."

Elise took a moment to consider the various job opportunities for students around town that Ms. Popplewell had listed. A few of which certainly sounded like interesting opportunities, if one had the time.

"Thanks, Ms. Popplewell! I'll be sure to stop by to help with the mail when I have the chance!" said Elise.

If I have the chance...

[Mellon]

Anna Vandemeel
Location: Spade Queen Country Club
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

"They certainly do talk, Miss, yes. Though not often much in terms of good nor in quite kind words. Rather, I would say that this Country Club and it's gregarious host are often spoken in the same turn as the locals spit, yes,"

"Eye-catching can take to be meant as eye-soring, after all. Though for an impressionable youngster such as yourself, I'm glad that it's gained it's respect, yes. It's hardly fair that a local entrepreneur is so unfairly criticized."

A simple chuckle echoed forth from the track-suited witch in response to the suited stranger’s words, although it never truly reached the depths of Anna’s eyes. Instead, a calm, calculating glint flickered in those ruby depths. There was something about this man, something she couldn’t quite fully put her finger on…

“Well, it's not really my place to tell anyone whether their resentments are well-founded or not.” Anna let out a small shrug as if she wasn’t overly concerned with the topic at hand. “I’m an outsider, after all. However, since I’m an outsider, I’d rather come to my own conclusions about the folks around these parts.”

It wasn’t from the Turnside, that much was sure. The weight of the supernatural was a far more overt thing, its pressure, either mana or otherwise, was of a far denser kind than what she was picking up from the man in front of her. No, this felt far more human in nature… which held its own threat, at times far more insidious than any grand magecraft.

And then there was this feeling… this remnant… as if she’d forgotten something here. A momentary shiver that flickered across her back at the sight of him, before vanishing to nothingness. An echo of a memory, perhaps. Something from her dreams that hadn’t been passed down? Or something from before even that?

Indeed. Elliot Challenger was a dangerous man. Of that, she was absolutely certain.

"Ah, but I'm missing my manners, yes. Challenger. Elliot Challenger. A tourist, if you will,"

"While I do have the luxury of having met our local handyman, you have me stumped miss. Though I'd venture a guess you are one of the new, much-talked-about residents of this fair town, yes. An interesting idea, that school. I must say, I'm a big fan of Mr. Oceandrop, yes."

“Anna. Anna Vandemeel.” Anna took Elliot’s hand with a genial sort of ease and gave the man a firm handshake. “My pleasure, Mr. Challenger. And your hypothesis is correct, of course. Indeed, I’m a student from Pinefall.”

“Since I’m something of a newcomer, I thought I’d come and introduce myself to the people around these parts as well.”

Elliot Challenger might be a threat, but that in itself was nothing special. It was simply a fact about the man that she recognized and acknowledged. Like the color of his eyes or his slightly disheveled suit. In the end, Anna was professional enough to not let something like that show or get in the way of her interactions with others. Dancing with danger was the one thing, perhaps the only thing, she had extensive experience with.

However, as she was a professional, an almost casual thought ran through her mind as she shook Elliot Challenger’s extended hand.

Should I kill him right here?

It shouldn’t be too difficult and neither would she lose any sleep over it. While Zane’s presence would be a complicating factor, even that was something she could deal with. It would be troublesome but doable. If her instincts were correct about this man, then it might solve a lot of problems down the line. It would only take a fraction of a second to…

Suddenly, her brief internal interlude was interrupted by the loud rumbling of the engine in the distance and just like that the moment had passed and their handshake along with it. The decision had been made for her, it would seem. Additional witnesses would complicate things too much for Anna’s liking. If worse came to worst, she’d be forced to purge the entire Spade Queen and everyone inside.

And doing something like that always leaves a shitty taste in my mouth.

“Oh…” Anna’s eyes flickered over to the approaching car and, more specifically, it’s license plates. “You’re a member of the military, Mr. Challenger?”

[Verg Avesta]

Elaine Winters & Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

"Oh? Well if we want to investigate the hospital, there's always an obvious solution, yes? We should break in!"

Travis groaned in frustration and looked like he wanted to continue his swatting-spree by administering a light slap to the back of the paler blonde girl. However, instead of acting on his desires, he instead leaned against the wall, folded his arms rebelliously and clicked his tongue. Then he administered a gaze intense enough at Alexstrasza that he practically demanded the girl's attention - to listen to him, and to listen to him well.

"Yeah, that's a grand ol' plan. Let's break into the hospital specifically made to treat the hand-picked loonies from around the world. The hospital with its own security detail that's armed better than the local police, I bet. The hospital that must have a state-of-the-art security system if Mr. Oceandrop really sank that much money into it," Travis answered, before rolling his eyes. "Get real. This isn't a fantasy novel, and the closest thing you've got for a knight is Ms. Ponytail over there with her rusty iron steed."

Noah, who had been listening to it, nodded almost too seriously and flapped his sleeves.

"Mhm, mhm. And I don't see any innocent girls either," the other Canadian commented, before tilting his head. "... Do they even exist?"

Travis grumbled something under his breath.

"... My point is, this isn't some Goonies shit. We can't just sneak in there, we gotta have a plan - and a good one at that. I doubt the guards would actually kill us unless we got physically dangerous, but that ain't still somewhere I wanna get caught in. We need... I dunno, another way in, something to distract the guards with, or a legit reason to snoop around," Travis continued. "... My own plans aside, I do want to check the shit we found in the briefcase with proper equipment, too. So unless we can find lab tech somewhere else, I guess we'll eventually have to tackle the hospital. But not go in like it's a fucking picnic, like Zazarovich here suggests."

A momentary silence as Travis's eyes narrowed, and he switched his attention back to Elaine.

"... I'm pretty sure the stuff in the briefcase is some sorta LAI antipsychotics and neuroleptics, or some other crap like that," he said with a more serious tone. "Loxapine, Perphenazine, Fluphenazine, you take your pick. There's also some stuff I don't recognize. Hence why I wanna run those tests. Bottom line, that's a serious cocktail to inject into a wee little brat. Way too hardcore, if you ask me."

Then.

As if to mark the end of Travis's words.

Something could be heard from the outside.

A familiar sound of bells ringing from the main building's PA system.

In other words...

--- The sound of the classes starting.

And in the somewhat awkward silence that followed after it...

"Umm, excuse me but..." Subaru raised her voice, looking at all the people gathered with some confusion. "... Is Stephanie... not your relative?"

---

Anna Vandemeel
Location: Spade Queen Country Club
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

“Oh… You’re a member of the military, Mr. Challenger?”

Mr. Challenger continued to smile that enigmatic smile of his.

"A tourist, nothing more. Though I have borrowed a company car for my little outing, yes. It comes with its perks, and nobody can complain where I have it parked," he said and chuckled a bit as the car rolled around the corner. "But indeed, when I'm not vacation in this beautiful Pacific North-West climate, I do work for the USAF, yes. Radars, aerospace defense, the more, hum, 'geeky' stuff as you youngsters would put it. I am hardly deserving the military rank I actually do have. But again, it does come with its perks, yes. Ones I am taking full advantage now, yes."

As the two of them had been talking, the car had been slowly making its way towards the group until it stopped right next to them, with its back door stopped right at where Mr. Challenger was standing. Even through the blackened windows, one could see someone shuffling at the back seat, and soon enough the door was thrown open. Inside, Anna saw the sight of another unfamiliar person... this one much shorter than any of those already present. Not only that, but she was wrapped in clothing that made her look more prepared for winter than autumn, and the smell of an expensive perfume wafted heavily out of the car, causing even Zane to scrunch his nose at the sensation.

It might have been expensive, but even that smells horrible when overused like this.

And then there were the eyes of the woman... that strange look of distaste that passed by her face when she took a gander at both Anna and Zane, before quickly moving to stare at Elliot Challenger.

"Mr. Challenger - it's time we leave," the woman said, her nasally voice harsh and unpleasant. "We need to review the records, and conduct a proper survey on the---"

Elliot chuckled a bit, cutting the woman off, and gave an apologetic (not really) shrug to the two youths.

"Ah, excuse me. My colleague just cannot let go of working, even on a holiday, yes. Maybe I should take her to that roadside bar that the town has and pour local beer into her gullet until she stops being so uptight," Elliot said, shaking his head. "I wish Dakota would cut me some slack at times, yes..."

A sharp inhale from within the car informed the trio that the woman inside was just barely holding back from tearing into the unkempt man verbally - her eyes practically flashing with pointed anger now.

"... Mr. Challenger. I'd appreciate it if you stopped fraternizing with local yokels and focused on what's important," the woman hissed, sounding like a pissed-off cat. "You're the only one who can make any heads or tails of Dr. Hikari's papers, so-"

Elliot Challenger sighed loudly and hung his head, expressing his boredom at his supposed colleague in the most theatrical way possible.

"And Ms. Discovery, I'm on my day off. So why not we forget the papers, and instead go try out that cherry pie I've been hearing about, yes?" Elliot said, before turning around and smiling that fox-like smile of his at Anna and Zane. "Apologies, my young friends. She can be bit irritable in the mornings... and the evenings... and the nights, yes. But nevertheless, this is my colleague on this supposed vacation of ours."

He turned around and patted the roof of the car, glancing at the woman inside.

"--- Miss Dakota Discovery."

Meanwhile, Ms. Dakota simply glared at the two of them in a way, that... yes.

Zane's comparison was quite apt.

... She did look like someone had just urinated under her nose.

New Person Met!

[Mormarth]

Elaine Winters & Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

I let out a long, slow breath, a hand coming up to gingerly rub at my forehead, then wiping my head down my entire face in one of the universal symbols of aggravated annoyance and frustration, a growl of irritation accompanying it.

Well, now I've got to deal with this.

Thanks, Travis.

Not like I could blame him, I was trying to lay a hint out, but trying to be subtle and communicate effectively are difficult enough, let alone with someone who's inexperienced in subtlety.

Oh well.

I sighed again.

"No, Subaru, she's not," I grunted, "It's a cover story that I came up with out of the blue to not have to discuss the fact that I'm harboring someone who ran out from a hospital away from a bunch of armed shady goons, who was cowering in a tree house in the middle of the woods."

I flexed the fingers on my hands, silently strangling the air.

"I considered it good to try and keep it on the down-low, lest I get some mouth-breathing morons who want to throw an innocent girl back to a place that considers it a good bit of medical science to put enough scarification on her back that it looks like her spine's been getting cracked upon like a New England special."

I waved a hand in the air, tiredly.

"Figured I'd cover for her and try to throw up a brief smokescreen while I took some time to try and work something out with somebody," I said, strained, "But hey, barely an hour and its falling apart, so why do I even bother, let's just go march over to the town square and blare it over a megaphone..."

I grumbled irritably about loose lips under my breath.

"So no, she's not related to me, got nothing to do with my missing brother.

A pause.

"Who is actually missing, believe it or not. Want more details, hit me up, but we got shit to do."

[Bloble]

Prushka
Location: Abandoned Cabin
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

The sight of a miracle is enough to silence all of us.

Seeing a deadly wound closing before my eyes, feeling the Odic Energy in the air... it's one of those moments that makes it seem like the Turnside of the world really can be a magical, wonderful place.

Ahti was about to die a few hours ago. Now he's alive and well. All thanks to this strange syringe - no, thanks to the Esper that lent us her power.

"...Hisa Momoi."

Once the last of the traces of energy vanish from the air, and Ahti breaks the silence, I answer the unspoken question.

"If you meet a girl by that name, you should thank her."

It feels different now. Like Ahti and I have come to an understanding, after Vivi forcibly calmed us both down. Perhaps, without her, we wouldn't have been able to get along, united in mutual respect for her scariness. Still, whatever the case... this is how it is. There's no more need for a nurse; the patient has recovered splendidly thanks to Dr. Momoi's treatment.

Slowly, calmly, I begin to pack up. The napkins, the thermoses, the utensils that went unused, the tray, and the spent syringe. Our time here is coming to an end. Mine, and probably Ahti's as well.

"We have class soon. Can't be late."

I glance out the window. Getting down... won't be too bad, if we use the trees. We'll be able to make it back to class in time if we use the Pink Dragon. Ahti shouldn't have any problems either, now that he's recovered. In fact...

"Don't know if you plan on staying here; it's a decent enough base of operations, but not exactly out of the way. Still, if I'm gonna be helping you, we'll need someplace to meet up."

There's still the matter of that thing Ahti wanted me to do, that only a 'weak' person could help with. Of course, Ahti may have changed his mind and decided he doesn't need help after all. That's fine too. It's very possible that this'll be the last time we see each other. He'll go off on whatever mission he's here for, and he'll have no reason to talk to us again.

I hope not, but... well, that's for him to decide.

[Ayakashi]

"Mmm... very effective..."

The quiet girl nods to hereslf as she comments on the rather obvious but still extraordinary recovery Ahti has undergone... wherever this syringe should have been saved for someone else may be a question hanging in the back of Vivienne's head, but well, what is done is done, and it would appear that both she and Prushka got the most of what they wanted from their 'visit' here. As Prushka had pointed out as well, the two of them wouldn't want to be late to class. It isn't that the class in itself mattered, but having to deal with the faculty and perhaps tarnishing one's image wasn't exactly ideal.

Vivienne stands up effortlessly, making her way towards the window through which she entered. However, before turning her back to Ahti, she makes sure to tell him:

"Take care... don't waste the medicine... also..."

She pauses for a bit, pulling out her trusty sketching book once more from her jacket as well as a pencil. Vivienne quickly starts drawing something, something that she will quite likely show to Ahti to supplement her empty words. However, before she is even finished, she looks up from her book and perhaps, shows that even though she has no soul, she can somehow still be a comedian of sorts. Maybe.

"Me... creepy? Hired footstools shouldn't be... creepy..."

Drawing

[Verg Avesta]

Prushka & Vivienne Bianchi
Location: Abandoned Cabin
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

For a moment, Ahti simply stared at the picture that Vivienne was presenting to him. His ice blue eye took in the crude drawing and the letters underneath it, stopping multiple times at the last sentence as if he needed to read it over and over again. Then, very slowly, a coldly amused smirk crept to his face, and the boy fell backwards, letting his back hit the wall with a quiet thud. There, lounging on the bed with his scarred chest bared, one leg lifted on top of the bed so that his arm could rest against his raised knee, he looked like a sprawled, lounging animal that was now, against all odds, somewhat used to the presence of the two girls.

Ahti then fished for a cigarette from the pocket of his pants, and lit it up.

"Yeah. You're definitely creepy, Scribbles," Ahti replied. "Like a dead taiga on a cold winter's eve."

Something glimmered in that cold eye of his, and his smirk widened.

"... But whatever. I don't mind such a landscape. If you had to twist my arm, I'd say I even like a taiga," he continued, chuckling quietly. "A cold, emotionless scenery makes me feel right at home."

With that, Ahti's attention turned to Prushka, and some of the humour in his expression disappeared.

As if he was getting serious.

"And yeah. I'll be here, Imp. By the time it gets dark, at least. If I need to head out earlier than that, I'll come back after sundown," he stated. "So you go have your schooling or whatever. You look like the types of eggheads that might find some use for numbers or letters. As for me... I'll be doing what I do best, now that I'm patched up again."

Some sort of odd sound emanated from him.

A growl?

"... And to do that, it definitely looks like I'm gonna need the help of your midget ass," Ahti continued. "After all, I'm here for a very simple reason. I'm here to kill a man I thought disappeared long ago."

That singular eye was now pure winter.

"--- And from the looks of it, you're my best lead so far."

With that, the conversation for this morning was over.

[SCENE END /// Move to NEXT Phase!]

Prushka: Friendship Rank Raised!

Vivienne Bianchi: Friendship Rank Raised!

[Bloble]

Prushka
Location: Abandoned Cabin
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

"...you're here for that, huh..."

It was obvious. Ahti knows how to fight, so a fight is probably what he wants. I'd hoped it would be someone else, but... well, that's how the Turnside is. It has just as much death and hatred as the other side. Perhaps even more. Grudges that stretch across hundreds of years, curses formed of malice and hatred powerful enough to warp reality... and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Is it right to be helping him with this? After all, I don't know anything. His target could be a villain, or he could be a hero. But I'm sure if I keep talking to Ahti, I'll eventually understand enough to be able to make a decision.

"In that case, Ahti... stay out of trouble, okay? 'Cus if you're dead, you can't do anything, let alone kill someone."

And you can't forgive anyone, either.

That piercing blue eye is the last thing I see as I clamber down from the second floor. The blue eye that makes me think of Pyry. But it can't be. There's no way a self-proclaimed hero to all children, who'll risk his life for others, could have become the mortal enemy of someone like Ahti.

But even as my mind says that, another part can imagine that story all too well.

I'll have to ask, then. But that's later. Right now...

Right now there's something I need to do, before class starts.


-----------------------


Prushka
Location: Abandoned Cabin - Front Door
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

"..."

The floorboards creak, even under my light weight. They're old and rotten after all. But they held for the janitor, so they'll hold for me.

I step forward, towards the door, forcing myself not to look closely at anything. Whatever happens, happens.

And indeed, it happens.

Crack.

Splash.

"Eeeeek!"

...

...

...

Moments later I step onto the Pink Dragon, waiting for Vivi to step on behind me.

One of my shoes squelches strangely on my bare foot. There's a wet sock in my bag now, along with several clumps of slimy plants in a thermos. Going to class like this will be awkward, but it has to be done; there's no time to change.

"...well played, Briggs. Now we're even."

Well, we won't really be even until I can tell him that to his face. But it's a start.

The engine growls, much like Ahti, and takes us towards Pinefall.

[SCENE END /// Move to NEXT Phase!]

[Daneel Rush]

Location: End’s Store & Post
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994
Weather: Overcast



Sue Popplewell gives her opinion, followed by whatever information she has on a person likely to be Elise Marie’s colleague. She seems ordinary, unrelated to the supernatural crisis, and that is in no way a bad thing. Of course, he could still be surprised; who knows what the future holds?

Closing the book in his left hand and letting rest on the counter for good—if he is to buy a copy, it should probably be a new one from the stock in the back—, John quickly scours the aisles for his choice of purchases.

“Miss Popplewell, excuse me if I am being rude or overly curious, but…” He makes at a point of looking around for someone he knows is not there. “…unbelievable as it may seem, as charming as you are, could it be that you do not have a partner working by your side?”

Why is he doing this? Well, even if he only has one week to work with, he cannot dismiss the possibility that an acquaintanceship with Sue Popplewell could be of use in the coming days. In other words, he is attempting to reestablish the same “baseline of association” he achieved in the previous iteration, but bringing up the same topics. John is aware that saying the same things in no way guarantees the same result, because the conditions are effectively different this time, but he can work with what he has.

“How about your parents, siblings, any other relatives? Are you wholly on your own, so far from your homeland?"

He will have to hurry if he wants to make in time. Perhaps he will be excused if he arrives a little late to the first class. If he is to skip school, he would rather it happen tomorrow. Then again, he might be dead by this time tomorrow, for all he knows. Besides, even if he probably should pay quickly and hurry back to Pinefall, there is one last thing…

“Here. I will be taking these,” he declares as he presents his purchases. “Miss Popplewell, for your choice of words, may I assume that you were acquainted with the writer of this book, Remington Hartley? Can you tell us something about this person? The kind of person who would write this kind of book?”

John Dove’s Purchases

* Jurassic Park Band-Aid x3.
* Bubblegum Painkillers.
* Tiger Balm Salve.
* War Heads x4.
* Insect Repellent.
* "End of the Road - Guide to the town of Road's End and its History"

[Mellon]

Anna Vandemeel
Location: Spade Queen Country Club
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

"But indeed, when I'm not vacation in this beautiful Pacific North-West climate, I do work for the USAF, yes. Radars, aerospace defense, the more, hum, 'geeky' stuff as you youngsters would put it. I am hardly deserving the military rank I actually do have. But again, it does come with its perks, yes. Ones I am taking full advantage now, yes."

“Oh? Would your expertise include things like satellites and astronomy, by any chance?” A lighthearted note entered Anna’s voice. “Not that I’m trying to ferret out any governmental secrets here. One of my classmates is something of a stargazer and I was just wondering if you happened to know any nice spots to set up a telescope.”

As they were talking, the expensive-looking car managed to finally pull up next to them, its back door stopping right next to the suited man. A moment later the door opened, causing a dense wave of overpowering perfume to waft outwards from inside the car, before revealing the figure of a blonde woman, draped in a winter coat more suitable for the winter streets of Tallinn, rather than the extremely mild autumn of this place.

"--- Miss Dakota Discovery."

The name was about as fake as humanly possible.

Might as well call yourself Alice Adventure, I suppose.

“Elliot Challenger” was something she could reasonably stomach as a real name, but “Dakota Discovery” sounded like a character from a Saturday morning kids cartoon. Not that there weren’t plenty of other suspicious tidbits dropped here. “Reviewing the records and conducting a survey on something” and “Making heads or tails of Dr. Hikari’s papers…”

Hikari… sounds like someone from the East. Might be worth looking into. Can’t be a lot of folks around these parts with a name like that.

But unfortunately for her, however, “Mr. Challenger” conveniently managed to interrupt his colleague with some irrelevant chit-chat whenever something of a sensitive nature seemed to pop up.

This “Ms. Discovery” clearly didn’t seem to think much of them. That much was obvious from the casual disgust and disdain that seemed to waft off her in waves. Or perhaps that was the bad perfume? In any case, this in itself was fine. She could take advantage of something like that. Dakota was clearly the type to simply dismiss them as irrelevant idiots, which meant that she wouldn’t think twice about blathering on about important topics in their presence.

Unfortunately, despite his easy-going façade, Challenger seemed to be far more paranoid, probably justifiably, about revealing information like this. That or he’d already classified her as a “suspicious individual”.

Though if she had to put a finger on the relationship the two had…

A pet pitbull, huh?

While the man in front of her didn’t quite give Anna the impression of an individual tied to the Flipside, the blonde…

Too weird.

To begin with, the heavy dress and the perfume were so overdone as to be completely ludicrous. So overdone, in fact, that it immediately fired up danger signs in the depths of her mind. It wasn’t rare for people from the "other side" to either end up with reasons to hide certain aspects of their features. It also wouldn’t be unheard of to use scent as a medium for supernatural abilities. In this case, the overbearing nature of the perfume could serve to further extend one’s natural “area of influence”, for example. Rituals centered around the use of incense were well established in numerous religions, after all. Establishment of a majlis in Arabic foundations, for example, required the burning of incense in order to outline the proper boundary for the Effect Field. And that was discounting those dimwits from the патриарха́т who couldn’t even go to the bloody toilet without waving their censers around like idiots.

But perhaps the most probable explanation was…

Sensory deprivation? Could the perfume be so overbearing and the coat be because she simply can’t smell or feel the ambient temperature anymore?

It wasn’t rare in the supernatural world to sacrifice certain parts of your senses. You usually got a lot more back than you gave up… though that greatly depended on the way you went about it. But even amongst the supernatural, there was a certain group of people who did a lot more of that “sacrificing a part of yourself” section than others.

…God damn it. Don’t tell me everyone in this bloody town is a blasted Rosicrucian.

Seems like I can’t walk two steps in this place without stumbling on some blasted bugger who picked up some half-arsed ritual from her grandmother's diary or some dimwit who sold half of her soul to the blasted loa.

Well, in any case, it was nothing more than her gut feeling. For the time being, at least.

“A pleasure, Ms. Discovery.”

If the other woman’s animosity had any effect on Anna, none of it showed on her face. In fact, if anything, the small smile flickering on her lips almost gave the impression as if she found Ms. Discovery’s dislike of her quaint, of all things.

Indeed. This type of arrogance and sneering dislike was quite nostalgic for her. Anna still remembered the first day she went to the Glass Castle after the Iron Curtain dropped. There was a blonde Swedish rune scribe who looked at her just like that. A dead ringer, in fact.

Though I think I did end up breaking most of his bones when I blew him through that wall.

“I’m Anna Vandemeel, a new student at Pinefall. It's my first time in the States, so my apologies if I’m being particularly… yokely.”

[Katie]

Lucille Faraday
Location: End's Store & Post
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (WED)
Weather: Overcast

"Oh, of course, love! Like I was about to mention a bit earlier, I could definitely use more carriers in here. And it's pretty easy job, so you can just help out when you can. If you know Zane then that's even better, since he's more or less responsible for organizing that stuff!" Sue answered, folding her arms. "Other than that... well, I know Owl's Nest needs people. Same with Spade Queen, I suppose, though... I don't know if that's the right type of work for teenagers."

"Billie might need some help at the Big Boy's too, and Ranger Savage too... for latter you might want to go to the Sheriff's department and ask from there," she continued. "Lastly... well, there's our meals-on-wheels program that I organize, but nobody other than Old Beatrice really uses it anymore. Though I think helping with that would definitely lessen the load on poor Zane."

“That’s quite a lot of things to choose from… But thank you for letting me know.”

The various jobs catch her attention, but at the same time, she can’t plan on doing any of them. How can she make any long-term commitments when she is unsure of her own fate, whatever lies at the end of the week? Still, Miss Popplewell is as helpful as ever, but it would be dishonest of her to say she could commit to something. One, because deliberation is the key to success, and two, because perhaps she’ll be dead by the week’s end.

Lucille is content to listen to the John pry into Miss Popplewell’s personal matters and Elise learning more about the fate of Devon Rustfield. Even if Elise didn’t want her to meddle with the latter, she’d probably do it anyway… Any comrades in arms would be a great boon at the moment. And honestly, it is very difficult for her to make small talk. Her life experiences are not very relatable, she thinks.

As John pulls up to the counter, so does she, perhaps with an oversized bag.

Purchases

Bubblegum Painkillers x 1
Tiger Balm Salve x 1
Jolt Cola x 2
5-Hour Energy Drink x 1

Pop Rocks x 1
War Heads x 1
Crystal Pepsi x 2
Twinkies x 1

End of the Road x 1

[Cheetose]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

The change in subject left me thinking for a while as I listened quietly to the exchange of the two boys.

Normally, something like this would be quite irrelevant. What would it even matter what state the sewers are in? It might even make sense, but...the presence of the supernatural, and the fact that some powers are actively trying to murder everyone changes things.

“It’s going to be hard to tell without knowing what is going on in Oceandrop’s head,” I said while tapping my lip with a finger, “Though I’d like to at least assume that he is aware of certain things going on. He must have seen all the buildings inside and out when he started investing into the renovations…”

Though, the same is likely true for all the workers who did that, and probably the teachers too…

It’s all just too fishy somehow. They must know about the turnside, yet they never warned us about anything and kept complete secrecy. Makes me wonder about their intentions, and how good of an idea it would be to confront them about it.

“Has weird priorities, that’s for sure, considering how half of the school is still pretty much in ruins,” I continued, “But I doubt he did it just to create a convenient hideout for monsters. That would be...kind of bizarre.”

I glanced up at the sky, watching how the sun slowly crawled up high. Another day was slowly passing by...and we weren’t even a step closer to the solution. Yet now, we were even going to spend precious hours on useless classes that we’ve already experienced once...and for what?

Unless…

What if we tried to have something wholly different from last week?

Maybe...it would be worth a try.

“Do you know where these stairs are, by the way? Or if there is anything else down there besides just...well, sewers and that thing?”

My gaze shifted to Ru, as my thoughts changed to his case as well - although how we were going to progress with that was just as uncertain as everything else.

“You think it would be worth going down there? Maybe your sister could show up?”

[Frantic Author]

Elaine Winters & Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast


Rubbing the back of my head as I sulked, my lower lip trembling as Travis continued to blather, words and words with syllables that I had never heard before. In the end, I didn't understand a thing Travis said. The words he used had syllables, yes, but not in the orders I was used to. Travis, love, please just use Latin and Aramaic like the rest of the civilized world. This gibberish wouldn't even fly with the Japanese, and they still pray in shrines long after the spirits have fled them.

"Travis--!!" I said, frowning as I stamped my foot on the ground, scrunching my eyes shut and tightening my fists. "You can't just try to leave me out of it, simply by being confusing - you can't! Because... because...!"

I took a massive gulp of air as I glared at him, my cheeks puffing out as I steamed.

"IF YOU TRY NOT TO INVOLVE ME IT ONLY MAKES ME WANT TO INVESTIGATE IT MORE!"

I let it all out in one breath, then smiled brightly at the group.

"I'm the type of person who, when others discuss her, say 'actually, let's not invite her, she's a bit too intense'! If you try to exclude me, I'll dive even deeper so as to avoid being excluded!"

My logic, as always, was flawless.

"Besides," I said as I turned away from him with a frown, "You need me! As a ever-so-sickly girl, I can waltz off to the hospital whenever I want, without anyone asking any questions! No matter what, the easiest solution to getting inside the hospital would be for me to faint!"

Giving him a suspicious glare, I waggled a finger at Travis.

"I hope you're not getting any weird ideas! As a proper lady, I am perfectly capable of fainting at will," I said with a sniff. Being able to trick and confuse prey was an important skill at my previous academy, particularly in the lower forms. I thought fondly of the first time a dorm-mate had thought one of our fellow girls had died, only to discover she was merely pretending in order to threaten my dormitory companion with her hidden shiv for homework answers. Ahh... sweet memories. "But could that not solve your issue of getting inside?"

There was, of course, always magic. But I suspected Travis wouldn't take that as an appropriate answer to his plotting.

[Verg Avesta]

Anna Vandemeel
Location: Spade Queen Country Club
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

“I’m Anna Vandemeel, a new student at Pinefall. It's my first time in the States, so my apologies if I’m being particularly… yokely.”

Dakota Discovery scrunched her nose and cast another gaze of distaste towards the raven-haired girl.

"Whatever, hayseed. I don't have any interest in you, your name, or what you're here for. I paid good money to rent a room here just so I wouldn't have to deal with droopy-eyed, drooling locals," the young woman replied, clearly having not even bothered to listen what Anna said. "Mr. Challenger - we need to go now. We've wasted enough time as it is. I don't know what you were talking with Mr. Pinkerton about the whole morning, but-"

A gentle hand laid itself upon Ms. Discovery's shoulder.

In a sense, it was nothing more than Mr. Challenger gently gesturing to her that she was being rude and loud, and was speaking over everyone else.

However, that simple gesture was enough to make the woman clamp her mouth shut, and stared at him both wide-eyed and disgusted... and slightly afraid.

Yes.

The fear was the most palpable emotion showing in her eyes, if not on her face.

"I think that's quite enough, Ms. Discovery, yes. I heard you the first time, and it is rude to speak of private business in front of strangers," the man said, sounding as faux-pleasant as always. "Not to mention it's quite rude to insult them to their face, yes. So why not scoot back a little bit? I'll join you in just a moment."

With that, Elliot turned back towards Anna and Zane, while Dakota shuffled on the leather seats of the car, getting as far away from the group as possible and ending on the other end of the back seats. Mr. Challenger, on the other hand, make a vague gesture of apology with his hand, nodding his head towards Anna especially. At the same time, that fox-like smile widened, as if he was properly amused once more.

"My apologies for the rudeness of my colleague, yes. She has a bit of a bad habit of saying mean things whenever she is frustrated... which is quite often, yes. I hope you don't take it to heart. She can be quite amusing and jovial sometimes, yes," Elliot said, painting a mental image that was harder to believe than the existence of Turnside. "As for my job, while I do partake in planning of satellites and their usage, I'm afraid it's not to gaze at the stars, yes. It is, in fact, the polar opposite - gazing at our own world from above, yes. Funnily enough, if you were in need of an astronomical expert, you would have to talk to..."

Elliot made a much-telling nod towards the car and the huddled over form of Dakota Discovery, who was impatiently tapping her fingers against the leather seats.

"Still, I'm afraid she was right. While I would very much like to continue my life as a tourist, it seems that work calls once more, yes," Elliot said, giving a little theatrical sigh. "The freedom of high school years is a fleeting thing, something you only realize when you enter the work-life, yes."

He chuckled a bit to himself and nodded towards the two youths.

"I shall see you later, yes."

And with that, the strange man entered the car and pulled the door close behind him. Soon enough the only thing that Anna could see were the tail-lights of the vehicle and trail of thin smoke that it left behind. Once outside the gates, the car sped up, disappearing around the corner and most likely heading into the direction of the town of Road's End proper.

This left her, and Zane, standing alone on the empty and quiet courtyard of the Spade Queen.

"--- See what I mean?" Zane asked with a humourless expression. "One of them is unpleasant and easy to read, while the other..."

His eyes narrowed at the direction where the car had disappeared to.

"... Just feels like trouble."

---

Elise Pelltier, Lucille Faraday & John Dove
Location: End's Store & Post
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (WED)
Weather: Overcast

"Ah, another hiker, eh? Well, as long as you really do remember to stay on the trails. The Ghostwoods is a tricky place, and will trip up even an experienced ranger. Best not give it too much ammo in terms of getting you lost. A-nyways, the compass will be $5, love!"

With that, Sue started packing up what everyone had bought into brown paper bags so that they'd be easier to carry. Her hands worked nimbly, showing that this definitely wasn't the first time she had done something like this.

Though, while her hands moved on their own, the shop owner kept talking, answering questions all the while.

"As for what I said to him... well, nothing out of the ordinary? Just where they could be roughly found, and what to expect. Mind you, I'm no expert on local sights either - at least when they're out of the town proper. Oh, and I did warn him about staying there too long. The woods get awfully hard to navigate when the sun goes down, so you best remember that too, love," Sue explained, before grimacing a bit as she moved onto the next topic. "As for the Ramshack, well... it was a bit of a nasty business, yes. Last year, a homeless man had been squatting there. However, someone had, uhm... done away with him in the dead of the night - drained him of blood as well, as if to try to emulate a vampire or something. It became a big thing, got even the law enforcement from out of town involved. I don't think they ever caught the culprit."

Sue stopped her movement for a moment, shooting an apologetic glance towards Elise.

"Sorry love, don't mean to give you a scare just after you've moved here. Most likely it was just some mentally troubled person passing through the town, long gone now," the owner said. "Pay it no mind."

Thankfully, this time it was John's somewhat awkward questions that dispelled the tense atmosphere that was forming.

Sue even let out a bit of a sheepish laugh, flushing slightly on her cheeks and scratched the back of her head.

"Ahaha, ahahaha... I dunno about it being unbelievable, but yes - I don't have a partner to share this counter with. I mean, I did go out with Tommy - that's Tommy Horse, the local mechanic - for a while, but that didn't exactly work out... we're still friends, though! I guess Mr. Right just hasn't appeared yet?" Sue answered, smiling in a way that made it feel like John had just performed some sort of blow below the belt for her. "As for other relatives, well, those that are still around are back in the UK. I actually inherited this shop from some relatives of mine after they... were gone, and I've been here ever since - the trusty general store owner and post lady for the town!"

She did a bit of a mock salute with a grin on her face, using it to dispel the awkward atmosphere left by John's earlier questions.

Then, with final flourish of her hands, Sue finished up packing the stuff and handed the bags over to the three youngsters.

"Oh and Remmie? Well, I didn't know her as well as some others did, but, well... let's see..."

She thought for a moment, as if digging through her own memories from long ago, before suddenly...

... A warm smile sprouted onto Sue's face.

"... She was always full of life. Was curious about everything, more confident than anyone I've ever met, and hopeless romantic who fell in love with every guy she saw," Sue said and chuckled at her memories. "Yeah... I suppose that's a good way to describe her."

She nodded.

"An eternal romantic."

[SCENE END /// Move to NEXT Phase!]

Elise Pelltier: Friendship Rank Raised!

John Dove: Friendship Rank Raised!

Lucille Faraday: Friendship Rank Raised!

---

Elaine Winters & Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

While Travis was flabbergasted at the tirade of nonsense that spewed from Alexstrasza's mouth (and while slightly grimacing at the frustration that came out of the other girl), Subaru had been intently listening in on what Elaine was saying. Once the blonde was done, Subaru set Tonkori on the ground and folded her arms, pursing her lips while mulling over what had been revealed. Surprisingly enough, the hunting dog took this chance to walk over to taller girl and gently butted her head against her chin, as if telling her to calm down and cheer up a little.

The puppy was trying to console Elaine.

Now wasn't this morning full of surprises?

"Miss Winters..." Subaru started, heaving a little sigh. "It was not only Mr. Gagnon's words that made the story suspect - but your own words as well. What you spoke of 'Stephanie' and the hospital trying to get her. So please, do not blame him - but do not blame yourself either. A lie quickly built is quickly torn down, after all - and I have a bit of a nose for lies, if I do say so myself."

Subaru allowed a momentary smug smile shine through as she puffed her non-existant chest.

"That being said, I understand why you would try to keep it down low. The truth getting out would put the girl at even greater risk. So while I do not like lies on principle, I can understand some of them. You were simply worried about her and looking out of her, no? How could I fault you for that?" Subaru asked, her smile now becoming warmer. "Still, even if the proverbial cat is momentarily out of the bag, I do not think the situation is hopeless as you might feel. The group that has gathered here... well, I doubt any of us would wish harm to befall on that girl, no?"

While glancing at the rest of the people around the pool, Subaru walked over to Elaine as well and stood on her tip-toes to pat the blonde on the shoulder, encouragingly.

Travis, who had been listening in on half a ear, let out a sigh... and nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, shit, if I didn't care I wouldn't have helped you guys out last night as much as I did. And Noah here can keep his mouth shut, can't you?" the thug-like boy asked from his friend, who gave a vague nod. "It's not like we're being eavesdropped. So let's just keep this down low, and figure out our next move. More heads is better than none, yeah? Though..."

He turned his attention back to Alexstrasza and grimaced.

"Really? Fainting? That's your big plan on getting into the hospital? Just randomly fainting at their porch and waiting for the morons to carry you in? What about the rest of us? We gotta have something more concrete than that," Travis continued and grumbled. "Besides, you sure as hell ain't looking too frail or weak right now! If anything, you're way too hyped up! So hyped up and nosy it's becoming sort of annoying!"

It was now something of a confrontation between the thug-like boy and the pale girl.

"So rather than a 'lady', you're much more like a total pain-in-the-ass!"

This elicited a small "Ooh?" from Noah, who wobbled over to the two and pointed his sleeved hand towards his friend, while looking at Alexstrasza.

"... That's pretty good, you know? Travis has a soft spot for girls who are pain-in-the-ass," Noah blabbed, eliciting a furious yelp from his colleague. "He can't leave them alone or stop fussing over them..."

Red as a tomato, Travis performed a quite magnificent haymaker towards his friend, who ducked underneath it surprisingly nimbly - all the while roaring French swear words at the purple-haired boy.

And at the sidelines, Subaru, who had been watching this all unfold...

... Snorted.

Then quickly tried to hide her amusement by turning her eyes away from the sight.

---

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

“Do you know where these stairs are, by the way? Or if there is anything else down there besides just...well, sewers and that thing? You think it would be worth going down there? Maybe your sister could show up?”

Ru shivered a bit, his expression growing a bit fearful.

"Yeah, uh... sure, I know where the entrances we used are. One's at the beach, in the shadow of that big ol' lighthouse - basically halfway in the ocean, actually. And the one I used to pop up here's in... eh, it was a bit of an odd room. Had all these boxes and strange foamy thingamagics and balls and what-not. It had a door that led straight into that room with the big pool," the boy explained. "That sound familiar at all?"

Pyry nodded, clearly realizing what room the boy was talking about.

"The pool storage room," the lanky athlete replied. "Was it the trap door on the ground there?"

Ru returned the nod.

"Ayup. The corridor continued a little ways from there, but I didn't wanna check it out - got so much other stuff to think about," he explained. "Might mean there's another entrance here somewhere."

Having said that, Ru turned back towards Hisa, and a slightly apologetic look appeared on his face.

"As for going down there... well, shucks. I mean, I'll go if you really want to, but sure as eggs I don't think sis is going to go there another time. It's where we ran into that blasted thing in the first place, right? And uh... I wouldn't mind avoiding the place either. I don't wanna meet the monster again, and it's like a maze down there so..." He seemed to search for the right words for a moment, before settling for the simplest ones. "... It's kinda got me afraid."

Hearing that, Pyry gave the other boy an encouraging smile and patted him on the shoulder, with enough force that it send the whole boy wobbling around like a dashboard ornament.

"Well, if we do go down there, don't worry - I'll be there to protect you. And Hisa too, right?" He asked, flashing a little grin at the scarred girl. "I mean, we agreed to never head anywhere alone, right?"

A sudden, smaller hand patted Hisa on the shoulder after that, with cheerily grinning Gradient stepping forth.

"Muuuu~!"

Pyry chuckled at that immediate response.

"And yeah, you too, I suppose!" The lanky athlete replied, before glancing back at the other boy. "So nothing to worry about, yeah? Whether your sister's there or somewhere else, we'll find her, okay?"

It seemed that this strange sort of friendship that had formed was still taking Ru by surprise... but in a good way. The boy couldn't help the grin that rose to his face as well, as well as the blush that came from all the encouragement around him.

"Mm... yeah!" Ru said, nodding at the group.

[SCENE END /// Move to NEXT Phase!]

Hisa Momoi: Friendship Rank Raised!

[Mormarth]

Elaine Winters & Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Pinefall High Pool
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (THU)
Weather: Overcast

I grumbled deep in my chest, closing my eyes and breathing slowly for a moment, carefully organizing my thoughts and ushering the unhelpful ones into that quiet, dark corner of my mind where I kept the parts not suitable for public consumption.

Then I sighed, busied a hand trying to organize my hair into a semblance of order, and smiled tightly.

"Sorry," I apologized, "It's been a pretty crap morning."

I decided it was for the best that I not let on that I considered it entirely my fault for being oversensitive, easily angered, and generally bad at everything.

Objectively, it wasn't true, of course.

So it was punted into the corner with the rest of the reprobates, where they'd more than likely creep back out and make me do something unwise again, or just quietly wait their chance until the next time I turn into a rampaging hellbeast and kill someone.

I shook my head, reaching out a hand and scritching the tiny dog between its ears, showing my appreciation, however much it was worth, then gingerly reaching out another and hesitantly patting its owner on the head.

"Mmm," I mumbled, "A better way to get on the inside would be to find a semi-legitimate reason, contacting someone with a reason to go to the Hospital for whatever medical purposes they might need. Such as Miss Lockhart and her... Anemia, for one."

I folded my arms, "It's not actually a terrible idea, but it is only one person, and we don't exactly have headsets to try and guide someone around by the nose, unfortunately."

Hmm.

"I did hear about a doctor in town," I said, as an aside, "Got a reference from an associate, but I don't think they're cheap," I grimaced, "The opposite, actually, if even that airhead thought they were expensive."

I mulled these thoughts over, observing Travis attempt to assault his friend.

"But anything's worth doing in this case," I shrugged, chuckling to myself, "Unless of course we screw up and call down a bunch of black-suited weirdos with red lipstick and wires coming out of their neck, wouldn't be the first time."

Ah, memories.