Astronomika - Shooting Down Falling Stars (IC)

[Cheetose]

Hisa Momoi
Location: McLampet Manor - Study
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

“So, you just approached someone, gave them a map, then ran away…” I scratched my cheek, quite unable to decide if I should pity or feel sympathy for the girl, “That’s...a step, at least.”

Two people at night, from the class, at the graveyard...That would have to be either Liana and John, or Souma and Elise. Though...didn’t Liana actually mention something about running into someone? Yeah, could easily be them. In which case, I certainly couldn’t blame her. While definitely not the worst, John was still probably not the most pleasant person to run into as your first interaction with others.

“Understandable, though. You haven’t talked to a lot of people, have you? Dealing with the anxiety must be pretty difficult, and once you become conscious of it it just spirals further. Still, you seem to be able to talk just fine now, so it can’t be that bad.”

I understood her. Or at least I wanted to think so. I was like her once. I was alone. Maybe worse, even. Since I was alone, even though I was surrounded by people. I didn’t even have my own Beatrice or Josie. Alone. Alone…

Even if just for my own sake, I was glad that I could be here to talk to her.

Though...there was one thing I could not understand. She wasn’t really a vampire, was she? It must have been something that Josie or Beatrice talked into her head. To protect her, perhaps. She definitely wasn’t welcome in the town, for her name and heritage, so going out might have been dangerous for her. Still...was convincing her about something so absurd really the correct solution here? We weren’t in the medieval times. She could have just dyed her hair or used a wig, and wore contact lenses, along with a fake name, and she could at least get a small part of a life someone like she would deserve.

Or was she really a vampire? It didn’t make sense. And even then, there likely would have been a better solution.

Not that it was any of my business, in reality. Regardless, I could not help but be curious.

“How do you know that you’re a vampire, anyways? Have you already tried going out during the day?”

Poking and prodding at the case bit by bit hopefully would not hurt for now.

Standing nearby, I watched as the girl prepared the tea, all the while contemplating what she said of the possibilities regarding Aleen. My knowledge of the McLampets was entirely contained to those few individuals who resided - and died - in Road’s End, so there certainly wasn’t much I knew about these ‘branches’ or those who supposedly left the town…

On the other hand, those things already rule some possibilities out...if they are actually correct, that is. For one, Aleen can’t be older than 15 or 16, which would mean she was born around ‘77. Years after most of the McLampet siblings died, which only leaves Elias and Josie, and whatever ‘branch’ families I do not know about. Aleen also seemed to be somewhat familiar with the town, which would be somewhat weird if she really was born someplace else and spent her life there until now. Then, the fact that Josie’s daughter was supposedly called Leena, which is different from both of theirs...but out of the two, perhaps it was more likely for Aleen to use a fake name, even if it wasn’t the most imaginative twist she could come up with.

Why do people struggle coming up with aliases so much? Reminds me of Carrie, with that awfully weak word play…

Still, something certainly did not click here, and the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me…

“You could probably do it yourself,” I said with a small smile, deciding to not comment on the matter for now, “Not sure if it became part of the western culture yet. I’ve only seen it in this one small village, so...but at any rate, since you seem to have the time and money, you could probably just get the tea leaves and the flowers, and experiment with them yourself.”

Well…

Time was likely not something she had too much of.

“I tried it a few times, once you have the basics figured, it just comes down to how much patience you have. And creativity, really.”

---

Hisa Momoi (Sakura)
Location: McLampet Saw Mill
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

As Nikolai started creating his barrier of sorts, the doll’s glance was jumping around the place wildly as its excitement grew quite visibly. It was perhaps obvious that it wasn’t that familiar with magic - or that because of its unpredictable nature, magic always managed to surprise it one way or another.

Indeed, for a being of the science side, there was always something...different about magic. Something that the doll could find intriguing for how it created things out of nowhere with seemingly very little logic, but also something it could loathe, exactly for the same reasons. After all, magic was the lazy man’s tool, those who could only get around by cheating the world around them, even if it was in relatively creative ways at times.

Still, for now, the doll rewarded the fancy spell with enthusiastic but quiet clapping, before its eyes turned back onto the man.

“Oho, we see!” seemingly enlightened, the doll slammed its small fist into her palm, “So you’re part of some sort of magic police, responsible for upholding the law within your society. Prague Orloj to be specific, an educational institution where Anna happened to be a lecturer...we see, we see!”

It was a rather simplified version of what Nikolai said, but at least in the doll’s mind it seemed to make sense, whether or not it was entirely correct.

“Still, hmm, first of all…” the doll said as it started rubbing its chin in turn, “As nice as this is, we would probably advise you against spending too much time here in the forest. While the mill itself might not be dangerous, the forest itself certainly is, no doubts about that.”

The doll nodded knowingly, further emphasizing its words.

“Then, unfortunately, we do not know much about Anna. We know that she is, in this case, probably pretending to be part of the school’s class, and we know where her room is, but whether or not she will return there, we do not know.”

The doll shrugged, then, with the smile gone from its face, continued.

“For you know, this town already seems to be affected by something along the lines of what you mentioned. And it’s already going to cause horrible things this weekend, so your time is really short, I’m afraid. Still, it would be sad if Anna really was responsible for it. We certainly did not take her for some criminal.”

[Verg Avesta]

Liana Skye
Location: Spade Queen Country Club
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Ah, overheard that, did you?"

Ferguson offered a slight smile, while Hawthorn was still rolling his eyes sarcastically about the previous comment regarding him and smiling. It was almost like the man wanted to flash his sharper-than-average set of pearly whites, but refrained from doing so with the FBI agent present.

"Well, our earlier discussion got me thinking. As said, I was doing a bit of investigating today, though looking into the letter B hardly got me any closer to the truth. Only the feeling that there's something a bit off about Ms. Boulders and Mr. Briggs, but it wasn't a direct hit. In case of a the former, the stone I threw bounced off the tree and nearly hit me in the face, while in the case of the latter... a glancing hit that certainly made the bottle fall - yet it did not break," the agent explained, casting his investigation into an even more mysterious light. "Later I phoned about it to my assistant, but she merely scoffed something about it 'being yet another study in scarlet' and dismissed it... honestly, sometimes even I wonder what she's thinking."

Scottie chuckled a bit at that and took a swig of his whiskey before continuing.

"Well, with the local law enforcement running a bit of a check on the two I mentioned, this left me with time to think... and my thoughts returned to things we discussed earlier today. Namely, the nature of the cuckoo, and how that strange riddle might relate to all of this," he continued. "And since all I had to myself at that point were theories, I decided to discuss about it with Mr. Hawthorn over here... and he had a suggestion for me."

As the agent's eyes turned towards the other man, Hawthorn simply shrugged, a sarcastic smile floating back to his lips.

"Well, I simply suggested running a background check on the Pinefall students. If there's something fishy going on, if there's something of a cuckoo hiding about, the batch of new arrivals would be a good place to start. And it's not like they don't have a fair share of skeletons in their closets," Hawthorn spoke, and for a moment his expression grew cold as he gazed towards the corridor where Colt and Cathie had disappeared. "See, for example, I happen to know that one of them is hiding quite the sordid past. One could say that he's directly responsible for killing his parents, and almost the rest of his family as well... it's a miracle that anyone survived."

An awkward sort of silence was left in the wake of those words, spoken with the sort of bitterness that told there was something personal in the man's words. Hawthorn did not elaborate further, however - merely allowed the implications to hang in the air as he took a sip of his whiskey. Ferguson, quietly gazing at him and Liana, gestured with his eyes to the latter that this wasn't the first time he had acted like this during the evening.

That being said, the agent pressed on, switching gears a little as he did.

"Oh, speaking of background checks, my assistant did a little digging... and found out the name of the other person sponsoring that orphanage, my dear," he said. "Suzume Bianchi. A relatively famous medical researcher in her own right. Both her and your mother took an interest to the orphanage and the children in there, though the money actually came from a different source - if through them. That source being, strangely enough, a company called Gottlieb Pharmaceuticals. But, that's not all..."

A strange sort of twinkle appeared in the agent's eyes.

"--- Apparently, one of the former residents of that orphanage back in the late 70's and early 80's, happened to be a girl named Nora Norumbega. I take it that sounds familiar?"

---

Prushka
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Montauk..."

Xandra fell silent and folded her arms, gazing up at the grey skies above. Something in her stance seemed to freeze up a little bit upon hearing the word, and it was almost as if the girl was trying to stop herself from shivering.

"... That's a name you don't hear often, even on the Turnside. Or rather, it's a term people dismiss even over here. It's the Turnside Boogeyman, said to be one of the arms of a... certain hypothetical organization attempting a total control of the world from the shadows. Whether it is the one seeking the utter destruction of the superstitions of the Turnside or not depends on who you ask. That being said, Montauk is as hypothetical as that organization itself. Allegedly, as you said, it's a group that was born out of the Philadelphia Experiment - an attempt to send a warship through space and time - and is being funded by the lost Nazi gold, along with groups such as the ITT and Krupp AG," Xandra explained with a quiet voice. "In all honesty, the existence of such a research laboratory is a bad nightmare... nightmare I don't even want to think about."

The silver-haired girl leaned against the dirty wall of the gas station and let out a quiet sigh, rubbing her temples as if to defend herself against an oncoming migraine.

"Psionic experimentation, time travel, teleportation, metahumans, bioengineering, black technology, mind alteration, falsifying of history... if you can think of a subject of conspiracy theories, you can bet your ass that Montauk's been said to have done it," she groaned. "That's why people don't believe it. Why people don't want to believe it. Because the existence of something like that is just... too big of a can of worms to open. What would we even do if they were real? What could we do? Yet..."

A humourless smile spread to her face.

"... You said you found some evidence about it, right? Which means that either someone is playing a really bad joke on us, or it's real and this town is in far more trouble than anyone would have thought," Xandra finished, letting out a snort. "Not only that but... what? Second meeting? Are you saying that my memory's been altered, or that you've been time traveling as well? Or..."

Her eyes narrowed a bit.

"--- Does this have something to do with the fact I have an odd gap in my memories - a gap between approaching Road's End and arriving to town?"

---

Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Road's End - Back Alley
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Wait... what? Iron? You mean..."

Travis's eyes shot wide open.

"... Blood?"

It did not take more than that for the boy to realize that something was going on. He reached out, grabbed Alexstrasza by the hand, and let her half pull him up from the chair. With that the duo was off, trailed by Stephanie who kept to the back as if sensing that something strange was going on. They rounded around the store and headed down the street, until they found the back alley that cut behind the buildings and became a criss-crossing maze of tight gaps between the old buildings. In this small, separate world from the rest of the Road's End, shadows became long and sharp while the city itself almost felt like it faded into the background. Smells were strong, sounds were muffled, and the old age that was ever-present even in the facade of the town felt even more pronounced here.

While it might have been hard for a normal human to find the right way immediately, for someone like Alexstrasza it posed no problems. She only had to follow the smell she was so familiar with, taking one left and two rights as the maze whistled past them. Travis (and in turn, Stephanie) had to only follow her, which for the boy was easy since she was still practically dragging him along.

And then, they arrived there.

The particular stretch of the back alley that ran behind the End's Store & Post.

The one where the smell originated from.

And there...

... There lay a freshly-killed corpse.

A man, by the looks of it. Long, dark blue hair. A five o'clock shadow. Dead, empty eyes.

But strangest of all...

He was wearing a hospital gown.

A fact that made Stephanie let out a wordless noise of shock, and hug Alexstrasza's leg tightly, as if searching for comfort and safety.

But... that wasn't all.

The fresh corpse wasn't the only one at the scene.

There, standing over him, towering over the dead man... was someone.

Like a blood-speckled, wild-fanged shadow pressed against the page of the world.

An unhinged presence that stood there, his jeans covered in that very same blood that was pooling under the corpse.

And as that shape raised its eyes to meet those of Alexstrasza...

"... Haah?"

Travis responded to its mocking sound by tightening his grip on the blonde girl's hand, as if readying to put himself between the two.

Yet, the one who had spoken out with such a crackling sound didn't care.

Instead, he kept looking at Alexstrasza.



"... The hell you staring at, dumbass?"

The young man asked Alexstrasza, as if questioning her very right to look upon his form.

---

Hisa Momoi
Location: McLampet Manor - Study
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Hot dog! I-if you wouldn't mind, could you perhaps tell me about it in more detail? Perhaps write down some instructions? I would love to try it out on my own, if it's possible."

Allene's simple joy at Hisa's suggestion was frankly rather contagious. For such a thing to cause such genuine joy... it was beginning to dawn just how withdrawn from the rest of the society this girl must have lived. Not only did her actions, mannerisms and speech tell of a certain sense of naivety, she felt rather acutely sheltered from the world at large, which could have explained a lot - especially if she didn't exactly venture out during daytime.

"A-and, well, what comes to being a vampire... isn't it obvious! Everyone knows that Allene McLampet is a scary figure from the town's history, and some say a reclusive vampire at that! Not to mention, w-well..." The girl stopped for a moment, sheepishly avoiding Hisa's gaze as she lifted the ready kettle from the stove. "... sunlight is actually pretty darn painful for me. It hurts my eyes, I always feel a terrible headache when I go outside, and most of all, it almost feels like I'm going to break out in hives when I am outside during the day."

Scratching her cheek a little, the girl looked at Hisa with a gaze that was almost pleading for confirmation.

"What else could that mean but that I am a vampire, r-right?"

As the girl started preparing the jasmine tea properly, all the while filling the tray with the aforementioned jam cookies that brooded over the silver surface, more than a few possibilities rose to Hisa's mind. Sunlight sensitivity wasn't exactly rare in Turnside creatures, it only tended to affect those who were extremely attuned to the night, or were some low-level monsters with hardly any intelligence to speak of. Meanwhile this girl, her naive mind aside, certainly had her full cognitive function. Which could mean...

... Well, there were all-too human conditions that could result in something similar. Photophobia and solar urticaria were the major two that came immediately to the girl's mind.

But then, why the belief that she was a vampire? Just some sort of mental denial of an actual condition? Or perhaps something that Josie McLampet, or someone else, had indeed made her believe?

"There! All ready!" Allene announced, proudly lifting the tray that now contained the ready kettle of Jasmine tea. "Shall we relocate to the study to enjoy this spread? Those fancy armchairs rarely see use, so this is a rare chance!"

Then, after suggestion that, the girl blushed slightly and stared at her feet.

"A-after all, as you said, I'm... rather anxious at times, especially when talking to other people. So now that I have this chance, and for once am feeling alright even in the company of a complete stranger, I'd like to make use of it as much as possible..."

It was almost as she was ashamed, or rather, that she thought she was imposing on Hisa with her hope of just getting to talk to someone.

---

Elaine Winters
Location: The Lighthouse
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Hmm... classical is good. I doubt we'll run into any annoying symbolic resistances or mismatches with belief systems with that. Solid basics are sometimes the best, as in this case. While it might not work in complicated cases, the sun's the sun. Ain't no bugger going to deny that, unless they're a nutjob. And this guy, as loony as he is, was born and raised in the real world. In other words, his common sense is his weakness against that. Good."

Joshua nodded sagely after Elaine's explanation, offering his own opinion on the procedure. Then, after thinking some more, he lifted his hand again, along with his index finger - as if making a point.

"But you're right. As long as he's piggyback-riding your tin man, he'll be a sonuva gun to actually banish. The real trick is to get him to leave. And you're on the right track here. Castigation, when done properly, should do the trick. The problem is, neither of us knows him well enough. We'd need people who have him pegged and know the things he's done proper-like. Those who know of him or used to share a bond with him," the ghost continued. "The closer the better. A mental barrage is sometimes a right proper weapon against a spirit, so you have to know which ammunition to load."

Then, the middle finger was raised, making it two.

"It might also be possible to bait him, like you said, but the thing is... he might be a crazed, vengeful, ornery one, but he's not stupid. If anything, he's fiendishly clever. It would take something that'd put him off his game and scramble his thoughts to trick him into doing something as stupid as leaving his perfect host," Joashua explained. "You think you'd really have a bait good enough to get him to nibble, much less chomp on, hook, line and sinker? That's a risky business, after all, and you'd be opening yourself up for troubles too, Miss..."

And, finally, a third finger was raised.

"... Of course, there's also the method that is unfortunately common. Make the current residence of the spirit too unbearable, and he'll scamper away like a snake seeing steel-toed boots. In other words... give that abode a right good whacking. Beat the devil outta it... literally, in this case," Joshua grimly added. "Though, as you can imagine, it's not going to be fun for your man either, and he'd need some quick help right after. So, out of all of them, I'd say that would be the last ditch option... unless you think he can take it?"

It certainly was a grim option. And looking at it, none of the three presented were going to be easy. Michael had most likely latched onto Kean like a tick, and it would take some real work to get him to leave, at which point it would even be possible to try to banish him. So, in other words, it looked as if the biggest hurdle was going to be the first step... and who knows how someone like Michael would even react when he'd understand what was going on.

It was not as if church members were strangers to banishing spirits and other creatures.

"--- Hm? Oh, that monster? Right right... I'm talking about the thing that built this lighthouse here. Ol' Red-Eye-Blue-Hair herself..." Joshua lastly commented, almost like an addendum. "Miserable girl and a miserable monster. World's better off without her and her name."

He spoke of it like someone recalling a fishing trip that wasn't particularly interesting.

[Bloble]

Prushka
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

The falling rain is like a staccato soundtrack, a background to our strange discussion.

Here, outside the diner, two tiny girls are swapping stories about the supernatural. About as far from hardboiled as could be, isn't it?

"--- Does this have something to do with the fact I have an odd gap in my memories - a gap between approaching Road's End and arriving to town?"

I offer her a shrug in response.

"Maybe? Depends on when you arrived. But what I was talking about was, well..."

I tap the side of my head.

"I had something like a dream, waking up Wednesday morning. A really vivid, detailed dream of a week spent in Road's End, making friends, exploring, and then dying horribly on Sunday morning. The kind of dream that's definitely no dream at all."

Stop tapping. Hold up one finger, followed by two more.

"In that dream I ended up going to Avery's Diner one evening with one of my classmates, Xylia Pheme. Then two motorbikes like that one you've got right there parked right outside the door, and two girls stepped inside. One was you. The other called herself Xeni Techne. Turns out you three knew each other. And wouldn't you know it... we ended up eating pie together. Oh, and you all made me cry. Said some real awful stuff. Gave me some good love advice too. Never found out about that whole 'international agent' business though."

I can't help but want to smile, thinking back. That pie was really good. So was the advice.

"If it hadn't been for those memories and Ahti vouching for you, you wouldn't be hearing all this, Xandra."

Certainly I wouldn't trust a stranger so easily. But I'm still grateful. Even if it was another timeline that may never have happened. Hence why I could be so at ease with her right off the bat, even earlier in the cabin. I'd already decided, then and there in that diner, that those three Xs were cool.

"So, if you came in on Tuesday, maybe late at night... there could've been some sort of phenomenon around that time. Something related to whatever those researchers are in town for."

I stare up at the cloudy sky, as if I could see through the rain. Then look back down at Xandra.

"You asked what we do if that Montauk stuff turns out to be true, all the experiments and crazy scenarios. Isn't it obvious?"

I raise my hand and form a fist.

"Those people might be government researchers, but they're still human. So find out whoever's in charge of the operation here in Road's End and hit 'em where the sun don't shine."

[Frantic Author]

Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Road's End - Back Alley
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Someone who might be a killer?" I replied, smiling lazily as I tilted my head at him, peering at the scene. "Although, you're a bit of a disappointment. Not even a weapon? Did you do it with your bare hands? How dreadfully interesting."

I sighed, twirling a stray strand of hair around my finger. The scent of blood was heavy in my nostrils, and I could feel drool pooling in my mouth. I swallowed it, ignoring the scent, as delicious as it was. Ambrosia, the nectar of the Gods -- it was surely made from the same thing that ran through everyone's veins. There was nothing else I could think of that would be so dreadfully delicious.

His face was curled in a sneer, and his body was clean of blood. I ignored him, staring at the body. Blood on the mouth, and in the stomach... Could it have been a spell? Was the person before me actually... Oh dear.

"Travis," I said with a bright smile, "You should probably stand behind me."

This is a world of magic and countless mysteries. The mysteries that we see before us are only those that we are allowed to see, the ones that our eyes are allowed to witness and achieve. With a thousand threads weaving a thousand tangled lies, its inevitable that they're going to collapse at some point.

Dearest Potemkin, I whispered in my mind, with shimmering eyes that stared at someone who might be my enemy, Is this not a time where violence is the answer that our enemies are seeking?

"Should I not ask you the same?" I said to the man, twisting my hand in a circle as I lit the mana through my body, feeling that rush of electricity as I converted blood into magic, "What exactly are you staring it?"

I am a monster among humans, even if I wish to be like them. But that wish, of humanity, is in and of itself proof of humanity. I will not fall. I, Alexstrasza Lockhart, am not the type of person to give up so easily. I promised Potemkin that I would set her free. I promised myself that I wouldn't succumb. So I won't.

I won't let them die.

I won't let them die.

I won't let them die.

If Travis dies, if Stephanie dies, isn't that just proof that it was all for nothing? That everything I did was just a joke, and that the wonders of violence are always right? That reaching out your hand, that trying to connect to others, is just a waste of time? Is that really something I want to accept, after all of this?

"Haah..." I let out a sigh, cracking my neck. "This is always so much simpler with the Church's hounds..."

Biting at my heels. Carving out my neck. The church is the understandable one, even if they are unkind. Their hatred is sensible, even justified. My actions should not allow me to live. My actions deserve death, in the end. But... So what? Who cares? I don't want to die. I want to live. Don't give me any of that rot about how it's deserved, or part of some grand plan for all of existence. I want to speak to Cesarina again, in this reality where she knows more of who I am then she did before. I want to speak to John, that person who seems so understanding and yet so far from me it's hard to reach. In a world with ten thousand possibilities, ten thousand answers, and ten thousand questions, I can't bear to let them go just yet.

I have to keep searching for them. Even if it hurts. Even if I die. Even if it's not possible to find a solution. There's no way I can just give up simply because I see someone before me who could kill me. So what? Who cares? I've died before. I'll die again, it seems. But I won't let my actions harm those around me.

Scorched Earth. Silent Black. Impaler. It's three names, right? So isn't it a bit embarrassing, if I just fall to the ground crying every time I run into something that's dangerous?

"Name yourself," I said to him. "Let's trade, shall we? I am Alexstrasza Lockhart. And you are?"

[Mormarth]

Elaine Winters
Location: The Lighthouse
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

I rested my chin on my folded arms as I considered my options, that step 1, get the bastard loose is a bitch to try and handle.

I frowned.

The most reliable method wasn't something I was especially fond of, it relied on bringing people into a situation where I wouldn't know how they would react, or how they would behave, or if they would listen to me at all.

Hell, that person has a reason to not trust me at all, and I don't blame her.

Option 2 appealed to me, but it wasn't reliable, he had himself a nice hidey-hole that he wouldn't be too keen (ahaha I'm so funny), to hop out of and jump into whatever he felt like doing.

I didn't have much in the way of bait to hook this monster either.

Then, option 3.

To be honest, it's what I was used to. Whack him around the head until he pops out on his own.

To be totally honest, 1 might end up going that route anyway, depending on how he behaves.

I hunched up my shoulders, grimacing.

And even if he busts loose, it was never a bad thing to have back-up in the wings.

But I didn't want to leave him here alone...

And I didn't want to hurt him either...

And for all that my damnedable nature yelled for me to throw myself into the fire, how would that solve anything?

I sighed, sinking my head down.

Damnation.

"Damn it all," I groaned, "I just fucking got here and now I'm going to have to traipse back off through the rain and drag someone who doesn't like me back out here, I'd love it to death if I could just shake her down for information then go off back here myself, lord knows how the bastard'll freak out when the bitch is right in front of him."

Well, on the bright side, at least she wasn't our Cuckoo.

Probably.

Maybe.

"I just don't want to run off and I get back here and the bastard's run off somewhere, is all," I say, not quite telling the whole truth.

Because the fact of the matter was, no matter how much I didn't care for admitting it, is that I didn't like putting my faith in other people.

They disappointed you.

They let you down.

They betrayed you.

It had to be me, someone else might get it wrong.

What a self-centered style of thinking.

Couldn't be literally anyone else, could it?

Pfah.

Blasted Inquisitors'll be the death of me.

Hopefully not literally.

"God, this is going to be awkward," I moaned.

That's really what the problem was, wasn't it?

It's not that I doubted she'd want to help, at the very basis, it was in her best interest.

It's that I'd have to confront the elephant in the room. A fact we both know, and I have studiously avoided dealing with.

How exactly do you go about apologizing for something like that?

'Hey, sorry for killing your girl, can you help me out with your psycho ghost-stalker, thanks'

Geez.

Always with the drama, this place.

"Well, guess we'll go with Option 1 for now, Option 3's always there as a fall-back," I said, faux-brightly, "All else fails, we kick the shit out of quite possibly my closest friend in the world and work out the problems later."

I pumped the air with a fist weakly.

"Hell yeah."

I picked at the edges of my damp jeans glumly.

"Well, while I'm dryin' out a little, why don't ya regale me with your old stories, geezer. Blue-Hair Red-Eye is, ah, worryingly familiar."

At the very least, it'll be something to think over to stop brooding over Lucille Faraday.

[Airen]

Liana Skye
Location: Spade Queen Country Club
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"See, for example, I happen to know that one of them is hiding quite the sordid past. One could say that he's directly responsible for killing his parents, and almost the rest of his family as well... it's a miracle that anyone survived."

"...Is that right?"

---It's not something that fits her image of the boy downstairs at all, not in the least bit, but it's not like she can call it impossible either... It's the sort of ambiguous statement that can only mean so much without further context, context that the man in question clearly didn't want to give right now (at least not in front of the agent) but also the sort that has her eyes narrow slightly in troubled thought...

"Doesn't seem like him..."

A heavy, almost awkward pause, then...

She moves her chair to the side.

Closer to him.

She doesn't know the details, but she can recognize bitterness for what it is, so...

The movement is one of solidarity.

"But I'll listen if you ever want to vent about something, okay?"

A sincere promise.

Even if he was being a punk about his teeth earlier, not like that alone was enough to tell someone was a vampire.

Bah.

"But well, putting that aside... The cuckoo thing... I suppose, if we take the riddle seriously, that it would kind of have to be one of the students... The school sort of fits as a nest, and I don't think there are too many other young people in town..."

And admits to at least that much with a simple shrug of her shoulders, posture straightening out a bit as she leans forward again, elbows resting just off the edge of the table as her expression darkens, the thoughtful frown becoming a bit more bitter.

"Not that I like the idea of suspecting anyone... But hey, if you want to look into my background, go ahead and go for it Scottie. You've got my permission."

Not like there's much to see.

Well, there might be one... Oddity, but...

It's one he would have already seen at this point.

"But your weird method is throwing stones at bottles...?"

She blinks.

"Kind of inspired I suppose... If it breaks is that supposed to mean they're guilty?"

An amused grin emerges, as she attempts to return to her more positive self; there is still much to listen to here, of the orphanage her mother had apparently taken to funding being connected to a certain pharmaceutical company that kept popping up in her investigations, and the newfound, strange connection that had just popped into existence between Vivienne and herself, but...

What actually surprised her the most, enough that she simply stares for a bit after hearing it, is well...

"--- Apparently, one of the former residents of that orphanage back in the late 70's and early 80's, happened to be a girl named Nora Norumbega. I take it that sounds familiar?"

"...Hah... Yeah, very familiar."

She chuckles softly, gaze moving away from the agent and up towards the ceiling, not to look for anything in particular, but simply out of a subdued sense of amusement...

"World works in strange ways sometimes... Maybe luck was trying to give me a helping hand earlier this week..."

She lowers her head with another laugh, then:

"Gonna have to go see her in the morning then, thankfully I got her room number that day..."

Always get those when you can, makes follow up interviews easier.

"But Gottlieb Pharmaceuticals...? Either of you two know anything more about that? The name keeps coming up when I look around town, which means they've almost certainly got their claws in the place, probably the hospital if I had to make a guess, but..."

A thoughtful stance, one hand rising to rest under her chin for a moment, before-

"Mom was apparently working on something to break through delusions, so since it seems like she was working with them... Anti-psychotics perhaps?"

-back to playing mystery games with the sparkling eyed agent.

Although thinking about it...

Anti-psychotics...

That does sound... Like something she might look into...

[Cheetose]

Ougi Outis
Location: McLampet Manor - Study
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

“Mm, sure.” I nodded as we walked back into the study, and took a seat in the so-called ‘fancy armchairs’ that she seemed to be proud of. Then, while taking a few sips of the hot tea, I contemplated the things she mentioned.

“Anyways, first of all,” I spoke up finally with carefully measured words as I rested my eyes on the other girl, “I would like to assume that you’re not the Allene who was terrorizing the town. Or, you’re just doing well hiding it, and in which case my ‘worst case scenario’ suspicion is true. But as I said, I would like to think that it is not the case. In which case, regardless of what she was, you’re nothing like her, and it’s not the kind of heritage you need to carry on your back.”

No matter in what way Allene abused symbolism and family ties, it was in no way absolute.

“Also, what you described could be a perfectly normal, if somewhat rare condition. Though, based on what you said, you rarely ever go outside during the day...which could mean that, even without any sort of medical condition, your body just became alienated from the sun. And since you were told, and associate going outside while the sun is out being bad, it could be that your mind itself developed sort of a reaction to prevent you from doing so. Lots of things are decided in your head, and you’d be surprised by how easy it is for your brain to convince your body that it is sick. This would of course be the more fortunate case, because then it would just come down to your willpower and some time to get accustomed to the outside.”

I took another long sip of the tea as I considered the other options, but at the same time, I could not help but realize…

Did I literally just spend the whole day drinking tea? In the morning, instead of classes, with Sakura, and now with her…

Really, what am I even doing, this close to sunday, and I’m just drinking tea with random people…

“Ehm,” I casted the bothersome thoughts away with a small sough, “Anyways, as I said, some of these cases are actually defined as official medical conditions. For example, solar urticaria causes very intense reactions when exposed to sunlight or UV radiation in the form of hives, which can subsequently lead to headaches and other issues, as your body becomes dehydrated. There’s also polymorphic light eruption, which has similar causes and similar symptoms, though in this case, the rashes would persist for days.”

“As for your eyes, it could be photophobia, or light sensitivity, which basically has the effect you described...but it is more of a symptom hinting at a different underlying cause, rather than an illness itself. It’s hard to tell without getting a better look at your body, at any rate.”

Certainly, theorizing about medical conditions, but this was similar to how I liked to fit my conveniently crafted theories to other mysteries in general. It might have seemed like progress, but in the end, getting to the solution was much more complicated than that.

“I suppose you use curtains to block out the sun during the day then? But you are still fine with artificial light?”

Musing over the case, a sudden idea occurred to me.

Sure, I knew very little about vampires, or how to identify them. I couldn’t really think of any characteristics, or fail proof methods, because far as I knew, they could differ from vampire to vampire, and the more powerful one was, the less likely it was for them to be affected by the things engraved into common knowledge, like garlic and crosses…

But, there was at least one thing, and if she was being cooperative, it might shed some light to the case.

“On a different note, if you really do happen to be a vampire…”

After I put my cup down on the table, I raised a finger to my mouth, and bit down on it hard enough that it started bleeding.

“Then how does this make you feel?” I said, as I held out the finger towards the girl, being careful enough that the blood would drip on my hand instead of the furniture.

[Verg Avesta]

Colt Davin
Location: Spade Queen - Cocktail Lounge
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

Lenore chuckled gently as she sat back down, grasping her cognac glass once more as she took a sip.

"Well, 'tis but a paltry tale, yet... ah yes, I do believe the infant you called me 'Lacu' at first. Perhaps t'was the only part that made sense to your mind back then, based on mine last name. Still..." A momentary, almost childish frown passed by the woman's face. "'Tis a word that sounds far too much like a certain word in that infernal northern babble - word for liquorice, in fact. Hence I... persuaded the young you to change it. And here we are. I believe there is not more to that mystery than that."

It was another story of the past spoken with the tender feelings of someone who had watched the boy grow up, a glimmer of almost parental feelings coloring the aristocratic and old-fashioned tone of the creature. When viewed out of context, when listened from afar, it certainly would have made for a strange, strange scene... but for the two present, it only felt natural. Even if the memories were hazy and not all there for Colt, the emotions within them were all but real.

Of course, that left one of three in the dark... and she was starting to be more confused than ever.

"W-wait, what? Archmage? Romania? D-Draculea?" Cathie asked, utter confusion and dumbfounded shock clear on her face. "That's... Colt, w-what the heck is this? What is this woman even saying? I know we've had a whole lotta weirdness going on today, but... this is starting to sound too rich, even for me!"

Lenore simply smiled at the redhead, perhaps a bit sadly, and locked her eyes with those of Cathie. There was a dim flash of light within their vermillion depths, and for just a split-second, Colt could feel and odd sensation pass by him, heading from his ward to the girl by his side.

"Ah... t'was a situation I slightly feared. But dread not, Auburn. When you wake up, it shall feel as if t'were but a nonsensical dream. What more, I shall arrange a pleasant surprise for you when you rouse from your slumber," the woman spoke softly. "But perhaps 'tis for the best. Now, lay down your head and dream a little dream - the world shall be what you believe once morning comes."

Cathie blinked in surprise, in growing confusion, and for a moment, she let out a question noise. However, at that very second, her eyelids seemed to grow incredibly heavy and she wobbled where she sat. Then, as if guided by a gentle hand, the girl started to lean against the counter further and further, as if she were a drunkard who had finally been overtaken by sleep. One last "W-what's going... on..." managed to pass by her lips before she cozied up against the table surface, and soft snoring started to emanate from her lips.

Lenore, seeing that the girl was asleep, nodded quietly.

"'Tis for the better, moppet. I believe she may still be quite new to the things you and I are about to discuss. Still..." A grin passed by her face, showing the sharp fangs once more. "... She is a fine young woman. Strong-willed and unafraid where it counts. I think you should be proud to call her a friend, for I believe there might not be many like her out there. In other words, 'tis a word of advice, bantling: let her not out of your sight."

With that, she turned her attention back to the rows upon rows of spirits on the wall, and brought the glass of gocnac to her lips. After enjoying a full of sip of it, the woman with crimson eyes spoke once more.

"Now then, these cards you wish to reveal... speak them to me. Ask what you wish. Though be forewarned... I may not be able to answer them all. T'was the promise between your sibling and me that bounds me to this day, and why I sealed your memories in the first place. More than that, mine aspect is diminished in this closed world," Lenore spoke. "You and the others like you live in a world akin to a cat box, child. 'Tis a mystery what is contained within, and the reality is up in the air. In other words, 'tis an intangible thing, the truth that lies within this town."

She seemed to grow serious as she watched the boy once more.

"But ask your questions anyhow."

---

John Dove?
Location: Avery’s Dinner?
Phase: Evening Phase?
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)?
Weather: Rain?

"So, to you what happens in one loop is the same as what happens in another? It is not the matter of our potential for evil and good, but the chance things that we actually witness? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... mood, I suppose."

It's not a wrong way to view this world of ours, the infinite branching paths, the infinite alternate possibilities, the infinite what-ifs. But the perspective is just too different. I wonder... has he looped many times? Or is this his first? How many does it take until there's a perspective shift, like me? When you see all the possible permutations of a single time-frame, there's no longer a "chance". Everything is simply "inevitability". In an infinite amount of time, everything that comes to pass will come to pass again - everything has existed and will exist again.

What was it again?

"Eternal return..."

The words slip from my lips before I can stop them, but I just brush them aside by shaking my head.

In all my returns, demons have not been exactly whispering into my ears.

"Did you know? I have been lowkey quite lenient in my existence here. Or rather, I tried very long not to kill. Aside from the madness that overtakes most of you by the end of the week, everything has been more or less gucci. Over four thousand loops, and I kept my hands clean. And, bee-tee-dubs, it was not by technicality either. I saw simply no reason to," I speak, though I don't even know why - it's not like a dead fish like John Dove would understand. "But... something happened. Something that made me rather salty. In one of the loops, I had made a very good friend... and due to the madness that spreads among you, they were killed. It was right at the very end of the loop. Almost at the edge. I had a... lowkey snap reaction to it."

There's vague memories of screaming so loud that the trees shake, howling out my misery since one of the things I loved was taken from me for no reason at all, even though the end was coming anyway.

"Come next loop, I killed them. I simply walked up to them and reduced them to ashes then and there. I did not care that they had not done so yet, I knew that at the back of their mind, they had the potential - so I decided to be childish AF and take out my rage on them," I continue. "Of course, such highkey actions hardly go unnoticed. Some came after me. There were battles. There were deaths. Some tried to defend me. Deaths there as well. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha..."

It takes a lot of willpower not to let my frustration leak from within my physical form as energy.

"... I wanted revenge again come next loop. And that merely spawned more. Again and again. I hurt someone who hurt me, and in retaliation, others took revenge and hurt me - and thus the cycle continued. Towards the end, it did not lowkey even matter. It was simply... a goal. Some goal. Any goal. A thing to do in a world where there was literally nothing else to do. It gets surprisingly easy, actually. When the people around you are reduced to nothing but stock-responses that you already know, it de-humanizes them hella fast. You start to think of them as a bunch of NPCs..."

I continue to talk, but what falls from my mouth taste like excuses.

... Why am I even talking about this? With John Dove, of all people?

If I were to talk, I should talk with someone who could blame me. Someone I've hurt properly and who can remember it. Someone who will be furious with me, who hates me, who wants to kill me. Someone who wants revenge on what I've done.

... They can understand what it feels like to seek vengeance because of someone's mindless violence.

------- Whenever I'm in the class, it feels like I'm sitting on a mountain of corpses, and they're all my classmates.

I've been friends with them all.

I think I've loved them all.

I have hated them all.

But even at the end, it's still not true, because...





Ţ̡͖̗͖̗̰͍͈͈̤̬̝͆̓̈̋̈́̄̌͜h̷̡̢̖̥̖̟̱̙̘ͧ͋̽̅ͤͬ̐́̇͗̀̓͒́͡eͦ ̵̷̨̯̳̱̜̰̟̀̔̏͐͌̋ͥ͆ͯ̓ͤ̒͡ͅỷ̴̧̳͍͖͉̤̉͂͗̑̀̑ͣ͛'̵̛̎̈́́̉ͯ͂͝ ͔͇̻͕͕͎͜͜rͭ̈́̾̌̀͌̏ͭ͜҉̙͕͕̠ẽ͎̭̦̝͉̲͇͇̎ͨ̆͋ͨͦ͂̃̂̓̂̀ ̴̵͚̗̩͖͍͚̼̉͆ͧͦ̕͢j̷̢͍̪̹̻̤͔̿̆̂͗ͬ̾̊ͥ̆̅͒̓͐͐̿̕͡͡u̓̏̍́ͦ̎̌ ͈͖̤̝̯͎͓̦̟̮̲͕͍͍̗̇̍̅ͨͫ͛ͦͨ͋͛͡ș̵̷̩͖̝̳͈͍̙̱̝̆ͨ̊̓͐́̇ͫ̑͠͠ ̪͕̭̠̤t̴͕̥̺͓̮̳͉͖͈̬ͨ̍̉͗̍̂͂̀̄ͮ̐̆̿̀̕͜ ̶̼̪̞̜̺̲̪̙̂͆ͦ́̎ͮ̾̎̒̆̚̕͜͝m̓̈͑ͯ̾̀ͮͪ̄ͦ͐ͩ̕͝҉̫͕̤̖̩͍͍̻̘͓͍ ̖̠̬̤y̨̭̲̱̬̬̠̝̝͓̜͛ͯ͛̔̓́̿̽̚͜ ̧̥̖͈̬̠̦͔̹͇̝͎̤͖̤͕̬͖̄́̏̾̈́͌͑ͭ͒̍́̀͜͝͞ͅo͆͂̏̓ͭ͋̏̔ͣͩͯ̈́̇̃ͭ ̧̢̲̖̟͖̘̞̼̳͙͈̭̜͍̭̭̜̹̚͞͠ͅt̶ͯ̊̋̋̋̌̈͒̃҉̧̞̭͙͓̲̩͔͟ͅȟ͋̿̀ ͌̊̆͑̉͛͂͒̒̈́̌ͣ̍͠͏̝̠̺̜̳̼͍̩̜̙̪͓̗͔̲̀͘ĕ̵̡͚̣̟̗̙̬͇̆ͩͪͥ̽̈̏ ͖̩̟̰̤ŗ͇̰̦̼͉̦̫̘͕̣̓͊̀ͬ͂̃̓ͨ̀ͦ͠͠͞ ̞̬̲̙̥̭͇͙̭̗̭̗̞̥͚̣͍͍̋͗̑͗̓̍͜͡f̶̞̮͕͈̯͒ͯ̑̃̄͝ŗ̨̧̛̒͐̋ͩͨ̀ ̱͎̜̯̭̜̜̣͎̳̫̝̺̭̰̞̤i̵̡̫̫̼̜̻̅̈́ͣ̅ͫ̿ͫ̒̓̕͞e͌ͤ͊́͂̐͌ͯͬ̒̃̒́ ̷̵̵̞̱̙̞̼̼̙͎̮̳̄͋̊̃ͭ͂͢͢n̨̬̻̥͇͈͐̓͒͛̒ͣ͡͝d̍͌ͯ̓̆̎̀͑̌̔̍́͢ ̢̠̹̖͇͟s̻̺͉̯̱̫͚̥̻͔̮̜͑ͣ͐̏̏̇̿̋͊̂̐ͪ̐͘͟.͕͖̼͈̜͇̽̈̂̔̃̈͜͞͝ ͔̩




"In any case..."

I snap myself back to reality from my encroaching madness. This is not the time to play nice with my insanity.

He asked me a question.

I should probably answer it.

"... I told you. Your loops is different from mine. You are the space-time anomaly that causes me to be here. You're the one who drew the

Eidos

Form

to your material world, and now you expect it to bail you out? No matter how many would simp for me, that is not likely to happen - even if I knew how to," I answer coldly. "... If I'm frank, I gave up going back a long time ago. And breaking away from the loops is not exactly on the cards, either. FYI, I have seen some things, and know many things - the eternity made me bored anyway - but even if I told you them, it is not as if would help in any way. This loop is eternal. Unbreakable. It is a prison for me and you."

The black and white world where nothing changes.

A world where I can scream as loud as I can, and nobody notices.

Nothing is new. Nothing is different. It all just tumbles back to zero.

Even if some of them remember now... is that really going to make a difference?

---------------------------- Maybe I should just tell them to give up, like I did.

At least I could save them from the hell where their mind eventually stops working.

"... Ha. Not like that information would do you any good, anyway. You cannot even stop yourselves from hella killing each other."

---

Ougi Outis
Location: McLampet Manor - Study
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"O-oh my gosh!"

Immediately upon seeing that dripping blood, Allene jumped out of her armchair while nearly sending her cup of tea flying. She hastily put it down on the table and hurried over to the massive desk of the study, pulling open one of the drawers. What she emerged with was a box of bandaids that looked like it hadn't been used in quite a while. Even so, the girl tore it open and pulled out a whole bunch of them. Then she grabbed some napkins and practically ran back to Hisa, shoving all of these things onto her lap.

"Oh gosh, oh gosh, are you alright? W-why would you do that! That must have hurt right! H-here, these should stop to the b-b-blood but... oh no, I forgot! We need to disinfect it first! I should have a first aid kit here somewhere," the blue-haired girl stammered, her eyes scanning the room in a big hurry. "O-oh, there! Just a second, don't worry - it won't hurt for long!"

With that she took off again, scampering over to one of the cupboards where a small grey box was sitting with a green cross on the front - the aforementioned first aid kit. Still, while Allene busied herself with trying to get it out, this allowed Hisa to take a look at the room proper... and looking around certainly confirmed some of her theories. While the curtains weren't drawn now that it was night, they were heavy and old ones - the type that would most certainly block all sunlight streaming in, leaving the room completely empty. And as she peeked through the half-open door of the bedroom, there the curtains had actually been ductaped shut so that they wouldn't be able to open.

This, of course, posed the high possibility that this girl actually slept during the days, and only went out during nights.

While it might have been because of an existing condition, such a lifestyle would certainly not make her healthier, especially if she just spent her days inside drinking tea and eating biscuits.

Looking at her, despite that baggy hoodie, she did seem rather thin and extremely pale...

"H-here! Oh gosh, I'm sorry, Josie is much better at using this than I am, but I'll try my best!" Allene suddenly said, arriving next to Hisa and spreading the contents of the ifrst aid kit on the carpeted floor. "Uhh, let's see... disinfectant, disinfectant... d-do we need gauze, there's so lot of it... ohh, what is even in half of these bags...?"

Well, the answer to that question regarding the blood seemed clear. The only thing it had caused was to send her into panic.

... Panic to the point that she actually had some tears in her eyes now, face wracked with worry over the "wound" Hisa had suffered.

[Verg Avesta]

Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Road's End - Back Alley
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Trade? Hah... look at the little bitch, running her mouth."

The man dressed in crimson jacket let out a crude laughter and kicked the corpse before him, causing the man to roll over. This revealed the gaping wounds on his stomach area, clearly visible through the ripped-apart hospital gown. At the same time, it also revealed how the edges of the fabric had been almost... blackened? Something strange was going on here, something that wasn't quite fit for the normal world. Just one look at this scene seemed to reveal this.

Even Travis understood. When Stephanie let out a wordless scream of horror as the body flopped over, the boy grabbed her and lifted her up in her arms, taking few careful steps back while protecting the girl. At the same time, his eyes snapped to his blonde friend.

"Zaza... don't do anything stupid, alright?" He said with a low growl. "Even from where I'm standing, this guy looks like a massive amount of trouble..."

His words were cut by a high-pitched, ragged, ear-piercing laughter from the stranger.

"HAH! You got that right, retard! You morons don't even have the slightest idea how much trouble you're in right now," he spoke arrogantly, stepping over the corpse and walking confidently closer to Alexstrasza. "Get in the way of the clean-up like this, and you're bound to be trashed yourselves! Ha, gaha, gahahahahaha~!"

Eventually, the taller man came to a stop right in front of the blonde girl. He peered down at her with that bestial grin of malice still plastered on his face, eyes shining like they were looking own on an insect.

"But hey, I'm not totally heartless~! Sure, sure, I can forgive you for waltzing where you're not supposed to be," the man continued in that vulgar, mocking tone. "All I want is a little show of respect, ya know? Say..."

The grin turned into a sneer of ridicule.

"... If this bit here gets down on all fours and begs for mercy, yeah? Yeah, that sounds like a nice little apology, doesn't it?"

Those eyes... they were shining with the kind of unbridled cruelty that was rare even on Turnside.

"Come on, Lil' Bitch... apologize. Beg Mr. Lane Griffith for some mercy, nice and meek as you should, and he'll show it to you~"

It was like he was already looking to enjoy humiliating the girl before him.

New Person Met!

---

Prushka
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station - Bar
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Xeni... and Xylia..."

Xandra stopped at the door of the bar, staring at Prushka with a strange sensation of wonder in her eyes. The thoughtful quiet that followed was once again accompanied by the silent marching drum of the rain. Wind picked up, and for a moment, it made both of the girls shiver ever so slightly... but then the silver-haired one broke through her confusion with a bit of a smile, and that wind seemed to be gone.

"... You know, I was ready to call you cute-but-crazy, not something I'd wanna stick my fingers into. But if you say that you met those two as well, then... hah. Suddenly that weird tale of yours has surprising amount of credence to it," she spoke, shrugging slightly. "I mean, I arrived to the town with Xeni since she had something she wanted to take care of herself... and old debt, she said. And we knew that Xylia was hanging around in that school of yours. But really, no outsider should that easily point a line from one of us to the other two."

The smile turned into a flash of grin.

"--- Unless she saw us goofing off with her own eyes, that is."

With that, the silver-haired girl pushed the door open, and the two of them piled inside the bar. Inside it was far more cozy and warm, to the point that it naturally made one's cheeks red due to the temperature difference. Not only that, but the quiet, dim atmosphere of the place and the comfortable silence that reigned were very welcome after the cold mysteries that had been opened up outside. One passing glance told the duo that there were practically no locals sitting in at the moment, or nursing their drinks.

A place just perfect for a quiet conversation between those who wanted to keep to themselves.

"Still, it's one hell of a plan. I'm not sure I'd want to go poking around in the unmentionables of an organization like that, but if they're up to something that's causing weirdness like you're describing, then we have to get to the bottom of it," Xandra continued. "Of course, we gotta play it smart. Ain't no good if we just go running around like headless cocks, chasing chickens that we can't even see. First of all, I think that... that..."

Xandra's words died to her lips.

And for a good reason.

After all, at that moment, her eyes, along with Prushka's, fell on the figure sitting at the counter - that is, Ahti - who was doing something incomprehensible.

That being...

... Arm-wrestling the massive mountain of muscle that appeared to be the bartender.

"..... What?" Xandra muttered, blinking owlishly.

---

Elaine Winters
Location: The Lighthouse
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Well, while I'm dryin' out a little, why don't ya regale me with your old stories, geezer. Blue-Hair Red-Eye is, ah, worryingly familiar."

Joshua snorted as the two of them moved bit further back inside to avoid getting wet again, and to give Elaine a moment to dry off. Not that being in the cold and damp lighthouse and its interior was making her any warmer, but it was better than standing outside in the rain. The ghost walked over to one of the circular walls and leaned against it, while giving the girl what space she needed in case she wanted to sit down on one of the old, broken down furniture.

Too bad the busted stove over in the shadows was no longer working.

"What's there to tell? The girl was a monster, through and through. Right ol' beast of some sort, came from dunno where. Maybe she was always inside the lighthouse or something. Could be, considering that they built this stuff from that weird white stone that came out of Mount St. Helens when she went and erupted in the 1800's," Joshua explained. "Anyways, who the hell even knows? Or cares? The fact of the matter is, she had this whole town under her thumb, even got them to call it after her. 'Lady's View' my ass... this is a pitiful view they've got here, and she wasn't no lady - not by a long shot."

The ghost with the mismatched eyes snorted again and grumbled some choice words under his breath that didn't sound like they should be repeated in polite company.

"As I said, she was a right monster. Even called herself 'She Who Watches' and always found those faces drawn in caves and stones plenty funny. Sure, I guess she was fun in that way - had a weird sense of humour and could laugh about the strangest things. But she had no human morals, not one bit, and could never understand human heart," he continued. "Believe me, I checked once or twice. Anything like ideals, morals or common sense was completely foreign to her as a concept. It was weird as all get-out. Frickin' lunatic she was..."

While there was clear animosity in the tone that Joshua spoke with, for some reason, Elaine could hear another emotion shine through there. An emotion that almost sounded like... annoyed fondness. As if the ghost tried and failed to completely hate the being he talked about.

"Well, long story short, I got wrapped up in the whole thing and was invited to the Chevron Lodge. Those freaks put that knife into my hands and told me to go get 'em... and I did," he concluded abruptly. "Guess even a monster like her wasn't immune to the authority of the Coyote, or his fang. Still, of course, the bastard went and killed me too. Prick in life, prick in death."

With one last harrumph, the ghost ended his story.

---

Liana Skye
Location: Spade Queen Country Club
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"But Gottlieb Pharmaceuticals...? Either of you two know anything more about that? The name keeps coming up when I look around town, which means they've almost certainly got their claws in the place, probably the hospital if I had to make a guess, but... Mom was apparently working on something to break through delusions, so since it seems like she was working with them... Anti-psychotics perhaps?"

Ferguson shook his head.

"Unfortunately not, my dear. I did ask my assistant to look into it, but that might take a while. Your best bet would be to find someone with more medical knowledge, someone who keeps in touch with the going-ons of that side of the world," he replied. "Still, if they're working on anti-psychotics, it could be possible that they are involved with the Oceandrop Project. They have employed the best minds of the country and beyond, all brought under the same roof with Mr. Oceandrop's considerable wealth. It wouldn't be a stretch to say someone like that would be working with him..."

The agent paused for a moment, took a sip of his whiskey and fished out another cookie for himself, before shooting somewhat sheepish and somewhat apologetic look at the girl.

"... After all, and I mean no offense my dear, but the students gathered at that place are known to have mental problems of all sorts."

Hawthorn, upon hearing this, snorted.

"Yeah, you could say that. After all, this otherwise practically maidenly girl takes time to hang out with a no-good punk like me," he commented, leveling a teasing grin at the girl. "What else could you call that but a problem with her brain? See, from where I'm standing, she must have something seriously wrong with her... but I figure I'll just take advantage of it how long I can."

Ferguson, his eyebrows reaching for his hairline, looked at the two of them. First at Liana, then at Hawthorn, and then back at Liana again. Finally, a sort of understanding smile spread to his face and he nodded sagely, hiding behind his cookie and whiskey.

"Ahh, I see... I believe i understand the gist of it now," he said, sounding like he was holding back laughter.

Hawthorn cackled a bit as well, but then, after chomping through yet another chocolate-chip treat, grew a bit more serious.

"Anyways, while I've heard about Gottlieb here and there, I have no idea who they are. My guess is that they're the type of company to keep to themselves, so yeah..." he said, and downed the last of his whiskey with one shot, slamming the glass on the table. "... Finding a medical expert might be the best bet here."

[Cheetose]

Ougi Outis
Location: McLampet Manor - Study
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

“H-hey, that’s okay,” I said, quite baffled by the other girl’s reaction, “I just barely bit it, it doesn’t even hurt now. See?”

I tapped the injured finger with another, quickly healing the punctured skin, then, after licking the blood off, I wiggled the now healthy finger towards the girl.

“It’s all good now, no need to worry.”

It certainly was not the reaction I expected. Still, I think that it at least confirmed my theory…

“Anyways, I suppose you did not feel like you wanted to drink my blood, did you? All vampires need blood...so if you did not feel any sort of temptation, then I think that might be good enough evidence that you’re not one.”

A small smile spread on my face as I crouched down next to her, and carefully reached out to wipe the tears that flowed down her cheek;

“Which means that your condition might be easier to heal than you would think. If that is what you’d like, of course. But with how dark it is getting already, it’s perhaps a bit too late to try anything.”

I would have needed a better look first anyways, and to know if she was familiar with the supernatural in the first place…

“Have you never had any doctor do a check-up on you? It would only make sense, really…” I continued, my head tilted slightly, “Anyways, should we get back to drinking tea? There’s a lot we can talk about instead of crouching over a first aid kit.”

[Frantic Author]

Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Road's End - Back Alley
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Zaza... don't do anything stupid, alright?" He said with a low growl. "Even from where I'm standing, this guy looks like a massive amount of trouble..."

"Trouble, Travis," I said, smiling at him, "Is the entire reason I was told to go to this pesky little academy in the first place."

He's yammering, yammering. It's incessant, incessant in my ears. Like the whining of a dog, begging for scraps at the table of his master.

"Haaaaah? You want me to beg you for mercy?"

How naive.

How dizzyingly, arrogantly naive.

"I might not be able to forgive you for your transgressions if you keep barking, you know?"

I took a step in front of Travis, a lazy smile on my lips as I stared at the idiot in front of me.

"If you're going to pretend like you're playing in the big leagues, maybe take a look at your surroundings? Aren't you a little... out of your depth, here, little fish?"

I was already on edge. It'd been a long week. Two weeks? One and a half? It's hard to tell. It's just been a bit of time.

"Bend those legs for me, you third-rate excuse for a creature of the night. If you stay standing too much longer I might have to cut you down to size."

It's refreshing, isn't it Potemkin? Not everyone here is so 'complicated' or 'different' or even 'morally justified'. Some of these people...

Are just as vile and wicked as we are.

[Spell Prepared: A Cloak Of Crimson - {Reaction Variant}]

[Bloble]

Prushka
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station - Bar
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Cute-but-crazy... w-well, I'll forgive the cute bit. It would sound crazy, wouldn't it? I wouldn't blame you for not believing me. But the XXX Gang is impossible not to believe in, eh?"

The conversation slowly calms down as we decide to continue it inside. The rain really is cold, and I'd rather not stand in it longer than necessary.

"But hey, in crazy situations, sometimes you need to do crazy... things..."

It's not the surprising coziness of the bar interior that silences me. Rather, it is the magnificent sight before me.

"..... What?"

"Whoa."

A contest of pure strength and will. Naked muscles, tensed, rippling. Hands clasped together, pushing, gripping, pulling. Quiet grunts and groans breaking the silence. Sweat flying through the air. An ending that could be far off or just in sight.

This... this...!

"Amazing..."

I don't know why, but it's making me feel all tingly inside!

My first instinct is to cheer for Ahti. But that's dangerous. This is a tense battle. Even a momentary distraction might lead to defeat. But even more than that, this is an intimate moment we're walking on. It is between those two! A bout just for them! Not something that should be intruded upon!

"Shh."

Raising one finger to my lips, I slide out of my wet shoes, and... climb up on one of the nearby stools. Advancing, one stool at a time.

The other figure... that'd be the bartender then? Half-remembered memories of Hisa telling me something important try to make themselves known, and get pushed aside for later.

First, I need to get a better view... to witness the exciting climax of this forbidden tryst!

[Airen]

Liana Skye
Location: Spade Queen Country Club
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"Not too surprising, the bigger a company is, the more things they typically have to hide. Keep your cards close to your chest and all that, annoying as it is when investigating from the outside..."

How big of a hole did Mom dig herself into here...?

Dealings with the Air-Force, working with sketchy sounding Pharmaceutical Companies that may just have ties with the Oceandrop Program; Oceandrop Program that in turn is attempting to rehabilitate what seems like a school mostly filled with the supernatural, who are being stalked by some sort of demented dream monster, and apparently travel through time every couple of days...

What sort of mess have I gotten myself into...?

A slightly bigger than normal mess, all things considered...

She'd known it was going to be a doozy when she got the mission directives from #1, nothing that came straight from the boss himself was ever going to be easy, but the sheer scope of the web this town had apparently dug itself into was quite something...

Or rather, the web this town had been chosen to host was quite something...

There was no way any of this was a coincidence anymore, and the ways in which all the threads were crossing screamed at a much bigger, much nastier meaning to this particular space-time phenomena, and in that sense...

Nothing she can ask is incorrect.

Even if they aren't directly related to Shouko, figuring out any of the puzzles going on around her would probably be worth it... The World was much like a jigsaw puzzle in that way, you have to start somewhere, so...

As always, focus on the present.

"Guess I could ask Auntie about it, although the best bet would be the hospital..."

She frowns, mostly to herself.

"Then again, maybe the other students have found something on em... Everyone's off looking into things on their own, so might just ask them..."

She shakes her head, as if dismissing the thought for you, before...

"But the 'gist' of it, huh?"

She eyes Scottie with a smile, aware that he seems to be trying to suppress a laugh, but unwilling to give too big of a reaction to this sort of thing-!

"Well, it might be something like that~"

She closes an eye, than leans forward conspiratorially...

"Still haven't been taken out for pie though, kind of shameful right?"

She laughs, leaning back in her chair again and linking one of her arms with Thorne's in a teasing sort of way-!

"But this guy is just impossible for me to leave alone, he's the type that seems like they'd get lost, right? Already calls himself a no-good punk even though he's far from gone, so I figure if I'm just always keeping my eye on my cool Mysterious Stranger he'll stay out of trouble~"

A pause, then:

"Don't tell my fans though, that'd go badly."

Or so she heard...

Not sure if she even had any fans nowadays...

Still-!

"But hey, while I have you here Scottie, mind if I ask you something?"

She narrows her eyes in thought for a moment, before:

"That statue outside... Did you look at it? What'd you think of it?"

[Verg Avesta]

Ougi Outis
Location: McLampet Manor - Study
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

"O-oh... oh my gosh..."

Now that the panic had passed, Allene flushed terribly pink on her cheeks, realizing the scene she had caused thanks to seeing the blood. Stewing in her own embarrassment and looking like she wanted to dig a hole in the ground to hide on. However, instead of panicking again and trying to do that, she allowed herself to be guided by Hisa's words and lifted herself up from the ground, meekly walking over to her chair and sitting back down. Then she grabbed her tea cup and sipped on it in silence, as if trying to shield herself from what had just happened.

"I'm... um... sorry. That was terribly foolish of me, wasn't it? Gosh, I went and freaked out over such a small pinprick of blood... you must think of me as right fool," the girl said, hanging her head in shame. "S-still, no... heavens no, I didn't want to drink your blood - I hardly event wanted to think about it! I-I mean... blood is a bit scary, right? It might sound very childish of me to say that, but... I can't help it. Seeing blood just always makes me very afraid. I-It's not as if I could help it."

Again, the signs that this girl had grown up in quite the sheltered life reared its head. If seeing such a small amount of blood could cause her to panic to the point of tears, then she had certainly not been the type to run outside as a kid, getting her knees scraped and falling from trees.

It was beginning to feel like this study was her whole world...

"S-still, golly, you think that it would be possible to heal me - just like that? I mean... going outside while it's sunny, and not have to suffer from headaches or pain or hives would be very... um, v-very nice. I might even be able to visit you in your school! I-if that's okay with you, of course. I-I mean, we could try making that blooming tea you talked about and..." The girl stammered, fell silent again, and then sniffed a little. "S-sorry... I'm always so forward, aren't I? You must feel like I'm right weirdo, being like this when we've only just met. That being said, the idea of not being cooped up in this third floor every day for the rest of my life... well, it just sounds too wonderful! I can hardly contain myself at the thought of it!"

A brilliant smile now shone through the slightly wet eyes and the blushing face.

"I mean, even that one doctor Josie took me to - the one who lives at the root of the mountain, near the hotel, and who has those mushroom circles all over her yard - even she said that it might be very hard to find a permanent cure!" Allene exclaimed. "I think part of it was because Josie didn't want to pay the full price... I-I'm not sure what it was, but I remember her being white as a sheet after being told it... but still... why, the mere idea just sounds absolutely wonderful! T-that is, if I could be healed."

A pair of hopeful red eyes were turned towards Hisa.

"Do you really think it's possible?"

While the question hang in the air, something about what the girl had just said popped out to Hisa. She hadn't heard of another doctor - other than End's Mercy - in town, but more than that... mushroom circles? Was Allene talking about fairy rings? Why would a rural doctor have a bunch of those in their yard? Sure enough, they were a sign of good luck in some circumstances, but there were other meanings as well.

It certainly sounded rather suspicious.

---

Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Road's End - Back Alley
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

It happened far faster than Alexastrasza could even react - to the point that unless she hadn't already prepared, she would have been caught unawares.

"Stupid bitch...!"

Something slashed through the air and in that moment, her spell activated. The world was turned into a vermillion-hued mist and the vision of the blonde girl became tinted with scarlet. Her body became nothing but mist dancing through the air, and the savage strike that had been aiming to take her head off her shoulders whistled through the fog, causing no harm to its intended target. At the same time, however, the girl could hear something strange, like a buzzaw-whirlwind of spurs and as she looked at the attack that had just went through her body, she realized that a line of sparks - like fireworks drawn through the darkening sky - had bisected where she used to stand.

Travis let out a sound of utter disbelief, and barely managed to avoid falling flat on his ass. Instead he took hasty steps back towards the alley, determined to get himself and the girl in his arms out of the ways of the bizarre battle that had started. Not only had the violent man performed some sort of attack that his eyes had barely caught, not only had it left behind a line of crackling explosions that only now faded away, no...

His friend and his ally had just turned into a cloud of rest mist and disappeared completely, leaving behind just a growing presence of something dangerous.

"---------------- Tch."

Clicking his tongue in a way that sounded almost boredom, Lane Griffith lowered his leg. For indeed, he had performed a kick so fast that it beget the normal human mind, attempting to cleave through Alexstrasza with a single strike. Now, instead, the gazed at the red mist before him with an annoyed look, as if gazing down on a coward that had scurried away from a head-on collision.

Then, the man patted his legs twice... and some sort of clicking sound came from his feet. He took two steps backwards, threw up his arms like a kick-boxer and spread his legs, and in that moment, a small pressure wave exploded from his soles, rattling the metal pipes stuck to the walls of the ally.

"Shin bone, shin bone, shin bone.

Whip me up a cyclone.

Higher, higher, higher.

Make my feet gunfire."

In that moment, something happened. Wind seemed to pick up below the man's feet, and there was a sharp sound of smaller explosions, like crackling of tiny bombs, exploding all around him. A shearing sound of some sort came from his legs, and the maniac-smile on his face grew even greater. At the same time, the edges of the man's body became blurry in Alexstrasza's field of vision, and it was harder and harder to keep track of him - like he was always on the move, constantly switching places, constantly increasing and decreasing distance.

But most disturbingly, there was light... light shining in his feet now.

Something glimmered, like a sharp piece of metal in the dawning night.

Something deadly and something waiting.

Hungering for Alexstrasza's flesh.

And the man was prepared as well.

"Well then, guess I'll grind you down to dirt then...!" the man laughed, his enjoyment growing. "I'd rather have it this way, anyway...!"

The battle, at this point, was inevitable.

Initiative Check!
Lane Griffith: 4 VS Alexstrasza Lockhart: 2

BATTLE START!
Round 1, Turn 1: Lane Griffith

Round 1, Turn 1: Lane Griffith
Round 1, Turn 2: Alexstrasza Lockhart <--

---

New Ability Witnessed!

Lane Griffith

STR: ?

END: ?

AGI: B

WIL: ?

INT: ?

EGO: ?

HP: ??/??
DOD: 4 -> 8
ACC: 4
Movement: 12


Ritual Magic:

Gunfire Feet
Rank: C
Element: Earth
A modernized hunting ritual that was once meant to make the hunters swift and agile in their chase for prey. In its current form, this ritual sacrifices pieces of the bones in the user's body in exchange for a burst of speed. In particular, this speed burst has been aimed at making the target extremely hard to hit, whether it's by melee, conventional weaponry or even supernatural abilities. One could call it extreme defensive option, focusing solely on dodging.

[Grants a burst of speed that lasts for 2 Rounds. During this time, the user's DOD score is doubled, and all material attacks that target solely them must first succeed in an attack roll to hit, even if they would not normally require such.]

[Mormarth]

Elaine Winters
Location: The Lighthouse
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

I hmm'd and haw'd obligingly through the old ghost's tale, sifting for details and bits to pick out and ruminate over later.

Faces in caves and stones, like those things Oceandrop mentioned? The Petroglyphs? White stone from St. Helens...

Lady's View, She Who Watches. Came from possibly within the Lighthouse? Completely divorced from humanity.

Whole town under her thumb, some sort of control?

And the Chevron Lodge, that sounded familiar.

Coyote's Authority, the fang. Killed him, after he killed, or perhaps 'killed' her.

Hm.

Oceandrop's words came to mind.

Search for the map of the Klallam - the Dream Map - to find out about its past. Its not the first of its kind.

"This Watcher Lady, she ever show up again, or something like 'er, maybe? Because these red-eyes, and one-eyes, and blue hair keeps popping up in weird-ass places, and I'm trying to keep a good look out."

I frowned to myself, remembering words during an irritating conversation.

"The woman with the eyepatch laughs in the woods, a house of amber light, a key, wish I had some straight answers to this stuff..."

I sighed.

Maybe even gods can have ghosts.

[Frantic Author]

Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Road's End - Back Alley
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
HP: 51/51
MP: 55/60 (-5)

"φωτιά αίμα," I said with a laugh, as I felt his foot try to bisect me, my body turning into blood and reforming before his eyes, as I looked at him with a mad, mad grin. "Do you really want to play this game? Aren't you..."

I smiled, opening my arms wide as I stared at him with a devil's grin on my lips.

"...Just a little out of your depth?"

I curtsied as mana carved itself through my wrists, feeling that electric sensation called 'mana' as it ran through my body. My lips opened, and I Spoke.

"Aίμα," I whispered, and those fine fine lines of red extended from my wrist, whipping themselves into a frenzy as I twirled them around like a whip. I looked up at Lane, and smiled like the sun.

"When you've learned your place," I offered as the whips around my wrist began to move, "Just start begging for mercy! That usually does the trick."

That was when I flicked my wrist, and the whips dove for his flesh.

[Spell Used: From Blood, To Blood]

---

New Ability Witnessed!

Alexstrasza Lockhart

STR: ?

END: ?

AGI: ?

WIL: ?

INT: ?

EGO: A

HP: 51/51
MP: 53/60 (-2)
DOD: 4
ACC: 4
Movement: 10


Thaumaturgies:

A Cloak of Crimson - Abjuration, Sanguine / Reaction Variant
Rank: C
MP: 5
If she is prepared, Alexstrasza can split herself without a need for her crimson cloak, wrapping her blood in mana so that her entire body seems almost disposable - limbs removing themselves, head popping off, the whole macabre suite. Of course, if she is unprepared, or simply not thinking about it, such an ability is practically only suited as a party trick.
[In response to enemy making an attack targeting only the caster, the user is able to become momentary mist to avoid this attack. This version does not give Invisibility, but the caster cannot be targeted by physical attacks or attacks that target Physical Defense. This form lasts until the start of the caster's next Turn.]

From Blood, To Blood - Destruction, Sanguine
Rank: D (Spoke of the Color Wheel) MP: 2
Alexstrasza’s blood is a weapon of her own design. Alexstrasza creates long, thin strands of red that extend from the tips of her fingers, striking in and draining the life of her opponent into herself, through magic and through her own madness.
[Choose a target within 20 meters. The target is dealt 14 Sanguine Damage versus their EGO Defense. Afterwards, the caster is healed for half of the dealt damage after mitigation.]

[Spinach]

Colt Davin
Location: Spade Queen - Cocktail Lounge
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

The girl who was just as, if not more, normal than Colt teetered in her seat. Cathie’s eyelids grew heavier than she could ever hope to hold up, the weight of something ancient forcing her into a gentle sleep. With a softly spoken promise Lenore ferried the teenager to most assuredly merry dreams, Colt silently watching the girl capitulate to slumber with a last murmur of confusion.

"'Tis for the better, moppet. I believe she may still be quite new to the things you and I are about to discuss. Still... She is a fine young woman. Strong-willed and unafraid where it counts. I think you should be proud to call her a friend, for I believe there might not be many like her out there. In other words, 'tis a word of advice, bantling: let her not out of your sight."

Once the girl was sound asleep the ancient vampire spoke to Colt with a nod. With a nacreous grin Lenore gave the boy a word of advice about the sleeping girl.

“I’m hardly less of a greenhorn with these things than her, but I guess she didn’t spend a few years… ‘stuck to the hem of your skirt.’ Maybe it’s not normal how easily I take to this kinda stuff.” Paraphrasing the words of his old caretaker with a slight smile, Colt turned from the sleeping girl to the regal woman. “I’ve got too few friends to be letting any wander away. So you won’t have to tell me twice.”

The coming days and the monster looming in the shadows of his dreams, the nightmare haunting him, passed through his thoughts. Would Cathie be safe? Did the carnage extend beyond those in the class? Was his decision to bring her dragging her further into their murky fate?

Colt didn’t want to face the answers to those questions. All he wanted was to enjoy a reprieve from the grim inevitability waiting for him.

As well as to savor this moment with the woman taking a dignified sip from her glass.

"Now then, these cards you wish to reveal... speak them to me. Ask what you wish. Though be forewarned... I may not be able to answer them all. T'was the promise between your sibling and me that bounds me to this day, and why I sealed your memories in the first place. More than that, mine aspect is diminished in this closed world. You and the others like you live in a world akin to a cat box, child. 'Tis a mystery what is contained within, and the reality is up in the air. In other words, 'tis an intangible thing, the truth that lies within this town."

A serious atmosphere began to creep in amidst her words, her eyes now looking at him with a different kind of purpose.

"But ask your questions anyhow."

“I guess you just answered one already. So the lock on my memories is from you after all, just like I thought. And I guess thanks to a promise you made with my sister, it won’t be as simple as telling me why… or even undoing it.” His eyes fell for a moment, staring sullenly at the counter. “You always know everything, so I’m sure you figured it out by now, but I remembered… a bit. I heard from some people around town, too. About my sister. How she lived, and how she died.”

Colt forced his eyes up and away from the counter. He gathered the strength to not look downward, not to try and look backward, and returned his eyes to Lenore. The boy tried to force the vestiges of sadness out of him, but beneath his amber eyes it could still be seen, a flicker of pale light glistening atop restless waves.

“So we’re Schrodinger’s cat.”

He pushed onward to the matters of life and death for himself and his peers.

“Then I guess you know about that too. That some of us are ‘trapped’ in this week. That we’ll die tomorrow, and wake up Wednesday so that we can get ready to die again. I already died once, but… who knows. Maybe that isn’t the first time I’ve bit the bullet.” He stole a glance toward the door. “That statue outside, it’s a statue of something called Dot. Dot F. Loonwaters. It came to me in a dream, and it saw me when I came into this place.”

He spoke the name roughly, a mix of fear tinging his distaste for the being that he did not regard as a person.

“Do you know anything about it? Because it’s mighty proud of being the one behind all this.”

[Cheetose]

Ougi Outis
Location: McLampet Manor - Study
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

“Mm, I’m sure of it,” I nodded, “If there is one thing I can help you with, then it’s this. That I can promise.”

It hurt. Because of how she was. How much she reminded me of myself. I could understand how it must have been to grow up like this. Alone. In pain. Hopeless. I wanted to be there for her. To hold her hand and help her through the darkness, and show her that there is hope, just like how Angelica showed me back then. She deserved that much from life, and I was selfish enough to want to be the one to help her. Because she had no one else right now, and since she is still here, I would imagine that she had no one else even after all these years.

But…

How, exactly?

We had so little time, and if something, I felt even less confident that we could prevent our doom. Sunday would come...and if we end up restarting this damned week again, she certainly would not remember. She certainly wouldn’t remember anything we talked about now, anything we would do, or any promises I would make to her.

So then...what’s the point?

It would be just like how it was with Pyry this time. It would only hurt everyone. And yet, I went and made the same mistakes again, knowing that it would hurt just as much, if not even more…But I could not help it. Even if it is wrong and pointless, I couldn’t give up on thinking that for the moment, it mattered.

Maybe she won’t even meet her end like us. Maybe, if there really are alternate timelines, life will go on for her, and if I can somehow help her before the end of the week, then maybe her life would be happier.

“Tell you what, how about we come and pick you up tomorrow morning, and we could go on a trip? We could visit the doctor too. Or I can do that before coming here. It will be quite cloudy, so intense sunlight should not be a problem. And even if I can’t come up with a permanent solution to your problem right away, I’m quite certain that something temporary would be easy enough.”

The smile I was beaming at the girl with was nothing but encouraging, but my heart could not help but feel bittersweet.

“How does that sound?”

[Daneel Rush]

Location: Avery’s Dinner?
Phase: Evening Phase?
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)?
Weather: Rain?



She speaks, and of course, he listens. A part of him laments that he cannot appreciate her colorful presence and her admittedly beautiful features. That, rather than admire her attractive face and shining eyes, he has instead succumbed to his own thoughts. As it turns out, John Dove has come to reach a powerful, terrible, and outright terrifying realization.

This is Elaine’s car this morning, all over again. Somebody messed up the casting, though. Thence, if the current scene stars Ultravania as John Dove, then whose role is he supposed to play? Furthermore, what exactly is this sensation halfway between his chest and his stomach? This…discomfort, like a carbonated drink going down the wrong path, or a firecracker going off in his chest cavity?

Wait.

He knows this feeling. Wednesday night, this very loop.

Prushka.

…oh. I’m irritated. This is uncomfortable.

Rather than uncomfortable, it is borderline ridiculous. At first, he was taken aback by her inhuman power and presence. Then, after she diminished herself, he tried to be a little careful, so as to not set off an excessive overreaction from a person who is clearly not right in the head. But this? This whole prattle coming out from this “girl”, about four thousand loops and the events that led to her violent madness?

This is just plain boring. The worst thing is that she probably thinks she is being “kind” or “considerate”, or something equally false and pretentious, and John Dove knows false and pretentious…oh.

Oh dear.

Is this what Vandemeel felt, listening to me…?

Close enough.

…oh. Well, now this is just plain embarrassing.

According to the Agushaya Hymn, the goddess Ishtar abandoned her reckless, irresponsible ways upon being faced by a mirror of herself. John Dove has just met a nigh-almighty moonchild…and found nothing but his own reflection: a lying, self-deluding piece of shit full of hot air that babbles a lot while completely out of touch with herself. It is the absolute worst. He must stop this, or the shame will fulminate him before some Disembodied Asshole can do it on Sunday.

“Stop,” he says, in that very moment learning it is possible to speak a plea and a demand at the same time.

“Stop putting words in my mouth. Stop…everything you are doing right now. You scolded me a while ago, so right back at you. You are being unsightly,” he spats out, showing an amount of disgust that might make Hisa Momoi split herself between a spit take and a thumbs-up.

There is no regard for consideration left. He must pour everything out, even if it gets him obliterated by nuclear fire. Anything else would be unacceptable.

A seedling? No, this here is a monster. The John Dove who calculates every single of his actions and words has been smashed in the head and knocked unconscious by a roaring monster demanding to let it rip. This is the anger of a John Dove who has discovered himself and lashes out in shame. This might just be the worst possible time for this to happen, but so be it.

You can only run away from yourself for so long.

“Being mad after four thousand loops or whatever is no excuse to contradict yourself every goddamn second. But I guess I cannot blame you; being unable to say things in a straightforward manner seems to be a common malady in the Turnside.”

He stands up, planting himself in the space between her stool and the one he just left. Let her blast him blind and brainless with her spectrum for all he cares.

“So you held yourself back for several thousand loops. Well good for you,” he says in the least congratulatory tone of voice ever. “Well done. Thank you very much for your earnest display of self-control. I’m sorry I don’t have a fucking medal.”

His eyes are unusually wide and incensed.

“Now, what do you want? Do you want me to repudiate you for your sins? I guess you can tell me how many people you killed and I can give you a karate chop for each of them or something, but to be honest, I find it hard to care. Now, do you want me to forgive you? Well no, can’t do that either. Try confessing at a church or whatever, because I do not have any forgiveness to give.”

He narrows his gaze, showing fierceness he has never shown in his life. He wants her to know he means each and every single one of his words.

“You are a murderer. You killed my classmates for self-centered, effectively pointless reasons. You killed Pyry and Elise Marie; damn it, I like Pyry and Elise Marie. I don’t know what that big idiot is keeping to himself, but he is trying so desperately to be a good person, it is somewhat endearing. And talking to Elise Marie is always interesting and inspiring. She has ‘a good head on her shoulders’, as they say.”

A brief pause. He makes a face as if his next thought put a bad taste in his mouth. Like he is about to say something he would rather not admit.

“Liking Momoi is more of a long-term project. But I need Momoi, and you killed her, and she is the type to hold a grudge, so now we three will never be able to work together, you thoughtless clump of metaphysics in a cute girl package.”

The words and the anger give him strength. He no longer needs to support himself on the counter.

“So, do you want those past events to mean something? They already do, you many-colored buffoon! The fact that you are here, that you bothered me with your prattle, means those events mattered to you. That they still matter to you! So, are you sick and tired of those memories? Are you looking for an excuse to render them meaningless and unimportant, so you can banish them out of your mind? Well too bad, can’t help you with that. Unless you want me to bash you in the head until you become amnesiac.”

Another pause.

“Actually, I guess I can recommend somebody I know. I’ve heard staring at her in the eyes does wonders for your ability to dismiss everything around you.”

Well would you look at that.

“I know you are not looking for some avenger to come hunt you down for whatever you’ve done in the past loops. I also know you are not looking for some redeemer who will save you, because I sure as hell cannot be that person. So I ask you, for the third and final time: what the fuck do you want?”

Disgust returns to his intense expression.

“And don’t you dare tell me you want or expect nothing from me. You told me just moments after we met: that you were curious about my behavior throughout this loop.”

He leans an inch closer.

“The fact that you are still keeping an eye on our actions. The fact that you still reflect on the events of past loops. The fact that you acknowledge that you once had a friend. The fact that, despite your prattle, you have already given me a priceless piece of information.”

A ‘madness that overtakes them’, she said. The fact he did not realize this earlier is just plain embarrassing.

It is not something as simple as whatever psychological conditions afflicting them driving them to desperate, murderous measures. No, if that were the case, the durations of the loops would not be as consistent as they apparently are, based on Ultravania’s words. After all, if their violent actions were the natural consequence and end-result of their ‘deviations’, so to say, then why always on Sunday?

In other words, it is not merely their choices driving them towards extreme action, but an external influence twisting their decision-making towards the most violent and brutal outcomes as a specific point in time. It might have not been solely zealous adherence to duty that pushed Sakura to assassinate Alexstrasza, or desperation and fear of the artifact that pushed Ramalsaqr to gun down Elaine for it.

It could be the power of the Disembodied Man, Dot F. Loonwaters, the town’s lighthouse or one of its imprisoned spirits, or a mass hypnosis by an agent of the Turnside, some sort of neurological agent in their food or water, or who knows what else. The point is that it is something they can oppose. Something they must resist. Their true enemy.

To John Dove, realizing this changes everything.

“Every single falsely callous word that comes out of that pretty mouth of yours tells me that you still care.”

Another half an inch. He is still angry, but his anger is no longer incensed and uncharacteristically passionate. It is serene, tempered by hope for the future and gratitude towards this “moonchild.”

“No matter what crap comes out of your mouth, Ultra, the truth is that you haven’t given up.”

A pause.

“By the way, I’m calling you ‘Ultra’ from now on. ‘Ultravania’ sounds needlessly pretentious and I don’t like it. It doesn’t even feel like a real name.”

Not that “Ultra” is any better, really.

“Anyway.”

Suddenly, he goes all in, personal space be damned. Their noses almost touching, he ensures that she is the only thing he can see, and he is the only thing she can see.

“I expect one of three answers from you.”

“Number One: ‘I want to be free’. In that case, we shake hands and agree to work together to end this anomalous flow of time. To keep everyone from becoming murderous idiots on Sunday, and turning our attention to the very real dangers around us instead of each other. Because you haven’t given up, and I have no intention to do so anytime soon.”

He shrugs. This is the lesson he learned from Anna Vandemeel.

“So what if this loop is also a failure? I’m used to failure. If it’s an endless loop, then I can fail as many times as I need.”

His eyes gleam. His lips turn into a smirk.

“I only need to succeed once.”

The grin transmutes into an impish smile of all things.

“And who knows? We could actually become friends. That would be nice. A few of my classmates would be mortified, but if you so desperately need to resolve your issues by killing each other, we could at least convince them to wait until after the primary threat of the loops is dealt with.”

Just as quickly, his expression settles back into cold steel. John is not aware of how unsettling his transitions may look to others.

“Number Two: ‘I can’t do anything for you’. In which case, you lying piece of nuclear waste, I will ask you to stop wasting my time and let me move on to something actually productive. Like smacking Prushka in the head for pushing herself too far this morning before telling her that Elizaveta Vyraj was not replaced and did exist in this world. Or looking for the ‘vampire’ in the McLampet mansion. Or asking the espers whether they have some inkling as to the imposter in our midst. Or looking for Alexstrasza, because my thoughts are pushing me to see her so intensely I’m starting to suspect she also used some crazy vampire eye power on me.”

He clicks his tongue. At himself? At Ultra? Who knows by this point? Does it even matter?

“Or just finishing my goddamn pie.”

It is a very good pie.

“Because you cannot possibly tell me that, after four thousand goddamned loops, you haven’t learned anything that could help us towards whatever is causing this. I refuse to believe that you are so transcendentally incompetent. Really, that is my thing. You don’t get to take it from me.”

Couldn’t hold back on the good old self-deprecation. Force of habit.

“And I may be a good for nothing, but my classmates are armed to the teeth with talent and abilities. For all we know, one single piece of intel from you could be the key that unlocks their brilliance.”

Why would Ultra even keep those cards to herself by this point? If she wants freedom, then she has every reason to share. If she does not give a damn anymore, then she loses nothing by sharing.

“Number Three: You’re done with my shit and vaporize me on the spot, and then move on to killing everybody else for all I know. To be honest, I don’t think I would resent you for that. Fair enough, I’d say—I pissed off the pretty lady with the nuclear powers, so I don’t get to complain.”

Thus far, anybody else in this building would have been able to listen to his rant. Now, his voice dims to an appropriately intimate tone for their very close distance, gaining a degree of huskiness in the process.

“If you do that, Ultra, know that I will spend as many loops as it takes to find you, so we can have this conversation again. Over, and over, and over again. I will be a hypocrite as many times as I please, and call you an idiot who is lying to herself as many times as I have to. Until you stop running away and actually answer me.”

They are close. So very close. Yet, there is no room in his mind for admiring the vibrant colors in her hair and eyes. Unfortunately, this is not Ultra Appreciation Hour.

“I will look straight at you, like this, until you scream your truth at me.”

He is not yet complete. He still has not grasped the reason—the principle hidden within that seedling, the words hidden in that monster’s roars. However, that reason pushes him further and faster with every new realization, like a snowball rolling downhill, gathering mass and momentum.

“Because my classmates haven’t given up. Even if they ever give up, I will not. I’m pretty good at holding to an obsession, you see. If I become the last person struggling in this stupid loop of hell, then I’ll save everybody by myself if I have to.”

“And you’re now part of that ‘everybody’. Sucks to be you.”

He is done. His irritation has become words, and every single one of them has been released. The new, “unknown” monster goes back to sleep, leaving the usual monster of flawed logic and a void of self-esteem rather tired, overwhelmed, and thoroughly embarrassed by what just happened. As usual, there is no time for self-reflection. The only thing left are the consequences of his actions.

There is one thing on which both monsters agree, however. Thus, John does not move. If his life is at an end, it will be right there, in front of her. Filling her sight.

“So?” His voice is all but a whisper—the usual monster now reproducing the one from a few moments ago so he does not collapse into a black hole of shame and confusion. The Devil might sound a lot like this, when he offers one of his deals.

“What is it going to be, Ultra?”

[Mellon]

Anna Vandemeel
Location: Owl's Nest Hotel - Library
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain

A flourish of steel flew through air in a barely perceivable flash, nailing themselves into a boundary that surrounded Sõõrik like a wall of steel, almost as if she was watching a performance carried out by the Цирк Никулина.

… well, this was something of a problematic outcome, now wasn’t it?

In the end, there was no-one to blame for this cock-up but herself. Blaming her small stick-wrought familiar would be pointless. This had always been a possibility, and she had had made the call, partly driven by nothing more but her own curiosity about the documents in question. Perhaps she’d gotten a bit too confident for her own good.

Curiosity ages you quick

Uudishimu teeb ruttu vanaks

, huh?

Either way, the cat was out of the bag now. The pre-show had come to an end and it was time for the actors to take to the stage, whether they were ready or not.

And that being said... you wanna stick here and see what they get up to? Or should we switch locations?

Anna gave the other girl a brief smile, even as a sincerely apologetic glint flickered in her eyes.

“Sorry, Indy. I kinda fucked up on my end. Unfortunately, I don’t think we have the option of something like that any longer.”

With a sigh, Anna rose up from her seat, even as her wrist moved in a casual motion, almost as if flinging something.

A single loop of steel twirled in the air for a brief, lonesome, moment.

…before mana exploded out of her like river breaking free from behind a dam.

The sharp tang of ozone in the air was unmistakable, as was the slight, wholly unique, sound of reality’s gears grinding up against each other. In a flash, magical energy was shaped, formed, and expanded into the shape of a spell – the purest representation of the supernatural. Mana flowed into the airborne chain link in a torrent and it erupted into blistering motion, replicating and expanding into a massive chain that moved through the air with seemingly a mind of its own.

In a manner reminiscent of steel serpent, the chain slithered through the air with mind-boggling speed, seemingly unheeding of the very laws of physics that governed the very world itself. Before anyone could even blink, it had broken through the makeshift prison imprisoning the wooden familiar and wrapped itself around its torso.

The other end of the chain fell gently down onto Anna’s extended hand, who yanked it with a brief motion of her wrist.

In what could only be called a perfect reflection of what had happened moments before, the chain retracted in a motion that was the opposite mirror image of what had happened moments prior, down to the very minutest of motions. In less than a second, the chain had expanded and then retracted backwards again into nothingness, leaving behind only its source, rotating in the air, seemingly transfixed in space.

Her familiar, having been retrieved from his sudden predicament, landed in front of her with an almost inaudible, soft, thud. A second later, this was followed by the steel link, which ran out of mana and was, once more, subjected to the forces of reality, falling squarely in her palm.

Turning towards the trio in the distance, the Estonian girl gave her quiet classmate a small smile, half-apologetic and half-mischevious. She could hardly blame her for her reaction. For all Vivienne knew, Sõõrik might have been an invisible assassin or something of the sort.

“Sorry, I just got a bit curious, I suppose. I didn’t have any hostile intent, at the very least.” The witch in red gave a brief shrug before continuing. “Regardless, now that we’re in this kind of situation, might as well make the most of it, eh? Cat’s out of the bag and all that jazz, right?”

With a casual motion, Anna’s hand went into her pocket and pulled out what could only be described as a relatively unassuming rock.

A pulse of intense azure washed over the entire corner of their library, almost as if aiming to stain it all in its own particular brand of sapphire. Shadows twisted and pooled at their feet, before they rose, almost as if in an attempt to envelop the people standing there whole. At her, at Ramia’s, at Vivienne’s, and at Orion’s. And then there rang out the pull. An attraction only understood by a few in this world. Not something of flesh and blood, but something of the soul. A type of yearning for a lost memory. It was akin to that annoying feeling you got when there is something on the tip of your tongue that you couldn’t quite recall.

And whatever was on the other side wanted to be remembered.

For a brief second, it felt as if everyone present would be dragged away to that very faraway place…

And then, just as suddenly it had come, the wave of azure was gone, washing away into nothingness leaving behind just the soft lighting of library itself.

“Mhm… I see.” The stone in her hand started to slowly crumble into dust, as her eyes turned towards Vivienne. “This is a rather unique spell, you know? It took generations to get the spiritual resonance tuned just right.”

“The supernatural, no matter whether its magical or scientific, leaves a marking one’s soul. Or to put it more precisely, it alters us from the original template. This is why this spell didn’t target Terrot back there. That’s because when the chips come down, she is just a normal human being.”

“As for us, we all have our different ways and different methods, but… one can hardly call us normal humans anymore.” Anna’s eyes turned away from Vivi… and towards the blue-haired man who was standing casually a couple of steps further. “Isn’t that right… Orion, was it?”

“Well, even if we leave that aside.” Anna’s voice was like sharp steel wrapped in velvet, soft on the surface yet clearly hiding a sharp edge. “Am I supposed to believe that someone with your level of spiritual interference is some kind underling for a random reporter? At this rate, I’m gonna end up finding out that Teplitsa is working as a waiter at the local diner.”

That brief touch of mana that took place between the two of them was enough for Anna to get an approximate understanding of the weight of this man’s soul. If she had to put a finger on it… it was close to her own in scale. When it came to this particular aspect, at least, “Orion” would not be out of sorts amidst the lecturers of the Ecliptic.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking…”

Anna’s eyes were hard as polished diamonds.

“Exactly who the hell are you and what the fuck is your angle here?”

Abilities Revealed!

Hiiekivide Ring
Rank: C
Element: Wood
Color: Blue (Abjuration)

A type of ritual originally created to create and concecrate a “Hiis" - a sanctified holy site of Taarausk (also known as Estonian animism). These were key sites of worship for pre-christian Estonian paganism, but most of the legends and tales told about these locations are associated with nature spirits, elves, and other supernatural beings. This is because these locations, in reality, served as “gates” between “material” side of the world and the “spiritual” side, in a manner quite similiar to fairy rings, commonly seen in mythologies of Western Europe.

When activated, this spell creates a replication of the users surroundings (the scale of this replication dependant on the user’s magical capacity) and “pull” all nearby individuals to the “spiritual world”. Because of modifications made to the spell over the past couple of centuries, this effect generally only applies to individuals associated with the Turnside, not normal humans. There is one specific circuimstance where normal people can still be pulled into the Hiis and that is if they are in direct physical contact with individual that would be normally targeted by this spell. Afflicted individuals can attempt to resist the effect of the spell via an EGO check or other abilities that would (based on GM fiat) allow them to defend against its activation.

Typically, due to its nature as a religious holy site, the Hiis should be capable of elevating the effectiveness of Anna’s paganistic magic. However, as sites closely related to the natural world, this effect is extremely dampened in cities and other places of advanced human civilization. Conversly, when set up in locations more closely associated with nature (parks, forests, etc) this effect is greater in scale. Regardless, due to her rather “loud” specialization Anna’s main usage for this ritual is to create an environment where she can use her abilities to the fullest.

Once inside, there are two real ways to escape the Hiis. First, is to kill the caster or force him or her to release the spell. The second is to find the “portal” back to the real world. The existance of a portal can be deduced if one is somewhat familiar with either spiritual translocations and pocket dimensions or magical rituals of Estonian or Suomenusko paganism (Occult?). This “portal” can take many shapes (a door to a room, an arc of stones, etc) and the difficulty of finding it can somewhat vary based on the location replicated (finding a single relevant door on a street vs finding a solitary arc in the woods). However, its location can be found by either relevant skills (dependant on the environment replicated, e.g Nature for forests) or by sensory abilities that allow one to sense and identify magical fluctuations (Divination spells, Miracles of Revelation, etc).

[Hiiekivide Ring: All targets within a 15-meter radius from Anna are pulled into an alternate reality separated from the real one. An EGO Protection contest is made against all targets with a Shattering Score of 6. This reality persists for 4 Rounds after which it dissipates. While inside this reality, the damage of Anna's spells is increased by +4. In city environment, the bonus becomes +2 and duration becomes 3 Rounds, while in pure forest environment the bonus becomes +6 and the duration becomes 5 Rounds. Can be prepared for activation beforehand, but only in forested areas.]


Sarviku Varandus
Rank: D
Element: Metal
Color: Red (Destruction)

A spell aimed around shaping and manipulating various sorts of types of metal. In its most basic form, the spell is used to create high-pressure discs of different types of liquified metals. As it the spell usually requires a pre-existing source of metal to manipulate, Anna carries with her a long metal chain where each link is composed of a different type of metal. These links are then used to provide the necessary base ingredients to execute the attack in question. As different metals have different physical and chemical properties, their precise interaction with different types of phenomena may vary, but the damage caused by the spell remains constant (as it is purely determined by the magical power of the caster). The chain itself can also be manipulated by the spell in order to act as a close-combat weapon of sorts (with identical attributes and damage as the ranged application).

Sarviku varandus can also be used in order to damage, manipulate, and reshape various metals and metal objects in Anna’s close environment.

[Sarviku Varandus: Creates a disc of metal that can be launched up to 20 meters. Counts as a normal ranged attack. Upon hit causes 13 Metal Damage against the target's END defense. Can be used as a melee attack as well. If used to create a wall of metal to protect the caster, it can soak up to 10 damage before being destroyed.]