Liana Skye/Sora Hikari
Location: Spade Queen Country Club - Bunker
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Overcast
Jayesh snorted quietly, not even bothering to hide that he was finding the constant needling rather amusing. Or rather, that Liana's increasingly transparent attempts at getting a rise out of Zane were something he found amusing to watch, but had no intention of getting involved in - he knew better than that. The redhead, on the other hand, feigned like most of the girl's dialogue simply went in from one ear and out of the other, without ever even entering his consciousness. Oh he definitely heard it, but seemed to be more than prepared to ignore it for the sake of his own convenience... much in the same way one would ignore an annoying kid sister who kept pestering them.
Though that didn't mean he was unwilling to talk - he was just particular about what he answered about.
"She has a point. I mostly just know about the mundane stuff - like how it's both a way of moving things unseen, and also a bomb shelter perhaps," Zane spoke up, looking at the other boy. "But the 'spiritual' side of them eludes me. Anything interesting there?"
With a small sigh, the Indian boy rubbed the back of his head and pursed his lips. The footfalls on the metal walkway were the only sounds to fill the silence while he collected his thoughts, before eventually nodding quietly.
"There's not much I know for sure, but apparently there's some sort of... what was it? Petroglyph cave? Mm, petroglyph cave somewhere out there. You can get to it either through these tunnels or by the lava tubes, though the latter route is probably easier. But without actual knowledge, it's like searching a needle out of a series of haystacks," Jayesh explained. "Supposedly it contains cave paintings that predict the future... or something like that."
That made Zane raise an eyebrow.
"Predict the future?"
However, the other boy only grunted.
"Or something like that, yes. I don't know for sure, that's not my area of expertise," he continued. "I'm more interested in spirits anyway... and aside from possible dead soldiers that might be haunting these tunnels - for some reason - these places offer little to me. It's not what we were hired to find out, anyhow. Or... well, I was hired half for protection. Both for Jack and a... client of his. Half was our usual thing. That is, spirit hunting."
He frowned a little bit as the trio descended deeper into the dark tunnels.
"... Jack wants to find a specific spirit. A person who died 21 years ago. Apparently, there was a massacre at the old Pinefall High School, and a person who he owed a lot to was..." He left the sentence unfinished, but the meaning was clear. "... Well, anyways. Jack wanted to find if that same spirit was captured by the lighthouse - find some way to put them to rest. But from what we've been able to find... no. That spirit is somewhere else. Either it's been able to find its own way out, or someone else helped it already, or... well, I don't even know. Maybe it reincarnated? Who even knows?"
With a sigh, the Indian boy shrugged his shoulders.
"Of course, it could have perhaps made its way through these tunnels to somehow escape - the chthonic world being separate from that of the living, but... how likely is that?"
Perhaps he was expecting Zane to reply... however, the redhead did no such thing. Instead, he stared ahead, into the darkness, with an inscrutable expression, his hand held in a fist... and for some reason, he muttered something under his breath.
"Pinefall High School Massacre..."
--- It almost sounded like Jack Pinkerton wasn't the only one who lost something that day.
Prushka?
Location: St. Diane Cemetery
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Overcast
It wasn't a huge hop from over where the trio had been to the entrance of the cemetery. Bringing her scooter to a halt and then turning it off to avoid announcing her presence to the world, Prushka was able to duck behind one of the larger gravestones. From there, she could peek over the stone wall to look at the person approaching from the main road. Indeed, there was one - just as Ahti's nose had predicted. Just someone who could have been mistaken for being on a Saturday stroll, were it not for the rather mundane flowers in his hand, and the sixpack of beer in the other.
Drinking this early in the day? That was quite rare.
Especially for what looked to be a police officer.
No, wait, that star shining on his jacket...
... Was that the sheriff?
It had to be. That scruffy look, almost like a slightly mangy wolf or a police hound, combined with his attire almost screamed of an overworked government employee. There were slight bags under his eyes, and he occasionally scratched his bedhair in futile attempts of straightening it out. However, at the same time the gaze in his eyes were clear. He wasn't here just randomly. No, from the looks of it, there was some grave he was headed to. His eyes kept a look-out to the opposide end of the graveyard, which was good, but still, unless he was delayed for a bit, he would definitely spot the white-haired figure of Ahti at some point!
Still...
... What was the sheriff doing, visiting graves so early?
And with beer no less?
Colt Davin & Vier Wolff
Location: Ghostwood National Forest
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Overcast
Approaching the smell, Colt could sense it growing stronger. Fresher. More alive.
Somebody was badly wounded, just up ahead.
Pushing past the leaves and the underbrush, the boy steeled himself while the soldier took the long way around to get a good vantage point for the area. But even for Vier, the smell was unmistakeable. Someone was bleeding heavily. Either Hawthorn had prepared a hostage of sorts to slow them down, or then this... just a coincidence? No, not a coincidence. Nothing in this town was a coincidence. So what was this? Something he planned ahead? Only one way to tell for sure, and that was to view just what was out there, filling the air with this scent.
And thus, Vier took her position to survey the situation.
At the same time, Colt pushed into the area where the smell of blood was the strongest. And what his eyes revealed to him....
--- Was not what he expected.
Neither was it what Vier had expected at all.
"*Hack*...*Cough*.... hah.... hahaha...."
There was somebody over there, slumped against a tree, hacking up blood amidst a bitter laugh that emanated from their lips as they saw Colt emerge from the woods.
A hateful stare. A blaming stare.
A scornful stare.
"....*Cough*... figures..."
"... When I f-finally catch up to you, thief... I'm already *cough* dying..."
What was this creature?
Much like a human, yet much like a beast - like a combination of both to create something that was clearly not of the real world, but born out of Turnside itself. It spoke with the voice of a young woman, and shivered in the coldness that was settling in thanks to the loss of blood. A gaping hole in its stomach was bleeding profusely, though it had tried to stopping the flow with some haphazard first aid.
It was like meeting a wounded predator in the forest.
At least for Colt.
For Vier...
... Had she seen this creature somewhere before?
".... So.... w-what?"
The creature coughed and sprayed the forest floor with crimson.
"*Cough*... come to laugh at me in my final moments, thief?"
And why was it glaring at Colt with such scorching look of hatred?
Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Pinefall High Main Building - Science Classroom
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Overcast
The door of the science class was flung open with much gusto as Alexstrasza, following her loud proclamation, gave chase to the shapes that had passed by the doorway. Indeed, her call to action had been so fast and to the point that the spider nor the silhouette it had been stalking were given much time to get ahead... meaning they were both still in the corridor as the vampire burst out of the room in her usual grandiose way.
Eyes snapping to the direction of the intruders, Alexstrasza now finally got a good look at the creature that had caused alarm bells to ring in her head... and the more she looked, the more odd it felt.
Oh yes, that was definitely a familiar. A spider familiar. Not made out of shadows, but perhaps... soul fragments? Ectoplasm? Ghosts? Something else white and wispy? It certainly had the appearance almost akin to a spider made out of spiderweb, but the true composition would take much further inquiry and inspection... and the creature certainly didn't look like it was going to give her the chance. Instead it looked over its shoulder at her, those tiny eight eyes taking in the form of the blond girl... and then, for some reason, it tilted its head.
Why did that feel so smug? Like the person controlling the familiar was looking down on her?
Could spiders even look smug?
And more importantly...
--- What of this silhouette that the spider had been chasing?
"Umm...?"
Lifting her eyes, Alexstrasza finally took in the sight of the much more humanoid intruder... and found herself staring at quite the conundrum. After all, this person... she had never seen this person before, had she? No, definitely not. Despite his apparent age, he was certainly not one of her classmates, and more importantly, the definite smell of mana hung stronger around him. Which, of course, meant that he was most likely another type of intruder entirely.
Now what to do...
"... Is there something I can help you with, Miss...?"
Well, he was certainly being polite, at least.
John Dove, Anna Vandemeel & Elaine Winters
Location: Pinefall High Main Building – Cafeteria
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Overcast
"So at least three 'sides' working on this... the school, Gottlieb Pharmaceuticals, and US military..."
Hwan frowned at the thought.
"Shit. Why can't anything ever be simple? The school aside, that Big Pharma company just sounds like a bunch of mad scientists doing whatever they want. But the military? That's... eugh. Whatever they're in here for, it can't be anything good. As in, really can't be. The thing with US military is that they outlawed magic, more or less - get away from the rumoured tentacles of a certain shadowy organization of the Old World. But at the same time, they didn't have any natural, home-grown defenses against Turnside left. Esper families always ended up troublesome, so they turned to science and well..." He looked at Kean with a smirk. "It's a good choice but costly. So, we tend to be dealing with government who hoards anything they can use for their own gain and protection when it comes to Turnside. I wonder... is their presence here under similar objectives? Is there something in this town they want?"
Subaru, who had been listening in on the Korean boy, frowned as well. She absent-mindedly scratched Tonkori behind the ears, though the dog was taking a chance on this moment when everyone was focused on their conversation to sneak bites out of their breakfasts.
"... The time loop perhaps? Though I have no idea how that could be weaponized. Especially since it is something only few are even aware of. Speaking of which, Michael Lowgate... Hmm. I cannot say it is impossible he might have been able to 'tap into' this phenomena as you say," the wild-haired girl said and nodded towards John. "Spirits are to some extent removed from the shackles of time. Some more than others. But it definitely feels off... or rather, unlikely that it could have made such far-reaching plans with only mere knowledge."
Zhou raised an eyebrow at that.
"Well~? What if it had some special ability~?" She asked in her sing-song way. "Or maybe it was in cahoots with someone~? Y'know, one of those types that can calculate future events through information alone~?"
She paused, for a moment letting a genuine look of annoyance slip through her facade.
"Not divination, but mathematics... god I hate those types."
Kean let out a little sigh and shoveled some more food into his mouth, barely saving his bacon from Tonkori.
"Well, be that as it may, at least the crazy-ass revenant's been dealt with. Whatever he might have known went with him," the boy spoke. "What we should focus on is what we can do. I mean, everyone had some good ideas where to head next, but I doubt we should move as one big group. Rather, we should spread out and investigate as many as possible. Tommy Horse, student listing, Mitchells, the statue, the overlook, the lighthouse..."
He paused for a moment.
"... That one still bothers me, though. Eye? A lighthouse lamp that's an eye... but what does it have to do with the statue? And the poem attached to it? And what about the rest of the poem? There's something here... something I can't just put my finger to," he continued, before suddenly roughing up his overly long hair with his fingers. "Gaaahh, I hate it when this happens! It feels like we've almost got an answer here, but something's just not connecting!"
Ramia nodded.
"I know the feeling. Though what I'm more bothered by is this... well, let's call it Imaginary Student or something. They're not here, even though they should be. Their name is glitched out on a computer. Assembling everyone is apparently important. So... what's up with them?" The mercenary asked, sipping her coffee. "That has to mean something, no? If this is a 'closed system' or however you want to call it, with variables and settings that make certain scenarios happen, then what would cause someone to just... disappear? Are the conditions not right for this student to even be here?"
Just like everyone else, the dusky-skinned girl looked like she was starting to get fed up with the amount of questions that had arisen.
"Grrr... maybe we should just write all this crap down in a list of concise questions we're searching answers for?" She suggested. "List out the things we need answers for. That way, if we spread out today to investigate various things, we'd know exactly what to look for."
It wasn't the worst suggestion...?
Though, while others were mulling this over, Anna Vandemeel suddenly got a message from her trusty familiar that she had scouting the school building. Apparently, something was going on near the science classroom. Something that involved Alextrasza Lockhart, Souma Nubatama, an unknown young man and a... white spider?