Astronomika - Shooting Down Falling Stars (IC)

[Thalraxal]

Elise Marie Pelltier
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station - Bar
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

I wonder~? In a way it does sound like a lot of fun, but then again... Wouldn't I just be getting in the way of you two? You know..."

Elise frowned worriedly, and glanced at Travis, who looked as confused as she felt.

Oh! I hope Auggie doesn't feel like she'll feel like the odd one out since she's not a student at Pinefall like Travis and I are. I'd hate for her to feel like an outsider-

"Well, I mean, wouldn't I be just a third wheel in that group? Or are you two in a situation where it's sort of awkward and you need a chaperone?"

Oh.

Is-is she serious? Do Travis and I look like we're a thing? Do we give off the impression that we need a chaperone? Because we're not a thing. Just because a boy and a girl hang out doesn't mean that they're a thing. Unless there is a thing that could be a thing that isn't a thing but could be a thing. Then it could be a thing even if it isn't a thing, but- No. No. She's got to be just teasing us.

Elise took Augusta's grin in her direction as confirmation of her theory.

This must be punishment for when Travis and I conspired to tease Colt and Cathie. Turnabout is fair play, I suppose.

"Of-of course not. You're more than welcome to join us, if you want, and we don't need a chaperone. We're students! Student friends," stammered Elise, "Friends who go to the same high school as students."

If I'm entirely honest, part of me thinks it'd be better if snuck around in the rain by myself, and not risk dragging Travis and Augusta into a potentially dangerous situation. That said though, is anywhere really going to be safe pretty soon? Probably better to stay in a group than wander off alone, thought Elise, Besides, this spy mission was Travis' idea, I can hardly ask him to sit it out, can I?

"Oh, and Cesarina's doing fine! She's had some malfunctions lately, but nothing a proper cooling period wouldn't handle! To begin with, the problem was that her mind began to overheat and caused a cascade effect of failures in the rest of her body. It looks pretty violent, but isn't nearly as bad as it seems."

Elise sighed in relief as Augusta changed the subject.

I feel like I could use a proper cooling period after that too.

"Cesarina's an android then? Huh," said Elise as she processed that information.

Kean and Cesarina, huh? I wonder if any more of our classmates are androids.

"That all sounds pretty serious. I'm glad she's doing better. What- what caused her mind to overheat like that in the first place? If you don't mind me asking. Is there some way we can, uh, help her cool down before it gets serious enough to cause a cascade failure like that?" asked Elise.

It'd be nice to spare Cesarina from having to spend most of the week in the hospital...

[Mormarth]

Elaine Winters
Location: The Lighthouse
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

I puffed out a breath from my nose, frowning in thought.

"As much as I'd like to go poking my nose into something that's got my interest..."

I scratched at my cheek, grimacing, "It's probably a better idea to head back first, get everyone in the know. Collating our knowledge 'n shit. For all that I'm a loose cannon who doesn't play by the rules..."

My expression darkened slightly, "I got a nasty feeling about what's coming down the pipeline, I don't want to leave anything to chance, don't want any of the folks back at the ranch to go and get themselves into trouble."

My eyes lingered on Sakura for a moment.

"We all got people we have to look after, right?"

It was going to be Saturday night, after all.

This is when it all goes to shit.

I nodded firmly, "So we'll round up the troops, gather all the intel we've dug up, and come up with a plan from there, make sure everybody knows where everybody is and what they're doing, regardless of how much I'd like to go running off into the dark, can't let my personal feelings get in the way."

[Mellon]

Anna Vandemeel
Location: Mitchell Residence - Inside
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"... You weren't meant to see this. None of you were. But I feel like what's going on in this town is more messed up than I could have ever imagined,"

"And with things like this, I'm starting to doubt it more and more whether I can fix any of this anymore..."

“Not meant to?” A brief dismissive snort escaped Anna’s lips as she glanced up from the car to gaze at the red-haired boy. „Ridiculous. What I am meant to do or see is irrelevant to me. I need no permission from you or anyone else.“

„In fact, the more I’m being steered away from something, the more tempted I am to break all those well laid plans of others.“The hints of a small grin flickered on the edge of Anna’s lips as she suddenly started walking towards Zane in a flurry of motion. “But you should have figured that much out by now already, no?“

„Besides...“

It was at this point that the Estonian girl stood straight in front of the older Mitchell sibling, looked him straight in the eye, raised her hand...

...and flicked him straight dab middle of his forehead.

„...you’re being too pedantic, brat.“

„One cannot plan and reason their way into a miracle. Fools will forever try, but they are fools, after all. Miracles are the ken of dedication, random chance, and dumb luck.“

„Instead, what you need is perseverance. A one-in-a-million random happenstance becomes almost guaranteed to happen once, provided that you repeat the circumstances a million times. That is if you don’t make it impossible by limiting your own actions of course.“Anna gave a casual shrug before turning away from Zane making her way back towards the car. “…like by setting restrictions in your mind on who is “meant” to see, do, or know something.”

"--- I did bring some pizza though. You gals hungry?"

„Sure, though I’m not sure we can waltz our little miss here...“ The Estonian girl gave a quick nod towards Alexstrasza, „...into the kitchen. While that guy did manage to keep his instincts in check, I’m not really sure it makes sense to directly tease him like that.“

„I’m definitely not going to bet on his self-restraint at least.“

Loose cannons were loose cannons, after all. It took one to know one, after all. Besides, while Zane was definitely „in the know“, so to speak, she didn’t want to risk potentially pulling Shane into this mess as well. Well, that was one of the reasons, at least. The second one being that she still didn’t trust the two characters in the building proper... and she didn’t trust Zane to be fully forthcoming in their presence either. And she for sure didn’t trust them enough to have them meet with everyone present.

Winters would bite her head off if anything happened to their their little raven-haired runaway, after all.

„Zane...“ Anna leaned casually on the side of the Corvette, even as her eyes were fixed on the door through which she had entered moments ago. „...what’s the deal with this „Eye“ in the „house of amber light“? You know about it, right?“

“Do you have it?“

[Spinach]

Colt Davin
Location: Forest Ranger Cabin
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

A holding cell under a statue situated in a rose garden which loomed in the shadows of a large building. The place where Fu met Hawthorn sounded much like the garden at the Spade Queen, and the thought of a holding cell being underneath that profane statue sent a chill down Colt’s spine.

A fisherwoman acquainted with Hawthorn. That was someone to be wary of. Even if they were just another piece on the board to him, a variable he could alter to manipulate the solution, that still gave the boy reason to be cautious of them.

“That’s plenty, thanks.”

Though Fu seemed concerned for him, Colt paid it no mind. Tired as he was, he wasn’t going to collapse. Stress and frustration were draining his energy, strange matrixes in his mind were tearing apart his brain. He couldn’t hide that. But there were things he could do, should do, so he would.

“It’s late.” Colt got up from his seat. “I’ll leave you to get some rest. Sorry to have bothered you, and thanks for putting up with me.”

Colt felt a sudden onset of lightheadedness followed by a wave of vertigo. Standing up too quickly, as tired and stressed as he was, had been a mistake. His hand grabbed hold of the back of his chair, reaching for the nearest, firm object he could ground himself with.

He blinked away a bead of sweat that fell from his brow into his eye.

This wasn’t normal fatigue. All-nighters weren’t unfamiliar to him. Colt knew fatigue, and this was something else.

Was this the damage Fu had mentioned?

The boy assumed he could ignore it, but a frightening thought flashed in his head. Colt had little fear of getting hurt anymore. He had become jaded toward the idea, apathetic to it.

But this was his mind. His mind which returned to Wednesday morning after dying. If he died… would this carry over to the “next” time?

Then what if he died because of this strain on his mind?

[Frantic Author]

Anna Vandemeel & Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Mitchell Residence - Garage
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

Really, this was growing terrible confusing for me. I had little idea what others were referring to, and scarcer still what kind of strange implications their words could have. It was like I was spinning in circles, with little bites at my sides, gnawing and gnawing away at every fraying fabric of my sanity to keep me alive. Remember the pain, for it keeps you alive, right Potemkin? Remember where it hurts, for it speaks truer to the fact that you breathe then even the closest of bonds.

"Well," I said with a frown, crossing my arms at both Zane and Anna, "I feel a little affronted that so many assume it is I who wish to kill him. It is, to be frank, the exact opposite. He promised me death, and desires to carve it from my flesh. Admittedly, he seems to also desire me, in a strange way, but I feel that to be less then relevant in comparison to other matters of considerably higher import."

I let out a sigh, pinching my nose as I thought. Did I truly appear so mad that I would kill without reason? Dearest Potemkin, sometimes I feel that others are scarce worth the time it takes to acquiesce to their wroth. I tire of false words and doublespeak. I tire of riddles and lies. Most of all, I tire of how little I truly seem to know.

"Let us speak truthfully and frankly," I said, clapping my hands, "all of this is quite beyond our capabilities to deal with. We will all likely die either tonight or tomorrow, in a way that is more then likely to be filled with terror and fear then peacefully."

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

I pause, taking a shuddering, deep breath.

"...I was not able to see what came after yesterday, in the first week," I said, smiling sadly, "so I could not tell you if a demise like my own would be better or worse. I only know what I know. Time will turn backwards, and so we must uncover a thousand mysteries interwoven a thousand times, until all of them coalesce into one. That Akashic Record -- that Greater Mystery -- how far off could it be? Just out of our sight, or seven lifetimes of seven sons? There's no way to know, and as such, there's no way to know what is right or what is correct but to try, and try again, and try again, until something shifts. Perhaps someone arrives early, or perhaps someone misses a bus they cannot miss. But until we know what that change is, well, the simple fact is this:"

I wink at everyone, giving them a V for victory and a brilliant smile.

"We're all going to die, so it's best to use our time wisely! Uncover what you can, ignore what you can't! If there's an Eye here, let's find it! If there isn't, too bad!"

[Cheetose]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Hisa's Room
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"I don't know much about that sort of history, so I'll trust Pyry's assumption there."

Contemplating, I rocked back and forth in my chair slightly, the cogs in my mind turning steadily as I tried to think back about what we found last night.

"There are a few things that I can recall which might have something to do with it, though. Maybe you might even know it better," I gestued towards To-Totesh as I looked at her, "First, there was the legend of Si Yett, who was placed onto the earth in the shape of a mountain to protect and watch over The Bridge of the Gods. A mountain that also goes by the name Lavalatla, or if I made the connection right, Mount St. Helens. Which is also in Washington."

That made sense so far, even if there wasn't really explanation for why, and why it was important.

"Some others also supposedly referred to it as Tsaga...Tsagaglal, or something, I think. Or "She Who Watches", and connected that to a different thing called the Petroglyph Cave. One of the many "veins", or lava tubes spreading out from the volcanoes that is filled with "tattoes" that grant wisdom in exchange for sight. These tunnels also supposedly lead to something called the "Beyond", which altogether makes it sound a lot like that bridge. A pathway to the abyss which is between dimensions."

I leaned back in my seat again, and glanced first at Leena, then at To-Totesh.

"Do you guys know anything about that, or, say...the lighthouse in this town, then? Since it all seems to be connected to the natives, and that being who was known as Allene McLampet for a while."

[Verg Avesta]

Vier
Location: Hunter's Shack
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"Heh."

A crude grin appeared on Lobo's face for a moment.

"I guess you're the type that only gets cute when they get angry," he smirked, before reaching for the kettle again. "But alright, alright... drink as much as you need. It's not a substitute for amphetamine but to be honest, that'd be the last thing you'd need right now. Better just warm yourself up from the inside. I mean..."

He eyed the girl for a moment as he poured her more coffee, as if scanning her physical and mental state with his mere gaze. While it wasn't exactly possible, there was something in those eyes. Like his namesake, Lobo had this... gaze of a wild animal, for a lack of a better word. He never really did look you as who you were, but what you were. And in that sense, perhaps he was also good at gauging the well-being of others, to an extent.

"... You look like you're on the verge of ASD. When was the last time you actually managed to rest properly?"

Perhaps a good question. Then again, who even could rest properly in a situation like the repeating week?

"Anyways, I think you're being overly paranoid. I dunno what happened to you back there, but if it were my guess? You ripped that card, saw what you saw, and afterwards got knocked out by that tree branch. That'd explain how I found you. I mean, it fell from right above where you were, so it'd make sense," Lobo continued. "Still, it's good you're not suicidal. Right now heading out there in your condition is a fool's errand. If you want, we can get going once you've gathered up your strength some, but going into that place at night - especially during a storm - is just asking to get cursed."

With the kettle returned to its place, Lobo took a moment to throw another piece of wood into the fire. His face reflected the dancing flames, and for some reason, a bestial grin rose to his face once more as he thought back to what Vier had said.

"But I see... chasing after Hawthorn huh? With Colton Davin? Hah... hahahaha..."

His laugh was rough, crude and saw something funny where most wouldn't have.

"--- Yeah, that guy deserves a good beating alright. That ain't the first time he's pulled something like that."

---

Prushka
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Prushka's Room
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

Alpa blinked in surprise... but then her face melted into a smile.

"U-um, I think I'd like that," she replied. "Yes... I'd very much like that."

It wasn't much, but it was a moment of rest that they all desperately needed. It wasn't long now. Not long now at all. Sunday would be here, and with it, the end of the week. Once again time would repeat itself, once again things would come to a head, and once again... there would be an ending to everything. They had learned more, they had made their theories, but as for the truth of this matter... it was still as elusive as moonlight upon a lake. There was no way to capture it. Different pieces, different truths, kept falling into the hands of different people, and until they were brought together, was there even a way to puzzle out what was happening to all of them?

And was there really need to think about that, right now, right in this moment?

Perhaps not.

With a blanket between them, the two girls sat near the TV as Prushka switched it on, letting the momentary wash of the static fill the room. No surprise, the storm was interfering with the signal and the antenna on top of the dormitory might have been hit by some strong gusts of winds. Luckily, Prushka had a remedy for that too, which came in the form of all the VHS tapes she had squirreled away in her room. Even if there was no proper signal, there would be plenty of things to watch.

But, as the small girl turned away to grab one of the nearby tapes...

"Um."

Alpa's voice cut the darkness, illuminated by the CRT screen.

"Prushka..."

She sounded unsure.

"What is... that...?"

And her finger pointed right at the TV screen.

For there, in the middle of the static, they could both see...

Someone within the static.

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

Prushka: Friendship Rank Raised!

---

Vivienne Bianchi
Location: Owl's Nest Hotel
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"Patched up... huh...?"

Alex, for a moment, looked at the gun in her hands. Almost like it was a symbol of how much she herself had changed - from whoever she had been to whoever she was now. From a complete person to an empty shell filled with nothing but her mission - one of finding answers and revenge. But, just like Vivienne had realized about herself, perhaps Alex saw something else in there too. Indeed, the very idea of being disconnected from one's feelings was, in a way... a paradox in and of itself. How much of it was true, and how much of it was our own making...

... That was a question the two girls had to wrestle with.

"The thing is, mademoiselle..." Alex continued. "Are we really a different person from who we used to be? Or do we merely wish for that? So, in the first place, is there anything to sully..."

She looked straight at Vivienne.

"... Or do we just tell ourselves that to keep our heads above the water?"

With that, the reporter took to the staircase as well, starting to descend it. They would have to be quick if they wanted to get ahead of this trouble that was brewing at the hotel and make their way back to the school.

Sunday was close.

The end was nigh.

And death was breathing down their necks.

"And while you say it's been week or a two..." Alex muttered as she pocketed her gun once more. "... Sometimes it feels like we've been at this for far longer, if merely in our minds."

And with that, the two girls headed into the night.

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

Vivienne Bianchi: Friendship Rank Raised!

---

Elise Marie Pelltier
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station - Bar
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"Ah ha ha, well, uh... it's a bit complicated, and to be honest periodical, so..."

Augusta chuckled a bit awkwardly, but there was no humour to be found in that laughter.

"Let's just say that whenever she sees something that doesn't fit her understanding of the world, Cesarina tries to... fill in the gaps, so to speak. Only, that tends to cause a infinite loop error, meaning that the problem just keeps piling and piling on, until, well..." She mimed a small explosion next to her head. "Nothing a little cooling off period can't handle once the shutdown occurs, but, hm..."

Looking at her empty glass, Auggie's expression was unreadable. There seemed to be many emotions behind it, emotions and history that told this wasn't the first time she had wrestled with this very same question.

"... Being the public face, Cesarina's not meant to understand certain things. The problem occurs when she does, and she can't handle that. That's why, in order to calm her down, there needs to be a... soft reset, of sorts. It's somewhat complicated to explain," the green-haired girl said. "With the way we are, if you'd want to avoid this happening, you would either need to keep her in the complete dark, or..."

She paused for a moment.

"--- Or somehow help her go beyond of what she was made to be."

Travis, upon hearing this, let out a quiet grunt.

"So that's the reason why the four of you are...?" He asked.

Augusta nodded.

"All for different facets of life, all for different ways of understanding. We each handle different aspects of the original, but unless we had an access to the central unit, that's all we'll ever be," she admitted. "Though, how did you know?"

Travis simply snorted at the question.

"Heard it from Noah. He's a... friend of mine," he said, making a vague gesture with his hand. "He was looking into something for me and instead hoovered up some information regarding you four. Like the fact that the original Cesarina---"

Whatever the boy was about to say had to wait. After all, in that moment, while the jukebox was still blaring, the trio that had been sitting at the faraway table suddenly stood up. The man in the black trenchcoat, the fisherwoman, and Elaine's brother... they all seemed to have finished their conversation. Together, as a group, they headed towards the door, the young woman hollering a goodbye towards the staircase to let Billie know that they were leaving. The door opened once more and the trio stepped out into the rain, seemingly each heading to different direction.

Travis looked after them, before glancing towards Elise.

"... Looks like that's our cue," he commented. "Ready to head out..."

With a bit of a sarcastic smirk on his face, he cocked an eyebrow.

"'Friend who goes to the same high school as a student?'"

---

Elaine Winters
Location: The Lighthouse
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

Sakura nodded to Elaine, and underneath her hardened expression shone a momentary glimmer of gratitude.

It made sense that the older girl was worried about her ward.

"Right, I agree. That's the wisest course of action, at least for now," she said. "This weather isn't doing us any favours, and if what I've heard is true, then what happens next is going to be of utmost importance. We need to be prepared."

Both Ubon and Subaru, and even Tonkori, nodded in agreement - determination clear on their face.

And thus, that only left...

"Well. I can only wish you kids good luck," Joshua grunted, gazing at the group. "I can tell you that whatever's about to happen, it's gonna get ugly. There's a darkness seeping into this town, and it's got a will and malice. Feels like bunch of wills are clashing, fighting for supremacy, and the one to stand in the end will have their way. So weather that storm of lies and secrets and try to come out top. That's the only way you won't drown in that dark ocean."

He paused for a moment, rubbing his chin... but eventually, a sort of sardonic grin spread to his face.

"Though if the worst comes to pass, you're welcome to come hang out here," he added. "I won't say no to couple more spirits to hang out with."

And with that, it was finally time to head back.

To the school.

And to the Sunday that awaited them, past this night.

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

Elaine Winters: Friendship Rank Raised!

---

Anna Vandemeel & Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Mitchell Residence - Garage
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"No."

The answer that came to Alexstrasza's words was strong. No, not just strong. It was full of the kind of determination that did not allow any room for doubt. The person who spoke could not accept the idea that had seeped into those words like it had been some sort of given truth. Instead, the speaker - the redheaded young man whose eyes were now pure steel - walked up to the blonde vampire. He locked his eyes with her, so close that she could feel the sheer emotion in them, and refused to look away.

"You're not gonna die. Not this time. I'm not here just for..." For a moment, the boy's words wavered, as if he didn't want to say something aloud - but then he shook his head. "... I'm here for all of you. Like Anna said, I persevered. Against impossible odds, putting my faith in mere urban legend and a possible lie, I persevered. Just to get back to this moment. So I could stare down that idea that all of you will die... and I could shatter it, once and for all."

He pushed his finger up and pointed it at Alexstrasza's chest - as if to make a point to the vampire in particular.

"I won't let any one of you die. Not as long as I'm here."

With that, having made his stance clear, Zane turned around. He looked at the car that had been exposed... and slowly grabbed the sheet that had been pulled aside. With a slight sigh, he went and pulled it back over the vehicle, hiding both it and the machine it carried away from the prying eyes. As he did, however, for some strange reason a chuckle of some sort seemed to bubble forth from within it.

"... But I see. So Lane's got the hots for you, huh? That's... yeah, I can see it. He is like that," the redhead said, frowning a bit. "... He's not a good guy. I know that. But I can't hate him either. Just like me, he's put it all on the line to save someone. Only, he doesn't even know if they're alive, and thus, he's sacrificed far more. I'm not saying you have to forgive him or get along with him, but..."

He paused for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders with a sigh.

"I dunno. I guess all I'm trying to say is that the guy's not like that just for kicks."

Zane turned to look back at the trio.

"Anyways, I'll go see them off. Now that I'm here they can get back to their own things," he said, pointing his thumb towards the door. "Just close the garage door and wait here until I'll give you a sign. Once they're off we can talk about... things. Including the Eye. I'll... well. I'll try to tell all that I can. But the situation is... complicated to say the least. You'll just have to trust me in some things."

He walked up to the door, before glancing back - straight at Anna - and a ghost of a smirk floated to his face.

"I am older than you, after all," he added before disappearing inside.

With that, it was just the matter of waiting for a while. Ramia started pulling the garage door closed, but as she did, two forms sprinted across the yard and hurried inside. As expected, it was Zhou and Stephanie, looking somewhat cold but still in relatively good spirits. The storm hadn't soaked them to the bone at least, and the little girl looked as energetic as ever.

Zhou, on the other hand, had a very troubled look on her face.

"So~"

She started in her usual sing-song voice... only to drop it, along with the fake smile on her face.

"... Could anyone give me an explanation as to what on earth that was about? Did we all miss something?" She asked.

A question mostly meant to Anna.

---

Colt Davin
Location: Forest Ranger Cabin
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"...... Hey, Colt?"

Fu's quiet words called out to the boy as he stood in the doorway, about to leave the room.

Looking back, over his shoulder, he could see the cursed girl lying down in her bed. Her aggravated wounds must have gotten to her again, as she was looking a bit pale and exhausted as well... but perhaps that was why she could easily see that he was going through something similar - as if the fact that he had nearly stumbled over hadn't clued her in yet.

Yet, though the look in Fu's eyes had been nothing but contempt for most of this meeting, now again...

... They couldn't help but to show worry.

"Don't push yourself. And don't agonize over it," she quietly said. "Whatever the reason for your... ability. Whether it's a quirk of fate, something genetic, or maybe a curse of its own..."

She paused, searching for the right words.

"... I'm sure it'll be fine. These things... they don't happen without reason."

A strange sort of smile, almost like a ghost, hovered on her lips.

"The world tends to be like poetry, much more than we believe."


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

Colton Davin: Friendship Rank Raised!

---

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Hisa's Room
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"Mm."

To-Totesh nodded.

"Tsagiglalal - She who watches. Important figure in Klallam tales, though in case of Road's End... it differs from the usual tale. She was the greatest chieftain, from before the time people were real. In these times, the people were those with glass eyes, made when Coyote laughed while creating them. She ruled over this land, watching people from the rocks above a river. One day, Coyote came to these lands, and sought her out. He asked Her if she was a good or evil to her people, and She Who Watches merely replied - 'I give them knowledge'. For there was both good and evil in knowledge. Coyote, upon hearing this, told that soon there would be time when beings like Her could not be chieftains, and thus - to preserve her wisdom and gaze - turned her into stone to watch over this land forever," the native girl explained. "Wise being of stone... it ties into the legend of Si Yett too. A maiden of heavens, placed upon this world as a mountain, watching over the Bridge of Gods. In both cases, it ties back to a woman of grand knowledge, turned to stone, watching over this particular land and the Bridge of the Gods themselves. And this 'stone' may refer indeed to Mt. Saint Helens."

Hearing that, Pyry's eyes widened a little and he looked over to Hisa.

"Wait... Mt. Saint Helens?" He asked. "In those journals we found, didn't they talk about that too? How the air force had done some sort of excavating there? No, in the first place, there was that whole matter of the lighthouse being made out of volcanic rock that came from Mt. Saint Helens, and had all those strange qualities, which was why the lighthouse acted the way it did..."

The boy descended into deep, troubled thought, mulling over these facts and what they might mean. To-Totesh, on the other hand, looked at Hisa with a bit of a searching gaze.

"Yes. The lighthouse is, from what I understand, connected. Built out of the materials that Si Yett spewed forth, how could it not be? And then there's the old name of this town... Lady's View," she continued. "It has to connect to Tsagiglalal, I'm sure of it. After all, To-Totesh is smart!"

Leena chuckled a bit.

"Well yes, I'd imagine so. Though, the lighthouse comes much later, during the 1800's," she explained. "If we were to continue what we learned chronologically, then the next part would be... err, gosh... it was..."

Mercedes snorted.

"Like, the battles."

With that bit of advice, the blue-haired girl was back on track.

"O-oh, right! The battles! See, when the vikings arrived here, they weren't exactly being friendly. The Klallam and the foreigners, they waged a bloody war of this coastal area - but in the end, the vikings were victorious. The old vellum scrolls mentioned something about 'the rage of the wolf' helping the vikings to victory, but to be honest, I have no idea what that means," Leena continued. "Still, instead of driving the Klallam away, the vikings brokered peace on the condition they could build a village here. After all, this is where something they had been searching for was... a 'Grove of Fetters' as was written down. I'm not quite sure what it was, but I would imagine it's some place of trees that holds a significant importance to the vikings... and it was what they needed to search for their real goal. The thing they had left their homeland for, in the wake of that disaster."

Pyry, upon hearing that, leaned forward where he was sitting and rubbed his chin, where a bit of a beard stubble had started to form.

"... Now that I think about it, there's a bridge of gods in norse mythology too, isn't there?" He commented, looking at Hisa. "I bet you've heard about it too. It's one of those things that gets used in media and storybooks, after all."

Indeed, there was really only one bridge that Pyry could be talking about.

"The Bifröst."

[Kuroyuki]

Vier
Location: Hunter's Shack
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"Heh. I guess you're the type that only gets cute when they get angry. But alright, alright... drink as much as you need. It's not a substitute for amphetamine but to be honest, that'd be the last thing you'd need right now. Better just warm yourself up from the inside. I mean..."

“Calling me cute right now isn’t going to dig you out of the hole that you just dug…”

I took a controlled drink of the coffee to organize Lobo Currumpaw’s words better. Amphetamines? I reevaluated Lobo Currumpaw for using the medical compound that most people recognized as the drugs: crystal meth or MDMA. The prescribed versions people knew about were Desoxyn or Pervitin. So seeing him refer to amphetamines outright made me wonder if despite his gruff, blood knight, magic user appearance, that Lobo Currumpaw was hiding a lot more than what he liked to project. His casual comment on what I was last loop and how he deduced it made more sense if I thought of him that way.

“Well if we were tracking Hawthorn down right now, then the amphetamines might be more useful...” I stare outside a window before continuing. ”And lots of weather resistant clothing. But that’s not here or there. So I’m content to drink this coffee and rest up.”

Despite Lobo Currumpaw’s concern, I could still operate. However, if we did move right now, I wouldn't be in peak condition and have to act around that. While I didn’t feel the effects of being knocked unconscious or being soaked to the point of body failure, I also was being taken care of until I woke up. So there is no reason to not take this opportunity to rest.

"... You look like you're on the verge of ASD. When was the last time you actually managed to rest properly?"

I thought for a moment. When was the last time I slept properly… I had the ability to take naps or fall asleep anywhere. However, by the average person’s perception of proper sleep… Eight hours of comfortable, full rest…

“3 years, 10 months, and… 11 days was the last time I slept what most people would consider to be properly sleeping.”

The night before Operation Deep Butterfly to be exact.

“However, in terms of affecting sleep… Wednesday morning when I woke up after dying.”

I didn't expand on what I meant by dying. While, he might understand what I meant about me and some of the other students looping. I frankly didn't feel like explaining. In terms of my mental state of us waking up after said death. I want to say most of us came out exceptionally well. No mental breakdowns or increased paranoia. While I’ve come to terms with the possibility of dying so actually dying wasn’t that bad. I also had to accept that most people were not me. They didn't get sent on suicide missions or were indoctrinated to accept that they were expendable. The only noticeable mental strain was its affect on my sleep. And what was affecting my sleep was the fact that I knew tragedy was coming again and each second was a reminder that it was going to happen again. I could prepare as best as I could. I could coordinate with others to try and stop it. However, as we are now, I doubt we will stop the tragedy from occurring again. So sleeping properly in spite of that would take a miracle.

"But I see... chasing after Hawthorn huh? With Colton Davin? Hah... hahahaha… --- Yeah, that guy deserves a good beating alright. That ain't the first time he's pulled something like that."

“Well that makes me feel a little better to know that I’m not the first person he’s pulled a fast one on.”

It really didn’t, but if I didn’t joke about it a little then the frustration would continue to gnaw at me. The fact that I was betrayed by someone that I thought I could trust and it wasn’t even me that he betrayed the most with his move. I kept my eyes on the fire whilst sipping on my diminishing coffee before speaking again.

“Do you have anything planned later? Since I’ve lost Hawthorn’s trail, I’m kind of free now. While I would love to continue tracking him or even heading back, I do owe you one.”

While I hate owing favors, I'm also not sure if I could find Hawthorn at this time... And heading back wasn't an option I wanted to do. The less I see them this loop, the easier it will be when everything is reset again.

[Katie]

Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High Main Building
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

Lucille doesn’t refute the help—she simply just didn’t wish for John to do this alone. And the mention of misunderstandings is far, far too real. Better they do it together and have people second guess what so many teenagers are doing around a corpse, she supposes. With that, everything is clear cut. A body to bury and a culprit to catch.

That is, until John takes the capsule from her. His words wash over her far more heavily than the deluge outside. Like she is drowning, drowning under people’s expectations.

“So, what’ll be?” He questions. “Are you willing to trust me? Are you willing to let me trust you?”

It’s like Sakura and Mercedes and everyone else all over again. The burden is not on her, and yet some part of her feels compelled to refute this decision. But Lucille does not disagree with John’s points, not in the slightest. If someone were to take it, it should be him. The only thing stopping her from saying “yes” immediately is a gut instinct that screams for her to experience this herself.

Lucille opens her mouth and shuts it just as quickly. That desire—lack of trust or whatever it is—wouldn’t fly among the others, she feels, and this is not a hill she wishes to die on. It’s safer if everything goes John’s way.

“I trust you,” she finally says, but it comes out awkwardly, a bit hesitant. Something about being put on the spot like this shakes her will. “We’ll keep you safe then.

[Thalraxal]

Elise Marie Pelltier
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station - Bar
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

The trio from the other table had left the building, leaving only the trio at her table alone in the bar.

"'Friend who goes to the same high school as a student?'"

"Maybe not the most poetic description, I'll admit," said Elise as she got up from her chair and hastily changed the subject, "A-anyway, we've got someone's older brother to stalk!"

Elise placed her backpack into her now vacant chair and hastily rifled through it to find her wallet. She paused when she spotted a pair of sheathed nail-like daggers tucked between her notepad, her pencil case, and a guidebook to Road's End. She frowned momentarily as she considered them.

Hopefully we won't need them tonight, but it'd be better to have them handy in case we do, thought Elise, After all, this is the oncoming storm Muse warned us about.

An oncoming storm that LBJ told her that the Elise Marie Pelltier that came before they were what they were could have stood against. Someone she'd hoped to have learned more about tonight, but had not. She spared a brief thought for the elusive Ashley Xavier, and wondered where he'd chosen to take shelter from the storm.

She pulled the pair of daggers out, along with her wallet, and strapped them to her belt before pulling her jacket back on and obscured them somewhat.

"The reason Cesarina was signed up for the Oceandrop Program then... it was to help her go beyond what she was made to be, wasn't it? If not for our current circumstances, Pinefall would be good environment for that, wouldn't it? A limited number of people, a fairly controlled environment. Overwhelming but not too overwhelming. There's a weirdly overstocked and secure hospital nearby, and given the nature of the school, no one would really think too much if someone needed to be whisked away to the hospital for a few days for treatment in the event she needed a cool down period."

She took a swig and finished off what remained of her drink, and then fished out a twenty dollar out of her wallet and placed it on the table beside her empty glass.

I have no idea how much my drink was, or if it was on the house, but it'd be rude not to leave something, and it's not like I'm going to need money tomorrow, thought Elise as she tossed her wallet back into her backpack.

She frowned to herself as she considered Travis' unfinished thought as she slung her backpack over her shoulder and started to make her way towards the door.

"So the four of you... Cesarina and Augusta... Are you named for Diocletian's Tetrarchy, or after Roman heads of state? And... our Cesarina, the one we've met... she's not the original Cesarina then, is she?" asked Elise as she glanced between Travis and Augusta.

[Cheetose]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Hisa's Room
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"I've heard about that, but that's not actually real, is it?"

I sighed deeply as I leaned back in my seat and scratched the back of my head.

There seemed to be so much information hidden within those lines. So many ambiguous clues, so many that I might just be reading wrong because of what I wanted to see in it.

It reminded me of fortune tellers, in a sense, who left things vague enough so that people could put the details together and reach a conclusion based on their own experiences, all the while giving too much credit to said fortune tellers for planting a mere delusion into their minds.

Well, maybe not entirely the same, but with my mindset it was hard to take things literally, and from that moment the true meaning of those words became quite muddled.

"I feel like I'm always kinda out of touch with magic stuff, since it has such an extensive and obscure history, sometimes with even the same stuff having vastly different intepretations depending on the perspective. Quite different from my simple self...Which just makes it rather hard to tell what is real, what is symbolism, and what is just complete junk."

Of course, I more than believed in magic...

But it was somewhat amusing how between humans and wizards and other magical people, espers were pretty much just a weird half-breed inbetween, and probably even leaning more towards humans at that.

"Anyways, thinking things through, first..."

I lifted my balled up fist and extended my thumb as a follow-up to my words;

"I'd imagine that in this context the Bifröst and the bridge both refer to the same thing, and that it likely has something to do with that weird cave."

Then my index;

"I'm not sure what Grove of Fetters is in a mythological context, but if it's some sort of a sacred grove, then the woods here are probably a good candidate. Though if something, it would be quite desecrated by now, if we consider that the townspeople hung a person in that same forest. Though, it could refer to an actual grove of fetters though. That is, a grove of these woods that exists within the dream world."

I never entirely explained that, did I? Not even to Pyry, even though there was nothing particularly secretive about it...

"Err...basically, something that exists outside of normal time. A place where there is an entity that binds your being there, and lets you persist and return instead of fading out of existence...at least, that's the gist of it. In a sense, that's like a chain, even if it shouldn't necessarily have the negative implications of it. That aside, third..."

And my middle finger too.

"I dunno about the 'rage of the wolf', but the vikings were quite into wolves, weren't they?" I asked, as I shot a glance at Pyry, "I remember that there was Fenrin at least, though I doubt that is too relvant. But they were also often referred to as 'sea wolves', weren't they? From a more grounded perspective, that could just refer to some sort of a behaviour they exhibited, but it's also quite evident that werewolves have existed for a long time now, so..."

I figured that I didn't really have to put the picture together for them - and thus, I raised my ring finger as well.

"As for the lighthouse, Pyry is right. I just didn't want to bend your perspective before hearing your opinion on it, considering that...based on what we found, it's more likely that the lighthouse was built out of the remains of an asteroid, and not the mountain, or its volcanic stones. I'd also wager that Patient Zero arrived with that asteroid too, or that perhaps it was what broke her out of her earthly prison...or something. It should be related, at least, considering that they found her there as well."

Then, finally, my pinky.

"And lastly...the glass-eyed people don't only come up in those tales. That's how Beatrice referred to those shadow things back at Leena's manor too, and Patient Zero referred to someone similar to her, someone she was looking for, as 'The Mother of Glass-Eyed Units'...But is that related, then?"

[Verg Avesta]

John Dove & Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High Main Building
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

Thus, the capsule was consumed by John Dove.

--- A medicine, some would say.

Immediately, the boy felt a momentary rush in his head, a bit similar as before - but this time, much more noticeable. It was like he could hear the sound of the blood moving within him, and the veins in his head itched for the briefest moment. But then, the sensation was gone - just as quickly as it had appeared. He blinked his eyes open, gazing at the group that had gathered around him... and saw that they were all still there. None of them had disappeared, none of them had been too tied to the Turnside to just be rejected by the medicine altogether, and none---

--- Wait.

Hwan Bin. He looked normal. Lucille Faraday. She looked normal. Xeni Techne. She looked normal.

But Kean Loinnir...

... His appearance had changed from before, that much was certain. Of course, this change had happened earlier today already. But what had come with that change in appearance were clearly inhuman, machine-like parts of his body that he had been trying to hide with his clothes - bits of inorganic sticking out from the seams, so to speak.

But those were gone now.

There was nothing of the sorts remaining.

For all intents and purposes, Kean Loinnir looked just like a... normal human.

"You good?" Hwan asked, arching an eyebrow and snapping his fingers in front of John's face a few times. "Eh, seems like he's not going crazy loco on us. Good enough for me."

With that, he turned around and took a look at the body of Souma Nubatama that they had been carrying so far. Then his eyes wandered towards the storm outside, and he grimaced.

"... Let's just get this over with. The faster we're out of the rain, the better."

Kean, upon hearing that, snorted.

"No complaints here. We've still got a long night ahead of us..."

With that, the group started towards the doors of the main building. The school around them was as silent as a grave, as if nothing outside of them had ever lived there to begin with. The empty hallways, classrooms and staircases... it was all shrouded in darkness that seemed to be groving by the minute. Soon enough this whole campus would be wrapped in those same oily shadows that were threatening the lives of everyone in Pinefall, and perhaps the Road's End as a whole. Sunday was just around the corner, and everyone could feel it...

... And they weren't sure if they were any closer to answers than the first time.

"... I don't. Like this," Xeni muttered while carrying Souma, so quietly that only Lucille could hear it. "It's like. The night. I was attacked. And got. Some of. My tech. Stolen."

Even the one most out of the loop, the panda-eyed android, seemed wary.

But such thoughts soon were wiped away by the storm as the rain hit the group with full force, once they exited the main building.

"I'd suggest the woods!" Hwan yelled over the winds and motioned towards the treeline. "Soft ground there, shouldn't take so long!"

It was a decent enough suggestion, and a patch of freshly-disturbed dirt shouldn't raise too many eyebrows there. Or draw any unwanted eyes.

Though speaking of which...

As John let his stare scan the perimeter of the campus...

Something strange caught his eye.

Namely, the dormitory building, and the fact that there were lights on in some of the windows facing the center of the campus - namely the second floor.

Sure enough, he could put a name and face to most of them, like the light shining from Xylia Pheme's room. But at the same time...

Something was off.

After all, there was one window where light was streaming through, and he didn't know whose it was. In fact, there was another room right next to it, but there were no lights on there. Yet, as far as he knew...

--- There were no rooms there to begin it.

It was just the empty space...

... Right next to the second floor laundry room.

"~~~~~!"

A blue robin, sitting under the eaves of a large pine tree, seemed to giggle at his confusion.

Still, there was much to do...

--- Like giving Souma his final resting place.

Until the day after tomorrow.


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

John Dove: Friendship Rank Raised!

Lucille Faraday: Friendship Rank Raised!

---

Vier
Location: Hunter's Shack
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"Unfortunately..."

Lobo took a hold of a fire iron and adjusted the embers for a moment.

"... What I need to do tomorrow ain't something you can help me with. And not because I doubt your talents or anything," the man in green answered. "But because that's just how things are. It's my duty... my penance. And I have to do it, whether I like it or not."

With a self-derisive, extremely bitter grin, the man turned to look at Vier. Then he mimed putting hand on his throat and tightening it like a noose of some sort, to the point that a normal person would be left gasping for breath.

"Got a leash around my neck. Pitiful, right? My name comes from a proud wolf, yet here I am, bound like a bloodhound - to a master I despise," he explained. "I have to do their bidding when they want it and how they want it, no matter what my own heart tells me. Then again..."

He, for a moment, gazed at Vier's gear as well.

"... I'm sure you can understand that sentiment."

Silence fell over the shack once more. The only sounds that bothered the two were the howling storm outside, how it rattled the wooden planks, the creaking of the floorboards and the crackling of the fireplace before them. In a weird way, it was like two wolves, both bound by chains they had never asked for, sharing just one moment of peace before those chains were tugged once more.

Looking at his eyes, perhaps Lobo, in some strange way, saw himself - only younger and with more to hope for - in Vier... and perhaps that was why he sympathized with her.

He didn't pity, no.

But he looked at her like he understood, if only a little bit.

"Still, if you're serious about wanting to pay your debt..."

The man's voice cut through the silence.

"... There might be something you could do," he spoke, slowly, deliberately, as if weighing his own words. "I doubt that you could do anything about this leash of mine. But maybe..."

His eyes narrowed as he gazed into the flames, their dance reflected on his face.

"--- You could take the bullets out of the gun my master's holding to my head."

He paused, again.

But only for a short moment.

Like a man hesitating just for a second before jumping into an ice-cold lake.

"Say... have you heard of Suzume Bianchi before?"


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

Vier Wolff: Friendship Rank Raised!

---

Elise Marie Pelltier
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station - Bar
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"Oh, simply heads of state," Augusta responded with a slight chuckle as she got up as well. "As for the original Cesarina, well..."

She left that sentence hanging in the air, with a small, sad smile on her face. Travis, on the other hand, frowned. Frowned like he was angry at something. Not at Augusta, not at Elise, not even at himself, but rather... like he was angry at this situation itself, and the roads that had forced them and taken them to this point in their lives. Like he was angry at the unfair nature of the world itself.

"... The original Cesarina isn't around anymore. That's more or less it," he grunted as an answer, and Auggie gave a small, quiet nod. "Bother this quartet if you want more information. Or maybe Noah or Hisa Momoi - the latter also, apparently, read through those files."

With that, the boy stood up as well and pulled his jacket on him. He took a moment to check his pockets, as if looking for something specific - and then let out a satisfied sound as he found what he was looking for. For the briefest moment, Elise could see a flash of metal in his hand, what looked to be in a shape of a knuckleduster, before he pocketed those weapons once more.

Thus, the trio started towards the door - to the direction where the group from before had disappeared to.

"The more I learn about this town, this school, and this goddamned project, the more furious I get," Travis muttered as he walked. "Everything they touch seems to spiral down into the exact opposite of what it was supposed to be."

Hearing that, Auggie chuckled again, though it didn't sound very happy.

"Mm, could be? There's definitely an air of misery permeating this town. Like someone doesn't want there to be a happy ending to anything," she commented. "Though, oh, don't misunderstand me. Cesarina didn't come here to get healed. Not really - it was more of an excuse, and an additional benefit."

She put her hand on the doorknob and pulled it open.

"... The real reason why Cesarina - and us - are here is because we're on a mission," Augusta revealed. "For some reason just about every supernatural organization from here to Japan wanted a piece of this Road's End Pie - and not the kind that Avery Walker makes. Some sent agents outright, others sent them under false pretenses, but they're all here for some reason... and I think most are in your class. Heck, not sure if they even know why they're really here! But everybody's after something... and they wanna be the first one to get it. Meanwhile, we wanna know why."

With that, the green-haired girl stepped out into the storm.

"Or so said our contact - a certain tech-wizard who goes by the name LiGhTs."


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

Elise Marie Pelltier: Friendship Rank Raised!

---

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Hisa's Room
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

Pyry frowned.

"The ones at the mansion felt very... artificial, I'd say. Not right. They might be 'Glass-Eyed People' too, but... I doubt they're the only ones. Or if they are, maybe they're just pale imitations," he suggested, before shaking his head. "I dunno... I just feel that it would be wrong to call them that. Or rather, they don't feel like the right answer here... though it's just my gut feeling."

To-Totesh nodded.

"Perhaps 'Glass-Eyed' is not single type of entity, but concept. Those were manifestations, right? Something made stronger by the machines, slight possibility blown out into full manifestation - only weak? So maybe there's real 'glass-eyed people', and those things are just made in same way... cheap knockoffs of the real thing. But for convenience sake, they're technically the same," the native girl answered. "But that's weird... Coyote is supposedly the one who made the glass-eyed people. And didn't the notes from the secret lab under the hospital say this 'Mother' was supposedly she who watches? That doesn't sound right."

The group fell silent once again, mulling over this apparent contradiction... until Mercedes, of all people, lifted her eyes.

"Like, what about this?" She started, lifting both her index fingers separately. "Those, uh, creations... like, the ones that you guys saw? Those are 'glass-eyed people' or 'glass-eyed units' or whatevah. And making them is, like, manifesting something that's not super real. Like, for example like, taking a rumour and making it real. Or an urban legend. Or a lie. Or hell, a thought. Unreal made real or whatevah, point is, something that normally, like, couldn't exist in this world of ours. This Coyote had the power to do, but so did She Who Watches. And there's, like, the distinction. This Patient Zero wasn't, like, looking for Coyote - they were looking for the Mother. Mother who could be..."

Surprisingly, Leena cut into the conversation, her eyes being far more serious than usual.

"--- The Lady. The supposed woman to whom the lighthouse was originally built for. Or perhaps she appeared when the lighthouse was built. Still, she was the reason why Road's End was known as 'Lady's View' before. A name that... sorta matches She Who Watches, doesn't it?" She asked, sounding a bit unsure herself. "But then, gosh... could it be that the lighthouse was what the vikings were searching for? Or, well, um, not the lighthouse but this possible asteroid? I think the Kincaids are descendants from nordic settlers after all... and I mean, Road's End has three meteor-impact lakes, that is, the Star Lakes, so maybe they got confused and thought it was here at first... or maybe they needed the Grove of Fetters to be at the same place? And that's why they dragged that stuff from Mt. Saint Helens all the way back here?"

Pyry, upon hearing that, hummed quietly and folded his arms, his brow furrowed in deep thought.

"... Technically, magic does take into account a so-called 'home field advantage'. Especially back in the day. So a place where some other religion or rules were in place, whatever mystical powers you had were being suppressed since they didn't necessarily 'fit'. Or conversely, if they fit, they'd be far more powerful. So if the vikings carved their own little slice of Norway here, then dragging something they wanted to use back here would make some sense..." He replied. "And technically, an exploding volcano - especially a violent one - can throw things thousands of kilometers, and high up in the atmosphere. It would be rare, but not impossible I think. So what if..."

He looked at Hisa with a question in his eyes.

"What if the catastrophe that the vikings faced threw something far up in the air that it ended up all the way here... and the vikings came after it? I'm not 100% sure if that's plausible, but it would make... some sorta sense, I guess?" He suggested. "I dunno... the problem with legends is that you can read so much into it, and they're such a bad case of a game of telephone that what really happened often gets lost. Hell, in this case Coyote turning the Chief to stone could be that they turned her into a mountain, made a statue of them, had them frozen in time or even something as ridiculous hitting them with a petrification attack in a heated battle. Who even knows?"

The boy let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back on the bed, his back hitting the sheets.

"We should get to those caves somehow, I bet they would make things clearer... or so I hope."

[Daneel Rush]

Location: Pinefall High Main Building
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

“Eh, seems like he's not going crazy loco on us. Good enough for me. (…) ...let's just get this over with. The faster we're out of the rain, the better.”

“Indeed, I am probably the last person from whom you should fear a murderous rampage,” John quips in his characteristic flat tone. “And I do agree. No need to linger further than the utmost necessary.”

For the rest of the way outside, John Dove remains quiet and pensive. Outwardly, this is in no way different from his usual, but things are indeed different right now. He quickly decides against voicing his…altered perception. The last thing they need right now is to push Kean Loinnir into questioning himself.

Furthermore…an entire room in the dorms, revealed only by the pill? What is he supposed to make of that?

If anything, by this point “T4I MJÖLNIR” seems as supernatural as anything else in this cage of a town, if not even more so. Even John Dove knows ingested drugs are not supposed to work instantaneously—how the hell does the substance affect his brain before the pill can even reach his stomach?

On a side note, John Dove is no neuroscientist, so he does not know that it is a lot easier to make the brain perceive things than it is to make it not perceive them. Even without this tidbit, however, he does have enough reason to consider the possibility that the drug is not “erasing an illusion”, but creating one instead. A drug that manipulates the brain’s signal processing pathways and neural plasticity to generate artificial sensations, thoughts and memories. Maybe even make people “recall” things they “forget” the moment the drug’s effect ends.

What better way to hide something than outside of existence?

He does not need to tell them about Loinnir looking different, but the matter of the room-that-is-not-there definitely has to come up. If he is going to visit this room, he would prefer somebody watching his back for those who may not want him to see it. Right now, however, he must give Souma a respectful conclusion. There is something unpleasant in the thought of just leaving him there to be stumbled upon by somebody else tomorrow. In the meantime, he’ll keep an eye for any changes in the room-that-wasn’t-there-before.

Above their heads, a blue robin trills as if laughingly.

Do not look down on me. There’s no bird that would not seek cover in this rain.

“Stay sharp, everyone; we’re being watched,” he declares, vaguely gesturing towards the conspicuous bird. “And there’s something I have to tell you once we’re done with this. Seems like the drug has already shown me something.”

Looks like it’s going to be a long night.

What an actual hassle.


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

[Thalraxal]

Elise Marie Pelltier
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station - Bar
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"The more I learn about this town, this school, and this goddamned project, the more furious I get. Everything they touch seems to spiral down into the exact opposite of what it was supposed to be."

"Mm, could be? There's definitely an air of misery permeating this town. Like someone doesn't want there to be a happy ending to anything."

Elise nodded along with Travis.

"I've tried to dig into Road's End history as much as I can this week-"

A less than read book on the subject suddenly felt a lot heavier than it was in her backpack.

"-and it always seems to find a way to end in tragedy. Not a lot of happy endings around here."

Howard McLampet and his buddies wanted to remake Road's End into a bustling science city, but that ended with Howard lost at sea, possibly betrayed by his best friend, and his family torn apart in the resulting battle over the inheritance leaving Road's End to its slow decline. The Last Class ended with Remmie dead, Samuel trapped in a coma, and the rest of the group scattered to the wind. Daniel and Ingrid freed Road's End from a tyrant, but Ingrid lost an eye and just got carted away by the military to who knows where, while Daniel fell into a depression and secluded himself in his family home until he left for the war. He came back as Mr. Oceandrop, but the first time he tried this it ended in disaster, and this time isn't looking much better.

I wonder how it will end for us? Are we as doomed as the ones who came before us?

Elise frowned to herself as she considered the previous Sunday and the fates of herself and her classmates.

Just as doomed as ourselves, I suppose.

She paused, turning back to look at the mirror hanging on the wall behind the counter and catching a glimpse of a reflection that wasn't entirely her own.

What about me? Given that prophecy, I might've just been doomed from the start. Samuel's at least given me some hope that Ezekiel and Michael were wrong about it, but I can't be sure until I actually get to read that for myself.

Elise turned away from the mirror and continued on her way towards the door.

"... The real reason why Cesarina - and us - are here is because we're on a mission. For some reason just about every supernatural organization from here to Japan wanted a piece of this Road's End Pie - and not the kind that Avery Walker makes. Some sent agents outright, others sent them under false pretenses, but they're all here for some reason... and I think most are in your class. Heck, not sure if they even know why they're really here! But everybody's after something... and they wanna be the first one to get it. Meanwhile, we wanna know why."

"I thought I knew why I was here, but I'll admit, I've been feeling less and less certain about that," admitted Elise.

I feel like I know less about myself than I did at the start.

"I caught a snippet of the other table's conversation though. Sounded like Gottlieb and others are looking for something, although they didn't kindly give me any context for what that thing was," continued Elise as she followed Augusta out the door, "Don't underestimate the lure of Mrs. Walker's cherry pie, though, Augusta. I'm not kidding, part of my mission here is actually to secure a piece of her cherry pie and deliver it to my superior."

Elise spared one last glance back into the bar before stepping out into the storm.

"It's to die for."

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

[Mellon]

Anna Vandemeel
Location: Mitchell Residence - Garage
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"I am older than you, after all,"

The raven haired girl rolled her eyes in exasperation as she watched the red-haired youth vanish into the depths of the house. An involuntary mutter echoed outwards as she stepped towards the garage door, clearly aiming to pull it down and stop the influx of wind and rainwater from continuing to flood the small garage.

“... age is damn irrelevant, you oaf. If you’re an idiot, you’re a damn idiot. Half the problems of this world wouldn’t exist if old fogies were even half as competent as they bloody like to pretend…”

“…being old mainly just makes you pigheaded. The older, the more pigheaded, mostly…””

”...Could anyone give me an explanation as to what on earth that was about? Did we all miss something?"

“…hmm?”

The raven-haired girl momentarily stopped, seemingly only now noticing the pointed question that had been fired in her direction. Pulling the rest of the garage door down with a slight smacking sound, she turned towards the half-Chinese mystic with a half-hearted shrug, before pointing at the time machine behind the group.

“That thing is a time machine. Don’t ask me how it works. I have absolutely no idea how any of this scientific mumbo-jumbo functions.” Her eyes fell on the, now empty, doorway leading towards the building proper. “What I do know is that red-headed guy who just left, Zane, has been using this thing to go back in time inside this little loop of ours.”

“That’s my assumption, at least. Some of the stuff I asked him about right now was from this second set of memories in my head. Stuff we talked about during the… “last loop” for the lack of a better term. The only reason he would respond like he did would be if he actually remembers what we spoke about.”

“A loop inside a loop, basically.” The witch drew a lazy circle in the air with her finger. “If I had to hazard a guess, I imagine he just uses the time machine on Sunday to go back to the beginning of the week.’’
“Unlike us…” A dry, humourless snort left Anna’s lips. “...who just loop because we all decide to collectively croak. Granted, this means that we are probably not synchronized. I have no idea how many his loops have occurred since our last one and this one, you see?”

“He could have looped a thousand times in-between one of our cycles, for example. We’re still unaware of the exact mechanisms behind our memories of the past, after all.”

Muse’s presence was great catch-all explanation to their looping and all, but that was just the general idea behind their cycles. The specifics were still completely unclear. Were they looping consecutively or just randomly pushed into whatever timeline was available. Could their next loop be in Zane’s past, for example?

Nobody knew. Well, hopefully the older Mitchell had some answers for them at least.

“…hmh. “Won’t let any of us die, huh?”

“A bit late for that by this point, I’m afraid. Though who knows? Maybe he’s picked up some exceptionally wondrous new tricks during his little escapades.’’

“Maybe St. Germain popped over and taught him how to bring back the dead.” The raven-haired girl let out a deep sigh. “God knows, I could use some good news for once.”

[Cheetose]

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Hisa's Room
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"Yeah, thinking about it, it's quite unlikely that those would have anything to do with the things at the manor, since like...the being they are connected to started being a thing after that execution case. But since they meant to kill Patient Zero, and she is still here, there is clearly a twist to that story as well."

So many different pictures, with all their pieces thrown onto the same messy pile...

Starting to feel like that what Pyry said about taking it easy was all too true, but then it was still not any more appropriate in this situation...

Certainly can't wait for this whole chaotic death loop to come to an end, so that I could escape to the countyside and not give a single care about anything at all for a good while.

But until then, it was best to focus.

"Doesn't really click, anyways. Those crystals are obviously artificial, made by some Pinkerton and your mother's company," I said as I glanced at Mercedes for a moment, "Scarabs, or whatever they were called. Still, they need something in them to operate, and if they got Patient Zero, or her kind's help for it, then it wouldn't really make sense that they were trying to capture her."

Though, if the one included there was Indrid Cold, then she would have a whole lot of reason to cooperate with those people in an attempt to take revenge on Patient Zero.

"Dunno about things flying so far, though. Pebbles, maybe, but a rock so large in size that you could build a lighthouse out of it? Or that it would leave a lake sized crater? That would be quite a supernatural case," I rubbed my chin in contemplation, "Dunno about the lakes, though. We've been there, that's near where we found To-Totesh, but didn't really take a good look. The only thing that sticks out is that there is that church built near them, which may or may not mean something when the subject is exceptionally powerful supernatural beings."

It could have made some sense, although we knew too little about that to even understand why there was a single crater, let alone three.

So, with a shrug, I discareded that thought for the time being.

If it was somehow relevant to our case, it would come up again, anyways.

"I agree about the caves though, but at the same time...I also don't. Like, we've seen the implications...that it could be knowledge in exchange for something, or for forgetting. But is that knowledge really important, then? Is it worth the sacrifice, and to focus on that, instead of trying to solve things some other way?"

So far we've only heard about what it could be, or why people would try to seek it out. Something that sounded quite alluring, yet at the same time, there hasn't been anything about anyone who would come out of those caves, and tell about the knowledge they found. Which is why...

"We know where to find the way there, though, supposedly at least. Not that we really have time for that now, and since we might be able to meet Angelica tomorrow morning, it could be a moot point anyways."

[Frantic Author]

Anna Vandemeel & Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Mitchell Residence - Garage
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

I won't die? Hm, hm. I don't think that's likely, you human with eyes of steel. It is far more likely for me to die, for me to be maimed, for me to fall, then for me to live. Especially here. Especially now. I can feel it, can you not? Can't you feel them all, crawling across your skin like rain on cement? It's all there, you know. Not sins, not voices, no - something more sinister, something that sticks deeper and deeper, that burrows into your soul and remains. I, unlike you, am dying to be born, and am being born to die. My purpose, in a way, is to be 'killed'. I smile politely at him, a small thing that dashes across my lips for a brief moment before vanishing, and do not reply.

Wow. What an incredibly bizarre group of people. In a way, it's sort of bizarre I am standing here at all, is it not Potemkin? After all, I know little of any of those around me, and less still of what they say. He tried to kill me, but it's complicated. He wants me to die, but it's complicated. Is it? Is it truly so complex, so indecipherable that it is impossible for me to understand, somebody I don't know?

I don't think it is. It's very simple. Everyone else is just making it too complicated. The solution is at my fingertips, and with a whisper I can set them free. I idly glance at my nails as that devil who hit me and Anna talk, searching for hints of dirt and grime as sparks of fire dance across the edges. It would be easy - so very easy - to unleash the flames and walk away unscathed. So simple. The complexity in this place is only complex because of the corpses that walk by my side. And yes, in spite of his words - droll as they are, not letting me die, as if Hades himself had come up from deep below the crevices and proclaimed it to be so - I and these others are corpses.

After all, we've already died once. What's one more? And another? And another, and another, and another? To spin in circles aimlessly until we 'get it right'. After all, it is not as if anything's changing. I've already killed and been killed a thousand times. Death is a constant companion, even if it sends shivers down my spine to think of proper death. But ahhh, is any death proper? Is there a way for me to fall with honor in my eyes and nobility in my chest? Or is it simply a fleeting dream of a girl who idly wished to change something unchangeable?

"Hmm, hmm..." I hummed under my breath, an idle tune I'd once heard in childhood, a passing memory that dashed through my mind so quickly I could barely see it, "it is hardly as if it matters if we die. To be frank, it would be almost preferable at this stage, would it not? The information we have is useless within the current state of affairs. The people surrounding us are growing less trustworthy from moment to moment, as the man without a face walks amongst us, and in the dizzying blitz of violence, it will be all too easy for him to kill once more. Even the information we hear from others is untrustworthy, for it requires us to believe that those who say it are indeed themselves."

I tilted my head to the side, tapping my cheek thoughtfully as I looked at those around me with wide eyes.

"Is there anyway for you to prove you are yourself? After all, there is no way for me to prove that I am myself, other than the fact that I say I am. Inherently, the words coming from the mouths of serpents are deceitful, filled with trickery and lies."

I smiled brightly.

"As such, to trust each other is inherently a poor play. What Zane claims could be entirely false. What I claim can be entirely false. Both are equally plausible lies that a faceless man would spout, in his desperate attempts to place us into a vulnerable position. To poke and prod at insecurities, to promise hope and dash it away-"

I suddenly twisted my head upright, holding my hands in a triangle under my face as I looked around the room. At faces I know, and did not know, and things I did not know, but did know.

"-Is that not the exact sort of divide and conquer that a man who only dreams of our deaths would desire? Who hates us so fully and deeply that he'll kill a thousand times across a thousand lifetimes, just for the chance to never see our faces again?"

Really, Potemkin, the man without a face is kind of sad. What a lonely, depressing existence. To only dream of others' screams and to hate so deeply that its like the most twisted kind of love. In a way, its remarkable, right? Its really amazing how much he hates. He hates with the fire and fury of someone truly wrong deeply, by an unremembered, impossible sin.

Ahhh, Potemkin...

In a way, the easiest solution would be to just kill everyone, would it not? I tapped the side of my face thoughtfully, pondering it. Of course, it'd be a bit difficult to slaughter an entire town. Maybe even impossible. But you would only need to do so until you found the culprit. Dripping in the blood of innocents, yes, but that's why it has to be us, right? Nobody else could bear it. It'd be hard on their souls. Even those that could do it, perhaps - like Souma, or the Executioner, or even Anna - wouldn't be able to. The inherent weakness of friends, I suppose you could call it.

...What, Potemkin? Obviously Cesarina isn't the man without a face. She was in a hospital bed the entire time. Don't be ridiculous. And it can't be the Executioner - the Executioner was, after all, right next to me when the faceless man called me. And he barely ever speaks, he wouldn't have given that bizarre speech to me over the phone. Nobody would ever pretend to be Travis or John either, and considering he was planning to kill Mercedes, it doesn't make sense that he would take her form. The tiny morsel is also a poor choice, as I look at Stephanie with a slight frown on my face, considering the possibility. To become such a small person would take up quite a bit of energy, would it not?

Hm, hm, I hum out loud as I think, a smile slightly dancing across my lips.

Potemkin, isn't it a lucky coincidence that all of my comrades have absolutely no chance of being the man without a face?

[Verg Avesta]

Anna Vandemeel & Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Mitchell Residence - Garage
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

Zhou, slowly - very slowly - blinked at what had just been said and...

--- Let out a massive sigh.

"Loops within loops, huh...?" She muttered, rubbing her temples and not even bothering with her usual act. "That's... You know. That's even worse. Predictions of the future already make living in reality hard enough. People aware of what has already happened? Doubly so. But someone looping separately, independent of us, that'd be just..."

She threw up her hands in a moment of frustration, causing Stephanie to jerk back in surprise.

"Where does it end! How many loops do we have even going on! Can you loop within a time loop, or do you always end up in a different loop? Is it loops all the day down!?" She complained, before deflating like a balloon and grabbing a juicebox from her pocket. "More and more questions, each answer giving us yet more mysteries... haah... I wish there was some simple one-size-fits-all answer to cut it all down to digestible size..."

With another whimpering sigh, the bespectacled girl took a sip of her juice (seasalt and kelp), as if to calm herself down. Once she had done so, she shot a sideways glance towards Alexstrasza - more of a frown than anything else.

"And you..."

Her voice was a bit annoyed.

"Die alone if you want, but I'd rather struggle to the very end. Better yet, don't drag others down with your growing paranoia. Sure enough, it's obvious that we've got a snake hiding in the grass, but..." She paused for a moment, looking around the garage. "... If we start seeing everyone around us as snakes, we won't be able to kill it when the time comes. Or even stop it from sinking its fangs into one or more of us."

For a brief moment, Zhou adopted her usual dreamy, languid expression and smiled at Alextrasza - as if in mockery.

"So really, suspecting everyone is just as stupid you know~"

There was a bit of a growing animosity, which even Stephanie seemed to notice as the tiny girl tried her best to calm things down with gestures and expression. Ramia, upon seeing this, scratched the back of her head and grimaced.

"You know, as an actual snake..." She started, before frowning. "And no, not as the metaphor you're talking about - Anyways, as an actual snake, I'd say you both got a point. Anything anyone says could be a lie - but at the same time, not trusting anyone because of it is just asking to get isolated and picked off. That being said, we do have one
advantage..."

A faint grin rose to her face and the mercenary lifted her index finger.

"This is basically a variation of that old logic puzzle. Two doors, two guards - and one guard always tells the truth, the other one always lies. Except in this case, we have one guard that always lies... and a whole platoon of those who tell the truth. Our advantage is that we've got a single faceless man among us," she explained. "So the problem becomes how to suss them out. And since, by logic of probability, we've got more allies in this group than possible enemies..."

The mercenary tapped her nose, a bit smugly.

"... I think at least I can trust what most of you say without worry," Ramia announced, looking at everyone in the room. "Plus... you know. We stood around in the rain for quite some time there. Faceless man or no, I'm not saying no to pizza."

Stephanie seemed to agree heartily, as she nodded enthusiastically multiple times.

However, as Ramia leaned against the wall and stared at the door, waiting for Zane to clear out the problematic houseguests, she muttered to herself...

"... I suppose, in a way..."

Very silently.

"It could also be the wolf, goat and cabbage problem..."



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

Alextrasza Lockhart: Friendship Rank Raised!

Anna Vandemeel: Friendship Rank Raised!

---

Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Hisa's Room
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 10.09.1994 (SAT)
Weather: Storm

"Right..."

Hisa's last words sent a certain jolt of tense energy echoing through the room - especially in Pyry. To the others, Angelica was a person they had never seen, barely knew about, and only learned of through Hisa. To him, it was just as personal as it was to the girl with the scars. The blonde boy frowned at the ceiling above him, his right hand quietly clenching into a fist.

What might have he been thinking?

While it was impossible to perfectly say... some of his emotions did flow to Hisa through their connection.

Anxiety. Fear. Some anger too. And above it all... worry.

Not towards himself.

But towards Hisa. Worry about what that meeting might bring, and how seeing Angelica after all this time might affect her.

"... We'll need to be ready tomorrow. Considering what we've learned, Angie might be..." Pyry started, before pausing and shaking his head. "... Nah. No 'might' about it. She's wrapped up in this as tightly as the other supernatural factions that are using this town as their playground. But to whom she works for, if she's at it all alone, and what - in the end - she wants for us is... that's the real question here."

Yes... Angelica's motivations.

The way she had changed said one thing.

What Hisa had read in that certain journal told another story.

But where lied the truth? Somewhere in the middle? Or somewhere beyond it all?

... It was impossible to tell until they'd meet her.

"Like, family reunion huh?" Mercedes commented, letting out a bit of a snort. "Well, whatevah. Just remember that, like, just 'cause they're family doesn't mean they'll, like, have your best interest at heart. Then again, like... some people do stupid things for the sake of their family. Or what they think is for the best, or whatevah..."

Leena, who had been listening to quietly, nodded and hugged her knees, rocking back and forth.

"Mm... family can do stupid, stupid things for the sake of family," the bluehead agreed. "We McLampets are a living example of that."

For a moment, an awkward silence fell into the room. Nobody really knew what to say, and nobody was willing to break the silence. Outside, the rain lashed against the windows and the wind howled like a wolf, the storm settling over the town of Road's End once more. Down below, they could see the high beams of a car light up the campus for a moment as someone pulled in, but other than that, it was as if the only bit of life was in the room they all were in.

And even that was silent.

Until, at least, Pyry finally lifted himself up from the bed.

"--- We'll deal with it tomorrow. No use agonizing over it now, when there's nothing we can do," he said. "Instead, we should focus on stuff we can do tonight. I'm not saying we should brave the storm, but rather, if there's something we can take care of while here at campus, we should do it. Then, we should get proper rest. Tomorrow is Sunday, after all..."

The hand he had balled up into a fist relaxed, as the boy reached out and grasped Hisa's shoulder, squeezing it tightly.

"And it won't be the repeat of last time."

He said so with utmost determination.

"I'm sure of it."


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

Hisa Momoi: Friendship Rank Raised!

[Verg Avesta]

---

---

Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Your Room
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast
[BGM]

The long night was over. The storm that had raged was over. And yet to those who were present... it felt like nothing was over.

And yet everything was about to be.

Last night, great many things had happened. The most disturbing among them had to be when Elaine Winter's shout had woken up the dormitory. The reason for that was clear. Subaru Iburi... was dead. Murdered in her own room. In exactly the same way as Gabi Bahkauv and Souma Nubatama had been. The sheer audacity of this happening one of their rooms - a room that had been locked from the inside according to Elaine - was enough to send ripples of chills across the students present. It was good in a sense that a certain FBI special agent Ferguson was visiting the campus. He proceeded to tell everyone to go back to beds, get few hours of sleep at least before sun was up and that he'd look over the crime scene until everyone was awake again.

In the end, he was an officer of the law - this was his job. So, despite grumbling from some sources, he didn't take no for an answer.

Yet, while they might have gotten a bit more sleep out of it, by the time a familiar song rang out from the dorm's PA system - played by some unknown individual or god of irony - their bodies might have been rested but their minds might not have been.

--- To Liana Skye, it meant awakening to yet another day without further answers, and a former friend's disturbed voice still ringing in her ears.

--- To John Dove, it meant awakening just to hear Ubon's words from last night still in his mind. Of how: "If I don't come back Johnnie... if I forgot you by the next time we meet.... Find me again, okay?"

--- To Elaine Winters, it meant awakening to the memories of last night, of discovering Subaru's dead body in the room where she had just left her mere ten, fifteen minutes ago. A grim reminder of what day it was.

--- To Hisa Momoi, it meant awakening to trepidation and foreboding feeling of what would happen in just few hours. The fact that she would finally meet her sister... Angelica. The girl who was deeply mired in whatever was going on in this town.

Everyone woke up, even if they wouldn't have wanted to.

Sunday was upon them again.

And the clock was ticking fast.

---

Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High - Outbuilding
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast
[BGM]

Lucille's eyes opened bleary, the blonde girl blinking sluggishly as she looked around. She could still taste alcohol on her tongue, and a hint of a headache reminded her of what had happened last night. As she sat up from the beanbag chair, she understood full well why they weren't used for sleeping. It would take quite a few moments to shake away this stiffness in her bones.

However, as Lucille looked around Hwan's saferoom, something odd began to dawn on her. She looked and looked, and saw the various things and knicknacks the Korean boy had gathered over the days, but no sign of Hwan himself anywhere. The beanbag chair he had been lounging on was empty, the bottle that he had been drinking from was empty, and... well, it was pretty clear that Lucille was alone.

Though as she moved to sit up, something fluttered to the ground from atop her. A small slip of paper - a note - that had been left on her sleeping form.

Lucille peered down, and saw a few simple words written on it.

To Blondie:

You're right. I think.

If there's something I can do, I should just go and do it. And I know that one of our teachers knows far more than he lets on.

I'm gonna go hunt him down.

If it takes till Monday till we see again... come chat, okay? I'm not as nasty as I act. Plus, you're cute. So I got a soft spot for you.

--- Hwan.

---

Alexstrasza Lockhart & Anna Vandemeel
Location: Mitchell Residence
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast
[BGM]

To wake up in an unfamiliar room was a strange thing already, but to both Alexstrasza and Anna, it was rather unexpected to wake up to a smell of fresh coffee wafting from downstairs. As the two girls stirred in the guest room of the Mitchell residence, they both felt a jolt of tension in the air. As talked about last night, today it would be time to make a second excursion to End's Mercy hospital, and maybe finally drag out some answers from the people there.

".... Nnn."

Someone who clearly didn't feel any tension was Stephanie, who was currently clinging to Alexstrasza as the vampire lifted herself up from the bed, the young girl looking like she wanted to sleep for few hours more at least. Though as Anna saw this, it did remind her of what she had heard about a certain other youngster at End's Mercy who supposedly spoke Estonian.

Still, it smelled like Zane had gotten breakfast ready downstairs.

Time to get up and at them.

---

Elise-Marie Pelltier
Location: Listening Station Sigma
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast
[BGM]

What woke Elise up was the strange humming that mixed into her dreams.

As her eyes fluttered open, she found herself staring at an old concrete ceiling, and the mechanical sound on the background seemed to be coming from the machinery few rooms over. Standing up on the very simple bed with metal frame and simple mattress, the girl looked around, and saw that she had been sleeping in some sort of military-style resting room. Few scattered bunk beds, few simple lockers, a single table and two chairs - that was it.

One of the chairs in question had been pulled right next to the bed where she had been laying on, and as she glanced upon it, she saw Travis sitting upon it. The boy had his arms crossed across his chest, his chin against his chest, and was snoring quietly. Sleeping while sitting like that was quite the skill, though at least the thug-like boy didn't look too uncomfortable. Guess he wasn't stranger to sleeping in strange places.

Still, looking at this room, it was obvious where Elise was. It must have been one of the rooms along the long corridor at the basement of the Listening Station. The door leading out of the room was locked by a card reader, but glancing at the table, Elise saw that a keycard had been left there graciously, as if awaiting her awakening.

That being said, the memories of last night - and beyond - swirled in her head. For a moment, she thought she could have seen the reflection of her blonde self in the mirror on the wall, but as she looked again... all she saw was herself.

It was just her. Just Elise.

---

Vivienne Bianchi & Vier Wolff
Location: Suzume Bianchi's House - Laboratory
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast
[BGM]

What was it that woke them up?

Was it the crackling and whirring of electronics around them? Or perhaps the cold taste of the metal floor under them? Perhaps it was just the fact that their bodies had started to get stiff. Whatever the case, suddenly, from the darkness, both Vivienne and Vier had their eyes snap over, returning to the land of the conscious. They found themselves on the floor of Suzume Bianchi's laboratory, sprawled there like they had just fallen over, unconscious, from where they last stood. Looking around, the two girls saw both Inacio and Alex as well, laying unconscious on the floor - though unlike themselves, they hadn't woken up yet.

Just what had happened?

At first, they had been trying to access the computer, then that strange girl - so much like Vivienne - had entered the laboratory. She had spoken to them, said who she was, and then...

Just blank.

Absolute blank.

Like both of their consciousness had been cut off there, and they woke up some time later from the floor.

... Naturally, the girl from before was nowhere in sight, leaving behind only further mysteries.

---

Colt Davin & Prushka
Location: Forest Ranger's Cabin
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast
[BGM]

The sounds of water dripping from the branches, the rustling of the forest outside the walls, the tepid howl of the wind agains the window panes... those were the sounds that woke both Prushka and Colt up. As the two youths lifted their heads and looked around blearily, the memories of last night came flooding back. The fight, the revelations and lastly... the reunion. So much had happened, and so much felt like was still a mystery, but at least for now, this morning, things were relatively peaceful.

As the two looked around, they saw each other of course, but the rest of the cabin wasn't lifeless either. Cathie Walker was busying herself in the humble kitchen, cooking scrambled eggs for breakfast it seemed. Meanwhile Fu, looking much better already, sat at the table, munching on an apple. Across the table from her was Ranger Max Savage (what a name), who was toying around with what looked like a strange walkie talkie or a satellite phone. And through the window, they could see Ahti and Alpa outside on the yard, talking about something.

And then, in the other corner of the room, behind his computer screen once more... was the pale, scarred, one-eyed young man known as Nevada. His fingers glided on the keyboard, the rhythmic tapping they created being a symphony all on its own. Though he could easily see the two youths wake up, he spared not even a glance towards them. Rather, he focused on whatever he was doing.

In the end, it was Cathie who addressed both Prushka and Colt.

"Morning, you two," the auburn-haired girl said with a cheeky grin. "You guys hungry? I'm making a boatload."

She reached down and scratched a massive green wolf behind its ears - a wolf that was sleeping by her feet.

---

Known NPC Locations!

Pinefall Dormitory - Rooms

• Minato Coastrise
• Yeong-Hui Coastrise
• Pyry Leijonamieli
• Kean Loinnir
• Sakura Tsukioka
• Mercedes West

Forest Ranger's Cabin

• Alpa Bāgha

End's Mercy Hospital

• Cesarina Feroce

Listening Station Sigma

• Travis Gagnon

Mitchell Residence

• Zhou Coastrise
• Ramia Ramalsaqr

Suzume Bianchi's Residence

• Inacio Ilusão
• Alex Terrot

Unknown

• Hwan Bin
• Aleen King
• Caleb Montjoy
• Xylia Pheme
• Ubon Sĕeklêun

Deceased

• Gabi Bahkauv
• Subaru Iburi
• Souma Nubatama

[Airen]

Liana Skye
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Liana's Room
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 11.09.1994 (SUN)
Weather: Overcast

---Sleep.

The idea of it under those circumstances had been little more than a bad joke, one that she had attempted to make clear to Scottie many times, but the agent had refused to hear anything of it. She had thought about being rebellious, of standing her ground and refusing to leave him, but that too had been shot down, implications that she'd need to be at one-hundred percent breaking through clearly relevant concerns about him, using her own logic against her, still-

"..."

-she had sat, cross-legged, behind her doorway the entire rest of the night.

Listening.

It had been a meditative position, a form of existence that couldn't rightly be called 'sleep,' but more of a way of purging the negative thoughts lashing at her mind like a nightmare's whip.

Stella's voice, disturbed and full of rejection.

Subaru's body, the figure of a person who had been alive -in her arms even- mere minutes before her incomprehensible end.

Her own voice, a voice promising that child that things would be alright, playing on repeat again and again and again inside the depths of her processors. It does so unbidden, unsummoned by her will, a harsh reminder of the enclosing cruel reality, of a broken promise, of a darkness that was closing in fast, one that she must fight off today...

"...I suppose the moon is finally falling."

Or be consumed by, only to start the cycle anew.

Yes.

She had attempted to purge those things from her mind; from now on until the next cycle, she just needed to keep moving forward, wring this loop for all it was worth, keep moving, do whatever she can until time finally steals her away...

In one form or another.

"No song of time either..."

She chuckles, a bitter sound that bears only the slightest hints of amusement. With it comes the sound of the bell, she rises to greet it, stretching out stiff limbs and running a hand through hair that was only maintaining the luster it had due to her ever-flowing reserves of Qi, a hasty ponytail not as neat as she ordinarily liked it to be. Her eyes are a bit of a mess, still tired in spite of her meditation, tired not physically but emotionally, exhausted of this constant spiral of regrets she was always struggling to remove herself from, still...

It was time to move ahead, things are darkest before the dawn as they say...

She should, perhaps, be fairer to herself...

So...

"..."

She changes her clothes.

Her old-school jacket goes over the white t-shirt and jeans, familiar weight of the metallic lining reminding her of her intent to fight. She wasn't sure if she intended on staying at the school all morning; after all, at the rate the current investigation was going it might be more efficient to head back to Dorothy's place and get answers out of Jack for next time, take advantage of the fact that he owed her quite a bit this loop...

Not to mention I promised Sierra I'd come back...

She needs at least one person in her life that won't lie to her.

But regardless of where she was now, or where she wound up going in the end...

She was sure the day would turn out violent. There was some twisted comfort in that of course, fights are simple and relatively straightforward, not like the rest of this town's nonsense...

"Zero."

She speaks to the cat that has taken his customary place on her shoulder.

"If something happens to me today, you run and hide somewhere, got it?"

A simple command.

Not that cats are known for listening to them...

"By the way...You would tell me if you were able to talk, right?"

She was pretty sure he couldn't, but well...

Zee was mysterious.

Still...

"Scottie."

She calls out as she exits her room, mere feet away from the sight of Subaru's murder -a thought that had only made the night's haunting's worse- and moves without hesitation towards her neighbor's room, 104, where he had said he would be waiting...

"You better be alive in there. If you sent me away only to die, I'm going to be really angry."

People that left her sight seemed to get hurt.