Roleplay ~The Happy Journal~ (Roleplay)

[Lady Aleister 1,677]

- Fennel -

 

As Elizabeth slipped back indoors, Fennel uttered a small take-care under her breath.  A small gasp of surprise emitted from her when she turned back to the butler and saw the slightest semblance of a book coming from his person.  This man -- he had a Journal too, and he correctly guessed that she also had one?  Perhaps these Journals were as commonplace as she had imagined them to be, though she had found no evidence that proved otherwise.  Perhaps she should visit the library sometime, just to see if she can find anything about this small question of hers.

 

"Fennel, Fennel Gusset," she responded almost automatically, even through her shock.  "You . . . have a Journal too, though I think it best that I ask about this later.  Miss Ava is missing, after all, and something feels . . . off today, doesn't it?  My entry seemed unusually indirect, or more so than the norm."

 

She bit her lip, a little panicked by the thought that this stranger she just met might look at her funny and dismiss her then and there, but then again Veran did seem stuck with her, saying that they will find Ava.

 

"Where's the first spot we should look, or should we split up and reunite somewhere, like outside this house?  While I've seen Lady Ava in passing, I do not know the first thing about her beyond her name and where she works.  Actually, she wouldn't be working now, would she?  If she has a key, maybe she's at that clothing boutique and just gave you and her mother a jumpstart as well as a start."

 

"My journal entries always seem indirect..." he said this lowly, a harsh true statement. 

"Well Miss Fennel, she works with her mother...and she isn't working right now because if she was, she'd be at home. It is extremely unusual for Aya to be anywhere without telling someone..." Veran thought for a bit, pondering what course of action him and Fennel should take. 

"Since I know of Genesis, and it is your objective to meet with him today, maybe we should stick together and find both Aya and Genesis..." He offered up, waiting for her acceptance of his offer before the two would head out. 

[Keyblade Hippie 0]

Jade stared out of the library window, daydreaming the usual. She dreamt she was adventuring into the unknown, with friends by her side, and making a difference in the world. She often dreamt of the things she felt she would never really be able to achieve in this life. Finally snapping out of her fantasy, she grabbed her journal out of her backpack, and thumbed through the pages to the most recent entry.

 

"One of these days, I'm gonna ignore this journal. I swear I will." She muttered under her breath. Moving her fingers across the pages, she finally found the entry that was meant for today.

Journal Entry: Investigate the lake crime scene. Meet with the man who discovered it.

 

A crime scene? This was most certainly the most interesting task Jade had been given. This had the makings of an adventure within itself. Who knows what crime scene she would find at the lake, let alone who the man was she was supposed to meet. She was finally getting what she wanted, and it terrified her.

 

"Ok Jade, you can do this." Grabbing her belongings, she sprinted out of the library, and headed for the lake.

 

~Later~

 

When she had finally reached the lake, what Jade had seen shook her to her core. Bodies were strewn about, and what's more, the body parts in the trees... It was horrifying. 

She noticed people arriving to the scene, and not wanting to be connected to the incident, she slowly backed away. Bumping into a tree, she darted to the right, as the tree began to fall.

 

"Crap crap crap!" Jade had to think fast. The noise the tree might make would most certainly give her away to the authorities, and she would have a hard time explaining why she was there in the first place. Without a second thought, she glanced at the watch on her wrist, and then to the falling tree. With a wave of her hand, the tree froze just before it hit the ground. After a few seconds, the tree began to fall again, making a smaller noise than it would have if Jade hadn't intervened.

 

"Well that was close..." Jade wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead, amazed at her luck. She hadn't used her time manipulation in over a year, and it was a miracle that she was adept enough to freeze an entire tree. Immediately turning around, she bumped into Vincent, and fell to the ground.

"I swear I had nothing to do with those dead people!" She immediately yelled to Vincent, hoping he wasn't an authority.

[Shard the Gentleman 2,891]

~James Harper~

 

              James jumped with a start when Jynn joined the conversation, quickly turning his head away to avoid the man from seeing his tears. It didn't take much longer after that to allow James to regather his thoughts and calm his mind. Jynn seemed to want to help, but before James could object or take a breath, Vanitas filled him in on the warnings and the ideas they had.

 

             Jynn gave his own input, which James found more favorable than the other three: Kill, Fake a death, or reveal the truth. Pretend everything was fine and return here later tonight? Sounded okay. Would the journal be able to to tell what James was doing? He'd need to stick with Vanitas if that was the case.

 

             "Jynn," James started, "I'm not too sure on how the Journals work, but I think it sees everything we do. If we continue and act like you say, I think the Journal would think we were carrying through with our entries. So I agree with you- you say you need to head to the sheriff? I can join you if you want." James offered out his hand to hopefully shake with Jynns.

 

             "It would be nice to make another friend."

[Iamkingdomhearts1000 1,170]

"...Ugh...where...where am i? what-what is this?" said Infinite without his mask on, as he gets up slowly off from the ground and proceeds to grab his mask and put it on, hiding his face from view, he takes a look around and sees unfamiliar backgrounds, he wonders to himself just where is he and why can't he recall anything before that...

 

https://youtu.be/8F89439f9ZI.

Edited November 6, 2017 by Iamkingdomhearts1000

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

--Genesis--

 

The redhead closed the door to the playhouse, which sounded a thud throughout the entire building.  He stole a glance around, though no one was in sight.

 

"Hello?" he called out to the silence, footsteps echoing upon the black-and-white-tiled flooring.  For a moment Genesis merely stood in the center of the hall, before raising his head to the stage.  A beam of sunlight shone through the window, onto flower beds of vibrantly-colored petals.  He climbed the steps onto the wooden stage, kneeling before the flowers to get a good whiff.  There was something very familiar about this particular scene, strangely, though he couldn't place what it was.

 

Eventually Genesis rose, reaching into his satchel and withdrawing a thin leather-bound novel.  Loveless, it was titled; his favorite play that he adored to read time and time again.  He turned the page and scanned it several times before clearing his throat, extending an arm out for emphasis.

 

"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess.  We seek it thus, and take to the sky . . . . "

[Cam1949 21]

Varius woke up after sleeping for practically 24 hours, he noticed he was still in the library but didn't notice anyone there so he got up a little weak in the legs but continued forward. He opened the door to the outside and looked around, to find out if anyone he knew was nearby. He then realized he hasn't looked at his Journal, he opened it up and read 'Take on the role.' "Take on the role?" He asked himself, well I guess I should head to the sheriffs' department. Be headed there and opened the door walked up to the first person he saw and ask, "Hello, is Gunshoe available?"

[Scrapmaster 1,731]

- Vincent - THe Dragonkin - Meeting Jade -

 

Vincent stared at his journal for an extended period of time as he simply continued walking forward, not paying attention to his front, or the road he walked, he just kept going while staring at the journal, waiting for it do something, anything. This was kind of a big stretch, but hey, what the heck was it doing sending him to make a discovery, whjen the authoritias had already made such a thing?

 

"Follow the journal and you shall be happy." Vincent muttered, "Not just you, everyone will be happy." Vincent muttered, before getting angry, "Motherfiretrucker, what does finding mangled bodies in a lake does to 'optimize' happines huh? God damn you!" Vincent spoke to his Journal, sounding angry, offended, and disappointed at the same time.

 

Still,he kept looking at it until he heard a tree fall, and before he knew it, a girl had bumped right into him, he himself was completely unmoved, not even moving an inch as the girl slammed into him, she herself though, fell on her ass.

 

"Uhh..." Vincent was confused for one second, and the next, he offered a hand to help her up. "Well, if you say so." Vincent reassured her, "And for my defense, neither did I. In fact I wouldn't have even gone there if it wasn't this journal." Vincent spoke with a cool tone as he pulled out his journal mid sentence to show her. "Thing sent me to find a discovery at the lake, which, as you saw, were mangled bodies and such." Vincent spoke, shrugging. 

 

"As for you. You must also have a Journal, one of which also sent you to the lake." Vincent began to think outloud, and piece things together, "Am I right? or somewhere close to right?" He asked her with a friendly smile.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Scrapmaster

[Iamkingdomhearts1000 1,170]

"...The last thing i recall...the colour...BLUE..." said Infinite to himself, as he started levitating before falling down towards the ground, having not regained his balance and all of his powers yet, suddenly, he then found a black coloured journal next to him, it bore his personal symbol on it, Infinite proceeded to read it...

[Stardustblade358 806]

Vanitas took a deep breath before letting out a loud sigh. Well...so things were going to go this way. Maybe it was for the best. But hey, he wasn't alone in it, and despite feeling terrible for dragging them into this mess out of the fact of his curiosity...it felt nice. Awesome even. Despite the whole 'someone wants me dead' thing. "Thank you." Vanitas said. "For the both of you. I...I really messed up big time. But I'm glad that you're with me." Vanitas smiled. "I agree with the plan. Let's continue as normal as possible. Maybe we can trick the Journal in the end." Vanitas said, looking at the two. "Be careful, and if you need any help, I can have one of my guys go with you." Vanitas said as he stepped to the side slightly, causing the Unversed to fall over comically before scurrying back to his legs. "They hide well in the shadows. If anyone tries to get to me too, they'll chase them out." Vanitas said, sighing in slight relief of the fact that he wasn't going to deal with this situation alone. Alone...that would be pretty scary. He guessed he was just that lucky. "If something bad happens, though...I'm sorry."

[Keyblade Hippie 0]

Jade hesitated. This was the first time anyone had tried to have a conversation about the journal with her. Usually if her or anyone around her had to do something related to the tasks in the journals, there would be a silent understanding, and no one would think anything more of it.

Today seemed to be holding a lot of firsts for Jade.

 

“Yeah, I guess this ‘display’ is the crime scene I was supposed to discover...” Jade graciously took Vincent’s hand and pulled herself up, dusting herself off, and looking around. “I just wanna get the images of what I’ve seen here out of my head, but there’s more I have to do, according to my journal. I’m supposed to meet the man who discovered the crime scene, and unless it was referring to one of the police officers, I think that man is you.”

 

She held her hand out. “So, my name is Jade. Jade Porter. And let me tell you, this is the most excitement I’ve had in, well, ever.”

[Vaude 535]

- Fennel -

 

The lady gardener happily accepted the butler's invitation with a "Let's" and bounced alongside him.  If she can help him, he can help her, and that was all right with Fennel.  Besides, she craved the companionship of another human being.  Whether this was caused by herself or caused by the Journal, she had no idea, but either way being with Veran brought her no small amount of happiness.

 

"It's nice to see a family working together on something," she pattered in hopes of starting a conversation piece.  "Ava and her mum, I mean.  My parents and I never saw eye-to-eye when it came to work, even when we tried each other's favoured trades, but our bonds were still tight while my parents were still alive.  Veran, is it?  If it is not too much prying, are you following a family trade?"

[Lady Aleister 1,677]

"Aya's family is extremely close...for the most part. Her father works am incredibly difficult job I do not know of, and her uncle does some sketchy business, but I know Aya and her parents are extremely close." Veran responded to Fennel's statement, walking alongside her into town.

"Family trade?" Veran fell silent for a bit.

"I am not." That was all he was going to say.

Veran wasn't going to talk about his family. His parents burned in a fire that destroyed his household. It was just an accident, but he still blames it on himself for being the only one to make it out. He was panning on being a preacher, but felt called to be a servant for reasons unbeknownst to him, and has had a connection to Aya since he first met her.

"Let's check the library for Genesis and Aya. That seems like a common spot..."

 

(And I really can't post anything else because Aya is doing what her journal is telling her to do.)

[Endless Thundaga 533]

It appears everyone is on the same terms. James offers to go with Jynn to the sheriff's, but Jynn reasonably declines the offer. "Yes, I wish to let the sheriff know about the creatures I saw last night. But I want you to stay and prepare for the night." He shakes James' hand. "Pleasure to meet you." Vanitas offers his Unversed to go with Jynn, but the former declines Vanitas's offer as well. "Thanks Vanitas, but I should be fine." Vanitas apologizes in advance should something happen to them, but Jynn tries to reassure him. "We should be fine. Don't worry." Jynn was about to take his leave, but he then pauses. The three do need to be careful. "However, we don't know what we are possibly facing up against, so stay vigilant." He walks up to Mel and takes the lead. He faces back to Vanitas and James. "I'll return near dusk."

 

Now was a good time as ever to prepare for tonight. Jynn gently pulls Mel's ear towards him and quietly states what he expects. "Mel, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Once the sun goes down, you can reveal your true personality. Should those creatures attack us tonight, I want you to kill them, or drive them away. Do you understand?" Mel gives off a serious nicker. Suddenly a black wing materializes from the horse's side. Jynn immediately tells him to withdraw it. "Not now!" Mel withdraws his wing as commanded. Thankfully, nobody was watching.

[Scrapmaster 1,731]

- Vincent - DragonKin - Speaking with Jade -

 

"You got that right, I was the first to arrive there, even before the authorities. Albeit I don't know the exact motive of such an entry in my journal, and why me exactly." Vincent explained to Jade, he was the man she was looking for, as well as pondering a bit about the objective of the journal.

 

Vincent steadily pulled her up as he looked at her, she was young. And somewhat pretty, not that Vincent would make any advances, he was too lazy to do so. "Call me Vincent" He spoke back to her introduction. Letting go of her hand when she was steadily on her feet.

 

"So, Jade. you found me...what now?" Vincent asked her. Before shrugging, "Im going back to my tavern, feel free to follow." Vincent spoke plainly, as he slowly began to walk back to his Tavern.

[Iamkingdomhearts1000 1,170]

"...Horse...what Horse?" said Infinite, as he floated up in midair, using telekinesis to read through his journal page by page and find inside of it a rather interesting entry that was different from all of the others inside the journal, Infinite could feel it somehow, it mentioned something about a Horse...

Edited November 8, 2017 by Iamkingdomhearts1000

[Shard the Gentleman 2,891]

SCENE: Sheriff's Office

             The rush and rabble in the office seemed to have overwhelmed most, if not all, in it. The sheriff was dead- who was going to fill this role? Where was this going to end? A voice was heard over the rabble, asking for Gumshoe. Soon enough, the entire office had died down to a quiet mummer, as if something that was said would be ill-boding. A lanky, tall man answered the voice.

 

            "Gumshoe has passed away." He stood at attention almost immediately, as if he himself wasn't allowed to feel grief or pain. His face may have been steady, but his heart was indeed wavering. He offered a hand to the man, as to shake it.

 

            "I'm Stin. The entire office is in chaos right now- so I'm sorry. We're looking for someone to take on the Sheriffs role, but Gumshoe didn't leave any notes positive notes about his fellow officers- so we have no recommendations."

 

Scene: Playhouse

 

            None would answer the call of the man who had stood onstage. Instead, a loud thump was heard above, where the weights and aerial props had been stringed. A rushing figure could be seen among the walkways above, but none would be able to tell if human or otherwise unless they had a closer observation. The smell of gasoline began to overwhelm the stage as a liquid began pouring from the figure.

 

Scene: Near Fennel

 

            The officer quickly took notice of woman, her appearance was striking- but that wasn't going to deter this man from his assignment.

 

            "Fennel Gusset?" The man looked harshly into the womans eyes.

 

~Bistro Dahne~

 

            The mask was getting itchy. Bistro had been wearing it for almost a day now, but he dared not to remove it. He needed to keep his face hidden. The rush in the office wasn't enough to let him make his escape, but maybe it was enough to-

 

            A voice.

 

            The entire room grew quiet, each face dropping down to the floor in respect of the fallen Gumshoe. Bistro respected the dead, but knew he could take this quiet as a chance to escape. He removed the mask, his elderly appearance shrinking down to his own, childlike face. The mask in his hand grew smaller, to the size of a penny, fitting neatly in his shirt pocket.

 

            He let his face breathe before reaching forward to measure the cell bars keeping him in. If he walked through them sideways...

 

            He was out!

            Through the back door. Left, right, around to the front.

 

            The horse! That damned horse. Bistro didn't see it fast enough to avoid crashing into his master. Bistro tried his best to recover, but the man saw him. He panicked! Towards the forest- run! Run now!

 

~James Harper~

 

            James obeyed Jynn, and acknowledged what he was told. He looked at Vanitas and nodded with a more confident smile on his face- he was glad he wasn't alone. There was no way he was going to let this go.

 

            He turned around, and saw her. A woman. Was she following them? He walked towards her, not being able to recognize her whatsoever.

 

            "Excuse me?"

[Keyblade Hippie 0]

Jade had begun to follow Vincent, when she hesitated, and pulled her journal out of her backpack again to check it.

"Investigate the lake crime scene..." She muttered to herself. "Does glancing at it count? Probably not..."

She turned back to the lake, and took a deep breath. "Sorry Vincent, I think I have a little more business to attend to. But I'll catch up with you later." She began to head closer to the scene, avoiding policemen when she could.

 

Eventually, Jade found herself trapped between two officers patrolling the area, as she hid behind a bush.

"Okay, Jade. Focus." She thought to herself. "​People don't freeze as well as objects do. You probably only have about a few seconds before they unfreeze. Make it count." Jade glanced at her watch, and focused on the second hand, as it ticked. Feeling the rhythm of the ticks, she channeled her energy in her body, and waved her hand towards the officers. They were motionless.

 

She bolted across the way, now only a few feet away from the heart of the crime scene. The officers unfroze just as Jade jumped into the shadows, still unnoticed.

"Alright, I guess its time to do some sleuthing." She stared at the bodies that were placed on the ground. The officers had just finished documenting the situation, and were beginning to take the dead away.

"They're all bloated... I guess their cause of death isn't that hard to figure out, they drowned." Jade then began to glance at the tree, with the body parts of a man strewn about. "It's this guy that's a little more out of place." She held back her vomit. "It's like he was ripped apart by an animal or something." She glanced at her journal that was hanging partially out of her pocket. "Why did you want me to see this? I thought you were supposed to make us happy, not freak us out."

[Vaude 535]

- Fennel -

 

Fennel let loose a small smile at Veran's comment.  As curt as he was when involving himself, he seemed much more talkative when it involved others, a fine quality she did not often observe in men.  The Everus family seemed like an interesting one.

 

"Yes, the library sounds like a good first start.  Many people seem to . . ."

 

She held her tongue in check shortly before an officer came up close to her with a stern, unwavering gaze.  Swallowing roughly, she answered to her name.

 

"Yes, I am Fennel," the girl replied modestly, though she wanted to test the waters before she curtsied to the brash man of the law.  "How may I help you, officer?"

[Lady Aleister 1,677]

Aya sucked in her breath. She had been caught. The total opposite of what her journal had told her to do. She wasn't supposed to get caught. What was she going to do. 

"I'm terribly sorry!" she couldn't really think of anything else to say.

"I've been following you but it was not of my own accord!" Aya even went to the length of admitting it. 

Was this a mistake? Probably. 

 

Veran stopped with Fennel, his eyes turning to the officer, keeping himself silent. 

 

 

(Sorry I just got back from college and I'm kinda exhausted) 

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

--Genesis Rhapsados--

 

"Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing--"

 

The redhead paused mid-sentence as a thud could be heard from overhead.  A frown furrowed his brows; apparently he wasn't alone.  Genesis jerked his head upward to see a figure on a balcony above him, though couldn't make out any further details.

 

"Who's there?" Genesis demanded, stomping down from the stage and glaring at the balcony.  But alas, the figure was nowhere in sight.

 

Could he be one of the friends intended to join me? Genesis thought to himself, recalling his journal entry.  Apart of him considered going after the figure, but thought perhaps this action wasn't in his best interests.  It was difficult to say whether this figure was a friend, or what his intentions were.

 

Suddenly he realized an odor was dominating the scent of the playhouse, something very strong that made him want to hold his nose and gag.  He didn't remember it before; the figure must've been responsible for it.  The smell was oddly familiar, though it took him a moment to place it, not having smelt it very often.

 

Gas.

 

It smelled of gasoline, and instantly his journal entry made sense to him.  His fingers fled toward the matchbox in his pocket.  Did the journal imply that he . . . ignite the playhouse?  That was so destructive, though.  How could he do such a thing?  And yet, what other reason had gasoline been spilt, and why had he been instructed to bring a matchbox?  Was this a test, to see how far he would be willing to obey the journal?

 

Another thought struck him as curious while weighing all of this in his mind: the figure.  Somehow that figure knew that Genesis had a means to set the playhouse on fire, and if this were true than the figure had some connection to the journal.

 

Going against his better judgment, Genesis began charging up the stairs, searching for the figure leaking gasoline.

 

"You!  I want to talk!"

[Cam1949 21]

"WHAT?!? No, that can't be right... He was just fine when I helped him take down a thief yesterday." Varius stated in shock. As he listed to the officer he heard 'Take on the role.' And his eyes went wide, " I will take on the role of sheriff just teach me the job and I will do it whole heartedly." Reaching out for a handshake. "I look forward to working with you... All of you in fact, and before you decline my offer I would like you to think about it, you have no recommendations from the late sheriff Gumshoe and no one is stepping up, so I think I am your only option now." Varius says with an innocent smile on his face.

[Stardustblade358 806]

Vanitas nodded softly. Prepare. For what exactly...? He wasn't sure. None of them were. But he wasn't dead yet. Whatever it was, these Seekers or so, they hadn't killed him off just yet. Whether they were just playing around with him like prey...Vanitas shuddered at the thought. "(Prepare.)" He thought. If they attempted anything tonight, they would have another thing coming. "Be careful." Vanitas said, waving away his Unversed as he turned back to the forge. He had a work's day ahead of him as it was. He needed a drink. Maybe he could take a break later on and grab one by the Tavern. That sounded nice. He already had his own dagger for protection. He could definoitely benefit into sharpening it up for the day. He turned to resume his work at the forge when the loud sound of a thump caught his attention. Vanitas turned, seeing that someone had ran straight into Jynn, practically knocking the two of them down to the ground. Vanitas hurried over, reaching over to help Jynn as he turned to look at Bistro. He had never seen this kid before. What was the hurry? The panic on his expression, was someone after him? "Hey, are you ok?" Vanitas asked, reaching out to help Bistro as well.

[Endless Thundaga 533]

Jynn was taken by surprise when a kid accidentally rams into him. Vanitas was quick to help Jynn up. Mel however, now being more comfortable with his real personality showing, flattens his ears, lowers his head, and angrily snorts at the kid. Jynn tells Mel to stand down, to which he did. He takes a few steps backwards, but still keeps his ears low and swerves his head. Jynn takes Vanitas' hand. "Thanks." He then turns to the kid. "Be careful kid. You need to be mindful of others while you run. Are you alright?"

[Cam1949 21]

Bump

[Vaude 535]

((Should you desire to change things, Shard, feel free to voice something in the sign-ups or a PM and I will happily change them for the better.))

 

Fennel / Veran, on the street

 

The officer, burly and with an inset frown behind a coarsely trimmed beard, locked his legs as he gruffly looked up and down the girl (Fennel) in front of him, as well as her associate Veran.  It was unfortunate that she had company, but as was the nature of his job he had an assignment to complete, be it easy or hard.

 

"You will have to come with me for questioning as a potential suspect," replied the officer.  "A murder has taken place and any information you may give will be resourceful.  However, any attempts of fleeing will consider you guilty and subject to prosecution or execution.  Is this understood by you?"

 

Fennel blinked stupidly at the man before nodding meekly, glancing over to Veran in uncertainty.  Of what was the young man thinking, she wondered.  She hoped it was not negative toward her in any way.  This was a terrible way of parting ways after having met him, especially with the ongoing issue of Ava's disappearance.

 

"I will have to take my leave early and meet up with you later, Veran, whether at the library or not.  I'll continue looking around for Ava throughout this, okay?"

 

She waited for a response, as did the officer, having just enough tact to not butt into the last words between these two.

 

Bistro / Jynn / Vanitas / James, near the smithy

 

Bistro tentatively accepted the offer of being pulled up and reached out a scrawny hand to grab Vanitas', getting to his feet carefully and quickly.  He was nervous around this crowd, as can be expected from a kid among grownup strangers, and his darting eyes searched for a quick escape route should things get hairy.  Luckily for him, a girl had come closer and apologised for . . . following them?  This was weird.  However, it was a fantastic distraction.

 

"Thanks," he voiced towards Vanitas before turning to Jynn, "and sorry, I guess.  I'm all right, but I gotta jet!  Somebody's waiting for me!"

 

This was a bit of a lie, but with the child-like appearance he had he could potentially get out of the situation, trying his best to worm out of the gathering of people and into the trees, where he could be safe.  Run.  Run run run!

 

James barely paid attention to the kid behind him, instead looking at the lady stranger with distrust in his gaze.  Was this part of the journal's wishes in case he failed?  Was she spying on him for this purpose, or was it for a different, separate one?  He shuddered to imagine the possibility of either, but the journal was definitely involved, he was sure of it.

 

"It's okay.  We understand your having to follow what is told," he responded to her, swallowing hard a little as he let the words fall out of his throat.  Considering he almost was about to follow the journal and second-guessed it, he had no right to say such things, but, still, he did understand.  "At the very least I hope you'll introduce yourself for following us.  Do so and I will have no qualms with you," the librarian continued, forcing a smile onto his lips.

 

Varius, at the police headquarters

 

Stin the officer stared at the animalistic boy in front of him with a cold, calculating gaze before smirking, accepting the boy's offer of a handshake and gripping his hand tightly.

 

"I should say that you're a bit presumptuous here, wanting the title without a trial, but we are leaderless and have no clue which of us all is best fitted for the job.  Perhaps you would be a good fit, having heard a bit about your actions yesterday from ol' Gumshoe, but we must put you to a three-fold test, one of courage, one of perseverance, and one of gusto.

 

"Would you be prepared for these tasks?  If you complete them all, I daresay you would be better than all of us who can only complete two or less out of the three.  Ol' man Gumshoe was the one who made the challenges.  If you can't best any of them, the police are not for you yet, mate."

 

Stin still gripped the boy's hand tightly, his dark eyes seeking the determination of a leader in Varius' countenance.  If Gumshoe liked the kid this much, maybe he stands a chance.

 

Genesis, at the play house

 

The figure which skulked about in the dark stood frozen in fear of being discovered and knew the jig was up, a newcomer finding out about the situation shortly before all of the preparations could be made.  Cursing under its breath, it started towards one of the remaining halls which was yet untouched by kerosene, but not before tossing the metal canister of flammable liquid between it and Genesis as an obstacle in Genesis' way.  With everything said and done, it slipped into the hallway, trying to gain as much distance as it could.  The burning of the location could wait another day, and the fuel will likely still remain for a few weeks still.

 

Jade / Vincent, in the lakeside forest

 

Awaiting either of the two on the way back to the town could be found a wagon with a broken wheel.  The owner is having great difficulty picking up the side of the cart, as every time he tries to do two tasks and take out the broken wheel the weight gives on the wagon and down it goes.  He groans and wishes he did not carry so many trade goods in his covered wagon.  Further he wishes that he could gain help.  Any assistance, whether to replace the wheel or get help from town, would be richly awarded, for he could not abandon his wares in these dangerous parts.

 

Infinite, somewhere around town

 

Making its way through the foliage, a shadowy figure came crawling through the underbrush and closer to Infinite, the scent of copper and wet fur creating a pungent odor which came from its direction.  It was a wounded wolf, the same one Vincent had flung into the lake, battered, raw, and absolutely famished.  Infinite would not have long before the creature snarls, glints its white fangs in the open air, and circles for an opening of biting down on one of Infinite's limbs, or maybe his exposed neck, if possible.  The middle-sized creatures like him would make easier prey than big game and a simpler chase than a rabbit.