Missing

[Sem]

OOC: Righties. Halloween's around the corner so I'm posting a bit of a "spooky" RP. I'm gearing this RP towards newbies, since we've had a lot of them but they haven't had much opportunity to get their feet wet. There's no limit to the number of people that can join. This RP is also for those who have been around for a while but have never RP'd before. Experienced RPers can feel free to join too, but I don't want too many of you.

BIC:
"And then the woman said, 'Oh, no you didn't!' and proceeded to snap her fingers in an odd manner," said a woman to another. They were on a bus, traveling on an empty road towards their destination. The woman who spoke was by far the strangest looking one on the bus, which was entirely due to the clothes she wore. A black, slim, Victorian-style dress covered her body. The corset-styled bodice was coal gray, and the dress had a silver trim and designs. The ends of the black sleeves were loose, and a black cloak covered the woman's upper-chest, held in place by a sapphire broach. The woman looked about fifty, but her hair was a silvery, wavy mane that went down to the middle of her back. Upon her head was a witch's hat with a bent tip and a blue sash tied around the base.

The woman's eyes were like the various sapphires she wore on her body, like the identical silver rings and either of her middle fingers, which had sapphires embedded into them. Her skin was pale and very fair, with only a few wrinkles here and there. It seemed that to the woman everyday was Halloween, and so people constantly gave her certain looks. Not that she cared, or even noticed.

"And then she proceeded not to talk for the remainder of the trip. Very rude woman - I'd be happy if I never saw her again."

The other woman whom the witch was talking to only stared in confusion for a moment before saying, "Sorena... You know that I'm the woman you're talking about, right?" she asked, using the witch's name, since the witch had introduced herself when she got on the bus. To everyone.

Sorena blinked and turned her head to face the woman. The witched stared at her for a moment, and then she remembered. "Oh! So you are... how embarrassing," she looked away and bit her lip. "I'm terribly sorry about that."

"Whatever," the other woman said before getting up and moving to another seat.

The rest of the trip went by in silence, apart from Sorena mumbling to herself a few times. The bus soon came to a stop in a town that seemed eerily deserted. Sorena got off of the bus, since the town was her stop. It was a modern town, with paved roads and other nice things. It was fall, and the season was reflected in the trees and plant-life. The leaves of the trees were beautiful shades of orange and red, and it was hard to believe that the branches would be bare in a matter of months.

Sorena looked around, seeing only a few people out and about, and there were hardly any cars on the road. The town, which was called Twin Creeks, wasn't a big city by any means, but it was still rather empty. The woman shrugged and continued on her way. Her leather, high-heeled boots clacked against the sidewalk with each step she took. Stores were open, or most of them were at any rate. Sorena peered into the windows and saw people buying things, so it wasn't as if there were no citizens at all.

After wandering around for a couple of hours she found the shop she was looking for, tucked away in a corner of town center. "Finally," she said under her breath as she opened the door and stepped inside. A bell jingled above her head and the door closed behind her. She waited for a moment for the shopkeeper to show himself and quickly scanned the items on display, sensing the different kinds of magic in the room. "There's quite a few things here I could use..." she told herself as a man stepped out of the back room.

He was a large man, with a balding head and a black mustache. He wore a simple pair of jeans and a button-up shirt. He stared at her for a moment with tiny eyes and he exhaled through his nose. The badge pinned to his shirt read 'Gilroy Gibbons.'

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but this shop is for serious magicians only. There's nothing you'll find here that you can use for your Halloween costume."

Sorena, who was staring intently at one of the objects , paused for a moment. Then, she straightened herself and turned, looking at the man with her eyes. "I'll have you know that I'm very serious, and I find it insulting that you assume I'm not just because I wear 'traditional' clothes." It was true. Modern witches had stopped wearing hats and cloaks and all black ages prior.

The man's eyes went wide as he jumped. "Oh, I'm sorry ma'am! Please, consider everything you see to be half-price," he said.

Sorena nodded and seemed appeased by this, continuing to look for what it was she needed. She was currently browsing through ingredients used for all manner of potions and elixers. The shop specialized in this area, but also offered magical items such as charms.

"Can I help you find anything?" he asked her after a moment.

"Yes..." she said as she used her index finger to look. "I'm wondering if you have any phoenix ashes. I ran out a while back and I'm needing them again."

Again his eyes widened. "Phoenix ashes? I have some, yes, but I keep them in the back." The reason for this was because the ashes of a phoenix were very hard to come by. First you had to hunt down a phoenix, which weren't typically found on any planet you visited, and then you had to kill it, and gather up the ashes before it resurrected itself. This made them very expensive. Animal rights groups had recently petitioned against that sort of thing, however, so now you had to wait for the thing to die on its own. This had caused the price of phoenix ashes to shoot up even more, and they were definitely amongst the most expensive magical ingredients. Any smart store owner kept their own phoenix as a pet, so that they could obtain ashes more easily. Of course, it cost a lot to buy a phoenix, and you still had to wait for it to die naturally, but that was still easier than going out into the wild.

"Would you like me to get some?" he asked, almost hesitantly. He would end up losing money if he sold the ashes at half off.

"Yes please, just a pouch-full," Sorena replied without looking up.

He came back after a minute and handed her a small pouch full of ashes. It didn't seem like a lot, but potions never called for more than a pinch, so it would last her a long time. "I should probably invest in one of the birds myself," she said. The witch spent quite a bit of time in the shop, picking out several of the items that she knew she would need. Actually, she ended up buying anything she didn't already own.

"Are you an experienced brewer?" he asked her while he added up the total.

"I would say so, Mr. Gibbins, yes," she replied, doing one quick rescan of the room to make sure she didn't miss anything. The shop was quite a find - it had many things that couldn't be found in other places. "I've been brewing for many, many years."

"Well, pleasure to meet a fellow brewer then," he said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye with a particular gaze that didn't match his tone. "And would you like to buy a protective charm? I'll throw it in half-off as well."

"Protects me from what?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You haven't heard?" Mr. Gibbons said with mild surprise. "People in the area have been disappearing," he explained. "Police don't know why, but a few of them have vanished too. Seems to happen at random, and there's no trace of the people after they're gone, except for the clothes they were wearing."

"That is interesting..." she replied, though she considered whether or not she needed protecting, especially if it sounded like people were simply streaking.

"People started buying them like crazy after word of the disappearances got around. I've had to order several shipments since then." Then, he pulled a necklace from out of his shirt and pointed to the charm that was tied to it. "Even I'm wearing one."

Sorena knew that little trinkets such as charms wouldn't work if someone, or something, really wanted to get you. They worked better for little things like staying healthy during flu season, and falling from a rock and not breaking a bone. Of course, there existed more powerful, high quality charms that definitely could protect you from almost anything, even delay your own death by several years. But from a glance Sorena knew that the charms he sold weren't high quality. "I think I'm fine without one, thank you," she told him.

"Suit yourself," he shrugged. He told her the total and she handed him the money. The witch proceeded to put the things she purchased into her sleeve, where they fell into a pocket of magic, or hammerspace as some called it.

The man grinned at this, realizing his customer had been no ordinary brewer, but a talented magician as well. "Thank you for your business!" he called after her as she left his shop.

-------

"Now, now, what to do, what to do..." Sorena asked herself as she walked. It was late in the afternoon now, almost tea time. Realizing that she was hungry she headed for one of the restaurants she had passed earlier. As she expected, there weren't many people there, and there was but a single chef and a waiter. After receiving odd looks from the people around her she was sat down at a table and she promptly ordered one of the dishes on the menu. She really just chose one at random - she wasn't picky, and wasn't very crazy about food.

It was when Sorena was almost finished with her meal that she heard a scream from the back. Some of the diners got up to see what happened, and she heard the chef say. "He's gone too!" The chef came out, carrying the waiter's clothes in one hand for all to see. One or two of the diners left immediately, not wanting to be next, but Sorena stayed where she was, sipping her cup of hot tea. That was when she sensed a tiny bit of magic before it left the building. She had only caught a whiff of it, but it wasn't anything that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. It was unholy, what she had sensed.

Something was going on in Twin Creeks.

 

[Rex]

A car sped down the road, going well over the speed limit. The car was driven by a man named Alexander Silver. He was a Bounty Hunter on the trail of a man named Dr. Albert Kain. His outfit certainly made him look the part, gray dress pants and a gray waistcoat over a white dress shirt. He was also wearing a black tie, and polished black shoes. The man was very tall, and unhealthily thin. His skin was pale, and his black hair almost hid his cold gray eyes.

Curled up in the seat next to him was a small weasel-like creature named Flynt. Flynt was rather small, especially in comparison to Alexander. He wore a pair of black pants that had been made especially to fit him, though they were now a bit torn. The left leg was frayed, and a bit shorter then the right one, exposing the bottom of a metal brace with the last link of a chain on it. His fur was a dark gray, and he had multiple cuts on his exposed torso. He was Alexander’s partner, hell; the man would go as far as to call Flynt his apprentice.

Currently, the two were following a lead that the man had been spotted in a town known as Twin Creeks. It wasn’t two long before they arrived in the small town. It was uncharacteristically empty. Alexander parked the car in a hotel lot, and purchased a room for a few days. Then, he returned to the car, and shook Flynt awake.

“Whazat?” the weasel-like creature muttered, sitting up.

“We’ve arrived,” Alexander reported, smirking, “The streets are pretty empty, I don’t think you’ll gather any trouble going out in the open.

Flynt nodded, and climbed out of the car. Alex slammed and locked the door behind him, opening up the back door and pulling out a gray trench coat and fedora. He quickly put these on, then started off down the street, Flynt following behind him. A few times, Alexander noticed people inside several of the buildings, but none of them noticed him or Flynt.

Alexander entered a few of the shops, gathering what information he could. It was a simple enough task really; flash a badge and people would tell you anything. While he found little on Dr. Kain, he did learn that people had been disappearing from the town, seemingly at random. There was no hint of their disappearance, other then the clothes they were wearing turning up where they had been.

Eventually, the two found a small, deserted park. Deciding this was as good a place to throw some ideas around as any, he sat down on a bench, Flynt climbing onto the one across from him.

“Well, disappearances, that certainly fits the good Doctor’s M.O. from Las Vegas,” Alex frowned, “However, leaving their clothes behind sounds a bit too much, even for him.”

“Well, what else could it be?” Flynt questioned, “Werewolves?”

“In the middle of the day? I don’t think so,” Alex replied, “However, we can’t rule out a supernatural element.”

The two continued their discussion, oblivious to their surroundings. There was definitely something going on in this town, perhaps it was best for them to stick around for a little and find out.

 

[Tangrow]

"Hmm, this one is much too worn...dry...too red...ah! That's the one!" A nimble hand snatched a falling leave out of the air and quickly jabbed it with a mid-sized needle. The same hand then tenderly removed the leaf and allowed it to continue dropping at its lazy rate. With dexterity, that same needle found itself making its way along some fabric or another, as if something was being pressed by a sewing machine. Her hand made extremely quick motions, and it seemed she had done nothing to the maple-colored cloth at all. In reality, Odette had just imbued the essence of the falling leaf into the piece. The woman standing solitary in the woods had the ability to enchant clothing and other items in a manner that was wished, although most of the work was accredited to the needles. Like an imprint of her mind, they keep the exact moment of what they came in contact with: how it felt, smelled, everything such as that. Odette then got on her knees and pulled off the long cloth which wrapped around her arms and back. In the middle of the quaint forest, she found beauty in her work.

Later in the day, Odette found herself on the second floor of the nearby inn of Twin Creeks, calmly sipping tea whilst looking out the window. If she recalled the name was something corny like Twin View, she hadn't recalled. She had only planned to stay the night after all, and then she'd be on her way. This year, Odette decided to make someone she called a Fall Run. She'd travel around the country during Fall and gather all the new things she'd find there.One by one, she had sewn bit by bit into a new cloth. Odette carried a very large cloth with her whenever she went out; this would be her third. In each cloth were patches of different scents and feelings. This cloth was almost completely sewn over, with room for about 5 more pieces. The woman looked down at herslef; she still hadn't changed out of her current clothes. She thought nothing of it, as she had no plans to sleep anytime soon. She wore what she usually did, a long dress with long sleeves. Her boots were by the door, and her nice bowler hat was on the nightstand next to the bed. For fall, she decided to change up the coloration a little, and her hat was a nice red whilst her dress faded from red to brown, and then yellow, to complement her maple hair. Odette was aware of the odd occurrences that had been happening around town, having stayed here for a few days now, but she herself felt it wasn't her problem. As she put the teacup back on the small plate, the wind carried some noise to her ears, loud shouting, it appeared. It seemed to have come from the nearby restaurant, now that Odette looked at it.

Of course, none of this actually concerned her, so Odette decided not to bother. Sleepy mornings called for sleepy afternoons, and this was no exception. Odette yawned as she noticed that her actual meal of a few biscuits was left untouched. She removed herself from the little coffee table and casually strode across the wood floor, towards her hat. If one inspected it, they would notice quite a number of her needles were stuck in the side of it. They were smaller than the ones she used earlier, more slight and thin. She called them her practical needles. Grabbing the napkin next to the hat, she gingerly picked out a needle, having long memorized which was which, and moved at a faster pace back to her seat in which she quickly stuck the needle straight into the food. She blew on her hands a moment. The needle gave off a few sparks, releasing magic into the air. Odette was sure nobody would notice this little release anyway, and once she thought it would be good and ready, she repeated the process with the napkin and stuck it back in its rightful place. The needle had reminded her of the time she burned her hand upon the kitchen stove when she was around six years old.

They had been making pancakes. It wasn't often that Grandmother actually cooked something, but it was always really nice. In the cottage on the island, Odette had jumped up and down excitedly. She had never had these 'pancakes' before. Grandmother had left the room for a moment, and the second she did, Odette had decided to touch the oven. The pain and callous had lasted for a while, and it stayed in her mind as well.l It was the first thing Grandmother had taught her to sew into clothing: Her own feelings. Odette opened her eyes again as her mind exited from her memories, and smiled. It was a lovely evening, and to show herself how much she really was enjoying herself, she made a little burst of magic fly from her fingertips. She didn't know much in actual magic, but she amused herself with what she did. As long as no one else freaked out or anything of the sort. Her hazel eyes lingered upon the setting sun in the horizon before she returned to her tea and biscuits. With that, the woman made a solitary decision to go out later have a chat with whoever or whatever was making the disappearances. Calm and sweet was all well and good, but Odette thought it fun to shake things up once in a while.

 

[Picnicker Virgil]

Kaley Hines tried to keep her head down as she walked the streets of Twin Creeks. It was a bit windy and her lengthy bronze hair kept whipping at her face whenever she looked up. Although, the real reason Kaley kept her head down was to avoid eye contact with anyone who might find it weird that she was carrying a conch shell. With all the disappearances lately Kaley was doing everything she could to stay safe, and the conch shell was supposed to emit a loud buzzing noise when danger was close. It hadn't made a peep since she'd enchanted it, and so far she couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It either meant she was completely safe, or her spell didn't work, and considering her luck with every other spell she'd attempted she assumed it was the latter.

It didn't make a difference whether Kaley kept her head down or not, nobody was going to notice her as there was no one else around. Kaley wasn't the only one paranoid about the disappearances; most people refused to leave their houses. Kaley herself had been shut indoors for the past few days, reading through her Witch's Book of Spells and General Wiccan Knowledge which she'd bought online a month earlier when she decided to try her hand at magic. Pages 5 - 15 had focused on the power of charms, and some of the pages even had pockets in them with the charms they talked about. It was because of this that she now wore a charm bracelet with various metal charms hanging from them. Pages 16 and 17 told Kaley all about familiars, and urged her to choose a familiar before reading further. And it was because of this that Kaley had gathered up the courage to leave her house in pursuit of a familiar.

The door to the pet store jingled as she opened it. Right away Kaley saw some interesting animals that she thought would make neat familiars. She pictured herself as a powerful sorceress with a snake wrapped around her neck, ready to bite the heads off anyone who dared oppose her. She pictured herself with a parakeet on her shoulder, brewing potions in a tidepool at an empty beach. She pictured herself with a gerbil in her hand, and realized a gerbil would probably not make a very good familiar. As much as she wanted one of the more exotic pets, Kaley decided to stick with something more traditional and started to check out the cats.

"Are you thinking of buying a cat?" The owner of the shop asked, as he appeared seemingly out of nowhere, probably having heard the door jingle. He glanced down at the conch shell in Kaley's hand but didn't react. Kaley blushed anyways.

"Yes." She answered simply.

"Ah. Cool. Do you have any pets right now?" Kaley shook her head. "Well cats make great first pets. They're pretty independant so they aren't much work. But they're very loveable. I think it's a good choice."

Kaley thought back to pages 16 and 17. Familiars aren't pets, it had said. They are meant to guide beginner witches and protect them, and can leave whenever they like. "It's not going to be a pet though." She said matter-of-factly.

"Oh. Okay... Well lemme know if you find something you like." The owner gave up the whole small talk bit and took his spot behind the counter.

Kaley looked at the cats for about 15 minutes before deciding on the one she wanted. "Can I see that one?" She asked the man behind the counter, pointing into one of the crates. A few seconds later Kaley was cradling a small black and gold cat in her arms. He had two white paws and big topaz eyes. Kaley smiled. "This is the one I want. How much?"

"$150."

Kaley's heart sank. She had $60 dollars to her name and had only brought $40, assuming she wouldn't need more. "Oh.." She said dully. She was about to hand the cat back to shop owner when she heard an irritating noise coming from somewhere in the shop. She was confused for about half a second before, with a shock, she realized it was coming from the conch she had set down on top of a fish tank. There was danger nearby. Kaley screamed and dropped the cat, bolting towards the door, fearing for her life. She didn't get far when she noticed that the black and gold cat had somehow slipped out the door with her and was trailing right behind her.

'Which is worse?' Kaley thought to herself as she stopped walking. 'Being blamed for stealing a cat, or possibly dying if I go to the store to bring it back?' She tried to calm herself down, and attempted to convince herself that the shell wasn't working properly. Kaley picked up the cat and decided to walk by the store, from the other side of the street, and see if she could somehow get the owner's attention without actually entering again. And maybe get her conch back somehow.

Again, there was nobody in the streets as she walked towards the pet shop, this time with a squirmy black and gold cat in her arms. She slowed down as she approached the store and squinted her eyes as she tried to see into the shop, expecting to see the store owner looking through the window for the weird girl who thought a conch could pay for a $150 cat. But she saw no one in the shop. Daring to move just a bit closer, Kaley stepped into the road and gasped as she saw a clearer view of the shop. On the floor by the cat crates was a pile of clothes.

With another scream, Kaley bolted down the street back to her house, clutching the black and gold cat to her chest.

 

[Jenova]

Murmurs spread throughout the dreary old bus as the young Anna Kindle daintily exited the spacious vehicle, oblivious to their gossips. Once the doors closed, everyone got up from their seats in the far back and sat wherever they preferred. Even the driver sighed in relief and wiped the sweat off of his brow. They hoped that they would never go near such a disturbing girl. It wasn't necessarily her appearance that bothered the passengers, though. In fact, she was rather pretty, almost as if she was from a famous portrait of some sort.

During the ride, loose brown hair strands from her bangs occasionally waved in the air as her low ponytail rested on her shoulder. She had fair skin and blue eyes. Her pale lime green dress was modest and ruffly at the bottom, although the gold linings on her waist indicated that she was rich. The pure white rose on each of her brown boots also supported that theory. However, it was her actions that made the bus-goers think less of her as a city girl, and more of a lunatic.

"Vale, this is a most heavenly strong breeze! I can tell that we're going to have a wonderful time in this town!" she cheerfully said to her companion.

His polyurethane resin head nodded. She smiled at him and walked into Twin Creeks, clutching his body close to her, in a subconscious fear that someone would steal him and sell him. Yes, it was true - "Vale" was, in fact, a doll. He was the foremost thing she had purchased with her first hard-earned pays, and he was dedicated to the person that gave Anna the life she had now. Whatever became of him, she was unsure of, but she believed that things had to be that way for the better or worse. Still, the eerie similarities between her ball-jointed friend and her savior was rather uncanny. Their eyes, facial structure, hair... It was like Vale's past life was somehow linked to her, that Vale and her unnamed superman were the same being.

The first thing she and her ball-jointed friend did in the town was getting something to eat. Anna walked into a restaurant when she suddenly heard screams from the place. People looked to see what had occurred, while a few quickly left, pushing her out of the way. She landed on a nearby seat, next to an old man reading a newspaper. Quickly recovering, she dusted off her clothes and Vale's, asking the thing if it was alright. The old man looked from his paper with a confused look on his face, shook his head, and chuckled to himself. It was then that she noticed the elder and quickly apologized.
"I'm sorry, sir," she said, getting up. "I didn't mean to interrupt your reading."

"No, no, it's alright," he replied.

"Erm, sir? I'm sorry again, but, what just happened?"

"Oh?" he said. "Another one's gone missing, is all."

"Missing? Another?"

The elderly man put down the newspaper and looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Do you mean to tell me you don't know?"

"Know what?" she asked, tilting her head.

"About the disappearances! People have been gone left and right, and no one knows what's become of them," he answered.

"Really?" she said, her eyes widening. "I just got here a few moments ago so I didn't know anything about it..."

"Well if you ask me," the old man said in a more serious tone, "you should leave immediately. If anything, you'll probably be missing too. A little girl such as you with an expensive looking toy like that would be unsafe anywhere, even in a small run-down place such as this. In fact, I'm thinking about leaving myself."

Anna shook her head. "Sorry sir, but I can't leave yet. I have some business here. A...friend of mine told me to come here before he went missing a few years ago."

"Suit yourself, miss."

With that, Anna stood up, adjusted her brown bolero, and walked away, leaving the man to read in peace. She wandered around the restaurant, looking around and at the customers. Once she had her fill of observing the surroundings, she finally settled down and took a seat, placing Vale down onto the chair next to her. She adjusted everything, from his emerald waistcoat and pale green cravat to his black trousers and matching tailcoat, and even to his long blond hair and bangs. There was an old woman sitting nearby whose clothing looked as if it inspired Vale's and her own, but Anna didn't seem to notice.

Instead, she spoke to the doll about the circumstances as if she was hoping to get an answer out of him. She asked him if she did the right thing by coming to the obscure town due to her uneasiness about it. She told him that she wanted to see her savior again, and how she missed him so. However, unnoticed by Anna, Vale's acrylic pale blue eyes appeared foggy. It was as if he was going to cry. Truly, coming to Twin Creeks was the right thing. She just didn't know it.

 

[Chadwyck]

The young man sighed and stretched out in his bed, it was up against the far wall of his hotel room in the small town of Twin Creeks. He turned over, shifting himself uncomfortably, and turned over again. He was getting restless, and he had just arrived there; great start to a vacation. Chadwyck stared up at the ceiling with his hazel eyes, he'd decided that he needed a break from his wandering and various adventures. It was a sort of spur of the moment decision, since this seemed like as good a town and as good a planet as any to catch some rest and relaxation; only after he purchased a hotel room for ten days, in advance, did he realize that he just wasn't made for rest and relaxation. And this was only day one: nine more to go.

Not that money was really anything of consequence, he wouldn't greatly mind getting up and leaving the hotel, but he was determined to get some rest even if it killed him. Which was ironic since he was in life-threatening situations regularly, he couldn't help but laugh at himself if he were to die on vacation.

He stretched again and sat up abruptly, deciding that he was going out for some food or something. Anything to get out of the room and stop the ensuing boredom from settling in. He changed out of his pajamas that he had donned when he got to the room, they were his relaxation clothes that he had just purchased down the street from a shop, and put on his normal attire. This consisted of a green t-shirt with black jeans, heavy looking combat boots and a studded leather belt. He blew a few loose strands of his shaggy violet-black hair out of his eyes, he really needed to get it trimmed soon. He grabbed his jacket, a black, biker-cut jacket covered with zippers, and slipped it on as he grabbed his room key and ducked out the door.

The streets were quiet, no one seemed to want to walk out in the open, especially not with the night settling in. Though there were people spread around in various shops, so they town wasn't completely deserted. Just mostly deserted. Chadwyck wondered why, not entirely out of concern, but more with a curiosity that may mean something interesting was on its way. He could hope, anyway.

He found a restaurant that seemed decent enough, though it was small. He didn't venture inside, opting instead for one of the patio seats. He'd been there a few minutes and there had still been no sign of a waiter coming to take his order, "They call this service, they can forget about the tip." He mumbled to himself, wishing that he at least had some water to sip or something. Finally he got fed up with waiting and turned to shout, but apparently he wasn't the first. Screams echoed through the entire restaurant, "Serves them right, the lazy--"

Suddenly the chef came out holding a wad of clothes, "He's gone too!" He shouted as if it was a common occurrence to be holding a pile of clothes and shouting to the heavens.

"Too?" Chadwyck mused as he stood up, looking for someone who may be able to answer his questions. Several people fled the restaurant, others simply panicked, but there was one who stood out as being completely calm. A woman that, surprisingly enough, Chadwyck actually recognized. "Sorena, imagine that," He smirked as he took a seat at her table, "Small worlds. You got any idea what's going on in this town?" Chadwyck asked more hopeful than anything. Finally, something interesting was going on in Twin Creeks.

OoC: I don't see any newbies in this topic >>; post newbies, we don't bite D:

 

[Sem]

"Unholy magic..." she muttered, not able to double check since whatever trace she had sensed was long gone. "That's not good, it's never good. Not for me, not for anyone in this town..." Sorena was thinking aloud, as she often did, brooding over what sort of spells could accomplish this. The problem was there were an all too many number of spells that could make people vanish. "The police are aware of this situation, but do they know that magic was behind it?" She decided that she would need to go tell them, just to make sure.

"Sorena, imagine that," she heard a man's voice say. In the moment it took for her to find his face she wondered about the tone and whether or not she liked the sound of it. The man looked like an outright delinquent, but she recognized him. "Small worlds. You got any idea what's going on in this town?"

"Wyckchad!" she exclaimed before stopping herself and muttering "Wait, that's not right... Chadwyck!" She leaned in over the table, a grin on her face. The witch was happy to see a familiar face, and seemed to have completely forgotten the terms under which they last met. Something involving an epic fight to the death along with a blue-haired teen and an in-the-closet terakinetic. No one won... no one ever does win those sorts of things.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" she asked, quite nicely despite the choice of words. Before he could answer she went on talking. "Well, from what I see, people are vanishing into thin air! The clothes are all that's left behind," she explained, waving her finger at him. "Which reminds me..." Sorena slid out of the booth and approached the chef. "Excuse me, can I see these?" the sorceress asked, though she took the bundle of clothes out of his hand before he could answer. She all but buried her face into the wad of fabric, inhaling it's scent and trying to use her magical senses. She tried for a few good moments before saying "No... the clothes are clean. There is no magical residue..."

"Excuse me?" the chef said as he was handed back the clothes of his raptured co-worker.

Sorena returned to her seat, still explaining. "In the moments immediately following the young man's vanishing I caught a whiff of magic, you see." She was talking to Chadwyck, but it was quiet enough that everyone else in the establishment could hear her. Everyone was dead quiet after her rather silly looking procedure with the victim's clothes. "Not just any magic..." she went on, leaning in closer to the young man sitting across from her. Her sapphire eyes were wide as she whispered the following words, well aware that people would hear her if she didn't whisper. "Unholy magic," she said, practically spitting out the words. "There is a magician of the fallen arts somewhere here in this town," Sorena went on, whispering through her teeth. "Well... two. But I don't use those spells... not anymore..."

After a moment of silence Sorena asked Chad, "Why are you here anyway?" she asked him again. Of course, when he opened his mouth to speak she spoke again. "I'm going to the police. They need to know about my discovery." With that, she got up and pulled the young man out of his seat, hooking arms with him and walking him towards the exit. "C'mon, you're coming along with me. We need to do something before more innocent people vanish..." she added with a murmur while scanning the restaurant again. "Like old men with newspapers, chefs, and... little girls with freakish enchanted dolls..."

With that, the duo left the building and walked out into the streets. "I'll need you to lead us to the police. It will take me hours to find the way." She paused. "Why are you here?"

 

[Chadwyck]

As Chadwyck had suspected, Sorena had apparently forgotten all about their previous encounter. Another fight that no one had won. Even Chadwyck himself had a bit of trouble recalling just why they had been fighting in the first place; had it been over a book? Maybe that had been another time. Not that it mattered, Chadwyck only picked fights with people to give him something to do, a practice that he had given up. Now he tended to keep himself occupied with various odd jobs and planet hopping adventures. Though, there was still the odd time that he couldn't resist a challenge, but most of the time it wouldn't be to the death.

She asked what he was doing there, he opened his mouth to reply, but the witch kept on talking away. That wasn't really a surprise, but for the moment Chadwyck had forgotten how scatterbrained the witch was. It was always amusing to have a conversation with the witch, if not a little one-sided. Instead of worrying himself about how or when to reply to her stream of information, he simply contented himself to listen. People were vanishing into the air, the waiter wasn't the first from the sound of things, then.

He watched with a smirk as the woman burrowed her face into the waiter's clothes, trying desperately not to laugh at the awe-stricken faces of the people in the restaurant; the ones who hadn't fled the establishment, that is. He made sure that the smirk had vanished by the time the witch had returned to the table.

From her continued explanation, it seemed that whatever was making people vanish wasn't some demon or other such creature of darkness. She seemed positive that it was another magician; one of an unholy nature. He was relieved to hear that she didn't dabble in that type of magic any longer, but since she'd once practiced them she should have some clue as to how the disappearances were being orchestrated.

She asked him why he was there again, only this time he waited a moment before even attempting to answer, and with good cause. Before he would have even drawn a breath to begin speaking she grabbed him by the arm and led him from the establishment; and he hadn't even had his meal yet. "The police..." He thought as she led him toward the door, "Somehow I doubt they'll be much help."

Chadwyck got a good look at the girl with the doll as they left the restaurant, something about her unnerved him; and that wasn't exactly an easy thing to do. But it wasn't really her that he was bothered by, it was her doll. The thing had a presence, he was sure he felt it as Sorena dragged him past the girl.

"I don't exactly know where the police station is, either..." He thought glancing around for a sign somewhere that would lead them to the building. He didn't exactly make it a point to know where the law enforcement of any particular town he visited would be found, if anything he could handle a situation himself; he never found it necessary to involve police. After a second he realised that Sorena had asked him the same question for the third time.

"Vacation." He responded quickly, before she could continue speaking, "I was nearby after an escapade of mine involving the recovery of a prototype that could tear through the fabric of dimensions. It was an interesting couple of months, really, I got to meet myself from another plane of reality. I was a bit of a douche, though. I hope I don't actually come across like that." He trailed off remembering the scenario, "I suppose in the end we worked pretty well together," He shrugged.

The duo turned at the end of the street, Chadwyck had spied a small, blue sign that pointed in the direction of the police station. "Anyway, after the whole ordeal I ended up spat back into this dimension, on this planet, about a mile outside of Twin Creeks and I decided I deserved a bit of a break. I didn't really expect rest and relaxation to be quite this boring." He sighed as he noticed the old, brick building that functioned as the Twin Creeks Sheriff's Department, and the pair walked up to the door and stepped inside one of the few places that Chadwyck hated visiting.

 

[Rex]

It wasn't long before the two bounty hunters left the park, starting a small search of the town. They were at a complete loss for leads, be they normal or supernatural. The citizens Alexander questioned didn't know any more then the man had already found out off of them. Finally, they turned towards the police station. They couldn't be expected to have much, but any info they did have might prove helpful in determining what ever it was that was taking these people.

"You sure the cops will have anything?" Flynt asked.

"Yes, the police are normally good at finding things, just not at interpreting them," Alex answered, before heading towards the door.

"Try to act professional!" Flynt grinned, before disappearing down a side alleyway.

"You ask too much of me," Alex called, chuckling.

With that, the man entered the building. He nearly ran into a man and an elderly woman in a witch costume. The man smirked at the sight, then dodged around the two, and walked up to the counter. The officer at the desk looked at him, obviously not carrying about the odd man standing in front of him until he flashed his badge. At that, the young officer snapped to attention.

"I'm Agent Briscoe with the FBI," Alex stated, rehearsing a line he had said many times, "I'm here investigating the string of disappearances this little town of yours has been reporting."

"Sir?" the officer asked, "What could the FBI want with such a localized case?"

"I'm afraid that's classified information," Alex smirked, "Now, I will need copies of every document pertaining to this case of yours. List of the disappeared, locations they disappeared from, anything."

The officer quickly nodded, before hurrying off to complete Alexander's request. While the bounty hunter waited, he turned towards the other two people in the room.

"Nice to see the locals are friendly," the man remarked, before addressing the two people directly, "Excuse me Sir, Ma'am, but as you no doubt heard, my name is Agent Briscoe, with the FBI. I'm here investigating the string of disappearances here in this town. I was wondering if either of you have any information that might lead to the eventual solving of this case, and the apprehension of the person or persons responsible."

While he was waiting for a responce, the officer hurried back in, and handed him a file with several sheets of paper in it. Alexander thanked him for his time, assured him that he would return if he needed any more information, and walked over to the two people.

"So sorry, now, you were saying?"

 

[Sem]

Thanks to Chadwyck's natural sense of direction - which Sorena did not possess - they found the police station. It was quite small and homely, like the rest of the town. A man rushed passed the two as they entered.

"Rude," Sorena muttered as she and Chad followed him inside. "That's the problem with young men these days, isn't it Chad? No respect for their elders." The fact that she was currently hanging on a young man's arm was totally lost on her. She scanned the interior of the building while the man spoke with the officer. Most of the desks were quite unorganized, and the people were hard at work, do doubt trying to solve the disappearances.

"Excuse me Sir, Ma'am," the man said, approaching them. "but as you no doubt heard," (Sorena hadn't actually heard a word he said prior.) "my name is Agent Briscoe, with the FBI. I'm here investigating the string of disappearances here in this town. I was wondering if either of you have any information that might lead to the eventual solving of this case, and the apprehension of the person or persons responsible."

The woman blinked. What luck! A higher ranking authority was present in the town. "That is exactly what I came here to do!" she said. "My name is Sorena, and this young man here- Oh dear..." her voice trailed. Leaning over, she whispered into Chad's ear, "When I said that comment earlier about young men being rude I didn't mean every one of them," she insisted, not wanting to offend her new friend. There was now an astound silence in the room. "Where was I?" she muttered, shifting her eyes back and forth. "Ah yes! This young man is Chadwyck!"

Taking a quick look around she pulled the agent in closer and the trio huddled. "You see. I was present during a disappearance earlier this afternoon, and a few moments after it had happened I sensed..." She looked around again. "Black magic," she whispered. "A dark magician is doing these things, I'm sure of it. Now, I don't know if the police here have any type of magician in their ranks, but I'm fairly certain that they didn't know of this little detail I found out. What do you two suggest we do now? I would be more than willing to help in your investigation Agent... bloody hell, what was your name... Bristow...?"

 

[Chadwyck]

A man pushed past Sorena and Chadwyck before they had a chance to approach the desk of the officer. Meaning that this self-important man would prolong this unwanted visitation to the authorities. Chadwyck sighed as Sorena made a comment about how rude the young man was, luckily Chadwyck wasn't offended; he never really counted himself among majorities or generalizations.

The man flashed some sort of badge at them as he now approached the duo. FBI? Chadwyck thought, summing the man up, I doubt it. Not that he had any reason to suspect the man of anything, but that's how Chadwyck's mind worked. Guilty until proven innocent was a pretty common mindset for him, he was suspicious of everyone unless he knew you really well; or he didn't have reason to. He had an uncanny ability for telling people's intentions, not exactly on the dot, but he knew whether someone rubbed him the wrong way.

Besides, even if the man was telling the truth, he didn't particularly care for law enforcement agencies; especially some high-and-mighty agency like the FBI. However, seeing as how it didn't really matter since they weren't competitors, he decided to give the man at least the benefit of the doubt. Whether he was lying or telling the truth, either one was a possibility, regardless of how easily Sorena believed him. Either way they could gain something from helping each other, since they're overall goals were identical; stop the disappearances.

Chadwyck came out of his thoughts in time to hear Sorena apologize to him for the young men comment, Chadwyck shrugged and assured it that it was all right before she continued on; telling the man about the black magic she had sensed. What can we do next? Chadwyck thought through the options, either we track down this dark wizard or more people go missing. But without knowing where to start we'll just end up chasing shadows.

Chadwyck sighed and looked at the pair, "Unless you can track down the source of that black magic, we don't even know where to begin." He directed the comment toward Sorena, seeing as how she sensed the magic in the first place.

 

[Rex]

The older woman, Sorena, seemed happy to see that a higher ranking authority, which he had claimed to be, was in the town. She grew silent for a moment after introducing herself, then whispered into the man's ear. After a moment, she continued, introducing the man as Chadwyck, and pulling Alexander closer to her.

What she said next surprised the man a bit, but he did his best not to show it. The woman had seen a disappearance! To top it off, she had sensed black magic in the area moments after. She called the man who had these abilities a Dark Magician, though to Alex, they were Warlocks. Finally, she said she was willing to help his investigation, she wanted to know what to do first, and she screwed up his name. Then the man addressed a comment at the woman, saying that unless she could track the magic, there was nothing they could do.

"Not true," Alex grinned, "It is not very often I go up against a Warlock, but first, Miss Sorena, I need proof that you can actually sense a dark presence. Any display of power would probably do. I'm sorry to force you do to this, but we get a lot of false alarms, so I need to be sure. And that isn't true young man, we can talk to the people who were around the people before they disappeared. Perhaps they saw something, smelled something, heard something, anything. Unless you two have a better idea, I suggest we start with the Witnesses. Oh! And my name is Briscoe, Miss Sorena."

 

[Jenova]

As a young man, possibly older than Anna, walked past her table, the girl sighed and cradled her head in her hands. How long ago was it that she started a new life in her home, Sphelim? She counted down the city winters to herself, one winter for each Christmas Eve she spent with her doll friend. "Four winters," she muttered, looking up and directly into Vale’s eyes. They reverted back to their acrylic state. "Vale... I was 19 four winters ago. I would have been married to the Archduke by now." She lowered her head and grimaced at the idea of what her life would have been if it wasn't for her kidnapping.

It was then that she noticed everyone was looking in her direction. She turned around and also couldn’t help staring as well- an old woman burying her face in some disappeared man’s clothing? It was quite possibly the highlight of Anna’s day so far. The woman gave the chef the clothes back, and talked to the young man Anna noticed before. The girl turned back to her companion. They both heard the stranger say “magical residue,” and it was clear to them that the disappearances were not at all normal.

“Vale... Maybe this is it. Whoever’s connected to the vanishing going on here is probably responsible for my hero’s disappearance as well!” she whispered.

She then realized the danger her alleged “hero” could have been in. The young lady gulped and shook her head. She then made the sign of the cross and went into a peculiar trance. Her hands folded involuntary and she said in a low tone, "Savior, are you alright? If you're alive, please let me know." Suddenly, she snapped out of her sedated state and heard footsteps. The elderly woman and scruffy-looking man had both exited the restaurant.

"Oh!" Anna exclaimed. "I must have been drifting off again."

She stood up, propped Vale onto her shoulders, and headed for the door. Once out, she noticed the pair heading towards a certain direction. “If I recall, the police station is not far from there,” she said to Vale. “Maybe they’re reporting the disappearance.” She thought to herself how peculiar it was that only those two would go and do it, but not the chef. She followed them, hoping that she could get some answers. “Not to worry, my dear savior,” Anna said to herself. “I will surely find you!” Vale’s eyes lit up and became glassy again.

“If only she knew.”

Before long, they made it to the police station. Anna saw the young man and elderly woman go into the building, followed by another stranger. She hesitated. “If I were to go now,” she thought, “then it would be clear that I was following them.” She wandered around the area, looking for anything else of her significance. Unfortunately, there was nothing interesting in particular, so Anna had no choice. She sighed and walked into the police station, her heart beating rapidly. She thought to herself, “Thank god this is such a small town, and an impostor took my place as the daughter of Baron-”

“Excuse me Sir, Ma'am, but as you no doubt heard, my name is Agent Briscoe, with the FBI. I'm here investigating the string of disappearances here in this town. I was wondering if either of you have any information that might lead to the eventual solving of this case, and the apprehension of the person or persons responsible."

Her train of thought crashed as Anna jumped up before she realized that she wasn’t the one spoken to. She noticed that the voice came from a tall, sick-looking man. The FBI? Why would they be involved with a small town such as this? Anna looked at the men and woman in front of her, a puzzled expression clearly shown on her face. She digressed and instead backed up a little, hoping that they didn’t notice her. “What is going on here?” she said to herself, intently listening to their conversation. Vale slowly slipped into Anna’s white satchel, hoping to hide himself.

“Something’s up. If only Anna wouldn’t get herself involved with this.”

 

[Sem]

"A presentation of my power?" Sorena muttered. "No one trusts anyone these days..." With a sigh she began pondering what spell she could fire off in the station full of policemen that would prove to the agent that she was, indeed, a witch. She decided that she would let loose a simple lightning spell, since lightning magic was her forte. It wasn't going to be very strong - it wouldn't even kill someone. She snapped her fingers as she backed up, pointing at the space between Agent Briscoe and Chadwyck. However, before she could properly fire the spell she backed up into a child that had mysteriously appeared behind them.

"Oh gods, freakish doll!" Sorena blathered wide-eyed as her spell misfired, heading straight for Chadwyck. It wasn't even in the form of lightning - it was a burst of raw magic, sapphire blue in color. She didn't even have time to apologize to the girl, as she realized she had just sent a burst of an unknown magical spell at Chadwyck. The spell could do anything. It could turn the man into a frog, or a cricket, or a pile of ash, or a three hundred foot tall pink mushroom. The woman could only watch and see what would happen, and pray that she would know what to do to turn Chad back to normal if something unspeakable did happen to him.

OOC: Right, Chad. Contrived plot device provided - have fun~

 

[Chadwyck]

Sorena was about to prove to the agent that she was, in fact, who she said she was. It was interesting that the man needed a demonstration at all, since the witch's appearance sort of gave her away. Not many people walked around like they were straight out of Salem, witch hat and all, without being, well, a witch. Still, in a world such as this, perhaps magic was easily forged and anyone could claim to be a mage of some sort or other.

The witch stepped back, and Chadwyck was ready for her little show. He'd been in a fray with the witch before, he knew the extent of her power and the skill with which she wielded it. Chadwyck took a step back, for good measure. Before the witch could cast her spell she bumped into a child, the one Chadwyck had noticed while leaving the restaurant.

He didn't have much time to dwell on that, however, as Sorena's spell misfired and headed straight for him. There wasn't even enough time for instinct to kick in, the ball of magic was inches away from him before he could even send the signals to his legs to tell them to jump away. The magic hit him square in the chest, disappeared into his body, and did nothing.

"That was a bit anticlima--" The young man was cut off as his body wrenched forward. He could feel the raw power within him coursing through his body, it was feeding on his own abilities, causing him to momentarily lose control of himself. He held flames within the palms of his hands and sparks jumped around the air about him. Every head in the police station turned to look at the display of raw power. Many were afraid, some were just awed.

Chadwyck's eyes were ablaze, one a vibrant red, the other an electric blue; then they combined into an interesting shade of purple that seemed to express both sides of his abilities. He knew that if he didn't get a grip he could burn the entire building to the ground. Then it happened: he coughed. A deep, throaty cough that felt like his lungs were coming up his esophagus. It happened multiple times. Then, with one final cough, there escaped from his mouth a small floating ball. It looked like it was made of pure light, it was purple and within the energies it was made from one could see streaks of blue lightning within it, as well as dancing flames. All within a four-inch-in-diameter ball of energy. It hovered momentarily before Chadwyck, then it flew closer to the dual kinetic and began nuzzling up against his chest, crackling happily like a fresh fire.

"What in the...?" Chadwyck questioned as the living ball of his power flew excitedly around his head. Sorena's spell must of fed on his pyrokinesis and electrokinesis, increasing the potency of the elements within him before combining them into one and ultimately giving it a consciousness. "Sorena... What did you do?" Chadwyck asked as the element-ball rested on his shoulder.

"I hope that was enough of a demonstration for you, Briscoe." Chadwyck muttered as he eyed the creature on his shoulder. Since it was made from his abilities, it must have had a connection to him, seeing as how it didn't want to leave his side. Or explode. Or whatever else a ball of unstable energies might do. All it did was act like some sort of pet. The odd thing was, Chadwyck felt quite attached to the creature as well. "What am I gonna call it?" He wondered aloud, mulling over the pros and cons of keeping a pet... thing.

OoC: Yayyyyy~ Contrived plot device of awesomeness. I do so love my cloud of swirling energies ♥~

 

[Rex]

Sorena stepped back a bit, ready to prove her abilities to Alex. The bounty hunter made sure to back up a bit as well, not wanting to be caught in the cross fire. However, before the woman could preform her spell, someone else entered, holding a doll that set Sorena off her game. Instead of aiming for the space between the three of them, she fired off a burst of pure sapphire energy, with entered her companion's chest. However, for the moment at least, everything seemed alright.

Suddenly, the man doubled over. Sparks flew from his body. After a moment, every head in the police station was on the three of them. The man went into a coughing fit, and then a ball of energy escaped his mouth. It was rather small, but acted as if it had a mind of its own. The man ask him if he was happy with the display, to which Alex nodded.

"I suppose you couldn't have made a bigger scene," Alex chuckled, seemingly unfazed, "Yes, I'm sure that will do, so, shall we start with the witnesses? My partner is waiting for me outside."

 

[Jenova]

"Oh gods, freakish doll!”

While listening intently at the conversation, it was clear that Anna paid no attention as the stranger before her backed up. Upon the sudden exclamation, the young woman’s foot slipped and if it weren’t for her quick footing, she surely would have fell to the ground. Anna stuttered, trying to apologize or at least say something coherent, but ceased when she saw the magic hit the man next to them. For a moment, she was worried that something horrible would occur, but was briefly relieved. However, Anna’s expression quickly changed as she saw the sheer power engulfing the person’s body.

“...S-sir?” she whispered, her eyes widening with each second.

Then, out came a ball of what appeared to be magical energy. Anna was mildly confused, although she saw people with little spheres of magic following them before in her world Speculum. Usually, people just kept them for a brief amount of time, be it for honing their skills or for meager entertainment so children wouldn’t get bored. She thought to herself that the ball resembled the kinds people in her world used for the former purpose, like in combat. Or something like a familiar.

Anna was even more confused when the alleged FBI agent chuckled. It was as if he saw things like that every morning. Surely, she thought, that it would be something of a miracle in this shabby world. However, people disappearing and leaving their clothes behind doesn’t occur in Speculum, so perhaps she had underestimated Twin Creeks. Besides, there was also the possibility that the agent was not from this world. Moving along, as the agent asked about witnesses, a realization sparked inside Anna’s mind and she suddenly remembered why she was even in this world in the first place.

“Erm, excuse me,” she started to say, her hand slowly raised above her hand like a hesitant student. “I’m... here to report about the missing waiter recently, although I may be a little too late. While I don’t know much about the waiter, I’ve experienced an event similar to this a long time ago, and it also had something to do with this town.”

Anna held back her tears and took a deep breath. It had already happened, and she had no way to prevent it, so she shouldn’t feel bad about it.

“Four years ago,” she started out, “while training and living with a companion of mine, he talked about ‘putting an end to things once and for all,’ and that it had to be dealt with in Twin Creeks. When I asked him what was he talking about, he quickly denied everything he was saying. The next day, he was no where to be found. The only thing left was his clothing, just like the other victims recently.”

She opened her white satchel and took out a pair of clothing - a white, long sleeved Victorian shirt, and navy blue trousers. They looked as if they were in rather good condition, although obviously not brand new. Anna looked and Agent Briscoe in the eye and continued.

“This is what he wore the night before his disappearance. When I woke up, I found the door to our cottage open, and these right outside. I wanted to find him sooner, but I didn’t have the money to pay for an investigation team. I couldn’t go to the police even if I wanted to, so I had to save up and travel here myself.”

 

[Sem]

"I have..." Sorena started to say while gazing thoughtfully upon the purple creature that now hovered around Chadwyck. "created life... I'm not sure if this is good or bad at the moment, but the last time this happened... well, let's not go into that now."

“Erm, excuse me,” Sorena heard a voice say. She turned and found herself staring once again at the young woman and her disturbing doll. The witch listened to the little girl tell her sad story to Agent Briscoe, which made it sound like her friend had also fallen victim to whatever was terrorizing the small town. Though it was interesting that the disappearance she described had happened some time ago.

"Right," Sorena muttered and nodded. "I suppose we'll let Agent... Briscow take control of the matters here. He's probably done this sort of thing many times before..."

The woman's voice trailed as she heard a commotion in the back. She had exceptional hearing, so she probably noticed before anyone else did, but the panic very quickly grew to the point where everyone could hear it. Someone else had vanished it seemed - one of the the police officers.

She wasted no time in going back there, being the nosy woman she was. As soon as she saw the pile of clothes she sensed the dark magic again. It was rushing past her, towards the door. "No!" she said, running after it and jumping over the front desk. She followed it out the door where it immediately vanished into thin air without a single trace. The witch stood there silently for a moment, realizing that the only way that the magic could do that was if someone was masking it. That meant that either someone was being very careful or that they knew she was around and were hiding it from her, again in order to be careful.

"I lost it," Sorena said upon re-entering the station, looking to Agent Briscoe for directions.

 

[Rex]

Alexander listened to the girl's story, seemingly interested. This had happened to her years ago, which means that what ever it was, might be making a recurrence. Before he could say anything, however, there was a commotion among the officers. One of the men had vanished, leaving behind his clothes. The witch showed that she could possibly track it, though she lost what every was doing this at the door. This was going to be harder then Alex originally thought.

The witch was looking towards him for what to do next. This would be fun. The bounty hunter walked back to the counter, and after a moment, several officers were able to regain their composer to a point that they could speak to him.

"Document that, and then search your records for anything like this that might have happened four years ago," he said, "I will be returning in an hour or so, and I expect that information when I return," with that, Alex left the counter, and returned to the three people that he had been talking to, "We are going to go investigate the cases we already have information on, see if we can find any leads. Who knows, maybe there is a sensitive among them that sensed out this dark magic as well. Now, if you'll follow me, my partner is waiting for us outside."

With that, Alex ushered the three of them out the door, the odd ball of energy following along as well. The bounty hunter closed the door behind them, then looked around to make sure no one was around. Satisfied that the streets were empty, he rounded the bend to the alleyway, quickly locating Flynt. The weasel-like creature had been throwing rocks at something, which Alex was just in time to see the tail of which disappear around the bend.

"Having fun?" the man smirked, causing Flynt to spin around.

"Damn cat tried to kill me," the weasel growled.

"It happens," Alex replied, then turned to head back out, "I've found three witnesses, at least two of them have abilities of some sort, the third doesn't seem too surprised by magic or the like. So why don't you come out and introduce yourself?"

Flynt nodded, and followed him out of the alleyway. He stared at the energy ball distrustfully for a moment, then looked between the three.

"Sup?" he said simply.

"This is agent... Well, he'll just have you call him Flynt, so I don't see the point of introducing him formally," Alex grinned, "anyway, Miss Sorena, would you mind showing us where this disappearance you witness occurred, we still start with that one."

 

[Chadwyck]

Chadwyck was busy making the small ball of energy follow small patterns that he was making with his hand while the young lady told her story, though he heard every word. He was good at multitasking. However, he stopped entertaining his new found pet when a commotion started up in the station. Another disappearance, and this time one of the police officers.

For a second, while Sorena was off chasing the source of the magic, Chadwyck marveled at how easily it could have been any of them standing in that station. Interesting how it wasn't; since if this entity causing the disappearances was magically adept, they would undoubtedly be able to sense the presence of Chadwyck and Sorena at least. If it were him, Chadwyck would want to get rid of the powerful ones first and foremost. Unless the selection happened randomly, or they were chosen for other purposes.

What this person could possibly be planning eluded Chadwyck completely; what was the point in kidnapping a handful of common people? Chadwyck was shaken from his thoughts as Sorena returned, seemingly unsuccessful in keeping up with the magical energy. She looked to Detective Briscoe for instruction, which was unlike Sorena as far as he was concerned; he was surprised the witch didn't take immediate action. Then again, it was probably thanks to there not being any definitive action to take.

After briefly speaking with the officer behind the main desk, the detective ushered them out the door; Chadwyck's friend, the glowing ball of energy, following close behind him. The man ducked down an alleyway quickly and returned moments later with his 'partner.' It was a small, weasel-like creature. It would have been surprising, if Chadwyck hadn't traveled to many different worlds and met a certain otterfish with absolute control over water.

"Funny, you remind me a lot of someone I know." Chadwyck joked, "Nice to meet you, name's Chadwyck." He figured he'd introduce himself if the weasel was going to be tagging along as well. Now they were off to do a task that sounded as exciting as reporting a crime at a police station was: interview witnesses from the restaurant. The young man sighed; playing detective wasn't his forte.

 

[Sem]

Sorena didn't bat an eyelash at the small mammal, though the creature, Flynt, caused her to think of Sem. She was quite used to being around small creatures who could talk - even though Sem was no longer an adorable creature.

"What a lovely pet-" Sorena stopped herself, realizing that just because she sometimes thought of Sem as a pet (though he despised it) didn't mean that it was true between Briscoe and Flynt. "ner you have," she finished, not bothering to correct 'petner'. "I'm Sorena, pleasure to meet you."

Turning to Agent Briscoe she nodded. "Yes, I will take you all back to the restaurant." She spun on her heel and faced the direction opposite of how they came, and that was all she could remember on how to get back to the restaurant. Shooting a glance over at Chadwyck she reached out and grasped his sleeve, yanking him to her side and hooking arms with him. "This way, everyone," she chimed as she began walking. The witch leaned over and whispered into Chad's ear, "I hope you remember the way back..."

-------

It was fairly dark by the time the group made it back to the restaurant. A bell rung as they walked in, their footsteps echoing on the wood floor. The place was deserted save for the chef who was sat at one of the booths. He looked downcast - perhaps wondering when it was his turn to vanish into thin air. He looked up at them when they walked in and waved halfheartedly.

"This is the chef, he was here when the waiter vanished," Sorena explained, freeing Chad as she walked over to the site where the waiter had vanished exactly. Sorena tried seeing if she could sense any other sort of magic, but there wasn't a trace left.

As everyone began to look for clues Sorena let her mind wander, as usual. She looked down at the floor where the man had vanished, noticing the dust. Why is it so hard to keep these places clean, she wondered. It was a minor pet peeve of hers. "You should really dust, you know." There, she said it.

"Wha?" the chef replied, looking at the floor near Sorena. "It was mopped this morning."

"Oh?" she replied. She quickly looked around and realized there wasn't dust anywhere else. Kneeling down the witch grabbed a pinch of the dust and looked at it. She couldn't sense anything strange about the gray substance. Sorena smelled it, and found that it smelled like dust. Nevertheless she decided to collect it. A small vial rolled out of her sleeve and into her palm. She filled it with the dust and then passed the vial around for everyone else to see.

Besides that, there didn't seem to be anything strange, and it was quite possible that whoever was mopping missed that spot that morning.

None of it really made any sense. The vanishings, the black magic, it was quite random.

The bell chimed again as another figure walked into the restaurant. It was immediately apparent that they weren't there to eat. They were dressed in dark violet, almost black robes. Sleeves covered the hands completely and only the lower half of a face was visible from under the robe's hood.

Without warning the figure hissed and pointed a covered finger at the group - launching a powerful blast of black, unholy magic at them.

 

[Chadwyck]

Chadwyck quickly recalled the walk to the police station from the restaurant and remembered most of the turns they'd made on their way to the building. It wasn't overly difficult to work out the correct path back to the restaurant, really, but he was just glad he had been paying attention. It was far too easy to space out while walking, especially when the surroundings were as boring as these were.

He easily guided the group back to the restaurant and Sorena began to show the detective and his 'petner' the crime scene. Sorena went directly back to the spot the waiter had vanished, freeing Chadwyck to take a look around the booths that he had walked past earlier without a second glance. And it turned out he'd done so with good reason. There was nothing of interest anywhere, and with Sorena collecting dust it seemed like this particular crime scene was turning up nothing of value.

Then he heard the bell.

He looked over to see a stereotypically evil dressed figure approach them. The young man knew immediately that whatever this person was looking for, it wasn't a meal. Unless, of course, they had resorted to cannibalism and weren't against eating the group in the restaurant. Though, there weren't exceptionally high chances of that.

Without much time to think, or even make some sarcastic comment, the figure launched an attack. Knowing full well that Sorena could deal with the attack, but allowing instinct to take over, Chadwyck stepped in front of the group with his hands ablaze. He deflected the ball of unholy magic upwards, causing it to tear through the roof of the restaurant with the sound of an earthquake and creating a great new sunroof for the diners as the wood easily splintered beneath the ball of magic.

Chadwyck was knocked back several feet, but the more pressing matter was the fact that the flames encasing his hands had become black upon contact with the ball of magic. And they... what was the word? Burned. That wasn't something Chadwyck was used to feeling. He quickly extinguished the fire and looked at his hands, they were red but not blistered. Still, that shouldn't have happened. The ball of energy floated down and hovered as if concerned. "It's fine," He grunted, casting a burning glare toward the hooded figure.

 

[Jenova]

After Anna ended her memoir excerpt of sorts, she couldn't help but to stare at the clothes she was holding. It was like the young lady was on a frequent mood swing when referring to her savior; she would start out with timidness, continue on with tears of remorse, and end it with stoicness. Her mind was like a blank state, so dull and numb that she didn't even realize that the older woman previously in front of her had left until she returned for the agent's instructions. The man commanded a few of the officers present, and headed them to the exit.

She looked over at the ball of energy until a creature greeted itself, causing the girl's heart to jump. The agent introduced the peculiar being, calling him Flynt, and proceeded to talk to the older woman, Sorena. Anna blinked for a second before regathering her senses. "Flynt" reminded her of the "rat demons" in the Shirojin Kingdom- a person that either bears similar genetic traits to rodents, or a person that was able to morph into one. However, Anna kept her mouth shut as she doubted that Flynt was what she assumed to be.

Sorena and the other man led them back to the resturant. For some reason, Anna was awfully silent. However, it wasn't as if she had anything significant to say, so she simply looked around like she did earlier when she initially entered the location. A blast of magic was headed towards the group's direction. Anna turned her head around so quickly it was as if her neck would have snapped right then and there.

"Weight!" she mouthed to herself, hugging Vale.

Her knees became 20 lbs heavier, anchoring her entire body to the floor. She winced at the impact of her knees striking the ground, but quickly noticed that the man had shielded the attack. The magic suddenly impaled through the ceiling and roof, and within a second, Anna shrieked, "Weight!" again. The added weight from her knees immediately shifted into her elbows, causing her head to duck down, protecting her resin doll. When she was sure that nothing would fall on her, she quickly said the word a third time. She elbowed the air, causing a grey blast of magic to rush towards the hooded figure.