[center][h2][color=FF0000]Higashiakemi Ryuuko[/color]
Nazca Whitehall[/h2]
[/center]

[hider=A Disastrous Investigation]Silence, chased away by the presence of another.

Perhaps the claustrophobic, throat-choking fog that rolled in from the sea would be unnerving when met alone. Perhaps the shadows of the chaotically-designed buildings or the unseen side streets and alleyways would provoke suspicion and paranoia as one stepped into an environment where sight and sound offered no true clues as to what one could do. But in the presence of another, all fears were halved. Venturing out of Jeanne’s apartment and into the unknown of post-curfew Bermuda, Nazca and Ryuuko stepped out, their destination the island’s Inner Circle. If the manbat had ended his journey there, perhaps they would encounter him once more whilst heading in the same area?

It was flimsy logic, based only off the presumption that their prey was an individual who either enjoyed revisiting the scene of a crime or who had a particularly strong reason for invading libraries after-hours. But while they had gathered ample information, they had nothing that could truly synthesise into a motive. So they went, perhaps sharing a comment or an observation as they travelled, if only to break up the suffocation of silence, the little thoughts that teased at their minds.

And as they went, so did something else. In the corner of their eyes, at the boundary of certainty and psychosis. A flicker of movement. A shadow of a ribbon, dancing without wind. There was a third presence in their area. Was it just a third?

As the lesser capable combatant of the unlikely duo, Nazca had brought as much useful equipment as she could reasonably accommodate to shore up her position against whatever lurked in the fog. As she left the dorms, she had released several other birds, as well as another clockwork facsimile that would follow the two of them and provide close overwatch –as much as it could in the fog. With a wireless earpiece and a customised telegraph key attached to her finger and inside one of her boots, she could remain in contact with her creations and coordinate actions. With luck, they wouldn’t all crash and burn in the fog with herself as a radio location beacon.

She dipped her head in agreement with Ryuuko as they started walking. “Yes, let’s.”

It didn’t take too long, though, for them to be joined by another presence, and one that was distinctly not one of her birds. There wasn’t enough for her to go on to make a concrete judgement of who, what, and where it was, but she immediately keyed her birds to begin a conservative search pattern. As an egoist, she was sure Ryuuko had noticed long before her, but nonetheless, she leaned in towards the dragon girl and whispered in a low voice, hoping it wouldn’t carry in the fog. “We’re being shadowed. You should know, I’m also a dynamist with an affinity for wind. I have doubts it can effectively clear the fog considering the nature of it, but if we coordinate, it’s possible we can reveal whoever’s out there…”

[color=FF0000]“Yeah. That was pretty fast.”[/color] Ryuuko replied back to Nazca in whispers of her own. When she first became aware of the third presence that seemed to be somewhere nearby, she had also suddenly felt a rather peculiar feeling of unease. Quite like a strong sense of disgust, just like what she would feel if she were to see and smell a particularly putrid cup of natto.

Yet the worst thing about it was not the feeling itself, but the fact that they were inexplicable. She knew not the cause of this feeling, and all she could do was to try to control the chemical reactions within her own body in an attempt to lessen the disturbing sensation. [color=FF0000]“Something’s definitely close by…”[/color] She sniffed deep, trying to catch some kind of scent, though the effort was made difficult by the mist. She also flicked her eyes to where she thought she saw movements, trying to see if she could perceive it more clearly. [color=FF0000]“Let’s hope it’s nothing unpleasant… Or if it is unpleasant, that it will be beneficial nonetheless, heh…”[/color]

“Faster than I expected,” she replied, before muttering, “Almost as if it was waiting for us.” Although Nazca didn’t feel nearly as much of a visceral reaction towards their stalker as Ryuuko had –or natto, for that matter– it was still unsettling knowing that they were being very much followed by a presence with little she could do about it but to keep walking. Well, she could, but she didn’t want to play any of her cards yet. 

“Like medicine? Doubtful. If it’s unpleasant here, it’s not going to be beneficial at all.”

[color=FF0000]“Beneficial for our purpose of being outside, I mean.”[/color] Ryuuko replied, adding a chuckle at the end of her whispers. Like Nazca, for now she decided not to do anything about the presence. Attacking first will probably be unwise, and she didn’t feel like becoming another Jeanne. She kept walking toward the Inner Circle while trading low, mumbled words with Nazca.

[color=FF0000]“I suppose we’ll see if anything at all happens… If not, maybe I’ll do something about it. Just to provoke a reaction.”[/color]

“Mm,” Nazca nodded, as she twitched her finger, coordinating a more thorough search pass of the assets around her. If any of the instruments on them presented an anomaly on their sensors (aside from the fog, something she’d adjusted for) then they’d alert. So far, nothing yet. 

“Keep the destruction to a minimum, if you please.”

Ryuuko grinned widely as she replied [color=FF0000]“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I wasn’t planning on doing anything even remotely violent. After all… We can’t give whatever or whoever it is an excuse that we attacked first.”[/color] She kept walking alongside Nazca, silent for a few seconds. [color=FF0000]“You ready?”[/color]

Then, without waiting for an answer, Ryuuko stopped walking. She looked around, trying to spot anything once more. Then, she called out. [color=FF0000]“Whoever’s out there… Care to make yourself known? We don’t bite, you know.”[/color] She chuckled at the end of her words. And then waited to see if there’s any response.

Silence, once more.

But the streetlamp closest to them darkened, then shut down entirely. They were now in penumbra.

Nazca tensed. She whipped around in the direction of the failed light, keeping her focus there as she immediately ordered one of her circling birds to converge on the area. 

[color=FF0000]“......”[/color] Ryuuko’s eyes flicked at the lamp that had completely shut down. [color=FF0000][i]Alright… What the heck is this all about?[/i][/color] She then turned to look at Nazca, whispering to her again. [color=FF0000]“So… We’re either facing a creep… Or something not entirely sentient to begin with, if at all.”[/color] The most annoying thing about it all was that the presence doesn’t seem to be the manbat they’re looking for.

She clicked her tongue, mouth slightly open in an annoyed grimace. [color=FF0000]“You got any idea, Nazca? I’m starting to think we should just either start moving faster to the Inner Circle or try to flush out whatever or whoever this is…”[/color]

Nazca shook her head. “Ugh, I think whatever it is, it’s toying with us.” Keeping her guard up, she continued, “I don’t think moving on to the Inner Circle is a good idea anymore. I’d rather not give up the initiative like that… Since we’re being followed, let’s find somewhere where damage can be kept to a minimum and then flush them out.”

Then she frowned, followed by a twitching of her finger and a tapping of her foot. The bird that she had ordered to the lamppost was not appearing. Yet, she could still contact it, as its radio signature came back loud and clear on her headset. “Stop. Something’s not right. My birds are acting strange. Be on your guard.”

She sent out another set of commands, ordering another bird to immediately converge on her own position. Then, she had them all call in their positions, and…

They were all frozen. They reported, they were in the air… but they were stationary. A perfect contradiction. That scared her. “Ryuuko… all of my assets have frozen in mid-air.”

Still, she was undeterred, and caught the coordinates of her overwatch bird. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m going to check.” It was still close by; she needed to get a look at it, and began to move towards it. At the same time, she released one of her birds from her reserve– making sure to keep it in visual range to observe any changes to it.

[color=FF0000]“A good idea as any I guess.”[/color] She nodded at Nazca’s suggestion of bringing things over to somewhere with less possible collateral damages. Then she started walking, but stopped not long after due to Nazca mentioning that something was off. [color=FF0000]“Your birds are acting strange?... Huh.” [i]Well that sounds even more annoying.[/i][/color]

Ryuuko waited, continuing to keep her senses as sharp as she can, sniffing the air while her eyes flicked from place to place to make sure nothing’s going to suddenly jump her and Nazca. Soon enough, all she got was more bad news as Nazca remarked that her clockwork automatons were all somehow frozen.

[color=FF0000]“Frozen? What do you mean frozen? How’d you freeze things- multiple things, midair?”[/color] Then she followed as Nazca moved to check on the one that was close by. They can’t risk getting separated now, not when she had no idea whatsoever of what the thing messing with them was.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense to me either. They’re literally not moving, but they’re still in the air, according to what they’re saying.”

As immensely thick as the fog was, Nazca’s clockwork bird hovered shakily just a meter or two away from her, unable to utilise any real speed to maintain a smoother flight. It [i]did[/i] move though, and as far as she could tell, nothing had stopped it from doing so.

It simply continued its flight.

And so did the facsimile she had sent on overwatch.

Arriving at the destination that her bird had pinged, Nazca and Ryuuko would both look up to see the brass imitation, flapping its wings steadily, yet suspended where it stood. Locked in place. Gears creaking, springs whining, entirety unmoving.

Then, plummeting. Falling towards the two.

Ryuuko blinked once as she looked up at the bird literally just suspended where it was, continuing with an eyebrow quirking up at the sight. [color=FF0000]“Uhh, wh-”[/color] She wasn’t able to finish her words when it suddenly plummeted down and fell, upon which she then caught it by reflex.

Afterwards, she just held it while looking at Nazca. [color=FF0000]“Alright… So… Yeah.”[/color]

Nazca stood there, momentarily stunned at the bizarre scene of her bird flying in place. At least the new bird seemed to move, but the fog was still doing something very strange to it. She was only shaken out of this when the overwatch bird suddenly fell out of the sky, and was caught by the Japanese girl. 

“That’s… physically impossible.”

Worried, her eyes darted about, looking for the source of the impossible phenomenon. It had to be an ability from somebody… A dynamist, or an egoist? Throwing caution to the wind –literally– she boosted the other bird’s flight with a gust of wind. If she couldn’t keep her birds in the sky, then she was blind, and without many more cards to play. She glanced back over at her companion.

“Ryuuko, I don’t like what’s going on here. We may be in over our heads on this…”

[color=FF0000]“... Tsk.” [i]Well this is going wrong really really badly now…[/i] “Tell me somet-”[/color]

In relative darkness, her eyes drawn to Nazca, her senses stretched out to her surroundings, her body still afflicted with that bothersome nausea, Ryuuko didn’t see it. A sliver within the chassis. A black ribbon, dancing in a non-existent wind, writhing out from the inner workings of the clockwork facsimile like a parasite
And as fast as rainfall, it shot into her open mouth, slid between her teeth, rolled over her tongue, and stuck onto her uvula. The taste of saltwater and seaweed, of her motherland’s cuisine distilled to its most awful constituents, bloomed in the prodigal dragon’s mouth almost at the same time as she became to choke.

[color=FF0000]“!”[/color] Ryuuko’s eyes opened wide at the sudden intrusion into her oral cavity, not expecting in the least that she will be attacked by a freaking animate seaweed-like thing out of all things. Trying hard to fight off against both the nausea and the panic from the sensation of being choked, she pushed Nazca away from herself as she let go of the clockwork facsimile, mind immediately deciding the best way to eliminate the intrusion. The toxic sack in her throat instantly expelled some of its content, some of it landing on the intruder stuck on her uvula while the rest flew free towards her teeth.

She grinded her teeth, but unlike the usual, kept those teeth gritted shut while inhaling through them. Immediately the venom was ignited, intense flaming raging within her own mouth as it scorched the black ribbon. Some licks of flames escaped her mouth regardless, making it looked as if a furnace was burning strong within her mouth.

With flame, shadow was purged, the tender insides of her mouth roasting with the weight of her own fiery might. With her move, Ryuuko had turned her head into a furnace, and in an instant, had vaporized whatever had initially snuck into her throat.

The danger of choking had passed, and the taste of the sea had gained a charred, bitter taste too. But as her gaze shifted, the prodigal dragon realized.

In the thick fog and the oppressive silence, she was alone.

[color=FF0000]“Keh… What the heck?!”[/color] Ryuuko remarked angrily, face twisted into a furious glare with her shark-like teeth in full display. She looked around rapidly, on guard as if expecting that further sudden attack awaited her. A few seconds passed before she relaxed… and finally realised that Nazca was no longer near her. [color=FF0000]“Uhh….”[/color]

She looked around while standing in place a bit more, confusion overtaking whatever residual smell or taste remained in her mouth. [color=FF0000]“Nazca? Dang, where the heck did she- Oh. Uh-oh.”[/color] It then dawned to her what might have happened to her companion. [color=FF0000][i]...Did I?... Well, this is gonna be awkward. Unless I accidentally offed her… Then it’ll be even worse than awkward. Hoooo boy...[/i][/color] She scratched the back of her head with her left hand, expression turning from anger to an awkward grin. Then she remembered the device that Nazca had given to her in case they were separated, and used it to locate the missing, hopefully still alive, Abya Yalan girl.

Without any instructions given as to its usage, it took a few moments for Ryuuko to figure out how the transponder worked. But while she still sensed the presence of something in the back of her mind, of something in the corner of her vision, that exchange had proven that whatever it was, it couldn’t face her flames head-on, and that gave her the confidence to continue on.

So she did, walking in the fog, following the blip that responded to the interrogations of Nazca’s device. It was only a short distance. It was all fairly close by. Just a couple dozen of meters away from where they were. A greater distance than how far Nazca should have been pushed, but not so alarming otherwise. And soon, she stood, centered on the blip that she had followed.

There was no one there. Not even any sign of a discarded transponder. Yet, the blip continued to blink.

[color=FF0000]“..... What the heck?...”[/color] Ryuuko blinked, and then looked around her. Nothing. She checked the device again, confirming that yes, Nazca should be exactly where Ryuuko herself was. Yet nothing. [color=FF0000]“Nazca?? You around??”[/color] She shouted out in confusion, hoping that the other girl would respond. Just for good measure, she crouched down to touch the ground. With how bizarre things were, she’s not entirely sure she can trust her vision.

No response, but the ground she touched felt like the ground she was used to, at least.

[color=FF0000]“Nothing. Ugh… What the heck is all this??”[/color] The whole situation started to really frustrate Ryuuko, with the ever present disturbing presence not helping the matter as it forced her to keep herself on full alert at all times. [color=FF0000][i]Think Ryuuko, think… She has to be somewhere around here… In the sky? Underground?[/i][/color] With that thought in mind, she looked around on the ground, hoping to be able to find a manhole nearby. Aside from that, she also looked up to see if she could spot anything above in the air.

It was difficult to find a manhole anywhere nearby, and as she scoured her memory as well, Ryuuko would realize that, while she had seen gutters lining the streets of Bermuda, she had yet to see anything that could actually serve as an entrance to the sewers beneath the city. The sky itself was also a problem, with the obscuring fog preventing Ryuuko from looking up any higher than three or so meters above her. Had it thickened since they last saw that suspended clockwork drone?

She could jump though. It would simply have to be a matter of controlling the speed of her ascent, in case she flat-out missed Nazca on her way up…or hit her head-first instead. If only she had wings.

[color=FF0000][i]Tsk. Right, I’m getting a pair of wings next. It was long overdue anyway. But for now…[/i][/color] Ryuuko concluded that up was easier than underground to check given the situation. Finding a manhole or other such entrances to the sewers can be attempted later… Not to mention it seemed less likely considering the short time frame of Nazca’s sudden disappearance. So Ryuuko bent her legs, preparing for a jump to the air.

[color=FF0000][i]Alright, here goes…[/i][/color] And then she took the leap, trying to go as high as she could. If it turns out that Nazca is really up above and directly in her route, then Ryuuko will just have to do her best to catch her as fast as her reflex can manage to avoid a collision.

What was an Egoist but a monster of physical aptitude. While even the most prodigiously powerful [i]human[/i] athletes couldn’t even crest two meters of height, Ryuuko leapt five meters up into the air without even exerting her full power. Fog streamed through her hair and her subhuman parts, and within the accelerated thought processes of an Egoist, she saw it.

A cocoon of black silk, suspended in the air in the same uncanny fashion that those clockwork birds had been. It was the size of a human, the size of Nazca. And it was drawing ever closer. Ryuuko only had a fistful of milliseconds to decide what she’d do next.

[color=FF0000][i]Crap, so it came to this huh.[/i][/color] There was barely any time to think, any time to react to what she saw. She had to take action immediately, and thus almost reflexively she primed the venom sac in her throat again. It was a risk, there was no way to know how much power and intensity she needed to put into it to destroy the silk without roasting the girl enveloped by it. There was the other alternative of touching it and bringing it down to the ground first, but then she risked getting herself entangled by it as well.

Regardless, she had to make a decision fast, and that’s what she did. [color=FF0000][i]Well, here goes…[/i][/color] And she spewed the venom from the sac, ignited it with her teeth, and a gout of intense flames came roaring out of her mouth to burn the cocoon.

800 degree Celsius flames, hot enough to match lava that had just spewed out from a volcano, blasted out of Ryuuko’s mouth with force enough to reverse her flight. The intense heat alone drove back the fog, while the blast of fire impacted the opaque cocoon above…

…and near-instantly melted through it.

Whatever had made up the cocoon was undoubtedly [i]much weaker[/i] than what Ryuuko had presumed, and she saw Nazca’s form unfurl from the cocoon for a split second before the princess of clockwork life was reduced to a silhouette against the brilliance of flame. If there was any mercy, it laid in the fact that the blast of flame itself was just that: a blast. No continued stream to reduce her partner to ash, just a wave of ignited fluid washing past. And so…

Nazca fell. Ryuuko caught her. It was not a pleasant sight.

[color=FF0000]“.... Shit.”[/color] Ryuuko stared at Nazca, carried in her arms. She gritted her teeth, grimacing as she looked at the very badly wounded girl. Nazca was still alive even if barely at least, so in that part she kind of succeeded. Yet still…Things had gone very wrong tonight. She wondered briefly if it would have been better if she had gone alone instead. After all, whatever was happening on this island during the nighttime, it felt to Ryuuko like only egoists like herself should ever dare to attempt braving it, and even then it will be a risky endeavour.

Ryuuko remained standing in silence for a few more seconds. Then, she was a blur, sprinting at great speed to return to the Incan style apartment. It was a balancing act between getting Nazca and herself to safety as fast as possible while at the same time making sure her speed and movement won’t worsen Nazca’s condition.

Her expression had turned from a grimace to that of calm concentration. [color=FF0000][i]This is just all sorts of fucked up. The curfew… No, this entire island. The bastards in charge around here are keeping way too many secrets. Really, what’s the true purpose of this island? This ‘Academic City’ thing feels like it’s just a cover for a much more messed up purpose…[/i][/color]

With such thoughts swirling within her mind, Ryuuko continued dashing through the streets with Nazca in her arms. As for how she will bring herself and Nazca into the now locked up apartment, she already thought of just getting to a window in Jeanne's apartment and breaking the lock; and only the lock. No need to give Jeanne’s place a seaweed flavour to it like what happened with her and Franz’s ryokan room.[/hider]