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”Oh! Right. Yes,” Rhiannon nodded vigorously. How could they have forgotten that everyone was supposed to meet outside to discuss the blackmailing people had received? Rhi’s head definitely wasn’t in it right now.

They shuffled along behind Ralph like a lost puppy dog. Truth be told, they didn’t know why they were taking this whole thing so hard. Sure, the night with Renee had been pleasant, but it wasn’t earth-shattering. Rhiannon hadn't planned on proclaiming their love to Renee this morning over dry toast and black coffee, but it was still affecting them. Maybe it had something to do with their past.

Rhannion froze, staring at nothing as the realization dawned on them. Was this some unresolved trauma bullshit? Fuck that. Rhiannon focused on the object Ralph held in front of them. Rain jacket. Right. It was raining. Put it on Rhi, smile, everything is fine.

Rhiannon smiled at Ralph, thanked them and slipped the rain jacket on. Everything was fine.

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Sam waited a beat, listening in towards the doorway connecting him to Millicent. For a moment he wondered if it wasn't her, if someone had broken in and he'd just caught them. But she answered, and easily pushed that thought aside, thankfully. Still, he wondered what all the commotion was just moments ago, who was she entertaining in that room? Were they safe to speak around or was that why Millicent wished to speak later? So that they weren't heard by their guest. Sam nodded in agreeance towards her response. Not that she could see it anyways, there was a full door between them in fact. But that hadn't exactly clicked as he made his way out, ensuring to grab his reader with him just in case. That and a small flashlight.

As he exited the room, he turned and saw Tony standing there at Millicent's door. He looked as if he was about ready for a run, and Mil didn't seem all too excited to see him. Felix's boyfriend was hanging about the hallway, and the whole scene felt…off. Why was Tony at her door? Weren't they all meant to meet outside already? He didn't wanna announce it to the whole household that he was stepping outside, so he gave an awkward smile to the pair and made his way downstairs. Just as he began to make his way below, he felt his phone buzz middway down. Weird, must've gotten a bit of reception now that he's nearly outside. He paused and pulled out his phone, checking the cover screen as he read the message silently.



Above it was an attached image, a map of the island that had a marker in the graveyard by the old church. Oddly enough where Sam had wanted them all to reconvene. He'd initially wished to show everyone the tunnels Miguel had found to allow them movement in secrecy but…Sam didn't recognize this number, and he certainly wondered who knew where Miguel had been seen last and why? He shoved his phone back into his pocket and pushed towards the Foyer, spotting those below and some umbrellas in hand. ”Fancy seeing you all here. Nice weather right?”

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After a few moments of waiting, the door opened. It was Millicent, wearing a perfectly neutral expression on her face. Based on their previous interactions, he doubted that was a good thing. Oh well. Since he was already much later than he wanted to be, he didn't mind making this brief.

"We're all going out for some fresh air, maybe exploring the grounds a bit," he explained without preamble, expecting that she would understand the implication well enough. "We're late, but I wanted to make sure you knew. Everyone else is probably already outside, or about to be. Your choice, but like I said we're already late."

Without further ado, Tony walked away towards the foyer, not waiting to see if she was coming or not. He was already much later than he would've ever wanted to be, and he wasn't going to be any later on her account.

As he came downstairs, he could see that everyone else seemed to be present, getting ready to leave. Apparently they'd found some umbrellas; he wasn't sure how well they'd hold up in the weather, but they certainly wouldn't hurt. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized. "I didn't think any of us had been able to talk to Millicent, and I wanted to make sure she knew. Is everyone else ready?"

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"Yeah, shame it took what it did for us to finally have a chat. But yes, hopefully some fresh air and a little bit of a walk will do us some good." Constance shifted a bit and looked over at Rhiannon. She could tell that something about the other performer was... off. Maybe what she had heard before was true. Or maybe it was something else. She didn't want to outright ask the other woman what was bothering her. Not while they were still inside the Château. That was why they were all going outside, after all. Prevent others from listening as they passed on information and swapped it. Confirmed what was already thought and known.

"Oh, hello again Sam, fancy seeing you here. I think we're just waiting for a few others." She offered him a small smile before looking up as she saw Tony approaching with Millicent.

"Ah, there you are. I do believe that is everyone now, correct? We should head out before the weather decides to turn on us again." She offered Tony a small smile and walked over to him and offered her arm to him. "Shall we?" She wanted to be close to him, just in case. She doubted that anyone would do anything in the group, that anyone would hurt one another here, but who knew what to truly expect on this walk, and Tony was the one person she trusted without a doubt, even if she wasn't fully sure why.

Brendan stepped out into the foyer, seeing all the others going to each other His mind was still mostly on everything he'd just learned, with whatever had been going on with Renee. It was still strange to think all the weird stuff that had happened could have been fromm one of these people.

He turned back and saw Tony speaking with Millicent, saying something about everyone going outside. He decided to just go with the group, wanting to go back to Millicent but still needing to find Ralph. Brendan felt nervous at the thought of the whole group together. What if it was one of them? He trusted Millicent, and he wanted to trust anyone she trusted, but the whole group? Or maybe it was none of them. Maybe it was a staff, and there was still the mermaid theory. Maybe Brendan was freaking himself out over nothing.

He spotted Ralph and tried to push his fears aside, waving to get Ralph's attention as he approached.

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”I’ve seen worse weather, hell, I’ve flown in worse. However, it still isn’t great,” Ralph said, responding to Sam’s comment about it being nice weather. Ralph waved at the new guy. He had seen him with Millicent earlier. Now that everyone was there he pointed out the umbrella stand.

”Umbrellas, if anyone else wants them. Now that everyone is here, let’s go.” He wasn’t sure where they were going, but walking out the door was the first step. Just as he opened the door, Felix came out from the dining room.

“Ah, good, I’m glad I caught you all. There will be a small, informal meal at 3:00, the ball will start at 7:00, and dinner will be served in the ballroom at that time. I see you have already found the umbrellas and jackets. Please do not be afraid to use those. I am afraid we do not have boots for you to borrow as well. The island is small, so you’re unlikely to get lost, but if you do, I recommend finding the edge of the island and walking around it until you find the dock. From there, the road leads directly here.” He gave the small group a bow and re-entered the dining room.

Ralph blinked a bit, surprised by the butler, but shrugged it off and headed outside. The rain was still coming down. It was heavy enough that umbrellas would be necessary, or at least raincoats. It was light enough, without much wind, that Ralph wasn’t concerned with their safety. He didn’t see any lightning flashing; that was the biggest relief. The previous night had been very intense compared to right now.

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Millicent stared daggers at the good Doctor, but he passed along a genuine message that they would be walking around. Millicent suspected more to this, but she wanted to catch up to Sam and Ralph (and by extension every other fucking person they spoke to about their suspicions), and this would be a good opportunity.

"All right, I will be there. Thank you." As Tony left Millicent debated seeing if Sam was still around, but opted to head to the foyer to meet up with everyone. As she approached, she noticed the others had gathered. She nodded towards Brendan and grabbed an umbrella.

Felix approached them to talk about a meal, but wasn't that interesting? Despite a dead body and a missing guest, things were still running along. Appearances mattered.

Millicent wasn't about to give up the goods she and Brendan had uncovered to everyone. After all, someone here could very well be the person blackmailing the others or working with someone in the family. And Miguel was still missing. She made her way to the door, waiting for the others to follow. "Shall we get this started then?"

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While Rhiannon zipped up their jacket, more and more people trickled into the foyer. By the looks of things, it seemed that everyone who was invited here was being blackmailed. The chances that one of them was the blackmailer didn’t seem as likely now. The dining room door opened then, and Rhi snapped her head to the intruder. The butler. Hmm. Interesting that he always just seemed to know where the rest of the guests were and “appeared” out of thin air.

Rhainnon looked up towards the ceiling, scanning for cameras hiding in the corners or along the walls. But just as quickly as Felix arrived, he left, leaving the award guests alone once more. Rhiannon grabbed an umbrella.

”Let’s get this over with,” they said and made their way outside, opening the umbrella once they were past the door’s threshold.

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Millicent wanted to get this started, Rhiannon wanted to get this over with, and Sam simply wanted to get these people a book on how to liven up. You'd have thought this was a funeral. Ok, right maybe it was in an odd sort of way, and yes he'd had a plethora of emotions rampaging within him from the moment he'd seen the body to right now. But they all agreed something odd was happening within the what's of this Château and standing around with air so tense a bolt of lightning could be seen darting from eyes to eyes wasn't going to help anything. So he decided to take initiative, grabbing an umbrella out of the rack and stepping outside. ”Ok, since yall are being weird I guess I'll take the lead into the foray out in this lightened storm.”

There was one normal thing however, and that was Ralph. He seemed to be able to keep small talk better than the rest, even if Felix popped up like a phantom to announce today's food plans. It did get Sam thinking though. It reminded him of how he'd heard of old houses that kept maids and butlers and how they usually had hidden passageways for them to carry food and such so that they weren't actually seen throughout the house. He'd need to ask Julian about that, see if this house had any and what's more, if any were near the potential murder area. But between these people's inability to speak freely and Julian's work schedule, it would be hard to get some time to speak to her. Still, he pressed forward outside and began to make his way towards the marker on the map where Miguel was last seen. Who followed was up to them.

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Almost as soon as Tony arrived, Constance greeted him with a smile and walked over to stand next to him. A small gesture, all things considered, but he appreciated it nonetheless. Perhaps the rest of this group could be trusted, eventually - more than any staff, at least, and far more than any La Lunes - but they were a matter of necessity, a means to an end. Constance was the only one he was truly prepared to trust. He offered her a small smile in return, and took her raised arm with his own.

Tony started to walk towards the door, then stopped and turned as Felix showed up. He suppressed a sigh; now anyone that might care would almost certainly know that all the nominees were gathering outside, in the middle of a storm that few would consider normal for a casual stroll. But realistically, it was never likely to stay a secret. At least he wasn't stopping them. Before any further complications could show up, Tony grabbed an umbrella for them to share and followed the others in heading outside. Once they were through the door, he opened the umbrella and held it between them, making sure Constance was more protected from the rain than he was.

Now that they were outside, he started dropping some of the pretense. "Let's find somewhere that no one can creep up on us, or hear us without us knowing. Then we can talk." Sam seemed to start leading in a direction, so Tony shrugged and followed. Where didn't matter, as long as it was private.

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Constance let out a soft sound as Tony arrived and took her arm in his. She slipped in closer to him and relaxed a bit, as he was the one person that she trusted more than the others right now, and well, it might be better to stick close to him. What if the person that had killed Renee was one of them? She had been operating under the assumption that it was someone that lived or worked there, but...

She shoved her thoughts down. They needed to talk, and they needed to swap information. However, as Felix walked up, she paused for a moment. Of all the staff, Felix was not the worst but he did always seem to be everywhere. He did always seem to be right there when stuff was going on. He was suspicious, but then again, most everyone was. She nodded her head in thanks to the butler as he pointed out where the umbrellas were, as well as informing them of the informal meal and when the ball would be starting. She had almost forgotten about the ball with everything else that was going on.

She kept close to Tony as they headed outside, keeping quiet for the moment. She was thankful that Tony grabbed an umbrella and thanked him for that. She made sure to stick close to him so that they were equally covered.

"Agreed. We need to find somewhere we can talk." Constance walked, watching as Sam seemed to be leading the group, and shrugged as well. They just needed somewhere private, they needed somewhere they could talk without worry. Hopefully Sam had an idea of where that might be. She kept close to Tony, looking up at him. She really hoped that they were about to make a major mistake by going to somewhere away from the house to talk. She really hoped that they were all going to come back safe and sound.

As Brendan made their way to the others, Felix appeared, offering umbrellas. Brendan took one, growing more uncertain about all this. Was this everyone gathering together? What if someone said something and the wrong person heard it, Had the others not realized that the killer could be part of this group?

They had waved to Ralph, but he had waved back without saying anything. It didn't seem likely he was going to he talking to Millicent and Brendan alone now, but maybe he could get his attention again after?

Brendan felt more nervous as they headed outside. He stayed by himself for the moment, just observing what was going on, and wishing he was just with the people he trusted and not this whole group. Going back inside now though, he could miss important info. Or risk being alone with the killer, if it did end up being one of the family members. He continued on, but with every step wished they were indoors.

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The group of nominees headed out of the Château. There wasn’t a clear and defined path that Sam followed, but he had the screen shot of the aerial view of the island, and a general idea of where the church was. He had been there the night prior, but had used the basement tunnel access. The rain pattered down on umbrellas and jackets. Anyone not protecting themselves from the rain soon became uncomfortably wet. Though reaching the grove of trees that separated the house from the old monastery and graveyard reduced the rain some.

Eventually the group made it through the grove of trees and found themselves in the graveyard. Old decrepit stones marked grave sites. Most of the markers were unreadable. Whoever had been buried here was long lost to time. It was not obviously clear if any of the La Lunes were buried here.

Ralph had also been at the old church the previous night. However, during the daylight, and without lightning and thunder it was a more serene place. Ralph, the previous night, had been a little freaked out by the whole situation. Seeing it in the daylight though made him less scared. He did wonder why Sam had brought them here.

”I suppose this is as good as any other place to chat.” The church didn’t provide much cover from the rain, parts of it were long collapsed and even longer burned away. Ralph looked at Tony and Constance, pressed against each other, interesting. ”It was your idea for us all to chat. I agree it is a good idea. Rihanna and I learned some interesting things I think we should all talk about. First, though, I think we need to establish something important. I think Millicent’s bad vibes yesterday were on point. Something really weird is going on here. I for one am not involved in any of it, but it is a problem for me, just as much as I suspect it is for all of you. Whatever the award may be for or about isn’t as important as the stuff going on behind the curtain. I think we might all be in danger. Someone is trying to blackmail us. If you claim you’re not being blackmailed I am going to assume you’re in on it.”

Sam had been vague, but he had had a note. As long as everyone had a note and something resembling blackmail as far as Ralph was concerned they weren’t involved. There was a chance that wasn’t true, that whoever from the Château was involved had a second party among the nominees, but if that was true they as a whole group were doomed. Ralph had decided he was going to trust the other nominees at least this far.

”I’m not going to force anyone to admit what they are being blackmailed about, but at least tell us that you are being blackmailed. That you got a note among the welcome papers when we arrived.” He looked at everyone in the group and waited.

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As Sam lead the way to the graveyard by the Old Church, he couldn't help but think back to his hometown. To the rains in Florida and the ‘music’ they'd play against their windows that helped him to relax most nights. Or the low rolling fog that came after it in the mornings and nights when he would go hunting for the paranormal. Hunting with – Sam pushed that thought away, trying not to focus too much on it. Instead he focused on the groves. The scent they gave off, although muted by the rain, and the way they lacked the smell of citrus mixing in with the greens. He looked back to the screenshot on his phone, wondering where exactly he was meant to look. Any sign of a trail was likely lost already due to the storm. The wet ground squelching beneath his white sneakers.

He looked towards Ralph as he began to speak. Laying out what appeared to be basic ground rules for how this may all work. They needed to trust each other, and to trust that each of them weren't the ones who'd done it. But Ralph had mentioned blackmail again, and Sam's stomach felt like it did a flip. He didn't have that…but at the mention of a note he felt a bit more safe. Maybe he'd said that just for him, but was that fair? Then again, Sam didn't kill Renee so perhaps it was. ”Before we get into all of that. I think we all have a very important question we've been dying to ask. Someone here isn't from among the nominees so I think we'd all like to know -” Sam looked directly at Brendan. ”Who are you? And how do we know you're not one of them?”

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Millicent followed the others, unsure if there was a destination in mind of if they were going to wander around the grounds. Millicent didn't really want to be doing this. There were still a few people here she didn't trust. Whether or not they killed Renee or disappeared Miguel, whether or not they were in on the blackmail, there were too many weird things going on.

It was a shame too, because the Chateau was beautiful. Any other time she would be in a place like this would be heaven, but considering there was likely a murderer and/or a blackmailer here, on top of the wirdness of the La Lune family in general, she wanted to be back home, in her cramped apartment, dining out on Chinese take-out and preparing for her next gig.

Eventually they came to a graveyard and Millicent thought for the briefest of moments that they were about to be gunned down and buried here, but Ralph led the conversation. It seemed the others had talked and shared. Millicent bit her tongue, though every instinct wanted her to say "I told you so". That wasn't fair to Renee. But Millicent also wasn't ready to divulge everything her and Brendan found out also.

Before she could share her own insight into the blackmail and how it connects, Sam spoke up. She trusted Sam to get the conversation on track. And then...wait...did he...was he...?

Millicnet stared at him, flabbergasted. Did Sam seriously think Brendan was someone new? She looked around at the others, wondering if they thought the same.

"Sam...Brendan is Ivanna. You know, a Drag Queen. You didn't think Drag Queens remained in their Queen ensemble the whole time, right? I need you to know that."

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The walk was quiet, contemplative almost. Constance kept close to Tony, to keep the rain off them both, and to keep warm. She also did still feel safest close to him, and relaxed a bit with every step. She knew the conversation to come would be a difficult one, but it would be easier to know that they weren't alone in this.

To her surprise it was Ralph that broke the ice, and addressed what was on their mind. He brought up the fact that Millicent had been the one to realize it first, and that they had learned some things. She did nod as he said that they were being blackmailed and was about to confirm that she was also being blackmailed when Sam spoke up.

She looked a bit stunned at that and blinked. Did Sam not really realize that the gentleman with them was the very same Ivanna, the drag queen? Thankfully, Millicent addressed it and she let out a soft sigh. "Sam, now that we've had that cleared up for you, may we turn back to the topic at hand? Yes, the blackmail is why we suggested this outing. Tony and I realized this morning after a few things that something here was very wrong, and well, we confessed to one another that someone here is blackmailing us. It seems that most, if not, all of us here are. We figured Renee was as well and that might be why..." She trailed off, not wanting to address what they all knew about Renee's fate. She hoped that would help steer the conversation back on track.

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Rhiannon paused when everyone walked into a graveyard. Morbid and yet oddly fitting. Rhiannon rubbed their arms, staving off the cold. They looked around at the different graves while Ralph spoke. Off to the corner, a little out of the way from where everyone was standing, Rhiannon noticed a grave that looked a little too fresh. There were muddy tracks around the site, fresh dirt packed, and the obvious look that someone had tried not to make it obvious.

When Sam spoke up, Rhiannon shifted their focus to them and the guy they were questioning. And then Milicent said something that had Rhiannon doubling over with laughter. Maybe it was the fact that everyone was standing in a graveyard, after someone had been killed, discussing blackmail, or just the sheer tension of everything, but Rhiannon could hold back their laughter.

”Oh, that was great. Thank you,” Rhi said, wiping imaginary tears from their eyes. They crossed their arms, a faint smile on their face, while they listened to Constance.

”Do you think she was getting close? And the blackmailer, what, pushed her down the stairs? Or maybe she confronted them?” Rhiannon didn’t agree they were being blackmailed. It was pretty obvious that that was what they were all here for.

”Also, that doesn’t look sus at all,” Rhiannon said, pointing out the freshly dug grave they had noticed earlier.

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The walk through the grounds was uneventful, with everyone staying fairly quiet. Eventually, they arrived at what turned out to be a graveyard. A pretty morbid place for a meeting, but then, he supposed that it may be fitting for what they had to talk about.

Tony was ready to start the conversation, but Ralph beat him to it. He acknowledged that it was Tony's idea to talk as a group, that Millicent was the first to be openly suspicious of the situation, then brought up the blackmail. But before anyone could confirm they were also being blackmailed, Sam interrupted. ...Seriously? Sam didn't even consider that Brendan - Millicent provided his name - was Ivanna? I mean, I wasn't certain, but it seemed pretty obvious.

After Millicent explained it to him - which the other dancer, whose name he still hadn't learned yet, seemed to find hilarious - Constance brought them back on track, confirming that she and Tony were both being blackmailed, then the dancer started speculating about what happened to Renee.

"I'm not sure what happened exactly, and we may never know, but I think it was along those lines, yeah. Her injuries by themselves don't really prove anything, but considering we're all being blackmailed, I can't believe it was an accident. We need to get to the bottom of what the hell is going on here, and end it before the rest of us end up like Renee. Speaking of which, has anyone seen Miguel today? He's apparently been missing all morning, and he's not here now, either." If nobody here knew where he was, Tony suspected that Miguel may have already met the same fate.

Then, the dancer pointed out a freshly dug grave. Not sus at all, indeed.

Brendan smiled lightly at the revlation of who he was. At least he knew his makeup skills were good. He remembered how long it had taken him to get it right, how many times he'd woken up at four AM to put himself in drag, take a few secret pictures, and then get out of it before anyone else in the house was awake. He still had those old pictures. He wasn't proud of those makeup looks, and that was why kept the photos. To see how far they'd come. He remembered the first night he'd really gotten it right, finally mastered the conquer technique, tried a new kind of glue for his brows, spent more money then he should have on a brand new platinum blonde wig...God he loved the wig. It was the first time his drag looked the he wanted it too, the first time he'd felt confident enough to go out into the world as Ivanna. It was also the night he'd met Superfetch...

And speaking of Superfetch, the others were back on the topic of blackmail, it seemed. Brendon tried to pay attention. Someone, Brendan wasn't focused in enough to catch who, was trying to confirm that they were all being blackmailed. Brendan felt embarrassed, even just confirming that he was. He nodded his head and mumbled that he was. He knew just saying he was being blackmailed didn't give them all the details, but he still felt the heavy embarrassment. He kept getting close to forgetting it...

All of it was forgotten as he tuned back in again to find one of the others asking where Miguel had been, and pointing at something. Brendan looked.

Freshly dug dirt. And they were in a graveyard.

"Is that...?" Brendan said quietly.

Ugh. He hated this. It was scary. He didn't trust anyone except Millicent and she was a ways away. Would it be weird just to walk over to her now? He hesitated. He felt so alone. He stared at the ground. This was all so scary and he wanted to run. Despite everything that had happened with her, he started to wish Superfetch was there with him.

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Well that answered at least one of Ralph’s questions. He hadn’t been sure, but he definitely hadn’t known Brendan’s name. He also had no idea how he should address him...her? Great. Well at least he hadn’t been the one to ask.

The others mostly confirmed they were all being blackmailed and that took a weight off his shoulders. He felt better having this conversation if they all were. Rhi pointed out a freshly disturbed grave and he shivered. This was not something he wanted to deal with.

”I haven’t seen Miguel since last night.” That was the truth, it just didn’t mention that Ralph had seen him after dinner. But that wasn’t a secret. Several people in the group knew that.

”Do we investigate it? Or keep talking and try to figure out what is happening?” He wasn’t sure which he wanted to do. He had a feeling that the former would not be fun.