Welcome to Death

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"Uh, no clue," Roderick said. "Let's check it out."

After the ride was over and they were let out of the Ferris Wheel, Roderick and Zephyr made their way over, looking around for anything out of the ordinary.

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Once they arrived in Texas, the small group made their way to the address they'd been given, and Matthew was feeling both nervous and excited. He was on a real mission, but at the same time, he had no clue whether or not they were even sort of ready, and they were going up against actual bandits. He smiled up at Mikio, still feeling nervous.

"You ready for whatever we find?" He asked.

OOC: Well, guys, I'm off on vacation for a week! I miiiiiight check in sometime if I can, but I'm not making any promises. See you all next week!

 

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The only thing that Zephyr could tell for certain was that it had an affinity for red lights. Every step they took was illuminated by the red lights, fortunately that didn't affect their ability to look around for something that stuck out.

 

Dana nodded, before realising how utterly pointless the motion had been. Ah well, maybe someone in the world saw it and appreciated it anyway. Hell, maybe if she looked pretty enough the pharaoh would just give them his soul. Was that even possible? She had no idea, but she intended to find out. There was a very, very brief moment where she had the worry of what if the pharaoh doesn't think she was pretty, but then it occurred to her the pharaoh probably wouldn't be blind so there was no chance of that happening. "Yup you left a mark, it's all squiggly and awesome. As for going left...hmm....you know what? Why the heck not. It smells like old people the strongest down there, and the pharaoh has gotta be pretty old so it's a sure thing" the girl stated, proud of her logical decision.


Chaol leaped off of the plane and landed onto the ground gracefully and elegantly, as though he had done it a thousand times beforehand. He hated flying, always had. The entire time he'd spent on the plane he had been a nervous wreck. Instead of being his usual calm, composed self, he had been clinging to the seat for what seemed to be five years of endless, consistent torture. But now he was free, and he silently made a promise to himself that he would never again set foot in one of those machines, just as he did everytime he got off of one before he inevitably broke that promise.

"I thought that flight would never end" he said, yawning and stretching his arms as he did so. He was about to suggest setting out in search of information, but just as he opened his mouth to speak he was cut off by, of all things, a cat. A talking cat. He'd never seen one of those before. Walking over and kneeling down, at first he poked it in the side and then he gave it a very brief pat. "Huh, talking animals are new to me. Who taught you to do that little guy? If you tell me I might be able to obtain a fish for you, and a tummy rub too" he encouraged.​

 

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Roderick froze, drawing in a breath, and then backed up quickly, feeling his face turn red as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "W-what? No, we're not here for... We're looking for Jack the Ripper," he blurted, staring down at the street and feeling embarrassed.

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Matthew stared down at the talking cat in surprise. He'd never seen a talking cat before. The flight had been interesting, with Chaol acting tense and nervous the whole ride. Matthew had sort of got the impression the older boy was rather unafraid of anything, but this obviously wasn't true. He didn't like planes.

He was fine with talking cats, though.

He smiled at the cat, feeling a bit... weirded out, but she seemed friendly, and if Chaol was fine with her, he should be, too.

"Hello, Cat," he said, adding to Chaol's comments. "It's, erm, very nice to meet you!"

 

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Zephyr had been primarily focused on trying to find anything that stuck out as suspicious to him and work off that. So at first he didn't notice the woman approach them. Upon feeling the finger drag across his face, and subsequently jumping a bit at the sudden sensation, he finally noticed the woman presence and was certainly caught off guard upon seeing how little she was wearing. The usually calm and collected Zephyr was at a lost, both mentally and verbally.

During the time she was speaking with Roderick, the now red face teen was looking for something to either take his mind off the current situation or at least change the topic. At first he thought there was nothing that he could use in his favor, but hearing the sounds of crying changed that. Carefully looking past the scantily clad woman, he saw another one crying. Odd, but it was just the thing he needed to get out of this situation. Clearing his throat, he finally spoke up. "W-what's wrong with her?" He motioned to the crying woman behind them.

 

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The flight to Texas hadn't actually been that bad in Hannah's opinion. She'd been lucky enough to get a window seat so she'd really enjoyed the view out of the window. Plus, the flight was really short, it had been nothing compared to the one from England, that one had taken forever. That said, she had still been very surprised at the getting a flight at a moments notice. In her head flights were something that should be booked months and months in advanced and prepared for carefully. Matthew had just got them a plane like they were catching a bus or a train, it was ridiculous!

However at this moment, that was at the back of the mind as she observed a talking cat. Initially she'd blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes and checked the other's reactions to check her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. "How curious" She muttered as she decided that this was really happening. Making up her mind, her smile broadened as she spoke up, "Well it is also a pleasure to meet you for me. Would you happen to have information regarding our mission?"

 

Mikio was his quiet, usual self, if not a little more so because of the huge crowds of people. He had his cat hoodie pulled over his head to cover his eyes, and a pair of noise canceling headphones that now rested on his neck. He just waited for a cue of some kind at this point, not really knowing what to do with himself. He kept his head down, staying near Matthew and kept his hands in his sweater pocket.

He heard a voice, and the team responded in reply. Talking cat? He looked up just a bit, and there she was; a strange, purple looking cat that spoke human language. His jaw tightened and he put his head back down. 'That's not normal,' he thought. 'I don't know whether to be shy or try to pet it! Agh! So confusing and conflicting!!!'

 

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"Someone else has died?" Roderick asked, hurrying over to the dark alley and pausing at the sight of the body. "Zephyr, she's right, there's someone here."

 

Zoey got into a defensive position and outstretched her hand. "Ready when you are, Dana!" She called. Ah, it was the wrong choice again, but at least they would be getting more experience out of this.

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Mikio's eyes widened when the talking cat came over to him, and rubbed against his leg. A faint, pinkish glow dusted his cheeks and he felt his ears go hot from being flustered. Cat with a human voice... so not natural. But... he didn't want to be rude. And it was a cat after all...

"Uh, s-sure," Mikio mumbled, swallowing a lump in his throat. He didn't even bother to look up at the others as he crouched down from his towering height to sit comfortably in a squatting position. A shaky hand reached out to the odd cat, and he gave her two gentle pats on the belly before running his fingers over the fur hesitantly. "N-nice kitty," he said under his breath. Despite his nervousness, he actually felt a little more relax than he was on the whole trip over to Texas. A little smile even tugged at his lips as he stroked and petted the seemingly magical cat.

 

The current situation at hand took a turn for the worse at the mention of another dead body. Zephyr followed behind Roderick and laid eyes on the second corpse they found. "Damn." Was the first and only thing that he could manage to say.

 

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Petting had never really been Hannah's thing, she'd never been that great with animals and she didn't really know what to do with them. In that aspect she was quite happy that the cat seemed far more interested in Mikio, she was content to stay back and watch. After a moment or two, Hannah took a brief glance at the small watch on her wrist and a small crease appeared on her forehead (though that was mostly hidden by her hat and fringe). "Umm, guys? I'm glad you're enjoying yourself but don't we have a mission to do? I mean it would be fairly bad if by the time we actually start, they had already left." She smiled at them, hoping she wouldn't be seen as a spoil sport or a nag, she just didn't want them to mess up their first ever mission.

 

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This time, Roderick found it a touch easier to ignore the body and focus on the words, though he still felt a little bit ill. But he shook his head, focusing on the riddle. "In Rome, one's famous, the New World's brings youth, you seek the well spring that leads to the truth..." He hadn't heard this one before... "Well, they're talking about a fountain, right?" He theorized. "I don't know a lot about Rome, but 'the fountain of youth,' 'the well spring,' we're looking for some kind of fountain, a fountain of truth... Maybe it's some kind of landmark or something? I'll ask one of the girls if..." He turned back to the main road, pausing a little and blushing. He didn't particularly like those girls... But it was for the mission. "I'll ask one of the girls if they know anything about a fountain of truth," he finished, leaving the alleyway and looking around, approaching the girl who had talked to them earlier.

"Erm," he said, shoving his hands back into his pocket. "Have you ever heard of a fountain of truth? Or, or any famous fountain around here or something?"

 

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Matthew sighed a little. He didn't want to tell Mikio to stop petting the talking cat, but Hannah was right. "Yeah, we really should get going," he agreed. "Come on, everyone, we're almost there." Offering a smile to the strange cat, and to Mikio, Matthew turned and kept walking towards the address.

 

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Once more they had come across another riddle next to the corpse and unlike last time where Zephyr had a lucky guess, this time he had no idea just what it was that the riddle was referring to. Fortunately Roderick was able to figure out something. "If that's what you think the answer is, then go for it." He said encouragingly.

 

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"Okay, thank you," Roderick said, nodding. They could take a cab there and get there soon enough... Though, it occurred to him that they should probably report the two murders they'd already found. He glanced back at the second body down the dark alley despite himself, feeling another wave of nausea and looking away again quickly. "Um, here," he said, reacting on the spot and pulling a five dollar bill out of his pocket, intending to give it to the girl. He glanced at it. "Um, it's American money," he said, blushing a bit. "If you want it. For the directions."