Dauntless Shield Security Office

[Flyg0n]

Just off to the side of the dorm building is a nondescript building, practical in design. The words on the door read ‘Dauntless Shield Security Office’. Inside can be found two officers, one an Officer Jenny and a Manectric named Bao, and the other an Officer Victor with an Arcanine called Pyre. Quite often, one or the both of them can be seen patrolling the island.

A number on the door lists a method of contact in case of emergencies.

***​

 

[Flyg0n]

At some point during the night, a note is slipped under the door...

And lo, behold when Solgaleo carries the sun to its highest place
Then take shelter behind the Dauntless Shield
And take care to keep this secret
Breathe not a word, no not to a soul

What a strange note! Is it nonsense? Or could it be a code of some kind...?

****​

One by one, everyone who’d read the note and chose to come arrived behind the Dauntless Shield Security Office as the sun reached its highest point. The spot in question was tucked just behind the Security Offices, inside a dense circle of brush. The clearing offered a bit of privacy from the rest of the island. Mysteriously absent however, was every trainer who hadn’t been on the boat ride to the island...

Standing in the middle was Officer Jenny, flanked by her Manectric, Bao.

Her face was deathly grim, as was Bao’s. “I know all of you must have many questions. Yes, I’m the one who left that note for everyone. Sorry about the cloak and dagger, I was worried that someone else might find it and I hoped they'd think it was nonsense. So I’m going to tell you everything I know, then you can ask questions when I’m done. Got it?”

There were various noises of acknowledgement.

Jenny took a deep breath and sighed, running her hand through her teal hair. “I never expected... I didn’t expect something like this morning to happen when I left those notes. For starters... don’t trust anyone outside this group. Anyone who wasn’t on the Trousselin with you.” She sighed again.

“What I know is this. Two trainers left the island before today. I was told they went home, but now I’m not sure. A boy named Franklin and his Scizor apparently left early in the morning, before breakfast. And before that, a trainer and their Xatu left before the dinner on the first night. I thought it was odd, but I was assured they’d simply had to leave unexpectedly.

“I don’t know if these two incidents are connected. But I do know that if they are, then you lot are not involved. The disappearances started before you arrived. Which means the culprit is most likely someone from the first group.” She paused, collecting her thoughts.

“The reason I’m telling you is so that you can watch your backs. And I would tell you not to investigate and to let me handle it. But I know how tenacious and nosy trainers are.” She chuckled, but quickly became serious again.

“I can’t lock you up, and I can’t force you to not investigate. All I can do is ask that you try to be smart. Keep your heads down. Don’t kick Beedrill's nests. If you try to snoop around, be discreet if you can. Play along.” She folded her arms and glanced at Bao. “Anything else?”

Bao barked.

“Right. My associate Victor and his Arcanine knows too. Consider him an ally, I trust him with my life.”

She spread her arms. “So there it is. I guess if you have questions you can ask now, but probably I don’t know much more than most of you right now.”

 

[Sinderella]

Now that made sense. Odette was relieved to know she'd trusted her instinct to not ask Blair about the note. And to be wary of her in the first place. Especially now after learning that the alleged culprit was yellow, her thoughts were absolutely buzzing.

Watch your backs, she'd said. Yep, she had a fucking feeling. Now she really wished Noel was here.

She knew from experience that trusting the cops right off the bat was a no-go, because they could fudge anything they wanted to. But, it was a start...

"So you trust Victor and Arcanine. Got it," she spoke. "Then I guess I can say that I vaguely heard him mentioning something about individual interviews. In fact, a girl I spoke to brought it up, too. Is that something you've done before we arrived, considering this whole thing started prior? Did you glean anything from it that you can share with the class now that the undesirables aren't around?"

 

[Negrek]

The day sure as hell hadn't started off well, with some weird note slipped under Nate's hotel door. Even after puzzling over it for ages, he couldn't figure out what the hell it was going on about. And then the whole scream thing, and if Nate had been skeptical that the scizor trainer's supposed disappearance meant anything earlier, well, he was feeling a little less dismissive now. Mightyena was frantic, snuffling around near the glassy patch on the beach as though another nose on the problem was going to help somehow. It took Nate altogether too long to figure out that the latest disappearance was the "dragon girl" she'd been talking about yesterday.

For his part, Nate was content to hang back and listen in on what other people were saying, and most of all avoid the attention of the fucking cops. It sounded like other people had gotten weird notes, too--ones telling them to go to the police station at noon? Nate didn't think you could spell out "this is a trap" any clearer without baiting it with a piece of cheese. At least it gave Nate an idea of where not to be in a couple of hours.

So, naturally, when people started filtering off, in ones and twos, to attend the extremely secret meeting, Mightyena came racing over to him, prancing and whining and clearly jonesing to go with them.

"You can't be fucking serious," he said. "Mightyena, we ain't getting involved with the cops. Period."

She snarled at him. Actually snarled. And then she started off after the rest of the group. So that message was perfectly fucking clear. Jesus. You'd think the missing kid was Mightyena's best friend or some shit, not somebody she'd talked to for five minutes at breakfast yesterday.

Nate wavered for a second, but only a second. Sure, like he was going to let her just rush off into the goddamn trap when it turned out people were for sure up and disappearing left and right. At least he was able to convince her to keep near the back of the group, practically lost in the ring of screening bushes that sheltered their extremely secret meeting spot.

Nate listened to the cop's explanation, expression grim, inwardly seething--yeah, sure, like he trusted her or that other fucking cop. Like he trusted anybody on this entire fucking island.

[[ @Flyg0n ]] "You got told these two just had to leave, huh?" Nate called out. "They just went home, everything's fine, all that. Who was saying that? And who reported them missing in the first place?"

 

[Sinderella]

"Why are we still here why are we still here I want to go home I want to go home I want to go home I want to go home—"

The longer she stood in that office, the more she felt herself starting to perspire. Profusely.

"Why am I sweating all of a sudden..." she asked under her breath.


"Are you tired? Your monitor isn't beeping."


No, it wasn't. She felt fine, truthfully. But at the same time, something was really stressing her out.


"C̸'̶e̴s̵t̵ ̷p̵a̵r̶c̸e̵ ̵q̷u̷e̷ ̷t̴u̶ ̸e̷s̸ ̸t̷r̷o̸p̸ ̸p̴e̴t̴i̶t̶ ̸p̶o̶u̵r̵ ̸g̴é̷r̶e̶r̸ ̸c̵e̸ ̷p̴u̶t̵a̶i̸n̷ ̷d̶e̴ ̶g̵r̴o̶s̷ ̴c̸u̶l̵ ̴q̸u̴e̸ ̸t̸u̸ ̶a̷s̵.̸"


She very suddenly wanted to throw Odile in a nearby trashcan.

"Don't take your guilt out on me, Grudge," she menaced.


"̸F̵u̶u̶u̴u̵u̷u̸c̵k̴ ̴y̶o̴o̶o̶o̸o̵o̷o̸o̷o̶o̵u̴.̷"̷ She sounded like she was on the verge of tears now. Gods, what even was crying?


She didn't have time to yell at Odile some more, because upon spotting Wallace, standing there stiff straight, she understood where her nerves were coming from. She was no damn empath but he just LOOKED like he was going through it. Somebody needed to get him a Xanax and cucumber facial. Maybe a hot stone massage. And a year's supply of therapy sessions.

"They just went home, everything's fine, all that. Who was saying that? And who reported them missing in the first place?"

She blinked out of her haze at the sound of somebody else's question, which prompted her own.

"And even more so, did you investigate the last places they'd been seen once it came up that they'd left? Even just to 'check it out', just in case? Were the scenes equally as weird as what we saw at the beach today?"

 

[Seren]

Kimiko was glad she took the note literally. She'd been quite ready to head inside the security office when she arrived, but there was a strange prick of anger in her gut that told her to just... peek around the back first. And when she did, she found Officer Jenny and her manectric waiting for her, along with a handful of other trainers who had arrived prior. There certainly were a few... colorful characters around here, she noted, including a few she recognized - one of them being the cause of her issues right now. She didn't want to be intrusive, so she stood off to the side with Olivia, leaning against the wall of the building, hands clasped behind her back. When it seemed everyone had gathered, the officer explained why... she had called them all here?

“The reason I’m telling you is so that you can watch your backs. And I would tell you not to investigate and to let me handle it. But I know how tenacious and nosy trainers are.”

Kimiko would have been more than happy to take this to heart and go back to her vacation, but... well, this just all but shattered whatever illusion of peace she'd been hoping to maintain. What fucking chance would there be to relax now that people were just mysteriously vanishing? She'd be lucky to get any sleep tonight, after this. Great. Some vacation.

Furthermore, as she tried to push down the anger she was starting to feel over her vacation turning into... well, this... a sudden realization came to her. She'd done more than her fair share of investigating and helping other trainers so far back home. Several other trainers on the island, including both Wes and Odette, seemed to be willing to get their hands dirty and help out, too. If she wasn't going to be able to relax, she might as well see if she could provide some kind of way to contribute, too. Champion or not, it wouldn't be right to just ignore this, regardless of how it made her feel. At least she could take comfort (well, what little it offered) in the fact that, even if she just stayed in her room the rest of her vacation, she'd never feel comfortable or safe anymore, so she had nothing to lose by doing her part.

"You got told these two just had to leave, huh?" Nate called out. "They just went home, everything's fine, all that. Who was saying that? And who reported them missing in the first place?"

"And even more so, did you investigate the last places they'd been seen once it came up that they'd left? Even just to 'check it out', just in case? Were the scenes equally as weird as what we saw at the beach today?"

A couple of people were asking questions, now. Well, grilling the cop was probably a good place to start, but the stranger asked the one question that had come to her mind, so she sat back, watched, and waited.

Olivia moped down by her boot as she waited for answers. Was it because she'd been torn away from Neo yet again? Or was it something else? Maybe the mood had gotten her down. It sure seemed like a lot of the other trainers gathered here were rather irked, and while she couldn't blame them in the slightest, it wasn't exactly the most cheerful atmosphere.

 

[IFBench]

Gen was still with Wallace, clutching tightly onto his reunion cape. So...he couldn't trust anyone not from the boat, except the police.

That...made this a lot scarier. And he was still trapped here.

Trembling, he tried to hug Wallace's leg, trying to comfort both his friend and himself.

 

[Seren]

As Kimiko stood by silently while others posed questions, she observed the crowd. There certainly were some peculiar attendees around. She spotted Odile among them, seemingly... weeping into Odette's hair? There was the tropius from earlier, still looking as though she had no trainer with her. A girl with a ninetales wearing a necklace. A girl with a feathered pikachu. That frankenstein pokemon she'd just seen down at the beach. ...Were those two humanoid birds??

Yeah, definitely a lot of bizarre people and pokemon here in this group. But among those who stood out in the crowd, Kimiko was more interested in who did not stand out. Along with that, something the officer had said returned to her.

For starters... don’t trust anyone outside this group. Anyone who wasn’t on the Trousselin with you.”

[[ @Flyg0n ]]

"What about our host, Xanadu or whatever his name is??" Kimiko called out when there was a lull. "Or the chick with the hypno who brought us all to the boat? Is there anyone outside this circle we can trust? Anyone at all? You mentioned your fellow officer and his arcanine... is there literally anyone else besides him that is outside this gathering right now that you think we can trust?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven had walked back to the beach in complete silence, and didn't stop even when he got there. Most of the trainers had dispersed, leaving only the pair of officers and their partners near the scene. He had spared officer Jenny a glance before he left; he couldn't bring himself to look at the glassy patch of sand again.

By the time he got back to the main villa, the center square was mostly deserted. It seemed, however, there was some activity near the Security office. At first he brushed it off as a given, considering the circumstances, but then he realized both of the officers were still down at the beach... And then it hit him.

The note.

He'd forgotten all about it in the bedlam of the morning.

Given how many of their group had talked about receiving the same note, he figured it wasn't much of a secret any more. Still, caution was king given everything that had happened, so he waited to head behind the office like the note suggested until right before the appointed time.

(Not like he could sneak around with Aggron following him like a shadow anyway.)

He hung toward the back of the group, much to Aggron's relief. Also to his own relief as he spotted the demon bat and her human companion (if he could even call it that) near the front. He still didn't know why he said all that back at the marsh, why he blew up like that. It's not like anything he said got through. An appeal to someone's humanity only worked if said person was actually human...

Aggron rumbled worriedly and shuffled even closer to Steven.

"I'll be alright," he said quietly. Though the way he fidgeted, spinning his rings around one finger, then another, said otherwise.

Aggron rumbled again, but went quiet as someone arrived, the person who apparently had sent the note and arranged this meeting. The officer from the beach? He as listened closely as he could as she explained, but he could only listen so much while keeping watch on his clearly distressed trainer.

A low wine sounded from behind him, and Aggron allowed himself to relax his watch just for a second to check.

It was the Mightyena from the ship, and she looked just as distressed as Steven. Aggron felt a pang under his armor, and looked away. At least someone else cared as much as his human did.

On second thought, Aggron realized he recognized more people from the ship. A lot of people. But not everyone from the island, like Hayes and that shiny rock of his. That was odd... Why would security only tell some of them, and why do it in secret?

Well, he figured he'd find out some way. Right now all that mattered was keeping watch over Steven. Everything else could wait. And if it couldn't, he'd run it through with his horns.

 

[ShiniGojira]

Everything had happened so fast. The scream, the overwhelming number of arriving people, Officer Jenny. People were talking left and right, questioning one another, finding clues while he just stayed back, feeling like he was out of his league.

He felt like he brought nothing to the table except for maybe some dumb jokes here and there. He wasn't used to this.

Mystery solving? Some kind of murder island? Yeah, he had no experience dealing with any of these.

He had expected something to go wrong with this vacation (it always did) but he'd thought it'd be some kind of evil organisation, an out-of-control legendary or any other insane crap that'd become a common occurrence to him. But a murder mystery? Yeah, no.

God, he hoped none of them was actually dead, there weren't any blood around the crime scene so he was hopeful.

Evie, bless her soul, was so helpful in helping him keep track of things, he didn't know what he would do without her.

Dauntless Shield was the next place he was supposed to go, according to what Evie had listened in on, and when he arrived, there had already been several people gathered around, questioning the cops.

Deciding to let, what he thought were the experts do their best (there were actual champions here, they could handle it), he'd stayed back unless he was sure he could add something useful into the conversation.

For starters... don’t trust anyone outside this group. Anyone who wasn’t on the Trousselin with you.” She sighed again.

“I can’t lock you up, and I can’t force you to not investigate. All I can do is ask that you try to be smart. Keep your heads down. Don’t kick Beedrill's nests. If you try to snoop around, be discreet if you can. Play along.” She folded her arms and glanced at Bao. “Anything else?”

Trust no one but their strange group and keep a low profile.

That was something he could do.

 

[IFBench]

"Um...wh-why wasn't I able to go home?" Gen asked, looking at Jenny. "I...have s-something that should h-have allowed m-me to go back to m-my world, but...it wasn't working."

 

[Flyg0n]

"So you trust Victor and Arcanine. Got it," she spoke. "Then I guess I can say that I vaguely heard him mentioning something about individual interviews. In fact, a girl I spoke to brought it up, too. Is that something you've done before we arrived, considering this whole thing started prior? Did you glean anything from it that you can share with the class now that the undesirables aren't around?"

"I spoke briefly to some of the trainers after the incident this morning before I came here. Unfortunately it seems like most trainers don't have an alibi. Not a guaranteed one at least. They were busy doing things around the island on their own. And if teleportation was really involved, it also complicates things because they could easily teleport somewhere to make it look like they were somewhere else.

What I do know is that I no longer believe either Scizor or Xatu's trainer's actually left of their own free will."

"So... what's the deal with Amara and Honzo? Where can you usually find them? What do they know about what's going on?"

"Amara and Honzo are trying to help find Reena and Drampa. Unfortunately..." she scratched her chin and paused for a moment. "I haven't been able to speak with Amara at length, but she would be the one who also would have known the whole guest list. Which means she would have to have noticed if someone left or didn't show up."

Bao rumbled something, and Jenny nodded. "I don't know that I don't trust her, but I don't know that I do either."

[[ @Flyg0n ]] "You got told these two just had to leave, huh?" Nate called out. "They just went home, everything's fine, all that. Who was saying that? And who reported them missing in the first place?"

"I asked Amara about it yesterday. She's the one who told me. Said they left a note explaining why they had leave, but said she wasn't at liberty to discuss guests' personal matters."

At that, Bao rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Bao and I thought it was weird the first time it happened, with Xatu. Why leave before even having dinner? Then when I heard about the Scizor trainer I was definitely suspicious, but Amara told me it was simply something unexpected, and that it wasn't uncommon."

"And even more so, did you investigate the last places they'd been seen once it came up that they'd left? Even just to 'check it out', just in case? Were the scenes equally as weird as what we saw at the beach today?"

Jenny shook her head ruefully. "The trainer and their Xatu vanished on the first evening. We picked up their scent leaving the boat but then it vanishes. Never found anything odd. Of course, they could have teleported home I suppose. Not that I believe that anymore. And the Scizor trainer seems to have left from his room. When I asked to check it out, I was informed that wasn't necessary-" she made air quotes, "-since he left on his own and they had to respect a trainer's privacy." She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"But now maybe I can look into it...."

"What about our host, Xanadu or whatever his name is??" Kimiko called out when there was a lull. "Or the chick with the hypno who brought us all to the boat? Is there anyone outside this circle we can trust? Anyone at all? You mentioned your fellow officer and his arcanine... is there literally anyone else besides him that is outside this gathering right now that you think we can trust?"

"Oh? Mr. Montorzi? Yes, I have spoken to both of them before when they had asked me to help with this event. And I've spoken to Mr. Montorzi a few more times. I have to say, I've never met anyone like him. He seems utterly genuine. As far as I can tell at least. But Amara..."

Her and Bao shared a look. "As you heard me tell the others, I'm not sure about her anymore. But if she is hiding something she's very careful. Other than that? Well unless one of you somehow teleported to the island before you arrived, you're the only ones I can rule out by alibi alone."

"Um...wh-why wasn't I able to go home?" Gen asked, looking at Jenny. "I...have s-something that should h-have allowed m-me to go back to m-my world, but...it wasn't working."

"You do? I'm sorry I'm not sure... Maybe your devices or whatever it is is malfunctioning? Or..." she paused for a long moment, then shrugged regretfully. "I know that some of you were invited from other universes. Perhaps not all devices work in this universe? I'm really sorry, I don't think I know-"

Bao nudged Jenny, then stepped up to the Oshawott , a touch of sympathy in his eyes. "Hey Oshawott. Sorry er... Gen? I don't know what you have that can get you home but can you show me what it is?"

 

[IFBench]

Gen hesitated, then took his knife out of his bag. "It's...this. It l-lets me make portals to other w-worlds by slicing i-it through the air. But now..."

He swung the knife through the air, in a direction no one was in. Nothing happened.

"...n-nothing. It's n-not working," Gen said, looking down.

 

[Flyg0n]

Gen hesitated, then took his knife out of his bag. "It's...this. It l-lets me make portals to other w-worlds by slicing i-it through the air. But now..."

He swung the knife through the air, in a direction no one was in. Nothing happened.

"...n-nothing. It's n-not working," Gen said, looking down.

Bao examined the dagger carefully. So it wasn't technology... Some kind of object charged with power then. "I don't know much about daggers like that but usually something like that is stuff legendary or mythical pokemon know more about. Xavian claimed he invited some mythical pokemon... It's possible one of them know more? Or it has to do with something about this universe..." Bao mused out loud.

 

[Seren]

When I asked to check it out, I was informed that wasn't necessary-" she made air quotes, "-since he left on his own and they had to respect a trainer's privacy." She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"But now maybe I can look into it...."

"I asked Amara about it yesterday. She's the one who told me. Said they left a note explaining why they had leave, but said she wasn't at liberty to discuss guests' personal matters."

Right. So just as incompetent as the boat staff. Good to know.

"You're law enforcement, aren't you?" Kimiko asked, thinly veiled anger in her tone. "Since when is someone's privacy such a high priority when there are lives at stake? That's absurd. Did you even look at this 'note' that the missing trainer supposedly left?"

It really looked like the trainers were going to have to deal with this on their own, after all. Well, that was par for the course throughout history, anyway. Red had stopped Team Rocket, Some kids in Unova had stopped Team Plasma on two different occasions, that one kid from Sinnoh who stopped his best friend...

She still refused to believe that their host had nothing to do with this. How could he be clueless, it was his island! There always seemed to be some kind of "but maybe..." around his motives. First with Clink, and now with Jenny's 'as far as I can tell'. It left that door open, and Kimiko wasn't going to close it without solid evidence of his innocence.

And Amara... well, she was the biggest standout right now when it came to leads. Especially considering she was apparently making a conscious effort to be unhelpful. There really wasn't a better place to start looking, was there?

[[ @Flyg0n ]]

 

[Negrek]

So, did the cop think the hypno chick was suspicious, or not? Nate couldn't tell. It was, like, real fucking subtle.

Mightyena let out a soft growl, and Nate reached down to pat the side of her neck. No doubt she was raring to go tear the hypno chick a new one, right this second. And yeah, it seemed pretty clear that someone needed to go talk with her.

He tried not to think too hard about the hypno chick's apparent insistence that people fucking vanishing was a normal occurrence around here. For the love of God, don't let this whole festival thing turn out to really be about a bunch of legends luring in some tasty trainers to munch on or some freaky cult ritual or any of that kind of shit.

 

[Flyg0n]

"You're law enforcement, aren't you?" Kimiko asked, thinly veiled anger in her tone. "Since when is someone's privacy such a high priority when there are lives at stake? That's absurd. Did you even look at this 'note' that the missing trainer supposedly left?"

Jenny exhaled slowly. "Until this morning there was no real evidence lives were at stake. It was paranoia at best. No evidence of foul play around the island. But now I can demand more information. And first on my list is demanding to see whatever note was supposedly left."

A growl from Bao indicated his agreement.

 

[Sinderella]

"Ah, parlez-vous français? J'ai appris le français en tant qu'enfant!"

Odile gave Wallace a wary glance. What the hell did that have to do with anything?

"̶J̶e̷ ̶c̵o̸n̴n̶a̴i̷s̸ ̴t̷o̴u̵t̷e̷s̵ ̸l̷e̵s̶ ̷l̴a̵n̴g̶u̵e̵s̸.̴ ̷A̶v̴e̵z̷-̷v̴o̴u̸s̵ ̸d̷é̶j̴à̴ ̷a̵p̸p̸r̵i̶s̸ ̸à̸ ̸p̴a̷r̷l̷e̶r̵ ̷l̶'̴a̸n̸c̸i̶e̵n̷n̵e̷ ̷l̷a̴n̶g̸u̴e̷ ̵d̸e̷ ̶H̸i̶o̶m̴u̸c̵d̶a̷r̶i̶c̶ ̵Q̸a̸c̶k̶e̷o̶b̶b̵u̷i̵n̷,̵ ̴l̴a̵ ̸l̷a̴n̸g̷u̸e̴ ̵d̴e̴s̵ ̵a̷n̶c̴i̵e̷n̸s̴ ̵d̸i̵e̵u̵x̷ ̸?̵"

"I haven't been able to speak with Amara at length, but she would be the one who also would have known the whole guest list. Which means she would have to have noticed if someone left or didn't show up."

"I asked Amara about it yesterday. She's the one who told me. Said they left a note explaining why they had leave, but said she wasn't at liberty to discuss guests' personal matters."

but Amara told me it was simply something unexpected, and that it wasn't uncommon."

When I asked to check it out, I was informed that wasn't necessary-" she made air quotes, "-since he left on his own and they had to respect a trainer's privacy."

She listened quietly to Jenny speak, deciding to ignore whatever nonsense was coming out of Odile as she mulled the words over in her head.

"I would think that a staff member here would want to work closely with their hired security and police to make sure everyone's safe in a place like this...why wouldn't security also know the damn guest list? That seems like common sense to me," she pondered. "Sounds like a lot of 'Amara said this' and 'Amara said that' and not a lot of actual fact."

Was Amara trying to pull a cloak over Jenny's eyes? Or was Jenny lying through her teeth? That was an idea Odette wasn't putting out of her head yet.

But still, by the sound of it, it seemed like all of the power here rested on Amara and possibly the other staff members. Conveniently telling the mild mannered cop that two trainers left suddenly, but wasn't at liberty to discuss? Or share the notes? Or tell them anything? What?

Sure, there wasn't grounds for any real investigation before now. People simply leaving wouldn't warrant a crazy search or active cop activity. The weirdness of it all was lying within the absolute lack of information from the get go.

She could somewhat understand the idea of "privacy" but that was hardly enough a reason to keep information like that from the people put in place to keep everyone safe. That never stopped law enforcement before, and people leaving unexpectedly felt like something the security needed to know. Something they needed to clear, for safety reasons. What if something else had happened that was completely unrelated, and they needed that information? And in the fucking multiverse of all places? Common. Sense.

Also, what the fuck did Amara even mean by "it wasn't uncommon?" People leaving randomly? Why would anybody be so casual about that in the multiverse?

"How long have you known Amara? Or even our gracious host?" she asked.

This might have been her trauma talking, but she wasn't past the idea that this might be another instance of money putting the kabosh on any cop activity; before it even had a chance to start. Or starting to twist it around. Xavian--or whatever the fuck his name was--was clearly a wealthy man, this being his island after all. It wasn't certain, being the amount of mythicals and other very outlying factors in place here, but it was definitely possible.

Odette wouldn't be surprised if those "notes" had suddenly gone missing, too.

And if teleportation was really involved, it also complicates things because they could easily teleport somewhere to make it look like they were somewhere else.

Something else occurred to her as she spoke. "And strange question. Is it possible that the girl was flown off somewhere?"

 

[Flyg0n]

"How long have you known Amara? Or even our gracious host?" she asked.

"A few weeks. Everything about Xavian checked out, and I looked into Amara before I accepted this job. No criminal history, no ties to anything illegal, everything seemed... normal. Neither of them seemed like bad people." A brief expression of frustration and distress crossed her face.

"Amara is hiding something though, and I'm going to find out what."

Bao pressed himself against Jenny's leg, eyes simmering with anger.

Something else occurred to her as she spoke. "And strange question. Is it possible that the girl was flown off somewhere?"

"Flown off?" Jenny paused for a long moment. "Theoretically I suppose. The sand was so disturbed its possible some kind of flying pokemon could have tried to take her somehow... Although how would it get away without being seen?"

 

[Sinderella]

"Theoretically I suppose. The sand was so disturbed its possible some kind of flying pokemon could have tried to take her somehow... Although how would it go away without being seen?"

"That I don't know," she admitted. She'd been a little taken aback by Blair mentioning it, and Jenny's response didn't quite help. "Teleportation could play in there? Really, I don't..."

A sigh. "It was just a thought. Thanks for your insight."