tushanshu | [Console] video;

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[Console] video;

[Video;]

[The magical disguise Skulduggery uses generates different features every time he uses it, with the result that no one will recognise his face when he turns the console on. The skin's a little waxy and he doesn't seem to blink, but apart from those minor details, he looks normal. Only his voice, smooth and Irish, is the same as it usually is. A little jarring for those who know him best as a living skeleton.

Because of that, a brief introduction seems appropriate.]

My name is Skulduggery Pleasant. I'm a freelance detective.

[The 'freelance' part is important, since the whole point of using video is to make it clear he doesn't work for the Snakes - or anyone else.]

I'd appreciate any information anyone might have on attempted thefts of the soul jewelry. This is a request extended to everyone in the city; I don't think the kedan are organising an attack on Foreigners any more than I think Foreigners are organising an attack on them, and I don't much care about whether a witness can shapeshift or not. Or a victim, for that matter.

[There's always the possibility kedan have been mugged in the same strange conflicting style, but are too scared to come forward.]

The network isn't secure, so if you'd be more comfortable talking face to face, I'm happy to arrange that. You can leave a message for me with Anton Shudder at the Midnight Hotel - he'll make sure I'm the only one who hears it.

Thank you for your help.

[And the feed clicks off. Most, if not all, of his responses to this post will be audio, and will be made from consoles in cafes around the city - leaving the Hotel console free for anyone else to use.]

~~

[Audio;]

[Sent directly to Midii's inbox.]

Anton's now running an informal census at the Hotel. I can't guarantee it'll find everyone, but it should give us a much better idea of how many Foreigners we have, and hopefully how spread out we are.

[Sent directly to Wan's inbox.]

Some of the students at the university are talking about water levels being higher than they'd expect. Have you noticed anything like that?

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Shot? Guns weren't very common in Keeliai - at least, not before Skulduggery made his deal with Zanru. For a moment, he feels a wavering sense of guilt; then he snuffs it and puts the feeling out of his mind. Taking responsibility for things he has no control over is perilous at best, outright dangerous at worst.

"Did she see what type of gun it was?" Skulduggery asks, aware that at least a firearm would be relatively easy to trace through the city - easier than daggers or swords, which were regulated, but a dime a dozen nonetheless.

"I don't know; I haven't asked her many questions about the attack. I wanted to give her a chance to rest before talking about it." She casts a quick glance towards the stairs before returning to . "I was at the Healer's Guild with her afterwards, though, if anything from that would be useful for you to know."

Aqua attempts a weak smile. "I imagine you'll want to talk to her yourself. I'd... I'd like to keep from forcing too many questions on her, so if there's anything I'm able to answer beforehand I'll do my best." The last thing she wants to do is put undue stress on Xion, especially now.

The aftermath of an attack could occasionally be helpful, but Skulduggery needed more information to work with first. For that... yes, he would need to talk to Aqua's student first.

"Was anyone with her when she was shot?" asks Skulduggery. "Where is she now?"

"Yes, a boy named Yosuke Hanamura; he's the one who brought her to the Healer's Guild last night. I believe he was there when it happened." Where I should have been, she can't help but think. "And as for Xion, she's currently resting in my room here."

Again, she feels a rise of uncertainty at telling him this, but Aqua has decided to continue with Skulduggery's help, even if she cannot bring herself to fully trust him now.

Ah, Yosuke. Skulduggery remembers him. Excellent; the less he needs to worry about people adjusting to his state of existence, the better. Not that he usually worries to begin with, but witnesses are so much easier to question when they aren't staring wordlessly at him.

"Do you happen to know where Yosuke is now?" Skulduggery asks, turning to lead the way up the stairs.

"No, I'm afraid not. I've spent most of the time with Xion." Aside from coming down to contact Skulduggery and subsequently waiting for him, she's spent every waking moment with Xion and Roxas since they relocated the former to her room. Every waking moment being all of them, of course, although she hasn't really realized that.

She follows him to the stairway. "If I see him, though, I'll ask him to speak with you."

Skulduggery nods. "That would be helpful. Thank you." Not necessary, hopefully, but certainly helpful.

Once they reach the top of the stairs, Skulduggery lets Aqua lead the way. He has a fair idea of where the room is, but he hasn't paid enough attention to know exactly, and he has no interest in making a fool of himself while simultaneously wasting time. Minutes, to be fair, but time nonetheless.

Aqua steps past Skulduggery to guide him to her room. It's not a far walk - she stays in the room above the stairs - so very quickly she's arrived at the door. Before entering, she turns back to the detective with a somewhat apologetic smile. "Could I ask you to wait out here for a moment? I'd like to make sure she's up to answering questions first."

It's unspoken, but there's also the implication that Aqua wants to give Xion a little warning as to Skulduggery's appearance. If anything, that's what the silent apology is for.

She knocks before opening the door, peering inside. "Xion, are you doing well?"

She's been spending much of the night and day thus far asleep. The surgery to take the bullet out, along with just the injury itself, took a lot out of her. On top of that, her soul gem's been gone long enough that the symptoms are starting to show themselves, most notably her temperature notching up a degree or two.

Still, she is awake when Aqua comes through the door, murmuring quietly to Roxas when the door opens.

"I think so, yeah," she answers, pushing herself up with her good arm a little.

She's stubborn, if nothing else. She doesn't want to worry Aqua more than she's already worried.

Roxas hasn't wanted to leave Xion's side, not for anything, so that's where he's been if he can help it. He doesn't hear Aqua talking to someone because they were talking quietly, and his focus is entirely on Xion.

He's holding her hand up until she sits up; once he realizes her intention, he reaches to help her with one hand behind her good shoulder.

The implication of the silent apology doesn't go unnoticed, but Skulduggery takes absolutely no offence whatsoever. He'd have gone mad a long time ago if he took umbrage every time someone made reference to him being a skeleton, or how said being a skeleton might be slightly unnerving for certain people. So he simply nods and lets Aqua go first, waiting outside the door just out of sight.

That's not to say he isn't listening, or briefly scanning the room through his magical manipulation of air. Two people inside, not including Aqua, one predictably in a bed and the other right by the bedside. The bystander isn't Yosuke, judging by what Aqua said earlier, which unfortunately probably means there's someone else who might take issue with the whole skeleton thing. Skulduggery suppresses a sigh. His disguise might have been useful after all.

Aqua smiles lightly at both of the room's occupants. She's very glad Roxas is here for this; his refusal to leave Xion's side is comforting, knowing that the girl will always have at least one pair of eyes on her. "It's all right, you don't need to sit up," she says to Xion. "I've brought someone - a detective - who might be able to help find the one who attacked you. If you feel up for it, he'd like to ask you some questions about last night."

She throws another apologetic look to Skulduggery before turning back to the room. "His appearance might be a little unsettling, but he wants to help." So long as that darkness stays in check, it should be fine, she hopes.

Last night.

Xion isn't exactly keen on the idea. Last night was scary in a lot of ways. Not so much being attacked, that she was used to. She'd faced much more unsettling opponents than a kedan with a gun. What was scary, instead, was how bad it had gotten, and how quickly. She can't ever really say, even facing the Organization imposter, that she'd ever been in quite the mortal danger she'd been. Where she hadn't been able to pick herself back up and keep going, or at least get to a reasonable distance where she could Cure herself back to functionality.

And as for the kedan who shot her, once she got her Soul Gem back, she'd be perfectly happy not ever really seeing him again. But if Aqua thought it was important...

Slowly she nods. "Okay." It's not the most confident of responses, but there's a stubborn grimace on her face that hopefully indicates she's not caving to pressure or anything.

Aqua nods and moves into the room, gesturing for Skulduggery to follow. "This is detective Skulduggery Pleasant. Skulduggery, this is Xion, and Roxas." She indicates each of the two with her hand, though given only one of them is currently laid up in bed, it's quite clear which is which.

Aqua seats herself at the edge of the bed, within easy reach of Xion, looking very much like a sentinel of sorts. While she is choosing to trust Skulduggery, it's not a conscious act on her part to place herself in a position somewhat between a source of darkness and those she believes need protecting.

Skulduggery takes Xion in with a single glance, one which doesn't tell him much he didn't already know. The mugger shot Xion in the arm, it seems, and while the extensive protection on the part of Xion's friends would normally indicate to Skulduggery that something else had gone very wrong, he chooses to take this particular scene with a grain of salt. Xion is much younger than he was assuming. The protection is no doubt instinctive - on Aqua's part, at the very least.

Doubly so if Xion hasn't gotten her soul gem back yet.

Skulduggery doesn't sit down anywhere, but he does take off his hat and leave it on a table by the door. "Hello," he starts, deciding it's probably best to begin gently. Somewhat gently. "I'm sorry we're not meeting under better circumstances."

While Skulduggery's appearance does earn a look of surprise, any resulting uneasiness leaks out of her frame with little fanfare. She does glance over at Roxas quickly though, hoping he'll catch her meaning. Doesn't Skulduggery look like that skeleton guy always wandering around Halloween Town?

That being out of the way, she turns back to face him. "It's okay," she says. It's not like it was his fault, or anything. "You wanted to know about what happened?" Her voice betrays how tired she's still feeling though, the more she has to speak.

As she says it, the hand closest to Aqua snakes out to grab hers, wincing a little as she adjusts herself.

The hand darting out for her own is not missed, and Aqua reassuringly gives Xion's a squeeze. Maybe this was a little too soon; Xion does sound tired, but Aqua is at least pleasantly surprised by the lack of reaction (aside from a meaningful glance) that Skulduggery's appearance has garnered.

If things start seeming a little too much for the girl, Aqua intends to call it off, but until then she'll be right here, offering silent support. and perhaps input of her own for the latter part of the night.

Surprise does cross Xion's face before her noticeable lack of discomfort, which probably means there isn't anything wrong; in fact, the look she shares with Roxas suggests some kind of familiarity. Skulduggery can't help briefly wondering what that's about; then he consciously puts it aside in favour of faint gratitude and moves on.

"Yes," he answers, bowing his head. "Anything you can tell me, or anything that stuck out. How many were there?"

The number of muggers seems to change drastically between encounters, and if there's a pattern there, Skulduggery intends to find it.

Pulling memories from last night is a slower, more difficult process than she would have thought. Everything is tangled up in the confusing knot of memories that was the shooting itself.

This part at least though, was fairly easy. All the same, her hand grips Aqua's a little tighter, head bowing.

"Just... just one," she starts slowly, "I was on my way home, after running an errand when I ran into him." Slow deep breath. There's frequent pauses in her speech as she gathers her strength. And tries not to feel like a fool for letting this whole thing happen. "He kept me from falling but... when he saw who I was, he didn't let go."

Roxas hasn't been able to help but stare at the detective after sharing the glance with Xion. This guy really does look like the guy from Halloween Town. It's pretty weird, actually... and entirely because he isn't going on and on about Halloween.

When Xion talks about the person who attacked her, Roxas starts to frown. By the time she describes that he wouldn't let her go, Roxas is full-out scowling. He reaches for Xion's good hand again protectively, even though (and maybe because) he knows it's too late for him to do anything about it now.

Aqua's face hardens at Xion's account. Was it because she's a Foreigner, then? That shouldn't matter, she's so young... No one should be getting mugged at all, but especially not children!

And not her student and friend.

Roxas seems to be of a similar, if not identical mindset. Again she finds herself glad for the boy's presence here; this clearly isn't easy for Xion.

A single mugger? This is the first time Skulduggery's heard of a single mugger. There always seems to be at least two or three, more frequently a large group. If Skulduggery had a face, the frown would be evident; as it is, the only outward change in his demeanour is his head tilting slightly to the side.

"Do you mean he recognised you?" the detective asks. "Or just assumed you were a Foreigner?"

[To here]

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