"Okay." Helena sighed as the group gathered around for dinner that day, "Everyone done processing?"
"Yeah..." The other girls replied with a deeply tried depression.
"So...Let's go over what we learned again." Helena sighed again, the very subject clearly not bringing anyone joy, "We went back to the church and interrogated Haddock."
"You almost got possessed." Momo pointed out.
"Momo please. Corissa was there."
"I sure was there." Corissa sighed.
"Nice job on the argument with Haddock by the way." Helena chuckled, "That was something to see. Nice to see you assert yourself for once."
"All I did was spew whatever I remembered about Salaphira." Corissa replied, "Normally I'd have looked into this Zaffira Morgana as well."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because you had literally JUST told me about them before dragging me into the church." Corissa growled through gritted teeth.
"Right. And then you destroyed the church." Helena nodded, "Which brings us back to the main point for our short break. Kaguya? What do you have to report for us?"
"Firstly, I genuinely don't remember anybody in that crowd." Kaguya stated, "I tried to recall some details but none of them ever so much as spoke to me so I had less than nothing to go on. And I could find no one who could be related to anybody in those pews literally this afternoon."
"So it's like...they just disappeared." Helena nodded.
"Basically."
"Hmmm...Who could've done this?"
…
"H-Helena...we know who could've done this." Momo pointed out, "It's-"
"Yeah, I know, it's Corissa." Helena chuckled, "I'm just channeling my inner detective/police dramas."
"Can we not talk like I'm a murderer?" Corissa sniffed, "I've been doing my best to ignore how humans the monsters look like this time."
"Poor baby." Kaguya patted Corissa's head, "Would you like a Mango Lassi?"
"Yes…"
"What's a Mango Lassi doing in a place like this?" Helena remarked.
"Dunno but it was on the menu earlier." Kaguya shrugged, "Sounded like something Corissa would like."
"Hm. I guess so." Helena shrugged.
"Excuse me!" Kaguya called to the nearest waitress, "One Mango Lassi here please!"
"O-Okay! I'll get it ready in a jiffy!" Lydia called.
"Anyway, back to the point." Helena said, "So there were no signs of anybody who could be in those pews then the only conclusion is that Corissa killed them."
"Did you have to say killed?!" Corissa yelped.
"It's okay we'll get you another Mango Lassi. Waiter!" Kaguya called.
"But the point is that if these people are gone and all we did was use holy then it stands to reason…" Kaguya continued, "...that everybody in that church were also monsters."
"Makes sense." Momo nodded.
"Which implies…" Helena continued more anxiously, "That everybody in the town has already been turned into a monster."
"Now I don't know about that." Kaguya nodded, "We were in a church and what seems to be their breeding grounds so it would only make sense that only monsters congregated there instead of any actual humans."
"True." Helena frowned, "But then...how do we prove that it was only the church? Do we attack the citizens? Try and kill one using holy?"
"Don't say killed!" Corissa sobbed.
"Waiter, another Mango Lassi for the lass!" Kaguya called.
"There has to be a better way." Momo mused, "Maybe...if we tried it on a criminal instead? Instead of killing innocents, it'd be like executing a criminal."
"Stop saying kill!"
"Waiter, another Mango Lassi!" Helena called, "Anyway, we could try it I guess but can we really walk up to the police and ask to see their criminals? It's not like we know any of them personally..."
"Well...we do know one." Momo pointed out.
"Oh yeah, the fountain terrorist." Helena nodded, "Is that worth following up though? Like is he relevant at this point?"
"You never know." Momo shrugged, "We should give it a shot."
"Yeah I guess. But that'll have to be tomorrow. Prison's closed now."
"At least we know what to do tomorrow."
"Excuse me." Lydia said as she came up to their table, "I've got the four Mango Lassis you ordered."
"Give them to her." Momo said, pointing to Corissa.
"A-All four of them?"
"That is a lot." Helena nodded, "Can you finish all that, Corissa?"
"True..." Corissa said as she sipped on one of her drinks sadly, "You guys can have one."
"J-Just the one?" Helena blinked as Corissa handed her one of her drinks.
The next day, the group woke up early and walked over to the prison where they asked for the fountain terrorist from a few days ago.
"That man?" The receptionist said as she looked over the records on her desk, "That man's crazy. Dunno what his deal is but he hasn't let any of us near him to even question him. You sure you can do better?"
"We can try." Helena shrugged, "He is a pretty suspicious individual."
"Are you private investigators?"
"You could say that." Kaguya nodded.
"Alright. I'll show you to his cell."
"I ain't saying nothing to yall." The fountain terrorist snarled as soon as the policewoman left them alone.
"We haven't even said anything to you." Momo crossed her arms.
"And you already said something to us." Helena teased.
"...You lot always this pedantic?"
"You tell us, Mr. Double Negative."
"..."
"Now if you're done being difficult, we'd like to ask you about what you said when we first met." Momo continued, "About how we asked you explain things and you said we wouldn't understand."
"What about it?"
"Well, we didn't have the time back then since the police were right there to arrest you but we got the time now." Momo explained, "So would you like to explain yourself?"
"...Yall not with the cops?"
"Nope."
"Not with the city either?"
"Nope."
"Not with...THEM…?"
"If you're talking about the flesh monsters then that's also a nope."
"So you know about them." The man's eyes narrowed, "But...how do I know you haven't already been taken by them? How do I know this ain't some sorta trick?"
"Well, Corissa here can purify those monster so we can-"
"IS THAT CORISSA FROM CORDIS?!" The man cried.
"Oh uh...yeah." Momo blinked, her introduction interrupted rather rudely.
"H-Hello..." Corissa waved politely.
"I'm your biggest fan!" The man cried, slamming on his bars excitedly, "I'll tell you whatever you want to know! Just...can I get your autograph?"
"S-Sure..."
"Aw man I need a pen! No, a marker! Hey! Someone get me a marker!"
"This was easier than I thought." Momo noted as the man screamed down the corridor.
"A little...too easy..." Corissa sighed.
"Hey, if it works, it works. If anything, we should use your face more often." Helena smiled.
"I don't know if Roko would agree to that." Kaguya frowned.
"Well Roko's not here right now is he?" Helena smirked.
"And whose fault is that?" Momo sighed.
"Hey, that ain't all my fault. Yall were part of it too."
"And whose fault is that?" Corissa frowned.
"Our fault..." Helena said sadly.
"Okay. Okay… Okay..." The man said, taking deep breaths to calm down after Corissa sighed his prison uniform, "Ahem. So what did you want to know?"
"Whatever you were going to tell us when we caught you." Momo shrugged, "Sounds like you had a lot to say."
"Right well..." The man looked down sadly, "That story began years ago. When those...flesh things invaded our small town. It was hard to tell at first. The people that they take control of look just like normal folks. But slowly we became aware of their presence and we tried to fight back. Tried real hard but it was...it was difficult because...look they don't just copy people, they TAKE people I...I saw my wife and kids...attacked by those monsters and...and I...I had to KILL them..."
"I'm...so sorry." Momo said with genuine empathy.
"Some of us...weren't strong enough to do what was needed. And by the time we found out their weakness, we were already drastically outnumbered. Had no choice but to escape nearby."
"Hold on, that's a lot to take in." Helena frowned, "What do you mean weakness? And you escaped nearby?"
"I...I guess...it's okay to tell you folks." The man gulped and leaned in as he whispered, "There's a settlement. Not far from here. To the northeast. That's where all the remaining humans are."
"Remaining?" Helena whispered back, "Wait does that mean-"
"YES!" The man hissed, "EVERYONE in Seawood has already been turned! The only humans left are wanderers like you!"
"Good god." Momo gulped, "That's...hard to believe but...it makes sense..."
"That's why I did what I did." The man nodded, "That fountain? They hide as water! Get close and they latch onto you! That's how they get you! I just blew up one of their capture spots! I knew I'd get caught but I couldn't just do nothing!"
"That certainly was reckless of you." Momo nodded, "But you said these things have a weakness? This is the first I've heard of it."
"Oh, that's the thing! It was so simple but hard to figure out! But even now after knowing that weakness, we still don't stand a chance!"
"Out with it man, what's their weakness?!" Helena hissed.
"Okay. Their weakness is-"
All of a sudden a mass of flesh ambushed the poor man from behind, wrapping around his head and pulling him away from the cell bars.
"NO!" Helena cried, throwing her arm out between the bars to try and grab the man to no avail, "We just need to get in! If we can get Corissa inside then she can-"
"Out of my way." Momo said as she quickly stepped up and grabbed the bars, "Rally!"
With immense strength, Momo began to bend the bars outwards but even as she was just starting to make headway, it was too late. At the back of the cell, where none of them could reach, under the barred window from where the parasite had invaded, as the man struggled pointlessly against the monster consuming his face, muffling his screams, the blob of flesh made one forceful twisting motion. The man fell onto his bed, his body slumped against the wall, arms falling to his side.
In one last tearful effort, Momo fully pried the bars aside but it was too late. The monster that killed him had just as quickly climbed back up the wall, slid like liquid between the bars of the window and escaped. Leaving only a corpse in its wake.
The girls stepped into the cell and checked their informant only to confirm that he was in fact dead. In the wake of this news, they could only stand there in quiet shock and fury at having let this happen.
"DAMMIT!" Momo smashed a fist into the wall of the cell, her reinforcement magic sending a shuddering shockwave all over the compound.
"...We never even got his name." Corissa sniffed, staring at the autograph that she had left on his uniform.
"I can't believe we were so absorbed that we missed that monster sneaking in." Helena growled, "He told us! He told us that the entire town was under their control! We should've known!"
"No use griping about it now." Kaguya said as calmly as she could, "We need to find this settlement he talked about. Right now."
"Yeah but...right this moment?" Momo asked.
"Yes we do." Kaguya nodded, "We don't know their status at the moment and if anything, this incident proves the monsters have eyes and ears all over the town. Which means-"
"Which means they might've overheard where this settlement is!" Corissa gasped, "We need to go now!"
"Calm down Corissa." Kaguya said, "The problem is that we need to find it in a way that makes it untraceable for the monsters. Otherwise we'd just be leading them right to the settlement."
"But you said they already know." Helena frowned.
"Just because we were sloppy once doesn't mean we can be sloppy again." Kaguya shook her head, "If there's extenuating circumstances that make the location difficult to find for the monsters, we need to be careful."
"...Right...right..." Helena agreed, "Let's think it over."
"You do that." Kaguya said, "Meanwhile, I'll try and think of someway to explain why our suspect's dead all of a sudden."
After feeding the police a lie about how the terrorist tripped and bumped his head on the sink, the group was allowed to leave and finally escape Seawood to find the settlement. Roko had told them to not use Sanctuary but surely he meant within the bounds of Seawood. So using it outside of it should be fine. That was their reasoning at least and the more they thought about it, the more Roko's warning made less sense. Sanctuary at full power could purify the entire town in an instant so why would he tell them to avoid using it? Still, none of them were quite willing to disobey a direct order from Roko just yet, even if he was being evil at the time so they restricted the sanctuary's range to just their party as they looked for the settlement. And soon, a worn down desolate wall came into view near the northeast of Seawood. A wall made of flotsam practically. Ill equipped to protect from a breeze, much less fleshy monsters. But it was clear that there was life around as the slow, quiet and depressed murmur of civilization grew louder as they came closer. And soon, a pair of ill equipped gate guards peered anxiously around the back of the wall.
"H-Halt! One of them cried anxiously, "Who are you lot?!"
"We're travelers!" Helena called from a comfortable for them distance, "We arrived from Seawood after hearing what happened to it. We're here for...here to help, really."
"From Seawood?" The guard's more cowardly sounding partner yelped, "We can't trust you!"
"Please, we've been sent by Cody!" Corissa called.
"You knew his name?" Helena frowned.
"I mean, kinda?" Corissa gulped, "He did ask for the autograph to go to 'Cody' but that was back when he was trying to get me to autograph his actual skin."
"Your fans are freaks." Helena grinned.
"I-I'm sure most of them are fine!" Corissa yelped.
"Hey...is that Corissa?" One of the guards hissed at his friend, "You know, the most beautiful girl in the world for seven years running?"
"I don't know, it could be."
"Seven years in a row?" Momo smirked, "Damn, I don't think even I could ever get a win streak that high."
"Please no..." Corissa moaned.
"And they mentioned Cody?" The guard continued to hiss loudly, "Didn't he go to attack Seawood all alone a few days ago?"
"H-Hey! Where's Cody?!" The other guard cried.
"He's...he's dead." Momo winced, "The monsters got him."
"That's..." The guards face scrunched up in grief, "That's unfortunate...but that doesn't mean we trust you! How do we know you're not one of those monsters?!"
"I mean...Corissa does have holy..." Momo mused.
"That doesn't really make for good proof when we don't have something to actually use it on." Helena winced.
"Then how do we prove ourselves?" Kaguya asked.
"...Hold on, I think I've thought of a real Roko move." Helena grinned.
"Helena, last time you said, you kicked down the church's doors and tried to extort Haddock for money." Momo frowned.
"Okay, that was more of a ME move and not a Roko move. This time it's different!"
"Helena, the last time you tried to pull a Roko move, you just asked for a source." Kaguya sighed.
"Well it worked didn't it?!" Helena yelped.
"Jury's still out on that."
"Okay well watch me work this time then." Helena huffed as she turned to the guards, "Hey! You two!"
"Yeah?"
"How do we know YOU'RE not monsters?"
…
"Is that it?" Kaguya hissed.
"Well...yeah?" Helena hissed back.
The three girls sighed.
"Hey, I can't help it if Roko does Roko better than me!" Helena yelped.
"She has point." One guard nodded, "How do we know we're not taken over by monsters already?"
"Idiot, that's what the salt is for." His fellow guard sighed.
"Salt?" Momo blinked.
"Oh yeah, I guess we can use that." The other guard said.
"We don't really have the supply to waste on testing some random people." his guard mate scowled.
"Wait, I have salt." Corissa blinked.
"What?!"
"Yeah, I have a ton of salt." Corissa said, taking off her backpack to pull out a big container of salt.
"That's a lotta salt!" The guards cried, "If you're carrying that then...you can't be monsters!"
"So...can we come in?" Momo asked.
"Yeah! Sure! We'll show you to the boss!"
"O-Okay..."
The girls' group were finally invited into the settlement as the more dopey guard ran off to alert the boss.
"...So...is the monster's weakness...salt?" Helena frowned, "That's so lame..."