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DSD -Unveiled Findings-

Deviation Actions

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Rays of the setting sun reflected upon the thick clouds, creating a blend of rose awashed with ambient orange. Wheat plains rippled along with the wind below this window she looked out of, and it just occurred to her that this is... scenic. The silence was an added bonus in this deserted corridor.

If only her mind was as peaceful as the scenery behind the clear glass, sighed Sagacious. After what had happened at lunch, she'd been... well, "distressed", as what Eliza had observed and told her when the Wolf found her in her room, the Vixen's face planted into a pillow.

"You might wanna to pull yourself together and tell him that you're sorry," suggested Eliza, probably on her bed. "I mean, he could've taken it–"

"I know that," came her muffled reply as she finally flipped onto her back, resting her hands upon her stomach. "I mean... I was just...."

"Pissed off?"

"No." She shook her head with her eyes closed. "It's more than that, Eliza. I... I allowed my anger take over my conscience. I should've just remained silent, and–"

"Sagacious, calm down. Take deep breaths, and forget about what you'd done at lunch."

She did just as her friend instructed, and she felt... incredibly refreshed. It was as if the extra air had lightened the weight of her worries on her mind. But that doesn't change the fact that she'd slammed the door on Sam's face.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a grinning Wolf above her, rather than the ceiling. "Feeling any better?"

She had to admit that smiling was irresistible. With a nod, she shut her eyes again for one last breath before sitting upright. There was no need for sight when you've known someone for years. "Thanks."

"No problem," replied Eliza, who was most likely on her bed by then. "It's what friends are for. Come on, we should think of an apology for your friend before it's too late."

And that was how she got here, all alone, right before Sam's room. Eliza had said something about need to take a job around this building, and had disappeared before Sagacious could even ask her to for company, much to the Vixen's exasperation.

Deep breaths to steady those nerves... but how can that help when she couldn't stop picturing every single worst case scenario possible after knocking upon his door. Would he bark her off at the top of his voice? Would he just ignore her, leaving her to wait outside till dawn? Would he–

She pressed her wrists upon her temples with a shake of her head. Enough was enough, and she can't get anywhere if she kept frightening herself with such dreary outcomes. All that she had to do was approach the door, knock upon it to make her presence known, apologise, and all will be fine. But... why are her knuckles hesitating so much...?

With another shake of her head to cast those thoughts aside, she proceed to rap upon it, silently praying that the room is empty. "Sam, are you in there?"

Unfortunately, it isn't. "Who is it?"

"It's Whitney," replied Sagacious, trying her best to not let her voice break. It felt so... unnatural. So alien, to utter that name... after so long. "I-I'm here to apologise for what I'd said at lunch. I was just... stressed out by all of these things that has happened to me as of late. I didn't know how else to relieve this stress, and I didn't mean to blow my top off at you like that!"

She swallowed that lump in her throat, her eyes shut to keep those damned! tears inside. If she wiped them off, he would notice them, and then proceed to ask if she's alright or not. That would be the end of her is any of her friends knew that she cried because of the incident at lunch! But it would be unlike her at all to not apologise to Sam after what she'd done. But... there was a possibility that he'd opted for the silent treatment–

The door unlocked, much to her surprise that she dared not to move a hairsbreadth from her spot. She'd even held her breath when she felt him standing right in front of her. A hand appeared, lifting her head up by the chin to look straight into his eyes. They're really pretty at this hour of the day.

"Apology accepted, Whitney." He smiled, tracing a finger under her chin as he stepped back. "You, um... look different, somehow. I can't seem to put my finger on what's different about you. Is it... the way that you've done your hair? You look much prettier like this."

All that she'd done was to tie her hair into a ponytail, a really small one by normal standards. From the mirror, it made her look much cleaner, given how she hardly ever bothered with her bangs to begin with. But her cheeks and ears were definitely flushed, and that chuckle from him just made them even warmer.

"Cheer up now, Whitney. The past is in the past, and we shouldn't let that bother us."

Just as she was about to thank him for the forgiveness and compliment, a rumbling growl cut came from Sam, followed by a flush of red on his muzzle as well. Now it was his turn to be ashamed of himself, much to Sagacious's attempt at concealing her chuckle.

"Whoops?" He grinned, looking elsewhere as he scratched the back of his ear. "I skipped tea break to complete my... work. You know, finance and stuff?"

Without further ado, her chuckle finally broke free. "I- it's alright, S- Sam," she replied, trying her best to cease this fit.

It was only after she'd stopped chuckling did Sam finally say something, "Um... would you like me to escort you to the dining room, Whitney? I could always ask my chefs to prepare for us an early meal, and perhaps a little extra if it isn't enough. For us, I mean."

Stifling another chuckle, this time out of gratitude for his kindness, Sagacious accepted the offer with a nod. As she stepped aside for him lead the way, his arm went around hers, much to her surprise. However, she didn't feel the need to shake it off. It felt more comforting to have him beside her, as they walk down this corridor and the stairs.

Just as they reached ground floor, Sam hurried down the steps and offered her his hand. She accepted the gesture without hesitation, nodding at him. "I'm surprised by your mannerisms, Sam. You've changed quite a lot."

"Really?" He smirked. "How so?"

"You were really rough the last time we met. You'd even had the nerves to tug my ponytails when we were kids!" She chuckled at the fond yet dusty memory.

"Well, I've an uncle who visits every Christmas. He's a fine gentleman, and has taught me a lot regarding etiquette and how to treat the guests accordingly. He always stays for one day in this place, but he also made the lessons fun." He then sighed, slouching a bit forward with ears drooped behind him. "Though... I haven't seen him for years, frankly speaking."

"What happened?" asked Sagacious as they rounded a corner. "Did he send you any reassurance as to why he couldn't come?"

"I don't know." He shrugged, eyes upon the ceiling as they neared the prominent doors. "My parents have told me that they've been contacted by him through mail, but I couldn't shake this feeling that something has happened to him that they don't want me to know." He sighed, ears dropping back. "I just hope that they'll find something about him."

"Didn't you say that your parents had gone on a honeymoon?"

"They are. But let us save this topic for later, alright?" He turned the knob and pushed the door in, stepping aside to bow curtly at Sagacious. "Ladies first."

"Thank you." She returned the gesture with a nod. As she went by him, she paused and leant close to his ear to whisper, "I pray for Æliph's Grace that your uncle will soon be found, Sam."

He grinned in return, shutting the door behind him once she was inside. The lighting was mellow, and there was a faint aroma of prepared meals coming from the kitchen doors. A lot of the tables were vacant as well... except for one in the corner.

"Sagacious, is that your friend there?" he mentioned, motioning in that direction.

She followed his gaze, and perked a brow in surprise. "It's Roslan," she said, heading towards him with great interest towards the blue screens that hovered before him.

Upon arriving at his table with Samuel close behind, the Tamaskan greeted them with barely a glance at her as he appeared to be reading something on one of the blue screens in front of his eyes. It was only when she saw a picture as he scrolled down the screen did she realise that he was reading articles online.

"You never told me that you had such a thing!" she couldn't help but to exclaim, leaning close so that she could have a read as well. "What are you reading, by the way?"

"Just the history of this place," replied Roslan as he brought another screen forward, enlarging it in the process. "As for this thing? I've had it for years. I just never bothered to tell you guys about it. It's something like a laptop, with a much longer battery life than one. And I can't do much with it, aside from storing information and surfing the Net for reading."

"If you wanted the history of this manor, you could ask," offered Samuel, taking his seat on the other side of the table. "I have a copy of my family's archive in my computer. You could've just asked."

"I don't know," replied Roslan as he sat sideways with his legs out of the table and crossed, leaning back upon his straightened arm whilst the other tapped upon the blue screen, causing the others to wink out of their sight. "I thought that the history of this place was off-limits, is all."

"Something is scaring away my guests," he pointed out. "You're more than welcome to browse my family's archives for any clues that may help in your investigation, though I thought that your group was more centred upon eliminating supernatural forces rather than detective work."

"Your cooperation is much appreciated, either way." Once golden lines on the device ceased to glow, he swiftly snapped the device upon his wrist.

"Did you find anything about this place, Roslan?" asked Sagacious, taking her seat across the table as well. "You looked as if you've found quite a handful, judging from the number of screens you had closed."

"Well... I did find a number of deaths that have occurred within the vicinity of this manor, for starters. Such as the man who fell down the stairs and died on the spot, thanks to a broken neck?"

"That one was before my father was even born, and he's forty-seven years old this year."

"And then there was this lady who was stabbed to death in one of the bathrooms upstairs by her jealous lover who caught her cheating."

"That's... in Whitney's room, frankly speaking. But why are you bringing up this sort of information for me? Are you suggesting that ghosts are responsible for this?"

With a half-hearted shrug, Roslan brushed his fringe to his left whilst casually checking on his claws. "Well, you did mention about the reports of strange banging noises and odd chills. The other possibility would be a rogue mage within the vicinity, but that would mean that someone wants to see your business fall." His eyes then darted to meet Samuel's. "Know of anyone who hates your family to this extent?"

Leaning back into his seat as he thought about it, Samuel began, "My aunt, for starters. She never liked us, and has always given us the cold shoulder whenever she does drop by from time to time."

"And the reason would be?" said Roslan, leaning forward a bit with ears now perked.

But Sam shrugged in reply. "I don't know. Her husband never said much about it."

With a shrug and an audible crack from his neck, Roslan returned to his position and resumed thinking about... something. Whatever it could be, even she could not fathom. And, now that Roslan has finished what he'd intended to say...

"Why didn't you tell me that a murder took place in my room?" Sagacious began, turning to face Samuel with an irked expression. "Let alone offer me such a room in the first place? Why didn't you tell me anything about it at all?"

"I only wanted to make you feel welcome!" he defended, leaning away from her with his palms raised. "That room offered the best view, and it's always sought out whenever the holidays come around! I figured that you guys would want it, since you're going to be doing me a favour by solving the problems in this place! I never thought that it was going to involve the supernatural, honest!"

"At least tell me about it before I unpacked." She crossed her arms with an audible huff. "You aren't supposed to keep such information from me!"

"But you were scared of ghosts back then," he chuckled nervously. "How was I supposed to know that you're a part of a group that looks into strange occurrences?"

"Wait," began Roslan, rubbing his nose, "you two knew each other?"

"Yeah. We were neighbours once... before she moved away without warning."

Roslan puckered his lips, as if restraining himself from saying something that may offend her. "So... should I leave the two of you be, or–"

"No need to, Roslan." Looking away from the two, she rose from her seat with a hand upon her forehead, the other to lean upon the table until she was away from that table. "I... I need a rest. I don't feel well."

Samuel rose from his seat as well. "Whitney, do you require–"

"No thanks," she snapped, blindly waving her palm at where she thinks Sam is. "I just... need my afternoon nap, that's all."

"All good, Sagacious," said Roslan, who'd thankfully not said anything else about it after that. "Anyways, Samuel... I need to know more about this place's history. Let us leave her be so that she may rest well."

"Um... okay then," said Samuel, and he sounded very reluctant to let her leave like this.

But it didn't matter to her, as she hastily made her way back to her now-haunted room upstairs, locking the door behind her once she was inside. Eliza was no longer there, remembering how the Wolf had mentioned about "going for a jog around this lovely place," leaving Sagacious all alone in this room with possibly a ghost for a companion!

Landing flat on her stomach upon Eliza's bed, Sagacious reached for the nearest pillow and screamed into it. The moment lasted for only a while, removing the pillow so that she could stare at the ceiling and take a breather. But it felt so... awkward, to become the main subject of a conversation, especially when one of them knows about your elementary school days, while the other has been your neighbour for several years longer than the first. The humiliation from these two would be the end of her if they start talking about her embarrassing moments! Made even worse if they're actually doing it now! If only she could just block out all of these thoughts related to that matter, she could–

Temper-temper, my dear Whitney~

With a sigh, she groaned, "Not you again." Oh how she wished to banish this demon back to whichever realm it'd spawned from.

I wouldn't do that if I were you, came its voice again, much closer than the first. My dear, why art thou so upset? Shouldn't you be celebrating for this moment? Having your friends from both sides of your world to see each other in person?

"No!" She threw the pillow at the demonic presence, and it struck the thing... or so she thought.

How fun of you, Whitney. It threw the pillow back, and Sagacious defended with her arms by instinct. The impact was barely felt at all, but when the pillow fell onto the bed, it was already sitting on the edge of this bed.

"W- well, what is it that you really want?" She scowled, arms crossed as she looked at the colours of nightly-dusk through the window above her bed.

Only here to give you a warning, darling. You do realise that such negativity isn't healthy for your conscience, hm?

"I don't have time for games, demon."

A hollow, feminine chuckle followed. Oh really? Why the foul mood then?

It's no use, thought Sagacious with a roll of her eyes. But upon feeling this thing breathing down on her neck – breathing?! – she immediately got up and approached her suitcase without glancing behind her at all. At the moment, she felt that changing into a better attire than what she currently has is her top priority. Not tolerating the feeble games of a literally darker and edgier doppelganger of herself.

Surprisingly, after she'd found all that she needed to look semi-formal for the dinner – consisting of a long-sleeved collared top and a pair of icy-blue jeans – the demon spoke of nothing at all. She glanced at the bed just to be certain that it'd left. Unfortunately, it didn't. So much for the silent treatment. "No need to waste your time, demon. Just... leave, or bother someone else."

No can do, my dear, the demon finally spoke, appearing to be deep in thought with its eyes shut.

"Be it that way." By then, Sagacious was already inside of the bathroom. As she closed the door shut, she added, "Find another way to entertain yourself already, demon."

I know what is troubling your Samuel.

She halted just before the door was shut. She pinched the top of her hand that was still on the doorknob, and sure enough, it stung. This was no hallucination. "Excuse me?"

I summoned you to your room for a reason. Now upon it's feet, the demon approached her whilst examining its claws with a smug grin. It was almost as if it expected this to happen. You know a lie when you hear one, no?

As creepy as that was worded, it was right. But... "Why should I believe you, demon? It's likely that you're only toying with me, and I will not hear another word from you!"

Be it that way, my dear. But you can't escape me at all. I am you, and you are me. But that doesn't mean I will share with you the knowledge regarding this building that your dandy doesn't know of.

As much as she wanted to slam the door shut and ignore that demon for good, she knew that the demon had her hooked. If she did take a shower, she might miss the opportunity to shorten the amount of time needed for her friends to investigate and resolve Sam's problems as soon as possible. But... there was a probability that this demon would send her on a wild goose chase instead!

Well? asked the demon, casually examining its claws. Do you want it, or not?

With a sigh and a muttered "fine", she repeated her request again with an added "please" at the end. As much as she hated to admit it, but she needs help, even if it means receiving aid from a demon. No one else found a lead about the cause of the happenings in this inn, as far as she knew.

Much better. Taking a seat by the table with legs crossed, the demon leaned into its seat with fingers interlaced before its eyes. Now, do take a seat as I explain to you what must be done to save his life, Whitney. You might want to take notes.
ABOUT TIME THAT I COMPLETED THIS SECTION OF SAGACIOUS'S BACKSTORY!! D;
Oh my goodness me... it has been months since I uploaded something related to DSD. D; And I think that my writing style has changed a lot as well, given how I've typed out other One-Shot stories between this one and the previous part. It will take me a while to find the difference, but now... onwards to writing the next part~ *dies*

I will reveal Samuel's appearance once I have gotten his appearance fixed, along with this other dude whom I've "accidentally" created in the process of adjusting my Sonic style. :stare: This "other dude" won't play a role in Sagacious's story here... but elsewhere, he makes quite an impact.

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Sagacious (Fennec Fox), Samuel (Arctic Fox), Roslan (Tamaskan), Eliza (Maned Wolf), and any other characters mentioned © :iconaxe-cell:Axe-Cell
Stealing is ill-advised. :U 
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