see right through your beautiful lies ( semi-open )

[dolosa]

[ When you awaken, you're in what seems to be an abandoned warehouse; it looks like the place hasn't been used for its original intent in ages, though the smell of copper permeates the area. The carcasses of corpses lie around here and there - some dismembered, some completely intact - along with creepy, oversized masks of rabbits.

The warehouse itself isn't that big -- there's two floors, and many doors. However, each door is locked, and the only way through is to find a key.

However, you're not alone. There's a girl who seems to be panicking nervously, fiddling with her skirt anxiously as she sits on her wheelchair, glancing every now and again at you, not all that certain as what to do. At least, that's before you awaken, which is when she gasps in sheer surprise. ]

You're-- you're finally awake.

Comments

[wright_idea]

[He can't really remember what happened before he woke up. There might have been a lot of alcohol involved. Or maybe a little alcohol and some sort of knockout drug, which frankly at this point seems more likely. A disturbingly familiar scent wafts through his nostrils as he comes to. And come to he does -- to the site of one of those dismembered corpses WAY too close by.

We're willing to admit, that scream was proooobably less manly than it had any right to be.]

Where are we? What are all these corpses doing here? What are WE doing here?!

[A pause.]

And who ARE you, anyway?

[dolosa]

[ She squeaks nervously as she raises her hand towards her head, trying her best to hide herself in the corner of the room, but to no avail. She won't say anything about that scream, it definitely shocked her as much as it did him.

Rei nervously manages to speak up in a barely audible voice, her entire body shivering from the waist up. ]

I'm sorry, I don't know... [ Tears almost start at the edges of her eyes, scared. He's a pretty large man, so it's possible that he might be an accomplice or something. ] I'm... Hazama. Hazama Rei.

[wright_idea]

[Well we're off to a good start. I've been dragged to some sort of makeshift morgue... with, uh, bunny heads... and I've just scared the hell out of a disabled teenage girl. Get a grip, Wright.]

Uh, Ph-Phoenix. Phoenix Wright. So you've been brought here as well? I guess that means you probably know about as much as I do.

[Ugh... the smell of blood is making me a little light-headed. No matter how many times I smell it, I can't stand it.]

[dolosa]

[ Rei manages to take in a deep breath in as she tries to relax herself, hands gripping tightly onto the rails of her wheelchair as she stays in her corner of the room, as far away from the corpses as much as possible, regardless of the fact that the smell is entering through her nostrils, making her rather queasy. ]

Wright-san, then. [ And she nods at his question. ] I was playing on my phone in the restaurant while drinking some orange juice. And then I was here.

[wright_idea]

I see... And you haven't seen anybody else?

[Ugh, this doesn't make any sense. Is whoever's responsible just grabbing random people? And what happened to all of these other people? Are we going to end up like them? I feel ill...]

I'm going to go try the door.

[dolosa]

[ The younger, purple haired girl shakes her head in response. ]

I'm sorry. [ A beat. ] Um... I tired the door already, but it's locked. I found a message on the table over there while you were asleep, though... I put it in my pocket.

[ She sifts through her skirt pocket before revealing a rather messy note, written rather quickly and angrily. It says:

"The liar must die.
If you can find where the liar sleeps, you will be set free.
The key outside of this first room is hidden in the pockets of the liar."

Underneath the picture is a little doodle of rabbits surrounding what seems to be a wolf at the stake, being hung. It's a cute little drawing, if not for its morbidity. ]

Do you think this note is telling the truth...?

[wright_idea]

[Figures. And boy, that note sure knows how to hit the right creepy notes.]

I couldn't say, but I guess we're not really in a position to doubt it. The question is, who is supposed to be the "liar?"

[Please don't tell me I have to check the pockets of these corpses...]

[dolosa]

There's a lot of rabbits in this picture... but only one wolf.

[ She's just stating the obvious, honestly. ]

M-- maybe we're supposed to find the wolf?

[wright_idea]

The wolf...

[Now that I think about it, the picture has rabbits. And there are a lot of rabbit masks around here. Which means...]

Do you see any wolf masks around here?

[courageousbonds]

[ Ash had slowly made his way back from the land of unconsciousness by the strange smells. He wasn't familiar with them, but it put bad taste in his mouth. And the moment he opened his eyes he found out just why and felt his stomach flip. Fighting the queasiness and the urge to throw up he looks around the room a bit more as if he's looking for something. But before he can really look he hears the voice and turns in her direction.

Oh, someone else is in here... ]

M-mm, where are we? Have ya seen my buddy Pikachu in here?

[ Biggest priorities in that second sentence. ]

[dolosa]

Um...

[ Her voice is hesitant at first as she lowers her voice, but she then looks up at him, trying to sound calm and brave, even though there's coherent fear in the tone of her voice. ]

I don't where where we are, but I haven't seen your friend. W-- we can look for him, though.

[courageousbonds]

[ Ash frowns, concern completely shown in his expression. He's rarely without Pikachu and when he isn't it's usually because of Team Rocket. But a situation like this, where he doesn't know where even he is?

But after a moment determination appears in his eyes. He'll find Pikachu. He always does. And after a brief look it doesn't look like his other Pokemon are with him either so finding them are also a priority. ]

Could you? This place looks dangerous [ and still makes him queasy ] but I'm not gonna stand here while Pikachu and my other Pokemon aren't with me.

[dolosa]

...!

[ She's caught a little off guard by his sheer determination, surprise slowly flickering in her own eyes as she nods. ]

Yes, of course! I mean they're your-- [ Wait. She stops at that, tilting her head to the right. ] Pokemon?

[courageousbonds]

Uh-huh. A Frogadier, Hawlucha, and Fletchinder. Their Pokeballs must have been taken. They're all my friends, so I'm not gonna leave here without any of 'em.

[ But hmm... how to get out of this room so they can start searching to begin with. ]

[dolosa]

Frogadier, Hawlucha, and Fletchinder...

[ She nods as she repeats those names; mostly to herself than to anyone else in particular, trying to memorize those names to heart. ]

If they're taken, they may not be in this room. And this room is actually really scary. Maybe we should find a way out.

[courageousbonds]

Y-Yeah. The sooner we can get outta this room the better.

[ At least he hopes. Looking anywhere in the room has been difficult since the moment he woke up and the smell has become increasingly overwhelming.

But that's not going to stop him. Not when he has Pikachu and his other Pokemon to find. So the moment he spots the door he rushes over and tries to open it. ]

[dolosa]

Y- ... yeah.

[ She's not all that confident, actually. Though if Ash tries the door, he'll find that it's completely shut closed, not permitting entry. ]

muse voice is a little shaky and new, but this should be interesting~!

[lightningscarlet]

[Feeling the haze of awakening from a terrible sleep, Anna groans in frustration. It's like she got knocked out cold in a fight after drinking too much and being doped with some kind of designer tranquilizer at the same time. Someone is going to pay for this when she gets out of whatever torture chamber this ex-warehouse has become.

That someone is probably not the scared little girl in the wheelchair. (Anna please, you're barely in your twenties, a teenager is not a little girl.) Undaunted by the creepy surroundings, the woman in the red dress simply scoffs at the girl.]

They put me in here with a fragile little thing like this? With no guards? ... What kind of kidnapping is this?

[She's all but ignoring the girl, focusing on the problems at hand instead. Naturally, the first thing she does is try the doors to see if they're even locked.]

Oh, good. At least they're not total amateurs.

[She might have to find something to pick the locks with. And with her new extremely low level of respect for her captors, she's sure they wouldn't have left anything obvious. She'll have to take a second to think about this... it's not like she has anything better to do. Like acknowledge her fellow prisoner, or something.]

[dolosa]

Um, excuse me...

[ Rei has a small voice, so trying to get someone's attention is actually pretty difficult. But she has a small note in her hands that she has managed to find, holding it up in the air as if to greet her. ]

[lightningscarlet]

[Anna hears her. And she's not rude enough to completely ignore someone trying to get her attention. Though her tone betrays her slight annoyance, with just a pinch of condescension.]

Sweetie, I don't have time to play babysitter. I doubt they've left us an easy way out...

[Still, even with all her focus on their surroundings, she notices that note the girl is holding from the corner of her eye. Could it be from their captors?]

Oh? What is it you have there?

[dolosa]

It's a note I found. I thought you would want to read it, miss.

[ She's not that young, she can definitely take care of herself. The note is a bit crumpled, but that's not because of Rei's doing. And the handwriting is definitely sloppy and rushed.

What it says, however:

"The liar must die.
If you can find where the liar sleeps, you will be set free.
The key outside of this first room is hidden in the pockets of the liar."

There's even a cute doodle underneath with rabbits surrounding a wolf on the stake, how nice... ]

[lightningscarlet]

'Miss Williams' will do.

[Not going to bother with first names in a situation like this. But it might be useful to give the girl a name in case there are other captives or prisoners outside this room. Now, for that note...

... It's extremely troubling to read over. She had assumed she'd been captured by someone who didn't want her to complete a mission, or wanted revenge for something she'd been hired to do in the past. Not something like this.]

A riddle, hm...? I suppose this 'liar' must be one of the bodies.

[So this is some sort of game. That changes things. Including her attitude towards the girl, who may turn out to be useful in some way after all.]

Where did you find this? And how long have you been awake? If we're going to find the key, I need to know everything.

[She's putting the pressure on a little, but as gently as possible. She's just a child, after all, she must be handled delicately.]

[dolosa]

I'm... Hazama Rei.

[ If she's going to introduce herself, she might as well do the same. She doesn't mind giving out her full name. It's not as if anybody knows who she is, after all. ]

I found it on the table. I was awake for about... half an hour, but I can't really tell. I don't have a watch, nor are there any windows here. The only way out is through that door. There's a scanner and a key lock. I think you only need the key to go through the door, since the scanner's probably broken... it looks like.

[lightningscarlet]

[Suddenly, instead of disinterest or disdain, Anna quirks the slightest beginnings of a smile.]

My, aren't you observant?

[Her tone is absolutely dripping with honey, almost as if she's praising a particularly clever pet. Or flirting. Or both. It's not really clear, nor is it meant to be.]

It's too bad we don't know for sure if this key is even here. But I suppose there's no harm in playing along, for now.

[Next, she holds out the note to Rei again.]

Tell me, what do you think of this drawing?

[It could be a hint. Or it could be misdirection. While she thinks on that, she'll see what the girl's opinion is.]

[dolosa]

I was here for a while... I had nothing else to do.

[ She could have tried to find a way out, but she doesn't like abandoning others in need. ]

There's rabbits and a wolf, right? Maybe we're supposed to find the odd one out?