Miss Sto Helit Investigates

[deaths_heritor]

1. [on the street, you are approached by a young girl]

Excuse me.  Excuse me!  Yes, you.  I need to be pointed towards the Sto Lat plains.  There will be a reward, I'm sure.  Mother is bound to be in hysterics by now.

2. [Young Susan can be found outside the library glancing through a pile of atlases and throwing them aside in short order.]

3. [After

Comments

3

[strike_you_out]

[Slugger, thinking it would be a good and fun idea to mess with the girl's mind, has decided to sneak into the vehicle from the opposite side, hide, then honk the horn.]

[sensiblechild]

[Susan's hair flies upwards into an aura of shock for a moment or two before it settles down.]

That's a little better. Come out so I can see you now.

[strike_you_out]

[If he knew how and had a key, he would activate the headlights and possibly the windshield wipers (which, with luck, would result in her being splashed with water). But with neither at his disposal, he simply sits up in the driver's seat instead and offers a toothy smirk.

Slugger has yet to realize that the girl happens to be Susan.]

[sensiblechild]

. . .

You're a very large demon. Not very attractive, either.

[strike_you_out]

[He will take those as compliments, thank you, and rolls down the driver-side window using the hand crank. He can't help being a bit curious.]

You expected something other?

[Just what was she expecting?]

[sensiblechild]

I saw one of these moving before without any force. Demons are usually responsible for that kind of thing.

[strike_you_out]

[Slugger merely grins amusedly at this.]

Wrong.

[sensiblechild]

Then it moves by magic?

[strike_you_out]

No. It's mechanical.

[And that's about as far as his knowledge on the subject goes.]

[sensiblechild]

Carriages are mechanical. What do they use instead of horses?

[strike_you_out]

[His grin becomes a thoughtful frown.]

Machines... That burn fuel... [?]

[In hindsight he should have went with "invisible horses", but whatever. There are more important things at hand here, such as why does this girl seem so familiar? He is soon staring overtly at her face.]

[sensiblechild]

. . . Are you saying there's a stove inside?

[strike_you_out]

[Slugger nods. Well, it sounds close enough. Seemingly distracted, though still very much focused on the girl, he climbs out of the car -- without opening the door -- and steps down onto the pavement with his skates.

He says nothing despite the questioning look worn on his face.]

[sensiblechild]

I suppose there aren't demons in stoves, even if they do like fire.

. . .

Can you help me, then? I'm looking for the way back to Sto Helit.

[strike_you_out]

[At the mention of that name, he stiffens and goes briefly wide-eyed, as though some key puzzle piece has fallen into order and has changed the picture completely.]

...Susan?

[sensiblechild]

. . . How do you know my name? Did you help kidnap me? I'll tell Father to go easy on you if you show me the way back to Sto Helit right now.