Xaviers!

Sometime the morning after going to Miscreant, Drake built up enough courage to walk up to Collette's front door and press the buzzer. It had been late anyway by the time he got back to Maldon.

Colette wasn't the one who answered the door, Chisaki was.

"Oh, good morning.... Drake Martin?" She asked, trying to recall his name from classes.

"Yeah. Chisaki, right?" he asked, not expecting her in the least.

"Yes.


Is Colette expecting you?"

"No. I... well, I ran into Basil and he really didn't seem okay. So I thought I'd make sure before I sound any alarms."

"Oh? Where did you see him?"

"That's where it gets... awkward," he said with what passed for the shameless creature being sheepish.

"Can I come in? I shouldn't say this in the great wide open."

Chisaki paused and cracked the door ever so slightly to let Drake 'in'. But she did not take him up the stairs to the living quarters. instead, she held out a hand and pointed past the staircase leading up.
" We can talk here, or in the conservatory. Your choice."

"Here's fine," he said after stepping inside.

"Okay, let me preface this by saying our interaction didn't go anywhere. The thing is... I found him dancing in a club. Of the exotic variety."

Chisaki didn't seem flustered in the slightest.

"A fair number of his high school friends have become adult entertainers." She explained.

"Which club?"

"Miscreant. But that's actually beside the point. I'm a library regular and he not only didn't remember me, he didn't seem to know who he was. I thought he was acting at first but when I got him alone to pry further I could see in his eyes that he wasn't. I tried to get him to acknowledge that he was in some kind of trouble but he shot me down hard."

"Nonetheless, something tells me going back there to look into it would be hazardous to his health."

"I see....

Anything else you can think of?"

"Aside from a weird ear piercing, not really."

Chisaki nodded. " Thank you for this information Drake Martin."

She seemed to be thinking about something before a moment before adding- " Basil has not been acting like himself as of late. He resigned his position with the school and broke up with Colette, which is why I am talking to you here instead of inviting you in further. Talking about him too much upsets her."

"Good thing I caught you instead then. You seem like you might have a better idea of what to do about this."

"Well, I definitely will not run into the bar and throw myself onto the stage in hysterics, which is very much where Colette-senpai's emotional state lies.

Ah! one more thing-" She added.

"You said he shot you down hard when you offered him help? What did you mean? What did he say to you?"

"He said he didn't need my half-baked heroics and that he had everything under control."

"No, wait. He said 'no one here' and 'we'. Meaning there are others in whatever trouble he's landed himself in."

"Alright. Thank you Martin-San. We shall see what he has gotten himself into.

I would not worry. Knowing Basil, he has just fallen in with a bad crowd and is on drugs or something." Very reassuring Chisaki.

"Well, I certainly hope I'm reading too much into this," he said, not entirely convinced but believing he'd done his part.

"We will check in on him to make sure. Thank you for telling us." Chisaki would wait until Drake was gone, then follow with a group text.

Meeting in the living room immediately.

Chisaki had slept in Colette's room with her to allow the boys to sleep in separate spaces. She made her way up the living room stairs to join the group.

The boys met her there.

"I take it that wasn't Avon calling," Diego said.

"Basil is alive. He is safe for the moment." She informed the pair, not seeing a point in making them wait for Colette to rouse.

Chase felt a fraction of his worry for his friend melt away.

"Did someone see him?" he asked.

"Yes. Someone spotted him working in an adult club as a dancer. They were upset he did not recognize them and when the person tried to confront Basil if he was in danger, Basil told him, quoting 'we do not need your heroics. We have it under control'."

"Seems like proof someone's messed with his head. The not remembering, not the adult nightclub. That's... not entirely off-brand."

"Mmmm... I tried to assure the person he might have just been under the influence of drugs to explain his memory clarity issues. I am uncertain if they believed me or not."

Colette was the last one to join the meeting, and obviously had been sleeping because she hadn't taken the time to make herself up. Literally; many of her more subtle features had yet to take shape, even her hair was just a short sculpted extension of her head. She'd barely even gotten dressed, her legs poking out from underneath of one of the pieces of clothing she'd picked up during her trip. She didn't seem particularly concerned about being presentable that day, perhaps their episode at the Benson mansion had been a little too taxing on her.

"What has happened? Has ze appointment been moved up?"

"Someone found Basil." Chisaki explained. "He is safe, for now."

The details on Colette's face appeared so rapidly it was like she'd been slapped in the face with some sort of mold.

"Where is he!?"

"Currently unknown. He was spotted working as a dancer in a club, so the likelihood is he will return there at some point. When a student approached him he got verbally aggressive with the student. He did not seem to recognize who they were."

Colette was already going for her coat, which was a look since she didn't have any pants or socks on.

"What club was it?"

"Not one we can visit." She replied, standing firmly in her spot.

"The student I spoke with seemed convinced that if any of us show up there again, he may not continue to be safe... and I am inclined to agree that if someone went through the trouble of making sure Basil does not know who we are, walking in there like we know him is a liability to Basil's health."

"So, what are you saying? Zat we cannot help him?"

" Not by rushing over there, no. He specifically told the student in question he did not want his help, so he believes himself safe enough where he is."

"Our best plan is to check out the clinic anyway. It still seems likely to be connected to all this."

"I agree, Chase.

Once we know what's going on at the clinic, we can better gauge what's going on with Basil himself.

They said something about him having an earring, but I do not remember him having a piercing before. It seemed strange to him too, but I did not think to question why."

"Could be a tracking device of some sort."

Colette was sputtering, because now that they practically had Basil back in their midst she was being told to wait and bide their time? They could get him out of that building without a scratch, she knew it.

"He may not have remembered zat student, but he will remember me. And we can keep him safe. Tell me where he is."

"No." Chisaki replied plainly.

"We can keep him safe, but not by acting on emotions or making rash decisions.

If he was only there for the day, rushing there will not serve any purpose other than to tip off whoever's taken him that we are on their scent.

If he is stationed where he is for some reason... He will keep for another day or two until we can investigate the clinic and determine a plan of action for extracting him."

"Me and Chisaki might have to make a second stealth trip after we get a look at the place, to get into the secure areas. But if we can avoid that risk it'd be great."