((Collab Post between Letter Bee, Scarifar, and CavnderOHeart.))
The first thing Ascot would do first was to save as many digital copies of the diary as possible and 'stash' them on several sites and accounts with the help of his family. This is so that the investigation can be restarted by anyone who finds them should Ascot vanish or be put out of commission otherwise. The second thing he would do was to open his Eris Instant Messaging account and send a private instant messaging chat to Vernon, his boyfriend and Mephisto's student, asking for a private date:
Eastern Cottage: Hey, why don't we go to dinner at Paese Delle Fate? I want to try their 'maximum spice platter'. Also, want to invite that painter from your school to do a painting of us on the date? I'll use my savings to cover half the costs. Just be the one to contact him.
Painting can be nude if you want. :p
There was a hidden code to this; Vernon, in the long months of their relationship, had learned that Ascot did not like spicy foods, while Ascot himself had learned that the Paese Delle Fate he was referring to was a front for Vernon's Mafia family. Said Italian Restaurant did not have a 'maximum spice platter', either; that was code for 'maximum security'. Basically, Ascot wanted the meeting to be as private as possible. The 'nude painting' part was meant to further erase suspicions by drawing attention to how 'perverted' Ascot was. Not that Ascot wasn't genuinely interested in...look, point was, there were plenty of hints towards the higher importance of the message, okay!
Thoughts were circulating inside of Vernon's head; thoughts that were once amass of plots, and decieve cunning methords of backstabbing, getting his way, and backing his father and mother in whatever ways he could. Thoughts of vile exposures and of venomous charm, with little care as to how he affected others. Now as if this change was new to time he had a partner both in life, and his line of...Inheritence! Vernons thoughts had begun to extended, to add Willaim Ascot into them and began to assert his presence as a) important and b) worth brining into the family. Vernon was about to finish open his eyes, just then he had completed thinking.
A smile hand slinked across Vernon's face he exhaled, feeling his own breath leaving his lungs, it was cold. He took out his phone and paused the subliminal, meditation music and opened Eris Instant Messenger and has smiled abeit wider at the text message Willy had sent.
"At Paese Delle Fate? Sure thing honey, your nudity has always been a thing on my mind. Lol." He resposnded.
It was a part of Vernon's mentality that had caused him to only answer to what had intrged him the most when another person talked before him, in other schools this had been a problem with teachers, yet at Mephisto's they had either understood or allowed him to do so. This was Vernon's way of communicating that he understood everything, and had only needed to leave his own trail of what seemed to be him; flirting, complimenting, insulting. Emotions of that nature.
He understood every code and at this point in their relationship, allowed Ascot to understand him. One last thing, Vernon was with a school friend who also understood his ways, and mannerisms. He had chosen to read his message to Willaim aloud, so Michael would also understand why he would need to be there, he also asked, loudly. "How much painting do you want? Should I be kneeling before you, or crouching?" Then he sent the second message.
Michael put down his pencil, done writing down the notes of information he had amassed for today. Not much to learn today, really. Mephisto's news of his arrest was nothing too exciting, and as usual there was hardly anything to follow regarding evidence. The first years at Mephisto's School had some interesting info to learn, but it wasn't much. All in all, not much productivity today. He sighed as he leaned back against his chair. He looked over at a wall, covered in various Trap Art experiments, wondering what else to do.
Then a message sounded on his cell phone. Picking it up, Michael saw that he was being invited to do some painting. Well, it wasn't the strangest job he found in his career, and having nothing better to do, he decided to take it. He began typing in his response, "Sure, tell me where to meet and I'll be there. Price is negotiable." Looking back at his Trap Arts, Michael waved a dismissive hand, dispelling the ink from the wall. Now, it was time to make himself look presentable...
Paese Delle Fate
As the others arrived, Ascot would sit on his chair at a 'Reserved' table in the Italian Restaurant, in a small private chamber reserved for 'special guests'. Once Vernon and Michael arrived, Ascot would look around, eat a few bites of food, and say to Vernon, "We should strip for our painter; after all, we hired him to capture the 'spirit' of our date in one of his paintings."
A faint smile, though there was discomfort mixed in it. Once Ascot had shed his clothes, blushing madly, he would then face Michael, then Vernon, and finally say: "Onto business. And by business, I mean business between St. Laurel's, Mephistos', and the Vigilantes."
He would then draw the old diary found in the mass grave from the heap of his discarded clothing, and say: "My family, the Ascots, are blessed by the God of Stories and tasked with the job of recording the narratives of the world. Because of this expertise, we're regularly consulted with mysteries and clues to mysteries that people randomly find. This diary is one; it was found in a mass grave and given to my family for investigation. I would like the both of you to read it; Vernon, then Michael."
The boy, losing shame as he was focused on exposition, would then hand the book over to Vernon.
A smirk had entered Vernon's expression, one of perversion and one of decency. An odd mixture for an odd young man, he had flashed Michael The Horns and then walked out to the streets, of course he would be the second to arrive at Paere Delle Fate as Vernon was meeting Willaim; his boyfriend and a Ascot. As he did not take status into accord, he only saw 'Willy' as another guy, with charm-the only difference between how Vernon saw others was what they had. And if they had nothing, he would only give them words, cold. Hurtful. Devieve words. He had continued to walk, silently singing to himself in another language one made up by him to improve his power Scream For MY and he carefully choose not to have any target.
At some spike in time Vernon was inside and had eaten half of his food, he then chatted with his comrades and asked about his parents; but not to much. They were good, semi-busy and still together in these times. Mentally Vernon thanked the God of Dark Romance and the Goddess of Sexual Relationships and lastly the Goddess of Emotions, while giving the God of Apathy two special finger gestures. Vernon had stripped his clothing and walked over to "Willy", he had taken a pose like that of a horse rider. and perfectly imperfectly said.
"I can feel my biblophila bubbling up like chewing up in a vat." He pecked Ascot on the cheek and lifted his eyelids . Sometimes when they were narrowed for to long they gave off a strong evil energy.
And Vernon and the Entire Magic Mafia were no Servants of Acient Evil although they do have proof of God and Goddesses of Evil and the other moralities. The Family just, went about their busniesses as the God and Goddess of Crime had graced them along with Mephisto. Vernon let out a laugh. "A diary, don't you know these things are private." Vernon didn't pose a question because there was no need to. What he stated was a commonplace fact and he only skimmed the first two pages and skipped to the seventeenth to force himself to have no sense of the words. He merely respected privacy and wanted Willaim to do the same, even Michaal. Which is why he said it out loud and not whispered it to Willaim like he usually does.
++++++
A long time ago Michael would have looked away, embarrased by the spectacles that Mephisto students were prone to do, but he had had time to get used to it and simply smiled before rolling his eyes once Vernon looked away. The food was remarkably tasty, and used this opportunity to eat everything on his plate as fast as he could. Within a couple minutes, the food was gone and the glasses were emptied. He sighed in content as he leaned back against the chair for a second.
After wiping his mouth and getting the easel and palette ready, Ascot was already getting down to business. The diary was what caught Michael's main focus, and he raised an eyebrow as he saw it. Vernon may not have been interested in it, but Michael thought differently. "Privacy's one thing, but an old diary like this is meant to be read, like any other book," Michael said to Vernon. Once Michael got his hands on it, he began skimming through the pages, looking for anything that proved to be interesting. Fortunately, that didn't prove to be too hard, the book was filled with interesting information. "Found this in a mass grave, huh?" Michael asked. "I wonder whose."
Ascot sighed, still naked, and said, "That last part is not important. What is important is that there is a remote possibility that Mephisto, your headmaster, might - might be an enemy of Humanity as a whole, not just a small section of it. Note that this is not a St. Laurel's plan to undermine the competition; Alto's doing something else right now - one of my fellow students just informed me that he's sent several of the school's best and brightest to an old apartment to investigate some missing students. In fact, this is sensitive information on St. Laurel's itself that I offer as proof that I can be trusted: There are missing students, it is likely to prove a blow to the school's reputation if it is ever publicly revealed, and I just revealed major movements of the best fighters there. Use this information as you will; the fact is that the world is larger than the three-way between different factions of superpowered students."
