Voyage Through the Multiverse (Ended) [IC]

[Menschenfleisch]

Shadows of the Empire | Avarice

The rest of the event passed by. They went down, and they got out. Enjoy that truncated writing style while you can because it won't last. What was I doing again? Oh, right. I was assuring people I was still in this arc.

Avarice stood there like a fucking brick.

Knock yourselves out.

L-Fel | Cassia

Cassandra slowly pried the key from the detective's hands, glancing over it before handing it back. "Yeah, I can use a key. Don't give it to me, though. I just need to remember the configuration of the key itself. Actually, I probably didn't even need the key to begin with, since I've got a couple hundred lockpickers swimming around up there." she tapped the side of her head, as if knocking on a fishbowl. "Anyway, I'll see you downstairs. Breakfast awaits!"

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven
Ashwood Manor

Within the observatory Alex stand in front of a magic circles made of the same materials from the alchemy lab. From her upper left was a large brass and golden telescope pointed up to the sky. The enchanted windows in the tower structure of the manor not only acted like the other windows on regulating sunlight but these can make the view first star gazing clear regardless of weather and light pollution. At her left was a bookshelf that was left untouched like most things in the observatory.

From her upper right were racks holding smaller telescopes that can be held by hand. In the room were tables with many astronomical and astrological tools and models,  formula and charts were also spotted on the table or were hanging on the wall. From her right were tools to large to fit on a table like an armillary sphere, cosmolabe, and a small orrery. A small astronomical clock was also in the room.

Just as alchemy and magic was practiced heavily by her family they to use the relations of the planets and stars for their magic, using celestial sympathetic magic for many things ranging from  imbuing objects with magical powers to divining the past and future. This along with alchemy and other hermetic practices were learned by her family back when they were members of the Celestial Order, before the Order betrayed them. "No it wasn't betrayal Alex. It was simple extremists acting out of line." she told herself as she examined the finish work she made on cleaning and rearranging the observatory.

The wraith placed her hands on her hips and smiled at the results of her work. "Now I just need to finish the ritual chamber before the others arrive and I will be set." Alex turn around and walked it if the room, climbing down the stairs to reach the first floor. As Alex went to the room containing the ritual chamber in another part of the house Wright found himself in the library.

The room had wooden tables with chairs next to them. From the fireplace he find three leather chairs with a large painting hanged above the fireplace. Shelves holding books of different subjects covered most of the walls. Wright examined  each book to see if any of them would catch his attention.

[Menschenfleisch]

Secrets of the Raven | Kyle

It started off small.

Nobody panicked when Julie choked on a croissant. She’d always been a messy eater, though the unnoticed cancer in her throat didn’t help matters much. She’d had to go home after Dan broke her rib trying to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre. A regrettable incident, but a relatively harmless one. Their medical insurance was spotless. Though, that didn’t stop Lachlan from trying to fish his dentures out of the tap’s open drain. An imported redback didn’t take kindly to his intrusion, and decided to show off its ire with a friendly little peck. He didn’t make it to the medical office before he succumbed, face blue and veins shining through. Annie was in the kitchen, carving turkey, when the lights blinked out. She turned to ask Eduardo what was going on when she felt something very heavy fall on her hand, the fluorescent bulbs flickering back on to reveal the man’s shoulder hanging off her knife, his worn down boots coated in cooking oil. Tim was sent to take a look at the electronics, the base growing a little uneasy. A speck of dust just so happened to get in his eye as he pulled open the ancient fusebox, his hand just brushing by an exposed wire.

People were beginning to fidget. They were finicky, four of them already sent home, to the hospital or to hell. Kim passed by a malfunctioning screen, an epileptic seizure taking her down. Lucas, deathly afraid of disease, spotted the spider’s victim’s body and fell backwards, tumbling against a water cooler which dispensed its retribution upon his unconscious head, drowning him in steam. Henry and Rachel took the elevator down to the basement, having caught on to what was happening. They were too busy discussing the nature of their attacker – probability manipulator or intricate planner – to notice that the elevator’s cables were a little easier to break than usual. All materials have a frequency at which they are easiest to shatter, after all. Jen, handing out armaments, pulled the pin from a grenade without knowing. Sandy’s pacemaker simply stopped, a minute series of malfunctions sending her heart into a feverish craze. Carl happened upon a shelf in the closet, trying to hide from the carnage without. A simply push was all it took to send the thing crashing down.

So, their numbers were whittled away by coincidence and incidence. They learned to avoid puddles, windows, freestanding furniture, weapons, stairs, doorways, lights, switches, vehicles, gas canisters, bathrooms, staying together and all the like. The few defiant ones who decided to arm themselves anyway, and go hunting for the culprit, quickly found that under a very specific set of circumstances, any weapon or explosive may discharge. Any man may happen to experience a sensation that triggers a post-traumatic flashback. Anyone can die, trying to hold a veteran down. Still, there were dozens. How could they possibly lose their lives, so long as they remained cautious? One girl decided to go home before they lost their minds, fantasising and apocalypticising over every little detail. She made it around half a mile down the road before a gust of wind blew a branch into her bonnet, a plug in her engine came loose, and a stalled gear struck an age-stripped iron tooth. Her wreck joined the other four members of the Corps, skidding down the hillside ablaze. Mason grabbed a rifle, aimed it at the ground, checked and rechecked every round, and took station near the door – promising to keep his team safe. He stepped up and his head bloomed, a beautiful rose of skull fragments and bloody detritus. Then, all hell broke loose.

They were assailed from every angle, the few who’d decided to err on the side of caution earlier suddenly deciding to go down fighting. They ripped rockets, blasters, pistols, machine guns off the walls and tried to fortify themselves. A dozen were dead within the first two seconds, the windows aiding in their deaths. A small group tried to barricade themselves in the living quarters, boarding it up and sealing the door. They knew they would be safe until help arrived. They leaned against the gateway and listened, the sound of far off clangs echoing. A wisp of yellow smoke emerged from the vent, like a curious and anxious snake, lapping at prey’s heels. A team tried to hunt for their attacker, and were slaughtered for their efforts. Bullets bounced a dozen, a hundred times before finding targets. They were killed without ever seeing their opponent. Geoff had to listen to them go dark. One by one, their signals went out, snuffed like candle flames. He and another few waited, unarmed and unknowing, in the back of some condemned, obscure garage – only hoping that their enemy wouldn’t even bother with them. They were soldiers and agents, each one from a background of exceptional achievement. Yet even now, they could feel something seeping into their hearts, the most unfamiliar sensation; terror.

They’d felt fear before, yes, but that was only ever borne from excitement and adrenaline. Unsureness at their fates in battle, a motivator to finish the conflict. Now, they felt absolute hopelessness. They were not in control. They had no say in what happened now. They had an unknown, invincible enemy. They were unarmed and untrained, completely outclassed. All of the troops gathered in that room were no longer fighters or warriors but instead the victims of some entity that existed to prey upon them. There was a thump. He jumped, and put a palm on his mouth, looking up to the roof. There was a tingling in his fingers, spreading down his spine. Where was their assailant? Was it just one person, or more? Was it some threat they knew, or something else? It didn’t matter, it didn’t matter; they were going to die anyway. There was another thump, and the sound of flesh against linoleum. He sucked in air as if he were drowning, keeping his dinner in his stomach. The smell of linens, the sound of punctuated silence, it was all too much. He wasn’t prepared to deal with this. There was another thump, and another jolt of electricity through his body. Everything tingled, everything felt weak. He fell forward, limbs giving away, and made a tiny little thump.

---

Click, click, click…

Andarta dragged a finger on the walls as she walked, feet tapping on the pristine tiles. The lights were out, their illumination retired and replaced by the eerie glow of red phosphor in her hand. She waved the flare through the air, dousing the hallway in a crimson haze. A young man lay dead on the floor in front of her, the tiniest of cuts criss-crossing his wrists, a pile of broken glass and water lying next to him. So dispassionate, so clinical. She knelt down and put a finger on each eyelid, pushing them down until they were sealed. She could not bear to see such carnage up close. “Hypocrite”. The word still rang in her ears, the hollow insult of a broken, trapped girl. Someone tied to a hospital bed, living fever dreams for eternity. She’d dismissed it then. Could she dismiss it now? Her men lived in constant fear, paranoid and protective of their own lives. They’d become reclusive, cautious, reluctant to serve. Hundreds dead meant thousands afraid. She had to face the issue now, or risk losing… well, she couldn’t quite define it. But whatever she stood to leave behind, she knew that it was something as vital to her conscience as air to her lungs. Speaking of, she crumpled her nose,
trying to keep the stench of gasoline from her senses. She was here in spirit only, and even then her olfactory functions worked just fine. Yet, her pride stopped her from cutting them off. She had to live through this, stick it through. She had to prove that she was more than words and physical substance; that she was good enough to lead. Not to anyone else, but to herself. The loss of Diana, the injury of The Raven, the deaths of hundreds because of her orders. Those rested on her shoulders. They were her insecurities, her demons to vanquish. And they all culminated in one despicable man. The call had been clear, the demands simple enough. Appear, and talk. A dozen men materialised from the dark, twelve of the original members of the Corps. An insurance policy, a coup de grace. She put a hand to the handle and looked away from them, knowing any acknowledgement would give away their presence. Their leader nodded at her, and they disappeared once more. She pushed through the door, eyes falling upon its label: “security room”.

Kyle sat upon a throne of broken electronics and bodies. Three men were slumped against the ripped up consoles, surgically placed holes in their necks. Behind him was a wall of monitors, black and cracked. In front stood Andarta, defiant and baleful. She raised her head and roared; “Where is Diana?!” he cracked his knuckles and slid down the metal hill, a few silicon fragments coming off with him. They clattered across the floor and passed some invisible line, bursting into incandescent blue hues. A barrier materialised between them for a moment, an incorporeal divide. “Asking questions already? I thought you would’ve asked for her specifically, since you’re, y’know… worried about her?” her hand came up and her fingers turned to claws, a wave of hatred washing over the environment, turning the air to magma and the steel ceiling to jelly. “Don’t play games with me! Hand her over, now!” he clapped his hands and walked toward her, slowly inching toward the shield. “So now you take my advice. You’re a funny girl, Claudia.” She clenched her fist and screeched, pushing one shoulder ahead. The taste of acrid blood on her tongue, the feeling of a heart threatening to burst through her chest – all that pressure, all that ague extended like a lance through the invisible wall, throwing him against the screens. They caved in and cracked as anvils’ weights were stacked upon his ribs, metal plates screaming while blood spurted from his ears, falling sideways to stain the monitors behind him. “Don’t talk down to me!” she flattened her palm, as well as the esper. He hit the ground like a brick, face cracking and ribs snapping. He curled up as she let go, clutching his broken nose. He spat out a nodule of flesh, a thin layer of gore wrapped around a chipped tooth. She let his quiet, pained breathing pass. It gave her no pleasure to hurt him like this, but her emotions were purged by the act. It felt like she was accomplishing something for once.
“Really? So much anger, so much rage. I wouldn’t expect that from-” his mouth clapped shut and he skidded along the floor, pulled toward the barrier and set upright. Andarta leaned in, the skin on the end of her nose burning. “Listen, you immature brat. I have Jacquelyn. I defeated her. Do you think you have even the slightest control over me?” he rolled his eyes, teeth finally released from her grip. First thing he did was lick the blood off his tongue. The second thing was to set it to use. “Actually, I do. Because there’s that word, ‘control’. Strange that it’s the first thing you thought about, no? Lemme guess. You have daddy issues.” she stepped through entirely, slamming his body against a locker until it caved in, twisted iron hanging off its hinges. “Shut the fuck up and hand me back my friend!” she screamed, spittle covering his face. She snarled, panting and seething while he hung limp in her hands. “Your friend, huh? Delusional much?” he smiled, blood trickling from his gums. “She may have served you, but she was never your friend. She was only ever under your control.”

Andarta leant in further, face right up against his. “You do not know what you are talking about”. The man smiled with the eyes of a hawk and the teeth of a shark. “Don’t I? My my, my girl. So unreasonable! Forcing your expectations upon that poor woman, twisting her into your puppet. You’re a pathetic loner, a child paying the other kids to play with them!” she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him out of the tangled metal mess, stepping toward the entrance to the room. “Don’t you dare use that name. Don’t you dare compare me to them!” she rammed the back of his head into the barrier, white sparks and cyan flames erupting. He patted the back of his head down, grimacing as he forced his head forward toward her. “Daddy issues. Got it.” She pressed him a little closer, feeling the heat on the back of her knuckles. Her fingers were sand, her body was tied together with the simplest of bonds. Glass dripped on the ground, and a miasma of charring flesh followed.

Claudia stared straight up into his face, her eyes bulging and mouth taut. “You seem to be forgetting that I can kill Jacquelyn whenever I want.” He shrugged, hairstubs falling from the back of his scalp. “I know you won’t. You need her, don’t you?” he laid a hand on her wrist, the same wrist locked around his garments. He slowly coaxed them off, the witch making no attempt to graduate to his throat. “She’s your power source. Her flesh is everywhere; in your guns, in your generators. Even this room, this field, is entirely funded by her energy. We both know that you’re gathering her skin for something important”. The witch let him fall to the ground, kneeling for a moment as he pressed his hands against his burns. She examined her fingers, worn down by his coat. “I could find someone else.” He laughed, standing and stumbling against a wall, leaning on a table, peeling a layer of skin off his neck. “No, you couldn’t. It’s been years since you started this cult, and yet you’re only making progress now. Why the sudden shift in tactics? You knew that killing college kids would catch our attention”. He looked up at her, smug smirk plastered upon his face. “You’re running out of time, Chloe. You’re dying, and you’re afraid”.

She was right there in a flash, air snapping as she closed the distance. “Don’t use that name.” her words were deathly calm, and quiet. Something terrible swirled in her heart, rolling in her intestines. A feeling, long rejected and forgotten. Kyle maintained his gaze, not flinching for even a moment. “You’re scared, Andarta. Keeping up this charade, doing all these things, they’re killing you. It’s why you don’t ever leave your headquarters, why we barely see you. You’re here in an avatar because you can’t be here in flesh.” She locked eyes, stumbling on her words. He continued. “That fight with Jack, that god in your heart, they’re poisoning your blood. But you can’t afford to look weak, won’t let your pride be bruised. It’s why you wear long sleeves and pants, to hide the wastage on your limbs. It’s why you apply makeup every morning, to hide your anemic look and pale face. You can barely stand a few days, barely make it to the door. You’re dying, and you’re in denial”. Her eyelids snapped down for just a second, a blink to conceal the salt in the corner of her eye. “Shut up.” He did not. “And even more than that you’re afraid that you’re wrong. You’re afraid of being like your parents. Those scars, those bruises, you received them as a child. And that skin on your arms – they’re long-healed burns. I read the tomes, I looked at the files. You were-” “abused. Used. Made a plaything and a puppet.” She finished the sentence for him, cutting in. Her voice quaked, her body shook. Nothing seemed to stand still, nothing seemed to stay quiet. Her mind, then, became far more sensitive to the world. Far more sensitive to the feeling in her stomach, that welled in her throat and that pulled down her limbs. It was a hollowness. Hopelessness. “I was the child of savages, and murderers. Fanatics twisted by some capricious god, forcing them to dance in its name. They cut me, used my blood. Taught me to be like them, tried to make me a plaything for a creature that couldn’t care less about us.”

She took a wracked breath, eyes to the ground. “The Crimson Mother. What a joke. It’s not a mother, it’s not even a she. It’s a thing in space, laughing while we murderfuck ourselves in its name. Who knows? Maybe we got it all wrong, and it’s one of Cthulhu’s turds. Fat difference that’d make”. She let out a deep sigh, refusing to look up. “That thing twisted them. Made them into torturers and fanatics. There are thousands of those things, millions driving us insane. They’re our greatest enemy, and we don’t even realise it. Humanity is too far gone. They can’t shed their blind faith now. So I’ll do it for them”. She stared at Kyle expectantly, waiting for a response. His face softened, like unset clay. “You deserved it.” He paced around her, limbs slack and a drooping smile stretched from one cheek to the other. He craned his neck forward, putting a finger under her chin. “You failed to change, Andarta. Just like your parents. They were dedicated to a cause, and they hurt their child to fulfil it. You? You think that rejecting them makes you right. You think that as long as your goals are noble, you’re allowed to be every bit as stupid and hypocritical as your progenitors.” She blinked, looking to one side. “That’s not true…” he threw a backhand to her cheek, sand spilling on the ground as his palm punched through her jaw. “Isn’t it?! You narcissistic bastard! You think that Diana wants to be with you? Your demands are hurting her! Killing her personal life, keeping her from being with the man she loves. The Raven is only with you because it’s naïve, and it doesn’t know better. You’re taking advantage of it, like everyone else aligned with you. Terry wouldn’t have joined you if you hadn’t struck at his most vulnerable point. You lied to him about everything! Your orders have sent hundreds to their deaths, and killed dozens more! You are a stain, a disease, the evil you hoped to expunge.”

Kyle grabbed Claudia by the shoulders, turning her to face him. He grabbed her by the cheek, pulled her in so he could look her in the eye. “You’re disgusting. You claim to be saving lives when really you’re just living in a power fantasy, where might makes moral right, and the ‘greater good’ justifies whatever you need it to. You hated your parents, so you vowed to be better than them – but in truth you only followed in their footsteps, doing the exact same shit for an even more hopeless goal. You think this will lead anywhere? You think your plan will do anything good for the world? Millions will die, billions more will have their lives shattered forever. You’ve intimidated the town, manipulated those around you, killed the people who serve you. It was never about living by your beliefs, it was about modifying your morality to justify whatever actions you took. Because, deep down, you realise you’re wrong. That you’re hopeless. That you’re weak and out of time.” She tremored, just once. “Stop it. Shut up.” He whispered in her ear, talked with just a calm drone. “Diana screamed your name as she died. She thought you’d save her. But you let her down and let her die, just like Amalie.”

The room burst like a ripe fruit, shards of metal and mountain sized chunks of earth erupting. The roof was gone, replaced by a floating archipelago of shards and chunks. A funnel built up, ripping the roof up and sweeping it away. Her body spilled onto the ground, disintegrating like powder in the tide. “Shut up! That’s not true!” Kyle walked forward, towering over the girl. “Did she scream too? Was she an overconfident coward, just like Diana? Or was she good, and innocent? I know it’s the latter. You wouldn’t be chasing that romanticised image of her otherwise.” The skies shrieked, cyclonic winds billowed as trees and grass were born up, bricks and mortar tossed through the air like bullets. “You’re wrong! I loved her, she loved me!” he slapped her again, held her face against his. “Wake up! You’re living in a fantasy, clinging to someone whose true nature you forgot! Nobody’s perfect, nobody’s pure. You broke yourself and corrupted your mind, just so you could search for that same bliss again!” she pushed him away with the force that her body could conjure, the meek rejection of a scared little girl. “I watched her die, Kyle. I let my parents be twisted, I let her be killed. I can’t do that again. I won’t let it happen to anyone else!” she raised her head, tears soaking her ashen face. “I’ll save them. I’ll save her!”

He sat still, like a statue. “That’s all I needed you to say. That’s all I needed you to admit.” He reached out, kneeling. “Take my hand. We’ll save our friends, the people we love. Together.” she slowly raised her own palm, unsure. She slowly stretched her arm out, fingers touching his. Callouses, scraping over one another. Sand and flesh, stone and steel. “I-…” she shook, twitched, her fingers refused to close around his palm. Her face set like steel, eyes glazing over like frozen magma. “I won’t.” she pulled her limb away, disgusted. The shriek of wind, the howl of the gale, intensified above them; a shriek, a scream, a banshee’s wail. “I reject you, Kyle! I’m a woman of my word, a fighter for something more than just a goal. I have beliefs, morals, lines that I won’t cross. That’s why I’m better than you, Kyle. Because I don’t work with monsters!” he laughed in return, a raucous outburst that overwhelmed even the zephyr above. “I guess The Raven’s more human than I am, in your eyes. Can’t say that I blame you, if your definition of a person is that twisted. Although, fortunately, I now know that I shouldn’t have even made that offer. After all, why would I work with someone so gullible?”

He palmed her in the chest, forcing her backwards into the barrier. A flash of blue light emerged, her disintegrating avatar no longer able to maintain its composition. Of course this is what he would’ve done. Of course he would’ve had redundancies at play. Her eyes widened just a little, before she split into crystal fragments; lethal shrapnel peppering the walls. The mountains of debris in the sky suddenly stopped, all their momentum lost, and began to fall; vast impacts blasting dust and rubble into the air. The haze above, the night time rain, suddenly turned to a torrent; the bubble of frozen space lost. The security shield burst too, the divide broken as threads of cyan light dispersed throughout the chamber, leaving thin scorch marks in the floor. Kyle backed up against the console, no apparent enemies in pursuit. “Nuh uh uh, lads. Don’t kill me yet!” he raised the switch in his hand, a circular little button pressed between his thumb and index. “I think you all recognise this. Corps standard dead-man’s switch. And if you look at the side here, you’ll see that it’s a thermal module. Nifty, eh?” he pressed a few buttons on the console wall, the few remaining switches lighting up as he booted up the system. Some of the screens were shattered – but none of the important ones. Twelve screens lit up, each showing a green stained view of a metal clad room. In each one, a single figure lay.

A man clawed at a locked door, fingernails bloody, while the vents belched choking smoke. A woman held her child above her head while the closet they were in filled with water. A girl cried as gasoline lapped at her feet, the walls covered in ticking little devices. Andarta stood in a dark room, recovering from her ordeal. The dark room flooded with light and sound as her dozen elites’ feeds came through, their comms exploding in a frenzy. “That’s my wife!” “He has my son.” “Ma’am permission to engage?” “Orders, now!” “I need to save him, let me go!” she stared at the screen, watching as the man who she most hated stood, with all the control in the world. He looked at the end of the room, where nothing at all stirred. “I know you can hear me. I read your files, and I know who you love. Your families, the loves of your lives. You wouldn’t sacrifice them for the sake of a paycheck, would you?” he smiled, shaking his hand like he were playing the maracas. “Now, let’s play a little game. Andarta, do you value these soldiers’ faith, or me? Or, in terms that you’d understand – these humans’ families, or your ‘friends’? I know you’re here.” He looked around, wielding the device like some kind of plastic toy. “You’d better decide soon. People are watching, after all.” Her headset filled with noise and noise and noise, shouts of all emotions. She pressed her ears shut, took off the muffs, and yet the demands still continued in her head. She was doing it for Amalie. She was doing it for Amalie.

“Kill him!”

There was a silence. A break. A pause. The soldiers raised their guns, and… not a single one fired. They stood still. “What are you waiting for? Kill him!” her voice was hoarse, her eyes bloodshot and tear stained. She hurriedly grabbed the radio, choking; “No, no. I’m- no, don’t. I’m sorry, I-”… she put it down, and cut the screen out, sobbing into two cupped hands. Kyle began to walk toward the door, still holding the detonator in one hand. He looked to either side, like he was on some sort of walkway. “I’m not dead yet. Does that mean you relented?”… there was nothing. Not even the wind, or the birds. There was only the dust and the rain, slowly returning. “Well, at least you stood by what you said. You’ve earned just a smidge of my respect, Andarta!” he closed his coat and walked away, entering the facility at large.

As Kyle exited from the stone exit the cool, wet, air of the forest would hit his armor. Around him was the crumbling concrete road that lead to the aging first storey wooden structure with the stone face leading both in and out of the subterranean complex that he emerged from. The building was made to resemble an old school from a by gone era, a fitting disguise for a town where the past coexists with the present, a d whise woods are well known for containing abanonded structures made by man long ago.

As the wind blew Kyle woukd hear the overhang branches of the tree brushing against each other. The gray sky kept the light of the sun from coming down the forest, giving the natural scenery an almost eerie vibe. Kyle would see faded graffiti 9n the road and cracks large enough to almost sever parts of it off the main body, plants growing out of the cracks.

Kyle would hear the calls of birds and insects. One can feel as though they can relax and try to be one with nature. Yet the clapping heard would make such actions diffcult. Leaning against the wall was a man wearing a yellow robe, his head covered by a red demonic looking mask with a corresponding helmet with a few plastic tubes trailing out from behind the helmet and thin downward facing horns, almost resembling blades, were visible from the sides.

The grinning face of the mask along with the helmet was made to resemble the head of one of the many residence of the Infernus, the shadowy agents known as Despreyes. No one was sure if the face of those demons was their actual face or a mask. As the man moved away from the wall he kept on clapping.

"Bravo. Bravo. I got to say I never saw dear old Andarta so stressed out and unsure of herself. Even I wasn't sure what would happen. I thought maybe she would go en in and take your offer but it seem even when stuck in a nadtky little trap like yours she would not yield, that is just like Andarta. Never to admit weakness even when she shows it."

The man let out a cruel laugh as he began to walk around Kyle. "Nice gear you have there boy? Did Ashwood gave it to you or could it be someone else gave it to you? Could the Ushers gave it to you in Order to get revenge for our attack against them? Or did AEGIS gave it to you just so they can say they are involved while putting in as little effort as possible?" The man theorizes.

"I wonder though just how much of what you said was true? Are you willing to betray Ashwood and humanity or is this whole just a clever ploy made by that witch and you?" The man said as he Keith pacing around Kyle. "Tell me, if you are willing to hand over Ashwood to us how would you do it? How would you get around the group she surrounds herself with for protection?"

Kyle eyed up the man, trying to gauge his strengths and weaknesses. Nothing seemed to stand out. He wore the same garments as Terry, the overblown uniform that all the cult leaders seemed to favor upon introducing themselves. He gestured at it vaguely, sneering. "take off that fucking mask, yellow. I can see you under there." he kept his other hand at his side, reluctant to fight. After all, he couldn't be sure how many elites had been sent. Those who'd encountered him earlier, he'd known. He'd read all the documents from the site's mainframe and made sure that he'd abducted their families. Any further soldiers would be his to deal with in a more physical manner. "I know what you're doing, pal. You want me to tell you Ashwood's weaknesses, let you in on a few secrets. I don't want her dead, cunt. I want her out of my way."

The man stopped walking. "Really you can see under me?" He titled his head slightly. Je threw navk his head as he stretched his arms out wide, letting out a manic laugh. "Oh right. Your bullshit esper powers!" He would set himself back up and reach around to touch his mask and helmet, a hiss of air coming off the helmet.

Once it was remove Kyle saw a man who appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s. His skin was lightly tanned with his brown hair down neatly and small stubble of a beard. His eyes look behind a pair of glasses. "You can call me Yellow, but you can also call me Samuel. Perhaps I want to know more how to defeat Ashwood, or maybe I want to know more about you pal? After all, we both have goals that we want to achieve regardless of the cost and both of us want the same woman out of our hair."

He sighed, tapping his foot impatiently against a rock. He raised his rifle and fired it into the woods, a few seconds passing before it came back out, and landed in Ky's palm. "Oh, please, spare me the talk. My enemies are still nominally the Crimsonites. Ashwood is useful in that regard, taking up their time. Although, at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Andarta was ordering hits on me instead. She seems to really hate me."

He glanced back at the man, a fair bit younger than he'd expect from the leader of such an ancient cult. Then again, Terry and Andarta weren't exactly octogenerians either. "Maybe we can skip the formalities and have a talk where all our cards are on the table. So, quick question. You guys found a replacement for Terry yet? Always wondered how the organisation managed to live on with a quarter of their commanding staff gone."

The helmet began to disintegrate into dust before Kyle's eyes, the helmet falling to the ground as a heap of ash and dust when the yellow cult leader let it go and rose his hands up. "Woah there buddy, there is no need for hostilities." He brought his hands down, pushing his glasses up with his right pointer finger. "Especially sense I came here to represent myself, not the Crimsonites." He gave Kyle a wide smile. Almost a fasiclime of what a smile should be.

When asked if Terry was replaced that smile turned into a snare as he glared at Kyle. "No. A proper replacement for that worthless excuse of a mage hasn't been picked yet. I never trusted that man from day one and my instincts were right. Andarta's pet bird can do a better job than he." The man viciously stated, not bothering to hide his dislike towards Terry.

"A weakly like him had no place in our ranks. But we were always prepared for situations like these. You will find that like the mythical Hydra removing inte head woukd one cause two more to grow. That is how the orcer survived for so long." Yellow explained.

"Sam, you are an interesting man." Kyle padded closer, rifle tucked into its sheath. "I think both of us understand something quite fundamental, and quite important." he raised his fist, letting the mutilated copper shell fall into the mud. "There's no place in this world for weakness. There's no place in this world for naivete." he paused, catching raindrops on his skin. "Why don't you tell me a little more about Andarta? Just, y'know... the harmless stuff."

Samuel smiled at what Kyle told him. "I knew you and I were alike." He was running his hands anxiously, no not with anxiety, but with excitement. "Well she isn't a big fan of cigars. Not only did daddy dearest enjoy smoking them around her he sometimes used her as his personal ashtray." He told Kyle as he began to scratch his chin. "He also like to whip her whenever she didn't behavior herself, her mother would even retrain her for those latching. Trust me when I say this. She had every right killing those people. Their deaths made the world just a bit better."

Kyle would noticed that Samuel's expression became much harder as he recalled those events from Andarta's past, his tone much harsher as talked about her parents. "You probably noticed this or not but when it cooked to other people she treats them like they are children at best or pets at worst, it's something she isn't even aware of doing."

Kyle put a finger to his chin, considering. "Well, I wouldn't say we're alike. More like fire and wood. We go together, want the same thing. I see you're not a fan of Andarta's, uhh... let's just call it management. Cigars, eh? I'll remember that, even if it hurts my lungs."

He kicked a rock, letting it spin.

"Pets and children. Ah, I noticed that she never really cared about what her lackeys had to say. Explains her stubbornness, too. That why you're not too keen on her methods?"


He shrugged off Samuel's response before he could get it out.

"Ah, whatever. Doesn't matter. Say, you wouldn't know which way The Raven is, would you? I think you can tell me. I'd be walking into a trap if I tried to attack it, after all."

Samuel began to pace around, looking around at the forest. Almost as he was looking for something. "So long as neither of us turn into ash at the end I say we are fine. Yes I'm not a fan of her managment or methods. Andarta is letting her power cloud her reality and strengthening her naivete. Like the fact it is killing her wasn't bad enough." He looked at Kyle. "Don't act surprised that I know that. Me, Terry, and White know that truth. Hell I was helping her by using my powers to give her more time on this world." He explained, screams being heard somewhere in the woods.

"As for the Raven I would say we are in its turf. It lives in the woods. But it doesn't have one specific location to stay in; Andarta's pet is too smart to stay in one location for someone to plan an ambush against." The man turn his back to Kyle. "Oh if you try to record this it won't work. You will just get static and white noise." A grin form on his lips. "I'm not going to let myself be caught so easily now. Especially if the Corp and Andarta somehow capture you and look through your suits camera feed."

He turned around to face Kyle as he stretched open his arms. "For our safety it is best to pretend that this meeting never happened once we leave. We will meet when the opportune time presents itself."

Kyle didn't bother to turn, keeping an eye on Samuel even as he passed behind him. He tried to keep himself open, vulnerable. Perhaps it would allow him to slip something important. "So, she's trying to keep her issues on the down low. I thought as much. The cadence of her voice, the shape of her eyes - don't ask how these relate to the conclusion at all - revealed a rather... fatal, condition. Weak heart, fragile bones. Very thin, and short. And if you're keeping her alive, then, maybe you could... you know."

"Well let's just say I have my reasons for why I can't stop treating her. Trust me, right now we need her alive or else everything we are working towards is ruined." He cryptically stated, refusing to elaborate more as he focus on the next question. "Oh don't worry, I have no intention on meeting both it and you until I need to. Now do try to stay alive long enough for our next meeting."

Samuel faced toward the East, looking toward where the sun should've been setting. Kyle didn’t bother, knowing better than to follow the man’s lead. He was a trickster, after all.

"I won't pretend that I didn't consider recording this conversation. Diabolical minds think alike, after all. As for The Raven, you might want to avoid visiting for the next few days. If we meet again, we will be enemies."

He cocked his head toward the distant commotion.

"Well, sounds like it's time for me to go. I'll see you around, Sam. Hopefully, under better circumstances."

Kyle walked away into the rain, disappearing into the brush. Like a wraith through a wall, he disappeared. As Kyle vanished Samuel began to walk to another door in the building. When he open it a rift to the Infernus appeared before him. With no hint of fear he walked into the infernal gate and the door closed by itself. The foot prints left behind by the two men were erased by the spirits summoned by Samuel, erasing all evidence that their meeting took place.

And that was that.

[Skylus]

Doug/Po
Shadows of the Empire
Republic Executive Building- Chancellor's Suite

Po found himself next to Ty. Normally, he would be freaking out that he was allowed to be in "a super secret awesome meeting that could determine the fate of the freaking MULTIVERSE!", but not this time. Something told him that this was very, very serious, and that he should, for once, remain silent unless asked a question or directly spoken to.

Meanwhile, Doug listened to the suit wearing dog and he tried to act as if he cared. He really did, but the fatigue was rapidly catching up to him.
He was about to nod off when the Slate made a ping noise - an incoming transfer call.
Doug grabbed the Sheikah Slate and his heart sank when he read who the call was from.
Oh Hel no. Not now, of all places! Creston, this better be a good reason to call me now!
And he answered; to the others, they wouldn't be able to hear what the other person was saying.

"Hello?"
Douglas, thank the Gods! Are you alright?
"Yeah. I suppose so. You seem chipper."
Well, I should be mad about what happened and all with...uh....Was the origianzion called AEGIS?
"Yes."
Right. Nah. We're not mad about that, listen, where are you right now?
"Uh....Somewhere called Coruscant."
Coruscant? The Hel is that?
"A planet in some other galaxy. Don't know the name of it yet."
Doug noticed he was getting stares and he mouthed "superior officer" at them before listening to Creston again.
Boy, you are far away from home, aren't you?
"Yes Sir."
So....Where's that ship of yours?
"On a Cornerian Cruiser."
A what now?
"Look, I think I might need you to join this meeting....Do you have time to do a video call?"
My schedule is free - wait, what do you mean a meeting?!
"This one."

Doug flipped the Slate around, and pressed a button on the side. The screen went black for a moment, then a man appeared on the screen, surrounded by papers and screens. He appeared to be around 60 years of age, his green eyes shone with curiosity; he had once had ginger hair, but it was now faded and pale, almost white. He wore a blue uniform with lots of medals and pins.
The man blinked, then leaned forwards
"....Oh. Well I'll be a Lizardfos' uncle! Hah! So there really are other races out there! ....Ahem, got a tad bit carried away there....Allow me to introduce myself, gentlemen...ladies. I am Jeremiah Creston, General of the Hyrulialus Royal Air Squadron, Farore Division, at your service."
"What happened to Shakeal?"
"Oh, Jaden? He got knocked down a few pegs. He's now Brigadier General. Anyway"
Creston smiled.
"What's this meeting about? Some sort of alliance? We've recently begun to test hyperdrives, perhaps we can come to some sort of agreement?"

Ammy/Ganon
Dead Man's Party

Ganon smiled down at the small woman and shook his head.
"Eldest here? No, that honor belongs to the wolf here."
He gestured towards Ammy, who merely nodded. Isun started to bounce up and down on Ammy's head.
"Do I have ideas?! I was born with 'em! Right, so, we need to find these 'deadly' sin' things, and get them to give our powers back and turn us back to normal! Except..That guy didn't exactly tell us where they were....Whaddya say we all split up and search this place? They can't be far."

Madison Goodwill
Secrets of the Raven
Ashwood Manor, Library

Madi, after wandering around the manor for what seemed like ages, eventually found herself in a room with lots of books.
So I found the library....Well, I might as well look around, I might learn a thing or two about this world.
The Witch walked over to a bookshelf and read a few of the book titles.

None of them interested her that much, as she turned away from the books, she noticed Wright nearby and walked over to him.
"Hi. A lot has happened since we last saw each other. How have you been?"

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

Wright was reading a page from a book called Wintertime for Rene, a love story of sorts, when he heard a voice that while he heard once he still recognize it. How can he forget his first ever multiverse trial case? Pheonix turn to look at Madi while still having the book open.

"Madison was it? Yes a lot has happened since the last time we saw each other. I ended up going through many worlds before I found myself in this one. Did you find your home world and what happened to the group you were with?" Wright asked as he closed the book. However Wright would tilt the book ever so slightly while doing so, causing a photo to slip out from the book.

Wright would notice the photo and reach down to pick it up. "Hey doesn't this look like Elizabeth?" Wright would show Madi the photo. On the photo she would see Seras sitting on a blanket outside in what seems to be a park judging from the grass surrounding her, and the bushes, flowers, and tree at the background. Seras seem to show none of the small signs of aging like she does now as she appears to be younger and more slimmer.

Her attire was also far more simpler with just a purple skirt and tan color blouse, yet it was not Seras hersekf that was the most eye catching detail. In Fact there was two.

For Wright the fact the woman looked almost like Elizabeth was surprising but for the two they would see a young girl wearing a cardigan sweater with sleeves to big for her along with a tie totoo long for her wearing what seems to be a school girl uniform, sitting front of Seras while the older woman held the girl in a tight hug from behind, both of them were smiling.

Seeing how cheerful and carefree the two looked Phoenix couldn't help but to smile as well. "Looks like we found an old family photo. But why was it hidden in this book?" Wright questioned, placing the photo in his pocket. He would flip through the pages of the book to find any more secrets stored within but found nothing.

"Either that photo was used ae a book marker or someone was trying to hide it, if it's the latter than why?" Wright began to rub his chin as he felt a mystery was starting to develop. Elsewhere in the house Elizabeth climbed down the stairs putting on her now fixed trench coat.”Now I just need to get my car and pay my usual visit to mom whenever I drop by here. I'll think of something after that.” she said to herself as she walked to the door and left the manor.

What Elizabeth fail to noticed was that Alex was done with her errands and saw Elizabeth walk out, overhearing her on visiting her mom. The wraith enter the Shadowlands and followed the chaos magician out the manor to keep an eye on her. Elsewhere in the town a rift open and an identical copy of Alex along with nine people emerged in the outskirts of the Fairwoods district. The compulsion and perception filter spells cast made everyone ignore the off group as they began to make their way to their next destination, to Ashwood Manor.

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Dawn Elissa

Dawn heard Elizabeth leave, and saw where she was going. The redhead sighed and shook her head. She thought for a moment on what to do, before she disappeared from the first floor. She reappeared in one of the secret basement rooms, specifically the one Elizabeth had given to Lilith. She found the vampire asleep on the bed, her arms crossed over her chest in the Sign of Lazarus. The Primordial neared to touch her, when her eyes shot open suddenly and the woman sat up. "Was ist los?" she asked in surprise.

"I need you to come with me for something, it might not take long but I believe it to be important." Dawn said.
"What is it? Is something wrong?"
"I do believe so, something that at the moment I think only you can fix. It's Elizabeth."
"Was sie bloß hat?"
"She's going to visit her mother's grave. It's something of a tradition I guess. I don't think she should go alone and sit in sadness."

The vampire looked down, the up at the goddess and nodded. "I will sit with her. Where is she?"

"I'll take you there, come with me." she said extending a hand. Lilith took it and together they were whisked away to a different location where Elizabeth would soon arrive.

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

The white super mini pulled up on an empty parking space. As Elizabeth got off the vehicle she held a bouquet of flowers, the flowers ranged from Rose's of different colors to lilies and violets. Elizabeth looked behind the iron fence to the cemetery behind it. While the sun was setting the gates was still open for those to pay their visit to the dead before the caretaker closes the gates for the night.

Walking through the harden tar road she was surrounded by the grave stones and mausoleum that now show the final proof that the deceased once walked among the living. A few trees stood among the stone structures and small hills, besides the calls of birds and insects Elizabeth was alone in the cemetery. Well she believes she is alone.

Elizabeth would walk out of the road and walk on the grass, passing through the grave stones and statues. Elizabeth kept walking until she saw one tree that had no leaves, she knew she was getting close. As Elizabeth search for the fight gave stone she almost missed it because it looked different but once she read what was on it she knew it was the right one.

"Alexandria Ashwood

Born August 2,1940

Died January 28, 1988"

"Looks like your headstone got fixed up the last time I came here. Maybe your rivals finally got their issues worked out." She said to the grave stone as she walked up to it and placed down the bouquet. Elizabeth got down on her knees.

"You know I almost didn't come here if you can believe that. I know I'm usually here much sooner but this case is a wild one. I mean I was thrown into a war zone twice in just days apart from each other. I swear if you were here to see me going through that you would get a heart attack." Elizabeth let out a soft chuckle at her morbid joke. To anyone who heard it they would hear how forced itself. They would also see the downcast expression on the witch's face even as she tried to force a small smile on her face.

"I finally got a break to come here. I even had time to find violets for this years bouquet. You always loved them. I would say as much as roses." Elizabeth reached out to arrange the flowers to make them more neat. "I'm working with a group for this case of you can believe it. Really though they are just stragglers kidnapped from their worlds by rifts and I decided to take them in like strays so they don't get themselves killed. I figure maybe they can help me with the case." Elizabeth became silent as she looked at the flowers.

"The plan was working for a while but now it is starting to backfire on me. I had one member kidnapped, another that wanted to leave, and kne who not only threaten to switch sides but fucking kill me. I should probably start from the beginning so you can understand what the hell is going on huh?" Elizabeth began to tell everything that occured to her to her mother's grave stone.

"Yeah that was one wild story." She lean back as she placed her hands behind her, the witch looking up at the gray skies. "I don't blame you for not believing what I told you. I wouldn't believe anything I said if I didn't experience those events with my own eyes." She let out once let out a forced chuckle as her smile remain. But once she was done chuckling she smile morph into a frown. "I don't think I can solve this case alone, but my group nearly tore itself apart not too long ago. I don't know if I can keep it together for long." The witch felt a breeze flowing through her face

She lean back and moved her hands in front of her. "What's worse is that no good backstabber might be right about me. I did intent to use the people I pick up to help with my case. I didn't want to get close to them because everytime I do I just hurt them and that it turns hurts me. But no matter how much distance I tried to put I ended up feeling some sense of comradery with some of them, and now my luck is striking back hard." She said as she look down at her hands.

"I should break off the group before things devolve any further but I need them because I can't defeat Andarta alone. I can't even defeat the Raven!" She was now trumbling. "I force when I saw that thing again. I even relived that horrible night. But I ended up losing control and got myself into a terrible situation where I almost died trying to avenge you. I failed to do something as basic as killing a monster and I don't know how to save Jackie which is making Kyle go off the deep end just to save his girlfriend." A loud and bitter sounding laugh came out of Elizabeth.

"But hey that just shows how similar we are. I tried so hard to bring you back mom. I tried to bring back Lorriane. I even tried to find Bones even though I know he is dead now. But no matter how hard I tried none of my efforts worked, I can't bring back what was taken from me."

She left her right hand up and open her palm to look at it. "A few times I was so close to bring you back, to bring everyone back." She clenched her hand into a fist, closing her eyes shut tightly as she looked away. "But I refused to pay the price to bring back that small piece of happiness. I couldn't take someone's else's happiness and love ones just to make myself better. I also know that you and the others wouldn't stand to look at me if I did that."

Elizabeth open her eyes half way as she hand return back to the ground. "Yet I still did it anyway. I betrayed and sacrifice the people who trusted and even cared for me, who I cared for." She moved her other hand to her chest as she turn her head back so her scalp was facing the gravestone, Elizabeth refusing to look at the grave stone as her eyes became watery. "I used them and took them from granted, I either pushed them away from me, lost them because of my idiotic mistakes, or I had to make a sacrifice to save others." She said as tears began to fall as she her curling fingers scooping up dirt and grass.

"I'm far worse than a parasite, I'm a harbinger of ill omen and tragedies. Everywhere I go death just follows me." She said loudly as more tears came down and her trembling grew more pronounced. "It's my fault as much as that damn bird that your dead, just like it's my fault that Lorraine is dead, that Terry joined the cult, that my group is a dysfunctional mess, why everyone who I ever met always ends up worse for it." She look at the grave stone.

"Please mother! Just for this one time give me a sign that you are here?" She crawled close to the stone, reaching out to touch it. "I'm begging you to help me please. I can't stop this cult alone." She grabbed the sides as she pressed her forehead against the grave stone. "I don't want to ge alone!" She cried out as she began to sob, still asking for the spirit of her mother to make her presence known.

Behind a tree close by Alex was hiding behind watching her daughter. She clenched her chest as she too was reduced to tears at what she was seeing and hearing. She want to run to her and hug her daughter as tightly as she can, to tell her that she will never be alone again. But just as she was about to leave from her cover she felt her shadow stirring, forcing her to retreat back to her cover. Just as Elizabeth fears that she harmed her mother by her presence Alex too feared she would harm her daughter because of her shadow, assuming the truth itself doesn't prove to be far more harmful than the shadow. Behind the leave less tree she remained hiding behind, her heart torn as she fought to decide which option to pick. Which on is the right one to make at the moment.

[Skylus]

Secrets of the Raven

Wright was reading a page from a book called Wintertime for Rene, a love story of sorts, when he heard a voice that while he heard once he still recognize it. How can he forget his first ever multiverse trial case? Pheonix turn to look at Madi while still having the book open.

"Madison was it? Yes a lot has happened since the last time we saw each other. I ended up going through many worlds before I found myself in this one. Did you find your home world and what happened to the group you were with?" Wright asked as he closed the book. However Wright would tilt the book ever so slightly while doing so, causing a photo to slip out from the book.

Wright would notice the photo and reach down to pick it up. "Hey doesn't this look like Elizabeth?" Wright would show Madi the photo. On the photo she would see Seras sitting on a blanket outside in what seems to be a park judging from the grass surrounding her, and the bushes, flowers, and tree at the background. Seras seem to show none of the small signs of aging like she does now as she appears to be younger and more slimmer.

Her attire was also far more simpler with just a purple skirt and tan color blouse, yet it was not Seras herself that was the most eye catching detail. In Fact there was two.

For Wright the fact the woman looked almost like Elizabeth was surprising but for the two they would see a young girl wearing a cardigan sweater with sleeves to big for her along with a tie too long for her wearing what seems to be a school girl uniform, sitting front of Seras while the older woman held the girl in a tight hug from behind, both of them were smiling.

Seeing how cheerful and carefree the two looked Phoenix couldn't help but to smile as well. "Looks like we found an old family photo. But why was it hidden in this book?" Wright questioned, placing the photo in his pocket. He would flip through the pages of the book to find any more secrets stored within but found nothing.

"Either that photo was used ae a book marker or someone was trying to hide it, if it's the latter than why?" Wright began to rub his chin as he felt a mystery was starting to develop. Elsewhere in the house Elizabeth climbed down the stairs putting on her now fixed trench coat.”Now I just need to get my car and pay my usual visit to mom whenever I drop by here. I'll think of something after that.” she said to herself as she walked to the door and left the manor.

What Elizabeth fail to noticed was that Alex was done with her errands and saw Elizabeth walk out, overhearing her on visiting her mom. The wraith enter the Shadowlands and followed the chaos magician out the manor to keep an eye on her. Elsewhere in the town a rift open and an identical copy of Alex along with nine people emerged in the outskirts of the Fairwoods district. The compulsion and perception filter spells cast made everyone ignore the off group as they began to make their way to their next destination, to Ashwood Manor.

"Yeah. I went back home. A lot of shit happened there and it'd take days to tell it all to you, but I'm still alive....The group disbanded for now, nobody else arrived here with me from the group I was with. I don't think you met anyone else, did you?"

Then, Wright was holding a picture in his hand and after Wright was done looking at it, Madi took it from him and studied it.
"....Seras? But why...."
Then it hit her. Why Seras had been so nice to her, had healed her, had talked her out of doing stupid things that could have gotten her killed -

"Seras is Liz's mom? That explains everything. Everything. Why I felt so....relaxed around her, why...Why she seemed to care about me more than she should."
Madi swallowed hard to get rid of the lump in her throat and then she gave the picture back to Wright, who then pocketed it.
"Even though I'm not her daughter, she acted as if I was, even if it was only for a short while. How did I not figure it out sooner?"

She turned to gaze at Wright, then smiled.
"I think we should go find her, yeah? I think I owe her an apology..."

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Dawn Elissa and Lilith von Brandt

Dawn and Lilith watched from a distance, though the latter had a harder time paying attention and not looking away. "See why I said it was important?" Dawn asked.

"Natürlich." Lilith responded, wiping one eye. "I will speak with her."

Lilith turned into a cloud of mist and left the redhead where she was, then reappeared a little behind Elizabeth. She took a few small, silent steps forward. "When I was a young girl, I lost my parents, my home, everything." she said quietly. "One night, and everything burned to the ground. Nothing was left. Alles ist schiefgegangen. It was so long ago, but those days are forever etched into my memory." She knelt down next to the witch.

"There is no surviving marker or memorial to that night." she said softly. "A shopping mall now sits on the land. The home I once had, lost to time. I am likely the only one to know it was there."

Lilith assumed that Dawn had actually looked into her past and saw the truth about her parents, and that is why she asked her to do this. She couldn't even imagine the real reason behind it.

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

Elizabeth felt Lilith's arrival but didn't turn to face her, refusing to let the vampire to see her face. As the vampire told Elizabeth her story about what happened to her family and like her those memories still haunt her to this day, but unlike her there was no physical reminder of that night save for herself and her memories.

"Did you discovered what caused the fire or is that answer lost forever like the house?" The witch quietly asked as she moved away from the gravestone, but still on her knees and facing her back to Lilith. The vampire can hear sniffling coming from the still crying mage.

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Lilith von Brandt

Lilith lowered her head some. "No, I never did. It was a different time. There was no point to any investigation, no one would waste their time thinking about the smoldering ruins of an inn at the crossroads."

"It took a long time to move beyond it. I had no family, no home. I was not the only one. It was not the best of times in Kurbayern for anyone, especially for those without much." She looked at the headstone before her. "Dei Mama?" she asked, though she already knew.

"I am sure she would be proud of you, no matter what you might tell yourself. You have to believe." She sighed a little. "I know too well the feeling of not getting enough time with someone. People say it becomes easier, though I believe that you just get better at handling it with time."

[Menschenfleisch]

Dead Man's Party | Avenoir and Mnemosyne

Polly looked toward Miria, the energetic little girl practically leaping out of her skin. It was heartwarming to see her so confident and happy, compared to how she'd been earlier. She'd said some... less than fortunate things to Marcus and the others, back when she'd wanted to take Czernobog on alone. She wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. Apathetic? Sorrowful? Angry? Oh, now was not the time to be a downer. Everyone was having a (relatively) enjoyable time, and who was she to get in their way? It was time to step back and let them be themselves.

"Well, if you'd like to get your equipment, I'd be more than happy to oblige. Who knows what this place might be hiding?"

She followed Miria, wherever she wanted to go, wandering the luxury hallways, now stinging with the smell of cigarette smoke. Apparently, the recent panic had given the staff something more important to worry about than tobacco. She was honestly surprised there hadn't be a riot, or something worse. These people seemed scared, but subdued. Maybe that was just what happened, where they came from. Or maybe, something a little more sinister was up.

Mnemosyne, meanwhile, knew avoidance when she saw it. Katya's closed off demeanour, her inability to show vulnerability, it was all very... sorry, why was she noticing this? She put a finger to her head, squinting at the ground. She hadn't been a psychologist, had she? No, no. Something very different altogether. Marcus, meanwhile, seemed to be picking himself back up after that tangential charade. His episodes of subtle mania blended seamlessly into his usual passive, nervous personality; leading to him having to go through a rather complex series of mental hoops just to think straight about what was going on around him. They were in a hotel, they were being hunted, they were isolated, and now they were meant to look for 'sins' with absolutely no clue what they looked like or how they acted. If he didn't know better, he'd assume they were being encouraged to attack the other guests; turn against each other.

"Look, if we aren't going to share, then maybe we can at least come up with a real plan. I mean, split up? When's the last time that worked out for anybody? These people- things are predators. They'll want to isolate us, keep us locked down so they can pull us apart. We need to stick together, avoid the dark places, meet in the middle for every decision. If they're taking advantage of our sins, going to any kind of extreme will give them power over us."
"And how do you know this? Or are you just making that up."
"It's- it's just a feeling, okay?"
"(Mark, you're making them think you're a lunatic.)"
"(Well sorry for being worried when we're being hunted by interdimensional sin-related predators in a hotel we can't escape! God, how are you all taking this so calmly?!)"

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

When Lilith told her that she never found out what caused the fire she would hear Liz softly say. "Sorry to hear that." The witch didn't think much on what Lilith told her besides the main event. The little details like hints to how old she truly was were lost to the witch.

When the German asked if that was her mother's gravestone Elizabeth nooded. She look back up at the headstone as Elizabeth told her that her mother would be proud of her and repeated the one word she heard others tell her, that time will make it easier. "I think you right right on that." Elizabeth turned around. Still on her knees she look up with her redden, tearful, eyes at Lilith. "Why are you here?" From the tree Alex had a hunch on why Lilith was here but she was curious to see what the German woman would do. However she did wish to join them to tell Elizabeth that the woman was right. That she was proud of her regardless of her mistakes and her actions.

---

Phoenix shook his head. "I saw no one from your group or anyone that I recognized before coming here. I was even in worlds where I was the only human around." Phoenix told her as the girl came to revelation that the women on the photo was Seras and that she was Elizabeth's mother. "Wait, you mean the ghost is actually her mom? Why is she wearing a mask and how come Elizabeth doesn't seem to treat her like her mother?"

When Madi said they should see Alex the lawyer took out the book what he found the photo. "I think we should look for her and get some explanations on why she is hiding her identity." Wright walked out of the library and began to search through the halls to find Alex.

---

Shadows of the Empire
Republic Executive Building- Chancellor's Suite

When the Slate made a loud ping noise that got everyone's attention as now Doug was at the center of everyone's attention as Doug began to talk with someone on the slate. Hearing the mention of their organizations name made Sato think that the old argument about the jet was going to be reopen but thankfully the subject was dropped, even better the general was demoted. Sato let a smallest travel of a smirk form on the news.

When Creston's projection was shown he asked if he can join in the alliance Mon Mothma would ask. "Your people have hyperdrives?" That would make Han say. "Not too surprising. The grand admiral from the Terrain Federation has them and they told me that hyperspace is connected to other universes. If anything this just proves his claim."

Mon Mothma looked surprised by what Han told her. As she look back to Creston she would ask. "What can your people provide to us?" Sato was the next one to ask what sort of agreements he wants? She suspects that he would somehow tie the whole fiasco with the jer to this and she was ready to fight against any agreement if he was to do that.

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Lilith von Brandt

"I was told that you were here, and that you might need someone." Lilith said. "So here I am. I am familiar with helping others through troubles, and while usually it takes a different form." She pulled the restored Bible from her pouch and motioned with it. "It is not a requirement for someone to overcome grief. Just because it helped me does not mean it is perfect for everyone." She thumbed the edges of the closed book's pages.

"She probably has her own reasons, but it was Dawn who asked if I would help you. I imagine she saw my own past and believed it would assist in knowing what it is like to be orphaned at a young age." In the distance Dawn's head turned slightly at the speculation, surprised by the overlap in the two's history. "Unfortunately I do believe after that our paths diverge somewhat, before diverging irreversibly so later on." Lilith added.

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven
Willow's Mist Cemetery

Elizabeth let out a chuckle as she turn her head to look at her left, not knowing that doing do made Alex hide behind the tree in the Shadowlands. "Figures Sunrise was involved. Probably saw that I couldn't just take her words immediately to heart and knew I would bawl my eyes out on here."

Elizabeth would see the bible from the corner of her eyes and she would close her eyes and sigh, turning to look at Lilith as Alex poke her head out again from the tree. "That isn't going to help much Lily. Some of my magic may borrow elements from Christian mysticism and occult traditions that incorporate esoteric variants like Gnosticism, but I'm not much of a worshiper for any sort of gods. I have way to many issues with their kind to willingly do so." The occultist explained.

When the vampire admit that Dawn probably chose her due to her own familial lost and being an orphan like Elizabeth. The occultist was like the timewalker in being surprised by the overlap when it came to such a critical point in their history.  "I can see why you don't like talking about that. I don't like mentioning that bit on my past either." The witch would tell her. "But are you here because Dawn told you that helping be would help the group?"

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Lilith von Brandt

"There are... worse moments in my past than that, which I am sure you can believe." Lilith said, shivering a little. "Ones I like to think about even less than losing my parents." She stared at the grass for a few moments. "That is one advantage you have over me, our pasts are not completely mirrored."

When Elizabeth asked about Dawn's motivations, Lilith shook her head. "She did not say anything about helping the group. She told me you were coming here and that she did not think you should be alone, and that only I could help you." she recalled. "That was the extent of it. I agreed to come, and here I am. Either she either truly cares about your emotional well-being as I do, or she is good enough at pretending that she does the right thing. I do not believe it would do any good to find out which, I prefer to assume the best in people even if I do not understand them."

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

Elizabeth heard what the vampire told her and frown. "I'm sorry that you had to go through whatever events you went through." When Lilith mentioned on how their pasts aren't completely mirrored the witch would reply with. "You don't know what else I have been through. For all you know it could either be similar to yours or worse." She says as she look down

When Lilith explained that Dawn wasn't doing this for the group and that she might be doing it for her alone just like Elizabeth the surprised witch looked up at Lilith. "You came here for me? But why?" The witch wasn't going to admit publicly now that the thought that Lilith and Dawn coming just for her at this moment touched her.

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Lilith von Brandt

Lilith looked at Elizabeth when she questioned Lilith's knowledge of her past. "While it is true that I do not know your past, I know enough to see that you are still as you were born, a luxury not all of us were afforded." She didn't like being reminded of her transformation, and some of the things that followed that. "But I did not come here to debate who has faced the worst pain."

When Elizabeth asked why Lilith would help her, the vampire smiled- though not wide enough to reveal herself. "After my home burned, I had three options: go to the nearest town and live and a beggar only to die young, go to the same town and be eine Straßendirne, or go to the convent that was nearby. Figuring it was the option that would least likely result in a miserable life and premature death, I became eine Benediktinerin." she explained. "Helping people is what I do. Even if it is not on the path to Vaterunser, every person needs a hand sometime."

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

"Right. I guess we should be glad for those small miracles." Elizabeth look downward but not at the ground. Lilith would tell her reason for helping and how she became what she is now, explaining that helping people is what she does even if they aren't believers.

The witch look up at her, giving her a small smile. "Mind giving this witch an actual hand than?" She would raise her hand for Lilith to grab. When she did so and help Elizabeth up. The witch would hug Lilith and begin to cry on her. "Thank you Lilith."

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Lilith von Brandt

Lilith was slightly surprised by Elizabeth latching onto her in a hug, she was not entirely expecting such an outward show of emotions from the woman who usually seemed like she was trying to close herself off.

She returned the hug, not moving as the woman let her feelings go. "Äußern Sie, Kind." she whispered as Elizabeth cried. "Hier bin ich."

Dawn believed that she had seen enough, and disappeared from her hiding spot to somewhere else in the timeline, likely to meet with one of the three afterwards.

[Skylus]

Shadows of the Empire
Republic Executive Building- Chancellor's Suite

When the Slate made a loud ping noise that got everyone's attention as now Doug was at the center of everyone's attention as Doug began to talk with someone on the slate. Hearing the mention of their organizations name made Sato think that the old argument about the jet was going to be reopen but thankfully the subject was dropped, even better the general was demoted. Sato let a smallest travel of a smirk form on the news.

When Creston's projection was shown he asked if he can join in the alliance Mon Mothma would ask. "Your people have hyperdrives?" That would make Han say. "Not too surprising. The grand admiral from the Terrain Federation has them and they told me that hyperspace is connected to other universes. If anything this just proves his claim."

Mon Mothma looked surprised by what Han told her. As she look back to Creston she would ask. "What can your people provide to us?" Sato was the next one to ask what sort of agreements he wants? She suspects that he would somehow tie the whole fiasco with the jer to this and she was ready to fight against any agreement if he was to do that.

Creston smiled.
"Well, my dear lady; I never did get your name, by the way - my military is...possibly underpowered by your standards, but we are the most efficient compared to the other nations of our world, in fact, I happen to have a presentation of 'what my people can provide for you', to use your words. Do you mind if I can connect to your screen device? I presume it is some sort of projector?"

Creston pressed a few buttons on his end and suddenly, he was on the big projector...screen.....thing.
"Hello! I truly have no idea how this even worked, your own presentations are safe, I assure you. Now. I suppose I shall start with my own division, and if you want to know the rest of Hyrulialus' history with the other units, just say so.

"My division, the Farore division, was started around twenty years ago. Around that time, we uncovered the burial site of an ancient hero, Doug has a few of the items that hero used on his quest to save Hyrule, as our nation was named back then. a tad bit off topic - The Shiekah Slate has been formidably updated in the past twenty years, and so have the weapons that the last hero used on his quest. But that is also off topic, if you wish to know more, please feel free to ask Douglas after this presentation slash meeting.

"The Loftwing, now in the Mark Seven stage, is our foremost and most powerful fighter jet so far."
Creston pressed a button, and a picture of Doug's jet in flight popped up on the wall.

( has the Hylian crest as a hood ornament, colors are gold and blue; lightning bolt replaced with a Triforce)
"This is Douglas' personal jet - codenamed The Golden Sapphire - this is the prototype, one of its kind. We named it the Mark One, and it has many, many features that are just now being implemented to our Mark Sevens; such as upgraced storage, an advanced hyperdrive, advanced heat tracking and radar, communications and life support systems. You could say that the technicians went a tad bit crazy when designing the first prototype.
"Doug's is one of its kind, but the Mark Sevens, we have around...."
Creston looked down at a paper, then back up at the group.
"At the current count, we have four hundred in the fleet, and around two hundred more being made now."

"You may have noticed this."
Creston pressed another button and a medal appeared on screen.

(but pure gold and hangs on a chain)
"These are our pilot wings, Doug is wearing them now, in fact, one of the originals."

Creston cleared his throat, then clasped his hands together.
"Do you wish to know anything else? Such as ground troops or ground firepower?"
He then had a look of realization.
"I can just send you a holographic data package!!"
Creston started to frantically press various buttons and flick various switches on his end and then leaned back in his chair.
"There. All the data should reach you seconds from now. I assume you'd like to get back to your own presentations, so I shall disconnect myself from this projector and resume the meeting from Doug's Slate."
Creston disappeared from the projector and the previous screen came back to what had been on it before. Creston then reappeared on the Slate's screen and waved.

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

Elizabeth did as Lilith said and just held on to her tightly as she cried on the vampire's shoulder. As Alex looked at the scene she felt conflicted. On one hand she felt relieved that Elizabeth found someone who cared for her and was there for her when she needs it. Yet she felt sorrow and shame as she wasn't the one in Lilith's place, to be the one to help ease Elizabeth and bring comfort to her.

As those feelings lingered a new one began to bubble and boil within her like molten tar, jealousy. As her envy grew she can feel rage accompany it. Alex grip on the tree tighten as she watch the display before her. The woman would only break out of this stare when she heard something scraping against the bark of the tree.

Looking down she saw that it was her nails that did it, her blacken razor sharp nails that were the ends of gray scaly fingers. The lich backed away from the tree in fear when she saw that, holding on to her hand as she sill it to return to normal. Alex knew that those feelings gave her shadow the power and liberty to do what it did. Fearing that if she stay any longer she might loss control Alex left, vanishing into the Shadowlands to return back to the manor.

---

Shadow of the Empire

After Creston's demonstration and presenting the data package to the group the others look at Doug. "I do believe he never gave us a good terms on how they want to join in. Besides I believe that is General Pepper to decide." Mon Mothma said. "But I believe you can tell us more on why you play this large role in your nation to the point they call you a hero?"

Sato soon asked. "How on Earth can you have a hundred mark sevens if your prototype was recent? What happen to the other marks to sense you seem to have went through them quickly?"

[Skylus]

Secrets of the Raven

Elizabeth did as Lilith said and just held on to her tightly as she cried on the vampire's shoulder. As Alex looked at the scene she felt conflicted. On one hand she felt relieved that Elizabeth found someone who cared for her and was there for her when she needs it. Yet she felt sorrow and shame as she wasn't the one in Lilith's place, to be the one to help ease Elizabeth and bring comfort to her.

As those feelings lingered a new one began to bubble and boil within her like molten tar, jealousy. As her envy grew she can feel rage accompany it. Alex grip on the tree tighten as she watch the display before her. The woman would only break out of this stare when she heard something scraping against the bark of the tree.

Looking down she saw that it was her nails that did it, her blacken razor sharp nails that were the ends of gray scaly fingers. The lich backed away from the tree in fear when she saw that, holding on to her hand as she sill it to return to normal. Alex knew that those feelings gave her shadow the power and liberty to do what it did. Fearing that if she stay any longer she might loss control Alex left, vanishing into the Shadowlands to return back to the manor.

---

Shadow of the Empire

After Creston's demonstration and presenting the data package to the group the others look at Doug. "I do believe he never gave us a good terms on how they want to join in. Besides I believe that is General Pepper to decide." Mon Mothma said. "But I believe you can tell us more on why you play this large role in your nation to the point they call you a hero?"

Sato soon asked. "How on Earth can you have a hundred mark sevens if your prototype was recent? What happen to the other marks to sense you seem to have went through them quickly?"

"Oh, I'm still here, my good lady, I simply moved screens."
stated Creston from the screen of the Shiekah Slate.
"As for what we can provide, we can provide firepower, troop transport, medical aid...just ask, we probably have it. And Douglas isn't a hero....at least not yet anyway, his ancestor was; why, the man single-handedly saved our entire realm; along with no less than ten to twenty people! For your other question, We built the Mark One twenty years ago, The Marks Two through Six have been in use every two to three years. The Fives and Sixes are still in operation; the reasoning for us phasing out our aircraft so quickly is that the other nations are quickly catching up to our technology levels, a tad bit too quickly, i might add...Any other questions?"

[Rostavykhan]

Dead Man's Party

Katya began to bite her lip. She was thinking, listening, considering her options, all as Marcus and Ammy gave their suggestions...

Marcus did make some good points...and he had been the first to bring up an idea. She just was hesitant to share anything about herself, but...did she really have a choice? They were all in danger. Perhaps letting her insecurities get the better of her wasn't a very good idea, especially it doing so had the chance to result in their deaths down the line.

"Damnit.", She muttered to herself, tugging at her tie. She could feel her nerves starting to get to her. "Alright then. I think Marcus has the right idea, to be honest.", She said, speaking slowly. She was almost hesitant to say it. "We should perhaps discuss what issues we may have while we search. Staying together may be best as well, or if we absolutely do need to split apart, it should be in larger groups. At any rate...discussion."

Before they could get down to business, Miria came up, Polly in tow. "Hey!", She called out, approaching the others. "You find your man? I'm grabbing my tools; there's a gas leak or something downstairs."

"Pip pip!", Katya chirped, clapping her hands gently. "What's that? A leak? That'd odd, but...why are you going to fix it?", She asked. They were there to find a way out, not fix some busted pipes. Miria snorted, and adjusted her glasses. "I mean, it's weird, right?", She said, peering up at the tall woman. For a moment, she glanced towards Marcus as well, and then at Ammy, Issun, and Ganon. "So, uh...what's the situation?"

Katya bit her tongue, and glanced down the hall - nobody but their group, and Miria and Polly in front of them. "We're trapped here.", She told the two girls, bluntly. "And we know that there are about seven people here responsible, so a group similar in size to ourselves. We don't know who they may be, but we're trying to find where they are. We should keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and...wait..."

Katya snapped her fingers. "The gas leak! Now that you mention it, that is rather odd. Was it just recently brought up?"

Miria nodded. "A few minutes ago."

Excellent, Katya thought. Well, probably excellent. Actually, it was bad, since it could be potential dangerous, and it might not even have anything to do with their targets. On the other hand..."Well then. It might be worth checking into. At the very least, it would be convenient to not suffocate...or have the hallway explode. Nothing more inconvenient than being burned alive in a horrifying gas explosion, after all!", She exclaimed, chuckling....it was more a nervous laugh, than Katya simply appreciating a dark joke. She stopped laughing quickly, and stiffened up once more.

"Anyways...I suppose you two ought to get to your little job then? Maybe? Um...oh, right!", She swung back around to Marcus. "We should probably try to discuss some of our weaknesses then...um, as much as I want to, I...", She trailed up. She was struggling, obviously.

"Well, I...I've been told, anyways - and by possibly unreputable sources - that I might perhaps be a bit too invested in my own image. I don't believe it, but...I suppose it may be some sort of weakness?"

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven


Lilith stood in place, ready to stay there as long as it took for Elizabeth to let all of the hurt out. "It will be alright, just let it out. We can talk about it." she said quietly. It was not the first time the vampire- no, the nun- found herself here, and she very much doubted it would be the last time someone needed her help with a personal issue. It was a part of her duties, and something she did without second thought.

When Dawn disappeared from the cemetery, she reappeared in Ashwood manor, nearby Alex's old room. She had a suspicion that the wraith would flee to here, and she wanted to be there to meet her. The scene was likely as hard for Alex as it was for Elizabeth, and she figured that Alex would likewise need someone to talk to.

Elizabeth didn't know how long she stay holding on to Lilith while she cried but she didn't care I'd she was there for hours or days, she was glad to see that someone in the group cares about her after the day she had. Elizabeth held on to Lilith even after her tears dried up. The witch look up at her, giving Lilith a wide smile. "Thank you Lilith." She tighten her hug and kept it like that for a few minutes before letting go. "If you need help you can come to me. I can repay the favor after what you done for me." The witch said as she kept her smile, locking her hands together behind her.

Back in the manor Dawn would find that the bed room Alex was indeed was in there, lying on the bed crying. The lich was no longer in her Weiss attire, instead wearing the civilian clothing that she prefers when not acting as another person. She was lying on her stomach, resting her head on her arms as she was crying. The lich sensed Dawn's arrival but said nothing to her as more sobs were heard coming from her.

Lilith smiled back. "It is nothing, I would have done the same for anyone." she said. "You were brave, putting your neck near me." she said picking the bible up off of the ground and dusting off the back cover. "I will keep that in mind, though when you live as long as I do and spend most of it alone you learn quickly how to let things go by you." She tucked the book back into her satchel.

Dawn appeared in the bedroom and saw Alex in a sorry state. She sighed a little, and slowly walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "I won't insult you by pretending to relate to what you're going through." she said. "But know that in my experience with these types of situations, it's better for someone there she can grieve with rather than sit there alone and wallow in her abandon. I had not anticipated the two to have such... similar tales. Perhaps that is part of the connection?" she wondered aloud, not sure if Alex was even listening to her.

Elizabeth tilted her head to the side. "Why would I worry about you trying to bite me? I think you prove yourself to be trustworthy to be around without worrying to much on you attacking me." Elizabeth turn to the headstone. "You know I wonder how she would think if she saw us hugging like that? I think she would joke about us ing a couple and telling us to get a room." Elizabeth covered her lips as she began to chuckle at her joke.

When Lilith told her that she would keep what Elizabeth told her the witch would turn back to Lilith. "So where are you going to go? I think I'm going to stay out for a while longer." The occultist told the vampire. The sun was now down but the sky was still blue and while darkness was growing there was still some light from the sky.

Alex felt the bed shifting due to Dawn's weight. As the redhead talked the lich listened but once she was done the lich turn to face her. "Do I deserve to be with her again? I left her alone for so long, how can I see her again after that?" She said without looking at her. "That German woman who I barely know did more for her than I did. I was too much off a coward to go to her and do what she did." The lich return back to sobbing.

"I was joking." Lilith said simply. She looked up at the darkening sky and removed her hood. "I do not know. Do you still need me, or do you wish to be alone?" she asked, "If you wish for me to stay, I will. If not, I will probably go back to the house. I have nothing else to do, so it will likely be reading scripture."

Dawn didn't look at Alex when she spoke. "I'm not the one to make that sort of judgement. But you heard what she said." Dawn looked back to see Alex not even looking at her. "She wishes you were there. How would she feel if she found out that you were there, that you heard her cries for help, and that you refused to answer them?" She shifted her weight to bring one leg onto the bed. "The way it stands now, you can answer her call. Sure it might not be in the way she expected, but it would be what she asked for."

The redhead looked up, towards the door for a few moments. "I believe you have other issues as well. I'm not the only one in on your secret now." she said. "It seems Madi and Phoenix discovered an old picture of you in the library. Using a fake name to keep your distance appears to have backfired." she glanced towards the lich. "I won't save you from this self-made dilemma." she warned. "You have a choice now, take fate into your own hands, or let your whole world come crashing down around you." She placed one hand on the wraith's shoulder. "You're lucky that they are looking for you first, but I would not waste time."

"I know Lilith. As for where to go I'm honestly thinking of going to a pub to get something to est and drink. Maybe watch a movie or something. I still want to take a break and I can't track the movement of the cult either." She told her. "If you don't want to go to the theater we can think of something else to do.”

Alex turn around so she was lying on her side. "How did they find that photo?" She asked. The lich thought about what do. She knew that she must reveal herself now but there was still one pressing issue. "How can I be sure that my shadow won't try to ruin our reunion?" She asked as she began to rise up and sit crossed legged on the bed. "Or how can I be sure that Kyle won't ruin things for us” she looked down. “Or that I won't mess up?”

"It does not matter to me." Lilith answered. "Go where you planned, before I joined." She remember something and reached into her satchel again. "By the way, you never collected this again from me." she said, pulling out the book they had stolen from a library. "I had to leave because of..." she started, trailing off before mentioning the massacre in the spider world, then the ambush. "But now you can take it. I hope it is still important."

Dawn motioned towards the library. "It was in a book. Not very well hidden, if that was the plan." she said calmly. "Now they're looking for answers, starting with you. Though I do believe it is fortunate that Miss von Brandt is keeping Elizabeth away from the house so they cannot find her first." She faced Alex when she sat up. "Remember that I said worrying too much about failure only guarantees it. You are against the wall here, you cannot afford to be on the fence any longer. Either you tell her, or she finds out from them unless you stop them."

When Lilith took out the book the occultist's eyes lit up.. "I almost forgot that you were still carrying that. Yes it's still important. They were planning in stealing it so it is important to their plans." Elizabeth grabbed the book. "Sense you don't mind to the pub we go." She turn to face the headstone. "Bye mom. I'll see you again after this case is done to tell you how it went. Maybe I'll bring you something sweet?" She said to it as she turn around and began to walk away from the headstone.

Alex muttered a curse. "Crap. It must have been that photo I left in that book a long time ago. I meant to get it out but I always put it off." When told that she must either took Elizabeth or to make them silent on the matter the lich let out a sigh. "Where are they? I can tell them to keep quiet and when Elizabeth returns I will tell her the truth."

Lilith nodded and followed Elizabeth. "At least you save money by only buying one meal." she said lightheartedly. She glanced at the grave and made the Sign of the Cross over herself quickly.

Dawn held her tongue at the irony of Alex's statement about the photo, it would have done no good to make that joke now. Instead, she just answered the question. "They are in the library. Though I would be careful how you approach earning their silence. It seems Madison believes that you see her as your surrogate daughter and intends to apologize to you."

"Crap, forgot your not the type that can drink blood and eat human food. Well just having good company to have a conversation is enough for this to be a date." The witch said with an obviously joking manner. The two would make it out of the cemetery and enter Elizabeth's car. When they got in Elizabeth looked at Lilith. "You know, I think you will need new clothes in order to blend in well with the locals." She told her as she turn back to the car window and started the engine, driving away from the cemetery. “I mean with my around I can help you find something that will look wonderful you.”

When Alex heard the location she nodded, then she was in for the surprise when Dawn told her that Mad was thinking that Alex was seeing her as a surrogate daughter. Alex tilted her head completely to the right and blinked a few times, her mind trying g to compute what it just heard. "What?" Was the only words her confused mind can utter. The lich shook her head. “Why does she think that I was looking st her like a surrogate daughter? Did I really did a lot to give that impression?” the lich question, looking back to her memories to see if her actions did indeed create that impression.

"You could not forget what you did not know." Lilith said. "There has not been much conversation about my condition or its limits." When Elizabeth mentioned getting new clothes, Lilith looked down at her dark ensemble. "What is the issue with my clothes? They are functional, they keep the sun from setting fire to my skin. they are dark and unassuming. Unnoteworthy."

Dawn shrugged. "Don't ask me, I'm just going off what she said. I believe she mentioned you taking what she deemed to be more interest in her well-being than would be considered normal." The redhead stood up. "Come, if her words bother you so much you can ask her in person, after this is dealt with."

"Yes it's all that but when out in a crowd it stands out like a sore thumb suffering from gangrene. We can still find clothing that can do what your current clothing can do but while fitting better in a large crowd." The witch explained as she stopped due to a red light. "You mention that we never talked about your condition? What does being a vampire in your world mean in terms of your daily life, your powers, and weaknesses? Just asking because I need to know what to watch out for encase one of your limitations and weaknesses are brought up.

Alex moved close to the edge and got off the bed, summoning her staff. "I guess I did treat her with a bit more protectively because of her age. But like you said it is best for us to ask her that personally." The lich looked down at the redhead. "Did you plan for me to be at the cemetery to see Elizabeth and Lilith together?"

Lilith looked down at her clothes again and frowned. "They referred to us as 'Black Monks' and 'Black Nuns' for a reason." she said. "Wearing bright colors is not our way." Talking about her powers and weaknesses wasn't something she was used to doing, so she tried to find the best way to put it. "If you have read Dracula... if it is even the same here.... It has some accuracy as far as abilities go, but it vastly overstates weakness. Ignoring the unbearable pain from the sun, there is not much in the way of weaknesses for a vampire. The extra sensory capability does lead to issues in loud or bright environments as well, but combined they are more beneficial than harmful."

"If you mean plan as in I caused you to be there, no." Dawn said. "You being there was just an additional factor. It wasn't a main one. I would have taken Lilith there if no one was watching." She moved towards the door. "It just happened to work out that way. Promise."

Elizabeth resume her driving once the light was green. "I'm not saying for you to wear bright color clothing, just more modern and casual clothing. You can still wear black because honestly you look good in it. But almost anyone can look good in black." The witch stopped as a trolley was driving by the street. "So Bram Stroker was right about some things? A few vampires are like the ones he talked about, but others are completely different. Some were never human to begin with." The witch resume her driving once more.

Alex looked at her and sighed. "I will believe you on this. Now let's settle this before Elizabeth and my team come here." Alex extended her hand down for Dawn to grab it. "Also what is Elizabeth and Lilith doing?"

"I would say he was right because he had help" Lilith answered. "I heard that he kept some unusual company, but I do not know personally where he got the idea from." She pulled her cloak closed around her body. "If anything is going to give me away, it would be my complexion long before my outfit. I have seen plenty of modern clothing, and it does not appeal to me."

Dawn glanced sideways slightly at Alex when she asked for an update on Lilith and Elizabeth. She looked down at her watch for a moment. "Driving." she said. "Lilith is defending her choice of clothing, though Elizabeth disagrees with it and wants her to change her style." She deliberately left out the parts about Lilith's vampirism, though she was not sure why Lilith hid it from Alex but not herself or Liz.

"The guy knew a vampire? So just like this world huh." The witch replied back as she took a turn and cross a bridge built on top of a canal. "Well we can say that you're into the goth scene for your complexion and I'm sure we can find some clothing that would suit your taste." She said to her. Elizabeth was deciding on whether to go to a pub or restaurant with Lilith after hearing about the sound sensitivity.

Alex looked puzzled at the question. "That is an odd topic for them to talk about?" She said. "Why does she dress like that though? Is that the typical fashion choice from her world? Also why were Madison and Wright in the library? What were they doing before the picture?"

"That is what they say, but I have never been to Ireland nor did I know him so I cannot say for sure." Lilith said offhand. "I trust that you remember that this is not the first time I have had to blend in with people. I have not just recently turned." she said, looking out the window.

"She mentioned something about 'the Black Monks' so I imagine that has something to do with her preference for color." Dawn explained. "As for the library, I believe they were hoping to learn more about this world. I don't think they discovered the photo intentionally, it happened to be in a book they were looking at."

"I know but we are going to a public place so I have to ask how you can blend in there?" The witch asked her as she began to adjust the radio to listen to the news. The woman was talking about the attacks in the town and the fact that British Intelligence Agencies might get involved due to the nature of some of the attacks. "Fuck me. That is what I need. Competition from the government."

Alex sighed. "Well regardless what their reason was let's meet them now." Alex began to walk to the door but as she grabbed the doorknob she stopped. "Did they find anything else in the library?"

"Elizabeth, I find your lack of faith disturbing." Lilith said. "I have managed for longer than several generations of your family have been alive. I will be fine." She didn't speak when the radio mentioned the government's involvement, not sure of what that would entail.

"A puzzle of sorts?" Dawn reported. "I see a secret room, behind the fireplace. They're stuck though, they're looking for a feather. From a corvid of sorts I believe, though it seems like they don't know that yet. They've instead chosen a pigeon. Shame."

"Thank you didn't say that while trying to choke me with your mind." The witch jested. "Fine I will trust that you will blend in well. So do you want to be in a pub or restaurant? We are getting close to the Merchant District which has the best of both."

Alex was surprised by what Dawn told her, but that surprise soon turn into a grin. "I knew it! There was a secret room behind that fireplace. Maybe that is where they hid the nazi treasures from world war 2?" Alex theorized, sounding excited over this recently discovered secret. "What has them stuck and how does a feather help them?"

"It really is not my place to decide, since I cannot partake." Lilith said. "Pick whatever you wish. I am here for the ride." she said, looking out the window again. "I know you have not asked, but do not worry. I will not sneak off to the bathroom and bite a patron."

"Looking at it, it appears to be... some sort of disturbance in space itself?" Dawn asked. "Celeste could deal with that quite easily I imagine, if she were here. " She thought for moment, trying to sense where her sister was. She wasn't nearby, meaning she was likely somewhere far secluded from everyone. "They might have to turn back if they cannot figure it out."

"I didn't ask because you don't strike me as the type to bite someone in the bathroom." The two would reach the district as the shops and restaurants began to surround them. "Still thank you for letting me know you won't do that. I don't need any more trouble today."

Alex didn't seem to surprised by what stopped them. "I can see my ancestors setting up an obstacle like that, they are lucky they didn't place any traps as well. Though if they pick the wrong feathers that might trigger a trap." The witch frown at that thought, placing a finger close to her lip as she was now alarmed that might actually occur. "Should we help them with the feather hunt or stop them before they go in with the wrong feather?"

"I would be careful about what assumptions you make about people." Lilith warned with a frown. "Those most desperate are often most dangerous."

Dawn shrugged. "If they can't figure out the puzzle, why should they have it given to them?" she asked. "I don't know them, I have no reason to like them or care about their success no matter how much she reminds you of your daughter." Dawn said flatly. It would also solve the problem of keeping them quiet with Alex's secret, but Dawn didn't speak up about that. "If you are in a rush to stop them, then carry on."

"I know that very well. I was just trying to say something nice about you." The witch said. The two would stop close by a pub and Elizabeth would get out of her car. When the two enter they would see that other patrons were either sitting on the tables enjoying their drinks and meal, playing games, or watching a football game on the tv. Elizabeth walk to a table and sat down. "So how many times have you been in a pub in your long life?

Alex sighed. "Because I rather not tell Elizabeth two people died in the house. You think she wants to hear that after coming back?" The witch said as she shook her head. "You think Madison reminds me of my daughter? Speaking of her where is she now? Are they still talking about clothing?"

Lilith sat down opposite the witch. "Not often." she answered. "No reason to. We did not drink in the convent, and after I... left I could not drink so what point is there to go to one? A lot of the patrons' blood is filled with alcohol, which I find off-putting."

"If they die because they poke their noses where they shouldn't and activate a trap they can't work out, I don't think it would be an extreme loss." she said coldly. "I don't make any claims to be able to understand how a human brain works, though I can make reasonable guesses." She looked down at her watch. "They're in a pub."

Elizabeth saw a waiter walk to her and after making her order for a drink she would turn her attention back to Lilith. Once the waiter was gone she would reply with. "What made you go into pubs in those rare occasions?" The witch asked.

Alex was put off by the coldness that Dawn was displaying. "I'm not letting anyone die in my house. I will wait for them in the library so I will make sure they won't die." When Alex was told that they were in a pub she arched a brow. "Odd place for a date but whatever. So long as they enjoy themselves I don't mind it." The lich open the door. "If you find your sister please don't let her destroy that spell. Old magic like that is hard to replicate and the feather most likely is enchanted to go through it without breaking it."

"Other people." Lilith said. "Same as this. It is the only reason I have for being in a place like this. It has nothing else to offer me. Without them, I would be nowhere near here."

Dawn just shrugged. "It is not my place to be humanity's keeper, nor any species." she excused. "It does not make sense, I know. But such is life. I doubt we will come across my sister here, either. Knowing her she is probably on top of a mountain, away from everyone so no one can disturb her."

"Plus being with someone with a pub is sometimes better than being here alone, especially when they are sober enough to drive you back home." The witch told her. The waiter return with a plate containing both a steak and fries and a mug filled with brown ale. The witch began to eat her meal while the waiter asked if Lilith would want anything.

Alex sighed once more. "Well as the keeper of this house what goes on in here does matter to me. Now you either will accompany me to the library to keep my company while we wait for them or you do your time lady thing or whatever you do when you're alone." Regardless of the answer she gets Alex would leave the room to go to the library.

Lilith shook her head. "No, I am fine. As much as I would like to, my system does not take human food well anymore." she replied. She thought about what Liz said, silently hoping that she wasn't planning on making her drive home. Lilith had never had a license, or used a car herself.

Dawn's eyes narrowed slightly at Alex's tone as she walked away, but she didn't say anything about it. She just followed her to the library, in case the two newcomers didn't want to keep the secret quiet.

Elizabeth took a bit from her piece of steak as Lilith told her that she can't eat human food anymore. After swallowing the piece she spoke. "So your body can only process blood now and anything else would be stuck in your stomach until you throw up. That must suck. What about drinks? Can you drink water for example or is that off limits too?" The witch asked as she began to eat some of her chips.

Alex walked through the hall to find the library. When they saw the living room from the corner of their eyes they saw a rift open and more golems entering carrying furniture. That made Alex stop in her track as she look at the sight, annoyed by it occurring. "And the Order now decides to send in the golems to return the other stuff?" She shook her head and sighed. "They chose the perfect time to do this."

"Liquids do nothing for me, the only exception being if I have been overexposed to the sun, water will help somewhat." Lilith said. "They are more of an inconvenience than anything." She took a book from her satchel out and opened it in her lap.

Dawn watched the golems arrive. "Need them sent back?" she asked. "Or kept from ever arriving? One of those I can do, the other I'd have to get Celeste in to do."

Elizabeth would take a sip from her drink as Lilith took out her book. "Odd place to read a book don't you think?" She told her as she return her attention to the steak to finish it.

"Just send them back and keep them trapped until I need them. I want to make sure they arrange everything as I want it and not place stuff randomly throughout the house." The witch says away she waved the fingers of her right hand up and down , using her left to cover her face. The lich began to walk away from the living room.

Lilith looked up at Elizabeth. "Perhaps." she said. "I would be lying though if I said I was not excited." She set the book on the table, revealing it to be her bible. "It was in tatters and falling apart from age, until Dawn repaired it. Faded sections have returned, torn pages mended." she demonstrated flipping through the pages of the book.

Dawn's eyes took on a green glow as the golems started moving backwards exactly how they arrived, and the rifts closed behind them. "Seems like it would be an easy problem to fix, but nonetheless it is done."

Elizabeth looked at the book that was repaired by Dawn, seeing page looking as though it was freshly printed off the printers. "Can I take a closer look on the book? I want to see how thorough Dawn's repair job was." She asked as she wiped her fingers so not to stain the pages and anger the vampire.

Alex let out a sardonic chuckle as she look both irritated and tired. "Oh how I envy you and your innocence when it comes to bureaucracy." She said as she can her the two people talking in the library.

Lilith slid the book across the table. "Unfortunately for you, it is not in English so unless you have been keeping a fluency of German secret this whole time, it will not be clear to you." the nun warned.

Dawn looked over at Alex. "I was referring to the task of moving the furniture, not dealing with the Order." Dawn leaned over and lifted up one of the sofas with one hand. "They are not particularly heavy, I could have moved them all by myself." she said.

Elizabeth grabbed the book. "I understand some German. Not enough to say that it's a second language but enough for me to know some words and use them for my magic." Elizabeth told her as she began to go through the page. "My mom knew German more but that was because my grandfather was German." She looked up at Lilith. "Yeah I'm part German thanks to my grandfather along with part American because of my dad. I wonder if I ever get married would I marry someone from another nation like my mother and grandmother?" She return back to the book as she look through the pages. She would find the bookplate and a name written in it. "Katharina D?" The witch look up at Lilith. "Is that your real name Lily? What does the D stand for?"

Alex look down. "Well I'm not much of an Amazon like you. Some of the furniture is too heavy fir me to carry on my own and for some well..." she gripper her staff tightly as it was formerly floating in the air. "I can't reach far enough to place some items in their proper place." She admitted, refusing to let Dawn see her face after saying those words. "But if you want to help me with the heavier stuff I won't mind. I would like to see if your boasting has any merit to it or if you were just saying that just to impress me."

Lilith pulled the book back and looked at the plate, her eyes wide. She'd forgotten that her name was stamped in there when she received it, it had faded so long ago. "I..." she trailed off. "Katharina is dead." she said closing the cover. "That was very long ago. As far as anyone knows, she stayed in the shallow grave they gave her."

Dawn looked down at the lich. "If I truly desired, I could rip this house from its foundation and move it to where ever I pleased." she said. "Your furniture is child's play. As is reaching the top shelf."

Elizabeth heard what Lilith told her as she finished her chips and drank her ale. Putting down the mug she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "A shame, Katharina is a lovely name for a lovely woman." She said with a smirk. "Why did you chose Lilith though?"

Alex look up at Dawn. "Please don't do that, I like where the manor is." The two would see the entrance of the library, and the fireplace being turn halfway to reveal a secret room, the large painting showing the Ashwood family crest on the floor, and the lawyer and witch standing in front of a table talking with each other.

"You know why." Lilith stated. "First wife of Adam, corrupted by Samael into the demon of night, the mother whom from which all other demons are born." She tucked the bible back into her satchel. "Von Brandt, from the fire, or area burned by fire."