The scrying session was as normal as could be to say the least. If Rick had expected anything abnormal to happen, he would likely be sorely disappointed.

That is, until, he was finished.
The very map he'd worked hard on, spent his time putting every detail into, was blank. Once the scrying ritual was done with, the paper had simply.. been erased. Immediately, without explanation, without warning. For Rick, was an obvious sign that something was wrong.
And likely an annoyance.

[hr]

While Rick was cooped up in his room and scrying, however, one Eine Minerva had left the building and begun a little wander throughout Sighisoara on her lonesome. Her elegant stride and rather.. odd visage would've caught the attention of many if not for the ace up her sleeve.
Magickal Makeup.

There were no bandages upon her face, and her eyes were hidden behind a pair of quaint, rather surprisingly fancy designer sunglasses. Her trip didn't take her anywhere near the woods, although she was well aware of the eyes that were trained upon her inside it.
She paid them no mind, however, as she went about her day buying groceries, chatting with the locals, and purchasing a rather large amount of salt.

"Like salt, miss?"
The cashier gave her a kind, cheerful grin as Eine readied her card to pay. The older woman nodded, giving the woman a warm smile in return as she swiped her card and entered her pin number.
"I do. It's tasty, and there's a lot of recipes that make good use of it."
"Yeah, that's true. You here on vacation?"
"Business."
The card was accepted as she'd expected.
"What kinda business?"
Eine looked back up at the cashier, whose cheerful expression still remained.
No traces of Magick, no traces of Non-Human traits. She was just a curious girl who wanted to chat with a tourist.
Flashing the girl a grin, Eine nodded. "Top secret, super important business. I've got government documents I need to smuggle out of the country."
The girl snorted as she gave a quick laugh, covering her face in embarrassment as she realised she'd just snorted in front of a line of customers. Coughing once and handing Eine's bag to her, she gave the older woman a nod.
"Have a good day, government lady."
"You too, miss. You have a nice smile."

Leaving the somewhat flustered teen behind as she exited the store and stepped out into the daylight, Eine let out a sigh.
This is why they did what they did. Why they fought. Why they..
Killed.
Narrowing her eyes and adjusting her sunglasses, Eine noticed the sun falling just above the horizon and soon to vanish completely. The dazzling orange-red rays of the noon sun lit up the town around her with a beautiful, almost comforting glow. It was almost enough to make her really think she was here on a vacation.
It was almost enough for her to forget that, later this evening, she'd likely be sending a young boy to his death.
It wasn't that she didn't have faith in Rick, of course. She had plenty.
But not even someone like him was truly ready for a mission of this calibre. Withholding information wasn't something she'd ever liked to do, but that vampire had threatened to rip out her tongue if she spoke too much.
All Eine could do was keep in contact with him and help him as much as she could.
That's all she could always do.

[hr]

Step, step, step.

A small, young girl was pacing the halls of a building not too far away from where Rick and Eine currently were. Her eyebrows were knitted in concern, her crimson eyes only serving to further betray her feelings. As a Master of Illusions, showcasing one's true thoughts and feelings on the matter was never good showmanship.
But the situation was different.

One of her very own beloved children was putting his neck on the chopping block, and she'd been absolutely powerless to stop it. The sound of a door opening caught her attention and her head whipped around to catch sight of the tall, somewhat angry looking man exiting the room.
"Arthur, what did he say?!"

He shook his head, and Illusion's firm line of a mouth turned down at the edges.
"He won't allow us to recall him. Says that if we were so eager to send him out, we shouldn't have any problems with him being sent on such a dangerous task."
"Are you *kidding*?!"
She marched towards the door, anger fuelling her stride before Arthur put his hand on her head, stopping her in her tracks. She swung at him, but her arms were far too short to reach him as she flailed in his direction, sometimes landing glancing blows on his arm.
"Aaaaarthuuuuuuuuur!"
"I know. You're worried. I understand you are. I am too. He's my son."
Arthur's eyes remained focused on the little girl's face as she looked up at him, genuine tears brimming in her eyes. He let go of her and she shot forward into his chest, burying her face into him and sobbing quietly.
It was a rather morbidly humorous contrast to how the two had met- a sight Arthur would likely remember for the rest of his life.
Now, after 6 years of working side by side, the two of them were quite close. Good friends.
And that wasn't even mentioning the wonderful people they'd raised together- they were all wonderfully skilled Exorcists and people, and Arthur was proud of them, very much so.
The vampire hugging him, however, was a bit clingy. She'd never let it show in front of them, but she cared about them very much. They were her family- a bunch of people who accepted her for who she was no matter what, even if Angel was a bit prickly towards her.

She didn't know, yet, that in just a few years time she and one of her adopted sons would be in a secret war with each other.
She didn't know what was really in store for her other son, either, despite knowing what she knew.
She didn't know that an ever seething darkness was slowly coming to ruin them all.

For now, she was just upset that someone had forged her signature to send Rick on a dangerous, dangerous mission with a man he'd never met and a support team far too distant to save him in time.
Arthur was distraught, too. He, for the first time in a long time, didn't know what to do. The Archknight wasn't allowing him to call Rick back.
It seemed almost a miracle that Eine had been sent with him, but even that put horrible thoughts in the back of his mind.

Why did whoever forged the signature send a half-Demon Exorcist and one of the world's most powerful Mages to the middle of nowhere to investigate a cult?
He'd be upping security while they were gone, but even then..

He knew that there wasn't much he could do.

[hr]

Night had fallen and Eine was back in the hotel, pouring some salt in a circle in front of the doorway. She'd already requested that room service only attend to both her room and Rick's room when they left. No doubt it made the staff curious, but in Romania superstition was quite rife- the circle of salt would likely remain undisturbed even if the cleaner disregarded Eine's instructions.
Not to mention they'd risk getting a horrible review.
The windows, too, had undergone the same treatment with salt placed upon the windowsill, something she intended to do with Rick's room as well before they left.
And, on top of that, she'd made sure to leave a trap in her bedroom just in case anything somehow got in.
Even the slightest amount of Magickal energy would set off the alert in her mind and tell her that the hotel was compromised.

With that in mind and done, Eine knocked on Rick's door to alert him that the time had finally come.