One thing that Lily had enjoyed since she was very young was speed, and the feeling of the wind in her hair. When she had been just a girl, the feeling had just been her then shorter hair pulled back as she ran, be it from angry shopkeepers or random passer-by's whose wallets she had liberated. Nowadays not only was her hair significantly longer, but the fur of her tails only heightened the feeling. 

As such it was not an entirely unpleasant trip as she and her companions, reluctant though some of them were she imagined, flew aboard I.O towards the hole in the ground, and back up through and into the sun. Having been in near total darkness for well over a day, the sudden influx of morning light stung her eyes, causing her to wince, and she imagined the others did much the same. Carreau especially, given his avian nature. 

She hissed against the sharp light, shielding her eyes with her hand and averting her eyes as much as possible. 

"H̵aviǹg͜ tro҉ub͢le ̛ẃi̵ţh thé ͜li̷gh̢t͝,͡ ͝O̡'͡ l҉ea̴d͘er̶?" Came Marrote's mocking question, earning him–it?–a flat stare. 

Rather than replying, she pulled out the orb she had taken from her latest opponent, twisting it the way Egon had shown her, and conjured the map once again. She watched the one dot that represented their location, occasionally looking out at their surroundings, scanning for a good place to land. She idly ran her tongue along her teeth, taking one last look at the holographic map before twisting it and making the map disappear, then turned once more to Marotte, the flesh-thing that made up their rogue returning her look with an inscrutable one of her own. 

"Before we land, I want to know how you intend to go unseen," she said. 

Marotte nodded, lip-less mouth twisting in a smile. "Are͝ ͘y͜ou fa͡mili͡ar̕ w̛it͞h ͡cutţlęf͢i͟sh͠? Small,̨ ̀s͞quid-́l̸ik̀e͡ a̢ni̷m̛a̡ls."̷ ̶L̨iĺy̵ ͘nơd̡d͝ed̕.͏ ̧"҉M͞y҉ sk͟i͠n̢ ͘ís͟ ͟lìḱe̡ ͟theirs̵.̸ ͘It ͠c͞a̴n ́ch̶a̴n̢g͞e͏ ̕c̸o͘lour ̵ins͟tantly,͏ ͠ma҉ki͟ng̶ m̶e͠ al̨m҉o҉śt ̴i͟n͏vi̡şiblè.͠" His entire body suddenly turned metallic green, the exact shade of I.O's own carapace, and had Lily not been this close and known he was there, she was certain even she would have had difficulty spotting him.

"Impressive," she said and meant it. "Anything else?" 

The Flesh-Jester seemed to shrug, or at least made a movement reminiscent of it. "K̴ńi͟v̸e͏s̴: Thr̕owing, stabb҉i̛n̕g̛, şl͠ic̵ing, th̕e ̵wo͠r̸k̡s.̸ I am to̧l͢d Ì a͘m ҉lįk̡e ́y͝ou͡,͢ ̷o̸n͝l͜ỳ st̶r͟o͞ng͡ inśt͞e͡ad ̕of fas̴t. ̛An̵d͡ ̛l̕ike̷ ͏y͘ou͝ ͘sa͡w̸ ͝e͢arĺíe͘r, I ͘can ch̀ang҉ȩ t̕o҉ ̴l͞ook͠ l̡i͟k͝e͞ ͡wha̸t ͟I̶ wan̷t." 

She made a mental note of it all, even the insinuation that was his relative fragility. She hadn't pretended to be superhumanly durable herself, and has hinted that she was indeed no more hardy than a human–if in the upper ends of human durability–and now Marotte was saying he was about as tough as she. It made things easier, then, knowing she could likely kill him instantly should the need ever arise. She pushed the thought away for another time, instead throwing her thoughts toward figuring out how best to use Marotte's abilities. She had already been given the overview of the others' abilities and skillsets, and so had a general idea of what they were capable of. 

"We're getting close," Brucie said, pointing towards a cross section of streets they had decided upon earlier. He glanced up at the drone that had been following since they left, and it still pointed forward in the direction they were going. Their landing point was roughly halfway between where Lily expected her next opponent to reside, and so far her theory seemed to hold tight. 

Lily returned to orb to her tails, hiding it among their number. "Land over there," she called out to I.O, reaching over his shoulder and pointing to where Brucie had indicated. She received an affirmative rumble as reply, feeling the giant stag beetle changing starting his descent. To Marotte she said, "when we land, I want you to do two things. First, is shift into something like a bird, at least for your heart. A crow, preferably, and secondly I want you to scout ahe–"

"G̡o̶ţt͘a͘ ́stop̨ yǫu r͟ight̛ t͏h̶ȩre, ͜f͠o̡xy̴," he said, holding up a hand, ignoring Lily's frosty look at the nickname. "Į ̴ca̡n͜ ́c̶ha̡n҉ge̷ m̛y appearan̴ce͝, bu̷t I̕ ̵c͘aǹ't d̴o҉ a҉ t̨h̀i͘n͠g͜ ̢ab҉out͟ m̵y ̶i̴nsi͠d̕es͟.͟ ̡Şo͢ ̕i̡f y̨o͏u̧ ̕had̀ ͟anyt҉ḩíng i͢n m͠in̡d̷ wh͝en͟ ͞a̢skįn͢ģ ̨me ͝t͟o̸ ̛b̧ec͡o̸m̛e̴ ̶a͟ b͡irdbrai̛n,̛ g̢ot̕t͢a ̀dís͟ąpp̨o̴i͘n̡t̷ y͞ou.̧" 

I.O landed and Lily crawled off, followed by Brucie holding Mouse in his arms, then the rest of their entourage. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Lily threw up an illusory dome around them, making them appear invisible for anyone farther than a few steps away. 

"You mean that you're a skinchanger, not a shapeshifter?" Lily pressed, suddenly much less impressed with this portion of Marotte's capabilities. 

"I͘n̸deed," he said, nodding once. 

She sighed, putting a hand to her head. So much for the idea of using birdcalls to give signals to one another. Primitive though it might be, it would have been effective and difficult to see through. "Do you have anything you could give signals with from a distance?" She asked. 

Fleshy and hairless brows furrowed on Marotte's face, the mimicry of facial features turning thoughtful. Enough seconds passed that Lily was close to demand an answer, but before she could he pulled a long knife from somewhere Lily regretted witnessing. "Wíll ̧t͢h͠is ͘d̶ò?͡" He asked, holding the knife up so that it caught the early morning sunlight. 

"Using it as a mirror," Lily said, thinking aloud. "I suppose it'll work. There's no guarantee that the morse code between our worlds is identical, so we'd better figure out some simple signals. First, however," she brought the orb back out and conjured the map once more, again marking the area where she suspected her opponent would be with a red circle, and the distance between it and them in a yellow oblong. "The yellow is the area we'll go through, but not in one go. I want to do it piece by piece, going from building to building." Several black dots appeared in the yellow area, each roughly a block apart, and leading from their position to the red circle. "From where we are now, and to the first black dot, I want you to scout ahead, invisible as you can be, and check out the next spot." 

"A̢n̕d͏ ̀th̷en?͏" 

Lily nodded towards the knife he held in his hands. "Then you give us a signal. Two blinks if it's empty, and we are clear to move forward, three if you hear or see anything living. Four if you see someone with a drone. The last one is unlikely to come as a surprise given my drone will be pointing to my opponent, but better safe than sorry. Any questions?" 

"Primitive." 

Lily snorted, looking over at Egon. "You have a problem?" 

The spectre rolled his cigar from one side of the mouth to the other, unperturbed by Lily's glare. "No. Just pointing out the obvious," he said, blowing out a cloud of smoke. "But since you did ask, I do have an inquiry: How do you expect a group this large to go unnoticed, even if our dear Shoggoth scouts ahead?" He glanced at the map and the accompanying illusions courtesy of Lily. "And some of these 'dots' aren't even in view of each other. How is Marotte supposed to give us signals with reflecting light on a dagger, with half a building between us?" A handful of ashen-coloured fingers appeared over the holographic map, pointing to three dots, each located where a building was between it and the next one. 

Those were an issue, Lily had to admit, but there were no other routes she could plan out, that wouldn't lead them into more blind angles like those. She could create the illusion of a whistle, but it wouldn't make any tangible sound, only to the person using it as they expected it–or if she could see them blow it and amplify the illusion further–but she had no means of creating anything to give signals while out of line of sight. 

The ashen fingers still pointing at the map caught her attention then. She flicked one ear, lips pursing. "You can make things out of ash," she said, looking back up at the spectre. "Could you make a whistle? One designed to mimic the sound of a bird's call? Like a crow?" 

Egon chewed on his cigar, eyeing her for several long moments, each tick of the proverbial clock until he answered only making Lily's jaw clench  the more. "They won't be very durable," he said at length, "but aye, I can. Will probably have to renew them, as Marotte's spit will wear it down, but I can do it." 

Lily nodded. "Good." She looked to the others, from I.O to Carreau, then to Brucie and to Marotte. All shook their heads. "Egon, make two whistles, give one to Marotte, then let's go." 

[hr]

It had been half an hour since they had entered the 'red zone' on the map, as Lily had begun to call it, and at least two hours since they had landed, making it now the early afternoon. The drone had been pointing them towards the western edge of the zone, towards an area that was comprised primarily of apartment complexes; buildings with more than enough places to hide. There were also a number of smaller buildings, likely stores of various kind in the vicinity. 

Beyond this area the number of buildings thinned out considerably, giving way to more open spaces and less hiding spots. That fact alone made Lily certain that her next opponent was close. She need only find them, and then end it quickly. She had to be prepared for anything, be it a monster like earlier, an individual of superhuman martial prowess, a mage or sorcerer, or even a mecha. She didn't want to rule anything out. Whoever they were, they would be of considerable power, possibly with allies like herself. Their array of skills and abilities were also likely to encompass more than one person could feasibly be capable of. 

"Carreau," she whispered, keeping her eyes trained on where she knew Marotte's next destination was–a building with very few windows facing their way, so they had decided to use the bird's call whistle, "you strike me as the more powerful of your group. Do you have measures to counteract magic?" 

"No," he said, just as Egon let out an annoyed grunt, "that would be our Pyromancer's area of expertise. As you told me, you desired someone with utility and power, and Mr. Baratta is he." 

"Very well." She looked over her shoulder, parting her tails to look at Egon. "What can you do against magic?" 

Pulling out his cigar, Egon blew out a cloud of smoke and ash, and much as Lily wanted to believe it was a coincidence, she suspected he made sure it flew in her face quite deliberately. "I can sense it if I want to, s'long as it's not deliberately hidden by more powerful spells. But I'm no good at dispelling. My forté is fire and ash, not utility. If you're worried about simple magics, I can find them for you. Anything of higher levels..." he shrugged and left it at that, the meaning clear. 

"So we don't have a lot of countermeasures against a sorcerer. Great. We should just hope we don't meet one then." Just then, the cry of a crow sounded faintly from the next block over, picked up only by Lily and Carreau, judging by him turning his head toward it as well. Two cries, then three.

"There's someone there, let–" Two more cries from Marotte's whistle, making Lily blink. "Two more. So there's someone there, and there is not?" She cursed her own lack of foresight, giving only three different signals came back to bite her in the tails, and meant they now had to figure out what it was Marotte meant, and quickly. There was the option that someone or something living _had_ been spotted, but had left almost immediately, but for what reason she couldn't know. Perhaps Marotte had been attacked and were blowing in a panic, but she doubted that–the skin-changer was better at stealth than even Lily was, at least when on the move. She bit a nail, teeth clenching around it as thoughts raced through her head. She was so busy running through scenario after scenario that she almost missed what I.O said. 

"Perhaps it is literal?" He suggested, looking down at her and blinking slowly. "You said two blinks if it is empty, and we can move forward, but three if he saw or heard anything living." 

Beside him, Brucie nodded while petting Mouse. "He's right, Boss. What if the room is empty and we can move forward, but he saw something? Might be he wanna warn us that he's seen somethin', but nothing that falls into the parmi... parema... falls into the options you gave him?" 

Lily looked from one to the other, quirking her head to the side. "It makes sense," she said and looked back in the direction of the call. She withdrew the ash-whistle Egon had made for her, and blew it once, signalling they were on their way. "You know the drill, don't come all at once, and use different routes. I'll go first." 

[hr]

A quarter of an hour later and they were all gathered in the foyer of the next building, a hotel it turned out. When the last of them had entered Lily threw up a still image of the foyer in front of the doors, making them essentially invisible to any who looked through the sliding doors. 

She turned to Marotte who was leaning up against a door leading further into the building. "So? Why did you blow five times, of all things." 

"Whaţ ͢el͏se ̧was ̧I ͏s̡u͞p͠pos̵ȩ to do?͞" He asked, throwing up his hands in a defeated gesture. "Y͞ou ͢di͜d́n'̕t̕ g͝i̧v͏e̢ ̢m̸e ͠a̶n̕y ̛sig͏na̶l ̢f͢or͘ ͏[̢i]'I c͘a̶n͜ see͘ a͝ ͡l͠i͜g͞ht ơn!̨'҉[͢/̸ì]҉ ̴So I͡ i͝mpro̵vi͘séd.͠" 

So he had seen a light on somewhere. It seemed I.O and Brucie had been remarkably close to the truth then. Signs of someone or something living, but not seeing anyone definitively. "Where?" She demanded, to which he opened the door he was leaning up against and headed down the hallway that followed. "Egon, follow me. The rest of you, stay here." She then turned to follow Marotte, her ears swivelling about for any signs of life. She was close to her next opponent, she could feel it. What's more... She had gotten so used to it that she had started ignoring it, but the drone still followed her and was now pointing forward and to her right. She was definitely getting closer. 

A few minutes passed with Marotte leading them through small hallways and rooms, most dedicated to storage or washing, even a kitchen at one point. Their miniature tour of the innards of a hotel came to an abrupt stop when Marotte lead them to an iron door labelled "Fire Exit", and stopped with one hand on the door. 

"The͘r̶e͘ ̛a͞r̛e ͘no ͡win̸d́ows ͠h͜ere,̀ bu͞t I̕ ́f͠ig͟u̸red͢ įt͟ ̀best͡ to st̵áy ͝n͟ear ̨to͡ the͏ ̀gro̕u̶nd ͡a̛nd̀ ̀l̵o͢ok͡ ͘u͘p͟.͡ W͞ould ̛b͏e͏ t͞oo ̷e͏as͟y̸ to̕ b̀e ̨spot͟t̸e̴d ̡i̡n t̸he͟ ͏wi̧n̛dow̸s I͏ th͡ìnk.͝" 

Lily was forced to agree. This place was rife with hiding places, the rooms in all of the buildings being perfect places to hide. She would be surprised to see anyone on the street, and would herself keep more of an eye out on the windows of buildings near her. She nodded, and he opened the door just enough to look out. 

"Wait," she said, then gestured with a hand and had the outside of the door shimmer briefly, creating a bubble around the door. She didn't know what the facade looked like, so dared only create one of the door, using the inside of it to reflect the outside, making it look like just a closed door. She nodded to Marotte and they pushed the door open. 

Marotte silently waved Lily closed and stock his head out, and she did much the same. "T̷h̡er̴e," he said pointing down the street to their right and towards a large apartment block several stories tall. "F͞oúrth ̷f͘lo̵or̸," he elaborated. 

Lily followed his finger, narrowing her eyes as she roved the entire facade of the building around the fourth floor. It took her a few moments, but she finally saw it. A light bulb in one of the windows. So far she had seen no signs of life in this place. No lights were turned on anywhere that she had seen so far, but here there was one. She couldn't see anything beyond the lightbulb in the ceiling from where they were, but it was enough. She glanced over her shoulder at the drone still hovering there, whirring away. It confirmed the suspicion that was beginning to form: Her next opponent was in that building, the drone pointing straight towards it proved as much. 

"Egon," she said and stepped away from the door, turning to him. "To the right, about a hundred or so metres, there's an apartment block with a light on, fourth window from the left on the fourth floor. You said you can detect magic, tell me if there's anything you can sense there." 

Egon took the cigar out of his mouth, blowing out smoke and tapping remnants of tobacco and ash from it. "No can do," he told her. "Hundred metres is too far. You'll have to get me closer if you want to use me as a hunting dog. Ain't gonna go fetch for you, like that other mutt." 

Lily gave him a flat look, making her lack amusement quite well known without words. A few sparks jumped between her fingers. "Fine," she said, "let's head back to the others." 

Egon smirked around his cigar but remained silent and followed, as did Marotte after closing the door. Lily then dispelled the illusion outside it.

A few moments later when they were all back, Lily called out for them to gather, and she directed them into what had been a kitchen in the hotel, wanting to be out of sight entirely, so she didn't need to keep the illusion in front of the sliding doors up. 

"So," said Carreau once they were all gathered in the kitchen, Brucie–with Mouse still in this arms–and Marotte having taken seats on the tables while the rest stood, "what is your decision? Have we found our next quarry?" 

"I think so," she said crossing her arms. "Behind the hotel, a little less than a hundred metres to the right, there is an apartment building with a light on in a room on the fourth floor. I haven't seen any lights turned on since I arrived in this place, nor any signs of life except a bakery full of bread and pastries. This is a first, and I suspect either a trap, or someone got sloppy. Judging by the fact that the drone–" she pointed to it, hovering nearby "–was, and is, pointing directly at the same building, it's definitely there." 

"And your plan?" Egon pressed, sniffing and puffing his cigar so that his moustache twitched. 

"I want to find out who, or what, I'm dealing with first," she told him, then pointed a tail at both Egon and Marotte. "I want you two to go ahead. Marotte can turn as good as invisible already, and you told me you create your own bodies out of ash, and is otherwise actually invisible. Go into the building, [i]remain unseen,[/i] and sniff out the location of my next opponent, and any magical defences should there be any. The last part is your job in particular, Egon." 

"Hope you don't mind a pile of ash right here on the floor then," he replied, but otherwise made no comment. 

"W̢h͢at̨ ̴d͜ơ w̢e ̶do̸ i̛f͡, ̡or͘ w̡he̢ǹ,͞ ̡we ̸f̢in̵d ͡a͝nyt̷hi͟ng̛?" 

Lily looked at Marotte, the skinchanger currently scratching Mouse behind one ear while looking back at her. "It depends on what you find. If Egon senses any magical traps, I want you to dismantle them if you can, the stealthier the better, and if you can't then avoid them. If the entire building is encased in magical defences, and there's no way to get in, then just come back here, and we'll figure something else out." 

"And if they find your next opponent?" Brucie asked. 

"Then figure out whatever you can about them, but don't engage. If you have the chance, but [i]only[/i] if you can do so and get away with absolute certainty, steal their phylactery and bring it to me. You know what it looks like. If you do end up in a confrontation, or something goes wrong, create an explosion, Egon, so we know. Other than that, use your best judgement. I trust you... To an extent, at least." 

"How flattering," Egon drawled, eliciting a chuckle from Marotte. 

"Don't get used to it," Lily said, her tone clipped. "Everyone to the backdoor. I'll create an illusion like before, should allow you to get out without anyone seeing the door open." 

"Let's go then," Egon said and promptly dissolved, his body turning into a pile of ash on the floor. Whether it was because of Lily's expression, or the simple act of Egon becoming a pile of ash, it nonetheless left Carreau chuckling. 

Lily clenched her jaw, and said nothing, leading them to the door. She gestured, and ensured the others that the illusion was in place, then carefully pushed the door open and let Marotte and Spirit-Egon out, and then closed it again.

Now, all that was left to do was wait. Wait until they either came back, with or without the phylactery, or all hell broke loose and they had to fight.