The sound of approaching footsteps warned Lucie of their presence before Adam’s words did. She glanced over her shoulder, nodding as he spoke and he and Lillian settled down beside her. 

“I experienced something like Babaroga’s teeth tearing at my mind earlier—I attempted to search for Olivia’s location—after using my talent on the entirety of Prague.” She winced at the memory, her finger trailing the line of dried blood by her hairline. “Good to know it’s this… [i]thing[/i], then, and not my limits. Probably. And hello to you, Lillian.” 

The doll she accepted otherwise wordlessly, turning it over and inspecting it, as Adam laid out their goals. It was not entirely comforting to know they were up against something superhuman, especially not when she could not reliably punch it into submission. Even so, the directions aligned with Lucie’s own intentions and priorities. She wanted to give Olivia a chance at a new life, and even if she couldn’t be the perfect mother, she—no, those thoughts would come later. She had to focus on the task at hand. She stuffed the toy inside of her jacket, close to her heart. 

*************************************************************************

Lilian stared intently at the manor, taking in every detail, hoping for something resembling a clue. She heard Lucie's greeting but was rather distracted and barely managed to respond, simply turning her head slightly and nodding . The house was old for certain, dilapidated by all metrics of the word, however she would not have described it as unkempt, or even abandoned. It was the small details; both the roof and the porch were devoid of any kind of foliage or other such fauna that tended to accumulate in places that had been abandoned; the flower beds, though only sporting the bloomless skeletal remains of rose bushes that had long ago given up on life, were devoid of weeds and the normal underbrush a gardener would busy themselves removing; the windows that were intact, of which there were few, were as clean and transparent as glass could be. By all accounts someone was doing their best to maintain some semblance of a home. 

The information was not terribly surprising, but also not terribly helpful. Either the girl was simply keeping her hideaway as tidy as a child could manage, or the entity was. Either way it didn’t tell her much beyond that the illusion of a home was important to one of them. Her mind leaned more towards the entity as whatever it was was clearly tied to the house in some way. 

“I have…” Lillian began, but stopped. Her hand was buried deep into one of her pockets and was grasping a palm sized device made of brass. “That is to say… I believe I have a course of action in mind.” She didn’t wait for a reply for genuine concern any distraction would lead to her changing her mind. “We have little information, therefore we must proceed assuming the worst case scenario possible and work backwards with the information we do have to make things… less worse. 

This is clearly not human, which opens up a world of dangers. A being of pure psionic energy is a being with near limitless capabilities. Especially if it has reached a point where it has not only the ability to influence the physical world, but reach far distances. Adam, you say this is a trap, and I tend to agree. Such a being would in all likelihood know we are here. 
Now…” Lillian pulled the device out of her pocket but kept it in her hand and did not reveal it. “There are some assumptions we can make. The first being, though likely powerful, if it knew for certain we were here, and where we were, we would have been dealt with already. So it most likely isn’t fully aware of our presence. Whether that means specific location, specific numbers, both or neither, is hard to say. Regardless of specifics, I think we can take advantage of that small detail by splitting into groups, divide its attention.” 

She turned to look at her companions who waited intently for her to finish. “The next thing we know is that it is likely tied to this location, otherwise it wouldn’t need to have lured the girl out here, and it wouldn’t make a point to keep things as well kept as they are.” A twinge of confusion on Lucie’s face made it clear she didn’t see what Lillian saw, but she pressed on “so, destroying the house is likely a suitable means to remove the entity. Fire should do the trick, even when the wood is moist, a house as old as this burns like kindling.

Lastly, this thing feeds on psionic energy, meaning it needs it or at the very least wants it. Which is where this comes into play.” Lillian revealed the brass device. Cylindrical and well polished with a filigree design etched into it by someone who clearly had no idea how to do such a task. Both the top and bottom of the tube were plugged with brass caps, with the top cap possessing a protruding ring. “This is my Ionic Propagator, it is a device I made to-” Lillian cut herself off, realising there was no time for a proper explanation, and the look on Lucie’s face made her feel like she was speaking another language. “To spare a long explanation, it can absorb Psionic energy. I couldn’t say how much however, as to date I have been unable to properly create a suitable metric of measurement. Regardless, it works, and a lot or a little, this thing should notice a piece of itself missing.” She looked down at the device, praying in the privacy of her own mind that her assumptions on the entity were at least half right.

”My plan is to make myself known with this device, and attempt to bluff it. It has no idea what this is, or its limitations. But it will know it can steal what it has. I only need to keep it distracted long enough for you two to find the girl. You leave, signal me, I leave, and we burn this place to the ground. Thoughts?” Lillian turned to look at the manor again, not wanting to see her companions' faces. Technically speaking her plan was likely less dangerous than sparring with a large ogre was, but the unknowns in the equation made her skittish and she didn’t wish the others to take note. She was pragmatic, not a hero, were there other options she’d have suggested them. Were she to base it on her own preferences, she’d have sent one of the other two in with the device to dupe the inhuman creature. However Adam was by all accounts still run down from their last encounter, and Lucie’s desire to adopt the young girl meant it would do the most good to have Lucie be the one to find her. Lillian knew how the device worked, had not a motherly bone in her body, and between her and Adam she was the least worse for wear. Pragmatism, not heroism. 


Lucie stared at the strange device for a moment, her thoughts racing. There was definitely a chance that it could work, she figured. Her previous experience left her still cautious however. “I think the idea has merit, Lillian, but if what Master Adam says is true, then we are at a disadvantage. This… thing is arcane and esoteric in ways I cannot begin to comprehend yet. I recommend caution.” She looked towards the manor, her expression one of consternation. “Promise me something,” she said and fixed Lillian with a stare. “If it gets dangerous, you run. I would rather have to bolt for my and Olivia’s life, than an extra ten seconds of head start at the cost of your health. Or life.” 

For just a moment their eyes met, a curious look of mild consternation flashed across Lillian’s face, before she directed her attention towards the manor. She didn’t say anything, but gave a single, quick nod. It didn’t quite convince Lucie that her warning and request had been taken seriously, but there was a buzzing at the edge of her senses that told her that they were on a time limit so she decided to let it go. She released her grip and directed her own attention towards the grounds. Lillian was a resourceful woman, she would not get herself into unnecessary trouble. Hopefully.

Lucie glanced at her other companion. “Adam, you said to not try to ‘touch’ the entity within the manor, correct?” 

“Yes. It feeds off of psychic talents, and would be inadvisable.” 


A faint smirk, tinged with uncertainty at the edges, appeared on Lucie’s face. “Nothing about the grounds, then. Give me a moment.” She put her hands to the ground, and let her mind probe the area they were on. She made a point to avoid the building itself, only letting her field of ‘insight’ creep up close to the walls. Fortunately, that was all she needed. [i]’Where did Olivia approach the manor?’[/i] she queried, and as soon as the thought formed, it was like glowing footprints appeared on the ground, visible only to her mind’s eye. Her attention fell on a pair of trees to the north-west of the manor, ordinary but for the fact that they were leaning against each other and creating an angled archway of sorts. Experience told her that it was an animal trail; a common road that deer and other critters likely used. And it was where Olivia had approached from, and walked directly towards the manor in a straight line. 

“There,” she pointed towards where she now knew was an entrance. “If we follow Lillian’s plan, that would be our best entrance point. It’s where Olivia came in, and there’s a good chance she’ll still be relatively near it.” She glanced at Adam and cocked her head, then headed that way, expecting him to follow—or voice complaints.