ConteAmarula

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

The Conclusion

Lillian looked out to the west at the sun just barely visible over the tops of the rooves. The sky was dark enough that stars were starting to appear behind her, yet the sun had not set just yet. "You see," she gloated "as promised. Your sister's killer is behind bars and the sun is still up." Lillian turned to give a cocky smile to Kateřina Kucera who was anything but pleased. "I must admit, you had me thoroughly believing your little show at the factory. Perhaps you really did feel the pain of loss at your sister..."

"Du shvakhe zunh fun a froy! Du khzir! Du shmutsike khzir!" the other woman screamed from the other side of the bars of the police wagon. She then did her best so spit on Lily, however she had predicted the murderous sister might attempt such actions and had preemptively positioned herself far enough away to avoid any spittle based attacks.

"Now that is not very nice. You hired me to do a job and I did it."

"I hired you to find her! Not have me thrown in jail! Du zoyne khzir!" she pat back before attempting to reach for Lily through the bars. A foolish choice as the constable standing near by quickly reacted by thwacking her forearm with his baton. She screamed in pain and pulled her arms back in so hard she lost her balance and fell to the floor. Lillian smiled, then made a point to laugh out loud; even laughing a bit harder than would otherwise be warranted just to make Kateřina feel foolish. Aizik Kucera, Kateřina's husband, quickly helped her up. He had said very little since Lillian arrived at their house with the authorities and had his wife arrested. He had requested if he could ride to the prison with her and the constables in charge were kind enough to allow it. Lillian wasn't quite sure if the man had any part to play in the events; he had seemed genuinely surprised to hear about Tereza's death and his wife's involvement. But then again Lillian had already been tricked once that day so opted to avoid forming any opinions one way or the other.

Lillian said her thanks and goodbyes to the constables, all of whom took their hats off in a kind gesture of thanks to the woman before they departed. It was practically synchronous.

She watched them all ride away, feeling less and less satisfied with herself as the moments passed. She had caught a killer, which was meaningful, but she would have much preferred to had found Tereza alive. She had been suspicious of the sister since the start, after all she had waited a shockingly long time before seeking aid. But she did not think the woman was guilty of murder until all the pieces fell into place. Kateřina was one of the few people who knew of her sister's habit to wander, and knew where Tereza lived which meant she also knew that her sister lived in much better conditions than herself. Despite not being a maid herself, she still had access and friends in the maid network so she also had access to much of the gossip, including information on The Captain's habit of sending care packages to the family members of deceased servants, and when Alexander would have been out of town. There were other small details as well that hinted she might have been jealous of her sister, such as how she had been taught to read and Kateřina had not. Quite a lot weight against the sister, however her gaunt and malnourished form precluded her from being a viable suspect since it would have taken a lot of strength to do the damage that had killed Tereza. Of course once Lillian had confirmed the damage was from a fall onto a rock, rather than some kind of attack, Kateřina suddenly became a viable suspect again. She had means, motive, and opportunity.

Having a very solid suspect in mind Lillian fetched some constables and went back to Kateřina's house. Knowing if she simply confronted the woman she would simply lie her way out of it -a skill she had proven to be rather adept at- Lily decided on a different approach. She told Kateřina about her sister's unborn child which immediately set the woman off. She became hysterical and insisted Lily was wrong, or lying. It became quickly clear that while she had handled one murder reasonably well, two murders -one of which was an innocent child- hit her hard. She was blathering and screaming and crying all at once and demanding Lillian take back her lies. Lily instead took advantage of the woman's condition and gently coaxed and goaded the woman into saying things she shouldn't, all of which was heard by the constables in attendance. Once she realized what she had let slip, the entire story came out.

She had indeed murdered her sister to get the money from The Captain, though the specifics of the motive where rather strange. Tereza had actually told her sister of her affair with Alexander -sans the child-, and had explained that was how she managed such a nice home. She told Kateřina about Alexanders plan to marry her and how her money problems would be over as she and Aizik could live with her and Alexander. Apparently Kateřina came to the conclusion that her sister was as good as dead, believing that it didn't matter if Alexander loved her his family would never let him marry a servant and would have Tereza killed and her body hidden. Since she believed her sister was dead no matter what, herself and her husband might as well benefit from it. She knew if Tereza was found dead The Captain would would send them money, however she did not anticipate how long it would take for her sisters body to be found. She had killed her sister so far out of the city to avoid witnesses, but didn't think about how that also meant there would be no one to find the body. She began to worry it might take so long for someone to find her sister there would be nothing left of the body to identify and she wouldn't get any money because of it. She had heard rumors of Lillian through the maid network and reasoned she would be able to find her sister without having to give too much away. She had been correct, but did not anticipate Lillian's promose to find the killer would come true.

Lillian sniffled and wipe away a tear, the whole affair had been a lot for her. She then turned on an obnoxious heel and headed home.

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Back at her home Lillian laid in a hot bath. She had become very sweaty from all the running around she had done, and even though the shoes she had were oddly comfortable they were still not suited for the level of hiking she had done and thus her feet were very sore.

As she soaked she thought back to the events of the day. Not just the murder, but finding someone who apparently had powers of their own, and the bones in the stream which were something else entirely. While she had long ago concluded that if she had power there must be others who did as well, she had never actually found anyone who did. The days events had made it clear that she had obviously just not looked hard enough and vowed to start a proper search for people like herself.

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

Optional Reading Continued.

The captain's house was modest by the standards of someone in his station, however the inside made up for the modesty by being filled with enough trinket ridden tables and wall hangings to fill a home three times it's size. Dusting was likely to be a nightmare of grand proportions.

"Ah, Miss McClellen! The Captain will be ready to see you in a short while." Liechtenstein's Head Butler said as he poured some tea into a cup purchased from France out of a pot made in China. The ostentation servant had been so surprised at Lillian's appearance and request to meet the captain she was half convinced his oiled and coiffed mustache might just jump off his face. Probably a good thing that didn't happen, she mused, otherwise the man's outrageously large eyebrows would have become lonely on such an otherwise hairless example of a mammal. Lily let out a small giggle at that particular thought, which the butler assumed was in response to a boring story he was trying to regale her with as part of some attempt to keep her entertained while she waited. She would have much preferred to wait in private with her thoughts rather than stuck trying to tune out a man who was under the impression the price of a tapestry made for engaging conversation. Lily scowled every time the butler -whose name she refused to remember- turned his back or looked away.

Lillian normally tried to show more respect for the serving staff as they were often good people who were regularly abused by their employers. However she could not stand listening to such a pompous individual; the man acted as if he were somehow superior to others because of the station of the man whose shoes he polished.

"The clay of the pot add's a great deal of flavor to the tea. I do hope you will enjoy." he said as he topped off her cup, seemingly unaware that his listener had begun to very obviously count the number paintings in the room. There was a long pause, and Lily briefly wondered if the man had finally taken the hint. "Ah! I see you are an admirer of the Captain's fine art collection. Some of these are painted by the world famous painter Elmyr de Hory who-" Lillian cut him off.

"I do foresee this visit as requiring something a bit heavier than tea. Perhaps you can fetch one of the Captain's wines." There was another pause as the man waited for Lillian to give more details to assist in picking the correct drink. She had observed on many an occasion that in situations where the employer or guest failed to specify what sort of drink they wanted, or what the occasion was, there were unreasonable repercussions for the poor servant who fetched it and guessed poorly. Lily intentionally left her request vague to make the man nervous as she knew he was aware of what would happen if he chose poorly. Perhaps a touch too cruel, even for such a swollen-headed individual, but before she could say another word to course correct the Butler snapped to attention, then bowed and stood so fast his ridiculous mustache bounced around slightly.

"Right away ma'am." and off he went. Lillian let out a long sigh, both because she was a tad upset with herself for being a bit too mean, but mostly from relief at finally having a moment of peace.

She took a long sip of her tea, and found to her great annoyance that the tea had been badly burnt and had thus become far too bitter. "Perhaps my actions were more justified after all..." she quietly mumbled. There was little point in acquiring and using fancy Chinese pots if one could not even manage the basics of brewing tea. Of course there was always the chance The Captain preferred his tea as such; it would not be the first time a rich upper crust fool with no taste buds insisted their staff ruin quality ingredients in the name of some so-called preference. She took another sip of the tea as she was actually rather thirsty and hoped she could power through the bitterness. The sip caused her to scrunch her nose up so much her glasses slipped from their perch and almost fell off her face.

Lillian corrected her glasses then reached into one of her pouches and pulled out a small bottle labeled 'Miraculin' and added a few drops of some liquid from the bottle to her drink. After a quick stir she took a tentative sip and found that the chemical was doing it's job. The tea was still not as good as it could have been, but a lot of the bitterness was gone and replaced with a mild sweetness; the sweetness had an unnatural taste to it but it was better than ruined tea.

Her drink fixed, Lily reached into another pouch and pulled out a small box which she promptly opened. Nestled inside was a piece semi-hardened plaster that was imprinted with the shape of Tereza Kucera's head wound. There were multiple large grooves, and rounded knobby bits on one end that almost made it look like a sea shell. The impression wasn't perfect, and some of the woman's hair was caught in the casting which made the object feel even more morbid than it inherently already was. As far as murder weapons went the pattern was quite distinct which likely meant the weapon itself had something unique about it as well. With the strange shape, and the level of damage to the head, Lillian's first instinct was a shalaylee. Not a terribly common weapon outside of Inis Ealga, however The Captain was a collector of all kinds of paraphernalia so it wasn't impossible to think he might have such a thing in his possession.

The plaster had yet to fully harden, so Lillian placed the lid back on the box and tucked the whole thing into a pouch so as to not risk misshaping some rather important evidence. She then sat in silence and thought, sipping her strange tea, while she waited for The Captain to arrive.

After a few minutes a maid with sharp cheekbones and kind eyes entered with a silver platter, atop which was balanced a bottle of wine and two wine glasses. Mustache Butler had pawned the job off on someone else to avoid risking any ire flying his way; most likely picked the wine himself then had the maid deliver it that way if it turned out to be a good pick he could claim credit. Lily resisted the urge to scowl and instead smiled at the maid. "Thank you kindly, miss?" The maid froze part way into placing the platter down.

"... Oliva. Oliva Flaversham, my Lady." She quickly placed the platter down. "Is there anything else I can do for you Miss McClellen?"
The maid seemed oddly nervous, and Lily made note that Oliva was clenching both her fists and attempting to hide that she was doing so within the folds of her dress.

"No thank you, Oliva, you are free to go. Your services have been greatly appreciated." She made a point to mention the woman's services rather than make any mention of the wine to ensure any positive credit didn't find its way back to that weasel of a butler. Lily then did her best to give a kind smile, which she appeared to succeed at as the other woman returned a smile of her own, bowed slightly, and turned to leave. She was still visibly bothered, clearly distraught about something, made all the more obvious by the fact she remained in the room with her back to Lily. Anyone else of her station would have become irate with the maid, but Lillian sat and waited to see if the other woman would muster up the courage to do or say what it was that was on her mind.

"...You think the captain is responsible for Tereza, don't you?" Olivia's voice was shaky buy clear, and it was obvious she and Tereza had been friends. Word apparently traveled quickly in the maid network; Lillian had made her way straight to the Liechtenstein estate from Kateřina Kucera, and the news of the sisters death had been not far behind.

Lily chose her words carefully. "I am following a line of clues and logic. Both have brought me here, but that implies no guarantees that I am in the right place. Only that there is sufficient reason to, at the very least, come here and investigate." Oliva nodded, and her fists visibly unclenched. She then strode out of the room quickly without looking back.

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Captain Radovan Vladislav Liechtenstein eventually arrived, though had kept Lillian waiting for some time. Her first thought was she was waiting for him to pamper his own mustache into shape as in comparison to the butler his had twice as many curls and three times the luster.

While the pompous method of decoration would suggest the owner was equally pompous Lillian found that the man was shockingly down to earth, and quite jovial. He knew all his servants by their first names, at least the ones who were attending to him, and would regularly send kind words their way or slip coins into pockets and pouches. Lillian briefly wondered if it was all an act to endear himself to her, but thought better of it as she had yet to meet a noble of any standing that thought to use kindness towards their staff as some kind of ploy. There was always a chance The Captain was a unique case, but Lily preferred to think there was at least one decent noble in the world. It was a shame she was currently investigating him for murder, as the man was quite knowledgeable, and unlike his man-servant knew how to tell an interesting story.

The pair talked for quite some time, Lillian using the conversation to probe for clues. Getting an idea of the mans whereabouts two weeks prior, if he had been having any issues with the staff, and lastly she asked various questions about his health to see if he was even capable of doing the damage required. The whole time they spoke she had a feeling in the back of her head that she had seen the man's face before, however she was also a hundred percent certain prior to their current meeting they had never met. And yet he first entered the room she had a feeling of familiarity.

Regardless of the strange feeling, Lillian pressed on. Eventually the conversation shifted towards the purpose of her visit. Not wanting to give anything away Lily lied about being there to represent her father and how he was looking for investors. A lie that wasn't totally a lie, as her father was looking for investors for a project, and he had told her himself that should the opportunity ever arise she should try to hook someone in. The project involved trade with Indian and by pure luck The Captain was utterly obsessed with the country and was practically onboard with little coaxing. The whole thing made Lily wonder if the man had some British ancestry in his blood.

The conversation went on for some time, and when it finally ended there was only a few hours before the sun set. Under normal circumstances Lillian would have preferred to keep talking as she found herself liking The Captain quite a bit. But she had a killer to bring to justice and was running out of time to do so, at least be her own standards.

By the end of her conversation with The Captain she had managed to both secure another investor for her father, and rule out the Captain as a suspect. Not only was he not present at the time of the murder, several of the health conditions he mentioned made it very unlikely he would be capable of caving someone's skull in. There was always a chance he was lying about his whereabouts, but she had watched him closely while they spoke and was able to confirm that his medical issues restricted him in ways that would make him unlikely to be the murderer. He had a great amount of difficulty totally closing either hand, and so would grab his wine glass around the widest part -the bowl- and totally avoided the stem and epicure which would have required both more dexterity and more range of motion with his fingers to grip properly. He did the same with his tea cups, which was notable as he did so even when the cup would have been quite hot, suggesting he had no feeling in his fingers. With that information, and the fact that one of the maids kept swatting his hand away from the sweeter of the treats available, suggested he most likely was suffering from type 2 Diabetes. Her suspicions were confirmed when after some probing, Radovan mentioned a healer he met in India a year prior claimed he was suffering from madhumeha.

Lillian stood and gave a polite curtsey "It has been quite the treat conversation with you Captain but I am afraid I must be going now. My father will be greatly pleased to hear you are interested in his project." Liechtenstein stood, saluted, gave a bow that made his back omit a symphony of horrendous pops and cracks, then gently took Lillian's hand and kissed the back of it.

"An absolute pleasure my dear, an absolute pleasure. You have been a much greater conversational partner than I have had in some time. Your parents raised a jewel of a woman, and I must say the rumors about you are quite-oof!" The Captain jumped slightly as the same maid who had bene swatting his hand away from treats gave a light jab with her elbow into his ribs. The Captain chuckled while rubbing the spot. "Incorrigible little minx isn't she? Ah but that's just how I like them, a strong woman keeps you on your toes, keeps your mind sharp, and your wits witted." he laughed heartily. "Come! Let me see you to the door." He beckoned for her to join him, offering his arm like a proper gentleman. Lillian was about the take it, when her heart suddenly jumped so hard she had to swallow to get it back in place. One of the myriad of the paintings on the walls was of The Captain, which was likely the reason he seemed so familiar, but more importantly than that the painting featured him standing triumphantly over a Rhino while holding a saber with a unique and familiar pommel.

"Lord Liechtenstein, in that pai-" Lillian was cut off.

"That The Captain to you young miss! Lord Liechtenstein is my cousin." he laughed and clapped Lilly on the back hard enough it stung. He likely didn't feel a thing.

"But of course, Captain," She corrected "that painting of you. Do you still have that sword?"

"Hmm? What's that?" He looked around the entire room before his eyes landed on the painting in question. He squinted his eyes, held up a monocle, got close, then stepped farther back before giving an excited "ah ha!" and pulled Lillian close so he could gesture properly. "That is a Tulwar, a mighty sword used by the finest swordsmen in India. Saw a man once cut through tree as wide as my stomach once!" he clapped a hand over an immodest belly and laughed "Though I was quite a bit thinner back then so perhaps not that impressive." Lillian smiled, but was feeling very close to answers and felt compelled to push The Captain along.

"Yes that all sounds wonderful. I shall have to return sometime and hear more stories, however in the mean time could you tell me if you still have the sword?"

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He in fact, did not have the sword. It had been given as a gift to his grandson Alexander, a fact that made Lillian itch with how close she felt she was to catching a criminal. However it was short lived as The Captain informed her Alexander was in Italy, had been for a month, and would be for another month. She was also informed that the sword, the Talwar with a shell shaped pommel, had gone with him as it was apparently a prized possession. It was at that point she came to the reasonable conclusion neither the Captain nor the Grandson had anything to do with Tereza's murder.

Once she and The Captain parted ways she waited around, and managed to talk her way back into the house by asking to speak with Oliva. The maid brought her to the room Alexander used when he stayed in Prague, and the pair searched the room quickly making quite the mess which Oliva promised she'd clean. Lillian found a series of letters in a locked drawer which she picked open; it was a correspondence between Alexander and his mother, informing the woman he had impregnated a maid and wanted to marry her. While the mother was not happy, affairs with the staff were hardly unheard of and it was clear she had some experience with such things. While she was very firm that marriage was out of the question and murder, nor any of is euphemisms, ever came up. It was quite clear that Alexander had feelings for Tereza and was going to do right but her and her unborn child.

After they were done searching the room Oliva asked for permission to tell The Captain about his former maid as he was likely to have a care package sent to Kateřina and her husband as means of condolences, and she felt they could really use it. Lillian of course gave her blessing and the pair parted ways.

With little else to do, and no more leads, Lillian returned to following Tereza's journal in the hopes it would prove useful. With only a couple hours left of the day she found herself at the edge of stream looking down at the bones of a woman who had likely died some time ago. The bones were unnaturally smooth from their time in the water, and the sun bleached them whiter than marble. Lillian wanted to examine them closer, but found she couldn't bring herself to do so. Not for any moral reasons, but because anytime she brought any part of her close to the bones she would suddenly start feeling a sensation of pins and needles running up the limb. There was clearly some force within the bones that had not dissipated with death or time, and it had been calling out to Tereza. Whether it was intentional or not was a mystery for another day, just as the identity of and strange nature of the bones.

And so, dejected and defeated, Lillian returned to the site where she had found Tereza's body and sat upon a nearby rock to look out into the forest. She leaned back slightly, bracing herself with her hands against the rock and took in as much as she could. She had often found that in times of defeat it helped to take ones mind off the problem for a while and focus on something else. Returning to the problem with fresh eyes regularly helped a great deal, and sometimes a totally unrelated bit of stimulation fired up an impossible connection of grey cells that lead to a shocking revelation. So she sat, and stared, and thought.

"Unless someone else had access to the poor woman's diary there was little to no chance they could have been in waiting in the woods for her, so it was highly likely she had been followed from the city. Of course given Tereza's habit of taking new routes the only sure fire way to ensure one could follow her would be to stake out her home or her place of work. But given the woman's affair with The Captain's grandson her hours, as well as comings and goings, would be much less predictable. And unless the pair were complete fools they would have been attempting some level of subterfuge... " Lillian spoke aloud to no audience in particular. Another method of hers to help when one is having a problem, talk out loud as if you were explaining something to someone. "That could mean whoever did this was simply bidding their time, waiting for the moment to strike. Or perhaps they somehow were privy to the information that Alexander was out of Prague for a time." Various ideas and thoughts flowed from her mouth, some being rejected immediately, others taking some thought before she could eliminate them for good. As she thought, and spoke, she ran her hands over her rock seat. "Of course this is all only relevant if-" she stopped as her hand brushed over an odd shape, an odd, smooth, shape. She stood up and spun in a flash, kicking up dirt and leaves as she did. She began to look the rock over, and quickly found that at the back of the rock, sticking out shockingly noticeably, was a fossilized sea shell. Lillian pulled out the plaster casting of the wound -which by this point had dried well enough to handle- and placed it next to the fossil. They were not exactly the same, but that was to be expected given the human skull isn't normally meant for impressions. That said the sizes were the same, and the location of grooved and rounded bits lined up near perfectly. "Did she simply... trip and fall..." Lily quietly asked of herself, finding it difficult to accept such an answer. Was it possible there was no murder and instead an unfortunate accident caused be a woman wandering in the woods alone. Perhaps the body was never hidden by human hands, but instead by some carrion beast trying to hide their meal.

It all seemed unlikely, extremely so. "But..." she began while starring intently at a tree whose knots formed a crude face. "Let us assume for a moment this is still a murder. That would mean the health, or physical strength, of the person was less relevant. You don't need to pick up the rock to hurt someone with it, you just need to trip them or push them....' with that one thought she had figured out who the murderer was and rushed off to apprehend them.

To be concluded:

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

Optional Reading Continued.

"Bile gabhar drenched muc cac ó ifreann!" Lillian screamed as she almost lost her footing for the umpteenth time. Her current footwear were bespoke leather boots, a gift and trick from her mother, that while comfortable sported an obscene fifty millimeter heel that Lily had very much not agreed to. On the plus side, the shaft of the boot went right up to her knee which was protecting her legs rather well from scratches and nicks; she had girded her dress up out of the way to make walking on such difficult terrain a bit easier, a plan somewhat foiled by the ridiculous heel, but it was better than the alternative.

It had not taken long for Lillian to read all of Tereza Kucera's journal, and it had proven rather helpful as the woman had been keeping detailed descriptions of her visions since they first appeared when she was ten. The visions changed slightly when her family had moved to Prague after she had turned twelve, but for the most part the visions had remained strangely consistent for the woman well into her late twenties. The visions were intense, detailed, and intermitted; though Lillian couldn't help but notice the frequency of that intermittentness seemed to increase a little after moving to Prague. As the last entry of the woman's book had indicated, recently she had been experiencing a greater frequency of the infrequent visions than usual, and they were far more vivid and intense. So much so that before unnoticed or undocumented details where showing up in Tereza's descriptions. Between the extremely detailed recollections and the new details Lily was able to determine where in the city she needed to go. Which is how she eventually found herself in the woods outside Prague.

The whole experience had become rather fantastical, almost feeling like a treasure hunt as she wandered from land-mark to land-mark. However the treasure at the end was a Jewish maid that liked to wander into the woods based on hallucinations, rather than enough pieces of 8 to buy all of Prague.

"I do sometimes wonder if that isn't Pa's long term goal." she mused aloud, followed quickly by "A Thiarna Íosa agus na naoimh agus na diabhail go léir cén fáth a bhfuil an oiread sin clocha ann!" as she once again nearly rolled her ankle. She continued to mutter and swear under her breath as she contemplated fashioning a new set of shoes out of bark and foliage, until she was interrupted by an unexpected porcelain white arm jutting out from a bush. Lillian immediately went quite, and calm, and walked over to the arm. She carefully parted the branches of the shrub and looked within. Nestled between the branches, in a tangled mess of limbs and hair, was the body of Tereza Kucera.

Lillian carefully extricated the other woman from the bushes and checked her vitals, foolishly hoping for some miracle despite it being obvious she had passed some time ago. She was practically ice cold, which probably did a lot to slow the decomposition of the body. Even with the help of the cool however there was nothing stopping death once it's fingers latched onto a person.

A large head wound that had broken the skull and deformed the head was the obvious cause of Tereza's death. As far as she could tell, the woman had been struck only once, but with enough force to misshapen the head. A not insignificant task, even if one had some kind of weapon or tool to assist. To determine more Lillian pulled out various detective based equipment from her numerous pouches. In short time, with the help of bug samples, liver temperature, and a close examination of the wound, Lillian had determined Tereza had most likely been killed the same day she had been last scene. Kateřina had been several days too late to call for help, not that it would have mattered as the wound on her sisters head was so sever anyone short of god would have been too late to do anything as her death would have been instant.

Lillian put away her tools and did a pat down of the woman to see if she had been carrying anything on her when she was killed. There was nothing on her except for a small medicine bottle with no label. It smelled pungent but not particularly harsh or distinct, however Lily had her suspicions about what the medicine was. To be sure she retrieved some bottles from one of her pouches and began to mix up some kind of concoction. After her mixing she poured in a single drop of the unknown medicinal; there was a small his, and the entire mixture bubbled and fixed and turned from green to orange. It was as she had feared,

"thalidimide"

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Lillian carried the other woman's body on her back all the way to the mortician's, enduring an endless parade of screaming idiots, perverts, and idiots more concerned with the fact that people could see Lily's thighs with her dress tied up than with the fact she was hefting a corpse.

She managed to make it to the establishment of one Henrik Obadia, a personal friend and skilled mortician who didn't mind instructing Lillian on his craft or assist her with an autopsy. He also was a man with enough sense to know there was a time to help and a time to ask questions. Despite being exhausted from her trek back, Lillian assisted Henrik with his examination of the body. They did not find much of anything beyond evidence one would expect to find; signs of carrion doing their work, indications the woman spent a lot of time on her feet, obvious evidence of elemental damage. They did however confirm Lily's suspicions that Tereza was with child were correct, and Henrik helped make a plaster mold of the head wound.

The pair of them sat on a bench, leaving the body behind in the operating room.

"The McClellen family will pay for everything, Henrik. If at all possible try to get her done asap, her family should have had been near done with their Shiva by now. To delay any longer than necessary would be unacceptable." Lillian's grip on the bench tightened. Henrik placed his hand on the back of hers and patted, a normally comforting gesture rather ruined by the fact the Obadia was still wearing his surgery gloves. Lillian looked at his gloved hand and waited a short time before the man noticed his error, jumped in shock while muttering an apology, and then ripped the glove off and whipped it at a wall where it hit with a smack. A brief moment of quite before the pair broke out into laugher. In a moment of such pain, it is always nice to be torn away for a moment and reminded there is more than just the bad in the world. They shared their moment of bemusment and desended back into quite.

"You know..." Henrik began after a minute. "You should be the one to tell her."

"I will!" Lillian insisted. "As soon as I bring the culprit i-"

"No, Lillian." Henrik cut off "You go talk to her sister, first. You just said we should let her family start the grieving process as soon as we can, why delay?"

"To elongate the hope. Right now Tereza's family is in a kind of....ultimate position where thanks to ignorance, they can find happieness."

"Is that true? Or do you simply not want to face the sister?" Lillian did not have to answer as at that moment there was banging on the front door inquiring about a red head with a dead body, allowing her to instead respond with

"Only took them an hour to get here. They're getting better."

"Frankly I am surprised they came at all" quipped Henrik. "Well go deal with that, and go tell the sister right after. Hope is only nice when you have it, and when you loose it you wish you'd never had it." The grim older man got up from the bench, fetched his glove, and headed back to start preparing the body. Lillian on the hand stood, and walked towards the angry authorities. An increasingly common occurance in her life since moving to the city.

Lillian wondered if her family name would be enough to get her out of the kind of trouble people who found with corpses usually get in.

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Her name was in fact not enough, however her name and a pocketful of croissants seemed to do the trick. She also worked in a joke she had heard her father say to the police once about how he thought all police only ate Koblihy. Lillian never understood the joke but all four of the officers and several of the bystanders laughed, so clearly she was simply missing something.

With that mess sorted Lily made her way to the work place of Kateřina Kucera, a large factory that produced textiles. After she arrived and spoke to someone at the door she patiently waited outside for the sister to see her. Lily was examining a section of brick in the wall around the factory when she heard the front door open. She turned to see Kateřina walking towards her, a tired expression on her face but eyes full of hope. Lillian started to try and say something but faltered and closed her mouth. Kateřina must have seen it happen as the hope drained from her eyes. She ran to close the distance quickly and grabbed onto Lillians arms; she squeezed tight and begged Lily to tell her her sister was okay, but she said nothing. The longer she said nothing the more obvious it became, but obvious is never enough in such situations. Kateřina became angry and slapped Lillian across the face, hard.

"Say it! Say it damn you!"

"Tereza Kucera was murdered."

A brief moment of shock, unable to say or do anything, before Kateřina dropped to her knees and wailed. A few of Kateřina's co-workers took notice of what was going on and rushed outside; some of them went to comfort the woman, a few brave and brash ones began to push Lillian. Assuming incorrectly that she had done something to their friend to make her so upset. It was a wrong assumption however Lillian couldnt fault them for coming to the conclusion. She certainty wasn't helping matters by not saying anything still, but was unsure what to do so just stood silently taking the abuse. A particularly hard slap from a gaunt old woman whose hand was more bone than tissue knocked some sense into Lillian. She knew what to do, "Kateřina!" The bereaved woman looked up at Lily "I can not undue what's been ripped away from you, but I swear on my name, Lilian Catherine McClellen, before this day's sun sets, your sisters killer will be in chains." She then turned on an obnxious-heel and charged off towards her first and most likely suspect.

Captain Radovan Vladislav Liechtenstein. Third cousin of Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein.

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

Optional Reading.

"Were you listening?"

Lillian looked up from her book "With fervent rigor, I assure you." She then turned the book to face the other woman to reveal she had been writing everything down that had been said, with notes in the margins, and the occasional diagram. It was all messy and difficult to read, but the woman with whom Lily was conversing had already admitted to not knowing how to read as her parents could only afford to send her sister to school, so its not as if she knew it was messy.

"That is some messy hand writing you have there ma'am." Lily slammed the book closed with single smooth motion of her left hand and put the book away "...m-my apologies I meant no offence! Please I desperately need your h-" Lily cut her off.

"I would not turn away a person in need because they offended me, and your comment was hardly inaccurate anyway."

"So you'll help!?" The woman almost knocked her chair over leaping out of it in excitement and hope. Lily nodded and waved a hand in an attempt to signify it was obvious she would help but the woman interpreted it as giving permission for a hug, which she did rather tightly. The two watches Lillian carried around her neck dug painfully into her chest, and must have done the same to the other woman though if it did it failed to serve as a deterrent. Lily forcibly stood up, the woman continued to cling.

"I can't very well look for your missing sister if you keep me rooted here with hugs."

"Oh gracious me of course!" the woman let go and took several steps back before giving a deep and practiced curtsy that was most assuredly only ever used for royalty. While still deep in her gesture of physically showing social inferiority she sputtered out numerous more comments of thankfulness.

"Yes yes yes, please stop now. I have a job to do, and its bad for your calves, knees, and ankles to remain in that position for too long. Keep this up and you'll be in pain at work for the rest of the day. Now show me to your sisters house."

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

Kateřina Kucera had managed to get word to Lillian through her personal maid. Apparently the maids of the city all have their own little interconnected network. Normally used for gossip and sharing tips on how to be a better maid, but sometimes served a far greater purpose. Kateřina's sister, Tereza Kucera, had gone missing a week prior, and according to Kateřina the authorities had had no luck -or more accurately no interest- in tracking her sister down. Dominika, Lillian's personal maid, happened to be friends with an acquaintance of Kateřina and asked if Lily would have any interest in helping. Lillian of course agreed to help in exchange for access to the maid network when ever she needed. There was a brief one hour period where the terms of her assistance where sent out across the city, presumably to the other maids, before it was determined Lilian's terms where acceptable. Lily of course would have helped had they declined but only a fool would ignore the chance to gain access to a well spring of knowledge when it presented itself. She did however feel bad for asking as the hour wasted on confirmation of the terms was another hour Tereza spent missing. Had she known events would go that way she would have simply agreed and made her way to help.

No sense lamenting past mistakes, best to learn from them and push forward.

Tereza Kucera's house was modest to put it lightly, though still shockingly nice for an un-married part time maid. Her home was a small apartment above a bakery and so the entire place smelled of fresh bread and trdelnik. Depending on ones disposition this feature could have been either amazing or a minor curse.

Lilly bit into one of the croissants she had purchased from the baker on her way up. Not as good as what she could get at home, but still flaky on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Some of the crunchy crust flaked off as she bit into it and fell to the ground. "Perhaps I should consume these outside." she put the treat into the same deep pocket as the other croissants and quickly cleaned the mess she had made. Then she got to work examining the apartment; checking every nook and cranny, knick-knack and doily, floor board and door hinge. She found no signs of a struggle, forced entry, picked lock, or even signs Tereza left in a hurry. All in all the home looked as though Tereza would return at any moment, which by all accounts meant the home was not where Tereza had gone missing. Kateřina mentioned her sister had to make a five kilometer walk to work and back every other day, so there was a lot of ground to cover in regards to where she may have gone missing. To make matters worse, apparently Terzea was prone to change her route home for the sake of something different. Lillian could understand and empathize with the instinct though under the circumstances cursed the woman for her whimsy.

Even though the apartment had proved a bust, Lily was still rather intrigued by it. Kateřina's house, though larger, was not as nice as her sisters. It was in a worse part of town, had numerous structural issues, ill-fitted windows and doors, everything creaked, and despite the size there was barely any furniture. Kateřina was also married unlike her sister, which meant extra income. Compared to her neighbors Kateřina and her husband lived like kings, yet it paled in comparison to her sister who by all accounts should have been living out of a hostel. The obvious answer was that Tereza was getting help, and the most likely culprit was her employer. It would not have been the first time in history a rich man gifted his mistress with extravagant gifts.

Lillian was about to leave the apartment, her hand on the door knob, when a sudden thought had accrued to her. She returned to Tereza's bed room, barely large enough for a bed with a slanted roof so one had to crouch. The mattress was the typical cheap sort for someone of her financial standing, yet the sheets were heavy and well made, and the pillow was clearly down. Her purpose for returning to the room was that
there was one item every woman, even if she lived alone, would hide; Especially if they were the gossipy sort.

It didn't take her long to locate Terza's journal, which had been placed beneath a loose floorboard. Truly a hiding spot so over-used it was almost as bad as leaving it out in the open. Lillian shook her head and clicked her tongue in frustration, though the juvenile attempt at concealment might help her find the missing woman she couldn't help but be disappointed by the lack of creativity. Journal in hand she made her way to the modest living room and sat in the only chair in the apartment. It was simple but very comfortable. She opened the book and began reading. As expected, the journal went back in Tereza's life rather far, and did not detail every event in her life. Even blank books were a rather costly gift for those who were poor so young girls lucky enough to receive one as a gift made sure it lasted. One could get a rather meaningful snap shot of a woman's life by reading through their journal. Only, of course, if they were poor. If they were a rich girl they would probably have many journals, each one filled to the tits with the most boring day-to-day drivel one could imagine.

Lily flipped to the back of the book and opted to read it in reverse as that would be the most up to date. About three-quarters of the book had been used already, which was a tad unusual but not that out of place. Simply meant Terza was a woman with a lot to say.

August 8th, 1884

The images are back, and this time they're coming to me every few hours. I can barely get a wink of sleep because I keep being woken by these visions. I don't know if its the god or the devil sending these to me but I can't live like this anymore, I need to do something about it. Tomorrow I am going to follow these visions and see where they take me. I don't care if I lose my job, or if Alexander no longer wishes to lay with me. I need to see where this all takes me, even if its leading me to my own death.

"Ah..." Lilain grunted "I did not see that one coming..."

To be continued.

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

Optional Reading.

17 years ago.
Carlow Asylum, Ireland.

Lillian frustratingly sat atop a lamp, watching her sleeping body and feeling rather annoyed. For the seventh time that week she had awoke to find herself laying on the floor beneath her bed, bodiless, and to cheer herself up had decided to amuse herself by sitting atop the flimsy light fixture that sat on the beside table. She was in fact amused by being able to do it, but there are few problems in life where sitting on a lamp would prove anything more than a fleeting cure for ones sadness, and she quickly became upset. Her 'episodes' as the doctors called them had gotten worse since she'd been placed in the care of the asylum by her well meaning, but foolish family. The doctors had taken the episodes very seriously and were doing their best to help, but Lillian got the distinct impression their commitment had more to do with seeing her as a fascinating test subject than having anything to do with a genuine desire to help. Or rather, it was less a distinct impression and more a confirmed fact. People say very telling things to each other when they think the subject of their conversation isn't listening. Lily once heard one of the doctors joyfully talk about how the asylum would be funded for years by the McClellen family in an effort to cure someone who was just born with a bad brain. Lillian was unsure what part she found the most insulting, that her family was seen as nothing more than a cash cow, that the doctor was intentionally taking money from her family despite believing there was nothing to be done, or that he saw her as having a bad brain. Which ever option was worse was a moot point as his comments earned him Lillian's attention for a short while, and the so called doctor no longer worked at the asylum. Had everything gone to plan the only place he'd be likely to get work was with a traveling freak show.

The door to her room opened and one of the new nurses, a woman by the name of Clodagh who wore the bun she kept in her hair too tight, strolled in with a happy chirp to her step and a toothy grin. Lillian often wondered if the grin was intentional or a side effect of the bun. Clodgah declared it was time to wake up, and unlocked the bared window to let in fresh air. She made a few gentle attempts to wake Lily but when her attempts were fruitless she adopted a worried look and ran off.

Lillian sighed to herself. "Here we go" she thought.

A minute later Doctor O'Ceallaigh bounded in with Clodgah hot on his heels. He was one of those men who started to go bald early and refused to accept it, leading to numerous fruitless attempts to make the hair he did have a dramatic feature. He had a long combed and waxed beard, and a long waxed mustache that circled in on itself so dramatically it made him look like he carried a pair of spectacles under his nose. He immediately went up to Lillian's body and grabbed her foot, shaking it rather violently. When that failed to do anything he moved to stand beside her, took one of her arms, lifted and moved it so her hand was above her face, and let go. As expected, Lillian slapped herself rather hard as her limp hand collided with her unprotected face. The transparent girl tried not to take it personal as she knew it was the best way to confirm if someone was faking, but she did wish they'd be a little more careful about it. They didn't need to lift her hand as high as it could go to get the same result, and it would lead to a bit less pain.

"Another episode. Seventh time this week. Things are getting worse, it must be that medication we put her on when she arrived. Take her off the modafinil immediately and switch to Armodafinil, uh, two doses in the afternoon." He nodded very firmly as if he'd just done some great work and left without another word.

"Today is bath day, lets get you cleaned up." Clodgah said in a far too cheery voice before leaving. Lillian fell off her lamp from shock. She hated bath day at the asylum in general, but the thought of someone else washing her sent her into a bit of a panic. She quickly took off after the nurse, closing and locking her room door behind her as she did. Lillian spent the next few minutes disrupting Clodgah's attempts to gather the needed bathing supplies. Nothing too harsh, the woman was a kind soul even if she was so kind it rather made the young girl want to strangle the woman. But she was kind, and didn't deserve harsh treatment.

When Clodgah managed to get a bucket of hot water ready, Lillian tipped it over as soon as the woman's back was turned. "Oh heaven's mercy! Today is just one of those days" the older woman said calmly and ventured off to get towels. That gave Lillian a good twenty minutes of peace to concentrate on getting back into her body while Clodgah busied herself cleaning the mess. She found on more than one occasion if she calmed down, and focused, she could some times return to her body by her own volition. She hadn't quite figured out the mechanism to make it more consistent, but it did work. Not that she had had much of a chance to really practice the technique as she so rarely found herself able to be calm with all the poking and prodding, and all the things she had to watch her body get put through.

Lillian rushed back to her room and found to her horror the door was opened. She ran in to see Walsh the Whale standing over her bed with the most cross look one had ever seen another human make. The crossness was to be expected as she was currently covered in numerous bee stings all over her body —which would make most people pretty cross—. Her face was bespeckled with white dots of cream she had placed on the numerous stings, and she kept shifting and scratching uncomfortably; All the while glaring at Lillie's useless body. During her last episode Lilly had located a beehive in an adjoining field and placed it under a bench she had learned was the head nurses favorite spot. Though normally terrified to stray so far from her body, under the circumstances she deemed the risk worth it. What prompted such an action on Lillian's part had everything to do with the fact that on her first day at the Asylum the so called head nurse had taken away Lily's stuffed bunny rabbit declaring it was 'unhealthy for girls her age to still be clinging to stuffed toys.' Lily had made quite the fuss about the toy being returned for the rest of the day until the head Doctor (Doctor Finnerty) reprimanded Walsh in front of Lily and had the toy returned immediately. According to the actual professional, under the circumstances a comfort item was actually a good thing. Unfortunately the events caused Walsh to take some petty revenge and when it came time for Lily to clean herself, the whale delivered cold water, the worlds scratchiest sponge, and soap that smelled of fish oil. Lillian went to bed that night cold, in pain all over her body, and smelling of fish. This is of course what lead to the beehive relocation. The reason for Walsh's extreme look of displeasure however was because the next time Lily saw the woman —post beehive incident— she pointed, laughed, and called her "Walsh the red spotted whale" a nickname that the other patients took up almost immediately, though it often got shortened to just 'Walsh the Whale'.

Lillian carefully moved close to the woman and readied herself to pounce should the cantankerous whale try something. The head nurse had on more than one occasion suggested the patients simply needed a good beating to cure what ailed them, and though she had yet to show she was willing to follow through with that assertation Lily was always paranoid the woman would one day decide to take matters into her own hands.

Walsh stood at the foot of the bed for a solid five minutes, before turning and leaving. It was only after ten minutes of paranoid waiting that Lillian felt safe enough the bitch was not going to suddenly reappear. At that point she began the process of trying to calm herself enough so she might stand a decent chance of hopping back into her body, of course at that point she was only able to try for a few minutes before Clodagh returned with the bathing supplies. Lillian watched in hopeless embarrassment and personal despair as her body was moved to the cold tiled floor, striped naked, and cleaned far too thoroughly by a person she barely knew. What was worse was on several occasions some of the Doctors stepped in to have a word with Clodgah, and neither of them had the decency to try and retain the young girls dignity. Clodgah would keep working no matter what was going on, and none of the Doctors had the good sense to maybe wait outside or at least talk to the nurse with their back to the events going on. One of the Doctors Lillian was unfamiliar with had the audacity to comment on her petite size and small breasts, which prompted Clodgah to explain it was because Lily was so thin. The nurse then stopped what she was doing to have a whole conversation about Lillian's body, often pointing to and grabbing certain parts to illustrate her points on why it would be a good idea to fatten her up during her stay at the asylum. The Doctor seemed to agree with the nurse, but did so in such a way that it sounded like he was trying to make it out to be his idea. At one point Clodgah shifted Lillian's body to better show off her hips which caused one her her legs to fall to the side, utterly exposing her to the doctor. The nurse made no attempt to cover Lillian, the Doctor made no attempt to look away, and in a fit of frustrated rage and devastated embarrassment Lilly punched the Doctor with both her fists in both his eyes as hard as she could muster.

The Doctor fell backwards into the open door and slammed his back into the door knob. He screamed out in pain and yelled about going blind. Clodgah rushed over to the Doctor and helped him up, asking all kinds of concerned questions before leading him out of the room to get him looked after. Leaving Lily's young body naked on the ground in the most indecent position. Feeling dead inside, Lillian decided she didn't care if people found out about her ability to manipulate the world while out of her body and set about showing herself a level of decency everyone else seemed dead set on denying her. She closed the door before anyone could look inside, finished bathing her body, clothed it with the new clothes Clodgah brought, and with a lot of struggling managed to get herself in bed. She carefully tucked her body in, even fluffed the pillow a bit before carefully placing her stuffed rabbit under one of her arms. She then cleaned up the wet floor and placed all the supplies off to the side before returning to sitting on the lamp where she pulled her non-existent knees up close to her chest and hugged them. Clodgah eventually returned after an hour and didn't even bat an eye that someone else had apparently finished cleaning her charge; simply picked up the supplies with a smile and left, locking the door behind her.

Lillian remained on the lamp for the rest of the day, watching as her Doctors came in to poke and prod, and measure, and inject.

Things went on like that for three days before Lily was able to return to her body.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Three years later.

Lillian sat upon a thin branch at the very top of the tallest tree in her families back yard. After numerous successful business deals on her fathers part her family had moved up considerably in the world. They went from being what most would call rather wealthy, to extremely wealthy. And so that change in wealth had meant a change in location as well. They moved from Ireland to a massive mansion on the outer edges of Prague, a city which her father claimed was one of the 'hearts of the world' what ever that meant. It was quite the change, and from time to time Lilly needed to be reminded it was all real and so would leave her body so she could sit atop the tallest tree and take everything in. The view of the ground was gorgeous, but the main reason she went up so high was because it allowed her to look over the roof of the house, past the small forest that hid the home, and look upon the city of Prague. It was all real, her family really had moved up in the world. New city, new house, and most importantly for Lillian, a new life.

After numerous asylums failed to do anything other than make Lily miserable and bitter and angry, her family decided they would look after her themselves. They reasoned out that Lily always, eventually, returned and that was all that mattered. If Doctors couldn't fix what was wrong, it made no sense to force something upon her that just made her worse in other ways. In their own words 'we'd rather be able to enjoy what little time we get with you, then risk losing every moment trying to fix you.' In the end it turned out to be exactly what she needed; without living in fear of beatings, and needles, and all manor of other terrifying concepts Lillian was free to explore what she had eventually decided to call her gift. That freedom, that peace, that feeling of love and safety allowed her to learn to not only return to her body on command, but to also leave it on command as well. It had taken her family a while to figure out, but they eventually came through for her.

In an instant Lily found herself back in front of her writing desk after deactivating her power, having had enough the view. Sprawled out across her sizeable desk were numerous books discussing orbital bodies and their celestial movements. Lillian had come to the conclusion that while each book had worthy aspects in their own right, they were all flawed. So she was gathering the best information from each book and condensing it all into a much more scientifically accurate record that she could better refer to in the future. The hardest part about the task was not understanding the material, but getting through books that were three times longer than they needed to be because they were written by boastful men who knew a lot about celestial bodies and not a damn thing about book structure. It was hard work, but satisfying and meaningful. Each page she wrote, each piece of information she gathered and put together with other knowledge, was science being furthered.

The past events of her life had left scars, not all physical, but Lillian had been given a fresh start at life. With a family that loved and cared for her and let her be herself, a city that didn't constantly remind her of her painful past, and the resources to dive into any topic she desired so that she could fully explore it's depths; Lillian had found her place in the world, and that place made her even happier than she had been before her talent manifested. There was a whole world of science and knowledge to explore, and she planned to fully lose herself in it. An idea that brought a large smile to her face as she wrote.

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

Lillian carefully bent down and picked up a discarded white glove once the Doctor's back was away from her. It was clearly Lucie's, and was most likely meant to signify she had already found the room then left once more. Knowing her, se was probably well on her way to finding the girl.

Lily carefully rolled the glove up to make it as small and unnoticeable as possible and followed the Doctor and Adam, clenching the glove tight. She followed the men around, and eventually they all ended up in the middle courtyard of the building. Adam seemed lost in thought, and the Doctor was still in a panic. Lillian wandered around the courtyard looking for ways one might escape the facility, doing her best to think as a child might. The blueprints she stole helped her locate several small, and out of the way areas a child might hide in. Vents, ducts, grates; anything that would be an option for a child that an adult wouldn't consider, but nothing panned out.

She thought back to her days as a child, hoping a memory might spark an idea. Having spent a great deal of time in asylums herself as a child she was no stranger to hiding in them and sneaking around. She once snuck from the 4th floor to the basement by climbing down a laundry shoot. A massively dangerous endeavor that almost broke her neck, but at the time it seemed perfectly fine.

A spark went off in Lillian's mind. As an adult, you don't see the world the same as a child. Lily had taken that thought and focused on the physicality of it. Small, or low areas, that a child would be more likely to find because of their height, and fit in because of their size. But it wasn't just a physical difference, but a mental one as well. Children were more likely to attempt things that an adult wouldn't because they would deem it too dangerous. With that thought in mind she immediately began checking the large pipes that drain rain water collected from the roof directly into the sewer system. On the third pipe she checked, she found tiny muddy finger prints, and tiny muddy toe prints. The girl had clearly used the pipe to climb all the way up to the roof, what was odd however was the pipe in question was on the far east side of the building, which was farther from her room than she needed to go to get onto the roof. There was plenty of closer pipes.

Before heading up the pipe, Lillian quickly checked under some bushes that ran along the walls under the windows. Sure enough, she found numerous indentations that could only have come from the hands, knees, and feet of a child. She had to move on her hands and knees as even for a child there was little space under the shrubbery. What was strange was there was no tell-tale signs the girl was wearing footwear or even clothes. One would expect to find indentations of the folds of fabric, or the fabrics cloth pattern in the mud. Lillian found no such patterns, however in the indentations that were most likely the girls knees, she found small scale like patters that were unmistakably skin. Either the girl made her journey in the nude, or she temporarily removed her garments for the dirtiest parts of the journey. Lillian furrowed her invisible brows at that thought as either option raised a great many concerns. She made a mental note to warn Adam he made need to sacrifice his coat once the girl was found.

Not wanting to waste any more time Lily quickly climbed the drain pipe, a reasonably easy task for someone with no weight. At the top she lost sight of the muddy prints the girl was leaving as they were obscured by the speckled asphalt shingles that covered the roof. She made a bee line towards the nearest drain pipe on the front of the building, but found the roof partially overhung making the drain nigh impossible for someone with short arms to reach. The girl had already proven she was more than willing to subject herself to dangerous conditions, so it was always a possibility she had hung off the edge of the roof and swung to the pipe, but that seemed a touch too extreme —not to mention wouldn't work in reverse— so Lillian took a moment to mentally review the blue-prints she had copied the day previous. If the goal was to get from the roof to the ground as quickly as possible, there was one obvious candidate. When the building was first being designed, coal burning furnaces where going to be used to heat the facility. After the chimneys for the furnaces had been built they decided to switch to steam heating instead, so the chimney's became a purely aesthetic feature. They most likely would have sealed the unused architecture off, but it wouldn't be difficult for a crafty young child to figure out a way past that. To Lillian's surprise, they had 'sealed' the opening with a brass door. There was a small slit on the front for some kind of key or tool to open it. Lillian easily lifted the already unlocked door and looked down into the dark depths of the shoot and found herself both impressed and horrified. Right near the top just beyond the brass door a pipe as thick as her wrist had been jammed into the opening. Tied to it was a makeshift rope fashioned from the sashes of house coats and patient gowns. If anyone heavier than a child attempted to climb down there was no way the pipe would remain in place. Lily moved to climb down, but stopped as she heard the echo of Adam speaking loudly. She couldn't catch everything, but heard the words "My assistant" and " shall go" which were enough for her to realize Adam was warning her they were preparing to return to the parlor.

Needing to know more but in a hurry, Lillian jumped into the dark tunnel. The brass door at the top remaining open gave a small amount of light, but it was still quite dark. Given that Lily had found the door closed it meant the girl had descended —and presumably ascended— the chimney in total darkness. The determination of the young girl was impressive.

Lily landed a few seconds later at the bottom with a painless and almost inaudible thud. The bottom was totally dark, so she began searching the walls for something she expected to be there. Sure enough she quickly found another door, and pushed it open with ease as it too was unlocked already. It was a door specifically for chimney sweeps to use so all the coal dust would go outside rather than in. Once there was some light at the bottom Lillian noticed that the latch that was meant to keep the door closed —a thin, insubstantial, piece of iron— was badly bent out of place. A good few kicks from both legs of a child would be more than adequate to bend it. Lillian had managed to determine how the child kept escaping and returning without anyone ever noticing, but still had no clue where or why the girl was leaving, or why she kept returning. The best she could figure, the girl was headed somewhere east as it was the only thing that explained why the girl would go out of her way while trying to escape.

Knowing she didn't have much longer before the Doctor and Adam returned, Lillian tossed Lucie' glove into a nearby bush and allowed herself to return to her body. One moment she was outside, the next she was back in her body doing her best to work out a knot that had formed in her back while her body sat unused. Once the knot was gone Lillian, for the first time in her life, wished there was a mirror near by to check her appearance. Though something she normally would never care about, she did not want to embarrass Adam by appearing disheveled. She checked her pockets to see if there was something shinny enough to use as a mirror as there was no such item in the parlor, and to her surprise found a small compact. She slid the protective and overly decorated ornate cover off and used the small mirror to adjust her hair and outfit. Satisfied she looked decently hoity she returned the mirror to her pocket, wondering how it got there. The most obvious answer was either Lucie or her mother had snuck it on her person. Though is was impossible to tell which as they both had similar tastes. Expensive.

Lillian exited the parlor and as she was closing the door heard a gasp from behind her. She turned to find a familiar and rather corpulent nurse carrying a bundle of towels. Siobhan Walsh was head nurse — or perhaps more accurately former head nurse— of the Carlow Asylum in Ireland back when Lillian had been a patient. Though Lily had not gotten on with anyone there, she had especially disliked Siobhan as her world view on mental health was that 90% of those in the asylum were simply trying to get attention or a free bed and meals. Lily had performed more than one cruel prank on the woman before her family had her transferred to a different institute.

Even while speaking German the woman had an impossibly thick Northen Irish accent. "Ah'knew it was odd I could smell pears so strongly in the halls. Never thought I'd see you again, and looking half decent too. "The woman looked Lillian up and down, moving the towels to under an arm so she could use the other arm to place a fist on her hip to make a show of the fact she was taken aback by Lillian's look. "Wearin' a proper dress, no stains or notin'. And makeup too! After all that resistance you had to even the tiniest attempt to make you look like a proper woman I thought I'd never see ya like this. So what happened? Did your father finally take mah advice and take a cane to you till you knocked off all that nonsense?" Walsh the Whale —a nickname Lillian exclusively referred to the woman as— had in fact made the cane suggestion to every member of Lillian's family on more than one occasion. Thankfully, Lillian's family had a good load more sense than the poor excuse for a health care provider that stood before her at that moment.

Not wanting to cause a scene, Lily simply smiled, and nodded her head. She then made to leave when the other woman stopped her by grabbing her arm. "You fought me tooth and nail you did. Everyday." the woman had switched to speaking Gaelic. "You kicked, and screamed, and bit. Spat both medicine and food in mah face. And don't think I don't know it was you who kept sticking beehives in the tree by my favorite place to sit and eat. I don't know how you kept managing it but I know it was you." Lillian turned her head in an attempt to look ashamed, but really she did it so she could smile without Walsh seeing her. The beehives had in fact been Lillian's doing, a task that was rather easy when you didn't have a body that could be stung. What the other woman said next however wiped the smile, and any pleasant thought from Lily's head; it made her heart clench, and her skin go cold. "You're livin' proof that I was right to beat those nutters back at Carlow like I did. Attention seeking buggers the lot of you, and a cane is exactly what you all needed. After everything you put me through, you owe me. Send a letter to Carlow and tell them I was right so they give me mah job back and I can return to actually doing some good in this world. Its the least you can do, after what you put me through." Lillian responded to the woman by introducing the fat cow's left temple to her left elbow. The woman's head must have been made of boulders as the strike caused a shooting pain to travel through most of Lillian's body. It was however a successful hit as Walsh crumpled to the ground like a sack of potato's.

"...damnit..." Lilly sad louder than she should have. As quick as she could, though not easy with the size of the nurse, Lillian dragged her across the ground back into the parlor. She found a spot off to the side that wasn't terribly noticeable and left Walsh there. She then quickly refolded the towels that had become unfolded when they were dropped to the ground post elbow-to-head, and placed them under Walsh's head to act as a pillow. As a final touch Lillian placed the nurses hands on her stomach, the effect being it now looked like the woman had decided to take a nap in the parlor. Though the sizable welt was bound to raise a few questions Lily reasoned there was nothing she could do about it on such short notice, and once again left the parlor. As she did she spotted Adam and the Doctor returning.

She turned to face them and gave a small but properly respectful curtsy. The specific movement caused a small flare up of pain from her leg wounds, but was well received by the Doctor who gave an exacerbated nod in return.

"Are you ready to depart Ad-Mr.Ware?" Her slip-up thankfully went unnoticed. Adam nodded and mentioned he had a hunch he desired the pair of them to look into. He and the Doctor made their final goodbyes, Adam assuring the other man that they would find the missing girl and that there was no need to panic any longer. Whether it was Adam's confidence in the statement, or the reputation of the Ware family, the Doctor seemed to immediately calm and acted as though because Adam had said it, it was now a certainty.

One last round of good-byes were said, and Adam and Lily began to make off. However Lily stopped for a moment and addressed the Doctor "Oh and by the way, I thought you should know that before you and Mr.Ware arrived a rather rude nurse had entered and demanded I leave the parlor at once. She refused to give a reason, but made it quite clear I was to find somewhere else to await your return. I do hope your staff doesn't treat your patients, or their relatives, in such a manner." Lillian did not turn to see if Adam was doing anything, but could tell the Doctor was looking at him, rather than her, and he looked most worried.

"A-ah!" he stammered "That is most unacceptable! We hired some new nurses the other day, must be one of the new gals. I can assure you such treatment will never happened again." he nodded matter-of-factly, and stood up straighter. Lillian smiled and nodded in return, then departed the asylum with Adam, extremely anxious to ask what their next plan was and to share what she had learned.

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

Lillian sat quietly next to Lucie and indulged in the delicious meal, taking dainty bites and small sips so as to not upset the little makeup her mother had managed to smear on her. She had assumed the odd and careful manner of consuming meals and drinks was to appear sophisticated (regardless of if the individual were actually sophisticated) though it would appear there were a more utilitarian reasoning. Lillian mentally scoffed at that thought and waved it away, accepting that it was simply a coincidence the rich did something mildly intelligent. Regardless, the new form of eating she had been forced to adopt was just another reason to be annoyed with the concept of makeup.

Lily picked up the one and only watch that she was wearing from its' place dangling from the chain around her neck -opting to wear only one, as that seemed more "normal"- and confirmed that Adam was indeed late. In light of recent events she found herself beginning to worry, however it was a short lived state of being as Adam crashed into his office and quickly made his way to his private quarters. She was surprised to see the man so disheveled and tired and turned to Lucie to ask her thoughts, but stopped as she saw the smirk on the other woman's face. While Lillian would normally presume more mundane reasoning for Adam's appearance and tardiness, it would seem her companions intuition was leading her elsewhere. When it comes to the matters of late night liaisons, Lily trusted Lucies' intuition. For the most part Lily felt happy that her friend had an evening of, hopefully, pleasurable and passionate company, however she also found her heart rate pick up in an unexpected manner that confused her. It was either jealousy or too much caffeine, and she was not experienced enough with the former emotion to tell the difference. Under the circumstances she switched to drinking hot water with a touch of honey, just in case.

When Adam returned he looked more in line with what Lily had come to expect, though noticeably tired. This brought a bit of a smile to her lips as she mused at how his sunken and dark eyes mirrored her own most days, however on that day her own tiredness was concealed beyond her makeup; an amusing reversal of roles to say the least.

“Terribly sorry about my disarray ladies” he said with a polite nod, pausing for a moment to give Lily a curious look. It was clear he had noticed she was dressed for the part. It was unclear of if he approved of the new look or not, but the fact he noticed was significant to Lillian as it meant her minor metamorphosis was working. She hoped he appreciated the effort she had went through to look the part, let alone the indignity of being assaulted by her mother and three servants who seemed far too excited to man-handle their mistresses daughter.

Adam quickly went over the events of the day as they all finished their meal. Lillian made a point to grab a few scones which she placed deep within one of the pockets of her dress, which she had spent the early hours of the morning adding to her outfit once she realized her chatelaine bag was not sufficient to hold all the tools she felt she would need. The pockets themselves were rushed but robust, and had many small sub pockets with enough padding to hide unwanted sounds while not ruining the shape of the dress. She had managed to fit two of her single shot pistols, a few tools, odds and ends, as well as half-a-dozen scones deep within the dress without adversely effecting the shape.

“Well Miss Lily it appears you are more than ready, I trust you are armed slightly as well, shall we depart?” Adam inquired. Lillian took one last moment to commit the picture of the young girl to memory and nodded. The pair left together and headed towards the asylum. The cart ride was quiet, of which Lillian was thankful. Far too many people feel an uncontrollable social pressure to fill voids of silence with useless prattle and conjecture. Adam felt no such pressure and was one of the many reasons she felt so comfortable around him.

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

Once inside the asylum it became very clear Adam had not exaggerated regarding the extent to which Lily's presence would be ignored. Had it not come at the cost of being ignored by Adam as well she would have found the experience more enjoyable. Being ignored would be a talent of which she would get much use, as that is one of the main reasons her actual talent received so much use. It is hard to not ignore someone who, as far as you can tell, is not even there.

Well decorated and furnished, it was rather clear, even before the view from the window of the less ornate buildings on the ground confirmed it, that the house they had entered was not the main facility and simply a facade. Having spent some time in an asylum during her formative years Lillian couldn't fault the obfuscation. After all, if the people who brought their loved ones to such a building realized that there was little help to be found and it was just a place to lock away and hide the rough edges of society, they might think twice about giving money to the so called doctors.

Though Lillian doubted the parents of the little girl would care either way.

After being lead to a parlor Lillian took a seat on the least ornate chair in the room located closest to Adam. She slipped a journal and a pen out of her bag and began to take notes. As she did she looked around the room, at the doctor, and periodically at Adam. As the doctor spoke more and more Lily found it more difficult to keep up the facade of taking notes as she became upset by some of the things the Doctor had to say. She could tell Adam was bothered as well, though it was clear the Doctor failed to notice the subtle shift in couloration of Ware's knuckles as he squeezed his fist ever so slightly tighter. Social ques were a mystery to her, but Lily could spot a change in persons physical state from across a room. It was quite clear, and to Lily came as no surprise, that the doctor did not actually care about the well being of the girl and simply wished to line his pockets.

When it came time to actually visit with little girl it was shown the doctor had some level of sense to limit how many people saw the state of the facility he ran. He seemed to be under the belief that he could trust Adam, but was less certain about Lillian. That is the most intelligent thought he has probably had in months, if not ever. Lily thought to herself.

Adam spared no glance towards Lillian as he got up to leave, clearly trusting her to find her own way. Once the door was closed the red haired woman sprung into action, quickly grabbing a large chair and angling it more towards a window. She sat in the chair and tried to position herself appropriately before activating her talent. She spared only a moment to look at her physical body, noting that she sufficiently looked as though she had simply fallen asleep in her chair waiting for her master to return. She did not like the idea of leaving her body alone in the parlor as it was unclear how much use it received, but there was little time to contemplate it. Rushing for the door she opened it just enough for her less than physical body to slip through and closed the door behind her. She searched for the direction Adam and the doctor went, noticing that a servant or worker of some kind had seen the door open and close on its' own. Lillian paused for a moment, the man stared right at -or more accurately, thorough- her. There was a brief moment that dragged on for hours as she starred at the man and wondered what he would do, if she had ruined their chances of rescuing the girl before that had even really begun. Thankfully, the man shook his head, turned, and walked away; clearly doubting what he just saw and deciding resuming his duties was better than chasing after the mundanely impossible.

With everything in the clear, Lillian located Adam and chased after him to catch up, her ethereal feet carrying her quickly as she had no mass to slow her. From that point she stuck as close to the pair as she could, making sure she could pass through doors before they were closed. A few times she was forced to divert and catch back up less she risk bumping into a worker or a patient. While she appreciated having the ability to manipulate the world around her while being invisible, Lillian often wondered if having regular astral projection would have been preferable to her actual talent. Both talents had pros and cons, and while on the whole she was happy with what she had there was still the odd time she found herself wishing she could simply fly like a ghost through walls or people.

She was surprised to find that some parts of the grounds had buildings that were, comparability, rather nice. Open, bright, and lacked the soul crushing feelings of entrapment most asylums bore. Lillian briefly wondered if she had misjudged the doctor and his facility, but then remembered that they were visiting a patient whose parent's were rich. It was clear the nicer of the buildings were reserved for those of wealthy families.

When the duo -trio- made it to the child's room they were all surprised to find it empty. Whether via her talent, or some other means, the little girl had disappeared once more. Lillian hoped that it was the latter, hoped that Lucie had beaten them there and had already gotten the girl out. The alternative was that the girl's talent had activated and she would not be back potentially for hours.

When the duo -trio- made it to the child's room they were all surprised to find it empty. Whether via her talent, or some other means, the little girl had disappeared once more. Lillian hoped that it was the latter, hoped that Lucie had beaten them there and had already gotten the girl out. The alternative was that the girl's talent had activated and she would not be back potentially for hours.

While the moronic Doctor began raving at Adam, practically begging for a miracle, Lillian peered into the room. She did her best to stretch her neck so she could get a good look, but she could only alter her form so much despite the fact it was basically non-existent. She had long hypostasized a brains mental map of its' physical form was such a powerful image that even when she would use her talent to become a cloud of thought it insisted on keeping that cloud in a shape that matched that map as close as possible. Most inconvenient at times.

Wanting a closer look, but blocked by the two men, Lillian carefully grabbed a few strands of hair on the doctors head and pulled sharply. All the strands were successfully removed and the doctor screamed out in pain, jumping into the air a bit and backing away from the door. He looked around in a panic "I think a spider just bit me!" he screamed like a child. He began to rant at Adam about how the day was getting worse as it progressed, but Lillian only cared that the path had been cleared and stepped into the room. The room was more spacious then anything she was used to, but still drab and depressing. The walls were white, the bed was white, the frame of the bed was the only colour in the room as it was made of brass, but it was still rather plain. There was a white bedside table, something Lily was sure the staff felt was a luxury, which had two drawers. Lillian planned to ignore the drawers as she didn't want to draw attention to the room, but noticed something odd that quickly changed her mind. The area around the drawers had a strange feeling of static around it, as she moved closer it was as if she were standing in the lab of Nikola Tesla, whose machines spat electricity into the air. While that on its' own was peculiar, what stood out more was the fact that Lillian could feel it at all. While her talent was active the only sensation she could experience was that of physical pressure, and she did not feel it in the traditional sense but felt it in a manor akin to trying to push magnets of the same polarity into one another. You did not feel physical resistance so much as the strong opposing force resulting from the interaction.

Lillian decided exploring this was worth someone spotting the drawers opening on their own and pulled open the top then bottom drawer. There was nothing of note in either, just some papers covered in child's drawings in the top drawer, and a few pairs of undergarments, gowns, and socks in the bottom. A quick sift through the clothing revealed nothing hidden within the folds. Lillian glanced back towards the door , which consisted of her inverting the focus point of her non-existent eyes, and noticed that Adam was standing in the door way with his back to the room. Whether he had noticed the drawers opening on their own or his talent was leading him to hel her was unclear, regardless it meant she was free to be a bit more thorough.

Lillian did not need to think for long to determine what to do next. When children were in new and scary place they hid things, and in such a sparse room there was only one place to hide anything. Lilly pulled hard on the bottom drawer and pulled it completely out of the table, setting it aside carefully and quietly. Unsurprisingly the space behind the drawer was filled with nick-knacks and treasures. Most seemed like items the young girl had swiped from around the facility, but two stuck out to Lily immediately as they were exuding a strange purple aura that looked like fire. She grabbed both items, a stuffed rabbit wearing a suit and bow tie, and a glass ornament for a Christmas tree with a dancing ballerina trapped within, and immediately dropped both; at the mere contact with the items a flood of terrible emotions washed over her mind as if someone had collected memories in liquid form and doused her with them. Fear, anxiety, confusion, paranoia, vulnerability, sadness, depression, loneliness. Each feeling came with a flash of a memory as though she were reliving moments of her past; A woman crying over the forms of her dead children which she had drowned herself; a man afraid of his brother who raved and screamed terrible things at him as the doctors of the facility pulled him away in a straight jacked; a child curled up in the corner, eyes squeezed shut tight, afraid of things that no one else could see but them. She had only touched the items for the briefest of moments, but she received the memories of hundreds of people in that time. Luckily they were brief, and but flashes, as Lily was unsure if she could have dealt with more than that.

Lillian precured two of the drawings from the upper drawer and used the paper to retrieve both items. She carefully placed the drawer back in its' place, and had a better look at the toy and the ornament. Once in the light, she realized the flames didn't have a colour at all but were simply an aura that warped the colours around it, like heat waves coming off the rooves of Prague on a particularly hot summer day. It was also much clearer that the strange static field was coming from the two objects. Lily could feel the tiny pin pricks of static all over her non-body, with exceptions to her hands which felt as if they were going numb from the shocks despite the paper barrier -numbness was another feeling she was unused to feeling while her talent was active-.

Both items were charged with intense negative emotions, a concept Lillian was familiar with, though she had never before seen it so such a degree. It were as if the toy and the ornament were reservoirs that the little girl had been filling with the negative psychic emanations of everyone in the asylum.

Doubting there was much more she could do with the Doctor so close, Lillian slipped the ornament into one of Adam's pockets. He felt the sudden shift of weight in his pocket and placed a hand against it, feeling the new addition to his person. While his hand was partially out of view of the doctor Lily pushed the rabbit into it and hoped Adam could think of something on the spot that would allow him to hide the toy. With the girl missing, the rabbit and the ornament might be a way with which to locate her.

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

Lillian sat quietly, carefully pulling apart a croissant with her fingers and eating the chunks. It had been ten minutes since Lucie had left and not a word had been spoken since. While she was anxious to start on the task of rescuing a child in need, Lily wished to take a few moments to speak with Adam. The events of the last mission had revealed some things about Adam that Lily wished to question him on, though she found it difficult to raise the topic. In part because she felt foolish for not having noticed the subtle hints as to the nature of Adam’s secret that had suddenly become like fiery beacons for how clearly they stood out. But also because the whole affair had brought to light that Lily did not know much of Adam, which raised the question as to whether the two of them were actually friends. She had long felt a kinship with Adam, his powers of observation equalling her own made her feel less alone in the world. It brought her a monicom of happiness that there was at least one other person who saw the hidden threads that tied the world together as readily as she did, perhaps even more so. The reveal of such a well hidden secret made it clear to Lillian that not only did she not know her friend as well as she thought, and that she was not in fact on the same level as him in terms of intelligence.

Lily finished her meal and stood. “I shall prepare for tomorrow. If you’ll excuse me.” Lily gave a small curtsy, doing her best to imitate Lucie. Spinning on a heel Lily quickly left the room, not waiting for a response from Adam. She stopped walking just past the door, turned around, and returned to the room. She hastily grabbed the remaining pears that were on the table “I will need these.” Lillian once again spun on her heel and left, placing the pears in a pouch that could accommodate them. With long strides she made her way out of the manor and headed towards the city to prepare, putting all else from her mind but the task at hand.

A rather painful hour long walk ended with Lillian in front of the cities largest library. She carefully made her way up the large worn steps in front and entered the building. At that time of day the library barely had anyone in it so the librarian was off reshelving books. Lillian had spent enough time at the building that she had long ago memorized the schedules and modus operandi of the staff. Mrs.Farmer, a seventy year old widower who wore an unflattering and poorly made black wig, liked to reshelve during the work week in the middle of the day. She would put every returned book in alphabetical order (by author) and subject on her cart and start in the geology section on the second floor; she would then work her way around the library counter-clockwise. It took her roughly three hours to finish the reshelving, one and a half per floor depending on the book load. If anyone wanted to work unobserved all they needed to do was go to the library during reshelving time and determine how far along Mrs.Farmer was in her shelving.

Lillian swiftly moved to the large sign out book kept at the front desk, closed it, lifted it twenty centimeters into the air, and dropped it. The large book collided with the wooden surface and a thunderous crash echoed through the library. A fraction of a second after the echo faded a loud and shrill “Shush!” drifted down from the top floor. Lillian smiled and headed towards the locked rooms at the back of the library, confident she had roughly an hour and a half at minimum to do what she needed. Plenty of time.
Lillian produced from one of her pouches a rough and misshapen iron key and inserted it into one of the locked doors labeled “Architectural drawings.” She fiddled with the key a bit, wiggling it back and forth while trying to turn it before it finally did turn and the door clicked open. Lillian took a brief moment to assure herself she was not being watched before slipping into the room, locking the door behind her. She had made a copy every key used at the library allowing her access to the sections that most people without official reason were not allowed to see. Her blacksmithing skills left something to be desired as the entire set of keys came out rather poorly; but with a bit of finesse they still worked.

The room was large and yet still terribly cramped as every available bit of space was dedicated to massive drawers that would allow schematics to be placed within without need to fold or roll them. There was not enough room available for every drawing however, so those drawings considered less important were rolled up and kept in wine racks stacked on top of the drawers. These racks reached all the way up to the fairly high ceiling, with exception to one spot where room had been left for the only window. The entire place smelled of old paper and dust, the only signs that the room received any use was a feint pair of footprints in the thick dust made by Lillian's own boots a month prior when she broke in to find schematics for the mayor's house. She was convinced he had secret room in his basement and she wished to determine what was within. As it turned out the room was in fact not secret and was simply a wine cellar that was not used due to the mayor’s distaste for spirits of any kind.

After a few minutes of searching, far less time then she thought she would need given the low light, Lillian located the schematics for the hospital the little girl was being held in. Lillian then spent the next hour transcribing the entire set of plans into one of her books; the process was tedious and took up dozens of pages as there were enough details that she could not simply draw the plans smaller, but had to section them off and draw them full sized. Once finished she returned the drawings to their proper place and started to leave, but remembering how she had spotted her own footprints from last time, stopped. Using the hem of her dress she walked around the room kicking up the dust and hiding the signs that anyone had been in the room. Satisfied she had hidden her actions sufficiently well Lillian exited and relocked the room. Once again her misshapen key became stuck in the door and she was forced to wiggle it about to try and remove it.

“Ahem”

Lillian frooze, her hand still on the key that refused to come out. She looked over her shoulder to find Mrs.Farmer behind her, the copious wrinkles of her face contorted into a disapproving glare.

“And just what might I ask are you doing, Miss McClellen?” The old woman had her hands positioned on her hips with her elbows pointed out, making her look like a humanoid sugar bowl. Lillian looked away and bit a lip, trying to think of a plausible excuse. While she considered herself a highly intelligent woman, improvising was not her forte. For a brief moment her mind flashed back to the battle with the monster and her flaming blunder. “Well, Miss McCellen? I do not have all day.”

Unable to think of a lie, Lily opted for a half truth. “Ah, you see, Mrs.Farmer, I-” she moved out of the way to show the warped key still stuck in the door “-made my own key to see if it was possible to copy a key by sight alone. I used the library as my testing grounds because I am… here… so often.” Lillian didn’t believe herself and most of what she had said was true. Mrs.Farmer did not seem all that convinced either, though the wrinkles made it difficult to pick up on more subtle expressions

“That key. Looks terrible.”

Lillian blinked, “Well… yes. I forged it myself and I am somewhat lacking in that field.” Mrs.Famer shook her head. She then approached the door, grabbed the key, and with a jiggle of her hand and a kick from her foot to the bottom of the door the key popped loose. She then returned the key to Lillian who accepted it sheepishly.

“Come with me,” was all the woman said next and walked off with the speed one would expect of a younger woman. Lillian quickly followed and began to calculate how much she would need to donate to the library to make the incident go away. She was surprised, however, to find that instead of being led to Mrs.Farmer’s office as she had been expecting, the librarian led her deeper into the library. The old woman quickly made her way to a specific section, perused the spines of the books a moment, plucked one from the shelf, and presented it to Lillian who tentatively took it and read the title aloud.

“...Forging for beginners.”

“That key is terrible. You could have broken my lock with that wretched thing. Out of everyone in this blasted city I would think you’d have had the mindset to read up on something before trying it. You are to read that book, make a new key, and return both next month so we can see if you’ve done better. You’ve got a lot of potential Miss McCellen, don’t waste it by picking up the habits of men.” Lillian stared at the other woman a moment, looked at the book, then back to the woman; she nodded ever so slightly, then turned and walked out of the library.

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

Lillian sat in a private room of La Maison du Beau Café, a French Coffee shop that had opened several years ago and had been doing rather well for itself. Her reasons for visiting the shop had nothing to do with the untouched cup of over priced bean water, but rather because of its convenient position across the street from town hall, and for the private rooms available on its’ second floor. After ensuring with the waitress that she was to not be disturbed for the next hour Lillian left her body and leapt out the window. Her formless body landed like a feather on top of a sleeping dog who only responded to the slight pressure it caused by grunting and kicking a foot. Lillian made her way across the street and into the Town Hall, slipping in behind a couple whose arms were overburdened with papers so a passing gentleman held the door open for them.

Unlike the library whose schedule could easily be discerned and memorized, the hall was a chaotic mess of uncertainty. Dozens of people rushed back and forth, most of whom Lily did not recognise, and all with some clear purpose. The main hall was filled with thirty desks, each with a government worker, most of whom were dealing with multiple people at once. Lillian felt a tinge of pity for the poor souls who had to deal with such a mess on a constant basis.

Not wanting to waste the hour she had given herself Lily took off in a run and made her way toward the records room. The room was positioned at the farthest possible point from the entrance, on the third floor, to make it harder for anyone attempting what Lilian planed to do once she made it into the room. She quickly found the room and walked past it, knowing full well it would be locked. Instead she made her way to a broom closet and, once a rather stressed looking woman with crooked glasses and a windswept hairdo went past, she slipped inside. The room was small and filled with all manor of cleaning supplies, had she had the capacity for an olfactory sensation she was sure she’d have passed out from the opened chemical jars; all of which looked like dangerous concoctions made by the cleaning staff given their homemade -and misspelled- labels.

While the majority of the building had plastered walls to give the place an air of elegance, the broom closets in the building had been mercifully spared that extravagance and sported only the ugly and cheap wood that formed the frame of the building. Lillian moved some brooms out of her way, careful to not make any noise, and pulled a panel of wood off the wall. Who ever had been working in the closet had clearly run out of nails and had opted to press fit the bored in place; their laziness was Lily’s boon.

With some discomfort, but little difficulty, Lillian squeezed her body through the opening she had made and found herself squished between the wall of the broom closet and the wall of the records room. She then began to make her way deeper into the framework of the building, contorting and squeezing her body to fit past beams and pipes. She kept moving until she could see with her non-existent eyes the feint outline of a nail that failed to be driven into the wood, and had bent into the shape of a musical note. The ferrous notation indicated that she was standing near an open ventilation shaft. During a previous exploration of the Library's drawing room Lillian had discovered the town hall was meant to be four floors high, as opposed to the three that it ended up being. Operating under an assumption that ended up being true, Lillian surmised that some remnants of the unmade fourth floor remained. One of those remnants was a ventilation system that was to go one floor higher, but stopped part way. Rather than closing the ends of the open shafts properly, the workers had simply tacked a piece of wood over the open ends. The job was shaudy and Lillian had little trouble removing it, even while her body was semi-ethereal and conorted like a pretzel.

Lillian climbed-contorted her way into the shaft and located the vent register that led into the Records Room. With a small push the register poped free from the vent shaft, and Lily was able to squeeze into the room. Once inside she found it devoid of people, as usual, and well lit thanks to the windows allowing in the afternoon sunlight.

Knowing she only had an hour to get what she wanted to do done, Lillian quickly began searching for Lucie Ruzicka. On more than one occasion Lily had to invent another human being for her own purposes, so she was well versed in how to do it and how to make it not look suspicious. Given that her and her compatriots plan was to kidnap a child and hope she was simply declared missing it seemed prudent to have a new identity made for the young lady. Given Lucie’s desire to adopt the child it only made sense to forge documents that made it look like they were mother and daughter. Unfortunately, that plan would prove difficult to follow through on; after locating Lucie’s documents she was surprised to find that the woman was apparently dead.

Lily’s non-existent face scrunched up in surprise and annoyance. The file she had found on her comrade not only declared her dead for many years, but indicated if she was alive she would only be nineteen. With her original plan thoroughly ruined by unexpected deadness, Lily moved quickly to implement a new plan. She retrieved several blank documents from a box, and a pencil that she kept hidden under a shelf. Writing as fast as she could make her ethereal body go Lily made documents for both the little girl, and for Lucie. “If that even is her real name,” she thought to herself.

It was not easy, she had allotted time for only one forgery, but Lily managed to make documents for the expecting mother and her expected daughter. She listed Lucie as an immigrant from the Ukraine and gave her the name Lucie Anastasia Romanchuk, from the small village of Zaporozhye. She specifically picked the Ukraine as it was the closest country that Lucie possesed physical features from.

Not believing for a second that Lucie was nineteen -and knowing full well a nineteen year old with a ten year old daughter would raise some questions- Lillian made her twentynine instead. She did much the same for the little girl, keeping her first name the same but changing her middle and last names to Natalia and Romanchuk. She listed the girl as having been born in Prague and that her father was a man from the city, one of Lillian’s pre-invented people whom she had killed off for legal reasons a few years prior. Unsure what the young lady looked like she decided it would be best to give her at least one Czech parent, as a means to explain why she did not look like her mother, or look Ukrainian.

Once the documents were finished Lillian forged the relevant signatures and put the them in their proper spots. To avoid raising suspicion Lily used a trick she thought up when she first started forging documents; when she went to slip the file into place she pushed it further down than she needed to, damaging the paper slightly, but more importantly semi-hiding the file. If any staff randomly came across the file and found it odd they’d never seen it before their concerns would be immediately dashed do to the files semi-hidden state. To Lillian’s knowledge that exact scenario had never came up, but it never hurt to be prepared.

Lily returned her pencil to its’ hiding place, put the vent register back into the wall, and willed herself back to her body. Her eyes shot open and she immediately dug into her pouch for the food she had saved from breakfast. She gorged herself on every pear she had grabbed and downed the cold coffee that still sat on the table, cringing from the bitterness but happy for the sustenance. She then sat back in her chair to recoup from using her power for so long; she closed her eyes and took deep controlled breaths. Once she felt better she left her private room, paid for it and the disgusting brew she drank, and set off towards her home. She had one last task to take care of before returning to Ianus, and it was an experience she found herself dredding.

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

Lillian stood before her mother, who at that moment was smiling so wide there was some serious concern her head might just pop off.

“I wish to make myself clear, Mother,” Lily began. “This is not a permanent change in my thinking. I still find the obsession with one's appearance to be a pointless waste of time. However, tomorrow I will find myself in a position where I need to appear to look professional so as to not raise suspicions or make the individual I will be accompanying look bad by association. Is that clear?”

“Crystal! I am simply so thrilled to get the chance to doll up my only daughter!”

Lillian fidgeted, slightly uncomfortable with the thought of what she was about to unleash upon herself. “Yes… well… I simply ask you do not get carried away. You may change whatever you wish about me so long as you can justify its’ importance.”

Lilian’s mother rushed out of the room, called for several servants, and returned “Let us get started right away!”

“...Is… is three more people really necessary?! I had thought you would only do my hair and perhaps a bit of makeup. I do not t-” Lily was interrupted by her mother gently placing a finger upon her lips to silence her.

“Oh my sweet Lillian. You may know a great deal about bugs, and how fast a corpse can dissolve in acid. But I am a master in an area you have so thoroughly avoided. You are accompanying Adam Ware! A small change in hair is not enough.”

Lily frowned slightly but had to admit her mother had a point “Well… I suppose that is true. But as I said, you may do nothing to me unless it can be justified.” Lilian’s mother smiled and nodded. As it would turn out, her mother was able to justify a great deal.

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

Lillian walked down the halls of Ianus, her legs were ablaze with pain from all the walking she had been doing, and the rest of her body felt like it had been violated after the experience with her mother. The nice dress she had put on that morning was replaced with an even nicer royal blue dress, and her nails had been painted to match it. The hanging pouches that would normally adorn her body had been replaced with decorative chatelaine bag that hooked onto her waist, and was barely large enough to hold the book with the hospitals schematics. Her usual messy bun had been replaced with a complex braid that reached past her shoulder blades, the hair that wouldn’t cooperate with the braid had been given a slight curl and left to ‘frame her face,’ according to her mother. Lillian’s face had not been left untouched either and had been enhanced with makeup from her mother's personal supply. The face paint had been used to smooth or cover features, and her lips had been enhanced with a burnt pumpkin like lipstick that apparently matched her hair. Lillian was not thrilled about the makeup, but was happily surprised to find she could not feel it on her face like she had expected. “Small mercy’s,” she mumbled aloud. The last features of her body her mother felt keen on fixing was her ears which she adorned with sapphire earrings, and her spectacles which she replaced with a pair that were less circular like her old pair and far more oval like an egg. Her mother insisted the ovular shape was “in,” whatever that meant.

The change in appearance had done its’ job despite Lilian’s unhappiness with it. Even she had to admit that she looked professional, as though she truly was the secretary to one of Prague's richest families. Lily also had to admit she simply looked better, which helped her feel less self conscious about the wounds on her legs that were in desperate need of a re-wrapping.

Lillian continued to walk through Ianus, getting odd looks from members who were clearly surprised to see her dressed up so formally. Lily ignored them all and made her way to Lucie’s room, keen to receive answers to some warranted questions. She gave the other woman’s door several loud knocks and waited.

The Three Realms War [Act II] [DMC/Bayonetta/Darksiders Crossover]

Atop the wall Malvossia watched as the fire spread throughout the forest, confident that without intervention of some kind there would not be a tree left for kilometers. Part of her was somewhat saddened by the loss, but she could not deny the tactical advantage of more open area, and watching things burn never ceased to be amusing.

"G-good work you two, uhh... There don't seem to be anymore demons, s-so thank you..." Malvossia turned her head slightly to look at the man who had addressed her, amused by his choice of wording given his current company, then looked behind her to find that her lupine friend had rejoined them on the wall. The demonness turned to face the man, her eight legs moving like a cascade as they re-positioned her body. This seemed to make the man more nervous and he quickly muttered something about the fire and defenses. Malvossia spoke, her voice like that of a thousand demons talking over top each other at once, but with an eerie harmonious tone that seemed to echo in from no-where, but somehow it was still clear the demon was the source

"When the fire clears, I will weave a new forest of my own. One of silk stronger than steel, that burns to the touch. Even a demon would think twice about getting caught in a web spun by me." If the man registered what she had said it was unclear as he simply saluted and left. Malvossia did not spare the fearful human another thought and turned to face the great wolf who had begun speaking just after the man had left. She took a moment to consider the question, mulling over years of wars she had both observed and participated in. She recalled the actions of kings, and generals, and warlords; how their choices impacted the battle, but also how those choices could be seen by those not privy to the end goal. "I could be mistaken, but it would seem you wish me to tell you, that I think he fears you." Malvossia shook her thorax, dislodging a piece of demon carnage that had become stuck in her spines. The chunk flew through the air and landed at the foot of a solider who reacted so violently to the errant gore he nearly fell off the wall. "Never mistake fear for good tactics, Cerberus." Malvossia raised herself up to her full height and gave another shake, dislodging more gore. "That feels so much better. I rather dislike this form, but it looks like I'll be stuck like this until the fire ebbs." The demoness performed a mighty stretch and cast a side glance at the wolf, who did not seem too pleased with her answer. Though it was difficult to tell for certain as his expression had not actually changed. Mavlossia shrugged "Take no offense my friend. I am sure there are plenty a creature that find you frightening. Your quarry may well be among them, but I doubt their actions are motivated by fear. What the enemy is trying to do is no small feat, and they face a mighty opposition." Mal gestured towards the bloodstained battlefield to emphasize her point. "An intelligent general does not push when it risks their goals, just for the sake of proving they are not afraid. You will get your chance to fight this creature you hunt, but for now, cast your thoughts not on the coward that got away, but on what might be coming in their wake."

The Three Realms War [Act II] [DMC/Bayonetta/Darksiders Crossover]

A loud thud echoed through the clearing as Malvossia dropped the large gun she had borrowed from the men on the wall. The eviscerated bodies of the demons laid in pools of their own blood that seeped into the ground and turned the earth to mud. The large gun sunk into this bloody mud a few centimetres and Malvossia's legs were doing much the same. The demoness clenched four fists and placed them upon her wide hips, she stretched her eight legs as far as they would go to gain some height and with great satisfaction observed the battlefield. Had she still possessed a mouth Malvossia would have been smiling wide. Deciding it was time to return to her preferred form she began to will her self to change but stopped as a piercing cry emanated from the forest. She turned towards the sound and could see large plumes of smoke rising from deep within the wooded area. Before she could contemplate the significance a new wave of lesser demons broke from the forest and charged the wall.

Four hands grabbed a hold of the once-mounted gun and pulled it free from the mud, sending up a shower of bloody mud that coated some of Malvossia's legs. She began to fire the mighty gun, doing her best to absorb the recoil even as it forced her backwards through the now softened ground. The mix of recoil and the fact the weapon was covered in a slippery substance made it much more difficult to aim than it previously was, causing some of the shots to completely miss the demons and slam into trees, blowing them apart. Less effective than it once was or not Malvossia continued to fire until the bullets stopped exploding forth from the gun and she was met with a faint click. Now empty the gun only served as a large and heavy object, properties Malvossia quickly took advantage of. The demoness produced a length of thick webbing which she quickly took and tied to the gun, using all four arms she swung the gun around her with the length of webbing. As she swung she willed the web to get longer and longer until it was long enough that the gun was able to slam into the approaching hoard. Dozens of demons were sent flying back by the makeshift flail, their broken bodies spinning lifelessly through the air like a thrown rag doll. Malvossia continued to spin her weapon, making the web shorter as the hoard approach so that she could continue to bash away at them. The lesser demons quickly came into range of mounted guns on the wall and the men that operated them opened fire.

When the demons moved close enough to be fired upon they became difficult to fight with a large flail, so Malvvosia released it from her grip. The massive gun spun through the air whipping the attached strand of web around erratically, tangling around many demons and pulling them along with the aerial artillery. Malvossia charged into the fight, her massive size allowing her to walk over top the demons with ease, each of her 8 pointed legs spearing any unlucky enough to find themselves beneath her deadly gait. Those that did not find themselves beneath her were met with punches that could pierce their flesh , and a spined thorax that emitted a heat that burned even the denizens of hell.

Malvossia trampled over the demons, slaughtering them with ease as she moved to clear the areas where the guns failed to kill, and laughing all the while.