"... Have you encountered a man named Thorton Walters at all?"

Alexander shook his head, and miraculously, didn't sound like a passive aggressive bastard child. Instead, he had a rather neutral tone, the kind you'd be expected to give when talking to a business partner or a co-worker. "I have never met this man in my entire life." He then sat back on a chair, giving everyone glances every now and then. "There was some kind of entity that appeared after the attack outside right after the cultist idiots had left. It was..."

"She had three faces." Raymond butted in, leaning near the door while taking an occasional look at Shane, Oscar, and Sabrina, who were seemed to be on the process of going outside. "She seemed to be a rather powerful one, and was struck by lightning before disappearing. I vaguely remember something about a tree faced magical creature or something from the books in your library, but I'm not really an expert..."

"Didn't the mansion get robbed a few weeks ago?" Alexander said, scratching his head. "Maybe, one or more of the things that you say are hidden in relics in here have been... released? After all, something with three faces means it's either magical or has a very serious case of Janus Syndrome."

Well, that was bizarre; well besides the whole cultist burglary thing there was too much to wrap your head around. The house was a wreck, some... 'thing' had appeared with three faces, some of his siblings ran off as though they had upped and vanished- that was HIS power, not theirs. So where did they go? To top it all off, however; Alexander, the other Alexander, had plunged his hand into the depths of the dead and pulled up the spirit of daddy dearest, skin and all but little else apart from that. Seeing his father and all his manhood was definitely something to talk to in therapy about, just thinking of the possible mental scarring that Junior could have picked up was a tale all in itself. But that's not now that's not the present, where they were just attacked, the present where they needed answers and whatever else their deceased father could pass along. So when instead he was the one asking questions, saying that he knew very little and couldn't offer up much, Junior finally spoke up.

"... Have you encountered a man named Thorton Walters at all?"

"Sorry me father," Junior's clothes were in tatters from all the flying debris and floods of water that had flown through the air moments ago. His dishevelled look was quite surprising, even to him, since he had been invisible and hiding for most of the duration. "It would be faster if you just tell us about him. Instead of asking what we know? That's why we've gone further with this 'expert' than his copy." he looked to Justin, recognizing he was managing to speed up this discussion quite a bit.

“Sorry, batteries dead. Would have no signal either way.”

Arabelle watched Nisha wave the phone around. Her patience was wearing thin. She was just about to politely push- ask Nisha to move out of her way. What was with this girl? Any normal human would have rushed her to the hospital at this point. What if she was keeping Arabelle here to stall? The only thing that kept Arabelle from speaking her mind was that Nisha offered another way to get in touch with him. Arabelle nodded and moved to follow her, but let the door close behind Nisha anyways. She released the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding the moment she was alone. Truly alone.

With the say-so Vanburen gone, Arabelle set the ram skull down on the counter of the sink and rubbed as close to her shoulder as she could without it hurting. It felt strange to have her limb hanging there like that. She almost wanted to take her cardigan off to use it as a sling, but she didn’t dare try to slide it off of her arm. She leant against the doorway on her good shoulder and cracked the door. From where the bathroom sat, she could see Nisha up at a desk with the phone to her ear. She could even hear what she was saying. She caught the conversation just as she told Ezra she loved him. Arabelle’s eyebrow rose, and she let the door shut before Nisha could return. If they’d just met, how could they already exchange that type of intimacy between them? Had Ezra known of this extra Vanburen for long?

She wasn’t going to let her guard down either way. Arabelle picked up the ram skull again and put it back under her arm. She wasn’t going to let this thing out of her grip again.

“Release me, girl.”

Man, this apparition was getting annoyed. It was probably the most action it had gotten in a while, and she wasn’t even acknowledging it. What the hell was she going to do with it anyways? Would the family continue to keep it at the estate with those lunatics after it? She was lucky to have gotten it away from them in the first place. The Vanburens were lucky she was even there.

Nisha was back just as quickly as Arabelle had picked up the skull and leant against the sink counter. She even had a cookie. Arabelle took the cookie even though she couldn’t eat with her stomach in knots like this. She just held it in her hand and stared at Nisha. An ambulance and Ezra? It was her lucky day.

Arabelle wasn’t sure if she should tell the truth or to lie. The truth wasn’t even believable, really, but Arabelle figured that if this girl was a Wiccan she already knew, and if this girl was a Vanburen, she would find out. If she was a Wiccan, she wouldn’t let her out of this bathroom until her friends arrived.

“There was a break in at the estate.” Arabelle began and she stood straight. She watched Nisha closely as she started to move towards the door. She wanted to be outside when the ambulance arrived, if it was coming.

“One of the robbers dislocated it before I could escape.” Arabelle set her hand on the door handle and began to pull it open, her eyes still on Nisha. Could she really be trusted?

"Sorry me father, it would be faster if you just tell us about him. Instead of asking what we know? That's why we've gone further with this 'expert' than his copy."

Sorry me father?

The Liao son just had to roll his eyes at the kid when he said that. It was even harder holding his tongue during the whole affair... while he wanted to make a comment he had to read the room. He was pretty certain he was pushing it with the whole "supernatural expert" angle so he decided against such comments. Though, he had to agree with what the kid was saying, as much as it pained him to say that he was listening to a kid in the first place. Justin sighed as James answered him.

"He was..." James trailed off before he sighed. "... My best friend."

Not really answering any questions. Justin thought to himself before he realized that he had to be patient. Maybe this old senile kook would tell them something useful.

"He was a man with great ambitions and intentions... he wanted to undo all the bad he did in a world where that was impossible," James started, "Honestly, our history is so deep that I think it's impossible to tell you everything in less than an hour. So I will keep it breath: I used to follow the man, I used to even love the man as a brother, but I realized that he was going too far and I had to stop him."

He sighed.

"He will most likely want revenge... but he was a Purple and Orange Adept - he couldn't have cursed you all nor would he," James looked to the left and right as he slid his hands into his ghostly jacket. "Though, I'm certain that he's long dead and probably returned as an Apparition. Likely Abscised someone as well... so keep on your toes."

"She seemed to be a rather powerful one, and was struck by lightning before disappearing. I vaguely remember something about a tree faced magical creature or something from the books in your library, but I'm not really an expert..."

"... The Triple Goddess."

James almost hissed the name and Justin was certain that James would probably give them tangible or useful information about this menace. Or he hoped that he would. James looked among his children as he rubbed his chin and then muttered to himself, "... How did she find you so fast?"

Justin raised an eyebrow as James explained.

"She's one half of a duo of two incredibly powerful Apparitions that take the appearance of deities... and she's after her other half, the Horned God," James explained as he raised his head, "The two of them usually form a massive and powerful cult full of loyal Extra-Normals that they've indoctrinated with their abstractions. Both of them have the ability to dispense pleasure, knowledge, and power... along with both of them being able to control natural elements."

Interesting. Justin thought to himself as he was hoping that Ezra wouldn't decide that they didn't need a supernatural expert.

"Ages ago I defeated the Horned God and sealed him inside of a Ram skull... and the Triple Goddess wants her brother back," He started, "She probably formed a cult of idiots and threw them at you all for two reasons: one, to prevent you all from tracking her and two, and most importantly, to test you all."

Now they had an idea of what the hell that crazy cult was after. He then wondered how many other artifacts that are in the mansion that people are after... especially with the break-in he just heard about.

"I... am not aware of what abilities you all have, but her brother was my hardest battle - he almost killed me - and she's equally strong as he was. She was likely testing if she could take all of you on and take her brother back by force... This is why I heavily advise that you take the fight to her as soon as possible and seal her. However, I ask that you don't kill her cult - they're misguided - but if you have to, I will not think any less of any of you."

---

Georgie met everyone back in the living room, happy to be dry and somewhere that wasn't wet. She nearly took a seat in an arm chair, but one of her brothers she didn't know tried to make awkward conversation. Something or other about being in strange family. She promptly moved away from him and sat on the couch instead. She wanted her space and not to be around strangers. After what just happened she wanted familiar, but most of those that were left her with Strange brother, Patty, Alexander, and Alexander the eldest. Two she couldn't stand and two she didn't know at all. Alexander the eldest summoned James. She'd only gotten a peak of him nude, before she covered her eyes and tried not to vomit. That's not what she wanted to see and made a point to try to forget in the days to come.

She peeked behind her hands once she heard James for the first time, since last years Christmas dinner. He sounded the same, looked the same in his suit. She'd think him alive if it wasn't for his translucent form. She kind of missed him now that he was in front of her again. No, that's a lie. She missed the normal he represented for nineteen of her twenty years. Summers in the mansion, her garden, time spent in art museums and photobooks, his encouragement to follow her ambitions. No matter how much she said she didn't care for him it's a lie she said to herself, because she couldn't afford to be distracted. She never did cry at his funeral last year and now wasn't the time to do it either. She sniff and patted her eyes dry. If they could take a break after this, she'll need a moment.

James mentioned the name of a man she's never heard of. A Thorton Walters. She put a pin in the name to follow up with in his library when she had the chance. According to him he's an Apparition, but not like her Garden. The way he called him Abscised sounds more like a cancerous tumor than anything else. But it seems like the thing outside the window, the cult that attacked them and the thing they were looking for is more dangerous.

"She probably formed a cult of idiots and threw them at you all for two reasons: one, to prevent you all from tracking her and two, and most importantly, to test you all." James said.

"If we were being tested I say we all failed and got by on luck more than skill." She crossed her legs and her arms, despite changing her clothes the windows were still busted in the other room. She hopes Ezra makes a call to get it patched away before the day is done.

"I... am not aware of what abilities you all have, but her brother was my hardest battle - he almost killed me - and she's equally strong as he was. She was likely testing if she could take all of you on and take her brother back by force... This is why I heavily advise that you take the fight to her as soon as possible and seal her. However, I ask that you don't kill her cult - they're misguided - but if you have to, I will not think any less of any of you." She heard the worry and sincerity in James's voice.

"If you had a hard time fighting it, then there's more of a chance most of us will die. You don't have many children that are bright between the ears, Ja-Father." She hasn't called him that, since she left to study aboard, back before she saw him as nothing but her benefactor. She felt she had to say something to convey what she wouldn't say in front of her siblings and hoped he understood everything with that one word.

"Could you tell us where in your library we can find information on the Triple Goddess, the Horned God, and Thorton Walters? It's best we know everything, before going into a fight." She hates being caught off guard and in the dark when it's business she's involved in. The more she knows the higher her chance of survival.

---

As they got in the cab, Shane let Oscar sit up front with the driver. They weren't exactly certain where they'd be going yet but of the three, Oscar probably would have the best idea of where to start off. Shane sat in the back with Sabrina, in spite of his reservations about his... Habit, around her. It had been a long day already and he needed something to take the edge off and drip away the still flowing adrenaline.

He reached for the jackets breast pocket to take out his flask, shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth when he remembered this jacket to be the one Sabrina's power had given him, not the one he wore to the estate. Which still sat, unceremoniously, on the manor's steps.

'Excellent job, moron.' He thought to himself. He was going to have to pick up a new flask along with a new suit, though it seemed in poor taste to ask the cab and his siblings to stop by a pawn shop quickly. Was going to have to be a personal trip once all this shit was sorted out.

Doing his best to push away his frustrations, he heard Sabrina sigh. She thankfully seemed to avoid most of the fighting but this morning had clearly seemed to take its toll on her. He briefly considered saying something but, if there was a Vanburen the least equipped to give out emotional advice to another, it was probably Shane. He sat quietly.

"... What do you plan on doing to them when we find them?" Sabrina asked, "I hope you're not trying to kill them or anything."

"You know catching a charge would be the last thing father would want."

"Christ, Sabrina." Shane said, his usual stoicism contorting to obvious disgust. He'd expect that line of questioning from Georgie or Trisha maybe, but not Sabrina.

"No, I-..." He glanced over at the driver, hoping he was one of the cab drivers who didn't give a shit. Even still, he leaned closer and lowered his voice. "No. If I can help it, I'd rather sort all this out as quick as possible. They just seemed like stupid kids, even if they can throw out all kinds of crazy shit, they can still see reason."

He sat back. "Namely, that attacking the estate of one of the most well known families in town is real fucking dumb."He added, his voice still low but with a more than annoyed edge to it. "And about Dad." He said, expression returning to one of regular annoyance as he looked back sternly at Sabrina. "It doesn't much matter what he'd want right now." His voice didn't carry any kind of disdain, but he resented Sabrina's insinuation that he ought to care more about how his dead father would feel about a charge more than the charge itself. Unaware that the rest of the siblings in the manor had recently just seen much more of dear old dad than they would've liked.

"Anyway, back to the matter." He leaned forward, ensuring Oscar could hear him fine. "Where would someone like Morgana and her friends go in town? From what little we know, Morgana's boorish and immature, stands to reason her friends aren't much better. Theoretically, Morgana's got a memorable enough name, look and attitude that if we go somewhere communal like a corner store we've got a half decent shot at finding a lead."

It made sense enough to Shane, it might have also been from finding her profoundly irritating from just a few instances of her speaking, but he remembered Morgana quite well considering. But it was the words, the inflection, everything coming out of his mouth he detested. It sounded far too much like cop talk for his comfort.

Nisha’s eyebrows jumped as Arabelle mentioned there being a break-in at the Vanburen house. She imagined if one of the richest families in the town got burgled then the whole damn police force would’ve gone to their house, but she didn’t recall hearing any sirens when she had waited. Plus, Ezra had sounded fairly calm for someone who had just been robbed. Was Arabelle pulling her leg? Nisha’s gutcheck was a firm no, but her gut wasn’t always on her side. She gave Arabelle a shrug and helped her with the bathroom door.

“Wow, that’s pretty wild. Hopefully you gave that wannabe thug a little one-two”—Nisha gave the air in front of her a gut shot and an uppercut—“in return. Sorry about your shoulder, though. I had that happen to me once—oh, not get it dislocated by a robber, just dislocated—and it hurt like a mother. Gyah. It was like three or four years ago. Funnily enough, it happened in a bathroom too, see I was...”

Nisha walked beside Arabelle as she led her through the somewhat crowded cafe, oversharing a story that a person normally wouldn’t tell a total stranger unless they were working on their fourth margarita after their third divorce. Midwestern mothers turned their heads as Nisha regaled an unfortunate Arabelle with gratuitous details regarding an on-the-clock bathroom tryst that was cut short when Nisha had slipped and fell on the bathroom floor thanks to the piss that was everywhere from some old drunk. The two woman exited the building and stepped out into the cool winter air to wait for the ambulance as Nisha wrapped up, “And so then what this idiot does is, this idiot picks me up off of the ground, see my dislocated shoulder, and decides to fix it by slamming me into the wall like in that one movie. The crazy thing is, it worked! So there I am with a totally fucked and then unfucked shoulder, almost in a complete blackout, smelling like a month old urinal cake, and he tries to go back in for some more— ”

A dangerous look flashed across Nisha’s face, “You know what? We could just slam your shoulder back into place. Hospitals always ask too many questions and are so judgmental. Make it seem like it's your fault for breaking your ankle when you just barely miss the jump from your friend’s rooftop to their above-ground pool. How ab...”

Thankfully, Nisha’s words were drowned out by the sounds of the ambulance pulling up, giving Arabelle the opportunity to escape from what was quickly becoming a hostage situation as a somewhat disappointed Nisha flagged the EMTs over.

"Ages ago I defeated the Horned God and sealed him inside of a Ram skull... and the Triple Goddess wants her brother back,"

"Sounds like you were quite busy in the magical business for some time, pops." Alex answered, crossing his arms while leaning forward on his seat. He had no idea what James had been doing after he had left him and his mother eighteen years ago, other than the sure possibility that he was screwing with at least a dozen more women from all over the four corners of the globe like a deranged sex addict. Now, it seems, he had also been busy fighting these magical beings called Apparitions. He himself had one always around him, following Alex around like a super duper loyal best friend that he never had. The Spectre has been quite nice, despite being a personification of death itself.

Well, it looks like that we know what to look for in order to know if the cult of idiots had managed to do their job despite being a group of incompetent mage wannabes with absolutely no management skills. Where did you hide the ram skul, then? We'd have to check if it's gone, and if it's not, we better put it in a more secure location, such as... I don't know. A reinforced steel vault perhaps, with magic thingimajigs keeping it sealed? Dunno, whatever it takes, that is. A lot of the things here could just be grabbed four of a pedestal without any effort, after all."

As they got in the cab

As soon as the three of them were already settled into the cab, a set of three knocks would ensue on the passenger window on the side that led to the manor. It was Raymond, and he wanted to come with too. "Hey, I heard you talking about going after the cult." He said as soon as the window rolled down. "I want to come along with you... if that's alright. I know quite a bit about magic, and they already have the conversation with our deceased father covered. If rather do something more active."

A pause. "Please...?"

---

Oscar was as ready as he was going to be, giving Shane a nod. He used his abstraction to draw the water out of his clothes and phone (unlikely to work anyway), pulling his coat close around him. He was very thankful for his ability to make his clothes good and dry again even if he had to ignore the parched feeling in his throat.

He ended up in the front of the cab, which was fine. It was easy enough to make small talk with the cab driver even if he seemed much more interested in ignoring all of them and ramping up the radio. Which suited just fine for Oscar outside of making it hard to hear what his siblings were saying in the back.

"Anyway, back to the matter. Where would someone like Morgana and her friends go in town? From what little we know, Morgana's boorish and immature, stands to reason her friends aren't much better. Theoretically, Morgana's got a memorable enough name, look and attitude that if we go somewhere communal like a corner store we've got a half decent shot at finding a lead."

Oscar twisted in his seat so he could look at the two in the back, frowning. “Well, I remember Justin said something about there being a cult in the woods. So it seems that they use that for whatever weird things they’re doing. But forests are large and I think it would be best to try and narrow them down. But there’s only so much of the city that is next to woods, so that narrows it down for finding a corner store to ask at. Which I think is a good idea, she’s certainly memorable. They may have… powers, but they’ll still need to eat. We just need to decide where to check.”

---

"If we were being tested I say we all failed and got by on luck more than skill. If you had a hard time fighting it, then there's more of a chance most of us will die. You don't have many children that are bright between the ears, Ja-Father."

James chuckled at the comment about his children. Not in a way that even implied that he had agreed with her, but more of an amused way. He shook his head as he looked at Georgie. "You doubt us, Georgie." He said, "We're all a lot better than what you think we are. Everyone survived, correct?"

Justin was not sure about the Vanburen family, yet. He couldn't really agree or disagree with Georgie's assertion... he just felt that she was a bit blunt at best, and outright rude, at worst. Justin would never say such things about his family but he was raised in a... much different household. One that valued family over money but he's getting ahead of himself. James seemed to imply that there was a catch.

"The Horned God has a weakness, so does the Triple Goddess," He started as he raised a hand. "The two of them are linked to each other - when one is sealed, the other is far weaker. This is why she's going to throw her cult at you... Yet, do not underestimate her under any circumstance." He sighed.

"The Horned God's weakness lies in his horns... damage them and he will lose power and you'll easily be able to seal him. I'm not sure about the Triple Goddess. Both of them have a weakness to being damaged by artificial materials, but this shouldn't be an issue as long as the Horned God remains sealed..."

"Could you tell us where in your library we can find information on the Triple Goddess, the Horned God, and Thorton Walters? It's best we know everything, before going into a fight."

"It's alphabetically arranged," James very flatly answered. "Unless one of you got in there and messed up the arrangement... again." He sighed.

"Well, it looks like that we know what to look for to know if the cult of idiots had managed to do their job despite being a group of incompetent mage wannabes with absolutely no management skills. Where did you hide the ram skull, then? We'd have to check if it's gone, and if it's not, we better put it in a more secure location, such as... I don't know. A reinforced steel vault perhaps, with magic thingimajigs keeping it sealed? Dunno, whatever it takes, that is. A lot of the things here could just be grabbed four of a pedestal without any effort, after all."

James looked to the left and the right.

"It's the skull of a ram that's in my study," James answered. "I never knew that magic would ever return to this world... and that those beings that I defeated eons ago would remain dormant. However, I heavily advise that you hide them somewhere because it's likely that there are other eyes set on them. And I have sealed beings such as Babylon the Great, The Swarm, and... the Hands."

He cringed as Justin was tempted to ask about James' relationship with his grandmother. Justin held his tongue, yet again as James asked,

"Is there anything else you all need? I guess I don't have any obligations anymore here in the afterlife!" He chuckled.

---

"No, I-...No. If I can help it, I'd rather sort all this out as quickly as possible. They just seemed like stupid kids, even if they can throw out all kinds of crazy shit, they can still see reason. Namely, that attacking the estate of one of the most well-known families in town is really fucking dumb."

Sabrina played it off with a bout of laughter. She was certain that she wasn't going to convince her younger brother by playing it off as a joke- especially since he was a cop and she was... just a Lil' ol' fashion designer out of her element. She loved Shane with all of her heart but she had to make sure that he wouldn't go off the deep end on some kids. The idea of killing people frightened Sabrina, and she was not trying to watch anybody go down that road. That was why she was going to stop them... if it was really possible to do so. Sabrina sighed as she wanted to say something but she thought it'd be best if she remained quiet and hope that Shane lets that go.

"And about Dad. It doesn't much matter what he'd want right now."

"But-"

Sabrina squeaked out but she stopped herself. Holding her tongue was tough but she didn't want to get into an argument about what James wanted at the moment.

"Anyway, back to the matter. Where would someone like Morgana and her friends go in town? From what little we know, Morgana's boorish and immature, stands to reason her friends aren't much better. Theoretically, Morgana's got a memorable enough name, look and attitude that if we go somewhere communal like a corner store we've got a half-decent shot at finding a lead."

Araminta wasn't that big but Shane was likely overestimating their chances a bit, Sabrina felt like. Araminta was full of drug addicts and the children of those drug addicts raising hell - if she was even from Araminta but she doubted that so she pushed that possibly out of her mind. Though, Shane was a police officer, maybe... An idea popped into Sabrina's head.

"... Do you think we could pull a few strings with the Sherriff's office and ask about her?" Sabrina asked. "We should have enough pull in Araminta, but there's a lot of corner stores here..." She trailed off.

“Well, I remember Justin said something about there being a cult in the woods. So it seems that they use that for whatever weird things they’re doing. But forests are large and I think it would be best to try and narrow them down. But there’s only so much of the city that is next to woods, so that narrows it down for finding a corner store to ask at. Which I think is a good idea, she’s certainly memorable. They may have… powers, but they’ll still need to eat. We just need to decide where to check.”

Her mind went back to their supernatural expert and she felt the urge to go back and ask him what he knew. However, they were already in the cab and, at this point, it was likely that Justin didn't have that much of a lead either - likely that he just scoured Reddit and told him what he found there. However, Oscar had a better idea - they could just look by the woods! Probably they grab a pizza and stuff - anything to avoid wandering around the woods for hours in a place where the Wiccans probably have the home-field advantage.
"Yeah, that's a grea-" Sabrina tried to say before she was surprised by the knocking on the window. She jolted as she whipped her head around to the side of the cab... and saw Raymond. She was happy that it wasn't that insane cult, but at the same time... she quietly coughed as she rolled down the window.

Hey, I heard you talking about going after the cult. I want to come along with you... if that's alright. I know quite a bit about magic, and they already have the conversation with our deceased father covered. If rather do something more active. Please...?"

"I don't see why not," Sabrina answered. Before she smiled as she said, "Just don't bring down any buildings while we're there, okay?" Sabrina said as she remembered the devastation he caused in the manor. Though, there was a problem that she didn't yet realize until she opened the door for him...

... Almost everyone in the car was six feet and over.

Needless to say, it was a very uncomfortable car ride to the border between the wooded and the urban parts of Araminta. Sabrina wanted to say she was okay with it, but being the largest of the siblings, she was very uncomfortable. The girl had to suck it up, but the fact that she had to bring her knees up so high in the back of the cab plus being sandwiched was not...ideal. She sighed. Sabrina watched as the environment went from the woods to the more run-down areas of Araminta. They were in East Araminta, just as she told the cabbie... because if there's a cult out in the woods they definitely crawled out of this shithole.

When the cab stopped and she opened the door, she was assaulted by the harsh smell of sewage filling in the air. That's what reminded her that she was in East Araminta... the one part of the city that she and the rest of the siblings stayed away from with good reason. She realized that she stuck out like a sore thumb here and hoped that their time here would be brief. The cab sped off and right behind Sabrina was the woods... and in front of her was a row of buildings. A convenience store, a bar, an alcohol store, a pizza store, and a strip club.

Only in Araminta.

She sighed as a tall lady with blonde hair came out of the pizza store holding a pizza... she looked at the four as her eyes shot open before she turned to the right and walked down the sidewalk away from them.

Arabelle couldn’t stand to be in the bathroom any longer. She inhaled through her nose and pushed her way out of the bathroom, only to see that Nisha had begun to hold the door open for her anyways. She walked straight towards the door and avoided eye contact with anyone in the cafe. With this woman rambling on beside her, it would surely gather more attention than Arabelle wanted in her current state. The patrons inside would begin to wonder if they’d seen Arabelle enter the cafe at all, or how could she have dislocated her shoulder in the bathroom of a coffee shop. She was especially nervous that someone in the room would notice the skull and have the same intentions as the thief from weeks ago or the wiccans. She was all alone outside of the estate, and while Nisha seemed genuine she wasn’t sure if she would help her out any further than this.

As if this was even helping her. Nisha demonstrated her own self-defense technique and Arabelle flinched as if Nisha would accidentally strike her. Her eyes widened as she listened to Nisha’s story. What the hell happened to this girl? The flash of mischief across Nisha’s face was enough to send her heart racing. Arabelle began to shake her head, her mouth opening to protest loudly because this girl seemed like the type to just do even if Arabelle didn’t want to- but she was in luck.

The flashing lights outside caught Arabelle’s eyes and the wails of the ambulance sounded like heaven’s choir. Arabelle almost fainted in relief. She was utterly exhausted and felt like crying in a hot shower. In her relief she completely forgot to thank Nisha for what little help she provided, but Arabelle figured that she’d have time for that later. For now, she just needed to fix her shoulder and swallow the strongest painkiller they had in the emergency vehicle.

When the EMT asked how she hurt her shoulder, Arabelle offered a weak excuse that she’d slipped on a wet floor in the bathroom. They took her to the back of the ambulance, but Arabelle insisted that she sit down on the edge instead of being lifted inside. An EMT offered to take the skull, her face just as confused as Nisha’s was, but Arabelle refused to let anyone touch it. She wasn’t sure what would happen if a Blind human were to touch a sealed apparition, and she wasn’t going to find out. Not with a cult of extra-normal women after it.

So Arabelle held the skull tightly with her left hand as the EMTs did their job. She shut her eyes tightly when it came down to relocating the displaced shoulder and tried her best not to grind her teeth together as they began to move the arm. It was searing hot pain one moment, a sudden POP back into place, and suddenly Arabelle felt much much better.

Now she just needed Ezra to come get her.

"It's the skull of a ram that's in my study," James answered. "I never knew that magic would ever return to this world... and that those beings that I defeated eons ago would remain dormant. However, I heavily advise that you hide them somewhere because it's likely that there are other eyes set on them. And I have sealed beings such as Babylon the Great, The Swarm, and... the Hands."

Alex gave his half siblings a cursory glance before looking back at their father. "If someone could be so kind to go and look for the ram skull in our father's study and confirm that it has not been stolen by the rambling cult of idiots, that would be much appreciated, thank you." The rest of what their father said was nothing but trouble, though. For one, he did not expect magic to return to this world, whatever it meant, it could only mean that something is happening in the universe, something of great, supernatural proportions. Everyone in the room were either aided by Apparitions or got magic by their own, and if he was to take a guess, they all got it at around the same time.

And then there was the other thing. No, things. Apparently, from what he could gather from what he was saying, James Vanburen was some kind of demon hunter that sought out dangerous magical creatures and imprisoned them inside objects... like the Ram Skull for the Horned God. And now that creature's half was seeking him out...

"We should find all of the objects with... what were those again? Apparitions, right. We need to get those things off those stands and glass containers and place them in more secure locations. Like, as I said, vaults. We should not put them all in the same place, either..."

Maybe. Maybe they should scatter the objects around Araminta? Maybe. But they should ask their magic experts.

"What do you suggest, Justin?", Alex turned to Justin, winking. "Should we bury them ten or so feet in the ground in random places... or...?"

"I don't see why not," Sabrina answered. Before she smiled as she said, "Just don't bring down any buildings while we're there, okay?" Sabrina said as she remembered the devastation he caused in the manor. Though, there was a problem that she didn't yet realize until she opened the door for him...

Raymond smiled at his half sister as she told him that there was no objection to him getting in this journey with the rest of them. "Sabs, you know that I'm not that strong. Yet." However, he too would realize a rather... slight inconvenience that they would all have to bear while in their ride to the outskirts of the town.

That's right... everyone, except for Ray, were either six footers or over. He was the shortest one at five feet and ten inches, and sitting beside them made him feel small. He was normally their snuggly sibling that often fell asleep when they were sitting together, but this time, it was like they're packed sardines in there.

She realized that she stuck out like a sore thumb here and hoped that their time here would be brief. The cab sped off and right behind Sabrina was the woods... and in front of her was a row of buildings. A convenience store, a bar, an alcohol store, a pizza store, and a strip club.

"Well, here we are, in the destitute area of this miserable town." Ray slapped the door shut, as he was the last to get out. Being among these three brought back memories of their tales of mischief as children, but now, well, they were going to hunt down a cult in the woods. Sounds like fun.

"So, where to next?" Raymond asked as he looked around the area, looking for hooded magicians. "Are we going to the bar and ask the omnipotent bartender about a suspicious character named Morgana?"

Ezra drove with one hand on the wheel, the other holding a cigarette near the barely cracked window to keep the smoke from soaking into the leather, and a bluetooth headset jammed into his ear. The car itself was nothing fancy, a standard suburban sedan with good gas mileage and a high safety rating. It wasn’t the kind of car that made people think one of the wealthiest men in town was behind the wheel, but that was kind of the point. Ostentatious displays of wealth really wasn’t Ezra’s style. Shoved into the console of the car was a brown paper bag that contained the knife that had been jammed into the chest of one of the Wiccans, still wet with the victim’s blood. Once he checked with Arabelle and picked up Nisha he had an errand to run.

“Hey Anne, it’s Ezra. I’m going to need to call in a favor and use that lab of yours. Preferably without anyone else knowing about it. Ring me back when you can,” he said as he sped through a yellow light as it turned red.

He heard sirens coming from behind him and grimaced. Even though he insisted against it the police typically turned a blind eye when a Vanburen did something outside of the law, but he had definitely gone through the light before it had been red. He pulled over to the side of the road and watched as an ambulance drove by instead, headed the same way he was. Ezra pulled back into the thoroughfare with the intent to follow behind the ambulance the full way to his destination.

Instead, he hit the red light. White knuckles gripped the steering wheel as he flicked the cigarette out the window and watched with narrowed eyes as a battalion of Christmas shoppers marched across the street right as the crosswalk countdown timer started. By the time the little old granny holding up the rearguard was no longer in front of his fender, the light had hit another red. Ezra banged his head against the back of the driver’s seat, lit another cigarette, and gunned it the minute green flashed.

By the time Ezra made it to Café, Oh Yay the lights on the ambulance had been killed, the backdoor was open, and he could see an EMT in a blue uniform grabbing hold of Arabelle’s arm and pushing. He hurriedly chucked the cigarette out of the car, even though it was clear from the expression on Arabelle’s face that she was distracted by the lady popping her shoulder back into place. He pulled past the ambulance and found a place to park next to the curb, leaving the window open to air out the evidence. As he approached the ambulance a young Indian woman in a tracksuit swished up towards him with a look of determination, her mouth opening to speak.

“About time! Oh it is so nice to finally see you in the flesh, brother. Thank you for coming for me, I—”

“Excuse me, miss,” said Ezra without stopping. He didn’t see the woman’s jaw drop as his hand brushed her shoulder to prevent the two of them from colliding as he deftly stepped around her to check in on his employee. He looked from the EMT to Arabelle down to the skull. It looked identical to the weird one dad kept in his study. He pulled his gaze away from the oddity back towards the women. “How is she? Are you okay? Did one…”

“Brother!”

“She dislocated her shoulder from her fall but I was able to secure it back in place,” said the EMT. A look of relief washed over Ezra’s face before it faded back to its usual calm, although it was difficult to tell if he was relieved because Arabelle wasn’t badly harmed or because Arabelle had kept the attack on the mansion underwraps. “While she should be fine and, technically, I am not allowed to force her to go, it’s standard procedure to take her to the hospital just to make sure that there was no last damage to any ligaments.”

“Better to be safe—”“Brother!?”“—don’t you agree, Ms. Matthews? I could meet your at the hospital and pick you up after they run a checkup, but it’s your call. Just—”“EZRA!!”“—what!?”

As he shouted, Ezra turned to see the same lady in the tracksuit rushing towards him. He instinctively seized up as she practically leapt from the sidewalk and threw her arms around him, pulling him into a surprisingly tight hug. He gave Arabelle a look of wild confusion that shifted to discomfort to fear as he realized the lady was not going to let go. He could’ve sworn he heard muffled cries coming from where the stranger had buried her head into his chest as he tried to squirm free from the hug, the stranger’s grip only tightening.

_“What?” was all Ezra was able to eek out. Hopefully, Arabelle knew what the hell was going on and had a trick to getting this psycho out of his personal bubble—a hope that was quickly fading away as the EMT moved to close one of the doors on the back of the EMT.

---

Georgie shouldn't have expected a real answer from James. Check alphabetically. If it were that simple, sure. She wouldn't put it passed Alexander to get his grubby little hands on James's books, then not put them back where they belonged or Patty to do something untoward with them. Never mind. She doesn't know how to read. If it doesn't have pictures she wouldn't touch them. Alexander the eldest suggested one of them go look. Georgie didn't hesitate to stand up.

"It was almost pleasant seeing you again, James. It's been so long I nearly forgot I only want your money. Good as any consolation for messing up my life plans. Ta-ta, love." She blew him kisses, then left the living room.

She had no intention on coming back. She had research to do. The library looked like someone was looking for something and didn't care that they left it a mess. At least the bookshelves were fine. She looked on the ground floor, then the first level of the library and there was no ram's head to be found. Looks like they got what they came here for, mayhaps. She pulled out her phone and texted Erza about the servant girl that went missing. She didn't leave out the door with Oscar and everyone else nor was she in the living room. She couldn't remember if that's what Erza left for in the first place, but she has a hunch.



Georgie moved on with her research, since that was a bust until he texted her back. James said in alpha order, but not if by first name or last, so she started with B for Babylon the Great. The book on the apparition was heavy and detailed too much to get through in a day. It'll keep her preoccupied for the week, however, she did find out where he sealed if after skimming the first few pages. Nasty. She wants nothing to do with something so vile, but it has to remain sealed. He said he sealed her in an orange vase. That should be easy to find just not in the library. It was mostly dark wood and matching patterns. Not a sliver of color to brighten it up, but she does recall a vase matching the description in the gallery where the other art pieces were. She created a small portal and threw the book inside. She's not carrying more than she has to. She moved on to H for Hands and Horned God, S for Swarm, T for Triple Goddess (Thornton Walters wasn't there), and W for Walters, Thornton. The Swarm was more complicated and wouldn't be as easy to hide the pieces short of throwing them in the ocean. The pieces wouldn't be easy to find either. The book says he sealed it away in pieces of a broken rubix cube. If they have to go on a wild goose chase to find it in the house, then isn't it better off to leave well enough alone? She found the artifact the Hands was sealed in. Of what she's read so far that one was the least disgusting, but seemingly the most harmless. They could let it stay where it was. No one would look twice at a James's name plague on his desk. That vase, however, couldn't stay where it was.

Georgie went down the hall to the gallery and found an empty space where she remembered it being. On the far right wall under a painting of Dante's Inferno by Paul Chenavard.

"Right on the nose much, James." And of course it was gone. She hadn't thought twice about a stolen vase when the mansion was ransacked weeks ago. She wasn't even here when it happened. Great. She'll definitely have to study the book now that something that powerful is on the loose. She opened a portal to her Garden big enough for her to fit through. She picked up the books off the ground and set them on the trolley she used when picking flowers for the week so they wouldn't get dirty. Finally something to focus on, but she can study later. By now she assumes James is laid back to rest, and they're expecting her to come back with the news that the ram's head is gone. So she left her sanctuary and went back to the living room.

"It's gone and so is the vase Babylon the Great was sealed in. The witches might have taken the head, servant girl might have it, or both were taken when the mansion was broken into. We'll have to wait and see."

Of all the things he expected, the words "my best friend" parting across the lips of his late father was nowhere near one of them, it was unheard of for the man to attached to people so fondly as to name them a close friend, let alone his best. However, there was a time to research that man later as James continued about the creature outside, or the "Tripple Goddess" as he called it.

"If we were being tested, I say we all failed and got by on luck more than skill."

He had to give it to his sister. She was right, his siblings had performed abysmally considering the circumstances, and personally inviting a glamoured witch inside the house at that. Junior slouched back into his chair as the spirit began to drone on, he'd have to talk sternly to his siblings after this is over, at the next chance they get- they need to be prepared for the next time some busybody decided to storm their house.

"We're all a lot better than what you think we are. Everyone survived, correct?"

... Apparently something his father disagreed with. Junior squinted at Alexander, besides sharing his middle name, they had nothing in common. That man was far from perfect and supposed he summoned an imperfect copy of their father. Now that would explain his poor advice.

He thought about bringing it up now, but who knew how long his brother could maintain their father. Ghosts always disappeared before they could finish the important stuff in movies, and the boy wasn't feeling particularly lucky after the confrontation earlier; So he held it in, patting his knees as the conversation carried on...
one.. one.. two.. one.. one.. one.. two.. one.. one.. one.. two.
left.. left.. right.. left.. left.. left... right.

"Is there anything else you all need? I guess I don't have any obligations anymore here in the afterlife!" He chuckled.

"Why yes father" Junoir retorted, he shot up with all the energy you expect of a child all too happy to get his turn to talk.

Frankly, he thought, their father had to provide more information than that. If he wasn't going to do it without prompt; Junior supposed he had to do it himself.

"It would be great if you could tell us exactly what objects in the manor hold power.." He continued, only to pause as his sister spoke up, blew a kiss and strolled casually out the room. She probably thought that would impress someone. It was a shame; she was rather pleasant to be around when he was a child, and Junior wondered where her personality had gone. Junior's eyes darted back to his father once more. "..its all well and good you explained what they hold.. but where are they?" Junior pouts, their father was always like this- forgetting the smaller details and getting exacerbated when his children did a poor job, though he couldn't hold it against the man. Sometimes it really was like talking to a brick wall with this family.

---

"It would be great if you could tell us exactly what objects in the manor hold power... its all well and good you explained what they hold.. but where are they?"

"They're all over the manor... every single glass case contains an artifact," James stated and pointed to a glass case with a dismembered statue hand inside of it. "Make sure you put that one somewhere nobody can get to it."

"... Greeeeat," Justin jeered.

"It was almost pleasant seeing you again, James. It's been so long I nearly forgot I only want your money. Good as any consolation for messing up my life plans. Ta-ta, love."

Whoa! Daddy issues much?

Justin chuckled at his own joke as Georgie was incredibly disrespectful of her own father! He felt as if she had some type of resentment towards him that she should air out to a therapist or something. Even if he had daddy issues, he would never even think of saying something like that to his own father. Then he had to remember that these were a bunch of spoiled rich kids. They probably thought that they owned the world and could treat people in any manner they wanted! Though their tone towards Justin himself and Tuyen was a bit different - and he was hoping that was because he gave off the aura of somebody who would not put up with their shit.

Or they knew that they need him. It sucked looking at it that way but Justin definitely wasn't going to disappoint if he had a choice in the matter.

James didn't even flinch as he sighed, letting out a defeated, "Love you too, Georgie."

He said before he faded away.

"What do you suggest, Justin? Should we bury them ten or so feet in the ground in random places... or...?"

This was a good question. There was something that didn't quite click with Justin about this whole situation. He didn't know just what, but there was something odd about this. Either this meant he was stupid, or he was gonna piece together too late to do anything about it. That wasn't important because he had to focus on the now while he had a chance... of course, Justin was rather lost as to what exactly to do with the artifacts. There was honestly nothing that they could do that didn't have an equal drawback. They could hide it all the way out in the middle of nowhere, but if someone has a sense like the Triple Goddess apparently has, then that's more or less just giving it to them for free. Keeping them in the manor is inviting more weirdos like that cult - or for somebody with an actual brain to attack them.

Justin closed his eyes and breathed deeply, then he exhaled.

"Honestly there's no right thing to do here, y'know?" He sighed as he shook his head. "Even if we hide them far away, that won't stop anyone from actually coming for you all if they know about the place... but we should keep 'em close to us, y'know? So we can at least protect them if someone comes to a knocking."

He nodded his head and gave Alexander a triumphant smile.

"Because like hell I'm gonna let a bunch of dangerous ass ghosts out."

Regardless of how weird this all is.

"It's gone and so is the vase Babylon the Great was sealed in. The witches might have taken the head, servant girl might have it, or both were taken when the mansion was broken into. We'll have to wait and see."

Oh boy.

Not only was it likely that one powerful apparition was out on the loose, but it was also possible that two were on the loose.

Great.

That was likely why the Cult cut and run so quickly, they probably got what they wanted and fled. That was why the Triple Bitch covered their escape by making a big enough ruckus at the front. The Horned God was likely already freed by now unless this mysterious "servant girl" has it. Or she could be with the cult - Justin didn't know. He slid his hands into his pockets as he rolled his eyes, taking one deep breath in before he said,

"Want my expert opinion?" Justin almost jeered again as he tilted his head and loudly cracked his neck. "We can't do anything about Babylon or any of the other Apparitions that were stolen because we don't have a lead, and I don't like going on stupid wild goose chases - and, I really, really, wish it wasn't..."

Justin loudly sighed as he cut himself off.

"... I feel like they're gonna make themselves known very soon. Much as I hate to say it, we're gonna have to wait for one of them to come to us and hope that they make themselves known soon enough for us to do something."

This... fucking sucked. Justin was not gonna lie to himself or these rich people. He didn't like that they basically had no other options than wait for something to happen - which was not something that Justin liked at all. They wanted a hero to come in and solve all their supernatural problems, but it seems like they're taking the brunt of their father's lack of foresight. James' plan seemed to be to hide out in this universe and hope for magic to stay that way. Which seemed to have worked for a while, but obviously not forever - and of course he didn't have a plan B.

So, looks like they're just gonna go fuck themselves. Justin put a hand on his chin as the cold wind breeze hit him... only for Justin to activate his pyro-telekinesis in response. He paced off to the side as he thought about it for a second.

"Our best bet, for now, is to look into this cult and the Triple Goddess - and hope that they don't have the Horned God," Justin started, "I have an idea of where to start - there have been reports of goats and other animals disappearing - if any of you want to come along. Otherwise, just stay put and figure out what to do with those artifacts."

"They're all over the manor... every single glass case contains an artifact," James stated and pointed to a glass case with a dismembered statue hand inside of it. "Make sure you put that one somewhere nobody can get to it."

"Sooooo..." Alex scratched his head. "You're saying that every glass case in here contains a bloody demon sealed inside an artifact of some kind?" Unbelievable. And he didn't even bother putting any home protection systems. "I should say that for a place with so many dangerous things in it... security is extremely sloppy..."

He said before he faded away.

"Das vhidanya, papa." Alexander said rather solemnly as James faded away from the world of the living to return to his life after death. Perhaps he was having a lot of fun there; no worries, no obligations, no nothing. Just an eternity of... who knows. He sure as hell had not entered the golden gates of Heaven, unless if he had repented of all of his sins right at the moment before everything went black and then white.

One thing, though, was that Alex... Sasha was not sure how to feel when James slipped back to ghost land. The Spectre's power could only hold a spirit so long in the material world, and in the few moments that he had conversed with his father, he had went from assuredly passive aggressive to a little more cordial, and now... well, he's not sure. Was he hoping for some kind of reconciliation? Apologies? After all... while he surely showed that he despised James for leaving him and his mother back then, there was just the nagging feeling that their relationship should be mended. It wouldn't matter now that the man was dead, since he could always give him a call. Anyway...

"Honestly there's no right thing to do here, y'know?" He sighed as he shook his head. "Even if we hide them far away, that won't stop anyone from actually coming for you all if they know about the place... but we should keep 'em close to us, y'know? So we can at least protect them if someone comes to a knocking."

He nodded his head and gave Alexander a triumphant smile.

"Because like hell I'm gonna let a bunch of dangerous ass ghosts out."

Alex smiled back, and got up from his seat, glancing all over the destroyed mansion. "Well... that should be a start. I suppose we can begin with the most powerful and dangerous ones, and place them in secure locations. For one, we should get a vault built in here. We're rich and we have a terramancer, so it shouldn't take long. At the meantime, though, we will have to remain in high alert. Especially since everything in here has a ghost inside it."

"It's gone and so is the vase Babylon the Great was sealed in. The witches might have taken the head, servant girl might have it, or both were taken when the mansion was broken into. We'll have to wait and see."

Alex let out an exasperated sigh at this. "That's just great."

"... I feel like they're gonna make themselves known very soon. Much as I hate to say it, we're gonna have to wait for one of them to come to us and hope that they make themselves known soon enough for us to do something."

"I remember something that Sun Tzu once said about something like that..." Alex began, but he was soon swept with silence as he couldn't remember what he had read before. "Actually, nevermind. But yes. We'll have to wait, I guess."

"Our best bet, for now, is to look into this cult and the Triple Goddess - and hope that they don't have the Horned God," Justin started, "I have an idea of where to start - there have been reports of goats and other animals disappearing - if any of you want to come along. Otherwise, just stay put and figure out what to do with those artifacts."

"Sabrina, Ray, Oscar, and Shane had already left to find some leads on that." Alex glanced towards the door, which Raymond had left open. "I think you'll have to give them a ring."

A pause. "Thanks, by the way. I just wish that we had met in better circumstances... you seem to be a nice guy."

---

Georgie leaned against the door way, not seeing the point in sitting down again when they'll be off collecting artifacts soon enough. Justin wasn't as useless as she thought he was. He actually had good ideas. Mayhaps she missed judged him. Still not an expert in her eyes, but an ally that's useful is good enough.

"If Shane and the rest are handling it, then leave them be. He didn't seem sloshed when they left and if he was a half decent cop, then he'll know how to investigate. I'll text him to call you," She paused, thinking back to when Oscar introduced the imposter earlier. "Jus-tin...?" She thinks that's his name. She pulled out her phone and texted Oscar.



She went to the coffee table in front of the couch, then opened her portal and pulled out each book on Apparitions she collected from the library, and placed them on the table. She put Babylon the Great, Thornton Walters, the Triple Goddess and the Horned God on the left, and the Swarm and the Hands stacked together on the right.

"All of these are what James mentioned. We should go through each book, find each artifact, and then divide them into Apparitions that weren't stolen and Apparitions that were or entities and people we should worry about." She pointed to the Swarm and Hands, and Babylon the Great and company respectively.

"Once we have stock of everything accounted for and those that weren't, we should divide and conquer. Those of us without combat magic can figure out where to put the artifacts we do have and those of us that do have combat magic should read about all the ones we don't have. I suggest we hide the most dangerous ones in the Garden."

She looked at Justin, because she knew squat about how magic sensing works or if that was even a thing. "Is it possible they knew to come here, because they sensed the magic throughout the mansion? If that's the case wouldn't it be beneficial to hide artifacts in a pocket dimension not in this plane with only one entrance and exit?" She hoped she phrased that right. Magic and fiction weren't her forte at all.

---

Shane sat with a frown, his frame pressed up against the cab door. Either he was bigger than he realized, he'd tacked on weight or his siblings had done either of the first two. Never used to be this hard to fit more than one of them in a car, but then again that had been years ago. 'Least he wasn't poor Sabrina, sandwiched between himself and Raymond. The cramped affair seemed to be a constant reaffirmation to Shane that he should have just quietly left when he had the chance, he had two Vanburens more than he'd wanted with him as it was and now there was a third.

"... Do you think we could pull a few strings with the Sherriff's office and ask about her?" Sabrina asked. "We should have enough pull in Araminta, but there's a lot of corner stores here..."

Were it anyone else, Shane probably would have coldly rebuked or outright mocked them for their naivete. But, because it was Sab, Shane merely gave her a quick shake of the head. The other Vanburens like Ezra might hold some sway with Araminta's police department but Shane certainly didn't. Even disregarding his distaste for the law enforcement, local or otherwise, getting the police involved at this stage probably wouldn't do them much good.

As Shane saw it, though the cops would probably be involved by someone eventually, they had the element of surprise. Not much chance of alarm bells being sent to the cultist if their names happen to come up in conversation with some townie schmuck, but a full scale police investigation after blowing up the manor of Aramtina's most beloved family? They'd be forced to go to ground and may end up doing something really stupid, even by their standards.

---

Araminta - Forest Street

---

It was almost eerie. Smack dab in the afternoon and yet the streets were pretty vacant, Araminta wasn't any kind of hub of activity at the best of times but it felt like the whole town was still asleep. Then again, they were more or less at its outskirts were civilisation ended and nature began.

Shane left the cab immediately, eyeing the stores. He wasn't the most knowledgeable about, well cults, but it seemed logical enough they'd congregate in places were they wouldn't be disturbed, which would make the woods their best bet. So it stood to reason the stores here would be their first stops if they were coming to and from there. All the Vanburnes needed was a little luck, which did not bode well for them thus far.

"So, where to next?" Raymond asked. "Are we going to the bar and ask the omnipotent bartender about a suspicious character named Morgana?"

Shane doubted most of them were even old enough to drink, the ones that were probably would annoy the shit out of the patrons and staff of the bar that stood before them. Surprisingly enough, Shane had never been in this one, but it had all the trappings of a stereotypical "old man's" pub. It also seemed like it had only just opened or began to open anyway, the sign proclaiming it as 'Harry's' wasn't even switched on yet.

But still, it might be a good chance to split the Vanburen's up so Shane could actually focus.

"Doubt it'll do much. Still, worth a look. Bartender might have seen 'em at some point." Shane's speaking pattern had went back to its usual blunt and direct manner. The bar serving to remind him he hadn't had a drink since that one swig inside the manor. Maybe, that was another reason to let the other Vanburens handle the bar... Just in case.

"Going to check out the pizza place. He announced in his half mumble and already began walking off in its direction. He placed his hands in his pockets and went at a brisk place, if siblings had some initiative and decided to case the other stores they could all meet back on the road to see if any of them managed to find out anything. Not that Shane was going to direct them like that.

He eyed the blonde haired girl coming out of it for a moment. She didn't look familiar but... She stared at the siblings for a bit longer than someone sparing a curious glance. It made Shane suspicious but wasn't something he felt comfortable enough to act on beyond returning her gaze with his own "fuck off" stare until she rounded a corner and out of sight. If she was one of them, so much for the Vanburen's element of surprise.

Shane pushed open the door to the pizza place, where the bell gave a little ding to signal his entrance. Strange as it was to admit, his investigation somewhat hinged upon the knowledge from the person who manned the pizza place counter and the possibility that teenaged cultists bought pizza after partaking in all the strange shit cultists are want to do.

---

Oscar was initially glad to get out of the cab, though he had a much more pleasant experience that his siblings crammed in the back. He wasn’t so happy when he was hit by the stink of the area they were in, nose scrunching up as he looked around. This certainly seemed like an area that a cult would be in. And the opposite of a place where him and his siblings fit in.

"Are we going to the bar and ask the omnipotent bartender about a suspicious character named Morgana?"

“A bar?” Oscar raised an eyebrow. “None of them looked old enough to be frequenting a place like that.”

Still, Shane didn’t immediately shoot it down and Oscar probably trusted his older brother’s intuition the most when it came to these things. And Shane went off to the pizza place - not much point in following him, he’d have that under control.

“Well, I guess it's worth trying out,” Oscar nodded. ”We can check the bar first, and then the convenience store if that doesn’t come up with anything… Unless one of you wants to check that yourself?”

He didn’t really wait for an answer before heading towards the bar, trying not to look too put off as he pushed open the worn door. He wasn’t a frequent drinker in any way, and rarely visited bars - nevermind something like this. However he approached the bar itself with the confidence of someone who belonged there (when he really didn’t). He folded his arms and got straight to the point.

”Have any of you seen a red haired girl going by Morgana recently?”

---

---

Trisha spent most of the time that James was talking picking her nails, only half listening. She really didn’t want to listen to his crap. Was it not bad enough that she’d had to do it while he was still alive? Honestly, good riddance to him. Her lips curled up into a sneer when Junior stopped him from leaving. Because of course!

She rolled her eyes at Georgie’s back as the slightly younger girl left.

”Good riddance, Father,” she muttered as he faded away.

Tuyen was honestly in shock by how all the siblings treated their father. Even if they had problems with him, surely they should have some kind of respect for him? It wasn’t something she could understand at all. If anything she was envious that they’d had a father up until a year ago. How ungrateful could they get? She kept these thoughts to herself, though, face neutral even as the shadow hissed in her ear that she should let them know just what she thought.

That was a recipe for disaster right there.

She frowned as Georgie returned with news that not only was the artifact the witches had looked for was gone, but also another to watch out for.

“You have Oscar’s number, don’t you, Justin?” Tuyen commented as Georgie said she’d text Ocar. ”Surely it would be easier for you to just call him, rather than waiting for him to call you?” As she said this she pulled out her own phone, before frowning. Ah. They’d all been drenched in water. Her phone was completely useless now. ”I doubt that Oscar’s phone is working, considering that we all got soaked earlier. Mine isn’t. I think it would be best for us to follow your lead, Justin.”

She certainly didn’t want to hang around here with all of these rich kids if she could help it.

”There’s definitely no point in us staying here, seeing as there are plenty of you to go through these books and figure out what to do with the artifacts. If the cult does have the Horned God then it’s the worst thing the two of us can do.”

And while Tuyen had always loved reading, she knew she wasn’t the best when it came to retaining knowledge. That was why she tended to let Justin answer all of their questions. Though she was fairly certain that Georgie’s solution wouldn’t work out - considering that one group already knew where to find them, it would be easy enough for others to get that information hidden artifacts or not. She’d let Justin ask that question before they left.

“Well, I’m staying here,” Trisha frowned, even as she glared at the books that she didn’t want to touch. Well, she didn’t have combat magic so she didn’t have to read them. Not that she wanted to go with Georgie’s idea right off the get go. ”I guess I can help figure out where to put the artifacts.”

Her abstraction would help a little with that depending on how big some of the artifacts were, she could get her minions to carry them somewhere safe.