"—gonna make a big scene with a nuclear bomb! Gonna rent a limousine with his sunglasses on—"

Roux sung to herself quietly with her usual bop to her movements as she watched the streets and blocks go by through the tint of her shades, the world being the fitting dark and doomed tint that she saw it as. She sat in the taxi's backseat with her hands rested uncomfortably in her lap, having pulled on a hoodie over the clothes that she had been wearing a long with a pair of sweat pants she had brought as what would be her third switch of clothes since arriving. For some reason, Raven had a lot of those and she couldn't be bothered to figure out for the life of her. And of course, her special shades remained with her as well.

But this was mostly only to distract herself from her earlier conversation with Sammy hours ago. She was almost impressed by how the same Sammy who couldn't remember the command for her sword in the heat of a moment, had attempted to get on to her about some stupid contacts, most in which she found shady or just didn't care to ask for help from anyways. It wasn't like she needed it. And the way she saw it, they were practically just giving the Constables more to work with trying to drag more people into it.
She got the idea. She was one person in a big place looking for another one person. But what she hated, was that even in another place with a almost perfect world, with a perfect second chance, they never seemed to get where it was she was coming from. But she had gotten used it over the course of time, learning that explaining anything to any of the household was enough to give anyone an aneurysm. She could only imagine what Raven had gotten to deal with, with all of her insecurities and weak natured spirit. Oh wait...we died..Oh well, sucks to be her—

As the vehicle stopped at the the crosswalk for a few of the animals of the night and working class individuals to get to pass, she sighed internally. While waiting impatiently for the traffic light to turn green, she found herself reminiscing on a couple of memories from the past. While Florida hadn't been her personal go to place, it was a sight for sore eyes to see. Hell, anything that wasn't that hell that was supposed to be a store was better honestly.

And as she arrived in Clearwater, which wasn't too far off from Tampa so she'd come to find, she wondered just what the hell Jackie was doing all the way out there, or in Florida period. But ultimately, she didn't care. But honestly, it irritated her a lot. However, knowing that she was going to eventually put Jackie out of her misery made her feel a little better at least.

There were two reasons why she had been so adamant about going alone. The first was that she knew that Sammy or Mason would ultimately try to stop her from pulling the proverbial cat that was Jackie out of their hair. Of course they would, with Not Boomer being handicapped. But she banked on them having an alternative solution. She thought about turning him, even. If he wanted his sight back bad enough, she was sure that it would work out.
The second reason was because if she hadn't come alone, she wouldn't have been able to make it seem like an accident. Which would be easy enough, considering the cards that were in her hands. They were in Florida. The Constables found them. Jackie too weak to escape or something—it would be easy. Granted, she would take the stink eye for the plan going sideways, but ultimately she could get passed that. As long as Jackie was out of the way, she was sure that the bounce back would be just as easy with a little influence and a innocent little pull in the right direction with her abilities.


**A short while later**

Roux looked out at the long stretch of beach from where she was a little higher up. Her eyes were pretty much keener than Raven's, and so when she scanned over the dark with only the a half moon and the city lights making bright of the high tide. This was it. She was definitely close now. She could feel it. She could hear the sound of a broken song duct taped back together, a tune that to her sounded like a misconstrued Mildred Bailey record in her head as she watched a pair of fuzzy dice fall across the darkness of her mind. A four and two, which gave her a six. A six out of twelve chance, making it a fifty-fifty, and an even number, one that took the shape of a teddy bear.

She was confused at first, but after a few seconds of dwelling on it, she vaguely remembered her version of what had happened in the manor that day. She and Sammy had just gotten done moving Sammy's things into her room, and they had decided to have some alone time. Everything was going great until Samantha ended up getting domed with a vase, which had really pissed her off. But it was something that they had joked about from time to time. Now was far from one of those times.
Her head snapped to her left. Any sooner, she would have looked to hard and looked over them. Any later, she would have missed its glint, and the ocean would have washed them away as close as they were to the tides that clawed at the sand for a hold before being dragged back into the waves against their will. She ventured down closer, wary of the water, but having to be quick. It hit her nose first, the smell of blood and the faint traces of terribly weak magic within it. It disgusted her with how appetizing it smelt. It was like inhaling the aroma of Kyung-ha's cooking, the one thing that she couldn't take away from the woman at all. But it was better. She spit out the saliva that tried to accumulate, and focused more as she knelt down. The blood had spilled in small erratic patterns that were like when you out too much of something in a cup and try to walk carefully with it, but some still spilled down the sides and dripped. She wiped a little up with her finger, the smell burning her nostrils with a goodness that she denied. Yep...definitely her. Can't even have regular smelling human blood. Fucking figures—

She wiped her hands off in the sand and stood up, sighing out a chuckle. "Thank God, make it easy for me." Finally. It was all falling into place. If she could kill Jackie, then it was a guarantee that she wouldn't be going back to that gas station nightmare. It was the last requirement she needed. Replace herself with Raven, and then kill Jackie. Those were the conditions that that stupid instruction list had given her. A soul for a soul, a body for a body, and a life for a life. Why Jackie? She didn't know, and didn't care. And if it guaranteed her freedom this time around, she wasn't going to hesitate.

She was close. So close. She could smell it. Taste it. Feel her hands strangling the life from Jackie's neck after she finished playing with her food. But as she began to follow towards where her psyche's intuition and the newly acquired smell took her, there was a sudden jolt from within that felt like and elephant had stepped on her gut, and she instantly staggered before falling into the sand as images began to flood her head. Her body cringed and grabbed around at the ground as if she were being possessed. But she knew that it was something much worse. As worse as it possibly could have been for her. The one thing that terrified her to her core.

What are you doing?!
Getting the fuck out of here, what's it look like!? And stop fucking yelling!
How!?

She saw Edgar, or in this case Boomer, arguing with her, and she didn't even know where the fuck they were at first. But as she heard the answers back, her stomach dropped. Her head felt as if it were going to explode, the loud ringing that filled it eafening. It went out throughout her entire body. She could do nothing to defend against the irregularly, infinitely flickers of colors, as she felt the familiar temperature of the gas station against her skin. She felt herself being pulled by a force that she could feel in the deepest parts of her being.
Her eyes widened, and it was at that moment of overwhelming fear that she mustered the psychic energy to push the overlapping reality out of her head.

It was like everything she had seen had been in a bubble around her conscious mind, and when it popped, there was complete darkness around her immediate self. But in front of her, looking as if it were speeding towards her was the beach and it's surroundings. It was like a powerful gust of stellar winds, except there were no winds, and nor any gust aside from the sound that washed over her from all directions. The city from a distance, the sea that was only just right beside her.

She could barely get to her hands and knees at first, and she struggled to bring air into her lungs while trying to catch her breath, the experience leaving her just as breathless as it had the last time. She wobbled while getting to her feet, and stumbled through the discombobulation that she was under, her body telling her that rest was needed but her panic telling her to shake it off. She was stuck between both while trying to recuperate, trying to gather enough of a clear thought to think straight.

What finally broke through her shrouded mind wasn't a thought, however, but instead a very arrogant sounding, "Aha!"

Still in a horrid daze, Roux was alarmed, and tried harder to shake it off as she turned looked around herself frantically, not able to pinpoint where it had come from and half expecting some if the agents. But it was when she told herself to slow down and calm down did she realize that nothing was there. She saw nothing.

"In Cadlogk's name!"

Suddenly, something hit her with enough force to knock her backwards where her body rejoined the sand. She coughed hard, the impact against her chest leaving an mild ache. She tried to sit up, only to be forced back down by something that felt fuzzy and soft, small—yet terribly strong for its size.

"Hah ha! Alas, evildoer! Thou time of reckoning is afoot! Cower in fear of your grave, for I, the Great Etmotis Xavian Tonn Rikle—HICC—" There was a squishy hiccup-like sound that came from the bear as its face was grabbed and it's body slammed into the sound harshly.

"You?!" Roux hissed angrily, having recognized the voice the moment it started with that stupid fucking knight but.

"Unhand me thou pasty bodied wretch—OOF—"

"Shuddup!" Roux snarled after she had delivered a gut punch to it, only to find her hand aching slightly as if she had punched a suit of armor or something. But she ignored it. "I still owe ya some payback after that vase you little shit, so you better be with the gusto when it comes to some answers, cuz I got a couple questions. Let's start with WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE, and why I shouldn't yeet your ass into a hobo's fire barrel?"

"I shall do none of the sort! If ye think fire will strike fear into I, The Great Etmotis Xavian Tonn—"

Roux started ragdolling the Ricklenbourne back and forth in the sand, slamming him repeatedly against the ground until she lifted him up to her face. "I said talk," she demanded, holding the odd teddy bear upside down by its leg.

"Nae! Speak with my Bvlürksnūfle instead!"

"Your wh—agh—you bitch—AH!" Roux staggered back, a fresh and clean cut across her cheek and two fingers falling into the sand.

Ricklenbourne had fallen towards the ground when he manages to cut himself loose, flipping right side up to land on his tiny feet. He sliced his sword threw the air and took a grounded stance that would have otherwise seemed too adorable to deem as a threat if not for taking a few fingers. But as he got a good look at Roux, he was surprised. "By the gods! Thee art that Keeper las—AAAAAAAH—"

Before he could finish, Roux had bounded on him and closed any distance that stopped her from punting Ricklenbourne into the short distance out of a fit if rage. His teddy bear frame went flipping and bouncing across the sand.

Thwsssshh. The sand made a sound as Ricklenbourne landed with a solid impact against the ground. He groaned, the kick being much more than he had anticipated, but was quick to recover as he was picked up by his back.

Roux grinned maniacally at it. "I think it's time for a bath."

"On the contrary, I do not believe that is necessary!" Ricklenbourne said a little fearfully.

"Then start talking, cuz I'm about 5 seconds away from attempting to drown you until it works!"

"Hah! Water strikes no fear into me!"

"THREE seconds—"

"Alright, alright! I yield!"

Roux grimaced, feeling the blood from her now missing fingers oozing out. She planted Ricklenbourne into the sand and dropped her knee on top of him so he wouldn't run while she tore off one of her hoodie sleeves to wrap around her hand. "Well?"

"I am here on a grand odyssey within this kingdom of iron carriages and structures, a quest in search of Lady Jacky'Lynn. But there seems to have been a mistake."

"How? What mistake?" Roux asked through panting breathes. "Wait, how did you even get here?"

"Ah, a treacherous journey indeed! I, The Great Ricklenbourne, was able to test my metal against the iron of the steel birds before finding myself within its innards, battling righteously, honorably for my life against the horrors, as it attempted to overwhelm me with the sounds of caged fur bearing creatures similar to those that were owned by Madam Constantine, but much less ferocious. Luckily, with only my wits and my trustworthy blade, I was able to narrowly escape the—"

"....luggage. You're talking about nArRoWlY eScApInG the luggage area, and that entire explanation was a waste of my goddamn time, and I'm short on that, so how's about we get to the subject of Jackie."

"Ah, yes. There appears to have been a mistake. For the fair maiden that I have discovered is not Jacky'Lynn, but by the gods, her very own daughter! Not only so, but it appears that the once noble order that had been created has fallen to wickedness and seeks to do harm—"

"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. You said you found her right? Let's skip to the part where you save me some time and tell me where she is now." Roux already had intentions on launching him as far as she could out into tides of the sea the moment he told her. She was not dealing with it.

Ricklenbourne was confused. "With the manner in which ye managed to be at the heels of our trails, I suspected that thou wouldst hath known of so," he said. "No matter. If thee hath come assist in her safety, then we are comrades. But I am afraid that this land is unfamiliar to me, so I cannot simply inform you of her whereabouts. I can, however, lead thou there instead, for my sense of direction is impeccable. What say thee?"

Roux started down at the stuffed freak of a bear, debating on whether she had time to continue the search herself after she would send the bear flying. However, even the thought of time and there being a strong possibility that she had much less than she had believed struck fear into her.

And so not seeing much of a choice, she snatched Ricklenbourne from the ground roughly and growled, "Get to it."