"I still don't see why we need to be here," Ava complained as the four of them stood on the front step of the townhouse Evelyn had been renting in D.C. They arrived courtesy of Dean Fogg's personal portal. Lilly hadn't called her mother to warn her they were coming. She didn't want to give her a chance to say no when she realized it was a magic related problem. She assumed she'd be home as it was a Sunday, and even Evelyn didn't work on the weekends.

"Because, I need someone to babysit Penny, while I talk to my mom," Lilly clarified, rapping sharply on the front door.

"Just to make things clear- cause there seems to be some confusion on the matter- no one is babysitting me," Penny clarified. Lilly managed to roll her eyes, though she shifted her weight back and forth between her feet and fiddled with her fingers anxiously. She tried to calm herself as footsteps approached. They stopped short of the front door, and Lilly knew she was checking through the peephole. A lock was turned, and the door flung open to reveal a beaming Evelyn Cole.

"Lilly! Darling, what are you doing here? I see you brought friends too," she leaned curiously around her daughter to see.

"Hey Mum," her smile didn't reach her eyes as Evelyn's had, "sorry I didn't call first, it's just... I need your help," her mother's brows furrowed as she realized this wasn't an innocent visit from her daughter. She stepped aside ushering the students into her home.

"Come in, come in," they gathered in the foyer. The house was moderately sized, large enough for a small family, though Evelyn lived alone.

"Mum, this is Alex, Penny, and Ava." Lilly introduced them each in turn, and Evelyn shook their hands. Lilly's friends looked around the townhouse in wonder, trying to picture Lilly growing up with Evelyn as her mother. It wasn't hard as they could already see the similarities between the two, especially in the looks department. Lilly was a bit uneasy with her friends and mother in the same room. The situation could go in any direction, and she had no way of knowing which.

"It's lovely to meet you all, why don't you make yourselves comfortable in the sitting room and I'll get us all some tea?" Evelyn offered in classic British fashion, "Lilly? Would you help me in the kitchen?" This request had an ulterior motive. Lilly gave her friends a nervous glance before entering the kitchen. As soon as she'd cleared the entryway, she was bombarded with questions. "Are those your friends from Brakebills? Did you get into trouble with magic? I told you it was bad news!"

"Yes, they are--"

"I told you, I don't want anything to do with magic. I left it behind for a reason, and I expect you to respect that."

"Mum, listen to me, I wouldn't be here if it weren't absolutely necessary. Please, just hear me out," she pleaded. Evelyn observed her daughter in tentative silence, biting her tongue to hold back a lecture. "My friend is in trouble, and he might die if you don't help. Dean Fogg said you might know what to do. You're our only hope."

"It's only a matter of time with magic, trust me, I learned that the hard way. If it's not this that kills him, it'll be something else. I didn't want this life for you, you would have been happy without it."

"Mum! I didn't come here to get lectured, I came here because I need help, and I need my mum!" Taken aback by the bold statement, Evelyn paused, "you're the only one that can help me. Believe me, I tried to figure it out myself, but I can't. What happened to you at Brakebills? Why do you hate magic so much? I just don't understand." Evelyn sighed in defeat, debating whether to reveal the worst moment of her life to the girl she tried so hard to protect. The kettle squealed, cutting through the tension and breaking Evelyn from her stupor.

"Let's get this tea served, we better sit for this conversation," Lilly nodded, surprised. The women filled a pot with tea and gathered the matching set of cups. Lilly's friends looked up as they entered. Evelyn set the tray on the table and served each of them before seating herself in the armchair closest to the door. "I would've liked to have this conversation privately, but since you're here, I suppose you will all hear it."

"Mum, you don't have to. We can talk about this another time."

"No, if you're going to be staying at Brakebills, I'd rather you do it knowing the risks," Lilly's friends watched the exchange in confusion. Evelyn sighed, steeling herself for the conversation to come. "When I was at Brakebills, I was just like any of you- enamored with the power and hungry for as much of it as I could get my hands on. I made it to my third year, two months before graduation, then it all went downhill. My friends and I, we-- we were fascinated by the existence of the multiverse, we'd been conducting experiments to see if it was possible to travel between them. We managed to locate a magical object that allowed us to reach a place called the Neitherlands," Penny and Lilly shared a look, knowing much more about it than Alex and Ava did. Lilly had kept Alex and Dani in the dark about their situation thus far. "From there, we were given an endless possibility of worlds to visit. One, in particular, called us though... Fillory."

"As in, Fillory and Further, Fillory?" Ava and Alex gaped. Penny and Lilly, however, shared concerned glances. They knew where this story was going. Evelyn nodded solemnly, a defined crease appearing on her forehead.

"Every kid's dream, right? Only, it turned out to be a nightmare," Lilly gulped, trying to clear the lump that'd formed in her throat, "almost as soon as we got there we were attacked- we called him The Beast. Two of our friends were picked off right away, he ripped their heads off right before our eyes. He let the rest of us start running. It was a game to him," Evelyn shivered, the fear still very present. "Lilly's father, Terrence, and I, we stuck together, we tried to get to the meeting place so we could all get back to safety, but The Beast cut us off. Terrence--he--'' a choked sob escaped her and Lilly jumped up to kneel before her mother's chair, clutching her hand in comfort. Evelyn gave her daughter a grateful, yet watery smile. "He knew how to do battle magic, he told me he'd be right behind me. I made it to our meeting point, but he never came, neither did anyone else. Then The Beast showed up. The worst part was, he spoke as if he knew me as if he was an old friend. I tried to go back for Terrence, but The Beast caught me by the neck. I was so close to ending up like my friends, but I had the portal in my pocket. I made it back to Brakebills, but a part of me was lost in Fillory. I gave up magic and never looked back. Your father, he didn't even know I was pregnant yet, but he still sacrificed himself for me." A stray tear streamed down Evelyn's face and Alex handed her a box of tissues, which she gratefully accepted.

"I wish I'd known," Lilly breathed.

"You used to have those horrible, horrible nightmares about a man with moths for a face... that's exactly what he looked like. I tried everything to get them to stop, I used every remedy in the book, but nothing helped. I eventually contacted a specialist through Brakebills. Magic was the only thing that could stop it because it was magic that was causing it..."

"All this time, you knew those nightmares were real?" Evelyn nodded, dabbing her eyes, "Mum, I am so sorry you had to go through that, but that Beast-" Lilly paused, "he's after me too, us," she gestured to Penny as well. All the blood drained from her mother's face.

"This is what I was afraid of, you can't go back there. You have to leave, please," she begged, gripping Lilly's hands in desperation. Alex and Ava stared at Lilly in shock. To them, this was news. They'd known about the attacks at Brakebills, but she'd withheld any information on her relationship to The Beast.

"I can't, he's coming to earth, and I can either run and hide, let everyone die, or I can try to stop him. Even if I run, he'll still find a way to kill me. I need your help. I'm doing this one way or another," Evelyn let out a tremulous sigh.

"I know, once you set your mind on something, nothing in the world can stop you." She looked at her daughter's friends, just now remembering they were there, "I'll see what I can do, but I haven't practiced magic in over twenty years, and I don't think it's a good idea for me to perform any spells."

"Please, if you can even tell us what to do, it would be a big help," Lilly stressed.

"Tell me everything," Lilly explained The Beast's infiltration of Penny's mind. Evelyn's brow furrowed as she observed the Traveler. She stood from her seat, and he watched her approach warily but didn't stop her as she reached out to cradle his head. He looked stiff, either from her touch or The Beast psychically torturing him. "Just relax, close your eyes," she cooed, using the voice of a mother. He obeyed, letting his eyes flutter shut. Evelyn traced invisible shapes along Penny's temples, then abruptly pulled her hands back with a distressed gasp. Penny flinched at the sudden movement.

"Mom?"

"It's him, I can feel it," Evelyn turned to her daughter, her eyes shrouded in ominous warning. "This is powerful magic, but I may know a way to at least help numb it." She hurried over to an end table and jotted down a few notes. "It's not strictly legal."

"At this point, fuck legality. If it works, it works."

"Language," Evelyn scolded, not distressed enough to let that one slide. "Get your coats, we're going on a field trip," Lilly turned to her companions, her gaze landing on Penny.

"Penny, I think it might be best if you sit this one out. Which means I need one of you to watch him," before Penny could protest, Ava declined.

"Yeah, I'm not doing that. I'll probably kill him before he gets to it himself," she sassed, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised in defiance.

"It's either that or you come hang out with me and my mom," Lilly shrugged. Ava looked between her two options, weighing the pros and cons.

"On second thought, babysitting sounds a bit more appealing."

"Why exactly am I staying behind?" Penny groaned, standing from his chair frustratedly.

"Because you're literally dying. I don't want you doing something stupid. It's easier to keep track of you in one house than it is out in the city," she crosses her arms, signifying she meant business. He groaned, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not a child."

"Debatable," she was only half-joking, but a small smile curled her lips. He turned away, forfeiting this fight. He moved to the edge of the room, examining the various pieces of artwork and family photos.

"Looks like you're with me," Alex nodded silently, still recovering from the news that Lilly was being hunted by The Beast and didn't tell him.

"I'll be right back. I have to grab something," Evelyn informed, already fully dressed in a designer coat and scarf. The moment she left, they were plunged into silence. Lilly made her way over to Penny, who held one of the many picture frames in his hand. When she stood beside him, she could see it was a photo of herself at eighteen, her senior year of high school, holding a gold medal for one of her swim meets. She smiled triumphantly in the photo, arm slung around one of her teammates.

"Always the overachiever, I see," he chuckled.

"Maybe you should try it sometime?" She teased and nudged him gently with her shoulder, still studying the photo. It seemed like so long ago, another lifetime, one without magic. Her gaze shifted to one of herself and Cara at their graduation from Columbia. Lilly smiled gaily in the picture, her decorated cap held out before her on display. Cara was much less picturesque, having pulled a funny face half a second before the photo was taken.

"Your mom loves you... I never had that, it's nice to see," he whispered, his smile bittersweet. Lilly reached for his hand and gave it a light squeeze. She remembered Quentin explaining the circumstances of Penny's relationship with his mother after their first occlumency class. How she'd gambled away all their money and left him and his father in the dust without a second thought.

"She was crazy to leave you." She knew how it felt to have an absent parent, even if it was under different circumstances. He squeezed her hand appreciatively, tilting his gaze down to meet hers. "You're gonna be fine, you know," she reassured, unsure if it was for his benefit or her own.

"I know, I've got you on the job, don't I? I doubt you'd tolerate me dying anyway."

"I'd raise you from the dead just to kick your ass," he chuckled lightly at the very real possibility of her doing that.

"Alright, ready to go?" Evelyn popped her head through the archway. She eyed their entwined hands curiously, Lilly immediately dropped it.

"Yup, let's go," Lilly headed towards the door. Alex gave Ava a quick kiss goodbye before following, "be careful and call us if anything happens, okay?" Lilly confirmed, and they both rolled their eyes.

"Yes, mother," Penny complained, "I'll be fine, go," he shooed.

"Try not to kill each other," Ava shrugged in response.

"No promises," the three of them slid into Evelyn's rental car, a blue Mini Cooper. Lilly was thankful that the others were staying behind, because she couldn't imagine an arrangement where three of them were squished together in the backseat, without a fight breaking out. Lilly watched the busy streets of Washington D.C pass by, much less packed than New York, but they still had to deal with the traffic downtown.

"Where are we going?"

"Chinatown."

"Chinatown? Why?"

"There's a merchant there who might have what we need." The car lapsed into comfortable silence once more, Lilly's thigh bounced up and down impatiently as she tried to calm the nerves. She checked her phone impulsively every few moments to make sure she hadn't missed any emergencies from Ava. She let out a sigh of relief when the arched pagoda came into sight, signaling the official start of D.C. Chinatown. It was only a few more minutes before they pulled up to the curb of a side street. Neon signs with Chinese characters marked the cramped storefronts. The outdoor display of a fish market was the most populated area of the street.

An older woman stood behind one of the tables stacked with fish, bagging the merchandise for a pair of customers. Evelyn made a beeline for her. Alex and Lilly trailed behind as they conversed fluently in Chinese. The woman she spoke to looked skeptical, gesturing to Lilly and Alex, before speaking a stream of words neither Magician could understand. Evelyn seemed to be reassuring her of something. After a moment, Evelyn beckoned them forward.

"Pull up your sleeves," she instructed, and Alex turned to Lilly with a look of apprehension, "Don't worry, she won't do anything, she just has to see to let you in." The two hesitated, Lilly went first, Alex only complying after he saw the woman inspect her arms with a revelatory eyeglass. She checked them both, for what, Lilly had no idea. The woman nodded, ostensibly satisfied with the result, and proceeded to wave over a man, who looked like a bouncer. Evelyn gestured for them to follow her as the bouncer held open a tarp-covered archway for them. Behind the tarp was a small alcove, just large enough for them all to fit in before the bouncer let the material fall, concealing them within.

Evelyn produced a card from her pocket and held it up to the cement wall. To Lilly and Alex's astonishment, the card floated in midair as Evelyn performed a series of hand gestures. A network of complicated wards pulsed as she worked, a glowing web of magic. On closer inspection, Lilly could see that the card was, in fact, a tarot card. The illustration on the back was of a man holding a glowing orb in his right hand, The Magician. The Wards flickered, giving way to reveal a seemingly endless hall of bustling vendors and casting Magicians.

"I thought you swore off magic?" Lilly muttered in awe, looking around at the stalls cramped together on either side.

"I did," Evelyn started walking, as though it were no big deal, "but, I'm not against the occasional potion to cure a cold. There's no point in suffering if I can be back on my feet in a few hours, is there?"

"What is this place?" Alex asked, his voice filled with childlike wonder as he stared at a booth of talking heads. They called after Lilly and Evelyn as they passed, catcalling from the hooks they hung on. Steam rose from another booth, vibrant colored bottles of unidentifiable potions crowding the table. A large jar of green liquid sloshed around as the vendor fished out a strange creature from its depths. Lilly only managed to catch sight of the tentacles wrapping around the man's arm before her line of sight was blocked by another pedestrian.

"Magic black market, Magicians only, of course. That's why Jung-Lin was so difficult at the front. She had to make sure I wasn't bringing any Hedge Witches into her fine establishment." The place was eclectic and overwhelming for a first-timer. Lilly grabbed hold of Alex's hand, so as not to be separated by the other shoppers or overly zealous vendors calling after them to purchase their goods. He didn't complain as she dragged him along after Evelyn. Lilly lost sight of her for a moment and frantically searched through the hordes of Magicians to find her standing before a rather understated booth further up the left side of the aisle. It was so small, Lilly wouldn't have noticed it crammed between the other booths stacked full of distracting things, strange colors, and irksome smells. Evelyn spoke with an older woman, presumably in her seventies, with aging tan skin and long hair that fell past her waist in an inky black sheet. She clutched an old wood carved walking stick. The booth held a small arrangement of crystals and dreamcatchers, though what caught her eye were the strange devices on the back table. They looked to be pieced together haphazardly, using random objects like paper clips and duct-tape and one held a strange-looking purple goo in a vial connected to a headpiece by multicolored wires.

"Adrienne, this is my daughter, Lilly. It's her friend who's having problems." The old woman studied Lilly as she stepped forward and she was overwhelmingly aware of the piercing gray eyes that watched her. She felt as though they could see straight through to her soul and everything in between. She bristled, the hair on the back of her neck standing stick straight.

"Tell me," Adrienne spoke directly, and it took Lilly a moment to understand what she meant.

"Uh-" she stuttered, caught off guard by the woman's striking demeanor. "Someone is breaching his mind, making him hear things, trying to make him go mad," Adrienne nodded in contemplation, standing unsteadily and making her way gradually to the back of the booth. The old woman muttered incoherently to herself, and the students shared skeptical looks. Evelyn, however, watched with complete patience and respect. Adrienne brushed her fingertips across each contraption as if to sense which one was right for them. It was another few moments before she settled on a small metal box. She set it down before them, shakily unfastening the clasp. Lilly and Alex peered into it with curiosity, brows furrowing at the sight of a white strip of bandage-like material with tiny metal spikes sticking out from it.

"What is it?" Alex asked. The woman sighed, as if taking the time to explain it to them was below her, and not unlike explaining quantum physics to a child.

"It goes on the base of the neck. It blocks the psychic energy from reaching the head, like a dam. It should stop the problem."

"Thank you," Lilly's shoulders relaxed now that she had a solution.

"Though I must warn you, it is only a temporary fix. Over time, it will wear down the mind's own ability to protect itself. It must not be worn for more than two weeks or you risk ultimately frying his ability to ward his own mind," Lilly nodded gravely. "Now, what do you have to offer for payment?" Adrienne's eyes bored into hers, a new intensity to them.

"I'll take care of it," Evelyn interrupted, producing a small sack from her purse. Lilly jumped slightly as Adrienne snatched the sack viciously from Evelyn's grasp, peaking in greedily. Evidently, she liked what she saw as a wide grin spread across her face, revealing two rows of razor-sharp teeth. Alex stepped back, pulling Lilly with him. Adrienne slid the metal box towards them and Evelyn quickly snatched it up, ushering them away from the booth.

"W-What the hell?" Lilly squeaked in alarm, gripping Alex's hand as they pushed their way back through the crowd.

"She's a Darrium, they're immensely smart, but don't ever shortchange them. It'll be the last thing you ever do," Evelyn explained leading them back through the entrance and past the woman selling fish with a curt nod.

"What did you give her?" Lilly asked in a rush as soon as they were safely back inside the rental car.

"Skittles," Evelyn stated frankly, starting the engine.

"I'm sorry, did you just say, skittles?" Alex scoffed from the backseat, looking at Evelyn like she was crazy. Lilly didn't blame him, she was doing the same.

"Yes, it's the one thing they love that they can't get on their own, they hate muggles. They smell horrific to them, they wouldn't be caught dead in a muggle store."

"Well, damn, Mum, I had no idea you were such a badass! You just handled the Magician black market like it was an afternoon at Whole Foods," all three laughed at the comical statement. The moment was interrupted by the ring of Lilly's cellphone. She dug it out of her pocket, still giggling at the absurdity. The caller I.D showed Ava's name clearly across the screen. She told the others who it was and swiped to answer.

"Ava, you aren't gonna believe what we just paid for this thing with," Lilly spoke, the laughter clear in her voice. It promptly died, however, at Ava's panicked words on the other line.

"Lilly, you need to get back here right now. There's something wrong with Penny."