For getting a fair amount of sleep that morning Lucius felt far from rested, and Samueli's words seemed to pass right through his head as they walked towards the northeast parts of town. This was soon acknowledged by the latter, so he ruffled Lucius' head in an attempt to snap him back to reality.

"Not the hair," Lucius protested as an immediate response and tried to fight Samueli's hand away. "Weather's finally good enough to leave it alone."

"Yes, it's surprisingly nice out today," Samueli agreed, looking up at the bright sky. "Seems like spring is finally here for real."

As thankful as Lucius was for warmer weather all he could think of at the moment was how inconvenient it had to be for Ethan. Even if he slept most of the day he was practically in house arrest whenever the sun was out.

Much like he could have expected, any thought he would have that day would pull him into supernatural territory. How could it not?

"You certainly seem out of it today," Samueli commented as if to prove a point, raising his hand just slightly as a threat to ruffle hair again and Lucius dodged to the side. "Hard time sleeping?"

"Yeah, I guess. I was with Anthony." Lucius nodded, rubbing his eyes to make them sting less. "A lot happened, so I didn't get much sleep."

Samueli arched his eyebrows in shock and Lucius reflected on his words, eventually releasing a groan.

"Come on, Sam."

"I would have been a bit surprised, but it's not that unbelievable, so..." Samueli shrugged. "... Still, I remain convinced you can do better than him."

"Right, so, I think this is awkward enough." Lucius happily steered away from the subject. "I was actually investigating some. Snuck into the BBT mansion to look for—"

"You what?" Samueli interrupted and Lucius winced. Perhaps he shouldn't have told him that. "Lucius, that's way too dangerous! What were you thinking?"

"Wow, you're actually sounding like Anthony." Lucius cocked an eyebrow, and Samueli looked deeply insulted, but didn't scold him further.

"Well, Phion knows I wouldn't want that," was all he said instead while linking his fingers. "Still, I do want you to stay out of danger."

"Not making any promises." Lucius knew lying would be futile. "But I'll be more careful about it from now on."

"So? Did you find anything?"

Lucius had to think. He'd yet to reveal any supernatural beings to Samueli, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. Hypocritical as it seemed, if Samueli didn't have a single clue to begin with, why subject him to it by telling him?

Still, they had to find Mabel, so if the Larkspur order turned out to indeed capture supernaturals and have something to do with her disappearance then perhaps Samueli would find out eventually either way.

But that was for the future to decide.

"Both a map at the town hall and one in the BBT mansion had a larkspur flower scribbled on them where the grave is," he still relayed. "Anthony said it's because they grow there, but they don't. So it has to be something else."

"Well since he's apparently so good at recovering, could you throw him out the window and see if he talks then?"

Lucius gave the idea some consideration.

"I doubt it, but maybe it's worth a try."

Samueli chuckled, stopping in his tracks as they reached a fork in the road.

"I think it's this way." He pointed to the right, and Lucius gestured for him to take the lead.

"Should we assume they're rich?" Lucius asked as he looked around at the scenery. It wasn't exactly the 'fancy parts of town' kind of fancy, but the area was beautiful and green and the path was smooth enough for comfort. "He does own land after all."

"Not Hargreaves rich," Samueli informed. "And not so greedy about money, it seems. Milica, his wife, always used to donate and help out at events on Ilara's Day Of Giving back in the day."

"Hopefully poor enough to listen then." Lucius arched an eyebrow as they passed over a surprisingly beautiful stone bridge, only a bit disappointed it was missing a decorative figure on one of its posts.

A house became visible as they had almost reached the forest. Despite the rough feel to it, it was large and sturdy with many windows overlooking the nature around it.

"Want to do the honours?" Samueli suggested, walking up to the door with a hand inviting Lucius to come along. "Just try to be polite."

Lucius only made a face at him but knocked on the door. He could be plenty polite if he wanted to.

The door was answered by a tall woman with light brown hair and a rather sickly pale complexion. She was dressed in a large, very comfortable gown with a thin robe to go with it. What stood out most however, quite literally, was her belly. A pregnancy Lucius had to believe was nearing its end, judging by the size.

The woman blinked in confusion at first at the unexpected company, but then turned her gaze to Samueli and a smile appeared on her lips.

"... Wait, Samueli?" Her voice had a bit of an accent to it, not that Lucius was knowledgeable enough to know what kind. "I have not seen you in years! I—I thought you'd..."

She trailed off, smile wavering for a moment and Lucius made an educated guess on what she wanted to say.

"Yes, things did turn quite grim those years ago, Milica." Samueli's voice turned sombre, and Milica pinched her lips together before quickly trying to change the subject.

"It is so good to see you, and you look to be in good health." She gestured at him and then turned her gaze to Lucius. "And... I am not certain we have met?"

"I would be impressed if you remembered. He was a child and has changed a lot over the years."

"And I didn't pay a lot of attention to people outside the Hydrina back then," Lucius added, forcing a smile. "But I hear you offered help during Ilara's day, and I'm thankful for that. Lots of the children were thankful. Or... Everyone were, really."

"Oh." Milica smiled again, and it looked like she was about to hug him. "I am so happy to hear things turned out well for the two of you at least."

"I hope things are well with you too, Milica." Samueli gestured at her. "And congratulations."

"Thank you." Milica placed a hand on her stomach but Lucius wasn't sure if her smile was so sincere anymore, and she decided to change the subject after that. "Do come in, of course. Was there anything in particular you wanted from me?"

"We were actually..." Lucius paused to consider if he was about to be rude, but they had to get somewhere with the visit. "... Wondering if your husband is home? If it's all right I'd like to ask him some questions."

Milica stared at him with her eyebrows arched as they stepped into the entrance hall, which surprisingly seemed to double as a sitting room complete with a fireplace and big couches.

"... Really?"

"Yes, if he's available." Lucius went the opposite direction with his eyebrows. "It's about a piece of land he—Or, both of you? I dunno. It's—It's land in his name."

"Ohh." Milica's gawking ceased, and she made a comprehensive nod. "Then I understand."

Both visitors remained silent as a nod for her to explain herself.

"He just doesn't socialise much." She waved her hand dismissively. "He has a few select friends but it's very rare for strangers to approach him."

Then she gestured for them to take a seat on one of the couches before excusing herself from the room.

"Can't help but feel he may be difficult to talk to," Lucius whispered as he sank down into one of the couches, pausing to admire the soft, wine red fabric with feather patterns. "If he's the not so social kind."

Samueli stopped looking in awe at a chandelier made out of antlers above them and shook his head.

"I doubt Milica would marry someone rude or unwelcoming." He sat down on the same couch as Lucius, a grin showing on his face. "Besides, not all rude people are quiet."

Lucius scowled at the mockery, but he didn't reply with more than a low, disgruntled sigh.

After a while Milica returned with a man Lucius assumed was her husband in tow. His waistcoat and large robe were of similar colours as his wife's garments, and the slimmer cut of his pants suggested a rather muscular build underneath.

"Here he is!" Milica announced, and both visitors stood from the couch. "Why don't you introduce yourselves while I make some tea?"

"You should sit down, Mitsa," the man protested, accent slightly thicker than his wife's, but she had already scurried off towards another room so he turned towards Lucius and Samueli with a frown.

His appearance seemed to match the not so social part of him. His face was stern and possibly a little suspicious, but to his credit his eyes were of a gentler kind and even though he didn't exactly look happy he didn't have the vein freezing abilities of a certain Hargreaves.

If Lucius had to guess, both him and his wife were somewhere in their late twenties, perhaps around Tom's age.

Lucius decided to walk up to the man first, realising halfway that the man was even taller than his wife, and possibly taller than Anthony too.

"Lucius Cromwell." He stretched his hand forward, only then noticing the cane in the man's right hand and he hesitated before switching to his left hand instead. "Afraid we're dropping by unannounced."

"Ivan Vieryshkin," the man replied, grabbing Lucius' hand for a firm greeting. "What can I help you with?"

Not a man up for small talk it seemed, but at least they could get to the point quickly. Lucius wasn't quite so sure if the man would be thrilled about the subject though.

"I don't believe there's a way to put this that would be less odd, so let's just get to it." He made sure the man followed him to the couches, now paying more attention to his limp, and sat down again. "It concerns some of your land."

Ivan sat down in front of them, face next to expressionless and Lucius interpreted his silence as a sign to continue.

"There's an area there with a glade and a small lake, and..." Lucius pursed his lips. How could he relay it as nicely as possible? "Several years ago I, uh... Buried two of my friends there."

A foreseen frown appeared on Ivan's face, and Lucius continued.

"It was... Perhaps disrespectful of me, but I was a child and, well... My friends were dead." Lucius shrugged. "I couldn't bury them in a graveyard and we'd been to that glade before so... It seemed right at the time. I get it's— I dunno... Disturbing to hear."

"We all become part of nature sooner or later," was Ivan's reply, as if the information didn't faze him the slightest. "A forest burial is just as well, and you would have to travel far to find land with no owner."

Lucius raised his eyebrows. He hadn't expected it to go over that well.

"I, uh... Well, I'll try to make sure it won't happen again, at least?"

To his further surprise, a small smile appeared on Ivan's lips at that promise. Again, wasn't the idea of corpses littering his grounds at least a little disturbing?

"Still, it seems odd to me that you would come all the way here just to tell me that." Ivan's smile faded. "I believed you had questions?"

"Yes, I was getting to that." Lucius nodded, licking his dry lips. "So as it turns out... One of my friends has disappeared from there."

"Your dead friend?" Ivan arched an eyebrow. "That sounds unlikely."

"You think?" Lucius received a glare from Samueli and he obediently minded his manners again. "It was six years ago. One would think nothing could find them by now."

"And? You want to know if I've unburied dead bodies in the forest?" Ivan didn't seem too upset, should that have been the case, but he didn't exactly look amused either. "Because I assure you, I have not."

"No, well... I guess we were mostly wondering if you've seen anything, or heard?" Lucius shrugged, sending a look in Samueli's direction to have him back him up. "Anything unusual, really?"

"We don't know how this could have happened." Samueli took the hint. "It's such a strange thing, since there's barely any trace of the grave to begin with."

Ivan frowned.

"None at all?"

"Well I arranged some rocks," Lucius admitted. "But not so extravagant that it would stick out like that."

A sigh, and to Lucius' somewhat relief Ivan looked troubled, suggesting he at least cared a little.

"As far as strange things go, many hunters, me included, have found some quite odd occurrences of animals disappearing. Large amounts, that is."

Lucius grew cold as he remembered the werewolf note on the map.

"Like... Poachers? Or wild animals?" He kept his composure, trying the more likely options first.

"Most certainly animals," Ivan replied, and Lucius' hopes sank. "Large ones, I'd say. But we haven't found any, and it's been a long time since a bear or wolf was seen in these woods."

"What kind of traces have you found then?" Samueli wanted to know.

"Torn apart animals," Ivan began, but his voice faded as Milica returned with tea and he cleared his throat. "Well, and the destruction of nature itself, with snapped off trees and claw marks here and there."

"You know I've already heard of the strange animal incidents," Milica said with a smile as she placed the tray down. "No need to be silent about it when I'm here."

"The reminder could make you feel ill," Ivan argued, but she only patted his head as she sat down next to him.

"Why are you talking about it in the first place?" she wanted to know instead, and Lucius pursed his lips while looking at Ivan. He had to assume the subject of dead children being dug up from their graves wasn't on the list of things he wanted to tell his apparently sensitive wife.

So the three men remained in an awkward silence, to which Milica took great offence.

"Oh, Ivan!" She gently shoved his shoulder. "I tell you, I'm not going to faint over everything just because I'm like this!"

"It's... Not a very nice topic," Ivan tried, and to Milica's apparent surprise Lucius and Samueli chimed in with shaking heads.

She pouted, folding her arms as she tried staring them all down one at a time.

Lucius decided to go for a diluted version.

"It's just that... I, uh... Buried two of my dogs at a place in your forest a couple of years back."

Milica looked at him with a face of utter disappointment. It was enough for Lucius to be disappointed in himself as well.

"And by 'dogs', you mean something else, don't you?" she asked, shattering the lie without a second thought, and Lucius pursed his lips.

"... Maybe."

"Wait..." Milica suddenly looked the appropriate amount of mortified. "... Several years ago? So you—You mean...?"

"Well..." Lucius was done with poorly made up lies. She'd already come to the right conclusion, which wasn't too surprising since that event was all she knew about him to begin with. "... Yes."

"Oh... I'm—I'm sorry. I hope you found a good resting spot for them," she said, and Lucius didn't have the energy to be surprised by the couple's lack of concern when children bury children in their forest.

"Anyway, they... Or, one of them at least, have disappeared recently."

Milica blinked.

"I'm... Sorry?"

"Someone or something has dug one of the corpses up," Ivan filled in, placing a careful hand on her shoulder. "They wanted to know if I had heard or seen anything, so I told them about the strange animals."

"That's—That's so awful." Milica did actually look faint after the revelation, and Ivan frowned as he placed an arm around her for support. "But... How could an animal find bodies from that time now?"

"It wasn't an animal," Samueli then said, and Lucius nodded in agreement despite having almost forgotten about that part between all the werewolf theories. "The edges were too precise. It was done with a shovel."

Milica truly looked sick now, and Lucius started regretting telling her about it after all.

"But you wouldn't... Possibly know anything about an area where larkspurs grow?" He had to play it safe. If he went on rambling about secret organisations they could very well mark him crazy and send him away, so he went the Anthony route instead. "There was a picture of one on the map right where your land is, so while it's probably just an ordinary note I just want to make sure. So we're not missing any clues. Maybe people were... Digging for seeds or something?"

It was stupid, but they didn't know him. They might as well consider him a bit dimwitted if it meant finding Mabel.

"Not as far as I know." Milica chuckled a bit awkwardly. "I like to think I've seen most of the area and what grows there, but I could be wrong."

"No official records that would suggest so either way," Ivan added, a frown having formed on his forehead. "However I am curious to know why there would be such a note."

"Oh, uh... Yes, that seems odd if they don't grow there," Lucius hurriedly agreed. "I wonder what it means."

"Where did you find the map?" Ivan wanted to know, arching an eyebrow as Lucius froze. "Sounds like it's not a new one."

"I just borrowed it from a friend," Lucius tried to play it off casually. Neither the town council nor the BBT were likely to sound good in Ivan's ears. "Felt like a bother to get one just for looking that up, you know?"

"And they didn't know why the flower was there?"

"They said it was because larkspurs grow there." Lucius shrugged, technically not lying. "But I don't think they've even been there, so probably just a guess."

Ivan hummed.

"Well, it seems like we're not much help. There isn't much more to say on my part."

"So no..." Lucius wasn't sure how to put it discreetly. "... No non-hunters roaming around? Like... People roaming around for no reason?"

"There are berry pickers," Milica pointed out. "And similar. Mushrooms, nice flowers, and so on."

"Right, but more suspicious people, I mean?" Lucius held back a grimace as the others looked at him with puzzled expressions. "... People who seem like they don't belong in the forest?"

"That is a hard question." Ivan's lip curled, but he still seemed to be in thought. "I suppose I could provide you with the names of some huntsmen, if you want to continue the search."

Lucius wanted to groan. Not more door knocking and talking to strangers. All the effort was still getting him nowhere and he was growing sick of it.

"That... Would be appreciated," he still said, wondering if he could cheat by asking the council about some of the names, in case they stood out in any way.

"Come, I will write them down for you," Ivan then urged him, and Lucius reluctantly rose from the couch. He followed him to a small office in the back of the house and looked around. An impressive row of medals hung on the wall, along with some candleholders in the same, horned fashion as the chandelier in the sitting room.

"You were in the army?" He turned his head towards Ivan, recalling having seen some kind of title in his name when looking him up.

"I was," Ivan replied, and Lucius decided to make one last awkward attempt at breaking the silence.

"Your house is nice. I'm guessing you hunt as well?"

Ivan said nothing as he sat down by a desk, and Lucius let go of the pressure to small talk. Instead he wondered how well the man managed to get around the forest with that leg. Especially when hunting animals.

He knew of course, by now, that he shouldn't ask strangers about injuries.

His eyes did land on a note on Ivan's desk however, seemingly written by a doctor, and a bottle standing on top of it. Painkillers, Lucius would guess, but it didn't look like opium.

Another urge to ask about the injury welled up but he promptly shut it down.

"I imagine you must be in quite the shock," Ivan then said, and Lucius blinked. So he was the one being asked about health in the end?

"Yes, naturally," he tried speaking clearly but his voice turned out much thicker than he'd thought. "I don't understand how something like this could have happened."

Nothing made sense, even when adding the larkspur order and werewolf clues to the board. Why would werewolves care? Why would supernatural scientists care enough to dig there? If they wanted bodies there were other places.

Though they'd be at the grim's mercy if they tried a graveyard.

"You're an archon worshipper too, I assume?" Ivan glanced at him before returning to scribbling down names on a paper. "And corpses should not be unburied before ten years have passed, if I'm not mistaken?"

Lucius exhaled a silent breath, stomach turning at the idea. He'd abandoned his archon, but that didn't mean he'd stopped believing completely.

"...Yes. So the souls have proper time to move on."

"And if not?"

"I don't—" Lucius frowned, unsure how to explain it. "I dunno, they... Can't move on, I guess? Some say they get stuck in the spectre plane with ghosts and other spirits... Like the ones who were restless even while buried."

Ivan only hummed, and Lucius began piecing things together.

"You're a Wexian, aren't you?" He felt kind of bad. He knew very little about the Wexian faith and what it meant. His general knowledge was just that they worshipped nature itself. "That's why you don't mind people being buried just about anywhere."

"Not 'just about anywhere', but the forest is a noble resting place." Ivan had turned his head to look at him. "I don't know, however, if it's a good place for souls to move on, in case humans have one."

"Yeah, I... I've thought about it a little, I guess." Lucius scratched his head in discomfort. "I didn't think either of them would be unburied like this though, so I never thought about their souls..."

He gestured half-heartedly with his hands.

"... Getting stuck, you know?"

Ivan nodded slowly, placing his quill down.

"I suppose it's not impossible a secret group of scientists would find such a topic interesting."

"That's... True," Lucius said, eyebrows furrowing as he thought more about it. The Larkspur order was supposedly interested in supernatural beings after all. "... I guess I didn't think about it that—"

He froze.

He'd never told Ivan about that.

He'd told no one in that house about the order.

"I—" He began backing away but Ivan raised his cane to block his way to the door. Why did he know? He wasn't part of the group, was he? And what would Lucius do if he was? They were a secret group, so chances were they disliked being found out.

Lucius eyed the man's muscular frame. He wouldn't stand a chance unless he was quick enough to take out his knife, and stealing a cane from someone who needed it to walk would be low, even for him.

Still, he had to entertain the idea of disarming the man if necessary.

"Is that why you're actually here?" Ivan's voice was low and he gave the door a brief glance. "You're looking for the Larkspur order?"

A blend of relief and dread arose in Lucius' head. At least their visit seemed to amount to something, but there was also a chance that something could be terribly inconvenient.

"I wouldn't try anything," he therefore said in an attempt to keep that from happening. "No matter how quick you are, I can yell for the others."

"No, don't." Ivan held up a hand, a frown forming on his forehead. "I have no intention to harm you, but I want to talk."

Lucius almost couldn't believe his ears. Talk? Someone actually wanted to talk?

"Yes, please," he replied before reflecting on what an odd response it was.

Ivan nodded, looking towards the door once again and listening through the silence.

"They have something that belongs to me," he then said as he turned back to face Lucius. "Something very important, but no matter how much I try, they're impossible to find.

"Oh, so you're... Looking for them as well," Lucius confirmed, and Ivan nodded again.

"So I think we should join forces, and hunt those monsters down."