Uninvited

"It's finally time." Matilda whispers to herself as she stalks towards the inn. The owner had come through on her and sent a message as soon as Tiffania's guest had arrived there. The Princess had wanted to send an escort with her, but she quickly refused, knowing that bringing a small army with her would probably scare off whoever was supposed to be arriving.

She steps into the bar and waves at the owner, ignoring all the other rowdy patrons getting shit-faced this afternoon. "You said they were here?"

The man nods but looks somewhat unsure, "Yes, three people.. Well, four, if that oldest one had anything to say about it.." he mutters.

"What do you mean?" Matilda asks, confused.

"I mean, that woman is clearly sick. Both in the head and body... Scared off some of my customers with her craziness, so I 'gave' them a room free of charge upstairs, don't know how long they'll be stayin' for, but I think they're going to be waiting for that Mike fellah to pick 'em up." he explains.

Matilda nods, "Can I visit them? For a talk." she asks and the man nods, "Yeah, yeah. Upstairs, fourth door on the left, make sure to knock first though. Who knows what that crazy one'll do if surprised..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matilda walks through the hallway and stands in front of the door that supposedly holds the False-Familiar's guests... She doesn't immediately knock, instead, placing her ear to the door to see if she could hear anything.

"GET OFF ME!" a scream suddenly rings out, but there doesn't seem to be a scuffle from what Matilda could hear.

"S-sorry L-lady de Orleans! Cocoo tripped! She is very very sorry!" the voice of a young-sounding girl apologetically replies.

"Illococoo, quiet... She did not mean it, mother." another voice says, but the sound of a slap echoes out of the room, "DON'T CALL ME THAT! DON'T-.... DON'T CALL ME THAT! WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT US HERE!? YOU JUST WANT TO HURT HER AGAIN!" the woman screams, sounding completely unhinged.

Matilda squints her eyes in thought but shakes her head and eventually knocks on the door a couple times, deciding that it was probably best to get this over with.

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

...

The room goes silent momentarily, the occupants drawn from their argument as they look towards the door with caution. "Cocoo will do it."

"No, sit. I will get it."

*Creee*

The door opens, and Matilda is greeted with a familiar sight... "Miss Tabitha?" she utters in confusion, her time undercover in the academy allowing her to easily recognise one of the most talented students.

Tabitha is equally as confused, though, the only thing that gives it away is the slight tilt of her head, as her expression remains fixed in its usual apathetic state. "Miss Longueville...?"

...

Matilda brushes some of her hair to the side and slowly nods, mind rapidly working to create a reason as to why she would be here, why she left the academy so suddenly, why her disappearance coincided with Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt's theft, why she wasn't wearing glasses... "*Ahem!*, I didn't expect to see you here, Miss Tabitha... No matter, my reason for being here remains the same..." Matilda says, glancing over at the other occupants of the room.

The first is a girl she didn't recognise with dark blue hair and turquoise eyes. Most likely this 'Illococoo' girl she heard earlier.

Next was a rather jarring sight however... A gaunt-looking woman with long messy light blue hair matching the shade of Tabitha's, most likely her mother by the looks of it. Clutched tightly in her arms was a small doll, who she habitually seemed to rub against her cheek while scanning the surroundings with a paranoid gaze.

"What do you need?" Tabitha asks in a dull yet curious tone, bringing Matilda's attention back onto her.

"I was actually looking for my sister... I heard that you know of her... Tiffania is her name, longer than average ears, blonde hair,, too kind for her own good and is clumsy at most times, my guess is because of those disproportionate assets of her knocking her off balance." she states while smiling at Tabitha knowingly.

Tabitha pauses, letting out a huff of air and Matilda wasn't sure if she was pouting or not due to the girl's lack of expressiveness. Though, if she were in her position, she'd feel pretty annoyed at Tiffania for having such an overwhelming advantage in the 'breast' department.

Still, the girl shakes her head, focussing on Matilda with an analytical gaze, she was suspicious, no one should know Tabitha's relation to Michael or Tiffania, so it was a surprise for the latter's 'sister' to visit them suddenly... Still, she clearly knew Tiffania, and was familiar enough with her personality for it not to be a guess.

"You want to find Tiffania?" Tabitha clarifies, not sure what to make of the situation.

Matilda nods, "I've been looking for her ever since she fled her cabin. I made oaths to keep her safe and look after her, so I must find her no matter what." she assures.

Tabitha stares at Matilda for a good few seconds, eventually determining that she was telling the truth, "We can help, wait with us and we can take you to her." she states, gesturing inside the room.

Tabitha turns and walks inside, only for her mother to start shouting at them with a mad gleam in her eyes, "WHO ARE YOU!? WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE!? NO-NO-NO! YOU WON'T TAKE AWAY MY CHARLOTTE!" she screams, hugging the doll harder against her chest.

Tabitha lets out a sad sigh, "Mother, no one will harm you... This is one of my former teachers, Miss Longueville."

Matilda bows slightly, "Nice to meet you-"

"STAY BACK! NO ONE WILL TAKE HER! NEVER EVER NEVER!"

...

Tabitha leads Matilda to the opposite side of the room, sitting in one of the chairs and slouching her back as she leans on the table. "Forgive my mother, she is not healthy." she says ambiguously, not going further into detail.

Matilda nods, not really wanting to know more either. "It's fine. How long will we have to wait?" she asks, changing the subject.

Tabitha shrugs, "Not sure. Soon, hopefully." she says, glancing at her mother who was now lying in bed and continuously glaring at Matilda... The sooner they could get her healed the better... It was incredibly saddening to see her mother in such a stay, especially when she was the indirect cause of it.