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Things had gone south rather quickly once Alois's double stabbed their host - though that begged the question of where was the Original? Finn hurried down from the balcony, scanning the maddened crowd for the familiar faces of Aleksy or Tate as he went - Tate was easy to find. She'd moved, against the flow of traffic, to stand over her mistress's body.

Finn ran to her side, caught his hand in his. "Come on," he said, "We've gotta go." There was no question of her freedom now - masked, her master dead or very near to it. He pulled her away from the Spinel Lady, despite her initial protests, and dragged her through the crowd until he found the other Spektor twin.

"A matching set," said Finn, grabbing Aleksy's wrist where it was covered with a bangle. "Let's go."

Though that still left Alois - Finn hadn't seen him rush in with the other tithes. "Where were you held?" he asked Tate. "Before the ceremony? Was Alois there?"

He gestured back towards the dais, to the soot stain that was all that was left of Vale. "His original."

"The study," said Lady. "I'll show you."

They made it to the study with no time to spare, the mad rush of people growing worse every second.

"Alois!" called Finn, throwing the door open. "We're leaving!"

Alois managed a few stumbling steps outside of the window before he himself considered collapsing bonelessly onto the grass. The night wore too roughtly. The events that transpired left him no time to reflect. Others - Nosy Nips - forced him forward before he could collect himself. Now, he knew, he needed to find his father.He needed to explain, to confront, or to demand that the sacrificial sacrificial role take a different course. But even now, as he managed a few tentative steps toward a path outside, he wondered what he would say or what he could do. Would it matter? Was he certain for whom the bell should toll? Every second spent thinking it over proved deeply counterproductive.

A voice called, and he halted not far from the window. He knew it wasn’t of that room. Alois half-turned and caught sight of Finn, with Aleksy and Lady Red - but Lady Red broke upon the floor, herself drenched in blood. Is it already over? Was she picked, or…

Who was she close to? Thorne? Shiloh?

Alois clawed through the window, his gaze frozen on her. „Is it over zen? Who was it? Whose blood do you wear?“ He looked to Aleksy, to Finn - to anyone who would answer.

Aleksy reached down and hauled Alois into the room. "Just grab her!"

Lady clutched her skirt. "She's--she's gone--I'm, there's nothing, please, she can't be dead..."

Aleksy took a moment. Gentled. Crouched down in front of his sister, the long train of his robe curling around them. "It's alright," he said, sliding into Russian again. "Tatya, lisichya, come up. You're not alone. This isn't all there is. Come home."

She came up, this time, when he tugged her to her feet. "A way out," said Aleksy in English, looking between Alois and Finn. "I'll keep her moving. You two guide us."

"The burning man," said Finn, taking a step away from Tate as her brother took over. He followed Alois's indication, looking towards the empty frame - and then back towards the other man in alarm as he stated his intention.

"What?!" Finn asked. "No! You're coming with us. We came to find you. We're getting out of here - all of us. You, too."

He looked over his shoulder at Aleksy. "Do you think it's safe to try to go back out through the foyer?" he asked "Or should we find a back way out?"

“Why would Father kill his own son?“ He shot back to Finn automatically. He paused then, second-guessing himself, and looked startled by the sound of his own question. Afterward he shook off the confusion and thought little of it.

„I don’t haf’ any-„ But his sentence found no end, as Aleksy’s iron grip held him captive. „Hej!“ He called as both hands clenched and worried at the smaller man’s arm. Where he found purchase, he encountered far more resistance than his trained muscles could overcome. Aleksy, he found, was frightfully strong. „******** sake! My family is here, not out in Ashdown! What haf’ I got back zere?“

The remainder of his complaints died on his tongue, an old clot of blood sucked away in a startling jolt. He paused in his objections when he heard the voice of a second Lady Red. Her double, the one whom she spoke about not long ago.

You’re shitting me, he mouthed to himself.

„Wherever you want to go, she will pursue you. Melany does not keep halfhearted watchdogs. I found zat out ze hard way.“

"There's nothing to pursue," said Lady. "I've been gone from the human world for almost a decade. Where will I go?" She tucked her arms tight around herself in a hug. "I'm going back to a world that's moved on without me. That's okay. I can do it."

Aleksy let out a long, low hiss and scowled at the double of his sister. "I couldn't see you before," he said. "I do now."

He looked over to Finn. "Let's do it, then," he said.

"Yes, let's," agreed Lace. "Mother will need all of her children in order to heal."

Finn | 25/25 | let's wreck this b***h.

Arguing with Alois about his dog was a losing proposition and Finn knew it, so for now he bit his tongue and focused his attention on Lace. There'd be plenty of time to drag Alois kicking and screaming back to Ashdown after they took care of Tate's exceptionally persistent double.

"You got it," he called to Alois, and, turning to Lace, shot her a narrow look.

But he didn't say anything. She wasn't worth it. He just charged toward her, hoping she hadn't fully recovered from their earlier fight - maybe she'd be wobbly.

He could always hope.

alois scholz || 25/25 || doin’ it

When he leaned through the window, each translucent dagger stared up at him with the unblinking eye of the moon. He conducted a quick appraisal, each shard looking as appealing as the last, before he chose one that would fit snugly in the palm of his hand with enough room for a makeshift handle. He found it only the matter of tearing the bottom hem out of his robe and wrapping it about the blunted edge of the glass for a safe and secure weapon. While he spent little time fashioning the matter, the creature form in the distance kept running her mouth.

Alois couldn’t tell whether she played a game of manipulation or stalled for time. He imagined the former - emotions were easy targets themselves - but that pressed him for action by default. If allowed to speak, whether they believed her or not, spirits would fall.

Let her focus on them. Alois cut briskly through the garden, rounding some of the old and bristling trees that promised to block his view in parts. When he spotted her once more, he aimed to plant the glass shard in her kidney. It was, he felt, a firm swing.