Chapter 3, enjoy!

Ratings and warnings and disclaimer in chapter 1

Les Papillons D'or

Through the Looking glass

"I should have told you, Heidi, I can't cook," Stephanie sighed, as she put out the fire that broke out on the stove, "You really shouldn't have told me to come in here and make soup."

"That's alright, I just thought that you could handle a can of soup," Heidi said, opening a window, to let in fresh air, "No matter, cooking us meals was not in your job title anyways, come along, we'll go out to eat, and then stop by the store to pick up something or dinner."

Stephanie dumped the now ruined pan into the trash container saying, "I'll buy you a new pan…"

"Now you stop saying that," Heidi said as she wrapped herself up in a large sweater, "That's why you're still cleaning that silk shirt, you don't have to replace anything, I knew what to expect when I gave you the task to make us some lunch, I'm sure Xavier had an inkling you couldn't hold your booze, you don't have to replace my pot."

"It's not right if I don't replace it, I mean, I grew up thinking that if I broke something, I had to replace it," Stephanie said, pulling her jacket on, "It's what-"

"My mother taught me, yeah, yeah, yeah," Heidi said walking out her front door, "Come on now, let's go eat, I was thinking a light soup or something."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"So, you're telling me Nymphs own that soup shop?" Stephanie asked Heidi, watching the woman toss several bags of chips into the cart, "Heidi, that's too much junk food!"

"Hush, it's not," Heidi said, leading Stephanie into the other aisle, "But, to answer your question, yes, the café is ran by nymphs, wasn't that noodle soup so yummy?"

"It was good, I mean, I can't complain…geez this is so confusing," Stephanie huffed as she followed Heidi with the cart full of food, "Heidi, how are you going to pay for this stuff if you only use gold coins?!"

"Good question," Heidi mused, before throwing more food into the cart, "You pay for it, I'll pay you back."

Stephanie gave Heidi a glare, before said woman skipped off down another aisle, "What makes you think I have that much on me, Heidi?!"

"I don't know, a hunch?" Heidi said loudly, before adding, "Oh dear, if I were you I wouldn't say anything right now."

Stephanie opened her mouth to respond, but she crashed into a person, making them fall with a grunt, shattering something on the floor of the market. Stephanie let out a yelp and said, "Holy shit! I'm so sorry, look whatever I broke, I'll replace it, I promise you!"

"I told you, you needed to keep your big mouth closed!" Heidi said from behind Stephanie's back, "Didn't I?"

"I just hit this person!" Stephanie argued looking over to the figure who was picking themselves up from the floor, "And broke whatever they were holding!"

"Hmm yes you did, but what did I tell you about you and your replacing thing kick?" Heidi asked Stephanie, "I told you, you don't have to replace everything, remember?"

"Yeah…I know but…" Stephanie started but the figure lifted themselves up and sighed, dusting themselves off.

"Great, I just got this one, you madam, owe me a new looking glass," The figure said turning to Stephanie, their hands on their hips, "And I want the exact same one!"

The figure as actually a man, a man who was on the short side, okay, he was 4'3, he was tiny, with greying brown hair and bright blue eyes. He wore the strangest clothes that Stephanie had ever seen; a blue robe and a stubby blue hat with matching blue shoes. He was tapping his foot and giving Stephanie a glare. Stephanie didn't know whether to laugh or pat his head.

"You promised me a new looking glass!" The man said hopping up and down, "And I want it!"

"You'll get it," Heidi said walking over to the small man, "Hmm, what a strange place to be, for a wizard, yes?"

"Oh, I was looking for you," the man said, smiling at Heidi, trying to look under her long skirt, "My, you're looking wonderful as ever, you should let me take a-ack!"

"Dirty old man," Stephanie said, after she tossed a can of peas at the small person, "I ought to run you over with this cart again."

"That's not nice!" the man said, rubbing his sore head giving Stephanie a glare, "I ought to make you get me three new looking glasses!"

"You're lucky you're even getting one, you snake" Heidi sighed, before she turned to Stephanie and said, "Come along, we'll check out and go back to my place to help out our new client."

"I still have to pay for all this junk food, don't I?" Stephanie asked Heidi, who smiled and nodded her head, "Jeez…you should invest in a credit card…."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"You're going to have to go and get the wizard a new looking glass," Heidi said to Stephanie, sitting down in a chair, "I wish I could tell you otherwise, but you offered to replace it."

"Looking glass, you mean a mirror?" Stephanie asked, watching Heidi serve them tea, "That's easy I'll go down to the store-"

"It's not one of those dinky mirrors," The wizard said, giving Stephanie a glare, "It's a looking glass, a magical device that lets the seer see anything they truly desire! Rare, magical objects, and they're only found in one place and made by only one person!"

"And there lies the problem," Heidi muttered, rubbing her chin, "You'll have to go to the looking glass shop and get a looking glass for the wizard."

"Okay, well, where's this shop?" Stephanie asked, as Heidi got up and walked over to the small desk.

"Well, that's the problem, it's not in this world, it's in another world, and you'll not be able to reach it there by yourself….yet, I know someone who can get you there with ease, she owes me several favors."

Heidi hummed and shuffled through the drawers and took out a gold chain that had a golden butterfly whistle attached to the bottom. Stephanie watched as Heidi placed the whistle up to her mouth and blew, causing a long musical note to fill the parlor room.

Moments later, Stephanie heard a large thump from upstairs, cursing and then someone was running down the stairs.

"You called?" A woman asked, entering the parlor room.

"No way…." Stephanie said with a head shake, "Jeanne Ellen?"

Jeanne turned to Stephanie and swore loudly, "Oi! What are you doing here, Plum?!"

"She's my new assistant," Heidi said, walking over to Jeanne and patting her head, "How are you, my dear Jeanne?"

Jeanne had to bend down a bit to let Heidi pat her head, "Good, I'm good, Madam, so what do you need from me today?"

"Well, Stephanie broke a wizard's looking glass and offered to replace it, she needs to go the looking glass shop and get a new one," Heidi sighed, making Jeanne cackle with laughter, "You're going to take her to the shop, Jeanne."

"WHAT?!" Jeanne wailed, glaring at Stephanie, "No fair! Geez, why me?"

"I trust only you," Heidi said, patting Jeanne's head again, "Now, you two behave, yes, the wizard and I will be waiting right here for you both."

Jeanne gave the small man a glare and said, "Him?! Isn't that the perverted wizard? I'm not leaving you here alone with him, I'll call up a buddy, and they'll stay with you while you wait for us."

"Oh Jeanne, you are so protective," Heidi sighed, patting Jeanne's head again.

"What in the hell am I seeing?" Stephanie asked, watching Heidi praise Jeanne, "This is so freaky."

"You're the only freak here," Jeanne said to Stephanie, making her blush with anger, "I mean look at you, you're a human!"

"And you're not?" Stephanie asked, looking at Jeanne who shook her head no, "What are you then?"

"I'm-" Jeanne started but Heidi gave a sharp cough and Jeanne looked over to Heidi and then said, "I'm none of your business, Plum, now, you wait here, I'm going to get my buddy."

Jeanne stuck her tongue out at Stephanie and the small wizard, before walking out the parlor room, going to who knows where.

"This is so odd," Stephanie sighed, looking over to Heidi, who sat back down, "How do you know Jeanne."

"She's a close friend of mine," Heidi said, grabbing her cup of tea and sipping it, "We've known each other for a while now."

"Oh," Stephanie said, with a frown, watching Heidi settle back into her chair, "You pat her head like a dog."

"Oh, do you want head pats too?" Heidi asked with a pretty smile, earning a head shake, "Okay, then don't question it."

"Hey!" A man's voice said coming from the kitchen, "Come on now, Gina, stop pushing me, you'll break something in my body!"

"Shut up you lug," Jeanne said, pushing a man into the Parlor room, "Madam, this is Diesel, Diesel this is Heidi, he's someone I helped out the gutter a few years back."

"You didn't help me out the gutter," The man dubbed Diesel said, puffing up, his frame turning to the parlor, "You…oh….."

Stephanie's eyebrow rose as the tall blond hair and blue eyed man made a beeline right to Heidi. He grabbed Heidi's hand and said, "Bonjour, my dear, the name is Diesel…because I can keep your engine purring…"

"Aww, you are so adorable," Heidi gushed, petting Diesel's head, "Your name is so manly, sit down, I'll make you some tea and cake."

"That would be lovely," Diesel sighed, sitting beside Heidi, who began to serve him, "Jeanne, you and your friend should get going, I'll watch out for this magnificent creature…."

"Oh god," Jeanne moaned before she turned to Stephanie and said , "Come on Plum, let's make this quick, I want to get back here before Rico Suave tires to make his moves."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I don't know why she choose you," Jeanne sighed, leading Stephanie down into the basement of Heidi's cottage, "You must be freakier than I thought."

"I resent that!" Stephanie growled, glaring at Jeanne, who stuck her tongue out at her, walking over to something that was covered in a brown tarp, "What are you doing?"

"We're going to the Looking Glass shop," Jeanne said pulling the tarp off the item to reveal a standing mirror, "What did you think that the shop was up the street, I wish, it's in the reflection world, sadly."

Jeanne placed her hand on the mirror, sliding her fingertips across the surface. Stephanie watched as the polished surface began to ripple, like water when something disturbed it. The rippling effect continued, distorting her reflection until there was nothing but solid rippling grey. Jeanne turned to Stephanie and said, "Well, ladies first, yes?"

"Is it going to hurt me?" Stephanie asked, watching Jeanne roll her eyes, "I mean, this looks-"

"Shut up and get in there," Jeanne said, grabbing Stephane and pushing her into the greyed out mirror, "Such a wimp."

Stephanie yelped, expecting to feel something, but instead, she felt nothing at all, it was like she feel through a sheer curtain. She expected her trip to be long, but it had only lasted for half a second, with her falling hard on a cobblestone road.

"Ouch…" Stephanie whined, getting up on her feet, looking down at her scraped hands, "You could have told me that we would be landing on stone, I would have tried to land on my feet…"

"Yeah, sure," Jeanne said, landing right beside Stephanie, "Welcome to the reflection world, I hope you weren't expecting much."

"It looks like a small town," Stephanie mused, watching people walk by them, "Jeanne, how are we supposed to get back? There's nothing behind us?"

"We'll just find another way to get back, don't worry there are plenty of ways to get back," Jeanne said, walking down the cobblestone path, "Come on, the shop is this way."

"Hey! Can you walk more slowly?!" Stephanie asked, running after Jeanne, who waved her hand in the air and picked up her pace, "You fucking jerk!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Diesel, I must ask, what is it that you do?" Heidi asked, looking over to the blond man, a smile on her face, "Since you're friends with Jeanne, I know you must do something exciting."

"Oh, I'm an unmentionable, which means I deal with supernatural issues, like leprechauns, vampires…wizards!" Diesel said, turning to the little wizard who was leaning over the loveseat, peering down Heidi's shirt, "I put them in jail for lewd behavior!"

The small wizard yelped and scuttled back over to the chair he was sitting in. Heidi gave them both a smile and said, "You have such an exciting career Mister Diesel! You must have had several cases, right?"

"Yup," Diesel said proudly, looking over to Heidi, "I'll have you know, I'm one of their top agents, so if you're ever in a pickle, call me."

Heidi lifted her tea cup up to her mouth saying, "Thank you, Diesel I'll be sure to give you…" fading off as the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth as she took a sip from her cup.

Heidi looked down with horror, seeing that her tea cup was full of blood. The blood in the cup began to bubble and spill over the rim of the cup, splashing on to her hand and the floor. Heidi looked up at Diesel and nearly let out a shriek as the vision hit her hard. She was laying on a bed, staring up blankly at the wood panel ceiling. Her body lay limply on the edge of the bed, one arm and leg hanging off the blood stained mattress. What pain had been there was gone, numbed from blood loss. Heidi could still feel as the figure above her continued to stab her, she could feel her flesh give way to the serrated blade, but she couldn't feel the pain. Was this how death felt painless and almost surreal? Her head was heavy, yet she felt like she was floating in air. How many times was this man going to stab her? Heidi's eyes turned seeing something floating above the figure in the dark room. It was a small golden light, fluttering in the stale air of the room. Heidi smiled weakly in the darkness and croaked out, "Butterfly…" That wasn't her voice, this voice was much older but it was still young.

"No my dears, no butterflies for those who prey upon the vulnerability of others," the figure said before they stopped stabbing Heidi, "Nothing but pain and misery, your soul is too twisted for butterflies."

"Butter…..fly," Heidi whispered, feeling the life slip away from her, her eyes still trained on the fluttering light.

"HEIDI!" Heidi let out a scream, opening her eyes and looking around blindly, "Heidi! It' okay, you're here in your parlor!"

She felt hands grab her head firmly and blue eyes peered into her wild amber ones.

"Hey, it's okay, you're safe with us, alright, and you're safe…" Diesel softly spoke, watching Heidi's eyes soften, looking back at his face, "See, yeah, you're here with us, you're safe."

Heidi placed her hands on the hands holding her face and she said, "I'm safe…" looking down at the fallen tea cup and finding no blood, just cold amber liquid staining her rugs, "I'll have to clean that up…"

"What happened, you were fine minutes ago, but after you sipped your tea, you seemed to freeze up like a statue, you weren't even blinking." The small wizard said, patting one of Heidi's knee, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah….last moments…." Heidi sighed, before she let go of Diesel's hand and then got up to clean up the mess the tea made, "It's nothing , don't worry yourself, I'm fine, I'll just take this back into the kitchen."

Heidi quickly picked up the tea service set and walked quickly into the kitchen, her mind going at mach-5 speeds. She wasn't a fool, not by a long shot, she knew what these women were trying to tell her, they were telling her to find who killed them, and apparently their killer just happened to be the same person.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"It's like a cute little village, one you'd find in a fairy tale!" Stephanie gushed waking beside Jeanne who rolled her eyes and shook her head, "And the people are so friendly, though it seems like they're talking gibberish."

"Don't be dumb, Plum," Jeanne sighed, looking at the woman, "They're talking backwards, in our world they're talking backwards, but in their world it looks like we're talking backwards, let me tell you plum, learning to talk backwards is actually pretty hard, see, look at the signs, spot the difference."

Stephanie looked at a wooden sign hanging above a little café and looked at the words. Indeed, all the words were spelt backwards on the signs. In fact, everything was opposite in this world, even the sun was opposite, seeing as it hung low in the east, instead of the west. It was like being in wonderland.

"How peculiar," Stephanie mused, bumping into Jeanne, who stopped suddenly, looking up at one building, "Oh…it's the looking glass shop!"

The looking glass shop was a small nondescript building in between a shoe shop and a doctor's office. It had no store front windows, only a dark wooden door to let customer enter and leave. There was a mall hanging sign that only had a looking glass painted on it.

"I hope you brought payment, Plum, cause, I didn't," Jeanne said with a puff of air, "It's not me who needs a looking glass."

"How much do looking glasses cost?" Stephanie asked, as they walked into the small shop, "I shouldn't be that much, right?"

"Well…" Jeanne started only to let out a scream of terror as flames flew in front of her face, "Damn it! Claude, are you trying to roast me?!"

"Sorry about that!" A voice said from behind a table full of looking glasses, "I think the furnace is broken!"

"You think?! You singed my eyebrows!" Jeanne said walking around the table to the voice, "Come out here Claude, you have a customer."

Stephanie craned her head, seeing Jeanne walk around the table with a tall man following behind her. He was an older man with greying blond hair and soft grey eyes. He wore a pair of jeans a white button up shirt and a pair of loafers, with a leather apron covering the front of his body. He gave Jeanne a look and said, "She's not one of our kind."

"I know…but she' you know who's assistant now," Jeanne said shrugging her shoulders, watching Claude's eyes widen, "I know, now help her so we can go home."

"What is it that you need?" Claude asked Stephanie, walking over to her and shaking her hand, "I have every kind of Looking glass that you could ever want! Some show the past, the future, fantasy, reality, anything."

Stephanie smiled and said, "I'm here to replace a looking glass that I broke, it belonged to a short wizard-"

"Ah must have been the short fellow I helped early this morning, well, I do have only one left, this looking glass is really popular," Claude mused, going over to a small table and picking up the exact mirror that the wizard had, "Here it is, it has a hefty price tag on it."

"Oh…" Stephanie said, putting her hands inside her pocket to look for money, only to find a small velvet pouch in her back pocket, "Odd, when did I put that in there?"

Stephanie opened the pouch and took out a red and blue stone and a note which read; "Consider us even, thank you for the groceries" ~Heidi

"OH!" Claude said, grabbing the stone and tossing it up and down, "An ember stone! I thought I'd never get one of these! Shit! This looking glass will never cover what you just gave me! Tell you what, come back here anytime you want, I'll give you a looking glass every time you do!"

"Well," Stephanie said baffled looking over to Jeanne, who shrugged her shoulders, "Thanks, but, what's an ember stone?"

"An ember stone is a stone that creates fire, depending on the coloring of the stone, the fire can range from warm to stone melting hot, and this one is stone melting hot, just what I need for my Looking glass furnace! Thanks human!"

"You're welcome?" Stephanie said, unsure of herself, "Well, I guess we'll take the looking glass and go."

"Yes, yes, now this furnace is going to work great, my looking glasses are going to look awesome!" Claude said, turning to Jeanne, "You know where the exit is yes?"

"I do," Jeanne said nodding her head to Stephanie, "Come on, Plum, the exit is this way," leading Stephanie to the back area of the store, past an excited Claude, who was still singing praises about the stone, "Claude has a mirror that's connected to Heidi's mirror."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Ah, this is such a nice Looking glass!" the small wizard said, holding up the looking glass Stephanie gave him, "even better than the last, well, I should thank you for replacing my looking glass, but it was your fault it broke in the first place!"

"Wizard, be nice, what is it that you wanted from me in the first place?" Heidi asked, placing a hand on Stephanie's shoulder.

"Oh, I wanted you to be the first to look inside my looking glass," The wizard said with a smile, walking up to Heidi who smiled, "It's only-"

"Stephanie will be the first one to look inside your looking glass," Heidi said, pushing Stephanie forward, "And yes, it will work for her, Wizard."

The wizard huffed, "But I wanted-" but Jeanne and Diesel walked up behind him, cracking their knuckles, "Okay, fine, come on and look human."

Stephanie crouched down and looked into the shining reflection of the looking glass. she frowned seeing nothing and voice her frustration, "There's nothing here but my own reflection what am I supposed to be looking at?"

"What you desire the most," Heidi said crouching beside Stephanie and looking at the woman, "Look deep inside your heart, and see what it is that you want the most."

"What was it that Stephanie desired the most? She truly didn't know. Stephanie turned to the mirror and frowned seeing her reflection shift and morph until she saw what it was she desired the most.

"Ranger…" Stephanie whispered to herself, watching the man trudge through the dense jungle that was barely lit with sunlight.

"Good girl," Heidi said with a smile, before she stood up and said to the wizard, "It's a nice looking glass, wizard, thank you for showing me it, but I have no true desires…."

The wizard huffed and he said, "I'm sure you do, but they're not on our level," before he turned and huffed out the front door.

"Welp, it's time we head back to headquarters, right Gina?" Diesel said patting Jeanne on the back, "I hope to see you again, Madam Heidi, you are such a gem."

"Aww, you are so adorable!" Heidi gushed patting Diesel's head, "Have a safe trip you two!"

Stephanie sat down beside Heidi, once Diesel and Jeanne left. Heidi pulled out a pouch and said, "Payment, for replacing the Wizard's looking glass, he's a liar, the looking glass that he had before you broke it had stopped working, he wanted me to replace it, but…you were an easier target."

"WHAT?! WAS I JUST SOME KIND OF PIEGON!?" Stephanie screeched, standing up to glare down at Heidi, who nodded her head, "I'LL KILL THAT SON OF A BITCH!"

"The moral of the story is, keep your mouth shut…." Heidi said with a smile, before she yawned and said, "Time for you to go home, Stephanie, I'll call you if I need anything, stay safe."

Stephanie grabbed her purse and turned to look at Heidi who was still sitting down, looking at her hands, her bright eyes dark with some kind of turmoil that was going on in her head. Stephanie made to ask Heidi if she was alright, but Heidi smiled down at her hands and said, "Yes, Stephanie I am fine, I shall see you later."

Stephanie shook her head and said, "Weird," but left to go home, "I'm never going to get used to her."

TBC…

(Sorry about the wait, but hell week is over and all I have left are finals and a paper due! Reviews are loved, I love your feedback!)