In Which Xanaria Finds Justina but Has a Different Face


Eleanor's living room was a soft, friendly, and functional place. Justina fell asleep quickly. Upstairs Rob and Eleanor were soon sleeping cheerfully as well. The night passed quietly until a little after 2am when the living room window softly slid open.

Justina came wide awake when she heard the small click of the shutter latch and the rasp of the window opening. She stared wide eyed at the figure faintly silhouetted against the moonlit clouds, and squeaked unintentionally. The figure quickly dropped to the ground and out of sight.

"Um, sorry. Eleanor? I didn't think there would be anyone here."

"No, Eleanor's upstairs she just let me sleep on her couch for tonight."

"Wait. Justina?!" The voice changed, taking on a familiar cadence, even though the pitch was still different.

A light clicked on and Justina squinted against it, her brain still not fully functional. "Um, Xanaria? You sound different." She blinked bringing the woman approaching the couch into focus. "You look different too. What's going on?"

"When I used the Metastone I found myself in Elizabeth here instead of in you. It's… been a long night."

"Okay, first of all that phrasing could have been better. Second, I'm glad you're okay but what are you doing here?"

"I'm here," her voice eased back into the sharper accent she'd had when she came in, "because I need to see Eleanor and ask for help."

"You know I will always help you." Eleanor was at the door, a warm smile on her face. "What do you need, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth smiled back, sadly. "An exit strategy that doesn't leave my friends to pick up all the pieces."

"Oh. Finally went a step too far?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I got shot and had to Clean up the blood. If I stay they'll come round to all of us to check our charmprints and I'll be caught. If I go I'll be the only one unaccounted for and I'll be hunted forever. Even if I fake my death they wouldn't let it go without a body. This case is just too big."

Eleanor nodded seriously. "Okay. I'll make a pot of tea. We'll think about this. I see you've been to see Jack already. He gave you your present early."

Elizabeth smiled sadly and ran a finger around the cuff of her perfect coat. "Yes. We already said goodbye."

Eleanor smiled knowingly but let the subject go. Instead, she filled the electric kettle saying, "I'll make tea, and you can tell me what happened."

"Well, Jack told me about how the Kriston's were involved in that drug dealing ring they found in the high school last month, but since there wasn't any concrete evidence to nail them with, they were going to get away with it."

"That boy is more reckless than he has any right to be. He shouldn't have sent you into such a dangerous situation."

"He didn't! He was just complaining, I was the one who decided to do something about it."

"Mm-hmm." Eleanor brought out mugs and boxes of tea, her mouth pressed in a worried line.

Elizabeth waved her off, "So I decided someone needed to get that evidence, and if it meant taking a shit load of cash away from the Kristons at the same time it would just be a win all around."

"So what happened?"

"I got shot."

"You mentioned, but how did you get caught in the first place?"

"I'm still not sure, we- I must have tripped something when I was going through the filing cabinets."

"We?" Eleanor looked confused. "But you always work alone."

"Yes, and I did but also… I'm not sure how to describe it. I got a piggybacker in my head, she stayed out of the way except to warn me when she heard something impossibly quiet. She's the only reason I'm not dead. She warned me when the guards were coming and I had time to get out the window. Still got shot though."

"Xanaria is good at that." Justina put in. The other two looked at her surprised and Justina shrugged. "She's what's called a pilot. I know because she was supposed to be in my head. We came looking for food." They kept staring at her and nervously she just kept talking. "We're not from here, okay? We didn't mean to get all tangled up in your stuff, we were just going to stop in here and visit a grocery store or something-"

Elizabeth held up a hand. "It's okay. I'm glad things came out the way they did. She helped."

Eleanor looked confused, "I would very much like to hear the rest of that explanation.

"I don't think I have time for that Eleanor," Elizabeth sighed, "but really I don't think she knows much more than she already said. Xanaria seems pretty vague about it too. Just accept it and move on for now. Maybe we'll learn more someday."

Eleanor sat back and nodded, but she didn't look content.

"You could talk to Cassi." Justina put in. "If you can get yourself to believe her she knows more about all this than I do, I think."

Eleanor nodded slowly, "I'll see if I can give that a shot."

"In the meantime," Elizabeth put in, "I'm all out of plans. Does anyone else have any ideas?"

The kettle boiled and Eleanor busied herself filling mugs. "Hmm. And you're sure you need to go? We'll miss you around here."

"My charm print is all over this town, for all it's mixed up with the other members of my cleaning crew. I don't want them harassed either." She took her mug of tea. "Thank you."

"At least you know none of them will go down for it."

"How do you figure?"

"Kriston. He doesn't care about them and he won't let anyone try to settle things without something as simple as a matching charm print. Even if he goes straight to illegal methods of tracking you down, he won't care enough about anyone else to harm them permanently."

"I suppose. Still, I'd rather not risk them if it can be avoided."

"What if we have you die? Make it look like your gunshot wound was too much and you fell in the river or something."

"Without a body Kriston would never believe it. He could hire anyone he wants, and we may be good but we are not that good."

"What if you change professions?" Justina asked. "Never use your charm again?"

"I'm still registered as having a cleaning charm, they'll bring us all to the police station to get printed, and refusing will be almost as good as a confession. Not for the police, but for Kriston. And he would be right."

"You could become a hermit and never resurface in society again." Eleanor said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Still. I'd be found."

"I wasn't serious."

"I know, but I had thought about it. I need something that convinces them that I'm gone for good, and at the same time that I didn't do it. Otherwise I might as well just turn myself in now."

"What if I take the blame?" Justina asked suddenly.

"What?" Eleanor asked, just as Elizabeth said, "No!"

"I'm going to be gone soon anyway and it's very unlikely I'll ever be back. So lets frame me for it. No one knows what my charm is. Maybe it's cleaning."

"But-" Elizabeth began, before Justina cut her off.

"Then if anyone asks Eleanor about me she can honestly say I said I was a cleaner, Okay?"

"Oh, yeah. Okay."

"But you haven't been all over town. There's no reason for your charm print to be everywhere." Eleanor put in.

"So we'll make a reason. It sounds like your a pretty good thief. How many of the houses you've cleaned in that last month or so do you think you could break into in the next," She glanced at the wall clock. "Oh, 3 hours or so?" She frowned and looked at her watch.

"Quite a few but I don't want to. They are, for the most part, good people."

"I'm not saying actually rob them," Justina said as she began adjusting her watch to the local time. "Just make it obvious someone broke in and maybe Clean something small. If you don't want them to panic you could make the pantry obviously ruffled through and maybe take a can of food or two? That's why I came here in the first place. Food. Nothing that they need or love, just something to make it seem like a rash of crimes that happened all at once and not an isolated thing that may have been going on for years. Make it more likely they'll be looking for a stranger who just showed up instead of someone who lives here."

"I still would get caught the next time I used my charm."

"Well, of course you'll still have to flee. But this way at least they won't be following you. You can fake your death with impunity. Just make sure the next identity you use doesn't use her charm for work. I don't know how widespread your charm print database is, but you don't want to go borrowing trouble."

'You've been at the diner all night. What if they find the people who were there and find out you couldn't have been the one at the Kriston's Mansion."

Eleanor put a hand on her arm with a sad smile. "I love the people who come to my diner, Elizabeth, but we both know the police don't consider them reliable."

"I… guess it's a good plan. But I don't like letting you take the fall for me."

"Please. I'll be gone soon anyway. And it sounds like you were doing important work."

"If you're sure."

"I am. Does this town have any stores that sell food in the middle of the night?"

"Yeah, the gas station is open all night and the grocery store opens at 6am, why?"

"I think we'll need more than just a can or two from a couple houses. And it will help connect the crimes to me if I use the last of my money to buy as much food as I can."

Elizabeth pulled a stack of twenties out of nowhere and tossed it on the table in front of Justina. "I just robbed the richest crooked bastard in this town. If we're pinning this on you, then you had better use his money."

Justina nodded, quietly. She wanted to protest out of habit, but it made sense.

"It'll raise red flags, though. Spending his money should be the last thing you do before you skip town."

"How will you carry it all?" Xanaria asked.

"Uh, I'm not sure. Do you think I could steal a shopping cart or something?"

"You wouldn't get far that way." Eleanor told her.

"I don't need to get far. Just to that clearing where Rob found me."

"Hmm. Still, I wouldn't want to be trying to outrun pursuit pushing a heavy shopping cart up that path." Eleanor took a sip of tea and tapped her lips thoughtfully. "I suppose it wouldn't make much sense, in this scenario, if I let you stay here and you didn't steal anything from me. I have an old bike and bike cart in the shed that I haven't used in years. Can you ride a bike?"

Justina grinned, "Oh, yes. I can absolutely ride a bike."


I don't like this. Elizabeth grumbled, stepping over a doll stroller to pick the lock on the back door, barely breaking stride.

~Me neither.~ Xanaria sighed. The door opened directly into a spacious and cluttered kitchen with wide windows covered in children's dry erase art.

She crossed silently to the pantry and carefully plucked out a can of Ravioli and one of black beans.

~If it's going to be worth it, you have to be more obvious.~

Elizabeth grumbled silently but she pushed the rest of the cans back and laid some on their sides so it would look like she taken more than she had. She left the door open and then found an empty bit of linoleum. She used her water bottle to splash some water across it, then she dipped two fingers in the puddle and with a moments concentration the floor was dry again.

I hate this.

~What if some of that money in your pocket got lost in the couch cushions?~

Elizabeth grinned, Hey, yeah. That would make me feel a little better.

~Not too much though. They need to really think they might have lost it themselves.~

Yeah, okay.

Two quiet minutes later and three crumpled twenties were stashed under various furniture cushions. She slipped out the back door. She paused..

Look, I'll leave it unlocked but I'm not leaving it open. Wild animals could get in, and Belle is terrified of raccoons.

~I don't think leaving it open in necessary. You left the pantry open and that's what counts. All right. Nine more to go?~

I still don't like this.

~I know.~


The grocery clerk was confused but kind and gave Justina case discounts on each box of canned food she sent down the conveyor belt.

"Uh, paper or plastic?" He asked, daunted.

"Don't worry about it." She told him cheerfully, "I'll bring the cart back once I've unloaded."

It was still dark outside so the clerk helped her load up the bike cart. It took a few minutes but they made it all fit. Justina had to stand on the bike and put all her weight on one of the pedals, but it began to move. It groaned a little distressingly as it rolled forward. Picking up momentum, she headed down the road and out of town. She was sweating by the time she reached the turn off for the trail.

She was glad the trail was wide but it was still bumpy and even the slight incline was hell with such a heavy load. By the time she reached the clearing the sky was getting bright. Elizabeth was waiting for her there, the crime scene for her death already set up. The grass was torn and scuffed to make it look like there had been a struggle. There was a book whose spine was torn lying on one side of the clearing. Next to a kicked over bag with Elizabeth's name on it. There was a sleeve ripped from a shirt and some torn out chunks of hair.

"The book's to explain why you were up here?

"One of my favorites." Elizabeth said sadly.

"Some blood might help sell a murder."

"I'm not leaving blood here. You don't know what people can do with that. And there's a river another quarter mile up the track. I'll throw the shirt this sleeve is from and the rest of an outfit in there. Those have blood stains on them. A couple hours in the water will keep them from using it against me. And… I have a couple other preparations to make too. Make sure you park the bike and cart right here. Make it look like you loaded the body in there. The tire marks don't show up well on the packed dirt of the path so you can have Skipper pick you up from over there." Elizabeth pointed, "I don't think it will be a problem based on what they said."

Justina couldn't tell which of them had said that. It was a little odd to see from the outside but she knew how closely they must be working together. Justina felt a little stab of jealousy, even though she knew it was silly. She just nodded, and did as she was told.

There was a long moment with Elizabeth looking quiet and introspective, and Justina looked away knowing they were having a private conversation.

"Alright. I guess it's time." Xanaria said, as much for Justina's sake as for Elizabeth's. Justina looked up. Elizabeth smiled, then blinked as something about her changed. Then she nodded.

"Alright." She said, entirely Elizabeth once more, "It was nice meeting you two. Good luck."

"You too." Justina told her as they began to hear sirens quietly in the distance. "You had better go, Skipper will pick me up whenever they pick me up. Good luck, uh, Jane?"

"Thank you, good luck to you too. I think I'll like being Jane." Elizabeth smiled and passed her a heavy bag with the food she had stolen before she disappeared down yet another path Justina hadn't noticed. She idly wondered just how many there were off this clearing as the sirens got louder. And then she saw a hole open in the air and she road through it. She spun gently sideways, inward, diagonally, and upside down. And then the light peeled away and the bikes wheels were sinking deep into moss and she was looking into the familiar upside down grin of Skipper.