The drive to Lillian's house is a blur for Mimi. It hardly registers that she is pulling into the driveway of a very swanky Victorian manor.
When the car finally stops, Mimi looks up and gawks, "You live here?!"
Lillian looks at her, tiredly, "Well, yes and no. I am often abroad, so our sister often housesits. She is not here now, unfortunately."
Feeling like she had already met enough strange relatives, Mimi feels almost relieved for the time being. Dutifully opening the door for her sister Mimi follows Lillian into the house. Looking around, Mimi is immediately enveloped in an almost mist of incense. The two sisters enter a cozy sitting room. The walls were red, and the furniture was not nearly old enough for Mimi to feel concerned about damaging it.
"Would you like some sort of beverage?" Lillian's voice interrupts.
"No. I mean, no thank you," Mimi watches the elder fox spirit slowly lower herself onto the sofa, her grace remarkable despite her evident injuries.
"Please be comfortable here," Lillian says soothingly.
"Look, I am grateful for everything, but the last thing I feel is comfortable. My wife has just tried to commit suicide and is in a coma! Our child is . . . "Mimi shoves the sob down her throat, "and I'm surrounded by people who I don't even know who know more about my situation then I do!"
Lillian nods understandingly, but Mimi sees a quick flash of something in the woman's eyes, "I apologize. I will tell you all I know. If you will excuse me for a moment."
Using the cane to heave herself up off the couch, Lillian gingery gets to her feet and wanders out of the room. Feeling numb, Mimi pulls her knees to her chest and lays her head on the knees. Wrapping her arms around her legs, Mimi tightens her grip until it is nearly painful. Laying her head on her knees, Mimi finally looks around the room. There is an electric fireplace on the far side of the room and above it a large portrait. The woman is a fox spirit in deep blue robes surrounded by green flame. Her hand is plunged into the chest of a serpentine creature. It is an intricate painting. Pulling herself from her fetal position Mimi awkwardly moves to look closely. The mighty creature wore the golden talons she herself wore now. Could this be the original Golden Phoenix? Mimi knew little of her impressive eldest sibling. Except for the claws she now wore that had belonged to her originally, having pinched them from her father's desk drawer when she was six.
Lillian enters the room with a pot of tea and several thick rolls of parchment. Her eyes seem to light up seeing Mimi inspect the painting.
"This isn't you, is it?" Mimi chirps, seeing the woman's injuries in a potentially new light.
The woman lets out a barking laugh and nearly drops her tray.
"Fortunately, not. It is an old ancestor lost in time," Lillian sets down the tray and smiles naughtily, "The painter was a deep admirer of hers, so I am told."
Holding her sleeve away from the hot water, Lillian elegantly pours herself a cup of tea before dumping in a large spoonful of sugar. Taking a small sip, Lillian adds another large spoonful of sugar. Mimi resumes her seat, and Lillian gestures to the parchments.
"Do you really think your wife would want to leave you?"
Mimi's heart sputters in her chest like an old transmission, "I . . . didn't think my wife was suicidal."
Moving disarmingly quick, Lillian reaches across the table and grabs Mimi's hands in a deceptively iron grip, "I have talked with our sister and checked your mate's medical record. In correlation with this information and the visions I have been having for the last week, I am certain she was targeted."
"If you've known for a week, why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Lillian retorts, her usually calm exterior now revealing annoyance as she drops Mimi's hands to resume drinking her tea.
"The unknown number," Mimi realizes, wondering if things could have been different if she had answered her phone.
Lillian pours a cup of tea for Mimi and adds three large dollops of sugar and a little milk without being prompted. Then holds it out for Mimi to take with a steady hand.
"How did you?"
The elder kitsune merely taps a hand to her forehead, "Foresight."
As Mimi sips the tea and allows its warmth to penetrate her numbed body, Lillian shifts through the delicate papers until she came across a beautiful sketch of a brooch.
"This . . . is The Reverent," Lillian holds the sketch before Mimi, Lillian's face contorts with loathing, "Otherwise known as the peacock brooch due to the fear it evokes in certain circles."
The brooch is in the shape of a screeching peacock. Its feathers spread out in an odd fighting stance.
"Why is it called The Reverent?" Mimi asks. She honestly would not have been able to tell the difference between this brooch and another vintage trinket on eBay.
Lillian shows Mimi another parchment. The brooch itself is now the handle of a strange jagged blade, "The Reverent is said to cut those whom we most adore. Penetrating the skin and continuing its caresses long after it has been removed. Until the ones we love are shorn away like the waves on a cliff face."
"Oh. And you think this was used on Sara, or she had used it," Mimi stares at the weapon in confusion as ice drips into her veins as if from an invisible IV.
"I do," Lillian glares at the weapon with loathing, "I have heard it tell that within the handle is the cure for its . . .more debilitating uses."
"So, we need to find it and get the cure to Sara, before," Mimi cannot even bring herself to say the words.
"How clever you are," Lillian smirks over her cup, sharp features making her appear more fox-like in the darkening room.
"How do we find it?" Mimi traces the shape of the brooch with her fingertips.
"This was our eldest sister's, the Golden Phoenix's preferred weapon," Lillian's face sours, "unfortunately said sister put a curse upon the brooch. It can only be given freely. If taken, the weapon will begin holding you in such reverence that your body will wither under its caress."
"Shit," Mimi puts her hands on her face at the same time Lillian chides, "Language."
Ignoring this, Mimi asks, "So what are we going to do then?"
Lillian rises with difficulty from the couch, "I'm glad you asked. Come with me."
Thoughts racing, Mimi follows the elder fox spirit down the hallway and to what appears to be a greenhouse. The greenhouse is filled with foreign plants that Mimi could not recognize until suddenly a strange aura brushes against Mimi fondly. Flinching away from the touch, Mimi turns to see a large gilded mirror.
"I made this an exceptionally long time ago," Lillian said softly, "I thought it would enhance my psychic abilities. Instead, it possesses a more intriguing capability."
Mimi reaches for the glass, and Lillian quickly bats her hand away with a tsking sound, "Never touch things you do not know the familiarity of."
But Mimi is fascinated by the black glossiness of the mirror. It did not have a reflection, and Mimi felt like she could stare into the cold emptiness forever. Forgetting.
"This mirror is a portal to time," Lillian said softly, staring at Mimi with compassion.
"Time travel?" Mimi gapes at Lillian, disbelieving.
"I had my doubts as well," Lillian chuckles, "The trouble is, this mirror is quite temperamental. You see, to travel to a particular time, one must already be grounded within that time."
"So, we go back in time and prevent my wife from being attacked!" Mimi traipses toward the mirror, but Lillian holds her back.
"I wish it could be that easy, love," Lillian says sadly. She pulls Mimi back like an errant cub and holds her in front of her.
Mimi is about to complain when Lillian pulls her robes back to reveal skeletal limbs, "I have already tried preventing the event. The mirror will not send you back to the same time due to my lack of foresight. Due to my presence in the timeline already, the mirror chose to adjust the timeline accordingly."
Lillian covers her limbs and sighs, "I did not want to expose you to her death if I thought I could prevent it myself."
Mimi shudders and backs away from Lillian and the mirror, her back on the greenhouse door.
"So, how does one ground themselves in time if you can't travel during your own lifespan?"
Lillian sat down heavily, "How about if part of your soul is already within someone else?"
"If you are going to start recommending, we start breaking apart my soul like Voldemort . . ." Mimi starts before Lillian interrupts with a sardonic barking laugh, "Not quite. I was thinking something more poetic like soulmates."
"I beg your pardon?" humor gone, Mimi crosses her arms over her chest in disbelief, her heart rattling brokenly in her chest.
Touching her forehead Lillian, stares at the mirror, "If one's soul is already residing in one's soulmate, they may travel in that time as long as they are not traveling within one's own lifespan."
"That is insane," Mimi glares at her eldest sister in annoyance, "What about that whole butterfly effect thing? I step on a moth and get back to the future, and everyone has praying mantis arms and can only communicate with Beach Boys music."
"I have forgotten how funny you can be," Lillian mutters to herself, "but you need not worry. You are not alive."
"I repeat, I beg your pardon?"
"We may do as we please because we are not alive in the general sense," Lillian patiently explains, "we are spirits. We will not affect the timeline like a human in a Ray Bradbury novel."
"I'm not going to be floating through walls, am I?" Mimi growls, flicking her tails from side to side with annoyance.
"Nonsense," Lillian scoffs, "This is science," Lillian beams at her sister and then frowns, "I know this sounds like hokum, but our delightful sister Lydia already tested it."
"What do you propose then?" Mimi asks carefully.
"When our sister the Golden Phoenix realized the scope of the brooches power, she gave it to our family to protect. Lord Shen, the patriarch of the family, used his magic to send it to the spirit world where a series of difficult tasks protected it. Until it has apparently resurfaced. I suggest that you travel to this period and complete the tasks yourself, then bring the brooch to the future."
"What kind of tasks?" Mimi could not imagine what horrors the spirit world could hold.
Looking Mimi over, Lillian pats her hand, "Tasks that may break your spirit."
Mimi sinks down on to the floor and pulls her knees up to her chest, "My spirit feels like it has already been broken."
Lillian carefully sinks down to the floor, leaning on her cane for support as she sits beside Mimi, "Lydia and I are scouring the city looking for whoever did this, but time is not with us. Sara is set in a magical coma that will halt the scourge of the blade for only so long. If you travel in time, it will buy us unlimited time."
"Why are you helping me?" Mimi winces as Lillian wraps a long arm around her.
"You are our sister," Lillian lifts Mimi as easily as if she were still a cub and nuzzles her nose with her own.
Blinking in surprise at the nearly forgotten fox affection, Mimi feels her body stop fighting. Unbidden tears streak down her face and ugly sobs force themselves from her throat, demanding their release. Lillian holds her closer, the only thing preventing Mimi from springing into all directions. Mimi nestles her head against her oldest sister's chest, but the smell of incense felt wrong, and she wanted her wife's arms. Lillian rubs her back and hums a strange-sounding lullaby.
When Mimi can muzzle her sobs, she leans away from Lillian, embarrassed, "What do I need to do?"
"Would you like to take a couple days to think about it?"
Shaking her head, "If I don't do it now and go back to Sara, I won't be able to."
"Alright," Lillian says quietly, "Would you mind helping me up?"
Mimi quickly gets to her feet and notes her sister's shadow was not disguised. The fox head easily discernible. Mimi holds her hands out for her sister and pulls her up.
"Give me a moment," Lillian begins digging around in her pockets.
"Why don't you hide your shadow?" Mimi asks, staring at the shadowy fox ears.
"I find it difficult to shift into my fox form these days. I like to see the physical reminder."
The elder fox spirit pulls a long red silk ribbon from her sleeve and stares at it fondly.
"Give me your hand, preferably the one you don't use to write," Lillian instructs.
Mimi raises her right hand. Lillian touches the claws with an unreadable expression before tying the red ribbon around Mimi's wrists and then looping about her fingers underneath the claws. The ribbon sinks into Mimi's skin.
"Now," Lillian's tone is business-like, "if you tear this ribbon, you will come back to the moment. We send you back. And," Lillian looks her in the eyes, her emerald eyes glowing, "I can't stress this enough do not linger in the past for too long. Try not to go looking for your soulmate if you can help it. The longer you stay, the more difficult it will be when you return."
"Anything else?" Mimi asks, eagerly looking at the mirror.
"If you die in the past, you will also end up in the same spot where you started from. If your soulmate dies, you will also die, but only after their soul has lifted from this world. If you kill anything, well, just be cautious and do not draw too much attention to yourself."
Beckoning her to the mirror, Lillian traces her fingers across the gilded edge. The image of the mirror ripples as if a raindrop or tear broke the surface.
"I am going to drop you near Shen Castle. Search for Lord Shen. He is the patriarch of our family at this time," Lillian stares at Mimi thoughtfully, "Are you ready?"
Mimi nods, and before she can back out, runs towards the mirror, breaking through the surface like a black pond. Lillian sighs and stares into the blackness. Suddenly, a figure with short black hair opens the greenhouse door, his face pale and covered in blood.