Important Notes. Please Read! Okay, I'll try to keep this short, but it has to be said. After rereading the previous chapter, I decided it wasn't really what I wanted to be. When I wrote it, I was going through some terrible recurring health problems, and I'm pretty sure I wrote most of it under the influence of fever, pain, and a lot of other crap. Since then I've been doing a lot better, and managed to regain my sanity. So! A couple of weeks ago (mid-October), I decided to rewrite a decent chunk of chapter two. With some excellent advice from Pinion Luchik, I fixed the pacing, added some dialogue and introspection, and changed Grace's name to Lucinda. The revisions don't have a major impact on the story overall, though, so if you don't want to backtrack, that's fine.

Telepathic communication looks like 'this.'

Allen tried not to think about exactly how Timcanpy had managed to escape from their locked hotel room, although it was likely that he'd be responsible for paying for a broken door handle, or worse, window. Then again, the cost of such minor items would be the least expensive if the owner found out he had brought a pet onto the premises. Even though Tim wasn't a "pet" in the traditional sense, there was a sign out front that read very clearly, NO PETS. Regardless, the golem couldn't have had better timing, even having the forethought to bring his suitcase. And for that, Allen was beyond grateful.

Emily was clearly delighted by the strange creature's unexpected arrival, and Lucinda studied it from a respectable distance, half-wondering if this was one of those nonsensical dreams that only a licensed therapist could make sense of. She'd experienced many strange, oftentimes terrifying things in her life, but nothing like the suitcase-toting gold ball with a cross where its face should be, and teeth that could rival those of any self-respecting piranha.

She observed the three quietly as Em unleashed a barrage of questions pertaining to all-things-golem, with Allen fielding each one with patience and ease, even the ones he didn't have a solid answer to.

Even so, Emily was her only child, and she didn't like that the girl was becoming attached so quickly. At her age, disappointment was a difficult emotion to process.

Suddenly, her thoughts were broken by a creeping chill that enveloped her entire body like a frozen blanket, forcing her focus onto a slight shimmer waiting nearby, its mass connected to her daughter's new best friends by a thin, sturdy cord of energy.

Closing her eyes, she visualized a quaint, comfortably decorated sitting room, its entryway barricaded by a locked door. She looked up and the lock released itself, the door swinging open to reveal a dark-haired girl not too much younger than herself. 'Normally I wouldn't mind you being here, but this isn't the best time.'

The girl floated past the threshold, having the courtesy to close the door behind her and reset the lock. If there was one thing she had learned very quickly, it was that there were multitudes of malicious things roaming the Other World, and every single one of them had serious boundary issues.

The younger woman folded her hands in front of her and bowed slightly. 'I'm sorry for the intrusion. Thank you for agreeing to speak with me.'

As Lucinda continued to communicate with the tethered girl, Allen watched the blonde with quiet curiosity. The last time he remembered witnessing anything even remotely similar to this, a gypsy began faking a trancelike state in an attempt to scam a grieving, yet well-to-do widow out of a sizable amount of money by telling her that her husband had passed away as a result of a curse; one that only the well-rehearsed con-woman could remove with an immediate, cash-only transaction.

But Luci wasn't a gypsy, and this wasn't the circus. In fact, it seemed more like she was sleeping than anything else, as her breathing had slowed and she was sitting with her eyes closed and head bowed, with her hands folded in her lap.

Just then, Emily yawned. "Someone's here."

Allen glanced around the room. "Who?"

"Momma didn't tell you?"

"We haven't really had a chance to talk about much of anything, yet, so..."

Yet again, little girl's answer came as easily as if she were telling him that grass was green. "She can talk to dead people."

He repeated this unexpected information slowly, as if trying to comprehend it. "Talk to…dead people…?"

Compared to the rest of the world, his entire life had been one long, bizarre chain of events that even a seasoned science fiction or fantasy author would have been hard-pressed to invent. Looking back, though, Allen honestly couldn't recall ever meeting someone who possessed genuine psychic abilities without being in the presence of Innocence. To say that the irony was not lost on him would be an enormous understatement, provided that what Emily just told him was indeed true.

Emily nodded. "Mhm." She pointed to the space where the light anomaly hovered. "See? It's right there."

Allen's gaze followed the girl's gesture to a barely discernible fluctuation in the empty space not far away. "I…"

Emily seemed confused. "But…you can see the scary things, right?"

Allen blinked. "Scary things?"

Emily closed her eyes for instant, then looked back up at him. "The things that look like machines with scary faces."

He froze, scarcely able to speak his next question. "H-How… How could you possibly…?"

At a loss, he tried to rationalize the little girl's words. There were plenty of civilians who had seen akuma, after all, a good many who would have been happy to share their harrowing encounters for a fair price, so the most plausible explanation was that she had seen a drawing, or possibly even a photograph of one on a newsstand somewhere.

Emily shrugged. "I can see people's memories." She paused. "And sometimes demons."

Then again...

Recovering from the initial shock, Allen's concern shifted more closely to the little girl perched on the bed beside him. "Emi?"

"Hm?"

"How long have you been able to see these things?"

She didn't even have to take time to think of an answer. "A long time."

"And…what do the demons you see look like?"

"They're different than the ones you see."

"How so?"

"Some look like people and like to bite and scratch, and some look like," she paused, looking for the right words, "goo, or icky vines."

He wasn't sure whether to be relieved that the things she described to him sounded more like what the Vatican was best known for dealing with regularly, or mortified that she had such an ability to begin with. Even more bizarre, though, was how comfortable she seemed with it all.

Before he could ask her anymore questions, she yawned again and hopped down from the bed. "I'm tired. Goodnight. I hope you feel better."

Allen nodded and wrapped his arms around the stuffed unicorn she had given him earlier as she padded out of the room. "Goodnight." He then looked to Timcanpy. "Go with her, please."

Momentarily left to his own thoughts, a sickening realization forced him to hug the girl's doll tighter; Lulu Bell could see memories, too.

Uhum...so, mini cliffhanger here. I've only recently watched the entire series (minus Hallow, because I'm boycotting that hot mess) in Japanese, and it dawned on me long after writing Emily saying she "sees memories" that Lulu Bell actually does this in canon. I completely forgot! Anyway, I figured hearing that from her might put Allen on the defensive, if only temporarily. Chapter four will be longer, and will clear up a lot of things, I promise!