Despite the promise Lili had made to Lovino, finding a way to set him free proved to be more difficult than she had first expected. She couldn't ask any of the villagers about it without drawing suspicion, and she didn't know the first thing about picking locks. It was challenging enough just to sneak away and exchange a few words with the captured werewolf. Lili was at a complete loss.

She stared out her window at the small garden plot behind the house she shared with Vash. There were a few plants with the beginnings of vegetables growing on them, but the majority of the garden was taken up by delicate, blooming flowers. All of them currently had their petals closed tight as if warding off the crisp evening air, and Lili wished she had been successful in bringing home the moonlilies. Maybe some pixies would move into her garden too.

But now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. She had to find a way to help Lovino escape, the sooner the better. It had been a few days now since she had awoken, and every day that passed was a day wasted. The only thing that kept her from acting was the heavy lock on Lovino's stall door. There was no way Lili could pick or break the lock, and she didn't know the first place to begin looking for a key. A forlorn sigh escaped her lips. Maybe it was hopeless after all.

"Psst."

Lili jumped and looked around her garden, but there wasn't anyone there. She must have been so tense about Lovino's situation that she was imagining things.

"Psst. Lili. Lili, down here."

She leaned out her window and looked down. "Elizabeta?!"

"Shhhh! Not so loud," the woman whispered. "If they find me here, we'll both get in trouble."

"What are you doing here?" Lili asked.

"I'm supposed to be breaking Lovi out, but I can't find him. I'm sniffed all over this town and can't smell him anywhere. I thought maybe you would know where they're keeping him."

"How did you know where I lived?"

"I told you." Elizabeta pointed to her nose. "I was sniffing around for Lovi when I recognized your scent. Hard to pick out through all this human stench though," she said with a hint of disgust.

"I know where he is," Lili told Elizabeta. "I can take you there."

"Great, but we have to be fast. Being here gives me the creeps." The woman gave Roderich's house a fleeting glance, and Lili wondered what she was thinking about.

"I'll need a moment to change." Lili stepped away from the window and pulled open a drawer in her bureau. She grabbed a dress at random and put it on once she slipped out of her nightgown. Her shoes were by the front door, so she'd have to go without them for now. She returned to the window and carefully lowered herself outside. "Ready," she said slightly out of breath.

"Lead the way."

They snuck through the shadows behind other people's homes toward the southern gate. All the gates leading to Schattenwald were closed, and it just occurred to Lili that it was the night of the full moon. She wondered if Elizabeta had planned it that way, or if it was just a coincidence. A well concealed rock almost made her trip, so she decided to focus more on running and less on her own thoughts. They were almost to the stables.

"Well, this explains why I couldn't find him," Elizabeta explained as she covered her nose. They were sneaking toward the extra stall at the back of the stables when she started to retch. "This smell is awful! How can Lovi stand to be so close?"

It had never crossed Lili's mind that the smell of horse manure would be sickening to werewolves. Their smell was much sharper than hers, even in their human forms. She felt even guiltier for waiting so long. "He's in there," she whispered.

Elizabeta stepped forward and grabbed the lock on the stall door. "This should be easy enough." She was almost smirking, although her skin had a slight tint of green. Something flashed in her hand as she set to work tinkering with the lock. "Watch my back and make sure no one sees us. The last thing we need is for things to get messy…"

Lili did as she was told and stood watch as her heart thumped loudly in her chest. They weren't in much danger of being caught since most people didn't dare go outside on the night of the full moon, but she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. She wished that Elizabeta would work faster.

"Got it!" the woman hissed. She tossed the open lock down into the grass and swung the stall door open.

It was too dark to see well inside, but something stirred within. "Well it's about time, dumb broad. I thought you were never gonna get that thing open."

"Gee thanks," Elizabeta muttered. "I can just put it back on you know."

"That ain't funny!" Lovino scrambled out into the moonlight with a scowl etched deeply into his face. "I'm already pissed that it took you guys so freaking long to get me out of this dump."

"Sorry, Ludwig's orders. He didn't want us to break the treaty by coming on another night," Elizabeta said as she spun something around her finger. It was some sort of tool with a loop on the end and must have been what she used to pick the lock.

"The treaty's already broken, so why should he care?"

"Some people aren't aware that you broke the treaty, so he didn't want to make things worse than they already are."

"Wait." Lili looked between the two as her blood seemed to turn to ice. "The treaty's broken?"

"See what I mean?" Elizabeta stopped spinning her lockpick and looked Lili dead in the eyes. "Lovi broke the treaty by entering human territory when it wasn't the night of the full moon. I'm not going to sugarcoat this, so basically, he broke the only thing keeping the werewolves and humans from wiping each other out when he brought you here."

Words refused to form as Lili realized what had happened. With the treaty no longer effective, the forest was not safe for anyone anymore, human or werewolf. Ivan may have still gotten what he wanted all along.

"Maybe we could talk about this, I don't know, not here," Lovino suggested moodily. "If I don't get away from the smell of horse crap soon, I'm going to barf on one of you two."

"Fine." Elizabeta moved toward the south gate. "We can get out over here."

She led them to a large tree growing near the gate. It was high enough for it's branches to reach over the gate, and Lili spied what looked like a rope dangling over the wall. It was attached to the tree by some sort of grappling hook.

"Elizabeta's always collecting weird junk like that," Lovino said when he saw what she was looking at. "I can't say I ever thought it would come in handy."

Lili looked up at the tree and thought about the time she had gone climbing with Ludwig. This would be easy compared to that. She watched the other two climb easily up the tree but hesitated. Why should she go with them? She was finally home where, as a human, she belonged, so she should be happy. Yet there was a part of her that longed to go with them where there were no walls to hold her in. She wanted to feel the leaves crunch under her feet and smell the wind as it rustled the trees.

"Oh, that's right. I had something for you." Elizabeta started to shake out her hair. "Where the heck did that thing go?"

Something small and sparkling fell out of her hair and slowly floated down the tree toward Lili, who cupped her hands in anticipation of catching whatever it thing came closer, but didn't seem to get much bigger. It must have been small. It landed gently in her hands with a soft tinkling sound.

"A pixie?" Lili asked in surprise.

"Yeah, Ludwig wanted me to give it to you. He said you'd know what it meant." Elizabeta tried to smooth down her hair. "I didn't think those things liked us very much, but it seemed pretty happy when I told it I was going to find you."

Lili recognized the small creature in her hands. It was the red haired pixie. She twittered happily as soon as she regained her composure and flew around Lili's head.

"You want to take me somewhere?"

The pixie bounced up and down excitedly.

"Ludwig?!" Lili gasped.

The pixie practically squealed in delight.

"O-okay! I'm coming." Lili began climbing up the tree toward Elizabeta and Lovino. They shared a confused look as they waited for her to join them.

"Don't tell me you know what that thing was saying," Lovino said dubiously.

"Um...yes." Lili nodded.

"Huh." Elizabeta looked closely at the redheaded pixie perched lightly on Lili's shoulder. "What was it saying?"

A feeling of warmth spread through Lili's body and filled her with strength. "She said Ludwig is waiting."