Amity had absolutely no clue why she allowed Odalia to lead her anywhere, much less into a car with tinted windows that could very well have been taking her somewhere isolated where she could be killed. There was something about Odalia that made Amity's skin crawl. She was a killer. Amity could sense it instinctively. If she wanted to, Odalia would kill her with as much emotion as a regular person might feel for killing a spider.

And yet…and yet Amity just had this feeling that following her the right thing to do. As if she was taking the first steps on a preordained journey. A journey that, God willing, would lead her to Atlantis. Amity yearned for Atlantis like drowning people yearned for air. It had been that way ever since she'd heard the word. She knew her destiny lay deep beneath the surface of the waves, in that legendary underground city that even Plato had only heard stories of. If following this distinctly ominous woman would lead her there, Amity was prepared to make that choice.

"Mrs. Pines is not a woman to be trifled with," Odalia warned her as the car pulled into a mansion that looked even bigger than the vice president's estate. He had come from old money, a family who had been in America since the days of the witch trials of the 1600s (and, according to rumor, had helped spearhead them) and enjoyed flaunting his wealth. Mrs. Pines may not have come from old money herself, but she certainly enjoyed flaunting how rich she was even more than the vice president. "You will be polite and respectful at all times, no matter how strange she may act."

"Okay," Amity acquiesced. The name Pines vaguely rang a bell for her. For some reason, she had the faintest memory of Mom saying it with scorn and contempt, though Amity conceded this could have just been her imagination.

Odalia pointed a finger in Amity's face. "More rides on this than you may suspect. I will deal with you appropriately if you ruin matters for me." Amity couldn't help but gulp.

Amity's heart was thundering in her chest when Odalia led her through a foyer filled to the brim with knickknacks from all over the world. Seriously, some of the regents probably would have killed to get their hands on a collection like this. Odalia didn't pay it a single glance. Amity suspected she'd probably been responsible for acquiring it through less than legal means. Odalia led her into a rickety elevator, which opened in a massive, airy space that had even more amazing artifacts and relics than the foyer had. Amity's attention was drawn to a floor to ceiling aquarium tank. It must have caused Mrs. Pines a fortune.

Amity was so busy admiring the décor that she almost missed it when the elevator door slammed shut again and Odalia departed. She breathed a sigh of relief. Odalia exuded a palpable aura of dread. But what was Mrs. Pines going to be like? Would she be even more menacing than Odalia? What sort of a woman would hire such a dangerous killer?

"Hey there!" a voice called out and Amity let a shriek and leapt backwards in fright. Oh, great. This was already off to a terrible shock. An old woman stepped out of the shadows. She was wearing a ratty bathrobe that looked like something a hobo might wear. She had unnaturally pale skin, voluminous white hair, and a devil may care look about her. Something about her put Amity at ease, but she was at a loss as to what, as Mrs. Pines, if this was indeed her, looked very much like she had a few screws loose. "Mind passing over my hand? It's over there on the table."

Amity automatically grabbed the hand off the table before letting out a shriek and dropping it. This was no prosthetic! It was a flesh and blood hand! What sort of a madhouse had Amity allowed herself to be led into?!

"Well, gee, kid, if you have that much of a problem with it, I could do it myself," Mrs. Pines grumbled and she walked over to the table and screwed her hand back on her wrist. That shouldn't have been anatomically possible. "Edalyn Pines is the name, but you can call me Eda. Or the Owl Lady; that's what my friends call me, the few of them I have left anyways."

Amity steeled herself and shook Eda's hand, petrified the whole time it would come off, but it mercifully stayed in place. "Amity Clawthorne, at your service, ma'am."

A flash of anguish appeared on Eda's face. "Yeah. Yeah, you are. Take a seat, Mittens. Believe me, this is a conversation you're gonna wanna sit down for."

Amity dutifully sat on a couch. In sharp contrast to the vice president's furniture, which appeared to be made to be as ostentatious as possible with little to no regard for comfort, Eda's furniture appeared to be specifically designed to be as comfy as possible. Perks of being rich enough to commission custom made furniture.

"I'm not gonna beat around the bush here," Eda began. "I'm your aunt." Amity arched an eyebrow, but otherwise kept her face composed. Mom was a master of stoicism and had taught her ways to Amity. It was all that had kept her afloat when faced with ridicule and hatred.

"I wasn't aware my father had any siblings," Amity said.

Eda shook her head. "Not your dad's sister. Your mom's."

Amity gave her a skeptical look. "You can't possibly be my aunt. Her aunt, maybe, but not mine. You're too old for that."

"Pro tip, kid: Don't call a potential investor old." Amity flinched. She had forgotten for an instant why she was there in the first place. "And you're wrong. You see, I have this disease. Some call it a curse. It makes me age faster, among other unpleasant things. Has some perks, though, like the limb thing. I'm actually younger than Lily. I've had it since we were kids."

"I'm so sorry."

Eda gave a dismissive gesture. "Ain't nothing to be sorry about. I've had a damn good run of things. I had a husband I, well, loved is a little strong, but we were fond of each other. We ran a bunch of scams, had some run-ins with the law, nearly got sacrificed by a horde of sentient pinatas –"

"What?"

"Then he struck gold, literally, and we had more money than we know what to do with." Eda sighed deeply. "A couple of years ago, some maniac bludgeoned Stan to death with a ladder of all things. I've had all this money, but no one to share it with. Then a few months ago, I finally managed to swallow my pride and contact my sister again. We haven't spoken since a little while after I got sick. Only to find…well, you know."

Amity wiped a tear out of the corner of her eyes. She missed her mother every day. If only she had known Eda had even existed before. She'd have done everything in her power to get the two sisters reunited. But it was too late now. "She was a good, kind person. I think she would have forgiven you."

Eda scoffed. "I got nothing to apologize for. Never have, never will." She sat down on the couch next to Amity, looking suddenly more vulnerable than Amity had seen her. "Look, I'm gonna level with you, Mittens. It goes without saying this does not leave this room. But I'm dying."

Amity let out a gasp. "That's terrible!" She couldn't believe her rotten luck. She found more family only to be soon separated from her. "Is there anything that can be done?"

"The doctors say I could have two to three years if I rest and diet and exercise and everything that makes life boring," Eda sneered. "Well, I've been a lot of things – short order cook, diamond thief, ambassador to the Woozle Collective – but boring has never been one of them! And as long as I draw breath, it never will! So I've decided if I have to go out, it's gonna be in a blaze of glory! Or gory! I'm not picky!"

Amity was torn. It seemed very rude of her to just waltz in and start making demands that went against Eda's foremost principles. On the other hand, she was her aunt and didn't she have a responsibility to her health? "Don't you want to have more time to spend with your niece?"

Eda gave a round of applause that only sounded moderately sarcastic. "Look at you, guilt tripping like a pro! I can practically hear Lily's voice coming out of your mouth. Look, I'm gonna level with you, Amity: I'm in pain. A lot of it. All the time. I've learned to deal with it, but, you know, a gal kinda wants a break sometimes. I'm not gonna off myself; don't worry about that. I just want to live life to the fullest, that's all."

Amity nodded slowly. "Okay…I guess I can respect your decision, Eda, even if I don't agree with it. I promise, I'll be there for you for what time you have left."

"Oh, you bet you will," Eda said with a roguish grin. "Cause you and I are gonna find the lost city of Atlantis together! Why, you might ask? So I can rub it in Lily's face when we run into each other again, that's why!" Amity couldn't help but grin, despite herself, while her heart ached at the thought that this woman, who she was becoming increasingly fond of, wouldn't be a part of her life for that much longer.

"An expedition will cost a lot of money, Eda," Amity warned her. "The Board of Regents refused to even take it seriously."

"Yeah, well, they're a bunch of morons," Eda said.

"Actually, the vice president is –"

Eda slammed her fist on the coffee table with astonishing force, making Amity jump. "MORONS! No brains in their heads! They think just cause a woman comes up with a good idea, it can't be true! Well, they were wrong about Lily and they're wrong about you too!" Amity beamed at her aunt's praise. "Everything's arranged. I've hired a crew, best of the best."

"That Odalia woman?" Amity said with a grimace.

"Oh, Odalia's a coldhearted bitch – killed three husbands and assumed control of her second hubby's mercenary company, you know – but she's my coldhearted bitch," Eda said. "She'll do what I say."

Eda moved over to her desk, grabbed some file folders and tossed them onto the coffee table. "They're an unconventional lot, but they're the leading experts in their fields."

Amity studied the files carefully. There was Willow Deamonne, a surpassingly brilliant mechanic and an even more skilled botanist, though Amity wasn't quite sure how the latter skill would come in handy. Willow's husband Hunter, who was an expert on explosives and demolition and had been in and out of various prisons since he was sixteen on a variety of different charges, largely involving blowing things up and/or setting things and sometimes people on fire. Dr. Gus Porter, whose young age and small stature belied a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of healing injuries and ailments. A budding opera singer named Raine Whispers, who would be serving as the radio operator. And someone named Hooty, whose entire file was redacted.

"Who's this?" Amity asked Eda.

"Oh, that's Hooty," Eda responded, as if that was supposed to mean something to Amity. "He's our cook. He's a freak of nature, but no finer chef has ever walked the face of this planet. Do not ask questions about his past if you value your sanity. Just don't!" Her expression turned haunted, her eyes fixed on something unfathomable in her mind. Amity shuddered.

Eda put a hand on Amity's shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes. "I get you have reservations. You'd probably feel guilty about accelerating the end for me. But you shouldn't. There's nothing you can do to change my mind about going out on my own terms. I'm offering you the opportunity of a lifetime here. I'm paying for everything. I custom made a submarine – cost me more money than you'd probably make all your life. Even found that Journal Lily was obsessed with finding. It was in Iceland."

Amity couldn't help but smirk at hearing that. "They'll all know I was right," Amity said, unable to stop a note of glee from entering her voice.

"They'll know she was right."

A slow grin appeared on Amity's face. "And I'll be able to rub it in their stupid faces! I'll be able to tell them that I may not be a man, but I'm as good an archeologist as any one of them! I'll be world famous!"

"That's the spirit!"

"All right, Eda. I'm in."