When Cassandra's letter reached her, Lilia's life was in a place of transition. She had learned all she could from the Windrow coven, so she could either move on and seek more teachers, or she could settle into a peaceful life making trinkets and clothing for the elite of the city. She was strongly considering the latter, until she read the letter. Her parents had passed a few years ago, of a natural illness that no witch had a remedy for, so it made the choice quite easy. Lilia packed up some of her things and paid for a coach to take her back to the countryside, where she had grown up.<br/><br/>The coachman had driven her and two other women through the night, and she found herself falling asleep despite the somewhat rocky ride. By the time they reached the small town of Durnsmere, the sun had started to rise, illuminating the area around her. Durnsmere was not a true town, it was more like several farms and homesteads spread out over many miles, but it was easy enough for the coachman to drop her off near the center of things. He seemed almost hesitant to leave her there, Lilia no longer looked like she belonged in Durnsmere. She remembered how people dressed here, in the kind of clothing that showed they intended to do a hard day's work, nothing like the fine brocade dress she now wore.<br/><br/>Lilia simply paid him what she owed him for the ride and sent him off with her gratitude and a large smile.<br/><br/>The dirt path she walked wound through trees for a bit, until the sky opened. The lake behind Cassandra's house looked still and peaceful, Lilia already found herself filled with nostalgia for the childhood she had spent here.<br/><br/>In her mind's eye, she still pictured Simon as just an odd-looking little boy, so it was hard for her to imagine Cassandra really needed her help with him. They were both much older now, of course, and she was surprised the young man had not broken out on his own as she had. Her parents had left their farm to her, but after they died, she had sold the property. Lilia was not a farmer, she felt quite at home as a witch who dwelled in the city.<br/><br/>Her feet brought her closer to the lake, rather than to the house, which should have been her destination. The sun had not yet cleared the canopy of trees that surrounded the water, so the shimmer of the lake's surface was still rather dull. Lilia held her suitcase in front of her and took a deep breath of the morning air, crisp and humid as it was. That was when something in the water caught her eye, though it was still distant, she could see movement just beneath the surface. It was not the even rhythm of a human swimming, where legs and arms alternated to propel the person through the waves...It was something<i>else. </i>Suddenly, all those old memories of Simon being just a normal child like her with a few odd quirks faded, Lilia knew exactly why she had been brought here.<br/><br/>He truly did need her help.<br/><br/><a class="username" data-user-id="3507" data-username="@Hekazu" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/3507/">@Hekazu</a>