A Cryptic Clue

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Job Sign-Up: Page 1, Post Number 24

-Bellum, early afternoon, Necargie Manor-

Wearing her tried and true casual outfit of purple long-sleeved t-shirt, black skirt with pockets, black thigh-high stockings and black tennis shoes, Diana had traveled through Bellum until she reached Memoria, the capital city of Bellum and the city where the Winchester Estate was located. Once in Memoria she had hired transport consisting of horses and cart composed entirely of magic wielded by the mage "driver" to take her to Necargie Manor in order to meet with her old friend Madeleine Necargie. In a letter the latter had sent Madeline said that she had some news for Diana, news concerning the Winchester family crypt.

Diana got off of the cart and paid the driver his fee in Dinarius, then heard the cart roll away as she walked towards the front door of Necargie Manor. She was so glad that she had taken the time to stop at a bank in Memoria to exchange Jewels for Bellum's currency because Jewels were no good in this country. Madeleine must have seen her arrive or sensed her magic signature because the front door opened and out walked the well-dressed brunette to greet Diana.

"Hello, Miss Winchester. It has been quite some time since we last met!" Madeleine cheerfully greeted Diana. Diana raised a hand in greeting and approached Madeleine.

"Indeed it has." Diana replied calmly once she was in range for Madeleine to hear her. Madeleine motioned for Diana to go inside Necargie Manor and the blonde did so. The door closed behind them and the pair were set to discuss business.

-Necargie Manor, the dining room-

Diana and Madeleine sat diagonally across from one another at the end of a long rectangular table in the dining room and were sipping tea out of porcelain cups on white saucers. While Diana preferred coffee, she accepted tea because of Madeleine's hospitality. The tea was of a strong variety... perhaps Diana had let it cool down for too long before drinking it because something about the taste was off. Once the two were halfway through their first cup of tea Madeleine spoke about the matter that she had summoned Diana to discuss.

"I see that you got my letter, Diana. I called you here because of something I noticed at the Winchester crypt." Madeleine started off. Diana lowered her cup of tea and placed it on the saucer to her right.

"And what might that be?" Diana asked with genuine interest.

"As you may know, we have kept watch over the Winchester estate until the day you intend to reclaim it. Part of our responsibility is to make sure that the Winchester estate is maintained and in pristine condition. As I walked through your backyard yesterday I saw something amiss about the crypt. Its door had been opened." Madeleine stated. Diana blinked. Had it been the work of The Shadow Collective?

"From the inside." Madeleine added to emphasize how strange the situation was. Diana's face showed genuine disbelief. The door to the Winchester crypt was carved from solid granite. Who could possibly have enough strength to move it from the inside?

"What? Opened from the inside? How?" Diana asked, not quite understanding what she was being told. Madeleine, perhaps seeing that the blonde did not understand, got up from the table and pushed her chair back up to it.

"Perhaps it is best if I show you what I am talking about. Come, Diana. We go to your estate." Madeleine told her. Diana did not argue with that. She got up from the table and pushed her chair in, then followed Madeleine out of Necargie Manor. Once outside they hired another mage to transport them to the Winchester estate.

-The Winchester Estate, forty minutes later-

The magic cart pulled by magic horses carrying Diana and Madeleine rolled to a stop in front of the Winchester Manor. A large house with a heavy architectural style loomed in front of them, but today the house was not of interest. The Winchester family crypt was their destination. The two young women climbed off of the cart and straightened their skirts. Diana paid the driver his fee and the cart went on its way, leaving Diana and Madeleine to investigate the crypt.

"It has been a long time since I have seen this place." Diana said to Madeleine, who held the keys to the Winchester estate in her right hand. Diana glanced at the heavy-looking Winchester Manor and a lot of old and unpleasant memories came flooding back to the blonde.

"You sound like you were not looking forward to this visit at all." Madeleine said plainly before making eye contact and waiting for the huntress' response. Diana nodded.

"Truth be told, I was not. However, when you mentioned the family crypt I had no choice but to come here." Diana freely admitted to the brunette that this visit was not one that she had been looking forward to. She had not wanted to return to Bellum until Mr. Gorman and The Shadow Collective were no longer threats, but this matter had forced her hand. She had to find out what was responsible for opening the Winchester crypt and deal with it if need be. There was someone inside of it that she wanted to protect, someone who had deserved a lot better than what had happened to her over four years ago.

"I see. Come now, Diana. Let us go to the crypt." Madeleine said, guiding Diana to the left of the house and towards an iron gate. Through the gate lay the back yard that housed the Winchester crypt. As she approached the gate Diana stole another glance at her childhood home and knew that the Winchester crypt was not the only place where ghosts from her past lurked.

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-In the back yard, the Winchester estate-

Diana and Madeleine had passed through the iron gate and were now in the back yard of the Winchester estate. The crypt was in the back and in the center of the back yard and it was every bit as heavy and imposing as Winchester Manor. Diana looked around the back yard and noticed that the flower beds near the back door were now empty. She was glad for that because her mother Elizabeth liked gardening and Diana recalled how Elizabeth loved her flowers more than she did most people except for herself, Melody, and her older brother Lucius. Many times the blonde had found herself wishing that her mother showed as much love for her as she did those flowers.

It was too late for that now.

It was too late for a lot of things.

Diana turned away from the flower beds and back towards the crypt, whose yawning entrance seemed to beckon to the last of the Winchesters. It wanted her to go meet her family. Madeleine turned to face Diana.

"Are you ready to go into the crypt, Diana?" Madeleine asked the huntress. Diana turned to her and nodded.

"I am ready. I will go first." Diana replied calmly. Even though she had come here unarmed, she had two types of magic that were more than able to deal with whatever lurked in the crypt. If it was a person or a group, she would destroy them with her death-dealing magic. If it was a restless spirit or other supernatural threat, Diana would destroy it with her Lunar Guardian magic.

"Very well then. Lead the way." Madeleine said, giving way to Diana so that the blonde could take the lead. Diana did so and strode by the brunette, who formed a ball of golden light in the palm of her left hand and followed behind the huntress. Diana strode into the family crypt determined to find out who had opened it and why.

-Inside the Winchester crypt-

Diana switched to her night vision mode and saw inside the dark crypt as clearly as if she were still out in the daylight. Madeleine followed close behind with her ball of golden light that lit the way. Ahead of them was a straight corridor wide enough for three people to walk side-by-side. It was cold and dark like a crypt should be, but there was also something else. The huntress suddenly felt that something was "off" about this, like she belonged here even though she was not dead.

"This is my first time in here. I do not know what to expect, so be careful." Diana confessed to Madeleine. Diana was not sure if the bad feeling was all in her head or if whoever opened the crypt had left some unpleasant surprises behind for the last of the Winchesters.

"I am here with you." Madeleine assured the blonde. Her resolve bolstered by that declaration, Diana continued onward towards the end of the corridor, her footsteps and those of Madeleine echoing through the darkly serene crypt. They passed through the corridor without any trouble whatsoever and reached the end, where a collection of sarcophagi waited for them. Diana paused outside the door and looked into the next room.

She was not sure if she could do this.

She was not sure if she could go into the presence of her family, not after everything she had done.

But she had to.

Hesitating for one last moment, Diana took a deep breath and walked into the area where the sarcophagi of her family waited on her. Madeleine followed wordlessly behind, her golden light clearing the shadows away.

-Inside the next room-

Diana stepped into a large room that had the stone sarcophagi of her family against the back wall, all twelve of them. The head of each one was at the wall and each sarcophagus lay horizontal to the ground. Diana took another deep breath and walked towards them to get a closer look at who was in each one. She started at the one to the far left and worked her way down the row.

George Winchester's was first. Next was her mother Elizabeth to her father's right. After them were Lucia, Melody, Gloria, Olivia, Ashley, Katrina, Eleanor, and Jessica Winchester, all of the Winchester daughters minus herself. To their right were Lucius and Albert Winchester, the two Winchester sons. Diana looked over them again and noticed something, something that she had missed on her first pass.

"Lucia's sarcophagus is open." Diana remarked to Madeleine, who had been standing in the back of the room to give Diana a respectful distance. Diana's right hand balled into a fist. If The Shadow Collective had done this, then they had just earned themselves a spot at the top of her list of people to deal with.

"That is impossible. How?" Madeleine asked the huntress, who had walked back over to her oldest sister's resting place and was examining the empty space.

"I do not know, Madeleine. Whoever did this had a lot of time on their hands. The lid weighs a hundred pounds easily, so it was not like it could be easily moved by one person unless they were very strong." Diana remarked. She became more and more agitated with each passing second. Whoever had stolen Lucia's body had went to a lot of effort to leave no evidence behind, but Diana was not sure who would go that far. If The Shadow Collective was trying to get back at her, she was certain that they would have desecrated all of the Winchester bodies and trashed the place instead of leaving it intact. She doubted that "Raven Squad" was involved because if they wanted to get revenge on her they would have already ambushed her in some isolated location like Fat Monsterland, Haunted Guild, or Abandoned Cabin.

"I do not understand this. Why would someone do such a thing as to steal her body? And who would stand to benefit from the theft?" Madeleine said as she approached Lucia's empty resting place, where Diana was standing off to the right and looking around for any clues that the perpetrator may have missed when they were removing evidence of their presence.

"I do not know." Diana repeated with obvious uncertainty on her voice. This was the most emotionally vulnerable she had ever been since she had went into business for herself over four years ago. Who could have done this and where had they taken Lucia's body?

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-Outside the crypt, thirty-five minutes later-

Standing outside the crypt in the back yard of the Winchester estate, Diana and Madeleine had left the crypt utterly mystified as to how Lucia's body could have gone missing. They had spent over half an hour combing the crypt for clues that may have been left behind by the person who took Lucia's body and had come up with nothing. No footprints, no drag marks, no loose hairs, no nothing. Either the thief was absolutely meticulous or... or something else was at work.

Perhaps Lucia had been brought back to life by a divine figure like Diana had when she almost died in Silent Cemetery.

A few years ago Diana would have dismissed that possibility as utter nonsense, but after experiencing it for herself the possibility no longer seemed so ridiculous. Maybe the blonde was being too hopeful about seeing her oldest sister again. Maybe someone was just playing a sick joke on her by stealing the body and covering their tracks to an extraordinary degree. She had already ruled out The Shadow Collective and "Raven Squad", so who could it have been?

As much as she desperately wanted to seek out the culprit this very instant, Diana would have to investigate the matter later. Right now she was too emotionally drained to put in the effort that the matter deserved. She was not sure how to feel about the situation. She was outraged that someone would take her oldest sister's body, but she was also hoping against hope that Lucia had somehow come back to life. If any Winchester deserved a second chance at life it was Lucia... she did her best to protect the younger Winchester sisters from Elizabeth and Melody and that alone should have put her up for sainthood.

But Lucia was dead. She had to be. Diana had seen her body when it was put into the crypt. If she had come back to life inside the crypt she should have suffocated.

Or maybe Lucia's resurrection was recent. That would be the only way it could even begin to make sense.

On one hand, Diana was desperately hoping that the oldest Winchester sister had been resurrected so that the latter would get to see her again. On the other hand, Diana was hoping that Lucia had not come back and someone was only pulling a ghastly prank. Diana did not want Lucia to see her, not like this. Not when her hands were stained with so much blood.

"You do not seem like yourself, Diana. Maybe we should close the crypt up and return to investigate later." Madeleine suggested to Diana. Diana nodded without bothering to look at Madeleine.

"Yes. We should do that." Diana readily agreed. Together the pair walked towards the crypt door and pushed it closed, sealing it again. Before they had left they had searched the crypt up and down for anyone hiding inside and had found no one, so barring ghostly activity or the resurrection of another Winchester the crypt would stay closed this time.

"Now that the crypt has been closed, I suggest that we leave this place." Madeleine reiterated. Diana absentmindedly nodded.

"Yes." Diana replied laconically. Her body was here, but her mind was far away. With that the pair began walking side-by-side through the back yard towards the gate.

"We should go back to Necargie Manor and plot our next move." Madeleine suggested to Diana. Diana made eye contact.

"Not today, Madeleine. I am returning to Fiore!" Diana replied sharply. Almost immediately she regretted what she had said. Madeleine was only trying to help and did not deserve to be treated like that.

"I am sorry, Madeleine. I am not in the best state of mind right now." Diana apologized to her friend for being so sharp. Madeleine gave a small smile.

"I can see how this discovery has been emotionally taxing. Perhaps we should meet again later when you are not so drained, Diana. I will keep watch over the Winchester estate and let you know if any more unusual activity occurs." Madeleine offered. Diana made eye contact with her and nodded.

"I would like that, thanks." Diana thanked her friend for offering to postpone their planning session until a better day and for offering to continue to watch over the Winchester estate until the day came when Diana claimed it.

"It is no problem, Diana." Madeleine said just as the pair reached the gate. They went through it and exited the back yard. Once through the gate Madeleine locked it back.

-Outside Winchester Manor-

Diana and Madeleine stood outside Winchester Manor and spoke to each other one last time before they parted ways for the time being. Diana would continue with her plan to return to Fiore and Madeleine would go back to her home and let her uncle know what was going on. The brunette would also keep watch over the Winchester estate and let Diana know if any more unusual activity took place on its grounds.

With that being decided the pair parted ways. Madeleine used a spell to instantly teleport herself back home and Diana took the first step of the very long hike back to Fiore. Then she recalled something... she too had a teleportation spell. Diana stopped in place, closed her eyes, and visualized the outskirts of Capital Crocus. She disappeared in a silver blur.

Moments from now she would be in Capital Crocus and paying a visit to Capital Coffee. There she would sit in a chair and sip coffee while plotting her next move and trying to make sense of everything that had happened today. Diana was going to need a lot of coffee to help make sense of everything.

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