Put on your war paint/ You are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down/ Strike a match and I'll burn you to the ground/ We are the jack-o-lanterns in July/ Setting fire to the sky/ Here comes this rising tide/ So come on// Put on your war paint// Cross walks and crossed hearts and hope-to-dies/ Silver clouds with grey linings// So we can take the world back from the heart-attacked/ One maniac at a time we will take it back/ You know time crawls on when you're waiting for the song to start /So dance alone to the beat of your heart// Hey young blood/ Doesn't it feel like our time is running out? / I'm gonna change you like a remix/ Then I'll raise you like a phoenix / Wearing our vintage misery/ No, I think it looked a little better on me/ I'm gonna change you like a remix/ Then I'll raise you like a phoenix

-The Phoenix, Fall Out Boy

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"Sir!" Lily called, hastily marching out of the lift into Bulstrode's office. Her boss was scrawling some military details into a leather-bounded notebook, and slammed it shut when he heard her voice. "Sir, Tenebrae is approaching the building. We believe they are to launch an attack on us".

"So soon?" Bulstrode answered. "Hold them off and get Sackler to shoot them down. There's monocane bullets downstairs".

"But surely we should bring in Olalla? I mean this doesn't seem like just a regular raid. This is...different".

"How so?"

"We don't know for certain, but we believe they are in possession of the Jezequel Amulet, and have used it to take control of Louis Hyde and Charlotte Jekyll".

"One is a mindless creature that has isolated himself from the world for the past decade and the other an ordinary Jekyll. I do not see why we have to bring in the specialist".

"But sir", she interrupted, then backtracked, sighing. "This could be her chance to prove her loyalty to us over Tenebrae".

"Her loyalty has been bought, Miss Carew, with the promise of Isabella's ressurection. She does not need to prove it", Bulstrode started, picking up the telephone. Lily slunk into a chair, defeated, but still with some of her pride intact. She had her own intentions for Olalla's presence, namely that she needed to talk to her. Brannigan had found a supernatural anomaly around the Jezequel Household, and she thought Hyde could be involved. She couldn't tell Bulstrode, of course; he would launch an attack on the household. And to trespass on a Hyde's territory, well, they would be lucky to get out alive. But perhaps Olalla, with this information, could lure him out, set him free from this madness that he had got himself into.

"Sackler?" Bulstrode asked into the phone. "Get yourself a shotgun and get rid of them. No survivors, not even Dance". He paused for a second, taking in what Sackler was saying on the other end of the line, then furrowed his brow into concern. "Yes, I know you want to take her out to your little poetry circle, but at the moment she counts as a monster. And your job is to defend London from monsters. So take the shot and take it qui-!"

Crash!

Rubble threw itself across the room as Bulstrode opened his eyes to see what had caused the commotion. Dumbstruck, all he could do was stand up from his seat and look. Lily did the same, but from the cabinet beside her drew out a handheld pistol and held it behind her back. The wall to Lily's right had been, well, torn off by some unimaginable force. Bricks and solidified cement had broken away and lay in pieces all over the laminate flooring of the office.

"The Hell", he whispered to himself and watched as the bewitched figure of Lottie appeared into the office, silhouetted against the London buildings. She couldn't have jumped; they were on the second floor up. Her eyes flickered, black as death, and she paused for a moment. She was obviously waiting for her next command. Flicking her hand across, the desk Bulstrode was sitting at flew across the room, and narrowly missed Lily. Bulstrode took out a gun from his jacket pocket and immediately shot four bullets towards her. Lottie didn't react at all, just put her hand up in their path. Abruptly, they stopped, as if frozen in time, and she twisted her palm. The bullets mirrored her, turning in the airspace towards Bulstrode. Flipping her fingers, they flew as if nothing had happened, towards the officer, embedding themselves in the wall beside him. Lily looked on for a second, then ran towards Lottie, her hand clasped around the handle of her gun. Lottie walked towards her, holding a hand out to Lily's throat. Lily stopped, holding her neck. Lottie had caught of it telekinetically and was like a vice around her. The Jekyll sister slowly clenched her hand into a fist, and with every centimetre they closed, the stronger the clasp on Lily's neck.

"Lottie, stop this!" Sackler shouted, seeing the view in front of him. He rushed over taking hold of her hands, and she looked at him through darkened eyes. Lottie immediately dropped Lily to the ground, but, just as a last act of defiance, picked up the overturned desk with her telekinetic powers and threw it through the window of the building opposite.

"Sir", Lily rasped towards Bulstrode. "I think now is the time to bring in Olalla". Bulstrode just nodded back, picking up the telephone.

:/:

"Really now?" Olalla asked through the telephone. "I only just got a visit from one of your pets yesterday". She had managed to make it out of the lab and had cleaned herself up from the blood, then sat near the fire. It was quite peaceful, well, until the phone rang.

"If you could please refrain from using such derogatory terms for my agents, Miss Jekyll, I would much appreciate it", Bulstrode replied on the other end of the line. "And yes, we do need you in now. It concerns your sister, Charlotte".

"What about her?"

"She's just thrown my desk into the restaurant opposite our building. I do believe that Tenebrae are currently launching a strike".

"You don't sound all that bothered about it".

"It was a cheap desk. I can get another one". His tone was so sarcastic that Olalla was tempted to just slam the phone down on him, but she didn't. She could hear some rather violent commotion in the background, which made her realise that this was more than just a house call.

"Alright, coming now". She put the phone back on the handset, sighing, and dove into her pocket. Though she was reluctant to, Garson had advised her to collect the Jekyll Ring from the lab floor. It may have, well, you know what it did to her, but it could get her out of a situation quickly.

"Garson!" she shouted through the house. It was silent, but then:

"What?" she could hear being called back.

"Can I take the car?"

"Sure. Keys are on the coffee table", he answered. "And if you crash it again, you're paying for it this time". Olalla just rolled her eyes. It wasn't her fault. The tree got in the way.

Like Garson said the keys had been stowed in a dish of potpourri on the coffee table, making them smell like old chocolate and freesias. "Here we go again", she murmured to herself, grabbing her leather bomber jacket from her chair and heading out the door.

:/:

"Hmm", Dance purred out loud. Standing outside the doors to MIO, he watched the chaos occurring above his head. Though the spirit and vigour of war interested him greatly, this was, well, it bored him. He thought it would be over by now. Semira and Louis stood by his side, but neither seemed very loyal to Dance, nor trustworthy. He had found Semira in the streets of London, selling her shapeshifting abilities, and though he had saved her from a life of poverty, she never had owed him for it. He had always doubted her intentions; there seemed to be nothing in Tenebrae for her, but she was the only person outside of the Jekyll family that could activate the Jezeuquel Amulet's power. And, well, she had done what he had asked: possessed Lottie and set her against MIO, so even if she wasn't with Tenebrae for life, she was with them for now.

"Maybe we should stop Dance", she lulled. "What good could come of this? I thought we were a secret organisation".

"War", he answered simply. "This is the first battle of many. We win this, and then we will begin the crusade".

"But... people will die. Humans and monsters. Maybe even you".

"That's what conflict does, my dear. But think of the effects it will have. No more hiding in the shadows. Have you heard of our motto, Semira?"

"I can't say I have".

"'Nos diluvium'. We are the flood. That's what all of this stands for. Every man, woman and child who ever crossed us will drown in our greatness". He gave a sidewards glance to her, and she saw doubt for her in his eyes. She had to keep her cover.

"I will always be loyal to you, Dance. I will join you in your fight, and will go on until death". She had tried to keep a tone, but it came out rather unconvincingly.

"Now, you wouldn't be lying to me, would you?"

"Why would I possibly want to do that?" Dance neared her, a face of complete suspicion. He'd kill her if he knew she had been stringing him along for MIO.

"Do you really think you can make me believe that you were with me all along?"

"Yes".

"Dear, every human on Earth singing your condemnations wouldn't make me believe you. Not now".

"But I am not human remember. I am you. Prepared to do anything to survive. Prepared to stick your hands in the dirt and try to build something out of it. Because, yes, I'm with MIO, but, you want to shake hands with me in Hell one day, I will gladly obliged".

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I hate to see people suffer".

"And MIO? What do they bring that Tenebrae could not?"

"I'm just using them, Dance, to get information. My brother was on the run from them and I want to find him... I suppose that's the thing about being a shapeshifter, you can be whatever you want, but you will always get caught. Apparently not by MIO though. I've got the information I need; I could betray them at any second".

Dance pondered it for a moment.

"Now the Amulet has hold of Lottie, I have no need of you now, do I?"

"No".

"Then, betray MIO. Become an agent of mine. I... think you have potential". Semira just laughed.

"Potential? Please. I'm exactly what I was when you first found me. I sell my skills".

"So you're a mercenary?"

"Sure. You need my help; you give me something in return. But it seems you no longer need my aid, sugar". She smiled, the façade of being either good or bad suddenly falling. Carefully she took off the Amulet from her neck and dropped it to Dance's feet, then turned around and left. Dance collected the necklace, and noticed a note attached to the back of it. It read:

Semira Laberer - 02071 628901. Call me ;-)

She had obviously meant to reveal her intentions soon enough; either to him or MIO. Chuckling to himself, he placed the Amulet around his neck and immediately communicated that he wanted Lottie standing next to him. This is what she did, leaping out of the gash in the building wall and standing next to him. He looked at her for a moment. It seemed like everyone he got close to turned out to be a fake. First it was Olalla, then Fedora (he refused to call her Lottie. It just didn't seem right to call her by her Jekyll name. All it did was remind him of how much he had fallen for her), and now Semira. Though he had certain... ardour for Fedora, Olalla's departure from Tenebrae had hurt him most. She was the one person who had made him realise that perhaps he could have a heart, but after her leaving, he never really wanted to find it.
He thought of her as a daughter, and even now he held a certain fondness for her. All he wondered was if she still thought of him as a father. Dance had only just realised how long he had been in his daydream when he heard footsteps approaching. Heels clattering on the cobblestones.

"Hello sweetie", Olalla lulled, clutching a blade to her side. "Fancy giving my sister back?"

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