#warrewell

It had been one of those instances where the work of the X Files had met with Vivienne's own experiences and skills, which meant that Scully had had her arm twisted on all sides by Mulder and Vivi both.

A cave in Oregon had been the subject of multiple claims and incidents, people claiming they had seen their lives jump back in time, others claiming they had seen the future, and then there had been the usual claims of aliens and demons and god only knew what else. It was this, more than anything, that had drawn their attention, but while Mulder had at least agreed to wait until they had spoken to witnesses, Scully had come back to the hotel to find Vivienne gone.

She's gone to the cave, she had said, looking to Mulder with worry before the pair had hurried to follow her. Splitting up to search through the two primary phenomena locations, Scully had been the one who had struck Vivienne gold, right in the mouth of one of the caves.

"You need to get out of here. We have no idea what this might be; there could be toxic gases, poisonous chemicals, any number of dangerous elements that could be the cause of--"

Scully hadn't had time to finish her argument as there was a sudden flash growing out of the heart of the cave. Instinctively, Scully had grabbed Vivienne in order to pull her out of the way but in the process had felt the impact of the energy hit her own back, sending her to the ground.

Coughing, feeling winded, she brushed herself off as she got to her feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked, and was surprised by the sound of her own voice. She cleared her throat, frowning a little. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Lilia didn't know how she had left the trial. When her hand had finally slipped from the table and she had felt herself falling, she had known it was the image she had Seen in her visions, and she knew that no matter what was to come, that Death was a cycle, a beginning, that her life out of sequence, which she'd thought was a curse, was the blessing that meant somewhere in time she'd always be learning and growing, just like everyone else.

And then she'd been back with her maestra, telling her everything about The Road, what she had learned, and about Teen and Agatha, about her life, and when she snapped back...she'd been on The Road. The actual Road, not the trial. That humiliating Glinda gown was gone, she was caked in mud and...

Movement made her realise she was hurt. Touching her hand to her back she felt blood. Whatever had removed her from the trial clearly hadn't moved her soon enough. Or had The Trial simply disappeared when it was no longer needed?

Realising she was alone, and seeing the barest glimpse of light above, Lilia knew what she had to do. And she hated it.

The climb, the digging, made her wounds worse and by the time she burst through into daylight, caked in dirt, all of her energy was gone. She didn't know where she was, how far from her home, how long she'd been gone, but she knew she wanted to close her eyes.

Coughing , she pulled herself out of the ground completely and fell flat on her stomach, letting oblivion come.

Though it had been a few decades since she had left Sicily and Italy, instinct still had Lilia speaking Sicilian or Italian first before remembering that most of the people around her only spoke their native French. She had picked it up quickly, but she didn't like it. Shouting insults in her own native tongue of Sicilian at the woman who had decided she was a 'gitane' and worthy of being spat on, she had turned to find a girl looking at her with what could only be described as dumb shock.

Reading a little of her from afar, Lilia had felt herself drawn closer, her Sight guiding her steps.

"Erm, well, honestly I usually avoid Lilia because of what she Sees, and my aunties are not afraid to use that to their advantage, trust me," Sabrina told the other girl. She had been leaving Lilia's shop, having found the woman oddly absent (and was she really going to mind that Sabrina had done a slight breaking and entering to check?), when she'd found herself face to face with another teenage witch looking for Lilia too.

"But the problem I have kinda needs her Sight, so I thought I'd take the risk of her ratting me out. But uh," Sabrina looked around the empty shop. "Apparently she isn't here. Who knew she had an actual life, right?" she half-joked, trying to break what she hoped was imagined tension.

"If you two stay any longer, I'm going to have to start charging you again," Lilia quipped, only half joking.

"From your tone I can't tell whether that's supposed to be a compliment or an insult," Lilia admitted freely, looking at the other with a frown.

"Are you thanking me or blaming me?"

Lilia let out a short, sharp, bark of a laugh.

Lilia blinked in confusion, frowning as Vivienne pushed past her through the opened door, arms filled with what looked like ingredients.

"What are you doing?" she asked in utter bewilderment, watching as the young girl carried on her path, unstoppable until she reached the kitchen counter and was able to dump all her items on the side. Lilia got the sense she had been seconds away from dropping something.

Walking over, Lilia's eyes glanced over the contents of the packets and boxes; semolina, yeast, sugar, broccoli, black olives, tomatoes--

"You came here to make scacciata?"