Lynette had been doing a grocery run for the Hotel Bouffes d’ete, they had ran out of milk for tea, a perfectly mundane activity. Usually Lynette had a few bottles stocked, but they all mysteriously vanished, a strange red doll in their place. A calling card, Lynette recognised them well, she’d left a few of her own before. Someone had been in the hotel, but it was far too early for her to do a proper investigation, she hadn’t even had her cup of tea yet!!
As not to cause panic, she woke Lyney, telling him to keep an eye out while she went for a grocery run, that she would do a proper investigation soon. And to not leave the hotel unattended. He had accepted this task diligently.
So that’s what lead her to this situation, walking the streets of Fontaine, holding a few paper bags full of not only milk but other delicious delights she had been tempted into.
She spotted someone very familiar approaching, Lyney. But she had told him not to leave the hotel.
He ran up to her and began speaking. As soon as the first few words left his mouth, she knew something was wrong. Lyney and Lynette were nearly inseparable, she knew her brother better than she knew herself, he was the only truth she could trust. And now he was lying.
She couldn’t pinpoint about what, but something was wrong, it was like a performance she hadn’t been clued in on as he explained that he saw someone suspicious outside the house. They ran as soon as he saw them, but they dropped an bright red envelope. He handed it to her quickly and ran off to go find Father, leaving Lynette to carefully inspect.
He hadn’t opened it yet, as she could tell upon brief inspection but she noticed the wax that sealed the envelop bore a striking resemblance to the face of the doll. She rotated it in her hands, strands of dark brown hair clinging to it and silken microfibres.
She looked up to follow up with her brother, but he was nowhere to be found. He’d pulled a disappearing act on her.
She quickly returned to the hotel, and as much as she hated to even consider this, she didn’t have the time to make up tea. This was far more pressing. She packed the groceries away, mind racing with possibilities, and quickly secluded herself to the quiet of her room.
The envelope in her hands and the doll sitting on a shelf she evaluated the very limited evidence. The fashion the doll wore was almost Inazuman, but a few details were off, perhaps she could consult Chiori? No, this was a House of the Hearth matter. She couldn’t involve outsiders. Lyney was going to find Arlecchino, however off he was acting and had entrusted the red envelope to her.
Enough dilly dallying, she had to know what was inside.
Her deft hands broke the wax seal, carefully opening the letter when a cloud of some kind of gas spewed out, causing Lynette to hack and cough before it fully enveloped her.
When Lyney entered the room hearing the commotion, all he found was yet another doll where Lynette used to be, and a letter on the floor.