Lotte remained quiet throughout the limousine ride. Occasionally, she lifted her head to look out the window, but as the surroundings were unfamiliar it did little good. Hopefully, once she got back to Bellum Letale – and finalized whatever paperwork she had there or whatever crazy was waiting for them – she could get a moving truck to get the rest of her stuff. She didn’t have much; one trip on a U-Haul would do it.
As it slowly pulled up to the building, Lotte was already moving to the door. She missed the fire until the door wouldn’t open – and then she could only stare as the flames licked at the top of the building. Even with her feeling of resolve, she swallowed hard. The door opening beneath her hands was subconsciously followed. She climbed out, clinging to the door as she watched the building get swept inwards on itself. Her breath caught as the ash and debris filled the air, nearly blocking her vision from where she was. Time blurred until the building collapsed and she was left, blinking at the sudden crater where the building had been.
The sirens and murmur of voices around her were tuned out as Lotte moved around the limo’s door. She moved to the edge, back clutched tightly as she looked to the crater made by the collapse. The jumble of feelings – relief, confusion, sorrow, euphoria – didn’t help her and she bit her lip, watching the last flames flicker out. There was the small, definitive worry about the fables – Christine – everything that had made her what she was, but a moment later she pushed it aside.
Her eyes climbed up to where her room had been, up in the empty smokey space above the crater. A sigh and she shook her head, looking around to everyone else staring.
That was it then. The end of the building – end of the crazy. No more transformations or worrying about getting others killed. Perhaps the end of voices too, for good. Her lips pressed together into a firm line before a final glance to the building.
She’d told people time and time again that she couldn’t move. The building now had forced it on her and….she felt alright. Not relieved; not entirely. It had been home, more so than any of the places she’d been in since leaving Valerie. Valerie triggered something and she looked to her bag, before reaching into base to pull out her cell phone. A text message was sent after a minute or so hovering over the keys - got time to talk? She sighed and put it away, looking over everyone and then building again. She’d figure this out. Somehow. Like her father would have wanted her to. Taking a deep breath, she picked her way through the crowd. Finding a taxi – she wasn’t getting back in those limos – was her next goal. Any shouts were ignored as she kept walking, moving from the grouping of the crowd to the main street.