This was the first time the vehicle had been driven with no input from Lily at all. And it showed. The ride was a little more jerky, the gear changes not as smooth and the engine sounded and behaved.... just a little different than it used to do

She did tell you that she could manipulate the vehicle. If a round was loaded, she could fire it. She also had certain control over the engine, and maybe even drivetrain, with the gearbox. You were still curious about a few things. First and foremost, how that actually worked. But that was likely the kind of question you would never get an answer to, even if Lily or anyone else actually wanted to to tell you. Was it a conscious thing, like picking up a can from a table? Was it some sort of semi-conscious thing like breathing? Or maybe entirely automatic, like the heartbeat? Could she start the vehicle up from her bed and drive it away without even seeing it? Does she feel anything when someone else starts it? Can she feel it move?

All of this had been a little of a touchy subject, and you did try avoid it. But you did have the feeling that you would get an answer to at least some of these questions in a matter of days. For good or bad

Love is funny like that. It makes it difficult to see flaws in someone. And anything that was a flaw is brushed aside as “no, that’s nothing serious”. You always knew Lily had a closet full of skeletons, but you figured you could live with them. But what if it wasn’t so much a closet as a shipping container full of skeletons. How much of her past could you overlook?
Your thoughts are drowned in the singing of engines and clatter of tracks. It wasn’t much longer now. Well at the base it seems the two guards that usually stand by the entrance had been my a pair of M1s. And while steel was effective against the extraterrestrial invaders, those 120mm guns would laugh at a 10 inch steel plate as if it was made out of paper. Not a time or a place to mess about

Well inside the gate the softer vehicles in the convoy drove away in different directions, leaving the Jagdtiger and the light tank idling just inside the compound

But not before long some kind of instructions arrived. A man sitting on top of a Humvee waved a big sign with “TD” written on it, and he seemed very at least somewhat happy when the big machine started following the Humvee. The lead vehicle moved around in the base at a crawling pace onto a set of proper tank garages. Real 60+ ton hydraulic lifts, modern equipment and so on. It was more of a workshop than a garage at a closer look.

The man that previously held the sign waves his hands side to side, signalling engine shut of. The mighty twin turbo V-12 takes last breath before going silent, leaving the only sounds around the sound of the exhaust ticking itself cool and some power tools in a distance. And then the trodding of boots . Lots of them. Soldiers surround the vehicle. They weapons were not drawn or held in any sort of ready position. But it was definitely a show of force. “Don’t try anything around us” they said. But not out loud. Talk softly and carry a big stick, right?

‘Please order the crew to leave the vehicle. And do take necessary belongings with you’
This was a little too forceful for you to be comfortable. But in just a few minutes the crew ended up on the workshop floor, not quite sure where all of this was going. Lily was starting to come to her senses, but still had to be carried. The soldiers lazily waved you along to some other building. They didn’t seem very interested in looking scary at all, even if that was their intended effect. And no one seemed to much bother you were carrying a young woman around either

You were met by another rather uninterested man, explaining that the Jagdtiger wouldn’t do the obstacle course, but rather be sent out to the firing range at first sunlight. The man continued to drone on about health and safety and ended the the entire speech with the rather obvious

‘Any questions?’
‘Yeah’ the driver said, in a tired voice ‘What about food?’
‘Oh, right. The cafeteria is open between 7 and… augh i don’t think anyone gives a fuck anymore. Go to the low yellow wood house. Food and that is there. Oh and before you leave i need you to fill in some papers, just some personal things’

The only thing that hurt more than writing down the made up stuff for Lily, was drawing a single sad line over the box asking for any relatives. Mom, dad, the little kid… All reduced to a single 3 inch long line on a sheet of paper, right over the relatives section. It hurt a little. You tighten your grip on Lily. It does actually help a little. Some of that bad things in your head really go away when you hold her like this. And all of it go away when her arms reach around your waist

>You’re worried again
“I was, yeah”
The little briefing ends and it seems no one was around to walk you around anymore. The cafeteria had remarkably good food. It was in good fashion also served by a woman who was easily 50 years old and as wide as she was tall. Lily did what little eating she could do, more for the sake of getting food than being hungry. The sedation really knocked the wind out of her. The escort from earlier was not going to happen again, but rather one very sorry looking guy just handed you a slip of papers with instructions on where to sleep.

A barrack. Six double beds in total. Not luxurious by any stretch, but it had a mattress and a blanket, so it will do just fine for tonight. It wasn’t the softest of beds and it sure wasn’t the widest. But for a few days, no problem. Unless Lily decides to crawl in next to you of course. In which case it will be a problem with space. And she did. But sleep found its way to you anyway

Until some time later. You find yourself stark awake. Someone is walking around in your room. The figure is walking towards your bed. Instinctively, you shift Lily’s body away from the possible threat, to shield her behind you

“The fuck are you?”
‘Shhh’ A man’s voice. ‘This is very, very important’
>Sleep is important
‘Your accent… m-miss Nibelung?’
>The fuck are you doing here? What do you want?’
‘Please miss, you have to come with me’
>I think you get away before s-... oh

The man holds some kind of… thing in his hand. It is too dark to make out exactly what it was

>He comes along too
“Lily, what’s going on?”
>We can trust this man

She turns away from you and towards the unknown man

>You, go outside, have a smoke or something. We will be out in 5 minutes
‘Of course’
Amazingly, this little talk hasn’t woken up anyone else in the little room, so you were alone in admiring Lily’s lonely figure

>Anon.... right, you don’t have a uniform. Just get some clean clothes for me, please?
“Sure, just please tell me what’s going on”
>That man had something very, very few people has. I even think it didn’t belong to him, but he had it just to convince me to come along
“You’re still not really explaining anything”
>Okay, let’s put it this way. He managed to pick out my accent
“You don’t have much of an accent”
>No, that’s the point. He knew exactly who to look for, what to look for in me and he knew my name. It might be they don’t really give much about the Jagdpanzer…
“They want to speak with you?”
>Uhm… i’m not sure you have noticed, but even among my kind, i am a little special
“Somehow different from, say Natalya?”
>Let’s put it this way…

The newly awoken Lily struggles for balance as she tries to get into her uniform. You give her a hand, holding her steady. Another warm, sincere smile before she continuing her story
>So, how long does it take for a person to control their body?
“What?”
>When you are newborn, you can’t pick up a glass of water, drink from it, and then return ito to a table. You can’t control your hands well enough. Makes sense?
“Suppose it does”
>Now, like everyone else, i had to go through that process. But, i had to learn how to be in charge of a tank too
“Go on…”
>At first, you can’t control it more than any other person can. I’d even say 80% of the caretakers we encountered at the new base could even operate the electrical system properly
“So, it takes time to learn how the vehicle works? Makes sense… In a very strange way. And i’m guessing this isn’t something anyone can do? I mean, you can’t become a tank whisperer just because you want, right?”
>Maybe there is a bit of an… Initiation process that has to be done. After that, some starts bonding with their vehicles. Even if that was usually not required. No one in any of the allied armies was expected to do more than know first aid, maintenance and such. And… Verdammt this is turning into a history class. Let’s get our things and head out. I’ll tell you all i know within a day or two, alright?
“Okay, Lily. Just know i’m a little worried about this”
>We should be among friends. But… just in case…
“Handgun. You don’t think i left it in the Jagdpanzer, did you?”
>Good… Good. Well, come along then

Lily holds her hand out. An obvious and very cute move from her side. You take it in yours and starts moving out towards the much too cold november night
‘Ah, miss, Nibelung.Good to see you. Now, please come along. You must understand we were very surprised to hear that anyone with your… name would pop up amidst this war’
>Thank him
‘You are a mechanic i take it?’
“That, commander of the Jagdtiger and… well, i started an engineering major, but there was a little war in the way. I’m Anon by the way”
‘Anon. Glad to see you are taking care of the miss’
>tsk… take care… But now, you said you were surprised in hearing my name. Have you not heard from no other Nibelung?”
‘Miss, you are one of two that we know for sure are in the country’
>Two? There was over 5000… Other one. Where?
‘Well, when i said for sure…’
>You’re getting on my nerves. Speak’
‘None of the Panzer IV we have found are Nibelung, and there are none of the Jagdpanzer IVs in the US, so-’
>That leaves Ferdinand and Jagdtiger, and i know the remaining two Jagdtigers are no where close
‘Yes… that is correct. One Ferdinand, or Elefant rather should be at the-”
>Should?
‘We are fairly sure it was under restoration a few months ago, but we haven’t heard much lately’
>For later, write everything you know and give it to me, i have someone who might help us a little
‘I don’t mean to sound depreciating, but we have very good people working on this, and i doubt you can do much more than currently is being done’
>Oh ye of little faith…

The little chat ended when you arrived at a new building. Externally, looking very unassuming. The inside was decorated more like a home than anything else. It had a personal touch to it that other buildings here. But someone who was very modest. Someone old
‘I’ll leave you for now. Jake should be in his room, wooden door, right side’
The strange man leaves and disappears into the night.

“Alright, Lil. Looks like you have made some friends. Wanna go?”
>Let’s do it. Just stay with me

You walk down the hall until you get to the door, and knock on it lightly

‘Come in, please’

The room was sparsely decorated, very functional. In a corner of it sat a man in a wing back chair. He really looked old. Wrinkly skin, thick glasses, thin white hair and a hoarse voice. Yet, he didn’t seem very fragile, or didn’t give that impression

‘Children, please sit down. I must apologize for waking you up at this time, but the situation calls for it. My name is Jake, and i am very interested in speaking with you. Anon, and Larissa Erika, correct?’
>Just call me Lily
‘Lily. Now, i must make absolutely sure you are who you say you are. You went through the Nibelungenwerke process?’
>I did
‘Now, you must understand, i was not in time for the last great war, but i was in Korea, and i witnessed the… incident that spurred the end of your kind’
“Huh?”
>Long story short, someone lost something dear to her, and used her M26 as a battering ram after she completely flipped. That caused most of the west countries to abandon the idea, and since the Soviets never really adopted it properly, it fizzled out in front line service
‘Prototypes and trial models used it until the 60s, last being the MBT-70’
“Oh yeah, speaking of. Wendy is alive and well. I helped her a little with transmission issues”
‘Wendy… Did she say anything else?’
“Yeah, i suppose she did. I was to ask for some kind of presents?”
Despite you feigning complete ignorance in what the presents actually were, the man’s expression changed suddenly

‘Not yet. Or maybe at all. Now, Lily. You must forgive my curiosity, but with the infamy yo-’
>You people never stop speaking, do you? Get to the point, and keep it short
‘What sort of control do have over the Jagdtiger?
>Pretty much all of it. Gun aiming and firing, all of the electrics. And with the new engine, throttle, fuel mixture, boost pressure do to some clever turbo design. And all automotive components. Transmission, clutch and so on. Only thing i really can’t do it stuff like hatches and gun loading and so on
‘Do you take me for an idiot?’
>You ask, i answer. You doubt, i’ll show you. Wanna go wake people up?
‘It’s very important you take this very seriously, miss Nibelung. Because if you can do that it’s far beyond anything i’ve ever witnessed
>Tsk. It gets better. i Can do most of this while outside the vehicle. Jokes aside, i think you can blindfold me, and i’d still be able to turn the Jagdtigers engine on, rotate the thing a full lap, and then hit a target a target the size of a car at two kilometers. Five times in a row. If someone loads the gun, of course. Can’t do that myself.

The man leans back in his chair. He is trying to say something, but he doesn’t get anywhere

‘And you’re serious now?’
>Try me
‘I’ll make some calls. You can go to the kitchen. Take whatever you want. I’ll be back to you, but please stay inside’
Fifteen minutes later sit at the table opposite with some very simple 5 AM breakfast in between you. Lily is staring into the black liquid in her cup
>So…
“Something on your mind?”
>He’s gonna be on the phone for some while. What i said to him…
“You didn’t lie, did you?”
>No, but even for someone like me, it’s kinda special. So, i’ll explain what i am, we are. All of it. All i can answer. But before i do that, just please…
“What is it?”
>It’s us, right?
“You’re still worried about me going away?”
>...
“Lily, listen to me, no look me in the eyes. Yes, there you are. Okay, i have your attention now. Lily, i am not going to leave you”
>Thanks. Just… can you remind me of that sometimes?
“Every day”

>Good. So, back in the first world war...
>Good. So, back in the first world war, tanks were used in combat for the first time. You know by whom, right?
“The British?”
>Exactly. First use was in a part of the battle of Somme, with just a few Mark I tanks. Now this showed a few things. First of all, having a machine as good an invulnerable to enemy gunfire was hugely advantageous. It caused not only destruction and enemy corpses, but almost as important as the actual combat worth was the fear it caused

Lily sips a little from her coffee, eyes glowing with energy despite the early hour

>You must understand that most people who fought in the trenches was born in the 1890s and had never seen a large machine, or a machine at all outside a factory. And then, when suddenly a 28 ton behemoth comes crawling towards them and spits death and destruction with machineguns and cannons, and their rifles does nothing to it… many decided it was better to run
“I feel a “but” coming up”
>Yes. It was truly horrible to face a tank as an infantryman, but it was almost as awful inside. It was extremely noisy, dark and lots of fumes from the engine that usually led to carbon monoxide poisoning. Not to mention it was easy to get sick inside, despite the fact that they only moved at 6 km/h, because these tanks completely lacked suspension. And the armor plates was riveted, which meant these rivets would fly around inside the tank if they was shot from the outside. Which they of course would, because they attracted a lot of attention.

“I heard it was bad, but that sounds… well, i’m not gonna complain about the Jagdtiger again at least”

Lily giggles a little.
>Everyone can complain a little bit. Anyway, these tanks were unreliable too, and could not go many kilometers before something broke down. Most common was the tracks, that were normally used on machines much lighter than the Mark I. And since there was no way to tow these things, in rough terrain they could only move if they worked, it was decided that someone should have deeper mechanical knowledge of the vehicle itself. It soon turned out, for obvious reasons that someone should be trained in the medical field as well. So in the beginning, that was all we was. A caretaker. Of the crew and the tank

She thinks about what to say next as she chews down the last part of her ham sandwich

>Now, different countries had different approaches to this. The british had an extra man to the crew, more to help in between engagements. They reasoned the caretaker couldn’t help in combat anyway. The french realized they had frenchmen in their tanks and opted for just basically giving them a whore when they came back from battle. As you can understand, this wasn’t very useful

“Just checking, these are still… normal people?”

>Oh yeah, nothing much exciting yet. Just someone with mechanical and medicinal knowledge, or a woman with lacking morals.

“Yet?”

>Yet. The Central powers as a whole was actually very slow with adopting tanks. In fact, only 20 was used in the entire war, which means they were heavily outnumbered. Something in the region of 300 to 1. So, the vehicle they produced was nothing short of a landship. 32 tons, a cannon and six MGs and a crew of 18 men. Because of their scarcity, the vehicles were highly valued, and it was decided to copy the british caretaker idea, but instead having this person be part of the crew. Usually in a “less important” role.

“How is being a gunner “less important”?”
>It is of course an important role, but i only do anything in combat, and spend most of my time idly in the gunners seat, unlike the driver or commander for instance who is at work for most of the time the tank is working

“Fair enough”

>Up until this point, it’s just been mechanics and whores, but the real story starts with Sturmpanzerwagen A7V, chassis number 560. In the 1918 spring offensive, #560 along with two other A7V’s of Abteilung 1, #541 and #562 took part in the attack on Matz. Problem was, the french knew of the attack from german POW’s. Meaning the German offensive ran into a mass of artillery, infantry, and more importantly, up to 150 Renault FT tanks.

“Renault? Like the car maker Renault?”

>Oh yeah. The FT was the first modern tank, so to say, with the classic layout of a turret on top, engine at the back and fighting compartment at the front. But, most variants around Matz were the MG armed version, and lacked a cannon. Even the few machines that did have a cannon… it was only a 37 mm, and a very short one at that. I can’t imagine it had very good AP rounds either, if said vehicles even had any at all. So the german offensive ran into a heavy counteroffensive. 560 was damaged in the closing stages of the attack, mortally wounding its caretaker. He lived long enough to send a last letter to his wife at home, who he had sent many letters to.

She tries to get some more coffee but sighs with disappointment as the cup is empty. Pleading eyes look back at you, and you return them with a smile. And filling up the cup once again.

>This american coffee truly is awful
“German is better?”

Lily scoffs

>Can’t say it is. When i was in France though…
“Wanna go there when this is over?”

Her eyes light up again, and her mouth curves into that heart melting smile she only ever shows you
>Yes. I’d love to. But now, back to tanks. To the surprise of the crew, the caretaker's wife turned up at the front just a week later. Her husband had of course died by then, but they held a small ceremony and all that. To the great surprise to the crew, she decided to take her deceased husband’s role in the tank, becoming the new caretaker. And, despite her-

“Sorry to interrupt, but you’ve used the term caretaker some times now. I’m guessing that’s not what it’s really called, is it?”
>Augh… no. My real title is “Wagen wärter”. Wagen translates to vehicle and wärter means... keeper, ward or nurse or something along those lines. But i’d rather you not use that term, okay?
“Is that because you or someone else has an issue with it?

You stop for a second, and chuckle a little at thought that just hit

>Find something amusing?
“Put it this way, with a bit of imagination your english title would be Tank nurse, which i find rather…”
>If you say “cute” i’ll slap you
“I’ll take my chances. I think it sounds adorable”

Her hand hits the side of your face with before you even noticed started moving. It leaves a burning sensation, and a very irritated German at the opposite side of the table.

>Maybe i do too, but i suggest you don’t say that when there are others around”
“Love you too”

Her face returns from the angry and somewhat commanding look she had, to light blush and a hint of embarrassment.

>y-you too… 
“Sorry, i got you off topic. The wife?”

>Yeah, right. She took her husband’s role with taking care of the machine and the crew. In fact, chassis number 560 would keep fighting for another four months, and was to be the last A7V still fighting, until it finally succumbed to enemy fire in the town of Iwuy just a month before the war ended. So, in these four months between mid june and october 11…

Lily loses momentum. Not so much that she has issues finding words, but something is causing her discomfort or trouble or something along those lines
“You okay Lily?”
>Yeah, i am. But this is a little tricky to explain because of how… weird it is
“I had a VW Golf once. At one point, i had three warning lights on, and i was supposed to take it to the shop, but i went out just driving instead. On the way back i hit a pothole, and all three warning lights went out. That car got me another 50 000 miles before dying. Now, i thought that was weird before i met, and fell face first for, a girl who apparently has looked the same way since 1944 and has a 72 ton heavy tank destroyer wrapped around her finger and controls it like it’s her own hand”

>...What?
“Point being, weird has kinda lost it’s power with me?”
>I don’t mean that, does Volkswagen still make cars?
“Oh. Yeah they do”

>Whatever. Point is… Okay, let’s start with them before the war. They both grew up in a village in a hilly forest region in southeastern Germany, or was it Czechoslovakia? I can’t remember precisely. Anyway, this was a village known for its… deviant beliefs so to say. Germany had since the dark ages been divided between if the should have protestantism or catholicism. And instead, this village was isolated enough for a heathen religion to be maintained since the norse introduced them to it in the eleventh or twelfth century i believe. 

“So this is full on norse mythology?”
    >It was at first. It changed over time into something different, yet still with the same basic ideas. It is that mixed with a little german folklore. At any rate, during these four months she managed to…
    “This is hard to explain?”
    >Yes. Forgive me, but it’s like trying to explain Die glocke to someone who has problems understanding a butter knife
    “Not fun. And wha-
    >Oh, nevermind, it’s nothing. It’s just… Let’s put it like this, where you do think the life force goes?
    “The what now?”
    >Uhm, life force?
    “I have absolutely no idea what you are on about right now”
    >Okay, simpler terms, soul. Let’s say you have a soul. Where in you is it? How big is it? Does it have a color? A smell? does it weigh anything?
    “Does a unicorns breathe fire? Hard to tell, considering no one knows for sure”
    >Yes, correct… to some degree. But we do have some life force, a life essence of sorts
    “You know what, i’ll just stop asking questions”
    >And i never thought you’d shut up

    She is taken back a little, apparently having suffered a slip of her tongue, and her expressions slips over from neutral to regretful

    >I apologize. I didn’t mean it like that
    “Don’t worry. Just explain how these “butter knives” work when you’re done, okay?”
    >d-don’t be mean to me
    “My love, i’m just joking a little. Please go on”

    Lily is again put to ease, and continues her story. Smiling

    >So, there is a life essence in all of us, it grows with us, it changes with us, gives us strength and… another few cliches like that. Now, do you think a person can live without this, let’s call it soul. It isn’t a soul, just remember that
    “Sure it’s not a soul?”
    >Yes. Very much so. But let’s call it “soul” because it it’s a concept you are at least somewhat familiar with. This soul, do you think someone can live without it?
You look at Lily. It was an honest question. No strings here, nothing on stake. She just wanted to know what you thought. You look at her. The pale skin. the short cropped hair, the hazel eyes

“I guess you can, i mean, you’re alive”
>Oh yes. I am alive, very much so. But this “soul” of mine, do you think it’s dead? Gone? Did it fly away?
“I guess this is where the Jagdtiger comes in”
>Precisely
“So your soul… thing is bound to the vehicle?”
>Correct. Want to guess where in Jagdpanzer it goes?
“I guess… that would be the engine or the gun?”
>See, now you’re thinking of it like a heart. It’s not. Just like this “soul” has no place in the body. Mine is bound to the steel of the vehicle, the chassis
“So when we cut out the engine cover…”
>Yeah. Not sure i’d have made it if you weren’t there. But you were….

Lily smiles again

>Anyway, the wife… or widow rather managed to do this process pretty much on her own. How she did it, if it was over night, if it took a week or this happened in those final moments of #560 is still a little unclear. This is because… of the conflicting information on this subject. There were many eyewitnesses to this. Mostly just because it was a woman in a tank. You have to understand things and roles worked differently from now, so it did catch a little attention. Not many knew about the… bonding process. And she stayed inside the vehicle for most of the time, so she wasn’t seen that much. But that one tank achieved spectacular results over these four months. The crew was operating smoothly, the always seemed well rested, relaxed, professional. And a good tank crew is worth way more than a tank

“That warms the heart”
    >I do what i have to do to keep the crew working. And don’t ask that, because that is for you and you alone. Don’t worry. Anyway, naturally other people started looking at this behemoth that was powered by some kind of supernatural being, which it wasn’t. But hey, people like stories i guess? However, it did prove an advantage and it didn’t take long for people to get interested in this, German and foreign. And this is where… two branches is formed so to say. Those who had to get information from eyewitnesses, just verbally, and those who found the memoirs

    “She kept a diary?”

    >Not really, no. I think memoirs is a better term. Even if was supposed to be a diary, it turned out to more like instructions. But there was a problem. A person usually notices the anomalies in another person. For example, Natalya. How do you tell her away from another girl?
    “Her eyes probably?”
    >Exactly, she has a very unusual eye color. It’s sort of her one thing to set her apart from a crowd. And this is what people tend to notice. You can ask anyone what her eyes look like, they will say “icy blue” or something. Ask the same person what her nose looks like and they won’t be able to answer
    “I see what you mean, but how does this connect to what you were saying earlier?”
    >That means if you speak to someone who spoke to this widow, they tend to notice her deviances. So it was actually possible to… reverse engineer the bonding process . This happened to all sorts of places all over the world just after the first world war, with… mixed results. Apart from Germany of course, which weren’t allowed to build any tanks. But, there was this sequel to the first world war you might have heard about, and tanks were needed. And just in time with this, someone “found” these memoirs, on how to this whole thing. Properly. Apart from my factory. They were not happy with second and third hand information. And they instead spent a year finding the source of this information.
“Did they?”
>Have a guess. You think these guys would get freaked out and started calling each other at 5 AM over someone called “Fisher” or “Detroit”?
“I don’t know. You tell me. Would they?”
>No, dear. They would not

Lily takes a look at the clock on the wall. It’s way too early for people to be awake now anyway. And yet, there is a light knock on the door

“Yeah?”
‘My children, i ha-’
>Stop right there. Not anyone’s child

The old man stops in the door, remembering Lily is actually older than he is, despite her youthful appearance

‘Of course. I would like you to accompany me to the Jagdtiger’

Lily nods nonchalantly and stands up, and you follow suite

‘Alone please’

Lily nods reassuringly to you, hinting you to stay. She walks over to Jake until she is uncomfortably close

>Nicht in weiteren hundert Jahren.
‘Miss, you have to understa-’
>I really do look like a child to you? You think i don’t get what you can do if you get to do what you want with me? Likely the last of her name… Someone who knows the entire process. You’d love to make me wonder off alone huh?

Lily’s voice can change dramatically depending on mood. Sweet at sugar with you, and calm and professional outside. And when she felt threatened, she made sure you could hear the venom in her voice

>Come on Anon, we’re going for a walk

Lily’s pacing is fast and the old man can’t keep up. She is beelining straight towards the garages

>Okay, this is important now, we have to put a foot down
“Uhm, Lily what’s going on?”
>He is playing a game with us. I realized i might be the only person in north america that actually knows how to repeat the process. I might have been invited here as a tool. Want to see what happens to people that take advantage of me? Beloved Anon, could you climb in and load just a powder charge, no projectile. And please do wear the headset. I’m about to prove a point
It was very easy to see when Lily was in a playing mood and when she wasn’t. This was clearly the latter. You quickly climb up on the tank and into the position just behind where you usually sat. It was a little… eerie picking up the powder charge. This was explosives, and very little else. How dangerous would a 128 mm blank be? You knew a .308 blank could hurt quite a bit when fired on bare skin. The Pak 44 would be lethal, no doubt.

“We’re loaded”
>Yes, i know

You hear Lily’s voice through the headphones, which is very interesting considering she wasn’t wearing any headphones or was speaking into a radio. She was standing be the front left drive wheel. She took some deep breaths, ready to make a scene

>Wait, Anon…
“Y-yeah?” You reply in your headphones, having one of the strangest conversations in your life
>Before we do this, i have to as something to ask
“Anything Lily, what is it?”
>I thought i would figure this out on my own, but it’s been months now, but i can’t for the love of my life figure it out
“Anything, Lily. What do you want?”
>The valves on the turbos, what do they do?
“Seriously? I was getting all worked up and you ask me what a wastegate is?!”
>Wastegate?
“Lily for fucks sake… Just try go to the rev limiter, ease of the throttle and open them out. It will be fun”
>Huh. Alright

Lily takes another few breaths. And then the mighty song of the engine. It still sounded as menacing as it always had done. And then she started walking out of the garages. The Jagdtiger obediently followed her like a spaniel on a leash. She even raised her hand slightly, holding it at shoulder height, as if she was playing with it. She walked up towards the house where Jake stayed. He was old and fragile and didn’t much fancy running after you and Lily.

>Please stay here
Lily walks into the house. But this time, she didn’t try to make an half arsed attempt to conceal her pistol, but proudly wore it on her hip. She comes out with Jake in tow a few minutes later

>Anon will help you up on the tank. And don’t try anything. Or actually, ask him what would happen if someone tried to hurt me
‘That won’t be necessary. But you are very much over your head no-’

Jake doesn’t get enough time to end his sentence. The V-12 picks up its pace, bouncing twice of the rev limiter, before Lily eases of the throttle. This, together with her newly found valves, produces three eardrum-shattering booms in quick succession, joined by two bright flames towering from the exhausts

To your great surprise, this did have a profound effect on Lily. She actually stumbles a little and… groans? Not that Jake saw any of that. But he did get the “shut up” message so kindly given to him by Lily. Once she regains her footing, she very clearly informs the older man that he is to remain silent. And so he does. All the way to the now lonely firing range

The engine falls silent, and Lily turn to you, and then Jake

>Anon, could you please help the old man down?
“Of course”

The Jagdtiger was a tall machine, and due to his age, the man actually needed help getting down from it

>And while you are up there, think you can load a round?
“Of course… what kind?”
>Anything. Surprise me”

You crawl down into the now very familiar belly of the beast. You know how to work the gun and lift a solid, inert AP projectile and put it in the breech and close it up. Just a pull of the trigger… or Lily could set it off now. You return to Lily and the old man sitting on a blanket laid out in the cold, wet grass

>Come Anon. Sit with us
Lily pats the ground next to her, and you can’t do much more that slide down next to her. She is smiling as she pulls her gun from the holster. “One i am familiar with” she said when she first saw it. She puts it down between herself and the man sitting opposite to her.

>Jake. It’s important that we can help each other on this. Maybe i can help you with what you dragged me here for. But first, you are going to help me find a friend
‘Lil-’
>No. That name is not for you”
‘Nibelung… I have understood it correctly you are looking for your… colleague, for lack of a better word. But we don’t know where she is. If we would…. you wouldn’t be here.
>But you’re not clueless either, are you? You know some things?
‘Granted we had some ideas on where the vehicle was a few months ago, but we don’t know if it had it’s…
>Caretaker
‘So that’s the word we use… As i said, we don’t know if the caretaker is still with it
>But tell me what you do know

The man frowns as Lily interrupts him, even before he managed to say a word. She nonchalantly slides her phone up from her pocket, quickly dialing in a number.

>I know someone who can help me a lot more than you can. She will listen to everything you say
‘Who is she? Can she be trusted?’
>Her name is Natalya Chelyabinsk. And… that is not you call to make

Lily grins at the man’s dissatisfaction with the name as she presses once more on the screen and brings the phone to her ear

Many, many miles west, Natalya is woken from her sleep by the awful ringing sound of her cell phone, She truly hated the tone it made, especially at this godawful hour. But, considering who actually had her number, she felt compelled to answer. She sighs hello into the phone, still not very happy about being woken up at the early hour. However, Natalya soon hears the voice on the other side of the line, and tries to wake herself up. She leaves the comforting warmth of the engine deck beneath her, a sleeping crewman on each side and jumps down in search for her bag. A pair of cheap headphones, pen and paper. She listens carefully to them man going over how the last things they frew about the lost tank destroyer. She knew very well what an Elefant was. Only place they were used in any real numbers was at Kursk, and they were… pretty much indestructible. At least as far as enemy fire was concerned.

The call ends fifteen minutes later and has given Natalya enough information to fill an entire page in her notebook. Her plan was to return to sleep, but a very slight shift in the color on the horizon tells her it’s not really worth it. Instead, she finds something much better to do. In the bottom of one of the storage bins are one of the circular trays of chocolate Lily had given her. Conditions when she grew up were… sub-optimal to say the least. So she appreciated any gift given to her, especially one that tasted as good as this one did. She took two pieces from the box in a piece of tissue paper and sat down on top of the turret. She was very careful in looking around, making sure no one was awake or looking at her
When she finally gets satisfied with her surroundings, she starts devouring the chocolate. But slowly, savoring all taste she could from it. Even if the pieces wasn’t very large, it took her a little while to get it all down. Natalya smiles to herself. Not that she would ever smile if someone else saw. She wasn’t sure why she wouldn’t do that, but it somehow seemed unfitting for her character. One day maybe she could…

Her eye catches some movement. It takes another few seconds to identify what it actually is. She draws her pistol, flicks the safety off and fires of five-six rounds into the sky

¤ WAKE UP, MOVEMENT IN THE TREELINE

Due to the head start, the IS-3 has started moving before many tanks even have their engines running. Natalya had very clear intentions with what she was going to do. There was still not enough sunlight to fight in, and her tank was fitted with a very powerful LED light ramp. She was going to make sure they hit. The tank crawled away from the mass of vehicles, parked in a big ring

The crew, while all competent were unfamiliar with each other and were performing worse than the old crew did. Natalya did her best to fill in where someone else missed something, but she could only do so much

¤ Loader, Incendiary

In this day and age, no armor piercing was made for any 122mm guns in any relevant quantities. The old combloc countries had moved on to 100, 115 and 125 mm for tank guns, and while 122 mm guns were still used, they were all the low pressure howitzer type. So, while HEAT, HE-FRAG and such rounds were easy to get a hold of, normal AP rounds were extremely scarce.
Natalya had been fighting with this for a while. Her tank has not had more than 5 rounds of kinetic projectiles since the reactivation at any time. Chemical ones were plentiful though. And if the Incendiary round didn’t outright kill what she was aiming at, it would light it up. And if one of these creatures catch on fire amidst the night, it will attract a lot of attention

Not long after, the D-25T sang again. The propellant charges provided were russian made and spewed out a spectacular amount of black smoke. Due to the shape of the muzzle brake, almost half of the thick black smoke was pushed out to the sides. The rest went forwards, and got crowned by a spectacular flame, sending the projectile away at somewhere north of 2300 fps. Half a second later, the projectile slams into the side of a class 4, just where it’s front leg meets the body. But no matter how the impressive the firing was, the impact was an utter disappointment. It did absolutely nothing. Most likely a defective fuze, not that surprising made for something made in the soviet union in the mid 80s. This did however piss the creature off properly. It howled and screamed like a wounded animal and started moving straight towards the old heavy tank

¤ Armor piercing! Load! Load! LOAD!

The creature was rapidly approaching, screaming for vengeance. Natalya peeks inside the turret and sees that the round will not be loaded in time to meet the charging class 4. But just as everything else, war has its truths. And since the last great war, it has been known that if nothing else works, there is one thing that will work. Something that has killed thousands and once again thousands men women woman from every imaginable corner of the world for over three generations. Something that cares not for man, animal or extra terrestrial.
Natalya swung the Commanders hatch open and takes a firm grip on her third best friend in the entire world and pulls the heavy charging handle backwards and lets it go. The heavy spring sends it flying forwards and the entire gun jerks forwards from the inertia of the bolt. She repeats a little mantra to herself as she moves her finger to the butterfly trigger

¤ Fifty cal, your only pal…

The M2 lights up and starts spewing a stream of tracers against the charging creature. While not lethal in and of themselves, they did attract a lot of attention. Enough attention for this particular class 4 to be completely drowned in fire from the surrounding tanks. Natalya ordered the tank to rotate, illuminating another beast with the LED ramp, and sending half a belt of tracers its way. It succumbed to fire immediately

Moments later, a green flash and a blinding light hits the old warhorse by the front right idler wheel. Almost akin to a liquid being thrown at the armor, the glowing turquoise matter splashed off against the steel since it could not penetrate it, sending fragments or liquid or whatever it was flying in all directions.

The shock from the enemy attack shakes the tank, rattling around anything inside that wasn’t properly tied down. Like the crew.

¤ Everyone okay?!

‘I’m good!”

Gray is sounding more and more pissed off. Another voice, Mike’s, down from the driver’s seat saying he’s good.

¤ Are we loaded?

Natalya is almost screaming at this point, but despite her wrath, her cries go unanswered. The loader had hit her head on the inside on the turret and is lying unconscious, leaning against a rack of ammunition. Natalya’s eyes start glowing with rage as she ducks down in her own turret and slams the last AP round into the gun breech

¤ 15 left! 80 yards! Do NOT fucking miss!
And Grey didn’t miss. The 122 mm round finds it target, smack down along it’s forehead, along the neck and through the entire body and out between the rear legs. The creature was nothing short of split in half. A second round was not needed.

But there is no time for Natalya to feast her eyes on the gory mess that tried to attack her just a few seconds

The Conqueror was digging itself down deeper into the cold mud. Sont soon afterwards, its tracks were spinning uselessly. It takes a massive splash from an enemy attack to the turret, illuminating the tank for all enemies to see. The fire starts raining down on the stuck heavy tank from multiple directions. Anyone inside it must be in a very bad place.

And despite the fire from many tanks, one of the creatures managed to get around behind the stranded Conqueror. It was not going to stay alive for long

¤ Driver! Right turn, Full throttle! Gunner, gun 150 degrees left

The big engine picked up its pace, turning the IS-3 around and accelerating it towards the creature about to end its peer. With the gun slowly rotating backwards, out of the way, Natalya intended to turn her beloved tank into a 50 ton battering ram. The engine had almost twice the horsepower it had when it rolled out of the ChTZ factory in 1945. This meant it slammed an enemy of our planet at over 30 miles per hour.

It’s not until lunchtime Natalya is satisfied with how the cut in her forehead is stitched up. She was so disappointed with the stitches done by the nurse she cut them up and redid it herself. Not perfect, but it will hold up. Unless she slams her head into the hatch again. The battle died down shortly after the ram. Grey was doing okay, some bruises and a black eye from the gunsight, and Mike seemed to have taken the impact very well. Or maybe he didn’t want to complain.
Natalya was on her way back to her tank, to inspect any damage sustained, but she was halted by a doctor in an very appropriate looking white coat

‘Excuse me, you’re the commander of the russian tank, right?’
¤ Soviet, but yes
‘Could you come with me, please?’

Natalya nods with a slight concern on her face, and follows the doctor down into a field infirmary

Mike and Gray are there already and waiting, and in the bed in front of them, the fair, blond woman first found by Lily in the Panzer IV. She was clearly unconscious

‘She is a part of your crew?’
¤ She is, yes
‘Oh, good then, i was just filling out her papers, but i don’t know her name yet, could you tell me?’

¤ H-her name?

Natalya had been treating the At about that time, your little talk and practical demonstration with Jake Benson and your dearest Lily started to finish up. Just like she said she would, Lily hap spun the Jagdtiger around and hit a target the size of a car 2000 yards away, five times in a row.

Turns out Lily could actually aim the gun without even being inside the vehicle. She was however very keen on pointing out that she didn’t see through the gunsight, even if she did go a little quiet when asked how the hell she aimed the gun

>So, we have a deal then?
‘You cannot expect me to agree to your terms’
>Well, me an Anon will just leave you to find someone else to help you with your problems
‘But you are the only one in-’
>Exactly. It’s just me. Which means you are left with very little option but to take up my offer

The man goes quiet and looks at Lily and narrows his eyes

>Don’t even try that. If i meet her and find out you have been trying to force your shit on her…
‘I’d rather you not threaten me. I know you….
>Shhh. No need to go there. But i do suggest you accept my offer
‘I’m more than 90 years old and i am being threatened by a child’
>Ex-Wehrmacht child, if i may

The old man grumbles, scoffs and does many more noises to show how displeased he is

‘I’m giving a Nazi and a child the tools to become war criminals’
>Pfft. I did that way before you were old enough to wear pants. So, do we have a deal?
‘I only do this because i know you hate them more than you can hate people. Deal’
And thus, Lily had turned herself into the Queen of the process of making a second attempt with Caretakers. In return, she was given a lifetime supply of Jagdtiger parts, a few “presents” along with some other things.woman like little more than a prisoner of war. That is one thing, but, her name? She had just been called Loader. What was her name?
At about that time, your little talk and practical demonstration with Jake Benson and your dearest Lily started to finish up. Just like she said she would, Lily hap spun the Jagdtiger around and hit a target the size of a car 2000 yards away, five times in a row.

Turns out Lily could actually aim the gun without even being inside the vehicle. She was however very keen on pointing out that she didn’t see through the gunsight, even if she did go a little quiet when asked how the hell she aimed the gun

>So, we have a deal then?
‘You cannot expect me to agree to your terms’
>Well, me an Anon will just leave you to find someone else to help you with your problems
‘But you are the only one in-’
>Exactly. It’s just me. Which means you are left with very little option but to take up my offer

The man goes quiet and looks at Lily and narrows his eyes

>Don’t even try that. If i meet her and find out you have been trying to force your shit on her…
‘I’d rather you not threaten me. I know you….
>Shhh. No need to go there. But i do suggest you accept my offer
‘I’m more than 90 years old and i am being threatened by a child’
>Ex-Wehrmacht child, if i may

The old man grumbles, scoffs and does many more noises to show how displeased he is

‘I’m giving a Nazi and a child the tools to become war criminals’
>Pfft. I did that way before you were old enough to wear pants. So, do we have a deal?
‘I only do this because i know you hate them more than you can hate people. Deal’
And thus, Lily had turned herself into the Queen of the process of making a second attempt with Caretakers. In return, she was given a lifetime supply of Jagdtiger parts, a few “presents” along with some other things.
Long story short, Lily took a lot of advantage of her position and she was loving it. And she didn’t make herself more popular with the staff on the base when she explained she wanted compensation for any technical inspection for the Jagdtiger. And not even an hour later, all personal Items was removed from the old tank hunter and placed in a locked room, and Lily was shining like a sun when she walked out of the command building

With a credit card

>They hate me really much in there now!

She is however radiating happiness. The corners of her mouth are wide apart and high up, her eyes are happy, the way she talk is happy, her entire body language is happy

“You look happy”
>Oh yes! Guess what i’ve got us?
“Guessing with what you have there, money?”
>Yes! That and a three day weekend in the city!
“The city?”
>Washington!
“Washington?”
>It’s that, Richmond or Norfolk
“What. Sorry if i’m slow here”
>You think i’d let them do a full technical inspection of it for free?
“You know… I’m genuinely impressed here. So, we taking a train or something?”

Lily puts on a face that clearly shows you are doing something wrong

“Not a train then?”

Lily scoffs a little before pulling out a key from her pocket and jiggles it a little on front of you

>Parking lot A, space 212

Somehow, you end up up carrying Lily’s weekend bag as well, she looks at a little map scribbled on a little slip of paper. You soon arrive at a desolate corner of a massive parking lot. Lily doesn’t waste a second taking the cover of the car, and then just staring at it
“Lily… Of all imaginable cars, made from the year 1900 until now, i would have a hard time coming up with anything that would be less suitable for driving in the state the world in today”
>I kinda like it…. This is my kind of car
“It’s french”
>Ow… Well, it can’t be that bad
“Let’s put it this way. You have to be a Citroën specialist to make any sense of the hydraulics, a Maserati specialist to make any sense of the engine, and clairvoyant to make any sense of the electronics. And with the help of an internet connection, i can maybe be two of those”
>And i’ll be the third. Come on, honey

You laugh the worries away with Lily, and the stuff the boot full of luggage. Surprisingly, you find her in the driver’s seat.

>Can you read the map?
“Of course” you saying firing up the map application in your phone. “There is about 130 miles to Washington from here”
>And to civilized people that means…?

Lily giggles a little to make sure you don’t take offence or anything. Not that it would be an Issue with how happy she was.
“Alright Miss metric, 130 should be just over 200 km to people without freedom”

But just before Lily gets around to reply, a distinctive buzzing sound emerges from centre console. Luckily, it’s not the old car breaking down before the engine even has started running, it’s Lily’s phone

>Lily speaking

Her voice changed from happy, to concerned and angry as the call went on. Few minutes later she hangs up and puts the phone in her lap

>That was Natalya. We’ve missed some fighting. And i have to help her get new ammunition. The rounds she has now are pitiful
“You’re going to make her new ammo?”
>I am going to take the ones she has create hellfire
“Hellfire?”
>What is awful, begins with “N” and can set fire to sand, concrete and glass?
“Neither of those things are flammable”
>Not with that attitude. Anyway, let’s get going
The old coupe leaves the parking lot, sounding just like it did cruising down the french riviera in 1975. If it ever was there, of course. This gave Lily the opportunity to teach you about tanks. German ones. But as with germans…

“This is too damn confusing”
>No it isn’t! It’s very simple”
“So, the Jagdpanther, is the TD version of the Panther, right?”
>Yes, of course
“And it has the 88mm gun from the Tiger”
>Well, it had the 88mm gun, but not the one from the tiger
“What, but you said that the Tiger had an 88 and-”
>Dummkopf, there are two flavor of 88 mm guns. The shorter one, 56 calibers long was mounted on the Tiger. The longer one, 71 barrels long was the main armament of the King tiger, the Jagdpanther and the Hornisse Panzerjäger
“Wait, isn’t it Jagdpanzer? You said Panzerjäger just now”
>Different things. The Jagdtiger is a Jagdpanzer, it’s a tank that hunts. Panzerjäger is a non-tank that hunts tanks
“For the love of god, why can’t you just call it tank destroyer like normal people? Anyway, Back to the Jagdpanther, which is a tank destroyer version of the Panther, right?”
>Right
“That has the same gun as the King tiger, right?”
>No, King tiger had the kwk 43, Jagdpanther had the pak 43
“Augh…”
>What! I am trying to teach you here
"Sorry Lily, go on"
>Of course. Anyway, they are basically the same. Same mechanical things going on, same ammo and so on
“Good. But… the Jagdtiger isn’t a TD version of the Tiger”
>No, it’s based on the King tiger
“So was there no TD based on the normal Tiger?”
>No… but there was the Sturmmörserwagen 606/4
“What the fuck”
>Common name would be “Sturmtiger”. But it wasn’t a tank destroyer as such, it was an assault gun
“But… it wasn’t a gun”
>No, it was rocket launcher
“So it wasn’t actually an assault gun?”
>Hmm… that is a tricky category. For instance, some versions of the Jagdpanzer IV and the StuG IV was both made on the Panzer IV chassis, they had the same gun, similar armor and the same 300 hp, but one were designated a Jagdpanzer and one an assault gun, or Sturmgeshütz beca-
“Lily, please, i can only take so much”

Lily is like broken out of a trance, as if your words snap her back into reality

>Oh. Okay

She return to quietly driving the car along the big road. You exchange a few messages with Natalya who is looking for clues on the Ferdinand. And when Lily is focusing on the road, you can focus on her. Her wardrobe was… unflattering to say the best. Sure than panzerwaffe uniform made you a little weak in the knees, but it was hardly anything she could wear normally. And the rest was ill fitting, baggy or just very unflattering. And while that never was something you gave much thought while strolling around in an oily garage or inside an old fighting machine, but when going on a little weekend in a city, it felt a little off. The car did something similar to her as well. She needed something… To look pretty? Pretty-er?
However you couldn’t spend much more time thinking about that. You were approaching a massive line of cars. But the whole concept of waiting in line seems foreign to Lily. A quick flick on the indicator and she moves over to the lane very clearly designated for military personnel and transports only. In an amazing turn of events, none of the soldiers guarding the checkpoint were even interested in stopping the champagne colored coupe. Lily slowed down to about 30 and the bar was raised long before the car got there

“So, not only did you go in the wrong lane, but you were not even stopped. Mind giving me a heads up to what just happened?”
>If only you knew who actually owns this car

Lily turned over to you, smiling, as the V6 up front sang it’s way through third and then settled in for a hum when it reached cruising speed. And as it turned out, all checkpoints, everywhere ignored to even stop the car. Washington was just an hour away now


Many, many miles west and many hours later Miranda closed her laptop and neatly put it in a protective case. It was since long dark outside and she was alone in the tank. Natalya hinted that she was looking for the lost Elefant. Would she be given nukes if Lily could meet her friend again. Again? Had they met before?

Miranda didn’t know. And honestly, she didn’t care much. If she could get these warheads, she could show these persky M68 armed M60s that the A2 truly was the best version. A nuclear shell fired from a tank… now that would truly be something. Park about 6 miles away from what you want to mess up, put the gun at maximum elevation and, boom!

Miranda giggles to herself, thinking of nuclear burns and mushroom clouds
She was very happy with the progress she had done today. Another day or two of searching around and making calls and she might find it. Maybe. At the end of the day, it was a 65 ton machine, not like it would be easy to hide or anything. Right?

She even considered sending Lily a text message reporting her progress on the matter, but she decided to wait until the morning. It was late already, almost 11pm and Lily was most certainly asleep or busy. Miranda was right. Lily was busy

The next morning you walk down to a hotel breakfast, nothing short of gargantuan, with Lily in your hand. You spent last night at a little too expensive restaurant with her and then checking into a hotel. She may have gotten a little tipsy on red wine in the process. But this wasn't anything that would happen very often, so for this time it was okay.

And with a changed setting, a changed environment, Lily changed too. When there was just you and a sea of unknown people, she allowed herself to be a little more cling. Walk a little closer to you. She acted less like someone who fought next to you and more like someone who… loved you?

Just the thought of it makes you smile a little.

>what are these?

Lily is pointing at one of the dozen bowls buffet tables

“Those are chocolate cereal”

She scoffs

>Is nothing sacred anymore…
“You know what, you should try. Fill a small bowl and pour milk on it”
>I would never
“Brave words coming from someone who didn't want to shoot an M2. Remind me what you thought of it again?”
>Irrelevant. Chocolate should not be in breakfast
“Sounds like something a person who never had chocolate cereal would say”
>Americans…
Lily laughs a little and follows you to a well laid out table. The breakfast is way better than anything either of you has had in ages. A little too good as it turns out, since none of you could move when you were done eating
“So, Lily. We have today all to ourselves in the city. What do you want to do?”
>i’d like to go and see a tailor. While i very much like my uniform, it’s not particularly subtle

Lily was right. The red and black panzerwaffe uniform was incredibly not-discrete

“Okay, so what do you want to do with it?”
>Nothing at all. I’d like to see if he can make another one, in medium gray, most likely. I don’t like being in the vehicle in civilian clothes
“Right, so same stuff, just a little more subtle looking?”
>Exactly
“Alright… Then let’s find a tailor”

It did however take you some time to realize this isn’t the 1950s anymore and tailors are really an endangered species. It took some looking around on your phone to find even a single one that was open even after the start of the war. There was two of them that might work. Sadly, both of them were at least an hour of walking away. But Lily didn’t seem to mind much.

She had never seen a bigger city, or any city after the 40s. But her gaze was unlike that of a tourist. She wasn’t looking for good places to have a coffee or admiring the buildings. She was looking for ambush spots and maybe places to go hull-down.

>You know, i’ve wanted to ask something…
“Anything, hit me”

You receive a light punch in the shoulder and a little giggle
“Alright, miss literal, what would you like to ask me?”
>I figured this war is going to go on in other places a lot longer than in north america
“Probably, we have the big guns after all”
>Assume we arrive at the west coast with gore in the tracks and a gun covered in soot. What do we do?
“You are wondering if we should go looking for more trouble elsewhere?”
>If you want to, i’d follow you
“I don’t think we can decide that now. I think we’re going to know the answer when we get there. If we feel hatred, we could go looking for more trouble. And if we feel relief, we find some place to settle down i guess. Sounds good?”
>Yeah. But, we can’t do that before we’ve gotten me out of my... shell
“You know i’ll do anything in my power to help you. Just speak to me, okay?”
>We need… some things to make it work. While we have all physical items we need, we need a blessing
“A blessing?”
Suddenly, Lily goes red in her face, a rather out-of-character thing for her. Sure she could blush when you hit her with cheesy flattery or compliments, but you had done nothing of the sort. As far as you knew. Then, Lily stops dead in her tracks.

“Hey, are you okay?”
>Anon, it’s… just not right for me to say this but that blessing is like… us get-

Lily lowers her head and goes even more red. She is clearly embarrassed, and you can’t figure out why

“Like us what? Please Lily. I will try help you through everything, but you have to talk to me”
>Let’s just go, please

She turns away and starts walking towards the tailor. The rest of the walk is done in silence