"Remember, Miss O, how we met at the soterika.biz Cyber-Chat-Cafe, battling those distractors who blocked our every effort to share knowledge with people? Recall how when the Belgian would appear online, posting as Estella Themis, we would defer to her and allow her to speak of voices and visions and salamanders ad nauseum? This dream is a warning for we know her true name is Lacroix, or La Croix or...however she spells it now, probably as does the famous designer, Heaven forbid. Be wary and on guard and let's find that Flemish master sooner than later."
"Gods, Duke, this is serious, for my former friend is no esoteric lightweight. I shudder to think what will happen if Maddie uses the knowledge to write a crappy novel about twin souls or something similar...blech."
"Should you call Madeline and confront her - do you really think she is hiding some letter by an anonymous master at the Hague? And who is this LOL person, really? She sounds a bit daffy, darling."
"When I first 'met' LOL at soterika.biz, I had a feeling Maddie was up to no good because she all but practically ignored me for months while she courted the mysterious maven who went by the code name Lady of the Lake. It's a long story, but eventually the three of us ended up becoming friendly, trading information and attempting to create a collection of esoteric information that people could access from their computers. The project failed, however, when the dirty three letter word, ego, got involved - Maddie was hell-bent on winning some silly soterika.biz contest to prove she was the Queen of the Occult, and even though I knew the answer, I said nothing and let her post the entry that took the prize. What a mistake that turned out to be, because ever since being crowned the star, she copped more attitude - as though she is entitled to lord her distorted view of occult history over any and all who will listen...or not."
"You sound a little bitter, my dear. I've rarely seen you get so agitated - calm down."
"Just remembering the numerous put-downs pisses me off," Olivia blurted out. "Maddie wrote to several people that I was her lapdog and handmaiden - when I eventually found out, those remarks really hurt. I thought I had forgiven her, but I guess I haven't. Then, she got into an argument with LOL about the Egyptian temple of Luxor and forbid me to speak to her ever again - which was ridiculous - I most certainly continued to email someone I considered to be a lot more interesting than an egomaniac. "
