Hello Everyone! Themusicmaniac here!

So I realized I need to jumpstart this story a little.

I am posting Chapter three alongside two so that I can get to the movie story itself quicker.

Anyway, Enjoy!


A day before they left for London, Ephraim approached Lilia. She hadn't gone outside, or really done much besides eat and read and sleep.

"If we're leaving, you'll need proper clothes. Not this." He gestured at her ensemble. Lilia stood up in mock shock.

"Really, I never would have guessed that my 21st century clothing would be distracting to the public!" She put a hand over her heart and pretended to faint. Ephriam shook his head.

The two had made up by now and had lived in relatively peaceful coexistence. Lilia mostly read and tried to learn more about the 1890s while Ephraim tried to fix the machine. And he was having oh so many issues.

The main problem was that he wrote down a wrong coefficient in creating the fuel for the machine. He was stuck trying to figure out what exactly he put in there the first time. He poured over his notes and still couldn't find out what it was.

The second problem was that Lilia broke one of the most delicate parts of the machine in trying to get out of it. It wasn't really her fault because she couldn't walk that well when she had suddenly turned into a mouse, but Ephraim had to move many many other parts to fix it.

And the last problem, and the most important one by far, was that he never put in an apparatus to denote time or location, or even the world of a subject. It was never something that he had considered. So, now he has to build a device that will not only tell him where the machine is picking things up from, but also is able to control where and when it goes.

Lilia was not happy in hearing about that one.

But, for now, there was another issue at hand: Lilia.

She knew nothing about Victorian England. She didn't even know how to get dressed. And Ephraim didn't really want to teach her.

He searched the attic of his house to find many of his mother's old clothes, but they were obviously not from the current line of fashion. It was all wrong.

He decided eventually to take her to a small tailor's shop (the tailor owed him for helping with a small fix in her sewing machine).

"Oh dear!" The mouse exclaimed when they walked in. "What kind of bicycling accident have you been in?"

Lilia tried her best not to react to that statement. She instead focused on a nice red dress in the corner of the room.

"Mrs. Butterfield, we need your help. I need you to tell no one about this."

"Why?"

The other two walked into the next room and Lilia heard some muffled talking until she heard a "WHAT!"

"You know what combinations are, right dear?"

"Combinations?"

"Oh dear, you really don't know." She pulled Lilia in and pushed Hiram out. "We'll be done at the end of the day. Don't come back until then."

"But I-"

Mrs. Butterfield slammed the door on Ephriam's face. He decided it would be best to prepare for other aspects of the trip.


"Remember how to put those on dear?"

"Yes." Lilia said, tired, and dressed in a wine red dress with a matching jacket and a black overcoat. Mrs. Butterfield wasn't kidding when she said this was going to take all day. There were so many layers- and worst of all, the "underwear" she had to wear was open at the bottom.

"Tell me one more time so I can make sure." Lilia sighed.

"Okay, so I put on the combinations, along with the garters, stockings and shoes." Mrs. Butterfield nodded, coaxing her to continue. Then I put on the corset. I tie it, not too tight, from the middle. The ties go into the back. I also put on the butt pad."

"It's called a bustle, dear."

Lilia laughed.

"Butt pad." She smiled mischievously. "Then I put on the petticoats. Then the red skirt. Then the blouse?"

"Yes."

"Then I put on the gold vest. Then the red one. Then the coat. I do the hair before I get dressed, but after I get dressed I put the hat on with these." She held up a hat pin. They looked a lot more like head skewers to her, but who was she to judge?"

"Yes!" She said, "And now, it's time for you go into the world and show them what a sophisticated lady you are." Lilia frowned at this. She honestly didn't care about appearances. She was more doing this to avoid the stares other mice gave her when they saw her own appearance. She didn't really want to stand out.

"Where are my old clothes?"

"Right here." She handed her the folded clothes, leading her out the door. "And here's Ephraim!"

"I've got everything in…"

"What?"

"You look like a lady and everything! OW!" Lilia slapped him in the face.

"I was a lady BEFORE I got the fancy dress." She said, as Ephraim paid (it was a favor, but Ephraim still wanted to be fair,) Mrs. Butterfield for her services.

"I didn't mean anything by that you know." He said as they walked out the door.

"Really?"

"I just… you look beautiful, what else was I going to say?" Lilia stayed silent for a second.

"Something a little more becoming then implying that I didn't look "to your standards" for being a lady. That's all."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

"I forgive you."

More silence followed.

"Did you know that women had holes in their underwear? It's so awkward!" Ephraim blushed deeply,

"Don't talk about that in public!"

"What?"

"They're your undergarments! Surely you have some societal wherewithal not to talk about undergarments in public!"

"I suppose." she said nonchalantly. "But they feel so weird!"

"Let's talk about something else." Ephraim said, avoiding eye contact with Lilia. "If we leave at sunrise tomorrow, we can make it to my brother's house by 8 in the evening. We'll have to catch a ride on a carriage that is heading there. Luckily, there is a human next door who rides into London every few days. We need to catch the carriage at sunrise. Otherwise, we will not be able to go to London for a few days."

"Anything else?" Lilia asked.

"Everything seems to be set in order…" Ephraim stopped, looking somber. "One more thing. You shouldn't mention Mrs. Flaversham around them. She died two years ago. It was a sickness that just wouldn't go away."

"I'm so sorry." Lilia said.

"It's not your fault. It isn't anyone's fault really. It's just…"

"It takes a long time to heal from something like that."

"Yes." He said, nodding. "And we… we all haven't had that time yet."

"I understand." Lilia said.

"Now, let's get home shall we?" Ephraim snapped back into his regular mood. "We have a little time to work on the machine before we get to sleep."

"We?"

"Well, I figured it was high time you helped me. I should've let you before, I was just kind of afraid because I never let anyone touch my machines."

"Never?" Lilia asked.

"Well, I let my brother." He shrugged and looked down towards the ground. "He always had an eye for such things. But after we fought…"

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Lilia said, as they approached Ephraim's house.

"It's alright." Ephraim said quickly, "I guess I just haven't had anyone to talk to in a while." Lilia frowned as they both approached the machine.

There was still so much to be done. But tomorrow…

Tomorrow was what Lilia was really worried about.


Okay, so I know this was basically just a chapter about historical dress.

But, I feel like Lilia legitimately would have to be taught how to wear Victorian clothing, as well as given some, because she'd stand out in Victorian London.

Also, I find historical dress really fascinating.

Next week: To Baker Street!

Thank you for reading and have a great week everyone!