Acceptance. Misunderstanding. Resolve.

A plush toy with a fox-like shape leaped through a window onto Mary’s moonlit bed. It bounced over to the opposite side of the bed where Lena sobbed into one of Mary’s pillows. The pillow was soaked with tears. The white and orange toy scrunched its face at the stench of sweat. Lena still hadn’t noticed it. The toy composed itself.

“Pssst. Hey. Hello.” A weightless voice barely escaped the toy.

Lena’s sobbing drowned out the words.

Of course speaking in this form wouldn’t work in this world. The toy pawed Lena’s arm.

She shook her arm to ease the discomfort, but the paw stayed put. Her eyes opened as she pulled back in shock nearly falling off the bed.

The creature lifted a paw over its face. “Shhhhhh. Calm down. I know I look different now, but we’ve met before, in the forest. Remember.”

Lena thought for a moment, her hand grasping a knife Mary hid from their parents beneath one of her pillows. “Oh. You’re that fun fox…” She wiped tears from her face. “From the day M…Mary d…d…” She started crying again.

The fox plush patted her head. “You don’t have to say it.” It kept patting her head until she calmed down. “I know Mary promised you she wouldn’t let anyone die, but how would you feel if she killed someone?” It tried to remove its hand but Lena held it against her head.

“She…” Lena composed herself as she wiped tears and snot from her face. “She already did. Before I was born.” She stared at the wall. “I… I don’t— If…if she did it to protect others I… I would want her to! Just like when she did it to protect mom.”

“Shhhhhh. The fewer people from Earth who know about me, the better.”

Footsteps could be heard outside Lena’s room. The plush froze. Lena released the knife and stuffed the toy underneath Mary’s pillow next to it.

“Is everything alright Lena.” Madeline knocked on her door.

“Yeahhhhh.”

“Okay. Just remember tomorrow is going to be a long day so you need to get some rest.”

Lena reached for the toy but it wasn’t there. “Why do you always keep disappearing?” She mumbled while pouting.

———————————————————————————————————————

Mary wrote ‘fast acting’ and ‘no visible effects’ in her notebook then produced a black crystal from one of her pockets. Cracks stretched outward from a circular hole placed in the symmetrical object’s center. A black aura seeped out of the crystal when she held it up to the setting sun. She returned it to its pocket where it clacked against the fifteen others exactly like it. She walked back into Jesper’s room which was now littered with brass scraps and various, metalloid pipes among other steambot parts. She looked at the various gramophone horns on his walls. ‘Vivi’ must not care about Jesper. Mary tossed Jesper’s head onto his bed as she walked towards the door, retrieving his sword on the way out.

“Mary…” Lena’s voice came from behind her.

She froze.

“M…Mary… W…why? How… How could you?”

Mary knew Lena wasn’t actually there, turning around would only lead to disappointment.

“Y..you promised Mary.” Lena started to cry. “You double pinky promised that you would do your best not to let anyone die!” Her crying turned to sobbing. “Yo…you… double… *sniff* …pinky promised.”

Mary closed her eyes.

“You promised you wouldn’t let anyone die and then you didn’t just watch as he died, you killed him!”

Mary let go of the doorknob and turned around. “I may have promised you that, but I already broke that promise in the worst way possible!” Tears leaked from her eyes. “SO WHAT RIGHT DO I HAVE TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH IT!?” Her own voice hung in the air. She winced and held her hand against her mouth. Jesper’s final, pleading look of fear now frozen on his pale face tore into Mary’s soul. She fell to the floor and stared at her hands. “Lena is not here, she can not be hurt by this, she does not need to know, Lena is not here right now, I already broke that promise, she does not need to know, if she does not know, I will not hurt her again…” Mary continued to repeat herself. She grabbed her legs. Her eyes forced open to keep her mind focused on what was in front of her.

———————————————————————————————————————

Grey clouds marched in as thunder could be heard in the distance. Wonderful. Cassius thought. He stood at the edge of a lake centered around a natural spring. A river fled from it and wound through Airesveil before splitting the forest in two. I won’t be able to stay here much longer. Fish of many different kinds dashed between the purples, greens, and blues of the lake plants. The sky darkened as clouds finished covering the sky. Only one other person remained at the lake. It was an elven woman with white hair who sat on a stone bench. Her head slumped forward as though she was asleep.

“Excuse me miss.” Cassius attempted to wake her up.

She flung her head back, resting it on a rock and stared at Cassius. Multiple strands of her hair fell into the water. She made no attempt to remove them from the lake. “Can’t you just leave already. I’m trying to get one more day of peace in before they get here.” She made no attempt to hide her irritation.

“I just thought you would like to know a storm is approaching. The rain should be starting soon.”

“No shit. I’m tired of running. Not gonna run from the rain, not gonna run from them. This bench is gonna be my last stand and I will make sure to give them hell.” Her face was the only thing about there that wasn't relaxed.

"Would you like to know a secret?"

"Only if its something that will help me." Her voice gave every indication she believed Cassius didn't have any relevant information.

Cassius leaned towards her ear then whispered. “Before I became temporarily unemployed, I was tasked with designing some buildings for a new town far to the East of here. Only a select few have been made privy to this information. Word is it’s a front for the Brass Armada’s next strike.”

The woman’s eyes went wide. “We could seriously f*** them over with that info.”

“I have already made my preparations to do so, altering them to suit an additional person would certainly make things easier and improve our chances, if you would be so inclined to join me.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you got is gotta be better than my plan, just don’t have me doing something lame.”

“We should get the best results if we leave now. I shall determine your role on the way.”
“Nope. We leave when I’m ready.” She stared up at the sky.
Rain poured onto them. Lightning flashed in the distance followed by a blare of thunder. Cassius sat next to the bench and waited.