it's time to show the world your _____

Zane posted notices around the city late at night, but otherwise had little time to get the word out about Effie’s speech. At the pier, armed with a single crate and a wish, She waited, watching curious eyes peer at her, peer into her heart.

She established herself as part of the Dockworker’s Union from the start, but Effie spent so long lurking in the shadows that most people either didn’t think much of her or assumed she took a backseat to the whole operation. Which was true, yes, but that was why she came here. To change that.

Lucian stayed at the inn to avoid unwanted attention—even the walks last night earned many unsavory glances. Zane pulled his cloak up to avoid being spotted while Shay gave Effie a thumbs up; being the most unrecognizable of them all he stayed in the open. A few people glanced their way, maybe even people who saw the flier, but no one dared to approach Effie first.

It’d be her duty to take control of everything.

Effie took a deep breath, and jumped on the box. “Excuse me! Everyone! I… I have something I need to tell you all.”

A couple people stopped. Most moved on with their lives, while Effie fiddled with the seams of her overalls. She bit her lip and stopped talking.

“C’mon, Effie, don’t you dare give up already…” Zane muttered, waiting.

“It has to do with the union meetings… that I helped hand out fliers for, and talked up and stuff. Somewhere along the way—no, right at the start, I wasn’t sure I… I…”

Silence, again. Frustration pooled in Zane’s stomach, but he knew he couldn’t say a thing. Not unless he wanted to ruin this for her.

“Hey, c’mon. Stop stuttering and speak your mind.” A woman laughed. “Wasn’t so hard when you tried to strong-arm me into following you.”

“Is that…?” Zane stared. The same woman that’d been fired on the spot threw a tissue at Effie, who caught and unfolded it. Whatever was inside, it made Effie freeze.

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She folded it and put it in her breast pocket, before balling her hands into fists.

“I wasn’t sure if I was good enough. I only worked at the docks because I know my parents did, and I just thought—it’d be good enough. But it’s not good enough for anyone, and everyone’s too scared to take risks! You all have families relying on you, but I don’t have anything to lose. I spent years eating bread in a box under the bridge, so what’s a few more? What’s an entire life of misery if it means helping the people I love?”

A few more people stopped, watching. A couple cheered her on.

“That was why I wanted to start a union! I wanted us to work together, to make something better out of all the shit handed to us! But I didn’t have the courage to stand on my own two feet. I begged someone else to help me, and now everything’s going sideways, but it was me all along! I just… whenever I tried to give a speech and say something of value, my throat closed up. I didn’t care if I failed myself, but I was afraid I’d fail you guys, and that was worse than anything in the whole world.”

More and more people stopped by. Familiar faces, Zane noted, from previous meetings. Zane and Shay stepped back, and a crowd filtered in to take their places.

“But I won’t be afraid anymore! I’m taking ownership of everything I’ve started! And if me relying on people you don’t like because of a stupid article and some awful circumstances makes you hate me still, then fine! But we didn’t form this union to split people apart—I made it to bring us together! To protect the only family I’ve ever actually had!”

She squeezed the tissue in her hands, crinkling it. Though some cheered her on, a young woman pushed through the crowd, pen notched over her ear while she clutched a notebook to her chest. She swiped and clicked her pen, her deadliest weapon as she pierced Effie with a knowing gaze. “So you did show up.”

Effie stopped. She shoved the tissue in her pocket, staring down the woman. “What’re you here for? Come to find another stupid scoop?”

“Scoop… so you know my work?” she laughed. “Sorry, hun. But when something bad’s brewing in town, it’s the press’s job to bring it to light. Like you allying with enemies of the church for your home grown terrorism.”

“Is it so wrong to want something better? Tell me, have we done a single thing wrong!?”

“You’re platforming criminals. Individuals that have been prosecuted for serious crimes.”

“Like?”

The woman smiled, happy to take the challenge. “A conspirator to a dangerous ex-cult leader. A criminal who attempted to destabilize the order of the continent. And a Dwim from a secluded city that’d be happy to see Orie burn. Need I go on, or have I made my point clear?”

Zane winced from their less than flattering descriptions. He was happy to own his, but Lucian’s and Shay’s were plain—

“That’s unfair! You can’t twist the worst of someone’s actions and act as if that’s the truth!”

Angie raised a fist. “The boys I saw didn’t look like hardened criminals to me. Besides, if you held us all accountable for where we were born or what we did as kids, you might as well call everyone evil.”

“Besides, Shining Beacon were sending thugs to stop Effie, and those guys actually protected us.” Someone else from the crowd voiced his agreement, head held high. “Say whatever you want, but if Effie trusts them, so do I.”

Of course that wasn’t a sentiment everyone agreed to. Many voiced their disapproval, though the many soon crumbled into some, then to few as more and more people crowded around Effie with support.

Many of them, Zane realized, were dock workers. People at the core of her cause. The reporter barked and complained, but even she lost airspace and had to pull back.

Effie couldn’t rebuild all she lost overnight. But with the cheering, with the excitement, with pure faith backing the young woman who only wanted a better world, this seemed to be a better start than anything Zane tried to cultivate.

Without needing to busy himself with Effie’s work, Zane planned to build something new—a counterattack.