Their team consisted of six people; the Director, Celind, three employees Tove hadn't met before, and Tove herself. They set a barricade at the mouth of the alley and then they lay at wait. Nothing else to do, really, than wait. At 2 Alaia and Ronja would leave the bait and after that it was just waiting. They didn't have a way to contact anyone else from here, although Illien had been left in charge of contacting the other planes every now and again to check if anything had happened, and he would report back to them when that happened, but for now...
Tove stood leaning against a wall and stared at the back of the alley. There was a graffiti on the back wall, one that she vaguely remembered noticing when she'd first woken up. It was a very intricate design, a lot of round shapes and circles. Like a really fancy Venn diagram.
"That's the mark of the Imp," said Celind and Tove turned to look at her. They were staring at the graffiti as well. "It shows up at all the locations it passes through often." Tove hummed. There was a short silence, and then, "It's really obnoxious. Like it knows that even if it marks where it crosses, we still won't be able to catch it! And it's true! We've set patrols and barricades here before, and it always manages to somehow slip from our grasp, and even send our people to other planes..."
Celind fell quiet. Tove put a hand on their arm.
"It's okay," she said, quiet, comforting. "We'll get it this time. I know we will."
Celind gave half a smile. "I hope so," they said.
A sensation in her mind, like a soft caress on the back of her neck, fingers just shy of touching her, and Tove was on high alert.
"It's here," she said and then a black rip appeared in the wall, shot out like a spiderweb and out hopped the Imp, small and black and in a hurry. It looked over to them and grinned. Tove leapt. So did it. She felt it's tiny form colliding with hers and she was confused for a moment, why had it jumped at her and not away, but then the world went black.
~X~
She didn't lose consciousness, of that she was sure. The world simply grew black behind her eyes and then she was in the void again. Inside her own head. And the Thing was there with her.
She'd had a feeling it would come to this.
Hello again, Tove, it said and Tove turned around to find the Thing there again. It still looked like Ulriika. She gritted her teeth.
"What do you want?" she asked. She was done playing games. The Thing didn't seem to mind getting right to the point.
To talk with you, it said, opening its arms wide. Inviting her in. She stayed still, crossing her own arms.
"Right, just 'talk', huh?" she said with a sneer. "What's your angle?"
We don't have an... "angle", Tove, it said. We just want to talk. We want to ask for your help, to invite you to join us!
Tove paused. She hadn't been expecting that. "Why would I ever want to do that?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. Something was weird... She didn't trust this thing one bit.
We have many powers, it said, like that was supposed to be a selling point for Tove. With us, you'd be uncontainable! Nothing could stop you. We can go wherever, do whatever. We can help give you home.
"Give me?" she asked. That didn't sound right.
We are not so different, you and us, Tove, it said. We told you, we are the ones who have no other place. You wish to go home, but tell us, where is "home"?
"I... back in Embärfjell," Tove said. She felt a bit confused. "Where my apartment is, and all my friends, and..."
This, it interjected, spreading the hem of the sundress, looking pointedly at Tove. This was your home. Your life, your Ulriika. But she's not there anymore. So, where is home now? Is it your lonely apartment, the work you pour all your energy?
"I'm not unhappy with my life!" Tove protested. "And I love my job! And I have a lot... I have a few friends, but they're good friends! I have a lot in Embärfjell."
But is it home?
"I don't-- I don't even know what you mean by that," she huffed. "That's so cryptic, like... of course it's my home! What other home would I have?"
The Thing cocked its head, gave her a smile. She realised what it was getting at.
"No, it's... It is my home," she said, suddenly very unsure about everything. Her head was spinning. She pressed a hand to the side of her face. "I'm-- Stop it," she said. She pointed at the Thing. "You're doing something weird, stop it!"
We aren't doing anything, it said. You are simply beginning to realise.
She looked at it, and from within, Ulriika looked back. And she remembered their life together, the date nights, the lazy Sunday mornings, the occasional fights. Cooking together. Doing chores together. Working together. The domesticity, the happiness.
She remembered when Ulriika had first gotten ill. The several visits to the doctors, the uncertainty. The bad news. The eventual hospitalization. And she remembered how, through all of it, all the hardships and the pain, how Ulriika had always remained bright and lively. How much she'd fought to put up that front, so Tove wouldn't worry even more,
She remembered what it felt like when she was finally gone.
"You're right," she said, a ghost of a laugh escaping her. "She was my home." The Thing began to step closer. She put up a hand to stop it. "But," she said and lifted her face to look at it, "she wasn't my only home. And she wouldn't want me to feel like I don't belong, and while I might have lost her, I haven't lost everything. I still have Ronja. I have my job, and my apartment. I have the memories of our life together. And now I have Alaia, and a whole bunch of weird people on plane 1 I'm only now getting to know."
She paused, looked at the Thing. It was watching her, listening. She smiled. It felt like her heart might burst.
"Yes, my home was about to collapse when I lost her. My life was in shambles. But I put it back together. And it's alright now. It's better. It might never be completely fine, but it's better. And I do have a home."
There was disappointment on the Thing's Ulriika-face, but also... understanding? A shame, it said. It hesitated, looked away. We truly believed... you would fit well with us.
"You're..." The Thing turned its eyes to her again, and this time they didn't seem quite so dead. "You're not going to like... force me or something?"
Why would we do that? It seemed genuinely confused, like the thought hadn't even occurred. If we are not in harmony, we cannot function properly. Joining you by force could disrupt our entire being and we would fall apart.
"That's... oh," Tove said. There was an increasingly awkward pause. "So, uh. What now?"
We suppose we need to bring you home, it said. It smiled, sadly. Since you are lucky enough to have one.
"Wait," Tove said and sweet Noivapii, was she staring to feel sorry for this thing. She cleared her throat. "I just wanted to ask you... why are you doing all those weird things?"
It blushed. The Thing blushed. What the fuck.
We... we were looking for sustenance, it said. But also... sometimes we just wanted attention.
Tove snorted. And slapped a hand on her mouth. And then burst out laughing.
Why do you laugh? it asked, cocking its head again.
"Because--" she tried between giggles. "Because this whole time we've thought you're some kind of dangerous monster that terrorizes people for the fun of it or something. We thought you were malicious."
It didn't say anything. Tove managed to get herself to calm down and then took a few deep breaths.
"What's your name?"
Our name?
"Yeah, you gotta have a name, right? I've been kinda calling you the Thing in my head, and I feel like that's not really... y'know."
Oh, well. We have many names. Most are forgotten already, though we have grown to calling ourselves Misceo.
"Misceo? That sounds nice."
You are the first one to ask us our name, Tove, it said. It makes us... happy.
"That's... nice," she said. This was getting kinda weird, wasn't it? She rubbed the back of her neck. "You think you could get me home now?"
Yes, of course.
"Oh, hey, why did you never take the people from plane 1 back home?"
They never caught me again. Now it's time for you to wake up, Tove.
Tove.
"Tove!"
The black washed back from over her eyes and Tove could see the world again. She was laying on the ground in the alley, being held in a half-leaning position against Celind, and the Director hovering worriedly over her.
"Tove!" Celind cheered and almost doubled over her in an attempt to hug her from their weird position. "Thank gods you're alright!"
"What happened?" Tove asked, rubbing her eyes. They felt very dry.
"The Imp appeared and jumped at you," the Director said. "It jumped planes again, but your eyes went black and you fell down, completely catatonic. You've been out cold for over an hour now."
"An hour??!" Tove screeched, shooting up into a sitting position. It had not felt like an hour. A trickle of magic ran down her spine. The crack appeared in the wall again.
"It's back again, madam!" one of the three guards shouted. They were staking out the back wall with long handled nets, ready to pounce.
"Wait!" Tove shouted. They all turned to her in surprise. The small figure appeared at the end of the alley.
Tove stood up and started walking towards it. It stood there, waiting. The guards were too stunned to take a swipe. When she got to it, she knelt and offered it her hand. It looked at it with its big white eyes, and then it jumped. She caught it, held it in her arms. The guards were even more stunned now.
"What in heaven happened to you just now?" the Director asked. Tove laughed.
"That's a bit of a long story," she said. "I'll tell you as we get back to the Consulate."
__________________________________________________________________________
SO. Hi. I'm cutting the last part into two. Because I didn't want it to be disproportionately longer than the others have been and it's already quite long and I still have two scenes to write and I don't want to like... skim over that stuff. It's important stuff. And I feel like this is a functioning whole as it is, so. I'm making the executive decision to leave the rest until the 25th. I don't like doing this kind of things usually, but I do really think that it can be better this way.
That being said, wowza all of that just happened, huh?? When I started writing, I had the beginning and a few lines and stuff and then it didn't go anywhere near where I thought it would! I was not expecting to turn the Thing into a sympathetic creature. Although, given my track record, I'm not really that surprised lmao
But yeah, there's one more part (sorry about that), that's coming out tomorrow at 8, see you then and happy holidays!! Bye!
Pie out.
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