A December Tale

To anyone who found their way here looking for Neil Gaiman's Calendar of Tales: I'm sorry to disappoint you. This is just a random person online taking his idea and his questions, and doing her own Calendar of Tales. You're more than welcome to stay and read my story too, if you have a few minutes to spare, though I have to warn you, I am definitely no Neil Gaiman.

Here's how this works: I asked a question. People answered the question. I used one of the answers to write a short story based on it. And then I put it up here in the off-chance someone wants to read it. And because having a public deadline is the only way I get writing done, apparently.

I want to say one thing about this one before I start. For most of December I was busy with work and The Trouble with Time, which took basically all of my writing capacity between November 26 and December 26. And after writing the epilogue for that I proceeded with actively avoiding writing this for almost four full days, because if I'm honest, this isn't what I wanted to end the year with. I'm not saying it isn't a fitting story to end 2020 with. Just not one I wanted to end it with.

But it is what it is, and eventually the deadline got too close and I had to put some words on paper (by which I mean screen) if I wanted to have anything out by the end of the month.

Anyway. I've decided to continue writing these monthly stories in 2021 also, this time with questions that aren't borrowed from Neil Gaiman. If you have any suggestions for questions, I'll be happy to hear them. I only have a couple questions decided on so far.

Now, finally, let's get to the story.

Happy New Year everyone :)

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Who would you like to see again in December?

Most anyone (Answer from Kide)

 

I always knew moving across the country for a job wouldn’t be easy. I knew I didn’t know anyone in town, or even at a decent distance. I knew getting to know people as an adult is somehow one of the hardest things about being one, not to mention getting to know them well enough to comfortably and without a thought call them friends. But when a literal dream job calls, you take it and figure out the rest as you go.

I’m walking through freezing rain, on my way home from work. The sun has set three hours ago and the backpack full of groceries is weighing me down, heavier with every step. The last two blocks seem to stretch out endlessly, but finally I’m at my door. My hand finds the light switch in the now-familiar spot on the left side of the door and light goes on right before the door closes behind me and shuts me in the dark of an empty apartment. I kick off my shoes and leave them by the door before walking into the kitchen, the only light streaming in through the door. I drop my backpack on the table, go back to the hall, take off my wet coat and hang it to dry, and return to the kitchen to put the groceries away.

I should call my mom, I think as I begin preparing dinner for myself. I haven’t called her all week. Or maybe it’s been almost two? It’s hard to keep track of time sometimes, with the still relatively new job taking up all space in my mind during the days, the evenings mostly following the same pattern.

The scent begins to float up from my slowly heating pan and my stomach grumbles. I had a particularly tricky job at work today, but I think I managed to do it well. So today I’m celebrating a job well done with some of my favorite food. I’m already smiling at the thought of it, even though the only thing sizzling in my pan so far is onion and garlic. More ingredients go in, the scent changes, and I’m more than ready to eat.

As my dinner gets closer to being done I switch on my laptop and send Anne a link to a video call. A few minutes later I’m sitting down with my food and she appears on the screen.

“Hey, so what are we celebrating?” I can practically hear in her voice how busy she is, but still somehow she wants to make time to chat with me at least once a week. There’s a three-year-old making his way from one end of the room to the other behind her, clutching as many toys as his tiny arms can hold.

“Me being great at my job,” I grin at the screen and start telling her of my day..
We get a full ten minutes before some disaster or another strikes her (it always does, and usually it doesn’t have anything to do with the toddler. That’s just how her life has always been), and she needs to hurry off.

“You should come visit some time,” I tell her before she goes. It’s not the first time I’ve said it. It won’t be the last. “I’ve lived here long enough that the apartment’s in order, and there’s room enough for all of you to stay for a few nights.”

“We definitely will. Soon,” she promises, and then I’m alone again.

I put on my favorite music and enjoy my marvelous dinner. For a moment I wonder about whether I should have gotten a shared apartment when I moved here, just to have someone around for longer than a few minutes on a screen. But no. Been there, done that. I know having a housemate just doesn’t suit me. I don’t want the hassle of dealing with labeled or shared foods or cleaning turns or someone making noise inside the apartment when I’m trying to sleep. I’m happy living alone, and while I know it would be nice to have company sometimes, I also know myself well enough to know sometimes is the key word there, and having someone around constantly would drive me crazy.

(Well, strictly speaking that last one is a lie, but it’s not a housemate I want around.)

I clean away my dinner dishes, but I’m too lazy to do anything about them right now, so I simply leave them on the kitchen counter to wait for a time when I’m feeling more productive.

And then the best part of the day: I curl in the corner of the couch with a blanket - I’m still cold from walking home in the chill and damp - and pick up a book. I’m not very far into this one yet, but I have a feeling it might become one of my new favorites. Or not. Realistically it’s too early to tell. What I do know is that it pulls me in stronger than most other books I find myself reading, and that alone is worth something. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the story is coherent or that the ending makes sense, but I don’t think a book can be really good unless you can’t wait to have time to continue reading. Some books manage to keep you reading, you keep turning pages until it’s way past the time you were planning on going to sleep, but once you put them down you don’t feel a particular pull to pick them up again.

Two hours later my phone beeps, its sound pulling me from the book. It’s a message in a group chat. Mike’s asking if someone else is bringing chips to the movie night they’re having in two days. I think of removing the chat from my phone. I live too far away now to take part in any socialising with them, and most of everything that’s going on in the group is not very interesting even if you’re in the same city as everyone else. For someone else the familiar chatter of messages might be comforting in a new city, but it only makes me feel lonely and like I’m missing out. Most of the people in the group aren’t people I’d necessarily choose to hang out with on my own, but not being able to go to group nights means I also won’t see the few of them I’d actually like to see. I miss them, but there’s nothing I can do about that right now. Maybe I won’t delete the group quite yet. If for no other reason, then to kind of keep in touch with the people, even if most of the messages are more of an annoyance than anything else.

I push it out of my mind and go back to my book. Well, I try to go back to my book. The floodgate of messages in the chat is now open, and they keep pouring in, making it impossible to focus on reading. I mute the group. I really, really do not right now have the energy to care about what’s going on in a different city without me. But the muting doesn’t help much. I’m distracted now. So instead of going back to the book I scroll through social media absentmindedly.

Johanna’s had a baby. Ben posted a picture that made me laugh out loud for a bit, even though I’m alone. Matilda got accepted to a school she’s wanted to go to for years but hasn’t managed to get in. Noa has moved to a town about an hour away from where I now live. I’m genuinely surprised. The last time I saw him he was determined to never move anywhere this north. I think of commenting my congratulations to Johanna and Matilda. I think of liking Ben’s post. About sending Noa a message to see if he wants to get together sometime, since he is now much closer than anyone else I know.

I don’t do any of those things. These people used to be good friends, a long time ago. But we’ve since drifted apart and I haven’t heard of most of them in years, other than seeing their posts on social media. I haven’t interacted with them in enough time that it feels weird to start again, even if it’s just to congratulate them on a baby. Even if I truly am wondering how they’re doing behind the façade people build themselves online.

I go back to my book for another blissful hour. But eventually my fingers itch for my phone again. Maybe someone has sent me a message, and I’ve simply missed it. I check. They haven’t. Of course they haven’t. No one ever does. I miss the time when we had an almost constant though slow stream of messages going back and forth with Anne, planning where to meet next and what to do two weekends from now, or whatever. But I live in a different city now. There’s no constant planning for meeting any more, because we’re not meeting every few days. I think about sending her a message anyway, but I know she’s busy. She’s always been busy, but she’s gotten even busier recently. I already talked to her today. I’ll talk to her again tomorrow.

I have a little bit more food and watch TV for a half an hour, then take my book and crawl into bed, even though it’s still a while before I’m going to sleep. I’m clearly not going to do anything other than reading anymore today, so I might just as well read comfortably in bed.

Instead I end up lying there, staring at my phone. I’m generally comfortable alone, but especially lately, when it’s been impossible to see anyone I know (my new coworkers don’t count, not yet at least. I don’t know then that well), I find myself wanting to talk with someone. I keep hoping one of the handful of people I feel like are my friends sends me a message, just to say hi, but they don’t, because of course they don’t. While staring at the phone I see Chris appear online.

I haven’t really heard from him since I moved. We’re in the same group chat or two, and it’s not like he’s silent there, but that’s about it. Even before the move almost all of our interaction was within the context of our friend group. I’ve talked to him alone a few times, mostly relating to some event coming up or about arrangements for something, but not for a while now. My thumb hovers over his icon, trying to decide if I should send him a message, just to have someone to talk to. Other people are online, of course, but of the available options for conversation partners I’d pick him, easily.

After some hesitation, I click the chat open and start typing. Delete. Type. Delete. Type. Delete. I want to talk to him, but I can’t think of anything to say. Hi or hey or hello or even a cringe-worthy good evening would get the conversation started, but then what? The conversation is bound to turn awkward almost instantly. It’s easy to talk to people when you have something specific to talk about, some reason you’re sending them a message, but when you want to chat just to chat?
I have no idea how to do that. I can never think of anything to say. At least not anything that makes any sense. There’s always small talk, but that’s almost worse than not talking at all. It’s useful when you’re meeting someone for the first or second or fifth time, because there really isn’t that much you can talk about with a stranger. But with people you know better than that the polite platitudes of small talk make me feel like I’m supposed to be talking with someone, but instead I’m slipping farther away from them with every given and received answer that tells you less than nothing.

Unable to find anything sensible to say I push the phone away and take up the book one more time. I refuse to let myself be distracted by messages that no one is sending me, and read until I’m too tired. My bed is one of the most comfortable places in the whole apartment, big and soft and warm, but tonight the usually well-loved spaciousness feels like emptiness instead.

As I drift off to sleep I find myself wishing I wasn’t quite so alone in it.

The Trouble with Time, Epilogue

Alice comes awake slowly. Her bed is the coziest, most comfortable thing in the world, and the bright light of a snowy winter morning is turning the insides of her eyelids red. For the first time in a year she doesn't feel like time is the enemy, that it's slipping by faster and faster just to cause her trouble. For the first time in a year she feels like sleeping has actually made her less tired.

She squirms a bit, hoping to find a spot where her eyes would be in a little bit more shade. She can't find one, so she reluctantly gives up on sleep and opens her eyes. For the first time in a year Vanessa's face is right there, so close to hers. She smiles to herself, her heart aglow and soaring, too big to fit in her chest right.

She simply lies there for a while, watching Vanessa sleep next to her. She takes in the curve of her jaw, the shape of her mouth. The curls of her ear. The handful of freckles over her nose and cheeks, so light you don't necessarily notice them until you notice them. The way her red, untied hair flows around her, the color seeming even redder than usually in the morning light. She loses herself in those familiar features for an eternity.

Vanessa stirs, blinks, sees Alice there, looking at her. She closes her eyes again, smiles a sleepy, happy smile and cuddles close. And they stay there for another eternity, warm and snug and happy and together, and nothing else in the world matters. Alice can feel Vanessa's heartbeat, pulsing against her arm, and she smiles. She is soft and warm in her arms, and fits there so perfectly all Alice can do is marvel.

And then Vanessa stirs again, breaking their perfect little bubble, and sits up. She looks at her, feeling a pang of disappointment, as she pulls her sleep-messy hair up and into a loose bun.

"We don't have to get up, you know," she tells her. "No one is expecting anything of us today. We can just stay in bed."

"We could," Vanessa admits. "But I need to pee." She grins. "And I'm starving."

The look on Alice's face must be something as she realises there's probably no food in the house, or if there is it's probably gone bad a week ago, because Vanessa laughs at it, delighted. She hadn't known how much you can miss a sound until she hears that laugh.

"We can go get some," Vanessa assures her and bends down to kiss her. "We have all the time in the world now, to do anything we want to. I don't really care what it is we do. As long as we do it together."

She vanishes into the bathroom, and Alice stays in their bed for a little bit longer, savoring the moment, the smell of Vanessa on the sheets.

Then she gets up, ready for whatever the rest of their lives will throw at them, because whatever it will be, as Vanessa said, they will do it together.

The Trouble with Time, Part 2.25 - Reclaim

"Preposterous!" the King scoffs. He glares at Kevin. He glares back. "You can't just... change your name! That's not how it works!"

"And yet, I can speak once more," he says. "Cadeyrn av Oberon died seventy years ago, and you are the one who killed him."

The King grits his teeth. Alice takes a hesitant step towards him.

"Kevin," she says and he turns his attention to her. "What do you mean, the box is empty."

"I mean the Heart was indeed in that box when we found it, but it is not there anymore," he says. The King is fuming silently. "The box is iron, which means a Fae can't touch it with their bare hands. So I took it out."

"Isn't that cheating!?" she exclaims.

"It has not been reclaimed," says Vanessa. "Just relocated. But... where did you put it, to keep it alive outside the box?"

Kevin places his hand on his chest. The second heartbeat in his chest echoes out of him, filling the clearing with it's steady rhythm.

"Oh," says Alice.

She walks over, her steps slow and deliberate, almost like she's in a trance. She lifts her hand to his chest. Her finger touches the front of his shirt, a barely there whisper.

BABUMP

He takes a deep breath, steels himself against the pain.

BABUMP

A warmth spreads from the point of contact, a pulsing ache following it.

BABUMP

It feels weird as the Heart pushes through. It leaves behind it a throbbing emptiness.

BABUMP

He gasps as the weight drops from his chest. She gasps as it falls into her hand.

BABUMP BABUMP

The Heart is reclaimed.

BABUMP BABUMP BABUMP BABUMP

Vanessa gasps, grips the front of her coat. Alice curses under her breath.

"It's okay, Nessa," she says as she hurries to her side with the Heart. "I've got you!"

Vanessa is doubled over, breathing hard. Alice kneels next to her, holds up the Heart. She pauses. A wave of panic washes over her features.

"What... what do I do?" she mutters. She whips her head around, looks at Kevin with wide, desperate eyes. "What do I do?!"

He is at a loss of words. He... he doesn't know. They've gotten this far, he didn't think there would be any more problems! Vanessa is looking worse by the second, her breathing labored.

The King laughs. "Well now!" he says, grinning like a maniac. "I might've lost my new playthings, but at least I get the satisfaction of watching one of them wither up and die."

"You really suck, did you know that?" Sam says.

"Putting a Heart into a Fae, that's simple," he continues, ignoring them completely. "But putting a Heart back into a human..."

"Sam, can you do something?" Kevin asks, grabbing a hold of their sleeve. They shrug apologetically.

"I do have stuff for an emergency operation, but... I don't think even I can put a Heart back like this. Not fast enough anyway."

"No... No!" Alice shouts. "I refuse! I will not end like this!"

"Um, Alice..." Sam starts, but she cuts them off.

"No!" she screams. Tears are welling in her eyes. She's clutching the Heart close to her chest, holding Vanessa close with the other arm. "No, no, no!"

"Alice!" She stops crying, looks at them. "Your pocket is glowing."

She sniffles, glances down. A soft light emanates from her pocket and she slowly slips her hand in. She pulls something out; a small vial with a glowing substance inside.

"Where did you get that?" the King asks. His voice is thin and his face is pale.

"She gave you a bottle of Starlight?" Kevin whispers, more to himself than her.

She stares at the bottle. Nothing else exists for her at that moment but it and Vanessa. She takes a deep breath and pops the lid of the vial.

All the light escapes. It bursts out like an explosion and surrounds the two of them. It dances around them, a gentle ebb and flow as it circles them. The Heart starts to glow. Vanessa's chest starts to glow.

Alice whispers something under her breath, too far and too quiet for anyone else to hear but her and Vanessa. Vanessa smiles. She smiles too.

Then she presses the Heart to her chest.

All the light congregates into the Heart, like an implosion, and for a moment it's too bright to look. When the light finally subsides, the Heart is gone and Vanessa is breathing easier. Slowly color starts to return to her cheeks. She smiles.

"Thank you," she says. Then she kisses Alice.

Kevin can feel himself relax. Weeks, if not months of tension sliding off of him and suddenly it's all he can do to not start crying. The relief is short lived of course, when a slow clap makes the King known once more.

"Congratulations, girls, you have beaten me," he says. He doesn't look happy about it, but neither he or his men have made a move to stop them.

"And now we can go," Alice says. She sounds only slightly hesitant.

"Sure, of course," he says. "A deal is a deal, after all. Go on, get out of here."

He looks at Kevin, grins. A shiver runs down his spine.

"Get going then," the King says. "I'll find someone else to play with once you're gone."

"Damien..." Kevin breathes. There's twinge in his heart when he realizes he basically forgot about Damien.

He's still on the ground, though he's sat up at some point. His hands are folded on his lap, tied together at the wrists. He shifts when he hears Kevin say his name, but he doesn't look up, his eyes downcast. 

"What are you going to do with him?" Kevin asks.

"I don't know yet," the King says. "But it won't be pleasant, I'll tell you that."

Kevin grits his teeth. Glares at him.

"What do you want?" he asks.

"The real question is, what are you willing to give?" A wicked grin spreads on the King's face. "For the life of the man who showed you the ugly truth of the world? The one who corrupted you, the took you away from me and your family?"

Each word stabs him in the heart, again and again.

"The man who ripped you from your comfortable life and basically turned you into a fugitive." The King pauses, gives him a pitying look. "The man you used to love?"

There is a heavy lump in his throat. He can't look him in the eyes anymore, can't look at anyone.

"Tell me, do you think he loved you back?" the King asks, pouring salt into wounds. "It seems he's been working with Vanessa for quite a while, but he didn't deem it necessary to come see you... Almost like he doesn't actually want to see you..."

"Just shut up. already!" Sam scoffs and grabs a hold of Kevin's shoulders. He hadn't realized he was shaking until their hands steady him. "Focus, Kev. He's trying to rile you up."

He takes a shaky breath. His head is pounding.

"Be that as it may..." the King says, giving Sam a dirty glance. "What are you willing to give, Cadeyrn? Oh, excuse me, of course I mean Kevin."

Something shifts in Alice, but Kevin is too distraught to notice. His mind is racing, all the feelings muddling up. Rationality tries to scream at him, but it's drowned out by the overwhelming guilt. What is he willing to give? He doesn't know... Alice's willingness to do anything for Vanessa has been inspiring, but he's not sure he has what it takes...

"Could I..." Alice's voice cuts through and brings him back to present. "Could I make a deal for him?"

Everyone is silent for a moment.

"Alice, no," he says. "You can't do that."

"You just got out of your previous deal, and now you want to jump right into another?" the King asks. He sounds amused. "Aren't you a feisty one."

"Is that a no?" Alice asks. He barks out a laugh.

"Go ahead, tell me what you're thinking," he says.

"Alice, are you sure...?" Vanessa whispers, holding tight onto her shoulders. She gives her a reassuring nod.

"You said that names hold a lot of power here," she says. The King's eyes widen a bit. "Does that include human names?"

"Yes, of course," he says, trying to keep his voice level. "Not as much as a Fae's name over them does, but a decent amount none the less."

"Alice, please," Kevin says. Can't go and sell her name to the King, not now! Not after they just got Vanessa back! Not for his sake...

"Okay, here's my offer," Alice continues, ignoring his pleas. "I will give you the name that my parents gave me, if you promise to not bother us four, Vanessa, Kevin, Sam, and me, or Damien ever again. You or the members of your court."

"That's a high price for the name of a nobody human," the King says.

"I beat you in your own game," she says with a shrug. "So not much of a nobody any longer."

He considers it. Kevin's heartbeat is loud in his ears. Could... could this work?

The King looks Alice up and down. She keeps her stance and gaze steady, which Kevin gives her immense credit for.

"You know what," the King says with a sly smile. "I'll take you up on that deal. Come on then, Kevy, come get your man."

Kevin blinks, glances between the King and Damien. He takes a step forward, but when no one else makes a move, he sprints across the clearing and kneels by Damien.

"She just committed suicide," Damien is muttering. "She committed suicide, and you just let her."

"Shh, Damien," he murmurs. "It's going to be fine."

He pulls out a pocket knife and cuts the bindings on Damien's wrist, before slipping his arm over his shoulders and hoists him up.

"You let her..." his voice is small and broken. Kevin hushes him, starts to help him walk across. "I'm sorry..."

They make their way slowly back across the clearing. Sam is already waiting with their medipad out.

"Alright, now that that's done," the King says as the bot starts to check Damien over. He holds out his hand towards Alice. "Your name, please."

She nods, takes a deep breath. "My name.... the name my parents gave me..." He leans forward with anticipation. "Is Eric Anthony Williams."

The King blinks.

"Excuse me?" he says.

"The name my parents gave me is Eric Anthony Williams," she repeats.

"Don't lie to me," he says. His voice is rising dangerously. "I know your name is Alice."

"Oh, sure, but that's not the name my parent's gave me," she says and smirks. "The name my parents gave me is Eric. Anthony. Williams."

His face is turning red again. "You... tricked me."

"Oh, no, not at all, I did exactly as I said I would. Well, have fun with my deadname, I know I haven't!"

"I'll get you yet!" the King shouts as the five of them enter the cabin. "One day, I'll get you back!"

"As long as you don't bother us!" she calls over her shoulder and then the door slams closed.

"Holy shit," says Sam.

"I'm so glad that worked!" says Alice.

"That was cutting it way too close," says Vanessa.

"Um..." says Damien and they turn to look at him. Everyone but Kevin, who walks over to the wall and starts to trace the portal sigil so the can finally go home. "So what should I do?"

"My invitation to visit still stands," Vanessa says, with a smile. "I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon, but I don't mind."

"I do!" Alice exclaims and snakes a hand around Vanessa's waist. "We have about a year of lost time to make up for!" Vanessa giggles lightly. "But Kevin has a lot of room, don't you Kevin?"

He knows that she's grinning, he doesn't even need to turn around. He can feel his ears start to burn.

"I suppose..." he says. "We have some lost time to make up for too."

"Yes..." Damien says. "I suppose we do."

Kevin presses his pendant against the wall and the swirling portal opens up once more. Alice sighs happily and looks at Vanessa.

"Let's go home," she says. Vanessa smiles.

"Yes, let's go home."

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IT'S FINALLY OVER!!! Except that epilogue that Matleena promised. Also, as I've been writing this, I realized that there's a LOT of backstory with Kevin and Damien that I've kinda thought out but couldn't find a place to include so... I'm not saying I will write a prologue/prequel, but like... it's a possibility? :DD

Anyway, that wraps it up for me for this year! Happy holidays and a wonderful new years (let's hope the next one will be better than this was lmao!)

Pie out.

The Trouble with Time, Part 2.24 - Quote

It's funny, as they're falling through the portal, Kevin thinks he sees someone in his room. Someone other than the guards bursting through the room. Someone who looks like...

But it can't be him, because he's been gone for over seven decades.

And before he can make sense of anything, they're spinning around in an ever-changing sea of colors. He closes his eyes at the onslaught, trying his best to maintain his sense of balance. It's not easy.

They tumble onto the floor of the cabin, much like they did last time.

"Urgh," says Sam. He quite agrees.

They both take a moment to get their bearings. Sam looks around blearily. They seem to be faring a lot better than the first time they came through the portal.

"We... we're back here," they say. They manage to push themself up on wobbly feet. "What... how?"

"I made a portal," he says, pointing at the now portalless wall. He's still laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. He fears what moving will do.

"If you could do that, why didn't you do that in the Heart room?"

"It's a long and tedious process to make a spot portal-appropriate." He presses his hand on his mouth for a second, an unpleasant gurgling in his stomach. "And I already had a wall prepped for it upstairs."

"Wait, the guards, can they follow us?" They lean close to the wall, give it a couple of knocks.

"It's a portal, not a door. And to link with this spot you need this." He holds up the silver pendant.

"Okay, another question." They come to stand above him, stare down at him. He has trouble focusing on their face. "Whose room was that?"

"Mine," he says. His guts make another somersault. Sam waits for him to elaborate, but he isn't able to.

"Okay then, what about the heart?? You just chucked the box away!"

"It's fine, I--"

He gags. He can feel the acid burn on it's way up.

He barely has time to scramble to his feet and rush over to a bucket in the corner when his dinner is forcibly removing itself from his stomach. He pants, heavily, as another wave of nausea hits him.

"Oh dear," Sam is muttering behind him. They place an opened bottle of water next to him as they dig through their bag for their medipad and scanner. The little bot jumps to life and starts to circle around him and they prod at the pad, looking over the gathered data.

The mechanical whirring of the bot is almost soothing.

"Looks like you have a bit of a fever coming," Sam says. Kevin picks up the bottle and takes a mouthful, trying to rinse away the foul taste. "Guess the stress finally caught up."

"Great, just what I needed," he grumbles. "I can be sick once we get out of here."

"What you can do, is go lay down as we wait for Alice and Vanessa," they say. "I'll fix you up something to get your temperature down."

Kevin continues grumbling as he crawls over to the very dusty couch along one wall, but as soon as he lays down on it, he can feel his eyelids drop and his consciousness slip away.

~x~

It's only around an hour later when a knock on the door jolts him awake. Kevin pushes himself up, feeling a bit better. Or at least not actively like he's about to throw up.

He sees Sam crack the door open to peek outside. Then they pull it fully open and immediately have their arms full of Alice and Vanessa. He stands up too, so so relieved to see the two of them. He rushes over too, turning the group hug into a bigger group hug.

"I've missed you so much," Vanessa says. "I know I have, I mean... it's hard to feel it without my Heart, but I know. I know I've missed you."

"The Heart!" Alice exclaims, pulling herself from the pile. "I need to reclaim the Heart!"

Sam looks at Kevin. Kevin nods.

"Right, so..." he starts, but the loud call of a horn cuts him off. Heat drains from his face at the sound. "Oh no."

He pushes past the others, through the door. The horn sounds again.

"Oh no, what now?" asks Sam as they join him outside the cabin.

From around the bend of the road marches a battalion of a dozen armored men, and leading them from atop a thoroughbred is King Oberon himself.

"For fuck's sake, we just can't get rid of you, huh?" Alice groans.

"Not a very polite way to talk to the King of the Fae, don't you think?" he says. She rolls her eyes at him, and Kevin would be proud if he wasn't mortified.

"How did you find here?" he asks. "No one should be able to find here unless I've shown them how."

"Oh, but I wasn't the one who did," the King says with a grin. "He was."

A soldier steps out from behind the horse and shoves forward a man. His hands are tied, so he isn't able to catch his fall, sliding face first into the snowy ground. He spits out some snow and looks up at them, his eyes filled with grief and regret.

Kevin's heart stops in his chest.

"Damien!" he and Vanessa shout as if from the same mouth.

"Wait, you know him too?" Alice is asking. He can barely hear her. Everything else is so distant at the moment.

There is nothing but him and Damien. And the memories. All the memories and they are crashing down, the feelings and the regret, the failure.

"I'm so sorry," Damien says and it's been so long, he's missed his voice. "I didn't want you to see me like this, I didn't--"

The King snaps his fingers and a guard smacks Damien across the face. Kevin takes an instinctive step forward, but restrains himself. Damien spits out blood, the red specks stark against the white snow. Kevin takes a few calming breaths as he glares daggers at the guard.

They need to play it cool right now. He has no idea why the King is here, they've already won and there's nothing he can do about it. He must have something up his sleeve, but what?

"Anyway, it appears someone left the castle in quite a hurry tonight," he says and dramatically pulls out the iron box. Sam gasps. Kevin feels the bottom of his stomach drop.

"Is that..?" Alice starts, looking at him and Sam.

"The box I had custom made to keep Vanessa's Heart inside?" the King says. "Why yes, yes it is."

"No, Alice, wait," Kevin says and she looks at him like he's crazy.

"You didn't get the Heart?" she asks, her voice so small but so full of sadness.

"That's not it, listen--"

"Not another word from you, Cadeyrn av Oberon!"

The King's voice booms across the clearing and Kevin chokes on air. He gags and coughs, but not one word escapes his mouth. Only desperate wheezing. He grabs a hold of his throat. Another gag.

"Kevin, what's wrong?" Sam is rushing to his side, hands running across him, not quite knowing what to do. He looks at them, desperate. "What did you do to him!?"

"Words hold a lot of power here," the King says with a sneer. "As do Names. You call a Fae by their True Name and they must do your bidding."

"But... that means..." says Alice, looking wide-eyed at Kevin. He lowers his gaze. This isn't how he wanted them to find out...!

"Your little friend is actually a Fae," the King says. "And not just any Fae, but my own son!"

A stunned silence stretches for what feels like an eternity. There's tears welling in Kevin's eyes, his mind filling with dark, jagged thoughts, worry gnawing at him. Paranoia. What will they think? What will they say? Will they want to be his friends anymore?

"I..." starts Alice. She pauses. "I guess that makes sense."

He blinks. Looks up.

"I take your biometric data all the time," Sam says quietly. "Did you really think I didn't know you weren't human?"

"I am surprised about the prince thing!" Alice says. "If... that helps?"

A strained laugh falls form his lips. He winces at the pain, sniffles.

Thank you, he wants to say. But he can't speak.

"Oh, how dreadfully dull," the King says. "No betrayal? No delicious backstabbing? Oh well, I do still have this." He holds up the box and all attention is on him once more.

Alice glares at him. Kevin tries to get her attention, to get her to understand this is a trick, but she is fully focused on the King and the box.

"What do you want?" she asks.

"I will give you the box," the King says. "If you stay here... and we can hunt you for sport." She squints at him.

"Alice, no, absolutely not," Vanessa says, spinning around to stand between him and her. "I won't let you do that, I'm not leaving without you."

"You leave without me or not at all," Alice says, placing a gentle hand on her cheek. "I can't let you stay here any longer."

"Decisions, decisions!" says the King.

"Hunt you, he said!" Vanessa tries, ignoring him completely. "You stay here, you die!"

"I know, but..." Alice trails off.

Kevin is screaming on the inside. He needs to stop this! She is about to throw her life away for nothing and he needs to stop her! His throat hurts and his head hurts and his heart hurt but he can't speak! Against a command on his true name, what can he--

Oh.

"Nessa, I have to," Alice says and gently moves Vanessa aside. "I will--"

"STOP!"

A gust of crisp air flows down his throat, filling his lungs and freeing him from his shackles. He feels light as a feather. He takes a long drag of air and blows it back out. Nothing hurts anymore. He can speak once more.

"Impossible," the King hisses.

"Do not take that deal," Kevin orders Alice. "The box is empty, he's trying to trick you."

"How do you know...?" Alice starts, looking at him with wide eyes.

"How can you speak!?" the King demands. "I commanded you! I command you, stay out of this!"

"I'm not sorry, but that won't work on me anymore."

The King's face is red, his composure lost along with his cool. He's breathing hard and glaring down at them.

"I told you, my name is not Cadeyrn..." He grins. "It's Kevin."

___________________

SO! As is typical of my last parts, this......... is going to be way too long, so I'm cutting it here! The last (I swear!!!!) part will be posted tomorrow! But for now, enjoy these revelations, and have a pleasant Christmas Eve!

The topic for tomorrow will be "Reclaim". Bye now~

Pie out.

PS from matleena: there will maybe probably also be a short short epilogue the day after tomorrow.

The Trouble with Time, Part 2.23 - Hazard

It quickly becomes evident Alice doesn't need to remember the way out. Vanessa takes the lead as soon as they are out of her room and is leading her down a completely different set of corridors to the South-Western part of the castle. She clearly knows a different way out. Which is good, since they obviously wouldn't be able to just walk out the front door as easily as she had walked in. Based on the look of the corridors they have entered the servants' part of the castle, the spaces smaller, less grand, the corridors narrow, though still wide enough to carry supplies through.

The going is painfully slow. They both know they have to move fast, but they also have to move quiet. The longer they take, the more likely it is they will run into someone. But if they make too much noise, someone might hear them from afar and come investigate. In the quiet of the castle in the middle of the night their footsteps are loud in Alice's ears, even when they're trying their best to step quietly.

They're on the first floor when Vanessa stops in front of a door that, as far as Alice can tell, leads to the courtyard outside, half way between the main entrance and the gates.

"Where do we need to go?" Vanessa asks, almost too quiet to hear.

"In the village a little bit south from here there's a door that can take us back to the capital. From there it's a day and a half on foot to where we agreed to meet with Sam and Kevin."

"So you think they've found my heart already?"

"If they haven't run into too big problems."

Vanessa thinks for a moment.

"Is the place we're supposed to meet them safe?"

Alice nods.

"If Kevin's wards are good, no one should be able to find it if they don't know where it is."

"We can't get there on foot from Tirduchrainn. As soon as someone notices my heart has gone missing the guards will be searching all over the city, and once words gets to the King I'm gone too, the effort will double. By morning we won't  be able to get out of the city. Where's the place you've agreed to meet?"

"A few hours on foot east from where the solstice fair was."

Vanessa digs through her new pockets and pulls out a pale green stone, just small enough to fully hide in her closed hand. She starts tapping on one side of it.

"What are you doing?" Alice asks, curious.

"Calling for reinforcements," she simply says.

For a moment Alice simply marvels at the woman in front of her. Vanessa has been planning this, how to get them out of here and back home, for an entire year. She knows the place, she knows the people they're up against. She's competent, and focused (which is maybe easier if emotions don't get in her way without a heart), and thorough. She knows exactly what she's doing. This is the woman she first met. The woman she has since gotten to know as not only smart and competent, but also funny, and witty, and warm, and kind and caring. She makes her feel like everything is going to be okay because she's around. Alice loves her so much.

"Okay. Let's go," Vanessa pockets the stone and looks at Alice, who nods.

"Stay close to the walls," Vanessa says and flashes a smile.

"Stay close to the walls," Alice grins.

That's the moment noise reaches them from somewhere in the castle. It's coming from too far away to make any sense of it, other than it sounds urgent.

"They've noticed I'm gone. We need to go now," Vanessa says as she pulls the door open and them both through.

They move as quietly and as quickly along the wall in the courtyard towards the gates as they can. They're almost to the gate when they hear a shout behind them, clearly indicating they've been seen.

"Run," Vanessa tells her, and soon they're flying over the snow, running almost faster than heir legs allow.

And then they're through the gate, out of the castle, but they don't slow. There's people behind them.

Alice almost loses hope, then. They can't outrun all the guards, even if there aren't many of them that are awake this time of the night. Not all the way to the town, to the door, to Alsebah's place. For Vanessa, she would keep running until the end of the Earth, but she knows her body will betray her long before that. Her lungs are already hurting from the cold air, aching with every hard breath. Her boots are warm and heavy, ones that are a blessing if she don't want to lose her toes in the winter, but that will also slow her down as they flee.

But Vanessa keeps running, and so does she, because she believes Vanessa has a plan. It's been her plan all along they've been following, stumbling blindly after the crumbs she has left for them. Alice came here to save Vanessa, but now she simply has to believe Vanessa will save them both. And she does. And so she runs, not giving up until Vanessa does, because until then she knows this brilliant woman running beside her has a plan, even if the odds look impossible to her.

She can hear at least three pairs of footsteps after them, closing fast. She slips on the snow. Almost falls. Regains balance. Keeps running, now behind Vanessa, who doesn't so much as glance back. Good. She would have heard if Alice had fallen, so she knows she's right after her, and looking back would slow her or throw her slightly off balance. They can't afford to slow unless they have to.

Suddenly there's a flash fifty meters in front of them. A narrow door appears on the side of a huge tree, and a dark, hooded figure steps out.

"What now," Alice manages to groan through her heavy breathing.

"Reinforcements."

The figure waves at Vanessa and Alice, who almost without slowing slip through the door in the door, and instantly the sounds of their pursuers disappear.

They're in a small, dark room. Alice is too busy gasping her breath to take in much else about it.

"I can get you to a spot about an hour on foot East of the fair," says a male voice Alice has never heard before. He's drawing something on the wall.

"Excellent, thank you Damien," Vanessa answers.

The man, apparently called Damien, sets his hand on the wall, in the middle of whatever he was drawing, and a door appears where previously there was none. He opens it and motions for Vanessa and Alice to step through.

All three of them step out of another tree, into a snowy, clear and quiet landscape, stars twinkling in the sky. There isn't anyone in sight. The tree is on the side of a road, stretching empty as far as Alice can see. The sudden difference from being chased to standing in a quiet, calm winter landscape is almost disorienting to Alice.

"Will you be okay from here?" Damien is asking.

"We should be," Vanessa assures him. "If you're sure they can't trace us here."

"Not unless one of those guards after you is also unusually skillful and well-trained in magic," he answers, then turns to Alice. "You know where you're going?"

"I..." Alice begins, stops, then digs out a map from her backpack. "Can you show me where we are? I know where we're going, but I'm not sure where exactly we are."

Damien looks over the map for a moment, then points to a stretch of a road a little bit north of the one they traveled on their first day in the Fae Wilds.

"Okay," Alice hesitates for a moment. "I can't tell you where we're going, it's not my secret to tell, but I can find the way."

He nods.

"There's no reason they should be able to find you here, since there's no reason they would think you're here in particular, and we're far enough from Tirduchrainn they can't do a proper comprehensive search this fast. Assuming the King thinks you worth doing something like that anyway. The Heart is on its way?"

"We hope so. But maybe you could check up on them, just in case?"

He nods again.

"I can't thank you enough. None of this would have been possible without you. You're sure they can't trace anything back to you?"

Damien snorts, half amused, half insulted.

"No. I know my business," he says, then grins. "And even if they did, well, let's just call it an occupational hazard."

"Oh, I'm an occupation to you now?" Vanessa is smiling too.

"Lately you might just as well have been," Damien says, his voice kind. There's a short pause in the conversation.

"So," Vanessa breaks the silence. "I won't be coming back here ever again, unless Kevin and Sam haven't gotten my Heart and we're stuck here for all eternity, but if you're ever in my part of the world, don't hesitate to come find me."

"I won't," Damien says, gives a small bow, and disappears through an open door in the tree.

"Well," Vanessa says, turning to Alice. "We should get going. Shall we?"

She smiles and hold out her hand. Alice takes it, her heart having calmed down from the chase and beginning to soar. They spend the walk trading stories, catching up. Getting to know each other again. Alice can tell something about Vanessa is off. She isn't the kind of bright and excited and kind she usually is. She can't wait for her to get her heart back, to get her fully back.

But for right now it's enough that they are together for the first time in almost a year.

____________________________________________

Whoop.

The topic for tomorrow, the final topic, is Quote.

~matleena

The Trouble with Time, Part 2.22 - Count

"This place is magnificent," Sam says, looking around the throne room. The walls are lined with giant portraits and long curtains, and there's marble statues and vases all around the room. There's potted plants and flower arrangements and tables full of smaller statuettes and candelabra. It being the time of the Winter Court, most of the color is muted blues and grays and whites, but everything still seems to pop.

Kevin glances up, at the Faerie Kings and Queens past, gazing down from their portraits with disinterest if not disdain, and he feels small underneath them. It feels like they're judging him, scrutinizing his every move. He tries to ignore them, focuses instead on the Advisor's chair.

If there is anything that can be said to be "on the King's left", it's the Royal Advisor. He's a stern old man by the name of Count Dolfekieng, one of the very few left of the Ancient Folk, and he is always by the King's side. Specifically, his left side. Even his bed chamber is immediately to the left of the Royal chamber. The King trusts him immensly, and he is indeed wisened by the years, even if Kevin thinks he's gotten a bit too stuck in his ways.

Nevertheless, this must be it. It must.

"Do you think it's inside the throne?" Sam asks as they join him by the chair. "Like, some kind of secret compartment?"

"One way to find out," he says. He places his hands on the immaculately carved mahogany armrests and starts to feel through every inch of the chair's surface. He runs his hands along the sides, down the back and the legs. His fingers brush against the soft weave of the decorative quilt lain down on the chair. He couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary. "Shit," he says.

Sam is examining the chair as well, their handling of the furniture piece a bit more rough than his, including knocking and thumping to see if a piece would fall loose. Nothing does. They pause to think.

"Here, let me try something," they say and circle around to the front, before sitting down. They shuffle for a bit, place their hands on the armrests. They pause again for a moment. "There!" they exclaim and hit their right fist down on the rest hard enough to make Kevin jump.

There is a click and a soft groan. The chair starts to push back, revealing underneath an unlit set of stairs leading down.

"Damn," says Sam, climbing carefully off the chair to not fall into the now open hole. "I really did hope it would be a secret compartment."

"How did you find that?" Kevin asks, peering down into the darnkess. What on earth is below the throne room? Why hasn't he ever realized he doesn't know?

"This is not the first time I've had to find a hidden switch in furniture," they say, digging a torch from their bag. "Classic hiding place for drugs."

"Right," he says. The light of the torch flickers on and they shine it down the stairs. "Shall we?"

~x~

The stairs are long. By Kevin's estimate, they go down at least two storeys, which would mean they are actually underground by the time they come to a stop. The stairs open up into a fairly small room. There seems to be a light blue glow about the room, not unlike the caverns of the volcano, but without an obvious source. The room is empty, except for a pedestal stood in the middle. And on top of the pedestal is a simple metal box.

"Is that it?" Sam asks, their voice barely above a whisper. There is a... presence to the room, one that demands reverence.

"I think it is," Kevin answers back. Slowly they make their way to the middle and stop in front of it.Sam nudges him. He frowns. He doesn't feel like he should touch the box, but he knows he should.

He touches it, gently. He snatches his hand back and shakes it. His fingertips feel numb from the burn.

"What happened?" Sam asks, worried. They try to take his hand to examine it, but he keeps it away.

"I'm fine, but you have to be the one to pick that thing up," he says Sam gives him one more look, before turning towards the box once more.

They tap a finger against the side, clearly expecting a similar reaction, but nothing happens. They take a hesitant hold of the sides of the lid and lift it open.

"Oh yikes," they say and slap the box closed again. It feels like something breaks. The tension is gone.

"That's it alright," Kevin says.

"Why is it-- I mean, I've seen a heart or two in my day," Sam says, opening the box again and looking in with a mixture of curiosity and disgust. "But that... That's Vanessa's actual, literal heart in that box."

"As I've said, the Fae are very literal," Kevin says.

"But why is it beating?"

"She would die if her heart stopped beating, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, but..! It's already out of her body!"

Kevin doesn't say anything, just gives Sam a look. They groan.

"This is the single most disturbing thing I've ever seen."

"I fully believe that. Now grab it and let's go before someone--"

There's a sound behind them and they both spin around. Someone is slowly descending the stairs, their footsteps echoing in the empty space. They wait, frozen to place as a man emerges from the darkness.

Kevin's blood runs cold. He should have known it wouldn't be so easy.

"Well, well, well," says Count Dolfekieng as he stands before them, clad in his full regalia. He grins and his teeth are sharp. "Cutting it a bit close, are we? Here to steal the Heart back?"

"Stealing is such an unpleasant word," Kevin says, giving him a mock polite smile. "We're just here to relocate it."

"I do believe the quest is to reclaim..." The Count pauses, noticing that it's just the two of them. "And where is that little human girl? Surely you're not trying to complete the quest for her, Cadeyrn. That would be cheating."

Kevin and Sam exchange glances. He doesn't have a plan and he's freaking out a bit. He's hoping that maybe he can distract the Count long enough for Sam to grab the Heart and run.

"You don't need to concern yourself with where she is," he tells the Count. His mind is racing, trying to come up with something, anything.

"That's right," Sam is saying next to him. He can barely hear them from the buzz in his head. "What you should concern yourself with is me."

They lunge at the Count.

"Sam, no!" Kevin yells, trying to reach out but they're too fast.

There is a short scuffle. Sam is trying to tackle the Count to the ground and he's trying to push them off him.

"Take the Heart and run!" they shout and it's all Kevin can do to not start screaming in that moment. He can't do that, he can't touch the box! And even if he could, he can't just leave Sam here!

An idea crosses his mind and he turns to the box.

"Step away from the Heart, boy," the Count says and he freezes. He looks over his shoulder. The Count has Sam in a deadlock, one arm twisted behind their back. They're grimacing in pain.

He slaps the lid of the box closed, trying not to touch it any more than necessary, before putting his hands up. There's a dull throbbing in his chest.

"That was quite a foolish idea, human," the Count says, twisting Sam's hand even further. They cry out. "Don't move, Cadeyrn!" he calls out as Kevin takes an instictive step forward.

"That really was a foolish idea, Sam," he agrees, keeping his hands up.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Sam grits out. Underneath the pain lining their face, there is a grin.

A soft tssssssss fills the air.

The Count blinks. His hold loosens. He stagger a bit, catches himself.

"What..." he mutters. He's let go of Sam, who takes a step away.He sways a bit more, and then his eyes roll back and he falls face down onto the floor.

Kevin looks at the passed out Count in wonder. Sam twirls the now empty hypo shot in their fingers.

"That was... stupidly risky," Kecin says.

"You're welcome," Sam says. They hurry over to pedestal and grab the box. "Now let's go, I don't know how long it will work."

Kevin spares the Count one last glance before they're speeding up the stairs.

~x~

The guard at the door jumps as they slam through the door, but they don't stop. They're speed walking back down the corridor they came from, both desperate to spring into a run, but knowing they can't. They're not out yet so they still need to not draw attention to themselves. Sam is holding the iron box close to their chest.

They're just about to exit from the main building when an alarm starts blaring.

"Shit," says Kevin.

"I guess we better run," says Sam and is about to do just that, but he stops them by grabbing onto their elbow.

"Wait," he says and they turn to look at him. "We can't get out that way anymore. There'll be a whole bunch of guards at the door by the time we get there."

"Well what can we do?" they ask, glancing around. Nobody is in the immediate vicinity, but he can hear footsteps and noises not far from them.

"We need to use an alternative exit."

He turns and starts to head back into the main building. They're running now, not full sprint, but still running, ducking into smaller passages as they hear people approach. They're going up stairs. Several flights of stairs.

"You do know where you're going right?" Sam pants behind him. "We seem to be going up a lot, and that seems like the worst direction to get out from!"

"Trust me on this!" Kevin yells back.

"There they are!" echoes the call of a guard behind them and there's at least a halfdozen people after them. They speed up as best they can.

They duck and weave along the servants' corridors, a few times emerging onto the main halls for a moment, before taking the next door back to the inner workings of the castle. It's like a maze, but Kevin is letting his feet guide the way. Even after all these years, he still knows where he's going.

They come to a sudden stop by a door, in front of which stands a singular guard. She notices them, unsheathes her sword with a shout. Kevin has no time to think.

"Give me the box!" he shouts and has already snatched it from Sam's arms before they have time to react. It burns his hands, burns them intensly, but he holds it. He rears it back. He chucks it at the guard.

To her credit she drops the sword and catches the box. Then she cries out in pain and drops it too. By then Kevin and Sam are past her and through the door she was guarding.

He slams the door shut and bolts it.

"But... the box!" Sam exclaims.

"We don't need the box!" Kevin yells. He rushes over to a desk by a window, starts to empty it's drawers. Where is it?!

Outside they can hear the guard shouting for backup.

"What do you mean, what are you doing?!" They're just standing there, trying to process everything, waving their hands. "The Heart!"

"It's fine!" he shouts. He can hear people approaching on the other side of the door. A lot of people. "Stack some furniture in front of the door!"

"Furniture-- this is a bedroom!" Sam is screeching. "Whose bedroom is this?"

The heartbeat in his ears is double. He finally finds what he's looking for and pulls out a small glass jar. Inside is red powder.

"Kevin!" Sam yells.

"Just a moment!" he shouts back, strambling over to the wall, pulling back the curtain covering it. He starts to trace over the still vaguely there sigil with the powder.

There's banging outside the door. Yelling. Something slams against it, hard.

"Kevin!!"

"It's fine!!" he shouts. He's drawing furiously. "Come here!"

He's distantly aware of Sam moving closer. Even more ruckus outside. SLAM!

"Are you done?" they ask. They sound very scared now. He drops the jar.

He reaches into his shirt and pulls out the silver pendant. He snaps the chain.

SLAM!!

He mutters a quick incantation.

CRASH!!!

The door bursts open and a dozen guards come pouring in. Sam screams. He grabs them by the elbow and slams the pendant against the wall.

The portal opens up and swallows them inside.

____________________________________________________________

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOY!! Here's this behemot of a thing! Two more parts!!! Next part is "Hazard"

Pie out.

The Trouble with TIme, Part 2.21 - Race

The guard leads Alice along corridors, up some stairs, down another handful corridors, for a surprisingly long time, considering the size of the castle. Alice keeps tight track of the route they take, looking for any other possible exits, any other details that might come in handy later, and continuously updates their location inside the castle in the mental map of what the castle looks like on the outside. 

It's warmer in the castle than she expected. She's not sure why she expected it to be cold. Maybe it's that a big stone structure like this should be impossible to keep warm simply due to the sheer amount of air inside, especially after it's been cold for long enough that the walls themselves are cold and sucking heat out of the air. But somehow the castle is well heated, and Alice finds herself sweating in her winter clothes. There's no way she can take them off, though. It would be immediately obvious she lied to get in.

Eventually they stop at a door on the second floor of the western wall of the castle. Alice is almost certain below them is the big hall she peered into through the windows while circling the castle. The guard knocks. They wait a long while. Then the door opens, and a tired-looking woman looks out.

Alice's stomach sinks. This isn't a face she's ever seen before. Did the guard lead her to the wrong place? Maybe he saw through her disguise that only barely qualifies as a disguise, and took her somewhere to be detained.

"An urgent package for lady Vanessa," the guard tells the woman, who nods and opens the door farther. She looks at Alice for a moment, as if she expects something from her. It takes her a moment to understand that this is a servant, waiting to take the non-existent package for her lady.

"I have clear instructions to only give it directly to the lady herself," she tells the servant.

"The lady is sleeping," the servant says. "I will make sure she gets it in the morning when she wakes."

"I'm sorry, but I can't give it to you. I was sent here this time of night, because it is, from what little I know, very important that the lady gets it as soon as possible, and it is important that I make sure she herself receives it. If it wasn't so I would have given it to the guards down at the front door."

The servant seems to think for a moment longer, but maybe the fact that the guard brought her up here at all convinces her, because she turns and disappears inside, leaving Alice and the guard waiting by the door. 

She's starting to think the servant completely forgot about them when she finally hears sounds from the inside. Vanessa appears at the door, dressed in a long, soft robe, looking like she has just been dragged out of bed. Which, of course, she has been. Her eyes brighten as she recognises her (she would, in any disguise, not to mention a terrible one like this), and a lot of the fog of sleeps seems to clear up. But it all disappear again in a split second, her face completely under control. If Alice didn't know her so well, she would have never noticed. But she does, and she did, and her her heart is fluttering at the sight of her.

"What is this?" Vanessa asks, her voice thick with sleep.

"A package for you, lady," Alice does a small bow she hopes is at least somewhat close to something that would be expected of someone delivering a package to a lady. "From the oldest son of lord Callan."

Vanessa's eyes glitter and she gives a small smile that breaks Alice's heart.

"Oh," Vanessa says. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Come in."

And she moves out of the doorway to let Alice and the guard in.

"My lady, we shouldn't," the guard says before Vanessa has had time to take two steps into the room. "I must get back to my station, and I can't leave a visitor in the castle unattended. He can simply hand you the package, and then we'll go and let you go back to sleep."

"Nonsense," Vanessa says. "Since I'm already awake, I want a cup of wine, and you deserve one too, as well as a break from standing out in the halls all night. Not to mention this poor courier who has made it all the way here in the cold night."

"I must get back to my station," the guard repeats, but he sounds uncertain now.

"One cup," Vanessa says. "The front doors will be fine for the time of one cup of wine. Come."

The guard gives up. They follow Vanessa into the room and sit on plush chairs. Vanessa is clearly being treated well. She doesn't simply have a room, she has rooms, at least three, as far as Alice can see. She has more space here for herself than they have together back at home. And a servant. She might be here against her will, but at least she has everything she needs besides freedom.

"Tasi dear, could you please get us a bottle of wine, the red one from the west? I believe there is one more bottle in the cupboard here," she asks the servant. "And cups. Take one for yourself, too, and join us."

"So," Vanessa begins as the servant returns from the other room and starts pouring drinks for them all. "What is Callan's oldest sending me?"

"I wouldn't know, lady," Alice says. "I've only been paid to bring it here with haste."

"Ah, pity. He is such a waggish man, isn't he?" Vanessa says as the servant hands then each a cup.

"Again, I must admit I wouldn't know, lady," Alice says, pretending to sip from her cup. "I only met him very briefly, when he sent me to you."

"If I may," the guards says and takes a drink. "I worked in their household for a while, and I would not describe the oldest as waggish my any means. The middle one, maybe, but even that is a stretch."

"Hmm," Vanessa's face is thoughtful. "Maybe I have gotten the wrong impression of him, then. Most of what I know is from other people, after all. I've only met him twice."

For the next fifteen minutes Alice is newly amazed at how well Vanessa is able to keep a conversation going when she needs to. This isn't the first time she's seen it in action, but it has been a year since she's seen her at all. There's practically no substance to any of what she's saying, but somehow words keep coming out, and the guard keeps chatting with her, soon drawing in the servant too. Alice tries to keep out of it, knowing Vanessa is much better at this than she is. She sits, and pretends to drink her wine, and waits.

The guard sets the empty cup on the table, and shakes his head a little, like he is dizzy.

"I really do need to get back to my station now. Thank you for the wine. Come on," he's gesturing to Alice as he stands up. He begins to tip off balance immediately, takes a side step and falls back into the chair. The servant is already leaning her head on the back of the chair, her eyes closed. Alice goes to the maid as Vanessa looks the guard over. Both of them are in a deep sleep.

"You have planned this out a lot better from the inside than I ever could," Alice says as she straightens and suddenly finds her arms full of Vanessa.

She is warm, and soft, and wonderful, and Alice chokes on a sob. Despite the fact that her memories were locked away for almost the entire time they have been apart, they have still weakened. She has forgotten the way they fit together perfectly. She has forgotten the way Vanessa's, wild, wild hair always gets in her face when they're close. She has almost forgotten her scent, but not quite, and she can now smell it underneath the smell of Fey Wilds that is clinging on her after a year in this place.

And then Vanessa is gone again, pulling away.

"There's no time," she says. "Someone will get suspicious any moment now. He's been gone too long for it to be any way reasonable he's simply walking a package delivery to my room and back."

Alice wipes tears from her face, aching to pull Vanessa back in, but she knows Vanessa is right. They're in a race against time, and every moment they spend not moving they are closer to losing. They will have all the time in the world later, but only if they get out of here first.

"I brought you clothes," Alice says as she pulls them out of her backpack and hands them to Vanessa.

It takes Vanessa about a minute to pull off her night gown and pull on the layers of winter clothes Alice brought for her. And then they're at the door, peering through to make sure there's no one in the corridor, and through, trying their best to walk softly so they're hurried steps don't echo through the empty halls of the Winter Castle.

_____________________________________________________

The topic for tomorrow is Count.

~matleena

The Trouble with Time, Part 2.20 - Role

This is a really bad idea, Kevin thinks as he and Sam circle around the periphery or the castle wall, ot get to the servants' entrance at the back. What will he say if someone confronts them? What can he say? Should he let Sam do the talking? That seems too risky, they don't know enough about the court.

He was so confident about this when they were gathered around Alsebah's dining table, but now that they're here he's not quite so sure anymore.

They stop a few paces from a simple wooden door. There's no guards around it, but Kevin knows it's locked.

"Okay, remember," he says, placing a hand on Sam's shoulder. "The palace is exquisite on the inside, but we can't let our eyes wonder. It's gotta seem like we belong there, that we've been there and seen those things every day."

Sam nods. Kevin glances at the door. His pulse is thrumming in his ears.

"Also we don't want to talk to anybody," he says. "But if someone talks to us, I need you to... well I need you to be able to lie convincingly. I can answer most questions, but not all."

They squint, study his face for a moment. Then they nod. He nods back.

They start to make their way towards the door. It'll be fine, Kevin thinks as he starts to rummage through his pockets. He pulls out a ring of keys, a lot of keys. We'll be fine. He flips through the keys and prays that they've not changed the locks. They haven't. The door clicks open as he pushes the key in.

The door opens into a hallway, stone floor and stone walls, more doors leading into different parts of the castle. There's not a lot of people around, a few maids and other servants still finishing their duties for the night. None of them pay any attention to him or Sam. They walk briskly down the corridor, trying their best to keep to themselves.

After a few minutes they move from the outer halls into the main building. The roof get higher and the corridors wider, accommodating for more traffic. They're still in the servant's halls, so the decor is quite plain, but it's clearly a lot better maintained. Kevin navigates them purposefully down one hall after the next.

A group of three guards approach them from the other direction, and his heartrate triples, before he notices they're just chatting happily between themselves, clearly about to clock off. He gives them a cursory nod as they walk past and they barely pay him any mind. He can feel Sam behind him deflate.

"We should be nearly at the throne room," he says in a low voice.

The back entrance to the throne room is guarded. Only one guard, and he seems to be kinda lazy about it, but still. Kevin wasn't expecting it. There isn't anything of particular value inside, so it only warrants guarding during the time there's people inside. At least that's how it used to be.

He can feel a speck of hope rise up next to the panic. If there's someone guarding the throne room after hours, that means there's something worth guarding inside. Expecially if there's guards at the servants' entrance.

"We need to get past that guy, right?" Sam says. The two of them are hiding around the corner to weigh their options. Kevin nods. "Just this entrance?"

"This and the main one," he says. "But if there's a man here there'll be at least two over there."

"Should we take him down?" they ask, holding up a hypo shot. Kevin gives him a surprised look and grins. "It's just a tranquilizer," they say. "Although I don't know what the effect on a fae will be..."

"It's fine, don't worry about it," he says, waving a hand. "But let's try to not resort to drugging unless we have to. Preferrably no one should know we've been here until a few days and as soon as he wakes up he would raise the alarm."

"Fair enough," they say, but don't put the shot back into their bag. Instead they tuck it into the uniform jacket's pocket. Just in case. "So, what? We try to talk to him?"

He sighs. "I guess?" he says, though he doesn't like that one bit. "I'm not sure what else we can do..."

He takes a deep breath. Right. Talking. He's good at that. He takes another deep breath and dons the Role.

He steps from around the corner, Sam hot on his heel.

The guard jolts, like he was about to fall asleep. He looks around blearily and gives a salute as they approach.

"At ease, soldier," Kevin says, putting on his best authorative voice. He stops right in front of the guard and puffs out his chest. "We need to pass by here, so if you would be so kind as to move out of the way."

"Pass through?" the guard says. "Into the throne room, sir?"

"Yes, exactly."

"But that's... prohibited outside official hours."

"For you, maybe. Now, if you would please..."

He motions for the guard to move. He doesn't.

"I'm under specific instruction the King," he says instead. "No one is to go in after hours."

"Oh, got your instructions from the King himself, did you? Aren't you a special boy."

The guard gets flustered at that. Excellent.

"Oh, no sir, not directly from the King," he says. "But the captain got them from the King and he..."

"So what was the command, specifically?" Kevin asks and the guard snaps to attention.

"'No one is to be let in or out after the King leaves, without special clearance'," he recites. Kevin gives him a wicked grin.

"And there's the rub," he says. "You see, we are in fact on a quest from the King, directly from the King, mind, and we need to get inside the throne room. And if you're worried about 'clearance', you really don't need to be." He digs out an ID badge from his pocket.

The guard's eyes go wide and he stammers.

"That's alright, take your time," Kevin says.

"I... I didn't even know they went that high," the guard says. He rubs his face with his hand and blinking furiously.

"I'm sure you didn't," Kevin says, tucking the ID back in the pocket. "It's on a need to know basis. Which, I would like to point out, your captain doesn't need to know. So I would suggest you keep our little interaction a secret, or you might find yourself with some very unpleasant company next night."

"Sir!" the guard says, as he practically jumps away from the door and lets them pass. Sam gives him a glance, but his eyes are downcast.

The door slams behind them, enclosing them in the dark hall. The ceiling is high, very high, and there's a thick velvet drape dividing the room in half. Well, the servant's side is considerably less than half. There's tables and chairs and shelves chock full of books and scrolls and maps lining the wall. There's more papers on the tables, as well as jugs of water and empty plates. The space befor the curtain isn't large, but it is packed.

"Wow," says Sam. "I knew you were good at talking, but wow."

Kevin lets the Role drop from himself as they start to walk towards the other side of the room.

"Thanks, that was exhausting," he says. They find the cut in the curtain and pass through.

The other side of the room is very, very large. The side they're on is higher than the other, with a few steps leading up. In the middle of the raised platform stands the King's throne and on it's right the Queen's.

And on it's left, the Royal Advisor's.

_____________________________________________________________

I was gonna continue, but if I do, this'll never be done lmao

Only 4 parts left!!!!! Next topic will be "Race"! Cheers!

Pie out.

The Trouble with Time, Part 2.19 - Snowy

Four days and a couple of hours. That's what they have left. And they're going in now. If everything goes smoothly, they should meet back at the cabin with three days remaining with both Vanessa and the heart.

With a nervous smile to Alsebah, she steps through the door in front of her, and finds herself utterly alone for the first time in more than a week. That feeling hits her even harder than the cold of the midnight winter air. When they decided she would have to go alone, she was relieved. At least this way no one is going to stop her from doing exactly what she thinks needs to be done to get Vanessa back. But now, now she simply feels alone and lost in an unfamiliar and probably hostile world she knows next to nothing about. She doesn't know what she's doing. The feeling evaporates after a short moment. At least she's doing something. No more sitting around, waiting, planning. No more clues, no more frustrating searches. Just an easy, simple rescue mission: get Vanessa out of the castle and through the door behind her. It feels good to have a clear, simple goal again. She smiles to herself, just a little.

The door she came through is simply sitting in a wall in an alley, and doesn't have anywhere obvious it leads. Alice feels like it should look out of place, but somehow it doesn't. She tries to memorise the place, so she can find it again, then steps out of the alley onto an empty street. The Winter Castle is towering over the small town, easy to spot from anywhere, every horizontal-ish surface covered in thick snow. Even in the middle of the night it's brightly lit, looking exactly what Alice would expect a fairy winter castle to look like.

Her heart is aching, knowing Vanessa is so close in both distance and time. She steers her steps, grounded, determined, towards the lights of the castle, the squeaking of the snow under her boots the only sound in the dark. She sees only a few lit windows, making her way quickly past them, looking in the other direction. The only light outside is from the castles and from the stars, from the crescent moon low on the horizon.

The castle is farther away than it looks, and soon she is out of the town, heading through a snowy forest towards is. It's completely silent. The snow glitters in the starlight, and for a while Alice is also enjoying herself, walking through a perfect winter scene.

It takes an hour for her to get from the door to the walls. There she stops, thinks her strategy through. Walking into the castle is a bad idea. If the princesses are here, so are guards, awake at all hours. She could try to sneak around, but she's not sure where she needs to sneak. Finding Vanessa's bedroom would be optimal, so they could sneak back out together during the night, be back at Alsebah's by dawn. She readjusts the weight of her backpack on her shoulders. She's carrying a set of clothes for Vanessa too, something more practical than what she was wearing on the stage when they saw her at the fair. Those clothes, while stunningly beautiful, are definitely not suitable for this kind of thing.

The thing she wants do is what Kevin and Sam are doing: dress as a servant and blend in with the staff in the hopes that no one will bother her if she moves around the castle looking busy enough and like she belongs. But she doesn't have a uniform, and there's probably not much staff around right now, other than the guards. So it's not really a possibility. She'll have to do this some other way.

Whatever she's going to do, she should do it fast. The clock is ticking, and if she can't get Vanessa out tonight, while Sam and Kevin do get the heart, getting to Vanessa will become practically impossible.

So first thing is to scout the perimeter. She takes a slow walk around the castle, careful to only move where others have already moved, so as to not leave any obvious prints of her own, alerting someone to things being amiss. There are some lights on in the windows close to the ground, and she tries to peek in through them, just in case she can catch a glimpse of Vanessa somewhere. She can't. She makes note of every possible escape route

The second floor is harder. The ground floor is, in most places, three times the height of a normal stories. There's lights on upstairs, over ten meters off the ground. She looks around, trying to find a way onto the roof. She's not sure how much that would help anyway, since with this much snow covering the rooftops she's more likely to fall to her death with dislodged snow than see in through the windows if she tries to see in from above.

She sighs. She's an Acquirer. A good one. One of the best. But she's never needed to acquire anything the size of a human. Or from a well guarded royal palace. But she can do this. She has to. There's no other way. She needs to get inside somehow. It's time to change tactics. Kevin would absolutely hate this, and it's a risk. A huge risk. If something goes wrong she simply has to believe king Oberon isn't tired of the game yet, with only days left.

She changes into a different coat she's carrying in her backpack, a men's cut (or so she's been told) that's loose enough on her to pass as a decent disguise in the dark. She walks back to the main gate at the wall, turns, and marches straight towards the front doors of the castle. As she does it, she pulls her hat deeper onto her head, her scarf up farther over her face.

And then she pounds on the heavy doors. Nothing happens. She pounds again. She hears a noise from the other side. The big door opens just enough to squeeze through, and a confused-looking guard looks out.

"Yes?" he says. 

Kevin's warning not to interact with anyone, anyone, unless absolutely necessary rings in her mind. 

"I have a package for..." she digs out a blank piece of paper from the coat pocket, squinting at it. "A lady Vanessa." She's straining to speak as low as she can without it sounding obvious she's someone trying to speak low. It's a delicate balance, she knows from experience.

I'm sorry, Kevin. But this is necessary. I can't get Vanessa out if I can't get myself in first.

"A package?" the guard asks, not moving from his position in the door. He doesn't quite believe her. She can respect that. She wouldn't believe it either. Then again, the fae can't lie, so he technically shouldn't have a reason to disbelieve such a straight-forward statement. She hopes.

"It's urgent, sir," she tries. The guard stares at her. She carefully lets annoyance bleed into her tone. "Look, I know in the middle of the night isn't normally a time for a delivery, but like I said, it's urgent, from one of Lord Callan's sons, I believe. You think Ḯd be here at this hour if I didn't have to? That I wouldn't much rather be in my warm home, with my warm wife, under a warm blanket?"

She watches the guard's face closely as she speaks. He's warming up to her. 

"One of Lord Callan's sons, you say?" he asks.

"Yes, sir, I believe so," she nods.

"Very well," he says, but doesn't move. "Leave the package with me and I will take it to lady Vanessa right away."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that," she says. "I have strict instructions to hand it to the lady personally."

The guard looks at her for a moment, thinking, then steps aside.

"I will take you to the lady's room. You will give her the package, and I will walk you out," he informs her as she slips in through the crack in the door. he looks to the other guard at the door, who nods.

"This way."

Alice falls in step behind the guard, following him into the castle.

________________________________________________

I don't even know anymore.

The topic for tomorrow is Role.

~matleena

The Trouble with Time, Part 2.18 - Addition

"They're for you and Kevin."

Kevin pauses, just in the darkness of the hallway. Alice sounds dejected, all the previous determination drained from her. He hesitates. What if she doesn't want to see him right now? They haven't exactly... talked about what happened at the cave and he's not sure how to act. Is she still mad? Probably. Will she get more mad if he's there? Or if he's not?

A heavy silence hangs in the air and he pushes on, enters the kitchen.

"Morning," he says, trying to sound casual. He notices the jacket on Sam and the other on the table. Oh. "You look good in a uniform," he says then berates himself. Joking was exactly the thing she didn't like!

He glances at her. Her eyes are downcast and her whole body is tense.

"Have you tried the other one on?" he asks, though he knows the answer. Sam looks at her before answering.

"It's too big for her."

"Oh."

Another moment of silence.

"You know, you're not that much smaller than me," he says. "And Alsebah can alter the--"

"No," she cuts him off. She looks up and her eyes are filled with such hopelessness that it makes Kevin's heart ache. "There's a reason the uniforms fit you and Sam. I'm not supposed to go to the castle." She sighs, turns away again. "I just... I don't know what I'm supposed to do..."

Sam places a hand on her back, strokes her gently. Kevin runs a hand through his hair, tries to think. He's coming up with very little. Why would Vanessa not want her to go to the castle? Surely that's where the heart is hidden, so... What else could be more important for Alice?

His eyes land on the note. "Can't wait to see you again," it says. He stares at it, through it, his mind starting to wander. Something snaps in his mind and his eyes focus on the paper. He blinks. It's like he's seeing the words for the first time. "Can't wait"? Can't?

"Oh!" he says and snatches the paper up. Alice and Sam look up at him in surprise. He's grinning like a maniac. "Oh, she can't!"

"What are you on about?" asks Sam.

"Is there a clue in it after all?" asks Alice. She seems to perk up at the idea.

"I think there might," he says and hands the paper to her. "It says she 'can't wait' to see you. This of course is a perfectly normal expression, but in the Fae Wilds, where everything is literal..."

"She... literally can't wait?" she asks, her brow furrowed as she looks between him and the note. "That... I should go see her immediately?"

"Bingo."

"But... how could she know the timing?" Sam points out. "She couldn't have known when we get here and when we'd followed her clues up to this point. How does she know she can't wait anymore?"

"It's quite simple," he says. He lifts up both his poiner fingers. "This is Vanessa," he indicates his right hand, "and this her Heart," he wiggles his left finger. He moves the hands away from eachother. "They're being held in separate places to ensure we can't get them both. Because if we bust into the castle and take the Heart, what will happen to poor Vanessa?" He squeezes his right hand into a fist. "She'll get locked up somewhere hidden and secure until the deadline is up. The same thing if we go to find her first. Whichever we get, the King will know and take extra mesures to keep the other inhis possession."

"Which means we need to get them at the same time," Alice says. Her eyes are wide and a smile is trying to make its way onto her face. "While you get the Heart, I go get Vanessa!" She pauses, frowns again. "Isn't that... against the rules? For you to retrieve the Heart?"

"Technically not," he says, going over to the counter to get some coffee. "Retrieving is not the same as reclaiming. We just bring you the Container and you're the one to take the Heart out and give it back to Vanessa." He takes a sip. "And it will be in some kind of Container. Only a few things can keep a Heart alive out of its body, especially a human one."

"Do we know where she is?" Sam asks. She looks at them, blinks. "I mean this makes sense and all, but we kinda need to know where she is if we need to go find her."

"That's true," she says. "She seemed to be part of the court, but if she's not at the castle..."

"I have a hunch," he says. "Call her."

"What? But... she can't tell us--"

"Call her anyway."

Alice gives him a confused look, but digs out the conch shell anyway. It takes only a few seconds until Vanessa's voice comes through.

"Alice?" she asks. "Are you okay, what's happening?"

"Hi, Nessa," Alice says. Kevin leans over her.

"Hey Vanessa, where are you right now?" he asks loudly.

"Kevin? But... you know I can't--"

"Ooooh, is that Caddi?" comes a second female voice from the background. "Vanessa, you didn't tell us--"

"That's all I needed to hear," he says and cuts the line. The crashing of waves fills the room for a moment, before it fades to silence.

"What was that?" Alice asks.

"The question is 'who was that'," he says with a grin. "And the answer is Princess Damara, the youngest daughter of King Oberon and Queen Titania. Which means that Vanessa is accompanying the princesses."

"At the Winter Castle!" Sam exclaims. "We heard about at the Winter Fair! The princesses were going on a trip there after the solstice."

"And will probably be there until New Year's celebrations," he confirms. "Which is why this is the perfect time to go get her."

~x~

They take the day to prep for their respective heists, making sure they have what they need and then some. They discuss potential danger situations and how to get out of them, and Kevin keeps reminding everyone to not engage with anyone if it can be avoided. They'll try infiltrate at midnight, and they'll meet back at at the cabin once they're done.

The Winter Castle is too far north for Alice to make on foot, but Alsebah has a door that leads to the small village it's located by. Sam and Kevin however have to make their way through the city and climb to the top of the hill on their own.

They exit the shop a few hours before midnight. The city is quiet and still, and the cool night air is crisp. Kevin takes a long breath, holds it in for a moment. Blows it out. He can do this.

"Wait," says Alice just as he and Sam are about to leave. She fidgets a bit, hesitates. "I... are you going to be fine? I mean, it's the royal castle, it's gonna be heavily guarded, right?"

"It's okay, I know a few sneaky ways in," he says. Both her and Sam give him a look. He frowns. "Did we not alrady establish that I have history with the Royal family? Why is this the thing you're latching onto?"

"Why would you need to sneak in?" Sam asks.

"Maybe I was sneaking out?" he counters, then sighs. "I'll... I'll tell you all about it once we're out of here. Right now we need to focus on the mission."

"Right," says Alice. "Just... don't die on me, okay?"

"I hadn't even considered that an option," he says.

"You be safe too, okay?" Sam says. "We'll see you at the cabin."

They wave their goodbyes and start drudging uphill. Alice stands by the door for a moment longer, looks after them as they disappear down the winding road.

A chill runs down her spine and she spins around. For a moment it felt like someone was watching her, but there is no one. A gust of wind blows past her, whipping up snow from the ground and she shivers again from the cold. She shakes her head and retreats inside.

Across the street, between the houses, a hooded figure emerges from the shadow. It looks at the house, down the road where Kevin and Sam left. Then it disappears again and everything is still.

_________________________________________________________

Ooooh boy, mysteries!

You know, if I ever say "I'll do it tomorrow" when I have time right then, slap me. Bc I will not do it tomorrow and I don't know why I keep lying to myself. I wrote an outline for this two days ago, but it was getting late so I said "I'll do it tomorrow" (aka yesterday)... WELL! I DIDN'T!! I had my final exam of the year yesterday, and I thought I'll have time to write before it starts. And I did, technically have time. But I was also super fucking nervous about the exam or something and I dind't get anything done until it. And it was from 17-21 (SO LATE??? WHY WAS IT SO LATE???) so after I finished I just.. went to bed lol

Hence this is going up a bit later than usual. I really should learn from my mistakes. Next topic is "Snowy", bc we gotta have at least one part with snow in the title :DD Have fun!

Pie out.

The Trouble with Time, Part 2.17 - Lucidity

"You met a Fallen Star?" Alsebah is looking between the three of them, incredulous. Kevin nods. "You're kidding me. Wow."

They stumbled through Alsebah's door well past midnight after having trekked all the way from Deneb's cave to the door in the dark. They thought of digging out lamps, but after getting used to the dim light of the flowers in the cave, the brightly shining starts and the third quarter moon in the sky seemed like enough light to get around.

Alice was dead tired and all she wanted to do was go to sleep, but for the first time in days she also felt right. The turmoil of emotions was still there, but it had been pushed to the side, mostly replaced by pure, hard resolve, burning brightly inside her. She felt clear-headed, lucid, fully focused on the task ahead and what needed to be done.

"Well, your friend clearly intends for you to infiltrate the castle," Alsebah is saying.

"We should go in tomorrow..." Alice begins to say, but Kevin cuts her off. She gives him an ugly look.

"Tomorrow? No. Absolutely not."

"We have just under five days left. We're running out of time. We can't sit idly by and wait for the time to slip away..."

"This could well be the last thing in this crazy scavenger hunt," Kevin sounds tired. Alice grits her teeth. "It's the castle. Where else would the king keep a Heart? This is it. The last piece of the puzzle. We should make a plan, prepare, find out where exactly we need to go once we're in. That place is huge. We cant just go stomping around and expect no one to notice, even if we are wearing guards' uniforms."

"Well, then I suggest we sneak instead," Alice says dryly.

"I'm sorry, Alice," Sam jumps in. "I agree with Kevin. It makes sense this is the last stop, and we should go in as prepared as possible."

Alice simply stares at them for a second, then gives out a laugh, short and sharp.

"What if it isn't?" her voice is steady. "What if it isn't the last thing, and we push this back so much we won't have time for the rest? And Vanessa has to stay here forever? We can't take the risk you're wrong. It's cutting it too close. It's been almost a year since Vanessa sent the things to Deneb, maybe the king moved the heart since then and it's not there anymore, and we'll need time to track its new location down."

"What if we go in tomorrow, but don't know what we're looking for, so we get caught and locked up somewhere?"

"We know where we're going, though," they both just stare at Alice. "It's on his left. That's what Deneb said."

"Alice, not only was it her guess, not knowledge of the place, we don't know what that means," Sam's voice is turning pleading. "Left what? Left chamber off the throne room? In the throne, on the left side? On the left side of the castle? What ever that means. On the guard to his left?"

"In the guard to his left?" Alsebah chimes in. The others fall silent for a second.

"In the guard?" Alice finally asks. Alsebah shrugs.

"That's one place to keep a Heart," she simply says.

Alice rubs her forehead.

"I'm too tired for this," she mutters.

"You know what we should do?" Sam says and stands up. "We should all go to bed. Sleep on it. And tomorrow morning make a plan with fresh heads. One that will actually make sense in the light of day."

They rise their eyebrows questioningly, and the others nod, more reluctant than they should be, considering it was the best suggestion anyone had made since getting back to Alsebah's place.

~x~

Alice is sipping her whatever-the-drink-is-called at the table in the morning, having had the best night's sleep in a long time, despite the late night, as Sam walks into the room, yawning and stretching, still in their pyjama.

"You know what I started to wonder yesterday?" they say as they get themself a cup. Alice sets down the note that came in the bag. It isn't another hint. It simply says:

Can't wait to see you again.

                                V

She's tried all her senses on this one, encouraged by the scent left in the previous one. They even tried heating it, to see if it has some invisible writing on it, like what people do as kids with milk of lemon juice. If there's a further hint in it, she can't find it. Maybe they're getting close enough she can't give them hints anymore, or they would point too directly to where her heart is.

"What?" she asks as they settle on the seat next to hers.

"We never thought to check the size of the clothes," they say and take a sip. "Which is odd as it is. But also, we don't know who they fit. There's two sets of the uniform, but you're the only one she knew was coming back. Or trusted. Or expected. Whichever. The point is: who is the other uniform planned for? Me? Or Kevin? Someone else?"

"Probably not someone else," Alice says as she stands and makes her way to the bag. "If she expected someone else to make it here with me, I have no idea who it would be. And if I had to guess between you and Kevin to do something like this for us, I would put my money on you every time."

She brings the bag back to the table and starts to dig out the uniforms. Sam takes one of the jackets and spreads it out.

"This looks too big for either of us," they say, pulling it on just to be sure. Alice nods.

"That's clearly for Kevin. I guess Nessa did expect him to come with me after all," she says as she unfolds the second one and pulls it on. She frowns, bends her elbows a bit.

"It's a bit tight," she says as the sleeves pull up to fully expose her wrists when she bends her arms.

"Maybe she didn't remember your size exactly," Sam suggests. She gives them a look. They lift their hands up. "Or maybe she only had access to a limited number of them, and none of them happened to be your size."

But her heart is already sinking in her chest as she pulls off the jacket and hands it to Sam. They hesitate a moment before taking it and pulling it on. They move their arms around, button up the front. It fits perfectly.

"The uniforms aren't for me and anyone," Alice says quietly. "They're for you and Kevin."

A huge wave of the helplessness and hopelessness of not being able to do enough, of having to sit by as the hours tick away, hits her newly polished determination, making it shudder.

___________________________________________________

The topic for tomorrow is Addition.

~matleena