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.