"So, how much are they permitted to tell us?"  That world worshiper asks the Woman in Silk something. "...well with such a unique case... and unique characters at that..." she pauses to look at the "unique characters" she speaks of. On one side of the room, Dia is beating the word of fulfilling the duty of a Maiden as efficiently and not stupidly as possible into Jordan's head, literally. On the other, Ten is digging into the Woman in Silk's drawer, where there is a surprising number of candies, and holding a frantic Page- unsuccessfully trying to stop her from pocketing any- back with two fingers. "I'd say leave it in the Maidens' discretion to inform you of the rules..." the hesitance in her answers are annoying.
   "that's how today will be spent."

...

     That's how they day started, but now I'm here on the candy wrapper covered floor, staring at an at-ease Ten. The news was a lot to take in. Shit, I don't remember signing up for this.

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    It pained me. Seeing their faces, and them not reacting in the slightest at mine. Do they not remember? Of course they do. How couldn't they? I was important. I am significant. Then, why is it wherever I am I feel helpless. I feel weak. I needed to hold something, but I was scared I'd damage it if I did, and, if I damage it, it will hurt others. I just want to hold. I just want to be held.

    She sighed as they left the room, feeling a constant burden of exasperation and burnout and not knowing why. I know why, but I can't tell her. She can't ask, but I know why. I have to lie about what I know. That's why they told me, but I don't know why. Why I agreed to this.

     "I- I'm sorry I couldn't save them. I would have if I could, but she is stronger than she looks. Always strong. I never knew how or why. She's so strong." I ramble. Always rambling because, if I don't, no one will care to listen. "Never mind that." She waves her fingers and pushes away from the desk.

Lingering, that demon silence always finds its way in during the worst of times. She stares out into the books which I have read and no others have the capacity to touch. She longs to read, to touch, to feel, but they are leather dry and the evidence is easily noticeable. "...soon my job is done. I'll be free." She whispers. Free? From what? What could she know from what she has? An odd thing, the life we've willingly chosen to live, that jabs at me like a spinal headache. To be a part of society as an observer, like a mother doll of the playful domestic cult I used to know, but there is always more power. Always.

   To see them, faking for the world that they aren't a part of, lying about their happiness, pretending that the past doesn't affect them, kills me. When I think about- "where do you want to eat?" She turns and asks me, popping her neck and back.

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She had slept on the couch the nights before. To even think about doing such a thing with some chic I just met is disgusting. I'd expect that out of this dump though. Lackadaisically, Ten rests her hands behind her head and bend her hips to look down at me. My head is throbbing in pain. Damnit, I wish I hadn't tripped so hard after hearing that. "Did you hear me? That thud was pretty loud." She genuinely asks, but it comes off more as insensitive than anything. "Why the hell would that be the first thing you tell me? Out of all the mysteries in the world you know the answers to, you tell me that?!" Rubbing my hand ruffly against my head, I stand to my feet.

     I hear two voices, one significantly deeper than the other speak at the same time. "Wait wait. What did I she say?" She rubs her head too, like she didn't even care to pay attention to what she told me. Maybe I had misheard her. The first time I could ever be thankful for something in this life. "How about a drink?" Already digging in the cabinet, she declares. "Got it." She exclaims, pulling out a full glass of some alcoholic concoction that Luke must have bought a while back.

    "What are you thinking about doing with that? We can't drink that crap unless it's a celebration. One of the few 'rules' this place has." I grumble, sitting down on the couch. I need some ice. Handing me a glass of the drink, she plops down beside me, taking the whole container up to her lips and a swig is the poison. "What did you actually say then?" I ask,  flushing the glass's contents into my mouth. The instant it hit my tongue, my stomach began to curdle. I don't know why I'd even bring this acid piss water near me; it's like I have something to prove to her. Like hell I do!

     "Oh right the thing I said. So, what I said was. By decree of the Originals and their Orders..." I bring the glass up closer to my lips. There's still a bit left at the bottom. "...in order to link the Maiden or Bachelor to full commitment and servitude..." Shaking the cup around, I listen to the soft clinking from the collision of ice and glass. They kind of look the same. "...you gotta sleep with them and do the nasty."

    And out the unswallowed drink escaped from my mouth, diving only into the glass right before it, never to reach its freedom. The sound of it seemed to echo. What!? What?! Some of it didn't make it out my mouth, falling deep into my throat. It's worse the second time around. I can't say anything. I'm rarely speechless cause I never put myself in stupid circumstances like this. But I didn't have a choice; I've never had choices. And now my words are gone. They had taken my breath with them, as they had promised. But promises are so rarely kept.

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     That girl who reminded me of myself in Headquarters works where we decided to dine. Always worried about making the wrong choice, doing the wrong move, upsetting those around her. I can tell because she is me and I am myself, so I know her. I was her and she wasn't always me. I saw it in her. Jordan oh Jordalina, do you regret the path you have taken. Are you aware of the things you have lost? Past the memories, past the physical? I want to change too but for the better.

"You're picking at your plate, Page." The Woman- Shanelle informs me, clicking her long nails against the surface of the table. "Do you not like the food? I find it wonderful, quite unique as well." She attempts at holding up conversation, despite her knowledge at my inability to do so. "N-no it is wonderful absolutely wonderful. Reminds me of home as a matter of fact. It's not at good as"- ... "never mind that. It's good." I mumble, and she puts her fork down on her empty plate, asking, "This is the cuisine of back then. Interesting... I wonder why these shop owners are the only ones who get to remember how to cook it. If you don't mind me asking, who was it that you knew that cooked like this?" She questions further. Always asking things, always using the tools as tools, and I am a fool of a tool. "My friends." I answer. "Oh! Are they available? I would love to meet them." She continues. "No no no. Most of them are- gone. And those who aren't are... no longer my friends." I say, looking over to the counter where Flash stands cleaning it beside that woman and his boy. I- I'm sorry.

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   She said we'd talk about it more but she had to go to work. I followed her as she recalled the process we're supposed to follow to decide who finds the murderer. This is taking so long, I'm sure the murderer is scott free by now.

"Basically, you and I are gonna team up against Luke and Dia and compete for your position then we're gonna hunt the murderer down, possibly kill him or 'turn him in' to the Originals, and then The Woman in Silk will probably take her job back cause it turns out you suck as a leader and we go back to being the lapdogs." She says. She makes it sound easy. "...when do we start the competitions then." I ask, kicking some rocks into the air. Damn we've been walking for a while. "Oh, that. I was just thinking we just get started with the investigation. The first place to look is my work, since you know I work for Theodora and all that." 
   Oh yeah, that.

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I still don't know why we- why I- signed up. Yes, I know we said it's because we want freedom, equality. But I can't help but question if I was lying to myself because the more I think about it the more I realize that the changes that were to come from my actions were meaningless and insignificant and even if equality were to develop how little it would actually affect the way I'm living and if I were to keep on that thought nothing would change in the moment because that is the thought I've always had. 
   Flash was always so carefree before that day. To see him now without the pain and with his family, it makes me wonder what would happen if I were to... but Shanelle wouldn't let that happen. She needs me, she said. And if I weren't to know about my dangerous power, I could kill someone. I should just leave it alone. "Are you okay? You seem more... worried than usual." Shanelle asks. "I am, thank you." I say, smiling up at her and putting the food to my mouth. Thank you

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     Theodora's mansion looks as distasteful as it did the first day I saw it. The house was a ghost town when we walked in. Walking to the rooms, Ten stops me in the hallway. "Wait here. I'm going to change into uniform." She says running in the room then running back out the next second in clothes that weren't the dress. The heck?

     With hands behind head, she leads me outside to that garden. My eyes immediately lock on the red flowers I saw before, but she keeps on waking straight to the pond. She turns to me and offers and ungloved hand. "I'm not holding your hand." I spat. Why are we standing here anyways?

     Wait. She's a maid, I'm going to be spending my time watching her clean? Crap. "I'm
leaving." I say. It'll be a pain walking all the way back home, but I'd rather do that than watch her dust bookshelves. As I march forward, I hear a splash, faint but large enough to know that she just fell in. Twisting around, I see that she's missing and run up to the edge of the pond.

     Looking in, I see the abyss. She's in there. "Ten! Ten!" I yell, but why should I care? "Ten!" I call out again, but no reply. Cause she's underwater. Taking off my jacket, I dump my head in, watching as the fish scurry away. Nothing but darkness still. I have a better chance of getting her if I get in and reach around. Putting my full body in, I feel the sensation of the water pulling me in rather than lifting me back up to the surface. Then, my body 360s. I am at the surface.

     I am at the surface of a red pond full of golden fish, surrounded by magenta grass and blue trees with purple leaves and looking up to a piss yellow sky. "Ah! You made it!" I hear that old tone speak. "...Theodora." I grumble. Sitting up from the shallow puddle, I see the refuge that we've- Luke and his squad- has been searching for. An ancient red-tiled white tower with Jade pillars and golden dragons and lions sculpted on every corner shadows the pond and everything surrounding it. Installments of new rooms jut out of its sides spontaneously making the building look unreal and out of place just like her mansion (but now chaotic). Men, children, women, animals enter and exit the door living about the lives peacefully. Oddly enough, there were two lines that went straight through the building from top to bottom, and, at the bottom, there were actually three doors.

    "Which door do you think would be best for him?" Theodora whispers to Ten, who shrugs in reply. "Well, I think it'd be great to have a fresh start Mr. Flame. It seemed that you were the most coarse at our last meet, so, I will first introduce you to my team. Here, I will start with Chrixten." She starts up. I close my eyes.

    I know this girl. I see her, but the more I see her the more I know how little I know about her. Why do I know her? Why is she there but I've never seen her till now? I let out a deep breath and speak, "I honestly don't really care about what you have to say. Can we move on now?" "...very well then. I shall speak less and take you on a tour so that you can gather your own opinions on the place." She offers.

   "The first floor is the lobby floor. There are three entrances and three different lobbies. There is a lobby to the left for the Stalkers, lobby to the right for the Humans, and the midsection is where those who are comfortable with being around each other. As you can very well assume, individuals rarely ever walk into the middle; I've been doing research as to the reason why.

    Going down, the commodities: kitchen, laundry, boiler room, the typical. If you would follow me up the stairs..." she leads us to the first floor up. The whole building seems to be split up in thirds in every way possible. "Here we allow for religion, each and every kind, to flourish." She opens the door to a hallway and leads the way to a the center door of three identical options with a lowercase t carved into its wood. The lighting of the room was full over color and people. The light came from the sun, stained by colored glass. Faces turned and grinned then returned to face the front where an artifactual woman stood at the front. Her voice, surprisingly boomer and has the same weight as Theodora's.

     "We have a mandate to serve the Lord with gladness. As a believer you don't have to know everything, you just have to know God and praise Him and trust Him more than you trust yourself and believe in Him greater than your belief in your own self worth. I understand... it's hard to be thankful about something that you barely know anything about. You want to fix all the problems yourself, researching and stressing and killing yourself to find the solution... but the good news is, we don't have to know it all. We don't have to fix everything on our own. If there be anything wrong with something, the Creator knows how to fix it. God knows everything. If you want to achieve a higher enlightenment, learn about Him. Oh come on saints, come on children of the most holy God, come and join me in praise!"

They all stood, clapping and praising this Lord or Him or God or Jesus. I was mostly confused, but a energy was hanging in the room over me. Through osmosis, I found my foot tapping to the beat of their "hymn" that was lead by the old woman. When she noticed us standing at the back, she closes off with a short note. "... but know in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." Then leaves the singing up to the band, walking through the crowd towards us.

"Glad to see you're here." She says. There was an accent to her voice, similar to my father's. She pats my Maiden on the head and pinches Theodora's cheeks. While doing so she asks, "Might I ask what you're doing here? What do you desire?" I look around to see whom she was addressing. Turns out it was me.  "Like I know what I'm doing here." I retort. The hell am I doing here anyways? What is this place? This couldn't be...

"Your boy got slower than when I saw him last." The old lady smiles and nods her head at my Maiden.

 "How's the tour going?" 

"Swell."

A buzzing noise came from Theodora's dress. Looking down at the device she took from her hidden pocket, she talks aloud, "What a shame... another incident is bound to happen. Chrixten, would you mind? Mess on F7." And at that she takes her leave. 

"I will see you later!" the old woman calls blowing a kiss in our direction.

 ...

A woman, petting her sleeping child's head, struggles to hold back her silent sobs. "I had to do it. I had to come here and give up the life I had. For him. The Originals- they had come to my very doorstep and demanded that I turn him in. I thought they were going to kill him. That's what it had seemed like. So, I promised I'd get his temper under control, then he wouldn't endanger society. They just wanted to keep their dirty secrets. They don't care about the people living on the earth. My son is a good boy. I-I"-her hand stops stroking his head, slamming down onto the floor. What's wrong with the kid? Why is she deciding to tell me her sob story?

At the slightest of disturbance, the three year old rumbles in his sleep. At first mumbling and then starting to cry. "Shh. Shh. Hush." The woman whispers and looks up at me. Turning around I look at the Theodora's ram-shack crew. Kaide was busy picking her nose. A little blood coming out of it due to the razor-sharpness of her nails. Shoony, kneeling beside the mother, stares down at the little boy intently. "Why are we here?" I ask. This is so annoying. I feel like there's so much being thrown at me but nothing is happening. I'm getting nowhere and just watching. The boy's body starts spasming and convulsing; Tears began to pour on his face and screams developed and grew louder and louder. What a small question is gonna wake the baby? What a pain. "...shit." I hear Kaide mumble under her breath. She puts her arms around her neck and gets on the ground in almost a turtle-like position. 

Ten, in an instant, yanks the boy out the mother's arms and sprints to the hallway. The cries were pretty damn loud from however far they were away, but it started to fade. "What was that?" I ask. I hesitated to ask if he was alright. Do I really care? "...no." Kaide says from the ground, but as she spoke another sound rose loud and crescendoing towards us.

It was a long and loud sound of a whistle and steam, followed by the grinding of metal through wood and the earth, and then the chugging along of wheels. Ten sprints back into the room in seconds, grabbing my hand with one hand and Shoony with her free arm. 

I find myself, at some point, on top on some unending metal worm puffing out toxins, glued to hug it's surface. Tch- you mean a train. Shut up. It's speeding through the building, debris of home decor flying into the air. "Shoony. Calm your friend down?" Ten asks. Shaking her head frantically, Shoony replies. I guess we'll take that as a no.

Struggling to get on my two feet, I somehow find a way to stand and shout,"Friend?! What the hell is going on here!?", but I don't think they heard me. Shoony, rapid firing her fingers at junk in the air, shouts little somethings unheard. This thing seems to go on forever, and the deafening sound it makes sounds like a screaming baby. Ten moves around knocking away wood pieces coming from every direction. I look around to see if there're any dead. But, we're moving so fast; everything's a blur.

    Before I knew it, I was being grabbed by the arm and yanked back down onto my stomach. Catching myself, my hands held me just barely up off the train's surface in a push-up position. We were surround in darkness. We must have gone into some secret tunnel or hit a spot that controls all the power in the tower building. "S-Seán." I hear Ten whisper somewhere nearby. In the darkness, there's a sense of sluggishness that comes over me. Sluggishness just like what I felt after Shoony's "magic trick" that felt so long ago.  
   At some point, the noise began to die down, and the whistle started to mimic the melody of some lullaby. Then silence. Then sunlight. We must have made it to the outside. Looking around I see the same off-colored environment that shocked me in the beginning. Purple leaved blue trees and magenta grass, yellow sky, teal dirt...

    Then, I feel a sudden drop.

    "Ack!" I hear Ten muster. Crashing down, I brace for the feeling of my wrists and knees cracking like toothpicks. But,  my hands feel like they've landed on pillows. Knees not so much, but could be worse. This place is crazy. Looking down, I expect to see magenta grass squished beneath my hands. But rather...

    "Ack!" I say as I jump up to my feet, getting off Ten and moving my hands as quickly away from her chest as possible. "I don't know how that happened. But it's probably your fault." I say and walk off. "Okie doke." Ten says flipping up off the ground; bones cracking likes firecrackers on a day of celebration. "Let's see if everyone else is okay." Shoony jumps up and declares.

 

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I remember that reality warping moment all too well. I had grabbed the cuff of her shirt, tugging and asking, "how did the plan fail? How did the plain fail? They were duds. I made them as duds." She looks over to me with those cold lifeless eyes. Ever since, she hadn't spoken a word to anyone. She had lost so much. But she spoke to me, and she said, "a memory you share with no one... might as well be a lie." At that moment I knew what she meant. She thought I actually made those bombs for him.