A Month of Midnights
XIII

It was as if the world had stopped.

The rowdy crowd of people behind me had suddenly silenced. All the bright lanterns and twinkly starlight had darkened. The presence of Minnie next to me, and Rudy and Upright nearby, it all vanished. At that moment I was by myself, left to face something strange and frightening. Dane’s blank eyes found their way directly to mine. The murky whiteness where his pupils should have been swirled like a thunderstorm. I noticed the Sword of Spoken Truth still firmly clenched in his hand, glowing just as brightly blue as he was. It gave off a sense of evil and omnipotence. The sword disturbed me more than Dane did.

“Where have you been?” Dane asked in a voice that was not his own. Somehow I knew I was speaking to the Writer, a person I had begun to think didn’t even exist.

“Looking for you. You escaped,” I answered meekly. Dane pursed his lips.

“Well, it does not matter. You will come tomorrow,” he answered plainly.

“Why not now?” I inquired. I was startled to see Dane smile.

“I have to clean! I haven’t had a visitor since last week. Mansi’s already managed to make a mess of the place since then.” I was taken aback at the absurdity of this. The Writer almost sounded like Emalee Hillguard’s mother when chairmen of different villages came over for a meal.

“Will there be enough time with one day left?” I quickly asked.

“Oh, yes. Everything will work out just fine, perfect even! Until then, enjoy your evening, Ms. Bannon!” Dane repeated the Writer’s words. He spun on his heels and began heading back into the maze of trees.

“Wha-wait, where are you going?” I called out.

“Do not worry! I’ll be back in the morning! Go! Enjoy yourself!” Dane replied. I stood there dumbly, letting Dane walk away until his blue light disappeared completely in the shadows.

“Well, I guess we gotta do what he says,” Upright said beside me. I let out a yelp, forgetting that the others had circled around me during the odd exchange with Dane.

“Why would he want us to stay?” Rudy thought aloud frustratedly.

“To clean Mansi’s mess?” guessed Minnie with a laugh. “But I agree with Upright. He told us to enjoy the evening. I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly not going to disobey the Writer!”

“That’s the spirit!” Upright cheered. I was hesitant still. “Oh, come on! Why am I the optimistic one? You heard the guy, we can’t go anywhere tonight. Let’s celebrate!” Upright grabbed a handful of cookies and marched out among the dancing villagers who gladly welcomed the stranger. Minnie giggled with delight and didn’t bother addressing us before she zoomed out to join Upright.

“Mm, these are good,” said Rudy with a muffled voice. I saw he had several miniature berry tarts crammed in his mouth. I suppressed a laugh and raised an eyebrow. “What?” Rudy asked innocently. “You don’t think we should stay?”

“It doesn’t feel right to just sit around,” I complained. Rudy took my hand, opened my palm, and set a fresh tart on it.

“We don’t have much of a choice. So enjoy it,” he said with a smile. I bit my lip and gave in. What choice did we have anyway? If the Writer wanted us to stay away for a few hours, then he must not be worried. He knows what he’s doing, right? Rudy knew I was still nurturing my doubts, and he grabbed my hand and led me to the refreshments table. He picked up a clay goblet filled with a murky purple liquid.

“I’m not drinking that,” I said lifting up my nose.

“It’s janberry cordial, it won’t do you any harm,” Rudy said. “I had some earlier.” Janberry bushes were rare in Chorio, but I had seen hundreds amidst the forests in Istoria. Most adults in Chorio could only say they had a mere spoonful of the cordial in their whole lifetime. I’d be a fool not to take the drink gratefully.

“If people back home can’t drink it, neither will I,” I said defiantly.

“If you truly are going back to Chorio, then consider this your last hurrah,” he insisted, shoving the goblet into my hands. He forced my fingers to wrap around the stem of the cup and lift it to my lips. As I prepared myself to take a sip, I quickly changed my mind and splashed the tangy liquid in Rudy’s face. Without a second thought, he grabbed another goblet and splashed the cordial onto me. The purple liquid oozed into the threads of my dress, but I was not concerned. That was the best part about janberry cordial. It never stained.

Someone must have noticed us because suddenly an all out food war was declared. Adults and children alike began dousing cordial on each other and launching drumsticks of meat across plaza. When the food ran out, women brought out more platters and trays from their cottages. The supply never ended. People wasted food and drink carelessly. The celebrations back in my village might have gotten a little rambunctious, but none of us would have wasted food. No one could simply afford that.

“Blyss, watch out!” Minnie cried as a man dumped an entire bowl of janberry cordial on me and a few others caught in the crossfire. The weight of the cordial threatened to pull down my hood, and I anxiously yanked it back into place. I darted under people’s arms and legs to get away from the volley of food. I found shelter by the side of one of the cottages.

“You okay?” Rudy asked as he stumbled his way next to me, fighting off random girls who tried to slather him with mashed turnips.

“Yeah, I just, I don’t want them to see my…” Rudy looked above my eyes.

“Oh,” he said more quiet. He leaned against the wall by my side.

“Those girls got you pretty good,” I chuckled. Rudy realized there were clumps of turnip dripping down from his curls.

“Ugh,” he groaned as he tried to picked them out.

“Here, let me help,” and I took over the task. As I slid the mashed turnips off of his hair, it didn’t go unnoticed to me that Rudy was looking at me in a way that would have made most girls swoon. I paused when I felt his hand brush against my jaw. He lifted off a few wet strands of hair that were still clinging to my face. “We should go back soon,” I said trying to fight every tempting urge inside me. He nodded but only moved closer to my face. “Don’t,” I said, and I began to inch away. “It’ll only make things harder.” Rudy blinked and kissed my cheek. It was long enough for my skin to tingle and my heart to develop unhealthy palpitations.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I know I just I made everything worse.” I looked down at my toes, not sure what I was supposed to feel at this point. Guilt? Anger? Happiness? As I looked back up at him, the familiar notes of the Mudluck struck up from the band.

“Hey, they’re playing the Mudluck,” I said with a surprised grin.

“Makes sense they’d bring it over. Most Istorians first came from Chorio,” Rudy pointed out. “Care to dance, milady?” He bowed melodramatically before me.

“Of course, my good sir!” I feigned as I took his hand. We joined many other couples who were already beginning to dance. I thought I even saw Upright with a girl, but I couldn’t be sure of anything anymore.

“Once, I saw some pearls for sale and knew that I must buy them! So I sold my mother as a slave so I could have that precious gem!” Long dances between each verse kept me on my toes and clutching to Rudy’s hands. “No, I don’t want that ole mudluck, mudluck, mudluck, no I don’t want that ole mudluck, so please don’t give it to me!” Several verses flew by, each one involving selling a family member to buy another gem. Midway through a turn, I bumped into a man with a slothish face and wiry beard. He looked at me bizarrely and kept dancing. Rudy made sure we didn’t pass him again.

“I saw a sapphire up for grabs, and I just had to have it! So I sold one kid to get the stone and, boy, he threw a fit!” Three claps, and we were off dancing again. More lyrics were sung, and I struggled to keep my hood on. Rudy had to help me once or twice when it began to slip down.

“Four red rubies shined gorgeously, and I needed them that instant! So I sold my last kid just for them, and she was but an infant! No, I don’t want that ole mudluck, mudluck, mudluck, no I don’t-” The same grisly man and his partner collided into me again. I could feel my hood slide past my horns, and I rushed to cover them once again. It was too late, for a wave of realization washed across his face. Before more could be said or done, Rudy brought my waist back to his, and we were dancing again.

“I don’t trust him,” I heard Rudy mumble as he glared at the man.

“Yes, now I held, oh, every stone, and I began to celebrate! I had much luck just for my kids, but I gave them all away! I was all by myself that Day, and I sat alone so sadly! I still got that gall darn Mudluck, and I was quite unhappy!”

“Switch partners!” A random man called out. In absolute chaos, people began looking for someone new to dance with.

“This isn’t part of the dance!” I said to Rudy in a panic. I felt his hand tighten around mine.

“Find a new girl,” the same bearded man from said. He shoved Rudy from my grip and put his own hand in mine.

“Blyss!” I heard Rudy call out. I saw another woman take his hands and fling him behind a barricade of people. I tried my hardest to avert my eyes from the man’s, but it was hard to do so without tripping myself. Thankfully, the last few notes of the Mudluck began to play. The song’s almost over, you can make it, I thought as I began to relax.

“How do you like Istoria, Maleficent?” the man suddenly whispered. I saw a slimy grin grow on his lips. He saw my horns earlier; he could have very well figured out who my character was. That didn’t mean anything necessarily bad I hoped. The man spoke again, “Just do me a favor. Don’t make a scene when we leave.” And I instantly knew I was in the arms of a Madmag.

“So there really is a bounty on me, huh?” I pretended to ask carelessly.

“A huge one, sweetheart,” he answered crudely. I was beginning to hate when people called me sweetheart.

“Who else here is one of you?” I asked.

“Only a handful. But your lover boy’s friends from the woods are here, and they’re not too happy with him.” I glanced around looking for Edgar’s and Henna’s faces, and sure enough, I saw them looming in the shadows of the houses, eyeing us carefully.

“Why do you want me so much?” The man chuckled.

“We’re made up of butlers, stable boys, and a few evil sidekicks. Someone with your power would boost our numbers-”

“To do what exactly? Make more chaos? To create more petty crimes for the Guard to clean up?”

“No, to get revenge. It’s time we show the Writer that we ain’t gonna follow his every word and live a life we didn’t ask for,” he said bitterly.

“It’s an honor,” I rebutted. “You’re serving your people when you take the role. If no one did, the Story would never be retold. And if Stories weren’t retold, this universe as we know it would collapse. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices.”

“Aren’t you the little hypocrite? If memory serves me right, the others say you ain’t got no glitch. You’re just trying to get out of being Maleficent. So much for sacrificing for the realms, huh?” he taunted. I clenched my teeth and silently admitted defeat. He was right. Like my father, I had always cared about the good of people, in Chorio and in Istoria. To keep them from falling part, wasn’t the best thing I could do was to take the role? Oh, the dilemma I had! I could prevent havoc and just accept Maleficent. Doing that though would mean I’d become an evil, cruel monster when I’d always been taught to side with good. I couldn’t have even imagined what my father would have done if he were in my position. Sacrifice his beliefs to keep the realms stable, or honor his self morals and resist the evil implanted inside?

“They-they can replace someone else. It’s still a major role, even if it’s evil. Someone will want it,” I stumbled. “The Writer will replace me just like he replaced you and all the other Madmags. So take me away, capture other characters. There’s always gonna be someone back in Chorio who’ll replace us. And as long as the Stories are retold, your efforts will be useless.”

In a fit of rage, the Madmag yanked my hood down and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Look! It’s one of the new villians! Come observe her great hideousness before she goes to her Story!” The drunken crowd oohed and ahhed at my horns and oddly colored hair. The Madmag disappeared as dozens of people swarmed around me. Once the commotion died down, I knew they’d capture me for sure. I had to escape, but the people trapped me. They pushed against tables and chairs, pulling my hair, knocking on my horns. I could hear my friends call for me, but they’d been swallowed by the mass of people.

“Stop touching me!” I cried as I wrestled free from a man’s grasp. Women yanked on my hair, dragging my skull towards the ground. They pulled on my horns, pinched my pale skin. “Get off of me!” I demanded as tears welled up in my eyes. It wasn’t even midnight, and the familiar burning had returned but this time as a wildfire. I couldn’t suppress it much longer.

“Where’s the spinning wheel?”

“Give us a cackle!”

“Show us your powers!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be green?”

I broke free of those holding my arms. “Get away from me, all of you!” I screamed. The bottled magic burst. Beams of it shot from my hands. The crowd unanimously ducked as the magic collided with a table of food, setting it all aflame. I flicked my wrist just a bit, and more accidentally shot forth. Every move I made sent dangerous magic whizzing through the air.

“She’s trying to kill us!” someone cried.

“Run! She’s mad!” another shrieked.

“No!” I shouted, “it’s just my magic-” another stream blasted from my fingertips. People were screaming and running all over the village, trying to avoid the villain girl who was setting their homes on fire. In the midst of it all, I saw the same bearded man and a few others watch me with wicked grins. Among them were Edgar and Henna. I began to step back and prepare to run when I bumped into another table. The surprise sent another burst of magic that ignited the grass around me. I was trapped in a circle of my own flames. The Madmags approached me like predators readying themselves for a kill.

“Time to give up, villain,” Henna said wryly. I clenched my fists and finally regained control.

“I’m not the villain here,” I hissed. Lifting my hands, I let a stream of magic burst forth at them, purposely aiming too high. As they recovered, I turned to begin my escape when I found the flames around me had only grown more dangerous.

“Move!” someone demanded as I was pushed forward. Rudy grabbed my hand as we sprinted away. I saw the hem of my dress was on fire and instantly panicked.

“Rudy, help me!” I said kneeling down to spread the burning fabric out. He stomped on it over and over, but the fire refused to die. “The cordial!” I suddenly remembered. Rudy spun on his heels to replace one of the cups that hadn’t been spilled out yet. He returned with a goblet only half full, but that was all that was needed. With the flames mostly extinguished, Rudy yanked me back up, and we were off running again.

“We need to replace the others,” Rudy informed me as he guided me back around to the other side of the village.

“Get off of me, you putrid ogre!” I heard Upright yell. We followed the sound of his voice to replace him held down by Edgar. Upright’s eyes widened in fear. “They’re right behind you!” he warned. It was too late.

I heard the sound and watched Rudy’s body slump to the ground. Of course, they’d hurt him again just like this afternoon. They already knew he was my weakness.

“Come with us, and they won’t be harmed any further,” the bearded Madmag said stepping over Rudy.

“A cause based on revenge will go nowhere,” I replied coldly.

“Better than living a life where you’re destined to be killed by a pretty boy prince,” he smirked. I saw Rudy begin to rustle back to life.

“I’m not coming with you,” I reaffirmed. The Madmag shrugged.

“Fair enough. Bernard?” A bald man with coal black eyes stepped forward. He was holding a small dagger that bragged its sharp edge in the light of the burning village near us. Bernard grabbed Rudy’s collar and brought him to his face. Bernard carefully ran the dagger along Rudy’s cheek, and drops of blood began to ooze from his skin.

“Tell him to stop,” I gritted through my teeth. The head Madmag grinned.

“Edgar?” he called. Edgar began to squeeze harder around Upright’s neck. His cheeks began to turn purple, and his eyes almost glazed over.

“Stop!” I repeated.

“Georgie?” the head Madmag said. A thin man with tufts of grey hair stepped forward to reveal a cage I had not noticed before. Inside the cage was Minnie curled up in her usual frightened position. Georgie walked towards the burning buildings and prepared to throw the cage into the flames.

“No!” I shrieked.

“You know how to save them,” the leader reminded me. I saw one last drop of blood roll down Rudy’s face. His eyes bore into mine. I couldn’t let those eyes go lifeless. I summoned back the burning inside me, letting it engulf my entire body. Lifting my hands and shutting my eyes, I let it roar.

I didn’t bother aiming. I knew no matter where I fired, damage would be done. The screams confirmed it. Unlike before, I didn’t try controlling it right away. I assumed I could rein it back in anytime I wanted. What I didn’t understand was that I was inviting something in. Something had been created in the time I had kept my magic at bay and stopped my transformation from progressing. Now that I wasn’t stopping it, or even trying to control it, I was realizing the full power of the monster inside me.

In later years, I found I could only describe it as someone locking me in a room. I had made the choice to enter, but once I was inside, there was no getting out. I was banging on the door, begging to be let out. I watched myself set the Madmags aflame, some of them roasting alive because of me. But it wasn’t me. It was something else. It was Maleficent.

Then it grew worse. The room I was trapped in began condensing. The walls were closing in, squishing me, suffocating me. I could feel water lapping at my ankles. It rose higher as the walls closed in. The evil was trying to kill me. It was trying to kill whatever good was left in me. I knew I couldn’t fight it on my own, but who would help me?

I watched helplessly as Maleficent moved me forward passed the heap of charred bodies. Thankfully, some of the Madmags had escaped, but my friends were still trapped by the flames. I knew it was them she was going to kill next.

“Blyss, what are you doing?” Upright asked as he scooted up against the base of a tree. He clasped Minnie’s cage close to his chest. Maleficent raised my hand straight at the faery.

“Stop it, Blyss! Don’t let it take you over! Fight it!” Minnie pleaded. I pounded on the door harder, but I could not escape. The water was rising higher; the walls were getting closer. I was dying.

“Don’t hurt them!” I demanded to whoever was on the other side of the door. I only heard a laughing in response. It was a laughing of true mockery. It knew my efforts would be in vain. This is why I wasn’t supposed to enter Istoria during the Month of Midnights. This is why I wasn’t supposed to suppress my magic as strongly as I did. The consequences meant I’d lose myself completely to my role. Blyss Bannon would cease to exist.

Someone’s arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me away from Upright and Minnie. Again, here Rudy was trying to save me. I owed him the world for all he had done for me in just one month. He threw me to the ground and subdued my thrashing limbs. “Snap out of it,” he ordered. I could barely hear him over the crackling of the flames around us.

“Never,” Maleficent answered for me. Rudy slapped me across the face.

“Snap out of it!” he demanded louder.

“Get off of me!” Maleficent hissed.

“Not till you let me speak to Blyss!”

“She’s gone, lover boy, for good,” she lied. No! I’m here! Rudy, help me! I shouted as I continued pounding on the intangible door.

Be quiet, Maleficent said from the other side. You’ll be dead soon, anyways.

“Talk to me, Blyss!” Rudy cried. I could see he was fighting fatigue, smoke inhalation, and million other things trying to knock him out. By now, the water was up to my neck, and I could feel the walls pressing my shoulders in. My lungs would either fill with water or be crushed within a matter of time. I couldn’t reach Rudy physically, but perhaps there was another way, a way that Maleficent couldn’t intercept.

“Nice try, but she can’t talk anymore,” Maleficent taunted. Rudy realized immediately what needed to be done. He quickly transferred one of his hands and placed it on my forehead. Maleficent wasn’t ready for the world to suddenly go black, but I was.

“Rudy?” I called out in great panic. I was running out of life.

“I’m here, Blyss, I’m here!” he answered quickly.

“I’m trapped! I-I can’t get free. I can’t fight her,” I began to weep.

“Yes, yes, you can,” he insisted. “Good can always fight.”

“But I’m not good! I killed all those people! I let the evil take over me!” I said.

“It’s okay! You were tempted, and you gave in, just like the rest of us. But you can pull out! It’s not too late!” Rudy insisted. I could feel the water up to my lips. I had to curl into a little ball to avoid being crushed. There was no way I could pull out now. I was far too deep in a pool of my own misery and mistakes.

“I...can’t. I’m sorry,” I whispered weakly. I felt my entire body be submerged in my own sins.

“No!” Rudy cried. I heard him wail something muddled as Maleficent finally pushed him away. Even underwater, I had the perfect seat to watch Maleficent send him flying into the trunk of a tree. He sank down, clenching his ribs. My tears joined the surrounding water that was drowning me. Rudy weakly looked back up at Maleficent, but I could feel he was looking directly at me, past the evil shell encased around me.

“Think of your father,” he croaked, wincing in pain as he spoke. The water iced instantly. I was frozen still. Maleficent didn’t want me thinking about my father, but she was too late. The memory of my father’s last hours was already fresh in my mind.

It was early morning. The sun hadn’t even finished rising. My father came into my room and stirred me awake. “Blyss, wake up,” he coaxed softly. My eyes fluttered awake to see him fully washed and dressed. I looked at his fingers, completely scrubbed clean. The splinters were pulled out, and only age-old scars remained.

“Daddy?” I asked sleepily. He gently tousled my hair.

“I have to go soon, honey. I wanted to tell you goodbye,” he smiled sadly.

“When are you coming back?” I asked. His eyes fell to my blanket.

“Not for a while. But you’ll see me again, I promise,” he said. He kissed my forehead, and I could sense the pain he was feeling.

“Wait!” I said. “I don’t understand.” He looked back down at me and sighed.

“Alright, one last lesson, okay?” he said. I nodded eagerly. I loved his lessons, but at the time, I didn’t know how much they’d damage my future.

“Hurry, before Mommy comes,” I whispered naughtily. My father laughed, the creases around his eyes finally lifting up.

“Okay, okay. Let’s see...when you grow up, you will meet people who are like hunters. They will trap you, lure you in for the kill.” He stopped when he saw how scared I had become. “No, no, don’t worry. You can replace a person who’ll help you, who believes in you, who has been your constant from day one. They will fight for you, but part of the work has to come from you.”

“But you’re my constant!” I whimpered. A single tear dropped down his cheek and disappeared into his beard.

“I told you, Blyss, I have to go. I can’t be your constant anymore. But this is my lesson: replace someone like me. Someone who believes in good indefinitely. Someone who will pull you out if you’re drowning, will wake you up if you fall into poisonous sleep. Fight evil. Resist evil. That will always be the right decision, my little light.”

His little light. I had forgotten his nickname for me.

Suddenly, the memory was over, and I could feel the frigid ice around me once more. This I was sure of: Rudy was my constant. He was trying to pull me out of the evil I was trapped in. I had forgotten my father’s words though.

...but part of the work has to come from you.

Rudy was fighting for me, but it was time I did too. There was no more dilemma. I would never be Maleficent. I didn’t want the realms to collapse, but I was not going to sacrifice what I knew to be true for it. And why would I try to hold up a world who asked me to become a monster anyways?

Fight evil. Resist evil. That will always be the right decision.

For the first time since I entered Istoria, I knew exactly what I was doing.

Closing my eyes, I let myself become the little light my father saw in me. I could feel the heat radiate from inside me as it thawed my prison of ice. Just as when I fell of the bridge at Maleficent’s castle, I let joy fuel my powers. Joy made me so much stronger.

The ice turned into water, and the walls began to recede. As the water began to drain, I returned to the door, pounding louder, screaming louder. I still needed my constant.

Rudy’s face turned confused when he saw Maleficent stumble to the ground, clutching her side. “Blyss?” he asked weakly. Maleficent’s painful shrieks were my answer. He wobbled over and grabbed Maleficent by the shoulders. “Come on! Keep fighting! Fight her, Blyss, fight her!” The door began to split and crack where I hit it. I rammed into the door, and it crumbled to dust.

“Rudy!” I said louder than anticipated as I breathed in the smoky air. Not even pausing for moment, Rudy grabbed my hand and led me far away from the wildfire. In a small clearing were Upright and Minnie waiting for us. Minnie had been freed from her cage.

“Blyss?” she asked hopefully. I nodded. She sighed in relief and flew to my face to hug my jaw.

“I’m so sorry,” I said as sobs began to free themselves from my throat.

“Oh, don’t even worry about it. We know you’re trying to fight it,” Minnie insisted. I felt something hug my leg.

“It’s all good,” Upright said quietly. “Just glad you’re back.” This sent more tears down my cheeks. I saw Rudy standing there silently, bloody and bruised. Even in the dim moonlight, I could see his eyes were red and glossy. I lifted my hand to him and, after a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed it and wrapped his arms around me.

There we stood, a strange little family embracing each other in the darkness, grateful that I hadn’t been lost to the murderer inside me quite yet. I cringed to think of the few Madmags I had killed tonight. Though it was Maleficent who had fired the deadly magic at them, I still felt responsible for letting it happen. I was the one who had let my suppressed magic free. Someday, I would replace a way to pay my debt back. It would never recover the cost of their lives, but it would be something.

We moved farther away from the clearing, walking about an hour and a half away so that the wildfire I had started looked like just a campfire in the distance. We finally gave into our weariness and stopped. No one was in the mood for a fire, so we huddled together to combat against the chilly northern air. Even Upright held in his protests to curl up against me for warmth. On my other side was Rudy who automatically wrapped his arm around me for my protection. Minnie went to her usual fold in Upright’s hat, and just like that, the day was over.

My worried thoughts prevented me from entering any dream. I was thinking about Rudy. In the course of one day, he’d been beaten up by Edgar and Henna, then knocked out again by a Madmag, then his face was cut with Bernard’s dagger, and then he had to wrestle with my evil alter personality. Who knows how many broken or fractured bones were in his body? And the cut on his face will surely leave a repulsive scar once it healed. Then, after all this settled down, who’s to say the Madmags won’t just track him down again and ruin his Story because of me? The worst thought of it all though, was not this. It was that I had realized Rudy was my constant. I had found the person my father wanted me to replace after he was killed. I had found him, but after tomorrow, we’d part forever. You’ll replace someone else, my common sense reasoned. But somehow, I didn’t think I would.

“Go to sleep,” Rudy eventually whispered. And finally I did. It was late morning before I realized Dane was standing over us.

He still glowed blue, and his eyes were still white, but now his mannerisms were like a chipper elderly lady. He gave a strange, blank smile.

“Good news!” said Dane. “The house is clean, and Mansi’s on her best behavior.”

“How...how long have you been standing there?” I asked. I could feel Rudy and Upright stir on either side of me.

“Oh, only a few hours or so. I thought I’d better let you sleep after all that drama last night. Unfortunately, that means you’ll have to walk a bit faster to make up the time you lost.” I blushed a scarlet red. The idea of the Writer knowing about how I almost let Maleficent take over completely, and how a few people were killed in the process, made me feel like a guilty criminal. “Come on! Get up now! We’ve got a lot of ground to cover and only one day! Let’s go, go, go!” Dane began walking away strangely, and I realized he wouldn’t be coming back for us. I quickly urged the others awake, and we had to run to catch up with Dane. Even when we reached him, his pace was so fast, we had to speed walk just to keep him in sight. I noticed we were making a diagonal cut for the the base of the mountain range where Minnie claimed she met the Writer. Besides the beacon of light part, I was beginning to believe her encounter was real.

Finally, we got used to the faster pace, and all of us settled into a steady rhythm. Minnie opted to just ride in Upright’s cap rather than tire herself out by flying. I gravitated to Rudy’s side, for his presence brought me comfort. I felt his hand clasp around mine, and I couldn’t help feel a bit overly happy at this. At least I could say one good thing happened on my last day with him.

I was growing anxious by how much of the day was burning away. If only we had woken up sooner, we’d have a few extra hours in case something went wrong. Dane, or rather the Writer, seemed pretty confident though, because whenever I asked if we’d make it there in time, he’d answer, “We’ll make it with enough time to feed Mansi twenty gallons of sweetspray!” I had no clue what that meant, but I assumed it was in our favor.

It was now mid afternoon, and I could feel Rudy begin to slow down. “Where does hurt?” I asked nervously.

“Well, everywhere. But it’s not that,” he said strangely.

“What do you mean?” Rudy looked ahead before looking back at me.

“We need to talk, Blyss,” he said no louder than the wind. Understanding his desire for privacy, I slowed down to his pace which furthered the distance between us and the other three.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he chuckled. “I just need to tell you something.”

“Tell me what?” I questioned further.

“I-I know I should’ve told you earlier, but I didn’t want you to talk me out of it,” he stuttered.

“Talk you out of what?” I said louder. Rudy gave me a look, and I bit my tongue.

“A few days ago, after our argument, after the two Madmags attacked me, I made a decision,” he said slowly. Whatever the decision he made, this must’ve been the cause for why he acted so happy after being practically beaten to death. I took note of Dane, Upright, and Minnie turning a corner up ahead and becoming shielded from our view.

“What did you decide?” I asked carefully. Rudy didn’t get the chance to answer my question.

“Where are you guys?” Upright called excitedly. “You need to see this!” As we turned the corner, I was underwhelmed to see it was just more forest.

“See what?” I couldn’t help but ask. Upright rolled his eyes and pointed to Dane. He was standing a few feet in front of us with his palm held up, straight and flattened, as if pressed against a wall we could not see. He was muttering an odd chant in a language I did not know. Suddenly, waves of blue light rippled across a gap of bare space between two large trees. The light spread and thickened to form a big, blue wall of magic that blocked my view of the other side. Dane effortlessly walked through it, and the message was clear that we had to as well. Upright, with Minnie still in his hat, marched triumphantly into the blueness, completely disappearing on the other side.

“What did you decide?” I asked one last time.

“It doesn’t matter,” Rudy said. “I have a feeling you’ll replace out soon enough.” Though this did not satisfy me, I let Rudy lead me up to the blue wall.

Closing my eyes, I stepped through, not sure of what to brace for on the other side.