TRACK 33

Sure with all my life, I pay the debt that you carried

Only sense can keep this hole from getting buried

Do I follow, laden in the shadow you are?

Time will show me, bearing it like it were a cross

(Live like this- Return to dust)

********

'Mister I-hide-and-let-you-seek couldn't have been at least a little more fussy in choosing the place to hide in?' he couldn't help but think, raising one of his legs trapped in the mud with quite the commitment. 'Why couldn't he select a resort in Hawaii or something like that? Was it too much to ask?'

Steve was very, very pissed off. And exhausted. Forget the wolf from the Sword in the Rock, he was ten times worse.

The feeling had been there at first, but moderately: They had kept walking almost endlessly up to that point, trying to avoid consuming too much food and water and leaving him even hungrier because of it, making him miss hamburgers and puddings even more than before. It even made him miss all the only fruit and vegetable dishes that they had eaten at the Castle. But he had tried not to think about them, because every time he did, his stomach would only growl louder and have him tiredly lament something under his breath.

And as they had kept trudging, the heavy tense mood had spread more. The further they got, the more they were rubbed in the wrong way by the smallest things... but...

It had only worsened when the normal, almost dead ground had stopped from being "boring but decently solid" to "extremely muddy and stinky, and oh shit, were those small worms? Ew. Ew, no."

Mud was entering Steve's boots at every single step he made, and that made him sink in it a little more each.

Mud was on the armor's part that covered his hips and entirely on the belt, splotches of brown caking it until the silver gray was almost null under it.

It was on his hands, too, making sure that he couldn't touch anything -couldn't scratch his nose even though it was itching- unless he wanted to worsen the condition of his looks, which was already almost as bad as when he had been in his dirtiest case, the most desperate case he had -he was still mourning his beautiful, cool Vespa. And the teeth he had lost there. Just thinking about it was painful. And he regretted acting the way he did a lot because maybe, had he avoided that, there would have been fewer issues in the days after.

And, as if it wasn't already enough... The flipping mud was probably in places he didn't want to think about, because ew. Eeeew part two. Really, just terribly ew.

So, yeah, he wasn't happy about all that mud everywhere! He had even risked falling in it! Thrice! The third occasion had gotten even too near to that to be appreciated and he had saved himself just because he had reminded himself where his bar... Barycen... Barycenter -barycenter? Was that the term? Lake has said it once or twice and he wasn't totally sure. Well. Didn't matter anyway- was.

And Mister Magic Man was just as grumpy as Steve was on the wet, squelchy ground. He was ruffled to the point that -when he wasn't mute as a tomb, making him ask himself if he should see it as a good or terrible thing because the silence was annoying as hell- he had started barking even more orders, while technically he had stopped doing that a bit before they had got there.

But, since the Old Man was annoyed, he had returned to being snappy... And to tell him that he was too slow or too loud while moving, and other things not too far from that. Like, excuse him!?

Steve had pretty much responded loudly to him, shortly after. He had shot back that he, one, couldn't do a flip about it, and that, two, if someone had to be at fault, it was Mister Magic Man himself and not him, since he was the one that had directed them that way, without explaining anything! He had led them that way. So he had to take responsibility and stop acting like it was his fault that they were deep into the slush. Literally.

To that, the Sorcerer had said something else very, very annoying that Steve's brain had decided to remove because whatever that was, he didn't care. Didn't want to care enough to remember it. It must have been stupid from his point of view. And he had said so without issues, adding more fuel to the fire and having the man glaring at him.

They had discussed more. Then they had taken the time to pause, just to breathe a bit... and then discussed again until they had found a point of the place where it had been slightly less muddy, the sludge returning to the knee height and a few big rocks rising in the middle of it.

They had sat down on them and rested -for too little, in his personal and quite important point of view, but Mister Magic Man hadn't listened to his protests at all, almost as if he had not said a single word- then they had started walking again, making a few more snappy remarks from time to time, but less long and loud. They had been less tiring, too, but still heated enough to have them huff or roll their eyes.

So, yep, they were both flipping pissed off and very, very tired, both physically -but, that, just as the whole direction choice thing, was the Moody Old Man's fault. He should have listened to him- and mentally, since that place was getting to them, ticking them off as they both walked.

It really was. It was to the point that he felt tense about the smallest things.

And it wasn't helped by the fact that as they were both advancing, many trees were adding themselves to the view that surrounded them. But they weren't proper, normal, pretty trees to climb to see fireflies or to carve just enough to make a heart with inside his and Aja's initials.

They were all dark gray and curved up, almost looking more like some weird types of scary shapes, the type that could have been drawn by some buttsnack who had a knack for horror or had the worst taste in things in the whole universe.

Some of them even seemed to have faces and... They almost looked like they were moving, but... In that case, it was probably just Steve himself seeing things. It was just his head that had decided to run wild out of nowhere because of the never-ending walk, making them creepier than they were supposed to be and inventing things or situations that weren't real...

Because they weren't real, were they? Right?

He kinda hoped that they weren't.

Kinda, yes. The part of him that wasn't tense, well, was ready -and excited- to fight. So, half ready and half not.

He... Well, actually, Steve was surprised by the fact that he wanted more teachings from Lake, right now...

But he still was a Creepslayer! Without his fighting companion, but he was!

Some Creepers were going to be slayed, had to be slayed. Period. With or without the best conditions to do so. With or without any kind of real public to show off his abilities and learnings to. And... Mister Magic Man didn't count. Nope. Not at all. He was totally out of the list of people he wanted to impress because he wasn't satisfied by anything. Or anyone, for that matter.

'The creepy monsters out here, well, they are going to go so, so down if they meet me! A step out of the door. Totally. Shyeah!'

The thought filled him with enough good humor to ignore the stinky cold sludge entering his boots all over again, wetting his socks, and getting through it. And it was strong enough to make him ignore Mister Pole-in-the-ass man, to the point that Steve was smiling in a convincing, energetic way and almost on the verge of whistling.

It was strong enough to not make him tense anymore, not even a little. He stopped caring about whatever horrors he seemed to notice in the trees and the brown slush, small waves grappling on the surface, accompanied by minuscule bubbles and by the small worms that kept popping up.

He kept moving forward and didn't see how, far, far away from them, a bit of the dark gray sky was starting to become slightly purple, expanding like an oil stain.

'When we see each other again, Pepperjack is going to be so excited after he hears all my adventures! Aja, too!'

********

That room, apparently, was much smaller than the one before but was still big enough to remind him of the other dens alone.

There wasn't a back door, though. There wasn't even a small bed to sleep on or something like that. So, yeah, the Keeper didn't seem to rest or... properly live there. He just used that place to create magical objects and Golems.

'Meaning, still no idea about where he could be. Great.' Douxie sighed, slightly discouraged. And then let himself look properly at what was around him. Since his main focus had been drastically removed from the situation's possibilities, looking better and not just quickly glancing at small shapes without connecting them to items was acceptable enough.

There were a lot of materials. Of the magical world and the nonmagical one, too.

His gaze quickly moved from something made out of ceramics, then to steel, to concrete and ended up on the oriclacum, on the dark steel, on the feverus -luckily far, far away from anything else, all of them inside pots made out of the only material that avoided disasters if in long contact with them or rubbed against them: diamonds. Permeated with heat, always burning hot... If rubbed with more pieces of the same metal or others as well, it could have created sparks in the best situation and set the entire place on fire, or made it explode in the worst- the violode and steel perls. Some, he didn't know at all. Still, most of them were reduced to pieces, to gears, nails, to weird shapes -just as unknown as the materials they were made of- that were more complicated than many that Merlin had had in his studio.

And as his eyes moved between them all... he noticed that there weren't only construction materials. There were many spare wheels, which were all against the walls, just as different in their shapes, dimensions, and colors. Plus some hidden books that were used quite a lot and had no title. Nothing. One of them looked like a Death Note. Which... Definitely made him question if they were diaries or not, a thought that entered and exited from his brain so quickly that it almost seemed that it didn't do it at all.

He wasn't going to be able to read it anyway to discover possible information. Not without a Linguae Serum. And he hadn't seen one while strolling in the whole place. Maybe he would have found it by looking attentively everywhere and moving things, but... Huh.

'Curses. Possible curses, remember this.'

Douxie sighed again, even louder this time. He stayed still where he was until it seemed like all his energy left his body, tiredness sailing in his legs and arms. Then he decided to sit down and rest.

Half of his brain still told him that maybe, if he did, the Golem was gonna eventually come back, but... at the same time he was lacking brain faculties and the adrenaline was the only thing that was keeping him up, slowly diminishing as the seconds passed.

So, he simply went to sit, letting the lamp down on the floor, only a few centimeters away. His back rested against one of the only points of the wall where the wheels weren't covering it, but all the objects around him made him feel quite uncomfortable because no matter where he tried to put his body to stay away from them, he kept feeling them around.

The floor was cold and hard. The walls were cold as well and a little rough.

Douxie left his arms upon his legs, which he bent to get them near his chest, having them almost touch it. His head lolled a little on his right before getting on his elbow, where there was no armor.

His eyes stared first at his feet and then at the void, blinking lazily. He ended up closing them, breathing deeply in and out many times, still feeling his heart being faster than how it was supposed to be.

And every single sensation enveloped him.

He felt pain in his back and butt. He felt a slight pulse just above his temples. The heaviness of his body was fully upon him and as it got stronger, a slight burning feeling hit his shoulders. And he was so thirsty...

So bloody thirsty that his throat hurt like hell again, almost asking him to try to smell the water in the well one more time. Because maybe, just maybe, this time it would have had a different kind of smell. Maybe it was possible to drink it.

'You're just deluding yourself.' His brain whispered. 'Nothing will change at all. You'll just waste some time instead of resting.'

He sighed for the third time. And tried to let himself sleep just a little, enough to stop thinking. Enough to avoid brooding on water that he couldn't drink because it had germs that could give him water poisoning, unless... Unless he found a way to boil the viruses out of it?

He shot on his feet as if he had been on a spring, a slight feeling of dizziness hitting as he did so, but ignoring it as if it wasn't there at all. As if he didn't risk falling because of it. He entirely removed the pain in his body too, and sprinted as if there was no tomorrow.

'The feverus!' his mind almost screamed 'I just need to...'

Find something made of wood between all the materials that were in that room. Have a few branches or more catch fire, keeping it controlled. Grab the bloody bucket from the well, having it filled to the brim. Find something to raise it upon the fire so that he doesn't have to keep it in the air and risk getting burned in the process. Wait for the liquid to boil. And then, voilà. Drinkable water to quiet down his thirst.

Or, even better, the bloody thermal gloves!

No need for a proper fire. Just them and the full bucket to make it boil, which was going to happen quicker by regulating the temperature.

Maybe he was gonna do it more than once, just to have a bit of it to bring along and so to avoid getting extremely thirsty once again during his journey... this if he found something to keep it in that was empty and not cursed.

Did he keep promising himself mentally not to touch anything only to break that promise almost immediately after? Yes.

Was he kind of playing with fire because of it? Yes. Definitely.

But to be picky, why should the Keeper have cursed an empty bottle, a flask, or a pair of gloves? It made little to no sense... Except perhaps for the gloves in case he had been too terrified of inexistent people stealing them.

But... to be even more picky, the Sorcerer had hidden himself extremely well inside of a dimension in a bloody flower. He had added an anti-magic barrier. He had magically closed a vent and done who knows what else. So...

He seemed more than a little paranoid.

What he did and what he didn't do was very difficult to predict.

So, yeah. Playing with fire and breaking promises as if they all weren't already in a precarious situation was very stupid, very dangerous, and very selfish.

But the idea of leaving that place without water again, just the thought of it crossing his mind in full force, gave him more than slight anxiety: It stopped the air in his lungs. Brought him to think too much once more.

So, he just hoped that the Keeper hadn't become irrationally suspicious to that point.

If he had been like that to that point, Douxie -unless he had lost memories, the abilities to talk, or else- was gonna curse at him. Loudly. He didn't care if Dalai somehow was going to hear him or not.

Well. Okay. No. That was a lie...

Half a lie.

Before he could return properly to the other room as he had planned, though, a big, loud sudden sound above him, similar to a loud rumble, had him go still like a board, holding his breath again.

'Gods' sake. That's the Golem, isn't it?'

********

The air all around him seemed to be almost electric for unknown reasons as he walked forward, trying to speed up to get to the broken shuttle that was right in front of him, so near to the Orange river that it was almost a miracle that it wasn't already in it.

As he got there, he couldn't help but wince, a little frown crossing his face.

Toby hadn't expected it to look the same as it had been before, no -that would have been too much to ask with the fall it had, really- but... He had not expected it like this either. It was completely destroyed.

The gears were cracked, the apparent main one looking the most worrisome of them all as pieces were lacking.

The wood of the base was torn apart in several points, with the disjointed rough chunks scattered around him in utter chaos.

The sides of the small boats were the parts that looked the best and they still were ripped apart, one in two halves, the other in three sections of which one -the one that was supposed to be in the center- looked like a splintered trapezoid with cavities and several more fractures that almost made him ask how it was still in one piece.

The axis... The axis looked like a kit-kat: The external part being darker than the inside, from which splinters peeped out in a thick disordered brown mass.

Fixing it was going to be quite complicated. If not directly impossible in case someone's magical abilities still weren't allowed to be of use. Or if a super glue wasn't found, which was... highly unlikely -And the idea of using one didn't feel trustworthy, to be honest. It was like trying to use adhesive tape on a hole in a ceiling. So, yes, it was possible, and he would have done that, too... but it felt more like a momentary fix than something permanent.

Toby looked at the shuttle for a few seconds more -not searching for anything no, just looking at it. As if staring at it intensely while crossing his fingers would fix it alone- then, after a new weird electric current of wind hit his cheeks -having him cover his face with both his hands and squint to avoid dust or dirt getting into his eyes- he obligated himself to restart to walk.

'It's not like I can bring it along anyway...' he thought as he looked behind himself one last time.

Like the times before, the start was normal and calm. But after moving forward for a while -not being able to advance horizontally anymore or he would have ended up in the river- the speed always ended up diminishing and the quiet strolling became tiresome plodding.

The fatigue had him breathing heavily again -it felt like he was competing in a marathon, obligated by the Coach, and... in a way he was. Having the marathon, not having the Coach obligating him to have a marathon... No, in this case, it was the whole place that was obligating him- his lungs burning and his heartbeat thumping fast and loud.

'I am probably going to die from exhaustion! Or simply pass out. Or both.'

Even with some pauses here and there -drinking a little and taking as much oxygen as he could- it was like his body muscles had no real time to stop from hurting. And his feet were aching as well, to the point that he almost felt like he wasn't wearing shoes. Or that he had a deep gash on both of them and they kept causing him discomfort no matter the position he favored during the long walk.

As if it wasn't enough, the wind was catching up even more... And the sky was becoming more and more purple, large threatening clouds rotating in it in a way that was... Absolutely terrifying. Tornado like. More than one, too.

Even more terrifying was the fact that he had no momentary cover, no place to hide from it unless... Unless he crossed the river towards that weird tall something that he saw in the distance, but that was too far to let him get there in time. And he didn't even know if it was a proper place to hide! He only saw how tall and big it was, because even if far away, it was visible!

Still, if he ran, he would have gotten away? At least a little? But if the sky actually created tornadoes, he was gonna become Cat-food!... Tornado-food. Whatever.

But he really couldn't stay there. The rolling clouds were still up in the sky, and he had no idea if they were gonna remain there for much longer, but until they were, he had a possibility. An advantage.

Taking a big breath, Toby tried to ignore how his legs were trembling, shaking in his boots both in tiredness and fear. He tried to not pay attention to how his perspiration was running on his temple but ended up passing on it with his free hand to remove it anyway in a quick gesture.

He looked at Goldenmate almost without even realizing it, placing his hands on the hilt to search for more confidence -which was lacking right there and then, so it was very, very much needed.

"Stick with me." He asserted, his voice thick with saliva, gulping it down just a little and breathing deeply again.

Seeing the glint of the sword shine in front of his eyes, he tried to imagine that the weapon was listening to him. He could imagine it nodding, so he nodded back at it and filled himself with all the determination he could muster.

"Alrighty, heeeere we go!"

He started running, even though every single part of him was hurting as if he had been beaten up or something. But it seemed to disappear as a weird sound came out from the sky, similar to a terrifying rumble.

It made him feel a shiver run down his spine and his legs shot forward faster and faster, his eyes searching for a point inside the orange water where the current was slower.

Or... maybe jumping into it and letting it go forward, covering space that way, was a good choice.

It was dangerous, yes. Very dangerous.

But what was more dangerous? A river or a tornado? Maybe two or three tornadoes?... They could have mixed like in the film Into the Storm and formed a huge one and... No, back to reality, no time for random film flashbacks.

He gripped the hilt of Goldenmate even more, tightening it until his fingers were white.

Getting out of it was going to be an issue, but he would have thought about it later since he had to cross it anyway.

********

"I swear, I don't... I don't understand her!" Alice said, grabbing the can of Monster, drinking a little, and then passing a hand on her forehead.

Miss. Emerald looked at her, her face showing that she was perfectly aware of how she would start ranting, but being quite interested in it and not annoyed.

"Like...!" the younger witch raised her voice exponentially and did the same with a hand in the air. "Like, it's insane!"

Thankfully the woman she was talking about was out of the house momentarily, apparently checking stuff outside -she hadn't given any more explanations other than that, receiving an extremely serious look of understanding from Alice's Teacher. And the second woman, weirdly enough, didn't try to share, either. She just looked more serious than ever. More... something. Alice hadn't pressed, not really, not even if the question was just above her tongue and pushed to come out- and buy some food.

"... Did you know about all her versions of her myth?" she questioned, not giving any time to Miss. Emerald to answer, though. "Literally nine out of ten are full of drama! And not the good kind of drama! Not saying that in some of them, she is seen as the daughter of Zeus. That is a thing that I am not sure if I want to absorb right now, okay. Having him as a father must be a lot to unpack."

The older witch simply hummed, moving some of the precious stones that were on the table -that Alice had tried to use to get answers from the future and a bit of present, but getting small things like yes and no as answers to questions like 'Is it going to rain again?' or 'Are Zoe Ashildr, Hisirdoux Casperan and the Guardians of Arcadia okay?'- to get them inside a wooden crate that was in the corner of the room.

"And the last one of all those depictions sees her as evil and ambiguous, even though she was kidnapped and probably..." She stopped herself from saying sexually assaulted out loud -which was a common theme of mythology, starting with Zeus himself and Helena's mother. Seriously, what the hell- and, instead, bit her tongue, silently thinking.

"... Hurt on many levels," she said in the end, almost cautiously, looking at every movement Miss. Emerald made as she worked. "And not only possibly by Paris himself but by Theseus. Theseus, killer of the Minotaur. Someone who gets to be called a civilizer hero anyway even if he did disgusting stuff, like many heroes and Gods did. And when he did what he did, it wasn't clear if she was fourteen, ten, or flipping seven years old! How messed up is that?!"

Alice stopped talking and took a big breath as the oxygen had started to lack in her lungs. She was so upset that she had to return to the stones in her pockets -which she had cleaned and purified that same day in the early morning- letting them emigrate once again.

When she was able to, she restarted to talk again, seeing her Teacher's calm, patient expression stare back at her.

"So, she... She is..." Alice frowned. "She is the embodiment of a person who lacked freedom and a proper will for her entire existence. And honestly, if I had been in her shoes, I would have been very angry at the world, too." And probably with a very negative point of view of things, yes. "But I... I don't understand why someone who lacked freedom would... Would act like other people's freedom of doing or seeing things their way is wrong!... Sure, some are. It depends a lot on the person, but still!" She paused just a little. "It may be jealousy, yes. Seeing someone happy with their choices when you hadn't had any might be very painful... But I just... I just don't get it."

"What, exactly?" Miss. Emerald prompted her, returning beside her student with a quick, elegant walk, her hair being shaken by both the movement and the air that rose a little outside, whispering unintelligible words.

"I... feel like she had new possibilities to be free, after returning to Earth." the girl frowned even more. "She had new possibilities to find real happiness, but after what happened to her before she just refuses to try because she is afraid. And her stubbornness doesn't help. Or... Or she probably doesn't even know what real happiness should be for her."

Alice looked again at her teacher, nervously moving away a lock of hair behind her ear.

"... Does it make sense?" she questioned.

"Yes, it does, actually." Miss. Emerald answered, smiling a little, but not really in a happy manner. "Both in having the occasion to let out bitterness and obligations that keep you stuck and grounded but refusing because change might be scary sometimes... and for not knowing what she might want."

"Huh." She toyed around with the Boji. "Which one do you think it is?"

"Well." Miss. Emerald smiled again, but this time it had some amusement and a bigger amount of softness to it. "I don't know, she has never been the open person type." She shrugged. "... I did tell you about the first time I met her, right?"

"Yes, but... vaguely? You said something akin to seeing her in a meeting of Magical Beings, being enamored by her Aura, watching her do marvelous things with the minimum effort, asking her for teachings, and being refused."

"Yeah, it was pretty much it." Miss. Emerald nodded. "Still... When I met her the first time, characteristically speaking, she was already upset and cold, but she still was... Gentler than how she is right now. She wanted to be the center of attention and she wanted to be courted, which wasn't hard thanks to how she had looked... Could easily make anyone flustered, too, as she was definitely in her flirtatious period." She chuckled. "... She was probably searching for something to feel alive."

Alice blinked, her mind digesting what she said and formulating images.

Trying to see mentally Helena like that... was quite hard. She could only bring to mind what she had seen and all the emotions attached to them, no matter how much she tried. It was a concept that seemed too alien to her brain.

"If she found that something and ran away or wasn't able to find it at all, I'm not sure. Maybe she did, but since she was obligated to stay in this place, she couldn't follow what she wanted. The only thing I know is that... When she refused to teach me at first, she was too occupied with a man that had caught her attention... and then, not even a month later, I found her in front of my door."

"She never gave you any kind of explanation?"

"No. She just said that if I started asking things, she was going to leave." Miss. Emerald almost laughed. "Never look in the horse's mouth, right?"

'Well, damn.'

"Right..." Alice murmured. And remained silent just for a few instants. "How did she find you, then? Did you give her your address or something?"

Her teacher shook her head. "When she said no, I insisted a little, but since she didn't care and she was... occupied... I left her alone."

'So... A full month of nothing and then, hey, 'm gonna teach the crap out of ya, and if ya ask stuff 'm gonna go. Take it or leave it. And, oh, apparently I discovered your location without ya sharing it with me, but no need to talk about that either. Yep. No biggies.'

"When I met Minerva," Miss. Emerald added, a slight frown forming on her face. "I thought that maybe it was the Gods themselves that had asked her to do something about me... To teach me whatever plan the world had for me. But since that, too, would give issues to the Balance, maybe that idea is kind of... foolish." She pursed her lips, her gaze staring deeply at Alice. "... I guess it'll simply remain a mystery."

'Yeah. Probably.'

Silence fell, stretching around the room. Miss. Emerald grabbed some salt from one of the cabinets and threw it on the surface of the wooden crate. Then she returned next to her for a second time.

"... I would like to help her if there is a way." Alice ended up saying after a beat or two, almost without even realizing it.

At her Teacher's surprised expression, she lowered her head just a little bit. "I mean, she didn't... She didn't deserve to get hurt like that? Helping her to find a little bit of happiness doesn't sound too bad." She paused once more. And snorted loudly. "But something tells me that if I even try, she is gonna scream at me. And I honestly had enough of her mean comments, yesterday. I'm still having issues not thinking about them, so I'm not sure if I want round two already."

"I wouldn't want it, either, if I was in your place," Miss. Emerald stated, sounding a little upset. "She can be quite... Spiteful. And hard to interact with."

'Yeah, spiteful sums Helena quite well. Hard to interact with does its job too.'

Her Teacher's eyes bored on her again for several seconds before returning to the surface of the table just enough time to gaze deeply at the Crystal Ball, the only thing that remained on it. Then she was looking at Alice one more time. "I'm sorry about what she made you discover."

It's fine, the blonde almost replied. But she stopped herself because it hadn't been fine. Only the ideas of the other hers were capable of making her breath rattle and stop as the pain flared in waves. So, 'it's fine' wasn't correct at all.

"Thanks." she simply asserted. "It'll stop bugging me, eventually... Hopefully. I just have to focus on..." she breathed in and out. And raised her eyebrows again. The things that she could have listed were many. Maybe too many for her taste."... Pretty much everything else."

The woman nodded.

"...The state of your feet? Does it still hurt?"

The sudden question took Alice aback, almost crashing her into an utterly different reality that she had been momentarily floating away from.

She bent over and took off her sock, looking at the hole in her skin, which had become even smaller, luckily. She passed her fingers on it just a little.

"Not that much anymore... It is... Numb, actually."

Miss. Emerald moved once more and returned to leave the room to get the snake oil. It took a bit, but after that amount of time in which Alice simply stared at the wall, at the door, and at her foot, she was back with it.

...It was kinda weird that she hadn't done it magically like how she had done with the pot of Stregonia. But maybe she wasn't in the mood for moving things around magically.

"Three more rounds and it will close if you avoid falling or hurting yourself." Miss. Emerald asserted, her tone and expression clearly showing that she was immersed in thoughts.

"Huh. That's nice." Alice murmured back.

'Finally.' She couldn't help but think. She needed to get to the others. She needed to talk to Zoe, take with her all her stones, and be prepared to fight. 'I already took too much time for it.'

Alice stared at Miss. Emerald for a few seconds. She almost asked her if she was going to leave with her to Arcadia Oaks when she did, but then the main door of the house closed loudly.

The sound made her jump a little, while Miss. Emerald went utterly still, looking like a statue, something in her eyes shining slightly.

How she looked, from the first to the last details, made Alice feel a cold shiver run down her spine repeatedly, tracing her skin as uneasiness blossomed in her chest.

"What..." she barely whispered, stopping herself from talking as the woman's hand placed a finger on her lips to tell her not to talk, making her heart stop and speed up.

The silence was back, but it was extremely loud as Miss. Emerald seemed to become faster in her walking around. She peered over one of the curtains, then returned to grab some of the stones almost mechanically.

Alice had no idea what was going on, but she knew that something was wrong. And when Helena appeared in the room just a little later, getting near them after two seconds of staying motionless on the spot without saying a word, literally no food in her arms and a very agitated look on her face -The kind that Alice would have never expected to see from her- she was even more sure about it.

"So?" Miss. Emerald whispered, giving Helena some of the stones that she had between her hands.

The other woman grabbed them immediately, without even the smallest moment of indecision.

More silence for just a moment, a moment in which the agitation was kicked away by something that looked like frustration.

"... One of them is already here." Helena asserted, sounding breathless. "She was able to follow me."