Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sounds of laughing coming from the blonde's room were no longer rare these days. The two of them were only allowed to connect online now that one of them had moved on to new things. Both of them chose not to address that saddened feeling every time they decided to call. Knowing they could possibly drift apart after being friends for most of their lives, it was scary.

"So you're telling me that a teacher had an actual fist fight with a student on your first day of school?" Sasha said in between gasps of laughter.

"Nuts, right?! I swear, if I actually make it to graduation alive, then you and Anne both owe me for calling me frail." Marcy's voice was slightly distorted due to the crummy phone speakers. "But yeah, other than that whole...scenario...life in Washington is boring."

"No kidding, from what I've heard it's just a worse LA and there's snow on the ground." The blonde girl snickered. "Oh! Have I told you that I managed to convince my dad that my pride flag is another, lesser known Slavic flag?" She turned the camera so her bisexual pride flag was in the camera view.

The sudden abrupt-ness of Sasha's sentence made Marcy burst into laughter. It made her laugh even more at how casual her tone was, like it was apart of her daily schedule. "No way, there's no way." Marcy chuckled while wiping a small tear from her eye. Marcy has met Sasha's dad before. And thinking about the whole thing a lot more, it's actually really probable Sasha was able to accomplish such a task. "Okay, maybe there is a way."

Sasha put on a prideful grin (no pun intended). The sounds of Marcy's laughter were almost enough to completely drown out the outside world. Almost enough. The knocks on her door were way too distracting. "Come in!" Sasha shouted so the person on the other side of the door could accept her invitation. Marcy took that sign to be quiet.

"Hey kiddo, Mom's here." A tall, blonde man appeared through the doorway. His voice had a slight whisper since he assumed Sasha was on the phone. She's always been on the phone everytime he's come to call her down for dinner. Sometimes at night, he can hear faint giggles coming from her room. He was happy that she was able to still have a relationship with her friend, even if it wasn't the same as it was before.

How to describe Sasha's father? He definitely seemed cold and distant at first glance, however, if you've known him as long as Marcy, you'd begin to see a lot of spark in his eyes. As he lowered his walls, you'd begin to see how down to earth he was. Marcy always knew he tried his best with Sasha. With the divorce, it was easy to tell he's raised his walls much higher than they already were. But he was the kind of father that would never allow his child to see that stuff. Unlucky for him, his daughter was too observant for her own good.

Sasha looked at her father with a blank expression for a moment and looked back at her phone. "I'll call you once I get to my mom's. Love you!" Sasha blew an air kiss and quickly hung up the phone. She sat up from her bed and put on her signature jean jacket, grabbed the backpack stuffed with stuffed animals, chargers, and practically anything a 21st century child would need for a weekly visit. Mr. Waybright leaned on her bedroom door so he could walk out with her.

"How's Marcy been? Is Washington everything she's dreamed of and more?" The man smiled to himself.

"She's been fine, but I can tell this whole thing has been taking a toll on her." His daughter responded quickly without making much of an effort to look at him. She continued to sort out the rest of her things before steadily resting the backpack straps on her shoulders. The girl finally looked up at her father. "Ready."

He nodded. Sasha walked out first while Mr. Waybright shortly followed after closing her bedroom door. "I can see why. Moving away from her two best friends sounds rough. I couldn't even imagine what I would do."

The girl nodded her head, unsure of what else to say to keep the conversation going. Their hallway was full of photos the girl wishes her dad would take down by now. Lots of embarrassing stuff Anne and Marcy would make fun of her for. You would never expect the popular cheerleader to have a picture of herself covered in spaghetti sauce from when she was a baby hanging in her hallway.

They arrived at the front door. As it opened, the sound of her mother's car engine became much more clear. Sasha saw the clear image of her mother through the windshield and looked back at her dad. "See you Monday." She put on a smile as she slowly walked off the porch.

"Yeah, love you." Mr. Waybright gave his daughter a smile back and watched her get into her mom's car.

• • •

When the 'end of call' message popped up, Marcy squeeled like she was a small child. Her legs were kicking the air and she was holding her phone to her chest. Close to her heart.

"She said she loved me!" The girl cooed. Even with Sasha ending all her calls with Marcy the exact same way, "I'll call you later, love you!" With a small air kiss, it's still enough to send Marcy spiraling.

After everything that's happened to them, she was grateful to all hell that they were still able to be like this. Even when Marcy had moved all these miles away.

"How childish." The wretched voice in the girl's head echoed throughout her mind.

"Oh, shut up. Let me be happy!" Marcy's joy turned into annoyance once the voice started talking.

"The fact that these lowley stones are able to make you this weak is disappointing. Truly." The voice had a sour tone that was making Marcy cringe after every word it uttered. "I cannot believe that strength child was able to rip me out of control."

"Oh boo-hoo, so sad, I might as well get the tissues now because I'm about to start bawling." The girl mocked a sarcastically. "Care to remind me what you and Andrias did in that stupid basement?"

"It seems that we both aren't happy how things turned out."

Marcy's face turned angry as she walked to the mirror. She would usually do this when The Core began speaking to her. It made her feel like she was actually talking to someone, rather than feeling like she was going crazy.

The indent scars from the helmet rested comfortably below the girl's eyes and just above her nose. Those marks have been a constant reminder of everything. Of course, even without the marks, she'd be thinking about her little frog fantasy for the rest of her human life.

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 aren't happy. And if I'm able to keep you from hurting anyone else, then I'll gladly suffer too." The mirror perfectly mimicked her movements, which really set the girl off. Of course it did. It's a mirror. Get it together, Marcy.

"I have been inside your head since the basement incident. I know you. And I know that you aren't happy. For being the stone of wit, you aren't all that intelligent."

"Fuck you." Marcy deadpanned. She looked down at her hands which were now clenched. Only now did she notice how stiff she has become since it started speaking.

"So vulgar. I have not a clue as to why the prophecy chose you."

The girl furrowed her eyebrows. Marcy felt that if she didn't tune out it's voice, this conversation would turn nasty fast.

Between Marcy and The Core, conversation of wits would often be brought up. Talking to The Core was the only thing she could do while all her stuff was still packed. Marcy is aware that it's been a month since her family had moved, but to start unpacking and finally coming to the realization that this was her new home was...scary. It was more comforting to her that everything stayed packed.

"Falling silent again I see. Give us control, Wit. We could end all this pain."

"Shut up."

And there it goes again. The seperate voices began to chant the same thing. "Give us control." The same thing for her to hear for all eternity. Some of them were even chanting in a different language. A language that humans wouldn't be able to understand. Every human except for Marcy.

The sounds were distracting. She couldn't think straight when this happened. She couldn't think at all when this happened. The conversations she would have would always fall flat because of how distracted she was, trying her best to tune everything out. Well, every conversation except for the ones with Sasha and Anne.

Her head began to ache. Tears began to burn in her eyes. The thought that this would happen every day for the rest of her life with no breaks. Marcy wanted peace. She's dealt with enough. The air felt like it was suffocating.

Marcy quickly grabbed her coat and rushed out the front door. The cold evening air filled her lungs, slightly lessening the strength of her headache. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘴...She thought to herself. Why can't things go her way just once? Maybe she's just cursed.

Maybe she should just stop trying.

Chapter Text

Sasha's parents didn't live too far away from each other. Her mother in particular wanted to get a house close to his so Sasha wouldn't have to be so far from her life. The new house was around a 10 minute walk and 5 minute drive. The shift was definitely new, but not at all hard to get used to.

One thing that was hard to get used to though...

She knew it would happen eventually. People change all the time. But to see her parents not loving each other anymore...

"Sasha, tomorrow, Brian has the day off. We want to go out for lunch. Just the three of us. How does that sound?"

The young girl was leaning on the car window, watching all the houses pass by. Brian was the name of her step-dad. Well, he wasn't 'officially' her step dad yet. He and her mom were just dating. They've been together since a year after the divorce, when Sasha was just 11 years old. Making their relationship 3 years old now. Has it really been that long?

"Yeah, okay." Sasha responded weakly, barely audible from above the rumbling of the car. The girl's mother thought it was strange it was that her daughter sounded so tired. She was just full of energy when she got in the car. Mrs. Waybright took a slight glance at her daughter in the passenger seat before quickly putting her eyes back on the road. "Any suggestions?"

"Thai Go?"
"I knew it."
"Am I that predictible?"

The girl snickered just a bit and shifted her arm so her head was resting on her hand. "It's less of you being predictable and more of you choosing that place every time I ask." She heard her mother say.

"Hey! Thai food is so good! Anne's mom makes it every time me and Marcy sleep over." Sasha took a few seconds to process her sentence. "Well, every time we used to sleep over."

There it was again. It's been a month since Marcy had moved. Everything that was troubling her about it are things she should be used to by now. Sasha let out a sigh and moved her hand so she would be facing her mother.

Sasha's mother was a very put-together woman. She had a good job, good pay, supportive a lot of things Sasha did. The only really 'unpleasant' thing was the constant scolding of her report card. She got B's! Her grades were fine. At least that's what Sasha thought.

They moved passed the row of houses on Sasha's side of the car. The warm sun was shining on the back of her head. The new light source was enough to draw attention to a new accessory on her mother.

The shining light reflecting the sun back onto the girl. Oh my god. No way. Was this why they were going out to lunch tomorrow? If so, why the hell would they bring Sasha? 𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵? Sasha bit her lip and pulled her phone from out her pocket and opened her messages with Anne. The messages from above were just normal best friend stuff. Talks of sleepovers, hanging out, the latest school drama.

*Waybrighter💫 has entered the chatroom.*

Waybrighter💫: Annen healp im skaking

Sasha desperately kept reloading the page to see if Anne was online yet.

*Bananner811 has entered the chatroom.*

Bananner811: English sasha
Bananner811: but u ok?

Waybrighter💫: idk man
Waybrighter💫: I was just chillgng with my mom and we were mid convo and I see a ring on her finher

Bananner811: OH FUCK???
Bananner811: Tell her I said congratulations
Bananner811: actually wait it might just be a normal ring lol
Bananner811: my mom buys rings all the time

Waybrighter💫: no Anne u don't undersyand
Waybrighter💫: she said she wanyed to go out to licnh tomorods cuz Brisn has the day off
Waybrighter💫: do u think theyll tell me about it?

Bananner811: ok I can barely understand wtf ur saying but I think I got it
Bananner811: ya sash, ur gonna have a new step dad

Waybrighter💫: omg
Waybrighter💫: ur so unhelpful
Waybrighter💫: if u see me crying in the bathroom of Thai go u know what happened

Bananner811: don't be dramatic, Brian is cool

Waybrighter💫: N0
Waybrighter💫: he sucks sometimes
Waybrighter💫: u don't have to live with him

Bananner811: what does he do that's bad
Bananner811: I can get u a free iced tea tomorrow if it makes u feel better

Waybrighter💫: thanks but I might end up puking it out while I'm bawling in the bathroom lol
Waybrighter💫: we fight a lot cuz of dumb things
Waybrighter💫: think my mom but x10 more strict
Waybrighter💫: im not even his daughter
Waybrighter💫: +it feels like he's replacing my dad

Bananner811: omg Sasha
Bananner811: he's not replacing ur dad ur mom just loves him
Bananner811: I thought you of all people would know that change is good sometimes

Waybrighter💫: ANYWAY, we got to my mom's house. See u tomorrow

Bananner811: u can't run away from ur problems forever Sash

*Waybrighter💫 has left the chatroom.*

And like that, Sasha put her phone back in her pocket. She had just noticed how much her legs were shaking once she stepped out of the car. The familiar truck parked outside their house also meant that Brian was home. All Sasha had to do was act normal until tomorrow afternoon. Then, she had every excuse to freak out just a little.

She grabbed her bag from the back seat and walked to the front door. It was already open and the smell of comfort and familiarity filled her nostrils. This is home too. The figure sitting at the end of the table glanced at her and put it's hand up to wave. His brown beard raised at it's ends to indicate a smile.

She went down her hallway to put her stuff down in her room. The walls were painted with a pink coat. Something Sasha regretted deeply. She was too embarrassed to ask for something different, so she just rocked the pink room. She took off her backpack and shoes before walking back to the living room. "What's for dinner?"

The man stood up from his seat while leading his soon-to-be step-daughter to the kitchen. "Meatloaf"

"Jeez, you're taking this dad role seriously." Sasha said, semi-sarcastically.

"Hush, besides, don't you like my meatloaf?"

"Define 'like'"

Sasha's tone came off much more bitter than she had intended. This would usually always happen when she spoke to Brian. He just gets under her skin for no reason. He's not bad. Could definitely be worse. But the amount of arguments the two had gotten in previously left a sour taste in her mouth. One she couldn't describe.

"Well it's either my meatloaf or you cook for yourself." He put his hands on his hips in a dramatic manner, obviously just kidding.

"Yeah, yeah." Sasha brushed his comment off. Thinking about it more, maybe she could deal with this once they got married. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. She grabbed a plate from the dish washer and cut out a nice square. The girl walked over to the couch to sit next to her mother.

"C'mon Sasha, didn't we talk about no food in the living room?" The man from behind her said.

"What? Oh come on! It's not even a big deal." The blonde whined and looked at her mom for assistance, hoping she would call the blasphemy coming out of her fiance's mouth.

"I don't know, Sash." The women on the couch made eye contact with her daughter. "We have a dining table for a reason." Sasha's jaw dropped to the floor. She's taking his side? And just as she was getting used to the fact they're engaged. She changed her mind. This was a terrible idea.

The blonde definitely would've pushed harder if she had more energy. Okay, she HAD energy. She was just saving it for her call with Marcy when she was done eating. Sasha angerly walked to the kitchen and put her food in her usual spot. She dramatically pointed at her food on the table sitting on the table with her hands and raised her eyebrows.

Brian rolled his eyes at the attitude his step-daughter was giving her and turned around to sit next to his fiance. The same spot Sasha chose before she was kicked out of the living room.

-

The meatloaf was fine. She wasn't the biggest fan of him, but she had to give him credit where it was due. Inside her room, Sasha stared at Marcy's contact. Eyes hovering over the "Call" button.

Her friend's contact photo was a picture taken by Anne. A really sneaky photo of Marcy playing her favorite video game. Vagabondia Chronicles, she thought. Sasha didn't really understand anything Marcy said when she talked about it. All she knew was that whenever she got the chance, her eyes gained an extra spark. Or at least, that's what Sasha noticed.

She tried paying more attention so Marcy's interests after coming back to Earth. It's the least she could do. Marcy would gain a larger smile the longer she was allowed to ramble. Especially after knowing the two girls would listen to her this time.

Sasha finally stopped stalling and clicked the phone icon. The phone started ringing, and Sasha fixed any of the imperfections on her face.

"That's...weird." The blonde thought out loud. It rung out for a lot longer than her friend would allow. She usually picked up right away. It's been at least 10 seconds, and nothing.

Finally, something on the other side clicked and she heard some gentle wind.

"Marcy, are you oka-" Sasha tried to say before immediately getting cut off.

"Hey! Marcy Wu is away from the phone right now. I'll call you right back later!" The voice on the other side said. It was Marcy. But it's not Marcy. It went to voicemail. Marcy never lets Sasha's calls go to voicemail. Is she okay? Should she talk to Anne?

A lot of questions were floating aimlessly in her head. Marcy's fine. Maybe she's just in the shower or something. Sasha's mind settled down as she turned onto her side. The memories of the day flashing back to her as she prepared to sleep, while also simultaneously emotionally preparing for tomorrow.

𝘐𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢 𝘞𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦. Those were the thoughts she let herself fall asleep to.

***

The air was getting colder the longer she was out there. The voices in her head were so much louder than before. At least she was finally able to breathe.

She found herself in a park just a few miles away from her house. Marcy couldn't feel her legs trembling beneath her, begging for the girl to stop and take a break. There was a bench in the field calling her name. Or was it the echoing voices in her head? She couldn't tell anymore.

Marcy stumbled to the bench and plopped onto it. Her legs felt like jelly. She didn't think she had the energy to walk back to the house.

𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦...She thought to herself. After a few deep breaths, her energy started to regain. Of course, that didn't make her want to go back home yet. She checked her phone.

8:23 pm. Her dad would be off work soon. Maybe she could snatch a ride from him. Just maybe though, it was going to be a really complicated conversation to tell him why she was out at the park so late.

"Why so blue?"

All the voices grouped together to ask that. It was so loud, she couldn't help but grip her head to stop another headache. Heavy breaths started coming out of the girl. Her body was shaking and she felt more tears in her eyes, making her vision go blurry.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" She said weakly. Her eyes were sewn shut, trying to keep her tears inside her body.

"Leaving you alone would cause us to disappear."

"Please disappear. I'm even asking nicely this time." Marcy's voice cracked. "I just want everything to go back to normal. This is awful."

"May it be awful. We've given you numerous opportunities. We're actually being very generous keeping those chances on the table after the way you've spoken to us."

She buried her face in her arms, against her warm jacket. Her face was burning because of the wind blowing against her tear marks. "Please just leave me alone."

"We can't. This has been repeated to you multiple times. We cannot be removed unless we stop speaking to you entirely. None of us agree with that, so you will be stuck with us for eternity."

A few scattered voices in her head were saying their own things. The rustling leaves were the only thing she could hear outside this mess. The sound of the wind going the trees whispered an idea to her. It probably wouldn't work, but she also thought the music box wouldn't work. And look where that lead her.

Without word, the girl stood up and started to walk over to one of the trees, the only thing guiding her was her own desperation. As she approached the tree, she saw the texture of it. She could feel the rough bark on her skin, just a few feet away. It was in front of her now. Just as she thought, it was cold. Very cold. And rough.

"We ask you that you don't do this. It won't work as well as you might think it wi-"

The voices cut off as Marcy leaned back while gripping into the tree. Her head was facing the sky. Her eyes opened to see the night sky. She took a breath. Her eyes sealed shut once more.

𝙏𝙃𝙐𝘿.

A loud, high pitched groan filled the air. Her body fell backwards and created another thud, echoing through the air. Tears filled her eyes for the third time that night.

"You imbecile. Injuring your head would only hurt you, we are an Internal being that cannot be affected by external conflicts. You should've known better."

Marcy sniffed. She felt a large bruise forming on both sides of her head. More fat tears started to come out of her eyes. The girl inhaled and it turned into a full bawl.

Of course this wouldn't work. Why would it work? Why would ANYTHING go well for her?

More of her own thoughts were pouring in, only to be cut off by the sound of her phone vibrating.

Sasha.

God. Why did she have to call now? At the girl's lowest point. Her mind started to jumble at what excuse Marcy could give as to why she was crying. She didn't want to worry Sasha, but it seems there was no way to not do so.

Before she could think of a plausible excuse, it stopped ringing. Her head hurt. If Sasha texted, she could just claim she fell asleep early. Yeah. That could work.

Everyone in her head was insulting her. Calling her a weak excuse for wit, and every synonym for the word "idiot". One thing she didn't expect was her own voice agreeing with them. The one thing she had control of.

The girl sighed and continued to weep. Her eyes stung from the amount of tears she's released that day. She doesn't even want to know how puffy her face was. The cold concrete was slightly comforting on the back of her head. It acted like a natural ice pack for her bruise. She didn't want to move, but also didn't want to spend the night at the park.

8:29 PM. Dad got off work in a minute. She typed a few things and sent it.

"Hey dad. Can you please come pick me up?"

Chapter Text

Marcy had woken the blonde up earlier that morning. At around 7:10 am to chat before she got to school. She was so relieved that her friend was okay, even if it meant shaving a few hours off of her beauty sleep.

School was out for the day, so she got to sleep in much later than usual. Much, much later. Brian wasn't too fond of it. He believed that the day should be started at the crack of dawn.

Loud bangs on Sasha's door were enough to make her jump out of bed. And look around to see if there was an intruder. To Sasha's relief, there was no intruder. But to her discomfort, there was a man on the other side of her door making sure she woke up.

"Sasha, it's almost noon! You should've been awake 3 hours ago! Hurry and get dressed so we can go." The blonde heard footsteps walking away from her door that she was sure he had damaged in some way.

Sasha groaned and punched her bed out of anger and annoyance. He's been doing that since he moved in. It makes Sasha fall asleep much earlier. It even made her get into the habit of waking up early at her actual dad's house. She hated it.

The blonde didn't put too much effort in her outfit. Black skinny jeans, a plain red T, and a jean jacket. It wasn't much, but she had to admit, she loved the way she looked in those more casual clothes. It made her think about the way she used to dress before her little trip to Amphibia. How she used to worry so much of how she dressed, how she looked, everything. Sasha didn't think of it much now, but those thoughts love sneaking in every once in a while. Reminding her of how awful that made her feel.

She isn't that person anymore.

Sasha took a breath and walked outside of her room to brush her hair. Brian was standing at the end of the hallway, tapping his foot like there's no tomorrow. "Finally. Come on, we're running late."

"Late? Brian, the only person watching the clock is you." Sasha grumbled and put her hands on her hips. She saw her mother walk towards him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The blonde rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"Actually, I'm watching the clock too. So get in the car, little missy." The words from her mother widened Sasha's eyes.

"Are you serious?!" Sasha couldn't believe this was happening. "Mom, no ones running late! My best friend's parents own the restaurant! And they already know we're going!" Her voice started to get louder as each sentence went on.

Mrs. Waybright narrowed her eyes and looked at her daughter. "You know I don't like that tone. And we like to keep a schedule." The younger girl crossed her arms and grumbled to herself. She walked passed her mother and got the keys to start the car, without brushing her hair. This was officially the worst morning (afternoon?) of her life.

The drive to ThaiGo was a short one, which Sasha was very greatful for. Her step-dad's driving was full of recklessness and bumpy roads. And she thinks it must be extra bad considering Sasha has approximately 30 hours of Mario Kart knowledge from Marcy dragging her into the game. For someone like Sasha to criticise someone's driving, it must be pretty bad.

Sasha had a nauseated feeling as soon as she opened the car door to step out. She groaned and immediately walked over to the entrance of her best friend's restaurant. As expected, Anne was behind the counter with her hair tied up. She had the signature red apron and head band, which Sasha made fun of her for.

It didn't take long for Anne to notice the blonde standing at the front door. She grinned from ear to ear and put her arm up. "Hey Sash!" She said loud enough for the entire store to hear.

"Hey Anne!" Sasha practically lunged over the counter to give her friend a hug. "How's your shift going?"

"Meh, the usual. How about you? Where are your parents?"

"Parent, just one parent. And she's outside with her dirt bag of a fiance."

"Oh come on, be nice."

"Hell to the no. He's a dick and I'll say it how it is."

"Sasha, language! My parents are in the back!"
"Oh no! Not my language! Want me to cuss in German instead?"

Anne laughed at her friend and pushed her back to the other side of the counter. She saw two new figures in the doorway. "You can't trash talk anymore, Sasha." The brunette pointed to the doors. Her friend's face sunk and she leaned on the counter.

"Great." A sarcastic tone fell out of the blonde's mouth. "If they're keeping a secret from me then I think I have the right to be at least a little angry."

"Oh right, I forgot they might be telling you about the marriage today."

"The hell do you mean you forgot? I literally told you last night."

"I have a life outside you, Sash."

"No, not allowed."

Anne slammed her face against the counter to try to hide her giggles. Sasha let out a small snicker too. "Damn you! You're holding up the line!" The brunette pointed behind the blonde to a non-existant line.

"What line?" Sasha smirked and put both her hands on the counter. "And weren't you just pestering me about MY language? Look at you!"

"Hush hush shh!" Anne smiled. "Hurry up and order before I get fired."

The couple walked behind the two giggling girls. Mrs. Waybright was holding on to the man's arm and leaning on his shoulder. They really love each other. The sight made Sasha's face switch from happy and giggly to a straight, uninterested face. Anne noticed the change in her attitude and gave her a warm smile. She reached over the counter to put her hand on her friend's shoulder to try and comfort her.

"Welcome to ThaiGo, what can I get you guys?" Anne's voice changed to a more professional tone, one you'd expect to hear from...professionals. The sudden voice change made Sasha smirk a little bit. It put her in a better mood.

"Can we get an order of Pad Thai, the Larb with all the add-ons except for onions, and the orange chicken?" The man said while pointing out his order on the menu.

Anne wrote the order down and looked back up at the seemingly happy family. "Any drinks?"

"No, we're good."

Anne nodded and looked at Sasha. Her friend was covering her mouth from the side and mouthing 'Iced tea'. The brunette rolled her eyes and smiled as she yelled their order to the back of the restaurant. "We'll get that ready for you right now. Go ahead and have a seat."

Sasha was the first to sit down, a few tables away from the counter. The adults followed her and looked at each other before looking back at her. The girl took a deep breath and braced herself for what was about to happen, and tried her best to front a natural look.

"Sasha, me and Brian have something to talk to you about." Mrs. Waybright held her partner's hand on the table, their matching rings in full view. Sasha fought the urge to look down at their hands and forced a puzzled look.

She took a sneaky glance at Anne, who was talking to some new costumers that had just walked in. The girl let out a shakey breath and looked back at her parent. "What is it?"

The two adults looked at each other. Brian cleared his throat. "Me and your mother have decided to take the next step in our relationship." Sasha crossed her arms over her heart, blocking herself out. "Oh yeah?"

"Erm, yeah." Mrs. Waybright stuttered. "He proposed the week you were with your father. While we were on that business trip. Not as romantic as I had hoped for, but it was definitely something." She looked over at her fiance and gave him a lovestruck smile. Sasha could practically see the hearts forming in her eyes.

"Oh." The blonde put on a grin and moved her hands onto the table. "Well, congratulations you two!" The couple looked at each other once more and looked back at their daughter, surprised with how well she was taking the news. "Thanks, Sasha. And I've been thinking, would you like to be one of my bridesmaids?"

"I'd be honored, mother." Sasha rested her head inside her palm. "Or should I call you the future Mrs. Palmer? If it were me, I'd keep my surname." She joked and see if her mom appreciated the poke towards her.

The woman smirked at her daughter and crossed her arms. "We're not sure yet. I might get it hyphenated."

"Woah~" Sasha extended her vowel sound. "The honorary hyphen. I'm so proud." The two girls shared a laugh. She loved her mom. Maybe this'll be fine. It'll be fine.

It didn't take long for her friend to bring them their food. The smell of her orange chicken forced euphoria in her body. "Thanks girl, you always know what I like."

"Maybe because your dad ordered it for you." Anne smirked and said it more like a question than a statement. Sasha dropped her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes. Referring to him as her dad? She lost her appetite.

Anne quickly realized her mistake. "Oh, sorry about that." She put the plates down in front of everyone and clapped her hands together. "Anything else I can get you guys?"

"I think you should make my iced tea free." Sasha took the fork placed neatly on the table and stabbed into a piece of orange chicken.

Her friend sighed. "Right, anything else?" The couple at the table shook their heads. Satisfied with her work, Anne walked back to grab another tray of food for some other guests.

"I forgot your friend worked here." The girl heard a male voice speak. She looked up in curiosity and saw her mom's fiance staring at Anne.

"How? Every time we come here she's almost always on a shift." Sasha said with a confused tone. "And don't stare. You look weird."

He scoffed at her attitude. "No, I mean I forgot you were friends with her. She doesn't really seem like the kind of person you would be friends with. Neither does that other girl you have over sometimes."

Sasha stabbed another piece of chicken. "What do you mean?" She prayed he would be careful with what words he would choose next. Today was supposed to be a good day. Please let it be a good day.

"They're kind of your opposites. Both of them. This one is such a people pleaser and the other one is a weird nerd that talks about anime and stuff."

"Brian, why don't you-" Mrs. Waybright looked at her fiance and put her hand on his shoulder, before she inevitable got cut off by Sasha.

"You aren't one to say who's weird and who's normal." The girl used her fork to point at the man. She furrowed her brow and scrunched her nose.

"I'm just saying, maybe she was holding you back."

"SHE was holding ME back? The girl gets straight As in every subject, except for maybe gym. If anything, I was holding her back."

"Sasha, you're making a scene."

"You started it! Just let them live their lives!"

At this point, the entire restaurant was looking at them. Sasha's voice got loud. The man sitting across from her didn't look pleased. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. "I'm just saying, maybe it's for your own good that she moved away."

Sasha looked at him in disbelief. She looked around the store to see if Anne was anywhere in sight. The girl was in her usual spot behind the counter. When She and Sasha made eye contact, she quickly looked away and played with her hands on the counter. Sasha frowned and clapped her hands to get Anne's attention.

Sasha gave Anne The Look™. Something they used in school when they wanted to chat in the hallway, bathroom, or janitors closet.

She stood up. "I'm just gonna head to the bathroom real quick, be right back." She walked to the back restaurant to the staff bathroom. Anne followed behind her. Anne inflated her cheeks and rubbed her hands together. She blew the air out and stood up straight, an awkward feeling crawling up her back. Sasha was arched over the sink, looking at herself in the mirror with an enraged expression.

"So...you doing okay?" Anne finally managed to say.

"I can't fucking take this. It was one thing when he was pushing his annoying rules onto me, but then he started talking bad about you guys when you were in the room with us. We saved the damn world and he still thinks you guys are bad." Sasha rambled as she was tinkering with the faucets. "What does my mom see in him? She needs better taste. I don't want to have to call him my step-dad."

Anne approached her friend and looked at her face in the mirror. "Sorry Sash. That's tough. You can stay with me for a few nights."

"No, it's okay. Thanks for the offer." Sasha turned around and leaned on the sink. "I'll just suffer through this week."

"Why not just run away? That'll sure solve everything." Anne let out a small chuckle as she adjusted her uniform in the mirror. Sasha took a glance at her friend and made a face, as if she had made a realization.

Sasha snapped her fingers and pointed them at Anne. "Wait, that's actually not a bad idea."

The brunette blinked. She then put her hands into fists and threw them full force into Sasha's shoulder. Her friend yelped and covered the spot Anne punched. That will definitely bruise later. "It's a horrible idea. Don't listen to Anne. Anne was joking." The girl blew on the fist that punched Sasha. For dramatic effect.

"Okay two things. One, ow. You didn't have to punch that hard. And two, have you been working out?" Sasha looked up at her friend, impressed. Her shoulder was probably purple by now, but Anne's strength was impressive.

"Maybe just a little. Nothing will compare to your punches though."

The blonde girl laughed. "But seriously, do you really think running away will solve things?"

"Dude, I told you, I was kidding. And haven't we already learned that running away from things will only make more problems? We lost months of our lives for that reason." Anne turned her face serious.

"Right, stupid idea. Sorry." Sasha said. Her mind was saying something different. "I better go back, they're probably getting impatient." Anne hummed and opened the bathroom door. "My mom has your tea on the counter."

Sasha nodded her head and noticed the plastic cup filled with a brown liquid. Her tea. She wasn't particularly thirsty, or in the mood for drinking tea at all anymore. The thoughts in her head were jumbling up.

"Why not just run away? That'll sure solve everything" Anne's words were taunting her. She knows her friend had no ill intent. That just wasn't Anne.

The rest of the day went on like a blur. If she was asked what she did that day, she wouldn't be able to answer anything but "I don't know." Everytime Sasha blinked, it felt like she was in a different place. First it was back at the table with her mom, in the car, pulling up to her house, in the kitchen, and then in her room.

Sasha was rambling to herself. "Running away would make the problems go away." She touched the scar beneath her left cheek. "Would it?" Flashbacks of Amphibia invaded her vision. That awful experience was the result of running away. But now she had memories of Grime, and seeing Anne and Marcy grow as people.

Even she became a better person. But this isn't the same scenario. She'd be leaving her mom, dad, and Anne. Her mom was marrying an asshole that'll take her only mother away. Her dad and Anne. Her dad would be upset. Anne. Anne would be upset.

But Sasha would be happy. She'll still text and video Anne and Marcy. Anne might be a little upset. Or maybe a lot. She did make a big deal out of it at the restaurant. It was almost 4 o'clock by this point. Hours of thinking about every possible scenario. Something Marcy would do.

Speaking of Marcy, Sasha's phone began to vibrate in her pocket. The girl picked up her phone and looked at who was calling. Sasha already had a tingling feeling of who it could be. It was 4 pm, and around the time Marcy got out of school.

Low and behold, Marcy's contact info was on screen. Sasha smiled at her phone and prepared herself to answer the call. She slid the little button to the right and awaited to see her friends face.

The call hadn't loaded yet. Only the audio was working. Sasha heard quiet muffles coming from the other side."Mars?" The girl called out. She quickly put it together that the sound she thought were quiet muffles were not what she thought.

It loaded. The cloudy sky and few trees were in view. It was clear her friend was walking. From school to home, she presumed.

And there stood her friend. The saddened expression and the distressed eyes stood out to Sasha. She also noticed the purple bump at the top of her forehead. "Woah, Marce, are you okay?" Her voice sounded much more panicked than she thought she would.

She saw Marcy take a shakened breath. "Today sucked. Here sucks. I hate not being with you guys. I hate my dad for making me come to this hell hole. Everyone here hates me.

"Marcy. What happened?" The blonde said calmy. Worry spread across her face. She wondered what could have possibly happened to make her friend so upset. Marcy never spoke like this.

Marcy explained her situation. Sasha's look of worry quickly turned into an expression of anger. "The kids at your school are shit. Did they hurt you? Is that what the bruise on your head is?"

Her friend shook her head. "Don't worry about the bruise. I just fell. They didn't physically hurt me. Just did the other stuff."

"I wish I could be there. If I was there then no one would hurt you." Sasha moved the camera to her arm and flexed. The girl on the other side let out a small chuckle. "I'm sure."

"Do they know who I am? Do they know who YOU are? People are damn rude to the girl who helped save the universe."

Her friend laughed again. "They only know Anne because she was on the big screen. You were too busy fighting..." Marcy paused. "You were too busy fighting The Core." She looked up from her phone.

Sasha immediately noticed the mood change on her friend's face. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure the assholes at your school would piss themselves if they knew you survived everything The Core did. You're strong. Maybe even stronger than me."

Marcy looked back down at her phone. A small smile formed. "Maybe. I'm in front of my house now. I'll call you later."

"Aw man. Love you!" Sasha blew an air kiss and the end of call message appeared on her screen. She furrowed her brow.

Marcy would be okay if Sasha was there with her. The only reason Marcy was upset was because Sasha wasn't there. If she was there to protect her, she wouldn't have that mark on her face. Everything would be fine.

Sasha looked at her backpack full of clothes she packed the previous night. An idea was being planned out in her head.

'This is for Marcy.'

***

"You have to be more careful, Marcy. One day you're going to get seriously hurt."

Maybe that was her fault for pinning the blame on her clumsy behavior. She really wishes she could come clean about everything. But there was something stopping her. Fear? Judgement? Who knew.

"Why were you even out so late in the first place? You could've caught a cold."

The voice of her father was gentle and worrisome. She could feel his words giving her a giant hug. That's the affect her dad gave. She was grateful. But also afraid of disappointing him.

"I wanted to go on a walk before dark. My legs got really tired and couldn't walk home." She looked down, refusing to look her father in the eye. Marcy was very sure that he would be able to tell that she's keeping a detail out her story. He always had an act of doing that.

"Just take warmer clothes next time, okay?"

She nodded her head and heard him open her curtains. The sun invaded her room, and he walked out.

Marcy groaned and lied down on her bed. Her backpack rested beneath her. Today was a school day. These were always the worst for her. She was always willing to learn, but it's not like she could anymore. The days are usually filled with The Core calling every student beneath them, and drowning out the teacher's words.

"This is a waste of time. We could easily feed you infinite knowledge."

That's what it would always say. She couldn't tell if The Core thought Marcy was smart or dumb. It's always insulting her, belittling her, everything. But it would also praise her for not being like her peers. The relationship between the two was confusing.

Her head was pounding because of her wounds. But she had to go to school. It's not like she couldn't. Plus, Marcy likes school. Or at least she used to. Before when she could actually hear what was being taught.

She got up from off the bed and looked at herself in her mirror. The girl wore her school uniform. A white shirt, dark green vest, black skirt, and black shoes. Her hair was slightly longer than when she first moved. Maybe she should grow it out? That would make an interesting look. She'll try it out. Just maybe.

And so the walk to school began. The temperature wasn't as brutal as the previous night. Something was nagging at her, and it wasn't The Core. Although, it was reciting it's same nonsense. Has she texted Sasha yet? She doesn't remember much of last night. The last thing in her memory was getting picked up by her dad. Marcy doesn't especially remember sending a text to her friend.

She put her hand in her pocket and pulled her phone out. Her lockscreen was a picture of her, Sasha, and Anne just after they returned to Earth. Marcy fought the urge to cry. She's already cried enough this past day. She doesn't need any more tears on her hands. Or face.

Just as the girl suspected, no texts to Sasha. No texts to anyone in fact. The last person she messaged was her dad, and that was telling him she was at the park. But then again, she didn't have many friends.

*Mar_TheVagabond has entered the chatroom*

Mar_TheVagabond: Heyyy Sasha. Sorry about last night. I fell asleep

*Waybrighter💫 has entered the chat*

Waybrighter💫: dw about it. U good tho?

Mar_TheVagabond: Yep! As great as ever. Im just walking to school rn so I can't talk for long

Waybrighter💫: loser. I don't have school today haha

Mar_TheVagabond: WHAT
Mar_TheVagabond: WHY NOT?

Waybrighter💫: teacher work day

Mar_TheVagabond: oh
Mar_TheVagabond: that's boring

Waybrighter💫: meh
Waybrighter💫: oh!
Waybrighter💫: did I tell u about my mom?

Mar_TheVagabond: No? What's going on with your mom?

Waybrighter💫: I think shes marrying Brian and they're telling me today at ThaiGo

Mar_TheVagabond: Oh!! Tell her I said congrats!

Waybrighter💫: I will, but Brian is being as NICE AS EVER

Mar_TheVagabond: oh lord. What'd he do this time?

Waybrighter💫: made me go to the kitchen to eat for no reason

Mar_TheVagabond: Sashy I don't mean for this to sound like I'm taking his side but
Mar_TheVagabond: isn't that the point of a kitchen?

Waybrighter💫: yeah but my mom didn't care before he moved in and he's being really annoying about it

Mar_TheVagabond: right right, I hope all goes well for u

Waybrighter💫: thanks

Mar_TheVagabond: ok I gtg school is just up ahead

Waybrighter💫: got it, see you after school Marce. I better get back to sleep. U texted early lolol

Mar_TheVagabond: Hahaha, sorry! Just making sure I texted u so you weren't worried

Waybrighter💫: just between u and me, I think texting you is better than sleeping xoxox

Mar_TheVagabond: how would the world react when they see the totally cool and awesome warrior, Sasha Waybright, admit she likes texting me?

Waybrighter💫: they wouldn't believe you x

Mar_TheVagabond: I have screenshot proof!

Waybrighter💫: BLOCKED.

Mar_TheVagabond: <3333
Mar_TheVagabond: Kay seriously this time, see ya!

Waybrighter💫: Don't get too nerdy on me when you come back!

Mar_TheVagabond: no promises!

*Mar_TheVagabond has left the chatroom*
*Waybrighter💫 has left the chatroom*

She took a breather. She hasn't noticed until she put her phone down. The girl had been holding her breath since she sent the first message to Sasha. That's weird. But it also didn't feel wrong.

The only horrible thing she felt about that day was her headache. And, well, of course The Core was being annoying as ever. But other than that, she felt great! For the first time in forever. Maybe the secret to great days is smashing your head into a tree.

Her new school was much bigger than Saint James. It had an upstairs and everything! Though, she does more walking throughout the day than she'd like. Her first period class was all the way across the school from the entrance. After a few long hallways, she had finally arrived in her familiar little math class. There were already students sitting in their respective seats, taking slight glances at Marcy as she walked through the door.

"Woah, Marcy, you okay? How'd you get that bruise on your forehead?" The soft expression from her math teacher appeared in front of her. Like he came put of no where. She knew that he would never believe something as silly as, "I got possessed by a bunch of smart dead people and they're all still lingering in my head." Marcy would probably get called insane.

"I tripped, you know how clumsy I am." Marcy gave a small chuckle and rubbed the bruise on the back of her head. "It's no big deal."

"This is 3rd time since you've been here, Marcy. I'm starting to get worried. Is everything okay at home?"

It didn't take a prodigy to get at what the adult was implying. Slight panic started to sink in and the girl began to sweat. "Woah!" She put her hands up defensively. "I promise nothing like that is happening! I promise, I just fell!"

Marcy tried to seem as genuine as possible. The last thing she wanted was her parents to get in trouble because of her own problems. The man's face softened slightly. An obvious wave of relief flowed over him. He was a younger guy, mid-twenties if Marcy had to guess. She had assumed he was nervous just in case he had to make a phone call to a specific service.

"If you need anything, just come to me." He nodded his head and walked to his desk. Marcy let out a sigh of relief of her own and looked at the marks left on her desk. Whoever had this desk in other classes must've really hated it. There were a lot of pencil marks and carvings engraved into the wood. They were mostly drawings or lines. She ran her fingers along the linings perfectly. The sounds in her head echoed across the walls of her mind. Whispering random amalgamations of words to her. Fighting the urge to respond to them. Not only was she in public and afraid of being portrayed as insane, but also she didn't want to humor them.

Marcy could barely hear the bell ring above all of them. She's starting to think about getting hearing aids. Though, the girl doubts they would even work. The familiar face from a few moments ago walked up to the whiteboard to write a math problem.

"This will be your bellwork for the day. Please get out a sheet of paper and to the problem displayed." The teacher from earlier, Mr. Walker, walked around the room to see everyone's progress.

The girl thought the problem was really simple. Not to toot her own horn, but she thought she was the smartest kid in that class. No doubt about it. Mr. Walker had expressed his interest in putting his student in more advanced classes, but those plans ended up falling through due to his schedule being cluttered. Marcy didn't mind, there was still certain things she could improve on.

A minute later, Marcy had a page full of math on her desk. Some of it had no correlation to the problem on the board. The girl loved messing around with different problems because of the endless possibilities. One of the hundred reasons math was her favorite school subject. While on her way to write another interesting math problem, she saw a finger tapping on her desk. She felt the vibrations very clearly on the palms of her hands.

She looked up and the friendly face of her teacher was making eye contact. His expression wasn't mean at all, but it still made her sink in her seat.

"Marcy, the question on the board?" He glanced at the whiteboard behind him. She tilted her head out of confusion. A few snickers filled the air behind her. "Do you...wanna solve it?"

Given his expression and tone of voice (plus the giggles of her peers), Marcy concluded that this wasn't his first time asking. In fact, it had to at least be the third time. Her face flooded with a bright red color. "Right, sorry." She got up from her seat and took marker from the rack. Marcy popped off the lid and started writing numbers and equations to solve the problem.

"You're doing it wrong~" Their voices were banded together again. It made Marcy wince quietly.

"No I'm not. Shut up~" She realized she was still in the classroom. Her classmates could probably hear her talking to herself. She gave an awkward cough as she boxed in her answer to the equation.

Her voice shook. "And, um, the answer would be 8x² - 10x + 63." She walked back to her seat and heard the distant voice from her teacher. "Great job, Marcy. But why'd you write this in x spot?"

"What?" Marcy turned around to see her work, and to see where her teacher had been pointing. Her eyes widened and looked around the room to see her classmates judging faces. The girl quickly jumped back up to erase the small 'shut up' from the fraction and replaced it with it's appropriate variable.

"Sorry, I don't know why I did that." She laughed awkwardly, following a few laughs from her peers. Marcy walked back to her seat and hid her bright red face from her class.

"Thank you, Marcy." Mr. Walker clapped his hands together and erased all of Marcy's work from the board. The girl bounced her leg up and down to try and calm down.

"We're sorry."

Those words instantly turned Marcy's embarrassment to anger. They weren't sorry. Not even a little bit. She could probably hear those newts giggling in her own head. But she couldn't tell if they were the giggles of the newts or her classmates.

"No you aren't." Marcy said in a quiet whisper. Praying to whatever god there was out there that no one around her was able to hear her. Her pen was in her hands and she was scribbling little doodles on her shaking arms. None of this would happen if she hadn't moved at all.

"Oh olms. Not this again. We can see your thoughts, Mar-mar."

"Don't call me that." Marcy grumbled. "That name is only for Anne and Sasha."

"This is quite disappointing. We're closer to you than they could ever be. Especially now."

Marcy's grip tightened on her pen. She refused to respond to that one and pulled her head back up from the desk. There was a lot more writing on the board of equations she understood perfectly. Mr. Walker's mouth was moving, but she couldn't hear the words flowing out.

She looked down at her desk and noticed a few more scratch marks that weren't there before. Along with lines from a red pen. She took a panicked glance at her pen. Red.

"Sir?" Marcy raised her hand and waited for any visual indications that she could use to know that he called on her. He looked at her immediately and nodded his hear while mouthing something. He squinted his eyes and had a puzzled look on his face.

"Can I use the restroom?"

He nodded his head once more and looked back to the board to write some more things down. She quickly got up from her seat and walked to the bathroom just down the hallway.

The bathrooms in her school was just like any other bathroom. 5 stalls, 5 sinks, and a blow drier. It was a pretty big bathroom, compared to Saint James at least. Marcy fled to the mirror and looked at herself in it. There were little doodles on her forehead resembling eyes just above the bruise she got the day before.

"Are you serious?" Marcy grumbled and turned on the sink to wash it off.

"Sorry, Marbles. But we think red suits you more than green."

"Don't call me that either. Do you know how many times you've embarrassed me today?"

"At least 3 times. We'll stop as soon as you agree to give us control."

"Shut up with that control shit. The stones are gone and you need a connection to have enough power to posess a human. The helmet is gone." Marcy scrubbed her forehead. The pressure on her bruise was making her grit her teeth from the pain.

"Actually, as disgusting as Earth is, it has accessible materials to build a new helmet."

Marcy groaned at the idea of that. "I'm not doing that. And what's your definition of accessible?"

"All it takes is thick wires and a computer large enough to handle our code. It wouldn't look pretty, but it would do wonders for us."

"Stop. I already told you. I'm not going to help you." Marcy finished washing off all the red residue on her forehead and grabbed a paper towel to dry herself. "And plus, that sounds complicated."

"When have you ever afraid of complicated projects?"

Marcy grumbled and looked at herself in the mirror to try and spot any more imperfections. The Core was being much quieter than it was while she was in class, which was kind of good. She could actually hear what was going on.

An unexpected noise filled her ears. Her heart dropped and she looked at the mirror reflecting the 5 stalls back to her. She saw a girl walk out and give her a look. Though, she recognized the girl. It was someone from her 2nd period class. The girl she sat across from.

Marcy couldn't remember her name. Everyone in her classes have just become faceless bodies to her. To which the girl doesn't mind. Less eyes seemingly on her.

"The hell is up with you, Wu?" Her tone of voice wasn't pretty. She used her nickname. This school's student body has a weird habit of using last names instead of first names. Marcy never followed that. She thought it was weird. But Saint James also had some weird habits. So she supposes she shouldn't judge.

"Oh, sorry! It's just..." Marcy looked at her and tried her best to think of a good excuse as to why she's talking about control and helmets and whatever The Core was on about. "...a D&D prop? Yeah, I'm visiting my friends in California this weekend and we have this one plot going on. Where one of our characters gets possessed by an elrich god. Just normal stuff." She spewed.

The girl nodded her head, very much not believing the words coming out of Marcy's mouth. "Of course. You were just talking to yourself here in the mirror?" She raised an eyebrow.

Marcy hummed and leaned on the sink to act natural. "Yep! You know me, I gotta work it out in my head before I actually do it. You see me in History, right?"

"No." She shook her head. "All I see is you always talking to yourself. It's actually really weird." Marcy sunk and put her eyes on the floor. It's not like that was her fault.

"Anyway, I have no more time to induldge in your weird nerd shit." She turned her body towards the sink to wash her hands. Marcy didn't know what to do so she kept her body facing the same way.

"I thought this conversation was over." She side-eyed the girl. Marcy flinched and quickly turned her body back to the mirror. The girl walked out of the bathroom while giving Marcy a cold glare.

"Does she hate me?" Marcy thought out loud and put her hand on her head in a confused haze.

"That could've gone better. Sorry 'Wu'." The Core mocked the snobby girl's voice. Marcy's sick feeling only grew worse from the voice impersonating the girl she just finished talking with.

"This is all your fault." Marcy clenched her fists and walked out of the bathroom. "I have 2nd period with her. What if she tells everyone? She knows who I am. It's not like a random kid that'll probably forget about it. I KNOW her. I know how bratty she can be. I know how-"

"As we've stated before, we can put an end to this embarrassment."

She sighed and took a few more deep breaths before she walked into her math class. Everything looked the same as it was before she left. The only change was the state of her desk. It looked much more beaten up than it did at the beginning of class.

The girl took a seat and tried her best to pay attention. The Core was thankfully not being as loud as it normally was. Whatever the reason, she was happy she was actually able to learn. Or at least refresh her memory on what she was unable to learn.

The sound of the bell was as loud as ever. It punctured straight through the sounds of The Core. It was one of Marcy's favorite sounds. Not only because it silenced the thing that couldn't be silenced, but also it meant class was over. Her next class was on the other side of the building. It took her a little while to walk all the way over there.

Marcy walked into her world history classroom. As usual, she was one of the last people to arrive. Everything seemed normal, on the surface at least. Something felt off. What seemed like millions of eyes were on her. All of them giving their own looks. Some of pity, some of judgement, some of disgust. She looked at her classmate. The one who she suspected made this happen.

Her classmate looked at her with a neutral expression. She was sure Frobo had more emotion in his eyes than she did now.

"What are you looking at?"

Chapter Text

Sasha woke up the next morning to the sound of her alarm going off. She had school that day, so waking up at the crack of dawn was normal.

The backpack sitting across the room was taunting her. The day was wait if for her and she didn't want to spend too long getting ready. She put on her faded blue Saint James shirt and pink skirt.

Saint James was a close walk from her mother's house. Sometimes Sasha carpooled with Anne, but that also wasn't common. Anne's house was very close to the school, so there was no need.

Her denim jacket covered her forearms first, then moved comfortably onto her elbows. She looked presentable. All Sasha had left to do was to brush her hair and teeth. The bathroom was empty at this hour. Her mother was already headed for work, and Brian was somewhere, probably getting ready for work himself.

She pulled out her phone to send a quick good morning text to her friend, oblivious to everything. While her phone was still out, she googled how far Washington State was from her current location. Her eyes widened at the sight.

379 hour walk. Her original plan was to walk there, but that seemed impossible without getting caught by someone. She'll think of a new plan when she gets to her first period class.

Across the room was the backpack she planned on taking. It was much lighter than her usual school backpack. It looked much emptier as well. The only way this plan would fail in its current stage is if someone noticed how deflated it looked. It had someone extra space, so maybe she could use that for extra storage. Snacks would be a good idea too.

The bedroom door opened and she dropped her bag in the living room so she wouldn't have to worry about it in the bathroom. Sasha looked in the mirror an chuckled a but at how messy her hair looked. It looked like a lion's mane. Sasha thought it looked cool and almost considered not fixing it up for the day. Almost.

When the blonde was finishing up in the bathroom, she put her toothbrush back on its holder and walked out. Everything was as it was before she walked in the bathroom, so she grabbed her shoes and quickly put them on before she had to face Brian coming downstairs.

She bolted out the front door when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. One of her shoes weren't even on, so she was walking in a single shoe and a white sock. It was probably going to get dirty, but Sasha really did not want to have any conversations at that moment. Especially with what happened yesterday.

Sasha pulled her knee up to her chest and started hopping forward on one foot while simultaneously trying to put her shoe on. The sight looked ridiculous, and lucky for Sasha, no one was outside at this time in the morning.

After that, there was nothing else that went wrong during her walk to school. Everything was normal. Or as normal as things could ever get. Sasha has come to realize that normal is boring. Nothing exciting happened in the school yard. And she means nothing. Watching paint dry would be more interesting. She fought the urge to text Marcy, but she was probably in school at this hour, just like Sasha.

The bell rang. The same old cheaply made bell that sounded like a dying cat. Sasha mentally prepared herself to walk to class. Once she was prepared, she started the walk to the science classroom.

Anne was already there. To Sasha's knowledge, she usually hung out there before school. Unlike Sasha, Anne was able to make friends with ease. Sure, Sasha had friends, but she only figured they hung out with her since she was the popular, pretty, head cheerleader. Their words, not hers.

Sasha and Anne shared a desk, so the blonde plopped down next to her and went digging in her bag. She remembered that she promised to herself that morning that she would come up with new plans since she couldn't walk the whole way to Washington.

Digging through a bunch of clothes and snacks in the bag, she finally felt the hardened texture of her journal. She pulled out the light pink and white notebook with black sharpie written over the golden words that probably said something cringe like 'PRINCESS' or something.

Sasha's Journal:
DO NOT TOUCH!!!!

Sasha rolled her eyes at the title. She's had this journal for who knows how long. It's a shock she hasn't run out of pages yet. There were at least 70 more to get through before she reached the end. Sasha flipped to a random empty page and made her pencil busy with writing. Her arms rested on the top of the two pages so no one could snatch it.

THE PLAN:

1. Eat during lunch and keep some snacks with me at ALL TIMES! DON'T GO HUNGRY OR ELSE YOU'LL COME CRAWLING BACK.

Sasha made a point to underline the last part. An empty stomach is probably the worst thing on Earth. And is the reason a lot of runaways come back.

2. Go a different way from home after school. Anywhere but home
Bus station - preferable
Do NOT. go with Anne or anyone else

The blonde didn't realize how fast she was writing. She was also writing very hard. It started implanting the letters onto the next page. And the page after that. Sasha really underestimates her strength sometimes.

3. If plan A works out with nothing going wrong then catch the bus to Santa Barbara and take more busses going to North. Hitchhike of needed

Sasha paused for a moment, trying to think of a step four. She chuckled to herself and started writing again.

4. Don't die or get caught by Anne. Both outcomes result in death

A figure started to move in her peripheral right next to her shoulder. The girl quickly jumped up over her journal so the contents couldn't be read. And she may, (or may not, depends on who you ask) have let out a semi-high pitched scream, gaining the attention of her class. Sasha was still the cool, popular girl, so no one really batted an eye.

"Woah dude, chill out. It's just me." The girl known as Anne had jumped back because of Sasha's reaction.

"Jeez, a small warning would have been nice." She put her hand on her chest to see if her heart stopped. Thankfully, her heart was still beating fine. It was going quickly because of the scare though. Sasha shut her journal and put her hand on the cover.

"What were you even doing?" Anne's face contorted into a knowing, yet playful grin. "Writing about someone?"

Sasha looked at her, not knowing what to say to that. She looked back at her journal without a word. The lack of defense from Sasha made Anne start making an 'ooooh' sound. Like a kindergartner. "Who's the lucky person? Do I know them?"

"Stop." Sasha groaned, but clearly not meaning it. "I wasn't writing about anyone I was formulating ideas."

"Wow, I didn't think you knew what that word meant."
"I'm not an idiot, Anne."
"Ehhh..."

The two girls stared at each other for a second and burst out into laughter. Anne tried her best to get the laughs out of he system so she can speak without being interrupted. "Seriously though, what kind of ideas were you writing?"

Sasha knew that if she told the truth, Anne would be upset. Maybe upset enough to somehow awaken her calamity powers. And she really did not want to take any chances with that. "Dress ideas for my mom's wedding." The lie did not taste nice. She promised herself she'd stop. Sasha can't keep doing that.

"Wow, maybe we can go shopping after school to look for some dresses. We can send photos to your mom to see if she would approve of them!" Oh god. She sounded excited. The guilt stated to sink in. And she heavily considered taking Anne with her. But she knew she'd never be on board. It looks like Anne and Marcy are the only ones who learned anything from Amphibia.

"Sorry, I have a doctor's appointment after school and I'm getting a few shots. I don't wanna be woozy while we're at the mall." Sasha grabbed the back of her neck. She didn't want to lie. And lying made her feel awful. Especially to Anne.

Anne blinked. "That's fine, maybe another day?"

"Yeah, another day." Sasha's word trailed off as she looked at her journal again. Another day. Isn't that ironic? It hurt her chest thinking about how there isn't going to be another day. Everything hurt. "Anne." She didn't want to lie anymore. Sasha wanted to be more truthful. No more lies.

"Hm?" Anne gave her full attention to the blonde.

"We need to talk. At lunch. It's important."

"If it's so important, why don't you just tell me now?"

"It's private."

"Okay Ms. Mysterious." Anne chuckled. Sasha tried cracking a smile too, but it wasn't that successful. The bell shortly rang after and that was the start of class.

Sasha bit her lip. She opened up her journal to the page she wrote the steps an slowly crossed out step 4. Except she over did it. That entire part of the page was now graffitied with her black pen, letting lots of her pent out stress out. Turns out, that's not a very good method for getting emotions out. It made her more stressed out. She was sure she was going to get gray hairs by the end of the day. A distraction was very much needed.

Science was already not Sasha's best subject, and she would always space out during that class. But with everything on her mind, she didn't even bother forcing herself to pay attention. It's not like her grades mattered to her anymore. So, she had her journal out. Sasha had always wanted to try a new hobby. Cheerleading and sword fighting (fencing) were still things she practiced, be she was sure the teacher wouldn't be very happy if Sasha threw a girl up into her shoulders or parried someone in the stomach. That would for sure get her in trouble.

Drawing or writing was the 2nd best thing. Sasha already threw out writing because being creative was hard. Random fill-in words going on a paper to make something boring sound interesting? Hard pass. So drawing. She always sucked at drawing. That was proven when she, Grime, and the Plantars tried playing draws-a-doodle. A tree is arguably the easiest thing to draw, and she couldn't even get that right.

'Maybe I should draw from real life?' She questioned in her head. So she drew a circle. Nice start. Give her head some eyes? Sure. She drew two little dots in the middle of the circle and gave if a little smile. Sasha exhaled through her nose, finding the sight amusing. How about some hair? She gave the drawing short, dark hair. Accessories? Yes! She began to see the appeal in drawing. And why Marcy liked it so much.

Anne, being as nosy as ever, was watching from beside Sasha. The drawing looked okay, but it was definitely clear that her friend wasn't an artist. But she found something familiar in the drawing. She bumped her shoulder. "Hey, is that Marcy?"

Sasha glanced at Anne and then back to her drawing. "Oh my god." She whispered. "I didn't even try to-"

They were quickly hushed by the teacher to stop talking and pay attention to the ecosystem of a worm or whatever she was talking about.

The blonde looked at her drawing again. It wasn't intentional. At least she doesn't think it was. She has been thinking of Marcy all day, but that's not why she was drawing her. This was weird and she didn't like the feeling of thinking of Marcy all the time. Oh boy.

-

A few more classes pass by and it was finally lunch time. Sasha doesn't eat breakfast on school days, so she was usually starving at this time. The blonde ran to the lunch line and grabbed fist fulls of different snacks to take on her trip and stuffed them inside her bag. She grabbed her lunch, which was just a really shitty made cheeseburger, and went to sit down at her usual spot.

Anne was still getting her lunch, so Sasha patiently waited while fidgeting with her fingers. As more time flew past, the more anxious she got. She was already scared to tell Anne her plan.

After a short while, Sasha felt a hand grab her shoulder. Reflexively, she jumped up and balled her hands into fists, ready to fight. She still hasn't gotten over the non-stop fighting in Amphibia. It was just Anne.

"Oh my god. This is the 2nd time today. I'm jumping off the roof." Sasha sat back down and covered her face with her hands. She heard her friend's laughs and wanted to laugh too. A small grin appeared on her face.

"Jeez, you really gotta get it together, Sash." Anne joked. "But what did you wanna talk about?"

Sasha's nerves started to act up again. She felt like she could faint any moment. "Well, um." The girl froze. "I just wanted to tell you something I've been thinking about lately. But you have to promise me you won't be mad."

"Depends on what it is. But I don't know why I'd be mad." Anne said, with little worry in her voice. The brunette has no idea why she had to promise not to be mad, but she wanted to keep an open mind. It's not everyday Sasha Waybright tells you about the things she's been thinking about.

She couldn't do it. The girl can't tell her friend. "I was just thinking..." Sasha tried to come up with a liable excuse. Something that seemed believable but personal enough that she waited for lunch. "I'm scared for the future?"

"What?" Anne was confused.

"Uh, yeah. The future is scary. 'Cause I don't have a plan and stuff. And I'm afraid of drifting apart from you and Marcy. It's stupid, I know, but we graduate sooner than we think. Yada yada, whatever, it was dumb." Sasha did her best to try and put on the 'I was scared to tell you now it just sounds stupid' act.

Thankfully for the blonde, Anne had too kind of a heart to ignore her anxiousness. "Aw, don't invalidate your feelings like that, Sasha." The girl looked at her friend, bewildered that she actually believed her sorry excuse.

"I'm actually kind of scared too. The whole thing with Marcy moving away had me afraid of losing you too. But people change, y'know? If we fall into different friend groups, at least we'll never forget what we went through together."

Typical Anne. Always the one to be the heartwarmer. But she heartwarmed a little too close to Sasha's anxieties. The blonde was flushed with guilt. Everything she's been keeping from Anne was formed into tears. "I'm sorry." She kept repeating in a trembling voice.

"Woah, woah, woah," Anne was quick to pull Sasha into a hug. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong."

"I just feel really guilty," She said through an assortment of sobs. "About the way I treated you before." That wasn't entirely a lie. Of course Sasha felt horrible about who she was before Amphibia, but she knew that she was grown into a better person.

"I know you changed. I forgive you. Don't worry."

The hug seemed to last forever. Or maybe not, because Sasha started to spiral out of reality again. The same 'blink, then you're gone' feeling was happening again. Except now, Sasha was rocking a killer headache.

Before she knew it, the bell had rang and it was time to go home. Little amounts of stress were released during her little therapy session with Anne, but her heart still hurt. And an unpleasant surprise awaited for her outside the school building.

"Sash! I'm gonna give you a ride back home today." A man who happens to be her mother's fiance was sitting in his car.

The girl narrowed her eyes and looked at him. "Oh. No, I'll be walking home. Thanks for the offer." Trying to flee out of his wave of view, before he could say anything more. And he's talking again. Great.

"I insist. I wanna talk to you. One on one." He made some weird hand gestures as he was talking. It wasn't unusual since Sasha knew he was a little weird. The girl groaned and gave him an eye roll. "Fine."

The man's face lit up. Like a child getting shown their favorite candy bar. Weird comparison, but it made sense to Sasha. He acted like a child anyway.

Sasha hastily opened the car door and stepped inside. This was deviating from step 2. Fuck.

The man took the wheel, an his step-daughter gripped onto the seat. Hard. Her nails were digging into the cushion. She didn't want to be thrown around with his wreckless driving, and the seatbelt didn't do much to help.

'How did he even get his license? Why don't police bother to pull him over?' Were all questions Sasha had whenever she got into the car with him. So when she felt the slow reverse, she was a little surprised. She took a glance at him. Brian was keeping his eyes on the mirror.

"So." Sasha said, trying to break the awkward silence. "Why'd you insist so much to drive me home? It's literally 5 minutes away. I could have walked."

"I wanna talk to you. I told you inside the house. Weren't you listening?" The man was completely out of the parking spot now and positioned himself go drive on the road. When he was positioned straight, he looked at his step-daughter. Sasha took no time to shake her head. He sighed, "Do you know why I do what I do?"

Okay, now this was weird. "What?" The girl was confused. She had no idea what he was talking about or what to expect from this conversation. "Answer."

"I don't understand the question." Sasha looked out the windshield. This part of her city was usually busy during this time since students were all leaving at the same time. Lots of cars traveling in different directions for their own homes. Traffic was something Sasha couldn't handle, which is why she wanted to walk in the first place. So she stopped looking out the window. And looked at her lap instead.

"I mean, do you understand why I'm so hard on you?"

Sasha shook her head again.

"It's because I think you have more potential than you give yourself credit for. Ever since I met you, I knew you could do better." His tone was soft. Softer than anything Sasha has ever heard. "And I just thought, with a little encouragement, you could be something great."

She hated this. She hated his reasoning. There was nothing that could be liked about this. Everything seemed suspicious from the start. "Okay, I guess." She huffed. "But there are better ways to go about that. Eating in the living room and waking up at noon aren't going to make me irredeemable. And you went way too far when you talked shit about my best friends. You know, that I've known for my entire life. They've been there for me more than you have."

"Sasha, language."

"That's not the part you should be fucking focused on." Without realizing it, her voice was starting to rise again.

"I'm trying to be nice to you here. I even tried chatting with you one on one. Why are you in such a bad mood?"

"Oh, well I don't know, why are you such a bad driver? Put your eyes back on the damn road!"

"Why can't you just hear me out for once?" The man glared at her.

"Why are you such a bitch?"

"Sasha."

"What does my mom see in you?" Her voice was harsh. It sounded similar to nails on a chalkboard. She refused to look at him. Looking any where else would be fantastic. There was silence. The loudest thing in that moment was the sound of the car engine.

She heard the sound of him leaning back in his seat. This is the quietest she's ever heard him be before. Maybe it was all the pent up resentment from all the years, but Sasha didn't feel sorry. But she knew it was wrong of her to say.

Sasha felt a pain in her chest. An apology was creeping up her throat, but she didn't want it to seem sarcastic. Trying to find the right words for this was torture. "Brian, look, I'm just upset at something that happened earlier." She folded her arms to try and not feel so small. "I didn't mean to take it out on you so," The blonde look up at the man who was now looking at her with a saddened expression.

The man was turning at an intersection, still looking at Sasha. While looking at him, she caught eye of a car speeding towards them. She trailed off from her sentence and quickly looked at the traffic lights above them. "Brian, the light is red!" He quickly looked at the light and slammed on the brakes. It didn't do much considering they were already in the middle of the intersection. The sound of car horns blasted through their ears.

Sasha shut her eyes as tight as she could. Hoping that way, everything would stop. Everything would be okay if she couldn't see anything. If only things worked like that. She heard the sound of a violent crashing sound, and force pushing her against the car door. Time seemed like it was moving in slow motion.

Everything went black. Sasha's head was pounding. Tons of broken glass was indenting itself on her skin. It smelled of smoke and oil. Sasha tried opening her eyes, and the disastrous sight on front of her made her want to shut them and never open them again.

Brian was right next to her. But he looked like he was in a much worse state than she was in. She couldn't even describe it well. Trying to remember, it feels fuzzy to her. The only thing she remembered was his position. His face was inside the airbag that had popped out. And his arms were still gripping hard on the wheel. The soft breathing sounds filled Sasha with relief. But he wasn't responsive.

She was scared. There was a face looking in her car window that made her already quick heartbeat start beating faster. The person on the other side looked horrified. How do they think she felt?

Only then did Sasha realize how much the inside of the car was indenting from the outside. All the windows on the left side of the car were broken, which is where Sasha figured the broken glass sitting on her came from. She couldn't stay there. She couldn't breathe. Everything was so suffocating. Sasha opened the car door and fell on to the road. There were no cars moving. It seems like everything just stopped.

Sasha let out a hoarse cough. She could hardly feel her right arm from it being pressed so hard against the door. There were so many cuts and bruises on her body that she couldn't count them on her hands. The person standing outside her car door quickly went to her aid. The girl was very sure she's been faced with worse injuries, but this still hurt. A lot.

"I'm so sorry, the ambulances are on the way. Is your father okay?" The man said while holding Sasha's arm over his back.

"Not my dad. But he's breathing." Sasha answered. "You don't have to help me. If anything, help him." She weakly held up her shaking arm and pointed it to the man still inside the car. He quickly ran over to the other side to help Brian.

Sasha took a look around the area. What looked to be rivers of cars flooded the streets. But they weren't moving. She caught the faces of a few drivers looking at her with terror. But she also saw her escape. Things have gone off her regular plan, but there was still a way to get to Marcy.

Her backpack fell out with her when she got out of the car. It wasn't even damaged, if not a little dirty. Sasha didn't mind. It's not like she could afford to anyway.

Everything looked like it was so easy to run away from. Even Anne had left her mind at that point. Nothing seemed hopeful to her. Dad was here, yes, but life wasn't interesting. Marcy would make things interesting. All the adventures they would go on, exploring the city, sleepovers. Her mind was just Marcy. She wanted to be with her. And serotonin filled her brain at the thought of them being together again. Maybe this is how Marcy felt when she saw the music box. But Sasha's only throwing her own life away. No one elses. This was her choice.

So she started walking. And kept walking.

***

The bed was comfy. And warm. It felt like Sasha and Anne's cuddles. But they weren't there. Pillows surrounded the middle of the bed, like a cocoon. Everything was placed so it would be comfortable, but not hotter than the sun. The temperature was just perfect.

She wasn't going to school that morning. After everything that happened yesterday, why bother? Marcy was sure she couldn't show her weird, delusional face at her school again. There were times she thought she was being over dramatic. Then she remembered the whispers and snickers from her classmates. Not that she could hear what they were saying. Only the sneaking glances in her direction and the covering of their mouths to talk to their friends.

Rumors always spread like the plague. Everyone spoke bad about everyone at her school. This time seemed much worse in her opinion. Everyone was already whispering about Marcy. The weird, nerdy new girl. And once they found out that she was talking to herself about weird things like helmets, control, and possession, she knew people wouldn't skip a beat to talk about it.

It only took 3 hours for the talks to get around to everyone and their mother. Everyone talks to themselves, Marcy thought. Why was it so bad that she did it too? The difference is, she was caught. And talking about things normal 14 year old girls wouldn't be talking about.

A knock at the door made Marcy curl up in her blankets. She didn't want to respond. Hoping the person at the door would just go away. A few seconds later, the door opened. Her mom. Mrs. Wu stood in the doorway. "Marcy, it's almost time to go, you ready? I didn't see you downstairs for breakfast."

Mrs. Wu is an elementary school teacher. Meaning she was big on education and making sure Marcy didn't miss anything important at school. It became a huge pain sometimes.

"I feel sick." The young girl put on her best groan. "Can I please stay home today?" She couldn't bring herself to move and face her mother. Hoping it would come off as something like, 'I'm so weak I can't even move my head to look at you.'

The sighs coming from her mother made her tense up. "Have you tried standing up yet? Maybe you just need some fresh air."

"Mom." Marcy said, desperation hanging on to her word. "I already tried. I feel so sick. It's just one day off of classes. And I'm ahead of everyone in my grade." With each plea, she dug her head more into the blankets.

After a few moments of silence, she heard a hum from the woman standing in the door. "Okay, you can stay home. We'll see how you feel when I get back from work, okay?"

Marcy hummed. The creaking of the door shutting sent relief down the girl's spine. She was alone. Alone. But not really. It seemed like every time she feels like she's won, there's always that one thing. It was infuriating.

"Shut the fuck up." She restrained herself from yelling, knowing her parents and siblings were still in the house. Although, she could yell all she wants when they leave for school and work.

"Haven't we been through this enough?"

Marcy was tired of asking. Tired in general. She wanted sleep. Sleep she hasn't been able to get for a month, ever since her trip back from Amphibia. She got a few days with Anne and Sasha before she moved. Those were the last good nights of rest she's gotten.

"Build the helmet. Then you'll be allowed as much sleep as you desire up here."

"I know what your plan is."

"We know it's working, Wit. Every time we ruin something for you, your desire to build the helmet grows stronger. But you'd never admit that. Would you?"

The girl grew silent. Her anger from earlier fired down into anxiety. It wasn't working. Their plan isn't working. Marcy has enough strength to not fall for that. Not fall for those words.

"As expected."

And like that, they all dispersed into talking about their own things again. She could feel the headache form. The nausea sank in. Karma for trying to skip school, she thought.

She hated how much this thing made her think. Marcy thought a lot before, but now she thinks to try to stay ahead of it. But she's never successful. She hates feeling like 2nd place in her own body.

"How much longer are you going to pester me about the helmet?" She asked. The sound of the front door shutting came from downstairs. Indicating that she was the only one home right then.

"Until the end of time."

"And if I die?"

"You won't have to die if you join us."

"I mean my body. I have a human body. It'll only last a few more decades."

"A few more decades is all we need. Our plan won't take long."

Marcy frowned. Thankfully, a buzz from her desk gave her an excuse to not respond to The Core. Her phone layed on the desk with the charging port connected to it. She picked it up and looked to see what the notification was. It displayed on her lock screen in bold letters:

Waybrighter💫: Good morning Marce. Love you

The message made Marcy's mood lift up. The ends of her mouth formed into a smile as she opened her phone to text back.

Mar_TheVagabond: I love you too Sashy

Was that too forward? No, Sasha said it first. Delete the 'I'? She didn't put an I. Is the 'Sashy' at the end too much?

Too many questions and not enough answers. Marcy slammed her eyes shut and slammed on what she hoped was the send button. Thankfully, she heard the noise that meant the text went through.

"Your relationships are absolutely disgusting."

"Whatever you say." Marcy smiled to herself as she stared at the message her...friend sent. That weird feeling came back. She assumed it was just the feeling of her being away from Sasha for so long. "God, I miss her so much."

The voices began to disperse. Every second one of them stopped talking. There was a muffled sound in the back of her head. But other than that, it was quiet. Marcy almost forgot what it felt like to not have people whispering in the back of her head 24/7. It was therapeutic. Well, until all of them came back at once. The girl jumped in her place.

"We realized it's clear you won't help us on your own."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks for noticing. Are you gonna leave me alone now? I'm trying to have a conversation with Sasha."

"Not exactly. But, we have a new proposition for you."

The back of her throat got dry all of a sudden. She didn't like that. Not at all. "And what would that be?" If Marcy was being honest, she really did not want to hear what this new offer was. Curiosity is a strange thing.

"We have a lot more power in your mind than you might think. Although, we are unable to move your muscles. We ARE able to blur out memories of yours. Making them all static and difficult, and sometimes impossible to remember. We found this out when we tried it on a few of your most boring memories. Such as drum practice."

Panic began to set in to the girl's chest. "You can do that? What else have you erased?" She spoke fast, and airy. It was getting difficult to breathe.

"We tried on a few memories of other boring events. Nothing you would remember, though."

She could practically see the smile being formed on their faces. Marcy shifted her sitting position and hugged her knees. Eyes staying on the 3 dots showing that her friend was typing. "Where are you going with this?" She was very uncomfortable.

"Your memories with Heart and Strength are on the line. If you do not go through with our plan, then be ready to say goodbye to them."

The multitude of voices shifted. After every word, it seemed like more and more newts were joining in speaking to her. Everything in the outside world felt so muffled.

Waybrighter💫: wow I almost blushed. I have a surprise for you soon. But until then, don't do anything I wouldn't do xoxo

For a moment, Marcy managed to hear something clearly outside The Core's eerie murmurs. A heartbeat? Her face got warm. And the weird feeling returned, even stronger than the last few times. Marcy's stomach was in knots. Except, she couldn't tell if Sasha was being flirty or if she was just being herself. Typical confusing Sasha fashion.

Mar_TheVagabond: cant wait! x

She put down the phone. Her face flushed in a nice shade of pink. Sasha was her friend. (friend?)

"What a sweet moment. Too bad you'll be forced to forget everything if you don't oblige."

The girl took a deep breath, coming back to her senses. "And if I help, what'll happen to Sasha and Anne?"

"We won't tamper with them."

Her stomach went from flowery to turned over. This all felt like it was moving so fast. She wanted to crawl back in her bed cocoon and never wake up again. Was not allowing The Core to take over her body again worth losing Anne and Sasha? She'd still be able to talk to them, but all their chemistry wouldn't be there anymore. She didn't want to live in a world where she didn't know her two best friends.

"I'll do it, but only if I know that they'll be okay. I refuse to drag them into something because of my own selfishness again." She hesitated.

"Glad to know that you're finally making the right decision for once."

Marcy sniffed. This was happening now. Wonderful. Totally awesome. She loves making decisions that are totally out of her control. And she also hates being sarcastic in her own head. This is hell. The girl hummed, losing motivation to even speak.

"Start listing the materials. We doubt your human brain will be able to remember all of them, and frankly, we don't want to have to repeat ourselves."

The girl grabbed a pen from her desk and a sticky note from her drawer. She absolutely hated how much control it had over her. Not for good reason. The Core began listing that they needed to create the helmet. Surprisingly enough, it didn't take much. They said they would tell Marcy what to do when it came time to code. The sticky note was almost full of parts needed for this to work.

"We need a diamond for this helmet to work."

Marcy frowned. Of course they would need a diamond. Something Marcy couldn't get access to. "What the hell kind of-" She was cut off by another question she had. "Why the hell do we need a damn diamond? Was there a diamond in the last one? And I thought you said the only thing you needed were wires and motherboards."

"Indeed there was. It was a small one. But just enough to hold everything together. The diamond, when connected to this kind of technology, spreads the electricity like a giant extension cord."

There was a pause.

"Okay. And looks like we can't finish the helmet. We don't have a diamond." She said. Relieved, she put the pen down and stuck the sticky note on a random spot on her wall. "Boop."

"We beg to differ. Unlike Strength, your parents are together, correct?"

The girl looked up, puzzled and shocked. She stuttered. "Why'd you have to bring Sasha into this?" Marcy stood up from her desk feeling sick.

"Your parents are married, right?"

"Yes." Marcy said sharply and quickly. "Why do you care? Stop bringing Sasha into everything. They have nothing to do with this."

"Awfully hesitant, don't you think? And you know why we asked that question. Don't you, Marcy?"

"No idea."

"We can see your thoughts."

She knew exactly why it asked that. Marcy would never stoop as low and steal. She was getting flashbacks to when she and Sasha forced Anne to steal the music box, even when she didn't want to. Was this how she felt? "I'm not stealing their wedding rings."

"You will face little to no consequences for the act. Once we gain your vessel, your life will become perfect in here."

Marcy thought for a moment. "What exactly is your plan? You can't take over Earth without the music box."

"Our plans have changed. Invading Earth is no longer a priority. We will simply be getting revenge on this planet. You primates are so easily angered. We've studied your memories and learned that. Especially your peers. Strength was also rather angry all the time. We learned that personally. So using your abilities and relations within the government, we'll use our own technological advances to turn every human against each other and destroy your society."

Her stomach turned over. That was the plan? She couldn't just help that thing do this. She's learned this lesson. Why is she so swayed by its words? Amphibia was a huge wake up call. This...THING in her head was a wake up call. She shouldn't do this. She doesn't want to. No logical reason justifies doing this. But she did wonder one thing more. "Why do you keep bringing up Sasha? It's getting really uncomfortable."

"We know everything about you, Marcy." The voices all came together. "More things than you could possibly know."

"Okay." Marcy said, fidgetting with her hands below her desk. Her nervousness seeping out of her palms. "But what does that have to do with Sasha?"

"Your...relationship wish this 'Sasha' is very interesting to us. We have no bother for intimacy and romantic affiliations, but this seems like a fun toy to tinker with."

Her hands beneath the table stopped. Her breathing stopped. Warmth in her face gradually began to spread. Everything just stopped. 'Romantic affiliations'? Marcy wasn't too sure what it meant by that. Or at least, that's what she wanted to believe. She didn't want to hear those words. "I don't get you."

"You understand. We're tired of you pretending like you don't. You are much more gifted than you give yourself credit for."

She shook her head and looked at the list she planted on the wall a moment ago. This is getting messy. Marcy lied her face onto her desk in a tired and stressed out daze. Romantic affiliations. Sure, she gets nervous when Sasha says she loves her, and over thinks when texting her back, and wants to call her all the time, but it's just in a friendly way. Marcy is just upset that she's so far away from her. Yeah, that's it.

"Olms, listening to you reason this out in your head is painful. It's so obvious, Mar Mar." The Core switched to mock Sasha's voice. "You loooooove her!" They changed their behavior. When they taunted her using her friends' voices, it would always mock their behavior too. Maybe to make it sink into her skin more. She hated it. "Stop."

"Why should we? It's obvious you're not going to get us a diamond, so why not taunt you with your feelings before erasing them?"

"Stop." Marcy said again, in the same tone. The same annoyed, but scared tone. "I don't want to steal. And I did my best. Give me a break."

"No. Your best isn't good enough. Get us the diamond. Or you know what happens."

She felt defeated. Almost considering letting that thing erase everything she loves. But she didn't. Leaving a Marcy who doesn't remember a thing with The Core was cruel. The poor girl would be so easily swayed by it. The Core would probably be able to convince her that what they were doing was something good. Marcy hated that. And at least wanted to do it consciously. No matter how hard she tried to justify the reasoning in her head, it always sounded unethical if she were to say it out loud. So she walked out of her bedroom door, and down the stairs to get to her parents bedroom.

Her parents didn't take their rings to work with then. For her dad, he was afraid he'd lose it while he was working. And for her mom, she didn't want a child to steal it. Which is ironic. So the rings sat in boxes on their respective bedside table. Marcy knew where to find the diamond. She knew her dad had a black ring, so that was no use to her. Her mom on the other hand, had a small diamond at the top of the ring. Surrounded by little metal points keeping it in place.

The points weren't thick, or strong for that matter. So it was embarrassingly easy to get access to the shining gem in the center.

She took advantage of her small hands and swiftly took the diamond out, and put the ring back into it's box. Leaving the ring empty.

Chapter Text

Rays of moon light beamed slightly onto the girl's tattered clothes and scratched up skin. It feels like she had been walking for days. Obviously she hasn't, the sun had only gone down once since the incident she dubs, 'the wreck'. So it's safe to assume she's only been walking for a few hours. Though, the moon wasn't very bright.

Currently indulged in cheesy crackers, Sasha checked her location. According to her phone, she was now in Glendale. And she has come to the conclusion that she picked a horrible day to travel. It was hot. The painful kind. The humid air was clinging onto her now scabbed scratches and clumps of bruises pasted on her skin. Even at this time of night, the heat was still lurking through.

To add insult to injury, she's been texting her mother for the past few hours. She made up the excuse that she got scared during the wreck and ran off to Anne's house to stay the night to get her mind off it. After a few messages of scolding for leaving the scene without letting anyone know, Mrs. Waybright finally signed off with, "okay, don't stay for too long tomorrow. I'll keep you updated on Brian."

Sasha texted an "ok" and put her phone back. The idea that the wreck only happened because Sasha couldn't watch her mouth had been weighing on her for hours. Brian was okay, yes, but it could've been easily prevented. The old Sasha would have probably blamed him for his incompetent driving. Isn't that a funny thought? Well, not really, Sasha is embarrassed to even think about what she would have done. Before everything.

But she can't dwell on that for long. All her 20 minutes of planning in class went to waste, considering she brought a hefty sum of dry snacks and approximately zero bottles of water. Luckily, Sasha brought her wallet with her. The wallet had a bunch of money in it. Mostly from distant relatives for birthday gifts. She'd been saving up for a console to play with Marcy on, but how much harm will a few drinks cause on her wallet?

A gas station was fast approaching. Sasha could see the luminescent lights of the store from where she was walking. Good thing, too. Sasha has walked miles and miles throughout the past five months, but not continuously for four hours. It was painful. She wanted to sit down. Anywhere. Even if it meant sitting on the ground on the hot concrete.

Even if the girl was about to pass out from dehydration and fatigue, she still powered through and walked inside of the little gas station. The refrigerators in the back had a heavenly glow to them. They were beautiful. And Sasha had to get her hands on them. Cold drinks were only a dollar, so the blonde could buy plenty of them to keep herself walking until she reaches a bus stop.

She grabbed herself a handful of waters. The huge packaged bottled water bottles were things she wanted to avoid at all costs. Not only would it slow her down tremendously, but they're also warm. Warm water bottles can't cool you down when it's hot and muggy outside. That science just didn't make sense!

In any case, she also took a few more snacks. She had plenty already, but just in case she feels extra hungry one day. The gas station was relatively empty, except for maybe a few gnarly looking truckers Sasha would love to converse with. The only thing that stopped her was the ammusing sight that the cashier would have. A large, muscular person talking to a small little 14 year old blonde girl. The thought made her laugh.

But she did look very out of place. It reminded her of Toad Tower. Only a little, though. It's not like she was being kept prisoner in a gas station.

The line was nonexistent. All the other consumers in the store were off doing their own thing. Buying their food and such.

"Just these?"

"Yeah."

The cashier sounded much friendlier than she looked. At first glance, she looked like she was she was about to fall asleep at the counter. But now, she looked full of life. Struggles of working a customer job, Sasha thought.

"It's really late, shouldn't you be at home? Or, at least, isn't it past your curfew?"

Sasha's widened her eyes as she looked down at the floor and shuffled her feet. She was usually good at creating excuses, but she couldn't this time. With her head being in the clouds, she didn't have a liable excuse that people would believe. Everything she thought about for the past few hours was the wreck and how excited she was to see Marcy again. The blonde concluded that she didn't have enough energy to lie anymore. But, she'd figure she would just keep the entire truth a secret.

"I'm visiting a friend."

"Oh, do they live around here?"

"Not really. This is just a snack grab."

The cashier nodded, still not really understand. "Are your parents outside or something?"

She shook her head.

"Oh, ok." The cashier looked down at her snacks and waters and scanned them with her scanner. "So where are you headed?"

"Washington. Not sure of the city though. I'll have to ask her once I start getting closer."

She nodded and looked down at the green numbers displayed on the cashier. "That will be $19.54."

That much for a few snacks? Sasha wasn't worried about money since she had some, but wow. That was much more expensive than she thought it would be. It makes her not so excited to grow up anymore. She pulled out her wallet and pulled out a 20.

"Looks like we're going the same way." The voice from behind the blonde girl made her whip around. A little creepy of you ask her, what kind of weirdo sneaks up on people like that?

"Oh. Are you?" Sasha tried to say with her most 'I'm very interested in what you have to say' voice.

The woman behind her was short. Which is probably why Sasha didn't notice her in the sea of strong, tall people. She was around her height. Maybe slightly taller.

"Yeah, visiting family. Who are you traveling with if your parents aren't outside?"

Wow. Nosy much? Sasha didn't want to reveal too much just in case they called the police on her for being a run away. But, she saw no harm in being truthful. "I'm going by myself. My mom and dad said that if I had a way of getting there by myself, then I can go. And this is how I'm going."

The woman behind her had an expression of shock and heavy concern. Sasha immediately began to regret her words, and desperately begged the universe for her to go back in time and re-do this part. Maybe even skip the gas station entirely. Unfortunately, that isn't how the world worked. Sasha cringed and tried to prepare herself for the scolding words of this woman she just met.

"And where are you coming from? Did you walk all this way?"

She could've lied again. A feeling of dread formed in her stomach even at the mere thought of lying though. The blonde has already lied so much to the people she loved. And she can't even lie to a stranger? 'I'm getting soft.' She thought and put her hand behind her neck.

"LA, and...yeah."

The voice from behind poked in. "I don't mean to interrupt, but your bags are ready to go. And you're holding up the line. Could you talk while I get the next lady rung up?"

"Oh shoot, my bad." Sasha spun around and grabbed the plastic bags her waters and snacks were in. Upon her eyes landing on the water, the dry feeling in her mouth grew stronger. She moved out of way of the cashier and twisted off the bottle cap with ease. Sasha was now feeling what she thought was the best feeling in the entire world. To Amphibia and back, nothing can beat the first sip of water after a long day. It was heavenly. And Sasha savored every moment of it.

"So you mean to tell me that you walked to here all the from Los Angeles? That's four hours!" The woman said with a tone that screamed 'I don't believe you.'

Sasha hummed as she chugged half the bottle in front of her. She put the bottle down and wiped her mouth. "I can't drive, so yeah. Bikes were also out of the question considering I left sort of unexpectedly. Don't ask."

The woman nudged open her purse to grab some money to pay for her own things. Snacks, drinks, and a phone charger. Normal things. "But your parents know where you are, right?"

The blonde flipped her hand forward. "Of course, I've been texting them regularly."

"I don't know how comfortable I feel knowing a child is walking all the way to Washington." The woman gave the cashier her bills and held her hand out to collect the change. "Since we're going the same way, I could give you a ride. Only up to Oregon, but it would surely be faster than walking all the way."

Instinctively, Sasha put her water bottle back in the plastic bag and put her hand on her heart. It felt slightly backhanded, but if it meant the didn't have to walk anymore. Her legs were killing her. "You'd do that?" A voice in the back of her head told her that this probably wasn't a good idea. She could get kidnapped. But this woman seemed nice enough.

"Why not?"

And she was convinced. This woman looked too friendly to even think of kidnapping her. And Sasha was just desperate to get to Marcy as quick as possible. It won't be long until everyone back in LA realizes that she isn't with Anne. Made her wonder if Anne even knows at this point. Surely her mom would check in with the Boonchuy's, right?

That's a problem for future Sasha.

Instead of verbally responding, she just gave a little smile.

The woman finished paying and grabbed her plastic bags that held her things. Sasha waited patiently for her next to the door. They both walked out.

A few things were bouncing around in her head. Such as using an alias instead of her real name. Just in case she was reported missing earlier than she would like. She figured it wouldn't matter. By the time this woman would figure it out, they'll already be halfway to Oregon. Too late to turn back. That thought was a little too cynical for Sasha's liking, so she tried her best to bury it down.

"I'm Sasha by the way."

The two had reached the woman's car. It was a black SUV with a green scent tree hanging from the rear view mirror. The inside had blankets and pillows and a bunch of food wrappers. With the push of a button on the keys, the lights blinked and a beep came from the car. The woman opened the door and motioned Sasha to open her side of the door too.

"Aw, that's a nice name." The woman said. "Is Sasha a nickname?"

The blonde opened the car door and put her backpack inside. "Nope, just Sasha."

"Ah, I could've figured Sasha is short for Alexandra, no?"

"It is, but my parents named me Sasha, so..." The girl trailed off and looked at the tree behind her. She was starting to have second thoughts about going inside a random lady's car.

"I see. My name is Darcy." The woman said in a casual tone. Her voice sweet, no ill intentions behind it. The name made Sasha jump back. Noticeably.

"Darcy?" Sasha's voice shook. How funny is that? This was a sick coincidence that the universe had to pull. And it worked. Everything felt like it was moving 10 times slower than it usually was. The burning feeling in her legs only grew stronger. She felt like she was about to faint.

"Yeah, everything okay?" The woman- 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘺- sat in the drivers seat, leaning more towards the passenger seat where Sasha stood. And slowly backed away. "Did you see something?"

It took a few moments for Sasha to gain enough sensibility to speak. "No, sorry." Her face didn't relax no matter how hard she tried. "It's just that name surprised me. That's all."

The blonde hesitated, but eventually got in the car. That nausested feeling didn't completely leave. That clump in the back of her throat made her head ache. It's not her. It's not the same Darcy. It's different. It's obviously different.

She doesn't have to deal with 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 Darcy anymore.

It's fine.

She's fine.

The driver decided not to address how scared the child got. Bad memories with someone who shares her name? Probably. It's best if she doesn't question it.

"So, tell me more about why your parents allowed you to come all this way alone." The woman backed out of the parking lot and started onto the main road. There weren't as many cars as there were a few hours ago when Sasha started walking.

"They're stubborn, and they think I can do anything as long as I put my mind to it." Sasha tried speaking in a way that wasn't so obvious that she was lying on the spot. "So when I brought up that I wanted to visit my best friend, they saw it as a learning opportunity."

"I'm still a little shocked that this is all because of a friend." The woman said. "Did you meet online or something?"

"No," Sasha took a breath. "I've known her for years. Ever since I was five. She moved a month ago. My other best friend tries acting like everything's normal without her around, and I guess that just made me mad. She misses her as much as I do." Venom leaked into her words towards the end of her sentence.

"Maybe you should be a little more understanding. How long have you known this other friend?"

"I met those two at the same time." Sasha looked down at her hands. They were sweaty. Gross. "They're, like, my best friends for life. We've been through so much together. And that's why I'm so mad Anne is moving on so easily."

Darcy took a glance at the girl in the passenger seat. "I don't think that's the problem. This Anne girl probably just doesn't want to have any awkward tensions between you guys."

"Well, she's doing a horrible job." Sasha's hands trailed up to her arms, giving herself a hug. "We both can feel the awkward tensions she's graciously trying to avoid. She doesn't even talk about Marcy anymore. It's so..." She couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence. The girl was convinced there was no proper way to finish that sentence.

"I do say, that is a little strange." Darcy moved her eyes back onto the road and put all of her attention onto the upcoming traffic light. "But it does seem to get you riled up. So why don't you tell me about your friends."

Sasha shrugged and looked out her the window on her side. She knew that if she started rambling about her friends, she would never stop talking. "I'm not sure you would like that."

"Well, there's not much else to do, so I'm here to listen."

Her voice sounded so welcoming. It was a lot how her own mother sounded when she wasn't around her fiance. It felt...strange to say the least.

"Okay," Sasha continued staring out the window. The trees were hardly visible because of how dark it had gotten. "Marcy is the friend who moved. You probably already guessed that. She's a huge nerd. And any anime you name, she's probably watched it. And one time, she tried getting me and Anne to play Creatures and Caverns with her," she continued to talk, and talk, and talk.

Minutes passed. The blonde continued to word vomit everything she knew about Marcy to this woman she met a few minutes ago. Even the small little habits she noticed Marcy doing. Like how the girl would click the pen on her face against her cheek instead of with her finger. How intense her eyes would look when she read anything.

And even how giddy she would get during her favorite parts of a movie. Accidentally spilling some spoilers to her and Anne. How she would get so caught up in her interests, Anne and Sasha would have to pull her out.

Sasha doesn't even know how long she's been rambling about Marcy. It seemed out of character, especially for her. She never rambled. The girl can't remember a single time in her life she's ever gone on talking for this long. It made her throat sore.

She eventually had to take a break from talking.

"Wow." The woman said once Sasha stopped. "Are you sure that your relationship with Marcy is just a friendship?"

Sasha hummed. It took a few moments for her to work up speaking again.

"Of course. What else would it be?"

"You notice things about her that people probably wouldn't notice in a million years."

"Yeah, 'cause we're best friends."

"And the way you talk about her. It sounds a little..."

Sasha didn't know what she was talking about. She took a glance at the woman and looked out the windshield. The trees were slowly disappearing as they moved forward. She looked at the backpack she sat on her lap and zipped it open. Her journal was the only splash of color inside the bag, so finding it was easy. She opened it and flipped through the page to her original plan. It was hard to see, but she noticed her small Marcy doodles from earlier. They were small. She felt her face heat up as she quickly shut the journal.

"What time is it?" The girl decided not to go along with whatever Darcy was talking about. It was confusing. Especially when she was so dazed and tired from everything that happened today.

"It's nearly 10 pm. We've been driving for an hour and a half."

That number didn't feel real. Sasha would have given a bigger reaction if she had the energy. "Geez, I've been talking for a while, huh?"

"Maybe, but now I know how much of a caring person you are." The woman mumbled. "I'll drive for a few more hours until I pull over to sleep. You can sleep now if you want to. Just pull the seat down when you're ready."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Only if I crash, but there are hardly any cars out now."

God. Why'd she have to remind her of the crash? This sucked. Her head hurt. "I'll sleep, but if it's okay, I think I'd rather keep the seat up."

"Oh, okay." Darcy sounded a little surprised to hear Sasha's statement, but she didn't really care all that much. As long as she was getting sleep.

The blonde looked out the side window and leaned her head on the polyester band of the seat belt.

It's been a long day. Almost like everything in the world was out against her. But she's closer.

Hours closer to being with Marcy again.

***

"I need to ask you something important."

"What is it?"

The stuffed bear that belonged to her little brother layed on the floor of her room, face down. The back was opened and little stuffing was spilling out. On the desk, a box full of office supplies Marcy 'forgot' to unpack. A white plastic box was ripped open and hollowed out. The green display of power that came from the box now sitting on her desk.

"If you're going to destroy human civilization, how are you gonna not hurt Anne and Sasha? 'Cause remember, you promised~" Marcy teased. Hoping that The Core's plan would flop in that moment.

"We didn't promise. But yes, we did tell you we wouldn't hurt those two."

The girl narrowed her eyes at the response.

"However, we could do one of two things. One, we can put them into a bunker underground and give them all needed materials for two human girls to survive. Or, to stop them from seeing the horror, we could kill them now and-"

"Stop." Marcy didn't even want to hear the rest of that sentence. "You guys are so morbid." She observed the small motherboard and connected the wires to a few of the thin pieces of metal so the electricity could flow through.

"Bunker it is then."

"Another question, are you sure this thing will be able to support all of you?"

"Not sure."

"Wow. You're helpful. Aren't you the ones who built the helmet?"

"Andrias did. Of course, we had the idea first, but he did all the heavy lifting. It's like when you used to do group projects. 'Sashy' and 'Anne' would think of the idea, and you did all the work. Or did we accidentally erase those memories too?"

Hearing The Core use that nickname for her friend(?) filled her with anger. More so than their little snarky comment about her memories. She did her best to brush it off and act nonchalant, obviously not going unnoticed by The Core. "Yeah, no. Still don't think this is going to be enough. Can't say we didn't try." Marcy was quick to hop off her chair and walk back to her bed. But before she could even step one knee on her bed, the voice echoed again.

"You have a portable computer in your pocket that gives you all the answers in the universe. Use it to your advantage. Don't act stupid with us. You know better."

That last phrase gave Marcy chills. So much so that it compelled her to get her phone off her bed and open it.

Quick searched into YouTube helped a small amount. She found a channel called "I.T. Gals" and they had some useful information. Apparently if they had used the small wimpy motherboard from her little brother's talking stuffed panda, it wouldn't have worked at all. But Marcy can't say she didn't enjoy tearing that thing apart. It woke her up during nights she was actually able to sleep. But from a moral stand point, of course she felt bad. A strong weight of guilt was hanging over her head at all times. Every time she tried talking to The Core about it, their response is always the same.

"You don't have to deal with the consequences once you get this done."

And it was always left at that.

The I.T. Gals, who's names happened to be Ally and Jess, took video calls and put their Vroom information in the description of all their videos. They were located in LA, which Marcy found humorously ironic.

"Should I call them?"

"If it'll give you more information, so be it."

Marcy stood up from her bed and started to pace around her room as she typed in the details to set up a meeting with them. She never did well in calls. Besides facetime with Anne and Sasha, calls weren't her thing. Texting was definitely the preferred method.

All the details about their information had been written down. Marcy sent an email to them, asking to call to talk about something important. Hopefully the wait line wasn't too long. Everything was so stressful. It felt as if she's carrying the entire weight of the world on her shoulders.

Well, doesn't she?

The girl lied back down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. "How is this my life right now?"

"Well-"

"Don't answer that question. I don't care." Marcy snapped back and flipped over onto her stomach.

"What happened to the sweet little Mar-mar? You've gotten so bitter these past few weeks."

"I told you not to call me that." The pillow she was lying her head on muffled her words, but still made them understandable if you were listening closely. "And let's see... I get betrayed by one of my closest allies in Amphibia, he allowed you to invade my body, and once I think you're defeated, you come back inside of my head. I get seperated from my two best friends in the entire world and can't see them anymore, everyone at school thinks I'm a crazy weirdo nerd, and you are threatening to get rid of my memories if I don't comply with this stupid plan. Doesn't that sound like enough to be just a little bit angry all the time?"

"Isn't that just more of a reason your human civilization should be eradicated? They're so greedy and judgemental. All we hear are more reasons as to why we should go through with this plan. Isn't it, Marcy?"

"Not at all."

Marcy hugged her pillow so tight she might as well be fusing with it. Much like always, her phone buzzed so she could avoid talking it to it any longer. A new email. Marcy rolled onto the floor and created a crash louder than she intended. Good thing no one was home.

Her fingers practically indented her phone while swiping up to see what the email was. The I.T. gals. Wow, they responded quick. Marcy assumed they didn't have that many appointments with people.

I.T. Gals
To: VagabondWu

Hello Marcy!

We appreciate you reaching out to us! Your email to us intrigued us. We are interested in seeing what this important and ambitious project you have is all about. Would 12 pm PST work for you? If that's too soon we will be flexible in moving it to a better date for both parties.

We'll be happy to see what you have in store for us!

-I.T. GALS
Ally and Jess

Marcy jerked up and stared at the email for a short amount of time. "Look, they're willing to do the meeting in an hour or so. Happy?" She tapped the 'reply' button to confirm the time.

"Very. Maybe you aren't as incompetent as we figured."

"Ha." Marcy said sarcastically and typed up an email.

I.T. Gals,

It would be my pleasure to start the meeting at 12. That's perfect actually. The story behind why I need this so urgently isn't very interesting, but I promise it will be worth it.

Thank you!
Marcy Wu

"You type fast."

"Thanks." Marcy really wasn't interested in the small talk The Core had to offer. Most of it was boring anyway. It should be expected, considering what it's population consists of. A bunch of smart amphibians that probably didn't get out much. But who was she to judge?

After she sent the email, she went over to her desk and plopped on the seat in front of her. A small piece of rock lied on the table. The light coming from her windows made it sparkle much more than it would naturally.

"Your answer earlier was a lot more vague than I wanted." The girl picked up the diamond and rotated it between her index finger and thumb. "While we wait for 12 to roll around, why don't you tell me how you're going to protect Sasha and Anne while you go through with this?"

For the first time ever, Marcy heard a sound from The Core that didn't sound robotic and boring. It set into tone how there really were a bunch of people in her head.

They sighed.

"Your obsession with those two is so infuriating."

"I'm not obsessed." She replied. Obviously very frustrated with them. "I'm just asking a question. How are you going to keep them safe?"

"As we said, we would supply them materials in one of the many underground bunkers on this planet. You must be the one to lead them into it, though. We doubt they would want to listen to you when we're in control."

She looked down and rested her head in her hand. "That's not a good plan."

"Would you rather have them wallow away in your broken society?"

Again, it seems like she had no other option. Marcy defeatedly shook her head and leaned back in her chair. That plan was the only one that made sense. They'll be lonely down there, but at least they'll have each other, right? She wonders what they're doing right now.

"How do you expect me to lure them anywhere? I live like, 2,000 miles away." Marcy pondered and set down the precious rock back onto her desk.

"Your tiny computer. Don't be stupid after we just complimented you."

"Uh-huh." The girl said mindlessly and checked the time on her phone.

-

As soon as the clock struck 12, Marcy got emailed a link. When she clicked on it, it took her to a Vroom meeting. Two girls sat on the other side with smiling faces.

"Hey Marcy!" The one with the pink-colored hair put her arm up and waved. "I'm Ally, and this is Jess."

The other woman put her own hand up and waved at the camera. "Hey guys!" Marcy smiled warmly and folded her arms on the table.

"Why don't you tell us about this ambitious project your working on?" Jess spoke up.

Marcy took a deep breath. Time to put her acting skills to the test. "It might seem a little lame, but I'm working on it for a con. Sure, it might seem a little extra, but I go all out for this kind of thing!"

The two women on the end adjusted their posture and was looking intently at their screen. Okay, good. It looks like this was working. "It's a helmet with a bunch of wires, motherboards, and coding. At least that's what a...friend tells me what it is. They gave me the idea for the project."

"Well, can you give us a little sketch of what you want the helmet to look like?" Jess asked.

The younger girl gave a nod and reached for the sticky notes sitting on the desk from earlier. She took a pen and slowly started sketching the design out. It was similar to what the old helmet looked like, with a few of the assessories replaced with easy-to-gey household appliances. Because of how small the sticky note was, it didn't take long to finish up her initial sketch.

"It's supposed to look like this," she held up the sticky note to the camera. "We mostly need help with the where to put all the wires and power systems. My friend said we needed a diamond to power it, but I'm not sure how much I trust them. Any thoughts?"

The pair stared at the screen for a moment and looked at each other. Like they were telepathically sending signals to each other. "Okay, we have a few ideas." Ally held up her index finger. "One, we can walk you through how to do this. It might take a few days because of the complexity, but we should be able to get it done within a week." She popped up her middle finger. "Or two, we can send you photos of what it's supposed to look like and you can complete it on your own."

Marcy looked over to the side of her desk and tapped on it a few times, waiting for The Core to give their thoughts.

"More efficiency in working with these imbeciles. We can wait a week."

"We'd prefer working with you guys every step of the way. I can go to the store today and get whatever we need. I already have a list, but do we need anything else?" Marcy grabbed the sticky note from earlier and showed it to the camera.

Ally and Jess listed off a few more materials and Marcy wrote them down. The call ended and the girl breathlessly closed her laptop and kept her hand on the top for a while. "I hate video calls."

"Figured."

"Do you think I have time to run to the store before everyone comes back?" She clenched the sticky note in her other hand and slowly lifted her palm from off her laptop.

"Don't know, don't care."

"Oh my frog, you are absolutely impossible."

Chapter Text

The man groaned as he shifted his walking position to be more comfortable. And unlucky for him, this was the most uncomfortable he's ever been in his entire life.

He doesn't remember much of earlier. All he remembers was his step-daughter yelling, and him seeing the car approaching quickly. Everything happened so fast.

Now, he was walking out of the emergency room with his crutches and fiance holding him up so he didn't fall. It was late. 11 pm, maybe? He's been in that hospital for what felt like an eternity.

"Where's Sasha?" He asked. The man sat down in the passenger seat. He wasn't in a good condition to drive. And maybe he was banned from driving for a little while.

"She went over to the Boonchuys'. She'll be home tomorrow, but she just needed some time to think." His fiance said in a tired, monotone voice. Brian hummed as he sat back in his seat and looked out the windshield.

It's been a long day for everyone.

"I gotta apologize to her when she gets home tomorrow." The brunette said. The time spent in the hospital gave him lots of time to reflect. On everything. Embarrassing how a man of his age had to keep doing that, right? That's what he thought, at least.

"I think so too." Mrs. Waybright didn't remove her eyes from the road. "It's been so hard couple months for her."

"I know." Brian sighed and pulled his phone out. He opened it and swiped a few messages from friends and family asking if he was okay. To which he responded, 'yes, I'm okay. Thanks for checking in.' To all of them. He opened his message center with Sasha and had a small debate with himself on whether or not he should text her.

A few minutes later, he settled on doing it tomorrow face to face. It would feel better and more genuine that way. "I just hope she's okay. Did you ask if she was hurt at all?"

"She said her arm hurt at first, but feels better now. I still want to get her checked out tomorrow just so we're sure she's okay." The woman continued to drive.

"Alright. That sounds good. Really good."

-

When the couple arrived home, they both passed out in their bed. Neither of them bothered getting changed. Mrs. Waybright immediately collapsed onto the left side of the king sized bed, while Brian had to maneuver himself in a position where he can sleep without straining any of his wounds.

If he had to rank it, it was definitely one of the worst sleeps he's ever had. It actually reminded him of this one time he hurt his leg when he wasn't even in the double digits yet. Point is, the sleep sucked.

The next morning, Brian found himself in a position he wasn't in when he first closed his eyes. It was different. A painful different. He found himself afraid to move his limbs because of the pain. A few pops came out of his body as he sat up from the bed. He already noticed his fiance wasn't in bed with him. The smell of fresh bread filled his nose.

As the man expected, Mrs Waybright was in the kitchen. According to her, he slept in much later than usual.

"Weren't you the one who kept nagging at Sasha to get up early?" his fiance teased. A guilty smirk spread on his face as he looked at the fridge to get himself some orange juice. "That was before I almost died." He put out a snarky response.

"Speaking of which, have you texted her yet?" He grabbed the juice from the fridge.

"I tried, but she hasn't replied yet. I'm assuming she's still asleep." The woman moved her pan in circles so her egg cooked evenly. "Oh, and also, I'm making biscuits and gravy too."

"Wow wifey, going all out today, huh?"

"I think we deserve it after yesterday."

The lovers shared a laugh and a kiss with the jug of orange juice and pan still in their hands. "Now let me finish these eggs before you make me burn myself."

"Oh please, you just distracted me from pouring my cup of orange juice."

They laughed again and focused on doing their own thing. He put the jug back in the fridge and carried his glass to the table, making sure to sit up straight to not hurt himself any further. He took a sip of the nectar in front of him and looked straight ahead outside the window. A car was passing by with it's music blasting dangerously high. The man cringed not only at the sight of the car, but also the horrible taste in music the driver had. Also the indication that they were blasting their ear drums out.

It was so loud that he didn't hear his fiance walk behind his seat to put his plate down in front of him.

"Yum." He rubbed his hands together and grabbed the fork that was already on the plate. "It looks delicious, thank you."

When the two began eating in a comfortable silence. And when they were done, both went to get ready. Brian, with the help of his fiance, slipped on some jeans and a coat while Mrs. Waybright put on more casual attire, leggings and a normal T-shirt. Brian also grabbed the crutch the hospital had given him the night before. Something to make walking easier without any pain.

They jumped in the woman's car and began to drive off. Brian didn't even realize he was gripping onto the seats the whole way there. By the time be got out of the car, his hands were aching because of how hard his grip was. This sucked. He rotated his body so his legs were hanging out of the car and grabbed his crutch to stand up. The two of them walked up to the house.

The couple knocked at the door and patiently waited for the Boonchuys' to open it. Shortly enough, Mr. Boonchuy opened the door and greeted the two.

"Oh, hi guys," he put his arm up and waved. "What brings you two here?"

"Just here to pick up Sasha. Or did she go to school with your daughter?" Mrs. Waybright asked.

The man at the door made a face. "Sasha?" He asked, "I don't think Sasha ever came over. If she did, I didn't see her. I also didn't see her walk out the door with Anne when she walked out the door this morning.

"What do you mean Sasha never came over?" Mrs. Waybright grabbed on to her fiance's hand and squeezed it. "She told me she came over after..."

Mr. Boonchuy looked at her with an eyebrow raised. Brian held his partner's hand and clarified. "We got into an accident yesterday. And she told her mother that she came to this house while I was knocked out."

A spread of concern formed on Mr. Boonchuy's face. "Oh my gosh, are you okay Mr. Palmer?"

Brian nodded and glanced at his crutch. "Nothing I can't handle, but are you sure Sasha didn't come over? Like, maybe you didn't see her come inside." He was throwing stuff out there to ease his lover's nerves as she was pretty much cutting off circulation in his hand at this point.

Mr. Boonchuy saw the worried parent looks on both of their faces. Something he recognized all too well. "I'll go call Anne and see if she saw your daughter last night. Come inside and sit down, I don't want you to hurt your leg any more."

Although Brian was confident he wouldn't hurt himself, he did want to sit down. So the couple walked inside and sat on the couches that a black and white cat was occupying a cushion of. The man walked upstairs and left the two and their cat alone. Brian had a feeling of dread creeping up. Even if Sasha was inside the house last night, why wouldn't Mr. Boonchuy have seen her? He knew that she was on good terms with everyone in this household, why would she need to hide?

Thinking back, he really doesn't know much about Sasha. Nor does he know much about her friends either. He should apologize to her when they get all ride homertogether after school. If he's officially going to be named as her step-dad, he should try harder to be a thoughtful father figure. Or maybe, at least not be as hard on her and try to justify it.

He should definitely work on that when they got home.

At school, Anne was in her science class like she normally was. But it the room felt much more devoid of light. Her favorite blonde wasn't sitting next to her. And Anne hadn't seen the girl at all. She had boiled it down to Sasha probably catching a cold.

Mrs. Virk was at the front of the classroom talking about the anatomy of a frog. Anne was silently giggling to herself over how different Amphibia frogs were from Earth frogs. A sudden loud noise came from her pocket and completely interrupted what the teacher was saying. K-pop music filled the room as Anne quickly reached into her pocket to see who was disturbing her education.

Her dad was calling her. Anne turned her volume all the way down and looked around the room. Mrs. Virk didn't look too happy.

"Sorry! But it's my dad, can I go in the hallway?" Anne held her phone to her heart and patiently awaited her teacher's answer.

"Fine. Don't take too long." Mrs. Virk didn't pay too much mind and continued her lesson. Anne hurried out the door and clicked the green button to accept the call before putting it up to her ear.

"Dad, I'm in class." Anne said, sort of impatiently.

"Sorry, Anne." Mr. Boonchuy said as genuine as possible. "But this is kind of important."

Now intruiged, the girl leaned on the wall and put her other hand in her pocket. "Did something happen?"

"We don't know. But I do have a question," the man leaned on the door. "Did Sasha come over last night?"

Anne was a little confused, but answered the question with honesty. "No, we haven't talked since lunch yesterday." She wanted to ask a question of her own. "Why do you ask?"

Mr. Boonchuy's vocal tone felt like it changed completely. "Her parents are here and they said that she said she came here after...an incident."

"Wait, I'm confused." Anne lowered her head and stared at her shoes stained with yellow pigment. A bad feeling filled her nerves.

"Sasha and her dad were in the car together and..." Her father trailed off, but she got the hint.

Anne's breathing hitched. "Oh my god..." She said from under her breath. "Is she okay? Are they okay?" Panic started to replace the uneasy feeling.

"Her dad is okay." He said, trying to sound more hopeful. "But all we know is that Sasha told her mom that she came here after the crash."

"She's not here, though." The girl's grip on her phone grew to be much stronger. Anne's mind went to the worst possible scenarios. Like, what if she got kidnapped on the way over there? Or, what if she passed out on the way because her wounds were more severe than she thought?

Anne's thinking paused.

The interaction they had at the restaurant started to replay in her mind. When Anne told her maybe it would be easier to run away. Did Sasha really...

No. She couldn't have, right? Sasha knows better. She knows that running away from your problems only causes more problems. Right? She should know that better than anyone.

But what if she did? The signs were there. She kept acting weird around Anne ever since she made that stupid joke.

This was her fault. Sasha would have never even gotten the idea if she just kept her mouth shut.

Oh god.

"So, since you two are close, did she tell you anything?"

"No," Anne said with an airy voice. "She...mentioned some things about running off somewhere. And that how she doesn't really like her step da-...Mr. Palmer all that much, and how she doesn't have anything for her in the city." The girl looked in around the hallway, still not getting over that uneasy feeling.

Mr. Boonchuy looked ahead and lowered his eyebrows. "She told you that?"

His daughter hummed, eyes glossy.

"Why didn't you say anything to us?" The man tried to say in the most understanding way possible.

"I thought she was kidding. And even then, I tried telling her that the idea was crazy." Anne's voice got quieter. "I thought she would have learned."

The man went silent for a moment. "I'll tell them that you didn't see Sasha last night. We'll figure this out together, okay?"

Anne hummed again. "Hey dad?"

"Hm?"

"Any chance you can come pick me up from school? I really, really want to help look for her." Anne pleaded.

Silence filled the room again. The only thing Anne could hear was the sound of her own, fast heartbeat.

"Okay." Mr. Boonchuy said. "I'll pick you up."

"Thank you. Love you."

"Love you too."

The phone beeped, and her father was no longer on the other line.

She felt the weight on her shoulders increase and head beginning to ache. The girl lowered her phone from her head and went into her contacts. Sasha's contact information appeared in screen with a few taps from Anne. She hovered over the call button.

It started to ring.

"Hey, this is Sasha. Chances are I'm probably ignoring you. Don't take it personally."

The recorded message of her friend's voicemail infuriated her. She remembers being in the room with Sasha when she was recording that. Marcy was covering her mouth trying not to laugh while Anne had a goofy grin on her face. The recording was much less funny now than it was back then.

The girl sighed and felt a storm of frustration bubbling up in her core. An uncharacteristic punch shot at the wall behind her, making a thud. Luckily not as loud as the brunette figured it would be. Her hand also didn't hurt as bad, which was probably a good thing.

Anne wandered the halls. It was shockingly easy to walk around without getting caught by the school administration. She didn't know what to do. A lot of different thoughts were appearing at that time. And soon before her father arrived at the school, she felt like she made up a decent plan. As decent as a plan can get with eight minutes of thought.

Her dad arrived on his Vespa. Anne usually didn't like riding with her dad on that thing, but she didn't really care then. "Hey dad?" A soft sound appeared from behind the man's shoulder.

"What is it, Anne?" He responded.

"Can you please drop me off at Mr. Waybright's house? I really need to see if Sasha is just hiding out there." Anne had a certain tone. It was different from the one she used to ask for things, but also similar at the same time.

"Sure." An almost immediate response arose.

Everything in Anne's life was driving distance. Well, everything except for Sasha. Maybe. Anne had no idea. In any case, Mr. Boonchuy dropped his daughter off at the house that belonged to the missing girl's father. Her real father.

She went up to the door and mentally prepared herself for telling him the situation if her friend wasn't inside the house. A few knocks on the door and it opened. The familiar man opened up. His blue eyes were looking down at the girl and had a confused expression.

"Hello Mr. Waybright. Um, so weird question. Is Sasha here?" Anne's voice croaked.

"Hey Anne. Sorry, Sasha should be at her mom's if she isn't at school. And...shouldn't you be in school too?" The man rubbed the back of his neck and kept his grip on the door knob.

Anne's face dropped. "So she's not here?" Her voice was so much quieter than it was before.

"No, are you okay?" He reached his free hand out to comfort her but she jerked her head up too quickly. He jolted his hand back and put it at his side.

"Her mom said she hasn't seen her since yesterday. Something bad happened, no one seems to know where she is." Anne explained.

Mr. Waybright took a few minutes for it to completely process. His eyes widened. "Oh god. Not again..." He looked back in his house before quickly stepping out the door and shutting it behind him. "Where's her mother, do you know?" His vocal tone didn't change much but Anne could tell he was nervous.

"Last time I saw her, she was at my house with Brian." Anne said.

"I'll give you ride. Does she know?"

"She was actually one of the first to find out. And I don't need a ride home. I'm going to look around the city some more and ask around." Anne said. "But could you take me to the museum.

Mr. Waybright looked at his car in the driveway. He nodded and unlocked the doors. "I'll look around there too." He pressed a button on his keys and the front and rear lights flickered.

"Thank you." Anne hurried to the passenger seat of the car.

Anne saw Mr. Waybright as a second father. In fact, she saw Mr. Wu as a father as well. They were usually always there when the trio hung out at each other's houses. Sometimes they even joked around and called them 'dad'. The men got used to it and reffered to them as their daughter when they were around.

She misses those days.

The museum was a long walk, but only a 15 minute drive. The girl's goal was to talk to Dr. Jan. That woman always has a scoop on something. Anne made a mental list. First, she'll see Dr. Jan, then Terri, then Ally and Jess, and then for final measure, she'll talk to Mr. X. But that's only if no one else had seen her.

The drive to the museum was silent. A comfortable silence. The silence of a scared father and a worried friend. The air was definitely thick, but not uncomfortable.

It was weird.

When they got to the museum, Mr. Waybright hurried out of the car. "Anne, I'm going to walk around this part of the city. I won't wander all that far, and I won't be gone for long."

Anne nodded. "Okay. I'll just wait outside if I finish up in there before you."

The man hummed and walked off. Anne let out a sigh of sympathy for him. She couldn't imagine what it felt like to have your daughter go missing twice within eight months.

'Someone better have seen you, Sash.' She thought to herself, and walked inside.

The museum was as familiar as ever. The construction went well, and there was no clear sign that she and the Plantars tried robbing the place. A small chuckle left Anne's lips remembering that night.

"Hey Anne!" A familiar voice came from her right. She looked to her side and the friendly face of the museum currator stood there with a smile. "It sure has been a while since you came to visit. I must say, that fight you had with the big bad newt had me on the edge of my seat. I can't believe you got the fighting spirit again through Kpop!"

An embarrassed blush appeared on her face. "Well, it wasn't THAT cool..." She had to force herself to stop fawning and get to the point. "But I came here to ask a question, about one of my friends."

"Ooh, then ask away!"

"I told you about Sasha, right? Well, she's gone missing...again...and no one can find her. I was just wondering if you've seen her around?"

"Is Sasha the blonde one with the blue eyes? Any other details about her?" Dr. Jan asked.

"She has a scar on the left side of her face and she looks really strong for a 13 year old." She held her arms up and tried to flex. She failed, but the woman got the general idea.

"I don't think I've seen anyone with that description around here recently." Dr. Jan said with empathy. "I do apologize for your friend. Why don't you go ask Terri about it? She's better at people watching than I am. Go on, she's in the back."

Anne was slightly puzzled. "Wait, Terri's here?"

"Yeah! Our ding-dang lights have been acting funny lately and our tech guy hasn't been feeling the best. She's been trying to fix them for two days now." Dr. Jan sighed and looked above at the museum lights that had been flickering since Anne walked inside of the museum.

"Oh, well if you don't have any info then I'll head to talk to her." Anne pointed over to the corner that was the start of the path to the back. The woman in front if her smiled and nodded in her usual polite manner. With the unneeded confirmation, Anne hurried her pace to the employees only part of the museum.

The employees only door was just round the corner from the ancient artifacts. That room in particular hit her with a wave of nostalgia. The same vase that she saw with the Plantars was sitting in its respective casing. Anne knew she couldn't dwell on the past forever, so she ripped her eyes from the vase and walked through the door.

Anne was surprised as to how easy it was to get through the door. This museum needs better security. The employees door lead to an office with papers thrown all over the place, a shelf with a ton of different books about historical events, a desk, and an old-looking laptop.

The top of a blue head stuck out from above the laptop. A humming noise came from the figure, humming a strangely familiar song that Anne couldn't put her finger on. The sound of the door opening made the blue head pop up and look at Anne.

Terri fixed her posture and slid out from behind the laptop. "Hey Anne. What are you doing here?"

Anne put her hand up to greet the woman. "Hey Terri. Dr. Jan told me you would be back here. I'm actually in a bit of a hurry. Have you seen my friend Sasha? She's the strong blonde one I told you about. You know, blue eyes, beauty mark underneath her eye." She listed off more characteristics of her friend.

The woman leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes to visualize what Anne was saying. "Unfortunately, I can't remember seeing anyone like that. I'm sorry." Terri had a sympathetic look on her face. "I wish I could help, but these lights are being stubborn."

The brunette flipped her hand forward. "Nah, don't worry about it. We've already got a lot of people looking." Anne looked up at the working lights in the office. "And if you need help with the lights, I know a few people that could help. Just search up I.T. gals on YouToob and you'll get it fixed in no time." She turned to the door. That reminded her that she should probably see Ally and Jess about seeing Sasha.

"Thanks, I'll take that into consideration. Good luck with your friend." Terri slid back behind the computer and typed a few things on the computer.

Anne walked out with a sigh. Nothings helping. She could try calling Sasha again, but what are the chances she actually picks up? The stress was building after each step she took to the door. Dr. Jan was no where in sight. She was probably in another room talking to some other guests at the museum.

Mr. Waybright was walking back to his car just as soon as Anne walked out. It would've been funny if not for the situation bringing down Anne's mood. And by the expression on his face, Anne could tell his expedition didn't go well either.

The lights on the car flashes and the noise from the car doors unlocking made Anne hurry to the passenger seat of the car. The man also got into the drivers seat and he had a breathy sigh as soon as the door closed behind him.

"Did you find anything?" He asked immediately.

Anne shook her head. "Did you?"

"Nope." He gripped the wheel with one hand and used his other to put the keys in the ignition. "Where are we off to next?"

"I was wondering if you could take me to an address?" Anne took out her phone and went to the I.T. Gals channel. The address of their studio was stated clear in the description. (which is not something Anne thought was safe, but to each their own.) "It's just a few miles away, back to where we live."

The man nodded and looked at Anne's phone. He input the address in his GPS and a robotic voice started reading off directions.

-

It had been a while since Anne visited Ally and Jess. At least a month, since the last time she saw them was during Frogvasion. She wonders how they're doing.

Anne got out of the car and walked up to the door. A few knocks was all it took for a short woman with colored hair to open the door.

"Anne!" The woman said. "Wow it's been a while. Did you need something?" Her voice was cheery and light.

"Hey Ally, I've actually had a question." Anne said. "Have you seen a blonde girl with blue eyes and a beauty mark under her eye?"

Ally thought for a moment. "You just described 67% of the people living in LA. Why don't you come in and tell us a little more?"

The brunette nodded and the woman opened the door fully to let the girl inside. Closing the door behind her, Ally walked to the same table her girlfriend was at and leaned on it. Anne followed and walked to the other side if the table.

"Hey Anne." Jess smiled warmly. "What's up?"

"She asked if we've seen someone around." Ally answered and looked at Anne to elaborate a little more.

Anne looked down at the table and fiddled with her fingers. "Yeah. No one knows where my friend is. Last time anyone saw her was when...yesterday afternoon."

The two girlfriends looked at each other and then back at the girl in front of them. "Could you tell us what she looks like? Just in a little more detail." Ally asked.

"Blonde hair, blue eyes, beauty mark, unnaturally big arms for a 13 year old." Anne described. "I have a picture of her." She took half of her phone out and pointed at it.

"I think that would be better." Jess looked curiously at the phone. The girl took it out completely and opened her photos app. It didn't take long before she came across a photo of her, Sasha, and Marcy all together. It was before Marcy had to catch her flight to Washington. All of them looked like they were about to cry, but it should do.

Anne flipped the phone over to the two. "The blonde one is her, she usually always keeps her hair like that so..."

"Hey, we know her!" Ally pointed at the photo. Anne looked up with a hopeful glint in her eyes. "Really?!"

The women realized what they had just said. "Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't seen your blonde friend around..." She felt guilty for getting her hopes up. "I was talking about your other friend. Marcy, right?"

She turned the phone back over to look at it. "Uh, yeah. I didn't know you guys knew Marcy." A hint if confusion dangled from her words. Since when did Marcy know these two?

"Yeah! She's one of our most recent clients. We've been helping her build this really cool-looking device. It's complex, so it's been taking a few days." Jess explained with an Innocent smile on her face.

"Huh?" Anne was completely confused now. "What's she building?"

"A helmet!" Ally answered immediately. "She said it's for a cosplay. It has a bunch of eyes on it and some cool horns coming out from the sides." Anne was pretty sure there were stars in the woman's eyes as she explained.

All the color that was in her face drained and rushed to her chest. "She's...making a helmet with eyes and horns?" The girl repeated back.

"It's super cool!" The girlfriends said in unison. They geeked out about how intricate the project was until Jess looked at their guest. "Anne, are you okay?"

Anne wishes she could feel the excitement they were feeling. Her heart felt like it was pounding. Everything turned to nausea. The girl covered her mouth just in case she was sick on table. Anne tried speaking, but if was barely audible.

"Wait." A quiet murmur arose. After everything happening, it was hard for Anne to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why Marcy would make a new helmet. Ally said it was for a cosplay, but why would she make it so complex? Nothing made sense. "What's she putting in it?"

"Well, it requires a ton of energy. She told us that a diamond would help regulate the energy inside of it. There were a ton of wires involved because of how high the power requirement was..." The two girls took turns explaining Marcy's little project in a language Anne couldn't understand. The only thing that Anne understood was that this definitely couldn't be for a cosplay.

The grip on her mouth got stronger. She definitely felt like she was going to be sick. "I think I have to go home." Anne mumbled and got started walking over to the door. "Sorry. I don't feel well."

"Oh...well, we hope you feel better." Jess followed Anne to the door and opened it for her. "We hope you can find your friend."

Anne could only give a weak thumbs up as she quickly walked out. She took her phone out of her pocket and looked at the photo of her friends again.

Why is Marcy...

She hurried over to Sasha's contact again. There was no way she was going to pick up, but she had to at least try to contact her. Anne doesn't know where she was, but she felt like Sasha had to know about this.

Anne tapped on the call button. She just hopes she'll be able to talk clearly without puking.

It took a few seconds for anyone to pick up.

"Hey girl, what's up?"

The casual tone in her voice infuriated Anne. It almost broke the little self-control she had left after today. Anne decided that she would scold Sasha a bit before telling her what she found out about Marcy. That probably wasn't a good idea, and Anne knew that. But she's been holding in her frustration since that morning.

"Oh, nothing." She said with venom. "Our sleepover last night was crazy. Wasn't it?"

And it fell to silence. Not a long silence, but there was definitely a new tension floating around.

"Anne, look-" Sasha tried to plead before getting cut off by her friend.

"No, you look," Anne didn't even try to hide her anger. "Are you serious? We JUST got back from Amphibia and you ran away AGAIN?"

"I'm sorry. But I told you, there isn't anything in L.A. for me anymore. I miss Grime, I miss Marcy, and I'll miss you. I need a new adventure." Sasha's voice was soft. It was nothing like the way Anne was talking.

"You have nothing in L.A.? What about me?" She choked up. Every little memory they made was running through her head. "Was I not enough?" She mumbled, mostly to herself, but it didn't go unheard by Sasha.

"No!" The blonde yelled. "You were enough, more than enough, I promise. But...this is just a me thing. Again, I'm sorry if I'm reverting back to how I was before. I just really miss that little nerd."

"So you're going to Washington?" Anne said quietly. Trying her hardest to keep her tears from spilling and voice normal-sounding.

"Yeah." Sasha responded quickly and a few seconds of silence rose again. "Can you please cover for me? I'm guessing that my mom and Brian found out I wasn't there."

Anne was silent for a moment. "I can try. I'll tell them that you're hiding in L.A. and might've gone to a neighboring city and that's all I know. Please hurry to Marcy."

It was Sasha's turn to be shocked. "Wait, really?" She said. "You're seriously covering for me?"

Anne hummed. "I have to. But I'm still upset at you." There was another pause. "Marcy is rebuilding the helmet."

It was the quietest Anne has ever heard Sasha. She even had to check if they were still on call together. An unnerving feeling grew in her chest.

Finally, a quiet "What?" came from the phone. It sent shivers down the brunette's spine. It was a confused chill.

"I was talking to Ally and Jess, they run a YouToob channel where they teach about robotics and stuff. That's how Polly rebuilt Frobo."

"Uh-huh." The girl on the other line said, sort-of impatiently.

"And I asked them if they saw you at all. I happened to mention Marcy and they were like, 'we haven't seen your friend but we did see Marcy not too long ago.' And obviously I was confused so I pressed them on it and they said she was building a complex helmet." She spattered frantically.

"How do you know she just isn't recreating the design to cope or something?" Sasha asked.

"Because. They said it had really unusual internal designs that modern technology wouldn't work under." Anne said. "Sasha, please just hurry. Even if it's just something for a cosplay, it's not like Marcy at all. And please come home after. Everyone misses you."

The blonde hummed. "I'll check up on her. I'm sorry." The line fell flat and a few beeps followed. She hung up.