[Memory Crystal Two: Little Butterfly]

  Maya's perspective

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  Woof! Cupcake greeted me as I approached the house. She was sitting right in front of the door it was barely even visible behind her.

  “Cupcake…” I sighed, though it was more of a relief to see her than I was willing to admit. “You’re going to have to move, girl.”

  She tilted her head, but said nothing.

  “Don’t play dumb, Cupcake. I want to sleep.”

  She dropped her ears and whined in protest.

  “Cupcake…” Finally, she huffed and sauntered off, burrowing into a nearby snowdrift. I almost didn’t notice my tool-roll on the floor. She’d been sitting on it like it was some kind of egg. I picked it up and entered the house.

  A bunch of my belongings were packed in bags, neatly organized near the center hearth. There was a faint burnt smell that I couldn’t quite place.

  “So that’s how it is,” I muttered, stepping over them and making my way to my room. Other than Cupcake’s saddle hanging on the wall, my room was almost totally barren. It looked more like a guest room than… Maya’s room. Looking across the hallway, Val’s room was untouched.

  Even though I thought I knew what was… impending, my anxiety still clawed at me. No problem, I thought, moving toward my rune drawer. Clear-blossom should—

  My drawer was filled with crystalline shards. All of my runes were broken.

  Such an immature, personal attack from the village chief himself? I would’ve felt honored if I wasn’t flooded with anger. But I knew Thorin wanted me to have an outburst. He was probably looking for more ways to demonize me, as if he hadn’t already deluded himself into thinking I was the embodiment of Skylla herself.

  At least my bed had been made, for some reason. No blood on the sheets either? When did he even have time to do all of this? Didn’t matter much to me. I climbed into bed and prayed for Hypnos to

  “What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing!?” Thorin was standing in my room’s doorway, his face flushed with rage. “I packed bags for you, and you have the audacity to desecrate my house with your presence!? Get. Out!”

  “You’re banishing me?” I asked him, sliding out of bed. I thought I knew the answer, but he surprised me.

  “…No,” it looked like it took all of his willpower to utter that single word. “I can’t. The Council doesn’t see it my way, they think you’ve done nothing wrong. Technicalities. But I’m not going to have you violating my space. My daughter’s space.”

  “You’re just mad because you weren’t there to protect her,” I goaded bluntly, crossing my arms. “And frankly, you wouldn’t have been able to. I can’t speak too much on your ‘character’ because you barely made it your problem to get to know me over these years, but taking out your frustrations on a teenage girl is… Margaret behavior.”

  “I’m well aware I couldn’t have protected her. He was a Syndicate assassin. But…” He clawed at his face, closing his fists around his eyes like he was exercising the utmost restraint. “It should’ve been you,” he murmured. He slammed his fist against the wall and stormed off.

  I was stunned. I was used to the villagers’ soft, passive-aggressive ostracization but… hatred like this? I almost wanted to cry—but I remembered what Hugo had said. I wasn’t going to let Thorin win, of all people.

  I pulled my thunder blade out of the tool bag and held it tightly. I wouldn’t even need to cut him with it; the rune was a portable seizure in itself. If he was unlucky, he would die. Perhaps that knowledge alone was enough for me.

  I pocketed it, grabbed Cupcake’s saddle off the wall, and brought it to the foyer with the rest of my belongings. It had plenty of bags on it, and Cupcake was strong; she could carry this much and then some.

  “Wait,” Thorin said from behind me.

  “I have quite literally the deadliest blade in Snowcrest sitting in my pocket,” I snapped. “If you apologize to me, you will see the wrath of Zeus himself.”

  “You’re packing a saddlebag,” he noticed, anxiously. “You’re leaving the village?”

  “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

  “I didn’t…” he looked defeated, but he dug this hole for himself.

  “I can find my way to Mnemosyne, you know,” I told him, waving one of Marcel’s crystals, “and I have plenty of memories the Reminiscents could see…”

  “But they’ll remain blind,” he meant to be threatening, but he looked pathetic; shifting uncomfortably in front of me like a little girl at a dance recital.

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  “Will they?” I pocketed the crystal. “You want me to leave, where will I go? Margaret? Mrs. Linda? They’re just like you: they barely tolerate me. It’s always been so clear that I’m not welcome here. So I’m leaving. Not because you’re driving me out, but because I’m not going to sit here and—”

  “I…” he interrupted. “I can’t let you leave. Too risky.”

  “Too risky? It’s too risky to have me leave but I’m also not welcome here? Isn’t that something.” I continued packing my bags. He stepped closer to me.

  “I’m sorry, Maya. I shouldn’t have said—”

  “Gods above, if you don’t shut up!? Screw Mnemosyne—what if I kill you here and join the Syndicate? Oh, you’re the only one who can execute the deadman protocol, huh? What if I go over there and tell them you’re dead? What then?”

  Of course, I was bluffing. Fury was the only thing keeping my tear ducts dry. Truthfully, I was terrified. I didn’t want to leave, I didn’t even know how or even if I could survive the Forest, much less make it to Mnemosyne or the Syndicate. And kill Thorin? I couldn’t do that to Val.

  He remained silent as I finished packing my belongings. He looked as though he wanted to say more, perhaps even use force to stop me. Maybe a part of me wanted him to, just to see how much I could make him bleed. The Fear rune was practically burning a hole through my pocket

  But the man was terrified enough.

  I hefted up Cupcake’s saddle, offered him the rudest gesture I could manage, and slammed the door on my way out.

  Cupcake bounded out of her snowdrift the moment I stepped outside, sniffing and circling me. She knew the saddle meant she was either going to get to pull something or run somewhere; essentially birthday gifts to her.

  “You’re gonna get to run real far, real soon,” I cooed, patting her head. I barely noticed the electricity crackling against my hand.

  Woof! She cheered, bounding with excitement. I hooked her saddle onto her and started down the path toward Eliza’s infirmary. I wasn’t going to leave without saying good—

  “Maya?” Mrs. Linda beckoned me from the side of the path. What could she possibly want? I thought, irritably.

  “Out this late?” I asked her.

  “I’ve been waiting to see you ever since the Council’s verdict!” she exclaimed. The matriarch and patriarch of each family had a seat at the Council. Mrs. Linda was a mother of three, so she’d definitely voted on the Council’s decision.

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you! I wanted to extend my deepest… apologies. About your brother. I know it must be hard for you…”

  So it’s still about him, even though he backstabbed you? Even though he backstabbed your children, Mrs. Linda?

  Even though I’m right here?

  “I’ve had to tell so many people to shut up today, Mrs. Linda,” I groaned. “Let me be honest with you: I don’t want to talk to you. At all.”

  “Oh!” It was dark, but I still saw her face flush. “Why the sudden hostility?”

  “Firstly, there’s nothing sudden about it, you’re just oblivious. Secondly, ask yourself, ‘When was the last time I asked Maya about… Maya?’ and realize why—”

  “Well,” she scoffed, “I ”

  “‘I—’” I mimicked. “‘I—I—’ You don’t have an excuse.”

  I stormed off while Cupcake grunted and followed me. I didn’t normally have that much of a problem with Mrs. Linda, but I certainly wouldn’t miss her.

  As I made my way to the infirmary, I also passed by Margaret. Her expression was extremely guilty and regretful—but why did it take such a… violation for her to realize she’d been a twat for all these years? I ignored her and continued on.

  “Maya!” Valorie greeted as I walked in.

  “Hey, Val,” I responded, making my way inside and sitting on my mat.

  We sat in uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Val finally broke it.

  “You know,” she started, “you’ve always had the worst poker face. I can tell when something’s bothering you.”

  “Well,” I sighed, “it’s just… I’m not staying here anymore.”

  “The Council banished you!?”

  “No, they didn’t—”

  “Then?”

  “You can’t expect me to share a roof with your dad after how he treated me, can you?”

  “You said yourself that that’s just him, so what’s the problem?”

  “Where else am I supposed to go? Mrs. Linda’s?”

  “Well, no, but—”

  “I can’t stay at home with you because of how your dad treats me. And by that logic, I can’t stay in the village because of how they all treat me.”

  “They don’t treat you poorly, though. Do they?”

  I looked at her blankly.

  “Val, how have you not noticed?”

  “You don’t say anything or complain, so how was I supposed to know?”

  “You just said you can always tell—”

  “Well, maybe I lied! Maybe it’s just super obvious this time and now you’re springing all of this on me at once! It’s not fair!”

  “Then let me spell it out for you! I’ve spent twelve years in this accursed village being othered by everyone I interact with. Not even because of who I am but because of who I’m not. Everybody talks to me like I’m preventing them from touching something shiny—but then, the person that’s been overshadowing me this whole time ends up being the worst kind of traitor. Do you have any idea—”

  “Why didn’t you say anything then!?”

  “What do you think I’ve spent the past twelve years doing, Val!? I could have left, Val! No one thinks I remember, but I do: the man who brought me and Marcel here, he bargained for me to leave the village at any time just the same as him! Do you know what I did? Give it your best guess!”

  She shrank under her covers.

  “Stay…” she murmured.

  “That’s right,” I growled. “I stayed. I stayed, and I worked. My brother is oh, so cool he gets to be a person for free! Do you know what I get, Val? I leave and go to the Forest to throw knives at trees for hours, and when I get back, no one even asks me where I was!”

  “That’s not true!”

  “Isn’t that a convenient lie? Taking after me, are you? You know, it’s gotten to a point where I might even prefer the knives over the villagers. At least when something in the Forest doesn’t go my way, I know why! Tell me, Val what did I do to deserve this!? Because I don’t know!”

  “I hear you…” she murmured, then, through broken tears, “but where will you even go? There’s Syndicate in the Forest—if they don’t eat you alive, the animals will!”

  “I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it! I’m. Not. Staying. Here. You know, maybe, maybe I could forgive my brother. He’s my blood, and he had his reasons for becoming… Tiger’s Fang or whatever. Hugo opened my eyes to that. But the villagers? I’m not gonna let them spit in my face anymore!”

  “You can’t leave me here!” she burst into tears. “What about the market…? What about the springs…? You keep saying nobody cares, but what about me!? Who came and got you from the Forest when you were gone for too long!? Who fended off all the bullies for you!? Who is going to hurt the most when you’re gone!?”

  “I—”

  “How am I even gonna know if you’re okay? It’s not like there’s any postage out here! Once you’re gone, you might as well be dead until you come back! If you ever come back!”

  “Maybe we both have to learn to deal with grief, then.”

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