It wasn’t as though Riel refused to talk about her time in the Overground. Sometimes she needed to get things from the past off her chest. Usually Lonnie was the one to listen. Sometimes it was Ethel or Alaric. And Riel had made other friends, like Janos and Torin, but… they didn’t need to know how messed up she was.
From her earliest memories, Riel had hated humans. The first thing she can remember happened when she was maybe three years old. The memory was the first time her mother had struck her.
“You little brat, you think I’ll keep you around much longer if you keep taking all of my shit? Even the stars in the sky look down upon you in shame!”
Riel winces as her mother’s voice floats through her head. Lonnie shifts slightly beside her and she freezes. Mino and Lonnie’s conversation from earlier had slowly trailed away, and now Mino is looking out the window while Lonnie leans against Riel, asleep. The air rail rocks slightly, speeding them along towards the door. Towards the Overground.
Maybe some kids would still have been able to love a mother who hit them. Riel was not that kid. She got angry, she lashed out, and conflicts came more and more often. Things just kept getting worse. Then when she was seven, her mother died. She left Riel in charge of three younger siblings wearing nothing more than scraps of ricrac and constantly hungry bellies. Riel did her best to scrounge up enough for at least one meal for each of them every day. She usually had to sacrifice her own nourishment so they could eat. When those three were asleep, Riel would sneak down the street and scoop up handfuls of dirt to eat. It wasn’t food, and it was quite disgusting, but it at least made the horrible, gnawing feeling of hunger leave for a few hours. Then Riel would crawl back into the pile of warm bodies and beg the stars for a few hours of sleep before getting up the next morning to start everything over again.
She had to steal the food. She had to steal clothes and blankets. There was no hope of saving money, as Riel was too young to work. Any money found in the streets was rare, a luxury, and the occurrences too far between to bother saving any.
The youngest developed a sickness and died when Riel was eight. Another caught the sickness as well, and Riel was forced to leave him to fend for himself, on the street, in the hopes that she and her remaining sister could survive. The cries of her little brother still haunt her in her dreams. Every thing she did felt like a stain, like dirt crawling under her skin and making a home there.
On her tenth birthday, Riel came back from searching through junkyards to find that the last one was gone. Word on the street was that some rich family had taken her away. Riel despaired that they would hurt her little sister or use her for bad things. She hoped that they were a good family, that they would take care of her. But Riel never saw her again. She was alone.
Two months later, Riel had traveled to the Underground, hoping against all hope that the rumored beasts and strange, dangerous creatures would either help her or end it all.
Lonnie had found her.
A gentle smile tugs on Riel’s lips as she recalls that day. It wasn’t a particularly good day. At the time it was honestly one of the worst days in her life. She was certain that she had made an absolutely horrible first impression on Lonnie and his parents. But she can look back on that day and know now that everything has changed. They were good, kind people, the best Riel had ever met. They took her in, and despite everything, every twist and turn, every distrustful look and refusal to cooperate, they kept her, and Riel was grateful for it. Oh, was she grateful.
Maybe that’s why Riel is so clingy to Lonnie now. He was always the most persistent, the most determined to show her kindness.
No, but it isn’t just that. Lonnie is special. Lonnie is… amazing, and perfect, and beautiful.
Lonnie shifts in his sleep, and Riel blushes as his arm clings to her. He snuggles into Riel’s side, a content smile softening his face.
Riel’s own face softens as she watches him. If only… but no. It wouldn’t be right to force her own feelings onto Lonnie. He is so kind, so caring. If Riel told him about her feelings, there’s no doubt that he would feel guilty, he would want to make her happy even if it wasn’t what he wanted. Riel had hoped that by running away she could somehow avoid the inevitable, but she was beginning to worry that she would have to accept her fate. Surely Lonnie would not agree to be away from his parents forever. He loves them too much for that. He would choose them over Riel.
He… he would choose many things over Riel.
But he hadn’t! He had chosen to come with her, after all.
But he could have had other reasons for leaving. Riel wouldn’t know. She sighs.
The light is fading now, a silvery, blueish tone entering it. It casts strange shadows on Lonnie’s face. Hesitantly, cautiously, Riel rests her hand on Lonnie’s hair. Lonnie’s hair is very soft, and as Riel gently tangles her fingers through the strands, she hears the softest of sighs escape Lonnie’s mouth. He’s so soft. He’s so bright. Riel feels like crying.
She looks up suddenly and sees Mino, one eye cracked open and a silly, sleepy grin widening on her face. Riel’s eyes widen, and she extracts her hand quickly. She scowls at Mino.
Mino raises a hand and goes through some signs slowly.
“Should tell him you love him.”
Riel flushes and looks away sharply, refusing to acknowledge her. How does she know? It’s none of her business!
Some time later, Mino stands and stretches, reaching her hands high above her head. Lonnie, who is apparently now awake and Riel has no idea how long he has been awake oh no—also moves, sitting up and yawning. “I think we should probably get off soon,” he says sleepily. Riel feels coldness jabbing through her. She forces her mind to go blank.
The coachwoman with a cloud of curls seems to have heard him. For the first time Riel notices that one of her arms is completely metal. Maybe it has some sort of connection to the woman’s magic. Or maybe it’s just a prosthetic arm. Then Riel realizes that she’s overthinking this, and that she probably didn’t notice her arm before because it was covered by her uniform jacket, which is now tied around her waist.
The woman swaggers over and gets straight to the point. “If you three are aiming to get off at the Sundra station it’ll be a total of…” she pauses while calculating. “Five hundred silvers.”
“Shit,” Riel whispers.
“Riel,” Lonnie scolds mildly.
“Do we have that much? Oh, no…” Riel paws through her pockets. The woman watches, eyebrow raised. Riel feels her gaze like ice. Riel pulls the rucksack to her lap and pulls out all the money she can find.
She comes up with four hundred and forty silvers and ten golds.
“I didn’t pack enough,” she whispers. This is all her fault. Her fault, again. She dragged Lonnie out of a warm cozy bed, she lied to him, she forced him to do all of this and she didn’t even pack enough money?!
“It’ll be okay,” Lonnie soothes her, rubbing a hand over her shoulder. Before Riel can enter full on panic mode, Mino jumps up and down with outstretched arms, dropping another hundred-silver piece into Riel’s palms. Lonnie, Riel, and the woman all turn to look at her. Mino’s beaming as wide as Riel believes to be physically possible.
“Thank you so much, Mino! That’s incredibly kind,” Lonnie says, and Mino nods happily. Riel feels awkward, and she doesn’t really want to accept Mino’s money. Not for the first time, Riel wishes she could get along with others with as much ease as Lonnie. But she gives a small, tense smile, and Mino seems satisfied. Remnants of that buzzing fear still rattle around in Riel’s body.
Riel delivers the heavy coins to the woman, who nods and hands her a wooden token painted with a green stripe. Riel pockets it.
“What’s that?” Mino asks curiously.
Riel sighs internally. Might as well try to make an effort. Mino seems decent enough, even if she did tease Riel about her crush on Lonnie.
She explains: “The tokens say that you paid for your ride. You can use them for discounts sometimes, I guess. There’s a whole complicated discount system that the rail has.”
Lonnie rewards her with a proud smile, and it’s worth it.
“We got a green token,” Lonnie says. “That’s one of the better discounts because we paid more than people usually do. We went kind of a long ways. Usually people just use the air rail to visit the next town over or go to their job or that sort of thing. Only purple and blue are worth more. Then red, pink, grey, and yellow are all worth less.”
Mino nods along, absorbing all the information. She’s always so… earnest.
“Mino?” Lonnie says suddenly, frowning. “I just realized - you used to have two flowers on your head. Now you have three. Is that… normal?”
Riel looks closer. She, like Lonnie, had noticed the goldeknots* sprouting from Mino’s scalp shortly after first meeting. But people look all sorts of different ways in the Underground, and the younger someone is, the more likely their appearance is to change as they grow. Riel doesn’t yet have a good understanding of how to tell when something is “normal” here or not. Maybe Lonnie has noticed something about the flowers that Riel can’t see yet?
Mino’s face darkens slightly. Riel pays attention—has she ever seen Mino in a bad mood before?
“Don’t know why I have flowers. Find a new one every day. When I pull on a flower, it hurts.”
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“Is your magic coming in?” Lonnie asks.
Mino thinks for a moment. “I don’t think so. You said magic takes a long time. Haven’t been here very long.”
Lonnie nods and sits back against the seat. “That’s true. I wonder if it’s some kind of magical disease or virus.”
Mino’s brow scrunches up. She looks worried. “Will they hurt my brain? Like some kind of parasite?”
Lonnie hesitates. He looks like he doesn’t know how to answer. Riel wouldn’t like thinking that her head was going to get all messed up either.
“That’s not how magic sickness works,” she says. They both look at her.
“I read one of Ethel’s healing textbooks,” she offers. “Magic sicknesses don’t usually have major physical consequences like that. They can infect people who don’t have magic, but they only really harm magic. Like losing control of it or being weaker for a while.”
The rail begins to slow.
“Sounds like you don’t have to worry, then,” Lonnie says. “They’ll probably go away when you get better.” Mino nods.
The rail pulls in to the station and stops. As the three-note whistle rings out, Riel, Lonnie, and Mino hop off, along with a hooded man and a teen with fluffy ears and a tail. Lonnie leads the way towards the loose collection of buildings in the distance.
“This is Sundra—not many people live here, since it’s so close to the door, but some people don’t mind being so close. We can find somewhere to stay for the night. Are you okay with continuing in the morning, Mino?”
Mino nods. “Better to go tomorrow,” she says.
Riel plays with the forty silver and forty gold she has left in her pocket. It should be plenty for a night’s stay, but getting back home might be an issue.
Before they get to the inn, Mino pauses, and looks over into the grassy field. Riel follows her gaze. Her jaw opens on a sharp inhale. A twisted is peering out at them, half concealed by the tall grass. It’s body is small and deformed, twisted as though made of wire. It’s eyes are large, round, and hollow. There is a hole in it’s abdomen where it’s own body twists away from itself.
Riel pushes Lonnie and Mino behind her, pulling out her hidden knife. The creature doesn’t seem deterred.
Riel hears Lonnie explaining what’s going on to Mino. She doesn’t let the floating words distract her from watching the thing.
“That’s a twisted, we call them,” Lonnie says sadly. “They’re kind of like us, except magic never entered the void left by their soul. They become desperate for something to fill it, so they attack us sometimes, looking for magic.”
While Lonnie talks, Riel stalks forward, keeping her center of gravity low. The twisted lets out its pitiful cries, sensing danger. Riel flips her knife in her hand, nervous. She continues to push forward.
“Unfortunately, no one’s been able to figure out how to transfer magic to them yet. Some of them still live out in the uninhabited areas, and some of them are kept for study. Ethical study! We don’t want to hurt them, we just want to understand them.”
Understanding be damned, Riel doesn’t want this thing following them. Why hasn’t it run away yet? It gives her ground, backing away, but never fully retreating. Riel tenses and moves her knife in front of her body. Is she going to have to hurt it?
A blur flashes past her and she sees Mino standing in front of her now, one hand outstretched. She’s defending it. Of course. Riel nearly pushes Mino back and out of the way, but then the girl starts signing.
“Don’t hurt it. I think… it feels like there’s something I’m supposed to do. I want to try.” Mino looks at Riel with wide, warm eyes, pleading.
Riel glances at the twisted. It just sits there, watching. Even though Mino’s back is turned to it, it hasn’t moved.
Mino turns around then and approaches the creature. Riel wants to write her off as an idiot… but even she isn’t sure what to expect.
Mino gets down on her knees, reaching out with a hand before approaching. The twisted is skittish and nervous, but doesn’t run away. Riel cocks an eyebrow. She’s never seen anything like this before. She tries to stick close behind Mino in case she need to help, but that just seems to make the thing more nervous. Riel reluctantly backs off. Lonnie moves to stand at her side.
Mino snaps her fingers lightly and then sits back, folding her legs beneath her. She pats the ground in front of her and smiles, and the thing seems a little less apprehensive now. It moves forward slowly. Mino doesn’t seem afraid at all. Riel isn’t sure what to do.
The thing sniffs at Mino’s hand where it rests loosely on the ground, and startles when her hand moves. But soon enough it begins touching and examining Mino’s arm, like it’s curious or something. Mino slowly lifts up her hand and rubs its cheek. Riel recoils internally. She can’t imagine what that texture feels like, but she doubts it’s good.
Riel examines the twisted. This one is small and very skinny, hunched over on all fours like an animal. It seems young, and incapable of speech. It’s hair is stringy and long.
Could this happen to Riel? No one knows why some people never got magic after losing their soul. Fear and unease strike at her heart. She’s made so many mistakes… what if becoming a twisted is her inevitable punishment? Her hand tightens on the grip of her knife.
Soon Mino’s hands are retreating, and then she leans her head down at an odd angle, parting her hair. Lonnie gasps, and they both watch closely as the creature comes closer, sniffing and pawing at a flower. After a moment, it reaches forward and very gently takes the flower in its mouth. Riel flinches forward. Lonnie cries out in alarm and it freezes, eyes flicking up at them, but neither it nor Mino moves. After another moment it slowly bites down, and the flower comes off clean. Mino hisses, but otherwise shows no sign of pain.
The twisted prances away with the flower still in its mouth, and Riel rushes forward to Mino, Lonnie close behind. They examine Mino’s head together, fingers brushing. The flower is gone, not even the root of the stem left behind.
The twisted chews and swallows the flower, and then seems to become much calmer. It gazes at the three for a moment, nods at Mino, and then scampers away and disappears into the grass.
“What… was that?” Riel asks slowly. Mino smiles up at them tiredly.
“Gave her the flower… she can be happy.”
“Did you get hurt?” Lonnie asks, fussing over Mino’s head.
“Let’s look over her at the inn, it’s late,” Riel says, looking out over the dark field. She puts her knife away. Lonnie nods and moves to help Mino up, though she seems to be able to stand on her own. The three set off once again towards the inn and reach the property within minutes. A tall, slim man is standing just inside the door. He is made of sheer glass, with golden star-like lights floating within his hollow body. The lights shine out from his joints with one placed where his soul would be, the exact center of his torso.
“Welcome to Sundra’s Inn,” he says, voice light and airy. “You three look like weary travelers if I’ve ever seen any. Long trip?”
Lonnie smiles up at him tiredly. “We’re alright. We’d just like to borrow a room for the night, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Not to worry, I am certain we will find something for you. Our inn refuses to refuse rooming to any who come here.”
Mino’s signs look a little sloppy, but she’s still understandable. “Very kind of you.”
The man nods. “I trust your parents or guardians are aware that you are all out venturing?”
Lonnie doesn’t hesitate a moment before replying, “Yes.”
As subtly as possible, Riel turns to look at Mino. The two share the smallest looks of astonishment they can possibly communicate with. How did he say that so confidently?
The glass man smiles (at least Riel thinks so, it’s hard to tell with the glass being so shiny) before leading them to a large room with two huge, comfy looking beds. As the light glints off the man, Riel wonders for a moment if he ever has trouble with fingerprints, and has to stifle a laugh.
“I apologize, there are only two beds in this room. I am able to fetch a mattress for the floor, if you would prefer.”
“Please, don’t worry,” Lonnie smiles over at Riel, filling her with a fuzzy warmth. “We’re used to sleeping in the same bed. One time Riel actually fell out! This’ll be a luxury compared to the little ones we have at home.”
Riel wishes Lonnie didn’t share the whole story, but the man chuckles. “I hope you have a nice night, then. Please, come to the front desk if you need anything at all. We passed it on the way here. My coworker or I should be there; if not, simply ring the small bell hanging on the wall.”
“Thank you sir,” Lonnie says, and Mino nods enthusiastically. Riel tries to shoot him a smile, but it probably ends up looking more like a grimace. The man bows gracefully and leaves, the door clicking softly shut behind him.
Riel turns around to see Mino in the middle of leaping gleefully onto one of the beds, bouncing back from the springs with a thump. Lonnie laughs and climbs into the other one more calmly, slipping off his shoes. Mino hugs a pillow and rolls around, very content, before settling down a bit and kicking her own shoes off. One hits the wall, which sets off another round of laughter from Lonnie.
Riel glances at the full length mirror from where she is, still near the door. She pokes at the dark circles under her eyes and squeezes her pale cheeks, hoping to bring some amount of color into them. After a moment she turns away from her reflection, frustrated, and grabs a spare blanket and pillow from the pile in the little closet. She lays the things out on the floor, preparing to sleep.
“What are you doing, Riel?” Lonnie asks curiously.
“Going to sleep. Why did you need anything?” Riel looks up, prepared to fetch some food or anything else.
“You doofus. I thought my teddy bear was going to sleep with me?” Lonnie teases. Riel blushes and glances towards Mino, who is watching them with a smirk. She forms a heart with her hands.
“I told you not to call me that!” Riel hisses, embarrassed.
“Come on, you call me stupid nicknames, I’m just repaying the favor.”
“I only call you one nickname! And it’s not stupid, it’s completely accurate.” Riel says grumpily. Lonnie laughs.
“Snuggles? I suppose you're right.” Then a mischievous grin grows on his face, and Riel goes on high alert. “I suppose I have to live up to my name, then.”
Riel looks around for somewhere to hide as Lonnie jumps out of bed, chasing her down. She accidentally lets out a laugh as she slips on the pillow she had set down, tumbling to the floor. Lonnie piles on top of her, hugging her tight and not letting her get away, even when she squirms.
“Hah! I win!” Lonnie says triumphantly, nuzzling his face into her shirt. Riel sighs in mock disappointment. Then she lets out a giggle. Lonnie’s hair is tickling her super-sensitive stomach.
Mino snaps her fingers lightly. They both look up.
“It’s pretty late, I’m going to sleep now” she says.
“You’re right, we should sleep,” Lonnie sighs. “We have to walk tomorrow.”
As Lonnie climbs into bed, Mino sticks her tongue out at Riel and forms another heart. Riel sticks her tongue out back, but much meaner. Mino just smiles and cuddles further into her blankets.
Riel hesitates for a moment before climbing into the bed beside Lonnie. Yes, they had shared a bed before, but that was before. Before Riel had become all awkward and weird. Besides, in their old bed they had no choice but to be extremely close to each other. If Riel wants to snuggle with Lonnie here, it has to be a conscious, clear-cut decision. She isn’t sure what to do.
Lonnie solves her problem for her. As Riel settles in, he takes her hand and gently pulls her a little closer. Lonnie eventually falls asleep like this, the two of them holding hands and curled into each other. Riel stays awake for a while longer, soothed by Lonnie’s slow, deep breaths. She usually doesn’t fall asleep very easily, but eventually, she slips away into faint, troubled dreams.
