Vasilisa the Brave - Chapter Thirteen - The Edge

  Vasilisa sat on the edge of an unfamiliar bed and fiddled with the remains of an MRE pack. It was one of the nicer ones they'd grabbed from the scientists, from Raivis' people.

  She had finished eating a while ago, though somehow, even though it had been a long day, she wasn't really hungry at all.

  Raivis' betrayal had been... too expected. She should have known that no one she met out here was going to be friendly. Everyone so far had been trying to kill her, or worse. Which, of course, begged the question, when would the girls turn on her?

  "Hey," Crystal said as she came into the room.

  Alice had, somehow, found an apartment on the upper floor of a nice old block. It was large and spacious, with enough floor room for six normal apartments. It had a kitchen, a living room, a room just for music, and a pair of large bedrooms, including the one she'd taken over.

  She imagined that the previous owner was some sort of musician, because there was a piano in the next room over, and two guitars fixed to the walls. They were all dusty, but then, everything here was dusty.

  "Hi," she replied before leaning down to set her platter on the floor next to her backpack and rifle. "Can I... help you?"

  Crystal hummed, then looked around, obviously searching for a place to sit. When she found none, she waved a hand and... and a small stool appeared from nowhere. It was made of glass, or crystal, like everything the girl made, and came up to her knees. She sat, then she smiled. "Yeah! I just wanted to check up on you, make sure you were feeling okay?"

  "I'm fine," Vasilisa said.

  "We did a lot of walking today, a bit of running. Uh, it's been a while since I was sore, but I still remember it sucking a bunch. And those big clunky boots of yours can't be comfy."

  "I'm fine," Vasilisa insisted a little harder.

  Crystal's smile slipped a little, and she shifted on her stool. "I'm sorry," she said. "Sometimes we're a little scary, I guess. I was kinda hoping that after everything that happened today, you'd be willing to open up a little more."

  Vasilisa considered it. She really did. Alice and Crystal had been nothing but kind so far, but they... "I really don't know anything about you," she said.

  Crystal laughed. "I don't know much about you either, but that's easy enough to fix, isn't it?"

  Vasilisa tensed. "What?" she asked. She half-expected Crystal to lean over, leer, and start sucking her memories right out of her head.

  "I meant, we could chat. I'm from New Zealand, I'm... eh, eternally seventeen, but my friends say I have the mind of someone half my age! Uh... I was a horse girl as a kid? Hmm, what else do you wanna know?"

  Vasilisa eyed her, then shifted back on the bed a little, allowing herself to relax. She didn't feel as if the moment of betrayal was going to be now, in any case. "I don't know what else I'm supposed to ask about."

  "Hmm, well, small talk usually goes on about the weather, which around here seems like a complicated topic, then family, jobs, friends, school and work... usually in some random order, I think," Crystal said.

  "I see? In that case, ah I guess... how did you meet Alice?" Vasilisa asked.

  Crystal leaned way, way back, and it was only a back appearing on her chair that stopped her from tumbling off. "That was a long time ago. I mean, relatively. It's kinda weird because I knew Alice long before she knew me. Do you know what a parasocial relationship is?"

  Vasilisa shook her head.

  "It's when one person knows another person because that person is famous. Like... you probably know some popular musicians, right? You know what they look like, you've seen them on TV, you've heard them sing and heard interviews. But you don't really know them."

  Vasilisa nodded along. She had a good idea of what Crystal meant. Maybe not with a musician, but certainly with at least some of the more popular politicians. She'd seen the ads, and could vaguely remember broadcasts and their voices over the radio. "That's how you knew Alice first?"

  "Yeah!" Crystal nodded with enthusiasm. "Alice is... was, a bit of a huge celebrity back on, uh, back home. The first ever Magical Girl is a big title to carry, you know? And she's of course very pretty, well-spoken, and from a place that really loves their celebrities."

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  "Is she from western Europe?" Vasilisa asked. "She has an accent, and her skin is darker."

  "Huh? No, she's from Brazil, way across the Atlantic." Crystal made a gesture, her hand an aeroplane for a moment before she let her arm drop. "Anyway. I met Alice when she was really popular already, and... well, it's embarrassing, but she's so much cooler in person than she was even in my head and in all of the shows and interviews I'd seen."

  "Are you... in love with her?" Vasilisa asked.

  Crystal's cheeks warmed, and she shifted on her stool. "So! My turn to ask a question," she said.

  "I suppose."

  "How are you feeling?" Crystal asked.

  Vasilisa frowned. "Haven't you asked me that, already?"

  "Yeah, but I was hoping for an honest answer," Crystal said.

  Vasilisa hugged her knees closer and gave Crystal a weak glare. That had been underhanded of her. But... she could reciprocate--the kindness, not the underhandedness that came with it. "I'm really fine. Just... I was expecting the betrayal, you know? The entire time."

  "With Raivis? Really? I didn't. But I've always been terrible at that kind of thing. Too trusting. I guess I've always had friends that were the opposite. I bet Alice saw it coming a million miles away. She's clever like that. If you saw it coming though, why the slump?"

  "I guess because I was hoping that it wouldn't be the case? I... I don't know why, but I feel like this isn't the first betrayal. I mean, I know it isn't, but it feels like I've put my hope on a million people only to be let down over and over again. I don't know."

  "That... does really suck," Crystal said. "I don't know what to say to that. I've seen a lot of terrible things though, and while I know that pessimism is good, sometimes trusting people isn't the worst thing? Sometimes people will surprise you by how kind they can be."

  "Maybe," Vasilisa said. "Is it my turn again?"

  "Uh, yeah. But no questions about romance!"

  She smiled. She couldn't help it. Crystal was... rather silly, but she was amusingly direct and expressive. "Okay," she agreed. "Uh, do you have a job?"

  "Sorta?"

  "Sorta?" she repeated.

  "I'm a Magical Girl. Capital letters, because it's a title. And I guess it's also a job."

  "And what kind of job is it?" Vasilisa asked. She wasn't sure she believed in magic. Then again, she'd seen her share of strange things lately.

  Crystal tilted her head to one side as she thought. It reminded Vasilisa a little of a dog. A golden retriever, maybe? "It's the kind of job where you protect people, where you fight monsters and take down threats to humanity, to goodness. It's harder than people would think, and not just because of the explosions and big fights. Sometimes, a lot of times, you need to do what's right, but knowing what's good and what's sorta-good can be hard."

  "And that's a job?"

  "Well, we were a little more organised back home," Crystal said. "And a lot of our money-money came from stuff like donations and merch sales. Happy Sparkles took care of most of that. She's really good at convincing people. Also, one of our friends could see into the future, and until it became illegal to do so, she liked trading stocks."

  "That sounds nice. You all worked together then? A bunch of girls?"

  Crystal nodded. "Uh-huh! A bunch of us, working to save the world. It's the best. Well, the paperwork isn't, that's exhausting, and the press stuff too. But it's worth it to be able to help more people."

  Vasilisa looked away. "I guess I can see that. What's the point though? Saving people when the world feels like it's falling apart. I'm just doing this to save my dad... but I'm sure now that I'm... well, I'm not sure that I even have a dad."

  Crystal reached over and gently laid a hand on her knee. "Hey, it'll be okay. I'm sure you want to move on for a reason. Maybe we'll figure it out along the way?"

  There was a shift as the door was pushed open and Alice looked in. "You should sleep," she said. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

  ***

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