Chapter 23: The Storm Before the Storm
It had been raining for five days straight. The emotions changed a bit: they had a few hours of anger and a brief spell of loneliness, but most of the time it was the same deep sadness. August had hoped that Glow would have recovered by now, or at least burned herself out, but the storm showed no signs of letting up. It didn’t even stop at night when Glow must have been sleeping; if anything, it got worse at night, with strong tremors shaking the ground every few hours. He wondered what kinds of fissures might be opening up, and what sorts of creatures would be crawling out of them.
August hadn’t ventured back to Glow and Puddle’s house, both due to a fear of being in the rain and a reluctance to face them after what Cecily had done. If he was being honest, though, there was a part of him that didn’t want to undo Cecily’s damage on the tiny off-chance that it would work the way she’d intended. No, he told himself firmly. If I get the chance to fix it, I will. I can’t let Glow keep thinking we hate her.
It was getting hard to stay indoors with no one to talk to, though. Toward the beginning of the storm, Echo had come over to give the twins some more food, since it wouldn’t be emotionally safe to go out and get more until the rain stopped, but she hadn’t stayed long. She and her house teleported away to try to find a place where the rain was lighter or she could get some kind of cover over her roof, leaving the Weavers completely alone. August still saw Cecily a few times a day for meals or when she left the bedroom to stretch her legs, but they didn’t talk much. August’s anger at what she’d done to Glow had faded over time–although he was still upset that she’d done it–and Cecily didn’t seem angry at him anymore either, but there was still an air of tension as well as a simple lack of things to say. Being trapped inside for almost a week didn’t provide many conversation starters.
What if it stays like this forever? August thought, remembering how Cecily had described the First People. She’d said they never got bored, even though they did the same things over and over again forever. What if Glow never got over her emotions?
He heard a crack of thunder and found himself wondering if Bright had a house to take shelter in. For all he knew, the winged boy lived in an open-air nest. If that’s the case, he’s probably with Amy. He’ll be fine. Assuming Amy was actually taking shelter rather than doing something insane. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since the storm had begun, and while he hoped that meant she was being smart and staying indoors, it made him nervous that he didn’t know what she was up to.
“It was technically her fault, you know,” he said out loud to the raccoon that was currently sitting on the floor near the couch. He’d started letting it out when he got particularly bored or lonely, and after a few initial incidents involving ripped cushions and a bite that August was still monitoring, it seemed to have gotten calmer. August couldn’t tell if that was because it was spending more time outside the locket, or if the gloomy weather was causing it to be more subdued.
The raccoon looked at him and August clarified. “Amy, I mean. I put it together yesterday: Echo said there was a big lonely storm right before Silly and I got to this world, which of course meant that Glow was feeling lonely. I think that, in her lonely state, she must have remembered the stories Amy had told her, including Gravity Falls. You know, a pair of twins end up in a wacky fantasy world? Maybe Glow thought that sounded like fun.” The raccoon kept staring at him, and August sighed. “Right, you haven’t seen the show. Well, that’s about where the resemblance ends, anyway, and it really doesn’t matter at this point. We’re here, and that’s that.” August picked up the drawing of twins that Glow had given him when they’d first met. It was a good thing Glow’s creations don’t look like her drawings, because this world would be a lot freakier, he thought, looking at the misshapen heads and circular hands.
He traded the drawing for one of his pages of poetry. He hadn’t been able to write anything new since the rain started: every time he tried to sit down and write something, all of his ideas suddenly felt trivial and meaningless. Even rereading things he had written before was dissatisfying.
August groaned. Entertaining himself had become very difficult, but he could only sleep so much, and he still had the whole day ahead of him. Once upon a time, the thought of a whole day of freedom would have been exciting, but now he wished he could skip ahead in time to whenever the storms stopped–or better, whenever he and Cecily found a resolution to this whole kidnapped-by-God situation.
He was distracted enough by his dread of the upcoming day that he didn’t notice the change in the raccoon’s posture. It had begun staring at the closed window and shrinking back, its head turning back and forth anxiously. “What’s wrong?” August asked, but the raccoon ran under the couch and curled up in a ball.
He didn’t like leaving the raccoon unattended in case it started attacking things, so he closed the locket around his neck and it sucked the raccoon back in. He approached the window and checked outside, but he didn’t see anything but the very wet forest and the rain pouring down. After a moment, he opened the window and carefully stuck his hand out, ready to start crying. Instead, he gasped and pulled his hand back, trembling. “Silly!” he cried out as he sat unsteadily on the couch. “Silly, come quick!”
Cecily came running immediately. “What is it?”
“The storm changed,” August told her, pointing with a shaking hand to the still-open window. “Silly, it’s absolutely terrified.”
Both of them were dressed and ready to leave in a matter of minutes. After Cecily had felt the rain, even she had agreed that if Glow was that scared of something, they needed to intervene. August was a pretty anxious person, but he had never been that afraid before. The rain had made him feel like his life was really in jeopardy, and if Glow was in that kind of danger, who knew what could happen, both to her and to the entire world?
While they were putting their shoes on, August heard a sound from the living room. “Hello?” a small voice called out. August and Cecily looked at each other, then toward the source of the sound.
Glow herself was standing in their living room, her eyes wide and afraid. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I know you told me not to, but Da said I had to go away from the monster and so I came here.”
August quickly joined her in the living room, closely followed by Cecily. “What monster?” he asked urgently.
Glow rubbed her fists over her eyes. “It was like a giant person but it wasn’t a person,” she sniffed. “It was really scary.”
“I’m glad you came to us, Glow, that was the right thing to do,” August said, and Glow nodded, hugging him around the waist. “Is your dad okay?” he asked, and she shrugged. He looked at Cecily. “What do we do?”
She bit her lip. “Do you think it’s Amy’s handiwork, or did…” She glanced at Glow. “...did an actual monster get created?”
August looked toward Puddle’s house. “I don’t know, but what I do know is that this rain can’t be helping anything.” He turned to Glow and put his hands on her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Glow. I know this is scary, but you don’t have to be afraid anymore. We’re your friends, and everything is going to be okay. Can you take some deep breaths for me?” August demonstrated, inhaling and exhaling slowly, and Glow imitated him. “Very good, now keep doing that until you feel nice and calm,” he instructed.
“The storm isn’t letting up,” Cecily observed.
“Then come up with a better idea,” August retorted, a bit more sharply than he’d intended.
“Okay, I will,” she said, reaching toward August and taking the locket off his neck. She popped it open and the raccoon materialized next to them, then started looking around in panic. Cecily gestured to it. “Look, Glow, the raccoon is even more scared than you are. Do you think you can help it to feel better?”
Glow briefly narrowed her eyes at Cecily with a mixture of suspicion and fear, then her interest in the raccoon took over and she scooped it into her arms before it had the chance to react. “There, there,” she murmured, squeezing it.
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August watched in horror. “Silly, that’s a feral raccoon, not an emotional support animal! What if it bites her?” But either the raccoon was too shaken to resort to violence or Glow’s godly powers gave her some influence over animals, because the raccoon didn’t bite or scratch her, and after a few seconds, it even stopped struggling.
Glow sat down on the floor, continuing to cuddle the raccoon. “Don’t be scared,” she told it. “Just breathe.” August was pretty sure the rain started falling less heavily, and Cecily noticed too, raising her eyebrows at him triumphantly.
“What next?” August asked as the rain continued to lighten. “When the storm stops, do we stay here, go help Puddle, or get Glow further away from whatever is happening?”
“How should I know?” Cecily asked. “We don’t even know who, if anyone, is the target of the attack. Most likely, Puddle will destroy it easily, just like he always destroyed Amy’s robots, then he’ll come get Glow.”
“That’s true,” August agreed, feeling himself relax a little as he remembered Puddle easily demolishing the knife Roombas. Of course, Glow hadn’t caused a terror storm any of those times, but maybe the fear hit harder today because she was already emotionally vulnerable. “Let’s stay here, then, in case he comes looking.”
August and Cecily sat on the couch and watched Glow put the raccoon down and chase it around the room. Over the next half hour, the storm stopped completely and the clouds started to disperse, revealing the blue sky. Glow would occasionally glance up at the twins, and August would always smile and wave encouragingly. Since the little god was already there and in distress, he decided it was better to repair their relationship and help her stay emotionally stable than pursue Cecily’s plan any further.
“I’m sorry,” Cecily murmured quietly after a long silence. August looked at her in surprise and she shrugged a shoulder. “It’s my fault that storm happened in the first place, and I never properly apologized for causing it.”
“I know that you were trying to help us,” August said, keeping the same quiet tone so Glow wouldn’t hear them. “And I honestly wish it had worked. But I don’t think she’s going to send us back either on purpose or accidentally, and I don’t think we can afford to keep her upset with us.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Cecily sighed, leaning heavily against August’s arm and nodding toward Glow. “I’ll try to patch things up with the little maniac. I just don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at her the same way now that I know what she’s done–what she keeps doing.”
“Me, neither,” August admitted. “But all we can do is be kind and hope that things will work out. This world is full of surprises, so maybe one of them will work out in our favor one of these days.”
Cecily snorted. “Won’t that be the day?”
“It’s happened before,” he said. “We met Echo: that was lucky. And we found Baby and learned valuable information about this world, even if it didn’t give us a way home.” He rested his head on Cecily’s shoulder. “You know what miracle I’d like? Maybe next time Glow zaps someone here, they’ll have some books with them. I miss reading.”
“That won’t be necessary, because I’m going to get you back to Earth,” Cecily said softly. “I’m going to figure out a way.”
“We’ll figure out a way together,” August corrected her. The two of them fell back into silence as they watched Glow playing with the raccoon. It was nice to talk again, although August looked forward to when they had something to talk about other than their hopeless situation.
Eventually, August heard a loud crunching sound coming from outside, like bushes were being crushed. Probably Puddle running to get Glow, he thought, standing up and walking to the front door.
It wasn’t Puddle outside. It was a ten-foot-tall humanoid robot with four wheels instead of legs and three robotic arms holding knives and a hammer. The arm with the hammer was stretched out toward the door as if it had been about to knock, or perhaps knock the whole door down.
“Oh, hey, August!” Amy’s voice echoed from inside the box. “Is God there?”
— — —
Cecily froze on the couch, listening to the exchange at her front door. “No, Glow isn’t here,” August was saying loudly. “What are you doing inside that giant robot, Amy?”
“Do you like it?” Amy asked. “I’ve made lots of improvements compared to my previous attempts, especially in durability. This one is much stronger, and I made it storm-proof so I could ride in it without crying! Wasn’t that storm crazy? I’ve been meaning to ask you guys about it.”
Good, she’s rambling. “Come on, Glow,” Cecily whispered, picking up the small child and whisking her into the kitchen.
“What’s happening now?” Glow whispered back, apparently not yet noticing the robot visitor.
Cecily was about to tell the truth, then remembered that Glow could raise hell in an instant if she freaked out. That was inconvenient. “We’re going to play a game,” she said, forcing a fake smile as she opened the door to the small pantry. “Hide in here, then we’ll see how long it takes August to find you!”
“Okay!” Glow hopped in. “Can I bring the raccoon?”
Cecily thought for a moment. “No,” she decided, closing the pantry.
Once Glow was secured inside, Cecily ran to the door, where August was still talking to Amy, who had built herself some sort of giant mech suit. It appeared the mechanic had used her time indoors a lot more productively than Cecily had.
“Where’s Puddle?” August asked.
Amy’s voice sounded metallic through her robot as she responded, “Look, I’m so close to success. Please, just give me Glow and I can fix everything! I’ll figure out how to get her to send you guys home, then I’ll run this world way better than she and Puddle were doing it!”
“Where is he?” August repeated, his voice shaking. Cecily’s eyes widened as the reality of the situation hit her. Amy had attacked Puddle and Glow at their home, and here she was now with an intact robot. Or, mostly intact: Cecily noticed that there appeared to have been a fourth arm that had been broken off, and there were several large dents along the sides of the metal box. Still, Puddle wasn’t here. She beat him, Cecily thought numbly, remembering how easily Puddle had destroyed the previous robots. She won this time. What had she done to Puddle in the process?
Amy ignored the question again. “If you don’t bring Glow out, I’m going to have to come in and get her, and this thing definitely won’t fit in your house without damaging the door at the very least.”
August looked at Cecily with panic in his eyes. What do we do? he mouthed at her. Cecily quickly scanned Amy’s suit. There had to be some kind of opening, right?
There! She spotted a small hole where the fourth arm had been, which appeared to open up into the inside of the robot. She reached into her pocket, then lunged forward, shoving her locket into the hole as she opened it.
She could hear Amy shriek as the raccoon appeared on top of her, and the robot rolled backward, away from the door. Sorry, raccoon, she thought as she heard banging from inside as both woman and raccoon tried to escape each other. That was only a temporary diversion, though: they needed a more long-term solution if they were going to keep Amy away from Glow and avoid whatever insane destruction it would cause if the small deity were to be attacked by a robot.
“Look!” August said next to her, grabbing her arm and pointing. “Is that…?”
“Puddle!” Cecily finished as she made out the shape of the big man quickly limping along the path that led from his house to theirs. As he got closer, she could see bruises covering his face and arms, as well as cuts that seemed to be seeping golden liquid. “Is that what blood looks like here?” she asked, and August gasped.
“Blood? Puddle, you’re bleeding!” August ran to meet him, giving a wide berth to Amy’s robot, which was still echoing with the sounds of her struggle against the raccoon. “Are you alright?”
Cecily didn’t join them, but she could hear their conversation as August helped Puddle toward the door. Of course, due to the difference in size, August was really just holding Puddle’s arm and offering no physical support, but it was the thought that counted. “Where’s Glow?” Puddle asked, ignoring August’s question. There was a lot of that going around.
“She’s safe,” August said, giving a pointed look at Cecily. “Right?”
“Yes! She’s safe, and she’s calmed down,” Cecily said, feeling her cheeks burn as Puddle narrowed his eyes at her. She would have to patch things up with him, too, if they all survived this mess.
“Aha!” Amy’s triumphant shout sounded from inside her robot as the sounds of struggling stopped. “You just have to close the locket!” The giant machine started rolling back toward them. “Nice trick, Cecily, but I’m a woman on a mission and I can’t stop now.” Amy paused. “Oh, Puddle, you’re back.”
“I won’t let you near her,” Puddle said, standing weakly between Robot Amy and the house. He really didn’t look like he was in condition for another round of fighting, but even at his worst, he was in better shape than August and Cecily at their best.
This is insane, Cecily thought, feeling an almost out-of-body experience. This is a truly insane scenario that I’m in. She should have known by now that even that simple recognition was practically an invitation for more chaos, and this bizarre, impractical world truly outdid itself as someone else burst through the trees to join the party.
“Silly!” Ravioli Girl yelled, and Cecily froze. The witch was carrying a basket of ingredients and her hair and eyes were bright green, the same color they’d been the first day they’d met. “Silly, it’s happening! It’s a ravioli day!”