“Stupid Fucking Karin, always taking on more than she can handle,” Britney grumbled as she drove. She loved her friend and would never abandon her, but that meant she had to endure a lot of frustration.

Karin was the too-good-for-this-world type that couldn't walk past a beggar without worrying for them. This was admirable for genuinely pitiful creatures such as a stray cat or crying child. When it came to adults, it was a lot closer to naivety. Three times had she been taken advantage of in a relationship, only to have the man bail after a while. Britney knew very well that Karin hated when she mentioned Andrew, and still did it to remind her not to make the same mistake again.

To be fair, Karin had shed some of the naivety over the years, though she would never even behold the realm of cynicism. Case in point, now she was repeating the same mistake again. Maybe. It was hard to tell, as this was all a confusing mess.

Apparently Martin was now a young girl. It made no sense. Then again, sense was a foreign concept as far as magic was concerned. The important part was that Karin probably was getting tricked out of her mind, ready to adopt the little fucker and let herself be taken advantage of yet again.

To be honest, Britney was surprised at how apathetic she was regarding Martin. He picked on her when they were younger. She ought to be angry with him. Yet, she found that she didn’t really care about him. On the other hand, she did care that someone -- anyone -- was trying to take advantage of her friend. Time to meet the fucker herself and see if he… she… deserved a meeting with her fist. Or a spanking, or that was what you did to misbehaving children. She had never had any herself, and never been any good with them, either.

She parked her car and headed inside. Ideally, she would have checked on Zorro first, but he'd have to wait. Karin had already looked at him, and he was doing reasonably well.

"Welcome," Karin greeted her with a big hug upon opening the door. "Come in. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out."

"For you, anything," Britney announced, "though in this case, it's not really for you, is it? It's for the Martin-girl."

It sounded really weird when she phrased it like that. Karin looked affronted, which made a lot more sense when Britney noticed a black girl standing at the entrance to the living room, having clearly heard the comment.

“Britney, this is Mina,” Karin introduced, sending a glare her way. "We need to wait for Camille to arrive. Why don’t we all take a seat?”

Britney stood dumb-struck for a moment or five. Karin hadn’t described how Mina looked at all. In her head, she had made an image of Martin from their childhood and slapped a dress on her. This was pretty far from that. Mina was not only definitely a girl, she was also a completely different skin color than what she had expected. Britney would describe her as dark chocolate, but she had heard that some people might take offense at that. Her dark brown eyes and black hair matched with her skin.

The clothes were hardly anything to write home about. A shirt that was clearly too large for her, a skirt and socks that looked too long for her. Probably the only clothes Karin had found that reasonably fit. The clothes wouldn't have been bad on Karin, they were clearly just not Mina's size. If she had looked a bit more confident, she could have rocked the too-cool-to-care vibe. As it was now, one would be more inclined to assume she was a kid from a poor family.

No wonder Karin was ready to throw everything to the wind to help her out. Even Britney with her dislike for children and anyone taking advantage of her friend couldn’t help but pity the girl. At least until she reminded herself that this was not just any girl, but a man in disguise. A very good disguise.

“Nice to meet you,” Mina bowed and led the way inside. Britney noticed the distinct lack of a curtsy. Coincidence or not?

She took a seat opposite the suspect. Karin had already set the table with snacks, coffee and tea. Britney was way too polite to decline. Particularly the cheesecake. Probably fetched from the freezer, but who cared? It was great, regardless.

Eating a slice gave her time to think about what to say. She observed Mina as she ate a slice of her own. Her original plan had been to come here to chew him... her out, but it didn't appear very feasible anymore. For a start, Karin was sitting right next to them, and would almost certainly come to Mina's defense.

"So, how is Sera?" Karin asked. It was probably her best attempt at small-talk, to defuse the tense mood.

"Fine, she's fine," Britney said uninterested. Small talk to avoid confrontations were Karin's thing, not hers.

"Can we talk about the elephant in the room instead?" she asked.

"I guess," Karin answered weakly.

Mina waited in silence. She didn't appear to be particularly nervous. Britney wanted to glare and make her nervous, but again, Karin would object.

“So… Karin has tried to convey everything, but I still have some questions. Tell me honestly… are you Martin?"

“I… don’t know, to be honest. I have been wondering if I am sort of a reincarnation of him. I certainly don’t feel like him, and I’ve noticed several cases of ‘not-Martin-like’ thoughts and behavior. It was a small shock that I don't enjoy coffee.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“A fate worse than death,” Britney sarcastically commented.

"I'm not complaining, just making observations. I do have his memories, sort of. But without any feelings, they are like a half-remembered movie that is neither good enough nor bad enough to be memorable."

"So you remember me from Martin's childhood?"

"I do. I'm internally cringing at his behavior towards you."

"Really?"

"I don't think you can easily relate. I have the memories from his point of view with none of the feelings. When I look back at the memories of you, it feels like I am watching a very awkward movie of a boy acting the only way he has ever learned towards girls; teasing them. If that isn't cringeworthy, I don't know what is."

"It certainly sounds like you have feelings on the subject, when you just said you have none."

"I have none of Martin's feelings. I react with my own feelings. Martin didn't think it was cringe. I do."

"If you say so."

She took a sip of coffee, trying to think of what else to ask. Okay, why not go straight to the heart of the matter?

"Why did you think it was a good idea to abuse Karin's kindness?"

"Britney!" Karin broke in.

"Okay, not abused. Enjoyed Karin's kindness."

Mina shrugged. "You're talking as if I had a choice. I mean, I guess I had a choice, but not a real one. I could either accept Karin's hospitality, or run away and try to find someone else that would help me. I could also theoretically try to survive on my own outside, but I'm not sure I would have survived the night."

She met Britney's eyes without looking away.

"I was honestly worried about exactly what you're accusing me of; abusing Karin's kindness. That's why I laid my cards bare at the first possible opportunity, and didn't try to hide anything. She accepted me, and I'll gladly do whatever I can to pay her back, as soon as I'm in a position to do so."

It was silent for a few moments around the table. Brittney wondered what else she could ask. She begrudgingly had to admit Mina seemed sincere. While she might be causing Karin grievances, she was probably not doing with ulterior motives. That didn't mean Britney had to like it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. Mina and Britney remained seated while Karin went to greet the last guest, Camille.

While the other two were exchanging pleasantries, Mina met Britney's eyes again.

"You don't like me," she started, "and that's fine. I just wonder why."

Britney was taken by surprise. She had not expected such a confrontational question. That was her thing, and most people shied away from confronting her back. Particularly girls. She wasn't sure exactly what to answer.

"Deal with it," was the best she could come up with.

She hesitated for a few moments, which was enough for Camille to enter the room. “Hi, Britney. Hello, Mina. I am Camille."

"A pleasure to meet you," Mina smiled back.

"I'm afraid we have a long distance to cover, so we'd better start as soon as possible," Camille said.

"We don't know when the Consortium will be back, which is another reason to hurry," Karin opined, "You probably have time for a slice of cake if you want."

"Maybe while we go through the clothes I brought. I'd rather do it here than in the dark of the night outside."

Unlike Britney, Camille loved children. You had to love them or be a complete masochist to get four of them, like she did. Her youngest wasn't all that much older than Mina. The next half hour was spent going through the used clothes. There was not enough time to try them on, so they mostly ballparked whether they seemed to be about the correct size.

Britney had spectacularly little to add to the discussion. Mina didn't seem all that enthusiastic either. She wasn't uninterested, but quickly tired of all the questions.

While scrolling on her phone, Britney tried to come up with a satisfactory answer to why she didn't like Mina. Mostly for her own sake. The best she could come up with was 'nothing personal, it's just that so many others have abused Karin's trust.' When she put it that way, it felt a bit unfair to Mina. Then again, when had the world ever been fair?

It wasn't long until Karin hugged Mina goodbye. They waved as Camille and Mina drove off. Karin looked a bit embarrassed as she wiped away some tears. Britney pretended like she didn't notice.

"I want to check on Zorro. Care to join me?" she suggested.

Karin nodded. They spent a good while caring for the horses, making small talk. She wasn't super keen on it, but realized Karin needed some time to calm down. Eventually, Britney had to break the ice.

"Karin, how are you, really?"

"Hmm? I'm fine, I'm… actually, scratch that. I'm not fine. I mean, I'm not terrible, but…"

"It's okay. Take your time, think it through first."

Karin nodded ever so slightly. They walked in silence back inside and sat down on the couch.

"My feelings are a mess right now. Let me try to sort them out."

She took a deep breath.

"I miss Mina already. It was good to have someone to care for again. Someone I could trust. I don't know why I feel that she wouldn't betray me, I just knew. Part of it may be that I miss Anders. With him being busy in the military, he's so rarely home."

Tears streamed down her chin. Britney didn't know what to do or say, so she just let her friend continue.

"I'm so alone here. It's not good for me. I don't want to move either. I don't know what I really want. If I did, maybe I could do something about it."

It hurt to see Karin so vulnerable and hurt. Britney pulled her into a hug. She resolved to do what she could do to help. While it was hard to visit too often, maybe she could stay longer? Sleep over when there was nothing scheduled the following morning? Not at the expense of Sera, of course, but maybe some compromise where they both came to visit together?

"I worry for Mina," Karin went on, "the Consortium may find out what happened and come after her. She doesn't deserve that. What happened wasn't her fault."

Fucking hell. Britney still didn't care for Mina, but it was clear Karin did. If something happened to the girl, Karin would be completely shattered. If she learned about it.

Karin's phone rang. She took a moment to regain her composure before answering.

"Hello, Karin here."

"Agent Sigil of the Consortium," Britney heard from the other end.