In the end, they made their way back home with no further complications, though they found the place in a state of complete disarray.

The curtain at the entrance was now missing, and whoever burglar had trespassed there at not spotted the apparent hole in the window before they broke yet another window to get in. Many pieces of furniture were now destroyed or missing, and it seems that some had been purposefully broken down to pieces and burned down in the very house heater. Even the pipes and electrical cables had been looted.

So, all in all, nothing of value but the house's very walls have been left untouched.

And though Ember did not care much about any of those, except for the bed and the water, she suddenly left the urge to track and feast on the perpetrators out of principles for daring trespassing and desecrating her den.

Merida, however, had, as always, adopted a more practical approach, accounting for the damages, how much needed to be repaired to make it barely suitable for their human companions, and devising a plan to get those reparations done in exchange for services.

It would be a stretch, but we could even get the broken windows fixed and the front door changed. How do you feel about getting a fence and a couple of swing pet flats? Now that we have the guarantee this location is no longer a secret, there is no point in being cautious, and we can go overboard upgrading this place. So long that we can pay for it.

Ember was surprised by Merida's 180° change in attitude, but now that her worst fear had happened, it was true there was no point trying to keep this location a secret and make do with what they had. Some people must have spotted the newly repaired cart they had left behind, realized they were gone, and decided to track down their house to loot it.

They must have been disappointed as Merida had made a point not putting all their eggs in the same basket, putting their valuables into caches in the forest all around their properties. Which Ember had found over the top paranoid at the time, but it finally made sense as she saw the result of human greed. She was now thankful that Merida asked her to make all those holes to hide their non-perishable valuables, including canned food and stuff.

It might be a bit childish... but I told you so!

Merida nagged with glee.

'Yeah, yeah, you were right.' Ember admitted, rolling her eyes. The doll was growing into her own person and developing her own personality. However, she was still super nagging and annoying and doing so every chance she got. Luckily for her, the both of them were bonded together, and Ember was quite patient with the living puppet antics.

Though the same wasn't true about Mary...

'Thinking of which, where the hell is the girl?' She asked herself though Merida provided the answer anyway:

She was bothered and went for some alone time after seeing the state of the house.

Ember nodded. It was not like she could blame the girl as she was very much 'bothered' herself.

Yet, she felt like she had to check on the girl to ensure she was alright. So she went on, tracking down the girl over the bridge and then to the woods, before finding her suckling down, nested between centenary tree roots, and decided to lay down by her side quietly.

"Sorry," Mary finally said, sobbing, "It's all my fault."

'So that's what she had been going through?' She told herself again, moving closer to cheer her up and let the girl know that none of what she had in mind was her fault and that Ember didn't care. The pack was the more important. And though the girl wasn't officially pack yet, now that the issue of her father's reunion had ended in such a spectacular failure, maybe she would choose to join them over chasing the ghost of her lost father?

"I know. You are a good girl, and it's not your fault," The girl said again, wiping her tears.

"I just wanted to see my father so badly that I did not even care what you had to sacrifice to make it happen. I'm really sorry I had you leave your home behind for all the people that did not receive your help, all because of me and my selfishness. It will not happen again. I promise."

'So... we are good? You are going to stay with us forever?' Ember tilted her head, curious about the girl's promise, though she knew the girl didn't speak dog. Nor did Ember really understand humans without Merida's help, though she had got quite proficient at understanding keywords and intuiting humans meaning from intonation and physical cues alone.

"Would you mind staying there a little longer?" Mary asked, scratching her behind the ears.

Ember responded by resting her head on the girl's lap.

"Yep. I thought so. Thank you, Ember. You're definitely the best."

'And I'm hardly trying,' Ember thought with a doggy smile before going on for a nap. Considering that, after all, she did not regret losing her favorite pillow. Cause she found a new one which turned out to be perfect.

★☆★

Great Falls had still undergone some more transformation in their absence. The defensive walls within the city were now gone. But Great Falls now had some thick and manned city walls surrounding it from all sides.

And with this new mutation, it became apparent that the different groups within the city had finally sorted their conflict but grew warier of external threats, which Merida and Ember knew nothing about. And so they rushed for the police station on their healing tour to get some answers, though they got slowed down by all the warm and not-so-warm welcome back they received on their way there.

Though they were happy to find out that the cart they had entrusted to some random ally had been awaiting their return safe and untouched after their earlier misadventure back at home. At least, no one they trusted seemed to be responsible for the burglar.

Ember had been sniffing around the entire trip just in case she caught on the thieves. But aside from knowing that they indeed went from and lived in the city, she had yet to find solid evidence. The most likely scenario was that the perpetrators were coming from a district they had yet to visit that day and might not for quite a while, as Merida had already had suspicions that one of the gangs did it.

It might not even have been done with malicious intent. People had been busy rebuilding, and similarly vacated houses had been targeted and even torn down for materials to cut expenses. We should consider ourselves lucky they did not consider the walls valuable, or we might have found no place to return to.

'That they tore down our home to build their own is still unforgivable' Ember kept her judgment unchanged, ready to enact her justice on any wrongdoers she caught a sniff of.

We might have other problems. The city is preparing for war on an entirely different scale than before. No one could tell me what the problem is. But people are on high alert and only calmed down about us after seeing me heal people, as I always did.

'Did they expect us to be imposters like the fake humans at the Reservation?' Ember asked, wondering how far the presumed faeries' constructs reach had truly extended. But Merida had no answer to her question, but a single shared glance got the point across:

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

They better hope that it wasn't the case, or that would be a different issue entirely.

Those fake humans construct had been too powerful for the two of them even to dream of dealing with them, let alone their master. Yet being indeed none confrontational, the fake humans had let them go. Most probably because they didn't perceive them as a threat, let alone a threat worth fighting. So if their reach extended that far, there would have been nothing they could have done about it except flee as far as they could.

Yet Ember had a good point, and given the humans' behaviors, there was something similar about both situations.

★☆★

"The men we sent to Helena never returned," The chief responded to Merida's questions. " But that the few refugees who managed to escape the city that got us concerned."

He paused gravely before opening a file.

"We got reports that Helena was going through similar trouble as we did. Except the Gangs there won, and the man leading them is more dangerous than Red Fist could ever dream to be. He apparently called himself the Puppeteer, which is really on the nose as he allegedly has the disturbing power of robbing the free will of everyone who disagrees with him, turning them into mindless puppets awaiting his orders."

That explained the citizen's earlier distrust and why seeing Merida act as usual calmed them down. Especially after being away for so long. After all, they might have been under that Puppeteer, using the people's trust to spy on the city or whatever.

"As you might guess, he used his power as much to get the work down than as a deterrent against rebellion, and people had been falling into lines quietly after he puppeted every single leader of the opposition. Of course, there have been attempts on his life, but he puppeted every single would-be assassin and turned them into his personal guard. Last but not least, it turn out the man used to be a manager and proved a rather competent authoritarian leader, restoring the city industry to full capacity and now planning to extend his rule to Montana as a whole."

"Those are indeed bad news," Merida responded laconically, letting Ember digest the information and awaiting her prompt.

But the chief took her lack of proper reaction for a go-ahead, and so he did:

"Those who managed to escape apparently did so by leaving their families and occasional hostages behind, which might have been the sole Puppeter mistake so far as he miscalculated people's attachments to their loved ones over the fear his power inspire."

'What proof does he have that those refugees are not agents sent to cause panic?' Ember finally asked, which the doll translated almost words-to-words.

"They claimed that the man power is limited and that his puppets would only follow direct orders, becoming unresponsive when they are done or rendered unable to carry out their mission. There is also a limit on how many orders he can give at once and how complex those orders are, so every single puppet's last order is to come back."

"I would guess the number of order his 'puppets' could carry at once are four. Which might also be the limit on how many people he can puppet every day." Merida provided, which sounded logical to Ember as the system was so fond of that very number.

"Scary world it is, right?" The chief laughed nervously, "First the claims about the White House being compromised, and now this? I won't lie to you: You should watch your back consistently from now on. People are going pretty jumpy right now around anyone capable of using mind magic, which seems to be your case. Illusion-based mind magic, if I remember correctly?"

Merida immediately went on the defensive.

Ember? What do you wanna do?

Even if we could somewhat help with that threat, it sounds like people are not going to be that grateful about it anymore.

Ember understood the issue perfectly. Both Merida and her were associated with a magic that was amounting quite a lot of bad reputation. And so far, Ember had learned, rightfully so. It couldn't be helped. 100% of her spells and cantrips were mind-based, and at least two of those would be frowned upon due to their effect:

Her Disarming Wagging Tail and Contagious Yamning did fall in the exact category the humans were concerned about. She could literally make humans more willing to play with her or alternatively pacify her opponents' hostility by forcefully putting them to sleep. She even took down her very last prey using that very trick. So who were to say she was any better than this "Puppeteer" guy?

Then what?

Flee? Why should it be any better anywhere else?

Hide? Ember already decided she wouldn't.

Fight? Sure. But Great Falls people weren't her enemies. And she didn't want them to be. Yet, who cares if they were grateful for her help? She didn't help to get their approval. But that Puppeter threatening her hometown and turning her neighbor against her? That was an enemy worth fighting against. Though she knew she was currently ill-equipped to fight against them.

Are you sure? You are going to need to drastically build up your mind defenses and increase your offensive capabilities.

'Yep,' Ember confirmed, 'This is my home, and I will defend it whatever the naysayers might think about it. Just let the man know so we could get done with it.'

"You are absolutely right," Merida replied confidently.

"I do use illusion-based mind magic, even right now talking to you," She taunted even further.

"But you are in a position where you need to fight fire with fire, and you perfectly know it." Then the doll concluded:

"So let the word spread: Ember and I are going to stand out ground and defend this city with any help we could get. I will also keep healing people whenever I can and let esteemed citizens choose which one of us is the lesser evil. I had let my ambitions and methods be known weeks ago. Anyone willing to oppose me is very much welcome." She declared before adding with sarcasm and irony:

"I humiliate the last one who tried so their pride might be in danger, but at least their mind should be safe."

★☆★

And the word did spread.

The very next night, people had been waiting for them. Some were willing to join their side. Some were waiting to challenge Merida's bold claim. And some were just anxiously waiting to see what would happen.

'Maybe you should have gone easy on that poor chief,' Ember commented, as she was dubious about the doll's attempt at intimidation.

People might be rebuilding, but their mindsets have changed irrevocably. They need to see we don't need brainwashing to win a fight. And, just like the soldiers did, they need to establish their own pecking order and our place within it. I just sped up the process by threatening humans' biggest weakness: their pride.

"Okay!" Merida shouted out, "Which one of you are here to fight? Unless you want to fight dirty, I will take you one-on-one. My continued existence depends on magic, and I don't plan to fight anyone to the death. Aside from that, I will agree to any rules you want. Whichever wants to go first?"

For half a minute, only silence responded to her call until Red Fist himself stepped forward from the rest of his gangsmen.

"You are freaking ballsy for a baby comforter," He said, looking down at her, "I will fight you on the following terms: no mind magic, illusion type or otherwise, except to state your surrender. I exchange, I won't use fire or any edged weapons which I know to be your weaknesses. Let's show everyone if you are a monster of its words."

Merida's controlled face did not show any reaction to the man advertising her very weaknesses. Still, Ember knew the doll might be regretting telling that much to the policemen weeks ago.

"Deal,' The living puppet said laconically, immediately dropping the illusion around her face, causing a loud gasp in the crowd.

'Really?' Ember exclaimed, 'What did they expect?'

Humans also use to forget about anything that makes them uncomfortable. Which is doing me a favor since it justifies my everyday use of illusion magic. People are going to keep humanizing me and wrongly assume I'm being complexed about my real face.

Wish me luck?

'As if I would ever cheer for anyone else,' Ember rolled her eyes, willing to keep her own anxiety and doubt to herself.

Though she was grateful about the man establishing a precedent toward seemingly fair rules, even armed with a blunt weapon, that gangster was not playing around. And with her partner's main defense down, it was hardly a fair fight, as the brute implied.