Wendy rode the platform to the top of the tower, twitching and pulling at her clothes. She was still feeling exposed without her armor on. She wiped at her eyes as she arrived at the top, already hearing her Dad’s snores.

She smiled.

“Hey!” Her Mum waved her over, even changing forms to give her a big hug. It made Wendy want to melt, but she couldn’t quite let herself. Her first few days with her Mum had been pretty rough, and it was taking longer to forget them than she hoped.

What was worse was that she saw the little twitch around the eyes, the tiny change in the voice that her Mum thought she hid. She knew her Mum wanted her to trust her, and she did… just not all the way, not yet.

Not like Dad.

“Sorry, I was just looking for Dad,” Wendy said, seeing the little flash of disappointment on Bell’s face, “I wanted him to make something for me.”

“Maybe I can help?” Her mum offered.

“I don’t think so,” Wendy said, “I need a storage item for Scruff. So she can carry some dirt around with her.”

“What happened?” Her mum asked, and Wendy finally realized she hadn’t made time to tell her Mum about their adventures yet. A flash of guilt went through her.

“When we were transported away, she was put somewhere with no place to grow anything, so she grew them…inside her wounds.” Wendy shuddered.

“Fuck!” Her mum gasped. “That’s pretty impressive.”

“What?” Wendy had expected some reaction, but not that one.

“Wendy, that must have really hurt.” Her mum took her hand, “She had to have something very important to her to fight for.”

“I suppose,” Wendy admitted, “But I never want her to have to do that again.”

“Our fault,” Bell shook her head. “We should have given her a storage device ages ago. She is just so damn capable; we tend to think she can just handle things without help.”

“I was so scared,” Wendy said, her voice shaking. “I couldn’t even find her on my own.”

“Well, two birds then,” Her mum came over and held out something in her hand.

“What is it?” Wendy asked. Her mum was holding out what looked like a pair of small squares on a short, silver chain.

“A bonding chain,” Bell said excitedly. “You hold one square; she holds the other. Then you both pull. When the chain breaks, you will both absorb the cubes and get access to a shared storage space.”

“This is great, Mum. Thanks.” Wendy smiled, touched by the gift.

“You will also both be able to sense where the other is at all times.” Her mum smiled. “I mean, you can choose to block it if you want, but otherwise!”

“It’s perfect, thank you.” Wendy gave her Mum a quick hug. “Can I hang out here for a while? Scruff is a little mad at me.”

“Want to talk about it?” Bell offered.

“I dunno,” Wendy hesitated. “I think I might have messed up.”

“So after everything I went through, not being able to find her….” Wendy trailed off.

“Plus, finding her almost dead!” Her mum commiserated.

“Exactly!” Wendy huffed. “So I offered to absorb her into the Express, make her a mob so I could always find her.”

“And she flipped out?” Her mum asked gently.

“Yes! She acted like I was being stupid!” Wendy wiped angry tears from her eyes. “I just didn’t want ever to lose her again.”

“You have to be gentle with non-pixies.” Her mum huffed, “They don’t understand things properly. There are all these silly ideas about independence and stuff.”

“I know,” Wendy slumped in her chair, “I got all of that from Dad’s memories. It’s so weird.”

“They can’t help it,” Her mum looked over at Bert. “It’s how they are raised.”

“But what do I do?” Wendy asked.

“Go find her; tell her you were just panicked and that, of course, you understand why she wouldn’t want to be a mob.” Her Mum smiled, “Then give her the storage and forget to tell her she can turn it off.”

“That’s brilliant!” Wendy grinned. She trotted over to the platform and then stopped and turned back. “You know, Dad would be better off with you than with Gwen any day!” She hopped on the platform and waved as it dropped away.

=============

Bell watched her daughter as she left and smiled. Things were really getting better between them these days.

Remembering those first few days was painful. She had been so angry, and so hurt, and so… jealous. That was the worst of it. Sure, she was worried she had lost part of herself, which was terrifying. But even after Bert reassured her, she hadn’t; she had still been tense and anxious.

It was only when Bert was hurt that she realized what the problem was.

The problem was Bert.

It was really all his fault. He had stumbled into her life, a fat, quivering idiot of a man she could bend to her will and consistently proved insufferably… loveable.

She should have put out extra spike traps those first few days.

And what did he do when she was badly hurt and desperately needed help?

The little bastard had fought his way through an entire city of the undead and faced down a lich just to save her!

True, she had to save him right back, but that only made it worse!

A fat, clumsy, soft-hearted, sunburned, and desperate oaf was perfect as a Caretaker! Any pixie could handle one of those types.

But now? Now, he was proving to be more difficult. He went and got all fit and tanned, which was bad, but he stayed the same lovable idiot the entire time!

And then, poof, instant daughter.

She had done it to prove her superiority, her power over them both.

He was supposed to rage, to complain, and most especially… to suck at it!

Instead, he insisted on being a good father and a bloody loving one, too!

She ended up complaining and raging and being a sucky parent. Not him.

She only just resisted the urge to fly over there and slap him, just thinking about it.

She had seen him look at their daughter with love in his eyes… and wham! Instant rage.

It took ages before she realized that when he looked at someone who was just like her with love, she hated that he didn’t look like that at her.

And he kept doing things!

Just today, he had said he missed her… and not as a joke.

And she was happy he said it.

HOW DARE HE!

A half-hour later, once she calmed down, she looked over at him again.

He was lying with his mouth wide open, snoring and drooling.

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She smiled.

What was wrong with her? That was disgusting! She shouldn’t see that and go all ‘awww.’ She should feel disgusted.

Bell fluttered up out of her chair, only to stop and go back.

She drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair.

There was no point fighting it; she liked him.

She had always liked him; this was just in a slightly different way. But it was still liking him. All she had to do was admit it, and it would be over.

And what better time than now, when he couldn’t argue!

Go on! She told herself, just open your mouth and tell him! Get it over with before he wakes up; just say, ‘Bert, I like you!’

“Bert, I love you!” She slapped her hands over her mouth, peering down her nose at it in horror.

It wasn’t true!

It was a lie!

She was tired!

She was… fucked. She was completely and totally fucked.

Bell glared at Bert.

Her fingers drummed a rapid beat on the arms of her chair. This was his fault, and he had to pay.

No, it was just no good.

He was responsible for making her feel this way, so it was his responsibility to make it right.

Bell felt a huge weight she had not even been aware of lifting from her.

It wasn’t her fault. He did it, so he would just have to be hers.

It was only fair, after all.

She could be happy that way. So could he. Bert would be happier with her than with anyone else. Even if it killed him.

Bell brightened further. Especially if it killed him.

Bell started to hum happily to herself as the Waystation crunched its way through the sea of shell creatures.

It was good to have made a decision at last.

==============

Rose followed Lily through the passageways of the Bear’s Fall. Her sister had been very excited since they got back, and it was worrying her.

After climbing another flight of stairs, they emerged into a small corridor right up in the roof of the Lodge. Five rooms led off this hall, all of them huge.

The sloped roof looked incredible, and the same furnishings and details were here as well.

“So, it’s just more rooms.” Rose sighed. “Really big posh rooms, but I don’t get it?” She shrugged, “So what?”

“It says staff quarters on the door going up to this floor!” Lily beamed. “Didn’t you see?”

“Well, it’s not for us!” Rose warned her. “This will be for, like, the really important servants that come with guests or something.”

“We could ask?” Lily hesitated.

“You can if you want, but they will just say no!” Rose warned.

“Miss Bell?” Lily closed her eyes. “Are the guest quarters in the Bear’s Fall okay for us to use?”

“What are you doing?” Rose laughed, then gasped as a Multi-Bell popped into existence in front of her sister.

“Wow, I didn’t even remember these were up here.” The Multi-Bell looked around. She seemed to concentrate for a moment. “Bell wants to know if you would prefer these rooms or to have specially made ones in the barn?”

“I really like this one,” Lily said shyly.

“One sec!” The Multi-Bell concentrated again. “All yours!”

The sisters watched the name Lily appear on the door in an ornate, flowing script.

“How about you, Rose?” It turned to her.

“Umm, I would like to stay near my sister?” Rose asked hesitantly.

“Sure!” Her name appeared on the door opposite her sister’s room. “Anything else you need?”

“No, thank you, Lady Bell.” Lily bowed her head.

“Thank you,” Rose did the same.

“Great,” The Multi-Bell paused. “Oh, and Bell said to tell you that you both did incredibly well and thank you for helping to find Scruff!” With that, it popped like a soap bubble.

Lily squealed in joy, throwing herself on the vast bed.

Rose hung around the doorway, her hands rubbing absently against each other as she frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked. “Don’t you like it up here?”

“It’s not that,” Rose said. “I’m just still angry about earlier.” Her stomach twisted as she remembered it.

“It was really scary,” Lily sighed. “Worth it for this room, though!”

“Was it?” Rose asked. “Aren’t you really angry?”

“Why would I be?” Lily frowned, sliding off the bed.

“She made you take a class!” Rose whispered urgently. “Just to find her friend!”

“Oh, Oh!”Lily’s eyes widened, and then she burst out laughing.

“Don’t laugh at me!” Rose felt her cheeks flush. “I got us into this whole thing. It’s my fault!”

“Rose, relax!” Lily said, still chuckling a bit. “She didn’t MAKE me.”

“What?” Rose asked. “I saw her, don’t you remember?”

“She asked me. Not ordered me.” Lily said. “And even if she had, we didn’t swear to her.”

“But you just did it.” Rose felt like her head was spinning. “You didn’t even hesitate.”

“That girl, Scruff. She’s her girlfriend. As in, she loves her,” Lily explained. “I know how it feels, that kind of loss.” Lily swallowed. “I could spare her that, so I did.” She smiled and spun around the room. “Those same skills helped me find this place! I just wanted to find where the servant’s area was… and bam!” She grinned.

“I thought… She thought…” Rose sat down heavily on the bed.

“Yeah, she mentioned something, but I told her I did it myself,” Lily said off-handedly while she was examining her new hair in a large mirror.

“She thought she was making you,” Rose felt the certainty of her anger again. “And she did it anyway.”

Lily sighed and turned to face her sister.

“You knew what you were doing when you took the oath. Why get pissed when people expect us to hold up our end of the deal?” Lily asked.

“You didn’t, though,” Rose complained. “And you did it anyway.”

“Excuse me for assuming my sister, the smart one, would have thought it through.” Lily’s voice was sharp.

“I thought I had,” Rose argued back. “But living it is different.”

“Of course it is!” Lily shouted at her. “It took me about a second to realize how badly wrong this could go!” She deflated. “But there is no way out of it. For us, or them.”

“No,” Rose’s voice cracked slightly. “There isn’t.”

“So why fight it?” Lily asked.

“What?” Rose looked horrified.

“There is no way out of this… oath.” Lily grimaced. “But we could have made it to much worse people. And it is forever. No escape.” She looked at her sister. “Whatever we become is no longer our choice. I’ve accepted that, and honestly, it is kind of freeing.”

“Lily!” Rose scolded her sister.

“Fight it all you want, Sis,” Lily said calmly, starting to brush her new hair in the mirror. “Argue, rage, resist, none of it will matter in the end.”

“Stop it, Lily.” Rose stomped over to her sister. “You’re scaring me.”

“You made this choice!” Lily snapped at her. “You don’t get to complain when it is exactly what it said it would be!”

“I didn’t make you join me!” Rose snapped back. “You made your own choice!”

“I did,” Lily smiled. “And I have decided I’m okay with it.”

“Oh, you’ve decided, have you?” Rose sneered.

“I have,” Lily nodded calmly. “You did, too. You just haven’t realized it yet.”

Rose stormed out of her sister’s room and slammed the door.

Standing there in the hall, she felt very alone.

Her sister was so close, and yet she had never seemed so far away.

Walking into her own room, she looked around the opulent furnishings and felt sick.

Lily was right about one thing. She made her decision when she made the oath. There was no taking it back.

Unlike her sister, Rose was worried she wouldn’t be able to live with it.

And that was the problem.

Even death would not get her out of this.

She made a Timeless Oath, and for the first time, she felt the reality of that.

Sliding down to the floor as her legs gave way, she wept.

===============

Tim kicked his Ball across the grass, sending it spinning off behind the Barn. He waved to Bud and ran off after it.

That should buy him some time.

He found the skull resting against the back of the barn and picked it up. He looked carefully around, making sure no one could see him.

Sitting down and cradling the skull in his lap, he turned it to face up at him.

In his mind, he saw the flaming hands of the Mage Captain.

He slapped the skull.

“Teach!” He demanded.

The skull remained silent.

“Teach!” he shook the skull.

The jaw fell off.

“Stupid Ball!” He slammed it against the ground a few times, but it refused to do any teaching. Tim crossed his arms and clacked his jaw.

In his mind, he could see the Mage Captain and see the flames flickering around his hands.

Staring down at his hands, he concentrated.

Nothing happened.

Tim growled and slapped himself on the top of the head.

He had magic; he could feel it just out of reach.

How did Bud do it? Bud was the smartest skeleton Tim had ever seen, so he must use the best way.

Tim thought, remembering the lines on Bud’s bones. The ones that shone when he used magic.

He looked at his own bones, smooth and totally absent lines.

Tim stared at the bone, clenching his teeth… and a crude line appeared.

Then another.

And another.

Tim had to stop and rest a few times. Making the lines hurt in a weird way, but he was determined.

Finally, he got the simple lines down one arm and onto his hand. He concentrated, forcing mana into the lines.

At the far tip of his little finger, there was a spark.

Tim clapped his hands in joy, then froze.

Species Change Unlocked.

Gnork Skeleton to Waystation Gnork

Accept Y/N?

Tim scratched his head. The prompt was new to him, but the last time one came up, it asked if he wanted to join Bud as a minion.

And that was a good thing.

So this must be a good thing, too.

Tim made his decision and then began to shake and thrash as knotwork mana channels burned themselves into his bones.

The tides rolled into and out of his system for the first time, burning away the blockages in his system.

Raising a single shaking hand, Tim concentrated… and fire burned on his hand.

Tim clacked his teeth in joy.

He had done it!