"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

A. A. Milne, English Writer

Milly was halfway through forming the earthen walls of Rain’s workshop when Calista’s telepathic message came in.

“Milly, honey, are you there?”

Calista’s voice filled her mind with perfect clarity. It felt like a warm blanket had settled over her.

“Hey Cally! I miss you. How was the planning?” Milly asked, as she stared at a small hole in the northern wall of the workshop that needed to be filled.

For the first time since Milly had accepted The Scarred Witch class, she regretted not having access to the civilization talent web. There was an entire section on magical construction, and although Milly could fashion small structures such as walls and benches, and even decorate them to a limited extent, the elaborate buildings and monuments that could be magically crafted would forever be outside of her grasp.

She waved her hand over the hole, and it disappeared.

“We know what the hearing will look like, and we have a plan. Elmer found witnesses willing to testify that the Carthage sisters started the fight.”

“So… it’s like a… real court?” Milly asked, her heart lurching in her chest.

The peace from the meadow abruptly shattered within her, as if a giant stone had suddenly shot through her windshield.

“Mostly. It won’t just be Brass as the judge. Elmer and Alison would have none of that. They settled on judge for each faction, acting as a panel, so that each faction had a voice in final decisions.”

“That’s… Cally, can we talk about this in person? I just… I think I need you to hold me before you tell me the details,” Milly asked as her knees began to shake.

“Baby, are you alright?” Calista asked, concerned. “You sound scared.”

“I… I have something to show you. Can you get Rain and Passi and use the Waypoint Pillar to come to me. You’ll know which waypoint it is. Did Billy cook the goose tonight?”

“… are you safe?”

“Yes. You’ll see when you get here. I just… I need you right now.”

“… okay. We’ll be there soon. I love you,” Calista said softly.

“I love you too, Cally.”

Milly felt Calista’s voice leave her mind, and she let herself collapse to the mossy meadow floor. Anxiety gripped at her heart and her breath grew shallow and rapid.

What did you expect Milly? Brass is a lawyer. Of course she was going to model it after a real court. Why did you delude yourself into thinking it would be something else?

She had been to court before, two years to the day after her foster father had been criminally charged. That night – the night she had relived in the Arena of Choice – had been the worse night of her life, but it was the events that followed that solidified the trauma so deep within her that it had set the course of her life thereafter.

Those two years of waiting were filled with anxiety-fueled nightmares that had stripped her of what little resilience she’d managed to build as a child. The constant reminders from social workers, psychologists, prosecutors, and the never-ending cycle of faceless foster parents of her violation had replaced her resilience with a cold, lonely isolation that she’d wrapped around herself like a protective shell.

Those were the years when she’d given herself the scars on her wrists. Those where the years when she wanted to end it all.

By the time her foster father’s trial arrived, after months of false starts and delay tactics, Milly was a broken child. The final torture was enduring eight hours as the primary witness at the trial. The prosecutor forced her to describe every single step of his violation of her in soul-piercing detail, then she had to survive hours on end of her foster father’s defense counsel calling her a liar and questioning her judgment.

All the while, she had to stare at the man who stole her childhood – his hungry eyes fixed on hers and the smirk he had reserved only for her plastered across his face.

All hope of living a happy life died within her that day. All that was left was a broken woman, for those two years had killed the child she had once been.

The guilty verdict had felt hollow, and his six-month sentence would have been laughable if her laughter had not died with the child.

That day, as court concluded and he was led away in handcuffs, Milly walked out of the courtroom in a daze. She didn’t return to her foster home – her fourth since it had happened – and since she was now sixteen years old, no one came to look for her.

Or, perhaps they did, and she was simply never found. She’d spend months on the streets after that, trying to survive and hoping she wouldn’t.

The memory left her, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

I thought I had left that all behind me. I put on a brave face against Stone and Brass. But here I am, still the same lost girl, paralyzed by her past.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Milly sat in her meadow as the sun creeped over the western mountains, and even its perfection could not soothe the anxious, injured witch that the memory had left in its wake.

* * *

Milly thought she had successfully bottled up her rampaging emotions by the time Calista, Rain, and Passi arrived at the meadow. She wanted nothing more than to enjoy this moment alongside them, watching and laughing as they explored the peaceful meadow. She wanted to see their faces light up with the same potential that she had experienced herself when she first entered their new sanctuary.

She had wanted that so badly.

Instead, as Calista approached, Milly’s ill-constructed emotional dam shattered. She ran into Calista’s arms, clutched her tighter than she ever had before, and wept. She wept all the tears she had buried beneath the cold and lonely shell she had built as a child. It was as if the love she had finally found with her new family had finally melted those childhood tears so they could finally be shed.

It was an hour before Milly had collected herself enough to tell her story to Calista. It was the first time that reliving the trauma of her past didn’t feel like just another knife stabbed into her chest. Instead, nestled in the arms of the woman she loved, it felt like a balm on a long-opened wound.

Calista simply held Milly and listened. There was no judgement. No trying to fix her. No telling her she was wrong or to grow up. Calista gave none of the dismissals Milly had heard as a child. There was only love.

By the end, Milly tears had transformed from tears of sorrow to tears of relief. Finally, after all these years, she found within herself the first steps towards true acceptance of what had happened to her and the profound impact it’d had on her life.

“Sorry, Cally,” Milly apologized for the hundredth time, as she wiped her palm hand across her nose to clear away the tears and snot from her ugly cry. “I must look like an absolute mess.”

“You look beautiful,” Calista said, her shoulder soaked with Milly’s tears. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that, honey. You’re so strong to survive what happened to you, and I love you all the more for that strength.”

“I don’t feel strong,” Milly said, but even as the words escaped her, she knew it was not true. After years of suppressing her past, she was finally starting to come to terms with it. What had happened would forever be a part of her, but, when her healing was done, it would become a source of strength rather than a weakness.

Milly gazed around the meadow, feeling lighter than she had in years. Passi ran across the meadow, laughing and twirling her arms, as she danced from bush to bush and stuffed her mouth full of berries. Their succulent juices dribbled down her chin and onto her dress. Milly couldn’t help but laugh when her first thought was how she would get rid of the stains on Passi’s dress.

“You’re such a mom,” Calista teased with affection. “Luckily, you’re a magical mom, so I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Milly smiled, and she didn’t dispute Calista’s words.

Rain was at the western end of the meadow, examining the stone frame that Milly’s had started constructing for her alchemy workshop. Rain had her notebook open and was already sketching out additions that she’d need Milly to build.

“So… Cally’s Twin Peaks?” Calista said with a raised eyebrow, when she saw Milly’s mind settle.

“It was just a joke!” Milly protested, as a blush broke across her face. “I was thinking of something else, and the system won’t let me change it.”

“Thinking of something else, were you? Please tell me that name isn’t public to all players,” Calista said. The horrified look on Milly’s face told her everything she needed to know.

“I… I think I’m ready to hear about this trial,” Milly deflected skillfully.

Calista let her have this one.

“In the end, there’s not much to it,” Calista began. “It will work much like a normal trial – witnesses, cross-examination, the whole nine yards – except there will be three judges. Judy Brass is the judge for the CEOs, obviously. Billy’s going to be the Freelancer judge…”

“That’s lucky for us,” Milly interrupted. “He hates Brass with a passion.”

“Yah, he’s eager for the chance to finally be on equal footing with her. The Farmer’s representative is someone named Lucy Dawson. She went through two years of law school before she realized farming was her true calling. I think that decision alone makes her the smartest of the three.”

“I think I met her earlier this week in the garden. A little shorter than me, blond ponytail down her back, cute button nose? Dressed in a knee-length black skirt and white sleeveless top?” asked Milly.

Calista raised a curious eyebrow at her. “Cute button nose?”

“Not… not that I was looking,” Milly denied. “She seemed very… um… studious?”

“Oh, did she now?” Calista pried, secretly enjoying Milly tripping over her own words. “And did you… study her back?”

“I… I mean she was really attentive to the plants,” Milly stuttered.

“Uh huh,” Calista teased. “Well, if Lucy is as… studious… as you say she is, then Alison made a good decision picking her. Alison is a smart lady, and surprisingly crafty. Near the end of our negotiations, the CEOs almost walked away, until Alison suggested Brass get two votes whereas Billy and Lucy would each get one, as long as ties go to the defendant. Brass leapt at that offer, and we sealed the deal. Thankfully, I don’t think Brass is very good at math. Her second vote is pointless. If ties go to the defender, we win if Billy and Lucy stay aligned regardless of Brass’ extra vote.”

Milly giggled at the thought of the wool pulled over Brass’ eyes. The woman was highly ambitious, but there was a reason she was running an insignificant law firm based out of the dilapidated Castle of Glass.

“Alison and Elmer have our witnesses lined up. There were a few who were close enough to see the Carthage sisters attacking Passi. Rain and I will be there too. The only remaining question is whether you should attend.”

“I… I should, right? The CEOs don’t want me to attend so they can paint me as a malcontent,” Milly replied weakly. She went white at the thought of showing up.

“Yes, but I don’t think you should come, honey,” Calista said with compassion. “I don’t want you to put yourself through that. Not after what you went through. Rain and I can telepathically message you if things go south and we need you to make an appearance.”

“I… okay, Cally,” Milly was quick to agree. “I’ll wait in the meadow until it is over. It’ll… distract me.”

“It’s going to be fine, my love,” Calista promised as she rubbed Milly’s back. “And, if it doesn’t go well, then you and I can figure out how we go about punching Stone and Brass in their stupid faces.”

Milly snorted with laughter, and a little tension left her.

“Yah, I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”

They spent the remainder of the evening together in the meadow. Rain spread a blanket next to the calming river, and Calista pulled a roasted goose dinner out of her inventory. Passi ran back and forth between the berry pushes, proudly depositing heaping handfuls of raspberries and blueberries onto the blanket for dessert. Milly collected dried branches from the woods across the river, and soon there was a roaring campfire that bathed them in warmth and light.

They dined under the stars, gathered together as a family and basking in the love that flowed between them. She stayed cuddled together with Calista against the cold as Passi devoured the goose and Rain excitedly planned out her new workshop. It was everything Milly had ever wanted in life but never had the strength to hope for. She had that strength now.

Milly would remember that night as the happiest night in her short, lonely life. A night of healing. A night of love. A night of family.

But all nights must end.

And tomorrows can change everything.