Twila yawned. The past two nights had been long, but keeping Rackham in the dark about their ship’s powers was too important to risk an early hop and bedtime. She stared at the dress on her bed. “I don’t really want to do this,” she complained.
“I know.”
“The last time I wore it, the damn thing was so tight it dug into my sides.”
“You’ve said that.”
“We can just ambush the Marines. We’ve got Rackham now. We can take them.”
Rosie pressed her palms against her eyes and sighed. “No, we can’t. We tried that already when we thought they’d split up. It didn’t work. And we couldn’t fight them with Auntie Charlie’s help. Rackham can’t be better than her. Can she?”
“No. No way. No one’s better than Charlie,” Twila groaned. “Fine. Let’s do it quickly and get going.”
She pulled the dress over her head and adjusted it until it was comfortable. Then she grinned at Rosie. “There. That wasn’t so bad.”
“Plug it in and switch it to the formal dress.”
“Dammit.” Twila had been hoping to avoid that. But Rosie was right. The working dress wasn’t going to cut it. Not if they wanted their trick to work. She plugged it in and sent a tick of myst into it, hissing in discomfort as it rebuilt itself into a frilly, formal dress.
Rosie shook her head. “Hey, Becca! Marianna! Ellie! Come here!”
As the girls assembled, Rosie gave them instructions. Twila was pulled around as they combed out the dozens of tangles in her hair, tightened the dress, and pulled gizmos and guns out of her harness. It took forever, but before long, she looked the part of a high-society girl.
Or at least, the ship rats thought she did.
“Alright, Twila. The dress takes up a lot of slots. A gizmo, your belt, and your chest slot. Plus, if you want to look the part of a noble’s daughter, you can’t carry so many weapons.” Rosie raised an eyebrow critically. “I think you can get away with one pistol. Leave the other one behind, and give me your sword. I’ll get it to you if you need it.”
“Alright. I’ll have two free gizmo slots, right?”
“Uh, right. You lose the belt slot and one for the dress,” Becca said. “You won’t be in as much danger as the rest of us, though. Can I borrow your [Loaded Dice]?
“Uh, sure.” Twila thought for a moment. “I’ll still be in danger, though. I don’t trust Rackham here. I’m keeping [Anton’s Pocket Watch] and [Nola’s Embrace].”
“You don’t even know what that does,” Becca protested.
“No, but it’s powerful. I won’t have a sword or two pistols. I need something to keep me safe.” Twila made sure her two gizmos were ready to go, shoved [Anton’s First Pistol] into a cleverly-concealed fold on the dress’s hip, and stood up. She took the deepest breath she could, letting it out slowly. “Alright, ship rats. Rosie’s skipper until we start the ambush. Now, head to town. Jamis or one of the street rats should know the spot. I’ll meet you there. Rackham already left.”
All the pieces were in place. She knew it was going to work this time. They were going to get Auntie Charlie back. She stretched, then gasped as a piece of bone poked her stomach.
They’d get Charlie back, and she’d get out of this damn dress.
----------------------------------------
Rosie
“Hey, Becca, do you want this pistol?” Rosie asked, holding up [Anton’s Second Pistol]. “It could be helpful for the ambush.”
The girls had stationed themselves in an alleyway near the main road, close to where it passed through the cantilevered slums. They knew where…they…would go after the Marines arrested Charlie. So they’d stationed themselves on the other side of the slums. There, they could see Twila sitting on a bench, fiddling with her gizmos—and occasionally, her dress.
“No.” Becca looked horrified. She held up a hand and tried her best to take deep breaths. “I’m…I’m not killing anyone. I think I killed someone with the [Puckle Gun]. I can’t keep doing this.”
Rosie nodded and tucked the pistol into her harness. Then she held out her hand. “Do you want advice that’s not what Twila’s doing to herself?”
Becca narrowed her eyes and stared at Rosie’s outstretched hand. Rosie just stayed still. It wasn’t worth it to push things. All that’d do was make Becca not trust her. And right now, Becca needed someone she could trust.
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Then Becca reached out slowly and took Rosie’s hand. “What?”
“Okay. My dad got pressed into service as a gunner on a Brelven gunboat. Mom tried really hard to help me deal with him being gone. I ignored most of what she said, especially when I ran away to hunt him down. But one thing she did say is that you can bottle up sometimes. It’s okay. That’s what Twila’s doing right now and what she told you to do, right?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t work. The empty and the angry are still there.”
“That’s because Twila and Charlie only know half of the solution,” Rosie whispered. She winked and whispered something to Becca.
The other girl’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yep. That’s all it takes. But you have to wait for the right times. If you hold it in for too long, it’s easy to crack. I bet that’s why Auntie Charlie cut herself loose. She didn’t really deal with what she was doing. She just bottled it up. And then she told Twila that, and Twila told you. Right now’s a bad time, but once we’re on the Hourglass and things calm down, it’ll be okay to do it.”
Becca nodded slowly. Then she looked suspiciously at Rosie. “Why didn’t you tell Twila all of this?”
Rosie paused. Why hadn’t she talked to Twila about it earlier? She took a deep breath. “Twila showed me the ropes when Skipper Anton brought me on board. She’s been a great friend. But she’s really, really convinced she’s right about things until they go bad. And she doesn’t always get other people. So I was waiting for the right time to talk to her about the second half. But then you had your fight, so maybe I can show her that the second half works for you before she snaps.”
Becca looked like she wanted to say more, but Carter ran down the road, waving into the alcoves and crannies where the ship rats had hidden. Rosie drew her personal pistol. It was almost time. The ambush would be happening soon.
----------------------------------------
Twila
Twila sat on the bench and fiddled with [Anton’s Pocket Watch]. It was easy to make time pop backward, then wait a bit. Make time pop backward, then wait a bit. Plus, it made her look like she was waiting for someone important.
Which she was. Just not who anyone would suspect a high-class landcrawler would be.
She flipped the pocket watch over, looking at the silver cog. It’d started to wear a little. Had it always been worn? Was it because of all the hopping? Or was it just regular wear and tear? Either way, she’d have to get it looked at. If it stopped working in the Hourglass’s wheel mount, the whole crew could be stuck in the past.
Which would be strange because there was already a Twila there.
Was there more than one other Twila in Seapike right now? She hadn’t seen any sign that there was, but…how would she even know?
A dark-haired boy ran up the road, waving into the alleyways. He ran past her, then stopped before a menacing figure in a boat cloak. Rackham. Twila gulped and held on to the coin purse she’d been given. Rosie’s coin purse. She didn’t trust the wiley pirate, and she didn’t like her chances in a fight without most of her gear.
Rackham stepped out, holding a pistol toward her head. “Alright, you worthless land-leech! Throw down your worthless father’s purse and the gizmos!”
The pistol cocked, but Twila glanced down the road. The Marines weren’t there yet. She took a few steps back toward Seapike’s edge as the pistol grew closer.
Rackham whipped the barrel across her face.
She screamed. Then she looked down the road.
The first Marines came around the corner, dragging a bruised and battered Auntie Charlie with them. The woman looked up, eyes wide in shock, and locked gazes with Twila.
Rackham’s pistol ticked in Twila’s ear.
[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level 1.33 (Myst 12/12, Hit Points 1/1)]
[Head - Empty]
[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]
[Chest - Two-in-One Dress (lvl. 2) Quick Change (active, 1 myst/use) - Switch to the other Appearance, either Formal or Working-Class]
[Waist - Two-in-One Dress]
[Gizmo #1 - Two-in-One Dress]
[Gizmo #2 - Anton’s Pocket Watch (lvl. 4) Redo (active, 5 myst/5 seconds) - redo the last five seconds of time, with knowledge of what’s happening (1 minute to reset); Skill - Piloting]
[Gizmo #3 - Nola’s Embrace (lvl 2) Unknown Effect][Myst Battery - Condensing Battery Mk. 2 (lvl. 1) Myst Storage (passive) - 12 myst maximum, requires condenser to refill; Condense Myst (passive) - Condenses 1 myst/6 ticks]
[Weapon/Pair - Anton’s Paired Pistols (lvl. 2) Smoothbore Myst-Shot (active, 1 cartridge/shot) - fire a ray of heated myst; Rapid Shots (active, 2 myst/shot) - fire twice/tick; Skill - Marksman]
[Weapon #2 - Heatblade (lvl. 2) Heat (active, 1 myst/tick) - cause the blade’s edge to superheat; Skill - Acrobatics]
[Weapon/Pair - Empty]
[Skill #1 - High-Society Etiquette 2]
[Skill #2 - Perception 2]
[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]
[Skill #4 - Marksman 1]
[Skill #5 - Empty]