#115

“What the fuck was that?” Mina and Susie asked at the same time. It was a miracle, to be sure, but if it was, it came too late. Only minutes into the battle—which now seemed pretty decently resolved, in all honesty—and Jacob and Mark had been captured, taken to an unknown location in the south. The battle seemed intended only for the capture of members of the group. In reality, the devices that had seized Jacob and Mark had been intended—by the Emperor—for Madame Levingt and You, but they were blind. But the Empire had underestimated Madame Levingt's power and foresight.

At least, so the official story (the one told to the Emperor) goes. There are rituals to be done, and there are other rituals at work besides those of Fox. An ultimate push was needed. Now there was true urgency; no time to lose. There was pity in the air for the young people, but it was anonymous, and wasn't sensed.

Susie and Mina had returned to the bridges, and met up with each other.

“I saw Jacob get...”

“And I saw Mark...”

“Damn.”

They look over, then, at where the drawbridge You had burnt once was. You had returned to the other side of the chasm, no doubt after having sensed that lack of enemies. He seemed to beckon for them to cross over and join him.

Mina pointed to the canal. “We can't get over there, Yorick! You burned the bridge, remember?”

You pauses for a second, and then seems to be comprehend. However, his reaction is to turn and leave. Mina looks over at Susie.

“Did I offend him?” she asks.

“I, uh...I think he's beyond being offended at this point,” Susie replies. Then she says quietly, though Mina can hear her: “I know he still knows what he's doing. He always does, even like this.”

As if in response, You comes running back, carrying a very large object over his head. It's his foosball table airboat. It had been stored all this time, in a paid covered dock, and it's survived the bombing somehow. It looks like it's in working order, too; though it lacks a battery, You could maybe power it up using his new fuel abilities.

“Oh my God,” Mina says then. She just stares at it for a second, until at last he sets it down, jostling a charred Crimson corpse as it touches the water.

And suddenly, the action runs out; the clock slows to its ordinary tick; and the battle is over.

“Are we supposed to follow in that?” Mina whispers to Susie. Susie says nothing, and climbs inside.

“Wait. What are you doing...?”

“I am about to go with You. With him. To rescue your cousin and our friend.”

“You're just...jumping in, then?”

“Yes.”

“They're headed south! What state are we in? Assuming your America followed some basic history guidelines...”

“I've been told that in the 20^th Century, they called this place...Louisiana.”

Mina's hands, which had normally been gesticulating, dropped to her sides. “Great, Louisiana, and New Cenabum—Cenabum being what? The Roman name for Orleans, I'd guess, something like that...?” She sighs. They're in Nahlins. And south from here is maybe a bit more of Louisiana, and after that...

“You do know where this will take us, right? Like, I trust Yorick, he's your friend, but alas, poor him, he's no engineer. He...said he made this out of a foosball table, right?”

“That he did.”

She computes some stuff in her head, and the nerdy girl who had never dreamed of having her school attacked by undead cyborgs came back as those computations entered. This girl had the spade to bury the action heroine that had just been out for the last several days.

“Come on.”

Susie was holding her hand out.

Then Mina laughed.

“You must be his brother in some way. If he'd been the one kidnapped by his father, you would've been the one building airboats, fighting cultists, trusting sorcerers. You would've rescued him just as easily as he rescued you.”

“Probably better. And don't forget. He is still at stake.”

Mina pauses. Some tension bleeds out of her. “You think going and saving Jake the Dolt and Mark the Hipster will get Yorick's soul back?”

“I get the impression it will win us favor with those who hold his soul. Don't forget. They have a backup plan.”

Another pause. “Is this why we're...starting to take off, without telling the Doctor or anyone?” She's already gotten in the boat, incidentally.

“They'll catch up in The House once that's fixed if I'm wrong. But. I don't believe I'm wrong. There's a trial ahead for the sake of the soul. Or, the soul is being withheld for some reason. We just need to have faith. Maybe having faith will compound whatever award we have up ahead waiting for us. At least, that's the impression I'm getting out of You. Of him. I can feel something about him, being close to him as I am, and it's...challenging.”

“You think you know something about one of them?”

“Of course. And if my suppositions are correct—we need to have faith.”

As the ship begins to head south down the canal, Mina smirks. “I'll put faith in you, girl. Don't know why. Maybe it's just because I just saw two sides of me, and I'm picking the one I like. Maybe in more ways than one.” Her expression widens in greater humor. “For a farm girl, you have soft hands.”

“Don't.”

“Ah, but you're smiling.”

“No.” But she is. “Um...are you...shipping?”

“What better place for ships than a ship?”

“You is right there.”

Mina's about to make a joke at You's expense, but suddenly can't do it.

“Well, at least...whoever you're putting faith in. At least They sponsor also having faith in humor.”

“It's a wide gulf we're entering, friend. I'm sure our benefactor knows we need it.”

And indeed, having approved all this, She does.