The meeting

Maria took the rest of the week for her to repair most of the emotional damage dealt on Monday. She finally started warming up again to Nin and Mya. Yuna came by their table a couple times too, a sheepish Isabelle behind her. Isabelle apologized to Maria, vowed that she'd never do something like that again. Maria couldn't talk to her, throat burned up with anger, frustration and sadness. So, after a few tries, Isabelle finally backed off. Yuna was still trying to mend things over between them. Maria told her the truth: she wasn't ready to forgive Isabelle and she didn't know if or when she'd be. Yuna hugged her tight. Then she left after Isabelle.

----

Saturday came around and Maria awaited the evening with nervousness. As promised, she arrived in the central plaza a little before sundown. Even with the cold weather, the plaza was filled with glowing fairy lights, people wandering about, some with an umbrella tucked under their arm, others with a cup of hot cocoa, hot fragrant tea or mulled wine in their hands. The smell was divine and Maria would have loved a cup of cocoa, were it not for the urgency. Scarves, hats and thick coats of all colors pranced around her as she looked around for Michael. Finally, a thick, patchy petticoat with a head of messy black hair stood out in the crowd and Maria followed him. He moved through the crowd, peeking only once behind him, before taking to the cobbled streets, each more dimly lit than the last one. Finally, arriving on a darkened alley, the foul smell indicating its use, he turned around, a sour grimace on his face.

"I thought we were going to talk alone."

"You didn't say I couldn't bring anyone with me."

Nin came forth and glared at Michael from behind her fuzzy dark purple scarf.

"Fine. It's your risk then."

He held his palm towards Maria, expecting his payment. She took a deep breath, then untied her necklace and handed it over to Michael, who picked it up, careful not to touch the stone, and wrapped it up in a wrinkled handkerchief before putting it into one of the pockets of the petticoat. Nin grimaced, but said nothing.

"The name of the one who asked for your precious memories is Mr. Brown himself."

Maria stared in shock, lips half parted.

"But why?" The words just slipped out.

"Don't know. It's not a thing you ask in my line of work."

"How come you're even allowed to tell us this?" Nin asked, squinting.

"Well, we wouldn't be in a stinky back alley if I were allowed... Now, I want to make something clear. This information is not to leave this alley. Neither of you is allowed to say it or write it down anywhere else."

"Because if we slip, you're the one taking the fall." Nin said, arms crossed.

"Precisely."

"How can we trust this information?" Maria asked warily.

"I wouldn't be sticking my neck out by pointing fingers at the principal himself if I weren't speaking the truth."

That's when it suddenly clicked.

"I know why he did this."

It made sense now! Maria did overhear their conversation when he came to Earth and he must have wanted to know exactly how much did she overhear... Probably to see if that tampered with that good vision.

Mr. Brown might have good intentions for Aether, but it was becoming quite clear he'd be ready to put her in harm's way if that meant that Aether would be saved.

Michael headed towards the back of the alley, saluting the girls, his smirk a lot more tense than the usual, almost careless one.

"Well, I'll let you mull over your new acquisition. Stay safe and keep me out of trouble!" The last phrase felt well rehearsed, as if he'd said it hundreds of times before.

He then vanished into the shadowy alley.

An awkward silence spread through the stench.

"Nin?" Maria asked, hesitantly.

"..Yeah?"

"Do you think the principal would be mean enough to force all newly enrolled earthen students to live on campus just to be able to spy on me?"

She gave it a moment to think about, before she answered:

"Well, ****." Nin swore.

----

"How was it? How did it go? You promised you'd tell me everything!" Mya sat down on the fluffy pink blanket, hands moving in excitement.

"Well, we found out our answer..." Maria said, nervously.

"Come on, don't keep me waiting!" Mya jumped up and down on the bed.

"It's confidential... But we can tell you it's not a student." Nin said

Mya's eyes went wide.

"You don't mean...". Before she could say anything else, Nin grabbed her by the shoulders, her excited jumping stopped.

"Mya, even this small bit of information can't leave this room. Someone finds out... Maria could be in a lot of trouble."

"Okay" Mya's voice was high pitched as she looked at Nin, then at Maria.

"Are you in trouble?" She asked softly, which wasn't like her at all. She must be really worried.

Maria sat down on the bed next to her.

"Well, not... directly. It's... a really complicated story that I don't feel safe to tell here."

Then an idea struck her.

"But! Maybe Earth would be a little less guarded?"

Mya's eyes sparkled.

"Are you saying you and Nin are going to show me around Earth?! That would be-"

"I don't know about this..." Nin interrupted the excited chatter. "It could put you and the shady guy in a delicate position if someone from our dimension heard the discussion..." she continued.

“Yeah, but I could help you out if I knew who we should watch out for! I am Maria’s classmate, I could help her a lot more directly than you, Nin!” Mya pulled a face. “You should have let me come with you…”

Nin sighed.”We already went over this. You aren’t exactly the stealthy type and Michael might have thought three was too much and just vanish into the crowd.”

Maria cleared her throat, bringing back the attention to herself. “Mya’s right. I could really use a classmate watching my back. She needs to know. We have to go to Earth.”

"Fine." Nin sighed. Mya squealed with joy, jumping up and down again, making the bed tremble under Maria as well.

"But! You talk to no one else about this matter!" Nin insisted.

"Ok! I will keep these secrets hidden! I promise!"

----

After a frantic call from her dad when Maria didn't come home on Saturday, in which she gently explained her, Nin and Mya were preparing for a little field trip to Earth tomorrow, they went to sleep. Maria tossed and turned, trying to come to terms with this new information.

She really didn't like thinking about the visions. Good or bad, the unknown and dangerous just scared her. Up until now, she hadn't realized that it scared other people too, like her dad or the director. Was Mrs. White scared too, or did she just know about her own vision? Did Rachel and Yuna know about this whole thing too? Thinking about Yuna left a bitter taste in her mouth. Sure, it wasn't her fault, but... she insisted on staying with Isabelle, trying to convince Maria to forgive her when she wasn't ready. It just... hurt, seeing her choose Isabelle’s friendship over Maria's. A small tear glided down her cheek. She had to think about something else...

Suddenly, she remembered Michael's roguish smile, his black hair shining under the fairy lights of the central plaza. Did he now know of the visions as well? He must have, after all, it must have been what the director asked for. The director... Maria really didn't know what to make of him. Was he a good guy or a bad guy? One thing was for sure though: he couldn't be trusted if he'd send someone to hurt her. The thoughts grew more dissonant as Maria slipped into a dream, filled with golden fairy lights and hot cocoa, kisses under the moonlight, swallowed by terrible darkness.

---

The three girls went through the portal, arriving at the small abandoned building Maria had grown so used to. Mya's eyes were as wide as tea saucers as she looked at the apartment complexes surrounding the small house, the concrete ground, the cars in the parking lot. She took it all in breathless silence, then she squealed like a little kid on Christmas. She was wearing a set of Maria's clothes, a bit long on her, which made her look even more like child.

"Mya, calm down! It's just a parking lot."

"You. Have. Pink. Carriages!" She ran towards a pink car and she touched its smooth metal surface. Nin ran after her, her cheeks red in embarrassment. Maria ran after Nin, thinking they should have explained to Mya what Earth was like a little better.

They went through Maria's neighborhood, heading towards a quaint small cafe where they'd hopefully have a little privacy. Through hushed voices, Nin and Maria tried to explain to a very stunned Mya what cars where, what's an apartment complex and a million other silly questions she asked with the innocence of a child.

They arrived at Cuppa Coffee and sat down at a corner table, ordering some breakfast before Maria started explaining who had sent Michael. If it were possible, Mya eyes got even wider and she paled at the news.

"But why would he do that?" She asked quietly.

"Back then, you said you knew why. Care to share so we know what we're getting into, Maria?" Nin asked, a small black coffee in her grasp.

Maria gulped. "Well..." Did she trust them that much? She awaited for the voices to say some dark comment about how the girls couldn't be trusted, but, for once, there was complete silence in her head. And that unnerved her more than any shouting would have done.

"Maria?" Asked Mya, a tad worried, and Maria was suddenly brought back to the table.

"Sorry... I got lost in thoughts..." Maria took a gulp of coffee before finally answering the dreaded question. "It's really complicated... I am sorry... I just-"

Nin put her hand on Maria's shoulder.

"Look. It's alright. No pressure. You can tell us later, okay? We could come for another cup of coffee and some breakfast."

"Yeah, for sure!" Cheered Mya, then dug into a big stack of maple syrup pancakes. "But you'll tell how we can help too, right?" She added, chewing through a mouthful.

"..Right. Of course I will." Maria promised, still half unsure about the whole thing.

They ended up walking trough Maria's hometown a bit, the familiar places brought into a new light by Mya's curiosity. They had a great day all in all, even with the chill of late autumn enveloping the streets, which the girls warded off with hot cocoa.

.

They went back trough the portal, the air quite a bit warmer on the other side. Maria said her goodbyes and headed back towards her home for the night, eager for a good night's sleep. As she arrived in the little courtyard of their apartment, she noticed something odd. A little piece of paper was stuck to their door, still fluttering in the wind, seemingly trying to escape. The note was stuck to the door... by a dagger. A rusty, rugged dagger, no trace of blood on it, but still a dagger. Maria looked around the courtyard anxiously, scrutinizing every shadow, before carefully walking towards their door. She ripped the note from the door, before quickly opening the door to the apartment and closing it behind her.

-

In messy writing, filled with ink splotches, the note read: "Where are you?".

The house was empty, wind howling through a window that was left open. And where she expected panicked shouting of the voices, there was nothing but horribly calm silence.

-

Edit: Yeah, let's be quirky, I'll add an ominous note on the door to spook the readers!

Then proceeds to realize that this contradicts the story so much I had to change the antagonist completely... Mistakes were made.

But hey, this one is for the better, you'll see. I'll add some in-depth explanations on tumblr.