I pride myself on being logical and realistic. I believe in the ability of science to explain that which is real and true. The Keys and Keyholders, however, tend to push what is explainable by science. Much can be written off as hallucinations or an overall degradation of sanity, likely due to the stress the Keys put on those that hold them. But there are some things that defy explanation, that spit in the face of the scientific method and laugh manically at those that seek to employ it.

  -S’il Vala Reshka’i

  --------------------------

  Robin floated off Maggie’s shoulder, growing to full size as he kept pace with her and Electra. He was frowning, his hands folded behind his back, and he didn’t even bother pretending to walk. “You don’t seem very upset by any of this.” He said, looking at Electra. “I would have thought you’d be angry at least.”

  “Oh, I am angry.” Electra looked at Robin, her dark eyes steely. “You and your brother kidnapped my niece, and put her in a situation we tried very hard to keep her out of. If you were corporeal I would wring your neck. But as much as I may want to make you pay, you’ve already paid more than I could ever imagine. How did you die anyways? I assume it has something to do with Ancient’s technology. One thing you can always depend on with that, is that it will do the unexpected.”

  “My mother had a Key but it- but she-” Robin took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. At least he didn’t have to watch where he was going, otherwise he would have tripped. “It was a bad reaction. We were trying to get her to Doc Tomas, to see if he could do anything, but we were too late. It exploded. Ripped her to shreds before shrinking back down to its inert state.”

  Maggie froze, staring at Robin. He hadn’t mentioned that! She had known that his mother had died, and that she had been a Keyholder, but his mother had exploded?

  “It hardly ever happens.” Te’chik said dismissively.

  “But it happens! It could have happened, why hasn’t it happened? Isn’t it the same Key?” Maggie squeaked out, blushing at how silly she sounded.

  Electra looked at Maggie, and gave her a gentle hug. Somehow, she still smelled like cookies and coffee, even though they were no where near the Study Hall that was her domain. “I doubt it will happen to you dear, there would be signs already.”

  “Signs? What signs? What kind of signs?” Maggie looked at her hands, trying to see anything drastically different, anything that would seem to hint at her exploding. But they just looked like hands. Sure there was the scarring on her right hand, and the iridescent fingernails, but neither of those hinted at an impending explosion.

  “Maggie, please don’t panic.” Robin took one of her hands in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “My mother was really sick before she- before it happened. Feverish, hallucinating, in pain. There were- there were spots where the crystals were already poking through her skin. That’s not going to happen to you.”

  Maggie met his eyes, gripping his hand tightly. She could see the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes, the grief on his face. It may have been years, but he still had trouble talking about it apparently. She mentally kicked herself for being so self-centered. He was trying to keep her calm while he was talking about a painful memory. Not only had his mom died, but his father and himself. It had to be hard to talk about. “I’m sorry Robin. I- you never told me how you died before. How she died.”

  Robin actually smiled, although it was bitter-sweet, and lightly tapped her forehead. “Because you didn’t need to know. And if I had told you, you would have panicked. Like you just did.”

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

  Electra waved a hand through Robin, frowning slightly. “Maggie, can you feel him?”

  Maggie glanced around, but the nearest person was on the other side of the large garden, tending some vines with delicate orange flowers on them. Far enough away that she didn’t really worry about them hearing her. “We’re trying to keep it under wraps, that and other things. But yeah, we discovered it shortly before leaving Galaux Station.”

  “Huh.” Electra frowned, studying them both. “Good idea, you never know how these Silvarian’s will use what you can do for their own ends. They’re greedy with Ancient’s technology, always have been. Getting you back to Earth should be our priority, where they’re less likely to be able to touch you.”

  “You can’t just take her back to Earth! The government there is at least as bad as the Silvarian’s. They would lock her up and dissect her!” Robin’s eyes widened, and he moved just slightly in front of Maggie, as if protecting her from Electra.

  “You can’t go back! Not before you get this ship off this damn ice rock!”

  “I can go back, if they don’t know about the Key, they don’t have any reason to dissect me. And I don’t know what you want me to do about the ship. Would it even work anymore?” Oh great, she was answering Te’chik out loud now. Well, it was freeing in a way, to know she wasn’t the only one that had seen or heard people. But she still needed to be careful. Just because Aunt Electra and mom were okay with the voices, didn’t mean everyone would be.

  “It should.”Te’chik said uncertainly. “We’ll run some diagnostics tonight.”

  “Great.” Maggie sighed, her shoulders slumping. She looked up at Robin and Electra, blushing a bit. They were both giving her odd looks.

  “I forgot how it was to watch someone talk to themselves. Your mother hasn’t heard voices in years.” Aunt Electra said. “Are they saying anything useful?”

  “That we’ll run diagnostics tonight to see if the ship can even still do anything. How she expects us to do that, I don’t know. But sure, why the he- uhm, heck not.” Maggie glanced at Aunt Electra, her blush deepening.

  “My mother used to talk to the voices all the time. Said there were two of them, a little girl and an irritating woman.” Robin said. “I wonder if they’re the same ones?”

  Maggie laughed, feeling the indignation from Te’chik. “Probably are. Did she mention any names?”

  Robin shook his head. “No, just yelled at them sometimes.” He fell silent, looking out across the garden. “I think she would have liked this place. At least the nature part of it. She was always trying to grow plants in the ship.”

  Electra and Maggie looked across the garden as well, listening to the waves washing against the beach, and the songbirds singing in the trees. Even Te’chik was silent, and Maggie imagined that she was looking at the garden too. Although how that would work Maggie had no idea. Could Te’chik see what Maggie saw? Was Te’chik even real?

  Truth be told, there wasn’t any way to tell for certain, not before she found the ship that was supposed to be somewhere on an ice-covered planet. For a moment, Maggie imagined she could hear the lonely wind howling across the ship, toying with the mummified remains of people that had fled the only home they had ever known, risking it all to escape some danger that Maggie couldn’t quite picture. But she knew it’s hot breath and sharp teeth.

  She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. “So if you and Mom arrived in your spaceship, where did you stash it? I didn’t see anything at the spaceport that would fit in at the junkyard.”

  “There’s a little pad around the other side of the island. Usually it’s for planet-side vehicles, but my ship is small enough to settle there. It was a bit hard to get past all the security though.” Electra frowned, as if a thought had just occurred to her that she didn’t much care for. “Not as hard as it should have been though.”

  “Do you think they were expecting you?” Robin looked around, trying to spot anything out of place, anything threatening in the peaceful garden.

  “Why would they be expecting us after all this time? Theodrakis is the only one that knew where Nora had gone, and who with.” Aunt Electra turned, starting back towards the little cavern. “I think your father needs to answer some more questions, Maggie.”

  “You think he would have them let you through if you came back?” Maggie frowned as she followed Electra, Robin a pale blue shadow beside her.

  “It’s more likely than the entire Silvarian security grid missing our arrival.”

  “They didn’t miss your arrival, Electra. They merely let you in.” Ux’thu rounded the bend in front of them, Reshka’i walking beside him. The old Silvarian smiled gently, as one would to a child that had been out too late playing. “Welcome home.”