2 x 2

“What the hell is going on here?” Lithuania cried to Felix.

Felix was still a little groggy. After his disagreement with Lithuania over the harshness of locking up an inoffensive Nilbmahian couple, he had sent himself to bed—just to be shaken awake moments later by Lithuania, who claimed he wouldn’t believe what she’d found.

Felix looked to his left, at the cell with the still-unconscious Winfry and Isa. Then down the hall, at the other cell, with the sleeping Winfry and Isa. “You’re asking me,” said Felix, who had apparently accepted the fact that the laws of reason and logic no longer applied to anything. “This place keeps getting weirder and weirder.”

The new pair of Nilbmahians had been thoroughly examined for injuries. Both were fine, though the new Winfry had the back of his shirt tattered, and the skin on his back showed faint white marks running the length of his spine, like scars that had healed over long ago. His clothes were covered in blood, but he was uninjured. His vitals were steady.

The new Isa, however, was almost dead. Her pulse was so slow, it was hard to understand how she was even alive. Her face was colorless, and her chest was covered in blood, but she, too, was unharmed.

“You think they have a clue?” said Lithuania.

“What—that they’ve got doppelgangers?” said Felix.

“Well, yeah.”

Felix shrugged. “This place is enough to drive anyone crazy. What do you think happened to them?” Felix indicated the new Winfry and Isa with a tilt of his head.

“There was this thick, pulpy blood everywhere. Like something exploded.”

“Probably another monster. They all die in crazy ways. A lot of them have a knack for exploding.”

“Exploding?”

“Yeah,” said Felix. “Sorry I haven’t exactly had time to elaborate on more than the Monolith, but we’ve caught sight of some weird-ass things—and gotten attacked by a bunch of weird ass things. Sometimes, a bullet to the head will make them explode. It’s really random, really, but some of them make incredible messes.”

“So you’re saying these two, harmless looking Nilbmahians killed a probably-AssMachenstani monster?”

Felix nodded. “They must’ve. Unless all that pulp was a really big watermelon.”

“OK… So they’re stronger than they look.” Lithuania paused. “Or they killed an easy-to-kill yet highly explosive monster.”

“I’m thinking the former,” said Felix.

Lithuania nodded, looking through the cell bars at the unconscious couple. “Me too.”

Felix took a deep breath, looked around the dungeons, and placed his hands on his hips. “So,” he said. “We’ve got two Nilbmahians, two Nilbmahian replicas, and what is probably a mentally unstable LusciousLockian prince in custody. Things are getting fun.”

“Yeah. Fun. And we’ve still got a whole lot to figure out.”

“What, like what these two—er, four, are up to?”

“That, and what they’re hiding. And what Timoteo is hiding. And what’s going on with this place. I also think we should go check the city out, with Timoteo this time. We need to find the LusciousLockian people.”

Felix nodded. “I know, I know. But before we do any of that, we still have to move on down to the next concrete tower. The tunnels here aren’t stable anymore, remember?”

Lithuania nodded. “Wake the other two up. Take them to the cells under the next tower. I’ll wait by these until they come to.”

“And Timoteo?” Felix asked.

“Take him too. But separately from the Nilbmahians. I don’t want them interacting.”

Felix shook his head and set out to do what he was told. Lithuania pulled open the door to the unconscious couple’s cell, and sat on small wooden chair, facing Winfry. He was stirring. It looked like he was about to wake up.

Lithuania heard Felix waking the other two Nilbmahians up. They grumbled. The first Winfry seemed particularly whiney. “Come on, we’re moving you guys over,” came Felix’s voice.

“Those have got to be the saddest characters ever,” came Timoteo’s voice from down the hall. 

  

“Silence,” said Felix.

Lithuania thought for a moment. Winfry and Isa didn’t seem particularly sad to her—they were more unfortunately codependent than anything else, and maybe a little pathetic. But not sad. At least they had love, which was more than she could say for herself. And they were definitely hiding something. Lithuania didn’t want to let her guard down just because they looked harmless.

Then she gazed over the unconscious Winfry and Isa. They looked just like the first pair. Except for their pallor. These two had apparently killed a monster. Without weapons.

Lithuania heard grunts and shuffling feet. Felix was leading the first couple out, just as the unconscious Winfry opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling, expression blank. He apparently hadn’t quite come to. Then he regained his focus. He looked at the bed next to him. There was Isa, fast asleep. Then his eyes focused on who was sitting behind Isa: Lithuania.

Lithuania jumped up and went straight to business. “Good afternoon. I am Lithuania Starr, First Commander of the Foggistani Helo-Fleet. I saved you. Who are you and why are you here?” Winfry rolled his eyes and let his head plop back onto his pillow. Lithuania suddenly felt a slight pang of guilt for questioning him so soon. “I’m sorry,” she said, softening her voice. “I’m sorry, I’m a bitch sometimes. You’re weak, and tired.”

“What happened?” said Winfry. Lithuania wasn’t even sure he had heard her.

“We found you in the woods. You and your partner were apparently attacked by something.”

Winfry frowned. He looked confused, and it seemed to pain him to think. “I feel so weird,” he said.

“Do you remember anything that happened? Anything at all?”

“Yelling,” said Winfry abruptly. “Lots of noise, and pain—” Winfry’s eyes widened. He sat up and attempted to examine his back.

“It’s OK, you’re not injured,” said Lithuania. “Neither is Isa.”

Winfry looked at Lithuania, surprised. “How did you know… her name?”

“Listen,” said Lithuania, leaning in closer. “I need you to be honest with me, and tell me what you remember. How you came here. Why you came here. And how you destroyed the monster that attacked you. Could you do that for me?” 

Winfry gulped. He wasn’t so sure he knew anything himself. But might this be the person the librem was asking him to help?

At that moment, Isa stirred. “Oh good," said Lithuania. "I think she’s waking up.”