Lokton

“We have to get out of here,” said Timoteo as soon as the three sisters were done hugging and crying.

Latvia looked around, still in awe at how she had somehow managed to freeze everything as far as the eye could see. “Don’t flatter yourself,” said Timoteo. “You didn’t do this all on your own.”

“How long will it last,” she asked him.

“Not long. We’re a large group of people.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” said Lithuania.

Timoteo’s expression was one of an adult with a stubborn child who insists on learning the rules of an overly complex game. “Right now, we are all suspended in a single moment in time And we’re… what, eleven people?”

Latvia continued to look around at her frozen surroundings. “Why does it matter how many people we are? Shouldn’t it matter how many people are frozen?

Timoteo shook his head. “The magical energy is being expended on keeping us active within a single instant in time, not on keeping everyone else trapped in it.”

Latvia furrowed her brows, while Estonia eyed Timoteo suspiciously. “How do you know how this all works?” she asked.

Timoteo turned to her impatiently. “There are all sorts of magic—different kinds of magic,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they don’t all abide by the same rules.”

“He’s got a lot of explaining to do,” said Lithuania. “First we think you’re against us—then suddenly you’re with us. Now you’re also magical, and we don’t even have a clue as to what your true history with LusciousLocks is.”

“There’s only so much I can tell you, at this point in time. Soon you’ll know everything I know. But so long as your perception of time remains linear, there are certain rules I must abide by if we wish things to turn out as they should.”

“What the hell is this guy talking about,” said Felix.

“I hate to interrupt,” said Winfry, looking warily at the world outside the magic wall, “But we’re in the middle of a battlefield. Shouldn’t we go… somewhere…”

“Safe?” finished Isa.

“Yes,” said Timoteo. “We’ll finish talking then. Estonia, you’re in charge of space. Get us out of here.”

Estonia looked at everyone around her, her expression blank. The quilaire-induced high was fading, but she still had an idea of what it was she had to do. She closed her eyes, focused, and soon enough everyone was enveloped in a bright flash of light.

An explosion of blue, and everyone reappeared in an abandoned town. In what appeared to be the town square.

“Where are we?” said Estonia. Felix and the four soldiers kept their guard up, shields activated and rifles at the ready. The town looked quaint; small houses, shops, a town square with cobbled roads and a fountain. But the darkness of LusciousLocks and the uncanny silence of the town tinged its quaintness with an eerie ghostliness. It was no longer cozy or inviting. It was cold, sinister and alien.

“This is Lokton,” said Timoteo, eyebrows arched as he scanned the abandoned surroundings. “Though it’s changed quite a bit since I last visited.”

“Any reason you brought us here?” Felix asked Estonia.

Estonia shook her head. “I didn’t even know this place existed.”

“Where’s Lokton?” said Latvia.

“Small town on the border of LusciusLocks and Nilbmah,” said Timoteo. “Cross that thick forest over there and you’ll eventually reach a Nilbmahian highway.”  

Everyone stared around for a few more seconds, then Felix and his soldiers lowered their guard. “I guess the obvious question is—where’d everybody go?” said Latvia.

“Same question goes for Green City and all its suburbs,” said Felix. “As far as I know, this is just another abandoned city in the vast, abandoned expanse of LusciousLocks.”

Lithuania felt exposed out in the middle of the plaza. “Have you guys noticed everything is really clean?” she asked.

Timoteo nodded. “It’s odd.” He began walking across the town square, and everyone else automatically followed.

Suddenly, Latvia shuddered. She felt as if cold water had spilled over every inch of her body, mixed with the sensation of being trapped in slow motion inside a thick black cloud.  

She collapsed.

Felix caught her before she could hit the floor. “Latvia!” he cried. Latvia eyes were glazed, her breathing rapid.

“Oh my God,” she said, breaking into a cold sweat. “Oh my God.”

“What’s wrong with her?” cried Estonia.  

“Timoteo!” said Lithuania, “What's going on?”

Timoteo just stared at Latvia as she shivered in Felix’s arms. “She doesn’t like what she sees,” he said.

Latvia’s eyes snapped back to normal. She was suddenly aware of everyone around her. “They all died!” she cried.

Winfry’s face went pale. He whispered something into Isa’s ear, to which Isa nodded. He pulled out the librem and scribbled something in.

“Who died?” said Lithuania.

Latvia looked around, as if she could suddenly see everything under a new light. Her eyes had a rather crazed look to them. “It’s why it’s so clean. They died—right here.”

Lithuania kneeled in front of her and gently wiped her bangs back. “Relax Latvia, we’re here. We’re all fine.”

Latvia’s eyes returned to normal, and she frowned at Lithuania before pulling herself up. “I’m not talking about us,” she said. “I’m talking about the people of this town.”

Timoteo narrowed his eyes. “Wait, you saw them die?”

Latvia nodded. “We need to get away from here. They all died right here. They were shot to death. I just felt their past life forces. Dozens of them.”

“Dozens,” said Timoteo. “So… everyone else…”

Latvia looked at the sky. “They were taken. I felt them leaving, the ones who didn’t die. I don’t know where…”

Timoteo looked perturbed. “That doesn’t make sense… Why would they kill…”   

“Alright Timoteo, you need to explain things, now,” Lithuania snapped. “Where you came from, why you returned, what drama happened between you and the LusciousLockian royality—the whole deal.”

“You don’t understand when I tell you I can only tell you so much, do you?” Timoteo spat. “Now shut up and be patient. I’ll tell you what I can, but not out here.”

“Nobody speak,” Isa interrupted. The urgency in her voice and the infrequency with which she spoke was enough to make everyone shut up and stand still. A second later, a woman was walking into the plaza, dressed in a sort of fabric that looked very much like black mist. Her features were sharp, her hair was black and pulled into a tight ponytail, and she walked with a grace and sensuality that suggested royalty—almost divinity.

“She can’t see us,” Winfry whispered. “Just stand still and perfectly quiet.”

The woman approached them, her black eyes carefully scanning the town plaza. She looked right in their direction without seeing them, then stood still. Winfry was blown away by her beauty—a rigid yet fluid, sharp yet smooth kind of beauty. He couldn’t quite explain it. In any case, she looked lethal. There was no doubt in his mind, judging by her expression, that she had killed in cold blood before. It was a good thing he had written invisibility x 11 in the librem.

The woman opened her palm like she was going to catch raindrops, and a medium-sized security microtape materialized in her hand. She smiled, looked around the plaza one more time, then disappeared into a brick building immediately adjacent to the plaza.

“Do you know who that is?” Estonia asked Timoteo.

Timoteo’s eyes had darkened, but he shook his head. “No. But I might have an idea.” The women returned from the building, looked at the sky, then vanished in a swirl of black mist. “Black magic,” Timoteo mumbled. “She is definitely not from LusciousLocks.”

After a few precautionary minutes of silence in case the woman returned, Timoteo said, “Follow me,” and led everyone into one of the abandoned buildings. “I will tell you everything I can.”