Rescue Mission, Part 1

Their doubles disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Marco all rubbed their eyes, confused, looking around the woods in alarm. Their doubles had vanished into thin air, and the colors of the world seemed to have returned to normal.

“Lithuania, that has to have been you,” Estonia said.

Lithuania shook her head, eyes wide. “No. It totally wasn’t. That came from somewhere else…”

“Do you think—do you think there’s a connection between what just happened and Isa and Winfry’s doppelgangers?” said Latvia. “Like, might that be how they came into being?”

Lithuania nodded. “Probably. Except they stayed in our world. That’s the only explanation, right? We just saw ourselves from another universe? And the Winfry-Isa doppelgangers are the WInfry and Isa from another universe?”

Marco looked around, troubled. “That doesn’t explain who’s doing this. Lithuania, you’re the only one with that power. It’s one of the reasons AssMachenstan wants you, right? For your power? So if you’re not doing this, who is?”

Lithuania frowned. “Let’s keep moving,” she said resolutely. They’d figure things out in time. They had to.

An hour into their march Estonia stopped abruptly and with a finger to her lips signaled everyone to shut up. “I feel something,” she said. Closing her eyes, she let herself fall into that dreamlike state where she and the world around her slipped into synchronicity, and she could feel the wind, the trees, the falling leaves and shivering blades of grass. She felt for the silhouettes, the shapes, the density of everything around her, and moved forward, through the darkness of the woods, out into a clearing no more than several hundred meters ahead—a military base, protected on all sides by men in heavy armor. It was a sort of circular bunker of solid, heavy cement, with a low roof, hugging the ground. She slipped through and began mapping the bunker’s layout in her mind. Corridors, tight square rooms, guards, tunnels—she sensed power in the tunnels, a sort of dull heaviness—she followed through the tunnels, 100 meters, 200 meters, 300 meters—she was somewhere else. A palace, with a vast underground network that sunk almost a kilometer beneath the earth, as far as Estonia could reach, built of materials distinctly different from those she sensed in the walls of the LusciousLockian palace. These tunnels were an addition—a recent addition, not more than fifty years old, and pulsating with magical power. Isa, Winfry and Felix were there, somewhere—she couldn’t pinpoint them exactly, as the distance was at the limit of her spatial sensing abilities—but she knew they were there.

Estonia opened her eyes. “There are guards everywhere,” she said.

“Can’t we teleport in?” asked Marco.

Estonia shrugged. “I’m not sure. The whole place is full of this—this heaviness. I could try.”

“Not alone,” said Latvia, taking Estonia’s hand.

“Come back right away,” said Lithuania. “Remember we’re only testing.”

Estonia nodded. Pressing Latvia’s hand, she counted down, “Three… two… one…” She closed her eyes, felt the world around her with her mind, felt for an empty corridor within the bunker, and opened her eyes.

They were in. “Alright,” whispered Latvia. “The coast is clear.” The ground was of cold, hard stone, and the corridor walls were narrow, made of a dull, dark metal with veins of glowing, pulsating red light. It felt more like a tunnel than a corridor. “Are we underground?”

Estonia shook her head. “No. Alright, we can teleport in, clearly. Let’s go get Marco and Lithuania.” Latvia nodded, seizing her sister’s hand.

Estonia closed her eyes. Three… two… one… A burst of blue, and both Estonia and Latvia smacked into nothingness, collapsing heavily onto the corridor’s cold floor. “What the hell?” said Latvia.

Estonia’s eyes were wide. “Shit,” she said, jumping to her feet. “Shit shit shit. We can’t get out.”

“What?”

“We can’t get out,” said Estonia, visibly agitated. “We can get in, but we can’t get out!”

“OK, chill,” said Latvia, grabbing her sister firmly by the shoulder. “That’s why we came together. We’ll figure this out.”

“I can’t sense anything. I could from the outside, but—the layout—I can’t sense it anymore—”

Then they heard footsteps coming around the corner. Latvia gripped her sister’s hand tight and focused. Focused on stopping the coming soldier in time. On freezing him. On moving him backwards through time to where he came from.

Nothing.

“Run,” whispered Latvia, gripping Estonia’s hand and pulling her in the opposite direction. “Our magic is useless here!” They dashed silently down the corridor, down a flight of stairs, then down another flight of stairs.

“Wait,” said Estonia. “I remember this.” She concentrated on remembering the layout she had so recently sensed, and tugged Latvia forward. Through a heavy, iron door, down another flight of stairs, into the tunnels. “This tunnel should take us to a palace, which is where the others are being held. I just don’t know exactly where. And I don’t know how we’ll get out once we find them.”

“We have to act fast,” said Latvia, “Before Lithuania gets too worried and tries to launch her own rescue mission.”

“Latvia,” said Estonia, eyeing her sister’s boobs curiously. “What the…”

Latvia looked to her chest. The quilaire, stowed safely beneath her blouse, was glowing. She pulled it out and let it glow in the tunnel’s darkness. Tiny specks of blue were hovering around it, as if the spoon were attracting magic. “Do you think we can use it?” asked Estonia. “The way Isa does? Maybe it’s the key out of here.”

“I have no idea how to, though,” Latvia said. “I never have.”

“Well maybe it’s time to learn. Didn’t mom’s book ever tell you anything about how to use it?”

Latvia shook her head. “Mom’s book has been silent since we left Antioch.”

“Has it crossed your mind that maybe you have to write in it, like Winfry’s librem?”

Latvia pulled the small book from her jacket pocket. “Speaking worked last time. And I don’t have a pen.” She opened the book and said, “Mom?” No response. “Mom, are you there? We need your help.” Nothing. Then Latvia remembered something. What the quilaire had done when she saved Peter.

Holding the quilaire in her right hand, Latvia focused on what she needed. A second later, a pen manifested in her left hand. “How did you—” Estonia began.

Quickly Latvia scribbled into the book. “Mom, are you there?” The book responded: The quilaire is Estonia’s. Give it to her now. Latvia looked at her sister, surprised. “Well… OK.” Pocketing the book, she handed the quilaire to Estonia, who took it with her bare hands.

The tiny spoon glowed bright blue, warming Estonia’s touch, then returned to normal. It had glowed for only an instant, but both sisters were left with a strange sense of happiness—that cuddly breed of happiness felt at the end of pet movies when the lost pets finally come home.

“It’s been yours all along,” mumbled Latvia.

“What does that even mean?” said Estonia.

“Probably means you’ll be able to use it, like Isa. Go on, try it.”

Estonia looked at the spoon uncertainly, then at her sister, then back at the spoon. She closed her eyes, the spoon glowed, and the lay of the land was back in her head. “I’ve got it,” said Estonia, opening her eyes, excited. “Isa is closest.”

“Can we teleport out?”

Estonia shook her head. “Not enough magic in the air. The whole place is blocked. But Isa—” she said, looking down the tunnel. “She’s so close.”

Latvia bit her lip, thinking hesitantly of Lithuania. “Alright. Let’s go get her.”

 They could only hope that Isa still had her quilaire, and that its power combined with that of Estonia’s quilaire would be enough to get everyone out.