A long, long time ago, Circi had lived in the same village as Wilfre. She knew the stories all too well: it was why she'd left. Circi had been one of the first to leave when disaster struck, cowardly as it was. But moving to another village wasn't enough to keep her away from him. Or the other way around, either, for that matter…

She left her roots behind, hoping none of the other Raposas would realize she had once known the cause of their despair, even idolized him, for a while at least. Then, as far as anyone could tell, he'd gone totally nuts and ripped out a bunch of pages from the Book of Life. Covered in shadow, he vanished, leaving behind devastation. There was no explaining THAT away. He'd made quite a mess, and Circi didn't plan on being the one stuck cleaning up.

Then a few years later, the mess followed her.

Shadowy gunk began to appear in the village overnight. No one saw it arrive, it was just… There. As far as they could tell, it wasn't doing anything. Just sitting there. Some of the boldest children would poke it with sticks, but soon gave up when it proved unresponsive or their parents would shoo them away. It was almost as if it was… Waiting.

Circi didn't like it. Not one bit.

So, one day, she decided to remove the stuff, a jar-full at a time. True, in hind-sight, this probably wasn't the best plan, especially when they had no idea if it was dangerous or not, but Circi was determined to try. She always was a stubborn rapogirl.

Circi cautiously approached a large lump of it. The piles seemed to slowly grow, almost as if they were alive…

She clutched a jar in one paw and leaned down to scoop some in…

And before she could react, a shadowy hand formed from the sludge and grabbed her arm, dragging her in.

Her shrieks fell on deaf ears.

…

"Circi?" Mari's voice jolted the Raposa's mind back to the present. "Are you alright?"

"You kinda zoned out there a little…" agreed Jowee.

"I'm fine,"Circi replied calmly. "Just… Thinking about something, is all." Mari and Jowee glanced at each other, slightly misinterpreting her meaning.

"About being Deputy Mayor now, you mean?" Jowee smiled at her cheerfully. "Everyone was so happy when they heard. You're perfect for the job."

"Plus," Mari added, nodding, "I really do need the help… I'm sure you'll do great."

"Aw, you two are too sweet," she laughed. "I'll do my best." She paused a moment, as if thinking of something. "Well, I ought to be off. There's work to do around here, after all. I'll see you both around!"

"Your first day as Deputy Mayor and you're already jumping into it?" asked Mari, pleasantly surprised. "You really have an impressive work ethic!"

"No kidding," Jowee said with a sheepish smile. "I'm glad it's you and not me... I can't even wake up on time, let alone help run the village." Indeed, Jowee had managed to sleep well past noon that morning, and had only woken when he did because Mari decided he'd slept in enough.

Circi smiled slightly at that, then headed off with a wave, trotting into the empty Village Hall. As soon as she was out of sight, she grinned crookedly.

"Phase 1 complete," she chuckled. "Those fools don't suspect a thing… I think it's about time to start phase 2."

Then she made a sound a bit like what a demented mouse's squeaking might sound like.

"… Hmph. I think my evil laugh is a bit rusty…"

…

As it turned out, Circi really was perfect for the job of Deputy Mayor. She was clever, hardworking, and most importantly, she clearly took her position very seriously. There were even days when Mari found she actually had time to pause and take a breath, as Circi had already handled all the day's problems. Mari had known she was a keen worker, but she had never expected this.

A week passed, then a month, and Mari found she was very impressed with her new helper. An entire month at work, and so far as she could tell, Circi hadn't made a single mistake. In fact… Mari's confidence-lacking side was pretty sure Circi was doing better at this than she ever had.

"Nah," said Jowee when she mentioned this worrying thought to him one day. "She's doing great and all, but she could never replace you. She just has more experience, that's all… She's older than us after all. I bet you'll catch up to her in no time."

"Yeah," Mari agreed half-heartedly, "I guess you're right…" She smiled a bit. "Thanks, Jowee."

"No problem," he answered cheerfully.

Little did either of them realize this would be the last calm moment they would share for quite a long time…

To be continued…