When Count Bleck got back to Tent City, he crashed almost immediately into Dique. Dique had been scurrying along and not looking where he was going, so he collided with Count Bleck, sending them both falling backward.

"Ouch! Said Count Bleck."

Dique was rubbing his head and straightening his mask. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," he said. "I wasn't looking, I was just kind of panicking."

Count Bleck stood up and began wiping sand off his cape. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"No. Yeah. Kinda."

"Tell Count Bleck."

"Well… I was in the office, watching Cinar. It was dark, so Nelvana pulled up one of the blinds. I was standing next to the statue, with my back to it, and I was watching Nell as she tried to pull up the second blind, and… I felt something." Dique hesitated.

"Go ahead," said Count Bleck kindly.

"Well… it was cold. Really cold… and it was around my throat..." Dique paused and indicated with his stubby little hands where exactly his throat was. "And it started to squeeze."

"It was trying to strangle you?"

"It felt like it. So I grabbed at my throat and tried to pry it away, but it was rock hard and I couldn't move it, so I cried out, and Nell grabbed me and pulled me outside. She stayed outside the trailer to watch it. I just ran."

"I'll take a look," said Count Bleck. "You should probably find Professor Frankly."

Dique nodded. "Yeah… yeah. Good idea."

Count Bleck pointed off to the left. "The dig site is that way."

"Thank you. I'm a little turned around."

"Understandable."

Dique scurried off in the direction of the dig site. Count Bleck made his way back to the trailer. Outside, Nell was sitting on one of the three wooden steps leading up to the door. When she saw Count Bleck, she stood up. "Hello?"

"Hello," said Count Bleck. "I hear you just had a frightening experience."

"Honestly, I don't know what happened. I just know Dique was upset, and so I got spooked, too."

"Step aside, please, let me in to see what's going on."

Nell obeyed. Count Bleck let himself in the trailer. It looked brighter now that some natural light was being let in. Cinar was situated on the floor so that it didn't actually touch any of the beams of light being let in through the window. Still, Count Bleck noticed right away that it was different: now both feet were evenly on the ground, and the arms were to its sides, slightly spread out with the palms facing forward.

Count Bleck leaned closely into Cinar, so close their faces were less than an inch apart. Very slowly, he lifted his cane and brought it to the side of the toad's cap. He tapped it lightly once, then twice more. Nothing happened.

"Should I be jealous?"

Count Bleck turned around and saw Tippi hovering in the doorway behind him. "You're close enough to kiss her," she said.

"At the moment, Cinar is third in line for my affections," replied Count Bleck.

"Third?"

"I have decided that, should the unthinkable happen to you again, instead of destroying all worlds I will simply take Nastasia as my second wife."

"That's probably a better plan," agreed Tippi. "Though I don't think she'd be thrilled to hear she's your backup girl."

Professor Frankly stepped into the trailer through the open door. "What's going on? Dique said something happened here."

"Look at this." Count Bleck stepped aside so that Professor Frankly could see the statue. "Does it look a bit… different to you?"

Professor Frankly looked at the statue for a minute. Then he went to his desk and picked up a stack of instant film snapshots, which he had used to document of the statue from all angles. He lifted one picture of Cinar from the front and held it up next to the statue, then looked back and forth from one to the other several times.

"It moved."

"I was thinking that, yes."

"This is not a statue."

"What else might it be?" asked Count Bleck.

"I don't know," said Professor Frankly, "but I would like it out of my office immediately."

"I'll get the handcart," said Count Bleck.

"I'll get someone to move it," said Tippi.

That someone turned out to be O'Chunks, who had to duck down and squeeze to fit through the trailer door. He didn't need the handcart, however, and he just picked Cinar up and carefully carried her through the door. When he got outside, he set it down next to the door. "So," said O'Chunks, "where d'yeh want me to put this thing?"

"I was thinking in that big tent right there," said Professor Frankly, indicating the tent of which he spoke. "That's not too far, is it?"

"Nah, not for me chunks."

"Uh, guys?" Tippi said. "The statue is cracked."

"What?" Professor Frankly rushed over to Tippi and looked. Sure enough, there was a large, jagged crack running down the back of Cinar's cap.

"That's impossible!" O'Chunks protested. "I was carryin' that thing like a newborn!"

"I was watching," said Count Bleck. "Nothing you did could have caused that crack."

"Do you think Dique might have done it when he was panicking?"

"Dique said he was in front of the statue," said Count Bleck. "How could he have cracked the back?"

Just then, a beam of yellow light burst forth from the crack.

"That's new!" Professor Frankly squawked as he jumped back.

"Well, tweak me chin hairs..." O'Chunks breathed.

The jagged crack began to grow, down the toad's back and up to the top of its head. Another crack appeared on Cinar's side, and face, and torso, and arms, and each one of them was emitting its own bright beam of light.

"Stand back," said Count Bleck. He held his arms out in front of Tippi and Professor Frankly, and slowly took a few steps back, herding everyone away.

Mimi came running from Tent City. She was wearing her favorite desert princess outfit, a teal tank top and baggy matching pants, decked out from head to toe in crazy lace jewelry. "What's going on? I just saw some light; did Klasky explode?"

"No," said Count Bleck. "Stay back!"

Finally, the statue cracked to its breaking point. With a burst of light, the stone shattered and burst away, sending shards scattering in every direction. When the light dissipated, all that was left was a toad woman, who dropped to her hands and knees.

"I don't believe this..." Professor Frankly whispered.

"Oh, gosh," said Mimi. "What happened?"

The toad woman looked up. She, like the statue before her, was covered from head to toe in sparkling glitter, letting the sun reflect off every inch of her body. Every detail of the statue was true for her: she wore a brown piece of fabric wrapped around her like a dress, she had short honey blonde hair that just barely poked out from under her red-spotted cap. She was still holding the wand, which was the same shade of bright yellow all over. When it moved, it sprinkled bright yellow glitter on the sand below.

Count Bleck looked into her eyes and saw that her expression had not changed. It was still filled with fear.

"Don't be afraid," said Count Bleck gently. He knelt down on the ground in front of her and extended his hand. Cinar, if the woman truly had been the statue, looked at it and furrowed her brow.

"There's no way she understands what we're saying," said Professor Frankly. "The house she was in had to have been buried over five hundred years ago, given the layers we found it in. The language we're speaking now only came to be the way it is three hundred years ago, and it wasn't spoken anywhere near this region."

Cinar looked at Professor Frankly, still with a puzzled expression. She slowly pushed herself to her feet, and Count Bleck took his hand away, Tentatively, Cinar put one foot forward and shifted her weight slowly to it. When nothing happened, she did the same with her other foot. In that way, she took two steps forward before stopping. She looked up at Count Bleck's hat and cocked her head to the side.

"You like it?" Count Bleck took his hat off and handed it to Cinar. Cinar took it and examined it closely, face mere millimeters from the brim. Her eyes were wide, soaking in every detail.

"Wow," said Mimi. "The Count looks weird without his hat."

"To be honest, I always think of it as part o' his head," said O'Chunks.

Cinar put the hat on top of her cap, where it just barely fit without sliding over her face. Then she smiled, took it off, and handed it back. Count Bleck returned the hat to his head. Then Cinar began patting herself all over until she found a piece of ribbon in some hidden pocket. She held it up to Count Bleck.

"What is this for?" asked Count Bleck.

Cinar wrapped the ribbon around Count Bleck's wrist and tied it in a bow. She pat his wrist, looked at him in the eye, and smiled as she pushed his hand back to his body.

"Is this for me to keep?"

Cinar only continued to smile.

Mimi took that opportunity to step forward. "Hiya! I'm Mimi!"

Cinar looked at Mimi, her puzzled look returning.

Mimi pointed to herself. "Mimi. Can you say 'Mimi'? Miiii-miiii."

Cinar continued to stare.

"That's okay," said Mimi. "We'll learn how to communicate eventually."

Cinar cocked her head slightly again in confusion.

Grinning, Mimi mimicked Cinar, cocking her head in the exact same manner, a complete mirror to Cinar.

Cinar's brow furrowed again, and she tilted her head a little further. Mimi, with a giggle, tilted her head again the same way.

Next Cinar tilted her head so far over it was at a 90-degree angle. Again, Mimi copied her.

Now Cinar tilted her head so far her shoulders shifted and made a horizontal line between them.

Instead of copying, Mimi cracked her neck and let her head hang upside down.

Cinar shrieked, but it was one of delight rather than disgust. She put her hands over her mouth, but the smile in her eyes was evident.

"You like that?" Mimi said with a laugh, as her head dangled loosely. Then she flipped it back straightways and cracked it back into place.

Cinar lowered her arms to her side. She began to roll her shoulders a few times, as if warming up, before putting her right hand on her left shoulder and giving it a loud pop! Then her arm dangled loose, just as Mimi's head had been.

Mimi squealed, not as delighted as Cinar had been with Mimi's head trick, but still intrigued. Cinar laughed and jiggled her body so her limp arm dangled loosely. Then she took her hand and popped her arm back in its socket.

"I think she wants to be your friend," said Tippi. "She's trying to mimic you."

Mimi was beaming. "I wanna be your friend, too," said Mimi. "Since you can't tell me your name, is it okay if I keep calling you Cinar?"

"She can't understand you," said Professor Frankly. "I need to go back to my office- my anthropologist friend is going to want to meet her! Please, Count Bleck, do not let her out of your sight! I can't believe this! A real, living relic from the past!" And with that, Professor Frankly hurried off.

O'Chunks flexed his chunks. "Don't worry. I'll be her bodyguard. No one'll get to her as long as I'm around!"

Count Bleck turned to Mimi. "You don't have to worry," he said. "You can still be friends even if you can't talk to each other."

"I remember I used to know a song about that," said Mimi. She turned to Cinar. "I know you don't understand me, but it goes like this." And Mimi began to sing:

We can whistle, have so much fun
Make pictures in the sand of the sun
We can whistle like a bird
We can talk without a word

There are so many ways of saying
All the things you have to say
You can whistle, make a picture, make a sign
In a strange new land, we can understand
That I like you, and you're a friend of mine.

Mimi knelt down and sketched a picture of herself in the sand. Cinar knelt down beside her and used the end of her wand to sketch a picture of herself next to Mimi. The sand sparkled with the glitter falling from her wand by the time she was finished. Then Cinar reached over and tapped the top of Mimi's head with her glitter wand, causing glitter to fall out on it and settle all over Mimi's face and hair.

Mimi looked up at Cinar and smiled. Cinar smiled back.

Song excerpt from "It's the Same Sun" of The American Girls Revue, lyrics by Gretchen Cryer

Shoutout to Space Dimentio for totally calling it, btw.