Chapter 15: Everyone, Get In Here!

"You don't remember anything?" Mud asked as the two walked down the road. A small town was visible in the distance which Pearl assumed was Pike's Landing, the place Mud had mentioned. Though she had no past experiences to tell her why, for some reason, just the act of walking that distance seemed unfamiliar. However, her strange body seemed well-suited for such a task, as she felt no strain or stress in her legs as she walked alongside Mud. "You're sure? Just your name?"

"Sorry... I can't really remember anything," Pearl said. She strained her mind, trying to recall anything at all, but the only memory she seemed to have was that brief conversation with someone she had called her father. The conversation in which she first heard her name. "I remember being called Pearl... but nothing other than that."

"Eh, well, it's something," Mud said. She rapped her knuckles lightly against Pearl's shoulder, causing a metallic tink with every hit. "And you're sure you're not a robot? On the inside, I mean? Cause you sure look like one."

"I... I don't feel like a robot," Pearl said. She remembered back to her attempts to draw air into nonexistent lungs, and her surprise at her metallic body. "It's... sorry, I'm having a hard time describing the feeling. But even though I don't remember anything about who I was, I still feel like I'm supposed to be human."

"Well, if you are a robot, you're a hell of a lot more advanced than anything I've seen," Mud said. "I've seen the Knights that Atlas's military puts out and those robot assistants and butlers that rich people buy, but those don't really have a personality or anything. They just walk around and do stuff. And not very well, either."

"I suppose that's because for a long time, Atlas's military has been focusing on researching and developing automated defense systems that can defend citizens and settlements in the absence of soldiers or Huntsmen. That's why their robotics technology is so advanced compared to the rest of the kingdoms," Pearl said suddenly, as though reciting a script. "However, as most of Atlas's investments regarding automated machines and robots went into military and defense applications such as combat droids, autonomous mecha-suits, and defense turrets, more general AI development was not a priority. It was only recently that Atlas and its private contractors began investing in applications of artificial intelligence beyond simple defense, and - "

"Wait, hold on, stop," Mud said, interrupting Pearl. Once Pearl stopped talking, she took a breath out of instinct, only to remember that she could not do so. "For a robot... girl... thing who's lost her memories, you sure seem to know a lot about this specific subject.

"Sorry, I... I'm not sure what made me go on like that," Pearl said. "I don't know why, it's just... for some reason, I knew all of that. Probably from sometime before I lost my memories..."

"Maybe you're from Atlas?" Mud asked. "Seems kinda fitting that you know about what's going on with Atlas's robot and AI tech, given that you're some sort of robot. Doubt that's a coincidence."

"I guess it would be pretty weird if it was," Pearl said. "I'm not sure if I'm from Atlas, but... maybe this body is from there?"

"Yeah, that's definitely a possibility," Mud said. She began circling around Pearl, inspecting parts of her body. Pearl stepped away apprehensively for a moment before letting Mud look over her. "I'm not a techie or anything, but this body seems pretty high-end. Definitely put together better than those Atlesian Knights. Don't see any obvious weapons, but maybe you got some built-in?"

"Sorry, I..." Pearl paused for a moment, stretching out her arms and inspecting her hands. "If there are weapons in this body, I don't know how to activate them. And even if I could, I don't think I know how to fight..."

"Hey, no need to apologize. If we get into a tussle, I've got enough firepower for both of us," Mud said. "But who knows, maybe you're good in a fight and you just don't know it. Depending on what's powering that body of yours, you might be a lot stronger than you think."

"Even if I am, I don't think I'd know how to use that strength," Pearl said. "I'm not sure if I even know how to throw a punch..."

"Huh. Well, if we have time, I can teach you," Mud said. "Though I've already been doing a decent amount of teaching lately..."

"Sorry, but I think I'd rather not fight..."

"Fair enough. Ain't saying you have to," Mud said. "But if we do get in a fight, try to stay out of the way. I dunno how durable or repairable that body of yours is."

"I... I'll try," Pearl said. She looked up to see that they were nearing the wall bordering the edge of Pike's Landing. It was quite tall, several times taller than Pearl, and had two guard towers posted by the entrance along with two more guards standing on the ground by the gate. "Oh, we're finally here."

"Hold up a bit," Mud said, putting a hand on Pearl's shoulder. "We should probably get our story straight before we head in."

"What do you mean?" Pearl asked. "Have you done something illegal?"

"What? No. Well, nothing these guys should know about," Mud said. "But a robot walking and talking like a regular human girl? Technology ain't that advanced yet, as far as I know. A lotta thieves, scrappers, thugs, and opportunists in general call Pike's Landing home, and they'll try to nab and sell you on the black market without a second thought if they see something like you walking around."

"I... I get it. Sorry," Pearl said. "Maybe you can give me something to wear? So that I can cover myself up and look... well, normal?"

"That's an idea. If you look like any other kid just walking around, nobody's gonna give a shit. Gimme a minute," Mud said. She took off her backpack and set it on the ground before rummaging through it. After about half a minute of inaudible muttering and taking out various items ranging from ammunition to tools to socks and stuffing them back in, Pearl saw Mud pull out what looked like a large brown sheet of cloth. "Here we go!"

"What is it?" Pearl asked. She yelped as Mud suddenly tossed it at her, causing it to expand and drape over her body. After fighting with the cloth for a few seconds, she finally managed to pull it off herself, bundling it up in her arms before holding it out. "Is this... a cloak or something?"

"Yeah, it's a light cloak. Keeps the sun off my back whenever I'm in Vacuo," Mud explained, tossing a smaller length of cloth at Pearl. "Also, wrap your face with that. Even with that cloak, your face still looks like a robot."

"Uh... okay..." Pearl said, wrapping the cloth around the lower half of her face and leaving her eyes exposed so that she could see. After that, she draped the cloak over her body and pulled the hood up over her head, letting the cloak settle over her shoulders. "Does this look good?"

"Lemme see... yup, you seem to be covered well enough," Mud said, circling around Pearl. "Alright, so you're my cousin, and I'm taking care of you for a few days. Now, let's go."

"Um... okay," Pearl said, following Mud towards the entrance to Pike's Landing. As they approached the gate, one of the guards stepped out in front of them, stopping them.

"Hold it," the guard ordered. She pointed towards Mud, and then towards Pearl. "I saw you leave earlier today, so you're good, but who's the kid? And why all the cover-up? It's kinda warm out today."

"Uh... I'm - " Pearl started to say before Mud tapped her on the shoulder, cutting her off.

"She's my cousin. My uncle had something unexpected come up that he needs to take care of, so he needs me to watch over her for now," Mud explained. "She's got sensitive skin, so she's gotta cover up until she gets inside."

"Huh," the guard said, turning to Pearl. "That true?"

"Y - yeah," Pearl stammered. "I get, uh... rashes, if I'm out in the sun for too long."

"That sucks," the guard said, stepping out of the way of the two girls. "Anyways, dunno if this is the best place to look after a kid, but you two are free to go in."

"Thanks," Mud said, stepping past the guard. Pearl followed her through the town's gate, making sure to keep her cloak wrapped tightly around her body. A bevy of smells, from the stench of fish sitting out in the sun and sting of ocean salt in the air to the enticing fragrances of exotic spices and even the acrid odor of burning gunpowder, assaulted her robotic nose. She was surprised; only now did she realize that, for some reason, whoever had built her body had given her the ability to smell.

"What is... this place..." Pearl muttered, looking around. After passing through the gate, she found herself on the side of what looked like a particularly busy street. The road was paved by stones rather than asphalt, and instead of cars, cart-pushing merchants made their way up and down the street, peddling odd wares and keeping an eye out for thieves and pickpockets. A variety of buildings lined the sides of the street, from conventional general stores and weaponsmiths to rowdy bars and gambling dens that emitted the stench of cigarette smoke. Shifty-eyed strangers roamed the sidewalks and the alleys, and Pearl noticed a group of thugs surrounding a scrawny man in a nearby alleyway before Mud grabbed her hand, pulling her down the street.

"Come on, don't just stand around. Makes you look like you don't belong, and that makes you a target," Mud said, letting go of Pearl's hand but still sticking close to her. "Gotta make a couple of stops around town. Try to stay close, and don't go wandering off on your own."

"Uh... alright," Pearl said, walking close behind Mud. "Where... where are we going?"

"Well, first stop's the bounty office. Gotta get my money for clearing out the beach where I found you," Mud said. She continued down the street, turning a few corners as Pearl followed close behind. "After that, I gotta make one more stop at a local place before we head out."

"Huh?" Pearl asked. "You mean we're not staying?"

"You really wanna stay here?" Mud asked.

"Um..." Pearl muttered, looking around. Across the street she spotted a couple of large men beating down a smaller man on the ground, shouting something about payback as passerbys simply turned their heads the other way. Further down the street, a merchant chased after a trio of scrawny, dirty-looking kids with a knife in his hand as he screamed about thievery. Drunken gamblers and drugged-up junkies sat still in the alleyways, sleeping off whatever was running through their body - or, at least, Pearl assumed they were sleeping. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't mind leaving soon."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Mud said, leading Pearl into one of the better-looking buildings along the side of the road. As they went through the door, Pearl spotted a large board hanging from the wall on the other side of the room, with a variety of papers and posters hanging from it. Some of them were clearly wanted posters, with large faces and bounty rewards printed on them, while others detailed requests ranging from clearing out Grimm in a certain area to gathering specific, hard-to-find machine parts. Surprisingly, Pearl was able to read even the smaller lines of text on the posters, despite being on the other side of the room. The cameras her body used as eyes must have been quite high-quality. In front of the board stood a few people milling around, looking up at the various posters and occasionally tearing one off the board. Though they varied in gender, age, and nationality, the one thing common between them was that they were all armed, with weapons ranging from swords to sniper rifles to strangely-shaped armaments that Pearl couldn't even figure out.

"This is where you got the job?" Pearl asked. "To clear out the beach, I mean? That's how you found me, right?"

"Yup. Just a small gig to fill my pockets a bit," Mud said, heading to a counter on the side of a room where a man was standing. She reached into her pocket, pulling out and unfurling a crumpled-up poster much like the ones Pearl had seen on the wall before slamming it down onto the counter. "Took care of your Karkinos problem. You got the money?"

"You got proof?" the man behind the counter asked.

"What, you can't take my word for it?" Mud asked back.

"Words ain't shit," the man said. "Don't wanna head down and find a bunch of Grimm on the beach after you've skipped town."

"Fine," Mud said, pulling out her scroll. Pearl saw her open up a picture of the beach where the two had met. "Check the timestamp on that. You see any Grimm?"

"Eh. Guess not," the man behind the counter said. He pointed to a spot on the side of the picture, where the box Pearl had been in was. "What's that thing there?"

"Just a bit of scrap that washed up," Mud said. "Now, we playing twenty questions or you gonna give me my money?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," the man said, reaching underneath the counter. He pulled out several colored Lien cards and handed them to Mud, who quickly pocketed them. "If you don't got any more jobs you wanna take, then get out of here."

"Actually, you got any jobs that need taking care of up east?" Mud asked. "I'm headed up there later."

"Lemme see," the man said, moving over to a file cabinet and pulling out a few files. After rummaging through for some time, she came back to Mud with one of the files. "Town called Damstel a few hours east needs a temporary night watch. It ain't much, but it's got money behind it, and it's only for a single night."

"Better than nothing," Mud said, taking the file. "Do I get my pay here, or from the client? I ain't planning on coming back here for a while."

"They just gave me enough money to keep this in my files. I'm guessing the rest of the money's over there with them," the man explained. "Try to do a good job, will ya? Don't want anyone thinking I'm sending slackers and half-wits for the jobs they give me."

"I'll do it good, but not for you. See ya," Mud said, heading towards the door as Pearl followed close behind.

"So... what now?" Pearl asked, following Mud onto the street. "You said you needed one more stop?"

"Yeah. Pub called Hangman Bill's. It's a pub on the north end of town, near the docks," Mud explained. "Got someone I'm looking for, and a lot of people pass through there, so I'm hoping to get a little bit of info if I can."

"You're looking for someone?" Pearl asked. "Who?"

"My sister," Mud said. "I lost her nearly a decade ago. Been searching for her ever since."

"I... I'm sorry to hear that," Pearl said. "I hope you find her."

"Yeah, me too," Mud said. The two continued to walk through the streets, with Pearl occasionally taking a moment to peek across the street and into alleyways as she kept close behind Mud. Occasionally, she felt eyes boring into the back of her head, but whenever she looked back, she couldn't see who it was. However, she sometimes saw a shadow darting back into an alleyway or around a corner.

"Uh, Mud..." Pearl started to say, tapping Mud on the shoulder. "I think someone might be following us?"

"Yeah, they've been tailing us since the bounty office," Mud said, increasing her pace. "Keep up, but don't let them know you've seen them. Pub's just a block or two away."

"A - alright," Pearl said, walking faster to keep up with Mud. She tried not to look back, but snuck a glance behind herself once or twice. Soon, the two found themselves in front of a rustic-looking pub, with a sign hanging out in front that said Hangman Bill's. A wooden figure, about as tall as Pearl's arm was long, hung next to the sign from a rope around its neck.

"Okay, we're here. Good thing too, cause I was getting a bit hungry," Mud said, pushing open the door. Pearl followed her through and was immediately greeted by the sounds of rowdy conversation and the smells of frying seafood. Several tables were set up across the pub, and nearly all of them were filled, mainly by people who looked like sailors or dockworkers. A long counter with many stools was set up at the back of the pub by the kitchen, and Mud led Pearl there, taking a seat and indicating for Pearl to do the same.

"Welcome to Hangman Bill's," a man by the counter said as Pearl sat beside Mud. "You two look new. What can I get for ya? We got a seafood stew on the fire in the back, if you're up for that. It's cheap, too."

"Sounds good," Mud said, turning to Pearl. "What about you?"

"Uh... I guess I'll have the same."

"Alright," Mud said, turning back to the man at the counter. "Two orders of fish stew."

"Coming right up," the man said, moving away from the counter and out of sight into the back kitchen.

"So, uh... why's this place called Hangman Bill's?" Pearl asked. "It seems kind of grim for a pub, and I saw a wooden figure hanging from the sign..."

"I dunno the whole story, since this is my first time here, but from what I heard, this place used to be called Goosefat Bill's up until five years ago," Mud said. "Was run by a guy named Bill, if you can believe it. From what I'm told, he had good food but a fiery temper."

"So... what happened to him?" Pearl asked.

"Well, he took his anger out on one of the girls at a local brothel one night, and he went a little too far. A lotta the town liked that girl, so when they heard that he had killed her, he got caught by a mob and hung from the sign of his own pub," Mud explained. "That's why the little thing's hanging from the sign right now."

"But... wouldn't that mean the place would have shut down?" Pearl asked. "After all, there's no owner..."

"Yeah, well, he had an assistant chef, and from what I heard he took over the place and rebranded it. Probably wasn't as mean as the previous owner, since he's still alive," Mud said. "Heard Bill's food was better though."

"That's... kind of morbid," Pearl said.

"Yeah, well, it's a morbid place. Not exactly paradise, this town," Mud said as the man came back out from the kitchen holding two bowls of steaming stew with a spoon in each. Mud took the bowls before handing the man a small bit of money. "Alright, this looks good. Wait, can you actually eat stuff? After all, you're... you know."

"I... I won't know until I try, I guess," Pearl said, unwrapping the cloth from around her face and bringing a small spoonful of stew up to her mouth. She felt the hot steam from the stew on her metallic lips and when it entered her mouth -

"Father, are such sensors really necessary? I understand that they may be of use in rare cases, but considering the cost of implementing them, as well as the biomass converter, it doesn't seem practical for military purposes. The amount of energy you would get would pale in comparison to the DustCore - "

"I get your concerns, but you have to remember, this isn't just any military robot or automated butler. If our experiments are successful, then all of this... it won't just be another prototype. For you, it will be so much more..."

- she was surprised to find that she could taste all the flavors of the stew, from the fresh fish and potatoes to the rich broth and fragrant spices. Only then did she realize that she had no tongue to taste with, yet somehow, the tastes were registering from her mouth up to her brain. Pearl closed her mouth, attempted to swallow, and was surprised yet again when the small spoonful of stew vacated her mouth, slipping down somewhere in her body.

"So, uh... how is it?" Mud asked, swallowing her own spoonful of stew. "Assuming you can actually taste stuff... can you?"

"I... yeah. I don't think I have a tongue, but for some reason, this body is able to taste and eat things. And even swallow them," Pearl explained. "I don't know where it goes, or what this body does with it, but... I guess it was made to be able to eat food? Maybe to convert into energy?"

"Huh, that's a surprise. Dunno why you'd build a robot with the ability to taste and eat stuff, though I guess it'd help power your body," Mud said, pausing to scoop more stew into her mouth. "But I feel like using food as a power source would be kinda inefficient compared to just feeding Dust into the engine."

"Yeah, I kinda thought that, too, but..." Pearl said, pausing for a moment. "I had a small memory flash when I tasted that stew. These capabilities... I don't think they were added to this body for practical reasons."

"Someone wanted your body to be able to taste stuff? Well, I guess you're one lucky robot," Mud said. "Anyways, you should probably eat up. I dunno what powers your body besides food, and I don't want you powering down in the middle of nowhere."

"Y-yeah, that would be bad. Though considering I was working fine before I ate anything just now, I probably have some other power source besides food," Pearl said as she continued on her stew. "By the way, was there another reason you stopped here? Besides lunch, I mean?"

"Oh yeah, right," Mud said, turning to the man at the counter. She pulled out a picture that Pearl wasn't able to get a good look at before showing it to the man. "Hey, have you seen - "

"Hey, girlie!" Someone shouted from the other side of the pub, interrupting Mud. "You, at the counter!"

"Huh," Mud muttered, turning around. Pearl turned with her to see a trio consisting of a large, bulky man, a well-built woman, and a skinny man approaching the two girls. "You need something? Don't particularly recognize you three, but you've been tailing us a while, so what's your deal?"

"Just looking to make a trade," the skinny man said. "You got something we want, and we're willing to pay you for it."

"Well, what is it?" Mud asked. "Come on, spit it out. You interrupted my lunch for this."

"Simple," the man said, nodding towards Pearl. "Your robot. Ten thousand lien."

"Me?" Pearl asked. "B-but why - "

"Damn, guess the cloak didn't work as well as I thought it would," Mud muttered. "So, why the big offer? You can pick up a good robot off the black market for a tenth of that."

"Ain't never seen anything like yours. She walks, talks, and acts like she's a genuine little girl," the skinny man said. "Got some clients who are into that sorta stuff."

"Wha - what do you mean?" Pearl asked. "I'm not sure - "

"Sorry, but no deal," Mud said. "She ain't mine, and even if she were, she ain't for sale."

"No deal, huh? You sure?" the man asked. "I'll give you one more chance to accept my offer. Just the one."

"You heard me. Get the fuck outta here and let me finish my lunch," Mud said, turning back towards her stew.

"If that's how it is..." the skinny man said. Pearl saw him turn towards the large, brawny man. "Grab the robot."

"Wait!" Pearl yelped as the large man approached her, his arm outstretched to grab her. "Please, don't - "

BangBang!

Two gunshots, one right after the other, rang out as the brawny man fell to his knees, drawing back his arm as he screamed in pain. Pearl noticed that a bloody hole had appeared directly through his hand, passing cleanly through his palm and out the back of his hand. Blood also dripped down from a hole in his knee, splashing onto the wooden floor of the pub. As the man fell to the ground, still crying out in pain, Mud stood up from her stool, her pistol in hand.

"Told y'all to fuck off. Shoulda listened to me when you could," Mud said. By then, everyone else in the pub had realized that a fight was about to break out. Some left through the front entrance, while others gathered by the tables at the edges of the pub and began to place bets. "Pearl, go hide behind the counter or something."

"Uh... got it," Pearl said, jumping off her stool and running around to the other side of the counter. The skinny man grit his teeth, pulling a pistol of his own from his hip. At the same time, the woman behind him pulled out a pair of daggers.

"Time to die!" the woman shouted, leaping past the skinny man towards Mud. Mud ducked underneath a horizontal swipe before stepping to the side, barely avoiding a downwards slash from her other dagger. Then, Mud raised her pistol, aiming for the woman's stomach.

Bang!

However, instead of firing, Mud suddenly ducked down as a bullet whizzed over her head, shattering a glass mug on a nearby table. Pearl looked up and saw the skinny man with his pistol pointed out towards Mud, already adjusting his aim downwards. However, Mud was faster, raising her own pistol and shooting the skinny man's gun out of his hand. The woman attempted to strike Mud while she was distracted, but Mud reached out, grabbing her wrist as she swung towards her and stopping the woman in her tracks.

"Hope you got aura," Pearl heard Mud mutter as she unloaded her pistol into the woman's stomach. She recoiled back as the gunshots caused her aura to shimmer repeatedly until, finally, it shattered. Fortunately for her, Mud had stopped firing just as the woman's aura gave way, and instead of shooting her once more, Mud opted to kick her directly in the stomach, sending her crashing through one of the nearby tables. Out of the corner of her eye, Pearl noticed the large man that Mud had shot pushing himself onto his feet, stepping towards Mud as she turned away towards the skinny man, who had just picked up his pistol. The large man began picking up his pace, bringing back his fist as he got closer and closer to Mud's back.

"Look out!" Pearl shouted, and Mud immediately swiveled, aiming downwards and shooting the man in his other knee. He screamed once again, falling to the floor as blood trickled out of his other leg. Mud then shot him in the shoulder of his good arm before turning back towards the skinny man, who was raising his pistol. However, before he could bring it up towards Mud, he found the barrel of Mud's pistol pressing right against his forehead, freezing him in place.

"Leave. I don't wanna kill if I don't have to, but if I see y'all again, I'm aiming for the head," Mud said, gesturing towards the door of the pub. "And teach your muscle to keep up his aura whenever he's trying to intimidate someone."

"Y - yeah. We're leaving," the skinny man said, sheathing his pistol and stepping towards the door as Mud kept her pistol raised towards his head. The woman that Mud had kicked through a table pushed herself up and began to pull out her knives, only for Mud to immediately shift her aim towards her.

"I broke your aura. Go, or I put one through your skull," Mud said, gesturing towards the door. The woman paused for a moment before sheathing her knives and heading towards the exit. The skinny man at the door attempted to draw his pistol again, but Mud quickly shifted her aim towards him, and he stopped, backing away through the door and out of sight. As the woman exited the pub, Mud's pistol pointed at her head, the burly man crawled after her, moaning as his wounds still dropped against the pub's floor. The door to the pub closed, and Mud sighed, sheathing her pistol before making her way back to her seat. "Well, that's taken care of. Come on, Pearl, get over here and finish your stew before it gets cold. And thanks for the callout earlier."

"Uh... you're welcome," Pearl said, making her way back around the counter and sitting down beside Mud. "You told me you were a mercenary, but... wow. I didn't know you were that good at fighting."

"Years of experience," Mud said, turning to the man behind the counter. "Sorry for the mess. How much will it cost you to fix the place up? The table and the bloodstains, I mean?"

"Eh, don't worry about it. Stuff like that happens a lot here," the man said. Pearl looked around and saw that, besides the destroyed table and the blood that had dripped down onto the floor, the pub had pretty much gone back to how it was before the fight, with its patrons making rowdy conversations as the money that people had bet on the fight exchanged hands. "I'll have everything back up by the end of the day."

"Well, here's a little something for your trouble," Mud said, handing the man a small bit of money. Then, she pulled out the picture that she had tried to show to him before they were interrupted. "Anyways, you seen this woman anytime? Maybe a few years ago? Goes by the name 'Resina', if she wasn't faking it."

Resina? Pearl thought, pausing for a moment as she ate her stew. For some reason, the name seemed familiar, though she had no idea why.

"Hm... actually, I think she might've come around a few years back. Made an impression on me cause she got herself involved in a fight much like yours. Not as much blood, though," the man said. "Anyways, I think she was headed north-east, towards the upper end of the kingdom. Dunno much more than that."

"Thanks for the help," Mud said. She was about to pocket the picture, but Pearl reached out, grabbing her wrist gently and stopping her.

"Can I, uh, see that picture?" Pearl asked. "I... the name... it sounds kind of familiar?"

"Huh?" Mud asked. "What do you mean?"

"Sorry, I, uh..." Pearl stuttered for a moment before pausing to take a nonexistent breath. "I just feel like I've heard it before, but I don't remember where."

"Hm. That's interesting. Here, you can take a look," Mud said, taking the picture back out and handing it to Pearl. Pearl took it and saw a young girl with short brown hair who looked quite like a younger version of Mud; Pearl assumed it was her, just from many years ago. Next to her stood an older, taller girl with fair skin and long black hair -

Knock knock knock.

Knock knock knock.

"Coming!" Pearl shouted, making her way down the hall and to the front door. Opening the door, she saw a woman with fair skin and long black hair standing at her doorstep, completely drenched from the rain. "Hi, do you need something?"

"Is... is Mr. Koschei there?" the woman said. She was panting slightly, as though she had run all the way up and down the road. "I'd like to speak with him, please."

"I... I'll call him," Pearl said, turning away. "Father, you have a visitor!"

"I'll be right there!" Pearl's father called back. After a few moments, he turned the corner from the kitchen, making his way over to the front door. "Oh my, you're drenched. Come in, get out of the rain."

"Thank you," the woman said, stepping inside.

"Come this way. I'll turn up the heater," Pearl's father said, leading the woman to the dining room. "Pearl, why don't you fetch us some snacks?"

"Alright, father," Pearl said, making her way over to the kitchen and grabbing a box of cookies. She set the cookies out on a platter and brought them over to the dining table, where her father and the woman were seated. "Here you go."

"Thanks," the woman said, taking a cookie and giving Pearl a warm smile. As Pearl smiled back and sat down, the woman turned towards Pearl's father. "You... you work for Green Ocean, right? You know stuff about the soul?"

"That... I suppose that could be accurate," Pearl's father said. "Why do you ask? Do you need something of me?"

"Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself," the woman said. "My name's Resina. Resina Stone. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Stone," Pearl's father replied. "I am Ivan Koschei, and this is my daughter, P - "

"Hey, hey, you there?" Pearl suddenly heard Mud yell. "Wake up!"

"Huh?" Pearl said, looking around. She was still in Hangman Bill's, sitting by the counter with her stew in front of her. "What happened?"

"I dunno, you tell me," Mud said. "I showed you a picture of my sister and you froze up all of a sudden. You've been out for like half a minute. What happened?"

"Sorry, I had a... well, some sort of memory flash," Pearl said. She brought her hands up to her head. "Your sister, I'm sure I've seen her before. And I think I remember more of who I was... including my name."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mud asked. "What do you remember?"

"I... she came looking for my father. His name was Ivan Koschei. And my name..." Pearl said, pausing for a moment as she ran through the memory flash she had experienced moments ago.

"My name is Pearl Koschei."

A/N: And there's chapter 15! The two girls make their way into town, have lunch, get into a little tussle, and find out a little more about Pearl's past, including a particular relationship she has to someone Mud's looking for. How did Pearl get here? What did Resina want from her father? Stay tuned to find out.

If you enjoyed the chapter and/or want to leave a comment or feedback or suggestions, please don't hesitate to drop a review. I make sure to reply to everything, whether in public or private. With that said, thanks to everyone who's read up to here, as well as those who followed and favorited, and have a nice day!