The Tale of Three

Chapter 50

Sanctuary

"...But as I've said, feel free to make yourselves at home. After the story you just told me, I can't imagine what you're going through."

"Thank you," Eclipsa replied, smiling at the Jaggy King, who had just addressed her. "Really, thank you. You're doing so much for us on nothing more than-"

"The truth. I can tell." He replied. "If that daughter of yours was truly a shapeshifter, she would have killed Jenkins in that fight you just described to me. But he's alive, and among all the other evidence you have, that's enough to convince me that Jenkins is once again acting irrational and you're on the right side. This time."

"What do you mean by this time?" Meteora chimed in, who had been standing nearby, trying to watch her step from the floor that was practically made out of stone spikes.

"...Let's just say your mother and I haven't always seen eye to eye in the past." The Jaggy King replied. "But right now we're all allies in this situation. I suppose you already know your way around the castle…?"

"Yes, we visited it when Mewni was still just...Mewni." Eclipsa said.

"Excellent. Then I shall leave you to it. Give you some time to relax and collect your thoughts." He said. "If you need anything, just call out. Sound travels really well in this place."

And then with that, The Jaggy King left, disappearing around a corner a second later. Once she was confident that he was out of earshot, Meteora scoffed and leaned against the only section of wall in the room to not resemble a spike pit.

"Relax, he says." She sighed. "Don't know how that's possible. Look at this place! We can't even stand in ninety-five percent of the castle, much less lay down in it! I know they're called the Jaggy Kingdom, but do they seriously have to install spikes in every free inch of available space?"

"I believe it's to deter intruders. In the early days of Mewni, the Jaggy Kingdom didn't have a strong army, or good defenses." Globgor said. "So they installed all these spikes to impale anybody who tried to invade the castle. And I think it worked relatively well…"

"Even so," Meteora said. "You think they would get rid of them now that Earthni is a thing and there's very little chance of being invaded by anyone."

"Yes, but we're not in a position to openly complain." Eclipsa pointed out, before walking down the hall. "Now come along. I know where the guest bedrooms are, and I promise you that they have normal beds."

"Let's hope…" Meteora mumbled, before sighing and following her mother. Her mind went back to the events of the last hour, even since they made it through the town on their carriage and arrived at the Jaggy castle. The King requested a full explanation of everything that had happened, and Eclipsa and Globgor gave it to him, with Meteora awkwardly standing nearby. After that, not much else had happened, although it hadn't been very long. Something was bound to go wrong soon. These kinds of things always did in Meteora's life.

But on the plus side, at least they have a safe place to stay at the moment. The Jaggy King had assured them that (Old) Jenkins wouldn't find them here. He had a "reputation" for not being very friendly towards guests, although this was actually just word of mouth spread by people, warning them not to go to the castle because of all the spikes. Which also meant that this is the last place Old Jenkins would suspect them of hiding out at: because it was, in a manner of speaking, the least safe place for them to go.

But they all knew he would get here eventually. By now, the carriage they were using had almost certainly been captured, the fake driver revealed, and the knowledge that Meteora and her parents were still out there likely relayed to the town. Maybe a reward had been sent out for their capture...Meteora certainly wouldn't put Old Jenkins above doing that, especially due to the fact that he had to be pissed at all of them after Meteora fought him and Eclipsa pounded him into the ground.

She hoped that once this was all over and she was back in the future, her mother wouldn't be punished too harshly for that. She had even consulted the Voice about it.

"Not sure about that one." It had replied. "On one hand, if you manage to miraculously prove to him that you're not a shapeshifter and he believes it, it's possible he might just drop everything out of embarrassment and frustration and never bring it up again. But if you don't...then yes, there's a good possibility that she will be jailed for this for a...rather long time."

Which was not what Meteora wanted to hear, but she knew it was the truth. So now, along with everything else, she had to somehow prove to Old Jenkins and the rest of the E.D.F. that she was who she said she was. Which might prove to be next to impossible…

A thought that would have to come later, however, because at that moment they made it to the guest bedroom, Eclipsa swinging open the door and peering inside. It wasn't that impressive of a place, but at least no spikes were covering the furniture. Two beds, a few desks and tables, a bathroom attached to the walls, and what looked like a flatscreen TV, installed very recently. Meteora stared at the black surface and wondered if she would get to use it...she had never seen a tv turned on before, and there was no better opportunity than now, while they were all hiding from Old Jenkins.

Eclipsa followed where her eyes were staring and smiled, like a mother amused at their baby being fascinated with something.

"You want me to put something on after we all settle in?" She asked, to which Meteora nodded without taking her eyes off the device. Eclipsa chuckled slightly, before sitting down on the bed, letting out a breath as she realized that no, there weren't spikes hidden under the sheets. Globgor did the same thing a moment later, while Meteora looked away from the tv and sat on an armchair, letting herself sink into it.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Okay, talk," Meteora said. "What are we going to do next?"

"That depends on several factors," Eclipsa replied. "Jenkins is going to find us here eventually, and fleeing the town is not an option. If we do that it'll only make us look more guilty, like criminals fleeing a country after pulling off a heist. We may just have to wait here until we figure out what happens next. Then we can make a proper plan."

"We should still come up with something, though," Globgor said. "Sitting here and doing nothing is clearly not an option. Jenkins might just go all out now that we've attacked him. I wouldn't be surprised if he aims at attempting to kill us instead of capturing us. That beatdown the two of you gave him would be more than reason enough…"

"In that case, maybe we should hit him before he hits us?" Meteora suggested. "And I'm not saying we should leave and launch an attack on one of his bases. But maybe we should try to get to the Royals he got to before you." She pointed at Eclipsa. "Do you think you might be able to convince them that he was full of crap?"

"That might actually be possible now...assuming he does what we predict he's going to do," Eclipsa said. "See here. Jenkins has told them that I shouldn't be trusted and that you have brainwashed me. But I have no doubt that even the ones who believe him are slightly suspicious. They have known me for much longer than they have known him, after all, except for some of the Butterflies. They know what I'm like and so they would know that I wouldn't be trusting of a random person just showing up one day out the blue claiming to be my daughter…" She took a deep breath. "...Unless I was absolutely certain that the person was telling the truth."

"But that doesn't really make a difference, does it?" Meteora asked. "I could have just brainwashed you into thinking I was your daughter before you even saw me."

"True," Eclipsa said. "But at the same time...the security around that Temple is tight. And they know it. No one would be able to sneak in there, unless, of course, they had the ability to teleport and travel through time."

"The security there is tight? Really?" Meteora asked, unbelieving. "I mean, I think anyone with a set of climbing equipment could get in there. There are open windows all over the place…"

"You'd be surprised. Almost all of those windows actually have hidden sensors." Eclipsa said. "There are also miniature security cameras all over the place. And all of these things are being watched by guards. The Temple may look like it doesn't have any technology made in the past fifty years, but when it comes to security we bought the best we could buy. Your father and I have many, many enemies after all…"

"Why don't you just secure the windows or something?" Meteora asked. "You probably wouldn't have to buy all those things if you just upgraded the Temple itself."

"True, but that would go against monster customs," Globgor said. "And the Temple is one of the last true pieces of ancient monster architecture in all of Mewni. And the other pieces that remain are nothing but piles of stone, if I'm being honest. So...we do want to preserve it as much as we possibly can."

"Yes, and now I do deeply regret treating it the way I did when I first got here looking for you…" Eclipsa said sheepishly, her mind going back to the night where she carelessly blasted spells all over the Temple, taking down entire walls as she searched for Globgor. "But he has a point. To the monsters in the town, making major changes like that wouldn't be taken favorably. And we want to keep up our popularity as much as possible in these times."

"Hm. Fair enough." Meteora said, shrugging. "But considering that Old Jenkins soldiers are probably going to occupy it from now on, I'm sure some major changes are going to be made anyway."

"Yes, well, then at least he will get the blame." Eclipsa sighed. "But for now, enough of all this talk. I think we need to relax before making further plans...but before that, there's one more thing to do. Meteora. You're still bleeding, and I know you're currently in a lot of pain."

"Not bleeding, but yes on the latter." Meteora agreed, before heading towards the bathroom. "I think I may need to replace my bandages...and maybe see if that King has any pain pills."

"Do you need my help with the first part?" Eclipsa asked.

"Normally, I'd say no, but you're my mother, and I don't think I can do it myself...so yeah. Some help would be nice." Meteora said, before heading into the bathroom. Eclipsa nodded before looking over at Globgor, who understood what she was saying without even having to hear anything.

"I'll go look for the King and see if he has those pain relief pills." He said. "After that, we have to make sure that Meteora stays as still as possible for a long time. She may be tougher than both of us, but if she keeps treating her wounds that way, it won't take long for them to get infected, or worse."

"Yes, I know," Eclipsa said. "I'll stay here and keep an eye out. And make sure to watch your step."

Globgor chuckled. "I will. See you in a bit."

And with that, he walked out of the room, as if he was without a care in the world. Eclairs watched him go before heading into the bathroom, hoping that Meteora at least had an idea of what she was doing…

The thing Globgor hated most about this castle was just how hard it was to get anywhere.

Since the floor was littered with spikes which would have taken off a good chunk of his foot if he stepped on them, and due to his larger size which made feet twice as big as a normal persons...navigating the Jaggy castle was more akin to walking in a minefield, and Globgor wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. He had already cut himself on the edges of spikes several times, a pattern that was sure to continue.

But at least everything was easy to find. Despite being Royals, the Jaggy Family didn't seem to have anything one would consider "unnecessary". There weren't fifty bathrooms in places no one would ever use one. There weren't ballrooms that could hold five times Mewni's population. And there weren't endless trinkets and paintings and other such things littering the halls for no more reason other than showing off.

No, it was mostly just the spikes, which Globgor wasn't sure to take as a good sign or not. He wondered if the beds he and his family came across were the only real beds, and if the family itself slept on a bed of nails, like those human circus performers he had seen on a tv show once.

Regardless, in a while, he found who he was looking for. He peered into a large room that seemed to be a library, enormous bookshelves as far as he could see like any royal library.

Well. At least they had something that made them stick out from just "a weird family that likes spikes". There were multiple chairs in the room, all normal, thankfully, and in one of them was the king, reading what looked like a book on siege tactics. Like a dog smelling their master from fifty feet away, the king seemed to sense Globgor and looked up, smiling when he saw the monster king.

"...Ah, I see you have discovered our library." He said, setting his book down on the table beside him. (Which had spikes for legs, of course.). "Believe it or not, but this is one of the largest royal libraries in all of Mewni. Most of the others don't care much for those "dusty old books"..." He sighed. "But I do. There isn't much else to do around here, after all. Having most of our castle space spent on defenses tends to leave a person somewhat bored."

"Yeah...I bet." Globgor said, making sure to watch his step before entering. "Uh, listen, my daughter is injured and she needs some new bandages and some disinfectant so her wounds don't get any worse. I was wondering if you had any and if I could use it."

"Of course." The Jaggy King said. "Exit this room and take a left. Then take the first right and you'll see the kitchen. At the bottom drawer of the first cabinet is our medical supplies. Just a human first aid kit, nothing fancy, but it should do well enough for the short term."

"I see. Thank you." Globgor said, wondering if the King was a person who smiled regardless of the situation.

"No problem. And...she is doing alright, yes?" The King asked. "No need for me to send someone out to get something a little more...expensive?"

"Not at the moment, no, I don't think so," Globgor said. "But thanks for asking. And by the way…" He looked around the room as if searching for something. "Where's the queen and princess? I've only seen you here. In fact, you're the only person I've seen here. No servants, no knights, nothing. Just you. Are they out or something?"

"Yes, I do believe they're spending the day together at one of those human "malls"." The King replied. "They haven't been on the best of terms lately, so I recommended they spend the day doing something together." He sighed. "Of course, whether that strengthens or strains their relationship further is a total gamble."

"Mm. I know what you mean." Globgor said. "When it comes to difficult relationships, there's no one who understands them better than me and my wife."

"I do imagine." The King chuckled. "But this daughter of yours...she is truly from the future?"

"Everything she's told and shown us has pointed to that, yes," Globgor said.

"I see…" The King said, before gulping. "So...how are things in the future, then? Is Earthni prospering? I assume she told you everything."

Two words immediately came to Globgor's mind, and those two words were "nuclear apocalypse". But obviously, it's not like he could just tell him that. Maybe after they got news that Seth of Septaris was going to stay in prison and that Jenkins defenses had worked (in the middle of all this hullabaloo, he had almost forgotten about that), but until then he knew it was a good idea to just keep his mouth shut concerning anything about the future.

"I...can't tell you." He replied. "Sorry, but Meteora made me aware not to tell. It could have dire consequences if the wrong thing slipped out."

"Ah. I see. That makes sense." The King agreed. "The future could be altered in ways we don't even know about with one wrong word."

"Two wrong words…" Globgor mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. Just clearing my throat." Globgor apologized. "But yeah. We are sure she is our future daughter. She's given us more than enough proof. And if she was truly evil like Jenkins claimed, then she had a hundred opportunities to kill us by now. Simple as that."

"Not to mention that little premonition you had…" The King said. "That your wife explained to me in her phone call. That sort of information given to you in a dream...it almost sounds like a child's fairy tale."

"I know," Globgor said, rubbing the back of his head again as if he was embarrassed. "But we still don't know who even did that. Meteora didn't send us that little dream, so it has to be something else…"

"An entity from another dimension, then. One that has an interest in this place." The King surmised, barely even fazed by the implications of this. "Which is no surprise. This whole Earthni mess is the first time I've ever heard of a dimension merging with another. The magical power required for such a thing was just too high. But someone...those two teenagers managed to do it."

"And there's no undoing it now," Globgor said. "Although I'm sure Jenkins would love that…"

"I'm sure he'd love if there was a situation in which he could kill us all and get no repercussions." The King scoffed. "I mean, I'm sure he could bomb the city and make something up to the other human leaders as to why he had to do that, and they would totally believe him because I'm pretty sure he gave them their power…" He then paused and put a hand to his chin. "Huh. Actually, he could do that at any time. I wonder why he doesn't?"

Globgor frowned at this question, words from the past echoing in his ears.

"You all are the only ones I respect."

"...I'm sure he has his own reasons." He finally replied. "Maybe he's taken a secret liking to this place, who knows."

"That seems unlikely, but okay." The King said, shrugging. "But I suppose we should thank whatever reason he had for it, because otherwise, I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to blow this all to hell. Just look at all those bases he has at even the tiniest scraps of Mewni around the world. I'd say he's planning to do that one day, just set off bombs and destroy it all."

"Even if they were controlled explosions, he would still be wiping out a decent chunk of space on Earth as well." Globgor pointed out. "I don't think anyone's going to be very happy about that…"

"Eh. Perhaps you have a point there." The King admitted. "But I have to ask you...do you have any idea why this all happened?"

"Why?"

"Yes. And I mean all of this." The King said. "I know we've all asked that question hundreds of times before, but I've never asked you. Do you have any personal opinion as to how this all came to pass?"

Globgor sighed and leaned against the library door. "I don't know. As you already know, Star and Marco stayed there together. Marco said he felt his cheeks glowing during it, the same feeling that Star said she felt when her cheek marks used to glow up, so maybe the magic from the two of them did something? Marco might not be able to use magic, but being in direct contact that long with the wand and a magical person would definitely make some changes to your physiology."

"I imagine." The King said, before chuckling. "You know, speaking of that, you do remember that theory the boy had? About how we Mewmans used to be humans that sailed through the magic dimension to Mewni, came in contact with the wand and magic, and eventually became...well, us?"

Globgor looked at him in surprise. "I mean...didn't we basically confirm that that was true and no longer a theory with the mural he showed us with Glossaryck and the magic dimension and the boats? I thought everyone just silently agreed that it was the truth after Marco showed you photos of that thing in the meeting."

"Gonna be honest, most of the other Royals don't want to believe it. Too much pride is still in them. The common folk believe, though, and don't seem to care." The King said. "If anything, it's good that this is the truth. Brings more familiarity between the species of this town. The fact that they were literally the same once allows them to come together even more."

"I imagine it would," Globgor said. "But I think I should go now. My wife is probably wondering where the heck I am and why I'm taking so long."

"Of course. Go help your daughter. Do what you need to." The King said, waving him off. "Just make sure to come see me when my wife and the Princess get back. They'll probably want to speak with you...since they're not fully aware of the situation. I was the only one who answered that phone, after all."

"Got it," Globgor said. "See you around."

"See you." The King said, and then Globgor left, going back down the halls to the kitchen, carefully following the instructions he had been given. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for, and once he got there he was rather surprised at what he saw. Normally, royal kitchens were gigantic creations with hundreds of plates, utensils, and enough food to last a six-month-long siege. But this was not the case for the Jaggys. It didn't contain any spikes, for once, but it wasn't very...big, either. In fact, it was comparable in size to the Diazes kitchen when he visited their house in the past. Small, quaint, with only what was needed to make a normal dinner. He looked around to make sure that he was still in the castle, because something like this was not what he was expecting.

But he would have to think about it later. He still had a job to do. He entered and looked in the drawer that the king had told him to look in, and sure enough, he saw it filled with all sorts of medical supplies. But also as the King said, nothing fancy. Just some bandages, disinfectants, band-aids...stuff that any person could buy at a store half a block down the street. He grabbed what he needed and then exited, rushing as fast as he could back to his room. There he found the bathroom door still closed, indicating that Meteora and Eclipsa were still waiting for him.

"Umm...hello?" He asked, knocking on the door to the room. "I'm back. Sorry, it took a while. I got distracted by the King and we talked for a little longer than we should have."

"That's alright," Eclipsa replied from behind the door, as she opened it slightly and took what he had. "It hasn't felt very long, anyway. Maybe ten minutes at most."

"That's still too long in a situation like this…" Globgor said, before sighing. "Anyway, how is she doing? How bad is it?"

"It's not...too bad," Eclipsa said, looking behind her. "I took a look at her wounds, and they've stopped bleeding, although that doesn't get rid of the fact that her old bandages are now more red than white. There would definitely be infections in the future if those things had been left on."

"Mm," Globgor said, making a small face of disgust. "Well, alright. I'll be waiting for you guys out here when you're finished. Just...be careful, okay? We've been here long enough that we're nowhere near ignorant of how Earth medicine works, but neither of us qualify to be doctors either."

"Don't worry. I will be careful." Eclipsa said. "And hopefully everything will go well…"

After that, she slowly shut the door, and Globgor nodded his head a few times before going over to the bed and letting himself flop on top of it, but not before shrinking himself down first, lest he break the entire frame and cause it to collapse. He looked at the tv and noticed a remote sitting on a bed stand, and, seeing nothing else to do as they waited, he grabbed it, switched the television on, and looked for something to entertain himself.

"So you're telling me you've never even seen the ocean before?"

"Nope," Meteora answered, as her mother lopped the new bandages in her hands around her chest again, covering up yet another bullet wound. "I mean. I've seen a few lakes and rivers and all that, but those aren't what I would call even close to the real thing. Or at least that's what Jenkins said. Those have pretty much all been dirty and radioactive and full of level five knows how many chemicals that could kill me in a few minutes. Seriously. In the early days, we avoided large bodies of water like the plague. And in a way, they were exactly that…"

"I see," Eclipsa said, before scratching the back of her head. "You know...I have my Earth phone on me. I can show you a photo of the ocean right now, if you want. It'll only take a few seconds."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Meteora said. "That thought did cross my mind, how you would be able to show me all the stuff I've never seen before with that little handheld supercomputer, but I think that if I'm going to ever send the ocean, I want to see it in person first. Just feels right, you know?"

"...I suppose," Eclipsa said. "You know, when I was your age, I had never seen the ocean either. Mewni's ocean was so far from the castle, and even here on Earth, it's still a good distance away. There's a beach a couple of miles away that I'm sure you could see from the top of the Temple, but-"

"Wait, are you serious?" Meteora exclaimed, before saying "ow ow ow…" As her chest started burning with pain again.

"Are you-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," Meteora said, breathing heavily. "But you're seriously telling me that I could have just looked out the window? But I did look out the window! I didn't see anything in the distance!"

"Well, you might have done it on the wrong side of the Temple…" Eclipsa said, giving her a soft smile.

"Of course." Meteora groaned. "Ah, well, nevermind it. I think we have a window in our room. Once we get out of here, maybe I'll finally be able to see it. Even if from really far away. I'm sure it'll just look like a giant blue sheet or something."

Eclipsa laughed. "One that's moving, at least. That was my first thought when I learned I was going to easily be able to see the ocean as well. But it is worth it, trust me. After being surrounded by such a chaotic landscape all your life, especially one as chaotic as yours, I'm sure it will be a welcome change."

"As long as it isn't filled with garbage."

"Ummm…"

"Oh level five, don't even tell me." Meteora sighed.

"If you prefer it that way," Eclipsa replied, looping another bandage around her and grabbing the bottle of disinfectant, before dabbing it on one of Meteora's wounds, making her flinch. "Although, Meteora, now that I'm seeing you like...this, I feel like you were underplaying just how many scars you had. You said you had a few major ones-"

"And many minor ones," Meteora interjected. "And yeah. I guess I should have explained that a little more in detail before you did this. Might have made it less of a shock. But most of those didn't hurt that much, and Jenkins patched them up pretty good. The scars just won't fade, though. Probably won't for a while…"

"Didn't hurt that much? Meteora, any wound that is superficial enough to leave a scar is definitely going to hurt severely." She gulped. "I only have a few scars, from the days of when I first took Globgor as my lover and my father tried to have me arrested through force, and those were some of the most painful moments of my life."

"Yeah...but you tend to get used to them," Meteora said, making Eclipsa suddenly stifle back a sob. "Wha...what is it? What did I say wrong?"

"Nothing…" Her mother replied, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "It's just that it breaks my heart to hear you say that. Earning these scars is something no one should suffer so often that they manage to get used to it. Not you, not Mariposa, not even Jenkins. Not anyone…" She sighed. "I still can't believe you went through so much-"

"And still have a semblance of sanity?"

"That's not what I was going to say," Eclipsa replied, although she couldn't hide the tiny smile that Meteora's comment bestowed upon her. "I can't believe that you're still so trusting of people. After all those attacks, I figure that you'd be an angry misanthrope, unable to trust someone who wasn't your sister or Jenkins. But here you are, letting me patch up your bullet wounds with no fear whatsoever. It's truly remarkable just how much trust you've put in your father and I, considering that you truly only met one of us for the first time not so long ago!"

"You can thank Jenkins for that," Meteora said. "He figured that we might eventually turn into what you assumed I would be, just a hateful misanthrope. So he told us story after story of you guys and almost everyone else from Earthni that he wanted us to trust. If he hadn't...yeah. I probably wouldn't have even attempted to travel to the past, because I wouldn't think that I could trust anyone there." She snorted. "But you're also correct in a way. I still have major trust issues with anyone that isn't from a story of his. And after our encounter with Janna...it's a miracle I still believe any of his stories. Fifteen years in this wasteland could have turned them all into monsters. I'm just glad it didn't...for most of them."

"I see. It also surprises me that we somehow seem to be doing alright as well."

"I mean, you seem to have a community to stay at permanently." Meteora pointed out. "No matter what, staying at any community is easier than having to live out there, forever on the move. If I had grown up in one of those, I would be more naive than ever." She gulped. "Which kinda makes me glad I didn't. I mean, it would have been a better life...but I wouldn't have been able to learn all those skills from Jenkins."

"Like a hundred ways to kill someone using only your left hand?" Eclipsa jokingly suggested.

"It was more like a dozen, but yeah," Meteora said. "Honestly though, I don't use that stuff that often because I never have a need to. Or at least not yet. It's clear he intends for us to be like that when we're older and he's gone, but not right now when we're still teenagers." She shrugged. "Which is why he still takes most of the fights, but still."

"..."

"..."

"Can I...ask you a difficult question?" Eclipsa requested, and Meteora raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, I'm just wondering."

"Sure. Go ahead." Meteora said. "Everything has basically been difficult questions up to this point."

"I was just wondering...was there any time you spent with him when you could be considered an "innocent child"?" She queried, using air quotes. "As in, was there any period in your life when you were still the way you were when you were a baby? Without all the violence and killing?"

"Yeah, I...wait a minute," Meteora said, before her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "OH SHIT, WE FORGOT BABY ME AT THE TEMPLE!" She shouted. "We have to go back! We have to-"

"Oh no no, don't worry. The only thing I forgot is telling you where she is." Eclipsa said quickly/sheepishly. "...When I left the room, I gave her to a servant who was to take a long ride to the Diazes house to drop her off there. They'll be babysitting her until we get to a point where we can move freely and safely again. I just thought it would be best for her to be...out of the firing area, I think it's called."

"Oh...oh thank god," Meteora exclaimed. "For a second there, I really thought…"

"You didn't say level five this time…"

"Maybe I just lost that little force of habit thanks to my relief," Meteora said, wiping her brow. "Jeez, I cannot express how worried I was there for a moment. If Old Jenkins had captured her, or used her as a bargaining chip, or-"

"He would never," Eclipsa said. "He may not have the best morals at times, but unless it was some kind of super baby capable of destroying worlds, he wouldn't ruthlessly harm an infant. There's also the fact that he would lose all support from his Mewman allies if he threatened her in any way to get to us." She sighed. "No, I wouldn't be worried even if he had taken her. She would never be harmed."

"...Are you sure?"

"...What, don't tell me that in the future he-"

"No, no, he never had to do anything like that," Meteora said, although a certain memory of her and Mariposa came to mind, one of the first times she had seen Mariposa go berserk. "Sorry for overreacting. I shouldn't have assumed that you would just forget about her like that-"

"No, you don't have to apologize, and I don't blame you for assuming anything. There was so much going on and so much to worry about at the time, after all." Eclipsa said. "But rest assured, baby you is safe. And will be safe."

"Good...good…" Meteora said, before sitting back down and coughing awkwardly. "So...uhhh...back to your innocent child question, I guess." She huffed and leaned back in the stool she was sitting on, even though there was nothing but open air behind her. "To be honest? Yeah. Yeah, I think I was. Jenkins taught us how to kill from a very early age, but we never actually participated in violence until much later. He seldom even let us see it. As if he was protecting any innocence we had left…" She narrowed her eyes slightly, but in a tired way, before continuing. "But we were nice enough kids. If we had been magically transported to the past back then, everyone would have seen us as mostly normal, other than a certain number of skills we had that children should not have."

"I see...but how did he accomplish this? You mentioned that the first few years were the worst, and I can imagine why, due to all the radiation still being around, the most people to worry about, and whatever remained of governments likely trying to take some kind of control." Eclipsa assumed. "How did Jenkins manage to do all this...and keep you "innocent"?"

"Frankly, he was just very good at keeping us out of danger," Meteora explained. "Don't get me wrong. We still saw tons of horrible things in the first few years that would traumatize even the hardiest person. But compared to what it could have been, we were pretty well off. Of course, we still avoided people as much as possible, because it was only in the later years that Jenkins allowed us to rest at what little settlements they had out there. Other than that, we just rested where we could...which usually meant a nice rock." She smiled.

"Interesting," Eclipsa said. "Although that brings up a question. Why didn't Jenkins just make a beeline for an E.D.F. base after he took possession of you two and had nowhere else to go? The inner sanctums of those things can surely withstand nuclear bombs, and have backup generators, food and water that could last for decades, and an army's worth of weapons. Why didn't he take you to one of those?"

Meteora sighed. "He did. Many times. Almost every base across what used to the Western United States. But...it wasn't just the nukes that had led them to ruin. So many people figured, like you, that they had bunkers inside. Hundreds flocked to these bases, desperate to get inside. And although I'm sure the E.D.F. tried to hold them off…" She gulped. "With only their backup power and the firearms and small explosives sites in the bunkers, the crowds got through eventually. And they broke in, took what they could, and fled. Not bothering to live there, as they didn't know how any of the machines that allowed the place to function as a shelter worked."

"My god…"

"It gets worse. Or at least for us." Meteora said. "It was the same scene every time. We went to the base, found it in ruins, and then Jenkins led us to the shelter. But in front of the shelter doors, there were hundreds of corpses, some piles on top of each other, all riddled with bullets and burn marks. At the first shelter we found that stuff at, Jenkins immediately put blindfolds on us, took us to a hiding place, and told us to wait while he investigated. He came out ten minutes later, grabbed us by the arms, and we never went back." She shook her head. "And anytime in the future when we went to a base, and saw the same scene in front of the bunker, we just left on the spot. Because Jenkins knew there was nothing in there for us. Just dusty blood and rusted metal." She sighed again. "So you know. We never had a reason to go to bases after a while. It would just be the same mess waiting for us. And shockingly, I think Jenkins was more messed up from any of this than us. Although I don't blame him. Those were all his soldiers, after all. His bases. His life's work. All reduced to nothing…"

"I imagine that must have been quite hard…" Eclipsa said, not knowing how else to respond. "But did you truly never find any soldiers who used to work for him? The E.D.F. is quite sizable. There's no way that everyone died on those bases. Some had to be on leave, or in places where there weren't bases. Is he truly the only one left?"

"Definitely not. There's no way he's the last one left." Meteora said. "But even with that fact, we still haven't found anyone else who used to be a soldier of his. Jenkins believes that they might all be in hiding. Hiding in places where nobody would find them, where nobody would think to look. But Mariposa and I just think that while there are more left, it's a very small amount. After all, I can get why people would want to kill them. Out of rage for not "protecting the Earth". A person recognized Jenkins once, and got mad at him for that exact same reason…"

"Have you ever told anyone who you are?"

"A few, yeah, but most don't believe me," Meteora said. "Most had never even seen a picture of me, after all. I don't really have anything to prove my identity with. Just claims. For all they know, me and my two traveling companions are totally insane." She thought silently for a second, before snorting. "And we very well might be…"

"If you were truly insane, I think I would have deemed you as such by now," Eclipsa said. "No. You are just slightly eccentric, Meteora. And going back to that question, I am happy, that at the least, you got some semblance of a normal childhood from Jenkins. Although I still can't believe that he was the one who raised you. Star, Marco, Moon, even River all by himself, for corn's sake. But not Jenkins. I figured he would have no idea how to properly care for a child."

"In the normal world, I'm sure he doesn't. But the world we were presented with was one he had been preparing for for decades." Meteora said. "I imagine he thought out every situation."

"A fair point," Eclipsa admitted.

"Quite." Meteora agreed, before rubbing her left arm. "But if you truly want to know about my "innocence", then I do have a story that is perfect to tell you. It's about...well, it's a story about the first and only time I ever called Jenkins "dad". At least on purpose."

Eclipsa raised an eyebrow at this, and was about to open her mouth before Meteora stopped her.

"Yeah, I know, I said he made sure to let us know that he wasn't our real father from the start…" She said, shifting in her seat. "But I guess back then, I just wanted him to know how grateful we still were. For everything he had done for us."

"...I see."

"Yeah, it might still sound a little odd," Meteora said, before huffing. "But...this is that story."

And then, carefully and slowly, Meteora told her mother to the best of her ability the story of how she came upon a mirror in a destroyed bathroom, saw herself clearly for the first time, and then hated the image. Shattering it to pieces and later asking Jenkins if she was "wrong", if she was wrong because she was "different". And other extremely difficult questions. Then she got to the part where she had called him, "dad", they hugged, and then left like nothing happened, after Jenkins requested that she never call him that again. Her memory wasn't as good as the flashback Jenkins had just a while back in the future...but it still carried all the important details, along with all the emotions they carried. Meteora couldn't see her mother's reaction to the story as she told it, as she was still standing behind, but her deathly silence indicates that this was hard for her to listen to.

Finally, she stopped, and sighed.

"So...yeah." She said. "That's the story. It's a memory that I don't think I'll ever forget. Even if it is a little foggy…"

"..."

"But...uh...what did you think of it?" Meteora asked, as she turned around. "Sorry if that was a little heavy, but it was really one of the only moments I can think of where any sort of innocence-"

And it was at this moment that she stopped, because Meteora noticed that her mother wasn't even facing her anymore. Rather, she had turned away, shaking slightly, covering her face with her hands. It didn't take a genius to realize that she was silently crying, and Meteora almost facepalmed as she realized that that story might not have been the best one to pick when her mother requested "innocence".

Still, it was the best one that came to mind.

"...Mom?" She said softly, getting up and ignoring the pain of her wounds. "I...I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have told that one. But it just popped into my head and I couldn't think of any other-"

"Meteora…" Eclipsa started, before wiping her face and turning around. Her eyes were stained and red, along with her cheeks. Even if she had wiped them away, tears were still forming in the edges of her eyes, and Meteora got impaled by a spear made of guilt as she saw them.

"Mom…" She started to say. "I-"

But she was stopped when Eclipsa put a hand to her lips, shushing her, and sighed before speaking again.

"I think it's time I tell you the story of how I met your father…"

End chapter 50

A/N: Fifty chapters? Wow, this has really stretched all the way to fifty chapters...but that doesn't mean it's ending anytime soon, unless I get bored with it, which is unlikely. But this was a much shorter, simpler, quieter (?) chapter. After the storm that was the least few, I thought it was time to have some calm.

But as usual, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.