In Which They Get Side Tracked to Help Patience


Justina stepped out of an ancient looking archway onto the small patch of grass surrounding it. She looked out at a road lined with houses she could only describe as patchwork. Some of the buildings looked familiar, like ones from her home metaverse, but seriously weathered and patched up. The repairs were anything from duct tape and cracked plastic roofing to an opalescent material that looked like stone but not quite. Curious she walked closer. The surface of the shimmery stuff was smooth but lumpy and it wasn't until she saw what was clearly a fingerprint that she realized why the texture looked familiar. It looked like someone had kneaded it hastily into shape, like clay, and never bothered to smooth it back out. When she reached out to touch it, it felt tingly under her fingers and mostly like rock but just slightly too warm. She was puzzling over it when she heard a click and the sound of an electronic device winding up.

"I'd appreciate it if you took your hands off my house, please."

Justina pulled away startled. She hadn't heard the woman approach.

"I'm sorry-" She began, turning. She stopped abruptly when she found herself facing a blocky looking taser that hummed ominously.

"I'm sorry." She repeated raising her hands and edging sideways toward the cracked sidewalk. "I've never seen material like that and I got carried away."

The woman humphed, but lowered the taser. Justina let out a quiet breath of relief when she heard it wind down.

"Our town was one of the first you know, to get aid after the Dome fell. The Opal Obelisk came by herself. Spent the first two months here. Shored up the whole town. She made us a Fountain too, pretty thing, but useless. You can see it in the middle of town. Artist types, you know. We thanked her of course. She did prop up our building's even if she found it boring. She helped other places too, but she came back to live here. Good material, too." The woman's voice was full of pride. "Nothing like the Ceramic Saint, his stuff crumbles in just a decade or so, you know. But the Opal Obelisk's, well, some of her opaline sculptures have been floating around the collectors since way back before, if you know what I mean." The woman patted her wall with a proprietary grin.

"That's amazing." Justina didn't know, but she tried to sound impressed and kept one eye on the lowered taser.

The woman looked her up and down. "You looking for the market, then? The auction doesn't start until tomorrow but the rest of the market's there, and busier than I've ever seen it."

"Yes," Justina snatched at the lead, "and I'm supposed to meet a friend somewhere around here."

"Well, you missed your target. It's four blocks that way then two more to your right. Myself, I don't see what all the fuss is about, I can't wait until someone takes that thing away. I know everyone loves the business, but this town just isn't meant to be so busy."

Justina nodded sympathetically, "At least It sounds like it will calm down after the auction, right?"

"Not enough." The woman finally holstered the taser and then waved at her. "Run along now, and good luck."

"Thank you! You too." Justina was already leaving. You too? Why did I say that?


Patience sat on the steps to the small town hall building, her head in her hands. Her shield, a 16 inch bronze buckler, had fallen in the dust by her feet. She knew she would have to clean it later but right now she didn't give a shit. Mother would pitch a fit about respecting your tools. But she isn't here right now, is she? She felt the tears welling up again and scrubbed them aggressively away. Thus preoccupied, she didn't notice Xanaria arrive in her head.

Patience was 13 years old as of last week, she wore a short bronze dress over black leggings and knee high leather boots whoes cracked paint almost matched her dress, and her mother's remains were about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. No one would listen to her when she tried to get her mother back.

Xanaria tried not to swear inside the child's head, but it was hard.

Patience stiffened but then relaxed as Xanaria let her 'remember' what Xanaria was and how she got there.

~How can I help?~

Honest to god, if I knew that I wouldn't need help. My mother is still in there. I know it! She's the only family I have left! And I know I can talk her out of the sculpture if I can just get to it. She has to be inside! She doesn't turn things into opaline, she just creates it. Maybe I could break the shell or something? I could get her out.

~I'll help you get her back, I promise. I know someone who should be able to help. Or at the very least someone adults will listen to. She's around here somewhere, I'm sure. She's also looking for someone she loves.~

Okay. Patience sniffed and wiped her eyes again with her hands. Then scrubbed her palms dry on her leggings. Picking up her buckler she dusted it off halfheartedly before storing it on her back.

Where is she?

~I'm not exactly sure. Her name is Justina, and she's about 5'6" with short dark hair that sticks out at odd angles. I think it's trying to curl but it isn't long enough right now. She'll be asking anyone she can about a 'Thomas Well,' that's her husband but he got lost.~ Xanaria pictured Justina as clearly as she could, hoping it would be better than her clumsy words.

If you don't know where she is, how were you planning to find her?

~I don't know. I thought I'd figure it out when I got here.~

So, what? You want to just wander the world until you find her?

~Not the world. She should be pretty nearby. Skipper would have made sure she came out as close to me as they could aim.~

So then... Just wander around this town all day?

~I didn't realize you would have more important problems, I'm sorry.~

Patience sighed, It's fine. You're right about an adult being helpful, if she'll listen.

~She'll listen to me.~

I know someone who can find her. Patience felt an extra weight in her gut. I just have to apologize first.


When Justina cleared the last of the buildings she thought for a moment that she had stepped into a fair or a circus. Brightly colored tents, booths, and tables were set in maze-like patterns, filling a wide field that had been grassy before so many feet had ground the green into the dirt. Along one side were hotels, pawn shops, a bank, and the town hall. She could see the tops of trees in the distance, over the brightly colored tents and booths. Several trees seemed to have dirigibles tied to them.

She moved through the bustling crowd with little difficulty. There were a lot of people, but it was only about as densely packed as a grocery store on a busy day. She had no idea how she would go about spotting Thomas in the throng. She didn't know where she was going, and people kept trying to sell her things.

"How would you like to own your very own shard of The Antelopes Shattered horn? Guaranteed to grant the holder with the hero's own grace!"

Well, Justina thought, I have to start looking somewhere. Instead of answering him she asked, "Have you seen or heard of a man named Thomas Wells somewhere around here? He's my husband, he has dark hair and a beard. Oh! Although I suppose he might be a disembodied voice inside your head or somebody else's head. You haven't heard anything about where he…" She trailed off as the man backpedaled frantically, eyes wide.

"Yeah," she muttered to herself. "I might need to work on my elevator pitch."


Patience scowled at her feet, arms crossed. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I know you tried. I was scared and missing my mom. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I'm sorry."

The man blinked at her slowly. He wore a brightly colored hat with ear-flaps tied tightly over his ears despite the warm weather. He stubbed out his joint on the sole of his shoe and tucked it into his pocket before responding. "Don't worry about it, kid. People have given me worse over less." He smiled lazily. "What is it you want now? I can already tell you that I'm not going to be able to hear a heartbeat in that statue just because you didn't like my answer last time. It's just a statue. Your mum was already paid for her work. Everything is shiny, legal, and tight as..." He trailed off, seeming to remember who he was talking to.

Patience gritted her teeth. "No. I just need some help finding someone in this crowd. She'll be asking people about someone named Thomas Wells. Can you hear anything like that?"

"Maybe you should go back to your babysitter."

"I'm 13! I don't need a babysitter."

He rolled his eye. "Sure kid."

"Look, please? She's an adult and I think she'll help me get my mom back."

He shrugged, "Okay, Buckles, I'll see what I can do."

Glaring at him as he untied his cap Patience said, "It's Buckler. Like the shield."

"Yeah, that." Now uncovered, his ears were glowing blue and very large. They seemed to move independently of each other and sparked every once in a while. After a moment he nodded. "Yeah, she's here. She's over that way, by the ice cream shop that plays the jingly music box Beethoven. It's missing one of it's higher notes."

He waved her off putting his hat back on and tying down the flaps. Patience turned to go.

~I know you're still mad from earlier, but you do need to thank him.~

"Thank you." Patience told him, grudgingly. He had already pulled his joint back out and waved again.

Patience and Xanaria took off.


Justina's luck hadn't gotten any better. No one had seen Thomas, no one had heard about him, no one knew where he was.

Skipper said this is where he went. Or somewhere near here. I can't give up.

She had tried showing people the picture she had in her wallet from their honeymoon, but that hadn't helped. Besides, if he was a pilot like Xanaria a picture wouldn't actually be what people had seen.

"Justina?"

She looked around and found herself looking down at a kid with a stubborn set to her chin and salt smudges from dried tears faintly visible on her dark skin. She was dressed in shiny bronze, and had a small round shield over one shoulder.

Justina blinked and asked uncertainly "Xanaria?"

The girl nodded shortly. "She's here. And I'm The Buckler."

"Ah, that explains the shield."

The girl looked surprised and gratified. "Yes, exactly. Like the shield! No one ever gets that."

"So are you a hero then?"

"Yes. Well, in training. My mother-" her voice broke, but she cleared her throat and continued. "She says I'm too young to do hero stuff yet, nevermind that Hex Destiny is only a little older than I am and she's been a hero for years."

Justina nodded. She had heard that name many times already, often combined with a couple others, in overheard conversations and marketeers trying to capitalize off a household name. She hadn't thought much of it, since it had nothing to do with Thomas, so she knew almost nothing about Hex Destiny. But she could recognize when someone was talking about their personal hero and didn't say anything.

"Are you having any luck finding Thomas?"

Justina's shoulders slumped "No. I think I need to change tactics but I have no idea what else to do. It's not like they sell trackers for dimensional travelers around here."

"I mean, someone probably says they do, but in all likelihood they would just give you a random beeping box or a piece of rock on a string. And that wouldn't be much help."

Justina sighed. "You haven't heard of anyone named Thomas Wells around here have you?"

"No, we would have told you right away. Actually…" The girl cleared her throat, "I was wondering if you could help me. I know you're busy but Xanaria thought… Look, my mother is in trouble and no one will listen to me and- and I need her back." The tears spilled over again. "Shit. I'm sorry. I just..." Patience trailed off scrubbing at her face.

"Of course I'll help. I wasn't making any progress anyway. We'll find your mother. It'll be okay. I'll help." She put an arm awkwardly around the crying girl and Patience fell against her sobbing as she hadn't allowed herself to do this whole miserable month. Justina hugged her and murmured soothing noises the way she had always done for Alice when they were young and her little sister still felt things so much more intensely than anyone around her.

After a while, Patience began breathing more easily. She wiped her cheeks and pulled away from Justina.

"Wow, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just… I… ummm…"

Justina smiled. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Patience gave an awkward shrug, avoiding her eyes. "Yeah, well, thank you for agreeing to help."

"Of course. Between the three of us finding your mother shouldn't be too hard."

"I don't need her found, I know exactly where she is. I just need help getting to her."

"Where is she?"

"She's inside the statue they are auctioning off tomorrow. They are calling it The Opal Obelisk's Self-Portrait. But my mother never made self portraits. She hated the idea. She likes to make things from nature or mythology, and she loves abstract flowing forms, things like that. She wouldn't be caught dead sculpting a self-port-" Patience choked, realizing what she had just said.

"Inside the statue?" Justina pretended not to notice Patience's expression, hoping to gloss over the moment. "How does that happen?"

"It doesn't. It's not supposed to. She creates opaline and then sculpts it. Sometimes, when she would work too hard or fast, it would creep up on her fingers. Then she'd take me for ice cream and by morning she would be back at work. She would always stop when that happened, always. But this project." Patient shook her head, "The client kept pushing her to finish it, and he gave her some money in advance so she felt obligated to work on it. I wasn't there, I was at school, so I couldn't remind her that she needed to stop when it started coating her fingers. Sometimes she gets in the zone and she doesn't notice right away. Especially when she has a deadline. And she had been working all night and I should have realized, I should have stayed home, I could have spotted for her."

"You couldn't have foreseen it. Don't beat yourself up about the past. Instead try saying 'when I get her back we'll figure out a system so this doesn't happen again.'"

"What are you, a therapist?

"No, I'm sorry. Just some advice someone gave me once."

"I don't need useless advice. I need someone to help me get my mom."

"I'm sorry. What happened next?"

"When I got home from school they were already loading her onto the truck. It was her deadline that day, you see. I didn't get a good look at the sculpture, but it was of her, detailed and lifelike, sculpting a half-finished dragon. I knew something was off right away but the man in the black suit handed me a check and told me to give it to my mother when she got home. He sounded super annoyed, he must have been waiting for a while. But she never came home that night and I realized what must have happened. The shell must have grown up all over her and now she's trapped inside. They won't let me near it but I'm sure if I could just talk to her I could get her out. Or if I could crack the shell then she could be released but they won't let me even try it. They say it's a multimillion-dollar piece of art and not something to mess with and they heard my plan and they put a restraining order on me and I have no money to try and buy it at the auction and I don't know what to do!"

"Maybe Xanaria can help, she piloted a master thief recently, she must have learned some skills?"

Patience looked hopeful and then dubious. "Yeah, but I'm not sure how much I picked up from Elizabeth. This is a pretty big thing to start out with, let's make that that plan B."

Justina blinked then shook her head. "You know, having been an avatar myself doesn't really make this any less confusing to talk about. Come on, planning needs fuel and those sandwiches look really good."

The man selling sandwiches was willing to barter, and Justina traded him three cans of black beans for two sandwiches with more filling than bread. Patience led her to an out of the way bench. They sat and brainstormed while they ate. In the end Justina didn't like their plan, but she was hard pressed to think of anything better.