While her Mama and Papa began to haul in the luggage, Anya had the pleasure of exploring the cabin all on her own. Entering through the old wooden door, her expression brightens- all of her prior confusion tossed aside for childlike wonder.
"Ooo!"
The cabin was a wooden wonderland- all sorts of magical nooks and crannies for her to go to. In the Gisney Movies, the Princess stayed in a cabin exactly like this one: except it was less old and had eight funny gnomes. Were there gnomes here? Anya found it hard to believe, seeing as she didn't hear any of their thoughts.
With her trusty backpack and third best friend Chimera (Becky took first place, and Bond second), Anya took it upon herself to catalog every inch of this cabin and find those gnomes- just like an explorer!
Her stomach rumbles, and Anya forgets completely about her previous plans.
She darts towards the kitchen first, propelled by her hunger. The space is similar to the one they had at home; but the cabin's kitchen had appliances older than Berlint along with wider windows. While most would have taken a moment to enjoy the picturesque view of the forest outside, Anya's idea of a picturesque view was a packet of salted peanuts.
"Huh?!"
"Ah?!"
"Eh?!"
"All empty?!"
Defeated, Anya sits on the ground: surrounded by countless open cabinets. The doors creak as they move on their old hinges, laughing at her misery.
But beneath the ambient noises of the cabin and the footsteps of her parents, the psychic hears something else.
"Hello."
The word feels different: hanging in the air with an echo. It was not like normal people talking- this time, it was like putting her ear to the ground to hear her heartbeat.
Anya looks over her shoulder to find the source of the voice, only to see no one in sight.
"Mama? Papa?" She asks, more insistently. "Was that you?"
Grabbing onto Chimera for dear life, or to use as a 'flail' like Mama taught her, the psychic scrambles onto her feet. Her eyes dart from corner to corner, as if expecting a third person to pop out of the woodwork.
"Hello?"
The voice does not return. Anya trots over to another corner of the room, climbing up on a chair to look at the garden outside. It was every bit as beautiful as it was before, an ocean of color that the psychic had never seen. Between the lab she was raised in and metropolitan Berlint, Anya had never seen such a mesmeric sight.
That is until she saw it.
A shadow, dancing between the evergreen trunks. The esper notices the shoulders and head of a person, yet it's body stretches on much taller than humanly possible. For a brief moment Anya wonders if she is seeing things.
The illusion is shattered when the Monster takes a single step forward: shaking the Earth.
Anya screams. The chair she is on falls backward, and the girl clutches at Chimera before entering into free fall. Something cracks, timber and wood falling apart.
A pair of strong hands is behind her, lifting her up and pressing her against a familiar chest. Anya buries her chest in a panic, heart racing as her Mama holds her even tighter. She hears another set of footsteps as Papa rounds the corner, holding something inside his coat pocket.
"What? What is it?"
"I saw something!"
"Something?"
"A person!"
Both of her parents tense up, Mama in particular seems to shudder. Her parents share a look, Papa's frown getting tighter as the tearful child is lowered back to the ground. While her mother remained silent, Papa speaks more than enough for the both of them,
"What did they look like?"
"They were tall- taller than the trees! And they had big red eyes, and big claws!"
"A bear?" Mama chips in, concern lacing her voice.
"No, not a bear!"
"It was a person!"
Papa looks like he does not believe her, but his thoughts say otherwise.
"It was likely a ranger." He lied, words flowing as easily as air. "There's no bears in Berchtesgaden as far as the rangers are concerned."
At the mention of that, her mother grows a bit pale. She twirls one lock of Anya's hair around her finger, fidgeting more than usual.
"It was most likely one of the rangers running a routine perimeter check, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Yor, kindly get Bond inside. I'll have to make some calls about this to the station."
"But what about unpacking dear?"
"Unpacking can wait." Papa grunts. "Safety comes first."
And with that, her father is off: busying himself with work. She noticed he did that whenever he panicked, but this time her Father was particularly worried. Only as he leaves does Anya notice the small wood particles on her mother's red turtleneck, and the person-shaped hole in the cabin wall.
"Mama- did you break the wall because of me?"
Her mother ignores her question with a smile, holding her a bit tighter. Anya reaches upward, wiping away some small splinters of bark on her hair.
"Sorry…"
"Don't be." Her mother gives her one last kiss, before wiping herself off. "As long as you are ok- I am as well."
"Oh, and Anya?"
"Yes Mama?"
"Be more careful next time."
Anya gulps when she picks up on a faint hint of murderous intent; Mama cursing the chair that had dared caused her beloved daughter to fall.
"Now come on, let's get you some snacks."
The pink-haired girl shuffles away behind her mother, though she steals one last glance at the forest.
The trees remained exactly where they were, although Anya notices one looking slightly out of place.
Bent at an angle, like a person leaning forward.
Thankfully, other than Anya almost falling, nothing of note happened to the Forger Family.
Which was good, because the incident had rattled Mr Forger more than the whole Monarch fiasco did. Sure, she wouldn't have been hurt that badly from the fall if the worst did come to happen: but Loid refused to let any harm come to his adoptive daughter.
The patriarch had mostly finished sorting out the cabin at exactly half past six, and the cabin felt more like a home after their belongings had been spread across all over it. Anya had hit the hay right after eating three whole packs of peanuts, snoring peacefully across the couch.
Again, Loid was reminded of Yor- what were the odds that the two women in his make believe family were both heavy snorers. He reaches over the couch to brush away some of her hair. In her sleep, Anya pulls the blanket up her chest.
The father sighs, patting her head one more time as he passes. Despite all of his reservations and training as an intelligence operative, Loid couldn't help but get attached.
Anya had worked hard, and Loid could see that she was somewhat disappointed in the cabin. Then again it was logistically impossible to find the fantastical castle his daughter had dreamed of, so Loid would have to make sure that he made it up to his family twofold. Perhaps a hike to the mountains would help, he remembered the last time he was here- the view was something else to behold.
Deep breaths. Twilight, Focus on the mission.
The spy blinks, shifting his persona in a single second. He could faintly make out the Ostalian folk song Yor often sang to herself in the bath - steam rolling out from beneath the bathroom door. Considering she usually took at least half an hour, Twilight had some time for himself.
Time he would use wisely.
Was the dining room always this warm?
The spy slips away from the main area of the cabin, carefully stepping over a sleeping Bond.
Turning on the ceiling fan to mask the minimal noise he was making, Twilight puts on his reading glasses and extracts the files from within his coat pockets.
Using paper files had its own risks, but W.I.S.E had found it pertinent to get the information to him fast- which made Twilight even more worried.
Just what had they found out here in Berchtesgaden that was so pertinent to have warranted his immediate relocation from Strix?
Twilight is no scientist, but he had worked long enough among the Ostanians at his previous mission to decipher their jargon. In one corner, he can make out the familiar but mysterious insignia: two triangles touching at the peaks.
Monarch.
Based on the files, they were working together to extract some kind of 'biofuel' from the surrounding forests - despite the lack of oil or natural gas within Ostanian borders. This fuel was then used by the government to-
"What?" Loid notices the corner of a photograph peeking out from behind the files, and delicately retrieves it. His eyes narrow, then widen.
There is a humanoid thing draped over an operating table, bathed in a sterile white light that makes the sickening shades of green and red on their mutilated body pop even more. Dozens of bulbous flowers blossom across their body like tumors, the spy can almost imagine them pulsing and undulating disgustingly.
Was this what the fuel was for?
It had to be, based on the numerous discarded canisters scattered in the background. A furrow appears on his forehead. Just looking at it made Twilight deeply, primally uncomfortable, as if he was looking at something that wasn't supposed to exist. He first assumed it to be faked, or doctored, but there is a small part in his brain that said otherwise.
The photograph was labeled as a failure, Subject 89 of 'Project Persephone'.
If this was failure, then what did success look like?
TAP.
Twilight flinches, knee slamming into the table. His silenced pistol shakes as he points it at the target, and the panicked squirrel immediately falls off the ledge with an undignified thud. The spy sighs, cursing his frayed nerves.
"Loid? Is something the matter dear?"
"No. Nothing." Loid sighs, wiping the tip of his gun before concealing it once more in his robes. The files were still ripe with information, and he had to make sure to do a deep reading of them before enacting the proper safety protocols.
Tomorrow, Twilight would have normally ventured to do some reconnaissance: but Yor and Anya would be a problem. They would ask questions. Distract Twilight from his work. Either he left them at the cabin, which had its own risks, or he brought them with him. Both sides of him are reluctant to do so.
Would Twilight's cover be exposed?
Would Yor, rightfully, call the police on him for crimes against the state?
What would Anya think if she found out who Loid truly was?
But somehow, the threat of the Ostanian secret police discovering him didn't worry him as much as the Monarch did. Loid would rather he get arrested and thrown into a cell, than let Monarch's sinister Project Persephone bear any kind of fruit. At least then, his family would be safe from that - monster.
His deliberations continue throughout the night.