Probably a good few hours later.

Gay blue and purple painted the sky. Li slipped the dishes on the rack with two delicate fingers. His fingertips froze like they were stuck in the arctic. He looked down. Suds slid on his hands. He grabbed the faucet with both hands, took a sharp breath and heaved. It was like trying to turn a whole ship as one man—or woman, in this case. He bit his lip. CREAAAAK!!--SPEWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

Water jetted like it was a full blown rainstorm. Li shivered., soaked. At least the soap smelled like honey. “Have you finished?” Elsa asked, curiosity lighting up her glum voice. Li glanced over his shoulder. Elsa wiped the table with a rag that was well ready to fall apart.

“Almost.” He replied casually, turning back. “I just have to find a way to wipe this all up.”

“No problem. I’ll get it. Just put the kids to bed.”

Li nodded. Creaking scratched at his brain like nails on a chalkboard. Agonizing. He shrunk like a mouse, tip-toeing as lightly as humanly possible. SQUEAL!! The floorboards cursed him. He placed his fingers on the knob. GROANNN!!! Were these the noises a house should make? He stepped in. ‘Kids.’ He thought, gulping down boulders. ‘I don’t know anything about-’

“Oh, hi Mona.” May said pleasantly, dropping a doll.

Li looked down. Seven nicely hand-sewn dolls were strewn about. “Hi!” Lily enthusiastically waved, wearing a beaming smile. A big, awkward grin stretched on Li’s face.

“Hi, kids!” He tried to return Lily’s enthusiasm. The two looked at each other as if he were insane and turned back to him. “How about uh... you two go ahead and err.. clean up and…... go to bed…??”

“Just a few more minutes?” The two said in union.

Li looked at them. Tears shimmered in their large eyes. The walls around his heart crumbled. Li sighed, narrowing his eyes and dropping his chin. “Sure thing.” He stepped back. “Just make sure you’re in bed in about.. ten minutes.”

“Fifteen.” May said sternly.

“Ten.”

“Twelve.” Lily added dryly.

“Ten.” Li firmly repeated.

“Eleven.” May chimed in.

“Ten.” Li said.

“Ten!” Lily said swiftly.

May and Li turned to Lily, whose chin was raised high like she’d run a marathon and came out in first place. May raised her brows. Li pursed his lips and shrugged. “Okay. Ten it is.” He said almost smugly. “I’ll be back to check on you-”

“ELSA!” Ash boomed. Li jumped ten feet in the air. “MONA—WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!”

Li’s heart skipped ten beats. He whipped around. The kids waved happily as he scuttled off. CREAK! GROAN! He screeched to a stop. Ash leaned against the doorway, heaving for air. Elsa wiped her face with a different rag. Li clutched his chest. He lurched forward and also rasped for breath. The wind had been squeezed right out of him.

“Everything good..?” Elsa’s eyes darted from one to the other. Her brows drew together and she pinched at the skin on her throat.

“Mona, do you know how to use any sort of weapon?”

Li’s eyes shot wide. “N-No!” He stammered, shooting up.

“That’s a pity.” Ash crossed her arms. “Some idiot is trying to rise up to save Alaric.”

“AlaRiC!!” Mona cried in anguish, throwing her hands over her face. Elsa rolled her eyes.

“We have to go and deal with the problem.”

“That moron?” Elsa scoffed, raising her brow with a very smug smirk. “Ace is due to be executed any time now.”

“Elsa, you and I are no strangers to how this works.” Ash heaved her bow up and tossed her quiver over her shoulder. “Mona.. I hate to ask this of you, but can you come along?”

Her voice was heavy with… panic? Li rubbed his elbow, pulling his arms close. “Uhm.” he gulped, putting on a gentle little smile. ‘LiJie! You don’t know smack about using weapons!’ His eyes widened. Cold sweat poured down his temple. Ash ran a hand through her hair. He glanced. She stared at the floor with a defeated face.

His gaze ping-ponged from Elsa to Ash and back to Elsa. His eyes stuck wide. His lips pressed into almost a grimace as inside, he split in half.--Who was he to even consider?! What even was this?! Who were these people...-Oh. His heartstrings yanked as he looked at Ash, who took a deep breath.

“Sure.” He forced the words out. Ash nodded.

A little later.

Clang! Clomp! Bump! The horses trotted. The wagon tossed, ready to turn over at any second. Li grabbed the bench’s ledges and scrunched down. He bit his lip hard, staring at the stars which seemed to move. His face had to be a shade of pale green.

“I’m going to need you to watch my back.” Ash’s strong voice almost shut up the night sounds—besides the wagon of course.

Owls squawked… or at least what should’ve been owls. Was that even a horse? Were those crickets? Li’s head spun. He gulped down vomit. “Ergh..” He squeaked. “Uhm.. I can do that.”

“I really hate to bring you along for this, Mona.” Ash sighed, rubbing her temples and shutting her eyes hard. “I’ll admit.. it’s really irresponsible of me… but there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Mhm?”

“We were never supposed to be here in the first place.”

Li rubbed his chin. “Uh. What..?”

“Well, see.. nothing’s supposed to happen till’ Alaric is freed.” She stated swiftly. “It’s like every event in the world has been stuck in some kind of..” She shoved her face in her hands. “Stagnation.” Li nodded. ‘The missing author.’

“So what are we doing?”

“Going to kill that moron ourselves.”

Li flinched.