Act 1: Groundskeeper: Chapter 5

I lay on my back, staring face up on my bed in my barracks. The barracks around me were once lively and noisy, filled with the other five girls of my recently annihilated squad, but now it was just me. It had been a couple of hours since I had arrived back at HQ. The moment I got back, I was told to wash up, change, and wait in my barracks until further notice. I sat up and I was back in a black and gold Groundskeepers outfit. I had a new gun- the same model- and a bag of holding strapped to my waist (Wait, like a Dungeons & Dragons bag of holding? What’s that? This guy named Gary Gygax- Gary Gygax is one of the most famous Groundskeeper inventors. Whoa.) I looked to the foot of my bed, where I had put the dress after I cleaned and folded it. I didn’t know why I was so insistent on keeping it, it just felt familiar in a weird way. It was almost as if the dress had a story to tell, but I just didn’t know how or wasn’t able to listen. I heard a beep, and the tablet by my bedside lit up with a message.

“Report to Gardener Lucy’s office ASAP. Floor 666. Room 666. Bring dress.”

I stood at the message for at least a minute, and I was choking on my own nervousness. I didn’t even know that Lucifer had an office. I grabbed the dress and put on my boots before walking over to the elevator connected to my barracks and hitting the call button. (You’d think that as a Treeversal agency, we’d have instantaneous travel to get around HQ, but we don’t.) When the glass elevator arrived, I got it before hitting the buttons for floor 666 and room 666. The doors closed, and the music began to play. Whoever decided that an instrumental orchestral cover of Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley had the entire agency mad at them. (*Mio spits out water* Uhh are you ok? You guys have Rick Astley!?! Yeah. He was a Groundskeeper before he went MIA. Do you know him? I… I’ll tell you later.) As the elevator left the barracks, I could see all of HQ coming into view. A city of free-floating gravity-defying buildings that glistened and gleamed from the light that comes from Who Knows Where. (That’s an actual place, by the way.) This was HQ, also known as Rienkl Djink City. (Pronounced wrinkle dink.) A sight managed to take my breath away every time I saw it, but this time, it felt fake. It felt cold. It was as if its perfection was just a veil of fragile glass that had been shattered. When the ding signaled that I had arrived, I looked back at the doors to see them open into a well-lit, cozy, open waiting room. It was empty of people except for an extremely old-looking lady sitting at the front desk, typing away loudly on a computer. She had on a name tag that said, ‘Hello, my name is Amelia!’ I nervously walked over to her before speaking.

“Excuse me, miss?”

She seemed surprised as she looked up at me with a toothy grin- except for the fact that she was missing about half of her teeth.

“Oh, Hello dearie! Do you have an appointment?” She said in a trembling and wrinkly voice.

“Umm… No? Yes? Maybe? I think so. Gardener Lucy called me here. Agent number 2222.

“Oh! Yes you! Go right on in!”

She pressed a button on her desk, and a door opened up next to her. I opened to the door and walked into a bright pink, fluffy-(*Laughter* What Mio!? Don’t laugh! It’s the best way to describe it!)- room. Lucifer was spinning around in an office chair in the middle of the room behind a desk. I knelt before her.

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“Gardener Lucy.” I said firmly, lowering my head as a sign of respect.

“There you are 2222!” She stopped spinning and faced me. “But most people just call you Twin, right?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Enough with the formalities!” She said, giggling. “Stand up.”

I stood up, a little surprised by her childish demeanor. She then put her hands out in a ‘gimme’ motion.

“The dress, Twin?”

“Oh, sorry! Of course!” I said as I handed her the dress.

She unfolded the dress and held it out in front of her, squinting her eyes as she stared at it intently. She then folded it up and put it in a drawer in her desk.

“I have to get it inspected for any harmful magic, but I ’ll get it to you as soon as the inspection is done.”

“Thank you ma’am.”

“As I said before, please stop with the formalities, Besides, you won't have to do that kind of stuff anymore, since you’ll be working directly for me now! I’m moving you to my special forces squad!”

“Wait what!?!” The mask of the lack of emotion dropped from my face. The last thing that I was expecting was a promotion.

“Yep!” She said, grinning wide. “All the paperwork has already been filled out and you’re ready to move into your new barracks! Most of your new squad is guys, but you’ll be bunking with one other girl! She’s a bit strange, but I think you two will get along just fine!” I just stood there dumbfounded, I had no idea what to say. “Here is your keycard, you're on floor 834, and your room number is 161!”

I took the keycard from her, hands shaking.

“You have tonight to meet your new bunk mate and settle in. Be back here at 0700 sharp tomorrow to meet the rest of your squad. You are dismissed.”

I was so surprised, my body turned on autopilot as I walked back to the elevator. I scanned the keycard and punched in floor 834, room 161. I was so surprised, I wasn't even mad at the music. The doors eventually opened to a dimly lit room with two beds, a kitchen, a small table, and a bathroom. On the left most bed sat a paper pale little girl who looked to be only 11 years old. She had grey eyes and long wispy black hair, and she was quietly sobbing but she stopped when she saw me enter. I cautiously walked over to the girl and squatted down next to her.

“Hey there,” I said calmly with a bright smile. “My name’s Twin. What’s yours?

“M-mine?” She said in a lower voice than I expected.

“Yeah, yours.”

Wren. Th-that’s my name.”

“Why are you crying Wren?”

“B-because she left.” She said, choking on tears.

“Who?” I asked, wiping away some of her tears.

“Star.”

“Who’s Star?”

“She- she saved me and-.” She choked on more tears and started to sob uncontrollably again. I sat down on the bed next to her and pulled her close to me, leaning her head against me.

“Shhhh… It’s ok.” I said, stroking her hair. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to, but I just want you to know that I’m here for you and I’ll protect and keep you safe.”

And I wasn’t lying. Even though I had just met Wren, I would already do anything for her. After a while, her sobbing stopped and she fell asleep. Not long after, I gently laid her down before going to my own bed, setting an alarm for 0600 the next morning, and laying down. I had barely just laid down before I felt my exhaustion catching up to me, and I fell asleep.