The Pauper Princess and the Way of the Trilobite - Part 7

[maramcc]

Part six is here.

What: a fanfiction for Girl Genius, featuring my literary stand-in and stunt double Mara
Time: Would you believe...? approximately four months after blah blah blah

The story so far!
--Mara blowed up some things

Legal disclaimer stuff:
"This story is not approved by, sponsored by or affiliated with Studio Foglio LLC or Airship Entertainment."

The Pauper Princess Fanfiction Theatre Presents:
The Pauper Princess and the Way of the Trilobite - Part 7!


Before being brought to the hospital, Agatha had managed to give at least an educated guess where Violetta might be. Both women hoped that she'd simply escaped and had made it to Mechanicsburg by now. Mara had to be sure. After taking flight, she contacted Kelvin's talkbox; he responded within seconds and immediately berated her for not answering earlier.

"And now somebody's just arrived from the hospital, telling me that Agatha is there? That she's severely injured? What's going on??"

"Violetta is still missing," said Mara. "I'm in my suit and have gone back out to look for her. That's what I called to tell you."

"I'm having trouble understanding you," he said. "Your voice is tinny and you sound like you're in a hurricane! What's going on?"

Mara lifted the faceplate and braved the harsh wind to shout into the talkbox. "Looking for Violetta! Just stay with Agatha! Please! I'll be back as soon as I can! Love you!" She lowered the faceplate and shut off the talkbox in spite of Kelvin's further protestations. That was going to cost her severely, but Violetta needed all of her attention now.

Mara was flying low and following the winding back road where the two women had been attacked. The sun was almost set, so she switched on her helmet's light, hoping it hadn't been destroyed by the airship's shield. By some miracle, it still worked. It did not take long for her to reach the approximate area where Agatha and Violetta had encountered their assailant. The large crater and downed trees told her that a bomb had gone off here. She slowed down and began to descend, first calling out for Violetta  in a moderate voice, then pausing to listen.

Her helmet didn't have much in the way of voice amplification. But then, earlier she'd been able to bellow rather effectively. Surely she could do it again. She took in a deep breath, held it, then yelled with all her might, "Violettaaaaa!"

What in the-?? A flock of birds would've stayed in the trees for that. A deer wouldn't have stopped and stared for that. A hare would have kept on munching grass. Violetta was missing, possibly safe at home, but more likely injured and alone, possibly dying, possibly surrounded by Grimm Wolves or Terror Bears or Rocket Raccoons or

"VIOLETTAAAAAAAAAAA!"

It took Mara half a minute to finish the name. Out of breath, her head spun and she staggered a bit, but recovered quickly. She couldn't afford any nonsense such as swooning. The forest was surprisingly quiet now. Perhaps the animals were stopping and staring now.

She shut her eyes and listened. Perhaps not the best plan if there really were Grimm Wolves or Terror Bears or other constructed abominations before God and man, but she heard best without seeing.

"Ah," was all she heard from some distance away. Hard to tell if it was human or not, but she was off like a shot, pointing the light beam to and fro, looking for any movement at all. Violetta's typical choice of color - different shades of purple - was not going to stand out in darkness. The best she could hope for was to spot skin or hear Violetta speaking again.

Mara stopped at her best guess of the sound's source, and moved in a circle as slowly and quietly as she could. The suit's gears and motors could not help but creak and whine a bit.

"Agatha...?" she heard from five meters away. A few seconds later, she was at Violetta's side. Agatha's stalwart companion was motionless on her back, one leg bent the wrong way, her head turned completely sideways so that her right cheek was flush to the ground. She was still alive, but even by the helmet's inadequate light, Mara could tell the neck was broken and must not be moved. She gasped quietly and suppressed the urge to touch her, even if for comfort. No telling what damage could be done. On the fortunate side, she did not appear to be the victim of any animal attacks.

Mara removed her helmet and propped it into a position that allowed for some source of light. "Violetta," she said gently, "It's Mara. I'm here. Are you still awake? Can you speak? Just one word, it's all I need."

"...Hurts..."

Mara swallowed a lump in her throat. "I know, honey," she said. "I can tell that you must be in terrible pain. I'm going to bring you to a hospital. Guildern's, but it's still a good one. Trust me."

"Agatha?"

"She's fine," said Mara. "She's going to be fine. She also in the hospital and is being looked after. I'm going to take you there right now."

"Got away," said Violetta. "She got away."

"Of course she did, "said Mara, smiling. "She's the Heterodyne! Now, I've brought something to-"

"Dupree? Is she-?"

"Honey, you need to relax and save your strength," said Mara. "My only concern right now is getting you to medical help."

"Don't move me," said Violetta. "Neck broken. Move and I die!"

"I know," said Mara. "I can see it. I must ask, then: are you paralyzed? Can you move anything below your neck?"

"Yes," said Violetta, clenching one of her hands to show. "Can move. Just leave me. Too much trouble."

"Agatha would beg to differ about your being 'too much trouble.' As would I. Now... I've brought something I can use to-"

"Failed."

"No," said Mara firmly, her eyes moistening. "No, you have absolutely not failed. I know you did everything you could to, to protect her. Just rest, dear. I know that we must be extremely careful to move you, and I have something with me that will let me do that. It's... it's going to feel very odd while it's being put on you, but trust me, it will not hurt you."

"Just leave me."

"I will do no such thing," said Mara. "Please trust me. Will you do that? Now, this will likely feel like a million ants crawling on you, but it's really-- well, a million clanks, I suppose. They're going to completely cover you, except your face so you can breathe. When they're all in position, they're going to lock into place. You won't be able to move even if you wanted to. That's how I'll be able to take you to the hospital without moving your neck, or any other broken bones. Now... close your eyes, honey. This is going to take all of my concentration, but don't worry about anything right now. Think of pleasant things. You'll be in a nice, clean, comfortable bed before you know it."

Violetta closed her eyes and tried to think of pleasant things, but this was contrary to her nature. Mara's description was rather accurate. It took all her willpower to keep from squirming as the "million ants" - or clanks, or whatever they were - spread all over her body like itchy, wriggling sand. Pleasant things, pleasant things, pleasant things-!

Zeetha's wedding. Pretty dresses. Dancing? Maybe she'd dance at the wedding. She could dance, but so rarely got the chance to show it. Agatha was still alive.

***********************

Mara had formed handles for herself in the black sand to aid in keeping Violetta as still as possible while flying and running. Upon arrival at the hospital, there was the usual hullabaloo about her clunking about the emergency room in a large, metal suit. Once again she had to remind the staff that she was the Princess, and yes, this human-shaped blob of black something was a woman in need of immediate attention. Doctors and nurses bustled about to prepare their new patient. Mara refused to leave Violetta until they had properly immobilized her without the need of the black sand. She withdrew the substance moments before Violetta was wheeled away for surgery.

After she disappeared behind the double doors, there was an odd quiet to the room. Mara stood still in its center, numb from head to toe and inside and out. How many days had it been since Agatha had arrived? Just... one? It couldn't be, but it was. And... things happened and... now she was at a hospital. Somebody was talking to her. Most likely hospital staff, asking her to park her suit elsewhere or to take a seat or

"Mara?" said Kelvin. She wasn't sure how many times he'd said her name. She jerked back into awareness and looked his way. After a few seconds she slowly removed the helmet.

"Are you all right?" he said.

She struggled to find the words, then settled for a shrug and spoke quietly. "It's been a busy day," she said. They exchanged a long look before Kelvin broke away, looking a bit to the side and rubbing his chin, his eyes belaying an anger that he restrained himself from acting upon. Not yet, anyway.

"Agatha needed surgery," he said. Mara gasped. "Minor surgery, according to the doctor. She was bleeding internally, but he stopped that quickly. But she also had a concussion, broken ribs, a punctured eardrum, blunt trauma..."

"Oh, my G-- Is she going to be all right?"

"He believes so," said Kelvin. "But there is a complication..."

***************************

Mara ended up being admitted for observation after passing out in another part of the hospital. She also never had the opportunity to go home and stash the construction suit, and so it was up to Kelvin to pilot it as needed. Naturally, wherever it was "parked" in the hospital, it was in somebody's way. And then there was that "black sand" that nobody seemed to know how to store. Eventually the hospital staff came up with some empty bins to pour it into. Since Mara was indisposed while off having tests run, the Prince made the decision not to toss any of it. It could be dangerous to keep, or even worse to leave unattended. Who could tell with Spark inventions, even though hers were meant to be as harmless as possible.

The children had been told that she was still visiting "Lady Agatha" - not exactly a lie - to explain her absence at dinner and beyond. Kelvin had ordered a guilt-ridden Heather to go home. Theo and Sleipnir had been informed of her hospitalization and that they not visit until further notice. Agatha might have felt differently about a visit from her kin, but Kelvin did not know her wishes. A Search and Rescue team had been formed and sent out to retrieve any possible airship crash survivors. They had no specific orders to recover debris, though.

Kelvin woke with a start, then a groan as the crick in his neck acted up. He'd fallen asleep in a hard chair, his legs sprawled out and head lolling forward. Beside him was Mara, for once asleep in the wee hours of the night instead of buried at work in the workshop. She had convinced herself that she only needed two hours of sleep each night, and no amount of reasonable arguments had changed her mind. At least those two hours were usually spent with him, beside him in their bed. Now their situations had been reversed: she slumbered in apparent peace while he'd been sleeping fitfully all night. And what time was it?

He glanced at the machine behind her, which beeped softly and showed her vital signs with green colors. It was just after two a.m. Agatha had made it through her surgery just fine and was recovering in a "VIP" room. The complication had been resolved to satisfaction. Mara was also in the "VIP" section, several rooms over. As for Violetta, as far as he knew, she was still in surgery. They had requested regular updates and were due for another.

He stood up and stretched, then took a risk of waking Mara by kissing her on the forehead. She did not stir. There were no words to describe how much he loved her. There were also no words to describe how angry he was with her. How she, a woman of profound peace, a woman who devoted every waking moment of her time to creating a place of entertainment, of sanctuary, of happiness, could suddenly decide to strap on a metal suit meant for construction workers and... what? Fight pirates? He had no argument against her cause; Her Ladyship Most High had to be found and the villains brought to justice. But why did she think that only she could do it? Without telling him or even waiting for assistance? It was madness. She was the royal Princess of the land, the mother of three very young children, and his wife. And that girl Heather, that so-called bodyguard who had failed to prevent her leaving-!

He forced those thoughts down for now. They were stirring him up again, and she needed quiet. He would at least give her that before the storm broke. They would have a Talk when all was said and done. Yes, they would have a Talk.

He left the room as quietly as he could and checked with some nurses about Violetta. While they searched for news, he looked down the hall to see Agatha emerging slowly from her room. A nurse was with her. Agatha was using a little wheeled stand for support while she walked. Hanging from it were her various intravenous bags. She kept one hand on her belly; that must have been where the surgery had occurred. Kelvin excused himself from the nurses and was at her side quickly.

"Your Ladyship," he said, offering his own support, "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I keep strange hours," she said. "Besides, I couldn't hold it in forever. What about Violetta? Last I heard, Mara was out looking for her." It was obviously painful for her to speak, given the bruises and swelling on her face. One eye had been swollen shut earlier but was now open to a slit. Kelvin relayed to her what little he knew of Mara's little escapade in the forest, Violetta's injuries and her emergency surgery. Right on time, a nurse approached them and relayed the happy news that her surgery had just been completed successfully and that she was being moved into the recovery room.

They both breathed a great sigh of relief and shed matching tears. "Let's go see her," Agatha ordered, and started hobbling towards an exit. Kelvin stayed her gently.

"Your Ladyship-"

"Oh, come on, Kelvin," she said. "Just Agatha."

"Very well," he said, "But I meant that we should wait for them to bring her up here. Let her rest now and wake on her own."

"But-"

"I know, you live a life of constant adventure," he said. "Everything you do is rush-rush-rush, but... You don't need to right now. You can stop and rest. Just... relax in the silence."

She almost replied, then paused and really listened to this thing called "silence" for the first time in quite a while. Other than the soft padding of nurses' footsteps and patient monitors softly beeping, it was very quiet here. Even the Castle at its most peaceful - if it could ever be called that - had a certain deep rumbling to it of distant machinery and energy churning. There was none of that here.

"I'm not used to quiet," she said.

He smiled. "May I take you back to your room?"

"No, thank you," she said. "I'm just going to stretch my legs a little first. Walk around the floor, then back to bed. Your hospital is rather nice. Clean and comfortable."

Kelvin smiled and nodded in gratitude, and joined her journey around the hospital floor. She tried to stand tall and walk more quickly, but he and the nurse insisted that the display was unneeded. Sometimes one had to stop being larger-than-life and just be... human.

"Hey," Agatha said quietly, peeking inside a room near hers. "Is that Mara?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Bu-Why didn't you say anything?" said Agatha, and hobbled inside. Kelvin quietly tried to coax her back out, but she went to his chair and, with the help of the nurse and eventually Kelvin, sat down. The hubbub was enough to stir Mara to semi-consciousness. She looked over, mumbled something unintelligible, then closed her eyes again. Kelvin dismissed the nurse and shut the door after she left.

He spoke in whispers. "Agatha, she needs her rest, too. Now, I understand that you two had a... disagreement before you left, and... uh... I'm not sure if seeing you here, right now, would be... good for her?"

Agatha took a long time to answer. She held onto the stand with one hand and her stomach with the other, and just stared at her cousin. Finally, she turned towards him - just a little bit, thanks to her soreness.

"Yes, we did have a 'disagreement,'" she whispered. "If you didn't hear, it was about Guildern's... lack of preparation so she could reveal herself. After a lot of hemming and hawing, she admitted to doing nothing about it. Which reminds me: I owe Violetta her buck back."

"Uh... Well, I'm sure you'll work that out," said Kelvin. "For what it's worth, I was the only one who argued in favor of fortifying the kingdom. It's true that we Mousehearts have known nothing but peace all our lives, but I was prepared to join the rest of the world, as it were. The others argued against it. Rather than continue being the contrarian, I supported their decision. Even took their arguments to heart. To be honest I was a little surprised that Mara was against it, but given her violent past, I understood her point of view. She never wants to see violence again. Or... so I thought until today."

"Ignoring bad things doesn't make them go away," said Agatha. "Kelvin, I'll say this: I owe her my life. Violetta, too, but I'll take that debt for her. But I'm afraid for you all. Really, I am. Never mind being a Heterodyne or not. Today must have shown her that danger is right here, right outside your gates, and... but to pretend that just thinking happy thoughts will stop that?"

"Never thought they would..."

Kelvin went to Mara's side. Agatha tried to stand, but he coaxed her back into sitting. Mara eyes were open. She was flat on her back and staring at the ceiling. "Does anyone have news about Violetta?"

"Alive and on her way to being well," said Kelvin. That, above any other news, seemed to make Mara happier than he'd seen her of late.

"Thank you," said Agatha. "Really: You have no idea how much it means that--" She found herself unable to continue for the moment.

Mara was not in the mood for it. "I could do no less for her," she snapped. "As to your point: Yes. So much danger right on our doorstep. Such fools we were. Are. You win, Your Ladyship. Happy?"

Agatha scoffed. "This is not about my being 'happy'-!"

"No, no, no, no," said Kelvin. "No. You two are not going to restart this. Not here and now. You both go to your rooms." Mara gave him a Look. "I mean, Agatha, please return to your room."

"It's all right, Kelvin," said Agatha more calmly than he'd expected. "A wise woman told me that I might have been... too hard on her. I mean, you. You Mara. Ohhh, boy, am I tired."

Mara stared at the ceiling some more, then fumbled for a controller next to her. She pressed a button that caused the bed to start moving her into a sitting position. "Agatha," she said, "I am stubborn and proud. I know this. But I'm not so proud anymore to... to not admit my cowardice."

Kelvin grunted. "Mara, you are not-"

"Dear," she said, and waited for him to quiet. "I have to finish this. You need to hear it, too. Agatha, we argued about this kingdom's future. About mine and my family's. I couched my words to sound noble and in the name of peace. They weren't. They were... I did nothing because I was afraid. I was afraid to step back into the real world and... face the responsibilities of my actions. Of what I am. For that... I am sorry. And to you, Kelvin. You've been pretending that you're not furious with me, but I can tell you are. Furious for flying off on my own to God knows what, and avoiding telling you, because of course you'd try to stop me."

"You've got that right," he said. "No offense, Agatha. It's about her endangering herself, not seeing you to safety."

"None... taken?"

"You mustn't be angry with Heather, either," she said. "It was my choice. She did try to stop me, but short of knocking me unconscious, it wasn't going to happen."

"So you flew off in a construction suit to rescue me," said Agatha, "Just to prove you're not a coward?"

The room was quiet, save for the beeping of Mara's monitors. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, then opened them.

"It's battle armor."

Another silence followed, but for the Beeeeep... Beeeeep... Beeeeep...

"And I flew off in it... to save my cousin."

Beeeeep... Beeeeep... Beeeeep...

"And you did," said Agatha. "And I'm sorry about-- calling you a coward." She seemed to be in extra pain to say that. "You risked your life for me. And for Violetta. I'm indebted to you - twice - for it."

Mara did not reply at first, but stared at a spot on the floor. "If you say so."

Agatha and Kelvin exchanged looks. "Would you happen to know what became of Dupree?" she asked. "Her crew? Her ship? Do you know if she's dead or alive?" Kelvin told her about the dispatched Search and Rescue team, but she was still looking at Mara.

"I-I don't know," she said. "I wasn't able to catch anyone but you. To protect anyone. I wanted to save the girl, too. Her daughter, or cabin girl? Whatever she was. Probably twelve at the oldest. I couldn't save her. Couldn't." Kelvin took up her hand and kissed it gently, then held on.

"Hm," said Agatha, now in thought, "Need to send a crew from Mechanicsburg. Recover anything and anybody that we can. We need answers from her and especially that ship."

"We'll assist in any way that we can," Kelvin offered.

"Thank you," she said. "By the way, what's that black stuff you had on me? And do you have more of it?"

"Oh..." said Mara. "Yes, somewhere about." She shrugged. "It, uh... Just an experiment. I was trying to come up with something that could be used as temporary patch material for larger repairs. I was... You remember when your, uh, uh, dingbots all linked together and formed the much larger clank?" Agatha cocked her head, then nodded. "Well, the 'black sand,' as I call it, is also made of clanks, but all about the size of a grain of sand. And they're designed to, to link together in varying rigidity. They can be loose, very firm, or in between. Helpful for repairwork, you know. And you mentioned something about your dingbots being able to make more of themselves? Uh, well, I took that idea, too, and... So what they do is that they disassemble directed materials into their base components. Then they use that to make more of themselves. I told them - I use a headband to send commands, you see - to 'eat' the airship's metal and make more of themselves with it. And... they did. I still think they could be used for their original purpose, but I have a bit to work out first."

Agatha stared at her a long time, then scratched her head. "'Temporary patch material?'"

"Yes, I am aware of potential military application," Mara snapped tiredly. "Just like I used it tonight." She then calmed herself quickly. "I'm always aware. Of everything I make."

"I wasn't going to say anything," said Agatha. She held out a hand to Kelvin, who understood her intention and helped her back on her feet. "Thank you. Your husband is correct; we need our rest. But this has been a good talk. Perhaps we could continue later?"

Mara shrugged. Kelvin helped Agatha hobble to the door, when she stopped and turned. "Before I forget," she said, "I heard that my surgery was uneventful, except that I'd lost a lot of blood before arriving. That I needed a transfusion. Trouble is, I have a unique blood type. They couldn't find any in their blood bank."

"No," said Mara. "You have a very rare type. 'Unique' suggests that you're the only one in the world with it."

"...Right," said Agatha. "So... I heard that they eventually managed to find a match for me."

"Ah, that's good," said Mara, nodding. "We're all very relieved that they did."

Beeeeep... Beeeeep... Beeeeep...

"Thank you."

"...Get some rest, Agatha."

Part eight is here.