“Next stop: Barton Town, end of the line. All passengers must exit the train. Next stop: Baron Town…”
The interior lights of the train car flicked on, a little act of courtesy to help rouse any dozing passengers from sleep. Bleary-eyed, a woman lifted her head and looked around. The train car was empty, with the other passengers having gotten off further up the line. The windows outside showed only darkness, and she struggled to remember if they were arriving at night or if they would still be in the tunnels at this stage of their journey.
A familiar sound reached her ears, and her eyes turned up towards the lights, watching them expectantly. Just as she predicted, they flickered and dimmed before humming back to full power. Unconsciously, she checked her ring finger, feeling for a familiar bandage…
She could feel a cold surge of adrenaline through her veins. This was more than just déjà vu. This was exactly like that night when she returned to Gaia, five and a half years earlier.
There was something aboard the train. It wasn’t a mere prediction, but a certain fact. And sure enough, she could feel something brush past her legs, trying to scurry under the sheets. Back then, it was something she couldn’t identify, like a piece of luggage that had been left behind by a previous passenger. But now she recognized it, the unnatural combination of unliving fabric and living warmth. An Animated. Maybe an OMG, or something in the same family.
And next, a bright-eyed man with a bandage on his cheek was going to—
“Ma’am?”
She awoke from her cheek with a jolt. It was a different man. The conductor, in fact, now once again standard on the trains. After the Animated invasion, the people of Gaia weren’t so keen on these giant, powerful machines running without a human hand to keep them under control.
“Ma’am, we’ve reached the end of the line. You need to get off the train.”
For a second time, the woman looked around with bleary eyes, this time accompanied with the sting of light and salt that came after waking from a long sleep. She was actually awake now, and could piece together a rough idea of what happened: The lights had only half-roused her from sleep, and looking around the familiar train car had brought back old memories, which then mixed with her dreams as she drifted back to dreamland.
“S… sorry,” she mumbled, running a hand through her plum-colored hair to smooth down any bedhead. “I must’ve dozed off.”
The conductor sighed. “Yeah, you must’ve.” Judging by the sarcastic edge to his voice, she could only guess what a nuisance her sleeping might have caused. Snoring loudly? Sleeping through the conductor violently shaking her? Neither would have been the first time. But asking about it seemed in bad taste, so she pointedly decided not to pry further.
Standing up was an ordeal after her long nap. Her muscles fought it, tightening against her every motion, and she could feel the starts of a charley horse knotting in her calf. She noted to herself that it was probably her own fault for falling asleep with her tall, calf-hugging boots still on. Even when she was on her feet, it took a moment of leaning on the back of a seat before she regained her sense of balance. And even the conductor winced as she straightened out her wings, which slowly uncrumpled like the surface of a foil balloon that was reflating with air, a process that came with cracks and tinkling sounds as if shards of glass were being forcibly set back into place.
By the time she was finally on her feet, the conductor had already grabbed her bags and was ready to help the fae off the train.
Barton Town May of 2014
“Two and a half years,” she muttered to herself, as she descended to the train platform. “It really doesn’t feel that long.”
It was hardly the first time she had left Gaia, nor even her longest time away. From the very beginning, she had never come to this place with the intent of leaving her home behind, and had thus maintained a steady dual citizenship for many years. And so, the train station felt as familiar as arriving at her own doorstep. Already, her mind was tracing the road ahead to reach Durem, where a small apartment was waiting for her. Only a few hours, and she could be back in her home away from home.
“… but I should probably find out what I’ve missed, first.” The words just in case ran through her mind, as she recalled some of the dangers these lands were known for. As if taking an unspoken cue, the train behind her pulled away from the platform, and she could feel the rush of wind blowing her hair forward into her face. If she had any sudden urges to turn back around and run home, that window of opportunity had just closed.
Sucking in a little air, she hoisted up her two overstuffed bags of luggage and made a beeline for the turnstiles dividing her from the rest of the station.
“Halt! What do you think you’re doing?!” a familiar voice boomed in her ear. “Unregistered citizens cannot simply walk into Barton! Where’s your identification?” It came from a heavyset man clad head to toe in old fashioned plate armor.
Despite the accusation, she spun around with a smile on her face. “Leon!”
“You know me?” His face contorted as he attempted to dig something out of his memory. “Wait… you do look familiar. Have we met before, citizen?”
The fairy gave an exasperated sigh as she set her bags down, settling in for a talk. “Really? You’ve forgotten my name again? Having to keep track of all the citizens in Gaia seems to be damaging the film of your photographic memory, Leon…”
He shook his head with a frown. “No matter. Once you’ve presented your identification, your name will surely return to me.”
“Oh, come on! Leon, it’s me! Remember when the Animated first attacked? How you were recruiting Gaians to help with the volunteer efforts?”
“Ma’am, there were thousands of Gaians who rose to the occasion. You cannot expect that to narrow it down.”
“Yeah, but I was one of the first! Day one!” She paused, waiting to see if something clicked. “I was one of the first leaders of the Animated Resistance efforts. I… I was in the first assault against the SeaLab...” She sighed. “Leon, I know you remember the afterparty for that one.”
“Your story isn’t checking out. I vividly recall the heroes of that battle, and—“ he said with a dramatic pause before continuing, “—the entire crew were warriors of the sea, clad in Lionback helms.
Her cheeks started to puff up from pouting. “There were only two warriors of the sea. And only one wore a Lionback. The other was a Candy Striper, remember?” She didn’t wait to reply, since the damage to his memory was already apparent. “We had a lot of other help. A few humans, an old little forest dweller with white hair…” Briefly, her anger disappeared as she admitted: “I’m not sure what Oddguy was. Some kind of lake monster, I think.” Back to ranting, she continued, “You can’t tell me none of this rings a bell. I know Gaians are colorful by default, but we were Gaia’s heroes!”
“It sounds familiar, but…” He pointed an accusing finger at the fairy. “I still cannot recall you ever being there.”
“But I was the jewel of the team! I was the healer, the…” For a long, drawn-out moment, she held an angry glare at him. And then, she heaved a long, defeated sigh, deflating her anger in the process. With some reluctance, she offered, “I’m the one with the tasty-sounding name.”
The guard’s face lit up as his memory suddenly clicked into place. “Ah! Lady Pie! Why, you should have said so in the first place!”
“Yeah, how silly of me,” Pie returned, looking less than enthused by his reaction.
With the suspicion cleared, Leon actually seemed pleased to see her. “It’s been years since you last returned, hasn’t it? What brings you back to Barton?”
“Nothing in particular. Just sentimental reasons, I guess,” she replied, her eyes trailing back towards the turnstiles. “Look, can we catch up later? I’ve had a very long trip, y’know, and I would like to get home and unpack as soon as possible.”
“Hold up. I’ll still need to see your identification.”
Her face snapped back towards him, her expression baffled. “… what? But you know who I am!”
“It’s still protocol. A measure to keep doppelgangers out. You understand, right?”
The mention of doppelgangers was enough to make the hair raise on her skin, but she remained on the defensive. “Do you have doppelgangers in these parts?”
“There’s been zero reported incidents,” he dutifully informed her. “And with your diligence, we’ll be able to keep it that way.”
“Of course. Naturally.” Pie rubbed at her eyes in aggravation, wondering if her hint of sarcasm would be noticed. “What kind of identification do you need?”
The puzzled expression returned to his face, just as when he first learned this woman knew him. “Identification. All registered Gaians were issued an ID card. Aren’t you carrying yours?”
“No, I’m not,” she confessed before protesting, “I’ve never even heard of this card. When did they start this?”
“Why, it was last year—“ He stopped himself mid-thought, realizing the error in his thinking immediately. “Ah. Hm. Well, no matter. You’re already registered, so we can verify your identity and issue you a card right away. Come with me, won’t you? I’ll carry your bags.”
She heaved another heavy sigh, but lifted her bags off the pavement again. “No, I’ve got it. Lead the way.” In truth, she wanted to protest and fly away on her own to Durem, but it was one of those little things that was against her upbringing. Besides, she wouldn’t get far with such heavy luggage in tow.
The captain called over another guard of the Barton Regulars, who up to that moment had been assigned to the important task of cleaning up the station’s litter. The two had a brief exchange, since the other guard had the notion that he’d be the one escorting Pie, and Leon insisted that he would “take care of this one” himself. With Leon’s post covered, he led Pie out of the darkness of the train station and into the streets. It was a warm spring evening, made warmer by a wind foretelling the coming summer, with the light from the low-hanging sun bending into a soft spectrum of gold and pink. Hardly a single cobblestone on the street had moved since she left, but that was to be expected. Barton had always carried the feeling of a quaint historic village, as if time itself had stopped here while progress marched on in areas like Durem and Aekea. They were taking a path along the south road, so there were only a few landmarks to see along the way.
The first stop on their impromptu tour was the Gaia Action 9 News Station: a monolithic block of a building with large radio towers atop the roof, always bustling with activity as reporters geared up to tackle the big news stories of the day. Or, at least, that was how Pie had remembered it. Today, the whole complex appeared to be asleep, save for a pair of interns who were sitting outside on the steps, chewing the fat over coffee.
Though it was the station that drew her attention to it, this odd tranquility extended far beyond its walls. The streets of Barton were all but deserted. “When did it get so quiet around here?” she asked Leon, prying for more information.
“Has it been? I hadn’t noticed.”
“How could you not?” But it came to her in a moment: The only thing that wasn’t quiet around here was the scraping and clanking of Leon’s metal armor. “… okay, okay, never mind that. But surely you’ve noticed that Barton’s looking an awful lot like a ghost town these days, right?”
“Ah! Yes, that.” He smiled proudly. “That is a sign of the times. Good, peaceful times. It is a day that we of the Barton Regulars thought we would never see.” But his smile dropped. “Is something the matter? You of all people should be thrilled about that.” And then, just to be sure, he asked, “You were the Pacifist, weren’t you, Lady Pie? The one who delivered all those speeches about peace in Gaia?”
“Oh, yes. That was me.” She pursed her lips. “But I guess… well, I don’t think this was the kind of peace I had hoped to see.”
They continued on as they talked, making their way past the Buttercup Café. Rina was there, the young flower girl with cappuccino-colored hair, once a mere child who had now come into her own as both a woman and a shop owner. However, she was the only one there, as the lunchtime rush had long since passed. To occupy her time, she had snuck a lollipop out of her own wares, and was enjoying the sugary snack as she idly braided a chain of pink daisies into her hair. As they approached, the clanking of Leon’s armor was enough to draw her attention, and once she saw who was walking behind him, her face lit up with delight.
Unlike Leon, Rina recognized Pie in an instant, and quickly dug out a slice of the daily special: mac and cheese pie. She held it up on display, like a booth babe modelling the wares, then set it down on the counter on the fork as if inviting the fairy to come and take a seat at the counter.
At the sight, Pie could feel her stomach growling, since it had been a long trip with few pit stops for food. Unfortunately, with her hands full, Pie could only gesture her head at Leon, and shrug. It was returned with a childish pout, followed by an equally childish face being made at Leon.
The guard was oblivious to the whole exchange going on behind him. He waved to Rina, but only out of habit. He didn’t even look to her as they passed, his eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead. “Right, here we are. You remember the Guildhouse of the Barton Regulars, don’t you?”
“I remember the building,” Pie admitted, “but this’ll be my first time going inside.”
It was a building comparable in size to the News Station, but dressed up in royal decorum, including a golden shield with crossed spears hanging above the door. Two of the guards were stationed at either side of it, and both saluted Leon as he approached the door. Slightly out of sync, Pie couldn’t help but note. Leon gave them both an approving nod, though, and pulled open one of the heavy wooden doors by its massive golden handle.
“After you,” he insisted, holding the door open for her.
Pie breathed a quick ‘thank you’, and had to walk into the building sideways due to the luggage in each arm. She set them down inside the door, gulped in a few heavy gasps to catch her breath, and then looked around.
The interior of the Guildhouse was about what one would expect from its exterior, built in the style of a mead hall of old. But it was clearly a place of business, not merriment, and in fact an entire wall was dominated by the most overburdened filing cabinet that anyone could imagine, packed to the brim with the registration files of every Gaian who had passed through the Barton gates.
Leon squeezed his way between the different desks to reach this wall, thumbed through a particular section, and then pulled out a small manila folder. It was one of the oldest in the Guildhouse, with the label “Pie” written on it in ink faded over the past decade. He flipped it open, and quickly compared her to a yellowed photograph of the woman. It was a pointless exercise, since the woman appeared to have still been in her teens when she first arrived, and had grown up considerably since then – including in ways Leon would never have dared to admit he noticed – meaning his own memory was a more reliable reference for what she was supposed to look like. He returned the photo to its previous location, fetched out the old registration forms, and took a seat at an old wooden desk. Pie set down her bags at the corner, and sat across from him.
He cleared his throat, and began: “Name?”
“Pie.”
“Full name?”
“Ah, yes.” She averted her eyes, and her voice dropped a notch in volume. “Pie Olea.”
An uncomfortable silence passed between them, before Leon broke it:
“That isn’t the name that’s written here.”
“It’s not?” Her expression blanked for a moment. “Oh. Sorry. Was it… Pie Olivebranch?”
“Uh.” He shook his head. “No, that’s not it, either.”
She tapped her chin for a moment, thinking back, and then snapped her fingers in recollection. “I remember! It was Pie LaMode, wasn’t it.”
Another silence. This time, Pie broke it:
“Well? What’s the matter? That’s the name, right?”
He scowled. “Care to explain why you don’t know your own name, Ms. Pie?” Apparently, inviting suspicion on herself was enough to get downgraded from the title of ‘Lady’.
With a small shrug, she answered, “I wasn’t using my true name back then. Come on, you never thought for a moment that Pie LaMode sounds obviously fake?”
He cocked an eyebrow, looking at her with even more suspicion.
“It’s… it’s a fairy thing. Try to understand.” When he didn’t, she continued, “See, it’s an old piece of fae folklore that the true name holds power over the spirit. So traditionally, we only use fake names with you humans.”
“Right.” Leon jotted something down on a separate piece of paper before continuing. “Date of birth.”
“Christmas day, of course.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re wrong again.”
“Ugh, really?” She lounged back in her chair. “I thought… all right. December 26th? Maybe the 27th?”
“Alternate address?”
“Oh, don’t even bother with that one. Who knows what I made up for that answer?”
“Next of kin?”
“Pass.”
“Favorite color?”
“Teal.” She paused. “Oh, wait, no. Back then, it was green.”
“Pie.” He tossed the papers down on the desk. “Give me something on here that you can swear – on your life – that you can answer right the first time.”
She opened her mouth to answer, but shut it again with a shake of her head. “I told a lot of lies back then. I…” The sound of the word trailed away, as she averted her gaze, shrugging helplessly. “I’m more honest now.”
“And you expect us to believe that?”
“What? Well, of course. Why wouldn’t you? I mean, I had a reason to—“
Leon whistled for attention. “Regulars, arrest this imposter!”
“What?!” Her voice squeaked with surprise. Without thinking, she stood up out of her chair to run, but turned to find that three of the other Barton Regulars were blocking her path. They weren’t particularly large for humans, but compared to the slightly smaller stature of the fae, they had the advantage of size as well of numbers. “What is this?! You must be making some kind of mistake!“
“Save it for the trial, doppelganger.” Leon huffed proudly as one of his men seized Pie and another clasped a pair of metal handcuffs around her wrists. “You’re under arrest for stealing the identity of Pie LaMode.”
“Are you kidding me?!” She tried to pull away from the Regulars as they began to push her towards the back of the Guildhouse. On the floor was a wooden trap door, which one of the guards kicked open to reveal the stairwell to a dungeon. The way things were headed, it was where she would be sleeping tonight. “Leon, this is insane! You can’t arrest me for stealing my own identity! There has to be another way!” She stopped, letting her mind race through everything that could possibly prove her innocence. “—a DNA test! Look, I’ll give you a bit of my hair, and I’m sure there’s still some LabTechs around—“
Leon continued to point accusingly. “We’re not falling for that! Who’s to say a doppelganger couldn’t change its DNA to match its target?”
“That’s… really not even close to how doppelgangers work.” But that was getting off the topic. She struggled against the cuffs, but her frail fairy muscles were no match against the metal. “Come on! You can’t expect that one ancient piece of paper to prove anything!“
“Take her to the dungeons!”
“You can’t do this to me!” she cried out, as the largest of the regulars did just that, leading her down by the cuffs.
And so, that was how after a long absence, Pie spent her first night back in the humans lands in jail.
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