Ivy took hold of all her panic and pushed it as far away from her as she could. Her fists clenched her pen as she stared helplessly up at the sky. Several new sheets of paper were gently drifting down towards her.
Maybe if she glared hard enough everything would burst into flames and the city would burn to the ground. Thinking like this was useless, Ivy reminded herself. Anger was just as if not more useless than panic or worry. She didn’t need anger; it didn’t help her win the game. After a few deep breaths, Ivy felt a little more in control and confident. She glanced back down at her list.
“Ivy, do these look like good answers?” Mia asked, tugging at Ivy’s dress. There was no such thing as good answers. This game was as stupid and pointless as it was cruel.
“Sure,” Ivy said. What else could she say? Nothing that she did could change who won or who lost. Everything that she had worked so hard to learn was useless now. Everything was useless. Well, on the bright side, if everyone died, she wouldn’t have to worry about convincing Blossom to share her secrets. But Ruby would probably be a little disappointed.
“Alright! Now let’s see if they match!” Mary called out. Teeth gritted, eyes narrowed, Ivy braced herself for a sharp stab of pain. But nothing came. All around her she could hear glass shattering and dolls screaming.
Mia slipped her hand into Ivy’s. The child’s face was calm, but Ivy could feel that she was trembling slightly. She gave Mia’s hand a gentle squeeze. Silence was a welcome sound now. As the screams faded Ivy glanced around to see who had made it. Mia was alright and that was enough for Ivy. That was what really mattered. Several shattered dolls lay scattered around Ivy.
Blossom stood with a distant look on her face. Ruby too was alright. She was looking around at everyone like a frightened kitten. That seemed to be Ruby’s default expression. It was hard to think of a time when Ivy hadn’t seen her look completely terrified.
Ivy was slightly surprised to see that they were all still here. But she knew better than to get her hopes up. Who knew what horrors today’s game held? Besides, even if they made it through the game the list game would still have to take place again. Mia’s eyes drifted over the shattered dolls that lay scattered around her.
“Hey, you, okay?” Ivy whispered softly, pulling Mia closer to her. Instead of answering, Mia just slipped her arms around Ivy. This was bad. How much longer would she hold out before the shield broke again? Things just seemed to be getting worse and worse for her. Mia probably couldn’t take too much more. But that was something for Ivy to worry about later. The important thing was that they were still alive.
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“Now! All the survivors will stick around for today’s game!” announced Mary. Out of the corner of her eye, Ivy could see Ruby edging closer to her. Blossom also took a few steps towards them.
Perhaps this would be a group game. Blossom seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to predicting the nature of Mary’s games. That was why Ivy both admired and feared Blossom.
“Thank you once again for playing with us!” Mary called out. “All dolls you may now put your pens away. If you look through your bag, you should see seven small metal poles. They can snap together. Play around with them until you think you get the idea.”
“Alright, Mia, you heard her. Let’s give it a try,” Ivy whispered.
It only took the two of them a few minutes to get the hang of it. In fact, Mia rather seemed to be enjoying herself. If this game involved building, Mia was going to be very useful. One of the things she liked to do to keep herself entertained was build small, but elegant forts out of whatever she could get her little hands on. Mia was pretty much built for building things.
Having Mia by her side gave Ivy an advantage this time. Mia must have been thinking the same thing, because her eyes were glowing with delight and excitement. That little smile was brighter than any ray of sunshine could ever dream of being. It was a smile that belonged exclusively to Mia.
“This game is going to be a little bit different!” Mary announced. “All dolls will be working together for this round!” Well, that was a huge weight off of Ivy’s shoulders for sure. Now, what was the catch? “You will all team up to build a structure that resembles the building over there!” Mary chirped. A bright ray of light came pouring down from the sky. It lit up a nearby green building, making the glass glow like a huge emerald. “As you build, we will try to destroy the building. Now, here is where things get interesting. Your metal poles belong to you. You are the only doll allowed to touch them. If any of you touch another doll’s poles, you will be eliminated!” Mary called out.
That wasn’t as bad as Ivy had expected it to be. But she didn’t know how dangerous this game could end up being. Her best bet was to keep Ruby as close as possible in case she or Mia was hurt. Yes, Ruby was far more useful than she seemed to know. The small group collected their poles and huddled together and waited as the timer began to count down. Ivy kept her eyes on her three friends. They all needed to stay close. There was no telling how crazy things could get. That was the thing about Mary’s more creative games. They could always be risky.
“Ready?” she whispered to Mia. Mia smiled and nodded. Even though Mia looked cheerful enough, Ivy could still see the signs. She was slowly losing control of her powers. As soon as she lost control, everything, all of this would come crashing down on her. Useless, thinking about that now was useless. So, instead, Ivy turned her thoughts towards more hopeful things. Tonight, they would finally meet the rebels. That was exactly what Blossom had promised. This thought gave Ivy something positive to focus on and look forward to.
“Alright! The game has begun!” Mary called out. There was no time to waste. All the dolls began to take out their poles and build. Focus, that was all that Ivy could do. She lost track of everything that surrounded her and focused in on the task at hand. At this point, thinking was just a distraction.