Ivy looked down at her hands. Even though the list game was over, they were still trembling. Everything would be much easier if it wasn't for that awful game. But she knew that she would have to do it over and over again. Well, it was over for now. Mary had to give them a break at some point in order to fix up the city and prepare for even more games. She just had to wait a little longer. When would the next break be? There was no way of knowing for sure.
Mia took hold of Ivy's hand. Her little hand was shaking too. But Ivy saw no trace of fear on the child's face. Before she met the rebels, Ivy would tuck Mia in properly. That was the first thing she did in fact. Ivy lifted the sleepy child into her arms and carried her through the halls up the stairs and into her room. Mia wiggled free and rushed over to the bed.
"Tuck me in! Tuck me in! Tuck me in, Ivy!"
"Alright, sleep tight! I'll see you in the morning." Ivy gently tucked the blanket around Mia's shoulders.
"Are you going to sneak out again tonight?" Mia asked. Ivy groaned. It was impossible to keep secrets from this girl! Why did she even try? She might as well be honest with Mia. She was going to figure things out whether Ivy wanted to or not.
"Yes. But don't worry. I'll be back soon," was all Ivy could think to say.
"Do you promise? I get scared when you aren't here," Mia whispered.
"You don't have anything to be scared of during the night. But I'll be back as soon as possible, Mia." Ivy touched Mia's face. She didn't like the distrustful look that was spreading across Mia's face. "I promise."
"I just feel better when you're here with me, Ivy," Mia whispered.
"I know. I won't be long. I mean it."
"Okay. But you have to sleep with me tonight! If you don’t, I won't sleep a wink, and you'll have to put up with me being grumpy in the morning!" Ivy fought back her laughter. What a threat that was.
"No! Anything but a grumpy Mia! Noooooooo! Be merciful! Okay, I'll sleep with you tonight."
"Yay!" Mia cried. A soft chuckle escaped Ivy.
"Okay, be good and get some sleep, you little rascal." Ivy took a moment to enjoy the quiet look of happiness that replaced Mia's distrustful glare. This was all that Ivy needed to be happy. No matter what happened, so long as Ivy had Mia, she had the whole world, and she wasn't going to let anyone take that little world away from her.
Ivy's mind clung to the image of Mia’s relaxed, smiling face as she left the room and headed back downstairs. Mia deserved to live in a better world. She deserved to live in a world where she wouldn't have to get rid of her own emotions to stay alive. This was Ivy's chance to give Mia a better life. Ruby and Blossom were already waiting outside for Ivy.
They looked up and smiled at her brightly. Ivy could tell that even Blossom was excited. To Ivy's surprise, she smiled back at them. A rebellion shouldn't feel like a fun little game. So, why did this feel so exciting? Well, if death games were the norm, anything felt fun in comparison. That was Ivy's best guess at least.
"I hope you two are ready to do some walking because we've got a long way to go," Blossom said softly.
"Alright, let's go," said Ivy. Ruby and Ivy walked side by side, following closely behind Blossom. The three dolls did their best to stay in the shadows.
"Is it just me or is this kind of exciting?" Ruby whispered. Her brown eyes were glowing.
"I was just thinking the same thing," Ivy whispered.
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"I hope you two already know this, but please do not visit this place during the daytime. We want to keep the rebels as hidden as possible. The last thing that we want is for the overseers to discover it. Not to mention if another doll found out about this place, they wouldn't hesitate to report it to the overseers," Blossom was saying now.
"Of course," Ivy whispered.
"Why would they report it?" Ruby asked.
"Because they know that they'll be rewarded," Blossom explained. Shock exploded across Ruby's pale face. This poor little baby still had no clue about what fear could drive people to do. Ivy reached out and rested her hand on Ruby's shoulder.
"People can be awful. Dolls can be awful. That's something we have in common with humans. The faster you accept that, the easier things become," said Ivy. She wasn't sure if her words were comforting or not. But they were true, and they were words that Ruby needed to hear. Ruby didn't answer Ivy. But she nodded and quickened her pace. If something didn't change very soon, that girl was going to get herself killed. If she did, there was nothing Ivy could do. Mia was still Ivy's priority, even if there were things about Ruby that reminded her of Mia.
The little group walked in silence, staying away from the main streets. Blossom led them through long winding alleys and small side streets. They were heading deeper and deeper into the city. Ivy had only ever gone this deep into the city a few times. It was always shocking to see just how huge the buildings got.
Ruby looked around with an expression of pure awe on her face. If this part of the city felt magical to Ivy, she couldn't even imagine how it appeared to Ruby. At last, Blossom led them down one little alley and to a small apartment building. It was a tiny building that was semi-hidden by the towers that rose up all around it. Blossom marched right up to the door and knocked. There was no answer.
"Hello? It's me, Blossom," Blossom called out softly.
After a pause, the door opened. A girl in a bright yellow dress opened the door. She looked over each of them one by one. But she didn't meet Ivy's gaze. The girl appeared to be looking past them, not at them. Fear a hostility was written all over her face. It was as if there was something horrific way off in the distance. Whatever it was, Ivy couldn't see it. A deep feeling of unease was welling up in Ivy.
"Hello! It's been a long time since I've seen you, Lu," said Blossom cheerily. Fear and hostility crossed over Lu's face.
"Why did you bring strangers here?" she asked. What a strange voice she had. It was a cold, fearful voice that sounded almost robotic.
"Don't worry. You can trust them. This is Ivy, remember. I told you about her. And I'm sure you remember Ruby," said Blossom. Upon noticing Ruby, Lu's whole face changed.
"Oh... right... you. How about you come in and meet the others." Lu led them into the main hall. Ivy followed Lu into the building, sticking as close to Ruby as she could. She didn't like how this felt. It all felt too... easy, that was the word she was looking for.
"Blossom was right; you have changed a lot, Ruby. Not exactly. But I can't tell you the nitty gritty details of our plan, at least not yet. Right now, we’re just focused on digging the tunnels. We're going at it from a different angle, so hopefully the overseers won't catch on. Did Blossom already explain how you can share magic? That is something used by all the rebel units."
"So, there are others?" Ivy asked.
“There are others. They live scattered all across the city. But we rarely meet up. Every once in a while, if we have to, we’ll use the tunnels to meet up with other rebels. Ruby’s eyes were shining brighter and brighter with each word. Even Ivy had to admit that she was impressed. She hadn’t thought that this kind of thing was possible. The fact that there were this many rebels and that they were able to meet up without the overseers catching them really was something.
Ivy could feel that perplexing emotion rising up in her soul. What was it called again? Hope, right. It was a feeling that Ivy wasn’t used to. The emotion felt warm and fuzzy and strange. She had been feeling more and more hopeful lately. But it still wasn't an emotion that Ivy was used to. Hopefully, hope would prove to be a useful emotion.
"So... what are you planning? Are we allowed to know?" asked Blossom. Lu didn't answer right away.
"We aren't planning anything at the moment. We're digging up all of our old tunnels. Our goal is to reach the core of the city like we did last time."
"Won't the humans suspect that? Isn't that what you did last time?" asked Ruby. Lu smiled at her.
"Then you'll need all the help you can get," Ruby said cheerfully. "We'll be happy to help with the tunnels. Or fight if that's what's needed."
"No. We can't fight the humans head-on. That would simply be foolish. We'd all end up shattered. But if you want to come back tomorrow night and help with the digging, you can." So, that was it. Ivy had been half-expecting to have to take an oath.
Well, maybe these rebels were getting desperate and would take whatever they could get. This was going to be a risky task. But she didn't care about the risk. Ivy would do whatever the rebels needed her to do. She would do it all for Mia. For the first time in a very, very long time, Ivy realized that she wanted to do more than simply survive.