Mia was already awake. She was sitting at the foot of Ivy's bed, staring up at the ceiling. Ivy sat up and took Mia's hand. A little bit of Mia's spark had returned to her eyes.
"Are you feeling a little better now?" asked Ivy.
"A little bit."
"Did you sleep well last night?"
"I did after you came back." Those words sent fresh pangs of guilt shooting through her.
"I'm sorry, Mia."
"Can I come with you next time?" asked Mia. "You and Ruby are trying to escape, right? That's what you've been doing each night, right?" Mia asked eagerly.
"No. I'm sorry. I need you to stay here. It's safer that way."
"But I want to help you! I never get to help you!"
"You help me every day, Mia. Here, how about we go outside and see what the other dolls are up to outside?"
"A-alright."
"Your new friend stopped by last night. I think she's worried about you."
"Do you mean Rosy? I wonder if she'll want to play hide-and-seek again." Mia climbed out of bed. It was good that Mia was so easily distracted. Ivy could really sympathize with Mia's frustration. In a perfect world, Mia wouldn't ever be left out. In a perfect world there would be no danger and no need to shelter Mia. But they were not living in a perfect world. That was something that Mia needed to accept sooner or later. Ivy followed Mia out of the room, through the hall and down the stairs. To Ivy's surprise, Rosy was waiting there for them.
"Hello again!" Mia cried out, rushing over to Rosy. A smile exploded across her little face. Thank goodness. Soon all the pain had left Mia's voice, and she was happily chatting with her new friend. Ivy decided to leave her alone and let her have fun while she still could. Where was Ruby? Maybe she was still asleep. Now that Ivy was feeling better and more focused, her mind was filled with questions. Many of them were questions that Ruby could probably help answer.
Ivy headed out into the sunlit streets. There was something so nice about seeing the other dolls acting so carefree. Few things made Ivy feel happier than being surrounded by happy people doing happy things. Ruby was outside as well. Perhaps she also found the streets deeply comforting.
"Heya, how is Mia doing?" Ruby asked.
"A bit better, I think. She's playing with her friend now. Hopefully that will help her take her mind off of things. I just want her to relax. It's awful that this had to happen during the break. She needs to rest and enjoy herself from time to time," said Ivy. Ruby nodded in agreement.
"I must say. This is really nice not having to worry about life or death from time to time," Ruby laughed.
"Yeah. But the night's work has been taking a lot out of me. The only thing that drains more of my stamina is my spell."
"What exactly does your spell do?" asked Ruby. What did it do? How was she supposed to describe it?
"It's a defensive spell. Forti takes away a lot of my energy. But it can be worth it. If things are getting really dangerous, then I use it. It creates a field around us. Maintaining that field is the thing that drains me. But it is very useful," said Ivy.
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"That does sound really useful! It's very different from my powers though."
"Yeah, that's the thing about our magic. We can all use it in different ways."
"There you two are!" Ruby and Ivy spun around to see Lu standing there. "For a moment I thought I had ended up at the wrong place. How are you doing?" There was a huge smile on Lu's face. It felt jarring to see so much happiness on Lu's face. Why was she here? Was something wrong? The three girls began edging towards the apartment.
"Is everything okay?" Ruby asked softly.
"Oh yeah, I just wanted to chat with you guys about something," Lu said happily. Something must be wrong. What kind of horrible thing had happened? It took an intense amount of self-control to keep Ivy from bolting into the apartment.
Rosy and Mia were still playing happily together in the hall. A couple other dolls had joined in the game. Hide-and-seek was the game that Mia was never ever going to get tired of. No level of boredom or trauma could burn out Mia's love for that game. Ivy led Lu and Ruby upstairs.
"What happened? Is everything really alright?" Ivy asked the second they were alone. Lu's disturbingly cheerful smile faded into a more genuine smile.
"Yes. Something has happened. But it's good. We've made an amazing discovery!" said Lu.
"Did you? Is it about the tunnels?" asked Ivy.
"No, it's about our magic. I think I figured out why our magic is stronger when we share it. The more that we learn about this the stronger we can become. Right now, my main plan is to find a way to sustain the force from the magic sharing." That had never occurred to Ivy. But it was amazing to think about. With that much power, the dolls would pretty much be unstoppable. What a thrilling word that was 'unstoppable'. It was everything that Ivy wanted to be. It was everything that she couldn't be.
Surely, with all that magic, they would have a shot at fighting the humans. If only there were a way to keep that power forever. There would be no more fear, no more struggle. They wouldn't be fragile or helpless anymore. Powerful, strong, a force to be reckoned with. That was what Ivy wanted to be more than anything. She would make the humans regret what they had done to the dolls. But Ivy knew she was getting ahead of herself. Lu hadn't even told her about the discovery yet.
"Us dolls are molded after the city itself. It never occurred to me. But the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. The core of the city is the source of its magic. It was built out of man-made material to contain the magical energy. Some of the dolls referred to it as the engine of the city. But when I first saw the city's core, I realized that it resembled a human heart. The way it moved, the way it pulsed as it pumped the magic through the city. It was so heart-like. Well, recently I discovered that we have our own version of this. We have two cores, located in our head and chest," Lu began to explain.
"Wait, so, we do have hearts?" asked Ruby.
"No. We have glass cores that hold our magic. Unlike the city’s core, our cores are made of glass. If they break, we die and if the core isn't fixed, we stay dead. The city's core is built to last. The humans made it using their finest technology to create something that's indestructible.”
"This is all interesting, Lu. But I would like to know how you figured this out." Ivy felt uneasy asking that question. But she had to know. Lu's face fell. Ivy knew what the answer was going to be before Lu opened her mouth.
"We examined the shattered remains of dolls from the games. I saw the resemblance between their core and the city's core," said Lu.
"I see," was all that Ivy said. This was necessary information. They needed to know this stuff. She glanced over at Ruby who did look somewhat disturbed. Unsure of what to say, Ivy just slipped her arm around Ruby's shoulder.
"Most of the core's magic is actually used to help us move. Some of it is used to charge our spells. Now when we share our magic, by casting spells at the same time, that combined power creates cracks in the core just large enough to let the magic seep in. There's so much magic in the air here that it seeps into the core and makes us much stronger. We also are able to share our unique powers that way. It fades because after the spells are cast, the magic seeps back out through those same cracks," Lu went on.
"Isn't it dangerous then?" asked Ruby. "If we share spells too much, will it shatter our core?"
"Possibly. That's the problem. But this discovery does help us out. We need to know these things. Now that we know how the magic sharing works, we'll be able to properly use it to our advantage.
"This is amazing!" Ivy burst out. Yesterday she had been despairing over the future. Now that seemed so foolish. If only Blossom knew about this. Maybe it would change her mind a little bit. If the doll could make herself stronger and sustain that strength, then they could leave the city and survive in the natural world. Ivy could feel it. This was the first of many important steps towards freedom.