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Project Valkyrie: Side Story

"I don’t want to talk to you,” Mirror said, not even looking at the woman behind her as she walked down the hallways. 

“Please, Mirror, I really need to talk to you,” pleaded Cello, practically chasing Mirror down the hallway. 

The gray ocean churning outside the windows of the hallway perfectly reflected Mirror’s mood. She was breathing hard, but there was nary an expression on her face. Trying so hard to be calm but failing miserably.

Cello’s footsteps raced across the tile floors, sometimes in front of Mirror sometimes behind her, circling like a hurricane around a resilient town. Mirror’s footsteps were the same soft, even cadence that all the way down the hall until she finally got to her room. She had a conscious, though, or maybe she was still insecure. There was no way that she would just slam the door in Cello’s face. Something needed to happen, or she would never relax. 

“I trust you, Cello,” Mirror said as she finally turned to face Cello. The girl’s face was more expressive than Mirror had ever seen it. Pleading, scrunching, grasping at any last chance she had at a relationship, “You said that we were friends and then you went behind my back and said that I was weak, incompetent, a hazar-”

“That’s not what I meant, Mirror! I swear, I just want to protect you. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry that I realize how amazing you are. I should have seen your potential.”

Something bubbled behind Mirror’s eyes, but she didn’t want to cry. Cello thought that she was strong, who knows what she would do if she stopped thinking of Mirror like that. 

“I didn’t need protection, Cello, I never did. I didn’t have poteition or a chance, I just needed you to trust me, and you didn’t. You were the only one that I had, and you could even do that. I thought we were going to be partners, Cello, but you betrayed me!” Mirror choked. 

Maybe something clicked at that moment because Cello balled up her fists and looked down as she spoke. It seemed like she couldn’t look Mirror in the eyes. It seemed like she couldn’t stand her own guilt and frustration. It seemed like it was that word “partners”, that brought something out of her. 

“You’re right, Mirror, and I was wrong. Back then, I couldn’t feel what you were feeling, and I was stupid. I was blind and I didn’t see, or maybe even I tried not to see how hard you were pushing. You’re better than me, Mirror. You try so hard. Back then, I didn’t respect you, and that’s why,” Cello sobbed without tears, but with pain. Her face was so hot, some water would have felt nice, but none came, “-I think that’s why I lost you.”

Tears started to flow down Mirror’s face as she turned and opened the door to her room, “That’s right, you have lost me.”

A long time passed after that, if time even passed at all in the base. Mirror sat in her room with nothing really to do. She had just come there to escape Cello. So she started knitting herself a pair of gloves to wear in the winter, it was finished within an hour. Then she paced and listened to music, then she worked on her quilt, and Mirror paced some more. Metal walls couldn’t be covered by fluffy rugs and paintings. She was an animal, and something would break if she stayed in her cage. 

Abruptly, Mirror opened the door and stepped out of her room, intending to go get a hot meal or something. However, as Mirror stepped into the hall, she saw something that made her pause. It was Cello, sitting beside her door. Her knees were in her chest, and her head was between them. Her short hair had never looked so unkept, and Mirror had never known Cello to be a girl who could spend more than 30 minutes without training in some way. 

Mirror wanted to walk away and get her food, but… Had anyone ever put that much effort into their relationship with her? Had anyone ever tried that hard to be with her? Staring at Cello’s miserable form by her door Mirror sighed. It was the insecurity, she thought, or maybe the childhood neglect. But, she sighed again, there was something. 

“Do you want to go get dinner?” Mirror asked, kneeling before her depressed friend?

Cello looked up and there was a look of joy on her face that had maybe never been there before. But, there was also some hesitation. As if she had thought all hope was lost. 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you again.”

Mirror laughed for perhaps the first time that day, “Then don’t.”

“Okay, Mirror, I promise never again. I’ll trust you this time, I swear.”

✨️✨️✨️

So because I've been flopping so hard when I try to write novels, I've outlined a novella that I can write quickly over Winter Break. I think the shorter story will make it so that I don't get bored and will also get me a much needed sense of accomplishment. I've literally written more than 20 chapters for one novel but because it's nowhere near done I've just lost motivation.

Here she is, my pride and joy: Project Valkyrie.

After months of planning, saving, and collecting parts, she’s finally done. It took forever and I’m still troubleshooting any issues as the arise, but I’d do it all again a hundred times over. 

Artist: Jackson Kendra

Title: Project Valkyrie