TERRIBLE THINGS

twenty-four

For a woman who looked so frail, Mrs. King was quick on her feet. Jase struggled to match her pace without running through the halls. They were in a completely different part of the house when Mrs. King finally entered a dusty room that looked as if it hadn't been used in years.

There were old projects in it. Half assembled dresses on mannequins, a hundred different spools of thread stacked on a desk. There were rulers and laces and holopics that flickered to life revealing patterns when Mrs. King passed. She went straight to the fabric in the back of the room, digging through it until she pulled out something that looked like black leather.

Kova stopped dead. "Smile skin?" he asked.

"That's... what?" Jase asked.

"Just as the Malik said." Mrs. King held out the material. "The last gift from my protege, Ms. Parthēna Fukioko after she became greater at the craft than myself." She smiled fondly. "It may sound disgusting, little human, but it will protect you."

"That's amazing," Jase whispered. "I didn't think anything like this was possible." He stared wide-eyed at the fabric. "If Stingray had that..."

"Casualty rates would plummet," Huraira finished.

"Yes, yes, my husband tried to get Ms. Parthēna to tell him how to make it for years." Mrs. King shook her head. "Now the secret is lost forever, poor Ms. Parthēna may the Great Mother guide her soul." She sighed and then lifted her head. "And may She guide yours as well, Malik. Losing one sister is hard but all? I could not bear it."

"Thank you," Kova said, softly.

Mrs. King nodded. "I will make both of you costumes worthy of Ms. Parthēna but first... I need your measurements." She pointed at Jase. "You first."

"What?"

"Come on," Mrs. King said, grabbing Jase's wrist and dragging him away from the others. The room was much bigger than Jase initially realized and neither Kova nor Huraira had followed them. Which was fine, of course. He shifted back and forth as Mrs. King took him to the back corner of the room where a mirror and stool were set up behind a thick purple curtain.

"Huraira says you can stand. Will you?" Mrs. King asked. Jase hesitantly did as she pulled out a measuring tape. "Your name is Jase, juup?"

"Yeah," Jase said, as she lifted his arms up and wrapped the tape around his chest.

Mrs. King nodded as she moved the tape to wrap around his shoulders. "Are you nervous around me, Jase? You seem... tense."

"No! Of course not!"

Mrs. King smiled. "You don't have to lie to me. I'm not going to eat you." There was a good-natured twinkle in her eyes. Jase couldn't meet those eyes. He hadn't meant to. He knew not all Smiles were bad.

But it wasn't like he could turn it off in a single night. "I'm sorry," he said.

"I understand," Mrs. King said. "For most humans, Smiles eat people so they're monsters. Simple as that. You're very different from most humans if you're willing to wear a Smile's skin - both literally and not - to kill Red. It's very noble of you."

"It's not noble," Jase said. "She killed my mom so... this is vengeance."

"Oh?" Mrs. King asked. "Really?"

Jase turned and smiled at her. "It's pretty pathetic isn't it?" he asked. "I hate Red so much for something that happened eleven years ago. I mean, she's horrible and everything, but I wish I could be doing this just because she was horrible. If she didn't kill my mom, I don't know... I don't think I'd be doing any of this."

For a moment, Mrs. King didn't say anything. "I don't think any of us do anything without a reason," she finally said. "I'm sure my daughter and the little Malik have their reasons. Before Ms. Fanaka found me, I had my reasons for killing people too."

"What were they?" Jase asked.

Mrs. King smiled. "I was... very angry with the world," she said, "and I ended up killing people because of it. At first, it was only bad people but then everyone started to expect things from me." She sighed. "It's a cycle, Jase. You start killing and you can never stop. Even if you want to, there's always something."

"So what do you do?"

"Ignore that something," Mrs. King said. "Make up for your mistakes by helping others. Everyone dies sooner or later, and I hope I've done enough to make up for it. It's all we can do."

"So... just hope the ends justify the means?" he asked.

"Not exactly," Mrs. King said with a little laugh. "More like... hope you do more good than bad - help more lives than you ruin." She took a final measurement. "We have an old saying: dīr mīkicho mīnoko va donoko. Give more than you take. I think that is good advice."

Jase nodded. There was something about Mrs. King that made him feel relaxed and able to admit things he normally wouldn't admit to strangers. He saw himself in the woman. She'd messed up a dozen times - just like him and everyone else in the world - but she was still fighting to make things right. And that... gave him hope.

Because maybe - just maybe - he could too.

[author's note]

hey loves!

sorry that this is so late, i've been out of the country and my internet has been spotty at best. hope you enjoyed this somewhat belated chapter :)