Trails of intertwined stars: Chapter 30

~Chapter 11: It's Like we Traded Places~

The marsh was foggier. So foggy you could hardly see out a to sea. Zero sat on a hill mound, adding the final features to his sketch as Tokumei watched next to him, entranced. The boy had been acting weirder. Muttering to himself occasionally and barely smiling at all, in fact he hadn't smiled for an entire day. Zero didn't mind too much though, since Tokumei seemed contented by the entity's company. There was the noise of feet, crushing the grass as a figure approached.
"Is that me?"
Zero gasped, looking back. Marnie stood there, dressed in blue with white tights and her brown boots. She smiled at them, the two taken aback.
"Marnie!" Tokumei gasped, flinging his arms around her into a hug.
The girl squeezed him tightly, smiling softly at Zero. The diary. Before Zero could inquire about it, the girl snatched the sketchbook off Zero, pulling away from Tokumei.
"Wait-!" Zero blurted," Marnie, no! That one... it's not done!"
Her eyes shimmered, staring at the drawing," Wow! You are really good!"
Zero gawked," O-Oh...thank you?"
"I've never had anyone draw me before, how nice! I love it!"
Zero watched as Marnie stared at the drawing, enchanted. His expression faded into one close to pain.
"We missed you..."
Marnie slowly looked up from the drawing, raising an eyebrow.
"We called for you, and in our hearts we shouted."
Marnie smiled, passing Zero his notebook," And I you. Come with me."
"No!" Zero pulled away," You come with us, please!"
Marnie's gaze seemed distant," I...I can't go very far from the mansion..."
"Okay then, we'll go wherever it is you want to go."

On a log in the forest, Marnie skilfully cut the mushrooms off the log with a knife. She held up the basket filled with them to the two, smiling proudly.
"You sure know a lot about mushrooms," Zero chuckled.
Marnie sniffed the two in her hands, before shoving the right one into her mouth, both gasping in horror. She giggled, not poisoned.
"Father taught me when I was little! I once brought home three bags full of mushrooms!"
Marnie smiled, staring up into the sky dreamily, as they walked over a log in the forest; a bridge from the stream below.
"You should have seen the look on my mother's face!" Marnie giggled.
Tokumei stopped in the middle of the path, staring down, unhappily. Marnie frowned.
"Why so quiet? Are you alright?"
Tokumei sighed," Marnie you are so lucky...I wish...I wish that I was you..."
Zero glanced up at the girl's expression, scared she would be hurt by the insensitive statement. Her expression was blank, with a twinge of sympathy. Marnie walked over, grabbing the boy's hand firmly.
"Tell me."
"Well I'm..." Tokumei frowned," I'm a foster child...my real parents died when I was little...my grandmother too. I know they didn't die on purpose, but sometimes I feel like I can't forgive them. For leaving me all alone."
Marnie's grip tightened on his hand, almost trembling, Tokumei tugged off, trying to walk off again. Zero wasn't sure what to do, but Marnie seemed ready to attack.

"I'm actually jealous of you!" She snapped," I think you're lucky to be a foster child! If you really didn't have any relatives left, then the people that took you in must be truly kind hearted people!"
Tokumei glared at her, seething, but this faded quickly into a mourning expression.
"So, shall I tell you both a big secret? It's about getting fostered. It's complicated, but..."
Tokumei glanced over at the small stream.
"I'm not their real child. From all of them, when they returned me I heard similar excuses used, over and over. All of them kept me for a similar amount of time and I found documents explaining why. They get paid to look after me."
"Really?"
"Really. It was a letter from the government. It said something about how they were going to increase the subsidy each month, which explained why I only seemed to last in those homes for a month or a little later."
"But... I'm sure there was a reason?"
"I don't care what the reason is! They wouldn't get that money if I was their real child. I only got fostered because they got paid, they wanted some free money and took it. None of them ever loved me."
Marnie sighed," I can see why that would hurt, but some might have actually had issues stopping them from keeping you. They might have loved you."
"Seriously!? Don't you see!?" Tokumei yelled, tears cascading down his cheeks," No other kid gets money, only we do! And then...I hate myself...for worrying about this! I can't...I...I can't... believe in anything anymore!"
Marnie paused, before walking forward, enveloping the boy into a hug.
"Tokumei, it's okay to cry. Just know that I love you. I love you more than anyone I've ever known," Marnie whispered.
Tokumei looked up at her, wiping away tears," I think it'd your turn to tell us a secret next."

Marnie walked over to an edge of a cliff, staring out at the marsh.
"It was only when I was very young that I went picking mushrooms with father."
Her hair billowed in the breeze as Zero and Tokumei stared at her.
"Nowadays, I hardly see father and mother."
Her boot hovered over the edge of the cliff.
"Mother's usually away travelling."
Marnie stepped off the cliff, both gasping in horror, rushing over desperately.
"And due to father's work, he only comes home about twice a year."
Marnie walked along the bottom shore, turning around to face the two with a smile.
"So, the only ones at the mansion are nan, the two maids...and me."
They had a race on the shore, Marnie just overtaking them both, skipping and twirling happily into a dance.
"I slip out while they're gossiping, and look how free I get to be!"
Marnie giggled," But it really is glorious when father and mother are home! They host parties!"
Zero nodded," Like the one that night."
Marnie smiled, standing in a room surrounded by the guests laughing happily in the sunroom," With my amazing parents and so many glamorous, delightful people! And I always get to have a new dress and I always get to dance! That's when...I tell myself that I'm the luckiest girl in the whole wide world..."
"Yeah," Tokumei nodded.

Marnie's smile faded, she looked up at both of them, her expression knotting into a pained one.
"Oh Zero and Tokumei...will you be my friends...forever and ever?"
Zero nodded, softly," Yes, forever and ever."
He was cut off, hearing two off laughs. It was the two maids and nan, standing in the room ruined after the party. Marnie was alone with them.
"Nan is always in a foul mood. She yanks me by the arm, brushes my hair very hard. No one would imagine I'm being bullied, right? But it really hurts... enough to cry..."
Zero gasped, the dreams he had of seeing Marnie having her hair brushed. That was what was happening to her? They sat at the marsh shore, Marnie busy patting a sandcastle with a frown.
"The maids love to frighten me, when I was small, they used to threaten me. 'Naughty children get shut in the silo where ghosts suck out their souls'." 
Marnie stuck a stick in the inside of the castle, pulling out the wet clump of excess sand.
"Do you mean the silo on the hill?" Zero frowned.
Marnie nodded," And once, on a stormy night they dragged me up there. All the way up I was kicking and screaming, I was so frightened I thought I'd die. Then, just as we got there, as the sky turned its darkest, there was a crash of lightning followed by thunder. The maids were terrified, so we didn't go inside."

Marnie stared at the sand, sniffing to force down tears," I think I can endure anything else... anything but the silo..."
Tokumei stood up, fuming," I hope the maids and nan get struck by lightning!"
Marnie stared up at him, shutting her eyes with a sigh," Nevermind...well, that was my little secret. Both of you, you're lucky, I wish I were you."
Zero frowned. Marnie gasped, a wave washing over her castle, the girl swiftly standing up. Tokumei wadded through the water, hugging her tightly.
"Oh Marnie, I love you so very much."
Zero noticed that tears slowly beaded in the girl's eyes as she hugged onto him tighter," Makes me happy."
"Funny," Tokumei hummed," It's kinda like we traded places."
"How true!" Marnie giggled softly.
All three of them froze, a larger wave washing over them, up to their knees.
"Oh no!" Marnie frowned," The tide's coming in!"
"Hey," Zero smiled," Let's go to the silo together. The stories about ghosts can't be true, we'll go make sure. Tomorrow, no, let's go now!"
Zero held out his hand, Marnie tentatively took it; the entity dragged both her and the boy along. I don't care who Marnie really is, I just want to help her.