Masked (A Hat In Time)

Marching On

Sorry for not updating last week. I really wanted to, but I'm on a weird schedule, as you can tell by the time I'm uploading this chapter.

The good news is I'll update twice this week. The bad news is I won't be able to upload pictures with the chapters.

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Bow Kid must've spent hours helping the minions, but she kept working even as her eyelids started to droop. It was only when Jaide appeared in front of them that she looked up and paused her work.

Jaide looked as tired as Bow Kid felt. Somehow she still managed to smile. "It's late," she said gently. "Shouldn't you sleep?"

Bow glanced up at the sky, then frowned as she realized that the trees hid it. "How can you tell that it's late if you can't see the sky?" she asked.

"Ghosts need to sleep as well," Jaide answered with a small chuckle. "And I have a good sense of time."

Bow Kid nodded. That made sense. She put down her mushroom and stood up. "Thanks, Jaide. I'll tell Hattie that we need to go."

Jaide nodded and turned away before she paused. She turned back, her expression becoming apologetic. "I just realized that I don't know your names."

What? Dumbfounded, Bow Kid stared at her. "You've known us for days, and you don't know our names?"

Okay, maybe she was going a little hard on Jaide. No one on this planet knew their names. Some people came close when they referred to Hattie as "the kid with the hat", but no one besides Mu bothered to ask.

Still.

"I'm Bow Kid," Bow told Jaide, successfully managing to keep an exasperated note out of her voice. "My friend is Hat Kid. But you can call us Bow and Hattie for short."

Jaide nodded gratefully. "Thank you. I'll tell Moon and Snatcher as well." She gave them one last smile before teleporting away again.

Bow Kid told the nearest minion that they needed to leave for the night. It acknowledged the information with a salute and told the others. Bow Kid stepped a few other stations over to Hat Kid and told her the time. Too tired to stand, Hattie just reached her hand up, and Bow Kid took it. From there, they teleported back into their ship.

She could tell from the ship's already automatically dimmed lights that it was past bedtime. Bow Kid headed for bed. She glanced in the direction where the prince slept and started to say "Good night," then stopped.

Oh, yeah...

The spot where he slept was empty. Bow's heart sank. Was the last time they saw him really earlier this morning? So many things happened so quickly. It was hard for her to keep up.

She forced herself to stop thinking about it before she got sadder and climbed into bed. She was so tired that she was asleep within seconds of closing her eyes.

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When morning came, Hattie nudged Bow awake. They both got ready for the day, each trying to ignore the gaping absence of the prince. He'd only slept there for, what, two nights? Then he was gone for just a single night, and it affected him this much to not see him where he should be.

We're getting him back, Bow Kid thought, her hands curling into fists. Her hands brushed the timepiece in her pocket.

Was this it? Was this the disaster that she'd have to use the timepiece? Was this why her reflection was crying in the flower?

She didn't like the thought of using timepieces. There were so many ways it could go wrong, which was why using them was taboo where she came from. Some cases of extreme failure led to persecution.