Mari's return

Truth

“Oh my God! Mari!” Kel shouted while now standing up from the bed.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she replied rather bashfully. Mari expected Kel to be this excited, but his energetic whims were always a bit embarrassing.

“Wow, Mari how is this even possible?! Did you time travel?! No, wait are you like a zombie now!? Or maybe you’re a cyborg that ran away from some secret government company?!” Kel continued to beret her with his crazy theories, but none of them even came close to the truth. She looked at her brother, still sitting where she found him while wearing the same neutral expression he always had.

“Or were you abducted by aliens and-”

“Kel, calm down okay?” she reminded him.

“Ah sorry, Mari. But I can’t believe it, it’s you! I mean you died! There was a funeral and-” his voice began to trail off as Kel’s large smile began to fade. The energy that Kel had just seconds ago appeared to suddenly have been snuffed out.

“Kel?” she worriedly asked.

Snapping out of it Kel returned to his smiling self. “Haha… Sorry um, anyways how did you come back?” he asked as he sat back down on Sunny’s bed.

“Right,” taking a seat on the floor Mari pointed one of her palms up towards the ceiling. Soon, images of her adventures filled the room. The boys looked in awe at what they witnessed. They saw the cave where she gained her powers. Her battles against the Demon Lord and his generals. And, the war-torn civilians she healed on her travels. “So, when I died I...”

Mari narrated her entire story while an occasional gasp could be heard from the boys now and then as if they were watching their favorite action movie. An hour later, Mari finished her tale.

“...and once I activated the Hellgate, I found myself falling into the house.” Hopefully, her story wasn’t too confusing for them to understand. The idea that she had even ended up in an alternate reality with magic and demons would be difficult to believe after all.

“Wow Mari that was- It was so majestic, so beautiful.” Kel wiped away the tears that raced across his face.

Sunny just sat there with his mouth agape. Even for someone as stoic as him, Mari’s story was incredibly moving. She felt a smile grow on her face at the sight. The last time she saw his face like this was when they decorated his birthday cake with enough candles to power a small country. How long ago did that feel.

“So, you guys believe me?” she asked.

“Of course we do! Right Sunny? I mean how else could have healed me just now?” said Kel as he flexed his arm that was once filled with glass shards.

Sunny nodded in agreement.

“Thanks, you guys. But are sure? I know it seems pretty farfetched. I’d be happy to help answer anything confusing. All it costs is your love!”

“Oh, well in that case.” Kel now wore another worried expression. He held onto his arm, looking too nervous to ask his question.

“Is something wrong Kel?” asked Mari in an attempt to encourage the tan boy.

“Well I know this might be a bit awkward to ask but,” Kel asked shyly. “How come you did it, Mari?”

“Did what Kel?” she asked, raising a brow, confused at the question.

“You know when you- When you hung yourself.” He said while averting his gaze from Mari.

‘Hung myself? What is he talking about, Sunny had- No did they not know? Did Sunny not tell anyone? Did someone make it look like a suicide?’

She looked towards her brother. He didn’t react at all towards the question. Not even the slightest shrug nor shock came from the boy. It reminded her of some of the troops that she met during the war. Soldiers who couldn’t even realize that they were fighting for their lives. If he never told anyone what happened then who knows how he was dealing with the trauma.

“You see Kel, I did it for um-” struggling to come up with an answer Mari tried to think of how she could get out of the situation. As she pondered, a loud grumble could be heard from Sunny’s stomach.

“How about we go to Gino’s? They’re still open right?” she quickly suggested.

“Oh! Um, sure lunch sounds good!” Kel frantically replied.

As the two boys exited the room, Mari stayed back.

“Actually, you two can go ahead. I’m going to change into something. I don’t want someone freaking out while we’re walking after all.”

Kel and Sunny just nodded in response and exited the house.

Heading back into the room, Mari searched around for any hints of what could be going on in her brother’s head. But with everything packed away, the only sign was a large groove in his mattress showing that he spent a lot of time there.

Pressing her hand against her right eye, a light shined between her fingers. Using this ability, Mari could find any objects of interest with ease. Looking around, something did catch her eye. She left the room and made her way downstairs. Entering the side room that her family used for storage, Mari found a chest that Sunny kept his toys in.

Mari tried opening the box, but it appeared to be locked tightly. Luckily she knew how to pick locks. Pulling out a pair of pins, she got to work on it and was able to open the chest. Inside she saw something she hadn’t seen in years.

It was Sunny’s violin. Its ruined state looked just like she remembered. How could she forget? It was the reason she died after all. The reason why she yelled at her brother. The reason he pushed back. The reason why he would jump.

'No, there’s still time. I can save him.’

She continued to search the chest. The only other thing inside was the sheet music she wrote, the pages coated in her dried blood. Putting the contents back in the box, Mari locked it to avoid leaving any trace. A habit she had during her time stealing from the Empire.

'Why did he still have these things? It’s been four long years since I died. Couldn’t he have just thrown them out? Couldn’t Sunny learn to move on?’

There was still a lot that she needed to learn about how things had changed while she was gone. Looking at a clock hanging on the wall, Mari noticed how long she had been sleuthing.

‘I should probably catch up with them now.’

Mari twirled around, a light engulfed the house as she changed out of her long dark coat and armor into a simple white t-shirt and skirt. Mari still kept her mask with her, since if any of her old neighbors recognized her, it would be too much of a hassle to explain things to them. After repairing the window that Kel broke, Mari left the house.