After the tiny bus naps

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Maple did indeed sleep on the bus, but it wasn't a good sleep

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Maple did indeed sleep on the bus, but it wasn't a good sleep. She kept having flashbacks to the time she blind elves snatched her. She occasionally rubbed her stomach, not going to be able to put the fact that she was cut in half behind her. She kept wondering how this trip was going to go from here if that's what happened on the very first night. She probably dreamed something in the meantime, but it wasn't much, and she immediately forgot it.

And then there was Enoki, curled up and dead asleep – even snoring just a bit. Maple could not fathom how on earth this girl was always so calm, and then she remembered it. Oh, yeah. She has lots of money, what could she possibly be afraid of?

She peeked out the window, trying to figure out where they were. It seemed like the hours spent pouring over a map were pointless. Then again, they were probably pointless anyway – she didn't know where she was going, not really. She never felt passionate about anything other than leaving the providence.

Maple had about enough of Enoki's sleeping and started poking her on the shoulder.

She sat up, stretching like a princess from a movie. "Uh huh?"

"We need a plan."

"Hm?"

"I don't know where we are, and we don't have any of our supplies. We need to figure out what we're doing, and fast."

She rubbed her eyes, yawning. "Why not ask the lady behind us?"

"Enoki, you can't just talk to people on the-"

"Hé!" she chirped, turning around.

The lady behind them smiled. "What do you need, honey?"

"We're both a little lost, where are we again?"

"This bus is on the way to Montbéliard," she answered. "Where are you two off to?"

"We don't know," answered Enoki, "But we got captured by some blind elves, and then we escaped, and we're trying to get away."

She looked serious. "Bless your hearts... That's incredibly fortunate of you two, getting out of there."

"Thank you! Oh, so where are you going?"

Maple winced, trying to stay out of the conversation. She can't believe that Enoki had worked up talking to a complete stranger about events that she was still trying to process, and to block out the noise, she did her best to figure out what exactly they needed to do to fix everything.

1. Get this magic anklet off.

2. Buy some new clothes – maybe a hair color change would be appropriate.

a. I want to choose something that won't stand out too much but also won't look like me. Purple? No. Dark brown? Maybe. We'll see.

b. Oh... We'll need to come up with fake names. That might be useful. What's a good one for me? L-something would be fun... Lucretia? Hmm... I like that one.

3. And then... ???

Enoki stood up. "It was very nice to meet you, Ms. Green! Congratulations on your son's wedding!!"

"You too, Maria! Stay safe, you hear?"

Maple noticed that everyone was standing up and getting off the bus. It was probably just as good of a time to get off as ever – the bus was inevitably going to loop back around anyway.

"Maria?" she whispered, "Is that your fake name?"

She giggled. "No, it's my real name!"

"You mean Enoki isn't your real name?"

Enoki gasped playfully. "It's my nickname! You never knew that? What kinda name is Enoki? It's a kinda mushroom!"

"I'm not Filipino, I don't know what names arenormal over there."

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