Marina felt it.
Her body was no longer the same.
From the tips of her feet, all the way to the roots of her hair.
She felt changed. Like skin that had stretched over an entirely different frame.
The change hit all at once. Leaving no room for her to understand what was going on.
Marina looked down to her hand.
The hand which was holding Lenora's, the masked girl giving her a smile that felt reassuring, but lacked the emotion behind it.
Like a puppet mimicking a facsimile of human emotion.
Frankenstein's monster trying to please his maker.
A grimace tore her face, conflict warring within her.
"H.Y.L.I." Lenora said, like it answered for anything.
"What did you do to me?" Marina ripped her hand away, tucking her body away from the woman before her.
Discovering the pair of changes that appeared on her chest…
Heat creeped onto her face, but Marina had dealt with worse.
She would remain steady through the changes happening to her body.
"H.Y.L.I." Lenora repeated, somehow firmer in her words as they locked eyes.
Marina balled her fists, a headache bringing her hand to her temples.
This girl… She just didn't make any sense.
Who was she?
Was she just here to ruin my day?
"Urgh, this is going to be a long Tuesday… I hate Tuesdays!" Marina groaned, standing from her seat.
"This will be the last time I ask," Her tone grew harsher… Yet her tone did not change. Was her voice lighter than before? "Answer me! What did you do to my body!?"
Her demands were met with the adoring gaze of the taller woman, Lenora moving to stand.
Marina took a step back, but a hand stopped her.
A hand gripping her frail looking forearms.
"If I could begin to do," That song? Why was she singing? "Something that does right by you."
Marina felt a lump form in her throat. "I could even learn how to love~."
A hand grazed her cheek, gently, brushing passed the tears streaking down her face.
"Serve, Marina."
Lenora's words were like a bullet to the chest.
Was this supposed to help her?
Looking down at herself, at the body that was bound to her, but not entirely hers…
She wanted to cry, to fight and shout back.
She didn't want it.
What right did Lenora have to take agency over her body!
It wasn't fair… in the same way her innocence was taken from her by her parents.
Whether intentional or not, she had still been hurt that Lenora decided to modify her body like she was some toy.
Taking a deep breath, Marina steadied her mind.
Was there any permanent negative physical effects?
None that she could see.
In the end, the only distress caused was mental, and she could think about that some other time.
For now, she needed to focus on the present.
Glancing at Lenora, the woman visibly shrunk into herself. As though she was afraid of what Marina was about to say. As though she wanted Marina to be happy about the horror she inflicted on the cultist.
And while Marina might have exploded on her a second ago, she would let clearer heads prevail. For now.
The intent was not malicious.
But the actions definitely were.
Like a child who didn't know better…
For a powerful servant of destruction, Lenora sure had trouble understanding what it was she wanted.
Though, how she got the idea to change her body, Marina only had the faintest implications of what it meant for her.
After all, the only people who knew of her condition were her own parents.
Parents who were only ever half supportive of her change…
It put Lenora in a very different light. Especially since her mother recently passed away.
And it put Marina another step closer to understanding the woman's motives.
"My parents were not the ones who sent you, were they?"
The answer was immediate.
A silent nod.
"Then, who sent you?"
"No one…" But that didn't make any sense.
Was she lying? Making a fool out of her for the sake of a joke?
The girl was still a jittering mess. Too shy to say a damn thing!
What was going on inside her head.
"Then why are you doing this?"
The song repeated inside Marina's head over and over again.
But she couldn't understand the reasoning.
It seemed the great Marina finally found her match.
For all the verses she had read in the Vatican, she didn't expect this one to be the verse that finally stumped her.
What parts of Lenora's face showed from the mask, were colored a rosy red.
"F.Y."
Abbreviated.
Again.
Marina's gaze turned stormy, the girl letting go of a sigh.
She wasn't getting anywhere forcing Lenora.
And Marina wouldn't get any further, continuing to force her.
Would letting her off be the right thing to do?
Marina bit on the inside of her cheek, her brows furrowed.
For what Lenora did to her, she couldn't let her off the hook so easily.
After all, she forced the change down her throat and expected Marina to like it.
If she were to let that slide, then Marina might as well have accepted the role that would have been thrust upon her at birth.
Though, it wasn't like she had a choice in that matter either.
The cards decided long before she knew how to even play.
At the end of the day, she simply wanted control.
But she wouldn't punish a mistake made out of ignorance.
She was better than her parents.
"You can't do that to people," Lenora let out a choked sob, one Marina used to resolve her heart. "Look, I know you just wanted to help. In whatever way that change might have helped."
"But I didn't choose it," The argument was like a hammer. One which drove the nail deeper and deeper. "You can't decide for what other people might want. Especially with a change like this!"
"Yes, for the longest time, I wanted to look more like a woman. But you can't decide when that will be. Only when the time is right. When I'm ready to fully bring that change into the world."
Marina's hands moved across her body, feeling, groping.
A tingle racked her spine, chills at every touch.
It wasn't her. And it would never be her.
"Please, change me back." She begged, grabbing onto Lenora's hand. "I don't want this body when I know I'm not worthy of it yet. No matter how much comfort it might bring me. It isn't Marina Domek. It's just a pile of muscle and fat in a facsimile of her."
Those eyes.
Lenora didn't speak, but no words needed to be said.
She could read them like an open book.
The lady in black was hurt by her words.
But accepting she had done wrong by her.
"Sorry," Otherworldly energy coalesced along her hand, flowing into Marina's.
The world shifted, like she was watching a film that was in the first person…
She could hardly believe it.
It was her body, again.
Back together in its disgusting glory.
But she was happier that way.
She wasn't ready for the final step.
She needed to sever the last ties she had to that past.
"Guess you could say, I'm not mad, just disappointed," Marina sighed, taking her hand back. "Perhaps when I'm ready, I'll call for you in my time of need."
"But that day isn't today, and you have to respect that."
The nail was driven through, Lenora's eyes painfully shutting.
"Thank you, for considering my thoughts," She bowed, though her fists were clenched tight. "Even if you didn't need to,"
"But the offer is on the table. And you promised to serve me, remember?"
Lenora paused, a tear of her own streaking down her cheek.
"Y-Yes. Serve, Marina." She bowed, the lady in black sprouting that hand-like tail, and a few other appendages from the small of her back.
"With all my life. No harm, you."
"Then you should also learn to respect people's boundaries."
"Boundaries?" Lenora genuinely asked, like it was a question she had trouble wrapping her head around.
"Boundaries, it isn't a literal space people have," Marina explained, "It's the knowledge and understanding of what others are comfortable with."
It was cute, perhaps what having siblings might have felt like.
"Comfortable…" Lenora looked deep in thought. Initially, she glanced at her own hand.
Then she looked towards Marina's once more.
"You want to touch my hand?" Lenora nodded, much to Marina's confusion. "Okay?"
She was hesitant to return it after the earlier fiasco. But those puppy dog eyes, and the understanding that seem to come for Marina's own words made her think overwise.
Maybe once, she'd trust Lenora.
She only wanted to help.
"This is a mask," The lady in black brought the hand up to her cover face. "It isn't fair that I hide the person that I am to you."
With a flick of the wrist, the opera mask flew.
"I put up airs because I thought it would make you like me more. But I was only deluding myself more, and pushing you away, whether you were aware or not."
Beneath the mask was a disfigured girl. Not the strong woman she had expected.
She truly was like the Phantom of the Opera.
They were both playing at people stronger than they really were, wiser that what they were capable of.
In the end, Lenora was still human.
And humans broke too.
"I'm sorry, you only knew me as Lenora.
"From now on, I want you to call me,"
"Samarie. And I vow to take your heart, Marina Domek!"
"Huh!?"
Marina wasn't expecting a confession first thing in the morning!
Her heart skipped a beat, that same feeling enveloping her as she stared into Len-Samarie's dark orbs.
Samarie…
The words tasted foreign, and yet, familiar at the same time.
Maybe she heard of the name in the Vatican?
But then again, the only people who'd even remembered her name were her detractors and teachers.
For a prodigy in the art, she did not have many friends.
And Marina would remember a Samarie among them, if there was one.
Alas, she was left grasping at straws.
"Len- Samarie, aren't you being a bit forward?" Under a forced calm, Marina found it difficult to ease into the situation. "Isn't this a bit too fast? How would you know we would be compatible. Or if I can even like you back? And how can I even find it within myself to find love in a place like this? It just doesn't make any sense!"
The woman tilted her head, a torn expression appearing on her face.
Only for it to disappear seconds later, Samarie showing a dejected smile in its place. "We can try, right? I'll be honest and say that I don't know how all of this works, but in time, I like to think we can give it a try or two."
It was hard to be as optimistic as Samaire.
How could she?
The only thing Marina know about Samarie was that she was strong, confident in herself.
That she seemingly revolved around this woman's world, despite not knowing one another!
How then could she not only accept those kinds of feelings, but also reciprocate them in kind?
A heavy pit sunk in her chest.
In a different situation, as different people.
Marina would have loved to give the nervous, but kind hearted Samarie a shot at her heart.
But, she wasn't that person.
They were like parallel lines. Lines that were so close to one another, but would never cross, no matter the distance.
So similar, but she wasn't meant to curve.
"I'm sorry, Le- Samarie," Marina corrected herself, balling her fist. "I would prefer it if we stayed as companions, for now."
What wasn't said, did not need to be stated, for it was clear enough.
The woman in black, bit back sobs.
Though, ultimately giving her a tear-filled smile.
'At least I was able to bring up the courage' Her eyes said, as Samarie's clothes flashed, and the black garbs, were replaced by a simple white blouse and black overalls look.
"I will help, where I can. Please accept it," Samarie bowed, moving towards the window, as she opened it. "Although your heart may yet to caress mine. In the city of Prehevil, I shall create a small pocket for our love to blossom."
"If you would like to give it a chance, I'll know where to find you."
She leapt out of the window. Becoming one with the shadows.
In the moment, it felt like she had done a lot of things wrong.
However, for all her faults, she felt what she did was right.
Accepting Samarie would have doomed them both to suffering in loveless matrimony.
A curse she witnessed first hand with her own parents.
And one she refused to inflict on anyone else.
Much less a person who desired her as much as she desired her freedom.
"Farewell, Samarie," Like petals on the wind, she let the words drift away. "Perhaps, I'll take you up on your offer, some day."
Suddenly, the door to the train cart opened.
"Marina? Is Lenora awake?"
Abella stepped in, carting along Olivia, as they looked around the compartment.
"We got the train fixed, after working on it all morning," Abella cheered.
"And since it's fixed, I decided that everyone should eat before you enter the city proper!" Olivia chimed in, proud from her own effort. "I cooked breakfast. There were some herbs around, and I was able to use a few to make quite the decent meal. I'm even proud to call it my comfort food since I ate it all the way through college."
"Yeah, what Olivia said," Abella agreed, though her head turned side to side. Like she was looking for something. "But, you see Lenora around here? Looks like she disappeared."
A grimace failed to form on Marina's lips, the girl biting down on the urge.
"She said to meet her when I entered the city, "Marina lied, a painful pang striking her heart. "Then, she left."
"Oh, are you sure she's going to be alright?" Olivia asked, concern dripping from her tone.
"I hope so," Marina sighed. "But, she was just like that when we found her. Always so mysterious."
Bella shook her head at Marina's words. "You can say that again. But I'm hungry, let's eat with the other guys up front."
"Yeah, let's."
Marina left the train cart alongside the others, longingly looking back at the spot where she had the talk.
She wasn't ready.
Though, if she wasn't ready yet, then it begged the question.
When would she ever be ready?