Act 3: The Ball - Departure

"Okay."

Samantha finishes bathing and goes to her dresser. Whose clothes are these? She locks that away next to the fact that she has a male body now, and gets dressed, and finds that they fit her well. She gets ready for the day, finding gear that doesn't belong to her but nevertheless seems made for her, and walks out of the cabin. The next part of her routine is a meal in the galley.

May is quite pleased to see the wine. "Komm zu Mama, du schöne Flasche." She looks at the label and is pleasantly surprised to find that it's a quality mid tier. She looks around for the corkscrew before popping the top and taking a long swig. She burps a little and mutters, "Ah, that's the stuff."

She's starting to feel more like herself now and vaguely remembers Fluffle suggesting that Smirk might know where her actual wine is. She decides to ask him later after lunch. "May train first, then seek Smirk out after lunch."

She waves goodbye to Brünhilde and heads for the deck to do just that.

Samantha

As Samantha focuses on her routine, it becomes easier for her to distinguish what memories are hers and which ones belong to her "passenger". Femke finishes getting dressed, and just as Samantha is about to leave the cabin, it suddenly hits her: the Tyke woman never was her wife, and she never wore a ring. Once she realizes this, everything falls into place, and her persona reunifies into a coherent whole.
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Nick

"Yeah, I'll keep looking after them..." Amber responds. "Also, I'm sorry to tell you this, but Jacob is dead..."
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May

Brünhilde appears confused for a moment, but Fluffle's smile is enough to put her worries to rest, and she waves goodbye at them.

May steps onto the deck and sees a dozen of fairies or so surrounding Smirk. He must be distracting them from the cleanup the Coins mercenaries are doing on the docks right now.

May begins her stretching routine, surprised to find that her body isn't as nimble as she's use to. In fact, her frame is much heavier and not feminine at all. Weird. She takes another swig of wine while she contemplates why that would be.

Oh. Finally, everything creaks into place like the gears in a clock tower. Sam starts feeling a little sad again, but she's already cried-out. Then, embarrassed again. She turns back from the cabin door to carry on with Femke.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I thought - You're not my - ugh, I got so mixed up! But I'm feeling a lot better now." The memories of the previous day whiz by. The horror, the preparation, the pride, the fear. The confession. She smiles. And also, a very new, alien experience. She gets a hot flash, and coughs. "So, he finally made up his mind, did he?"

"Hi Smirk," she says, waving her bottle at him in greeting, "May appears to be in man's body."

Nick

Amber raises an eyebrow. "You spoke to Breeze?"
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May and Smirk

"Is Pizza Guy okay?" one of the fairies ask. They appear more amused than worried however.
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Samantha

Femke doesn't immediately understand Sam's question, but when she does, she averts her gaze and says, "He did."

She blushes a little.

Sam smiles. "You realize that's only step 1? What you have is still vague, and he knows it. You need to sit him down again, and hammer out what you want from each other, and where you want this to lead."

Punchdrunk keeps drinking the wine trying to put two and two together when she gets a bright idea. "Fluffle, why is May in man's body?"

Nick

Amber just stares at Nick while she considers what he just told her, then says, "Look, I'd prefer to hear it from Mihai. I gotta get back to the cells for now, so please, just don't... blow up or anything."
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Samantha

Femke slightly tilts her head to the side and says, "Isn't that how all relationships work?"
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May and Smirk

The fairies nod at each other, agreeing with Smirk's observation.

"That's true. Men's bodies are so much worse for training."

"True, true."

"Wait, wasn't it the other way around?"

"I thought so. Did we get something wrong?"

Meanwhile, Fluffle blinks at May's question and after a moment of contemplation, he whispers to her, "That's because it's not your body. Don't you remember your first body?"

Sam laughs. "No. Wait. I suppose there are a few exceptions. My parents did sit me down to talk about small things when I was just a girl. The range of topics opened up when they decided I was old enough to help out around their shop. At any rate, I can see I won't be correcting any misconceptions you might have about a serious romance."

"May thought she was in her first body." The thought of it threatens to overwhelm her with longing and sadness and she wipes away a tear. She tries to drown the feeling in wine but suddenly finds it doesn't taste as good as it just did. Steve isn't really much of a drinker, after all. Out of everything, that's the worst part.

Nick

"Okay... Be careful then."

A little awkwardly, Amber turns around and heads back down the stairs, leaving Nick alone.
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Samantha

"...Do you have any advice?" Femke asks.
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May and Smirk

With a pained gaze, Fluffle starts to pet May's cheek, and she's suddenly reminded of when Jacob would do the same to comfort her during the worst times of the war.

Then they hear Segel call out to them.

"Excuse me? There's a Sean Freeron here to meet you."

The first mate turns and points at a man standing on the waterfront. The squad members approach the railing to get a better look at him, and he smiles and waves at them once he notices them.

May feels that the fog over her mind has lifted a little.

Zelk's grandfather. May remembers meeting him the first time at his mansion. A lot of things had become clear about Zelk that day and the monk smiles at the memory of her then-girlfriend baking a cake for her birthday. "Hello, Sean," she says, waiving at the old gentleman and moving to meet him. Normally she'd kiss him on the cheek in greeting but she stops herself at the last minute and covers with a hug instead. Yes, that is way more Steve-like.

"Hmm..." Sam looks through Konrad's memories. "Well, I can tell you what we did. We were sort of pushed together by circumstance, and our lives just overlapped neatly. We found out we had the same wants, and the same goals. The dynamic changed when I had Triston in the oven, and I had to be apart from him for a while. And when Triston came out, he became more important to us both and took up a share of the time between us. Well, more of my time. He--he was still only one year old."

She sighs, and folds her arms across her breastplate and puts a finger on her lip. "Ed's interests became interesting to me because it was Ed, and he let me see more of him than the inside of his bedroom. It's not the same as being helpful, even though he did appreciate it a lot. And I didn't make excuses just to be near him. Something I'll tell you straight out: don't take for granted the times when you can't be."

"I'd tell you more, but I believe the rest is up to you." She winks coyly.

Nick

The act of remembering, or at least trying to remember, seems to trigger something within Nick, and he's suddenly assailed by memories of Lofell and the battles he—no, Mihai—fought there.

He remembers the reason for that name, and his mind and Mihai's begin to split from each other.
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May and Smirk

"Hello, Steve. Hello Fluffle." Sean looks at them with a sad smile. "Are you all right? I heard about what happened at the palace after I left and how you participated in the battle. Just getting here was quite the ordeal..."

He glances at the wagon of corpses that a unit of Coins mercenaries are now taking away. There's still plenty of blood all over the streets, and the stench is abhorrent.
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Samantha

Femke listens attentively to Sam and carefully considers her advice before she nods at her and says, "Thank you, Samantha. Although you're in a difficult situation at the moment, I appreciate you taking the time to help me."

Sam smiles. "You're very sweet, Femke. You're welcome. And besides, I think we should be invested in yours working out. I know what you are. It got mixed in with that little episode I just had."

"Thank you for coming. Why don't we go inside? Would you like some wi-" Fluffle elbows her ear. "-some tea?" she corrects, leading the old man towards the galley where they left Brünhilde.

Samantha

Femke frowns, but only for an instant. "I see. Can I trust you to keep this a secret then?"
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May and Smirk

Because of her attempt to imitate Steve, May's memories begin to coalesce into a coherent whole, as do the black mage's. Then it all clicks in an instant, and she fully remembers who she is now, and more importantly, who she isn't.

"I'll gladly have some," Sean replies. The wealthy merchant steps aboard the ship and the fairies, glad for the distraction, give him a warm welcome. Once May arrives in the galley with her new guest, they find Brünhilde at the same place as before, writing something.

"Oh, hello again, Steve!"
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Nick

Everything falls into place and Nick finally remembers what Anne looks like—or more precisely, what she used to look like. The redheaded woman is Mihai's fiancée, not his. And yet, their beloved share the same body now.