Mikko


The fancy Christmas Gala took place on December twenty sixth, Mikko had realized this after accidentally showing up a day before and being met with penelopes scowling twin. This time when he knocked on the huge black doors to the mansion, he was met again by Priscilla's face, but this time she wore a carefully placed smile that didn't go anywhere near her eyes. Her dress was stark white and fit tightly against her body. She let him into the mansion, speaking to him only once.

" Penolope is in the ballroom," she said simply.

Mikko simply nodded and smiled in response, wondering why she knew he wanted to see her sister. Penolope definitely didn't tell her anything.


He found her in the ballroom, just as her sister said he would. She was wearing a long flowy red dress with swirls of blue along the bodice. The blue swirls perfectly matched the color of his suit. She was standing awkwardly by herself in a corner, and she looked visibly uncomfortable. His heart flipped when he met her eyes across the room and her face lit up and her posture straightened instantly. When he reached her he asked " want to get out of here?" Hoping she knew he only ment to walk around and talk away from the crowd. She nodded, and away they went. Mikko was about to turn down the hallway to the right when Penolope took his hand and forced him to stop. " can we walk outside?" She asked, and Mikko could tell she was finally going to tell him the big thing she had clearly been holding back since he found her crying in the hall.


They grabbed their coats from the front foyer and were outside in an instant. There wasn't any snow on the ground, and it wasn't cold compared to where Mikko was from, but Penolope was shivering in an instant.

" take my jacket," Mikko insisted, knowing it would easily fit over her coat.

Penolope shook her head, but a second later she put it on.

" I only took your generous offer because I don't plan on being out here for long," she Informed him. Mikko smiled and went silent, sure that she was finally going to tell him the truth about what has been bothering her. They walked silently for a few minutes before Mikko decided to be the one to start the important conversation. He cleared his throat and took penolopes hand.

" you know I'm here because of my mother right," he said, not breaking for Penolope to respond. " My mother is chief of our first nation, and she has always fought for the good of our land and people. When she learned about your mother's plans if she got elected, and your uncle's plans to install oil rigs and mines on our land, she was furious." Penolope said nothing, so Mikko continued. " My mother lead many protests and spoke to many government officials, all to no avail. In one last desperate attempt to save our land and way of life, she lead a protest right infront of your house. She went missing from her hotel room on the last night the group was supposed to be here. They stayed a little longer to look for her, but eventually they had to return without her." Mikko looked over at Penolope and discovered her face was covered in tears.


It took her a few tries to speak without choking up.

" My family has never cared about anything other than profit," she chocked out. She increased her pace and didn't look at him as she spoke. " The night we met, I Overheard my aunt, sister and grandmother speaking in the room next to mine." She sobbed. " they were talking about a group of protesters, and how they dealt with their leader in a way the authorities will never find out about."


They had almost walked around the entire estate now. Mikko took a deep breath. He had been bracing himself to hear something awful. Mikko pulled Penolope into a tight hug.

" it's OK," he said just as much to himself as to her. " You overhearing that conversation doesn't make you guilty, you being born into a hateful family doesn't make you hateful or guilty, we will get justice for my mother and my people, and then you can find a home away from the family you're born into, and if I'm lucky that will be with me."


They stayed in the tight embrace for a long time, each of them crying onto eachothers shoulders. Finally, Penolope pulled away.

" let's continue our walk," she said.

They did. For a few minutes they walked peacefully, hand in hand. Just as they were about to complete a walk around the estate, a crunch loud enough for Mikko to hear even if he wasn't wearing his hearing aids came from underneath Penolope's foot. She bent down and picked up a now broken pair of glasses. Mikko reignited the thick lines instantly.

" those were my mother's," he whispered. Penolope whipped her head around. Mikko was confused at first, he thought maybye she was trying to hide tears, but then he heard it too. Footsteps in the bush beside them. By the time Mikko had heard the footsteps, the person causing them was in veiw. Priscilla appeared without a coat, her arms bare and behind her back. She took in the scene before her, her eyes lingering on the broken glasses in penolope's hand.

" When I put those out on the ground, I didn't expect you to Step on them,"

" what are you talking about" Penolope responded to her sister, " why would you-

" This will be much quicker and easier if neither of you interrupt me," she practically ordered silence. " yes, I put Mikkos mother's glasses there. Why would I leave evidence of her murder laying around, you might wonder. Simply because I'm being kind, and giving this liability you enjoy spending time with penny, some closure in his final moments." She turned her attention from her sister to mikko. " your mother is dead and buried across the street. Don't worry, I'll bury you beside her. Before Mikko could register what was happening, Priscilla moved her hands from behind her back, revealing a gun in her right hand. With perfect aim and a defining boom, Priscilla shot Mikko. After that, he was vaguely aware of pain and his own blood painting the ground red. He used all of the energy left in him to focus on the girl kneeling by his side.

She was crying again, just like when he first saw her. He took her hand, and with the last of his energy made her a promise.

" if the afterlife is real, I'll wait for you there. If reincarnation is real then I'll find you in the next life, if nothing happens afterdeath, know that I spent the last of my only existence thinking of you. You deserve to be happy. Stay safe, keep the sparkle in your eye, and always eat ice cream in the winter."


With that, he closed his eyes and thought of the earth beneath his back. He hoped Priscilla was serious about burying him with his mother, he wanted his body to nourish the earth that had taken care of him all his life in death.