After Molie’s little fashion show, Jade wants to actually use the outfits, “Hey, I think we should train your arms now that you’ve got the outfit so we can be prepared when we face monsters.” Molie nods quickly in agreement but then thumbs her chin, “How do we train my arms?” Jade responds without missing a beat, “By using them of course!” And so they would use the arms and it would be quite terrible.

“....NO! You’re going to-” a large rip is let loose through the air as a piece of fabric comes flying into Jade’s face. A loud crash of a light bulb is heard, the decimation of carpet, a torn plushie, “My arm’s stuck, let me just-” a torn pillow hits Jade’s face next immediately followed with the loud crack of carapace striking drywall. The training was not going well with Molie’s entire room now in tatters: every surface covered in scratches, multiple plushies now with holes and tears, and to top it all off Molie has just cracked a hole in the drywall. Jade’s eyes are wide with disbelief,“All I asked you to do was pick up your plushie? How did you manage to destroy everything!?” Molie has a steady stream of tears running down her face as she croaks out, “I don’t know, I was just focusing really hard at first and then I slipped and then I panicked and the arm responded and hit the drawer then I tried to stop that one and the other went all-” Molie is interrupted by her bedroom door knocking. “Are you ok in there? I heard a loud crash” Molie’s dad asked. Molie does what she normally does when she is stressed out and freezes completely leaving Jade to respond before his suspicions grow, “Yeah we’re ok Molie’s dad! We-we’re just…….” “Dang it! I can’t come up with anything!” “Just what? What’s going on!?” The door begins to open and Jade reacts on pure instinct in order to buy time. And that involves slamming the door on Molie’s dad with the full force of a super strengthened magic girl, Crack! “Ah cripes my fffff-in’ nose!” Molie’s dad crows. “What’d you do that for?” Jade says the first thing that comes to mind, “I’m naked right now!” “Oh god please let that work.” “You could have just said so, I would’ve waited a bit. Anyways, if everything is good I’ll just head down now. Also dinner’s in an hour pumpkin!” Jade hovers at the door waiting for a sign and once Molie’s fathers footsteps can be heard on the stairs she lets out a sigh of relief. “That was a close one. He might’ve seen your arms and everything would have gone bad.” Molie finally unfreezes. “How are we going to fix this? My room’s a mess and if my parents see this they’ll get suspicious!” “Suspicious!? You mean they’ll freaking ground you forever! We won’t ever get to hang out again at this rate!” 

Two screaming six year olds do not create a peaceful house environment and a voice of concern is heard through the door, “Molie! Your father came back down with a nosebleed and told me that you guys were fine. But, I heard you guys screaming and just wanted to check for myself if everything’s alright.” “Alright I’ll just repeat what I said before.” “We’re just excited about our outfits and I’m currently naked and dressing up right now.” “Is that so? Let me take a look!” This time before Jade’s reflexes kick, Molie’s mom swings the door open initially with a smile and glance. It only takes a moment when her eyes pass over the room and sees the destruction the two have wrought. “Oh my god! What have you two done here!?” Jade whips around towards Molie, terrified at the prospect of her arms being revealed only to find that Molie had tucked them away, not that that made her look any less freaked out. The beat of silence that passes however does not reflect well on them, “You two are coming down with me right now!” Molie’s mom spoke in a voice that forced out all resistance. The two drag their feet as they make their way down the stairs to the living room.

“Ok. Molie, do you want to start explaining what happened?” Molie’s lips are drawn thin and she keeps her eyes glued to the ground, refusing to even let out a peep or a breath under the tension. “I’m not going to punish you if you tell me. I just want to know what happened so I can help you.” Jade’s shoulders slightly relax upon realizing that Molie’s parents weren’t going to lash out verbally or even physically but Molie remains tense, “I can’t come up with anything! Jade say something! OUR SECRET AT RISK!!” Jade may be magic but telepathy is not where her abilities lie. “Molie, you’re normally more honest about it. You know we just want to hear the truth.” Molie’s mom kneels down with a kind face, “Please tell me what happened. I won’t get mad, I won’t yell, I just want to help.” Jade finally irks out a believable lie out loud, “Molie isn’t saying anything because I did it! We were dressing up and I was swinging my sword around and breaking stuff in the room! I wanted to show her what I was learning in my sword classes!” Her face turns red at the lie spilling out of her mouth. “Wait? I thought that sword was just a prop for your costume?” Molie’s dad chimes in with a tissue to his nose holding in an active bleed, Jade winces internally at the sight in apology. “Ummmmmm, it’s a real sword.” 

Molie’s parents' eyes explode wide and mouths yell out in shock, “Why!? How?! WHY ARE YOU CARRYING A REAL SWORD!!!?” “I ummm.. found it in the woods. And it looked cool.” Jade technically does not lie. “It was just lying there. And I thought it would be good for my costume.” Jade does lie this time. “You stole someone's sword?!” “No, it was buried a bit.” “What do you mean by ‘buried a bit’?” Jade suddenly recalls that she actually found a bracelet but decides not to mention that. “It looked like it was there for a really long time.” The parents are now holding the bridge of their nose to prevent a stress headache. “Do your parents at least know you have this and have approved of your possession?” “Yes.” “Just what are your parents thinking?” Molie’s mom sighs out tightly.

After a long silence passes as the parents seem to mull over their options and slowly Jade and Molie wind down when they realize things might work out. Then Molie’s dad pipes up, “Ok Jade, so neither of you are in trouble but you do realize we have to tell your parents about what happened with your sword?” Jade’s calm is completely bowled back into stress. “Can you give us your parent’s number so we can at least text them what happened?” “Ummm. I don’t have their number.” Jade lies impulsively. “I saw you text your mom earlier.” Molie’s dad retorts. “CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CR-” Molie cuts in, “Actually Jade’s parents are really busy right now and probably won’t be able to read the text. She told me they work at an office but that they have to turn their phones off while they are there. Can’t you write a note or something?” It appears when Molie isn’t actively having a nervous breakdown she can come up with good excuses. “Well why didn’t you say that? We can write a note for you.” Molie’s mom goes over to write a note communicating that Jade was reckless with her sword and should probably leave it at home when coming over. “As much as I like your costume I recommend you at least leave the sword at your home next time.” Molie’s dad says. “Understood! I won’t bring it again!” Jade finally sees the finish line to this horrible nightmare of conversation and also feels internal relief when noting how relaxed Molie’s parents are to her antics. The two parents carried a look of concern throughout the conversation but seem to finally let the issue lie.

Molie and Jade continue to hangout more quietly in the yard, talking more about potential outfit and name ideas, but also avoiding messing with their powers for now. As Molie’s parents busy themselves in Molie’s room, trying to evaluate the damage more closely. Conversation echoes down the hallway unheard by the children outside, “Other than the drywall it seems most of the damage seems to be to the carpet, pillows, and plushies. Huh maybe we could make it a little project, have all of us fix this mess up. I don’t think it’ll take professional help.” Molie’s dad evokes powerful handy dad energy. The sound of a large piece of furniture moving could and Molie’s mom is heard, “Aw dang they also broke a lamp. Well at least it was the cheap one. I’ll go broom up and vacuum the broken bulb.”

Hours pass and Molie and Jade go back in the house after being called in as the sun dips in the sky. Their pants are covered in dirt and grass from play and they both reek of sweat. “Alright kids, it's time for Jade to go home.” Molie’s mom walks over and grabs both of their hands. “You live in the next neighborhood over right? Hank mentioned that he picked up from the trail and that you’re pretty close by.” Jade nods and repeats her memorized address. 

Within about 15 minutes they arrived at her house. Molie’s mom notes that there are no cars in the driveway and no lights are on in the house, indicating that no one is home. Jade quietly breathes a sigh of relief. “Alright Jade, Here’s the note. Be a good girl and remember to give it to your parents ok?” Jade nods and takes the small yellow slip of paper, her head dipping from the exhaustion of having played all day. “Can you get in Honey?” Jade takes out the key under the doormat and unlocks the door. The house looks as usual, nice, tidy, but utterly empty and quiet. Jade feels a slight pang of sadness fill her, and realizes she’s going to miss Molie. As she steps in Molie runs up and wraps her arms around in a nice snug hug, “See you tomorrow Jade!” “See ya later Molie!” Molie and her Mom leave. Jade smiles to herself, she may miss her. But they’re going to hangout tomorrow and she can’t wait.