Mason Reed Starr

**Mason** is one of the five main protagonists in the cast of *On The Run*.

Mase (Octavia)

Michael Morris (Unknown) (friend, deceased)

Fletcher Evan Quill (Match)

James Arthur Tomas (Jason)

## Appearance

Mason sports a mess of fiery red hair and grey eyes described either as stormy, cloudy, or overcast, with mild freckles spanning his nose and cheeks. He is haggard to the point of starvation, height cut short due to malnutrition. A multitude of thick scars haphazardly cross his back, most of them white with age but a few harboring hints of red and violet.

He initially wears a coarsely woven, dirty brown, full-sleeved shirt that sticks to his thin frame, paired with black trousers tattered at the edges. Later in the roleplay, he wears one of four shirts he bought with his sister's money: a plain, dark green t-shirt; a light grey shirt with “Not at your service” written in white lettering; a navy blue shirt depicting a seal with its flipper over its mouth and “My lips are sealed” lettered in light blue; and a grey-blue shirt with a goldfish in a bowl and the words “Just Right” in off-white. As for shoes, Alexis provides him her extra pair of turquoise shoes paired with Nanci's socks (which end up never returned) before he gets a pair of navy slip-ons.

On his right hand hangs a silver charm bracelet with a sort of locket dangling from it. Inside the locket is a picture of two redhead babies.

## Personality

Mason is a highly energetic, charismatic individual, renowned for his flashy wit and volatile temperament. He harbors a childish curiosity and is always open to learning more about the world around him, relishing new experiences. However, these traits rarely show, overtaken by a fuse of fury that is quick to light and has him teetering on the edge of physical violence.

He cares deeply for his loved ones and is incredibly loyal, so much that he's willing to die to keep them safe. Mason is ensnared by this desire to protect those he cares about and is extremely riddled with doubt in his ability to do so, considering the roof and elevator incidents that hospitalized all the runaways except him. These insecurities bleed into his dynamics with the other runaways—exemplified by his turbulent relationship with his girlfriend, Octavia.

## Backstory

For as long as he could remember, Mason was in an orphanage, trapped and secluded from all civilization in the middle of a forest. Terrible doesn't even begin to describe its condition—hundreds of kids accompanied him, sleeping in chambers cramped so fully with rough cots that one couldn't take a step without bumping into one and no blankets. (Perhaps the adults who ran the place—referred to as the “caretakers”—believed so many kids in one place meant their collective body warmth was enough to keep them warm. It wasn't.) Food was paltry and scarce, leaving them malnourished and starving. Punishments were frequent and sometimes unjustified—and the weapon was a whip, scars lining the backs of all but the youngest and newest. The only remnants of their lives they had any knowledge of were two names and their birthday—their age.

Besides the punishments, the care of those less than five years old, and the stitching up of tattered clothes until they no longer fit or fell apart completely, the caretakers left these “orphans” to fend for themselves. They formed groups and fought over food. Whatever they could steal, they would—if they didn't get caught. And those who operated alone were truly on their own.

Surprisingly, every child, every group, united over two things: the Elders and the Dead. The Elders consisted of the ten oldest kids in the orphanage and deference was given to them, since as soon as one turned eighteen, they would be removed from the orphanage (no one knows why). A sort of religion or cult was formed around death as it was such a prominent aspect of their lives—kids died mostly by their own hand—and they believed the dead turned into spirits watching them from the trees. The caretakers seemed to encourage this religion, providing resources like writing utensils, paper, and hundreds of stones to store the names of the dead and build the cairns that would represent their temporary graves. The Elders were in charge of these daily Ceremonies: they meticulously stacked stones to match the number of years each of the dead had lived, allowed kids to visit, protected the aptly named Ceremony Room from the caretakers, and led the ritual at the end of the day where the orphans would, with the collective stomping of feet, destroy the cairns. Mason was a part of all this until his friend Michy's death, when he decided to escape and leave the orphanage—and the cult—behind.

## *On The Run*

### First appearance

Mason first appears on page 4 of the roleplay, lost in a forest and engrossed in his phone stolen from a caretaker. He has no idea where he is or how to get out even though he escaped the day before, and the only link he has to the rest of the runaways is a text chat they created to communicate their departure and meet-up at Southwest High School. He sends a frustrated text to the group after they say to get rid of the SD cards in their phones, asking how exactly he must get rid of it and how to get out of the forest. Soon enough, he receives guidance from Lexi and Nanci, and manages to accomplish both (almost getting run over by a car and losing his phone with the latter task), using the GPS to get to Southwest High, where he meets the rest of the runaways.

### Bus

Mason sits directly behind the driver's seat on the left side of the bus, next to the window. James takes a seat next to him. While Bella attempts to get the bus started, James takes a taser out of his bag, asking if it will help. Mason asks where he got it from, and when the other boy replies he took it from his mother, he speculates upon her being a cop (which is shot down when James replies that his parents are lawyers, adding to the mystery of the taser). This is interrupted when Alexis notices the bracelet on his arm and shows her own matching bracelet, asking him how to open the locket. When Mason does so, he sees a picture of two redhead babies, an exact match to the picture in his bracelet. He shows this to Alexis and this is when they realize they are siblings, then twins when she asks him when his birthday is.

At a red light, Bella pulls Spotify up on her phone and plays *Never Gonna Give You Up*. Having never heard it before, James and Mason ask what song it is, the former starting to vibe to the music. Alexis snickers, upon which Mason asks her to explain what it is. This leads to her taking her phone and putting on *24k Magic*, *Spongebob*, and *Frozen* in an attempt to connect Mason and James with pop culture.

A little bit later, an argument occurs between Lexi and Nanci, in which they get physical on the bus. It's quickly broken up by Anise and Alexis, who begin jokingly discussing how to keep order in the group. Mason looks up from watching *Frozen* and attempts to hand Alexis' phone back to her, but it gets lost somehow and is forgotten. He inserts himself into the conversation, which has gone back to jobs and money and how not to be found, until the bus stops near a pizza place to get food for everyone.

Alexis grabs a slice for herself and Mason, who takes it with a small protest. To pay this "debt" back, he grabs the slices next. James, on the other hand, starts to feed pizza to his pet frog Ferdinand, who has been hiding in his satchel the entire time. Mason notices this and inquires, and James offers to let Mason hold Ferdinand, to which he reluctantly agrees before handing it back after a moment. Alexis comments offhandedly that the frog might die if fed cheese, which upsets James and causes her to backpedal.

James mentions his sister and realizes he could have found her, which leads to a discussion between him, Mason, and Alexis about James' family. After this, Mason decides to leave the bus to get some fresh air, where he finds Nanci fuming silently as she sits on the sidewalk after a heated talk with Lexi. The two talk for a little bit, Nanci telling him why she ran away, but before he can tell her his story, James and Alexis follow them out, and the four talk for a little bit until Bella absentmindedly starts to drive off, leaving the four behind. They realize as Ferdinand looks out the back window of the bus that any baggage they may have brought along is gone with the bus.

A moment later, the bus seems to stop and a couple other runaways (Anise, Lexi, Nicktaria, and Rachel) run up to them. But before the eight runaways can get back to the bus, Bella drives off again and this time, doesn't stop, stranding them near the pizza place until Anise suggests renting cars and finding a hotel, of which she picks the most lavish option because she's feeding off her father's money and doesn't care about spending it. They rent two cars, Lexi and Nanci becoming the drivers. Mason enters Nanci's car with Rachel and Nick to force James and Alexis into the other car with Lexi and Anise, as he finds out Alexis is crushing a little on James after the bus leaves.

### Hotel

The runaways enter the hotel, Anise informing them they have the entire eighth floor to themselves and access to all amenities whenever they like. Mason glances about in wide-eyed wonder, having never seen such luxury before—evident in just the lobby. He and James make their way up to the eighth floor in the elevator, where Nicktaria, already up there, tosses him a keycard. Deciding to share with his sister, Mason hands the keycard to James before singsonging her name. She responds in a similar fashion and he enters the suite, cannonballing into one of the beds. Alexis realizes there are pillow mints and introduces Mason to them.

After tasting pillow mints, the newfound twins decide to shop for proper clothes and shoes. Lexi pulls Mason violently down all eight flights of stairs by the wrist before he twists free, and the rest of the shopping is a mostly peaceful experience, where Mason grabs four shirts and a pair of shoes before returning with Lexi through another sibling challenge. He dons the shirts to show her, the first one alluding to his promise to keep her crush on James secret and the last reflecting upon his initial catchphrase, “Not quite at your service.”

With the fashion show finished, the twins head downstairs (rather, Lexi pulls Mason downstairs in the same frightening way she did earlier) for dinner. At the bottom of the stairs, they meet Octavia for the first time, who comments on their decision not to use the elevator. Mason laughs, joking about Lexi's preference of killing him for a moment before they move on to dinner. He quickly tunes out a discussion on history occurring between Alexis and Nanci, only interjecting with the comment “Get a room.” (Unfortunately, he sets himself up, his sister alluding to Manci by turning the remark on him.)

Next, the runaways head to the library, a elliptical room with three floors and filled to the brim with bookshelves, chandeliers decorating the ceiling. There, Anise says, are forms they can take for paid tutoring. Mason remarks that he wouldn't be a good tutor in anything, and the others attempt to help him find a subject but soon give up. Disheartened, he decides to explore the library on his own, finding a random book and sitting down in the aisle against the bookshelves to try and read the best he can, but gives up a little while later.

While trying to find his way out of the library, he comes across Alexis speaking to James about a book on the Cold War. While he understands nothing they're talking about, he sneaks away and finds the exit, heading back to the suite he's sharing with his sister and crashing on the bed he claimed. It doesn't last long, however—the moment soon turns awkward, causing Alexis to hightail it to the suite, where she throws a pillow at Mason to wake him up so she can complain about her ruined interaction with James. Mason accidentally lets it slip that he saw her talking with him and, realizing this, attempts to encourage her to talk with the boy some more. Lexi, on the other hand, is having none of it, and resorts to chasing him around the room, thwacking him with her pillow. Mason cries for help, and Octavia, hearing this, acts as housekeeping, knocking on the door. He manages to open it and she tells him to run out, which he follows, dashing down the stairs until he doesn't know where he is and collapses on one.

Octavia follows him soon afterward, offering a hand to help him up. He takes the hand, and while getting up, he meets her blue-eyed gaze and thinks, “Nice eyes”—except he actually mumbles it aloud, a second before Lexi tackles him off the stairs. His sister, having heard his unintentional compliment, starts teasing him about it, and he soon comes to the realization that the words had not just been in his head. Mason awkwardly apologizes to Octavia before running after Alexis, who sprints away after making a heart with her hands. More twin shenanigans follow, with them yelling at the top of their lungs as they run about on the stairs, continue teasing each other, dub Octavia “Blue-Eyes,” and talk more about tutoring subjects, the sibling bond that had been lost over sixteen years quickly reforming between them.

Talking about comedy leads to Alexis trying to find Octavia to fetch her name for Mason, the boy following Lexi to the roof to find Octavia sitting on the ledge. The twins whisper apprehensively to each other, unsure what her intentions are sitting in such a dangerous position, and Via annoyedly tells them she's watching the sunset. Uncomfortable, Mason decides to believe her and attempts to pull Alexis away, inadvertently causing the two of them to fall down the stairs leading to the roof. Octavia finally gets up from the ledge and finds them piled up at the bottom, asking if they're alright. Lexi seems to have fallen unconscious, and Mason lifts her off the ground with difficulty, the other girl stepping up to help him with his sister. Aware of his sister's earlier teasing, Mason's cheeks flush and he attempts to ward off her help. He helps Lexi back to their room and tells her to sleep, only to find she already is, moving over to his bed and falling asleep himself. (There is a moment afterward where Alexis somehow throws a pillow at him in her sleep, and he gives up, sleeping on the floor instead.)

The next morning, Alexis seems to have trouble with her legs. Mason suggests she take the elevator as he heads into the bathroom for a shower, but she refuses, insisting on going down the stairs. Octavia finds her struggling and attempts to help before repeating Mason's words while Alexis continues to stubbornly slide down the stairs. Mason arrives at the scene a few minutes later, freshened up, and joins Octavia in asking Alexis to return to the room and let him get breakfast for the two of them. Lexi overhears them and also tries to help, but Mason and Alexis refuse this and the former helps the latter get back when she finally seems to acquiesce to his request. It is here he learns that she doesn't like elevators, but she doesn't say why when he inquires. Finally settling her down in their room, he tells her to rest her legs and heads down for breakfast. Little does he know, Alexis doesn't listen and sneaks back to the stairs as soon as he leaves.

Mason meets the other runaways, who seem to have gotten positions as tutors and are preparing for their sessions as they get breakfast. He serves himself and Lexi some pancakes to take upstairs, but that plan is quickly dashed when Alexis finally makes her way down to the first floor and falls flat on her face. Seeing this, his anger flares and he storms over to her, reprimanding her severely before grabbing a chair and having her sit in it as he grabs the plates of pancakes and hands her one of them.

As the runaways talk with each other, Mason blissfully starts into his pancakes, savoring the rare sweetness of syrup until the “talk” erupts into an argument (Rachel prying at Octavia in an attempt to figure her out). At first, he isn't very serious about it, telling them to stop with his mouth full, but it continues to escalate, Octavia punching and shattering the glass of a coffee maker in anger. He continues to try stopping the argument peacefully but explodes when Nanci pushes Lexi to the floor, pancakes discarded to yell at all of them before storming away, going back up to the suite to calm down. When there, he hears muffled crying through the door next to his and Lexi's, and knocks on it to check on them. The person turns out to be Octavia, who also went up to her room to calm down. Mason backpedals upon seeing her, immediately retreating into his room and lying on his bed. Alexis arrives a little later, her legs seeming to have healed, and apologizes for the argument downstairs, leading to more bonding talk and teasing him about “Blue-Eyes” to torture him and Octavia in the next room.

As they converse, Lexi says she'll go talk with James and abruptly leaves the room. She goes up to the roof, where Octavia is sitting on the ledge again with her notebook beside her and watching the people below. Too caught in her own thoughts, she doesn't notice Lexi sitting on the opposite side of the roof with her headphones in. James himself soon heads onto the roof and taps Octavia on the shoulder, startling her into slipping off the ledge and barely holding on for dear life. James apologizes profusely, attempting to help her up. Mason, quickly figuring out his sister is lying, decides to follow her, and appears on the rooftop to see this scene, rushing over to help James pull her back up. Once she's safe on the rooftop, Mason casts a glance Lexi's way, his sister appearing not to have heard as she turns around and takes her earbuds out. Having made sure his sister (and Octavia) are okay, he decides to head back to his room. There, he curls up on the bed, shaken by the incident. Octavia leaves the roof soon afterward and pauses at Mason and Lexi's door, thinking for a moment before knocking on the door and thanking him for helping pull her back up. Surprised, Mason responds, and she offers him her a listening ear if he wants to talk. In return, he asks for her name, and she tells him to call her Via.

Later, Mason decides to go to the library out of boredom and uncertainty about a job and comedy (topics brought up in his talks with Alexis). When reaching for a stack of books, he finds Via behind them and startles, scaring her out of her book. She asks him teasingly what book he's looking for, and when he tells her he's searching for a book on comedy, she offers to help him look. The two walk together, Via quickly finding the books he wanted. He responds with thanks and an apology for disturbing her, and she waves it off, calling him “Masey-Wasey” as she heads for the counter. Flustered, Mason attempts to come up with a similar rhyme and fails, muttering that he'll find a better nickname. (He never does, falling back to “Blue-Eyes” instead.)

He crosses paths with Via again when she's giving a street performance with her voice and guitar. Nicktaria and Nanci stand in the crowd, and although Mason is still angry at the latter, he doesn't react on it. As he cannot see due to his height, he closes his eyes and listens to the music—until Nanci informs him it's Via playing the music. Surprised, he lets out the name she's given him, Nanci taking this in with equal wonder as to how he got her name, seeing as Via was so reticent earlier. The girl soon finishes and as the crowd starts to disperse, Nanci leaves with them while Nick and Mason walk up to her, asking about Via's history with the guitar. He notices the initials on the instrument—“C. G.” and wonders about them before parting ways once more.

He returns to his room and lies on the bed, wondering what Lexi is doing and if she's with James. A few minutes later, his sister bursts through the door, slamming it behind her and flopping onto the bed. Startled, Mason asks her what happened, confirming the inkling he has that the subject is James. He tries to figure out what exactly happened between the two, but when Lexi refuses to give him an answer, he decides to head out of the room, telling her she can find him at the library when she's ready to talk. He's not sure why he says the library, but he goes there anyway, sitting down and drumming his fingers on the wood. This catches Nanci's attention, but Mason doesn't notice her and instead decides to head back to the room, pressing the button for the elevator. When the doors open, he finds his sister huddled in the corner, having forgotten she doesn't like elevators. He joins her in the elevator and sits next to her, asking her the reason behind her fear. She recounts to him the time she was stuck in an elevator for two days because of a fire in the building, proceeding to bitterly say no one would've cared if she'd died, that she was replaceable. Mason indignantly counters this, telling her he will make those who think otherwise “fall at [her] feet, begging for mercy.”

The elevator reaches the eighth floor, then, and the twins step out. Alexis remarks that she “wouldn't mind a little blood on [her] nails” to do the same for him, which leads to more banter that starts as a joke but quickly goes awry as they approach the topic of death. Mason becomes unsure whether his sister is joking or not, and his mind wavers from the teasing to a more morbid state—as he seems “all too happy to be getting murdered.” He blinks, telling Lexi “Death” must have possessed him (this may hint at suicidal ideations, although it is still not clear where exactly he falls on this). Concerned, Lexi tells him she also has a “Death voice” and resolves to talk about this with him later. The mood having been ruined by this sudden seriousness and having reached their room, Mason lies back in bed, shutting his eyes. Of course, Lexi is determined not to let him sleep, and whacks him with the pillow, followed by even more banter. However, Alexis seems to bring the topic back to possibly murdering Mason on the rooftop, which Mason doesn't seem to take as a joke anymore. He leaves the room again, heading down the stairs for the street. Quickly realizing that he's taken things the wrong way, Alexis runs out after him, but he's too quick for her, exiting the hotel.

Mason has no idea where he's going, but he knows he just needs to get out. He walks aimlessly down the sidewalk before sitting down against a building, watching the street before getting up again and continuing. A few minutes later, he feels more like himself again, heading down to the nearby beach and walking into the ocean, taking in the peace and quiet. Alexis, in the meantime, has been frantically walking around the block in search of him, but he is unaware of this as he steps out of the water and sits on the sand to let his feet dry. A few minutes later, he starts heading back to the hotel, only to almost be run over by a car. Alexis hears this and calls for Mason, the two of them reuniting. Mason seems to weirdly perk up again as he tells her of his near-death encounter, and Lexi demands he explain. This quiets him down again, and he awkwardly fidgets with his bracelet before Alexis decides once again to let it go.

They end up talking about the Death voice again, though, as they walk back to the hotel together. This eventually leads to Mason telling her about how one punishment at the orphanage was being shut in a small closet for hours on end, requiring him to get over the fear of being trapped in such a small, dark space by changing his perspective—it was safer inside the closet than outside. They reenter their hotel room, and Lexi tells him she needs to find her charm (which she lost while looking for him), promptly leaving him alone in the room. He looks at her journal, which she left on the bed, before deciding he should write in more detail about his experience with the closet (which he manages—barely). Then he too, leaves the room, this time for the roof. Instead of sitting on the ledge like Octavia earlier, he moves toward the middle of the roof and lies down, gazing at the sky as peace washes over him again.

That peace is quickly broken when he leaves the roof to find his sister and Via sitting outside their rooms, the former staring blankly at the wall and the latter sobbing quietly in the hallway. Mason goes over to them, asking what's wrong. James enters the scene, too, and unsure what to do, he tosses some mints in hopes of comforting them. Both of them accept the packets, but it doesn't really help anything. Via shakes her breakdown off and moves toward the roof, while Alexis curls up further, leaving Mason completely nonplussed. Not even a minute later, James is on the stairs leading to the roof, also breaking down and leaving Mason as the only one who's still relatively sane. Panicking a little, Mason decides to go after Via first, to make sure she's alright, before going to Lexi and then James.

He finds Via sitting once again on the ledge and joins her this time, knuckles white as he carefully sits down and tries not to look down at the sight below (hinting he must be afraid of heights). Seeing how tense he is, Via tells him to go, trying to reassure him that she won't do anything. He refuses, knowing none of them are okay to be trusted on their own, especially not in such a dangerous position. With a sigh, Via gets up and steps away from the ledge, offering to help him back, but he manages to scoot away on his own, heading back down with her. (It's not until much, much later that she tells him his insistence had saved her, for she had truly been meaning to let go.)

**[ay ay ay we're not even halfway through—page 211]**

## Fun Facts

* Mason originated from a book series Ellie had started writing when she was twelve. Much of his personality and backstory takes its roots in the series, down to—surprisingly and perhaps even appallingly—the horrors of the orphanage itself. In her revision of Mason, she capitalized upon certain personality traits that had already been present, like his anger and physicality, and inserted more depth into his backstory. As for the series itself, she has long given up writing it and cringes to this day because of her dry twelve-year-old writing.

## Quotes

*“Mason, not quite at your service.”* —page 6

*“Mason's my name, and running's my game.”* —page 82

*“Being impulsive, being stupid, almost getting my neck broken, and ooh! Let's not forget not being at your service. Tada! Some beautiful lifeskills there. Always useful.”* —page 121

*“Nice eyes.”* —page 128

*“Hi! I'm Alexis and I'm Mason's twin sister! I like boys and pillow fights, and ooh! Private beaches are the best! And personal chefs… mmhmmhmm. Personal chefs are am-az-ing!”* —page 139

*“Donth fie. I wantho eee peafuiy.”* —page 157

*“It's kind of my human duty not to let people fall to their death off buildings, you know.”* —page 173

*“You'll always be that chaotic twin sister who keeps dragging me down the stairs for the fun of it. And people better think the same of you, or else I will make them fall at your feet, begging for mercy.”* —page 196

*“I may have gotten possessed by Death. He likes the grisly stuff.”* —page 198

*“Stupid peasant bowing down to the intelligence queen here, whose throne is currently a hospital bed.”* —page 231

*“So… we take this Oober thing back to the hotel?”* —page 234

*“Oh, I always was crazy. It's my middle name.”* —page 255

*“The bus really did go vroom and left us in the dust.”* —page 256

*“Hey, intelligence queen. I got you ‘real food.’”* —page 259

*“Just because I'm being nice and giving takeout to someone doesn't mean I'm in love with them or anything.”* —page 268

*“You won't hit me if I say you have a nice name, right?”* —page 271

*“After you, Octavia, the Blue-Eyed Coffee-Maker Puncher.”* —page 272

*“COUGH-FEE, COUGH-FREE!”* —page 278

*“We need to talk.”* —page 294

*“There's no quitting now. Not for me, at least. Someday everything here will be unimportant, a mere bump in the road. And even if everyone leaves, I'm staying, just to see that road even out.”* —page 296

*“You all are far more sensible than I could ever be. I just steal the brains sometimes.”* —page 296

*“I am but a mere thief, so please spare me.”* —page 296

*“Oh, I know I can be pretty annoying at times. It's part of my charm.”* —page 297

*“So, what else, Your Majesty? You want to try again? We might fail, but we'll fail spectacularly if we do.”* —page 300

*“I just… I don't want anyone else to get hurt again.”* —page 341

*“Something's wrong with me.”* —page 347

*“We're just animals in a cage, Lexi. Animals. That's us.”* —page 351

*“Okay, okay! A ‘maaaakiaaaaaaato.‘”* —page 364

*“Whenever we're ready.”* —page 365

*“I guess we're both crazy. And—and even if you aren't, I am. So you better—you better be sure about this.”* —page 367

*“I'm* ***dangerous**, Via.”* —page 371

*“If we're both really that bad, then maybe we're supposed to stay. I never did want to leave you, and I'm not giving up on you now.”* —page 372

*“You know… you know what we believe at the orphanage? We believe that when we die, we become spirits who watch over the orphanage from the trees. Free spirits. And those of us who endure, who worship them, we’re cowards who are too afraid to join them. I was one of those cowards. I still am—I still look up to them, still praise them, love them, hate them. But I ran because I realized something. I realized—I realized that living, enduring, **escaping**—that was better. That was much better than dying. And the spirits? The spirits were the real cowards, for giving up. So don't… don't ever give up, Via. Don't join them. There are better things in this world.”* —page 372

*“These hands… if I ever hurt you, I'll never forgive myself.”* —page 380

*“Hell, you* ***are*** *beautiful.”* —page 381

*“Birds can soar over their problems, you see. They can spread their wings and fly free.”* —page 386

*“Is the grass tall in a field?”* —page 386

*“What do people become after they… well, you know… kiss?”* —page 390

*“Lexi was always trying to kill me and it was getting old.”* —page 392

*“Feels so slow, sometimes. The world. Then one second and you're in the future. Wondering where the past went.”* —page 424

*“I don't fucking need your help.”* —page 433

*“Thought you might want to lead the way. You're the queen, after all. But if you wish this thief lead you, then alright. I warn you to be careful with me, though. Who knows—he might lead you somewhere you may not want to go.”* —page 441

*“If you're going to pretend you're fine for me right now, then… I'm going to do the same for you.”* —page 442

*“Maybe… maybe misery is all I deserve.”* —page 443

*“**I can't protect anyone**.”* —page 443

*“Promise? To be honest with each other?”* —page 445

*“Ah, yes… I'm very familiar with… Shaky Peer.”* —page 461

*“Softness feels weird, you know.”* —page 461

*“You'll always be beautiful to me, **scars or no scars**.”* —page 463

*“I want to* ***rip that knife out of your hands and throw it somewhere you'll never find it again**. I want to see that blade break because it* ***dared**. It dared to hurt you.”* —page 466

*“I'm just a coward, Via. A cowardly, lowly thief.”* —page 467