Episode 11 - Hearts

## Hearts

A red drawing on a black background of an anatomical heart bursting through white floorboards. The image has a white border.

### Author

William A. Wellman

Yaretzi stalks her final target, Percy gets some bad news, and Clara finds something she needs. The theme of tonight’s episode is Hearts.

***Content Warnings:** Static, death + injury, violence, blood, emotional manipulation, abuse, drowning*

## Intro - Floorboards

Nikignik tells the story of the heartbeat under the floorboards. It gives you comfort because it means that the house is alive and watching over you. One day the heartbeat begins to slow. Despite your best efforts to redecorate and make changes, one day it simply stops. You spend weeks shut in your room before finally leaving the house. As you walk north, you begin to hear the familiar beat of the living world around you.

Nikignik is currently broadcasting from the sky. Below them is a forest that has not been changed like the Hallowoods have, full of writhing, crawling life. There is a woman running through the forest and her heart is racing as fast as death.

## Story One - The Hand That Feeds

Yaretzi runs through the forest, starving, and craving the blood of her old enemies after centuries of sleep. She howls and is excited for the day when her task of wiping out her enemies will be complete and she will be rewarded. She bursts through the trees into a clearing. Standing near a lake's edge is Polly, who shows no signs of fleeing. He speaks in her mind, asking if Yaretzi would like to talk, but she charges at him. Mort bursts from the water to defend Polly. His touch burns Yaretzi and she recognizes his connection to Marolmar. She tries to attack him again so Mort grabs her wrist and begins to choke her with his claw.

As her wolf spirit begins to leave her and Yaretzi is left mostly human, she thinks that she is a failure. Polly tells her that Typhon warned him about her and says that he respects her work. He tells her that he has a serious project and can't deal with her right now. He offers he a deal, that she waits until his task is complete, and she can come with him if she wants, and then she can kill him. Yaretzi agrees without knowing what the task is, and Mort releases her.

Polly introduces Mort officially and Mort asks if Yaretzi will be his friend. She stares at him in disbelief but she takes Mort's hand anyways. The metal doesn't burn her in her human form. Mort and Polly begin to walk away and Yaretzi follows behind, cursing Polly and their deal.

### Interlude One - The Museum of Broken Promises

Nikignik advertises the Museum of Broken Promises, which is a moving thing that contains artifacts of broken promises. To find the museum, simply tell a loved one that you will never leave them and stay awake until three in the morning. The museum will scuttle past you. Although it won't stop for you, you can catch it. Once you enter the museum, say goodbye. You are now a part of it and can never leave.

## Story Two - Warm Hearts, Wet Jackets

Diggory and Percy walk through the forest in the rain. Diggory suddenly asks what it was like to grow up with the Instrumentalist as a father. Although Percy feels suffocated by his father's presence in the woods, he knows Diggory is only trying to understand so he decides to humor them. Percy says that it was bad. He admits that as a child he'd thought his parents were great, but then he realized that his father "was a serial killer and [his] mom was a psychopath." His parents thought he was possessed when he realized who he was and stopped wearing dresses.

Percy's parents hurt him. His mother sewed his mouth shut and his father attached his spirit to a piano. Worse, they made him hate himself.

Feeling a bit awkward because of all the information he just shared, Percy asks Diggory what their childhood was like. Diggory says that they don't remember much. They do have bits of memory though: learning to play the piano, a ghostly woman that no one else could see, and eating a mango as a small girl living somewhere warm and bright. Perhaps, though, their real childhood was waking up on the stone table at the mansion the pair had just left. They remember the old woman who sewed them together telling them about her life.

After a pause, Diggory admits that they're scared about walking to places where they don't know what they will find. However, they're glad that they were led to Percy, the best person in their life. Percy says that that's not too hard, considering that Diggory has only met him and Big Mikey. Diggory continues, saying that they believe that everything about Percy is worth celebrating, which makes Percy uncomfortable, and they tell Percy they love him.

### Marketing - Thoughts and Prayers

Lady Ethel Mallory gives an announcement from the tragedy at Dreaming Box Aries. Stonemaids tampered with the Prime Dream and one managed to disconnect the dreaming visors of more than one million Dreamers. Although the "anarchist" was apprehended, many Dreamers suffered terrible side effects since they were improperly disconnected from the Prime Dream. Lady Ethel reminds Dreamers that this is why it is so important to report Stonemaid activity.

### Story Two, Continued - Warm Hearts, Wet Jackets

Nikignik says that Lady Ethel seems to be getting closer. They admit that they're scared of her because they know of her and what she's capable of.

Percy and Diggory sit in silence after Diggory's confession. Percy thinks that even though it seems unfair for Diggory to say this after everything that has happened to him, he can't seem to be angry at them. He has a strange feeling inside of him, something he hasn't felt in a long time.

Diggory apologizes, saying that this is the wrong time to say that, and begins to walk away. Percy follows them and says that it's alright. He thinks that he might never be free of the torture and trauma he endured and that if Diggory truly knew him, they wouldn't love him.

Percy quickly leans forward and kisses Diggory. The kiss stings like static. He apologizes for it, but Diggory says that it's okay. Percy is still reeling from the confession, but says he is glad he met Diggory.

### Interlude Two - The Heart of a Planet

Nikignik explains that the center of the earth is just like a young heart. It burns with a hot fire and has not yet seen worlds and empires crumble to dust. One day, the heart will beat with the slow pace of an old heart. Humans and the beings long after them will not be around to see it. None of beings who ever lived on Earth will know the gift they have been given, and the heart of a planet is very precious.

## Story Three - Go North

Clara, standing at a river bank with Dogsmell, can't believe her luck. After the RV ran out of food and gas, she had travelled on foot with few supplies. Dogsmell had tried to help her find find food, but some of it gave her food poisoning. Now, however, she has not only come across a river, but on an island in the middle of the river sits a bike, a flashlight, a tackle box, and a gas can.

She wades into the river to get the supplies and Dogsmell begins to whimper and bark. As she looks back at him, something grabs her ankle and pulls her under the water. Clara fights the creature around her, but she cannot free herself. Suddenly, the water seems to push Clara up and out of the water, away from the creature's grasp.

Standing next to her on the riverbank is a girl who looks Korean with blue eyes and blue hair. She is wearing a cloak embroidered with clouds and rain. After being surprised by Dogsmell, the girl examines Clara and says that she can tell she has "covenant blood". The girl hands Clara a metal card labelled "Downing Hill Public Library" and says that they'll take care of Clara. Meanwhile, the black tentacle creature leaves with the rocky island of treasures.

When Clara looks up to ask where Downing Hill is, the girl has vanished. Clara gathers her bags and flips the card over in her hands. Every time she does, the words on the card change. They tell Clara to follow the river and go north.

## Outro - Hearts

Nikignik closes the broadcast by speaking about the difference between physical hearts and our ideas of them. We equate our hearts with our emotions and say that they fight against our brains. In reality, all the heart is is the muscle that pumps blood through our bodies. Nikignik, however, understands. They have made choices that humans would say come from the heart and, like humans, they have regretted all of them.