It was night - or so Mary was told. It was rather hard to tell, however-many feet underground. Tomorrow was the Big Day. Final battle.

But tonight - tonight wouldn't be much easier. Mary was waiting on her bed, sitting still. There was no point in her lying down anymore. Probably no reason for her to sit either. Still, standing seemed a bit much - and she didn't want her villain to find her... what? She still hadn't made the decision. Did she trust Veritas? How could she?

On the other hand... he did seem helpful... sometimes. Only sometimes. But still.

A sudden thought struck her. Maybe she should call Bromman? Mary hadn't talked to him for... how long? She had a phone now - courtesy of the Camp Quarter-Blood - and she thought she still remembered one of the numbers. Before she even finished the thought, her fingers had already started their dance on the keyboard.

The call was declined. Mary looked at the screen in surprise, and then shock as a message from the same number appeared - “One mile north of the camp. In five hours. Come alone. BW.” Mossie looked at the text over her shoulder, then flew away, beeping softly to itself.

Mary frowned, but didn't have the time to process what happened as a loud rumble in the corridor jumped to her attention. She sprang from her bed and focused her powers. It may have been something innocent... but on the other hand, it may not.

Dum. Dum. Dum. Each sound came louder than the previous, and it was clearly coming closer. Finally, the rumbler arrived at her cell's door. She was tense as Sister Frida when she was looking over the kids in her orphanage's library, ready to snap at the first sign of anything mildly interesting.

Knock, knock. Knocking was good - assassins rarely knocked. Actually, for all Mary knew they did, just to make their victim unsuspicious. But now, she was probably overdoing it, and-

Whatever.

“Come in,” Mary said, still ready to strike at a moment's notice.

The door opened and revealed a human-sized rabbit-shaped mass of fluffy white fur, with a tight purple vest thrown in somewhere in the middle.

“Mary Susan Oceanrunner?” He spoke with a deep softness that evoked vivid visions of a large pillow. “Lord Veritas awaits your presence at his manor, should you choose to accept his invitation.”

“I do.”

The rabbit bowed, and his ears hit the doorframe with two soft taps. “Please follow me.”

It wasn't exactly harder than it sounded, but it was definitely more confusing. Each jump of the furry creature seemed to twist the space around, and after seemingly just a few steps, Mary found herself walking under the open sky. The stars gave her an uncaring look, then disappeared as the next jump-step took her into a dark forest.

Finally, they arrived at a garden. A large, blooming garden with all kinds of fancy-trimmed hedges sprinkled with snow-white flowers. Silvery rays of moonlight pierced the air like arrows left in the dirt after an ancient battle and gave the place an even less real feeling. The next step moved her only a few dozen feet to an outdoor alcove made of the finest polished marble. And there, resting on the railing, stood a boy she was all too familiar with.

“My lord,” the rabbit bowed, and his ears literally touched the ground.

“Thank you, Hopps. You did well today,” came in the smooth voice from Mary's dreams.

“Can I-”

“You are dismissed.”

The creature jumped away without another word.

“Hello, Mary. I'm glad you came.” The boy finally turned her way.

“Veritas. Thanks for the invitation to... wherever we are. So, what do you want this time?”

Instead of answering, he smiled and gestured for her to join him. Fortunately, this time her steps took her just one step at a time. She had to admit - the view was worth the trip. On the other side, there was a lake - gently waved surface of the purest blue she had ever seen. The hedges seemed to dance like a ballet in the shifting reflection, and it was quite calming.

Veritas lifted a cup with a golden fizzy drink in a toast, and she picked up another lying around on the balustrade. It was so sweet she felt it in her whole body, which was a pleasant surprise - any other food or drink she tried in the last days turned to nothing as soon as it entered her mouth. At least it didn't just leak on the other side...

“I would like to offer you an accord. How much do you know about those?” he asked.

“Not much.”

The boy sighed. “That was what I was afraid of. Well, let me make a small speech before we go into that valley of plenty. I appreciate you coming here with Hopps - it was a great sign of trust on your part. On mine...” he spread his arms wide. “I am here in the flesh, and I am not aware of any powers of mine that would let me survive its destruction. If you want to strike me down - here is your chance.”

He paused as if he genuinely expected Mary to kill him there and then. Which she just might if he kept insisting on being an idiot.

“Anyway, the accord will require more than just that. It is binding, more than you would think - and all this is so much harder since you'll have only my word for most of what I'll say next.”

“Well, bring it on. I'd hate to have come all this way for nothing,” Mary said, resting against the cold marble. Probably even colder than her body, but she had no thermometer to check for sure.

“Usually, those are only written when one's story comes to an end. Think of 'and they lived happily ever after' kind of stuff. Some heroes too noble for their good insist on not killing the mass murders which all sooner or later relapse into their old frenzies. But in our case, I am proposing just a non-aggression kind of settlement.” He sighed again and lifted his eyes towards the moon, which added a silver light lining to his black and white attire. “I'll try to be honest instead of just truthful this time. It is usually a trick - once you sign an unconditional non-aggression pact with a villain, they are free to do what they want, as no one is left that can oppose them.”

“So, I guess you have some good reasons why I should sign it anyway?”

“Yes. I want to offer a conditional binding version with a fixed consequence agreement. Instead of simply preventing any intentional attack, I'd rather go with a MAD clause. MAD stands for Mutually Assured Destruction, in case you've never heard the term. Long story short - either of us betrays the other, and we both die. And I mean true death, not just a transition to the unlife you currently live. But we are free to do it at will.”

Mary thought about it. “You know, I haven't had the best experience signing paperworks so far...”

He chuckled. “I know. And I doubt I could give you enough lessons on the topic for you to spot all the traps and fine prints. Do you? Well, here's the best I came up with: full symmetry. Neither party joining the accord would be named or differentiated. Whatever will bind you, I shall face in the exact same form, to the letter. Will that be enough for you?” He took out a white scroll out of his black, white-embroidered vest and finally looked her straight in the eyes, and...

It was hard to describe what she saw and felt. There was sadness behind those white irises, sorrow, and pain. That she was sure of. What she couldn't see was malice, although that was only half-reassuring. Yet somewhere deep, deep within, Mary saw a trace of light, one small enough that it could have been just a trick of her tired mind. But no, she didn't imagine it. She didn't know how, but she was sure it was there.

Hope.

“Yes.”