Wrong Reflection

The Smallest State

Massachusetts had moved them from the clearing to the road once the other state—Rhode Island, had gotten close enough that they needed to start looking for his car. Arthur wasn't sure how they were expecting to fit all of them into the same car, as their group wasn't exactly small, but he didn't ask the question, still a bit nervous about interacting with Finnegan's states.

Massachusetts hadn't been happy to see Arthur, and since he had maimed Arthur's counterpart...well, Arthur was willing to stay away.

Arthur was starting to understand a little about why Finnegan had been off-center when he came to their world. Ignoring the exhaustion that had come from opening a portal, forcing the fabric of two worlds open, Arthur felt...off balance, as if this world knew he didn't belong.

Arthur could feel that connection with his counterpart, and he hated it, knowing what his counterpart had done.

Arthur had been trying to ignore the sensations that came from being in this world. It wasn't working, but it was something.

Finnegan was still exhausted and was leaning on Allistor, the only person close to him in height, in order to walk to the road, which was luckily only a few meters away.

When they reached the road, Finnegan sat back down, and Arthur watched as his eyes seemed to become distant.

Even though Arthur knew that was just Finnegan's DID, it still scared him when he started to dissociate, especially after how close he had been to dying.

"How much longer until the other state is here?" Seamus asked. Massachusetts checked his watch before shrugging.

"I'd say five or so, but Rhody drives like the cops are on his tail, so might be sooner," Massachusetts said, shooting them a smile as if his words were supposed to be comforting.

Arthur was just nervous about getting into that car now. Finnegan laughed, startling Arthur, who thought the man was still dissociating.

"The little one's always been like that. I blame Portsmouth," Finnegan said. Massachusetts smiled.

"Hey Warwick," Massachusetts said, and Finnegan's—Warwick? Warwick smiled.

"Hey, Plymmy. Sorry about taking away your Dad, but I wanted to talk to little Rhody," Warwick said before turning to the rest of them. "Hi, I'm Warwick, she/her, a Rhode Island city."

A city? First states and now cities? Just how many personifications did Finnegan's world have?

"You have personified cities too?" Francis asked. Massachusetts shrugged.

"Ehh, kinda? I know most cities that are personified are also autonomous cities or some sort of state, but Warwick, Portsmouth, and Newport were all colonies before they became a part of Rhode Island," Massachusetts said. Warwick grinned.

"We were. And since, as cities, we still had city councils, we've stuck around, even if we aren't fronting that much, or present, or anything else like that," Warwick said. Massachusetts shrugged.

"Well, you're alive, so I consider that as good of news as any," Massachusetts said. Warwick laughed.

"So do I," she said with a grin before turning to the road. "Ah, and there is my wonderful little brother on his way over."

Arthur, who had been so caught up in the conversation and its new revelations about Finnegan's world—when was it ever going to stop surprising him—and looked over at the road, seeing a beat-up van heading toward them.

"He's six years older than you," Massachusetts deadpanned. Warwick shrugged.

"I'm taller," she refuted. Massachusetts rolled his eyes.

"Father's taller. I know you're just as short as him, if not shorter," Massachusetts said, causing Arthur to furrow his brows in confusion.

What did that mean?

The van that had been heading down the road pulled to a stop beside them, and the person inside stuck their head out the window.

The face was slightly freckled, with straight brown hair and blue-green eyes. His flag was white with a gold anchor and a circle of stars on it.

He looked a lot more like Massachusetts, but Arthur could see traces of Finnegan in the way he smiled at them.

"Dad, don't you ever scare me like that again," Rhode Island said, and Warwick smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, but Dad's not here. It's Warwick," Warwick said. Rhode Island's grin seemed to widen.

"Hey, Wicker. I didn't know you were around," Rhode Island said, "Hope on it."

"Is there enough space for all of us?" Dylan asked. Rhode Island shrugged.

"No clue, but I'm okay with forcing Canada and England to walk," Rhode Island said, his voice nonchalant but with a faint undernote of anger. Arthur shifted his feet.

He hated being judged for what the other him had done.

Surprisingly, however, Massachusetts shook his head.

"You bring them all. I'm going to bring myself home, so that way there is more space in the car, but Father trusted them enough to tell them his human name, and I trust Father's judgment," Massachusetts said, and Arthur hoped he was able to hide the shock on his face.

Arthur hadn't expected Massachusetts to defend him, not after what the state had done to his counterpart.

It was...nice to know that not everyone was seeing him as his counterpart.

Although, based on the look Rhode Island was giving Massachusetts, Arthur still had a ways to go.

"Are you sure?" Rhode Island asked. Warwick sighed.

"Yes, we're sure. Now let us into the van, dumbass. It's like, what, two hours to Plym's place? We're tired," Warwick said, and Rhode Island relented.

"Fine," he grumbled, and Warwick pulled the door open and waved them all in.

Arthur smiled gratefully at her and Massachusetts, who just responded with a nod but gave a two-fingered salute and vanished. Arthur turned back to Rhode Island, who was watching them enter with an almost intrigued look on his face.

Even with the van, it was still a tight squeeze, and Arthur knew this wasn't going to be a fun ride, especially if Rhode Island was as bad of a driver as Massachusetts claimed.

"I always forget that driving with you is a guarantee that things will not be road-safe," Warwick commented lightly. Rhode Island grinned, turned to face the road, pulled away from the side of the road, and got back onto it.

"You were the ones who asked me to cram this many people into a car. For once, this is not my fault," Rhode Island argued, to which Warwick could only shrug.

"Yeah, that's far," Warwick said.

Arthur groaned.

He really wasn't going to like this ride, was he?