I spent the next day recovering, and discussing everything with Alden. He's just as curious and wanting to know everything as my Alden. It kind of makes me homesick, but I swallow that back, and remind myself that this is my home now. He tells me that they are keeping my arrival here a secret so the Neverseen won't try to hurt me. And that I will have to face the council. I try to keep it together as he tells me that Elwin cleared me to go in 2 days. I breathe slowly to calm my nerves and ask what I'll do until then. No sense in worrying about the inevitable. There is no way I can get out of this. He pauses like he hasn't quite thought about that yet. Then I remember the things I took with me.
"Wait… I have a few things I brought from my old universe. In the machine I came in, there should be a yellow backpack." He goes to look for it, but not before I make him promise not to look through it. The stuff in there is… private. He comes back a few minutes later, carrying my backpack, and a green satchel. How could I have forgotten about Dex's bag? I hold back my fresh tears as he hands me my bag.
"I found this bag next to yours," he remarks. "You didn't mention it."
"The stuff in there isn't as important to me," I lie. It's actually more important. It's all I have to remember my boyfriend by. "I'd still like to have it, though."
"Of course. Is there anything else you need? Any clothes? I'm sure Della would be more than happy to go shopping for you."
"No, I don't think so"
"Ok, just say the word if you need anything." He says as he leaves.
I sigh. I know looking at my old stuff will only make me feel worse, but it's better to do it now, when nobody expects anything from me. I take things out of my bag one at a time, starting in the biggest pocket. Kitty, my stuffed cat. I've had her since I was a little toddler. I hug her as I grab the next item. My scrapbook with my human family. I push away the painful memories with Amy and pull out my projecting journal. It has a dove on the cover, since I am Project Colombe. Colombe is the French word for dove, which is a symbol of hope. I was meant to bring hope to the Lost Cities, but I failed. I push aside the memories again, and pull my favorite hairpin out of the next pocket. It was a gift that my Biana gave to me in my old universe. It's beautiful. She always says that when I wear it, it makes me look older. But that's not why I wear it. It also seems like good things happen to me when I wear it. That's probably not entirely true, but I was wearing it the day I first kissed Dex, so now I wear it anytime I need luck. He was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me. I count to 194, then force myself to stop crying. I pull the next item out of my bag. It's a container of custard bursts. My eyes water when I remember Edaline. She was always so kind to me, especially after we lost Grady. We carried each other and made it through. She must have slipped these in my bag before I left. I eat a custard burst and try not to feel guilty for sneaking away, reminding myself that she must have known I was leaving if she found my bag. I decide to move on, and to save the rest of the custard bursts for later. I pull out several less important things. My brush. A pack of scar concealers. My imparter. I wonder if it will work across the multiverse? Probably not. I had put it in my bag from habit. I had lined the next pocket with a stronger material, so that's where my weapons were, in case I needed them. A handful of goblin throwing stars, a few daggers, and my Sucker Punch, which is a gadget Dex invented. It releases a blast of air when you punch someone, making the hit even harder. I look in the final pocket and put the rest of my normal "jewelry with a purpose" as Dex called it, back on. I wear my panic switch, another of Dex's inventions that would tell him when I'm in trouble, though no one would be there to save me if it comes down to that now. My necklace that has my emergency allergy remedy since I'm deathly allergic to limbium, a bottle of fade fuel even though now that I'm not malfunctioning I don't need it anymore, a dove prattles pin given to me by a gnome friend I had named Calla, and some liquefied blossoms from the Panakes tree she became to save the rest of her race, all strung together. Panakes blossoms have healing powers, so I always keep a vial on me in case someone gets hurt. Then I found my charm bracelet. I've been collecting charms from almost everyone for years. I look at some of my favorite charms. A cat charm that looks a lot like Kitty reminds me that no one will judge me for what I like. A teal star shaped charm from Fitz and Biana brings back memories of sleepovers at Everglen and makeovers from my old bestie.  My bag is empty, and I'm feeling about the same. I hug Kitty and decide that I need to take the rest of the day to remember everyone, since in 2 days, that won't be an option. I'll go through Dex's bag tomorrow.