"Hey." 

I looked up to see Lily sitting next to me, smiling. 

"Are you okay? You seem kind of quiet, is something wrong?"

I shook my head. 

"Not much of a talker, are you?" She asked. 

I stayed quiet. 

"I'll take that as a yes." She said. "But hey, no shame in staying quiet. I was like that for most of my life."

I watched as Jenna looked behind a chair, and fell backwards as Jeremy shot up, scaring her. 

"Hey, no jumpscares!" She exclaimed, but she was laughing, so she didn't sound all that serious. 

"You know, I had a sister who had the same name as you." Lily said. "And if I'm correct, I'd say she's your namesake." 

I looked over at her. I had never thought about the meaning behind my name, I had always just assumed that Dad just picked a random name that he liked.

"She protected me and my doofus brother for almost her entire life. We'd probably be dead if she hadn't grown up so fast after we lost our parents. She dedicated everything to us." 

I stared at her, hanging on to every word, interested. 

"Macey started caring for us when she was nine. We were only three. My earliest memory is when I called her 'Mommy' one day, after I had scraped my knee somehow and she had patched me up. I'll never forget the look on her face when I said that. She told me, 'I'm not Mom, but I'm your big sister, and I will never let anything hurt you.'"

She smiled a little at the memory. "She kept that promise pretty well. Macey put Josh and I over everything."

The smile disappeared from her face. "Then one day, she left to go get supplies, and didn't come back when she normally did. Josh and I were so scared, we hid in Josh's room for almost 30 hours until she came back. And when she dd come back, man, the stories she had to tell. She had saved two kids, met a whole group of kids, and gone on an adventure. Those kids were your dad and his friends."

I sat upright, wanting to hear more about stuff my dad did.

"They had gone searching for a legendary kingdom, the Snow Kingdom, and had found it. They met a princess, who my sister helped out. It was so amazing to hear the story."

The smile had returned to her face. "Later that same year, your dad came to visit, and asked if she would come with him and his friends to find another legendary kingdom, but this time, go to stay. Josh and I had to nudge her a little, but she agreed and brought us along. We got to meet the group of kids that Macey had told us about, and Josh, Macey and I got seven years as our own family without having to constantly worry about having enough supplies to survive. It was great...but sometimes I wonder if she would still be alive if we had never gone."

Lily stared at the ground. "My sister died helping to destroy Darklox. Josh and I didn't even go to the battle, she made us stay behind. She died somewhere where we could never attempt to repay her for all the times she saved us. Notch, I wish we could save her as many times as she'd saved us."

She looked up at me. "You're probably wondering why I'm telling you this." 

I nodded. 

"Well, when Josh and I were searching for that compass, I found this." 

She pulled something out of her pocket, and handed it to me. 

It was a small, iron knife with a wooden handle. A 'M' was carved into the top of the handle. 

"That was her knife until she started using a sword. Used it all the time. I figured it should belong to you, since you do share her name. Besides, you'll probably need a weapon if you're going into this mess. And this knife probably deserves some use after so long." 

She leaned back up against the wall. "I told you about her so you'd know about who you're named after. It only seemed fitting."

I nodded. 

"And by the way, you should also know this." She said. "I know that there's a reason you don't speak. I'm not going to ask what it is, because I know the answer can sometimes hurt like the Nether. After we lost Macey, I barely spoke for a year. But the only way to get over that is to face whatever is keeping you down straight in the face and know that you can accept what happened, and use it to make you stronger. You take as much time as you need, though. I know how hard it is to accept something that makes you go silent for so long. But you'd be surprised at how much power one voice can have." 

I scribbled something in my notebook, and showed it to her. 

"Thank you. I'll try."

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Btw, please do not take what Josh and Lily are saying the wrong way, they are only trying to help the kids. Josh was only trying to give Tyler motivation, and help Tyler to believe in himself. Lily is trying to help Macey to find her voice again. It may come out wrong 'cause I'm no Shakespeare, but that's the gist of what they're trying to say. 

Also, I just made myself super sad about Red/Macey again. GOD DANG IT ME.