(Design Credit: Yume)
One left, two rights. A full rotation and back to the left.
Even now, they can remember it as clearly as day.
“I need you to take over the team,” Rosa had asked, quiet and resolute. “My resignation letter is on Promise’s desk.”
To say they hadn’t seen the resignation coming would be a lie. Rosa had been the obvious candidate for captaincy, but they weren’t the right one. Their closest confidante even amongst the team of long-time friends, Pinky Toe had seen all of Rosa’s late nights crying over paperwork, the half-finished training schedules, the despair at the overwhelming failure of their 2020 season. They’d seen the writing on the wall as it was being written.
But to be named as the replacement—
“I can’t be captain. I can’t, Rosa.” Too shy, too nervous, too introverted.
“Who else?”
Who else? There was nobody else. Nobody who hadn’t refused the first time. Rosa had nothing left but to hope for someone to understand why they couldn’t continue. And without that person, there would be no more Pinkies.
That job, they could do. An actual captaincy could come later.
“I don’t know,” they murmured. “I’ll do it. I promise.”
Three twirls, a pause, a flourish and then back to neutral.
Reality comes back all at once. Captain Pinky Toe, donning a gold medal, dancing in front of a mirror in the quiet of their room. No matter how often they were on the podium nowadays, it still overwhelmed them. Being in captain mode even longer than usual was draining and withdrawing from everything afterwards was liberating.
But they had done it, hadn’t they? With twenty-five more points added to their total, last year’s victory was beginning to look less and less like the fluke it was accused of being. Difficult as it might be, all they had to do was keep going.
A good captain can handle that, can’t they?
“You like your new medal, don’t you?”
Mimo didn’t look away from the medal despite hearing Momo’s voice. “Yeah! It’s been so long since I’ve been able to hold a medal for something that’s not Marbula One… it feels so good,” they replied as they continued to admire their reflection within the silver, soon seeing the reflections of their teammates joining their own.
“This has been a long time coming for us,” Momo said pridefully. “I’m so happy this day has finally come.”
Mimo put the medal down. “Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Well, think about every time we’ve medaled as a team,” they began. “If you count the number of team members involved, it’s always been four. For seven years it’s been that way… but today it wasn’t four.”
Mimo continued their confused staring. “I don’t get it.”
Momo rolled their eyes at the reply. “I’m trying to say that it’s never been all five of us on the podium. It was never like that until today. I guess history repeats itself even in moments that have never happened before.”
“Huh?”
Momo rolled to their side. “The last time you stood on a team event podium was 2017. The year you saved our season by stepping up in the face of uncertainty and tragedy. And while this season hasn’t been any of that, you’re doing it again. You’re a crucial part in saving a season that felt so uncertain, a season where it felt like hope was dwindling… I hope you realize how important that is to us. How important you are to us.”
Blinking away tears, Mimo looked at the silver medal again. “But I’ve never given us gold… silver isn’t enough to repay you all for changing my life all those years ago—”
Not even a second passed before Mimo found themselves in the center of a group hug courtesy of their teammates. “You don’t need to win every event for us to love you,” Momo whispered. “We love you because you’re a part of our family. Getting to celebrate what my family can do and being able to celebrate with them? That’ll always mean more than a medal of any color.” The other team members hummed out their agreements.
Swallowing down any fighting words, Mimo smiled into the embrace. “Thank you,” they managed to squeak out.
“So, Alpine. How are we going to celebrate this occasion?” Rojo Uno asked a pondering Alpine.
The Gliding Glaciers and Rojo Rollers decided to celebrate their success from their particular heats, as they got 4th and 3rd respectively. They agreed that a food fest was in order. They had been stuck in a loop of suggestions, however.
“I think we should have ice cream to celebrate a well-fought battle!”, Frost shouted from behind Alpine.
“Y’know, that isn’t a bad suggestion.” Rojo Tres mused as they considered the flavors of ice cream they could eat.
However, Rojo Dos in a more bashful shade of red than usual, murmurs “Um… I don’t think I can eat something with milk. Milk is gross to eat, if I’m being honest.”
Alpine sighed, “Welp, sorry Frost, but we cannot get ice cream.”
“It’s not like we can have chili anyway. I’m sure your recipe tastes good, but I don’t think Polar can tolerate spice…” Sheet interjected, sounding rather disappointed that they cannot try this new food. “Man, if only we didn’t do that agreement.”
Sheet recalled how both Alpine and Rojo Uno made a wager that if one of them won the whole event from their heat, they would eat something, as long as all of the Rojo Rollers and Gliding Glaciers could enjoy it. However, their battle benefitted both of them, so they decided to do it regardless. So far, they have yet to be proven successful with how different their tastes are. They have suggested many things, but it is revealed that at least one team member dislikes the food.
Iceberg was thinking out loud, “I saw this flier for Vespa’s Diner, and it has a lot of items on its menu. Maybe we can go there?”
Rojo Cuatro nodded. It was obvious that they were tired of thinking of other foods that they could collectively agree upon.
Rojo Cinco added, “We could simply say that the food we shared is Vespa’s Diner, but have different foods that we could order. Personally, I like their baklava.”
“That’s fine by me. I’m more for their soup though. I especially like the hexagon bowls.” Polar said with a smile across their face.
“Then, I guess it’s settled!” Rojo Dos started racing towards Vespa’s Diner.
As soon as Rojo Dos shouted that the last marble had to pay for everyone’s meals, everyone in the group started racing to Vespa’s. Rojo Uno and Alpine stayed behind, however.
“Hey, thank you.” Rojo Uno told Alpine. “Thank you for being friendly with us. I know our impression when we first met in 2021 probably wasn’t great, but thanks for looking past that.”
“Don’t worry, Uno. We don’t judge people for their mistakes here.” Alpine replied. Both of the marbles seem to be elated just from this exchange, as their bond as team captains has strengthened.
“Anyways, are you gonna pay for us, Rojo Uno?” Alpine teased as they started rolling towards the diner.
“Hey, wait!”
Em sits at a small table in the athlete’s village, across from Mallard and Indie.
“Sorry to cut things short, but we’ve got to go now, or else we’re going to miss scrutineering,” Mallard says apologetically. “But I’m so glad I got to meet you in person.”
Indie nods. “Like we said, your story really resonated with us and our teams.”
“It was an honor talking with you,” Em says, trying their hardest to keep their voice steady. “You’re a huge inspiration to me.”
“Fans like you are our biggest inspiration, too,” Mallard says with a wide smile. “I’ll get my team to win the Relay for you, alright?”
“Yeah, well, my team’s gonna win the whole Showdown for you,” Indie quips.
“In your dreams,” Mallard replies, laughing.
“Oh, and we didn’t forget about your mission,” Indie adds. “Take this.”
They hand Em a postcard depicting four marbles in a lush, dense forest, illuminated by moonlight and five purple stars shining in the night sky. “Even when it doesn’t feel like it, it’s gonna be okay” was printed in neat handwriting, and it was signed by each member of the Ducks and the Stars.
The three marbles say their goodbyes, and Em stands from the table. They make their way to the entrance, holding the postcard delicately as if it could dissolve into the air at any moment.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
Em turns to see Mallard smiling back tears.
“Tell your parents you love them for me, alright?”
Credits
- Writers: Millim, Momoikkai, Yume
- Copyeditor/Editor: Stynth
- Graphic Designer: Yume
- Reference: Marble League 2023 Event 12: Legion March Wave | Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Release: 16/11/2024
Project Marblearth 