Just as she’d told Zirconia, it had been depressingly easy to become someone else. Arilee Selvig had made it such a habit to do as much as possible via online sources that it had been a snap to transfer a good chunk of her wealth over to Bindhi Coryn.

“The joys of being old enough to not need to go through any more trust admin,” Bindhi sighed as she taped another box shut. She’d come back to the home she and Ava had shared to pack up her own things and move them. It simply wasn’t safe anymore. Poor little rich girl, she thought acidly. Having to move to a different fancy house.

Hoisting the box up, she carried it and set it down with the others near the door. She’d already made Ava pack up her own things and move them. She’d told Ava to take Sanskrit too. The poor little dog had simply been too confused by the new glamour that surrounded Bindhi. She’d take him back once everything was settled and hopefully be able to overcome that particular hurdle. Maybe another dog would help? Her new place was certainly big enough. Sighing, the tall blonde stretched her arms up over her head, feeling vertebrae pop. It was kind of sad how little she’d accumulated in the way of stuff. Her clothes, a few knick knacks that had belonged to her mother, furniture. Her surfboards had already been moved. So what else was there?

Slowly walking through the house, Bindhi scanned every nook and cranny, wanting to be sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything. And when her eye fell on the tiny paper crane, she wished she hadn’t bothered. Seeing it only made her think of Mintaka. And right now, Mintaka made her angry. Storming to the shelf, she grabbed up the crane, intending to shred it then and there. Only, she couldn’t make her fingers seize at the delicate paper and tear it apart. All she could do was stand there, cradling it in the palm of her hand as tears began to stream down her face again. Sliding down against the wall, Bindhi curled in on herself, trying to, once again, figure out what had gone so very wrong. Why hadn’t Mintaka even tried to understand? She’d reacted the way the old Chariklo might have done. Attack first, talk later. The Mirror wasn’t supposed to change basic personalities. It didn’t make any sense. And why would Mintaka have corrupted willingly? Especially after what had happened on New Years. It didn’t make sense. And trying to figure it out only made Bindhi more miserable.

After a long moment of silent crying, she closed her eyes and forced her fingers to close around the origami crane. Forced them to squeeze and crumple the delicate paper.

Only when she could feel her palm sweating and aching did she let up on the pressure and drop the damp, mangled paper to the floor. She was done here. Finishing her inspection of the house, she called the movers to come and fetch her things and then walked out the door.

It was time to move on.