No one could really say how long Mad Gertie had been roaming the city streets, but no one could remember a time before she had been there. She never slept in shelters; only in the park or a cardboard box. If there was any reasoning for where and why she shuffled about all day, no one knew. She never went hungry, though. All the Idenese restaurants and convenience stores would always give her food when she came by, without fail

Years and years ago, the palace had afternoon garden parties, three times a week like clockwork. Little Princess Genevieve loved these garden parties more than anything else in the entire world. The tea, the flowers, the people in their colourful clothes, the hedge maze, Grandmother Jocelyn tutting over her, and the wonderful cakes and delicious music

(sung)

I went walking through the fields of Iden
I went walking through Babylon
I went walking through the fields of Iden
I went walking through Babylon

(spoken)

Even among the homeless, there are turf wars, and one can easily lose one's cardboard box to one or two men with no qualms about violence. Mad Gertie runs across this as often as anybody else – however, for her, it's never a problem. Mad Gertie carries a knife. She seldom pulls it out, but when she does, there are only a handful of people on the planet who could hope to disarm her. She was, after all, trained personally by the captain of the imperial guard

Sometimes, at the garden party, the princess would be asked to show off her ballet skills, sometimes her knife skills, sometimes both at the same time

(sung)

I went walking through the fields of Iden
I went walking through Babylon
I went walking through the fields of Iden
I went walking through Babylon

(spoken)
Mad Gertie has one possession she has kept with her and protected through all these years: a snowglobe. Sometimes, at night, she pulls it out and watches it for hours

When the armies of the Chaostrophy came, the kingdom fought valiantly. For a time, it even seemed the palace might hold. The King and Queen had fallen leading the armies in the east and west, but the princess held the palace against wave after wave. When at last it was clear defeat was imminent, it was also clear that the toll to take the palace would be excruciating. Thus, the invading commander called for parley. Terms were discussed and debated. Finally, the invaders plucked out a piece of space and time – a garden, a party, and placed it into a closed world: a small globe, where the now never-ending soiree would be forever safe. They handed it to the ragged princess. The palace was devoured as she walked away

You'd think the homeless would have very little opportunity to have caviar, but this is not always the case, depending on where you get your scraps. Nevertheless, Mad Gertie cannot stand the stuff. She always did hate caviar

(sung)

I went walking through the fields of Iden
I went walking through Babylon
I went walking through the fields of Iden
I went walking through Babylon